By Caribbean News Now contributor,on 26th of March.
PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — Following the mysterious leak of witness statements claimed to be from the files of the special investigation and prosecution team (SIPT) in the Turks and Caicos Islands, in circumstances reminiscent of the infamous Watergate break-in of the 1970s in Washington, “Statementgate” continues to be a source of much local interest, with the witness statement of Karen Delancy being dissected both for the information it contains and for the historical scenario the former Progressive National Party (PNP) minister of health describes.
Karen Delancy
According to Delancy’s witness statement, at one of the first meetings she attended with then chief minister Michael Misick, he laid out a plan to set up an Integrity Commission to investigate the dealings of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), which he said at the meeting was known to be corrupt.
This meeting occurred shortly after the by-election in 2003, when Misick was able to reverse the results of the election earlier that year, which had given a third term to then chief minister Derek Taylor and his PDM party. The election results were close in two districts and Misick claimed that voters had been bribed by PDM operatives. During a court hearing, witnesses confirmed this, which resulted in a by-election that reversed the results, handing the government over to Misick and the PNP.
Taylor has claimed that the witnesses themselves were tainted, not truthful in their testimony and later were arrested and served prison time for non-related offences (not perjury). This has, however, not been confirmed.
Delancy’s 26-page statement dated June 27, 2011, lays out a story of a regime wherein Misick himself became increasingly dictatorial and was openly critical of Delancy as then health minister for her plans to build two hospitals: one in Grand Turk with 15 beds and one in Providenciales with 40 beds. During the previous PDM administration, Taylor wanted to build one hospital on his home island of Grand Turk.
She also paints a picture of increasing involvement by Dr Rufus Ewing in the management of the health system of the TCI. Most of what was actually occurring was not in conformity with the plans she had laid out as health minister, Delancy says.
“[F]rom the day I took up my post I believe that Dr Ewing opposed everything that I had set out to do,” she says.
She explains from her perspective how she was leveraged out as minister and how the ministry was partitioned and assigned to others, with then deputy premier and finance minister Floyd Hall carrying the title of health minister but only handling the financial aspects of the hospital construction.
The witness statement describes how another former minister, McAllister Minister, Hanchell began to monopolize valuable commercial land acreage near the airport and ports with the goal of installing a fuel tank farm.
Delancy by that time had become a backbencher and claims she was told that backbench members of the House of Assembly were not qualified to obtain the choice land and business assignments being passed out to ministers.
She then describes what happened after the hurricanes in August-September 2008. She says that in the budget address (April 2008) of that year finance minister Floyd Hall claimed the finances of TCI were in surplus, but surprisingly there were no funds available to deal with the aftermath of the hurricanes. She says the country and the PNP party were angered when then premier Misick ignored the crisis and left the country.
The twice-elected MP then tells how the parliament became increasingly disappointed in the premier’s management or lack thereof.
She mentions the motion of no confidence brought before the House by opposition members (Seymour, Robinson and Parnell) but does not describe how the Speaker avoided having the motion acted on. Then she goes on to describe events that ended in the premier’s resignation, saying it was more of a PNP party decision and not one made in parliament. The decision she says involved non politicians Arial Misick and Carlos Simons, who acted as an adviser to those who wanted Misick removed and as a intermediary between the PNP and then Governor Gordon Wetherell.
She indicates that, in the early stages of the no-confidence move, Floyd Hall was the leader. Then she tells of a meeting between her and Misick, where Misick apologized for treating her badly and offered to make her the first female deputy premier in exchange for her support. Delancy then says that Misick told her that Hall had made more poor deals than he (Misick) had and that Floyd Hall’s relationship with Delroy Howell of Southern Health Network had increased overseas health costs from $10 million to $40 million per year.
According to Delancy, most of the PNP parliamentarians were angry at Misick because they were not included in either the sand mining “deal” to sell sand overseas or other government manipulations. Another former PNP minister, Lillian Boyce, reportedly complained because her husband Hayden Boyce (the editor of the Sun newspaper) ought to have received $15,000 per month as an “adviser” to the government.
Delancy claims she was stunned when she learned that Lillian Boyce and Greg Lightbourne, who were part of group attempting to remove Misick, “jumped back into bed with him.” (Boyce became deputy premier and Lightborne minister of land.)
According to the Delancy statement, she received campaign donations leading up to the 2007 election of $11,000 in total, from Clive Stanbrook ($1,000) and David Smith $10,000). Only later did she learn that Smith headed a Ponzi scheme, she says.
Delancy says that her second cousin Jen Messam and husband Rex Messam were close friends of David Smith and were also part of a social circle including Floyd and Lisa Hall. Michael Misick, Galmo Williams, McAllister Hanchell and Lillian Boyce were also said to be part of the same group.
Messam reportedly delivered the cheque for $10,000 from Smith to Delancy.
