Minister Dwayne Seymour’s behaviour
James Austin-Smith writes: If you’d ever seen someone in intensive care in respiratory distress with pneumonia you would never forget it. A strong, brave man desperately fighting for each unsuccessful breath. Watching as his exhausted muscles can no longer move his ribs and diaphragm, as his lungs fill with pus and fluid. Suffocating as surely as if someone were holding a pillow across his face. Listened to the consultants that smashing his ribs in an attempt at CPR would now be futile and agreeing to a ‘Do Not Attempt CPR’ on his notes. The utter helplessness of being sent home and waiting for the call you’re told will come later that night to say that your best friend has died.
COVID-19 kills people through pneumonia.
So what of the COVID-19 CIG-compared press conference/circus yesterday? I have no idea whether the Honourable Dwayne Seymour’s wife was breaching curfew and committing a criminal offence with her personal trainer but the photographic evidence called for an answer in response to a reasonable question.
One would have thought it uncontroversial that the Honourable Minister of Health has a certain responsibility for public health. In times like this that means supporting the curfew. At the very least, where something appears to undermine it he should either explain that it didn’t happen (and why) or, if it did, accept it, state that he condemns it and reinforce the public health message.
What happened was none of those things. Instead the Honourable Minister appeared to threaten a journalist (not the first person he has threatened from his unwarranted seat at this press briefing) and embarked on an incoherent rant about donkeys. When a further attempt was made to obtain an answer the journalist was shut down as CIGTV stepped in to spare the Honourable Minister’s blushes.
Over the last few weeks I have lost track of the number of times that the Premier and the Governor (and the Honourable Minister) have told people to stay at home, reinforced the legal consequences of breaking the law and reminded people that lives are at risk. Yet yesterday, despite minutes earlier having told the territory again that the rest of us must all stay locked down, there was no comment whatsoever on the Honourable Minister’s failure to answer the question.
Over the last few weeks I’ve dealt with numerous calls from friends suffering the mental health consequences of self-isolation. I’ve seen people risk friendships as they’ve told those they know that their behaviour is unacceptable when they breach the curfew.
Each of us has a moral obligation to speak out in times like this, which we may shirk if we can square it with our own consciences, but as the territory’s leaders the Governor and the Premier simply do not have that luxury of silence; they are responsible not only for public health but for the rule of law, and that breaks down when it appears not to apply to those in power or their families. They must address the position if the Honourable Minister fails to.
As for Minister Seymour, there are few things more odious than a bully – one who can dish out the abuse from a privileged position (gaypril) but bursts into tears when it is returned. There is no honour in bullying. And there is no honour in lacking the bravery to call out those we see doing wrong when there are lives at stake, whether they are our friends, our family, or sitting at the desk next to us.
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Thank you Mr. Austin-Smith. Where are you Peter??????
Well spoken and brilliant. The hypocrisy that infects this panel is deleterious and embarrassing for all. The rambling, inarticulate buffoonery shames this island and all who live here. Their lack of education and rampant ignorance affects everyone.
It’s embarrassing also for His Excellency the Governor. He says his part and moves on with it. It’s the most embarrassing time in political history in these Cayman Islands.
MoH – in over his head, big time.
Premier – his own ego has now gotten the best of him, he loves the sound of his own voice. Someone needs to tell the premier we are not toddlers sucking on a pacifier, we need actual information…..not “we’re in phase four of the plan”. WTF is phase four? What exactly does that mean?????
Annnnnnd people wonder why a military team is coming here..
They may want to consider a full platoon
Sehr geehrter Herr Gesundheits Minister
Wie der Herr, so’s Gescherr.
In English as not everybody is multilingual as you are:
The apple does not fall far from the trunk
Behaviour, him no have no behaviour!
Perhaps all the haters should be focusing on themselves rather than others ?
Leave the man alone. He is doing his best and dragging him down helps no one. Government has done an incredible job with zero loss of local life to date which is no small feat.
