Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, May 9, 2024 – PNP Administration says the 2024/25 budget is one for the people and Washington Misick, TCI Premier laid out the $485 million allocation detailing what will directly benefit each island from Grand Turk to Providenciales. Another $19.7 million in new spending was allocated to the total budget of 63 million for capital projects.

Big ticket items to be completed this year under the capital expenditure umbrella include the National Identification System and the Digitalization of Border Services with allocations of $3.7 million and $12.6 million respectively.

The $12.6 million allocation for Border Services will be split over three budget cycles

“We have ensured that the capital program brings some improvement to each island,” the Premier maintained.

The promises may not hold as much weight for some with the government consistently failing to spend its allocations for capital projects. In 2023/24 only $29 million of the $57 million allocated was spent

Misick sought to explain this “The Public Sector Investment Programme for 24/25 includes projects that started in the last financial year. For some of these projects, there was no tender take-up and for others, the tenders received did not satisfy the evaluation criteria.”

The Capital Projects the Premier listed include:

Grand Turk and Salt Cay

• Construction of West Road and Pond Street Bridges – $650,000
• Construction of drains and site work at the Helena Jones Robinson High School and remediation works on the Ponds. – $3.6 Million
• Upgrading of roads, bridges, and ponds such as Mission Folly and West Road  $3 Million
• Grand Turk Market and Welcome Centre – $1 Million
• Matthew Canal works, Salt Cay – $800,000

Several of these including Pond Street works are longstanding projects

South Caicos 

• Improvements to Cockburn Harbour – $500,000
• Solar Street Lights – $250,000
• Redevelopment of the Conch Ground Facility $1.5 Million
• Redevelop Regatta Village -$1 Million
• Community Road Repairs – $3.5 Million

North and Middle Caicos

• Renovation of the Bambara Beach Vendor Market – $750,000
• Solar street lights – $250,000
• Whitby Roads – $1.1 Million
• Renovate and refurbish the Horse Stable Beach Community Park – $500,000
• Bottle Creek Community Centre -$1.5 million

Nearly all of these projects have been budgeted for before notably, Bambara and Horse Stable Beach Projects.

Providenciales

• New drainage and other improvement work -$3.4 Million
• Pave and repair roads – $4.9 million
• Upgrade recreational parks in Blue Hills, Kew Town, Five Cays, and the Bight – $500,000
• Leeward and Long Bay community roads and solar lights – $500,000
• Community Centre for the Bight – $1.5 million
• Solar streetlights for the Bight – $250,000
• Refurbishing of the Gustavus Lightbourne Sports Complex roof and floor- $800,000
• Road works in Kew Town, including pedestrian crossing – $350,000
• Solar street lights for Kew Town – $250,000
• Way finder signage for Blue Hills – $150,000
• Solar street lights for Blue Hills – $250,000
• Mobile Clinic for Blue Hills – $300,000
• Solar street lights for Sapodilla Bay – $250,000
• Paving of roads in Wheeland – $500,000
• Solar street lights and recreational pavilion for Wheeland– $750,000

In tabling these projects, Misick admitted that the government has a serious issue with delivering large-scale projects.

“We have a capacity problem. We are facing tremendous challenges in developing and implementing big-ticket projects. Public servants are working hard, but the onerous processes, insufficient resources, inadequate technology, outdated laws, an unwillingness to adapt by some, and bureaucracy are frustrating delivery.

That must change.”

The Premier revealed that $300,000 has been set aside in an effort to make the procurement process smoother. Another $1.8 million will be spent on project initiation and project development plans. Misick says that this will allow the government to plan projects a year in advance, speeding up delivery.

With this being the final budget before elections the government has one financial year to complete the projects that they have not been able to pin down since 2021.

Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, May 9, 2024 – With over 50 percent of rooms sold, the Arc Providenciales has officially been greenlit for construction.

The Arc is part of the South Bank development set on the south coast of Providenciales which in total has already sold $ 250,000,000 worth of real estate.

The project offers four different neighborhoods, complete with a private lagoon and man-made islands, which are all selling fast, The Arc, Ocean Estates, which are nearly sold out all clocking between $4 and $14 million in sales, Boat Houses with 34 out of 38 sold and Lagoon Villas which start at $2 million up.

Described as the heart of the South Bank project, The Arc, named after the gently curving design of the building, will be the Turks and Caicos’ most iconic property according to developers.

In a May 2 webinar attended by Magnetic Media, developers revealed that the building will sport a 150-foot-long pool alongside a man-made beach protected by a concrete sea wall but still connected to the open ocean.

The beach is due for completion by November with groundbreaking for the Arc set for the second quarter of this year. The Arc, like many newer TCI properties, will be part residential, part hotel. It’s the last property in the development and the feather in the cap of developer Ingo Reckhon.

Included in the sky villas, which are the most exclusive of the rooms on the Arc, will be indoor-outdoor kitchens, hot tubs, pools, outside gardens, boat slips, and the Turks and Caicos’ first-ever boat concierge service.

It is to be managed by Grace Bay Resorts.

“Both of us are Turks and Caicos companies operating here for over 30 years. We both believe in our people and we hire local employees,” said a representative from Grace Bay Resorts during the meeting. In attendance were dozens of homeowners who have bought into the TCI dream ’live South Bank.’

New construction is a major contributor to stamp duties in the Turks and Caicos and enriches the real estate market in which resale properties are few and far between. The government expects that it will collect over US$50 million in stamp duty taxes from land sale transactions in the 2024/25 financial year.