Glidden says airport boss remains on full pay

| 24/02/2013

Image sweep-under-rug 6.jpg(CNS): While the management and board of the Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) have remained silent on the situation regarding the suspension of the CEO and the dismissal of the former financial officer over the misuse of public funds, the tourism minister confirmed Thursday that the airport boss was still on full pay. Cline Glidden, who became minister shortly after Jeremy Jackson was suspended, said he could not comment further on the situation but he promised that the outcome would not be swept under the carpet.

He said that internal and external investigations were on going and that the audit office was now also involved. A spokesperson for the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) confirmed Friday that the office was aware of the allegations regarding the airport, which is a government statutory authority.

“The Auditor General has been made aware of these allegations and his office is currently gathering information to determine the nature and scope of any work that needs to be conducted in light of actions being taken by the current CIAA board and management. When the work is completed, it is the intent of the Auditor General to report publicly on his findings,” the office said in a statement.

The documentary evidence leaked to North Side MLA Ezzard Miller this week shows that the authority’s annual financial statements in 2009 were audited by the OAG and were given an unqualified opinion despite a significant theft being recorded in the accounts. The 2010 accounts, which record further loses, have been audited but these have not yet been tabled in the Legislative Assembly and, despite being more than two years out of date, the financial statements are still not public documents.

A report commissioned by the board and leaked to Miller showed a catalogue of possible misappropriation of public money at the airport since 2009, from boozy lunches and investigated thefts to the purchase of permanent residency for foreign workers and footing the bill for flight training for private pilots working at the airport.

See related story here.

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  1. Kato says:

    We need to clean house and press charges. This is the people’s money these losers are blowing away or should I say drinking away! Don’t understand how this being treated so lightly. They all should be on suspension in he interim of a full blown investigation.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Perhaps a little off topic, but it would be great to see the annual aviation week return with a Cayman Caravan and an International Airshow over the Queen's Birthday weekend in June.  We haven't seen one since before Ivan and it was always a great family weekend not to be missed.    

    • Anonymous says:

      FYI – you can address that to Pilar Bush, the then Tourism Director who thought it was no longer a good idea to continue that event.  I agree with you that it was a great time for all of us.

  3. SKEPTICAL says:

    How many senior Civil Servants/Statutory Authority staff are still on “Required Leave” and receiving their full salary ??

  4. Anonymous says:

    The Board of Directors and the Minister the authority falls under is now to blame! When will Cayman learn fom all the BS mistakes taken by the boards, civil service, authorities and elected governments? Pure incompetence and further proof that governance is Cayman is a buzz word

  5. SKEPTICAL says:

    The 2009 Financial Statements were audited by WHICH office – and given an unqualified Report ?

  6. Anonymous says:

    I am sorry it is being sweeped under the rug…its either he is innocent, then put him back to work to earn his pay, or quility, then fire him, charge him and stop wasting more of our money to pay someone who should be paid.  Does it take that long to find out if he did what he is being excused of what he did?  If you don't have the proof then how can you accuse someone and if you do have the proof then go forward with it because publizing this has cast doubt on his character if he isn't quilty and we know the government is good at that!!!! So lets get with it

    • Quility says:

      Hmmm… what is quility???

      • Anonymous says:

        hhhhmmmm mine was a simple typo you couldn't even spell the mistake correctly 

        • Anonymous says:

          A simple typo? No it wasnt! it was a great big stupid mistake. Even that post was riddled with errors.

          The spelling and grammar in some of these posts is staggeringly bad. It’s really not too hard to check what you’ve written before hitting ‘Send’. Frothing hate-filled rants are bad enough; but badly-written frothing hate-filled rants are unforgivable.

          If you can’t write English, you should stop posting.

          • Anonymous says:

            In case you haven't noticed the spelling brigade on CNS are not too popular these days.  Most of us are here to debate current affairs whilst you choose to debate the issue of spelling, grammar and punctuation.  Not everyone is blessed with the same education you may have had.  It doesn't make them inferior to you, and it doesn't make their comments any less valid.  No matter how riddled with errors the post was, the thumbs-up's clearly indicate that most of us understood, whilst you were too busy ranting about errors.  If it bugs you so much, why don't you do something to help and go teach at the schools? 

            If you can't be civil, stop posting.

          • Anonymous says:

            Yu need to adjust your medication.

          • Anonymous says:

            God, it's soooooo hard to be prefect…

      • Anonymous says:

        A quality quilt?

    • Anonymous says:

      Stop wasting our money?  Really?  When did this anti Caymanian rant start?  Its what we do!

  7. Anonymous says:

    Nice pic…just need a green tie…or blue…or purple.

  8. Anonymous says:

    He need to be held accountable not remain on full pay. What a shame and disgrace!

  9. Anonymous says:

    Full pay ! WOW !

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes people full pay! just like the police officers that were being paid whilst under invesigation. Innocent until proven guilty. Ever heard of it?