Local Leader Calls UK's Lack of Financial Assistance to Turks and Caicos, "Disrespectful"

By: The Turks and Caicos Sun News

Local businessman Albray Butterfield Jnr. Is strongly criticising Britain’s involvement in an economic bailout package for Portugal that has been approved by European Union (EU) finance ministers and which includes a £4.2 billion contribution from Britain.

“As a proud Turks and Caicos Islander, I find this latest revelation very offensive, prejudice and disrespectful,” Albray said in a short commentary to the SUN.

“The issue that I have found so offensive... is the outright blatant hypocrisy and prejudice displayed internationally by the UK Government towards the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI),” Albray said. “Since taking control of the TCI by the UK Government in 2009 (which at the time, was a long overdue and necessary intervention that I undeniably supported), the UK Government has allowed the citizens and the economy of the TCI to further suffer and fall deeper into bankruptcy by announcing to the world within days of taking over that: "...the UK Government will not be taking the British Tax Payers Money to bail-out the Turks and Caicos Islands..." -Mr. Colin Roberts of the UK FCO. (Which I might add is a UK Territory and a situation in which the OVERSEER’S /UK Government is part responsible for the social and economic state-of-affair the TCI found itself in 2009).”

Butterfield continued: “Fast forwarding to 2011, to now have exposed to the world that while the UK Government was saying NO to bailing-out the TCI (their own territory) for a measly and up to $400 million (if you include the prevention of TCI Bank Limited from collapsing, and a few much need infrastructure projects such as the construction of new public school buildings, etc), the UK Government was simultaneously negotiating with the IMF a £67.5 billion bail-out package for the country of Portugal (a non UK territory) of which the UK is contributing £4.2 billion towards Portugal's bail-out.”

The £67.75 billion package, subject to strict austerity measures agreed by Lisbon, is the second to commit the UK to financial guarantees which will only be called upon if Portugal defaults on the loans it raises thanks to the EU-IMF combined bailout deal.

"We are hurting" Citizen of Turks and Caicos Explains Conditions Under UK Occupation

Everybody talking about the new British constitution we all reject. We talk about the corruption investigation that has kept us locked up in British occupation for two years [no arrests have been made after 2 years]. We talk about referendum is needed to pass British constitution and all we get are town hall meetings. We talk about our loss of democracy and intimidation against anyone who speak against the British.

I want to talk about a different problem. What about our financial hurting? We are locked in our country and forced the pay the high price of living that we are all familiar with because it is a tourist destination. No lie, a gallon of milk costs $10.00. How much does it cost in the US about $4.00? Everything is like that our gas, our food, housing. It is out of control. The high cost of living is hurting us. I know people in my own family who had to have utilities cut off to pay for food.

The British are doing nothing to help us. If we were UK citizens so many of us would have welfare by now, food stamps or any assistance. But the British ignoring us in our own country that they took from us. Where are we going to go? Nowhere. We are stuck.

Why they need to give us our country back because when we were running our own affairs we had a great economy. Our local business was doing good. The UK is now laying off our civil service, closing out business and it's hurting our economy. My family run a store and nobody has money to buy. This has been hurting us. Who can afford to spend when everyone job is on notice and they want to buy things that help them survive.

The British have locked is in our country without any aid, took our government and programmes, force us to buy the items we need at three times the inflated costs and top of it giving us the ax at our jobs. They are raising taxes and fees, health costs. Then we see that they bringing in their own people from the United Kingdom to take our jobs.

They will be some big political blow up coming soon. We are disrespected by the British treated so much lesser than there real citizens in the UK. We are hurting here and they killing us. Why do we have no help after they ransacked our country?

(lightly edited for fluency)