Viewpoint

It is quite evident that our politicians have failed to notice that the counter to the “bad publicity” the Cayman Islands gets in the international press is almost always about our natural environment. Whether it’s the beautiful diving, Stingray City or the blue iguanas, it is Cayman’s natural unique resources, not the financial ones, that promote the destination in a positive light. But while we have a smorgasbord of legislation associated with protecting the financial services sector, we can count on one hand the laws that protect our natural environment.

At the risk of understatement here, even the most diehard UDP supporters cannot deny that the current government is doing a pretty good job at rubbing at lot of the voting public up the wrong way at the moment. But there is little doubt that when it comes to upsetting the electorate the best way to do it is to tell them you are moving the dump to their town. Relocating a landfill under any circumstances is nothing less than political suicide for any administration and especially the representatives of the constituency involved.

At the Cayman Business Outlook 2012 Conference the panel is asked to discuss “Politics, Good Governance and Transparency – What Does the Cayman Islands Report Card Say?”
“Politics”: a name for activities that some find unappealing, even disgraceful. But they go on in all real democracies. They are necessary for democracy, they are part of democracy.

How governments collect and spend public cash is one of the key issues on which they are judged, but here in the Cayman Islands no one really knows how this or the previous administration actually spent our money. As the UDP approaches the last year of this government, the voters still don’t have access to any meaningful account of how it has actually spent the people’s cash or how successful it has been at collecting what it is owed.

It probably came as no surprise to CNS readers to discover that the premier had hopped over to Jamaica this week to attend the swearing in ceremony of that country’s new prime minister. Jamaica is, after all, a close neighbour with enormous ties to Cayman and it is quite fitting that McKeeva Bush would want to attend along with other heads of state in the region. But why did we all have to learn about it from the foreign press and why has he taken five people with him?

Judging by the blogs on CNS and public comment elsewhere, the current administration may be about as popular as this Christmas’ sour eggnog, but brace yourselves people because you could be drinking a whole lot more come May 2013 as the official opposition is not rated much more highly than the stale mince pies. There’s no denying that the current administration is hardly a smash hit with the people but given the current political landscape, it is highly likely that McKeeva Bush will still head up the next government.

I noticed last night that there is the usual one lonely string of Christmas lights hanging forlornly from the utility poles in George Town. Is this the best we can do? What will our visitors think? What do our children think? Perhaps we need to look at what our competition is doing -- we might learn a thing or two.

(TI): We have seen that economic growth without good governance does not guarantee that the fruits of that growth will be shared equally, nor does it guarantee stability. When political decisions are unduly influenced by special interests, when valuable resources are exploited by profitable companies but the wealth does not reach the citizens, people lose faith in their leaders.

As US Republican primary candidate Herman Cain stumbles and struggles under the weight of various sexual harassment charges from his past, Caymanians should refrain from chuckling and instead ask themselves why it is that Cayman never has any similar scandals involving our politicians.

As a reporter I enjoy covering the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly. Despite the cramped press area and the 'hard' chairs, the hanging around for something to happen, the marathon late night sittings and of course the yelling, sometimes it can be very entertaining and, as a journalist, you can always be sure to get a good story and that is, if we are honest, why we all do our job. But recently it’s become something of a chore, not least because of the speaker's taking against technology.

(Jamaica Observer): One of the things that marred the government of the People's National Party during the more than 18 years it was in office was the alarming cost overruns on government projects, especially road construction, which was a gravy train for some party supporters. Two of the expensive cost overruns involved the North Coast Highway which escalated from US$25 million to US$75 million and the Montego Bay to Ocho Rios Highway which increased from US$60 million to US$176 million.

The Coalition to Keep BT Dump Free is again asking the government to unconditionally cancel the agreement with Dart to move the George Town garbage dump to Bodden Town.  For Dart, moving the dump means that they can further extend Camana Bay and develop their “Future Residential Area”, which faces the present dump.  But a new dump would threaten the integrity of historic Bodden Town, challenge an already inadequate infrastructure, and threaten the central wetlands.

I thought I would set myself a goal to try and write a commentary on the markets and not use “Europe”, “periphery” or “debt”. As you can see I just failed, which is a good thing as this commentary would be decidedly short if I hadn’t.  The past couple of weeks haven’t been a good time to be a prime minister. Having seen two go, Greece’s Papandreou and Italy’s Berlusconi, there must surely be a bit of unease being at the top. 

Are you satisfied with life in West Bay these days? Is the crime rate in your district acceptable to you? How about drug abuse? Are you content with the education that all West Bay children are receiving? What about spouse abuse and alcoholism? No big worries there either?

Many of us will remember the “Good Old Days” when driving along South Sound was akin to driving in snowy northern forests. The milky coloured marl used for the road whirled over the cars and the vegetation at the side of the road. Danger lurked but did not become apparent for some time. Sooner or later (and in the case of Fiats it was sooner), the high salt content of the marl corroded the undersides and wheel arches of our cars. And it was only a question of when, not if, the hidden devastation to the vehicle showed itself  –  usually in the rainy season when dirty water started appearing unannounced in the floor pan.