Former Cayman Islands premier threatens to sue auditor general
Former premier of the Cayman Islands, McKeeva Bush, who is currently facing a number of criminal charges, has threatened to sue the territory’s auditor general over allegations of political interference in the hiring of two Port Authority employees.
A report by auditor general Alastair Swarbrick released this week documented the hiring of two employees by the Port Authority – once in 2004 and again in 2009 – on specific instructions from Bush.
On Thursday Bush denied he had done anything wrong and said, “I’m going to sue him [the auditor general].”
According to the report, two Port Authority workers were initially hired in 2004, when Bush was leader of government business and also chairman of the Port Authority’s board of directors.
In 2005, the two employees were terminated from their positions, presumably following a change of government.
In 2009, Bush, then the newly re-elected premier, instructed the Port Authority director to reinstate arrangements with the same two employees at a salary of $1,000 per month, the auditor general reported.
“Up to February 2012, a total of $90,000 had been paid to these individuals without any evidence of work being done,” Swarbrick’s report noted.
“The action identified above is a clear example of undue political influence and override that undermines the ability of an organisation such as [the port authority] to operate effectively,” Swarbrick continued.
Cayman Islands anti-corruption law makes it an offence to “influence or negotiate appointments or dealing in [public] offices”; however, that must be done while seeking a reward or advantage of some kind.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Bush returned to court in relation to the eleven criminal charges against him, including allegations that he used a government credit card unlawfully to withdraw some $50,000 in cash from ATMs in US casinos.
A trial date in March 2014 has tentatively been "pencilled in" according to the Crown prosecutor.
St Lucia seeking to take advantage of PetroCaribe
St Lucia will seek to advance arrangements to access Venezuelan oil under the PetroCaribe initiative when Prime Minister Kenny Anthony visits Nicaragua today.
Anthony told reporters Wednesday that there were no grounds for speculation that the island may have abandoned efforts to get oil on concessionary terms from Venezuela.Under PetroCaribe, Caribbean countries benefit from preferential rates on crude oil, refined products, and LPG or its energy equivalent, from Venezuela. The payment arrangement allows for purchase of oil on market value for 40 per cent up front, within 90 days. The remainder of the payment can be made over a period of 25 years with one per cent interest, provided that oil prices are above US$40 per barrel.
The oil pact was launched in 2005 and was aimed at strengthening the member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of America (ALBA). But there have been reports here that since the death of President Hugo Chavez in March, the PetroCaribe oil agreement appeared to be in limbo.
Prime Minister Anthony said his visit to Nicaragua is intended to further St Lucia's interest in the initiative to which it has become a signatory.
"We will be meeting essentially to finalise legal arrangement underpinning Petro Caribe which require us to establish two companies.
"One would be owned by the government of St Lucia that will conduct its business on the initiative and the other owned jointly with Venezuelan interests, will manage the resources that comes available through PetroCaribe.
"So we are moving to put the institutional arrangements in place so that hopefully we can begin to operationalise our relationship and secure benefits from Petro Caribe," Anthony added.
St Lucia became the newest member of PetroCaribe against the backdrop of escalating cost of fuel and the adverse effects on the economy.
The government has said that PetroCaribe benefits will be used to invest in social development programmes and the country's social infrastructure, as has been done successfully in neighbouring Caribbean countries.
Among the regional countries that signed on to the deal, Jamaica has stated that since the inception of the facility in 2005, the country has benefited to the tune of US$2.4 billion, and has paid back US$150 million.
However, the CEO of Jamaica's PetroCaribe Development Fund (PDF) said in April that the country was the only beneficiary which had insulated from the temptation to consume the benefits in current expenditure, and had invested it in a way to ensure that the country would be able to meet the payments when they become due.
Source- CMC
Digicel loses out to Norwegian, Quatari telecoms in Myanmar bid
Digicel in a statement yesterday said it was dissapointed to have not been selected, but said it would look at other opportunities in Myanmar and other territorities as it seeks to expand its international footprint.
"Digicel remains committed to exploring commercial opportunities in Myanmar and will be evaluating these on an ongoing basis," the company said.
"In the meantime, Digicel's focus will be on growing market share and revenues in its existing markets whilst continuing to look for other expansion paths, including new markets like the Bahamas."
