OFFICE OF THE PRESS SECRETARY TO THE PREMIER

Response to PPM Executive

Premier McKeeva Bush is currently in Asia representing the Cayman Islands on a number of levels, from making representations to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer to promoting inward investment for the country. In the current international economic environment Asia is the land of expanding economies where investors are looking for new opportunities.

During this extended trip to Asia the Hon. Premier has attended the Commonwealth Finance Minister’s meeting and associated meetings of the IMF and World Bank. He will also be pursuing business opportunities for the Cayman Islands elsewhere, including a visit to Hong Kong and the China Offshore Summit in Shanghai.

In response to the press release issued by the PPM executive committee Premier Bush made the following statement:

“Every government must travel to conduct business. Whether it’s a lot of travel or little, all depends on the business that has to be conducted. My travels and that of the Deputy Premier don’t normally overlap however this time it could not be avoided because of the nature of the meetings, hers for postal matters and mine for finance, both of which had agendas which were set by the international bodies, each in their very different but significant areas of responsibility. Cayman’s ability to do business in the global arena is positively affected by us being seen to effectively maintain our international good governance and regulatory obligations.

What we can do as a Government, and have done, is to work hard to try and making conditions better for the Cayman Islands.

We do know of and have had to live with the financial situation the PPM left, and which blossomed into a much worse situation than anyone of us could have predicted. We could not, nor could any other government, change that situation in four years given world conditions. But we must try, and in today’s world, that means knocking on doors – and we have to go to the right places, to knock on the right doors; whether that is to try to stop the EU from forcing us to “converge” our financial services legislation with theirs, as we have had to go all the way to Greenland to do, or it is to seek the right kind of investment, as I am now doing.

As Premier, my job is to promote the Cayman Islands in a positive manner and bring new opportunities for the future, whether for finance, tourism and development or otherwise. This can’t be done using the same old strategies that the PPM used. We have clearly seen and felt what that did for us. New and emerging markets must be explored and positive partnerships made or else we will end up with the same deficits and no money to pay off the big loan bill that the PPM left us; nor money, for that matter, to deal with the growing needs of our developing community.

As Minister of Finance Tourism and Development, I can’t find new business for our Islands nor be effective by sitting down in the Government Administration Building (a facility that the PPM built, again without proper financing). I certainly won’t find that kind of business playing dominoes in some bar, or creating mischief for the government by spreading propaganda and lies.

We work, and no constituent knows for the want of representation if and when we are off island.

The Governor knows each and every time I’m off island (though under the new constitution I don’t need his permission to be off island) but I have advised him on every occasion of the place and purpose of my travels, so how in the world could the PPM tell another bold-faced lie that I’m ‘absent without leave’?

As they announced in January 2010 that they would, the PPM have made a contentious issue of every single situation, (and as long as the Compass and CNS continues to give them front page coverage they will continue) which has distracted the government from our onward progress, in order to deal with their serious lies and misrepresentations. This is time that could have been spent on many more worthwhile issues for the country; and time when they themselves ought to have found something constructive to contribute.

The LA will meet again on November 5th as was previously announced and agreed, and which they knew of, from the last meeting in August when the House last met. As announced, at the November 5 meeting the FFR and any constitutional matters will be dealt with in a manner that is to the benefit of the people of these beloved Cayman Islands.

In due course, I will speak further about how my travel produces benefits to the people – for instance our robust performance in financial services and tourism are already known to be directly linked. The previous travel of the PPM left us with declining tourism and on the OECD grey list.

My travels have corrected those mistakes of the PPM.

The PPM has not proposed one single solution toward solving the countries problems that they left, or to any other challenges that arose after. What good has their vicious opposition been to people? None! And that’s what the country can expect from them if it gives them another term! Nothing!”