WHO: Unknown E. Coli Variant Has Killed 18
The World Health Organization says a deadly outbreak of E. coli bacteria that has killed 18 people in Europe is a unique strain that has never been found in infected patients before.
The United Nations agency said Thursday that preliminary genetic tests suggest that the highly contagious strain behind the outbreak could be a genetic recombination of two different E. coli bacteria.
Scientists in China who have analyzed the bacteria behind the German outbreak confirmed that this variant has not been involved in any previous infections.
The outbreak is the deadliest in modern history to involve E. coli, and appears to be the second- or third-largest in terms of the number of people who have become ill.
A food safety expert at the WHO, Hilde Kruse, said the deadly strain has various characteristics that make it more toxic and more virulent than other strains.
More than 1,600 people in 11 European countries have been sickened by the rapid spread of the bacteria, with most infections and deaths occurring in Germany.
Health officials have been unable to find the cause or origin of the outbreak, but similar infections come primarily from contaminated foods.
With the uncertainty surrounding the latest outbreak, concern about European produce is spreading. The United Arab Emirates on Thursday banned the import of cucumbers from Spain, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Russia said it is banning the import of all fresh vegetables from the European Union — an action the EU immediately called “disproportionate.” The EU, which exported $853 million worth of vegetables to Russia last year, said it would seek an explanation from Moscow.
Russia said vegetables already imported from EU countries will be seized. The chief of Russia's consumer protection agency, Gennady Onishchenko, urged his countrymen to avoid imported vegetables in favor of domestic products.
Germany initially pointed to cucumbers from Spain as a possible source of the contamination, but further tests showed that those vegetables were not the cause of the outbreak.
The erroneous conclusion angered Spanish officials. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain will seek reparations from authorities in Europe for the damages its vegetable growers have suffered.
Germany's national disease center says the outbreak started nearly two weeks before the first infections were reported in mid-May. The infection can result in a secondary disease that attacks the victims' kidneys, sometimes causing seizures, strokes, comas and death.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said Thursday that the outbreak of the current strain of bacteria has been rarely reported worldwide. It recommended hygiene and cooking foods thoroughly to prevent infection.
Vegetable growers across Europe say they are suffering major economic losses as the mystery goes unsolved. Spain says it is losing $288 million a week because of import bans and weak demand for the produce, while the Netherlands says it is losing $43 million.
The president of Spain's produce export trade group said almost all Europeans have stopped buying Spanish vegetables and fruit.
The World Health Organization said Thursday that it does not recommend any trade restrictions related to the outbreak.
Cholera surges again in parts of Haitian capital
An international aid group says clinics in one section of the Haitian capital are seeing a sharp rise in cholera, with more than 300 new cases per day.
Oxfam says the spike in new cases is occurring in the densely populated Carrefour area west of downtown Port-au-Prince. The group reported today that the number of new cases is more than three times what it saw back when the disease first surged in the fall.
Oxfam and other groups are stepping up cholera treatment and prevention in Haiti as the waterborne disease increases amid heavy rain.
Haiti's health ministry says cholera has killed more than 5,300 people and sickened more than 320,000 since the outbreak began in October.
Anguilla – independence within CARICOM dimmed?
The Chief Minister of Anguilla, Hubert Hughes, has repeated a call for his small Caribbean island of 90 sq km and 13,600 people to become independent from Britain whose colony it has been since 1650. He is doing so in the worst of economic times for Caribbean countries and during a period of great uncertainty in the world generally.
The leaders of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), to which Anguilla has Observer status, have put their countries economic integration arrangements on hold, deciding that it would be “best to pause” efforts to create a Single Economy and to “consolidate the gains of the Single Market” before taking any further action on specific matters “such as the movement toward a single currency”. Indeed, it is understood that the Heads of Government at a special meeting in Guyana from 21 to 22 May, agreed that a single currency “should be moved off the immediate agenda”.
Yet, if a tiny country like Anguilla is to seek independence, with all the costly requirements that come with such a bold step, it would have been better-off doing so within the framework of a Caribbean Single Market and Economy where it would benefit from economic integration, sharing in arrangements such as the Regional Security System operated by Barbados and the seven countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, joint regional trade negotiations as exists in CARICOM, and joint diplomatic representation with one or more CARICOM countries. Within a CARICOM framework, Anguilla’s independence from Britain would not leave it swimming alone in the ocean of international relations without even a meagre life belt.
