Politics
Alden vows amity with UK
(CNS): With the relationship between the UK and the Cayman Islands on a more even keel since the beginning of the year, as a result of the work by the minority UDP splinter Cabinetas well as that of the recently elected PPM government, the new premier, Alden McLaughlin, has made it clear that he intends to keep it that way. Following the exceptionally tumultuous relationship with former premier McKeeva Bush that existed for the first three years of Duncan Taylor’s time as Cayman Islands governor, McLaughlin said that he wants to forge a strong partnership with the British government and avoid constant battles with the UK and its representative in the islands.
Even before Taylor arrived in Cayman, Bush stated during his own swearing in ceremony as premier following the implementation of the country's new constitution that the incoming governor should not try to micro-manage and he was not afraid to take on the UK because he had done it before. However, after he arrived Taylor made it clear that if he had concerns about governance he would be getting involved.
As a result, over the ensuing three years the relationship between Cayman’s elected leader and its appointed leader deteriorated, culminating in a public spat in the spring of last year that saw Bush accuse the former governor of being “hell bent” on Cayman’s destruction and of spending his time here trying to undermine the work of the elected government.
On Friday at the governor’s farewell reception, McLaughlin made it clear that he would be taking a different approach. Describing Taylor as "one of the good ones” when it came to the governors that had passed through the islands, he said Taylor had ably governed in the face of challenges.
McLaughlin said that the partnership between the UK and the Cayman Islands was an important factor and forging a strong partnership and avoiding constant battles would be vital to inspiring confidence in investors. Admitting that differences were inevitable, he said that there was little need “for public utterances of dissent between the Cayman Islands and the UK Government”, indicating that he would be taking a different approach to that of Bush, the former UDP premier and now opposition leader.
With the departure of Taylor on Wednesday, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson is acting governor and will chair Cabinet until the arrival of the new governor, Helen Kilpatrick, sometime next month. Kilpatrick’s arrival and official swearing in is likely to coincide with the delivery of the government’s full 2012/13 budget in the Legislative Assembly – an issue in which, given Kilpatrick’s career history, she is likely to have a particular interest.
Taylor bids fond farewell
(CNS): Duncan Taylor departed the Cayman Islands on Wednesday evening bound for Mexico armed with a cow cod, courtesy of the commissioner of police, following a round of farewells to the island and its people after three and a half years in post as the governor. Following Taylor’s departure, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson will be at the helm, keeping Cayman on the good governance course that Taylor believes the islands are on, until the arrival in September of Helen Kilpatrick, Cayman’s next governor and the first woman assigned to the post. Taylor inspected the police guard, thearm of the RCIPS that is assigned for his protection, for the last time before he and his wife, Marie-Beatrice, left on 7 August.
During the governor’s farewell reception last Friday, Premier Alden McLaughlin said he had seen many governors come and go but Taylor “was one of the good ones”, as he was presented with a beautifully crafted cat boat made from conch shell and Cayman mahogany by local artist, Luelan Bodden. (Right: The Taylors, Luelan Bodden and Alden McLaughlin
Among the other gifts Taylor picked up was a framed photograph of his first inspection of the RCIPS and a cow cod, both given to him by Police Commissioner David Baines, who said he might need a big stick in Mexico since the RCIPS wouldn’t be there to watch out for him. Having consulted with the new culture minister, Osbourne ’Ozzie’ Bodden, who was acquitted of assault charges in 2011 following an allegation that he had used one on an unruly customer at his liquor store in Bodden Town, Baines assured the governor it was the genuine article as he handed him the dried bull’s penis.
Delighted with his gifts, Taylor said he and his wife were sad to leave the islands and their “many good friends”.
