TCI politicians criticise pay cut

Several politicians in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) are criticising the move to cut the salaries of civil servants by 10 per cent.



In announcing the cuts, the governor\'s office said some reduction in the civil service is inevitable, and has pointed out that 65 per cent of the current government income is being consumed by public sector wages.



However, Progressive National Party leader Galmo Williams is blaming the interim government headed by Governor Gordon Wetherall for stalling the economy of the TCI and reducing government revenue by some $40 million annually.



The two main parties in the territory held a major demonstration last week against direct rule imposed by Britain after it suspended the TCI constitution last August.



The move followed a commission of inquiry which reported evidence of corruption in the then government that was headed by Premier Michael Misick of the Progressive National Party.