Premier Ewing, during his time in Nassau, Bahamas this week, as he attended a two-day Conference for Small Island Developing States, also took the time to meet with key stakeholders in the Government of The Bahamas on critical issues facing the Turks and Caicos Islands.
As a follow-up to recommendations made following the fact-finding mission that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Hon. Fred Mitchell led, under the direction of the Caricom Heads of Government, to the Turks and Caicos Islands in June 2013, on the state of governance, the judiciary system and the economic and social systems imposed during the interim administration under direct rule and subsequent to the return to internal self-government, Premier Ewing met with the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Perry Christie to discuss the progress made in the Turks and Caicos Islands in the past year.
The critical areas of focus were the depth of control still maintained by the UK Government over the financial management of the Government’s operations, SIPT and its’ funding and the challenges faced to fund educational, health and other social programs desperately needed for the sustainable development of the economy of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
During this unilateral meeting of heads, the very serious matter of illegal immigration was also discuss, in an effort to gain The Bahamas’ support for forging a partnership among the two countries, to tackle the very critical issue of illegal immigration through the improved protection of our borders.
Like the Turks and Caicos Islands, The Bahamas has long since suffered from the tides of illegal migrants penetrating their borders to escape the hardships of Haiti. Together, the Governments will aim to thwart the arrival of suspect vessels in our waters thereby eliminating, or at the very least, greatly reducing the high costs of repatriation.
Premier Ewing was also invited to meet with the Management and Staff of Pan America Health Organization (PAHO). This meeting saw the reaffirmation of the relationship that PAHO and the Turks and Caicos Islands has and PAHO’s recommitment to providing its continued support. The support of PAHO over the years has been instrumental in the facilitation of vaccines and other programs for the prevention of communicable diseases.
Key experts, also attending the Small Island Developing States Conference also took the opportunity to conduct break-out meetings with Premier Ewing, on the areas of sustainable development of small and medium enterprise sector (SME), renewable alternative energy and national trust activities.
