Cayman Compass - 10 June, 2022

TM & © 2022 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. cayman compass Your most trusted news source Established 1965 $1 | Funding local journalism | Weekly, 10-16 June 2022 Two iron men in race of their lives Page 6 Queen’s Jubilee celebrations Pages 11-13 Petrol price woes Premier: No end to rising fuel costs Page 3 Photo: Taneos RamsayMatinees (matinee price before 6pm) • Seniors $9.00 (Mon-Fri before 6pm) Additional charges apply per 3D/VIP tickets 640-FILM (640-3456) Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (PG-13) (FRI) 3:45 VIP | 10:05 (SAT) 10:10 (SUN)10:05 (MON & TUES) 3:45 VIP | 6:45 VIP | 10:05 (WED) 6:45 VIP | 10:05 (THURS) 3:45 VIP | 6:45 VIP | 10:05 DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA (PG) (FRI) 3:30 | 7:15 (SAT) 1:40 | 7:15 (SUN) 3:30 | 7:15 (MON -WED) 3:30 | 7:15 (THURS) 7:15 JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION (PG-13) (FRI) 3:15 VIP | 3:45 3D | 6:30 3D | 6:50 | 7:00 VIP | 9:30 VIP | 10:00 (SAT) 12:20 | 12:45 VIP | 3:05 | 3:15 VIP | 3:45 3D | 6:30 | 7:00 VIP | 8:25 VIP | 9:30 VIP | 10:00 3D (SUN) 3:15 VIP | 3:45 3D | 6:30 3D | 6:50 | 7:00 | 9:30 VIP | 10:00 (MON) 3:15 VIP | 3:45 3D | 6:30 3D | 6:50 | 9:30 VIP | 10:00 | 10:00 VIP (TUES) 3:15 VIP | 3:45 3D | 6:30 3D | 6:50 | 9:30 VIP | 10:00 | 10:00 VIP (WED) 3:15 VIP | 3:45 3D | 6:30 3D | 6:50 | 9:30 VIP | 10:00 (THURS) 3:15 VIP | 3:45 3D | 6:50 | 9:30 VIP | 10:00 3D | 10:00 VIP SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 (PG) 4:15 WHAT’S PLAYING THIS WEEK LAST SEEN ALIVE (R) (FRI) 10:10 (SAT) 12:40 | 9:55 (MON -THURS) 10:10 THE LOST CITY (PG-13) (FRI) 4:35 (SAT) 4:35 (SUN) 10:10 (MON) 4:35 (WED & THURS) 4:35 TOP GUN MAVERICK (PG-13) (FRI) 3:15 | 4:00 VIP | 6:30 VIP | 7:00 | 9:45 | 10:15 VIP (SAT) 12:15 VIP | 12:30 | 3:30 | 4:00 VIP | 6:30 | 7:00 | 9:45 | 10:15 VIP (SUN) 3:30 | 3:45 VIP | 6:30 VIP | 7:00 | 7:50 VIP | 9:45 | 10:15 VIP (MON & TUES) 3:15 | 4:00 VIP | 6:30 VIP | 7:00 | 9:45 | 10:15 VIP (WED) 3:15 | 3:45 VIP | 6:30 VIP | 7:00 | 9:45 | 10:15 VIP (THURS) 3:30 | 6:30 VIP | 7:00 | 8:20 VIP | 9:45 KIDS CLUB MADAGASCAR SATURDAY 10AM VIP AVAILABLE (PG) KIDS CLUB MULAN (1998) SATURDAY 10AM VIP AVAILABLE THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS TUESDAY 7PM VIP (R) CLASSICS (PG) FIND US ONLINE Caymancompass.com Facebook.com/Caycompass cayman_compass@cayCompassCayman Compass PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Cayman Compass Ltd. Compass Centre, Shedden Road, George Town, Cayman Islands SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman, KY1-1108 Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@compassmedia.ky ADVERTISE WITH US: T: (345) 949-5111 E: sales@compassmedia.ky W: caymancompass.com NEWS EDITOR CAROLINE JAMES BUSINESS EDITOR MICHAEL KLEIN ISSUES EDITOR JAMES WHITTAKER LIVING EDITOR VICKI WHEATON HEAD OF SALES CHERYL BIRCHGILLIES weather Friday Forecast FORECAST Partly cloudy skies with a 20% chance of showers. SEA STATE Moderate with a wave height of 3 to 5 feet. WINDS East to southeast at 10 to 15 knots. 85°F HIGH 75°F LOW Teen arrested in connection with stabbing A 19-year-old woman from George Town has been arrested on suspicion of wounding in connection with a stabbing that happened on 7 June. According to the police, she turned herself in after the incident. Police said they responded to a report someone had been wounded near Albert Panton Street in George Town around 6pm on 7 June. Two women and a man, who all knew each other, had become involved in an altercation, police said. It was reported that one of the women stabbed the man and then left the location shortly afterwards. When ofﬁ cers arrived, they found the man had sustained a lower back wound and was being assisted by another person The man was transported by ambulance to the Cayman Islands Hospital for treatment, and was later released. Fitness-to-plea report delays fatal accident case An outstanding ﬁ tness-to-plea report has prevented Tarrick Crawford from entering a plea to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving, nearly 18 months after a single-vehicle accident which claimed the life of Shayne Ewart. Ewart, 25, of West Bay was pronounced dead on arrival at the Cayman Islands Hospital shortly after 1am on Saturday, 16 Jan. 2021. According to police, he was in the front passenger seat of a green Honda car driven by Crawford, 28, who ﬂ ed from ofﬁ cers in the vehicle along West Bay Road. According to court documents, Crawford’s car “left the roadway in the vicinity of Willie Farrington Drive and collided into the side of a building structure made of concrete”. The charge was transmitted to the Grand Court on 1 Oct. 2021, at which time a ﬁ tness-to-plea report was ordered. Since then, the matter has been brought back before the court four times. Each time, Crawford has been released on bail, without a plea, because the report remained outstanding. It is not clear when the report will be ready. Within hours of Ewart’s death, the Ofﬁ ce of the Ombudsman released a statement saying it was “overseeing matters in the investigation potentially involving the serious harm of a member of the public who had been in recent contact with the RCIPS”. The ﬁ ndings of that investigation have not been made public. Sargassum invades Cayman Brac shores While Grand Cayman’s coastlines continue to see an onslaught of sargassum, District Commissioner Mark Tibbetts says this year is one of the worst he has seen on Cayman Brac. With sargassum ravaging the coastline on the Sister Islands, Tibbetts said he has mobilised the Public Works Department to clear the seaweed, but stemming the ﬂ ow is proving challenging. As the sargassum washes up on the shore, Tibbetts urged the community to bear with the teams are they try to clear the inﬂ ux of seaweed. “I think the guys have been doing a great job, however… there is still much there to be done and we just continue to do our best. I just ask each and every one