GRAND TURK, Turks and Caicos Islands--In a press statement on Tuesday, Washington Misick, the leader of the opposition in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), blamed Premier Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson for the conditions and circumstances that have made the NJS Francis Building, which houses the territory’s Parliament in Grand Turk, unfit for occupation, thereby resulting in the relocation of employees.
According to Misick, the Premier, as the leader of government, has neither reported nor offered an explanation.
“In many governments around the world, such abject failure would result in the government vacating office – considering that the problem was entirely avoidable,” he said.
Misick claimed that the “vindictive and capricious style of leadership” that the Premier embraced has resulted in various cancellations or delays to several infrastructure projects.
“However, the awarding of the contract for the repairs and refurbishment of the NJS Francis Building is perhaps the most egregious frustration of a contract award, given the building’s centrality to TCI democracy, being the physical seat of government,” he said.
Aggravating the situation, Misick said the Premier reduced and then removed the US $2.1 million originally allocated in the 2016/2017 budget for the repairs to the building, and for which tenders went out in 2016. A contract with the TCI government and a local contractor was signed in April 2017. However, instead of informing the contractor of the commencement date of the contract a letter of cancellation was sent on February 7.
As a consequence, this will require the House of Assembly to occupy a high school auditorium for an indeterminable period, thereby depriving students of valuable space and facilities, Misick pointed out. In addition, this failure will incur recurrent expenditure to accommodate Ministry of Finance and other staff. It will also result in an increase capital layout because of defects, which, had they been repaired as scheduled, would have resulted in less hurricane damage.
“It is also noteworthy that there is a large tranche of funds available despite the premier’s intransigence to appeals to help old and indigent hurricane victims – in excess of US $55 million according to the government press statement, the flow of which is like that of molasses.
“This hoarding of cash will only result in continuous degradation of infrastructure, more potential failures and mould infestation of government buildings. As has become the norm for the Premier, this national disgrace will once again be blamed erroneously on [Hurricanes – Ed.] Irma and Maria.
In the meantime, the delivery of services suffers because the government will now have to submit a supplementary appropriation bill and have it passed before it could retender the contract for the repairs and refurbishment. This is likely to take us well into 2020,” Misick continued, adding that it is in the public interest that the government advises the British territory’s governor to dissolve the House of Assembly and call a general election to avoid a complete systemic breakdown.
Former Chief Minister Oswald Skippings, now a breakaway dissident from the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Movement (PDM), asked if the crumbling of the TCI Parliament building is a reflection of impotent and incompetent government parliamentarians.
“That’s the question as parliamentarians are ordered to urgently vacate the building because it has been declared unsafe by public health officials, structural engineers and the government’s Public Works team,” he noted.
According to Skippings, black mould has invaded the Parliament and poses serious health threats to members and visitors alike. Members were shocked to discover the high and rising levels of water and sewage in the basement of the building all of which was revealed in official reports since July of this year.
The threat of the Parliament building is not limited to occupants, but falling parts of the columns and other parts of the building are a threat to passing pedestrians and motorists and steps are being taken to cordon off a section in front of the parliament building. ~ Caribbean News Now! ~