Alden said that the allegation is not true. Let that be the end of it and move on with your otherwise pathetic lives.
His best is not good enough for the high position that he holds in this country, we deserve better.
Could you have done a better job. Please stfu.
As someone with actual medical experience, yes, I’m quite sure.
Seriously? A drunk donkey, locked in a box, in Idaho, could have done a better job. In fact, an inanimate object, any of them, could have done a better job. I genuinely believe you could search the universe for millennia and not find anything In existence that could have done a worse job.
Lmao at 1032. Quite right! It’s a shit show people. What I found appalling was the MoH advising people to stop drinking and smoking when he’s overweight. He’s not exactly a pilar of health is he?
It’s true.
There is a man outside my window walking his dog. He’s holding a small plastic bag of dog poop as far away from his nose as he can. If he put that bag down in Dwayne’s chair at today’s press briefing it would literally do a better job of answering questions that Dwayne is doing.
And it wouldn’t need a salary, pension, car and driver, credit card or hundreds of days of luxury travel per year either.
I’ve just eaten a peanut butter sandwich that was acting more like a minister of health than Dwayne Seymour.
he actually didn’t say it’s not true! If Jon Jon’s wife was silly enough to post a picture of herself working out at home with her trainer, than the question is a fair one to ask!! We’re all sitting here staring at the beach we can’t walk on, longing to go visit our families and friends that live across the damn street and yet our own Minister of Health (for cryin out loud) can’t even get his own wife to abide by the rules?? And you’re here telling us to leave him alone? His wife puts all of us at risk by her ignorance and bending the rules- can’t you see that? If it didn’t affect all of us, I would say you’re right, who cares, leave the man alone! But that’s not the case- rules are in place for a reason- what’s the point in having them if our own Health Minister’s family can’t abide? SMH
You are a pathetic lemming who would rather trust corrupt people with your livelihood then to question them.
it needs to be referred to the police and Seymour investigated by the ombudsman for maladministration
You can’t drag someone down when they’re already at the bottom.
The fact that a politician tells you something is true means that it is beyond question? That’s called an autocracy. We live in a democracy.
Yes 2:05. Preach! Well, not literally that is.
No. If this is his best, as minister of health during a pandemic, then he needs to go, immediately. If that’s his best then anyone would be a better alternative. In fact, if that’s his best, then having no-one in his seat would be a better alternative.
If he has any hope of recovering from this episode he needs to front up today, apologise to Wendy, apologise to the people and explain if a curfew breach happened in his house or not and what action was taken. He needs to do that without crying or hiding behind some irrelevant religious mumbo jumbo.
That or GTFO.
I wish the govnor had the balls to defend his country fellow woman for doing no wrong just doing her job.
He probably feels sandwiched in between a rock and a hard place. Alden being the hard place and jon jon the rock.
Yes, the Minister is wrong and so is Alden with his defense. Politicians always believe they are above the law and act accordingly. Nothing different with this Government and others the world over which is even more evident in a crisis. They all have an agenda, much like the author of this opinion piece.
All of this keeps us divided and distracted.
Wendy, its time to start asking the tough questions in regards to this covid19 as plenty isn’t adding up to make sense.
Don’t let them keep you distracted.
Stfu nah. Are you perfect?? Stop trolling my government.
YOUR Government? No dear, the government of the Cayman Islands. I hear the premier making reference to HIS government. No alden, no. This is wrong. But you can carry dwayne. Don’t worry, the donkey soon come! Your exit from government might just well be on the back of a donkey!
In times as such, may I say a few words:
I can tell you a story of Joseph when Mary was pregnant and she was still a virgin and everyone laughed at Joseph…it turned out to be the best story ever.
And also Jesus choose to ride a donkey, A jackass – Instead of getting a horse.—🐴
I believe that what he was trying to answer the question with a metaphor by saying that Wendy is like Joseph in his story, and Mary is like the people of the Cayman Islands, pregnant with a question regarding Dwayne’s wife’s personal trainer, and also carrying no immunity to the Coronavirus making us like virgins. The donkey is the Coronavirus, being ridden slowly up the road by Dwayne who, of course, is Jesus.
