Mac to meet new UK minister
(CNS): The premier begins another round of overseas travel tomorrow, starting in Bermuda for the pre Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting before heading to London for key budget talks with the new Overseas Territories Minister. McKeeva Bush will be meeting Henry Bellingham for the first time on Tuesday, 8 June, when he will be discussing the Cayman Islands’ borrowing requirement to help balance this year’s budget deficit and meet the payments on next year’s capital projects. Government has still not revealed how the UK has reacted to its proposed three year financial plan or if the minister will be willing to agree to the $200 million or more which it is estimated government will need to borrow.
Bush has said that the three year plan submitted to the UK does not include direct taxation or any other new source of direct revenue, which the UK has said Cayman should consider, but relies on cuts in public spending and attracting inward investment.
Bellingham, who is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s new Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, is a member of the Conservative side of the new UK government coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. However, his Tory credentials are not necessarily going to translate into immediate approval on borrowing without taxation.
While the Conservatives are the UK’s party of lower tax they are certainly not opposed to taxation as a source of government revenue and will be no more willing to take a chance on incurring liabilities as a result of over-borrowing by any territory than the previous Labour Minister Chris Bryant. During his time in London the premier will also be meeting with representatives from the Treasury.
After the London talks Bush will then head to Brussels to meet with EU representatives on 9 and 10 June regarding the Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive, new European regulations that could have an impact on the Cayman Islands hedge fund sector.
Bush said recently that he believes the Cayman Islands already meets the requirement in the new rules to continue doing hedge fund business in the EU. However, although further details of the AIFMD are still to be worked out before it goes to the EU Parliament in July for final approval, a number of industry experts have already warned that Cayman’s Confidential Relationships (Preservation) Law (CRPL) may prevent the jurisdiction from meeting the criteria under the new EU directive.
The law, which is often referred to as Cayman’s "secrecy law", was described earlier this year by the attorney general as “the bane of our existence since the 1970s”. Speaking to the Legislative Assembly on 25 February, Samuel Bulgin said that a report had been submitted to Cabinet on 8 February examining the issues on the most appropriate type of DataProtection Act to suit the jurisdiction which would replace the CRPL. Bulgin said at the time that the document would be discussed by Cabinet within two weeks, paving the way for draft legislation for a bill. Since that time there has been no further mention of any progress on the removal of the secrecy law.
Bulgin will, however, be accompanying the premier on both the London and Brussels visits along with MLA Cline Glidden, CIMA Chairman George McCarthy, CIMA Managing Director Cindy Scotland and CIMA Deputy Managing Director & General Counsel Langston Sibblies.
The premier is expected to leave London and head back to the Cayman Islands on Saturday, a few days before he plans to deliver his government’s budget address and strategic policy statement to the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, 15 June.
While he is away Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly will be acting premier until 5 June, when Education Minister Rolston Anglin will step into the acting role until Bush returns.
Category: Headline News
How soon could an early election be held? What would the Voters need to do to get the ball rolling to get this started? We cant wait another 3 years, we wont have a Cayman Islands left!!! We will be stuck with a less than third world independant country, the bottom of the well is dropping out fast.
To the poster who suggested that WE the people post names of Canadates who we feel have the Integrity, Education, and best Intrest of the Country at Heart was right on let us pull together via this media source and get this ball rolling, because the longer we sit on OUR bottoms and do nothing but talk talk talk, the country is being swept away swiftly from under our feet, and when we land on our bottoms it wont be nice..
At present the entire Govt body needs to be removed, the current Judical body & the LA.
after the UK MP’s has taken a salary cut and find out our MLA’s has only proposed a 3.2 cut for theirselves!! what a laughing stock our govt is..i hope Mac don’t go up there and embarrass us
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lol…he will most certainly embarrass the cayman islands and its people. it’s not a question of "if" but rather a question of how badly will he embarrass himself, his country and his people…
Jonathan, big UDP man, gets to post in red and defend his beloved premier while the UDP posters in the Compass (that mouthpiece of the UDP) get to complain that CNS is biased against the UDP and for the PPM.
CNS – do we know how much Mac’s hotel room cost in Vancouver?
CNS: I’ve requested travelling expenses through an FOI.
Oh oh CNS, you know that means more backlash from the dictator! You dared request travelling expenses throught an FOI? Good luck, & I hope you brace yourselves for the storm (you should be ok though, it’s hurricane season)
Sadly, given the composition of large group headed off to Europe, it is a certainty that huge amounts of money will be spent and Mac will come back from Europe with no good news regarding the new European hedge fund regulations. Mac will find that in Brussels the EU’s representatives are far more interested in people who actually understand the concepts, rather than people who are related to Mac or are there to tell Mac what he wants to hear. Be prepared to endure some version of "it is somebody else’s fault" upon his return.
Jonathan, at 12:39 you wrote, "Let us look at other great democracies that have shown us that due process and the rule of law are the building blocks of civilised societies;"
Those are very wise words and I agree with them entirely. Unfortunately your suggestion that such wisdom warrants silence in the face of the abuses of the present government is unsustainable.
If your leader ever comes round to accepting that wisdom, and clearly demonstrates by his actions over time that he is committed to practicing that wisdom, then I am sure that the criticism of him will be much less than it currently is. Until then, he gets no more than the criticism and the suspicion that he has brought upon himself through his actions.
Please note that while I disagree with your conclusions, as an older Cayman ian I congratulate you for putting forward your views in this public forum and I encourage you to follow the wisdom in the words you wrote rather than the path your leader has set this country upon.
Jonathan, at 12:39 you wrote, "Let us look at other great democracies that have shown us that due process and the rule of law are the building blocks of civilised societies;" Those are very wise words and I agree with them entirely. Unfortunately your suggestion that such wisdom warrants silence in the face of the abuses of the present government is unsustainable.
Response: Again let me encourage you to read my initial post again. I did not say that we should remain silent when we believe that critism is warranted. I said we should try to be respectful in our comments. You refer to wisdom, may I submit that a wise person learns the skill of tempered admonishments. I encourage opinion sharing, lets just find a way to raise the level of debate and avoid gutter comments.
If your leader ever comes round to accepting that wisdom, and clearly demonstrates by his actions over time that he is committed to practicing that wisdom, then I am sure that the criticism of him will be much less than it currently is. Until then, he gets no more thanthe criticism and the suspicion that he has brought upon himself through his actions.
