Martin: “I feel victory!”

(CNS): Claiming that he provided the only possibility of a unified team of representatives from Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, joining with either the PPM or the UDP candidate, Lyndon Martin said it was a known fact that over the past four years the two incumbents had not worked well together. “The party divide inheritantly makes it impossible for them to get along,” Martin claimed, and asked voters to give him their second vote, saying the word on the street was that he would be elected on Wednesday.

Speaking at Scott’s Dock in West End, where he was introduced by his brother Linburgh Martin, Managing Director of Close Brothers, the independent candidate said, “The smiles on the faces of those who thought it would be a walk in the park this election are disappearing. Some individuals thought it was going to be no contest … but I see now that everybody is paying attention and giving recognition to the campaign for the wings of change.”

Mocking the campaigns of the two incumbents, he said, “I watch with interest as we see the bickering in the political environment in Cayman Brac. We hear the camps that say – oh, I am going to be first elected … oh, no, I am going to be first elected…” Martin pointed out that there was also a position of second elected member for the district, and he was perfectly content to take that since nobody else seemed to want it. “I don’t hear anyone else campaigning to be second elected, so when you make that second ‘X’ you vote for the only man who’s applying to be second elected member for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman,” he joked.

Calling the right to cast two votes “a constitutional privilege”, he urged voters to examine their conscience freely and mark two X’s in the privacy of the voting booth and told them not to be intimidated by those who told them to only use one vote. “Elect two individuals who can work together in harmony, who can leave Cayman Brac on 21st May as a united team sent by the electorate of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman,” he said.

“The political landscape of this country has changed drastically and not all for the best. Party politics is here and is now embedded in the system,” he noted. However, adamantly maintaining that he was committed to remaining an independent, the former UDP member explained that the advantage of having an independent representative was that he was an independent thinker, not guided by the party caucus. “I want to have the ability to say this is right or this is wrong. That is the role of the independent candidate. My caucus is each and every one of you.”

To illustrate the point, he gave credit to the work done under the leadership of PPM Education Minister for the past four years, Alden McLaughlin, saying that the next government must continue the positive process of reform of our education system. “He did well for education. He made some mistakes, spent a little too much … but on the whole the education system over the past four years received more attention than it has in any other four year term.”

On the other hand, he said that tourism had done well under the previous UDP government. “The reason I can say that is because I have no political beef with either party.”

On education, he said there was a need to look at introducing a comprehensive curriculum for the pre-school years to ensure smooth transition into primary school. He also emphasized the need to reward teachers, and said that regardless of buildings, “if teachers are not motivated to teach, children will not learn.”

“Our tourism product is no longer competitive and we must continually look at the pricing versus the value that we’re offering in the tourism industry,” he said, adding that we must make sure that we are evaluating what we’re doing as a tourism industry to ensure that our tourists want to come back – “and feel like they got a good deal while they were here.”

Irrespective of who forms a government following the election, Martin said he had already conveyed to both sides of the House that he was prepared to work with whoever was elected. “All I want is a fair share for Cayman Brac,” he said, noting that he had been invited to run in a district in Grand Cayman but said, “That would not have been fair to the district because my interest and passion is still with the people of Cayman Brac.”

Martin promised to represent “people who are from somewhere else but are Brackers now”, and said a good representative does not look at colour or gender or how successful you are, nor was it about just taking appointments in an office but rather going to constituents’ homes to understand their issues.

Turing to the economy, he said the average “Jo Bloke” was living hand to mouth, pay cheque to pay cheque, which was “wrong and unnecessary”, and that everyone should share the economic prosperity of this country. He further said that Brac graduates must have the benefit of staying and working on this island, and that when jobs in the Cayman Islands were created that people were trained to take those jobs.

Martin said he supported the introduction of a human resource authority, as called for in the Vision 2008 document, which balanced the needs of employment against the supply of employees, as well as the balance between the Labour Department, which understands who in the industry is looking for work, and the Immigration Department, which is granting work permits. He said it was important to have a body that combined these things under one unit.

While the campaign so far had been clean, he warned that in the final days, “because we’re getting so tight and the race is so close, you’re going to see other tactics employed. You’re going to see desperation begin; you’re going to see panic kicking in. People will start to throw mud.” Promising to stick to his pledge of no mudslinging in his campaign, though reserving the right to defend himself, he claimed, "I feel victory!"

“Those of you who … believe that your country has delivered to you all the opportunities that you deserve as a citizen, you don’t need change,” Martin said. “But for the rest of you who believe that the country has sold you short, that there is more that can be offered, that you are losing control of your country … that we’re losing our identity, that our tourism product is diminishing, that our financial industry is in threat , that we are facing challenges that we have never faced before … for those of you who want change, I’m asking you to join with the wings of change campaign.”