(CNS): A donation of a dozen “Apple TV” devices to the university college of the Cayman islands will lecturers and students to wirelessly link their iPad tablets to overhead projectors during class presentations. Officials from the local college said that the donation also marks a collaborative working relationship with Logic, the IT firm that donated the gizmos. This is aimed at strengthening the university’s use of technology in education as well as the IT programmes within UCCI and in its community educational programmes. “Our aim is to revolutionize instructional delivery at UCCI as well as to expand the borders of UCCI,” the president of the college, Roy Bodden said.
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UCCI gets 12 free Apple TVs from local IT firm
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Rotary clubs raise cash and hand it out
(CNS): Rotary Central held its 18th Annual Music Extravaganza Fundraising event on Friday at Grand Harbour when Swanky Kitchen Band, Heat and Red White & Blues entertained the crowds as they waited on the big prize draw. The grand prize of $40,000 was won by Autorou Rhoden. This is Rotary Central’s signature fundraising event with net proceeds going to fund the club’s many community projects. Meanwhile, Rotary Sunrise gave $5000 to the LIFE project, Literacy Is For Everyone recently after receiving the grant from the Rotary Foundation the global charitable arm of the international service club.
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Forensic experts sue immigration over unpaid bill
(CNS): A specialty forensic service company is suing the Cayman Islands Department of Immigration for $54,000 plus interest, claiming that it has not be paid for a report it conducted into systems for individual background checks and unearthing fraudulent travel documents that could be used by immigration staff. In the statement of claim filed by Cayman Islands Forensic Service Ltd the firm said it had a contract with the immigration department for a report, which it completed in 2008, but has not been paid the $54,000 owed for the research and report. The company claims the immigration department agreed the job in July 2008 and the 18 page report, which required 176 hours of work, was handed to immigration and signed for on 4 November 2008.
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Motorbike rider in hospital after GT crash
(CNS) Update Thursday 2:12pm: Police say that the 27-year-old man who sustained serious injuries as a result of the crash near Red Bay Primary School last night has been airlifted to Miami for treatment. At 8:10pm yesterday, police and other emergency services were called to the scene of a collision involving a Toyota Highlander and a motorbike on Shamrock Road, George Town. The two vehicles were travelling in opposite directions when the crash happened. The bike rider was transported to the Cayman Islands Hospital by ambulance. The accident is being investigated by PC Kenval Holder of the George Town Police Station at 949-4222. (Photo courtesy of Cayman 27)
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Job programme brings hope for 23 more graduates
(CNS): Another group of young people have passed through the government’s job training programme which readies young people for the workplace and helps improve their chances of getting work in an increasingly tough employment market. Of the 23 young people who graduated from the 12th session of Passport2Success four of them already have full time work, while a fifth has a paid internship and a further six are now pursuing higher education. This was the third group this year to complete the 12-week programme where they receive practical hands-on training in occupational, personal and job-specific skills. Since it started over 240 young Caymanians have been on the programme.
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Kids deliver ‘spellbinding’ performance
(CNS): Five primary school pupils made history on Tuesday night in the annual Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Primary School Spelling Bee final when they all nailed every word. Oneika Duncan and Shante Reid of George Town Primary (GTPS), Jordanne Saunders of Cayman Academy, Javon Lewison of Prospect Primary (PPS) and Theodore Thompson of Truth for Youth captured the top honours when each kid spelt everything the judges could throw at them. In a show of spelling genius one by one, the five dispatched words such as cinquefoil, proboscis and coccyx, forcing the organisers to spend over an hour attempting to put together an entirely new set of words for a further spell off.
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Booze board chair confirms NYE extension
(CNS): Bars, clubs and restaurants will all be able to serve booze for the New Year celebrations beyond their usual licensing hours as the chairman of the Liquor Licensing Board has confirmed the annual extensions. Mitchell Welds said that liquor licence holders will get one-hour extension beyond regular closing times on New Year’s Eve. “This extension applies to all seven categories of liquor licenses; however, this does not mean that general permission is being granted for all licensed premises to close at the latest time permitted,” Welds stated in a release. He emphasised that the additional hour can only be added to the closing time that each business is currently permitted to open.
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LIME and bikers team up over Toys4Tots
(LIME) Local telecommunications company LIME has again partnered with the Cayman Islands Motorcycle Riders Association (CIMRA) for its annual Christmas Toys 4 Tots drive to provide gifts of toys for children throughout the Cayman Islands who may not otherwise get gifts. This is the sixth year LIME is joining forces with CIMRA to help share more joy during the holiday season. The toy drive started on Tuesday 3rd December 2013. Toys 4 Tots invites the public to drop off unwrapped toys at various locations throughout Grand Cayman, which includes all LIME stores.
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Samanth J to perform at tonight's Music Fest
(CNS): After weeks of anticipation, the Cayman Islands International Music Fest (CIIMF) will light the skies over Grand Harbour tonight, Friday 6 December (gates open at 7 pm). Comparable to the Department of Tourism’s Jazz Fest, CIIMF has created a massive buzz with its line-up of artists such as Percy Sledge, Ginuwine, Verse Simmonds, Omi and a host of well-known local acts. Fulfilling its promise of having a surprise artist, Mogul Entertainment has invited 17-year-old Jamaican singer-songwriter Samantha J to be part of the event. A combination of youth, beauty and talent has made Samantha J an overnight ‘hot ticket’.
