The joy of politics

It is getting hot here, the rains are due sometime this month which will be a huge relief as finally the dust will die down somewhat and the leaves on the parched trees will start sprouting. Yesterday hit 33 degrees by midday which is something of a scorcher, although mercifully once the sun has gone down (about 7.30) the temperature drops to something more manageable.



It add some heat and spice to life here, politics got rather interesting recently. First, the Chief Minister (or the Premier as he likes to be known) was accused of rape and assault by an American citizen which means that the FBI are now involved in investigating the accusation. Provo being what it is, we first heard about this when a friend of ours called us from the supermarket because he'd heard from someone else. Before we knew it the entire island was buzzing with the gossip despite the fact that it wasn't officially 'news'. At 7pm that night, the news channel (only the one) broadcast an official statement from himself (The Hon. Dr Michael Misick...although his inability to speak coherently kinda indicates that the 'Dr' bit is from one of those on-line universities that gives you a PhD for reading 40 books, but I digress and am probably not doing my application for Permanent Residency any favours here either). Where was I? Oh, so he's accused on rape and appears on the TV that very night that the rumours emerge to refute them entirely. What is rather surprising about this is that, had it been a British Prime Minister he'd have actively denied the allegations but probably not in such a staged manner on TV. I guess it just shows the power of gossip on such a small island. Although it appears that he's about to wriggle out of going to court on the charge http://tcijournal.com/index.php?idsub=61&id=8



Just the week before he'd been on TV giving a 'eulogy' to the ex Speaker of the House who had just died. And the difference? For the 'eulogy' (to man on the opposition who reportedly he couldn't abide) he was unshaven, with an open shirt and stumbled and mumbled his way through the autocue. If I'd been her widow, I'd've been very insulted that the Chief Minister couldn't even shave and borrow a tie! Of course when he was defending himself he was looking very smart indeed and didn't fluff his lines once. In retrospect, it was probably not a eulogy, but can't think now what the correct term might be.



To add to the mess, last week also saw the meeting of LegCo (Legislative Council - the equiv. to the House of Commons). This only happens 4 times a year so you can imagine the pomp and attention the event receives. At this meeting of LegCo (not Legs and Co, although maybe that's where some of the erstwhile 'dancers' ended up....oops there goes another nail in my PR status!) the budget was at the forefront of the agenda. The government is seriously in debt ($38 million deficit and $6 million overdrawn...shared between 35,000 of us (of which only 11,000 are citizens)) and is desperately scrabbling around to raise money to get themselves out of a mess. They've upped business licence tax to the sort of levels that see off very small businesses (like the tiny eateries along the road side; the barber shops etc) and they've also slapped a high tax on wire transfers. And guess who uses wire transfers most? Yup, the legions of foreigners. At the moment we are hoping that this doesn't include wire transfers through Western Union which will clobber the thousands of Haitians, Dominicans, Colombians, Romanians, Filipinos etc that send their valuable dollars home.

So where does the debt come from in a country soooo small? Well, the Premier's spending habits were severely criticised (why on earth did he need to spend $1.2 million on jets when it only takes 30 mins to fly from Provo to Grand Turk - the seat of government? How on earth does shaving 15 mins off the flying time improve government?!?), it was acknowledged that the government is spending more and more on health care - particularly sending Turks Islanders overseas (Miami, Nassau, Kingston mostly) for health care not available on island. I haven't had chance to investigate the level of government debt, but I'd wager that with such a small population that's a fairly hefty burden each!

My status (as noted above) is still in the balance. As of yesterday I'm technically an alien (and an illegal one at that!), but having spoken to the head of immigration on Friday who said I didn't need to renew my tourist visa in advance of getting my permanent residency, I've done just that. Right now, I'm waiting for an interview, then they put my application before the board and then I get a PR stamp. And then in 5 years time I can apply to be a 'belonger' (ie a citizen).

Osh is doing well at school - although he and his other buddy (the only other white kid in the class) and far rowdier than their class mates and cause the teacher endless bother. Clearly, we are not beating Osh enough at home (which is how Turks Island parents control their children, apparently). He has just read 'Five go off to camp' from the front of his bed time story book which, despite it being a good while since he should have been asleep, makes me happy!

For further dirt (sorry, information) on government on these islands check out: http://tcijournal.com/index.php?idsub=62&id=8