Dear Editor,
This is an open letter to Mr Charles Washington Misick, finance minister of the TCI.
Dear Sir,
If you managed to fool the Jamaica Observer into believing that you did not mean it when you said that foreigners wanting to celebrate their national cultures should stay away from the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), then please be assured that I and many others living here are not fooled.
I have lived too long in these islands and heard your comments over the years not to know that you meant every word of your very unfortunate statement which has betrayed your insularity and arrogance towards foreigners working here.
Furthermore, your sentiments are widely shared among your parliamentary colleagues who cheered and banged the desks as you spoke last month.
As a Jamaican I have experienced this insularity and arrogance from Government officials who seem to tolerate foreigners only because the TCI is woefully short of qualified professionals to fill critical positions in many areas of the country.
It is strange how you and others of your ilk speak out of two sides of your mouth in acknowledging from time to time that the TCI could not run without expatriates, but continue to begrudge our presence.
Jamaicans here have been making a significant contribution to the growth and development of the Turks and Caicos. Some of us came here when there were no paved roads. We were happy to find employment and a chance to make a decent living.
What we did not expect is that a minister of government would adopt such an asinine position towards people helping to build his own country. Your statement is immature, puerile and shows that you all have a lot of growing up to do.
Please remember, sir, that many TCI Belongers are now living overseas, including in Caribbean countries such as Jamaica. Should their adopted country forbid them from celebrating TCI culture? Would you like to see your compatriots treated in such a manner as if they are outcasts?
Aren't you being hypocritical in telling the newspaper that while you lived in Jamaica nobody made you feel like a foreigner, yet you are telling us who live here that we are unwanted?
You have made your country and yourself look small and parochial in the eyes of the world. If you had any wisdom whatsoever, you would seek to build a truly multi-cultural society in the TCI in which you embrace those who come with their skills and investments, and yes, their cultures too.
Devon Raul Duncan
Providenciales
PS: You know this could not be my real name. You guys are well-known for yanking or not renewing foreigners' work permit for the most petty reason.
Such an asinine position, Mr Misick
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This is an open letter to Mr Charles Washington Misick, finance minister of the TCI.
Dear Sir,
If you managed to fool the Jamaica Observer into believing that you did not mean it when you said that foreigners wanting to celebrate their national cultures should stay away from the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), then please be assured that I and many others living here are not fooled.
I have lived too long in these islands and heard your comments over the years not to know that you meant every word of your very unfortunate statement which has betrayed your insularity and arrogance towards foreigners working here.
Furthermore, your sentiments are widely shared among your parliamentary colleagues who cheered and banged the desks as you spoke last month.
As a Jamaican I have experienced this insularity and arrogance from Government officials who seem to tolerate foreigners only because the TCI is woefully short of qualified professionals to fill critical positions in many areas of the country.
It is strange how you and others of your ilk speak out of two sides of your mouth in acknowledging from time to time that the TCI could not run without expatriates, but continue to begrudge our presence.
Jamaicans here have been making a significant contribution to the growth and development of the Turks and Caicos. Some of us came here when there were no paved roads. We were happy to find employment and a chance to make a decent living.
What we did not expect is that a minister of government would adopt such an asinine position towards people helping to build his own country. Your statement is immature, puerile and shows that you all have a lot of growing up to do.
Please remember, sir, that many TCI Belongers are now living overseas, including in Caribbean countries such as Jamaica. Should their adopted country forbid them from celebrating TCI culture? Would you like to see your compatriots treated in such a manner as if they are outcasts?
Aren't you being hypocritical in telling the newspaper that while you lived in Jamaica nobody made you feel like a foreigner, yet you are telling us who live here that we are unwanted?
You have made your country and yourself look small and parochial in the eyes of the world. If you had any wisdom whatsoever, you would seek to build a truly multi-cultural society in the TCI in which you embrace those who come with their skills and investments, and yes, their cultures too.
Devon Raul Duncan
Providenciales
PS: You know this could not be my real name. You guys are well-known for yanking or not renewing foreigners' work permit for the most petty reason.
Such an asinine position, Mr Misick
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