The British-appointed Interim Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands has filed documents in the High Court here, seeking to “pull down and destroy” the headquarters of the Progressive National Party (PNP) in addition to the repayment of nearly half-million dollars which the state says the party owes for illegally constructing the building on Crown land.
The announcement of the demolition of the PNP headquarters was contained in a Government press release which was issued Tuesday March 20th, a day after the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) said it had secured an international arrest warrant through INTERPOL for former Premier and ex-PNP leader Michael Misick, who has since revealed that he has sought political asylum in an undisclosed country because of “political persecution” by the United Kingdom, Governor Ric Todd, the Interim Government and British Special Prosecutor Helen Garlick and her investigators.
The Government release stated that on March 13th 2012, the Turks & Caicos Islands Government served civil proceedings on the Progressive National Party seeking the recovery of the land upon which the PNP Headquarters is constructed, together with damages. The claim arises from the PNP’s trespass following its construction of the PNP headquarters on Airport Road, Providenciales on Crown land to which it had, and has no title, the government said.
According to the press statement, after construction of its headquarters in 2005 to 2006, the PNP subsequently appointed a management agent, Provident Management Services Ltd to manage the property.
The Interim Government is claiming that during the last administration, Provident sub-leased six offices in the headquarters to the six PNP MPs who were based on Providenciales for a total of $465,083.61 over approximately three years, which was paid by the Government at that time. The SUN was able to confirm that the six PNPs who were based on Providenciales took a decision that was approved by Cabinet and the then Governor, that they would pay the allowances to which they were legally entitled for rental of constituency offices to assist in paying the mortgage for the PNP headquarters which was a centralised location, instead of paying the money for rent elsewhere.
However, the Interim Government is seeking the return of that sum, to which they claim Provident was not entitled together with other damages.
According to the press release, Government is also seeking a number of remedies for the trespass, including: damages for the PNP’s trespass on the land, based on a reasonable annual rent until possession of the land is returned to the Crown; the repayment of the $465,083.61; an order that the headquarters are pulled down and destroyed; damages for returning the land to its former state; and interest and costs
Attorney General Huw Shepheard commented: “When the current administration first became aware last year that the PNP’s headquarters had been built on Crown Land to which the PNP had no title, my Chambers wrote to the PNP setting out the claim that the Government had. It had been our hope that matters could be settled amicably without the need for proceedings. Unfortunately, discussions with the PNP have not been successful. In those circumstances, the Government has been left with no choice but to bring these proceedings for trespass and damages to recover this plot of Crown land and what is properly owed to the Government”.
The Statement of Claim, which was filed in the High Court on January 13, 2012, stated that on 30 November 2004, Leroy Charles, the Director of Lands and Surveys prepared a memorandum that concluded that a previous lease over the land, held by Mr. DeOwen Higgs, had expired on 28 November 2004 and that Mr Higgs had failed to construct any development and was no longer in occupation of the land.
Mr Charles advised that the land comprised 0.75 of an acre and had an open market valuation of $50,000. It could be leased to the PNP at $1250 per annum and would incur a discounted freehold purchase price of $25,000.
Mr Charles concluded that the land could be leased to the Defendant for the construction of its headquarters once the lease to Mr. Higgs was cancelled.
On 22 March 2006, Williams Drafting , on behalf of the Defendant, applied for Development Permission over the l and. According to the AG’s court papers, at Part 3(i) of the application, the PNP mis-represented that it was the owner of the land. The application was approved by the Physical Planning Board on 23 March 2006 on the basis of this misrepresentation, an on or about 23 March 2006, the PNP wrongly entered the land and as an act of trespass commenced construction of the headquarters.
On 9 June 2006, the Department of Planning received an application for temporary electrical connection during the construction of the Headquarters on the land and on July1, 2007, the PNP agreed six Commercial Leases for the rent of constituency office space in the headquarters, Each lease was agreed for the term of 1 July 2007 until 1 July 2010 at rent of $2,350 per month (totaling$28,200 per annum for each lease) as well as a security deposit of $2,000 to be paid by TCIG under each lease.
Ruth Blackman, Clerk of the House of Assembly, executed the leases for TCIG on behalf of the following
Members of Parliament: Hon. Karen Delancey, MP for the Bight; Hon. Wayne Garland, MP for Richmond Hills; Hon. Gregory Lightboume, MP for Blue Hills; Hon. Amanda Misick, MP for Cheshire Hall; Hon. Lillian Boyce, MP for Five Cays and Hon, Galmo Williams, MP for Long Bay.
The PNP was the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 2003 to August 2009, when the United Kingdom imposed direct rule, suspended parts of the Constitution including ministerial posts, the House of Assembly and the automatic right to trial by jury.In a press release issued Tuesday evening, Queen’s Counsel Carlos Simons, the lawyer for the PNP, said the party is “committed to rigorously defending and defeating these spurious claims brought by the Interim Government, purportedly on behalf of the people”.