On 6 August the governor had also bid farewell to the members of the Chamber of Commerce at a reception held at the Ritz Carlton. Chamber President Chris Duggan said Taylor had played a critical role and had unhesitatingly made the right decisions for the betterment of the Cayman Islands, even while facing “unwarranted, unacceptable and unjustified criticism from a few”, referring to the public attacks from the former premier, McKeeva Bush. The Chamber president expressed solid support for Taylor’s decisions and thanked the governor for “proving his mettle”.
The governor said he was grateful to those that had supported him during difficult times and added, “The Cayman Islands, in my view, is a very good place now; the mood is very positive and we have a good economic situation.”
He said the governor’s efforts should be to promote good governance and to ensure proper procedures were in place, resulting in a fair and transparent process. To attract business people to the Cayman Islands, it was vital for the rule of law to prevail, he said.
“If the Cayman Islands' is reputed to be a bastion of good governance and real integrity, people will be queuing up to do business here,” he said.
Adding to the gifts the Taylors will be taking away with them, Duggan handed over a set of three commemorative plates depicting scenes in Caymanian life.
Premier appoints new press secretary
(CNS):The former editor of The Caymanian Compass has been appointed as the new press secretary for the premier’s office. Tammie Chisholm has taken up the post previously held by Charles Glidden during McKeeva Bush’s tenure as well as the six month term of Juliana O’Connor-Connolly. When he took up office following the May General Election, the new premier, Alden McLaughlin, said he was restructuring the politically appointed staff in the premier’s office in an effort to cut headcount. He also indicated that drivers and other trappings of office would be reduced. However, over the last few months Roy Tatum has been appointed as senior political advisor to the premier and Kenneth Bryan as political assistant to the premier.
So far, there has been no official release relating to the departure of Charles Glidden and the appointment of the former Compass editor, who started the job as the new press secretary on Monday 5 August.
Chisholm’s departure from the islands’ oldest and only daily newspaper comes in the wake of the purchase of the paper by David and Vicki Legge of Pinnacle Media. David Legge stepped into the role of publisher and editor in chief soon after the estimated $12 million deal was struck. Since then, Jeff Brammer and Norma Connolly have been appointed as managing editors.
Port board conflict denied
(CNS): The premier’s office has denied any conflict regarding the new Port Authority Board and the appointment of Gerry Kirkconnell, the MD of Kirk Freeport, as the deputy chair, despite his obvious interest in the main issue of the cruise berthing facilities that will occupy the board of directors over the coming months. Officials said they were “lucky to have him” in defence of his appointment. Government officials have also now confirmed that Errol Bush will be the new chair of the important board, with Kirkconnell as deputy and the Chamber of Commerce representative. In addition, Arek Joseph, Woody DaCosta, Robert Foster and Jacqueline Scott will join existing member Ashton Bodden alongside the official members.
Bush, who will lead the board as it begins the process of issuing a formal request for proposals for the development of cruise berthing facilities in George Town, has considerable experience, having been the Port Authority managing director for almost twenty years before he retired from the public sector in 2001.
He was also a director of the International Association of Ports and Harbours and a board member on the American Association of Port Authorities. In recent years, Bush helped in the Turks and Caicos Islands with the bid there for a proposed port project, which will stand him in good stead as the new board begins to negotiate the proper processes for the much anticipated development.
Gerry Kirkconnell is the managing director of Kirk Freeport, with numerous downtown businesses serving cruise passengers that stand to gain significantly from the development of berthing facilities, especially given the statement by the current tourism minister, Moses Kirkconnell, that the project will be limited to just piers and no retail components to compete with downtown merchants.
Despite his clear interest, a statement from the premier’s office in response to questions from CNS dismissed the question of any conflict. “He is a business person and is not the first businessman or large merchant to be on the Port Authority Board," the premier's press secretary said.
“He understands the importance of the cruise business and while his business does depend on the port development, it is no more so than any number of other businesses in the Cayman Islands. Gerry is a respected businessman and there are other very capable business people on the board, including a very experienced and respected chairman, Mr Errol Bush,” she added in defence of the appointment.
