LoGB defends travel and cars
(CNS): Answering critics about his travel bill yesterday, Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush said that so far he has spent $22,171 for travel since taking office, which he said was essential in his role as tourism minister, his responsibility for financial services and as the country’s leader. He also slammed critics for being bloody minded about the issues of the Protocol Office cars, as well as those making accusations about his wife’s travel costs, who he said were misinformed as he had paid every penny for her out of his own pocket on the occasions she had travelled with him. (Photos courtesy of Cayman 27)
“I am very glad I have a wife of 35 years that wants to travel with me and I’m not bereft of a wife and then have to take someone else’s wife with me!” he exclaimed at a press briefing on Monday morning.
He said the criticisms about his travels were unfounded as he had been forced to go overseas to signthe tax agreements which were crucial to getting the Cayman Islands off the OECD grey list. He said that he would be travelling to Washington today (Tuesday 11 August) to sign Cayman’s twelfth deal with New Zealand, and he said the country was lucky that he did not have to incur the cost of flying to New Zealand and that arrangements had been made to sign the exchange agreement at the embassy there.
Bush explained that, as Leader of Government Business, he has to be the one to travel to sign the deals and that there was no chance of getting the leaders of the Netherlands or Ireland, for example, to come to Cayman. The LoGB confirmed that he did not expect to be travelling at the rate he was currently for very much longer and that it was really the need to sort out the immediate situation regarding the tax deals and tourism meetings that had seen him travel so much in the first few months in office.
He criticised the former tourism minister, Charles Clifford, who he said had ran up a travel bill of almost $250,000 during his time in office and he asked what we had to show for that. Bush said that he had put a stop to a number of the extravagances that Clifford had planned prior to leaving office, such as the inaugural flight celebrations for the Cayman Airways route to Honduras.
He also said that there had been a number of questions about the Protocol Office and the new cars which were being used. Bush admitted that he was being driven around in one of the two vehicles (registration POO2) but denied that his administration had spent $250,000 on any of the cars.
“This car was purchased when the protocol office was set up by the PPM in April 2007,” Bush stated, adding that they did it because they thought they would be re-elected and the former LoGB, Kurt Tibbetts, would become the premier, so had planned to set themselves up. He said that the other car (registration POO1) had been purchased by Arden Mclean when he was a minister, but it has now been turned over to the protocol office.
He said the criticism of his travel expenses and the situation around the protocol cars was being pushed by the People’s Progressive Movement in the same way they had pushed the election challenge regarding Mark Scotland. “It is bloody mindedness driven behind scenes by the PPM,” Bush added. He accused the opposition of stirring up controversy over vehicles that they had spent the country’s money on.
The LoGB noted ironically that it was the introduction of the new Constitution that would require the Protocol Office and he admitted for the first time that he had voted against the Constitution during the referendum, which he said would now usher in some expensive changes because of the creation of a premier.
According to a GIS release produced around the time of the Protocol Office’s establishment, there was no mention of the purchase of cars. The release said the office had been established to deal with the courtesies and rules of diplomatic procedure in recognition that government’s structure is becoming more complex. The office’s responsibilities according to that release are handling government hospitality and etiquette, ceremonial events, and assisting with the planning and organisation of official visits as required.
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Category: Headline News
On the issue of Status Grants, did anyone really sat back and see the amount of people at the Police Station trying to get Police records? Well I did and it was about five hundred people out there standing in the hot sun.
Our Caymanian Status was being passed out like candies; I was very hurt about that Mr. Bush. I was next in line for a promotion and you **** that up. One status holder took that job from me and I was trained to take over that job. So go **** yourself Mr. Bush.
You **** up many things for our country and my grandmother lost everything in First Cayman Bank. We had to take care of her until the day she passed away, she worked cleaning the Merrens home for years and had a little money saved to give to her grandchildren and YOU **** that up.
I believe she had forgiving you, but I will never forget YOU.
