Budget delivered without OK
Posted on Mon, 08/20/2012 - 20:48 in Politics
(CNS): The premier spent more than three hours Monday evening delivering a rambling and unfocused budget address that offered very little detail on how his government will spend and raise cash in the forthcoming financial year. He revealed that civil servants will be losing their 3.2% cost of living allowance once again and that 24 new revenue raising measures would be introduced. He railed against the UK, which he accused of constantly moving the goalposts on the budget, which it has still not approved. Government hopes to raise almost $650 million in revenue during this financial year and will be spending around $530 million if the plan is eventually approved by the FCO.
Despite the obvious problems facing the UDP administration and the worst budget crisis in the country's history, the premier took no responsibility for the problems but attempted to claim various successes in what will be the last budget address of the current government.
Check back to CNS for a full report on the budget address.
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where in Gods Green earth can
where in Gods Green earth can this man cut anyone salary with out getting and approval from England regarding this Budget. Mckeeva u have lost your rockers big time.
That Nation Building fund is
That Nation Building fund is "only" dispersed to the supporters of the UDP, they can just walk in to the Premier's Office, ask and a cheque is immediately issued. He said its for Scholarships, but its for his every day supporters. Anyone else that applies the legal way, are given the run around and given excuses that due to budgetary restraint, we cannot comply to your request. Imagine, those hogs who are always at the trough, its their children that are getting the funding for everything, tuition, housing, living expenses and more. Some of those hogs are getting funding to send their high school children overseas to school and It doesn't matter what area of studies they are doing, even when their studies are not beneficial to the Islands, they will get funded. That is why that Nation Building fund should go through the proper processes, because a lot of abuse is taken place with it. The child that is studying and doing something beneficial for these Islands, cannot get any funding. Its pure discremination taking place with the distribution of these funds. Mr. Auditor General you need to urgently look into this matter. I know of a few students to this day, applied and cannot hear words from the secretaries or the Premier's office about their applications and some of these children are already overseas and are living on bread and water. Our own Cayman Children are being suppressed by our Education systems. On the other hand Children that went to Private schools, has two parents making high end salaries, their children are who are getting the scholarships. Our Cayman kids whose GPA fell a little below the 3.0 are left to hang. A major investigation is needed here. Any parents who can afford to send their children away, should do just that. The struggling parent/s should be the ones who get the scholarships for their children. Some children are not A & B students. History shows that a C student, becomes real leaders in their careers. Just Saying!
Even if the fund is being
Even if the fund is being used for the most noble and praiseworthy purposes imaginable, you still must have a fair and transparent system for allocating it. You can't just have one man writing checks at his discretion and no reporting. It is totally, 100% contrary to every principle of good governance.
Even if the Nation Building Fund is being used correctly, the Anti-Corruption Commission should be all over this and the other murky schemes purely on the basis that they're not being done above board and are an open invitation for corruption to occur.
this man said he don't have
this man said he don't have no right to fire people but he have the right to take our $$ when he want! what is the differnce & what is the job of the Civil Service Assication any how? they said when they wanted to take our $ a few weeks ago was against the law, why your not standing your ground now Civil Service Assication?
caymanian
McKeeva we know that you
McKeeva we know that you don't like Charles Clifford because he ousted you in 2005 but as you are now a drowning man grasping at straws perhaps you ought to consider Mr. Clifford's constructive recommendations in his Viewpoints article for you to reduce your expenditure and balance the budget.
