Mark Wilkinson Appointed as Radio Communications & Telecommunications Specialist
Mr. Mark Wilkinson has been appointed as the Radio Communications & Telecommunications Specialist at the Department of Disaster Management & Emergencies within the Turks & Caicos Islands Government.
Mark is a graduate of the Art Williams Harry Wendt Aeronautical Engineering School, where he studied Aeronautical Engineering and specialized in Avionics Engineering, which comprises of Radio Communications, Radars, Compasses & Navigational Instruments. Mark, is the holder of Aircraft Maintenance Engineers License issued by TCI Civil Aviation Authority & Guyana Civil Aviation Authority in accordance with the UK Air Navigation Order (OT) 2007 & British Civil Aviation Requirements, Section L of the UK Air Navigation Order 2001 Requirements. As a Licensed Aircraft & Avionics Engineer, he started at the Guyana Defense Force Air Corps Division where he certifies Aircraft Radio Communications systems and Military Radio Communications.
Mark was previously employed by the Turks & Caicos Islands Airports Authority from 2008-2017 in the capacity of Executive Engineering & Maintenance Manager where he was responsible for the Maintenance & Operations of all Telecommunications, Radio Communications, Navigational & Meteorological Systems for the TCIAA. In addition to his aviation and telecommunications background, Mark also has training in Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN) system, Mass Evacuation & Emergency Voice Evac Systems, Hurrtrak Hurricane Tracker & Weather System and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Business Continuity Planning.
Mr. Wilkinson’s appointment took effect on the 1st March 2019, where he is responsible for the design and implementation of a robust Emergency Radio & Telecommunication system for the Turks & Caicos Islands. Mr. Wilkinson will work with the DDME Team, Government Departments and Stakeholders to develop and maintain Emergency Communication systems throughout the islands.
Commenting on the appointment Deputy Governor and Head of the Public Service Anya Williams said; “As communication is one of the most important factors in the response both during and after a disaster, our aim is to ensure that the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies is not only equipped with the right communication experts and skills, but also the necessary tools and equipment that would allow us to appropriately carry out our duties. The loss of communication on the islands of Grand Turk and South Caicos for an extended period after Irma demonstrated our vulnerabilities in this area and the need to ensure that alternative communication systems are put in place. We are happy to have Mr. Wilkinson join our team in DDME and hope that he can assist us in improving our communication systems and response.”
When asked about his appointment, Mr. Wilkinson, said; “I am excited to be a part of this team and certainly looking forward to making a difference by developing our emergency communication systems throughout the Turks & Caicos Islands.”
Ex-Trump chief gets 43 more months in jail
Donald Trump's ex-campaign chief Paul Manafort has been jailed for 43 more months on charges stemming from the Russia investigation.
It comes a week after the 69-year-old was given a 47-month prison sentence for fraud in a separate case.
The latest sentencing arises from two conspiracy charges Manafort pleaded guilty to last year.
He told the federal court in Washington DC that he wanted to apologise for his actions.
"I am sorry for what I have done and for all the activities that have gotten us here today," he said, speaking from a wheelchair.
Source-BBC
PUBLIC FORECAST FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT WEDNESDAY 13TH MARCH 2019
GENERAL SITUATION: A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WITH HIGH PRESSURE RAPIDLY BUILDING IN ITS WAKE.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: BEACHGOERS AND BOATERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR MODERATE TO ROUGH SURF AND THE HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT NORTH AND EAST COAST BEACHES.
TURKS & CAICOS AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS:
WEATHER: PARTLY SUNNY AND WARM WITH THE SLIGHT CHANCE OF A STRAY SHOWER TODAY. MOSTLY FAIR AND MILD TONIGHT.
WINDS: EASTERLY AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS OVER OPEN WATERS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET OVER THE OCEAN.
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE 82°F 28°C
OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURE 72°F 22°C
SUNRISE: 7:21AM
SUNSET 7:16PM
MOONRISE: 11:58AM
MOONSET: 1:43AM THUR.
LOW TIDE: 6:24AM 6:26PM
HIGH TIDE: 12:14PM 12:56AM THUR.
