Press Release: TCI Community College students protest

#TurksandCaicos, April 2, 2018 – Grand Turk – The TCI Community College is an institution where students learn about people who stood up for causes over the years and they decided there was a worthy cause that warranted a stand recently.  Several students from the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College protested about the situation with the inconsistency of the water supply to the College’s Grand Turk Campus.

The Minister of Education, Hon Karen Malcolm was presented with a letter from the students which outlined the points of contention.  Senior management did not receive any information, neither was the planned action discussed with the College’s management.

The students acted within their rights in bringing attention to the situation at the College.   However, had they discussed their concerns with management beforehand they would have been apprised of what had been approved for refurbishment and upgrading at the College.

Dr. Fulford noted, “The correspondence was well written, polite and it outlined the facts of the situation and the response to that situation by students who wanted to see the matter addressed properly.”

It must be noted that Dr. Fulford confirmed that the problems highlighted were ‘years in the making’.  The issues had been reported to the personnel responsible for the water supply, the Permanent Secretary and the Minister over the years.

The water supply sits on the southern side of the island and the College Campus on the northern point as among the last stops.  There has always been an issue with the water supply but it became even worse with the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Following the letter and the protest, the students met with the Premier, the Minister of Education, the Permanent Secretary and the Manager of the water facility.  The students were assured that the funding required to implement remedial solutions were already approved in Parliament, and the tendering process would be carried out to ensure that the works would be completed.

By protesting in this manner, the students stood up, not only for themselves but made mention of the Faculty and Administration, who were also being impacted by the deplorable conditions resulting from  the water situation.  Dr. Fulford congratulated the students for their organized stand and the situation stands now with everyone being aware of the plans for moving forward.

Release: TCI Community College