Simons stated: “I do not consider that TCIG has as yet “served civil proceedings on the Progressive National Party” as the statement asserts. I believe that their method of service does not meet the requirements of TCI procedural law and until the mistake is corrected, the Party has no formal notice of the proceedings and does not have to respond. That issue has been brought to the attention of the Attorney General’s Chambers, but might in the end require the attention of the Court.”
The Queen’s Counsel said he believes that the trespass claim is “entirely misconceived”, because the Party has been in open possession of the Airport Road property since at least 2005 with the full knowledge of the leaders of every Government Department concerned with dealings in crown land and with their acquiescence, if not consent.
This, he said, includes the then Governor, Richard Tauwhare who throughout remained the ultimate authority for the management and disposition of crown lands.
Simons added: “This is the same Governor of whom and from whom the people of the TCI have heard nothing since his departure and in respect of whose role in the matters now under investigation no one in the FCO has seen fit to explain. That is disrespectful. Provident Management Services Ltd did not sub-lease six offices in the Headquarters building to PNP MPs. Provident leased the offices to TCIG. Those leases were signed off on behalf of TCIG by the Head of Department having control of the relevant vote. Furthermore those leases were identical to leases entered into by TCIG in Grand Turk, South Caicos and North and Middle Caicos for the constituency offices of Members of Parliament, including constituency offices for PDM Members of Parliament. That assertion is therefore false.”
Simons said the PNP has never disputed TCIG’s right to a reasonable annual rent, nor payment of the market value of the land.
“That is therefore a non-issue, the litigation of which can only be justified in the context of the gravy train that the SIPT and Civil Recovery teams now ride on the backs of the TCI people,” Simons added.
“As for damages for trespass, I believe any reasonable person would agree that the land has been developed and improved rather than injured. I would also be surprised if anyone, regardless of their political allegiance would agree (even if TCIG were to win its case) that pulling down and destroying a perfectly good building makes any kind of sense. The settlement discussions to which the AG refers were not successful because they were not undertaken in good faith by him and his clients, the Governor and the FCO. They are hell-bent on issuing this final embarrassment to the PNP as an institution. The Party is hell-bent on ensuring its survival as a pillar of the parliamentary democracy that our constitutions since 1976 have provided for, and to ensure that the Party is a force for good in the affairs of our country.”
Simons concluded by saying: “I am specifically instructed to call upon the AG, the Governor and the FCO to withdraw these unnecessary proceedings, the consequence of which will only enrich the Civil Recovery team lawyers at the expense of the TCI taxpayer. In keeping with my instructions I invite the AG and the Governor to return to the negotiation table and make a good faith attempt to reach a reasonable settlement of these issues and thereby save some of the $33 million they have committed the TCI people to paying their lawyers over the next several years.” Published March 20th at 4:53 pm in SUN,Leading newspaper in Turks and Caicos Islands
Overall the response strongly supported the principles of the new strategy to increase engagement and interaction between the UK and the Territories, to improve the support available to the Territories and to work with them to strengthen good governance arrangements, public financial planning and economic planning.
Commenting on the consultation, Minister for the Overseas Territories Henry Bellingham said:
“I am delighted by the wide-ranging and comprehensive responses we have received from Territory Governments and NGOs on our new strategy for the Overseas Territories. This consultation is an important part of our efforts to reinvigorate the UK’s relationship with the Territories and will help inform our detailed approach due to be set out in a White Paper soon.
“The results underline strong support for continuing close co-operation between the UK and the Territories on many areas, but also highlight some of the challenges that they are currently facing.”
Two pages from a document headed “Witness Statement of Shaun David Malcolm”
By Caribbean News Now contributor
PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — In an incident reminiscent of the infamous Watergate break-in of the 1970s in Washington, a number of documents claimed to be from the files of the special investigation and prosecution team (SIPT) have apparently been leaked in mysterious circumstances and copies are now being widely circulated among members of the Turks and Caicos Islands public at large.
Those in possession of the documents have claimed they were leaked from the SIPT but the images seen appear to be more than hurriedly copied pages. It is thought, therefore, that if they were sourced from the SIPT they had to have been physically removed. It has been suggested that the claim that they were leaked or removed from SIPT offices may be a ruse to cover the true source(s).
One of the documents appears to be a witness statement by former Progressive National Party (PNP) backbench member of parliament, Karen DeLancy, which reportedly includes evidence, likely furnished under oath, by the former MP regarding questionable activities of ministers and possibly others related to the administration of her own party.
DeLancy’s name has been circulating as a potential repeat candidate for the PNP in the upcoming election. The appearance of this document might, sources say, affect her chances of being named a PNP candidate.
The other document is a 16-page document described as “Witness Statement of Shaun David Malcolm”, whose signature is said in the document itself to have been witnessed by Alan Hedley.
