The Coalition for Cayman (C4C), at almost the last minute, have released their manifesto that many of us believed they were not ever going to produce. They have certainly been quiet about it.

But wait, its not a manifesto. – it’s a PLAN. Not just any old plan. It’s the “National Priorities Plan”!!

Read on:

National priorities Plan for the Cayman Islands 2013

Prepared by Independent Candidates:

George Town – Winston Churchill Connolly, Jr, Jacqueline Haynes, Roy McTaggart, Sharon Roulstone, Jude Scott

West Bay Tara Rivers, Mervin Smith

SECTION 1 BACKGROUND

This document is not a manifesto; it is an outline of national priorities.  Manifestos have generally been long documents containing big, lofty promises by politicians, most of which can never be fulfilled.  We are not interested in providing you with an unattainable ‘wish list’.

This document outlines our top priorities for the country based on discussions and feedback that we received from you, the people of the Cayman Islands. This is not an exhaustive list of all our country’s issues however it is important to present a list of national priorities that we will tackle once elected. A good government listens to the people, includes them in setting priorities and establishing policies that offer real solutions.

Before implementing any new initiatives we will be strategic, carefully plan, and consistently work towards developing and executing projects that will benefit the people. We will foster an environment for the private sector to create more jobs and economic opportunities. We will not commit to any major infrastructural project(s) until we have determined: (1) that there is a sufficient business case justifying the need for such project(s); and (2) that there is a revenue source to fund such projects.

Successive governments have left behind many problems that we will address because we are committed to improving the lives of our people.  Successfully implementing these national priorities that affect all of us will enable the country to focus on the many other issues that need to be improved to ensure that our children and future generations have the opportunities that they deserve.

You have a part to play in this process.  Be a part of the solution by choosing to elect leaders who are independent thinkers with integrity, honesty, a proven track record for delivering results, the ability to unite our people and who will always put our country first. Together, we will get the economy growing again and create long-term success for the Cayman Islands.

SECTION 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

We have come to a time in our Islands’ history where we need to make some tough choices and start making the right decisions. In order for us to grow stronger as a country and secure a prosperous future, we will focus on six national priorities:

1.   Education – establish the Cayman Islands as a centre of educational excellence;

2.   Employment and Economic Diversification – promote job opportunities and livable wages;

3.   Crime and Public Safety – implement a comprehensive crime reduction policy;

4.   Government Finances – provide responsible and prudent financial management;

5.   Sustainable Development – ensure planned and managed growth and development in harmony with our environment, society and economy; and

6.   Political Reform, Leadership and Good Governance – lead with integrity, honesty, accountability, and competence.

By improving education, increasing employment opportunities, reducing crime, managing growth and development, holding our leadership accountable, and practicing fiscal responsibility—we are ensuring that our way of life is preserved for generations to come.

To be successful we must:

•          Unite our people and put an end to political and social divisiveness;

•          Practice integrity, honesty, perseverance and excellence;

•          Exercise zero tolerance for corruption;

•          Create economic opportunities for all citizens;

•          Increase investor confidence in our economy;

•          Provide access to quality education and training for all citizens;

•          Work with the public, private and civil society sectors to deliver solutions; and

•          Ensure that all government negotiations and transactions are transparent and provide tangible and long-term benefits.

SECTION 3 NATIONAL PRIORITIES PLAN

As a country we currently face many challenges, some of which are immediate and others that are long-term. As independent candidates we heard from you individually, at public meetings, corporate meetings and community discussions.  As seven independent thinkers, we came together cooperatively, united by a love of country and without the need to engage in party politics.  We have expertise in various industries and worked together to draft this plan in response to the many concerns that you have shared with us.

We determined that these six key areas, if addressed, would put us back on the road to success. While this is not an exhaustive list of our country’s challenges, real leaders understand that in order to tackle complex issues, we first need to prioritise.  There are real solutions in this plan, not just empty political promises that the country has been fed for the past 12 years.   We can no longer afford to vote for empty promises that are consistently broken by those we have elected to lead us.  As independent candidates who have achieved success in our chosen professions, we offer our plan to you as the best option for the Cayman Islands.

