On July 1, 2005, the Retention Tax Ordinance 2005 (RTO) came into force. The RTO brings into Turks & Caicos Islands law the provisions of the European Savings Tax Directive (ESD). The ESD is an agreement between the member states of the European Union (EU) to exchange information automatically with each other about customers who earn savings income in one EU member state but live in another. The idea behind the ESD is to ensure that individuals who live in one EU member state do not receive savings income in another EU member state without the tax authority in their home country knowing about it.

This automatic exchange of information is currently taking place in all but three of the EU member states, namely Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg. Those states have decided to choose a “withholding tax option” rather than an automatic exchange of information. This is the option that the Turks & Caicos Islands government has chosen.

What has this got to do with the Turks & Caicos Islands?
It may seem very strange that the Turks & Caicos Islands now have a law implementing a directive from the EU when the TCI is neither an EU member state or even in Europe. The reason for this is that each EU state agreed that as well as implementing the directive in their country, they would also ensure that it was implemented in any stateÕs Crown, Dependent or Overseas Territory.

Who does this law affect?
The only people (and it is individual people, not companies) that are affected by this law are those who are resident for tax purposes in an EU member state and receive savings income in the Turks & Caicos Islands. It does not apply to anybody who is resident outside the EU. Therefore, the legislation will not affect Turks & Caicos Islanders even if they hold a UK passport as long as they reside in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

If the RTO does apply to you, what does it actually mean?
The RTO provides that the paying agent (i.e. your bank or savings institution) must automatically deduct tax from savings income that you receive on your account or investment with them. This withholding tax is paid to the TCI government who then forwards payments to the relevant EU member states. The current rate of withholding tax is 15%. This will rise to 20% on January 1, 2008 and, finally, to 35% on January 1, 2011.

The advantage of using the retention tax option is that your confidence is maintained. However, under the RTO, you can avoid the tax being imposed on your savings income. To do this you would need to authorise your paying agent to forward details about yourself and your account to the TCI government, who would then pass the information on to the tax authority in the EU state where you reside. There may be other ways to avoid the provisions of the RTO, but these would depend on an individual’s circumstances and would require professional advice.

What is savings income?
The detail of what payments qualify as savings income for the purpose of the RTO is outside the scope of this article. If you are in any doubt as to whether or not tax is going to be retained from any investment you have within the Turks & Caicos Islands, you should contact your bank or other financial service provider. However, in brief, the main categories of savings income are:

(A) Interest paid out on a debt claim or credited to accounts;
(B) Interest rolled up and paid out when a debt claim is repaid or sold;
(C) Distribution made by some units trusts and other collective investment funds which have invested more than 15% of their investments in debt claims;
(D) Accumulated income paid out when units in certain collective investment funds that have more than 40% of their investment in debt claims are redeemed and sold.

What this actually means is that savings income is essentially interest earned on bank deposits; interest from and proceeds on the sale and redemption of certain bonds; and income from certain types of investment funds (usually open ended money market retail funds). Most other types of income such as dividends on shares, salaries and pension payment will not be covered by the RTO and no tax will be imposed.

Is this law fair?
Nobody likes paying tax. However, EU governments would argue that if you reside in an EU member state and benefit from services provided by government, why should you be able to avoid your tax liability by simply investing in a foreign country? Others would say that this is simply a way of expanding the tax powers of EU states’ taxing authorities and is an unwelcome erosion of individual freedom and privacy. Whichever argument you support, it is unlikely that this will be the last attempt by governments in high tax jurisdictions — be they in Europe or North America — to seek the assistance of other countries in order to maximise their tax revenue from income earned by a tax payer whether in their country of residence or elsewhere.

Jonathan Katan is an attorney with the firm McLeans International Attorneys practicing in all aspects of corporate and commercial law, real estate and development.

He can be contacted at katan@mcleanslaw.com or (649) 946-4277.

They are the planet’s greatest travelers, following well-worn paths across continents and around the globe. Some routes are literally beaten into the ground. Others are invisible trails in the air or on the water.

The travelers are long-distance wildlife migrants: geese, cranes, butterflies, whales, caribou and songbirds. Their annual journeys are events of power and profound mystery. Who hasn’t been moved by the sound of migrating geese honking high overhead on a chilly spring night? The naturalist Aldo Leopold called it “goose music,” a sound that stirs a primordial nomadic urge to join in that powerful desire to be somewhere else.

We can’t follow the geese, but it’s possible to put ourselves in the flow, and perhaps tag along for a short distance. And in the months of January to March, the Columbus Passage between South Caicos and Grand Turk, in the Turks & Caicos Islands, is a good place to follow Atlantic Humpback whales, as they migrate from their feeding grounds to calfing grounds.

We all anxiously scanned the horizon off Grand Turk. A gull hovered over the bow, twisting its head back and forth, begging for a handout. With a shriek, it flapped away, presumably looking for the richer pickings of a fishing trawler. The ocean seemed empty.

