iNews Briefs
Grand Cayman’s landfill will stay in GT
Minister of Health, Osbourne Bodden, confirmed last Friday (Jan 31) in the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly the George Town landfill problem will stay exactly where it is – in George Town!
The minister said any proposal would have to be undertaken in a public-private partnership arrangement. It would also have to follow bidding procedures in accordance with the U.K.-ordered fiscal framework.
Although long-term plans for public waste include recycling and the government’s preferred waste-to-energy options, Bodden said he would not rule out other options if they made more financial sense.
A steering committee has been formed, the Minister added, comprising civil servants and representatives from the private sector.
HRC ‘disappointed’ in response to requests from civil servants
The Human Rights Commission’s 2013 Annual report claims the deputy governor, the police commissioner and the attorney general are among the Cayman Islands civil servants who have not responded to various requests for information.
Chairman Richard Coles expressed his disappointment and said, “It is seemingly the case that various public authorities are either unaware of this duty or blatantly disregard it.”
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson acknowledged the civil service did not respond in a timely manner and apologized to the Legislative Assembly.
The Attorney General, the Police Commissioner and the Justice of the Peace Association also failed to give any formal response to the HRC’s queries.
Marriott running spring special [inc. Cayman]
Marriott Caribbean & Latin American Resorts, a collection of 11 top luxury resorts in the tropics, is offering 30-percent off its leisure rates for travel from April 1-July 31. Reservations must be made by Feb. 28 using the promo code, 5CL. Participating hotels include the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino, JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa, Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, St. Kitts Marriott Resort & the Royal Beach Casino and Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort. For a full listing and info, visit www.paradisebymarriott.com/goodbye-winter-hello-savings
Calligo expands into the Cayman Islands
From Businesslife.co
Secure offshore cloud service provider Calligo is expanding into the Cayman Islands, offering a CalligoCloud platform via a partnership with MCS Ltd.
Calligo will provide its most popular cloud services through the partnership, such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and various Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings.
“We are delighted to be partnering with MCS to deliver our trusted and proven services to clients in the Cayman Islands, as well as clients in the Channel Islands that have offices there,” commented Julian Box, CEO and co-founder Calligo. “With MCS’s experience in delivering IT transformation services, offering cloud services is the next logical step.”
Men of Standards programme Part 2 of 2 to be launched by UCCI
The University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) together with its partner New England Institute of Technology, will be launching Part 2 of its two part programme.
The series of programmes are designed specifically for young men, to help them navigate the challenges of a changing Caymanian society. They seek to empower young men by instilling in them a sense of self-respect, confidence, etiquette, and citizenship. They include decorum, conflict resolution, sexual health and career counselling.
Chisholm’s supermarket robber receives 4 year jail sentence
Courtney Bryan (21), who pleaded guilty to being one of the four men who robbed the Chisholm supermarket in North Side, Grand Cayman last October and possessing an imitation firearm, received a four year prison term by Justice Charles Quin last week.
Bryan had initially been given a five year custodial sentence but because of his guilty plea it was reduced.
Four masked men had entered the store and robbed Rhoda Ebanks, the 83 year old owner and her granddaughter of jewellery, a phone, cigarettes and approx. $300 in cash.
Mrs Ebanks told social workers who recorded the victim impact statements, “I am 83 years of age and I still work for a living. These idiots come and take your few dollars instead of trying to work. I get up from 6am to get to work for 7am and I am there until 7pm and they are idling their time away.”
Writing to the courts saying he wished he could turn back the hands of time and apologising for the pain he caused his victims, Bryan acknowledged there was nothing he could do but accept judgment.
Dissemination of a Voting Rights Announcement, transmitted by DGAP – a company of EQS Group AG.
On January 28, 2014, Capital Ventures International, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies has informed us according to Article 21, Section 1 of the WpHG that its voting rights in PAION AG, Aachen, Germany, have exceeded the 3% and 5% threshold of the voting rights on January 23, 2014 and on that day amounted to 5.38% (this corresponds to 1,581,003 voting rights).
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
US charity loses one-third of assets in Cayman Islands property investment
From OffshoreAlert
February 03, 2014 – Missouri-based charity The Marvin M. Schwan Charitable Foundation has written off loans totaling $250 m that helped build The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman hotel and residences development in the Cayman Islands. The amount was one-third of the charity’s total assets.
$250 m loss in Cayman follows $100 m-plus loss on Emerald Bay Resort in the Bahamas
Charity has also invested heavily in Costa Rica
Caribbean investment losses contributed to charity’s assets falling by 52% in 12 years
For more: www.offshorealert.com
See also iNews Cayman story published October 11 2012 “Marvin M. Schwan Foundation and Michael Ryan mystery” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/marvin-m-schwan-foundation-and-michael-ryan-mystery/
CIAA former acting CEO resigns
Kerith McCoy, the former acting CEO of the Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) has resigned whilst on extended leave. Also resigning is Caren Thompson-Palacio, CIAA Business Development & Marketing Manager and Information Manager.
The CIAA has had a year of scandal that began with the suspension and eventual sacking of the pervious airport boss, Jeremy Jackson.
Whilst McCoy was on extended leave Andrew McLaughlin replaced him.
McCoy announced to friends he was leaving because it was an “attractive route at this time in my life”, whilst Thompson-Palacio said she was pursuing other interests and the timing of her departure was a coincidence and had absolutely nothing to do with the current situation.