I don't believe that most
I don't believe that most civil servants earn huge salaries. $3,000 or $4, 000 a month is not very much to live on especially if you have kids, a mortgage and especially if you are living in Cayman. How about the Premier and other ministers give up their double dipping, cut all the perks they give themselves each month and take a 25% salary cut. Maybe civil servants should contribute to pension and insurance going forward but are you really going to take 3.2% plus health insurance plus pension from a salary of $3000 pm and expect someone to be able to pay their bills and feed their families. Times are really hard for some people in Cayman. I have a good job, good salary but have not had a pay increase in 5 years because of the recession. I am finding it harder and harder to manage so can only imagine what its like for plenty of others who earn less than me. I'm not a civil servant but I do feel for those earning less than me with 2, 3 and more kids to feed. The biggest cuts should come from the higher earners. Phase in contributions towards health and pension but it should be done carefully so as not to place more stress on those already struggling. Immediately look very closely at the gas cards and put a stop to all travel for ministers unless it is absolutely necessary and no more entourages. No more $71,000 for 2 nights in Panama, etc. etc. The cost of living has increased tremendously since the implementation of 25 cents per gallon of gas. Food, electricity, water and everything else have been impacted and every time gas prices goe up in the USA we are affected almost immediately but when the prices go down, ours stay high until we start complaining. Only the rich are getting richer around here. The rest of us just have to keep tightening our belts and praying for good leadership and MLA's who care about the people - all the people here - its hard for most of us. Caymanians and ex-pats alike.
Just noting an interesting
Just noting an interesting idea that I don't think has been touched on before or at least not recently....
That is that the Premier has never governed under a time of severe economic recession. His governance is between 1988-current which represents mostly boom periods for the Cayman Islands and the global economy. That said, at the upcoming elections persons should consider his ability to lead during times of duress.
I believe what the CI needs is a leader who confidence and fortituted is unquestionable! Last night, I believe Hon. Premier started to step in the right direction when confirming the CI was in a good financial position for the future. However, his attacks on confidence between annual budget presentations is a cause for worry. Clearly, many laspes in judgement have occurred and this is highlight by the recent reversal of the COLA pay cut.
I beg the voters and all residence (voting & non-voting) to urge all to vote on the issues and not based on the colours red and green but on the issues.
"The premier spent more than
"The premier spent more than three hours Monday evening delivering a rambling and unfocused budget address that offered very little detail on how his government will spend and raise cash in the forthcoming financial year."
Nice editorial comment and probably true (I wasn't there) but not strictly a news report of an event.
PCC guidelines in the UK state, 'The press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact'. This looks like a comment/opinion to me rather than fact.
It's been posted elsewhere that CNS has clearly decided to take sides in the political arena and I have no objection to that because as far as I can see you have made the right choice. Just one request - be honest about it.
CNS: Observe and report - Different context, same principle.
Sorry CNS, but I agree with
Sorry CNS, but I agree with this poster. Your report claims to have "observed" the premier delivering a "rambling and unfocused" speech. This is not impartial, you are instead publishing your own opinion as to the quality of the speech, not reporting on the feedback from others. If you article had said something like: "other attendees described the budget address as rambling and unfocused" that would be a different story. You would have been reporting on the views of others which is totally fine, but this is smells too much like your own opinion, rather than unbiased reporting of the opinions of others. How about instead reporting back on the feedback of the other politicians to the speech?
CNS: There is a point where the incoherent delivery of the premier's speech is as much of an issue as its content.
OK - CNS can quote me - I
OK - CNS can quote me - I watched the address on television and it was rambling, incoherent and unfocussed.
The only times he made sense was when he was quoting someone else
How's that?
It appears McKeeva has lost
It appears McKeeva has lost it, so let's take a moment to consider how many other people are contributing to this mess by allowing it to continue:
For example the other UDP ministers who have said nothing. The anti-corruption commission whose silence has permitted the apalling spending practices to continue. Those senior civil servantswho just keep using and abusing their Gasboy cards, knowing the country is in the state its in, and knowing that we know what they're up to. What about the managers at CINICO who have not responded to the auditor general's damning criticism? RCIPS for not doing anything about the theft of public money via illegal paving and the ongoing great gasboy robbery? The owners of the land that was paved- did you ever think of voluntarily paying up to help your country? No? What about all those other MLAs who are double dipping on their pension and salary? Or those civil servants who have been off work on full six-figure pay since the UDP came to power- how do they look at themselves in the mirror knowing they are nothing more than a burden on their country's limited resources? The entourages that party all over the world on government money, the civil servants that spend all day on BBM. The list goes on and on.
