Tag: Chris Saunders
Notorious healthcare bills climb to new high
(CNS): The public purse will be picking up a record-breaking tab by the end of this year to cover the hospital bills both at home and abroad for people who are either under- or uninsured. Although the 2021 Census suggested that 93% of Cayman Islands residents have health insurance, in 2023 the government is expecting […]
Parliament votes for review of electricity bills
(CNS): How CUC and Island Energy, the power company for the Sister Islands, calculate the cost of electricity bills and work out fuel charges as well as the accuracy of meter readings could be the subjects of an independent investigation after the government accepted a private member’s motion Thursday, tabled by McKeeva Bush. The debate […]
Bill to allow more pension raids goes public
(CNS): The National Pensions (Amendment) Bill, 2023 has been published and is now open for public consultation. The legislation provides for more people to take out more cash from their pensions in relation to buying a home. It increases the maximum amount of withdrawals from plans for deposits on buying or building a house, or […]
Premier seeks 8.5% cut to this year’s budget
(CNS): Civil service bosses have been told to cut spending by around $47 million before the end of the year. With just four months left of 2023, Premier Wayne Panton, wearing his finance minister hat, has called on public servants to save cash as operational expenditure climbs toward $1 billion. He told CNS this wasn’t […]
Public cash pays for failed health insurance system
(CNS): With many local people still either uninsured or under-insured, the government’s healthcare bill is climbing while the local health insurance sector continues to make a profit as companies cherrypick their customers. Earlier this month, Cabinet approved another CI$13.5 million of public cash to cover healthcare costs this year for indigents and for those with […]
New pension raid justified by poor performance
(CNS): A proposal to allow people to use their pensions to pay down mortgages or for a deposit to buy their first property is justified because of the poor performance of private pension funds that non-government workers are forced to pay into each month, Chris Saunders MP said in parliament last Friday. Despite some reservations, […]
Minister blames ‘environment’ for planning delays
(CNS): Planning Minister Jay Ebanks pointed the finger at the Department of Environment on Wednesday, maintaining that environmental input was delaying planning applications, though he offered no evidence to support the accusation. That same day, several MPs once again indirectly railed against the National Conservation Law and the environmental impact assessment for the East-West Arterial […]
PACT commits to free health cover for kids and elders
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has committed to introducing free healthcare provision for both children and the elderly as soon as it can afford to do so, though it has not given a timeline for when this will happen. In parliament last month, during a debate on a private member’s motion, the government said that […]
Civil servants could get 13% raise over 3 years
(CNS): Chris Saunders (BTW), now an independent MP who sits on the opposition benches, managed to steer through his private member’s motion calling for a significant increase in government workers’ wages last week, something he had sought to support in the budget preparations before he lost his job as finance minister. The government agreed to […]
MPs vote in favour of West Bay high school
(CNS): Almost two decades after then education minister Alden McLaughlin proposed building a new high school in West Bay, the parliament has voted to try again to give the district a school. A private member’s motion presented by veteran West Bay MP McKeeva Bush proposed that Cayman Islands Government start the process to build the […]
Saunders challenges ‘sustainability’ of PACT
(CNS): In his first address to parliament from the opposition benches since being fired from the PACT Cabinet, Chris Saunders (BTW) challenged the sustainability of some of the Cayman Islands Government’s fiscal and political plans. Sustainability has been billed as a major component of this government, but the now estranged independent MP said revenue derived […]
