Why should we be surprised that Premier McKeeva’s Bush’s $4.5M Nation Building Fund (NBF) passed through without any opposition? It’s an excellent idea.

Opposition leader, Alden McLaughlin, said, “We are not opposed to the concept of nation building. We are merely opposed to the management of it so I don’t see a problem with our members asking for money for legitimate projects.”

You see that is where the problem lies. The management of the fund or lack of same. The premier decides who gets the money.

He did say on CITN/Cayman 27 last week there is a stringent system in place to disperse the loot, but does that make any of us any happier?

He did not elaborate further on the stringent system and whether he could overrule any of the stringent conditions within the system.

Cayman United, the social media activist group, has rightly asked the Premier why the money has not been distributed among other appropriations dealing with the same issues that appear to have been cut?

I wonder if he has received an answer or one that actually answers his question?

The letter they sent identifies 26 line items in the appropriations bill for the 2012/13 budget aside from the Nation Building Fund that they felt would fall into the category of nation building, as described by the premier.

“These include initiatives such as national disaster preparedness and response, scholarships and other educational assistance programmes, youth and sports programmes and preservation of national heritage, arts and culture,” they wrote.

“These twenty-six initiatives fall under the responsibilities of five separate government departments. With the exception of the Ministry of Education, Training and Employment, all of these departments have been asked to reduce their nation building activities.

“Considering the summation of cuts and reductions across these twenty-six initiatives, the five affected departments have been asked to reduce their nation building activities by more than $500,000.”

The premier gave his reason for being the only arbitrator of the NBF because he has always been “a social thinker” and “I am the minister of finance.”

So, are you now surprised the approval was rubber stamped without even a whimper from the back bench? One of them, PPM  Bodden Town MLA Anthony Eden, even voted in favour of it.

Premier McKeeva Bush welcomed the support from the opposition benches for the fund.

Now aren’t we all happy? Oh yes. There’s that Cayman United group. Are they anything to do with Manchester United? They’re somewhere here in the Cayman Islands, aren’t they?

Was there anything in the Budget for a new rubber stamp? The old one must be worn out now.