Search Results for 'jack tempura'
UK judge to hear ex-CoP case
(CNS): A law suit filed by former police commissioner Stuart Kernohan (near left) two years ago will be argued in front of a UK based judge in Cayman's Grand Court on Thursday. The attorney general, who is one of four defendants mentioned in the original writ filed by the ex-top cop in connection with his dismissal, has applied to strike out the suit. The hearing is currently listed in chambers and it is not clear if it will remain behind closed doors or if the case will be aired in the open. Kernohan has applied for damages against former governor Stuart Jack (far left), Martin Bridger, the former SIO of the discredited Operation Tempura investigation, as well as the police commissioner and the AG.
The tab for the cost of defending the suit filed by Kernohan will be paid for out of the public coffers if the application to strike out the writ is unsuccessful and any damages are also likely to come from public coffers. With more than $6 milllion of tax payers money already spent on the controversial investigation which included three failed legal cases, this latest court room battle could add significantly to that sum if Kernohan, who was a senior officer at the peak of his police career, proves he was unlawfully dismissed.
The original writ against Martin Bridger, Stuart Jack, Samuel Bulgin and acting commissioner David George was filed by Kernohan on 25 May 2009 by local attorneys Campbells following the dismissal of Kernohan when he was on suspension during the notorious UK police investigation into alleged corruption in the RCIPS. Although no charges were ever brought against him during Operation Tempura, which was led by Bridger, the then commissioner was suspended in March 2008 along with the deputy commissioner, Rudy Dixon (who remains on paid leave three years later), and John Jones, who was eventually returned to his post as chief superintendent some 18 months after the investigation began.
During the time that Kernohan was on what was described by officials at the time as “required leave” he left the Cayman Islands to be with his sick father. While he was dealing with his father’s illness and eventual death, the ex-top cop was called back to Cayman by the then governor Stuart Jack but he did not return. As a result of what Jack said at the time was the ex-commissioner's “refusal to return” as he needed permission to leave the islands during the investigation, he was sacked.
At the time of filing the law suit Kernohan had said that there would be “extraordinary revelations” about the governor and high-ranking officials when he had his day in court to seek damages for what he said was his wrongful dismissal. He said that Bridger, the governor, the commissioner and the attorney general would “answer for their actions”. However, there is no guarantee that the hearing will now be played out in the public domain.
The investigation regarding Kernohan was officially declared to be over in April 2009 by the then acting commissioner, Jim Smith, who revealed that no criminal charges would be filed against him. It was in the wake of that announcement that Kernohan filed his legal action.
In a public statement at the time the former commissioner said he had received a belated confirmation there was no wrong-doing on his part.
“I have waited too long a period to be exonerated and subjected to a process and actions from individuals who have severely damaged my reputation internationally and unfortunately that of the Cayman Islands. The individuals responsible for this fiasco will not walk away without being held rightfully accountable for what they have done,” he said in the statement at the time, adding that this would be done through a transparent judicial process.
As yet there has been no confirmation about the proceedings and whether they will be behind closed doors. The application by the AG's office to have the suit dismissed will be heard by Lord Justice Moses (Sir Alan Moses), a UK court of appeal judge who has been commissioned as an independent judge, and the hearing is listed for two days.
UK cop’s complaints defamatory says governor
(CNS): The Governor’s Office has refused to release the details of why complaints made by Martin Bridger (left), the senior UK officer in a bungled corruption investigation, were dismissed because it says it would not only be a breach of confidence but it also contains defamatory material. Following an FOI request made by CNS, the office said that under section 54 of the Freedom of Information Law government does not have to release the documents. Despite the fact that Operation Tempura cost the Cayman taxpayer over $6 million, the full details of, or the motivation for, the parts played by local and UK officials, as well as Bridger’s complaint about why he thinks the investigation was halted, appear destined to remain a mystery.
An FOI request made in London to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the details of Bridger’s complaint by John Evans, a witness in one of the court cases relating to Operation Tempura, was also refused recently. Evans was told by the UK authorities that releasing the information would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands.
Although the FCO said it recognized the general public interest in openness in public affairs and that disclosure of the information might lead to better informed debate on a subject of public interest, it still considered that the balance is weighted against disclosure. It also noted that revealing the details may impact Cayman’s reputation and affect the financial services sector.
