PDM not satisfied with Gov’t Press Event; says PNP ‘arrogant’

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, May 1, 2023 – While the establishment of the Destination Marketing and Management Organisation may have been in the PNP’s Citizens’ contract, residents who voted for the PNP were not expecting a total breakdown of the Tourist Board, this is according to Edwin Astwood, Leader of the Opposition.

His claim was part of a response to the recent press conference held by the government to shed light on the DMMO. Astwood slammed Washington Misick, TCI Premier for quoting his Citizens’ Contract, where Misick said the plan for the DMMO was listed.

“In other words, he is saying that all those who voted for this PNP administration supported the closing down of the Tourist Board and replacing it with the DMO. Somehow, I do not think that this is what the Premier’s supporters were expecting,” he challenged  “Maybe some in the inner circle would have known the sneaky details, but not the majority of the people who voted for the PNP and the last election.”

The government is defending their investment in the DMMO as doggedly as the Opposition is denouncing it but in the verbal melee Astwood highlights one question that remains unanswered. Why were the Tourist Board employees let go?

Minister Josphine Connolly explained that the Board’s structure and information collection methods were unsuitable for the new era of tourism the government is trying to usher in, but thus far nothing has been shared that indicates the employees were unsatisfactory in any way.

In truth, the staff are constantly on the receiving end of compliments from the Minister for stellar work, supportive research and credited for having led TCI’s destination marketing for three consecutive years of robust growth.

The recent DMMO press conference did not explain the dismissal, but informed that staff recruitment and retention will no longer be a function of TCIG.

Piggybacking on an example of Apple and its Ipod shared by E Jay Saunders, Minister of Finance, about taking a good product and making it better the Opposition Leader criticized the touted improvement which lessens TCIG control of the country’s number one industry.

“What did not happen, Mr. Minister, was that Apple did not give control of their star product or their new upcoming star product to another company, nor did they put the management and sale of their new star product into the hands of others, like this Government is doing right now. So yes, Honourable Minister of Finance they made a good thing better, but they did it themselves, bringing the talent, using the accumulated experience, employing the latest technical advancements. The Government should be doing the same- The Government should be Making the People’s Tourist Board better and not shutting it down, leaving our Turks and Caicos Islanders jobless,”  he maintained.

Edwin Astwood described the decision to move forward without widespread public consultation as arrogant.