PPM faces heavy workload
(CNS): Following the pomp and celebration earlier this week, next week the new government will need to hit the ground running as there are a multitude of issues for the new Progressive team to deal with in the near future. With eleven people on its benches, after two C4C candidates agreed to work with the administration, from the 18-member House, the new premier has more hands working on his deck than any leader has had for some time. The new Cabinet is now seven strong, in line with 2009 constitution, and Alden McLaughlin has stated that he will also be appointing counsellors or junior ministers from the back bench to help those on the front tackle the many pressing issues. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
As well as the onslaught on Cayman’s financial sector from the UK, Europe and the US, McLaughlin will have to deal with a very difficult budget situation in the face of a still stagnant economy and austere restrictions imposed by the UK.
However, forced to go to the UK next month in response to the British Prime Minister's call for greater transparency and information sharing by its territories, the premier has already made it knownthat he wants to talk with the OT minister about a much longer term fiscal plan when he visits the UK that can alleviate some of the pressure on the local economy. McLaughlin said this week that Mark Simmonds had said he is willing to work with the new government on such a plan.
At home, McLaughlin’s team has been handed some major issues which will also need to be dealt with. The Dart agreement regarding the West Bay Road, the completion of the John Gray High School, the requirement of a youth remand facility as per the constitution, as well as the question of rollover, as we are now only five months away from the can that was kicked down the road by the UDP government with the introduction of term limit extension permits, which expire in October.
The new premier has also stated that the cruise berthing project and the airport redevelopment are both priorities for his administration, which will create jobs and boost the domestic economy, but he has made it clear they will be properly tendered.
All of McLaughlin’s new Cabinet team and the back-bench supporters are going to be very busy.
An area that the people will be hoping that Tara Rivers, his new C4C cabinet member, will turn her attention to immediately is the issue of linking the available jobs to locally qualified Caymanians and also enforce the existing immigration law to ensure local people get jobs without cutting the work permit revenue government has become increasingly dependent on.
Meanwhile, with public works in his portfolio, the former leader of government business, Kurt Tibbetts, will have the most controversial job of all, which is to tackle the George Town dump, where it is without funding.
Financial Services minister Wayne Panton also appears to have a double challenge: he is tasked with protecting the country’s most important industry from the on-shore attack and dealing with copious new international regulations, but he has also been given the job of protecting Cayman’s natural environment. A keen supporter of the National Trust and an advocate for conservation, Panton is already being heralded as the minister that may finally implement the necessary laws to protect both the land and marine habitats, which are both under immense pressure from natural as well as man made threats.
Marco Archer, who will be dealing with finance as well as development and planning, has his work cut out for him and will not have very long to pull together the PPM administration’s first budget. Although the government will be able to vote an interim budget based on the previous annual finance plan, that can only be for four months at most. McLaughlin said on Tuesday evening at a press briefing that he wanted it to be considerably shorter than that. This means Archer will need to come up with a new spending plan which cuts previous costs if he is to begin meeting the PPM campaign promises and delivers a surplus acceptable to the UK without making civil servants redundant and without cutting important services as soon as possible.
Education Minister Osbourne Bodden’s biggest project will be to finish the second high school. While students at Clifton Hunter have been enjoying the state-of-the-art facilities at their new school this academic year, kids from George Town and West Bay are still making do on the site of the old George Hicks school and parts of John Gray, while the new school has mostly been on ice for the last three years.
Meanwhile, Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell will be picking up the tourism portfolio, which, as a result of the work by Shomari Scott and his team at the Department of Tourism, has been doing fantastically well attracting overnight guests. However, it is this ministry which will oversee the development of cruise berthing and the airport redevelopment and the haemorrhaging of funds by Cayman Airways.
Category: Politics
Most HR positions are just token jobs and are instructed what to do by their employers. Most do not have any authority or say in who is hired and fired. Just more puppets on a string earning high salaries.
I hope this new, intelligent government really comes to terms with some of the money pits of this country like the Turtle Farm, Pedro Castle, the various government companies and authorities, like the Tourism Attraction Board which have not done too much for this country. Most of this entities can be placed under exhisting government departments and relieve us of the high salaried administrators. Look at the Parks and Rec. Lets follow that example and trim some of the fat along the way. Can this government do it…I think they can!
It is time for a positive way forward. With a country of our size, our value we should be the shining star of the Caribbean.
A Concerned Caymanian
All Human Resources positions should be for CAYMANIANS only! Both in C.I. Government, the authorities and private organizations. Ms. Tara, I beg of you and your team to ensure that NO HR jobs be filled by expats. That is one of the real reasons why Caymanians are passed over so often. A couple months aback, in a newspaper article, Mr. Manderson did say that HR positions must be for Caymanians. This should happen, and happen quickly. Many of us know that Mr. Manderson is a fair person. However, he is also a sensible man and knows that Caymanians are underminded in the work force. Mr. Manderson, please enforce that all HR positions be reserved for Caymanians ONLY. Thank you.
The thing is, "Caymanian" is such a open-ended term now. I know of "Caymanians" who were born in other countries that are in HR; and they hire from the same country they were born in. What are the chances?!!
This is totally wrong – if you are a true caymanian at heart, Hire your own and not your friend from the same place you were born. He/she does not have a mother,father or grand parents from here, look for your own to educate. WRONG WRONG.
Which is why it is so critically important NOT to treat being Caymanian as a nationality (which it isn't) but as a special form of immigration status (which it is). Only persons who are Caymanian and nothing else shoule be able to say thet their nationality is Caymanian for statistical purposes. Only then can you tell if a workplace is really all Scottish, all Jamaican, or all Canadian.
08.42…and this should be the case even if those people are totally unqualified or suited for the work??
All i have read on here in recent days is drivel about how Caymanians should get all the jobs…there is never a mention of skills needed to do so, which are desperately needed to keep this economy solvent and competitive with the rest of the world. The government must invest in proper training for its people, in skills, an understanding of the world economy and the attitudes needed to make Cayman attract more companies here..and indeed to make Caymanians more attractive to the companies that invest here.
Read some of the wwebsites of other countries trying to attract invesment, you will see what I mean..
Could you please ask Ms. Ju Ju wha going to happen to the Nation Building Fund?
Someone needs to explain why students have left the Island with no funds provided for them to attend universities/colleges. This is a fact not even a plane ticket, no living expenses.How are they going to survive? CIDB is refusing them on the grounds of a bridging until the government can get up and running to resolve the matter. There should be someone liaising with the Manager of CIDB, the banks, Credit Union on these grave matters to stop the disapproval of their applications.
Education Department has no funds to assist. The banks want every piece of land as collateral and the process is long drawn out – who should they turn to??? Minister of Education your input is urgently requested. We know that there is much to be done in the structuring and designation of Portfolios but United States, England etc. is viewing the picture in another light, remember these children are bonded by the Cayman Islands Government no matter what part of the world they choose to educate themselves – Please!!! Urgent attentionis required immediately..
