Police Record Turnaround coming in May

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, May 1, 2023 – Police Record woes in the Turks and Caicos are due to be fixed in the short term with a new system to be implemented this month.

“The project is going to take less than eight weeks– I’m saying by the end of May because it will take between six to eight weeks.”

The welcome reveal came from E Jay Saunders, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister, who says he took charge of the project this year. The minister made the revelation while speaking with host Drexwell Seymour on Tuesday April 11 during RTC’s Financially Speaking.

“Police records have been a pain for a lot of people, so in January, within the first week of coming back we had a meeting with the Permanent Secretaries—I raised my hand and said I’ll take responsibility for getting it fixed.”

Saunders said frustratingly slow processes had bogged the project down even more.

“Development of the project only started in the first week of April because the three months were spent working through the whole process, getting it approved, sending it out to tender [etc],” he said.

It was finally approved by Cabinet 12 weeks after it was introduced, and the Government announced on March 30th, that they were stepping in to fix the issue which has plagued residents for years.

TCIG ‘approved the development of new national criteria including public consultation, to revise the application and issuance of a Police Record certificate by the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force.’

The Finance Minister once again expressed frustration at the slow pace of the Government, compared to the private sector that made projects extend far longer than they should. Residents and potential expat workers have had to wait for months, in some cases, for police records, putting jobs in jeopardy and causing delays all around.

The Government is counting on this new system to bring true change after Premier Washington Misick expressed ‘embarrassment’ at the slow turnaround times.