Price gougers will be prosecuted

(CNS): Anyone increasing prices for essential hurricane supplies and who is proven to have priced gouged in the run up to Gustav’s arrival will face the courts said the Leader of Government Business. “We are conscious of price gouging and we are depending on the proprietors and suppliers not to engage in it but if wehave any concrete reports we are going to act on it,” he added.

“I still believe that the Caymanian community by and large knows better and I’m hopeful that we won’t have any serious reports. Once there is concrete evidence we will act accordingly,” he said.

Speaking at the media briefing on Thursday morning Kurt Tibbetts said that there is a price gauging law and there are penalties for those who break it and the public should report price gouging experiences to the police.  He warned however, that people needed to provide evidence. He said that sometimes people were just upset by the prices and felt it should be cheaper but that is not necessarily price gouging and the law was not to be treated frivolously.

Cabinet members appeared on live television to update the public about government preparations for the anticipated arrival of Tropical Storm Gustav which is expected to be a at least a category one hurricane by the time it reaches the Cayman Islands on Friday (29 August) evening.  The LoGB said fuel supplies were sufficient with more than forty days supply of gasoline with tankers expected on 9 September and that CUC had a twenty eight day supply of diesel with the supplier offering a reserve of one hundred days. He also said there was more than 82 days supply of aviation fuel.

Tibbetts said government would provide plywood to those in need of some assistance and that employers needed to give their employees the time they needed to prepare.

“I would like to take this opportunity to urge all residents of all three islands to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that they are prepared for Gustav.  As we all know, tropical weather systems can be somewhat unpredictable in their paths and their intensities, so we need to be vigilant and monitor the storm’s progress as it makes its way toward our islands,” he added.