By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, July 25, 2022 – Some Turks and Caicos Islanders are skeptical about the newest economic stimulus, many say they want long term fixes instead.
The $1000 stimulus, to be paid out in August, was announced by Premier Washington Misick on Thursday July 14. Dubbed the Price Inflation Stimulus, Misick said the one-time payment is geared to helping families make rent, insurance, electricity, grocery or any other payments that they needed.
Almost immediately reactions poured in, many people were delighted with the prospect of another bout of free cash, this time double the payout in comparison to the last instance.
The Price Inflation Stimulus is the fourth under the PNP Administration after the $1000 stimulus in 2021, the Grand Turk payout for Tourism sector workers in 2021 and the $500 stimulus in February 2022. But many others think a
stimulus every few months is not the way to go and they took their complaints to social media.
One resident explained that it would be a struggle to decide where the one-time payment would be used as all the bills are so high that paying multiple with only a thousand dollars would be a challenge.
Another resident complained that others were “getting land and business deals while locals get $1000 towards their bills.”
One resident called the stimulus a “sugarcoat to hide the real problem.” The person asked: “None of you could come up with a real policy that could bring relief to the masses instead of temporarily enriching a few?”
Only twelve thousand people will benefit from the stimulus and of that remarkably few spots are open for those who did not apply for, or were not approved for or are now (by age) qualified for the stimulus in February. Of the roughly 45,000 residents in the Turks and Caicos, less than 30% will benefit.
The stimulus is for Turks and Caicos and British Overseas Territories Citizens resident in country and over the age of 18 years old, only.
Residents complained of how hurt they were to consistently hear that the economy is booming while not feeling as if they were benefiting from the boom especially since the majority of them would miss the August 2022 payment.
Many of the social media posts, while seemingly grateful for the infusion, demanded long term solutions from the people in charge to remove the need for the stimulus in the first place.