Premier accepts responsibility for traffic chaos
(CNS): Premier Wayne Panton has issued an apology to the country after traffic ground to a complete halt across George Town on Friday evening when the roads along the harbour front were closed for Pirates Fest events. Thousands of people were gridlocked for hours, unable to move in any direction due to what appears to have been a poorly planned move to accommodate the festivities without sufficient diversions. Panton said it was “an inexcusable traffic jam” in which he was also stuck.
In a message posted to social media, Panton said he took complete responsibility for the jam and that he planned to address the chaos. He said it was caused by the road closures for Pirates Fest, compounded by the excessive traffic on Cayman’s roads, which he blamed on the unrestricted importation of cars.
On Thursday night, police closed Seafarers Way between Warwick Drive and Fort Street while Shedden Road was closed to westbound traffic at Elgin Avenue, with traffic diverted to Boilers Road and Fort Street. According to the police notice, this was scheduled to remain the case until Sunday night. But when he posted his message around 7pm, Panton had said he was in contact with the police commissioner about the issue.
“Like many of you, I have been in traffic for the past hour and fifteen minutes, barely able to move,” he said. “As pPremier, I take responsibility for this situation, and I sincerely apologise to all of our commuters who are having to endure this. While we do not know exactly what has caused tonight’s logjam, we certainly believe it has something to do with the Pirates Week road closures around central George Town. We apologise; I apologise. This is an intolerable disruption to your lives as you try to commute home on this Friday evening.”
Panton said the government had to “get on top” of the unrestricted importation of hundreds of cars every month.
“I can promise you that we will be moving fast to try to address this problem,” he said, stressing that the situation was unacceptable. “I have been on the phone with the commissioner of police and we are working with the Pirates Week organisers to try to determine what can be done to relieve this situation as quickly as possible, even if that means inconveniencing some of the vendors.”
Panton also committed to re-evaluating the approval process for road closures to make sure such a gridlock never happens again. Repeating his apology, he thanked people for their patience.
“I’m not even going to ask for your understanding. I just want you to know that I apologise on behalf of the government, on behalf of myself because I take responsibility for this,” Panton said as he signed off.
Stuck in their cars and going nowhere, people took to social media to vent their frustration and question how the situation was so badly managed, as stationary traffic turned the capital’s roads into car parks. The number of cars on the road, fuelled by unrestricted importation and inadequate public transport provision, was a key topic of conversation.
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Category: Local News
The Panton-PACTLESS Clown Car government is a three-ring circus in an insane asylum.
A couple of weeks back the big story was they were all about promoting the idea of increasing population density and development by allowing high-rise buildings on the inland side of West Bay Road. Now they are running around holding their heads and screeching that there are too many vehicles on the road. We have seen the too much traffic trend for a long while now. Is Henny Penny just now noticing this fallout from over-development?
What do you bet that the next move is they propose yet another committee to “look at” at the problem so solutions can be deferred another decade? Their foot dragging over a start on solving the too much traffic issue is yet another piece of evidence that PACTless is worthless, scatter-brained, inept, impotent and all of them are in way over their heads. I would say in way over their pay grades but their lavish pay grades are quantum leaps beyond their competency levels.
PACTless: Let me save you the insanity of a committee to “look into” the problem. Or, rather, look into the solution because we already know what the problem is. Forego the committee, dudes, here are some of many potential contributors to the solution: Develop reliable, island-wide, efficient, affordable mass transit systems (DUHHH! A suggestion that has been discussed for DECADES), the mass transit system will include ferry service across the sound; develop safe, properly designed bicycle and pedestrian lanes as part of all major thoroughfares; order that work-at-home initiatives as a mandatory part of the staffing plans required for work permits; re-implement and expand on Covid-level work at home arrangements for all government departments; offer meaningful incentives for private sector businesses that have a good work at home scheme as part of their business model; encourage Uber and other rideshare services; add a “Traffic Impact” surcharge to the Environmental Impact fees for developments; reduce work permit fees by 50% for work at home employees, applicable to new permits and to renewals for employees converted to work at home; work with CUC to implement a discount on residential bills of customers who have one or more occupants working at home. I encourage readers here to add comments with their suggestions of possible solutions. C’mon, Wayne and Clown Car, stop clowning around and DO something for godssake!
