High of 86 Low of 74 Slight with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 ANOTHER EXPANSION ON THE HORIZON FOR OWEN ROBERTS WORLD | PAGE 10 UK CONCEDES IT MUST HOLD EU ELECTION AMID BREXIT DELAY ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019 Domestic abuse reports quadruple Investigators say fewer victims suffering in silence JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Reports of domestic violence in the Cayman Islands have quadrupled in the past five years. Police believe the alarming sta- tistic does not indicate an increase in abusive behaviour, but rather shows the extent of a problem that has been going on behind closed doors for decades. Investigators says fewer victims are suf- fering in silence and more cases than ever are being referred to police or social workers for intervention. Inspector Kevin Ashworth, head of the police’s Family Support Unit, said his of- ficers and their partners at the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub are dealing with more cases than ever. Police were alerted to 2,218 allegations involving domestic violence – ranging from verbal threats to physical abuse – in 2018, compared with 526 in 2014 – a 400% increase in five years. The increase in the number of victims, largely but not exclusively women and chil- dren, seeking help is reflected at the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre, where demand for space at the safe house has never been greater. Mehr Lamba, outreach coordinator at the centre, said there were 35 women and chil- dren housed at the shelter in December last year – the highest ever for a single month. The four-bedroom house with 24 beds and two cribs is struggling to cope with the de- mand. Lamba said a new, purpose-built shelter CUBAN MIGRANTS MOVE TO EAST END CIVIC CENTRE Asylum applicants issued with electronic ankle monitors KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cuban asylum applicants previously de- tained in a Prison Service facility in George Town will now await their process in East End under a supervised release programme. Ten Cuban migrants and one Nicaraguan were fitted with electronic ankle monitors and transported Monday evening to the Elliott Co- nolly Civic Centre in Gun Bay, where migrants said they will be housed until they are able to find a rental property. A Government Information Services officer said housing migrants in residential proper- ties will be cheaper than continuing to op- erate the immigration detention facility, given the low number of migrants that were being Cullers turn up the heat on invasive green iguanas JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com After a few lean months, Cay- man’s army of green iguana cullers are starting to hit their targets again. An increase in temperatures and the advent of breeding season has brought the lizards out of hiding and prompted a surge in weekly cull numbers. Hunters turned in 24,930 carcasses to the landfill last week – the highest total in a single week since De- cember last year. The total number of green iguanas killed since the be- ginning of the cull is now ap- proaching 600,000 – meaning government has committed to paying approximately $3 mil- lion to the cullers. The project will con- tinue until at least the end of the year, with the goal of culling a minimum of one mil- lion iguanas. Three-day CharityDrive begins PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » Supporters of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation were out in force Tuesday morning for the first day of the Island Heritage CharityDrive, which raises funds for three separate charities over three days. The insurance company donates $1 each time someone drives through the Island Heritage roundabout on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway or supports the initiative on social media. The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and the Alex Panton Foundation will be the featured charities on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » A young green iguana sits on a fence at a property in West Bay last week. Nearly 600,000 iguanas have been killed since the cull began last year. - PHOTO: NORMA CONNOLLY2 LOCAL®IONAL WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS BREAKTHROUGH (PG) 1:25 I 4:10 I 7:15 I 10:00 SUN: 4:10 I 7:15 I 10:00 KALANK (PG) 3:10 I 9:00 (SAT ONLY) I 9:30 (NO SAT) SUN: 3:10 I 9:20 LITTLE (PG13) 12:30 I 3:25 (SAT ONLY) I 3:50 (NO SAT) 6:50 I 9:45 SUN: 3:50 I 6:50 I 9:35 DUMBO 10:30 (SAT ONLY) I 4:35 I 7:15 (NO SAT) SUN: 4:35 I 7:15 CAPTAIN MARVEL 1:40 I 10:00 (NO SAT) SUN: 6:30 I 10:00 THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA (R) 1:10 VIP I 4:35 I 7:00 VIP I 10:15 HELLBOY (R) 12:35 (SAT ONLY) I 1:00 I 6:10 (SAT ONLY) I 6:45 SHAZAM! (PG13) 1:30 I 3:40 VIP I 7:15 I 9:30 VIP SUN: 8:00 I KIDS CLUB: OVER THE HEDGE 10:00 (SAT ONLY) CULTURE AT THE CINEMA: THE TRAGEDY OF KIND RICHARD THE SECOND SAT ONLY: 8:00 • Matinees Daily (matinee price before 6pm) • Seniors $8.00, Mon-Fri Before 6pm • Additional charges apply per 3D/VIP tickets Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. - WEDNESDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) THE INTRUDER (PG13) 1:00 I 3:30 I 7:00 I 9:35 BREAKTHROUGH (PG) 12:40 I 3:45 I 6:50 I 9:45 LONG SHOT (R) 1:35 I 4:20 I 7:05 I 9:50 AVENGERS: END GAME (PG13) 12:30 VIP I 1:10 I 4:20 VIP I 5:05 3D 8:10 VIP I 9:00 LITTLE (PG13) 1:35 I 4:20 I 7:15 I 10:00 3.2% -0.4% -7.2% -2.7% 1.2% 1.2% 1.3% 2.7% 2.8% 3.1% 3.0% 1.9% -0.1% -2.5% 2.6% 1.6% 2.2% 1.8% 2.5% 2.9% 1.6% 2.2% 20072008200920102011201220132014201520162017 Growth in Real GDP 2007 - 2017 CaymanUSA