Years ago, Malcolm was associated with the PNP and had hoped for a candidacy for that party. Refused, he later left the PNP after Michael Misick took control of the party. Malcolm then began to support the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) and eventually became chairman.
The Malcolm document is dated October 2010, during former Governor Gordon Wetherell’s term of office, when Malcolm was often seen with Wetherell. The copies now circulating have had portions redacted by means of blacked out sentences and words. In that the documents are said to have come from the secure files of the SIPT, questions have been raised as to the purpose of blacking out these presumably sensitive portions.
On one page, a third party witness’s name has been blacked out, preventing verification of the information sworn to by Malcolm. It is thought locally that the original document, presumably in the possession of the SIPT, would not be redacted in any way.
One portion of the Malcolm document claims that the former PDM government, then headed by Derek Taylor, in preparing for the 2003 election accepted a donation from a named major developer of $400,000. The PDM won that election by a narrow margin but subsequently lost control of the government when a by-election switched two seats over to the Misick-led PNP.
In a section of the document headed “Jak Civre and the Seven Stars Resort,” Malcolm said, “On an occasion leading up to the election of January 2007, I was riding in a car with Arthur Robinson and Floyd Seymour [then PDM leader] when we passed the Seven Stars Resort on Providenciales. I was aware that prior to the election of 2003 Jak Civre, the owner of Seven Stars, had made a huge donation of somewhere in the region of $400,000 to the PDM, so I thought to ask how much he had donated to the PDM for the 2007 election. Arthur Robinson said it was $20,000. However, I later discovered through a person who spoke to me in confidence that the actual amount was $100,000.”
Another portion of Malcolm’s statement is said to be given over to what is referred to locally as “sour grapes”. Malcolm claims in the document that he was slated to be the appointed member for the 2007 PDM opposition but a late party caucus appointed then Chamber of Commerce president and later elected leader of the PDM, Douglas Parnell. Cheryl Astwood Tull was also reportedly slated for that position after she retreated as an election candidate, having spent a large amount of her personal funds campaigning.
“Cheryl Astwood Tull was very upset that the second part of her Election Agreement had not been fulfilled and thereby had not become the Nominated Member of the Turks and Caicos Legislature on behalf of the PDM. In retribution she attempted to sue the PDM for not honouring the agreement. She contacted Conrad Griffiths of the law firm Misick and Stanbrook and tried to force those that had entered into the agreement with her to complete the transaction. However, after researching the situation Mr Griffiths advised her that the agreement was not enforceable,” Malcolm said in his statement.
In 2008, Malcolm was known to be the co-founder and a leading contributor of the TCI Journal weblog, which targeted the allegedly corrupt activities of the PNP and Michael Misick in particular.
In the lead up to the Commission of Inquiry, the TCI Journal also began to run articles claiming there were unethical dealings within the PDM. These articles did not disclose the author.
published on 12th March 2012 in Caribbean News Now
Personifying avant-garde brilliance, Dr. Cem Kinay discussed his passion for life, his unconventional career, and his revolutionary development at Dellis Cay.
The formula seems simple enough. Take a private, tranquil island in one of the most enviable places in the world, add the visionary designs of seven world-renowned architects, and, for good measure, toss in a lavish resort hotel with the immaculate guest services of the Mandarin Oriental Group, the finest luxury hotelier in the world. Like any inspired recipe, the components of the project stand solidly on their own, but in combination, create a stunning masterpiece that will undoubtedly redefine ultra-luxury living in the 21st century. So what is the secret ingredient in uniting porcelain-white beaches, lush vegetation, and the dancing waters of the Caribbean with world-class design and unparalleled service? Enter Dr. Cem Kinay, the man with both the experience and finesse to guide the first design-driven, premium property development company into its chief venture. At the pinnacle of his career, Kinay presented Dellis Cay, a product of his revolutionary visions and history of flawlessly calculated implementation.
Kinay is a man of strong-willed passion. With deep Turkish roots, Kinay grew up with a first-rate education, strong family ties, and the desire to care for others. Noting the respect and admiration on the faces of his loyal team, it is clear to see the values of his youth have remained steadfast. On a crisp, fall morning, Kinay calmly orders an espresso, but as he begins to speak of his history, disregards the steaming cup and talks fervently, inching toward the edge of his chair, his eyes glowing blissfully with nostalgia. He fondly describes his winding career as a series of three individual chapters. “When you look at my career, each 10 to 15 years, I change. My first 10 to 15 years, I was a doctor; the next 10 to 15 years, I made my hospitality career with Magic Life. Now I have started my career with “Dellis Cay” .
