TCI News
MM Clean Campaign – What is Littering
October 11, 2018 – Litter is nothing but a piece of waste or rubbish that has been disposed improperly, without consent and at wrong location. 
Littering simply means throwing away objects on the ground or leaving them lying on the ground instead of disposing them at garbage can, recycling bin or trash container. The waste that originates from houses, industries, factories should be placed either in recycling bin or waste to energy plant or at a site meant for disposing garbage.
Litter can originate from construction and demolition sites, households, uncovered trucks, pedestrians, and moving vehicles. Apart from that, unavailability of garbage bins and being too lazy to walk to a trash container are other reasons for littering. Uncovered trucks, pedestrians and moving vehicles are some other
As far as littering effects are concerned, it has economic, legal and environmental impact in the form of spending millions of dollars in cleaning up litter, huge fine if caught littering from vehicle and damage to our surroundings that can have effect on plants and animals and can cause loss to the local tourism industry.
Plain and simply, littering is wrong. We have trash and garbage cans for a reason, so why throw away your trash on the ground when you could throw it away in its intended place? People still litter, largely for the following reasons:
– Laziness
– The area is already messy, why bother finding a trash can?
– People don’t realize that with littering, there do come consequences
– The garbage cans are already overflowing
– My neighbor litters, so do I!
– 
Really? It’s just one paper!
– People are starving in Africa! What do you care about littering?
– The garbage can is too far away
The list could really go on forever. People come up with countless excuses to throw their piece of trash down on the ground instead of taking the short amount of time to find a garbage can and properly throw it away. But littering does have consequences, and here are some facts that may surprise you. They include, but are not limited to, ecological, financial and lawful consequences:
Facts About Littering
- Household waste, industrial waste, construction waste and other like packaging waste are most common types of sources of litter.
- It doesn’t look to nice. Places with high littering are also often riddled with crime, less values on homes and property, and are more likely to be the site of fires. You could ultimately end up losing money on your house.
- Litter on the ground degrades natural areas and kills plants and animals. All that it takes is for a cat to get stuck in a bottle or a bird getting caught up in a soda can holder.
- Billions of tons of litter are dumped into the ocean each year, and it is more than the 250 million trashes that is being generated each year too. When you toss your garbage on the sidewalk or on the highway, you may in reality be throwing it away into the Atlantic. This leads to the repeated killing of fish on a daily basis and the gradual depletion of marine life. Believe it or not, the litter we produce are causing more underwater species to become endangered.
Cigarette butts make up over half of our littered objects, and they take a grand total of ten years to decompose because of a cellulose acetate, contrary to the popular perception that cigarette butts decompose very quickly in only a matter of days. In reality, cigarette butts are a serious threat to the environment.
- The main causes of littering are laziness, ignorance, people don’t realize the effects of littering, the bins are dirty and not big enough, there are enough bins and moreover those bins aren’t emptied often enough, poor parenting and education, there is no fine for littering, one person can’t make a difference, no sense of pride, not bothered about effects of littering.
- The most common littered objects include the following in descending order: fast food, paper, aluminium, glass, and plastic. It turns out someone would rather toss their burger wrapper and empty soda on the street than find a garbage can, and not surprisingly, this is done on roadside and highways.
- Litter can be controlled. People need to be educated regarding ill effects of littering. Education plays an important role here. Children needs to be taught at elementary level as how littering can can cause environmental impact. They can also teach others they see littering and and teach them to dispose of garbage the right way.
- Litter is smelly and dirty and can be dangerous and unhealthy for our environment. It affects communities and people who live there. It could be poisonous for plants and animals. It can have a severe impact on tourism.
Fast food wrappers and aluminium cans are two most common type of items that are found while cleaning litter.
- Litter when not covered on a truck bed can cause it to blow out without the driver knowing.
- Do not throw litter from a vehicle as it may cause damage to surroundings and can have a bad effect on local tourism industry.
- Litter can hamper economic development of a community. When new businesses look for a dynamic growing community where their businesses can grow, they would hardly be interested in setting up new ventures, if they see a lot of litter around.
