Forum member Mrs. Ethlyn Gibbs-Williams addresses the house on PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UK AND OBTAINING GOALS
Member of the Consultative Forum Mrs. Ethlyn Gibbs-Williams is calling for the creation of policies which she believes would empower Turks and Caicos Islanders, as well as strengthen various institutions.
Mrs. Gibbs Williams made the call in a presentation to the Consultative Forum at its meeting on Monday 10th January.
In her presentation, entitled PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UK AND OBTAINING GOALS,Mrs. Gibbs-Williams reminded the Forum's Chair of her very impressive
opening remarks at the December 13th sitting of the Forum, when she made mention of her visit to the UK as part of the Governor's delegation to the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting where she highlighted their meeting with Minister Henry Bellingham, in which he expressed the desire to see improved relationship with the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Mrs. Ethlyn Gibbs-Williams said while it is very commendable for Mr. Bellingham to express the desire to develop a better relationship between the UK and Turks & Caicos, she said if that message is not clearly communicated to his people over here in the TCI, and steps taken by the authorities to facilitate improved relations with TCI, then the situation will be the same as it is two years from now.Referencing the Order in Council which has been in place for over two years now, Mrs. Gibbs-Williams questioned whether His Excellency realizes the type of environment that has been created.
The Consultative Forum member said the situation with the Order in Council will have to be addressed as a way forward and that as a people we may all be imperfect, but the difference is, we do not have to succumb to wrong doing.
Police 24 hour crime recap
Detective Inspector Calvin Chase has issued his 24 Hour Crime Recap for Providenciales for today 12th January where Police there responded to six reports of serious nature.
Five (5) Burglaries including on Leeward Highway, Discovery Bay and Kew Town and 2 in Blue Hills and there was one (1) report of Wounding, which occurred on Airport Road.
A female was arrested on suspicion of wounding in connection with a report made on 11th January 2012. She was later released on Police Bail with a surety to return on 23rd January 2012 to be further dealt with.
A male was also arrested on suspicion of Wounding and Three males were arrested on suspicion of a number of Burglaries committed in Providenciales.
In Grand Turk, on Wednesday 11th January Law Enforcement Officers while continuing their search of a vessel at South Dock, located an additional quantity of suspected cannabis. A male was arrested on suspicion of Possession of Cannabis with intent to supply.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Census
As preparations continue for the 2012 Population and Housing Census in the TCI, the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics has prepared an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document to help you better understand what will be taking place. Please find the document attached.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE UPCOMING CENSUS
Who provides the census information?
Ideally each responsible adult (18 years or older) in the household should be interviewed. However, this may not be possible because some persons may be out of the islands during the census period. In such cases any responsible adult will be interviewed provided that he/she knows all the required answers. The process may require revisits.
Why is it called a Population and Housing Census?
A population and housing census is a count of every person and building in the country. In addition to knowing 'how many persons live here¡¦ it is also vital to know 'who live here' in terms of age, sex, religion, education, occupation and other important characteristics, as well as 'where do they live' in terms of housing, access to water and other essential facilities.
When will the census be conducted?
The Census is conducted every ten years. The last census was in September 2001 and therefore another is presently due.
Why is the census conducted every ten years?
A census is a massive statistical operation which is very costly. It involves accurate mapping of the entire country, recruitment of over 100 field workers, extensive advertising and promotion to get public acceptance and timely processing and dissemination of the data collected.
Such an exercise will incur significant opportunity cost if it happens more frequently.
What are some of the benefits of a Population and Housing Census?
If planners know 'how many of us live here', 'who we are' and 'where we live,¦ they can estimate our needs for food, shelter, education, health, transport, employment and other amenities at very small levels of geography.
Is the Census compulsory?
Yes it is! The Census Ordinance entrusts to the Census Officer at the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics the legal authority and responsibility to conduct the census. Closer to the census date, the Governor would approve the Census Order and Census Regulations for viewing by the public. There is a fine or penalty for persons who do not cooperate with census officers.
What must I do to be counted?
During the census period, specially identified enumerators will visit every household in the Turks and Caicos Islands. When visited, be sure to cooperate by responding to all the questions on the census questionnaire. If you are not visited please call or email the Statistical Office at the numbers and address published.
Why not use an online method for the census?
An on-line census system is technically complicated and costly and most countries reject this method. Presently no Caribbean country uses an on-line system. This system requires money and time to develop and test. We must also remember that census field work requires three simultaneous activities: canvassing, listing dwelling units, and interviewing households. Canvassing involves going through an enumeration area to identify all buildings or structures that are used as dwelling units.
Identified dwelling units should correspond to household interviews. The matching of canvassing/listing activities with an on-line interview would make this process complicated and costly.
Will this census be the first one conducted in the Turks and Caicos Islands?
