ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2019 High of 90 Low of 78 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. LOCAL | PAGE 4 EMANCIPATION DAY: ‘A BUBBLING STEW’ OF CARIBBEAN HERITAGE LOCAL | PAGE 3 NEW STATUS ALLOWS TUTORING CENTRES TO SERVE MORE STUDENTS Regulated in the Cayman Islands as a licensed insurer by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Generali Worldwide is a trading name of Utmost Worldwide Limited. Registered Head Office address: Utmost Worldwide Limited, Utmost House, Hirzel Street, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands GY1 4PA. Regulated in Guernsey as a licensed insurer by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission under the Insurance Business (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2002 (as amended). Incorporated in Guernsey under Company Registration No. 27151. Contact us to learn more about our FREE Apps at 747-2000. Member Benefits at your fingertips! www.generali-healthcare.com A boy casts a net into the sea at George Town as cruise ships moor offshore on Wednesday. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY Referendum petition passes 70% mark JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Campaigners for a referendum on the cruise port are 70% of the way towards hitting the target to trigger a vote, according to the Elections Office. A total of 3,705 of the required 5,292 signatures have been veri- fied, while 76 petitioners have de- clined to sign verification forms. Though the Verdant Isle group has been selected as the preferred bidder on the project, no contract will be signed until after the veri- fication process and potentially a referendum takes place. The Elections Office has also indicated that more than 600 names, referenced by Premier Alden McLaughlin as having been discounted from the petition, were highlighted by the campaigners themselves as part of their in- ternal verification process and were not officially submitted to the Elections Office for verification. McLaughlin indicated in a press conference on Monday that government would “respect the constitution” and hold a refer- endum if the target is met. He said the Progressives had been instrumental in ensuring the framework for people-initi- ated-referenda were part of the constitution. But he insisted the threshold of 25% of the electorate must be met before any national poll on the cruise port project PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » Lord Ahmad retained as overseas territories minister Lord Tariq Ahmad survived a ruth- less reshuffle of the Conservative party leadership to retain his position as Min- ister with responsibility for the British Overseas Territories, following Boris Johnson’s election as the UK’s new Prime Minister. At least half the Cabinet resigned or was sacked after Johnson took office last week. Among the high-profile cas- ualties was Johnson’s leadership rival and Lord Ahmad’s former boss, Jeremy Hunt, who has been replaced by Dominic Raab as Foreign Secretary. Raab confirmed this week that Lord Ahmad would be retained as a minister of state in the foreign office, keeping his responsibility for the territories. Ahmad tweeted a picture of him- self with Johnson on Monday, writing that he was “honoured” to continue in the role. Last week the Tory peer welcomed the election of Johnson, who defeated Hunt in a poll of the Conservative party mem- bership, writing on Twitter, “Many con- gratulations to @BorisJohnson @Con- servatives time to get behind our new leader and Prime Minister elect – he has the vision to unite our party, the plan to deliver Brexit & build a new future for our incredible country – let’s do it.” GUILTY VERDICTS REACHED IN BEAUTICIAN CASE Defendant fails to appear in court for verdict SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com Zunilda Anaya Baldovino, a beautician charged with two counts of committing reckless and negligent acts, was found guilty on both charges by Magistrate Philippa Mc- Farlane on Wednesday morning. Baldovino was not present when the magistrate read her verdict and a warrant was filed for her arrest. The beautician was accused of improperly adminis- tering facial injections to two complainants in October and November of 2016. She pleaded not guilty to the charges in October 2017. Baldovino’s trial commenced in August 2018 and did PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon2 LOCAL®IONAL THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 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 (PG) 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: 3:40 VIP I 4:40 I 6:40 VIP 8:00 I 9:40 VIP KIDS CLUB: OVER THE HEDGE (PG) 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. - THURSDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) PERFECTLY SINGLE (R) 1:55 | 4:20 | 7:30 | 10:00 SPIDER-MAN FAR (PG13) FROM HOME 12:45 3D | 3:45 | 6:50 3D | 9:50 VIP | 9:50 TOY STORY 4 (G) 1:30 | 4:00 | 6:30 | 9:00 MEN IN BLACK (PG13) INTERNATIONAL 7:05 STUBER (R) 1:05 | 4:30 | 7:10 | 10:10 THE LION KING (2019) (PG) 1:00 VIP | 1:30 | 3:30 3D | 4:10 VIP | 7:00 VIP | 9:30 3D CUBA CAPS FOOD, BEVERAGE PRICES TO CUT INFLATION RISK ICE: FORMER VENEZUELAN VP ON 10 MOST WANTED LIST HAVANA (AP) – The Cuban government is capping prices for food and bever- ages throughout the country in order to control the risk of inflation due to a state wage hike and stagnant productivity. The experiment started several weeks ago in some provinces and it will go into effect throughout Cuba on 1 Aug., officials said. The price cap is part of a batch of measures an- nounced by the Cuban gov- ernment that includes an in- crease in the salaries of more than 1 million government employees and retirees. “History tells us that price caps aren’t good; they can control an imbalance in the short-term but they’re not the sustainable, long-term remedy,” said economist Ri- cardo Torres. “Cuba’s problem is of production.” Cuba is currently going through a difficult eco- nomic situation attributed to its low production and large import bills, especially for food and fuel, accompa- nied by the economic col- lapse of Venezuela, Cuba’s closest ally. “If they are going to cap prices, I think it’s for the advantage of the people since if the products are a bit cheaper, they are able to consume more,” said Ta- tiana Witnall, 50, an em- ployee at the private cafe- teria ‘Don Yoyo’. The Trump administration has been trying to cut back Cuba’s income from sectors like tourism by prohibiting cruises to Cuba and limiting US travel to the island. The Cuban government has imposed some rationing on staples like chicken, cooking oil, rice and beans and other daily. Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel has faced a mor- ibund economy since taking office in April of last year. It has not lapsed into an out- right recession. Bright spots like tourism, rum and cigar sales and mining have helped sustain some growth, but not enough to appreciably raise living standards. WASHINGTON (AP) – US Im- migration and Customs En- forcement on Wednesday added former Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami to its list of 10 most wanted fugitives. ICE posted a Twitter link to a ‘wanted’ profile on El Aissami with the hashtag #MostWantedWednesday. It cautions: “Do not attempt to apprehend any subject.” El Aissami, who is now Venezuela’s minister of in- dustry and national pro- duction, was charged earlier this year in New York fed- eral court with violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and US Treasury Department sanc- tions by hiring US compa- nies to provide private jets. Before the federal charges were brought in March, the US government had labelled him a “spe- cially designated narcotics trafficker” under the Kingpin Act for allegedly playing a major role in global drug trafficking. Aissami has de- nied that charge. ICE’s list of 10 most wanted fugitives also in- cludes Venezuelan busi- nessman Samark José López Bello, who was charged in New York fed- eral court and designated as narcotics trafficker along with El Aissami. López told The Associ- ated Press he is innocent and the designation issued by US Treasury Department is groundless. “Samark López trusts the US justice system and will seek all available legal avenues to clean his name and resume his busi- nessman activities with total normalcy,” he wrote in a statement. Saunders continues push for healthcare reform JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman’s health insurance system re- mains in urgent need of reform, despite the revelation that private sector profits are much lower than previously thought. That is the verdict of Opposition legislator Chris Saunders, who has led calls for healthcare reform in the Legis- lative Assembly. Statistics from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority showing an an- nual profit of more than $50 million for private sector insurers in 2015 had helped ignite the debate over health- care reform. Saunders, as a member of the Public Accounts Committee, was the first to question the spike in profits. More re- cently, he has been among several poli- ticians, on both sides of the aisle, to call for a national health insurance system. Now CIMA has revised its reporting method and