‘High-value transaction’ was trigger for resignations
(CNS): Answering questions about why he and three other members of government resigned from the UPM on Thursday, André Ebanks wouldn’t say what specific thing triggered their departure and suggested it was the “totality of events” over the last few months. It has been clear for some time that ousting Wayne Panton from the position of premier in October last year did little to prevent disagreements and policy differences among the ranks of the UPM — something McKeeva Bush confirmed last week when he attacked Turner and called the government a mess.
Answering questions from CNS, Ebanks wouldn’t be drawn on specifics but indicated that during what was understood to be a caucus meeting on Wednesday evening, a particular issue was raised related to a high-value transaction.
“It is a totality of events and accounts taken together that have created an untenable state of affairs,” he said. “A moment of clarity came last night where a mode of operation in relation to a particular transaction is not, in our estimation, the way that an executive should conduct itself in handling high-value transactions.”
Ebanks declined to confirm that issues surrounding the re-opening of the dump talks with Dart or arguments in Cabinet over amendments to the conservation legislation were the triggers, but implied that all of those issues were part of the totality. He would not say what the “high-value transaction” was or what he meant by the “mode of operation”, but said that the four MPs would talk more about the issue in the coming days.
While most of the remaining members of government, including the premier, remained silent on Thursday, Kenneth Bryan posted on social media that the resignations were very unfortunate and had come as a surprise to him. He said he was limited in what he could say as he assessed the situation to determine the best steps forward.
“I understand that this news may cause concern and worry among many of you. Please rest assured that I am committed to keeping you updated. As soon as I have more information, I will share it with you promptly. My priority is to ensure that any actions taken are in the best interest of the people of George Town Central,” Bryan stated on the constituency’s social media.
McKeeva Bush was more candid in a message exchange with CNS, as he pointed to what had been some specific areas of disagreement among the caucus and his own concerns. Bush said the main points of contention were his plans to move a censure motion in relation to a bridge loan that Wayne Panton had made with Sabrina Turner, the cruise pier project, and amending the conservation law.
Bush said the remaining UPM members were in favour of certain changes to the conservation law that were not supported by the members who resigned, who were trying to stop these things from happening by pushing for an early election.
However, he made no comment on what he believes the UPM will do now or the likelihood of them joining forces with the PPM to form a new coalition government to take the administration through to the general elections.
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Category: Politics
Dan rolling the die!
wait n see.
DG may postpone his retirement now.
And Mr Jabber Jaw is wining in the wings. Can’t wait to finish hosting the Canadian roust with J from the Block..aĺ on behalf of uncle.
@9:59
Brilliant!
Wonder how many people will get it?
What do you get when you have a third word edumacated voters who vote for corrupted leadership to run the government of the Cayman islands? What you have. No surprises here. Only certainties to see. A big bunch of hungry animals surrounding the big taxpayer funded trough. If your not corrupted you can’t get in. But it’s all in your individual perceptions. This is just mine as a person outside looking in.
Please leave UK politics out of this
The writing has been on the wall and the signs too. Too many of this 19 MP’s all in it for themselves. I am 1 Caymanian that will never go to the polls again, come election time to vote. My voting days are over. We Caymanians are outnumbered by cheap, imported labour. I will continue to hope for better for Cayman. But sadly no changes will come. Remember their promises come next election. We will be paying for their crazy decision-making for many generations to come. Can anyone help me understand why my island home Cayman Brac which is 12 miles long, need a CI$50 million high school. Seems like the current Premier wants to leave herself a palace just to say she got one. So sad to see what Cayman has become. I am only one Caymanian. And yes, we truly ate the islandstime forgot. Sad really sad. The love of money is the root of all evil. And evil comes in many shapes and sizes. I for one would say, please can someone wake me up when this nightmare is over.
I agree with you on the corruption and ridiculousness of it all, but don’t let them win by convincing you not to vote. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain. Voting is not a marriage it is a bus ticket, pick the one that gets you closest to where you want to go. Nothing will ever happen any different unless a lot of folks like you vote for change or run for office to be the change you think we need.