This census will present an unbroken record of census taking in the Turks & Caicos Islands. It has been documented that the first census in the Turks & Caicos Islands was taken in 1891 as part of a Demographic Survey of the British Empire. From that date onward, a census was taken every ten years in the Turks & Caicos Islands up until this time with one notable exception. In the early 1930¡¦s there was no census taken in the Islands.
This was perhaps because of some major upheaval in the world.
Who is counted during the census?
All persons who usually reside within the borders of Turks and Caicos Islands at the time of enumeration are to be counted in the census, regardless of citizenship or length of stay.
¡¦Usually¡¦ refers to having lived in the Turks and Caicos Islands for at least six months or having the intention to remain in the Turks and Caicos for at least six months.
The following persons who are outside the country are to be counted where they usually live:
X Persons temporarily absent for less than 6 months on business, holiday,medical treatment, etc.
X Person studying abroad who have the intention of returning home,regardless of the length of stay abroad
Breast cancer at record levels in the Bahamas
A report has found that BREAST CANCER is affecting Bahamian women at the highest levels in the world. Researchers are holding out hope, however, and are steadily working towards their goal to make genetic testing more accessible to high-risk Bahamian women.
The highest prevalence of the BRCA1 gene mutation, out of any population in the world, is found in Bahamian women - which put them at greater risk of breast cancer.
Findings on the prevalence rate of the hereditary bad gene were announced last year.
Since then, the Bahamas Breast Cancer Initiative Foundation (BBCIF) has been working steadily to facilitate further research and prevention strategies.
Securing a genetic counsellor and data-base coordinator is paramount to this initiative as it would allow lead researchers in the study, Dr Steven Narod, of Toronto University, and Dr John Lunn, Medical Director of the BBCIF, to undertake critical follow-up projects.
Priority objectives call for in-depth study of breast cancer presentation and treatment in the country; the frequency of BRCA1 mutations; the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy. Further studies will also seek to identify risk factors for the development of breast and ovarian cancer in women with the BRCA1 mutation and identify new breast cancer genes for Bahamian women.
So convinced of the project's value, and the potential for important discoveries, Dr Narod has committed 15 per cent of his time to the endeavour free of charge.
Aggressive strains of breast cancer appear in Bahamian women at an unusually early age. According to published reports, only 12 per cent of American women under 44 years old are diagnosed with breast cancer, while 34 percent of Bahamian women are diagnosed at that age or younger.
The high prevalence of one of five BRCA1 mutations, which is a breast cancer susceptible gene, means the Bahamas is an abnormally high risk population.
According to Dr Steven Narod, who collaborated in the study, the global average is five to six per cent: 20 per cent of the Bahamian sample tested positive for the abnormal gene.
In an earlier interview with The Tribune, Dr Lunn said: "The next study we're going to do is to measure the genetic composition of people who go for screening mammograms. "That would tell us the frequency of the gene in the non-affected population, people who don't have breast cancer, that's important to know.
"It's important to know whether or not you have a genetic predisposition, then we can see how if we can stop this gene from becoming active - that's the next step - but at least you can identify patients very early who are high risk and then you can prevent them from getting breast cancer, that's the idea.
"It's a big factor, when a quarter of your patients with breast cancer have a nasty gene that's huge," he said.
Chair of the Consultative Forum says Governor Todds inaugural promise has never seemed more hollow
Chair of the Consultative Forum Mrs. Lillian Misick, director of the small Business Development Center at TCInvest, has penned a letter to His Excellency the Governor Ric Todd, in light of his announcement yesterday, to replace TCInvest.
Mrs. Missick said she felt compelled to state for the record how truly dismayed she is by the way in which Governor Todd has gone about making, and informing them of his decision to abolish TCInvest.
In her letter to Governor Todd yesterday, Mrs. Missick said quote:- Many of us greeted your inaugural promise to run a collaborative and transparent administration in good faith and with goodwill. And even though I have been moved on a few occasions since your inauguration to challenge you to honor it, that promise has never seemed more hollow than it did during the Forums closed session this morning.
I was so caught off guard when your Director of Strategy Philip Rushbrook informed me in the parking lot on Friday of your decision to abolish TCInvest that I requested an urgent meeting, which you graciously granted yesterday afternoon.
At that meeting you explained the reasons why you thought this decision was necessary. I countered by explaining that your reasoning was fundamentally flawed because it focused entirely on the mismanagement and abuse of the agency; i.e., to coin the phrase you used, perhaps unwittingly, you were throwing out the baby with the bath water.
To be fair, I gathered that you were basing your reasoning on a report by UK Advisor Stephen Turnbull, a copy of which you were kind enough to present to me midway through our meeting. But I felt constrained to question the reliability of its findings after glancing a section on the Business Development Center. I served as chairman of TCInvest for 5 years and director of the Business Development Center for 10.
