Interim Government reflects on TCI strike
The office of the F.C.O today sent RTC news a follow up response, after investigating the affected areas following the strike in the Turks & Caicos Islands on Tuesday.
The release read: Reflecting upon the impact of the strike on 22 November, Martin Stanley, Chief Executive of TCI Government said:
“I can confirm the that while essential and emergency services remained available throughout the strike, some government departments were clearly affected by Tuesday’s public servants action.
“The Health Ministry reported that all clinics were opened to the public throughout the day, and were adequately staffed by doctors and nurses. Most schools also had a full day, but a few closed at midday because of a shortage of teachers.
“Critical immigration and customs operations at Providenciales International Airport were largely unaffected and the Ministry of Border Control and Labour confirmed that the Immigration Department also remained opened.
“The Treasury was affected, with the Grand Turk office closed for the entire day and the office on Provo only opened for a brief period in the morning. The Labour Tribunal was forced to suspend operations because the telephone and other support services were not available for most of the day. The government telephone system was down for most of the day and limited public telephone access to government departments.
“Government again thanks the public servants who turned out to work in critical areas, especially teachers , health care workers and those dealing with the vulnerable.
The CSA has reminded the Interim Government that despite the interruptions to Government services, that they intend to continue demonstrating until all the demands are met.
Digicel Launches 12 Days of Christmas Promotion
Digicel is going 3D for the Christmas Holidays with its 12 Days of Christmas promotion which gives customers the chance to win one of 12 great prizes with the grand prize being the 3D Home entertainment system.
The swanky 60” Samsung LED TV is the featured grand prize for the promotion in which customers may qualify to win by either:
1. Topping up with $15 or more
2. Purchasing a Nokia or Blackberry Smartphone
3. Paying their postpaid bill on time.
The Grand Prize is by no means off limit for only the winner to enjoy but the 3D TV is on display in the Flagship store in Providenciales and there is also one in the Grand Turk store which allows customers to experience the technology and the fun of 3D Entertainment.
Head of Marketing for Digicel, Ava-Dayne Fulford says “3D technology is what is fresh and exciting in the world of technology and the 3D experience which was once only enjoyed in movie theatres is now available to be seen in the comfort of your own home. Digicel wants to make someone’s Christmas extra special this year by giving them this gift that is sure to provide hours of entertainment, fun and laughter. The winner is bound to have a Merry Christmas”.
The Promotion which runs from November 18 through to December 22 will also award 11 other prizes which include:
1. Blackberry Torch
2. Digital Camera
3. Nintendo WII
4. Play Station 3
5. Couples Spa Treatment
6. $200 gas
7. $500 cash
8. Trip for 2
9. An Ipod
10. Laptop Computer
11. $1000 cash
Winners will be delivered the gifts by Digicel’s Santa Helpers. There will be two winners chosen each week initially with the number of winners per week increasing as Christmas draws closer.
Persons may track the winners on Digicel’s Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/digiceltci
KENNEDY AND TROCHA TAKE THE HONOURS
PROVO Golf Club in the Turks & Caicos has two new number ones.
Bryon Kennedy and Dorothy Trocha were crowned king and queen of the course last weekend following the annual club championship.
Scratch golfer, Kennedy, was in sparkling form, scoring rounds of 75 and 78 for a gross total of 153, which proved enough to see off a strong challenge from reigning champion, Jumpol Sirnark.
Meanwhile 11 handicapper, Trocha (81,79), took the ladies' prize for the first time following a couple of near misses in recent years.
Her net total of 138 got her across the finishing line ahead of Andrea Todd, Madelaine Erskine and 2010 champion, Chris Pretorius.
Director of golf, Dave Douglas, said: “We have again enjoyed a great couple of days golf and congratulations go to both Bryon and Dorothy on becoming club champions.
“Saturday's play was particularly challenging because there was plenty of rain that fell and that made for some very difficult scoring conditions.
“But in the end the two best players on the days emerged as winners although everyone who took part, and there were more than 40 players out there, contributed to another highly successful Provo Club Championship.”
HOSPITAL TREAT IN TCI
LITTLE Jessica Saunders had the surprise of her life when she celebrated her ninth birthday.