Ok, obviously there is a bit of misinformation here.
The Chief Justice & Official Members have those cars, and then there were a couple for the Protocol Office to use for VIPs, such as when a conference is held in Cayman and there are leaders of other countries arriving. In respect of the former, they were purchased in response to the mistaken break-in relating to the AG’s home. Kurt was not driven because he did not want to be. That needs to be on the record. His staff wanted him to be so he would have more time available for work, and Cayman would not look like a backwater, but he refused. After all, can’t smoke in Government vehicles!
The windows are thick and do not operate – bulletproof. Don’t have to tell you that’s expensive to have done. As with the helicopter, the costs are driven up by orders of magnitude when you start adding things, but as recent events have shown us, bulletproof is something windows in Cayman may have to start becoming.
The reason you have not seen them before now is because they were used for transporting people who like to be as invisible as possible. In other words, the flags are a very recent addition, at whose behest I leave you all to wonder.
The reason they are Tahoes is likely because the Government was able to obtain some ‘government discount’ from the dealer. They are unexceptional and not befitting our leaders, and should all be put to less visible purposes, such as the purposes they were put to before McKeeva claimed one of them for himself.
I believe the Premier, whoever he or she is, needs a much nicer car than that. At the very least, a town car. The problem is McKeeva’s previous administration acquired for the Governor an unexceptional Cadillac, and he will not agree to the Premier having a nicer car than him. This is an issue in Bermuda too, where the Premier & Governor have identical cars (BMW 750) (except of course for the licence plate).
This is one issue about which I won’t hear any arguments. We are a wealthy country despite the current state of the goverment’s finances, with modern institutions and plenty of getting on to be done. This is a brewing issue which will be the subject of much conjecture when and after the new Constitution is brought into force. Premier & LoGB are, as we will all see, different animals altogether. I’m glad, though, that McKeeva will be Premier at the time, because he will ensure that the Office of Premier is appropriately respected and provided for. It is part of our national condition to regard ourselves as ‘not good enough’ for these things, and it has to (and will) change.
As to the travel, as it is McKeeva was met in each of these countries by quite junior finance ministers – the No. 2 in Ireland and the No. 4 (out of 5) in the UK for starters. Do none of you care about what Cayman looks like to the rest of the world? Who are we supposed to send to sign these things?
Thanks for the helpful info. You seem to be unbiassed.
But no one ever mentions about the Governor being driven around though. Don’t matter to me if it’s Mr. Bush, Mr. Tibbetts or Mr. Mclean – point is – let’s rise above tearing down each other all the time. Sick and tired of Unna raaated negative pondering.
If it was left to me – the H.E. be driving his self and family around!
BIG up to Big Mac, he has proven once again that he is the greatest leader this country has ever seen, and thanks to Kurt for recognizing this by purchasing a very comfortable ride for Mac to do his thing….to all the big mac haters out there I only one thing to say, Cry baby cry…….LOL
oh, please!
to the other poster above this one: The governor didn’t want to reduce the civil servants salary, Mac does. I say he take a nice pay cut like try living off $2000 a month like the rest of us and no trips. Sell the Tahoe and pay for his own fuel. Set an example.
Crime only begin It’s going to get a lot worse.
Imagine people can’t retire because they don’t have enough pension…get more jobs to make ends meet…guess what u get from that…lots of children without parents attention. Too busy working trying to make ends meet.
Does Mac really think we are all weedheads ??? His First class airline ticket alone for his world tour when he took office in May this year was close to the $22,000 that he claims his travel expenses total for his first 2.5 months in office. He made many other trips after that tour.
Ask Mac to tell the country at his next press briefing how much he has paid AtWater Consulting since May 2009…..lets hear about that and who owns the company and who the employees are.
DARN IT !!
