Government office ‘For Sale’
(CNS): Although the government has made no secret of its intention to sell the new Government Office Administration Building, the ‘for sale’ sign has now officially gone up along with an invitation for submissions of interest. The premier has said that there had been a couple of expressions of interest already but as a public asset the sale must go through the proper channels. One of those expected to bid on the building, which government hopes will fetch around $50 million, is the Civil Service Pension Fund. The premier said last week that he wants to bring the 20010/11 budget to the LA before the end of April, which means he hopes to have a buyer for the GOAB before the middle of the month.
The 143,662 sq. ft. office building is not due to be completed until January 2011 and was set to cost government around $87 million to build, but it hopes to recoup the $50 million already spent making the deal a no gain or loss situation in terms of assets but one that will hopefully put cash back in the government’s coffers.
Last week the premier hit back at critics who have said the UDP government should not sell the building, saying that the cash was needed to meet the requirements of the 2009/10 budget and to address what he described as the financial mess left by the previous administration.
Anyone wanting to buy the custom-built Category 5 hurricane-rated building, which comes with associated car parking space, will not be able to use the building themselves as the deal is contingent on government being able to lease it at market rates. Government officials said any sale would be subject to the Cayman Islands Government (CIG) agreeing and signing the terms for a commercial lease under which the CIG will contract to pay rent as tenant at market rental value.
The invitation sets out the terms under which government will sell the building and states investor requirements. The full document is available online at www.gov.ky. Expressions of Interest must be made in writing and be accompanied by a banker’s draft for US$100,000, made payable to the Cayman Islands Government. This sum will be refunded by cheque 28 days later. The submission should also include evidence of the applicant’s financial standing. An information package including Heads of Terms for the Lease will be issued to successful applicants shortly after the submission date, and bids will then be submitted to the Central Tenders Committee by Friday, 12 March 2010.
Category: Headline News
One of the ways to come up with some of the money is Property Taxes on any property over $1mio and more, Tax the Real Estate Companies and Salary Taxes for anyone paid $ 8,00 and over per Month, Cut the Civil Servive, Sell Boatswaine and keep the TurtleFarm, Sell the Waste Management/Dump, sell the Hospital, cut the Elected members salary in half and everyman should pay a head tax like $50 per year, restart the school fees, Civil Servants pay their Pension , Collect Garbage Fees, cut off the Social Services to any able bodied person, Civil Servants should pay 20% on their Hospital Bill and there you have you deficit repaid. Keep the Building and pay monthly on the Loan and eventually OWN the building, finish the schools ,as money was already budgeted for them, RETURN the SLUSH FUND Money to its rightful place and there you will have your sustainable revenue, as per the instructions from the UK. MacKeeva why can’t you think like me and do the right thing, for YOUR people? Why do you want to sell the CIG Building for Dart and pocket the commission via Cambridge again? and the stupidity in all of this, is you will NEVER own the property or building ever again. Use my ideas above and you will be in favour of your people, again. Oh…and one other thing…Immigration…What in the heck are you thinking about deh? Before you make any changes, start screening and performing due diligence, before you start this open door policy, you are setting these Islands up for BIG BIG failure and the USA is watching. We will soon need more than US Visas to get into the USA, we will soon be worse than Venzuela. Everyone of us will be suspects, we will be classed as a Sensitive Country and we will be profiles. Be careful how you thread there. Be warned!!!
Like the song says "You’ve gone crazy on me, you’ve gone crazeee on meee". Well, actually I knew that. If you didn’t in May 2009 you should by now. Time to correct our mistakes!
Slippery slope!!
What will be sold after GOAP?
In a years time Cayman will be in the position with one less asset to sell.
Cayman’s economy has sprung a major leak and Mckeeva is selling the bailing buckets.
What he needs to do is fix the leak ie: the Civil Service.
The gov-dot-kaywhy link to the Sale document is non-existent. Do you know something I don’t?
K
Smells like another cooked deal.
Just like the new Port development, Government has asked for expressions of interest within two weeks with the intention of completing the sale within two months. If anyone thinks that a transaction as big as this can be signed sealed and delivered in two months, think again. Negotiations would have to be well down the road for this to happen on time. This invitation is only window dressing.
Congratulations Mr. Dart on another aquisition done behind closed doors.
Are you watching all this Mr. Duguay?