The Ashcroft School pupil was one of more than 20 children who enjoyed an educational field trip to the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre in Provo.
And when InterHealth Canada staff discovered it was Jessica’s big day, they enlisted her help with a couple of exciting demonstrations.
First, physiotherapists borrowed the youngster to show students the hoist system that is used to lower patients into the rehabilitation pool.
And then nurses in the emergency department demonstrated their skills by putting a bright pink plaster cast on Jessica’s arm.
“It was so exciting”, said Jessica, “and I really enjoyed my visit. All the nurses, doctors and physiotherapists were so friendly and kind and I learnt so much about the hospital and how it works.
“It was definitely a memorable birthday.”
For many pupils, it was their first ever visit to the medical centre and they all left highly impressed by the state of the art facilities.
Science teacher, Mary Jimenez, explained: “The children are studying human biology and so the visit tied in really well.
“We were all amazed by what we saw and we now have real understanding and admiration for the hospital and everyone who works there.
“It truly is a fantastic place and we got to see so many incredible things such as the laboratory, ED, maternity, physiotherapy and the imaging department.
“On behalf of everyone at Ashcroft School, can I thank chief executive, Dr Roger Cheesman, and all at InterHealth Canada, for a truly fascinating afternoon.”
Chief Minister & Minister of Finance, Anguilla in London
UK Foreign Office Minister Henry Bellingham and Minister of State for International Development Alan Duncan met with Hubert Hughes, Chief Minister & Minister of Finance, Anguilla in London, 22 November 2011.
Chief Minister Hughes met with Minister Bellingham and Minister Duncan on a number of issues ranging from the Constitution (Anguilla is the only remaining OT not to negotiate a constitution), the much discussed transfer of the Permanent Secretaries and the serious anormalies and conflict with the FCO appointed Governor Harrison.
The meeting was said to be spirited but productive. The Chief Minister ahs reportedly managed to garner the support of the other Caribbean OT leaders on the range of issues.
Courtesy of SPICE
Cuba to allow farmers to sell directly to hotels
Farmers in Cuba will be able to sell their goods directly to tourist hotels and restaurants from 1 December 2011, the official Communist Party newspaper Granma has announced.
Under the new rules, Cubans will not have to go through government middlemen to sell agricultural produce.
For the first time in decades, farmers will also be allowed to take their products to market themselves.
The farm reform follows recent moves liberalising Cuban house and car sales.
The government said the new rules were meant to cut down on transportation costs and speed up food delivery to the tourism industry.
'Better supply'
According to Granma, the reform will allow farmers to "develop mechanisms to supply tourist entities and take better advantage of the potential of all forms of local means of production".
Tourism is a key source of revenue for Cuba, but visitors often complain about the poor quality of food.
The government is hoping the reform will help provide fresher and more varied products, boosting Cuba's attractiveness.
Under the current rules, a state-run body has a monopoly on the sale and distribution of agricultural products.
Prices and production volume are set at the start of each harvest.
Critics say the state-run system has led to high volumes of food rotting before it could be distributed.
The reform is part of a larger overhaul of Cuba's Soviet-style economy, which has already led to changes allowing Cubans to set up their own small businesses and buy and sell cars and homes.
Mexican troops seize $15.3m alleged drug cash from car
Soldiers in Mexico have seized $15.3m (£9.8m) in cash, believed to belong to the country's most wanted drug lord, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman.
The security forces said they found the money when they searched a car in a well-to do neighbourhood of Tijuana, on the US-Mexico border.
They said the money was being taken to a safe house used by Shorty Guzman and his gang, the powerful Sinaloa cartel.
It is the second largest cash seizure since Felipe Calderon became president.
Defence Ministry spokesman Gen Ricardo Trevilla said the find was made during a "surprise operation" in the Cumbres de Juarez neighbourhood of Tijuana, in Baja California state.
He said the soldiers found $15.35m in cash, 3kg (6,6lb) of cocaine, four weapons, and jewellery inside the car.
Gen Trevilla said it was the biggest cache of cash found by the army since soldiers seized more than $26m in a house in Culiacan, in northwestern Sinaloa state in 2008.
