A/RES/48/51 Page 15 Having heard the statement of the representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as the administering Power, 6/ Noting the different views expressed by the elected representatives of the Turks and Caicos Islands on the question of the future status of the Territory, Aware of the decision of the administering Power to implement a policy change aimed at establishing better dialogue, coordination and cooperation between itself and its Caribbean dependent Territories, Noting the territorial Government’s commitment to reform the public service to achieve greater efficiency and to implement its policy of localization of employment, Noting the Government’s expressed need for development assistance to achieve its stated goal of economic independence by the year 1996, Noting also the Government’s decision to establish an investment bank in order to attract substantial investments world wide for much-needed projects, Noting further that 90 per cent of the food consumed in the Territory is imported, and that the Government has exerted efforts to improve the agricultural and fisheries sectors, Noting the number of unqualified teachers and the number of expatriate staff in the educational system of the Territory, Noting with interest the statement made and the information provided by an elected member of the Territory’s Legislative Council in March 1993 to the Subcommittee on Small Territories, Petitions, Information and Assistance of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples on the overall political, economic and social situation in the Turks and Caicos Islands, 1. Reiterates that it is ultimately for the people of the Territory themselves to determine their own future through the exercise of their right to self-determination, including independence; 2. Invites the administering Power, in implementing policy changes concerning its dependent Territories, to continue to take fully into account the wishes and interests of the Government and people of the Turks and Caicos Islands; 3. Calls upon the territorial Government to continue to promote alternative employment opportunities for those civil servants whose employment will be terminated as a result of the public service reform and the planned reduction of employees in the service; 4. Also calls upon the territorial Government to ensure that the employment of expatriates in the Territory’s labour force is not prejudicial to the recruitment of suitably qualified and available islanders; 5. Calls upon the specialized agencies and other institutions of the United Nations system to explore concrete ways of assisting the Turks and /...