Denis O'Brien, Chairman and founder of Digicel Group, speaking on behalf of the consortium -- YSH Finance Limited (a joint venture between First Myanmar Investment Co and Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd 'FMI/Yoma'), Quantum Strategic Partners Ltd and Digicel Group Limited -- thanked the Union Government of Myanmar for the opportunity to be involved in the bidding process.
He also congratulated the successful applicants and wished them well as they prepare to enter the Myanmar market.
Telenor and Ooredoo will set up the country's first foreign-owned mobile phone networks. Telenor is one of the world's major mobile operators with 148 million mobile subscriptions. It has mobile operations in 11 countries across Europe and Asia, according to the company's website. Total revenues in 2012 were NOK 101.7 billion or US$16.8 billion.
Ooredoo reportedly haa a customer base of 93 million and revenues of US$9.3 billion in 2012. It has businesses across markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, according to the company's website.
Currently less than six million of the country's 60 million people have mobile phones, one of the lowest connectivity rates in the world. Hoping to spur economic growth, the government is trying to push penetration rates to 80 per cent by 2016.
The licences were awarded despite an eleventh hour push by lawmakers to delay a decision until a new telecommunications law is passed.
Of the more than 90 companies that submitted bids, 11 were shortlisted.
Myanmar, located in the heart of one of the fastest growing regions in the world, became one of the most isolated and poorest nations during its half-century of iron-clad military rule.
After taking control of a quasi-civilian government in 2011, former general Thein Sein started implementing promised political and economic reforms.
The communications industry, long-neglected by the country's military rulers, is in need of a complete overhaul. That's in part because the original network was intended for only a tiny number of subscribers, mostly the rich. Up until a few years ago, the cost of SIM cards could reach US$2,000.
Digicel announced in February that it had officially submitted its expression of interest in acquiring a licence to operate a telecommunication network in Myanmar. O'Brien had already said he was prepared to invest up to US$1 billion into developing the system.
LIME, Cisco Meraki unveil WiFi earning opportunity for businesses
Telecommunications firm LIME and leading Cloud-controlled WiFi solutions provider Cisco Meraki have teamed up to offer Jamaican businesses technology aimed at increasing revenues and improving the attractiveness of their establishments to an increasingly technologically driven market.
In the first of a two-part LIME/Cisco Meraki Hosted WiFi Seminar held at the Hilton Rose Hall Hotel in Montego Bay last week, LIME's vice president of corporate SME sales, Edward Gabbidon, invited hoteliers, restaurateurs, bankers and IT companies to be among the first to partner with LIME Business and develop a "smart facility" where patrons are able to use personal wireless devices to access services.
Respective IT specialist also got an opportunity to quiz LIME and Cisco Meraki representatives on how useful this solution was for Jamaican businesses, customer support services from LIME and the cost associated with acquiring the system. Gabbidon explained that LIME was fully backed by Cisco Meraki in terms of technical support and LIME Business is willing to come in and assess their layout, design a solution tailor-made for your business and offer solutions that do not require capital expenditure but can be done as an operational cost.
"When you buy into a Hosted WiFi Solution that gives customers effortless connectivity to access the goods and services you offer while being able to connect online from their wireless devices, it gives business owners added revenue channels and improves customer comfort and satisfaction," Gabbidon said.
"The tourism sector stands to benefit greatly from this partnership between LIME and Cisco Meraki, as Jamaica will have access to first world level internet service solutions, while visitors can stay connected to their homes and offices through the use of their smart devices," he added.
Cisco Meraki field sales engineer Benton Heles noted that the system is easy to deploy, as implementation can be done in under an hour and offers ease of management and flexibility. Additionally, he said through the cloud connectivity, the system will be afforded to everyone wherever the service is offered and can be configured and managed remotely.
EU provides US$30M boost to Guyana's sugar industry
The European Union has awarded Guyana US$30 million to help boost the Caribbean country's struggling sugar industry.
The money will be used to buy harvesting machines and lessen dependence on cane cutters, many of whom have abandoned fields to work in the country's booming gold-mining business.
The announcement comes just days after the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation reported its lowest-ever first crop production of 48,000 tons (43,500 metric tons), 20,000 tons (18,100 metric tons) less than projected.
The company has blamed serious labour shortages, bad weather, mounting debt and management problems for the decrease in production.
The deal was signed last week.
