Submission from Alpha Gibbs, Turks and
Caicos Islands
1. THE ROLE
OF GOVERNORS
AND OTHER
OFFICE-HOLDERS
APPOINTED BY
OR ON
THE RECOMMENDATION
OF THE
UNITED KINGDOM
GOVERNMENT
A significant portion of the role of the Governor
in the Turks and Caicos Islands is articulated in section 33 of
the TCI constitution, captioned Governor's Special Responsibilities;
among these responsibilities are:
(b) External affairs; and
(c) Internal security-including the Police
Force.
In the three categories enumerated above my
observations suggest that service to the TCI is deficient and
falls far below a basic level of competency for the functions
enumerated.
A—Defense
(i) Our borders are open and vulnerable to
encroachment by illegal immigrants, at their whim and fancy, without
significant probability of interdiction by TCI patrol vessels.
Hundreds of Haitian nationals are smuggled into TCI weekly and
our only cognizance of the events arises upon the landing of the
crafts and the discharge of their human cargo. There exists no
effective early warning system or process of interception prior
to the illegal's taking refuge in the woodlands and coastal coves
or being integrated into an overwhelmingly large and fast growing
illegal alien population.
(ii) On May 4, 2007 the world became aware
that an overcrowded sloop originating from Haiti was sunk in the
TCI and some 61 Haitian nationals lost their lives. The TCI maritime
patrol grossly inadequate response was further compounded with
a thoughtless press release which coarsely placed the blame of
the event on the organizers of the expedition.
(iii) Despite lip service to the acquisition
and utilization of an air patrol fleet of helicopters for use
in aerial boarder and coastal patrols, the illegal immigrants
continue to arrive. During the week of October 1st 2007 it is
reported that five vessels disgorged their illegal human cargo
into TCI; 200 illegals on Grand Turk and hundreds more into Providenciales,
and possibly untold numbers onto the remote shores of the larger
islands and certainly onto the uninhabited islands and cays.
(iv) Current estimates are that in excess
of 400 illegal immigrants arrive monthly. This violation of our
territorial limits compounded with the misguided and excessive
grants of belongership status to whoever applies creates a serious
threat to the socio-economic structure and long-term stability
of the TCI. When one contrasts the TCI illegal immigrant experience
with the action which the UK government took in 1981 with its
Nationality Act of the same year it becomes questionable as to
the care and concern afforded to the issues affecting the Territories
relative even to the same issues faced by the UK. I am flabbergasted
as to why the lessons learned from the UK experiences are not
willingly and freely shared with its Territories as and when they
are confronted with similar problems.
(v) The issue of illegal Haitian immigrants
in TCI is well documented in the House of Commons Hansard
Written Answers Reports, as numerous members seek answers on this
abysmal affair. In May of 1995 one Mr Foulkes inquired of the
Secretary of State as to an estimate of the number of refugees
from Haiti in the TCI; the response from one Mr. Baldry was that
an estimated 8,000 such refugees existed, of whom 1,500 held work
permits. Similar inquiries were made by Dr Tonge on April 9, 2003.
Despite this treasure trove of documented concern on illegal immigration
in TCI, the FCO and the TCI Governor have not yet devised a strategy
to deal with this problem. Furthermore given the twelve year time
lapse between the estimates of 1995 and now, one can reasonably
arrive at the horrific conclusion that the refugee/illegal immigrant
problem and the attendant threats to safety and health have certainly
tripled since that time.
(vi) Our Governor, our elected officials
and the FCO are all failing us with respect to border patrol and
its attendant illegal immigration and refugee fallout.
B—External Affairs
With close and continuous observation of TCI
governmental activities I have not become aware of our Governor's
interaction with our neighbours on collaborative efforts to contain
illegal immigration or any other effort of cooperative endeavours,
which could possibly help to develop and advance our pursuit of
good governance and improved wellbeing of our citizenry.
C—Internal security-including the Police
Force
The Governor of the TCI is responsible for the
Police Force and as an extension the internal security of the
territory. The documented cases of unsolved capital crimes and
missing persons continue to escalate and accumulated from year
to year without the benefit of successful police investigation
and the related effective prosecution. Newspaper accounts from
within TCI as well as police reports could attest to this assertion.
Major crimes go unpunished as the perpetrators are not brought
to justice.
