Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicosIslands, October 9, 2023 – Clearing the air on the Turks and Caicos Air wing saga is Trevor Botting, Police Commissioner, after he was accused of trying to frustrate the staff into quitting by Oswald Skippings, former Turks and Caicos Chief Minister.
The commissioner says the reason why it was shut down was it was not up to code, “I undertook a review of the regulatory structure of the RTCIPF Airwing and found that it did not comply with local and international regulations and further funding was required to modernise the structure and bring the Unit in line with international and national requirements,” he claimed.
Skippings, in the newspaper article had said, ““Attempts were made by the Commissioner to frustrate and fire personnel from the Air Wing department. Therefore, the air surveillance was terminated and the ability to spot illegal vessels including poachers was drastically reduced.”
Botting says the money needed to fix the problem has been slow in coming, This is despite promises from ministers that they are ready to provide the monetary support to the force and year-on-year increases in budgetary allotments and millions in underspending at the Royal TCI Police Force.
“Work is underway now, with the TCI CAA regulator, to apply for the Air Operators Certificate. Whilst Mr Skippings suggests that I tried to ‘frustrate and fire’ staff from the RTCIPF Airwing, this is simply not the case, and the staff that were in place when I took over as the Commissioner, remain in place today. Indeed, the objective was to add additional staff which has been done.We are now in a strong position to obtain our Air Operators Certificate.”