The last election I voted in Newlands and for a supposed independent candidate but in the future I will only vote for a candidate that is a member of a party or team. It was better when we had two or three teams and we knew their plans for the future. We cant expect to vote for independents and then hope they will work together…
The high value transaction is the port extension that they desperately need. That is why they are trying to grab Chris Johnson’s land that he wants to give to Cayman, his way.
You are know he will not roll over. His neighbour however is dealing with two politicians talking mega bucks and you know what that means.
If no elected member has rhe decency to inform the electorate what has prompted this disarray then perhaps the Governor should hold a pressed and inform us. We are entitled to know.
I agee. Only in cayman do we the population remain in the dark. We pay you politicians for Gods sake! You work for us! So fed up with all of them from the party’s to these independents. Sick and tired of them and after about 25 years of voting I might sit this one out. So sick and tired.
Looks like Andre decided to share the reasons after all. He said some of the issues were:-
Lack of transparency in a major financial transactions such the ReGen project
Lack of urgency in dealing with beach erosion
Whether to amend the National Conservation Act
Resistance to reasonable and objective discussions on escalating costs of the new Cayman Brac High School
Lack of courage to consider the proposed Sexual Harrassment Bill
no bid contract on the outer islands high school.
Andre has done some good. But the early decision to not join the PPM likely haunts him Sabrina and Issac ever day.
Poor travelling Kathy should stayed Speaker and continue to travel the world.
Meanwhile the Cayman Islands is being represented in Australia by Bernie and Blunders Saunders. What a frightening thought.
I hope they are adopted by the kangaroos over there!
Hopefully they can keep their hands off the roos.
Saunders being Big Man in first class at our expense and both of them learning which fork to use at the high table.
A cringe cringe moment for Cayman.
@3:53, incorrect,it has already been awarded, under the table of course.
Absolutely wrong. Due process was followed.
Listening to people calling in to Radio Cayman it’s scary that voters don’t understand a F’ing thing. These people are the fools that keep putting donkeys into the LA and then complaining that Cayman is going to the dogs.
Ah, JuJus favourite radio station $$$$$$$$
Juju spends millions on Radio Cayman and can’t 200 followers on social media on any given day.
Andre is as unstable and unreliable as all the others. Was’nt he the one being supported by the PPM then after he got elected he had them all waiting for him and all the time he was having talks with Wayne and his bunch of dimwits. He is no “Prince Charming”.
Andre is competent, professional and gets things done.
He is a masterful politician (read the warning label), but he is 100 times better than Snake Julianna, For Hire Joey, Big Mac, Dim David, Bot Barbara, Slimy Saunders, Krak Kenneth, Bumbling Bernie, Spineless Isaac or Dumb Dwayne.
100pc correct definitions. wutless spineless n witless …all 19!
plus legal and courts.
and Chief Officers.
Police too!!
whose heads will roll for all this?
The Civil Service is the rotton head! They msnage the work n spending!
Little public engagement or communications.
More drone show$$$, piracy and ribbon cuttings..
slush funds will pad their elections coffers.
we na food food bobo.
What is the difference between the Boy Scouts and the Caymanian government ?
The Boy Scouts have adult leadership
Andre Ebanks worked extremely extremely hard to get Cayman off the FATF grey list, restoring some certainty in the #1 contributor to the government coffers and the #1 employer and economic sector in the Cayman Islands. He worked for 2 years on this and now we have a seat at the table. We now have one of the FIRST EVER guest memberships.
He has been all around the world promoting our financial services which keeps the lights on and food on the table. Tourism is not the second pillar, it supports very little.
This is after PPM bungled the whole thing and got us on the list in the first place.
Andre has launched social bills to protect young people, old people, adopted children and more. He has overhauled our social protection schemes so that HOPEFULLY the people who need assistance will get it and the people who do not will not.
He is actually proposing LAWS which is what government is supports to be doing.
He is looking after everyone. So if he thinks he needed to resign, then he did to resign. The remaining Caucus members have NOT been working in the best interest of the country because if they had, then the Breakaway Four would not have had to quit.
