This is a hypothetical question but nearly each day Premier Alden McLaughlin’s government is being slammed since they cancelled their weekly appearances on Cross Talk.

The general consensus why this is, that host Woody DaCosta, does not decry and even adds to fuel to this along with returning co-host Elio Solomon, is the government ministers are ‘cowards’ and have things to hide.

Even Rooster’s own promotion outtakes from the show suggest this with a disgraceful one I heard two days ago implying some of the current MLAs were beggars off the street!

With this continual bashing of the government it is sore wonder the listeners overseas that hear these promotions get completely the wrong impression of the true political landscape of the Cayman Islands.

My original question was prompted to some extent by McLaughlin, in the Legislative Assembly recently, describing the behaviour of DaCosta, when he was serving as former acting chair of the Liquor Licensing Board, as “terrible”!

McLaughlin even accused DaCosta of fabricating minutes and manufacturing a meeting that did not occur. This was all to do with a decision over a retail liquor licence for the new Peanuts gas station in Red Bay. Two sets of minutes appeared, one granting the licence and one refusing it, the board under DaCosta made up policy and took decisions outside its remit.

Despite this, government officials who investigated it concluded the “board erred in their approach and subsequent rationale for their decisions”.

The clear wrongdoing, never-the-less. did not change the official view DaCosta’s board had acted in “good faith”.

DaCosta, however, was sacked and no longer even serves as a member of the Liquor Licensing Board.

McLaughlin’s view differs and clearly is saying DaCosta acted in BAD faith and that was why government had removed him.

All this was said during the debate on a government motion to indemnify the members of that board, The premier wanted to make it crystal clear that DaCosta’s “egregious” conduct would NOT have covered him.

“We have had very bad conduct, by a former member of the board, Woody DaCosta, who was the acting chairman of the board, who, among other things, appears to have fabricated minutes and it seems manufactured a meeting that did not occur to achieve a particular result — absolutely terrible behaviour,” McLaughlin said,

He then went on and accused DaCosta of getting on a radio talk show, claiming to be a person of integrity, and attacking government when he had behaved the way he had.
I haven’t been able to ask McLaughlin my question but I will at my next opportunity. Hopefully his answer will be straight and not a ridiculous gobble-de-gook piece of bunk that MLA Tara Rivers gave me to an innocuous question I asked her last week!