SECTION 3.1 NATIONAL PRIORITIES PLAN: EDUCATION

Goal

•     Establish the Cayman Islands as a centre of educational excellence

•          Prepare students to take advantage of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities to excel in the local economy and compete in the global economy

We need to create a world-class education system that does not emerge or dissolve with a change of government. In order for our education system to be effective, it must withstand the political cycle. It is time that we focused on having great schools. Great schools are defined by:

•  High educational standards, which are consistently applied locally and are internationally recognised, accredited, competitive and transferable;

•  Great teachers who are passionate and motivated to bring out the best in all students;

•  A sense of community where students feel welcomed, safe, engaged and inspired;

•  A nurturing environment that is centred around the needs of each student and that promotes diversity and caters to individual abilities and aspirations; and

•  High achieving graduates who are confident and well-rounded citizens.

We must produce graduates who are well-rounded citizens who can compete in the local and global economy. To do this we must raise standards across our education system to be on par with international standards. Each school must foster an environment where learning is encouraged and celebrated. We must increase access to educational and vocational training opportunities and partner with the private sector to invest in learning resources that translate into marketable skills. Our children deserve a better educational experience and greater opportunities. We also need to engage with our teachers and share and promote their visions and solutions.

Strategies For Success

•   Build on and ensure effective implementation of the Strategic Plan for Education 2012-2017

•   Ensure full implementation of the curriculum for numeracy, literacy and the sciences

•   Standardise all external examinations across the various public high schools

•   Adopt an internationally recognised assessment programme, such as the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), in order to determine and track the performance of our children relative to their global peers

•   Facilitate and implement continuing education requirements for teachers’ professional development.

•   Ensure that appropriate resources, including those for mental health and special needs, are available to children so that they are able to perform at their best

•   Employ and engage local experts in education at a policy and operational level whenever possible

•   Fully implement the Early Childhood Education Law

•    Partner with the private sector to provide additional resources to assist in the delivery of the curriculum where such gaps exist

•   Establish educational benchmarks at each stage of a child’s development and consistently report the results

•   Establish an appropriate accountability mechanism as it relates to each school’s performance

•    Create incentive programmes to raise the level of schools’ performances and recognise those schools that are performing well or exceeding expected standards

SECTION 3.2 NATIONAL PRIORITIES PLAN: EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION

Goal

•   Provide training and vocational opportunities for all Caymanians

•   Provide an economic environment that encourages entrepreneurship and employment opportunities at livable wages

For many years, the majority of Caymanians have enjoyed a high standard of living. In order to protect our way of life for future generations, we must look to attract and retain more professional, high-paying jobs for our people. We should focus on industries where we have traditionally been global leaders, such as financial services, while we seek to diversify our economy.

We must ensure that our graduates can compete in the local and the global economy.   We therefore, need to raise the standards for our students and teachers, while fostering an environment where learning is encouraged and celebrated. We need to increase access to educational and vocational training opportunities, and invest in learning resources that translate into marketable skills, more jobs and greater opportunity.

In addition, our educated workforce needs broad-based employment opportunities where they can use their skills and talents to their fullest capabilities. We need to enforce our labour and immigration laws to support both our employers and employees and ensure that our people are not disenfranchised. We must put adequate training programmes in place so that Caymanians will be able to rise to the top in their chosen profession. Lastly, our fees and regulator y framework must be conducive to attracting new businesses that will create high-paying jobs.

We must address the employment needs of our people giving due consideration to each person’s circumstances. We need to create   an economic environment where school   leavers   have   equal   job   opportunities, mid- career persons can retool their skills and recognise that persons at retirement age can still make a meaningful contribution to the economy and to their own self- sufficiency. We need to implement a welfare-to-work programme for those persons on social welfare who are able to work.

