Caribbean Net News: Commentary: The Turks and Caicos Governor tells all. Stated income.

Last week, Caribbean Net News reported the benumbing word from familiar British Governor Richard Tauwhare when he spoke at a Chamber of Conference assignation in Providenciales on Monday, June 23. He stated that sharply after his arrival, replacing Governor Poston (now deceased), he found show of corruption that he felt warranted the selection of a Commission of Enquiry at that time. In October of 2005 he presented his support to his superiors at Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), who reportedly considered the manifest [and ramifications?] carefully, but told him to liberty it alone. While he did not reveal the point of departure of his submission, I cannot helper but query what electricity in London put him off.

There were, however, other statements made by Governor Tauwhare at this Chamber of Commerce convocation that were important. The Governor also stated that the amounts budgeted to tourism abetting paint in his words "a 600 percent increase" and he indicated the benefits from this augmentation were not there. In budget year 2008, the government's budget documents denote that $10 million has been allocated for tourism promotion.

In adding to this $10 million, we also have $3.5 million due to Lisa Raye McCoy Misick, the Premier's wife. This command agreed to exact one's pound of flesh her $7 million over two years for her to strengthen our country. The anything else pay may have been made and the split second is due this year.

I am not unswerving which total has sponsored the billboards seen on the USA's paramount east glide federal highway I-95. These billboards picture our elementary lady in a swimsuit with her backside nearing the viewer. I am not indubitable if these billboards have had any encouraging intention on day-tripper arrivals; a actuality it would be ludicrous to determine. However, they have prompted many cold comments from Turks and Caicos Islanders.

I have maintained that yacht freight passenger figures have orotund the aggregate newcomer figures and in the 2006/2007 monetary year's amount to immigrant figures were up only 7 percent. When yachting trip despatch arrivals were deducted, stay-over tourism declined. One year later the government, for reasons as yet unexplained, failed to despatch traveller figures. The Premier stated, without further of the numbers, he felt that sum up arrivals were up 7 percent again.

Several months earlier, during the voyager season, he stated on subject TV that the subprime mortgage emergency in the US had caused tourism arrivals to go down. Minister Floyd Hall repeated that averral during budget hearings in April. Wayne Garland, the Executive Chairman of the Turks and Caicos Islands Board of Tourism, claims tourism is up. Governor Tauwhare's most solemn comments came forth when he famous that the in vogue mercantile viewpoint of the fatherland was tentative, in that our monthly profit is below our monthly expenses. The sums done for with the Tourist Board are but one perspicacity we have reached a budget site where ledgers are posted with red ink.

In my see it is the overall dream of designate unwillingness of this superintendence to on range economic governance policies. We have worn all our reserves by spending freely, and this eliminates our genius to trade emergencies or borrow. The governor mentioned this red ink and stated that, in any surprise event, our be of liquidity could cause sincere problems. In late-model days we have seen lubricate prices soar and the US precursor market decline.

If these conditions continue, traveller gain may decline dramatically and, in that we have no reserves or borrowing puissance left, we could be in strife soon. Now we have descended to a purpose of selling off the nature reserves and comic and accepting investments from elements of the countries US President Reagan once portrayed as the base empire. The Governor also came forth with his quaff on the job problems. Labour agitation has come to light due for the most part to the large numbers of Asian workers that have been landed in the provinces by employment contractors.

He was quoted as saying "we grasp who they are so go and persist them." Sources have revealed that this prearrange was approved without question in closed cabinet meetings. Certain contractors were allowed to draw eleemosynary groups of foreign workers under one blanket permit. After a term of time, which is little-known to the general public, these workers are required to buy regular earn a living permits.

Experience has shown that obtaining a opus permit requires a waiting aeon between six months to one year. Visitors without profession permits are only permitted to guy for a maximum of 90 days unless one special permission is granted. It was the task of the labour agencies that sponsored these workers to get the permits but this has not been followed up either by the contractors, the workers, SPICE enforcement agents or the immigration and work departments. In just out days Minister Williams has promised to stress the laws pertaining to these problems.

One irreversible eye-opener was dropped by Governor Tauwhare when he stated that abroad haleness responsibility costs were completely out of control, rising 82 percent in modern years, while inhabitants was up only 14 percent.

Author's site: click here