My fellow Caymanians,
I speak to you today, not only as an elected official, or as the Premier of these Islands, but first and foremost as a parent, a grandparent, and a proud citizen of these beloved Islands.
I wish to start by extending my prayers and deepest sympathies to the families and friends who have lost their loved ones as a result of this wave of violence that has swept through our country – especially the recent events in West Bay.
Life is precious, and the gift of the breath of life, which God gives to each innocent child, is sacred. As we know, man’s first sin was disobedience; the second was giving in to temptation; and the third, murder.
This shows the terrible power of the evil that can pervade our minds and hearts – but only if we pay heed to it!
And as we grow to know right from wrong, we must so raise our children in the right way – by word, as well as by example.
Love abounds
While any loss of life is tragic, you – our young people, the maturing young men and women of our homes and communities, must first and foremost know that we love you dearly; that we care about your wellbeing.
Of course, you should also know that love requires discipline!
With that foundation, and with continued diligence, all good is possible.
So, I ask every child, teenager and young adult to know this, and to work with us, to communicate; to share your concerns and worries with a trusted adult.
Our homes must be defiled no longer for our hearts are broken, and our grief at the loss of the love and potential of our irreplaceable boys and girls is too heavy to bear!
This growing trend of violence in our country has been recognisable for many years. I have had many concerns; concerns that I have made known to all of the commissioners of police, including the current commissioner. I have voiced the importance of forcefully addressing the severity of this issue from long before my inception to Office in 2009 – and in these years leading up to the senseless executions which we are witnessing today.
Hands tied
As you all are aware, the present Constitution of these Islands restricts the elected government, and by extension the people of these Islands from getting involved with the operational matters of policing and security.
The Governor has made a most accurate statement when he said publicly that when it comes to matters of crime and security that the buck stops with him.
The elected government, since taking office in 2009, has given the Governor and the Police Commissioner all of the financial, legislative, political and moral support that we can, to aid in this fight against crime. Just recently, I tabled a motion dealing specifically with crime and placing certain demands on both His Excellency the Governor and the Commissioner of Police. This motion was supported by all Members of the Legislative Assembly with the exception of the member from North Side.
The motion, amongst other things, served to bring to the public’s attention the ongoing debates and challenges that my government has faced since 2009 in relation to this matter, as well as the support that we have given.
The Governor and the Commissioner having agreed to the terms of the motion, were given an additional $4.6 million in financial support. Whilst we are empathetic and understand that they need time to implement the agreed upon strategy, I wish to state publicly, again, to the Governor and to the Commissioner of Police, that we as a government have done all we can do and still stand willing to do even more, and that today we continue to make our voice publicly heard on the matter.
Enough is enough
We call on them to use every instrument available to them to fulfil their constitutional obligation. In a meeting today with the Commissioner and the Governor we voiced our position strongly that, “enough is enough, we need action and we need action NOW”. The Commissioner has assured us that over the days to come we will all see a stepped up police presence – and we have seen more presence of police officers since we met with the Commissioner and Governor last week.
I have talked to and will be meeting with Pastors and concerned citizens tomorrow [Tuesday, 20 September].
A group… will be meeting with parents and individuals involved in gangs and affected thereby, to find out what can be done to stop this senseless slaughter.
A village
Allow me to paraphrase a few things from Hillary Clinton’s book It Takes a Village – “Every uncertainty and doubt I had was mixed with wonder and astonishment. I was beginning to discover for myself a timeless truth: Parenthood has the power to redefine every aspect of life – marriage, work, relationships with family and friends.
Those helpless bundles of power and promise that come into our world show us our true selves – who we are, who we are not, who we wish we could be. The struggle to raise strong children and to support families, emotionally as well as practically, has become more fierce. Parents bear the first and primary responsibility for their sons and daughters – to feed them, to sing them to sleep, to teach them to ride a bike, to encourage their talents, to help them develop spiritual lives, to make countless daily decisions that determine whom they have the potential to become. Many of us as children were blessed with a hardworking parents who put their family first and who were devoted to their children.
Children exist in the world as well as in the family. From the moment they are born, they depend on a host of other grownups – grandparents, neighbours, teachers, pastors, employers, and untold others who touch their lives directly and indirectly. Adults police their streets, monitor the quality of their food, air, and water, produce the programmes that appear on their televisions, run the businesses that employ their parents, and write the laws that protect them. Each of us plays a part in every child’s life. It takes a village to raise a child. I think about this every time I hear someone say that their children are not the responsibility of anyone outside their family.
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In Cayman
We as a community need to get back to that, and that is a fact.
The true test of the consensus we build is how well we care for our children. For a child, the village must remain personal. They require the presence of caring adults who are dedicated to children’s growth, nurturing, and well-being. What we do to participate in and support that network – from the way we care for our own children to the jobs we do, the causes we join – is mirrored every day in the experiences of Cayman’s children. We can read our national character plainly in the result.
How well we care for our own and other people’s children isn’t only a question of morality; our self interest is at stake too. No family is immune to the influences of the larger society. No matter what parents do to protect and prepare their children, their future will be affected by how other children are being raised.
I’d like to minimise the odds of my children’s suffering at the hands of someone who didn’t have enough love or discipline, opportunity or responsibility, as a child. I want them to believe, as their parents do that we can live peaceable, respectable lives. I want to live in a Cayman that is still strong and promising to its own citizens and lives up to its image throughout the world as a land of hope and opportunity.
I do not pretend to know how to nurture and protect every Caymanian child so that each one fully reaches his or her God-given potential and I am working hard to do all I can do in our circumstances.
Report what you know
In closing, I make a further call on all of us as a people to respect and care for each other; continue to do our part as citizens who love and want what is best for our beloved Islands. Report what you know to the police.
Talk to children and young people, give them good advice and you will show them you care by doing so.
Most importantly, continue to pray, for only God can heal a broken heart, forgive a lost sinner, and bring peace in the midst of the storm. As the good Word says (in II Chronicles 7:14): “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
God bless you all, and God bless our beloved Cayman Islands.
Premier McKeeva Bush
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