Palestine and now Turks and Caicos - developments being bulldozed by UK and land laws being changed to favour UK

Crown land is now one of the obvious targets of UK's forceful take over in Turks and Caicos. And why wouldn't the UK want the benefit of the recently discovered tourism paradise, complete with white sand beaches and breathtaking views? The former Premier Michael Misick tapped into this gold mine of tourism and created a luxury destination.

Since Michael Misick resigned from office, facing alleged corruption accusations, the economy has all but tanked at the hands of the UK's not-so-interim government.

The Turks and Caicos Islands had enjoyed a robust tourism economy and many Islander benefits. However, the only thing happening now is bad news almost every day.

For two weeks, the UK government has been clearing out homes and families living on Crown land labeling these people "squatters". These are recently under-employed islanders who, in many cases, spent their life savings building their homes on this land which the UK calls off-limits now. This is not an exaggeration, bulldozers came to these developments and threatened for these people to move or it would cost them their lives. There is nowhere for these recently homeless people to turn.

On a much different level, many developers who had invested millions in the islands to build resorts are now told to vacate the land, thus their investment. These foreign developers were clearly ensnared by the system when buying land in a culture with complicated Crown land rules. Did government officials mislead developers by having them follow cultural rules and offering Belongership status (Islander) as an incentive to buy and develop Crown land to benefit Turks and Caicos' economy. Of course these developers did not come up with purchasing Crown land on their own and they didn't make up the procedures. Come on.

Cem Kinay and Brad Lamb are both prime examples of how the system and the law of the land at the time let them down. In fact, their Crown land purchases and development deals were signed off by the UK's own local governor, including Gordon Wetherell. Now, the UK says that the land is not theirs to build, costing them millions. This is unfair on so many levels and gravely affects the economy of the islands, not to mention foreign investor confidence.

The UK's interim government made two important announcements over the weekend (very subtle breaking it on a Saturday).

One of the announcements was that the UK is there to stay and they have no intention of leaving. In fact, all citizens who wish to report crimes against each other or others are free to call Helen Garlick, UK's special prosecutor now installed in the islands. This is a technique used in Nazi Germany called Denunciation used to terrorize citizens by having unscrupulous people eager to report the other for favour.

The UK also announced that it will be changing the Crown land policies. Yes, the same ones that applied to these resort developers when they purchased Crown land under the Misick administration. This is both bizarre and fascinating. Is the UK using the resort developers to take back land without making them whole (no reimbursements given), while simultaneously using them yet again as an accuse to change the laws in UK's favour? How interesting.

Not only have these resort developers been stripped of their Crown land whereby losing millions, but they are on the hot seat standing accused of related corruption charges for allegedly bribing Misick and other public officials for favourable Crown land deals. To say that developers bribed public officials for Crown land deals is ridiculous.

First there is the assertion that developers seeking Crown land bribed public officials for favourable treatment. Let's explore the Crown land bribery claim.

In fact these developers were shamelessly wooed by Misick and his administration to invest in Turks and Caicos. Whether anyone has formed an opinion about Michael Misick's guilt or innocence, most all can agree that he was a master tourism promoter of the islands, particularly in real estate. His career outside of politics has continuously been real estate and real estate investments. Misick spent an extraordinary amount of focus in bringing in high-end foreign developers to invest in Turks and Caicos.

In fact, Misick takes credit for the economic boom, development, investments and publicity of the islands.

Upon UK's investigation of purported wrong-doing by Misick, he stated at the time that his Hollywood lifestyle was necessary and "... allowed him to court high-end developers and helped put the British territory on the map. Since he took office, the gross domestic product in the territory of 22,000 people has more than doubled to $750 million - largely through a resort-building boom."

This is proof positive that Misick was the one who went after resort developers, not the other way around. What's more is that resort developers were given many incentives to invest in Turks and Caicos, including Belongership status deals, which allowed them to purchase Crown land and other inducements that included speedy infrastructure permits.

Furthermore, Crown land had a specific purpose according to the Turks and Caicos Crown Land Policies.

According to the Crown Land Policy, commercial land development is one of the main purposes of Crown land use and sale. The Crown Land Policy is formulated to "attract investments judged best for the interest of TCI [Turks and Caicos Islands]."

Crown land is specifically intentioned for businesses and development, according to Turks and Caicos' policies. In fact according to the law in Turks and Caicos, "There are no restrictions on foreign investment and the government has a very successful open-arms inward investment policy."

Turks and Caicos citizens are left clamoring to restore confidence in investors, create jobs and promote tourism. Now this, the UK announcing that they will be changing Crown land policies.

What gives the UK moral authority to unilaterally decide to change Crown land policies in Turks and Caicos? It reminds me of the desperation of the people in Palestine kicked off of their land by Israel so that Israel can make modern developments. It helps me understand a bit more clearly the Palestinian uprising at the proposition of another government trying to take land rights from another.