Spared Again,by His Grace but
Once again, the Cayman Islands has beenspared of the onslaught of an imminent natural disaster with thepassing of tropical storm Chantal.
This certainly must attest to the country'sblessings, which should not be taken for granted. Although theforecast said the storm's path was straight towards these islands,like so many times in the past, the hand of God stayed what couldbe a national disaster if the storm built up to hurricane windsand lashed these islands.
In the area of preparedness the NationalHurricane Committee, under the Chairmanship of the country's ChiefFire Officer, Kirkland Nixon, was an impressive example. This100 percent Caymanian-manned command centre, which falls underChief Nixon's purview, without much fanfare must be one if not the best-run department of the Cayman Islands Government.
One could not help but wonder, if many ofthe economic and operational ills which continue to beset theGovernment, including those of the National Flag Carrier CaymanAirways, were to be put under the control of Chief Nixon and hismen, there could undoubtedly be many gains in terms of good orderand discipline.
One of the remarks made to Cayman Net Newsduring a briefing last Sunday at the Command Centre, was thatChief Nixon always 'test drives beta tests', any new developmentswhich fall under his command, before he makes any announcementto the public.
This certainly could be taken as an exampleof how 'good ole Caymanian common sense' could work for its people,without the expenses undertaken to find out what is wrong witha good thing.
What was not good to hear during the heightof preparing for any advancement of Chantal on the Cayman Islands,were reports of price gouging by some hardware dealers who putup the prices on plywood by as much as 50 percent.
This is shameful.
The Cayman Islands and its people are reelingin an economy that is ever so stubborn to pick up. To face thistype of shylocking is a disgrace and can only serve as a testimonythat greed will always prey on any and every situation, even ifit means hurting your own.
While it is difficult to adhere to any formof price control in this free market economy, one would thinkthat the merchants who have taken advantage of an impending actof God, will answer some day to someone higher than themselves.
The season for hurricanes is far from over,and the manner in which we conduct ourselves, is most likely theway in which the Almighty will deal with this place if it persistsin ignoring the need to be sensitive to the country's presenteconomic predicament which is undoubtedly a world wide dilemma.
It is no wonder that so many folk resortto shopping overseas, instead of making a commitment to spendas much as they can here.
What the Cayman Islands needs right now,said an old-timer recently, is to "get back to the Bible".And who can doubt this, when it could be recalled that the mostpeaceful time the country can remember in the past 20 months,was when the Cayman Ministers Association, pulled the majorityof the Christian Community, their families and friends together some 10,000 persons, on 31 December 2000 from duskto dawn - to hold an all night celebration called Y2K 'YesTo King Jesus'.
The Cayman Islands needs something to celebrate.It is hoped that this will be its Christian Heritage which haspulled the country through many past economic and natural storms.
This could be a reality if some will relenttheir quest for ultimate power fueled by monetary greed.