News
TCI Police still guarded on Gang intel; but who does that profit?
By Deandrea Hamilton and Dana Malcolm
Editorial Staff
#TurksandCaicos, July 3, 2023 – It has been almost a year since the residents of the Turks and Caicos were told that there are gangs operating in their midst; murdering and trafficking in illicit goods yet identifying details on these criminal enterprises are practically non-existent.
We reached out to the Police to learn what they know and why that knowledge it hasn’t been shared with the public, even in part, to increase surveillance and make residents more aware of trends.
Magnetic Media queried who the gangs were and how they identify themselves and how many of the criminal organizations are operating in the country.
The police have replied.
“It would be inappropriate to identify gangs– as to do so would potentially compromise operational activity and alert gang members of the police forces awareness of their criminality making the targeting of them more challenging. However, the RTCIPF are striving to map out the gangs to have a coordinated approach to targeting and disrupting their criminality,” we were told.
Police also told us gang members don’t often overtly identify themselves as part of a specific gang ‘but evolve into a gang or group through their involvement in criminality together and frequent association.’
Despite this, we are told the gangs do identify themselves by name, usually attached to the area in which they operate but these names too, police failed to divulge.
We questioned where these gangs are headquartered, where they frequent and where they recruit young men,
though our questions were more geared toward providing information for caregivers and residents to be wary of having their own sons frequent once again we were told:
“It would be inappropriate to refer to specific locations that the gangs frequent or operate within and it is often the case that they will commit crime across several geographic locations.”
But this explanation exposes inconsistencies in how information is managed; the police bending their own rules when they want to. Case in point: In 2022 residents were told there were Jamaicans, Haitians and TC Bahamians heading various criminal organizations in the Turks and Caicos resulting in a bloody turf war.
The result was a spike in interest of the crime wave gripping TCI as journalists from around the region and the UK ran talk shows and headlining reports on this murder spree that spared no one. It was a disclosure which also resulted in a multi-country cooperation which eventually quelled the crime and stopped the rampage.
Proof that finger pointing has its benefits.
However, when we asked how many of these gangs were potentially spread out across the country and the size of the criminal camps, we were told, “It would be inappropriate to comment on specific numbers of gangs and the level of membership. However, the police are striving to map and assess the number of gangs and the current assessment is that the potential number of gangs operating in TCI is not exceptionally disproportionate to the population or when compared to other countries.”
Despite TCI being completely average according to Police, on the suspected amount of gangs in the country, those gangs managed to push the small nation to the top of the region (and likely the globe) in terms of murder rate.
In light of the interception of a US shipment of guns bound for the TCI last year, Magnetic Media also tried to find out if there were connections to any overseas gangs who were bankrolling the local criminals but information on that was murky as well though the Police did confirm there was evidence of overseas involvement.
“There is intelligence that would suggest that TCI, like most if not all countries in the region, have a transnational threat about organized crime with inevitable associated financial crime and money laundering.”
Despite the lengthy response, valuable information was missing, denying a nation still traumatized by the events of last year any real insight or confidence that police are vigorously working the angle of crime prevention.
News
Bankers’ Association President Samuels Finds Residents Hungry for Housing Financing at policy launch
Dana Malcolm
Staff writer
#TurksandCaicos, August 11, 2023 – Despite the Government’s attempt to create more affordable housing for residents with the creation of the new Housing Policy, many say they left the launch feeling less hopeful than they went in.
After the event, one resident expressed it was time to speed up a government-operated mortgage scheme, and those inside the launch event had a similar lack of faith in their ability to secure bank-backed mortgages.
Marcus Samuels, Head of the Banking Association, was hit with questions about how the Association would seek to help residents secure mortgages to purchase these new government homes, considering how difficult residents on both sides of the employment spectrum (private and public) found it to get approval for loans.
The pre-prepared question was met with applause from the ample audience who had gathered to hear about the programs.
“Homeownership isn’t rocket science, ” Samuels said, stressing that once residents came prepared with knowledge about their own paychecks and the size of the loan they could be offered they had a good chance of success.
Necessary information included:
- Level of income
- Level of previous debt
He also said the cost of housing could be lowered for buyers if the Government decided to decrease or forgo their taxes.
“There are some fees that we genuinely cannot move, like the Government stamp duties, which is usually one percent on the transaction. Thankfully, the Premier is here— the ball is in his court.”
Zhavargo Jolly, Event Moderator, fielded concerns shared by residents, including that the proposed cost of homes in the example (just over $ 200,000) was lower than the usual market value in the country.
There was also a concern that the mortgages seemed geared toward double-income homes, which was not the case for all residents, alienating single mothers, fathers, and other single-income earners.
While Samuels came prepared with calculations for a hypothetical $230,000 home that he said proved residents could be able to own a home with a down payment as low as $12,500 the audience was unconvinced. When he questioned them about whether residents believed they could afford a home after laying down the calculations the answer was still a resounding ‘no’.
