TURKS AND CAICOS POST CABINET MEETING STATEMENT

His Excellency the Governor, Dr John Freeman, chaired the 16^th meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, 25 July 2018, at the Hon. Hilly Ewing Building on Providenciales.

All Ministers were present except the Hon. Minister of Health, Agriculture, Sports and Human services

At this meeting Cabinet:

Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve for entry into force on or before 30 July 2018 the following draft Regulations to ensure TCI’s compliance with Financial Action Task Force recommendations to meet international standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing – Anti-Money Laundering and Prevention of Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulation 2018; Companies (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2018; Financial Services (Financial Penalties) (Amendment) Regulations 2018; Non-Profit Companies (Amendment) Regulations 2018; Companies (Amendment ) Order 2018;
Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the Hotel and Restaurant (Service Charge) Bill 2018 for forwarding to the House of Assembly for approval;
Approved MSME concession orders to Caicos Farm Traditional Grits and Flour to develop its milling business on North Caicos and to J & D Cleaning Service to establish a cleaning business on Providenciales;
Noted the terms of appointment of Dr Teresse Maitland as interim CEO of the National Health Insurance Board (NHIB) for a period of one year with effect from 1 July 2018;
Approved the appointments of members of the Providenciales District Board for 2018/19 in accordance with the Caicos District Boards Ordinance 1945;
Endorsed the nominations of the National Honours and Awards Committee for recipients of National Honours and Awards 2018 to be conferred at the National Honours and Awards Ceremony on 9 October 2018. Cabinet agreed that the names of the proposed recipients be published in the Gazette and media not later than 6 weeks before the awards ceremony;
Approved the appointment of Ms Irene Yvonne Glinton as Secretary to the Electricity Board of TCI until 31 March 2019 in accordance with Section 2B (2) of the Electricity (Amendment) Ordinance 2015;
Approved amendments to the TCI National Scholarship Policy;
Noted plans by the Ministry of Education, Youth, Culture and Library Services to phase out the current Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) and introduce the full implementation of the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) with effect from May/June 2020;
Noted the strategic plan by the Ministry of Education, Youth, Culture and Library Services to strengthen the relationship between TCIG and the University of the West Indies and the plans to improve access to tertiary education via online studies;
Approved, subject to conditions being met, the issuing of a dredging licence for a period of one year to Provident Ltd to continue unfinished dredging works at the Discovery Bay Canal on Land Parcel 60716/88, 89 and 145 on Providenciales;
Received an up-date by the Chair of the National Recovery Task Force (NRTF) on progress being made by the NRTF;
Received an up-date by Her Excellency the Deputy Governor on the current status of capital projects for the Financial Year 2017/18;
Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the establishment of a TCI Land Surveyors’ Board;
Noted progress made in implementation of the EU EDF 11 Education sector reform project;
Received a briefing by His Excellency the Governor on the 6^th State of Hurricane Preparedness Meeting which he chaired on 24 July;
Was advised by His Excellency the Governor that the Statutory Body quarterly reports were due but had been delayed in discussion with the his office and the Ministry of Finance;
His Excellency the Governor asked for an up-date on the process underway to consider the proposed rate rise by Fortis TCI Ltd;
Received an up-date by the Hon. Premier on the fire at the waste disposal landfill site on Providenciales;
Was advised by the Hon. Premier of the OECD peer review team which is island and doing work with the EOI personnel;
Was advised by the Hon. Premier of the visit to TCI by the Caribbean Development Bank who were in TCI to advise on funding for MSMEs;
Was advised by the Hon. Attorney General that the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) assessment of TCI would take place from 10-21 September 2018;
Was advised by the Hon. Minister of Tourism, Environment, Heritage and Gaming that, in the case of Gaming Bill, since its passage through Cabinet there has been a proposed number of substantial policy changes which he is inclined to positively consider. It was agreed and he committed to bring those changes ahead of the 2nd Reading in the House to Cabinet
Her Excellency the Deputy Governor asked all Ministries to notify her office of their recruitment plans for 2018/19;
It was confirmed that Cabinet had approved by round-robin the lease of a building to provide temporary accommodation for the Oseta Jolly Primary School on Providenciales.