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Premier’s National Address: National Security Statement – Monday, 26 September

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HONOURABLE CHARLES WASHINGTON MISICK

 

NATIONAL SECURITY STATEMENT

as delivered by the Premier Honourable Charles W. Misick

 

(Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – Monday, 26 September 2022) My fellow Turks and Caicos Islanders, this evening, I wish to speak with you on the upsurge in violence over the last month and the steps the Turks and Caicos Islands Government is taking to address criminality and keep our people safe.

However, before I address that urgent matter, I want to place on record my gratitude to the Almighty who spared us from the devastation seen by other countries from Hurricane Fiona.

We were spared not only by the grace of God but because we were prepared and are a more hurricane resilient TCI.

My fellow Turks and Caicos Islanders, I speak to you this evening with a heavy and a sad emotion.

God spared us from the worst of Hurricane Fiona, but the criminals did not even give our country time to breathe, they have struck again with impunity and have given rise to terror never before seen in our territory.

This evening, we collectively mourn the brutal and wanton murder of four young men – cut down in the prime of their lives.

My heart bleeds for the families whose lives have been shattered by evil and hate.

I wish to convey sincere condolences on behalf of the government to all families that have lost loved ones due to acts of violent crime. We continue to pray for your healing and comfort.

We have had 11 murders in this month alone. The total number of murders for this year is 22.

My fellow Islanders, like you, I am angry at those who continue to terrorise our communities and spray our land with blood.

The violence which has flared up in recent weeks will not be tolerated by this government and must not be accepted nor tolerated by decent law-abiding citizens of these Turks and Caicos Islands.

September has seen organised crime gangs, including gangs with international and external affiliations, fighting for control of drugs, money and territory in these Islands.  We are now subject to crime not just generated from within our borders, but also from without.

We are mobilizing resources from the United Kingdom and the region, to help find those who continue to disrupt and plague our communities.

We will find them whether they are here or elsewhere and we will bring them to justice. The safety and security of our people is our first priority; always.

The government has spent significant sums on upgrading the human, physical, technical, and investigative capacity of the Royal TCI Police Force. We will spare no reasonable cost to keep our people safe and our borders secure.

To stem the upsurge in violence will take looking at immediate and longer-term action.

We will implement the following immediately and over the next several weeks:

  1. We are putting more officers on frontline duties especially in the worst impacted communities. Administrative functions – and support to the Maritime Branch – of the Royal Turks and Caicos Police Force will be supplemented by members of the TCI Regiment.
  2. A letter was sent to the Foreign Secretary and copied to Prime Minister Truss, the OT Minister Jesse Norman, and the Ministers for Defence in the UK Home office following a strong call requesting military and police assistance. A reply with specific deliverables is anticipated soon.
  3. In consultation with the Governor, I have reached out to heads in the Bahamian, Jamaican, and Barbadian governments for police reinforcement. These are being considered by those countries and should result in more boots on the ground in Turks and Caicos Islands.
  4. We have requested from the US Department of Homeland Security the deployment of a surveillance aircraft to assist with policing the passage between TCI and Haiti to stop illegal entry into our territorial waters.
  5. Three British officers travelled with me from London last Thursday. They will be performing an on-the-ground assessment of crime and will help to create a more effective crime fighting plan for the TCI.
  6. The UK will be sending shortly, a Chief Superintendent and an Inspector who will set up our anti-gang unit. Twenty-three (23) officers to staff the unit will arrive in the TCI within the coming months.
  7. The procurement process has started in the UK for the purchase of our own surveillance aircraft and this should be completed soon.
  8. We are contracting interim air support to assist law enforcement and better map their movements within communities.
  9. Purchased armoured vehicles should arrive within the TCI in 3 months.
  10. Persons without the correct vehicle plates will have their vehicles impounded and will be fined.
  11. Illegal vehicle tints will not be tolerated and persons who keep them will be arrested and charged.