Following the event, Bishop Coleta Williams, Chaplain to the House of Assembly, also spoke on the programs expressing concern that residents would be paying back the loans for years to come.
Residents, in the comments of the live video which was carried on Facebook, expressed being disappointed that more representatives from the Banking Association weren’t present at the meeting when arguably one of the biggest roadblocks to housing is financing.
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, August 11, 2023 – Many Turks and Caicos Islanders are spending unsustainable amounts of money on housing, according to data gathered by the Housing Department via the National Housing Needs Survey, emphasizing the need for affordable homes.
Dominique Durham, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Physical Planning and Infrastructure Development
“Respondents of that Survey provided that the majority of households spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing expenses. Now, as a rule of thumb, especially in America, if you spend more than 30 percent of your income on housing, it is deemed not affordable,” Dominique Durham, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Physical Planning and Infrastructure Development, revealed.
He shared other significant data collected that showed the dire state of the housing market locally, including that nearly a quarter of residents live in damaged homes.
“It also revealed that 21 percent [of respondents] are living in homes in need of repair and 69 percent are looking to purchase a new home within the next five years,” Durham said.
Despite the intent to buy a home, the survey also revealed that many Turks and Caicos residents thought the housing market needed more affordable options for them to be able to bring that dream to fruition.
The majority of residents (32 percent) voted for the Government to create more options for affordable housing when asked what would best improve their housing needs.
Other popular suggestions included:
- Creating Government housing loan programs (25 percent)
- Housing subsidies (15 percent)
- Home improvement/refurbishment programs (11 percent)
All of those suggestions voted on by residents have made their way into the Housing Policy as either short-term or long-term programs.
Jamell Robinson, Minister of Physical Planning and Infrastructure Development
“Long-term projects include inclusionary zoning, large-scale housing through public-private partnerships, and eventually, we will be establishing a National Housing Authority and Trust whereby we hope to lend at affordable interest rates. We also are looking to roll out help-to-buy schemes in the near future as we appreciate that an issue is also access to financing,” he said.
The Government is aiming to use these suggestions, voted on by residents, to fix the gaping hole in the market, but even with these new programs, there’s one thing residents say they need to purchase homes– better pay.
Jamell Robinson, Minister of Physical Planning and Infrastructure Development, was hit with the question of whether the Government would start to pay residents more so they could have more cash to afford housing.
The minister said step one was increasing public cash flow (with a pay and grade review for the public service now being conducted), and step two was upskilling all individuals to make them more marketable in the private sector.
“Our Job– is to ensure that our citizens as Turks and Caicos islanders can add value to themselves so they can participate more in the open market, and one of those ways is by making the community college free so you can access higher education– in a free open market which we have here, it’s hard to dictate to the private sector what they can pay a specific individual so we want to grow our individuals to make sure that they can level up,” he explained.
The Housing Policy launched on July 27th in Providenciales.
Caribbean News
Trinidad & Tobago Emancipation Day Marked with Major Events Attended by Prime Minister and other Dignitaries
#TrinidadandTobago, August 11, 2023 – Prime Minister Dr the Hon Keith Rowley and Mrs Sharon Rowley attended the Distinguished Open Lecture by His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, The Asantehene at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus last evening (Thursday 3rd August, 2023).
The Asantehene is the Guest of Honour in commemoration of this country’s 2023 Emancipation celebrations.
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and Member of Parliament for Tunapuna, the Hon. Esmond Forde, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Senator the Hon. Dr. Amery Browne, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, the Hon. Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Education, Dr. the Hon. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Minister in the Ministry of Education, the Hon. Lisa Morris-Julian, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, Dean of the Faculty of Food and Agriculture, Professor Mark Wuddivira and Lecturer Department of History, Dr. Debbie Mc Collin were also in attendance at yesterday’s lecture.
Prime Minister Dr the Hon Keith Rowley and Mrs Sharon Rowley also visited the Desperadoes Pan Theatre at George Street, Port of Spain last evening (Wednesday 2nd August, 2023).
Dr Rowley welcomed His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, The Asantehene and his delegation to the pan theatre where His Majesty was treated to various aspects of Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival which culminated in a performance by the Desperadoes Steel Orchestra and a demonstration on the playing of the national instrument for the Asantehene.
“They now see Africa, not through European eyes, as a dark continent, but as the cradle of human civilisation, citing the discoveries of its great empires. They talk of it glowingly, as the world’s fastest developing economic region in the 21st century, having just overtaken Asia, and of its six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world and of its minerals, critical and indispensable to the technologies of the 21st century green economies.
Today, recognising the pain of the Middle Passage, and the centuries of colonial brutality, I salute the African community, a people, who through grit and determination, is on the march, striving for further discovery and self-realisation, searching, and transforming themselves for the challenges of the 21st century.
Let us all reflect and educate ourselves as we celebrate African Emancipation Day 2023.”
Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley
Prime Minister of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
on the occasion of Emancipation Day 2023
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