Turks and Caicos Post Cabinet Meeting Statement

Grand Turk, January 24, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – His Excellency the Governor, Dr John Freeman, chaired the 3^rd meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, 23 January 2019, at the Government Compound Office on Grand Turk.

All Ministers were present.

At this meeting Cabinet:

• Authorised Invest TCI to draw up a new Development Agreement on a conditional basis between Vista Development Ltd (TCI Toscana GP Ltd) and TCIG restating the terms of the expired Development Agreement and setting a new conditionality date of 31 December 2019;

• Approved a request for additional funding for the Prison from the Contingency Fund for the amount of $120,000 for rations and prisoner discharge allowances;

• Considered the report by the consultancy firm, Castalia Ltd, on Fortis TCI Ltd’s proposals for rate and regulatory reform and made recommendations to the Ministry;

• Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve recommendations for inclusion in the draft Hotel and Restaurant Ordinance (Amnesty, Validation, Variation) (Amendment) Bills 2018 which will be forwarded in due course to the House of Assembly for approval;

• Cabinet noted the recommendation of the Procurement Board on the award of the following contract in accordance with the Public Procurement Ordinance: TR 18/15 Reinstatement of Government Buildings All Islands – Lot 1 Crown Land Building, Grand Turk and Lot 2 Ministry of Education, Grand Turk. Cabinet approved the reallocation of funding under Development Project No. PN 005478 from sub-project Crown Land Building, Grand Turk, to sub-project Ministry of Education, Grand Turk;

• Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve, in principle, the final consultancy report on the “Strategic Analysis of TCI’s Financial Services Sector” subject to comments received being incorporated;

• Noted and discussed the financial performance of the TCI Statutory Bodies for the period July – September 2018 as reported by the Accountant General in the 2^ndQuarter Financial Report 2018/19 submitted in accordance with Section 148 (1) of the Public Finance Management Regulations;

• Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the Wildlife Conservation and Trade Bill 2018 for forwarding to the House of Assembly for approval. The Bill would be subject to any amendments proposed by the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES);

• His Excellency the Governor raised the question of additional resources for the RTCIPF following concerns raised by the Commissioner of Police;

• The Hon. Deputy Premier raised the escalating cost of repatriations of illegal migrants;

• The Hon. Minister of Tourism, Environment, Heritage and Gaming and the Hon. Premier provided an up-date on plans for the removal of the Mega One Triton vessel from Governor’s Beach on Grand Turk;

• At the request of The Hon. Minister of Tourism, Environment, Heritage and Gaming, received an up-date by Her Excellency the Deputy Governor on the recruitment of vector control and emergency services staff on Middle Caicos;

• Received an up-date by the Hon. Premier on the visit to TCI on 24 January by the Bahamian Foreign Minister and officials to discuss co-operation to tackle illegal migration;

• Noted the approval by Cabinet by round robin of Planning Application PR 13836 for outline development permission for the construction of a Government Primary School and Special Needs Centre on Crown Land Parcel 61113/268 at Long Bay, Providenciales in accordance with the Physical Planning Ordinance 2014;

Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.

Release: Governor’s Office