iNews Briefs, More & Community Events
Community Events
Official Public Holidays in 2016 Confirmed
The Deputy Governor’s Office has confirmed Cayman Islands Public Holidays in 2016, with the exception of the Queen’s Birthday holiday in June 2016.
That holiday is listed for Monday, 13 June for which official confirmation is awaited.
Also, since Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, Monday, 26 December 2016 will be observed as the official Christmas Day public holiday. Consequently, the official observance of Boxing Day (26 December) as a public holiday will be on Tuesday, 27 December 2016.
The full list of public holidays for 2016 is:
- Friday, 1 January – New Year’s Day
- Monday, 25 January – National Heroes Day
- Wednesday, 10 February – Ash Wednesday
- Friday, 25 March – Good Friday
- Monday, 28 March – Easter Monday
- Monday, 16 May – Discovery Day
- Monday, 13 June – Queen’s Birthday (unconfirmed)
- Monday, 4 July – Constitution Day
- Monday, 14 November – Remembrance Day
- Monday, 26 December – Christmas Day (observed, since 25 December is a Sunday)
- Tuesday, 27 December – Boxing Day (observed, since Monday, 26 December is designated as the Christmas Day holiday)
Managing Personal Finances Programme
The second session of the Managing Personal Finances programme will be at the Bodden Town PPM office on Saturday, 22 August, from 7pm.
The George Town PPM office holds the second round of seminars next week, on 25 August and 29 August. The John Gray Memorial Church Hall will stage the West Bay meetings on 1 September and 5 September. The George Town and West Bay sessions will start at 7pm.
The programme, which is free to the public and features retired local banking professionals, aims to provide personal financial advice to residents.
Refreshments will be provided at each meeting. Anyone interested in attending the seminars should contact the following persons: Heather or Kerry Ann on 943-7652 for Bodden Town, and Sharon on 945-1776 or 945-8292 for both George Town and West Bay.
Immigration Department closure on Friday 21st August 2015
The Department of Immigration Headquarters, including Passport & Corporate Services, Visa Office and Front Counter, will be closed to the public for all but essential services on Friday 21, August 2015. Only work permit and permanent residence applications (including applications for permission to continue to work (PCW)) that must be submitted prior to 21 August in order to allow continued employment will be accepted.
Time sensitive applications for visitor extensions will also be accepted.
The Passport & Corporate Services Office will not accept any applications, but passports and visa waivers may be collected at the Immigration main counter location.
Persons are reminded to take advantage of the extended opening on Wednesday evenings to conduct business. Front counter is opened until 7:00pm every Wednesday.
Normal operations in all sections of the Department will resume on Monday 24 August.
The Department apologizes for any inconvenience the closure on 21 August may cause.
Annual Meals on Wheels Dress Down Day
SAVE THE DATE
Dress Down Day Friday, 20th November, 2015
Help feed our Seniors we believe no-one in Cayman should go hungry.
Individuals can help by purchasing an orange ribbon for $5.00 or a tee shirt for $15.00 and wearing them on Dress Down Day, we are encouraging companies to match employee donations.
For more information or to sign up to participate please feel free to contact us via email at [email protected] or via telephone at 949-3905.
The Lions Club of Tropical Gardens Presents a Diabetes Health Fair
Free A1C Testing
By the Cayman Islands Diabetic Association (CIDA) For Persons with diabetes and a
strong family history of Diabetes.
Where: Church of God of Prophecy, Eastern Avenue, George Town
When: Saturday 29th August , 2015
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
CARE announces Cayman Islands 5th Annual Paws for wine
Sat Sept 26th Ristorante Pappagallo
Lions Club of Tropical Gardens Brenda Tibbetts-Lund Memorial 5K Walk/Run5K
Sunday October 3, 2015 in North Side at 6am
FRI 21 AUG
Immigration Closures
The Department of Immigration Headquarters, including Passport & Corporate Services, Visa Office and Front Counter, will be closed to the public for all but essential services on Friday (21 Aug.)
SAT 22 AUG
Managing Personal Finances Programme
The Bodden Town office of the People’s Progressive Movement will serve as the venue on August 22nd at 7 o’clock for a free seminar on managing personal finances.
Caywriters Workshop
Caywriters presents a writing workshop: Scene Structure on Saturday (22 Aug) from 1 – 3pm at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands.
