VOLUME 15 ISSUE 40

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OCTOBER 11TH, 2019 – OCTOBER 18TH, 2019

Website: www.suntci.com

VOLUME 15 - NO. 40

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ELECTORAL BOUNDARY CHANGES RECOMMENDED by Hayden Boyce Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

T

he Electoral District Boundary Commission (EDBC) has recommended changes to the boundaries in a few electoral districts that could have game-changing implications for the next general elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands. In its recently-released report, the EDBC recommended changes to the boundary between the two districts on Grand Turk (Grand Turk North and Grand Turk South). It also recommended changes to the boundaries between Cheshire Hall and Blue Hills, Cheshire Hall and Five Cays, and Blue Hills and Wheeland. The Commission determined that the boundaries between the Leeward District and The Bight District, and that between The Bight District, ought not to be troubled at this time. However, the commission recommends changes in the other district boundaries on Providenciales. The rationale is that Cheshire Hall was already the largest district, and the principle of equality required a reduction to match as closely as possible, the other districts on Providenciales. The Five Cays district was also rather large, but the Commission found it difficult to adjust the boundaries of that district, more than ensuring that the district did not include persons residents north of the airport. Therefore, the Five Cays district would be reduced by a very small number, while it is hoped that Wheeland would benefit significantly from the recommended changes, the report stated. The Commission stated that apart from removing “the few voters” in the Kew Town area previously included in the Five Cays district, the commission found it “quite difficult” to adjust the northern boundary of the Five Cays District, which will continue to include all that area south of the airport. In the 2016 general elections, there were 7,732 registered voters. The People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) won with 51.2 percent of the votes, the Progressive National Party

J

Jared Fulton wins Poker Run 2019

ared Fulton emerged victorious placing both 1st and 3rd place at this year’s Poker Run Tournament. For 1st place he won $3,500 and for 3rd place, 750. Johnny Stubbs took this year’s second place and won

(PNP) got 42.7 percent, the Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA) 3.9 percent and Independents, 2.1 percent. The constituency breakdown was as follows: ED1 (Grand Turk North) - 709 ED2 (Grand Turk South) - 908 ED3 (South Caicos) - 371 ED4 (North Caicos and Middle Caicos) 521 ED5 (Leeward) 826 ED6 (The Bight) 814 ED7 Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill) 1109 ED8 (Blue Hills) 893 ED9 (Five Cays) 983 ED10 (Wheeland) 305 The Commission 2019, which comprised Mrs. Cynthia Astwood, former Chief Secretary/Deputy Governor, Mrs. Joan Joyner, retired judge of the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Mr. Wendal Swann as chairman, was

$1,500. All persons donated their winnings to local charity. The TCI Boat Club hosted its 5th Annual charity Poker Run event over the weekend of Friday October 4th, 2019 to Sunday October 6th, 2019, in Providenciales.

Pictured from Left to right is Jared Fulton, Hon. Vaden Williams, Minister for Immigration and Albert ‘froggie’ Williams. (See page 22 & 23 for more photographs).

appointed by Governor John Freeman in July 2019, started work on Monday, 19th August 2019 and held public meetings in the islands of North Caicos, South Caicos, Providenciales, and Grand Turk between August 22, 2019 and September 2, 2019. It recently submitted its report to new Governor Nigel Dakin. According to the report, in Grand Turk, the issue of the changing the existing boundaries in the Grand Turk and Salt Cay constituencies was discussed. The prevailing view from the public was that the two existing constituencies were adequate. At the meeting in North Caicos, persons present appeared to the satisfied with the constituency of North and Middle Caicos as far as the existing boundaries were concerned. This was because the population count within each of the two constituencies was below 800. In South Caicos, the consensus from the gathering was that the South Caicos

constituency should remain as is. This was accepted by the Chairman who stressed that because of its geographical location, South Caicos could not easily be merged with another constituency. There was very little discussion regarding boundary issues. The discussion then dealt with general electoral issues. Some members of the public, the report noted, were particularly concerned by the fact that under existing election rules, students who went to tertiary institutions in islands other than South Caicos had to vote in those islands. They were concerned that these students could not return to South Caicos, their home island, to vote. They considered this unfair. The Supervisor Mr. Dudley Lewis explained that the Adjudicators had ruled that this should be the procedure: that if a person spent more than six months on any island, he or she became resident there, and was required to vote on that island.

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Hurricane Preparedness In case of flooding, know the location of the nearest hurricane shelter. If called to evacuate, do so immediately. Further information and hurricane safety tips are available on our website: www.fortistci.com/hurricane-preparedness-tips

www.fortistci.com | 649-946-4313


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