PPM poses 21 questions to UPM ahead of parliament

| 18/02/2024 | 45 Comments
Cayman News Service
Deputy Opposition Leader Joey Hew (file photo)

(CNS): All of the PPM opposition members have submitted questions for the UPM Government in preparation for the next meeting of parliament, scheduled to start on 26 February. The 21 questions cover a range of topics, such as the proposed runway, the new development plan, and the remaining life of the dump.

Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart is asking nine questions during the meeting, including one for the labour minister about what has happened to the minimum wage report that the government received in October and when it will be made public.

McTaggart will also be asking Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, in her capacity as finance minister, what additional revenue was expected to be raised in 2024 and 2025 by the increase in stamp duty on “high-end” property that was announced in the budget but has since been reconsidered.

When she announced the policy, the premier did not say how much revenue could have been generated from such a move, nor did she elaborate when she made the U-turn. According to a recent poll on CNS, 79% of readers who took part supported raising duty on luxury properties in some way.

McTaggart will also be grilling the premier on the full schedule of fees and charges across the public sector that have been or will be increased in 2024 and 2025, as well as the percentage increases over the 2023 figure and the total additional revenue expected to be generated.

Deputy Opposition Leader Joey Hew (GTN) will be asking five questions, including one for Planning Minister Jay Ebanks on whether the long-awaited public transportation plan has been accepted by Cabinet and if anything is being done as a result. He will also ask Social Development Minister André Ebanks what targets have been set for improved customer service at the Needs Assessment Unit.

Moses Kirkconnell (CBW&LC) will be asking Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan about airlift to the Sister Islands. He will also ask the minister about the number of paying passengers travelling on the Cayman Airways Barbados route and its impact on the LA flight.

Barbara Conolly (GTS) has questions for the premier in her role as education minister about school inspections and whether or not the school meals programme has been assessed.

David Wight (GTW) will be asking Sports Minister Isaac Rankine about local athletes taking part in the Paralympics in Paris. He will also ask Home Affairs Minister Sabrina Turner whether or not she plans to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act to address the ‘hallucinogenic substances and amphetamine derivatives’ currently not included in the law.

The government is expected to present a number of amendment bills relating to the financial sector as well as the long-anticipated consumer protection bill. The UPM has also submitted two motions: one to establish a Fuel Review Select Committee and one to issue a deed of indemnity to the Cayman Airways Board of Directors.

Both the opposition and government backbenchers had until Thursday evening to submit parliamentary questions and private members’ motions

See the full list of questions submitted by the PPM below:


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Category: Politics

Comments (45)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    So…”clique” (cleek) is now “click”?? Are they interchangeable?

    I think I’ll clique on a website to see if a click of academics (or academicks?) have revised the English pronunciation for that word!

    Morons abound!!!

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  2. Anonymous says:

    The headline could have stopped after the second word.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    21 questions to individuals who, after removing their shoes, still can’t count to 21.

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  4. Hypocrisy 101 says:

    Anybody in government is better than the PPM being returned to power and leading these islands. They complain now as the opposition but have away Cayman to the rich developer class that control them and granted them hundreds of millions in concessions.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Any government is a detriment to these islands right now, whether it be the PPM, UPM, PACT etc. they’re all two sides of the same coin. Vote them ALL out if we wanna see real change. There are so many young Caymanians eager to make real, lasting change but they don’t feel confident enough, or lack the support to take on these nutheads. We need to support and encourage them to run for office and take back our islands from these sellouts.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    and i have 101 questions about ppm’s 8 years in power…

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    • Annonmous says:

      My sentiments exactly, for 8 years the only thing PPM did was give away the islands to rich developer. Only since UDP came into power Caymanians can actually get jobs. We don’t want those Uncle Toms and idiots in power anymore. The people have spoken, they believe that they’re better than their own people.

      You can always tell when election season is upon us!

