Government cuts coming

| 19/07/2009

(CNS): Although the 2009/10 budget has yet to be finalised, Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush has said that there will be cuts in government expenditure. He said that the new UDP government would soon be in a position to give an update on the exact circumstances regarding government revenue, but that cuts would have to be made as the deficit was huge. He also said that he would consider selling government assets to raise revenue and would be looking for ways to refinance government loans to address the financial difficulties.

Speaking at the government’s second live press briefing since taking office, Bush told the country that there would have to be significant cuts in government expenditure. Although he was not specific about where the cuts would be, he said that as government revenue streams were not performing there would be no option but to reduce spending.  

He said that government had tremendous assets in Cayman and was taking advice on using them to raise revenue. Bush pointed to the Turtle Farm, noting that if the right partner could be found with “the right experienceand right sized pocket book”, then it is possible that government would be prepared to sell. Bush explained that various discussions had taken place but nothing had born fruit and he had nothing concrete that he could report to the country yet. He said, however, that government would not be selling anything to throw people out of work but to retain and create jobs.

Bush also noted that he would be paying close attention to borrowing and refinancing. “Our government will continue to look at other areas and current debt of government,” he said. adding that by the end of the year he hoped that the administration would have secured refinancing solutions. Bush noted that government must lead the way in sorting out its own situation to give the private sector the necessary confidence to continue investing in Cayman.

“As I have said before, we cannot fix the existing financial situation as quickly as we would like, but we will not stop until we have addressed the current very serious financial situation that the government is in,” he said. “It is not a good situation and I am alarmed at the constant attack on the financial secretary by the current PPM opposition from party members both inside and outside the House (referring to the recent statements from Charles Clifford). The financial secretary does not spend money; it is the elected government that spends money.”

He said that throughout their time in office the PPM had always looked for scapegoats. “At first it was Mr Mckeeva. As time went by it was the governor who was blamed, and then the refrain became:  ‘I wasn’t aware, we were not brought up to speed, I was mislead.’ Now it’s the turn of the financial secretary,” Bush said.

He added that the PPM were just not taking responsibility for their actions and were wrong to blame the FS, who only brings the budget that the government has to OK, he said. “It was not the financial secretary who made spending decisions; it was Kurt Tibbetts, Alden McLaughlin, Anthony Eden, Charles Clifford and Arden Mclean who were the ones that spent the money, not the financial secretary.  They are ones that left the country in the mess itis in today and will be for another year or two until we can clear the deficit.”

Speaking about the Cayman Islands Development Bank relief programme, he said the CIDB had received an overwhelming response in terms of the number of persons who have contacted the bank for possible assistance. “The CIDB has reported that they have received more than 108 requests for interviews to look into possible assistance,” Bush said. “Of those, the CIDB has already carried out 48 interviews. Roughly 50% of those who have been interviewed have qualified for the stimulus as outlined in the program, which covers several areas such as mortgage arrears, working capital for businesses, debt consolidation, hurricane shutters and insurance.”

He added that roughly half of those who were interviewed have already received loan approval and 21 loans totalling $800,000 has been approved. The LoGB also explained that, following discussions with HSBC, the CIDB had secured refinancing for some CI$27 million of this outstanding debt at a significantly lower interest rate. “Based on current market rates we will be paying an interest rate of 2.79% on this outstanding debt instead of the previous 6%,” Bush added.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    In Just 6 WEEKS the UDP has already accomplished its goal in destroying this country!

  2. Anonymous says:

    I think it is appropriate to have government employees contribute their 5% to the pension fund and health insurance too but I know that would be too much right now. So for the sake of being fair at this point Iwould advocate the matching of contribution for pensions only. The law states the maximum to be paid would be based on a salary of CI$60,000 ie the max we are talking about is CI$250/mth.

    If you are unable to pay 250/mth towards your future then there is a high probability that you are spending beyond your means and you should take the necessary steps to remedy the situation.