I agree with most. I will respectfully disagree that PPM resulted in putting Cayman on the Grey List. All Caribbean territories including Jamaica are off the Grey List. The whole region has been de-risked for monetary and political reasons.
PPM ignored or missed the deadline. That’s why we were blacklisted. Working in financial services, I remember it well and I’m sure CNS will remember it too.
https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/02/offshore-sector-scrambles-to-repair-damage/
Tara was an independent.
Don’t conflate the the myriad of assessments and blacklists that the Government of the day had to deal with during the 2027 – 2021 period. That same PPM led government was responsible for successfully completing 60 of the 63 FATF recommendations in the space of 12 months – an unprecedented feat by all accounts! So give credit where credit is due to the PPM Government, and in particular Minister Rivers, who worked tirelessly during that time for the betterment of the jurisdiction. The FATF took a hard-line approach to the remaining 3 recommendations which due process required time to demonstrate (i.e. criminal prosecutions and administrative fines) and used that as an excuse to put us on the Grey List (to serve the EU’s ultimate purpose).
The removal from the FATF Grey List was going to happen as a matter of course when there were money laundering prosecutions and administrative fines to show. So a lot of the success attributed to (former) Minister Ebanks is in fact due to the foundation laid, hard work and success of Minister Rivers and previous government dealing with the relentless threats of blacklisting as a result the numerous international assessments that took place during that time. The financial services related challenges of this administration paled in comparison to that of the previous one, so let’s not compare apples to oranges.
Well Bernie getting financial affairs now so we should be all good.
Remember Bernie the debit side is nearest the window.
This entire debacle has Wayne written all over it. Andre’s intention is to get back with Wayne, Sabrina has no choice, she owes Wayne and Heather cannot do anything without it being Ok-ed by Wayne. Wayne’s desire is to become Premier again, he had it before and apparently could’nt handle it. Anyone out there thinks he can do better the next go-around? Everyone is thinking about themselves and their ego, no one is thinking about ” Our Beloved Isle Cayman” the true pirate’s spirit is front and center. All about me me me! Sick and tired of all of them!
Don’t insult Andre for god’s sake. Andre can make an independent decision.
Wayne Panton needs to retire. He had his chance.
Heather? I am surprised she left. She OWES Juju and JonJon for that special approval for her family to dredge a channel in the marine park.
Who the f_ck thinks that is okay?
Wayne Panton does apparently.
“Bush said the remaining UPM members were in favour of certain changes to the conservation law that were not supported by the members who resigned, who were trying to stop these things from happening by pushing for an early election.”
This says it all.
Bush is an idiot, please do not quote him. You don’t want to catch whatever it is that messed up his brains!
Will this affect the amount of gifts politicians will be handing out this Christmas?
Bush trying to act as if he has the moral authority or integrity to censure anyone is the peak of comedy
A clown of a man, who will hopefully soon be laughed out of office
Determine the best steps forward ? For you KB. Undoubtedly.
Presumably he is talking about the cruise dock.
And $160 Million new prison they’re keeping quiet about plus over $8Million in fees alone.
Specifically, CHEC.
Likely not the full list:
– est $660 mln CIAA 2041 Master Plan
– Go East East-West Arterial Road
– Go to the airport connector Road
– Go East Dart Dump to Bodden Town District
– Go East Dart Quarry Cargo Port
– Go Kenny GT FCCA Cruise Port
– Dart WTE CUC fiasco rehash
– Dart North Sound dredge for Dart’s Marina hotel
– Dart North Sound dredge to Dart’s Ritz Carlton
– Brac Zeus Dredge for Marina restaurant
– Brac School in the middle of nowhere
– Little Cayman stilt hotel rehash
– oh, and still missing $2 billion in healthcare and pensions liabilities that the FCO is probably knocking about
The only one’s dredging the North Sound are Heather Bodden and family.
All of this double speak nonsense only serve to create speculation and rumours.
You must mean the doublespeak nonsense of Juju & Co and the PPM. Lack of accountability and transparency much lacking. No wonder people talk when they are kept in the dark about matters of public interest and the public purse. Let them talk, the damage has already been done and needs to be exposed.
