Suspected arson destroys historic home in Grand Turk

The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force is investigating the circumstances surrounding a fire that destroyed a historic home in Grand Turk on Monday, January 30.

According to a Police statement, officers attached to the Grand Turk Police Station responded to a report of a fire on Front Street, Grand Turk.

Upon arrival at the scene, police officers alongside their firefighting colleagues saw a structure engulfed in flames.

However, all efforts to extinguish the blaze were unsuccessful.

The building was later identified as a historic home constructed during the salt industry.

Commenting on the suspected arson, Ag. ASP Michael Francois from the Grand Turk Division “A” Station condemned the act in a brief statement: “This latest fire-setting was an attack on our history, the devastation caused is a tragic loss to Grand Turk’s heritage.

“Last year, (December 18th) we were able to save the upstairs of the TIMCO building, which is also located along Front Street.

“The cowardly acts of firesetting being perpetrated should be condemned. We owe it to our future generations to preserve our history”.

Additionally, Francois stated that Chapter 3.11 of the Malicious Injuries to Property Ordinance Section 6 -Setting Fire to any Public Building makes it an offence to maliciously set fire and upon conviction be liable to imprisonment for life.

The public is being advised to notify the closest police station become a true part of TCI’s societal fabric and family.

Many gave loans and interest-free facilities to natives to start businesses and help the TI out. Legendary tales of old from the 1970s, 80s and part of the 90s were told and a genuine community spirit began in TCI. It seemed that in the 1990s some came to plunder, exploit and divide our country and people. Grounds were being lost and protections were needed to protect the people.

It comes as no surprise that a man with the history and character of the Hon Oswald Skippings would step out from behind the pulpit to take on the fight for the people. His words are clear, “Imagine the temerity and the effrontery to attack governments and citizens responsible for the issuance of Islander Status that would empower them not only to further erode our franchise, but to take it totally out of our hands so that we would not only be disempowered economically, socially and industrially, but we will no longer have the voting power to determine who our government is”.

In times like these when the interests of the people are at stake, ‘you do not need rookies or sympathisers with the enemy to lead the fight. It is men like the Hon Oswald Skippings who are on the frontlines again, leading the vanguard for the interests of the people. He is correct and not only is the lawsuit ill-founded and ill-conceived, it has an imperialistic tone to it.

Tim Prudhoe and his cohorts are applying to the court to seek

Attempts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful - RTCIPF photo or to contact Crime Stoppers and give any information regarding this fire or any illegal activity anonymously.

Please note, that Crime Stoppers calls are answered in Miami and in Houston by Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers which is a non-profit and not a police agency. Calls are anonymous and cannot be traced in the United States or the TCI. declarations, inter alia, that would quash the appointments of the commission members and an order mandating that a reconstituted commission reconsiders their application for TC Islander Status; or in the alternative, an order quashing the Turks and Caicos Islanders Status Ordinance as being inconsistent with the Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution”.

Imagine asking the court to tell the Governor in Council, the elected Cabinet of the TCI, what to do!!! This is going too far. It is also clear and obvious that no court should accede to these imperialistictype applications because given the language of the Constitution, they do not even qualify for consideration. Very few of the applicants are married to Turks and Caicos Islanders, nor do they have any blood connections to the islands.

Why would any court entertain such a nonsensical motion? Unless courts are prepared to allow surmising, guessing disconnected analogy to form part of the reasoning these applications should be thrown out.

Fighting for the heart and soul of the TCI

They are fighting for the heart, soul and control of the country and the language employed is plainly clear in that way. It is like a dirty and bloody fight where devious tactics and tricks are being used to get a hopeless lawsuit before the courts. It is now personal where the lawsuit seeks to accuse the Hon Skippings of perceived bias to non-natives.

This is so nonsensical, childish and typical of low-brow fight, employing adhominem tactics against a nationalistic and patriot leader of the Turks and Caicos Islands. It would be hard or near impossible to find any TCI politician, PNP or PDM that did not make statements in the last 47 years in defence of the TCI native and his interests. Unless that politician was a sell-out or a non-patriot with “house slave” tendencies, which are quite a few.

Most serious TCI politicians are known for stances of the kind that the Hon Skippings represents. To be proTurks and Caicos Islander is not the same as anti-non-native. Anyone familiar with the Hon Skippings and the other members of the Commission would know that they maintain friendships and close personal bonds with persons of all nationalities, races and ethnic groupings. None of their words offended anyone because the language was always filled with a deep patriotic tone for the people of these islands.

The accusations against the members of the Commission are petty, low level, cheap, and without evidence, when tested cannot be proven in a court of law, as they are built by sheer speculation and rife gossip.

This application for judicial review is an onslaught in the fight to take the land from the Turks and Caicos Islander.

Flood gates

There are two sides to this story, one, there is a clear-cut attempt to stem the number of persons getting status, while on the flip side, many new persons are applying for documentation, which can create a problem.

The Government is focused on protecting the interest of TC Islanders and this is a good thing.

If the expats can challenge this ruling, what stops a Haitian or other foreigners?

There must be rules in place for the overall betterment of the TCI or the country could become overrun.

The rich will stay rich and live in their parts of the Islands, while everybody else will have to face the consequences. Don’t open the flood gates, let’s keep our TCI precious.

Inevitable changes

Not only TC Islanders live in the TCI, so others should have a voice. I understand that people want to protect their past, but there are very few countries that have remained the same.

TCI needs foreigners and must understand that foreigners want to have some sort of rights and a place to call home. A place to raise their families. They are looking at what’s fair to them.

I feel that there can be a middle ground, but at the end of the day, change is unavoidable.