    We have to realize that the government is broke and simply cannot continue to be paying out more than it is taking in because we will end up like California in a New York minute. The choice to me is pretty simply – do you prefer to lose your job completely or get 250/mth less which is going towards securing your future when you are unable to work? Please remember $250 is the max so if you are only making CI$40,000 per year you would only have to contribute $167.

    I hear the same gripes how Govt is broke and why dont they fix this and fix that but when it comes to what we can do to help our Govt we shun every possibility and then blame the foreigners for all our woes.

    The fiscal management of people on this island is scary. Actually it seems to be a worldwide problem. There are always going to be genuine cases of need so I not am talking about those individuals. I am now referring to those individuals who cry about how broke they are but plan a vacation trip every year and either charge it to their credit cards or underhandedly get a LOAN to pay for their vacation. This is NOT a necessary expense and this practise should be cut out. Then you have the set who are profiling in the latest Mercedez Benz, Range Rover, Audi etc whilst bumming off your parents to live in their house with your children and significant other. The latest flatscreens ipods you name it is in your possession. The mentality to show off far exceeds common sense and sensible money management. Until we start being more accountable with our finances our country is sadly going to continue along this most dangerous and scary path.

    Mind you I have friends from all walks of life, those that are very highly paid to those barely getting by, and sadly a majority of them are living beyond their means.

    We have to change our mindsets and set proper examples for our children. We should be saving a minimum of 10% of our gross income on a monthly basis, we should be paying off our credit card balances on a monthly basis or at minimum paying greater than the min balance. We should try to ensure our mtgs loans etc amounts to about 30% of our monthly incomes only. These are the kinds of things we should be striving for.

     

  3. Anonymous says:

    I for one agree with 16:33, your time will be better spent contemplating effective contraceptive methods (something in your control) rather than whether the Government will cut your salary 5% (something you cannot control).

    The Country and the Judge were not invited into the bedroom when you were making the decision to be irresponsible, why should we get involved now when he won’t pay. It was between you and him them and it should be between the two of you now.

  4. Anonymous says:

    to "how would like to have your salary cut by 5%? I am a single mother and can barely pay my bills now. as for child support it’s not being paid and i have been told that i have to wait till my baby father owes me a lot of money to take it to court.  Don’t think i can tell my baby that i need to wait 6 months before i can feed him."

    stop having babies that you cannot afford and expect other people to pay for it for you.  Even if it was good sex, I certainly didnt get any enjoyment out of it, so why should my money pay for you and your kid?

    Sick of free-loading people like you. Government is not the answer for your personal problems and it is not your personal lender to cover you for your careless, personal decisions. 

    Sheesh

    • Anonymous says:

      to 16:33

      I work for my money.  My salary pays for my children.  That’s what a salary is for to pay my expenses.

      Once again How would you like your salary cut that you worked hard for? Govenrment doesn’t give me money and you for sure don’t give me money.  I get a salary from govermentthat I work for. Don’t make assumptions that you know nothing about.  I have never gotten money from social services.  I expect the father of my children to pay child support and the government to enforce that child support.  

      Anyway, that’s all I have to say because that is a very sore subject that I get pissed about real quick.

  5. Durrrr says:

    Looks like more cuts will be needed… Offshore Alert is reporting that the Government is being sued by Plantation General Hospital LP for $1.4m in Florida for medical treatment provided to a Dori Mae Ramgeet Ebanks and her daughter from 13 Sept 08 to 25 Jan 09.

  6. Anonymous says:

    "but make the student accountable for their education and actually have some incentive to find and keep a job when they return as they have an obligation that they have to meet."

    I could not agreee more.  If the Caymanians new how much money was being wasted on people receiving poor grades and not living up to their end of the bargain their minds would be open to how our own Caymanians are just wasting money.  On the same note, PARENTS need to remember that school is NOT a babysitting service, and government should NEVER be the baby sitter.

    You are not doing any student any good by continually allowing them to fail but keep moving along in the educational system. All you are doing is dumbing the Caymanian community.  Maybe someone should put in an FOI request to know how the students on local scholarship are actually doing and what the are actually acheieving.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Young.KY.female,

    "Coming from someone who I’m sure is much younger than most posters to this site."

