TCI News
TCI: 185 Years since Emancipation Act 1834
#Providenciales, August 1, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – About 800,000 African slaves across the Caribbean, South Africa and Canada were made free as a result of the United Kingdom’s Abolition of Slavery Act 1834; the Act was passed in the UK in 1833 and took effect on this day August 1 in 1834.
It was legislated in the Act by the United Kingdom that a payout of £20,000,000 would go to slave owners to compensate them for their loss in property.
The property to which the Act was referring, were the African slaves who were either now immediately free or forced to undergo a new system called ‘apprenticeship’. Apprenticeship involved slaves continuing to work for four or six years with time-off and wages; it was meant to be a transition to full freedom.
Some had penned that it was far from liberating and only perpetuated the degrading treatment which gave the now freed people little choice for work and little money upon which to live.
Before, housing and food had been provided by slave masters. Now, the freed men and women and their children had to start from scratch with no financial support.
The Apprenticeship system was vehemently opposed across the region.
The Turks and Caicos National Museum, on its website reminds that the Abolitionist movement was not without Turks and Caicos mention thanks to the celebrated, Mary Prince.
Prince was a slave woman in the Turks and Caicos Islands, who managed to recant her experiences which were captured in print. The stories of Mary Prince, hundreds of years later, continue to give harrowing insight into the life of a female slave.
Mary Prince did not live to see the Emancipation Act of August 1, 1834 enacted. It is recorded that she died sometime in 1833.
According to published information on DiscoveringBristol.org, a website created following an exhibition about the role of Bristol (UK) in the transatlantic slave trade, there were ten “strict provisions” of the Emancipation Act or Abolition of Slavery Act 1834.
The provisions were:
· On Aug. 1, 1834, all slaves 6 years old and younger were to be freed, as would be any new children born in British territories.
· On Aug. 1, 1834, all older slaves would begin a period of apprenticeship that would last for four or six years.
· Predials,” field-laborers, would remain apprenticed until Aug. 1, 1840.
· Non-predials would remain apprenticed until Aug. 1, 1838.
· After these dates, the slaves would be completely free.
· During the period of apprenticeship, the slaves would work for their masters for three-fourths of each week, which amounted to 40.5 hours of work.
· During the remaining 13.5 hours of the week, they were free to work for wages or work on the provision grounds.
· With wages earned, a slave could buy his or her own freedom, with or without his master’s consent.
· Special Magistrates, later called Stipendiary Magistrates, would be appointed to oversee this apprenticeship process.
· And that Parliament would divide out a sum of £20,000,000 among the slave owners as compensation for the loss of their property.
This year 2019, marks 185 years since the Emancipation Act of August 1, 1834 was adopted by the United Kingdom and its ‘colonies’.
Photo Credit: Vanessa Pateman
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TCIG knew from April that fuel factor could surge almost 80%; Minister says $500 cost-of-living payment was part of Government’s response
PROVIDENCIALES — The Turks and Caicos Government knew months before July’s shocking electricity bills that consumers faced a potentially massive increase in the fuel factor.
Minister of Information Technology and Energy E. Jay Saunders revealed Friday that Pelican Energy warned his Ministry in April that generation fuel costs were projected to rise from $3.09 per gallon in May to $4.79 in June and July.
That translated into a projected fuel factor jump from about 17.5 cents to 31 cents per kilowatt-hour — an increase of almost 80%.
Saunders said he personally advised Cabinet of the projected increase and presented options for cushioning the impact.
He characterised Government’s $500 cost-of-living payment as its “initial response” to rising fuel costs, before a separate fuel-factor subsidy was approved.
Cabinet records show Government agreed on June 24 to provide funding to mitigate the fuel-factor impact, with the relief programme approved July 8.
Eligible residential customers — those averaging less than $1,500 monthly over the previous three bills — are capped at 22 cents per kWh from July through October.
Pelican confirmed Friday that Government’s contribution was already applied to July bills, meaning the bills now triggering widespread public outrage would have been even higher without the subsidy.
Saunders did not disclose the programme’s total cost.
His admission that Government knew since April, however, raises another question amid the backlash: why were consumers not directly warned by Government about the scale of the approaching increase?
PROVIDENCIALES — New commercial Crown Land applications are facing a six-month pause as the Turks and Caicos Islands Government takes inventory of its holdings.
During Cabinet meetings held July 15 and 16, an immediate six-month moratorium was approved on the acceptance, processing
and approval of new applications for commercial Crown Land grants, leases and allocations.
The pause will remain in place pending completion of the Crown Land Inventory Review. Cabinet’s summary did not state what prompted the review or indicate whether availability of commercial Crown Land is a concern.
The two-day meeting also advanced major consumer legislation. Cabinet approved the National Fair Competition Policy 2026 and drafting instructions for a Fair Competition Ordinance, moving TCI toward stronger consumer protection and fair competition rules.
In Grand Turk, Cabinet approved rezoning land in the North West Suburbs from low-density to medium-density residential use to facilitate a new apartment development.
Cabinet also advanced fisheries reforms, water legislation allowing private and public-private investment, minerals legislation and appointments across tourism, health and finance.
Progress toward establishing a TCI Credit Union was also noted.
PROVIDENCIALES — Major development projects outside Providenciales received Cabinet attention on July 8, with Government approving agreements connected to the redevelopment of Dellis Cay and a resort development in North Caicos.
Cabinet approved a Development Agreement between the Turks and Caicos Islands Government, Desarrollos Hotelco DC Ltd. and
Desarrollos Hotelco Astoria Ltd. for the redevelopment of Dellis Cay.
The long-discussed private island development sits between Providenciales and North Caicos and its return to Cabinet signals another step toward redevelopment.
Cabinet also approved amendments to an agreement involving SPR LND Ltd. (Royal Reef) and TCIG Development Agreement for a resort/hotel development in North Caicos.
Other decisions included approval of the First Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2026 for onward transmission and the appointment of Cindy Ewing as Chair of the Invest TCI Board, effective August 1 for three years.
Cabinet also noted consultation outcomes concerning changes to business licensing, approved professional membership expenses for qualifying Telecommunications Commission staff and approved advice relating to the Interim Clinical and Estates Services PPP.
The July 8 meeting was chaired by Acting Governor Anya Williams.
Photo Credit: Royal Reef (Keith)
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