Cayman Islands lawmakers are debating the possibility of allowing the public to attend the meetings of some government boards, but a final decision on the issue was not reached last week.
Meetings of government controlled boards such the Immigration Board, the Central Planning Authority, the Public Accounts Committee and the Port Authority are held behind closed doors. Members of the public can request the minutes of such meetings under a newly-approved Freedom of Information Law which will take affect in 2009, but they cannot attend those gatherings.
Opposition Leader McKeeva Bush put forth a private members motion in July (see Caymanian Compass, 25 July) asking for the meetings of such boards to be open to members of the public.
‘This is something the public has been asking for,’ Mr. Bush said during his Legislative Assembly debate. ‘We’ve heard many times…especially in relation to the Central Planning Authority board, that this must be done.’
Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts said the ruling People’s Progressive Movement party would seriously consider the motion. However, Mr. Tibbetts said such a move might be impractical at present.
‘This motion…calls for costs to be incurred, costs which have not been accounted for,’ Mr. Tibbetts said.
Many of the boards mentioned in Mr. Bush’s motion would have to move from their current locations simply because of limits on meeting space, according to Mr. Tibbetts.
‘It would mean…renting more space to hold the meetings at separate venues,’ he said.
‘We understand the intent (of the motion), but we need the latitude to be able to work with it from a practical standpoint. At this point in time, it is not the right thing to do.’
Mr. Tibbetts asked Mr. Bush to amend his motion to simply ask government to ‘consider’ holding open meetings, allowing time to research how this might be accomplished. Mr. Bush agreed to the change, although somewhat reluctantly.
‘I hope government will come back and say space is not an issue,’ Mr. Bush said. ‘Since they’re talking about government in the sunshine they should want to make that happen.’
The motion was not clear as to whether only those government controlled boards specifically named would be required to open their meetings to the public, or if all boards would be made to do so.
Mr. Tibbetts said information handled by certain boards, such as Immigration, includes matters like medical records and potential criminal histories which are generally not public record in Cayman.
Mr. Bush’s motion was also amended to include a suggested prohibition on government ministers or their designees serving as chairmen of government controlled boards.
In practice, the Cayman Islands current ruling party already prevents its ministers from leading government boards. Education Minister Alden McLaughlin, for example, stepped down as chairman of the Human Rights Committee in June citing the potential for conflicts of interest.
Mr. Bush said he wanted to see that policy placed in the law so that successive governments would have to abide by it as well.
Mr. Bush was recently accused by ruling party ministers of just such a conflict of interest. He served as chairman of the Cayman Turtle Farm board while he was the island’s Tourism Minister.
An Auditor General’s report which was critical of the first debt financing arrangements for the expansion of the turtle farm has brought Mr. Bush, and current Tourism Minister Charles Clifford, under considerable scrutiny this year. Both men served on the Cayman Turtle Farm board when the financing deal was approved.
A police enquiry is now underway into the circumstances of that financing arrangement.
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