These immediate solutions are intended to stem the bloodshed, but we are also focused on a longer-term and more strategic approach.

While in the UK last week, the Governor and I met with Secretary Jeremy Quinn in the Home Office and Secretary Jesse Norman in the Foreign Office.

They are two UK Ministers whose cooperation is critical to security of the TCI.

We have asked them to do much more.

They understand the unprecedented and seriousness of the threats we face.

We discussed in detail the significant challenges the TCI is facing including:

  • The strategic connection between serious crime and irregular migration from Haiti
  • The brutality of recent gang-related violence
  • The heart-breaking and destructive nature of the crimes on the families that are impacted; and
  • The availability of powerful firearms in these Islands

We explained the vulnerability of our strong economy and how crime, in particular brutal gang violence, could put our tourism industry at serious risk.

We outlined the significant investments we are making in our border and internal security, not just financially but through new legislation, building new national security structures as well as professionalising and expanding our local security forces.

We said that in the latest budget, $67.3 million has been allocated for public order and safety including our police services.

Let me assure every Islander that there is no cap on investing in your safety.

Several strategic initiatives are well underway.

The first is providing the Islands with a highly technical capability to conduct lawful intercept operations against gang members, particularly those involved in violence and  people smuggling.

The appropriate legislation is being drafted and we expect that it will be passed in the House of Assembly next month as October has been designated as a month for Criminal Justice Reform in TCI.

  1. Eleven (11) criminal justice bills designed to break the back of the kind of unprecedented criminal activities we have been experiencing in the Islands will be enacted. These bills will stiffen penalties further, strengthen police investigative powers, powers to stop and search and detain, to break up gang activities and to protect those whose job it is to push back on crime on the front lines. These bills will include:
  2. The Firearms (Amendment) Bill would introduce higher penalties for possession of unlicensed firearm or possession of a prohibited weapon or ammunition. The mandatory minimum sentence for possession of such weapons would be raised.
  3. The Police Force (Amendment) Bill would provide for stop and search and the erection of road barriers in areas of high crime and to stop and search a person or vehicle if the officer thinks the person is linked to criminal activity. The officer must have “reasonable grounds” to conduct the search.
  4. The Firearms Related Offences Bill would extend the period of detention for murder and firearms offences.
  5. The Anti-Gang Bill would make it an offence for a person to be or become a member of a gang. This offence would carry a penalty of ten years’ imprisonment for a first conviction and a penalty of twenty years’ imprisonment for any subsequent conviction. The Bill would also provide that a gang leader would be liable to imprisonment for twenty-five years on conviction on indictment. It would also make it an offence to wound or shoot at persons involved in law enforcement or intelligence and would carry a penalty of thirty years’ imprisonment on conviction on indictment.

Other provisions would –

  1. make it an offence for a person to coerce, encourage, entice, aid or abet another person to be a gang member and would carry a penalty of twenty-five years’ imprisonment on conviction on indictment.
  2. make it an offence for persons to take retaliatory action against another person or any of that person’s relatives, friends, associates or property, where inter alia, the other person refuses to comply with an order of a gang leader or gang member.
  3. make it an offence to knowingly counsel, instruct, guide, finance or provide any type of support to a gang leader, gang member or gang.
  4. make it an offence for a person to harbor or conceal a gang leader or gang member or tip them off of an investigation or proposed investigation.

Other provisions would empower the police to –

  1. arrest, without a warrant, a person who he has reasonable cause to believe is a gang leader, gang member or has committed an offence under the Ordinance, and to enter and search a dwelling house, with a warrant, or to enter any other place or premises, without a warrant, where he has reasonable cause to believe that a gang member may be found.
  2. detain a person who he reasonably suspects of having committed certain offences

The Bill would also empower the Court to order that the property of a person convicted of certain offenses may be forfeited in certain circumstances.

