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Tourism
Government announces $6.5M new stimulus package
– Islanders & BOTC to receive $500
BY OLIVIA ROSE
Turks and Caicos Islanders and British Overseas Territory Citizens (BOTC) will receive $500 from a new stimulus package announced by the Government.
The announcement was made in the House of Assembly on Thursday January 27 by the Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance , Investment and Trade Hon. Erwin Jay Saunders.
During his presentation of a 2nd supplementary revised estimates of expenditure for financial year 2021/2022, Saunders said his Government is here to “do good for those to whom it is due, which is each and every one of you”.
He stressed that as TCI and the rest of the world continues to reel from the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the stimulus is but one avenue the Government is utilizing to ease the burden on residents.
He said: “The Coronavirus has practically crippled the global supply chain, which is having a significant negative impact on global inflation rates.
“So, Mr. Speaker, this good, good Government of the people, is allocating $6.5M to allow our people to benefit from another stimulus.
“This stimulus is being used to provide economic assistance to the people of the Turks & Caicos Islands that continue to experience adverse effects due to the economic hardships caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, particularly the on-going increase in inflation.
Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance , Investment and Trade Hon. Erwin Jay Saunders
“In keeping with our desire to do good for those to whom it is due, this good, good Government of the people, is proposing to give $500.00 to all eligible Turks & Caicos Islands Status Holders, and British Overseas Territory Citizens – i.e. those who are living in the Turks & Caicos Islands, must be 18 years or older to qualify”, he added.
The Finance Minister explained that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that the inflation rate in thirty-eight (38) member states, of which TCI is a member, would have reached 5.21% by the end of 2021.
He said: “ The inflation rate in the United States, of which TCI is highly dependent, is estimated to have hit a 30-year end high of 6.2%, as of November 2021.”
A web portal will be launched soon for people to apply.
He said: “I have been assured that if this Bill passes in this Honorable house today, that all qualified applicants will receive their payments by the latest 11th March 2022.”
The government is also making provisions for qualified applicants who are disabled, or confined to their home (in Turks & Caicos Islands), the Treasury will provide a cheque delivery service to them.
Saunders told the House that the Government will fund the additional expenditure through a reduction in the Contingency Fund - $2.0M, a reduction in the allocation for property acquisition - $3.5m , a reduction in the allocation for works programme -$1.069m; and a reduction in the allocation for Development Finance $200k.
Cuban brigade stays on for extra 6 months as Covid cases climb
BY OLIVIA ROSE
As the Turks and Caicos battles a jarring wave of Covid-19 infections, the government has extended the stay of the Cuban medical brigade once again.
A team of Cuban doctors and nurses, deployed to the TCI during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, will remain in the territory for an additional six months at the Turks and Caicos Islands hospitals.
This was briefly announced by the Minister of Health, Hon. Jamell Robinson during a press conference on Friday January 20.
Robinson said: “Cabinet approved the extension of the Cuban Brigade for an additional six months, to assist the Turks and Caicos Islands with its Covid-19 response at the TCI Hospitals, and associated budget.”
The team of medics, who arrived in the territory on June 15, 2020, to join forces with other healthcare professionals in the fight against coronavirus, originally consisted of eight medical specialists, including a chief of brigade, ten registered nurses and an administrative assistant. However, the team has since dwindled, as some medics returned home and to other countries to work.
Deputy Governor, Anya Williams, during a virtual media briefing on Tuesday January 11, said: “We were grateful to have the support of the Cuban brigade here with us, and they are still actually here with us, although in smaller numbers, are still working in the hospital.
“ And that has helped us even with the surge in the hospital, because I think people don't recognize that despite the fact that Covid numbers may be low in the hospital, at certain given times of the hospital and Providenciales are constantly under pressure.
“ And so those persons would have helped with other services, while the hospital itself would have had issues in terms of recruitment of staff that was needed, or because they are visiting physicians that previously visited the island, we're not able to travel because of travel and other restrictions in the contracts”, she explained.
The TCI government signed a three month agreement with Cuba for the provision of additional medical support to the TCI, with the option to extend for a further term if necessary.
In the bilateral agreement, the TCI government is required to pay the team’s salaries and cater for their accommodation, transport and other work-related expenses.
Since the brigade deployment, they have carried out thousands of medical consultations, nursing procedures and hundreds of surgeries and saved many lives to date in the TCI.
In February, the brigade received an award from the TCI Hotel and Tourism Association for their indelible contribution to the territory’s Covid-19 response.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, similar medical teams from the Henry Reeve’s center were deployed to Italy, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Surinam, Jamaica, Haiti, Belize, Dominica, and the island nations of Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda.
Cuba has a long history of internationalism and humanitarian intervention.