Why should people want to come to Cayman when they can go to Bermuda where there are at liberty to invest and have no roll over. Bermuda, you are certainly mistaken, for your info in Bermuda you cannot even own a car, a house or buy a piece of land and you better get use to a motobike. And make sure when that 7 years period is up you have somewhere else to roost. Why you think so many of them are in Cayman right now. Check immigration, that same friend, friend leakage that seeps through immigration with friends are causing many qualified Caymamians to be jobless. And many instances our same Caymamians have to teach them a thing or two, yet within a blink of the eye they are above the Caymanian and collecting top salary. That immigration needs a thorough sifting, from top to bottom. Caymanians are sick and tired of being treats as underdogs in the place where we born and grew up unmolested and free. Some, and I say some of the foreign nations looks on us as if we were criminals and as we have no right s to be here. They must realise we have no where to run, this is our birthright, and some people should not be allowed to come in here and treat us as undesired. Why can't we enjoy our culture and our heritage, gone are the days where we could enjoy an evening outside with our doors open, we have become prisoners in our own country, every nationality under God sun is here. Some come only to steal, kill and destroy with no care of how hard our forefathers worked to keep this little island afloot. To this new government I wish you all the best and may God guide you as you bring back respect and dignity to our Caymanian people.
I don't know about the unmolested part…just sayin'
to 23;56
Are you really sick and tired of it? I dont think so!
why do you people sit on your butts and let the politicians and Immigration decide your fate in your own country.
Its time you people stop talking and put action in place. no politicians are going to do it ofr you. it is against their policies, they are your competitors, they are in it for the bigger money …revenue. you have to unionize against them in a sense of taking care of your selves.
You had no authority in the creation of the influx of immigration coming through your doors….you didnt create the overburden civil service, the strap for cash pension scheme, the burdensom social services.
The 80s were our best times… everyone had a job, there were only 75 construction companies here then. People came and and gave you a job..they all knew the market prices. Now we have over 750 conpanies cutting each others throats, and everyone is in debt.
We had no problem finding our national butget, back then. Where we went wrong? greed and the give -away syndrome ….wont listen to the common man with vision and forsight.
My friend, this common man will tell you all, if you dont stand up and form some type of alligiance amongst yourselves , a union, call it what you may, dog will finally eat your all super.
Well said commentor!!
3:14 – Just give Mr. McLaughlin and his team some time before bad mouthing him and the people we want to repesent us..
Thanking you in advance.
I don't know about you, the reader, but I'm praying the PPM has Alden on a short lead in regard to his tendency towards "big ideas" and "big spending". (If you vote '"thumbs down" to this you are most certainly in serious denial!)
Mr.Moses..first thing you need to do at Cayman Airways is to check into why the two newly hired management positions at Cayman Airways, namely the Director of Marketing and the Aiirport Station Manager are expats.
As Cayman Airways employees we see so much of this happening and the morale of the staff is at it's worth. All the rah rah to make us feel good is just a way of covering up what they are really doing. Worse it is our own Caymanians doing this to us.
Tell me why we need to hire someone from Jamaica to be the Station Manager when we have several people that have been there for ages and never offered the chance to be promoted. They do the job day in and day out and then some expat comes along and they have to show him what to do. It's wrong and it has to stop!
Why can't we promote some of our own staff or even bring in someone who is Caymanian to do marketing for the airline? Why do the Caymanians always haveto fill the lower level roles.
Mr. Moses, the staff at KX are looking to you to help us. We love working here and we want the best for the airline but you need to sort out those at the top that in order to protect their positions hold back the rest of us. We all want the airline to succeed and we are pleased that you are now in charge and we hope that you will help make some changes.
Congratulations on your new appointment. We all look forward to seeing you around.
Remember it was Chuckie and the PPM that started getting rid of Caymanians like Mike Adam, Kennedy Panton and Ivan Forbes. On top of that they hired former Continental Airlines managers to take over who then proceeded to give the CAL Houston route to Continental. I really wonder who benefited from that as the CEO resigned shortly thereafter. Job was done by then I guess. Then they wanted to ram down everybody’s throat the appointment of a pilot with no management experience to be the CEO. Ask Chuckie and the PPM why they did all that.
Mike Adam was a “yes, man” at CAL. I believe many of you have come to learn how true that is over the last 4 years of UDP government.
Mike is a Caymanian with years or experience and education in the aviation business. I would not let his mild manneredness be mistaken for not being the best man for the job. Look how many CEO's they hired since they kicked him out.
Caymanians stop tearing down your own!
The "irony' is that if he was a 'yes man" he would still be there.
But you see, that's just it. His "yes, man" tendancies caused many a hemmorage at CAL. Someone did the right thing in removing him from that post. How quickly you people forget that it was under MIke Adam's watch that McKeeva Bush rang up a bill of $80k in unpaid tickets which he refused to pay until Chuckie shamed him on the floor of the LA.
so just how was Mike as the CEO of CaymanAirways expected to tell his Boss the Minister of Avaiation that he cannot charge anything? Don't be crazy!
By being a man and doing the job he was employed to do.
sure I want you to walk straight into your boss' office right now and tell him you you don't agree on how he goes about running his business…Let's see if you are still there at 5pm. Employees follow rules they don't break them. Mike was an employee not a politician at the time.
Mike was employed by Cayman Airways as MD. He had a duty to act in the best interests of that company. He was answerable to the Board for failing to do so. If he was dismissed for doing his job then he would have had an excellent case to prosecute.
yeah , yeah ..I have some beautiful beach land I want to sell you in Phoenix Arizona..Get your head out of the sand ..Mike took the only way he had out, if he had stood up to Chuckie, he would have ensured that he never worked in Cayman again,
i guess if you use the same analogy then your man, Chuckie also got fired for not doing a good job, right?
Stop with the sour grapes, it is quite obvious you have no respect for Mike but I have more respect for him than I ever will for Chuckie or Mckeeva for that matter but at the end of the day they are still Caymanians, our own flesh and blood and we need to stop tearing each other down…What purpose does it serve?
It's called character and integrity, my friend. Not surprising that you don't understand it though. It is never the wrong time to do the right thing. Word.
Dear CAL Employee, we too in the Civil Service have the same concerns. The problem is that it is some of our own people who hire expats instead of the Caymanians who ARE QUALIFIED. Worst yet, some of these people are ending up in HR which does not work in the favor of the qualified Caymanian.
I agree with you. I work in the private sector and our HR manager is Caymanian and in no way, shape or form is that person for Caymanians in this company!