    In a way, I hope so – it would certainly give one hope for the future.  ðŸ™‚  Excellent post!

  8. Anonymous says:

    "I don’t think I am alone on this CNS website doing this-it’s a place for sharing opinions and expressing views! Why pick on my post? Which of the entities I mentioned do you belong to?"

    Oh… trust me.  It is not just your post.  ðŸ™‚

    Yes.  I enjoy the comments on CNS.  Vigorous, intelligent discussion of the issues that affect us all is cathartic and occasionally productive.

    What "cheats" us all (and I really wish it could be avoided) are statements of opinion that really have no root, no base in the facts of what are actually happening.  I have good friends who work in some of the areas of the civil service you mentioned and I know the work they do and how hard they work and the benefit of what they do – and the benefit to the residents of the Cayman Islands is substantial.

    And your "idea" is that they are dead weight and should be gotten rid of.  I cannot agree.

  9. Anonymous says:

    To the poster at 23:47, the Government and the people of these islands are not accountable to you for your bad decisions.

    If you chose to have a child with a deadbeat person who has now taken off and won’t support it, then that is your decision, the state shouldn’t have to change what it needs to do for the greater population to benefit you.

    This is one of the huge problems in this country, people go out, they buy fancy cars, the leverage themselves to their eyebrows at the bank trying to live above their means, they start having children way before they can afford them and then they show up at Social Services for my tax dollars to pay rental assistance, food vouchers and after school care.

    Use to be that if your kid wanted to go to college, you had to sacrifice and scrimp and save and it made you proud to be able to put them through, now most people show up at Ministry of Education for the over $10 million they give away each year. I say let the government assist in guranteeing some student loans, but make the student accountable for their education and actually have some incentive to find and keep a job when they return as they have an obligation that they have to meet.

    We cannot afford to be a social state, hard decisions will have to be made, one of them may be to cut Civil servants salaries by 5%, (consider it your half of the pension that everyone in the private sector has to pay) either way, this Government has to have the courage to do what is right and not necessarily what is easy or what is necessarily going to be popular among everyone.

  10. Government money abused. Period. says:

    These islands have for too long abused the governemnt and relied on them for jobs and FREE money. I hope they make cuts, BIG ONES! Ones that slice the MLA’s pay checks by at least 20% and rid some of these departments of so many idiots, for example:

     

    1. Public Works (Cayman Brac specifically)… why do we need so many of these men to simply sit down on the side of the road and stare at you as you go by?

    2. Administration Buildings… why are there interns there…that have been interns for over 2 years?!?!  A job that’s suppose to be for a college students, has been taken advantage of! Fire um!

    3. Social Services…. soooooo much money is being given out. Yes, GIVEN! To people who have well paid jobs, to foreigners who were given status, to TWO-PARENT families who don’t need it. CUT THIS 2!

    4. High ranking govt. managers who are receiving too many benefits and definately too much PAY, (specifically…Agriculture dept., Fire dept. & Police Dept.), should specific individulas in these departments really be having their LUNCH, DINNER, RENT & gas being paid for? Cut uhm!

     

  11. Young.KY.female says:

    I am not a Big Mac supporter by any means but the turtle farm needs a complete overhaul and redirection which the government can’tafford to do right now.  We’ve seen the money Mac’s wasted on it in the past so this obviously isn’t his area of expertise (but what is, anyway?).  In it’s current state it is an embarrassment and shouldn’t be considered pubic property or a landmark of any sorts. Sell it to smart investors who have an interest in these islands and pass the debt along to them as well.

    I agree with the education department cuts as well – some scholarships are ridiculous!  I am fortunate to have a private scholarship, and agree young Caymanians need help in furthering their education but when I hear from some of my peers/fellow students that they have failed to produce the grades needed to keep a government scholarship/grant (along with barely even being allowed back into their respective institutions) so lose it (sometimes), only to apply the next year and get it renewed is a waste of money. I’m sure this has nothing to do with the young Caymanian who was in charge of this who barely got the job upon graduating college herself – she’s proven anyone can do this job – "application approved" – now how easy was that?  It has become (like much of each government departments) a who-knows-who benefit which isn’t really benefitting the people of these islands on the whole.  Set better standards!  These grants should be a privelage, not a right.  A willingness to study does not necessarily mean a promise to succeed.  Sure, struggling isn’t uncommon but continuing to support a student who is barely achieving a G.P.A. above a 1.0? Come on!

