#TurksandCaicosIslands – December 22, 2020 – The pace and procedure of financial support to thousands of Turks and Caicos Islands people amidst the catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic has attracted some commendation but mainly it has elicited stinging criticism.
Government last week rushed through the House
of Assembly a measure to grant a Christmas loan of up to one month’s salary to
Civil Servants, while casually accepting that as many as 2,000 people who
applied for stimulus cash were still waiting the promised funds.
The first stimulus payouts began in April,
yet of the 9,000 people who had applied and the 7,165 applications which were
approved, there remains nearly 400 people, eight months later, who have yet to
be paid.
The fact is revealed in the 61-page
Appropriations Committee Report which guided debate on the recent Budget
Supplementary.
Families across the country have been
devastated by the pandemic’s walloping effect on travel and tourism. In some households, both mother and father
lost income or experienced a drastic reduction in salary.
Public sector salaries were uninterrupted
during the pandemic, yet the urgency of the government was clear and the
Christmas loan for its workers was fast-tracked.
The same sense of resoluteness was less
tangible in relation to the thousands who have been pining for their stimulus
monies.
Taxi and public license drivers still
wait. In a press conference, it was
announced there is a $500,000 allotment to this category of workers. However, until they work out an arrangement
with the National Insurance Board, the free funding is frozen.
From the report: ‘Taxi Drivers Stimulus – The Taxi Drivers
stimulus is still outstanding as the Ministry of Finance is awaiting confirmation
from the Taxi Drivers that they had entered into arrangements with NIB’
In the second round of Economic Stimulus, the
TCI Government offered $600 to Turk and Caicos citizens who were adversely
impacted when the national lockdown and subsequent raft of restrictions were
imposed from March to July.
The deadline for applications was December 9
and 3,129 Belongers applied for the financial help. The Report did not state who, if anyone, had
received the payout.
The Appropriations Committee Report informed
90 percent of the 900 Business applications approved are paid; however it means
90 local companies, months later, are still hanging on in hope for the critical
cash.
Also striking in the report is the stated
reduction of $5.5 million in funding to the Economic Stimulus plan. However, the same report informed that the
Committee approved $19.3 million as the new budgeted sum for the stimulus. This
agreed figure falls nearly $12 million below the previously budgeted $25
million dollars for financial support to workers amidst the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the country is apparently swimming
in cash due to, what can only be labelled, a wise savings strategy firmly
guided by British oversight of the once fiscally beleaguered territory.
In the Report presented in the House of
Assembly on December 16, 2020 it is outlined that cumulatively, TCIG has $155
million dollars set aside.
The breakdown is: the National Forfeiture Fund: $6.4 million;
National Wealth Fund: $25.8 million; the Development Fund: $26 million and
Unrestricted Cash: $96.8 million.
While some countries committed to monthly
payments up to a specific number of weeks of stimulus money to people who
suffered lost wages as a result of the unexpected, unprecedented impact of the
coronavirus pandemic, the Turks and Caicos Islands Government opted for a
one-time only payment approach.
Magnetic Media is a Telly Award winning multi-media company specializing in creating compelling and socially uplifting TV and Radio broadcast programming as a means for advertising and public relations exposure for its clients.
#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.
#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.
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, 9 May 2024 – The Integrity Commission wishes to inform the public and, in particular, to remind the Specified Persons in Public Life (Declarants), as set out below and in Schedule 1, that they must file their Declarations of Income, Assets and Liabilities, as required by Section 39 of the TCI Integrity Commission Ordinance.
The filing of declarations will take place, on an on-going basis, during the months of May and June 2024.
All Declarants are required to deliver their completed Declaration forms, along with the relevant supporting documents, in person, at an office of the Commission,BY APPOINTMENT ONLY.
Declarants will be contacted individually, with a specific date, time and location, for delivery of declaration forms.
Specified Persons in Public Life include the following:
All Specified Persons in Public Life who made their last filing on or before 30th June 2022.
All persons who are appointed to Statutory Boards, effective 1st April 2024, or thereafter.
All Specified Persons in Public Life who are appointed, within the TCIG Government, effective 1st April 2024, or thereafter.
All persons who are no longer sitting members of Statutory Boards, as at 31st March 2024.
All persons who have resigned their posts, or whose contracts have not been renewed, within the TCIG Government, are required to file within 90 days of the end of their tenure.
All other persons who are considered Specified Persons in Public Life, but who would not have been aware of their obligation to file, under section 39 the Integrity Commission Ordinance.
For any inquiries about an appointment, please call 946-1941 or 941-7847 or send an email to info@integritycommission.tc
For those declarants who fail to attend their scheduled appointment, please be mindful of the following:
A failure, without reasonable cause, to file a Declaration is a criminal offence, punishable with imprisonment for 1 year, or a fine of $15,000, or both. In addition, the Commission is, among other things, obligated to publish the fact of such failure in the Gazette.
All Declarations are confidential documents. PleaseDO NOTsubmit your completed Declaration form through a third party, or via electronic or surface mail.
Persons who have filed a Declaration during the calendar year 2023 and, were required to do so at that time as per regular filing cycle, will NOT be required to file in 2024.
Schedule 1 below details all Specified Persons in Public Life (Declarants) who are required to file a declaration.
SCHEDULE 1
(Section 2)
SPECIFIED PERSONS IN PUBLIC LIFE
Members of the House of Assembly
Members of Cabinet
Deputy Governor
Permanent Secretaries
Under Secretaries/Deputies Secretaries (or post of equivalent rank)
Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the House of Assembly
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Auditor
Accountant General
Complaints Commissioner
Chief Economist
Chief Statistician
Chief Medical Officer
Heads of Department
Director and Deputy Director of Planning
Director and Deputy Director of Surveys and Mapping
Registrar and Deputy Registrar of Deeds
Registrar and Deputy Registrar of Lands
Director and Deputy Director of Education
Director and Deputy Director of Immigration
Collector and Deputy Collector of Customs
Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Lands
Chief and Deputy Chief Valuation Officer
Deputy Heads of Departments, where the Head of Department is not called a Director
Deputy Attorney General
Crown Counsel
Clerk of Courts
Registrar and of Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court
Supervisor of Elections
Members of the Public Service Commission
Commissioner of Police, Deputy Commissioner and Officers at or above the rank of Superintendent
Special Advisers (Inserted by L.N. 64/2012)
Members and Staff Members of the Integrity Commission
Chairman, Executive Officers, Directors, Deputy Directors and Members of any body referred to in paragraph (d) of the definition of “public body” in the Ordinance
Any person who has a statutory duty to record the minutes of meetings of a commission, statutory board, public authority or other body referred to in item 34 who signs the entity’s books and is involved in its business and affairs
Any person who acts in an office referred to in this Schedule for a continuous period of six months or more.
(Amended by Ord. 1 of 2009 and 15 of 2010, L.Ns. 7/2012, 29/2012 and 64/2012 and s. 6(1) Turks and Caicos Constitution Order 2011)