The one striking thing missing from this year’s Taste of Cayman was the lack of native food. When one reads the title of the event, to the casual reader and visitor, one might expect to be able to see and eat actual Cayman cuisine. That is not the case. I counted only four out of the 35 restaurant booths that one could call even Caribbean food let alone being Cayman, but that is not what the event is about. “Taste of Cayman” actually means one is going to get a taste of food available from the many diverse restaurants in the Cayman Islands. And Cayman is a place that caters to many different restaurants and there were actually many of these restaurants not represented at the event.

2012 marked the 24th year “Taste of Cayman” has been staged and despite event Manager, Lucy Wilcox’s (no relation to our own Georgina Wilcox) statement that the Taste of Cayman planners are giddy over the fact that all booth spaces are full, many people were disappointed in the event and quite frankly, the cost.

Originally you paid your entrance fee and you were free to go around all of the booths and sample the food. Now you get a set number of tickets and you have to give up not one or two but 4 or 5 of your precious tickets to get one alcoholic drink. The cost of admission $45, not unexpectedly, has soared upwards.

It was unfortunate that a minimum number of people became sick with food poisoning a few hours after the event and I expect there will now be an inquiry and more stringent food safety and hygiene standards will be introduced meaning even more costs. I am NOT saying this shouldn’t be done but with over 5,000 persons visiting the event in a hot open environment it is not surprising. I expect the reported figure of 15 persons being treated with food poisoning is much higher as not everyone goes to the doctor or hospital with a “funny tummy”. The majority of people let it “run” its course.

The Port Authority has had a narrow escape. Jennifer Dilbert, the information commissioner, has said she will not be pursuing any court action in connection with the Port Authority’s failure to release documents relating to negotiations between it, the Cayman Islands Government and the developer, GLF Construction, concerning the cruise berthing project. Under the Freedom of Information law the original applicant who requested the relevant record has advised Mrs. Dilbert they no longer required the relevant record and therefore she will not be certifying to the Grand Court the failure of the public authority to follow the law.

We will wait and see if another request from someone else will be forthcoming. The Information Commissioner in her original ruling said: “The port expansion is an exceptional capital project of Government, which has been called ‘the most expensive’ of its kind in the Cayman Islands to date, involving construction costs of reportedly close to $200 million. As such, in my view it is entirely proper that this project and the decisions relevant to it should receive very close scrutiny from Government and the general public alike.”

Becoming even more cynical in my old age, Government refusals to comply with requests for information, delaying tactics, more secrecy and bureaucracy (inefficiency and arbitrariness) are a taste of things to come here in Cayman. It’s enough to give anyone food poisoning.