I think what he’s saying is that Jesus was both brave and stupid to select a donkey when he Dwayne/Jesus would have much preferred a horse to get away from the question more quickly instead of being left to look like a Jackass.
What I can’t understand is why Jesus was riding anything if Mary was still pregnant…perhaps the Minister was alluding to the conspiracy theory that Jesus had a sibling? Alden perhaps?
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”
Well said. Always quote the source, which for this one is Abraham Lincoln.
How is it that they missed the lesson on how important it is for our leaders to be the role models during this time if they expect the population to comply who are under much greater stress than the politicians.
Backyard politics. We, the natives are all too familiar with it. Sick and tired of being sick and tired. Anyone else?
Everything about the situation with the Minister of Health’s wife and his treatment of Wendy Ledger is unacceptable but we need to remember that the Commissioner of Police has the job to do here in terms of potential tickets for the alleged breach and he has to do it independently of the Government or risk accusations of corruption. We will wait and see how that pans out. As for the Govt, they are politicians this is what they do, deflect, deny etc are we really surprised!? Most importantly remember voters still voted for John John even after the last fiasco with his first wife and her personal trainer (when will he learn!) which landed him in court. People knew what they were doing when they voted for him but gave him a chance. Just do the right thing at the polls next time!
Call 911 and make a complaint about breach of curfew by Mrs Seymour and the police will have to investigate
Why should we have to report it? That is their ongoing excuse and why they do nothing about stuff happening right under their noses. They know. They will either act, or be accused of being as corrupt and incompetent as we too often perceive them to be.
jon jon is the real jackass jackass
I do not like how these officials use the bible as a scapegoat. You cannot call a woman stupid and then hide behind a bible babbling some scripture. The word of the day is accountability – something people need to learn. Maybe Wendy should bust out some scripture too in order to defend herself or maybe do a few translations just so they can hear how insane they sound. Yeah. Cayman…man…
And….. the most of you should stfu. If you are a foreigner – you have been given the privilege of status, WP, PR etc etc. stfu. If you don’t like it here please get the hell out of here.
If you are a Caymanian – for God sake show some respect.
We are supposed to human!!
EOS.
HUH? So, we mustn’t question our leaders, we must leave if we don’t like it or show respect? You are quite unhinged. I think you may like a place called North Korea, we invite you to get the hell out of here and move there.
Question the leaders about what?? Their personal lives, mind ya business and focus on this pandemic lol.
Oh the irony! “Show some respect”
1. From the writer telling people to “stfu” and “get the hell out of here” and
2. Asking people to show respect to someone who threatened a woman and called her stupid
Exactly! And how about the MOH show the public some respect by owning up to the fact his wife can’t follow the rules we all have to?!! Ppsssttt
This comment is egregious at the very least. Ignorant and abhorrent.
That does not give anyone the right to behave as a thug.
It does when you are elected and appointed as a minister!
Respect is earned.
Signed,
NATIVE.
Agreed 100%!
My parents taught me that you earn respect.
You are an embarrassment! And yes, I’m Caymanian born and bred of several generations. As another poster here said – you should leave and head to North Korea.
Clearly an uneducated sheep of society.
5:54 I am a Caymanian and I will show respect when I get respect. Simple! You are an idiot!
You are a useless piece of dirt!
5:54
I see someone stopped their medication today. Listen crazy, these digital gadget thingy’s we use may have spell-check, but unfortunately not ignorant check.
Try to remember that
He is a disrespectful individual and you only need to look into his past to see what an ignorant man he is. The health ministry deserves someone much better who can understand health issues. This gentleman would be better suited to sports or just reverting back to being an MLA. Either way he is so out of his depth its laughable.
