Stuart Jack

Foot Review

The report by Michael Foot on the British offshore financial centres has been published today. There is a great deal of interest to the Cayman Islands, including the need to broaden the tax base. The review can be found at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/foot_review_combined.pdf                                                                 

In a brief statement the Cayman Islands Government welcomed the report’s “constructive observations and recommendations.”

Posted at 20:29 29 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[0]

Lots of Cayman’s civil servants nominated for awards

To acknowledge the work of Cayman’s best civil servants and to encourage higher standards of customer service across government I established two years ago the Five Star Award for Customer Excellence (FACE).     

This, the third year of the scheme, 93 civil servants were nominated by members of the public (external customers) or other civil servants (internal customers). These ranged from heads of department to waste collectors. Congratulations to all the nominees!    

The full list can be found at  http://www.gov.ky/portal/page?_pageid=1142,4648818&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL. Details of the scheme, including previous recipients, can be found at www.face.gov.ky   

Again we will have some excellent recipients of the awards. But you’ll have to wait until 4 November to learn who they are.

Posted at 20:23 29 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[0]

Life is about animals too

I have previously talked about the importance of biodiversity, the need to preserve what makes the Cayman Islands special and the need to deal with invasive species which threaten that. Using FCO funds my office has worked with the local Department of Environment and others on several related projects (ranging from lion fish and feral cats to the native tree nursery and parrots affected by Hurricane Paloma). 

Animals, good and bad, have been in the news in Cayman in recent weeks. 

Crocodiles 

One crocodile has been caught and released twice this year (another was caught last year).There have been several other reported sightings. The Cayman Islands get their name from crocodiles. In past centuries they were abundant, as they still are in nearby Cuba and Florida, but have been extinct in Cayman for some time. 

It is not clear how many, if any, of the other sightings were actually crocodiles. In nearly every case the croc was in the sea and might, the experts say, have been some kind of large fish. It is odd that none have been found basking on land, nor have any tracks. 

The return of crocodiles, whether just the two caught or more, is causing some mixed feelings. While sea-going crocs are not good news for humans in some parts of the world I have visited the experts say that the type that might be found around our shores is generally not aggressive to swimmers or divers. I hope they are right! My wife and I are often on the beach or in the sea and have never seen anything that would scare us.  

The alleged sightings are also giving rise to lots of rumours and jokes. The editorial in today’s Compass newspaper says that maybe the crocs are part of a British conspiracy against Cayman and that it is the Governor’s (that is my) pet croc as the sightings have been near the Governor’s residence. It is written tongue in cheek – or at least I hope so. Anyway, like other anti-British conspiracy theories it has no basis whatsoever! I’ll stick to other kinds of pet.

Iguanas 

Mixed feelings are also engendered by iguanas. The endemic blue iguanas are something very special to Grand Cayman and nearly everyone is keen to preserve them. But the invasive green iguanas are seen as pests. Recently the greens seem to have spread in large numbers, including invading Government House – one old iguana even sits occasionally on the crest of the roof and lords over the house as if he’s the real boss.

Dogs   

A number of pet dogs have been poisoned, apparently by paraquat picked up on the beach. This has led to outpourings of indignation and a lot of people scouring the beaches for the source. Was this intentional or accidental?   

Animals, good and bad, therefore continue to excite people here.

Posted at 20:36 28 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[0]

Common determination to tackle crime

The only way we are going to deal with the spate of serious crime in Cayman, particularly shootings, is for all the relevant parts of government and the community to work together. Some time ago I called a high level meeting of leaders of government, the Judiciary and other public agencies to discuss this. It had to be postponed because of the budget and Legislative Assembly, but we managed to get people together last friday.

What we agreed is recorded in a press release. 

I was impressed with the determination of everyone involved, starting with the elected Government who, even in these financially difficult times, are prepared to find more resources for the police and other aspects of criminal justice. 

As well as dealing with current problems, which we must do with resolve but without over-reacting, it is vitally important to address the factors that could create the next generation of criminals.

Posted at 16:41 26 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[0]

Duke of Edinburgh Awards

One of the organisations of which I am Patron in the Cayman Islands is the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme or International Award as it is now known.  On Wednesday I hosted an awards ceremony for recipients of bronze and silver awards. 

This is an excellent scheme (which two of our own children have been through in England). I was really impressed by the maturity and enthusiasm of the young people from various local high schools who had benefited from the scheme. Some promising leaders and citizens of the Cayman Islands in the making.

Posted at 05:27 24 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[0]

More on the theme of the public finances

All the recent correspondence between Chris Bryant, the FCO Minister with responsibility for the Overseas Territories, and McKeeva Bush, Leader of Government Business of the Cayman Islands, is now on our website. The Cayman Islands government is now free to undertake borrowing at its own risk. The FCO will be monitoring the situation closely. 

The government in Cayman now needs to get on with the two studies that were agreed in this correspondence: of the public service (and the scope for cuts) and of possible new taxation. 

I have been struck how many people in the business community are now seeing the need for some form of direct taxation, though not many are saying so publicly. One who is is Tim Ridley, the former Chairman of the Monetary Authority, who in a well argued article in a recent edition of the Observer weekly newspaper advocated a property tax and also called for people to stop bashing the UK. 

