Times of the Islands Spring 2017

Buoy.” “Caucus people come from West of the Buoy,” was
a popular but not endearing term during those years.
Hon. Paul Higgs wanted to end this segregation and
replace it with a unified TCI. For this reason, he lobbied
in the State Council for the economy to be diversified. He
felt that the Islands should move towards being a tourist
destination. He obviously saw where this initiative would
have more far-ranging financial benefits to the lives of the
people of the TCI than what was being realized through
the salt industry.
Political challenges
One of Hon. Paul Higgs’ major tests came in the late 1950s
and early 1960s when the Federation Movement was the
political headline in the English-speaking Caribbean. The
TCI was no exception since the Islands were being administered
by Jamaica at the time and Jamaica was deeply
involved in the Federation and the self-determination
movement. Although the TCI was ruled by Jamaica, it had
not achieved the same status of internal self-government
as many countries involved in the Federation Movement.
The Federation issue was challenging to the TCI for
several reasons. Firstly, TCI was at the time regarded geographically
as part of the Bahamas and had close ties with
this country as many of its people had migrated there
seeking employment. Furthermore, the TCI’s agricultural
abilities were hampered by the poor quality of its
soil which did not permit for mass production of crops.
Because of this, the TCI relied heavily on imports from
neighbouring countries. Another serious challenge faced
was its distance away from the other Caribbean countries
involved in the Federation Movement, making travel and
communication between these countries almost impossible.
The TCI itself, because of its geographically scattered
nature, created administrative concerns. These challenges
led to the TCI’s inability to elect a representative to the
BWI Federation parliament. Turks & Caicos therefore
had no choice but to seek a special position within the
Federation, which limited its ability to become a full member
of the Federation as Jamaica was.
Under the administration of Jamaica, the TCI suffered
major political and economic injustices. Politically,
the Islands did not receive adequate representation. The
governor of Jamaica, who was also responsible for the
TCI, was seated in Jamaica and made decisions about the
Islands without consulting the TCI representatives who,
on occasions, had to travel by sloops to Jamaica and
missed many sittings of the Jamaican House of Assembly.
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