Bridger paid over CI$500,000
In the auditor general’s special value for money report on expenditures for Operation Tempura and Cealt, Dan Duguay and his team estimated that the investigations had cost the tax payers almost CI$7 million by June 2009, but conceded that this was merely an estimate as they were unable to gather all of the costs incurred because of the lack of financial oversight of the investigation from the start.
Moreover, Duguay confirmed that the figure does not include the $365,942 in this year’s budget appropriations, the costs of the Lyndon Martin and Rudolf Dixon trials, or any costs likely to be incurred as a result of the two law suits government is currently facing from Stuart Kernohan and Burmon Scott or any future action that may be instigated by Dixon or Martin.
The AG’s Office also said it was impossible to factor in the indirect costs relating to the investigations, as well as costs that were merely absorbed by various government departments as a result of their involvement for one reason or another. Duguay also confirmed that they did not examine any costs relating to the electronic surveillance that may or may not have been conducted. However, it is clear from the recent court cases and revelations of phone records that SPIT was tapping phones and therefore must have incurred other costs relating to that.
“The final auditing for Operation Tempura and Cealt is not done yet,” Duguay added. “We are probably still more than a year away from understanding the real costs.”
In the 25-page report Duguay states that the administration of the expenditures relating to Operation Tempura and Cealt lacked the necessary oversight and project management to ensure there was value for money for the expenditures incurred. “The lack of appropriate project management processes led to the poor management of contacts associated with both investigations,” Duguay wrote in the report.
“We also found a lack of management processes for the administration of contracts to individuals, including the contract relating to the senior investigating officer. While we have not commented on the value for money obtained for these contracts, we believe it is up to government to be accountable.”
Duguay said that because of the unique circumstances it was difficult for his office to say whether the SIO presented good value or not. “By presenting the figures we believe it is up to the people of Cayman to make a decision if they think this was good value,” he added.
Recognising the unique nature of the investigation, Duguay admits it would have been impractical to go through all of the usual tendering processes but that government should still have maintained some kind of management of how money was being spent. Moreover, the government’s auditor notes that considerable sums were used by SPIT before being given legislative approval. In other words, the money was spent before the LA had approved it in Finance Committee.
Duguay also revealed that, while SPIT consisted of up to eight members at any given time, the SIO had still contracted another outside investigation services firm – BGP Training and Consultancy, a UK consultancy comprised of former police officers and known to both Bridger and Scotland Yard’s Jonathan Yates, the top UK cop who supposedly had oversight of Operation Tempura. This firm was allegedly engaged to conduct the interviews and de-briefings of the individuals who came forward with allegations of police wrongdoing and has incurred $585,700 in expenses.
Duguay said there was no attempt to justify why this firm was being utilized, and while the AG’s office was told this was the only firm capable of doing this work, Duguay said a brief investigation by his office revealed there are several organisations and firms that could provide the same services. He also noted that the firm was engaged and began work long before any contract was formalized. When one was drawn up it was up to a value of CI$203,000, yet government has since paid more than double to this company.
Duguay noted that there were significant deficiencies in the financial management of this investigation and inadequate oversight, monitoring and reporting of contracts and expenditures. He said that in its response to the report the government disagreed with most of his findings, stating essentially that because this was a special operation none of the usual rules applied. Duguay, however, fundamentally disagreed and stated that all costs incurred by government must be managed properly and due consideration given to the tax payer and value for money.
Also the AG noted that government conceded that the Strategic Oversight Committee, which was suppose to supervise Operation Tempura, did not do so from a financial perspective and that he was unable to find agreement among the members exactly what the terms of reference for the committee ever were.
Category: Headline News
CIG might want to pull its finger out with a view to whether it can recover any of this money before Marty blows it all and Jack O’ The Jerk disappears.
10:46 Poster, Go and sit your a** down about PPM is to blame. You go to he** because you are not reading the news. You said your young, so you have a lot to learn about the Government and these Islands.
So, get into your book and read some more youngster.
