Mac says crisis fault of PPM
(CNS): Despite the world economic financial crisis, McKeeva Bush has insisted that Cayman’s current financial difficulty has nothing to with any serious decline in the financial services sector but is the fault of the previous administration. Along with the ambitious capital projects, Bush said the government had also badly mismanaged and wasted government money. He told the media on Thursday that during 2008/09 the financial services industry had grown and it was entirely the fault of the last government that Cayman was outside the boundaries of the PMFL.
“All of this falls squarely on Kurt Tibbetts and the last government,” Bush said at the weekly briefing, when he was discussing the current financial predicament and the need to present a plan to the UK to allow more public borrowing.
“Our cash outflows have ballooned greatly in this financial year because of huge capital expenditures that have to be met in respect of projects such as the two new high schools and the new Government Administration Building. The UDP government believes that the schools could have been far more modest and less costly,” Bush said.
Aside from criticising the money that the government spent on the schools and the new Government Administration Building, he said that money had been spent by the previous administration on leasing accommodation which was fitted out and never occupied. Bush said he had recently discovered that the government is paying rent for empty premises that had been rented since 2008. He stated that around $168,000 had been laid out for office furniture and equipment as well as rent, and that was one of several that has cost the government some $200,000 for the year but have sat empty.
“I have asked the Lands and Survey Department for a full report on the all the details,” Bush said adding that the government would be using the space going forward. He explained that because the lease agreements exceed three years they have penalties for early release, which, combined with the money spent on fit-outs, it made sense for government to use them to curtail the wastage of the previous administration. “This is the good management that the PPM talked about,” he said with more than a hint of irony.
Bush also lamented that over $286,000 had been spent by the PPM administration on consultants for the port development that never happened, including to Deloitte for a report on public finance initiative options, KPMG for development models, and then a small sum for the background research on the Environmental Impact Assessment. Bush said it was all information we all ready knew and a further example of waste.
He said that in May 2005 the Cayman Islands Port Authority had $7 million cash in the bank but by 31 May 2009 there was only $2.7 million. Although he did not offer specifics, the LoGB said he believed the government had either taken the cash to use or had caused the deterioration of the finances. “Another god management strategy of the PPM’s progress,” he noted.
Answering critics that he had spent money on the Miss Universe pageant, Bush said he had reduced the planned excursion of 30 delegates. He said nearly everyone who attended footed their own bill and government spent just over $5900, but he had also met with the Bahamas Investment Bureau and the Citibank. He said he paid for his own tickets. “This was not a cost to the CI government. It spent very little in comparison to the $250,000 that Charles Clifford alone spent on travel,” he said. “I still don’t know what we got for it and when you find out you tell me. Tourism that is in a mess, no decisions made on anything. Money spent, money wasted.”
He said he was doing his best to cut down on these types of excursions and spending. Bush stated that he had already cut back on the sixty delegates that should have gone to the Caribbean Tourism Ball as no one went, and he had also cancelled what was supposed to be a trip for 100 people for the Honduras inaugural flight.
Category: Headline News
the problem with mac is that he is out of his depth in handling the economiccrisis which is due to external factors. mac is going to wreck the Cayman economy with the development model of public-private sector partnership that he is proposing. is this the "better way forward" that we were so stupid to vote for? where is elio solomon? why is he so silent? he had an answer to every problem when he was polluting the airwaves every morning. now he has a comfortable job by being a MLA, we are not hearing him. disaster is looking cayman in the face. mac is behaving like the boy on the burning deck. he is blaming everyone instead of accepting that he is the leader and has to lead. i am praying for cayman.
You are obviously out of the loop. Elio and Rolston Anglin were on the Rooster Talk show on Monday discussing all current events in Cayman. Get informed before you open your mouth! Mac and his team are doing the best they can considering how the PPM left this country.
Elio was not on the show…..shows how much you know !!!
If this is the best Mac and his team can do it’s not wonder I did not vote for them and never will….better way forward?? Gimme a break!
Dear All, I don’t profess to be a genius in these matters. But I know one thing, a small-island nation, prone to hurricanes, hated and despised by its own mother-country and pretty much every other country on the planet MUST have control of its own airline, its own port and its own airport. If it does not then it is in danger of dying at the whims and fancies of those that control those assets. It is time for a change, whether it comes by march or any othermeans. I am not the person to organize it, that is for a community leader or the Opposition to do. But I will walk with you. We need a vote of no confidence NOW. I love my country dearly, but I cannot take the chance of raising my children in the Cayman that the Government is now in danger of creating.
To the Government, I am not a PPM person, I will support you as a citizen as long as what you are doing is in our best interests. Please please please submit yourselves to God and ask for vision to see down the road. You are breaking our hearts. Some of you see what is happening, be courageous and speak out.
Another example of why Mr Bush is unfit to lead a nation. Rather than accepting the fact that a worldwide recession is to blame for Cayman’s financial woes coupled with the UK’s surprise refusal to permit the country to borrow money he seeks to blame the other party.