Cayman Outreach Association’s Dinner Meeting
Cayman Outreach Association’s Dinner Meeting is Saturday (22 Aug) at 715pm at Triple C School Auditorium. Call 925.7798 for more information.
Clifton Hunter High School Uniform Shop Open
The Clifton Hunter High School Uniform Shop will be open Saturday (22 Aug) from 10am until 12pm.
Financial Assistance Meeting George Town
There will be a financial assistance meeting in George Town on Saturday (22 Aug) at 7pm. The location will be announced later.
SUN 23 AUG
2015 Harvest Service
The Webster Memorial United Church in Bodden Town extends a Special Invitation to its 2015 Harvest Service on Sunday (23 Aug) at 11:00 a.m. There will also be a Harvest Sale on Monday (24 Aug) from 4:00 p.m at the Church Hall.
Secondary Modern School Reunion
The Secondary Modern School of the Cayman Islands celebrates 55 years with a School Reunion. All are invited to a special service to be held at the Church of God Chapel-Family Life Centre on Sunday (23 Aug) at 4:00pm as well as to a dinner at Grand Old House on August 29th. For more information call 949-5141
David Foster Memorial Regatta
You’re invited to the Cayman Catboat Club’s David Foster Memorial Regatta on Sunday (23 Aug) at 9am at Garvin Park, Morgan’s Harbour
2015 Orientation Dates for Cayman Islands Government Schools
Released on behalf of the Education Ministry.
Cayman Islands: Proposed Rule and Statement of Guidance (19 August 2015)
From The Cayman Islands Directors Association
Private Sector Consultation Paper on Proposed Rule and Statement of Guidance (19 August 2015)
The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority are launching a consultation on the Corporate Governance, copies of which are on the below links:
Private Sector Consultation– Corporate Governance
Statement of Guidance – Corporate Governance
Cover Letter
(click these links for the PDFs at website link below)
In relation to the Statement of Guidance – Corporate Governance, please forward any comments to me on or before Friday, 11 September, 2015 such that CIDA may compile and issue a response to the Authority by the deadline of 18 September, 2015.
Cassandra Powell (President)
On behalf of The Cayman Islands Directors Association
For more and links: http://cida.ky/223/
OPCW hosts second regional assistance and protection course for Latin America, Caribbean
From BioPrepWatch
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reported the conclusion of the Second Advanced Regional Assistance and Protection Course for Latin America and the Caribbean that took place earlier this month.
The program was hosted in San Jose, Costa Rica, and was organized by both the OPCW and the Costa Rican National Authority to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the National Fire Fighter Academy.
The OPCW reports that 27 participants representing 15 countries were in attendance for the five-day course.
The main focus of the training course was the proper use of personal protection equipment and techniques for the containment and decontamination of an area affected by a chemical attack or incident. The course also focused on facilitating usage of incident command system techniques and to foster coordination improvements among first response personnel. Instructors from St. Kitts and Nevis, Argentina and Guatemala also provided instruction through the Instructor Exchange Program.
Among the countries represented were Barbados, Argentina, Dominica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Grenada, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, St. Kitts and Nevis and hosting country Costa Rica.
The OPCW acts as the international enforcement entity of the CWC, which prohibits the use, development, stockpile of chemical weapons and other related activity. The OPCW hosts training for all global regions for state parties and focuses on emergency preparedness and medical response, analytical chemistry techniques, implementation activity and other subject areas. The OPCW also takes part in fact-finding missions to determine the validity of chemical abuse reports or CWC violations.
ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
32 Johan de Wittlaan
Den Haag, ZH 2517 JR
Trinidad minister blames elections for foreign exchange shortage
From Caribbean News Now PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — Trade Minister Vasant Bharath has described the current shortage of foreign exchange in Trinidad and Tobago as a typical phenomenon of a pre-election period. General elections are due to be held on September 7.
He said that, during every election period, residents tend to hold on to their foreign exchange and it creates bottlenecks in the system.
“The issue is not that there is not sufficient foreign exchange coming into the system,” he said. “The records have shown that the Governor of the Central Bank and the Central Bank itself have put almost twice as much foreign exchange coming into the system for the corresponding periods of 2014 and 2013. I think it was over a billion dollars put into the system.
“It is really a question of every election period there is anxiety displayed by the population and what happens is that you do not get the same amount of inflows of foreign exchange coming back into the system being converted into TT dollars and people are holding on to their foreign exchange.”