Alden’s simile comparing the obedience of his family dog relative to the behavior of a spouse, illustrates the depth of misogyny in his natural thought process. What kind of human would gravitate to the suggestion that a(ny) man physically or mentally abuse his wife (ie. have them sit the corner for half an hour) in retaliation for a public misstep? Marriage is, for better or worse, a joint affair. One’s actions and debts are of a shared household concern, especially when one of those people is the serving Health Minister, under oath to serve the public, and presiding over a health emergency. All the public expected, and were certainly due, was some kind of a civil explanation of the self-impugning video footage that the Health Minister’s wife posted herself via her public account for open broadcast. He might have cheerfully accepted the household lapse in judgment and volunteered the cost of three $250 tickets, instead of turning this into another cowardly political display of mis-placed solidarity, fueling further division in the community and press at the worst possible time.
EXACTLY!
Just STOP already !! Alden wtf ? You need to be careful how you come across because it sounds as though you have his back and that is not acceptable Sir. Seymour isn’t qualified for the position he holds, that’s well known. He spurts out nonsense to fill his time and make it look like he is an important part of this. He is not , his position holds that importance only. He needs to come once a week like the commissioner now because things only getting worse. The Governor, premier and Dr Lee got it. You go sit home and talk to your wife .
I feel sorry for the children who grow up in this country, who see public officials threaten and even beat up women, who promote homophobia and xenophobia as if it’s still acceptable or normal in any civilized country. When people of low moral character are the example, how can you ever evolve. What a shame.
Hence the reason I don’t vote. There is no such thing as a perfect man – we are all flawed, and because of this I will not put my faith, and trust in to something that is flawed. When things like this happen no one should ever be disappointed or say “I expected better.” Why did you expect better? Because of who you thought he was? At the end of the day we are all humans.
You don’t vote because no man is perfect? Quite the leap of logic there
Most of the younger generation are of far higher moral character than some of these leaders. Unfortunately you are right, in that a lot of them have internalized the lessons of these and other less than stellar role models.
The last straw! That was Aldens puerile response today. Wendy never accused the Minister of anything, it was an obvious guilty response from both Jon Jon and Alden. The Minister was obviously aware of what his wife was doing which was illegal, in fact who was filming the incident? But rather than man up he let Alden sign his none existent virtues. Jon Jon is an misogynistic idiot and always will be.
I Am glad or at least hopeful that Alden realizes his mouthing today will hopefully result in his not being elected next time. I want who ever stands against him and Jon Jon to make sure we don’t forget the absolutely disgraceful behavior of these two elected sorry excuses for men.
I could not have held my tongue nor been as professional as Wendy..Kudos to you Wendy…stay strong
First paragraph is dramatic, second is inaccurate, both were not needed prelude to despicable incident that involved Minister of Health.
When Governor warned on his first day that “cockroach has no business in a rooster fight”, when sexual assault charges against Speaker (then) filed by Seminole Police,
when Members of the Legislative Assembly all seemed highly amused by the health minister’s “Gaypril” joke
AND
not a word of condemnation came out of Premier’s mouth, such indifference has clearly demonstrated that such behaviour is customary and considered NORMAL here. His inaction, his silent permission paved the road to the above incidents. It could have been nipped in the bud. In a truly civil society repercussions could have been serious.
If you find the first paragraph dramatic you have a) not witnessed it and b) do not grasp the reason we are all being told to stay home.
If this is someone’s viewpoint I think it cruel to categorize their experience as “dramatic”.
Oh,please, treat people as adults, no dramatic prepping, manipulation and playing with emotions.
Unfortunately Few deaths are peaceful and I am not a masochist or psycho to witness them all. I want to preserve my sanity. I also signed DNR and DNI order. Not everyone wants to live forever or go through what is described in the first paragraph.
So using incredible suffering of people ( in general) just to get to Minister of Health behavior is sick.
Show support to CNS reporter, condemn inappropriate behavior, but don’t turn it into Hollywood style drama. It’s disrespectful to both, Wendy L and dying people from all causes.
Both of the apologies today show just how out of touch this government is. Truly they should be ashamed.
I agree and what is preached should be practiced and strictly adhered to. Both the apologies that were given made no sense at all.
