“I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore?” –

If you were would they tell you?

“Kansas runs one of the most secretive state governments in the nation, and its secrecy permeates nearly every aspect of service”. This was a statement from an article published last year in the The Kansas City Star. The headline was “‘One of the most secretive, dark states’.

“From the governor’s office to state agencies, from police departments to business relationships to health care, on the floors of the House and Senate, a veil has descended over the years and through administrations on both sides of the political aisle,” the article goes on.

Actually The Star managed to find out a number of shocking things the Kansas City government was trying to hide.

Here in the Cayman Islands things are worse, No amount of probing by the media has unearthed the reason for the early retirement of director of the Department of Environmental Health, Roydell Carter.

Carter was placed on required paid leave many, many months ago (November 2017) and no reason was given. He left a Ministry that was in chaos and is still struggling to combat the many issues that have been ongoing even before Carter was at the helm. Massive overtime payments, mismanagement of staff, budget overruns are only a few of the problems he was responsible for. Or was he?

The terms of his retirement are not known and probably never will be. Well, not to us who foot the bill.

How many senior civil servants have walked away over the past few years with substantial pay-offs from the public purse, in the midst of unexplained disputes and allegations of poor performance and mismanagement or wrongdoing? It’s more than I have fingers.

What about NRA Director Paul Parchment? Five months ago he was suspended under a cloud of mismanagement of equipment. The enquiry into the matter is still ongoing?

Give me a break? Still ongoing? Even the board, made up of ‘ordinary citizens’ but selected by government, are silent.

And last, but by no means least we have the matter of our ex-governor. In a very brief release from the Governor’s Office (three lines that included one saying “The FCO will not be commenting further”) it told us: “Following an investigation into a number of allegations Mr Choudhury will not return to the Cayman Islands as Governor, but will return to another diplomatic posting in London. A short term successor will be appointed soon while the recruitment process for a permanent replacement is underway.”

In other words we (the UK’s FCO) don’t have to tell you anything else and we aren’t. So shut up!!

I 100% agree with Cayman Islands opposition Leader, Ezzard Miller, when, in his press release, said:

“We must also express our concern about the high-handed, autocratic tone of the release, which communicates a lack of respect for every fair-minded Caymanian.

“The FCO seems to have forgotten that we have advanced since the early 20th century when dictates from our colonial masters were accepted without question.

“In a modern, democratic approach, the FCO would have, for example, sought to communicate, however obliquely, a reason for Mr. Choudhury’s recall.

“Instead, the FCO disclosed that Mr. Choudhury would be continuing in a diplomatic post in London, from which, not incidentally, we can only infer that the “allegations” against the Governor could not have risen to any very serious level.

“I also take much umbrage at the plan to replace Mr. Franz Manderson as Acting Governor with a temporary Governor.”

I wonder if we are going to hear from our Premier regarding this totally disgraceful attitude from the Governor’s Office? We are no longer serfs as the barons and King John found out.

There is unrest and civil disobedience on the rise everywhere. It is a different age we are living in. Social media has totally changed and everyone in civilised countries has a vote. It is the same one man one vote that doesn’t distinguish the poor from the rich.

Yes. Even the men and women with no faces who hide behind the government agencies in every country are accountable whether they like it or not.

Playing dumb will not be tolerated much longer. The people must be transparent and we have cameras watching over you (for safety purpose of course) is the government cry. What applies to us, shouldn’t it apply to them?

Answer from THEM?

No. We will tell you nothing and don’t bother asking!