The Buildings We Pretend Not to See And the Ones We Need for Our People

If you drive just 200 meters down Good Book Road, off Millennium Highway, you’ll find two buildings that say more about the state of our country than any policy document ever could. They are half‑finished, half‑abandoned, and yet fully occupied. Families live inside. Businesses operate from them. And for more than a decade, no one from the Physical Planning Department has intervened.

This is not a hidden corner. It is surrounded by new construction.Which means the truth is simple: we all see these buildings — we just pretend not to. Across Turks and Caicos, unsafe and unregulated structures sit in plain sight. Some apartments are improvised carved into tiny, airless rooms. Some are unfinished shells that have become permanent homes. Some are structurally compromised and would be condemned anywhere else in the region.

And yet they remain. Not because we lack laws — but because we lack enforcement. 

We Have Building Codes. We Just Don’t Apply Them

TCI has:

• A Physical Planning Ordinance

• A Building Code based on regional standards

• Mandatory inspections

• Requirements for Occupancy Certificates

But many buildings in daily use have never passed a single inspection.Some never had a permit. Some were approved on paper but never checked again. This is not just a regulatory lapse. It is a public safety risk, especially in a hurricane zone.

How Did We Get Here?

The reasons are familiar:

• Rapid development outpacing government capacity

• Too few inspectors for too many projects

• A culture of “build first, regularize later”

• Political reluctance to confront informal housing

• No system of random or periodic inspections

The result is a two‑tier-built environment: one modern and regulated, the other improvised and invisible.

But here is the part we rarely say: the people living in unsafe buildings are not the problem — they are the victims of a broken system.

The Buildings We Should Be Building

While unsafe structures linger, something else is happening across the country: Boutique hotels are springing up with modern, efficient housing camps.

These developments use:

• Prefab units

• Snap‑on construction

• Flat‑pack systems

• Modular container‑based housing

• Rapid‑assembly worker accommodations

They are cost‑effective, hurricane‑resistant, and can be built in weeks, not years.

And here are the questions that should shake us awake:

• If these methods are good enough for hotels and developers, why aren’t they good enough for our own people?

• Why can’t a Turks Islander with land build a safe, modern, affordable home using the same systems?

• Why can’t a young family use prefab construction to build a starter home?

• Why can’t a landowner create a few rental units — legally, safely, and quickly — using modular designs?

This one policy change would do more for empowerment than any speech or slogan.

Land Ownership → Home Ownership → Wealth Building → Generational Wealth.

Allowing citizens to use modern prefab and modular construction would:

• Lower the cost of building

• Speed up construction timelines

• Reduce unsafe informal housing

• Expand rental supply

• Increase homeownership

• Strengthen family wealth

• Build communities in months, not decades

And no, this does not mean using abandoned shipping containers as makeshift homes. Those should be used for storage, not living.

We are talking about engineered, certified, purpose‑built modular housing — the same systems already used by hotels, resorts, and construction camps.

Whole communities could be built in a few months. Affordable housing would no longer be a burden on the government. It would become a partnership with citizens, powered by modern building technology.

A National Correction Plan: Fair, Firm, and Long Overdue

Fixing unsafe buildings and enabling modern construction are not separate issues. They are two sides of the same national responsibility.

Here is a fair‑minded, balanced correction plan that protects citizens while restoring standards:

1. A National Building Audit (12–18 months)

A structured, island‑wide inspection program to identify:

• Safe buildings

• Repairable buildings

• Dangerous structures

This gives us a full national inventory.

2. Three Tiers of Action

   
   

Tier 1 — Compliant. No action needed.

Tier 2 — Non‑compliant but repairable. Owners receive a correction notice and 6–24 months to fix issues.

Support includes:

• Low‑interest repair loans

• Technical guidance

• Payment plans for fees

Tier 3 — Dangerous structuresIf a building is structurally unsound or impossible to bring into compliance, it must be condemned and removed.Residents receive relocation support.

3. A One‑Time Amnesty for Unpermitted Buildings

Many people inherited or unknowingly purchased non‑compliant structures.A national amnesty allows them to regularize without fear.

4. Strengthen the Planning Department

• More inspectors

• Digital tracking

• Mandatory re‑inspections every five years

• A public database of occupancy certificates

This is how you rebuild trust.

What are OUR choices as a People and a Nation

We can continue pretending not to see the buildings that are falling apart. Or we can choose to build the ones our people actually need.

We can keep allowing unsafe, unregulated structures to multiply. Or we can empower citizens with modern, affordable, hurricane‑resistant housing. We can wait for tragedy to force action. Or we can act now — with fairness, compassion, and discipline.

The buildings on Good Book Road are warnings. The prefab communities rising around boutique hotels are opportunities.

The question is whether we have the courage to stop ignoring the first and start embracing the second.