Letter to the Editor
Say No to Corruption
Dear Sir,
The people have spoken and in some districtsthey have screamed quietly at the polls. Interestingly one couldhave predicted many of the major personal defeats and some ofthe personal victories. The new young leaders are eager to haveand hold the reigns of power and yet not all seems to be kosherin the halls of power, but it never is.
The charisma and eventual victory at the polls sometimes existin an unbalanced proportion with the true dedication to publicservice and selflessness that a true leader should possess. Lookingback to history is often useful to clarify one's perception ofthe present.
While one must congratulate the winners, one should be mindfulthat some of the losers were not all bad and even though manya fault could be found with their leadership, there are just asmany very important admirable qualities which have been verifiedin the fire of time to have been present in at least one of them.
Without naming anyone, those of you who have lived here for sometime can identify at least one politician whose personal wealth,has not escalated exponentially during his many terms in officedespite holding positions that could easily have been used forpersonal gain. He has no reservations about disclosing his holdingsbecause they are not ill gotten.
Personal honesty and integrity in the face of constant temptationis not easily maintained and one hopes that it is not forgottenor taken for granted when someone neglects personal business yearin and year out in an attempt to serve at the highest level andyet to this day can hold his head high and deny any accusationsof corruption. Indeed in the many years that I have been livinghere I have personally never heard that sort of allegation leveledat this individual. Not so for many others.
The present young leadership especially the Leader of GovernmentBusiness should make similar personal commitments to the peopleand remember the old adage about the "one bad apple".The Leader of Government Business in particular has the confidenceand trust of the people and regardless of what any of the othersmay get up to, he should remain incorruptible.
They should distance themselves from corruption and even the appearanceof corruption must be avoided if their "open" styleof government is to be achieved. I do not believe the Cayman Islandspeople are willing to endure a "den of thieves" evenwith a few honest ones interspersed. The Leader of GovernmentBusines, in all the dealings of all the Ministries, must insistupon openness and transparency if he is to maintain his considerablepresent credibility. Where personal integrity is concerned thereshould be no more horse-trading and no more compromise, only truth.
The Minister of Education on the other hand has a mammoth jobon his hands, since in my view, one of his responsibilities isto raise the general level of education of the voting public especiallythe youth, so that they may make increasingly wiser choices atthe polls. Since a democratic country gets the Government it deserves,one hopes that by enlightening the public on the matters facingthese islands and the quality of leadership required to deal withthese matters, the choices made at the polling booth in four yearswould be influenced more by ability and dedication than by otherless important qualities.
Let me conclude by suggesting that the new Deputy Speaker mayhave made an excellent Minister of Labour, who knows? There arepeople in this country who earn $3.00 an hour if and when theyare allowed to work. Not everyone is living the good life. Caymanianshave always been a seafaring people yet they have lost controlof water sports in their own Island which I might add is beingsold piecemeal left right and center by non Caymanian real estateestablishments to non-Caymanian people who then raise the priceof real estate beyond the reach of the very people from whom theybought it.
Young Caymanian professionals are returning home to closed doorswhile the doormen looks over his whiskey and soda and twinklebright little eyes at you. Not all the important negotiationstake place in London, some need to take place right here on theWest Bay Road, on Hospital Road, North Church Street, South ChurchStreet , and Elgin Avenue and very soon. I have every confidencethat with God's help this present leadership will at least trytheir best to accomplish most of what the Caymanian people putthem there to do.
Dr. Victor Look Loy
Savannah