to be mindful of that and to be patient with us, because I know it does affect, sometimes, some of the main swimming areas and the beach as well,” he said in a recent interview with the Cayman Compass on the Brac. Over at Reef Divers, Joe Kellogg, dive operations supervisor, told the Compass via email that the situation continues to worsen. “[It’s] quite bad, it seemingly gets worse every year,” he said. “Public Works cleaned up the boat ramp [in the] morning and it could use another clean-up at 3pm. Unfortunately, watching it progress over the last few years, it is what we had expected.” Tibbetts said the Cayman Brac community has been understanding of the situation. “People know exactly what is taking place and they realise that there are limitations to what we can do and they full well appreciate the fact that we’ve been doing something,” he said. “If it was a case where it was just there and nothing was being done, then I think you would hear a lot more of the criticism. But for the most part, people, I think, are quite mindful and understanding that we are trying our best to deal with the situation.” Kellogg said it is clear that sargassum is here to stay. “Understanding where sargassum comes from and why it is getting worse might help us better understand where it is going and what we can do to make things better. My guess is, much like COVID-19, lionﬁ sh and Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, sargassum may be a part of our normal operations unless the world is willing to change together,” Kellogg said. UK holds off on direct rule in BVI, for now The newly installed British Virgin Islands government has staved off, for now, any imposition of direct rule from the United Kingdom, but it will have to follow through on urgent reforms to address corruption concerns about the Overseas Territory. Britain’s foreign minister Liz Truss, according to UK media reports on 8 June, announced that the UK will hold off on a governor-led administration in BVI and instead allow Premier Natalio D. Wheatley and his Unity government to implement reforms they have proposed, with accompanying set timelines. “I believe, in the ﬁ rst instance, the new government should have an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to reform through the implementation of the 48 (inquiry) recommendations and the further measures they have proposed,” Truss said, through a written statement, as reported by Reuters. Though the new administration will be allowed to continue, the UK has retained its ability to step in if the proposed changes are not met. “If it becomes clear that this approach is not delivering the reform the people of the BVI want and deserve, we will take action. This may require the swift implementation of the ﬁ nal report recommendation,” Truss added. The report to which Truss referred is the result of the Commission of Inquiry into corruption allegations in BVI, which recommended the temporary suspension of the islands’ constitution and the transfer of power to the UK- appointed governor for an initial two years. Sargassum blankets the water off the Brac Reef dock in early June. The island's Public Works Department has been working to clear the inﬂ ux of the seaweed. - Photo: Reshma Ragoonath news in brief cayman compass 2 N news FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022cayman compass news N news FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022 3 Global economic growth forecasts slashed MICHAEL KLEIN mklein@compassmedia.ky As fuel prices at the pump in Cayman start to exceed CI$7 per gallon, Premier Wayne Panton has warned that prices will rise further and noticeably impact the financial situation of residents. In a message to the RF Economic Outlook conference on Wednesday, 8 June, Panton said, “Increases in the cost of living and climate change are the two greatest impacts on our lives and businesses right now.” He said recent economic reports suggested that the Ukraine war and associated impacts on fuel might lead to the single largest economic shock in nearly 50 years. “Fuel prices are expected to continue to go up. And for the average household, the impact on the family budget will be substantial. A substantial increase in electricity costs at exactly the hottest time of the year.” This week, analysts have warned that the cost of oil may spike even higher over the summer months. Goldman Sachs raised its price projections for West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude oil. Goldman analysts said the price of Brent crude oil would need to average US$135 per barrel in the second half of the year for inventories to normalise in 2023. The investment bank expects Brent crude to average US$140 per barrel between July and September. It warned that consumers might see retail prices equivalent to US$160 per barrel because of higher refinery margins and the strength of the US dollar. West Texas Intermediate, the US crude oil often used for gasoline sold in Cayman, is projected to average US$137 in the third quarter of the year and US$125 in the fourth. On Wednesday, WTI traded at around US$120. The head of the commodity trader Trafigura warned that oil prices could reach a “parabolic” state with record highs later this year. CEO Jeremy Weir told the FT Global Boardroom conference that oil markets were in a critical state after sanctions on Russia’s oil exports had exacerbated already limited supplies, the Financial Times reported. Last week, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive, said prices could go as high as US$150 or US$175 a barrel later this year. The all-time high for Brent crude was US$147 in July 2008 during the financial crisis. Inflationary pressure The higher energy prices will add further inflationary pressure on other goods sold on island through higher transport costs. Fuel prices at local petrol stations across the islands have responded quickly to the higher price of oil. After the per-gallon price breached