Dominica PM wins citizenship battle
A legal battle over dual citizenship, which potentially could have impacted his leadership of the country, has ended in victory for Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.
An opposition United Workers Party member, who was defeated in Dominica’s general elections of 2009, had asked the court to declare that Skerrit was illegally nominated to contest the polls because he held dual citizenship at the time.
However, High Court judge Gertel Thom ruled on Tuesday in favour of Skerrit, who is also leader of the Dominica Labour Party.
Had the court upheld the petition against Skerrit, he could have lost his position as a member of parliament and prime minister, possibly leading to the calling of fresh general elections in Dominica.
Grenada “days away” from national strike
The Technical and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) has given notice that the country is just days away from a national strike.
“The deterioration in the situation is that the union and the entire trade union movement is mobilising for a general strike that would lock the economy down,” TAWU President Senator Chester Humphrey explained.
The action is being considered as the weeks-old industrial impasse at the Grenada Breweries Limited drags on.
He said the labour movement is giving the government every opportunity to broker an agreement to the very tense situation that he described as an assault on Grenada’s sovereignty and national pride.
TAWU has accused the Trinidad-controlled brewery of locking out 120 employees who agreed to return to work in December, following strike action over pay increases.
The trade union leader said the company reneged on the agreement reached following mediation by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas.
On Saturday, Thomas met with some of the leading businesses, and members of the religious and NGO community to discuss the issue.
The Prime Minister has said that the ongoing impasse can have a devastating impact on the economy, which for the first time since the global economic meltdown, is showing growth.
“We understand the possible impact that industrial action can have and is having on our country just as we are beginning to see signs of economic recovery. We must do all in our power to ensure that this impact in minimized by getting the workers back on the job and the manufacturing capacity in Grenada is restored,” the Prime Minister said.
Thomas called on all sides to “let good sense prevail”, and to appreciate and respect each other’s contribution to the country.
Caribbean News Now
TCInvest to be replaced
An in-depth review of TCInvest has concluded was set up with the best of intentions to promote business development both within TCI and from outside investors*. In its earlier years it was instrumental in building the relationships that encouraged new investments and entrepreneurs. In more recent years, during elected Government, its ways of working become less effective and its financial difficulties from past lending decisions have placed an increasing burden on the ability of TCInvest to achieve its aims. The review also found too many of its internal systems, in spite of the best efforts of its staff, have not kept pace with the modern needs of an increasingly sophisticated business community. The accrued losses from TCInvest’s social lending strategies, whilst laudable as an endeavour, have left a widening financial deficit, which could well leave TCIG with liabilities approaching $10 million if action is not taken quickly.
The worsening financial situation has had to prompt swift action, in order to protect public finances and ensure the key functions of TCInvest could be carried on effectively.
Consequently, the Governor has 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.
TCInvest will be wound down as a statutory body, with a small inward investment team moving to the CEO’s Office. Its first task will be to extend and rebuild productive relationships with local and international developers. A streamlined business licensing function will be moved back to the Ministry of Finance to benefit from the economies of scale within the ministry. TCInvest will continue to manage a circa $21m loan book and small business loans, where poor repayment records from some of the loans have undermined the capacity of the organisation, until they are moved on to other financial institutions and the underlying TCIG liabilities to the Caribbean Development Bank and European Investment Bank are repaid. The loans from other creditors will also need to be addressed. It is estimated the winding up process may take three months.
Later, once more clearly defined, a business training and support function will be moved from TC Invest into the inward investment unit in the CEO’s Office.
The intention is for some members of staff to be transferred quickly into the new inward investment and business licensing functions within TCIG, others may well be offered or find positions elsewhere in Government or chose to leave the public sector. Assistance to all members of staff to find a clear pathway for the future will be an important part of winding up the organisation.
In addition, to limiting a future deterioration of the financial position of TCInvest, further savings in Board, office and travel costs in the order of $200 000 should be possible.
‘It has become clear that TCInvest has run its course,’ said Governor Todd.’ ‘However, its key function of economic development is important to the future of TCI. A new inward development team will be created at the heart of government as part of the CEO’s Office, capable of developing with the five new ministries a tailored set of services to offer to local and international developers.’