“Oh, my God,” a woman suddenly exclaimed. Rising out of the water, a jump away from the side of our boat, was an enormous black head, the corrugated white chin festooned with barnacles. It was the size of an automobile. For some 30 seconds the head stayed there, then, slowly, it sank and was gone.

Whales have swum so long in our subconscious that actually seeing one, so familiar and yet so awe-inspiring, is vaguely disturbing. Your mind skitters from the reality of a creature twice the length of your house.

Armed with cameras instead of harpoons, nature lovers still visit the sea off the Turks & Caicos Islands in search of one of the largest creatures on earth. These mystical monster-mammals regularly lure the adventurous out onto the seas to view them, twisting the senses and tossing the stomach, all in a quest for a view of the animals that drove Ahab mad.

There has long been an almost mystical connection between humans and whales. They are, for instance, the first animals mentioned in the Bible: “And God created great whales.” (Genesis 1:21) With their gargantuan shapes hinting at a similar largeness of spirit, whales captivate humans, as do few other animals.

Whale evolution
All sea mammals are descended from land-based ancestors. Even the air-breathing whale, with its fish-like shape, has ancestors that walked on land on four legs.

Researchers have recently uncovered a 50 million year-old fossil in Pakistan that appears to be a “missing link” in whale evolution. The newly discovered animal, named Ambulocetus natans, was able to move both on land and in the sea. It apparently swam in a way that combined the methods of modern otters and seals — by flexing its spinal column and paddling with its back feet. It did not have the characteristic fluke of modern-day whales, but perhaps moved its spine up and down, as they do. In today’s whales, this energy is transmitted to tail flukes, which dramatically move enormous quantities of water and propel the animal forward.

How the land-based mammal got into the sea involves a fascinating story of evolution. Some 60 million years ago, ancestors of modern-day whales were four-legged animals living on the shores of estuaries and lagoons, where an abundance of fish and shrimp enticed them to try wading. As nature favored those creatures best equipped for swimming, evolution began reshaping them. Some 10 to 15 million years ago, their bodies grew, forelegs shrank into flippers used for balance and steering, and hind legs disappeared.

To propel themselves through water, whales grew tapered tails ending in paddle-like flukes. The nose in most species moved to the top of the head and became separated from the mouth, thereby enabling whales to feed without filling their lungs with seawater and breathe without sticking their heads up.

The insides were restructured too, enabling whales to move, feed and communicate entirely underwater. As a result of these transformations, whales are now helpless on land. If stranded on a beach, they can barely breathe. Unhindered by gravity and with abundant food supplies, whales grew into the largest creatures that have ever lived.

Taking a look
Soon after we were underway on our whale watching excursion from Salt Cay, our guide spoke up: “I’ll explain now what to look for, because when we get out on the open sea, it may get rough. To spot whales, scan the horizon for a misty ‘blow,’ which indicates that a whale or whales are near the surface. Slick spots on the surface of the water may be ‘fluke prints’ — a kind of transient footprint left by a forcefully downward-sweeping fluke.”

He went on to describe some typical whale behaviors to look for:
Spouting: A whale breathes through the blowhole (nostril) on top of its head. The spout is the explosive exhalation of breath through the blowhole upon surfacing from a dive. The moisture-laden air vaporizes into a steamy column. Each whale has its own signature spout in terms of size and shape.
Breaching: This occurs when a whale leaps partially or entirely out of the water and then slams back into the sea with a huge splash. This is a spectacular, exuberant and high-energy display for which there is no single accepted explanation among whale experts. Possibilities include courtship display, warnings to other whales, shaking off parasites, and just plain having fun.
Spyhopping: Some species of whales, including humpbacks, will thrust their heads straight up until their eyes are clear of the surface, basically standing on their tails while looking around. Sometimes they rotate slowly to get a full 360 degree view.

Suddenly, without warning some 200 yards to port, a giant gnarled finger lifted out of the water, probing the air, seeming to beckon, and then sank beneath the waves. The “finger” rose up a second time and then a third, crashing back with a slap that sent water spraying in all directions. It might have been the finger of God, or the hand of fate in a water-sequined black glove. No one onboard said anything.

Our captain explained that we had just seen a whale flipper, belonging to a young male, he reckoned. As he angled the boat in for a closer look, the whale continued to wave its black flipper at us, lolling about in a swell. Engine idling, we waited for the magnificent creature to breach, although evidently he had other things on his mind.

Question: Does whale watching bother the whales? The nearly unanimous answer by whale experts, is no, so long as it is done responsibly. The great majority of whale-watching operators are careful to follow the National Marine Fisheries Services whale-watching guidelines.

Before we knew it, it was time for our boat to head back. A person is fortunate indeed if she or he witnesses a full display of whale antics. But be advised: everything does not happen on one trip out. You will probably have to make several trips to see the whole whale “show.” Part of the fun of whale watching is anticipating that particular moment when you may get a spectacular, if rare, visual and/or photographic picture.