Response: There are some very slight but nonetheless significant differences between being leader of my party –UDP – and being MY leader. While we are on the topic of leadership, allow me to say that he is also the leader of our islands and he represents ALL of us. Whether or not you voted for him he is the Premier of the country and as a result represents you and I. Now you may care to voice your objection to this but really that point is irrefutable and not worth any further comment.
Please note that while I disagree with your conclusions, as an older Cayman ian I congratulate you for putting forward your views in this public forum and I encourage you to follow the wisdom in the words you wrote rather than the path your leader has set this country upo
Response: Thanks for your encouragement. I can assure that while I am a member of the party and I subscribe to many of the views and the political leaning of the party as an independent thinker there are times when my views are divergent with the party’s popular thinking. However as I stated earlier, that is what will ultimately make any democracy great. We all need to understand that being a member of a party doesn’t mean that we all always agree on every point but rather through dialogue and constant debate we can create an even greater society. Mr. Benjamin Franklin, prior to signing the final draft of the US Constitution said the following. “ I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them: For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others”.
Since the Honourable Premier Mr. McKeeva Bush also represents me (even though I assure you I did not vote for him), can he please start listening to me?
Can someone please tell Jonathan to quit while he is behind.
Being the Premier does not mean that you represent everybody, or ALL of us, or you and I, as you choose to put it. Minority or dissenting opinions are heard even in dictatorships, albeit within prison walls usually. Although if our Premier’s words are anything to go by, he would like them restricted to that location here as well.
Can you imagine Hitler saying "I killed 6 million Jews because that’s what EVERYBODY in Germany wanted"?
Are you allowed to ‘blog’?
Are you sure about those dates CNS?
The World Cup starts on June 11th, and it would be a shame if we didn’t have some sort of representation to rub shoulders with all the rich people that will be in South Africa for the World Cup.
On average they may not be a rich as the snow sports crowd in Vancouver, but there are a lot more of them.
We are almost broke, so we may as well roll the dice one more time and send our Minister for Sport on a tour of South Africa to drum up business.
He couldn’t do any worse that the Premier did on his World Tour with the group from Cayman Finance. I would even volunteer to go along and carry somebody’s luggage.
First of all can any one please tell me why CG need to be accompanying Mr. Bush on these trips is it becasue he havent been to this side of the world and they want to make sure they all cover these place before there time is up in the house becasue suely hell I hope it’s not for what he knows. Honestly I hope that Mr. Bush does have a budget to present to the UK Minister becasue surely hel doesnt same like he got any thing call a budget here on the Island or he just going up there to come back with some balanie story as always because if thats what he is planning why dont he fine out if he can make a skpe call to the minister which is much cheaper instead of wasting money that this counrty DONT have just because he wants to get away.
I’d hope this group understands the sensitivity of the meeting in Brussels. The premier, who obviously doesn’t have the credentials to deal with the issue, has picked a team, I hope they are up to the challenge.
Although, I’d want to see the schedule and minutes of the meeting. These regulations will be shaping the future of the financial industry and one must adapt. If this group cannot handle the situation, someone else must be brought in for assistance.
Respect is earned.So is disrespect. If the only name he is called is "Mac" he is getting off very lightly.
Perhaps if the occupier of the office of Premier started to treat the office with the respect it deserves, rather than as a justification for servants, home renovations and unnecessary first class travel paid for by the taxpayers, some respect might start to rub off on him.
I think a better name for XX mac is Chancy after the gardner played by Peter Sellers in the movie ‘Being There’. For those who saw it Sellers played a gardner who finished up advising the US Government. Was our beloved leader not a gardner in his former life?
after the UK MP’s has taken a salary cut and find out our MLA’s has only proposed a 3.2 cut for theirselves!! what a laughing stock our govt is..i hope Mac don’t go up there and embarrass us
Mac said he could have the economy turned around within a year! he is finally smelling the coffee! hhe made a lot of broken promises during the election..bashed the PPM and still had to use their recommendation of the 3 year plan..
And once again Caymanians send their champion over seas to represent them. It would be funny if it didn’t impact everyone else living in Cayman with just more hardship. Banana replublic with no banana. Just another example of what happens when the foolish lead the smart.
And the foolish were voted in by the stupid. Now all have to live with the consequences.
exactly!
Recognizing your space limitation, I do not think it is correct for a news organization to speak of the Premier as “Mac”. There must be some respect for thisoffice as is given to the Governor’s. We have not seen headlines about the Governor such as “Dunc off island”. I believe the same with the use of “Kurt” in reference to the Leader of The Opposition.
These types of headlines do not help in the development of our country. I believe news organizations have a higher responsibility than the local population in such matters and this type of headline tend to let CNS slip into the realm of just another blog.
Respect has to be earned and this man, whatever you wish to call him has earned nothing but ridicule and contempt. I’m quite comfortable with calling him XXXXX, thank you very much! Don’t even start with preaching respect, here!!!
I would prefer to call him Big Mac myself or any of a long list of obscenities.
Just because the egotistical idiot announced himself as “premier” doesn’t mean we have to bow to him. The President of the United States is widely referred to as Obama and some of the main newspapers in the UK frequently refer to their Prime minister as Dave (Cameron). No offence to Caymanians, but I believe Obama and Dave carry out much much more important jobs than Big mac.
I presume this commenter is either big mac himself, or his wife or a family member as the suggestion made was ridiculous and sounds like more nonsense being spouted about how poor the media is and how CNS and others are tyrannical evil forces.
Big Mac needs to get a grip on his own job before telling everybody else how to do theirs and stop being so almighty and people may start respecting him.
what do you know about Mr. Bush’s wife and or family? is there any need to think that we have nothing better to do than to sit around and respond to nonsensical garbage such as what was written by yourself? You got another guess coming bobo!!! i am only answering this post because after 24years of being drawn through the mud unecessarily, i think that it is time to have my say!
I make it a point not to read the garbage ( both printed and on the web) for this same reason. I am so sick and tired of people who sit around and point out the many ways that things could be done better but still….. DO NOTHING!!!
For a website / blog where posters claim to have all of the answers, there sure is alot of flatuence in the air……….. oh and if you are wondering who the writer of this commentary is, no need to worry your little head as i will not be hiding behind an anonymous alias. MY NAME WILL BE PRINTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!!
