It is not uncommon for those in power, in whichever country they reign’, to lose touch with the common man. And while we would not expect US President George W Bush to answer his cell phone to a concerned citizen with a question or genuine concern, in a small community the local political body cannot afford to distance themselves from the people and must give them direct access to the democratic process.
The Cayman Islands has a small legislature which is to be expected considering the size of the country’s population, but because that figure does not always reflect the full story about the complex issues faced by many here, the representation of the people in this country’s political landscape is undermined when the few politicians are too busy to address their needs and concerns.
Without one-member constituencies, the people of the Cayman Islands must be able to contact at least someone in Government when they have a question or are concerned over local issues.
Often, in frustration the population will turn to the media and blame this newspaper and other news organizations if we cannot provide answers on our pages to their queries, or if they do not believe we have covered an issue from all angles. However like the populace at large we can’t always get answers to our questions either.
As noted in today’s regular feature My Take, by columnist Carol Hay, there are a lot of issues and important political concerns being debated and raised at the moment from the constitution, to human rights and law reform.
All of this comes on top of immigration problems and changes, teaching and educational concerns, a spiralling cost of living and now cuts in the workforce of one of Cayman’s biggest employers.
With so many things happening, the media has to seek out whatever information it can from whichever sources are forthcoming to put together reports that can explain to the people exactly what is going on in their country and to help them prioritise what is important to them, be it captive dolphins or immigration.
The most important source of information however for all media houses to fulfil their role of divulging the most important issues of the day to the public, is Government.
And it is not always easy to find the answers to the day’s pressing questions from the country’s political representatives.
Although the Government Ministers are busy and are compelled to prioritise their day-to- day ministerial duties, it is essential that they do not neglect the people.
It may be that the Ministers need more support staff that can answer the questions that the media needs to ask on behalf of the people or to address the concerns of the electorate directly.
The key factor is that Government ensures communication flows more freely and above all there is a way to find things out even when they are busy.
Although the current People’s Progressive Movement, (PPM) Administration has been the first Government to introduce a weekly press briefing to help with information flow, in a way the briefings have raised the need for even more communication.
Often the short two hours or so given over to the sessions, means the briefings are rarely long enough to address the multitude of questions that have been raised during the course of the previous week.
Direct access to Cabinet Ministers may be impractical because of their duties, but without an area or constituency member in the house how do the people access the democratic process?
It is essential that Government finds a way to offer a communication service that is meaningful for both the media and the people, without it the elected members will continue to lose touch and with that, the support of the people who but them in Parliament to represent them.