The Panton-PACTless Clown Car driver takes full responsibility for the issue because he knows thr idiot(s) actually responsible deserve to be fired over the mess but the Clown Car never ejects its riders even if they are breathtakingly inept.
Since Panton takes “full responsibility” then he should resign. Buh bye!
Funny, not one mention of the actual problem “round-a-bouts”, as in no traffic control.
There’s plenty of reference 1:50, – it’s not the roundabout that’s the problem though, it’s the idiots blocking an entry when there’s a clear exit for cars to leave in.
If you think the roundabouts are the problem and not the ignorant, selfish drivers blocking the entrances and exits then I have a funny feeling you’re part of the problem. By the way those same drivers block every kind of junction including those with traffic lights.
Are you saying the roundabout is a problem? We need more roundabouts and less 4 way stops (unique to cayman… the four way is the most stupid thing ever) and less traffic lights. If everyone had a European or uk standard driving license then no one would ever have a car accident on a roundabout,
Tie the drivers license to the work permit. If employers really need their employees driving then they can pay double the permit fees. It will incentive work from home, office location, and employer provided transport.
Idiot, accepting responsibility still wastes my gas and time. DO something IDIOT, anything… DO….DO
Simple and healthy solution. Make more lanes for cycling and skateboarding.
LOL, you forgot to finish your sentence with “and get killed”. In Amsterdam, yes. Not in Cayman. Different mentality and habits.
cycle every day. never been knocked off my bike and compared to other places in the world local drivers are generally courteous. would be a huge benefit to the islands if people were encouraged and felt confident cycling, running or skateboarding on the roads. certainly need to do something to address the obesity/diabetes epidemic here, just look at the state of the premier and ministers !
I’ve noticed it’s mostly better than it had been. The very limited widened area northbound West Bay Road from Captain’s Bakery to Ritz is a welcome spacing improvement. It would be even better with a dividing line of hardscape armadillos. Coincidentally, not sure why they only exist along only one side of the street and begin and terminate at Joey Hew’s GTN district line. NRA Minutes talk about a high speed cable on southbound side, but we can’t see any work happening on that. Paint the lines. NRA should be pressed on this. Doesn’t explain other districts, where lanes either don’t exist or dissolve to nothing at traffic circles. The cycling groups, triathletes, CITA, DoT, hotel and condo managers along these areas should unify under a single advocacy banner and be much more vocal about the continuity or wholly missing safety infrastructure. Especially in light of what recently happened by the Kimpton where there was a bike shoulder. It should be at the top of the pile of easy things to fix and deliver. Even if just paint, that can be easily reapplied if road is pulled up and patched for a cable.
‘Well you are very lucky! Not so much for my daughter or my husband or the people who have been killed and the recent lady who was hit and very badly damaged (driver drove off). Cycling is simply too dangerous. Drivers don’t respect cyclists and cyclists often don’t respect the rules of the road – cycling on the pavement, cycling against the traffic and cycling without lights – all against the traffic law…
Cycle lanes can be kept clear of vehicle interaction with inexpensive armadillo bollards, hardscaping and changes to the traffic law and regulations. Dotted lines and contrast paint reminds drivers to look for and yield to cyclists in roundabouts. Traffic police would help too.
It’s easy and cheap to make safe bike lanes. Hundreds of cities and urban developments have done this, refining cyclist safety and shared priority over 3 decades. We have over 200 days of sunshine a year. No excuse. Delivering this infrastructure has been part of the NRA’s own stated development plan since 2015. We already paid for these during Joey’s PPM/Unity terms…where are they Joey?
If no one has already suggested . . . an immediate resolution to the congestion on morning and afternoon rush hours is to canvass government employees willing to work staggered hours ie 7-3, 8-4, 9-5, 10-6 and so on. All other remedies will take time (and successive governments) to plan and implement. Just an idea . . .
So CIG employees only work 8hrs a day? Less 1.5hrs lunch, 1hr morning break, 1hr to pick the kids up and at least 2hrs to get the hair and nails done……boy they might as well just stay home.
