Wednesday, May 13, 2009

A call to end he "Rollover' policy

Dr Frank McField
Independent candidate for George Town

By Tad Stoner


Calling for socialised medicine, an end to the rollover policy, public subsidies for agriculture and immediate outreach to local youth, George Town independent candidate Dr Frank McField released his manifesto late last week.

He also called for an end to pension payments for foreign employees of small locally owned businesses, the recruitment of more Caymanians into both the police force and the ranks of teachers, and the diversification of Cayman’s tourism product to embrace growing markets in South America, Europe and China.

“At this particular moment, I am concentrating on social stability issues and the neglect of the social system,” Dr McField, who holds a PhD in philosophy from Germany’s University of Bremen, told Cayman Net News.

“It is because of a combination of social degeneration and crime,” he said. “It is not just poverty, not just a material poverty, but a philosophical poverty. There is a moral confusion and an inability to choose a value system.”

At 23 pages, the slick 9’x6’ booklet, titled “Preserving Our Common Sense Democracy: The 2009 Political Manifesto of McField, Dr Frank Swarres”, offers a thoughtful critique of the Caymanian social and political system, and calls for a series of changes.

Written during the course of a month, “one topic at a time”, Dr McField said, the manifesto builds on his previous 1996 platform called “Towards a Common Sense Democracy” that the candidate authored for his initial independent run for office.

In this “sequel”, Dr McField writes of the slow erosion of social values and his fears for the consequences, citing the October murder of community activist and women’s leader Estella Scott-Roberts as a touchstone.

“There can be no excuse for this crime even if it had taken place in the most backward and underdeveloped nation on this planet and we must now strive to understand this disconnect which now exists in our society,” he writes, blaming an increasing tendency to limit the “needs of many young people to discover and be accepted by a community of their peers” by arming police, closing nightclubs and banning music.

To “reform this culture of violence,” he says, “I hope the police will begin to analyse their weaknesses and strive for correction,” one of them being the “recruitment, training and retaining” of Caymanians in the Royal Cayman Islands Police, helping re-establish a sense of connection within communities.

Dr McField calls for a similar effort to recruit local teachers, citing the “social breakdown and violence” attributable, he says, “to the inability of the schooling and policing systems to function as social-control agencies.” Cayman should have a Teachers Training College, he says, and back-to-school programmes for adults.

He proposes that the Cayman Islands Hospital “be given a social mandate to deliver socialised medicine to the Caymanian people,” while suggesting that “political appointments of decision makers over heath workers are not healthy management.

“The Government is already providing free medical treatment to Caymanian children, civil servants, pensioners, indigents, prisoners, seamen and their widows. We may as well go all the way and preserve at least in the public medical sector some aspect of Caymanian traditional egalitarianism,” he writes.

Dr McField does not say, however, how we would pay for his proposals. Already, government spends $64 million annually, more than 10 percent of the budget, on medical care.

Calling for creation of a technical and vocational training school, Dr McField calls for creation of wider job opportunities. “There were so many young Caymanians without meaningful employment before the economic crisis, and there are even more today and many more for tomorrow,” he writes.

“Government must invest in new tourism concepts and agricultural and manufacturing strategies.

“The Cayman business section has been for too long too narrowly defined and as a result excludes too many Caymanians and prevents the further growth of our middle class,” he says.

At the same time, though, acknowledging the burden on small-business owners of providing health and pension benefits for foreigners who “are rolled over after seven years”, he says, “I can no longer support pension payments for foreign employees.”

Unlike others among the independents, however, Dr McField does not blame expatriates for the problem, pointing out that immigrants contribute to demand for goods and services and indirectly generate investment in schools, healthcare, roads and other infrastructure, frequently creating local jobs.

Small businesses, he says, suffer from the policy, whereby expatriates are forced to leave after seven years residence, as do white collar industries such as financial services.

“Every time a company loses a trusted employee, they also lose a certain amount of confidence clients may have had in their services. In many cases clients follow their trusted advisers to whatever jurisdiction they are next employed,” Dr McField writes.

“We must examine how careers of Cayman ‘knowledge workers’ can be protected without driving business overseas.”

Finally, he writes, diversification of the economy is vital. The tourist industry should explore new markets in Europe, South America and China, while government extends the Owen Roberts Airport runway and rekindles the “Go East” programme, spreading tourism revenues throughout the Island.

