More PPM signs vandalized

| 29/04/2013

ppm board (279x300).jpg(CNS) Updated Tuesday 9am: Folllowing the vandalism of PPM signs in George Town at the weekend, more of the party's signs have been torn down, not just in the capital but in Bodden Town as well. In the latest act the PPM posters were ripped from a board, which was pulled out of the ground and then tied to a UDP sign. Although a banner for one Coalition for Cayman candidate was stolen and Ezzard Miller’s poster was subject to lighthearted graffiti, the PPM boards appear to be the subject of more deliberate and ominous vandalism. Despite pleas by the Elections Office for a fair fight and sportsmanlike conduct from all those involved in the campaign, the targeting of the PPM is becoming increasingly sinister, the party leadership said Tuesday.

tied to udp signed (300x186).jpgIn the first instance the signs were slashed along the candidates’ throats, while this time they were ripped from the display boards. The Elections Office and the police have been notified and an investigation is now underway. The opposition leader said he was saddened by the vandalism but urged the party’s supporters not to react.

“I am very disappointed by the measures resorted to by our political opponents and urge everyone to understand that the billboards and posters are part of the legitimate campaign process and they should be respected,” he said, as he urged everyone associated with the campaign to engage in a fair fight. “I urge Progressive supporters not to retaliate, as that is not what we are about, and leave it to the police to investigate."

Although vandalism of signs during election campaigns is nothing new, the PPM believes that the targeting of their signs and the level of destruction suggests the vandalism goes beyond childish pranks and is deliberate and politically motivated.

photo 2 (3).JPGKenny Bryan, one of the PPM’s six George Town candidates, pointed out that with election observers set to arrive in Cayman in just a few weeks, this was embarrassing for the whole country. However, he said the party would not be deterred in their determination to return to office and begin restoring confidence in government.

“The democratic process is very important to the Progressives and we want to see the process kept at a very high standard,” he said. “These actions will not deter the Progressives from their goal of putting the Cayman Islands back on a steady track to prosperity for all Caymanians."

There are other issues surrounding campaign billboards, with a number of questions raised in both the CNS comments and other local media about the size and location of some of the boards.

photo 1 (241x300).jpg

Political signs do not need planning permission but they should be located at least 12 feet from the road. Any signs on crown land that are too close to the roadcan be removed by the National Roads Authority. A UDP board placed in a church yard in the swamp area and sitting on the shoulder of the Easterly Tibbetts Highway appears to be less than 12 feet but election officials said that, as it is posted on private property, there is nothing they can do about it.

Following the official confirmation that a delegation of observers from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Organisation, the Elections Office has welcomed their planned arrival but has advised the governor’s office that they need to come the week before the election in order to be present for mobile voting and to ensure that have time to speak with the office and candidates. Plans for the team to come on the Sunday before the 22 May Election Day were too late, they have advised.

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  1. WHAT !!!!!!! says:

    The facts of the whole matter is tear them all done have fun cause on May 22 -2013  PPM will rise too the top and win win win….Come on Cayman lets go out and VOTE VOTE VOTE all the corupt bastards out to pasture in the wilderness 

  2. Anonymous says:

    The more press these acts get the more they will happen…

  3. Anonymous1 says:

    Now that is vandalism!  Simply install a CCTV camara at one of the signs and catch the perpatrators.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Stupid is as Stupid does

    • Anonymous says:

      You are of course referring to the UDP

    • I andI DRead says:

      take dem all down.  They ae all a disgrace.  Imagine if the money all of dem have been spending on charities meals for wheels etc, instead of these bourgeois elements of attracting people, what a great way to show peopl you care about them.

  5. Turtle's Head says:

    I am voting based on the best ads on CNS.  The Caymanite Pink party are getting all my votes.  I think their slogan is the best, I mean who wants "For the People", which sounds like an ad for a law firm, when you can vote for the party that want to "Make bedtime an occasion"?

  6. Anonymous says:

    In the cult of personanlity, the last four years, anything and everything was brought forward as the PPM's fault.  Little wonder that the faithful are rallyingbehind their leader to stamp out the phantom menace. 

