I am speaking about the Review by U.K. Coastguard Commander Andrew Jenkins on the RCIPS response to the search for five missing Caymanian boaters that included two children.

Even before Commander Jenkins arrived here there was a strong conviction by many the RCIPS would be found faultless (except for a few crumbs thrown in to appease) because of a FCO whitewash.

I hoped with all my might that would not be the case. With two excellent Caymanians on the team, Mary Lawrence and Kirkland Nixon, I did have high hopes my fears would be wrong.

Unfortunately they were not.

With the whole island watching and the Governor’s office knowing the general feeling why would they let themselves into the trap they knew was there?

In the Cayman Compass article published June 6th by Brent Fuller “JPs question missing boaters report” it certainly appears the whiter than white approach was not executed.

I am aghast.

With opposition leader, McKeeva Bush, who wasn’t going to believe even a whiter than white report, baying at Commander Jenkins heels, why was this allowed to happen.

Nixon is reported to have said “he met with MLAs Friday to discuss the issue. He said the two JPs had made some comments on the coastguard commander’s review and indicated there was concern those comments had not been included in the final report”.

The Compass article said they had obtained a copy of “a six-page document which is not signed, but is dated June 2 – the day after Commander Jenkins’ report was made public in the Legislative Assembly”.

The Compass said it was “essentially a collection of commentary, the author of which is not always clear, that refer to certain aspects of the search review”.

The most damaging comment in these documents is, “We can see why we were not given sight of the report prior to its publication as there is no way we could agree to a blanket statement that ‘the review found no major faults with the search and rescue response to the incident, either with the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service or the 911 Emergency Centre’”.

Our two Caymanians also reported two pages of recommendations and a list of questions. They also raised concerns of interference from the Governor’s Office with one of them writing “I was rather surprised by the fact that, in our meetings with [Mr. Jenkins], officials from the governor’s office were present and actively participating”.

Oh dear.

The Governor’s Office has refuted any interference saying they had no input into Commander Jenkins’ programme and did not attend any of his meetings, aside from arranging introductory meetings and a final debrief with the independent observers.

I make no further comment.

So now we don’t even have a whiter shade of pale.

It needed to be whiter than white but not whitewashed.

To read the whole Compass article go to: https://www.caymancompass.com/2016/06/06/jps-question-missing-boaters-report/