As a KX employee and a Cayman Bracker, I second this and ask all employees to register their disgust with this situation. This has gone on for years and these people come here get paid their big salaries that management say they can't afford to pay us but somehow find for them plus benefits and in a couple of years or less they are gone leaving us to go back to doing their jobs again. The Human Resources Department needs to be looked into. .For too long we have been told to just keep our mouths shut..Now at least there is some hope with Moses being the top boss and we can express our opinion anonymously on CNS.
Thumbs up if you you believe change is due at KX.
I agree with your sentiments.
What is 20:41 speaking of when it states ;( And speaking of the airport and hireing Caymanians to steal…sorry, manage things how is that going) can you explain what that person is talking about? the sentence doesnt make any sense.
Guess you havn't learned the difference between doing the job and doing the job right. There is a difference. It is a fact that if you want it done right you hire skill and experiance over Uncle joey. And speaking of the airport and hireing Caymanians to steal…sorry, manage things how is that going?
This is the reason we as Caymanians will never get ahead. Who do you know that is stealing? If someone is doing that, report them Caymanian or not. Just stop the crap painting every Caymanian as a thief. I have worked for Cayman Airways for over ten years and yes I know this bad element is there but it starts at the top. Human Resources won't hire any Caymanian unless the will work for hardly anything but they will bring in the foreigners, like the new station manager, and give them the big salaries and the perks while I have seen some Caymanians go for 25-30 years until retire without decent benefits and then they tell them they will give them a couple free tickets every year.
I love my airline and I love to work here but there is acancer that needs to be cut out so that the airline can be healthy again. This is our Country, we are Caymanians, We own the airline, We should have the training, the jobs and the benefits.
In my ten plus years I have seen so many of these expats come here to work for the airline. They can't do the job any better than us and then when they get enough money they leave and either go someplace else that pays more or leave the island.
Mr. Moses, you are the right man for the job. Clean um up!!!
Quite obviously, dishonest Caymanins have no place in any position.
I imagine that once the rule of law is unleashed, things will go quite well, including for honest expatriates whose needed skills will continue to be welcomed where there is no reasonable prospect of a Caymanian providing them.
Last time I checked not only Caymanians were accused of stealing but the expats were also accused of being right in on the action too. When we hear and read the stories of expats being accused and convicted of stealing it is quite the stretch for you to jump on here talking about Caymanians whoworthless enough to do so.
Let's starting picking the best people for the important jobs rather than going for the best available local. "Caymanization" was one of the PPM's failed policies last time.
I think you got that wrong, it was Chuckie fromthe then PPM that came in and got rid of all of the Caymanians in management including Mike Adam..
Moses, you are a good man,you have been on the board at Cayman Airways, and you must know that these things happened in the past and still happen.
Does anybody remember any Station manager for Cayman Airways in Cayman that was not a Caymanian? Why do we need to hire someone from Jamaica? All these years and as many supervisors as we have at the GCM ATO you want to tell me that at least two or three of them should not be ready to take this position when needed. It is a downright shame!!
There are alot of hard working Caymanians looking for a leg up not a slap in the face when they work for years doing the job and hoping for a promotion only to have one of their own hire an expat for the job they ahave spent so much time learning.
Moses, you have inherited a bees nest at Cayman Airways..XXXX
Since the best person on earth for any particular Job is almost certainly not living in the Cayman Islands your pure meritocracy dream only serves to guarantee the unemployment of every Caymanian and legal resident. Do you ever think about what you are saying?
Actually, it is not a Policy. It is (and always has been – since at least 1972) the Law. Get used to it. The rule of law is coming – and it is much better than the corruption infused nightmare you seem to prefer.
Actually, making all the foreign nationals Caymanian without any analysis of their benefit to the Islands, or whether or not they actually cared about us was a failed UDP policy (and quite possibly an enormous although still to be investigated act of corruption).
So what should it be, all expats??…As far as I recall it was Chuckie of the PPM that got rid of all of the Caymanins..Not sure isf you can call that "Caymanization." More like "Caymanian eradication.".What he did to Mike and others was worse than what Truman did in his days..
I can only hope and pray that Moses can see through all this and bring some hope back to the employees of Cayman Airways. Yes some Cayman heads have to roll but roll them for the right reasons..and please start in th Human Resoources Department. They are the ones that set the policy and do the hiring and they certainly are not looking out for Caymanians.
I think in Moses we finally have a leader that won't let power go his and I am proud that he is a fellow Cayman Bracker. Don't let me down now MO MO!! Praying for ya!!
Why do Caymanians hire non Caymanians? Is there a reason?
Yes, there is a reason. It is because on average (not all the time) they are much better employees. There, I've said it. And most Caymanian employers know it's true.
One reason for any employer, Caymanian or expat, to employ an expat is that an employee on work permit is much easier to control and exploit.
When it comes to unskilled labour they are definitely cheaper and easier to control.
Moses I sure hope you are listening to these people. The voters put you in to make their lives better. Not like some Brackers only voted for you, because of who you are…and i dont mean that in a bad way… its just the way the Brackers are.
Mr. Moses was the best man to get the job done!!! That's why my Cayman Brac people voted for him!! I'm only sorry I live here in Cayman and couldn't vote for him myself!!! Mr. Moses is an outstanding man in every sense of the word! Have some respect!! Mr. Moses doesn't need your two cents worth, he knows what has to be done and I am sure he and the rest of the new government will do what's in the best interest of the country! Give them a chance!
Wish on and see how many of you will get any help from Moses.
Yes by all means help the ones who are sucking the lifes blood out of Cayman. They work in a business that looses $10 million a year paid for by the rest of us hard working folk and they are complaining that they need some help?
After reading all the comments regarding the morale level at Cayman Airways. Moses have have to do a rethink on this one..Albeit I think he would be the best man to straighten it out. These people are right and if the country is going to lose money running the airline why not invest it in their own people rather than training and promoting those from overseas.
Some of these people have been in the same position at the airline for 10-15 years or more and they are never offered the opportunity for further training, advancement or promotion. There is definitely something wrong with that.
Give Caymanians a chance and stop painting us as all lazy and don't want to work. The majority of us do.
According to prices in the Supermarket this weekend someone seemed to have lost big on the election and John Public must now repay those losses.
Honourable Premier
You keep mentioning about improving the economy. And you have rightly mentioned that exapts are not spending much here because of the uncertainty of their future here. I am one of them. I want to spend money in renovating and redecorating my home (which I have bought here), but am withholding it due to the uncertainty. I want to save as much as I can before I get rolled over. If that sword was not hanging over us, I would be spending much more here, and also redoing my house, because then I know this is going to be my home, where I have already invested, and can invest more and enjoy the fruits of my investment and not be thrown out. If the 1,850 people who are on exemption have to leave, including their dependents, which might make the figure more or less 4,000, how, Mr. Premier, will your economy prosper? With the emptied and unrentable house? With less spent on groceries? Less money in circulation in the banks? You may say you will bring in new expats, but again, even they won't spend much as they know this would only be their temporary home and they would be rolled over. And moreover, why wouldn't the new expats choose Bermuda over Cayman where there is no fear of being rolled over? Same applies to businesses? Why would they want to continue in Cayman with unfavourable policies, when they can enjoy the amenities of flexible policies in Bermuda or other islands for that matter?
