“I don’t care if it might be wrong. Ezzard doesn’t put bread on my table.”

I overheard that the other day and similar statements from other people.

Ezzard Miller, the champion of openness and non-secrecy in government, is the “culprit” in some people’s eyes.

A “trouble maker” my mother would have called him.

He certainly was from the time he first went into the Legislative Assembly as Member for North Side. His brother “trouble maker” was McKeeva Bush.

When Miller was in government and Minister for Health he proposed “The hospital in the swamp” as McKeeva called it. McKeeva was dead set against it. He even organised a march against the building of it.

Even though the building had commenced construction McKeeva had swept to power, Miller was out and the hospital was stopped at great cost to the government purse. Costing more and providing less, the existing hospital was renovated and extended.

All this happened when the Cayman Islands was booming. It didn’t matter. It all provided jobs. Borrowing was easy and the money was rolling in.

The two most prominent of our “outside” entrepreneurs are Michael Ryan and Ken Dart. The two men who come in for most of Miller’s trouble making statements are Ryan and Dart.

Then we have Chinese company, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), McKeeva’s choice for developing cruise berthing facilities in the Cayman Islands. Now a lot of us are suspicious and worried about CHEC!

And to a lesser extent is Dr. Shetty and his hospital, although he has blotted his copy book recently with his complete disregard for the wild life, some of which is endangered, when clearing operations commenced on the land the hospital is to be built.

Only Ryan and Dart have anything to actually show as a track record here in the Cayman Islands.

Ryan has the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and luxury resort on the Seven Mile Beach and it is the Cayman Islands premier hotel and has won many awards for its splendour.

But Ryan is now in big problems and the Ritz is in receivership and he wrote a public letter (see http://www.ieyenews.com/2012/10/michael-ryan-says-he-is-the-one-who-has-been-wronged/) saying he is the one wronged and reminded people of all his achievements.

“As the world has struggled through the current economic crisis I did everything possible to maintain the value of the project, its reputation and also the reputation of Cayman. As part of those efforts I worked without pay for many years and invested funds to try and keep the project going while working on a restructuring of the project debt that would allow it to go forward and realize its, and Cayman’s, full potential. One result of this was that I was left being owed millions of dollars of outstanding salary, fees and loans I personally made to the companies.”

The companies he made the loans to were in fact his own companies! He also owes the Cayman Government $6M plus in unpaid fees. He has now upset the Boat Captains over the Seahaven land swap deal with the Port Authority with his abrupt “get off my land” announcement. Not a good example of diplomacy he should have been after and Miller was there to fight him with the militant boat owners – see today’s story. His new marina project has been temporarily halted – or it might not be temporary. So no work for our people.

Dart constructed the superb Camana Bay project, and boasts “a lively town in the heart of Grand Cayman. Discover the best the world has to offer. Entertainment. Architecture, Business, Fashion.” It also has won awards but this has come at a price as the project is being blamed for the slow death of George Town, the island’s capital.

Dart has two big projects in the works – the development of a new resort along the Seven Mile Beach and the landfill George Town cap and redevelopment project all part of the “For Cayman Investment Alliance”.

But this means land swapping deals, duty waivers and the closing of a section of the West Bay Road.

There is much secrecy surrounding the details and when bits leak out we hear things aren’t exactly as we were “sort of told” but “not exactly told” but it is “what we haven’t been told at all” that makes people concerned, especially Miller.

And it is not just Miller making waves with this and the CHEC cruise ship berthing project – the Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO) have also been unhappy. Hence the FCO introduced the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility (FFR) that Bush was “forced” to sign but still hasn’t made law. It is apparent neither Dart nor CHEC comply with the FFR and the premier is tap dancing all over it. From one of our sources, we have learnt that on one of his many travels he has been offered to appear on “Dancing With The Stars”.

The trouble with all this dancing is that nothing is happening with these projects. We have “Letters of Understanding” but even when Final and ‘Binding’ Agreements are signed they don’t mean a thing in the Bush World. He needs these projects to start NOW. There is an election approaching and although he has been able to get away with “put the blame on the PPM and their opposition to everything” that isn’t going to wash. The PPM have been almost ineffectual as an opposition and this is why Miller is doing his troublemaking.

Troublemaking doesn’t put bread on the table. When people are starving they will take the food from whoever is willing to let them have it now. Pay later and there is always a pay back date. If you don’t take the hand that feeds you it might be withdrawn and never to be held out again.

Should we then continue to be troublemaking?