Chapter One: The Conscientious Doctor
“I come from a conservative family. My father was in the Turkish army and my mother took care of three good boys,” Kinay says, smiling. Following in his older brother’s footsteps, Kinay went to Vienna to study medicine at the age of 17. “I wanted to be a good doctor, to help people.” It was by a turn of fate that the hospitality business found young Kinay. His roommate in Vienna, an economy student, presented Kinay his first entrepreneurial opportunity, which he accepted wholeheartedly. “It was mostly his idea that in addition to my job as a doctor, I open a small yacht charter with him in the Mediterranean. So, in the last three years of my specification, until three or four o’clock I’d be working in the hospital, then, I went right to the office.”
Kinay quickly realized that, despite his reliable future as a doctor, he preferred the business world. “Firstly, I liked business, and secondly, even as a young doctor, I always needed to have the last word, and [when I came to the office] I was the boss. I liked this role as boss,” he says with a smirk. Although the decision was far from easy, Kinay was able to feel at peace with his first career shift because he was still caring for people. “As a doctor you are taking care of the body, the people, and in hospitality you are taking care of the soul.” With that, after 12 years of studying and practicing medicine, Kinay hung up his scrubs and transformed his after-work hobby into a career that would transform his life, and also shift the hospitality industry at large.
Chapter Two: The Hospitality Pioneer
So, with the combination of a healthy imagination and a little elbow grease, Kinay and his partner turned their small yacht charter into Magic Life, the famous European vacation and hotel company. In less than 10 years, Magic Life exploded into 23 hotels, 22,000 beds, 6,000 employees, and more than 500,000 guests per year. With very little experience in the industry, it was Kinay’s strong education and use of the scientific method that enabled him to systematically build his hospitality empire. From observing other companies’ successes, he noted the significance of individualized service and, most importantly, branding.
“We looked at different hospitality companies in Europe, big companies, and how they do it. Then we said, ‘There are a lot of hotels in the Mediterranean, what can we make different?’” On a trip to the Dominican Republic in 1989, Kinay remembered seeing all-inclusive hotel systems and wondering why they had not made headway in Europe. Thus, the Magic Life brand was born: the first all-inclusive European hotel company.
Revolutionizing European holidays would take more than a solid idea, but would require a flawless execution of the all-inclusive systems adapted for the European client. A student himself, Kinay knew the best way to learn is to have the most qualified teachers. He flew experts into Turkey straight from the source. “This system was very different than the classic hotels in Europe because you are giving 24 hours of service. For months I took guys from the Dominican Republic, had them sit down with our Turkish guys and explain their experiences.” From that point on, Kinay successfully opened hotel after hotel, branching into new countries, all while providing consistent service.
“It turned into simple multiplication, a science,” Kinay says.
Besides earning the respect of the worldwide hospitality industry, Kinay’s success with Magic Life allowed him to bring prosperity to his native Turkey.
“Hospitality is a very good way to communicate your country. Twenty years before, only three million people came to Turkey per year, now it’s 30 million.” In addition to Magic Life, Kinay has created two destination management firms, Vasco Company and Discovery Company, and founded both Gulet Touropa Touristik, a tour operating company, and Turcotel and ML Assets, a chain of eight hotels in Turkey. For his contributions and pioneering in the hospitality industry, Kinay was awarded “Man of the Year” in Austria in 1997 and honored with the State Medal of Austria in 2006.
After 10 years in the industry, having transformed into a tremendously astute businessman, Kinay knew Magic Life simply needed more room to expand. Selling 50 percent of his company shares, Kinay joined efforts with the largest tour company in Europe, Germany-based TUI. Four years later, in 2004, after guiding Magic Life’s continued success, Kinay sold the remainder of his holdings in order to realize his next dream.
“I saw that the hospitality business was changing. You look at your success, but as a businessman, you always need to be looking ahead.”
Chapter Three: The Lord of Luxury
Like a shrewd chess player, Kinay had anticipated his next career move for years. From his experience in the Caribbean, he saw the value of unique locations and was inspired by the numerous islands in the region. “I liked the idea of one hotel concept, one island,” Kinay muses. But aside from his desire to develop unique locations, Kinay knew he needed to harness three major trends: mixed-use properties, mounting interest in design, and growing demand for luxury resorts and residences. Never one to take a break, Kinay chomped at the bit to get started on his next mission. “In 2004 we exited Magic Life, and on the next day started O Property Collection,” he says proudly.
In 2005, Kinay and his business partner, Oguz Serim, founded Dellis Cay with a commitment to innovative design and service. Their goal: to become one of the world’s most desirable premium brands by building a global following. They aim to set a new benchmark for lavish living, dubbed on their website as “the rarest living experience on earth.”
Once the groundwork for Dellis Cay was laid, Kinay wasted no time in finding elite partners to help him realize his dream. With ultra-luxury service at the top of his to-do list, he immediately contacted The Mandarin Oriental Group for management. “One of the main decisions for our business model was that we will not manage. On one side we are design driven, but on the other side, we are service driven and these guys at the Mandarin, they really know their business,” Kinay says of his partnership with the five-star luxury hotel.
