His Excellency the Governor, Dr John Freeman, chaired the 11th meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, 26 April 2017, at the N J S Francis Building on Grand Turk.
All Ministers were present except the Hon. Deputy Premier.
At this meeting Cabinet:
· Agreed that the Hon. Minister of Health should write to the National Health Insurance Board requesting that steps be taken to implement in full the recommendations of the Chief Internal Auditor which had been previously agreed by Cabinet and for the Board to report back to the Minister within seven days;
· Noted that a consultation for a national refurbishment policy was underway and that a paper reflecting the comments of all relevant departments would be returned to Cabinet for consideration following consultation;
· Noted that a stakeholder and public consultation exercise for a new national investment policy was underway the findings of which would be presented to Cabinet in due course;
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve national clinical guidelines for the management of hypertension and diabetes and for cancer screening;
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve an amendment to the Fisheries Protection Regulations to allow seized marine product caught by spear gun to be sold in accordance with the Public Finance Management Ordinance provided that the seized product is not otherwise illegal to possess for example because of its species, size or seizure during its closed season;
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve renovations to the Green Door building on Grand Turk to enable it to be used as temporary accommodation to re-house low-risk prisoners while essential works to accommodation blocks at HM Prison are carried out;
· Received an information paper from the Hon. Minister of Infrastructure on the recent spate of power outages on Grand Turk and measures being taken to address the problem and called for improved communication by Fortis TCI to keep the public informed in the event of future outages and problems;
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the following appointments to the TCI Community College Board of Governors as recommended by the Hon. Minister of Education:
Shernelle Capron, Chair
Renee Fulford, Member
Lucille Campbell, Member
Radica Been, Member
Rachel Harvey, Ex-Officio
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the following appointments to the Education Advisory/Scholarship Committee as recommended by the Hon. Minister of Education:
Keno Forbes, Chair
Dawn Higgs, Deputy Chair
Maria Clare, Member
Pansy Quant, Member
Leila Rodney, Member
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the following appointments to the Physical Planning Board for 2017/18 for a one-year term as recommended by the Hon. Minister of Infrastructure:
Kendell Higgs, Chair
Max Garland, Vice Chair
Wendel Ewing, Member
Ferguson L. Williams, Member
Director of Planning, Ex-Officio
Director of DECR, Ex-Officio
Director of DDME, Ex-Officio
Toriano Williams, Secretary
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the following appointments to the Water and Sewerage Board for 2017/18 for a one-year term as recommended by the Hon. Minister of Infrastructure:
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Planning, Chair
Bertram Garland, Member
Clyde Ewing, Member
Chief Environmental Health Officer, Ex-Officio
Chief Engineer (Director PWD), Ex-Officio
Director of Planning, Ex-Officio
Director of DECR, Ex-Officio
Government Chief Economist, Ex-Officio
Energy and Utilities Commissioner, Ex-Officio
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the following appointments to the Physical Planning Appeals Tribunal for 2017/18 for a one-year term as recommended by the Hon. Minister of Infrastructure:
Charles Garland, Chair
Carlton E. Ewing, Member
Derek Rolle, Member
Patrick Grant, Member
Ronald Gardiner, Member
Leonardo Glasgow, Secretary
· Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the following appointments to the Electricity Board for Licensing Electrical Practitioners for 2017/18 for a one-year term as recommended by the Hon. Minister of Infrastructure:
Romney Missick, Chair
Emmanuel Gardiner, Member
Marvin Simmons, Member
Menelik Astwood, Member
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Planning, Ex-Officio
Director of Planning, Ex-Officio
Energy and Utilities Commissioner, Ex-Officio
Debbie Williams-Hurdle, Secretary
· Received an up-date by His Excellency the Governor on plans to progress the review of the TCI Statutory Bodies;
· Received an up-date by the Hon. Premier on the following matters:
– The forthcoming meeting of the Board of the Caribbean Development Bank in TCI in May;
– Progress on the capital projects programme;
– The signing by the Hon. Deputy Premier on 25 April of a MOU between the USA and members of the Caribbean Community on Co-operation Regarding the Development of an Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS);
– As a result of the UK election in June the pre-Joint Ministerial Council scheduled for June would be postponed until July and that other planned activity involving the UK would also be affected;
· Received an up-date from the Hon. Attorney General on proposals for amendments to the Elections Ordinance.
Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.
