“A rumour without a leg to stand on will get around some other way.”  ~John Tudor

Rumours have been buzzing concerning job losses at the Cayman Islands National Road Authority (NRA) ever since Brian Tomlinson, the previous director of the NRA, was “let go” at the end of June, 2012, because of “downsizing”.

At first this reason was dismissed as his termination followed his ordering the seizure of the shipment of 32 tonnes of dynamite that came into Cayman earlier this year without the correct paperwork. His action caused a police investigation involving the premier and the private sector firm, Midland Acres. The latter pleaded “guilty” last month to four counts of importing explosives without proper permits and were fined $1,300.

The “downsizing” rumours started again when, when the 2012/2013 budget was announced by the premier, Hon. McKeeva Bush. This showed the NRA will have to operate with $2.2 million less in its road maintenance budget, $500,000 less in its Grand Cayman district roads programme, $200,000 less for new roads, and $100,000 less in its budget for preventing and handling flooded areas.

However, the government street lighting programme, for which $1.5 million is earmarked, is up from the $1.2 million budgeted last year.  So, where is the saving of $2.2M to be made?

According to a report in the Caymanian Compass staff were told last Friday (21) at a meeting with the NRA acting managing director as many as 55 employees – about half the staff – could lose their jobs by December!

No wonder the rumour of job cuts abounded and instigated the press release we received from Cayman Islands Deputy Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, Head of the Ministry of District Administration, Works, Lands and Agriculture saying there would be no redundancies.

I am puzzled at this, unless the Deputy Premier has spoken to H.E Governor Duncan Taylor, because according to Mr. Bush, he has publicly said many times that his government has no control in the size of the Civil Service. He emphasised this saying he neither hires nor fires.

Maybe his deputy has powers he doesn’t have?

Without cutting staff how is it possible to save $2.2M?

Pay cuts, flexible work schedules, cutting back the use of heavy machinery, fuel consumption and the sale of equipment?

Flexible work schedules? Does that mean less working hours for staff? Cutting back the use of heavy machinery, fuel consumption and the sale of equipment must surely mean less staff would be needed for the operations. You can’t have one without the other.

But this is the civil service. One new piece of equipment needs three persons to operate it. When that piece of equipment isn’t there it still requires the same three persons because they haven’t noticed or been told it has gone.

And so the rumours will stay.

“Trying to squash a rumour is like trying to unring a bell.”  ~Shana Alexander