| Government mum on Shore Club amount | | Print | |
| Written by Richard Green/richard@fptci.com | |||
| Thursday, 21 July 2011 09:18 | |||
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Despite requests from journalists and some members of the public, the interim government refuses to say how much was the “significant financial contribution” paid by the Shore Club developer to settle property questions that had held up the development. The Turks and Caicos Islands doesn’t have a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but even if it had the same law as the U.K., the government would not be required to disclose the amount, according to the Attorney General’s Office. “Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interest of any person, (including the public authority holding it),” says one section of the U.K.’s FOIA. Another part of the act says “information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to prejudice (a) the economic interest of the United Kingdom or of any part of the United Kingdom, or (b) the financial interest of any administration in the United Kingdom.” A Civil Recovery Team of lawyers was hired by the interim government in part to investigate Crown land transactions and to recover land and money due the government, including arrears and underpayments of various types. In relation to the Shore Club, the team has filed two civil actions against people who got inexpensive Crown land under the pretense of building homes, then flipped the property to developer Stan Hartling for millions of dollars. Hartling has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Clyde Robinson is accused of getting a piece of Crown land in March 2007 for $70,000 and with the aid of his wife selling it for $1.5 million while he was the country’s planning director. Richardson Arthur is accused of getting title to Crown land in January 2008 for $50,000 and flipping it two months later for $1.35 million. Those cases are pending. In March, team lead lawyer Laurence Harris said more than $3 million had been recovered in confidential settlements, and that another several million was expected in more than 50 pending cases. Harris would not reveal information about the cases that have been settled without court action, saying that maintaining confidentiality can encourage people and businesses to settle out of court, saving time and money. Even when court actions are involved, out-of-court settlements can be confidential and amounts paid are not revealed. The U.K.’s FOIA has only been in full effect since 2005, while those laws in the United States have been in effect for nearly 50 years. Even though U.S. laws are much more open, most of those wouldn’t require disclosure in a case like that of the Shore Club. The TCI has never had an FOIA, but the 2002 Constitutional Commission recommended one, and both political parties renewed that call in September in their All-Party Commission report on the Constitution and election reform. The new Constitution requires that government enact an FOIA, but that is not one of the milestones set by the U.K. for the return of elected government to the TCI. The interim government has been accused of not being transparent enough for some, but it remains to be seen if the interim government will consider enacting an FOIA or leave that work to the next elected government.
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