None of the Arawak Indians, who occupied the islands when Columbus first discovered them, survived the 16th century. Until the 19th century, the islands were a source of salt for the American mainland, with slaves being used as labor. During the 19th century, control of the islands changed hands several times. In 1962, having been a Jamaican dependency for some 75 years, the Turks & Caicos Islands became a separate British Colony – a status that it retains to this day.
The islands held their first general election in 1976, and the winning party, the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM),
pursued a policy of full independence for the islands. The next election, in 1980, was effectively a referendum on the independence issue and was won by the anti-independence Progressive National Party (PNP), which claimed victory again four years later. Since then, the PDM and PNP have enjoyed a duopoly of power which was only briefly challenged in the late-1980s by the National Democratic Alliance , which has since faded from the political scene. The PDM under Derek Taylor won both the 1995 and 1999 polls, but the most recent election in 2003 narrowly returned the PNP to office. PNP leader Washington Missick, who served a term as Chief Minister in the early 1990s, was appointed once again.
High-level corruption, usually related to drug trafficking and/or money laundering, is fairly common in the Caribbean - and the Turks & Caicos have not been immune from it. Since the international crackdown initiated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, representing the world’s leading industrial economies) in the mid-1990s, several Caribbean countries specializing in offshore financing, including the Turks & Caicos, have come under pressure to introduce tougher sanctions against money laundering. As a British colony, the Turks & Caicos could hardly defy the OECD, but it faced a dilemma familiar to many small island states seeking to boost their economies through offshore financial services – how to stamp out criminal activity without deterring investors looking for financial privacy.
Government
The British Monarch is Head of State, represented locally by a Governor who is responsible for defense and foreign affairs as well as internal security. The internal government comprises Legislative and Executive Councils. The former consists of a speaker, three ex-officio members of the Executive Council, three appointees, and 11 members elected by universal adult suffrage. The Executive Council consists of a Chief Minister and four other Ministers drawn from the Legislative Council, plus three appointees to the posts of Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary and Attorney-General.
EconomySince salt mining went into decline in the mid 1960s, and finally ceased during the 1990s, the Turks & Caicos Islands have relied on tourism and offshore financial services for most of their income.
There is little agriculture but the sizeable fishing industry is both a major contributor to the islands’ food requirements and a valuable export earner - particularly from the USA, which buys much of the catch. The only other notable industry is construction, which is largely geared towards improving tourism infrastructure.
In the mid 1980s, measures were introduced by the government to attract an offshore financial services industry and these have met with reasonable success. Unfortunately, it brought laundered money and illicit capital fleeing from elsewhere. Under pressure from London and, more publicly, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the government has now introduced a tighter regulatory structure to prevent fraud and money-laundering.
Meanwhile, it has refocused on tourism as the key to the islands’ future economic well-being. The sector is now worth about US$500 million to the islands’ economy. Despite receipts from tourism and the financial service, some aid from the UK is still needed to balance the budget and fund capital projects.
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