Despite repeated requests for official confirmation on the status of government’s planned referendum, the public is no closer to knowing when the vote will be held or what the questions will look like.
There has not been any official announcement from the Wayne Panton-led administration on what is happening with the referendum nor has been any response to repeated requests from the Cayman Compass for a status update on the vote.
Emails and direct messages to both the Premier’s Office and the premier have been met with silence.
In December, Members of Parliament voted in favour of a motion to move forward with a bill to trigger a public referendum on the introduction of a national lottery and the decriminalisation of the use of small amounts of ganja.
However, since then there has been silence from the government and, in particular, the Premier’s Office, on the status of the vote.
In January, then acting Attorney General Reshma Sharma, speaking at the opening of the Grand Court, said the legal framework to pave the way for Cayman’s vote on a national lottery system and the decriminalisation of marijuana was expected to head to Parliament in the first quarter of this year.
That, however, did not materialise.
Questions remain
Even Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan, speaking on Radio Cayman’s ‘For The Record’ programme last week, indicated he too was waiting for an update.
“The last thing I heard is that the necessary legislative preparations were being done, because in order for us to do a referendum we have to carry a bill to Parliament and the formulation of those questions have to be agreed to in Parliament,” he said, adding he has asked the premier for an update.
He said that he knew there were some in the community that were not “big” on the referendum and while they were not in support of the decriminalisation of ganja or the national lottery, “they still want to have their say on it”.
“Either way, I think the referendum is an issue that the people will want addressed,” Bryan said, adding he hoped he could get an update from the premier as the government takes the lead from Panton on such issues.
“If he says, no, we cannot have the referendum, then we cannot have it. He did come on this show [For the Record] and gave that commitment to have it,” he said.
Bryan had been lobbying for the referendum and even dedicated billboards on the proposed vote.
However, last month Bryan switched out the referendum messaging for an anti-littering campaign.
The most recent post-Cabinet summaries issued by the Cabinet Office contain no mention of the referendum nor the issuing of instructions to take it forward.
Parliament is set to meet Wednesday, 7 June, and the Compass has confirmed that the proposed order paper for that meeting does not include the referendum.
The standing business committee is set to meet Friday, 2 June, to finalise the draft order paper, but there has been mention of the referendum, the Compass has been told.
A check of the government Gazettes also showed that no bill for the referendum has been published, though the Elections Office had engaged in voter-registration campaigns in preparation for the trigger of the vote.
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So what are they waiting for?????
As much as people think this is a good idea, all a lottery does is take more money from the people who least have it. Taxing legal marijuana is a reasonable initiative or decriminalizing it. Lotteries work well if the proceeds are used for something specific, such as a nationalized healthcare system or funding for affordable RENTAL housing. If we put more revenue in CIG hands, what are they going to do with it?
Good decision. NOT a priority really, too many important matters to address our minds to. Let’s Roll!!