Why is it successive government provide the public with lack of information?

It is not just limited to government of tiny Caribbean islands like ourselves.

It is everywhere.

It’s like a disease that permeates everyone that is appointed by the public.

Civil servants, however, have a duty to provide us with little or no information because they are paid to give us only what their masters tell us.

Unless, of course, you have your own agenda to disclose information damaging to a politician you personally despise. US President, Donald Trump, is finding that out all the time!

If our government had been open and above board with everything going on with their Cruise Port project they would not have been in the situation they are in now.

They are having to spend thousands of our dollars now to promote a project that affects all of us that live here when they should have had public announcements every month keeping us informed.

Of course, some things have to be kept under wraps, but when we still don’t know who the tenderers are and won’t say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the infamous China company being involved, they are making a huge rod for their own backs.

Their last public meeting they held last year under great pressure, or they wouldn’t have organised it, was a disaster. They dug themselves further into the hole they began by not being open who the people were appearing on the platform with them. They wouldn’t say ‘no’ the Chinese Company was involved so they were admitting it was. Ridiculous and playing into the ‘no’ camp and bringing more people away from their side. At one time they had the majority of the country behind the cruise terminal and now they have alienated even some of their ardent supporters of the need for it.

The big question being raised is what are they trying to hide? And it would appear to be something big.

The one person this government should have bent over backwards with not to slam the door in his face, is Opposition leader, Ezzard Miller.

In a release we have published today, “Cayman Islands’ leader of the Opposition calls for Cruise Port Contingency Plan” Miller now spells it out plainly, “the Opposition absolutely opposes the cruise port project, fully expects the referendum will be supported by the required number of signatures, and firmly believes that the opposition to the port project will win when the referendum is put to the vote.”

I’m not sure he is correct on that but it is certainly going to be a close thing and no amount of public servants appearing in the Government’s television ads is going to help their cause. They need to do something very quickly but as we know, government wheels turn very slowly whether you are a paid civil servant or an elected representative of the people who are in power.

Miller is absolutely right when he says, “So far, Government has said nothing about how they plan to mitigate the impact of the dredging and complex construction activities for the proposed cruise ship port on the disembarkation, processing and return of passengers to ships, as well as passengers’ ease of access to landside recreational arrangements. How that management aspect that could have markedly adverse impacts on the future of the industry will be addressed has to be a concern for the industry and the population as a whole and should be addressed.”

As Miller knows all to well, being in government is much, much harder than being in opposition. I well remember how his excellent hospital proposal got shot down in flames. He was right and public opinion was wrong. What we have got is a lot less and it cost us much more.

He should also take another look at what he is saying. He could be very wrong this time around.

Government needs to do something very quickly to answer everyone’s concerns.

Lack of information is a label on a sinking ship.