The British Government is refusing to provide substantial financial aid to restore Grand Cayman?s infrastructure until it has conducted an economic and financial assessment.

And despite an urgent request from the Cayman Islands? Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush for aid, the UK has said it is only prepared to do that at the end of the month.

And Mr. Bush agreed that, while he is ?loyal to the Crown,? Whitehall?s response had inspired thoughts of independence.

Mr. Bush, accompanied by the Cayman Island?s the Financial Secretary designate and the Minister of Planning, jetted off to London last week to impress upon Whitehall the urgency of the situation and plead for aid.

But he returned to Grand Cayman on Saturday with news that Britain was only prepared to conduct an economic and financial assessment by the end of the month.

?We felt we had an obligation to our people who are really in tremendous need at this time to go and make our case to the United Kingdom Government and we did that,? he said.

?The result is that the Minister, Mr. Rammell, reminded us that we are not Montserrat. In other words Cayman is much more wealthy.?

He added: ?And what ended up was that they will do an economic assessment of the country so there will be openness and transparency, according to him, and the report hopefully will take place at the end of the month. That?s basically what we got from them.?

A clearly disappointed Mr. Bush said that he had impressed upon Overseas Territories Minister Bill Rammell that they had a responsibility to Grand Cayman.

?They have a responsibility, they have an international obligation,? he said. ?If we have international obligations that the Cayman Islands must follow, then this is one they are responsible for.

?They are accountable for us and certainly if they want to go that far and not be as quick to jump and do the things that are blatantly necessary then I hope that when the financial and economic assessment is done, no one will be able to say that there?s no damage, and tremendous damage.?

Mr. Bush said he was also disappointed that to date no British Government Minister had visited the Island to see for themselves the catastrophe that had befallen Grand Cayman, even though he had extended an invitation.

Asked whether he thought the Cayman Islands would have been better of as an independent state, he said the subject had been ?mulled over in the last couple of days? but he was not prepared to comment.

?What I do know is the vast majority of the people of Cayman are still loyal to the Crown. And I am loyal to the Crown,? he continued.

?Independence is not on my agenda, I have no mandate for it.?

But he agreed that the situation had inspired some thoughts of Independence.

?You would have to be a dead man if it didn?t,? he said. ?It makes you think ? let me put it that way. But then you should never cut your nose to spite your face.?

Asked what role Governor Bruce Dinwiddy had played in alerting Whitehall to the gravity of the situation, Mr. Bush said that the Governor had claimed that he had ?pleaded? for assistance the day after the storm had subsided.

?The Governor in our constitution is in charge. We advise him,? he noted. ?When I came to see him on the Monday morning, as soon as I could get out of my constituency, obviously the man had been through a lot of shock ? I should say that in his defence. He said to me he had been on the phone for a long time. But he also said he had been pleading with them. That?s what he said. I can only tell you that he said he had contacted them.?

The Cayman Government estimates that the bill for repairing and rebuilding the Island?s schools will come to about $80 million, and another $15 million will be needed for temporary repairs to the roads.

It is clear that the Cayman Islands could also do with more assistance of the kind being provided by the Bermuda Regiment.

In an earlier interview, Mr. Dinwiddy stressed that he appreciated how ?ghastly? the situation in Grand Cayman was.

He refused to say what he had asked the UK for in the immediate aftermath of hurricane Ivan which devastated Grand Cayman.

But Mr. Dinwiddy defended Whitehall, saying they had already provided technical assistance, as well as emergency supplies such as tarpaulins, water and water purification tablets to the colony.

?I?ve had a lot of contact with the British Government and it?s not for me to say what I?ve asked for and what I haven?t asked for,? he said.

?But I would not underestimate what the British have done already here.?

And he had a few thinly veiled criticisms for the elected government members. American disaster recovery consultancy James Lee Witt and Co. had been contracted as advisors, he pointed out.

?I don?t think it?s for me, as Governor, to comment on how long it took to decide we should employ this company ? this is a decision essentially for the elected Government, not for me.?Similarly we are in discussions with a debris removal company in the US who would come in and clean up the mess on a schedule.?

The Governor plays a direct role in the running of the Cayman Islands and even chairs Cabinet meetings. He pointed out that all decisions immediately after the hurricane were made in consultation with the elected members of Government and Mr. Bush had attended every meeting.

?I spend a lot more time representing the Cayman Islands in the UK than I do representing the UK in the Cayman Islands,? he said when questioned about his role.

Mr. Dinwiddy added that he had ultimate power and responsibility.

But he added: ?Much is said about the Governor controlling the agenda and so on, which in practice I have the power to control the agenda. But it is not a power I exercise.?

He said the assistance given by the Bermuda Regiment was ?fantastic?. ?If the British Government had offered 500 troops it would have been fantastic too. The British army is quite heavily extended and it?s not the sort of work the British army does.?

And he pointed out that Mr. Bush had written an open letter on September 21 which indicated that he was happy with the level of assistance already given.

?If the elected Government had felt so strongly about the lack of UK response I would have thought that that letter would have said so.?

Any criticism of the British Government?s response to the catastrophe should be made to the British Government, he continued.