The Department of Environment and Coastal Resources has reported to the Advisory Council about the growing problem of illegal settlements in the bush on Providenciales and prompted Governor Gordon Wetherell to enact a task force to deal with the issue.
“This is a serious problem, and now with resources available we can get to further grips with it,” the governor said.
“A solution is not simple, and the problem crosses several agencies including immigration, law enforcement, environmental health and a number of others. “It is a wide ranging problem with has a number of different aspects to it,
“We are now identifying resources in both a mix of expertise and finance that are required to resolve the problem, to establish a dedicated task force where people can work full time on this and deal with it,” he said.
The Crown Land Illegal Occupation Ordinance passed in 2008 made it illegal for anyone to occupy, build structures on, or abandon vehicles on Crown land. Summary conviction is punishable by a fine of $10,000 or to imprisonment for six months, and upon conviction on indictment to a fine of $50,000 or to imprisonment for two years, or to both fine and imprisonment.
Those guilty can also be forced to pay for removal of anything illegal from Crown land. The government issued warnings in June 2009 and again in October 2009 that the ordinance would be strictly enforced. Two cases were reported in early 2010 of individuals being prosecuted for crimes related to illegal settlements.
Illegal settlements “generally lack proper sanitation, pose health, fire and environmental hazards, as well undermine the government’s ability to establish well-planned subdivisions and make future upgrading of these areas more costly and more difficult,” the government stated in 2009.
