News
TCI Rates BBB+ with Standard & Poor’s as PNP Gov’t Rates C+ in our Survey
We had hoped at least 323 people would have participated in Magnetic Media’s impromptu survey; a public-fuelled evaluation of the new government and its performance so far. Five per cent of the voters who turned out at the polls on February 19 would have been a decent-sized sample, we believe, of the performance of the Washington Misick-led PNP Government.
Next time, in 200 days, we will give our audiences an anonymous option.
Nonetheless, our first-time poll attracted 134 participants, the majority of whom were women but just slightly. Sixty-four men and 70 women returned a letter grade ranging from ‘A’ for Excellent to ‘D’ for Disappointment.
Most of those who responded to the survey gave the now 108-day old government a ‘B’ grade for ‘Very Good’. There were no ‘F’ grades lodged for the Progressive National Party administration.
These were the results of the poll carried out on WhatsApp over two days from May 28 to May 30:
There were 128 people who gave the PNP Government an ‘A’ grade; 156 people returned a ‘B’ grade; 72 participants gave a ‘C’ grade for an ‘okay’ performance so far and 14 say they are ‘Disappointed’ and returned a ‘D’ grade.
It gave the PNP a 2.76 GPA or a C+ performance.
The sizing up of the Progressive National Party’s performance after an avalanche of a victory at the national polls, has been a topic of discussions since the party hit its 50th day in office. The Premier at that time offered his thoughts on his team’s performance. Soon after the 100th day in office, marked on May 30th, the Premier was talking about two rating; his Government’s and the economy’s.
“It is with great pleasure, that we can say to you today, for those of you who may not have seen it, or read it or be aware of it that Turks and Caicos Islands has been able to retain and improve on its credit rating,” said the Premier, adding, “We have retained our BBB+ Credit Rating (from Standard & Poor’s) with a Positive Outlook.”
The Premier said the visiting team from Standard & Poor’s found that “investors, tourists and the local business community have confidence in this Government and in the Turks and Caicos Islands. And that is something that I am happy to take credit for,” explained the Premier in a Press Conference held at his Providenciales Office on Wednesday June 2, 2021.
“I was juggling between a B and a C but I will give them a B at this stage. Mainly because within their first 100 days in office, I believe they have addressed (though not completed) some very serious issued affecting Turks and Caicos Islanders. Eg, the one-time stimulus that was made easily accessible, the effort to address the overflow of work permit and employment opportunities for TC Islanders and the workshops for local contractors with a view to giving all an equal opportunity to be on Government Jobs; also the reinstatement of pension for Civil Servants,” said a female participant of the Survey, who agreed to us sharing her comments.
She was also forthcoming with comments from members of the public.
“Based on feedback and my own personal experience as to their failure to acknowledge or respond to communication from citizens, I would give them a D. I didn’t give them an F because I’m sure they respond to some, given the nature of the correspondence, I don’t think they accept criticisms well… EJ has proven that on many occasions.”
The woman, who is a prominent and influential Turks and Caicos Islander added: “I’ll also give them a D on the Vaccine Drive. Mainly because they are misleading the public on information given, eg, that the vaccine is the reason the numbers have dropped, that the vaccine will protect you from the virus.”
More men believe the PNP deserved an ‘A’ grade; 22 males and 10 females describe the government’s performance as ‘Excellent’.
More women believe the PNP deserves a ‘B’ grade; 28 females and 24 males support that the Turks and Caicos currently has a ‘Very Good’ government.
Women outnumbered the men in the C grade category; 24 females to 12 males for the ‘Okay’ performance.
However, weighing down the final grade would have been the number of disappointed residents. Eight women and six men gave the ‘D’ grade.
“It’s very soon in their administration. I will give a ‘D’. I am not amused at how they are handling the Covid testing. I know the numbers are more than they are saying. Jay needs to be more transparent with us.”
Caribbean News
Agriculture Ministry Providing Two Water Trucks to Serve St. Elizabeth and St. Catherine
#Kingston, Jamaica, April 24, 2024 – The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining is to unveil two more water trucks this week, which will be used to service communities in St. Elizabeth and St. Catherine.
Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, made the disclosure during Wednesday’s (April 24) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
He also informed that of the $90 million earmarked to support farmers being impacted by the current drought, the Ministry will be
providing additional support for storage and drip-irrigation systems.
“So, we have targeted about 600 water tanks and about 400 12-millimetre drip irrigation hoses, and that distribution has already started. Additionally, we have earmarked about $8 million to really help with our livestock farmers,” Mr. Green said.
“We know the difficulty that you’re facing now in this time; [it’s] very hard to get the right nutritional support for your animals. As such, we will be providing some hay, and we will [also] provide some trucking of water to you. Again, our livestock farmers, if you are in need, please contact the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and let us see how we can help in these times,” he further stated.
Mr. Green also encouraged farmers to download the RADA App, so that the Agency can “help guide you, not only in relation to what is happening on the rainfall side, but also in relation to your integrated pest management”.
“We do see some increases of certain types of pests during this time, and it’s important that our farmers are paying attention to that. It’s also important that you’re taking drought management seriously [by undertaking] soil mulching, looking at planting drought-tolerant crops, timely harvesting, implementing land husbandry treatments and contour ditches,” he stated.
Contact: Latonya Linton
Release: JIS
Photo Caption: Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, speaking during Wednesday’s (April 24) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
Donald De La Haye Photo
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 19, 2024 – In an attempt to move to 24-hour-a-day operations Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is steadily recruiting Air Traffic Controllers to work at the Providenciales/Howard Hamilton International Airport, according to Godfrey Smith, TCIAA CEO, reporting to the Appropriations Committee.
Speaking on April 8th Smith said a cabinet paper would be sent soon requesting six more Air Traffic Controllers to make round the clock operation at the Provo International possible and to open the airport in Grand Turk till 12 a.m.
Currently, 17 posts are filled and seven are vacant.
Smith was candid with his responses to recent industrial action from ATCs which led to resignations and firings.
“What we have to do is find systems to mitigate such actions and that has to start with filling these jobs, putting people in that want to
work and doing right by people – and we always try to do right by our staff. Persons may not think that we are but we always do – we ain’t pick no fight,” he said in the meetings held at the NJS Francis building ahead of the National Budget Communication.
Smith indicated that recruitment was an issue across the board, ‘we need to find ways to recruit a little bit better’ he told the committee. Also in need of a push was capital spending or projects according to the CEO, who said the agency had ‘not been very good’ at meeting that mark but insisted they had recognized the issue and could do better.
A very important key performance indicator drawn up by the TCIAA is increasing passenger satisfaction at the Howard Hamilton International Airport. For the TCIAA part of this means a 30 percent increase in seating by Q2 of this year.
When queried on if they could even handle this increase the CEO said,
“The fact of the matter is we already have the capacity there. What we need is to make the service a bit better.”
Staff shortages have become such a frustrating issue that the TCIAA is instituting a scholarship program created by Authority Chairman, Selvyn Hawkins
“What the board wants to do is basically allocate $25,000 annually for a scholarship and they’ve approved it already.”
This process would cover tuition and all other costs for one student.
The student would return as a summer intern and other breaks to work at the TCIAA and upon graduation, assume a role at the company.
“We identify a particular skill we need, we go after it and we build capacity that is in a nutshell the nexus of the program,” Smith said.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is allocated $49 million this financial year; over $20 million goes to salaries.
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