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Regional News
May 25-31, 2019
TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
Jamaicans face jail time if caught wasting water as drought continues PEOPLE who waste water in Jamaica, amid an ongoing drought, could be fined or face time behind bars. The National Water Commission (NWC) has moved to make it a prosecutable offence to either waste water or use excessive amounts of its potable water for non-essential purposes. In a prohibition notice published in the newspapers yesterday, which takes effect on Friday, the NWC said that more stringent water conservation measures must now be observed and the limited potable water that is available should be reserved for essential uses such as drinking, cooking, washing, bathing and sanitation. Some of the breaches of the prohibition order are using NWCsupplied water in drought-affected areas for: watering of gardens, lawns, grounds and farms; refilling of tanks, ponds, or swimming pools and/or for use other than normal domestic services; washing of vehicles by the use of a hose; watering or washing roadways, pavements, paths, garages; and any purpose which may require the use of a considerable or excessive quantity of water. Persons who break the law may
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Sandals guests say the company charged them a local government tax and then pocketed the money.
Guests at Sandals resorts paid ‘deceptive charges’ billed as local government taxes, lawsuit says The drought has had an effect on the yield of vegetables and fruits.
be prosecuted; and if convicted, they are liable to a fine imposed by the parish courts or imprisonment for up to 30 days if they fail to pay the fine. NWC Corporate Communications Manager Charles Buchanan said the prohibition order is intended to send a signal to the population that not only is it not right to waste water
from an already limited supply, but it is also now illegal. “We’re hoping that it will serve to persuade persons to do the right thing and in instances where persons persist in doing the wrong thing, we would have the force of law to support us in taking action against them,” he said.
Without Venezuela’s oil, Haiti struggles to keep lights on WHEN her daughter was 4 years old, Jennifer Jean started a small catering business in Bourdon, a lower middleclass district of the Haitian capital. Starting with the occasional wedding or corporate meeting, she grew the business into a venture that earned her as much as $1,000 a month, enough to pay bills and send her now-teenage daughter and her 7-year-old son to a good private school. Then the blackouts started, making it impossible to do basic activities. Without refrigeration, she now has to buy ice on the street to keep her prepared food cool. “Back in the day you were able to take your car out any time of night, 1 am or 2 am,’’ said Jean, who is thinking of migrating to the United States. “Now all the streets are dark. You just don’t know what you are going to run into.” Through the Venezuelan aid program known as Petrocaribe, Haiti once received roughly 60,000 barrels of oil a day under favorable terms that beat anything on the open market. More than half the costs of the oil, which came at a heavily discounted price, were repayable over 25 years at a 1% interest rate, allowing the government to supposedly use the windfall for economic development. In exchange, Haiti reliably backed Venezuela against the United States
Jennifer Jean sits with her family in the living room of her home, lit only by camping lantern, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
in regional forums such as the Organization of American States. But as President Nicolas Maduro’s government has struggled with plunging petroleum production and a cratering economy, Venezuela has stopped sending billions in subsidized oil to countries throughout Central America and the Caribbean, including Haiti, where the end of cheap oil has meant a sharp reduction in power. Meanwhile, Haiti’s Bureau of Monetization of Development Aid Programs, or BMPAD, quickly ran into its own difficulties. After starting to buy oil on the global market, the
bureau said this year that it had run out of operating funds and stopped regularly delivering fuel needed by power station operators to keep the lights on. Now, much of Haiti’s population enjoys electricity for just three hours a day. Nighttime activity has ground to a halt as armed robbers hold up street merchants or break into people’s homes in darkness. Gas stations have gone empty for days, making it nearly impossible for many Haitians to get to work, run errands or take their kids to school. Hospitals are forced to rely on backup generators.
TRAVELERS at resorts run by the Jamaican-based vacation company Sandals say they were charged a local government tax during their vacations that Sandals pocketed for itself. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami Tuesday on behalf of all current and former Sandals guests, a family from New Jersey alleges Sandals scammed them during their stays at resorts in the Caribbean in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Their lawyer, Miami-based Michael Winkleman, said the company has been pocketing instead of remitting the taxes for years, and is asking a judge to award
former and current guests more than $5 million. “These deceptive charges are used to generate extra profit at the expense of Plaintiff and others similarly situated, who are deceived into believing the fees are legitimate charges directly related to Sandals’ taxes to the government,” the lawsuit says. In a statement, Sandals Resorts International called the allegations in the lawsuit false. “Not only do we conduct our business with pricing transparency but we meet all of our tax obligations in each of the islands where we call home,” the company said.
Andrea, Atlantic season’s 1st named system, weakens less than 24 hours after forming
Andrea kicks off the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season early A LOW-PRESSURE system south of Bermuda was officially recognised as Subtropical Storm Andrea on Monday, the first of the 2019 hurricane season; 11 days before the official beginning of the season. This makes 2019 the fifth consecutive year that a named storm has formed before the official start of Atlantic hurricane season, which is June 1. Andrea had a very brief window of
time to exist before it was absorbed by an approaching cold front. Increasing wind shear — which was disruptive to the storm’s circulation — nearby dry air and low ocean temperatures combined to dissipate the storm within a couple of days. In fact, by 11:00h on Wednesday, Andrea had been downgraded to a subtropical depression before it dissipated in the afternoon.