The UK invaded Turks and Caicos and refuses to pay anything, causing a collapse- This is not a joke

I know, it might read like a gratuitous headline meant to hook a reader. No, this is not sensationalised. UK says it has no money to honour payroll commitments to Turks and Caicos' civil servants. The UK invaded Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean and took over governance citing mismanagement by the former government. The UK brought nothing with them in the way of money or benefits, but they did manage to charge Turks and Caicos millions for their unnecessary enquiry into the former "mismanagement" and "corruption" of the former administration.

Not only did UK invade Turks and Caicos, but it came in and raised taxes, cut benefits, abolished many civil rights (see TCIwatch.com) and now it announces that they cannot meet the payroll of the civil servants of the islands, for November and December. The civil servants of the islands are the people who can least afford to go without pay. Meanwhile, the UK brings in their own well paid crew from UK and have managed to fire most islanders or frustrate them until they resign.

I call upon the UK leaders there to go ahead and phone parliament and ask for some cash. You do not invade a country and fail to cover the expense, especially since UK caused the collapse. It is called taxation without representation. The UK has brought the people of TCI down and now it refuses to pay for anything, charging everything back to the people of Turks and Caicos.

Turks and Caicos was a thriving economy, enjoying a tourism boom and a lucrative Hollywood following. The islands have been in a state of disaster since the UK took governance in August.

The people of Turks and Caicos are suffering in many ways at the hands of the UK. Just last week, I reported that the UK bulldozed the homes of several residential developments, UK claims that the land is Crown land and now belongs to the government. As a result, many islanders are left homeless and penniless as the UK will not reimburse them under Eminent Domain laws, calling these individuals "squatters".

Now the UK claims that it cannot pay the civil servants. I can guarantee you that the employees from UK are being paid and handsomely.

I am sure that I am not the only person to ask why the UK is hoarding the assets, taxing the people and failing to pay the people. These are gross mismanagements and corrupt actions, the likes of which former premier Michael Misick could have never dreamed up.

Here is what has been reported in the Sun News today:

Former Deputy Premier Lillian Boyce is criticizing the Governor Gordon Wetherell and the Interim Government for continuously paying Civil Servants salaries late, saying that it is pushing people of the Turks and Caicos Islands into poverty.

And she has called on the Interim Government to do what is necessary to ensure that Civil Servants are paid early for Christmas, and that they don't have to go through any more months of being paid late.

"When people are paid late, it has a ripple effect on the entire economy, because it means that their mortgages, loans, rents, utilities and bills will also be late. So banks are being affected and businesses all across the country are affected because people just don't have the money to pay their debts. What is even more difficult and painful is that when they eventually get their pay cheques late, they then have to pay all sorts of late fees, reconnection fees and penalties. All of this is creating additional and extreme hardships on our people, and it is going to eventually cause people to lose assets that they worked hard to acquire," Boyce said.

Boyce said she is appealing to the Governor to ensure that Civil Servants are paid before Christmas.

"If there is one thing the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands look forward to, it is an enjoyable Christmas so I am actually begging the Governor and his advisors to do whatever is necessary so that our people can get their bonuses early and so they can have a really merry Christmas," Boyce continued.

Boyce said the Turks and Caicos Islands economy is in desperate need of stimulation and she called on the Governor and the Interim Government to articulate a clear and sensible economic strategy and vision for how they intend to create activity throughout the country.

"When the Brits came to the Turks and Caicos Islands with their political axe and political agenda, they were obviously so busy thinking about imposing direct rule that they apparently forgot about the importance of bringing a direct injection of money. The fact of the matter is that the only way you're going to keep this economy from totally collapsing is if there's money circulating. When people don't have money to spend, it affects all aspects of the economy and because our economy is so small and the players are so closely connected, the impact of a recession is likely to be more severe," Boyce added.

Boyce said that on a regular basis she continues to hear many sad and depressing stories from persons whose livelihoods are being destroyed under the direct rule from Britain and the Governor.

"People in this country are hurting like never before and the Governor and the British Government don't seem to care. In fact, they are acting as though their mission is to reduce Turks and Caicos Islanders to the lowest and worst forms of poverty, but this nonsense has to stop," she said.

"As I said before in a previous statement, you cannot continue to cut people's salaries and allowances, put them out of jobs and pay them late without creating extreme hardship throughout the country. The people of this country have worked hard for all that they have and to achieve a certain standard of living and a quality of life that they deserve, but it seems as though the British Government, the Governor and some other people are jealous about what we have achieved as a small country, and they would do anything to make sure that we no longer enjoy the fruits of our labour."