Where is the Opposition? I didnt know we had one Their all at the usual watering hole in Grand harbour or Next door Country and western the JukeBox is playing Merle Haggard Tonite the Bottle let me down Besides do nothing Eden who is driving around patting people on the head for the next election.
A sociopath is describe as a person who know your pains and has empathy for you but does nothing to help you other definition the PPM elected officials
The solution lays not in selling our assets everyone has that right… but a real solution would be a renegotiation of terms for the countries loan. I don’t know whyon earth the Gov thought they would be able to repay such a huge deficit in such a short period of time. Loan of such size usually require years to pay back and should have been given at least medium to long term back periods, e.g. 5-7 years or 10-30 years…. these seem a lot more feasible to me. and i don’t think it takes a genius to figure this one out. Does anyone in the gov understand finance?
i want to take the lords name in vein but i know ppl will be offended although it is evident we have greater consequences to worry about.
Problem is that we are running a large deficit which means further loans are going to have to be taken this year.
To take further loans we are going to have to go back to the UK to get permission.
You think i’s likely to get that without direct taxation this time around. We were 2 days from not meeting our obligations last year.
No way we will dodge the bullet this time.
So what is your solution to avoid this short term obstacle?
Seriously!! Gaming will do better than "praying" for our economy.
I am off to Vegas this weekend. Care to join me anyone?
u got it casino time….!
100% agree! The ONLY thing that makes any sense. Cayan wake up and get real. Put it to the vote!!
WHERE ARE THE OPPOSITION are you telling me that all that is going on the opposition is not opposing what the leader is doing. i wonder if they support hin or it is that they are afraid to say/do something. what are they being paid for. come on kurt if you cannot be a desent opposition get out of politics. we the people are paying you just as we are paying the leader. in time when the leader is going in the wrong direction,it is your responsibility to step up to the plate.and let the people know what is going on. they are many people that do not read the news daily . it is your duty to hold meetings and let the public know what your position is . and what effect it will have. if you cannot do that much I ASK YOU TO STEP DOWN. and the leader BUTLER
Lawd wha a mess!!!!
I agree with most of the comments on this post. It is not the UDP that put us in this mess. It is a combination of both parties mismanagement and bickering. As I Caymanian I have listened and watched and of course yes voted. Each time I have had to vote for the "lesser of 2 evils"! It is clear to me that this country will be like Haiti soon. Sure they have pristine beaches and could benfit from tourism, but who wants to travel to a thrid world country on vaction. That is what is destined to happen to Cayman. I really dont think the majority of expats are worried about "rollover" since we are headed for third world status soon anyway.
As for the sale of the GOAB, I think it is a disasterous decision to sell it and then have to lease back the space at millions of dollars per year. Whose fantasy dreaming came up with that idea??? Oops I forgot. The oh so educated and honourable Premier. When will he learn that you cannot treat an amputation with a bandaid??????????? This country is in this mess because of mismanagement by the uneducated idiots that we elect. I cant really blame the voters since we dont really have any choice at election time. By the way, in which other country in the world would the Premier have once had a lynch mob parade through GT in objection to his involvement in the fall of a bank namely First Cayman National. I remember in 1999 when all the cars blazed through GT with all the people screaming for blood! Huh, now the guy is the Premier. What a joke. I as a Caymanian am ashamed to even hear his name. If he had any pride he would resign. But I guess $15,000 per month can do allot to smooth the conscience. Just remember my fellow Caymanians. XXXX
As for the PPM I suppose that they really could do a better job if they didnt have to put up with XXXX. I say for a country this small it is absolutely archaic for us to have a district by district electoral process. I should be able to vote for the leader/s of my country XXXX.
BTW, can anyone tell me why we had to build THREE new schools ata cost of HUNDREDS of millions of $??????????? The fill at the Frank Sound schoold must have cost millions in itself!!!!!! Also is it true that these figures do not even include the fit out of these schools??? If so it would appeara that it is not only the politicians that are smart enough to go into a business that can make you rich, but also the owners of the construction companies themselves!!!
I am tired of hearing "FREIGHT AND DUTY" Blah, Blah, Blah!!!!! Listen up business owners!! We know that you are ripping us off every day and please dont think that at least some of us can do the math!!!!