Flowers goes green with Sea Swim shirts MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com Departing from ongoing efforts to remove plastic from Cayman’s beaches, of- ficials with the Flowers Sea Swim plan to introduce more plastic waste to the beach once swimmers cross the finish line of the well-known, open-water event. It will be in the form of T-shirts. This year’s participa- tion jersey is, for the first time, being made of mate- rial developed from re-pur- posed plastic. Anup Itwar, a former sales and marketing representa- tive for the Flowers Group, is volunteering as the Flowers Sea Swim event coordinator. He said UK-based Scimitar Sports proposed making this year’s shirts from the kinds of bottles often plucked from the sand during beach clean-ups. “It’s a new line for them,” Itwar said, adding that Scim- itar has been supplying the sea swim’s shirts for more than 10 years. “We wanted to be one of the first customers.” The sea swim has become an internationally known event. Now in its 27th year, it draws up to 1,000 par- ticipants who churn up the mile-long stretch of ocean between The Ritz-Carlton hotel and the Royal Palms Beach Club. Changing to recycled ma- terial for the T-shirt each fin- isher receives will not save the Flowers company any money, Itwar said. “It does cost about 10% more,” he said, but it fits with the compa- ny’s goals. “We’re moving in that direction to be more green. For the swim itself, this is the first step. Our other companies are farther ahead in that.” The firm’s paving divi- sion uses recycled glass in its amalgam and it reuses rem- nants from its foam products manufacturing, Itwar said. Flowers is also looking at using the recycled fabric to outfit its workforce of 120 people, but will wait to see the event shirts and gauge how they hold up. “We’ve seen sample fabrics and they seem fine, like a reg- ular polyester blend,” he said. “We’re going to encourage people to email us or let us know on social media [how well they last].” This year’s beneficiary of the charity event is the Spe- cial Olympics. Itwar said the T-shirt will feature the col- ours of the organisation on a white background. The sea swim did not reach its 1,000-swimmer ca- pacity last year, and registra- tion for this year’s event is also lower than usual. “It’s not exactly where we’d like it to be,” Itwar said, “but it’s moving in the right direction.” The swim is scheduled for June 15. Information is available at www.flowersseaswim.com. This artist’s concept shows the design for this year’s Flowers Sea Swim T-shirt, which will be made using recycled plastic. “ We’re moving in that direction to be more green.” ANUP ITWAR Venezuela’s opposition-led congress to debate defence pact CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuela’s opposition-con- trolled congress met Tuesday to discuss a proposal for Ven- ezuela’s return to a regional defence agreement that dates from the Cold War – a move that could provide political cover for greater interna- tional involvement in the na- tion’s crisis. US officials have repeat- edly said they are considering military “options” in the Ven- ezuelan crisis in addition to diplomatic and economic pres- sure that has been intensifying for months against the gov- ernment of socialist President Nicolás Maduro. Military police prevented journalists from entering the National Assembly, and some reporters were harassed by government supporters outside the building. The lights in the chamber went out temporarily as a senior assembly member, Edgar Zambrano, was speaking. The cause of the power cut was unclear. Last week, Venezuela’s pro- Maduro top court opened a treason investigation of Zam- brano, who had joined op- position leader Juan Guaidó outside a military base in Ca- racas during a failed call on the armed forces to overthrow Ma- duro. The appeal to the military was followed by deadly clashes between police and protesters. The United States recog- nises Guaidó, head of the Na- tional Assembly, as Venezue- la’s interim president, saying Maduro’s re-election last year was rigged. Guaidó sent a tweet saying that the session planned to con- sider a proposal to re-enter the US-led defence treaty, the Inter- American Treaty of Reciprocal Assisance. Venezuela and other left-governed nations pulled out of the treaty years ago. Guaidó earlier met top dip- lomats from some of the more than 50 countries that support his campaign to seize power from Maduro, whose allies in- clude Russia, China and Cuba. A family gathers during lunch in the room they live in, at a building occupied by squatting families in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday. - PHOTO: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019 Apply online At www.seafireresortandspa.com/hotel-scholarship-program/ Deadline: May 5, 2019 Candidates are selected through an open application process, following these basic criteria: Be Caymanian, have the ability to prove Caymanian status and have proof of having resided in the Cayman Islands for at least 4 years prior to application Be between the ages of 16 to 20 years of age Possess excellent character, work ethic, and have a genuine interest in the hospitality industry Have been accepted as a full-time student into an accredited associate or technical program in a field related to the hospitality industry, for a maximum of 2 years Each year we at Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa seek to recruit passionate Caymanians who are interested in pursuing a career in hospitality through our Seafire Scholarship. The Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa scholarship