Post-Paloma loans for public servants

(CNS): Civil servants and staff of statuary authorities on the Sister Islands can apply for $10,000 interest-free loan from Credit Union to help them recover from Hurricane Paloma. Current loans and income will be taken into account and representatives from the Portfolio of Finance will be on island mid-week to process applications as quickly as possible, Chief Officer for the Portfolio of the Civil Service Mary Elizabeth Rodrigues told CNS.

Applications for the loan are available at the Command Centre (which is now at the Bodden & Bodden law office). The availability of the loan is intended for those who require financial assistance due to damage sustained by the hurricane, Rodrigues said. Portfolio of Finance staff will also be on hand on Monday and Tuesday, 17 and 18 November so that cheques can be disbursed on Wednesday.

Rodrigues, on the Brac on a mercy mission to help distribute aid gathered by the Cayman Brac High School alumni and friends, also distributed to civil servants supplies gathered from private donations.

District Administration is doing a needs assessment for its staff. All employees of the Ministry of District Administration and the Cayman Islands Government are asked to call and report any damage from Hurricane Paloma. Employees should contact the following hotline numbers: 948-1522 and 916-3634. They should leave messages on the voice mail with their names, contact numbers and details on the condition of their family members, property and homes.

Government has advised civil servants that although many government agencies are involved in the response efforts on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, the only two agencies that are organising volunteers to work for the government in the Sister Islands are the Cayman Islands Hazard Management and the Portfolio of the Civil Service.

Unless authorized travel arrangements have been obtained from either of these two agencies, civil servants will not be allowed to travel to the Sister Islands as a government-sponsored volunteer and should not go to Cayman Airways without this confirmation.

While the Cayman Islands Government said in a release that it remains grateful for the overwhelming offers of help, responses need to be both organized and needs-based. Public servants are further reminded that leave will only be granted to those offering to be volunteers, willing to be assigned as needed.