For someone of his seniority it does not seem that high a figure given that it includes costs and expenses. He would also expect a fairly significant uplift for having to come and live here – it is not as if he was doing an investigation in Kent or the Midland. I think the Tempura team were let down by certain advisors and the system around them that had more interest in discrediting their work and preserving the soft corruption systemic throughout the Cayman Islands.
Thank you for your contribution, Mr. Bridger. No one else in their right minds would be writing this crap other than a member of SPIT. What interest would Sir Peter Cresswell, a senior judge from the UK, have in "discrediting their work and preserving the soft corruption systemic thoughout the Cayman Islands"? SPIT was just a bunch of inept, overpaid whatsits that could not put together one single criminal charge that would stick although Cayman is supposedly rife with corruption. Worse it seems more guilty of corruption than those it was prosecuting/persecuting. Heck, you guys are so clueless you were impressed with Desmond Seales’s credibility!LOL!
Poor Caymaniansbring in someone from overseas and imagine all those underpaid Caymanians and whatnot the police force is corrupt the fire officers are sexual abusers so whats new? Please all that money he was paid was a waste!
As the Top Dog country (England) they should want to bail us out because as little as the Island is we sure do have alot of money coming through from private investors and it wasn’t England that built the reputation for this country that allows people to trust that they’re money is well invested, spent or saved here.
That’s what’s wrong with certain people, they think that they’ve made a legacy when in fact it has already been here.
We as Caymanians have to take up for each other.
I’m sure the UK will give Cayman its money back, they will take it out of the million dollar bailout they just gave you.
The UK did not give us a million dollar bailout. It merely consented to Cayman borrowing the money from commercial banks which Cayman itself is responsible to repay. That is not a ‘bailout’ by any stretch of the imagination.
It is a bailout. The banks knew that there would need to be UK permission in certain circumstances and that the UK has indicated it may have to stand behind the debts of OT. Cayman was borrowing on the UK’s credit. When you borrow on someone else’s credit they are bailing you out.
Cayman has borrowed on its own credit. The UK has not put in place any guarantee and no competent adviser would advise banks to rely upon a supposedly implicit guarantee by virtue of overseas territory status since the UK has myriad ways of evading this. The UK permission was relevant only to the legal capacity of CIG to borrow. Stop talking nonsense.
In any event, if you are merely talking about a potential contingent implicit guarantee rather than actual bailout funds, how would any actual liability for cash by the UK govt. to Cayman be paid *out* of this? You really have no sense.
The only thing the UK "gave" was permission to borrow, not money. Get the facts straight before you spew such nonsense.
What million you talking about, they never loan any one anything, remember Ivan? thats the UK for you. I hope that Ezzard can be successful with bringing the lawsuit against the Governor, Martin Bridger and the UK, we have had enough of their heavy handed arrogant attitude. THEY, the UK is setting us up and the more they do to piss us of and we respond they will shout, " Yes man I told you they could not take the heat." Ezzard you have a lot of people that agrees with you, this is our land and she have done nothing but rape us for the last 20 years. So internal self government on to independance. Amen
I want to laugh and at the same tine I want to cry. It’s dispicable what the mother country is trying to do and in is fact, doing to us. I will go so far as to say, what she has done to us. The mind boggles as to what has gone on and what is set to continue to go on. We have been ‘ RAPED’, the only suitable word I can use. How much longer can we endure this atrosity? We the people of these Islands can hardly find enough to feed our children and these NO CONSCIENCE, EVIL CREATURES, LIKE VULTURES see fit to feed on us. CI$1.141per day? Too many of us Caymanians have to go through blood , sweat and tears to earn that in three months. CI$500000 for that short period of WASTED TIME ? MY GOD ! I RESPECTFULLY ASK: ARE THESE PEOPLE REALLY HUMAN? Heaven alone help us Caymanians from here on in.
For the person that made the last remark…..you should be ashamed that you didn’ t finish school to properly understand the fact/definition of common sense.
We stand here and point fingers at each other based on assumptions,when we should get the facts and just except them.
You sit there and accuse Mac of this crime when in fact these operations were under the wing of the last Government (PPM). I’m a young Caymanian and til this day i see the good that has been provided to me. One thing for sure it wasn’t Kurt that was able to get it set in the budget to allow kids to continue they’re education through college locally or overseas.