Unfortunately your comparison with Bermuda is a nonsense. Bermuda kicks out expats at whim no matter how long they have been there. They very much have a rollover that works much more harshly than ours, but operates differently. It is not possible to become a bermudan based on residence.
'Bermudian"
or one of those.
TLEP holders will generally all be replaced by others, unless their positions are not actually needed by their employers, in which case they shouldn’t be here in the first place. There, I said it.
Leave then. There are millions in the work force that will come and replace anyone of you expats. If bermuda is so great, why are you not over there? I guess they dont have infinite amount of overpaid jobs there do they?
Im so sick of you expats using your own salaries, paided to you by companies in cayman as randsom. You can be replaced. You knew you were going to get rolled over. Stop crying about what you knew was going to happen. No one promised you when you came here that you could stay here forever. You know the immigration policy. No one told you to invest in cayman, you chose that so you could put on your immigration form that you had invested, so YOU can benefit from it.
Unlike you , If I lose my job, I can not go anywhere, you have some place you came from and willing to bail to if you are unable to explote cayman anymore..
You guys come here, live a life you probably could not live anywhere else in the world and then try to justify why cayman government is crazy for rolling you over.
Sick of this $hit.
Thought you could go to England. ….. Or the rest of Europe. No? America? Canada?
No, thousands of Caymanians are not allowed to go to England without a tourist visa and many cannot get one.
yeah, such a great trade off, better jobs in the uk right? better housing in the uk right? better salaries in the uk right? then why you are here? The only reason there many caymanians are against expats is because of this attitude you people bring. You are better than us because you have the better positions. We can get out of our own country and go where you are coming from which offers less, hence the reason you all are here. Then you want to insult and disgrace us because you are being rolled over . Its as if you all are trying to bring back the ole yes masta mentallity.
Anyhow, lets see if anymore status will be handed out to buddie buddies.
Your ignorance of what a TLEP is and means is astounding, and your lack of consideration of the predicament of the Islanders who welcomed you here subject to strict conditions which you now seek to break, insulting.
Remember this is much much more complicated than your own circumstances. You do deserve fair treatment and certainty and I hope you have it soon.
Bermuda, no fear of getting rolled? Bollocks. There there is a certainty of being rolled, you just do not know if it is tomorrow, next year, in five years, or in twenty, but the one thing that is for sure, they will not let you stay forever ( or buy a house, or drive a car, or have a foreign helper….)
Cayman's policies are extremely favourable and flexible, particularly when compared to Bermuda!
Dude, I wish you well and hope it works out, but apply for PR if you want certainty. Otherwise, you face the same (or less) hurdles as any foreign national faces emmigrating to another country. What is wrong with your house that makes it unrentable anyway? The numbers of foreign workers here continue to grow, even without someone coming to fill your position. If your position is being held open for you for a whole year, then you were not actually that needed, were you, and someone fibbed to employ you in the first place. Capiche?
You haven’t spent any time in Bermuda, have you?
So, let me get this straight. You would rather live in the north Atlantic in a cold climate for half the year, pay payroll tax, be trated differently according to your race, be allowed to live for an unknown number of years, have to ride a scooter, not be allowed to own your own home, pay $4,000 a month for a simple townhouse, never be able to become a citizen, and be kicked out as soon as you have outlived your usefulness, even if you have been there for decades?
Sorry,I can’t help you.
Poster,
You need to go fly a kite with all that, my friend.
Do you not understand that you are an EXPAT in a foreign land?!
I have been the same before, and I would never DARE even think, much less express some of the sentiments that you have on this forum.
There is no onus on any government to cater to the demands and expectations of expatriates in a country. Let a bunch of Pakistanis, Nigerians or Guatemalans try that crap in the UK or USA.
Furthermore, I see that you conveniently overlooked the issues of illegal / immoral status applications and grants, Caymanian unemployment, and the reality of imported poverty in the country.
I am sorry friend, but your perspective is a twisted and self-serving one.
In fact, I trust that you are rolled over sooner rather than later.
People like you mean no good for the general welfare of my community and the future of my Caymanian children.
Safe travels back to from whence you came.
* Re: "If that sword was not hanging over us…".
Really?
Can you not read or comprehend English? Every single-last (Caymanism) expat is fully aware of the terms and conditions that he or she agreed to when signing on the dotted line.
The real issue here is that hardly any of our expats want to leave once they get a taste of sweet, sweet Cayman life.
Sorry, but there is limited room at this inn.
** They say out ofgreat challenges come great ideas. May I ask where are you from? Instead of fighting to remain here indefinitely, perhaps you ought to return and brainstorm on ways to make your home country as desireable a place as the Cayman Islands?
Why do you not want to try the Falkland Islands, I hear they have a lot less red tape and no roll over.
and prettier sheep – and more possibility of learning Spanish.
To 16:31- Your comment is very strange about what Winston said about not working with Alden. Now, please tell us who he was going to work with if not Alden. Let's get something straight. It is not who he wants to or not want to work with, BUT rather, where we put him and all who we elected to work. If any politicians do not want to work with each other, then they must not run for office. The bottom line is that they will have to work with each other, once we elect them.. Final!!.
19;33
I couldnt agree with you more.
Lets stop the bickering,and move on. the game has been played and won. Isn't it amasing how we all say that we want everyone in the LA, to work together for a better country, and when they try to do just that, those same one try to tear them to pieces.
I thought winston connolly said he wouldn’t work with alden if he was elected. Not even a week and that promise broken
OMG people please make up your minds. Roy is being bashed because he supposedly didn't put country first – now Winston too for putting country first.
Winston is also being criticized for deceiving the people by saying he would not work w/ the PPM with Alden as head of it and then doing precisely that six days after election. IF winston will deceive the people about who he will work with, then maybe he will also deceive them on who he is really working for or putting first.
I’ve known Winston since high school – and the people will see he is nothing but a waste of time and will do nothing to help the little man. Just watch.
Mr honorable premier, place shake up all government boards that consist of appointed cronies or those that have people with a conflict of interest. Continue on this path of transparency and end corruption throughout all departments. Its rife here. How can boards be made up of people who own businesses in that direct line of work. They directly attack their competitors to enhance their own chances of success. It is happening through many departments here.