But, CARICOM itself does not now offer an enticing prospect.
With the Single Economy off the immediate agenda and a decision to consolidate “the gains of the Single Market” which have not been significant, CARICOM is now marking time. The prospect it once held out of a Single Caribbean space in which Caribbean citizens would be able to travel, live and work is now dimmed. The idea that, together, the countries of CARICOM could become a strong entity providing better global representation for its people than its individual states also now appears remote.
Many independent Caribbean countries, much larger and better resourced than Anguilla, are finding it very difficult to survive as sovereign states. The cost of overseas representation, even if this were to be kept to the barest minimum, will add to Anguilla’s recurrent expenditure of US$40 million. When the additional costs of defence are thrown into the mix, the island’s recurrent revenues of US$47 million will prove to be inadequate.
There is also not much elasticity in the island’s capacity to increase its revenues. Highly dependent on tourism, the small size of the country, and the absence of an international airport, cramps its capacity for much more large scale tourism development. Further, the actions of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Financial Action Task Force and the International Monetary Fund to impose costly new rules and regulations on offshore financial centres have all but crippled Anguilla’s nascent financial services sector.
Borrowing on commercial terms will not be an easy option for a sovereign Anguilla government if it wishes to maintain existing physical infrastructure or build new capacity. Burnt by poor investment decisions that created the global financial crisis that began in 2008, financial institutions are now far more cautious than they were even in lending to governments. And, an independent Anguilla will not have the back-stop support of the British government that, in the past, gave comfort to institutions that lent money to governments of British colonies.
Anguilla will also continue to be exposed to problems of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, drug trafficking and small arms smuggling, crime, security, global warming and sea level rise that now severely challenge all Caribbean countries. These are problems that no one CARICOM country can cope with alone.
As a British Overseas Territory, Anguilla has a right to expect British assistance on all these issues. But an independent Anguilla will find that such assistance is not automatic, not even at times of natural disasters created by hurricanes.
Additionally, citizens of Anguilla will lose their British citizenship which gives them full rights in the United Kingdom and in European Union countries with which Britain has reciprocal arrangements, to live, study and work. This is bound to add pressure to the unemployment rate in Anguilla and to the expansion of the areas of poverty that exist within the island. Its present per capita income of US$9,700 may very well decline as well as the double digit growth rates that its economy has experienced in recent years.
Independence for Anguilla is, therefore, a tough call. It is one that the majority of the people of Anguilla must be free to determine once all the advantages and disadvantages are placed before them and they fully understand the choice they will have to make.
Chief Minister Hughes cannot be unaware of these challenges. However, from statements he has made, it is clear that he believes facing-up to these challenges, however overwhelming, is better than continuing to live as a British Overseas Territory where the British governor exercises certain powers that the Chief Minister finds unpalatable. For instance, Mr Hughes has declared: “Will we be a people with a culture and identity that distinguishes us as an entity in this place we call our world, or will we let the erosion of all that we hold dear to us as a people continue, leaving us being simply absorbed culturally, religiously and socially by a greater administrative power?"
The desire for self-determination is perfectly understandable. But, does the choice have to be independence with all its almost insurmountable challenges and costs, or could improved structures of governance suffice?
If CARICOM had continued to move to the realisation of a Single Caribbean space where each country pools its individual sovereignty for the greater good of all, it would have offered Anguilla – and other territories like it – a viable option for independence.
Since this option is now to be delayed, the Anguillan government should engage the British to improve the system of governance giving the local government a bigger say on those international issues that affect their economy and their culture. Representation in the British parliament and a permanent Council of ministerial representatives of the British government and the governments of their overseas territories, such as Anguilla, might be a good start.
By Sir Ronald Sanders - (The writer is a Consultant and former Caribbean diplomat)
One Caribbean for high level talks on AIDS
Caribbean delegations have agreed on a common position for the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting (HLM) on AIDS taking place in New York from June 8-10. They will act as a united force on issues such as priorities, financial sustainability, leadership, accountability, prevention, human rights, and travel restrictions on people living with HIV. The Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) has drafted a brief which all 14 Caribbean countries attending the HLM have endorsed.
These include meeting by 2015, specific targets, such as elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV; elimination of travel restrictions on people living with HIV; an 80 per cent increase in access to care and treatment; a 50 per cent reduction in new infections and acceleration of the human rights agenda.
