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Don’t give up on the PNP – Galmo Williams

 

 

 

By Vivian Tyson

Galmo Williams, the last premier to rule the Turks and Caicos Islands before the British takeover, is urging Turks and Caicos Islanders not to lose sight of the visions of the vision that the Progressive National Party has for the country and so, they should stay the course with that party.
Speaking at a PNP rally at the party headquarters on Airport Road in Providenciales on Friday, March 30, the former premier said that it pained him to see how the country was currently being run and the role some locals play in its political and financial capitulation.
“It pains my heart how some of our own are trying to down-press the PNP, but the PNP will never give up. For God’s sake; for the country’s sake; for your children’s sake, never give up. It doesn’t matter where we are now, but it is about where we want to go. I believe with all my heart of hearts that our best days for this country are yet ahead.
“It doesn’t matter where we are now, but let’s look at where we want to be. When we look at our young people, when we look at all the money that we spent on education, and when we look at investment and other opportunities that we have given to our young people; when we look at tourism and the infrastructure that we have put in, we can say that the PNP is the way to the future,” insisted Williams.
He pointed out that the scores of young people that the Turks and Caicos had educated through scholarships at universities overseas, and the strides made in development and tourism, would enable the country to get back on track and power to greater success.
“So, let no one from nowhere, no colour, no creed, to tell you what we, as Turks and Caicos Islanders, cannot be. We can be whatever we want to be. We can go wherever we want to go. So, for God’s sake, for your sake, for your children’s sake never give up,” Williams urged.
The former premier told the gathering that he was happy to have been catapulted to the rank of party leader and premier, having joined the elite class of individuals such as Norman Saunders and Bob Francis, while stressing that his elevation was due to the people love and confidence in him.
“I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to share that office (Premier and PNP Leader) of the highest position of the party and our country of our great leaders like the Honourable Norman Saunders, Bob Francis and all of the leaders of the PNP. At the age of a little bit over half a century, I think it is a great opportunity, and the reason I was given that opportunity was because of the support of the people from Cheshire Hall, Long Bay and of course, all of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

published in SUN,Turks and Caicos Islands on 17th of April 2012

 

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British cause TCIslanders to hate each other – Wayne Garland

Former Progressive National Party (PNP) Member of Parliament Wayne Garland said that Turks and Caicos Islands people have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by the British into mounting a campaign geared at crushing each other to the detriment of the country.
Garland made the statement at the PNP rally held at the party’s headquarters on March 30, 2012, where he was one of the speakers.
“We, as a people; we, as a country have been oppressed for the last three and a half years. We have been seriously oppressed, but what I want to talk to you about is about us a people coming together, and also, as a people standing up for one another. We are not being what we used to be – having one another’s back. It doesn’t matter whether you are PNP or PDM, the most important thing for us is that, we are Turks and Caicos Islanders.
“Over the last three years, we have backstabbed, we have backbite, and we talked about one another. We only wanted to see who are going to be arrested. We only wanted to see who are going to be put in prison. But let me tell you something, when we start to wish hate on one another, we are wishing hate on ourselves.
Every single one of us, from Salt Cay, way down to West Caicos, interlocked one way or the other. We have ties by family one way or the other. So every time you wish hatred on one, we wish hatred on our own. If we are going to move ahead as a progressive nation, we need to let go of the hate.  We need to let go of the hypocrisy. We need to let go of trying to backstabbing one another and this genuine hate for one another,” Garland warned.
Garland told reminded the gathering that Turks and Caicos Islanders once banded together despite political affiliation, but in recent time they have allowed a cutthroat attitude to fester among them, causing the country great pain.
“We are one people. We are our brothers’ keepers. It doesn’t matter whether you are blue, brown, purple or green; we are one people. We used to live well, what happened? We allowed some British oppressors to come in and drive a spear between us and separate us as a people.
“Now look at it, whose living good? Who is living in Grace Bay in high-rises? Who can go to the stores and buy the best quality foods? We used to be like that, we can be like that again, but like I say, we should be willing to make some sacrifices,” he implored.
Injecting a bit of biblical flavor into his presentation, Garland stressed that the torrid period that the TCI was currently going through paralleled to that of the 40 days of testing that Jesus Christ went through during what is now known as the Lenten season.
“We have been tested for the last three and a half years. We have been prosecuted for the last three and a half years. It is now time for us to open our eyes and be resurrected. It is time for us to stand and take our country back. It is time for us as young people not to sit back idle anymore, but should be able to look anybody in the face and say ‘this land is ours, and we are going to take it’. Don’t be afraid, young people,” Garland pleaded.
Garland also blasted the Attorney General Chambers for making attempts to seize and destroy the PNP Headquarters, while emphasizing that any attempts to yank the structure from that party would be fiercely resisted.
“This building behind us is an institution, this is a mark, this is something that a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into. This is a symbol for us as a party, and I will be damned if any white man or British oppressor think they can come here and take it from us. It will be a cold day in hell first. Nobody is going to mess with this institution…this belong to us.
“Today, it may be the Progressive National Party Headquarters; tomorrow it could be the PDM Headquarters. Today it could be ‘Ma Jane’s shop down the road’, the next day it is going to be ‘Sister Ashley’s house up the street’. We have to open our eyes and see what they are doing to us. They are pitting us one against other,” Garland told the audience.