Have a wonderful day!
Tonya Bush-Anglin
Cry me a river
You know what they say; If you can’t stand the heat, get out the kitchen. Put the hired help in there instead.
yes sa!!!!!
If you are a UDP supporter, and particularly if your name is Bush, you are not going to be victimised and so you have to worry about posting your name.
XXXXXXXX
I agree the headline "Mac to meet new UK minister" is perhaps a tad inappropriate. I would have gone with " Mac f*cks off again"!
if only he would fxxk off for good!
Perhaps it is to offset the obsequious behaviour of the main host of Cross Talk who constantly addresses him as "Honourable Premier".
You make some good points with the comparison with the Governor and his expenses and about the need for respect. However, respect is a two-way street. Mr. Bush has been nothing but contemptuous of any dissent and particularly of the members of Opposition who were duly elected by their constituents. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition was elected by more voters than other MLA, period. However, rather than respecting the wishes of those voters Mr Bush believes that the Opposition MLAs must sit and be quiet.
This brings me to the exchange with Mr. McLean. I am afraid that you are one-sided with your criticism. Was it respectful for Mr. Bush to call on public radio to impugn a fellow MLA’s integrity, particularly when all independent evidence points to the falsity of his accusations? Having done so was it respectful to rudely hang up the phone even while Mr. McLean was responding? While it would have proper for Mr. McLean to express himself with a euphemism such as ‘being economical with the truth’ many would have taken this to be some sort of evasion or equivocation. I don’t recall any articles by you decrying Mr. Solomon’s behaviour busting into a radio station studio and aggressively and rudely accosting his MLA colleague Mr. McLaughlin.
Respect begets respect, and disrespect begets disrespect. Mr. Bush cannot claim for the respect due to his office, when he continually fails to show the respect worthy of his office.
"That’s why a debate can only be had between self-respecting intellectuals".
You appear to saying that Mr. Bush can never be involved in a debate. Indeed, it is difficult to have a debate with one who tolerates no dissent and allows only those in agreement to express their views. Perhaps you should have debate with Mr. Bush about freedom of speech, respect for the rule law, his intemperate outbursts etc. Perhaps you should ask yourself why it is that in our entire history Mr. Bush is the only leader of govt. who is regarded with such disdain and suspicion.
You make some good points with the comparison with the Governor and his expenses and about the need for respect. However, respect is a two-way street. Mr. Bush has been nothing but contemptuous of any dissent and particularly of the members of Opposition who were duly elected by their constituents. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition was elected by more voters than other MLA, period. However, rather than respecting the wishes of those voters Mr Bush believes that the Opposition MLAs must sit and be quiet.
Response: I am not suggesting that the Opposition remain quiet. I would not expect any opposition to remain silent and I certainly respect the need and purpose for good strong responsible opposition as this kind of opposition brings balance to any debate. However with all due respect, this forum is not a true representative of a responsible opposition. Contributors are not protected by parliamentary rules nor governed by Robert’s Rules of Order for example. Also contributors can hide behind anonymity. Instead what we have is a very well organised group of individuals who are prepared to muddle the topic and decry any representative based mainly on personal convictions of that individual rather than facts. We have individuals who are more prepared to feed the propaganda machine and a forum which isn’t holding its contributors to any great standard. We really cannot continue to go down this road of "I can say whatever, wherever, whenever and I’m only repeating bad behaviour previously exhibited anyway." Last I checked, two wrongs can not make a right. Again all I’m saying is that constraint and diplomacy should be exercise more regularly when printing headlines and the same conscientiousness should be exercised by the contributors to this site. There are many ways to get a point across without planting seeds of acrimony and/or disrespect. If we don’t respect our leaders, who will?
This brings me to the exchange with Mr. McLean. I am afraid that you are one-sided with your criticism. Was it respectful for Mr. Bush to call on public radio to impugn a fellow MLA’s integrity, particularly when all independent evidence points to the falsity of his accusations? Having done so was it respectful to rudely hang up the phone even while Mr. McLean was responding? While it would have proper for Mr. McLean to express himself with a euphemism such as ‘being economical with the truth’ many would have taken this to be some sort of evasion or equivocation.
Response: I believe that you are right I am biased hence the reason for my initial post. I would also suggest that you too are biased and that’s not all together a bad thing. What I would hope to achieve however is some level of compromise which would include us being able to respectfully criticise our leaders and opposing views. I did not see a problem with the Premier calling in on Rooster – after all it is a radio call in program and the host answered the call just as he would have answered any other call. I am sure you will also agree that in the past there have been calls from the opposition to the program when the Government have been guests to the program. I believe that instead ofentering into a shouting match or remaining silent while Mr. Mclean shouted that he was a liar, the Premier did the most appropriate thing and ended the call. I only mentioned this event to draw the parallel that while we must defend our integrity we must defend it while protecting it. If it is our intention to be an example, we must act exemplary. That’s why I cannot agree with the greatest of respect, with the behaviour exhibited by Mr. McLean. His behaviour in my estimation was neither a demonstration of integrity nor exemplary.
I don’t recall any articles by you decrying Mr. Solomon’s behaviour busting into a radio station studio and aggressively and rudely accosting his MLA colleague Mr. McLaughlin.
Response: The impetus for me writing my initial article had nothing to do with the Rooster incident as stated earlier but rather to do with irresponsible headlines and irresponsible, negative and defamatory comments being made by some contributors against the country’s first Premier and most senior Government elected representative and chief defender of the Cayman Islands Constitution and therefore in my opinion has nothing to do with Mr. Solomon. I did not make my comment to exalt one wrong over another neither justify one wrong over another. Mr Solomon is responsible for his actions and he can comment on them if he so chooses.
Respect begets respect, and disrespect begets disrespect. Mr. Bush cannot claim for the respect due to his office, when he continually fails to show the respect worthy of his office.
"That’s why a debate can only be had between self-respecting intellectuals".
You appear to saying that Mr. Bush can never be involved in a debate. Indeed, it is difficult to have a debate with one who tolerates no dissent and allows only those in agreement to express their views. Perhaps you should have debate with Mr. Bush about freedom of speech, respect for the rule law, his intemperate outbursts etc. Perhaps you should ask yourself why it is that in our entire history Mr. Bush is the only leader of govt. who is regarded with such disdain and suspicion.