I thought it would give you pause when I pointed out that it strains credulity to think that any advisor could produce a comprehensive report on the functioning of this agency, let alone my department, without speaking to me.
In fact you paused long enough to reassure me that it was only a draft report and that you were quite prepared to grant my request for the Forum to hold a public hearing so that the proffered reasons for closing TCInvest could be properly examined.
Yet less than 24 hours later you were insisting in our closed session that there was no need for further discussion because your mind had been made up, presumably based on Mr. Turnbulls flawed and incomplete draft report.
Let me hasten to clarify that I have never questioned your authority to make this or any other decision, which makes me wonder why you continually assert - with the gratuitous force of a parent asserting her authority to discipline her child - that you have this authority.
My sole purpose for appealing to you on this and other matters was to get you to demonstrate that your talk about making your interim administration the most honest, open, and transparent in the Caribbean is not just hot air.
Alas, that you were adamant to the point of appearing defiant this morning about your decision to abolish TCInvest, despite the earnest pleadings of members for just a chance to be heard, made it clear to all present that my appeals to you have been in vain.
I hope you appreciate how much credence this gives to those who dismissed the Forum from the outset as nothing more than a rubber-stamp for the neo-colonial mach-i-nations of British inter-lopers.
This is profoundly regrettable and por-tends dire consequences for our UK-TCI relationship, end quote.
The preceding was the text of a letter to His Excellency the Governor Ric Todd, from Lillian Misick, Chair of TCI Consultative Forum, following a
press release from Governors office yesterday, announcing the replacement of TCInvest.
Advisory Council Upbeat about 2012
A strong positive outlook was identified for the TCI in 2012 when the Advisory Council held its first meeting for the year today Wednesday, 11th January 2012 at the department of Disaster Management and Emergencies in Providenciales.
A release from the governments press office noted that the Council, in discussing the year ahead, felt the economic situation was showing positive signs, led by a robust tourism sector. This sector continues to build on last years record breaking performance, which saw the TCI reaching the one million visitor mark for the first time. The sector is also expected to benefit from the Tourist Boards recent marketing efforts in Europe, which promoted the TCIs capacity to accommodate long haul jets
on the recently extended Provo international airport.
TCI will this year also be at the heart of NASAs celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the historic first orbit of the earth by an American John Glenn, and his landing off the island of Grand Turk.
The Advisory Council welcomed the appointment of the five new Permanent Secretaries and looks forward to working with them. It also welcomed the new Chief Executive of the TCIG Patrick Boyle, who took up office on January 3rd. The new PSs will work with Mr. Boyle at the helm of a restructured and fit-for- purpose public service, which will be tasked with providing efficient public services to the wider TCI community.
His Excellency the Governor Ric Todd explained the plans to wind up TCInvest and improve the delivery of the services for which it is responsible. A recent in-depth study concluded that the essential functions of TCInvest; inward investment, business licensing, small enterprise support and loans, can be delivered more effectively through other TCIG or external means.
This year will also see the holding of elections, once the ministerial milestones are met. A key part of meeting the milestones and improving the situation for the people of the TCI, is a programme of legislative change. The Council today looked at a programme of draft laws, which will soon be published.
Also in prospect for 2012 is the White Paper on the Overseas Territories, which will set the stage for a re-defined relationship between the UK and the OTs.
The Council reviewed the progress made in engaging the public on the pathway to citizenship in the TCI. It also discussed the recent interception of the two sloops and expressed appreciation of the excellent work done as well as lessons learned in the handling and repatriation of the passengers.
24 Hour Crime Recap in the TCI
Providenciales Police has listed in its crime update, the death of a male American tourist who was found dead in his hotel room located in Grace Bay, Providenciales on Wednesday 11th January 2012.
No further detail was given, however Police say an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death of the tourist.
Also in its 24 hour crime update, detective Inspector Calvin Chase said Providenciales Police responded to nine (9) reports of crime, which included Eight (8) Burglaries Richmond Hill, Five Cays, Blue Hills, Smiths Reef, Turtle Cove, Millennium Highway and 2 in Cooper Jack Bay.
One report of 1 Wounding was made in Kew Town A female was arrested on suspicion of Wounding in connection with a report made on 10th January 2012.
A male was also arrested on suspicion of Handling Stolen Goods. He was later released on Police Bail to return to the Five Cays Police Station on 24th January 2012 to be further dealt with.
And a male was charged for Burglary and Taking Motor Vehicle without Authority in connection with a report made on 10th January 2012.
In Grand Turk yesterday Tuesday10th January 2012, a male was arrested on suspicion of Aggravated Burglary in connection with a report made on 4th January 2012. He was later released on Police Bail to return to the Grand Turk Police Station on 17th January 2012 to be further dealt with.
Also in Grand Turk, a male was charged for Resisting Arrest.
