Laws cause of LA delays, premier says
(CNS): The premier has said that there is nothing deliberate or “sinister” about the long break between sittings of the Legislative Assembly. The more than five month gap is down to the preparation of important government legislation, Alden McLaughlin told CNS. He said government needed to prioritise its business and ensure the bills it will be bringing at the next sitting are properly drafted and given the necessary public consultation period.
Working on what he described as a “significant number of bills”, including the cancer registry legislation, the premier said it and other laws needed more time.
He also pointed to his and other ministers’ travel arrangements, including a trip to the UK later this month. McLaughlin is giving what he described as an “important speech” to the Caribbean Council, but he said that Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton would also be going to the UK due to further pressure from the British government on Cayman over the controversial issue of a public beneficial ownership registry.
McLaughlin said that during the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in London last December, he and the other leaders from territories with financial service industries had made it clear that they were not prepared to jeopardize their economies by being the first jurisdictions to introduce a registry that publicly names who owns what companies domiciled there when no other country has introduced one.
However, the UK is still raising the issue, the premier said, and as a result he and Panton need to speak with British officials.
McLaughlin told CNS that the combination of preparing the laws, ensuring public consultation and setting a meeting when all members were available had led to the decision to schedule parliament for 15 April.
He acknowledged the frustration of opposition members, in particular North Side MLA Ezzard Miller, who has accused the current government of hypocrisy and being worse than the last administration when it comes to disrespecting the parliament.
McLaughlin said he appreciated that Miller wanted to have his motions debated but accused him of refusing to sit late during the last session to deal with the business he had tabled. The government had offered, he said, but the North Side MLA is “inflexible” regarding the hours and frequently leaves regardless of the business remaining.
“He does it all the time,” the premier said.
Miller has noted on a number of occasions that he has constituency and other commitments in the evenings and believes that a well-managed parliament that started on time provides enough hours for all of the business to be dealt with.
The premier noted that the meetings of the Legislative Assembly were primarily about getting government business dealt with. He said it was not a ceremonial process but a working one and if the legislation was not ready and there are no urgent matters to deal with, the parliament does not need to sit and government was still involved in lots of other work.
Promising a “raft of legislation” when it meets next month, McLaughlin said the most important thing was that the work was ready and had gone through the consultation process when members come together to debate and scrutinize the bills.
1:49pm I thank you because I found his reference to the LLB’s; the CPA’ s etc very condenscending considering how Archer; who I agree is a gr8 Finance Minister; touts how he is a believer of and practices the Christian faith. I don’t need mmake any further comment as you said exactly what I was thiinking
You are so right 12;20am.
This bunch of educated ppl that Marco bragged about on rooster last friday is so lost. Its embarrassing to acknowledge that we have educated ppl in the government but yet getting nothing accomplished.
Put them all together and you can’t make one good one. They can call Mckeeva uneducated but I know one thing he got things accomplished, that why they don’t like him today!!
Well done Alden, anyone who ignores Ezzard and his nonsense has my vote for life.
He did not ignore him. If he had he would have acknowledged his statements.
That is a poor reflection of you to advocate the Premier to ignore any other elected member. He is the Premier of the islands as well as those members too since they’re living here too. Ezzard is no less qualified; no less a Caymanian; no less deserving of common courtesies than any other member of parliament. We may and are entitled to have difference of opinios but we cannot promote disrespect. The Premier like Ezzard and every other member of the parliament is NOT perfect!!
While they are waiting for all these details to get taken care of there might be time to update us on the progress and probability of OMOV which we know Steve McField is trying to kill. How is that progressing??? What are you doing to make sure it happens?? or are you going to let it die and blame McField on it?
And what ever happened to the speed limit on West bay Rd. and the other areas that the public gave input on. Are we going to continue to put our tourist lives at risk.
Like the last government this one is too busy giving us away to developers to take care of the “little” things like the Cayman people.
Every time they can not do something, they blame it on “No Money” Everything they do involves giving away government income to developers. While most of Cayman suffers, the developers bulldoze what they don’t like about us and rebuild in their idea of how things should be, tunnels and all, while we subsidizing them with concessions.
The developers do want all of Cayman to be wonderful; Just heir areas. That way the tourist will not wander off their properties with their money to spend. They want it all for themselves.
