UK minister issues warning over fiscal responsibility

(CNS): The FCO’s minister for overseas territories told the TCI media last week that the money lost during the Misick administration went missing because the checks and balances were not in place. Speaking during his visit to the Turks and Caicos last week, Henry Bellingham warned that under the new white paper the UK government would not interfere in the day to day running of government but it expected "good fiscal management” and if things were “not going well”, he said, the FCO would work in partnership with its territories. Bellingham told the local media it would be up to them to hold the political parties to account once the country returned to an elected government.

According to the local website TCI Now, Bellingham said the FCO would be looking for sound financial management from future governments, not just in TCI but across its territories.

“The 14 overseas territories are an important part of the UK family and we will be issuing a new white paper to show we are going to invest in them and work alongside them and provide assistance in terms of personnel working alongside them. In return we expect good fiscal management,” he said.

Reflecting on the TCI’s own issues, he added, “We all know that a huge amount of money which should have gone to the TCI people went missing and that was a tragedy for the territory … this happened because there were not checks and balances in place.”

He said the financial problems there have yet to be resolved as the deficits have continued and, while a portion of the huge debt left by the Misick government was paid down, the islands still had significant debt.