TCWN January 31 - February 6, 2014

Weekly News Volume 29 | No. 05 | January 31 - February 6, 2015

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Hospital costs

revealed

Interhealth Canada receives more than $44.4 million every year in public funds to run the country’s two hospitals, according to Premier Rufus Ewing.

PAGE  5 PAGE 

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Premier Rufus Ewing, Miss TCI Shanice Williams and Junior Minister of Tourism William Elliott

Corruption judge too old, claims Misick PAGE  4

David Smith remanded until extradition to US PAGE  7

PDM not surprised at Skippings PAGE  8

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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

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NEWS

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Corruption judge too old, claims Misick

BY DELANA ISLES A DECISION by Governor Peter Beckingham to extend the term of office for Justice Paul Harrison for an indefinite period has been challenged by former Premier Michael Misick.

The application, a copy of which this publication obtained from the court, was filed in Providenciales Supreme Court on January 27, by Beryn Duncanson of Duncanson and Co, local counsel for Misick.

In the Gazette of November 27, Beckingham, acting in accordance with the advice of the Judicial Services Commission, extended the appointment of Justice Harrison as a judge of the Supreme Court with effect from January 15, 2015.

The extension is unlike Harrison’s appointment in 2012 which was made for a term of two years (July 10 to June 2014).

He was at the time assigned by the former Chief Justice Edwin Goldsbrough to deal the criminal trials arising out of the 2009 Commission of Inquiry.

His term was subsequently extended to December 2014 by Beckingham.

Now it has been extended effective from January 1, 2015.

Misick’s application asks the court to review the Governor’s decision to extend Harrison’s time indefinitely, to declare it unlawful and to quash it.

He is also seeking a declaration that the decision is ultra vires (beyond one’s legal power and authority) of section 85 of the Constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

That section reads: “Subject to this section, a judge of the Supreme Court shall vacate his or her office when he or she attains the age of 65 years; (a) the Governor may permit a judge to attain the age of 65 years to continue in office until he or she attained such age, not exceeding the age of 70 years, as may have been agreed between the Governor and that judge.

“And (b) a judge who has attained the age at which he or she would otherwise vacate office under this subsection may continue in office for such a period as may be necessary to enable him or her to deliver judgement or do any other thing in relation to proceedings commenced before him or her before he or she attained that age.”

The plaintiff is also requesting that the court declare that Harrison vacated his office on December 31, 2014, as a judge of the Supreme Court in the TCI. In his application, Misick also pointed out that at the time of his appointment in July 2012 by former Governor Ric Todd, Harrison was reported as being 75 years of age.

And that at this time, by virtue of the 2006 Constitution which was then in force, the Governor was entitled to appoint a judge, regardless of age, for such a term as might be specified in the instrument of appointment.

The application further reads that on August 7, 2012, former Governor Todd signed an order proclaiming that the TCI Constitution Order 2011 would come into force on October 15, 2012.

Published by Turks & Caicos News Company Ltd. Cheshire House, Leeward Highway, Providenciales P.O. Box 52, Turks & Caicos Islands, BWI W. Blythe Duncanson - Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Bird - News Editor Delana Isles - Senior Reporter Daisy Handfield - Staff Reporter Faizool Deo - Sports Editor (At Large) Cord Garrido-Lowe - Graphics Consultant (At Large) Dilletha Lightbourne-Williams - Office Manager Email: (Advertising) tcnews@tciway.tc, (News) tcweeklynews@gmail.com Tel. 649-946-4664 (office), 649-232-3508 (after hours) Website address: www.tcweeklynews.com Follow us on: Facebook: facebook.com/tcweeklynews Twitter: twitter.com/tcweeklynews1

On a later date, Governor Beckingham then extended the term of office until December 31, 2014, and then on November 27, 2014, he extended Harrison’s tenure indefinitely, the application stated.

It goes on to state that Section 85 (outlined above) does not give Beckingham the power to extend the tenure of a judge who has attained the age of 70 years in circumstances other than where necessary to enable him or her to deliver judgement or do anything in relation to proceedings commenced before him before he attained that age.

Harrison attained the maximum retiring age in 2007, as outlined in the 2011 Constitution.

The application states that while Harrison was acting ultra vires between June 30 and December 31, he was arguably acting by virtue of the common law doctrine of de facto judge.

Misick stipulates that Governor Beckingham is acting outside of his authority in two aspects – firstly, the Constitution requires a term to be specified in the instrument of the appointment.

Secondly, that Harrison is substantially older than 70 years and is deemed to have reached the retiring age by virtue of the Constitution.

It further reads that it was not

Michael Misick’s application asks the court to review the Governor’s decision to extend Harrison’s time indefinitely

necessary for Harrison to continue in office in order to do any act in relation to the sole case which he had conduct and that there is no basis within the 2011 Constitution on which his term could be extended.

Meanwhile, on February 10, Harrison is set to preside over a pre-trial hearing of Misick and nine others who were charged with corruption following the commission of inquiry in 2009.

His judicial independence and impartiality was challenged by the defendants last year, in the Court of Appeal.

The applicants lost that appeal but have since been granted leave to apply to the Privy Council to reverse this decision.

They have also been granted special leave to apply to the Privy Council to re-examine Justice Harrison’s June 2014 ruling that the interest of justice requires that the trial be tried by a judge without a jury.

Due to the appeal to be heard in the Privy Council, the trial which was supposed to start on December 1 has been stayed by the Court of Appeal until further notice.

UK approves $6m rollover for capital projects UNITED Kingdom ministers have formally agreed to the annual Fiscal Strategy and Policy Statement (FSPS) which shapes the budget negotiations.

Minister of Finance Washington Misick made the announcement during Tuesday’s (January 26) sitting of the House of Assembly in Grand Turk.

He stated that the detailed budget is currently being prepared and will be presented soon to the House.

The FSPS outlines the key policy objectives for the Government for financial year 2015/2016 within the agreed framework of efficient economic planning, affordability and use of public money between the TCI and the UK. “Our agreement that unspent funds in the development fund account in this financial year (2013/2014) can be rolled over into 2015/2016 if committed to before the end of March 2015, is a major success of our negotiations with the UK ministers.

“This will mean that public investment in capital projects to be undertaken in 2015/2016 will be increased,” the minister said.

He noted that this agreement will ensure a rollover of approximately $6 million to support commitments, rather than this money being reallocated to debt reduction.

“However, our anticipated revenues for 2015/2016 mean that we will see increased but controlled public spending and continued planned debt reduction.

“Reducing the amount of interest that this Government pays is a key priority. It is only from this solid base that we can look to increase our revenues, improve our statutory bodies and work better with the private sector.”

A key policy highlighted in the FSPS was the implementation of the proposed pay and grading review, to address pay anomalies in the public service, and assist in the recruitment and retention of critical front line staff.

The minister added that the FSPS also outlines the Government’s intention to remove or reduce some taxes, such as freight and insurance and business licence fees to facilitate new business start-ups, by lowering barriers to business entry into the market.

Other priorities areas mentioned for 2015/16 include - environmental protection, environmental cleanliness, strengthening of local governance in the family Islands to improve efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery, marketing and promotion of the family islands as tourist destinations, cultural and heritage celebration, youth development, Government information service, tertiary education (scholarship allocation, increased funding for TCI Community College and civil servants training) and monitoring of the existing public private partnership with InterHealth Canada to improve value for money.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

NEWS

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Premier lifts lid on hospital costs INTERHEALTH Canada receives more than $44.4 million every year in public funds to run the country’s two hospitals, according to Premier Rufus Ewing.

That means that when its 25 year contract with the Government is over in 2033 the healthcare provider will have raked in more than $1,110,000,000.

Ewing, who recently became Minister of Health and Human Services, laid down the latest annual figures in the House of Assembly on Tuesday (January 27).

He explained that last year payments to the company were divided into a unitary charge of $14,145,687, a clinical equipment payment of $1,849,000 and a clinical services payment of $28,458,237.

A total pay-out over the length of the contract is difficult to predict, Ewing said, due to several variables.

“The contract payments vary due to changed orders relating to cost of additional clinical services provided on island, cost of equipment and consumables and other items such as increases in the consumer price index in the US,” he told parliament.

“And also due to negotiations on the part of TCIG to reduce costs where reductions would not result in the reductions in the cost of delivery of clinical services or reduction in the welfare of TC Islanders.”

However if payments continue at a similar rate the country will have paid more than $1,110,000,000 to the healthcare company when its contract ends.

Ewing told the assembly: “Members will recognise that before the hospital was open in 2010 effectively the cost of providing clinical services to our people was paid to provide us overseas in addition to the cost of running both hospitals in the Turks and Caicos Islands.”

He said that the net clinical services payment made to InterHealth Canada directly benefits the economy through payments to TCI residents, staff and its suppliers.

“It should be noted however that here according to the current actuarial information the total cost of delivering healthcare to the

Premier Rufus Ewing

population of the TCI is close to seven percent of GDP excluding the capital amount – the unitary payment.”

He said the amount is well within the median range of the Caricom region allowing the country to receive a high standard of healthcare.

Ewing was responding in the House of Assembly to two questions from Edwin Astwood, member for Grand Turk South and Salt Cay. Astwood asked if the Premier could reveal the total amount of funds including interest that will be paid at the end of the hospital contract and the breakdown of all the monthly costs.

“I’m sure you will realise that the hospital contract which was mentioned previously is subject to certain commercial sensitivities,” Ewing said.

But he added that the contract has been in the public domain so the information that he is revealing is “to a certain extent” not new.

“This shows that my commitment to ensuring transparency in regards to our dealings, our relationship with the hospital and our strives to try to deal with issues of the hospital to ensure value for money.”

He explained that the public private partnership agreement between TCIG and InterHealth Canada is 25 years from January 11, 2008, until January 11, 2033.

The public private partnership agreement between TCIG and InterHealth Canada is 25 years from January 11, 2008, until January 11, 2033

Throughout this period InterHealth Canada receives three annual payment streams – the first two of which are lump sum fixed amounts subject only to an annual indexation uplift based on the US consumer price indices.

The annual unitary charge, which is $14,145,687, includes the annual costs of non-clinical hard and soft facilities management services, regular and cyclical maintenance, upkeep and replacement of all building components at life cycle intervals, debt service with principal repayments with equity returns.

Under the project agreement the facilities must be maintained to the highest standards called for and handed over to the TCIG without any further charge on January 2033.

The annual clinical equipment payment, which is $1,849,000, includes the annual cost of operating all clinical equipment, its regular and cyclical maintenance, and its asset replacement at lifecycling intervals.

“So we are paying for services in the future and to keep building equipment in new at every stage and every step of the way, year to year,” the Health Minister said.

“The total real cost over the

concession life is inflation sensitive and will be reflected by the actual consumer price indices which cannot be exactly predicted over the total of 25 years.”

He added that the project agreement anticipated and it remains the intention of the Government in conjunction with InterHealth Canada and its bankers to seek a refinancing of the debt.

This will happen when the TCIG’s investment credit and risk rating allows and this will result in a significant savings to the TCIG through a reduction in the annual unitary charge, Ewing said.

The third annual payment stream is the annual clinical services payment.

The Government via the National Health Insurance Plan (NHIP) reimburses all real costs on an open book basis plus a margin of eight percent to InterHealth Canada.

The project agreement provides for this cost plus payment to be subsequently converted to a capitation payment with Interhealth Canada assuming all volume risk.

“We have not arrived at capitation at the moment because it is dangerous to go to capitation without having full reconciliation as to where you

are.

“So you wouldn’t cap the costs too high and be left with a fixed high cost going on for a couple of years without having the opportunity to reduce it.”

The clinical services cost is reduced by a payment from InterHealth Canada to the Government of all co-pays which it receives from NHIP patients plus 50 percent of all net income which it incurs through the provision of treatment to private patients such as private insurance providers.

For the year April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014 – the most recent complete contract year – the net payment of these clinical services was $28,458,237.

He concluded that the total cost for construction of the hospitals bearing in mind variables will be $181,407,400, and the total cost for clinical services will be $660,006,700.

“We are committed to ensuring that these two hospitals continue to be monitored, well regulated and also ensure that we will deliver value for money in the terms of the contract or failing to do so, to invoke the various provisions provided for under the hospitals contract.”

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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

A Weekly News column that puts you on the spot for your opinions on the issues of the day

New party?

LAST week Oswald Skippings, former chief minister and leader of the PDM, declared that he will be forming a new political party.

The party will be made up of politicians from the PNP, PDM and PPP, he told the Weekly News.

Its main focus will be on unemployment, border control, equal pay, minimum wage, and youth affairs.

Do you think the country at this time is ready for another new party?

Power and greed

The stakes must be getting big. Mr S represents the graft and corruption that existed when he was in party.

Don’t fool yourselves, he isn’t in it for anything but power and greed.

Retirement income

Absolutely. Bring it on. The more the merrier.

OO Skippings has a political/personal history almost as fascinating as Mike Misick’s, so he is well suited to be a party leader.

The politicians all want the same thing: Belongers to own everything, benefit from everything, and if possible not have to actually do anything.

And they should never have to pay for anything. Especially Belongers who are politicians or relatives of politicians.

Mr Skippings leaves politics in disgrace every few years (remember his last eight years, just before Mike got in, when Belongerships were going for a premium to expat developers?

Or have we forgotten that too?).

Then he goes off to find God and become a preacher. When that becomes too tame, he comes back to politics again.

Didn’t work last time but maybe this time.

Hey, he’s getting on. He really needs that retirement income.

Helping PNP

This will only serve to split the vote and put the PNP back in again!

Better together Yes. The PNP is very party oriented. They are still preferencing their party members for the jobs and contracts.

Maybe a combination of all three parties may come up with a better system for all TC Islanders.

Less not more

Completely the wrong direction. We should be eliminating political parties completely not creating more.

We are made to think there is no democracy without parties. Truth is there can only be a true democracy without parties because - they precipitate corruption, they are the main cause for the professionalisation of politics which

is obviously anti-democratic, they limit and control the access to law making and decision taking by normal citizens.

Parties divide a country unnecessarily in their efforts to repay their financial supporters in the form of power and jobs for the boys.

They perpetuate the black crab syndrome which actually drags down local people from progressing.

Also parties cannot be ‘fired’ and sanctioned for improper behaviour of their members, seats just keep rotating.

With the development of internet and instant news feeds, political parties are becoming ever more divisive.

They are dragging many if not all countries down and precipitating corporate control of entire economies and legal /political frameworks.

Change the constitution, ban political parties, ban donations and limit allowable expenditure by individuals who choose to run for election to level the playing field for persons of all financial capabilities.

One blood. The TCI will truly shine above all other Caribbean nations if this were to happen.

It is possible - are we too narrow minded to even have such a discussion?

Fool’s talk

He should have delayed the announcement to April 1.

More unity

It seems that the situation in the TCI creates room for more political development.

It seems that we need more representation and issues such as local employment, border control, equal pay, minimum and youth affairs are seriously plaguing these Islands.

The Government seems to have no solution and people out there really feel unrepresented.

A country is never ready for a new party and will always be ready for one.

It was not until the FNM found a former PLP minister in the Bahamas, Hubert Ingham, that they were able to emerge.

So maybe it will take the Hon Skippings to break the political mould in the TCI. It is really a good opportunity for the PDM. Just like how the PNP and the NDA of 1988 merged and took the Government in 1991 this new PDM faction headed by the Hon

What the country needs is real leaders, with real abilities, with real execution, and who are real.

Failed engines cannot turn as they have not in the past. New life with a real plan of action in an action plan knows how to and will act!

Pool too small

Skippings may be able to unite with the PDM and to achieve unity for the PDM. Hon Skippings will always be seen as a PDM and if his party emerges it will always be seen as a PDM group.

Their challenge will be to attract PNPs, PPPs, whites, blacks, West Indians and persons of all nationalities and to create a powerful group.

Really and truly there will be a serious pushback and people will more than likely pressure the Hon Skippings to unite with the PDM and for the message for the PDM will be to find a way to create unity from within.

Stand down

Another new party, no problem. Oswald Skippings leading it is a problem.

He was Chief Minister twice and was a failure both times. Also as Opposition leader he moved to Florida.

He has been networking with folks heading for court. He could not win as leader of JAGS McCartney’s party.

He never supported the various leaders of his own party and undermined them. He claims to be a man of God but has not demonstrated it.

His only asset is a large vocabulary but Skip is a political liability to all his associates.

Stand down Skip and collect that fat pension Mike gave you!

New life needed

The party will be made up of politicians from the PNP, PDM and PPP, in belief in the perfect world.

The Turks and Caicos Islands is not perfect, and surely not Mr Skippings.

There are no PNP defectors, there no PDM defectors - the voters have already spoken, and there is only one registered PPP left and she is not going anywhere.

Mr Skippings and the PPP sole member cannot both be the leader in phantom of imagination, called a new party.

New party? New parties do not address the issues listed by Mr Skippings! Leaders do, and Mr Skippings has been a leader with the same issues and he dismally failed to address them when he was a decision maker with the PDM. Now that he has been rejected, formation of a new party, merely to take the limelight as leader, definitely will not address the issues.

The everlasting issues of unemployment, border control, equal pay, minimum wage, and youth affairs, need leaders with strategic vision within a party, and surely a new party is not the answer now.

Two relevant points here: This country cannot support a third political party, and I suggest that even two is one too many!

There is such a small pool of qualified, honest and willing people willing to stand for office that splitting that pool between those who choose yellow and those who wear blue results in each party’s candidate slate being so small that the party that does get elected ends up handing out Cabinet minister positions to people who can barely fog a mirror – and one need look no farther than Portia Smith and George Lightbourne to see vivid examples of this in the current Government.

Oswald Skippings is well past his expiry date and has been for years, and I think it likely that the PDM would form the current Government if they had replaced him as leader before the last election, instead of just after.

All the reactionary and racist noises Skippings is making in his latest pronouncements sound very much like the policies of Robert Mugabe who, under the guise of returning Zimbabwe to its black natives, has managed to take his country from being the breadbasket of Africa to a nation in which a million dollar note won’t even by you a Coke!

How can any politician who claims to have the welfare of this country and its people at heart (and this includes those in the two existing parties) not realise that the key to our citizens getting their fair share of economic growth is education?

Double zero

Oswald now shows his true stripes. It’s all about him. Double O is double zero. Skippings needs to stop wasting the public’s time.

He discouraged the best the county has in the PDM party. Go back to Grand Turk and stop wasting everyone’s time.

Skippings is a negative person who tore into the PNP party time after time and now he claims the PNP people will support him.

Watch who supports him from the PNP, PDM and PPP, losers all. Just more nonsense.

Not a winner

Skip could only win in a tiny Grand Turk district when Grand Turk had four districts, most PDM. At large he lost to everyone and as leader of the people’s party only beat Royal Robinson.

Maybe Royal will now join him.

 Become a contributor Want to become a contributor or have a suggestion for a Talk Back topic for us? What questions do you think we should be putting to the public? And what are your thoughts on it?

Call our news team on 946 4664 or email tcweeklynews@gmail.com

January 31 - February 6, 2015

NEWS

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

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Two months left for David Smith remanded policyholder claims until extradition to US

POLICYHOLDERS of liquidated insurance firm British Atlantic Financial Services Ltd (BAFSL) have until March 31 to make a claim or they may lose all of their investment.

Close to 750 people have already come forward to request compensation out of a possible 1,650 claimants and the rest have just two more months.

The matter was brought to Supreme Court before Chief Justice Margaret Ramsey-Hale on Wednesday (January 28).

Jonathan Katan from TCI law firm Miller, Simons, O’Sullivan for the Financial Services Commission told the court that he had been given a liquidation report the day prior.

He explained that the short report indicated that the accounts are for the most part tallied however some historical data is missing.

Previous statements are being held on a server in Trinidad but “we don’t know what state the data is in,” Katan said.

However he said that it is unlikely to have an effect on the final return to policyholders.

Katan asked for a final report to be filed on or before February 28 and March 31 to be the date of final claims for return.

Ramsey-Hale said that the report was short and that it “seems to be a very simple liquidation” before agreeing to the dates offered.

On January 9 this year the Chief Justice declared that BAFSL should be dissolved after no rescue package was found for the insolvent firm.

Thousands of policyholders - some who invested more than $100,000 - look set to lose large chunks of their cash pots in the process.

Kevin Higgins, director of the TCI Financial Service Commission (FSC), told the Weekly News that the company is a massive $6.2 million in the red so cash back looks likely to be minimal.

“People are going to lose a substantial portion of their savings, there’s no question about it.”

It was in 1981 that British American Insurance Company Limited, a member of the Clico group, started operations in the TCI. At the end of 2009 the company went into administration and then in September 2010 the assets, liabilities and business were sold to BAFSL in an attempt to turn it around.

The sole shareholder of BAFSL was the Turks and Caicos Methodist Company Limited which contributed $180,000 as new capital.

The company specialised in life insurance, medical insurance and annuities – a continuing

payment with a guaranteed return.

Unfortunately because US interest rates went down so low the company was not able to meet the guaranteed interest rate given to policy holders.

In 2014 BAFSL went into administration and Joseph Connolly and David Walker from PricewaterhouseCoopers tried hard to find ways to dig it out of debt.

But progress was lacking and in October last year, following advice from the administrators, the FSC declared the company insolvent and filed a petition with the Supreme Court for its winding up.

In November the case was presented in Providenciales Supreme Court before Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay Hale where representatives for the policyholders and the FSC made their submissions.

Richard Savory QC from TCI law firm Savory and Co for the policyholders asked for a six week adjournment of the liquidation hearing.

Meanwhile Jonathan Katan from TCI law firm Miller, Simons, O’Sullivan for the FSC asked for a provisional liquidator to be appointed or the firm to be wound up.

Following the presentations Ramsay Hale said that appointing a provisional liquidator was a compromise and “doesn’t harm the company’s position”.

She said the hearing for liquidation of the company would be delayed for six weeks until January 9.

Former company administrators Connolly and Walker were appointed as the provisional liquidators.

The control of all assets, the conduct of any business and other affairs were transferred to them and the directors ceased to have any authority.

At the time the case was heard Premier Rufus Ewing said that the Government may be able to assist financially in helping to bail out the company.

He explained that the extent of this would be determined following thorough examination of the books and cash flow.

“We don’t have much money but this is a very important and critical issue and we will do everything in our powers, which is why we’re going to look at it very strategically from a financial perspective and we’ll see how we can help.”