“It is important that we have people on the board who are familiar with the cruise industry and are business savvy. Given of the size of the Cayman Islands and the number of people who do business with the cruise industry on a regular basis, finding someone of Mr Kirkconnell's calibre who is willing to put in the time to serve his country is difficult, at best. We're lucky to have him,” the premier’s new press secretary said.
As a result of the board shake-up, the appointments of the former chairman, John Henry Ebanks, deputy chair Carlon Powery, James Bodden, Curly Evans, Rudolph Garvin and Anthony Akiwumi have been revoked.
Lack of diplomatic experience won’t hinder governor
(CNS): The departing governor does not think that his successor’s lack of diplomatic or foreign office experience will hinder her in the job she is set to take up next month, he told members of the press last week. Helen Kilpatrick, who will taking over Duncan Taylor's position as the Cayman Islands governor, comes to the job from the UK’s Home Office. Kilpatrick has a career history in local government and home affairs and is a finance expert who has never served overseas in the diplomatic core or worked in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. However, Taylor said that the post of governor is very different from the usual diplomatic positions and Kilpatrick’s experience will help her in the new job.
The outgoing governor, who leaves Cayman on Wednesday after his three and a half year tour of duty, said that while his career with the FCO might have been helpful, his previous career was not necessarily “a dress rehearsal for the job I did here”, noting that diplomats can only try to influence but have no powers in the countries where they are stationed.
By contrast, Taylor said, the job of governor had significant powers and responsibilities and Kilpatrick’s career history managing local government budgets and overseeing the administration of police forces and other such jobs at the Home Office would stand her in good stead.
While there will be some adjustments, the skills and core competencies in the job Kilpatrick has most recently held will be similar to the skills she will be using in Cayman, he said. Taylor suggested that one of the major adaptions for his successor will be her move from London and her role managing a massive budget to a small Caribbean jurisdiction.
Kilpatrick is the first governor to come to Cayman that is not a diplomat and who has no overseas experience. She is however, a financial expert and has wide experience working with public finances and managing large government sector budgets. With the evolution over the years of the UK’s civil service and the introduction of competition, the governor’s posts in the UK’s remaining territories are no longer given by appointment but through an open interview and a selection process.
Speaking to the press when she came to Cayman for a brief familiarisation visit last month, Kilpatrick was also confident that she would have the skills required. However, she acknowledged that her first priority would be to listen and learn.
Taylor agreed with that and said it was something that all incoming governors must do to understand the issues before them and understand the environment in which they will be working before making decisions. He said the post was a privilege to hold, with significant responsibility, and it was the duty of a governor to remember the importance of that.
He said that the issue which would remain for Kilpatrick was the same he faced, which was ensuring good governance, and he believed that she would be well-placed to build on the work already done in that area.
WB election decision Friday
(CNS): The Cayman Islands chief justice will deliver his decision on the election petition regarding a challenge to the West Bay result on Friday afternoon. Three weeks after the three day courtroom argument, when Tara Rivers, the Coalition for Cayman candidate, fought to keep her seat as the second elected member for West Bay and, by extension, her new Cabinet job as education minister, Anthony Smellie will be revealing his findings on her qualification. The election petition was filed by John Hewitt, the husband of Velma Hewitt, who was beaten into fourth place in the district and the only UDP candidate not to get a seat in McKeeva Bush’s West Bay stronghold.
The ruling will be delivered by the country’s top judge at 2:30pm on 9 August in Courtroom 5 in Kirk House, according to the amended Grand Court list posted on the judicial website on Monday afternoon.
The petition challenging Rivers' qualification to run for office was filed on two grounds: one relating to the renewal and use of her American passport as an adult, and the other based on her residency outside of the Cayman islands for a significant part of the seven years prior to Nomination Day. If the chief justice finds that she was not qualified to run on either or both of the two grounds, a further hearing will need to be scheduled to hear more arguments regarding the issue of a bye-election.