  1. The Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Bill, Magistrates Court (Amendment) Bill, Defence (Amendment) Bill, the Integrity Commission (Amendment) Bill would to introduce higher penalties for obstructing, assaulting or threatening an investigative officer (including Immigration Officers, the Regiment, Customs Officers and Police Officers), an officer of the Court or a Judicial officer in exercise of his or her duty.
  2. The Telecommunications (Amendment) Bill would enable the making of regulations so that its mandatory that every new sim card purchased must be registered to the buyer requiring them to present valid identification at the time of purchase.
  3. The Interception of Communications Bill would to provide a single legal framework for the use by law enforcement and intelligence agencies of investigatory powers to obtain communications and communications data. These powers would cover the interception of communications, the retention and acquisition of communications data, and equipment interference for obtaining communications and other data. It would not be lawful to exercise such powers other than as provided for by this legislation once enacted.

We requested more support, partnership, and serious strategic investments to turn the tide. This will require extensive and sustained UK support.

Additionally, we need further strengthening of our defences against maritime threats.

We requested that a formal ministerial agreement is implemented to build a “Gun, Gangs and Drugs Squad”. This Squad would be made up of officers with some of the best detective, intelligence and analytical skills in the UK.

The Squad would work within our own police force making an immediate impact but also building our local capacity and capability.

While building capacity and capability in the Police is urgent and important, we need an across-the-board approach to crime and justice.

We have an excellent Chief Justice who is keen on reform, and we will support capacity building across the justice system.

I want to thank our TCI “Tactical Firearms Unit” and other members of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force who have shown great physical prowess, courage and skill over recent weeks.

They provide us with a very strong local foundation that we can build on.

My fellow Islanders, the government will leave no stone unturned in making our communities and people safe.

You should feel free and safe to go about your business without worrying about the next move of criminals, gangs and drug dealers.

We can’t do it alone.

The police can’t do it alone.

Let us turn our anger into action.

If we come together, we will defeat those who bring violence and harm to our communities.

You must help us.

You have to be vigilant.

Report criminal activities in your communities.

Work with the police.

Together we can and we will defeat the criminals who want to destroy our beloved TCI.

In closing, I declare the National Youth Day as a ‘National Day of Prayer, Fasting and

Repentance’ beginning at 9am until 3pm. We will gather at the Gustavus Lightbourne Gymnasium in Providenciales and locations in the other Islands. Details will follow soon.

May God bless you and keep our Islands and people safe from harm.

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Crime

RTCIPF – Unidentified Male Shot

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***MEDIA RELEASE***

#TurksandCaicos, March 18, 2024 – A shooting incident has resulted in a fatality, with officers of the Serious Crime Unit currently at the scene.

Preliminary reports state around 9:17 pm today (March 18th), a call was placed to the Police Control Room indicating a male was shot at a location in Five Cays, Providenciales.

Officers arrived at the scene and found the lifeless body of a male with what appeared to be gunshot wounds.The victim was wearing long blue pants and a black t-shirt.

Further details surrounding the incident, including motive and the victim’s identity, are under investigation.

The RTCIPF asks the public to notify the closest police station, contact 911, the Serious Crime Unit at 231-1842, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-8477, and anonymously give any information on this murder.

Additionally, persons are encouraged to download the CrimeStoppers P3 app and share information.

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Bahamas News

RBDF Operation Strengthens Maritime Security Amidst Regional Turmoil

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Defence Headquarters, 17 MAR. ’24: A joint operation between the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) and the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) led to the apprehension of 50 Haitian migrants approximately 5 nautical miles west of Bell Island on Saturday, March 16th.

The operation was initiated following the initial sighting of a sailing vessel, believed to be of Haitian origin, 8 miles southwest of Staniel Cay in the Exumas. RBDF swiftly deployed air and surface assets stationed at Matthew Town Inagua, supported by Police officials in Staniel Cay who verified the sighting. The migrants were intercepted by RBDF personnel stationed at the Land and Sea Park, Wardrick Wells Exuma, and subsequently handed over to the safe boat crew. They are currently under apprehension pending further investigation, with the imminent arrival of HMBS Rolly Gray.