Kinay’s vision is so clear for new goal that, even before settling on a location, he contacted the best designers worldwide to work on prototypes for beach houses and villas. With great diligence, he hand-picked an all-star dream team of seven international architects: Shigeru Ban, David Chipperfield, Carl Ettensberger, Zaha Hadid, Kengo Kuma, Piero Lissoni, and Chad Oppenheim. The architects will merge the natural beauty of the island with their individual designs for a unique blend of private residences and villas.
Lissoni, known for his chic, contemporary style, will be spearheading the design for the core Mandarin Oriental Hotel & Residences. “My inspiration was the light,” Lissoni says. “I have tried to have the light going through all the spaces like a blade. The design is sophisticated, but based on simplicity.”
With design and marketing well underway, Kinay worked tirelessly to uncover the perfect location for his first project. For six months, he used helicopters, boats, and a sturdy pair of boots to thoroughly investigate 100 undeveloped properties in the Caribbean. Finally he laid eyes on the 560-acre paradise of Dellis Cay. A pristine island snuggled in the Turks & Caicos archipelago, it is known by locals for its multihued coral reefs, faultless beaches, and dramatic bays. The breathtaking beauty of the island aside, Dellis Cay is also conveniently located just 575 miles south of Miami, 30 miles south of the Bahamas, and 90 miles north of Kinay’s beloved Dominican Republic, perfect for the global jet-setters who will likely represent the core clientele of the prestigious development. Kinay recalls his first time he laid eyes on the island: “I said, ‘That is exactly what we are looking for.’”
Having broken ground in 2008 , Kinay was well on his way to realizing his dream for Dellis Cay, offering an unparalleled oasis that combines the tranquility of natural beauty with cutting-edge contemporary design, and five-star service that eases the soul.
From insightful doctor to ground-shattering hospitality pioneer, no dream seems too distant and no goal too complex for Dr. Cem Kinay. Taking a moment to sip his espresso, now room temperature, he expresses with humble words the emotion he will feel upon the opening of Dellis Cay. “I am not exaggerating, but on that day when the families with their children are playing on the beach and all the people are there, I believe it will be one of my happiest days.” With the recent expansion of his own family, his first son 4 years old, he will be looking at those first families on Dellis Cay as the realization of his revolutionary vision and an attentive scholar. “I am learning to be a father, these are new experiences for me, but I am a good student, so I will be looking to the other fathers now.” As he finally settles back into his chair, Kinay beams with the pleasure of both a new parent and unstoppable hospitality mogul. Than political blow in Turks and Caicos in 2009 and he stopped the construction and his life dream for a while.
Chapter four should be a good one too,he hopes.
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Swiss researcher Ernst Fehr once ran an experiment called “the trust game with revenge”, designed to reveal the motivation for vengeance. What he found was that: a) the decision to punish someone who we think cheated gives us a feeling of pleasure, and b) “…the desire for revenge, even when it costs us something and is fully irrational…” is built into us. (Harvard Business Review, July – August 2009, Page 83)
It is primarily because of this phenomenon, why we are seeing – and will continue to see – collateral damage resulting from the Commission of Inquiry.
For example, Sir. Robin Auld’s final report portrays Dr. Cem Kinay as a willing participant in government corruption, because: a) he gave a large sum of money to an elected official, and b) he is trying to keep the details of it out of the public domain. However, while (a) and (b) are true, they do not automatically equal (c)orruption. Here is why, and a scenario of what likely happened that got him to this point:
To keep cost low, Dr. Kinay’s company most likely applied for and received duty concessions from the Government, thereby saving him a few million dollars on the build-out cost for Dellis Cay. During the election campaign a Government minister most likely asked him for a sizeable campaign donation – probably US$1 million. Finding himself in an awkward situation where he could not easily say “no”, Dr. Kinay probably rationalized it as a one off donation to a government who is pro business, and most importantly, one who his pro Dellis Cay. He then probably agreed to donate an amount less than the initial request – although it would have still been a significant sum – and because there are no rules/laws regarding how campaign donations are made, he sent it based on the instructions of the minister.
Although there is nothing in the scenario above that under normal circumstances would be considered corrupt; because the government involved was Mike Misick’s administration, Dr. Kinay’s campaign donation is being suspected as such.
For the record, even if it turns out that the campaign donation was used for corrupt purposes, I doubt that Dr. Kinay was an architect of that corruption.
It is unfortunate, but in today’s world, you are what/who Google says you are, and if there are any references to you on the internet, Google will find it, index it, and archive it. As such, negative materials on the internet can and will affect (what I call) your “Google’s Character Reference” or GCR.
For the average person, their GCR has little or no impact on their lives. However, for someone whose reputation is his/her global currency; someone whose every business deal results in a background check being done; and someone who has global business interests; their GCR is becoming more important than their credit score.