“We judge that disclosure would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of international relations between the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands which depends upon maintaining trust and confidence between the governments,” the FCO officials said in the letter. “If the United Kingdom does not maintain this trust and confidence, its ability to protect and promote UK interests through international relations will be hampered … disclosure of the information requested could lead to a loss of confidence within the international community which could impact negatively on the Cayman Islands’ reputation and, more directly, on its financial services industry.”
It said disclosure could also prejudice relations between the Cayman and UK governments, which could undermine the confidence of governors in all the overseas territories that information they report to the UK would be kept confidential. “This could lead to more circumspect reporting by Governors, which could in turn damage the United Kingdom’s ability to ensure the good governance of the Overseas Territories,” the FCO said as it refused the application.
The explanation given by the Governor’s Office to CNS was considerably less detailed and simply stated that the law does not authorize the disclosure of any information that would be a breach of confidence or any defamatory matter.
Some of the details of Bridger’s complaints were, however, exposed in the Financial Times. Bridger claimed the investigation had been deliberately blocked rather than discredited because of the lack of evidence or the incompetence of the officers involved in the special operation investigation team, which became known as SPIT.
The entire episode continues to generate considerable disquiet in the local community for different reasons. Many people see the investigation as nothing more than a Caribbean jolly for ex-Metropolitan police officers, who by clouding their investigation in official secrecy were able to run up huge salary and expense claims, which were all paid for by the public purse. Others say that there could have been genuine corruption but the investigation was stopped by people who did not want the details of the police or official wrongdoing to be revealed.
The repercussions of the investigation continue to impact the local community as it fuelled distrust for the police and in particular officers from the UK. It also had a negative impact on local officers and many say it led to a rise in local crime as the RCIPS turned inward and away from normal policing.
The cost to the public purse — which is not yet over — has also been significant, especially at a time when government revenue was hit by the global crisis. While the unlawful arrest of a Grand Court judge was settled in a damages payment of more than $1.2 million and Chief Superintendent John Jones was eventually returned to post after being on required leave on full pay for more than 18months, the situation regarding other police officers has still to be settled.
Deputy Commissioner Rudy Dixon, who still remains on ‘required leave’ has, according to official records, been paid over $300,000 since April 2008 when he was suspended, as well as pension payments of around $52,440.54. Dixon was arrested by SPIT and charged with perverting the course of justice, and although he was acquitted at trial in November 2009, he has still not been reinstated in his post.
Stuart Kernohan, the former police commissioner, was also suspended as part of the Operation Tempura investigation and eventually sacked by the former governor. Kernohan has since filed a civil claim against the Cayman government and Bridger, which has not yet been settled. Finally, Burman Scott, who was also arrested in connection with the charges relating to Dixon, filed a civil case alleging unlawful arrest and his claim has yet to be dealt with.
The Operation Tempura investigation began when accusations were made that Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Ennis was leaking information to the editor in chief of Cayman Net News, the late Desmond Seales.
Martin Bridger claimed that he and one other officer from Scotland Yard, who originally came to investigate the matter at the request of the then governor Stuart Jack, soon discovered that Ennis was innocent. However, he said he and his colleague had uncovered other irregularities that needed to be investigated and expanded the team. The investigation remained undercover from September 2007 until March 2008 when three of the four senior RCIPS officers were suspended from their jobs
Following the unlawful arrest of a grand court judge, two other failed court room cases, more than $6 million of public funds spent and no real concrete evidence of corruption, the then PPM government insisted that Bridger leave the country. Despite an investigation that continued for more than a year, Bridger was never able to back up his continued claims to elected officials of “rampant corruption” in the police and judiciary and he eventually departed in April 2009.
Soon after, the RCIPS took over the investigation to examine the alleged reports of corruption collated by SPIT. Although some officers have since been quietly dismissed, few details of the investigation or corruption allegations have ever been revealed.
SPIT cops back with full time RCIPS contracts
(CNS): Police have confirmed that a number of former UK police officers who have worked in Cayman before “in specialist roles” have been employed by the RCIPS but have not confirmed if Richard Oliver is the new head of the police anti-corruption unit. Oliver worked with the special police investigation team (SPIT) on the discredited Operation Tempura and the unresolved Operation Cealt and was involved with the prosecution of Deputy Commissioner Rudy Dixon. He reportedly also played a role in the case against Lyndon Martin. Both Dixon and Martin were found not guilty in trials last year. Dennis Walkington, another member of SPIT, is also understood to have been offered a permanent position within the RCIPS.