From my own conversations there seem to be quite a few businessmen, particularly but not exclusively in the financial services industry, who would support a property tax as more equitable and less likely to harm the key financial industry than the alternatives. We’ll have to see what the study concludes.

Posted at 20:32 19 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[5]

Misinformation about police corruption investigations

There has, especially in recent days, been a lot of misunderstanding or misrepresentation of my and the UK Government’s approach to the police corruption investigations in the Cayman Islands. 

Some of this reflects concern about the time these have taken and especially the cost. This is understandable, particularly given the release a few days ago of an Auditor General’s report on this subject, though media reports of that have been selective and given little attention to the unusual nature of these investigations or to the very limited role of a governor in respect of the financial aspects.  

Some people appear to be using this complicated affair as a pretext to pursue other agendas. This includes nonsensical claims that the UK has been conspiring to use the corruption issue to damage the Cayman Islands. 

In fact my only intention in supporting these investigations has been to ensure a corruption-free police force and set high standards of behaviour and governance. I believe that that is what most decent people in Cayman, including the vast majority of police officers, want to see. Unfortunately it has not been a simple road getting there. 

Yesterday I issued a long statement addressing various misinformation that is circulating.

Posted at 02:05 17 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[1]

Blog Action Day: The Cayman Islands cannot afford to ignore climate change

15 October is Blog Action Day, when people are being encouraged to write about climate change on their blogs. This is not the first time I have discussed this really important issue since I started my blog in May.

More than many countries the Cayman Islands cannot afford to ignore climate change. Two of the three islands, including the main one where nearly all the population live, are extremely low-lying, located in an active hurricane zone, and partly dependent on dive tourism and hence healthy coral reefs. The possible threats are therefore significant. So Cayman should be making plans now, not waiting until it seriously feels the effects.

So what is this country doing to prepare?  The simple answer is “not yet enough”. There is an excellent Department of Environment who do their best to spread the word (the director last week wrote at some length in the local papers challenging those who still believe climate change is not an issue or is not urgent).

Gradually awareness is growing among others, including politicians (there was welcome mention, albeit low-key, of an adaptation strategy in the government’s recent budget policy statement). Hopefully climate change will from the start be fully factored into a national planning exercise which the new government of McKeeva Bush is undertaking.

The UK is trying to help. DfID is funding a project to help the Overseas Territories work up adaptation strategies – Cayman government departments and my office are closely involved. FCO has also commissioned an expert report on how sea level rise might affect the Cayman Islands. I am hoping to put this on our website later this month.

Posted at 14:35 15 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[0]

Responding to readers' comments

A comment posted on this blog asked why I am doing the blog. A recent editorial in one of Cayman’s newspapers also seemed to question the purpose – a paper which has criticised me in the past for not saying enough publicly. 

As I said in the very first blog entry in May the purpose is to communicate better with people, primarily in the Cayman Islands – to let them know what their governor thinks, to explain what a governor actually does (and doesn’t do), and to get feedback. I am gratified that a lot of people are now visiting the site and several are leaving comments or speaking directly to me about what I have written (every word is written by me personally and not dictated to me by anyone else). 

Two criticisms that have appeared in posted comments are that, first, my blog is full of generalities, and, second, that my recent piece on Cayman’s media was trying to stop people from expressing their views. 

The first point was in the context of the debate around Cayman’s public finances and possible taxation. My answer: it is not for a governor to prescribe exactly what Cayman should do in this respect – that’s what voters here elect their leaders to decide. But it is not unreasonable to explain why in my view something new has to be done to broaden the government’s revenue base so that this country can not only service its debt but also handle any problems in the future. 

The second criticism, which was also aired on one of the talk shows, is not fair. I state clearly that I am against censorship and for the ability of people to set out their views. Government, including governors, need to hear people’s frustrations as well as their suggestions how we can improve things. What I do not like is when divisive or even abusive or libellous comments are made on talk shows and especially other blogs hiding behind anonymity. 

While I understand why it happens I find it sad that so many people want to remain anonymous. But I suppose that is better than saying nothing at all, provided the callers and posters avoid offensive remarks. One of the things I really like about Caymanians is that they are straight talkers but also courteous – why not be the same on the blogs? 

On another blog I found a further criticism that my blog had not carried a comment they had posted. I am not aware that our webmaster has ever binned any critical comments as such. But we do not upload offensive remarks, spam or – for reasons of space – excessively long comments.

Posted at 18:38 06 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[2]

Lets celebrate our senior citizens

My blog yesterday was about encouraging the younger generation in Cayman to work hard to compete in the global market. Older generations of Caymanians certainly did work hard and this month we celebrate their contribution to the development of these islands. 

October is Month of Older Persons and one of the first events is always a tea party at Government House hosted by the Governor and his wife. As well as old friends meeting up and reminiscing about the good old mosquito-ridden days there is always some traditional Caymanian music, singing and dancing. Even the Governor gets involved - this time as technically a senior citizen myself, with a few more grey hairs added during my time in Cayman to prove it.

Posted at 18:23 06 October 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[0]