    Another problem which needs to be addressed is the constant switching of roles among government divisions.  Head of one department one year, head of another the next?  If someone is qualified for the position, let them have and keep it until their services are redundant.  Their policies differ dramatically and once a change is made, the whole department is re-shuffled and in disarray for months at a time only holding up progessive activities and tying up the proper spending of monies.  I’m sick of hearing of someone who is resigning one day only to take up another position of no relation to their last to leave certain persons feeling ecstatic because he/she was such an asset to the government in prior years.  Of course they know the inner workings of government activities but this is not what we can call progressive change – new eyes make for a clearer outlook and sometimes doing away with the old is for the better.  Cutting out some of this seniority can call for a cut/decrease in obnoxious salaries.

    Either way, taking up political sides at this point is senseless – the votes were tallied months ago, my friends.  I am a PPM supporter but we cannot put down our current government in any case no matter their decision.  They need our support and this back and forth between the two is childish – and this is coming from someone who I’m sure is much younger than most posters to this site.  I can only hope my generation has more to offer than some of the ignorant people holding residency (of all nationalities – especially Caymanians) in Cayman today.

    • Anonymous says:

      The problem with the grade level criterion for keeping a government scholarship is that not all colleges grades mean the same.

      If I am a weak student and need to maintain a B average, I will choose to go to a "mediocre" college rather than one where I will be challenged to get even a C.  Unfortunately, our scholarship committees (and I include the private sector here) haven’t worked this out.  I remember one student getting a bank scholarship to a college in the USA where the ability to pay was the entrance criterion – SAT scores or other academic evidence was not required!

      And while I’m on the topic, if I get a government scholarship worth up to US$25,000 a year, why does some kindly private sector institution have to give me another $30,000 on top of that?  Surely it would be better for the private body to make two or three partial awards, thereby helping more individuals?

      • Anonymous says:

        "The problem with the grade level criterion for keeping a government scholarship is that not all colleges grades mean the same."

        Yes, that it is true.  However, the minimum for a student to keep a scholarship is 2.0….that is the minimum to stay in school at most universities.  At UCCI a 2.0 is a C- average, and most other schols that is a C average. 

        The problem is that I would assume that many students receiving scholarship monies are receiving below the minimum mark.  If government wants to help all students (as McKeeva stated in the paper today), then they should stop spending money to send students overseas as such an exhorbanate cost, spend the money on having students go to UCCI.  Afterall, if Cayman is proud of UCCI, which I assume they are, why are students receiving government money to go overseas.  Seems kind of silly to me??

        And by the way, if all students are allowed to go to UCCI, you simply drop any entrance requirements for any of the programmes.

  12. Anonymous says:

    a humble suggestion…perhaps we can lease these loss making govt  run entities such as the turtle farm, pedro st. james and the botanic park…perhaps even Cayman Airways. wouldnt it be better to have a modest positive cash inflow as opposed to a large loss being made every month?

    Remember once you sell an asset there is no guarentee that you will ever get it back…or at what price.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Yes UDP supporters! I hope you are all shaking in your shoes now! Some of you same ones that voted Big Mac in are going to be the same ones that loose their jobs by the same man you all put in power! Wow! What a slap in the face that is for you all! Can’t say we didn’t warn you all this was coming! So glad I’m not in any of your shoes! And even more glad I don’t want for this joke of a government!

  14. A Concerned Caymanian says:

    I hope that the other member of the UDP team don’t allow Caymanians rights and the country’s property to be sold to the highest bidder!  I am also concerned for CIDB as it is sound very similar to what happened with the other bank Mac "stimulated".  I also hope that if we unfortunately get to the point where he is allowed to sell our countries assets that he at least try to appear unbiased by not using his wife’s real-estate company.  God help us all!