Bharath said the policies the Central Bank is putting in place, which is to put more foreign exchange into the system, will continue to strengthen the system.
“I think they are due to put US$100 million into the system and we expect after the election the matter will be freed up completely,” he noted.
Guyana fields crack team for Williams Digicel International in Barbados
From Caribbean News Now
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — The current Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) points-leaders on two and four wheels, reigning Champion Driver Kristian Jeffrey and double Superbike Champion Stephen Vieira, are leading a strong Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) team to the Williams Industries Digicel International Race Meet at Bushy Park Barbados next month (September 12/13).
As the cream of the region’s motor sport stars head into round three of the CMRC, Guyana is keen to erase its 79-point deficit to Trinidad and Tobago, which hosted round two at the Wallerfield Raceway in June; Jamaica is currently third, ahead of the Cayman Islands and Barbados. Guyana won the Country Championship last year for the third time in five years, with Jeffrey the first Guyanese racer of the modern era to win the Champion Driver title.
Pine windmill could soon be feeling Caribbean breeze
By Deborah Deasy From Trib Live
IMAGE: This windmill in Pine has been purchased, but getting it removed has proven to be difficult.
Pine’s long dormant windmill soon might depart its perch overlooking the Red Belt for a new roost next to the greenish blue Caribbean Ocean.
“I’m scheduling the crane right now to come and take some part of it down,” Bruce Williams of Westchester County, N.Y. said Aug. 11.
Williams, a Jamaica native, bought the windmill in February after bidding $8,260 online for it.
Late-spring and early-summer rainstorms then derailed Williams’ plans to dismantle and remove the 50-kilowatt Atlantic Orient wind turbine with three 48-foot blades.
“It was scheduled already for the crane to take it down, but the crane got stuck on the hill,” he said.
The crane got stuck in late June, Pine manager Scott Anderson said.
Williams said he hopes to eventually ship the windmill to Jamaica by boat to make electricity at a 12-acre “eco resort,” as Williams described it, which he’s developing in St. Thomas Parish, Jamaica.
“I’m right on the beach, so there’s a lot of wind,” he said. “I’m going to use the windmill to stay off the (power) grid and make it eco-friendly, so everything is going to be powered by the wind turbine.”
Williams is president and CEO of the Atmosphere Production Group in Westchester County, N.Y., which supplies theatrical lighting, sound systems and scenery for special events.
Williams expects to install the windmill on a coastal slope near the Caribbean Ocean at a former getaway once visited by British royalty.
“When my mother was around, Princess Margaret came to Jamaica, and she stayed at that place,” Williams said. “It’s in big disrepair. … It’s been down for like 15 or 20 years … I’m refurbishing the whole thing.”
Williams said he plans to rename the property the Cerulean Bay Private Residence.
Pine had the wind turbine installed in 2008 for about $160,000 — in state and local funds — to help power the Pine Community Center. But the installation site proved less than ideal, and the windmill failed to generate significant electricity, local officials said.
The windmill currently sits on a 100-foot tower near the center in Pine Community Park.
In 2011, Pine supervisors first offered the windmill for sale through Municibid, an online government auction site. They received four $10,000 to $11,000 bids, which the local supervisors rejected as too low. The supervisors then voted to unplug the wind turbine and readvertise the windmill at a later date.
Williams bought the turbine after viewing it earlier this year on www.GovDeals.com, another online auction site.
“It’s really in good condition,” Williams said after he drove to Pine and inspected the machine.
Williams said he actually paid $9,292.50 for the wind turbine to cover his bid price, plus the buyer’s premium charged by www.Gov.Deals.com.
No need to investigate $10m Caribbean payment, Mbalula tells MPs
By Khulekani Magubane, From BD Live
Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula on Wednesday faced up to MPs over the $10m paid to a Caribbean football association in the wake of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, maintaining that the department would not probe the transaction as it was not a bribe.
Reacting to questions over the decision by the South African government to pay the money to the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association of Football and other officials, Mr Mbalula said there was nothing underhanded about it.
“There were many committees that dealt with the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Among others, there was an established interministerial committee and, secondly, the South African government pronounced on the policy of supporting the diaspora,” he said.
When asked by Democratic Alliance MP Solly Malatsi which officials had decided on the payment, Mr Mbalula said the money did not come from government coffers.
