Archive for July 30th, 2009

Brac police aim to make children safer

Brac police aim to make children safer

| 30/07/2009 | 14 Comments

(CNS): Police on the Sister Islands are targeting traffic violations that endanger lives, especially those of the youngest members of the community. “In Cayman Brac we are extremely concerned about people travelling without seatbelts – and in particular, young children," said Area Commander Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay. "It is beyond belief that parents would, in this day and age, choose to transport their most precious cargo in such an indifferent manner. If they are caught they will be prosecuted.” Generally, motorists in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman should brace themselves for an increased police focus on the roads, the RCIPS said.

The move comes as officers recognise a growing concern relating to the road safety on both Sister Islands. “We take the safety of all road users extremely seriously,” said Kay, who will be targeting drivers who break the traffic law.

A number of measures have been taken recently to ensure that officers in Cayman Brac can carry out their roles effectively, including fitting a second marked police vehicle with mobile radar equipment and re-qualification of officers in the use of the radar machine. “Residents and visitors should expect to see an increase in traffic enforcement and not only in the area of speeding – but in all areas of road safety,” said Kay. “Parents should also be warned that we will be targeting those who fail to strap their children in safely.”

In addition, officers will continue to educate young children at the Cayman Brac Day Care Centre on the importance of wearing seatbelts. Children will be encouraged to ask their parents to strap them in and remind their parents to put their own seatbelts on. In Little Cayman, officers will be targeting speeders thanks to the arrival of a handheld radar machine.

“On such a small island it is completely unacceptable for people to disrespect not only the law but their fellow residents by driving at high speeds,” said Kay. “It was made quite clear at our recent community meeting that residents are concerned about the excessive speed of cars and we are prepared to take positive action to put a stop to it.”

Residents on both Islands are reminded about the dangers of driving in the back of pickup trucks and Kay warned that anyone seen carrying people in such a way would be stopped and dealt with according to the Insurance Law and Traffic Law.

Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Sister Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling Crime Stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
 

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PAC to tackle helicopter saga

PAC to tackle helicopter saga

| 30/07/2009 | 14 Comments

(CNS): The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is set to address the ongoing fiasco regarding the police helicopter, which has already cost government more than $3 million with no sign of the aircraft. Discussing a report Auditor General Dan Duguay submitted in October 2008, the committee decided that they needed to hear from the people involved as to exactly what was going on. Duguay said he was dismayed that having made straight forward recommendations about the helicopter, they had still not been acted upon more than nine months later. 

Chaired by North Side Independent MLA Ezzard Miller, the committee asked Duguay a number of questions on Wednesday (29 July) about his report and findings as well as what he knew about the current situation. Duguay explained that in the report, which he had conducted as a result of a request by the governor, he had recommended that the government move to assess the cost of retro fitting the craft, or alternatively, and what he thought was more prudent, sell the helicopter as quickly as possible and start the process of assessing s the police air surveillance needs from scratch.

“I thought I had given clear options to follow but I am dismayed that nothing has been done,” Duguay told PAC. “When I finished the report in October of last year I was told the helicopter was ready to be brought here, but it’s still not here and I’m interested to find out why not.”

Moses Kirkconnell, the only opposition member on the committee, said that the $3 million spent on the helicopter was bad enough but his real concern was that even today no one seemed to have any idea where the helicopter actually is or what’s happening to it.

Miller said that he understood the helicopter is still being held in Louisiana and that government is paying a not insignificant storage fee to keep it there, something which Duguay concurred, noting that was the last he had heard too.

The PAC agreed, not without a hint of irony, that as it was unlikely that former commissionerStuart Kernohan was going to come and answer to the PAC and they had better start with David Baines, the new RCIPS commissioner. It was also decided that Eric Bush from the portfolio and the Chief Secretary Donovan Ebanks, who was deputy chief secretary at the time of the purchase and closely involved, would need to be called.

Duguay also recommended that a representative from the Civil Aviation Authority be called as well, as he noted that part of the problem with the whole project was that no one from the police had spoken with the CAA to discuss the rules regarding flight to the Sister Islands without flotation devices. He said that the CAA had said it was willing to discuss the rules regarding air operation and they were not necessarily set in stone. Duguay said the CAA may well be able to shed light on the absolute minimum requirements for using helicopter between all three islands.

Duguay noted that part of the whole problem was that the needs of government and the police had not been properly established before the purchase went ahead. “There was a mission creep when people heard we had got a helicopter and people wanted to add things” he said. Duguay explained that the government bought a police helicopter for drug interdiction but then wanted to turn it into a search and rescue helicopter, something that actually costs in the region of $20 million. “Cabinet was sold an idea but the equipment was not capable of it.” He noted that no one in the RCIPS really had the expertise to purchase a helicopter.

Miller noted the problem Cayman now faced was that the helicopter was largely obsolete. “If we don’t make a decision soon we might not be able to sell it,” he added. It was noted that the reason why the UK had sold the helicopter in the first place was because it would have been too expensive to retro fit the craft to meet the new CAA regulations there — ones which the committee believed would soon come to Cayman as well.

Dwayne Seymour, another committee member present, lamented the fact that this purchase seemed to be systematic of situations in government departments where the country keeps buying things that are not right, something he said the new government had to tackle.

(Photo top: an EC135T1 helicopter similar to that bought by the RCIPS)

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Sudanese woman risks flogging for wearing trousers

Sudanese woman risks flogging for wearing trousers

| 30/07/2009 | 0 Comments

(Times Online): A woman journalist is taking on the feared Sudanese morality police to challenge the country’s draconian laws on public dress, insisting on being tried for the crime of wearing trousers in public and risking a punishment of 40 lashes. Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein was at a private party in a restaurant in an upmarket district of Khartoum on July 3 when a group of public order policemen — given the task of enforcing strict Islamic rectitude — burst in. They detained her and a dozen other women for wearing trousers, considered indecent according to the law.

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