MLA calls for special Finance Committee

(CNS): The independent member for North Side has called on the premier, who is the chair, to organise a Finance Committee meeting of the Legislative Assembly and invite members of the private sector as well as civil servants. He said the premeir needed to engage all the country's stakeholders in the goal to address the mounting financial crisis. Ezzard Miller said the situation required everyone’s consideration and a touch of "truth serum" on how government could successfully balance the books without resorting to the paradigm shift of direct taxation. The MLA said a credible five year financial plan was needed to rescue the country.

Miller called for the meeting as the opposition to the premier’s proposed expat tax of 10% on the pay of work permit holders earning $36,000 per annum and above mounted this week, as both Caymanians and expats joined forces against the discriminatory policy.

“We need to sit down and engage all the stakeholders as well as the civil service and find a way to solve this without punishing the civil servants by taking away their benefits or the private sector with direct taxation,” he said. “We can't solve the problem in two days, two weeks or two months; we need a long term plan to bring the country back to stability.”

He said the premier should call the Finance Committee meeting as soon as possible and invite private sector leaders alongside public sector bosses to the meeting and have them contribute to solving the problems. Miller said the Finance Committee environment could help everyone understand the real parameters of the situation and the premier had to come clean about the real financial situation facing the country.

“We all need to drink a big glass of truth serum, and to develop this plan the committee needs to transcend government,” Miller added, pointing out that the UK’s economist should be invited back to Cayman in order to attend.

“The premier needs to be honest and open about the real budget. There can be no more fudging for political gain; we need to solve this crisis. The thing the premier must then understand is that that the first thing that has to go is his political patronage as we must address this culture of dependence that he has created.”