It's easy to blame Bush, because a true leader would have done something to stop the looting, but this whole fiasco was made possible by people who care more about lining their pocket than they do about the welfare of this country.
Just today I was at the court
Just today I was at the court house and I was the only person waiting in line for almost 5 minutes while the clerk/cashier was on her bbm. She did not acknowledge me (she was looking down at her phone typing the entire time) I had to ask her for assistance yet these are the type of ppl collecting pay checks every month from Gov't and are quick to complain when they get no raise or have to relinquish their 3.2% AGAIN! For workers like her it should be 20% deductions. Trust me my experience today alone at the courts office just to pay a seat belt fine was horrific. The run around, no parking and time wasted was punishment enough to make sure I secure my seatbelt whilst driving. So thanks RCIP...you served some purpose in this regard. I still can't fathom why the courts are clogged up with all these minor offences. Speeding tickets/ seat belt fines should just be ticketed and you go in and pay your fine. If you do not pay then that warrants a trip to court. There is NO NEED for shit like this to go before a judge!!!
An unrealistic budget was not
An unrealistic budget was not given approval??? What is going on here?? As the premier said "it is some sort of conspiracy!". To test that theory... he will now work harder to make an even more unrealistic budget... and if that isn't approved.....Then there is more evidence of an even larger conspiracy!!! In order to understand this you must be able to follow his thought process. And if you don't.....YOU'RE part of the conspiracy!!! We wouldn't know any of this without his insight. Get it??
Dear Civil Servants, It is
Dear Civil Servants,
It is 3.2% reduction now, for the short term, or a 25% chance you lose your job very soon. What do you want?
Yours inquiringly
Duty Payer
yes we loose 3.2% again. and
yes we loose 3.2% again. and we are NOT hiring civil servants. FACT.
Diddums. You are overpaid
Diddums. You are overpaid and overbenefited. Stop being greedy.
To Anonymous (not
To Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 08/21/2012 - 12:33. Unless you have some way of knowing the identity of the poster,you should not assume that they are overpaid.
But one can assume they are
But one can assume they are overbenefited.
In summary: 1. Mac wasted 3
In summary:
1. Mac wasted 3 hours of everyones time (and money, let us not forget), for a budget that is not approved and unlikely to be.
2. So when it is approved (hopefully before Christmas) he will have to waste 3 more hours of everyone's time and money.
3. He is railing about the UK actually asking him to do what he agreed to do. LESSON-If you shake his hand on an agreement or sign a deal, it dont mean a damn thing unless he benefits from it personally.
4. We are no further forward and time is running out.
5. He finds himself under pressure (his own making) and is clearly cracking up
If I were in UK's position I would refuse any further extension of budget unless Mac does what he has agreed to do originally. That will be tough on those who work hard and are paid by Government, but not so tough for those who just idle and have other jobs.
Maybe if that happens, those who have other jobs would do the decent thing and leave the CS without compensation??? You know who you are, and actually so do most of us.
they are cutting our salaries
they are cutting our salaries but hiring more contrac rcip & probaly giving them free bees, something is wrong here KEKE! can you please answer to your people?
CONCERN CAYMANIAN
why would anyone want free
why would anyone want free bees? Especially if you are a cop? Maybe if you were a beekeeper.
It could not have been a
It could not have been a serious budget address or presentation because none of the official members of the Legislative Assembly was there, it was probably a budget address rehearsal - come to think of it, NOT EVEN THE BUDGET WAS THERE!!
I see another two-month interim budget coming.
When it comes out finally in
When it comes out finally in detail, look carefully at the Cabinet travel budget in excess of $2million. What a joke.
How CIG paid- in USD or
How CIG paid- in USD or Cayman Dollars? Budget? in USD or Cayman dollars? CNS can you please clarify.
CNS: Cayman $
Is budget in Cayman dollars
Is budget in Cayman dollars or USD????
So let me get this straight.
