Your Excellency, Governor Poston and Mrs. Poston;
Mr. Speaker;
Honourable Chief Minister;
Members of Cabinet;
Honourable Leader of the Opposition;
Members of the Legislative Council;
Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen
 
 

History is today being made in this place.  Unquestionably, this must surely be an occasion of great pride and honour for the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands as you, the representatives of the people, have assembled within these beautiful precincts to witness the dedication of your new Legislative Council Building.

This building, outstanding though it is, represents much more than a beautiful edifice.  At a deeper level, it is symbolic of your history, your progress to date and the aspirations of the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.  In truth, it is the place that defines your democracy and your progress as a people.

This building is a place from which laws and edicts will emanate; laws which, for better or for worse, will define and govern the totality of the ideals which you as a people have set for yourselves.  This will be, moreover, the forum within which bold and innovative ideas will be crystallized into new laws to govern these beautiful islands of yours.

Yes, this is the building that will hold pride of place among the landmarks of your country.
 
And so the historic import of this morning’s proceedings should not be lost on anyone.

For my part, I am deeply honoured and privileged to be here with my delegation to witness this important event in the history of our closest neighbouring territory.

I am very much aware that the invitation for me to be present on this occasion and to address the Legislative Council could easily have been extended to others and so it is with a sense of personal pride that I say how pleased I am to be with you this morning.

No doubt our presence points to the close familial and cooperative ties which have existed between The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands since 1799 when these islands were placed under the jurisdiction of The Bahamas government.

Since that time the bonds of affinity, and yes, sometimes the strains that accompany familial relations, have played a significant part in our mutual history.  And so permit me, on behalf of the Government and people of The Bahamas, to bring you warm, fraternal greetings and to say that we bring with us our best wishes for your continued success and progress.

When my Government came to office in May of 2002 we came with a strong commitment to deepen the historic bonds that existed between The Bahamas and its closest neighbours and it is for this reason that a key plank in our manifesto, OUR PLAN, was to “strengthen relations with Caricom, including contacts with Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Island”.  My visit today is an affirmation of that commitment.

In the months ahead, we will seek to concretize our pledge to strengthen relations by launching a number of initiatives, such as the reactivation of the annual consultation between our two Governments on matters of mutual interest.  Among the matters to be discussed would be national security issues, continued cooperation in matters such as health, education, illegal migration and areas of common economic interests such as tourism related issues.

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Legislative Council:

While on the issue of co-operation, permit me to use this occasion to publicly thank the Government and people of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the magnificent way in which they responded to the plight of the Bahamian people last September following the passage of Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne.

The Chief Minister and his delegation were the first foreign governmental delegation to visit, touring the hardest hit areas of Grand Bahama.  You not only visited but you were the first; the very first, to contribute to our relief and recovery in the significant amount of USD200, 000.00.

Many other Governments and international organizations subsequently came forward but the magnanimous gesture by the people of these Islands will not soon be forgotten by our people, especially those worst affected many of whom live in Grand Bahama and Abaco and many of whom are of Turks Island descent.

This is the kind of cooperation to which I refer when I say, “blood is thicker than water”.

But this is not surprising for historically, geographically, socially and culturally we are, in most respects, one people.  The common threads of history run through our territories bound as we are by our geographical closeness.

Both our territories were originally inhabited by the Arawak speaking Lucayans, who are now extinct in the islands.  Both our territories were later visited by English sailors and briefly occupied by the French and Spanish and plundered during various wars.  Both territories acted as havens for pirates, welcomed Loyalists and their slaves after the American War of Independence and participated in wrecking, cotton growing and the salt industries.

This commonality of economic history has persisted even to the present day as both The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands are tourist and financial centres.

There have also been close political ties.  The Bahamas administered your islands from the 1670s to the separation in 1848 and again from 1962 until 1973.  In fact the first person elected to represent the interest of the Turks & Caicos Islands in Parliament in The Bahamas was William Whylly in 1801.

We in The Bahamas eventually evolved into an independent nation just as you, over the years, have been embracing increasing levels of internal self- government in these Islands.  Despite this constitutional divergence, we still maintain close ties.

