TURKS AND CAICOS POST CABINET MEETING STATEMENT
His Excellency the Governor, Peter Beckingham, chaired the 1st meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, 13 January 2016, at the Hon. Hilly Ewing Building on Providenciales.
All Ministers were present.
At this meeting Cabinet advised His Excellency the Governor to:
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Agree to abolish the fees for the issue of a TCI Status Card for first-time applicants but to retain fees for the replacement of lost or stolen cards;
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Give approval for the Tax Information (Exchange and Mutual Administrative Assistance) (Amendment) Bill 2016 to be tabled at the next House of Assembly meeting in January to bring into effect the Automatic Exchange of Tax Information required by the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and the UK and USA Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA);
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Approve the appointment of the following members of the Electricity Board as set out in the Electricity (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 for a term commencing 15 January - 31 March 2017 – Mr Oswaldo Ariza (Chairman); the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure Housing and Planning; the Director of Planning; the Energy and Utilities Commissioner; Mr Emmanuel Gardiner (TCI Electrical Contractors Association); Mr Samuel Williams (TCI Electrical Contractors Association); and Mr Menelik Astwood (TCI Community College);
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Grant approval, subject to meeting certain conditions, for a request from Ambergris Cay Services Ltd for three licences for three years for dredging at Big Ambergris Cay to excavate a swimming area off Monck Beach and dredge sand from a nearby location to replenish and expand the beach; to dredge saltflats/salina to create a clean body of water; and to carry out maintenance dredging of the entrance channel to the marina. Cabinet also agreed to waive royalty payments on excavated materials where appropriate;
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Approve the negotiation for the lease of the Local Village property adjacent to the White Sands facilities on Grand Turk (parcels 10506/33 and 34) to enable the beautification of the area and provide additional market opportunities for local vendors.
In addition, at this Cabinet meeting TCIG signed a loan agreement with RBC to facilitate the refinancing of the $170 million loan bond for which Cabinet approved a remission of stamp duty in this respect.
Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.