My title could easily have been “Twelve
(almost the same) Just Men”.

Or another one – “Almost Just Men”.

You see, there is a woman amongst the
twelve just men.

The new faces are Jaron Leslie, a
lawyer with Harneys; Roland Bodden, a surveyor; and the lone woman,
former manager of the National Trust, Christina McTaggart-Pineda.

So what am I referring to, if you
haven't already guessed?

Of course, the Central Planning
Authority – CPA.

The previous Cayman Islands Auditor
General raised concerns relating to the make-up of the CPA with its
chairman, A. L. Thompson, being the owner of Cayman's largest
hardware store where most of our building companies buy their
supplies.

Our residing Auditor General also
raised similar concerns and to rub the Auditor General's face into
the builder's yard, government have named the Deputy Chairman as
Robert Watler, owner of a leading local building construction
company.

The biasnes and the conflicts of
interest that have pervaded the CPA over its many terms (members are
appointed for three years) have been totally ignored by the
government of today and yesterday.

Why?

The only bright spark, almost like a
lighted candle in the wind, is the appointment of McTaggart-Pineda. I
can only assume she was placed to appease the growing unrest and
public opinion that the CPA will grant building permission to
practically anything because of their interests, and turn a blind
eye, or two, to all the concerns of the Environmental Department.

Bodden Town MLA, Chris Saunders, commented at one of the recent Public Accounts Committee meetings, “just about everybody sitting on that board is conflicted”.

Well, none of the genuine concerns
raised by everyone outside of the Twelve (nearly all Just Men) and
the governemnt have been met, and I for one are not surprised. There
is, I fear a Club, comprising of just men, and so it will remain.

Here are all the names:

Apologies to Mrs Christina McTaggart - Pineda.