Oh and one last thing. If Mac thinks he can sell the GOAB in 2 months, XXXXX
I only hope that while God is in the neighborhood looking after the Haitians that he will take a second to pay a visit to Mac and his henchmen!!!!
Lets get the revolution going boys let us FOI who is setting and negotiating these deals and find out their fees/con -sultant dues and see if we can figure out who the links back to our Gowment in power are. Poor old Dan Dugay things are looking too well for him these days.
LORD we need your devine intervention to get MacKeeva Bush thrown out of that Legislative Assembly of the Cayman islands, before he starts Selling HIS PEOPLE to balance the budget. Please LORD let it be very soon and we the people of Cayman are very serious about this. Listen to our pleas dear LORD.
Tell me one Caymanian with an ounce of common sense, that would sell their house and in rent it back from the new owner. NONE!
Trust me, the few comments that in anyway try to give a reason for this unbelieveable decision have to be family members of the one making this decision.
There is absolutely no way any right thinking Caymanian (to da bone) can agree with this stupidity and even those blinded by association have to remove the "blinkers" now before there is nothing left that is owned by Cayman!
One who cannot afford the capital outlay to purchase the home. Lease until you have the $$ to buy. Decide how to balance the budget before the UK decides for us.
CNS – Please reprint BUSH-O-NOMICS from your previous article. Seems like they missed the point.
Here’s BUSH-O-NOMICS at work for you. Sell your asset and rent it back to pay someone else’s loan who bought it from you. You continue paying long after they have repaid the loan on the building, whereas if you had kept it, when the loan was over, you owned it and paid nothing more than maintenance and utilities. The glass house is at the end of its useful life and is now unsafe to be really working in. Gov’t is paying rent now and without the new building, will be paying even more rent when they have to depart the Glass House. Don’t you realize that selling it isn’t even a short term fix?
You idiots still don’t get it! The Government has to remove tens of millions in liabilities from its balance sheet or the UK will almost certainly come in and impose income tax on us! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THIS??? WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND??? TAKE YOUR BLINDERS OFF AND LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE!!! Do you want the UK to march in and take us over? God help us if this is the prevailing mentality in Cayman today.
Yes please! someone has to do it right.
No to the sale of the building means Yes to DIRECT TAXATION in Cayman
unless you have any other solution of raising 50 million plus in less 6 months.
Which do you want?
One of the only sensible posts here
I actually agree with this, funny all the thumbs down for stating the truth of the matter
I can only assume people don’t like the truth and live in a entitled world where buildings are built for free
Anybody have a solution to stop the UK forcing direct taxes in 6 months?
yes, cutting the overpaid, underperforming civil service by 10%…. save $50m straight away
Yes, how about spending cuts starting with the civil service.
Robbing Peter to pay Paul and still not coming out ahead? I say cut expenses like trips to the special Olympics and who was included in that group – what do all these people have to attend these functions on govt. tab!
Brilliant! Why don’t we have you run the country’s finances! You’re going to balance the budget and stave off the UK and its threat of direct taxation by cutting out travel for a few people to the Olympics! Good grief. Where do these people come from???
…couple of things. It was never projected that the New Gov’t. Bldg would be paid for by 2013.
This transaction isn’t an outright sale. It is the intention of the Gov’.t to sell the Govt at a very attractive price and enter into a long term lease agreement with the new owners. In addition if the Gov’t. agrees to selling the Bldg. at $50MM and it is valued at $80MM (not inclusive of land) I would say that the Govt has done pretty well and selling it at a discounted price which would over time benefit the Govt as they would have less to pay back. Please don’t think that by selling the bldg for more that that’s in favourof the Gov’t. That would mean that Gov’t. would have a larger amount to pay back.
Finally, just for the record, the bldg is not for the Caymanian people. It is for the Gov’t. of the Cayman Islands and the sale doesn’t need to go to referendum. Yes taxpayer money has paid for it but guess what? Everyone that works and lives here contribute to taxes here. In addition just like the Gov’t. didn’t have to consult the people to buy it they don’t need to consult with Joe public to sell it.
Perhaps the PPM should have used referenda or just good ole common sense and not tried to build 2 schools and a gov’t. bldg all at once not to mention the Savannah Post office, the licensing dept up by Grand Harbour, purchase and fit out Sammy’s Airport Inn, buy up land for schools to be built in WB and GT, build miles and miles of new road, Airport expansion project, purchase helicopter, air million dollar boxing event where our local boxer wasn’t even showcased, etc. Arrogant Alden said only God could stop him. Well the people spoke and the people (inspired by God) stopped him and the rest of the incompetent, wasteful PPM!! Why not talk about the all the business that the PPM ran away!