“It came from the legacy fund of Fifa and was processed by Fifa. All that the South African government did was to say that Africa does not end with Africa but there is a fifth region, which is the African diaspora,” he said.
When United Democratic Movement MP Mncedisi Filtane challenged him to institute an investigation into the payment, Mr Mbalula said : “If this was a bribe, it’s a funny bribe, because why would you bribe a person (in the) aftermath? We won the World Cup (bid) in 2004 and we bribed in 2008. Why would we … do that?”
Even the US had made no accusations against South African officials, Mr Mbalula said.
Charlize Horizon kiddies have ‘Mystical Illusions’
By Tangerine Clarke From Caribbean Life
Photo by Tangerine Clarke Charlize Horizon band leader Charlene Norgriff extreme right, with kids from the band.
Charlize Horizon Junior Mas is ready for Kiddies Carnival on Saturday, Sept. 5, as was clear recently, when high spirited youngsters in colorful costumes put on a display reveling to carnival music at the band’s 898 East 95th St. (between D & Foster) camp in Brooklyn.
Costume designer Charlene Norgriff a San Fernando, Trinidad, native has put her heart and soul into the radiant collection to bring to life her themed – “Mystical Illusions.”
Now in her second year of competition as an individual bandleader, Norgiff, the owner of Neya’s Daycare, is inspired by carnival, and as such will dazzle the judges with sections to showcase “Sensational,” “Circus Girl,” “Butterflies,” 
“Fairies,” and cartoon characters to bring to life her fantasy concept.
The whimsical designs include a polka dot dress paired with rainbow tights, fish net tutus in purple designed with sequins and glitter, glamour girl.
The cute fairytale costumes and cartoon characters for boys, created from metallic fabric, the designer said, will tell a thousand tales.
Laniece Hofflie, the designer’s daughter will present the ‘Illusion’ individual costume to lead the teenage section of the posse. The black and silver ensemble features a feathered headpiece and is accentuated with a jeweled half mask.
Norgriff, focused on the children living their culture and being a part in their culture. As such, she emphasized keeping cost down, making the costumes attrattive and affordable to parents.
The toddler costume prices start at $65, while the teen outfits go up to $140.00.
With lots of help at the Mas camp to complete the impressive, comfortable designs, Norgriff said her band is a place where all can come and take part as a family.
Norgriff brings a wealth of experience in this category after presenting sections with “Hawks International,” “Ramajay Mas,” and “Antoine International.” She hopes to put forward an impressive presentation when her children masquerades in front of the judges on Labor Day weekend.
Charlize Horizon Mas Camp is open daily with extended weekend hours, and could be reached by calling 347-365-6402, 347-586-3388
For more: http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2015/8/2015-08-18-tc-charlize-horizon-cl.html
Windies team fails to qualify
By Azad Ali From Caribbean Life
IMAGE: Associated Press / Arnulfo Franco West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin smiles after a press conference in Roseau, Dominica, Tuesday, June 2, 2015.
The West Indies team is officially out of the Champions Trophy in 2017 after the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was unable to convince any other Test playing nation to provide an opening to allow the regional team to qualify for the tournament.
As a result, the West Indies team is out of the tournament, after failing to be in the top eight ICC rankings that qualify teams for the tournament.
The ICC has set a cutoff date of Sept. 30, 2015 for the top eight teams in the world to earn places in the prestigious event, which will be played in England.
However, West Indies are ranked ninth and have been engaging other teams in discussions aimed at a chance to earn points that could take them past the eighth-ranked team.
Earlier this year, talks broke down with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union as the West Indies attempted to initiate a tri-series which included Pakistan.
Unfortunately, Pakistan declined the offer as anything but victory in the tournament would have potentially put them at risk of losing their eighth place in the rankings and booted them out of the tournament
It is understood that talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) fell through, as a last ditched effort was made to have the West Indies fly to India to play a three-match series. Winning that series would have put them into the Champions Trophy.
For more: http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2015/8/2015-08-14-azad-wicb-cl.html
4 days to save Andy Hall
From Walk Free.Org
In just 4 days activist Andy Hall will find out if he faces time in prison for reporting on labour rights abuses in the Thai pineapple industry.
Please send an urgent message now calling on the Thai authorities to drop the charges against him.