published in SUN,Turks and Caicos Islands on 17th of April 2012
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Genel News

PDM READY TO RULE TCI


The People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) kicked off its political campaign Wednesday night, April 11, with a high-energy rally at its headquarters down town Providenciales, to drum up support among its base and the wider public in anticipation for elections this year, also using the event to express its readiness to take the reins of government once again.
Distributing party campaign T-shirts with a call for elections this year emblazoned across the front, many of the speakers, including party leader Derek Taylor, announced that a PDM Government would reverse majority of the laws now being implemented by the Interim Administration, while easing the current economic and social burden now being faced by the populace.
Taylor announced that the 10-year vision that the PDM crafted for the country sometime ago, which would bring prosperity for all the people of the country, was still relevant, and would be used as a vehicle in the party’s pursuit for political office.
He said that the PDM would reopen the civil service for employment, while balancing the budget without putting the people under duress, a feat he said was accomplished in the past by that party. Taylor said also that he would introduce legislation to create a development bank so that local businesses would be able to access loans at cheaper interest rates, while seek to introduce an equal pay law, so as to create income parity in the respective categories within the job market.
Party members said the PDM would also revisit the InterHealth Canada contract, which they said was not serving the best interest of Turks and Caicos Islanders, especially those who had lost their jobs. They said also that the Immigration and Labour laws would also be put under the microscope so as to safeguard the borders, while giving Turks and Caicos Islanders a fair shake in the job market.
“We envision a Turks and Caicos Islands with long term economic stability, and that can only happen under a People’s Democratic Movement government. We are not going to have this nonsense again,” Taylor said, referring to the economic abyss in which the country has found itself. “And we are going to engage each other every step of the way. You are going to have a government that is open, that you can challenge, that you can honestly sit down and talk to.”
“We envision a vibrant economy of Turks and Caicos Islanders that are able to sustain and exceed the growth of the past. And we envision a Turks and Caicos Islands where a strong economy and social empowerment are the order of the day for all Turks and Caicos Islanders.
“We will introduce equal pay legislation, to ensure that all workers are paid based on the work performed rather than on race, colour, gender or national origin. This will give further emphasis to what have already been expressed in the Constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands,” Taylor said.
Addressing the issue of setting up a financial institution that would provide Turks and Caicos Islanders, especially those who would be able to access loans from commercial banks, with loans at cheap interest rates, Taylor declared: “In 2003, we had already engaged the Caribbean Development Bank; we had already engaged European investment bank, with the intention of making sure that Turks and Caicos Islanders and Turks and Caicos Small businesses are able to access loans at lower interest rate.
“We are going back and we are going to engage those two financial institutions – one in the Caribbean and the other in Europe with the intention of lowering the interest rate, and we are going to again legislation for a development bank.”
In the meantime, the PDM Leader lashed TC Invest for not serving the interest of small businesses, stressing that the interest rate that it was imposing was higher than that of commercial banks.
“TC Invest was not put in place to make a profit at the expense of our people. Yes, we have to take care of administration overheads, but there should be no reason why the interest rate from TC Invest should have been higher than the commercial banks.
Taylor said also that a PDM government would utilize the Small Business Enterprise Development Centre to provide training for small business entrepreneurs and those facing problems in their businesses.
On the matter of education, Taylor pointed out that monies collected from the private sector for scholarships would be placed in a special fund by his administration, that would go solely towards its intended purpose, instead of funneling into the consolidated fund, which he said was the current practice.
“We are going to make sure that the private sector contribution towards scholarships would be placed in a special fund as we had it before, in order that you can know exactly the contribution from the private sector towards scholarships, and we are going to make sure that the private sector businesses benefit from the same also.
“Under a Derek Taylor administration, you can go sleep and wake up in the morning knowing that the public purse is intact, and it would not be attacked. You can rest assured that there will be responsibility and accountability,” he said.
Among the other speakers at the event were National Chairman, Reuben Hall; National Treasurer, Dwayne Taylor; National; Secretary General, Euwonka Selver; her father and former deputy leader of the party Clarence Selver; Cheryl Astwood-Tull; O’Neil Delancy; and Samuel Harvey.

