No rush to ticket illegal construction, fine system still months away says TCI Infrastructure Minister

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – March 22, 2018 – There are warnings only for now when it comes to the illegal construction happening around the Turks and Caicos Islands, and that will continue until the ticketing system is enacted into law.

The new ticketing system to toughen building standards and enforcement was approved at Parliament in February 2018.

In a one on one with Magnetic Media, Infrastructure, Planning and Housing Minister, Goldray Ewing explained that Planning Department officers are in the field doing advance work and there is no rush to exact penalties on those disregarding the law.

“We are actually moving around and giving people notice and warning them; we can’t just spring a ticket on somebody just like that.  We are giving them a chance to clean up their act and if they don’t then we move ahead with giving them the ticket for not complying.”

The warnings have been going on for weeks now, explained Minister Ewing at the time of the interview which was in late February.  Just the day before, the National Physical Development Plan consultant had been approved by Cabinet which further cements the need for quality and legal constructions.  n

“We want people to comply and when you resist or do not want to comply, then you will be ticketed but that first warning will be there to say, ‘hey you’re in violation, you need to get this done in such and such a time’ and we will follow up and if it is not done, then we will issue the ticket.”

The penalty for constructing structures without Planning Department approval will be the ticket with a fine levied at offenders.

Minister Ewing, when asked the price of the ticket said, “…its huge, its at $10,000 max and it will range from $500 to $10,000.”

It is expected that the ticketing system by the Department of Physical Planning, which has recently boosted its manpower, will be in place within the next three months.