You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear is a very old expression. In the same vein not everyone is college material, particularly some of those who are justifiably concerned about "they’re" educational prospects.
Money has always been in the budget for educations, both locally and overseas, even before McDinejad completed his stint at Secondary Modern.
Ennis and Desmond Seales should sue Mac for all of the pain and suffering he caused them. Then again maybe we could all sue him on the same grounds
Desmond Seales??? This man needs to be placed on the same flight as Jack and banished from this country forever. McKeeva will never live long enough to do the damage Desmond has done to this country!
Well, isn’t that a nice little tax free contribution towards his retirement!?
Going forward the best thing we can do is just pay off all these jokers that are suing us and move on – far cheaper than dragging it out in court.
and just a reminder – we pay the politicians – they work for us – isn’t it time that we started getting our money’s worth?!
Having now had time (we are six hours ahead of Cayman) to read the full report I am both impressed and intrigued by Dan Duguay’s findings. They will be discussed later today with representatives from the UK media.
I’m also passing on a copy to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs because I am sure that, although the payments were tax free in the Caymans, they were banked in the UK and will attract income tax.
But one thing that really illustrates just how corrupt Operation Tempura was is two contrasting statements.
At a public meeting one year ago Martin Bridger made special mention of the “vast number” of people who had come forward to speak to him, although he did not elaborate on the information.
He then said he was insulted by claims that he was here to, “cause trouble,” and, “get a nice suntan.”
He also claimed people had approached him saying, “Thank God you’re here," a comment repeated in a Net News editorial shortly afterwards.
But the Auditor General’s report paints a totally different picture. To quote the official response (page 24) to the findings, "After the senior police command was removed a number of people came forward making unsubstantiated allegations against police officers." In other words, as I had warned him would happen early on, Mr Bridger was flooded with rumours from the ‘Marlroad’ and, because he was an outsider, couldn’t sort out fact from fiction. In fact at the time he might have thought they had stumbled on a goldmine of corruption that he could sort out. Unfortunately, that was all just about to backfire with the Cresswell ruling and the subsequent revelations.
Going back through the reports of Mr Bridger’s comments during his stint as SIO, particularly those reported in Net News who were backing the investigation to the hilt, makes interesting reading – it also totally justifies the comments made in the Compass editorial for 13 October entitled ‘Playing the Sucker’.
Perhaps Big Mac will pay for this lawsuit from his "nation building/churches/slush fund. He has lots there.
He is the one who actually started this ball rolling when he told Kernohan about a supposed corrupt relationship between Ennis and Desmond Seales. (According to information in tomorrows Net News)
Blaming the Attorney General is a game started in the pages of Net News, apparently the publisher thinks the current AG once looked at him, "strangely."
The fact is the AG works on the information he is supplied with. As I’ve posted on CNS before Lyndon’s trial was a dead duck before it started but that didn’t stop the prosecution team pushing ahead, presumably they just didn’t bother to tell their boss.
The problem seems not to be with the AG but with a siutation in the legal department where staff are not required to apply the checks and balances used in the UK to keep pointless trials out of the court system.
I think it’s time for you to retire from the fray, Mr Evans, and leave us Caymanians to get on with our lives. We’ve heard enough from you and we note your advice and views on things. You’ve had your 15 minutes of "fame". There’s little we can do with Desmond. He was here long before you and the other participants in our recent shenanigans and one supposes he will be here for a long time yet.
As a Caymanian I welcome the enlightenment I gain from Mr. Evans’s posts so please speak for yourself.
As another Caymanian I agree with you. Please continue to write Mr. Evans.
Desmond, we would much rather read Mr. Evan’s views than yours. Mr. Evan’s views are informed. If ever we want to read rubbish we know which newspaper to look for.
CNS has provided a link to Dan Duguay’s report (available on the right) and after reading he must be applauded for his efforts. I began taking notes. But my pen broke in my hand.