Hon.. Premier God bless you and your hardworking Ministers of Cabinet – your task has just began and to master the maize is not an easy one. Your attlention is dwawn to anomalies exist within these Boards that are dysfunctional, and are so important to the welfare of the Islands and students. They are the Young Nation Building Programme (YNBP) Education Secretariat, and Cayman Islands Development Bank (CIDB). and strong policies/Overhauling is the word, to save our children and provide opportunities to be educated/self-sufficient to save our country. Conflict of interest exist at CIDB – our children of tomorrow turned away all for the want of financial help. Policies are over-ridden, deliquent loans are on the rise. The General manager does't see you but appoints her pet Loans Officer to relay her messages.
Several Students have been requested to produce collateral to cover a student loan up to CI$15,000 and even lesser amounts – which is not a criteria of the policies – I wonder how much "development" this is offering our students and country. It cannot work!, and leads one to question the practice of the General Manager's applied policies.
The Education department/Secretariat and Young Nation Building are JOKERS when it comes to servicing Scholarships, always no Cash Flow, and leaves our local and overseas students in positions that are just inhumane to deal with. This is why we have students that do not return all because of the way they have been treated through the processes in their own country.
If not Roll over gone…its a Economy melt down here in cayman, i dont have money to pay more bills and dependend on goverment charity.let we all stay together and build better cayman with no hatred for god's children,, take us few years back before roll over policy was introduced ,it was nice that time. love & peace
Oh, you mean before the mass importation of poverty in 2003, 2004. yes, that time. Why doyou think we had to introduce rollover?
a bit confused on the statement of available qualified caymanians to get jobs but to ensure the country keeps the revenue they are getting from work permits…..not sure exactly what to make of that.
No kind of Immigration Revenue should be used as a revenue base, it only causes headaches for the country. My opinion is that we find other means to approach the Cayman Islands revenue earning situation. Now that the Government has Lawyers, Accountants, Economist, and Financiers let put our heads together and come up with another solution besides Immigration revenue.
i agree with you 4;35
But that might be too much work for our government. it doesnt much brain to charge a fee for work permnits.
It is already law, and they just keep hiking it up. How about amending the law that says it doesnt matter who pays it, as long as it is paid. Its time the government stop blaming the businesses for their lack of taking interest in their own people, for not training and preparing them for jobs. The government is punishing the businesses..its time to stop.
What happened to getting rid of the pension for non caymanians?????
What, and make it cheaper to employ expats over Caymanians all while ensuring that the thousands of expats who do become Caymanian cannot support themselves?
Since it would be such an incredibly stupid and short sighted idea, in particular given the ability of expats to become Caymanian and the fact that it would encourage the employment of expats over Caymanians, nothing.
What hit you on the head so hard that you might think that could possibly be a good idea?
It would stop the monies that companies are forced to save for their workers. only to be taken out whenever they leave the country.
This is not a pension, it is a forced savings. so shut the f@@@ up you dont have the brain to understand that.
and for the third of the expatriate workers who end up, one way or another, staying forever, what for them?
Your not terribly concerned for your people’s well being, are you?
Do you think we could have some preference for God’s Caymanian children, in Cayman?
15;42
You are so right with that statement. what the f@@@ happened? i mean, we were all a happy bunch..expats and all, we worked and played together. now its all this, we and them BS. i cant handle it.
Some one has to come up with a proper solution. the tide has turned on us some how. it needs to be fixed.
CNS, I enjoy reading your stories and the comments, but…
Your version: "However, FORCED to go to the UK next month in response to the British Prime Minister's call for greater transparency and information sharing by its territories"
What the Prime Minister's letter actually said: "The UK is hosting a high level event on 15 June to showcase progress on tax, trade and transparency, and I HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US on the day to showcase the progress you have made."
The full letteris here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g8-pm-writes-to-crown-dependency-leaders
Not sure if you saw the full letter before writing your story.
Alden was no summoned to UK and certainly not his entourage.what happened to doing business via Skype, email or fax? It’s different now that Mac is not traveling right? Such hypocrisy!
You are an idiot. Who said anything about an "entourage"? Obviously he will need to take his Minister for Financial Services and his Minister of Finance with him and probably one govt. technocrat (unfortunately it will probably have to be the FS) as this will directly concern them. This meeting – the first with the FCO – obviously cannot be made via skype. There is no comparison whatsoever to McKeeva traipsing around the world on jollies with cronies to make himself feel important claiming he is drumming up investment with nothing to show for it.
I am beginning to admire and respect this man more and more since the election. I heard this morning on Rooster that Mr. Alden McLauglin, OUR PREMIER, drove himself to the radio station. NOW, this gentleman in my estimation is a real PEARL and a STAR. Where on earth or in CAYMAN during these times of austerity and where politicians have a big ego problem along with hunger for POWER, that one sees a sitting Premier drives himself around to engage himself with the public. Alden, you are setting the right examples for the country. If you maintain this approach until you and your cabinet can clean up the Island's financial problems, we will see a major reduction in government spending. There is absolutely no need for chauffeuring Ministers now UNTIL the government can afford it. I only hope that we as a collective people will support the Primier who now appears to be a real 'grass root man' who does not make frills and lace frightens him. Voters we need to keep Alden in power for the next 8 years while he develops ways to cut cost which can only result in economic expansion.
Well said. It is only showing off to have someone drive him around in a small place like Cayman. Then it is also so costly. Thats right Alden, way to go. What will happen to the helper from Tonga? Do you get her too? I guess the Speakers job comes with her and Paul.
Well said 13:13 and 00:13. Hon. Premier, don't let your position go to your head like it did to the first Premier. Caymanians will respect you more, and there will be more money in the coffers to feed our children who have to go to school hungry. This is such a sad situation. Power struggle is still so much in the first Premier's head that he still has a schaffeur driving him around, with him sitting in the back seat like he is the Governor. 'The higher a monkey climbs the more he shows his a$$'. If he is paying the driver, that shows how rich he has become, and can even afford to pay for a PhD. Power hungry again, poor Mack!!
13;58
Rubbish!
They were chauffeured driven yesterday at Edna 's funeral. Alden, Moses and Juliana.
I think it's a little different for a state funeral. That is different than just driving around town or to a radio station. This was a state funeral so that would have been the norm to be driven instead of driving themselves.
Cayman is NOT a STATE!
A message for Hon. Kurt Tibbetts:
You may be blessed with the best Portfilio of all. There have been fires burning deep inside the GT landfill in the past. This indicates the presence of methane gas. The question is how much is there? It would not cost very much to do some test wells to deternime the feasibility of harvesting thegas for producing electricity. The harvesting process could be done by a private company who would recoupe their cost by profiting from the sale of the gas. Government would also benefit financially in this endeavor.
There are currently 512 landfill sites in the US producing electricity from the methane they produce. At our current electricity rates which are over 4 times those in the US, even less than normal amounts of methane would be very profitable.