- Reducing litter is just a 3 step process: stop littering, pick up litter, report if you find someone littering illegally.
Article: Conserve Energy Future
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, 20 February 2026 — The Informal Settlements Unit (ISU), in collaboration with key
government agencies, coordinated a multi-agency enforcement exercise on Thursday, February 5, 2026, at Block and Parcel 60609/33 in the Five Cays area.
The exercise was led by the Crown Land Unit, pursuant to its statutory mandate under the Crown Land Ordinance to prevent squatting and encroachment on Crown land. The ISU coordinated the operation, with support provided by the Planning Department and the Turks and Caicos Islands Border Force, while the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force ensured security throughout the activity.
The enforcement action followed a series of inspections conducted by the Crown Land Unit throughout Five Cays, which identified several illegally constructed buildings made of concrete and timber on sections of the subject parcel. In keeping with the provisions of the Crown Land Ordinance, occupied structures were served Letters of Illegal Occupation, delivered by hand to occupants and
posted on structures where individuals were absent. Incomplete and unoccupied structures were served Notices of Unauthorized Occupation pursuant to section 22 of the Ordinance. A total of ten (10) Letters of Illegal Occupation and three (3) Notices of Unauthorized Occupation were issued during the exercise.
The Informal Settlements Unit reiterates that these coordinated enforcement exercises form part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to uphold the law, protect Crown land, and manage informal settlements in a structured and lawful manner. Members of the public are reminded that unauthorised occupation and development on Crown land is unlawful and subject to enforcement action.
Almost two million visitors recorded in 2025
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS – The Turks and Caicos Islands saw an increase in stayover arrivals in December, seven percent higher than the corresponding period in 2024.
Preliminary data suggests that stay over arrivals by air for the month of December was 66,427 in comparison to 62,610 in December 2024.
From January to December 2025, preliminary visitor arrival numbers totalled 640,754; on par with the number recorded for the same period of 2024.
Stay Over Arrivals YTD December 2024/2025
The first quarter of the calendar year attracted the largest number of arrivals with visitor arrivals three percent higher than the first quarter of 2024. Reduced airlift from the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably the Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue services, was however felt from the second quarter (April to June). As a result, visitor arrivals dropped three percent in the second quarter.
By the third quarter of this year (July to September), geopolitical and economic conditions in the key source markets, namely the United States, led to further contraction of arrivals. In the last quarter of 2025, arrivals were impacted in October due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa but additional airlift from the USA and Canada resulted in an increase in arrivals in November and December.
Mr. Paul Pennicook, Interim CEO Consultant of Experience Turks and Caicos, said December’s increase in stayover arrivals is an encouraging indicator of the sustained interest in the Turks and Caicos Islands as a premier destination.
“While we note and continue to monitor geopolitical shifts that affect us, Experience Turks and Caicos is focused on increasing marketing initiatives in our primary source markets. We have spent the last two years investing in groundwork such as crucial travel advisor training to assist them in selling the destination more effectively. In the next fiscal, we will be building on those initiatives with co-op activities with partners as well as out of home advertising to increase visitation to our destination,” he said.
In Cruise, the preliminary count of passenger arrivals for the month of December 2025 was 129,346, a 22 percent increase over last December. This growth follows the berthing of 11 additional ships in Grand Turk this month.
From January to December, the cruise sector continued to outperform the same period last year, as the 1.3 million total cruise passengers recorded, marks a five percent Year-on-Year increase. 
The cruise sector experienced significant growth in the first quarter of 2025, with passenger arrivals surpassing last quarter by 53 percent. In the second and third quarter however, several cruise lines adjusted their itineraries as vessels were pulled from the fleet or from the Caribbean region, which resulted in fewer passengers.
Arrivals dropped seven percent and 10 percent in the second and third quarters, respectively. Double digit growth was recorded in the last two months of Quarter 4. This growth however, was not sufficient to outweigh the drop in arrivals experienced in October, following the cancellation of cruise calls due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Despite the late-quarter rebound, arrivals for the final quarter of 2025 closed six percent below the same period in 2024.
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