Civil Recovery Order in the Turks and Caicos Islands
The first Civil Recovery Order in the Turks and Caicos Islands under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance 2007 has been obtained Attorney General Huw Shepheard (pronounced HUGH), today announced that he has obtained the first Civil Recovery Order in the Turks and Caicos Islands under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance 2007.
The Order was made by the Chief Justice following a short hearing at which he was informed of the allegations and the settlement that has been reached between the Government and Mr John Gill.
The AG in a press statement said Quote:- 'After a comprehensive investigation by the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team into the role of John Gill and following a detailed review of the evidence against him I agreed to proceed in his case by way of a civil recovery action.
Mr Gill is to pay the TCIG $1,250,000 to settle all criminal and civil issues that have been identified in the course of the SIPT inquiry following the allegations of unlawful conduct that surfaced during the Commission of Inquiry in 2008.
I am satisfied that the public interest is served by this settlement and it is a settlement that is consistent with the interim administration's policy that it wishes to treat in a fair and proportionate way with all self-confessed wrong doers.
I will in appropriate cases consider that an acceptance of responsibility and an agreement to make financial recompense is a sufficient way to resolve these issues, whilst always reserving the right to take criminal proceedings in the right case.' End quote.
Attorney General Huw Shepheard (pronounced HUGH), who today announced that he has obtained the first Civil Recovery Order in the Turks and Caicos
Islands under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Ordinance 2007.
The National Trust to hold registration
The National Trust to hold registration for its integrated biodiversity conservation and heritage awareness project tomorrow.
The National Trust in line with its integrated biodiversity conservation and heritage awareness project under the theme loss of biodiversity, means loss of identity,will be holding a registration session tomorrow Saturday 10th of December at the Hard Times Festival event, to be held at the Casablanca parking lot in Providenciales.
Registration is free and prizes are grand. The registration requirements and the grand prizes will be listed on the National Trust website http://www.tcinationaltrust.org/
Saturday's sign-up session is the official start of the photo, film and poster competitions. Registration closes on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.
The National Trust is inviting anyone with an eye for photography and film; if you are a professional photographer or just an amateur with a camera phone, and you are passionate about the beauty that the Turks & Caicos has to offer, then you can enter the competition.
Commencement date of competition is tomorrow Saturday 10 December, with the closing date set for 5:00PM on 3 January 2012. The Time judging will
take place on the 4th of January 2012 and the winners will be announced on the 10th January 2012.
Fortis TCI Ltd encourages residents to practice energy conservation
With rising global crude oil prices continuing to affect the Turks and Caicos Islands, as well as the recently announced increase in the Customs Processing Fee, Fortis TCI Ltd is once again encouraging residents to practice good energy conservation, especially during the upcoming Christmas period.
Fortis TCI's fuel factor rate, which is determined by the price of diesel oil charged by the Company's fuel supplier, has been on the increase because of the constant rise in world crude oil prices. The November fuel factor rate, which will appear on customers December bills, is $0.2322 KWH, an increase from October's rate of $0.2312.
Allan Robinson, VP of Customer and Corporate Services, stressed the importance of energy conservation, noting that, Fortis TCI is very focused on lowering the cost of generating electricity. We have achieved significant increases in fuel efficiency which means that every gallon of fuel we don't have to purchase translates into savings for our customers.
Mr. Robinson further noted, Fortis TCI will also embark on an energy audit exercise in January 2012, which will see our T&D team visiting interested customers who would like to carry out their own energy audit surveys. These audits are free and will assist customers in becoming more aware of their electricity consumption and help manage their electricity bills.
For more information on the Fuel Factor Rate and Energy Conservation tip, persons should visit Fortis TCI's website at www.fortistci.com.
UK AWARD TO THE TCI's HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISISON
The Turks and Caicos Islands Human Rights Commission has been awarded $17,000 (£11,000) by the Commonwealth Foundation under a UK Government
funded project to build human rights capacity in the Overseas Territories.
The award will finance the development of a new website for the Human Rights Commission as well as the publication of information leaflets. The award was made as part of events to mark International Human rights Day on 10 December 2011.
Both will help the Commission to keep residents of the TCI informed about their human rights and the Commission's role in supporting them.
This work builds on the human rights training delivered by consultant Peter Ashman that the project delivered to TCI officials and civil society groups in January 2011.
Mrs. Doreen Quelch-Stubbs expressed thanks for the grant which she said will really help her office to communicate important messages about human rights to the people of the TCI through the new website and other literature.
