TURKS AND CAICOS POST CABINET MEETING STATEMENT
His Excellency the Governor, Peter Beckingham, chaired the 22nd meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, 9 September 2015, at the Hon. N J S Francis Building in Grand Turk.
All Ministers were present except the Hon. Minister of Border Control and Employment.
At this meeting Cabinet:
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Received an up-date on progress to re-finance the $170m UK-guaranteed loan bond by 22 February 2016. A Draft Request For Proposal will be presented to the next meeting of Cabinet on 23 September for approval;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to authorise the Minister of Finance to sign a non-binding Aide Memoire produced by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) following its Policy Reform Mission to TCI in August, subject to amendments to existing wording. A Country Strategy Paper produced by the CDB will be presented to the next meeting of Cabinet on 23 September for approval;
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Noted procurement waivers granted between April-June 2015 according to the provisions of Section 21 of the Public Procurement Ordinance 2012;
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Noted the recommendations of the Procurement Board to award contracts in line with the Public Procurement Ordinance 2012 as follows – TR14/39 Grand Turk Master Plan (amended); TR15/5 Framework Agreement for Consultancy for TCIG Capital Projects; and TR15/20 Energy Audit and Evaluation of the Hon. N J S Francis Building;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to agree to the extension of the UK Armed Forces Act 2006 and the UK Armed Forces Bill 2015 to the Turks and Caicos Islands;
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Considered a request for change to the Draft Development Agreement and Accreted Land Lease between the developer, TCI Toscana GP Ltd and Vista Development Ltd, and the Turks and Caicos Islands Government and agreed to request the developer to provide an up-to-date description of the proposed amendment to the scope of the development with confirmation of eligibility requirements and to meet other conditions stipulated by TCIG in response to proposals put forward by the developer;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the Telecommunication Taxation (Amendment) Bill 2015 for forwarding to the House of Assembly;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to grant a business licence to Crust Holding Ltd to operate in reserved business activities under the Business Licensing Regulations 5 Section 30 and to notify the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance of Cabinet’s decision;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to grant a business licence to the owners of the M/V Lady Aria to operate in reserved business activities under the Business Licensing (Amendment)(No.3) and to notify the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance of Cabinet’s decision;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to appoint Captain Harold Williams as Deputy Chairman of the TCI Civil Aviation Authority Board for a period of one year;
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Approved the appointment of Mr Norman Hamilton as a member of the National Insurance Board as Employer Representative for a period of one year;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to appoint Ms Naysia Missick to the post of Collector of Stamp Duty in accordance with Section 3 (1) of the Stamp Duty Ordinance;
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Approved the submission of the Statement of Net Excess Expenditure to the House of Assembly;
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Agreed that the Department for Planning should budget for the cost of 15 meetings of the Physical Planning Board per annum;
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Approved the renewal of a lease arrangement for the rental of office space for the Internal Audit Department on the second floor of the building on block parcel 10306/68 in Grand Turk owned by J C Development;
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Approved the appointment of the following members of the Physical Planning Appeal Tribunal – Royal Robinson (Chairman); John A Williams (Member); Paul A Gardiner (Member); Brian Cyrus (Member); James Parker (Member); and the appointment of Natasha Hall as Secretary of the Physical Planning Tribunal;
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Approved a donation of $100,000 from the TCI Contingency Fund for emergency humanitarian relief assistance for Dominica following the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Erika.
Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.