Sugar generates about 20 per cent of Guyana's gross domestic product, and the industry is the country's largest employer. Against the background that the sugar industry continues to play a vital role in the socio-economic development of the country, Government earlier this year said it was pumping billions of dollars in reforming the industry.
"The industry is still of sufficient systemic importance to the national economy and to the livelihoods of so many rural communities and has such deep forward and backward linkages with suppliers and distributors nationwide that no effort must be spared to ensure its long-term viability, competitiveness, and profitability," said Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh as he announced a billion-dollar (One Guyana dollar = US$0.01 cents) allocation to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) in March.
Britain's Cameron Visits Afghanistan to Spur Taliban Peace Talks
British Prime Minister David Cameron made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Saturday to reinvigorate peace talks with the Taliban and reassure the Kabul government of the international community's continued support.
After a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Cameron told reporters in Kabul that Britain and the United States want peace and stability in the country and have no other agenda. He expressed hope that peace talks with the Taliban will begin soon.
''We want peace and stability in Afghanistan, we want the return of the Taliban back to their country; we want them to be part of this society and this policy and to work for their own country. That is our desire and we hope the peace talks will begin as soon as possible as to what the Taliban want we will hear from them once the peace talks start.``
Cameron's visit comes just days after a brazen Taliban attack in central Kabul shattered hopes that the war is over. Sporadic attacks on government and international forces throughout the country have been blamed on the Taliban.
Afghan President Karzai vowed that those attacks will not deter his government from seeking peace.
''The attack that was organized near the presidential palace will not deter us from seeking peace. Already we have had them killing the Afghan people, but we still ask for peace. This was peanuts, comparatively speaking. Quite and irrelevant attack, we are more concerned when they attack the Afghan civilians; we are more concerned when they attack Afghan schools and children. I wish they spent all their time attacking the presidential palace and leave the rest of the country alone."
Cameron visited British military bases in southern Afghanistan before flying to the capital for talks with President Karzai.
A meeting between U.S. and Taliban representatives scheduled to take place in Qatar earlier this month was cancelled after protests by the Afghan government that the Taliban was styling itself as an Afghan government in exile.
President Karzai broke off security talks with the United States in mid-June and threatened to boycott the peace process altogether.
From Kabul, Prime Minister Cameron is traveling on to Islamabad for talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Meanwhile, the deputy commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan says that an opportunity to bring peace to Afghanistan was missed when the Taliban were on the defensive in 2002. British General Nick Carter, told Saturday's Guardian newspaper that the country will need western military support beyond next year when U.S. troops are scheduled to leave.
Afghanistan is in the process of preparing for presidential elections in April of 2014.
Obama pays tribute to ailing Mandela, but tries to focus on economic message
Paying tribute to his personal hero, President Barack Obama met privately Saturday with Nelson Mandela's family as the world anxiously awaited news on the condition of the ailing 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader.
Obama, who has spoken movingly about Mandela throughout his trip to Africa, praised the former South African president's "moral courage" during remarks from the grand Union Buildings where Mandela was inaugurated as his nation's first black president.
The U.S. president also called on the continent's leaders, including in neighboring Zimbabwe, to take stock of Mandela's willingness to put country before self and step down after one term despite his immense popularity.
"We as leaders occupy these spaces temporarily and we don't get so deluded that we think the fate of our country doesn't depend on how long we stay in office," Obama said during a news conference with South African President Jacob Zuma.
Obama's stop in South Africa marked the midway point of a weeklong trip to Africa, his most significant engagement with the continent since taking office in 2009.
His lack of personal attention on the region has frustrated some Africans who had high expectations for the first black American president and son of a Kenyan man.
Even with Mandela's health casting a shadow over his visit, Obama tried to keep focus on an agenda that includes deeper U.S. economic ties with Africa. The president dismissed suggestions that he was only investing personal capital on Africa's economy now as a response to the increased focus on the continent by China, India, Brazil and others.
"I want everybody playing in Africa," he said. "The more, the merrier."
But the president pointedly called on Africans to make sure that countries seeking an economic foothold on the continent are making a "good deal for Africa."
"If somebody says they want to come build something here, are they hiring African workers?" Obama said. "If somebody says that they want to help you develop your natural resources, how much of the money is staying in Africa? If they say that they're very interested in a certain industry, is the manufacturing and value-added done in Africa? "
The president did not specifically single out China, but some African leaders have criticized Beijing for such behaviors.