There is no reason why Cayman should not use the valuable resource of our waste to help offset our high energy costs here. Time is of the essence since methane production decreases with time. There are many companies doing this now for you to contact and see if it makes economic sense to do it here.
Thank you,
Koun Ting Onyou
Drilling into a loose methane gas surface is a very stupid idea for anyone who would attempt this. A heated drill bit would set off an explosion and probably kill anyone trying to do this.
Metal drills are not the only way to drill.
Good luck to the new administration, they have their work cut out for them.
Please do not delay in sorting out the roll-over and mass exodus which is going to happen this fall. By some accounts, nearly 4000 people who have been on this island for 7-9 years will be kicked off this October. I personally am losing two tenants and I am very worried about trying to rent my apartments after they leave.
If we loose half of that number who pay on average $700 a month in rent, we are looking at 1.4 million a month in lost rental income for all of us landlords. If we were struggling before, just wait if this doesn't get sorted.
Good Luck PPM. I know you will make some good decision in the coming months, but please do not wait too long.
I am not saying there should be no exceptions at all, but please contemplate as follows:
First, there are much less than 2,000 persons on Term Limit Exemption Permits.
Second, they only have those permits because businesses begged for (and were granted) a temporary exemption from rollover for non key employees to give them an opportunity to find replacements (Caymanian or Expatriate).
Third, despite the opportunity and commitments, many businesses have failed to make any reasonable effort to replace TLEP holders with other employees (Caymanian or Expatriate).
Fourth, every Term Limit Exemption Permit Holder has a position which is needed in our economy. If they leave, the position will remain. Employers will be free to replace them with other expats if there are no Caymanians available. The effect is therefore generally population neutral.
Fifth, given the state of the global economy there are millions of better qualified less expensive expatriates available for positions in Cayman than there were in 2005 when the effected persons were hired. It makes little economic sense to continue eploying many such persons.
Sixth, given their nature, TLEP holders tend not to be in more senior or managerial positions. They are generally less paid,less experienced, less educated, less invested and less wealthy than (say) their Key Employee counterparts. They will accordingly almost certainly not qualify for PR even if they are able to apply, and so would inevitably be rolled over in the near future anyway.
Seventh, access to foreign labour has almost certainly been too liberal in certain areas in recent years, contributing to high local unemployment. Some businesses make little to no attempt to recruit or train local persons, in an affront not only to the community but also to those many responsible businesses who do. Continuing the TLEP charade will just make it worse.
Eighth, businesses usually made a conscious decision not to apply for Key Employee for most TLEP holders. They decided to create this issue.
Ninth, every TLEP holder (and their employer and landlord will have had two years clear notice on top of the seven years clear notice of this eventuality); and
Tenth, your inconvenience at having to advertise your apartments again is pretty shallow in the eyes of any Caymanians who may be unemployed as a direct result of the TLEP fiasco. Many wish they had problems like that.
Put country first, and you will see things differently.
Peace and love.
With immigration just passing whatever comes before them and not truly protecting Caymanians.. We have our own to blame in this in employment mess! Hopefully Alden will give the department what it needs to do a better job because right now it’s failing and its role is to critical to keep doing what it’s doing.
For a close-minded person you sure can type a lot.
Actually, I thought a number of good points were raised in an unemotive manner. And your reasoned and workable arguments are?
Just the facts, man. Just the facts.
Not that closed. The writer explored 10 aspects and stated clearly that there was no suggestion that there should not be alternatives in specific cases. Other than a blind cool-aid infused denial, care to add anything to the discussion?
I actually think I am quite open minded and would very much like to know what workable solution you have to this pressing problem. The trick is it has to also take into account human rights laws which will deprive the Caymanian people the right to ask people to leave if they live here for too long, even if they are unable to support themselves and their families and even if there is no work for them. I am not happy with the answers I have come to having considered the problem for some years – but can think of none better. Please inform us of alternatives, enlightened one (and be as concise as you like).
"Sixth, given their nature, TLEP holders tend not to be in more senior or managerial positions. They are generally less paid,less experienced, less educated, less invested and less wealthy than (say) their Key Employee counterparts. They will accordingly almost certainly not qualify for PR even if they are able to apply, and so would inevitably be rolled over in the near future anyway."
I am currently on TLEP. I have been contributing to this island for the past 8 years. I own two properties. I have invested in a local business. I have a university degree from an excellent, internationally known school. I mentor a teenage caymanian whose father is in jail. I have helped find employment for young caymanians. I have spoken several times to the 'Passport to Success' program. I volunteer for local charities. I help organise and participate in beach clean-ups and island beautification projects. There are litterally 100s of tourists who have come to this island over the past 8 years who would say that I helped make their stay on Cayman something memorable.
I am not saying that I deserve PR, but I think that I should at least have the chance to apply. Please do not paint us all with the same brush as 'less experienced', 'easily replacable' and so on.
And when you say they are less than 2000 in my position, the number I heard was closer to 3500. Where did you get your information because I was told that number by someone with over 20 years experience in immigration. To think that so many people could be roll-over without any change to the population or the economy is short-sighted.
You should have a chance to apply for PR. So why did you not get one?
First let me just say that while I feel your pain , you are the only person who put yourself in this predicament. Not our fault you spent your money unwisely, you knew you had to leave.
Coming to the island you knew about the roll over policy, so stop crying about it.
Just because you have bought property doesnt make you eligible to stay here longer. Why dont you do that in the US and see if they will even consider you. You mentor and do beach clean up? really? So do I and your point? you enjoy the beach just as much as I do. Do we owe you something for cleaning up something you have used, probably more than I .
It is a known FACT as I have heard many of my expat friends ask what they can do to be seen as part of the community so they can apply for extensions. SO Im afraid to say to you but your generosity can only be view as self preservation.
The thing is, most of you come here and feel that cayman owes you something, you cry about owning things and being part of this and that. I and many know for a fact that many of you could not even afford a pot to piss in, if it wasn't for cayman. You would live in a small one bedroom have the size of my closet for twice the rent back in your own country. You come here and probably made more money than what you would have seen in your life time and able to enjoy fantastic weather while doing it. You have lived a better life in cayman PERIOD. It is time for you to go and be replaced, either by another expat or caymanian.
I think it's about time to call a spade a spade and get it over with. I Will class all expats in theis category. If there wasnt anything better in cayman, you all wouldnt be here. The system is in place to protect us caymanians from being overan and taken advantage of which I see is some what too late, yet you people add insult to injury and say we are unfair to tell you it is time to leave.
Yeah.. whatever.. Im all in tears for you.
The author did say “generally” and you are obviously a wonderful person who may well be worthy of further review – but have you looked at the PR system? Can you get the 100 points you would need to stay?
