EE challengers fail to seize chance to call out minister
(CNS): The four candidates challenging incumbent MP Isaac Rankine for his East End seat failed to capitalise on the opportunity to call him out during the first of the Chamber of Commerce’s candidate forums. The candidates all said they planned to solve an array of problems, but Rankine, the current home affairs minister who has been a part of the PACT/UPM
PACT was a group of independent MPs who came together after the 2021 elections to form a government. It later became the UPM. More administration for the last four years, was not asked why they had not been solved during that time.
He also failed to articulate any real successes during his tenure beyond small infrastructure projects, and claimed there were no magic wands for the various problems the country faces.
Given the opportunity to address questions on several of the main issues that concern voters in East End and across the country, the candidates were short on details as to how to resolve them or how they would fund any of their ideas.
Some of those ideas would be costly, such as a new high school in Bodden Town that Delmira Bodden (PPM) said a Progressives government would build, or a bridge across the North Sound from Rum Point to the airport suggested by John McLean Jr (IND).
Roydell Carter (IND), a former director of the Department of Environmental Health, spoke about the country’s historic waste-management problem. He revealed one of the reasons why, more than two decades after governments began looking at the possibility of a waste-to-energy policy, it still wasn’t done.
Carter said that none of the more than a dozen ministers he dealt with during his time as DEH director had seen the issue as something they should address. He said their only question was how long the dump would last — they wanted to ensure that it was at least four years so they wouldn’t have to tackle it.
During the course of the debate, all of the candidates spoke about immigration reform, but failed to properly articulate their views on the government’s recent discussion white paper. However, all of them supported the idea of applying the same rules to civil servants as those working in the private sector and to stop allowing government employment to be a back door to status.
With East Enders suffering the most from traffic congestion, the candidates all seemed to support the East-West Arterial Road extension, though they did not say how they would fund the $1 billion price tag for Route 3 (the one chosen by the UPM), or if they would consider the alternative routes.
Gueva Richards (CINP) said the road alone would not solve the problem, and noted her party’s proposal for a full national transportation plan and a government-owned, modern and efficient bus system, as well as policies to reduce the importation of vehicles beyond the current age limits and the need for all private schools to have buses.
During the introduction to the first of the forums, Chamber of Commerce President Omari Corbin said the Chamber would be working with the next administration to introduce a government accountability scorecard to ensure future accountability and transparency.
Corbin also said the Chamber, which represents the interests of business, would be seeking a seat on key boards and authorities in the next government.
“We believe our members bring valuable expertise that can help shape effective policies and initiatives,” he said, before he introduced the candidates.
The next forum takes place this evening, Friday 14 March, with the two North Side candidates, incumbent Jay Ebanks (IND) and Justin Ebanks (PPM). The forums are being held at the Chamber’s Visitor Centre in Governor’s Square and are also being live-streamed.
See the full East End forum below:
Check out the CNS Election Section interactive map to see who is running in each constituency.
See the list of candidates and their party affiliations here.
Category: Election News
Change writes: Every constituency has the same issue when their MP becomes a minister. It is not that they stop caring about their area, but Cabinet members have no choice but to tackle issues at national level, and that takes budget, meetings, reports, travel, conference calls, sitting with lawyers to streamline bills and laws — all […]
Minister Rankine could you please tell us about your company BSTG Maintenace of the two main telecommunication providers Poles and towers in light of OFReg recent findings and enforcement notices.
Well, Isaac according to his bio “graduated with a high school diploma from East End primary school” so that says it all…
That’s marginally better than Dumb Dumb who received his diploma from Sunday School.
Isaac Rankin is one dunce man who has difficulty even reading his speeches in Parliament.
IT WAS NOT A DEBATE! The forum did not provide opportunities for a response to a candidate. They had 2 minutes to answer the question so no time to rebuke a response then answer the question.
Terrible format. We need town hall meetings that the public can ask the candidates questions directly and or a proper debate where they can challenge responses.
This format favors the incumbent.
I watched East End and North Side. Jay attacked Justin and ended up by using PPM’s slogan. What a disgrace.
Justin was articulate, professional and spoke like a statesman and not like a gutteral McKeeva Bush and Jay Ebanks.
This country deserves better regardless of party affiliation.
Agreed. Nonsense format. The COC is just pretending that they know what they are doing. Rushing the candidates to respond to such indepth questions is pure tomfoolery. But as usual very few see that the Emperor has no clothes on.
