The Editor, Sir:

There are some persons who are desirous of working in the Turks and Caicos islands. I am not trying to tell people not to go but there are certain things that you are not told when you are being recruited and it might give you a rude awakening when you get there. I was recently there and these are some of the things that people should pay attention to:

Health care: There are no hospitals in the country. There are two clinics which cannot deal with any serious illnesses. Make sure that you have enough money at all times to pay your fare to leave in case of a medical emergency.

Cost of living: Rent is very expensive, costing about US$800 to US$1,200 for a one-bedroom apartment. Electricity bill will be in the region of US$150 per month and water cost four US cents per gallon. If you use 2,000 gallons per month, it will costs US$80. There is a practice there that you need to be aware of where landlords put on their own meters and charge you eight or ten cents per gallon for the water.

If you are going to have a child, there you need to understand that child will have no status in the country, according to their laws. The child will not be able to get a passport or other travel documents. You will have to go through the inconvenience and cost of taking the child home to be naturalised before the child can get Jamaican travel documents.

The immigration experience can be pretty daunting too but I guess you can overlook that.

As I said earlier, I am not trying to throw cold water on anyone's dreams but I would have appreciated it if someone had enlightened me before I took my journey.

Please, check your facts before making the plunge.

I am, etc.,

PAULINE JAMES

paulinejames54@yahoo.com

Montego Bay