February and March are the best months to observe whales off the Turks & Caicos Islands. When a whale-watching outing does encounter whales, the effect on passengers is sometimes overwhelming. Many people don’t really expect to observe a whale, and proximity to the mammals can be jarring.

For all their bulk, whales move through the water like spirits. One will appear– a giant block — and then vanish. You wait for it to reemerge where it disappeared, or close by. But the elusive creature fools you, emerging in its own good time, where and when it chooses. Singly, in a group, swarming around the boat, or swimming on the horizon, there is no getting away from the magnitude of whales.

Whale watching has done much to educate the public about the plight of whales. The more people know about these graceful creatures and the oceans they live in, the better off the environment is likely to be.

But while our concern for whales is helping save them from extinction by commercial hunting, we must at the same time ask how are they to survive if we destroy the oceans themselves? Pollution has, in fact, replaced the harpoon as a mortal threat to whales and in its own way can be far more deadly. If we ignore the dangers of tanker spills, industrial contamination and human carelessness, then nothing can really be done to save the whales.

If the whales someday are gone, gone too will be the poetry and symbolism that whales provide. By respecting their right to live and coexist peacefully with us, there is at least a possibility that we can find harmony with our environment and our fellow creatures, and perhaps even with ourselves.

Joe Zentner is a 63-year-old burned-out professor and freelance writer who, because of extreme insomnia, writes only between the hours of 2 and 7 AM. He is fond of watching reruns of the Beverly Hillbillies and drinking Grey Goose vodka. His most recent contribution to the literary world was the article “Monument Valley, Filmmaking and Mythology,” published in Desert USA. Joe and his wife Mary Syrett regularly visit the Islands; however, because of an extremely spoiled elderly cat named Babe, who eats only selected pieces of albacore tuna, they usually don’t stay very long.

Sharks have inhabited the planet for millions of years and are one of the oldest groups of animals found on earth today. During this time, their evolutionary adaptations have allowed them to inhabit most of the ocean’s habitats, ranging from shallow coastal waters to the deepest trenches and everything else in between. Some species are even found in freshwater lakes and rivers hundreds of miles from the ocean.

Sharks are generally regarded as apex predators, meaning that they are found at the end of the food chain and have few natural predators themselves. Animals that hold such a position play a crucial role in maintaining the health of an ecosystem. However, apex predators tend to naturally have small population sizes, due mainly to the fact that evolutionary pressure has not forced them to cope with high levels of predation.

This “approach” has served sharks well for millennia. However, shark populations around the world are facing collapse, and even extinction. The reason, as you may have guessed, is because of increased exploitation and degradation of the marine habitat by man.

Unlike many fish species, sharks grow slowly and produce very few young. In fact, the life histories of sharks have more in common with mammals such as whales and dolphins than with other fish. Therefore, even at moderate levels of exploitation, sharks are unable to replenish their stocks and most shark fisheries have a history of “boom and bust,” i.e. a short period of large landings followed by complete collapse of the fishery.

So, why should we be concerned about the decimation of shark populations around the world? Aren’t they just nasty creatures that swim around feeding on lucrative fish species and attacking people when they get the chance? Well, people have certainly lost their lives and limbs to sharks, but it’s actually a very small number when compared with the annual number of deaths caused by other animals such as dogs, wasps, and even donkeys! The fact of the matter is that sharks are generally very shy creatures which normally shun human contact. Most shark bites occur because sharks are attracted to dead fish being carried along by a diver/swimmer, or because people start harassing the shark by following it or trying to pet it.

As apex predators, sharks play important ecological roles. For example, certain species of shark may feed on a particular species of fish, which may in turn feed on other fish/marine species. If the shark population is depleted, the fish species it normally feeds on increases dramatically, and then the other fish/marine species further down the food chain get eaten very quickly, resulting in those populations crashing as well. So, by removing sharks from the ecosystem there is a knock-on effect which removes other species too. When these other species are commercially important, it can have serious consequences. For example, there is one case in Australia where a local shark population was over-fished, and it had a knock-on effect of reducing local lobster numbers, eventually putting the commercial lobster fishery in jeopardy.

Over decades of marine research it has become apparent that the only successful approach to managing our marine resources is to take an ecosystem-wide approach. It is simply not effective to look at a single species in isolation; we must understand its relationships with other species and the environment in general. The School for Field Studies (SFS) on South Caicos has therefore initiated research into apex predator species such as barracuda and sharks, in the hope that it will shed some light on the importance of these fish in maintaining the health of the local ecosystem and, ultimately, the local commercial fisheries.

Shark research at SFS is dominated by the lemon shark, for the Caicos Bank plays a very important role in the life-cycle of this species. Early in summer, pregnant female lemon sharks come into the shallow coastal waters of the TCI where they give birth to a small number of shark pups. The pups then remain in the shallow waters of the sand banks and mangroves, where they are protected from larger predators, until they are large enough to move out into deeper water. The area that the shark pups inhabit is referred to as a nursery and the TCI is one of only a handful of lemon shark nursery sites in the world. We are therefore interested in why the sharks are attracted to this area in particular and how they interact with other marine species. We are also interested in finding out how long the sharks remain in the nursery, and whether they favour particular sites or just casually move around.

