TCI Squad ready
A squad of Fourteen (14) players and two officials will represent the TCI national team at the ICC America's Division two tournament in Suriname
next month
The Turks and Caicos Islands Cricket Association has selected a squad of Fourteen (14) players and two officials to represent the Turks and Caicos
Islands national team that will be participating in the International Cricket Council Americas Division two tournament, slated for 9th to the
15th of April 2011 in Suriname.
Six teams will take part in this Tournament, namely Brazil, Belize, Bahamas, Panama, Suriname and Turks & Caicos Islands.
The players and officials include:-
Rohan Ash (Captain)
Terrence Thomas (Vice Captain)
Garvin Bruno
Robert Johnson
Nuwan Bodhinyake
Marcus Charlemagne
Gareth Butler
Damian St. Ange
Sabuton John
Jeremy Jones
Howard Dickenson
Henry Saunders
Douglas Brown
Calvin Chase
Michael Pereira (Manager)
Ralph Doughty (Coach)
Lobster season closed
Lobster season closes today
Today marks the closure of the lobster season here in the Turks and Caicos Islands and although the total landings are not official as yet, current
stats reveal that this year's season looks better than last year's.
Kathy Lockhart, Scientific Officer at the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) spoke with PTV about these numbers, and while she
was not in a position to put a dollar value on international export at the moment, she noted that some one million, four hundred thousand dollars
worth of lobster landed during this lobster season.
During the closed season, persons are prohibited from being in possession of lobster under the fisheries protection ordinance and persons found in
contravention of that order, could be liable to as mush as $50,000 in fines.
A collaborative effort between the DECR and the Marine branch of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force is in effect to ensure the laws as
they regard poaching in Turks and Caicos waters, are adhered to.
It is understood that measures have been implemented to ensure a healthy and adequate lobster stock, which is evident in the August 2010/January
2011 lobster season, which reportedly netted 423 thousand pounds of lobster that was brought in, compared to 318 pounds of lobster that landed
in 2009/2010.
The lobster season reopens on 1st August, 2011.
Haiti's presidential election results delayed by fraud
Fraud has forced Haiti's election council to delay results of a highly anticipated runoff intended to decide the next leader of the troubled Caribbean nation.
Results were supposed to have been announced Thursday. But the Provisional Election Council asked for four more days and will post preliminary results on Monday instead. Final results are not expected until April 16.
The agency said "a high level of fraud and irregularities of various kinds has been detected in the tabulation of votes."
The election pitted former first lady Mirlande Manigat, 70, against bad-boy musician Michel Martelly, 50. The initial election in late November ended in controversy when Jude Celestin, the government-backed candidate, placed second after Manigat.
Charges of massive vote-rigging and other irregularities surfaced and protests erupted for several days on the streets of Port-au-Prince and other cities. In January, a vote review disqualified Celestin and prompted the runoff between Manigat and Martelly. Both candidates have expressed confidence in their showing.
The second round of elections unfolded peacefully for the most part amid concerns that the return of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a polarizing figure in Haiti, would disrupt the vote. Aristide arrived in Haiti two days before the runoff but has kept a low profile so far and did not endorse a candidate.
Haiti's next leader will inherit a job laden with challenges as the impoverished country struggles to rebuild after last year's devastating earthquake and a cholera epidemic.
Jamaican PM denies recommending extradition
On Thursday, Prime Minister Bruce Golding told the Commission of Enquiry currently ongoing in Jamaica that he did not advise attorney general Dorothy Lightbourne to sign the authority to proceed with the extradition process against alleged drug kingpin Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.
The Jamaican Observer reported that the attorney for the opposition People's National Party (PNP), K.D. Knight, asked the prime minister if he had made his preference known to Lightbourne. However, Golding replied that he could not disclose that.
Golding became agitated and argumentative over Knight's line of questioning on legal matters, which the prime minister said he could not understand.
However, he agreed that the different positions taken at different times on the issue could give the impression that there was an effort to delay signing the authority to proceed against Coke.
"Yes, But it could not be well founded," said Golding. He earlier explained that Lightbourne had various concerns with the extradition request.
