Since the United Kingdom has occupied and taken over the government of Turks and Caicos (August 2009) the UK is reiterating that government corruption by some former ministers was the reason for their government take over. There is a corruption report made by the UK which is exceeding controversial and points to what some experts call weak circumstantial evidence. The corruption report was made by UK’s Sir Robin Auld alone, he has a reputation in the UK as an activist judge with radical opinions.
“If there was a problem with corruption in the former government, let the UK prove it, but stop bullying the rest of us,” says a local political activist and pastor. This refers to the UK taking everyone’s rights to democracy, human rights and the UK not letting the country move forward with local elections unless the UK controls it. He said, the UK continues to add “more and more milestones as a condition to have our country back and now we see they are using the milestones to take what they had planned to do all along, to take our power with the new constitution.” He continues, “If there was a problem with corruption in the last government, let the offenders be tried by a jury of their peers anywhere in the Caribbean, but why are the rest of us living as virtual prisoners, our civil servants harassed or sent out to pasture with new British transplants taking their jobs, rules and laws changed, and now the ultimate insult in a new constitution that snatches away our power. We are better off with any kind of government than what the UK is forcing us to accept which is absolute dominance and no transparency. Why aren’t we demanding what we are willing to accept from them, it’s our country?”
Another Turks and Caicos citizen said, “We got absolutely nothing with UK direct rule. Our treasury has been siphoned, our civil service workers are wandering in circles wondering what happened to their jobs and benefits and we are all wondering how we are going to pay our bills and take care of our families. I know British citizens don’t have to worry about these things. We are not British citizens, we are Turks and Caicos citizens, but the British are taking all rights and benefits away from us. We have no British rights and no Turks and Caicos rights. We are the lost people! We have no choice but to seek independence from our oppressors.”
And yet another citizen had a different point of view, “The Foreign Commonwealth Office worked with our people to make the new constitution as fair as possible. I felt that Henry Bellingham considered our worries about certain problems in the new constitution and fixed the problems we had with it. Did we get everything we wanted? No. But he listened to us and acquiesced to several ‘concessions’ that we never thought would happen. Isn’t it time we are grateful for what we did get and stop looking at the cup half empty?”
Though some citizens are grateful for how the UK has compromised on some of the new constitution terms, most are furious saying that they compromised on "non-issues" and they are now wanting independence.
The civil servants matter is one of great importance. After taking over the islands’ government, the UK began to delay pay to civil servants. Many were dismissed throughout the months, but all have had their jobs on the line from the very start, many wondering if that was a way for the UK to keep the citizens in line. The civil service is the largest employer in the islands and keeping the workers bound to the UK for their employment was a way to control the citizen masses, some say. As it turns out, many civil service workers have been let go, causing an economic catastrophe for the local population. The locals are exceedingly angry that they are living in poverty and uncertainly while the British who have taken over the jobs and government are living in posh quarters at the famous Grace Bay Club, for some of them it’s their second homes from Grand Turk the capital island. All of the costs for the British are being paid from the Turks and Caicos treasury, as well as the cost of UK “experts”, investigations and other hires imported from the UK.
The entire islands and citizens are under criminal suspicion, says the UK, which is why they are entrenched in Turks and Caicos. Included in the scrutiny are many resort developers in the islands. They have been zeroed in for corruption as well by the UK for varying different reasons. Butch Stewart the owner of Sandals/Beaches and the most popular family resort, has been accused of corruption by the UK government. Also accusing developers of corruption without a trial or proof is a blog called TCI Journal, the public calls it a UK public mouth piece or competing political party. There has been no trial or any specific allegations made public against Butch Stewart other than he was granted Belonger status in Turks and Caicos which is not a crime. Mr. Stewart’s home was ransacked for evidence which turned up no evidence of any corruption, yet he is still being accused in the media (TCI Journal) and continues to be intimidated by the UK prosecution team as well as other resort developers that were established before the UK took over.
In an interesting turn of events, Sandals/Beaches has just announced that it will try to hire as many laid off civil servants that it can in order to help the people of Turks and Caicos. Sandals/Beaches has just announced, “Although we were saddened to learn of the layoffs in the Turks & Caicos Government, we are looking forward to receiving applications from individuals that want to be part of our resort.” In this time of great confusion and worry in Turks and Caicos, the people are being thrown a life line by the resort that they helped support to success. The irony is interesting how the local citizens and resorts are supporting each other.
Citizen, Ed Williams, said, “there are some crazy things going on. Some of us are used to it by now. People like a guy named The Torch wanting to take our business sector from us. They are foreign guys wanting to vote in our government. You got the UK trying to make us all quiet, saying they will find something illegal against us. You know, the people in the places that got their land taken from them without a reason. We have a new governor that is a MI6 agent. You know, it’s crazy right now. People have been keeping their head low, but that could change now that this new constitution shows us this isn’t blowing over and they are not respecting us.”
Another local business man, a lawyer, said, “I am leaving Turks and Caicos. The political situation is too crazy and uncertain. Strange new things are coming out every day, making me worry ‘what’s next?’. I know a lot of people are leaving, like I am. The people who stay and make excuses to live in this quality of life can ring me up when we decide to move forward with independence. But, I am not putting my life on the line here, it’s quickly becoming a wasteland”.
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