| Cautious words on likelihood of elections in 2012 | | Print | |
| Written by Richard Green/richard@fptci.com | |||
| Thursday, 08 December 2011 10:35 | |||
 The Turks and Caicos Islands are “not yet on track” for elections in 2012 because of unexpected debts created by the previous elected government, U.K. Department for International Development Minister Alan Duncan said Dec. 5. “I’m not making any commitments or promises as of today about it definitely happening or definitely not happening,” said Duncan, who is in the TCI this week. “We are having to assess this in what is a fluid situation.” Duncan is in charge of the U.K. government department that guaranteed $260 million in loans to pay off or consolidate old government debts and to cover revenue shortfalls until the interim government under the governor can halt deficit spending, hopefully by the next fiscal year. That is one of eight milestones the U.K. has set before returning control of the country to elected government, which was suspended in 2009 because the country was nearly bankrupt and to investigate allegations of government corruption. His Excellency the Gov. Ric Todd recently announced an increase in the Customs Processing Fee and increased taxes on fuel, alcohol and tobacco to cover a ballooning deficit because of past unpaid bills, not because of bad economic projections of the U.K.-appointed financial officers in charge. “We’ve gone into a financial car crash here and have had to pick up the mess,” Duncan said, defending the interim government. “So don’t blame us for the bad projections. We can only make the best of what we had to work with, and the fact that there have been surprises were entirely to blame with what had gone on before, not what we’ve been doing since we’ve been doing it directly.” “There have been invoices in drawers and no proper public accounting,” Duncan said. “So however hard we look to get the complete picture so we know what’s coming down the line, suddenly we get another nasty surprise — an old medical bill or an old legal bill … and they are all legacies of the past.” While he wouldn’t be pinned down on an election date, Duncan said that should become clear in the next few months, but that he believes the financial condition of government was heading in the right direction. “If the milestones are not met, we’ll have to work out a number of possible options, whether you simply don’t have elections, or whether you definitely do have them at a later date, or whether you have them at the time we hope but with financial controls remaining with the governor. Things like that. We’ve got no fixed view about this, no secret agenda.” “We want to restore elected government here, but we cannot do that if we also relinquish control of the money when we face so much exposure,” Duncan said. “No one would be happier than me not to have to have further responsibility for what we’re doing at the moment. This is not a responsibility I want to keep any longer than I have to in order to get the money right.” But the U.K. doesn’t want to hand a financial mess to a new elected government, Duncan said. During his visit, Duncan was scheduled to meet with political leaders, Consultative Forum, Advisory Council, Chamber of Commerce, permanent secretaries and government advisers. During his visit on Providenciales, he planned to visit the revamped Blue Hills Clinic which has received DFID financial support. On Grand Turk he was scheduled to see DFID-funded reconstruction following the hurricanes of 2008.
|
Related Articles
Entertainment: Your Island Guide
|
Top things to do in April Top things to do in April 1. From Golfing to More... |
|
Valentine’s Day Cup 2013 model sailboat races The Middle Caicos Sailboat Association will once again present the annual model sailboat races at More... |
|
Lime and Tourist Board announce weekly Fish Fry The Turks & Caicos Tourist Board & LIME partner with Cultural Fish Fry The Turks & Caicos Tourist More... |
|
Turks & Caicos Reef Fun to host dazzling evening The Turks and Caicos Reef Fund will host its 2nd Annual Cocktail Party Reception on Jan. 26 at the More... |
|
Fashion Glam at Regent Palms The Regent Palms is inviting everyone to an evening of fashion and glamour at their event being More... |
Latest Community News
|
Cholera Clinical Management Training Held in the TCI Healthcare professionals from the TCI Health Services were trained in the Clinical Management of More... |
|
Illegal Haitian immigrants Intercepted Illegal Haitian Immigrants Intercepted, to the Repatriated According to the Ministry of Border More... |
|
Ministry of Health Reminding public about sanitation Health surveillance teams attached to the Ministry of Health and Human Services (MOHHS) have More... |
|
Scholarship applications now being accepted The Ministry of Education has announced that they are now accepting applications for scholarships More... |
|
History and traditions stay alive at the 13th annual boat races in Middle Caicos The 2013 Valentines Day Cup welcomed many fun loving residents and tourists to Middle Caicos’ More... |