However when the case was brought back to court Connolly explained that over the past six weeks no help was forthcoming.

Ramsay-Hale had no alternative but to approve the liquidation in full, and she appointed Connolly and Walker as the liquidators.

FORMER Olint boss and confessed fraudster David Smith was on Monday (January 26) remanded on a provisional warrant from US authorities.

Smith, who was released from her Majesty’s Prison in Grand Turk last week Thursday (January 22), was arrested by local authorities on Saturday and taken before Chief Magistrate Clifton Warner on Monday in Providenciales.

He was initially released after having served about three years for multiple counts of wire fraud and money laundering.

Monday’s provisional warrant was granted after the first arrest warrant was rendered defective on a technicality challenge last week Thursday, which led to Smith’s release from custody.

Attorney General, Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles told this publication that Smith was arrested and remanded on the request of the US authorities.

He will remain in custody until an official request for his extradition is applied for by US authorities.

Up to press time, there has been no request, but the prosecution expects one to be made within the next 28 days.

The US is allowed up to 60 days to submit the request.

Smith was represented in court by local attorney Clayton Greene in the absence of his counsel Oliver Smith.

Greene, who applied for bail, told the court that his client made no attempt to flee the Turks and Caicos Islands even though he was free for almost two days.

David Smith was arrested by local authorities on Saturday

He submitted that Smith cooperated with police while he was on bail for the two years the case was being prosecuted and that he has no reason to abscond since his wife and children reside in the TCI and his desire is to spend time with them.

Smith volunteered to remain on house arrest, to fulfil any requirements to report to the police station daily and to leave his passport in the custody of the local authorities.

Despite this, the Director of Public Prosecution, JoAnn Meloche argued that Smith could still be a flight risk, and objected to bail.

Warner denied the bail request expressing concerns about the impact Smith’s release would have on international relations between the United Kingdom, the United States and the TCI. He cited the seriousness of extradition cases where people are not just accused of a crime, but are convicted and sentenced.

The defence lawyer also argued for a delay to the extradition process, raising some concerns with the provisional warrant his client was

Under the tree

remanded on.

He said the concern is a matter of law that has to be examined further by the court.

However, the Chief Magistrate advised that any arguments in relation to the plea agreement that Smith had entered into with the US authority, should be heard in a US court.

The plea agreement in part outlines what should happen after David Smith completes his sentence in the TCI. The Jamaican-born man was convicted in the TCI and the US in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison in the TCI and 30 years in the United States.

Smith ran Olint as a foreign exchange outfit that promised high returns that averaged 10 percent per month.

But in reality Olint was a massive ponzi scheme that managed to rake in reportedly more than $220 million from more than 6,000 investors.

Charges were dropped against his wife Tracey Anne in exchange for his admitting to four of a string of financial crime counts in the TCI. Weeks later he was handed over to US authorities where he was accused of collecting millions from investors under false pretences.

He admitted to authorities that he paid returns to investors not from profit but from their own money or that paid by subsequent investors.

The funds, which were transferred to his own personal bank accounts, reportedly enabled Smith to live a lavish lifestyle. (DELANA ISLES)

By Benneth Williams

8

NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

PDM not surprised at Skippings

By DELANA ISLES LEADER of the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), Sharlene Cartwright Robinson said the party is not surprised that former party leader Oswald Skippings intends to contest the 2016 general elections independently.

Last week, Skippings announced his intention to come together with other persons to form an independent alliance and possibly a party to compete against the PDM, PNP and the PPP parties next year.

Responding to media queries this past week on the party’s position on its former leader’s defection, Cartwright Robinson said that they first became aware of his intentions when this publication ran the story last week.

“As a party, we have afforded all former party leaders the opportunity to remain active at the highest level in the party and under my leadership.

“In the case of Pastor Skippings, he was further invited to serve in a special advisory role. “However, in his case, he has not availed himself of these opportunities,” the party leader said.

She added that following public and direct statements, he made it clear that he is no longer with the party so they are not surprised at his announcement.

She stated that the party however remains committed to their ideals and democracy and will continue to

make every effort to ensure that there is a proper blend of ideas from those who have served before and those who are now serving.

“Our focus however remains on representing our people and preparing our party to become the Government of the day,” Cartwright Robinson said.

Skippings told this publication last week that he is putting together a group of people who have the country at heart and are not all about party.

“We have a problem now where there is too much effort to sell these political parties and no effort at all to save the country and the people; and so we need something to trust now.

“We want people who really intend to represent the people and the country without fear and without compromise,” he said.

Although the immediate intention is not to form a party, he said this is still a distinct possibility.

For now the grouping is that of an independent alliance.

He said the decision is in response to the call of the people who would like to see some positive change for the people of the country.

“We have lost our country, so it is all about taking our country back so that the people have true representation and will benefit from what the country has to offer as opposed to the situation now where everybody else is benefitting except Turks and Caicos Islanders,” he

PDM Leader Sharlene Cartwright Robinson

stated.

Last June when his former party (PDM) held its convention in South Caicos, the former Chief Minister stated he had no confidence in the party and that he sensed disloyalty within the ranks.

In spite of his scepticism about the quality of leadership within the party, Skippings had expressed no intention to compete against Cartwright Robinson to recapture the role she had won from him in 2013.

He said at the time that is would be waste of time even if he were to do so and were successful as the party needs to be purged.

Former leader of the PDM, Oswald Skippings forms his own party

He said that there are people within the party who do not have the party’s interests at heart in terms of the core principles on which it was founded.

“There are people who are not really committed to the people and serving the people of the country and who have been influenced by external forces and ideologies totally contrary to the principles of the PDM.” These are the same principles upon which the former leader intends to found his new political movement.

His perception on his former rival was that while she is doing the best

she can, her best is not good enough.

However, he had noted that the PDM must recognise that there is something wrong within the party and that it has been going on for a while.

“When we talk about being loyal to the party there has to be a limit because when you are loyal to the party to the extent that you are disloyal to the people, then you have a problem and I think that is where it has reached in the People’s Democratic Movement,” he previously said.

He added that the PDM as the main opposition is not doing enough to keep the Government on its toes.

Highway street lamps more energy efficient LEEWARD Highway will be much brighter and safer, thanks to a recent project to replace all of the old street lamp bulbs with robust and energy efficient LEDs. Certified linemen from FortisTCI worked on 334 lamps along Providenciales’ main road throughout November and December.

Devon Cox, FortisTCI vice president of transmission and distribution, said: “We are pleased to see this project come to fruition. It has been a part of our strategic plans for some time now.

“We conducted substantial research and tests over the last few years with LED lights, strategically placing them in different areas in Providenciales.

“The NXT series of lights selected are energy efficient, robust mechanical fixtures, designed and tested to withstand category five hurricane force winds, salty environments and climates similar to that of the Turks and Caicos Islands.”

The LED Streetlight Conversion

Project consisted of removing high pressure sodium lights and replacing them with the latest LED NXT series luminaires manufactured by LED Roadway Lighting.

These new streetlights are in use around the world including North America, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Barbados and Puerto Rico.

The benefit of the LED streetlights is that they are energy efficient and will contribute to a reduction of CO2 emissions as a result of the reduction in energy consumption.

This product has a 20-year design life that meets international performance, reliability, and durability standards.

Motorists will notice a visible difference in the colour of the lights, from the traditional amber coloured light to a white light that is brighter and offers more illumination on the roadway.

Led by FortisTCI superintendent of lines Walter Wilson, the project began on November 5, 2014, and was completed on January 13, 2015.

The traditional amber coloured light has been replaced with a white light

January 31 - February 6, 2015

NEWS

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

President of FILCOM Alfonso Palatino, Governor Peter Beckingham and Consul Emilio Fernandez

9

Delegates from the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, USA visit the TCI to assist Filipinos with their documents

Filipinos start passport renewal process during consul visit

BY DAISY HANDFIELD MORE than 200 Filipinos residing in the Turks and Caicos Islands started the process of passport renewal during a recent visit of a team from the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, USA. This number includes the Filipinos that reside in Grand Turk and in North Caicos.

The delegates dealt with authentications of documents, report of marriages and new births of children who did not possess a Filipino passport.

A two-day consular outreach programme was held in Providenciales from January 23 to January 24 at the Department of Environment and Maritime Affairs

(DEMA) from 9am to 6pm.

According to president of the TCI Filipino Community (FILCOM) Alfonso Palatino, a number of applicants submitted their applications to be held on file prior to the arrival of the team.

He added that the process would take about six to eight weeks, seeing that the applications would first have to be sent off to the Philippines then Washington and then back to the TCI. Palatino said that in the Philippines they now had the electronic passports so applicants had to be present to get their fingerprints taken, their picture taken with a special kind of camera and for other details.

Adult applicants were required to fill out the application forms and

Flood prone Five Cays being graded ONE of the many roads in Five Cays, Providenciales, which is prone to flooding is currently under repairs.

Elected member for Five Cays, Sean Astwood told the Weekly News on Wednesday (January 28) that last year he was finally able to get the Government to commit to grading the road and now work has finally begun.

“It is a very bad road to a somewhat remote part of Five Cays that residents of that area have been complaining about for years,” he said.

He added that following a number of representations about the need to fix the road in the press and in the House of Assembly, he is happy to see that the cry of residents are being listened to and something is being done.

“It needs to be paved but it is only going to be graded for now with some areas lifted to avoid

flooding while some other areas will be widened,” Astwood said.

Many of the roads in Five Cays are very prone to flooding even when there is light rainfall.

The elected member said that he will be pushing to get some more road works done in the community to alleviate this problem and provide some relief for residents.

Recently, the member successfully made representation to FortisTCI and the Ministry of Government Support Services to get damaged street lights in the community repaired.

Some of the lights, he said, have not been working for a very long time.

He is also making efforts to get the Government to allocate money within the budget for the placement of lights in dark areas of the community. (DELANA ISLES)

provide a copy of their passports, while children were required the same, as well as their birth certificates.

The team was spearheaded by Consul General Emilio Fernandez, Laurence Sumando, Renell Martinez, Maria Aurora Real and Maria Luisa Remulla.

FILCOM president and the delegates also met with Governor Peter Beckingham, the Immigration Board and management of Amanyara Resort to discuss projects that would be beneficial to both the Philippines and TCI. Palatino said that they were aiming to have representatives

from the embassy come to the TCI biyearly.

“FILCOM also is looking forward to another outreach programme, this time with the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) again from Washington DC to talk about its services to the Overseas Filipinos Workers in TCI.”

Deep politics MILLS MUSES

AN IMPORTANT feature of politics is that once political leaders or managers become deeply engaged with their people, they can look forward to a fairly long period in the political arena.

Deep politics is engaging, and transformational.

Pindling in the Bahamas and Michael Manley in Jamaica were political managers who were engaged deeply with their people and made them feel they were on board with their leaders, and not just left in the deep to swim or sink.

The electorate felt respected and rewarded them with long periods in political office.

If politicians want to have a long shelf-life, they would have to engage deeply with their people.

A recent article lists five points to show how engagement impacts exceptional performance. I will comment on three of these as they relate to political management.

They include the manager as prophet, which involves vision and inspiration, to depict the future employees would want to be a part of.

The others are the manager as strategist, and storyteller.

The strategist has a plan to engage the team, knows their talents, and has a development plan for each of them.

The storyteller brings the story

BY Oliver Mills

Oliver Mills was born in South Caicos, acquired a diploma in article writing from the Writer’s Digest School in the United States, and worked as training manager for the Turks and Caicos public service.

He is currently an adjunct lecturer in the Business and Hospitality Departments at the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College.

to life concerning how the vision will be achieved. These ideas about engagement can be applied to TCI politics, and deepen the connection between the politician and the people.

Our political managers, can engage the people deeply by creating a vision for the country, articulating the part they would play.

But many political operatives see themselves as above the electorate, although these constituents put them where they are, and blame them for their economic state.

They feel the social contract they had with the elected member has been breached.

The TCI’s politicians therefore need to inspire constituents and create a deep sense of hope if they desire a long stay in politics.

As strategists, politicians should formulate policies and see the process through.

Planning is critical, and they should engage their people in nation building,

and equip them with the skills needed for their country’s growth.

With a deep knowledge of their psychology, possibilities become reality.

Our politicians, as storytellers, could create convincing narratives concerning how the vision for the country could be realised.

Constituents will then have a deeper understanding of where the society is headed, their part in it, and will give their full support.

Deep involvement of constituents in crafting their future is the key to progress.

When political managers realise they are the people’s servants, create a vision, utilise their talents, and explain how the vision will be achieved, politics transforms from personal benefits to realising the shared interests of the community.

Only the politics of deep engagement makes this possible.

10

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

We welcome letters from all members of the public on a variety of topics Please note that all submissions are subject to editing in keeping with defamation laws and newspaper style. Letters should be accompanied by the author’s full name, location and phone number. Names will be withheld if requested.

Facts about Islanders and other mammals – Part one Dear Editor, I have been following all this rather emotional back and fro about the proposed dolphin ‘attraction’ in the TCI all over our media and social media for a while.

This made me realise that we need some cold, hard facts and real opinions from our existing and potential clients for balance.

I have researched dozens of sites and collected information which will show you that this ‘attraction’ does not make sense economically, that it would hurt our reputation and lower our standards in the eyes of our (very much needed) visitors.

If you don’t believe me, look it all up online: -The Turks and Caicos Islands is a very rare, unique island destination in a tiny market niche.

We need to keep it that way in order to keep people employed and tourists coming.

If we cheapen the destination with 28 story buildings and dolphin shows, we will lose this advantage.

We will lose the exclusivity and the high paying clients.

-If we put the TCI in the same category as destinations like Mexico or the Dominican Republic, within a few years of Cuba’s opening up we will lose our portion of that market too, and we and our children will end up unemployed.

-We have been recognised worldwide as 1) A pristine, extraordinary destination with unspoiled environment (very rare nowadays) 2) A high end destination (also rather rare) and 3) A place where one can swim in the ocean with free dolphins (there are people who specifically come to Provo to see JoJo).

Again, losing these could mean significant decrease of visitors to TCI. -The world’s opinion is rapidly changing in regard to dolphin and orca shows: people visit them less and less.

To give you a specific example, SeaWorld’s stock keeps plummeting (see graph), their visitor numbers dwindle, their shareholders are filing lawsuits.

There are frequent demonstrations in front of dolphin/orca shows worldwide.

-SeaWorld was pronounced the most hated company in America in last year’s public poll. Let that sink in. Do we want the TCI to be on some most hated list?

-Apart from other prominent persons, the US Ambassador to Japan publicly protests against dolphin slaughter and related dolphin ‘attractions’. The majority of our visitors come from the US. -All animal protection agencies worldwide are working on shutting

down these shows, and exposing cruel dolphinaria practices is all over their internet pages and newsletters.

They, together with online petitions, have shut down or not allowed to open 75 of these shows worldwide. One of the latest ones was in the Bahamas.

-The Miami Dolphins, Southwest Airlines, Virgin America, Panama Jack, STA Travel, Taco Bell and Hyundai America have officially cut ties with SeaWorld. Airlines (!) - the most important means of our tourists arriving here.

-Large number of tour operators and airlines worldwide no longer promote destinations with dolphin/ orca ‘attractions,’ and many join their ranks every day.

One of these companies is Carnival UK. It is only a matter of time before Carnival US joins them which could mean major losses in income for the entire country, but specifically for Grand Turk and its Cruise Centre.

-And last, but not least important: check out the actual plans for this ‘attraction’ and see for yourselves.

When we looked, there was a bus parking lot in their building plan.

This suggests that there won’t be extra taxi drives for locals in GT, and that the people of Grand Turk are not being told the whole story by a company that claims how much they care for them.

(We have checked out their site for Jamaica. They are using buses there. The site clearly states, that after seeing the dolphins, you should ‘Re-board your bus and head to shopping plaza.’)

And so, since the owners are expats who would not live and spend their money in Grand Turk, you end up disappointed, with no extra income from them or promised taxi rides, no real jobs to speak of, and a terrible reputation around the world.

The good news is, there is an excellent alternative! To be continued in the next issue.

Sara Skye Long Bay Providenciales

End youth violence now Dear Editor, I was deeply disturbed by the events taking place in Grand Turk this week when an all-out brawl between students of the HJ Robinson High School took place.

I can’t grasp the understanding of why this senseless violence is occurring in our educational institutions by children who should be focussing on attaining the best possible academic achievements to ensure their future success.

It’s sad that they have not realised the importance and value of what they are putting at great risk.

In many countries around the world millions of children will never have an opportunity to embrace the education they are so careless with.

That they only have one opportunity each day to grasp what their hardworking teachers and parents are working so hard to afford them.

The disrespect displayed to each other male and female, to their uniforms and their institution was heart-breaking and deplorable.

When I think of how we as a people fought so hard, many bled and died for our freedom and our right to a better life, it honestly makes me cry.

Someone once said if we open the door to a school, we close the door to a prison. This saying goes against what is currently happening as the children seem to have an attitude of indifference.

I fear that if something isn’t done immediately to correct this

21 questions

Life’s Too Short, With every day that passes, we are closer to our deaths, Living a lifetime of regrets or a life time of great moments, I look to the east and see little hope for the child, whose future has been torn away from him because of war, induced poverty and senseless killings, Someone screams at me: “You are bless” But what is my blessing if I don’t share it?

What is my blessing if I don’t use it?

What is my blessing if I neglect it for worldly accomplishments?

What is my blessing if I tell myself it’s not good enough?

What is my blessing if I chose to do evil when I know it’s wrong?

What is my blessing if I don’t share with you my wisdom?

What is my blessing if I don’t help you discover yours?

What is my blessing if I ignore the weak because I want to be strong?

What is my blessing if I remain quiet while injustice is served?

What is my blessing if I die not giving back to the world what God gave me?

What is my blessing if I portray an image to the public that’s false?

What is my blessing if I bring my brother down with harsh words?

What is my blessing for seeing the colours of racism when God created mankind?

What is my blessing for destroying a life I did not create?

What is my blessing for constantly fornicating to fulfil my ego?

What is my blessing for accumulating wealth whiles the poor accumulate debt?

What is my blessing for physically & emotionally abusing the ones I love?

What is my blessing for portraying a false image

situation we will continue to see young lives full of promise and potential being snatched away by acts of violence.

T h e Government along with the clergy, parents and teachers need to step in with strict penalties and a no nonsense policy to discipline our youth.

We need some mechanisms put in place for conflict resolution so that our children’s first and only option is not to resort to physical violence.

After school programmes that encourages physical activity as well as team work, part time jobs, peer buddies from the mature community may help to aid in our endeavours to teach them to respect and care for each other.

They need to understand that time is precious, they are precious and grades don’t change.

A failing grade today will still be on their records in 100 years.

It’s going to take the efforts of the entire community to curtail what has obviously gotten out of hand.

If we fail to protect what is so precious to us (our youth), then our future is doomed.

We can’t afford to lose another life. We must stop the violence.

Euwonka Selver, Providenciales

in a church while I’m a devil at home?

What’s my blessing for refusing to tell the women of my life that I love her because I’m afraid of pain?

What is my blessing for refusing to be a leader when I am called to be one?

What is my blessing if I decide to ignore God’s blessings?

Every day I can answer these questions and hundreds of more, These questions are essential to growth and development as contributors to the human race, We are now at a critical stage in our country where critical questions must be answered, Here’s one!!

Is there REALLY a future here for me Mr Premier?

Leonardo Lightbourne, Founder of Open Thought Lower Bight, Providenciales

January 31 - February 6, 2015

NEWS 11

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

REAL TALK

We need to wake up Part two

Wetlands are important because they ensure fresh water and replenish ground water, purify and filter harmful toxins and are a breeding ground for many commercially important fish species among other things

Wetlands clean-up set for this weekend A CLEAN-UP will be hosted in Blue Hills by the TCI Department of Environment and Maritime Affairs (DEMA) in collaboration with the TCI National Trust in support of World Wetland Day 2015 on Saturday (January 31).

The event will take place from 7am to 9am at Wheeland Pond, Blue Hills, Providenciales, in an attempt to conserve the TCI wetlands.

The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Wetlands for our future’.

Winema Sanders, public relations officer for the National Trust, said that the Wheeland Pond cleanup is taking place to support the international World Wetlands Day campaign to demonstrate the significance of the wetlands in the

TCI. “Internationally this day is celebrated on February 2.

“It also marks the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.”

Sanders said that environmental days such as this, are important to the TCI and the world because wetlands offer substantial social, economic and environmental values which, if supervised sustainably, will offer benefits to future generations.

Wetlands are important because they ensure fresh water and replenish ground water, purify and filter harmful toxins and are a breeding ground for many commercially important fish species among other things.

ARE you still sleeping? Or have you awoken to the fact that many of the indigenous people of this country have not had someone in their corner for a very long time?

Have you awoken to the reality that social injustice and alienation of our rights are prevalent in this country?

Have you awoken to the fact that the TCI’s citizens are being punished for crimes that others get a slap on the wrist for just to tarnish their records and deny future prominent jobs?

Do you know that song ‘We got foreign judge and foreign police?’

We are left to ponder at times: who is on our side?

Moreover, we have to awake from our mental slavery of putting fellow Belongers under our feet.

TCI citizens, why do we continue to fight against each other?

We are too small and intimately related to fight each other.

Additionally, we must stop fighting the TCI’s citizens who are trying to honestly help this country and work with them.

Stop sweating the small stuff like dwelling on who the spot light is on.

When Israel cried to God for deliverance from 436 years of Egyptian slavery, do you think they cared who the deliverer looked like?

Do you think they cared who mar was his par? Do you think they considered his or her personal

By Jas Walkin

BIOGRAPHY: Jas was born with a physical disability and diagnosed with a mild form of muscular dystrophy. His early childhood was characterised with trying to fit in in a regular school environment unequipped to cater to special needs students. With support from family, teachers and the community he graduated as valedictorian of Raymond Gardiner High School and has been a graduate teacher for the past last nine years.

shortcomings and imperfections? The answer is NO! We cannot tell God who to use.

Wake up and embrace difference makers.

We need to fight!

After we would have awakened out of sleep and slumber; we have to fight for our country.

The fighting I am talking about is not physical but mental and spiritual.

According to the word of God the greatest human weapon is the tongue.

The Bible says that life and death is in the power of the tongue!

The reason we face so many struggles in this country is because we sit silently while are rights are being violated, as opportunities are taken away from us, as our children future is dangled with like a toy and as our beloved TCI transforms into a foreign land to its indigenous people.

