Politics
Archer tidies up UDP appropriations
(CNS): Finance Minister Marco Archer led the Legislative Assembly's Finance Committee in a fiscal tidy up on Wednesday. Archer brought four supplementary appropriation bills to the LA to reshuffle the money that had been allocated during the four budgets presided over by the previous UDP administration. During the debate, which focused on what appeared to be personal grudges rather than the details of the bills, the magnitude of the break between the new PPM government and its former independent allies became apparent as the back and forth between the benches became increasingly prickly. Archer, however, pressed on as chair of the committee in an effort to straighten out the public books in accordance with the Public Management and Finance Law.
He emphasised that the exercise had nothing to do with new spending but to address figures in government spending over the last four years, comparing what was budgeted to what was spent and adjusting the lawful budget appropriation where necessary.
Objections were raised by North Side MLA Ezzard Miller as he pointed out that the bills did not meet the constitutional requirement of 21 days notice, even though they were far from urgent. The independent member noted how frequently the new premier had joined him in complaints when he was sitting on the opposition benches about the previous premier’s habit of doing the same thing. He urged the new government not to go down the road of abusing parliament during its tenure. He said that as these bills were unconstitutional, he was reluctant to take part in the cleaning up exercise.
East End MLA Arden McLean also noted that while the government had brought a budget tidy-up for the fiscal years from 2010 to 2013, the controversial year of 2009 — the last year of the previous PPM administration — which had allegedly ended with an $81 million deficit rather than the $29 million that the Cabinet had expected, was not among the bills. McLean said it was time to settle that issue and ensure that the true figure, good or bad, was revealed.
McLean said if the UDP leader was going to continue to use that to beat all those who had been a part of that PPM government, as he had been one of them, he wanted to know the truth.
During the very short debate on the bills the premier urged the opposition benches to work with the government. He admitted that government had failed to meet the 21 day notice period but members had had the bills for a week, which was considerably longer that they had enjoyed during the previous administration for most of that government’s proposed legislation.
McLaughlin said he would be striving hard to comply with the rules, but given the context and the issues of being voted into office just as a new budget was required, it was impossible for finance staff to have prepared the bills any sooner. But the tidying up exercise needed to be done before another full budget was delivered later this month.
“We could have ignored this as they let it go for four years,” he said, referring to the last government, “but given the state of government finances and the criticisms about management, we felt it was necessary to bring this to the attention of Finance Committee and the wider public.”
McLaughlin said it was easy for Miller to complain but the government was playing the hand it was dealt. Once the budget was sorted, he would be working on a legislative timetable and prioritising laws to get through, so they would not wind up with emergencies bills being short of the notice period. He said it may happen sometimes but he urged all members “not to abdicate” their responsibility of attending to the “people’s business” that they, as MLAs, were all asked to do.
McLaughlin admitted that he had objected to the management of the House many times but had never let that get in the way of his contribution or his duty to carry out the scrutiny of government business, which was the duty of all members. He urged the members not to fight over the technical issues and save it for the substantive matters.
“I believe in order, principle and procedure and we will do everything to operate within the rules but we are asking for indulgence on this occasion because of the situation,” he said. “The country doesn’t want to see this back and forth so I have striven up until today to have an inclusive government and give everyone here opportunity to make a difference.
“I will continue with the principle of the out-stretched hand to colleagues. If it is slapped aside, I can’t do anything about that, but this administration is not about that,” the premier said, accusing the independent members of sitting on talk shows and slagging government but not doing anything. “The people have rejected that,” he said, as he urged members to “stop the bickering” that was already surfacing and put aside any self-interest and game playing.
During his contribution, the East End member was clearly outraged as he took aim at his former colleague, the premier. He said he had heard the cries many times from the previous premier and accused McLaughlin of using the parliamentary forum to put the blame on the opposition when it had been the government that started the games after the election.
His efforts had been to try and ensure the UDP could never rise again but he was “rejected”, he said, making it clear he was affronted by what happened in the wake of the election, when the PPM had invited Rivers to the Cabinet and when both he and Miller had tried to block the opposition leader’s appointment to the Public Accounts Committee. McLean said McKeeva Bush should have been cast out into the “political wilderness” and not placed on such an important committee as PAC.
