Mr. Speaker, I rise to give my contribution to this historic budget debate. First, I wish to greet you, Mr. Speaker, and the honorable members of this House, the strangers in the gallery, my beloved people of the Twin Islands, North and Middle Caicos, and all persons living and visiting these beautiful by nature Islands.
Mr. Speaker, I too wish to associate myself with the condolences that were expressed thus far, to those who have lost loved ones since we last met here in this honorable House. I offer condolences to Hon. McAllister Hanchell on the passing of his beloved brother, Ray. May their souls rest in peace.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to extend best wishes to all of our students, across the Islands, who are preparing to sit their external exams.
Mr. Speaker, Job 17:9 says, “Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.” Mr. Speaker, despite the noise in the market, and the hollow shouts of the naysayers, those who would contrive all manner of evil against this great government, our Father in heaven looks upon us and knows that our hands are indeed clean, and therefore, day by day, we indeed grow stronger and stronger.
Mr. Speaker, I want to pause here to convey my sincere appreciation, and thanks, to the hardworking team in my Ministry. The Permanent Secretary Althea Been and her staff continue to work with dedication, commitment, and innovation, to deliver on this government’s mandate, and I am grateful for the work that they consistently do.
Mr. Speaker, my PS, during her appropriations presentation, would have ably gone into the performance of this Ministry, over the past year, and the details of the budget that is here before us today, just as the Minister of Finance did yesterday. But, for those who might have missed it, let me briefly say that in the year ended, the Ministry achieved 109% of its revenue targets based on the revised budget, with unaudited actuals of $186 million versus a target of $171 million, and further saw the achievement of 98.5% of its operating expenditure targets against revised estimates, which represents unaudited actuals of $14.4 million versus a target of $14.7 million.
Mr. Speaker, the year ended was no easy year. With the ongoing deterioration in the national security of Haiti, illegal migration and the attempts to import illicit drugs and firearms remained a challenge. For the year 2022/2023 our teams processed, detained, and repatriated over 2882 persons from 31 boats, compared to 1409 persons from 23 boats in FY 2021/2022, and in addition to this, some 250 persons were removed from January to March of this year alone, through inland enforcement and compliance efforts.
Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the total number of seizures of prohibited and restricted goods, at our borders, totaled some 855, with penalties amounting to approximately $540 thousand dollars, while the number of seizures of this same category of imports was less than 2% of this total, in the year prior.
And so, Mr. Speaker, even while we have faced the greatest number of threats from illegal migration, and attempted import of illegal firearms and illicit substances, my team stood their ground, and they stepped up to the challenges before them, and that is why I am delighted, Mr. Speaker, to deliver this budget for them, and to assist them in the protection of our borders, the development of our ports, and the overall improvement of our services to the public.
Mr. Speaker, this past week the Leader of the Opposition, having sat through the appropriations committee meetings, and having “scrutinized” the budget book for more than two weeks, had the nerve to call this budget the “Biggest Budget with No Impact.” And, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, in quoting William Shakespeare said that the “budget is Much to Do About Nothing.”
Well, Mr. Speaker, certainly after that tsunamic budget address delivery, by the Minister of Finance yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition should be eating his words, but in case he needs just a little more persuasion, I too would like to quote William Shakespeare, from the same play referenced by the member opposite, and say to him, “I would my horse had the speed of your tongue!”
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition was in such haste to shoot off at the mouth, that he failed to understand, and appreciate, that the book before him represents the biggest budget ever in the history of these beautiful Islands. In fact, it is such a bold and bodacious budget, Mr. Speaker, that I hope that we can deliver on it as quickly, and as efficiently, as the Leader of the Opposition delivers on jumping to erroneous conclusions.
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition claims that this “budget fails to deliver on addressing the real issues that are impacting our people and our country.” On the contrary, Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Premier and Minister of Finance, the Ministry of Immigration and Border Services, my ministry alone (not including the statutory bodies), has received an envelope of approximately $37 million dollars to do just that!