This is not leadership this is primitive politics as practised by a close neighbouring country. Mr Reid appears to think this is the way forward.
Whose project was the Turtle Farm?
A Better Way Forward, UDP song; Why are you going back to your dirty ways Mr. Bush. If the Goverment is so messed up, please find some solutions and stop pointing at PPM. You was in the house when all of this was going down.
Roston, please stop this madness and let Mr. Bush know that this is not the right way of doing things/business. These articles and this site is linked to the WORLD.
Come on man, we voted for YOU.
The $600,000 spent on Heroes Day 2010 was a disgrace. No more statues for a while. No more big self-indulgent ceremonies. Max. the budget for 2010 at $25,000.
This is peanuts in the scheme of things. We are talking hundreds of millions of dollars and you are talking about Heroes Day and statues. Why don’t you talk about the tens of millions of dollars that Bush wasted in his previous reign?
Dear Sirs,
I find it nefarious and scandalous that our government spenthuge amounts of money on Hero’s Day celebrations, going abroad to view the Miss Universe contests and now an Inauguration day?! Spending without regard….spend, spend, spend?
The plan is simple: STOP OVERSPENDING, period! $40.7 million spent on education with only a 38% passing test results and again more self cogratulations on this? Ludicrous! Thjat is USD$10,000 per failing student.
Also, it is time to say goodbye to the tacky cruise ships that want to clog our ports and spend less than USD$30 per person on-island. Please, someone show the annual income from the per-person landing TAX is actually worth it to our goverment. I think you would find the income vs the expediture an ugly picture when you start to examine the spend on advertisements (NFL challenge failure) TV ads, print advertisements, overseas jaubts to gain tourism, overseas office staffs, ext….are we really making any money at all on these low income tourists? **Aside from the few taxi drivers, t-shirt shops, stingray city captains,and owners of the tenders…so what?!? a whopping 200 Caymanian benefit?
Go for the stay over tourism and ask the smaller crusie ships who want uncrowded ports to stop here….goodbye Carnival $299 three-day cruise special tourists!
It does not matter when all of this got out of hand. It is time to stop ourselves and be sensible. After hurricane Ivan how could we have been so stupid not to know that another six month (or longer) setback would come again to these islands? Where is our healthy rainy-day fund?
Speak up and stop spending my children’s future.
This is too serious to be laughing about but yet it seems like we should all step back and just have a good laugh. After all they say it’s the best medicine!
First of all the PPM didn’t see the recession coming and it’s useless leader, when he did hear about it, said that it "wouldn’t affect us too much because they didn’t have offices in Cayman." Whatever that was supposed to mean. Now that they foolishly spent everything and more they blame it on the recession….the world-wide economic recession that wasn’t coming!!
Then the UDP says the PPM borrowed and spent us right into this mess and now they are going to borrow and spend us right out of it!
Heaven help us – can anyone make sense of this?
Obviously a recession doesn’t have offices so that could not be what was said. In fairness, Tibbetts was referring specifically to the Lehman Brothers failure and the point he was making that in itself this would have limited impact upon Cayman given the number of Lehman subsidiaries here, which was correct. He is also reported as saying "it is important to say that all our consultations indicate that there will not be an impact on the viability of any of our *local retail banks* in the Cayman Islands". This was also correct in that none of our banks have been in financial difficulty, failed or in need of bailout. The trouble is that these US bank failures were only symptomatic of far greater trouble. Tibbetts is often alleged to have said that the global economic crisis would not affect Cayman, yet I have not been able to find one media report of such a statement. At least he had the good sense not to induce fear and panic which feeds upon itself and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
38% passing is a huge improvement to previous years, so at least we are going in the right direction. Which would you prefer, $40.7m to educate your children for the future or $62m on the huge loss-making venture that is Boatswain’s Beach? Forget about Heroes Day and focus on the real issue.
O LORD, I AM RESPONSIBILE FOR THIS MESS! I CONTRIBUTED TO OUR ECONOMIC DECLINE! I ALLOWED SELFISHNESS, GREED, AND IGNORANCE TO REIN SUPREME ON MY ISLAND! I HAD NO REGARD TO MY ENVIRONMENT, OTHER PEOPLE’S LIVELIHOOD, AND THOSE IN NEED! MY DEAR PEOPLE AND BELOVED ISLAND, FORGIVE ME! I HAVE NOT ONLY HARM YOU, BUT THOSE WHO RELY ON US FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT!
WILL YOU CRUCIFY ME AFTER I HAVE DONE YOU SO MUCH WRONG???
PLEASE LET’S PUT AWAY THE POLITICS THAT DIVIDE, ARISE, AND DO WHAT WE MUST DO TO FIX OUR ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT.
O GOD, I BLAME NO OTHER, BUT MYSELF! BUT YOU, O LORD, WILL NEVER LEAVE US, NOR FORSAKE US.