He said he had tried to help, but in the end the responsibility lies on the government benches for the management of its affairs.
“It doesn’t lie here,” he said, indicating the opposition. He said he had a responsibility to do what was best for Cayman but not at the behest of personal likes and dislikes. He said he was not there to “cow-tow to anybody”, stating the Legislative Assembly building was not a church but a house of politics.
The East End member took umbrage with the premier, calling him selfish, as he (McLean) had given his entire life to the country. “I spent over ten years with him as a member of a party. You’d think he would pick up the phone and call,” he said, clearly angry over the PAC appointments.
“Selfishness? He doesn’t understand the meaning of the word … You accuse me of something that didn’t happen and when you say I am selfish, you can’t expect me to sit back asthough someone sutured my tongue to top of my mouth,” McLean added, during a contribution, which exposed the real size of the rift between the two former Cabinet colleagues.
Premier taking Gibraltar trip
(CNS): Officials revealed this morning that the premier will be leaving the islands on another government overseas trip, this time to Europe. Alden McLaughlin will head to Gibraltar at the weekend for a pre-meeting of the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC), which coincides with that contested territory’s National Day, and then on to Jersey for a meeting in relationto the G8. Accompanying the premier to Gibralta will be the chief officer from the health ministry, Jennifer Ahearn, in the role of ‘Sherpa’ – or emissary – for Cayman, to work with others from the Overseas Territories and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to develop the agenda for the JMC meeting in London in November.
The news comes following the revelations on CNS yesterday that Speaker of the House Juliana O’Connor Connolly, the leader of the opposition and the education minister were all in South Africa for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association while the Legislative Assembly was in session here.
The premier's week long trip is reported to be laying the groundwork for the main JMC meeting in London later this year.
“The pre-meeting will be held from 8-11 September and is an opportunity for all Overseas Territory heads of government to exchange views on political and constitutional issues, especially as they relate to the United Kingdom and its relationship with the OTs,” officials from the premier’s office said.
JMC members last met in London in December. Since then the Council has identified issues to be worked on, which include economic growth and jobs; protecting the environment; harnessing international support; and delivering better government, better education and stronger, healthier and safer communities.
After that, McLaughlin is travelling to Jersey at the official invitation of the Jersey government, to meet with the country’s chief minister, Ian Gorst, as a follow-up to discussions relating to the pre-G8 meeting in London in June of this year and the action plans that were published by Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies.
The premier will be joined in Jersey by Financial Services, Commerce and Environment Minister Wayne Panton and his councillor, Roy McTaggart, while Ahearn will head to London for a Sherpa meeting. They will all return to the Cayman Islands on Saturday, 14 September.
According to details from the Gibraltar press, the Cayman Islands premier will be one of 8 OT leaders going to the island for the meeting; the others are from Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos and Pictairn.
“A full programme of activities and events has been prepared for them. This will include working meetings in advance of the Joint Ministerial Council between the Overseas Territories Governments and the United Kingdom Government which will take place at the end of the year,” an release from Gibraltan officials said.
MLAs refuse PAC roles
(CNS): Captain Eugene Ebanks, the fourth elected member for West Bay and member of the United Democratic Party, was the last man standing on the opposition benches Wednesday when he was nominated by the premier and accepted a seat on the Public Accounts Committee. Premier Alden McLaughlin had attempted to nominate both independent members Arden McLean and Ezzard Miller but they refused. They said they had already been rejected when the LA was sworn in because government wanted to put the opposition leader on PAC instead, creating what they said was a dysfunctional committee because of his previous role as finance minister. Following their refusal, McLaughlin nominated Bernie Bush, who also declined, saying he did not yet have the necessary experience.
As a result, the only non-government member left in the House was Ebanks, who accepted the role after both McLean and Miller had taken aim at the new premier about his insistence that the opposition leader had a seat on PAC.
