Online postings from caymannetnews.com

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

• We hope Ernest Foster at the Crow's Nest is able to get his restaurant together for the 2005 season. We look forward to seeing him and his wife welcoming guests again - Bob and Jean Smith
  
   
• We had visited the island as part of a cruise last year. We fell in love with the place and my husband got a job there recently. He decided to travel first, and left on the 5th of September. Ivan struck exactly 1 week later. I am left behind with my two kids and don’t know what is in future for us. Triple C was one of the schools that we had short listed for our two kids, but after reading one of the letters in your newspaper, I am not sure if school will be ready to open anytime soon. However your newspaper has done a wonderful job in covering the situation and communicating to the world as to what really is going on. It is such a tragedy that such a beautiful island can be devastated so terribly by Mother Nature. I hope and pray that things will be somewhat back to normal before Christmas and my best wishes to all the residents of the island who are working so hard to build their nation - Mary. C
  
   
• Claims against Insurance Companies
  The article on Insurance Claims, featuring Mr. Alstair Patterson and Martin Bould, was interesting and informative.
  However, having suffered damage to my home on one of the sister Islands two years ago, from hurricane Michelle, I must point out that either they overlooked mentioning another deduction that could be expected on the claim, that of taking off a percentage for the age of the home, or roof, or whatever that received damage; or else I too am a victim of "deception" by the insurance companies.
  First of all, the value of the home insured, which is damaged, is appraised at the "present day" cost of rebuilding instead of the cost at the time that the insurance was taken out. Thus, one can NEVER have their home fully insured by these insurance standards.
  A person certainly cannot expect to receive more than the amount they insured their home for, however, to have them decrease your claim by (1) the age of the item you have to replace (2) the increased cost you will have to pay to replace the item, and (3) the deductible (which is also inflated), is unconscionable to say the least, and outright unfair and misleading business practice.
  What should be required at the time of taking out insurance, is to record the actual cost, at that time, of the cost of the home, (minus the land as they stated), and the individual cost of things such as the roof, garages, etc. which are a part of the house.
  Then when there is a loss, and perhaps only a portion of the insured home is affected, perhaps the homeowner will not feel so "ripped off", if they only have to pay the deductible, and receive an amount equal to the cost of the item lost, at the time the insurance was taken out.
  They will of course have to pay the extra expense of "today's" cost to replace the item, but they will not see the money they have paid out for the coverage, cut and chopped every way possible so that in the end, the insurance company is saying "Let us see how little we can pay them, of the amount they paid for, and should receive" - A Concerned Home Owner
  
   
• A personal hurricane story
  Such a touching tale. Sometimes it's much worse than you could ever imagine. Thank God Ravella is alive and able to get her life back on track again. I am dying to hear some news from my Cayman family Malbourne and Chamayrayne Williams and their children Norman and Chammel... can you help? - Paulette Williams
  
   
• Northward Inmate
  I have a question. I have a family member that's a prisoner in Northward, and I was worried because I have not heard anything from him. I live in the United States, so I am worried because I can't go and see him, so I wanted to know how can I get in contact with him - Anonymous
  
   
• Prisoners at Large
  This is a disgrace. For Steve Manderson to be able to attack another prison officer, after brutally murdering James Powell in 1994, is shameful. This man has escaped four times and been involved in so many altercations since then speaks volumes to the ability of the prison system and the people running it. This prisoner has proven that he's violent and that he will stop at nothing to get what he wants and yet he's able to get free, over and over again until he kills someone else. At this point it may be that the powers that be want this man to escape… that way they can ignore the lawsuits the Powell family is currently in with government, since many Caymanians still believe that the case against Mr. Manderson was a setup. I myself think Manderson and Roper killed Mr. Powell, with the help of others of course, and that the government is trampling all over his dead body by allowing this travesty of justice to happen. Steve Manderson should be in solitary confinement and when he's moved he should be shackled, or restrained, or both - Concerned Caymanian
  
   
• The Real Estate market after Ivan
  I heard that it was against the law for landlords to raise rent on apartments after the storm; can you please verify the accuracy of this statement? Also, if it is against the law, where do I report these crimes? And what are the penalties? - Anonymous
  
   
• Telephone and Internet servers
  How has the hurricane affected the internet servers? One of your companies, Infocus Cayman, has said that its web site is not operating because of Hurricane Ivan and that the servers are still down so there is no web page available for us to work on in UK. Can you let me know if this is correct? Thank you for your help - Elijah Boswell, Wales, UK
  
   
• Customs Deny Seizures of Goods
  I can't believe that some people would stoop so low to say that people at Customs were confiscating relief supplies. The only thing I saw Customs doing was trying to control the distribution of goods and insuring that the right people were getting what was there and that only relief goods were coming in duty free - Tony Marks
  
   
• A Question of Duty
  I don't think we should waive duty for all. Maybe for lower income persons who have lost a lot. - Anonymous
  
   
• Cayman needs friends and foreign workers in good times as well as bad
  I am a great friend of Cayman and the islanders and spent six fantastic months there working in the hospital as a consultant paediatrician, initially in the hospital and subsequently in the private sector. In fact I left on the last BA flight out of Cayman before Hurricane Ivan! If my services are required, I will be delighted to come back. I look forward to hearing from you - e mail statlocums@aol.com - Dr Asoka Thenabadu MBBS DCH MRCPCH
  
   
• News and Information Requests from Readers
  I need to find Vicky Wheaton. She's been missed and I have managed to misplace her phone number and e-mail. Please help! - Anna Dorfman, Los Angeles, CA
  
  Can you tell me if the Carnival cruise ship Conquest will be allowed to dock at Grand Cayman in the first week of November? I have not been able to find out this information. Thanks - Karen Lamastus
   
• Does anyone know the condition of the Grand Caymanian? If so what is the recovery outlook? - Francine Buchhalter

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