Helen Kilpatrick, who marked her first anniversary as governor of the Cayman Islands on Monday, commented on the territory’s progress and reflected on Cayman’s achievements, social issues, highlights and her hopes for the future of the islands.
“I have been particularly pleased to see the progress made to reduce the government debt burden and to get public finances onto a sounder footing, the passing on the National Conservation Bill, and the work being done on the three major capital projects – the cruise berth, the airport and the George Town landfill site,” the governor said in a statement to the media.
Mrs. Kilpatrick said she had also been impressed with the commitment of Deputy Governor Franz Manderson to move to a more efficient public sector and said Cabinet would shortly consider the EY Review that had been commissioned.
She said it was important to recognize the need “to reduce the size of the civil service whilst caring about the welfare of civil servants. I’m encouraged that the deputy governor has identified an experienced and capable civil servant to head the implementation team. I will continue to give this work my full support as it moves forward.”
The statement, gleaned from an interview Mrs. Kilpatrick did with Cayman 27 to mark her one year as governor, credited the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service for its efforts in responding to spikes in crime and underlying social issues. She said the Cayman Islands had been shocked after an 11-year-old had been arrested for burglary.
“There is a wider debate beginning to take place on social failings. You could argue that a breakdown in family authority is, in part, responsible for 11-year-old burglars. The police are not going to solve those ills, but have to hold line whilst wider social policy is introduced to address social problems experienced by sections of the community.”
Mrs. Kilpatrick recognized the Cayman Islands as the safest part of the Caribbean.
She said the Cayman Islands is performing very well economically and is on course to comply with the financial framework by 2016.
“This will be a very considerable achievement that will put the Cayman Islands on a sound financial basis for the future,” she said. “But we cannot be complacent as there are always likely to be surprises ahead. No one, for example, could have predicted the depth of the global recession that hit in 2008.”
In her second year, she said, she is looking forward to the implementation of an action plan from the EY review and to next year’s Cayman Cookout.
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