Agreed positions also relate to key populations to be addressed, education, innovation and new technologies, women, girls and HIV and integrating the HIV and AIDS response with broader health and development agendas.
Prime Minister Denzil Douglas, of St Kitts and Nevis, will chair a panel on “Shared Responsibility — a New Global Compact for HIV”. Approximately 70 persons from the Caribbean, including civil society representatives, will join the more than 30 global Heads of State and Governments for the HLM. Trinidad and Tobago will announce its delegation later this week. “The commitment we are seeing from world leaders for this meeting is an extremely positive signal and is coming at a critical time,” said Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe.
The Caribbean is calling on traditional donors to meet their previous commitments, while emphasising the region needs to do some introspection on areas where waste can be reduced to achieve greater efficiencies in HIV programmes.
Bajan faces fraud charges in US
A Barbadian immigrant faces more than two dozen charges of defrauding the U.S. government of at least US$10 million by filing hundreds of false tax returns, U.S. prosecutors said late yesterday.
The U.S. Attorney’s office has alleged that Andrew J. Watts, 34, who has lived in several American cities but whose last known address was Newark, New Jersey, claimed more than US$120 million in tax refunds over the last four years.
Watts pleaded not guilty Wednesday when he faced U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall, who ordered that he remain in federal custody without bond. He is expected to return to federal court for a preliminary hearing on August 10.
A permanent resident of the United States who had previously lived in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, California, Watts was arrested on April 29 in Kansas City, Missouri, and returned to Chicago while a federal grand jury investigated the case, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Watts submitted more than 470 bogus returns using the names and social security numbers of dead taxpayers, prosecutors alleged. They claimed he created his own fake income tax return forms, which he signed, falsely claiming to be the dead taxpayers’ authorized representative. He also forged the taxpayers’ signatures to the returns and falsely represented that the dead people were still living, prosecutors added.
They said that Watts then directed refunds to be sent to addresses and bank accounts he controlled, including a bank account and address in Chicago, where the indictments were laid.
Watts faces 27 federal charges, including 14 counts of filing false income tax claims, nine counts of aggravated identity theft and four counts of mail fraud, the government said. In addition, the government is seeking to forfeit at least US$10 million in Watts’s assets.
Watts faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of mail fraud; five years maximum for each false claims charge and up two years each for aggravated identity theft. If convicted, the terms may run concurrently to each other but must be served in addition to the sentence impose for the other crimes. In addition, there is a maximum fine of 250,000 dollars for each count and the mail fraud counts carry an alternative maximum fine of twice the convicted person’s gain or twice the loss, whichever is greater, the prosecutors’ statement said.(CMC)
Clash over LIAT cuts
More than 70 jobs across the LIAT network have been made redundant, a move that may stall this weekend’s talks between unions and the airline’s management.
But union leaders could not say today whether the job cuts would trigger industrial action.
In a bid to cut spending, LIAT closed its city ticketing offices and issued redundancy letters earlier this week advising ticketing staff that their services will no longer be needed at the end of June.
The action by LIAT management has placed this weekend’s scheduled talks at the Antigua-based headquarters in jeopardy, said Senator Chester Humphrey, who leads a regional consultative committee of trade unions within LIAT’s regional network.
“I don’t know what we meeting in Antigua to discuss,” said Humphrey. “You can’t go issuing termination letters when matters pertinent to the impending termination (are) not yet resolved. This is a total breach of any normal regular industrial relation process, especially one in which we are trying to build a working relationship going forward.”
But while the unions had been aware that the airline was contemplating the cuts, the unions are unhappy with this latest development with the leader of the union team labelling the actions a “total violation of the spirit of our discussion and our engagement”.
“We have been negotiating the terms of the exit and a protocol governing this thing. Those talks were inconclusive,” Humphrey added. “We were supposed to meet last week and LIAT called for a postponement of that meeting to be set this week and even before us meeting again, they have issued these letters.
“I consider that a gross violation of the spirit of engagement that we’ve been trying to work so hard to build with the company and I also consider (it) really just gross disrespect for the union,” said Humphrey of Grenada’s Technical Allied and Workers Union (TAWU).
LIAT spokesman Desmond Brown declined comment, saying he was “not in a position to volunteer any information”.
Humphrey said he was unable to reach Human Resource Manager Ilean Ramsey up to late Wednesday, despite “numerous attempts” throughout the day.