I had to listen to today’s broadcast a few times before coming to a judgement.
There was absolutely no apology from either!
None whatsoever…rather a direct/indirect verbal beating instead.
Wendy asked a straight forward question the other day and was not trying to deflect from what the government was doing about the virus.
She was simply asking for clarification about social distancing and staying home alone with your family as per govt policy.
None was given and the trash was swept under the rug once again.
I don’t expect an apology tomorrow for today’s apology!
I disagree The Premier’s apology was directed and sincere. I accept his apology though his take on the issue was fundamentally flawed.
I will not tire of promoting foreign legislators and being an advocate of a “National Vote”.
Will share something with you….I will not be specific to as not give away their identity….I was suppose to earn a set amount of money…. a local/Caymanian…changed the entire plan and cut me short of a considerable sum of money….I protested it with him and it dragged on for months to no avail….I got tire of the local and reached out to their manager, which was a foreigner….within a few weeks the manager gave me my entitlement with an apology.
A Caymanian.
Yes, been saying it. We need a national vote. The system of OMOV is ludacris.
Wow. Just wow. Aldens response was very telling. We are being controlled by people who do as they please with no accountability. Please spare us the nonsense and open the economy.
Civil servants out in force to praise Alden on the Facebook feed. I want to barf.
@2:44pm – I am a civil servant and I find the ignorance and arrogance displayed by both the Premier and the Minister of Health to be absolutely disgusting.
Thank you! We need more of you.
We most certainly do not need more Civil Servants
I’m a civil servant also.
I’m so tired of this type of unnecessary, incompetent and bully type behaviour….with no accountability!?
It seems as though bullying and no accountability is a theme within government..
Id take Dwayne seymour and his BS over CNS and CMR anyday.
You must be related.
Let’s not forget there was the Beach Suites Kung fu incident with another trainer. Thuggery with impunity is a recurring theme among several LA members and “Honorable” alumni. There is supposed to be a code of conduct, but we haven’t seen it enforced, that’s for sure.
I thought Jon Jon got donkey punched at the Marriott?
Beach Suites.
lol. Thanks for reminding him.
Also beaten with a cow cod at BT gas station a few years back. An absolute joke of a ‘man’ and Minister.
Jesus! How many times has this idiot has his butt kicked?
The minister should not have to resign because his wife broke the rules.
He should however resign for his disgraceful conduct when asked about it. Threatening journalists for doing their job is not consistent with retaining public office.
Cayman is lucky to have some of James’ integrity to speak up about this.
Couldn’t agree more. The grown-up smart play would have been to have immediately and sincerely accepted the lapse in judgement, apologized (regardless of whether he knew details or not), reiterated the most important takeaway that nobody is exempt from curfew breaches, and volunteered to CoP to pay the $250 COVID-19 curfew breach tickets for the three persons in the screen grabs. It was a $750 problem. Instead, we get all this public denial microphone time, horrible similes of wives and German Shepards, Donkey tirades, and the full party capital spent in solidarity with a goofy and cowardly amateur.
Someone reds to get these ministers a publicist.
The first paragraph is why we are all staying home and for the MOH to completely disrespect Wendy for calling him out compounds his utter disregard for anyone but himself.
So true. Typical do as I say, not as I do attitude. But as minister of HEALTH, expectations are higher. This is mind blowing… He cannot control members of his household is a justifiable excuse, but preaching to the population all high and mighty is expected. BS. This is the kind of leadership that leads to an out of control population being acceptable.
Get rid of him and all who are like him, now!
This should not be tolerated, while you tolerate it show complicity. This is the way Caymanian leadership is, was, and will be. This insult to the public shines a light into a place that is usually dark and unspoken. But everyone from everywhere knows it’s there. This is part of the Grand Cayman story that just goes on and on. Reputation. Own it.
First physical abuse from mckeeva and now verbal abuse from Dwayne. He needs to resign. Learn how to treat women with respect, whether they are a server or a reporter – doesn’t matter.