Funny how people forget how the PPM leadership was looking for advice at the bottom of a bottle yet today we want them back in office. Unfortunately many Caymanians (and I’m Caymanian) remind me of the Israelites who were in bondage in Egypt. After Moses led them out of bondage they started to complain and some said that they had been led into the desert to die. Some even said that they would have preferred to remain in bondage. From the 21May you have done nothing but bitch and complain. Come on people, give it a rest. Why don’t you talk about the mangroves that the UDP was able to have re planted thanks to Michael Ryan. That’s hundreds of acres! Name one business owner who was bale to partner with the PPM and accomplish anything.
XXXX
"This transaction isn’t an outright sale. It is the intention of the Gov’.t to sell *the Govt* at a very attractive price and enter into a long term lease agreement with the new owners. In addition if the Gov’t. agrees to selling the Bldg. at $50MM and it is valued at $80MM (not inclusive of land) I would say that the Govt has done pretty well and selling it at a discounted price which would over time benefit the Govt as they would have less to pay back. Please don’t think that by selling the bldg for more that that’s in favour of the Gov’t. That would mean that Gov’t. would have a larger amount to pay back".
Come again?! Was that a freudian slip? Does the Govt. really want to sell THE GOVT at a very attractive price?
Assuming that you meant the Govt. Admin Bldg, this must be the Bushanomics someone mentioned. Selling an asset at a gross undervalue is to the govt’s benefit because it will have less to pay back?!! The govt. has borrowed funds to construct a building at a cost of about $87m. This does not include the value of the land. The govt. will have this loan to repay regardless of how much any sale nets. How in the world can it be advantageous to sell your asset at a gross loss, have to repay borrowed monies and also pay rent?!
You know whoever you are, you are really simple and anal…Clearly I made a mistake in saying that the Gov’t. was selling the Gov’t. The most unintelligent amongst us would know that I meant to say the Gov’t. Bldg./ Gov’t. Administration Bldg. I only referred to the bldg like 8 times and at the end of the day the biggest moron knows that the Govt can’t be leased!!!
This is exactly why sensible commentary is hard to find on this site…you people are the perfect example of supposedly a good education being wasted…
Regarding economics, I won’t go too deep into the topic because it would be like explaining calculus to a 10 month old baby. Suffice it to say, this kind of Public Private Financing initiative is actually becoming very common and frequently occur when governments find themselves in a cash crunch. In order to prevent loosing the asset – in this case the bldg altogether – they will enter into this kind of arrangement to reduce its obligation and benefit from the asset. This is just but one option that is available to governments during times of cash liquidity problems. Other options available are: issue paper (bonds), refinance for better terms with the existing financier, go to the market seeking new financing etc. However with the gov’t. being strapped for cash and the UK being very stringent on borrowing, this may not be an option at this time. If you have a real desire to learn and educate yourself, please get a copy of the KPMG report recently released entitled "Island Economies and Their Infrastructure: An Outlook 2010 and Beyond"
Here’s a simple analogy for YOU. You have a car but you can’t make the payments because you are unemployed but need a vehicle to get around to interviews. You go to your friend, ask to borrow some money to cover the car payments and agree to paying it back once you get a job at rates that you both can agree on. You can’t afford to make the payments of $400 per month for the next 3 months but will pay them back once you get a job at $200 per month plus interest until you pay him in full.
This arrangement allows you to not loose the asset, benefit from it and pay your friend in the future. In a perfect world you would want to be in a position to not have to borrow from your friend and make your car payments on time but unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world. In simple terms, this is the predicament the government finds itself in…
I’ll stop here and hope you get it. Also just as a general note – while you are entitled to contribute to any discussion, you need to recognise where your limitations lie. There are some topics that you should not engage in unless you have the insight to really spread light on the matter. Stop contributing to the propaganda machinery.
You are clearly very full of yourself and a propagandist for the govt.
Public Private Financing Initiatives are one way to take certain projects off balance sheet and away from proper scrutiny. What interest rates will the govt. be paying to the "friend"? Will it be higher than the current rates paid to the commercial banks? You talk about "a friend" lending you money. The private sector are there to maximise profit. What is the angle for them?
