Tag: Chris Saunders
OAG: Ministers must stay out of procurement process
(CNS): The Office of the Auditor General found no evidence of inappropriate actions by the civil service over the procurement of lateral flow tests to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic last year and that decisions made by Cabinet members were “reasonable and appropriate”. However, Auditor General Sue Winspear said clarity is needed around emergency decisions […]
Tertiary healthcare spending already over $24M
(CNS): Government’s spending on healthcare for people who are uninsured or under-insured is already more than CI$13.9 million over budget and there are still four more months of the year to go. The line item in the annual budget known as NGS55, the allocation of spending on tertiary healthcare at both local and overseas hospitals, […]
DP: Safety net needed to improve national happiness
(CNS): The Cayman Islands needs to invest in a social safety net and policies to improve its “gross national happiness”, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Chris Saunders has said. Of the six metrics that drive a county’s happiness levels used by the United Nations for its World Happiness Report, the one that counts most is […]
Over 650 families going to bed hungry
(CNS): At least 652 households recorded people in their families going to bed hungry in Cayman because they could not afford to buy food in the month prior to them taking part in the 2021 census last October. Another 673 households said they didn’t know or did not answer the question, which means that well […]
Census reveals high level of disability in local women
(CNS): One of the most concerning statistics revealed by the census is the number of Caymanian women suffering debilitating health consequences of non-communicable diseases, Deputy Premier Chris Saunders said at the press briefing to mark the publication of the Cayman Islands’ 2021 Census of Population and Housing Report.
Airport connector back on track after delays
(CNS): The Airport Connector Road linking the Esterley Tibbetts Highway to Sparky Drive is back on track after delays due to problems with the tendering process for the installation of culverts. Officials said Monday that work on the culverts has begun, and once installed the work on that road will be complete. The road, which […]
CIDB rolls out cut-rate 30-year home loans
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Development Bank (CIDB) has begun lending money to Caymanians to buy their own homes as low as 3.75% interest. These low mortgage rates on 30-year loans for qualified borrowers, significantly below the current prime rate, are fixed for two years and government hopes it will help more local people get onto […]
CIG sees $180M surplus due to record revenues
(CNS): The outlook for the public finances “remains sunny”, Finance Minister Chris Saunders said Friday as he released the Cayman Islands Government’s unaudited financial results for the first five months of the year. Saunders revealed record-breaking revenues for the public purse and a surplus that is more than $30 million above what had been forecast, […]
MPs vote CI$8M more for healthcare bills
(CNS): Finance Committee has voted another CI$8 million to cover healthcare costs for Caymanians who are uninsured or under-insured and have been treated outside the Health Services Authority facilities. When the committee met at the end of the last session of Parliament to deal with supplementary spending, health ministry civil servants told MPs that healthcare […]
CIG buys bonds with loan to manage interest rates
(CNS): Finance Minister Chris Saunders has announced a decision by the Cayman Islands Government to draw out all of the remaining loan secured by the previous administration to invest in US bonds to manage the CIG’s borrowing for capital projects over the life of this budget. Saunders said that with the 3.25% fixed interest rate […]
ACC probe underway into NHDT topsoil scandal
(CNS): Deputy Governor Franz Manderson told Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart that he could not give him any information about the allegations that topsoil and fill taken from the National Housing Development Trust site in North Side were misappropriated because the issue was under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission. In Parliament on Thursday, Manderson also revealed […]
