Attractive Pay as Premier aims to Staff Delivery Unit 

By Dana Malcolm  

Staff Writer  

#TurksandCaicos, March 23, 2023 – The Government is actively working to staff the promised Premier’s Delivery Unit, being established to streamline government projects and ensure efficient use of government funds; it is also expected to ensure timelines are adhered to; overall making the Government a more efficient machine.  

Washington Misick, TCI Premier, opened applications again in early March for top positions including Head of the PDU, with a promised salary starting at $ 120,000 per year.  Project Leads are also wanted and will be handed a $62,000 per year income and finally, an analyst is still outstanding. The Government hopes to catch one with a promise of $54,000 per year. 

Launched in July last year, the project with a Budget allocation of $2.5 million was to be staffed locally eventually, and maneuvered so proficiently, it would revolutionise the way the Government does business beginning with 10 priority projects.

The irony is the Unit itself faced human resource setbacks, stalling its activation. 

Misick had listed the ten projects, which encompass tackling critical infrastructure and communication issues; these were cited in his 2022 Throne Speech. They included: The new Fibre Optic Cable Link, South Dock Port Redevelopment, Solid Waste Management, Comprehensive Housing Development Framework, Digitisation of the Land Registry, Management & Containment of Informal Settlements, Digitisation of Border Services Agriculture and Food Security and National ID and a New Providenciales Court Complex. 

All of these projects have seen some level of implementation and Premier Misick had said the DPU has detailed plans with start and completion dates and staffing for the various stages of each project. 

Still the need for a fully functioning DPU cannot be understated.  

Members on both sides of the House of Assembly including Akierra Missick and Alvin Garland, have now been on record about the snail’s pace of Government projects approved for the advancement of the islands.   

The DPU, when properly staffed, is supposed to sit in the ‘centre’ of Government as ‘an active partner to ministries, departments and other Government bodies,’ to end the recurring trend.