fp Turks and Caicos

New Progressive National Party Leader Clayton Greene has vowed to return his party to power and revive the country’s economy, which he said is not getting enough attention from the interim government.

At his first press conference Sept. 1 since being chosen Aug. 7, Green said that people should judge the PNP by its accomplishments between 2003 and 2007.

During that time, Greene said the PNP “presided over nearly $2 billion of inward investment, paved nearly 300 miles of roads, educated nearly 500 students at the tertiary level, under which the GDP grew from around $200 million to $750 million, and where the economy enjoyed 11 percent year on year growth.”

“This is the party that builds hospitals and national stadiums. This is a party with a positive record, which will achieve without financial assistance from anyone, including Britain,” he said.

“Clearly, also, this is a party which has made mistakes. There have been mistakes and errors of judgment which have impacted the lives of ordinary Turks and Caicos Islanders and have contributed to our present circumstances. I cannot hope to lead this party without first acknowledging our shortcomings.”
But Green said suspending the Constitution and government was unnecessary.

“The vast majority of Turks and Caicos Islanders believe that the suspension of the Constitution was an inappropriate response to the findings of the Commission of Inquiry,” he said.

Greene also he doesn’t believe the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team’s work will result in any criminal charges against former PNP government officials, calling the investigation a “gravy train” costing the country $500,000 a month.

“With every passing day, the fallout from the suspension of the Constitution is causing more and more hardship,” he said. “With each passing day, the failure of the present administration to be clear in its intentions is creating a social and political and economic uncertainty which is causing severe hardship to all those who have come to rely on this economy for their sustenance.”

“We’ve got an administration that does not seem to care,” Greene said.

While acknowledging that the downturn in the world economy has played a role in the country’s financial situation, Greene said the interim government hasn’t done anything to help the country’s economy. Instead, it is holding back development projects.

Green believes that  developers will wait until the local government is back in power because they don’t want to talk to transient officials.

Greene, who served as the speaker of the House of Assembly until the elected government was removed from power in August 2009, said he would actively grant concessions to attract developers to invest in the country again.

“The way we had been doing it was perhaps the best way,” Green said. “Certainly it gives the most immediate benefit. And that is to put together packages of concessions.

“This idea that the British administration currently harbours that there’s something inherently wrong with giving concessions is in my view ludicrous,” he said. “Every jurisdiction that is like ours, that is open, that has no natural resources, that depends on the first world, whose economy mirrors the first world has to act aggressively to attract foreign investment. If we don’t give it, we’re not going to get it.”

He also said the interim government is “deliberately marginalizing the public service and demoralizing those Turks and Caicos Islanders who have devoted their lives to the service of their country.” And he criticized the government for not doing enough to increase police presence on the street to prevent and solve crimes.

Greene, a lawyer, suggested it might be time to consider mandatory prison sentences for gun crimes and denial of bail for gun and violent crimes.

Between now and July 2011 when the next elections are scheduled, Greene said he would introduce his party leaders to the interim government and open a dialogue with U.K. members of Parliament and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

At the press conference, Greene also  announced his selection of businessman Albray Butterfield Jr. as deputy party leader.

“I accept this position with humility,” Butterfield said. “I intend to serve this party to the best of my ability, but more importantly serve the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.”

Greene’s choice of Butterfield caused some grumbling within the party because Butterfield said last year that he could not support the elected government at the time and called for the takeover by the interim government. But Greene said he selected Butterfield because he had the courage to speak his mind, even if it was unpopular.

“In a free society every man has the right to speak his peace,” Greene said.

Butterfield said he wanted the British here “but for not a day longer than necessary. That day longer than necessary has come.”