The number of actual TLEP holders as at 31 December last year was 1,393. That number represents less than half of the number of persons who were eligible for them and so most have been rolled over anyway.
At the same time the total number of work permit holders has continued to increase, as has the number of unemployed Caymanians, by a substantial margin.
In addition, from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013, 481,720 persons arrived in Cayman by air and only 479,710 departed – a net increase from overseas of 2,010 persons.
Although I get this is an emotive issue, we have to face facts. These are.
1,500 people have been rolled over in the last year but the economy, population and number of foreign nationals living here and on work permits have all grown. Those are facts, and they make perfect sense if you understand the economy and how rollover is designed to work.
It’s about 1,800. Add a spouse or child each you get about 3,500.
You need to get over yourself. It's like saying "I have black friends" and only one sits in your mist and you are helping that individual. So what you help a caymanian child whose father unfortunately sits in the HM Service. This unfortunately individual may have fallen through the cracks that allows you the opportunity to do your charity work. Most folks from overseas claim to want to do charity work just so that they can stay. Charity work being walking dogs and looking after other people's children, i.e. adoption. You are fortunately you have a home to go back to you. Remember this country is like a resolving door. One goes out and another comes in. Your departure will only be replaced. Just enjoy what this country offered that you may never have been given the opportunity in your own country. Enjoy the ride and be greatful. Hope the door does not slam you on the way out. Adios mi amiga
You didn't 'resolve' much through your 'resolving door'.
I am sorry that you are not a Key employee. Did you not know that you would have to be in order to apply for PR? Is this my small Island's fault, or your employer's?
So did you come to this Island to just "contribute"?? Or to make a better life for you? Please give both sides, not just one!!
really ? if 4,000 JOB HOLDERS leave, they will be replaced by new people ! or not ? maybe these jobs were "created" for friends anyways. so dont worry ! roll over is great !!!!
Yes, replaced by new people who would spend even less than the present ones esp if they come abroad the first time. And FYI, the low paying Filipinos might not even have been approved for term limit exemptions!! Not all exemption application were approved, which means the 1,850 select few are worth keeping to boost the economy.
And when they and their families develop a human right to stay here forever, what then?
Not if the laws relating to numbers of unrelated persons in a single household are enforced.
No, the select few are called Key employees. The TLEP holders were people (many talented and wonderful) who their own employers said they could do without and were readily replaceable.
Yeah, all them sub minimum wage persons lined up at Western Union every Friday (comprising the majority of persons on TLEP's) sure are boosting the economy. The question is, whose?
You have just too many Philipinos on the Island. They ruined the rental market and they are partially to blame for the slow economy due to the lack of spending !
There ! I said it !!
Same could be said of blue collar workers imported of any nationality. If we just enforced laws on living wages for permit holders, housing etc we would not be in this sameposition.
I agree 100%. The mass exodusof arrivals speaks for itself, and we are too small for the large importation of labour. That has left us with too many work permits, status holders, permanent residences and no jobs for our own. Oh boy!!! what a mess to clean. Ask ourselves the question where can we go??? No other place but the UK..
This commentor does not seem well-informed. He/she should have gone on to say that the Filipinos on this Island are people who are 95% college-degreed (unlike 95% of Caymanians) yet they have to take the lowest paying jobs. Earning $3.50 – $5.00 per hour is not enough for them to pay expensive rents, buy expensive food and still take care of their families at home. They came to Cayman to better their lives but found themselves turning into bonded slaves, having to live 5 – 8 people in a 2-bedroom apt., even taking turns at sleeping, depending on their shift of work, whether day or night, this because singly, they could not afford to live! Would Caymanians be willing to do that? If we had employers who cared about their employees, paid them fairly and did not overwork them (illegally), (quite unlike the great Christian ethics that most boast of) their positions might become more attractive to Caymanians who are out of work. But Caymanians cannot live on $3.50 – $5.00 per hour, pay mortgage or rent, and feed & school their children.
They are not bonded slaves. They can leave anytime they wish.
I assume you have a Trade and Business License to rent multiple apartments? Many landlords do not. I am just checking because it is so much harder to gain sympathy when your reliance on cheap foreign labour to pay rent is also an offence.
…and Money laundering under the proceeds of crime law making the apartments and all the rents liable to confiscation. Hey Government, I just worked out how to balance the budget all at once!
But are you really going to enforce our laws or just continue the corruption, because that is what it is, even where you do not personally profit from it?
What about jobs for locals……the Government Hospital(Specially in that emergency department) is full of work permit workers,they are breaking the law and everytime i take my daugther there i see a new face.Hire caymanians please Alden.
????
What Law are they breaking?
The one that requires genuine and reasonable attempts to prefer Caymanians for all positions where possible and in any event, where no caymanian can be recruited the one that is supposed to prevent too many of the same nationality in any workplace to prevent demographic imbalance.
The first only works where there are qualified Caymanians willing to work for the wage on offer (any evidence the hospital is in breach of that – any obvious lines of unemployed Caymanian nurses, or Caymanians willing to do menial work in a hospital?), and the latter cannot possibly be an issue for the employer, but one for the immigration department – think, how is the employer meant to know how many other people of the same nationality are on the island.
The employer is responsible only for the balance of nationalities in their own workplace, subject to regulation (non existent) by immigration.
Wrong, a genuine attempt never requires a qualified Caymanian. Just a genuine effort to find one.
Sorry, I thought or assumed employers could read the statistics that are published regularly and which for example confirm more than 40% of all permits are held by Jamaicans, 13% by Filipinos, 9% by Brits etc.
My bad.
Yes, that's right. Let's for example take all those Indian Doctors willing to work for $2,500/month, and all theos Filipino Accountants prepared to accept even less, and model an economy on the basis of well, Caymanian professionals are not prepared (or able) to work for that so screw them, lets have all the expats we want.
Think!
What law are they breaking? none, because government doesn't have to advertise. They don't have to obtain work permits they just offer contracts which is why Caymanians have such a hard time gaining employment. If your own goverment allows outsiders to eat while you starve what happens?
Which is why the new government must finally apply the immigration law to the civil service as well, subject to very few exceptions.
Government is in fact required to prefer Caymanians by it’s own regulations. I do however accept that it rarely follows them, but then that would cut off employment to buddies overseas, wouldn’t it?
Not sure what you are talking about. There are several long term caymanianns at the emergency / ambulance services at GT hospital. Including the head of EMS!
However when I needed EMS treatment sometime ago; the police and fire services got there first….both caymanian….and both pretty much stood around saying EMS should be there first. They made no attempt to even evaluate me or offer any advice (i was having chest pain).
When EMS got there, it was one caymanian and one from the UK. Both were professional but clearly it was the lady from the UK who had the higher qualifications and more experience.
