Auditor general says public financial management 'not improving'
Watchdog's latest report lands as the opposition leader points to weaker trade figures and a bigger financial assistance budget.
The Office of the Auditor General's latest report warned that management of Cayman Islands government finances "is not improving", the Cayman Compass reported. It arrived alongside the opposition leader's call for targeted action on what the Cayman Independent described as signs of an economic slowdown, including weaker trade figures and a larger financial assistance budget.
On spending, Premier André Ebanks defended Cabinet's decision to pay top price for a private-sector pre-school in West Bay to allow expansion of the district's government primary school, arguing it is cheaper than building from scratch, according to Cayman News Service. The education minister said intervention must begin at birth as government allocated $3.7 million to recruit school counsellors, psychologists and inclusion specialists, the Compass reported. A separate Compass piece examined school meals, noting nearly every public school child receives free meals and attention is now on what is actually eaten.
The Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability reopened consultation on the revised Public Health Bill, 2026 and Environmental Health Bill, 2026, with feedback due by Monday 16 November. Cayman News Service noted the bills were withdrawn from the last parliamentary sitting after significant feedback; Cayman Marl Road and the Cayman Independent also carried the notice. The blood bank issued an urgent appeal for type O donors as stocks run low, and the chief medical officer flagged low teen vaccination rates.
In the private sector, Appleby advised on a US$75 million biotech investment IPO of 7.5 million shares at US$10 each. The CICBD is running a free technology workshop for small businesses led by Netclues, while Eightpoint is backing a three-year beach plastics effort. Truman Bodden Law School hosted a session on AML compliance risks in the legal sector.
Police are investigating a West Bay shooting in which a male teenager was shot multiple times on Watercourse Road on Monday night, CNS reported.