Government to Pursue More Misconduct

Wednesday,  June 22, 2005

Hon Arden McLean, People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) Legislative Assembly member for East End and Minister for Community Services, Youth, Sports and Gender Affairs greeted the party faithful and new members at the first National Council meeting since the PPM’s victory at the polls, making no apologies for investigations initiated.

“There were too many rumours surrounding the Housing Initiative,” he said.

This set the stage for the Hon Minister for Tourism, Environment, Development and Commerce, Honourable Charles Clifford to announce that there will be more investigations to come from his Ministry.

“It is not only Arden you will hear with investigations. There will be at least one more investigation,” Mr Clifford said, when he made his presentation after Mr McLean. Mr Clifford made the statement towards the end of his presentation that covered items such as the proposed West Bay cruise facility, taxi drivers, Pedro Castle, Cayman Airways, the Turtle Farm and Cayman’s overseas office in Hong Kong and the one slated for Dubai. However, it was not clear which matter would be next in line for scrutiny.

In making their presentations throughout the evening Cabinet Ministers did not shy away from difficult topics.

Mr McLean made reference to Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) Chairman, Cline Glidden, who had publicly questioned Caribbean Utilities Company’s (CUC’s) purchase of new generators and implied that the new Government had carried out a “behind closed doors” granting of a new license by the Government.

“He won’t be there for long. They (people who are not supportive) can’t be part of my Boards,” Mr McLean said.

Mr McLean continued by speaking forthrightly about his preference for being decisive and addressed certain areas under his portfolio about which he had very clear views. He said, “The Bodden Town, North Side and East End roads need to be fixed. They need to be paved immediately.

“We pay for support of the Radio station and so, whether a new frequency needs to be added or one of the existing ones rededicated, I believe that the live broadcast of the Legislative Assembly should begin.

“The postal system should be able to be competitive and viable and compete with the courier system. The postal system should also go into agreements for the collection of bills, especially for those living in outlying areas. As well the system should be able to offer the service of picking up packages from companies.”

On the question of the clean-up of the Island Mr McLean said, “We think we have resolved restoration issues.”

In giving an overview of items under his portfolio Mr Clifford said, “Our low room stock is a major problem. With the recent opening of the Marriott Hotel I think the latest figures will show that we have approximately 12 to 1300 rooms available.”

Mr Clifford addressed the National Tourism Policy document. He revealed that the consultant on that project had done revisions to the document, however, that document had been edited while in the hands of the former administration prior to its dissemination.

Mr Clifford added that he now had the consultant’s unedited, revised version and was in the course of perusing it.

On the topic of the Pedro Castle tourist attraction Mr Clifford was again uncompromising. He explained that work was being done on that site, and, even though some taxi drivers had expressed some hesitation about transporting tourists there he said, “ Either they take the opportunity or we will take them there ourselves.”

Fresh out of a meeting with the Taxi Drivers some two weeks ago Mr Clifford said that a number of issues were discussed. “We want to take the politics out of the taxi driver situation. We have a Public Transport Board and the review of applications must once again go that route in order to stop persons camping out outside the Glass House to wait for personal attention from a Minister for approval of an application, “ Mr Clifford said.

He said work was being done on Cayman Airways because of the importance of the airline to the economy. He however added, “While we don’t expect it to be a cash cow, Cayman Airways is haemorrhaging and it is not supposed to be bleeding the way it is.

“With respect to the West Bay cruise facility he said, “We have had more consultations on the matter and from where we are it does not seem as if this is a viable entity. Taxi drivers are not for it. Some of them said that already there are tourists attempting to walk to the Turtle Farm from downtown. What will happen when the dock is already there in West Bay? However, we won’t decide on the matter without reference to the people. There is $8.5 million tied up in that project.

“Turtle Farm is my responsibility now and ultimately, it is going to make a good tourism attraction. However, any other contracts on the Turtle Farm must be sent to tender.

He also talked about the closure of the Hong Kong Cayman Islands Investment Bureau office as well as the proposal to open one in Dubai. “We are wondering what research went into that, ” he said.

At which point he declared that his Government was likely to initiate at least one more investigation.

Hon. Anthony Eden, Minister of Health Services, Agriculture, Aviation and Works, who, after 1 July will have a single focus for his portfolio on Health and Human Services, also made some hard-hitting comments to the gathered audience of PPM supports.

“It’s like starting all over again,” he said, with reference to the Health Services. “There is such low morale at the Health Services Authority that we have a long way to go. With the resignation of the former Chairman, we have made an interim appointment of the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary to that post. It may seem like such a small move but we have seen an increase in morale over the short period.”

Also adding his bit of tough talk to the evening Mr Eden explained that the low morale was partly due to the failure of communication between the hierarchy and staff. “This will not be tolerated,” he said.

Mr Eden also revealed that the George Town Dental Clinic “would take some time to get started. In the interim, arrangements will be made for persons to be accommodated by the Bodden Town clinic.”

George Town Legislative Assembly representative and Minister of Education, Human Resources and Culture, Honourable Alden McLaughlin had a menu of matters that, though undesirable, were being addressed. Even though three High Schools – West Bay, Frank Sound and John Gray – had been given priority for construction work, along with George Town Primary, the Minister sought to outline the extent of the issues faced in Education.

“East End is possibly the worst facility. It was built in the late 1960’s. It cannot accommodate computers. East End really deserves much better than it has been getting for many years.

“More than the million dollars projected will be needed to address the Islay Connolly Hall to make it hurricane ready. As well, the roof is too low for all the uses to which the Hall will be put, which includes a gymnasium.

“With reference to George Hicks, we have reports that the Shift System has worked very well. We are looking at whether the system can be improved upon. If we don’t go the route of the shift system we have grave concerns about forcing 1200 students on to that site,” said Mr McLaughlin.

One of the questions posed by the audience included the customary arrival of children belonging to expatriates for the summer holidays, in the face of now limited accommodation throughout the Islands. To this Minister Tibbetts said, “People must ensure that they check with Immigration before bringing children.”

Sticking to the rules relating to the appointment of Edna Moyle as Speaker of the House, Minister Tibbetts informed attendees that as long as Ms Moyle held that office, there would be every attempt to uphold her neutrality and thus she would not be attending National Councils and Caucus while in the post.

“She will be absent from such meetings. This does not affect her duties in relation to being the elected representative for the North Side district,” Mr Tibbetts said.

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