iNews Briefs
Cayman opposition leader implies discrimination against marina proposal
Leader of the Cayman Islands Opposition, McKeeva Bush, in the Finance Committee session last Friday (13), implied Cleveland Dilbert was being discriminated against over his application for a marina in Cayman Brac.
Bush tried to move a motion to make Cabinet grant a coastal works license for Dilbert’s proposal alongside two other projects that have been given the green light without the requirement of an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).
Marco Archer, chairman of the Committee, said finance committee did not have the authority to do what the motion was requesting and therefore refused it.
Wayne Panton, Minister of Environment said Dilbert’s marina was a very different proposition from the other two projects and Dilbert was not being treated unfairly.
Bush was furious and yelled at the minister saying he was sick of his “Nancy stories”. He then turned on Director of the Environment, Gina Ebanks-Petrie, hurling a number of allegations against her accusing her of “fixing it” for what her minister wants while making Cleveland pay for an EIA.
He even accused the government of carrying out everything the UK wanted whether it was auditing his travel or “digging out the queen’s bottom”!
Renewables hot topic for Caribbean
From reNews
A major overhaul of the Caribbean’s transmission infrastructure is needed so that the region’s vast renewable energy resources can be tapped as part of plans to cut poverty and drive sustainable growth, a conference heard.
President of the Caribbean Development Bank Warren Smith told delegates at the UK-Caribbean Business Conference in London that $30bn of investment is needed over the next 10 years to “modernise and enhance the efficiency of the power, transportation, telecommunications, and water and wastewater sectors”.
Smith said: “In the energy sector alone, massive investment will be needed to replace obsolete and inefficient generating plant over the next five years and to transform the electricity infrastructure so that the region’s vast renewable energy potential can be exploited.
“Most of our countries are highly dependent on imported fossil fuels for power generation. This vulnerability to volatile oil prices has contributed hugely to the competitiveness challenges of Caribbean industries. It has also been a principal cause of unsustainable balances of payments and sovereign indebtedness problems.”
The CDB believes renewable energy, coupled with energy efficiency, will stimulate the growth of non-traditional businesses, lower electricity costs and boost foreign exchange reserves by reducing energy imports.
The body is promoting transformation through development financing and technical assistance, as well as helping to mobilise private sector involvement through public-private partnerships.
For more: http://renews.biz/68535/renewables-hot-topic-for-caribbean/
Trinidad woman chopped to death after receiving restraining order earlier that day
From Caribbean360
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Tuesday June 17, 2014, CMC – Police are questioning a man who allegedly killed a mother of two mere hours after she obtained a restraining order against him.
Police said Orpha Prescilla Hackett, 24, of Union Village, Rio Claro, south of here, was chopped several times about the body by the man, who attacked her as she was visiting her sister.
The man was detained by people who witnessed the attack and called the police.
The law enforcement authorities said that they had retrieved the weapons used in the murder.
Police said Hackett, the mother of a four-year-old girl and a two year-old boy, had received a three-year restraining order against the man in the court earlier in the day after ending an abusive relationship with him.
Media reports said the man had been seen buying two knives and a cutlass before the attack.
Buyer from Cayman helps upper north shore market record clearance rate of 70 per cent
From Perth Now
The upper north shore has recorded strong auction results despite the market heading into a traditionally cooler period.
Over the weekend the region recorded an auction clearance rate of 70 per cent.
A highlight was a Roseville house, which sold for $3.36 million, $360,000 above reserve in a nailbiting auction on the weekend.
The five-bedroom property at 58 Bancroft Ave attracted four registered bidders, including a Lane Cove family and a buyer’s agent bidding on behalf of a buyer from the Cayman Islands.
Selling agent Jill Lawson, of mcconnellbourn Lindfield, said an opening bid of $2.6 million raced past the $3 million reserve within minutes.
Jury Sides with Apple in patent trial
By Julia Love, The Recorder
SAN FRANCISCO — A patent assertion entity that stiffed its lawyers at McKool Smith won’t get a penny out of Apple Inc.
On the third day of deliberations, a federal jury in San Jose found that Apple did not infringe a patent asserted by Golden Bridge Technology, a non-practicing entity based in New Jersey. Jurors rejected Golden Bridge’s claims that the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and a second-generation model of the iPad infringed its patent for an aspect of the 3G technology through which cellphones connect with base stations. However, the jury rejected Apple’s bid to invalidate the patent.
McKool Smith partner Lawrence Hadley declined to comment on the verdict. Cooley partner Timothy Teter, who represented Apple, did not respond to a request for comment. Apple and Golden Bridge did not immediately respond to requests for comment either.
McKool Smith had an uneasy relationship with the New Jersey-based patent assertion entity. In March, the firm moved to withdraw from the case, citing the client’s unpaid bills. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal denied the motion, finding that trial was approaching too soon.