republished the statis- tics, showing that the eight local Class A insurance companies actually made profits of just under $11 million from Cayman customers in 2015. The orig- inal figures included profits from over- seas business. CIMA’s new data shows domestic profits fluctuating between $5.6 million and $16.4 million between 2012 and 2017. Saunders said this week that he was happy to have the figures clarified but disappointed that neither CIMA or the Health Insurance Commission had been able to explain the figures until now. He said the commission, in par- ticular, should have been investigating the apparent spike in profits long be- fore it was highlighted by the Public Accounts Committee. “The best we can do as politicians is go by the public statistics,” Saunders said. “We need good information to make informed decisions and we have to be able to rely on the statistics we are given.” He said the new information did not change his belief that reform is needed. He said CINICO was taking all the high-risk patients while private in- surers draw their customers from the healthy, working age population. He added that government was still left with a $50 million bill to fund care for the uninsured. Saunders believes there needs to be a formula where the risk is shared over the lifetime of the employee, rather than people shifting from private to public insurance when they retire and are in greatest need of healthcare. He said it was difficult for seniors to afford health insurance, with the price of a policy often more than the monthly pension. He believes there are too many pri- vate insurance companies for such a small market and CINICO should be expanded to provide a basic insur- ance to all in Cayman, with the private sector then offering extras. “The basic question we have to ask is, is healthcare a benefit or a right? If it is a right, then we have to make sure it is universal,” he said. “ The best we can do as politicians is go by the public statistics. We need good information to make informed decisions and we have to be able to rely on the statistics we are given.” CHRIS SAUNDERS, Public Accounts Committee member POLICE: MAN WITH MACHETE ROBS LIQUOR STORE A lone male bran- dishing a machete report- edly entered a liquor store on Maclendon Drive in George Town on Tuesday night and stole cash from the register. The Royal Cayman Is- lands Police Service indi- cated officers reported to the scene around 10:10pm. Police described the man as wearing a cream-coloured hoody with a black mask covering his face, and gloves. “He entered the store and held the machete to the employees, and then smashed the glass counter in the store before taking a small amount of cash that was in the cash register. He then made off in a light-col- oured vehicle,” RCIPS said. No one was reported in- jured in the incident. Detectives are seeking assistance on the matter. Anyone with information should contact the George Town Police Station at 949‑4222 or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at 800‑8477. Chris Saunders MEXICAN NEWSPAPER CLOSES PRINT EDITION AFTER ATTACK MEXICO CITY (AP) – A news- paper in the city of Parral in northern Mexico decided to temporarily stop publishing its print edition Wednesday after unidentified assailants tossed gasoline bombs at its office. In an editorial, El Mon- itor de Parral said it will con- tinue with its digital edition, but will not cover any crime stories or news “with a polit- ical slant”. “We will not publish ab- solutely any crime story, no matter how important it might be,” the editorial said. The newspaper referred to an “attack by a group of people” Wednesday, but gave no specifics and no one answered phone calls to its offices. The prosecutors’ office in the northern border state of Chihuahua, where Parral is located, said in a statement that it condemned the attack and promised an “exhaustive investigation”. The office said that just before midnight, “un- identified persons tossed Mol- otov cocktails at the building located on Cerro street down- town, causing damage to sev- eral parts of the structure”. Chihuahua has long been plagued by drug cartel vio- lence. Many newspapers in other border cities have long tacitly refrained from cov- ering crime stories to avoid angering local gangs, but it is rare for a Mexican news- paper to stop publishing, or publicly state it would no longer cover crime. Also Wednesday, au- thorities announced that the body of a Mexican jour- nalist who wrote for an on- line publication was found in southern Mexico. Rogelio Barragán worked for the social media outlet Guerrero al Instante, which roughly translates as ‘Guer- rero Now.’ The publication covers events in the violence- plagued state of Guerrero, but Barragan’s body was found in neighbouring Morelos state. Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission said in a statement that Barragán’s body was found in the trunk of a car Tuesday. The governmental com- mission said nine journal- ists have been killed so far this year.3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2019 New status allows tutoring centres to serve more students MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com Kami Butcher was over- joyed Tuesday morning when she learned that her son can continue to go to school at the Cayman Learning Centre. “That’s fantastic news,” Butcher said, “a huge relief.” Cayman Learning Centre is one of several tutoring centres which had applied for status as an educational institution. Due to changes that were part of the Education Law passed in 2016, such centres, which had previously been allowed to provide full-time schooling to up to five students on ho- meschool status, were told they could no longer do so. The centres serve students with learning disabilities and many of the parents utilising them say the centres are the only places equipped to effec- tively teach their children. Footsteps, another tu- toring centre, has also re- ceived school status, while two others, Clever Fish and High Achievement Academy, are still seeking such approval from the Ministry of Educa- tion’s Education Council. Both Cayman Learning Centre and Footsteps said their new status will allow them to expand beyond the five students they were able to serve full-time in the past. Cayman Learning Centre ex- pects to enrol 21 students. Footsteps officials said they will eventually have 75 stu- dents, although not all will have learning disabilities. Butcher said the ap- proval of the two institu- tions will take some pressure off of parents with special needs children. “I’m really happy they’ve decided this,” Butcher said. “I think it’s in the best in- terest of everybody. I think it’s a win-win all around. For parents, it’s knowing that our kids are in a safe place and being guided in a way that they can learn and grow.” Nicola Sowerby, director of Clever Fish, said the tu- toring centres have filled a part of a gap in Cayman’s ed- ucation system. Increasing the number of students those entities can serve is a good thing, she said. “It will definitely help,” Sowerby said. “There’s obvi- ously a huge need out there. There is a large number of kids that would benefit from these smaller groups.” Sowerby said hers and other centres largely pro- vide support for children with normal IQs, but who have issues with such things as dyslexia, attention def- icit disorder and processing problems. Independent in- spections have shown many schools, particularly govern- ment schools – where 25% of students have been assessed as having special needs – struggle to serve such stu- dents. Sowerby said private schools are limited in their ability to accommodate them. “Parents think the [pri- vate] schools are being harsh or cruel,” she said. “But that’s not the case. There’s really, logistically, only so many of these students you can handle fairly.” Laura Budding, a spokes- woman for Cayman Learning Centre, said the hole in the Cayman system is clear. “I’ve only been on the is- land for three months and it’s glaringly obvious to me,” she said, referring to the demand for special needs assistance. The expansion of the tu- toring centre, she said, will mean adding more teachers and “is just such a good op- portunity for students on the island”. Footsteps director Emma Kendall said while her school will take in main- stream students, it will also continue to serve those with learning disabilities. She expects 10% to 13% of the school’s population to be made up of students with such problems as “ADD, right on through to global devel- opmental delays.” The change, she said, “is going to be a really big step up for us.” And it will be a relief for the parents the agency cur- rently serves. “The kids we have now,” Kendall said, “if we hadn’t gotten approval, they would have nowhere to go.” The centres serve students with learning disabilities and many of the parents utilising them say the centres are the only places equipped to effectively teach their children. Students get individualised attention during a lesson at Cayman Learning Centre.4 LOCAL NEWS THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS Emancipation Day: ‘a bubbling stew’ of Caribbean heritage KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@pinnaclemedialtd.com Much of the Caribbean