Black Immigrant Daily News

The skeletal remains suspected to be that of a missing Surinamese fisherman were found on Saturday along the Corentyne foreshore in the vicinity of Eversham, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

The discovery was made by a farmer who was traversing the area. The farmer related that he observed a flock of vultures feasting on what he at the time thought was a dead animal. However, he reportedly went closer to investigate when he made the gruesome discovery.

From all indications, the human skeleton was partially covered with sand. The Police were immediately contacted and a team of investigators arrived at the scene a short while after.

Missing Surinamese fisherman: Wazir Shaw

Police in Berbice confirmed that there was no missing person’s report and as such, are working on the theory that the body could have floated from elsewhere and ended up at the foreshore.

However, back on August 9, Surinamese news network, Actionnieuws reported that Wazir Shaw also called “Buddy”, a fisherman of Nickerie, had gone missing without a trace.

Following the discovery of the body on Saturday, family members of the missing Surinamese fisherman reached out to authorities in Guyana and provided them with information about the missing man.

It was reported that Shaw was last seen wearing a tracksuit and had steel plates in his leg. This, relatives say, should assist the Police in confirming whether or not the remains found on Saturday are those of Shaw.

At the time of the discovery, the remains were partially covered in a black or dark blue sweater suit. The remains were transported to the Skeldon Hospital Mortuary as investigations continue.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

See below for a statement from the University of Guyana on its new academic year:

The University of Guyana is set to commence the new academic year 2022/23 with orientation sessions for new and continuing students beginning from September 5 through to 10th, 2022.

Classes for most new and continuing students will begin on September 12th, 2022. It is to be noted that some classes for new students in some disciplines such as in the College of Medicine will begin two weeks later, since these students require their CXC, GCE and CAPE results in order to be admitted. The University was able to facilitate provisional admission for some disciplines ahead of their examination results being released by CXC.

Applications, registration and admission are still ongoing as the University prepares for yet another historic first in its 59-year history. The University for the first time will offer its students three attendance options. Depending on discipline classes will be offered in online, face-to-face or blended learning formats. Faculties and other academic departments continue to advise their respective students directly about options available to them.

However, UG’s new online timetabling system will also be made available to new and continuing students from September 2nd, at https://uog.edu.gy/ugtimetables.

VIRTUAL Orientations for New and Continuing students

This year UG will welcome over 3000 freshmen who will join 8000 continuing students, three thousand of whom are set to graduate later this year.  Virtual orientations for new and continuing students of the Turkeyen, Berbice Campuses and Institutes for Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE) will run for one week. URL for orientations will be available to students directly from their SRMS, the University’s Registry and their academic Departments from September 2. New and continuing students will receive emails directly with the necessary login information in order for them to register.

The orientation sessions are aimed at providing a step-by-step introduction to all of the systems, policies, personnel, and resources that students need to navigate the University. This will be particularly important for students to start their classes seamlessly on the first day of classes. Sessions also address programme-related queries and concerns and provide the necessary support and guidance to students to ensure their time at the University is smooth, enriching, and fulfilling as far as possible. During orientation, students are also introduced to the rules, regulations, lecturers, specific processes, given a tour of the physical and online classrooms, how to read and calculate their grade point average (GPA) and academic profiles. They are also made aware of the special services and opportunities available to them during and after their studies.

Students awaiting communication on their applications should check if they submitted their applications or their documents, or if they clicked to accept the offer.

Though many programmes are at capacity, students who have applied and not yet heard from the University or who wish to register for programmes which still have spaces are encouraged to apply or complete pending applications or registrations as registrations will be ongoing into early November for waitlisted students.