Response: I am not suggesting that Mr. Bush cannot be involved in a debate. However what I am saying, is that an eye for an eye only ends up making the world blind. You are right respect begets respect, but unfortunately disrespect also begets disrespect. We have a responsibility as good decent citizens to set a standard for ourselves and live by those standards. We should never allow ourselves to be led down a path where we compromise those standards for selfish, spiteful, revengeful motivations. No freedom – including freedom of speech – comes without responsibility. There is a great difference between expressing an opinion and defaming one’s character and we need to become more aware of these very important differences. We must never allow an environment or situation to decide how we react – not even politics should become so emotionally charged that we loose our way. Even the art of war/debate calls for great discipline. The warrior/debater who demonstrates the greatest discipline will ultimately be victorious over his opponent.
Have a wonderful evening and thanks for sharing…
Jonathan Piercy
"I am not suggesting that the Opposition remain quiet. I would not expect any opposition to remain silent and I certainly respect the need and purpose for good strong responsible opposition as this kind of opposition brings balance to any debate".
"I am not suggesting that the Opposition remain quiet. I would not expect any opposition to remain silent and I certainly respect the need and purpose for good strong responsible opposition as this kind of opposition brings balance to any debate".
You do not seem to be able to distinguish between yourself and Mr. Bush, which is quite infortunate. My comment was as you quoted "however, rather than respecting the wishes of those voters Mr Bush believes that the Opposition MLAs must sit and be quiet".
Response: I can and do distinguish between myself and the Premier. What I am suggesting is that we should voice our concerns/comments but with respect.
"However with all due respect, this forum is not a true representative of a responsible opposition. Contributors are not protected by parliamentary rules nor governed by Robert’s Rules of Order for example".
You seem to be confused. This site is not supposed to be a true representative of a responsible opposition or be protected by parliamentary rules or governed by parliamentary rules of order. The fact that posters feel obliged to post anonymously reflects the climate of oppression and vindictiveness introduced by the current govt. It seems to be UDP orthodoxy to imagine that anyone critical of the current govt. must be the PPM. You are seriously mistaken.
Response: I am not confused you said in your response to me "Mr. Bush has been nothing but contemptuous of any dissent and particularly of the members of Opposition who were duly elected by their constituents. Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition was elected by more voters than other MLA, period. However, rather than respecting the wishes of those voters Mr Bush believes that the Opposition MLAs must sit and be quiet."
This suggests that you are voicing your support for the elected opposition and you are advocating for them and just like me am biased. However I believe that the record will show that the UDP govt has given many opportunities for the PPM opposition to get involved. However their involvement does not have to extent to acting upon their advice – especially when its just another diabolical proposal that will lead us to where we do not want to return. While the majority rules, the minority must be heard and the record does show that they have been heard. Everyone should remember their last contribution to the budget – SILENCE. Everyone should remember their response to solving the financial crisis and solving the country’s deficit – SPEND MORE and BORROW MORE. This is not sound advise and I am glad that the UDP has not allowed these views to be part of our policy to solving our woes.
I believe all of my comments have been respectful.
Response :Certainly your comments in relation to this topic have been respectful and I thank you. However because almost everyone posts as "anonymous" I cannot say with total certainty that you were not responsible for some of the other reckless posts. I will however give you the benefit of the doubt.
You appear to have the idea that respect should be demanded for the Premier while he in turn is not required to show respect, or that mere MLA status does entitle one to respect. In fact you seek to justify his behaviour. It is this insufferable arrogance that is sinking the UDP. In a commentary about the importance of respect and acting in an exemplary manner to insist that your comments have nothing to do with Mr. Solomon’s disrespectful behaviour and that he must speak for himself is sheer hypocrisy.
Response: I disagree with you and I would encourage to read the entire section of my earlier commentary to get a understanding of what I am trying to say. My comments re Mr. Solomon is not Hypocrisy, I have clearly stated my views on the matter. I am not hear defending the party or the behaviour of any particular member I am trying to show you the importance of respecting each other and our representatives as I stated I am not exalting one wrong over another neither justifying one wrong over another. What I am saying is that if we are going to lead by example then lets do it the right way. I ask you, do you think that the following comments are acceptable?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 06/03/2010 – 09:31.
I agree the headline "Mac to meet new UK minister" is perhaps a tad inappropriate. I would have gone with " Mac f*cks off again"!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 06/03/2010 – 10:37.
if only he would fxxk off for good!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 06/03/2010 – 09:24.
I would prefer to call him Big Mac myself or any of a long list of obscenities.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/02/2010 – 20:41.
I’m sorry. As much as I have tried to like the party that I have voted for, I really HATE this awful government with its AWFUL "Premier".
"I am not suggesting that Mr. Bush cannot be involved in a debate. However what I am saying, is that an eye for an eye only ends up making the world blind. You are right respect begets respect, but unfortunately disrespect also begets disrespect".
The suggestion that Mr. Bush is a "self-respecting intellectual" is of course ludicrous. It appears that you missed both (a) the fact I have already made the point that disrespect begets disrespect, and (b) how this applies to Mr. Bush’s own behaviour.
Just to be clear, my point is not that disrespect is acceptable but rather that it should be shown by all and not merely by those who criticise the govt. and Mr. Bush in particular as you appear to believe. True leadership is about being exemplary not merely about demanding respect based on your position, office or title. Form those who hold the highest offices we expect the highest standards.
Response: I am going to refrain form commenting on this. I would just encourage you to carefully read my comments again…
I’m sorry. As much as I haveI would prefer to call himif only he would fxxk off forI agree the headline "Mac to
My comments were to bring balance where your comments lacked it. It is necessary that a counterbalance must point out the opposite side which you have omitted. That does not amount to advocacy for anyone. Again there is the misconception that any criticism must have come from the PPM.
Your confusion relates to your apparent belief that parliamentary rules of conduct should apply to a news website. This is not the legislative assembly (where often defamatory remarks are made with impunity about individuals under the cover of parliamentary privilege) and at least most of us (including myself) are not MLAs. I am certainly not a part of any "highly organized" group (or any other group) and I doubt that such a group exists. You seem to find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that there is a groundswell of public disapproval of Mr. Bush’s government which has resulted from its poor conduct of public affairs.