  15. Anonymous says:

    Ha, ha, I posted on CNS several weeks ago saying that Big Mac would be doing this.  That’s what you all get, thank you Cayman now several Gov employees will have to suffer.  I don’t work for Gov and I will not be suffering at all. My children and I will not suffer. I have money and I see this coming several months ago.   For all that voted UDP, see want we were telling you, you voted them in, so take whatever Big Mac is handing out now. You deserve it!!

    Kirk and the PPM team may have spent the money but I’ve never heard of any jobs being cut and asset being sold. 

    I will be taking my investments somewhere else.

    • Anonymous says:

      Silly, do you you really think UDP made this mess in less than 2 months? 

      Read your second-to-last line……You are correct, it is the previous Goverment that emptied the coffers.  They did it in such a way that the UPD will have to be the scape-goat until they have enough time to turn things around a bit.  The PPM set us up to punish & fail and blame the UDP!

      If the PPM has this country’s best interest at heart and know of a better way forward why aren’t they saying so??  Because they know what they did is serious damage and there is no easy way out.  They set the UDP up hoping they can’t climb out!

      I hope the only investments you take is what you got somewhere else!  Obviously we have enough home grown suckers, we can stop importing them now!

  16. anonymous says:

    Yes Mac….try so find someone with the right sized pocket book to purchase that waste of a monstrosity in your home District called ‘Bosun’ Beach that you yourself created….it was your ‘greatest accomplishmnent’ I believe and now getting rid of it would top that….I wonder if it was ‘the right partner with the right sized pocket book’ who advised you that building that stupid grotto/fake beach would entice tourists to pay loads of dollars to spend the day there when in fact they could be spending a day on the famous 7-Mile Beach for free!!!!! You go Mac! Never failed me yet with your outstanding ideas!!!!!

  17. anonymous says:

    To Crossova……PPM tear this Country apart? No my dear, no one has done a better job of tearing this Country apart than your UDP party…..and believe you me, they will continue to do so until it’s all gone so brace yaself….

  18. anonymous says:

    ‘….we cannot fix the existing financial situation as quickly as we would like…’ WOW….different rules now apply I guess…the PPM was supposed to fix everything overnight, better yet, they were supposed to ensure that there was nothing to be fixed – they were to have Cayman as the only Country in the World not affected by the economic World crisis…..UDP governance is a joke….Mac is a joke…no wonder this Country is looked at as a joke! 

  19. anonymous says:

    The ‘ right partner with the right sized pocket book’…….that’s all Mac ever looks for…..everything is up for sale once you fit this criteria!!

  20. anonymous says:

    Thank you PPM If it were not

    Submitted byAnonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/20/2009 – 09:05.

    In response to the above posting…..child, try so wake up from the dream you in (more like a nightmare than a dream!). 

    • Anonymous says:

      True, this is all PPM’s fault.

      Had they not wasted all of our money the UDP would not have not cut cost.

      • Anonymous says:

        I see Kurt & his group of merry men on here trying to point in every direction except the $74M hole they left in the Cayman Islands.

         

        • Anonymous says:

          "I see Kurt & his group of merry men on here trying to point in every direction except the $74M hole they left in the Cayman Islands"

          I am sure you would like the ongoing saga with the FS and his ‘fake projections’ to distract attention from everything else but it won’t work. The idea that McKeeva is Mr. Fiscal Prudence is laughable in light of what he did with Boatswain’s Beach in the first place be spending tens of millions on a facility with ever-increasing losses which would never return the investment.       

          • Anonymous says:

            the PPM blame all their extravagant spending on having been misled by the FS; they blame being misled on the Helicopter on the Ex-Commission; they blame the over runs on the School on having been mis-led by some unknown third party.

            PPM; the Party of the misled!

          • Anonymous says:

            I see, so Kurt is telling the PPM crew that there is a $74M surplus – that the $3M luxury spending on routes to exotic locations is all a lie?

            The only legacy Kurt needs to leave the Caymanian people is his recipe for turtle meat, or whatever else he gives people to believe his crap.