From an economic perspective, it is important to recognise and support our two main economic pillars – finance and tourism  – as well as consider potential economic diversification strategies to ensure the future prosperity of these Islands.  The tourism sector, and in particular the hotel industry has suffered from a lack of a Caymanian presence among staff. We will work towards increasing Caymanian participation in the tourism sector in order to ensure long-term viability of the Caymanian tourism product. Similarly, we will work to revitalize the financial industry by lowering the cost of doing business and stabilizing the business environment.   We will work to increase the employment of Caymanians in the financial industry and to promote appropriate regulation of the industry.

Strategies For Success

•  Work with the private sector to identify entry level jobs or apprenticeship programmes that are suitable for school leavers

•  Utilise the Immigration Accreditation System which incentivises businesses to develop and implement appropriate training programmes for Caymanians

•  Create opportunities for work/life balance for women and families

•  Increase  the retirement age from 60 to 65 to avoid disenfranchising persons who are able to work

•  Ensure that during any period of contractions and layoffs, Caymanian jobs are retained or are the last to be cut

•  Amend legislation to require advertising for any temporary work permit that has been applied to be extended

•  Amend legislation to require that any employment of 180 days or more is advertised

•  Promote the seasonal work permit system to ensure that Caymanians are employed year round in the tourism industry and that sufficient labour is available during the high season when labour needs are at its peak demand

•  Enforce the business staffing plan process while considering the needs of the business community, particularly by streamlining the process to hire specialised labour where staff is not available locally

•  Create a transparent work permit application system by improving the existing National Workforce Development Agency’s

(NWDA) database to include all job vacancies, job seekers and social welfare recipients who are able to work. This will foster better collaboration and communication between the Immigration Department, the NWDA and the Department of Children and Family Services.

•  Increase the resources of the NWDA so that they can adequately address the needs of the job-seeking population.

•  Partner with the hospitality industry to implement an incentive programme to get Caymanians back into tourism by:

– Providing a short-term financial incentive for Caymanians earning an hourly wage; and

– Enhancing current tourism industry training programmes to facilitate the upward mobility of Caymanians

•  Consult the Financial Services industry prior to proposing any new fees

•  Actively engage in dialogue with the private sector and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) as it relates to promoting the jurisdiction and negotiating various international financial services initiatives

•  Diversify the economy by attracting and developing new industries such as: medical tourism; medical research; sports tourism; and the education and training industry

SECTION 3.3 NATIONAL PRIORITIES PLAN: CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY

Goal

•          To develop and implement a comprehensive crime reduction policy which addresses criminality at every stage of the process and focuses on strategies of crime prevention, restorative justice, offender rehabilitation and community re-integration

Public safety is a core responsibility  of any government. Over the last two decades criminal activity within the Cayman Islands has increased and become more complex in nature. Yet, we do not have a holistic approach to the prevention and reduction of crime.  All types of crime, including white-collar crime, must be addressed as crime affects ever y level of society.  If we are to effectively tackle this issue, we must re-focus, and set tangible and achievable expectations of our criminal justice system.  It is time that crime and public safety are addressed as priorities for the Cayman Islands with the main objectives of:

•    keeping our youth out of the criminal justice system by providing a supportive environment centred around positive youth and crime prevention programmes;

•    Strengthening the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) by providing necessary resources to combat current and emerging criminal challenges;

•    Encouraging and training Caymanians to join the RCIPS and the Prison Service;

•    Restoring public confidence in our criminal justice system;

•    Unburdening the judicial system by having non-criminal offences (e.g. traffic offences) dealt with administratively;

•    Undertaking a law reform exercise to ensure that penalties are proportionate to the crime and that rehabilitation and offender restoration are at the heart of our penal system; and

•    Continuing the prison reform process which takes into account the recommendations of various assessments and reports over the last decade and is aimed at offender rehabilitation and reducing the high level of recidivism;

Strategies For Success

•      Develop a comprehensive crime reduction strategy that incorporates the Crime Reduction Strategy and IPAC

recommendations

•     Professionalise the RCIPS by implementing robust international training programmes aimed at up-skilling officers