I am afraid that you have not clearly stated your views on the matter with Mr. Solomon but instead have clearly evaded stating your views. My comment re hypocrisy therefore stands. I have thoroughly read your post and do understand what you are saying both expressly and implicitly.
I do not in any way approve of comments of the sort you have quoted since they express hatred.
Jonathan, I would suggest that you start posting anonymously as well. Take Capt. Eugene as a fine example of a representative who has not said anything stupid in the last twelve years. Nobody is going to mistake you for an intellectual, but you’re smart enough to figure out how he managed to accomplish that feat.
The next piece of advice is to stop copying everything the poster you are replying to wrote before entering your response. We can read the post above it and remember what was written. Heck, we’re even smart enough to scroll back up and read it again if necessary. We are not UDP supporters who need a card with names and numbers to remember whom to vote for. Neither are we PPM supporters.
Now on to the issue of Mr. Solomon which you seem to have answered to your own satisfaction. Unfortunately your answer is inadequate even for a UDP supporter with a voting reminder card. You criticised Arden’s behaviour on the radio, and then said that Elio was responsible for responding to his critics for his own behaviour.
The issue at hand is statements made over the public airwaves. Arden made a statement that you were critical of. Elio barged into the studio, took control of a microphone, and asked Aldin "Do you know how many sisters I have?……"
Do you have an opinion on Elio’s rant, or are you unable to find anything filed in your election campaign cue cards?
" I was led to believe this since everything negative you have blamed the UDP for and everything positive you have tried to credit the PPM for".
That is a complete and absolute mischaracterisation of my posts. I have not credited the PPM with anything at all (they have their own faults but those are not the issue now) and the only thing I have blamed the UDP for is the climate of oppression, intimidation and vindictiveness it has introduced. People have gone underground as a result. I have not blamed them for the financial crisisor the crime wave that we are experiencing. In short that is purely your imagination and has no basis in fact.
Mr. Piercy
Being disrespected and having to bear with criticism, is what you get from wanting to Lead a host of people, blessed with Freedom of Speech. To be Premier or leader of any country or organization comes with a price. Don’t be offended with people disrespect the Premier, McKeeva Bush. This is something that is inevitable as soon as one takes office or holds certain powers over a country.
Mr. Piercy, sometimes as a leader, you have to be patient and tolerant to much criticisms and focus on your goals in order for much good to beaccomplished; or, the negativity will eat-you-up. It will cause you to become a reactive leaders instead of proactive and principled-centered. You can’t allow the media or anyone "step on your toes."
This is what have made me dissappointed with certain of the UDP’ members. They allowed certain things to unwarrantly get the hold of them, and cause them to do things that were in my opinion disrespectful themselves. We just saw how the Premier reacted to the media instead of possessing a calm spirit. He could have launch his own government media outlet, but he allowed trivial matters to get the hold of him.
Such is life, my friend
Boy Jonathan, you going be in big trouble when Big Papa Mac find out you been using red ink again!
Red ink is the only thing the UDP has lots of, if the budget is anything to go by. lol.
‘Blogging’ too!! Is that allowed? Oh, maybe its because you have freedom of speech?
CNS – this is very biased, how come UDP members are allowed to post using coloured fonts and the rest of us are chastised for doing so?
Jonathan – Wishful thinking. I submit to you that this is not in fact a "very well organized group of individuals" but a large number of clearly disgruntled free thinking, open minded individuals who for a large part are anti-Mac rather than anti-UDP. With good reason I might add. Your fearless leader who you bow down to so is a danger to himself, these islands and all who affiliate themselves with him, as has been proven time and time again.
CNS: You right about the font colour – if I’d had more time I would have changed it to black Italic. Mr Piercy, could you stick to black in the future, please?
I agree with your view that the office ofPremier should be afforded a certain amount of respect because of what it is, rather than who fills it at a point in time. I also hold the view that the actions of the individual holding this post can add to or detract from the natural respect for office.
Since taking office Bush has had a number of opportunities to influence how the public regard the office of Premier. Let’s take a look at some of them:
1) Accepted office as a consequence of a majority of UDP MLA’s being elected in 2009, which included 2 elected in clear breach of the elections law.
2) Declared to the world that Cayman was ‘ broke", for no reason other than seeking to blame the PPM.
3) Instructed the civil service to make cuts of $95m prior to the 2009 loan negotiation and accepted $5m.
4) Proposed an oil refinery for the island, as far asI can tell for no other reason than he was in Dubai at the time.
5) Sought to bring the legal aid system under his direct political control and staff it with hand picked cronies.
6) Publicly questioned the appropriateness of the long standing legal concept of " innocent until proven guilty ".
7) Publicly questioned the usefulness of FOI.
8) Publicly threatened the freedom of the press and publicly criticised bloggers for expressing their views.
This is quite a performance for his first year. I am sure we differ on this, but I struggle to find anything in the list above which would bring greater respect to the office and much which tarnishes it’s reputation. Maybe CNS should show a little more respect to the office of Premier to counter balance the negative effect of Bush doing his best to diminish it.
I stopped reading after the first paragraph.
The man is an XXXXXX and I don’t care what his title his!
My memory is bad but not that bad that I cannot remember that J. Piercy was a candidate for the UDP in the last elections. It therefore comes as a great surprise that Mr. Piercy posts a very long comment on this forum talking (complaining) about, of all things, respect! I find it baffling that anyone associated with the premier can complain about a lack of respect towards others. I would have thought that Mr. Piercy would have first suggested it to his leader, but I guess what people say about the dictator is true, & also that those around him are very weak (or have no say).
My memory is bad but not that bad that I cannot remember that J. Piercy was a candidate for the UDP in the last elections. It therefore comes as a great surprise that Mr. Piercy posts a very long comment on this forum talking (complaining) about, of all things, respect! I find it baffling that anyone associated with the premier can complain about a lack of respect towards others. I would have thought that Mr. Piercy would have first suggested it to his leader, but I guess what people say about the dictator is true, & also that those around him are very weak (or have no say).
Response: Of course I ran in the last election but that has nothing to do with me expressing my deep concern for what in my opinion is reckless and sensationalist headlines and comments being posted. Being opposed to something does not justify or warrant a disrespectful, no rules approach. Your comments suggesting that the Premier is a dictator and that we are weak are unnecessary and all together false. I would encourage you to look beyond your current scandalous motivations and not be used to spread propaganda. Your skewed views of the party and its members are clouding your better judgement and causing you to become "baffled."