LOL,
Is Post Office open? Or they still work from home?
They (CIG) should have offices in each district instead of everyone headed to town. And have CIG already reneged on their commitment to let their people work from home? For the first time in over a decade, companies house answered my call during COVID. Back to all numbers going to voicemail again now.
All the blame lands squarely on the police.
If the police start to properly enforce the traffic laws, then all the other issues will be sorted out.
It would take the bad drivers off the road, the speeders, the drunks, the texters, the non-signalers, the fully reclined honda accord drivers all fined into compliance or off the road.
The estimated 30% of cars on our roads that are uninsured and unlicensed will be removed.
Just imagine 30% of the cars on our roads gone.
Give the police those credit card readers, and give offenders on the spot fines.
We have 100’s of police, but none seem to leave the office.
It would improve standard of living and earn the Government money that can be all used to improve public transport, bike lanes.
“ Just imagine 30% of the cars on our roads gone.” ??
Just imagine public transportation works as a clock, buses are clean, air-conditioned and in good repair? Routes are convenient and it is a short walk to a bus stop that protect you from rain. Only then 30% of cars will stay in garages.
So the premier accepts responsibility. What are the consequences?
None whatsoever
An idea for one fix is to move schools to the Eastern districts and have a school bus system for all of them.
Then have a proper bus system for public use that has an app to track the buses in real time; have accurate times for actual bus stops (not just pulling off the road suddenly without using an indicator). Make sure the bus drivers actually know how to drive as well, that would be nice.
If the children went to school from 7:00pm until 3:00am this would never be an issue. Think outside the box!
If 50% of the population worked from home it would solve the issue, and many can
Working from home would create a society of mentally disturbed individuals. Humans are social beings, social isolation is dangerous.
Total claptrap. I don’t know about you but I go to work to work not socialise.
7 to 3?! are you mad! they should go from 9-3. kids need sleep and nutrition to learn and if parents are waking kids at 5 to get out the door at 6 that will not happen.
It was sarcasm.
Shhh
Get ’em hooked on jingle-jangle too. That’ll keep them awake.
Not one government (past or present) has the “BALLS” to address real change needed in Cayman.
I will credit the Premier for taking responsibility but the too many imported cars excuse is just nonsense and does not reflect well on him. Many other commentators have hit the nail on the head re lack of public transit, terrible planning, etc. But surely the police are seriously at fault here for either not seeing this in advance as a massive public safety issue or not managing traffic flow. Its not like the amount of road traffic suddenly got worse in the last week. And they do report to the Governor, correct? Who actually has authority to close roads?
The problem is not the too many imported cars as it is [now] the too many imported people, for +/minus 75 square miles.
Re Terrible Planning: Consider that the NRA’s own Plan had bicycle infrastructure budgeted and included in every road plan since 2015. We had a personal pledge from Minister Joey as well. So this is not a planning or pledge problem, and we already approved those budgets and paid for them. The real problems arrived at execution side and are enabled through vacuous/corrupt oversight and successful opposing regime-friendly lobbies. The public should be outraged, or at least the cycling/triathlon clubs and community…crickets.
So this he takes responsibility for…..how about ignoring immigration regulations for the sake of work permit fees and destroying the opportunities for Caymanians in their own country? PPM started and you continue.
37% duty on scooters & motorcycles over 90cc. (non-electric) 🤷🏻♀️
There’s no infrastructure for bikers and walkers. There’s no habit of sharing a road with scooters.
Scooter riders are notoriously violate traffic rules.
Daily road accidents in Bermuda are mind boggling. They traditionally ride scooters in Bermuda. https://bernews.com/2022/02/record-low-road-traffic-accidents-in-2020/
It kind of depends what context you want to read into. Without curbing to what-about-ism, ‘’Scooter riders are notoriously violate traffic rules”, I can’t imagine they’re any worse than car drivers at the present, but ultimately anyone on a bike or scooter is unlikely to endanger someone else’s life at the cost of their own.
