Bush trial adjourned and parliament postponed

(CNS): With the Cayman Islands preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl within the next 36 hours, the trial of McKeeva Bush MP was postponed Tuesday and the jury was sent home by the judge until Friday morning. House Speaker Alden McLaughlin has also confirmed that the planned meeting of lawmakers, including Bush, set for Friday has also been postponed due to the impending storm conditions.

The courthouse closed Tuesday at 2:00pm and all cases are now adjourned until Beryl has passed and the all-clear is given. Most of the government’s non-essential services were closed on Tuesday afternoon as civil servants were encouraged to finish hurricane preparations.

A press release from the House of Parliament confirming that Friday’s meeting, which would have been only the fourth meeting of this session, was cancelled said that a new date has yet to be confirmed. However, McLaughlin said that, if required, parliament can convene in an emergency.

The speaker urged everyone to follow the guidelines published on the Hazard Management Cayman Islands website and not to take anything for granted. He said that several acts of parliament now exist in the Cayman Islands that address disaster management, including the Disaster Preparedness and Hazard Management Act (2019), which was first enacted in 2016.

“We have developed rigorous processes since Hurricane Ivan, and effective emergency legislation to manage disasters,” he said, noting that the law established the HMCI, the National Emergency Notification System, Community Emergency Response Teams, and a National Hazard Management Plan for large-scale disasters in the Cayman Islands.