As we have commented before,
Premier McKeeva Bush has found himself in a position where difficult decisions
must be made. Leading the Cayman Islands
through what are some of the most challenging times in its history cannot be
easy.
Mr. Bush has outlined what he
believes needs to be done for Cayman to get through these tough times and to
have a prosperous future.
The problem is many people disagree
with his solutions. We say: so what?
The United Democratic Party
impressively won an election not even 10 months ago and the party elected Mr.
Bush as the leader of the government.
What we need him to do now is to lead, even if some people don’t agree
with him.
To back away from selling the
Government Administration Building simply because the People’s Progressive
Movement caused a “ruckus” doesn’t make sense, especially if the consequences
of not selling the building are as dire as Mr. Bush suggests.
As the opposition party, the PPM’s
role is to cause a ruckus and if that ruckus includes marching, so be it. We believe an active opposition is good for a
democracy. But that doesn’t mean the
government should back away from what it believes it should do.
The same goes with the cuts in public
servants’ pay and pensions. Obviously, civil
servants aren’t going to like the idea of earning less money and will resist
it. So why ask them if they will accept
it voluntarily because their answer is predictably ‘no’.
Most people are coming to the
realisation that something has to change in the Cayman government’s business
model. If the government believes direct
taxation isn’t the answer – and we have to agree with that analysis
particularly when it comes to payroll taxed – then the only thing left to do is
make substantial cuts in the public service.
Ultimately, we need the government
members to make the decisions that need to be made. They were elected to lead,
not to worry about being re-elected. If their decisions right Cayman’s flailing
ship and bring back prosperous times, then re-election shouldn’t be a problem.