  21. Anonymous says:

    Is this the same minister who wasted money on the Turtle Farm and approved it’s current status in the first place just to give everyone in WB a job? Now he’s talking about selling it because it’s not financially viable?

    What fool would buy the farm anyone? People want to buy something that has the potential to make a profit. I think we can all see that the farm clearly does not.

  22. Anonymous says:

    I’m a young caymanian coming out of school this year.  Please bear in mind I am not a mathimatical genius. But, was just wondering what the scale looks like when you measure the cost per work permit vs. caymanian being employed in that same job.  Including the calculation of money being exported and money being invested over a lifetime?…  Just a thought.

     

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Obviously not a mathmatical genius given that the money paid for work permits goes back into the government coffers!

    • Anonymous says:

      The trouble is when they cut back all the revenue generated by permit grants, they did not implement a new revenue measure.  This equals a major contribution to the current state fo affairs.  Instead of saying we cut out 2000 permits they need to say we reduced income by 2k this year.

      We can hire Caymanians, but study their work ethics, their education achievements, what they bring to the table and how long do they stay.  Being Caymanian is not a qualification.

      As a young Caymanian starting life and obviously interested in your Country, please go get a further education in like Economics so we have a chance in the future of you understanding how badly we need balance.

      Simply taking uneducated opinions of other people continues to add insult to injury.  Please do not ruin what appears to be a bright mind. 

  23. Anonymous says:

    Cut West Bay MLAs to 3, GT to 3, Bodden Town to 2 & Cayman Brac to 1. No need for a new election just remove the last place finishers in each. North Side and East End could share 1 MLA. Cut the wages of all government employees that make over CI$ 9,000.00 per month by 15%. Those between $3000 & 6000 by 10% and those less by 5%.

    • Anonymous says:

      Re cutting MLAs, that is pretty simple-minded. You clearly have no concept of the scope of responsibilities of each individual Minister. We need more Ministers, not less in order to run the country. This means more MLAs. Perhaps we could cut their salaries since being a backbench MLA is not a full-time job.    

    • Anonymous says:

      to the person that posted at 9:29

      how would like to have your salary cut by 5%? I am a single mother and can barely pay my bills now.

      as for child support it’s not being paid and i have been told that i have to wait till my baby father owes me a lot of money to take it to court.  Don’t think i can tell my baby that i need to wait 6 months before i can feed him.

  24. Anonymous says:

    I have one question for CNS and the daily veiwers.  Is this site being used for public opinion, views and feedback for Government benefit?

    CNS: I’m not really sure what you’re asking. This is a public forum for the benefit of the public. Government may find knowing the opinions of the public useful.

  25. Anonymous says:

    we have a minister of financial services whose experience in that area is being on the Board of a failed bank that suckered many poor people.  Now he intends to be minister of finance – what are his qualifications for this post?  but then again we got a "deputy" who thinks and talks like a bookeeper and all in all a government bench which has not run anything successful other than an election campaign.  Come on ladies and gentlemen lets stop talking about the obvious – find more sensible ideas for Cayman’s fiscal and economic future – but then again, can you really?  This is your challenge..

    • Anonymous says:

      Thank you PPM

      If it were not for the careless management of PPM these cuts would not be necessary.

      I only pray that the UDP is able to undo the damage Kurt & his band of merry spenders did.

       

  26. Econome says:

    Cut the number of MLA’s to 9.  It is still about 1 MLA for each 1,500 voters.  For a glorified local council it is the biggest waste of money of them all.

  27. Anonymous says:

    Lose (or close) the Turtle Farm.  That cannot ever be a viable business enterprise, which should have been obvious from any pre-construction financial analysis if it had been done (properly).  The best you can do now is contain the damage and sell or close it.  The ongoing bleed-out serves no purpose.

    • Anonymous says:

      Bad idea, this has been a part of our Island forever!!  Why don’t you try supporting it, enjoying it, and maybe you can then be qualified to publish some construtive opinions.

