Govt Turks Caicos

investment,” Cartwright-Robinson declares. “And what is important for us is education, so we invite investment in that area.We are focusing a bit more on vocational training and specialist training.We have been receiving persons who are interested in setting up health schools, trade schools, technology institutions, certifica- tion for the hospitality industry. So, we are keen to receive investments in those areas, as well, to make sure that in all of the growth we are projecting, that our people are poised to occupy the best jobs and even senior management as time goes along.We appreciate investment in our young people because,more than anything,we believe that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow and that we have to train them, today.We antic- ipate that persons who are interested in coming and living and working and doing business in Turks & Caicos will invest in the young people.” Other items on Cartwright-Robinson’s wish list for the country include: a better healthcare system with greater access and affordability for its citizens; a computerized immigration and border control system; major infrastructure projects, such as roads; and a national school nutrition program that, according to Cart- wright-Robinson, “would take the country into the mode of a healthy lifestyle.” With all those ambitious goals for the country, the Premier is not unmindful of the challeng- es that her government faces in attempting to achieve them. One quandary for the thinly pop- ulated TCI is the need to import labor from oth- er countries and islands. “We do need a ready labor pool and we have to import,” she states. “So, you’re looking at a myriad of cultures; you’re looking at being able to take care of the numbers that you bring in, that you’re prepared for them.We’re looking at a population policy that will be important because it will say who THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TURKS & CAICOS we grow the country with and how we’re marry- ing our development with the number of per- sons we need to bring in.” Another challenge: “We’re not very big; we have a small amount of land. So we have to measure how we use our lands so that we bal- ance what Turks & Caicos islanders would want land for, as well as what we’re prepared to give to those who would come and invest.”And fi- nally, the challenge of open borders. “With wide open borders, you have the threat of illegal entrance. And with that you have the challenge of crime –not just from within, but also from without.We are a chain of islands, and the chal- lenge is in having the mechanism to properly police them and protect our borders.” One might also reasonably assume that since it was only a few short years ago that TCI lost its ability to self-govern, another great challenge could well be the possibility of losing that pre- cious privilege once again. But Cartwright-Robin- son is undismayed.“We have a very strong consti- tution,” she avers.“There is quite a bit of built-in oversight.You have a stronger opposition; you have oversight committees that are now public where persons can hear what’s going on in the government.Aside from House Committees, you also have built-in systems like a procurement systemwhere processes for government contracts are very clear and transparent.We also have new laws that have been put in place, concerning public finance management that strengthens the systems as to howmonies can be spent and how they can be approved.You have a strengthened Governor who has extra authority in terms of being able to flag anything he or she may see that is going wrong.We have an integrity commission that is very strong,where the public can make any sort of complaints against public officers–elected members, as well as senior management within the government.We are confident that we are in a very good place.”