About TCI – Who we are
Let me admit at the outset that I took more time praying about what to say today than I took writing it. My extreme caution was based solely on the fact that today I address you for the first time in a great cloud of witnesses and I am hard pressed to balance the seriousness of our times with a hearty and sincere welcome against a true picture that can easily scare off the strongest and most willing heart. But I keep hope that the times choose leaders and so this time in our nation’s history has chosen you.
I caution you though that very quickly you will find that these are difficult times to serve as these islands continue to grapple following the political and economic fallout of the previous years. Your Excellency, you are coming as the Governor into a country that has gone through a Commission of Inquiry, a partial suspension of our Constitution and an Interim Administration that very rarely listened to the voice of the people, that mercilessly passed laws that either violated our culture, religion, transgress our wishes, placed us under severe financial strains based on austerity measures, and laws largely rooted in and engrained in mistrust. Your Excellency, it was an Administration that habitually closed out the Private Sector, the Clergy, the Public Servants, the Politicians and at times its own Advisory Bodies. The relationship between the TCI and the UK could not be more strained after this period and much work has to be done to rebuild this fragile relationship if either of us is to enjoy the best that this partnership has to offer. While we are no longer under the governance of an Interim Administration, the revised Constitution gives the Governor an increase in the control and affairs of administering the Turks and Caicos. It is in our best interests as a people that we all seek to work together under this document until we are able to make the changes we desire. To this end, I wish to say to you that the Opposition pledges to work together with you in the best interest of the people of these islands. However, your Excellency, be assured that we will not sit idly by and remain silent when there is need for us to speak out publicly should you ever exercise your powers to the detriment of these islands.
We believe, your Excellency that consultation is key where and when necessary and not just consultation for consultation sake but consultation that will produce good results. Each Governor comes with his own set of skills and gifts. Our hope is that you will use your gifts and skills for the benefit of all who reside in these islands.
You will also find out very quickly that among us are some of the most pleasant, intelligent, sincere and hardworking persons you will ever meet. There are many of us who completely understand the issues we face and who are able to give well thought out responses and solutions to complex situations whether of a local, regional or international nature. You will find in this Honourable House and in our country, many men and women who are only interested in achieving a better Turks and Caicos Islands and who are prepared to serve with integrity and sincerity.
Our Aspirations and the Challenges We Face
Your Excellency, you will be hard pressed to find a large number of similarities between us and your previous two Postings and you will find very quickly that this will be the most unique experience that you will ever have. I caution you to take the time to learn about us and our country. Whilst you have served in diverse cultures, this experience here will show some 50 plus nationalities resident on a mere 196 sq miles multi island nation. You will experience many times when there are competing interests for the advancement of one’s people, I wish to say from the outset that we require of you that you listen, hear and make paramount the wishes and aspirations of our people. We have aspirations as any other nation: we wish for a prosperous, strong, vibrant and diverse economy in which our people are allowed to participate fairly and as key stakeholders in key roles whether in the Public or Private Sector. To achieve this, we must be educated and readily equipped for employment in a country that is fiscally and environmentally responsible with low crime and a serious intolerance for corruption at any level and rank and among all its different peoples.
His Constitutional Role
Your Excellency, the tax regime begun by the Interim Government and continuing under the locally elected Government is causing people to hurt more than they have done in the past. Of course, we are not looking to anyone for handouts, but the opportunity to favorably compete in an environment MUST be foremost on your Agenda. We need to take seriously the number of persons working in this country and begin with haste to develop a placement and training program that meets the needs of this growing country and prepare our people to play their rightful role in its continued development.
There has to be a greater accountability of those persons in key positions in the Civil Service for which you are accountable. A vigorous Under Study Program MUST be in place and publically known. Too often we hear, by the way, that Programs are in place, when the public is unable to hold anyone accountable. We invite you to ensure that Training for Forward Planning and Succession is of paramount importance and that important Studies and Strategy Plans are unshelved and actioned.
Our Police Force is buckling under serious challenges and is perhaps at its lowest in staff morale in recent times. People’s confidence is being shaken and there remains a serious gap between the Institution and the People, its greatest partner. This requires your immediate attention.