Supreme Court Justices, Joan Joyner to be sworn into office on Friday
The third of the new three-strong team of Turks and Caicos Islands Supreme Court Justices, Joan Joyner, following her swearing in by His Excellency
Governor Ric Todd at 3.00pm on Friday 9 Dec 2011 at the Governor's Office, Grand Turk.
The appointments follow on from The Governor's acceptance of the Judicial Service Commission's recommendations for the new top team.
Joan Joyner: Joyner is well known as the present Chief Magistrate of the TCI and has also served in this jurisdiction as Senior Crown Counsel and
Resident Magistrate. Joyner was called to the Jamaica bar in 1982 having qualified in law from the University of the West Indies and the Norman
Manley Law School. She had already obtained a bachelor of arts degree in English at the Marquette University, Milwaukee. She has been admitted as
an attorney to the Jamaica and Texas bars.
After working in various legal roles in Jamaica, Joyner worked in TCI as Senior Crown Counsel followed by Director of Public Prosecutions in St.
Kitts-Nevis and Senior Crown Counsel in the British Virgin Islands. After a short period in private practice in Texas, she was appointed Chief
Magistrate of the Commonwealth of Dominica before her appointment as Resident Magistrate on Grand Turk. She was appointed Chief Magistrate in
2008 when Justice Richard Williams was made a judge of the Supreme Court.
Edwin Goldsbrough: Goldsbrough was born and educated in England. He was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1980
and obtained a post graduate Diploma in Business Administration in 1988. Having worked in courts administration in England for some years, he
worked abroad in various judicial and advisory roles. These included advising on the establishment of the Judicial College of Zimbabwe and the
training of newly appointed Judges, training officer and Senior Crown Counsel on St Helena, Supreme Court and Appeal Court Judge of the Republic
of Vanuatu and, for the last six years, High Court Judge, Head of the Civil Division and acting President of the Court of Appeal of Solomon
Islands. He also chaired the National Judiciary IT working group and devised and delivered training on new legislation for judicial officers.
Margaret Ramsay-Hale: Ramsay-Hale is from Jamaica where she was educated until attending school in England to take her GCE A-levels. She obtained a
bachelor of science in Economics at the London School of Economics and a bachelor of law's degree from the University of the West Indies. Following
completing her legal education at the Norman Manley Law School in 1991, she entered private practice in London chambers before returning to the Caribbean in
1994.Ramsay-Hale has been Crown Counsel, Judge of the Family Court and Resident Magistrate in Jamaica before she moved to Cayman Islands as
Magistrate in 1998. She was appointed Chief Magistrate in 2008 and has acted a Judge of the Grand Court. She had been guest law lecturer in Cayman Islands and the United States. She is, at present, the Caribbean regional member of the Council of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association.
Scotiabank named Bank of the Year in TCI
Five Countries Across the Caribbean have had their Scotiabank institution named Bank of the Year, including the Turks and Caicos Islands branch.
The Banker Magazine, a leading international finance and investment magazine, has afforded that honor to Scotiabanks in Antigua, Belize, Cayman Islands, Guyana and Turks & Caicos.
Cecil Arnold - Country Head of Scotiabank (Turks and Caicos) Ltd. We are proud to be the recipient of this award and we want to expressed thanks to The Banker magazine for recognizing Scotiabank's success.
Our continued strength in the Caribbean is a result of the Bank's dedication to continually improving customer service across the region and providing our customers with quality products, with the goal of helping our customers become financially better off, Arnold told the media.
Scotiabank received the award at a ceremony in London, England on November 30, 2011. The results will be formally announced in the December issue of
the The Banker magazine.
The winning banks are selected for their ability to deliver shareholder returns and to gain strategic advantage. All entries are judged by The Bankers editorial team.
Scotiabank has been part of the Caribbean and Central America region since 1889 when the Bank opened its first office in Kingston, Jamaica. It is now
the leading bank in the region, with operations in 27 countries, including affiliates. The Bank has more than 15,000 employees in the region, including affiliates, serving more than two million customers, with 450 branches, kiosks and other offices, more than 1,000 ABMs.
The Banker's Bank of the Year Award is in its 12th year. The magazine is the world's longest running international banking magazine, recognized as a leading source of information on finance and investment around the globe and is a key source of data and analysis for the banking industry and is read in more than 180 countries.
DECR Takes a Bold Leap Forward in Protecting TCI's Coral Reefs
The Department of Environment and Costal Resources (DECR) has taken a major step towards protecting the TCIs coral reefs by banning the capture
of the beautiful Parrotfish under new Fisheries Protection Ordinance and Regulations, approved by HE Governor Ric Todd on November 4th 2011 and brought into effect December 1st, 2011.