But since the Leader of the Opposition is unaware of the critical issues facing our country, permit me a few moments to enlighten him.
Mr. Speaker, one of the critical issues facing our country, in the area of border protection, is that we do not know who is here in this country, and this is nothing new. This problem has existed since time in memorial, and it existed during the period when the Leader of the Opposition, himself, sat as a member of Cabinet and did absolutely nothing about it. But it is this good government that has allocated $4.8
million dollars, in this financial year, to begin the implementation of a comprehensive border management system, complete with end to end customer services portal for online application submission, management, and tracking; biometrics for the capture of fingerprints of non-Turks and Caicos Islanders; preclearance entry portal for visitors traveling to the country, and; of course our e- gates for electronic processing at border entry, for the lowest risk guests that come to these shores.
Mr. Speaker, these systems will not only allow us to know, and decide, who comes here, who is here, and whether they have left, but they will also allow us to know, in real-time, what status persons hold here, and they will further allow you, the public, to apply for, pay for, and track your applications for our services, electronically, from start to finish! This is, in fact, a Much Ado About Something budget, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, another critical issue facing this country, and our people, is the lack of enforcement of our immigration and customs laws. So, Mr. Speaker, to address that, we have allocated some $600 thousand dollars, for the purchase of vehicles for our enforcement teams in the areas of border protection. These vehicles, Mr. Speaker, are critical for officers to do their jobs, and to carry out their mandates. And, Mr. Speaker, this is in addition to the two vehicles that are currently being procured for the canine unit. The Leader of the Opposition should recall that it is under his government, that both Customs and Immigration were made to rent vehicles, from the year 2017 up to today!
Mr. Speaker, we must remember that our staff are people too, and a critical issue facing our staff, especially those that face the greatest threat, and the biggest risk, is their personal safety and security for their families, and that is why, Mr. Speaker, this Much Ado About Something budget, has $200 thousand dollars in this year alone, for the protective clothing, non-lethal weapons, and accidental insurance for our frontline officers.
And, Mr. Speaker, I didn’t mention it before, but since I am talking about staff, I will mention it now. Mr. Speaker, included in that $4.8 million dollars for the digitization of our borders, is $2.3 million for implementation, data management, and training of our staff, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is purposely misleading the people. He sits in the Appropriations meetings where the PS informed the committee that, in addition to the millions of dollars which include training for staff that I just mentioned, there are various training initiatives that are sponsored by the UK government that our staff benefit from; additionally, we have a training unit within this ministry that facilitates training for all staff; further, we have a successful and impactful train-the-trainer program where staff benefits from training that Officers attend abroad; and in addition to this, Mr. Speaker, we have highly qualified UK, US and Canadian officers, with talents in investigations, behavioral detections, and other critical skills, that are embedded in our teams at one time or another, to provide real-time on the job training and skills development for our staff. And Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows all of this because he specifically asked the PS these same questions in the committee meeting.
So, when the Leader of the Opposition purposely tries to mislead the public by saying that this budget “does not address our border crisis” and that it “does not address the training of our people”, he is being disingenuous, Mr. Speaker and I daresay, that if he could know all of this, and see all of this, which is right in front of him, then I can only conclude, that he is the one who seeks to sow seeds of discord and disharmony among our people.
But that’s ok, Mr. Speaker, he can try, but that’s why we are here, that is why we have been chosen to be here, to enlighten our people and to give hope to the downtrodden. My people of these beloved Islands do not be dismayed nor discouraged, your government is working for you.