  7. Polly Tricks says:

    Ban all these posters.  They are inane.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Interestenly enough, nothing like this is happening in West Bay. I mean everywhere you go in West Bay, you see UDP posters and 1 or 2 PPMand PNA posters, but UDP is the Dominant.  What is happening in West Bay though is a lot of flyers are being handed out, a lot of T-Shirts are being handed out, a lot of finger foods are served and a lot of spying on one another are going on.  West Bay is a very busy political district. They are doing it without incident and even the former premier can be seen spying on the other political parties/group/team's meetings. Politics is running rampant in the West. The very candidate that everyone of the 56 are running to get out is still very much popular in West Bay. You see the more candidate running, the more chance they are giving him to get back in.  I urge the West Bayers to vote their FULL slate of 4 candidates and not just 1 and 2 candidates only. West Bayers please vote wisely and remember your recent history, remember to vote for the love of your country, vote for respect, vote for your children, vote for intregity, just vote for 4 and it don't have to be ALL from 1 team.

  9. The lone haranguer says:

    Well Bainzy has 4 years to solve this one.

    • Rorschach says:

      Glad YOU said it…now maybe that "uncle" fella will give me some peace.. 🙂

  10. Anonymous says:

    It’s a freakin poster……. Get over it. This is not ” news”

    • ABC says:

      Do these signs need planning permission?

       

      CNS: As noted in the story, no they do not. Check the penultimate paragraph.

  11. Anonymous says:

    And they wonder why the UK want to monitor these elections!

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes! the UK needs to come and police us to ensure that we are properly respecting each others posters. That is why they need to come down here. We have been policing our own elections for years with no incident but no this is going to far… we need them here to protect our posters…. *rolling my eyes*

  12. Anonymous says:

    UDP and your supporters, cry as much as you like your day has come, get out of the way

  13. Anonymous says:

    Come on everyone who decides their vote on a sign,  learn the facts don't just follow the sign you see most.

    The UDP has really hurt us in all aspects so please study the candidate.

     

  14. Anonymous says:

    Just shows the type of mentality on the opposing side.

  15. Anonymous says:

    next it wil be blood shed everything starts small , somethings just grow faster and out of control.

  16. Anonymous says:

    I must admit it irks the hell out of me to see, for example, Elio's picture in my district. I know vandolism is wrong so I comfort myself by imagining there is a law that says the LOSERS must clean up ALL signs the day after elections.

    • Anonymous says:

      The BT candidates had one of their signs vandalized as well, so this is not unique to the PPM. Someone with nothing to do other than create havoc is having a good laugh at the expense of the candidates. How sad.

    • Polly Tricks says:

      Someone has defaced all the posters of Elio by drawing on a super-gay haircut.

      • Anonymous says:

        How come CNS did not report this.  I also saw a poster of Theresa's in Bodden Town defaced as well. 

        • Anonymous says:

          We do desperately need a "comedy font" to help stupid UDP supporters posting like this.

      • Anonymous says:

        That was the UDP. Daddy mac wants him to look that way for the Chinese.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Awww it was a combination of moister andwind!

    • Anonymous says:

      If only these 5th grade UDP supporters would learn to spell.

      • Anonymous says:

        John John has reached 6th grade spelling.  He got a sticker to prove it.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes it was definitely excessive amounts of UDP kool aid and UDP flatulence, both of which are destroying much more than political signs in our beloved country.

  18. Anonymous says:

    Who cares? Put up another and move on. Good luck with that official investigation. Wasting time and money on sardines, that's all.

    • Anonymous says:

      It's the "the who cares" attitude and the condoning of actions like this and those of Mac and his army of bandits that got the Country in this mess!

       

      • Anonymous says:

        Worrying about this penny-ante stuff and letting the big frauds go unpunished is the problem.

  19. Anonymous says:

    Quite presumptuous of Alden to say that it was his political opponents who vandalized the PPM's posters when there is no indication whatsoever who the culprit or culprits are. 

    • Anonymous says:

      So you think it was a supporter that did it?  LOL!

      • Anonymous says:

        How do you know that it isn't a disgruntled PPM supporter? How do you know it's not a PPM supporter trying to make the UDP look bad? You see… that's the beautiful thing about this country. CNS and their readers can try to convict people in the court of public opinion all they want, but at the end of the day you need proof!