Andy Hall has been trapped in a nightmare for the last two years. In 2013, a report including some of his research was published which included allegations of worker abuse and slavery-like practices in the supply chain of Natural Fruit, a Thai company that processes pineapples and supplies retailers around the world.
Instead of looking into the allegations, Natural Fruit targeted Andy. He was hauled into court on charges of computer crime and criminal defamation. On Monday Andy will find out if he will be indicted: if he is, he faces 7 years in prison and more than $11 million in damages.
We don’t need to tell you how unjust this is. In Andy’s own words: “This is about persecution. It’s a political case to try and silence me… I’m someone that’s revealing things that the government and the industry don’t want me to reveal.”1
The Walk Free community and many other organisations around the world have been keeping up the pressure on Natural Fruit to drop the charges for months — we’ve shone a spotlight on Andy’s unacceptable treatment and in October last year one of the charges against him was dropped.
But Natural Fruit have shown no signs of giving up. That’s why we now need to turn our attention to the Thai government. The authorities are already facing global scrutiny for not doing enough to protect workers from abuse — the latest US Trafficking in Persons report gives Thailand the lowest score for action to tackle trafficking.2
Show your support for Andy and migrant workers that remain vulnerable to modern slavery in Thailand: take action to demand that these charges are dropped NOW.
With hope and determination,
Zoe, Leena, Jayde, Alex and all of the Walk Free team
P.S. We considered not sending this message because of the awful bombing in Bangkok just a few days ago — our hearts go out to everyone affected by those horrific events. However, Andy’s case is at a critical turning point and we can’t stand by while activists like him are facing prison time in Thailand. It’s vital that we continue to show that we can’t be silenced and that we stand in solidarity with Andy and migrant workers in Thailand who must be able to speak out when they suffer abusive conditions.
1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAvXe6TjdPE
2 http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/tip2015statements.html
Metro: Track problems detected before derailment
By Ari Ashe From wtop
WASHINGTON — Metro’s interim general manager says the derailment of one of its trains near the Smithsonian Station last week could have been avoided and took the blame for the significant service disruptions that lasted most of a day.
At a news conference Wednesday, Metro Interim General Manager Jack Requa said the cause was a track defect known as a “wide gauge” — a problem detected a month before the Aug. 6 derailment, but never repaired.
Metro Interim General Manager Jack Requa says the derailment was preventable and the incident was “unacceptable.” (WTOP/Ari Ashe)
Such a defect occurs when the width of the tracks expand to such a degree that the wheels of the train don’t attach to the rails anymore. He says it’s another example of past administrations underfunding repairs and upkeep on the system.
Metro’s Blue, Orange and Silver lines were suspended between McPherson Square and Federal Center Southwest stations on the morning of Aug. 6 while crews worked to set derailed cars back on the tracks.
“I don’t want mince words, but this is totally unacceptable,” Requa says of the problem detected on July 9. “It is unacceptable to me and it should be unacceptable to everyone within the chain of command.”
Metro Deputy General Manager Rob Troup says vehicles found the problem and it was flagged as a “code black,” which means the track should’ve been taken out of service immediately and repairs begun.
Requa is not sure why the problem was not fixed in the weeks between detection and derailment, but he says Metro is investigating where the communication breakdown occurred to make sure it never happens again. He added that among the options for anyone responsible is discipline or termination, and he cannot defend what happened.
As to customers affected, Requa apologized once again for the inconvenience last Thursday and Friday mornings. Metro gave a refund to customers who used the system on Friday because it guaranteed the system would be back to normal around 7 a.m. and it did not live up to that promise because of third rail power problems that forced passengers to be evacuated from a train.
“The credits were issued to over 158,000 customers. The average credit was $4.75. And the total cost was about $750,000,” says Requa.
The refund is a historic one for the agency on such a large scale. Metro refunded fares to customers last December when there was a water main break near Metro Center, but that refund was limited in scope to a relatively small set of customers who were directly impacted.
The Metro Board of Directors and its committees will not be meeting for the rest of the month. But the topic is likely to come up again when Metro reconvenes public meetings on Sept. 10.
IMAGE: Metro rider crowd onto the platform at Farragut West Thursday afternoon waiting for a spot on a packed train. (WTOP/Mike Murillo)
For more and audio go to: http://wtop.com/sprawl-crawl/2015/08/metro-track-problems-detected-before-derailment/
