TURKS AND CAICOS POST CABINET MEETING STATEMENT
His Excellency the Governor, Peter Beckingham, chaired the 8th meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, 9 March 2016, at the Hon. Hilly Ewing Building on Providenciales.
All Ministers were present.
At this meeting Cabinet:
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Agreed to the use of contingency funds for the RTCIPF to purchase a replacement police patrol vehicle for one that was written off in an incident during an operational deployment. The cost of the replacement vehicle has been covered by insurance;
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Approved the draft Flag and Coat of Arms (Regulation) Bill 2016, as amended, for forwarding to the House of Assembly for approval. The Bill and subsequent legislation will prescribe and guide the use of the national flag, the coat of arms and the national song as well as other national symbols;
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Agreed to the formulation of a TCI Climate Change Committee and approved draft Terms of Reference for the Committee and the selection of Committee members as follows: Director of the Office of the Premier (Chair); Director, DEMA; Director, Public Health; Director, Environmental Health; Director, DDME; Energy and Utilities Commissioner; Policy Analyst, Office of the Premier; and two representatives from the private sector;
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Noted the recommendations of the Procurement Board to award contracts in line with the Public Procurement Ordinance 2012 as follows – TR15/41 National skills audit consultancy; TR15/52 Design and build of a green fitness park at Leeward in Providenciales;
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Approved, as a result of a Supreme Court Order of 22 December 2015, a payment of $20,000 to be made from the National Forfeiture Fund (NFF) to the wife of Mr David Smith as a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the residential property owned by Mr Smith under a Confiscation Order of 25 April 2012 in order for Mrs Smith to purchase a residential property for her and her four young children; and approved a further payment of $34,500 to be made from the NFF to the National Colony Realty company for professional services for marketing and selling the property to the satisfaction of the Crown under an agreement of 27 March 2015;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to agree to renew a casino licence for a further ten years to BK Partners Ltd based on the same terms and conditions as the original licence;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to agree to the re-appointment of the following members to the Turks and Caicos Islands Tourist Board for a period of one year from 1 April 2016 – 31 March 2017 in accordance with the TCI Tourism Ordinance – Don Gardiner (Chair); Crystal Greene (Deputy Chair); Wayne Garland; Brenda Lightbourne; Lloyd Stubbs; Jayne Hutchinson; Bianca Harvey Garland; and Permanent Secretary (ex-officio);
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Agreed that the 2015/16 lobster (crawfish) season should be extended to 31 March 2016;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to agree to the appointments of the following members to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal for the period 1 April 2016 – 31 March 2017 - Edward Hall; Alice Malcolm; Paul Beresford; Oswald Williams; and Fuller Gardiner Sr. Cabinet also advised His Excellency the Governor to agree to the appointments of Edward Hall as Chair of the Appeals Tribunal and Martha Missick as Secretary of the Appeals Tribunal for the same period;
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Received an up-date on a construction in the Princess Alexandra National Park and noted that following the Ministry’s discussions with the owners the structure has subsequently been removed;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to agree to the appointments of the following members to the Zone 1 (Turks islands, South Caicos, East Caicos and Ambergris Cay) and Zone 2 (the remaining islands) Work Permit Boards –
Zone 1: Arthur Lightbourne (Chair); William Fulford (Grand Turk Member); Allan Dickinson (Salt Cay Member); and Emily Saunders (South Caicos Member).
Zone 2: Sheba Wilson (Chair); Veldon Robinson (Middle Caicos Member); Kadra Handfield (North Caicos Member); and Owenta Coleby James (Providenciales Member).
Cabinet also advised His Excellency the Governor to agree to the appointments of Kirk Forbes, an Immigration Officer based in Grand Turk, as Secretary of the Zone 1 Board and Deserika Glinton, an Immigration Officer based in Providenciales, as Secretary of the Zone 2 Board;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to make amendments to the Customs (Government Transit Shed and Queen’s Warehouse Rent) Regulations to reduce customs warehouse rents and agreed that Customs should undertake an exercise to clear existing goods in store by offering a maximum charge to the equivalent of 90 days storage fees under the new rates;
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Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve an amendment to the Customs Tariff to reduce the rate of import duty on green coffee beans from 15% to zero.
Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.