News

There will be a greater British presence in the TCI

Published

7 years ago

August 3, 2017

Turks and Caicos, August 3, 2017 – Providenciales – When Colin Roberts, then Director for the Overseas Territories at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated that: “There will be a greater British presence in the Turks and Caicos Islands after the Elections”, meaning the 2012 Elections, many persons did not grasp the full gravity of those words or how far-reaching they would be! I would like to put those words in the context of pronouncement, real or imagined; that some nearly two thousand British troops will be descending on Turks and Caicos Islands to clean up the mess of illegal persons living within our borders.

I will start with the ominous words of Sir Robin Auld that there was “high probability of systemic corruption in government and the legislature and among public officers” in the Turks and Caicos Islands and that it must be stemmed from the root and branches. We saw the SIPT investigations and now the trials that have been ongoing for nearly two years of former Government ministers and associates for engaging in alleged acts of corruption, amongst other things. We see custom officers, immigration officials and as of late, police officers and officials being charged with corruption offences. Even though, to my recollection, no one has yet to serve a day in prison resulting from the prosecution of those offences; the mere fact that they are out there, raises the possibility of conviction and imprisonment.

Many of us may not be worried, but after I have laid out this analysis, there should be the need for greater concern in the indigenous Turks and Caicos Islander population – if, these two thousand or so British troops come to our shores. This notion might not be as farfetched as you might presume, because the Governor in his press release of 29^th July 2017 has intimated as much by his words “following recent incidents additional and specialised support (including from outside the Islands) is being put in place already”.

Let me start with the words enshrined in our 2011 Constitution which came into force in 2012. In Section 55, Qualifications of electors and entitlement to vote, reads:

“(1) (b) (ii) he or she is resident in the Islands and has been so resident for no less than twelve months, in the aggregate, out of the two years immediately preceding the qualifying date or he or she is a member of Her Majesty’s Forces…

Now, turning to the definition of Turks and Caicos Islander, under “Section 132 (2) An Ordinance shall prescribe the conditions under which a person may be granted the status of a Turks and Caicos Islander, and those conditions shall include, but not be limited to conditions set out in subsection (3). (3) The conditions referred to in subsection (2) are that – (a) an applicant is a British Overseas Territories Citizen by virtue of a connection with the Islands or a British Citizen who either – (ii) has been legally resident in the Islands for a period of at least ten years.”

With this in mind, when a number of public officers are removed by virtue of them being allegedly corrupt or charged with corruption, who better to fill the void than members of Her Majesty’s Forces. These persons would have been stationed or billeted here to clean up the immigration mess and secure our borders. By the time they would have captured and processed the illegal migrants, repatriated them as part of the exercise, a number of vacancies would have been created. The beautiful thing here is that not only will they fill these slots with members of Her Majesty’s Forces; their personnel will not be required to be in possession of work permits to work in the Turks and Caicos Islands. How egregious! More to that, they would be able to vote in the upcoming 2020 Elections! What disruptive a FORCE would these people be when they can vote for a British person who would have come to the Turks and Caicos Islands immediately following the suspension of the 2006 Constitution on 14 August, 2009?

Brexit is certainly a reality now. The British can start the draw-down of its troops responsibility to the EU, and no better place to put them, but here, as part of the resurgence of the real and true British Imperialism.

We have to certainly watch out for what will be on offered as greater ties to the apron-strings of the UK once talks begin in honest as part of the British disentanglement from Europe! What Trojan horse will they offer us in the guise of a better working relationship, when in truth and in fact, the times when we really and truly needed their help, they were absent.

We do not need any further strings to be attached for the British to live up to their Constitutional responsibilities. The current government must exact stringent terms as part of the exit strategy for the deployment of troops here to rid us of the illegal persons in our midst. We do not want to become like Jamaica when they had a snake infestation problem. The Jamaican government introduced the mongoose to eradicate the snakes, but when the snakes were gone the mongoose became an even bigger problem! If we don’t pay attention to the lessons of history – in particular Caribbean history, we are bound to repeat them!

Release: Royal Robinson

Caribbean News

Agriculture Ministry Providing Two Water Trucks to Serve St. Elizabeth and St. Catherine

Published

3 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Deandrea Hamilton

#Kingston, Jamaica, April 24, 2024 – The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining is to unveil two more water trucks this week, which will be used to service communities in St. Elizabeth and St. Catherine.

Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, made the disclosure during Wednesday’s (April 24) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

He also informed that of the $90 million earmarked to support farmers being impacted by the current drought, the Ministry will be providing additional support for storage and drip-irrigation systems.

