iNews Briefs
YCLA finalist and father sued by Cayman Accountants
Cayman accountancy firm Ernst and Young have filed a law suit against Samantha and Peter Widmer claiming $55,462.36 plus annual interest at 2.38% since May 2011 and costs.
Samantha Widmer was a former student employee of Ernst and Young and she entered into a scholarship agreement with the firm in 2006 where they paid for her studies in order for her to obtain a professional accountancy qualification (CPA). She failed to complete her exams and resigned from the firm.
However, she had signed a contract that she had to complete her full time studies, take the examinations and work at Ernst and Young for at least 2 years.
Samantha Widmer was a former finalist in Young Caymanian Leaders Award (YCLA). Her father, Peter Widmer, is a Quantity Surveyor.
Haiti’s cholera epidemic poses major threat: UN
Guardian News and Media/Port-au-Prince From Gulf Times
Haiti needs a “Marshall plan” for water and sanitation to quell a cholera epidemic which poses a major threat to the Caribbean and Latin America, according to the UN assistant secretary general.
Pedro Medrano Rojas, who is co-ordinating the response in Haiti, is visiting European capitals this week to drum up support for the faltering effort to deal with an epidemic that has killed 8,540 since 2010 and infected almost 700,000 people.
Studies have shown the cholera strain was probably introduced to the country by UN troops from Nepal, who were deployed in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake that killed more than 217,000 people.
Evidence suggests the outbreak of cholera, which is endemic in Nepal, occurred when contaminated sewage was discharged from barracks into a watercourse. Cholera is spread through infected faeces. Once it enters the water supply, it is difficult to contain, especially in a country such as Haiti, which has almost no effective sewage disposal systems.
Cholera cases had previously been rare in Haiti. Survivors of the 2010 outbreak are filing a compensation claim against the UN in a New York court, demanding that billions of dollars in damages be paid to them and the relatives of those killed.
The UN maintains it has legal immunity from such compensation claims and rejected demands from affected Haitians. The case is being pursued by the Boston-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti.
Medrano drew a distinction between the lawsuit and UN efforts to respond to the outbreak.
“We cannot link these two things,” he said.
“One is a legal case with a different path that can take years – we have to respond now.”
The first case in the current cholera epidemic was reported in October 2010; the outbreak has since become one of the worst in modern history. There were 65,000 cases last year, Medrano said. This year estimates range from 40,000 to 80,000.
“It all depends on the resources we get,” he said. “If we get them, it could be 40,000; if not, it could be 80,000 – maybe more – new cases. It is a major threat for the whole Caribbean and Latin America region.”
The 2010 earthquake wrought havoc in the already fragile country. Even before the disaster, basic sanitation coverage had decreased from 26% in 1990 to just 17% in 2008, with rural residents worst affected.
Medrano said the main reason donors were not contributing more was because they did not consider the situation in Haiti to be an emergency.
Drunken honeymooner arrested in Cayman whilst new wife travels on alone
A drunken honeymooner caused an emergency landing in Grand Cayman on Sunday (9) evening when a Delta flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing here.
A honeymoon couple got into an argument when the husband (33) who was intoxicated got rowdy.
The flight was bound for Costa Rica from Miami, Florida, USA. When the flight continued on to its destination the man’s newlywed wife left on it alone.
The husband was arrested here for being drunk and disorderly, and is in custody pending further inquires, said a Royal Cayman Islands Police Service spokesperson.
London’s laundry business
By Tim Hall from Kalyr
Very depressing picture of Britain drawn by the New York Times.
Britain’s ruling class has decayed not just to the point where Mr. Cameron is considered a man of exceptional talent, but to where its first priority is protecting its percentage on Russian money — even as Russian armored personnel carriers rumble around the streets of Sevastopol. But the establishment understands that in the 21st century what matters are banks, not tanks.
The Russians also understand this. They know that London is a center of Russian corruption, that their loot plunges into Britain’s empire of tax havens — from Gibraltar to Jersey, from the Cayman Islands to the British Virgin Islands — on which the sun never sets.
British residency is up for sale. “Investor visas” can be purchased, starting at £1 million ($1.6 million). London lawyers in the Commercial Court now get 60 percent of their work from Russian and Eastern European clients. More than 50 Russia-based companies swell the trade at London’s Stock Exchange. The planning regulations have been scrapped, and along the Thames, up and up go spires of steel and glass for the hedge-funding class.
So while Tories and their sycophantic newspapers tell us day after day that the EU is the root of all evil and we’re being overrun by foreign immigrants, the truth is that our ruling elites have completely sold out to foreign money. We might as well be living under occupation.