the CI$6 per gallon mark only five weeks ago, regular and premium fuel is now selling at more than CI$7 a gallon at several Esso stations on Grand Cayman, according to the fuel regulator OfReg’s website. Noting his government’s recently announced policy to accelerate Cayman’s adoption of green energy by investing in renewable energy infrastructure, Premier Panton suggested that transitioning to renewable sources would reduce Cayman’s reliance on fossil fuels at a time when fossil fuel prices are at record highs and expected to rise further. “We believe this policy and the ensuing actions would be good for the environment, and good for the economy, and great for all of our residents, including keeping energy prices down for families, businesses and institutions,” he said. Economic growth projections lowered Persistently higher energy prices and Russia’s war in Ukraine have prompted both the World Bank and the OECD to lower their global economic growth forecasts for this year and 2023. The World Bank slashed its global growth projection for 2022 to 2.9% from 4.1% expected in January before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The bank noted that, later this year, the world economy could suffer from stagflation – high inflation accompanied by low growth. The bank’s June Global Economic Prospects report said war in Ukraine and surging commodity prices exacerbated the damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in “a protracted period of feeble growth and elevated inflation”. “The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid,” World Bank President David Malpass said. In the same vein, the OECD this week said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine immediately slowed the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and set the global economy on a course of lower growth and rising inflation. The OECD’s latest Economic Outlook projects global growth to decelerate sharply to around 3% this year and 2.8% in 2023, well below the recovery projected in the previous Economic Outlook last December. Premier: Fuel prices expected to go higher Premier Wayne Panton has warned consumers to expect higher fuel and other prices as the global economy is suffering a shock from energy price volatility. Au g- 17 Oc t-1 7 De c- 17 Fe b- 18 Ap r-1 8 Ju n- 18 Au g- 18 Oc t-1 8 De c- 18 Fe b- 19 Ap r-1 9 Ju n- 19 Au g- 19 Oc t-1 9 De c- 19 Fe b- 20 Ap r-2 0 Ju n- 20 Au g- 20 Oc t-2 0 De c- 20 Fe b- 21 Ap r-2 1 Ju n- 21 Au g- 21 Oc t-2 1 De c- 21 Fe b- 22 Ap r-2 2 $0.00 $20.00 $40.00 $60.00 $80.00 $100.00 $120.00 $3.50 $4.00 $4.50 $5.00 $5.50 $6.00 $6.50 $7.00 Crude oil WTIRegularPremiumDiesel Cayman’s per gallon fuel prices (left scale CI$) have responded quickly to the trend set by the per barrel crude oil price increases for West Texas Intermediate (in US$ right scale). 1234567 89 101112 13141516 17 181920 212223 2425 1234567 89 101112 13141516 17 181920 212223 2425 ACROSS 1 Recurrent round (5) 4 Novel by Bram Stoker (7) 8 Ornamental vase (3) 9 Director of Schindler’s List and E.T. (9) 10 Absence of sound (7) 11 Award won by Schindler’s List (5) 13 Allow to go free (3,3) 15 Greatly loved (6) 18 Publicly acknowledged (5) 19 16th Century Italian religious painter (7) 21 Composer of Peter and the Wolf (9) 23 Male cat (3) 24 19th Century Russian novelist (7) 25 Opera by Puccini (5) DOWN 1 Advice (7) 2 18th Century Venetian painter (9) 3 German industrial city (5) 4 Twaddle (6) 5 Including everything (3,4) 6 Employ (3) 7 Wrath (5) 12 Writer of Don Quixote (9) 14 Discover (4,3) 16 Predicament (7) 17 Intellectually clever (6) 18 Broken (5) 20 To hinge (5) 22 Lubricate (3) The Compass Crossword Puzzle The Compass universal kakuro Puzzle 17027 The numbers in the black cells are clues. Numbers above the slash are across clues. Number below the slash are down clues. The goal is to enter digits 1 - 9 in the white cells to add up to the number clues. You cannot enter any digit more than once when adding up to clue. TODAY'S SOLUTIONS Puzzle 17027 ACROSS: 1 Cycle, 4 Dracula, 8 Urn, 9 Spielberg, 10 Silence, 11 Oscar, 13 Let off, 15 Adored, 18 Known, 19 Raphael, 21 Prokofiev, 23 Tom, 24 Tolstoy, 25 Tosca. DOWN: 1 Counsel, 2 Canaletto, 3 Essen, 4 Drivel, 5 All told, 6 Use, 7 Anger, 12 Cervantes, 14 Find out, 16 Dilemma, 17 Brainy, 18 Kaput, 20 Pivot, 22 Oil. The future of rush hour: The story in data We can’t keep bringing people into the country without the infrastructure to support the population growth. It simply has to stop. – Bruce Smith Hard to believe that an island with such a small population can’t be managed better. – Rob Ward Crazy realities. Just like everywhere else! No end in sight! – Daniel Doucet Investing in efficient and affordable public transportation is the only reasonable path forward. Many countries have it! – David Blumenthal Don’t worry! Gas prices soon help with the traffic issue! – Nicole Ritch Thinking outside the lanes: Other ideas to beat traffic How about getting wheels off the road? Look into some sort of tram/monorail service? Sure, it would be expensive, but so is paving and repaving roads every other day. And you could even make it have solar panels and those fancy batteries to reduce pollution. I’ve only been saying this for years. All those concessions we’ve given the developers could have surely paid for it by now. – Julia Hydes The bus drivers need more training. They drive very fast and are always passing other cars. There should be designated bus stops that are safe where they pull off the road to discharge passengers. The way they operate now, buses are not the solution. – Debbie Ebanks Premier: Fuel prices expected to go higher Let’s get a proper bus service up and running to help! Now’s the perfect time to implement using the bus stops with proper schedules. I’m scared to use them because they stop and stay by Countryside until full, then whizz by us! – Sarah Curtis They know and don’t care because they can most definitely afford it