Stuart Jack

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]

Governor's Blog

Welcome to the first edition of my blog. I hope you will find something of interest, and I hope you will leave your comments (constructive ones please).

Why a blog?

From time to time there are things I want to say to the people of the Cayman Islands which do not always justify a formal press statement. I cannot be on the talk shows all the time. Sometimes I have had complaints that the Governor was not communicating with the community frequently enough. Or people both here and further afield would like to have a better idea what a Governor gets up to and thinks, and more opportunities to tell the Governor what they think.  So here we go at an attempt to communicate more.

Let’s keep our problems in perspective

My wife, Mariko, and I were away from Cayman for a lot of March and April either travelling around South America or in London for meetings. Each of the countries we visited in South America has its own strengths and its own problems, many of them around economic difficulties, poverty and crime. In the Cayman Islands too we have our problems, and we must tackle them vigorously – whether the challenges facing our main industries of financial services and tourism, the need to provide our people with the skills that will allow them to compete for jobs, or the gun crime among a small section of our community that contrasts with our otherwise peaceful society. We must keep things in perspective – compared with most other countries in the Western Hemisphere we remain blessed. This is still one of the safest places to live in or visit that this seasoned traveller has known.

A new Governor, but still a lot for the old one to do

Duncan Taylor is to be the next Governor of the Cayman Islands. I know Duncan and his wife pretty well and they have stayed with us at Government House. Cayman is lucky to get them. Duncan has extensive knowledge of the Caribbean. His style will not be exactly the same as mine, but I do not expect any radical changes in the policies he pursues or the FCO wants him to pursue, for example on good governance.

Anyway Cayman has still got me – and Mariko - for the next seven months. A journalist recently asked me if, now that my successor had been named, I was winding down. While it is perfectly fair for someone to ask that question the very suggestion that I am winding down is more likely to wind me up!

Word plays apart there is a lot to do before I depart towards the end of the year. I am determined to push ahead with the work we have been doing, for example, to deal with problems in the police force, to improve parole arrangements, to build on the efforts to modernise government and keep up our defences against hurricanes, and hopefully to start implementing a new Constitution.
 
The Constitution Referendum and the General Election

For the first time ever electors will on 20 May be asked to vote both on a new Constitution and in a general election to the Legislative Assembly.

I am not going to say anything more about my views on the proposed Constitution – I have already done so. I would however ask everyone entitled to vote to use the last few days before 20 May to study the text or at least the plain guide that is available all over the islands and take part in the referendum. The key question is whether the proposed new Constitution is better for the Cayman Islands than the current one. The general election is of course important but please remember that the Constitution provides the long-term basis on which government operates. It is fundamental.

As for the general election I hope that electors will look for candidates who think seriously about the long term future of the Cayman Islands, about the whole country and all its people, not just their constituency and supporters. I also hope that the closing stage of the campaign will be conducted cleanly and will avoid setting one part of our community against another. Cayman really does need to think hard about the future – what sort of islands, what sort of society, how much development et cetera people here want. One reason is the current economic uncertainty, another is climate change, which is a major challenge for small, low lying islands like these.

Once in a while I’ll be back blogging, so keep checking every week or so – and have a look around the Governor’s Office site, www.ukincayman.fco.gov.uk.

Posted at 18:18 15 May 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[6]