Here are some
9.07: The Senior Investigating Officer arrived in Cayman Islands at the beginning of the covert phase of the investigation as a member of the Metropolitan Police Force. He was paid from September 2007 to May 2008 by them and the costs of his salary and benefits billed to the Cayman Islands Government. During September 2007 to May 2008 the Senior Investigating Officer worked extra days for which he was entitled to take off in lieu.
The Cayman Islands Government paid the Senior Investigating Officer an additional $41,387 CI for these extra days worked as an employee of the Metropolitan Police Force. This payment was negotiated with the Senior Investigating Officer and instead of taking time off the Senior Investigating Officer continued working without a break. (I know there’s corruption…I just have to find it)
9.05: commencing May 22, 2008, and ending November 21, 2008, the Senior Investigating Officer was contracted at a rate of $1,141 CI per day
per day?? per day!!! without a break
I wouldn’t take a break either
plus expenses for living such as accomodation, cell phone and the use of a vehicle. The contract was renewed in November 2008 and again on March 23, 2009 retroactive to February 1, 2009.
wait there’s more
On September 3, 2008 a contract was entered into with BGP Training and consultancy of Surrey, England on the recommendation of among others the Senior Investigating Officer because of their unique skills.
BGP Training and Consultancy was established in 2007.
The Auditor General’s Report discloses how much was paid for wages, benefits, consultancy fees, office support, etc. And accomodation, meals, airfare (business class), etc. which were re-imbursed.
The total, for this helpful intervention, including> the settling of lawsuits> will be over $6,000,000 CI. After all the guilty are brought to justice. Or perhaps not.
OMG this is disgraceful!
I am not UDP or PPM but I think that the PPM has to take some major blame for this blatant mismanagement and waste of govt. funds. Think of what good uses this money could have been put to! Shame on you!
I think you need to educate yourself on this further or get your head examined…the PPM refused to fund this! The Governor forced his special powers under the guise of good governance!
Actually, the PPM was opposed to this. Governor trumps government. UDP, however has already offered up more money to keep this thing going.
It took that kind of salary to afford his Beer at Rum Point. In case you dont know a bottle of Beer at Rum Point is 5 Bucks.
With him and his Beer drinking Buddies the bill for a sunday spree could easily be a days pay.
Do you actually think that this day out was not "expensed" – as in, they got the beer and we paid for it?
I appeal to all caymanians to reframe from the urge to do something you may regret. Its evident we are being taunted in the hopes to cause unrest thus giving them another reason to declare instablity. We are above that. Remember "This too shall pass" and when it does WE WILL BE STRONGER AND WISER.
stuart jack you truly are WORTHLESS
CNS can you please submitt an FOI request, seeking the amount that John Jones was paid as a settlement?
Thanks!
CNS: Anyone can submit an FOI request – it’s not just for the media. Click here
Ezzard I hope you read this post. The Cayman Islands public are counting on you to arrange "a permit" from the Commissioner of Police office as per the Public Order Law, for a peaceful demonstration to be conducted at the Owen Robert’s International Airport in November for "Jack the Cayman Ripper" departure.
I can assure you, you will have many in attendance to support you in this necessary and justifiable cause. Me and my family are ready to go and I even have a couple of crocus sacks for the "wild chickens and green iguanas" as well.
Keep us posted please.
I believe it’s time for Operation Oxtail. Or OO. Which I will be heading as Senior Investigating Officer.
Inspector Clouseau
Department of Can’t Find My Ass With Both Hands
Using the Auditor General’s findings in this report, the Governor can write a book titled " Principles of Good Governance for a Banana Republic" by Stewart Jack. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office could use this book in training programms for all budding governors for the Overseas Territories. This also could be part of the operating manual for the Goveronor’s offices in all other colonial offices around the world. This should be kept as a reference book in the libraries of Oxford & Cambridge universities. I think a new era of good governance is born in these beloved isles. Congratulations Mr. Jack. I am waiting to see the Compass editorial tomorrow.
Yawn! Yes it’s a bitch but let’s move on. We have more pressing concerns-like the very survival of this country.
Why are the people of the Cayman Islands blaming the Governor? and why are they blaming Operation Tempura?
The Governor responded to claims of Corruption by having independant investigators brought in. Operation Tempura investigated and charges were brought. The fact that the charges were not proved ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ does not mean that there was/is no corruption. The corruption was just not proven.