Operation Tempura began in the Cayman Islands when the former governor, Stuart Jack, announced the presence of Scotland Yard in Cayman in March 2008. The then police commissioner Stuart Kernohan, the deputy commissioner Rudolph Dixon and a chief superintendent John Jones were suspended from their jobs and places on required leave.
The investigation began as a result of suspicions by employees of Cayman Net News that their boss, Desmond Seales, was in a corrupt relationship with Deputy RCIPS Commissioner Anthony Ennis. SPIT said Ennis was exonerated early in their investigation but the UK cops continued to investigate what they said were both unrelated and related matters of potential corruption. The investigations resulted in the unlawful arrest of a local judge, the arrest of former police inspector Burman Scott, the sacking of Kernohan and failed prosecutions against Dixon and Lyndon Martin, a former Net News employee.
Jones was given his job back last year and cleared of suspicion but despite the not guilty verdict at his trial last year, Dixon remains on required leave on full pay. Both Kernohan and Scott have filed suits against the RCIPS and the SPIT officers claiming significant damages, which have yet to be settled.
Governor pledges impartiality
(CNS): Following the public condemnation by the premier on Radio Cayman of Auditor General Dan Duguay, the Governor’s Office told CNS in a short emailed statement that the panel convened to interview the candidates for position of auditor general would be impartial. The office said that Duncan Taylor, the Cayman Islands new governor, would not be influenced by any comments made outside of the process. Applications for the post of auditor general closed on Friday 29 January and Duguay has confirmed he is one of those candidates.
During an interview with Radio Cayman’s Talk Today programme last week, McKeeva Bush made it clear he believed the auditor general should leave and that someone else should be given the position, but he also said that it was not up to him to decide.
The Governor’s Office confirmed that the appointment of an auditor general is made by the governor. “The Governor plans to convene an independent panel to assess the applications, and for the panel to conduct interviews and make a recommendation on the appointment to him,” the Governor’s Office told CNS. “Careful consideration will be given to the composition of the panel to ensure impartiality, openness and that any recommendation is merit-based and in the best interests of the Cayman Islands. The Governor will not be influenced by any comments made outside of that process.”
During the period between the departure of the previous governor, Stuart Jack, and the arrival of the new governor, Duguay was informed by the acting governor, Donovan Ebanks, that he would be asked to compete for his post if he wished to have his contract renewed for a second time. Duguay started as auditor general in 2004 on a fixed three-year contract, which was renewed in 2007.
Duguay said recently that because of the nature of his position, which is to investigate the government’s accounts and to ensure the honesty, integrity and value for money on any public funds spent, the role would be better served in future if it was a longer fixed term contract to ensure the AG could remain independent and not have to concern herself or himself that, if they were to do something a particular administration did not like, that they could lose their job. The comment then provoked the recent outburst from the premier, who said Duguay should go as he was not very good at his job.
During his time in office Duguay’s reports have revealed shortcomings in government finances during the previous UDP administration and the last PPM administration, as well as the Governor’s Office and the police.
At his first press conference the new governor was asked about the AG’s role and he said its independence was very important and that a good auditor general should be “irritating everyone”.
In a recent interview with News 27 the governor stressed his desire to improve the relationship between his office and the electedofficials as a result of the difficulties between the two arms of Cayman’s government that emerged following the various events, from Operation Tempura to the issues of broadening the country’s tax base.
Taylor said his priority is to develop a good working relationship with the current government and said that so far things were going very well. “There is no reason why that shouldn’t continue, although I am not fooling myself to think that there won’t be some differences of opinion from time to time or some difficult issues to tackle,” he added. He explained that, as chair of Cabinet, it was his responsibility to ensure sensible decisions were made and to support good governance.
A whiff of independence?
Most politicians in the Cayman Islands, with the exception of Ezzard Miller, have generally refrained from offering full support to the idea of shaking off the UK’s colonial chains. However, the premier came very close on Friday to suggesting that it might not be a bad idea.
For him to come right out and say that the United Democratic Party is taking the policy position of independence very much sooner rather than later is, probably, a step too far but there can be no doubt in the mind of anyone who attended the governor’s reception on Friday evening that McKeeva Bush likes the idea of not having anyone around from ‘Her Majesty’s’ government interfering in his affairs.