In response to the ongoing instability in Haiti, Commodore Raymond King has announced the implementation of a strategic blockade in the southern Bahamas. This initiative includes the deployment of six surface vessels, one aircraft, and 120 highly skilled RBDF personnel. Patrol operations will be concentrated in critical areas such as the northern coast of Haiti, the Old Bahama Channel, and the Windward Passage, with the aim of deterring unauthorized entry attempts and preserving maritime security in the region.

The effectiveness of these decisive measures is evident, with recent apprehensions totaling 247 individuals by the RBDF. Commodore Raymond E. King emphasizes the commitment to bolstering maritime security through collaborative efforts with regional partners and local law enforcement agencies.

The Royal Bahamas Defence Force remains committed to safeguarding the nation’s borders and territorial integrity, working collaboratively with regional partners.

(For further information please contact the RBDF Public Relations Department or visit our website: www.rbdf.gov.bs, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and view our Youtube channel)

-rbdf-

#GuardOurHeritage

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News

Provo International Airport reaches tipping point; desperate hunt for rooms for 200 Travellers left stranded

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Deandrea Hamilton

Editor

 

#TurksandCaicos, March 16, 2024 -Despite the desperate situation, no one is comfortable with ferrying hundreds of stranded tourists to nearby North Caicos to put them up in hotels after a dismal day at the country’s main airport; there are little to no rooms in Providenciales.

The Turks and Caicos Islands, one of the Caribbean’s most alluring destinations is plagued by an airport experience consistently delivering to it, a black-eye and on Saturday March 16 it was particularly ugly.

“For those of you waiting in inbound flight 855 JFK to TCI we have been diverted to Dominican Republic, DR.  I will try to post if I get any info.  Have a few drinks.  It’s going to be a while, said Julie Desantis on Turks and Caicos Tourist Guide, a Facebook community page.

Deb Ballard, who said her delay was more than six hours added, “Airport here in TCI is unbearable.  All the flights seem to be delayed, a thousand people in rooms built for a couple hundred.  Trapped.”

There was reportedly also a flight from Philadelphia diverted to the DR.

And too numerous were reports of the frustration of travellers at the Providenciales International.  Some, we were informed, were caught in explosive arguments while towing the chaotic, slow moving security checkpoint lines.  As flights were being called, passengers tried to rush ahead of others who had been waiting and in some cases that led to verbal confrontations.

It’s the kind of last impression, travel destination do anything they can to avoid.

We’ve learned there was no real help on the ground, in the terminal earlier in the day; however, by Saturday night, Josephine Connolly, the Minister of Tourism was at the airport vowing that no one would sleep at the facility.

“I will make sure that no one sleeps here.  I am doing my best to accommodate everybody that why I am here, my PS is here and Mr. Smith is here from the airports authority,” said Connolly.

She was hoping to also run interference of negative publicity for the destination and its main airport but this action by her may be a courtesy coming a little too late. In the age of self-reporting, passengers were free to film, comment and convey whatever was their experience and disappointment and many did.

It is how residents became most acutely aware of the dire situation; social media posts by guests themselves who were trying to understand what was going on and what to do about it.

It’s anyone’s guess why the Providenciales International Airport (PLS) is an absolute mess today because up to now, there has been no statement, no explanation, no directives and no solution for the thousands of travellers impacted and the hundreds stuck at the airport with nowhere to stay.

Magnetic Media has fielded dozens of questions and comments and perspectives including a message shared with the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association, TCHTA which explains as many as 200 guests were in dire need hotel accommodations for the night.

“We are looking for any property owners/villas that has vacancy and can accommodate these stranded guests.  We are making calls to the hotels and for the most part most of the hotels are at 100% capacity.”

The surging tourism interest in the Turks and Caicos Islands is famously embraced; touted by government and industry stakeholders, and it’s been communicated that an overcrowded airport “is a good problem to have” on the way to fixing it.