It remained uncertain Thursday whether the job cuts would trigger industrial action.
“Our course of action will arise from consultation between the unions and I am not in a position to say what that course of action will be at this point. What I can tell you, within the next 24 hours, there will be consultations back and forth – that has, to some degree already started,” Humphrey said.
Last week, LIAT faced criticism from the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union after letters were issued system-wide offering voluntary separation and early retirement packages. The airline said it was part of its “strategic efforts to reposition itself as an efficient and successful airline”.
AWU General Secretary Senator David Massiah advised AWU members not to take the packages and accused the airline of offering the packages before finalizing details with the unions. (CMC)
Restoring financial stability to the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands
The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands is in the middle of a financial crisis. As a result of the actions of the previous administration it has been running a significant budget deficit since 2007 and has accumulated high levels of debt as a result.
Following the negotiation of a $79 million last spring, the Government was unable to attract further borrowing on the capital markets, and without emergency UK support it would have been unable to pay salaries or fund
public programs. Bankruptcy has only been avoided because the UK Government provided the financial support needed to keep the public sector afloat and now, through $260 million of loan guarantees, with the time and resources we need to tackle the dire fiscal legacy the Interim Government inherited.
The financial package which is now in place buys us the time we need to tackle the fiscal crisis. The UK support does not, however provide money to
reverse previous spending cuts or fund significant new expenditure; instead it provides a one-off opportunity to refinance our existing debt and bring revenue
and spending into line. There is no alternative other than to balance TCIG’s budget by raising revenues and cutting spending; like any household or business, the
public sector cannot continue to live beyond its means. The public debt run up in a short period of time is equivalent to $12,000 for every man, woman and child in
the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Achieving fiscal stability is not only essential to avoid the specter of default; it will also provide a major boost to the economy by allowing local businesses to thrive and restoring confidence that the Turks and Caicos Islands are a sound place for investment.
It will be tough, but we must stabilise the Government’s finances now to ensure a quick path out of the current economic difficulties to a more prosperous
TCI in future. Being well on course to achieve a fiscal surplus by the end of financial year 2012/13 is a key milestone towards setting a date for elections.
The refinancing package:
With the support of the UK Government guarantee, TCIG’s debt has now been refinanced at much lower rates, providing significant savings in debt service
costs for the duration of the guarantee. This provides an immediate boost to TCIG’s finances, releasing money for more productive purposes.
The package is made up of a number of elements:
• Guaranteed bonds of $170m, payable in full on maturity in five years, at fixed interest of 3.20%. This provides both low cost debt and certainty
over our future debt service costs
• A five year term loan of $30m, at 0.5% over LIBOR, which is available if desired to repay other more expensive debts of TCIG
• A five year revolving bank facility of $60m, at 0.25% over LIBOR, which will fund the projected deficits over the next two years.
•The guarantee comes with a number of conditions to ensure that TCIG takes this opportunity to achieve financial stability; the most important of these is the need to achieve a financial surplus by the end of 2012/13.
Moving towards a surplus:
The financial package is underpinned by a plan to achieve a surplus and improve our stewardship and management of public money. In broad terms this
involves reducing the forecast deficit of $60m in 2010/11 to $8m in 2011/12, and moving to a surplus of $20m in 2012/13. The total deficit will be increased by the
amount of net capital expenditure.
This strategy will enable us not only to achieve a surplus in 2012/13, but also to build reserves that will allow us to start to pay down debt, establish a contingency for unexpected events, and invest in infrastructure. Until this is achieved TCIG’s finances will continue to be fragile, and we will be unable to invest to help TCI prosper in future.
The 2011/12 budget:
Reducing the deficit from $60 million in 2010/11 to $8 million in 2011/12 will require action to both raise revenues and reduce expenditure.
The need to reform TCIG’s revenue system has been recognised for many years. Government revenues fell from a peak of $220 million in 2008/09 to around
$120 million in 2010/11, reflecting the instability of the existing revenue system and its vulnerability to external shocks - in this case the global economic downturn
and its impact on the construction and real estate industries which have been the main sources of Government revenue in TCI. The measures agreed in this year’s
budget will set us well on the way to a modern system that will provide value for money and fund essential government services in future.
