‘DYSFUNCTION LED TO SPLIT’ CLAIM EX UPM COALITION MEMBERS

By Staff Writer

A common theme emerging from the two different accounts of life inside the governing United People’s Movement coalition, suggests that it was not united and in many instances ‘movement’ was in opposite directions.

Making a first public appearance as a team in a packed Seafarers Hall  about a fortnight after they quit the government were former Deputy Premier and Financial Services Minister - Andre Ebanks, former Minister for Sustainability- Kathryn Ebanks-Wilks, former Health Minister - Sabrina Turner and former Parliamentary Secretary Helen Bodden.

Together the four disaffected members gave their version of events that led to their abrupt withdrawal from the UPM coalition of Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, relaying tales of poor decision-making, failure to follow proper procedures, and general indications of a government working at cross purposes and in conflict with itself.

“Enough is enough!” ex-Deputy Premier Andre Ebanks declared adamantly.

“We held our nose and proceeded on it because we’re still trying to keep the team together,” he said in remarks that summed up a response to questions from the floor asking why they stayed on in the coalition if things were going so badly.

RIFTS

Rifts within the Caucus and Cabinet over several crucial issues were listed as the collective straws that ‘broke the camel’s back’. Among these were the Seven Mile Beach restoration, the controversial cruise port referendum, divisions over the National Conservation Act, deep splits and conflicting approaches regarding the future of the major Regen waste-to-energy project, and concerns over the rising cost of a new high school in Cayman Brac (the Premier’s constituency). 

Ex-Minister of Health Sabrina Turner made this observation: “What we saw being displayed in all honesty was almost ‘shut-up you don’t know what you’re saying’.”

“Who could continue in that condition?”, she asked defending her decision to pull out of Premier O’Connor-Connolly’s UPM coalition of independents.

“This is not about pointing fingers,” she said. “This is when you see something that does not look right, does not smell right, you cannot remain where they are; where you have three Cabinet ministers that would be constantly outnumbered by the five remaining.”

Detailing a list of grievances, former Sustainability Minister Kathryn Ebanks-Wilks lamented conflicting approaches to negotiations especially with the DART group over the state and future of the Regen waste-to-energy project for which she had portfolio responsibility.

She was the one who had made the bombshell announcement in Parliament that the project - the largest infrastructural undertaking in Cayman’s history - was being halted.

Stating that she too had no regrets about leaving the UPM coalition, Ebanks-Wilks explained: “When the Premier spoke about putting Cayman first, that’s why we’re here. We’re all aligned in what we feel and what we have done.”

Former Parliamentary Secretary Heather Bodden summed up her experiences in the UPM government saying, “I did everything I could, but there were days when my soul didn’t feel settled…I began to observe conduct that was not in keeping with my values, behaviour that I felt was sometimes inappropriate.”

She added: “I expressed my feelings and concerns at every opportunity I had, but I began to feel like my concerns were not being understood or addressed. I began to feel what many of you have spent so much time telling me you are feeling hopelessness.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

The big question now is ‘what’s next’ for the four independent ex members of the UPM government? Will they form a new party?

They have spoken of more public forums and also addressed the lack of political parties in Cayman during their Seafarers Hall session.

Independent MP Kathryn Ebanks-Wilks observed that compared to other Caribbean with their embedded system of political parties, Cayman is  “way behind with our politics”.

Her colleague Andre Ebanks remarked: “We are going to talk with multi-generations Caymanians to transform this country.”

“We are not done yet,” he noted.