Jonathan Piercy
Jonathan Piercys letter is typical UDP biasness & has that usual UDP attitude of "it is alright for me to do so & so but it is wrong for you to do the same." I really thought better of Johnathan than that but I suppose that once you are indoctrinated by the UDP & their beliefs it is hard to change.
How can Piercy mention that Mckeeva Bush was called a liar on radio but not mention the much more disturbing fact that it was Mckeeva Bush who called into the radio station & accused Arden Mclean of doing something he didn’t do? How one sided can you get? How biased can you be?
Johnathan, please, it was Bush who called the radio show & told untruths about Mr. Mclean, & anything after that is fair game. The problem is that Mr. Bush did not expect someone to stand up to him & was shocked when Arden put him in his place. It ended up being very funny in that Bush had to run away (hang up) & go seek shelter with his cronies, but in all honesty Johnathan, you should be a little less UDP & be more fair instead when commenting on such issues.
Jonathan Piercys letter is typical UDP biasness & has that usual UDP attitude of "it is alright for me to do so & so but it is wrong for you to do the same." I really thought better of Johnathan than that but I suppose that once you are indoctrinated by the UDP & their beliefs it is hard to change.
How can Piercy mention that Mckeeva Bush was called a liar on radio but not mention the much more disturbing fact that it was Mckeeva Bush who called into the radio station & accused Arden Mclean of doing something he didn’t do? How one sided can you get? How biased can you be?
Johnathan, please, it was Bush who called the radio show & told untruths about Mr. Mclean, & anything after that is fair game. The problem is that Mr. Bush did not expect someone to stand up to him & was shocked when Arden put him in his place. It ended up being very funny in that Bush had to run away (hang up) & go seek shelter with his cronies, but in all honesty Johnathan, you should be a little less UDP & be more fair instead when commenting on such issues.
Response: Pls read my initial commentary again SLOWLY. This has all morphed into something that’s quickly becoming septic…
You have mentioned Mr. McLean more time than I have in all of my replies…this is not about the Rooster incident. It’s about being respectful. Funny how this morning the newest addition to Rooster (a foreign national) made fun of Mr McLean calling the Premier a liar. I didn’t find that funny at all. Matter of fact, to some extent it was embarrassing. Embarrassing that we have lowered our standard to the extent that others can now laugh and jeer us and we can’t say anything because they are just following our lead in disrespecting our country’s leaders. This is not a UDP position, this is a Jonathan Piercy position.
Anyway you can attempt to scold me for encouraging us to take the moral high ground but please don’t be astonished when the moral low ground leads off straight off the cliff and social and political unrest destroy our country. I have heard it said time and time again that party politics are the ruin of these islands. That’s is totally incorrect. What is destroying this country is our inability to accept change and accept responsibility for our actions. A political party should not change the character of a man but rather the character of a man should change and influence the party.
No one is scolding you for taking the high moral ground, Jonathan. If you are being scolded it is because you are being hypocritical in failing to take the moral high ground consistently and using it when you believe it is politically convenient.
"A political party should not change the character of a man but rather the character of a man should change and influence the party".
This is precisely the thing that scares us most about Mr. Bush and the UDP. If the rest of the party are to be a reflection of him then God help us.
Mr Piercy, you’ve said a lot of words in your various comments but you have not answered the main question. Please could you do so now with as few words as possible (preferably one) and remember that your personal honesty is on the line here and your answer may come back to haunt you.
Do you think that McKeeva Bush debates respectfully with people who disagree with him?
(I’d like to remind you that many of us saw you and the other UDP candidates on the election platform with him and watched you all chuckle when he said the most outrageously rude things about the opposition)
"There is a difference between a political opponent and a political enemy). I hope we never see the day where we have political enemies in this country"
Tell that to your leader. Anyone who disagrees with McKeeva he perceives to be his political enemy who must be destroyed. That is the reason he wants to stop the anonymous ‘bloggers’ because he is frustrated that he can’t identify them and destroy them.
Now if there was ever a valid reason to pray, this is it. God help us if this is the representation we have!
The Premier is definately working hard to overcome this financial mess left by the PPM govt. coupled with the world economic crisis. For you commenters who are disgusted because he is travelling too much, it is absolutely necessary that he travel and hold these discussions they are not coming to us so we have to confront them personally. Part of our problems now is because the former leader sat back, did not travel and did nothing while the world passed us by now we are miles behind and have to play catch up.
Can I have some of what you’re smoking?
That must be some really good stuff you have because it is giving you hallucinations.
Quick question for you, why would they not come to us? I bet they haven’t been asked because our illustrious Big Mac would love to travel some more! If you are going begging for money so that you can try sort out a mess that the government has made, would it not be better for the person who inevitably is going to have a say in whether or not the loan is granted, being able to see first hand what it is you intend to invest in, fix etc?
Can you go to a bank and just put your hand out? Don’t think so.
I must say I completely disagree with this way of thinking. In a time where technology is at everyones finger tips, there is something called virtual conferencing. It can easily be set up by the dozens of I.T experts that government employs. Not to mention, he has traveled first class to everywhere he has went. Stayed in five start hotels.. Doesn’t sound like the this islands is hurting for anything.
Im hoping that the new uk minister will ask Sir Mac how he traveled to england and how much of a pay cut he took.
To Anon 06:52, can you please tell the Cayman people just one positive achievement in the way of inward investment that all of that travel that McKeeva Bush has done. Just one. He has said that he has had investors knocking down his door. Where are they? All indications are that foreign investors have actually turned away & gone else where. Can you please tell us of just one foreign investor who has recently invested In Cayman because of the globe trotting of the premier! Tell us what he many travels have produced, apart from 5 star hotels, first class travel, & sweet vacation time.
With all this travelling I hope Mac doesn’t get confused over whose "turf" he is on.
I know its a lot to ask, but it would be nice if for once he went somewhere and listened without opening his mouth to embarass us.
The big problem is simply this.
Ever since I can remember all the politicians in Cayman have always been about themselves and they have used and abused their positions for personal gain.
There had better not be any ridiculous, sanctimonious responses from the children of the previous crooks because the people know different.
These current hooligans are no different. People, in case you did not realize, the politicians were elected BY US!
So it stands to reason that they should do the will of the people.