McLaughlin had said the committee would need to be re-balanced after Roy McTaggart, the PAC chair, crossed the floor from the opposition benches and joined government. During the opening of the new parliament the committee was appointed with two PPM backbench members, the two George Town C4C members and the opposition leader. Although McTaggart and Winston Connolly are Coalition for Cayman MLAs, their role in government weighted the committee in that direction. But strangely, it was Al Suckoo, a full PPM member, and not Connolly, who was the last man nominated on Swearing in Day, that resigned.
When the House met Wednesday morning, McLaughlin nominated East End member Arden Mclean, his former party colleague and now independent MLA, but he declined. Notonly was it too late, he said, but he had had no discussions with the premier since the government had refused his own offer during the earlier LA meeting in May.
“I accepted the nomination during the swearing in ceremony to assist government and avoid having the leader of the opposition, who is the former minister of finance,being on it," McLean explained. "I asked for this to avoid this quandary that we find ourselves in.” However, he said, “I was resoundingly rejected.”
McLean said it would have been common courtesy for the premier to ask him again if he wanted to serve before nominating him, but he had received no call or written request that he take the post from McLaughlin. He said the chair had called asking if he was mindful to do so but he had told him no.
“I put country before me, and the government of the day decided they didn’t want me on PAC and preferred leader of the opposition,” he said. McLean said he had to defend his position as the premier was trying to put him “on the spot”, but the very least he could have done is pick up phone. “It is wrong, unfair and disrespectful to not discuss this with me first and I decline the nomination,” he said
Miller, the member for North Side, said that he too had been nominated earlier but he did not wish to serve on a committee "that defies all parliamentary conventions”, as he pointed to the premier’s nomination of the former minister of finance to it. He said it was “going to be a dysfunctional committee”, as he suggested that the former premier would have considerable influence.
“We all know the capabilities and experience of the opposition leader in parliament as well as his tenacity," he said, and told the government it should not start its four years in office playing games, before he also declined the nomination.
As the proceedings continued, the back and forth between the government and opposition benches continued to be prickly, escalating after the premier urged Miller and McLean to put aside the bickering and work with government when they began debating the supplementary appropriations bill, described by Finance Minister Marco Archer as a “fiscal tidy up”.
The sitting of the parliament resumes tomorrow morning at 10am.
Check back to CNS in the morning for more from Wednesday's LA proceedings.
Civil servants reshuffled and promoted
(CNS): A number of public sector workers have been moved around and promoted as the newly formed ministries in this administration begin to take shape. Although government is trying to reduce headcount, at least one new civil servant has been taken on. In the new financial services environment and commerce ministry, Tamara Ebanks has been appointed deputy chief officer; Wendy Manzanares is the new chief financial officer, Troy Jacobs the senior policy adviser; and Carla Martin is now human resources assistant. Nancy Barnard has been appointed as deputy chief officer for the health ministry, while Dr Tasha Ebanks Garcia, formerly with ICCI, has joined the education and employment ministry as the new deputy chief officer there.
See government releases below for full details of the changes, promotions and appointments.
Mac at Jo’burg CPA too
(CNS): The opposition leader was absent from the Legislative Assembly meeting Wednesday, as well as the speaker and education minister, as they were all attending the CommonwealthParliamentary Association (CPA) annual meeting in South Africa. McKeeva Bush said he was in Johannesburg to chair a forum on taxation and he would be submitting a report when he gets back to Cayman. Bush confirmed that both he and MLA Winston Connolly had been chosen by the local CPA branch to represent the Cayman Island at the regular annual meeting but said Connolly did not attend. The UDP leader revealed, however, that Minister Tara Rivers was also at the event but the local CPA executive had not chosen her and he did not know who had.
Bush said that as a member of the CPA and one of its vice-presidents his attendance at the meeting is paid for by the Association, which is granted its funds by government.
“I was asked by the international CPA in London to chair the forum on taxation,” he told CNS via email on Wednesday. “I did that and will make a report on it when I'm back. Winston Connolly did not attend. And Tara Rivers came. But the ExCo of the CPA did not choose her. So I don't know who did,” he added. “At the time when I was chosen to attend no date had been set for the House of Assembly to meet.”
Bush explained that his arrangements were made and his costs paid before the government announced the House meeting. The opposition leader also said that his wife was also there but he had personally paid for her to travel with him.