with their salaries. I hope all residents are paying attention! – Heidi Bush Shameful that the gas price is higher than the minimum wage. – Lianet Hydes We have to car pool – less traffic and cheaper for everyone. You have three or four cars in one house and everyone is driving their own car and they all come to town. – Willfred Cayasso The politicians are not hard hit by this. They can afford light and water and food and shelter... all they do is send us empty warnings (without genuine concern at all). – Magdalena Acosta Would be great if the government considered capping the fuel prices before it becomes completely unaffordable for the average consumer! – Risa Cooper-Ebanks But they definitely have no time to raise the salary from $6 to $10. Ridiculous. – Avni Fabwani So what are his solutions for the people who need to go to work, get kids, shop and try to live? Is he having any ‘brainstorming’ sessions that maybe some of his constituents can contribute to? – Lilly Jane OK, so if it goes higher, why not consider a raise for everyone to help out? – Donna Parchment Hopefully, the government will consider reducing the duty on fuel and food items to help the consumers. – Carlos O’Reilly I know who won’t be affected! Him. Sorry, not sorry. – Jan Taylor So umm... he ‘warned’ residents. What exactly is he suggesting to help us through this? – Stephanie Bush Gas and health insurance here are ridiculous. The premier warned the community but he does not have any strategy in place. What a mess. – Ingrid Rivers Cayman Airways looks to US West Coast for new opportunities Cayman Airways seeks to go further with brand new planes with no amenities to accommodate its passengers. No TVs, no charging ports, no WiFi, no form of entertainment. I love Cayman Airways, but whoever bought these new planes was not a forward thinker. – Demesio Frederick How will they manage? They can’t manage the flights they already have well. – Barbara Latten Try and fill the flights that we have right now. I have been on many flights with only 30 and 40 passengers. – Mitzie Tomlinson They should sort out all the delays and cancellations to the Sister Islands before they even think about expanding. The express service has been an absolute joke for the last two months. – Kel Young Stayover numbers just over half of 2019 levels Get rid of all the superfluous and unnecessary mandates and watch it double 2019 numbers! People are ready to live again, not meet at the airport entrance to paradise by someone in a hazmat suit and/or susceptible to quarantines. Get over it already and move the heck on! – Tim Harland Then get with much of the rest of the world and lift the ridiculous rules and restrictions because people have found other more welcoming and less restrictive countries to visit and spend their money. – Susie Marie Cayman has underlying issues that transcend the argument over mandates. For all the tourism to come back to pre-pandemic levels and for all those people to experience a quality of tourism that helped make Cayman what it was, we need to be fully staffed again. All those staff need a place to live. Anyone familiar with the rental market knows how much costs have skyrocketed with a shortage of affordable housing along with the overall cost of living. Tourism numbers are one piece of a larger economic puzzle that is unfortunately neither sustainable nor attractive to anyone new looking to be a part of our tourism sector. Only if and when we put our own house in order can we really be ready to take care of others like before. – Mike Hoffman What they’re saying As Grand Cayman’s population continues to increase, the island’s traffic problems are unlikely to go away. - Photo: Taneos Ramsay Online cayman compass 4 news N news FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022cayman compass news N news FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022 5 RESHMA RAGOONATH rragoonath@compassmedia.ky At the age of 16, RCIPS Air Operations Commander Steve Fitzgerald began his policing career and, in July, after 49 years of service, he will be hanging up his hat. “It’s a big move, obviously,” he told the Compass. “I’ve been here quite a long time. I’ve been involved in air operations for 26 years across the world, and policing since I was 16. I reach 65 in July and that’s the right time to move on and hand over the reins.” Fitzgerald’s successor is the unit’s deputy inspector Neil Mohammed. They worked together on the formation of the Cayman Islands police helicopter unit 12 years ago. From Blackpool to Cayman Fitzgerald, originally from Blackpool, Lancashire, UK, began his career with a police cadet course at the age 16, in 1973, before becoming a police constable. He worked with the Lancashire Constabulary until 1996, when he joined the Lancashire Police Air Support Unit as a unit executive officer, where he worked for almost 10 years. He also worked with the Abu Dhabi police as a consultant advisor from 2007 to 2009 on an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter project. Fitzgerald got an opportunity to come to the Cayman Islands 12 years ago to help start up the Air Ops unit. He says of his almost five full decades in the police service, “It is definitely a passion for me. I’m not going to say July is going to be easy, but the time’s right and the time’s come,” he said. He says the unit has come a long way from those initial days. “I think the Cayman Islands should be proud of where it (the unit) is today. I came in initially to solve a problem because the aircraft couldn’t come into service. We had to do quite a lot of work at the time in the lead up. It took 14 months to bring it onto island, and from that point on, we always took the attitude ‘we’ll walk before we run’,” he said. Career of many memories Over his 49-year career, Fitzgerald has worked on many cases and witnessed incidents that have stayed with him from the loss of boaters here in the Cayman Islands to the disaster at Morecambe