Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands: This week we ventured to what used to be to old Bahamians the last island in the Southeastern Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands. Arriving at the relatively new international airport in Providenciales and going through the formalities, I felt as a Bahamian giving my Passport to another Bahamian for entry in Acklins or Inagua. The Immigration Officer who looked like a Bahamian and who spoke with a Bahamian accent asked me how long I was staying. The shoe was on the other foot, so to speak. This is the same way Turks Islanders who grew up in Nassau or Freeport feel when they enter the Bahamas. Even though we live in the same chain of islands, we are foreigners.
As the world turns in this era of globalization and regional integration, the governments of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands must find ways for the free movement of people and services between the two countries. The hassles endured by people who are linked through bloodlines, spiritually, culturally, socially and economically are foolish, to say the least.
The free movement of people between the Bahamas and nations of the eastern Caribbean is totally different from that of people who were once all a part of the same country. There are more Turks and Caicos natives living in the Bahamas than in Providenciales. Indeed, the parents and relatives of most Turks and Caicos politicians are either in Nassau or Freeport. What is also interesting is the fact that the parents of some members of the present Bahamian Parliament are from TCI.
The history of the Turks and Caicos Islands confirms that the islands were annexed by the Bahamas in 1799 mainly to exploit the salt ponds. As the salt industry grew, Bermudian salt rakers who were being heavily taxed on this valuable commodity found themselves at odds with the central authority in Nassau. Since little of the revenue generated was seen to benefit the Turks and Caicos, a feud developed between the Settlers and the House of Assembly in Nassau. Formal federation with the Bahamas lasted less than fifty years, largely because of the continued protests to the British government by the disgruntled islanders. Eventually, in 1884, an Act was passed that allowed these ‘Out Islands’ to be governed internally from Grand Turks under a presidency, but this auspicious arrangement also proved to be relatively short-lived. When a devastating hurricane struck in 1866, hundreds of homes were destroyed and over a million bushels of salt were washed away, causing the island’s economy to collapse overnight.
Needing a helping hand to recover financially, the people of TCI turned to Jamaica, then a British colony that was riding high on a wave of prosperity. The subsequent Jamaican rule of the Turks and Caicos lasted from 1873 until Jamaica’s independence some eighty-nine years later, but this proved no more fruitful for the Turks Islands than their previous affiliation. Thus, in 1962 the islands became s separate British dependency, once again sharing a Royal Governor with the Bahamas until Bahamian independence in 1973.
At that time, the British held on to the Turks and Caicos islands as the then Pindling government had no interest in taking them on. As fate would have it, this was a good decision for the Turks and Caicos Islands to develop on their own, as it is believed that being a part of the Bahamas would have kept it back in its infrastructural development.
Today it is striving in its own self-interest and has a thriving economy while in search of full internal self-government. While many Turks and Caicos Islanders now resist independence, they must now lay the groundwork for it as the British are not keen on holding on to dependent territories. Currently they have no protection from the forces of globalization and would be in a better position to deal with the edicts of international organizations if they have a closer association with the Bahamas.
The future calls for The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands to have interactive dialogues which are critical to the formulation of interests and policy initiatives. The interests of the public and private sectors in both countries concerning transportation, telecommunications, tourism, health, investment and financial services must be under continual re-evaluation and are critical to economic integration and the development of our people. We must encourage reciprocal exchanges, the integration of viewpoints and the search for ways to handle economic and social problems. Both countries must put aside petty differences to better comprehend situations of real economic and political interdependency, mutual vulnerabilities and cooperative solutions.
The future of western hemisphere, trade, investment, and financial arrangements will significantly influence national economies, as it becomes increasingly more difficult for national leaders to ensure stable and predictable commercial environments on their own.
The challenge for both countries to enhance their economies will require strategies that enhance shared definitions of self interest, and institutionalized processes which encourage the sharing and transferring of knowledge.
Wendall K. Jones, The Bahama Journal
