Government oversight
Cabinet ordered to release Smith Cove minutes
(CNS): Not everything that is documented in government’s Cabinet meetings can automatically be withheld from public scrutiny, Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston has found in her latest ruling. A freedom of information request made by Alric Lindsay for an extract of Cabinet minutes relating to the now cancelled Smith Barcadere project and the decision to waive planning […]
FS warns of long road to modernise CIG budget
(CNS) Financial Secretary Kenneth Jefferson has accepted that the current budget system doesn’t make the important link to show how public cash being spent by government is achieving its stated policies. The system is based on outputs rather than outcomes, which does not help people understand the real performance of government, he explained, but said […]
Officials blame consultants for $74M airport bill
(CNS): Airport bosses blamed the increased costs, delays and general mismanagement of the airport terminal project on the consultants when they appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday. With an expected final cost now of more than $74 million just for the terminal, around $22 million more than the original budget, Cayman Islands Airports […]
80% of local kids in under-performing schools
(CNS): Only one school across the Cayman Islands received an ‘excellent’ grade from school inspectors in 2020. The Office of Education Standards’ annual data analysis for last year revealed that almost three-quarters of all children are in under-performing schools and 80% of Caymanian students are attending schools not yet meeting the expected level of performance.
Miller confirms facts in PAC’s OfReg report
(CNS): Following the false evidence given by OfReg Board Chairman Linford Pierson to the Public Accounts Committee, Ezzard Miller MP, the chairman of the committee, has called on government to remove him. But he also made it clear to parliament on Thursday that the controversial report, which Speaker McKeeva Bush had tried to stop becoming […]
Mac goes on attack against PAC chairman
(CNS): Speaker McKeeva Bush courted even more controversy on Monday, when he went on the attack against the Public Accounts Committee chairman. As he sought to justify his recent decision to withhold a report by PAC, he questioned why Ezzard Miller was still holding the position when he was no longer a member of the […]
Turtle farm bosses to give back pay-hike ‘mistake’
(CNS): The CEO and chief operating officer of the Cayman Turtle Centre, aka the Turtle Farm, will be paying back the salary hike they and other senior staff received by mistake. COO Peggy Hamilton told the Public Accounts Committee Tuesday that, following a board meeting, she and CEO Tim Adam would be returning the cash […]
PAC troubled by salary hike ‘mistake’ at CTC
(CNS): What has been described as a salary hike ‘mistake’ at the Cayman Turtle Centre resulted in 24 people, including the CEO and other senior managers, getting a second pay increase that they should not have received, which took almost 12 months to be spotted. This so-called error troubled the Public Accounts Committee during its […]
Turtle farm accounts delayed by fraud case
(CNS): The delayed release of three years worth of the Cayman Turtle Centre’s accounts was due to a “very complex” audit resulting from financial irregularities uncovered in 2017, the Public Accounts Committee heard Wednesday. Four people have been charged with fraud-related offences in the case of corrupt procurement at the government-owned farm that has sucked […]
PAC mum on removal of OfReg chairman
(CNS): Public Accounts Committee Chair Ezzard Miller has said he is unable to confirm or deny reports that Speaker McKeeva Bush refused to allow PAC’s OfReg report on the House floor because it calls for the firing of Linford Pierson, the regulator’s board chairman. Miller told CNS that he could not comment on a post […]
Ethics code needed to stop MPs abusing privilege
(CNS): The Human Rights Commission is calling on politicians to adopt a code of conduct following complaints about the abuse of privilege during past debates on LGBT rights in the Legislative Assembly. In a letter to members, HRC Chairperson Dale Crowley said the privilege they enjoy should not be used to create the divisiveness witnessed […]
