Providenciales, 14 Apr 2015 – Some islanders are feeling a sense of disconnect and exercised no restraint when it came to expressing themselves when Cabinet Ministers and their Member of Parliament turned up for public meetings last week.
There was a strong demand for better representation from residents of North and Middle Caicos when the Premier, Minister for Home Affairs George Lightbourne and Member of Parliament for the two islands, Minister DonHue Gardiner met with them on Friday in an afternoon town hall meeting.
PTV8 was there, with cameras rolling to capture the frustrations and concerns of residents who say they feel ‘forgotten.’
Among the issues, that since December, the District Commissioner has resigned and no one has been hired to fill the post.
Minister Gardiner shared that both islands will get its own DC and explained that interviews for the North Caicos District Commissioner will begin soon with the Middle Caicos DC job becoming available this month.
It seemed to catch both Minister Gardiner and the Premier off guard that there is no vehicle on the islands for Immigration Officers, despite there reportedly having been a report to the Director.
Additionally, North and Middle Immigration officials say there are actually planes landing on the island of North Caicos at the unmanned airport; the Minister said that is not supposed to be happening without proper authorization from the Airports Authority; and yet it is.
It seemed to satisfy the residents that there is a budget allocation of $180,000 for Middle Caicos.