‘I respect the achievements made by TCInvest staff but time has come to look at doing things differently. I hope we can draw upon the knowledge of its staff in different ways in the future and combine this with better organisational arrangements and more innovative ways of working in TCIG.’
The Governor added, ‘This is the start of the statutory bodies’ reforms. I expect every one to be able to demonstrate a clear reason to continue in their present form, show relentlessly they offer better value for money compared to services being performed in some other way, and display an efficient delivery services to citizens and businesses.’
The review of TCInvest is part of a wider examination underway in the Governor’s Office on the achievements, roles and value for money encompassing, eventually, all 37 existing statutory bodies. The work commenced in 2011 and is still in progress. It is likely to result in an overall reduction in the size of the statutory body landscape to one that is more affordable and more sharply focussed on adding value to the work of TCIG. Some functions may be returned to the newly reformed TCIG ministries; others may cease or be undertaken in a different way.
Approximately 20 members of staff are currently employed by TC Invest.
Chairperson of the Consultative Forum Mrs. Lillian Missick says members are having difficulty getting Governor Ric Todd to honor his inaugural promises
The twenty-eight (28TH) sitting of the Consultative Forum of the Turks and Caicos Islands, got off to a late start at the N.J. Francis building in Grand Turk today, where Chairperson Mrs. Lillian Missick
in her statement, encouraged all in the Turks and Caicos Islands to look towards 2012 with optimism and hope, which she said would generate into happiness and prosperity.
Mrs. Missick said however that much of this would depend on the Forum, especially as it is having difficulty getting His Excellency Governor Ric Todd to honor his inaugural promises.
Meanwhile, the two bills that were deferred from the Consultative Forum’s final sitting on the 13th December 2011 and which were again tabled for today’s sitting, were again deferred, much to the
shock and dismay of forum members. The decision to defer the bills, was announced by the Attorney General Hue Shephard. That exchange took place in this morning’s sitting of the Consultative Forum, where two bills, although referred to the forum by His Excellency the Governor at its December 2011 meeting and which
were deferred, were at the last minute again deferred today, as according to the Attorney General, they had not as yet gone before the Advisory Council.
24 Hour Crime Recap – Providenciales
Providenciales Police in their 24 crime update say they responded to seven reports, including Five (5) Burglaries – one on Lower Bight Road, 1 in Discovery Bay, 1 on the Millennium Highway, 1 on Venetian Road & 1 in the Bight; and 2 Robberies — 1 on North West Point and the other on the Industrial Park Road. Here on Grand Turk yesterday, Monday 9th January, Law Enforcement Officers, including Customs and Immigration officers, carried out a search on a vessel at South Dock Grand Turk. During that search a quantity of suspected cannabis was found aboard the vessel. Ten males and four females, all Haitian nationals, were arrested on suspicion of Possession of cannabis. Also in Grand Turk, one female was charged for Inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm in connection with a report made on 27th December 2011.
GOVERNOR APPOINTS NEW TURKS AND CAICOS PERMANENT SECRETARIES
The appointment of five new Turks and Caicos Islands' Government Permanent Secretaries (PSs) was ratified by His Excellency Governor Ric Todd on Monday, 9 Jan 2012.
This is a vital strategic step towards restructuring and improving the delivery of public services to the people of TCI: one of the first tasks for the new PSs is to play a key role in the creation of five new larger ministries as Government reorganizes from the present nine ministries.
Following a fair, objective and transparent process the following persons have been appointed by the Governor as the strongest candidates when assessed against the published requirements (listed in alphabetic order by last name):
* Judith Campbell
* Wesley Clerveaux
* Clara Gardiner
* Susan Malcolm
* Anya Williams
His Excellency Governor Ric Todd said:- QUOTE "This is fantastic news as we begin what will be a momentous year for the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Reform of the public sector is one of the eight milestones that will allow UK ministers to determine if elections are held here in 2012.
"The appointment of these five individuals, and the central role that they will be playing in Civil Society here in the Islands, is a key step on the journey that will allow public services to be reformed and to focus more on what everyone here tells me are their priorities - education, health, infrastructure and the economy.