program offers an award for full-time study at an accredited associate or technical program of up to US $25,000 per year. Left: Jayda Rae Smith, 2018 Seafire Scholarship recipient, with General Manager Steven Andre and Resort Manager Eduardo Del Risco. Are you the next SeAfire ScholAr?The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion & Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Caymanian Compass Limited Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHER KATHLEEN CAPETTA EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way” Travellers weary of airport construction received bad news this week, as officials announced that record- breaking arrivals may necessitate yet another major expansion within the next decade. It has been less than two months since Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall officially opened the upgraded Owen Roberts International Airport, which more than quadrupled the terminal’s previous capacity. But as the Compass reported on Tuesday, Cayman Islands Airports Authority CEO Albert Anderson says it could soon be time to start ‘serious discussions’ of another major expansion – the construction of a fully equipped second terminal. As Anderson told the Compass, “Our throughput now is certainly much greater than the master plan predicted. That was based on trends at the time. We are at the opti- mistic level for growth so the trigger for building the new terminal could be much sooner than it would have been.” With today’s estimated 1.4 million annual arrivals and departures, Owen Roberts has plenty of room before reaching its 2.5 million passenger ceiling. But recent growth has outpaced projections. If it continues, Anderson says serious discussions of a new terminal could begin within five years. The million-dollar question (actually, closer to $100 million, according to ballpark cost estimates for a second terminal) is whether and how fast airport traffic will keep growing. That is what makes long-range planning so difficult. On one hand, planners must avoid overbuilding costly projects that will never be used to capacity. By the same token, they must avoid being too cautious, spending slightly less on modest projects that are overburdened and outdated from the moment the ribbon is cut. There is no question that to keep moving forward, Cayman’s planners must think far beyond what is cur- rently adequate or imminently needed. Ideally, they should do so within a comprehensive infrastructure framework that includes the airport, ports, public trans- port, water and wastewater, telecommunications, elec- tricity and essential services, like hospitals and schools. All these elements work together to make our island a pleasant place to live, work and play – or the opposite. If one part of the system is lagging, it negatively affects the whole. More airport arrivals, for example, affects more than just Owen Roberts. They mean more people on our roadways, greater demand for accommodations, for fresh water and removal of waste. It seems to us that government has recently been showing a greater tendency towards such ‘systems thinking’, which can help prevent problems rather than shifting them around our little island. Take, for example, the National Roads Authority’s adoption of ‘Complete Street’ standards and the call for a “radical new approach” to public transportation – two ini- tiatives that will help maximise use of our roads. In our schools, the Office of Education Standards is making good on a promise to thoroughly evaluate schools’ performance and to make their findings public. The emerging National Planning Framework, cur- rently in public consultation, is government’s most ambi- tious attempt to date, encompassing tourism, infrastruc- ture, health, education, transport, housing, land use and the environment. So while, as occasional air travellers, our hearts may sink a bit at the prospect of another round of airport con- struction, as champions of our community and respon- sible government, we are glad to see officials keeping their eyes on the horizon. Another expansion on the horizon for Owen Roberts WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS Boeing’s 737 Max defence is a textbook mess DAVID FICKLING For decades, busi- ness schools have taught Johnson & Johnson’s han- dling of its 1982 Tylenol scandal as a textbook example of good crisis management. In the future, we can ex- pect Boeing Co.’s treatment of its two 737 Max crashes to join the syllabus – as an example of what not to do. Engineers at the planemaker discovered problems with the aircraft’s angle-of-attack sensors within months of the mod- el’s first delivery, but did not share its findings with airlines, regulators or even senior management until much later, the company said Sunday. That we are still get- ting incomplete details of the situation – almost two years after the prob- lems were first found, and six months after the Lion Air crash last October that brought it to wider atten- tion – is an almost per- fect inversion of the Ty- lenol lesson. When Johnson & Johnson found someone was lacing the pain-relief medicine with cyanide, it removed the product from shelves and followed a policy of maximum trans- parency to reassure cus- tomers. As a result, it remained ahead of the de- veloping story and, eventu- ally, regained their trust. Boeing’s response has been starkly different. For more than a month, re- porters and experts have been asking questions about the angle-of-attack sensors and their relation- ship with Boeing’s Ma- neuvering Characteris- tics Augmentation System (an automated feature de- signed to prevent the plane from