The research that is conducted involves setting nets at suitable sites around South Caicos. The nets have a mesh size that is large enough to allow other fish species to pass through but which entangle the sharks. Once a shark has been caught it is immediately removed from the net, measured, weighed, its condition noted, a tag is inserted just below the first dorsal fin and finally, the shark is released alive. The tag is marked with a number which allows the shark to be identified if it is caught again. We can therefore determine the movements of individual sharks, as well as calculate their growth rate.

One other component of the project involves studying the stomach contents of the sharks to determine their relationships with other marine species. This involves flushing the shark’s stomach with water — a technique which does not harm the shark — and collecting the food remains which are regurgitated.

The results of the project so far suggest that individual lemon sharks are very site specific, that is to say they “hang out” at preferred locations. Furthermore, their growth rates are faster than has been reported for the species elsewhere, perhaps indicating abundant prey. Analysis of the stomach contents has revealed that these young sharks feed on a variety of small fishes, including bonefish, as well as invertebrate species such as crabs. Although these results are very much preliminary they are already painting an interesting picture. We hope that as we continue to collect data from lemon sharks and other apex predators we will gain a better understanding of the processes at play in the TCI’s marine ecosystem.

Turks & Caicos Sporting Club, Ambergris Cay

Ambergris Cay Turks and Caicos Islands

Have you ever dreamed of having an island all your own . . . a magical place where life blends seamlessly with nature and the term “civilization” is redefined?

Such a place exists on the tiny island of Ambergris Cay, a coda on the southeast end of the Caicos Banks. Here, the Turks & Caicos Sporting Club offers its members a private paradise, where luxury, natural beauty, security and privacy exist in harmony.

Ambergris Cay, Turks & Caicos Islands

Ambergris Cay is an 1,100 acre private residential island with eight miles of waterfront surrounding its shimmering shores. Unoccupied since the British Loyalists left in the late 1700s, TCI resident Henry Mensen and a group of fellow adventurers purchased the cay in 1995. Here, Mensen envisioned a small community of exquisite homes, enhanced by the ultimate in luxuries and sporting amenities. A fortunate partnership several years later turned dream into reality.

Mensen teamed up with developers Dolan, Pollak & Schram (DP&S) to create and market the Turks & Caicos Sporting Club. DP&S is renowned for developing sporting communities on historic properties, with a commitment to preserving their distinct character and environment. With this in mind, more than 30% of Ambergris Cay will be untouched, to protect archaeological ruins and its unique natural landscape, containing flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world.

Managing the Sporting Club is the Greenbrier Resort & Club Management Company, a leader in managing premier sporting clubs and best known for its namesake world-class luxury resort in West Virginia, with experience in the Caribbean at the Deep Water Cay Club on Grand Bahama island.

Accessible only to members, the T & C Sporting Club will include about 425 single-family homes, all with expansive water vistas. According to the Club’s Managing Director Peter Pollak, “These will be true ‘homes’ — not condos, not time-shares, but houses built under strict architectural controls. Because this is an equity club, the homeowners actually do own the land.” Areas are divided into various communities, their names reflecting local flavor.

At the T & C Sporting Club, every activity is designed to highlight an active lifestyle made possible by the island’s natural features and year-round warm climate. Pollak explains, “Our members can swim, snorkel, scuba dive, kayak, kite board, windsurf and sail. The fishing here is superb — reef, deep water and bonefishing alike. We’ll have hiking and biking trails by which they can explore historic sites. The marina will be the hub of boating activities and there will be an equestrian center for riding. Best of all, our experienced guides and naturalist will help residents get the most out of every new experience. Our air taxi service can fly golfers to nearby courses and take members on side trips to other islands.”

But make no mistake, there’s plenty of room for relaxation. Also planned for the cay are a number of member venues, including a lodge, dining facilities (with meals prepared to world-class standards by the in-house chefs), entertainment centers, guest accommodations, concierge service, a European spa, health and fitness center with tennis and squash courts, a swimming pool and an exercise room. The Marina Village will have a general store and shops.

In keeping with the Club’s commitment to privacy and convenience, transportation will center around the Hawkes Nest Marina, with fuel stations, access to club boats, mechanical and maintenance service and a deep water marina that will accommodate 200 foot vessels. The Osprey Airfield will have a 5,700 foot paved jet strip, with customs and immigration office and a welcome center. On-island travel will be by motorized cart.

Peter Pollak says that extensive planning preceded initial marketing and construction of the $110 million project, which he sees as a study in sustainable town planning. “We reviewed developments on other islands to get perspective and see what should be done differently. Both Henry Mensen and Harold Charles provided local knowledge that streamlined our work. We believe that if the base starts correctly, it will generate confidence and success in the long term.”

