OT 284: An Open Letter to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the Hurricane Ike Disaster in Turks and Caicos from Ben Roberts

 

 

To: Honourable Secretary of State David Miliband

Honourable Parliamentary Secretary Meg Munn

Overseas Territories Director Colin Roberts

His Excellency Governor Gordon Wetherell

 

This correspondence is being sent to you with the utmost gravity, frustration, and heaviness of spirit when I see what Hurricane Ike has done to the one piece of real estate that I call home. That is Turks & Caicos. The majority of people are left destitute with literally no roofs over their head, and some with no homes at all. There is an acute shortage of food and water. At the outset let me say that I am quite pleased with the prompt response and appearance of the British warships, with their attendant helicopters, to assess damage and facilitate first aid care and emergency help. However, in this debilitating crisis, there is one huge oversight that the British must correct immediately. It is this:

 

Prior to the assault by Hurricane Ike, and Hurricane Hanna before that, the sitting government of the Turks & Caicos has been the subject of the most serious and intense Commission of Inquiry into massive allegations of having defrauded the citizens of T&C and stolen their assets. In fact, at the last budget session, the sitting Govt admitted that the country was facing a budget deficit. This while elected officials and their close circles have piled up ridiculously outrageous assets and afforded themselves and their cronies some of the most lucrative unheard of privileges in any sitting T&C Govt. Now, following the devastation by Hurricane Ike, we have this same cast of characters in place grandstanding, seeking political mileage, and being allowed to have a hand in relief and recovery efforts in this disaster. Allowing this is, in itself, a disaster. These individuals, due to their limitless capacity for greed, ineptitude, and deception, had put T&C in a precarious state before Hurricane Ike, and now they are being allowed to oversee recovery. A monumental mistake. These characters should, in no way be involved in the T&C Hurricane Ike relief effort. Period!

 

We are only a little over 72 hours removed from the assault by Hurricane Ike and this second disaster to T&C has begun. I have gotten reports of pallets of food arriving for Grand Turk, the most devastated island in the chain, and a Minister sending only two to Grand Turk and commandeering the lion's share and sending it to his island that suffered nowhere near the damage as Grand Turk and South Caicos. Another report informs of a government official in one island with limited damage grabbing electricity generating equipment designated for the badly stricken Grand Turk and South Caicos, and doling out to people on his minimally affected island. There has been restriction on travel to Grand Turk, presumably so that it would not hinder recovery efforts. Yet Ministers and their cronies are seen piling on airplanes flying up to Grand Turk. I am told of individuals in the relief distribution network, some longtime political operatives, doling out materials to the stricken based on their political leanings. These outside relief agencies should be mindful of this when selecting its staff. They should get endorsements from the public before staffing their operations.

 

If your British Government does not act soon Turks & Caicos will sink into a black hole of never before seen frustration, despair, and lawlessness. I am now hearing of looting. A never before heard of phenomenon in T&C disaster situations. But what do you expect when T&C Govt officials foolishly overload our society with immigrant workers, effectively limiting the resources of its indigenous people? Someone called telling me how they had seen T&C Govt leader Mike Misick in a video touring Grand Turk and Salt Cay in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. They are puzzled as to why he seems to be so gleeful and smiling, and eating from someone's pot in Salt Cay. How absolutely ridiculous. This is not a political campaign. This is a crisis. I understand the T&C Govt is petitioning the Governor for Ministerial operations to be moved to Provo in the aftermath of Ike. Absolutely not! The majority of the disaster is in Grand Turk and South Caicos. Why should they be far removed in Provo driving around in their luxury Govt vehicles in Provo and have access to flying out to Miami every chance they get, while the people in those islands are left there in their hardships. The Ministerial operations should continue in Grand Turk with the Ministers right there seeing, living in, and addressing the hardships just like the citizens. This is true representation. Something they seem to know very little about.

 

But looking beyond the petty T&C Govt officials. My question is why has your Government not, at this point, already sidelined the sitting T&C Govt by putting the territory of Turks & Caicos into Conservatorship, and taking over control and putting an effective temporary administration in place. This should have been done at the outset of the Commission of Inquiry to limit interference and further deterioration in the state of affairs in T&C. If it was not done then, then there is every reason and justification to do so now, following Hurricane Ike. The Govt of T&C cannot function properly on a good day. Does anyone think they can function in this debilitating crisis? In this time of crisis in T&C the Commission should, rather than slow down, move into high gear. There should be two questions asked of these sitting Ministers. The first question: What does your Government have in reserve to take care of its citizens in this disaster? We know the answer. They admitted a budget deficit only months ago. The next question should be: How do you explain asset X based on your Government salary? If they have no proper explanation then it should be considered ill-gotten and confiscated, becoming the resources of the people of Turks & Caicos. Because in this disaster the people of T&C need all of their resources at their disposal. And it would be criminal for these characters to continue walking around in this crisis chock full of assets they cannot account for, while being unable to account for assets of citizens they were supposedly securing for just such an emergency.

 

Honourable MPs, Director, and Governor, here are some further suggestions in this time of debilitating crisis in Turks & Caicos:

Ÿ Non Governmental Agencies, (NGO's) should be instrumental in this Hurricane Ike recovery effort. One such agency, Turks & Caicos Forum, represents indigenous T&C faces unhindered by political persuasion and highly qualified in the fields of healthcare, finances, education, and welfare and social ministering. Assets highly in demand at this time. I am requesting that HE Governor Wetherell commission this NGO with the authority to oversee relief efforts and liaison with the populace, government departments, and aid agencies.

Ÿ Non citizens of T&C who exited the Islands just ahead of the storm, such as those on work permits who make their living providing contract service to the Govt and private industry, should not be allowed into T&C at this time. The country, in its current crisis state, cannot accommodate them until full normalcy is returned. The same thing should apply, in some measure, to newly-minted Belongers. This should be a priority instead of the current foolish policy in place which disallows people from Grand Turk to go to their Island to see to the well-being of their family.

Ÿ Recovery should make it a priority to seeing that South Caicos, especially its fishermen, get immediate financial assistance. This island has always been the seafood capital of T&C. Reports are that all of the fishermen's boats were swept out to sea and lost to Hurricane Ike. T&C Govt should see that they get boats and fuel immediately so that they can harvest seafood as soon as the ocean settles. In past hurricanes survival most certainly depended on the ability of our fishermen to sustain our people with their high protein catch from the sea. Their catch should become the property of T&C Govt and they should submit their bills to, and receive IOU's from, the overseeing relief authority until things are up and running again.

Ÿ Your British Government should consider providing police services from Britain. Our police, also as victims of Hurricane Ike, cannot be relied upon to be impartial in their policing. Also, they might not be able to deal with some of the issues that will surface as things deteriorate. These include crowd control and looting. Things novel to T&C policing.

Ÿ T&C citizens living abroad should be heavily encouraged to come home at this time. Many of them, where they live, have experienced and been a part of emergency recovery efforts in similar disasters such as tornadoes, flooding, hurricane, and September 11. Their collective experiences and expertise can be of great assistance in this devastating situation.

 

Honourable MP's these are just a few suggestions. Turks & Caicos is facing its gravest challenge in my lifetime and my sense of frustration is only surpassed by my overwhelming desire to assist so that the country that I share with fellow citizens can weather this disaster with the least possible pain and suffering. It is imperative that I hear back from you promptly.