Remember how quickly the Governor and the Premier addressed the accusations of the Governor having his wife come on the air bridge flight even before any reporters had the chance to ask the question? So if The MOH’s First Lady is being accused, with supporting evidence, then why not address it. Either it’s not true or it is.
Mr Seymour is becoming the next Big Mac in terms of getting away with accountability. Remember we are watching you all and the next generation of voters are smarter than you think and won’t be taken advantage of like you did the generations before us.
Somehow I don’t think Governor Ropers reaction to being asked about his wife being on the BA flight would have been to threaten the journalist asking the question. What is perhaps more worrying is the Minister of Health’s subsequent comment during the whole crying episode that the police should also investigate those making hurtful comments about him on social media.
Mental health problems seem more rampant in our ministers than Covid is in our society.
Well duh! This whole thing is like a big scam now….not adding up. Many things amis about this ‘pandemic’.
I do not know where to begin. Firstly, I can’t believe that a self proclaimed grandstanding Christian would strike out so harshly and belittle another human being and then explain his actions and his wife’s actions as if he is on a mission of God!!! I don’t think God would approve of this! And, of course, it’s the “haters” fault that he is in the mess that he and his wife is in. It’s not because of his or his wife’s personal ego and poor judgement.
Secondly, to feign surprise that a journalist, of all people, would do her job and ask about a potential breach of the law by his spouse who posted in a public forum that she was in close contact with a personal trainer, is incredible. IF the post date is accurate, she broke the law! The general public have to account for their actions why is she exempt?
Dwayne Seymour is the Minister of Health. He is the one telling the whole country not to violate the law of social distancing and maintaining contact with only those people in the immediate household. Is the trainer living with them?
His display yesterday (and during Gaypril and his own Crybaby day) as a public official was disturbing and unprofessional. And for the panel not to interject to stop this man and his attack on a journalist and then rant about donkeys is oddly curious. Why is this man allowed to disparage multiple segments of the population without being publicly reprimanded? There is a code of conduct that all civil servants are supposed to adhere to, is he beyond retribution?
I want to note that I am not a hater of religion. I am a hater of hypocrisy, economic and employment privilege, and lack of accountability and of all things platforming. All of this, time and again, displayed by Mr. Seymour. This is not your rodeo Mr. Seymour. Take your donkey and ride out of town, the likes of you and your fake cloak of piousness are not welcomed. You and your wife’s selfishness tarnished the good job that the other panel members are doing to improve the community and country.
Btw, my children asked while they were watching why you called someone stupid on TV. They also asked me if you knew that stupid was a “bad” word. Obviously you are not as intelligent as a 9 year old. Would you like to explain this to them?? As Forest Gump would say, “…stupid is as stupid does”.
This is what you should have said..
“It is with great embarrassment and regret that I have to address the matter of my wife exercising with a personal trainer. Despite my request the poor decision was made and now cannot be undone. Therefore, myself and my wife will take responsibility for our actions and will willingly pay the fine of $1000 for violating personal distancing laws. In addition, I ask forgiveness of the public for my wife’s indiscretion. I am truly sorry.”
Then peace out. Now look what you have done by quoting all your foolishness
Exactly!!!!
To be fair to Alden and the Governor they were left as speechless as the rest of us after his performance.
Sorry, but the Premier wasn’t speechless today at the press briefing. I really expected better from him. So far the Minister hasn’t apologized. I am a person of faith and proud to say so, but I do not subscribed to the Minister using the Bible to chastise others who he thinks is doing him wrong. He is taking the scriptures out of context and for the sake of being Christian like he really should have a discussion with his spiritual leader about doing so.
I say the same thing he was just using todays Bible verses to throw slurs at other people, he isn’t genuine and that is something that is known from long ago
He’s been doing that since his “episode “
I have lived on Cayman for more years than I care to count. I have always tried to be a Christian and help my fellow man / woman. To days verbiage proves to me yet again that the so called Christian Caymanians (NOT ALL Caymanians) are the epitome of hypocrisy. Why should I expect the likes of Alden and his crony Seymour to be anything but hypocrites?
