A (Excellent), B(Good), C(Satisfactory), D (Needs Improvement and F (Poor)
Introduction
On February 19, 2021, the voters of the Turks and Caicos selected the PNP party as the new government with a clear mandate of 14 to 1. Many people have their views on why they won but I believed they won because the people did not want a second term with the previous administration.
Let me declare again, I am not a supporter of either of the political parties so this article is an independent review of the Government’s performance for the past two years. This review is based on the PNP citizens contract and my personal observations.
Communications (Grade D)
The Government must improve its communication. Sometimes we only know what is taking place when we read it in international newspapers or the Governor’s facebook page or after the event takes place.
Due to the lack of communication, many of us must make assumptions which may lead to a lot of misinformation and rumours.
Allowing the electorate to express openly (Grade A)
I believe people should have the right to express their opinions about Government openly without any fear of victimization or attack. Based on my personal experience, I think this Government has been very mature on how they dealt with their critics and so they deserved an A for this. Under the previous administration, you were attacked by their supporters and leaders simply because your opinion appeared to be against them.
Diversification of the economy (Grade C)
I will give the Government C for trying. I am also conscious of the fact that diversification will not happen overnight, but we need to diversify.
TCI Finance was created which is a public/private entity with the Deputy Premier as Chairman. The aim of this entity to promote Financial Services thus creating an alternative to Tourism like what is happening in BVI and Cayman. I do believe there is potential in this. Some may disagree but you wouldn’t know until you try.
The Department of Agriculture has provided $180,000 in cash grants for farming initiatives and Invest TCI has provided grants of $130,000.
Helping Entrepreneurs (Grade D)
In the citizens contract, the Government said they would create a Development Finance Institution to support and promote entrepreneurs, however, this institution is yet to be created. The Government also said they would reform the Business licence ordinance and enforce the provision of the Business Licence Ordinance for the categories reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders. However, neither of this has been done.
However, I will give the Government credit for making the application process simpler at Invest TCI and for extending the categories and the amounts.
Cost of living (Grade C)
The Government has provided three stimuli to the people of TCI, they have increased the social welfare benefits, and they have assisted the people with the fuel factor with Fortis by limiting it to 20cents for four months. The Government has reduced the CPF from 7.5% to 5%. They have waived duties on basic food items.
I think these are great initiatives, but the problem is we need to ensure that the consumers feel the impact and so the Government needs to implement price control.
Health Care (Grade D)
In the citizens contract, the Government say they would restructure the medical treatment abroad and they would reduce the need for medical treatment abroad. We continue to spend a significant amount of money sending persons abroad for medical treatment.
I am personally grateful for the Government spending more money on the dialysis unit so we should see an expansion in the dialysis unit soon.
Crime (Grade C)
The Government has spent a significant amount of money and passed legislation to address crime and hence a grade C. I also gave a Grade C because of the premier’s initiative in inviting the Bahamian police to the TCI which I believe was very helpful in dealing with some of the gangs.
However, the Government needs to put more pressure on the Governor who in turn needs to pressure the police force to do their job.
Education (Grade D)
I applaud the Government on the free tuition for Community College, the implementation of the TVET program and the internship program. However, more needs to be done. I am not sure how effective the TVET program is but we need plumbers, electricians, and more people in the tourism field. We need to restructure the curriculum in the High School and these types of programs should be offered in High School. We also need to upgrade our community college. A building was purchased for the tourism school, and it is unoccupied and unused. A building was purchased by the previous administration for a trade school, and it is unoccupied and unused.
Crown Land (Grade C)
While the crown land still is not in the hands of the elected representatives, I give this Government a C because of its effort in raising the crown land issues with the Uk. As a result there are some 146 joint recommendations on the management of crown land.
Shantytowns and Housing (Grade D)
The establishment of shanty towns is one of the fastest things taking place in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is growing because no one is doing anything with it. My original grade was F but after reading an article on the establishment of an Informal Settlement Unit, I changed the grade to D.
I also changed it to D because I know there is now a Department of Housing and hopefully we should not only see the illegal housing being addressed but the creation of homes for the residents to live in.
Immigration ( Grade C)
We continue to face immigration issues particularly illegal immigrants. While the Government has done a great job in intercepting vehicles, the Government must take some drastic actions to deal with immigration which they are avoiding.
The Government say they will established quotas for PRC and TC Islander Status. I don’t think this has been done but I do support the Board of Commission on their decisions for the grant of TC Islander Status. I applaud the Government and the Opposition on the members they appointed to the Board.
Reaching out to the Disapora (Grade A)
The Turks and Caicos is unique in that less than 1/3 of the people that reside in TCI are from TCI and so we are outnumbered. There are more Turks and Caicos Islanders living abroad than what are living in TCI. In the very near future, the landscape of this country will change and there will hardly be any of us here and so I support the Government in reaching out to the Disapora group. The majority of the Disapora is in the Bahamas but they also need to establish an office in the USA.
Infrastructure (Grade F)
While there are talks about the highway and a new airport, talks are cheap, we need to see action. We not only need a better highway and a new airport, but we also need landscaping and beautification of the islands.
I think the Government needs to erect tangible things in each constituency. I know there is talks of the Government getting a hotel for Grand Turk but again there is no evidence.
Digital (Grade D)
A lot of work needs to be done in this area, but I give the Government D because work is being done or tendered for a national ID. I think this is a start.
Freedom of Information legislation (Grade F)
To my knowledge, no legislation has been put in place for freedom of information.
Conclusion
While this Government has done some things, they need to do more. Perhaps they are doing more but due to the poor communication, I don’t know some of the things they are doing.
In writing this article, I read the PNP citizen contract and in this document, on page 10 it states that it will “upgrade the Tourist Board to a Destination Management Organization (DMO) to achieve a stakeholder synergy.” On page 23, it states that “Offer incentives to encourage persons in the diaspora to migrate to the TCI for available positions not able to be filled by TC Islanders in the islands. The point I am making if anyone read the document prior to the election, you will see this was always the plan of this Government.