During his short address at the final ‘welcome do’ for new Governor Duncan Taylor, Bush told him that the Cayman Islands had managed fine without anyone from the UK for the last two and a half months. He said he was proud to chair Cabinet with the first ever Caymanian acting governor by his side and all had gone well. Bush said that, while many believed that Caymanians were not capable of running their own affairs, the last few months had shown otherwise. “There were no fights and no wounds … all was quiet on the western front,” Bush told Taylor in a short speech that came as close as anyone ever has to telling a governor he was surplus to requirement.
In the last few months since taking office, Bush’s confidence in himself as a leader has grown and it is apparent he believes that under the new moniker of ‘premier’ (which he seems to delight in reminding us he didn’t vote for) he can run Cayman’s affairs without the help of the UK (some have even said without the help of Cabinet as well, but that’s a bit harsh), but coming right out and saying so could prove political suicide.
Despite the trappings of office, from chauffeured car, the butler/chef, the new gate house at the Bush residence, that have come with his new title and his obvious delight in his new responsibilities, Bush has still not voiced his genuine feelings about a timeline for Cayman’s independence from the mother country. Ironically, during the public consultation period to shape the 2009 Constitution, Bush persistently accused the then PPM administration of pushing an agenda of independence.
Despite his own feelings, Bush is politically astute enough to know it can be very dangerous ground to voice an all out desire to go it alone. However, it could well be that Bush could have been ‘crowned king’ at a time when he may be able to take that political risk and enough of the people could back him.
In the final days of the previous governor (who has arguably gone down in history as one of the Cayman Islands’ most unpopular), the debate about independence was given what can only be described as a vigorous airing. There was certainly more vocal support for the idea than ever before, and while the Caymanians didn’t exactly take to the streets, those who believe it is time began to raise their voices. Whether this was down to Stuart Jack’s style of governing (not to mention Operation Tempura), combined with the global economic crisis and the surge of negative attention on offshore financial jurisdictions that resulted, or whether it was a genuine feeling that perhaps it was just time, it is clear the debate is no longer taboo. People have also seen and recently experienced what can very reasonably be described as very unreasonable behaviour from the UK.
Bush may not be prepared to declare his hand just yet, but it is quite apparent that he believes he is ready to govern alone and that the UK is becoming far more of a liability than a help. Very few people in Cayman today believe in maintaining the colonial relationship with the UK because it so great to be British, or for any love for queen and empire, but because the Union Jack on the corner of the Cayman flag is perceived to bestow a label of stability and, of course, ‘good governance’ to reassure the international investors and multinational conglomerates that have created Cayman’s wealth that their cash will be safe here.
However, the price for the Union Jack is that Cayman’s elected officials cannot run their affairs entirely autonomously, something which Bush is acutely aware after his experiences with the need to gain approval for borrowing in order to balance the 2009/10 budget. His desire to keep the UK out of the financial business of government as much as possible has been illustrated by his aim of eliminating the islands’ $80 million plus deficit in one fiscal year, a task which many believe is impossible, despite the fee hikes.
It is apparent from his welcome address for Taylor, both in the Legislative Assembly and at Pedro Castle, that Bush has no particular beef with the man himself, he simply wants him to ‘butt out’. When he spoke of “working with him”, it is clear that means following along with Bush’s aspirations for his country – ones which, whether people voted for Bush or not, he genuinely believes and is passionate about.
The new premier’s goal is no secret: he wants to make Cayman rich again. That may mean circumventing the odd rule or regulation, something which his people, if they begin to feel richer as a result, will forgive him. However, Bush knows that, on the other hand, the UK will demand he plays everything by the book. The budget crisis has left the elected government far more vulnerable to interference from the UK representative than ever before – a situation that quite clearly pains the premier but also gives him a very conveniently large stick with which to continue beating the opposition.
However, that will not solve the problem of how the premier continues to run Cayman’s affairs if the budget doesn’t balance in June or if Taylor, as is likely, takes a greater interest in governance than Bush would like. While he may not be ready to stand on the political soap box and campaign for a free and independent Cayman Islands, those with their eyes open can already read the thought balloons, and there is most definitely a whiff of independence in the UDP air.
Governor is no show at PAC
(CNS): The chair of the Public Accounts Committee said he was very disappointed that the governor, Stuart Jack, had chosen not to attend Wednesday’s PAC meeting to respond to questions raised by the auditor general’s report on the expenditures for Operations Tempura and Cealt. Ezzard Miller noted that the presence of the governor would not only have given the committee an opportunity to ask what had happened with the spending on the investigations but his presence would have demonstrated the importance of the PAC to issues of good governance.
Despite the fact that the governor chose not to appear, RCIPS Commissioner David Baines and Deputy Governor Donovan Ebanks both turned up to answer questions and did their best to shed light on the spending associated with the discredited investigations.
Baines said that he felt like he had arrived when the party was over with regard to the issue of Operation Tempura and Cealt, but his goal now was to use the findings of Cealt to bring the internal investigation into police corruption in house.
He explained that there would be a new RCIPS investigation team formed to pursue the allegations, which coincided with the need to establish an anti-corruption unit under the new Cayman Islands Constitution. Above all, he said, once the legal and disciplinary matters left over from Tempura were finalized, the spin off from Operation Cealt would be financed out of the existing police budget and the treasury would not be required to cough up any more cash in relation to the tainted investigations.
He admitted he was not familiar with the consulting firm, BGP, as used by Operation Tempura, which, according to the auditor general’s report, cost close to $600,000 to gather information from people making accusations against serving police officers, but he said the Metropolitan Police tended to use who they knew. As a result, he concluded that it could look like the ‘old boy network’ had been in play when the firm was engaged.
Following the commissioner, Donnie Ebanks spoke at some length about how, from the very beginning, by using the Metropolitan Police the CIG was setting itself up for an expensive project. Admitting that he was involved in the negotiations of senior investigating officer Martin Bridger’s contract, he said the SIO did not come cheap and, given the circumstances he was faced with, he had little choice but to re-engage him. He explained that Scotland Yard had told Cayman that the officers who were engaged as consultants by the Met should really be employed directly by the CIG .
The deputy governor spoke about the criticisms that had been made about the SIO’s salary, but he said the problem was not whether he was paid $100,000 or $120,000 but that he may have been too expensive in the first place. “Without getting into the details of ’going rates’, he was not substantially over compensated for his service,” Ebanks observed. Making analogies to being in a luxury car showroom and choosing between the cost of a Daimler or a Rolls Royce, Ebanks said the question was whether we should have been in the luxury car showroom shopping for a Rolls Royce at all.
Although Ebanks did not condemn the investigation outright, he made it clear that the moment Cayman chose to engage the Met, the country was set to pay top dollar. Moses Kirkconnell, the MLA for the Sister Islands, summed up the situation when he said it seemed that the CIG "for a Rolls Royce but ended up with a clunker.”
Ebanks made no comments on the outcomes of the investigations but indicated that the operation was entirely the responsibility of the governor and not the strategic oversight committee. He said that committee was there merely to facilitate local issues for the investigators and to monitor the impact on the local community, not to supervise the investigation or interfere with operations.
Ebanks also observed that the experience had served as a lesson and perhaps there needed to be changes in the way government does business. He said that the idea that anyone who the Foreign and Commonwealth Office picks is fully equipped to dischargetheir duties, and as a result local representatives must leave all their trust in them, is not one he subscribed to.
The PAC chair echoed the deputy governor’s sentiment and observed that it was essential that going forward there would be more local input and control in such things.
During the questioning of witnesses, the committee also asked the AG Dan Duguay if he could say whether the investigations had represented value for money given all that had transpired. Duguay explained that, as he had stayed well away from looking at operational issues and looked solely at expenditure, he could not offer a real opinion because of the unique nature of the investigation.
He made observations in his report, however, about how the financial expenditure had not been managed during the investigations and that there was a lack of appropriate project management when it came to supervising how money was spent.
Governor to leave Cayman in December
(CNS): Arguably one of Cayman’s most controversial governors in recent history, Stuart Jack will be bidding fare well to the islands in ten days time. Having clashed with the members of the politically elected on both sides of the Legislative Assembly, generated wide public condemnation and run up a substantial tab in the pursuit of good governance, he may go down in history as the governor that set Cayman on the road to independence. According to a release from GIS, Jack and his wife Mariko have announced their intention to depart the Cayman Islands on Wednesday, 2 December.
Deputy Governor, Donovan Ebanks, will act as governor until Duncan Taylor, takes over the position in January 2010.
Jack will be remembered amongmany other things for presiding over the Operation Tempura fiasco and the discredited Special Police Investigation Team, which is likely to cost the island well over $10 million before it is fully concluded. The so-called corruption investigation has included the unlawful arrest of a court judge, the suspension of the best part of the country’s police leadership, and a string of failed court cases and scandals surrounding the UK officers allegedly brought here to root out corruption.
The governor has been widely and publically criticised for his interpretation of good governance and what elected officials have described as his “derision for elected members” of government. For the best part of his time here Jack worked with the PPM government but first came into public conflict with them when he instigated a tribunal to examine the leaking of documents by Charles Clifford that exposed questions about the financing of the Turtle Farm under the previous UDP administration.
Following the unlawful arrest of Justice Alex Henderson by SPIT as part of Operation Tempura, the elected government began speaking out against him. The public, too, began questioning the motives of the latest representative from the UK and wondered if he was deliberately trying to undermine the stability of the jurisdiction. Following a judicial review which exonerated the judge and resulted in a damages award of CI$1.275 million, the governor was forced to admit mistakes had been made in the investigation.
Since the May general election, the governor has also clashed several times with the new UDP administration over the auditor general’s decision to look into the port tendering, as well as the issues concerning legal aid changes among others.
Since Jack took up his posting as governor and as events unfolded, including the growing rift between the UK and the CI government, the issue of independence has begun to be debated more widely than ever before.
At his recent signing in ceremony, on the day the 2009 Cayman Islands Constitution was enacted, the new premier, McKeeva Bush, warned that the day would come eventually when Cayman severed the ties with the UK. But in the meatime, he warned the incoming governor not to micro-manage — signalling possible further frictions ahead between the new governor and the new political administration.
Jack’s successor, Taylor, was the British High Commissioner for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, a position he held from 2005. Describe as a career diplomat, Taylor has served in the UK’s foreign office for 27 years and he has already made it clear that he too will be continuing the pursuit of what the UK has defined as good governance in its territories.
Opposition faces bitter-sweet Constitution Day
(CNS): Despite the fact that the leader of the opposition has not been invited to speak or take any formal part in the Constitution Commencement Day on Friday, PPM members say they are still upbeat about the implementation of the 2009 Cayman Islands Constitution. Alden McLaughlin said that, while he felt it was a shame after fighting since 2001 for the new constitution that his party is not at the helm of government, Friday was still a very important day as it heralded in some significant changes to governance in the Cayman Islands. (Photo: Alden McLaughlin speaks at one of the many constitutional meetings)
“Getting the constitution through was a ray of sunshine on the dark day of the general election last May,” McLaughlin said. He noted the irony that the leader of government business has said frequently in recent month that he did not vote for the constitution and that he is being forced to be the first premier. “Despite how we feel about the arrival of Premier Bush,” McLaughlin joked, “we are ushering in a model of new governance that’s going to improve democracy and reduce ability of the governor to act outside of the advice of the elected representatives.”
Speaking at Monday night’s PPM council meeting, McLaughlin said the provisions the PPM had pressed for were important, especially given the current concerns regarding the relationship between Cayman and UK and what governors will and won’t be able to do in the future. “If we continue to have governors that can undermine the image of these islands, I shudder to think how Cayman will survival in the long term,” he said, but added that at least with the improvements in the Constitution Cayman would be less dependent on governors being ‘kind’ to Caymanians as there are now laws in place to curtail their behaviour or bad judgement.
The former education minster and tireless advocate for the Constitution during the run up to the referendum said the new Constitution increases involvement of elected officials in the day to day running of government. Above all, it has taken the sole power the governor previously had and placed it in the hands of committees, which includes members of the public as well as politicians, he explained.
However, McLaughlin lamented the failure to secure a police authority that would have taken that power away from the governor and given it to the people. “We had persuaded the UK to accept the idea,” he said, but explained that the UDP had refused to go along with it and, as an agreement with the UK was so close, London said it was not going to allow that one issue to upset the apple cart. “So we got a document that did not include a police authority,” he said. “I know the UDP must be kicking themselves now because of what happened with Operation Tempura and Cealt, which could happen again. Whenever power is concentrated in hands of one person, things are likely to go awry. You need more than one head to protect democracy.”
On Tuesday morning Ezzard Miller, the independent MLA for North Side, said he was profoundly disappointed with the way the occasion was being handled and accused the governor of playing down the celebrations to promote himself.
“This is an historic event for Caymanians and it should be Caymanians that are featured, and the keynote address should not be given by the governor but by the first premier,” Miller said on Rooster’s morning talk show Crosstalk. He also criticised the fact that the leader of the opposition had not been invited to speak. “That is disgusting. Not only is his position recognised in the Constitution, it was the honourable Kurt Tibbetts and his government that shepherded in the Constitution and took us through the process to a referendum,” he said. “It’s just rude not to invite him to speak.”
The Commencement Day ceremony will take place at the Legislative Assembly on 6 November and will include the swearing-in of the premier, the deputy premier and the deputy governor. The event starts at 10:30 am with performances from the Cayman National Choir, the Harmony Singers, Rudy Myles and Jamessette Anglin. There will also be the usual pomp with the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service Band, an inspection of detachments from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Fire Service, Her Majesty’s Prison Service, the Cadet Corps, the Girls Brigade, the Scouts, and the Gideon Pathfinders.
Refreshments will be served free of charge to the public at the close of the event followed by an invitation-only luncheon at the Ritz-Carlton. The inaugural day has also been declared a public holiday for this year only.
Miller challenges governor on evidence of corruption
(CNS): The recent comments by the governor, Stuart Jack, that people who think there is no corruption in the Cayman Islands are deluded has, not surprisingly, incurred the wrath of the MLA for North Side, Ezzard Miller. The independent candidate has challenged the UK’s representative to bring his evidence of corruption and put it on the table. Miller has also condemned the governor’s constant comparisons of Cayman to the Turks and Caicos Islands, which he noted as a veiled threat and something it seemed the governor wished was happening.
Responding to the recent statements by Jack in the wake of Auditor General Dan Duguay’s report on the costs of the investigation, and discussing his own private members motion with regard to the Special Police investigation Team and their operations, the MLA said on Rooster’s morning talk show, Crosstalk, on Tuesday that he was not corrupt and he would not stand idly by when the governor insinuated as such. Miller said the governor could not expect to make wide sweeping accusations without being challenged.
“It is beginning to look as though there is something deliberate about these things,” Miller said. “The fact that the whole system the police and judicial administration have been called into question but crime is mushrooming, and all we hear from the governor is the need to continue with the investigation because everyone is corrupt — the criminals are enjoying the holiday.”
Miller noted that the police are reluctant to take action as they are caught in a situation of not knowing who is being investigated or for what. “We don’t know who in the police service is under investigation or what for, so there is a reluctance of rank and file, but I don’t blame them,” he added.
The private members motion which Miller has asked the government to consider will be discussed in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, and Miller hopes that he will be able to persuade the government to file a law suit in the UK to recover some of the costs of the investigations and hold the governor, the FCO and the senior investigator, Martin Bridger, accountable.
“This is not just about recovering the money,” Miller explained. “It is necessary in principle to let the UK know that we are not going to let their unilateral appointed master to do these things and not question it. This will demonstrate that Caymanians are prepared to stand up to him.”
Parliament, he said, needed to make a statement to the UK government to demonstrate that the people of this country are not happy.
He also noted that the governor’s remarks that those advocating independence should come out and say so may have been pointed at him, but he said everyone in this country knows that Ezzard Miller is an advocate for independence. “But what I don’t want to happen is for the UK to manoeuvre us into position where there is no other option but independence when we are not ready.” Miller said, as he has for many years, that Cayman needs to set a date for the future which will put the country on a path to release it from the “shackles of colonial administration".
The governor issued a long public statement on Thursday evening denying culpability regarding the special investigations and offering his continued support of Operation Cealt, indicating his conviction that there is corruption in the RCIPS but not offering any evidence.
Less than 24 hours later the Daily Mail, a UK tabloid with more than 4 million readers, published an exposé on the Special Police Investigation Team (SPIT), further undermining the credibility of the investigations. So far, the governor has made no commentregarding the pictures of SPIT or the content of the article.
Governor admits special police operations went too far
(CNS): Following his length statement defending Operations Tempura and Cealt, the governor has said that the investigations may have gone too far and that mistakes were made. Speaking to News 27, Stuart Jack still tries to justify the discredited and costly investigations by saying that the allegations that were made about various things against various people need to be cleared up. The UK’s top official also continues to deny his responsibility for the spending and points the finger at senior civil servants. He said overall responsibility for the police lies with the governor, but he said the financial aspects lay elsewhere.
In an interview with Tammi Sulliman, the governor refuses to comment on the remaining allegations and says he would have preferred if so much money had not been spent and the investigations had gone another way.