Context again in the article you cite, statistics are generally correlated to all of the accidents and while ‘fatalities on motorcycles are up there’ fatalities always will be due to the unprotected nature of riding one. With that said there’s no mention in the article about what qualified training would do/does to avoid such and it certainly doesn’t justify paying 27% more than someone bringing in a Tesla which ironically compounds the traffic problem
Friday night provided an object lesson in the ignorance, incompetence and selfishness of many drivers on this island. Every roundabout and junction was blocked by stupid, thoughtless people waiting in the wrong lane for a turn, because they had tried to jump the queue.
This is a phenomenon that can be seen on Cayman’s roads every day, but on Friday it was compounded by the breathtaking stupidity of the authorities in closing a major route at rush hour, and the complete absence of parking provision in George Town.
And I’m sorry Wayne, but saying ‘sorry’ just doesn’t cut it. I remember exactly the same excuses being made, and the same promise to look more carefully at road closures, when a party at the museum some years ago caused similar congestion.
If the hardware and paint to separate and protect bike lanes from traffic costs <$10k per mile (wholesale cost data from Alibaba), then completing delivery of these corridors east-west, north-south, would create a dozen or more jobs, and cost <$2,000,000. With quality of life improvement well beyond that value, and for generations. Yes there will be some drunk drivers that will invariably vault into the hardscaping, nothing new there, but that’s not a reason not to complete this traffic pledge. If kids are riding themselves to and from school, the glut of “helper shuttles” disappear and traffic flows normally again, just like during school holidays. Commuters can also rethink their cars and ride their bikes, get some fresh air and improve health. This idea doesn’t add any cars to our roads.
Next year there will be no traffic jams because Kenny will have his electric flying-fish bus service in place.
And to think, all that was needed were the police to be out, directing traffic at roundabouts, and ensuring idiots aren’t blocking up Roundabouts, so no-one can move.
The police motorcyclists would have been perfect on the major junctions but they were too busy escorting some “dignitary” to or from the airport.
Also issue fines the idiots that block intersections.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_junction
.
Yellow box junctions could be painted at most of the busiest junctions in a few days.
Action Please!!!!
“And to think, all that was needed were the police to be out”
Yes but this was an event right out of the blue that nobody had any idea would…. Nevermind.
Or if we used traffic lights to control traffic at major junctions and roundabouts.
Forget the “too many cars” excuse. Apologise and say “going forward we will never close a main thoroughfare again” – simple…and also put Pirates Week out in East End away from everyone.
The excuse is garbage. There were just as many cars on Friday as there were on Thursday. The blame lies solely with the idiots who decided to shut GT on a regular Friday and compounded by selfish, untrained drivers blocking every junction.
You hit the nail on the head! Selfish, untrained drivers blocking every junction!!
Cayman culture can’t fix what Cayman culture messes up. Plan on traffic getting worse. Plan on hearing more apologies, more plans, more blame but nothing will change. The island in five years will make now look good.
Cayman Islands 🇰🇾
🇰🇾Cayman looks to partner with Barbados on creation of local public bus system, June 20, 2022
🇰🇾Cayman looks to partner with Barbados on creation of local public bus system, June 20, 2022
🇰🇾Cayman looks to partner with Barbados on creation of local public bus system, June 20, 2022
Deloitte wins $200K contract to develop public transport plan,November,14,2022
Bermuda 🇧🇲
🇧🇲The Department of Public Transportation is responsible for public buses.
🇧🇲The Department of Public Transportation:
operates a public bus system which integrates with the ferry service.
Sells transit fare media including tokens, tickets and passes.
Bermuda’s pink and blue buses are owned and operated by the Department of Public Transportation. It publishes bus schedules and route maps to keep you up-to-date on buses on the island.
🇧🇲Sea Express Ferries in Bermuda are managed by the Department of Marine and Ports Services, though your bus tokens, tickets, and passes can be used on the ferries too. You can also use your bus transfer to use the Hamilton–St. George’s ferry, but bus transfers are not accepted on any other ferry route.