For more: http://www.kalyr.com/weblog/rants/londons-laundry-business/
Women denied appointments to Cayman’s HSA
North Side MLA Ezzard Miller said in the Legislative Assembly last Thursday (6) that women needing to see an obstetrician are being refused appointments by Cayman Islands’ Health Services Authority (HSA).
He claimed, “Under the current system if a person walks up to the reception counter of the women’s clinic at the hospital or telephones to make an appointment to see an obstetrician they are told that is not possible, but to give them a number and a midwife will call to make the appointment. If they call, some days later they are told that the obstetricians do not do clinics in the morning, only in the afternoon, so if the potential patient works evening they can’t get an appointment. If they can’t come in the evening, they will have to go see a private doctor.”
“Standard medical best practice and good business sense mandates that the receptionist or clerk, and there appears to be one sitting at the desk at the George Town hospital, requires that the receptionist keep a daily appointment book and schedules appointments for the doctors,” he added.
In yesterday’s iNews Cayman we published a story (in iNews Briefs) revealing private obstetricians in Cayman will have to pay an annual insurance premium of $292,255 – an increase of $100,640 over the current rate charged by U.K.-based Medical Protection Society, or MPS by the end of this month. Cayman’s obstetricians say this rate rise could force them out of business meaning fewer available to deliver babies locally.
Former Puerto Rico navy base a possible launch pad for space flights
From Fox News Latino
A former U.S. navy base in eastern Puerto Rico could be the place where Virgin Galactic chooses to build a launch pad for future commercial space flights, an option being considered that neither party denies.
This week’s publication of an article in the daily Caribbean Business saying that the owner of Virgin Galactic, British entrepreneur Richard Branson, has acquired 11 hangars at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, on the eastern end of the U.S. commonwealth, was what sparked the rumors and conjectures.
Built in 1944 at the town of Ceiba, the base was used by the U.S. Navy from 1957 to 2003. At present the land is occupied by a small airport for flights connecting with two small nearby islands, Culebra and Vieques, which also belong to Puerto Rico.
The secretary of the Economic Development and Trade Department of Puerto Rico, Alberto Baco Bague, denied to Efe on Friday that any deal had been closed with the British multimillionaire’s company, while representatives of Virgin Galactic also refused to confirm the rumors.
The fact that Puerto Rico is considered in many respects U.S. territory and is located at a low latitude – around 18 degrees north – are both significant attractions for aerospace companies. EFE
Used tyres from Cayman dump by Ironwood will not be a quick solution
No one wants to remove the used tyres at Cayman’s George Town landfill or anywhere else. The government has confirmed no one put in a bid once again in the latest Request For Proposal (RFP). This makes it the fourth time tenders have been sought to find someone to remove the tyres and pay government for the privilege of doing so.
And we have now learned the proposal by Ironwood to use the tyres in their proposed housing and golf course development in North Side will not be a quick solution either.
David Moffit speaking for Ironwood said last week Moffitt said the intention was to purchase a tyre shredder and shred them on site at the George Town dump. Then the tyres would be transported to the job site only when the golf course commenced. The earliest date is sometime in 2015!
“Bitcoin Jesus” Hiding Out in the Caribbean
From Economic Policy Journal
This is the problem with so-called “anonymous” Bitcoin that defeats government. It doesn’t. The government is not all-powerful but tracking things on the internet is one of their strengths. Using cash in brown paper bags is much more private. Eric Bovim reports for Slate:
I have sworn not to write the name of the island where Roger Ver is currently residing, the reason being that he fears for his life…
Ver and his his partner of two years, Iyaka, have been lingering down in the Caribbean for several weeks now, ever since he first began to seek economic citizenship, on one of the islands (a maneuver necessary before obtaining full citizenship). That was granted weeks ago, and now he wants to renounce his U.S. citizenship as well.
Ver is a legend in the Bitcoin community, known as the “Bitcoin Jesus” for his tireless evangelism of the virtual currency. He is not Bitcoin’s only voice, but he is quickly finding himself the last man standing…
Despite the currency’s recent tribulations, Ver remains optimistic: “Five years from now, over $100,000 for a single Bitcoin is well within the realm of possibility,” he says. “I’m not calling and predicting that they will be, but it’s definitely within the realm of possibility.”
These days, Ver lives as much as he can off of Bitcoin. Plane tickets. Hotel bills. Even the odd haircut. All Bitcoin. He keeps a home in Tokyo and another in the Caribbean. He is growing concerned about his safety…
Ver believes federal agents could swoop in and smother his future with conspiracy charges. “For the most part, if the U.S. government really wants to get you they are going to get you. So hopefully they should focus on things other than me. But it’s a real fear.” He pauses. It’s sunny today in [redacted], and we are almost out of time. “I don’t think I am likely to be assassinated, but I worry about being sent to federal prison for some sort of made up charge for a crime where there is no victim.”