(As well, such should be the words of all our politicians)
Rotten apples or rotten bananas are the only choices Cayman have to run the goverment, and let’s face it, they both STINK.
Hindsight won”t get you any further than the blame game will.
We’ve had two stubborn and childish old men running this country with one common goal- to get ahead of the other.
"I" this and "I" that. They have their own agenda. Look where WE are now?
PPM and UDP, listen to the voices of those who voted for you. Remember the promises you made, that got you those votes.
The world is moving forward at a fast pace, let’s get our feet out of the mud and start moving ahead before we get left behind.
PPM’s remaining disorientated supporters along with their incompetent leaders need to accept responsibility for the mess the Cayman Islands is in.PPM leaders and supporters would want us to believe that Cayman’s crisis is to be blamed on the current economic downfall, the past govt. did not have the vision or just plain arrogant/stupid in handling the threat of this world crisis which inevitably affected every country.Our Caribbean sisters of the BVI, Barbados, Aruba, the Bahamas and Bermuda took a cautious approach and significantly reduced capital expenditure and other unnecessary spending during this crisis, thus saving money for rainy days.The gov’t. of these island nations can feel proud in having the vision to deal with this crisis,today these islands are all in a better position than the Cayman Islands.PPM gov’t. was just too arrogant and visionless and must take full responsibility for Cayman’s current economic nightmare.,Alden, Arden and the other PPM mascots was spending money like there was no tomorrow!!
Gimme a break! And real sorry if you expecting UDP as these Islands saving grace! Have you been listening to all that’s been spouting from Mac’s mouth? Seems to me the UDP is going on a wild spending spree….so much for the Country being broke!
You idiots are not going to stop until you tear this country apart with the UDP vs. PPM nonsense.
All of the countries/territories you have named have a more diverse revenue base than Cayman. Bermuda, for example has payroll tax, property tax and 100% import duty on cars. Bahamas has property tax and 35% import duties. BVI has payroll tax and property tax and up until 2006 had income tax. Barbados has VAT, corporate tax, income tax, social security tax and land tax. Aruba has corporate income tax, individual income tax, wage tax, social security tax and turnover tax (on goods and services), land tax and gaming tax on casinos.
We were more vulnerable because our revenue base was and is too narrow and there is a worldwide economic downturn that directly affects our limited revenue base.
However, this does not mean that these countries have been unscathed by the global economic crisis. The Bahamas budget deficit went from $80m to $219m for fiscal year 2008-2009 reflecting a $78m reduction in revenues and an increase in expenditure of $61.2m. For fiscal year 2008-2009 Bermuda has a budget deficit of $196m which required them to borrow almost $173m.
The difference is that they don’t go around parading it to the whole world in the hope of scoring political points at home.
Please forget about your obssession with the PPM, stop making unfounded statements, be constructive and let us focus on uniting to help our country instead.
The PPM is the reason why Cayman is in this crisis; just as Mckeeva is blamed for the status grants it is only fair that PPM be blamed for this financial mess. One of the great features of any democracy is accountability, the PPM must be held accountable.
Now I must ask this question Cayman….you’ve heard Charles Clifford, the intelligent, calm and strategic thinker debate the issues and you’ve heard McKeeva Bush the uneducated, reckless, rudderless and confused man debate the issues…..which of these two men would you prefer to have on the world stage representing the Cayman Islands tourism industry.
And please forget about the PPM and the UDP for the moment……can I have an honest answer please ???
Bush all the way! Are you kidding here? What did Chuckie ever do for Cayman besides cause expensive and unfounded scandals, spend like there was no tomorrow, spend on last minute projects to get votes, waste money at Cayman Airways and in the process attempt to destroy good Caymanians like Mike Adams and Kennedy Panton, etc. etc.? The list is too long. Unfortunately his arrogance gets in the way of everything else he may have to offer. I wonder how he feels now that the people showed him how much they disapproved of his treatment of Mike Adam? It’s "Mr. Minister" now to you Chuckie.
McKeeva any day!! Are you kidding me, Chuckie was there for four years, got up on many stages, spent lots of money and did absolutely nothing for tourism or this country. You call that intelligence and calm strategic thinking, HOGWASH!! I call that arrogance ineptness, carelessness, wasteful and really now do you really think Chuckie could fill McKeeva’s shoes.
PPM sore losers, please accept that your party destroyed this country. No one is saying that McKeeva is God but can you can imagine if Chuckie, Kurt Alden and the rest of the gang were still running this country where we would be? Kurt couldn’t keep Hampsteads alive by selling pencils and we were stupid and yes I say stupid because I was one of those people who voted for them and still kicking myself for doing so.
Well, you wanted an honest answer!!!
But mostly he wanted a sensible answer. Too bad he didn’t get it.
The country is not destroyed, you moron. To the extent we are in financial difficulties McKeeva helped put us there with his own wasteful spending on pet projects like Boatswain’s Beach.
Chuckie took the tourism air arrivals from 167,000 in 2005 to 302,000 in 2008. Check the DOT’s Statistics website for the facts.