You UDP and PPM supporters are going to get a heart atack if you are not careful. My gracious, I am getting out of breath trying to read the comments. Slow it down for Pete,s sake. The talk show and and other news media is heating up with every kind of he got this and he did that. Trust me, there are people in Cayman hurting for some kind support in many ways. Why dont the parties work together. It is a down right shame, and I really dont care who like what I say. But you people are mashing up this country.
Take for instance Bodden Town. How many representatives we have up here? THREE and I do not believe they are speaking to each other much less working together. I dont see them. Why? one party is sulking because they are not ruling. For Pete,s sake UDP is the NOW government, so give me one good reason why all the others are making Cayman suffer because of their childish fighting about who is Driving which car, and who,s wife is travelling with them. You know I am fully convinced that it is Caymanians ruining Cayman, it is not Expatriates, and you know fully well I dont care what you want to say about my comments, so if you all want to do something for Cayman, please stop the Bitching about foolishness and use your heads to find a way to steer the young people in the right direction and help the police combat crime. Sleep well.
If you people weren’t so IGNORANT you would have realized when you were voting for the CONSTITUTION that there were going to be many changes made and money spent on putting the things in place for this to work!
It was the PPM that wanted this contstitution and had already spent the money expecting that it would be the reaping the benefits……..amazing how karma works!!! 🙂 And no, Kurt was not driven around as LoGB because he was/is not Premier Designate….that is a whole different honour, such as President/Prime Minister of a country. And Mac should be driven around by a Policeman/Security/Body Guard for National Security reasons.
Anyhow….you all voted for the constitution and now the UDP reaps the benefits…..good for them! So please stop with all the petty crap….there is going to be a lot more money spent within the coming years on installing the different aspects of this constitution.
And as far as travelling….good for him! And just remember that he is LOGB, Tourism & Finance Minister…..which means instead of having all those different Ministers travelling, he is actually saving money because he is that ONE person!!!
Your post make no sense. Are you now praising a “wasteful” purchase by the PPM because the LoGB can benefit from it, and as long as the UDP stamp of approved spending on it makes it a necessary expense? Maybe PPM should come out and stay they started all the projects for the UDP to finish and take credit. Maybe then people will ease up on them, because it’s for the benefit of UDP. Wow the some people never seem to amaze me. You all are like lemmings, you will follow anything this man says, and like you all have no mind of your own to think instead you all post here and repeat his hypocritical comments and think you sound like you’re proving a point. Well only one point, Mr. Bush will have a lot of followers when he reaches the cliff. It’s clear to me now how he has managed to have so much contraversy surrounding him and still got into office. Supporter like you, and spare me the typical PPM supporter comment. I am a Caymanian first and foremost and am sick off this party talk. I hope we make it through the next 4 years and we get real thinkers and leaders with country in mind and get these old spiteful politicans out!
You know what’s funny??? The LAST time Mac was LOGB, he was driven around!!!! HELLO!
Your point has been shot through the heart.
Nonsense and spin designed to point away from the truth. MAC must think that all of us are as thick as some of the ones he has been giving expensive contracts to.
MAC travels with a huge and expensive entourage that includes cronies, "advisors" and assorted party hacks that are completely unnecessary on those trips apart from decoration, carrying the shopping bags and ego support. The cost of travel for these people is also placed on the back of the Caymanian people and will take the actual costs of MAC’s travel in the first 60 days to hundreds of thousands. The claim that the cost Cayman paid as a direct result of his travel fantasies was only $22,000 is a complete joke. He must think we are all idiots.
The claim by MAC that he had to go on those prolonged European holidays to sign a few agreements because he is LOGB is also complete nonsense. They could have been done by exchange of documents in the mail. I challenge him to show anywhere that it is written that only the LOGB can sign. I recall reading that Alden took 1 person with him and signed 7 agreements in 3 days away from Cayman. MAC just likes to travel like some third world dictator and had assumed that no one would notice that he was wasting so much of our money at a time when the nation is struggling.