It is not the role of government to "partner" with business. Government must create and enforce legislation that allows businesses to thrive and be competetive. That is good for both the business and the consumer.
XXXXXX
When governments start to "partner" with businesses, ordinary people will always wonder if there are ulterior motives.
selling a few assets is not a hair brained idea. it is ONE of the many solutions required to address the financial crisis the government is in. and it is certainly ONE of the viable solutions pursued by other governments as well (including the UK). Without this solution the government’s budget would not have complied with the reserve requirement. We all seem to want our cake and eat it as well. what is the other solution which could have been implemented in the current fiscal year?
Of course this solution is NOT ideal, but neither did the country have the option to sit around and debate how to find ways to beef up the reserves (so that the budget would be approved—and so that the country could continue to operate–and yes so that civil servants could have their salaries paid etc). wake up people. stop looking for the "ideal" while facing a crisis and appreciate when some action is being taken. we just cannot have everything while at the same time refusing to give up anything. So please stop this "our birthright/"not his building" nonsense.
Unbelievable! Sell the building and then turn around and pay rent for it. Government offices are located ALL over, thought it made sense to have them in one place (or as many as it can hold) along with the Glass house, saving money. It’s not a UDP or PPM mistake, you dont have to be for either party to know that this is a huge mistake for the Island. This "One Man Show" needs to stop, sooner rather than later. We need to protest because this is absolute ludacris.
What wise investor would trust this government with $100,000.00 US.
Good luck getting your money back.
it only a matter of times before the UK steps in to remove everyone from office so they can take control. hopefully it is not too late….
It’s so easy to say "Don’t sell it" or "McKeeva must be an idiot" but do you have a better solution? My dear friends, when the UK management team arrives here to take over our financial affairs, if McKeeva can’t get us out of this PPM mess in time, then you and I and everyone else will finally understand what the PPM has done to us. And, we won’t be cursing those iguanas and wild chickens anymore, we’ll be scrambling to get them in cages so that we’ll have something to eat when the UK’s hammer comes down and the economy really goes bottom up. THANKS A LOT PPM!!!
"Thanks alot PPM"??? I say thanks alot UDP, because if it was not for the UDP XXXX we would not be in this mess in the first place. Put the blame where it started. You better try understand what the UDP has done to us, they gave our country away in 2003 & continue to do so today! It is a disgrace what the UDP has done & continues to do, & you have the temerity to blame the PPM, a government that did what other governments should have done. The economy WILL go bottom up with the UDP wasting our money the way they are presently doing! Mckeeva Bush still claims that we are broke! If this is infact true, why on earth is he still wasting our money on unnecessary trips (the latest one is to the olympics), wasting money on personal drivers for himself & his deputy, & body guards, a housekeeper/chef for himself, & other selfish & unnecessary ‘perks’?? Can you answer me that? If we are broke, why is he wasting our money? PLEASE ANSWER ME THAT, Anon 14:44! We are waiting for your answer!
A better solution would be to STOP wasting money my "dear friend". Without question the PPM overspent, however it was invested in the country. UDP on the other hand is wasting money on world travel and security gaurds.
That is election talk. We are 8 months past the elections. Enough of the blame game. Selling of the country’s assets is not the only option that we have and that is a very poor option. We elected you to bring fiscal prudence but instead what we are seeing is greater fiscal recklessness.
If the UK’s hammer does come down it will be because of corruption.
Who really gives a mudder @#!$ because I know for sure the premier don’t!! Why stress ourselves when the premier has his decisions made? We raised ra@s & what has it done? NOTHING! He has gone ahead & done what he wants to do despite the people’s concerns & despite the people’s cries! He does what he wants & it does not matter what you or I say! Who the XXXX do you think will benefit most from all the sales of government assets? If you do not know, just a wait a short while & see which company will be the one involved in the sales of these assets worth millions of dollars, & believe me it will be more than a pretty penny in commissions! I wonder who’s company it will be, I wonder who will benefit most from these sales of OUR assets. but who gives a mudder @#!$, I wonder? Do not waste your time or effort, it causes STRESS, & he ain’t listening, because he don’t care!