The destructive powers of negative information on the internet is so great to a person’s reputation, that PR firms recommend that if you are a victim of it, to deal with it swiftly and aggressively – even if it means hiring legal representation to have the information removed. As such, it is likely that for this reason alone why Dr. Kinay is keen to keep any negative references to him in Sir Robin’s report out of the public domain.
However, in our desire to punish those who cheated, we want to have the full report in the public domain – regardless of the collateral damage that it can cause.
While there are those who may see some collateral damage as acceptable, the fact is that in order to rebuild the Turks & Caicos, we not only need the defensive strategy of Sir Robin, we also need an offensive (i.e. inward investment) strategy. As the management guru/thinker Peter Drucker once stated, “We have to accept what we all know to be elemental – that taking a defensive position can, at best, only limit losses. And we need gains.” With the economy in free fall, the Turks & Caicos desperately need gains like Dellis Cay. We cannot afford to watch the country go into an economic tailspin for 2 years while we remake government. This approach will only lead to more problems. With all due respect to Colin Roberts, he got it wrong when he suggested that Britain cannot simultaneously promote inward investment while fixing local government.
The task may be difficult, but Governor Wetherell needs to find a way to do both. For “The signature of the truly great vs. the merely successful is not the absence of difficulty. It’s the ability to come back from setbacks, even cataclysmic catastrophes, stronger than before.” (How The Mighty Fall, Jim Collins)
Writen By: E. Jay Saunders in 2009,Turks and Caicos Islands,CEO of Digicell
Chair woman of the Consultative Forum Lillian Misick expressed disappointment in the Governor’s decision to close TCINVEST.
Is her disappointment because of closing or because not be informed?
Governor’s in Turks and Caicos Islands are working like Consultancy Companies,without responsibility ,because they are not elected,they are appointed!
They imported people from UK ,mostly of them without qualifications for their jobs.They are in Turks and Caicos because they are not able to get jobs in UK.They have no sense for Caribbean,they have no sense for the culture,they have no knowledge.They are here because they have no other job.
They are getting the jobs from local people,which are doing this since years.
But because of “CORRUPTION” they are not trusted.
Turks and Caicos Islands is the first country in the history governed with only advisors!
Lillian Misick has to understand,that she is also not trusted!She have to accept it or go away like other people before her.
Wait,she will have other decisions,very important decisions in this year,served to her in parking places from the Governor or his advisors.
Here the statement of Lillian Misick about TCINVEST scandal decision of first very welcomed Governor Todd.
Subject: TCInvest
Dear Governor Todd
I feel compelled to state for the record how truly dismayed I am by the way you have gone about making, and informing us of, your decision to abolish TCInvest.
Many of us greeted your inaugural promise to run a collaborative and transparent administration in good faith and with goodwill. And even though I have been moved on a few occasions since your inauguration to challenge you to honour it, that promise has never seemed more hollow than it did during the Forum’s closed session this morning.
I was so caught off guard when your Director of Strategy Philip Rushbrook informed me in the parking lot on Friday of your decision to abolish TCInvest that I requested an urgent meeting, which you graciously granted yesterday afternoon.
At that meeting you explained the reasons why you thought this decision was necessary. I countered by explaining that your reasoning was fundamentally flawed because it focused entirely on the mismanagement and abuse of the agency; i.e., to coin the phrase you used, perhaps unwittingly, you were throwing out the baby with the bath water.
To be fair, I gathered that you were basing your reasoning on a report by UK Advisor Stephen Turnbull, a copy of which you were kind enough to present to me midway through our meeting. But I felt constrained to question the reliability of its findings after glancing a section on the Business Development Center : I served as chairman of TCInvest for 5 years and director of the Business Development Center 10.
I thought it would give you pause when I pointed out that it strains credulity to think that any advisor could produce a comprehensive report on the functioning of this agency, let alone my department, without speaking to me.
In fact you paused long enough to reassure me that it was only a draft report and that you were quite prepared to grant my request for the Forum to hold a public hearing so that the proffered reasons for closing TCInvest could be properly examined.
Yet less than 24 hours later you were insisting in our closed session that there was no need for further discussion because your mind had been made up, presumably based on Mr. Turnbull’s flawed and incomplete draft report.
Let me hasten to clarify that I have never questioned your authority to make this or any other decision. Which makes me wonder why you continually assert – with the gratuitous force of a parent asserting her authority to discipline her child – that you have this authority.
My sole purpose for appealing to you on this and other matters was to get you to demonstrate that your talk about making your interim administration the most honest, open, and transparent in the Caribbean is not just hot air.
Alas, that you were adamant to the point of appearing defiant this morning about your decision to abolish TCInvest, despite the earnest pleadings of members for just a chance to be heard, made it clear to all present that my appeals to you have been in vain.