As regards the Tahoe’s, I don’t care who bought them. I never saw them on the road until after the election. Whoever bought them was wasting the country’s money and that waste should be eliminated by selling them now. The right thing to do now is to sell them and every other fancy and unnecessary truck that is owned by the government and send the police chauffeurs back to policing.
I suspect that these vehicles are further evidence that the ridiculous New Zealand model foisted on the country MAC and his buddy George the Gullible back in 2002 is a major element in the current fiasco. Without all of the huge additional costs imposed by this disastrous way of running the country, we would be in much better shape.
"Nonsense and Spin designed to etc"
Your last paragraph is competely idiotic. Can you explain how New Zealand or any other kind of accounting forced the buying of these stupid Tahoes. This was good old stupid arrogant boastful Caymanian "we have a Protocol Office that has total time wasters in it and we need to have fancy cars to show what big shots we are" CRAP!!! Stop doing this typical Caymanian thing of blaming others for our own idiocy. God help us when Ezzard takes us into independence and we cant blame the Limeys and the colonial system-just ourselves.
New Zealand-with its allegedly "ridiculous’ (according to the "Professor of Economics" blogging above) recently paid off its national debt which it has had since the 1890s but of course the unlettered experts who blog on this site don’t read the Economist magazine so wouldn’t know this sort of thing. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could be in the same position as them instead of up to our bloody ears in debt because we won’t accept some of the tough measures that the fiscally prudent Public and Finance Management Law requires because we can’t face saying to a Caymanian "you don’t have what it takes for the job you are being paid thousands of dollars to hold down".
I can’t believe some of these PPM idiots carrying on about the car Mr. Bush rides in. If the PPM bought it at least now he will get to enjoy it and make the PPM squirm out of jealousy. Of course he also needs police protection now that the PPM left the country in such a mess that crime has seriously gone up. The PPM did plenty of dirtiness but their blind supporters can’t see beyond the status grants. Remember how the PPM submitted their own lists for status grants? How funny that they always forget to mention that. And yes, Mr. Bush, please enjoy taking your wife whereever you wish. She deserves to at least see her husband more often since she has to sacrifice not having him around as he is serving his country.
By the way CNS, you should post something having to do with the comments by Arden McLean about how he will lie under the machinery to stop them if there isdevelopment in East End. I hope he knows that after the sweetheart deal he gave CUC at our expense, there will be people lining up to drive that machinery right over him. Go ahead Mr. McLean, I dare you.
Talk about a "blind idiot"!! that is what you are, you poor thing. You & Mac going end up where you belong!! Try open your eyes you bling udp idiot! Obviously you have forgotten the mess the udp & mac left this country in after 2005, & crime is worse now than it was before May, you dumb blind idiot! What your man gonna do about that? Oh sorry, he cant do too much, he’s never here! At least you admit that the status grants by your man was a terrible act, but why try & involve the PPM? You know full well that Mac offered Mr. Tibbetts the chance to submit names for status on behalf of PPM & Mr. Tibbettes told him where to go, HELL, which, if he continues on the same path is where he is going!
There was never any list submitted by the then PPM backbench MLA’s for the grant of status. Prove it or stop spreading untruths. It was them that brought that debacle to our attention. Otherwise who knows where the irrevocable grants would have gone. This was so wrong that the good persons that got it (to cover up the others) are ashamed that they did. Ask any of the long term residents (>15 years) that received it if they knew then, that in <6 months time (Jan 2004), the new Imm. law would give them status in the correct way. The crap about solving the long term resident problem that the UPD spouted was just that, and they all knew it because the committee that formulated the law had briefed the then cabinet on the changes prior to the grants. For proof ask the chairperson of that committee yourself. She is now the co-chairperson of the UPD and again the chairperson of a committee to review this law!!!!
Will you and Mac want to have the blood of East Enders on your hands? I can tell you that Arden WON’T be standing alone! East Enders don’t play, and we don’t want the dock up here!
Well that was a post for the wrong page!!
Fantastic, you are accusing racism without backing it with any actual evidence, because you can’t be bothered to look.