will honour Emancipation Day this Thursday, 1 Aug., with parties, food and music. The day marks two historic milestones for the British West Indies – the end of slavery in 1834 and the end of apprenticeship in 1838, both on 1 Aug. The path to freedom, however, was a bumpy one and in practice varied from island to island. Caribbean historian and UCCI assistant professor Christopher Williams ex- plains some of the day’s history, its implications in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, and what it means today. Cayman Compass: What is Emancipation Day? Christopher Williams: On 1 Aug. 1834, slaves across the British West In- dies were officially eman- cipated or liberated from slavery. However, that was not the end of it. … Ap- prenticeship followed on the heels of emancipation. Many historians agree that apprenticeship was just an- other form of slavery. The former slaves, now appren- tices, did gain some free- doms but at the end of the day, they could not leave their former master’s prop- erty, now employer’s prop- erty, without express per- mission. They could not seek employment else- where. They did not get paid. They only got paid anything they worked over 40 hours a week. … So that continued for four more years. It was untenable be- cause in the former slave’s mind, freedom should not have looked like appren- ticeship. So many of them, especially in Jamaica and Trinidad, they more or less left. We call that the ‘flight from the estates’ movement. … So [apprenticeship] came crashing down on 1 Aug. 1838. … When we celebrate Emancipation Day, we are not only cel- ebrating 1 Aug. 1834 but 1 Aug. 1838, which more or less spelled out a com- plete and thorough end to slavery. CC: What did apprenticeship look like in Cayman? CW: In Cayman, al- though apprenticeship was instated, it only lasted nine months. So apprenticeship in Cayman came to an end in May 1835. … Cayman does stand out in annals because of this. … Histo- rians and others have ques- tioned why. I have a theory. I think that racial tensions were so high in Cayman … In Cayman’s case, a month following emancipation, a West Indian regiment was sent to Cayman. The at- tachment comprised 30 of- ficers, 10 of them black. They were called black pri- vates. Former Caymanian slave owners at this time are looking at this and they are like, what? Black pri- vates to preserve law and order here? So there was conflict from the get go. A number of instances come to mind. Former Cayma- nian slave owners made it difficult for black pri- vates, so much so that the following year, two of the 10 black privates found themselves in jail, one on trumped up charges of lar- ceny, the other on trumped up charges of rape. So even- tually, these black privates had to be removed. Beyond that, Cayman apprentices, they had de- veloped this sort of bold character. They realised that they were free and … they became bold and confrontational. … An ap- prentice and her now em- ployer, former slave owner, they get into an argument. The employer, in a fit of rage, he decides to locate one of the apprentice’s pigs and more or less slaugh- ters it right before her eyes. … So she enters his house. She finds his fat- test chicken. She comes out with it. She snaps its neck and says, there. … I am of the opinion that this sort of racial conflict, it had to be defused. Because, in Ja- maica for instance, most apprentices were not facing their masters down. They were running away. When you are running away from some, the conflict is still there but the conflict is not as sharp. … But in Cayman there was a sort of face off. I think it was for this reason that Governor Sligo of Jamaica decided that something had to be done. … It was sort of to defuse the conflict. CC: How is Emancipation Day honoured now? CW: It’s a time to party. … Usually people in the Ja- maican diaspora, they fly home and it’s very colourful. So you have these street par- ties. People get together. It’s a celebration because people are, in effect, celebrating the fact that their enslaved an- cestors were liberated. It’s symbolic. … I think the importance is commemoration. So you remember not necessarily what happened back then or the enslaved experience, but you remember the essence of emancipation. So I think it’s also a point of pride and patriotism. CC: What is the essence of Emancipation Day? CW: For me, when I think about Emancipation Day, I think about duality. I think that emancipation is such a loaded word. It is such a subjective word. In terms of history, it meant different things depending on where you were, so- cially speaking. So, when I think about emancipation, I think about conflict but I also think about triumph. In other words, you look at what happened, you look at how these slaves were treated even after the fact of slavery, but you think, OK, but we are still here or their progeny – folks like me – we are still here. When I think about emancipation, as well, I cannot help but to consider culture – culture from that creolised sense. … So, folks from the Old World, Euro- peans and Africans, they came over, they interacted – of course, it was not an equal interaction because the Europeans were the slave masters and the Afri- cans were the slaves – but regardless, this interaction led to a new culture. So, I’m not African, even though I have African an- cestry and I look it. But, I’m not African. I’ve never been. I’m not European ei- ther even though I have an EU passport. But I think, if not for that disparate inter- action at an earlier time, I would not be here. I would not have the accent that I have. I would not like the food that I do …. So, there’s that European part and there’s that African part. If not for that interaction, we would not be here …. CC: Give us an example of that interaction. CW: I like to use jerk chicken as an example. Where is jerk chicken coming from? You hear jerk chicken and you think Ja- maica. But it’s a creolised thing … because the Tainos, they are the ones who came up with the barbacoa idea, whereby you are roasting meat outside over a spit. The Europeans come along, they like that idea, but it’s too wet for them. They pre- ferred the drying aspect, like beef jerky. African slaves come along. They like the boucan or barbacoa method and they say, oh no, no, it’s not spicy enough. So that is where the Scotch bonnet pepper came in and the all- spice. So when I think about jerk, I think about this. It’s a constituent of different cul- tural influences that have more or less led to jerk. In my mind, when I think emancipation, I see it as a stew, a bubbling stew. Some folks would think ‘freedom’, but there is so much more under the surface that is not necessarily harkening back to the past. … Life has not been easy for Jamai- cans. But Jamaica has been on the up, it’s safe to say …. Even though problems per- sist, there is that hope, there is that idea that, no, we are not lesser than. We just have to get our stuff together and look forward. Hope. Emancipation Day is not the only festive day for the Jamaican community this week. Tuesday, 6 Aug. marks Jamaica’s independence in 1962 from the United Kingdom. For more information on celebrations in Cayman, including Jamaica Culture Day on 2 Aug. and celebrations on 4 Aug., see the Cayman Compass Community Calendar on page 6. “ I think the importance is commemoration. So you remember not necessarily what happened back then or the enslaved experience, but you remember the essence of emancipation.” CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS, UCCI assistant professor UCCI assistant professor Christopher Williams PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Compass Media Limited Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town, Cayman Islands SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman, KY1-1108 Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@compassmedia.ky ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@compassmedia.ky Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHER KATHLEEN CAPETTA EDITOR CATHERINE MACGILLIVRAY A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way”5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2019 GOVERNANCE ORGANISATION REVITALISED As an initial step in a number of upcoming initi- atives to alert people to its work, ICSA: The Governance Institute held a luncheon at- tended by Helen Spiegel, legal counsel at the Cayman Is- lands Monetary Authority, and institute representa- tives Simon Osborne and John Heaton. Spiegel addressed the local regulatory environment in re- lation to corporate governance at the luncheon at the George Town Yacht Club on 20 July. Osborne, the institute’s CEO, and Heaton, president of the UK, Republic of Ireland and Associated Territories branch of ICSA, who were both visiting from London, spoke about the road ahead for the institute. The ICSA, which stands for the Institute for Chartered Secretaries and Administra- tors, was formed in Cayman in 1999/2000, but has been dormant since 2004’s Hur- ricane Ivan. Helen Spiegel of CIMA, far left; Simon Osborne, ICSA Chief Executive, second from right; John Heaton, ICSA UKRIAT president, fifth from right; and Dawn Major of CIMA, third from right; with ICSA members at a luncheon at the George Town Yacht Club on 20 