The Hon. Kurt Tibbetts’ re-familiarisation visits continued with tours made of the Postal Service, as well as the Cayman Water Authority’s operations.

Accompanied by Postmaster General Sheena Glasgow and ministry officials, they toured the Postal Service’s (CIPS) nine facilities around Grand Cayman. While he had responsible for the postal service in past years, the tour allowed Minister Tibbetts to be updated while meeting with staff and discussing CIPS issues.

Postmaster General, Sheena Glasgow said the biggest challenges facing CIPS relate to balancing service levels in the face of significant staff vacancies.

“All Government departments are now challenged to do more with less, but the Postal Service still needs to be industry-specific,” said Ms. Glasgow. “Most mail is still handled manually and, even with reductions in mail volume in recent years, it has been taxing to meet the expected standards.”

Against this backdrop, the officials discussed options for improving and diversifying the postal facilities network without relying on hiring more staff.

The “critical challenges” range from maintaining Saturday hours to generally maintaining the standards of the Universal Postal Union.

More than 80 workers operate the ten post offices on Grand Cayman (including a sub-post office in the Government Administration Building). There are six post offices in the Sister Islands. These facilities generally operate 8:30am to 5:00pm weekdays, and half-day Saturdays.

The Minister also toured several Cayman Water Authority’s sites: the authority’s headquarters, Grand Cayman’s Wastewater Treatment Works, and the North Side Water Works, located off the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park road.

The tour was led by the Director, Dr. Gelia Frederick-van Genderen and included Water Authority Board Chairman Lemuel Hurlston, CVO, MBE.

She explained that the Authority has four reverse-osmosis (RO) plants in Grand Cayman; two in George Town and others in Lower Valley and North Side. They have a combined water-production capacity of 6.3 million gallons per day (MGD). The Cayman Brac plant produces 150,000GPD.

On Grand Cayman treated water is stored in eight reservoirs, with a combined capacity of 13.5 million gallons. The water is piped to customers using a distribution network covering over 270 miles.

However, before water is distributed to homes and businesses as potable water, it underdoes an intricate process that encompasses desalination, chlorination, pH adjustments and the adding of a corrosion-inhibitor.

The Authority continues to generate a profit ($1.4 million over 2011/2012), and funds its own capital works. For instance, the Lower Valley RO plant (built in 1996) will undergo significant refurbishment this year. After the upgrade the plant’s water production capability will increase to 0.8 MGD. The site has a three-million-gallon storage capacity.

The Minister’s entourage also toured the Grand Cayman Wastewater Treatment Works. There, Deputy Director Tom van Zanten explained that the original facility (commissioned in 1988) consisted of four large waste-stabilisation ponds.

However, because of the rapid development in the West Bay Road area, the treatment facility was replaced in 2004 by a state-of-the-art ‘sequencing batch reactor’ wastewater treatment works. This is capable of meeting Grand Cayman’s wastewater treatment needs for the foreseeable future.

The Authority provides wastewater services along the West Bay Beach Road, which has the highest concentration of resort accommodations. It is pumped to the treatment site near the George Town landfill. While it can treat 2.5MGD, the site is designed to allow three additional phases — each with a similar treatment capacity.

Because of concerns relating to the infiltration of saline groundwater, the wastewater collection system will soon undergo extensive investigations to address the issue. The Director added, “This long-overdue and very necessary project was delayed whilst the previous Government considered divestment of this segment of the Authority’s operations.”

Minister Tibbetts expressed his satisfaction at the levels of productivity in both organisations, even though there are special challenges to be addressed in postal services.

“Both are essential services, and in the case of the postal services, it was once the mainstay of the national economy.  While the operational arrangements of the two agencies are different, a common factor is the determination and expertise of the management and staff to fulfill their duties in the most professional manner – and for that they are deserving of our gratitude.”

Photo by CIWA

Minister Tibbetts (R) and Director, Dr. Gelia Frederick-van Genderen (L) with some Water Authority officers and staff.