LONDON, England; Monday, May 18th, 2009 –The Premier the Honorable Galmo W Williams and Deputy Premier, Hon. Royal Robinson met today with members of the House of Lords, in particular Lord George Foulkes at the Palace of Westminster and Lord Nigel Jones at the Reform Club, where in which they presented them with the ‘Cockburn Town Declaration’; which is rapidly becoming the basis of discussion between the Williams Administration and Her Majesty’s Government.
In both meetings their Lordships explained Her Majesty’s Government prospective on the Interim Report of the Commission of Inquiry and the expected final Report.
Their Lordships further explained how impressed they were at the Premier’s seriousness concerning the Reports. With the discussions centering around the continued commitment of the Williams Administration to give its best efforts in implementing the Report recommendations.
It was stressed by their Lordships the importance of dealing with the “systemic problems” identified by Mr. Justice Sir Robin Auld in which appear to be the critical focus of Her Majesty’s Government. The Premier demonstrated that he had already implemented significant portions of the Interim Report recommendations and that his policies in general anticipated the Final Report.
These policies include but are not limited to assenting to the Ministerial Code of Conduct, the Members of Parliament Register of Interest, the passing of the Integrity in Public Office Ordinance and reviewing implementation of the Crown Land Guidelines.
Premier Williams said: “I and my Government are committed to doing whatever it is necessary to restore the reputation of the Turks and Caicos Islands, not only in the eyes of the British and the World, but more importantly in the hearts and minds of my people at home and abroad so that they can hold their heads high wherever they go in the world, with the confidence that the institutions and Government of their country shows them in the best possible light.”
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