For more: http://www.therecorder.com/id=1202659629240/Jury-Sides-With-Apple-in-Patent-Trial#ixzz34tqwqHFq
Watchdog to tighten monitoring of stock trading by paper companies [in Cayman]
From Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) — The South Korean financial watchdog said Tuesday it will closely monitor stock trading by paper companies set up in tax havens to ferret out local nationals disguised as foreign investors to dodge domestic law and engage in illegal activities.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said out of 38,437 foreign corporations investing in the country, 7,626, or 20 percent, are offshore companies based in 62 tax haven-designated countries including the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Barbados, Panama and Mauritius.
The watchdog is trying to clamp down on South Korean nationals who have established paper companies in these countries to disguise themselves as foreign investors. Foreign investors in local stock markets are exempted from some of the taxes, including when they buy initial public offering (IPO) shares.
These offshore investors owned by South Koreans even engage in price manipulation, tax evasion and creation of slush funds, the watchdog said.
“The ‘disguised’ foreign investors enjoy law benefits and earn more profits, but they abuse the rules and disrupt the fair financial market order,” FSS deputy governor Lee Eun-tae said.
“We will draw out a system to detect these Korean-turned-foreign investors and tighten their monitoring.”
In line with the FSS’ move, the state tax agency has launched a comprehensive crackdown on tax evaders who conceal money by using offshore paper companies. It imposed more than 1 trillion won (US$978.7 billion) in taxes last year through an investigation into such entities.
For more: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2014/06/17/12/0503000000AEN20140617002400320F.html
Ohio attorney suspended for harassing student clerk
By Karen Sloan, The National Law Journal
The Ohio Supreme Court has suspended an attorney for one year for sending sexually explicit text messages to a third-year law student who worked as a law clerk in his office.
The court found that John Mismas—a Willoughby, Ohio, plaintiffs attorney—had engaged in conduct adversely reflecting on his fitness to practice law when he propositioned the female law student in 2011. Although a disciplinary panel had recommended a public sanction, the court on June 12 decided that punishment was too light, saying Mismas abused his position as a mentor to the law student.
The court did not name the student but said she attended the University of Akron School of Law.
“We find that Mismas did not just send sexually explicit text messages to a law student he sought to employ—he abused the power and prestige of our profession to demand sexual favors from her as a condition of her employment,” the court wrote.
Still, the court ordered that the final six months of Mismas’ suspension would be stayed as long as he commits no further misconduct and continues to receive treatment for alcoholism.
Cayman Islands Development Bank has high delinquency in business loans
Between 60 and 70 percent of business loans granted by the Cayman Islands Development Bank are delinquent and nearly 90 percent of the companies that are unable to make their loan payments are start-ups.
Tracy Ebanks, Managing Director of the Cayman Islands Development Bank, gave these grave figures at the finance committee of the Legislative Assembly last Friday (13).
Other high delinquencies were student loans (30%) and mortgages (32%), she said.
The main reason given for the defaults was blamed on the downturn in the economy.
Although the bank is still processing student loans it has not granted new business loans for some time.
To recover some of the funds owed, the bank is now seeking legal recourse.
Educators to discuss sexual abuse of students in Barbados
From Caribbean360
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Tuesday June 17, 2014, CMC – Education officials will discuss sexual abuse encountered by students during a two-day symposium on Thursday.
The Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation said the symposium entitled “Student Victims of Sexual Abuse” will be held under the theme “Let’s talk…Student Victims of Sexual Abuse” and will target over 100 principals, guidance counsellors, senior teachers, education officers and tutors, particularly those from Erdiston Teachers’ Training College.
UNICEF’s Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Khin-Sandi Lwin, will deliver opening remarks on the first day of the symposium.
The two-day event will also target educators in the public and private secondary schools and will draw attention to what is being seen at the level of public and private primary schools.
The organisers said there would be presentations on symptoms of sexual abuse in students; how to manage disclosure or suspicions of sexual abuse and a plenary session on the draft mandatory reporting protocol on child abuse.
“A key objective of the symposium is to sensitise participants about sexual abuse, its impacts and ways to address these.
“It also aims to ensure that the education and training of principals, teachers, guidance counsellors, social workers and allied professionals reflect an understanding of and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of student victims/survivors of sexual abuse,” the ministry said in a statement.
Sports to help jump-start anti-bullying campaign in Cayman
Cayman Islands Minister for Sports, Osbourne Bodden, has announced the government will be backing the McGee Cayman Classic.
The McGee Cayman Classic is a celebrity golf event, a celebrity all-star basketball game, a youth basketball camp and concerts featuring mostly country music stars scheduled from Sept. 16th to 21st. It is the brainchild of former European pro basketball player Cory McGee.