He also said that Coke was not being defended because of his allegiance to the ruling Jamaican Labour Party.
Following the lunch break, Knight continued his heated cross-examination of the prime minister, calling him a "pathological mendacious person".
Knight had suggested that Golding was lying to Parliament and the public when he spoke last year about the hiring of United States law firm, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips
The attorney also said that Golding and the JLP feared Coke and the impact his extradition would have on the party. He charged that Golding tried to prevent the extradition because of this.
However, the prime minister denied this.
Patrick Atkinson, the attorney for People's National Party (PNP) politician, Peter Phillips, also on Thursday accused the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government of establishing the Commission of Enquiry to cover-up their actions during the prolonged extradition of Coke.
Atkinson had begun his cross-examination of Golding when he made the accusation.
The Jamaica Observer reported that Golding responded, "That's not so."
Former Barbados deputy PM wants abuse scandal to be resolved swiftly
Former deputy prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has called for the issue regarding a Jamaican national, who claims that she was sexually and verbally abused by Barbadian customs and immigration officials, be taken out of the public domain.
Mottley wants the matter to be resolved without further embarrassment.
She said that Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart needs to take control of the issue and put a fair, transparent and independent investigative process in place that is acceptable to all parties and agreed upon by both governments.
CMC reported that the opposition lawmaker said, "In this way, all parties will be bound to the outcome of the process. The failure to put this kind of process in place that is acceptable as an action before an international human rights body… will only serve to tarnish Barbados' reputation even if the allegations are not proven."
Mottley said that all government officials in both countries need to pause and stop talking. She recalled that the late Barbados prime minister, David Thompson, had advocated that there should be no shouting matches across the Caribbean Sea by Caribbean leaders.
She added that Stuart cannot postpone decisive and independent action on this matter any longer, as the welfare of the peoples of both nations is at stake.
“He must abandon the philosophy of not making errors by postponing decisions... as Barbadians we can no longer bury our heads in the sand to the perception that others have of us that Barbadians do not treat their Caribbean brothers and sisters and people of African descent fairly and with respect," she said.
Meanwhile, the Jamaica Observer reported on Thursday that, ignoring the gathering storm of accusations about their poor treatment of visitors, Barbadian authorities have against allegedly beaten and kicked three more Jamaicans out of that eastern Caribbean island.
The three, Andre davis, Jermaine Blake and Chevine Edwards -- partners in the artiste management and music production company, Dajavu Records -- said they were physically abused and threatened by Barbadian police and humiliated by that country's immigration officers after being denied entry.
Edwards told the Observer that the trio arrived in Bridgetown on Sunday, March 20, on Caribbean Airlines flight BW 55, minutes after 9.00 pm. He said they were removed from the immigration line and their passports and cellular phones were confiscated. They were interviewed individually and proved that they had met all the requirements, in terms of accommodation, business contact, cash and limited length of stay, said Edwards.
"There was a cop who asked us if we supply Buju Banton with coke. He also asked us if we didn't bring any Bob Marley. I asked what he was talking about as I thought he meant a CD (compact disc), but he said he was talking about ganja. And he asked us if we used drug money to fund our label," he said.
The claim of abuse by the music producers comes just days after Shanique Myrie, a Jamaican national, accused Barbadian officials of finger-raping her twice, spewing venom about Jamaicans and forcing her to endure humiliation.
And the Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association of Jamaica on Wednesday added its voice to the condemnation of the alleged acts of discrimination against Jamaicans by Barbados.
In a release to the media, the association said its members faced less than acceptable treatment from Barbadian customs officials when they visited that country for a meeting of the Caribbean Customs Brokers Association.
Bahamas named in money laundering probe
The Bahamas has been named as the jurisdiction where $176 million was allegedly laundered in a scandal linked to a senior Panamanian government official.
For The Bahamas, the fact that the laundering of the $176 million was alleged to have occurred in the jurisdiction as recently as 2009/2010, may mean further reputational damage as the country continues to struggle to shake off the tax evasion/money laundering stigma.