Really, if there was no corruption – no dodgy deals – no getting your mates off various charges they (Operation Tempura) would never have been in the Cayman Islands in the first place.
There is no smoke without fire………
People of Cayman – blame yourselves for turning a blind eye and don’t blame those trying to expose corruption in a very difficult and closed enviroment. The bias against the investigators was there a long time before it went to Court.
This ‘news page’ was also biased from the start. Comments that are ‘anti’ don’t make publication I’ll be surprised if this one gets printed.
CNS: The last paragraph is a false statement. If you actually believed that, you would not have posted. How’s the weather in England?
Right premise, wrong argument. There is certainly a level of corruption evident in the Cayman Islands (as is the case pretty much everywhere). While it’s laudable to attempt to curtail corruption, the manner in which it was attempted here was entirely inappropriate and a huge waste of resources. If anything, it demonstrates a higher level of corruption by the investigative team. $500k for a year and a half? Obscene! $600k to a no-bid unit for external aid? I’d say someone investigate SPIT, but that would be throwing good money after bad. If anything, this investigation and the manner in which it was handled shows the absolute level of contempt and disrespect held toward the Cayman Islands by the UK. Allegations of corruption can be investigated and dealt with at a much lower cost and with much greater efficiency. Good governance? Good grief…
Excuse me! Agree with the CNS reply. This must have been posted by someone in the Met.
sits down with guitar
"when yer puttin’ down my monarchy
yer walkin’ on the fightin’ side ‘a me"
Why aren’t our politicians requesting the FCO to recall our Governor?
We the people are paying for all of this and what did we do to deserve this? Request his recall now! No need to wait until his term ends!.
Oh Jack, is this your sting?
Oh Jack, is this your victory?
You, the one openly talking about good governance and responsible for this?
You were resonsible for a lack of financial oversight? And yet you are bold enough to try to tell the hard working civil servants to put their house in order and live the Public Finance Law!!! What a farce!!!
Legislators should put an immediate freeze on your salary. After all it is us Caymanians who are paying you. Yet no one in Finance Committee has asked what your salary is. And I guess no one will. But maybe the Caymanian people are entitled to know that every cent of your salary is paid by our Government, from the hard earned taxes that we have to pay.
Please do not wait until next month to leave. Slither out of here now!!! Go home!!! Get out!!! Be gone!!!
If he needed a permit and didn’t have one, his earnings would be the proceeds of crime and liable to forfeiture. Could be fun.
Boy! Talk about corruption. Is’nt corruption why the UK took over the T&C islands from the locally elected politicians???????????.
I guess that will be Jackos next assignment.
Only him could create a corruption fiasco to make the UK reasons look good.
Lord Help us!
We talk as if we have any say in this –
NOTHING WILL STOP THEM NOW… IT SOON WILL HAPPEN!
Is it any coincidence he was put on this project to retire? Just another hand in the long poker game of us trading on our status as a territory and poaching the UK’s tax revenue, and them flying their own down to enjoy our beaches on our dime and subverting the democratic structures and left-hand driving they gave us which we have paid for with our dignity.
It is a game played for selfish national interest, nothing more.
When will it end…
John Evans for Governor!
Sorry I failed the paternity test…..
My parents were married when I was conceived!
LOL!!!
We should now demand England pay us back the donation of STG 500,000 (US dollars 800,000 today) we gave during the Falkland invasion by murderous British Army. THEY DO NOT DESERVE OUR HARD EARNED MONEY JACO………………
I wish you luck in that endevour.
That would be about as easy as getting some help for Ivan.
This report demostrates the corner stone of the good governance preched by HE the Governor for some time. I guess AG’s conclusion that …there were significant deficiencies in the financial management of this investigation and inadequate oversight, monitoring and reporting of contracts and expenditures…. maybe a part of good governance he is talking about. Shame on you the Governor !!!!!!
O say can you see we will never be better off because with all d wining ona gwan wit ona na see that the only solution is ta lower the british flag. Remember d spy then came jack and then bridger. you know wa next brethren back to slavery!