The numbers were heading in the opposite direction the last time Mac was in power. Lets see what happens this time. The proof is in the eating !!!
Yes, but he counted the Cubans twice a day, once when they arrived from Miami and again when the came in from Cuba. check out the statistics? These people never spent longer than an hour and a half in Cayman.
Full flights out of Miami with Cubans on cheap fares. Thank God Cayman Airways got a little money out of this, then again, at those prices , did they??
Chuckie had CAL operating more efficiently than at any time in its history. Look at the facts !!!
Who is going to keep a check on the Minister’s bill this time to make sure its paid ??????
Chuckie also warned you all that McKeeva would sell CAL……it hasn’t even been 4 months and here is Mac talking about selling CAL already.
You were warned. This is a very dangerous proposition people….Wake up !!!
What facts? there wasn’t one financial statement from Cayman Airways during the entire tenure of the PPM then again there wasn’t any for the entire country. Ask any Cayman Airways employee about Chuckie and his reign, they have the facts!!
Don’t worry the difference between Chuckie and Mckeeva was Mckeeva had a bill, Chuckie just charged it to Government. Did you see him or any other of those PPM losers sitting in anything other than First Class. Show me where Chuckie paid for any of his flights out of his pockets then you might get my attention.
Mac needs a crisis otherwise he can not do anything else. Making mole hills into mountains is and watching them cause havoc as they disintergrate is his idea of managing the country. Of course he takes is cronies on foreign trips like the trip to Bermuda to see the Miss Universe contest. Now this is a good manger! He knows how to run a country!
Do not spread lies! You are seriously misminformed. Mr. Bush paid his own way and it wasn’t even Bermuda dummy, it was Bahamas!
To the poster at 9:41 consider this and educate your ignorant self please.
Cayman like every country in the world today is having its challenges as a result of the global economic crisis. Do you all really think that this was caused by the PPM ? How stupid can you really be. You’re either seriously stupid or totally unaware of whats happening in the world today.
Now the game that McKeeva is playing by trying to blame this on the PPM is a very reckless and irresponsible game, played selfishly for his own political gain without regard for the wider ramifications for the country.
Just look at the public relations crisis that McKeeva has caused for the country as a result for his exaggerated, stupid, careless and reckless statements about the financial position of the country at his useless and totally unstructured blabbering session at the Ritz recently.
The FCO Minister issues a statement today saying that the Cayman Isalnds is not broke. CAN YOU READ AND HAVE YOU READ THIS ?? Exposing the BIG LIE of your "Fearless Leader" again !!!
This man is so fixed on his own political career that he can’t see the forrest for the trees. This is a very dangerous situation and he needs to be removed as the Leader immediately.
6 Opposition members, including Ezzard, and 3 from his side is all it will take to remove him. Which 3 UDP will step up to the plate and join the Opposition side in removing this dangerous man from the helm of Government ?
To Rolston, Mike & Julianna…..I ask – where are you when the country needs you ???????????????
Man I have to laugh at this one!! PPM wanting a coup and looking for UDP to join with them..Have you gone mad!! We just got rid of you sore losers and you really believe after how you destroyed our country that you would ever get that chance again..All PPM members should resign in shame and lets get some more competent people in their place. I haven’t heard a peep out of them in ages.. Of course, I haven’t been to Over the Edge in a while..I say leave up there drinking themselves to death!! Ezzard is happy for the stimulus in North Side even if it is in alcohol…
hee hee….I’d rather be a ‘sore loser’ any day than a ‘loser’ if you know what i mean!! PS the only ‘losers’ I know are all chasing behind Mac the Pied Pier!
These losers need to grow up and look at the damage they are doing and have already done to Cayman’s international reputation. The infighting and blame games just fuel the gossip pages of the international press who love to put down these islands.
The financial mess was not solely caused by the previous government, it has been building for years and years, when the country was doing well and had a competitive financial services sector and a lot of tourists with money to burn. In the good times, no provisions were made for the bad times, all the money was wasted and burnt. The government started raising excessive barriers for investors and foreign workers that were providing the growth the country was benefiting from.
Then when the world starts experiencing economic problems, it’s too late. The governments of the last 15 years had driven away a lot of their investors, because of their concerns over the poor management of the country, the anti-foreigner sentiments and lack of availability of trained competent staff on island or availability of work permits for expatriate workers to fill the skills gaps.
The only way out of the mess if for the whole government to work together, cut out the infighting and childish blame games and work to implement some solid policies including decrease this bureaucracy around foreign investments, close the turtle farm – its not good enough, and incentivise the hotels to drop their prices or rooms, to stimulate growth in tourism. Even when hotels are empty they do not offer discounts to get more people in as they would rather a room sit empty. The govt should work with them to get the rooms filled at cheaper rates at that means the tourists are coming here when they couldn’t afford to otherwise and have more money to spend in the local economy.