With the new Protection Ordinance the Department hopes that Parrotfish numbers can be maintained to ensure sustained biodiversity and to preserve coral reef health and the TCI's fishing industry.
Parrotfish belong to a colourful group of fish known as Scaridae. They are found locally on many coral reefs and on sea-grass beds across the Caribbean, and play a vital role in creating beach quality sand through their feeding habits.
The new regulations now make it illegal for individuals to catch or have parrotfish for sale.
Director of DECR, Mr. Wesley Clerveaux noted that: To date, the TCI is one of the few Caribbean countries known to have taken this bold initiative in an effort to protect this vital resource and prevent widespread coral reef destruction as seen in other islands, due primarily to overfishing of parrotfish.
It is a widely known fact that globally, coral reefs are facing many threats which affect the ecological balance of these delicate ecosystems, and in turn the livelihood of those who depend on them for food and income. The threats include land-based pollution, climate change, improper fishing practices and overfishing.
Despite having some of the most pristine coral reefs remaining in the Caribbean, the TCI are not exempt from these threats with one of the primary one being overfishing and overgrowth of algae resulting from land-based sources of nutrient/pollution.
As such, the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) has taken steps to initiate mitigation measures to address this issue through
the revision of the Fisheries Protection Ordinance and Regulations to incorporate the management of this key species in our beautiful islands; the parrotfish.
Castro comes calling as U.S. tries to pull the plug
Even the rains seemed to have joined forces against Cuban President Raul Castro.
As his Cubana jet landed at the Piarco International Airport at the start of his official visit coinciding with the fourth Cuban-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit, the heavens burst open, forcing Castro and local dignitaries, including President George Maxwell Richards and Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, to seek shelter.
But Castro, the 78-year-old general, took it in stride, insisting on inspecting the guard of honour mounted by the local army. As he made his way to the capital, however, his mind may have been on the latest attempt by his old foe in the north to prevent him from meeting with regional leaders for their summit held every three years.
The Hilton Trinidad hotel had been named as the venue, but that became impossible after the hotel’s general manager Ali Khan read a statement from Hilton Worldwide, indicating that it is subject to U.S. law, which restricts certain activities as a result of the trade embargo with Cuba.
“The U.S./Cuban assets control regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury generally prohibits U.S.-based companies from providing any services that benefit the Cuban government unless specifically licensed. Violations are subject to significant civil and criminal penalties.
“While we have worked with the appropriate governmental agencies in the U.S. and Trinidad and Tobago to secure a licence, we have been informed that one will not be granted,” the statement read.
Acting public affairs officer Alexander McLaren at the U.S. embassy told the local media that to his understanding, the licence is pending and the only reason the Hilton did not get it is because they applied late.
He said the application was dated Nov. 23 and the Office of Foreign Assets Control – a department of the U.S. Treasury – received the application on Nov. 28 and as a result hosting the Cubans at the hotel “will likely take time to resolve”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Suruj Rambachan said, “The U.S., I suppose, are within their rights to carry out what they have done in terms of the Helms-Burton law, having their tentacles stretching out here in Trinidad and Tobago as well as the Caribbean.”
The union representing workers at the hotel was even more critical, pointing out that the “hotel is owned 100 percent by nationals of Trinidad and Tobago”
General Secretary of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) John Julian told reporters that the facility had recently undergone a multi-million-dollar rehabilitation and “Hilton International did not put any money in it.
“For it to come now and say that you need to get permission we find that to be insultive to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and CARICOM,” he said.
The Trinidad Express newspaper in an editorial Thursday said it regarded the U.S. move as a “slap in the face” for the host country.
“That the Hilton Trinidad, owned by the State, was effectively prohibited by dictate under U.S. law from holding a conference to be attended by Cuban President Raul Castro feels like a slap in the face of Trinidad and Tobago and a contemptuous overriding of national sovereignty,” it said.
But as the summit got underway here on Thursday, Castro must have been heartened by the renewed call from the CARICOM leaders for Washington to end its decades-old trade and economic embargo against the only Communist state in the Caribbean.
CARICOM Chairman and St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas said that the regional grouping was using the occasion to reiterate its call for “the United States to heed the overwhelming call of the members of the United Nations to lift with immediate effect the unjust economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed against the Republic of Cuba”.
