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(CNS): The PACT Government must do more this year to help boost the “sluggish local economy” and help families and businesses through the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart said in a New Year message to the country. The Progressives leader said 2023 was likely to be a year of continued anxiety, given the increase in crime and the remaining economic uncertainties, but the opposition would push the government to do more.
“The government needs to end its complacency over the economic future of our islands and put in place the measures we have been advocating to drive future economic growth,” McTaggart said in his video message.
He said that as the cost of living has skyrocketed over the last 12 months, many people will be fearful for their jobs or their businesses or losing their homes this year. More must be done, he said, and throughout 2023 the Progressives would continue to challenge the government to do more and move faster. “They need to make up for their lost time in 2021 and 2022,” he added.
McTaggart said that despite being in opposition, the Progressives would “work hard to secure the best possible results” during the coming year, adding that the party’s dedication to the Cayman Islands and its people was “unwavering”.
“As we face the challenges ahead, we must not lose that sense of togetherness, for it is what our country is built upon. One of the unfortunate things about Westminster-style politics is that it casts elected politicians as ‘government’ and ‘opposition’. It creates a necessarily adversarial relationship but is also potentially destructive if we let it. We must not let that happen,” he said, as he committed to supporting the government where it gets things right.
But he said the government was “failing to deliver the action… at the pace necessary to overcome the challenges we face”. However, he urged the country to pull together and not fall into the trap of division.
“In recent years, we have seen signs that the togetherness, which has been Cayman’s hallmark for decades, has begun to erode,” he said. “We must not fall into that trap of division. It gets us nowhere and only prevents us from working together to solve the challenges we are facing now.” He said solutions to crime, economic problems and the climate emergency could only be found if people pull together, whatever their status, background or politics.
“This New Year, I hope we can rediscover the strength of unity that has bound us together in the past. That strength of unity and togetherness has seen us grow from small island anonymity to an economic powerhouse. It has brought prosperity and achievement. It has overcome adversity. It can do so again,” he added.
See McTaggart’s full address below:
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