Do you work for the police?
Raffle these SUV’s off, yes true. I would like to see who would win those…….. Smiling
You people are just pathetic squabbling over an SUV and a driver and some air tickets, in the face of HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars WAISTED by the previous administration.
You people a real jokers. How do expect this country to be ran? By flying prop planes to europe or take a bana boat, driving around in a diatsu or volkswagon??
This just highlights the small mindness and just pure jealousy of people. Who cares about SUV and a freaking first class plane tickets. I mean were not talking about millions here.
The guys are our LEADERS, they should be driven and treated as such. I don’t have a problem with the PPM or the UDP driving around in their SUV’s and live in their large houses and fly on first class tickets. However I care about PERFORMANCE.
And spending (largely waisting) 700+ hundred million CI by the last administration, then the only answer you can come up with is taxing more of my money (and my childrens money) to pay for it, is not performance in my book.
You can drive you SUV, drivers, and plane tickets all day long, just invest our tax revenues wisely, provide us a top economy instead of a damn debt!!, unpenalizing tax business environment, and stay out of my bank account.
Enjor your next flight as far as I’m concerned.
Gimme a break McKeeva and McKeeva supporters! Unna honestly think PPM going purchase vehicles in April 2007 and keep them hidden away until May 2009 hoping to be re-elected so they can drive them then around then?!! ‘Setting themselves up’ to drive around in a 2007 car in 2009? Jesus! If you going be setting yourself up you going mek sure it’s in da latest hot wheels, not a two year old outta style ‘pinto’!! Mac being driven around in this vehicle is a blatant showing off of his ignorance…….he just don’t get it and never will……yawn yawn – same old same old UDP style politics!!!
Caymanians are funny people
You don’t complain when a white man lives in a beach house paid for by yourselves, and yes is driven around in a rolls and travels at the expense of your pockets and you find it quiet acceptable, but because one of your own who has been elected by the majority ( At least his party) is driven around in a lowly Tahoe its a big issue to you; talk about crabs in a barrel.
“You can fool some of the people, some of the time”!
Is the 2009 LoGB fi-real???? Is he suffering from Alzheimer’s?????
When this island was devastated from the disaster of Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the LoGB of 2004, Mr. Bush, and his cronies flewCAL to Boston
Read and verify it for yourself, just don’t take my word for it.
http://media.caymanislands.ky/news/details.asp?id=1146&site=3
Now let’s do the math.
Mr. Bush says that Clifford spent $250,000 during his service.
4 yrs of Clifford’s service = 48 mths
$250,000 / 48 = $5,208.33 per month
$5,208.33 x 2.5 mths (since Swearing-In ceremony 27 May 09) = $13,020.25
Clifford’s 2.5 months equals $13,020.25 vs the 2009 LoGB travel expense of $22,171.
How do these two amounts differ????? By a lot!!! Almost twice the amount!!
Verdict: Guilty. No reasonable justification found for excessive spending!.
As before, he’s eager to spend and appears to have no consideration or care of the financial impact or to whose detriment, as long as he has someone to blame. He’s of the same action….he hasn’t change and never will……a leopard never changes its spots.
Not only is he jet-setting again, but he also wants to spend money on building a NEW DOCK when we already have one that’s operating and accommodating our needs today; AND, he also wants to build a NEW AIRPORT, which the current one is operating and accommodating our needs today. His reasons for these expenditures are: “the money was set aside for it by the PPM govt”. Huuuuuh?????? Just because the money was set aside doesn’t mean you have to spent it particularly not at a time like this when the GLOBAL economy is on a down-turn & not when you’re jumping up-and-down about the country is broke & not when it’s the first time that we have to go begging theUK
Apparently what Mr. Bush fails to understand is this. Money was set aside by the previous govt when the our financial situation (or the economy) was profitable. It now appears that Mr. Bush has NO CLUE what to do when this country is being affected by the global financial crisis or how it is impacting our financial industry and our economy. His resolution was to cut the salaries of his own people to afford him his spending spree. This is one time I thank God for Governor Jack!! Many Civil Servants would have become impoverished or homeless if he hadn’t stepped in and put our people FIRST!!
