Topic: Premier Alden McLaughlin

In recent weeks, days and even hours, we can’t help but observe what appears to be a significant expansion and growth of government that includes new infrastructure (building projects and building acquisitions), new agencies, and now even a new ministry.

No two hurricanes are alike and while prognosticators tell us how many storms will form and how powerful they will be, they cannot predict any one storm’s disposition.

During these perilous times, we urge Cayman’s leaders to be uncharacteristically open and communicative with the people of these islands. The offshore financial sector provides over half of the entire government budget, and any threat to that industry threatens us all.

When leaders of the Cayman Islands telecommunications companies heard Premier Alden McLaughlin say the government was going to build a fiber optic network throughout the east side of Grand Cayman – and make the telecom companies pay for it – they might have thought they were experiencing a “bad connection.”

We acknowledge and appreciate the dilemma: Cayman’s “best and brightest” are unlikely to serve on boards if they put themselves and their families at financial or reputational risk. However, we also have concerns about individuals’ rights to pursue remedies for wrongs done to them by the actions of boards – by one, some or all of its members.

Premier Alden McLaughlin and Opposition Leader Ezzard Miller may sit on opposite sides of the Legislative Assembly, but in their New Year’s messages, they appeared to be singing from the same hymnal.

Elections are about choices. Choices are about contrast. And in this election – where candidates’ views tend to overlap on the vast majority of issues, here is a topic where, between two candidates, there could not be a greater contrast.

The overarching theme to be gleaned from the newest solid waste management report is that the Cayman Islands government is in love with recycling — particularly, vast sections of previous reports.

Pressure is growing for government to swiftly follow through on its commitment to make regulatory changes to allow doctors to prescribe cannabis oil for medical purposes.

While contemplating a sovereign Cayman Islands may lead to an ephemeral thrill of cultural pride, making a practical case for independence for Cayman is, in brief, impossible.

Last week, the Premier said the Compass Editorial Board was wrong to declare that the EY Report appeared to be going nowhere. Let’s examine what the Progressives’ idea of “progress” really consists of.

What immunity clauses such as Section 12 of the HSA Law do is create a climate of “victors versus victims,” where the victors are the public agencies, and the victims are the ordinary members of Cayman society.

With the government’s 2016/17 budget approval process looming, lawmakers remained uncertain whether the Legislative Assembly would meet again prior to the annual May-June opening session and finance committee review.

Following an invitation from Premier Alden McLaughlin at the Joint Ministerial Council in London last December, senior representatives from the U.K.’s National Crime Agency and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office visited the Cayman Islands last week to discuss cooperation between both countries’ law enforcement agencies and Cayman’s progress in enhancing its beneficial ownership information regime.

The number of active work permits held in the Cayman Islands rose above 23,000 this month, reaching a level not seen in the past six years.