Let the Auditor General decide
If Mac wants to he has the power to order the Auditor General to investigate the building of two high schools and the new Administration Building to see if they wereaffordable and if the people of the Cayman Islands received good value for money.
The report can be released for all of us to read and Ezzard will put it before the PAC to be discussed post haste.
This is a much better solution considering that the previous government ordered the Auditor General to investigate the Boatswain’s Beach and Dock Extnesions during Mac’s last term in power.
It carries a lot more weight coming from an independent source rather than the "he said, she said" political posturing from supporters of each party.
LOGB, what is the Better Way Forward??
We can go through the next 4 years harping about how the PPM got us in this mess, which isn’t entirely true. This mess is a result of successive governments which ironically Mac has been a part of more so than Kurt Tibbetts or any other member of the LA. Our budget shortfall is about 15% of the entire budget. This is no real crisis for seasoned managers, many of whom have experienced 25-40% drops in their business during this financial crisis. Mac needs to curb govt. spending, improve civil service efficiency and raise revenue using smart painless ideas such as 15% increases in head tax on tourists and in financial services fees.
The reality is that the UDP is not an entirely new government as it only comprises of 4 new members. The stark reality is that Cayman’s problems have not changed in the past 25 years, they have only grown. The truth is that the UDP should have been elected based on their SOLUTIONS to the island’s problems. These solutions should have been determined from before the election and clearly articulated to the people including the sources of funding. There is NO EXCUSE for this blame game and floundering failures to continue.
Mr Bush you are doing Cayman no favours with your unconstructive comments – You are delivering us straight into the hands of the FCO .
– Dont be a coward make him an official spokesperson , get him to put together a team to head of the attacks and come up with solutions to the problems im certain the FCO would perhaps takeCayman a bit more seriously then
I think Gilbert and Sullivan would give us a better rendition of the current string of absurdities than Jonathon Swift.
We can be here all week playing the blame game, it’s time to stop and work together for a better future and hopefully learn from the mistakes we made in the past.
When PPM resigns as MLA’s then the blame game may stop. I agree with other posters in that why should they continue to make big salaries when the country is in such a mess because of them. Make them resign and then the rest of us citizens can be assured that they cannot do that to us and our children again and we can move on. Many others are paying for their mismanagement. And no, I don’t think the world recession would have hit us so hard if we weren’t so in debt, so don’t blame that either. Look at even today’s headlines about the cancellation of the Miss Cayman Pageant. Why should these young hopefuls be deprived of this opportunity that is many times a starting point for these young ladies? The annual budget for this is $100k which would be more than covered by eliminating Kurt Tibbetts and using his big salary. WHAT ARE THE PPM MLA’s DOING FOR THIS COUNTRY NOW? EVEN LESS THAN WHEN THEY WERE IN OFFICE! (Sorry about the caps, but I am ticked off and depressed at what my country has come to.)
Here we go again! JOKE JOKE!
PPM should be held accountable! All these PPM supporters are now wanting Mr. Bush to stop laying blame, but didn’t they do that to him for the status grants for all these years, which the PPM also had a good part of? No, the PPM needs to now take their licks and acknowledge that the state of this country is due to their fiscal mismanagement and extravagances and they should be charged criminally for what they did. The first to take a pay cut should be the useless PPM MLA’s who are now getting fat paychecks for doing nothing. Does anyone see Kurt or Anthony Eden these days (other than at funerals)? Where is their so called plan that they had announced would be made public as to their solutions for improving our economy? I cringe to think of what would have happened to us had they been re-elected? Where are those loud-mouthed supporters that used to go on the talk shows berating the UDP and saying how good the PPM was. How do you feel now knowing how they did your country and your children’s futures? Quiet all of a sudden, aren’t you? All of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Mr. Bush has done more for engaging the various stakeholders in our economy in 3 months than the PPM did in their whole term. All the statutory boards are in a mess due to no oversight, tourism is a mess, Cayman Airways – well I don’t even need to tell you how Chuckie left that with his extravangances and paying 2 CEO’s for months and months knowing one wasn’t even qualified. As for Arden, anybody can build dozens of roads when you have an open checkbook with an OVERDRAFT! Alden just wanted his gradiose monuments to himself – such arrogance. Don’t be fooled people, hold them accountable! Kurt and your bunch, if you really care about your country then you should own up to what you did and RESIGN!
Gimme a break! Sound like you been spending too much time at the Ritz (Mac’s condos)…..you must be looking forward to many mega yatch cruises! Have fun!
You have to be ignorant to believe this mess. Please… spare us.
Is that all you have? PPM needs to take their licks? For what? The items you mentioned were inherited from UDP crap of years ago.
Where was McKeeva when PPM was in power? Oh yes, getting liposuction. They should have taken more!
I know I’m not ashamed. I’m not ashamed that I drive on a nice paved road without pot holes. I’m not ashamed that my child will have a school to go to that is not overcrowed or run down. I’m not ashamed that the medical services is the best it has ever been. I’m not ashamed that Caymanians are running Cayman Airways. I’m not ashamed that Cayman is now better than it ever was. So yes, please hold all PPM accountable for putting infrastructure in place that doesn’t make us some second class country.