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    • Anonymous says:

      I have a question, hope they can answer this one. ” why was the plan to build a well equipped Health Clinic in Bodden dropped.? The current one is falling apart. Also in the meantime please send someone from DEH to clean up behind the clinic where the refugees and throwing all of their garbage.

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    • Anonymous says:

      AGREED. And most of them start with ‘Why didn’t you…………?’

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  6. Anonymous says:

    ‘no, no, no, no, don’t know and who do you think you are asking me that ?, – we don’t even do press briefings for crying out loud, there’s no ‘T’ in UPM, sit on your hands and be quiet’

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Maybe Roy should ask them why they paid $1.4 million for an acre and a half of land (20C 184). Who did the valuation for them, the previous owner?

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    • Chris Johnson says:

      Maybe ask also why CIG purchased the Smatts land about 2 years ago and so far nothing has happened. They just love spending our money. Why is it fenced it. Let people use it.

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  8. WBW Czar. says:

    Good God Roy wants to be Premier

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Reducing single use plastics?

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  10. annoying says:

    There are always more questions than answers, or better yet, Solutions. These guys have a great job.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Except the opposition are not going to get any response to their questions.
      The UDP are not accountable to anyone/anything .

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  11. Guido Marsupio says:

    Fix the damn dump!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Why? Serious question. Why is land-filling (with a proper lining) not a serious option in particular given the expense of alternatives and the fact of sea level rise? Much of Manhattan is built on a landfill.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Yes, that is an option which was proposed for Bodden Town. The current site is not lined and continues to leach into the ground water and North Sound.

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        • Anonymous says:

          True, and cost to remediate in 2004 was (a now laughable)$10mln, which was deemed then too expensive by both PPM and UDP reps, still serving. There is no plan to remove the landfill, or install liner.

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        • Anonymous says:

          True. And it may well still be the best option.

      • Guido Marsupio says:

        Serious answer – The current site is to be capped and a proper recycling and disposal facility are to be built – it’s called the ReGen (aka ISMWS) project, and the past several governments have been dragging their feet completing the contract negotiations with the already selected winning bidder.

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      • Anonymous says:

        The CIG has been sitting on the contract to commence the waste incineration & energy plant for years now without moving things forward. This is the obvious and only solution that gets more expensive to implement with every passing month/year of inaction and feet dragging.

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        • Anonymous says:

          I remember a headline in the Compass about 10 years ago that referred to what the government had done about the dump as “25 years of talk.” It’s 35 years of talk now – and counting.

    • Anonymous says:

      It’s not 2004 anymore. This is not happening.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    Good luck on getting any answers folks, these are all top secret details that only people in the click should know anyway. Why doesn’t anyone ask Honorable Seymour where he got his sharp outfit for the movie premier the other night?

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    • Anonymous says:

      This is a personal bugbear. It’s ‘clique’, and it’s pronounced ‘kleek’.

      As you were!

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      • Guido Marsupio says:

        Pronounced ‘kleek’ in France, ‘click’ in US, as in “clicky teenage girls”

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        • Anonymous says:

          It’s correctly pronounced ‘kleek’ everywhere. American teens are just wrong, as are others who say ‘click’.

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          • Guido Marsupio says:

            Sorry to disagree mate. See below from Cambridge (UK) dictionary pronunciation guide:

            https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/clique

            • Anonymous says:

              But it is not spelt click!

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            • Anonymous says:

              It can be written down and still be an affront to all that is good.

              If you’re in a click, stick to it!

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              • Anonymous says:

                ‘clique’ sounds like one of those fancy development where the professional inhabitance all wear the latest Peng Leng Zeng slippers/ handbag made by some obscure “luxury” brand (IN SE ASIA) that the private equity slide deck in summary reads “buy-out, marketing full swing, quality down, debt up and liquidate (both the handbags & matching slippers and the Portfolio Co- at outlet mall and the courts, respectively). Click sounds better_ at least you won’t be confused with that special set that knows so much, that simply isn’t true!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Thank you for the grammar lessons mate!

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