July. Automated kiosks in works for airport security KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@pinnaclemedialtd.com An automated kiosk system for immigration and border control is expected to be piloted for travellers en- tering Owen Roberts Interna- tional Airport. The Ministry of Employ- ment and Border Control will accept proposals from bidders on the project until Monday, 5 Aug., with the hope of executing an agreement for four kiosks by 6 Sept. The pilot stage will pro- vide insight on the viability of launching more kiosks on a permanent basis. Ultimately, government aims to install 12 to 18 automated kiosks. The proposal request de- scribed the pilot programme as a response to anticipated growth in air arrivals, with the objective of promoting se- curity and border manage- ment efforts by Customs and Border Control. The request for proposals asks bidders to include fea- tures of the automated system such as validation of passports and eligibility for entry, facial verification of travellers, recording entry of travellers and registration of customs declarations. Kiosks are expected to come equipped with finger- print readers and cross ref- erencing capabilities with watch lists. During the pilot phase, the kiosks are not expected The kiosks will be able to check passports and eligibility for entry to the Cayman Islands. Cayman Marl Road sued over firearm allegation KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@pinnaclemedialtd.com Blake Ducharme and Black Gold Investments have filed suit against Sandra Hill and her web- site Cayman Marl Road, calling for a permanent in- junction against publica- tion of a libellous article. A writ of summons stamped 22 July claims unspecified damages for a 13 July post by Cayman Marl Road in relation to a story on firearms and cus- toms duty offences. “The emergence of an- other case of alleged pref- erential treatment has people in the commu- nity questioning the une- qual application of justice in the Cayman Islands,” a related Facebook post by Marl Road read. While the Facebook post remains online, as of Wednesday, the article no longer appeared on the Cayman Marl Road web- site. The original link leads to a redirect page that reads, “Page not found.” Following the an- nouncement of Ducha- rme’s lawsuit, Marl Road published to Facebook on 25 July that the article would not be coming down and that Hill was prepared to go to jail. “BREAKING NEWS: Mil- lionaire Blake Ducharme sues CMR to take down story about firearm and customs duty questions and possible government corruption,” the post stated. The post called Ducha- rme’s suit an effort to si- lence the media. Preliminary inquiry held in smuggling case SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com A preliminary inquiry was held Wednesday to de- termine whether the case of four men who were allegedly involved in smuggling cash into Cayman will proceed as planned. Patrick Moran, the di- rector of the Office of Public Prosecutions, spent Wednesday morning going over the crown’s case in front of Magistrate Valdis Foldats. Moran cited a va- riety of sources including paperwork, text messages, plane logs, shipping invoices and transcripts from de- fendant interviews. All four defendants and their respective attorneys were present for Wednes- day’s proceeding. Pedro Jose Benavides Natera and Juan Carlos Gonzales Infante – the pi- lots of the plane in which US$135,000 of undeclared cash was found secreted under the floorboards – have been charged with being engaged in smuggling and use or control of crim- inal property. They were originally set to begin trial on 17 July, but that trial date was vacated. Two additional defend- ants – Daniel Aguilar-Ferri- ozzi and Francisco Ventura Herrera – have been charged with money laundering in the case. Aguilar-Ferriozzi and Herrera were passengers aboard the private plane that allegedly brought $4 mil- lion worth of gold to the Cayman Islands. All four of the defendants are Venezuelan nationals. The gold involved in the case was seized at Heathrow Airport by UK Border Force officers in June. to offer fingerprint matching technology but that will be a long-term goal of the system. Language options offered by the kiosks would include, as a minimum, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Chinese. To comply with Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act standards, government has also requested the system offer accommodations such as text-to-speech func- tionality, headphone jacks, volume control, height ad- justment for wheelchairs and Braille. The selected bidder will provide training on the system and its central man- agement system. Government aims for the kiosks to aid in streamlining work processes with the ability for workers to extract data on transaction times and performance. Bidders will be evalu- ated on pricing, experience, resources, maintenance and customer service support. For more information on the request for proposals, visit government’s Public Purchasing Portal at https://cayman.bonfirehub.com/portal. Following the announcement of Ducharme’s lawsuit, Marl Road published to Facebook on 25 July that the article would not be coming down and that Hill was prepared to go to jail.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 Community CALENDAR ■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR is published TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS. It is available to charitable or non-profit organisations. Items should be submitted at least three working days before publication. Information must include name of sender, signature and contact number. ■ Items may be brought to the Cayman Compass office on Shedden Road or emailed to cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com at least three days in advance of publication. THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS THURSDAY, 1 AUG. ROTARACT MIXER: Those between the ages of 18‑30 are invited to join Rotaract Blue and Rotaract Club of Grand Cayman at KARoo in Camana Bay for a networking mixer. This event is perfect for the young adult looking to give back to their community, make new friends and find out more about Rotaract. The event starts at 5:30pm. RSVP on Facebook at facebook.com/ rotaractblue. POWER OUTAGE: Caribbean Utilities Company advises customers that they will experience service interruptions at Mount Pleasant Road and The Shores between 9am and 3pm today while the company carries out overhead infrastructure upgrades. Areas affected include Mount Pleasant Road between the junction of Meadow Lane and the junction of Parkview Crescent, including Pleasant Drive, Avoce Lane and Leona Lane. Residents on Parkview Crescent will not be affected. Residents on Meadow Avenue east to The Shores will experience interruptions for one hour between 9‑10am. This includes Meadow Avenue, Brokah Close, Up the Hill Road, Coppice Lane, Glade Drive, Pleasant Hill Road, Bonneville Drive, Adonis Drive, Lynette Crescent, Yates Drive, Shorelink Terrace, Radiant Lane, Bayshore Drive, Shorescape Lane, Shorewinds Trail, Shoreview Point, Shoreline Drive and Shorecrest Circle. For more information, contact CUC’s Customer Service Team at 949‑5200 or email service@cuc.ky. FRIDAY, 2 AUG. JAMAICA CULTURE DAY: Cardinall Avenue, George Town, 7am–3pm, showcasing Jamaican food, products, arts and craft, along with a free health check. In the evening the celebration continues with a free concert at Crown Square Parking Lot on Eastern Avenue. The general public is invited to come out and join the celebrations and admission is free to both events. Contact Aldington Stephenson (aka Banny) on 916‑0890 for more information. CIMA STUDENT MIXER: The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority is hosting a student mixer today at the Marriott Beach Resort, 3‑5pm. This interactive platform will give college‑ bound students (ages 16–25) a chance to meet potential employers, learn about the importance of the financial services industry and how it contributes to the standard of living in the Cayman Islands. The event will include refreshments, prizes and giveaways. For more information or to RSVP, visit www.cima.ky. CULTURE READING CHALLENGE: The Cayman Brac Heritage House and Cayman Brac Public Library Culture Reading Challenge takes place from 2‑15 Aug. Call 948‑0563. SUMMER FOOTBALL CAMP: The Sports Department of Cayman Brac hosts a summer football camp 2‑5 Aug. from 8:30am to noon for ages 7‑16. Call 948‑8382. ROCK & ROLL BINGO: The Kiwanis of Grand Cayman is hosting Rock & Roll Bingo tonight at 7pm, poolside at Sunshine Grill, featuring hits from the past 40 years. $5 per bingo card. Proceeds will be used to support various Kiwanis of Grand Cayman projects. RSVP to dconturner@gmail.com. SATURDAY, 3 AUG. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: The George Town Revitalisation Initiative is holding its first ‘Saturday Night Live in George Town’ at Hog Sty Bay from 4‑11pm. The event will create a modern downtown waterfront atmosphere filled with live music, local artisans and tapas‑style Caymanian food. Bring your family and friends and enjoy a celebration of George Town. SUNDAY, 4 AUG. JAMAICA INDEPENDENCE SERVICE: St. George’s Anglican Church, Courts Road, off Eastern Avenue, starting at 8am. The Jamaican Consulate will share the Prime Minister’s Independence Day Message. JAMAICA INDEPENDENCE ALL DAY EVENT: Lions Centre, George Town. The events planned include 6‑8am aerobics, followed by a prayer breakfast and later a talent show. The Gospel Fest in the evening will showcase local and international artists. Admission is $25 and $30 at the gate. Call Michelle Durrant (aka Michelle T) on 922‑0492 for more information. ASTRONOMY VIEWING: The Cayman Islands Astronomical Society holds its monthly public astronomy viewing session at 7:30‑9:30pm, on the lawn at Pedro Castle, where it will be keeping a close‑up view of the waxing crescent moon, Jupiter and Saturn, as well as any shooting stars from the Perseids meteor shower, one of the brighter meteor showers of the year. They occur every year between 17 July and 24 Aug. and tend to peak around 9‑13 Aug. Event will be cancelled if there is more than 50% cloud cover. MONDAY, 5 AUG. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL: The Good News Baptist Church will hold a Vacation Bible School on 5‑9 Aug. The theme is ‘Incredible Race’. 6‑8:30pm. Ages 4‑12. Call 926‑3249. WEDNESDAY, 7 AUG. STROKE AND STRIDE: The first of a three‑part series of fundraiser races to support young triathletes and community charities will be held today for swimmers and runners. The swim distance increases each week while the run stays the same at 2 miles. Participate in 1, 2 or 3 of the races – individually or as a team. Race 1 is held today and consists of a 400‑metre swim and a 2‑mile run; Race 2 is on 14 Aug., a 600‑metre swim and 2‑mile run; and Race 3 is on 21 Aug., an 800‑metre swim and 2‑mile run. All races begin at 5:45pm at Sunset House. Entry fees are: Individuals, $15 per race/$35 for all 3; Teams, $25 per race/$60 all 3. Triathlon Association Membership required and is available for $15 at registration. YOUNG MEN AT RISK: The Community Affairs Ministry and the Alex Panton Foundation host a presentation on Young Men at Risk from 6:30‑8pm at the South Sound Civic Centre. THURSDAY, 8 AUG. TECH TALK: Join Digital Cayman and Cayman Tech City at South West Collective for a round table discussion about building a tech community. Admission is free. Doors open at 6:00pm, and the discussion starts at 6:30pm. SUNDAY, 11 AUG. ENVIROWALK: The rescheduled EnviroWalk Environmental 5K Walk/Run, sponsored by Miss World Cayman Islands, F45 and Flowers Bottled Water, will be held at 7am at SafeHaven. The previous planned event was postponed due to the weather. All are invited. Bring your water bottle, hats, sunscreen and comfortable walking shoes. The entry fee is $25 for adults and $12 for those 12 and under. SATURDAY, 17 AUG. CHARITY TRUNK SALE: All registration fees will go to benefit the Cayman Islands Cancer Society. The sale will be held at the parking lot of the CIBC FirstCaribbean Main Street branch. 6‑10am. Sellers should arrive by 5:30am and be set up no later than 6am. Vendor entry fee is $25. The deadline to register a space is 2pm, Friday, 16 Aug. Call 815‑2405 or 815‑2407 or email shadden. mclaughlin@cibcfcib.com or joy.anglin@cibcfcib.com to reserve a space. SUMMER FAMILY FUN DAY: The National Gallery is hosting a Summer Fun Family Day today from 10am to 1pm. Free family fun art activities based on the exhibition ‘Tropical Visions’. Art activities will be available for children of all ages and self‑guided activity booklets can be collected at reception for families to use as they explore. Admission is free and open to all ages. FRIDAY, 23 AUG SENIORS TOUR AND TEA PARTY: The National Gallery and EY welcome seniors for a morning of art and conversation. Beginning with a tour of the exhibition ‘Tropical Visions: Landscape Painting from the National Collection’ with a chance to share stories and memories inspired by the artwork. This will be followed by tea service with refreshments and pastries in the Gallery gardens. Admission is free thanks to sponsorship of EY Cayman. RSVP by calling 945‑8111 or emailing receptionvolunteer@ nationalgallery.org.ky by 19 Aug. Transportation assistance can be arranged if requested. GENERAL INTEREST YMCA SUMMER CAMPS: Camps will take place from 2 July to 23 Aug. across three locations – Field of Dreams, Camana Bay Sports Complex and the Youth Centre at the Cayman Islands Baptist Church in Savannah. For more information, visit www.ymcacayman.ky. On‑site registration is open weekdays from 9am to 5pm at the Field of Dreams. The Day Camp team can also be reached at ysummercamp@ ymcacayman.ky. To find out about financial assistance, which is available for families in need, email info@ymcacayman.ky. COUNSELLING SERVICES: The Family Resource Centre and the Counselling Centre have moved. They are now with the Department of Counselling Services at their new home on Mary Street, at 87 West Apollo House. Hours are Mondays and Fridays from 9am to 1pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays 9am to 7pm, and Wednesdays 9am to 4pm. SQUASH CLUB: The Cayman Islands Squash Club hosts a social evening for women on the last Tuesday of every month at 6:30pm, and holds squash beginner lessons for adults every Monday at 7pm. For more information, email info@squash.ky. PIRATES WEEK VENDORS: Food and craft vendors interested in participating in the upcoming Pirates Week Festival can reserve stalls. Food Festival dates are 8, 9 and 11 Nov. A valid DEH Food Handling Certificate must accompany completed application forms. All food vendors must use biodegradable containers and utensils (available from Pirates Week Festival office – limited supply). Space is limited, please register early. Download the application form at www.piratesweekfestival.com/ participate. To learn more call 949‑5078 or info@ piratesweekfestival.com. LOCAL HARVEST MARKET: Local farmers sell their produce and farmed goods at Camana Bay on Wednesdays from 10am to 3pm in Heliconia Court (located next to Scotiabank). COMMUNITY CHESS: Tuesdays 5‑8pm, West Indies Wine Company. Join the Cayman Chess Club for a complimentary chess class and open challenges weekly. Anyone can learn to play and enjoy chess, even beginners. ART OPEN CANVAS: At KARoo Restaurant in Camana Bay, Wednesdays 7‑11pm. Artists of all levels are welcome to come and enjoy painting and socialising with other artists. Includes use of easels, lights, space and a beverage ticket. No fee. For more information, contact info@visualartcayman.com or jar.was@gmail.com. VISUAL ARTS SOCIETY: Adult Open Studio available to those who want to work independently in an inspiring atmosphere. Wednesdays for adults, 9am till noon. Thursdays Adults and Youth, 10am till noon. Watler House Art Studio, Pedro St. James. Fee is $5/$15 pp for ceramics. $15/$25 pp non‑members. Includes use of studio, glazes and ceramic tools. Clay available $30 per bag/fee for kiln usage. To register, call 546‑9422 or email info@visualartcayman.com. ART AT THE STRAND: Every Saturday, from 3pm to sunset, the Visual Arts Society hosts a local art market featuring artists displaying arts, crafts, paintings, prints, hand‑ crafted jewellery and ceramics for sale in front of the Lodge/Eco‑Den, who is offering 2‑4‑1 drinks, pub food and homemade treats, smoothies, and speciality coffees/teas. For more information or to become a displaying artist, email info@visualartcayman.com. For more Community Calendar events, visit www.caymancompass.com/events. A number of events are being organised this month to celebrate Jamaican independence.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2019 would be called. “It [the constitution] does not say ‘almost 25% of the electors’, and so the only way one can validate whether the test of ‘not less than 25 per- cent’ is truly met is to vali- date every signature. “We are small enough and have the ability to carry out this nec- essary verification to con- form to the requirements of the constitution. Undoubt- edly, despite the early noise, this is proving true with no issues and with no interfer- ence or intimidation as some proffered as inevitable in this process.” The premier went on to refer to more than 600 sig- natures submitted with the petition that had been dis- counted as either duplicates or belonging to people not registered as voters. The referendum cam- paign said they believed he was referring to signatures they had highlighted them- selves when they submitted the petition. Elections Supervisor Wesley Howell confirmed that the group had indeed highlighted 241 signatures as “multiple submissions” and 374 signatures as not corre- sponding with the electoral roll in its initial submission of more than 6,000 names. These were discounted be- fore the process began and were not included in the total 5,438 signatures submitted for verification. Howell said the same pro- cess had taken place with the additional list of names sub- mitted by the group. The ad- dition list of 229 signatures were handed over by CPR Cayman, of which 30 were identified in advance by the group as being invalid. Howell said, “With each of the submissions, the CPR performed its own assess- ment on its petition signa- tures to help in ensuring va- lidity of the process; and the CPR team worked to elimi- nate the names of non-voters, in keeping with Section 70 of the Cayman Islands Constitu- tion Order 