Traditional Opening Ceremony

The University of Guyana’s traditional Ceremonial Opening will also be held virtually on September 9, 2022, at 17:00h. Please click here to join the ceremonial opening:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BBTAbS0IRQqu4vKioZnOxw

 New students’ orientation (Registry morning sessions)

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BBTAbS0IRQqu4vKioZnOxw

Continuing students’ orientation (Registry morning sessions)

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ict5k7ETQR6FoUvhlUyITg

 ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION

For details on key academic dates please click here: https://uog.edu.gy/newsletters/academic-calendars-20222023

For Assistance Please Call or WhatsApp These Help Desk Numbers:

For additional information and support please call UG’s New Help Desk Numbers: Turkeyen Campus Registration Support: 623-1941, 623-1867, 623-1869, 623- 1871, 623-1924, 623-1940, 623-1942, 624-1943, 623-1944, 623-1945, 623-1946, 623-1948, and Berbice Campus Registration Support: 623-1943, 623-1949.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Kattina Anglin has just won the right to have her legal aid funding extended to challenge the legality of the exercise of the Governor’s powers to enact the Civil Partnership Act. This is according to a judgment delivered by Justice Alistair Walters on August 23, 2022.

Anglin’s argument

As outlined in the judgment, Anglin commenced initial judicial review proceedings to challenge the Governor’s powers.

Anglin’s dispute was that the Governor went outside the limit of his powers under section 55 of the Bill of Rights under the Cayman constitution.

More specifically, section 55(1)(b) says that the Governor is responsible for the conduct of any business of the Government with respect to external affairs, but Anglin questioned whether the passing by the Governor of the Civil Partnership Act was a matter of “external affairs.”

After losing the initial judicial review case before Justice Williams, Anglin filed an appeal against the judgment of Justice Williams. However, in order fund that appeal, Anglin had to ask for extra money from the legal aid department.

Decision of Director of Legal Aid

Unfortunately for Anglin, her request for more money was refused by the Director of Legal Aid.

The refusal certificate of the Director said:

[h]aving reviewed the judgment of the court and section 5 of the Legal Aid Act, an extension of this certificate is refused. If the Applicant seek to further appeal of this matter, they should make their own private arrangements with counsel. Circumstances do not Justify the expenditure of public funds.

Contrary to the Director’s position, however, Anglin did not suddenly win the lottery and did not have any “private arrangements” to continue to her challenge against the Governor’s exercise of his powers.

The next logical step for Anglin was to ask the Director of Legal Aid to reconsider the refusal. However, Anglin was told that the Director of Legal Aid was of the view that “It is highly unlikely that an appeal will be successful” as the exercise by the Governor of his powers “was not an error in law and well with the scope of the Governor’s responsibilities…”

Had any other citizen received such a response, there is a chance they would have given up on their fight. But, Anglin pressed on and asked the court to reverse the decision of the Director of Legal Aid to refuse Anglin an extension of legal aid funding.

Decision of Justice Walters

In giving his judgment (delivered on August 23, 2022), Justice Walters noted the following:

Anglin’s case involves a substantial question of lawThe case raises matters of public interestThe basis of Anglin’s appeal does demonstrate,when readin conjunctionwith the writtensubmissionsand the Judgmentthat there is a reasonableprospectthat Anglin’s appealwill succeedNovel questionsof law are involved and it was unreasonable for the Director to discuss summarily the prospects of success without providing any reasoning for that decision. To simply rely on the previous judge’s own reasoning in the Judgment without addressing the proposed grounds of appeal is insufficientIt was unreasonable to assume (if that is what the Director did) that Anglin might be able to obtain donations from the public towards her legal expenses. There was no evidence to suggest that otherwise that Anglin’s means had changed

In addition, Justice Walters said:

On the basis that the appeal does demonstrate a reasonable prospect of success on the merits and there is no change in the Plaintiff circumstances then there must be an expectation (as opposed to an assurance) that legal aid will be available to fund an appeal. The withdrawal of support would expose the Plaintiff to a costs risk in the event that she pursued the appeal without legal aid. However, I do not regard that as the most significant factor that is relevant here. The more material issues are that the Plaintiff maintains a significant interest in arguing her position in the litigation and in my view, most importantly, the issues raised on the appeal are of general public importance which are unlikely to be argued unless legal aid is granted. Added to that is the fact that if the matter is to proceed to appeal, the Plaintiff should be represented to ensure that her arguments are properly presented.