We need to open our mouths in this country and defend our homeland.

Not just in private conversations and table talk, not just by the taxi stands, or on Facebook; but we need to defend our rights on every front and in every field.

Stop being a talk behind the scenes people or after the meeting is over, you say how you feel. We need stand up for the TCI when it is time stand up.

Unless you have plans on moving to another man’s country, this is the only country that you have; and I have not seen God add new land on the earth during my lifetime; so this land is we have got!

We must learn to stop being afraid to speak. FEAR is our worst enemy. It cripples us and influences us to destroy ideas which might appear different but ultimately lead to our betterment.

Are you satisfied to remain sleep walking as our country fall apart? Are you satisfied that this is all the Turks and Caicos Islands has to offer its citizens and future generations?

When will enough be enough for you? How much does the TCI mean to you?

For me after God and family, the Turks and Caicos Islands is all I have to cherish in this world; so I have woken up.

COMMENTARY

Marching along, but where?

WE ARE all marching along through life but one wonders where the TCI is heading under leadership which lost its way or never had it.

Last week we read that again the trial relating to the alleged corruption of the last PNP administration was again delayed due to repeated and expensive defendant legal manipulations.

It crossed our mind that while this was good news for former Premier Michael Misick, the folks that made his bail by pledging $12 million in assets to cover Misick’s $10 million bail continue to have their assets frozen.

Would leaving Mister Mike in Brazil have been a better choice?

However perhaps the trial, if there ever is one, will explain the

reason his return was important.

Perhaps the USA had their say as they did in the David Smith case.

Smith now awaits his extradition and decades in a US prison after that short and soft British sentence.

The TCI was surprised when the 2009 inquiry revealed the tip of the iceberg of alleged titanic PNP corruption.

The ship Titanic struck its iceberg and sank quickly. It will now be at least six and a half years before the corruption trial begins.

British justice, it seems, is made up of icebergs that melt very slowly.... after they sink ships.

On the bright side we see the promise of tomorrow in the eyes of the Middle Caicos school children.

However since the TCI’s voters decided to remain in PNP payback

limbo mode for a possible 20 more years what future do these innocents have?

Yvette and my children who departed the TCI seem to predict today’s youngsters’ future!

Our TCI children are now well established in the USA. Two helping to educate US citizens. Two other TCIs are well employed in American service industries.

An American oldest son is a master auto mechanic whose life was saved at a local Cleveland hospital via open heart surgery. In the TCI they send you away or back home to die.

Two others, the youngest, 44, who tried the TCI under PNP is now employed in Canada.

The great country of Canada which chose in 1812 to remain British and not join the USA.

By David Tapfer

David is a retired mobile hydraulic engineer and business executive. He has been married to Middle Caicos native Yvette Robinson Tapfer for 25 years and has lived in Conch Bar, Middle Caicos, since 2002. David formerly served as branch chairman of the PDM from 2008 to 2011 Instead under Britain and a lengthy independence, Canada, which has more land than the USA currently has attracted only 10 percent of the USA population.

Canadian corporations turned to strip the TCI via PNP orchestrated monopolistic agreements.

Meanwhile one by one and two by two Middle Caicos and other TCI

born senior citizens have lost faith and moved to the USA to join their children who left the TCI back when Norman, Oswald and Washy were in charge.

Where will the TCI be when these expensive Canadian/PNP contracts finally prove unaffordable or expired?

Will anyone be left?

12 NEWS

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Country celebrates return of Miss Turks and Caicos ALTHOUGH she did not win the Miss Universe pageant on Sunday (January 25) Shanice Williams remains a queen in the eyes of her supporters.

The Grand Turk beauty returned home from Florida to a hero’s welcome on Tuesday evening.

Scores of people gathered at Gilley’s restaurant at Providenciales International Airport with balloons and flags bearing her smiling face held high.

They shouted and cheered as she met her gathered friends and family accompanied by the lively music of a colourful junkanoo band.

The slender 5’9” pageant contestant was greeted with a bouquet of flowers, a TCI flag and plenty of hugs and kisses.

Premier Rufus Ewing, who was present at the reception, told Williams: “We’re gathered here this evening to extend our congratulations to you on a job well done.

“We had no doubt whatsoever to the extent in which you performed and represented the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“The only disappointing thing is that you did not bring home the crown, but you know what, you are our queen, and as far as I’m concerned you are Miss Universe.

“We want to congratulate you and we want to encourage you.

You are truly an ambassador, a role model and I’m sure because of you there are millions of people out there who now know where Turks and Caicos is.”

He thanked her on behalf of the Government and the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Other attendees included Blythe Clare, Tourist Board training manager, Josephine Connolly, Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Trevor Musgrove, Deputy Chairman of the Tourist Board, Junior Minister of Tourism William

Miss Turks and Caicos in her National Costume designed by Kazz Forbes

Elliott and Miss Teen TCI Malique Ferrette.

The celebrations continued with much festivity in Grand Turk on Wednesday (January 28).

On Sunday millions of people across the globe were tuned into their television sets to watch 88 girls compete for the title of Miss Universe 2015.

Among the contestants vying for the coveted crown was 21-year-old island beauty Williams who won Miss Turks and Caicos 2014 on April 26 last year.

The 63rd Miss Universe pageant was a spectacular affair with competitions for swimsuit, evening gown and interview.

It took place at the US Century Bank Arena at Florida International University in Doral, Florida.

Gabriela Isler, Miss Universe 2013 crowned her successor Miss Columbia Paulina Vega at the conclusion of the three hour telecast which was hosted by Today’s Natalie Morales and MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts.

Although Williams did not win she said she enjoyed the event and learned a lot from her time in Doral.

“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I used it to my advantage,” she told those gathered at the event.

“It was difficult at some points but I kept going and really and truly the comments and all the messages really kept me motivated.”

Williams is welcomed home by all her supporters

She went on to thank everyone that supported her throughout the experience.

Williams is the secretary for the Crown Land Unit, Lands Division, and this summer received a Bachelor’s Degree in financial management from the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College.

Her goal is to become a certified

Premier Rufus Ewing congratulates Williams on a job well done

financial planner.

Williams’ motto in life is ‘Pray more, fear less, live better’ and she enjoys reading, dancing, traveling, modelling and helping out with activities at her church.

This month she has spent several weeks in Doral, Florida, meeting other contestants and taking part in numerous fun marketing activities.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Miss TCI with Blythe Clare, Tourist Board training manager

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

Junior Minister of Tourism William Elliott confesses to having a crush on the beauty queen

NEWS 13

14 NEWS

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

HJ Robinson and community college win annual HIV/ Aids debate

BY DAISY HANDFIELD HJ Robinson High School emerged as winners in the high school category of the 17th annual HIV Debate, after competing with seven other schools last weekend.

Following in second place was Maranatha High School and in third place the British West Indies Collegiate.

The event took place at Beaches Resort and Spa in Providenciales on Friday (January 23).

The moot for the debate was ‘Only active community participation will ensure zero new infections, zero deaths.’

It was a very compelling and engaging argument put forward by HJ Robinson High School.

Robinson competed against Clement Howell High School in the final round of the high school debate.

The team argued that there needs to be more than just community participation to ensure HIV/Aids related deaths and infection are eliminated from society as well as the plague attached to those with or affected with the disease.

They suggested that individuals need to first take responsibility for their actions and protect themselves,

arguing that while the community plays a role that cannot be all that is needed.

Marantha High School presented their arguments for the topic while Champions for Christ opposed.

Both teams were very strong and self-assured in their presentations.

Marjorie Basden High School clashed with the team from the Raymond Gardiner High School, when they argued that the community involvement is key in getting to zero.

The students from TCIPS were defeated by third place winner British West Indies Collegiate, whose students were assertive, strong and captive in their presentation in favour of the topic.

The best speaker title was captured by Cherlene Dabel of HJ Robinson High School.

She was also the first speaker for her team and presented her team’s position with confidence and selfassurance.

In the college age category, sixth formers from the British West Indies Collegiate went up against the students from the TCI Community College.

Their subject was ‘Can wearing a red ribbon really be considered as a taking a stand for zero infections,

Potholes have been an ongoing issue in Kew Town and the Bight

TCI Community College winning team

HJ Robinson High School wins high school debate

zero deaths and zero discrimination’.

The TCI Community College team emerged as the winners with their arguments that wearing a ribbon does not necessarily indicate the wearer is taking a stand.

However, best speaker was

awarded to Devonte Smith of the British West Indies Collegiate.

He presented very convincing arguments that wearing a ribbon is significant in itself and a show of solidarity and support.

One of the judges was Edgar

Howell, who made remarks on improvements for the debaters and praised them on their performances.

Among judges were Doreen Quelch Missick, Pastor Anastacia Bansie, Cheryl Tull and Dr Idelisa Cartaya.

The potholes increase in size every time heavy rain falls

Gov’t to invest $1.465 million on Kew Town and Glass Shack roads

BY DAISY HANDFIELD A NEW budget of $1.465 million has been secured for the reconstruction of the roads in Kew Town and Glass Shack, according to the new Minister of Government Support Services (GSS) Amanda Misick.

According to Misick, the Providenciales roads will see major

work as of early March.

She said: “This is something that I have been agitating for quite some time but recently I became the minister with responsibility for GSS and just secured a proper budget to begin major road work in March.”

Misick said that in the meantime workers have been doing some patching with black top since

Tuesday last week.

The minister added that they will be taking the road work in stages, with labour beginning with the main roads in Kew Town.

“The plan is to reconstruct the roads because what was done originally was just temporary.”

Residents of Providenciales have been complaining particularly about

the potholes in the Bight and Kew Town constituencies.

Many confessed to having to spend hundreds of dollars on their vehicles after falling in some steep potholes.

Potholes pose a big hazard to vehicles that drive along these roads on a regular basis.

Among issues that are caused to

vehicles include steering system misalignment, engine damage, and premature wear on shocks, wheel rim damage and exhaust system damage.

According to potholes.co.uk the holes cause as many as 1 in 10 mechanical failures on UK roads and cost motorists an estimated £730 million every year.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

Adventurer John Galleymore performed a practice walk between North and Middle Caicos to prepare for journey

NEWS 15

He confessed that this was the first time in a long time that he has done something this extreme

Adventurer takes on journey to raise funds for charities

BY DAISY HANDFIELD PROVO based adventurer, John Galleymore will take on a long journey from South Caicos to Providenciales, walking and swimming to raise funds for various charities in the TCI. Covering 25 miles per day he will cover 120 miles by the end of his journey, unaided, carrying 110lbs of gear when walking, including food, water and tent; floating his equipment while swimming.

According to Galleymore, $4,350 has already been raised to put towards the selected non-profit organisations.

The 47-year-old’s mission will start on February 11 from South Caicos arriving on February 15 to Grace Bay beach in Providenciales.

The Weekly News spoke to Galleymore on Thursday (January 29) who said that it has always been on his mind to try and do the big walk from South Caicos to Providenciales and link all the islands together in the Caicos chain.

“I’ve always been into the fitness and the kind of more extreme fitness; more exciting I find it.

“When I first came to the Islands some eight years ago, my first kind of real extreme adventure was when I was working on West Caicos and I walked the perimeter of West Caicos over two days.

“I kind of fell in love with the remoteness of the other islands.”

He performed a practice walk between Middle and North Caicos on Wednesday (January 28) in

preparation for the big day.

Families, visitors and individuals are invited to go down to Ricky’s on the beach on February 15 to cheer Galleymore on as he proceeds from Leeward to the finish point on Grace Bay beach.

Claire Parrish, managing director for Tradewinds Radio, added that she was very supportive of the adventurer and the urge that he was taking to raise funds for the community.

She said: “The charitable side is just an added part, it’s all about the

wanting to do something possible and knowing it is out there.

“John’s love for what is out there is what is making him do it.”

Pledges can go to http://fnd.us/c/ cvJp7/sh/44HzFe or be emailed directly to Galleymore at asqn@ yahoo.com for either charities of his own choice that include Potcake Place, or to the specific TCI charity of the pledger’s choosing.

Sponsor forms for raising funds are available via the Facebook page www.facebook.com/operationscolp.

Beaches donates $35,000 to scholarship fund TCI students have been given a financial boost in the form of a $35,000 donation for scholarships.

Beaches Resort and Spa recently presented the cheque to the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Library Services to assist with further learning.

Minister of Education Akierra Missick, who accepted the cheque on behalf of her ministry, expressed her gratitude.

“The Department of Education is grateful for this partnership and for the financial donation to our scholarship fund,” she said.

“This donation will go a long way as it will help to further the academic goals of many Turks and Caicos Islanders and will also help with their career endeavours.”

The resort has been a longtime supporter of education in the TCI and has donated more than $280,000 to the scholarship fund

since 2006.

Now in its eighth year, the Beaches Resort remains committed to not only supporting primary and secondary education through its foundation, but also supporting tertiary level education and career advancement.

It does this through financial donations, while working alongside the Education Department and the Ministry of Labour to provide hands-on learning and apprenticeships.

Public relations manager Elanor Finfin Krzanowski, who made the presentation on behalf of the resort, said: “This is a great initiative for us, not only are we committed to enhancing education through the Sandals Foundation, but we are also committed to providing financial avenue through the resort for qualified islanders who wish to pursue higher education.

Minister of Education Akirra Missick with Beaches public relations manager Elanor Finfin Krzanowski

“This cheque presentation is evidence of our continued commitment and unwavering

support to young people of these Islands.”

The yearly contribution will go to

the consolidated fund to supplement the scholarship budget for the 2015/2016 school curriculum.

Lifestyle...

16

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

How does your garden grow 

BY DENIS Belanger - NATURE SPLENDOR

Denis is a passionate landscape architect who enjoys the creative process and his clients’ joy when projects come to life. Contact Denis at Nature Splendor for your landscaping, installation or garden maintenance needs.

For more information call 332-3381 or email denis@naturesplendor.net.

The not so lovely love vine HERE in the Turks and Caicos Islands, there is a pale yellow or orange yellow vine can be seen clinging to roadside bushes and trees.

Turks and Caicos Islanders call it ‘love vine’ because of its ability to strangle the life out of its host.

Having had much luck in the love department myself, I like to refer to it as ‘hell weed’.

If this vine decides to take up residence in your yard, getting rid of it can be hell on Earth.

Dodder vine starts its life as a

green, thin-leafed plant, wholly selfsufficient with a rope-like stem.

As it crawls along, it seeks a host plant or tree on which to climb and becomes a true parasite, giving up its green leaves and chlorophyll (mushrooms are the only other plant form not to produce chlorophyll), and receives its entire sustenance at the expense of the host it has attached itself to, eventually killing the host.

As it grows it produces small flowers with clusters of seeds. When

the host shrub is disturbed, the seeds fall to the ground and germinate, beginning the life cycle of yet another love vine plant.

The seeds also become airborne by way of wind and birds.

It’s not easy to really get rid of it, if possible at all. But some basic measures can be done.

You can prune back the afflicted plant, but it is very important not to scatter the seed.

Carefully place branches in a plastic bag, picking up any pieces dropped, tie carefully and remove immediately from your yard.

Be sure to carefully remove the stems that have penetrated the bark.

Also, study the ground for any new green plants that have germinated and remove them by their root.

I have also found that a strong solution of nitrogen will cause the plant to ‘explode’ by forcing it to produce chlorophyll.

Either a strong solution of fertiliser or round-up in a spray bottle with a small nozzle will allow application to small areas.

If the solution happens to land on leaves, they will burn and drop off, but should not harm the roots of an

afflicted shrub.

The love vine has proliferated throughout the local area due mostly to hurricanes that have spread seeds with high winds.

Try your best to identify dodder in adjacent vacant lots and along roadsides bordering your property and eliminate as outlined.

It takes constant vigilance and discipline to identify new vines and remove as soon as possible to prevent injury to your trees and shrubs.

Perhaps ‘love vine’ is an apt description, considering the amount of work and patience involved.

• Add the vegetables, diced halloumi and parsley to the couscous and mix well. You can add black pepper (if you wish) at this point, but the halloumi and stock can already be quite salty, so be careful about adding any more

salt.

• Use the couscous mixture to stuff the peppers, then return them to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the edges of the peppers are starting to brown.

• You can also finish them quickly under a hot broiler if they are cooked, but not golden on top.

• These are lovely served with a green salad and toasted pine nuts sprinkled on top.

Weekly Recipe Helen Barkworth-Knight is a teacher and qualified baker with a lifelong love for cooking for friends and family.

She is a mother to Owen, almost two, who has very particular tastes in all things, especially food.

Hence she has become an expert in hiding vegetables in all sorts of dishes!

Halloumi stuffed peppers Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large red peppers, cut in half lengthwise through the stalk and deseeded • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 4 green (spring) onions, finely chopped • 50g mushrooms, finely diced • ½ medium zucchini, finely diced • ½ cup couscous • ¾ cup hot chicken or vegetable stock • 4 ½ oz (½ block) halloumi cheese, finely diced (feta will also work) • A small bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. • Rub the red peppers all over, inside and out with olive oil and place in an ovenproof baking dish or tin.

• Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until the peppers are just tender and still holding their shape.

Once baked, leave them in the dish or tin and set aside.

• Mix the couscous with the hot stock in a bowl and cover with a tight fitting lid or cling film. Leave for five minutes or until all the stock has been absorbed, then fluff up the couscous with a fork.

• Meanwhile, sauté the green onion, mushrooms and zucchini in a pan with a little olive oil until soft but not brown.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Lifestyle...

Fillings A FILLING (or restoration) is required when there is a cavity (hole) in the tooth. The filling will replace the missing enamel and dentine which make up the hard parts of a tooth.

A hole can occur for several reasons - decay, abrasion and erosion. Decay occurs when sugars and/or acid have been allowed to build up and attack the enamel of the teeth.

Abrasion happens when an area of the tooth has been worn away, and erosion occurs when the enamel has begun to dissolve due to the direct effects of acid on the tooth.

This can be seen for example if you consistently eat lots of citrus fruits, suffer with stomach acid reflux or vomit on a regular basis.

If the hole is due to decay, this is usually visible to a dentist and can be identified by the area of the tooth turning brown in colour.

In some instances it may not be immediately obvious and it may be that the first sign is the pain. In this case a dentist would x-ray the tooth in question.

17

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

The Dentist and you  Mark Osmond BDS (Lond) LDS RCS (Eng). Mark Osmond Dental Clinic - (649) 432 3777, drmosmond@gmail.com or Find us on Facebook

filling is breaking down and the risk of leaving it is greater than removing it.

Before a filling is placed, the decay is completely removed. If this is not done properly, the decay will continue to erode the tooth underneath the filling and it is likely to become painful.

Metal or white fillings Metal (amalgam) fillings contain mercury which is known to be toxic. I consider them to be an old-fashioned treatment option and nowadays there are certainly superior alternatives.

Personally I have not placed a metal, mercury-based filling for over 15 years. The white (composite) fillings do not contain mercury, are as strong as metal fillings, are bonded to the tooth and are aesthetically more attractive due to them matching the colour of the existing enamel/ other teeth.

The composite material is available is different shades so your dentist can get a good colour match to your natural tooth colour.

If you already have metal fillings in your teeth, they can be replaced with the white fillings. There are two reasons why a metal filling would be

By Dr Mark Osmond

Fissure Sealing This is a preventative treatment whereby a liquid filling material is used to fill in the narrow fissures (grooves) in the molar teeth.

It works by preventing material getting into these hard to clean places and it is proven to reduce the risk of dental decay.

It is routinely recommended for children around the age of six or seven, when the first adult molars are completely erupted and can be a useful treatment for some adults.

changed.

Firstly, if the metal filling is breaking down and so potentially releasing the amalgam particles into the body it is clinically advisable to have the fillings replaced.

The second reason is cosmetic and is a personal choice in order to

achieve a more natural look.

However, if your metal fillings are smooth, shiny and not breaking down there is no immediate need to change them.

During pregnancy metal fillings would not be placed or removed, unless there is clear evidence that the

Composite build-up to combat erosion or abrasion The groove formed by the action of erosion or abrasion is commonly seen where the tooth meets the gum.

This can often lead to pain or sensitivity. These grooves can be filled by bonding tooth-coloured filling material to the tooth.

Chipped teeth can also be built up and repaired using the bonded composite, tooth-coloured filling material.

POLICE SAFETY TIPS

Landscape for security EXTERIOR security should involve protecting all areas of your home or business.

Landscaping must be one important factor and can be well planned to eliminate areas where a potential intruder can hide.

Landscape design can be a practical alternative to metal bars and expensive security systems.

Plants, which are deployed effectively, do not advertise possessions worth defending like steel bars and threatening signs.

These same plants also beautify as well as fortify, thereby justifying some added cost and effort.

Burglars look for properties where they can get in and out rapidly, avoiding detection and apprehension.

The ideal target is a home surrounded by large hedges, shrubs and tall fences.

All these obstruct the view from the street and neighbours’ homes.

Few, or no obstacles that might block their quick exit and

By Audley Astwood Audley, a former police detective and broadcaster, is currently the press officer for the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force. His main focus is on crime prevention and community policing. For more information call 941-4448 or visit www.tcipolice.tc.

public access on at least one side of the property, is the burglar’s goal.

With only one way out of your home and property, the potential intruder will probably move on to a more likely prospect.

Large, overgrown plants are your worst enemy. If the plant obscures your view of key areas or might offer

cover to the lurking intruder, prune it back so these areas can be readily seen from the street.

You can prune or remove tall shrubs, often these can be thinned out so you can see through them.

If you can see through the plants, there is no place for an assailant to hide. Don’t allow shrubs to block your

street address.

Those responding to an emergency have to find your home. Planting open and low-growing shrubs will allow for better visibility without the constant need for pruning.

Planting a thick carpet of ivy or lush stands of ornamental grasses near the house creates an ankle engulfing barrier of foliage and allows total visibility.

Use a gravel path next to bedroom windows. This can announce the presence of a prowler as he walks on the gravel.

Thorny bushes, which are planted below windows, can sometimes discourage an intruder.

Fences can be an asset or a liability.

The six-foot privacy fence helps protect the property but also provides

cover for an intruder once inside the fenced area.

Steel barrier fences can be the answer. They keep children and animals in and inducers out without altering the visibility factor.

These are almost maintenance free, and do not rot or deteriorate like a wood fence.