published in SUN,Turks and Caicos Islands 17th of April

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News

What is happening in Turks and Caicos Islands with British Direct Rule?



PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — Shaun Malcolm, former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), and Oswald Skippings, former chief minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands and former deputy leader of the PDM, both strong advocates for the suspension of the constitution and the removal of the democratically elected Progressive National Party (PNP) government along with their own party’s parliamentary representatives, have now apparently reversed their positions. 

The pair has recently openly attacked the interim government, with Skippings publishing two controversial opinion pieces, where in one he gave a pass to now disgraced former PNP premier Michael Misick, claiming that Misick was not the master or the mind that masterminded the corruption in the Turks and Caicos Islands. In the other commentary, Skippings protested that there seemed to be little benefit in removing a corrupt regime. 

Shaun Malcolm, on the other hand, has recently had several letters published in the TCI Journal weblog. These letters were apparently published with the intent of exposing the alleged corruption of the interim administration. 

Malcolm is believed to have been the only person that appeared on behalf of the TCI Journal at press conferences hosted by former Governor Gordon Wetherell. Local sources have reported that Malcolm and TCI Journal co-founder Gurcharan Singh are currently facing legal difficulties in the United States, UK and Canada. Singh is said to have fled the South Florida area to hide from creditors and civil law suits that allege serious financial wrongdoing. 

These former supporters of British direct rule seemed hopeful that their commercial activities would be supported by a British-led Government in the Turks and Caicos Islands. 

An aviation company formed by Malcolm and another PDM national governing council member who openly campaigned for Skippings to become leader at previous PDM conventions, was touted as having secured some 99 acres of very valuable land in the Providenciales International Airport on a long term lease. This transaction alone would have made them all instant multimillionaires. Land around the airport sells for $500,000 per acre. The transaction was supposedly backed by an expatriate developer of the exclusive Aman Resort in Providenciales, where the hotel villas rent for some $15,000 per week. 

Former premier Michael Misick had alleged that former Governor Gordon Wetherell was bestowed with lavish gifts from the resort in exchange for favourable immigration appeal decisions but this was denied by the former governor. 

However, sources within the interim government allege that the proposed airport transaction reeked of favouritism and special treatment and the interim government would not be in the business of making instant multimillionaires with Crown land as the main variable in the transaction. Malcolm’s local company apparently invested nothing in the transaction but was using local contacts and purported support of the British government as leverage. 

In any event, the airport deal has now apparently collapsed, with the Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) entering into a commercial transaction with international ground handler ServiceAir. 

A complaint over the ground handling matter has been lodged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) by another local supporter of the suspension of parliament, Albray Butterfield Jnr, who owns TCA ground handling. He was also the choice to be deputy leader of the PNP but later had to resign after a majority of PNP national governing council members voted against the appointment. Butterfield has complained that the government should not be in the business of competing with local business. 

Now that the multimillion dollar deals have soured, these former politicians and strong supporters of the suspension of the constitution appear to have turned against the British government. 

Butterfield has now sent another open letter accusing the governor of various nefarious deeds.

published on 10th of March 2012 in Caribean News Now