News
Five Cays Mother Laments LIVE on FB: “Pay Attention to Us!”
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
“Why are we living like this?”
#TurksandCaicos, September 11, 2023 – A searing question as the Turks and Caicos Islands continues to mourn 40 people killed over the past year, thirteen of them from the community of Five Cays, now vocal resident and former TV talk show host, Paula Arthur-Rigby is calling for more from the authorities in order to stem the trend of
Paula, former host of ‘The Average Joe Show’, is well acquainted with the pain and trauma, she lost her son to a bout of violence in 2022.
“We are asking for help, asking desperately for help and you all are ignoring us,” she chided the Government in an emotional message via Facebook live on Saturday September 2, the anniversary of that tragic loss.
During the live which was viewed over 3,000 times, Arthur-Rigby detailed the loss of her own son in September 2022 and having to watch families across the Turks and Caicos suffer the same fate over and over.
“I buried my 20-year-old son, I put him in the ground the day before my 50th birthday. That’s what I got for my birthday present.”
She continued in tears, “what could’ve caused this? Every other week someone is burying their young child?” I don’t care what constituency we need help.”
She demanded more of the elected leadership in terms of holding police accountable.
“Every time you hear somebody’s child lose their life you should be down the police’s no throat police trying to find out what’s going on and what are we going to do about it— not only have we lost [loved ones] but we know how this thing is working and we could still end up losing [more].”
She also criticized the Government for the stark difference between election time behavior and the current response times. 
“This death, killing and pain and violence that people [are] dealing with? It ain’t gon be easy for y’all to come back blah blah blahing,” she warned.
After attempting to contact authorities for a meeting and reportedly being rebuffed, Rigby says she is not daunted and will continue to champion the country’s cause.
“You signed up for this job; do it! And we need you to do it now; there can’t be any more lingering on this. This is an issue that needs serious attention, ASAP.”
“If I have to get on Facebook and do a press conference and call you all out every week, that is what I am going to do. I need you all to pay attention not just to Five Cays.”
Caption: Paula Rigby-Arthur, Media Personality, Mother, Five Cays Resident