I thought this breach of law also included a year in jail.
Prison leaves lots of time for exercise!
That only applies to the poor man.
Certainly if DS had done that, the public would have respected his honesty and candour. The lack of judgment shows just how ignorant this man is – and he is meant to be in charge of the Ministry of health..?
Please Premier, remove him from the panel. He is an embarrassment, contributes nothing and his endless references to the bible are grating.
You will not be surprised at all if you know the high level of incompetencies, bullying, sense of entitlement and lack of accountability that is going on in CIG Management. To think that a big amount of money is spent on leadership trainings for them.
With equal rights , guess we know who wears the pants at his house . Not that there is anything wrong with that . .
Don’t let him get away with ‘no comment’ at today’s briefing. That ship has sailed.
‘’All men are equal but some men are more equal than others’’. …….
He needs to apologize to Wendy for his rude remarks and for threatening her. Totally unacceptable behavior
He owes Wendy and the public an apology for his ridiculous and shameful behavior and an answer to the question.
AMEN!
So true. Well written and said.
Here here. Thank you James for putting so succinctly what the Minister of Health should already know. He has a duty of care to the people of these islands, particularly now in the time of a nationwide health emergency. If he is not taking this crisis seriously enough to ensure that his own household adheres to the LAW, then why would his constituents do so? He, of all people, should feel obligated to set the example and it speaks volumes that he does not.
The honorable thing to do would have been to own up to it, admit that his wife had made a mistake, and give the public assurances that it would not happen again. Instead he makes veiled threats and dodges the question with incoherent statements about donkeys.
This is a person that we elected to office to lead us. We must do better than this. We have got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.
Did anyone ever check the patient who died from pneumonia at Health City in February?
Apparently, he died.
Of death no doubt!
She.
Knowing that the story was already reported elsewhere, the “honourable” Minister should have preempted the question and issued a statement (and apology if required).
Instead, he chose to insult the journalist and hijacked the “greatest story ever told” to deflect that clearly like his portfolio, he has no control over his household.
I appreciate that the last thing the Premier wants to do in the middle of a crisis is to change personnel. But when your ship is sinking and your First Officer is standing paralysed, you quickly promote another.
We need leadership and these daily briefings are a glaring reminder that too many on the government benches are out of their depth.
And before the honourable Minister cries about Caymankindness – please remember there is also some merit to being cruel to be kind: you need to stand aside for love of country and no doubt your own physical and mental health.
Before the cover up starts.. The trainer was wearing a full mask covering his face… So it was definitely during this lockdown period. He should be embarrassed and ashamed. I actually was surprised that he was at the briefing!
I watched just to see which journalist had the wherewithal to ask what we ALL wanted to know.
And they can’t say it was old because no one would train in this heat in a mask.
And yet…. they did.
Why would you wear a balaclava to exercise unless you were outside in sub zero temperatures?
It seems appropriate to call for his resignation. Unbecoming behavior and every indication that his wife has broken curfew restrictions. It, indeed, was his mantra, Stay Home Cayman. This would have certainly included his wife’s personal trainer.
Bullying is not tolerable in our so called Christian society. Verbal abuse of women is never acceptable but especially not in a public forum. At a planned press briefing, come prepared to be accountable.
If scripture is needed ” do unto others as you would have done unto you” comes to mind. An apology to Ms Wendy is in order.
#sheissupported
I don’t understand the reference to gaypril in the article. Please clarify
CNS: Minister amuses LA with homophobic ‘joke’
The Minister of Health’s comments were nothing short of unacceptable, but let us put some pressure on the Governor and Premier too for sitting there like nothing happened! I think the Governor may have actually been giggling, as Minister Seymour seemed to look his way a few times and when the camera panned out, the Governor seemed to be smiling. Don’t bother to ask why this country continuously panders to certain people, while incriminating others (often for lesser offences). Yesterday’s video is your answer.