Take a look at your house from the intruder’s perspective. If you wanted to break in, how would you go about gaining entrance without being seen?

With your answer you can go about correcting the deficiencies.

For more crime prevention tips, security awareness tips or home safety reminders please visit www. tcipolice.tc or www.facebook.com/ rtcipf.

18 NEWS

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

The immigration officers demonstrate their new skills at the Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Centre

Immigration officers become Caribbean leaders A GROUP of immigration officers can count themselves among the most qualified in the region, thanks to a UK-led training programme.

For two weeks six officers took part in an intensive management and operations course in Providenciales to allow them to become trainers.

They were tested on a number of demanding activities including emergency life support, operational field deployments, technical skills such as handcuffing, restraint and searching, command training and coaching.

UK immigration operational trainers, Ashley Robinson and Steve Smith, and TCI border control senior trainer Tito Forbes delivered the course.

On Friday (January 23) after demonstrating high levels of physical and mental competence, and passing a final examination, the officers were certified.

They are now official personal safety training (PST) trainers and are

able to support senior trainers Forbes and Wendy Seymour in delivering future operational skills training and refreshers to new and existing staff.

Speaking at the certification event at Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Centre in Providenciales UK Immigration Adviser Simon Excell said that the officers had done themselves and the ministry proud.

He described their certification as an “incredible achievement” and said the standards set were very high.

The officers went on to display some of their skills such as handcuffing, restraint and searching along with their management capabilities.

Among the attendees at the event were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Border Control and Employment Clara Gardiner and Director of Immigration William Mills.

Following the demonstration Gardiner took to the podium and thanked the UK team for hosting the

training and to the officers for taking part.

She told them: “I am very proud to see all of you taking a leading role in the demonstration just now.

“That is a good part of the training exercise because no doubt you will be called upon to demonstrate that leadership in the field as well as in the office as you move up the career ladder.”

The course represented the final piece in a carefully crafted and coordinated programme of operational skills development for border control enforcement staff over the past three years.

It has produced a team of highly skilled and professionally equipped officers, able to meet migration threats of illegal working, unlawful entrants and sloop arrivals.

It is all part of a series of training and development activities for the Ministry of Border Control and Labour that have been organised by Immigration Adviser Simon Excell

and funded by the joint DFID/ Foreign and Commonwealth Office technical assistance programme, which is managed by the Governor’s Office.

The programme has seen the

ministry emerge as a regional leader in areas such as immigration intelligence, forgery detection, victim identification, human rights, citizenship processes and operational skills.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

19

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

Science & Technology

Skull clue to exodus from Africa

AN ancient skull discovered in Israel could shed light on the migration of modern humans out of Africa some 60,000 years ago.

This migration led to the colonisation of the entire planet by our species, as well as the extinction of other human groups such as the Neanderthals.

The skull from Manot Cave dates to 55,000 years ago and may be the closest we’ve got to finding one of the earliest migrants from Africa.

Details appear in Nature journal.

“The skull is very gracile there is nothing that makes it any different from a modern skull,” Prof Israel Hershkovitz, from Tel Aviv University,told the Nature podcast.

“But it also has traits that are found in older specimens.”

He added: “This is the first evidence that shows indeed there was a large wave of migrants out of East Africa, crossing the Sahara and the Nubian desert and inhabiting the eastern Mediterranean region 55,000 years ago. So it is really a key skull in understanding modern human evolution.”

Physical features of the skull, such as a distinctive “bun-shaped” region at the back, resemble those

found in the earliest modern humans from Europe.

This “implies that the Manot people were probably the forefathers of many of the early, Upper Palaeolithic populations of Europe”, Prof Hershkovitz said.

Chris Stringer, research Leader in human origins at London’s Natural History Museum, commented: “Manot might represent some of the elusive first migrants in the hypothesised outof-Africa event about 60,000 years ago, a population whose descendants ultimately spread right across Asia, and also into Europe.”

Prof Stringer, who was not involved with the study, added: “Its discovery raises hopes of more complete specimens from this critical region and time period.”

The find is also of interest because this individual lived at around the time when modern humans are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals.

All non-Africans possess a small amount of Neanderthal ancestry, pointing to an interbreeding event just after modern humans left their homeland but before they diversified into different populations.

The Middle East is a good

candidate region for this event, because it was the first waypoint on the migration and previous discoveries show Neanderthals were there at the same time as moderns.

Details of another ancient human find were unveiled this week in the journal Nature Communications.

A human jawbone dredged up by fishermen 25km off the coast of Taiwan revealed a primitive-looking fossil which appears to date to within the last 200,000 years (though possibly as much as the last 450,000 years).

The individual lived close to the time when modern human migrants interbred with Neanderthals.

Sugary drinks tied to earlier periods, higher breast cancer risk: Harvard study GIRLS who drink just 1 ½ sugary drinks a day hit puberty earlier than their peers, according to a new study.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School studied 5,500 girls over a period of five years and said that girls who gulp 1 1/2 drinks per day get their periods 2.7 months earlier than girls who have two or few sugary drinks per week.

Hitting puberty early is linked to obesity and, down the line, breast cancer.

The researchers blame artificial sugar in the drinks, which can increase the levels of the hormone insulin in the body and in turn cause periods to start earlier, they said in the journal Human Reproduction.

When a girl’s age at first period

drops by one year, her breast cancer risk rises 5%.

“Basically, this is just one more reason to think twice before consuming food and drink with high amounts of sugar, especially for growing children and adolescents,” said Dr. Jill Rabin, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Long island Jewish Medical Center.

Heartburn ‘possible cancer sign’ warning A HEALTH campaign is urging people not to ignore heartburn, because it could be a sign of stomach or oesophageal cancer.

According to Public Health England, people should go to their doctor if they have persistent heartburn or difficulty swallowing food for three weeks or more.

But it said most people were not aware of the symptoms.

Stomach and oesophageal cancers are the fifth most common cancers in England.

PHE figures show that around 12,900 people in England are diagnosed with these cancers each year and approximately 10,000 people die from the diseases annually.

Yet, around 950 lives could be saved each year if survival rates for oesophago-gastric cancers matched the best in Europe, it says.

At present, the UK has the highest rate of oesophageal cancer in men and women in the EU, which may be due to smoking, rising obesity levels, a lack of fruit and vegetables in our diet and regular alcohol consumption.

The earlier the cancers are diagnosed, the more likely the treatment is to be successful.

This is why Public Health England’s “Be Clear on Cancer” campaign is focusing on how to spot the signs of oesophageal or stomach

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Five Ways to Buy a Car Persistent heartburn can be a sign of stomach or oesophageal cancer.

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These can include: · indigestion on and off for three weeks or more · feeling food sticking in your throat when you swallow · losing weight for no obvious reason · trapped wind and frequent burping · feeling full very quickly when eating · nausea or vomiting · pain or discomfort in top of stomach Sean Duffy, national clinical director for cancer at NHS England, said early diagnosis of cancer was critical to improving survival.

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20

Regional News

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

United States offer Caribbean new oil deal THE United States Monday rolled out a new initiative for Caribbean countries to ensure energy security in a move widely seen as distancing the Caribbean from Venezuela for their oil and energy needs.

United States Vice President Joe Biden, addressing the first ever Caribbean Energy Security Summit in the USA, told Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries that there are more options at their disposal now for natural gas delivery than they have ever been.

“You can now purchase gas on the open market from many countries including your neighbour Trinidad and Tobago right now. There is also LNG exporters in the United States with licences to export to any of your countries whether you have a free trade agreement or not. If you want gas go talk to them.

“Meanwhile we are in the midst of a seismic shift in the global economy, the ascendancy of the Americas as the epicenter of the centre of energy production in the world.

“We have more oil and gas… than all the states in the world combined.

Mexico, Canada, the United States is the new epicenter of energy,” Biden said.

Regional countries have in the past relied on Caracas for oil and petroleum products under the PetroCaribe initiative, an oil alliance of many Caribbean states with Venezuela to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment.

But Biden told the summit an integrated North America working to promote energy security beyond its borders “can be a major asset for the entire hemisphere and its profoundly in the self interest of the United States to see the Caribbean countries succeed as prosperous, secure and energy independent neighbours, not a world apart but an integral part of the hemisphere where every nation is middle class, democratic and secure”.

Biden told the summit that it is the

The US VP told the CARICOM representatives that at the moment there are more options at their disposal for natural gas delivery.

first time in history such a vision can be accomplished.

“You can see it if we make the right decisions. So taken together these changes create a moment of energy opportunity that hasn’t existed. Progress is possible and it is possible to begin now,” he said, insisting “not a decade from now”.

He said that was among the issues discussed with the regional leaders, adding “some people think it can’t be done in the Caribbean they are dead wrong.

“Not only can it be done, it is being done right now with some of your neighbours, look at what the US Virgin Islands is doing they are combining renewable energy with propane to lower costs…”.

Biden said St. Lucia is breaking down the barriers to develop new investments in geothermal energy, it is creating new legislation to create a national regulatory body for energy to “stabilize the rules of the game and make investments more attractive for those of you who are energy suppliers”.

He said Barbados “has long been the leader of solar technology (and) is posed to make major new investments in renewables.

“Progress is practical, it is possible

and it is profitable,” Biden said, adding that significant improvements are within reach for every Caribbean country.

But he told the CARICOM leaders that they needed to summon the political will to ensure success “because as we learn real and lasting progress for energy security everywhere in the world depends on more than just spending money”.

He said over the last 10 years tens of millions of dollars had been pledged and invested “but we don’t have nearly enough to show for it”.

He said the primary goal of the summit is “not to put up another solar panel or sign another gas contract (but) it is to help you create the conditions where you countries can attract private sector investment and it is there”.

He said the Caribbean now has an opportunity” for a supply of energy that is more resilient, more sustainable, cleaner, more affordable than you will ever ever had.

“You have a chance to reduce the number of oil spills, protect your waters, pout the money you are saving into schools, hospitals, jobs, infrastructure, manufacturing,” he said, acknowledging “ a lot of work lies ahead”.

Jamaican national kills supervisor, commits suicide inside Home Depot POLICE say a Jamaican-born Home Depot employee shot and killed a supervisor Sunday before turning the gun on himself.

Police said Calvin Esdaile Jr., 31, shot the 38-year-old lighting department supervisor three times in the stomach and chest in the store’s aisle 12 in Manhattan and then shot himself in the head.

Police said Esdaile was found dead at the scene with one gunshot wound. His .38-caliber revolver was beside him.

Esdaile’s victim, identified as

Moctar Sy by a co-worker, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

“Unfortunately, both persons are deceased,” police detective Steven Wren told reporters.

Esdaile’s father, Calvin Esdaile Sr., 52, said his son had arrived in the United States from Jamaica in 2006 and lived in Brooklyn, He was the father of a six-year-old boy.

“If it’s him, I’m sorry about this thing, and I’m sorry someone has to die by his hand,” the disbelieving father told the New

York Daily News, adding “it’s a shock to me. I don’t know of him having a violent history?

Alex Pereira, 32, a former employee of the hardware store, said Esdaile had worked at the store since at least 2011.

A Home Deport spokesman called the shooting an “isolated incident.

“We’re deeply saddened by this tragedy. We are fully cooperating with the authorities on their investigation,” the spokesman said. (CMC)

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Bahamas: Haitian man accused of sex attack on six-year-old girl A MAN was remanded to prison without bail after he was arraigned in connection with the sexual assault of a six-year-old girl.

Haitian national, 29-yearold Nabiel Galen stood in tears before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt who, with the aid of a Creole interpreter, informed him that he faced a single charge of unlawful sexual intercourse.

It is claimed that he committed the crime on December 12, 2014.

The particulars of the offence, when interpreted in Creole, brought the accused to tears.

“He’s crying?” the chief magistrate asked the interpreter.

“What’s the reason for that?”

The interpreter answered that Galen was crying “because he say he didn’t do that.”

“If he did, y’all should have killed him long time,” the court heard.

Galen was told that he would not be required to enter a plea to the charge. The police prosecutor indicated the Crown’s intention to have the case tried in the Supreme Court.

Chief Magistrate FergusonPratt told the man that a voluntary bill of indictment would be served on April 14 to fast-track his case to the Supreme Court for trial.

In noting that Galen had no legal representation, the chief magistrate inquired if the accused had relatives.

Galen claimed that his father and mother were deceased and he had no friends or other relatives.

The magistrate replied that he needed to get an attorney.

“I do not have the jurisdiction to consider bail,” she added, before remanding him to the Department of Correctional Services. (Tribune242)

The Soufrière Volcanic Centre, located in the southwestern region of the island, is the focus of the most recent volcanic activity in Saint Lucia. (CJ Photo)

St Lucia begins research project to study volcanic hazards THE Caribbean, particularly the Eastern Caribbean, is full of active and dormant volcanoes, some of which still emit gases into the atmosphere.

But do those gases poses any threat to nearby areas?

St Lucia has begun an innovative research project aiming to answer that question by measuring the ambient concentration of sulphur dioxide at the island’s Sulphur Springs.

The study aims to measure the concentration and seeks to monitor and measure potentially harmful volcanic gases in the atmosphere, according to the government.

“Such novel initiatives can strengthen local and regional capacities to reduce the cost and impact of disasters through enhanced preparedness by the application of low cost technology in some of

our very vulnerable communities,” said Velda Joseph, acting director of St Lucia’s National Emergency Management Organization.

The project’s implementation has been done primarily by a team of researchers at the Seismic Research Centre in Trinidad.

“While coming here to monitor the volcano and speaking to the residents and visitors of the park, we became aware of their concerns about the emissions and the health effects, if any,” said Dr Eroucilla Joseph, Research Fellow of Volcanology at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre. “so it became one of my interests to engage in a study that analyzed the ambient concentrations of the gases.”

The project is being funded by the University of the West Indies Research and Impact Fund.

(Caribjournal)

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Regional News

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

21

Christie gets US Gov’t ‘guarantee’ on BEC bidders’ integrity

Deontra Demeritte, 18, of Jubilee Gardens, is charged with production of child pornography.

Bahamas: Teenager in court on child porn charges A TEEN was granted $5,000 bail on Tuesday after he was arraigned in Magistrate’s Court on charges of possession and dissemination of child pornography.

Deontra Demeritte, 18, who has retained lawyer Murrio Ducille to defend him against two counts of child pornography, is now scheduled to reappear before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt on February 17 to learn when and before whom he will stand trial.

The Jubilee Gardens resident is claimed to have committed the

crimes on December 14, 2014.

Demeritte pleaded not guilty to both counts after electing to be tried in Magistrates Court.

On the question of bail, police prosecutor ASP Clifford Daxon offered no objection to a bond.

However, the chief magistrate said she was not inclined to rush a decision on bail for an arraignment that took place close to 4pm.

Mr Ducille argued that the late arraignment could not be blamed on either the court or his client, who is presumed innocent by law.

PRIME Minister Perry Christie on Monday confirmed he wanted to “absolutely guarantee” that the Obama administration could vouch for the integrity of the US firms it was backing in the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) reform process.

Mr Christie, who delivered a speech at the first ever Caribbean Energy Security Summit, told Tribune Business that while he had not had any discussions with US officials over the BEC reform process, he had received backing for two American firms from top Embassy officials in Nassau. This had dealt with the integrity of one US firm, in particular.

Mr Christie’s comments came after Tribune Business reported on Monday that the BEC reform process has been delayed because the Government wants to ensure there is no truth to unsubstantiated “integrity concern” rumours that have been raised over its preferred bidder.

Tribune Business revealed that US company, Carolinas-based Power Secure, is effectively the only contender remaining at the table for the BEC management contract.

However, highly-placed sources, both within the Government and inside the BEC process, have disclosed to this newspaper that the Christie administration has delayed confirming Power Secure as the winner due to “scorched earth” tactics employed by persons associated with rival bidders.

While not identifying the US firms he was referring to, Mr Christie

said yesterday: “I have received written support from the Embassy in Nassau, from the deputy secretary of state and the Secretary of State of the US government [John Kerry] with respect to a particular applicant, certifying their integrity.

“It is important that I say that because issues arise as to what is happening, and especially when personalities, particularly those of us who are involved in politics, have our names called.

“I wanted to absolutely guarantee that we had the certification of the American government as to the integrity of the entities that we are dealing with. That has been forthcoming. To that extent we have been engaged with the American government.”

Mr Christie added: “I had said that I did not want to go to Washington for a conference to impact energy reform with a decision just having been made, in the event that we hear something that gives us an advantage in terms of the process we are engaged in.”

Mr Christie said the trip to Washington had made him realise that BEC, and wider energy reform, needs to move at a much quicker pace than it has.

The Government has moved away from splitting the Corporation into separate generation and transmission and distribution (T&D) arms, as initially proposed in August 2013, and is instead moving forward with a business model that mirrors the Nassau Airport Development

Company’s (NAD) arrangement for Lynden Pindling International Airport’s (LPIA) management.

Under that arrangement, the Government will retain 100 per cent equity ownership of BEC even after the private sector manager is in place.

The Government effectively wants to ensure it selects the right manager to turn BEC around, and that its decision is one beyond reproach and stands up to all scrutiny. It does not want to make a choice, only for this to later come back to haunt it.

Power Secure is understood to have withstood all scrutiny to-date.

Tribune Business sources said a key meeting with the Government was held on December 29, at which time it was presented with US Justice Department and US State Department documents and certification attesting to the company’s bona fides.

Power Secure is also a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which means that it is subjected to greater scrutiny, transparency and due diligence than privately-owned counterparts.

The US firm, Tribune Business understands, is the ‘last man standing’ in the BEC process. Of the other two bidders who made the ‘final three’, sources suggested Caribbean-based Inter-Energy had fallen away, while China State Construction - the Baha Mar/British Colonial Hilton investor - had only been interested in building a new power plant as opposed to managing BEC. (Tribune242)

Jamaica Parliament to vote on CCJ on April 28 An elated Lloyd Bogle displays his multi-entry visa in his passport at the Jamaica Observer. (Photo: Bryan Cummings/ Jamaica Observer)

Stranded Jamaican man granted British visa LLOYD Bogle’s anxious wait for a British visa ended on Friday when the 64-year-old man, who was stranded in Jamaica for the past three months, got a call from the British High Commission.

“The call came to me at about 11.30 am telling me to come to the embassy and that my visa was approved,” an elated Bogle told the Jamaica Observer on Saturday.

Bogle said he felt relieved after he first got the news and then his multientry visa from the British authorities.

“I am just elated to know that all of this is now behind me. I am really thankful to God, to those whose

supported me, to the authorities, to the Jamaica Observer and the many Jamaicans who helped me when I was in need,” said an obviously overjoyed Bogle.

Bogle, who has been living in England for the past 54 years, was left stranded in the island after enjoying a two-week trip — his first back home in all that time.

Bogle said his ordeal started on October 13, 2014 when he got to Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay to take a return flight to England, only to be told by Immigration officials that they could not allow him to leave.

ALL 63 members of parliament will cast a critical vote on April 28 – the three-month period given to legislators to support or reject the three bills to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Jamaica’s final appellate court.

The bills, which require constitutional amendments, allow for a three-month period after the end of the parliamentary debate before lawmakers are asked to cast their vote on the proposed laws that concern or relate to fundamental rights under the Jamaican Constitution.

On Tuesday, legislators from both sides of the House made closing arguments on the three bills following several weeks of debate on the proposed statutes.

Members of the ruling party stuck to their entrenched position in support of the proposed laws, while the Opposition made a case for a final appellate court in Jamaica.

In closing the debate in Gordon House on Tuesday, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller dismissed

as impractical the suggestion by the Opposition for Jamaica to have a local final court of appeal at this time.

“Let me say that any member of this House who is not prepared to record his or her positive vote in favour of these bills is not acting in the best interest of the people of Jamaica,” Simpson Miller said.

She contended that the bills should receive support from lawmakers unless the procedure being used in introducing the bills was unconstitutional. Further, she said the bills were expected to be supported, unless their policies and aims were harmful to the Jamaican people.

The prime minister said lawmakers should give their full support unless there was something immoral or unethical about the policy and aims of the bill.

In reference to the historic April 28 vote, Simpson Miller said: “This is three months in which to place ourselves on the right side of history, or to be condemned to

the dust heap of history concerning this matter.”

Opposition Leader Andrew Holness said he had not planned to participate in the debate, but argued that he had to set the record straight concerning his party’s position on the issue.

“I want Jamaica to understand that Andrew Holness, a Jamaican nationalist, is not saying that we must be with the Privy Council in perpetuity. That is not our position,” he declared.

In relation to Caribbean and Jamaican jurisprudence, Holness said his party does not join any criticisms against the quality of the persons serving in the justice system.

“We don’t join any such criticisms.

We believe in our local jurists and our local jurisprudence.”

According to Holness, the 40 former colonies that have left the United Kingdom-based Privy Council, except for Guyana, Barbados and Belize, have all established their own final court of appeal.

22

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Entertainment Rivers’ daughter sues clinic over death JOAN Rivers’ daughter has filed a malpractice claim against the New York medical clinic that treated her mother days before she died.

Rivers suffered a cardiac arrest while undergoing a procedure to examine her throat at the Yorkville Endoscopy centre in August 2014.

The legal claim alleges doctors were not adequately trained and performed unauthorised procedures on the star.

Rivers’ family is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

In November, state health investigators said the clinic failed to follow standard protocols while treating Rivers, who died a week later.

The Department of Health cited multiple errors, including failing to detect the comedian’s deteriorating vital signs during the procedure, but negligence was not suspected.

The New York medical examiner’s office ruled Rivers died of brain damage due to lack of oxygen during the procedure.

The death was classified as a “therapeutic complication”, meaning it was a known risk.

David Oyelowo said he feels that Benedict Cumberbatch is a huge supporter of black performers.

Rivers, pictured with her daughter Melissa, died aged 81.

However Melissa Rivers claims doctors mishandled the endoscopy and performed another procedure - carried out by specialist Gwen Korovin who was not cleared to work at the clinic - without consent.

During the second procedure, gastroenterologist Dr Lawrence Cohen and Ms Korovin took pictures on their mobile phones of themselves with the sedated comedian. Ms Korovin later said she thought Rivers would have wanted to see the images.

Dr Cohen has since resigned.

The legal claim alleges staff were not properly trained to detect Rivers’

deteriorating vital signs or deal with the type of emergency airway obstruction she suffered before going into cardiac arrest.

It also claims Ms Korovin left the room at this point because she knew she was not permitted to be there and “wanted to avoid getting caught”.

