Caribbean News
Missed Opportunities, Small Population and Lack of Exports ramping up Food & Living costs says TCI Shipper
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, February 9, 2023 – “Turks and Caicos customers basically pay a round trip freight,” was the reiterated revelation from shipping expert, Carl Simmons as he explained why inflation rates and food prices in the Turks and Caicos are sky high. Simmons, who owns Cargo Express and Tropical Shipping was a guest on Tuesday on Financially Speaking, a radio show hosted by Drexwell Seymour, aired on RTC.
“Say for example you’re on American Airlines and you go to Miami you pay to go and you pay to come. TCI customers from the shipping perspective basically pay two ways, the ship comes here with cargo and goes back empty because we don’t produce anything.”
According to the Turks and Caicos Department of Statistics, TCI exported $2.6 million in goods in 2022; a figure hugely surpassed by imports to the country which was at its highest in five year, recorded to be $681.4 million.
Carl Simmons made his statement when queried on why his own company was not opening shipping routes between the Turks and Caicos and other Caribbean countries who produce some of the goods that come from overseas; goods
that tend to be higher in cost. He explained another issue contributing to the cost factor.
“It’s volume driven, and that’s important, our population is very small, we don’t have anything to trade back through CARICOM we have no industry” he explained further why this was so harmful.
“Freight to the other islands is a little bit cheaper– they [shippers] can pick up cargo to take back between those islands”
This makes the trips cheaper for the shippers as they recover some of the cost along the way, a benefit sorely lacking in the TCI. Another issue was the country’s lack of proper maritime facilities to incentivize shippers.
“We are lacking a deep water harbour, if we had [one] we could have gotten ships with more capacity to bring containers from the US drop off a percentage of them to Grand Turk or Provo and continue on to another island but we cannot consider that option at all so the cost goes up again.”
Simmons, has for well over a decade been making recommendations and pointing to the many missed opportunities for port operations. The ideas include a transshipment port, which he and others have cited as possible as far back as 2000. The port would dramatically slash the cost of living for islanders by double digit percentages, he says.
At the time, in the year 2000 the place that I identified as a Transshipment port was Grand Turk; unfortunately it fell on deaf ears.”
Four years later, Simmons told listeners the Dominican Republic executed the idea with their Caucedo Port and now the opportunity has passed for TCI.
Seymour, a CPA by profession added that several essential companies have confirmed expenses in shipping are a driver of higher prices; he named: FortisTCI and grocery stores.
Food inflation and electricity rocketed sky high in 2022 causing extreme stress on consumers, forcing the government to provide relief through duty discounts and subsidising power bills to the tune of over $20 million dollars.
Castries, March 2025. Saint Lucia has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring human rights for all.
This was the collective assertion, as over 20 national stakeholders participated in a two-day national Human Rights workshop. This initiative was hosted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ (OHCHR) Regional Caribbean office, in collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinator’s satellite office in Saint Lucia, and the Ministry of External Affairs, International Trade, Civil Aviation, and Diaspora Affairs. 
The workshop, was designed to enhance awareness of the International Human Rights System, including treaty bodies and human rights mechanisms; build capacity of government officials and civil society members in data gathering and human rights reporting; and to highlight the role that respective agencies and their constituents play within this system. The Ministry of External Affairs, International Trade, Civil Aviation and Diaspora Affairs is the focal agency for Human Rights in Saint Lucia.
In welcoming participants, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs Ms. Janelle Modeste-Stephen, noted that advancing human rights was a shared responsibility. “Government must enact policies and safeguard rights. Civil society must continue to advocate and mobilize. The private sector must embrace inclusive practices. Communities must challenge discrimination and uphold the dignity of every individual,” She urged stakeholders to use the workshop as an opportunity to learn, collaborate and commit to concrete action that will make human rights a lived reality for all in Saint Lucia. “Together, we can build a society, where justice, equality and inclusion are not just aspirations but everyday realities”, she stated.
A key objective of the workshop was to reactivate and strengthen the capacity of Saint Lucia’s National Coordinating Committee for Human Rights, which was established by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2019. The Ministry of External Affairs serves as the Chair and Secretariat of the Committee, which comprises representatives from various government ministries. The committee is responsible for analyzing the human rights situation at the national level and collaborates to report on recommendations aligned with Saint Lucai’s national priorities. The active
functioning of the National Coordinating Committee for Human Rights is crucial for promoting and protecting human rights.
Reflecting on the utility of the workshop, Ms. Bynta Ernest, the representative from the Department of Gender Affairs on the National Human Rights Committee noted that the session was essential to the Committee’s revitalization and to demonstrating its importance in advancing human rights in Saint Lucia. “The practical sessions towards reporting on the recommendations from the last Universal periodic Review (UPR) were also very useful to kick-start the process towards meeting our October 2025 UPR reporting deadline,” she added.
In fulfillment of Saint Lucia’s human rights related reporting obligations and deadlines, workshop participants prepared a draft plan of action to devise next steps to advance Saint Lucia’s human rights agenda.
The workshop was held at the Harbor Club Hotel, from March 5-6, 2025. Participants included representatives from departments of External Affairs, Health, Education, Labor, Justice, Human Services, Gender Affairs, Immigration, Equity, Economic Development, the National Statistical Office, the Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office, the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force, the Attorney General’s Office, and the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities.
Photo Captions:
1st insert: Janelle Modeste-Stephen, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs
2nd insert: Bynta Ernest, Gender Affairs
Kingston, Jamaica, March 10, 2025 – The Government has significantly increased investments in healthcare and should another crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic hit the island, the country will be better equipped to deal with it, according to Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness.
Speaking at the unveiling of a monument in honour of healthcare workers who died while tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, today (March 10), at the National Chest Hospital in St. Andrew, the Prime Minister said out of a commitment to strengthen the healthcare system and to strengthen the healthcare workforce, the Government instituted the Dr. Barry Wint Memorial Scholarship in 2024.
“We are investing $2.5 billion to support 607 students pursuing studies in medical technology, nursing, biomedical engineering, and other critical health-related fields,” he said, adding that the fund is ensuring the building of a robust pipeline of professionals “dedicated to service in the health sector.
“This is a solid commitment of how the Government is dealing with building resilience in the system, supporting our professionals, and at the same time ensuring that we can deliver healthcare with care,” the Prime Minister said.
He noted that while July has been earmarked to recognise the “selfless contribution of those who carried us through the crisis, more needs to be done”.
“Our appreciation cannot be confined to a single month or a single event. It must be reflected in how we value and support our healthcare professionals every single day. To the families of the fallen, I know that no words can fill the space left, especially for your loved ones,” Dr.
Holness said.
The Prime Minister underscored that the legacies of the healthcare workers live on in the patients they treated, the lives they touched, and now in the monument that has been erected.
“Let us commit to a Jamaica where those who dedicate their lives to caring for others are themselves cared for. Let us also commit to upholding the values these healthcare workers have embodied – care, compassion, resilience and unity. In their action and sacrifice, they made a choice,” the Prime Minister said.
March 10 marks the fifth anniversary since the first case of COVID-19 was identified in the country, and the fourth year since the start of the recovery with the administration of vaccines.
Contact: Garfield L. Angus
Release: JIS
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