I must have spoken to 20 people over the weekend and not a single person had a clue what the event on the waterfront that caused this was. Does anyone know? The Pirate thing was last weekend…
MR. PREMIER, WE HAVE NO OTHER OPTION BUT TO DRIVE ON ROADS ! This is bad planning on government’s part. When they made the new highways, they didn’t put any other non-car lane like sidewalks and bicycle lanes! UNBELIEVABLE ! For a small island there should be sidewalks and bicycle lanes along all roads. All we have are roads for cars. So people have no other options but to use cars! I know many who would love to ride bicycle to town … but the roads are not safe. It is dangerous when you have no side lanes. People are forced to spend money to take bus or drive a car. THIS IS REDICULOUS. AGAIN, BAD PLANNING.
Oh sorry forgot good to see ya talking about a topic other than McBush🤨
Don’t worry, they’ll “look into it”. Damn joke this government is.
These morons in charge need to stop closing the roads for events. Move the events to places like where Kaboo was held, so a main road in town does not need to close at all.
Kaboo was held on Mr. Dart’s land, which is not an option for Government events for the general public.
Dart acquired via land swaps and gifts from CIG, including a further 220 acres of prime hotel tourism land for which they were supposed to satisfy terms of reference, but then decided not to do that once government failed to supervise. Dart have a lot of unfulfilled public obligations that were precursor agreements to getting a variety of parcels. The ACC should be all up in that file.
AND Kaboo offered fast passes for those of us who lived in the area so we weren’t stuck in traffic trying to park etc. They planned well, unlike what Gov is capable of doing.
Can we do some quick maths. We currently have about 77000 people here. The government is projecting 100,000 as being desirable. So reckon on a lot more cars. We have insufficient roads albeit for only part of the day. So there will be overhead passes that will be practically empty whilst people are at work. So are overheads passes really necessary.
Much of the problem does indeed lie with cars with just a single occupant. That is a mindset that needs to be changed.
I have no answer to this but foresee our current problems are the tip of the iceberg. With the advent of the two major hotels near the north public beach, the increase in the Westin size and further developments on the strip. This takes no account into the proposed Dart hotel at the Royal Palms or increase in height of current condos.
To be fair this government short sight goes back 40 years or more. Much was addressed in the Coopers and Lybrand Tourism report commissioned by Mr Norman. Sadly it was ignored by the immediate succeeding government and all governments since.
If only there was a solution that involved vehicles that could hold many occupants who could hop on and off at regular intervals on a preset route. It could be safe, cheap, run until late and be driven by people who had read the Cayman Road Code. It would be like transport for the public. We could call it public transport. My guess is the taxi mafia have put a stop to it.
Well, if I need to drop children to 2 different schools because there is no bus system in place for kids that adds to traffic. Every public school should have mandatory busses for school kids. And not picking them up in front of each students house, put stops where kids line up like the rest of the world.
What are you talking about? Every public school DOES have a bus system, it’s not mandatory and could do with some improvement but it takes a huge load off. The private schools are what you must be referring to. And while we’re at it, how about ‘park and ride’ for govt departments in George Town
I’m all for government employees getting buses in. and no, there aren’t enough for all the public school kids.
Chris Johnson – thanks for your regular informative and historical posts. The Cabinet which included Mr. Norman & Ezzard Miller was perhaps the last Cabinet of much integrity and genuine concern that we’ve had. Remember Mr. Norman placed a temporary moratorium on SMB development, which Thomas Jefferson dismantled shortly thereafter so he could get his cut from the Westin Development
The public transport mess is also the creation of Thomas Jefferson when he was Minister for Tourism, Aviation & Transport. He dished out “public bus” permits to Tom, Dick, Harry, and Jane as individuals. This practice has continued so that the public bus operators are all independent and they’re accountability to the PTB is dubious and very poorly monitored – if at all.
Apart from that, there is a moron PTU Director who has actually been banned from attending PTB meetings (go figure!), who has been “running” the Department by his personal feelings and depending on which dream he had the night before – supported and protected by a moron Chief Officer, who in turn advises the present moron MP.
I know for a fact that many years ago, on more than two occasions, one PTB member who travelled often to Bermuda on unrelated business, made presentations and recommendations to the PTB to connect with the Bermuda public transportation officials, in order to take guidance for our own “system”. Names, contacts, information & photos of Hamilton bus terminal, bus & ferry routes & schedules, etc. were provided to the PTB. Almost 20 years later…….the band plays on!!