Your Excellency, I have had the pleasure and displeasure in working with the last six Governors either as a Member of the Legislative Council, in the Leader of the Opposition’s Office, as a member of the Consultative Forum and now again as a member of the House of Assembly and I cherish the few times that I saw a Governor take his constitutional duty of protecting our borders seriously. We heard in the last sitting of the House of Assembly held on Monday of this week that for the first 6 months of this fiscal year, we have spent approximately $615, 000 in detention and repatriation fees. Most of these traveled to our country by boat from our neighbouring country, Haiti. We can no longer pay lip service to this issue and something must seriously be done to stem this tide which has increased over the months. Our Immigration situation requires urgent attention and whilst we recognize that a lot has to be dealt with by an elected Government and their policies once the persons are in land, a breach in our borders signifies a failure by those who hold that constitutional function and there must be a stronger political will and focus on ensuring that we all play our part to the best of our abilities. We encourage you to perform your Constitutional role to combat this problem and thereby assisting us in the reduction of the rising associated costs that we cannot afford.
I shift my thoughts from your constitutional responsibilities now and focus on other issues of equal importance. Your Excellency, I direct these issues to you because you are President in Cabinet with the power to veto. I believe it then, in our best interests, that you understand the pressing issues that we face as soon as possible.
Pressing and Urgent National Issues
Your Excellency, our pressing national issues will be quite visible to you in short order. We as a people are concerned with regards to our educational system and opportunities for the increasing number of graduates on leaving school – particularly those in the technical area – in the absence of a Trade and/or Hospitality Training School; we are concerned about the Community College and its elusive expansion and difficulty in obtaining adequate funding; we are concerned with the health care debacle that we have found ourselves in and the fact that the review of this onerous contract that is causing financial hemorrhaging and questionable care remains low on the agenda of the British as well as the local Government and appears urgent to neither in terms of addressing; we are concerned about our environment, our special needs children and adults, our juveniles and offenders and their ability to successfully reenter society; our high and ever increasing cost of living and low minimum wage and the list goes on. Why are we saying this to you when we have an elected Government? They must be helped when decisions are being made in the best interest of our people and your powers under this new Constitution makes you an important player in the development of our people.
There remains much to be done in our recovery from events of recent years and we expect that you will do your part to ensure the full restoration of our country’s reputation by participating in travel overseas to promote our country for inward investment and also by ensuring that internal national disputes remain low key and much out of the way of international airing such as the ongoing public Cabinet dispute between the Governor and the Attorney General where there is a war of words, costly House Adjournments and failure of critical Offices to attend and participate in the House of Assembly thereby stifling the work of the People. We trust with your help that this reaches a resolution as we can ill afford to show a picture of any measure of instability to would be investors.
The relationship between the local Government and HMG is vital and has proven beneficial to us in time past. At the end of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st Century, we were viewed as the envy of the region and named “Star of the Region” by the Caribbean Development Bank under a People’s Democratic Movement Government led by the 3rd All Island Elected Member (then Chief Minister and Minister of Finance). We astonished our neighbors with the kind of qualitative and sustainable progress we had made. That, Your Excellency, was as a result of good prudent governance resulting from the cooperative relationship we had shared with the United Kingdom Government and the Leaders of our Turks and Caicos Islands. It is crucial that we engage you and you engage us so that we can together move these islands.
Guardians of the Constitution
Your Excellency, you are the Chief Guardian of the Constitution and the Opposition expects that you will be alert and not allow any breach of the Constitution or the Statement of Good Governance Principles or any threat to Good Governance.
The Premier has told you about his Government’s challenges as they see them and their elected role and responsibility. They too have a constitutional place and are also guardians of the Constitution. And so is the Opposition. We are a strong Opposition Team in terms of experience and numbers with one seat dividing the Government from the Opposition. We have offered ourselves on occasions to join the Government in the best interests of this country – a joint opposition to VAT, membership on its Blue Ribbon Commission on Revenue and now recently a House Select Committee on the Constitution. We expect your support in the realization of a National Symposium which was contained in a resolution in a Private Member’s Bill moved by the Hon Member for Blue Hills and Opposition member and passed almost unanimously by this Honorable House. We must recognize the need for all hands on deck for major national issues.
Your Excellency, I’ve come to this place as the Leader of the Opposition amidst great loss, challenges, trials and much continues. Though oft times shaken in my strength, I am never shaken in my faith or resolve to work honestly for the good of my people and this holds true for the members of my Team. We are passionate, able, equipped and willing to work.