2009. “I would like to thank the CPR team for their continued support in helping to expe- dite the verification process.” Officials are continuing to review the 1,932 signatures currently remaining to be verified. A total of 1,587 veri- fication forms still need to be confirmed for a referendum to take place. McLaughlin said at Mon- day’s press conference that government would not try to prevent a referendum if the signatures are verified. He said speculation that they would try to interfere with the petition verification pro- cess was unfounded. not conclude until ear- lier this year. ‘Dangerous’ substance Magistrate McFarlane said that after consid- ering a significant amount of evidence, she was satis- fied that Baldovino had ad- ministered a “dangerous” substance in a way that was negligent. “She plainly owed each complainant a duty of care”, the magis- trate said as she delivered her verdict. “That duty of care was breached.” Magistrate McFarlane found that administering the substance – which was found to be consistent with silicone or a silicone filler – endangered the safety of the two complainants. At minimum, said Magis- trate McFarlane, an infec- tion was caused as a result of the reaction to the sub- stance injected. The court heard the tes- timony of five medical doc- tors during the course of the trial. More than one of the doctors indicated that they believed the substance injected was silicone or a silicone filler. Magistrate McFarlane said Wednesday that al- though they could not be certain the same sub- stance was used on both complainants, there is sufficient circumstan- tial evidence to make that very likely. Verdict read in absentia The sentencing oc- curred at 9:30am, and after waiting about 15 minutes for the defendant to arrive, Magistrate McFarlane told defence counsel Jonathon Hughes that she would like to proceed in her absence. The magistrate read the verdict and said she would swear out a warrant for the defendant’s arrest. “I’m not prepared to grant unconditional bail going forward,” said Mag- istrate McFarlane prior to swearing out the war- rant. “I’m more minded than not to consider bail in some form.” Magistrate McFarlane said that Baldovino would be sentenced on 11 Sept. Guilty verdicts reached in beautician case Magistrate McFarlane said that Baldovino would be sentenced on 11 Sept. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Referendum petition passes 70% mark CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 North Korea launches 2 more missiles, Seoul says SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s military said North Korea conducted its second weapons test in less than a week Wednesday, firing two short-range ballistic mis- siles off its east coast in a move observers said could be aimed at boosting pressure on the United States as the ri- vals struggle to set up fresh nuclear talks. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a state- ment that the missiles were launched from Wonsan, a city the North pushes as a vacation destination but that it also uses as a regular launch site. It said both missiles were believed to have flown about 155 miles at a maximum alti- tude of 19 miles, and that the South Korean and US mili- taries were trying to gather more details. The test, which would be yet another North Korean vio- lation of UN Security Council resolutions, comes as the coun- try’s negotiations with the US over its nuclear weapons pro- gramme are at a stalemate and as Pyongyang has expressed anger over planned US-South Korean military drills. “The North’s repeated mis- sile launches are not helpful to efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and we urge [North Korea] to stop this kind of behaviour,” the South Ko- rean statement said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that the launches were “no threat to Japanese national security”. Last Thursday, North Korea fired two short-range bal- listic missiles that Seoul offi- cials said flew 370 miles and as high as 30 miles before landing in the sea. North Korea’s state media said those tests were super- vised by leader Kim Jong Un and were designed to de- liver a “solemn warning” to South Korea over its purchase of high-tech US-made fighter jets and the planned military drills, which Pyongyang calls an invasion rehearsal. Even though North Korea is banned by the UN from using ballistic technology in any weapons launches, it’s un- likely that the nation, already under 11 rounds of UN sanc- tions, will be hit with more punitive measures. Past sanc- tions were imposed only when the North conducted long- range ballistic launches. Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters Wednesday that the most re- cently launched weapons did not reach Japan’s exclusive economic zone and that offi- cials were still analysing de- tails, including the flight dis- tance and trajectory. “It is extremely regret- table that North Korea con- tinues firing the missiles that violate the UN resolutions,” Iwaya said. Hua Chunying, a spokes- woman from the Chinese for- eign ministry, said that China noted the launches and the re- sponses of all sides, and that the “political settlement on the [Korean] Peninsula is currently in a critical stage”. China is North Korea’s most important economic and diplomatic ally. “We hope that all par- ties concerned will cherish the hard-won alleviations and jointly make positive efforts to promote denuclearisation and realize lasting peace on the peninsula and in the region,” Hua told reporters at a daily news briefing. Observers say a low alti- tude flight by the missiles in- dicate North Korea may have been testing their ability to avoid being intercepted. Earlier last week, Kim vis- ited a newly built submarine and expressed his satisfac- tion with its weapons system. North Korea said its deploy- ment was “near at hand”. In a private briefing to lawmakers Wednesday, South Korean military intelligence officers said they have de- termined that the submarine likely has three launch tubes for missiles, according to Lee Hye-hoon, head of parliament’s intelligence committee. If con- firmed, it would be North Ko- rea’s first operational subma- rine with missile launch tubes, some experts said. North Korea acquiring the ability to launch mis- siles from submarines would be an alarming development because such missiles are harder to detect in advance. Experts say the submarine North Korea used to test- fire missiles in recent years should be regarded as a test platform with a single launch tube. They say other North Korean submarines only have torpedo launch tubes. People watch a TV showing an image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program Wednesday at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. – PHOTO: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS BA loses bid to block pilot strike British Airways has failed to block pilots from going on strike in a long- standing pay dispute. The airline lost a bid in the Court of Appeal on Wednesday seeking a temporary injunction to prevent strikes by pilots based at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Boris Johnson visits Belfast as Brexit woes hit UK economy More than 20 charged with rioting appear in Hong Kong court HONG KONG (AP) – Charges were read Wednesday against more than 20 Hong Kong pro- testers who have been ac- cused of rioting – the most serious charge brought since mass demonstrations began in the city last month. Standing in a heavy rain, supporters rallied outside the court and chanted “Reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” in what has become a familiar refrain. They are pro- testing China’s influence in the city, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory with its own laws and legal system. Police said late Tuesday that 44 people had been charged with rioting and one other with possessing offensive weapons. The ac- cused set up roadblocks, broke fences, damaged street signs and attacked police of- ficers with bricks and iron rods, law enforcement said in a statement. Only 23 appeared in court Wednesday, and all were re- leased on bail. They have to hand over their travel docu- ments and are not allowed to go out in the hours from midnight to 6am. Their sen- tencing is scheduled for 25 Sept. It was not clear when the others charged will appear in court. They were detained after clashes with police at an un- authorised protest in the western part of Hong Kong island on Sunday, when po- lice repeatedly fired tear gas and rubber bullets to drive back protesters blocking the streets with road signs and umbrellas. Police issued warnings before using the tear gas, but protesters stood their ground and threw eggs at the officers. The large demonstra- tions started last month as a movement against now-sus- pended extradition legisla- tion, and have since grown to encompass broader de- mands around greater de- mocracy and government accountability. The protests have been propelled by an underlying distrust for the ruling Com- munist Party on the main- land, where speech is tightly controlled and dissenters are routinely jailed. News of the charges prompted quickly organised protests outside two police stations late Tuesday. Several hundred people gathered in the streets out- side