stalling). Many sto- ries have pointed out how customers that paid for additional functions got a warning when data from the 737 Max’s two such sensors disagreed – with the implication that essen- tial safety features were available only to those who paid extra. Boeing’s response to this line of inquiry has been that the absence of the dis- agree alert on basic-model planes was not the result of company policy but an acci- dent, and that once discov- ered it was deemed accept- ably low-risk to wait until a software update to fix the problem. In other words, it did not leave the alert dis- connected out of venality, but out of incompetence. Let’s just go through the litany of errors here. Boeing introduced a new automated feature, MCAS, that depended on input from angle-of-attack sen- sors. It failed to inform pi- lots properly about the new feature, despite the clear ways in which it changed the plane’s aerodynamics and handling. On top of that, the company acciden- tally removed functionality that had previously alerted pilots to faults in the sen- sors controlling MCAS. Through ignorance of this second problem, it again failed to inform pilots of the way their cockpit set- up had changed. It’s a mess, and made worse by the fact that Boe- ing’s prevarication looks like denial. With 346 people dead, the company’s main defence boils down to quib- bling about the meaning of the term “safety feature”. (In Boeing’s view, because angle-of-attack data don’t form a central part of a pi- lot’s classic flight display, an alert about faulty read- ings can’t be considered a safety feature.) Here’s an alternative reading: Whether you call them safety features or not, indicators telling pilots that something unexpected is happening to the aircraft can make the difference be- tween life and death. Thanks to innovations by aerospace manufac- turers, including Boeing it- self, aircraft are extraor- dinarily safe these days. They lose control in flight only in extremely unusual and unpredictable circum- stances. As a result, pilots are often more like investi- gators than drivers – most needed when something goes wrong. When that happens, they may have just seconds to solve the problem, so need as much information as possible at their fingertips. When Air France Flight 447 crashed off the coast of Brazil in 2009 killing 228, the initial problem was caused by a strik- ingly similar set of events – conflicting airspeed read- ings that caused the auto- pilot to disconnect in a way that appears to have left the crew, flying in dark- ness, unable to discern what was going wrong. Too much information risks overwhelming pilots in a tense situation; depriving them of information can be equally dangerous. Why is Boeing behaving so differently to Johnson & Johnson? One advan- tage that the drug company had is that the Tylenol poi- sonings were not its fault, so it had little to lose from being as open as possible. In the case of the Boeing 737 Max, as we are gradu- ally learning, it’s going to be hard to paint the com- pany’s actions in such blameless tones. David Fickling is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities, as well as industrial and consumer companies. © 2019, Bloomberg Opinion. Whether you call them safety features or not, indicators telling pilots that something unexpected is happening to the aircraft can make the difference between life and death.The islands’ most-trusted news source 5 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019 THE CiMpA AwArDs 2019 SHORTLIST 6 th JUNE 2019 | 6pm - late Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort CONGRATULATIONS SEE YOU AT THE AWARDS! Car City Mobile Blood Drive by Hurley’s Media Enterprise Cayman by Cayman Enterprise City Not Your Spot by Rotary Central & Tower The Island We Love Just Got Healthier (by Baptist Health) Community Impact OF THE YEAR Cayman’s Safest Driver App CaymanVillas.com ExploreCayman.com PropertyCayman.com Website of the year Boxed CayMAS Carnival 2018 Slow Food Day 2018 at Camana Bay Salute by Cayman Airways Campaign of the year Caribbean Marine Services Infomercial Cayman Airways’ “Salute” CIIPA Awards Gala “Pioneer” Slow Food Day 2018 at Camana Bay Video of the year Boxed Island Naturals KAABOO Cayman Pink Duck Publishing Brand of the year Collective Not Your Standard Agency of the year Amy Still - Collective Eleanor Smith - Pink Duck Publishing Laura Skec - Grand Cayman Marriott Olivia Scott-Ramirez - Cayman Airways Marketer of the year Charles R. Gilman IV - Cayman Airways Damien Murphy - AirVu Laura Skec - Grand Cayman Marriott Tracey-Ann Peharie - AA Media Creative Professional OF THE YEAR get your tickets now at cimpa.ky/awards6 LOCAL NEWS WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS New Bodden Town clinic to offer more services MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com There is, as of yet, no designated site, but a new and larger health clinic serving Bodden Town is ex- pected to be under construc- tion by 2021. Premier Alden McLaughlin mentioned the new facility as part of his Strategic Policy Statement delivered to the Legislative Assembly last month, saying it would pro- vide better access to care for people on the eastern side of the island. “This new facility, when complete, would offer more medical services and relieve some of the pressures from our main hospital in George Town by offering additional primary medical care, as well as X-ray facilities and dialysis,” McLaughlin said. “The government has agreed to donate a suitable site for the project and the HSA will fund the building from its own sources.” The current Jessie Ritch Memorial Health