Guided by Mensen’s initial vision and an approved master plan, the developers commissioned design and building professionals from around the world to execute the various amenities buildings, cottage neighborhoods, landscaped areas and infrastructure. Consistently high standards of building and aesthetic quality are foremost to each phase.

Homesites are being released in stages, by area. The initial offering in January, 2004 was 22 premium seaview homesites in the Le Grand Cottages neighborhood. Located along the northeastern shore with high elevations, these range in price from $525,000 to $795,000. Designed by architect Cooper Johnson Smith with input from renowned fashion designer Adrienne Vittadini, the homes were created to appeal to a cosmopolitan collection of buyers and sold out immediately.

The next release was 30 Calico Jack seaside cottage sites, priced from $595,000 to $950,000. The centerpiece of this area is a beachfront pavilion including casual indoor/outdoor dining, outdoor spa treatment rooms with ocean views, a natural wading pool with waterfall and swimming lagoons. With predesigned 3 and 4 bedroom/3 bathroom cottages featuring panoramic western vistas from every room, the sites are nearly all sold.

Recent releases include the Columbus Beach Cottages and homesites in the Columbus Beach South community (sited atop a high dune with superb oceanfront sunrise and sunset views); the exclusive Hawkins Ridge area (running along the central spine at 93 feet above sea level) and Bonny Cove, hosting five oceanfront, estate-sized sites of seven to eight acres for expanded family compounds with unobstructed views and direct beach access.

As an equity membership club, homeowners purchase the land, plus pay a one-time equity fee, with annual dues. Pollak sees ownership in the T & C Sporting Club as a legacy, to be passed along to a family’s generations. To date, there are over 100 Club members from around the world. Members’ events regularly held off and on-island encourage a sense of community.

Concurrent with land sales, construction commenced on Ambergris Cay in 2004. Malphrus Construction, one of the largest site contractors in the southern U.S., is building the roads, marina and airstrip. In charge of “vertical construction” is JACA TCI Ltd., a construction management company with 100 years of hotel and resort experience, much focused in the Caribbean. As one of the largest undertakings to date in the TCI, all amenities are expected to be in place by the end of 2008, with ongoing home construction.

The LeGrand and Calico Jack villages are expected to be the first to rise. The LeGrand neighborhood features homes designed in the masonry-based “Caicos style.” The Calico Jack village was conceived by local architect Simon Wood in the complementary “Turks style” derived from the techniques of traditional ship building. Together, they establish a broad range of design possibilities available to each member as they design their own homes.

Dan Paquette is DP&S’s VP of Planning and Development. He emphasizes the company’s commitment to sustainable development on the cay’s fragile ecosystem. “We’ve approached the project with respect and sensitivity for the natural environment. Prior to any planning, we commissioned wind/wave studies, botanical surveys and consulted land planners and architects from around the world. We carefully identified, one at a time, each area to be used for development — in fact it took us six months and much debate just to choose a site for the spa! We’ll be producing water using a state of the art reverse osmosis desalination plant, with electricity generated by energy efficient generators backed by wind and solar power. We’ll be reusing ‘gray’ water for landscaping, composting organic waste and incinerating trash using the latest in waste management technology. We want to discover ‘where things belong’ (and where they don’t) and keep them that way.”

For more information or to arrange a visit, stop by the sales office in The Saltmills, Providenciales, call (649) 941-4392 or visit http://tc-sportingclub.com

Photos by Richard Ground

[The men] were very anxious to have women, and on many occasions while it rained, they had sought to find traces of their women, but they were not able to find any news [of them]. But that day when they washed, they saw fall from some trees . . . a certain kind of persons, who were neither men nor women, nor had the sexual parts of either male or female. After they had captured the creatures, they took counsel about how they could make them women . . . They sought a bird whose name is Inriri . . . This bird bores holes in trees, [and in our language is called a woodpecker.] They took the women without sexual parts . . . and they tied their hands and feet. Then they took this bird and tied it to the bodies. Thinking that the creatures were logs, the bird began to do the work to which it was accustomed, boring open and pecking away at the place where the female’s private is usually found. In this way, the Indians had women.

(From the account of Ramon Pane (1497), translated in Cave of the Jagua, Antonio M Stevens-Arroyo, University of New Mexico Press, 1988, p. 169.)

The Spanish recorded about 40 Taino names for birds. It is likely that there were many more named species, but that these did not catch the attention of the chroniclers. Some names were recorded because the birds were similar to those in Europe, so it has been possible to use the published descriptions to decipher their modern common and scientific names. Other birds were described and their names recorded because they were novel. For example, the insectivorous Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophagia ani), a long-tailed, glossy black cuckoo with an extraordinary bill that is deep at the base with a high and thin ridge on top, still bears its Taino name (Ani).

