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Speech Delivered at the PDM’s National Convention By Hon. Edwin Astwood

I want to promote learning through every stage of life -training, re-training, reeducating, reskilling, and requalifying.

Now let me tell you Why I am running for Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands.

“I’m running so that we can keep moving towards a future where we control the economy of our Turks and Caicos Islands. A future where our children are the majority business and homeowners, and the millionaires in our country, where every Turks and Caicos Islander is fully Empowered.”


“I’m running to ensure that our people can feel safe and secure in their homes, in our communities, and in our country. I want the TCI to have the capabilities to detect and intercept any illegal vessel entering our waters. With all the technology that is available to us, there is no reason why those tools should not be acquired and utilized to protect our people and our borders.”


“I am running so that our country will have a government that optimally funds our police department and other law enforcement agencies- with the much-needed manpower and equipment that would truly allow them to tackle the violent crime crises, and that would truly allow them to stop the nightly illegal entries. I want to put in place the strongest Border security measures in place in the history of our country. I want to make the TCI safe again… That’s why I am running.”


“I’m running to ensure that we can have a health care system that truly saves the lives of our people. A Healthcare system that is focused on disease prevention and early detection, that is focused on healing and curing, and one that is focused on making our people well. That’s what’s at stake in this election. …….That’s why I am running.”


“I’m running to make sure that our people can afford to live in their country, not have to pack up their kids and migrate to England for a better life and better opportunities, and not being “priced out of Paradise”…….. That’s why I am running.”


“I’m running to make sure that by 2030, percentage-wise - more of our citizens will hold a University degree and professional qualifications than any other nation in the world. I want to help our schools hire and reward the best-trained teachers and professional lecturers, especially in Business and technology. That is why I am running for Premier.”


“I want to give at least Three Hundred more Turks and Caicos Islanders the chance to go to universities and learn the skills that our Health sector, our Education sector, our Tourism sector, and our business sector are looking for right now. That means increasing the Budgetary allocations for scholarships from the $3M it is now ….to $12M, a $9M increase. … That is why I am running.”


In this year 2024 and beyond, getting a scholarship for higher education or retraining cannot be an exception, or just for a select few - it must now be the rule, and it must be a budgetary imperative that every Turks and Caicos Islander should have easy access in obtaining- both the high school leavers and our working population. ……That is why I am running for Premier.


I want to promote learning through every stage of life -training, re-training, reeducating, reskilling, and requalifying. I want the Turks & Caicos Islands to be the top country in the world with the highest concentration of PhD and Doctorate graduates.


“I’m running to ensure that our People and our country will have a Warrier as Premier, one who will fight, not only for my children but also for your children, so that they will have a better present and a better future. Our country cannot afford to have another 4 years of such a weak, sleepy, and uncaring Premier;

That’s the choice in this election. That’s why I’m running for Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands.


“On issue after issue, we can’t afford to spend the next four years going backward. Turks and Caicos don’t need to re-fight the battles of the past and move backward.


We have to do things together -- not like the Premier and his PNP Ministers who only do things to benefit themselves or a particular individual. Nonetheless, we have to do things that make all of our people richer, do them because they give all of us opportunities, do them Because they moved all of us forward together -- as one people, as one nation: Forward Together, Forward Ever, Backward Never.


The other Party won’t offer a better vision or a new set of ideas. But ……they will be spending more money than we’ve ever seen before on buying votes, because they have failed the people and the country- over and over again, on issue after issue, in crisis after crisis. So, the only chance is to try to buy as many votes as they possibly can.


I am a strong believer that our PDM Party is at its best when we harness the God-given talents of every individual Member; when we hear every voice; and when we come together as one Movement, striving for the same dream, and when we are determined to win.


“That’s what we’re fighting for PDMs. That is what I am fighting for as Leader of our Great PDM Party. With your help, and our industry - let us create A bold and daring Turks & Caicos; A competitive and viable Turks & Caicos; A forward-looking Turks & Caicos; and A forward-thinking Turks & Caicos: Where all of our people have a chance to make of their life what they will; and have a chance for the pursuit of happiness, and a chance for the pursuit of wellness. I want to make us the envy of the Region. The best Island Nation on the Planet.

That’s why I’m running for Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands.”


Throughout the country, Our People are asking us plainly, - Do you PDMs, have a plan to fix our Problems; to Grow the Economy, to tackle Crime, to combat Illegal Immigration, to adjust the cost of Living, to develop Affordable Housing, to direct Access to Capital, to fix our Health Care, to expand school and training opportunities?


“The other side won’t be offering our Turks and Caicos people any real answers to these questions. The other side is incapable of offering our Turks and Caicos people a real solution to these questions.


Time and Time again we have seen this current PNP Premier and his Ministers hide from addressing every issue facing our people. I can't say that they disappear when the going gets tough, because to DISAPPEAR you have to first APPEAR. And “appear” they never do.


“And that is why I need your help. My PDM family, My Turks & Caicos Family, this election will be the most important in our lifetime.


 It will determine either the fortunes or the misfortunes of our people for the next 100 years; It will decide whether or not our children will have a place in their own country; It will decide whether or not Turks and Caicos Islands still belong to Turks & Caicos Islanders.  


Too many of our people are still dying from cancer and lifestyle disorders, Too many of our young men are losing their lives from crime and violence, Too many of our friends are falling behind in bills, Too many of our neighbors are losing their homes, Too many of our families are migrating out of our country, and too many of our students are not returning.


I’ve heard from too many people throughout our Islands, wondering why they haven’t been able to get one of the many jobs that are been advertised by both the government and the private sector; wondering why they haven’t been able to get one of the many Contracts that are been advertised by both the government and the private sector; why their home is up for sale; why their family member hasn’t yet received the necessary health care that they so desperately need; why their child cannot get a scholarship. Our people need a bold and fearless Government that will fight for the things that are important to them.


That is what the issues are in this election, and that’s truly why the country needs me as the next Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands..


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