Archive for July, 2010

Turks & Caicos bail out costs UK £10 million

Cayman News | 01/07/2010 | 19 Comments

(Belfast Telegraph): The UK has been forced to provide a £10 million emergency bail-out to the corruption-hit Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), Parliament has been told. International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said the short-term loan would be used to pay the salaries of police, medics and teachers in the UK overseas territory. Mitchell told MPs the financial crisis in the islands meant immediate UK support was needed. The £10 million loan will be followed by a package of financial support agreed with commercial banks. "The financial situation in TCI has worsened to the point where it was not possible for its government to meet its June financial commitments, including payment of public sector salaries,” Mitchell said.

"Without immediate UK support, TCI would fall further into economic crisis," Mitchell added. "Following discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office I have decided to provide a temporary package of financial support."

Go to article

Mac accuses media of hostility

Cayman News | 01/07/2010 | 178 Comments

(CNS): The premier took aim at most of the local media in a statement delivered to the legislative assembly on Wednesday when he accused the press of hostility, bias and sarcasm, as well as twisting the government’s message. McKeeva Bush questioned who the reporters and owners of the media in Cayman were, where they had come from, their political leanings and their qualifications. Describing the local press core as an unelected elite that were “certainly not elite”, Bush criticised the power he believed the media was wielding and said it should not be the “other political party.” He challenged the media to form an association and to create a code of ethics for journalists.

Pointing the finger at CNS, the Compass, CITN, the Rooster talk show hosts and an unnamed member of the press that he said had tried to blackmail him, Bush said he paid particular attention to the media because if it was left alone it would continue to “mislead and befuddle” people.

He accused reporters of demonstrating their disapproval and doubting the veracity of government through the expressions on their faces, the sarcasm of their voices and their writing. “An inflection of the voice asking questions as it is done on CITN and Rooster, a caustic remark in a story as is very often done on CNS and the way it is presented will raise doubts in the minds of our people,” the premier stated.

He suggested that the media was rewarding some politicians with exposure while deliberately ignoring others, twisting stories and leaving out important parts, as they wielded a free hand in how they interpreted what government was saying.

Calling the press a “gaggle of commentators”, along with a small group of PPM rabble-rousers, Bush suggested that reporters seemed to have an instant right of rebuttal to everything he said.

The premier accused the press of distorting what was happening in the Cayman Islands and painting a picture that depicted Caymanians as embittered against foreign nationals, that had no regard for their country, living among lawlessness and violence that was the rule rather than the exception.

He suggested that the majority of Caymanians lived in a quiet spirit of understanding while the loudest and most extreme views were “tearing down the place” on CNS and Rooster.

Asked what Caymanians knew about the owner of CNS and its reporter he questioned what their politics were before they came here and asked if they were conservative or democrat or "hardcore" liberals “where everything goes”. He said journalists did not have to pass any kind of test and questioned the media’s sense of responsibility with its biased reporting suggesting they were not trained and did not do anything to educate the public.

Once again he asked the media to form an association and develop a code of ethics. He laid an example of a press council from Bermuda, based on the UK’s National Press Association, on the table of the LA and asked the local media to consider it. He pointed out the council was not enacted into law in that jurisdiction as he said the press there had agreed to form its own voluntary body. Bush also said that he was examining the idea of a media awards ceremony.

See the premier’s written statement

Just in case you want to know this reporter’s CV

PPM objects to new LA trend

Cayman News | 01/07/2010 | 19 Comments

(CNS): Following a number of statements made by the current education minister severely criticising him, the former education minister objected to the trend emerging in the Legislative Assembly that denies the opposition the opportunity to reply. Rolston Anglin has taken Alden McLaughlin to task over the DER, UCCI and the scholarship system, not in the process of debate but in statements delivered on the floor of the House that, according to LA rules, allow only for clarification questions but no right to reply. McLaughlin raised this point with the Speaker on Wednesday, 30 June, calling the trend “cowardly” as the minister had failed to engage in the budget debate and was now abusing the privilege of the LA. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

After the third statement from Anglin, this time criticising the George Town PPM member for the poor administration of the scholarships department, McLaughlin raised his formal objection. “The minister for education did not seek to debate these issues during the budget and he is now, in a most cowardly manner, raising them in the context of statements, to which we can’t respond,” McLaughlin said. “It is an abuse of privilege. I should not have to be forced on to defend the issues on a radio talk show.”

Outside of the chamber the former Cabinet minister told CNS that the trend emerging from the government of making lengthy statements was wrong.

“The ministers declined to debate the budget and throne speeches and outline their policies and plans. Now they are doing so in the form of long statements, which are also severely critical of the previous administration. The statements are not open to debate, there is no opportunity for scrutiny or defence in the House by those not on the government benches. It is undemocratic and inequitable. We should not have to be forced to respond to these matters on the talk shows,” he added.

McLaughlin said this was the second budget presentation in which the government members had not engaged in debate about their policies and plans and he never seen it before. “They don’t want to be subject to scrutiny,”the former education minister said.

The PPM member’s comments on the heels of criticisms raised by his colleague Arden McLean, who accused the UDP administration of “truncating” and undermining democracy when the premier raced through the Finance Committee last week.

As a result of the government presenting its budget so late in the year, Finance Committee was forced to sit in the early hours of the morning and ministers were therefore answering questions about the appropriations without the support of their civil servants. McLean had angrily raised his objections and accused the premier of trying to silence the opposition and preventing them from asking questions about government spending.

US commends Jamaica on Dudus handover

Cayman News | 01/07/2010 | 0 Comments

(Jamaican Observer): The US State Department has commended Jamaica for what it described as the swift and safe handover of alleged drug lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke last Thursday, just hours after he waived his right to an extradition hearing. The commendation was made during a press briefing at the White House in Washington last weekend. Just four hours after deciding not to fight his extradition during a special sitting of the magistrate court at the Mobile Reserve headquarters along Camp Road in Kingston, Coke was flown to New York to face trial on gun and drug running charges.

The extradition of Coke, the former strongman of the West Kingston community of Tivoli Gardens, ended nine months of strained relations between Washington and Kingston, which was triggered by an extradition request from the US on August 25, 2009.