•     Reinstate  the Traffic Unit and implement an administratively run demerit point system for traffic offences

•      Create and where necessary, strengthen specialty units and provide training for officers in the areas of:

–  border surveillance and protection

–  contraband and tactical operations

–  organised crime

•    Undertake a recruitment exercise to encourage Caymanians to join the RCIPS and the Prison Services

•     Ensure that Caymanian officers are properly trained, have succession plans and are given the first choice for career advancement

•     Increase foot patrols and community policing

•     Foster  inter-agency collaboration between all security and enforcement agencies

•     Implement  anti-gang provisions and enhance whistle blower protections

•     Strengthen  alternative sentencing and develop a victim reconciliation process

•     Re-visit penalties for crimes against the vulnerable, sexual offences and crimes requiring mandatory sentencing

•          Require that all sex offenders undergo rehabilitation which includes testing to evaluate predisposition for re-offending, and enhance post release monitoring for those

•      Develop a Youth Rehabilitation and Training Centre with a remand section for young offenders

•     Make sexual abuse prevention training mandatory for certain professions, agencies and civil society organisations

•          Undertake required reforms in the penal system aimed at offender rehabilitation, community re-entry training and support to reduce high levels of recidivism

•          Partner with the private sector to establish an incentivised community work programme to assist offenders with re- integration in the community

SECTION 3.4 NATIONAL PRIORITIES PLAN: GOVERNMENT FINANCES

Goal

•     Restore a culture of fiscal responsibility and prudent financial management

•     A debt-free country by 2030

One of the characteristics of a dynamic growth economy is sound public finance, characterised by ongoing fiscal discipline that eliminates deficits and then reduces debt.  We need more fiscally responsible leadership in Cayman.  The tax-and-spend mentality has created the problems we are currently facing.   It is time to stop the abuse and misuse of the people’s money.

Our government does not have a revenue problem, it has an expenditure problem. Leaders must manage public funds responsibly, assess the value of ever y government-funded programme, direct our public funds appropriately, and establish a debt-retirement fund to repay government debt.  We need responsible, independent-minded leaders who say, “yes” to sustainable economic growth and transparent spending policies.

Our government has not produced audited reports in over nine years and that means that there is a complete lack of accountability and transparency on the part of our legislators.  This situation creates an environment for corruption to thrive. We need transparency and accountability and we need leaders with proven track records in fiscal management solutions.

Fiscally responsible government benefits all of us, and it ensures a continued high standard of living for our future.  Due to irresponsible leaders, the cost of doing business in Cayman is too high, which stifles growth and development. This is something that we cannot afford to continue.

Strategies For Success

•     define the role of government in the economy and ensure that government fulfills that role efficiently and effectively

•      Create a culture of accountable and honest leadership

•     Eliminate unnecessary spending in the budget

•     Ensure that there is a value-for-money assessment for all programmes funded by government

•          Implement a revised and comprehensive procurement process that provides transparency, accountability and ensures value for money to the government

•          Reassess government’s procurement process and all existing agreements, correcting any inefficiencies and questionable practices to ensure a fair and transparent system.

•     Evaluate all infrastructure projects to determine if strategic public/private partnership opportunities are appropriate

•     Assess all government-owned companies and services to determine whether privatisation is appropriate

•          Review The Public Management and Finance Law PMFL to reduce bureaucracy and increase accountability for results and outcomes

•      Develop and implement a credible and sustainable plan to eliminate government debt by 2030

SECTION 3.5 NATIONAL PRIORITIES PLAN: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Goal

•          Ensure planned and managed growth and development which is in harmony with our natural environment, society and economy

In order for growth to foster a high quality of living, it must be sustainable.  Sustainable development secures economic growth while ensuring equitable social development and a healthy environment for our people.   We support growth and development of our industries as long as they provide tangible and sustainable benefits to the Cayman Islands and more importantly, our people.

The natural resources of the Cayman Islands should be protected and managed responsibly to ensure that future generations inherit a healthy and viable environment.   Sustainable development ensures that decisions taken achieve environmental, social as well as economic outcomes through an integrated, participatory and transparent approach to decision making.