There is NO public transport system here, just a bunch of (mostly Jamaican now) independent operators who keep no schedules, follow no routes, stop anywhere (Jamaican-style “one stop driver!”), drive like idiots, race for fares, etc.
I know for a fact that when a suggestion was presented to a recent PTB regarding the correction of the problem will likely involve contracting the public bus service to a limited number of eligible service providers (companies) who will be accountable to Government for their services to the public, OR, try to co-opt all the current operators into one or two entities, with definitive representatives, who will be accountable to Government.
I also know for a fact that the current CO, Stran Bodden, had a hearty laugh at those suggestions and retorted “they can’t work”.
Wonder what solutions you’re advising the Minister, Stran Bodden?? The public would like to know and indeed are owed some info on what Government is considering?
Oh sorry, what’s that? You have to wait on Deloitte….again?
OAC needs to explore that Deloitte/CIG connection!!
No status or residence papers no private car! Its simple
well can’t get much more prejudiced than that.
Do what Bermuda has done for all of these years.
We could have had a workable traffic system in place years ago. Now the latest bright idea is to do an overpass by Hurley’s? Imagine what traffic would look like during that construction which would probably take years.
This current bus system is all kinds of accidents waiting to happen
Tourists gonna need some of Dwaynes donkeys
Sure, let me take my baby on your countries death buses. smh
You’d be walking if there was an IQ test.
Can we close the Pubs for certain X Accountants. They need to dry out. @4:45
blah blah blah this is all we hear. we have been complaining about traffic for years it came to a head and now by some miracle it’s gonna be fixed…more bs
In 2022, why would you allocate resources to watch a 4-way stop?! Cameras my friend. The process becomes automated which also removes human error!
You obviously haven’t lived here long enough to understand the insurmountable challenges of having a working, value for money, no contract for friends, camera system.
The Catron lead government really f’d this one up.
The Swami predicts the same thing during the day on the 21 Dec, oh my how we have forgotten. 🚢🚢🚢🚢🚢🚢
Traffic has been out of control for the last few years and ruins the quality of lives for many.
For some reason, Friday’s from 2pm onwards are the worst and anyone with half a brain cell would see what chaos would ensue closing a main thoroughfare.
I’m terms of the traffic, limiting imports isn’t the fix at all. In fact, it’s a complete cop-out and not dealing with the issue at all. A few suggestions:
1. Better public transport. That’s just a no brainer now.
2. Bus services for private schools
3. Decentralise CIG departments. Have certain admin functions out in Bodden Town so that a chunk of traffic is heading the opposite direction?
4. Stagger shift start and end times.
5. Get all the uninsured and unroadworthy heaps of crap off the road
6. Very radical and way beyond this government but some form of permanently moving transport system like a tram or rail.
7. Incentives for car pool. It would end up being scammed but could be done somehow.
All unlikely be considered but hey ho.
I feel that the private schools should have began this initiative a while ago. Are the parents afraid of a yellow school bus?
I imagine the majority of private school parents drop their kids off on the way to work. Pick up is out of rush hour. But no, if there was a bus I think the rest of us would be very happy to put them on it.
No, there just aren’t enough busses for private schools too. They don’t even use them at all public schools!
Little rich Timmy prefers the comfort of a Mercedes SUV
what does this have to do with Friday evening traffic or are you just complaining to complain
The schools and work start times should also be staggered. There are 24hrs in the day.
And many jobs can be done by remote work as proven during the lockdown.
Mr Premier, also how about on select days allo
totally agree except 6 and 7. A tram would be a Honda magnet, it wouldn’t get 50 feet before some clown cut it up and lost.
Worthy suggestions. Thank you.
the new pirates week format is the brain child of Bernie. Well I shouldn’t say brain and bernie in the same sentence.
He doesn’t keep on Ms Mcfield who has dome a brilliant job for yours years.
He leaves the island on the weekend of the landing and should take responsibility for the changes that caused the worse traffic jam in the history of Cayman.
Now that is performance. People of west Bay wake up. this guy should be an assistant football coach not a Minister.
Well, in a couple of months, when Bernie finally understands what you said here, maybe he will make plans to take action. But, for now, don’t expect much of anything from Bernie or Wayne.
