By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, February 24, 2023

Housing Concerns

The issue of insufficient housing must be addressed, admitted TCI Premier, if there is to be a population boom in the Turks and Caicos Islands.  The country’s leader was hosting his second diaspora meeting in The Bahamas; this time in Freeport, Grand Bahama amidst an immigration push to attract third-generation Turks and Caicos Islanders.

“The need for housing is expanding so rapidly that we estimate we’re going to need around 600 houses per year for the foreseeable future,” he explained.

The announcement came within weeks of bi-lateral exchange between Jamell Robinson, the TCI Minister of Physical Planning, and Infrastructure Development and JoBeth Colby-Davis, Bahamian Minister of Transport and Housing.

The Premier described the potential of a housing shortage as a point of serious concern for his government.

“In inviting people from the diaspora to come to TCI and this is my greatest fear, the shortage of accommodation”

Turks and Caicos Islanders are well aware of the issue, having complained bitterly for years about the shortage in land and housing and subsequent high costs for rent.

The housing policy of the Turks and Caicos Islands is literally, ‘under construction’ along with the new Crown Land Recommendations which are ready to be written into law. Both emphasize the building of turnkey-ready apartment-like homes in areas identified as suited for building properly outfitted communities.

It has been strongly intimated, accomplishing this, would enable the government to slow down the sale of what little Crown Land remains and modernize the living conditions for the thousands of residents often subjected to sub-par residential living.

Sharing National Security Database

As the Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas deepen their connection, some fear criminals will use the countries as escape routes; hopping from one island to the other perpetrating offences and dodging authorities.  Premier of the Turks and Caicos, Washington Misick, was challenged about the notion and aimed to allay those fears at a diaspora meeting in Grand Bahama on February 18th.

The Premier shared that the Governments had already recognized this as an issue and information sharing would be set up in tangible ways to put a wrench in the current “ease with which people can hide away in the TCI , and people from our country can hideaway in the Bahamas and shield themselves from the law.”

“One thing we have been working on, is to be able to have our shared database and other information with the Turks and Caicos islands, and the Bahamas security and Police Force” he said

He also maintained that the influx of TC Bahamians was not responsible for the increase in crime.

“The last spike that we had here was a TI Bahamian, who was involved in the but it wouldn’t be fair to say that is the reason. We’ve had a number of Turks and Caicos Bahamians who have gotten themselves in trouble, but that is probably no more other people from different countries”

He referenced the case of Brandon Rahming, whom he said, as he understood it, had been wanted in The Bahamas before he entered the Turks and Caicos participating, what Police believed was a gang-fuelled killing spree.

“I know of situations where people have skipped bail and come to The Bahamas as well” he said. The country leader emphasized that collaboration was ongoing, even now, to fix the security gaps between two countries.

By Deandrea Hamilton and Dana Malcolm

Editorial Staff

#Dominica, December 7, 2022 – The big story of the night was not that Roosevelt Skerrit and his Dominican Labour Party were able to hold onto electoral power in Dominica, but that independents caused an upset, denying the DLP a sweep of all 21 seats.

The snap election victory proved not to be a snap for Skerrit, who on a social media aired radio show congratulated the two independent candidates now holding seats in parliament.

Skerrit’s DLP was still unable to sway the constituents of Marigot and Salisbury; they continue to prefer other political options and this time, Anthony S. Charles won the Marigot constituency with 491 votes, securing – unofficially – a popular vote of 59.44 per cent.

Jesma Paul won with 617 votes with a voting turnout of 57.13 per cent and Lynsia Frank of DLP lost, receiving 463 votes 42.87 per cent from the Salisbury Constituency.

In a sixth consecutive political victory, the Dominical Labour Party gained one seat over their 2019 finish.  With a notable boundary change, the DLP took Rousea Central which had last time gone to the now, decimated UWP.

Elections are due every five years in Dominica; this election should have technically been held in 2024, however, Skerrit last month called the General Election early.

As prime minister he has the prerogative to call for an election anytime within the constitutionally mandated timeframe.  Still, the early call and boycott of the process by unprepared political parties drew in two election observer teams.

One from CARICOM, the other from the OAS.

Organization of American States dispatches team led by former Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie after concerns were voiced by residents and opposition members on the snap election called by Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit to be held on December 6th the country’s leaders invited the Organisation of American States to witness the elections.

The OAS spoke to local media after ballots closed around 5pm explaining that for the most part they had not observed any questionable practices.

Perry Christie, former Bahamian Prime Minister who was part of the 16-person team told reporters

“We are aware of the extent to which there was concern about the electoral process. And or job simply is to make a report and recommendations all with the intention of advancing the democracy of this region— we are generally finding that the facilities are adequate, [though] there are one or two recommendations we will make.”

There were 15 seats up for contention since the ruling Dominica Labour Party was elected unopposed in five seats across the country as the main opposition party the United Workers’ Party boycotted the elections.

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#UnitedKingdom, December 7, 2022 – Spoofing’, it’s a silly sounding word for a very real cybersecurity threat, a sneaky exercise that criminals have used to defraud people around the globe.  In a single operation last month police found that at least 70,000 UK citizens had been scammed out of  £46 million through spoofing.

By now sensitization campaigns and news articles have warned about Lottery scamming and residents may well be aware not to send anyone who promises to make you a millionaire any money but what if the call is coming from your bank?  This is the premise of spoofing.  While it too happens over the phone it differs from lottery scamming in a big way.

“Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity.  Scammers often use neighbor spoofing so it appears that an incoming call is coming from a local number, or spoof a number from a company or a government agency that you may already know and trust,” the US Federal Communications Commission explains.

They can choose to appear as tax officers, your local bank, government institutions etc.

So how do you know if someone is trying to use spoofing on you?  And how do you protect yourself and your hard earned money?

The FCC says these scammers usually use a script, because, despite their appearance they don’t actually know you, as soon as the conversation begins. they make it their mission to get as much information about you as possible.

• Hang up as soon as you get a suspicious call.  Don’t converse, don’t wait.
• Request their full name, position at the institution they claim to be representing and the name of their manager.  Hang up and call the number listed in the phone book for the institution to verify the authenticity.
• The FCC says, ‘do not respond to any questions’, especially those that can be answered with “Yes“ or “No.”
• If you answer the phone and the caller – or a recording – asks you to hit a button to stop getting the calls, you should just hang up.  Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.
• Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden names, passwords or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious.
• If you have a voice mail account with your phone service, be sure to set a password for it.  Some voicemail services are preset to allow access if you call in from your own phone number.  A hacker could spoof your home phone number and gain access to your voice mail if you do not set a password.

Remember if in doubt just hang up.