Governor lauds Cayman’s generosity
Helen Kilpatrick, Governor of the Cayman Islands
(CNS): In her final Christmas Message to the people of the Cayman Islands as its governor, Helen Kilpatrick lauded the generosity of Caymanians. The UK’s representative commended Cayman’s support for its fellow overseas territories hit by dangerous hurricanes this season and said the “scale and variety of the charitable and voluntary work in the Cayman Islands is truly amazing, and demonstrates the very special character of the people of these Islands”.
The governor’s full message:
“Christmas is a special time to enjoy with our families and friends, but it is also a time for all of us to reflect on the events of the last year and to count our blessings. This year, the devastating hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the Caribbean. Once again, the Cayman Islands were spared but our fellow Overseas Territories of the British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Anguilla were hit with the full force of these terrifying storms.
These territories now face years of reconstruction and hardships for their people. In these terrible circumstances, the generosity and compassion of Cayman Islanders once more came to the fore and the community rallied around to help. I was particularly proud that the Cayman Islands very quickly sent practical assistance to our fellow islands in desperate need. Sixteen police officers were deployed to BVI, the police helicopter and its crew to Turks and Caicos and medical staff, equipment and supplies to Anguilla. My thanks go to all those people from the Cayman Islands who made personal sacrifices in these very difficult circumstances.
Christmas is a time for us to look after our own community. There are always those less fortunate than ourselves and this is an opportunity to reach out to them. Christmas can also be a lonely time of year for some. We can all visit a neighbor or call a friend or family member who might be alone during the holidays. Spare a thought too, for those in the emergency and caring professions who may be working long and unsocial hours during the holidays. These are often our community’s unsung heroes, who quietly go about their business of keeping us safe and secure.
I am always impressed by the generosity of the Cayman Island people towards others, and this year has once again been no exception. The scale and variety of the charitable and voluntary work in the Cayman Islands is truly amazing, and demonstrates the very special character of the people of these Islands.
A highlight for me this year was the much anticipated ground breaking ceremony in June for the new hospice building, the first dedicated home for end of life care in the Cayman Islands. Many generous donations to Cayman Hospice Care will enable this wonderful facility to be offered free of charge.
I am deeply grateful to all the charities and associations have given me the privilege of being their patron. Too many to name here, they play a vital role in strengthening our society and making the Cayman Islands a much better place to live.
Lastly, and on a personal note, this year’s Christmas will be my last in the Cayman Islands. I step down as Governor at the beginning of March. I am honoured to have served my country and the Cayman Islands in this capacity. I would like to thank all the people of the Cayman Islands for making me so welcome when I arrived and for making my time here truly such a pleasure. It has been a privilege to experience the culture and tremendous sense of community that you all share.
Thank you. Happy Christmas to everyone and very best wishes for a safe and healthy new year.
Category: Local News
Helen Kilpatrick has been a disaster as Governor. Arguably she surpassed Stuart Jack as the worst Governor of the Cayman Islands in history.
Who says Caymanians elected them?
She must have been horrified about how backwards the place was when she raised basic human rights issues.
Of course dear it enable the UK to only promise to support them too bad we didn’t see the same enthusiasm to help poor Cayman after Hurricane Ivan from all those concerned God Bless the America!!!!
With due respect, what did this governor do for the betterment of the CI. Goodbye all the best. I hope you have great future.
Mostly rubbish posts from persons whose PR was rightly refused.
Governor Kilpatrick has done an excellent job. Let’s do a top 5.
1. Dramatic improvement in relationship with the UK.
2. $100M Budget surplus each year of her tenure.
3. Supported numerous charities.
4. Appointed the right auditor general,Ombudsman and the first non English Police Commissioner
5. Raised the issue of the discrimination of the LGBTQ community.
Thank you Governor.
shame about all the overt nepotism, corruption, and collapse of the rule of law, but other than that, jolly good show I’d say.
The police and the justice system have been giant failures under you, Governor. You, under the orders of the FCO, have the sole authority to direct these institutions. Now we have strange visiting judges, weirdly lenient sentences, incredibly delayed police investigations, incredible delays in bringing charges, easy cases blown by incompetence at various levels, unwinnable cases brought to trial for no apparent reason than hardheadedness, antique time wasting procedures, zero progress at bringing the police force up to strength, a flood of guns and drugs, no public accountability, and no satisfactory resolution of the Tempura scandal. It may have been best that you said and did nothing while you were here, but we will never really know, will we?
Like most politicians, she lives in a bubble, totally unaware of reality.
Why is everyone so hostile at a time of giving and celebration. As I read the governor’s speech she was thanking the people for their charitable assistance both locally and within our region. She also said she had enjoyed her time here as governor and wished everyone a Merry Chritmas.
Is this an excuse for the diarreah that has been generated in response to this article. Remember whilst you like her not , she is not only our Governor but above all a lady. Please show some respect. And keep your thoughts to yourself.
will you go just go away….look at the shambles you have left….police spineless…. roads wild wth lawless motor bikers… crime rampant…. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
8.51, tell me, what did you do to improve things? Sit on your keyboard like the warrior you are? It takes the whole community to sort these issues out but I see little effort from that community who prefer to sit behind their computer screens and write nasty comments rather than doing something.
And all under the human rights banner, which all too often leads to abuse and threat to ordinary citizens. The “former” colonial masters who captured territory, enslaved people, tortured and abused them, now from their lofty perch, preach human rights to us, and impose utterly useless standards of policing. Absolute hypochracy historically speaking.
Poor dear, she never quite figured out where she was or the culture of the people she lived among. But she did her best even while engaging in some pretty weird activities like that MGBGTLGP conference (or whatever it was called) she was so gung-ho for. She’ll be more comfortable in Bonkers Britain for sure, even with its predictably lousy weather all year long. Poor buggers, trying to keep a stiff upper lip in freezing weather sat outside a cafe on the pavement pretending to be in Paris.
It a shame she could not say the same foe the uk
Yup throwing away more money and then crying there’s not enough in the budget for the things we really need…
Be glad to see her gone, she has failed miserably to control corruption
Corruption is a local epidemic which when the local press dared to mention the Premier attacked free speech and tried to bully the media by withholding government advertising to those that dared use the “c” word.
And the Governor did nothing.
The corrupt politicians that Caymanians elected? There would be uproar if she had attacked your poor choices…stop blaming others for your own self made problems.