The challenged claimed that Hewitt should be automatically returned if Rivers was found to be unqualified. However, the parties involved did not argue that issue as the CJ required that the attorneys representing both Hewitt and Rivers argue the main points of qualification first before he turned his decision to the remedy.
However, if Rivers is found not to be qualified, it is not clear who will take up the argument for a bye-election, as the issue will become immaterial to her as she will be prevented from running in the election in any event. Section 62 (1) (h) of the constitution states: "No person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly who is disqualified for membership of the Assembly by any law in force in the Cayman Islands relating to offences connected with elections."
Although Attorney General Sam Bulgin is also a defendant in the petition, acting on behalf of the district’s returning officer who the petitioner accused of wrongfully accepting Rivers' nomination, it is not clear how far the AG would be prepared to go to fight for a bye-election, given the political element, or whether a separate action will need to come directly from the elected government to fight for another ballot on behalf of the 1,400 or so people who had voted for Rivers.
Although Rivers is not a member of the PPM, she joined the Progressive’s Cabinet after a week or so of negotiations when it became clear that the C4C candidates and other independents were not it a position to form a government or prevent the PPM from doing so.
Rivers was offered the post of education and employment minister, and the new premier also agreed to have Winston Connolly, who was elected to George Town on the C4C ticket, join government as a backbench counsellor in Rivers’ ministry. Following that move, the remaining successful C4C candidate, Roy McTaggart, also finally crossed the floor of the House, boosting the government’s numbers to thirteen, including the speaker.
As a result, the automatic return of Hewitt would not alter government’s majority but it would necessitate a Cabinet reshuffle. In addition, the PPM would certainly welcome the opportunity to have one of their own returned to the seat in the district, or Mervin Smith, River’s running mate, who came in sixth place, just seven votes behind Hewitt.
Related articles:
‘I am qualified’ Rivers claims (CNS,17 July 2013)
CJ faces ‘enormous’ decision (CNS, 19 July 2013)
See election results and court list below.
Taylor: Governance improved
(CNS): After his three and a half year tour of duty as Cayman’s governor, Duncan Taylor believes that standards of good governance have moved forward but he has said it is an area that his successor must continue to press as it is a constitutional role of the governor’s office, despite its limited powers. Describing some of his time as “very challenging”, he said he was satisfied that he had done what he could to try and work with the previous premier. However, when he arrived in Cayman he noted during his acceptance speech that a governor could govern with a light touch when good governance was followed, but if wasn’t he would intervene.
“And I have had to intervene where I believed things were not being done properly,” he told the local media during his final press briefing.
In light of the tense relationship between Taylor and the former premier, McKeeva Bush, who made various very public allegations about the FCO’s representative in Cayman, the governor said he was satisfied that he had done everything he could to try and work with Bush and that a governor must be prepared to work with whoever is elected by the people. This meant that there would be tensions in Cabinet but, he said, the tension should be constructive because the goal for a governor was to work in partnership with the local government to achieve good governance.
Taylor said he could mark his success in achieving improvements in good governance locally with the prominence that goodgovernance played in the country’s election in May. All parties and candidates campaigned for good governance during the run-up to the vote, illustrating how important a factor it has become in the local political landscape, as everyone is now aware they must operate with integrity.
“I take comfort from the feedback I have had about this particularly since the recent election and the new government is strongly in support,” he said “If I have moved the bar up a bit and moved things forward, it’s a positive thing to take away. There is still a lot to do but I am encouraged by the clear commitment from the new government.”
He said that with a new procurement system, which would remove ambiguity and misunderstanding about how contracts are awarded, the public would soon see improvements in that field. Taylor also said that the legislation to support the Commission for Standards in Public Life, which had not made its way on to Cabinet’s agenda under the previous administration, was expected to be approved shortly and taken to the parliament. He said this would cover issues such as board appointments and the new Register of Interests law.