Rivers had not intended to be a part of the delegation, which also includes the Speaker of the LA, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, but Bush said he was told at a later point that she would be attending. He said that the executive of the local CPA, of which he is an officer, which is responsible for choosing the Cayman representatives at the meeting, did not choose her. “I don't know who did. But she is here attending the meetings here in Jo’burg with me,” he added.
Although CNS has contacted the premier’s office for clarification on whether Rivers has gone in an official capacity and what costs, if any, are being incurred by the local treasury as a result of the trip, but so far there has been no response.
See related story on CNS here.
Rivers in Africa as LA meets
(CNS): The education minister will be missing when the Legislative Assembly meets this morning, as well as the speaker, as the two women are both understood to be in South Africa at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting. Although government had revealed that Speaker of the House Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, Cayman's CPA representative, would be attending the annual meeting, which is in Johannesburg this year, there had been no indication that Tara Rivers would be joining her, as she was said to be on leave. The LA will be presided over this week by deputy speaker and backbench Progressive MLA, Anthony Eden, while Winston Connolly was sworn in last month to cover Rivers' work while she was absent.
CNS has submitted questions to the premier’s office to establish why Rivers is attending and whether she is doing so in an official capacity. While there has been no confirmationthat Rivers is attending the CPA or that she is in Africa on any government related business, sources close to government have confirmed she is in Johannesburg. We have also asked for details of costs, as the CPA foots the bill for some expenses but flights are usually paid for by the CPA representatives’ own governments. There has been no response as yet.
A press release was issued on 23 August about the resumption of the LA today, 4 September, which confirmed that the speaker would be absent and that Eden would fill in, but there was no mention of Rivers. On the 19 August, a release had been issued by the office indicating that history would be made the following day when two councillors would be sworn in as temporary ministers. This, the release indicated, was because Rivers would be on leave from 27 August until 8 September and Marco Archer would be absent from 16-26 August. Roy McTaggart and Winston Connolly have stood in for their respective ministers.
Archer has returned and will preside over the Finance Committee hearing being held today to regularize the extra appropriations made by the previous UDP administration over the last four years, but Rivers remains in Africa. It is not clear if she has gone as part of her own personal leave time or whether she is attending as a government representative.
Rivers, the Coalition for Cayman member for West Bay, caused considerable controversy when she took several days to accept the ministry position offered by the new PPM administration, and had at first engaged in closed door meetings with the other two C4C members and the two independent MLAs, as the five sought to negotiate a different shaped government.
With huge public support for her to accept the post, however, Rivers eventually took the job and negotiated for her C4C colleague, Winston Connolly, to be given a job as counsellor in the ministry. This eventually led to the recruitment of the third C4C member, Roy McTaggart, to the government benches.
Shortly after the government line-up was settled and ministries shaped, Rivers was embroiled in further controversy when a petition was filed on 12 June in the Grand Court challenging her election to office on the basis that she was not resident in Cayman for the required seven years prior to nomination and that she had a US passport which she continued to use. The challenge was filed by John Gordon Hewitt, the husband of the unsuccessful UDP candidate, Velma Hewitt.
The subsequent preparations for the trial and then the trial itself took Rivers away from her desk until the issue was resolved on 12 August by the chief justice, who found she was qualified. Having returned to her post for two weeks, the minister then began a vacation when news also broke that the election petitioner was appealing the court’s decision in the case on constitutional grounds, which is expected to drag the minister into more legal wrangling over the coming months.
The LA was scheduled to begin this morning at 10am and the proceedings were expected to be televised live on the government TV channel, CIGTV20.
TLEPs given across board
(CNS): Although the controversial term limit exemption permits were billed as protecting the tourism industry from a mass exodus at the end of this year, the list of categories given to a member of the Legislative Assembly by immigration reveals that foreign workers are holding permits for jobs across the full employment spectrum, from accountants to welders. Independent MLA Ezzard Miller has said that he will be spending time over the coming weeks attempting to get local people into these jobs before government changes the law, as anticipated in October, which will allow all of these 1,500 plus workers holding the permits to apply for permanent residency.
