Guest Writer

Politics, governance and transparency

At the Cayman Business Outlook 2012 Conference the panel is asked to discuss “Politics, Good Governance and Transparency – What Does the Cayman Islands Report Card Say?”
“Politics”: a name for activities that some find unappealing, even disgraceful. But they go on in all real democracies. They are necessary for democracy, they are part of democracy.

For politicians and their supporters “politics” means trying to get elected or re-elected, the methods or stratagems that they use to win votes, and, for those who are elected, the performance of their constitutional responsibilities, either in government or in opposition. These activities necessarily involve disagreement, criticism, and confrontation — which is usually what people have in mind when they say that they do not like politics and do not want to get involved. The truth is that you cannot have democracy without some confrontation, though it is also true that political confrontation has a tendency to overheat.

Go to CNS Business toread the commentary and to comment

Vote in the CBO poll: Politics, Good Governance & Transparency: What does the Cayman Islands Report Card say?

Leave a question for the CBO panel

Continue Reading

It must be Christmas

I noticed last night that there is the usual one lonely string of Christmas lights hanging forlornly from the utility poles in George Town. Is this the best we can do? What will our visitors think? What do our children think? Perhaps we need to look at what our competition is doing — we might learn a thing or two.

This initiative is so poor that it would be better not to put them up at all. If the organization behind these poor benighted lights cannot afford better then perhaps they could approach the merchant community and ask for a donation. Or they could ask the premier if he could spare a contribution from his, ah, 'delegated fund'.

We have claimed for years to be a tourist destination but it seems that we have no concept of how to do this. We cannot even get our act together to put pedestrian crossings on the West Bay Road to stop our visitors getting mown down by insane drivers. We have paid lip service for decades to the idea of, first of all, cruise ship moorings (remember the anchors from the Rapsody salvage?) and more lately a cruise ship pier, and we still don't have one.

If we are seriously catering to tourists then we need to make their experience as memorable as possible, and this is memorable in a positive way, not to have some of them return to their home country in a body cast!

Perhaps we should be trying to work on increasing our stayover tourism. A lengthened runway would allow us to bring in long haul flights from Asia or the Persian Gulf (many multi-millionaires). In fact, this might allow Cayman Airways to finally make a profit by becoming a regional  hub for the Western Caribbean and Central America.

Have a wonderful, if rather drab, Holiday Season!

Continue Reading

Anti-corruption Day

(TI): We have seen that economic growth without good governance does not guarantee that the fruits of that growth will be shared equally, nor does it guarantee stability. When political decisions are unduly influenced by special interests, when valuable resources are exploited by profitable companies but the wealth does not reach the citizens, people lose faith in their leaders.

When public services are weakened because funds are diverted, lost or stolen, people lose out on services they need to live a decent life.

When the fabric of societies is fatally weakened and violence can thrive unpunished, people die.

While awareness of corruption is on the rise, so is the sophistication of the techniques used to profit from it. The size of the illicit economy, estimated at US $1.3 trillion by Global Financial Integrity, provides an unacceptable hiding place for bribes, tax evasion and the laundering of embezzled or misallocated public funds. Every year that goes by without reform of the global financial architecture is a year in which it remains possible to profit from corruption with impunity.

Governments are responding by passing new anti-corruption measures into law. We have seen legislative progress in several G20 countries, and the G20’s anti-corruption agenda is one of our best hopes for creating a positive contagion effect, to counteract the negative contagion created by the financial crisis.

However, in hard economic times, the question is whether governments will show the political will to ensure such measures have real impact. This will require ensuring that well-resourced investigators can operate with the same levels of sophistication as the facilitators of corruption. The onus must now be on businesses and governments committed to keeping clean to lead by example by operating with the highest standards of transparency in all their operations.

Until this happens, corruption will continue to weaken the effectiveness of the most important projects of our time: the climate projects that we need to protect planet and people from global warming, the development policies that we need to help people living in dire poverty, and the efforts to resurrect a fairer more just economy from the economic crisis.

For too long, the demands of citizens for more accountable government have met promises for change, but too little action.

From this anti-corruption day on, we must judge commitments to good behaviour by the transparency and accountability with which leaders of government and business conduct their affairs.

Huguette Labelle is Chair of Transparency International

Today, 9 December, is the United Nations’  International Anti-Corruption Day and is being observed across the world to raise public awareness of corruption and what people can do to fight it. 

Continue Reading

Cayman’s sexual harassment problem

As US Republican primary candidate Herman Cain stumbles and struggles under the weight of various sexual harassment charges from his past, Caymanians should refrain from chuckling and instead ask themselves why it is that Cayman never has any similar scandals involving our politicians.

These events become public spectacles on a regular basis not only in America but also in European countries as well. Meanwhile, we seem to be immune from the problem of men in power acting inappropriately toward women. Based on news coverage and court cases, one would think that our elected politicians and top civil servants are somehow above such behavior. Are they?

Of course Cayman has its fair share of predatory and disgusting creeps in positions of power! Only a fool would think otherwise. It is invisibility, not immunity, which explains the absence of sexual harassment charges scandalizing our top government officials on a regular basis. Such deeds go unpunished and unreported, but they do happen here.  We just don’t see these activities come to light in the news media or in the legal system because Cayman has a tradition of deferring to the powerful on such matters. Short of rape, one wonders what a powerful politician in this country would have to do to be condemned by society and run out of office.

For decades, it has been common knowledge that some of our most prominent leaders have behaved like unrestrained sex fiends during working hours. If only a small percentage of the whispers are true, it means many significant men in elected posts and appointed positions are constantly flirting with and propositioning women who find themselves uncomfortably under their spheres of influence and power. Ask any ten female civil servants what it’s like to work in a government office and it’s likely that more than half will share horror stories about unwanted advances from men who possess far more power and confidence than maturity and decency.

It is clear what needs tohappen in the Cayman Islands. Some victims, or perhaps just one with apowerful case to make, must come forward and raise hell about the behavior of one of these men who habitually attempt to leverage their political power for sex through favors or coercion. This is easier said than done, of course. It would not be easy for the woman. Backward-thinking people tend to leap right past the offender’s possible guilt and instead question the victim’s motives and character. If just one prominent figure was brought down, however, Cayman would move further down the road of progress and all of society would benefit. Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later.

Note: Victims of workplace sexual harassment in the Cayman Islands are encouraged to describe their stories in the comments below. Please do not name names or give any identifying details in this forum, however. If you do feel that you have suffered sexual harassment in the private sector or in government, consider consulting with a lawyer to find out what your options are in seeking justice.

Continue Reading