Mr. Bush, it is NOT the will of the people for you to build a big wall around your house, so kindly take it down. We paid for it and we have the right to remove it.
It is also NOT the will of the people for you to be swanning off to God knows where on another "jolly". It is NOT the will of the people for you to travel first class and live the high life on OUR dime. We demand that you stop this now and that the money be better spent at home.
It IS the will of the people that the other politicians who were elected with you start earning their salaries. You have all had a year and then some to come up with…..diddley squat.
Mr Adam, Elio, Dwayne and the others we hear nothing about, what are your excuses for promising the earth and delivering nothing? We the people demand to know and if you cannot present reasonable answers, then you have no right to cash your paychecks.
Did you think that representing the people of the Cayman Islands was an easy job? Certainly not. We are tired of all the smoke being blown up our rears and demand substance.
Oh dear Lord let us all pray now!
The Lord will not help you against Mac, because Mac is a true Christian, he prays to you know, look at his answer to the spate of violence a few months ago, praying on the steps of the LA Building…….
Henry Bellingham’s tertiary education was at Magdalene College (Cambidge) where he read law. Prior to becoming a barrister, he did his pupilage at Lincoln’s Inn.
I am not aware of Mr. Bush’s work experience apart from him being a estate agent, but his acedemic qualifications would appear to pale into insignificance.
XXXX please do not try to engage Mr. Bellingham in any meaningful dialogue as we all suspect you are way out of your league and he will see straight through your normal tactic of flip flopping. Let someone with a modicum of intelligence and diplomacy, such as the Hon. Mr. Adams, please deal with any negotiations.
Rolston – please stage a coup while he is away and don’t let him back into the country for at least 30 years. That way the country just might be able to survive.
Our Premier believes that the Constitution gives him the right to have personal servants paid for by the suffering taxpayers. He believes that he is entitled to spend our money on first class travel for himself and his baggage carriers. He also believes that Cayman’s regulations meet the criteria necessary for our hedge fund sector to continue to do business in Europe. He believes that he is not obliged to meet the commitment to cut his own huge pay packet by 30%.
He believes a lot of self-serving things. That is why the people of Cayman no longer believe that he should be able to call himself the Premier of this country.
Oh God yet another minister will think all Caymanians are imbeciles. I guess it could be worst he could have sent his deputy to conduct another round of foot washing.
I’m sorry. As much as I have tried to like the party that I have voted for, I really HATE this awful government with its AWFUL "Premier".
I hope they step down, but if the truth be known, they are all about themselves and are too arrogant to admit that they are out oftheir depth.
UDP, you have been horrendous up until now. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. You promised us solutions, and you have given us grief.
Go now, the whole sorry bunch of you and let us pick some worthy candidates if they exist.
The heart of Cayman is bleeding over your selfishness. Make NO MISTAKE, you have all been tried in the balance and all found wanting.
You have lots of company in your thinking.
well said…every member of the udp is guilty of standing behind mckeeva…..change your leader or face political extinction!
More travel, & more waste of money we do not have. I pray he does not threaten the new OT minister like he did with the new governor. What an embarrassment for Cayman.
I have come to the opinion that McKeeva Bush & the UDP want a "Cayman where government dominates the people rather than REPRESENTS them."
However they shall fail because "we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights – among which are life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness."
Ultimate power should always reside in the people, despite what the UDP want.
"LIVE FREE OR DIE"
I would go with Live Free… At least then, I would have a chance to make a difference, starting with the removal of the Mac and his incompetent Government. Hopefully the people of Cayman could find away of having them removed, for it’s hard thinking of been under this Government for the remaining three years.
EVERYONE, LIVE FREE ALL THE WAY……
lol…
Tell me something CNS, this is the second time I am seeing a picture with Mac looking like he has one teeth.
Is it a sense of humor?
Yes you are right, this is the second time this photo is being used and CNS should use proper protocol and put up his OFFICIAL photo, which I am sure they have on record.
This is very disrespectful for the world to see such poor photography.
I’m getting sick of reading these idiotic responses where officials are responding to comments made on stories about them. This poster is clearly related to Mac in some way.
The public are entitled to a point of view and don’t always have to agree and bow down to the govenrment.
If you did your jobs properly people wouldn’t hate you all so much.
Why should CNS be forced to use the “Official” photo> Last I heard this island still had the right to free press and free speech.
If Mac and his cronies spent more time planning and running the country properly and less time trying to limit the publics right to free speech on blogs and news articles, then perhaps this island wouldn’t be the banana republic it is fast returning to,
Your ignorance is a "sense of humor"….
One teeth? OR one tooth?
Okay. Food for thought.
Actually it’s "one teets". Get it right if you are going to criticise.
By the way CNS, why are you using an American spell checker in your text box? It’s most annoying.
One teets would be accurate for a George Town MLA. As a West Bay MLA, we have to say that he appears to have only one toof.
I would also like to encourage the reporters on this site to continue using pictures that capture the essence of the topic rather than stock photos of MLA’s.
what about log wood or a white pepper mint candy? hey! MLA’s need to have their breath sweet at all times
There’s no spell-checker embedded in the comment box. If you are having a check-as-you-type spell-checking experience it’s due to your internet browser. To my knowledge, you can’t use the options in Firefox to change from American to the Queen’s English (unfortunately), so I personally just live with some squiggly red lines under words and know that I’m right.
Thank you kindly, my mother always told me that you learn something new every day.
The Premier is sure running up a lot of frequent flier miles.
He better bring his knee pads with him.
Elbow pads too.
It’s a harrowing thought that the Premier and his boys have not been able to think of any other solutions except to entertain the recommendation from the UK of imposing taxation on the ALREADY heavily burdened people of these islands as well as the very FUNDAMENTAL solution of more borrowing. I am of the opinion that although short, 1 year in the House is MORE than adequate time to at least be able to THINK of other solutions that are outside the typical options which any less-than-educated person would use as their first and only solutions to our financial woes.
Besides that, in the midst of our worst financial crunch, he and his govt has still managed to come up with a budget that includes a "SPENDING PLAN"! Imagine the projects they have in their scopes(in that proposed spending plan) which will only serve to send us EVEN DEEPER into the financial abyss
The big question should be – WHY is the Premier(and his boys) NOT being forced to come up with other revenue/economic solutions except these two very basic options?