CARICOM Secretary General Irwin La Rocque said that CARICOM has maintained its unwavering support for Cuba in various international fora, adding “to us in CARICOM, this action demonstrates our belief in the concept one of Caribbean indivisible”.
Washington imposed the embargo on Havana Cuba in October 1960 after Cuba nationalised the properties of United States citizens and corporations soon after Fidel Castro came to power.
Castro told the ceremony that Havana would also “never forget” the support of the Caribbean in seeking to end the embargo “imposed against our noble people by the United States government more than five decades ago.
He said it is an embargo that “remains essentially unchanged” and that the measures outlined by the Barack Obama administration “have not gone beyond a partial relaxation of the restrictions limiting remittances and travel to the island of Cuban citizens living in the United States.
“The expectations of the so-called 2009 Summit of the Americas held in this city have failed to rise above the rhetoric, even less now when we are in a year where elections will be held.”
But he said that Latin America and the Caribbean were moving ahead towards “new, better forms of integration convinced that our unity in the defence of the rights of peoples in this region that this is inherent to the process agenda of the forefathers of our independence.”
He said the establishment of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which was launched in Venezuela last weekend, “shows that we are advancing on the right track”.
Persad Bissessar said that the establishment of CELAC to augment the other organisations promoting integration within Latin America offers “tremendous opportunities for renewed cooperation among developing countries of the hemisphere, especially at a time when traditional markets and sources of investment in the north are experiencing severe challenges.
“We owe it to ourselves and succeeding generations to harness the abundance of human and natural resources, coupled with the technological advances being achieved by countries like Brazil to ensure that these resources are used in a sustainable manner to achieve the economic development of our countries and meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” she added.
Castro left on Friday. (IPS)
Carribbean 360 News
PNP General Secretary requests removal of Dwight Nelson from Cabinet
GENERAL Secretary of the People’s National Party (PNP) Peter Bunting is demanding the removal of National Security Minister Dwight Nelson from the Holness Cabinet.
The Opposition’s call came on the heels of a press conference on Thursday during which Prime Minister Andrew Holness admitted that a US surveillance aircraft provided assistance to local security forces in the May 24 operation in West Kingston.
The disclosure by the Government came after strident denials by other members of the administration.
At a press conference held at the PNP’s Old Hope Road headquarters in Kingston yesterday, Bunting challenged the prime minister and his national security Minister Dwight Nelson to ‘come clean’ with respect to Nelson’s knowledge of the type of assistance which was provided by the United States Government. The Opposition said there was too much discord between Nelson’s account of the US involvement and the disclosure made by the prime minister on Thursday.
“With respect to his suitability, and the fact that he holds a position of trust, it is clear that he is not trustworthy or not competent, so we are calling on the prime minister to replace him, or for him to resign,” said Bunting, who also argued that there remains several unanswered questions regarding the issue.
The call is in response to claims by both Nelson and the prime minister that the National Security Minister did not have specific details on the type of surveillance that the US Government provided on May 24 last year.
Bunting, who was flanked by other high-ranking members of the party, suggested that it was inconceivable for the country to be told that the national security minister was not aware of the details relating to the use of the aircraft.
According to the PNP general secretary, there was a meeting of the country’s Defence Board on May 23 and Nelson, in his capacity as minister of national security would have to be in attendance.
“Our information is that a meeting was held and that either or both minister Dwight Nelson and his permanent Secretary attended that meeting,” said Bunting who said the meeting was the forum used to grant permission for the United States to provide assistance.
He was supported by his Opposition colleague, K D Knight, who explained that the security minister, prime minister, Chief of Defence Staff and the permanent secretary in the Ministry of National Security are members of the Defence Board.
The PNP spokesman said the party had no issue with the assistance provided by the United States Government but remains curious about the reason why the Government of Jamaica chose to withhold the information.
Bunting’s theory is that the Government’s reluctance to come clean on the matter was due to the fact that the assistance from the United States had similarities to a controversial Memorandum of Understanding which the Patterson administration had signed with the United States.
The JLP administration has consistently poured scorn on the agreement which was spearheaded by then National Security Minister, Dr Peter Phillips, on the basis that it violated the constitutional rights of Jamaicans.
Man loses $.3m in scam
Fraud Squad officers are investigating the report of a San Fernando businessman who in August paid more than $300,000 to a woman representing a company selling safety equipment.
It turned out the woman and the company do not exist.
The man, who operates an industrial sales business, told police this week a woman who gave her name as Mahalia Jackson purported to be an employee of a company based in Tunapuna.
She negotiated the sale of safety boots and was paid $304,462. The woman and money disappeared.