That is election talk. We are 8 months past the elections. Enough of the blame game. Selling of the country’s assets is not the only option that we have and that is a very poor option. We elected you to bring fiscal prudence but instead what we are seeing is greater fiscal recklessness.
If the UK’s hammer does come down it will be because of corruption.
My feelings…..address the problems….don’t play politrics or point fingers, that never solves a problem…..
So when we sell everything and have no way of actually making money from these establishments because they won’t belong to us anymore, how will we money if the economy goes sour again? If we sell everything, how is it that this country is still ours to defend? These sales will NOT get us out of debt. It’s a shortterm solution that we will pay for in the years to come. Sell it all, and the "UK management team" won’t need to make the trip, they will already have made us their puppets. Dance keewa, dance.
You want a better solution – sell Boatswain’s Beach, sell the dump, sell the house on Boatswain Bay corner that he paid three times the value for, sell the shares in Sagicor, cut travel, eliminate wastage and unnecessary expenses; that’s the solution. Blaming PPM is no excuse, because when you have sold it and frittered the money away, you will still be in the same position youare in now. Don’t you understand what a recession is? When you sell it and then rent it back, you will be paying more in rent than you now are paying and at the end 25 years, you will not own it. All you would have done is financed someone else’s loan obligation plus profit. There is no economic sense to this sale whatsoever. PPM and EZZARD – File a REFERENDUM real FAST and save this country from certain financial disaster!
To Anon 17:34, you have said it perfectly. You explained as well as it can be explained the reason why government must not sell the new Gov building. How people do not understand this I just do not know.
Cayman people, please go back & read again the comments by Anon 17:34. And then if possible read it again, because it is very important to understand what a GRAVE mistake it will be for the udp to sell the new government building.
The udp is just thinking of a quick fix that will cause us long term pain. I support 17:34, "file a referendum real fast and save this country"
When is the government going to realize the great source of potential income that is the money transfer industry? Millions of dollars go out of Cayman to Honduras, Phillipines, Jamaica, etc. every week. Why not impose a 3 or 4 % tax on the amount of each transaction? Those sending funds, generally, don’t pay into government coffers in any other way, so why not get some money from them, rather than bleeding those who are not just here for the money dry?!
Banks charge duty, so why not Quick Cash, Western Union, Money Express and the like? Maybe there is a rational explanation, but I don’t know of one!
I will be quite honest in this matter, because I have seen it all before! I am an expat living in Cayman (hence no name XXXPat) and I am on the run, so to speak. I have had to run from my corrupt island, not because of the people but because of the leaders. Yes, there is alot of crime on my island, but so is there alot of crime in this world. It is my opinion that the crime is as a result of what the corrupt politicians have done to my once prosperous home. The same signs I saw in my home are the very same signs I see happening in Cayman islands, but what is scarey is that it is happening much more quickly here. I have never seen such deterioration socially & economically as I have seen here in Cayman in the last year.
I cannot say I am in support of any politician or political grouping because I have no vested interest other than to make a good living here & when my time is up I will depart. However, I do not like what I am seeing. This reminds me so much of my home, & as far as I can see it is one politician that is running this country, and that is not good, because that leads to dictatorial governance! Any politician that goes against the wishes of the majority of the people is wrong and acting in a dictatorial manner.
I can only warn the Cayman people to stand up and have a say. We did not stand up for our rights in my country and I have had to run to survive. Do not let it happen here. If you love your island you must have a say, and if that means standing up to your leader then so be it. The signs are bleak, a thunderstorm is headed Caymans way, and as an XXXPat I do not believe your leader is acting in the bests interests of your island. I have seen it before, therefore I know.
XXXPat
Thank you for your comments, XXXpat. We need more expats who really care about these Islands. We had better take heed.
Ok people, this man is not taking us seriously as even after all the phone calls on talk shows, the comments against the sale on CNS and just plain public outcry against it, this man now puts up a "For Sale" sign asking for the biggest bidder, just shows this man does not respect our views.
If this man was really concerned about the feelings of the Cayman people, then he would do a survey and see the true pulse of US, the people of Cayman and then, and ONLY THEN, make a decision on the future of OUR Government Administration Building.
