6th June 2019

Cayman Islands politicians no-show at anti-corruption seminar

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By CNC

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (CNS) – No elected ministers, government backbench or even opposition Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were in attendance for the opening of a regional Commonwealth anti-corruption seminar Monday, even though invitations were sent to all 19 members.

While the governor and senior civil servants attended the opening with guest speaker Baroness Scotland, there was not a single politician in sight. Standards in public life commission chairperson Rosie Whittaker-Myles told CNS she was disappointed that no one was there from the elected arm of government.

Governor Martyn Roper refused to comment on their absence. However, he did raise the issue of government’s failure to implement the Standards in Public Life Law, five years after it was first passed in the legislative assembly.

He told CNS that the legislation is undergoing a final review and letters have been sent to statutory board members to find out what issues still need to be addressed that have caused concern for those who are serving as volunteers. He said he was keen to see the law enforced as soon as possible.

In his address to the conference, Roper said he took his responsibility for good governance seriously and attached great importance to implementing the law. But he noted that despite not having the legislation, the Commission for Standards in Public Life was not sitting idle and was seeking ways to carry out its constitutional remit of preventing conflicts of interest and corruption in the public service.

Roper said the Anti-Corruption Commission, a sibling to the Standards in Public Life Commission, was also a strong and active oversight body and the civil service now has whistleblower and anti-fraud policies in place.

In her address to the conference, Whittaker-Myles said strides had been made towards the common goal of eradicating corruption in the region but there was more to be done and the only way to succeed in the fight against corruption was to “strengthen our own ethical resolve; to lobby our respective governments for the resources and laws needed to carry out our mandate.”

Speaking after the opening sessions, she told CNS that the absence of the law continued to hamper the commission’s work and that concerns she and her members raised recently about issues with the Register of Interests at the legislative assembly had still not been addressed.

Whittaker-Myles said that without the necessary legislation they were unable to hold the members to account and that the register remained the responsibility of the parliament.

Once the law is implemented, however, Whittaker-Myles said that a priority for the commission will be to follow up on concerns the members have about the MLAs’ declarations.

Republished with permission of Cayman News Service

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