        • Anonymous says:

          Please don't go near mckeeva. It's frightening to think what he would do with an imagination like yours.

    • Anonymous says:

      Only a UDP supporter would be stupid enough to suggest it might NOT be his political opponents.

    • Anonymous says:

      although it is odd that so far, the udp banners do not appear to be suffering the same plight, and if politically motivated, it speaks volumes about the lame mentality of those involved… smh

  20. Anonymous says:

    Not to worry PPM. No criminal on earth is going to prevent good governance of our country any longer.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Stupid people do stupid things it is that simple! This isn’t a news story considering all the things that are going on in Cayman every day.

  22. Jacky Boatside from Oldbush says:

    Sympathy vote works errytime! Stick  Da $#!* back up and get on with the campaign  mann Why is it that so many people love Drama Cayman

  23. Anonymous says:

    I now realize that PPM is seen as the frontrunners in the Campaign race so that is why our signage is being targeted. Torn down signs won't deter where our 'Xs' go. I guess UDP are more worried than we thought, get ready for what else the public is learn after PPM takes over.

  24. Anonymous says:

    Booooy, someone is really scared of the PPM taking the government.

  25. Anonymous says:

    Cayman wake up!! This is just the start of political violence. Parties throughout regions created terrible violence which started just like this. Make a stand against this please. Get rid of both parties.

    • Anonymous says:

      The Parties are only as good as the people in the Party.  PPM have decent, law-abiding people, so go figure.!!

  26. Anonymous says:

    The people doing this must know or need to realize that this is just giving the PPM more publicity and could very well end up generating pity votes for them, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about who's doing it..

    • Anonymous says:

       

      Nor have any CFC signs been defaced. I swear if it rained and wet PPm poster theywould blame UDP.

  27. Anonymous says:

    Is this even worthy of news? What's the story hear? I can't be the only person thinking this…

  28. Anonymous says:

    i wonder if its coincidence that no UDP posters have been defaced

    • Anonymous says:

      The BT signs for the UDP were stolen, so there is  more than one culprit going around. Hope they reported it.

      • Anonymous says:

        Thats going to be returned. They're doing some scientific research on what's holding their ears apart.

  29. St Peter says:

    The thuggery continues.

    Sadly it has become our way of life in recent years as overzealous party members try to mimic the behavoior of those at the top…

  30. Anonymous says:

    It appears the church grants have gotten UPD prime advertising locations outside planning's juristiction lol

  31. Anonymous says:

    They should put the banners where the CCTV cameras are…..anybody does anything…..you should catch them.

    • Anonymous says:

      CCTV won't work. Has something to do with privacy law.

      I tried,  when they broke into my car.

      The camera's are useless, unless they break into a politicians house of course.

       

  32. Anonymous says:

    This Shows the Mentality  of how low some of these canidatesor or their supports will go. Its very sad.

  33. Anonymous says:

    The UDP will win the election without their supporters doing this kind of stuff.

    They will win because they are followed by a large pool of people who are not smart enough to know that they  should not vote for members of party whose leader has been charged with theft.   They also have the backing of many status holders that have no interest in the welfare of this country. 

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree with everything in your post except the assertion that the UDP will win. They won't.  

  34. Anonymous says:

    UDP supporters, this only shows that you have a third world attitude. 

  35. martin says:

    But CNS, looking at the picture, how do they know that was by vandals. Why didn't they took the whole sign down; or detroyed the entire sign. It doesnt make sense to just remove one corner of it. Are they sure it was by vandals. It don't look like to me. If I wanted a signed destroyed I would have ensure the entire sign is destroyed.

    • Anonymous says:

      They tore the otherwise completely down and even tried to dig the post up

       

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree that doesn’t look like it was vandalized in those pictures.

  36. Anonymous says:

    If this doesn't tell you how disheartened the people are with our politicians, I don't know what does.

  37. Anonymous says:

    I blame it on the UDP!

  38. Anonymous says:

    Simple things please simple minds…the overall tone of this election is disgusting and shows the level of intellect being applied…precisely none..