McKeeva has succeeded in scaring away the right type of investments only for his personal gain. If you even had a clue as to the Governments actual finances as opposed to this political picture that the UDP is painting you would shut up.
Soon… the people will all see what stupidness UDP is doing and hold a referendum to get things back to normal. Why is it that friends have to cry at night worrying if they will get paid or even have a job? Well done UDP.
I say the first to resign should be the UDP strategists that want to scare people into believing all of these lies. McKeeva can access all kinds of funds if he wanted to… instead he chooses to scare the civil servants silly.
I dare McKeeva and all the UDP… do as the Ford GM did… $1 for the year if you don’t get the country turned around due global crisis. I bet that would be incentive enough to do the right thing.
If you can’t turn the crisis around… get out of the way!
I’m glad that PPM spent on the country…so no money is left for the new govt to give away…if you say PPM should resign..y? Becos they did for the island if that’s the case lock up the Captain of the status grants and throw away the key
How can we move on if the blame game does not end? I thought MAC wanted all of us to join him in trying to put this country back on good footing yet he continues to play PARTY POLITRICKS with our lives.
It wisnae me a big boy did it and ran away !!
Get on with it Pirate Mac…stop the ‘who did what banter’ and get on with solving the issues at hand. This is becoming tiresome and reminds me of the years while I was in primary school.
Be the ‘leader’ that you claim to be and make some positive changes for all of us here in the wonderful Cayman Islands. Stop the chat, and do something!!!!!!!
One thing we all know is that we are good story tellers….but the problem is that we have heard this story many, many times before.
Can someone in the party executive please put a damn muzzle on this idiot !!!
A UDP Party member (trying to hang on !)
LMAO!!!! Dis is da best posting for da day……ah laugh so hard meh belly hurt……tanks for da short but sweet one!
Mac here’s a reality check. On 21st May you became the LOGB and you are accountable from that day foward until the next election which, quite frankly, can’t come too often. Now govern and stopping opening you ignorant mouth before you engage your limited brain…..and please stop blaming the PPM. The facts will be laid out shortly…notice I said the FACTS…. not your political rhetoric which was caused untold damage to the Cayman Islands in your short 3.5 months in office.
There is no doubt in anyones mind, that the PPM government has created an almighty ‘ mess ‘ during their governance. The PPM leadership can never, ever be trusted again to run the country. In fact, I doubt, given their credentials they would be able to acquire even the most basic position within a private enterprise.
The ‘ FACTS’ should be released ‘NOW’, not shortly. The citizens of this country demand to know why the PPM ‘ fell asleep at the wheel’.
The majority of the people of this country, are not fooled, by politics, and are more importantly perfectly aware, that it would be impossible for the UDP government to cause this ‘ untold damage’ in 3.5 months. The facts are clear, and the people are not fooled by this PPM rhetoric, the UDP inherited this mess. Bush is a strong effective leader, and I wish him luck, for the sake of the people of this country.
The people demand to know now, while they continue to pay Tibbets and McLaughlins salaries what the hell happened! and in addition what they are contributing to help the hard working people of this country. PPM, you can only hide so long.
Joke Joke!
Isn’t this the same Mr. Bush who at the Ritz Carlton meeting said that the time for assigning blame had passed? Is he schizophrenic?
Doesn’t he realize that making demonstrably incorrect statements that our budget deficit has nothing to do with the worldwide economic downturn only undermines his own credibility? It says, "I am willing to say anything regardless of its truth if I feel that it is politically advantageous". For those of us who have at least a basic grasp of the budgetary issues this is obviously incorrect since the budget deficit is directly related to the massive decline in revenues. This is why the deficit is a constantly moving number and difficult to predict with accuracy.
These statements appeal to his loyal, emotionally-committed supporters (whose support he has regardless) but they alienate a large segment of the population when his role as leader should be to unite everyone to face the challenges that confront us. That is what true leadership is all about.
While he is at it he might want to answer where is the new Cayman Brac Port Director designate going and why is he being replaced with an old man who has long retired from Government?????
We cannot stop politicians from being politicians. We elected them so we will have the UDP PPM banter. What we can do as voters is repeatedly ask our leaders to focus on the dangerous pressing issues and move forward aggressively.
Isn’t it the fault of the VOTERS ?
I doesn’t matter whose fault it is. History will have a long list of reasons for why our country is in the situation it is in. It is time for action….privitization, reduce civil service & government, new aggressive income streams and IF these messures don’t complete the task new approach to income via the least invasive tax option…..land tax. The financial situation in our country will get worse before it gets better so we have not seen how bad it will get. We need a stronger stay over tourism industry and we need to continue what Tony Travers is doing and market the financial services. Counter the bad press and stabilize our economy with action so we have some good press.
all the best
Lachlan MacTavish
It is important to hold the PPM accountable for the excessive capital spending during their term in control of the government. A real aspect of the current financial crisis is based upon that level of spending. The PPM argument has been that these projects were necessary, but the level of extravagance in the design of the schools were called into question at the time and the PPM ignored these real concerns voiced from the opposition and the public. The timing of the school construction occuring concurrently instead of building them over time was also an issue.