The politics and the governance may have separated, but the people never did and throughout the centuries thousands of Turks Islanders have gone to The Bahamas… and thousands remain; living, working and building side by side as brothers with us.

So many institutions – even now – transcend these separations of governance:  the Anglican Church in our archipelago is but one church; the Methodist Church is but one church, indeed the Roman Catholics and the Church of God are both but one church all the way from Grand Bahama to South Caicos.  The same is true in legal institutions and in many other areas.

As to our respective peoples, it is well documented that we share many of the same characteristics. It is not unusual to have in many families, both in the Turks and Caicos Islands and in The Bahamas, persons whose families straddle both divides.

Such names as Missick, Stubbs, Rigby, Musgrove, Outten, Forbes, Grant, Taylor and Walkine represent but a few of the many families that claim a common heritage in both Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas.  One need only take a walk through Jones Town, Seagrape or Pinedale in Grand Bahama or go to Inagua and, of course, all across New Providence.

The high level of social and economic acceptance accorded Turks and Caicos immigrants is particularly notable and although Turks and Caicos Islanders constitute the second largest West Indian immigrant group in The Bahamas, their assimilation is so complete as to make them virtually indistinguishable from the average Bahamian.  This latter distinction cannot be attributed to any other West Indian immigrant group in The Bahamas.

Many of you may even remember the famous Preacher Hall, who settled in Grand Bahama from Turks Island and who was instrumental in the later Sir Lynden Pindling aggressively reasserting national ideals in a city that had momentarily forgotten itself.  Preacher Hall was refused the right to drive his taxi along the streets of Freeport.  “Oh no, Preacher Hall” said Sir Lynden; “they must either bend or break”.  History was made and that was how it was.

Mr. Speaker, Members of the Legislative Council, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have gone through this brief historical overview to bring us to this point in time.  It is a time of great opportunity for our two countries.  The similarities in our patterns of development are not at all co-incidental as there is a historical pattern to our evolution.

From all indications, yours is now an economy and a society that is rapidly accelerating towards one of the best periods of growth these Islands have ever enjoyed.

I am informed that the Turks and Caicos Islands and Providenciales in particular, represent one of the leading magnets for investment in the Caribbean. There is strong evidence to suggest that your economy is growing at an unprecedented pace and some have estimated that this growth will be around 20 percent per year and that these islands expect to attract in excess of $3 billion in inward investment in the short term.

All this is good and welcome news but it also places a serious responsibility on those of you who occupy the halls of power to ensure that the social side of investment is not overlooked and, even more importantly, to ensure that issues such as the environment, migration issues and balanced growth are closely and prudently monitored.

I was pleased to discover that you offer tertiary scholarships to all who make the grade, but I caution you from our own past experience to be careful not to allow economic growth to outpace the development of your people.

In like manner, our country, The Bahamas is also experiencing an unparalleled level of growth.  Despite the effects of the two recent Hurricanes our tourism industry is at the strongest level it has enjoyed in many years.

Our external reserves are at their highest level ever and the overall economic growth rate will average around 3 percent per annum this year.

My Government’s objective of placing an anchor resort in each major Family Island is close to becoming a reality.  Indeed, just to the Northwest of these lovely Islands, on the Island of Mayaguana, we are shortly to announce a major touristic and real estate development which will be environmentally friendly and which will forge linkages to the Islands around it, no doubt including the Turks and Caicos Islands.

But no matter what may be on the developmental drawing board, we, as a people, and especially those of us in positions of public trust have a responsibility to preserve and to protect our heritage for generations yet to come.

This is a sacred trust and I, for my part, am always conscious of this mission and I have accepted it as my duty to include such things as the preservation of our history and our culture, our environment and those things which make us the unique people that we are.

I wish to end as I began. Today’s ceremony is an affirmation of the growth and development of these Islands.

This is truly a wonderful experience for me to be here and to be a witness to history.  I can end by saying that though our borders are imposed; the rich tapestry of our history makes us but one people.

I am grateful for this opportunity to address you on this historic occasion.  Permit me, then, on behalf of the Government and people of the Bahamas offer my best wishes and congratulations to you, Mr. Speaker and to all the members of this Legislative Council and to the Government and people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

My almighty God continue to bless you and to guide you in the important work that lies ahead.