Some birds entered the lexicon through their prominent roles in Taino mythology. The best example is the industrious woodpecker (Inriri). By fashioning women from creatures without genitalia, this bird achieved everlasting esteem in the hearts and minds of men.

In many Taino images, bird motifs are intermixed with human characteristics and these bird images are usually interpreted as a masculine symbol. Specifically, birds with long pointed beaks are quite common in Taino symbolic arts. Stone or ceramic bird faces often display an upturned mouth or beak, large round eyes, a crest on the top of the head, and/or hatching around the face, head, or torso to create the illusion of feathers.

While excavating sites on Middle Caicos in 2000, we lived in the two rooms of the Vera Hamilton Elementary School in Bambarra. True to his morning routine, Keegan fixed a cup of coffee and sat on the front porch to watch the sunrise. It might have been just like every other morning if not for the visitors of the previous day. A representative of the Darwin Initiative (UK) and the Director of the National Trust had visited to consider adding the trail to MC-6 and the south coast to the Crossing Path trail and to look into the possibility of converting the schoolhouse into an interpretation center for tourists. They were very excited when they arrived because on the previous day they had seen a bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) on North Caicos. The male of this species is the smallest known bird in the world. These birds had not been reported in the Islands for many years. So this morning, the tiny black bumblebee that flitted between the small purple flowers of the clearing merited special attention. Its flight pattern was not that of a bee; it clearly was a bird — a bee hummingbird on Middle Caicos.

Oviedo described this bird almost 500 years earlier as ” . . . no larger than the end of the thumb. There is no person who sees it fly but that thinks it is a bumblebee. So swift in flight that it is as impossible to see its wings.” The Taino word for the bee hummingbird was Guani. This is the same word that was used to describe a noble person and the root of the word guanin, the Taino god that was the highest symbol of authority. There are many species of hummingbirds and often the local names begin with the prefix zum- or zun-, apparently a common interpretation of the hummingbird’s hum. One reported Taino name for a hummingbird was Zum-zum, although Colibri and Guacariga also have been reported.

The crescent shape of the hummingbird’s body and their highly iridescent plumage may also have associated it, for the Taino, with the rainbow. The rainbow forms a bridge between the land, sky, and underworld of subterranean waters: the three realms of the Taino cosmos. Animals that move freely between these realms were highly esteemed. Bats hold a special significance because they emerge from caves, the portal to the subterranean world, and enter the sky at night; sea turtles emerge from the sea to nest on land; and birds effortlessly bridge the sky and the earth. Aquatic birds, especially those that enter the water, take it one step further and bridge the water, earth, and sky. These creatures hold a special place in Taino beliefs. Fully one quarter of the birds recorded by the Spanish are associated with water. These include the cormorant (Cuyaya), herons (Yaguasa, Maubeca), American Bittern (Yaboa) and a species of rail whose Taino name is still used today (Sora).

Representations of water birds have been associated with the Taino Water Goddess, Coatrisquie, who gathered the waters and let them flow so they destroyed the countryside. Birds that carry the bitter and destructive waters from the sea to the earth while passing through the sky represented her. The large pelican may be one such representation. They have been tentatively identified on Ostionan style pottery from Puerto Rico, a pottery type that contains very few other zoomorphic representations.

Another category of bird important to Taino mythology was night birds. Night was a dangerous time, a time when only the spirits of the forest (opias) were out and about. These include nighthawks (Querequete), night herons (Yaboa), and, most importantly, owls (Mucaro). Anyone who has spooked a yellow-crowned night heron will attest to the heart-stopping squawk emitted by this bird on a dark night. Imagine trying to sleep in a thatched hut with a yellow-crowned night heron walking across the roof! Owls carry special significance because, like bats, they frequent caves and caverns; their images commonly appear on pottery vessels. Owls can be recognized on modeled pottery “adornos” by their very large round eyes, encircled by an incised ring. They are dwellers of the night with excellent nocturnal vision, with the presumed ability to see into the supernatural. They are the zoomorphic equivalent to a deceased human or ghostly spirit.

One of the most highly esteemed birds for the Taino were parrots — not for their symbolic meaning but for their economic value. Oviedo (1526) claimed that there were”so many different species of parrots that it would be a long task to describe them.” Indeed, Oviedo claimed that 10 to 12 species of parrots were shipped to King Ferdinand in Spain and that many of these could talk. Higuaca was the Taino word for the common green parrots (Amazona sp.). Jajabi referred to smaller parrots, probably parakeets (Aratinga sp.). Macaws (Ara sp.) became extinct in the West Indies in the 19th Century but the Taino had a name for them — guacamayo.

The colored feathers and maybe even the birds themselves were a valuable trade item throughout the West Indies. The Tainos made feathered capes and crowns, and used brightly colored feathers for numerous decorative purposes. A common type of stone pendant has both horizontally and vertically drilled holes. The string for suspending the pendant passed through the horizontal hole, and feathers were inserted into the vertical holes at the top and bottom of the pendant.

