Archive for August 12th, 2009

Baines says chopper will work

(CNS): The new police commissioner, David Baines, has stated that the helicopter purchased by the Cayman Islands government for the RCIPS will do more than 90% of the things that it was originally earmarked to do. Baines confirmed that the aircraft would be flown down from Louisiana next month, and once the Air Support Unit is trained and operational he will approach the Cayman Islands Civil Aviation Authority for a licence to operate the machine as a police helicopter and have it flying by the end of the year.

Cutting through the politics of the purchase, Baines explained that, as far as he could see, this was always intended to be a police helicopter. Although it has some limitations which would prevent it from doing medical evacuations and the ‘rescue’ part of search and rescue, if the police could demonstrate a high level of safety awareness and training among the crew that would fly and man the helicopter, he believed the CAA would be happy to licence it as a police air support unit.

He said given that the police operate as an emergency service they would then make judgements based on life and death situations within the boundaries of police operations and safety on how the machine was to be used. Above all, Baines noted, given the current situation, the helicopter would be an extremely useful tool for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service and he hoped to have the helicopter flown here in September. “The provision of a helicopter would provide a much-needed tool in the armoury to tackle the smuggling of people, drugs and guns through the borders of these Islands,” he added.

Speaking as a witness to the Legislative Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday 12 August, Baines took a pragmatic approach. “This is an available asset that will do most of what we want it to do — the best course of action is for us to start using it,” he said. “It fits most of our requirements, even without added expenditure or refit. It is the best option open to us.”

The controversy surrounding the purchase of the EC-135 T1 came to light last year when the previous Cabinet announced at a press briefing that the helicopter purchased by Stuart Kernohan, the former police commissioner, wouldn’t do all of what was originally intended when government had given the green light for an air support unit for the police in November 2006.

In the wake of the political furore and debate that ensued, Auditor General Dan Duguay was asked by the governor to conduct a special report. Duguay found a number of shortcomings: there was a lack of expertise involved in the purchase; a consultant was only hired after the purchase was made; there were limited records of the communication between the former commissioner and previous Cabinet about expectations; there had been a certain amount of mission creep distorting the original purpose of the helicopter; and the parties involved had not engaged the CAA.

Duguay noted that the helicopter became different things to different people and there was never a real consensus on what the country wanted from the helicopter. The Cabinet’s desire to have a helicopter that did everything, from passenger transportation to medical evacuation, would never have been able to be combined in one machine with the police requirements for interdiction and border protection, Duguay explained.

Since his report, the fate of the helicopter has hung in the balance. However, a release following the PAC meeting by Government Information Services on Wednesday afternoon suggests that government is in agreement with Baines and will be bringing the helicopter to the islands.

It appears that many of the limitations cited by the previous administration will be overcome when the machine is operated purely as a police helicopter. Deputy Chief Secretary Franz Manderson said the objective was to integrate it into the RCIPS effort to ensure public safety and border protection for the country.

Bringing the helicopter to Cayman will involve aircraft preparations in the USA, staff selection and training, and identification of a maintenance service provider and pilots, as well as specialized training for the new RCIPS Air Operations Unit that will utilize the helicopter.

GIS said the aircraft completed airworthiness requirements at the Louisiana facility last month and was successfully flight-tested following major servicing. In January the CICAA had reportedly confirmed that there was nothing to prevent the EC135 T1 entering service as a police helicopter, subject tothe certification process.

The helicopter will be able to carry out over-water search operations and is fully-equipped with a daylight and thermal image night-vision camera, a searchlight, and a PA system. Its stabilisation system requires neither an autopilot, nor floatation devices. Aside from minor modifications to fit police tactical radios and a second aviation standard GPS unit, relevant radio systems and to remove redundant equipment, there will be no need to refit the machine, government said.            

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Armed robber hits GT store

(CNS): An armed robber held a knife to his victim’s neck and then tied her up in a bathroom. George Town detectives are investigating the robbery, which took place on Walkers Road on Monday, 10 August. Police have reported that the 911 Emergency Communications Centre received a call at 10:56am stating that a man, armed with a knife, had robbed the Shop Rite store of over $300 in cash. The offender is described as being of dark complexion and around 6 feet tall. At the time of the incident he was wearing a light blue shirt.

Police responded to the scene and found the female employee traumatized but uninjured. She said that a man entered the store, asked if they sold cell phone top-ups and then exited the store saying he had forgotten the number. There was one other customer in the store at that time. Once that customer left, the offender returned ostensibly to complete his purchase.

When the victim turned her back to the offender to add the credit to his cell ‘phone he went around the counter, held a knife to her neck and took the money. The offender then forced the victim into a bathroom and tied her up. The man is thought to have run from the store into Windsor Park.

Investigations into this robbery are continuing and anyone with information is asked to contact DC Colin Pryce on 525 9935.

Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman 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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Private cash needed by gov’t

(CNS): As a result of the current state of public borrowing, the government will need to tap into private funds to develop any more major infrastructure projects. Although the new administration has said it wants to build cruise berthing facilities, a new airport and a waste management project among others, it does not have any capital with which to develop. Government will therefore be turning to the private sector.  “We need to move forward on a number of projects, but we don’t have the money, so we will need to partner with private investors,” said Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush.

He said seeking private finance for these capital projects would have a twofold impact – stimulating the economy and creating jobs, and giving the country the infrastructure it needed without government having to put the money upfront. Bush added that as the country did not generate revenue from resources or taxes he had to think outside the box about getting the capital needed, and that that meant partnering with private sector investors.

Aside from the cruise port, which he said was essential to the development of Cayman’s tourism product, Bush said he would also like to see new hotels being built. “What do we really have for tourists except the Ritz Carlton?” he asked. He said he wanted to see more brand name hotels developed on Grand Cayman. “I would like to see a Raffles, a Mandarin, a Four Seasons because it will mean a solid economy,” he added, saying that the big name hotels had their own following and that such hotels would bring new tourists. He lamented the opposition that some people had to such development and said, “We could starve to death if we don’t turn around those attitudes.”

Bush said that the development of the airport would also require private investment and noted that the redevelopment of the airport in the George Town area was not necessarily beneficial as he believed that the airport also needed to go east.

He said that there was a pressing need for both a waste management project and new sewerage, and he said he was inviting bids and proposals for all of these potential projects as PFIs. He said government had already received around fifteen different proposals relating to the landfill and people were also coming forward with proposals for the ports, the airport and the other schools.

Bush also noted that he had taken the decision not to knock down the present Glass House building when the new Government Office Administration project was complete but to renovate it with the intention of using it to house a new financial centre. He said renovations would cost around $10 million but it could house the new Finance Ministry, the Stock Exchange and other key areas related to the financial services sector and that renovation would also be done through PFI.

With what he said was likely to be a “bare bones budget”, the LoBG said that all of the borrowing that government would be doing in the 2009/10 financial year was already spoken for as a result of ongoing developments, such as the two new high schools and the new government administration building.

Further public borrowing on top of the existing $590,000 debt is going to be around CI$203 million in this year’s budget but most of that will be used for projects started under PPM administration. Bush said there would only be about $21 million of new money for government to use on any kind of infrastructure works during the next financial year.

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