A Cayman Brac Power & Light crew hard at work to restore power as a policeman directs traffic around them.

Some residents of Cayman Brac & Little Cayman may be eligible for financial assistance to purchase fuel and oil to power portable generators.

A press release from Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI) advised Sister Islands residents who require assistance to contact the Brac Command Centre on 925-6261 or 925-6262 for more information.

Persons qualifying for assistance would be notified when to pick up their purchase orders, the HMCI press release said.

According to District Commissioner Ernie Scott, each request for fuel assistance will be evaluated on an individual basis to assess need.

Sister Islands MLA Juliana O’Connor-Connolly raised concerns about the affordability of fuel to run government-supplied generators on Cayman Brac in a telephone interview with Cayman Net News.

Mrs O’Connor-Connolly revealed that she was in a meeting with District Administration officials and fellow Sister Islands MLA Moses Kirkconnell to discuss the issue of offering fuel assistance at the time of the interview.

Following the meeting, Cayman Net News also spoke with Mr Kirkconnell who advised that gas vouchers would be available starting on Wednesday, 26 November and the situation would be reviewed again on Friday, 28 November.

“The vouchers will help people still without electricity to afford gas to run generators,” he said.

Mr Kirkconnell discussed the changing needs of Sister Islands residents as days go by post-Paloma.
“It’s such a fluid situation as a representative,” he said. “At first, people needed generators, so we did all we could to get generators. Then people needed gas to run the generators. Every day there is a new request and a new need to respond to. This was nothing we cold practise for in Cayman Brac.”
Mr Kirkconnell said a lot had happened in a very short time after the hurricane.

“When we consider the plane lift to Cayman Brac after the hurricane, it is really a tribute to Cayman Airways how quickly we had supplies coming in. The barge has also made several trips and is coming in again tonight. We should have building materials here tomorrow (Wednesday, 26 November.)”

Mrs O’Connor-Connolly, the first elected member for Cayman Brac & Little Cayman, was vocal with her concerns regarding Sister Islands recovery efforts in a phone call to the morning radio call-in programme on Rooster 101FM on Tuesday morning.

In addition to advocating fuel vouchers for needy Brac residents, Mrs O’Connor-Connolly was also troubled by conditions at the site allocated on the island for the placement of government trailer homes.

At the time of her call to the radio show, Mrs O’Connor-Connolly said the site was not yet properly filled and prepared, there was vandalism to one of the trailers, and some of the trailers were perched on concrete blocks.

However, she later told Cayman Net News that conditions on the site had since vastly improved.

Mrs O’Connor-Connolly said that by Tuesday afternoon the site had been properly filled, the trailers were more safe and secure, and the connection of utilities to the trailers had commenced.

“I would like to thank the Public Works Department crew from Grand Cayman for their hard work in getting the trailers set up,” she said.

Mrs O’Connor-Connolly said she hoped that information would soon be forthcoming on when the trailers would be available for occupancy.