“He Hath Founded It Upon The Seas” but the money speaks and wants to totally remodel what “He” founded. I guess we are now really worshiping Money not the true lord.
don’t forget daylight saving time….which was meant to be decided upon(rejected) before xmas…..
The blame squarely lies with the ruling Caymanian people who are self serving and its people for thinking that electing someone means they should abrogate their responsibility to the elected elite. Get out of your homes and take to the streets in protest. Stop with the victim mentality and take some control of your destiny. You owe it to the young people who will have nothing to inherit but poverty.
Ha, never happen. That takes balls, which I’m afraid is seriously lacking in the Caymanian population. This place is a dictators dream.
Remember how you “don’t want to ruffle any feathers with the UK” Aldone? Go sit down, speak when you’re spoken to! Nobody cares.
So most commentators so far seem like they would prefer for the Government to bring half-prepared laws to the L.A. just so they do not have a gap. I prefer that they bring well thought out laws & changes so that we do not have to do them over in a short time and that they help the country to more forward. Maybe I am the only one who feels this way!
You are seriously putting well thought out laws and any ruling party in Cayman together! You clearly either have not lived here long or you have not been paying attention to what has been happening for at least the last 12 years. Both parties are a joke.
The opposite is true. I have lived here since the day I was born. I have seen what half-assed decisions have done, parties or no parties. It is past time that decisions are made that are good for the long term, not just for A TERM.
Laws are the cause of most of CIG’s problems.
No the laws are not the cause….NON ENFORCEMENT of said laws is the cause
Am I the only one who remembers Big Mac using the exact same excuse? Only difference is Mac has the cajones to get deals done regardless of the laws. LOL
That’s why they call him “Big Mac”…..LOL……He’s like a bulldozer with no driver:- move outta my way cause I’m coming; like it or not!! May not agree with his style sometimes but one thing for sure without his degrees he runs rings around this circus n clown bunch cause all they do is get on the air on print media and talk about the degrees they all have on their CV’s whilst the poor keeps getting poorer instead of gradually moving up into the low-end of middle class!
Talk is cheap it takes money to pay for basic necessities. But then again unna with unna pompous selves don’t knwo what it is to struggle cause unna always had what unna needed. Hold on BoBo 2017 COMING……
yeah but Mac run rings around the Cayman people too. Gambling and Spending like no tomorrow.
Rather have a gambler that gets things done than hypocrites who do nothing!
right on
when was the last time alden said something that made sense???
Better yet, when was the last time we had a leader who said something that made sense?
I believe the last time was when you turned of your radio because you did not want to hear what he had to say;do not blame him for your lack of interest.
Well it did not happen with Bush and it is not happening with McLaughlin. Same old same old!
If you need to talk to British Government officials, then skype. Its way cheaper!
Yea let’s see if it’s so easy to do business by Shype, phone or fax Alden. If you travel, be sure it’s in economy now like you expected Mac to travel.
Perhaps you were asleep for a long ,long time and missed the news that when it comes to Government travel, Alden has been practising what he preached.Methinks you know this already.
Oh don’t worry about him travelling econnomy class he will just to prove he can and get a blood clot and a crick neck to boot!! His ego and his image are his biggest downfall….and only concern…..let ’em be…….2017. Soon come
This man needs a good cow cod lick. Stop talking crap we aint buying the stupidity you selling alden.
The PPM twins and others so ashamed of this action that the silence is creepy. Go praise unah honest and transparent government now!! LOL At least with Mckeeva we knew what was going on whether we liked it or not!! Karma is a beautiful thing.
So says the UDP mouthpiece.
Show me the so called transparency when deals are getting done behind closed doors and you only hear about them after they have signed the dotted line. Such hypocrisy and blind supporters!
Bullshit!
He really believes we believe him. What a surprise they are going to get. If a soldier crab runs in town against the PPM, I will vote for the SOLDIER, and yes David I voted for them the last election..
Says a lot about your intelligence.
It says more about the intelligence of the people that voted for him in the last election and Bush before that.
more alden non-sense
Are there any other jurisdictions where Parliament gets a 5 month break or do they do what they are actually paid to do?
The US Congress is also pretty good at this. I wish I was a politician…
Please try go sit down no one believes a word you say. You are the poster child for double standards!!