STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
CPF.862
W E Quantrill Esq
Hong Kong and General Department
FCO
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS,
THE WEST INDIES.
29 November 1978
HKA 43,
RILEIVED AL PROJSYAY 110. 31 2 8 DEC 1978
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
NO
RE:
PA
Actica
35
Sea. Bilk,
GOVERNORS' TERMS OF SERVICE
20
36 37 38- HKA 430/2 (79)
1. I have delayed my reply to your letter HKA 431/1 of 3 October as long as I dare in order to complete at least three months in post. I am sorry to say that so far my experience as regards' terms of service has not been as I would have wished.
kind any
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2. My first grouse - and if you look back through my file I think you will find that this is the first time I have ever made a complaint of finalised before I had been given any inkling as to its nature and certainly before I had been given any indication of the allowances attached to the office. As you can imagine, I felt agyrieved when I discovered that the allowances were, in total,
500 a year less than I received as Head of Chancery in Dar és Salaam (figures attached) I was the more upset because as a former Colonial servant I knew what to expect. Arthur Watson was soon to warn me that some of the crested crockery, was short because it was too expensive to replace and I should bring my own: there were no curtains in two of the three bedrooms: there was a brand new patio but to use it I would have to supply my own chairs and tables. Although Grand Turk is only 7 by 12 miles, I guessed that the official car would be the only one available for important visitors as well as myself - it is - and that I should have to provide my own. In addition, every- thing has to be flown over 600 miles from Miami because this island has no agriculture (not even fruit or vegetables) or industry of any kind and, as you know, we use the US Dollar so we are in practice a frightfully expensive distant suburb of Miami. So, my second grouse is the inadequacy of allowances for Governors who are seconded from the Diplomatic Service.
3. lly third concerns the amount of the entertainment allow- ance which, at 1,145 is 634 less than I received as Head of Chancery in Dar es Salaam The Chief Secretary is the only other senior UK official here but he has no allowance so the whole burden of entertainment falls on me. Arthur Watson warned me that tradition required me to give two major functions a year- the QBP and a Christmas Party with a quest list on each occasion of about 500 and an attendance of about 300, and that there would be very little money left over for other forms of entertainment.
CC HKPF /STRONG /.c. STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
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/4. I have