“So, we have targeted about 600 water tanks and about 400 12-millimetre drip irrigation hoses, and that distribution has already started. Additionally, we have earmarked about $8 million to really help with our livestock farmers,” Mr. Green said.

“We know the difficulty that you’re facing now in this time; [it’s] very hard to get the right nutritional support for your animals. As such, we will be providing some hay, and we will [also] provide some trucking of water to you. Again, our livestock farmers, if you are in need, please contact the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and let us see how we can help in these times,” he further stated.

Mr. Green also encouraged farmers to download the RADA App, so that the Agency can “help guide you, not only in relation to what is happening on the rainfall side, but also in relation to your integrated pest management”.

“We do see some increases of certain types of pests during this time, and it’s important that our farmers are paying attention to that. It’s also important that you’re taking drought management seriously [by undertaking] soil mulching, looking at planting drought-tolerant crops, timely harvesting, implementing land husbandry treatments and contour ditches,” he stated.

Contact: Latonya Linton

Release: JIS

Photo Caption: Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, speaking during Wednesday’s (April 24) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

Donald De La Haye Photo

News

“Mad Max” Convicted of Murder

Published

1 day ago

April 23, 2024

Deandrea Hamilton

MEDIA RELEASE

#TurksandCaicos, April 23, 2024 – Blue Hills resident KENDALL RONDRE DEAN has been convicted of murdering JOSHUA SWANN.

Mr. Dean, also called “Maddie”, “Mad Max”, and “Dre”, was found guilty by a nine-member jury yesterday (April 22nd) in the Grand Turk Supreme Court.

Following the verdict, Mr. Dean was remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison, pending sentencing on 10th June 2024.

Based on the evidence presented, Mr. SWANN of Five Cays was shot multiple times about the body on Sunday, August 8th, 2021, while at North West Point, Providenciales.

Mr. Swann was transported to the Cheshire Hall Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Detectives of the Serious Crimes Unit received a report, and following intensive investigations and interviews, Mr. Dean was arrested and subsequently charged.

Shortly after the verdict, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rodney Adams said, “This conviction demonstrates the RTCIPF’s commitment to bringing to justice those who cause the most harm throughout our communities using illegal firearms.

“This is an example of the effective coordination of the various units across the Force in supporting the lead detective in bringing about this conviction. The RTCIPF is grateful for the information provided by witnesses who came forward.

News

Airports Authority aims for 24-hour airport and announces Scholarship programme

Published

6 days ago

April 19, 2024

Deandrea Hamilton

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, April 19, 2024 – In an attempt to move to 24-hour-a-day operations Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is steadily recruiting Air Traffic Controllers to work at the Providenciales/Howard Hamilton International Airport, according to Godfrey Smith, TCIAA CEO, reporting to the Appropriations Committee.

Speaking on April 8th Smith said a cabinet paper would be sent soon requesting six more Air Traffic Controllers to make round the clock operation at the Provo International possible and to open the airport in Grand Turk till 12 a.m.

Currently, 17 posts are filled and seven are vacant.

Smith was candid with his responses to recent industrial action from ATCs which led to resignations and firings.

“What we have to do is find systems to mitigate such actions and that has to start with filling these jobs, putting people in that want to work and doing right by people – and we always try to do right by our staff. Persons may not think that we are but we always do – we ain’t pick no fight,” he said in the meetings held at the NJS Francis building ahead of the National Budget Communication.

Smith indicated that recruitment was an issue across the board, ‘we need to find ways to recruit a little bit better’ he told the committee. Also in need of a push was capital spending or projects according to the CEO, who said the agency had ‘not been very good’ at meeting that mark but insisted they had recognized the issue and could do better.

A very important key performance indicator drawn up by the TCIAA is increasing passenger satisfaction at the Howard Hamilton International Airport. For the TCIAA part of this means a 30 percent increase in seating by Q2 of this year.

When queried on if they could even handle this increase the CEO said,

“The fact of the matter is we already have the capacity there. What we need is to make the service a bit better.”

Staff shortages have become such a frustrating issue that the TCIAA is instituting a scholarship program created by Authority Chairman, Selvyn Hawkins

“What the board wants to do is basically allocate $25,000 annually for a scholarship and they’ve approved it already.”

This process would cover tuition and all other costs for one student.

The student would return as a summer intern and other breaks to work at the TCIAA and upon graduation, assume a role at the company.

“We identify a particular skill we need, we go after it and we build capacity that is in a nutshell the nexus of the program,” Smith said.

The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is allocated $49 million this financial year; over $20 million goes to salaries.