It has come to light that more civil servants than ever before either work second jobs or have business interests outside of their government job.
True to growing entrepreneurial spirit of Caymanians, the majority of those people have involvement in a business.
Part of the reason for this is need; civil servant salaries have not kept pace with inflation since Hurricane Ivan and government employees, like many other in our society, are still trying to replace or repair items lost or damaged in the storm.
The other main reason there are more people than ever in businesses is simply that there are more opportunities for Caymanian entrepreneurs after Ivan, particularly in construction-related industries that are so essential to the rebuilding process.
There is nothing wrong with civil servants taking advantage of the opportunities available to help them make ends meet or to get ahead. Civil servants are allowed to work second jobs or have ownership in a business as long as they get permission from their department heads.
There is, however, something wrong if they are doing this secondary work during their normal working hours or if it is otherwise negatively affecting their performance of their government job.
The Chief Secretary has noticed ‘significant abuse’ to the permission to engage in private gainful activity, and the Acting Police Chief and the Chief of Fire Services have both reported instances of abuse to the permission.
Since all civil servants are paid with tax dollars, it is a violation of public trust for them to abuse their privilege to work outside of their primary job.
In the case of police officers, on whom the public relies for the maintenance of law and order, it is even more important they not abuse the permission given to work another job.
With the current crime situation the way it is, and the recent allegations of corruption in the force, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service needs to be beyond reproach.
There should be no question as to whether a police officer is on or off duty when tending to an outside business. Therefore, he or she should not be in uniform or using a police vehicle at the time.
All civil servants should follow the rules of outside gainful activity, and if they do not, we hope the civil service department heads, and the general tax-paying public, hold them accountable.
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