Here’s another excuse he’s using to spend money while we are well aware of the fact that he & the governor have the power to delay this section of the Constitution (if he chooses) and such expenses until our economy is in a better financial situation……….“The LoGB noted ironically that it was the introduction of the new constitution that would require the protocol office and he admitted for the first time, that he had voted against the constitution during the referendum, which he said would now usher in some expensive changes because of the creation of a Premier”
I’m calling on Govenor Jack to have our Constitution brought into effect as soon as possible. We need to initiate Referendum!!!!!!!
Sir You are missing few important facts. It appears that Mr. Mac has already met with Misner Marine with regard to the dreding work for East End dock and agreed on smarter ways of doing business this time around. I am sure your analytical skills in digging into financial deals of this project would be needed by our Auditor General at some stage if this project goes ahead as proposed. Thank you for link for the famous Boston Party and I am sure that would have cost a lot more than a simple ceremony to launch the inaugural Honduras flight. We must all thank Clifford for easy access to Honduras so that some of our elected members could visit their children and baby mothers easily during weekends. hahahahahha…………………..
Where is the PPM ???????????????????
Arden and Chuckie are the only two that will take a firm stand on issues !
Is this the same ‘conservative’ McKeeva Bush that racked up $100,000 in tickets at CAL that he wouldn’t pay for until Chuckie exposed it on the floor of the LA ?
I wonder if CAL would have seen a cent of that payment if he had been re-elected to the Leadership in 2005 and continued as the Minister for CAL ?
My goodness the nerve of this man !!!
I certainly agree that the license plates have got to GO! Is it just me or does anyone actually believe that this protocol office is controlling anyone here? We all know by now it’s what LOGB says goes. These vehicles cost enough and then to top it off they have personalized license plates- which to me was a waste of $ because they sound absolutely ridiculous. Definitely not Premier material. Why doesn’t the government raffle these SUV’s off? Since clearly they don’t want them. Besides there are enough Tahoe’s on island (they so common)! Why should the island’s first ever Premier subject himself to rolling around in a Tahoe, which was only given to him because of the Constitution which he SOO disagrees with? How long has Kurt has his Jeep Cherokee? I’m SURE he could have bought a "POO truck" out of his own pocket if he wanted to.
As far as the wife going on the tax trips, maybe even after 35 years of bliss they cant stand to be apart for a few days. And I bet he enjoys showing her off. I love that, Mac you really need to teach the others the importance of a WIFE.
Some of these postings show how small minded, and easily distracted some Caymanians are.
Why not question the motives for Kurt & Alden buying these cars to begin with? (or will you let them blame that on the Financial Secretary as well)
Why not feel ashamed to be asking the leader of your country ‘why he would take his wife on an overseas trip?’ (do Caymanians question who pays for the Governors wife and children to travel, or live on seven mile beach).
I am sorry, but with the mentality of some Caymanians its clear why the PPM wasted so much money, destroyed your country financially and are laughing their heads off right now.
At least if the Cayman Islands fails they will have a lot of crab meat to export – because they sure have enough ‘crabs’
any idea why a police officer is driving him around. I though that the police were short staffed. Couldnt this officer better be utilised back in the community from which he was taken.
“I am very glad I have a wife of 35 years that wants to travel with me and I’m not bereft of a wife and then have to take someone else’s wife with me!”
I hear ya, Mac! This is not being immature, this is telling you folks like it is. And by the way, what’s the big deal about the car? Geez, we have bigger problems on this island now to worry about.
I think Mr. Bush needs to remember all the things he use to do and maybe still do before pointing his finger at others……
Okay…If they were purchased by the PPM and the UDP is not to be blamed…sell them! Drive yourself!