  28. Anonymous says:

    "Start with Education"

    Agreed, the Dept. of Education Services is bloated and overstaffed. So many Heads of Department, (mostly expats) with little or no employees making $80k a year; shameful!

  29. Anonymous says:

    "London Office, Protocol office, GISplus lots of the Ministry PR jobs that exist because GIS doesn’t deliver. Anything with "strategic’ or "policy’ in the titles (or both) because these are for do-nothing "thinkers’ on high salaries. HR "consultants" (save $100,000 plus per job) who are not needed to implement the very clear personnel law and regulations."

    How nice to be able to express an opinion which in unencumbered in any way by facts.  

     

    • Anonymous says:

      "How nice to be able to express an opinion" etc- Mon 06:02

      I don’t think I am alone on this CNS website doing this-it’s a place for sharing opinions and expressing views! Why pick on my post? Which of the entities I mentioned do you belong to?

  30. Anonymous says:

    A tremendous asset in the Turtle Farm?  Wow, is there swamp land that he would consider an asset too?  Seriously,  the Turtle Farm lost $10 Million, if my memory serves me correctly, last year, what the devil is he calling an asset?  It is his fault that the darn thing even exists to begin with and it has been an anchor weighing down the taxpayers of this island ever since.  Since he will never admit to making a mistake, he has to call it something and spend more money to make the thing work.  Like that is ever going to happen.  Ha

  31. Anonymous says:

    Start with the education department. Cut the LCL posts. They are totally useless. They receive almost C.I.$8000 per month by doing absolutely nothing. Give all Government schools good deputies who will work along-side with the deputy in the education department.  Cut those in the schools who are over 60 years old, promote young Caymanians or other young vibrant staff to fill some of these posts.

  32. Anonymous says:

    No sale of any part of Cayman’s assets should be influenced in order to allow politicians to meet their own liabilities. The costs incurred by politicians in getting elected should never be transferred to the public purse through the awarding of webs of untendered split contracts to hacks, cronies, and those who spin the truth for a fee.  

  33. peckz says:

    Start with some of these dead weight heads of departments and PS’s and all those who make government work for them instead of the other way around that should save a whole heap of money

    • Anonymous says:

      "Start with some of these dead…"

       Agreed! Such as :

      London Office, Protocol office, GIS plus lots of the Ministry PR jobs that exist because GIS doesn’t deliver. Anything with "strategic’ or "policy’ in the titles (or both) because these are for do-nothing "thinkers’ on high salaries. HR "consultants" (save $100,000 plus per job) who are not needed to implement the very clear personnel law and regulations.

      Insist on the retirement of dead wood employees as soon as they are eligible AND DO NOT REHIRE. If they’ve done nothing for 35 years, why would they start now?

      Don’t forget the overpaid statutory authority people-someone needs to dig into their ridiculous salaries. Watch the "empire builders"-FOI Commissioners office, for example

      Any other ideas folks?

  34. Anonymous says:

    It is amazing to me that these so called "concerned caymanians" complaining about selling our assets are the same ones that have never stepped foot in any of these establishments or would rather travel on other airlines!

    Let me explain how this works!!!! If you want to be able to eat and keep your house, car, etc. we have to find jobs and money to pay for all of this! The government CANNOT pull money out of the air or off a tree to keep funding all of this! Therefore if there is an investor willing to put up the money and who is capable in ensuring the continuation of these businesses then we should all be greatful!!!

  35. Anonymous says:

    It may be of interest to some to examine the sale of the country’s assets under consideration with the untendered contracts that have been given prior to and since the election to individuals (and private companies owned by these individuals) associated with the election of the UDP.

    • crossova says:

      It may be of interest? 

        Did you say that untendered contracts were given out prior to the election? by whome I may ask?  now after the election I can see Mac doing this, but prior. You PPm people are sure devious, some of  you need to get a life and try  see how you can assist your country rather that tear it apart.

  36. Anonymous says:

    Kurt Tibbetts Alden McLaughlin, Anthony Eden, Charles Clifford and Arden Mclean spent money on the Country… where the money went that you spent Mr. Bush??!!! he want to sell Turtle Farm just like he did Cayman Airways