Henry Ormond Morgan Independent candidate for West Bay

By Tad Stoner
tad@caymannetnews.com

Determined to cut crime, combat smuggling and deliver security to the Cayman Islands, and to repair the reputation of West Bay, Henry Ormond Morgan has declared his independent candidacy for the district.

Mr Morgan, 60, offers a steely determination to combat the triple crisis he believes has beset the Cayman Islands, and says he will fight to restore traditional values of respect for people and the land.

“I’m a hard liner,” he said, offering no excuses for his vision of an orderly society where people live without fear, “and I’m fair-minded. What got me interested in running is that I see a country that has been not just left behind, but the present situation is we are into a crisis – economic and social and of development.

“The infrastructure is unable to cope with the enormous amount of development. You see buildings and traffic congestion and fast growth, but there has been no plan to control it,” he said, fearing for the example of south Florida, which he has seen grow from “streets and avenues, to highways and boulevards”, to multi-lane interstates, which have largely overwhelmed the landscape.

“Enormous amounts of money have been spent. There is out-of-control government spending, and I don’t see where we are doing it properly,” he said.

“I’m a pretty cool guy until there comes a stage when I blow my horn,” Mr Morgan explained, saying that everything changed for him in March 2006 when two men robbed the Cayman National Bank at the four-way stop in West Bay.

“That was the moment for me, and I decided then and there that enough was enough. I saw battalions of police lined up from the governor’s mansion to West Bay. It was disheartening and insulting to me as a West Bayer, and I decided action needed to be taken.”

The West Bay Action Committee was the result, an organisation of between 46 people and 50 people that have pledged themselves as a sort of district-level “neighbourhood watch” group. Mr Morgan is uncompromising about the needs he sees.

“We have been pushing for national security for this island, and the day Estella [Scott-Roberts, murdered in October and incinerated in her burnt-out car in Barker’s] was found, we told the governor in no uncertain terms that we wanted serious and stern action.”

A subsequent conversation with former Acting Commissioner of Police David George proved unsatisfactory and Mr Morgan started making plans.

“Our intention is to shut the place as tight as a propane tank,” he said of the Barker’s area, “and all we heard were mildewed excuses from the police. So we found someone to finance a sophisticated closed-circuit TV system, monitored from more than one location. People are tired of promises and want to see action, and we will have that shortly in place.”

Mindful of security, Mr Morgan declined to describe the system in detail, but said the 150-acre park – and even “a couple of miles” of adjacent wilderness – would be covered by a multitude of cameras, “some as small as a flashlight battery. They’ll be all over the place, and we want to work with the government and put some wardens in there as a priority.

“The game is over. We want to make the Cayman Islands one of the most secure areas in the Western Hemisphere. We have a plan and no more excuses, ifs, ands or buts. We see what must be done,” he said.

The 60-year-old tour operator is an original shareholder in the Hon McKeeva Bush-founded Land and Sea Corporation, a West Bay association for the tourism industry, although he says the group “could use a little fresh blood and some fresh ideas”, including, he said, a proper public-transport system, sorely lacking throughout the island.

He also advocated creation of West Bay dock to move visitors in and out of the district, spreading tourist revenues and “giving local people a chance to control” local tourism enterprises.

“Is there is any scientific reason that people in West Bay can’t manage their environment?” he asked. “We need to keep our district clean. We need to decentralise the Department of the Environment in certain aspects.

“We have people in the district happy to work. We are taking charge and having pride in our district. West Bay is a peninsula and there are so many opportunities for development,” he said.

The centrepiece of Mr Morgan’s plans, however, remains security. His plan will help soak up unemployment, provide job training for youth and address problems of crime, drugs and illegal weapons.

“We propose bringing in a battalion, a regiment, of military police, approximately 50 of them, and they will be taken into the local police force where necessary,” he said.

“We will have camps where young Caymanians can be properly trained by these MPs. We want to see them on foot patrols throughout the whole island. These guys will be on beat patrols everywhere and you’re likely to find them at any given time.

“Once Caymanians are trained, there’ll be no need for these officers to be there, but the police now are in dire straits and need all the help they can get.”

He rejected accusations that he was suggesting a vigilante force in a police state.

“How else are you going to get security right?

How can women and children live in fear?

It’s not right. Crime is so unmanageable that all you hear any more are condolences. Well, we’re tired of hearing only condolences. Help is on the way,” Mr Morgan said.