The two members that commented (Bryan and Bush) are without doubt the reason for the continuing sh*t show.
#legalizecommonsense
Common sense is not so common anymore.
The public should have access to the Minutes of these business Meetings. There shouldn’t be any private caucus expectations when it comes to our governance.
Especially when it comes to high value transactions on the public purse.
I disagree. There is no magic in the word “Caucus”: it is just a politicians’ self-important term for a private meeting where all kinds of views can be aired, with a hopeful view (unlikely with this bunch of cretins) of reaching consensus and thus formulating policy. It’s right that those discussions aren’t made public.
What “cruise pier project”? No such project is defined, RFPed, business cased, enviroed, let alone approved. The stewards of Cayman’s finances should never be offering to pay for boondoggles, with our money, even if those boxes were checked – and they aren’t.
“A moment of clarity came last night where a mode of operation in relation to a particular transaction is not, in our estimation, the way that an executive should conduct itself in handling high-value transactions.”
So they saw blatant corruption and jumped ship? Am I interpreting that correctly? Don’t blame them if true.
Yes but why didn’t this same group support Wayne Panton last year? The recent events have been ongoing during their tenure in office.
Sorry I am not buying this as a totality reason.
So they decided to “run away” instead to stand and demand resignations from the corrupted Cabinet members? Please make sense!!!
Quickest way to bring an end to the madness and hopefully expose them for what they are. Why prolong the agony any further?
Hard to demand resignations when you are in the minority. – But agree they would be better served by speaking plainer.
They should have gone to the anti corruption commission why let the corrupt ministers off the hook by resigning? If you know you are on the side of right, why let those on the wrong side win?
They should still go to the ACC
Anti Corruption Commission is filled with weak people unwilling to do the right thing.
Franz promised to replace Sue Winspear with a Caymanian after her report about his darling Eric.
Ah, I did wonder. As with all her predecessors, it sucks to be a good auditor general in Cayman. Speak up against wrongdoings and/or step on the wrong toes and you’re out…
Demanding resignations does nothing if the demands are ignored. Collapsing the government stops the alleged corrupted members from passing legislation that, if you believe the resigning members, was hazardous for the country.
You think anyone can demand the resignation of Mr Bush and he would listen? Why don’t you make sense?
JuJu is not resigning. JonJon is not resigning. Kenneff definitely not resigning. Isaac not resigning.
No, they are standing up for what is right and what they believe is right, and what they believe is right for the Island, even though it looks bad on them for “quitting”. Sometimes you have to do what you feel is right and move away from a bad situation.
Kenny G is surprised?? He’s probably one of the main reasons they jumped ship.
Im amazed voters fall for his snake oil
It is true that all elected politicians now have to go through custom at the airport and have their baggage searched like the rest of us? No more strolling through. Enquiring minds want to know.
Oh I do hope so. Breathalyser s next.
bush on radio talking so much shi….t. started everything off how he was wrongly charged for beating a woman. says he was attacked by two women and the video shows that….. cant make this up
trumpesqe…
Bush knows the CCTV cameras did not cover the area in question, the videos he speaks of don’t exist.
I hate this wishy washy hand wringing garbage, If the incident was important enough to trigger 4 resignations its important enough to inform the voting public directly and clearly.
Stop pontificating and make statement, what was the specific event, what was the transaction, who were involved.
The boys club are mansplaining and dismissing the input from the women of equivalent rank, for starters. They are determined to bypass the required phases of approval on major projects and spending. Do you need more?
you obviously don’t recognize Julianna (the premier) as a woman. Who exactly is the boys club?
Shhhh. It destroys their narrow minded simpleton take.
She allowed Mck and Kenneth to spew their nastiness over female civil servants during Caucus meetings.
Yes I do need more, make it clear what was said, by who and when.
make a clear and concise statement, its what you should want as well.
Call it whatever you want but someone has to break it down for the women of the group.
Exactly. This was a move to re-join Wayne. Why don’t they just say that?
Andre start a new party.