‘You tell em, Ms Tara!’
101 writes: So there we have it. Tara Rivers, the minister with responsibility for labour and education, has proven that not only does she have the thinnest skin in politics but that her electioneering clock is about 12 months ahead of everyone else’s. After an apparent attempt at putting the past aside to work more closely together (at least if we are to believe the Chamber of Commerce press release earlier this week, which has a quote from the premier), Ms Rivers launched a political attack on the Chamber and a couple of its past presidents.
Political immaturity at its best, a silly tantrum at its worst, Ms Rivers’ behavior in this one instance sums up her entire experience thus far in the political arena: good intentions, with an intense lack of political maturity and leadership experience to get anything done.
Let’s not be too unfair to Ms Rivers. She has tried. There are several initiatives that got started and are “on the way”. But are we not always able to say just about the same thing for most politicians?
This country’s unemployment issues have not improved one iota under Ms Rivers. Superficial partnerships which achieved nothing more than exposing a small number of Caymanians to an opportunity while enabling the minister to take pictures for press releases (claiming great successes) do not count.
In case you are not paying full attention, unemployment remains high, hundreds of Caymanian are out of work, the Christmas clean up did not address unemployment, and bashing the private sector that drives the economy and jobs is not the smartest idea. That, Ms Rivers, has never worked.
So who is it then that “has not delivered on their promises”?
Here is how the democratic process works when you use the political rhetoric strategy: the man on the street that you are talking to with this straight talk (like ”the government does not answer to the Chamber, it answers to its people”) really loves your statement. He says, “Yes, you tell them, Ms Tara!” and then he goes home, still hungry and without a job. And when election day comes, he still needs that job. He recalls that you were in office for four years. And he still doesn’t have the job. And he forgets the Chamber bashing celebration and instead angrily (and ironically) just votes you out of office.
Ultimately, our leaders cannot hide from accountability. And that means they must do their job.
As far as this tantrum towards the Chamber goes, Ms Rivers could have displayed enough diplomacy and leadership skills to tone down her statement if it really was true that the Chamber and the government had agreed to work together, as reported earlier by CNS. Instead she issues a statement essentially saying that if they don’t get their act together she will bypass them.
What if everyone else took that approach? Given that the government is not exactly perfect, what would happen if the countless numbers of organisations and individuals that give their time to work with the government threw their hands up in the air and said, “We can’t be bothered because you are often too incompetent and difficult to work with”?
No institution or individual is perfect but somehow they all have to find a way to work together to move forward.
If you are or were a strong supporter of Ms Rivers, you would be forgiven for discounting much of the above way of looking at things. After all, she did very well as a young, bright, Caymanian woman to achieve her political success, a lot of it seen as being self earned, unlike some other politicians.
But she has wasted that unique entrance into the political arena with an apparent stubborn ‘I’ll do it my way’ approach and glaring political immaturity, rather than learning from the more experienced in her immediate political circles.
Those traits will ultimately serve as the foundation for how her service to the public might be remembered. It’s a real shame, because Ms Rivers could have been so much more.
Why wasn’t there one of these public statements when Minister Cow Cod blew his top over not getting reimbursed for his personal phone data charges while off island? She needed to set the record straight then too but was completely silent.
I think that citizens of the country has the right to work an have a job in his / her country, but one from other countries have the privilege , but Government is lead by the money and business development, not by the people who they promised before being elected. Which other Island/County the size of Cayman has the size population of Cayman and still growing ? Who is saying that we need cheaper help / employees ? Who is saying we need more profits bottom line ?
No one can tell me that all Caymanians do not want a job , or cannot hold a job, or are not qualified for the job, but when someone see a way around the objectives they takes it .
Tara, you are the glue holding this Government in place. Don’t let Alden underestimate you at this point or treat you with his usual disrespect and arrogance. Everyday, remind him that you can bring his Gov’t down, if you chose!
She’s not the only Minister with thin skin. Try posing any constructive criticism to Minister Cow Cod. He’s super-sensitive and resorts to insults.
The days when wants you had $75 to buy a magnetic sign and put it on the side of your vehicle and you where in business are over, and that’s a bad thing.
Goverment regulations are making it difficult for poor unsophisticated people to start and run a business so they have to go and work for “the man” and make him richer.
I know, I was one of those people 20 years ago.
love this write up! its so true……. I am so tired of hearing her promote “what I have done” not what “we have done” You ask a her a simple question and she always refers to her accomplishments before answering a simple response. OMG give it up woman! She really has no idea.
Sorry although I may not agree with everything she said, I also think Tara has a right to set the record straight which to me was what she was doing. The Chamber cannot be allowed to just say whatever they want and tear people apart because they are the self proclaimed opinion of the business community! What have they done to help? I think their obvious untrue statements were an attempt to try and show they had done things that obviously they didn’t!
