By Ayo Johnson  Royal Gazette online

Cayman Islands Premier McKeeva Bush has denied reports that budget approval conditions imposed by the UK Government amount to stripping him of some of his Finance Minister responsibilities.

In a statement issued to Cayman Islands media, the Premier confirmed that his Government had agreed to the establishment of a Budget Delivery Board to be headed by the Deputy Governor, as requested by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

“The reason the Budget Delivery Board is to be headed by the Deputy Governor is quite simple: the vast majority of the Government’s budgetary commitments to restrain costs in this, and future, fiscal years emanate from changes that impact Civil Servants’ remuneration,” he said.

“The Deputy Governor has delegated responsibility from the Governor, for the entire Civil Service.

“It is therefore wholly appropriate for the Deputy Governor, who is also a Member of Cabinet, to head the Budget Delivery Board.

“The Minister of Finance, which is an elected position and other Elected Ministers do not have any domain over the Civil Service: it is for this simple reason that the Minister of Finance does not head up this Board.”

He went on to say that the Constitution of the Caribbean colony requires a Minister of Finance and that the Minister has powers to appoint such a board which “shall be subject to the directions of the Minister concerned”.

Mr Bush added that the UK has no power under the Constitution to strip him of his Finance responsibilities.

Besides the Budget Delivery Board, the FCO also demanded that a Framework for Fiscal Responsibility agreement be made law, and that there be no supplementary budgets until 2016.

In Bermuda, Progressive Labour Party candidate and independence advocate Walton Brown decried the development as one which should worry those who value democracy, and as indicative of the “neocolonialist proclivities” of the current UK administration.

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