the Kwai Chung police station. Some threw eggs at the building, while police used pepper spray to try to disperse them. Some had cordoned off an area at a subway station covered in shattered glass where they said an officer had used a firearm. Fireworks were set off just before 3am at another police station, injuring six men. Video footage on social media appeared to show a car driving by the Tin Shui Wai police station as fire- works flared where pro- testers were gathered. Five people were taken to a hospital and the sixth man declined medical treat- ment at the scene, police said. It was not clear who was responsible. As the demonstration seeped into the early hours of Wednesday, protesters and supporters remained highly wary of being identified by the authorities and suf- fering potential retribution at their places of work and study. Volunteers handed out face masks and single-trip subway fare cards that would prevent riders being identi- fied and their trips logged in a central data base, while drivers who had taped paper over their license plates of- fered rides home. Hong Kong lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki told reporters that the prosecution of protesters and use of police force will only make the situation worse. He blamed Beijing-appointed Chief Executive Carrie Lam. “The origin of all the vio- lence is Carrie Lam and the very controversial extradi- tion bill,” he said, adding “she should come out today to answer to all the requests of most of the people in Hong Kong”. Kwok also criticised Chi- na’s repeated statements supporting police efforts to quell the protests, saying Chinese backing would not heal the city. Police have been deploying an increasing range of crowd control measures, including tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, shotgun beanbag rounds and sponge grenades fired from barrel-mounted grenade launchers. LONDON (AP) – New British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday fin- ished his rocky debut tour of the UK in Northern Ireland, where he faces a doubly dif- ficult challenge: restoring the collapsed Belfast government and finding a solution for the Irish border after Brexit. Since he took office a week ago, Johnson has been touring England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but it has not been a trium- phal parade. After facing pro- tests and political opposi- tion in Scotland and Wales, Johnson met Wednesday with the leaders of Northern Ireland’s five main polit- ical parties in hopes of kick-starting efforts to re- store the suspended Belfast administration. Northern Ireland’s 1.8 million people have been without a functioning admin- istration for 2½ years, ever since the Catholic-Protestant power-sharing government collapsed over a botched green-energy project. The rift soon widened to broader cul- tural and political issues sep- arating Northern Ireland’s British unionists and Irish nationalists. Johnson said he would “do everything I can to help that get up and running again, because I think that’s profoundly in the interests of people here, of all the citizens here in Northern Ireland”. But a breakthrough did not look imminent. Oppo- nents say Johnson cannot play a constructive role in Northern Ireland because his Conservative govern- ment relies on support from the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest of Northern Ireland’s pro-British par- ties. Without the votes of the DUP’s 10 lawmakers in London, Johnson’s minority government would collapse. Critics say that gives the pro-Brexit DUP an oversized influence with the British government, unsettling the delicate balance of power in Northern Ireland. Mary Lou McDonald, leader of the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, accused Johnson of being the DUP’s ‘gofer’. “He tells us he will act with absolute impartiality. We have told him that no- body believes that,” she said. Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union has strained the bonds among the four nations that make-up the UK. A majority of voters in England and Wales backed leaving in the referendum, while those in Scotland and Northern Ire- land voted to remain. Scotland’s nationalist gov- ernment wants to hold a vote on independence from the UK if Scotland is dragged out of the EU against its will. Simi- larly, nationalists in Northern Ireland argue there should be a referendum on unifica- tion with the Irish republic if there is a damaging no- deal Brexit. Johnson insists the UK will leave the EU on the sched- uled date of 31 Oct., with or without a divorce deal. Econ- omists say a no-deal Brexit would be economically dam- aging for the whole UK and politically destabilising for Northern Ireland, the only part of the UK to share a land border with the bloc. DUP leader Arlene Foster downplayed the risk of a no- deal Brexit, saying Johnson was “focused on finding a deal and we’re here to help him find that deal”. She said Brexit must be carried out “in a way that does no damage either to the UK, the Republic of Ireland – our neighbours – or the wider European Union”. A divorce agreement be- tween the UK and the EU has foundered largely be- cause of the complex issue of the 300-mile border be- tween Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. An invis- ible border is crucial to the regional economy and under- pins the peace process that ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Both Britain and the EU have promised there will be no hard border after Brexit, but they disagree about how to avoid it. The EU and Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, came up with a solution known as the backstop – an insurance policy to guarantee an open border if no other solution can be found. But British Brexit-backers loathe the backstop because it locks Britain into EU trade rules to avoid customs checks, something they say will stop the UK from striking new trade deals. Johnson is refusing to hold new talks with EU leaders unless they agree to scrap the backstop and sent Europe adviser David Frost to Brussels on Wednesday to deliver that message. Johnson’s office said Frost would tell EU officials that “we will work energeti- cally for a deal but the back- stop must be abolished. If we are not able to reach an agreement, then we will, of course, have to leave the EU without a deal”. The bloc is equally ada- mant that Brexit deal will not be reopened and the back- stop must stay. The stalemate has sent the pound plunging to its lowest levels in more than two years, as economists warn a no- deal Brexit would disrupt trade and send Britain into a deep recession. The currency was trading around $1.22 Wednesday, up slightly from a day earlier but still its lowest level since March 2017. Business confidence has also been battered. Brit- ain’s auto trade body said Wednesday that investment in the industry effectively stopped in the first half of this year amid no-deal fears. The Society of Motor Man- ufacturers and Traders said companies made just 90 mil- lion pounds (US$110 million) of new investments between January and June, compared with an average annual total of 2.7 billion pounds. Car production dropped 20.1% in the first half of 2019. “The fear of no deal is causing investors to sit on their hands,” said chief exec- utive Mike Hawes. On his tour of the UK, Johnson was booed by pro- testers in both the Scottish city of Edinburgh and the Welsh city of Cardiff. He was also accused of playing ‘Rus- sian roulette’ with the ag- riculture industry by Welsh farmers who face high tariffs on their exports to Europe if there is a no-deal Brexit. A variety of protesters greeted Johnson Wednesday in Northern Ireland, including border residents, steelworkers at a Belfast shipyard threat- ened with closure and anti- Brexit demonstrators. After the meetings, Nichola Mallon, deputy leader of the Irish nationalist SDLP party, said Johnson “gave us bluff and bluster around Brexit”. “We went into this meeting concerned that he would have a limited under- standing of the complexities and the fragility of this place and those concerns have been confirmed,” she said. The protests have been propelled by an underlying distrust for the ruling Communist Party on the mainland, where speech is tightly controlled and dissenters are routinely jailed. Northern Ireland’s Sinn Fein party president Mary Lou McDonald speaks to the media after her Wednesday meeting with Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Stormont House in Belfast. – PHOTO: AP9 WORLD®IONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2019 Bangladesh grapples with record dengue outbreak 2nd Ebola death in Congo’s city of Goma KINSHASA, Congo (AP) – The man who became the second confirmed Ebola case in Con- go’s major crossroads city of Goma has died, officials said Wednesday, adding that he may never have known he had the virus. The case renewed fears in the bustling city on the Rwandan border that has an international airport, and it complicated efforts to contain a year-long out- break already challenged by rebel attacks and commu- nity mistrust. The man in his 40s was a miner returning home from an area of northeastern Ituri province where no Ebola cases in this outbreak have been recorded, World Health Organization officials told