Me na no whatelse 2 say to ona
Yeah some members of his family is still in cayman living it up off that money, and sucking the island even more dry of cash.. dig into that john evans
What do you think I was doing while I was over for Lyndon’s trial?
They only needed me in court for about three hours out of the seven days I was on Cayman 😉
LOL, the SIO being investigated!
Couldn’t we just have paid him with a helicopter?
now THAT is funny!! Ironic because he turned out to be just as useful, too!!
Now this is criminal!
I will also be offering special investigative services should anyone be interested, at the prevailing rates as detailed in the article above.
The only way you will be given any sort of business, TBT, is if you hail from "blighty"…otherwise, your just another unqulifed Caymanian…sorry, old chap..we don’t give money to people who don’t "speak the language"…
Well as luck would have it I do hail from ole blighty…. if only I didn’t have a conscience this job would be perfect!
How much did Jacko get ???????? That’s the question !!!!
anybody ever read the Confessions of an Economic Hitman??? its a good read and may explain a lot of what has happened here.
first they send the EHM, then they send the ‘jackals’ and if neither works, they have the military option.
Jack will not be missed.
Wow, I’ve always wanted to talk about this. Yes, indeed, it is a good read, but, pretty scary. You know, I hate to say this, but, that could be the reason Hugo Chavez is called a bully, a ‘nut,’ and everything else under the sun. Well, his behavior on camera certainly makes him look that way, but, maybe he figure if he really acts crazy, no one will ‘mess with him.’
Another good thing to read up on is the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) – you’ll find out which top official is always/only appointed by the U.S.
anonymous 13:00: it is a good book. if you notice, the turks and caicos has been mentioned often by the office of overseas territories. usually cayman was mentioned in the previous paragraph or following. the economic crisis, not caused in any way by smaller nations, has been leveraged as an excuse by members of the g-8 to exert or (re-establish) their influence over them. in their game of chess played with the world they are always looking for the weak or wounded.
so you’re right it is a form of what is described in economic hitmen. it doesn’t explain this scenario completely, but does have resemblances we should watch out for! or ignore at our peril.
and it did get some good press which is always neccessary. (cayman going broke! corruption in the local police! metropolitan police sent! uk steps in to offer aid!)
Can we get the Guardian or the Times in the UK to print how Operation Tempura has paid the boys from UK with Cayman tax dollars? by the way will they pay tax in the UK on this income. I also believe in Santa Claus.
Selah
Already on it over here.
Memo to the Met: never, ever p*** off a journalist.
Good on you Mr. Evans!!
With that kind of pay it is no wonder he dragged this out for useless reasons!
Gordon Brown and the Governor should be ashamed and should make a public apology to the people of these islands.
The only criminals here was Jack and Bridger! Too bad it took us milklions of dollars and time to get rid of them..
I guess I don’t see much in the new ass**** they are sending us but at least we don’t have worry about throwing up everytime we see Shorty.
Now I understand. Often I posed the question "What exactly did nine or more people do for over a year?". The charges brought, and everything else revealed about the investigation certainly did not warrant that amount of time and manpower.
It doesn’t seem to matter if they are paid $5 or $500 per hour, once it is by the hour some people try their best to make the job last forever.
I am only left to hope that he did not properly report ALL of his income to the UK government, and they can deal with him. That would be the only justice to come out of this fiasco.
I say we bring back the law for hanging and then we try Jack and Bridger? This is so criminal it could be in the same bracket as murder. Their actions have killed(murdered) our country.
What wicked people!!! I cannot wait to see that BA flight airborne with Jack..Does everyone remember to come out and bring as many wild chickens and green iguanas as possible? Ensure they are packaged for flight. We need all the pests and vermin on the same flight.
CNS: do we have a final date of departure for him or are they still keeping that under wraps so that there will be no demonstrations? I’m hoping CNN (not Cayman Net News, although if we could get Desmond on the same flight, that would make a lot of us happy too)will be there to report on it.
When he return to the UK, he will be called Sir Martin Bridger with this kind of money.
You go boy, at least we can see where this share of the Cayman money will be going.
One can only chuckle.