Bay, in which 23 Chinese cockle pickers lost their lives at sea in 2004. “I was the UK Lancashire Air Support Commander at the time. Around midnight I got a call that the crews were deploying to a sea incident and would need cover back at base. Through the night, I watched my crews and the RAF crews coming in to refuel and going back out. My crew had already found the only person alive, the only beacon out of the event,” he said in an emailed statement. When daylight came, he said, the crews had changed, and the exhausted night crew were forced to go home. “The task of body location and recovery affected the whole unit... I had friends who worked on the inquiry for months after. All these years later, this incident reinforced my respect and fear for the power of the sea, and [that is] no less here in the Cayman Islands,” he said. Fitzgerald also recounted the impact of losing three of his colleagues in 1983 in a rescue attempt after a man was washed out to sea. “I attended a sea incident in Blackpool (5 January 1983) ... I lost three shift colleagues and friends, who all drowned. I was the second surviving officer on scene, and when they talk about mental health and wellness, that has to be at the top. It was not fashionable then to have PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], which I recognised in my immediate behaviours. “It took me weeks, and I never really fully recovered to leave that behind, but it shaped me as a team leader and the compassion I have for the teams I work with,” he said in a written statement. “I am very fortunate that I went home that day and get to retire.” One of his more pleasant career memories was right here in Cayman; the medical evacuation of the Air Ops Unit’s youngest passenger in 2018, a premature baby from Cayman Brac. “The call [came in] at 1am from Faith Hospital, a mother and baby case... a premature birth imminent and the baby would need intensive care due to complications. We launched from base before the baby had been born, landed at Faith, loaded our youngest passenger ever, at one hour old, who was flown back to George Town Hospital and went on to become a very healthy child,” he said. The parents brought the tiny baby to visit the unit after being cleared from the hospital to head back to Cayman Brac. Another special memory, he said, was when the crew met Prince Charles when he visited Cayman in March 2019. “The day we flew him, we were the only police helicopter to have ever achieved Royal Flight approval,” Fitzgerald said. Cayman Air Ops the envy of the region The outgoing Air Ops chief said the Cayman Islands should be proud of the unit’s journey. “We’ve been building what is probably one of the most exceptional air operations units in the world, not just the Caribbean, when you look at where we are today,” he said, “and that’s what I’m hopefully handing over to Neil and the team as they carry on.” Currently, the unit has two H145 helicopters, the most advanced in the region, and soon the unit will have its first Caymanian helicopter pilot, Darren McLean, in the cockpit – a source of pride for Fitzgerald. “It’s taken us a long time to get Darren on a pathway that we wanted to get him on and it was important to be able to encourage anybody that has the ambition. Because of the limitations that they have here, we explored a number of areas and we’re fortunate that we came up with this out-of-the-box solution... to get him to accumulate his hours,” he said. McLean has left for Trinidad for what will be his final year of training, after which he will return as a first officer. “He’ll have to go through a structure when he comes back... to be able to achieve his full function ability to crew the helicopter. But that’s in the interest of his ability and safety. He is a very, very good pilot, that’s all the feedback we’re getting... I have no doubts about that. He will be here for a long career,” Fitzgerald said proudly. Although the unit is a “gas guzzler”, as is the case with any aviation operation, Fitzgerald said its value is immeasurable given its capacity in search-and-rescue, medical evacuation and relief work. “We’ve got to realise that we are the Airforce. We are the support for the Regiment, we are the support for the Coast Guard, and we are major support and part of the police service. There is no other option if we’re not here. Somebody else doesn’t come in and support us. So that’s why we need the resilience of the two [helicopters],” he said. Though it will be a bittersweet departure from the unit for Fitzgerald, he believes the framework is in place for the unit to flourish, long after he has left. “I think we have set a very, very high standard, a very high bar, which is replicated in our civil aviation authority audits... We are the standard that other people are judged against. We don’t sit back on that, but it’s there to be carried forward and develop,” Fitzgerald said. Police Commissioner Derek Byrne expressed his gratitude to Fitzgerald for his “many years of dedicated and loyal service to the RCIPS”. “He has been instrumental in the creation and continued development of the RCIPS Air Operations Unit, working closely with our service providers and CAACI to ensure that we maintain the highest professional and operational standards”, Byrne said in a statement to the Compass. “Although I am sad to see him go, I know that the AOU is in good hands with Inspector Neil Mohammed who has trained under Steve’s mentorship for the past number of years, who will be taking over as Unit Head. I wish Steve all the best in his future endeavours, and hope he enjoys his well-earned retirement,” he added. Police helicopter chief to retire after 49 years Steve Fitzgerald’s career timeline 1973-76Police cadet 1976-1983 Police constable, response and traffic control 1983-1995 Police sergeant 1983-85Blackpool shift response 1985-87Traffic patrol supervisor 1986-95Police search advisor (explosives threat) 1988-91Plain clothes vice unit 