It was a quiet weekend. Not only crime but the political front too seemed to have gone on vacation already. Both parties took a welcome break in slanging one another, although it seems it’s going to break out again as I write this. However, for Government to appoint a person as contact for The Summer Students’ Employment Programme (see yesterday’s -12- article) only for her to go on vacation without someone else being named as deputy is incredible. Even more strange was the statement received from the Ministry of Finance, Tourism and Development responsible for the programme which said, “We would like to inform the public that while the Chief HR Officer is currently away on official business and returning to office on Thursday, 14th July, all emails which have been sent to her email address are being responded to by Ministry HR staff.”
Last week parents and students who contacted the ministry were advised she was on leave for two weeks and now the ‘leave’ (which in Government language normally means ‘vacation’) is now ‘official business.’ One can only hope that when the Chief HR Officer actually takes her vacation it is not during the rest of the summer. Even though the Ministry has said that all inquiries can be sent to [email protected] for more details and a copy of the application form no actual human body has been named. Sorry, everyone, you can’t even phone and talk to a machine!

We also have an online petition (from care2) against the proposal to develop the East End commercial port that exceeds the country’s population! Even if we take the preposterous notion that everyone on all three islands voted against the proposal online, the numbers shown on the petition have to be questioned. If we take into consideration that 19.6% of the population is below the age of 14, these numbers become even more suspect, even allowing for people voting on line from abroad. If you go to the care2 website you sign the petition by giving your name, home address and email address. There is no space to state your age or gender. I filled it in with a fictitious name, a fictitious home and email address and it recorded my vote proving the numbers are hardly scientific or accurate!
Some of the names displayed come from USA, Brazil, Indonesia, Russian Federation, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Canada and China. These must be from Caymanians also on vacation.