As this man is just flying off without care of the consequenses, I think it is time for US, the people of Cayman, to show him how serious we are with the future of our Country and now I call on all caring Caymanians, be it UDP, YUDP, PPM or the YP, get up and march against the sale of the New Government building, before its too late.
if possible i don’t think the 3000 status grants had hurt me so much as this… pain we will suffer with for the rest of our lives…. PPM stand up now, or else 2013 NO ONE WILL BE GETTING MY VOTE
I am nota Civil Servant so I would not be affected personally, but I find it incredulous that those responsible for managing the Civil Service Pension Fund would risk their future by "investing" in their employer. There are probably laws against that, but if not I would advise implementing them immediately.
It might look and sound good on paper, but what happens if government should one day reach a position where they are unable to make the rent payments?
If you want a real life example of that scenario then do some research on Panam Airlines Pension Fund. Basically, the administrators of that fund decided to invest heavily in their own company when the share price of the stock was flying high. When the company went into bankruptcy, not only did they lose their jobs, but also a large chunk of their pension disappeared forever.
You might like the sounds of what is being said now as an alternative to England telling us how to manage our finances (yes that will probably include taxing your property), but be very careful in how far you want to go down the alternate route that you now think is the correct one.
After there are no assets left to sell and we are still short of money, the only option is to disengage our dollar from the US dollar and let it float. In a worst case scenario we end up like Zimbabwe and purchasing a loaf of bread with a wheelbarrow full of money not worth the paper that it is printed on.
As a general rule, anytime anyone tells me that a deal has to be done by a certain time I am inclined to walk away from it. Selling the assets falls in that category. The more time people have to think about it, the more likely they will come to the conclusion that it is a stupid idea and start asking about alternatives.
I see great benefits in privatising a lot of the functions that are now being carried out by government, but let’s do it after careful study and consideration, NOT as an act of desperation.
Very good post 14;38! Next time use "incredible" not "incredulous" which means something different from what you wanted tosay. Didn’t detract from your sensible comments, however!
I did mean to use "incredulous", which means "hard to believe". I suppose I should have simply said "I find it hard to believe that those responsible for managing the Civil Service Pension Fund etc."
Incredible on the other hand means "beyond belief", so I can’t even find it "incredible" that the Premier would sell our new administration building since he has long since ceased to surprise me.
Actually "incredulous" means "not willing to believe". A person (who has a will) may be incredulous of an event, while an account of the event may be incredible. An event (which does not have a will) cannot be incredulous.
Not having studied English language beyond what was offered at John Gray High School, I am in no position to argue over semantics. However, I can assure you that "hard to believe" is synonymous with "not willing to believe" in the Caymanian vernacular.
In this back and forth debate I would hate to lose sight of the fact that the real issue is whether the TRUSTEES of the Civil Service Pension Fund are looking into investing their money in the building or if it is the PREMIER who is offering a building in return for raiding the Civil Service Pension Fund?
That is a very serious question that needs a definitive answer.
MACKEEVA THAT BUILDING AND LAND IS FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS, NOT FOR YOU!!! I think the people of these Islands should have a say first, before you put anything out to tender or for Sale. Ask the people what they want they will be paying for it. YOU cannot speak for ALL of us and the majority of us wants the building and the schools!!!! Anyhow you dare to put this building up for Sale, we the people are coming for YOU!!!! Remember MacKeeva, It does not matter how much you HATE the the PPM, they are your neighbours and you have to work with them and yes!!! They are also Born Caymanian people too and they were thinking about the people of these Islands when they set out to build those buildings, they were NOT thinking about the rich foreign man. The Glass house is deem unsafe for workers, like the towere building was and it is a health hazard to ALL, everyone of the CIG workers should sue you directly, if they should contract cancer or any other related ailments. MacKeeva remember also Hurricane season will soon be upon us, we need SHELTERS man. It is time for Dart and the Ritz Carlton to pay their concession fees to help you with the budget. When you sell this building then what??? Huh? Don’t you have to pay back the loan?? What is wrong with you man?????? Why are you not thinking about the future of these Islands???
MCKEEVA talking about financial mess from previous administration who in the world put us in a bigger mess then him his self gave away our country to expats for nothing in 2003 when he gave away 3000 statuses and now wants to charge one million for them,looks like hes getting a little bit of sense or either hes wakeing up,why didnt he charge one million for them in 2003 if he wanted to make money for the country.the jamaicans and other expats could not afford to pay one million so thats why they should not have gotten our birth right for free,if you dont have a million then you cant be caymanian thats how our birth right should have been protected.this is not surprising that he wants to sell the gov building,he will do any thing stupid,i dont expect any better from him,the expats knows that hes uneducated and thats what they are looking for,someone that will destroy this country and give it away to them for free.
