UK cooking the books in the Caribbean to promote economic depression for political gain?

By: JP I have sat and watched patiently as aspersions fly about, creating doubt between different political leaders in Turks and Caicos. Now I see that there is no deadline date in sight to end this situation. I am frustrated. I am not as frustrated with local leaders as I am with the UK for misinforming the public and swooping in unsuccessfully.

I speak on behalf of myself and the business people of Turks and Caicos when I call for a voice of reason. I do not claim to be a Belonger of the islands, in fact I am an expatriate. I therefore have less of a right to speak, in my assessment of attitudes. I am a professional of Turks and Caicos and I am in the real estate business but not a developer just a broker, just in case someone wishes to impeach me. I have a very wealthy oversees clientele who I service for both luxury holiday rentals and sales. The stark reality is that I have received questions in the last few months as to the political future and economic future of the islands from potential clients who are less than eager to put their chips on Turks and Caicos.

Many of my would-be clients have asked me questions about land transfers, they want to know when an exit strategy will be announced by UK. The problem is that there is no exit strategy just more layers upon layers of double-speak. For example, the UK leaders are contradicting each other even on little things such as when speaking of staffing, re-staffing or paying government employees. This has me worried. There is no one with whom I or anyone else can put faith.

I would also like to address the economy of Turks and Caicos, again on behalf of myself and my known fellow business people, there have been a lot of numbers scattered about concerning Turks and Caicos' debt and deficit by the UK. This focus has a lot of people worried in the business community, many of whom are seeking their own exit strategy from the TCI. The debt of Turks and Caicos is being used as a means to keep control over the finances and economy of our country and to continue to promote artificial depression by the UK interim government, this is our opinion.

It is common knowledge upon business people and the learned that it is not the debt that matters, its the gross domestic product (GDP). Turks and Caicos has consistently had a GDP in the hundreds of millions, per annum. It has the potential of over $700 million per year in just revenue from tourism, fishing and off-shore banking, and growth was consistent.

Without meaning disrespect to HE Gordon Wetherell, I wonder why the UK interim government chooses to focus on a one-time $135 million deficit when TCI can earn at least 6 times that in profits in one year. The deficit means nothing unless you show the true picture reflected by the GDP, which I know is not being revealed by the UK. Simply look at the GDP for the last 5 years. It's a basic calculation used by S&P to determine creditworthiness.

What is the potential for the GDP now? Many of my clients and my colleagues cannot, and for good reason, put faith in the economy of Turks and Caicos for much longer. The GDP has declined and has lost consumer confidence in the islands and abroad. It is a spiral down hill affect.

In the real estate business we use a calculation called debt to income ratio to determine credit worthiness and financing. Turks and Caicos' finances would rank "off the charts" if someone were to manage the government finances at just a basic level. Not many countries can boast these kinds of numbers. In fact, it is almost unheard of. However, we are losing this potential by the day.

How do we get it back on track? I don't know nor do I feel that I have all of the answers. I do not know what it takes to stand up against a power such as the UK. But I can reveal that the UK is cooking the books and releasing artificial DTI to the country of Turks and Caicos. My assessment is that the economy will fold in a matter of weeks.