So let me get this straight. Bic Mac announce that he was taxing the expat 10% and all hell broke loose....so then he say oh expats I sorry forgive I will go get it from my Cayman people instead by taking 3.2% from their salary.....hmmm interesting expat win and poor Caymanians worse off then they were before. Now for me that is good enough reason to vote out the hold UDP crew
Cost of employing ex pat in
Cost of employing ex pat in government fees,increased by 10-35%. Ex pat no longer gets pension benefit (as I understand), so 5-10% reduction in salary. Add in that some (but not all companies) will have to deduct fee increase from salaries or face going bankrupt then you see how much favour the expat gets. Precisely none. Nobody bitching about that right now, suggest the 3.2% across only 20% of Caymanians (maybe less) is not the worst thing. Dont understand why you looking to score points, this is bad for all Cayman, expat of Caymanian
Anon 1207 I know of a friend
Anon 1207 I know of a friend that went to get a job in a private sector firm. The position offered 100% coverage health and pension. Now I am not going to say that all expats get that. They dont because I know of people that do have to pay. But you give the opinion that the cs are the only ones getting these paid for them. Please tell the entire story not just what satisfies your needs.
Anon 0826 it is because the
Anon 0826 it is because the CS is seen not as a critical piece that runs the Cayman Islands but more as a cancer. The CS are branded as lazy, overpaid, uneducated staff. Thats a very big broom because the CS has many members that are hardworking, underpaid and highly educated. Of course we have those that fits into their description as well. But until this branding of the CS is resolved the CS will always be viewed as a problem.
Note that the CS salaries were cut and nothing was said. The 10% almost brought Cayman its first war. The elected politicians see quite fit to cut the CS as they see fit while leaving there pet projects still on the board see solar panels, vote retreval project etc.
Who cares if they take away
Who cares if they take away their 3.2% living allowance? They receive free health care, free pension and a majority are way over paid for their positions anyway.
Here is the bottom line. The
Here is the bottom line. The UK is never going to intervene. The TCI experience was just too much hassle. So all the UK is interested in is ensuring that the UK is not exposed to excessive financial risk as the effective guarantor of Cayman's indebtedness. Once it is happy about that then then rest is up to Cayman which wanted more self-rule and is now enjoying the results of getting what it wanted. So if you think there is a white knight on the horizon, there ain't one.
You are definitely right
You are definitely right about concerns that a budget screw up will leave the UK picking up the tab but quite wide of the mark on TCI.
The TCI takeover, which kicked off under Labour and was then handed over to the Tory/LibDem coalition, is widely regarded as the FCO, backed up by DFiD, finally doing something right for a change.
The FCO isn't well known for doing a good job when it comes to looking after OTs (remember the Falklands?) but TCI hasn't cost the UK taxpayers a fortune, it hasn't (unlike like Operation Tempura, the Levers' Tribunal, the Aina report and currently Stuart Kernohan's claim) ended up with embarrassing headlines in UK newspapers and it should restore democratic rule to the islands shortly.
I'd say that if anything the relative success of TCI actually makes UK government intervention more likely. I hope it never happens but if Duncan Taylor arrived back on island next week with a couple of plane loads of troops and/or police it wouldn't surprise me at all.
Amazing that they are willing
Amazing that they are willing to take 3.2% from people who make low pay but do NOTHING about the Gasboy cards issued to very highly paid civil and public servants. Absolutely disgusting. You dont even see those high earners turning in their gasboy cards they just keep getting a free ride while others struggle.
What is also very annoying is
What is also very annoying is that they would cut salaries of civil servants by 3.2%, which would be about $7m, but would not cut one cent from the Premier $10m 'Nation Building' Fund... now that's madness. ALL of the things that the Premier claims his fund is for is covered by other Government depts which have already been allocated funding.
I agree - that is a disgrace.
I agree - that is a disgrace. All cards should be recalled immediately and then new cards redistributed to only who need them. Same people stealing gas are the same people making noise, while the lower paid CS have their heads down getting on with the work.
Does this mean they are going
Does this mean they are going to take 3.2% of the basic salary or to take away the whole living allowance which is a great deal more for most annually?
