The following is a Statement by The Premier and Minister for Finance, Tourism and Development The Hon. W. McKeeva Bush, MLA OBE, JP, announcing the Cayman Islands own government television station CIGTV to the Legislative Assembly

Thank you Madam Speaker.

Today we enter into a new era in media coverage of this Honourable House.  Radio Cayman has done a sterling job of bringing us recorded radio coverage of Legislative Assembly proceedings for decades.

But today Madam Speaker, we take the first step in regular television coverage of our proceedings by Cayman Islands Government Television, or CIGTV as it will be branded. Not only will the people of the Cayman Islands now hear the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly, they will now be able to see their representatives, their demeanour and gain a better understanding of the workings of the Legislative Assembly.

While coverage of the Legislative Assembly will be a very important and significant part of the program content, CIGTV will have a much wider spectrum and mission.

There will be an update of Government news featuring developments in the Government; there will be interviews with ministers, features on departmental initiatives, a community bulletin board and weather forecasts. CIGTV will also carry Government news conferences in their entirety.

The first programs will be developed and added over a period of weeks as it is not possible to launch all the planned programs in a short period of time. In the medium term, the aim is to have programming that includes community access programs, such as religious programmes and productions from independent producers; arts and cultural shows; coverage of Legislative Committees and Government Boards that are open to the public; special events such as Hero’s Day and the Agriculture Show; children’s programs; shows featuring information and education such as health and agriculture and sports. Of course, CIGTV will be available for broadcasting emergency information.

In the long term I believe that CIGTV will fill a gap in local programming of topics that relates directly to the people of these Islands.

I want to take the opportunity of thanking my Press Secretary Charles Glidden for his hard work in establishing CIGTV.

This is just the beginning for CIGTV. It will have to crawl before it walks. But before long, I believe that the value of this Government television channel will be evident to all.

Thank you Madam Speaker.