Taylor said that he expected that his successor, Helen Kilpatrick, would also be focusing on the concept of good governance as this is the area which has the potential to expose the UK to risk. The outgoing governor noted that the next governor would also need to balance what tensions arise between her role and that of elected politicians and try to be constructive.
Pointing to the UK’s white paper on its relationship with the territories, which he said has a vision based on constructive partnerships, he said, “It is early days and inevitably there will be tensions as the interests of both sides won’t always coincide, but with both sides willing to listening and discuss the issues, it feels like a partnership.” Pointing to the benefits of a harmonious relationship in Cabinet, he said there was more to be gained to get the relationship Cayman needs with the UK.
Taylor said he hoped Kilpatrick would be able to build on what he had started and he was encouraged that things would continue to improve.
CS needs accountability
(CNS): The departing Cayman Islands governor said that his biggest regret regarding the job he held for more than three and a half years was not advancing the problem of accountability in the civil service as far as he had hoped. Duncan Taylor admitted that there is a problem in the local public sector in that there are no real consequences for non-performance as it has taken a long time to get a proper assessment process in place. Less than one week from his departure, the governor said he regretted that he could not have done more to move this issue forward because other members of the civil service are forced to “pick up the slack” from those who are not performing as they should.
Speaking to the press formally for the last time before he leaves the islands for his new post in Mexico, Taylor said the appraisal system is now taking shape and he commended Deputy Governor Franz Manderson for his strategic vision on this issue. Nevertheless, with the appraisals only just beginning, Taylor warned it would take time for them to gain credibility and it was not until there was “a robust and fair system” of appraisals in place that consequences, such as dismissing people, could be built into the system.
He said that the appraisals would create a credible means to address poor performance, which could eventually mean that civil servants would lose their jobs if they did not meet the expected mark, but strong appraisal system would also be used to advance and promote good performers. The process had taken a lot more time than he had hoped, he said, but expressed his confidence that now it had begun it would soon advance the accountability which was needed and which, he emphasised, was very important.
Taylor also noted that the size of the civil service itself, which has been a topical issue in recent months, was not as important as its efficiency. He said that, overall, government was going in the right direction in terms of headcount as a result of the natural attrition. By the end of this year there would be at least 60 less people on the core government payroll, he added, but warned the problem area was statutory authorities and government companies (SAGCs).
Taylor said the new government had undertaken to look at this issue and see if some mechanism could be introduced to control recruitment in the SAGCs. The government was still targeting a 10% reduction in overall headcount without job losses by not always filling vacancies when people left the service, he said.
Despite pressure from the UK to reduce operating costs, Taylor warned that government should think hard before privatizing parts of the civil service because wherever government services were privatized, there needed to be a strong regulator. This would not necessarily be possible in such a small jurisdiction and what government might save in privatization could be lost in trying to oversee private sector service providers. He warned government to think long and hard about what it wanted to achieve through privatization and whether it would be beneficial in the long run.
The goal, he said, was to have a government that delivered the services that the community needs and wants efficiently and cost effectively.
Check back to CNS for more from the governor's parting press briefing.
DG’s minutes reveal bureaucratic ironies
(CNS): The latest short record of the civil service bosses’ meeting with the deputy governor have revealed the ironies of bureaucracy. During the high level weekly meeting on 15 July the chief officers discussed the issue of red tape and bureaucracy. According to the minutes, a Cabinet paper submitted on 16 July requested that government reviews the business processes carried out and the information provided by government departments with a view to eliminating administrative burdens that act as a disincentive to new businesses start-ups or that is harmful to existing businesses. The discussion on the review comes after an agenda item entitled "Final Report of the Committee to Review Reports".
The issue of government reports and reviews gathering dust on shelves or disappearing among the corridors of government is a long running criticism of government as few of the costly reports ever develop into effective policies.