Melissa Rivers said filing the lawsuit was one of the most difficult decisions she had to make.

“What ultimately guided me was my unwavering belief that no family should ever have to go through what my mother, Cooper and I have been through,” she said, referring to her son.

Cumberbatch controversy is ridiculous, says Selma star David Oyelowo DAVID Oyelowo has defended fellow British actor and friend, Benedict Cumberbatch, for using the term “coloured” during an interview.

Cumberbatch has apologised and said he was “devastated to have caused offence” after using the word on a US TV show to describe black actors.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Selma star Oyelowo told Newsbeat.

“When you look at what he

was actually saying it’s clear that he’s a huge supporter of black performers.”

David Oyelowo was speaking at the UK premiere of Selma, in which he stars as 1960s civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. Cumberbatch mentioned David Oyelowo and Chiwetel Ejiofor as part of a wider discussion with US talk show host Tavis Smiley about diversity in the film industry.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

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January 31 - February 6, 2015

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Entertainment

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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

Ladd Jr.’s wife accuses Bill Cosby of rape BILL Cosby’s comedy tour continues, as do the standing ovations, but that hasn’t silenced his growing number of accusers. Another woman has come forward to share her story about being a victim of “America’s dad.”

Cindra Ladd, a former entertainment executive in the movie business and the wife of Blade Runner, Braveheart,

and Chariots of Fire producer Alan Ladd Jr., penned an essay detailing her alleged rape by Cosby, who she also claims drugged her, when she was a 21-year-old living in New York City in 1969.

Like many of the accusers, Ladd said Cosby, who was married to his wife Camille at the time, befriended her and was a “perfect gentleman,” she

Cindra Ladd, wife of Alan Ladd Jr., joins the growing list of women who have accused Bill Cosby of rape or sexual assault Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

wrote on Huffington Post. One night when they were headed to a movie, she came down with a headache and when she considered canceling, he told her he had a “miracle cure his doctor gave him,” in the form of a capsule. When she questioned him about what it was, “He asked, ‘don’t you trust me?’ Of course I did.

This was Bill Cosby.”

“For more than 45 years I have tried to recall exactly what happened that night,” Ladd wrote. “To this day it remains a blur. I have a vague recollection of feeling like I was floating while walking through Times Square and watching some kind of Japanese samurai movie with him. I don’t remember where the theater was nor very much of the evening.”

She continued, “What I do recall, vividly and clearly, is waking up the next morning nude in the bed of his friend’s apartment and seeing Cosby wearing a white terrycloth bathrobe and acting as if there was nothing unusual. It was obvious to me that he had had

sex with me. I was horrified, embarrassed and ashamed.

There was a mirror above the bed [of his friend’s apartment], which shocked me further.”

Ladd said that after making some awkward small talk, she

hightailed it out of there. “Once in the elevator, I broke down crying, which I continued to do as I walked home to my apartment,” she said. “It never occurred to me to go to the police. It was a different time

and ‘date rape’ was a concept that didn’t exist. I just kept asking myself over and over in disbelief why this had happened to me. Other than my roommate, I did not discuss that night with anyone for 36 years.”

Dr. Craig Zavitz Chiropractor No pressure, no contracts, no long expensive treatment plans. Just the fast, safe, effective care you deserve Dr. Craig Zavitz is a Canadian Chiropractor associated with Dr. Slattery of Grace Bay Medical Services for past 5 years.

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Valentine will be celebrating two days this year, Friday February 13th and Saturday 14th February 2015. Please place your order now to avoid the rush at the Flower Girl located on Leeward Highway, we have the ideal Gift Baskets and Floral Arrangements at unbeatable prices.

28

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

World News

Tory MPs ‘expect key role’ in future coalition negotiations BACKBENCH Conservative MPs expect to be given a key role in any coalition talks involving their party after the next election, BBC Newsnight understands.

The 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers is in discussion with Downing Street over how the party’s MPs should be consulted in any negotiations.

One idea is for the committee’s chairman to be on the negotiating team.

The parliamentary party would then vote on any agreement that is reached with one or more parties.

There is a recognition at the top of the Conservative Party that it needs to bind its MPs to any future agenda for coalition government.

It was already expected that Tory MPs would this time be asked to vote on any agreement that is reached in a secret ballot.

But this proposal would see them far more intimately involved in shaping the actual content of the deal.

‘SORENESS’ Observers believe that the Conservative Party’s failure to get the 2010 coalition agreement fully signed off by its backbenchers

David Cameron and Nick Clegg formed Britain’s first coalition since World War II, in 2010.

contributed to them voting down key Lib Dem demands such as Lords reform.

Many believe that in future all parties will have to sign off on a deal - as was the case with the Liberal Democrats in 2010 - if future coalitions are to function and maintain parliamentary discipline.

Conservative MPs eyeing opinion polls are increasingly resigned to the prospect that their party can only

form a government in coalition with one or two other parties.

In contrast to the 2010 coalition negotiations, where the views of Tory MPs were only briefly canvassed, sources tell BBC Newsnight that this time around it is expected the Conservative 1922 committee the body which represents Tory backbenchers - will be consulted throughout the striking of any future coalition deal. (BBC)

Montana man who impregnated 11-year-old granddaughter gets 200 years in prison A GRANDFATHER who raped his 11-year-old granddaughter and got her pregnant has been sentenced to 200 years in prison.

Mikeal Shane Pruett, of Stevensville, Mont., also molested the girl’s younger sister. A judge sentenced him to 100 years each on two incest charges.

Ravalli County District Judge Jeffrey Langton said the 55-year-old man had little potential for rehabilitation because he had a history of being a sexual predator, according to WTVR-TV. “You seem to lack any semblance of a conscience,” the judge said last week, theMissoulian reported.

The girl gave birth in August. She told child welfare authorities that her grandfather had prompted her to say she had a boyfriend who was responsible for her pregnancy.

She didn’t know she was pregnant until a doctor diagnosed her at 32 weeks, she

Mikeal Shane Pruett has been sentenced to 200 years in a Montana prison for impregnating his 11-year-old granddaughter and sexually abusing her younger sister.

said.

“I didn’t know what pregnant felt like. So I didn’t know,” she told child advocates.

She also said she had seen her grandfather molest her sister at age 9. (NYDailynews)

Castro demands Guantanamo Bay in return for US-Cuba diplomatic deal CUBA has demanded the US hand back the Guantanamo Bay military base before relations with Washington are normalised.

In a speech, President Raul Castro also called for the lifting of the US trade embargo and Cuba’s removal from a terror list.

Last month the two countries announced a thaw in relations, agreeing to restore diplomatic ties.

They were severed in 1961.

High-level talks were held last week.

A Congressional delegation arrived in Havana to begin negotiations aimed at reopening embassies in the two countries’ capitals.

Meanwhile, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro appeared to signal his approval for the political rapprochement.

Cuba’s state-run newspaper published a letter on Tuesday in which he wrote: “We will always defend co-operation and friendship with all the people of the world, including with our political adversaries.”

He wrote that although he did not “trust the policy of the US”, it did not mean he rejected a “peaceful

Katrina Dawson was having coffee in the cafe with a friend when the gunman entered.

Sydney siege inquest: Police gunfire killed hostage Katrina Dawson There are still several hurdles for Barack Obama and Raul Castro to clear.

solution to conflicts”.

His brother Raul, who succeeded him as president in 2008, made his demands at the summit of Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Costa Rica.

“The reestablishment of diplomatic relations is the start of a process of normalising bilateral relations,” he said. “But this will not be possible while the blockade still exists, while they don’t give back the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo

naval base.”

The land on which the base stands was leased to the US government in 1903 by Cuba’s then-rulers.

US officials have so far not responded to Mr Castro’s remarks.

President Barack Obama has called on Congress to put an end to the trade embargo, which has been in place since 1962.

Earlier this month he also used his executive powers to loosen trade and restrictions on travel to the Caribbean island. (BBC)

THE start of an inquest into the Sydney cafe siege has heard that hostage Katrina Dawson was killed by fragments from a police bullet or bullets.

The inquest heard that another hostage, Tori Johnson, was killed by a bullet to the head from gunman Man Haron Monis.

That sparked the police raid on the Lindt Chocolat Cafe last month in which Ms Dawson and Monis died.

The inquest is seeking to establish exactly how the three died and whether their deaths could have been avoided.

Monis took 18 people hostage at the cafe in Martin Place in central Sydney on 16 December, holding

them for more than 17 hours.

It led to a shutdown of a large part of the city centre and the biggest antiterrorism operation in Australia’s history.

Jeremy Gormly, a lawyer assisting the coroner, told the inquest that Ms Dawson was “struck by six fragments of a police bullet or bullets which ricocheted from hard surfaces into her body”.

“I will not detail the damage done to Ms Dawson other than to say that one fragment struck a major blood vessel. She lost consciousness quickly and died shortly afterwards.”

The inquest has now adjourned, with no date yet announced for the next hearing.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

World News UK: Halve female prisoner numbers, says minister Hughes THE number of women being sent to prison should be halved, Justice Minister Simon Hughes has said.

Female offenders are a “special case” and should be treated differently to men because many had been victims themselves, he told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast.

There are currently around 3,800 women in prison in England and Wales.

Further government measures to help stop women ending up in custody are expected to be announced later.

“There are so many women who ought not to be in prison.

About half ought not to be there at all,” the minister said.

“I met a woman in her 20s the other day who clearly ought to be sectioned. Her problem is a health problem, not a criminality one.

Prisons shouldn’t have to cope with that.”

When asked why female offenders should be treated

differently to men Mr Hughes said: “Women are a special case for very good, evidenced reasons.

Firstly, many more women who go to prison have themselves been victims. They’ve often been abused or in violent partnerships.

“Secondly, many more women have caring responsibilities than men do.”

The Liberal Democrat justice minister said that very few women were inside for violent offences.

“There are some women who do terrible things and deserve to be locked up for a very long time,” he said. “My concern is for those who are not a danger to society, who have become caught by a system which then does not help them out of it.”

Mr Hughes was speaking ahead of an announcement expected to say that a scheme in Manchester to stop women ending up in prison will be rolled out to six other areas in England. (BBC)

US Supreme Court delays executions amid drugs review THE US Supreme Court has postponed the executions of three death row inmates who say the use of the sedative midazolam in the procedures is cruel.

Justices said Oklahoma could not execute Richard Glossip, John Grant and Benjamin Cole by lethal injection using midazolam while the case is pending.

The men’s lawyers argue that midazolam presents an unconstitutional risk of pain and suffering.

The drug was used in three executions seen as botched in 2014.

Richard Glossip’s execution had been scheduled for Thursday night while the other two were scheduled for lethal injection in the coming weeks.

Correspondents say the court’s brief ruling left open the possibility that Oklahoma could carry out the executions using different drug combinations.

However, Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie said the state has not been able to find an alternative drug.

The case is now due to go before the Supreme Court in April and be

decided by late June.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said: “I disagree with the necessity to grant Glossip yet another round of legal appeals. However, given that the US Supreme Court has decided to hear his case, it is entirely appropriate to delay his execution until after the legal process has run its course.”

Lawyers for the three inmates argue that midazolam cannot achieve the level of unconsciousness required and is therefore unsuitable for executions.

They say its use amounts to “cruel and unusual punishment” which violates the US constitution.

Without the coma-like sedative effect, Oklahoma cannot ensure the prisoner does not experience intense pain when other drugs are injected to kill, lawyers argue.

The execution of Charles Warner on 15 January was the first in Oklahoma since the botched lethal injection of Clayton Lockett in April 2014.

Lockett’s execution was stopped after 20 minutes when one of his veins ruptured, preventing the drugs from taking full effect. He writhed

West Virginia mom placed faecal matter in sick child’s IV: prosecutor Bart was discovered by its owner’s neighbour in Tampa five days after he was found lying in the road stiff in a pool of blood, and was presumed dead.

Florida ‘zombie cat’ crawls out of grave A CAT in Florida has had surgery after apparently clawing its way out of his grave following a collision with a car.

Bart was discovered by its owner’s neighbour in Tampa five days after he was found lying in the road stiff in a pool of blood, and was presumed dead.

He is now recovering after treatment for a broken jaw and ruptured eye.

The Humane Society of Tampa Bay, which is caring for the animal they have dubbed “Bart the Miracle Cat”, say they have never seen a case like it.

Bart’s owner, Ellis Hutson, told the Tampa Bay Times he “couldn’t stand” to bury the animal and asked his neighbour Dave to dig him a

shallow grave.

Five days later, bedraggled Bart was found meowing for food by another of Mr Hutson’s neighbours, Dusty Albritton.

“At first it blew me away”, Ms Albritton said. “All I knew was this cat was dead and ‘Pet Sematary’ is real,” she added, referring to the horror film and book by US writer Stephen King.

A shocked but delighted Mr Hutson, discovering that vets’ bills would be too expensive, took Bart to Tampa’s Humane Society.

Bart had surgery on Tuesday night to remove his ruined eye and treat his broken jaw, and is now resting comfortably according to the society’s Facebook page. (BBC)

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A WEST Virginia woman is accused of spiking her 9-year-old child’s IV with faeces while being treated at a Cincinnati hospital.

Candida Fluty, 35, was indicted Tuesday on four counts of felonious assault and endangering a child, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters said in a release.

The mother could face up to eight years in prison, he said.

The child was born with Hirschsprung’s disease, which affects the bowels.

The illness caused the child to have undergone numerous surgeries and use a colostomy bag.

Fluty had brought the child to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in 2011 to start receiving treatment for the illness, authorities said.

But during a visit this month Fluty allegedly put fecal material in her child’s IV causing the victim to spike a fever, the prosecutor said.

“Although rare, we have seen similar cases with similar motivations,” Deters said in a statement. “I’m just grateful that it was caught before we were confronted with a murder case.”

Julie Wilson, a spokeswoman with the office, told the Daily News they are still investigating what motivated the mother to harm her child.

Candida Fluty allegedly injected feces into her child’s IV at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center this month, authorities said.

The 9 year-old was transported back to West Virginia and is living with an aunt, the office said.

(NYDailynews)

and shook uncontrollably after the drugs were administered and died of a heart attack soon afterwards.

Prison officials said Warner did not suffer before dying. (BBC)

Greek F-16 crashes in Spain during NATO exercise, killing 11 ELEVEN people died Monday after a Greek air force F-16 jet crashed at a base in Los Llanos in southeastern Spain, authorities said.

Nine were French military personnel, and two were Greek pilots, a senior Spanish defense official told CNN. The jet crashed on takeoff, hitting other planes on the ground during a NATO training exercise, said the source, who by custom was not named.

Twenty people were injured, according to a statement from the Spanish Defense Ministry.

All those hurt are either French or Italian.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was “deeply saddened” by the crash.

“This is a tragedy which affects the whole NATO family. I express my heartfelt condolences to the loved ones and the nations of those who lost their lives, and I wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” he said in a statement.

“The plane was taking part in an exercise in the framework of NATO’s Tactical Leadership Programme, which aims to improve multinational cooperation in air operations,” Stoltenberg said.

The NATO flight training course at the Spanish base has 750 participants, including pilots, ground crews and other support, from nine countries: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Denmark and Greece, the Spanish air force reported on its website last week.

It was expected to be a fourweek program, from January 19 to February 13, with training to prepare pilots for tactical missions, including nighttime missions, the site said. (CNN)

30

Job Listings Services Auto sales real estate

Classifieds TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

Brama Kumaris

Raja Yoga Meditation Centre Turks and Caicos Islands

Telephone 946-4760 & 332-4101

www.bkwsu.com Email: bkpadma@bkwsutci.com

FOR SALE

January 31 - February 6, 2015

946-4664 Fax: 946-4661

Email: tcnews@tciway.tc

Website: tcweeklynews.com

FLOWER GIRL

Wanted urgently

Floral Designer

Must have thorough knowledge in the floral business with 3-5 years experience.

Call: 231-3788

Construction scaffold and roof tiles for sale CONTACT: 431-1591 OR 231-3788

Acting on behalf of Williams Construction

To work full-time salary $5.00 per hour 5 days per week accommodation and utilities provided must have an understanding of plants.

Kitchen helper

ELITE GAMING

LOOKING FOR 1

Is looking for a

IT TECHNICIAN To work 6 days per week salary $10.00 per hour.

11020

contact: 331-6076

11006

contact: 232-1473

Salary $5.00 per hour Contact: 232 1025

MECHANIC Required needed for mechanic. Must have a valid driver license from A-H. Must be able to work holiday and weekends.

Must be able to understand computer systems and programs. Ability to speak French a plus.

Applicants must call 649 946-5919 Monday to Saturday 7.45 to 5pm Pay set @ $13.00 per hour

PHARMACIST REQUIRED PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS

• Bachelors Degree from a recognized University eligible to register with TCI Health Practitioners Board • Willing to work flexible hours including weekends and holidays if required • Must be highly computer literate with previous experience using dispensary management software and retail POS • Evidence of active continuing education required • Must have a pleasant outgoing personality, reliability and ability to work well under pressure • Salary commensurate with experience ranging from $35k-$40k Please email Cv to: islandpharmacy@ tciway.tc or fax: 649-946-4942 11017

laboUrers waitress To work shift.

Salary $6.00 per hour. contact: 347-6642

HENRY ONEAL WILSON IS LOOKING FOR A

CONTACT: 332-7196

KEYSE’S VARIETY STORE Is looking for a

sales person To work 5 days per week salary $5.00 per hour.

events

11004

If you possess all of the above, please contact: 946-5306.

Is looking for a

Nail Technician

to work 6 days per week salary $1,200.00 per month plus commission.

contact: 231-5170

YARD MAN needed for an apartment complex in Grace Bay Must be able to speak English and be able to understand instruction tasks including maintaining sewage treatment plant only those legal residents need apply in person at Island Club Grace Bay

11024

Latoya

Looking for a

Labourer $6 an hour.

Cleaning and do handy work.

email: maculenebaptiste@ gmail.com 10995

E & V EQUIPMENT LIMITED

Milestone Tci is looking to hire

skilled workers

For the following specified works all worker must be able to read drawings Plumbing works fire protecting system pipe welders (copper & black steel) Hvac system/ duct works Hdpe pipe welder salary $10.00 per hour . contact: 332- 3300 between the hours of 10am-3pm 11030

mechanic to work 6 days per week salary $6.00 per hour.

contact: 941-8494 ISLAND SOLUTION Is looking for a

Tile Layer To work 6 days per week salary $8.00 per hour.

contact: 649-346-5064 11029

NATASHA CONSULTANCY Acting on behalf of our clients is looking to fill the following positions:

Jean Roland Estimond Domestic Worker

Salary $5.50 per hour Contact: 242-3631 or 342-4275

Johnny Phanor

Labourer

Salary $5.50 per hour Contact: 232-9578

Complete Construction Labourer Salary $5.50 per hour Contact: 231-0337

11026

Job Opportunity SENIOR SOLICITOR

A senior solicitor is required for a busy firm based in Providenciales. The successful candidate will be a qualified solicitor with at least ten years (minimum) post qualified experience primarily in litigation disciplines— commercial, corporate, construction, contentious probate, negligence, property, partnership and shareholder disputes and related matters. In addition, the successful candidate must have experience drafting and advising on commercial contracts. Excellent communication skills and ability to manage files and work independently is essential, together with requisite experience in preparation of cases to instruct counsel and direct client relationships. Experience in mediation /A.D.R will be a considerable advantage.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE • Prior experience in managing a team of minimum 10 kitchen staff and catering background • Previous experience with controlling food and labor cost, demonstration cooking, menu pricing and creation • Must be able to work flexible hours, catering events, nights, weekends and holidays Salary will be based on qualifications.

11028

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: • Oversee daily food preparation team, inventory control and ordering • Qualified to ensure equipment operation /maintenance • Organize special event catering

Contact: 241-5922

SALARY $5.00 PER HOUR

EXECUTIVE CHEF The Executive Chef will manage a select team achieving the highest standards of food production, while developing an appetizing menu of recipes, using quality fresh ingredients. Candidates must possess an accredited Food Handler Certification Certificate.

Salary $5.00 per hour

LABOURER

contact: 941-3016

Is looking for a

Act on behalf of 3 Brothers restaurant. Seeking a

is looking for 2

11002

Labourer

CREATIVE NAIL CARE

11024

Is looking for

C&S PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

11005

Is looking for a

C & J EMPLOYMENT

Bay bistro restaurant

11009

ANGELA WILLIAMS

CLASSIFIEDS 31

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

11025

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Please send applications in writing with full CV to the Managing Partner, Miller Simons O’Sullivan, P. O. Box 260, Regent House West, Regent Village, Providenciales or email to mslaw@tciway.tc.

is looking for a

To work 6 days per week salary $5.00 per hour.

contact: 244-7519

PROVO CHRISTIAN SCHOOL Invites qualified applicants for the position of:

TEACHER

11012

Is looking for a

HANDYMAN/ GARDENER

To work 6 days per week. Salary $6.00 per hour

contact: 231-1489

STRATA PLANN

Ground keeper

SANDRA E. GARLAND

Must be willing to work with. Little or no supervision. Keep the building an it’s surrounding clean at all times. Hr are Monday to Friday 7-5pm

is looking for a

domestic domestic worker worker to work 6 days To work 5 days per week salary $5.00 per hour.

per week salary $5.00 per hour

contact: 345-5481

Is looking for a

contact: 344-6168

10975

B & B SERVICES

ACE PLUMBING is looking for a

is looking to fill the following positions:

labourer

2 Domestic Workers

To work 6 days per week salary $6.00 per hour contact: 245-8046

– $6.50 per hour

2 Labourers – $6.50 per hour Maintenance – $7.00 per hour

Painter – $7.00 per hour

Contact: 245-6962

11003

KEVIN SWANN

C.H. VARIETY STORE FIVE CAYS

10983

BARISTA

Requirements

contact: 341-4221

VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY!! the largest readership in the turks & caicos

SANCHEZ AND WILLIAMS RESTAURANT

Ts looking for a kitchen helper to work 6 days per week salary $6.00 per hour. contact: 231-2397

10906

Please bring all application with two letters of recommendation citing relevant experience in the same industry to Flowers by Environmental Arts located at U102 Venture House, Grace Bay Road, Providenciales or email to: admin@ environmentalarts.tc successful applicants will be notified by phone for interview

T.C. INDUSTRIAL Is looking to fill the following positions:

Plumbing Technician Welder Salary $16.00 per hour.

contact: 231-1205

TANGLED

10993

10994

To work 5 days per week salary $5.50 per hour.