Bernie shouldn’t be anywhere near this country’s public policies or our national affairs. He’s overtly incompetent and takes pride being an embarrassment to our youth, history, sports, and culture.
Bernie Bush is the Kenny Bryan of West Bay.
Top 3 worst traffic Jams.
One dishonourable mention, Easter weekend before the tunnels when they closed both lanes of the bypass through Camana Bay. The Earthquake and Tsunami warning school run the other.
The tsunami school run was impressive and rediculous.
and the daily commute to/from BT.
Bernie was in charge of Pirates Week before Melanie McField and it was the best that Pirates Week since the 90s.
Melanie only re=hashed what Bernie did.
I think there are a lot of issues that happened on Friday and I’m not defending the Pirates Week committee, but Bernie did not deal with the nitty gritty of the planning of Pirates Week. The problem is the department had short notice to plan this. Also, it does seem that the police support was needed. Again, there are many variables that culminated in the large traffic jam on Friday.
Ladies and Gentlemen, your Cayman Marl Road government. At the helm Wayne Panton, Chris Saunders and Kenneth Bryan at your disservice.
@11:25am…At least they take responsibility for their mistakes unlike the PPM lunatics.
I would rather dig up Slocum and have him run the government than to ever have the PPM back again.
Good on the Premier for taking this on and owning it. We would never have gotten this out of Alden and of course can’t wait for Roy to read his press briefing written by Alden condemning the PACT government rather than being constructive..Opposition for opposition sake.
You don’t run a country apologizing for mistakes! There is too much at stake. At his pay grade mistakes are not acceptable
The apology is like Dave Chappelle’s opening statement on SNL, it buys you time. By Christmas it’s forgotten.
@5:09am Seriously, so you are saying that because the Premier spoke up and took ownership of this situation that it isn’t a good way to run the country?? So what was he supposed to do, bury his head in the sand and say nothing? True leadership is when you can accept responsibility and be held accountable.
Until this day, Alden and the PPM has never apologized to the people of this country for massive amounts of money they wasted waging a campaign against them to destroy our harbor for a Cruise Pier that they didn’t want. That is not leadership and not a way to run a country, that is narcissism, plain and simple.
So what say you of PPM and UDP abysmal past performance and ‘mistakes’ (that’s putting it lightly).
PACT is as bad as PPM. Wayne is slightly better, but not by much, than Alden. These are the facts.
I don’t think it’s an apples to apples comparison. Obviously, when the worst elements of PACT are themselves former PPM/CDP/UDP/Unity self-dealing autocrats and career recidivist horsetraders this is going to happen. The voters of Cayman need to/must petition to change the Elections Law to disqualify those with criminal convictions, increase consequences for those submitting false or incomplete SIPL disclosures. That would clear the field considerably and raise the quality of any remaining eligible. Parliament and MPs do not have a quorum of ethical standard bearers that might propose to limit their own power, authority, and perks and pleasures they enjoy. If Caymanians are waiting for that day, it’ll never come.
As this article indirectly relates to tourism, I would like to point out that George Town Sunday morning was a mess, with at least one very large bag of rubbish, strewn all over the road. This is what a bunch of tourists had to see, and were wandering around looking bewildered at the mess, with nowhere even open for them to get a coffee.
I would suggest that the clowns responsible for tourism get a grip or get another job – something that they CAN do – if there is anything. This simply isn’t good enough. You want tourists, you have to provide amenities for them, and present an island that is clean.
Pretty safe to say that, like everything else that has been tackled, the PACT dropped the ball again.
PACT is giving PPM a run for their money with respect to bad governance. Shame, shame.
@10:54am No way PACT has caught up to PPM as yet..It is so different to see a politician taking ownership of their problems and apologizing to the people. I have never heard this type of response from any PPM member in the entire time they have been around..
Thank you Premier for being a real man and not just a politician. It is refreshing in these times of hateful and spiteful politics.
Did that apology make your life better ? Thought so!
Anyone can issue an ‘apology’ when there is no accountability or consequences.
Except the PPM it seems
@3:06 haha good one, think you’ve either had a bit too much rum over pirates weekend or your on the pact gravy train. this government is a completely ineffective joke.