The Premier and his boys should be put under heavy pressure to find other viable solutions since they refuse to take the 20/30% cuts and that they are earning big dollars to do nothing except to dig us deeper into debt.
Let’s RAISE THE BAR on this bunch, people.
Your views?
Truly,
IRON CLAD
Cayman Has Taxes
Work Permits = 10% of the average person’s wage
Consumption Tax (Duty) = 22% of everything we consume
Real Estate Stamp Duty = 5-7 years property taxes on the mainland
Retail TAX = 50% over Walmart and Target prices in Miami
… If you factor in the HURRICANE TAX which takes 100% of your uninsured belongings every few years plus lost wages, lost productivity, flights off the island and rebuilding costs – it is almost getting cheaper to return to the States, Canada or UK.
Funny enough I see many Caymanians leaving recently, along with the expats perhaps they see the same thing.
Tim Ridley .. Which of these existing Taxes would you repeal in favor of your "minimal property tax"?
What this Country needs is to cut the size of it’s expenditure to match the reality of the world we live in before our overspending takes our lights out. You can hire back the gardening leavers and impress the UK Ministers with our prudence whenwe start growing again.
So you’re adding a tax paid by companies to a tax some people pay to a tax that doesn’t even exist, to conclude that everyone pays too much tax?
The only valid one on that list is import duty and most people only pay that on their weekly grocery bill.
You’dhave to be going some at Fosters to pay CI$500 a month in tax, which is roughly one tenth of the cost of an entry level police officer.
Really you only pay duty on your groceries? Wow you must let us all know where you shop. We all have to pay duties every time we buy any durable items, household items, electronics or anything. I paid duty on my vehicles, beds, sofas, Tvs, bbq, DVD player, chairs, carpets paint, all of my clothing and that for my wife and children. I didn’t get any of that from Fosters and had to pay 20 or 22% duty on every last thing. Wow I even pay taxes (sorry stamp duty) just to take out an insurance policy.
My employer pays for my work permit fees. They can’t afford to give me a rise because of the cost of the permit. If the permit were less then they could afford to pay me more. I’d consider that to be the equivilent of taxation. The employer has a budget for an employee and they have to factor in all costs of employing that person. The less the fees, the more they can pay. Thats how it works across the world.
I’m not really sure why you expect me to foot the bill for 1/10th of a policeman every month. There is not one officer to every 10 people, so the cost of the force per person is a small fraction of what you quote.
Next time you comment, pull your head out of your backside first.
Clearly you should stick to policing since you are one…
EVERYTHING you buy in Cayman has tax (import duty) added to it and perhaps you haven’t been here long enough to realise that.
So when you buy your gas (which apparently according to you most people don’t, they walk everywhere?) it is taxed, hence it being $4+ gallon, oh wait, you get it for from us right with your freebie cards at the government depot and give it to all your friends….so you don’t pay that tax.
Let me try some more…oh wait I don’t have the time to list every single thing that can be purchased in the Cayman Islands….
This seems like fair summary of existing taxes; bearing in mind that the retail tax goes to the private rather than the public sector, although the public sector did recently attempt to chomp a bigger slice of the pie. Also with some attention to hurricane preparedness, and careful preservation of what mangroves are left, hopefully the national disaster tax won’t bite more than every 65 years or so.
However it is undeniable that more and more residents and Caymanians are looking about for cheaper alternatives.
It is also true that noone has really talked yet about how the introduction of new taxes would fit in with existing levies. If we agree with the Miller report that work permits are essentially a payroll tax then that should rule out any kind of payroll tax on work permit holders– although it does not necessarily rule out making the work permit fee more fair as a proportion of wages. Perhaps it could rise to 15% for high-fliers to reduce the burden on the poorest. In addition why not introduce a public sector payroll tax of the same proportions? This raises the question of whether the best use of these funds is to provide– as other nations do– a guaranteed basic pension and health care scheme so that we at least know where the funds are going, and our poorest and most disadvantaged citizens don’t have to worry if their employment benefits were paid that month.
Similarly if we introduce Mr Ridley’s community service tax (which again at least suggest how the money would be used)– what smaller taxes might be repealed? Perhaps the (I understand still-to-be-introduced) business premises levy– and some level of stamp duty?
Very few people are able to get something for nothing. I suppose when this happens the lucky few are often understandably reluctant to highlight it. Surely in return for their monies, the public should be guaranteed some level of dialogue and surety in how these are utilised for the good of all. Which leads me to the final point by Anonymous Wednesday 21:19 that bears highlighting, which is the cost of the private sector. Sometime over the last few months an internal review of four public and private sector departments, spearheaded by the Deputy Governor’s office, was reportedly submitted by the powers-that-be. People (well the DG) spoke in hushed tones of millions of dollars in savings. It appeared to be sufficient for the Chamber to withhold their signature from the open letter to Government, on the grounds such reviews had proved useful and were likely to be effective if continued, although it apparently supported all of the other claims therein. Yet it is impossible to find anywhere a public discussion of what these savings might be and how they are being implemented.
Similarly the claim that Government rejected the initial proposal put forward by the civil servants, whom they lead, because it was too expensive, is interesting in light of the Deputy Governor’s further announcement in April of 49 million in savings in operating expenditure (some of which must have been in addition to the outcome of the reviews discussed above). MLA’s then unilaterally reduced by a further total of 8% (or around 19 million– the exact figure demanded by Miller) their vote to the public service personnel expenditure.
Never mind the red-herring of a 3.2% reduction in salaries that appears to have been floated by politicians to signify the out of control civil service hindering them from keeping their promises of fiscal responsibility and subsequently run with by a credulous media and public. Altogether the savings discussed above amount to at least 68 million dollars.
Yet having announced an 81million dollar deficit at the start of the cost-saving exercise, the deficit dropped by somewhat less than 30 million. Given that the projected revenue appears to have held steady at least between March and May, where are the missing millions and where is the public outcry specifically around this subject? This kind of silence even more than the high cost of living is causing Caymanians and residents alike to look around to other jurisdictions to see where they might have more of a say in how their money is spent, to be able to more efficiently and effectively serve the public, and to have better recourse when this is not their liking.
"The big question should be – WHY is the Premier (and his boys) NOT being forced to come up with other revenue/economic solutions except these two very basic options?"
They’re banking on the Shetty project.