@ 8:23 pm , I do agree that the Chamber of Commerce is the problem, they were always the problem in Cayman Islands protecting the business owners and neglecting the people of Cayman Islands. This is why the Islands are been over populated and unemployment so high.
Only in Cayman…complain that businesses and their representative organization is the reason for unemployment. Who do you think pays the taxes that fund the Government? Last time I checked, we were a (heavily taxed in advance) capitalist based economy, which means we need healthy businesses for a healthy economy which creates jobs.
In Cayman, we bash businesses, encourage more taxation and regulation, want to force employment of unemployables, control pricing, and then we can’t understand why there aren’t more jobs.
When it comes to jobs, the options are…work for a business, start your own, or give up and work for CIG. If you choose working for Government, always remember that it is those businesses (the producers) that pay your salary.
Please explain your fascinating theory in more detail….Cayman is overpopulated and has high unemployment because the Chamber promotes businesses? Wow. And here I was thinking that businesses provide jobs.
8.23pm
Then did you check your IQ last time?
As an individual that gives substantial time to work with the government and is, indeed, throwing my hands up in the air and saying, “We can’t be bothered because you are often too incompetent and difficult to work with”? it would be a start if the ministries. departments, secretariats, etc would at least acknowledge a letter once in a while.
6.53, I feel you are new to the Island and they way things are done. In Cayman, complete silence means that they have read your Letter and don’t know what to do with its contents/requests, so it is currently being passed around from one person to the next in the hope that they lose it so you will have to write another Letter.
Put yourself in Tara’s shoes. She is trying to run her Ministry on the principles for change that got her elected but is handcuffed from doing so by the arrogance of the party in power which appears to have little use for intelligent women and their contributions. I wouldn’t doubt if the party put the CICoC up against Tara in an attempt to make her look bad since their own record of achievements is abysmal. Tara works hard and her heart is for the Caymanian people but in practice, she is nothing more than an indentured servant of the PPM. Tara is between a rock and a hard place, give her a break!
May be she should run her ministry instead of just trying.
She can only “try” since she is handcuffed. If it were left to her to “run” her Ministry, trust me, very few of these complaints would still be complaints. You clearly do not understand politricks.
the chamber is basically all for the chamber. but i just read Tara’s statement again and it really is terrible and unnecessary. lacks class. just sounds angry to be honest. she needs to take one of those anger management classes? maybe Ozzie can join her..
well said. where have you been 101?
come one Alden. I’m sure you could have spoken to her before she issued those statements? she is making PPM look bad.
Only thing making Alden and PPM look bad is Alden, Tara and PPM.
What have they done for Caymanians besides talk a lot order more reports and arrange more task force of cronies? Out of touch with reality
You sound like an expert. Tell me, what exactly is it that you think Government should be doing? In fact, look around the world and give me an example of a Government fixing the problems of unemployment and unemployables. People are the solution. People that understand they have to work hard to be successful. The best thing a Government can do is rout out the corruption, create a good business environment, try not to get in the way of progress, and build infrastructure when needed. From where I sit, it looks like PPM is doing a pretty good job, personalities aside.
Or maybe you liked it better when your favorite fat cat politicians were handing out crumbs to keep you and your family voting for them while they looted the treasury and banked the big money in their wives bank accounts.
Stop bitching and do something positive. No magic government is going to do it for you.
I guess she’ll say she’s not a politician either SMH. She constantly shoots herself in the foot
Tara Rivers has been an unmitigated disaster as Minister of Education, Labour and Gender Affairs. She just does not get it and every time she opens her mouth she confirms it.
Don’t forget that recently she had the non political politician as Counsellor, the ” makeshift defender of the people, Sah Winston Churcill Conolly” . Heller! What a do nut in wonder team. Hellen!
This sums it up perfectly. She had a great opportunity but she has totally wasted it. So much for all these new politicians!!
Oh dear… Tara what can of worms are you opening up now? Don’t you have better things to do than these public rants ???
Don’t they teach diplomacy and political science somewhere? She can start with “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. The audio book is free on YouTube.
I doubt that book will help her. She is doing what she thinks voters want to hear and thats her biggest mistake.
She must have missed that ‘class’ when she was away at that ‘school’. 😉
The second to last paragraph of the VP says it all is the problem with Ms Rivers ” i’ll do it my way ” approach. , her problem is that she are learning from her immediate political circle. I think that they all need to go back to basic politics , look after the County and the People, not for self intrest and buddy / friends .
Eventually she will learn. Hopefully she will get a second term to prove me right.
Tara is pot calling kettle black. What has she done for the people?