According to newsroompanama.com alleged irregularities in a Bahamian bank account are linked to a money laundering investigation into former Panamanian president, Ernesto Perez Balladares. That website claims that evidence received by the Special Prosecutor’s Office of Organized Crime in Panama at the end of January suggested $176,961,057 in deposits in the Bahamian account, and disbursements of $176,962,091 over a 13-month period between May 4, 2009 and June 30, 2010.
Two checks from Panamanian company Shelf Holding Inc., allegedly authorised by Balladares, were deposited in a Bahamian account under the name Seaside Foundation, according to the report. The checks were for $175,000 and $45,000 and were allegedly deposited in August 2005 and December 2005, respectively.
The discovery of the two checks recently led the prosecutor in the case, Marcelino Aguilar, to pursue further investigation into the matter.
The former president and 11 others are allegedly unable to justify the amount of money they received from Shelf Holding and another company, Lucky Games, which the report alleges benefitted from a grant when Balladares was in power between 1994 and 1999.
Bahamian “know your client” legislation calls for bankers to understand who owns accounts and to understand the source of significant deposits to accounts. The penalties on the books for bankers facilitating money laundering are also considered by some to be aggressive. Further, banks dealing with politically exposed persons (PEPs) have an added duty of care in monitoring the activity on those accounts.
Whether the allegations prove true or not, the accusation and naming of the jurisdiction in the affair may still have a negative impact on how the jurisdiction is perceived.
The news also comes as the US State Department’s March 3, 2011, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) called for The Bahamas to “enhance its anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing regime by implementing the National Strategy on the Prevention of Money Laundering.” The INCSR also said the jurisdiction should ensure the establishment of a public registry for beneficial owners of all entities licensed in the jurisdiction.
The Bahamas has not yet entered into a tax information exchange agreement with Panama.
Former FBI agent retracts story
A former Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agent, who told an undercover investigator that he routinely arrested Bahamian criminal defendants in South Florida and unlawfully sent them back to their homeland on commercial flights, now said he made up the story.
Retired FBI Agent Gerard Forrester, the FBI’s Miami liaison officer in the Caribbean in the 1990s, told a court in Bahamas that he lied because he has the tendency to brag.
Forrester’s admission to arresting and unlawfully repatriating suspects surfaced during an unrelated civil court battle between New York hedge fund billionaire, Louis Bacon, and Canadian fashion mogul, Peter Nygard.
According to an affidavit, Forrester is heard in an audio recording saying that a Bahamian murder suspect was arrested in Miami, held briefly in jail, placed on a plane and later killed in police custody in The Bahamas.
Forrester now works with a former Bahamian police officer who was cleared in the 1998 killing of that suspect, who the retired FBI agent said was wanted at the time on murder charges related to bank robberies.
Under US federal law, foreign nationals wanted on an arrest warrant issued in their native country have the legal right to challenge their extradition or removal in US courts.
It wasn't me! - Mavado denies recording with T&T artiste
Dancehall artiste Mavado is denying claims that he ever recorded a song with Trinidadian artiste KMC which was a big part of Carnival 2010.
During an interview on Synergy TV in Trinidad, Mavado was asked about a song called On The Road that he supposedly did with Trinidadian artiste KMC in 2009 and was a big part of the 2010 Trinidad Carnival. When the song was played Mavado denied doing the song or even knowing who the other artiste on the track was.
"If you could listen that voice and listen Mavado, that's not me. That's someone trying to be Mavado, but that's definitely not me," he said in the interview while laughing, with a puzzled look on his face.
Speaking with THE JAMAICAN STAR, Mavado's manager, Julian Jones-Griffiths, also added that the voice in the song is definitely not that of Mavado.
"During the interview, Mavado's reaction was a surprised one. He looked at me and was puzzled. Everybody has been BBing, calling and asking about it. I also found out that it was a big song last year in Trinidad Carnival. I heard that he (KMC) was promoting it hard down there. But if you listen to the song closely, it's not Mavado. We have also heard songs from artistes like Skinny Fabulous and Baby Blue who say they have songs with him (Mavado), but it's not so. It's not the first time," he told THE JAMAICAN STAR.