C & S PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Acting on behalf of Carol Skippings Is seeking a

Is looking for a

Hairstylist To work 6 days per week salary $5.50 per hour.

contact: 432-1390

Mason To work 7-5 salary $10.00 per hour.

Contact: 241-5922

10965

Labourer

• Minimum 2 years barista experience and 4 years customer facing experience • Fully trained in all aspects of health and safety regulations in the kitchen with staff, cleanliness, storage and production of food • Willing to work irregular, long and late hours • Command a broad knowledge of kitchen and restaurant terminology • Comprehensive QuickBooks knowledge • Comprehensive POS Experience • Good computer literacy • Must have valid driver’s license • Engaging and outgoing personality who enjoys working with the public • Salary $1,400-$1,500 per month dependant on experience

11022

Who will also Perform other Domestic chores. Salary $6.00 per Hour

Contact: 431 4022

contact: 244-2907

Is currently looking for a

Successful applicants must: • Be a committed born again Christian preferably of Baptist faith • Have a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree in the appropriate area • Have a degree(s) from a recognized college or university • Have a valid teacher’s certificate or diploma in education • Applications must be made in writing, along with a recent coloured photograph, current police record, health certificate and names of at least three (3) references, one being that of your church pastor to: Mrs. Martha Harris Provo Christian School P.O. Box 305 Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands or email: provochristianschool@hotmail.com Deadline for applications is February 28th, 2015

week salary $5.00 per hour interested applicants can.

labourer

11026

contact: 332-6502

11018

Must be willing to work 6 days per week salary $6.00 per hour.

Is looking for a

Is looking for a

domestic worker HOUSEKEEPER to work 6 days per 11010

Tile Setter Maintenance Man Labourer

CARLA PROSPERE

COLASCO

10966

Is looking for a

SPOTLESS CLEANERS

11011

is looking to fill the following positions:

PROFESSIONAL ISLAND LOOKS

10920

PASCAL REMI

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

10991

32 CLASSIFIEDS

DOLPHINS SPORTS BAR AND GRILL K.C. BAR

GILLEY’S ENTERPRISES

HELPER Need to work 6 days per week salary $6.00 per hour.

contact: 345-3968 10973

NATASHA CONSULTANCY

Acting on behalf of our clients: Joseph Skippings

Labourer Must be willing to work 6 days per week.

10892

Contact: 241-2894 Luckmia Joseph Babysitter/ helper Must be willing to work 6 days per week Contact: 342-1025

JUDY MINI BAR is looking for a

is looking to hire one

Domestic Worker

Is looking for

CARPENTER

CLASSIFIEDS 33

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

Cocktail Waitresses

To work 6 days per week

to work 6 days per week salary $5.00 per hour.

contact: 946-4472 or email: tate@ gilleycafe.tc

contact: 331-6364 10965

PRESIDENTIAL SECURITY Is seeking highly trained professional, experienced

Security Officers To work 5 days per week salary $6.00 per hour.

10981

Barmaid To work 6 days per week salary $5.00 per hour

contact: 243-1095

10989

January 31 - February 6, 2015

VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY!!

the largest readership in the turks & caicos

GROUNDSKEEPER

contact: 231-1000 or 333-1000

10964

The SFS Center for Marine Resource Studies located on South Caicos, seeks an individual to serve a part-time year-round position • Assist in overall site maintenance (building, grounds, vehicles, boats), • The ability to work with a minimum of direct supervision.

• Work with and maintain an appropriate cultural sensitivity with staff and students.

The following qualifications are required:

PREMIUM CUTS BARBER SHOP is looking for 2

MARCELLUS COX Is looking for a

MISSICK SKIN CARE AND BEAUTY AID Is looking for a

• • • •

TCI work authorization or ability to obtain, Ability to speak and understand English, Ability to lift up to 75 pounds unassisted numerous times per day, Maintenance and construction experience including but not limited to; painting, rust proofing, electrical & plumbing repair, grounds keeping, masonry, woodworking, portage, safe and proper usage of power tools, roofing.

To apply send a CV and cover letter to: cstringer@fieldstudies.org

contact: 333-7296 LION CONSTRUCTION Is looking for a

To work 5 days per week salary $5.50 per hour.

contact: 243-2833

Hairbraider To work 6 days per week salary $6.00 per hour.

contact: 242-9472

10962

to work 6 days per week salary $6.00 per hour.

10974

Barbers

babysitter/ housekeeper

Waiter

– 3-5 years’ experience

– 3-5 years’ experience

PROVO ELECTRIC

Kitchen helper/Labourer – 3-5 years’ experience

GORDONS SUPPLY

Carpenter

STORE CLERK LABOURER

contact: 347-7023

Resumes can be faxed: 649-9413425 and the Labour Department, Providenciales as soon as possible

Salary must commensurate with qualification.

10976

10984

Experience Restaurant Industry. Ability to read, speak and write English must be able to remember & recite. Promote a Pleasant personality, ability to communicate with others. Must be a team player.

Busser /Dish washer

PLUMBER

to work 4 days per week salary $7.00 per hour

Sunny Reef Ltd

Cook/pastry chef

– 5-7 years’ experience Must be a good team player, handle working at a fast pace. Must know how to prepare French & Indonesian cuisine.

Drop resume to Mango Reef

10997

34 CLASSIFIEDS WC SECURITY WILLIAMS

CONSTRUCTION

IS LOOKING FOR

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

Is looking for

BACI RISTORANTE

Y.A.3.B. CONSULTANCY

Is looking for a

Acting on behalf of our clients is looking to fill the following positions: TONY PLACE

Cosmetologist

GOLDSMITH CARIBBEAN OUTPOST LA PARAFUMERIE

Bartender Waitress

TEQUILLA BAR

SECURITY Mason OFFICER 1To work 6 days per CONTACT: 231-0242

11001

week. Salary $6.00 per hour

Contact: 347-6642

11002

SALARY $600 PER HOUR

Kitchen Helper To work 6 days per week Duties include: Dishwashing, pot washing and any other general cleaning Salary $7.00 per hour

11036

Kitchen Helper Waitress

JID BARBER SHOP

Waitress

WINKY’S CATERING

2 barbers

J.C. BEAUTY SALON Cosmetologist Salary $6.00 per hour

TRAGOS Waitress

Contact: Contact: 649-344-4540 Is looking for a

THE HELP DESK

Is acting on behalf its clients to fill the following clients. 241-7734

Barmaid To work 6 days

per week. contact: 241-5922 11037

SUMMIT CONSTRUCTION Is looking for a

Clifford Ashton

- extensive tennis playing experience at league/club level (minimum) - sound knowledge and passion for the game - good all round health and fitness

Gardener To keep the hotel grounds clean. Must be able to work weekends and holidays.

Salary $5.00 per hour. Only Belonger need apply

Hours and pay: 20 - 25 hours per week, mornings and afternoons/evenings including weekends @ $9 per hour.

Contact Rey to arrange an interview on rey@tcitennis.com

IVAN BARBER SHOP

THE TURTLE COVE INN HOTEL

11014

Requirements:

THREE BROTHERS SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

Cosmetologist Barber

2 hairdressers Nail Technician

Part time Tennis Assistant Job description: - setting up and controlling equipment - collecting balls - organizing children and groups - hitting partner

Store Attendant

B’S BEAUTY BOX

TCI Tennis Academy is looking for a

Location: Provo Golf & Country Club

J & C INTERNET CAFÉ

IMPRESSIONS BEAUTY SALON

Nail Technician Cosmetologist

Contact: 941-3044

Acting on behalf of our clients Beverly Fulford and Julianna Pierre is looking for a

Sales Clerk

Waiter DJ

PEOPLE’S TELECOMS COMPANY LTD.

Contact: Ceely Rigby at 649-946-4203

11019

2 labourers

C & S PROFESSIONAL

Carpenter/Joiner – $8.00 per hour

Island Painting Painters - $8.00 per hour

Rigby Builders

Mason – $8.00, Carpenter $8, Labourer – $5.50 11032

mason

To work 6 days per week salary $7.00 per hour contact: 342-2155 11007

POSITION AVAILABLE

Audio/Video Editor Field Technician Has a vacancy for a

Main Purpose of Job:

Responsible for Preparing programs for television, advertisements, titles and graphics

QUALIFICATION AND SKILLS • Bs Mechanical Engineering. BS Information Technology. Advanced formal training in Telecommunications • Must be competent and knowledgeable and able to maintain the infrastructure – hardware and software - integral to a complex Wireless Communications Network • Must have a working knowledge of Communications, Electronics, Digital Radios, Satellite Systems, 802.xx Systems, Vehicle Location Equipment, Customer Premise Equipment, Marine Radio, Specialty Telecommunications Personal Devices

RESPONSIBILITIES: • Use measuring and diagnostic tools to test, adjust, and repair Electronic Equipment.

• Read Work Orders that describe equipment failures • Must be able to liaise with Equipment Manufacturers/Operators to resolve equipment related problems inclusive of the ability to read schematic drawings and other written specifications.

• Visit nodes and sites within a network to identify and resolve network performance issues or outages to ensure such unforeseen issues are resolved in the quickest possible time to ensure the network up-time is maintained at or near 99.999% • Perform regular maintenance work on clients Communication Devices as well as periodic work to maintain the wireless networks.

• Must be able to build and maintain secure websites and mail server systems.

• Candidate must be able to work long hours and on demand • Salary negotiable

Turks and Caicos Islander Applicants preferred.

Stubbs Diamond Plaza #66 Sibonne Rd. Unit #3 Email: kay@acltci.tc

11015

Essential Duties:

• Editing film/footage to the exact final length • Responsible for creative materials liaising with the creative team, graphic designer and the Marketing Director to ensure smooth and efficient delivery.

• Responsible for accuracy and consistency of written, visual and web materials.

• Work with various offices to produce production schedules for creative proofs and liaise with international offices.

Experience, Qualifications and Skills:

• Certificate or Diploma related to video editing • Eight or more years experience in Television Broadcasting (must possess relevant certification) with good production/trafficking skills and be able to work in a fast paced environment.

• Skilful operator of Audio/Video Editing Systems working on both online and offline materials as well as on special communication projects • Knowledge of TV, Camera, and Lighting for Quality Control, Animations • Production experience, good interpersonal skills and creative ability, good storytelling skills, a methodical mind, and ability to communicate well.

• Ability to meet deadlines and have strong organizational skills as well as an eye for detail.

• Management skills would be an asset.

• Required to work evenings, weekends and holidays Salary commensurate with experience.

Send Resumes to kay@acltci.tc or P.O. Box 230 Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands. No telephone calls please.

11016

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY!!

The Somerset Strata Management Co. Ltd is seeking a suitable qualified Belongers who possess the requirements listed are encouraged to apply. Ideal candidates should possess luxury resort experience, be professional in attitude and demeanor and must read and speak English fluently.

the largest readership in the turks & caicos

LABOURER Responsibilities: Troubleshoot and perform minor repairs on heating, cooling, and ventilation systems Paint and repair drywall along with performing routine maintenance jobs and repairs around the property

Requirements: Must be a team player with a desire to deliver excellent customer service to our guests Previous experience in this area would be an asset

JOB OPENINGS

Salary for this position will commensurate with qualifications and experience

Labourer

Qualified Belonger candidates are requested to submit a CV by e-mail to:

Joanna Ivasiuk The Somerset Resort on Grace Bay Jivasiuk@thesomerset.com

CLASSIFIEDS 35

10972

Submissions for this job position should be received no later than February 15, 2015

Is seeking a general labourer, this position is responsible for cleaning all common areas (stairwells, patios, public bathrooms etc.), garbage removal and cleaning of garbage areas, general housekeeping duties and laundry assistance. Several years’ experience in a similar position is required, as well as good communication skills, including excellent English; must have a pleasant and outgoing personality. Must be willing to work evenings, weekends and holidays.

Dishwasher

Dishwasher required for our food and beverage operations. Weekend, holiday and shift work. Must be able to work late hours.

Housekeeper

Point Grace is currently seeking Housekeeping staff. We are looking for a trained and enthusiastic housekeeper to join our team. The successful candidate will have several years experience in this position in a luxury hotel. Ability to work well under pressure and good communication skills, including excellent English, are essential; must have a pleasant and outgoing personality. In addition to regular housekeeping duties, the jobs include, turndown service, shifts in laundry, and common areas. Must be willing to work evenings, weekends and holidays.

The Somerset Strata Management Co Ltd, is seeking a suitable qualified Belongers who possess the requirements listed are encouraged to apply. Ideal candidates should possess luxury resort experience, be professional in attitude and demeanor and must read and speak English fluently.

Gardener

Kitchen Helper

Responsibilities: Complete ground work as directed by the Property Manager which may include picking up trash, sweeping curb and dumpster areas and maintaining landscaping beds and other ground areas Must have the ability to lift heavy items weighing up to 150lbs Must have the ability to maintain irrigation systems and provide proper upkeep of sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, fountains, and other grounds features

Point Grace is currently seeking a kitchen helper for our food and beverage operations.

Applicants wishing to apply for the kitchen helper position must have at least 2 years previous experience in a full service restaurant and be willing to work days, nights, and weekends.

Domestic Worker

Is seeking a domestic worker for our food and beverage operations. Several years experience in a similar position is required, as well as good communication skills, including excellent English; must have a pleasant and outgoing personality. Must be willing to work evenings, weekends and holidays.

Common Area Attendant

Responsibilities: Clean and maintain guest public areas within the hotel Follow procedures for the use of chemical cleaners and power equipment, in order to prevent damage to floors and fixtures Maintain an inventory of cleaning and toiletry supplies Polish furnitures, metal work, and chrome using appropriate cleaning and polishing compounds

All wages range: $5.00 to $5.50 per hour (commensurate with experience), plus service charge.

Spa Therapist

We are seeking a qualified Spa Therapist with a minimum of five years’ experience for our Thalasso Spa. The successful candidate will be qualified to provide our spa clientele with high quality therapeutic treatments, including a full range of body massages, ear candling, lymphatic drainage, and pregnancy massages, as well as providing manicures and pedicures. This position will also assist the Spa Manager with day-to-day administrative duties, including inventory management, appointments, etc.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS: Must be a team player with a desire to deliver excellent customer service to our guest Must have clear English communications skills (written or oral) Previous experience in this area would be an asset Salary for this position will commensurate with qualifications and experience

Salary: $500 to $750 per month and 10% - 12.5% commission on treatments provided, (both salary and commission commensurate with experience) plus service charge. Onsite bedsit provided.

Qualified Belonger candidates are requested to submit a CV by e-mail to:

Belongers only need apply Closing date: 30th February 2015

Submissions for this job position should be received no later than February 15, 2015

10971

Joanna Ivasiuk The Somerset Resort on Grace Bay jivasiuk@thesomerset.com

Please apply in writing to: Point Grace, PO Box 700, Grace Bay, Providenciales.

Email: humanresources@pointgrace.com or Fax: 946-5097 10892

36

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

JOB OPPORTUNITIES The Sands is now accepting applications/resume for the following positions. Only highly self-driven & motivated, personable and professional individuals, whom have the desire to serve others, need apply:

EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPER Responsibilities: • Uphold and update established Housekeeping and Laundry operating procedures and standards.

• Develop, implement and coordinate new Housekeeping and Laundry procedures.

• Plan and coordinate housekeeping staff job duties, responsibilities, and activities including that of housekeeping managers and supervisors.

• Coordinate and complete inspections of assigned areas for quality checks and cleanliness controls in accordance to standards.

• Coordinate, administer and complete administrative tasks as required.

Requirements: • Education: A secondary school diploma is an asset.

• Experience: Minimum of three to five years as an Executive Housekeeper is required.

• The individual must possess Housekeeping and Laundry Department management work experience, knowledge, skills and abilities. Must be able to explain, demonstrate and perform all related job duties, functions, and responsibilities of Housekeeping and Laundry department operations.

Qualification Standards: Education • High school or equivalent education required.

Bachelor’s Degree preferred.

Experience • Minimum of 5 years’ experience in a managerial position in the Housekeeping & Laundry Department.

Licenses or Certificates • Executive Housekeeper Certification or time on the job equivalent as stated above required.

Essential Functions • Plans, organizes, directs and controls all housekeeping and laundry activities, maintains the established standards of cleanliness, the orderly and attractive conditions on guest floors, public/common and employee areas. Implement working rules and proper execution to meet those standards.

• Monitors and maintains a healthy and safe environment for owners, guests and employees.

• Conducts and keep records of goods received, housekeeping and laundry staff, inventories, cleaning projects and room inspections for guest rooms and public areas.

• Familiarizes him /herself and carries out policies and procedures established by the Sands at Grace Bay. • Initiates and aides in effective communication within the department and other departments.

• Carries out the following routine assignments as required.

(This list is not exhaustive)

HOUSEKEEPING SUPERVISOR

Responsibilities: • Ensures maximum compliance and efficiency in the

• • • • • • • •

• •

performance of Housekeeping staff in guest rooms and surrounding areas Carries out the policies and procedures of Housekeeping Departments Standard Operating Offers assistance to guests and owners, initiates corrective action on complaints of cleanliness and service to guest rooms Assists in and conducts monthly Housekeeping Inventories as required Conducts routine guest room and common area inspections. Provides inspections scores and retrains for success Assists in and conducts staff scheduling and annual performance evaluations Maintains inventory and stock controls Ensure delivery of service excellence to all guests by monitoring staff performance and provides hands-on training and development Evaluates and updates Executive Housekeeper on staff performance. Makes recommendations for appropriate action in the areas of disciplinary and commendation Maintains quality controls and assurance Assists in overseeing Laundry Department as required in service, quality, inventory, inspection, scheduling and overall performance

Requirements: • High school diploma • Must have supervised a minimum of 15 employees • Most work tasks are performed indoors and outdoors.

Temperature is moderate and controlled by hotel environmental systems • Must be able to stand and exert well-paced mobility for up to 3 hours in length • Must be able to lift up to 40 lbs. on a regular and continuing basis • Must be able to push and pull carts and equipment weighing up to 200 lbs. on a regular and continuing basis • Must be able to exert well-paced ability in limited space • Must be able to bend, stoop, squat and stretch to fulfill cleaning tasks • Must have minimum of 3 years supervisory experience in the Hotel/Resort and/or Hospitality Industry • Must be able to speak, read, write and understand the primary language (s) used in the workplace • Must be able to read and write to facilitate the communication process • Requires excellent communication and grammar skills, both orally and written to communicate well to guests and owners • Must possess basic math and computational ability • Must have basic computer skills in Hotel PMS, Word, Excel and Outlook • Must work weekends and holidays

MAINTENACE/ HVAC TECHNICIAN

Responsibilities: • To skillfully and professionally perform all scheduled

maintenance related jobs.

• Account for time spent on individual work requests/ orders and actively seek further tasks when assigned tasks are completed.

• To advise the Engineering Administrator when parts or supplies need to be reordered.

• Perform weekly and monthly physical counts of all inventory stock and tooling and requirements.

• Any other duties assigned and/or as deemed necessary by the Engineering Administrator.

• Reassembling and testing equipment following repairs • Repairing and replacing defective equipment, components in addition to wiring • Laying out and connecting electrical wiring between controls and equipment • Obtaining and maintaining required certifications • Maintain machinery, equipment, and tools • Upkeep, installation, and maintenance of hydraulic, pneumatic, electronic, mechanical and electrical systems on all production machines • Performs preventive maintenance and makes repairs to heating, ventilating, air conditioning equipment according to instructions such as replacing belts on motors, changing filters, bearings, etc.

• Lays out, assembles, installs, and maintains pipe systems and related hydraulic and pneumatic equipment, and repairs and replaces gauges, valves, pressure regulators, and related equipment Requirements: • As a HVAC Technician, you must comply with all applicable standards, policies and procedures, including safety procedures and the maintenance of a clean work area. We are seeking a detail-oriented mechanic with experience in both commercial and residential installation and services.

• Refrigeration experience.

• Must meet minimum professional qualification/ certification in Plumbing/Electrical/ Mechanical and A/C related trades.

• Follows proper safety practices and procedures as required of the position.

• Must have minimum of two years hands-on experience working on minor electrical, painting, plumbing and A/C. • Must speak, read, write and understand the primary language (English) used in the workplace.

• Must work weekends and holidays.

• Must work AM and PM shifts as business demands according to the operations policy.

• Must have reliable transportation to get to and from work.

RESERVATIONS / SALES AGENT

Responsibilities: • Handle incoming reservations, utilize up selling and value-added techniques • Sell and reserve multi-properties brands • Multiple PMS systems operations input • High technical skills and input • Process advance deposits Continued

January 31 - February 6, 2015

37

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

Continued

Requirements: • High school diploma • Must have experience in the Hotel/Resort and/or Hospitality Industry • Visual One/Opera experience is highly preferred • Must be able to type more than 40 words per minute • Strong Grammar, Reading and Writing Skills • Must have great Customer Service Skills and telephone etiquette • Must be able to speak, read, write and understand the primary language(s) used in the workplace.

• Must possess basic computational ability (basic mathematics, word, excel, outlook)

PURCHASING AGENT / MAINTENANCE ADMINISTRATOR Responsibilities: To procure the highest quality materials, equipment, supplies and services for the hotel while minimizing costs.

Organizes, coordinates, and oversee purchases, deliveries both local and international suppliers, vendors and wholesalers for hotel/resort/company. Prepares for approval, all administrative paperwork, documents, invoices, and related required forms and reports as directed. Preparation of monthly owners accounts and to manage and maintain all STRATA inventories. To professionally source, purvey and purchase all local and international products and supplies as required.

Uphold and comply with established purchasing, maintenance, engineering STRATA operating procedures and standards. Maintains accuracy in inventories, bookkeeping records, spreadsheets analysis reports and administrative meeting documentations. Coordinates, administers and completes administrative tasks as required.

Requirements: • Must be computer literate, with excellent skills in Microsoft Excel, WORD and Outlook.

• Must have excellent grammar, spelling and highly accurate computational skills.

• Regular/Full Time position only.

• Must speak, read, write and understand the primary language (English) used in the workplace.

• Must work weekends and/or holidays.

• Must have reliable transportation to get to and from

QUALIFICATION STANDARDS Education High school or equivalent education required. Bachelor’s Degree a plus. A secondary school diploma is an asset.

