It would appear that if anyone that was a member of the United Democratic Party and held a ministerial role and has been criticised by an Auditor General (all with the highest qualifications) the AG is “incompetent”.

The former education minister, Rolston Anglin, went even further. He accused the audit office of also misrepresentation and LYING! And said the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) sought to find reasons to issue bad reports on “Cayman politicians and by extension Cayman itself”.

Everything Anglin said is almost parrot talk of words from his boss, ex-premier and Leader of the Opposition, McKeeva Bush.

We published in yesterday’s iNews Cayman (see http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/former-cayman-islands-minister-of-education-replies-to-damning-statements-made-by-auditor-general-in-report-on-schools-when-he-was-in-charge/) Anglin’s full and very revealing “Statement On Auditor General Report Major Capital Project – Building Schools” that commenced “ that was given to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

I say revealing because he revealed something that wasn’t in the OAG Report on Schools.

He said during the PPM administration of 2005-2009, when current premier Alden McLaughlin was the education minister, the government employed a project manager for the high schools who was hired as a civil servant, yet he lived overseas!

Anglin said, “He was paid like a very expensive consultant,” In 20 months Anglin stated this consultant was paid a salary of around $557,000 plus travel expenses of approximately $47,000.

Crickey. At that time I was an unemployed Quantity Surveyor/Project Manage. They would not have had to pay me any travel expenses.

Then he ruins his case by casting a ridiculous slur saying the heavily reported Tom Jones (the original school’s contractor) bid was too low and may have been a direct result of a deliberate attempt in the tender documents to solicit undervalued bids.

I have to ask him WHY? Why would he imply this without backing it up with a reason?

Why would the OAG want to issue bad reports on Cayman politicians and by extension Cayman itself?

This nonsense that the OAG was brought out here by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to do just that makes no sense at all. Why? What motif? The Cayman Islands are an embarrassment to the UK as all of the Overseas territories. We are not rich in minerals they want to take. We have nothing to offer them. All the riches the other territories had have already been taken by the terrible Brits.

It all goes back to Bush’s claim four years ago of a huge black hand waiting to grab us or him.

I have a certain amount of sympathy for Anglin when he first came into the picture and took over a mess. It is difficult for a qualified and experienced project manager let alone a minister whose prowess is in a different profession

He certainly pounced on this in his Statement to PAC claiming it was all the past government’s fault and he is Mr. Clean.

Of course, this is another UDP mandate. Blame the reasons for their mess on the previous government’s even bigger mess.

Even the “letter of comfort” that the PPM government had given to a local bank to enable the building contractor to get the credit it needed to buy materials was raked up with “this transaction had been made under very curious conditions”.

Actually it is not unusual for contactors on large contracts to get this especially when you live on a small island and materials have to come from abroad where overseas traders normally insist on payment upfront.

Of course none of this really has anything to do with the period the AOG were doing their book count but it all helps to smother and smear and everybody is incompetent but me.

If Anglin had just presented his Report without the passion, without the slurs and without the blame everyone but me I would have said yes, he does make some good points and his explanations could have looked reasonable. However when one starts blowing smoke you know what that means.

But when you belong to the UDP that is mandatory.