8
TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
December 21 – January 3, 2014
A Weekly News column that puts you on the spot for your opinions on the issues of the day
Joe Grant Cay sale
LAST week the Weekly News revealed that a commercial developer bought a 200 acre plot of Crown land on Joe Grant Cay for $4.04 million in October, in a transaction that was not made public. Temple Financial Group pushed through the sale of the land to recoup a $2 million outstanding mortgage the Government accrued when it reclaimed the plot in civil recovery proceedings. Corruption-accused developer Cem Kinay paid just $3.2 million for the land, valued at $50 million, in 2008 after giving a $500,000 political donation to the PNP party. However the new purchase value of $4.04 million is just $0.84 million more than the price Kinay originally paid – formerly alleged to be a gross undervalue. What are your thoughts? Do you think the civil recovery process was worth the cost? Was the purchase price too low? Or maybe you think the original valuation was inaccurate?
Private matter
Why a fall in value?
The purchase price looks fair for a totally undeveloped parcel in the middle of nowhere. The land was never worth $50 million - that is a joke. If the buyer invests $20 million on infrastructure it might be worth $50 million but not otherwise. The sale was a private matter, why should it be made public by the Government? The sale was made public by the real estate firm. Some of the SIPT valuations are just ‘fantasy island’ valuations.
The question must be asked who was the original valuator, and if he was a well-known valuator with credibility? The question that must then be asked and answer demanded of the present Governor and his team is how could there have been such a great fall in value? This speaks volumes for the type of management that has been running this nation while under direct British rule.
Hope for progress
The original value put on this property was grossly over and above what should have been the market price. The price that the property sold for is more in line with what the true value of this property should be. The prior price assumes infrastructure such as roads, electricity water, telephone TV services etc which none of these services is
We hope the developer will build a resort and a causeway to Middle Caicos. This will finally after years of PNP administration make Middle Caicos come alive as the corridor to Joe Grant Cay. The owners of East Wind better not flip their land at the foot of the new causeway.
Grossly overvalued
provided to this property. If one takes into account the $500,000 being paid to the civil recovery team then the net savings to Government is approximately $300,000. So in effect we muzzled what would have been a several hundred million dollar development of Joe Grant Cay which would have significantly impacted the economy of Middle Caicos and the Turks and Caicos Islands for a mere $300,000. When will we get it that this farce of an investigation is only benefitting the British and their closely-linked friends at the expense of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Turks and Caicos Islanders? I assume that every other property that they claimed to have reclaimed is grossly over value while they take all the cash. Yes, we have been duped again.
Publicity equals objections
I think the original price was overstated, and today’s sale price is too low. Everything the Brits touch seems to cost us more money! The civil recovery process has benefitted no one but the cronies of the FCO, Hague and Garlick. Making it public sooner would have gotten them some objections and they don’t want that, same as Todd changing the law on captive dolphins. When they do it, it is okay. When we do it, it’s not!
Legal problems
We are pleased the sale went through and we must remember the PNP government had nothing to do with the sale. Therefore it must be legal. There are however two possible legal problems. Does the mortgage holder have recovery rights when the land was originally sold illegally?
The other problem is the terrific multimillion dollar fees being charged by the British civil recovery law firm based on the few hours put in by attorney Phillips. This is ridiculous. However it is no excuse for the terrible abuses of the Misick-Hall-Piper government. No wonder Crown land is under the AG’s office where it does not belong.
Drain on public purse
First off, I believe the person in charge of valuing the lands never knew what they were really worth. All involved should not be able to have anything to do with land dealings ever again in the Turks and Caicos Islands. More so the political persons involved should not be able to ever work for TCIG in any capacity. This country would have truly been the envy of the world, had the persons we chose to do the countries business had done just that. There will always be some corruption, but the level in which they did it is what has us in this mess. Cem Kinay unfortunately got caught up just like the other investors during the Iron Mike reign. I do believe that some of these projects are to be given the opportunity to be completed. Word of advice for future, always lease the land you could never lose. As far as the civil recovery they are no better than the people they are investigating, draining the public purse.