According to the record of the meeting, the report on the reports requires changes to be made to the Public Management and Finance Law, an issue that has been in question for several years. However, so far no significant changes have been made to the law, which the auditor general has described as being too complicated for the local government.
The report on the reports committee is also working towards including recommendations from the Turnbull Report in their final report, the minutes record.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet paper on reviewing red tape for businesses, with the goal of a greater focus on technology, administrative simplification and a business friendly climate that exceeds customer expectations had led to the creation of another committee, which CO’s Eric Bush and Dax Basdeo have been asked to sit on.
The minutes revealed that the senior public servants also discussed the Cabinet recommendation to review the Public Authorities Bill, the forthcoming budget and the need to keep general ledgers up to date.
See the latest deputy governor’s meeting minutes below.
West Bay 4 say CIG stalling
(CNS): The Cayman Islands government is stalling in its attempt to throw out the legal action by four local women opposing the closure of the West Bay Road, the ladies claimed Friday. The lawyer representing them said that the strike out application, which was withdrawn on Thursday, was misconceived in the first place, as it claimed that the plaintiffs had no cause of action. Attorney Irvin Banks said the crowns lawyers had implied that the women's action was an abuse of the process of the court without evidence other than the statement of claim itself in support of their application, he said this mistaken position served to delay the case while the former Cabinet proceeded to close the road.
The four West Bay ladies, Alice Mae Coe, Annie Multon, Ezmie Smith and Betty Ebanks, the plaintiffs in the case, also revealed that they have not yet received a response to a letter they set to government in March asking why the previous minority Cabinet gazetted that closure despite the court action.
Following their first victory last week, when the office of the attorney general halted its attempts to have the action thrown out and the case was set for trial, the women revealed that they are still waiting for an answer to a letter sent in March asking why the government and the National Roads Authority (NRA) had proceeded, even though the action alleges serious irregularities with the whole agreement signed by former premier McKeeva Bush in December 2011.
According to Banks, the controversial ‘NRA agreement’, which was meant to be part of a wider deal with the Dart group known as the ForCayman Investment Alliance, cannot be a ‘stand alone’ agreement, as it has been referred to, if thatagreement itself is flawed, irregular and illegal.
“It is now possible that the Plaintiffs will file and serve their own summons to address the fact that the National Roads Authority et al feel they can continue with the NRA Agreement despite the delays in the Writ Action, which are not the fault of the Plaintiffs in the matter,” the ladies warned in a statement released Friday.
In the meantime, the plaintiffs are preparing to move forward with their writ action in accordance with the orders of Justice Alex Henderson, the judge presiding over the action.
The ladies said that if their action is successful, it would not be just for them but “an even greater victory for the more than 4,000 individuals who signed the 2011 petition as well as the many other supporters of the cause, and for the wider Cayman community.”
More than 2,300 registered voters and almost 1,400 residents signed the petition against the roads closure. It was given to the governor but his office passed it on to the premier at the time, McKeeva Bush, who had signed the original deal and ignored the petition.
The NRA agreement has divided the community, with some believing that it is a step towards a development that will stimulate the economy. However, many people do not believe that the deal represents value for money for the public purse, and further negotiations behind closed doors after the deal was signed have failed to rectify the imbalance, which was noted in the recent PricewaterhouseCoopers review of the deal.
The situation has been further complicated by the gazetted closure of around a third of the stretch proposed to be closed in the deal and the fact that it is now partially underneath an artificial beach made from crushed rock, which is understood to have been imported from South America.
The new government has re-opened talks with Dart and is seeking ways in which some form of road access can be reconstructed in the area. During and after the election campaign the PPM proposed that the West Bay Road be retained and if necessary redirected behind the proposed new hotel and condo development on the site of the former Courtyard Marriott.
However, the government has also inherited the ladies' suit, and despite their own reservations about the deal, is at present continuing to fight against the claims made by the women that the agreement and the closure is unlawful.