With very little effort it is easy to find excellent bird-watching spots in the Turks & Caicos. It also helps to have a good guidebook. The classic for the Islands is Birds of the West Indies by James Bond (Houghton Mifflin, 1961), the ornithologist who provided the name for Ian Fleming’s 007 character. After WW II, Fleming retired from British Intelligence and built his estate, named Goldeneye, on the north shore of Jamaica. Fleming kept a copy of Birds of the West Indies on his kitchen table at Goldeneye, and in 1952 he used this name that was so familiar to him. The real James Bond didn’t meet Ian Fleming until the early 1960s. If you happen upon a copy of the book with its original dust jacket take a look at the author’s photo. The real James Bond bears a striking resemblance to a young Sean Connery.

Dr. Bill Keegan is Curator of Caribbean Archaeology, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Betsy Carlson is an archaeologist with SEARCH, Inc. Gainesville, Florida.

Editor’s Note: An excellent resource for birdwatching in the Islands is The Birds of the Turks & Caicos Islands by Richard Ground (ISBN 976-95079-0-3). Over 190 species are recorded, most illustrated with beautiful full-color pictures by the author. Proceeds from the book’s sale go to the Turks & Caicos National Trust. For ordering information, contact the Trust at 649 941 5710 or email tc.nattrust@tciway.tc.

Mel Gibson, Ben Affleck, Madonna, Donatella Versace, Bruce Willis, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Greg Norman, Bill Gates — with a line of celebrities this long you might think you were standing near the red carpet on Oscar Night. But nowadays, these same people have been seen at the Providenciales International Airport or on nearby ivory beaches.

The Turks & Caicos Islands seemed to have been one of the best kept secrets of the past 30 years. That is fast changing as high-end tourism, offshore investment and some of the prettiest beaches in the world are putting these Islands on the map. Above all, their exclusive ambience is contributing to the quiet growth of the most sophisticated financial sector in the Caribbean.

In less than a decade, the Turks & Caicos Islands have evolved from a tax haven for simple bank deposits into one of the Caribbean’s largest financial centers, specializing in full service stock brokerage and asset management services. The financial sector has proven to be an extremely harmonious marriage with the high end celebrity tourist market, with one encouraging and supporting the other. In doing so, it has conferred several direct and indirect benefits to the economy of the Islands, providing a credible means of development for a country with few appreciable natural resources for growth and diversification.

A Caribbean leader
With thousands of law firms, trust companies and company management firms in the offshore industry, how should investors go about choosing the right firm in the right jurisdiction? In the Turks & Caicos, the belief is that such a decision is really secondary. Instead, investors should be focused on locating the best financial advisors, who can help them build their wealth, not just manage it. The emphasis should not be just the provision of company formation and trust services but rather, providing customized investment advice and value added international financial products that help investors build their wealth.

Offshore professionals witnessed a plethora of wealth managers and brokerage service providers pop up in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, St. Lucia and elsewhere in the Caribbean during the late 1990s. They have all since shuttered their doors, often with unfortunate results for their clients. However, in the Turks & Caicos Islands, you will find a quality brokerage and asset management industry that is strongly supported and regulated by the local government. In fact, many company and trust service providers in the Caribbean region and Europe now direct asset management and brokerage service requirements to the Turks & Caicos Islands for fulfillment.

To properly operate a full service financial firm, particularly at the brokerage level, a massive investment is required in systems infrastructure, personnel and industry expertise. This is the largest barrier to entry of this specialized business and the reason why very few firms in the Caribbean are able to deliver the sophisticated service and execution demanded in the modern investment community.

With that in mind, the Turks & Caicos Islands has positioned itself to be the Caribbean leader for full service brokerage services, mutual funds and asset management. It has made wealth management its primary focus and through its private sector, currently offers the best securities trading execution, investment funds and access to leading money managers in the Caribbean region.

In addition, the costs investors must pay for the professional management of their portfolios is significantly less in the Turks & Caicos Islands compared to some of the traditional banking centers. In the past, bankers in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland would argue that their high fees were justified because they offered the utmost in financial privacy and safety. In our modern financial marketplace that reasoning no longer holds up and investors in those jurisdictions often find themselves paying high fees for mediocre results and little or no financial privacy.

Political climate
The Turks & Caicos Islands are officially English speaking, with a population close to 30,000 people made up of both Turks & Caicos citizens and expatriates. The official currency is the US Dollar.

Presently, the Turks & Caicos Islands are an internal-governing British Overseas Territory with a ministerial system of government. The country operates from the 1988 Constitution which provides for a Governor appointed by Her Majesty the Queen, an Executive Council and a Legislative Council. The Governor is responsible for external affairs, defense, internal security, offshore finance and certain other matters, but is otherwise normally required to act on the advice of the Executive Council.

The Executive Council deals with the affairs of the government. It is presided over by His Excellency the Governor and is made up of the elected ministers of government. The Legislative Council is responsible for the passage of laws, monitoring government policies and bringing to account the Executive Branch on behalf of the electorate.