Since the interview, Jones-Griffiths said KMC has been handling the situation the wrong way.
"I think he's handling the situtaion wrong. He's going about saying that we're saying he's lying. We even did some radio shows after that and the first questions they ask is for Mavado to clear up the situation," he said.
Checks were made to KMC's Twitter page where he blatantly stated that Mavado is lying.
"Due to the overwhelming love I have received from my fans on Twitter and fb (Facebook) ect., I will do one press release of the- facts -of -Mavado lies," he said on Twitter on Wednesday.
He also made tweets saying Mavado is "not smart" and a "stupid artiste" for saying what he did during the interview.
But Mavado said this is not the first time something of this nature is happening to him.
"My first reaction was that it was neva nutten really too strange because people been doing those things. This is about the fourth to the fifth time people get songs saying a me sing it. Mi nuh know how it guh still, but that anuh me. If a man rate a artiste and do a song with samples and put it out mi can understand that still. Mi nuh take it nuh way at all an mi want it clear seh mi nah disrespect the artiste. It's not like it's the first time it's been happening," he told THE JAMAICAN STAR.
Meanwhile, he said his career is right on track.
"Don't Wanna Be A Memory a gwaan good. It a get whole heap of radio play and the people dem love it. I'm working on other great songs and I'm looking to drop the great song Delilah because the people have been waiting for it for a while and we think now is the right time to drop it. Mi just a gwaan lock down the world as usual yuh nuh," Mavado said.
Sean Paul to pen a "Tell All Book" about his relationship with Beyonce
According to Mediatakeout.com, Dancehall singer Sean Paul is about to write a "Tell All Book" about his life growing from a middle-class Jamaican to becoming the biggest selling Jamaican reggae acts in the wold.
He will also be talking about is romantic involvement with one of the biggest superstar in the world Beyonce
It is believe that Sean Paul and Beyonce were romantically involved during a time when Jay Z and Beyonce were on the rocks. Allegedly, “Jay Z was very jealous and to this day he has a problem with Sean Paul.”
Sources claimed, Sean Paul is planning to very graphic about what happened during their relationship.
Tanya Stephens gives confident lecture
A confident looking Tanya Stephens stood behind the podium at the University of the West Indies' Assembly Hall yesterday speaking in a lecture on the topic 'Music, the Power to Shape Societies'.
Her delivery was just as confident as she clearly brought across her points to the audience.
She touched on several fitting issues, among them, the social responsibility of entertainers, lyrics which objectify women, and the issue at hand, the power which music holds to shape societies. Where the latter was concerned, Stephens gave some excellent examples of how this was easily done, but did not accept responsibility for the negative impact that music has been said to have on society.
Stephens, however, did not place all the blame on music, saying, "... while music didn't create the problems, it is helping to propagate them."
She spoke of marketing strategies used by some artistes and how it helps them and at the same time influence how members of society and avid music lovers accept 'brand names'. The endorsement of liquors such as Cristal, Moet and Hennessy by entertainers is one such example she noted before going on to point out the clothing fad of Gucci, Louis Vuitton and more recently Clarks.
She also spoke of the lyrical content of female artistes which objectify women saying that they were sending the wrong messages to a 14-year-old girl who is trying to find her identity.
Dancehall vs homophobia
She did not bar herself from her missiles, however, as she admitted to having content which did the same, but none recently.
'Dancehall vs homophobia' was another of her topic which was welcomed with applause as Stephens pointed out that oftentimes artistes who wear the 'humanitarian' and 'cultural' cap were the ones who blatantly hit out against homophobia and in doing so influenced the masses.
She said that the first time she performed Do You Still Care?, a song which addresses racism and anti-homosexuality, was before a group of journalists in New York, many of who were from Jamaica.
"I was warned that when I released the track I would have to move from Jamaica," she laughed.
She later turned the lecture into a conversation as she answered questions from members of the audience before performing Do You Still Care?, These Streets, It's A Pity and Cherry Brandy at the request of the audience.