Between the 40 minute delay because the Chamber didn’t test the audio, to Omari, who few could even understand ( and is he even Caymanian) the while thing is a joke.
Its no wonder this place is a mess!
screwing up the audio is a bit of a mistake. But Omari is very articulate. What couldn’t you understand? His accent (from St. Lucia)?
Are you going to tell me that idiots like McKeeva Bush are easier to understand than this guy? Get bent
North Side has it tough. PPM, or a bull in a china shop. Good grief.
Anything or Anyone is better than PPM.
Difficult choice I agree, but a vote for PPM now puts Kenneth, Jujudas, Seymour, Mac and fellow unprincipled louts in power to rule Cayman.
Hang on. He stated vary clearly what he did for East End.
A garbage disposal, an ice machine and flooring for the civic centre.
He must be really proud of these achievements in four years.
That averages almost one achievement a year!
The candidates running to represent the East End constituency leave a lot to be desired. I can only assume that they are mostly running for a paycheck.
Exactly. One candidate has at least one substantial money judgement against that candidate. I will trust no leader who cannot pay his or her personal debts.
Voters: Outgrow the short scope approach. Ask the candidates about the BIG issues. The multi-million dollar problems. We need nineteen people who can come up with solutions that will save the country millions of dollars. The PPM had three administrations to solve problems and instead they made them worse. Caymanian unemployment became an issue under them in 2009. They could have placed a moratorium on financial services’ work permits, so that all the people who had lost jobs when companies like Lehman Marcus, Bank of America, Boeing, Wells Fargo and many others had to leave the jurisdiction. What did they do instead? Started handing out building concessions and 7-Mile Beach planning approvals; made owning real estate the #1 requirement for PR and opened the flood gates for cheap labor work permits.
Wake up and #Votethemout
It won’t matter who gets in in EE…Mac and Kenneth have teamed up to rule Cayman.
So just vote PPM and watch them take Cayman into the cesspit of a Jamaican infested and bankrupt 3rd world island.
My apologies CNS but I had to copy this from the Compass.
Isaac Rankine said immigration reform, the environment and education were top issues.
Is this the same Isaac Rankine that wants to dredge a swim hole in East End?
https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/11/mps-swim-hole-poses-serious-threat-to-marine-ecosystem/
If they didn’t call that out then it’s safe to assume that they are all in favour of it as well.
Thank you for shining a light on this issue for the East End constituents! It’s crucial that we speak up and address it—if nobody knows about it, how can we make a difference?
We need to advocate for transparency and change, as too many decisions are being made behind closed doors, leaving the majority in the dark.
Let’s unite for a community that values openness and inclusivity!
None of those running for office have the education or intellect for leadership or management of Anything.
They are there because the rewards are enormous, and demands negligible.
We all know what the problems are, but leadership is not, telling us what the problems are, but in telling us your solutions .
This is amply demonstrated by the “bridge from rum point” guy.
In terms of public transportation, I do not know who is more clueless: the candidates, the electorate, or the Chamber. The Public Transport Bill was discussed in detail and passed sometime in the last four months.
Chamber Experts, Fix the damn audio and live stream next time!
Experts my ass
The PPM’s grand plan to address the housing crisis? A public/private initiative with concessions. No one monitors that the concessions they gave to all the big projects before 2021 are being honored. How many Caymanians are earning a decent salary through those concessions? Can anyone pay their light bill, grocery bill or their overseas student room and board with concessions? Who wants more of the same?
The bridge idea should be enough to rule out McLean Jr. If you think that’s a great plan, imagine what else he believes!
Sort out public transport, it’s really not difficult, and would have a transformative effect on traffic.
I know he said bridge, but I understood he meant an expressway.
He has never demonstrated that he is intelligent. Looks like his dad though. Nice looking dude.
What a joke – the candidates and the Chamber’s approach. Depressing.
A bridge from Rum Point to the airport? LOL. Jesus take the wheel.
Is that the best idea he can campaign on?
To 12:25pm: What happened to “all ideas are welcome”? Knocking down people’s ideas only stifles innovation…
You expect “ideas” from aspiring politicians to be the result of measured reasoned thinking. In this case this is an ill conceived, even childish proposal which sadly represents the quality of these candidates.
Okay.
The expense.
The engineering issues.
The car accidents you’d get.
The hurricanes.
The far cheaper and attainable solutions.
The environmental damage.
It’s a terrible idea just from thinking about it for 1 minute.
We want our candidates to have engaged brain before opening mouth and putting foot in it.