Hon Rolston Anglin Education Minister	Alden McLaughlin Former Education Minister

By Mwangi Ngamate
mwangi@caymannetnews.com

Former education minister Alden McLaughlin is urging his successor, Hon Rolston Anglin to accept the responsibility his job requires in delivering the schools that Cayman’s students will be expecting in the beginning of the next academic year.

Mr McLaughlin, who served as Minister of Education in the People’s Progressive Party (PPM) Government from 2005 to 2009, was referring to the recent halt in the construction projects of the John Gray and Clifton Hunter high schools, two state-of-the-art schools he initiated during his tenure.

Construction on the new schools came to a halt again last Friday when the general contractor, Tom Jones International (TJI), withdrew its services, reportedly citing a lack of sufficient government funding.

The current Minister of Education, Mr Anglin noted, however, that all certified payments due to TJI have been made, and there are currently no outstanding amounts due.

The minister, in a statement last week following TJI’s announcement of a halt in construction, said he had worked diligently on what was stated as humanly possible to ensure that work at both campuses would be completed by the end of the year. Mr Anglin, however, noted that the contractor was bent on holding the country for ransom by making unwarranted and unreasonable demands, that were not in the best interests of the Cayman Islands.

“I know only too well how difficult and indeed unreasonable TJI can be, but notwithstanding this, the minister should look for a solution avoiding, as far as possible, litigation or having another contractor take over,” Mr. McLaughlin said, noting that either of these alternatives would both delay and skyrocket the costs of the project.

“During my 20 years as a lawyer, litigation was the last option I advised my clients to take. It is both expensive and counter-productive,” the former education minister said.

“The minister should stop the ‘macho’ approach and do what is necessary for the projects to continue,” Mr McLaughlin said, noting that the portfolio of Ministry of Education was a challenging one, but that the Minister should carry out his obligations.

“He needs to spend less time blaming the previous administration. His responsibility for the next four years, if he will remain minister, is to fulfill the requirements of the portfolio,” Mr McLaughlin noted. “He must do more than pay lip service to his commitment to have these schools completed.”

Responding to Mr Anglin’s statement that he (Mr McLaughlin) had agreed things with the contractor that were not in the best interest of the Cayman Islands, the former education minister said that this was untrue and demonstrated a lack of understanding by the current minister of what had actually transpired.

“The efforts which we made to resolve the cash crunch which TJI was facing back in January this year resulted in the projects continuing, did not expose the Government to liability and did not increase the amount payable under the contracts,” Mr McLaughlin explained.

“All that we agreed to was to pay any monies due TJI under the contract directly to the bank as a means of securing the line of credit which TJI wished to open. The alternative would likely have been the situation the current minister is facing now, work stoppage,” he added.

The former minister said that both projects were scheduled for completion in time for the next school year in September, throwing out an allegation made by Mr Anglin that he (Mr McLaughlin) was aware that the campuses would not be complete by the end of the school year.

“The only portion that would not have been complete by September would have been the fourth academy in the Clifton Hunter, if a decision was taken to build that, but other works would have been complete,” he said.

Efforts to reach the current Minister of Education, Hon Rolston Anglin for comment were unsuccessful up to press time.