Miller is starting his job-match project with an open day in his district of North Side today (Monday 2 September), where he will be helping his constituents examine the list and will be requesting the employers' details so that he can contact them and offer alternative local workers for the temporary permit holders. Following that, he has also offered to host an open session in the Legislative Assembly to help match other unemployed Caymanians with jobs.
Miller told CNS that it was inexplicable, when there are so many unemployed experienced and qualified Caymanians looking for work, that there are so many people on exemption permits holding jobs that locals could easily do.
“There are carpenters on that list and I know that I have several in my constituency alone that are in need of work,” he said. “In addition, I am surprised to discover from the information supplied by immigration that many of these permits are renewals, which means those involved have changed jobs.”
Miller said he was baffled by the fact that the TELPS had been renewed given that the goal was to help the original employers because they had not put proper measures in place to address their human resource needs, not to recruit new staff that should have been facing rollover.
Intent on pressing the fact that employers should follow the law and where a Caymanian is available to do the job they should be given a chance, Miller said he would be pressing this issue. The MLA will be holding an open day until 4pm at the Craddock Ebanks Centre today for any constituent to visit and discuss employment issues.
See list of permits held by category below. The term limit exemption permits are listed under the codes WTG to WTR.
CS examining offenders recruitment policy
(CNS): As government continues its battle to cut overheads and reduce numbers, it is currently examining a new policy on the employment of ex-offenders. Despite the need for staff cuts, the government is still one of the best placed organizations to give those convicted of crimes who have served their sentence a chance in an effort to prevent them from returning to a life of crime. It is less costly for the public purse to pay them to work than to keep them in jail, so while the police and government are calling on the private sector to take on ex-cons, government must also find room for those who need help.
The latest scant version of minutes from the deputy governor’s meeting with civil servant heads indicated that the policy was discussed on 12 August, when a few minor changes were recommended before the revised policy was circulated to all chief officers.
Efforts to help young people vulnerable to being sucked into a life crime was also at the top of the agenda for the meeting, when the new chair of the charity Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) and the education ministry’s at-risk coordinator gave a presentation about initiatives targeting troubled and vulnerable students. BBBS was looking for government support in an initiative to have civil servants act as mentors.
Mentoring is a key strategic objective within the country’s national crime reduction strategy and in line with Deputy Governor Franz Manderson’s goal for civil servants to play a greater role in community activities. As a result, chief officers have been asked to endorse the programme and support participation by their staff.
The minutes also revealed that the deputy governor and the chief officers have identified the need for an employee attitude survey among public sector workers to gather key information that could be used to motivate high performance, as part of the ongoing reform of the civil service. Chief officers discussed some preliminary work that has already been undertaken and a sub-committee was expected to meet the following week to collate feedback, consider information requested from POCS and make recommendations on the way forward.
MLA to tackle TLEP jobs
(CNS): An independent member of the country’s parliament has said that he is willing to gothrough the details of all of the Term Limit Exemption Permits (TLEP) issued by the immigration department to see if he can help match the jobs to Caymanians. Ezzard Miller has made a request to the immigration department for the categories of jobs held by the special permit holders in a bid to find out if unemployed locals could do any of the jobs before government changes the law to allow all of the holders the chance to stay and apply for residency.
The controversial decision by the government to allow around 1,500 workers, many in the tourism sector, the chance to stay when their permits expire in October has angered many and Miller says he is prepared to do what it takes to match the jobs to local people who need work.
Miller pointed out that both the PPM and the C4C had campaigned on a platform of jobs for Caymanians and had previously criticised the introduction of the TLEP by the UDP administration. He said that the new government had committed to an audit of those posts and if they wouldn't do it, he would.
In the first instance, Miller is preparing a meeting in his constituency of North Side and is asking everyone in his district who is looking for work to come along and go through the list — once he gets the necessary information from immigration — so he can see how accurate the assumptions are that the jobs are ones that locals don’t want or are not qualified for. The independent member said he will help North Siders contact the relevant employers and assist them with applications for the posts if they are willing and able to do the jobs.
