A Night for Those Who Brought Us through the Storm Safely

The Leader of Government Business on Saturday (12 February) feted those whose sacrifice took us safely through the worst disaster in terms of damage in recorded history – Hurricane Ivan—at a gala affair at Pedro Castle. The keynote speaker for the event, Hon. McKeeva Bush, who is directly responsible for the Islands’ reconstruction, described his vision for Cayman’s recovery.

The event, made possible through the generous donations of many individuals and companies, featured a silent auction as a means of raising additional recovery funds.

The following are excerpts from the LoGB’s speech:

“We recognize this evening not only those whose sacrifice brought many of us safely through the storm and sustained us in the aftermath. But this evening we also honour those who, both individually and collectively, prepared our islands to withstand the impact.

Through their foresight, years of planning and hard work, many lives were spared. We will never know the number, but we all appreciate that we could have been devastated in terms of the loss of human life! And we must give due honour to those who laboured behind the scenes over many years.

For all of these individuals and groups, tonight is your night! On behalf of the Government and people, I thank you.

And, now that we are safely over the initial hump of the devastation, we call on everyone to continue the upward journey. With the help of all of you, we will continue to move in the right direction.

And that must bring some pride. For there has never been a country, hit as we were, which has remained the same – as UN representatives told us when they visited.

But through it all, we had no doubt in which direction we would go. We have always felt deep within our souls that we would not only come back – but we would do so better and stronger. And we are still very fervent about that determination.

But we are not there yet — and we must not be weary in well doing.

While we recognize the good that has been done so far, we must keep our eyes focused on the goals ahead:

• to have everyone resettled in their homes; and I am not just speaking about habitable homes; we want to have people re-established in homes that recapture the standard of living we had before Ivan.
• to replant and beautify Cayman, to have again a verdant and blooming country.
• to maintain Cayman’s reputation as a safe and peaceful vacation spot. Recovery encompasses the social and psychological, as well as the physical; we may need to place greater resources in our social and support programmes.
• to see even greater vibrancy in the small business sector that suffered so much from the impact of Ivan.
• to see government and the private sector embark on an intensive international marketing and sales promotion programme. We already have a pressured public budget – we will need help in this process of restoring vitality and in renewing our products.

All of these are areas in which we must all continue to involve ourselves – from the personal to the financial, and beyond.

So our work is not yet done – and like others before me, I renew the battle cry today.

The choice is in our own hands…. We can have the greatest failure or the greatest triumph – as we choose. There is the victory we have now to win. Let us go forward together.

On behalf of the Government and the people of the Cayman Islands, thank you, and may God continue to bless you all.”

In further remarks, the LoGB said that while he continued to hope for international aid, he sympathized with nations, both global and regional, that suffered through much more severe disasters.

And he appealed for us to continue to be our brothers’ keepers. “Let not the spirit shown after September 11 disappear,” he urged. “We need that now more than ever.”