BY Hayden Boyce
SUN Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

The salaries and wages of all Government workers in the Turks and Caicos Islands, as well as allocations to statutory boards and other public bodies, will be cut by ten (10) percent from next month.

This was announced by Governor Gordon Wetherell and Chief Executive Mark Capes, who issued separate statements on Tuesday March 9, 2010 saying the decision was taken because government is effectively broke and is having difficulty securing credit.

“This has not been an easy decision to take,” the Governor said. “It is cold comfort that other governments (including Anguilla, Cayman Islands and Greece) have recently taken, or are considering, similar measures. But the pressures on our cash flow are acute. While I can assure public servants that it is our objective to restore salaries and wages as soon as a sustainable fiscal position permits, I hope they will understand that there is no realistic alternative to taking this action at this time if we are to succeed in restoring public finances to good health and achieve long term prosperity.”