Back on the Road to Progress Hon. Jamell Robinson 2021 Budget Speech

#TurksandCaicos, June 30, 2021 – Good Morning Mr. Speaker, my honorable colleagues, those in the gallery, and the good people listening across the length and breadth of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Today is a good day Mr. Speaker, I even venture to say it is a great day. Mr. Speaker with the commencement of this budget debate after four plus long years, I say we are finally back on the road to Progress!!

Mr. Speaker, I intend to demonstrate and highlight how and why I believe we are back on the road to progress. Not by repeating rhetoric but by pointing to specific programs and budget items where we set out to achieve or make progress for our commitments made with the people of these islands in our citizens contract.

Civil Servants Gratuity, Pensions, and Professional Development

Mr. Speaker in 2014, consultations with the Civil Service Association and the Deputy Governor’s Office began with the previous Good Good Progressive Government to see how best Civil Servants Gratuity and Pensions could be reinstated, having been unjustly removed during the Interim Government. Here we are over 6 years later, TCIG reserves having peaked to over 100 million dollars sometime in 2019, yet the issue is still not resolved. Thankfully Mr. Speaker, we are back on the road to progress. This good good Progressive Government, the people’s government has allocated an additional 2 million dollars for the reinstatement of the civil Servants pension scheme which includes gratuities (P 3.37).

Further, a key Programme strategy for the Deputy Governor’s office is the conducting of a consulation and a review of the TCI Public Service Pension and Terminal Benefits by the end of the 3rd quarter i.e. by the end of the year (P 3.89).  Hopefully, it doesn’t take that long as we have been beating this horse for some time now and it’s time to put this baby to bed in the best interest of Turks and Caicos Islander Civil Servants.

Mr. Speaker I’m all pleased to noted that for Civil Servants not only has your Professional Development vote been restored but it has been increased to the tune of $260,000! (P 3.98). Public Servants when I say this Good Progressive Government has your back, you can take that to the bank!! And there is more to come!

Review of the Public Service and Public Procurement Ordinances

Mr. Speaker both the Public Service Ordinance and the Public Procurement Ordinances came into force in 2012. Since that time only the latter was reviewed by the second quarter of the 2020/2021 fiscal year. However no further action was taken with either ordinance (P 3.89). The thresholds for the Public Procurement Ordinance must be revisited. Once cannot legislate integrity. Public servants must be given appropriate decision making responsibility and be held responsible for those decisions within reason. As for the Public Service Ordinance, it review is a must as only reviewing and updating the Public Service Handbook is not enough. The ordinance needs to expressly favor Turks and Caicos Islanders. Favor is not fair!!

Empowerment for Turks and Caicos Islanders

Mr. Speaker, I now turn to the empowerment of Turks and Caicos Islanders especially our Youth. On the campaign trail we committed to the following:

1. To ensure greater access to Financing and Capital through the MSME Program
2. To ensure greater access to Quality Jobs
3. To ensure greater access to Education
4. To ensure greater access to Crown Land

Mr. Speaker, I’m please to say in all regards we are indeed back on the road to progress!! In regard to financing and capital, through Invest TC we have committed to an increase in financial and technical support to domestic investment (P. 7.27/7.28). Additionally, the MSME Ordinance to scheduled for a review and updating with a view to improve service delivery, expand technical and financial support to MSME’s and to transfer the functions to a Development Financial Institute (DFI). All to be done by the end of the financial year. And guess what Mr. Speaker, money there to the tune of $690,975!

In regard to Quality Jobs, the Ministry of Education, Labour, and Employment services was set up with this specifically in mind. We educate you from early childhood straight to Tertiary Education and it’s our job to link the two to ensure you have a best opportunity in the employment market or on your career path. Of course if you want to go the entrepreneurship route, that’s good too. We have also seen the highly publicized jobs registration drive, J.O.B.S – Job Opportunity, Basic Skills. I’d like to commend the Minister of Education and her team for kicking this off the right way. If you are   unemployed or underemployed, please register.

In regard to Education, there was a 1.4 million increase in relation to Scholarships, Contributions to regional Institutions, and Subvention to the TCICC (P 3.123). I would even talk about the new buildings and programs on stream, as I will leave that for the Minister of Education to handle.

In regard to Crown Land, there is a twofold approach.  The first and more immediate is the reestablishment of the Housing Department which will later become the Housing Authority whose primary responsibility will be to ensure adequate housing is available for Turks and Caicos Islanders. Once we are providing turnkey home to our people there will be less of a demand for land to build homes in the traditional way. Secondly and of greatest importance Land and all related departments inclusive of the Crown Land Unit, Land Registry, Survey and Mapping, and the Valuation Office are to be returned to a Ministerial Portfolio. To this end constitutional talks are due to resume with the FCO and the Premier’s office this September. So there is no doubt, if you were to check out Page 7 of the Citizen’s Contract, we campaigned on this issue and put it in black and white. This will ease the pressure on the AGC and allow for a greater focus on the legal side of things.

