Archive for April 4th, 2011

Commissioners stand firm

Commissioners stand firm

| 04/04/2011 | 13 Comments

(CNS): Despite the damning public criticism of the members of the Constitutional Commission by the country’s leader, the commissioners will be going ahead with their public meetings in order to continue their research into how government and the constitution are working, how politicians are advised and what changes people want to see, if any, to the constitution to achieve the goal of good governance. Although Premier McKeeva Bush, derided comments made by Wil Pineau and Julene Banks about the advisory district council law and the current North Side advisory council, the team is starting its public meetings in that district as planned, unperturbed by the comments.

So far, the commissioners have not responded publicly to Bush’s criticisms but say they have written to the governor and will make that correspondence public shortly.

Speaking inthe Legislative Assembly last month, Bush said their poor performance was embarrassing as they had “gotten so far adrift” from their “real role”. He accused them of misusing their position and trying to influence public opinion.

The premier said he had asked the governor to speak with the commissioners and he was encouraging them to speak with the attorney general to be better “schooled in their role and functions” as he accused them of trying to frustrate his administration. Bush was particularly angry about the commission’s comments regarding the law recently passed by government on the make-up of advisory district councils, which provides for the councils to be appointed by government. The commissioners said that the existing district council in North Side, which was elected by constituents, was closer to what had been envisioned by the commission.

However, Bush criticised the commission’s goal to canvas public opinion and said it was a delicate undertaking for a body such as a Constitutional Commission and that their comments were "blatantly partisan”. He said they were indicating their support for the MLA for North Side while opposing the UDP government and were encouraging the people to adopt the same view.

Unperturbed by Bush’s accusations, the commissioners will be starting the series of public meetings in North Side on Thursday evening at the civic centre. The commissioners want to engage the wider community in each district in public discussions on all constitutional matters. The commissioners say the meetings will allow members of the public to ask questions about, and gain a better understanding of, the constitution as a document that affects their daily lives.

“The public is encouraged to exercise their freedom to become better informed and more involved in the development of constitutional matters. Every voice is valuable in the interpretation of constitutional advancements,” the constitutional officials said in a release.

Meeting dates and times have been confirmed in the following districts:
Thursday, 7 April, 7-9pm, North Side Civic Centre
Thursday, 14 April, 7-9pm, East End Civic Centre
Thursday, 5 May, 7-9pm, Bodden Town Civic Centre
Thursday, 19 May, 7-9pm, South Sound Civic Centre
Meetings are planned for the districts of West Bay and the Sister Islands in June.

For more information visit the Constitutional Commission website.

Continue Reading

Public boards need rules

Public boards need rules

| 04/04/2011 | 11 Comments

(CNS): People who serve on government boards for public authorities where they also have business interests are being called into question. There are currently a number of boards where members face potential conflicts of interest, raising concerns in the community. How boards are appointed, how political they should be and where the line is drawn between experience and business interest are topical issues that have been raised by the Commission for Standards in Public Life. North Side MLA Ezzard Miller says that what is needed is a proper set of rules and standards to govern how boards are selected and how they operate.

Recent changes to the board overseeing the airport on Grand Cayman were questioned by a number of CNS readers, who asked whether it was ethical to have a chair who was an airline agent and one member whose firm handles the security at Owen Roberts International. However, this is by no means the first or only instance where members of the more than the one hundred government boards and other public authority councils may be conflicted. Historically, the membership on boards, such as planning, the public transport board, those relating to business licensing and immigration, among others, have all been called into question.

The Commission for Standards in Public Life recently raised the issue of qualification of board members and the need for more technical expertise in its latest report to the Legislative Assembly. Miller also says there needs to be a proper set of rules that define how the boards are selected and run. Furthermore, he stated that people who are appointed to boards often take the money but don’t take on the responsibility that serving requires.

“People who have pecuniary interests or government sub-contracts should not be sitting on public boards,” the independent MLA said, adding no one should put themselves in positions where conflicts of interest arise. “But the bigger problem is that there are no common rules about how boards function and in some cases members are taking their stipend and then they are allowed to ‘goof off’. It’s time we established set of standards and expectations of what is required of members.”

The question of the politicisation of boards has also caused debate in the community. The premier has frequently stated that since boards work for government and implement government policy they should be government supporters and not be working against the elected administration.

On a number of occasions he has publicly criticised boards for dragging their feet and has stated that were he able to have more control, in particularly of the Port Authority, the cruise ship docks would already be under construction. When Bush was leader of government business in the previous UDP administration, he also served as chair on the Port Authority board.

The Commission for Standards in Public Life said in its February report that it would take an “in depth look” at statutory board appointments and how “conflicts of interest or corruption”, perceived or real, could be avoided. It said it was also interested in how qualified members were to make the best decisions falling within their remit. The CSPL, which was created under the new constitution as a watchdog for all public servants, is just one body examining the way people involved in public life behave as governance moves in to the era of transparency.

The new Anti-corruption Commission and the anti-corruption law cover statuary boards and councils. Last year the attorney general advised all those serving on government and statutory boards to pay close attention to potential conflicts of interest.

The law mandates that any public officer or MLA that has any financial interests, direct or indirect in the company or partnership or similar entity needs to make a written disclosure. “Any public officer or MLA who fails to disclose an interest as stipulated by the law and who proceeded to vote or otherwise takes part in the proceedings of the entity relating to such interest commits and offence and could face prison time of up to five years if convicted,” Samuel Bulgin explained.

Although the Anti-corruption Commission has been in place for more than a year, its members have said nothing at all publicly about its work or if it is currently carrying out any investigations. For some twelve months the chair, who is the police commissioner, has been saying that a public education campaign will soon begin. As yet, however, no dates have been set for public meetings or details of the campaign revealed. The commission was established under the anti-corruption law and not the new constitution, but the point of public contact for the body was recently placed under the Constitutional Secretariat and a hotline created for people to report cases of potential corruption. 

Continue Reading