His Excellency the Governor, Peter Beckingham, chaired the 23rd meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday 30 October 2013 at the Hilly Ewing Building on Providenciales. All Ministers were present.
At this meeting Cabinet:
Received a presentation from Peter Hayes, Director of the Overseas Territories Directorate. Mr Hayes thanked Cabinet for receiving him, and reaffirmed the UK’s continued commitment to assist TCI to develop its economy. He also gave an overview of what the Joint Ministerial Council to be held in London in November would focus on, and looked forward to the Premier’s attendance.
Hayes was pleased with the better than anticipated financial position of TCIG for the period July to September 2013, as submitted in the Second Quarter Financial Report from the Accounting General.
For the second quarter of FY 2013-14 the Consolidated Fund recorded a deficit of $1.4m, which was better than anticipated, however it was noted that there will be additional challenges as the year progresses through unavoidable additional costs and implementation delays in some of the already-announced tax increases. It was agreed that the report would be passed to the House of Assembly for discussion and released to the public.
The Cabinet agreed on and discussed contracts for the construction of restroom blocks at Ianthe Pratt Primary School and Clement Howell High School, draft Young Adult Empowerment Policy, amending the Customs Ordinance and a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bankers’ Association was also discussed.
