RTC Director

FCO phone-in session on the draft Constitution

The FCO team will take part in a live radio phone-in on Radio Turks and Caicos on Friday 20 May as part of the consultation on the Draft Constitution.

Callers will get a chance to comment or ask questions on the final recommendations submitted in March by Constitutional and Electoral adviser to the FCO Ms Kate Sullivan.

The show takes place from 5pm to 7pm and will be broadcast live on Radio Turks and Caicos via the Internet on www.rtc107fm.com.

Callers wanting to speak to the team should ring either 1900 222 2007 or 339 4782. These numbers will be linked to 4 different lines for the purpose of handling a large amount of calls.

This morning the FCO team said:

“We’re very grateful to everyone who has attended and contributed at the public meetings this week.

In the meetings so far, we have heard clearly the strong feeling that the draft constitution has created and we will be reporting this back quickly and accurately to Henry Bellingham when we return to the UK. We are already giving consideration to possible changes to the draft to present to the Minister.

We know that many people want a return to the 2006 constitution, and that they are concerned about the changes to the voting system and increases in the Governor’s reserved powers. But if there are more suggestions that people have, we encourage them to get in touch with us on Friday.”

The team will hold the last public meeting on the Island of South Caicos today. Consultation on the draft Constitution will continue until the 28^th May via email submissions to the team.

by RTC Director

Advisory Council met on May 18th

The Advisory Council met on Wednesday 18 May at the NJS Francis building, Grand Turk.

The Council engaged in discussions with the visiting FCO team on constitutional reform in the TCI.  Members offered recommendations for amendments to various provisions in the latest draft, including  the balance between the powers of the governor and elected officials, the governor’s discretionary powers, the institutions to protect good governance, the electoral system and dual citizenship, and the term ‘Belonger’ to describe  a TCI national.  The FCO team led by Ian Hendry, Overseas Territories Constitutional Advisor to the FCO, assured Councilors that their recommendations and concerns would be reported faithfully to Ministers in London.

The Permanent Secretary, Education and members of the Education Board updated Council on the development of new policy guidelines to govern the Scholarship programme.  The new guidelines tighten loopholes in the current programme and streamline other aspects including the list of accredited Universities.

Council considered  an update from the Ministry of Border Control and Labour on the priorities in its business plan for 2011/12. Council noted that

• a new PRC recovery task force was being established to clear the current backlog (of PRC and existing naturalization/registration applications),  but Council advised the Ministry that

• the current moratorium on new PRC applications should not be lifted, until revised criteria for PRC were set in place. Proposals will be presented to the Advisory Council for consideration on 15 June.

Council also welcomed the development of clear published criteria to be applied to applications for visas, and the other work in progress to tighten up the visa issuing process, including making more use of the existing legal provision that visas should be applied for and issued at UK posts overseas rather than in the TCI.

The Council also welcomed an update from the Labour Commissioner on the proposals for setting up of a new Employment Services Department within the Ministry to bring together all employment related services, including labour clearances and work permits, and the development of a long term Employment Strategy for the islands. They expressed  concern at the current numbers of unemployed Belongers, and asked in particular about the employment prospects for returning graduates. The Labour Commissioner indicated her department could assist when unemployed Belongers came forward to register, by providing counseling, job placement, and CV writing. It was noted that the resourcing of this important work was currently under review as part of finalising the Ministry's business plan in the light of the public sector reform programme.

by RTC Director

Police charges 32 year old

On Thursday 19th May 2011 Police in Providenciales have charged Sirano Hunt a 21 year old male Turks & Caicos Islander and Fredicia  Harvey a 26 year old female Turks & Caicos Islander for Possession of a Control Drug namely Cocaine, Supplying a Control Drug namely Cocaine and Attempted Fraudulent Evasion.

D/SGT. Calvin Chase, Police Press Liaison Officer in the Criminal Investigation Department of the Royal Turks & Caicos Islands Police Force, said the charges  are in connection with the seizure of three kilos of suspected Cocaine found in a cooler at the Providenciales International Airport on Tuesday 17th May 2011.

The street value of the suspected Cocaine is $60,000.00 USD.

They are schedule to appear in The Providenciales Magistrate's Court # 1 on Wednesday 25th May 2011 at 9.00am.

by RTC Director

Changing Offenders Thinking

The Prison Service has put another programme in place to help prison officers with rehabilitation of offenders prior to their release back into society.

The programme entitled ‘Just Think’ was developed by rehabilitation tutors from the United Kingdom. It is a cognitive based therapy that helps focus the offender on improving his or her thinking skills.

The May 3^rd to 13^th programme ended with presentation of certificates to participating prison officers from the TCI and their counterparts from the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla who also took part in the training.

“Just Think” is a cognitive based program which attempts to improve offenders thought processes and thinking skills, which is the critical to successful rehabilitation. The completion of this program and the accreditation of the students that attended will have a significant impact on the TCI Governments rehabilitation agenda as it will offer support to sentence management within the prison and allow us to demonstrate effective interventions for those in our care ” stated Ms. Denise Saunders, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety before awarding officers with their certificate of competence in delivering “Just Think” to prisoners.

Prison Superintendent, Ian Sargent in addressing the presentation ceremony noted that:

“This course has covered the thinking and behaviour aspect of offender rehabilitation. The trained staff will deliver thinking skills training to prisoners. The core principle is to show prisoners how poor thinking skills can lead to poor decision making and consequences. It then develops the theme to then show prisoners how to develop good thinking skills. Further to this it also empowers our staff to learn and develop professional and relative skills within a custodial setting.”

Lead UK Rehabilitation Tutor, Stephen Bunce congratulated the prison officers on making the experience so rewarding, and said he was impressed with the skills they had developed over the eight day period.

Prison Officers who participated were:

From TCI Prison -

Meshelle Jennings /Senior Officer

Robert Lewis/Prison Officer

Michael Panton/Prison Officer

Lawanda Jennings/ Basic Grade Officer

From BVI -

Paula Watkins/ Prison Officer

Damian Johnson/Prison Officer

From Anguilla -

Shariffa Wallace / Head of Rehabilitation

Tashanta Brooks / Probation Service

UK Course Tutors were Mr. Stephen Bunce – HMPS Intervention Manager and Mr. Simon Drysdale – HMPS National Behavioral Instructor/ Compliance Assessor.

The course began on the 3rd of May with an awareness session to key stakeholders. This demonstrated to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety, Governors Office, Parole Board and Visiting Committees the key fundamentals of the Just Think Program.

by RTC Director