So they get salary AND a
So they get salary AND a living allowance?? Your salary is what you live off of. Well most of us do.. salary is not your pocket money left over
To Anonymous (not
To Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 08/21/2012 - 08:22. FYI, a cost of living increase is usually given to try to keep salaries near to the increased cost of living.Please note that as this is based on the previous year's increase in the cost of living (as determined by the Economics and Statistics Office) salaries are always lagging.
To the victors go the spoils.
To the victors go the spoils. To the losers, well, Caymanians will find that out soon enough. Better prepare if you can. Expats can and will go where they want because they have skill. Caymanians have thrown away what they had and can't leave. Hmmmm.
He officially and publicly
He officially and publicly demonstrated his uneducated rabble rousing icompetence. What an embarrasment to our people this man is. Mr TaylorPLEASE restore control before this madman and his UDP cronies destroy us all.
Why would the UK WANT to step
Why would the UK WANT to step in this huge pile of steaming Caymanian crap? Past investigations have just shown that it is way too deep to get anything done with a shovel. It would take way to much time, money and effort to put Cayman Government right. They could bill Cayman but I think they have already figured out that would be a poor call. Better to just let it run its course and stay out of the way. The longer they wait the less they will have to fight and the easier it will be for Caymanians to accept the UKs help. Besides, why spend a grand fixing a hundred dollar car. Lots better cars out there if you just looked. Time is on the UKs side.
Mac rambaling incoherently
Mac rambaling incoherently without approval? Yeah all is right in the world again!
Just for fun, let us take an
Just for fun, let us take an objective look by the non-liberal/pro business Bloomberg press, as to how Iceland has fared comapred to the UK after a recession.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-13/imf-says-bailouts-iceland-style-hold-lessons-for-crisis-nations.html
Clearly, an austerity budget is the way to go (not). BTW, I do want the CS budget to be cut but, now is the worst possible time for the middle class and small business.
Iceland is interesting, but
Iceland is interesting, but really doesn't have much to do with the situation in Cayman, which is really more of a constitutional crisis than a real financial crisis.
The important points that you
The important points that you may have missed in the Bloomberg story were that Iceland's government imposed capital controls thus (theoretically) preventing the flight of money (their own peoples life savings for example) that was already in the country and their currency devalued itself against the Euro by 80%, increasing the cost of all imports, reducing the price of their exports, such as their tourism product, and reducing the price to an outside investor of all of their immovable assets such as property and local businesses. The ratio of expatriates to Icelanders is probably fairly low so most of the population stuck it out.
In the late sixties / early seventies, shortly after independence, the socialist government of Jamaica did the same two things. Jamaica's middle class did not like the political future they were looking at, mostly had somewhere else to go and they went, in their thousands, on one of the four flights to Miami every day, just as Michael Manley told them they should, taking their money, entreprenuerial spirit and educated children with them. Many of them came here to these Islands' wholesale benefit.
The vocal minority of Caymanians have been telling the expat half of the island's population that they should go these last several years. So we have capital flight, in the way that many expats send most, if not all, of their diposable income home, rather than spend it where they believe they are not wanted.
I haven't heard the "D" word uttered here yet but if we applied capital controls I'm pretty sure that would be the end of our financial industry.
If we got rid of the populist but ultimately self destructive rollover policy then we might reverse some of the capital flight.
If we embraced the skilled and educated expats as we used to, welcoming them to stay as long as they like and providing them with Status and the right to vote when they have stayed long enough and shown their committment to our society, then we might find our economy turning around even more quickly.
But that would take courage and faith wouldn't it.
the flip-flopping
the flip-flopping continues......
civil servants should not feel too bad.... the pay reduction will probably be off the table in a couple of days....zzzzzzzzz
Well, Mr Bellingham is on
Well, Mr Bellingham is on vacation so wjaty do u expect him to do? Wait on him and his
return?
LOL Very funny - lost on
LOL Very funny - lost on some::)) Mr B should have come to Cayman for his vacation::))
In August? Only a masochist
In August? Only a masochist would vacation in Cayman in late August.
The budget may have been
The budget may have been approved::))
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