Agricultural subsidies should be used to encourage small gardens and provision grounds for fruits and vegetables, and for raising pork, poultry and fish, while the Cayman Islands Development Bank should become a source of low-finance lending to help create new industries.

“The Immigration Department needs to stay shy of labour politics and of deciding on economic strategies for small enterprises,” Dr McField writes, exhorting voters. “I honestly believe that we have more of a chance to survive if I, a caring leader, is elected to help lead in these serious times.”

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Chief Justice to give evidence against suspended Grand Court Judge Priya Levers





Anthony Smellie
Chief Justice

Priya Levers
Grand Court Judge

Alexander Henderson
Grand Court Judge

Sir Andrew Leggatt
Tribunal Chairman

According to reliable sources, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie will be required to give evidence at the Judicial Tribunal appointed by H.E the Governor Stuart Jack to hear charges of “misbehaviour” against suspended Grand Court Judge Priya Levers.

The same sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Cayman Net News that Mr Smellie has also been ordered to be cross-examined on his evidence.

It is understood that the Chief Justice had initially resisted giving such evidence and/or being cross-examined but he has been overruled by the Tribunal Chairman, Sir Andrew Leggatt, a former Lord Justice of Appeal.

It is also understood that the Chief Justice and other court staff will be represented at the Tribunal by senior counsel from London, instructed by Crown Counsel locally, and who, if last year’s Commission of Enquiry is any guide, may cross-examine other witnesses on the evidence they give.

The notion that sitting judges are somehow exempt from interrogation was one of the issues that were indirectly raised in connection with the arrest in September last year of Grand Court Judge Alexander Henderson, after he had declined to be interviewed by the Governor’s Special Police Investigation Team in connection with alleged corruption within the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.

According to statements at the time, the judiciary and the Solicitor General were both of the view that it was inappropriate for Mr Henderson to be interviewed and questioned by police investigating a suspected offence.

Notwithstanding Mr Henderson’s failure to provide a statement to the police when requested to do so, former Senior Investigating Officer Martin Bridger said, “You have my assurance that the decision to arrest Justice Alexander Henderson was not based on his refusal to give me a statement.”

It subsequently came to light that Mr Bridger and his team had, in fact, acted upon the advice of London lawyer Martin Polaine, as to whether or not the evidence gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that Mr Henderson had committed the offence of misconduct in public office.

There was sufficient evidence for such reasonable suspicion, concluded Mr Polaine, and so advised Mr Bridger and his team.

The Tribunal looking into the allegations against Judge Levers is scheduled to start on Thursday 7 May at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Hotel.

Sitting on the Tribunal along with Sir Andrew Leggatt will be Privy Counselor and former Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Philip Otton and Chief Justice of Barbados Sir David Simmons.

The Tribunal hearings were initially scheduled to last three weeks, which prompted some questions as to whether setting a time limit would unduly restrict Judge Levers’ defence. The likely duration must therefore be somewhat uncertain at this point.

As reported by Cayman Net News, the Tribunal proceedings will be open to the public, reportedly at the insistence of the Chairman, Sir Andrew Leggatt, and Judge Levers’ defence team.

The allegations against Judge Levers appear to centre on a number of complaints about inappropriate courtroom remarks, bias against parties involved in hearings and contributions to courthouse gossip.

In addition, the complaints against her also extend to an accusation that she may have been the clandestine author of one or more letters to the editor of Cayman Net News published in the summer of 2007 that were critical of the Cayman Islands judiciary.

The facts likely to be asserted by Judge Levers in her defence may well establish the truth of some or all of the allegations contained in the letters in question. Several requests by the Chief Justice to each of the recent series of Police Commissioners to investigate whether the publication of the letters brought the judiciary into disrepute or contempt were each reportedly rejected on the grounds that no such offence was disclosed on the face of the letters themselves.

However, according to Judge Henderson, the same letters formed an element in his 24 September arrest.

A former Cayman Net News employee, John Evans, an acknowledged acquaintance of Judge Henderson, admitted to entering the office of Cayman Net News publisher and editor in chief Desmond Seales for the purpose of looking for the originals of the letters in question following a conversation about them between Mr Evans and Mr Henderson, during which Mr Henderson had expressed “an interest” in the letters.

Both Mr Seales and Mr Evans are expected to give evidence at the Tribunal and Net News also understands that former SIO Bridger will return to the Cayman Islands to testify.