The reason it is important to hold PPM accountable is that prudent stewardship of the financial resources of the country needs to be a primary responsiblity for all politicians. The days of easy money are over and politicians need to be held accountable.
The UDP took the heat over the status grants and now the PPM need to to learn their lesson about capital spending.
Excuse me but the UDP is not taking the heat for the status grants only. If you were to clear some of the cobweb from your brain you just might remember how excessive the UDP were with spending while they were the Government….only difference is they wasted money completely….Boatswain Beach, the Long John Silvers bail out (so called Hotel Training School), and the highly inflated purchase of land for the WB dock…..the list goes on and on…..The UDP must also be held accountable for their excessive spending – they definitley have not been prudent stewards of the country’s finances and now they have another chance to finish us off for good….at least I know I never help put um dey!
$55 million hurricane Ivan insurance claim waiver given to Cayman General also added to the deficit. This money should have come to the treasury. Poor you and me have to pay for all these sins. Cayman General fooled UDP government in 2005.
As an ex-pat I find the whole PPM/UDP debate hilarious. There is no real differences between them, it is just like you invented two parties to have partisan politics. Jonathan Swift would have been proud of you.
Lilliput had more credible politicians and more legitimate political differences.
All MLA’s should offer to take a 20% pay cut. That would be the first piece of leadership from most of them since they were elected.
That would help the pension holiday argument (which if it is for 1 year is not going to have any material affect on the CS but will really help the country).
come on, mac. stop the blame game. get on with the job of giving cayman "a better way forward", as you promised, instead of looking for excuses. you were the man with the plan. implement the plan which you can’t. you are going to have to bite the bullet and take tough decisions.
McKeeva, enough of the blame PPM for our financial woes already!! You know full well that regardless of the capital expenditures by the PPM (which added perhaps $5m in debt servicing) we would be facing similar financial difficulties because of the steep drop in revenues which is a direct result of global economic crisis. Even the FS would admit that. And no, you were not prudent with govt. finances the last time you were in power. You wasted $56m on Boatswains Beach alone (which has a NEGATIVE net worth of $8.4m) and the subsidies ($11m last time I checked) required for that is a significant part of our budget deficit. Our patience is wearing thin, so stop the crap and get on with the job!
Agreed – plus didnt the UDP purchase a piece of land in West Bay for double its market value to facilitate a cruise ship landing in West Bay? What happened to that land and why is it not included in the current discussions? Perhaps because it was always totally unsuitable for that purpose and just another waste of OUR money. People, please remember that when Govt. wastes money, it is our moneyand not theirs. Also, the PPM had a huge mess to clean up when they were eleced in 2005 so don’t be too quick to point the finger. The only way to stop Governments wasting our money is to hold them ALL accountable.
McKeeva actually paid triple the market value for the land in West Bay from Miss Pilar. $650K. Now I hear that Miss Pilar is now his key consultant. What a mess !!!
Remember too that the last time McKeeva was in power he also bailed out the owner of the old delapidated John Silvers Inn in West Bay under the guise that he was going to use it as a Hotel Training school. $1M right there.
….and the list of irresponsible financial decisons by Mac goes on…..and now he comes saying he is Mr. Fiscal Responsibility. Giver me a break !
Tell us Mac how much did our people pay for the ‘upscale’ party which you attended recently in Jamaica……yes the same one that was covered by the Jamaica Gleaner that has you quoted as describing the event as "simply amazing".
Tell us how much our BROKE government paid for that Mac ???
We only wish that that land in West Bay was the first and last time the govt paid triple to acquire land. Mr. Tom did it for roads, I bet if we check Arden did it too! And how much did Sammy’s go for again? The sad news is that this is what governments do when they want to compulsively acquire property …
What nonsense. It is not normal for Govts. to pay triple the value to acquire land for public purposes. The compulsory acquisition of land is provided for in the Land Acquisition Law and specifically for roads in the Roads Law. For roads the procedure is that the land is gazetted for use as a road. If the road is gazetted to run over your land you make a claim to the NRA. There is a committee headed by a magistrate established to assess your claim and award you compensation for your loss. The principal factor that the Committee must take into account is the market value of the land, i.e. not three times the market value. The Committee must not take into account any disinclination on the part of the owner to sell.
I think the record will show that when the previous govt. was acquiring land for the extension of the Esterly Tibbetts Highway, one of the landowners believed that govt.’s assessment of her loss was too low, which does not suggest that it was triple the market value.
“Simply amazing”
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090824/ent/ent2.html
Don’t forget the CI$72+ million UDP spent at the Cayman Turtle Farm and what did we acturally get from the new UDP Cayman Turtle Farm?
