Editorial
All eyes on the new team
There is much that has been, can be andwill be said about the remarkable turnover of power, which resultedfrom the Cayman Islands' 2000 General Election.
A multitude of things seems to us, to demandpriority and emphasis in any message, which goes abroad to themany people here and in places around the globe, which have aninterest in the Cayman Islands.
One very positive fact, though it mightappear to be taken for granted, is that the changeover from theprevious Government took place without any form of fear, slanderor violence. It was an example of democracy at work that manycountries would prize.
The only damage was to truth on occasion,but that is not unique at election times. The people voted withoutfear, intimidation or clouds of corruption; this situation isnot unique, either, though it is becoming rarer each day.
Other facts worth stressing amid the doubts,which are inevitable with such a sweeping, change is that, asfor, and have not been realised, is the required mandate for sweepingchanges in Immigration and the cost of living.
There was much talk of these issues duringthe campaigning, some of it compelling and most of it voiced solelyfor electoral advantage. But the only unequivocal statements madewere in outright promises, was to gain advantage to garner votes.
It is also valuable for Cayman-watchersabroad to have an appreciation for the factors, which persuadedthe voters to oust the elected members of the Executive Councilnot only from their government eminence but also from their seatsin the legislature.
It may also sound negative, but it is not,to say there is no evidence that the new Administration in poweris of political cohesion, though, they appear to be doing thingsmarkedly different from those they replaced. Caymanian politicsare without isms and parties, and the groupings that do come togetherdo so for reasons, which are specific, local and ephemeral.
The former ExCo so summarily dismissed havea right to feel hard done by. In the eight years in which theyhave had the country's affairs under their control Cayman didmake some notable progress.
What then, went wrong for the members defendingtheir records? Undoubtedly, they were held responsible for thedecline in the economy over the past two years. The fact is thatthis can be readily linked to the world recession from which theUnited States, which feeds our economy is struggling to recover.
Given the state of today's local economy,the down-to-earth realities of local unemployment are now present.No longer are there plenty and purses are tighter.
Then, there was no Master Plan, which theold team must now admit and regret not having in place to facethe onslaught of the declining economy. One only has to witnessthe huge drop in Companies incorporation and real estate sales,both in a near 30 percent deficit.
One comment, to take note of, is that thismedium should be 'bigging up' the economy, instead of callingit as it is.
Those, including public and private sectorleaders, who want to continue keeping their heads buried in themarl road and not accept that something must be done immediatelyto resuscitate the economy, are not only fooling themselves, theyare setting up this place for a fall.
The competition for tourism and investmentdollars is hot. Even our next-door neighbour Cuba and Trinidad,to the South, are going out of their way to attract tourism investmentswhich include all-inclusive resort properties. They are the preferredchoice of the modern-day traveler.
To stay in the tourism business, the CaymanIslands must re-tool its products. And this must include removingthe 'first shock' the tremendous cost of airfare to thisdestination.
Therefore, amidst talk of restructuringthe National Flag Carrier Cayman Airways to be self-sufficient,priority must be given to the need to make any new proposal toinclude a drastic reduction on operational costs. Should thisbe done, we stand a chance of retaining our Caribbean Tourismmarket share.