Archive for July 26th, 2010
Arden calls for UDP coup
(CNS): The opposition’s representative for East End has called on his legislative colleagues on the government bench to throw out the leader of their party and the country. Arden McLean said he intends to bring a “no confidence” motion against Premier McKeeva Bush to the Legislative Assembly and asked the UDP members to back it. He urged the people of Cayman to lobby their representatives to throw out their leader for the sake of the country. Speaking at a PPM public meeting, McLean said the premier was not listening to anyone, least of all the opposition, and the only thing the PPM could do was bring a motion to remove him and hope that enough UDP members would support it.
He said the goal would be to have a secret ballot and then those on the government benches could mark an X to rid the country of the premier and the continually increasing fees that were crippling the people of Cayman.
McLean explained that this would then enable the country to have a new election. “We don’t want to form the government right away,” he said on Thursday evening at a public meeting at the back of the court house. “We want to go back to general election and let you decide who you want to have.”
Of the 15 elected members in the Legislative Assembly, nine sit on the government benches and six sit in opposition. Five of those are members of the People’s Progressive Party and the sixth is the independent representative from North Side, Ezzard Miller, who came to the House offering limited support for government but who has been increasingly at odds with it over the introduction of fees and other issues.
In order for the PPM to oust Bush from office McLean would need the support of Miller and just two members of the government.
McLean said that since taking office the government has introduce far too many taxes, making it impossible for ordinary people to survive. He said it was time to get rid of the government as they should not be allowed to serve their full term.
“This is the worst government since Columbus landed,” McLean said. He said while people criticised the former PPM administration, he accused the current government of being ten times worse. “They just don’t know what they are doing … they don’t have a plan,” the East End MLA declared.
He warned the people that more fees were coming to the Legislative Assembly later this year, when the government would be introducing an increase in vehicle and driver’s licence fees. Mclean pointed out that the opposition benches had proposed a number of different ways of raising revenue instead of the 25 cents on fuel, which had included increasing the one-off costs of licences but government had ignored the proposal because it now intended to bring these in as well as the fuel duty and not as an alternative.
McLean also criticised the premier for paying what he described as “a failed politician” from Barbados $25,000 to write a speech. He also took some of the government ministers to task for their silence, pointing out that Mark Scotland, the health minister and Bodden Town representative, had said nothing about the deputy premier spending $9 million on a hurricane shelter for the Brac, giving the island another 800 places when there was no shelter at all in his own constituency.
He also warned that the current government was stinging the people with taxes now to try and balance the budget in time for their final year in office when they would declare a surplus and an economic miracle with the removal of the deficit. However, McLean pointed out that in the meantime people would suffer as more and more fees were heaped upon them.
He accused government of achieving nothing and said that all of its stimulus ideas had failed. Using the controversial high net worth investor’s residency certificate as an example, he said there had not been a single application. He also asked where were the investors that, during the election, the premier had said were knocking on his door and asked if Bush had lied to the people.
“Everything they have done since they got elected is baloney,” McLean said, adding that, despite the criticisms, the people could see where the PPM had spent the money. Now, he said, the people were suffering and there were “too many tricksters”, but nothing would change unless the people did something about it and urged everyone to lobby their MLAs to support the no confidence motion.
Beauty pageant deadline extended
(CNS): Women aged between 18 and 25 have a few more days to decide if they feel the have what it takes to represent their country on the beauty pageant world stage, as the Miss Cayman Islands Committee has extended the contestant application deadline to Wednesday, 28 July. With financial troubles dogging the competition last year, the committee is hoping to rejuvenate the pageant which is closely linked to the promotion of the Cayman Islands as a tourist destination. The last contest was won by Nicosia Lawson (left) who held the title through 2009. The clock is now ticking on the need to crown a new Miss Cayman Islands if the country is to be represented at the 2010 Miss World in China.
Open house on gambling
(CNS): A number of the community’s most outspoken supporters and dissenters on the subject of gambling will be coming together this week as part of an open public debate. Organisers are encouraging everyone to come and join the open house debate to give Cayman an opportunity to discuss the contentious issue ahead of the planned referendum in November. The hosts, Generation NOW, which has brought together a panel of seven local people who are both for and against, said the community’s attitude towards gambling appeared to be changing and it was time to have an open discussion on the subject regardless of its controversy.
Olivaire Watler, one of the directors of Generation NOW, explained that the organizers wanted to introduce a programme of a series of publicroundtable discussions on topical matters of national importance. “The topic of this particular forum was my suggestion as I have observed that our gambling law is not being enforced and the mores of our community appear to be changing so that certain forms of gambling, e.g. lotteries, are openly practised and socially condoned,” Watler said.
He explained that the open forum would help educate the population, particularly young people, as to the pros and cons of introducing legalised gambling prior to voting on a referendum and would hopefully foster constructive engagement between the proponents and opponents of legalised gambling. “It is easier to demonise someone for their views when you are not interacting with them personally,” Watler noted.
The panel is made up of Billy Adam, Reverend Nicholas Sykes, Gilbert McLean, Pastor William Peguero, Frank McField, Annie Multon and Carolina Ferreira. Most of them have declared their position publicly, but not all. Ferreira. who of the hosts on CayRock’s breakfast talk show, has said she is not committed to a position.
“We considered her a good candidate as she represents a different demographic – young, female, new Caymanian – and has a reputation for boldly challenging accepted mores and broaching taboo subjects. We hope she will act to stimulate discussion,” Watler stated, adding that Generation NOW had asked the Tourism Association and the Tourism Advisory Council to take part but were unsuccessful in finding a representative.
Radio Cayman will be broadcasting the forum live and listeners will be able to call in and ask the panel questions during the event, but Watler said he and his fellow organizer really hope to attract as many people as possible to the event itself, as Watler said he wanted to see more people engage in these type of discussions and not just leave it to the those in the political arena.
“In my personal view, in our Caymanian psyche there is an aversion to discussing controversial issues publicly. It is perceived that this should be reserved for politicians or aspiring politicians. I believe that this hinders our growth and development as a people.”
Earlier this year the premier said he would initiate a referendum on the subject following a petition delivered to him by Gilbert McLean. Although the petition fell far short of the figure required to trigger a people-led referendum, and despite the submission of a much longer petition from the Cayman Minister’s Association against gambling, McKeeva Bush said it was time for the people to decide once and for all after years of controversial debate on the subject.
He said the country would go to a referendum on the subject in November this year. Although there has also been debate about opening up the referendum beyond the electoral register, which stands around 15,000 people, the law does not currently allow anyone other than Caymanians who have registered to vote to take part in a national referendum.
The RCIPS has also delivered mixed messages over the issue with only a handful of arrests taking place over the last five years while illegal gambling continues to grow at a significant rate.
The debate will take place at the Sir Vassel Johnson Hall at the UCCI campus on Thursday, 29 July, 7:00pm to 9:30pm. ‘Legalized Gambling: Blessing or Curse?’ will be moderated by Rooster’s Crosstalk host Austin Harris. Listeners to Radio Cayman can call-in 1-800-534-8255 or 1 800 534 TALK to submit questions to the panellists. Everyone is invited and light refreshments will be served.
Generation NOW was formed to promote and enhance youth development in the Cayman Islands through academic, technical and vocational training. The organization aims to assist young people to become productive members of society, while enabling them to openly embrace the challenges of today and tomorrow. The now in Generation NOW is an acronym. It means No Opportunity Wasted.The directors include Marco Archer, Eziethamae Bodden, Andre Ebanks, Donald Spence, Olivaire Watler, Stanford Williams and the patron is Naul Bodden.