News
The Governor Reports: What the UK is giving to bolster National Security
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
Governor and Co-chair of the National Security Council Nigel Dakin announced a staggering list of reforms for border protection in his press conference held on December 9.
The reforms included provisions for land air and sea as well as mentions of a three-way alliance with the Bahamas and the United States. Geographically, the United Kingdom is quite distant, but their presence has long reach, the British is head of foreign affairs and national security for the overseas territory through the governor, Nigel Dakin.
The Governor announced several big-ticket items both in terms of personnel, equipment and intelligence that would be handled by the UK over the duration of the advanced deal.
The first thing that Dakin reflected upon was that the Turks and Caicos Regiment Officers would be flown out to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England to be trained. After which a British Army training team would travel to the Turks and Caicos to train further recruits. He also revealed that the Turks and Caicos now had permanent on-island support from the British Army.
He said, “We have permanent on-island support from one, if not to my mind the best line Regiment the British Army
has – ‘The Riles’ – and as an OT we are unique in securing this type of day-to-day support.”
Dakin also mentioned that the Turks and Caicos would benefit from technology and equipment. He said that a team was in the UK at that very moment assessing their digitized airport security features and he expressed hope in this particular avenue of research, saying. “If we get this right, and I believe UK Border Force and Home Office will support us, in intelligence-led border protection, those we know will do us ‘no harm’ – such as locals returning home and those arriving from our main markets – should have a seamless arrival and departure at our ports.”
That was not all, in an effort to increase the country’s surveillance power, the Governor said he and the Premier had been in talks with the UK and the Turks and Caicos would receive a powerful tool.
He told the press “The UK Minister committed to supporting us with a long-term maritime surveillance asset. While not yet confirmed I expect that to be a fixed-wing specialist aircraft with long-term persistence, able to observe for hours.”
A new partnership was in the works for access to satellite imagery for surveillance of Turks and Caicos waters which will help Dakin says in curbing illegal fishing as well as ‘people smuggling’.
The employment of drones was also information conveyed by the governor at the live news conference, which ws carried on Facebook.
He maintained though that outside of the UK’s help Turks and Caicos would have a sophisticated intelligence collection operation of its own which would provide the sort of information needed to take down illegal networks.
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?
NASSAU, Bahamas — More Bahamians are accessing HIV and sexually transmitted infection-related healthcare through National Health Insurance, a trend the NHI Authority says should be viewed positively.
NHIA stressed in an August 6 statement that its 2025 figures measure healthcare utilisation, not newly diagnosed infections. They include beneficiaries screened, treated, monitored or receiving follow-up care, including people diagnosed previously.
“Increased utilisation of these services should be viewed as a positive development,” NHIA said.
The Authority pointed to “greater enrolment and use of NHI, improved access to screening and testing, continued treatment and monitoring of existing conditions, and increased willingness to seek medical care.”
The development comes amid a mixed three-year HIV picture. New diagnoses rose from 130 in 2023 to 156 in 2024, before declining to 142 in 2025.
NHIA said increased utilisation demonstrates that more beneficiaries are accessing needed healthcare and actively managing their health, reinforcing the importance of screening, early diagnosis and continued treatment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Americas has recorded 47,459 confirmed measles cases and 44 deaths in 2026, the region’s highest case count in 22 years, prompting the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to urge stronger vaccination, surveillance and rapid outbreak response.
As of July 18, cases were already more than triple the 15,011 recorded during all of 2025. Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Peru
account for 95% of confirmed cases. Guatemala leads with 30,371 cases and 26 deaths, followed by Mexico with 12,255 cases and 17 deaths.
PAHO classifies the regional public health risk as very high, citing active outbreaks, immunity gaps, international travel and populations with inadequate vaccination coverage.
The organization says prevention starts with vaccination. Countries are being urged to achieve and maintain at least 95% coverage with two doses of measles-containing vaccine, particularly protecting children and under-vaccinated communities.
Measles spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash.
PAHO is urging health authorities to detect suspected cases early and respond rapidly to stop transmission. Unvaccinated and under-vaccinated people, young children and communities with limited healthcare access face increased risk of severe illness and death.
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