“He has stealthily and insidiously undermined what I’ve been trying to do”

Statement by Premier McKeeva Bush

In Reply to the Statement issued by Governor Duncan Taylor

Can the Governor tell us what he or the Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have done to help the Cayman Islands? When Cayman is criticized in London have they stood up for us? No!

We have suffered unemployment. Has he tried to help us? W hat has he done? He has done nothing of substance to help these islands.

We received funding for housing. We set up a committee, and he sent the auditor general in and frightened the daylight out of the civil servant working on it. We couldn’t get anything done for months. We finally had to change that person as the chair

He opposed Dr. Shetty’s hospital project and I had to tell him “you don’t like this but you have no vote in cabinet” He didn’t support me hiring Lord Blencathra. This is just a bit of what I’ve had to put up with; that’s the way he has performed.

He’s done nothing for 3 years to help us but to throw cold water on whatever we were trying to do. And when the London press went after him a few days ago, he made the commissioner send out that statement on me to draw attention away from him, and his troubles. To top it all off, he went and got an extension of his time in Cayman without so much as a hint to me as Premier or to my Cabinet because he figured I would oppose it. That is not how Governors are supposed to behave. Simple good manners would tell you that you should make your intentions known in such matters.

He has stealthily and insidiously undermined what I’ve been trying to do to get our economy off the ground and get jobs for people. Meanwhile he’s got an extension of time for his job where he’s never had it so good!

The Governor made reference to Minister Bellingham stating during his visit that he was confident that the police was handling the investigation properly. That statement of course was made before the highly inappropriate press release from the Commissioner of Police. It is wrong to infer that the Minister endorsed that statement.

The Opposition in Cayman is so power hungry that they will say and do anything to embarrass and destroy me and the Government. The Governor knows this and so he plays the UK’s age old game of “divide and conquer”.

It is not Minister Bellingham that I’m concerned about. It is the Governor and the FCO Directorate who have done nothing to help Cayman.

I have not done anything illegal to cause a probe into what is termed financial irregularities and I have not imported or caused to be imported any explosive material.

I implore the good people of Cayman to call for an end to this tearing down of reputations and the good name of Cayman. We will all suffer for it if we do not; and we as a people are capable of far better than this. Let us show the world who we are. Let us live up to our well established reputation as God-fearing, law- abiding people.