Under this structure the Turks & Caicos enjoys a stable government guided by British law. The government is pro-development but taking a responsible approach by learning from the experiences of other West Indies neighbors, such as the Bahamas. Tourism is the number one industry with financial services coming in second and growing.

Investment climate
Traditionally, investment opportunities in Turks & Caicos have been based in real estate, as witnessed by the recent high-end condominium developments springing up along 12-mile Grace Bay Beach on Providenciales. However, as more people become familiar and comfortable with this country as a viable investment centre, we have seen tremendous interest and growth in offshore investment structures, brokerage services, wealth management and mutual funds.
Part of this attraction is a well defined regulatory framework within which to operate a comprehensive range of financial activities including banking, insurance, trusts, mutual funds, investment dealing, companies and partnerships. TCI’s modern legislation is complemented by an experienced professional infrastructure in the public and private sectors.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) embodies in a single agency all regulatory aspects of the financial services industry. The FSC is responsible for licensing and supervising all finance-related operating entities to internationally accepted standards.

The Turks & Caicos Islands have no taxes on income, capital gains, corporate profits, inheritance, estates, interest or dividends. An added advantage in the investment arena is having the US dollar as the national currency, with no restrictions on transferring funds in or out of the jurisdiction. As well, the Turks & Caicos Islands are not a party to any tax treaties and strictly enforces its Confidential Relationships Ordinance, which protects confidentiality and privacy in business and professional affairs.

A solid reputation
Over the years, the Turks & Caicos Islands has built its solid reputation slowly. Today, the financial services sector is recognized as a flourishing modern entity firmly anchored on the Islands’ stability, financial integrity and protective regulations — all delivered in one of the world’s hottest new tourism destinations.

Furthermore, the Turks & Caicos Islands are ever mindful of their commitment to responding to the international marketplace to build a more sound financial architecture and to deliver investment and wealth management services at levels expected by the onshore investment community.

As a demonstration of its commitment, the private sector has invested millions of dollars and undertaken significant measures aimed at ensuring that the Turks & Caicos Islands remain the leader in the Caribbean in the areas of wealth management and brokerage services.
The Turks & Caicos remain poised and well positioned to offer financial services to the astute international investor seeking to maximize the return on their investments and minimize their management fees in the ever changing global marketplace. So sit back and watch the sunset and listen to the warm breeze through the trees, the waves rolling on the beach and the soothing sound of your money quietly growing in this tax free paradise.

Gregory B.A Greatrex, LLB, TEP, is an attorney and trust/estate practitioner focused exclusively on private wealth management with the Providenciales-based firm Temple Securities Ltd. He can be reached at 649 946 5740 or via email at greatrex@temple-group.com. More information can be found at www.templefinancialgroup.com.

Discovering Monk Orchids (Oeceoclades maculata) growing wild on Providenciales was a joyful experience. I found them secluded in leaf litter under shady native trees, close to the edge of a side road. From time to time I revisited the habitat to check on them. Undisturbed, they blossomed and increased in number. Two years later, I was in the vicinity again and on impulse turned into the road. The sight that met my eyes filled me with alarm. The shady trees had gone and lying exposed to the burning sun were the uprooted clumps of Monk Orchids.

I learned that the road was being cleared for a new development and that in a couple of hours, the orchids would be on their way to the dump. Happily, willing hands helped me to rescue them. Now they are blooming once again in the shade of native trees, but this time in the safety of a garden.

Monk Orchid, also known as the Spotted African Orchid, is one of the most widely dispersed orchid species, being found wild in places as far apart as tropical Africa, the West Indies, tropical South America and Florida. Scientists have discussed the possible ways that this African species migrated to such distant lands. One theory is that the Monk Orchid island-hopped from Africa until it first reached Florida about 30 years ago and that it did so by means of its seed.

After flowering, seed capsules develop which burst to release their seeds. This happens during the time of the Atlantic hurricane season. The seeds are as fine as dust and are carried by the winds which originate in Africa and blow across the ocean as hurricanes. These powerful storms sometimes make landfall on a West Indian island, depositing the seed. Under favourable conditions, the orchid grows and in time flowers and produces more seed. Some of these are then carried north-westward by another tropical storm to a nearby island in the Caribbean chain. The process continues until the seed eventually reaches the American continent.

En route, some of these seeds may well have landed in the Turks & Caicos Islands and finding a favourable environment, began to grow and flourish. Monk Orchid was first found on Middle Caicos about eight years ago, followed by a discovery on North Caicos and now more recently on Providenciales.

In the wild it grows terrestrially in shade, producing beautiful 9 inch light and dark green mottled leaves from which the species name is derived — maculata (from Latin) meaning “spotted.” Small pink and white flowers are borne in racemes along the length of 14 inch stems during summer. Seed capsules are green, ripening to brown. In cultivation, Monk Orchid can be grown as a rewarding pot plant on a shady verandah.