TURKS AND CAICOS POST CABINET MEETING STATEMENT
His Excellency the Governor, Dr John Freeman, chaired the 27th meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, 26 October 2016, at the N J S Francis Building on Grand Turk.
All Ministers were present except the Hon. Minister of Home Affairs, Transportation and Communication.
At this meeting Cabinet:
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to grant approval to Cable and Wireless (TCI) Limited for an easement over Crown Land Parcel 60000/649 situated at Malcolm Beach, North West and North Central, Providenciales, to construct a concrete cap to encase and protect from damage the company’s telecommunication cable connection between Providenciales and North Caicos subject to an environmental impact assessment being carried out and other conditions being met;
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Agreed, in principle, a policy decision to reintroduce a gratuity scheme for civil servants, including the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF), subject to further work being undertaken on the proposed policy including an actuarial assessment on affordability and other related issues;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the appointment of Mr Delton Jones as Chairman of the National Health Insurance Board (NHIB) for a period of two years with effect from 1 November 2016;
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Noted the financial performance of the TCI Statutory Bodies for the period April-June 2016 and approved the publication of the 1st Quarter Financial Report as required by Section 147 of the Public Finance Management Regulation 2014;
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Noted the report and recommendations of a consultancy study on a national water and sewerage policy for TCI and requested the Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Planning to assess the recommendations in terms of financial, legislative and regulatory implications;
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Considered a draft Instrument of Appointment in accordance with Section 22 of the Water and Sewerage Ordinance to permit Ambergris Cay Facilities Limited to undertake water and sewerage operations on Ambergris Cay, subject to the draft instrument being reviewed and amended as necessary by the Attorney General’s Chambers and returned to Cabinet for approval;
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Approved the recommendations of the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources aimed at restoring and preserving conch stocks to set a minimum size for individual conch fillets of four ounces (0.25 lbs); to set quotas for the export of conch at 500,000lbs of landed meat, 1 million shells and 6,000lbs of dried operculum; and to redefine the conch “digestive gland” under the Fisheries Protection Regulations 3(1);
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Noted the recommendation of the TCI Airports Authority Board on the award of a contract for the aerodrome refurbishment and terminal development programme at South Caicos Airport.
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Noted the recommendations of the Procurement Board to award contracts in line with the Public Procurement Ordinance 2012 as follows – TR 16/21 Police boats for the Marine Division; TR16/26 Road Development Phase II, Scholar’s Way; TR16/27 Upgrading of schools, repairs to Clement Howell High School;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve a schedule of fees for pelagic fishing and trap fishing vessel licences and to develop further the Access Agreement for Caicos Pride Products Ltd to conduct pelagic fishing in TCI waters from four foreign owned and flagged vessels;
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Approved a ban on the importation of plastic bags into TCI from 1 January 2017 and for the distribution of plastic bags in TCI from 1 April 2017; and called for consideration to be given to reduce the customs duty on alternative carrier bags;
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Approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between TCI, the Overseas Territories and the UK on child safeguarding;
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Approved a 2.5% increase in the pensions of former TCIG employees back-dated to 1 April 2016 and an ex-gratia payment capped at one-third of final annual salary to former employees who were put on retirement in 2010.
Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.