"The 143,662 sq. ft. office building is not due to be completed until January 2011and was set to cost government around $87 million to build but it hopes to recoup the $50 million already spent making the deal a no gain or loss situation in terms of assets but one that will hopefully put cash back in the government’s coffers".
Er…does this include the VALUE OF THE LAND it occupies which must be worth millions. We would need to recoup that as well. But in any event this is a harebrained idea. Does the Premier know what a purchaser would expect in rent from a state of the art building in such a prime location? Isn’t this defeating the major purpose of such a building – to avoid paying rent?
If you want to save some money start by redeploying those three senior civil servants back into the public service at a similar level rather than having to pay them salaries of several hundred thousand dollars per annum to stay at home. Stop making decisions that impact us financially for partisan political purposes.
The only question is "Is there anything NOT for sale by the new Govt?".
Come quickly 2013.
I agree, this is not his building to sell!! It belongs to the people of the Cayman islands.. Sell this, and im sure your Premiership will be shortlived.. Up to you..
just because PPM built it and its a beautiful building is why he want to sell it,he wants nothing to remain that the PPM built,he just simply dont want the caymanian people to praise PPM,just like how he and roulston is making a mess of the schools just to make PPM look bad,who ever voted UDP mckeeva is you COCO TEA.
The key phrase, one of the interested parties…."civil service pension fund". This is a question….I am not an accountant…..does not the CIG owe millions of dollars in benefits to the civil service. If this is true how would the CIG/the people of Cayman see real dollars representing "income" for the country. Wouldn’t this be trading line items on a balance sheet. Doesn’t teh CIG need to be reducing costs and creating new income streams. I would appreciate some feed back from some who understands teh accounting process here.
BUSH MUST GET OUT OF OFFICE NOW. Come on Kurt, please contact UK to put a stop to this. public asset should not be sold.
what kind of business man is Bush, sell the building then pay rental at market rate (which is about US$60.00/sq.ft). so it other words the govt will have to pay US$8619720.00. the whole 143662 is not rentable space but most of it will be.
XXX
Premier Bush, this property belongs to the Caymanian people and we do not want it sold!!! You are there to represent us!!!! Or are you?!?!?!
It is plain stupid! You want to save money??? Stop with the extravagent trips, personal housekeeper, drivers, etc.
Take a look at your poll numbers Premier Bush. Look closely.
I cannot believe that someone is so stupid as to make this comment about the Premier’s benefits as if that is going to really make a difference in our country’s finances. Sounds like someone is simply jealous that he or his party was voted out (due to incompetence no less!). Please make a valuable suggestion instead of just complaining and spewing venom. That is the problem around here, especially with the government opposition. Everyone complains, but no other suggestions of substance are put forth. It shows so much ignorance on their part.
Selling the new GOAB is an EPIC FAIL!
Just because you support the UDP doesn’t mean that the previous poster is stupid or that they support PPM.
These UDP lackys think that everyone who doesn’t support Mac and his foolishness are PPM…they ga another thing coming if they believe that their own supporters and independants aren’t also against this.
So you’d rather sell the building? The same building which would be paid off for by 2013? The same one which would save government $10million in rent/lease annually?
You kinda sound like the stupid one here.
The sale is not to save money, but to raise money to reduce Caymans debt levels to a level where we don’t have to beg the UKto allow Cayman to increase it, and so stop direct taxation being brought in.
Selling the property has never been about saving money, it’s all about being in the UK’s pocket until we reduce the governments debt levels
Are you really that stupid not to realise that.
Well said.
Unfortunately the people seem to love him as they have put him back in power and do not make an effort topublicly protest the spending and misuse of funds as you have mentioned (housekeeper, driver etc….) If I was a local and cared about this country as some say they do I would be requesting rights to protest, standing outside the Govt office (his house even) demanding his resignation,doing alot more to voice my oppinion on all these matters. But I can’t, but some of you can! SPEAK UP! and not just on polls and papers and radio stations.
I challenge you, better yet I dare you!
The people in west bay put him back in power. NOT the people of the island. Until we rid ourselves of the antiquated district system for such a small country individuals can control the voters……