Centre in Bodden Town is located next to the police station and is prone to flooding. It was damaged in 2004 by Hur- ricane Ivan. The clinic provides gen- eral practice, paediatric and gynaecological services four days a week. Other than Mondays, when they are available from 8am to 9pm, services are limited to three hours each day. Dr. Samuel Williams-Rod- riguez, director of primary healthcare services at the Health Services Authority, said discussions with gov- ernment about a new clinic are in the preliminary stages. Talk of the need for such a facility has been ongoing for a number of years, he said. “Bodden Town district is the fastest growing district,” Williams-Rodriguez said. “We feel there’s a need to improve services there. We will also have to look at West Bay in the future.” Government properties are under review to deter- mine the best site for the new clinic, which Williams-Rod- riguez said will have more space and staff than the ex- isting facility. “It definitely will be larger,” he said. “We defi- nitely would plan to have X- rays and a lab, and there’s some talk of dialysis. We’re definitely going to need more personnel. The numbers will be determined by the ser- vices we provide. We plan to expand the services and we plan to have urgent care.” Currently, the clinic han- dles urgent cases on an unof- ficial basis. “They do accommodate anyone that walks in,” Wil- liams-Rodriguez said, but an- ything serious has to be re- ferred to the main hospital in George Town. Williams-Rodriguez said he expects ground to be broken on the clinic in 2021. Bodden Town is currently served by the Jessie Ritch Memorial Health Centre. Government is planning to create a new health centre that offers more services to the district. Governor and wife become patrons of Cayman Heart Fund Governor Martyn Roper is carrying on the tradition of previous governors by be- coming, along with his wife Elisabeth, a co-patron of the Cayman Heart Fund. The Ropers joined mem- bers of the charity’s board of directors and supporters on April 29 for a welcome lunch, according to a press release from the Cayman Heart Fund. “Since certifying the Cayman Heart Fund as an non-profit organisation in 2007 by H.E. Governor Stuart Jack, the Governor of the Cayman Islands has always been our Patron of Honour,” Cayman Heart Fund founder Suzy Soto said. “We were so pleased that H.E. Gov- ernor Roper and Mrs. Roper are willing to continue the tradition as co-patrons of the CHF.” Governor Roper said he and his wife “greatly enjoyed meeting the chairman and staff from the Cayman Heart Fund for a briefing about the excellent work that they do across the Islands”. He added, “Both Lissie and I are delighted to be pa- trons of CHF and keen to support their work.” Board Chairman David Dinner explained in the re- lease that cardiovascular dis- eases are the number one cause of death globally. “Our mission is to improve the car- diovascular health of all in the Cayman Islands through education, influence and sup- port which form the basis of our work,” he said. Governor Martyn Roper, fifth from left, and his wife Elisabeth, seventh from left, with board members and supporters of the Cayman Heart Fund at a welcome lunch. - PHOTO: SUBMITTED Annual hurricane exercise to be held this month Cayman will test its Na- tional Hurricane Plan later this month with an exercise dubbed ‘Hurricane Kali’. The annual hurri- cane exercise is scheduled to take place on May 23 and 24, when all the agen- cies involved in responding to hurricanes will test their response and re- covery processes. According to a press re- lease from Hazard Man- agement Cayman Islands, the exercise will begin at 3pm on Thursday, May 23, with a meeting of the Na- tional Hazard Management Council in the ground floor conference room at the Government Administra- tion Building. As part of the simula- tion, the Cayman Islands will be placed under a hur- ricane ‘Alert’ at 10am on Wednesday, May 22, in an- ticipation of a possible im- pact. ‘Hurricane Kali’ is a table-top exercise focus- sing on the response and recovery activities fol- lowing an ‘All Clear’. Hazard Management will simulate activation of the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) to give participants an op- portunity to reacquaint themselves with NEOC operations. According to Hazard Management, this year the exercise format is less formal, enabling par- ticipants to consider and discuss how they would react to various scenarios. The NEOC structure in- cludes 17 different Emer- gency Support Teams with a range of responsibilities, such as debris manage- ment, search and rescue, emergency shelters and volunteer agencies. “The exercise will encourage the various subcommittees to look at how they would roll out aspects of their own emergency plans in response to the scenarios they are faced with,” the Hazard Management press release stated. The exercise runs through the entire day on May 24 and concludes with the review of lessons learned. Feedback and rec- ommendations from par- ticipants will be used to update the National Plan. ‘Hurricane Kali’ is a table-top exercise focussing on the response and recovery activities following an ‘All Clear’. Grand Cayman was devastated by 2004’s Hurricane Ivan. The island’s agencies will test their hurricane response and recovery processes at an annual disaster exercise on May 23 and 24. - PHOTO: ALAN MARKOFF7 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019 dartscholar.ky Beyond prestige and financial support for both high school and university students, the Dart Scholarship provides young Caymanians with life-changing experience in the real