In closing, let us not be so myopic as to cut off our own faces so as to spite our own noses! There are clearly places that can improve on their efforts to train up us caymanians…however we have to step up also….not just expect politicians to fix it for us!
I wish the Premier and his team all this best in stabilizing the economy and pray for a good outcome at the end of the meeting in the UK next month.
If UK relents and allows for large scale borrowings given the past record of the PPM and fiscal management the fate of the Cayman Islands is doomed.
Clearly you prefer a self interested administration that would steal money from the public coffers rather than spend it on long lasting public infrastructure.
Look at the mismanagement and costs of CAL over the past few years. CAL must strive for greater effiencies not a larger subsidy from government. Management and Board must show that it understand basic principles of business and cost reduction instead of being allowed to sit back collect a salary and waste money. A serious shake up is required at CAL to stop the bleeding.
The real problem of CAL is primarily one of size (economy of scale). It still has to carry the infrastruture of larger airlines (maintenance, call center etc.) in order to fulfil its various missions, but does not have the revenue base to support it. Either the airline needs to expand (with Cayman as a hub) or it needs to restrict and outsource much of its operations. With Moses at the helm, I'm sure that CAL can refocus and actually grow into the airline it should be. Looking forward to the days ahead for CAL.
Good luck to them all!!
I wonder how he is going to convince the FCO to grant us prevelege of borrowing from lenders to jump start the economy. Since 2009 I believe, the FCO restricted us from borrowing from lenders because of our financial mismanagement.
Personally, I strongly believe it was not only due to financial mismanagement, but the personalities from the previous administration involved too. Provided a sensible, viable plan is put forward, the FCO will listen. Given that (unloike their predecessors) this new administration seem committed to making the necessary reductions to the civil service and the associated liabilities, along with the various infrastructure projects, there is every chance, if handled diplomatically, the FCO may see reason and agree.
ya, restricted from lending …BECAUSE of him and ppm
Cost of Government schools? CI$250,000,000 over 20 years.
Benefit – expensive schools but some improvements to education and infrastructure.
Cost of educating, clothing, housing, medicating, transporting, social servicing thousands of foreign nationals who cannot afford to maintain themselves brought here almost certainly illegally as a direct result of UDP status grant fiasco and awarding permissions to friends – and leaving aside the resulting costs in terms of social pressures and Caymanian unemployment? Priceless.
Benefit – it is much nicer to live in poverty in Cayman than in poverty in the hell hole I came from.
Any questions?
"…and the haemorrhaging of funds by Cayman Airways."
Hmmm, no mention of the "haemorrhaging of funds" at the Turtle Farm aka Boswains Beach.
I guess that if you have two financial holes in the bottom of the bucket it makes sense to plug one first and then the other later……just as long as they both get plugged.
Absolutely. Both need to be plugged, and soon.
Like I said, honeymoon time is over. Alden is about to learn firsthand what it is like to be treated like a piece of trash when he goes to the UK.
1) He will understand very quickly that the relationship between the UK and the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies is very much one-sided and that he is expected to simply do what the UK says without exception.
2) He will learn that the UK cares more about their relationship with the rest of Europe than they care about their relationship with the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
3) He will learn that the UK is not willing to offer much flexibility with the budget and that he will be unable to accomplish many of the things that he promised during the election campaign.
Don't be surprised when he returns from the UK he has the same negative message for us like before.
Very true, poster.
Also, the greatest irony in all of this is that Cayman is fairing far better than the UK by way of all relevant criteria. (I welcome and encourage any debate in that regard.)
What you have described is nothing but jealousy and a wish to see us fall to pieces – like those before us.
However, the only solution to this situation is independence.
When do we begin that discussion?
When we are truly as bad-off as the UK and on our knees praying for a leg-up?
No, the time to discuss is now.
Shut up and run for office.
Who says I havent … and already won?
;o)
If so then you are a hypocrite since none of the successful candidates expressed your viewpoints.
My response.
Whodat, can you swear on a stack of bibles that you don’t do a post under one moniker, just so you can agree with yourself under another (and vice versa) . I’m starting to get suspicious 😉
Yes I can.
However, I don't know what level of assurance that will give you.
Leaders the world over do the same every day … and then lie, cheat and deceive to wage mass murder by way of illegal wars the next.
But no problem – I can do that for you.
You want independence….?…Go to Jamaica they got independence…from prosperity.
You don't have to go there anymore. Jamaica came here.
True.
However we can all see that the UK has also got independence from "prosperity", my friend.
It is ridiculous how so many of us insist on hanging on to 50 year old legacies as a way to predict the future.
Should we bring back apartheid, John Crow, the National Front, international USA / UK sponsored; dictatorship, political corruption, genocide, and gross economic corruption as well?
Furthermore, can you not see how irrelevant is a comparison of 1960's Jamaica to 2013 Cayman?! (I know you do – you and your friends only pretend no to.)
History has proven that the UK is a devious and spiteful "mother". In fact, all things considered, I cannot think of one reason why the UK would actually promote the independence of a vibrant and thriving (former) territory … can you?
S.S. UK is breached and taking on much water. We are one of the lifeboats attached to the side … I say Cayman starts sharpening her knives to cut those ropes … before it is too late for us as well.
I think people are comparing the Jamaica since the '60s………… the major problems begin FROM the '60s and they weren't mature enough for independence, or maybe they waited too long to pass power to their own native Jamaicans and by then the divisive leadership style had already grown a culture of having to fight for everything and the class structure was kept intact which made the poor get pooer while the rich did what they wanted without any concern for others. It is this type of attitude we have to be concrned about in Cayman.
If the current leaders don't put policies in place now that promote fairness, attempt to eliminate all forms of corruption from top to bottom and we seek independence, yes we can confidently comapre our outcome with Jamaica and other territories that made the decision to pass on full control to leaders who never accpeted accountability and never will, once teh country is 100% independent…in my humble opinion
As I mentioned earlier, we are not Jamaica.
As for corruption, it exists everywhere and while every country should strive to rid themselves of it, to restrict a country on this basis is ludicrous.
In fact, by your logic, the UK should be stripped of its independence not only today but from ages ago.
E.g.
British Prime Minister corruption caught red-handed on hidden camera. (By the way, this matter has disappeared from the public discussion much less the legal courts.)
Latest UK policital corruption scandal – happening right now.
(Lastly, for the past 50 years the UK's economy has thrived as a direct result of self-serving, British sanctioned and endorsed corruption the world over. Far too much hypocrisy.)
@09:31………your monniker for all future posts should read "my glass is half-empty"
And what did the UK learn about the Cayman Islands for the last 4 years? Alden is about to learn what it means to be the one who follows in "honorable for life"bush's way of the fool. He should not be surprised if they treat him like a fool.
You are an idiot. Please stop posting your alarmist BS conspiracy theories all over CNS that only other idiots would believe.