TCI News
TCI: Bottle Creek Clinic hold Up: Response to the Premier
#Providenciales, 31 December, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – Happy New Year to Middle and North Caicos, and the entire Turks and Caicos. May God continue to shine his grace upon all of you and your families.
Today it is with a heavy heart that I inform you all, that the accusations made against me and my company, Jaca TCI Ltd. by The Premier in the December 20-27 Issue, Volume 15 – No. 50 of the Sun News Paper, are completely and utterly incorrect.
Unfortunately I can only say that either your team did not advise you of the facts or you have intentionally released false information. Its gives me no pleasure in bringing to light the factual events which occurred during the Bottle Creek Clinic Project, but it is imperative that the people of Bottle Creek and the entire Turks and Caicos Islands know the truth.
Madam Premier, you stated: “The Bottle Creek Clinic was a fight from (the time) we got elected.” I’m confused about this statement. I can provide numerous emails to the contrary. In fact the Permanent Secretary for that department and EMS department staff can attest to all the emails I sent requesting to begin the Project. The Honorable Derek Taylor Intervention was done at the request of my colleague Jeff Lee on behalf of Jaca TCI Ltd.
Madam Premier the budget for The Bottle Creek Clinic was $1.8 million. My initial bid came in a little over that, I was asked to come within the budget and to do value engineering and show savings on the project. I then came in with a price of a little over $1.5 million. Recommencement of work after negotiations was $68,000, which led to me creating savings of over $140,000. The Bottle Creek Clinic came in below budget and still as a state of the art Clinic for the people of Bottle Creek.
Unfortunately I think you are confusing this project with the Promenade, where you and your team had to shuffle figures around to find monies near or around the amount of $900,000. Madam Premier please explain to the people of North and Middle Caicos and the entire Turks and Caicos Islands, why that project had doubled. One can only assume why.
The ditch you are claiming I did not dig, was outside my scope of work, and outside the scope of the bid. This ditch was something Fortis TCI asked for which would allow them to upgrade per their master plan for that area. Your EMS department asked for quotes from a few persons. I ended up with it two weeks ago.
You also mention that the temporary power had to be sourced. Madam Premier, two days before your so call opening of the Bottle Creek Clinic, to save face for my friend Ralph Higgs, not you, I personally went and turn on that power in my name.
Here in the Twin Islands we are our brothers keepers. What affects Ralph affects me and the entire community of North and Middle Caicos. I will continue to say Ralph is a good person, but that he is led by a party which does not care about the people of North and Middle Caicos. Madam Premier, please tell the people what the PDM has ever done for the Twin Islands.
Madam Premier please tell me and the people of the Twin Islands where is the truth in anything you have said in that article, it is all lies.
In an effort to clear my name, my company name and receive a public apology, I have decide to take this matter to court, where everything, all factual details will come out. As all information presented by you in that article is False.
Wishing you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year. May God continue to Bless and Protect the people of Turks and Caicos Islands.
FROM ARLINGTON “CHUCK” MUSGROVE ED #4 CANDIDATE
Almost two million visitors recorded in 2025
PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS – The Turks and Caicos Islands saw an increase in stayover arrivals in December, seven percent higher than the corresponding period in 2024.
Preliminary data suggests that stay over arrivals by air for the month of December was 66,427 in comparison to 62,610 in December 2024.
From January to December 2025, preliminary visitor arrival numbers totalled 640,754; on par with the number recorded for the same period of 2024.
Stay Over Arrivals YTD December 2024/2025
The first quarter of the calendar year attracted the largest number of arrivals with visitor arrivals three percent higher than the first quarter of 2024. Reduced airlift from the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably the Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue services, was however felt from the second quarter (April to June). As a result, visitor arrivals dropped three percent in the second quarter.
By the third quarter of this year (July to September), geopolitical and economic conditions in the key source markets, namely the United States, led to further contraction of arrivals. In the last quarter of 2025, arrivals were impacted in October due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa but additional airlift from the USA and Canada resulted in an increase in arrivals in November and December.
Mr. Paul Pennicook, Interim CEO Consultant of Experience Turks and Caicos, said December’s increase in stayover arrivals is an encouraging indicator of the sustained interest in the Turks and Caicos Islands as a premier destination.
“While we note and continue to monitor geopolitical shifts that affect us, Experience Turks and Caicos is focused on increasing marketing initiatives in our primary source markets. We have spent the last two years investing in groundwork such as crucial travel advisor training to assist them in selling the destination more effectively. In the next fiscal, we will be building on those initiatives with co-op activities with partners as well as out of home advertising to increase visitation to our destination,” he said.
In Cruise, the preliminary count of passenger arrivals for the month of December 2025 was 129,346, a 22 percent increase over last December. This growth follows the berthing of 11 additional ships in Grand Turk this month.
From January to December, the cruise sector continued to outperform the same period last year, as the 1.3 million total cruise passengers recorded, marks a five percent Year-on-Year increase. 
The cruise sector experienced significant growth in the first quarter of 2025, with passenger arrivals surpassing last quarter by 53 percent. In the second and third quarter however, several cruise lines adjusted their itineraries as vessels were pulled from the fleet or from the Caribbean region, which resulted in fewer passengers.
Arrivals dropped seven percent and 10 percent in the second and third quarters, respectively. Double digit growth was recorded in the last two months of Quarter 4. This growth however, was not sufficient to outweigh the drop in arrivals experienced in October, following the cancellation of cruise calls due to the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Despite the late-quarter rebound, arrivals for the final quarter of 2025 closed six percent below the same period in 2024.
News
The Department of Trade, Industry & Fair Competition to Host Export Readiness Workshop Under the theme “Empowering TCI Businesses for Local Growth and Global Markets.”
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands – Wednesday, 11 February 2026: The Informal Settlements Unit (ISU) coordinated a multi-agency enforcement operation on Thursday, 29 January 2026, led by the Planning Department, with support from the Crown Land
Unit, the Turks and Caicos Islands Border Force, and security provided by the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force. The operation, carried out at three different locations in Providenciales, formed part of ongoing government efforts to address unauthorised development and illegal occupation of land in accordance with governing legislation.
The operation commenced in Blue Hills, where five Section 58 Enforcement Notices were issued on unauthorised structures identified on Block and Parcel 60502/48.
Enforcement activity then moved to a second location off the Leeward Highway near Caicos Lodge, where six Section 58 Enforcement Notices were issued on additional unauthorised structures on Block and Parcel 60802/66.
The final phase of the operation took place in The Bight, where three unauthorised structures were removed, with all debris cleared from the site in keeping with established safety and environmental protocols.
The Informal Settlements Unit remains committed to working alongside its partner agencies to support lawful development, protect public and private land, and ensure that planning regulations are enforced in a coordinated and transparent manner across the Turks and Caicos Islands. Similar joint operations will continue as part of the Government’s wider strategy to address unauthorised development and informal settlement activity.
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