"I am hopeful that by clarifying the process used for the selection process, it will scotch the mischievous, politically motivated rumours that the Interim Administration had a pre-determined result in mind: I am confident that the process was open, objective and transparent," END QUOTE
New TCI Government Chief Executive Patrick Boyle, one of the interview panel members added:- QUOTE "I was extremely impressed by the standard and professionalism of the final ten candidates who played their part in the selection process. They can all feel justifiably proud of their personal commitment to outstanding public service.
"I spoke to all ten of the candidates over the weekend, both successful and unsuccessful, and relayed just how impressed I was with each of them.
I have offered a meeting to the five unsuccessful candidates to determine how we may can continue to make use of their competence and experience for the greater good of the TCI. And, of course, I will be working hard with Judith, Wesley, Clara, Susan and Anya to continue to transform our Government services for the
better," END QUOTE.
Providing a summary of the recruitment process for the new Permanent Secretary posts, Governors Spokes-person Neil Smith noted:-
* The appointments were advertised on 10 November 2011 on the TCI Government website and in TCI's three local newspapers with a closing date
of Sunday 27th November 2011. Thirty-three candidates applied, one of whom was not a Belonger and so was in-eligible.
* The selection panel met on 8 December 2011 to consider the applications, reviewing them against the experiential requirements and competences published in the candidate specification.
* Twelve applicants were selected for the short list based on the strength of their applications. On the evidence of their applications, the remaining applicants were not considered by the panel to be a strong enough fit against the required profile and were informed that they had been unsuccessful.
* The shortlisted applicants were called for interview over the period 4, 5 and 6 January 2012. Two applicants withdrew for personal reasons ahead of the interviews so the panel ultimately interviewed ten candidates for the appointments.
* Prior to the interviews, candidates were asked to complete online psychometric tests and exercises. These comprised a motivation questionnaire, the results of which were made available to the panel ahead of the interviews to guide their questioning, and a battery of reasoning tests (verbal, numeric and inductive reasoning). Performance in reasoning tests has been shown to correlate well with performance in other senior government appointments but the test results were used only to confirm the outcome of the interviews and were made available to panel members only after they had recorded their post-interview ratings. No candidate was
selected or deselected only on the basis of psychometric tests.
* Candidates were asked to nominate two personal referees, and these references were taken up ahead of the interviews, with referee comments being made available to panel members to contribute to their decisions.
The panel comprised:-
* Martin Stanley (outgoing Chief Executive TCIG) - Chairman
* Mr Carl Simmons (Tropical Shipping) - External member
* Ms Sandra Lightbourn (Scotia Bank) - External member
* Mr Patrick Boyle (incoming Chief Executive TCIG) - Member
The panel engaged the supporting services and advice of David Richards (OCT Associates Limited), an executive search consultant experienced in senior civil service appointments in the United Kingdom, including permanent secretary appointments. Mr. Richards provided administrative support and process advice to ensure that the panel followed a fair, objective and transparent process but was not responsible for panel decisions and judgements.
For the interviews, each candidate was asked to prepare and deliver a short presentation to the panel members. Their presentations were followed by two separate interviews with panel members, with questioning based on the published competence requirements. Each panel member individually rated the candidates against these competences using a structured rating form. The panel then discussed these ratings collectively to arrive at an agreed grading for each candidate. Panel
members were unanimous in supporting the final decisions on all candidates.
Panel members recorded their assessments on individual rating sheets for each candidate. The recommendations of the panel are made collectively with the full agreement of all panel members.
Governor Ric Todd met the Providenciales branch of the Chamber of Commerce on Monday
The business community of Providenciales got a rare opportunity to quiz His Excellency the Governor Ric Todd last night when he addressed the Providenciales branch of the Chamber of Commerce.
These meetings, according to information reaching our news desk, were arranged by the Chamber for its Membership - primarily to gain understanding, insight and answers in a one on one session, which is not often available to them as private business people.
The meeting of the Chamber of Commerce took place at the Windsong Resort at 6:30 yesterday and RTC will have some details of that meeting in our news report today.
CFO not responsible for water woes in Grand Turk
The CFO is not nor has not been withholding the necessary funds that would see the problem with the water service in Grand Turk, fixed.
Essentially, one of the pumps failed before Christmas which reduced the water production capacity on Grand Turk significantly. It took some time to seek quotes according to Government procedure, as many of the companies in the States were on holiday. Eventually when quotes were received, there was no delay by the CFO in giving authorization for the expenditure.