Obama's focus on trade and business appeared to be well received in Africa, home to six of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies. The majority of the questions he received from the South African press and later at a town hall meeting with young African leaders focused on U.S. economic interests in the region.
Between his two events, Obama spent about 30 minutes meeting privately with two of Mandela's daughters and several of his grandchildren at the former leader's foundation offices in Johannesburg. He also spoke by phone with Mandela's wife, Graça Machel, who remained by her husband's side at the Pretoria hospital where he has battled a lung infection for three weeks.
In a statement following the call, Machel said she drew strength from the Obama and his "touch of personal warmth."
Obama, who has met Mandela in person only once before, did not visit the former leader in the hospital out of respect for his family's wishes, the White House said. Ahead of his arrival in South Africa, the president had told reporters that he did not need "a photo-op" and didn't want to be obtrusive.
Obama ascent to the White House has drawn inevitable comparisons to Mandela. Both are their nations' first black presidents, symbols of racial barrier breaking and winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Zuma said Obama and Mandela "both carry the dreams of millions of people in Africa and in the diaspora who were previously oppressed." Zuma said Mandela's condition remained the same as it had in recent days — critical yet stable — though he expressed hope that Mandela soon would leave the hospital.
Obama, Zuma and other dignitaries held a moment of silence for Mandela during a dinner Saturday night.
Source-AP
Biden asks Ecuador's president to reject NSA leaker Edward Snowden's asylum
Vice President Joe Biden has asked Ecuador to turn down an asylum request from National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, the country's president said Saturday.
Rafael Correa, in a weekly television address, offered little sympathy for the Obama administration's view that Snowden is a criminal who should be swiftly returned to the U.S. At the same time, he vowed to seek American input on any asylum request and suggested Snowden will have to answer for his actions.
The Friday phone call between Correa and Biden — it's the highest-level conversation between the U.S. and Ecuador to be disclosed since Snowden began seeking asylum — added to the confusion about Snowden's status. Facing espionage charges in the U.S., Snowden is believed to be holed up in a Moscow airport's transit zone and seeking safe passage to Ecuador, the country seen as likeliest to shelter America's most wanted fugitive.
Julian Assange, founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, has been given asylum in Ecuador's embassy in London.
Correa said he had a "friendly and very cordial" conversation with Biden, and told the vice president that Ecuador hadn't sought to be put in the situation of deciding whether to harbor an American justice-dodger. He said Ecuador can't consider the asylum request until Snowden is on Ecuadorean soil.
"The moment that he arrives, if he arrives, the first thing is we'll ask the opinion of the United States, as we did in the Assange case with England," Correa said. "But the decision is ours to make."
White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan confirmed that the two leaders spoke by phone Friday and discussed Snowden, but she wouldn't disclose any details about the conversation.
A staunch critic of the U.S., Correa rebuked the Obama administration for hypocrisy, invoking the case of brothers Roberto and William Isaias, bankers whose extradition from the U.S. Correa said Ecuador has been seeking. "Let's be consistent. Have rules for everyone, because that is a clear double-standard here," he said.
The leftist leader sought to direct attention away from Snowden's actions and back to the U.S. spying secrets he exposed, summoning a theme he's invoked to the delight of his strongest backers since Snowden, a former NSA contractor, revealed the agency's massive Internet and phone surveillance to two newspapers, fleeing all the while from Hong Kong to Moscow in evasion of U.S. authorities.
"The really grave thing is what Snowden has reported," Correa said. "He will have to assume his responsibilities, but the grave thing is his reporting of the biggest massive spy operation in the history of humanity, inside and outside the United States."
Ecuadorean officials have acknowledged its embassy in London issued Snowden a letter of safe passage that calls on other countries to allow him to travel to asylum in Ecuador. But Ecuador's secretary of political management, Betty Tola, said the letter was invalid because it was issued without central government approval in Quito, the capital.
Obama and his aides have tempered their rhetoric about Snowden in recent days after more heated attempts to pressure China and Russia over his extradition raised tensions with those nations, threatening to undercut cooperation with the two major powers on other issues.
But Ecuador has seemed to delight in tweaking the U.S. over the issue, accusing America of human rights violations and blowing off warnings about how the U.S. might respond if Ecuador doesn't cooperate.