Become a contributor Want to become a contributor or have a suggestion for a Talk Back topic for us? What questions do you think we should be putting to the public? And what are your thoughts on it? Call our news team on 946 4664 or email tcweeklynews@gmail.com
Allow His birth to change you – The Right Reverend Laish Boyd “LET us not grow weary in welldoing for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9) The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands are wonderful places to live. Many things that we take for granted are the envy of other nations. We have our challenges just like everyone else, and here are some of them: the economy, the rising cost of living, crime, unemployment, immigration issues, the breakdown of community and the fact that we do not have as much respect for each other and for each other’s property as we used to have. There are two things which we must not forget. Even in these areas
of concern, we are better off than many other places. And most people here are wholesome and positive, and not involved in the negative. However, although the negative behavior is only being exhibited by a small minority, there are enough negative people and activity for us to be very, very concerned. Additionally, the economic and other challenges remain great. Against this backdrop, people tend to be overwhelmed, to be cynical, to be bitter, to throw up their hands in despair, to give up and to say, what’s the use? In this kind of environment, it is sometimes hard for people to hear
Gov’t appoints new EMS director A NEW Director of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was appointed this week, according to a Government press release. Former director Patrick Riel is no longer employed by the Government and instead Hugh Green will be acting in the role. Desiree L Lewis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Human Services made the announcement on Wednesday (December 18) in a statement to press.
She wrote: “TCIG is advising all stakeholders to disregard any correspondence(s) from Mr Riel which relate to EMS operations. “All queries should now be directed to Mr Hugh Green the acting Director of EMS or to Dr Nadia Astwood, Director of Medical Services, Ministry of Health and Human Services.” Green can be contacted by email at hughmania@yahoo.com or at 347-6818.
Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands
the Christmas message. God coming into the world as an infant, bringing joy and new life, peace on earth, goodwill to all people, etc. They scoff at the thought of Christian hope. But this message is still true and still timely. God has done and is doing his work in the world. God has done and is doing so many wonderful things through the life and faithfulness of boys, girls, men and women who have not lost sight of his goodness in the badness of our world. As we face the challenges in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and as we face our own personal challenges, let us not give up nor give in. Ask God to help us to be steadfast. Encourage one another to be steadfast. Victory over great or impossible odds may not be won instantly or in one action. Victory is won through perseverance, by
keeping up the little things - through the trivial round and the common task, as the hymn writer said. Victory is won by our doing good even when no one can see us, by our doing right even when we lose because of it, by our believing in the goodness of God and having faith in the goodness of people, by our realising that the power of good is always more powerful than the power of evil, by our believing that good will always win out in the end no matter how long it takes. Many will suck their teeth or grunt “hmph!” at this thought, but Jesus, through his life, death and resurrection, and throughout human history, has shown us that it is true. Good people and good deeds and positive living MUST hold on in the face of impossible odds. That is one of the hardest things for humans to do in this life – but hoping beyond hope is always difficult. The joy of the baby Jesus is experienced instantly in the joys and blessings of life. That joy is also more powerfully experienced when good people persevere in the face of challenge and wrong, when they make mistakes but repent and try to do better, when they fall down but get up every time and press on, when they look back on the day, the week or the year and say, “It was rough. I tried. Many of the problems are still there, but at least I gave it my best, and I will never stop trying.” This is when the call of Jesus has its full power. This is when the hope of the gospel becomes real.
This is when the gospel is truly lifechanging. The Most Reverend John Holder, Archbishop of the West Indies and Bishop of Barbados, recently issued a tribute on the passing of Nelson Mandela. He begins it with the following words: “There are some points in human history when the world comes face to face with the greatest of human possibilities. “It pauses and it discovers that in spite of all the atrocities of history, in spite of the negatives in human relationships, there is still in each of us a potential for good that can be released, developed and put to work to make the world a better place.” This is an apt description of what Nelson Mandela stood for, and of what he accomplished in South Africa – in the face of incredible odds. This reminds us of what our posture should be as we face life in our own two beloved countries. Jesus came to show us that, no matter what the challenges, there is a spark of him that we can discover inside of us to face the world and to be victorious. Allow his birth and the message he comes to bring change your life and your environment. Allow him to change you and the world. The Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands and my family join me in wishing one and all a happy Christmas and a peaceful new year.