Experience Minimum of 3 years’ experience in the Engineering/ Maintenance Department. Minimum of three years prior experience in the capacity of purchasing agent or higher required Essential Functions • Monitors status regularly and adjusts supply levels as appropriate.

• Recommends and implements purchasing strategies that support achievement of the hotel/resort/ company’s goals.

• Assists, directs and supervises receiving, storage and distribution of all goods to effectively and efficiently meet hotel/resort/company requirements.

• Verifies the dates, amounts and prices of all goods.

• Processes and executed requisitions/work orders, inventories and orders properly.

• Manages the procurement of STRATA and operating supplies and equipment.

• Ensures that all supplies purchased adhere to company standards.

• Identifies and utilizes low cost providers which adhere to established standards.

• Leverages company purchasing power as appropriate by utilizing provisions.

• Initiates and follows up on purchase orders, invoices, bills of lading, Customs and Duties, Freight, wires, charges, and credits.

• Adheres to strict standard control processes.

• Manages and secures inventory.

• Maintains up-to-date cost and work order information.

• Provides management with cost calculations based on purchase prices.

• Prepares reports as requested to develop a more informative data base for use in decision-making.

LINE POSITIONS HOUSEKEEPING ROOM ATTENDANT PBX OPERATOR HOUSEMAN LAUNDRY ATTENDANT LABOURER POOL & BEACH ATTENDANT GROUNDSMEN

For the above line staff positions, resort experience is an asset but not a requirement.

Applicants must have a willing, positive and personable attitude as well as be willing to work holidays and weekends. They should also enjoy serving people and be willing to learn. Minimum experience in the areas of interest required. Turks & Caicos Islands citizens only need to apply to the Assistant Human Resources Manager at The Sands Resort located on Grace Bay Road, Providenciales or e-mail: humanresource@thesandstc. com. Deadline is February 7, 2015.

DOMESTIC WORKERS Must be willing to work 6 days per week. Must be trustworthy and reliable.

Hours are: 6:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Salary: $5.50 per hour

Send resume to: info@trail.tc

10978

work.

• Must possess current TCI Driver’s License and clean driver’s record.

• Must have the ability to bend, squat, and frequently lift 50 lbs. and occasionally lift up to 100 lbs.

• Most work tasks are performed indoors. Temperature is moderate and controlled by hotel environmental systems indoors; however, must be able to work in extreme temperatures like freezers (-10F) and kitchens (+110F), possibly for one hour or more.

• The individual must possess prior working knowledge of engineering/maintenance purchasing work experience, skills and abilities.

TURKS AND CAICOS SANITATION LTD. Is looking for the following persons:

Sewage cleaner Maintenance worker Interested person can contact: 231-0436 Belonger Only need apply

10968

• Process all electronic and faxed requests • Perform job functions with attention to detail, speed and accuracy • Be able to prioritize and organize incoming and outgoing work flow • Be a clear thinker, remaining calm and resolving problems using good judgment • Follow directions thoroughly • Understand guest service and request needs • Work cohesively with co-workers as part of a team • Work with minimal supervision • Maintain confidentiality of guest information and pertinent hotel data

LIVE-IN CAREGIVER Needed urgently serious inquiries Belonger only need apply.

contact: 231-0436

10969

ROSE K. TAYLOR is looking for a

labourer To work 6 days per week salary $5.00 per hour.

contact: 241-4920

11013

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

TRAIL ENTERPRISES/ MOTHER’S CLEANING Is seeking to employed three (3)

OUT LINERS

BARBERS NEEDED Sammy Been Plaza Airport Road.

Contact: 332-9606

10970

Full time bilingual Spa Receptionist/Nail Technician We are looking for the best experienced guest services professional with a solid sales experience and a Nail Technician License. One year previous experience in a 4* spa as a receptionist. Available to work 6 days/ week Must be bilingual, English and French, oral and written. Knowledge of a third language such as Spanish, Portuguese or Italian a plus.

Salary Base salary + commission on retail sales

Send resume to: turkoisemassage@gmail.com *Belonger only

38 CLASSIFIEDS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

PUBLIC NOTICE

FRANCIS REALTY IS SEEKING A CARETAKER The caretaker should have Strong organizational and cleaning skills, ability to perform manual labor, excellent interpersonal skills and multi-tasking.

Communicating with Manager and Supervisor on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to report on the status of properties, cleaning and maintaining the property, supervising or training a caretaking staff, and performing other duties as assigned.

Chapter 8.03, Water and Sewerage Ordinance Revised Edition showing the law as at 31 August 2009 (Abstraction License) A License Application, REGISTRATION # 20141210-WP, by GRAND TURK CRUISE TERMINAL, LIMITED for the ABSTRACTION OF SALT WATER via an extraction and a discharge well on Grand Turk has been submitted to the Water and Sewerage Board for consideration on:

VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY!! the largest readership in the turks & caicos

Interested personnel should submit their resume to francisrealtytci@gmail.com

BLOCK: 10507 PARCEL: 36 LOCATION: Grand Turk Cruise Center

SINARTRA HANDFIELD

ISLAND: Grand Turk

Is looking for a

Is seeking to employ a

CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPERVISOR

Anyone wishing to make representation(s) may do so in writing to the Energy & Utilities Commissioner Ministry Of Government Support Services, Turks & Caicos Islands Government, Church Folly, Grand Turk within twenty eight(28) days of publication of this Notice.

Notice Dated: 22 December, 2014 10889

MYSTIQUE CAR RENTAL AND TOURS LTD.

babysitter To work 6 days per week salary $5.50 per hour 9am-5pm.

10963

contact: 243-3985

1. fluent in English and computer literate 2. must be customer service oriented 3. have a valid drivers license and clean police record 4. must be willing to work on weekends, holidays and at nights 5. must have bachelors degree in business administration or similar 6. five years experience in car

rental

PARTIAL JOB DESCRIPTION: 1. supervise and train staff 2. manage reservations 3. executing car rentals contracts 4. dealing with deposits and daily business reports 5. preparing monthly reports 6. general office organization

Please email resumes to mystique@tciway.tc Deadline: February 22, 2015 10993

SPA TROPIQUE

The Somerset Strata Management Co Ltd, is seeking a suitable qualified Belongers who possess the requirements listed are encouraged to apply. Ideal candidates should possess luxury resort experience, be professional in attitude and demeanor and must read and speak English fluently.

Massage Therapist

Gardener

Responsibilities: Complete ground work as directed by the Property Manager which may include picking up trash, sweeping curb and dumpster areas and maintaining landscaping beds and other ground areas Must have the ability to lift heavy items weighing up to 150lbs Must have the ability to maintain irrigation systems and provide proper upkeep of sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, fountains, and other grounds features

• Applicant must have a minimum of 3 years hands-on experience in a 5-star resort and at least 3 years working as a therapist • Must be trained and CERTIFIED by an accredited school in ALL of the following: Swedish, Deep Tissue, Hot Stone, Prenatal, Lymphatic Drainage, Myofascial, Reflexology, Facials, Manicures and Pedicures • Applicant must be certified in all the previous areas. In addition, applicant must be all to work ALL weekends and public holidays if needed and be available from 8am-8pm.

• Must have own vehicle and current, clean driver’s license, commission based • Must have GREAT customer service skills and be upbeat and positive • Applicants need to be fluent in English and pass an English writing test.

Common Area Attendant

Responsibilities: Clean and maintain guest public areas within the hotel Follow procedures for the use of chemical cleaners and power equipment, in order to prevent damage to floors and fixtures Maintain an inventory of cleaning and toiletry supplies Polish furnitures, metal work, and chrome using appropriate cleaning and polishing compounds

Please send resume to: relax@spatropique.com Please do not apply to this ad unless you can meet all the above requirements Please contact us by January 16th, 2015

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS: Must be a team player with a desire to deliver excellent customer service to our guest Must have clear English communications skills (written or oral) Previous experience in this area would be an asset Salary for this position will commensurate with qualifications and experience Qualified Belonger candidates are requested to submit a CV by e-mail to:

Submissions for this job position should be received no later than February 15, 2015

10971

Joanna Ivasiuk The Somerset Resort on Grace Bay jivasiuk@thesomerset.com 10900

January 31 - February 6, 2015

39

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

CEDRIC SELVER Is looking for a

MERCEDES BEAUTY SALON

Is looking for the following

NORTH CAICOS CAFÉ Is looking for a

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS GOVERNMENT

VACANCIES

The following vacancies currently exist within the Turks and Caicos Islands Public Service:

Investigative Officer (Complaints Commission)

– Grand Turk (Deadline: January 26, 2015) Salary: $48,000 per annum The Investigative Officer is responsible for receiving, investigating and resolving complaints made against Government entities. He/she will also identify potential maladministration and refer complaints to other avenues where appropriate and seek early resolution where possible and make recommendations for improvements in administration.

Nail Technician labourer Hair Dresser Must be able to

Waitress

work weekend salary $6.00 per hour.

Must be willing to work 6 days per week salary $6.00 per hour.

Contact: 241-2316

contact: 343-4440

contact: 346-3918

11035

11008

To work 6 days per week salary $5.00 per hour.

11038

VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY!!

the largest readership in the turks & caicos

Director of Public Prosecutions

– Providenciales (Deadline: January 26, 2015) Salary: $125,000 per annum The successful applicant must be able to provide legal advice to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police and other Statutory Bodies in the investigation and prosecution of the full range of criminal offences, and, in particular, direct investigations, prosecutions and related proceedings in connection with serious fraud and money laundering cases.

He/She must also be experienced in the conduct of major criminal trials, including preparatory hearings and appearing as prosecuting attorney before criminal courts at all levels. The successful candidate will also be expected to procure restraint/freezing orders, tracing and recovery of property as well as conduct civil recovery proceedings under the Proceeds of the Crime Ordinance. As Director of Public Prosecutions, he/ she will be Accounting Officer for the Department and will take full responsibility for the management, development and training of the legal and support staff in the Department.

District Commissioner

– North Caicos (Deadline: January 29, 2015) Salary: $35,040 per annum The incumbent in this senior position will act as the Central Administrator for the island by ensuring adherence to rules and guidelines in the effective delivery of Government Services.

Health Research Officer

– Grand Turk (Deadline: January 30, 2015) Salary: $28,560 per annum

The incumbent in this position will assist the Chief Epidemiologist to plan, develop and implement epidemiologic and research programmes under the auspices of the National Epidemiology and Research Unit (NERU). The successful candidate will ensure the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data about health effects and risks in TCI and disseminate this information locally, regionally and internationally as appropriate to be utilized in particular to promote evidence-informed decision making in health in TCI.

Ebola Screeners

– Grand Turk and Providenciales (Deadline: January 30, 2015) Salary: $16, 200 per annum The incumbent in this position will be responsible to conduct screening of passengers entering the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) on international flights, and cruise ships, using the non-contact infrared temperature gun to identify persons with fever (101.4F) as a measure of heightened Ebola surveillance.

Statistician

– Grand Turk (Deadline: February 3, 2015) Salary: $33,360 per annum The incumbent in this position is responsible for shaping statistical information and economic policies. The incumbent also monitors socio-economic indicators with a view to evaluating economic turn-out and quality of life.

Interested persons are asked to visit www.gov.tc for job details and the application procedure.

VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY!!

the largest readership in the turks & caicos

Sous Chef

Education and Training:

• Post secondary degree in Culinary Arts or 8 + years industry equivalent experience.

• Computer literate, functional on Excel, MS-Word and Quickbooks • Fluent in English both written and oral with a fundamental understanding of French and Spanish • First Aid Training

Skill Requirements:

Be able to assist the Executive Chef in all capacities to include: • Work in a high pressure environment with calm, effective leadership • Planning and execution of special events.

• Precise knife skills • Assist Chef in the preparation and execution of all desserts.

• Produce all breakfast, lunch and dinner items with expert precision.

• Cook entire menu on the line during service, including meats to temperature specifications.

• Execute a proper sanitation procedure to insure that high quality food is served that accurately represents the Café.

• Prepare and execute specials based on the Café’s Tex-Mex cuisine.

• Be versed in a large variety of cooking techniques to include: braising, sautéing, frying, steaming, poaching, and sauce making.

• Receive food orders from various vendors, checking for quality and pricing.

• Be able to stand on ones feet for 10 hours and be comfortable lifting 50 pounds without physical restrictions.

• Be available to work holidays and weekends with a flexible schedule.

Leadership and Managerial Requirements:

• Assist Chef in the training of kitchen staff to encourage growth in a positive environment.

• Be sensitive to the needs of staff members and maintain a professional demeanor • Assist Chef in the ordering of food through a variety of vendors • Assist Chef with weekly and monthly inventory of items and work with the Chef to calculate food costs • Maintain a positive environment in the kitchen to encourage growth and diversity within the workplace The Sous Chef should be a natural leader who is seeking to assist others in improving their cooking ability, and also to develop strong people skills. An ambitious person who is a comfortable communicator with a confident skill set. The Sous Chef needs to be a self starter that can lead the kitchen in the Chefs absence. The right candidate should be able to open the kitchen in the morning, or be the last to leave the kitchen at night. Prioritizing and executing prep items based on the restaurants needs. He or She will assure that foods are properly labeled with the date and prep item name and consistently rotated, and stored for future use. Oversee and participate in daily cleaning duties as per scheduled by the Chef to maintain a clean safe environment for all employees to work in.

chefamy@somewherecafeandlounge.com

40

Sports Interational

January 31 - February 6, 2015

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

Dutch FA chief van Praag to stand against Blatter for FIFA presidency MICHAEl van Praag, the head of Dutch soccer, has joined the race to become FIFA’s next president.

The 66-year-old has been at the helm of the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) since August 2008 and has openly called for the current incumbent Sepp Blatter to step down.

He announced his decision to stand on the body’s official website and raised concerns about FIFA’s current leadership in the process.

“I am very worried about the deteriorating situation at FIFA, the public opinion, the trustworthiness is very bad and with me a lot of people in the world believe so,” he said.

“I was hoping that a credible, fresh face would stand up to do it but unfortunately that is not the case. So that’s why I decided

to take my own responsibility, especially after what I said in Sao Paulo and therefore I go for it.

“FIFA has to be normalized and FIFA has to be modernized. In my business life and also in Ajax and also in my association, I went through this exercise many, many times so I have a lot of experience in that respect. So I believe I’m the right person to do it.”

Van Praag’s announcement comes just a day after Blatter said, in an interview with CNN, that UEFA “lacked the courage to come in” and stand against him in the presidential elections.

Van Praag is one of a number of candidates hoping to topple the leader of football’s world governing body, who has been in the job for 17 years.

After being re-elected unopposed in 2011, Blatter

could now face van Praag, former PSG and Tottenham footballer David Ginola as well as independent candidate Jerome Champagne in May’s ballot.

Van Praag was president of the Netherlands’ most successful club Ajax between 1989 and 2003, following in the footsteps of his father Jaap.

During his reign Ajax added six Dutch league titles to its roll call of honors, the current total now standing at 33. Van Praag has also been a member of UEFA’s Executive Committee since 2009.

Blatter announced his intention to step down at the end of his fourth term but backtracked at FIFA’s congress in Brazil last year, claiming his mission was “not yet finished.”

That decision drew criticism from a number of FIFA member countries, given the allegations

Van Praag’s announcement comes a day after Blatter accused rivals of not having the courage to face him.

of corruption relating to the bidding process for the 2018 World Cup, awarded to Russia, and the 2022 installment, given to Qatar.

Van Praag was one of those to suggest Blatter should step down, telling him at a meeting of European officials: “Few people still take FIFA seriously and, however you look at it, Blatter is mainly responsible.

“You are not making things

easy for yourself and I do not think you are the man for the job any longer.

“FIFA’s image has deteriorated because of everything that’s happened in recent years. People link FIFA to corruption and bribery and all kinds of old boy’s networks.”

Blatter enjoys firm support from the majority of FIFA’s 209 member associations and

many see May’s elections as a forgone conclusion, despite the last few being blighted by scandal and difficulty.

The Swiss enlisted U.S. lawyer Michael Garcia to probe claims that Qatar’s former IFA member Mohamed Bin Hammam used a multimillion dollar slush fund to buy support for the bid, charges that Qatar bid have strenuously denied.

LIVE-IN COUPLE REQUIRED TO WORK IN A PRIVATE VILLA A couple is required to work in a private villa, a Cook and Housekeeper. This is a live-in position and accommodation is provided for a couple possessing the following skills:

VILLA COOK The successful candidate must possess the following: • Preferably at least 5 years experience in a luxury hotel or restaurant or as a personal cook in a private residence • He/she must possess the ability to prepare a range of international cuisine,(Asian, fusion cuisine, French, Italian), as well as cater to guests individual dietary preferences that include vegetarian, vegan, kosher, organic diets etc.

• Full ability and responsibility to take on menu planning and food preparation for house parties BBQ’s, business meetings • Maintain the cleanliness and proper sanitation of the kitchen at all times including deep cleaning of appliances, pots and pans, kitchen tools etc.

• Exercise good cost control presenting monthly monitoring and replenishment of stocks and supplies • Computer literacy would be an advantage but no essential with the ability to record and present invoices and purchases in an accurate manner

HOUSEKEEPER/BUTLER

A self-motivated, highly detail orientated individual is required to work in a luxury villa

The successful candidate must demonstrate the ability to use their own initiative and have a good command of English as well as excellent communication skills.

• He/she must be prepared to sometimes work long hours, weekends and holidays • The successful candidate must possess the following: • Housekeeping experience in a luxury or 5 star hotel or residence since attention to detail is essential • An awareness of cost control and energy saving • Ability to run errands, go shopping etc.

• He/she may be required from time to time to assist private cook in the serving of meals so an F&B background would be beneficial • Preferences will therefore be given to individuals who are flexible and able to multitask • BOTH CANDIDATES MUST ALSO: • Be willing to work flexible hours, weekends, holidays etc.

• Be able to work within a team, be reliable and trustworthy • Be extremely well presented and have a good command of English • One must possess a clean driving license in order to run errands • Must be prepared to carry out other duties when guests are not in house • Preference will also be give to individuals who have worked within a 5 star luxury environment Salary dependent on experience Note this is a live-in position only

Suitable qualified candidates must apply in writing with resume details to P.O. Box 143, Providenciales or email: jessica@thesource.tc 10986

POSITION AVAILABLE 2 Video Camera Operators

Main Purpose of Job:

Record Video Footage for News and other programmes; in studio and on location

Essential Duties:

• Select and assemble cameras, accessories and equipment to be used during filming.

• Use cameras in any of several different camera mounts such as stationary, track-mounted or crane • Test, clean and maintain equipment to ensure proper working condition.

• Maintain Footage Inventory

Skills Required:

• Extensive knowledge of cameras, lenses, and lighting, and the ability to operate cameras in different settings - such as studios and remote locations - is essential.

• The ability to stand or hold a camera for long periods of time • Working knowledge of live feed switching and distribution systems • Knowledge of editing equipment and software is also required.

• Must be able to work well under pressure, be a good communicator, and be able to work as part of a team or as an individual.

Required to work evenings, weekends and holidays Salary commensurate with experience.

Send Resumes to kay@acltci.tc or P.O. Box 230 Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.

No telephone calls please.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Sports Interational

41

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

50,000 Super Bowl simulations, one clear winner

Lance Armstrong, 43, was given a life ban from all sport and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping.

Armstrong ‘a scapegoat’ says Pat McQuaid, ex-UCI chief BANNED cyclist Lance Armstrong has been harshly treated, according to former head of world cycling Pat McQuaid.

Armstrong, 43, was given a life ban from all sport and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping.

McQuaid, former president of world governing body the International Cycling Union (UCI), said he had “a certain sympathy” with the American.

He told BBC Radio 5 live: “He was very much made a scapegoat, there was a witch hunt after Armstrong.”

The Irishman was UCI president from 2006 to 2013 before being replaced by Brian Cookson.

McQuaid was speaking following a BBC interview with Armstrong in which the cyclist criticised current incumbent

Cookson for his handling of the Astana doping affair.

When a United States AntiDoping Agency (Usada) report published in October 2012 labelled Armstrong a “serial” cheat, McQuaid - still in his UCI role - said the Texan had “no place in cycling”.

But McQuaid now says Armstrong was treated differently from other cyclists who were also doping.

He explained: “That’s the way it was. Usada wanted a big name.

“They weren’t really interested in the smaller riders and also they made deals with the smaller riders in order to get the information they needed on the big guys.

“I can have a certain sympathy because I don’t think in sport, people in those situations, I think they should be treated equally.”

(BBC)

Sheffield Wednesday: Thai group buys Championship club SHEFFIELD Wednesday have been taken over by a Thai consortium led by businessman Dejphon Chansiri.

Chansiri, whose family owns Thai Union Frozen Group, has acquired a 100% stake in the Championship club.

Owls chairman Milan Mandaric, who had been in charge since December 2010, confirmed earlier this month the club were in talks with potential investors.

“I am very excited at the prospect of taking over control from Milan,” Chansiri told the club website.

“I believe this club has huge potential and I can assure all our supporters that I will be working extremely hard to bring the success that I already sense from my short time in your city our supporters so desperately crave.

“My son Att, who was a mascot at the recent Blackpool game, is

passionate about football and I know will be my inspiration in this project.

“I have made the same promise to him as I do our supporters, he will not let me forget this until we are back in the Premier League.”

The deal remains subject to ratification by the Football League.

The takeover brings an end to Mandaric’s four-year stint as owner of the club, and although he is set to step down as chairman and as a director, he will remain at Hillsborough in an advisory role.

Mandaric agreed a deal to sell the Owls to Azerbaijani businessman Hafiz Mammadov last summer, but after that deal fell through in September, he said Chansiri had stood out as a potential buyer.

“I’m very happy and proud of what I have done for Sheffield Wednesday,” Mandaric told BBC Radio Sheffield.

BETTING on the Super Bowl is undeniably an uncertainty and a risk.

A much less risky bet would be that Paul Bessire’s PredictionMachine. com has the most thorough and sound reasoning for why the Seattle Seahawks will defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1 in Phoenix, Arizona, CBS Boston reports.

PredictionMachine.com uses some of the most advanced analytics available today and analyzes them through a machine they call “The Predictalator,” which is, “the most in-depth, state-of-the-art sports prediction software ever created.”