We believe that the results of this past Election calls us to a different level of political maturity and whilst we are committed to the greater cause and amidst efforts to work together, we are denied access to Public Schools for mere familiarization tours and requests for courtesy calls on islands and their Departments/Offices are merely ignored. Your Excellency, with nearly a year since our initial requests, we are putting you on Notice that we intend to represent our people. Your Excellency, we are the first Opposition Team to not have Committee Oversight of the Government’s current Financial Year Expenditure or Policies, a role previously carried out through the Expenditure and Administration Committees. We have made representations to the Speaker and the former Governor to no avail. We are custodians of the Constitution and are built in Watch Dogs and we require essential tools to carry out this important role. We again put you on notice that we intend to represent our people. Together the Governor, the Government and the Opposition are all major players in the guardianship of the Constitution and we do not and will not take our role lightly.
What We Expect
Today, I have spoken to you with a great cloud of witnesses and say to you that I will be honest with you and I expect nothing less from you. We do not want or need another Governor who dismisses us without thought or good reason, nor one who thinks being friends with the truth is against the law. We expect honesty; we expect true consultation, openness and transparency and a true partner in the governance and advancement of this nation.
Conclusion
I note with great appreciation, your background in Trade and Investment. Many will speculate as they’ve done before you, as to what is your Agenda and whose interest will you advance? So I am very pleased to hear that you intend to focus on creating a prosperous economy as this ought to be the Agenda for any Governor who occupies Waterloo. We, therefore, look forward to your ideas on Trade and Investment and how we can expand in these areas.
We equally welcome your wife’s contribution as there is much need for her interests and skills. We note with appreciation her history of being an active partner in social issues which undoubtedly over the years have played second fiddle to our economy and often times neglected completed. There are many charities and causes in which we are certain she can find fulfillment.
Your Excellency, the People’s Democratic Movement and I, not just on our behalf, but also on that of all our people, extend to you a warm and cordial welcome to our beloved and Beautiful by Nature Turks and Caicos Islands. We have every hope and wish that you would be in similar circumstances when you will have completed your assignment with us which would of course, require constructive and productive dialogue and cooperation during the next few years, on both our parts. This all in an air of mutual respect, which I must point out, in my opinion has not always been the case in our working relationships.
There is much to be done and among other things, we need to get our economy back on track; we need to improve our educational facilities; we need to better protect our borders; we need to address healthcare and other social issues and last though not least, we need to make certain changes to our Constitution to make our elected government more credible. And to achieve this all, we need and expect your full and sincere cooperation, as our Governor and Her Majesty’s representative. It is our sincere hope that you become an advocate and avid partner rather than a henchman or referee. I trust that you come to our shores with an open mind about who we are, and what we aspire to. I warn however that much of what you may be told about us, as you make your rounds, will be merely anecdotal and skewed more toward the interests of those that inform you, than in the interest of us all. Which is why I trust and advise that you seek as broad a briefing as possible, to include all sectors of our community. And too, that there is equal access for all. Not just a select few. In doing so, both you and our country would be much better served.
Our fortitude and our resilience continue to be tested. Nonetheless, we, the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands, through our reliance and a desire and determination to return to a point where we are once again the Envy of the Region, have withstood the impact of 911, maladministration, Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike – all forces that militantly impacted our existence as a developing nation. We have successfully achieved the UK’s milestones. Again, I pledge on the peoples’ behalf to work with you as the Governor as long as you demonstrate from the onset that you seek to carry a Mandate to foster and encourage good governance . Our expectations are that you demonstrate an open-mindedness and a willingness, yes to respect your mandate yes, but to respect the wishes and desires of the people whom we represent. Our mandate is to work collectively and cooperatively. We have institutions to build. We have positive relationships to establish and encourage! We have a nation to restore and build. It is our hope that we can find in you those cordial characteristics that make it easy through commitment and dedication to achieve our milestones that we have set and will set as a progressive people.
We have lost valuable time and we need to move quickly in the right direction, God being our help. My Party and I look forward to an early audience with you.
Again, I say welcome. May God bless you and your family and may He continue to bless our Beautiful by Nature Turks and Caicos Islands.
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