Does the figure he gave include all costs billed to government throughout his travels or is he only describing airfare, vehicle use, etc.? I’d be curious if he’s willing to release the receipts for food, hotels, entertainment and all that. If all he was doing was jet-setting around to sign pieces of paper, I certainly hope he wasn’t taking in the sights and pouring forth the government coffers for the types of meals his previous surgery shows he clearly enjoys. Especially when so much needed (and still needs) to be attended to here. As for the cars, I really hope someone in the Protocol Office changes the license plate designations – maybe PRTL1 and 2… XXXXX
I kinda found POO to be fitting….
Why isn’t the tint darker.?? and shouldn’t we have a motorcade with 20 motorcycles blocking the road and european style sirens blaring as he passes the masses with POO 1 AND POO 2 in pursuit with guards hanging on the running bars guns in hand. I agree we need to change the license plate they should have the Cayman Coat of ARMS in Platinum with Gold for the pineapple, rubys for the red, emeralds for the green and caymanite for brown..Come on we got to upstage the Govna’
I bet that would give the cruise ship passagers a unique experience…Also the police officers escorting should wear the brown khaki just like they do in Jamaica…That will be cool what do you think!
I think you got it right. All you described covers all protocols poos that a Leader of a banana republic should have. My only problem is why do you want to have the pinapple in gold. All patriotic Caymanian should now request that this ****ing pinapple be removed from our national flag for good. This is a disgrace for our country……………………
People will stop taking about PPM and UDP when our LEADERS stop the finger pointing.
OK ,so he says PPM bought the cars, but he is the one making a big deal about wasteful spending, why is he contributing to it by driving them around. Can someone tell me if Kurt and Alden drove around in them? How long were there in the hands of the protocol office before the actual use? Were they used before or after May 20th. If you ask me Mr. Bush is talking out of both side of his mouth, we may need to cut salaries blah blah, PPM bought these and wasted money blah blah, I never vote for YOUR constitution (do you all remember that statement he made on the news like ha take what you get) blah blah, then says oh this is and expense of the PO office in accordance with the constitution. I still think if the SUVs are a problem Mr. Bush Lets sell them and no need to pay the personal driver, that’s about 200K right there. A good leader coming out and exposing the truth to Cayman would have gotten rid of them, all of us who have a conscience would automatically know the right thing to do is such dire financial time, especially as he can afford to drive his own car or have a personal driver, but this is nothing new I remember when he was the last LOGB he had a driver too. I can’t agree more with the other poster’s comment about the way he carries on, no professionalism at all.
So!. What is the problem here.
The former Port Director was driving an expensive SUV from as far back as I could remember and John Public had to pay for that. Not to mention the weekly detailing it required.
Ahhh here we go again another school yard fight!!!
What the Gov’t needs to be talking about is what’s going to happen when all of us Caymanian’s are waiting in the unemployment line!!!
Sell the cars!!!! Drive their own!! Learn the fine art of budget control!!
And most importantly they need to cut salaries from the top. I mean don’t get me wrong am glad for e.g. that Ms. Mary is the Speaker – but $15,000 PER MONTH?!?! Come on – this is where cuts need to start from THE TOP! Even just $2,500 from their salaries can cover one Caymanian employee!!
And to me – being in politics is something you do for the LOVE of your country NOT the love of your wallet – so that should make it easy enough for them to hand over their cheques, nah true?!?!
Plus it will be fun to watch who drops out of the house when the salaries are reduced! LOL. 😉
DON’T FORGET GOD IS WATCHING AND CAYMAN SITS ON A VERY DEEP SEA TRENCH – ONE SWIPE AND BAM! – IT’S ALL OVER AND DONE WITH.
Mac critizises Chuckie for how much his Ministry spent on travel over his 4 year term but based on Mac’s acknowledged travel expenses of approximately $12,000 per month, Mac will rack up $576,000 in travel expenses by the time his term ends in 2013…..twice the amount of Chuckie’s.
