GRAND TURK, Turks and Caicos Islands; Monday, June 29th, 2009 – The Governor, Gordon Wetherell, has drawn attention to the support being provided by the UK as TCI struggles to recover from a long period of political and economic mismanagement. The Governor regretted the delays which meant that so little of the £5 million ($7.5 million) grant provided by British taxpayers for hurricane recovery had so far been spent, despite the identification over three months ago – by the Disaster Recovery Board which he chairs – of dozens of worthwhile projects. But he stressed the need to ensure that the money was spent in a transparent and accountable manner with procedures for tendering and spending controls scrupulously adhered to. Failure to do this in respect of other projects funded from the TCI budget has proved all too costly to the Territory. As the Minister for Public Works has noted, it was important to ensure that “every cent goes where it’s supposed to go”. It was the responsibility of the Board, of which the Premier was also a member, to ensure that this happened.
The Governor agreed with the Minister that disbursements from the UK grant should provide a much-needed fiscal stimulus to the TCI economy. He expected essential building works, including on hurricane shelters and emergency operation centres, to begin very soon. The Governor said that the UK was funding an expert adviser to help ensure that the money was spent properly in identified priority areas. He added that he was also working to secure a substantial, additional grant for hurricane recovery from European Union sources. He noted that the Premier had last week expressed his thanks to the UK Government for the technical assistance being provided in areas such as disaster recovery and financial management and had said it was already proving effective.
The Governor highlighted transparency, accountability and responsibility in public life as the key to foreign investor confidence and economic recovery. He welcomed, for instance, that Ministers had finally agreed the terms of a Ministerial Code of Conduct. The Governor wanted one of the outcomes of the Commission of Inquiry to be the restoration, in perception as well as in fact, of the TCI as a place where investors, who themselves operated in transparent fashion and observed the laws of the territory, should be able to do business or purchase homes without fear. That was what investors themselves wanted.
But he recognized that the TCI was not immune from the global recession and that, like others, it needed to make sacrifices. TCI’s political leaders were in a position to set a good example of cost-cutting and austerity. There were substantial cuts in public spending which still needed to be made, and revenue collection was alarmingly low. Unless urgent action was taken to establish financial discipline, TCI’s credit-worthiness would suffer. The UK was already funding several advisers in an effort to put public finances on a sound footing.
The Governor said he supported prudent and affordable measures to stimulate the economy, and hoped TCIG would find the financial means to fund some infrastructure development. This needed to be rigorously prioritised to fit the funds available. But he said that TCI could not spend its way out of trouble. Living beyond its means was not a sustainable route to recovery; the need to repay debts irresponsibly incurred in the past was already eating into social spending and thus damaging the lives of future generations. The UK Government had already had exchanges with the Caribbean Development Bank and TCIG officials on possible assistance. But, given the international financial climate, some of the figures proposed for new loans were wildly unrealistic, and any such loans would necessarily come with strict, and possibly difficult, conditions attached.
The Governor called for broad-based, sustainable wealth-creation that would restore business confidence and TCI’s reputation. He warned that the economy was sustaining enormous losses through the award of special exemptions and concessions to companies and individuals, both resident and non-resident. These were merely a tax on TCI society as a whole, including most Belongers. He promised further UK help to TCIG to plug unfair loopholes and to foster a spirit of impartial public service of benefit to all Islanders.
The Governor recalled that he had undertaken to make a further statement this week. He repeated that, with the full support of the UK Government, he would not be deflected from establishing good governance in the TCI. He urged TCI leaders to eschew empty rhetoric, hoping that, in view of the Territory’s difficulties, they would all strive to over-perform – not over-promise.
Governor’s Office
Grand Turk
29 June 2009
