by David Tapfer
The Turks and Caicos Islands is in dismay. The economy is in shambles, debts have mounted and personal and government income is down to zip. Future government income from tourism is dependent on a harsh winter up north and questionable economic conditions in the USA.
Now, a promise made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to hold elections in July 2011 has been set aside, revoked, by none other than the same bureau who made the promise, the FCO. Yes, of course, there is a new government in Britain and a new FCO minister, but it is still self revocation.Both the new minister and chairman of the TCI All Party Group on their visits have praised the governor and his administration but criticised the Labour government that brought them here and assisted with their decisions.
Well over a year after recommendations came forth from the Inquiry we are stuck in a quagmire of long term debt, which in this slow season grows bigger daily. Inward investment has all but dried up and hope is all but gone.
Independence was the choice of other regional countries but is untenable for this debt-ridden tiny country. We are told we must embrace British pride yet the British have yet to understand the pride of being a West Indian here and elsewhere!
The mother country needed to pay attention to its own Robin Auld, the Inquiry Commissioner, who wrote months back cautioning about the inaction on his recommendations.
Let us face the facts of life. This Interim Government and the FCO have been largely a reactionary group. When they faced hard decisions, they folded. Kate Sullivan's 48 recommendations are largely a cover-up for lack of oversight.
Facing an NHIP 800-page contract signed by a central figure in the Inquiry, the FCO folded and let outsourcing health care for Canadian profit go forward. Is Roger Chessman a better choice to manage health than Dr Ewing?
The $100 million airport expansion might make it easier for the future Governor and the British to travel but the airport tax will be burden to US tourists and Islanders traveling anywhere. It may just cost more than it will make. Will it bring in tourists from the EU countries that are just about bankrupt? Doubtful!
How will we ever pay off the “consolidated” stop gap loan, which rescheduled some of the debts the Misick administration left us with? In two months we have heard about two new emergency "loans". Why not plain grant and aid? More debt to pay interest on debt. Like a household with too many credit cards and no hope of paying them off.
Two TCI professionals Ben Roberts and Alfred Gibbs, both graduates of Howard University living in Washington, who keep tabs on the TCI, have weighed in during phone interviews on PTV8. They find the country not ready for elections but hold the British responsible for this condition.
Will the new British government turn up the heat? They have started off on the wrong foot and I think they already know it!
September 29, 2010
caribbeannewsnow