The cornerstone of the new system is the introduction of Value Added Tax, a broadly based consumption tax which has been successfully introduced in
countries world-wide including many smaller economies with a heavy reliance on tourism. In the Caribbean, it has been successfully implemented in Barbados,
Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, and St Kitts and Nevis, and it is in the
process of being implemented in St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
In many instances the revenues raised by VAT have been well ahead of projections. VAT will provide a stable source of revenue for TCIG, and will stimulate
economic growth by removing the distortions of the existing system. It will, however, require a significant amount of preparation, and we have therefore
agreed a number of temporary measures to pave the way to VAT, close the budget gap, and avoid a default. We expect that most of these temporary measures will
fall away, together with a number of existing taxes, when VAT is introduced in 2013.
The temporary measures include:
• A Customs Processing Fee of 4% on all imported goods
• Changes to the system of work permits to raise revenue and make it fairer and more effective
• Increases to business licensing and other fees and charges to keep up with inflation, together with simplification and improved administrative efficiency
• A carbon tax on electricity, to raise revenues and provide incentives for greater environmental sustainability by the generating companies
• A water sales tax on commercial customers and the largest residential customers, which will also encourage water conservation
• A sales tax on financial services and insurance premiums
We will also review the wide-ranging concessions and exemptions that were granted in the past, with the aim of ensuring that they are being properly
exercised. Where possible we will remove them unless they produce social and economic benefits that would not otherwise occur.
Together with forecast increases in existing revenues, these measures will raise TCIG’s income to around $160 million in 2011/12, rising to around $190
million by 2013/14. At the same time we need to cut expenditure to reverse the rapid and unsustainable growth of recent years and bring it back into line with
income.
Staff costs are by far the biggest element of TCIG’s expenditure. The public service has grown much more quickly than the economy as a whole. It now needs
reform to be affordable, able to deliver the services expected by residents and visitors, and offer rewarding jobs for public servants. Some jobs will have to go in
line with the widely accepted target to reduce the cost of the public service by 25%, but we will work to find alternative jobs and provide assistance for the
people affected by these changes.
In the meantime the budget for 2011/12 contains measures which will reduce costs by around 10%, an important step toward achieving the 25% target.
Most of this will be achieved by applying existing rules properly, and implementing proper controls over the TCIG payroll. These measures are essential
to increase fairness and to release money for use in other areas of government such as education and primary healthcare. We fully understand that these are difficult
times and so we are making transitional arrangements in a number of areas to ensure that the people affected are treated as fairly as possible. And we are not
seeking to recover past overpayments, unless there is clear evidence that the individuals receiving such payments acted improperly or were clearly aware that
they were in receipt of payments to which they were not entitled.
We are also committed to making savings in other areas of Government spending, including statutory bodies, scholarships, rents, utilities, communications, travel and procurement, in order to balance the budget, ensure value for money and safeguard the interests of the people of TCI.
Capital spending can provide much needed stimulus to the economy of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The state of TCIG’s finances means that the scope for
capital expenditure will be extremely limited for the next two years. Existing commitments for 2011/12 already total $6.4 million, and some high priority
projects do not yet have funding, including the rebuilding of Ona Glinton Primary School, the repair of the causeway between North and Middle Caicos, and
improvements to the airport at South Caicos. It is likely that some further capital expenditure will be needed in order to continue to provide essential services. We
hope to be able to approve new capital projects during the year, depending on revenues, and we will continue to seek additional funding from partners such as
the EU for essential capital expenditure.
Improving financial management, reporting and accountability:
Setting and achieving a balanced budget is only the first step in restoring financial stability to TCIG. We also need to exercise proper financial management
in order to control revenue and expenditure, monitor performance against the budget, and report the results clearly, openly and regularly. We have already made
progress with this, and we intend to publish quarterly reports setting out actual income and expenditure against the budget and explaining any significant
differences together with the action we are taking to correct them. The first report, covering April to June 2011, will be published in August. We are also preparing to
bring the backlog of financial accounts since 2006/07 up to date, so that we can produce audited financial statements and fulfill our obligations to be accountable
to the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Building a better future:
TCIG has a large structural deficit which will continue to grow unless there are significant reforms. Expanding the TCI economy is vital, but this alone will
not close the deficit fast enough to avoid defaulting on our debts. We will continue to invest in affordable economic stimulus measures and in administrative and legal
reforms to encourage growth and diversification, but this need to be accompanied by wide-ranging reform to improve the openness and competitiveness of the
economic environment. And any TCI Government faces tough choices - we need to modernise the tax system, cut wasteful public expenditure and implement public
sector reforms to improve value for money. The same is true of many other countries, both regionally and globally, that are taking similar action to control
their public finances and reduce their debts.