But that message and the years’ long wait have become a vexing cocktail that even residents say they are tired of guzzling.

“…TCI can’t handle the volume of flights they schedule.”

The situation is so impossible, that there is serious – though admittedly, last resort – consideration for a ferry ride to shuttle the hundreds of travellers into another island, North Caicos, where there are guest rooms available.  In the dark of night and with no real illumination on the water way, that idea of a 45-minute ferry for people tired and frustrated by cancelled travel plans is not gaining traction and will likely be nixed and will hopefully not be needed.

“I have a guest that left here after 12 noon and just contacted me 45-minutes ago and is asking my assistance for booking the hotels in Provo and getting them a taxi,” said a resort employee who is worried about his guests and wonders what is the problem at the airport.

Magnetic Media has reached out for a comment from the TCIAA, whose CEO has also been given  the task of taking calls from vacation villa owners or resorts which have rooms for lodging; but there were no official statements up to publication time.

At midnight, there were mixed reports from guests.  Some having been set up with a one night stay, others who had no clue what was next.

March is normally busy and the Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority, TCIAA which manages the country’s airports should have anticipated that, explained hotel workers and others in the industry who are concerned about their guests and clients.

“Private jets are affected because they’re not allowed to land between 12 and 3 in order to avoid creating even more air congestion, the Miami Center, which controls the space around us, reassigns take off times to private jets despite their intended time.  So they are help up for sometimes, an entire day.”

Airline charter services are also skittish.

“…for fear they will get so delayed they will miss their next contract.  So now we are starting to risk our most top end clients as well as airline passengers.”

And the Airports Authority is not having the best time of it either.  Plagued with a wave of staff unrest which has led to some workers walking off the job, others taking industrial action and sudden terminations which are piled atop the infamous infrastructural dilemmas, it is clear any further delay on an immediate fix for the PLS will be detrimental to return guests and tourism on the whole.

“Three hours to get through the security line and then the delays,” explained a couple who are still at the Providenciales International though it is now minutes to midnight, adding, “So we have been here since 10:30 this morning and two of the people, the workers, they ran away from me.  They just left.  They just ran away, they were done!”

The guests are at the airport hoping for word on somewhere to rest their heads for the night.  TCIAA security officers have told them, they cannot sleep at the airport though many of them speaking to our reporter on the scene were prepared to do so.

Celeste Wagner Russ, a visitor to the TCI said: “The airport desperately needs an expansion – for passengers.  The space is mobbed, dirty and basically unhealthy for anyone.  The ladies room on the upper level is worse than anything I’ve ever seen in Penn Station.  The furniture is worn, dingy, and a very dismal welcome or departure.  For the tremendous number of travellers to T and C, this airport is a disgrace.”

The TCIAA, last month revealed, it had a short list of companies who qualified to advance to the next phase of the bidding battle.  The scope of work includes not only construction of an expanded airport, but management of it.  The end may be in sight, but it is admittedly years away from fruition.  An interim remedy for the PLS, is needed now.

“The congestions is exacerbated by no parallel taxiway. Which means an airplane can’t land and immediately get out of the way on the runway for the next guy to land because there is no parallel strip it could turn on to taxi to the terminal. So it takes twice as long to get each plane off the runway because they land, turn around and taxi back to the airport, where there may not actually be a parking space opened up for them yet.”

Residents in social media posts have called for flights into Providenciales to be spread out over the day; currently there is a bottleneck; commercial airlines are bunched up and landing at the strip almost one right after the other between noon and 3pm, while the mornings and evenings are like a graveyard.

Airlines have not wanted to change their schedules, and the fear is that any demand by the Turks and Caicos Islands could lead to destination Providenciales being dropped from the flight itineraries of the major air carriers.

Many have labelled that reasoning, given the phenomenal performance of tourism in the Turks and Caicos Islands, “a load of nonsense.”

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