1991-93Licensing unit and enforcement (for the biggest holiday resort in Europe) 1994Blackpool drugs unit 1995Inspector, shift commander, Blackpool 1996-2006 Air Operations Com- mander, Lancashire UK Air Support (helicopter unit) 2004-09National project manager, UK Home Office, for all air units' digital communications systems (31 aircraft) 2008-09Specialist air operations, Abu Dhabi Police, UAE 2009-10Police Air Operations advisor, Cayman Islands 2010-22Unit commander, RCIPS Air Operations Unit Air Ops head Steve Fitzgerald, right, with Inspector Neil Mohammed, left, who will be taking over from him, and Darren McLean who is set to be the first Caymanian police helicopter pilot. – Photo: Alvaro SereyCayman Islands athlete helped to the ﬁ nish by ALS sufferer JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@compassmedia.ky Cayman Islands triathlete Patrick Harﬁ eld started the World Ironman Championships with ambitions of a podium ﬁ nish. Kyle Brown was aiming to become only the second person with ALS to go the distance in the sporting world’s most gruelling challenge. Neither man achieved their goal. But, as they shared a tearful embrace at the ﬁ nish line, they had both gained far more than sporting success. Harﬁ eld, a triathlon coach and dominant competitor in Cayman, had realistic ambitions of victory in his age group at the event in Utah in May. “I was hoping to come back to Cayman as world champion,” the 44-year-old athlete told the Compass. He was in ninth position coming out the water after a 2.4 mile swim. Despite feeling nauseous on the 112-mile bike ride, he had moved up to seventh by the time he pulled on his running shoes for the 26.2-mile marathon. At that point, he was on track to hit his target time of just over nine hours. But his health was deteriorating fast. He had a pocketful of gel packs, which provide bursts of nutrition during the calorie-sucking race, but he couldn’t hold them down. On more than one occasion, he stumbled to the side of the course to throw up. With about 14 miles to go, he ran out of gas. Lying in a heap on the roadside, staring down the barrel of his ﬁ rst ever DNF – the dreaded abbreviation that denotes ‘did not ﬁ nish’ – he admitted to himself that he could not go on. “I was in a dark place in the race,” he said. Lying there on the asphalt with 14 miles still to run, it wasn’t a sip of water or some vital nutrition that revived him. It was a story. A chance meeting Harﬁ eld could have collapsed anywhere on the marathon course. But he happened to hit the wall at the exact point Kyle Brown and his family had chosen to watch the race. It was Brown’s wife who ﬁ rst came to his aid. He turned down her offers of food and water, or the use of her cellphone to call for help. After a few moments she tried a different tack. “I bet I can motivate you to ﬁ nish,” she said. Then she started to talk about her husband. How he had been diagnosed with ALS, a terrifying motor- neuron illness also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease; how he had been told he may have less than a year to live; and how he had a dream to complete an Ironman race before he died. Despite the disease wasting his muscles and impacting his speech and movement, he had already completed a half-Ironman. Brown began the race in St. George, hoping to become only the second ALS sufferer in history to complete the full 140.6-mile race. By the time he met Harﬁ eld on the marathon course, his day was done. His body had struggled in cold temperatures and he had battled against the odds to complete the 2.4-mile swim, but his time was outside the cutoff and he was eliminated from the race. By the time Brown’s wife had ﬁ nished talking, Harﬁ eld was in tears. “I knew I had to ﬁ nish,” he said. “I looked at Kyle and I asked him, ‘Do you want to walk the rest of the course with me?’” Somebody to lean on Together they pushed through the pain barrier, shrugging off their personal disappointments, and made their way in ﬁ ts and starts towards the ﬁ nish line. As they walked and talked, Harﬁ eld learned that Brown, now in his early 50s, had been a professional cyclist. The ALS diagnosis came out of the blue. “His story was so inspiring. His days are numbered but he is living life to the fullest,” Harﬁ eld said. A few miles from the end, Brown’s wife picked him up, telling Harﬁ eld they wanted to watch him ﬁ nish. Revived, the Cayman Islands athlete jogged the home stretch, breaking the tape in a time of 12 hours, 54 minutes. The race had taken four hours longer than he had hoped, but he felt a surge of euphoria. He looked for Brown in the crowd, but couldn’t ﬁ nd him. As he staggered towards the medical tent, he scanned the faces at the ﬁ nish line, but there was still no sign. Then he felt a towel being placed around his shoulders. “I turned around and it was Kyle,” he said. “We embraced. I was in tears, he was in tears. It was a really emotional experience.” The two men had become ﬁ rm friends over the miles they had walked together. And Harﬁ eld felt unexpectedly thankful that his dreams of glory had evaporated in the Utah heat. He will get another crack at the world championships in Hawaii later this year. But the experience of his failed attempt is something he will never replicate. “It was very emotional. I was pleased that I had ﬁ nished, pleased that I had been fortunate enough to meet such an amazing person and had such great conversations and been inspired by him and his story.” Crossing the line Next time, says Harﬁ eld, the two athletes aim to cross the ﬁ nish line together. They have stayed in touch since the race and the 44-year-old, who runs Cayman Tri Training coaching, wants to help Brown achieve his dream of ﬁ nishing an Ironman. “I can be there with him on the swim, the bike and the run,” he said. “We are talking and hoping to ﬁ nd a race we can enter together. I would love more than anything to be able to help him achieve that dream.” A tale of two iron men and