As an aside, I note that the Policy Planning and Administration Support of the Ministry of Finance is seeking to hire a Crown Counsel (P 4.28). This is noteworthy because given the complexity of Legislation interpretation and implementation, having a legal mind on staff is definitely a plus. I believe this is something that should be duplicated in each ministry even if they are housed within the AGC which responsible to provide specific advice to each Ministry and would help with improve understanding of the legal obligations of Government Departments and Statutory bodies which is a key programme strategy for the AGC.

Mr. Speaker, together all these empowerment tools and initiatives put us back on the road to Progress!!

Policing and National Security

Mr. Speaker, I will briefly speak about Policing and National Security. I commend the Force for its ramping up of the Community Policing Program and I would like to give special thanks to ACP Grant who heads the unit and Officer’s Clarke and Diaz, plus everyone who are a part of the team. For several years now there has been a freeze on the issuance of new gun licenses and while the overall crime statistics has been low during the Covid-19 pandemic largely due to the various curfew measures in place there will come a time again when law abiding citizens and business owners will need to protect themselves and their families or customers.  This stance needs to be reviewed and those fit to carry a firearm should have the option to do so.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the Minister of Immigration and Border Services for commissioning a consultancy to go forward for conversion of the Customs and Immigration Departments to be merged into the Department of Home Land Security. This is a step that will get us ever closer to cutting our own cloth (P 3.41). 

Ministry of Health

Mr. Speaker, before I close out there are three burning issues I must touch on, namely: the Dumps across the TCI; the Health Care Delivery System; and Special Needs. It is important into context why it was important for the Country to put us back on the road to Progress by first electing this Progressive Government, the People’s Government.

In 2016, the last Good Good PNP Government secured roughly an 80 million dollar loan facility with the Caribbean Development Bank specifically to address the seawall defenses on Front Street and for technical support to find a solution to the TCI’s Waste Management Issues i.e our Dump problem. Through all the issues over the last four years seen in the TCI, especially with the people of Wheeland, this loan was not drawn down on. Mr. Speaker if you ever want to find out why something is not changing, all you have to do is find out who is benefiting from it. Clearly, the people of Wheeland sorted out that problem. 

Mr. Speaker, the People’s Government has seen it fit to allocate $672,500 of the CDB loan facility for the conduct of a Waste Management Study across the entire Turks and Caicos Islands (P 3.234). While this study is good news, we cannot and should not take a hundred years for recommendations and solutions.  Further, in the interim we have allocated over 4 million dollars to address Waste Collection and Waste Management Service within the existing system (P 3.238). I want to Member from Wheeland and the people of Wheeland to know that we have your back, as a commitment made will be a commitment kept.

Mr. Speaker, the health of a nation is the wealth of a nation. We here in the Turks and Caicos Islands have a Universal Health Care System that is the envy of the Caribbean. Is it perfect? No. However, it’s my belief that our Health Professionals genuinely want to improve service delivery as was originally envisioned. Together we can and together will. We must continue to strengthen Primary Health Care services throughout our Clinical network. To end at least 4 new registered nurses will be hired for PHC (P 4.91). Preventative Care is central to the development of Healthy Lifestyles here in the TCI.

Mr. Speaker, again context is important in understanding why it’s critical for the TCI to be back on the Road to Progress. On March 31st, 2017 an Actuarial Review of NHIB was completed and only four years later are the recommendations being seriously considered at a time when a new actuarial review should be conducted (P 7.67). Imagine allowing a patient to go 4 years without treatment after being diagnosed with Cancer. One would be sued for medical malpractice but yet here we are with a system costing over $53 million dollars for Overseas Treatment ($19.5 Million), InterHealth Canada Clinical Services ($30.8 Million), and Hospital Utilities ($3 Million) only. We must seriously explore Third Party Income options to offset some of these expenses, in addition to finding the most efficient and cost effective way to operate without compromising service delivery for Turks and Caicos Islanders. The NHIB three year Strategic Plan that’s been long in coming has to be a matter of urgency (P 7.68). I believe we have the talent on the ground to develop it and in areas we don’t we must import it. Hopefully from the TCI Diaspora as a first option.  Also, tapped is the development of a National Emergency Medical Services Strategy as a part of an updated National Health Strategic Plan (P3.230).

Lastly Mr. Speaker, Special Needs is everybody’s Business. FDR said “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those that have too little.” This is near and dear to me, not only because I am the owner of an educational center but because we made a commitment that if given a chance to govern we would take a holistic approach to special needs. We’ve more than doubled the allocation for Treatment and Care to $200K, while also once again trying to recruit an Occupational Therapist and a Speech and Language Pathologist (P 3.241/4.97). The latter is critical because we must have the ability on island to diagnose kids from as early an age as possible so we can have a true understanding of the resources and facilities needed to service this specific population.

Mr. Speaker, I end by saying the words of Aberjhani “First steps are always the hardest but until they are taken the notion of progress remains only a notion and not an achievement.” I dare say Mr. Speaker that this budget is the first step back on the road to progress. Thank you.