December 3, 2011Dear Sir,I just finished reading a report online about Turks and Caicos Islands which is quite an eye opener.Apparently the British Government didn’t want to pay for the Royal Commission of Inquiry because they themselves were in a financial mess, and at one point, expected the people of TCI to pay for the investigation.Here are some excerpts from this House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee report entitled Conclusions and Recommendations:“Twelve months have passed since Sir Robin Auld produced his interim report, and as yet no decisive action has been taken to proceed against those politicians and others suspected of serious corruption. We further conclude that, the longer this damaging delay continues, the greater the risk that the moves to eradicate corruption from public life in TCI may founder, not least by enabling some of the individuals potentially facing investigation to liquidate their assets and put funds beyond the reach of the authorities. There is also a real risk that the delay may lead to a perception that nothing is being done, thereby resulting in the loss of public confidence, and subsequently the cooperation of the residents of the TCI, both of which are essential in order to pursue successful prosecutions. (Paragraph 31)“The report went on to say:“The UK Government, having intervened in the Turks and Caicos Islands, has a responsibility to follow through with the required financial commitment. Not to do so would be to risk the UK Government’s credibility in its use of reserved powers. Fourth, it is unreasonable to expect the small population of the TCI to bear the financial burden, through debt or taxation, for funding the investigation and prosecution of corruption for which they were not responsible. We recommend that the UK Government fully fund the work of the SIPT or risk severely undermining its own credibility in its use of reserved powers, both in the TCI and in all the Overseas Territories. (Paragraph 33) “And:“We conclude that Sir Robin Auld’s comments in his letter to the Foreign Secretary of 23 March reinforce our own conclusions set out in this Report. We urge the Government to commit the resources necessary to ensure that the process of reform in the Turks and Caicos Islands does not unravel, at a great cost to the international reputation of the United Kingdom. (Paragraph 36) “Mr Editor, this report is too long to include all in this letter and my point is to ask the question: “Could this possibly be the reason we have not had a Royal Commission of Inquiry here in Bermuda is because the UK are:(a) Hoping that we go Independent then they will not have to worry about us and they can save face because if it turns out that we do have the same corruption problems as TCI, it will show that they, the UK have not been monitoring their territories as well as they should have been and this would prove a disgrace to them on the international scene, or:(b) They don’t have the money to fund a RCI which is so desperately needed to get some answers to the many unanswered questions that are still floating around.If there is a possibility that Britain is hoping we become independent and are they helping the PLP for us to become independent so that they can get themselves off the hook by ignoring their responsibilities to us as an overseas territory? If this is the case, then we should be beating down the doors at 10 Downing Street and the House of Commons, because Britain is the Mother Country and only Britain is responsible for our well-being and should be monitoring our affairs to see that we have good governance and a Government that is not corrupt.I believe there is ample justification for an inquiry in Bermuda similar to the TCI inquiry. There are too many unanswered questions about the use of public money in recent years.What we need is Britain to follow the money trail and the people of Bermuda should make sure they do. Too many Bermudians have complained to Britain and the Governor to no avail, so you have to ask why is this situation allowed to happen.If anyone wants to read this report in its entirety, go on line and type in www.parliament.uk and do a search for Foreign Affairs Committee: Reports & Publications. Scroll down to “Previous Sessions”, click on the dates 2009-2010 which will take you to Reports. Click on “Seventh Report Turks and Caicos, then click on Conclusions and Recommendations.Bermuda, wake up. The alarm clock has been buzzing for some time now.PAT FERGUSONWarwick