world of industry. If you’re a high achieving Caymanian student with aspirations to be a future leader and innovator, we invite you to apply for the 2019 programme. A whole new world of possibilities. It begins with a simple application. The William A. Dart University Scholarship Submit your application by 17 May 2019 Minister responds to being named in coastal works dispute KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com Environment Minister Dwayne Seymour has is- sued a response to a judi- cial review application which claims that the minister did not disclose a conflict of in- terest last December, when he presented a paper to Cab- inet that recommended a de- veloper be granted a coastal works permit. The judicial review appli- cation states that Minister Seymour presented a Cabinet paper last December that rec- ommended Cayman resident Marcus Cumber be granted a works permit to construct a dock on his property at Vista del Mar. The judicial review application filed by the pro- prietors of the nearby Salt Creek claims the development minister did not disclose in the paper that he is a busi- ness associate of Cumber. Cumber denied last week that he has any business re- lationship with the minister, and Seymour made similar refutations on Monday. “While Mr. Cumber has confirmed that I have never had a business relationship with him, I would also like to note that the only busi- ness that I own is registered at the Legislative Assembly, where it is available by ap- pointment for public review,” stated Seymour, whose sole declared business is the air- port security firm Airport Professional Services. Minister Seymour also re- butted claims in the judicial review application that Cum- ber’s planned dock is more than 2,000% longer than the six-foot maximum. “Adjustments were also made to accommodate neigh- bours using the same canal,” Seymour stated. “It is also worth noting that the length of the dock was never in breach of restrictions as has been publicly reported.” The minister added that the coastal works permit was unanimously approved by the quorum of Cabinet members. “Originally submitted in 2014, the final application was the result of consider- able dialogue between Mr. Cumber and public sector officials, including experts from the Department of En- vironment and the Port Au- thority,” he stated, adding, “In the end, the matter was only unanimously approved by the requisite quorum of members of Cabinet after the applicant repeatedly demonstrated that he was willing to take on board input from Govern- ment and the community.” Dwayne Seymour No firearm charges brought, attorney notes CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Three men pleaded guilty in Summary Court on Tuesday to charges of illegal landing under the new Customs and Border Control Law. David Anthony Gordon Ellis, Celso Mejia Mejia and Lazaro Angel Sharp all admitted landing at Breakers on Feb. 18 in contravention of the law, which came into effect in December. Crown counsel Scott Wainwright said he un- derstood that a bulletproof vest and quantity of am- munition had been found on the boat the men came on, but he was not aware of what the status might be regarding any charges. Magistrate Valdis Foldats said that if the men have been in custody since February, a decision could be made quite quickly. Defence attorney Lee Halliday-Davis said the men had never been in- terviewed further about the items. The prosecution should not have waited until May before carrying out further interviews with the men, she asserted. The magistrate set the matter for mention again the next day, on May 8. Three admit illegal landing DEH LAUNCHES GARBAGE PACKAGING CAMPAIGN The Department of En- vironmental Health has launched a public education campaign to encourage mem- bers of the public to prop- erly package and handle household waste. The DEH is running a three-month radio campaign with the core message of ‘Keep your Neighbourhood Clean,’ which will includes public service announce- ments on Radio Cayman, Z99 FM and Irie 98.9. “We can only achieve a smooth garbage collection process through public ed- ucation,” DEH Acting Di- rector Richard Simms said in a press release. “This will equip residents with the nec- essary tools to ensure that they practice proper waste packaging and handling techniques.” The DEH will also issue informational flyers and a video, along with so- cial media postings, to promote an awareness of these issues. More information about proper garbage handling can be found on the DEH website, www.deh.gov.ky.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS held there. Migrants expressed re- lief Tuesday, that after seven months under lock and key in the Immigration Deten- tion Centre, they will now have the right to be outdoors from 6:30am until 9pm Continued use of the George Town facility at Fair- banks came under scrutiny earlier this year, when the immigration centre was con- verted, in part, to a low-se- curity, men’s prison facility, known as the ‘Enhanced Re- integration Unit’. The first prisoners were transported to the centre in February, after government completed renovations, including in- stallation of a dividing fence to separate prisoners from migrants. The Prison Service at the time explained the facility had been retrofitted with the goal to “alleviate capacity constraints that have im- pacted Her Majesty’s Prison Northward”. Several migrants con- tacted the Human Rights Commission following the changes, expressing concern that they were being held in the same conditions as pris- oners and asking why some asylum applicants were on supervised release in