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Manhole worker hit by car
(CNS): A 22-year-old man has been seriously injured after he was hit by a car as he was working down a man hole. A police spokesperson said that the man, who is currently in hospital suffering from multiple injuries, was struck sometime after 1:00pm on Friday afternoon as he was working in the manhole situated in South Church Street at the junction with Parsons Lane, George Town. A woman who was driving a Suzuki Vitara from Parsons Lane and turning onto South Church Street hit the man. He was taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital, George Town, after the accident where he remains and where his condition is described as serious.
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Good governance goes beyond managing cash
(CNS): Good governance is not just about managing public finances, the governor said last week during Government Professional Development Week. Helen Kilpatrick was one of the presenters at the week-long event, organised by the government and the Cayman Islands Society of Professional Accountants, and she was also interviewed by Auditor General Alastair Swarbrick on the subject of public sector governance. Kilpatrick said the three priority areas in relation to good governance are core values and a good business ethos; having clear accountabilities and systems; and holding people accountable by measuring performance and outcomes.
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Invoices needed for Christmas packages
(CNS): In the face of the anticipated Christmas parcel snarl up, the Cayman Islands Postal Service (CIPS) is urging customers to submit invoices for their own holiday parcels as well as ‘Watch for Requests’ for traceable items or parcels not addressed properly. CIPS said that without an invoice, customs cannot assess the duty people are required to pay before they can have their packages and they will have to queue to collect them during the now restricted hours at the customs counter at the Airport post office, where packages can be opened. Officials said customers can submit invoices via email to: parcelpost@gov.ky or by fax to 345-945-6876.
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CIG marks international disabilities day
(GIS): Celebrations at the Lighthouse School (LHS) and Sunrise Centre marked International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Tuesday, 3 December. In Red Bay the Lighthouse School hosted an open house from 9.00 a.m. – 3.00pm, that showcased the potential of its 105 primary and secondary students. Young people began the day by leading a brief ceremony that included a number of musical and dance performances. They also guided visitors on tours of the school, including displays of handmade crafts and calendars which they had created for sale. Guests were also able to interact with students in classrooms.
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Closure was ‘fait accompli’
(CNS): Local defence attorney Anthony Akiwumi argued that the closure of the West Bay Road was an unconstitutional ‘fait accompli’ which gave the people of the Cayman Islands no right of appeal and lacked transparency. Presenting the case on behalf of the four West Bay ladies who have challenged the controversial closure in the courts, Akiwumi pointed to the right of way that people have enjoyed on the road for more than one hundred years, the petition signed by more than 4,000 residents, as well as the cultural significance of the road. But the main thrust of his submissions before Justice Alex Henderson Monday was simply that the closure was unlawful.
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DoT to help government fill up admin building
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (DoT) will be relocating to the new Government Administration Building (GAB) in George Town on Monday, helping with the PPM administration’s goal of boosting the occupancy rate of the modern energy-saving building. During a Public Accounts Committee meeting in September government officials revealed that the building was only 65% occupied as a result of a combination of factors. The downsizing of government, the reluctance of some public authorities to move and the costs of adapting space for others were all cited as reasons for government entities not moving into the GAB.
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Dart brings in ‘bigwig’
(CNS): Having asked to be joined in the defence of the legal action taken by four ladies regarding the closure of the West Bay Road to facilitate the development of a beachfront resort by Dart Realty Cayman Limited, the developer appeared to spare no expense in the fight this week when they instructed the former attorney general of England and Wales. Peter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, PC, QC, who now works for the New York-based firm Debevoise & Plimpton and is reputed to earn over one million pounds per year, advocated for Dart on Tuesday before Justice Alex Henderson. He argued that the women did not have a case as the rights they said they had lost were not private but public rights.
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Minister plans to tackle public pension shortfalls
(CNS): Although two of the government’s three public pension funds for public sector workers are short more than $178 million, the finance minister has stated that there is no need to panic as government has time and also has a plan for making up the missing cash. Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday morning, Marco Archer laid six reports relating to the various pension Actuarial Valuations for both 2008 and 2011 on the table of the House, making them public documents. Archer said the next evaluation would be in January, when the impact on the government’s balance sheet would be updated.
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Cayman Status and PR board to go to Cabinet
(CNS): The chief officer in the home affairs ministry has said that the newline up of the Caymanian Status and PR board will go before Cabinet when it meets Tuesday and should be gazetted later next week. The board will still play a significant part in delivery the government’s new immigration policy which will see every work permit holder who remains in Cayman for more than eight years allowed to make an application to live here permanently. Although decisions on who stays and goes will be made by immigration staff in the future, based on new stricter points criteria but the board will still make decisions regarding some applications.
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QC accused of gutting BoR
(CNS): Fighting to demonstrate the case brought by the four West Bay ladies regarding the closure of the West Bay Road was an infringement of human rights, Anthony Akiwumi accused the QC representing the government of attempting to gut the country’s Constitution and its Bill of Rights (BoR). He said that if the arguments put forward by Richard Keen, QC, on behalf of the government, which was tasked with upholding the Constitution, were allowed to stand and the attempt to mute the Bill of Rights not dismissed, this did not bode well for the future of human rights. The local attorney said it was ironic that the attack on the BoR came on International Human Rights Day.
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Utility pole fire cuts power, blocks roads in GT
(CNS): Roads in the industrial area of George Town were blocked for several hours on Sunday evening as a result of a fire on a utility pole in the industrial area. Police said roads in the area were expected to be closed until around 1am on Monday morning while crews worked on restoring power. All traffic was diverted and motorists were asked to avoid the area until the work was completed. CUC did not release any information regarding the areas that were without power during the work but Owen Roberts International Airport was impacted by the pole fire.
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