the race of their lives “We embraced. I was in tears, he was in tears. It was a really emotional experience.” Patrick Harﬁ eld, Cayman Islands triathlete Brown and Harﬁ eld embrace at the ﬁ nish line. On the course, Patrick Harﬁ eld and Kyle Brown walk together. - Photos: Submitted Kyle Brown, left, and Patrick Harﬁ eld hope to take part together in a future Ironman. cayman compass 6 news N news FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022 sponsored content CG knows the importance of medevac care By Beth Frazier, CG Insurance Chief Operating Ofﬁcer - Health I n 2021, the Coralisle Group Ltd. (parent company of CG Britcay) conducted more than 120 medical evacuations of CG members to overseas hospitals where they received critical, often lifesaving emergency care. Medical evacuations, or medevacs as they are known, is one of many responsibilities CG performs as an insurer, and they stand as the most dramatic demonstration of what CG does to protect the wellbeing of its members. Medical evacuations are activated when someone is severely injured or becomes acutely ill and needs to be ﬂown overseas to a hospital for treatment not available locally. They are part of the reality of living in our island communities, hundreds if not thousands of miles from major medical centres. Medevacs are often unexpected events, but it is important to be prepared, should they ever become a reality. That, in effect, is what insurance is all about – protection from the unexpected – and why CG’s major medical coverage includes emergency medical air evacuation. In providing this coverage, it’s important that CG members, and those in our communities, understand how medevacs work and how they have an important role to play to help things go smoothly should a medevac ever be a necessity. There are a lot of moving parts to a medevac and, over the years, CG has invested a lot of time, energy and resources to make sure they proceed in a manner that is safe, seamless and quick. This includes a Medevac Department, which operates on a 24/7, 365- day basis to act immediately when needed. The medevac staff work as a team of super- coordinators, linking every aspect of the patient transfer into a seamless movement from one jurisdiction to another, while ensuring continuous medical care. They manage logistical and medical communications, from air ambulance and ﬂight planning to ground transportation and border clearance in the US and other countries. They handle all the administrative paperwork between the discharging and receiving facilities as well as travel documents for patients and their in-ﬂight companions. This medevac team, in short, are experts at getting through the red tape that inevitably stands in the way of every ﬂight. They are on-call and are specialists in getting people the help they need, when they need it. Their expertise was especially demonstrated during the COVID pandemic when borders were locked down and strictest measures were imposed on incoming ﬂights. In every case, the CG team was able to organise Covid testing and documentation to make sure members were received at treatment centres without delay. The team’s skills, experience and dedication make them industry leaders as identiﬁed by various organisations the CG team works with. Mark Chapman of Medway Air Ambulance in Georgia says the CG medevac team is ‘amazing to work with on the front and back side of medical evacuations. The process is seamless and well communicated. The CG team is easy to get in touch with and assists in any unforeseen roadblocks that may come up’. Myrkell Rankine-Amador of Health Services Authority in Grand Cayman said of CG-managed medevacs: ‘One of the easiest [medevac] transfers I worked on was with CG Britcay. It was completed in under three hours. The accepting facility, doctor, carrier and estimated time of arrival were all done in such a timely manner.’ Ms Rankine-Amador’s reference to timely updates touches on one of the biggest challenges in managing medevacs: the emotions of the people involved. Loved ones experiencing the shock of the situation can be overwhelmed by the uncertainties and the stress. They want to know en-route care, details of ﬂights, immigration clearance, hotels, hospital location and that their loved one is getting where they need to be, when they need to be. Just as important as the coordination of the medevac itself, so is the communication. Another challenge that is often experienced in the medevac process is the known location of member travel documents, such as passports, COVID records and visas. In some cases, not only are these documents not prepared, but they are also unfound. This can lead to delays, and it is strongly encouraged that members keep their travel documents current and in a known location. At CG, it’s our priority and mission to protect and educate our clients for the unexpected. CG takes pride in being a people-ﬁrst company and I believe that commitment is perfectly reﬂected in the quality of care that is taken during a medevac. CG has always, and will, continue to deliver superior insurance solutions that enhance lives and security in an uncertain world. LINKS: cayman.cgcoralisle.com linkedin.com/company/37852198 facebook.com/CGBritCay instagram.com/cgcoralisle www.youtube.com/channel UCH57rNQtRJLEKSyPi--MOBg ABOUT CORALISLE GROUP LTD. Coralisle Group Ltd. is a Bermuda-based holding company for the Coralisle Group of Companies (the group), which has commercial operations in Bermuda and 20 jurisdictions across the Caribbean. The group comprises independently incorporated companies offering property and casualty insurance, employee beneﬁts for pensions and health, life assurance and personal investment products. The group, which draws commercial strength from the cohesion of its companies accessing a variety of skills, experience and local knowledge in different jurisdictions, holds an A rating from AM Best. cayman compass 7 FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022cgcoralisle.com |   @cgcoralisle Good Like That. British Caymanian Insurance Company Limited BritCay House, 236 Eastern Avenue, P.O. Box 74, George Town, Grand Cayman KY1-1102, Cayman Islands tel: Grand Cayman 949-8699 | Cayman Brac 948-1760 Hurricane season is here. There’s no time like now to assess how you are protecting your home. Call us to ensure you have the right coverage at the right value. Don’t waste time until there’s no time to waste. airlift capacity and routes to the jurisdiction. Referring to a presentation by Director of Tourism Rosa Harris that showed airlines were facing some major challenges in getting their seat capacity back to pre- pandemic levels (see page 15), Langevin argued that fewer pilots and planes make it logical “that an airline is going to put their planes and their equipment in places where it’s easier to do business, where people don’t have any restrictions”. He noted that many other destinations, including those in direct competition with Cayman, had relaxed their COVID restrictions. This month, the number of inbound seats available to travellers is 25% lower than in June 2019, CITA members were told. Langevin said he was concerned that airlines, when deciding on new routes or expanding services, or perhaps reducing existing ones, take into account that “we are not showing that we are progressing”. In April, the Chamber of Commerce called on Cabinet to lift the mask mandate, citing Cayman’s high vaccination rate and low hospitalisation numbers. “It is time to move to the next phase of the reopening plan,” Chamber president Shomari Scott said in a statement at the time. “Removing the indoor mask mandate for businesses and simplifying travel restrictions is the natural next step.” The chamber urged government to remove the requirement when COVID regulations expired at the end of April. However, when those regulations were amended and re-issued, with limits on the size of outdoor gatherings abolished and the size of permitted indoor gatherings increased to 750, the mask mandate remained. When the regulations were updated on 29 April, interim Chief Medical Officer Autilia Newton, in a statement, acknowledged that mask-wearing requirements had been lifted in other countries, but noted there had been an increase in COVID cases in recent weeks, adding, “We have to consider and assess the implications for protecting our population and healthcare system. Mask-wearing is still required for indoor events where a distance of six feet cannot be constantly maintained.” In an online poll carried out by the Compass in April, 81% of the 617 respondents were in favour of the mask mandate being dropped. According to a weekly update by Public Health, released on 9 June, the daily average of new cases of COVID-19 was 62, a drop of 23% on the previous week, when the average daily new cases stood at 81. However, health officials stated in the report that there had been a drop in the amount of testing being done, and noted, “There continue to be encouraging signals of decline in the current wave of infection, however, the level of testing will need to remain sufficient in the coming weeks to confirm this.” As of 7 June, Public Health said, there were 1,023 estimated active cases of COVID-19 in Cayman. Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, at the 31 May tourism meeting, said he had been encouraging his colleagues in Cabinet to lift some of the remaining restrictions, but not all would agree, and he advised CITA members to lobby MPs on the matter. “I am tired of masks myself,” he said. “I’ve done my part. I’ve been vaccinated. Even if I wasn’t, it would be my risk. It’s time for us to take on all of our responsibilities so that we can get back to business and provide for our families and take care of our businesses. ... We’ve done two years of having those who don’t take responsibility for their own actions hold us back, and I think it’s time for us to make our own stand.” ‘Un-Mask Cayman’ campaign Restaurateur Markus Mueri, who owns Abacus and Karoo in Camana Bay, has been circulating an ‘Un-Mask Cayman’ campaign video calling for the mask mandate to be dropped. He says it’s time for Cayman’s leaders to let people in Cayman – both residents and visitors – make up their own minds about wearing masks. “People in Cayman are smart, educated and have common sense; government should trust the people and give us the choice if we want to wear a mask or not,” he said. He also queried why people flying into Cayman first must get approval from Travel Cayman, saying the process could be simplified simply by asking for proof of a negative LFT test at check-in at the airport, “vaccinated or not”. “Travel Time [the original name for Travel Cayman] was effective and important, now it is only an unnecessary step to be permitted to enter the island,” he said. CITA: Mask mandate, travel regs hampering tourism The debate over Cayman's mask mandate continues. NORMA CONNOLLY nconnolly@compassmedia.ky Tourism chiefs are calling on government to drop Cayman’s mask mandate and a requirement for incoming airline passengers to obtain travel authorisations from Travel Cayman, which they say are a deterrent to travellers. Speaking at the Cayman Islands Tourism Association half-year meeting on 31 May, the association’s president Marc Langevin told colleagues and government officials that there is “clearly a correlation between airlift, regulation and occupancy”, adding “none of those can be separated”. Langevin, who is also the managing director of The Ritz- Carlton, Grand Cayman resort, urged the government to remove restrictions – including the mask mandate and the need to obtain travel authorisation from Travel Cayman – that might dissuade visitors from coming to Cayman and airlines from expanding their cayman compass 8 news N news FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022cayman compass 9 FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022Next >