the community, while others were in detention. On April 12, those mi- grants received responses from Human Rights Com- mission Chairman James Austin-Smith, stating, “The Commission observes that you have not received any response from government about why some detainees have been put under super- vised release while others are still detained in the Im- migration Detention Centre. The Commission is in cor- respondence with govern- ment with respect to this part of your complaint and we will send you a response as soon as we are in condi- tions to do so.” Guidelines established by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refu- gees suggest detention of asylum-seekers be used only as a last resort. “Detention is an excep- tional measure and can only be justified for a legitimate purpose,” state UNHCR De- tention Guidelines. “Deten- tion can only be resorted to when it is determined to be necessary, reasonable in all the circumstances and proportionate to a legiti- mate purpose.” Migrants complained that the George Town de- tention centre had be- come hostile for them. One woman at the East End civic centre said Tuesday, “It was a prison. There’s no other name for it. It’s not a de- tention centre. It’s a prison with treatment like pris- oners and with prison of- ficials that don’t try to un- derstand that we are not prisoners. We’re immigrants awaiting a process.” Three Cubans explained Tuesday that before de- parting the facility, they signed agreements out- lining the expectations of their release. One of them described the document to a Cayman Compass reporter. He said it stated that one infrac- tion, such as staying outside after curfew, would result in one month in detention, a second infraction would result in six months, and a third infraction would result in permanent relocation to the detention facility. Migrants were concerned that their ankle monitors could lose their signal or battery, resulting in an ac- cidental infraction. One man said he was already warned Tuesday that he had violated curfew, despite having been present in the civic centre throughout the night. To pay for food, trans- portation and other house- hold items, migrants said they will each receive $160 a month. An unmar- ried couple said they were offered $110 each, how- ever, and were trying to sort out the issue with of- ficials, in order to receive the full allowance. Asylum applicants do not have the right to work during their process, which can often last for several years. Speaking from the civic centre Tuesday, several mi- grants said they did not see how the allowance would permit them to travel twice a week by bus from East End to George Town to check in with immigration officials, as dictated by their release agreements. At $2 a bus trip, migrants would spend about $32 a month, or 20% of their allotment, to check in with government. Migrants said they were also informed that the water at the civic centre was not safe to drink, so they must purchase their own water. Questions submitted to Customs and Border Con- trol, the Prison Service, the Human Rights Commission and East End MLA Arden McLean were not answered by press time Tuesday. The Compass does not publish the names of asylum-seekers during their application process, given the sensitive nature of their cases. Cuban migrants move to East End civic centre CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The Elliott Conolly Civic Centre in East End will be used as temporary housing for migrants. - PHOTO: ALVARO SEREY A Cuban asylum applicant displays his electronic ankle monitor Tuesday at the Elliott Conolly Civic Centre in East End. - PHOTO: ALVARO SEREY Fred Burton, the Depart- ment of Environment’s ter- restrial resources manager, said the surge in weekly cull numbers was encouraging. Numbers had dipped to a low of 10,000 a week in April. Burton said the iguanas appeared to have adapted their behaviour in the wake of the onslaught, but breeding season has brought them into the open. “When the males start to focus on competing with each other and connecting with females,” he said, “it makes them more vul- nerable to being spotted and culled. “When you combine that with the rising tempera- tures – hot iguanas are ac- tive iguanas – it is no sur- prise that we are seeing an increase in numbers.” Though breeding season has begun, the hatchlings are not expected to emerge for another few months. “It is too early for them to be swarming out in large numbers,” Burton said. “So this increase is not a result of this year’s hatch- lings. It is a result of the change in behaviour. We had hoped we would see this but we didn’t know it would be to this extent. It is very encouraging.” He said the addition of new teams of cullers had also made an impact, though the lion’s share of the kills are still coming from a handful of highly or- ganised, professional firms. Despite periodic com- plaints about the behaviour of some cullers, the DoE has not yet pulled anyone’s li- cence for breaking the rules of the cull. Burton said the depart- ment did occasionally re- ceive reports of cullers op- erating on private land without permission, among other complaints. But without specific identifica- tion, he said it was difficult to act, other than through general reminders and warnings to all cullers. Hunters turned in 24,930 carcasses to the landfill last week – the highest total in a single week since December last year. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Cullers turn up the heat on invasive green iguanas “ It was a prison. There’s no other name for it. It’s not a detention centre. It’s a prison with treatment like prisoners and with prison officials that don’t try to understand that we are not prisoners. We’re immigrants awaiting a process.” CUBAN ASYLUM APPLICANT, describing the Immigration Detention CentreThe islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019 DOORS OPEN AT 4PM 11 MAY 2019 Camana Bay Arts and Recreation Center #morethanrobots JOIN US FOR FREE ADMISSION is planned within the next five years to meet a growing need in the community. Inspector Ashworth said the creation of the MASH unit, which brings police, so- cial workers and charities to- gether in one hub, and new mandatory reporting require- ments were likely behind the massive increase in reports. “More survivors, family members, community mem- bers and professional agen- cies are recognising the problem exists and are now highlighting the same to the authorities,” he said. “The rise in referrals does not indicate a rise in abusive behaviour patterns over the last few years, but more accu- rately demonstrates that such referrals are being made due to the confidence and bravery of those seeking help.” He said it was up to police and their partners to follow through with successful in- vestigations and protection measures to ensure that con- fidence was maintained. Ashworth acknowl- edged the number of cases of domestic violence in the Cayman Islands was high, based on the 2018 statistics, but said police would rather know the true extent of the problem than have cases to go unreported. He said there had been historic underreporting of domestic violence, both in Cayman and worldwide, but public and media campaigns and mandatory reporting measures were helping bring cases to light. “It is clearly a significant concern that many victims of abuse in both domestic and child safeguarding matters have not received the timely services and assistance they should have,” he said. “Many cases would have been per- petuated for years, decades even, before disclosures or reports were made.” He said partnerships with other government agencies, such as the Family Resource Centre, and non-profits like the Crisis Centre, were es- sential to addressing and re- ducing domestic violence. Lamba agreed that the rise in reports of domestic vi- olence was likely linked to an increase in awareness about the crime and the services available locally for victims. She said such abuse was likely still underreported. “There is no excuse for do- mestic abuse,” she said. The Crisis Centre operates a 24-hour helpline for victims at 943-2422, as well as a Kids Helpline for young people to report abuse or speak to an adult at 649-5437, and a 24/7 emergency shelter. The Kids Helpline is currently avail- able Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3-6pm. The Crisis Centre office, Es- tella’s Place, in George Town, also offers services to survi- vors of domestic violence. Domestic abuse reports quadruple Investigators says fewer victims are suffering in silence and more cases than ever are being referred to police or social workers for intervention. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Expo will highlight public safety jobs The largest-ever Public Safety Recruitment Fair and Expo to be held in Cayman is planned for Thursday, May 16. Eight participating agen- cies will provide informa- tion on public safety careers at the event, which will be in the University College of the Cayman Islands’ Sir Vassel Johnson Hall. Students can attend the event from 10am to 3pm and it will be open to the public from 4-7pm. Agencies on hand include the Cayman Islands Coast Guard, Cayman Islands Cus- toms and Border Control, Cayman Islands Fire Service, the Department of Public Safety Communications, the Health Services Authority, Her Majesty’s Prison Service, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, and Work- force Opportunities and Resi- dency Cayman. Those attending will be able to speak one-on-one with representatives and learn more about the variety of public safety career oppor- tunities each agency has to offer. WORC leaders will also be available to meet with em- ployers and job-seekers that would like to register with the department’s new on- line platform. During the event, staff members will also deliver brief presentations and per- form live demonstrations that showcase their spe- cialist skills. Workshops for job-seekers will also be available, focus- sing on resume writing and interview skills, as well as social media in the workplace and how a person’s online presence can impact their employment opportunities. The expo is free and open the public. The first 1,000 attendees will receive an event tote bag. MEXICO SAYS TARIFFS WILL SEND TOMATO PRICES SOARING IN US MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexico’s Economy Department says US consumers could pay 38% to 70% more for toma- toes after the US Commerce Department announced it would re-impose anti- dumping duties on Mex- ican imports. The Mexican agency says the country exports about $2 billion in tomatoes to the United States and supplies about half the tomatoes the US consumes annually. It said Tuesday that many small- and medium-sized Mexican tomato exporters will not be able to pay the deposits required to export. The deposits required to comply with the 17.5% tariff would amount to about $350 million, money that many Mexican producers do not have. In March the Commerce Department announced it was ending a 2013 suspen- sion agreement in which Mexican growers promised to sell at fair prices, and that it would reinstate the 1996 tariffs. Workshops for job- seekers will also be available, focussing on resume writing and interview skills.Next >