For more: http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2014/03/bitcoin-jesus-hiding-out-in-caribbean.html
62 Students of ICCI graduate
62 students from the International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI) have graduated with various levels of degrees and achievements.
Twenty students graduated at the associate’s level, 23 received a bachelor’s degree, and 19 graduated at the master’s level.
Puerto Rico leads biggest wave of Muni issuance in three months
By Michelle Kaske From Bloomberg
Puerto Rico is set to lead U.S. states and localities planning to sell $11 billion of long-term debt this week, the most this year, with yields near an eight-month low.
The Caribbean commonwealth plans to issue $3 billion of tax-exempt, general-obligation bonds as soon as tomorrow. It’s the first such sale for the U.S. territory in two years and comes after its credit rating was cut to junk last month by the three biggest rating companies.
Issuers from California to New York plan to sell the most long-term, fixed-rate securities since the period ending Dec. 13, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Demand for tax-exempt bonds has pushed yields on 10-year benchmark municipal debt to 2.51 percent, close to the lowest since June, Bloomberg data show. That compares with a 2.79 percent (USGG10YR) yield on 10-year Treasuries. The ratio of the two interest rates, a measure of relative value, is about 90 percent, lowest since January 2013. The lower the figure, the more expensive munis are compared with federal debt.
Cayman’s tourism industry makes new appointments
In a government ministry statement Caymanians Jonathan Jackson has been appointed as Deputy Chief Officer in the Ministry of District Administration, Tourism and Transport and Neyka Webster is the ministry’s new Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. Jackson will have specific responsibility for district administration, National Weather Service, and Sister Islands affordable housing.
Ms. Webster will move to her new post, from the Portfolio of the Civil Service and the Cabinet Office where she is acting Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining the civil service, Ms. Webster worked in the private sector accounting firm KPMG.
PAHO urges Caribbean to guarantee access to health services for all women
From Jamaica Observer
WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) – The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Saturday called on Caribbean countries to guarantee all women access to essential health services and interventions.
The Washington-based PAHO, in a message marking International Women’s Day, pointed to studies that show that “empowering women and improving their health benefit not only women but also their families”.
PAHO said for example, children whose mothers die in childbirth have a higher risk of dying before their first birthday than children whose mothers survive childbirth.
In addition, PAHO said research shows that women with more education “tend to have better health and healthier families, which contributes directly to healthier communities”.
It said other studies have shown that women are often the primary decision-makers about their families’ health.
“Educating, protecting and empowering women are essential for their own well-being, as well as that of their families and communities,” said PAHO director Dr Carissa Etienne.
The Dominican-born health specialist said “access to health care through universal health coverage is a key part of protecting and empowering women, ensuring their right to health and enabling them to contribute fully to their countries’ development.
“Moving forward in the post-2015 development agenda, we need to urge renewed attention to gender equality and equity as principles for both women’s health and universal health coverage,” said Dr Gina Tambini, PAHO’s director of Family, Gender and Life Course Department.
PAHO said it is working with Caribbean and other countries of the Americas to achieve universal health coverage; to address women’s health needs comprehensively; and to ensure that health systems acknowledge and appropriately respond to gender inequality issues.
Malaysian credit card fraudster pleads guilty in Cayman court
Tan Teck Kuan (37) a Malaysian national pleaded guilty on Friday (7) in Grand Cayman’s Grand Court on a charge of obtaining a money transfer by deception relating to a credit card transaction of more than $4,000. He also admitted to attempting to obtain a money transfer by deception of more than $70,000.
Kuan is one of three men who have also pleaded guilty to similar charges.
The crimes were committed in George Town in October 2013 at a downtown jewellery store when he was a visitor.
Tourist to Cayman taken to hospital after panic attack snorkelling
Whilst snorkelling by the reef off Governor’s Beach last Thursday (6) afternoon a 42 year-old visitor to Grand Cayman suffered a panic attack after believing he had been bitten.
The tourist become disoriented, inhaled water, managing, however, to get to a buoy, where he held on and shouted for help. Three people came to his assistance and helped him swim to the shore. The Emergency Services took him to the George Town hospital where he underwent medical treatment.
Here’s how tourists got around NYC a century ago
By Alex Davies From Business Insider
Tourists have been coming to New York City for a long time, and it seems they’ve never been big on walking. This Library of Congress photo, taken in front of Grant’s Tomb on Riverside Drive (see attached) sometime between 1900 and 1915, shows what looks like an early prototype of the now classic double-decker tourist bus.
It makes today’s buses look ginormous
For more: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-tourists-got-around-nyc-a-century-ago-2014-3#ixzz2vZYJMw4b