I will tell you the UDP took a profit making company and transformed it in to a CI$10 million a year loosing company.
Now explain that away UDP.
The PPM were just awful – no wonder the fought so hard to stop the accounts being published.
Stop telling lies. The PPM called on the Financial Secretary to produce the accounts. Why do some people like you spread lies?
??outside the boundaries of the PMFL. Where were/are the persons responsible for good government, responsible for the finances of the country and for seeing that the law is abided by?
What happened to ‘openess and transparency" ‘rule of law’ ‘accountability’? How is it that no one can be held accountable for this mess?
The banality of evil…….here in Cayman??? Wake up Cayman!! Don’t accept that these premises and actions of Mac’s are normal. Where is the transparency of all of Cayman that he is selling off?? Will these ‘sales’ be to his cronies? What side agreements will there be? A couple more condos at the Ritz perhaps??
Naaahh…..Mac not goin after another Ritz condon….two is enough! With all da talk about Mega Yatchs however…..I do believe Mac has one secured in his back pocket…..look out for it…soon come!
It is convenient to criticise the PPM. However Mac has sent sent numerous senior civil servants home while Government continues to pay their salary as well as the fees of ‘consultants’ hired to do their job. How is that not wasting our money and adding to our deficit? Also, isn’t this ‘politicising’ the civil service?
I completely agree with him! I just came across a an article from June 2008 when the budget was approved and he was saying that the PPM was not being fiscally prudent. They and Mr. Jefferson were talking about surplus….yeah, look at us now! He(Mac) was right and trying to warn you then! And Kurt made smart remarks….funnny how he isn’t saying a word now! Someone at CNS needs to go research that article!
Really Mr. Jefferson was saying Surplus….with the PPM? Wow and now he’s saying deficit…with the UDP? Me thinks we just might need a better FS…but isn’t that what we all been saying?
I wish Mac would get on with running the country and stop blaming the PPM. He spent weeks before election campaigning on the same thing i hope he don’t spend the next 3 1/2 years doing the same and next election he come begging for more time to finish what he did’nt get done because he whined the four years out.
He broadcasted that the country was broke and he did’nt know if they would meet civil servants payroll this month now that the foreign press is running wild with his gloom and doom prophecy he is now saying it’s not that bad. This propaganda by Mac is just so he can say see i brought it out when all we need is alittle belt tightening and ways to make more revenue and i say Mac start by cutting your salary and have everyone else follow.
We needed new roads,schools, new airport terminal,better cargo facilities, more government owned accomodation a better education system and the PPM got the ball rolling so UDP tell me what you are going to do that is not listed. Is it give more Jamacians status,sell Cayman Airways, sell your white elephant the Boatwains Beach,sell the Airport,sell the port,sell the dump,sell the sewerage plant, sell the water authority,sell Pedro Castle because of Somali pirates, sell off all Crown land to your rich buddies, sell the schools after all we don’ need education to run the country, just give the Hospital away and please throw Desmond Seales and the Cayman Net News in too and don’t forget the Police force.
To all of those Turkeys making all those deragetory and very diserectful remarks about Mr. Bush etc. please let me advise you as follows;
He has every right to blame the PPM (P… poor management) the facts are the facts! The defunct MOT Chucky has gooved up tourism so bad it’s not even funny and the rest of the former Ministers followed and did their part!!! they were all out for Lunch like it or not and now we are the sufferers make no mistake!
Now if you think Mac should fix this whole mess we are in, in a few weeks or month you all need to sit down and think properly, not just shooting of your big mouths, the fixing always take longer then the opposite (screw up)!
Bring solutions and good ideas to the table rather then just plain stupid crtisisem, direspect and garbage.
So I wonder…..where are your solutions and good ideas? Sounds to me like you just bringing plain stupid criticisms, disrespect and garbage to the table! And if you had not noticed…..the real big turkey out there shooting off his mouth is your friend Mac….he sure as hell good at that…but as for him ‘fixing’ the problems we have facing us – don’t count on it.
Except that neither you nor Mr. Bush is dealing in facts but in distortion of the facts for political gain. He is doing grave damage to this country by making reckless comments and now the international media have picked up on it. Like you he is so obsessed with destroying the PPM that the best interests of the country take a poor second.
Since Mr. Bush is personally responsible for Boatswain Beach, which was not only grossly wasteful and extravagant in costs to build but also requires an annual subsidy from govt. that for the 2008-2009 fiscal year is $11.2 million, he really needs to shut up about the overspending of the PPM being the sole cause of the crisis. The UDP is now saying that they could have built the high schools for $20m each . Well if that is correct then they could and should have built THREE high schools and forgot about Boatwain Beach. Those are the facts. Its all pots and kettles.
If Mr. Bush will focus upon real solutions (not ridiculous ones like civil service pension holiday) rather than laying blame, the country will be further ahead. We have had enough. The elections were held in May. Three months have passed. Get on with the job!