(CMR) Ezzard Miller was celebrated recently for his contribution to the Cayman Islands public service, particularly through his Chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) from 2009 until 2021. The ceremony was attended by a small group of staff from the Office of the Auditor General, Government and Parliament along with two other special guests and Mrs. Miller.
Mr. Miller was first elected as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for North Side in 1984, and during his second term in office from 1988 to 1992, he served as Government Minister for Health and Social Services. After a period working in the private sector, Mr. Miller returned to the Legislative Assembly after being re-elected as MLA for North Side in 2009. He became PAC Chairman that year and served as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee for a large part of the period between 2009 and 2021.
The celebratory event was timed to mark a year’s anniversary of the last meeting of the previous PAC in February 2021.
Auditor General, Sue Winspear, presented Mr. Miller with a plaque commemorating his contribution and tributes were paid by all in attendance, including the Deputy Governor who commented on how Mr. Miller had really developed the role of the Public Accounts Committee and made the importance of oversight bodies such as the Office of the Auditor-General relevant to ordinary people.
Sue Winspear said “I think it very important that the considerable contributions of Mr. Miller are recognized. Under the years of his stewardship of PAC, Cayman moved from having virtually no public sector entities with unqualified financial statements to the other extreme now whereby a qualification on a set of entity financial statements is seen as a rarity.”
Winspear continued, “Other significant things driven through during his tenure on PAC include improvements to public sector procurements through the introduction of the Procurement Act, improvements in the management of major capital projects, and improvements to Statutory Authority and Government Companies governance through the Public Authorities Act.”
Mr. Miller commented, “I truly appreciate this recognition by the Office of the Auditor-General for my contribution as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, but all the credit for the improvements in the public finances is not mine, much of this credit belongs to the Auditor General, her hard-working staff and to the civil servants, particularly those in the Ministry of Finance who accepted most of the challenges the Public Accounts Committee issued. I would also like to acknowledge the members of the Public Accounts Committee over the years, especially Hon. Sanders, for their hard work and commitment.”
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