After the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., on Wednesday threatened an effort to block renewal of Ecuador's tariff benefits on hundreds of millions of dollars in trade, Ecuador preemptively renounced the benefits themselves, claiming the trade deal had become "a new instrument of blackmail."
As for Biden, Correa suggested it wasn't personal. He praised the vice president for being more courteous than "those badly behaved and confused ones in the Senate who threaten our country."
Source-AP
Tension rises ahead of Egypt protest calling for Morsi's ouster
Organizers of a mass protest against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi claimed Saturday that more than 22 million people have signed their petition demanding the Islamist leader step down, asserting that the tally was a reflection of how much the public has turned against his rule.
The announcement adds to a sense of foreboding on the eve of opposition-led mass demonstrations that many fear could turn deadly and quickly spin out of control, dragging the country into a dangerous round of political violence.
The demonstrations planned for Sunday reflect the growing polarization of the nation since Morsi took power, with the president and his Islamist allies in one camp and seculars, liberals, moderate Muslims and Christians on the other.
There is a sense among opponents and supporters of Morsi that Sunday's rally is a make or break day. The opposition feels empowered by the petition, known as Tamarod, or Rebel, but it offered no proof regarding the figures. If verified, it would mean that nearly double the number of people who voted for Morsi a year ago are now calling for him to step down.
"Honestly, if (Sunday) is not a game changer, we might all just pack up our bags and leave," said Mahmoud Salem, a prominent blogger known by his blog's name Sandmonkey and a vocal critic of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails.
While violence is likely in such a tense atmosphere, Salem said it would not play out in favor of Morsi supporters because they will be outnumbered.
"They have alienated everybody," he said. Even if no violence breaks out, Salem said civil disobedience is expected in a movement designed now to "save the country."
Morsi's supporters, on the other hand, question the petitions, saying his opponents are led by members of the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak who are trying to orchestrate a comeback and are instigating violence.
"Today and tomorrow will be the real birth of this nation," said Hani Salaheddin, a presenter on the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated TV station Misr 25, predicting that Sunday will bring an end to the questioning of Morsi's mandate.
"Tomorrow is the end of every corrupt person," he said, as the slogan "legitimacy (of the ballot box) is a red line," appeared on the screen.
Already, clashes across a string of cities north of Cairo over the past week have left eight people dead, including an American and a 14-year old, and hundreds injured. Clashes broke out outside offices of the Muslim Brotherhood and its party in at least five different governorates, and rival protests turned into violent confrontations.
Thousands are still taking part in rival sit-ins, in place since Friday in Tahrir Square for opponents and in an east Cairo suburb, Nasr City, for supporters of Morsi.
Source-AP
Thousands gather in Istanbul's to demand justice
Thousands of protesters returned to Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday, demanding justice for a demonstrator slain by police fire during demonstrations that have swept Turkey this month. Police later forced the protesters out of the square, pushing them back using their shields.
In the capital, Ankara, police fired tear gas and pressurized water to break up a similar protest by a group of about 200 people, the Dogan news agency reported.
Turkey has been hit by a wave of protests this month that were ignited by a brutal police crackdown on a peaceful environmental sit-in at a park near Taksim. The demonstrations soon turned into a wide outpouring of discontent with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. Four people — three demonstrators and one police officer — have been killed and thousands injured.
The demonstrations have largely subsided in recent days, but thousands converged back on the square on Saturday, angry over a court decision this week that released a police officer from custody pending his trial for the killing of a protester in Ankara.
The protesters also denounced the killing of a Kurdish demonstrator by paramilitary police in a mainly Kurdish town on Friday.
Police allowed protesters to chant slogans for some two hours before issuing a warning for them to disperse. They then moved in, pushing the crowd away from the square. They arrested several people in the process, including some foreign nationals, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Earlier Saturday, hundreds in southeast Turkey attended the funeral of the Kurdish youth, who was shot while protesting the construction of a military post. Eight other people were injured in the same protest when security forces fired on them in the mainly Kurdish town of Lice.
The government said it had launched an investigation into the incident, which came as autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels are withdrawing from Turkey as part of peace talks with the Turkish government.
A rebel commander last week criticized Turkish government efforts to build new military posts amid the peace efforts.