Paul Stephenson Higgs Sr. – TCI’s unsung hero

The Hon Paul Stephenson Higgs was born in Bottle Creek, North Caicos on February 2, 1889. He was married to Brenetta E. Williams of Bottle Creek.

Early Life

Hon Paul Higgs attended the Bottle Creek Primary School (now Adelaide Oemler Primary). As a young man, he engaged in many of the activities preferred by his age group. These included fishing, boat building and eventually construction. He was an incredible sailor and fisherman. He enjoyed fishing so much that he spent long hours in the boat. Many times, his family would worry about him because of the length of time he spent at sea. He would return home sometimes long after ten in the evening with a huge catch, some of which had already begun to rot. He lost most of his catch because of this but he did not worry about that. He was enjoying something he loved.

Hon Higgs was one of the first political representatives for North Caicos. During his tenure, the island experienced many benefits.

He was instrumental in securing scholarships for several persons to pursue studies in teacher education, nursing and agriculture in Jamaica. He had a passion for education. He believed that if the people of North Caicos were to assume responsible positions within their country, education must play a pivotal role. Some of the persons who received scholarships at the time in North Caicos include Claudius and Carlton Williams, Cecelia Gray and Raymond Gardiner. These individuals went on to become prominent citizens in the TCI due to efforts that were made by Hon Higgs to ensure overseas training for them.

The commencement of the popular road works programme, which involved ensuring that the roads and roadsides were properly maintained, was started under Hon Higgs’ watch. This programme provided employment opportunities for several persons

BY CARLTON MILLS

on the island who, under ordinary circumstances, would not have been able to support themselves and their families. Ironically, despite the progress we claim to have made today, some political figures are still seeing this initiative as the way to stimulate the economy in the Caicos Islands.

Hon Higgs was a hard-working, trustworthy, dedicated and determined man. He was very bold and outspoken and would give you a piece of his mind in a heartbeat. He once told a renowned politician at a public meeting in North Caicos to shut up because he would not know ‘A’ if it was as big as the rafters in the building where the meeting was being held. He was alluding to the fact that uneducated persons should not be in the forefront of politics. He also reprimanded the new Leader of the PDM party, Hon JAGS McCartney at the same meeting referring to them as the “Black Power Boys” and that there was no need for that kind of movement in North Caicos.

Additionally, he was also a very religious man. He was not only a Senior Deacon in the local Baptist Church, but he was the person in charge of the church. One had to ‘tow the line’ under his leadership. He did not tolerate marital indiscretions and laziness. He frowned on persons who could not work due to minor illness such as the flu. He would often be heard reminding workers that only lazy people had time to be sick. He was never sick; not even on the day of his sudden death.

Hon Higgs was a confidante and the local people who lovingly referred to him as “Con Paul” (Cousin Paul) relied on him regularly for advice. He also served the very sought after and important role as Justice of the Peace and Marriage Officer on the island of North Caicos.

Hon Higgs played a pivotal role in the day-to-day life of his people. In addition to his religious role, he also represented the poor and downtrodden in the courts. He sought justice, pro bono, for those who could not defend themselves despite not having any formal legal training. This was a clear testament of his interest and concern for his people.

A Man With Vision

Hon Higgs was a man with a vision. He envisioned the demise of the salt and the sisal industries and argued that although salt brought some prosperity to the TCI, he believed that it was the main factor that contributed to the division of the TCI – Turks against Caicos. At the time, salt was only being produced in the Turks Islands (Grand Turk, Salt Cay and South Caicos) and most of the commercial activity took place in Grand Turk. This made the salt island residents, particularly those on Grand Turk, feel that they were superior to people in the Caicos Islands. “Caucus people” (as they were called by Salt Islanders} had to travel many days in sloops to Grand Turk to trade their ground provisions and sisal products. Although their farm produce was badly needed in Grand Turk, these hard-working and ambitious people were, in many cases, mistreated and scorned during their visits. At that time, there was a buoy placed in the waters to clearly demarcate the separation between the Turks Islands and the Caicos Islands. This was responsible for the phrase ‘West of the Buoy”. “Caucus people come from West of the Buoy,” was a popular but not endearing term during those years.

Hon Higgs wanted to end this segregation and replace it with a unified TCI. For this reason, he lobbied in the State Council for the economy to be diversified. He felt that the islands should move towards being a tourist destination. He obviously saw where this initiative would have more farranging financial benefits to the lives of the people of the TCI than what was being realised through the salt industry.

Political Challenges

One of Hon. Paul Higgs’ major tests came in the late 1950s and early 1960s when the Federation Movement was the political headline in the English-Speaking Caribbean. The TCI was no exception since the islands were being administered by Jamaica at the time and Jamaica was deeply involved in the Federation and the self-determination movement. Although the TCI was ruled by Jamaica, it had not achieved the same status of internal selfgovernment as many countries involved in the Federation movement.

The Federation issue was challenging to the TCI for several reasons. Firstly, the TCI was at the time regarded geographically as part of the Bahamas and had close ties with the country as many of its people had migrated there seeking employment. Furthermore, TCI’s agricultural abilities were hampered by the poor quality of its soil which did not permit for mass production of crops. Because of this, the TCI relied heavily on imports from neighbouring countries. Another serious challenge faced by the TCI was its distance away from the other Caribbean countries involved in the Federation movement making travel and communication between these countries almost impossible. The TCI itself, because of its geographically scattered nature created administrative concerns. These challenges led to the TCI’s inability to elect a representative to the BWI Federation parliament. Turks and Caicos, therefore, had no choice but to seek a special position within the Federation which limited its ability to become a full member of the Federation as Jamaica was.

Under the administration of Jamaica, the TCI suffered major political and economic injustices. Politically, the islands did not receive adequate representation. The governor of Jamaica, who was also responsible for the TCI, was seated in Jamaica and made decisions about the TCI without consulting the TCI representatives who, on occasions, had to travel by sloops to Jamaica and missed many sittings of the Jamaican House of Assembly. Also, because of the limited numbers of TCI representatives, even if they had arrived on time to attend House meetings, they could not affect