2. TRANSPARENCY
AND ACCOUNTABILITY
IN THE
OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
(i) Section 94 and section 98 of the Turks
and Caicos Constitution addresses the issue of Grants of Land,
etc. and Registration of Interests respectively, nonetheless documented
or perceived compliance with the intent of these constitutional
articles seems entirely absent.
(ii) There appears to be a total lack of
an objective documented and publicly known process and or criteria
for the disposition of crown land. Crown land seems to be treated
as a spoil of political victory and sold indiscrimately without
full accounting. Moreover extreme incidences of conflicts of interest
seem to arise in both the allocation of crown land under government
leases and its final disposition to a cash buyer. This conflict
arises as it is reported that ministers of government with significant
interest in real estate entities simply make grants of land to
constituents who have not even made an application for such a
grant of land. The targeted constituent is then invited to accept
the grant with the understanding that the minister will sell the
land for the constituent and provide the constituent with a fair
share of the proceeds. An examination of crown land conveyances
can quickly prove or disprove this assertion. It should be possible
to examine a register of applications for crown land and determine
their final resolution relative to an objective standard, unfortunately
it appears that such a register or standard does not exist.
(iii) The register of interest is not a document
whose existence is known to the public the same applies to the
Registrar of Interest who is equally unknown. The full execution
of this office would provide the public some information on the
compromising and conflicting dealings of their elected and appointed
officials.
(iv) The Registrar of Interest section currently
exempts the Governor from compliance. This exemption of the Governor
is a disservice to the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
One cannot logically rationalize that a governor is above reproach,
as in our own experience our governors have also demonstrated
the very human proclivity to be seduced by the lure of easy wealth.
(v) We have witnessed in Turks and Caicos
the tendency of the FCO and the Privy Council to impose upon us
laws which debase our moral standards, one such law was the "homosexuality"
Order in Council of 2000. Why has not the FCO and the Privy Council
with similar vigor, not developed and recommend laws which would
help to curb corruption and develop ordinances which would make
it a crime to bribe a public official and likewise make it a crime
for a public official to accept a bribe or kickback.
(vi) The singular institution in TCI which
has some responsibility for oversight has been neutered to the
point of being ineffective. The office of which I write is the
Complaints Commissioner. The numbers of public officials who are
exempt from the authority of the Complaints Commissioner are so
numerous that the office by design cannot serve the best interest
of the people of the Turks and Caicos. The regulations under the
Complaints Commissioner must be modified to allow the office to
execute its functions fully and completely. Neither the governor
nor the chief of police should be exempt from the oversight of
this office.
(vii) Transparency and accountability in
Turks and Caicos needs to be established and maintained through
an effective use of public forums, public hearings and an effective
place of administrative redress for issues and concerns which
may arise from time to time. With its absence of enforcement and
or prosecutorial powers and its narrow scope, the current configuration
of the Office of the Complaints Commissioner does not meet the
public's need. The regulation under which it operates is in dire
need of reform.
3. PROCEDURES
FOR AMENDMENT
OF CONSTITUENCIES
OF OVERSEAS
TERRITORIES
The current piecemeal approach to modifying
our constitution is ineffective. Insufficient public input, limited
discussion time and opportunity for meaningful contribution results
in a mediocre document which must be modified with high frequency.
An example of such a mediocre document is the TCI constitution
of 2006 wherein the substantive changes were simply changes in
official titles and the substitution of the Chief Secretary' position
with that of the Deputy Governor. The document fails to address
the need for absentee balloting—a benefit which all citizens
of the UK enjoy—meanwhile Turks and Caicos Islanders must
reside in the Territory for a period of 12 months of the last
24 prior to an election in order to qualify as an elector. This
inconvenience is not the circumstance for citizens of the UK.
Why is it that the FCO has not made a recommendation for the removal
of this adverse clause in the TCI constitution?
4. RELATIONS
BETWEEN THE
OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
AND THE
UNITED KINGDOM
PARLIAMENT
Each Overseas Territory should be permitted
to elect at least one member to the UK Parliament so as to provide
visibility to the issues which affect the lives of the citizens
within the Territory as well as a training mechanism in the "Westminster"
two party system of government. The need for this representation
is evident in the infrequent and ineffective oversight of the
FCO and the disparity which exist between the progressive laws
of the UK with respect to transparency and accountability; voter
registration and absentee balloting and that which is permitted
to exist within the Territories. The need for a bilateral relationship
at the parliamentary level exists as there appears to be a gross
misunderstanding of the two party system and its functionality
in a fledgling democracy.
15 October 2007
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