BEL sends help to Cayman in wake of Ivan

As Hurricane Ivan prepares to batter the U.S. Gulf Coast, the grim details are beginning to emerge of catastrophic damage suffered by the islands of Grenada, Jamaica and Grand Cayman. Aid plans are being formulated and a number of relief efforts are underway including an appeal by the Red Cross. In Belize three employees of Belize Electricity Limited will be leaving for Grand Cayman tomorrow to help their sister company, Caribbean Utilities, get back on its feet. They are BEL’s Vice President for Operations, Felix Murrin and Distribution Manager, Lloyd Windsor, along with pole truck operator Carlton Spencer. One pole truck and two pickups, along with five hundred poles and assorted tools and supplies, are also being sent by ship. Caribbean Utilities is thirty-eight percent owned by Fortis, the Canadian power company that is majority shareholder of BEL. In related news we understand that a Belize Defence Force contingent is on standby, awaiting word from the CARICOM Regional Security System, on when and if it will be deployed as part of a Caribbean force that will help with the reconstruction of Grenada.