The idea of suing the Governor and the UK to get the money back is looking more attractive every day. Does anyone know if is possible to do so from a legal standpoint?
It isn’t.
And who the hell are you?
I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you and unfortunately everyone else who reads CNS.
Best not ask.
Brian Gibbs, is that you???
No, Barry Gibb. How deep is your love?
Someone who is right.
At least he did something all be it he may have failed. i can think of a few politicians who earn over $10,000 a month multiply that by 4 years 48 months =$480,000 and do absolutely nothing and still get paid GP!
Those politicians of which you speak were ELECTED by the people of this country..We had this "investigation" RAMMED DOWN OUR THROATS by the Governer…as the saying goes, "they may be usless politicians…but they are OUR useless politicians…"
Well said! We never asked for them to come here, Jack did! We didn’t have a choice, if we didn’t vote funds for them Jack would have invoked his powers and Lord forbid that we give him any more power.
I’ve got my chickens and green iguanas ready to go on that BA flight with Jack. Good Riddance and please don’t darken our doors ever again. If we never see you again, it will be too soon.
I remember fondly the two interviews which Mr. Charles Clifford, the former Tourism Minister, did on the Rooster & Radio Cayman Talk Shows 8 months ago raising concerns about these investigations and Martin Bridger in particular.
He offered sensible solutions to the problems in the RCIP, including a strategy to "bring back" those valuable police officers that have resigned over the past several years.
He also called on the UK government to recall Governor Jack because of his mismanagement and he said that unless the Governor was prepared to provide honest details to the Cabinet that justified these investigations that he was one Cabinet member that would not approve any further expenditure on this project.
Unfortunately no one else, including his own colleagues, backed Clifford’s call for Governor Jack’s return to the UK.
Shortly after those two radio interviews the Cabinet publicly withdrew its support for further funding for Operations Tempura and Cealt.
Unfortunately despite this, Governor Jack exercised his reserved powers and continued the investigations.
Don’t you all think its time for the "Mother of all farewell parties" ?
The irony is that the strategic oversight group just refused to fulfil a promise to refund just £5000 (about CI$6500) expenses I incurred over the three months (May-July 2008) Bridger retained me on Grand Cayman as a ‘required witness’.
He held out on refunding the money because it might look like they were paying off a witness but I was promised payment once the trial was over. In effect it was used as a ‘carrot and stick’ to get me back for the trial.
My best guess is that they didn’t like what I said in court and backed out of the deal when justice prevailed and Lyndon was acquited. In simple terms they expected me to lie in return for settlement of the expenses claim and I didn’t play ball.
Mr Bridger, Mr Coy – if the decision not to pay is not reversed I’m going to be looking for you with a view to recovering that money (and any other expenses I can justify) through the courts over here.
You go Mr Evans, hope someone get something out of the sour A****
I think it’s time for an investigation into the investigation. Who agreed these terms and authorized Mr. Bridger’s compensation and authority to incur this level of expense on behalf of the Cayman Islands? To whom was SPIT really accountable? There must be some public accountability for this fiasco. Those responsible, appointed or elected, need to resign.
THAT IS $30,588 a month. WHAT THE HELL??? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?? Mr. GOVERNOR…PLEASE RESIGN YOUR XXX AND LEAVE THIS COUNTRY. YOU PAID SOME NO GOOD COP FROM THE UK THAT MUCH MONEY PER MONTH ONLY TO INVESTIGATE RUBBISH AND COST THIS COUNTRY MILLIONS. I am so angry hearing this that ….Let me shut up and hold my tongue before I say something that gets me arrested. Governor JACK-XXX XXXXX I am so ashamed of you. OMG most people on this island do not make that in a year let alone A MONTH?? UDP Government ADDRESS THIS IMMEDIATELY if you want to keep me as a supporter!!!
Your UDP just approved more money for it fool !!!!!
Economic Hitman maybe?
Fantastic. I bet the Governor still thinks this was good value for money.
Talk about a conspiracy to defraud the Caymanian Taxpayers.
And this what UDP has voted yes on..shame on them
all I can say : what a shame. A downright shame. I guess he going to eat many sheperd pies.