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TCI Government asked to Reconsider Vaxx Rule for Foreign Home Owners
#TurksandCaicos, November 24, 2021 – Foreign TCI homeowner should be made a category on the TCI Assured portal with the opportunity for those who fit the category to enter the Turks and Caicos Islands without being vaccinated, abiding by the same rules as an unvaccinated resident of the country; it is a position now put out to the public by Dameko Dean.
Mr. Dean is speaking in defence of at least one family which is cut off from their investment.
The shocking decision of the TCI Government to implement a vaccine mandate for all tourists to the country on September 1st did more than stop ‘unvaxxed’ guests from entering, it also stopped ‘unvaxxed’ foreigners who own homes in this British overseas territory. Dean is among those who feel the rule is insensitive.
“I think it’s unfair and inhumane to deny these foreign homeowners access to their homes after they have invested so heavily to our economy. Our government, he said, encouraged foreign investors to purchase homes here in TCI without providing any notice, prior to purchase, that their right to visit their new homes will be abruptly taken away.”
In a Letter to the Editor, Dean explained he knows of homeowners who continue to pay bills for their homes but are unable to have access to them because of their choice not to become vaccinated. He said while a tourist can choose anywhere in the world to visit, a foreign homeowner does not have that option.
The matter has not failed to capture the attention of the Minister with responsibility for Health and Human Services, Hon Jamell Robinson, who said a case has already been made for the small number of people who fit into this
He told our media house that the government’s intention is not to bar people from coming to Turks and Caicos and that includes home owners, agreeing that the request for a different rule for foreign home owners in is not unreasonable.
One letter which has gone to the premier and the governor was shared with us. In it the husband and wife homeowners inform of their purchase of a Grace Bay located residence with a $1.3 million price tag in March this year. The couple also informs that they had initiated an application for Permanent Residency Certificate (PRC) status when a vaccine mandate forced a termination of their application.
The wife, now 25-years-old, shared that she has been a regular traveler to Turks and Caicos since she was a few months old; her parents are also homeowners and PRC holders in the country.
In her letter dated November 14, 2021 the homeowner describes the situation as having put her family in an “untenable position” because of their decision not to take the coronavirus vaccine.
She labelled the vaccine “experimental” and shared that she and her husband are healthy, had and caught and recovered from Covid-19 in February this year and now have natural immunity to the virus.
She reminded country leaders in the letter, that a stamp duty of $100,000 was paid for a home she now cannot visit and called the mandate instituted on September 1 unfair.
“There is nothing equitable about this decision,” she said, adding that the public literature on investing in the Turks and Caicos does not reflect the drastic change in entry requirements and she labelled it a breach of the TCI Constitution.
“We as property owners are not visitors when we are in TCI, we are in our homes. It is more than a seven day package tour…I respectfully request that you reconsider the vaccine policy for property owners.
The request is being considered at the government level and requires cross department agreement and presentation to Cabinet for approval. A vote will determine if the rule will change.
The change, if any, will obviously not come in time for this family’s plan for a huge gathering in TCI for the Thanksgiving holidays, which the home owner informed (via her letter) is now happening in nearby Bahamas, where there is no such restriction.