Does Mac engage his brain before he speaks ?……..What brain i guess you will ask !
Mac also took a plane load of West Bay weedheads to Chicago for that inaugural flight……in fact one of them was caught smoking weed in the bathroom at one of the "Cayman Islands" events in Chicago.
What a hypocrite, talking ’bout Chuckie’s travel expense!! No one will forget Jr. Whopper’s (formerly known as Big Mac) travel expenses in his first term with udp (2001-05), & especially the many many chartered flights he arranged with plane loads (sometimes 2 at a time) of Bayers & other followers to all over the world. How can he talk about Charles Clifford’s expenses when everybody constantly complained about McKeeva Bush’s waste of the people’s money flying his family, supporters & cronies all over the place? What a load of POO-POO!
I am not a supporter of PPM or UDP but I listened to Mr. Bush yesterday and I thought it was disgraceful on the way he went on….. I think we need someone who can conduct themself in a certain manner when holding this kind of position.
The Great LOGB to be Premier says: “I am very glad I have a wife of 35 years that wants to travel with me and I’m not bereft of a wife and then have to take someone else’s wife with me!”
Now this is what you call mature and setting an example for yah. Some people never grow up I suppose. Hold on real tight Cayman Islands: – you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Someone needs to teach the gentleman who works in the protocol office and who meets persons and takes them to the airport how to dress. Blue jeans to me are not acceptable and he needs to learn how to walk and not strut around like a peacock who hasnot got a clue what he is doing. Really really wrong and bad impression.
Mr. Bush is to be applauded.
"He criticised the former tourism minister, Charles Clifford, who he said had ran up a travel bill of almost $250,000 during his time in office and he asked what we had to show for that. Bush said that he had put a stop to a number of the extravagances that Clifford had planned prior to leaving office, such as the inaugural flight celebrations for the Cayman Airways route to Honduras."
He probably recalled the extravagance of taking a plane load of West Bay weedheads to Boston in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.
http://www.caymannetnews.com/boston2.shtml
Now that we have been told who really bought the POO cars, I trust that the PPM supporters who hadso much to say about it will now keep their chops shut and realise that your mislead leader, actually counted his chickens before the eggs hatched. In this I mean. it looks as though he was setting himself up to be driven around in style but the citizens of tis country saw different.
PPM wastage:
So now we see further money wasted by the PPM. I wonder what ‘spin’ the PPM will put on these cars. In any event, what is killing the PPM is that they bought them for Kurt & Alden, but the UDP are using them after the people voted them out.
Mac set it straight when he said:
“This car was purchased when the protocol office was set up by the PPM in April 2007,” Bush stated, adding that they did it because they thought they would be re-elected and the former LoGB, Kurt Tibbetts, would become the premier, so had planned to set themselves up. He said that the other car (registration POO1) had been purchased by Arden Mclean when he was a minister, but it has now been turned over to the protocol office.
I am not any UDP fan (far from it) and certainly Mac has dropped in my books (partly because he wont apologize for it) because of the reckless disregard for my lil country with the mass careless, thoughtless citizenship giveaway…but he is the leader of my country. He is deserving to be treated as such with the protocol cars and all. Even if the vehicle was a lil dolly-baby/match box cars (cant think of the name of any of those small cars now), he should be provided for, driven and provided some sense of security. That level of respect is due our Caymanian leader even as wex as I feel with him.
So unna try and chill out about this topic. This country pays to drive the Gov. that has CI as a secondary consideration to London; why not our caymanian leader?
Can someone tell me if Mr. Tibbetts use to get driven around when he was the LOGB?
The Protocol Office is an inexcusable waste of money, especially in these poor economic times
Mr. Bush should comment on all the flights his wife and cronies took when he was in office prior to the PPM which was not paid for. He did not settle his huge outstanding bill with Cayman Airways until PPM took office and he was asked to do so. Maybe he learnt his lesson from that!!