This charge is in connection with a report made on 15th December 2011.
TCI RED CROSS RESUMES WEEKLY COMMUNITY & FARMERS MARKET
The Turks and Caicos Islands Red Cross resumes its Weekly Community and Farmers Market this Saturday, January 14th, 2012.
Taking place at the Red Cross headquarters opposite Lime on the Leeward Highway in Providenciales from 10am to 2pm, patrons will be able to purchase freshly grown produce and locally sourced items, meet the farmers and shop at our thrift store.
The Community & Farmers Market brings people together in a fun way that promotes a safe and healthy community environment. Arrive with your shopping bags, and save money on goods and services. And, while there, learn more about the TCI Red Cross products and services.
What is more, coordinators are calling for more farmers and persons that make bake goods, delicious jams and other treats to get involved. As this a community spirited initiative, they are also inviting schools to bring their artwork, wood work and crafts to make the event a real fun day for all.
For more information on the Weekly Farmers Market call (649) 247-8911.
With regard to the TCI Red Cross, our services and how you can volunteer or donate, contact our Provo office on (649) 941-8056 or email redcrossprovo@tciway.tc OR for Grand Turk call (649) 946-2761 or Email: tciredcross@tciway.tc
George Lucas says Hollywood won't support black films
Director George Lucas says it took 20 years to get his latest film made, "because it's an all-black movie".
Speaking on The Daily Show, Lucas said he had to self-fund Red Tails, the true story of a group of African-American pilots who fought in World War II.
He claimed major film studios would not back the movie because "there's no major white roles in it at all".
"I showed it to all of them and they said, 'No. We don't know how to market a movie like this,'" he said.
"They don't believe there's any foreign market for it, and that's 60% of their profit," he added.
Lucas co-wrote and produced Red Tails, which which was directed by Anthony Hemingway.
It features several well-known names - including Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr, Terence Howard and R&B star Ne-Yo - and shows how the pilots were segregated and kept on the ground for most of the war, until they were called up to fight for their country.
The real-life airmen featured in the drama were given a Congressional Gold Medal by then-President George Bush in 2007.
'Invisible' audience
Lucas put $58 million (37.8 million) of his own money into the movie. It will be released by his company Lucasfilm, and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox.
He is putting a further $35 million (£22.8 million) towards the distribution costs, said trade paper The Hollywood Reporter.
"It's a reasonably expensive movie," Lucas told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. "Normally black movies, say Tyler Perry movies or something, they're very low budget.
"Even then, the [Hollywood studios] won't really release his movies, it goes to one of the lower, not major distributors.
"This [film] costs more than what those movies make," Lucas added.
Director and actor Perry, whose movies include Why Did I Get Married and the Madea series, is one of the most profitable film-makers in the US.
However, he retains the rights to all his work - which plays almost exclusively to black audiences - and has previously stated that his fans are "invisible" to the Hollywood mainstream.
Lucas's comments echo those of Spike Lee, who criticised the lack of black faces in Hollywood war movies in 2008.
Speaking about Clint Eastwood's movies Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, Lee said: "He did two films about Iwo Jima back to back and there was not one black soldier in both of those films".
"I know it was pointed out to him and that he could have changed it. It's not like he didn't know."
Eastwood later justified his choice of actors on Flags Of Our Fathers, saying that the African-American troops who did take part in the battle of Iwo Jima were not involved in the key incident in the film - where US marines raised the American flag on Mount Suribachi.
The veteran actor argued that if he had deliberately "put an African-American actor in there, people would go: 'This guy's lost his mind'".
Lucas insisted that Red Tails was nothing like preceding war films, including 1989's Glory which, although it starred Denzel Washington, featured "a lot of white officers running these guys into cannon fire".
If his film does well at the box office, Lucas said he had a prequel and sequel planned.
The House of Marley Collection launched at International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas
Rohan Marley will be launching The House of Marley, a collection of premium quality, earth-friendly personal audio products at the International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The show will run starting today until January 13th., and attendees can view product at The House of Marley at Central Hall, Booth #15237, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
In a Press Release Rohan Stated “We take seriously the responsibility that comes with applying the Marley name to any product, particularly audio equipment, and we are extremely pleased with the positive feedback we’ve received from all corners of the Earth to our initial collection of MARLEY headphones,” said Rohan Marley on behalf of the Marley Family. “We want to give people new ways to experience the sounds of their favorite songs, while giving back to the people and the planet through our non-profit organization, 1Love.org. Our father taught us everything we do has to give back, to complete the circle. It’s not enough to make earth-friendly products; we need to support programs that do good and take action.”
The headphones are currently available in worldwide including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and five percent of annual profits will be donated to 1Love.org, the global movement sparked by the Marley family that provides funding to charities and causes focused on youth, planet and peace
www.HouseofMarley.com to learn more.