“I WILL RUN”

Attorney at Law Charles “Chuckie” Clifford who is the former Minister of Tourism, Environment, Investment and Commerce and former 2^nd Elected Member for the Electoral District of Bodden Town has announced that he will again be contesting a seat in Bodden Town in the upcoming election as an independent candidate.

In announcing his candidacy Mr. Clifford said “It is time to return integrity and accountability to the governance of our country and I hope to be elected with a group of like minded candidates who will deliver this to our country and our people.”

Mr. Clifford continued, “I was proud to be a member of the Cabinet which delivered the Freedom of Information Law, the Anti-Corruption Law and the Standards in Public Life Commission to our country. The unfortunate era of political corruption is being brought to an end and it is time for us to move on united as a people and free from the divisiveness of party politics to address the multitude of very serious challenges facing our beloved Cayman Islands.”

Mr. Clifford said “I will be endorsing and associating with other candidates in the upcoming campaign and I hope to be elected along with enough of them to form the next Government.” He dismissed the party rhetoric that independents cannot form a Government when he said that “Political parties really only came into being in a real way in 2001 and for the 40 plus years before that there were loose affiliations and independents that formed every government.”

Mr. Clifford was a member of the Peoples Progressive Movement but resigned from the party in 2010 following a fallout with the leadership of his former party over their failure to support him with a protest march against the UDP Government over its proposed sale of the new Government Administration Building and significant changes to our immigration policies which did not favour Caymanians. Mr. Clifford said “ I think most people now know my position on party politics. I was very much a part of the system and having worked in it, I was the first to admit that as a country we had made a fundamental mistake when we adopted this particular model of party politics in Cayman. I know that there are some very good people in the political parties but it is the system and political culture that comes with it that is the problem.” Mr. Clifford warned  “If we don’t rid ourselves of this model of party politics then our beloved Cayman Islands will forever be ruined and each of us had better be prepared to look our children and grandchildren in their eyes and accept responsibility for being the generation that failed our country.”

Mr. Clifford will be publishing his National and District Manifesto in the near future but he has stated that his top 10 priorities for the 2013 – 2017 term are as follows :

Bodden Town District Issues and Solutions 

• The extension of the East West Arterial into the Northward area to properly manage the increased traffic which will be generated by the rapid development of Bodden Town; 

• Construction of a new Primary School along the extended East West Arterial to relieve the overcrowding at the Savannah and Bodden Town Primary Schools and to cater to the significant increase in students that will result from the rapid development of Bodden Town;

• Create new jobs at the district level through the reintroduction of the Go East Initiative and collaboration with the cruise lines to increase tourism to the eastern districts which will drive job growth;

• Implement the already designed/engineered solution to the flooding problem in Savannah and Newlands which is caused by the Savannah Gully; and

• Implement the already designed/engineered solutions to the flooding problems in the Cumber Avenue and Belford Estates areas.

National Issues and Solutions 

• Public Debt and Budgeting – The public debt and budgeting issues can be addressed through a programme of rationalization of our tax policy and public services. This will be addressed in a National Strategic Country Plan which deals with, among other things, tourism, financial services, development, new industries, growth management, immigration policy, unemployment, education, crime, health and social welfare.
• Closure of Businesses – We must urgently stem the closure of businesses and resulting loss of jobs through an urgent focused policy to significantly reduce the cost of doing business which in turn will reduce the cost of living. This will incentivize  the creation of new businesses which will result in an increase in the volume of revenue to government while adding new jobs to the economy which in turn creates additional economic activity;
• The Environment – We now have a Constitutional right to a clean and protected environment. We must prescribe the details of those protections in a National Conservation Law that places our environment on equal footing with economic and social issues in public policy development;
• Port Development – Cruise Berthing Facilities are long overdue and must be done now. We must simply follow the law and ensure transparency in the public procurement process. By so doing at least one pier can be completed by 2015 and the second one completed by 2016. The loan can be secured through a third party, such as the cruise lines, with the loan payments coming from the per passenger tax and retail revenue. Mr. Clifford started this project with the Environmental Impact Assessment when he was the Minister responsible and the current Government abandoned those plans. Four years later they have achieved nothing, businesses are closing and jobs are being lost;
• Airport Redevelopment – If we are to remain a competitive tourism destination the airport redevelopment is a priority. We must simply follow the law, ensure transparency in the public procurement process and let’s get it done. When he was the Minister responsible for the Airports Authority, Mr. Clifford implemented a special fee to pay for this redevelopment and the result is that the Authority generates enough revenue to fund the loan on its own. Mr. Clifford also started this project when he was the Minister by relocating the utilities, creating new car parks and a new road system in front of the airport in preparation for the redevelopment. This Government abandoned his plans. Four years later they have achieved nothing and during peak periods the experience of our departing passengers, which is their last impression, is not a very good one.

Like he did in 2009, Mr. Clifford thanked the residents of Bodden Town for giving him the opportunity to represent them as their 2^nd Elected Member of the Legislative Assembly during the 2005 – 2009 PPM Administration. He said, “It was the highlight of my 29 year public service career and it was an honour to represent the people of Bodden Town and indeed the wider Cayman Islands Community as a Minister of Cabinet.”

Mr. Clifford is also one of the Leaders of the Coalition to Keep Bodden Town Dump Free and he has vowed to keep the dump out of Bodden Town. He said, “I know that the people of George Town need relief from the problem but I also know from my service in Cabinet that the problem can be remedied right where it is in order to provide that relief to the people of George Town without placing the burden on the Bodden Town community.”

As Mr. Clifford reflected on the past and looked to the future he observed that “Each time we face an election we say that this is the most important one in our history. Knowing what we know this time about where we are as a country politically, economically, socially and morally, there can be no doubt that this is in fact the most critical election of our time and we must vote wisely.”

Mr. Clifford predicts and encourages an election result that “will give us a Coalition Government consisting of a Cabinet that offers the best talent from the independent representatives and the political parties.” He cautioned that, “This is the only hope we have of our elected representatives working together in a real way and demonstrating that this is a much better way to govern a country than the current party system which we have in Cayman. We must begin to dismantle this model of party politics through the ballot box in May 2013.”

As we prepare to go to the polls on 22^nd May this year, Mr. Clifford said, “I encourage each of you to identify candidates in your district that you believe really understand the benefits of a better education system, equitable immigration and labour policies, right-sized government, lower taxes and creating the platform for private sector creativity to stimulate growth and employment.”

Mr. Clifford said that he is running on a platform of honest capable leadership having delivered real results for Bodden Town in the past. Whether it was the rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Ivan, such as restoring Pedro St. James National Historic Site, rebuilding the Bodden Town Civic Center, the Public Library and damaged homes to purchasing the property for the development of the Coe Wood Public Beach, purchasing the house to allow for the proper development of the Harry McCoy Park in Gun Square, the development of the new Savannah Post Office, the development of the Newlands/Duck Pond launching ramp and dock and the development of the Police Marine Base in Newlands.

In concluding, Mr. Clifford said, “I once again humbly ask the people of Bodden Town for your vote and I wish for each of us God’s richest blessings and guidance as we go to the polls on 22^nd May 2013. We are at the crossroads my friends and we must do the right thing for our children, grandchildren and the generations that will follow.”