Mr. Speaker, another critical issue facing this country, is the security, and operability, of our seaports and airports, and there is no denying, Mr. Speaker, that these critical infrastructures contribute significantly to the economic prosperity of these Islands. This government recognizes that, without proper airports that reflect the luxury destination that we market ourselves as, and the proper ports to facilitate the safety and security of our trade sector, we would not be able to fiscally sustain, nor feed ourselves.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, this Much Ado about Something budget has $41 million dollars over the next three years towards the redevelopment of the South Dock Port, $570 thousand dollars for port improvements in Grand Turk, $400 thousand dollars for the improvements to the South Caicos Port, and $500 thousand dollars for phase two of the Bellfield Landing in North Caicos.
In addition to this, Mr. Speaker, the TCI Airports Authority is investing a whopping $38.3 million dollars in airport infrastructure and equipment throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands, which includes two fire trucks – one each for Salt Cay and North Caicos, and a Firehall for Grand Turk. This is broken down as follows: $8.7 million dollars in Grand Turk; $15 million dollars in Providenciales; $2.4 million dollars in South Caicos; $8.4 million dollars in North Caicos; $800 thousand dollars in Salt Cay, and; $200 thousand dollars in Middle Caicos.
And, Mr. Speaker, these is just some of the highlights of my ministry’s budget. There is much more that we are doing in all of my departments, but, I am on the House’s time, and it would be remiss of me to not let my people of the Twin Islands know what their representative have fought for, and gained on their behalf, in this Much Ado About Something budget.
Mr. Speaker, while I was campaigning I told my people in Middle and North Caicos that this is our time to rise, and I am proud to say today that, in the Twin Islands, we are rising!
Mr. Speaker, for the Twin Islands, this year’s budget has allocation for the refurbishment of the Aged Care and Special Needs Centre; Community Parks and Recreational Facilities Development; Roads and electrification development, and; furniture and equipment for the primary schools.
Additionally, Mr. Speaker, for the beautiful island of Middle Caicos, this budget has the following: $750 thousand dollars for the renovation of Bambarra Beach; renovation of the Lorimer’s Community Center, and; an increased budget for District Administration to $193 thousand dollars, and; a brand-new ambulance, Mr. Speaker, which was initially appropriated by the Rufus Ewing administration and which was taken out of the budget by the PDM government. The Leader of the Opposition won’t talk that, but it doesn’t matter because this PNP government has the people of Middle Caicos’ backs!
But he did say something during his speech, Mr. Speaker, that I really need to ask about – where is the equipment that you bragged about purchasing for the farmers in the Twin Islands? I have never seen any such equipment delivered, which tells me, Mr. Speaker, that while the Leader of the Opposition was spouting off the long list of projects that were funded under the PDM administration, he failed to disclose how many of them were in fact delivered. Mr. Speaker, oh what a tangled web we weave, when first…
And, Mr. Speaker, for North Caicos, we have $1 million dollars for the construction of the Bottle Creek Community Centre; $850 thousand dollars to repair the RGHS High School Block; $500 thousand dollars for the refurbishment of the Horse Stable Beach Complex, and; $117 thousand dollars for the purchase of equipment for DDME. Also, Mr. Speaker, there is an allocation for furniture and equipment for the Court building in North Caicos, and; an increase in budget allocation for District Administration to $316 thousand dollars.
And that is not all, Mr. Speaker, I want my constituents to understand, that the Twin Islands are also included in the following national projects: The National Identification System, and the Digitization Project.
Mr. Speaker, there is a lot coming for my constituency and I am excited about the work that we are accomplishing in ED4. This is our time, Mr. Speaker, we are rising in the beautiful Twin Islands.
So, Mr. Speaker, it is clear that contrary to the words of my colleague opposite, this is a Much Ado About Something budget, this big budget is in fact the people’s budget and I am proud to not only support, but to represent this budget, and in closing, I wish to say to the Leader of the Opposition, and to anyone who dares to misrepresent this budget, and the genuine intentions of this government, in the words of William Shakespeare, “Peace! I will stop your mouth!”
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, may God bless you, bless this government and the members of this Honourable House. May He bless the people of North and Middle Caicos and the entire Turks and Caicos Islands.