He did not say what led the troops to the cash. No arrests were made.
Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman is Mexico's most wanted man and thought to be one of the country's richest.
Two years ago, he made Forbes magazine's list of the 67 World's Most Powerful People. At number 41, he was just below Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Brazil to fine Chevron $28m for Rio oil spill
Brazil has announced it is fining US oil company Chevron $28m (£17.9m) for causing an oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
Chevron has accepted responsibility, saying it had underestimated the pressure of underwater oil deposits while drilling.
Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said Chevron could face further fines if an investigation into the spill revealed more infractions.
Chevron says the leak has been plugged.
The head of Chevron's Brazil operation, George Buck, said the company had underestimated the pressure of underwater oil deposits while drilling, causing oil to rush up the bore hole and seep into the surrounding seabed.
Mr Buck said the leak had been plugged, but that there continued to be a residual oil flow from undersea rock near the well in the Frade oil project, 370km (230 miles) off the Brazilian coast.
'Serious accident'
According to Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP), the leak released between 200 and 330 barrels a day at the height of the spill.
The head of the ANP, Haroldo, Lima said the accident was "serious, but not major".
He said there was "no comparison" between this spill and last year's disaster at BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, where 11 people died and some 3,000 barrels a day were leaked.
Police environment experts have been trying to assess the scale of the latest spill.
They have also questioned the methods Chevron was using to clean up the spill.
Head of the Federal Police Environmental Division Fabio Scliar said the company was pushing the oil to the bottom of the sea, rather than gathering it, putting corals in the area at risk of pollution.
In recent years Brazil has discovered billions of barrels of oil in deep water that could make it one of the world's top five producers.
So far there has been little public debate about the environmental dangers of offshore drilling.
Political discussion has instead focused on how future oil revenues should be divided between different states.
Merck & Co agrees $1bn Vioxx settlement in US
US drugs firm Merck & Co has agreed to pay almost $1bn (£640m) to settle criminal and civil charges arising from the marketing of one of its drugs, the US Department of Justice has said.
The company will pay a $322m criminal fine and $628m to settle civil charges regarding the promotion of the painkiller Vioxx.
The department said Merck & Co promoted the drug for rheumatoid arthritis before it was officially approved.
The drug was withdrawn in 2004.
Merck & Co said the civil settlement did not constitute an admission of liability or wrongdoing.
"We believe that Merck acted responsibly and in good faith in connection with the conduct at issue in these civil settlement agreements, including activities concerning the safety profile of Vioxx," said the company's Bruce Kuhlik.
In October last year, Merck & Co said it would be setting aside $950m to cover the cost of the settlement.
In 2007, the company paid $4.85bn to settle thousands of Vioxx-related lawsuits.
A study found the drug could increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
New Jersey-based Merck & Co should not be confused with its German chemicals and pharmaceuticals namesake, Merck KGaA.
Although the two firms share the same historic roots, they are separate companies.
IMF broadens lending power
The International Monetary Fund approved a number of changes to streamline its emergency lending process and deal with the European debt crisis.
The goal: allow the IMF to provide cash in tough times, especially to otherwise healthy countries caught up in a credit crunch -- countries the IMF calls "crisis-bystanders."
The IMF's credit line system, for example, could be used more broadly, providing short-term loans or insurance "to address the needs of crisis bystanders during times of heightened regional or global stress and break the chains of contagion."
Some of the key elements include changes to the "precautionary and liquidity line," which requires a country to have a solid track record of implementing sound economic policies to qualify.
That credit line can now be used as a "liquidity window" that would allow borrowers to pay off short-term loans over six months. Under certain circumstances, borrowers may qualify for longer payment terms of up to two years.
"The reforms enhance the fund's ability to provide financing for crisis prevention and resolution," said IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.
The reforms also expand the IMF's rapid financing instrument, which is meant to aid members in urgent need of assistance.
The rapid financing instrument is being broadened beyond helping those members stricken by natural disaster and or in the aftermath of violent conflict. But borrowers must first prove to the IMF that they have a solid plan in place to address whatever difficulty required the emergency lending.
"This is another step toward creating an effective global financial safety net to deal with increased global interconnectedness," said Lagarde