re- porters. He could have been exposed to Ebola anywhere between Komanda and Goma, a city of more than 2 mil- lion people, as he took motor taxis over a number of days through the densely popu- lated region at the heart of the outbreak, WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said. The man arrived in Goma on 13 July and started showing symptoms on July 22. He was isolated at an Ebola treatment centre on Tuesday. He had spent five days being treated at home and then went to a health facility, where Ebola was suspected. “He may not even have been aware of the expo- sure that he had,” Ryan said, adding that the man’s poten- tial contacts were being iden- tified and given an experi- mental but effective Ebola vaccine. Symptoms such as fever can be confused with malaria, which is endemic in the region. Congo’s Ebola response coordinator, Jean-Jacques Muyembe, said the man died on Wednesday morning, a day after his case was announced. “Yesterday he was in a crit- ical state,” Muyembe told The Associated Press. Ebola symp- toms can start to occur be- tween two and 21 days from infection, health experts say. Muyembe has said there appears to be no link between the case and the previous one in Goma that was announced two and a half weeks ago. The second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history was declared a rare global health emergency days after the first case was confirmed in Goma, a scenario that health officials had long feared. More than 1,700 people have been killed in this outbreak declared on 1 Aug. 2018. Muyembe in announcing Goma’s second case told reporters that the man’s house and the health centre he first visited were being disinfected. “There is no need to panic,” he said. On Wednesday he told reporters that he believes this out- break can be ended in three or four months. But WHO’s regional di- rector for Africa, Mat- shidiso Moeti, said the con- cern as Ebola enters its second year is that the virus again will spread into one or more of Congo’s nine neigh- bouring countries. In June, three people died in Uganda before other family members were taken back to Congo for treatment and Ugandan officials de- clared the country was again free of the disease. WHO says the risk of re- gional spread remains “very high”. Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan began vacci- nating health workers weeks or months ago. The declaration of a global health emergency – just the fifth in history – brought a surge of millions of dollars in new pledges by international donors but some health workers say a new approach is needed to combat misunderstandings in the community. DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Bangladesh is facing its worst-ever dengue fever out- break as hospitals are flooded with patients, putting a severe strain on the country’s already overwhelmed medical system. The mosquito-borne viral infection has spread across the country, with 61 out of 64 districts reporting dengue cases by late Tuesday. The government has con- firmed 15,369 dengue cases since 1 Jan. Of those, 9,683 patients were diagnosed be- tween 1 July and 30 July. As of Tuesday, about 4,400 pa- tients, including many chil- dren, were undergoing hos- pital treatment. There have been 14 deaths. Officials from Dhaka, the overcrowded capital and the epicentre of the out- break, have struggled to con- tain it, drawing criticism and spreading panic among some residents. Dengue is found in tropical areas around the world and is spread by a type of mosquito that mainly lives in urban areas. The virus causes severe flu-like symptoms, and while there is no specific treatment for the illness, medical care to maintain a person’s fluid levels is seen as critical. There are fears that the sit- uation in the countryside will worsen as many residents of the city travel to villages to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha next month. Infected humans can serve as a source of the virus for uninfected mosquitoes. Ayesha Akhter, assistant di- rector at the Directorate Gen- eral of Health Services under the Ministry of Health, said an outbreak of dengue has accompanied every monsoon since 2000, but this year’s sit- uation is the worst. A DGHS study identified a six-fold increase in the Aedes aegypti mosquito popula- tion in four months in Dhaka as the primary cause of the larger-than-average outbreak. Earlier this month, the World Health Organization said the dengue situation in Bangladesh was “alarming but not out of control”. Other countries in Asia are also facing a surge in dengue cases this year, in- cluding Thailand, where 53,699 cases and 65 deaths were reported as of 23 July. Nevertheless, with dengue cases soaring in recent weeks, Dhaka hospitals have been running out of room and man- power to treat new patients. Prof. Abul Kalam Azad, di- rector general of DGHS, said they had asked the hospitals to increase beds for dengue patients and to open dengue wards. The government also halved the charges for diag- nosing dengue and directed public and private hospi- tals, clinics and diagnostic centres to do the same. Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the largest hospital in the country, opened a spe- cial ward for dengue patients, said A.K.M. Nasir Uddin, its director general. Prof. Uttam Kumar Barua, director of Shaheed Suhra- wardy Medical College and Hospital, another major public hospital in Dhaka, said they were relying on senior medical students to assist doctors in the face of so many patients. “We don’t have manpower, logistic support and tech- nicians as much as needed. That’s why we are having too much pressure. We have three times more patients than our bed capacity,” Barua said. He said they were admit- ting every dengue patient who entered the hospital but could not provide beds or even seats for everyone, adding that many had been asked to wait in hospital corridors and verandas. On Tuesday, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called for concerted efforts to fight the illness. “The government is working to tackle dengue,” she told an emergency meeting of her ruling Awami League party via teleconference from London, where she was on an official visit. “I urge everyone to keep their houses and surrounding areas clean. That will save us from the disease,” she said. The country’s opposi- tion parties and urban plan- ning experts blamed the cen- tral and local government’s lack of preparedness for the rise in dengue cases. People have taken to Facebook to vent their anger about city authori- ties’ failure to control dengue- carrying mosquitoes. Officials from Dhaka, the overcrowded capital and the epicentre of the outbreak, have struggled to contain it. BUS HIT BY ROADSIDE BOMB IN AFGHANISTAN, 32 KILLED KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – A roadside bomb tore through a bus in western Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people, including children, a pro- vincial official said. Mohibullah Mohib, spokesman for the po- lice chief in Farah prov- ince, said 15 others were wounded with most in crit- ical condition, indicating the death toll could rise. The bus was travelling on a main highway be- tween the western city of Herat and the southern city of Kandahar. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but Taliban insurgents op- erate in the region and frequently use roadside bombs to target govern- ment officials and security forces. The Taliban have kept up a steady tempo of attacks even as they have held several rounds of peace talks with the United States aimed at ending the 18-year war. The attack came a day after the UN mission in Afghanistan released a re- port saying that most ci- vilian deaths in the first half of the year were caused by Afghan forces and their international allies. The report appar- ently referred to civilians killed during Afghan and US military operations against insurgents. The UN report said 403 civilians were killed by Af- ghan forces in the first six months of the year and an- other 314 by international forces, a total of 717. That is compared to 531 killed by the Taliban, an Islamic State affiliate and other militants during the same period. It said 300 of those killed by militants were di- rectly targeted. The UN said the leading cause of civilian deaths and injuries was “ground en- gagements”, which caused one in three casualties. Roadside bombs were a close second, accounting for 28%. Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world – a legacy of decades of war. The Taliban, who ef- fectively control half the country, have been meeting with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad since late last year. They appear to be closing in on an agreement whereby American forces would withdraw from Af- ghanistan in return for guarantees that it would not be used as a launch- pad for international terror attacks. The Afghan government has been largely sidelined in the talks, with the Taliban refusing to negotiate with it. The Taliban have kept up a steady tempo of attacks even as they have held several rounds of peace talks with the United States aimed at ending the 18‑year war. A child receives treatment for dengue at Dhaka Shishu Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday. – PHOTO: APNext >