“I will do whatever it takes to ensure that the law is enforced and wherever a job is held by a permit holder, if there is a local person ready, willing and able to do that job they will be given the post,” he said. “This is what government should have done before they announced that they would all be allowed to stay.”
Once he has dealt with the needs of his own constituents, Miller said he is volunteering his time and will sit in the Legislative Assembly when it is not in session and invite all unemployed Caymanians in need of work to come and look at the list and he will assist anyone who is in a position to do the work held by permit holders to apply for the jobs.
He said that despite the election promises, when it comes to employment of local people very little appears to have changed.
“It seems as the government still doesn’t have the ‘cahoonas’ to enforce the law,” he said, adding that the employers have successfully lobbied over the years for changes to immigration laws that never assist local workers.
Premier Alden McLaughlin recently stated that around 400 of the permit holders are domestics and many more are low paid posts. Speaking at the PPM National Council Meeting earlier this month, McLaughlin said sending the 1,500 or so TLEP holders home would not necessarily translate to jobs for Caymanians and the economy would suffer if 1,500 people were to all leave the island with their dependents on the same day.
However, Miller disagreed and said if the employers had been following the law, they should have had succession plans in place, and if they can’t find a Caymanian to hold the post currently held by a TLEP holder, as with any rollover situation in the past, the worker would have then been replaced with a new one.
Check back to CNS Monday for a closer look at the positions held by TLEP holders.
PPM re-shuffles authority boards but keeps chairs
(CNS): The chairpersons of three critical statutory boards have all been retained. Instead of the usual political overhaul, Sherri Bodden-Cowan remains at the helm of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), Dale Crighton remains as chair of the Information and Communication Technology Authority (ICTA) and Lemuel Hurlston stays in the chair at the Water Authority (WA). There were some changes at the ERA but, aside from the chair, there was a clean sweep at the ICTA, while all members of the Water Authority were re-appointed. There has also been a re-shuffle at the Development Control Board, which approves planning applications for the Sister Islands. Ashton Bodden takes over as chair from Ernie Hurlstone, who has not been re-appointed.
The members of the ERA are: Sherri Bodden-Cowan (chair), Derrick Tibbetts and Dara Flowers-Burke (both re-appointed), and new members Anna Rose Washburn, Reginald Nixon, Alee Fa’moe Member, and from Cayman Brac, former district commissioner Kenny Ryan, who now works for CB&LC Power & Light Company as plant manager. Charles Farrington is the Managing Director/Secretary and another member will be the chief officer or a designate of the Ministry of Planning, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure (PLAHI). The appointment is for three years.
Miguel Barcelo, Gene DaCosta, Gavin Dixon and Michael Herland have not been re-appointed to the ERA Board
The members of the ICTA are: Dale Crighton (chair), John Thompson, Ian Tibbetts, Gene Banks, Daniel Ebanks, Jean Gordon, Chris Gourzong, plus the chief officer or a designate from PLAHI. David Archbold, the ICTA managing director is an ex-officio member and secretary. The appointment is for three years.
George Berry, Alexander Bodden, Lyndhurst Bodden, Joseph Jackman, Pearlina McGaw-Lumsden, Chris Narborough, John Thompson and Paul Tibbetts were not re-appointed to the ICTA Board.
The members of the Water Authority Board are: Lemuel Hurlston (chair), James Gill, Otto Watler, Christopher John Randall, Alfonso Wright, Tannya Mortimer, Hansen Bingham Ebanks, plus the chief officer or a designate from PLAHI, the financial secretary or designate and the attorney general or designate. WA Director Dr Gelia Frederick-van Genderen is secretary. The appointment is for two years.
Ashton Bodden has been re-appointed to the Development Control Board but takes over as chair. Royce Dilbert and Melgreen Reid have been re-appointed, while previous members Captain Arlin Tatum, Alva "Billy" Bodden and Garston Grant have re-joined the board and Zanda Scott is a new member. Planning Officer Andrea Stevens is the executive secretary. The appointment is for two years.
Ernie Hurlstone, Larry Bryan, Ronald "Foots" Kynes and Delano Lazzari have not been re-appointed to the DCB.
For more details see the Extraordinary Gazettes on the government website: