On Monday, the press had a chance to attend a press briefing conducted by the new Cabinet.
It is refreshing for the press to be given such open access to government policymakers, and refreshing to see that the People’s Progressive Movement intends to live up to its campaign promise of greater transparency in its government.
Although the PPM has promised to hold the press briefings on a regular basis, Cabinet members are going to have to have thick skins to deal with the media openly as time goes by.
There is a honeymoon period with any new government, and that time of genial relations usually extends to the press as well as the public.
But, as the new government has said itself, there are many serious issues facing this country right now, and any honeymoon period must be short, indeed.
As time goes by, the press is going to be less and less satisfied with general philosophies and platitudes, and more interested in short, direct answers to important questions, many of which were asked by the PPM itself on the campaign trail.
What people want to know is where this country is going from here.
What was revealed at the press briefing, among the few snippets of hard information, is that the West Bay cruise tender dock is on hold; that the proposed Frank Sound and West Bay high schools are on hold; that the Affordable Housing Initiative is on hold; that the decision to implement the recently passed Health Insurance Law is on hold.
The new Cabinet has only been on the job for two weeks, and it certainly needs time to determine what’s what and develop a strategy based on its informed assessment of the situation.
It only makes sense that the Cabinet would want to take a closer look at the wisdom of some of the decisions of the previous government, especially those decisions made late in the administration that might have been made for political reasons.
However, the clock is ticking and decisions need to be made sooner rather than later.
The Cayman public resoundingly expressed its approval for a four-year marriage to the PPM, but this country cannot afford a long honeymoon.
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