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Turks and Caicos Islands post Cabinet meeting statement

His Excellency the Governor, Peter Beckingham, chaired the 17th meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, 1 June 2016, at the Hon. Hilly Ewing Building on Providenciales.

From:
Governor's Office Waterloo Grand Turk
Published
2 June 2016
TCI Cabinet Meeting

All Ministers were present except the Hon. Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Planning and the Hon. Minister of Tourism, Environment, Heritage and Culture.

At this meeting Cabinet:

  • Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve, subject to further comments and amendments being made, the draft Credit Union Bill (2016) for forwarding to the House of Assembly for approval;

  • Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve renewal of the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Policy for the policy year 2016/17 to provide tropical cyclone and excess rainfall insurance cover for TCI;

  • Noted progress on the consultancy process of the Sovereign Wealth Fund and advised His Excellency the Governor to forward to the Attorney General’s Chambers the Sovereign Wealth Fund Consultancy Paper for review and advice with a view to drafting legislation to bring the Fund into effect;

  • Advised His Excellency the Governor to grant the Ministry of Finance approval to execute the Royal Bank of Canada $15 million credit agreement;

  • Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve an amendment to Regulation 25 of the Air Navigation (Fees) Regulations to empower the TCI Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to issue permissions under Article 135 of the Air Navigation (Overseas Territories) Order 2013 and to collect associated fees, and authorised the Managing Director of the CAA to work with the Attorney General’s Chambers to make the necessary amendment;

  • Noted the financial performance of the TCI Government Statutory Bodies submitted in the Fourth Quarter Financial Report for the period January-March 2016 and requested that additional information from the Statutory Bodies be submitted for further Cabinet discussion. Cabinet also agreed to commission a policy and governance review of TCIG’s Statutory Bodies;

  • Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve a three year lease for two units at Cabot House, Graceway Plaza, to be used as office space for the Financial Intelligence Agency;

  • Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the recommendations of the Anti-Money Laundering Committee to authorise expenditure from the National Forfeiture Fund under the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance for the purchase of furniture and supplies for the Financial Intelligence Authority;

  • Discussed and approved changes to be made to the Protection of Historic Wrecks Regulations 2015;

  • Advised His Excellency the Governor to appoint Mrs Crista Adams of the Ministry of Border Control and Employment as Secretary of the Turks and Caicos Islander Status Commission with effect from 1 June 2016;

  • Advised His Excellency the Governor to appoint Mr Arthur Forbes as President of the Labour Tribunal for a period of two years with effect from 1 July 2016;

  • Agreed with the Minister of Finance that the Ports Authority should be instructed to take immediate steps to undertake maintenance dredging of the area around the port at South Dock, Providenciales, in accordance with legal requirements to enable proper access by vessels.

Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.

Published 2 June 2016