No matter how the government might spin it, the draft
Framework for Fiscal Responsibility that it has been presented for signature by
the United Kingdom should be looked at in shame by the Cayman Islands.
It basically indicates the UK has grown weary of failed
budget projections, empty promises and a government that refuses to do what is
necessary to make Cayman’s economy sustainable.
When Premier McKeeva Bush states that the Framework has the
ability to affect the quality of life and the standard of living in these
islands, he isn’t kidding. The sub-text of the Framework, when followed to what
appears to be an inevitable conclusion, is that if Cayman doesn’t get its
financial act together, direct taxation is still very much a possibility.
The Framework does give Cayman the opportunity to restore
prudent financial management without such drastic measures. However, if the
Cayman government cannot make itself financially responsible, Mother England
will do it for us and the consequences of that will be severe.
Mr. Bush wants to blame this turn of events on the previous
People’s Progressive Movement administration. Certainly, the PPM’s overspending
and over-borrowing despite dire economic predictions by leading world
economists helped get Cayman into this mess. Former Leader of Government
Business Kurt Tibbetts’ infamous “not on the kindest of mornings” speech in
which he rejected a motion from the Opposition to reconsider the government’s
spending plan for 2008/09 was a prime example of how political agendas in Cayman
seem to trump common sense.
However, we should make no mistake in thinking the PPM is
only to blame for Cayman’s current predicament. The current government’s
mishandling of procurement processes has not only needlessly cost the country
money, but has also hindered progress on several important projects. Its
insistence on spending millions in “national building” funds for paving private
driveways and granting $4.1 million to churches in these difficult times only
prove to the UK that the Cayman government cannot be trusted anymore to make
prudent financial decisions.
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Thank you, Caycompass…
For this honest and educational editorial on this most crucial of events.
Why this editorial is so important is that it will be printed in the daily paper where all and sundry can read and benefit from it.
Comments already made here on this forum have already made it clear that this issue is quite understood by the members of the forum who post here regularly but the general reading public is not always guaranteed to read these comments…and Cayman’s reading public need to understand the reasons for this agreement.
There are a number of Caymanians and recent residents of Cayman who now live in Britain; I run into some of them occasionally so there is absolutely no doubt that what is happening in Cayman re the UK is important to Caymanians living in the UK now and I am certainly not the only one.
What we can say openly in the UK, we cannot say in Cayman but now it must and has been said…on the FCO forum provided and these comments are reflected in this Framework for Fiscal Responsibility but this framework covers much more than just fiscal responsibility.
What the entire purpose of this agreement is meant to do is to ‘stop the rot’ of Cayman’s political parties from sinking further into the mire of dividing the population for political and financial gain, which is almost reaching that critical point of no return in Cayman ever since party politics replaced the old system of Executive Council.
What this agreement will force future Cayman Islands governments to do is spend money wisely and make decisons for the majority of Cayman’s population, regardless of party allegiance or loyalties.
The United Kingdom has made many mistakes in the past and the distrust of the UK government has been well earned, both at home and abroad but the UK government has learned from the mistakes made in the Turks and Caicos and it is clear that the opinions of Caymanians who have had the chance of voicing them to the FCO without the fear of the intimidation from Cayman’s local politicians has been taken into account.
You only have to read some of these comments to see their thread running through this agreement and I have an e-mail update everytime one is posted and the opinions from Cayman have been impressive in their honesty, intelligence and in some cases, brilliance.
At the end of the day, there are now Caymanians paying taxes in Britain already so our voices have clout; more clout than the local politicians would lead their own brainwashed party followers to believe.
In his 2 years in power, McKeeva Bush has done more than the past PPM Govt did to bring the sword down on his own head, although the past govt cannot be held blameless…they were fiscally irresponsible and created financial problems because of this but the state of the global economy also contributed to these problems.
What they did not do is challenge the status quo and opinions of the majority of Caymanians as McKeeva Bush has done, what they did not do is openly flout laws in place, what they did not do is openly encourage political corruption in their financial dealings and the list goes on and on…
I shed no tears for McKeeva Bush because he does not represent my ideal of what a respectable Caymanian is or should be trying to be.
His negotiating and signing this agreement will be the best and only thing that he has done for the Caymanian people as their Premiere because he or his followers have nothing to gain personally by this and it will be for the benefit of the future generations of Caymanians.
Way to go Cayman Compass ‘you said it.. Not the shame part though. I look at this framework as a necessary check to an unbalance, something that many other countries citizens wish they had and we are committed to maintain. Here is more rad tape to strengthen that eroded by reckless the UK said..