However the major impetus of the event is to jump-start an anti-bullying campaign that will also honour Caymanian Ezra McLaughlin. McLaughlin was a former youth basketball player who committed suicide last March.
Minister Bodden said, “Bullying … is a very, very serious scourge on our society and, therefore, us in sports and my sports ministry side will be very happy to partner with tourism and education on this initiative.”
For more information on the Cayman Classic go to: http://thecaymanclassic.com/
Cayman health services expects $70M unpaid bills
According to government records the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority expects to have nearly $70M in unpaid bills from services it rendered to patients by the end of the upcoming budget year in June 2015.
During last week’s Finance Committee’s proceedings in the Legislative Assembly it was revealed the amounts from unpaid receivables was compiled over a period of more than 10 years with some bills unpaid going that far back.
Finance Minister, Marco Archer said his ministry was looking into the overall problem of unpaid, past due debts for government services.
Over the past two years, none of the unpaid bills have been “written off” and two ministers said this might have to be done, as some people cannot pay for health care.
Cayman’s child protection policy is strict says education officials
Following the arrest of a government school teacher charged with of 14 offenses including indecent assault, Cayman Islands education officials have said they have strict protocols for responding to child protection issues.
Shirley Wahler, the chief education officer, said any allegations around child protection issues were immediately reported to the Department of Children and Family Services, which would investigate along with the police’s family support unit. Even if no charges are filed in a complaint against a teacher “we may still pursue an internal investigation,” she said.
Internet exchange point to be launched in Jamaica by August
By Douglas McIntosh From Caribbean News Now
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Jamaica is expected to benefit significantly from an internet exchange point (IXP) facility, which the ministry of science, technology, energy and mining expects to have in place by August.
The IXP enables Internet traffic routing within the country where the provision exists, instead of through external providers, as currently is the case with Jamaica.
State Minister for Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Julian Robinson makes a point during his 2014/15 Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives on June 11, under the theme: ‘Information and Communication Technologies as Enablers for Growth and Development’. JIS Photo
State minister in the ministry, Julian Robinson, said the ministry is currently working with an entity, the Packet Clearing House, to have Jamaica’s IXP established by August, pointing out that “we have already done the initial design.”
Cayman to host new film festival
Cayman photographer Tony Mark is the man behind Cayfilm, the Cayman Island International Film Festival that is scheduled for June 18th to 21st 2015.
The announcement was made at a red carpet event at the Ritz-Carlton hotel on Friday (13).
Special guest was actor Terrence Howard joined a crowd of about 250 people who got a taste of Hollywood glitz and glamor as they were snapped by “paparazzi” as they arrived for the cocktail reception.
Terrence Howard was in Cayman in 2008 for Cayman’s Jazz festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in 2005’s “Hustle and Flow.”
Bitcoin investor offers citizenship for Caribbean tax haven
From ShareCast
A pioneer investor in bitcoin start-ups has set up a website allowing people to use the virtual currency to buy a second citizenship and passport in St Kitts and Nevis, it emerged on Monday.
Roger Ver has founded the PassportsforBitcoin.com website, which lets people pay in bitcoins for the right to live in the Caribbean islands, according to financial news agency Bloomberg.
St Kitts has run an invest-and-become-a-citizen program since 1984, which provides citizenship in return for investing a minimum of $400,000 in an approved real estate project or a donation of $250,000 to the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation.
Features of the St Kitts citizenship and passport programme include visa-free travel to 140 countries including Canada, the EU and Hong Kong and little or no income, wealth or inheritance taxes, which has sparked criticism that the islands encourage tax evasion.
Applicants also do not have to visit the islands as part of the application process, which can take up to four months.
Ver said paying for citizenship by Bitcoins helps applicants from countries like China, which imposes restrictions on overseas money transfers.
He has reportedly helped to fund a dozen bitcoin start-ups including bitcoin exchange Kraken and online bitcoin wallet Blockchain.
The 35-year-old became a millionaire through a computer parts business and bought tens of thousands of bitcoins for about $1 apiece in 2011, according to Bloomberg. They are now worth about $600 each.
Cayman Law School’s first patron passes away
With profound sadness, the Truman Bodden Law School mourns the passing of its first Patron, Lord Sydney Templeman, who died on June 4th 2014, aged 94.
Lord Templeman was an outstanding barrister and judge and became one of the foremost Law Lords of his generation. He was a member of the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords from 1982–1994 and sat in some of the highest profile cases of the day including the infamous “Spycatcher” case in which the UK government sought successfully to prevent a former MI5 officer, Peter Wright, from publishing his memoirs.
Lord Templeman visited the Cayman Islands on a number of occasions and last visited the Law School in his capacity as Patron in the early 1990s.