@ Anonymous 28/04/2020 at 12:19 pm – I think the Governor was frozen with horror at the MOHs response and Alden had probably tuned the MOH out given his drivel at all other briefings. And the Donna stepped up and very smoothly moved the briefing along, which is her job.
Yes kudos to Donna Bush for preempting the situation. That was a very uncomfortable moment for Cayman, and I exhaled not realizing I was holding my breath.
Donna tried to save him and he still didn’t catch on. FOOL????!!!
Donna deserves a special award to be doing this everyday.
A simple ‘no comment’ would have sufficient he did not have to answer a valued question like that.
Here he is on a public forum and only God knows why, spouting bible verses that are really uncalled for since a prayer is given at the beginning of every broadcast, and he is no man of the cloth.
Plus we have to sit through ridiculous attempts of him foolishly trying to speak in various foreign languages of which he neither has the right accent for or pronunciations!
As a Bodden Town voter I say shame on him. That was a very relevant question and under the current circumstances he should have been prepared to answer.
Our Governor and the our Premier are gentlemen and bear no comparison to what they have had to put up with. Keep up the good job gentlemen Hon Premier and our Governor. May God have mercy on us all.
“No comment” is NOT acceptable!!! NO. Jennifer you are one that perpetuates this kind of attitude with your very first sentence.
It would have been far more acceptable than his actual response
Agree with 12:25p. “No comment” is unacceptable. This question should NOT have been ducked. He could have plead that he wasn’t aware but had since explained to his wife what lockdown means… For him to be in the position he holds.. This is unacceptable. That is all.
He should be removed.
Good Viewpoint!
Will the CoP be pursuing this obvious blatant breech of Curfew LAW?
Was it a gutter press question? Yes, obviously, and unbecoming of a serious journalist.
Did he react inappropriately? Yes, obviously, and unbecoming of a serious politician.
Tingtong
Except, one can deal with the journalist asking inappropriate questions, which was not the case here. It is completely appropriate to ask about his wife’s behaviour which she openly shared with the world on instagram. Noone breached their privacy. She shared it not even thinking before she did. Seems to be common in their house hold, speaking and doing before thinking. Silly, if you ask me.
Well said James.
In my view, regardless of the answer to the question asked, an elected MLA in a position of power should respond with more professionalism and respect.
To indirectly threaten a reporter and to also infer that she must be stupid to ask it, demonstrates a lack of maturity in what I look for in someone who forms part of Government.
People are rightly demanding accountability and a higher standard, as should be expected from persons in public office.
He himself has ridiculed and mocked others in the past, but doesn’t seem to be able to handle criticism when he walks right into it with some of the things he says.
The Government should be ashamed of his response to Wendy and should bring him in line.
I completely agree. The Cayman government are doing an excellent job in trying to keep Cayman safe and healthy.
It was such a shame that the comments of MOH Mr. Seymour towards the reporter were unprofessional and embarrassing (referring to it as a stupid question and then at the end suggesting that her asking the question was foolishness). If there was an innocent explanation to the original story, then he could have simply provided it and if there had been a breach of the rules then he should have simply accepted it and apologised. The way he dealt with it, distracts from all of the excellent work that the government are doing.
Something similar happened in Scotland and that Chief medical officer resigned. Even the Governor here had to face a similar situation with a false rumour about his wife recently and yet he did it with professionalism, grace and dignity.
Mr Seymour seeks to deflect and not deal with the issue head on, which brings bad publicity and negativity from the public for the wider government. If he cannot handle being accountable and having to respond to questions from the press, then it begs the question : is he really the right man for the job?
Little Jon nah gonna like dis
Cry us a river
But his band of merry men will surely remain silent about his blunders though.
If nothing is done about his wife breaking the curfew, then all the others that got a ticket or warned of persecution should sue the Government and Police for discrimination against them. The law got to be for one and all .no exceptions. I wonder how can one control 3 islands. If he can’t even control his house whole. Only his dog sometimes.