According to the Predictalator, if the Super Bowl were played 50,000 times, the Seattle Seahawks would come out on top 57.3 percent of the time. To reach this conclusion the Predictalator analyses everything about the two opponents facing one another: strength of regular season schedule, injuries, record against common opponents and even the most important individual players on each team among many other things.

The machine even goes as far as calculating each key player’s average projected stat line. For example, based on 50,000 games, The Predictalator calculates that Russell Wilson will throw for roughly 197.5 yards, while Tom Brady will throw for roughly 235.1 yards on Sunday.

If you’re wondering how

According to the Predictalator, if the Super Bowl were played 50,000 times, the Seattle Seahawks would come out on top 57.3 percent of the time.

thorough this statistical portion of the Predictalator is, it has Will Tukuafu listed as averaging 0.5 receptions for 1.8 yards in its analysis. Yeah, this is some pretty in-depth stuff.

The great equaliser in professional football is also taken into account, which is of course turnovers and penalties. Here New England has the decided edge over the Seahawks,

who had “the most negative impact in the league both offensively and defensively,” from penalties according to Bessire.

Obscure wide receivers and turnovers aside, according to the machine and Bessire, this matchup is most likely going to be decided

by Seattle’s ability to run the ball against the Patriots.

Yohan Blake details ‘dreams’ for 2015 IF THERE’S a sprinter with more to prove than Usain Bolt this year, it’s countryman Yohan Blake.

Since the 2012 Olympics, Blake hasn’t looked anything like the man who won 100m and 200m silver behind Bolt in London (and upset Bolt in both distances at the Jamaican Olympic trials).

The last time we saw Blake in competition was July 11, trailing a lacklustre 100m field in Glasgow, then tumbling to the track mid-race and being wheeled out of sight in a chair.

“If I didn’t stop myself [in the race], I would be carried over,” Blake said while launching Adidas’ “Ultra Boost” shoes in New York on Thursday. “That never happened to me before. I think it’s like karma.

I was in training, saying I never get injured before [presumably in a race, since Blake has dealt with injuries suffered outside of competition].”

In Glasgow, Blake initially called the injury a cramp, but it was much worse, more serious even than a torn hamstring that caused him to miss almost all of the 2013 season.

“The muscle came off the bone and had to be reattached,” Blake

Yohan Blake said he wants to retire before 2020, which would make the Rio 2016 Games his Olympic farewell.

said.

The 25-year-old who likes to be called “The Beast” — with matching long fingernails — is back training but said he will see a doctor in Munich in the first half of March, hoping to be cleared for full-speed workouts. Blake said he can reach full fitness two weeks after being cleared.

He will return to a sprint scene dominated in 2014 by Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic 100m champion five years removed from a four-year

doping ban. Gatlin posted the fastest 100m and 200m times in the world last year — 9.77 and 19.68 seconds — with Bolt largely sidelined due to a foot injury.

“You could say he’s the man,” said Blake, who ran 10.02 and 20.48 in 2014 before the Glasgow tumble.

Blake has said he sets dreams rather than goals. And the immediate dreams are very important, given he has also said he wants to retire before 2020, which would make the Rio 2016 Games his Olympic farewell.

42

Sports Interational

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Iceman to Klay Thompson: nice shooting, kid, but record still mine THE texts started lighting up George Gervin’s phone last Friday night, a buzzing stream of exclamations and wonderment. Some kid had just broken an unbreakable scoring record. A nearly four-decade-old record. Gervin’s record.

Thirty-seven points in one quarter!

That’s what Klay Thompson, the Golden State Warriors’ young shooting ace, had just done, the texts said. Thirty-seven points. Four more than Gervin scored in a quarter back in 1978.

The 62-year-old Gervin had two immediate reactions when he learned of Thompson’s incredible feat.

First: “I said, ‘Wowwwww, that’s pretty impressive.’”

Then: “But I’d like to see him try to get 33 or 37 in a quarter when there wasn’t no three-point line.”

Within seconds, Gervin’s friendly baritone gives way to a hearty, mischievous chuckle. The former high flyer and Hall of Famer, who still answers to the nickname Iceman, is speaking from pride, not bitterness, with an eye toward historical accuracy.

When Gervin set the NBA record for points in a quarter—in the second quarter of a loss to the New Orleans Jazz, on April 9, 1978—there was no three-point arc. Its adoption was still a year away. Gervin accumulated his 33 points the old-fashioned way: on mid-range jump shots, slashes to the rim and free throws. If he scored three points on a play, it came with the help of a shooting foul—the “and-1.”

The precise number of field goals and free throws Gervin made in that quarter is unclear. Neither the NBA’s statistics database nor Basketball-Reference.com has the breakdown.

Left-armer Mohammad Amir, 22, was jailed for six months and banned from all cricket for his part in a spot-fixing scam during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.

Amir’s five-year spotfixing ban ends early

Iceman George Gervin says that his record should still stand because when he accomplished the feat, there was no three point line.

We do know how Thompson reached 37: by making all 13 of his field goals, including all nine of his three-pointers, along with two free throws, in the third quarter of a Warriors victory over the Sacramento Kings.

It was, by any measure, an electrifying, unfathomable performance, worthy of praise and a place in the history books. Just not the same history books that Gervin occupies, at least according to Gervin.

“I don’t feel—and it’s funny, everybody laughs—I don’t feel he broke my record,” Gervin told Bleacher Report in a phone interview.

“I feel he set a new record. He set a new record for the new NBA.” He paused again to break into another contagious chuckle.

“Think about it, man,” Gervin said. “That’s like if we’re going to have a race, and you start on the 50yard line and I start on the 1-yard line and we’re doing a 100-yard race.

It’s not even.”

He continued.

“I’m saying, like, wait a minute, y’all. Y’all are making it seem like what I did was just regular,” he said, laughing again. “I ain’t mad at the kid doing what he did. But what I’m saying is, let’s let the fans know what really happened, and let them be the judge of it.”

The details matter. When Gervin set the mark, he broke a hallowed record held by another basketball legend: Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 31 points in a quarter during his 100-point game on March 2, 1962.

PAKISTAN fast bowler Mohammad Amir has been cleared to return early from his five-year ban for spot-fixing.

Left-armer Amir, 22, was jailed for six months and banned from all cricket for his part in a spot-fixing scam during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.

He delivered pre-arranged no balls at Lord’s in a plot that also saw Mohammad Asif and captain Salman Butt banned.

Amir’s ban was due to expire on 2 September, 2015 but he has been cleared to play domestic cricket in Pakistan.

“It’s a new life for me and you will see not only Mohammad Amir as a better cricketer but also a better human being,” he said.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the head of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (Acsu), approved Amir’s domestic return.

An ICC statement read: “Sir Ronnie Flanagan, with the prior approval of the ICC board and the Pakistan Cricket Board, has exercised his discretion to allow Mohammad Amir to return to domestic cricket played under the auspices of the Pakistan Cricket Board with immediate effect.”

It added that Flanagan “was satisfied” that Amir had: · Co-operated with the Acsu by fully disclosing his part in the matters that led to his disqualification · Admitted his guilt and showed remorse · Co-operated with the unit’s ongoing investigations · Helped alert fellow cricketers to the dangers of fixing by recording messages for education sessions Before his suspension Amir took 51 wickets in 14 Test matches at an average of 29.09, and 25 wickets in 15 one-day internationals at an average of 24. (BBC)

Real Madrid under investigation by FIFA regarding 51 under-age transfers THE world’s richest club Real Madrid has come out fighting over football’s world governing body’s investigation into the club’s youth transfer policy.

Barcelona has already been hit with a transfer ban after breaching regulations when signing young players, but rival Real insists it has complied fully with FIFA’s rules when conducting its own under-age deals.

Real said it has shown “extraordinary diligence” during the transfer and registration of the 51 cases of foreign minors that are being investigated.

The Spanish club issued a lengthy statement confirming the governing body’s request for documents relating to the various deals taking

place over the last five years, though it did not name any of the players.

“Real Madrid defends the protection and the correct and healthy development of minors via its strict adherence, without exceptions, to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, and is in complete agreement with such investigations being carried out to this end,” the statement read.

Article 19 of FIFA’s regulations prohibits the transfer of players under the age of 18, unless they meet one of three qualifying criteria.

Under-age players can move to a club in a different country if their parents move there for nonfootballing reasons, if they are from another nation within the European Union or European Economic Area

Real provided explanations for each of the 51 cases, stating that the majority of players were exempt from regulations for various different reasons.

and aged between 16 and 18, or if they live within 100km of the club.

Real provided explanations for each of the 51 cases, stating that the majority of players were exempt from regulations for various different

reasons.

Among the exemptions it provided were that 10 players were Spanish nationals, 23 foreign players had previously been registered with other Spanish clubs, six players

were 18 or over at the time of their registration, two players had never belonged to Madrid and one player appeared twice on FIFA’s list. Real also offered up further explanations for the remaining nine cases.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

43

TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

2014 Year in Review August-October aided by the wind.

2014 Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships:

TCI beat Cayman Islands in two divisions -Tied with the USVI twice

The AFC Academy received the championship trophy for winning the 2014 WIV Provo Premier League.

AUGUST WIV Provo Premier League awards:

Charles wins Player of the Year trophy -Etienne wins Golden Boot

YOUNG rising star Elton Charles, whose AFC Academy team won the WIV League, finished as the Player of the Year when the WIV Provo Premier League held its award ceremony in early August of 2014.

Charles had made some exciting plays this season.

The SWA Sharks’ Dady Aristide was named the Most Valuable Player. Aristide was also a prolific scorer for his team throughout the season. The Golden Boot award was however won by Cheshire Hall’s Rodne Etienne.

Etienne, who led the scoring from early in the season, finished with 19 goals, nine higher than the next best scorer.

Ras Diamond received the Young Player of the Year award while Gary Brough was named coach of the year.

Missick finishes third in NACAC U-23 high jump -Garland runs new PB in 200M

DOMANIQUE Missick finished third in the high jump, while Angelo Garland’s last minute switch to the 200M showed that he is competitive in the event when team TCI competed at the NACAC U-23 meet last August in Kamploops, BC, Canada at the NACAC U-23 Athletics Championships.

Missick, who jumped 2.11M at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, copped his bronze medal with a 2.0M jump. The event was won at 2.28M (a new record) while second place finished at 2.10M. Garland, who had shown signs of fatigue since the Commonwealth Games, decided to run the 200M instead of the 400M (he is the junior, senior, and indoor national record holder in the 400M).

Although he did not reach the final of the event, he ran 21.8s which is officially a new personal best for him. He did run 21.36s earlier in the year at a college meet, but it was

THE Turks and Caicos Islands were able to finish ahead of the Cayman Islands in two of the four divisions in which they participated, in the 2014 Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships in August.

TCI’s best division was the MidAmateur for the Ramon Baez trophy.

The pair of Fraser Dods (TCI Golf Association president) and Will Shoreman surrendered their one stroke lead over the USVI which they held after three rounds to finish tied for sixth place.

Both teams finished with a total score of 306 to beat the Cayman Islands (310).

Throughout the tournament the pair had better front nines (36, 36, 33 and 38) than back nines (39, 41, 42 and 41).

In the Super Seniors division for the Higgs and Higgs trophy, veteran golfers Graham Malyan and Richard Sanmiya finished seventh, one spot ahead of the Cayman Islands (311 +23). The duo scored a 74 (37 twice with three birdies) on the final day to finish with 299 (+11).

In the Senior Division for the Francis and Steele Perkins Cup, JP Srinark and Jim Gefucia ended their last hole of the tournament with a double bogey to finish with a score of 80 which left them tied with the USVI in seventh. Both teams ended the tournament with 318 strokes (+30).

SEPTEMBER Burant returns as rugby president

KEITH Burant was re-elected president of the Turks and Caicos Islands Rugby Football Union (TCIRFU) in September of 2014.

At the local body’s AGM and elections of office bearers at the TCIRFU’s Club House on the Meridian Field, Burant was voted in for his seventh consecutive term.

Burant has continuously retained his place due to his good leadership and progressive thinking in the sport.

The Jericho Baptist Church won the 2014 Church Co-Ed Slow Pitch Softball League title with a 3-1 series win over the Roman Catholic Church.

they would have created a major upset after winning game one 15-9 at the National Stadium, but the 2013 runners up Jericho used their experience and bounced back. In the second game they won 16-4, while they won 12-8 in the third game and 16-14 in a thriller to take the title.

In the third place clash Bethany Baptist Church defeated last season’s champions St. Monica’s Anglican Church 16-13.

TCI joins other nations to break sailing world record

The TCI Sailing Association placed this country on the sailing map on September 21, when they combined with a team of nations to set the Guinness World record for the ‘Largest Sailing Race in 24 Hours (Multiple Venues)’.

The 40 local sailors who met at the Bight Park joined 18,000 sailors from 68 different countries.

The racers met on the beach for a

competitor’s meeting before heading out to sail the 3.7 km course. Boats came from Beaches, Provo Water Play, and Gansevoort to join the TCISA’s fleet to meet the 25-boat minimum required to be a part of the Guinness record.

OCTOBER TCI to compete in CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship in 2015

FOR the first time ever the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) will enter a team to compete in the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship in the hope of qualifying for the FIFA 2015 Beach Soccer World Cup (male) which is scheduled to take place in Portugal in mid-July.

The CONCACAF competition will be held in April in El Salvador.

Provo Church Co-Ed Slow Pitch Softball League:

Jericho come-from-behind to win title

Domanique Missick copped third place with a jump of 2.0M.

THE Jericho Baptist Church came from behind to win the 2014 Provo Church Co-Ed Slow Pitch Softball League title against the Roman Catholic Church in September of 2014.

The Catholic Church, new comers to the league, had looked like

Our sailors made history by taking part in the world record feat. (Photo: Karen Lawson)

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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Josh for Sports

Legends of golf

HERE in the TCI, we have been struggling with the game of golf for years. At our current stage we have however come a mighty long way. Congratulations are in order to the numerous accomplishments and milestones that we have passed.

I foresee much progress ahead for our future. In the past I wrote a brief history of golf and its rules which established the game at the international level.

In this article I shall speak about some of the superstars of the game.

ARNOLD PALMER Arnold Palmer was born in 1929 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He is one of the best-known golfers of all time. He began playing golf when he was three-years-old. He won the US Amateur Golf Championship in 1954 and decided then to begin his career as a pro-golfer. He was the first golfer to win the Masters four

By Joshua Gardiner

times (1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964).

By 1968 he had become the first golfer to earn more than one million in prize money. Palmer had built a large fan base who were known as “Arnie’s Army”.

JACK NICKLAUS Jack Nicklaus was born in Columbus Ohio in 1940. Nicklaus took up golf at the age of 10, scoring a 51 at Scioto Country Club for his first

nine holes ever played. He set the records for most victories in golf’s grand slam tournaments with 18 (1959-61). Nicklaus won 29 out of 30 of the amateur tournaments he entered. In 1962 Nicklaus became a professional player and beat Arnold Palmer that year. He won six Masters golf tournaments and has tallied 18 career majors—the most by any player in history. At age 46, he was the oldest winner when he took the Masters title in 1986. He was nicknamed the Golden Bear.

TIGER WOODS

Born in Cypress, California, Tiger Woods, as the two mentioned above, is among the greatest of all time.

Before the age of 30, he had won each of golf’s major championships at least twice.

Woods began playing as soon as he could walk and was featured on many television shows. At age 15, he was the youngest player to win the US Golf Association Junior Nationals. By 1993, he won his third junior title in a row 1994-6. He won three US Amateur Championships. Woods turned pro in 1996 and in 1997 he won

the Masters by 12 strokes—the first African American player to do so. That same year he reached number one in the world rankings.

Woods, who is still active, went on to win 79 PGA Tour events (the second most behind Sam Snead, 81), while his 14 professional major golf championships are only behind Nicklaus. Many still feel that Woods can break Nicklaus’s record, but injuries and personal issues kept him at bay over the last few years.

More later, God permitting, Love Josh

Undefeated Badgers favourites for title THE POLICE Badgers are cleaning up the town and with their unbeaten record still intact they have become favourites for the Provo Amateur Basketball Association (PABA) Night League title.

On Wednesday night at the Gus Lightbourne Sports Complex court the Badgers got past former undefeated side the Predators to move to 7-0, while last weekend they defeated the Spartans and the Kings.

On Friday night the Badgers had four players in double figures in their 72-60 point victory over

the Spartans.

Evans Dubois led the attack with 19 points.

Sandro Jermain finished with a double double (14 points and 10 rebounds), Raymeeko Smith made 14 points and three boards and Kijuana Doughty added 10 points.

Devon Williams led the Spartans with 18 points and five boards while T. Williams added 11 points and five rebounds. Also on Friday night The Knights defeated the Shottas 65-50. Andujar Gardiner led the winners with 18 points and three rebounds. Support came from Kadis Simmons with 13 points and

Digicel Play PPL:

Academy edge undermanned Cheshire Hall

Rodne Etienne scored the second goal for Cheshire Hall.

five boards. Emanio Williams and Dondre Taylor scored 17 points and pulled down five rebounds apiece for the Shottas.

On Saturday night the Kings fell to the Badgers 62-57. The Badgers faced an uphill task with the speed and youth of the Kings, but with another all-round team effort they took the spoils.

Doughty scored 15 points to go with his five boards, Melvin Elsie made 12, and Smith and Jodesti Francois added 10 each. The Kings were led by Dwayne Hamilton (18 points and five boards).

A MORE calculated second half was not enough for an undermanned Cheshire Hall team in their clash against rivals the AFC Academy in the revamped Digicel Play Provo Premier League on Saturday last at the Academy ground.

The Academy (defending champions) romped to a 4-0 lead in the first 31 minutes against nine Cheshire Hall players. Jensen Joseph scored the opener after two minutes of play, while Mackenson Cadet added the second (13th minute), with Joseph and Herby Magny also finding the mark.

Lenford Singh pulled a goal back and when the Academy’s Alex Bryan was sent off, Cheshire Hall found play easier. So much so, that in the second period they scored through a Rodne Etienne (50th minutes) close range shot and via Navar Cumberland in the 86th minute.

In the other clash Beaches got past the Sharks after Anthony McKnight slotted home from the left side in the first half for a 1-0 win.

January 31 - February 6, 2015

Sports National

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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

New 200M indoor record holder ready for long jump

Ifeanyi Otuonye broke the indoor 200M record with an official time of 21.69s.

NEW national indoor 200M record holder Ifeanyi Otuonye is hoping to hit his mark when he competes in his main event—the long jump, this weekend in New Mexico at the Nee Mexico Team Invitational.

The multiple record holder (relays, outdoor long jump, indoor 300M, indoor long jump and indoor triple jump) broke Darian Forbes’s 2006 record by converted time last Saturday at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational Meet.

Forbes ran the 200M in 21.78s nine years ago in Carbondale Illinois, while Otuonye ran 22.07s on a flat track (track not banked so it took more time to run) with an official

converted time of 21.69s for a new national record.

The Kansas State University student admitted that he rarely runs the 200M and might not run it again for the rest of the indoor season.

“I mean it’s a great start for me.

The 200 is not my race, I just did it to do it and ran well….I may not run it again for the rest of the indoor season because I’ll be focusing on my real event the long jump.”

Accolades came from Deputy Premier and Minister of Sports, Hon. Akierra Missick. The deputy premier was also excited about Angelo Garland who broke his indoor 400M record on January 16. “We wish

them the best as they continue to work towards achieving higher goals and setting positive standards for other young men and women of the Turks and Caicos Islands in sports.”

REDEMPTION TIME For Otuonye, who jumped 7.47M at the Commonwealth Games last year, only to sprain his ankle the day before the start of the NACAC U-23 Athletics Championships in Canada in early August, staying healthy is his number one priority. “…I just thank God that I was able to do so well (in the 200M) and come out injury free! So I can attack next week (this weekend) in full force.”

Marco Fenelus was selected by MLS team the New England Revolution.

Bien-Aime calls Fenelus’s MLS selection a “remarkable achievement” TCI Football Association president Sonia Bien-Aime is elated that national player Marco Fenelus was selected by the New England Revolution in the Major League Soccer (MLS) Draft last month.

Bien-Aime stated that the selection was: “… A remarkable achievement for Marc and the entire TCI.” She said that the forward, who appeared in all 24 games for the Cal State Fullerton Titans in 2014 and was the team leader in goals (7) and points (16) “is a talented athlete and a well-rounded human being”. She added that the TCIFA saw his potential in his early teens and through its academy they gave him full support.

“The association is very excited for him. Player development is one of our main areas of focus. He is a hard worker and his work ethic will be one of the foundations of professional success.”

MORE POTENTIAL Vice President of the TCIFA Oliver Smith, credited for the success of a number of our young stars, arranged for Fenelus’s scholarship to Western Texas College a few years ago.

Where the versatile player was a second-team All-American, an All-Region first team selection, as well his team’s top scorer (25 goals, 14 assists).

“He was an outstanding player at youth level,” said Smith, who holds a Level B Coaching Certificate from the U.S. Soccer Federation. “Marc’s success will make scouts more willing to take a look at our players. We definitely have more Marc Fenelus’ here.”

Fenelus was selected with the 5th pick in the 3rd round and was the 47th overall selection.

The first TCI national to be drafted by a MLS team is Gavin Glinton from Grand Turk. He was drafted by the LA Galaxy in 2002.

Delano Williams is focused on reaching the 2016 Olympics.

Williams pumped up for season opener – Set to run 400M on Saturday NATIONAL 100M and 200M record holder Delano Williams is pumped up for the track to start his 2015 season opener this Saturday in Jamaica at the Grave Jackson Invitational Meet.

The 21-year-old told the Weekly News that he is really looking forward to the event. “I’m 100% fit, very healthy and ready to go. Like I’m ready!!”

LOTS TO PROVE The former World Junior 200M gold medallist, who opted for boyhood coach and mentor Neil Harrison over Racers Track Club coach Glen Mills in the latter part of 2014, is confident that he is well prepared for the opener.

“He’s preparing me well for the season as it’s a big year for both of us because I have a lot to prove.”

Williams, who competes for Britain (he switched allegiance from the TCI in June of 2013), sees 2015 as a stepping stone to next year’s Olympics in Brazil.

“2015 is a year that I need to step my game up and be ready for the world as Olympics is in 2016.”

The sprinter will use the 400M to get in race shape for his stronger events the 200M and the 100M.

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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015

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January 31 - February 6, 2015

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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS

January 31 - February 6, 2015