On the basis of the above, Justice Walters reversed the decision of the Director of Legal Aid to refuse Anglin an extension of legal aid funding to challenge the Governor’s powers. This will now permit Anglin to continue her appeal case, questioning the legality of the exercise of the Governor’s powers which were allegedly contrary to the Cayman constitution.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Readers are asked to note that Op-eds do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of Loop Cayman.

by ‘Caymaican’

The Cayman Islands’ 2021 Census Report shows that Jamaica ranks second as the place of birth for Cayman residents. However, this does not translate into Jamaicans taking second place for the top jobs in Cayman. Instead, Jamaican born workers mostly work as housekeepers, cleaners, caretakers, gardeners, police and construction workers, where they earn the middle-to-lower end of the salary scale in Cayman. In contrast, workers representing smaller percentages of the population (the UK, USA and Canada) in terms of birth, appear to command Cayman’s highest salaries. I believe there are several reasons for these disparities, some of which I mention below.

Cayman’s economic needs

First, as Cayman developed rapidly (with more buildings, homes and businesses) Cayman was forced to find people from overseas to fill posts for construction and other areas where tradesmen were required. This happened because Cayman did not establish large enough of an institution to equip and train a sufficient number of Caymanians to take these jobs as they became available.

In addition, there was a period of time in Cayman that professions like tradesmen, electricians and others in the construction industry were not deemed to be “prestigious enough” for my fellow Caymanians to pursue as careers. Instead, my fellow Caymanians were attracted to jobs in banks and other places in the financial services industry. A matter of preference, as it were.

The result of these permutations and combinations is that a smaller number of Caymanian-born workers were represented in trades industries over the years when compared to Jamaican-born workers (the 2021 Census also confirms that construction is the largest employer of Non-Caymanians and is the fifth largest place of employment for Caymanians, confirming that the long-held trend of the number of Non-Caymanians versus Caymanians in the construction industry is continuing).

Proximity

Literally being located next door also influenced Cayman as a choice for Jamaicans.

Advantages of being include:

Ability to return home quickly in case of family emergenciesAllows parents working in Cayman to conveniently see their children in Cayman during the summer holidays when school is outShort flight

Hiring practices

These benefits also translated well for Cayman businesses too because they could obtain workers on short notice when sufficient labourers were not available in Cayman to complete new or ongoing projects.

My suspicion is that, over time, because of the convenience and proximity, human resources managers developed a “preference” for Jamaican workers, especially in construction and housekeeping.

At the same time, however, for the financial services industry to thrive, human resources managers in that sector recruited many of their managers, directors and partners from the UK, USA and Canada. The median salary for these positions, as shown below, is about 6k per month (note that partners can make millions of dollars per year at law firms and accounting firms, not just 6k per month).

Salary of managers according to 2021 Cayman Census

The median salary, however, for construction and trades (where many Jamaican-born workers are employed) is 3k or less per month, with housekeepers in the region of 1k per month (often, this situation does not change even when Jamaican-born workers obtain Caymanian citizenship). This is highlighted in the preceding table and the table below.

Salaries in construction based on the 2021 Cayman Census Report

Importance of differences

The significance of the differences between positions held by Jamaican-born workers (representing a large percentage of residents on the basis of birth) and the UK, USA and Canada (representing a smaller percentage of residents on the basis of birth) is that, given the salaries, Jamaican-born workers are likely to have a harder time surviving the high cost of living in Cayman and may also live near or at the poverty level.

Anomaly could have been avoided

This anomaly, in my view, may have been avoided over the years if human resource planners considered Jamaican scholars for positions in the financial services industry at the same time that they assessed Cayman’s needs in trades industries.

For example, looking at Rhodes Scholarships alone, these have been awarded to Jamaicans from the 1950s to date, for literary and scholastic attainments, according to data published by the University of The West Indies. Jamaica also boasts good university education standards, with some Caymanians even obtaining their education in Jamaica in the past. Jamaica could have therefore been seen as a reliable source of educated candidates for top jobs, not just construction and housekeeping.

Opportunity to change things

Ignoring what could have been, the Cayman government and businesses have an opportunity now to correct the existing mismatch. The will to do this, however, may depend on the attitude towards more diversity at the top.

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