In fact he had already pre-approved expenditure for any essential parts for the Water Undertaking on 15 December, more than a week prior to the failure of the pump. He affirmed this on 3 January (even though he was still away on leave).
Normal delivery time of such a technically complicated part is usually at least 3 weeks, however working with our suppliers, we were able to source the part with scheduled delivery early next week.
It is planned to have the plant operational by the end of this week.
48 Hour Crime Recap in the TCI
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force has released a forty-eight hour (48) crime report for the respective islands, indicating some fourteen (14) crimes for Providenciales alone.
Media relations officer, detective inspector Calvin Chase said within the 48hours, Police responded to Six (6) Burglaries Lower Bight Road, Blue Hills, Airport Road, Behind Glass Shack & (2) Kew Town.
Two (2) Attempted BurglariesLeeward Highway & Five Cays Four (4) RobberiesLeeward Highway, Blue Hills, Five Cays & Chalk Sound; Two crimes of (2) Wounding in Five Cays. In these two reports, two males received Gunshot wounds in separate incidents. The injuries according to Chase, are non-life threatening.
One female was arrested on suspicion of Handling Stolen Goods
Two males were arrested on suspicion of Murder and Robbery at RBC in connection with that December 16th 2011 incident in which two security guards were shot while making a deposit. One those security officers succumbed to his gunshot wounds and the other was seriously hurt and spent a few days in hospital.
One of males arrested in connection with that incident was later released, pending further investigations.
One male was arrested on suspicion of Robbery in connection with a report made on 6th January 2012.
Another male was arrested on suspicion of burglary in connection with a report made on 3rd January 2012.
In the same 48 hour period in Grand Turk, Police responded to three (3) reports of a serious nature. Two (2) Burglaries on Dunscombe Alley and in the Quarry and One (1)Attempted Burglary on Middle Street.
One male was arrested on suspicion of Burglary which occurred on 7th January 2012, he was later released pending further investigations.
A male was arrested on suspicion of Wounding in connection with a report made on 15th December 2011.
Another male was charged for Wounding, Common Assault and Trespassing; this is in connection with an incident which occurred on 15th December 2011.
One male was charged for Possession of Cannabis in connection with an incident which occurred on 6th January 2012.
Tre Forbes a 16 year old TCI islander was charged for Aggravated Burglary in connection with that report made on 4rd January 2012, in which senior citizen Oswaldo Ariza was viciously stabbed and beaten assaulted. Forbes is remanded in Police custody until Thursday 12th January 2012 when he is schedule to re-appear in Grand Turk Magistrates Court to be further dealt with.
The island of South Caicos has also been very much in the news recently.
In Chases forty-eight hour (48) crime report, he said South Caicos police responded to three (3) criminal reports, including three Burglaries one on Lee Street & (2) on Sarah Hill.
One male was charged for Burglary in connection with a report made on 7th January 2012.
Lennox Hill Hospital Sets the Record Straight on Beyonce Birth
Lenox Hill Hospital Executive Director Frank Danza issued the following statement in response to inaccurate news media reports regarding the presence of Beyonce, Jay-Z and baby Blue the Carter family at the hospital:
“Lenox Hill Hospital and its staff were delighted to welcome the Carter family for the birth of their firstborn on Saturday evening, but we are troubled by the misinformation being circulated in some news media reports. The suggestion that the couple paid $1.3 million to rent an entire maternity floor is simply not true. The family is housed in an executive suite at the hospital and is being billed the standard rate for those accommodations. Our executive suites are available for any patient, including the food service and amenities provided to the Carter family.
“The family does have its own security detail on site. However, the hospital has been and continues to be in control of managing all security at the facility. We have made every effort to ensure minimal disruption to other families experiencing the births of their own children over the past three days. No security plan that we or the Carters’ security team put in place would have prevented or delayed families from gaining access to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and to date, no families have complained to the hospital about being denied access to the NICU.
“Lenox Hill Hospital takes patient privacy and safety very seriously. And while we congratulate the Carter family on the birth of their child, we value the loyalty of ALL of our patients and always strive to ensure a positive experience, knowing that the birth of a child is a wonderful moment producing memories that last a lifetime.”