I hope you appreciate how much credence this gives to those who dismissed the Forum from the outset as nothing more than a rubber-stamp for the neo-colonial machinations of British interlopers.
This is profoundly regrettable and portends dire consequences for our UK-TCI relationship.
By Royal S. Robinson, MBE, Royal Robinson was a former Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance and Health in the Progressive National Party (PNP) Administration
By now every free thinking Turks and Caicos Islander has come to the conclusion that Slick “Ric” and his cohorts, ably aided and abetted by Allan Duncan have been grossly misleading the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as the world.
They have told us so many lies, that to chronicle them all would take me into next year. Remember sometime ago I wrote a piece detailing that the Emperor had no clothes. These days it is even worst!
They have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar with respect to the payment of money to SIPT. No amount of spin can get “Ric” out of this one! Lord Nigel Jones was one of the first advocates for getting the British Government to pay for the cost of the investigation as he rightly pointed out.
It was their responsibility as they were the administering power and were culpable and negligent! It was only fair then, that they foot the bill for the investigations of the alleged wrongdoings that went on under their noses.
It was after a lot of “humming and hauling” that they eventually agreed to take on the payment for SIPT’s operation and that of the civil recovery team. All of the expenses that were initially incurred and paid for by TCIG were supposed to be reimbursed to TCIG, and going forward, all bills were to be for the account of the UK Government. Come now, as the saying goes “you can fool some of the people, some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time”!
I know that my friend Mrs. Lillian Missick, Chairman of the Consultative Forum was totally irate to find out that having stuck her neck out for the Interim Regime, they were cutting the rug from under her feet.
You might not agree with my friend a lot of times, and we too have our disagreements, but when you deliberately put egg on her face, you can be asking for that other side to surface. Even though she tried to smooth it over a bit for public consumption, her choice of words left no one in doubt as to how embarrassed she was for being taken for a ride by these deceivers. It became abundantly clear to her as to why the budget had to be passed in secret. But you can only hide information for a certain time “T”. As the saying goes, “moon runs all night, but day catches it”! Ric, my boy, the sun is shining on you now more than ever. When you have persons that have been squarely in your corner questioning your truthfulness, you are in big trouble and your time is surely being fast spent.
My people, we, from the beginning had no control of what milestones were going to be required of us to meet prior to elections being had.
We have no control as to the time frame of those milestones, but even more critically, when and if they are b being met. However, it is plain for all of us to see that the one that is hardest to be met if ever, is the one concerning a balanced budget. These so-called experts, have been from their very first time that they arrived in our country manipulating and cooking the books. This is the greatest smoke and mirrors exercise that I have ever seen!
These guys are hell-bent on robbing us blind in broad daylight! There is definitely no reason to get the numbers so wrong, if it is one of your primary objective in taking over this country, is to provide, produce and put us on a path of financially sound management. But alas! These guys have not a clue in hell as to what should be done except to be non-transparent and produce straw men that can be shot down when exposed to the light of day.
The other farce and lie that is being perpetrated on us is the one with regards to the money and land supposedly recovered and reclaimed by the Civil Recovery Unit. I have seen some things in my lifetime, but this simply must be the best.
First of all, the $150M that the Governor speaks of is a figment of his fertile imagination! I have said before and it bears repeating here, because these guys continue to try to mislead us. Persons would have a commercial lease that is discounted by between 50 and 75%. Lack of access to the property, the original prospect of a deal having fallen through, are two of the main reasons why that person does not continue to pay the annual rents. These put the property into an arrears of rent situation and lead to the lease being cancelled.
Once the lease is cancelled, the property returns to the TCIG Crown land inventory. These transactions are now being used by the Civil Recovery unit as being acts of recovery, as if someone did something illegal and there were actual repossession! It is these types of operation that this unit is engaged in, and to make matters worse, they are using this to pad the numbers.
But what is the most atrocious part is that they are billing us for 25% of the valuation of the property. There is no money in the Treasury as a result of this farce, but we have to pay them 25%! No wonder why they have the Treasury on lock. We need not know we are paying for no gain whatsoever. There will be no realization of any money unless and until there is a new arrangement for sale. This would end up as a net loss to TCIG and would be one of the added reasons why the Budget would never be balanced!
Let us for one moment be real. The current CFO has come up with a new and revised deficit projection after there was a hue and cry about the last one. But in light of everyday there being a set of new taxes, their numbers still are not adding up and never will! These guys should be sent to the back of the class. Then good old Allan comes in with this old tried and discounted notion that there are still bill in drawers. That is the lamest excuse that he could come up with for the incompetence of his people on the ground! We are not buying that nonsense anymore! The jig is up! Come clean and roll out. Your most ardent previous supporters are running for cover from your policies and pronouncements!Posted Dec 19 2011 IN TURKS AND CAICOS SUN,the leading newspaper in Turks and Caicos Islands.