Our aim is to restore and firmly embed the principles of sound financial management, sustainable development and good governance. This will help
rebuild confidence in TCI and its ability to manage its public finances. Restoring financial stability to TCIG is essential to help make TCI what we all want it to be -
an outstanding place to live and work with equal opportunities for all, and an attractive, welcoming destination for tourism, the central pillar of our economy.
PS. Finance. Delton Jones
PDM Calls for Public Pre-London Constitutional Talks with delegation
The Leader of the Peoples Democratic Movement, Douglas Parnell, has spoken to all other members of the team heading to London for the June 15 and 16th meeting with Minister Henry Bellingham.
Today, we are publicly calling on the participants to come together in a public roundtable and inform the public of their points of view before heading to London.
The delegates selected to represent the TCI includes:
Consultative Forum Mrs Lillian Misick (Chair)
Advisory Council Mrs Doreen Quelch-Missick
PNP Mr Clayton Greene (Leader)
PDM Mr Doug Parnell (Leader)
All-Party Commission on the Mr Wendall Swann (Former Chair)
Constitution and Electoral Reform
Church Pastor Bradley Handfield
Youth Ambassador Mr Trevon Farrington
Speaking with RTC News the leader of the PDM stated, 'we point all persons to our position paper published ahead of the last round of constitutional consultations so that all can know the position of the PDM on the FCO’s draft constitution.'
Mr. Parnell also said 'We believe that this is a pivotal and important moment in our history and it is incumbent upon all of us, as a people, that the views of those heading to London are the views that reflect the voice of the people and what is in the best interest of Turks and Caicos Islands.'
No dates have been set for the round table talks as yet.
Home Affairs ready for hurricane season
The 1st of June every year signals the official commencement of the Atlantic Hurricane Season and as we are all well aware, the Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from 1st June through to 30th November. The Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety is once again partnering with the Department of Disaster Management & Emergencies (DDME) to remind you that it is in your best interest to be prepared in the event that a Tropical Storm or Hurricane becomes a threat to the Turks and Caicos Islands. If you have not yet begun your preparations, the time to commence is now.
We live in a region that is prone to tropical storms and hurricanes and therefore, despite the economic hardships that we all face, we still have to prepare in an effort to minimise our losses. We cannot afford not to prepare.
The price for not preparing is too high, as our very lives depend on our level of preparedness. The hurricane experts are predicting another above average hurricane
season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted 12 – 18 named storms, 6 to 10 of which could become hurricanes including 3 to 6 major hurricanes. We were fortunate last year that we did not have any major impact from storms or hurricanes but we cannot just depend on luck – WE MUST BE PREPARED.
The recent tornadoes in the United States should serve to remind us that disasters could happen at anytime and anywhere.
The Director of the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies will inform you of the specific preparations that have been undertaken
throughout the past year and those that are currently ongoing. The Public Relations Unit of the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies recently released a new series of Preparedness Leaflets in three (3) languages - English, Creole & Spanish. These are being distributed throughout the various communities and are also available from your Disaster Office or District Commissioner. Please pickup a copy and use it as a checklist to gauge your own preparedness.
Remember, government cannot help everyone or do everything, so let us be our brother’s keeper during this hurricane season. We need your assistance and we are appealing to you to take action and get prepared now! The life you save may be your very own.
Ministry of Housing ready for Hurricane season
The Ministry of Housing, Works and Utilities is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and District Administration, in particular the District Commissioners in Salt Cay, South Caicos, Middle Caicos and North Caicos to ensure that ALL government buildings throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands are protected during this 2011 hurricane season.
We are working to ensure that government buildings are fully protected with hurricane shutters and that generators are ready and fully functional; that all storm drains are clear of all debris, and all pumps, including our portable pumps, are in a state of readiness to assist with flooding and heavy rains.
We are also working to ensure that all staff members are fully equipped with the necessary tools to perform their functions before and after a storm.
The Ministry would like to remind all Heads of Department that all Government vehicles with the exception of those performing EMERGENCY services should be parked at the designated area during a storm.
Remember, hurricane preparation is everyone’s business. Let us all play our part and promote safety first.