There is movement towards making the Cayman Islands more sustainable – economically, environmentally and socially. As legislators, we will continue to support these efforts and adopt strategies to further ensure that any and all development projects undertaken by the public or private sector will be done in an economically, environmentally and socially responsible and sustainable manner.

Strategies For Success

•          Develop a long term infrastructural development and growth management plan for the three islands taking into account population growth projections

•          Develop a national sustainable development policy which protects our environment, enhances our economy, and promotes equitable social development

•          Educate the public about the importance and need to appropriately protect the natural environment and the direct connection that it has in relation to the long-term sustainability of our country

•          Pass a National Conservation Law that is holistic in its approach, balanced in its perspective, and informed by public, private and civil society interests

•          Streamline the planning approval process to ensure that it is transparent, efficient and comprehensive

•     Implement a system where infrastructural needs generated by projects are underwritten by the developer

SECTION 3.6 NATIONAL PRIORITIES PLAN: POLITICAL REFORM, LEADERSHIP AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

Goal

•     Return ethical leadership and good governance to the Cayman Islands.

Our leaders must live by the highest code of ethics to restore confidence, trust and respect in our hearts and minds. The first step in re-establishing good governance to the Cayman Islands is electing responsible, accountable leaders who are committed to putting the interests of the country first.

Political partisanship has divided Cayman, limited ideas, and taken away the voice of our people.  Smart, honest, independent- minded leaders working together could form a robust government that will draw strength from diverse ideas.    This will provide solutions to some of our country’s biggest challenges such as crime reduction, improving education, creating new economic opportunities and engaging in sustainable development.

To restore confidence, renew trust, and earn the respect of all citizens, government must focus on long-term planning and fiscally sound decision-making. Government must be transparent and efficient and operate at the highest ethical standards.

Strategies For Success

•     Improve public awareness of what constitutes conflict of interest and corruption

•     Pass and implement the Standards in Public Life Bill to ensure good governance

•     Amend the Anti-Corruption Law to address perceptions relating to conflicts of interest

•     Ensure that the practices of good governance as laid out in the Constitution are adhered to by all members of Cabinet

•          Adopt a proactive financial accountability policy recognising that good financial management is a key element of good governance

•      Develop a stronger working relationship with the private and civil society sectors

•     Restore a productive working relationship with the United Kingdom

SECTION 4 BENEFITS OF A COALITION GOVERNMENT

In most western-style democracies, minority and coalition governments are the rule, not the exception. Canada, which operates a Westminster-style system, has been ruled by minority governments since 2004  – two Conservative and one Liberal. In 2010, a coalition government was elected in Britain for the first time in 65 years. A report from the Institute of Government showed that after one year the coalition had been successful. The world’s largest democracies, notably India, Pakistan, Brazil and Japan are also run by coalition governments.

A coalition Government will have to create a clear and shared vision of what it intends to achieve. Clearly defined goals will be beneficial for all Members of the Legislative Assembly, civil servants and the public.  Flexibility, however, must be maintained to adjust to changing circumstances. Similar to other jurisdictions, our government must work cooperatively.

There are many advantages to a coalition government such as consensus-based decision-making and the ability to better represent the popular and diverse opinions of the electorate within a country y. Unlike the party system that adheres to party-focused decision-making, a coalition government is a more democratic system focused on the needs of the people.

25 examples of countries with successful coalition governments:

Denmark Finland Germany France Ireland Italy Luxemburg Monaco Norway Poland Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Brazil Panama Trinidad and Tobago India Israel Japan Malaysia Thailand Pakistan New Zealand Hong Kong Netherlands

If these larger countries and economies can operate successfully within a coalition-style governance structure, so can the Cayman Islands.  We need to elect leaders who are committed to breaking down the divisive barriers that party politics perpetuates. We represent such independent-minded leaders who are committed to working collaboratively in the best interests of the people and for the betterment of the Cayman Islands.

END