EXTENDED FORECAST: THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BECOME QUASI-STATIONARY JUST SOUTH OF NEW PROVIDENCE WHILE THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THURSDAY.
Swiss and French climbers died in avalanche
Two of three climbers who died in an avalanche on Ben Nevis on Tuesday are understood to have been from France and the other from Switzerland.
Swiss authorities have confirmed the death of one Swiss national and that another was injured.
The avalanche in Number 5 Gully was witnessed by a Scottish Avalanche Information Service team member and a climbing guide, who raised the alarm.
It is one of the worst Scottish climbing accidents in recent years.
A Swiss embassy spokeswoman told the BBC Scotland news website: "Swiss authorities are in contact with the Scottish authorities as well as with the families in Switzerland."
The survivor of the avalanche on the mountain near Fort William has been receiving treatment at hospital in Glasgow.
The names and ages of those who died have not yet been released.
Twenty-nine volunteer mountain rescuers were involved in the rescue operation as well as a group of military personnel from the Joint Services Mountain Training Centre.
Lochaber MRT said conditions on the mountain were "very difficult with very high winds, snow and thunder and lightning".
Source-BBC
Fatal attack in São Paulo
At least five students have been killed in a shooting at a school in São Paulo state in Brazil, police say.
One adult was also killed in the attack at the Professor Raul Brasil state school in Suzano.
Two "armed and hooded adolescents" had carried out the attack, police said. Media reports said both of the gunmen were also dead.
São Paulo state governor João Doria tweeted that the victims had been "cruelly murdered".
The shooting happened at about 09:30 local time (12:30 GMT).
"When I arrived at the school... it was chaotic. Teachers, workers, everybody was running," Juliano Simões de Santana, who lives near the school, told Folha de S.Paulo newspaper (in Portuguese).
Source-BBC
Prime Minister May in final push to convince MPs to back deal
Theresa May is making a final bid to save her Brexit deal ahead of a crunch Commons vote.
Battling a sore throat after late night talks with the EU, the prime minister urged MPs to back her "improved deal" or risk "no Brexit at all".
But some leading Tory Brexiteers and the DUP, who keep her government in power, have rejected the deal.
They say the legal assurances secured by the PM are not enough to prevent the UK being tied permanently to the EU.
Sir Bill Cash, a leading Brexiteer, said: "In the light of our own legal analysis and others we do not recommend accepting the government's motion today."
Sir Bill was part of a panel of legally-trained Brexiteer MPs who examined the PM's revised deal, concluding that it did not deliver the binding changes MPs had demanded.
Another Brexit-supporting Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg said he had not yet decided which way to vote.
Conservative MP Simon Clarke, leaving a meeting of the ERG, said a "majority" of the group would vote against the deal.
The DUP said in a statement that "sufficient progress has not been achieved at this time".
MPs will pass judgement on the revised version of her deal at about 19.00 GMT.
Commons Speaker John Bercow did not select any of the amendments to the government motion that had been tabled by MPs.
With husband Philip watching from the public gallery, Mrs May made a final plea to MPs to "come together" and "prove beyond all doubt that democracy comes before party, faction or personal ambition".
"This is the moment and this is the time," she said.
"Back this motion and get the deal done, because only then can we get on with what we came here to do - what we were sent here to do.
"We cannot serve our country by overturning a democratic decision of the British people."
The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March. MPs voted overwhelmingly to reject the PM's deal on 15 January by 432 votes to 202.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that "after three months of running down the clock" the prime minister had "achieved not a single change to the withdrawal agreement".
He said it was the same "bad deal" MPs had rejected in January and Labour would be voting against it again because it "risks people's living standards", jobs and the NHS.
As things stand the number of switchers seems far less than required to avoid another defeat for the prime minister. Last time out she was beaten by a record 230 votes.
One cabinet minister guessed the number tonight might be around 150. Everyone is guessing still.
But this looks like another dreadful day for Number 10, and another moment when doubts will be on display about not just the divorce deal with the EU, but about the prime minister's leadership too.
Something has changed yes, but not enough.
Charles Walker, vice chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, said defeat for the government in the vote later would lead to a general election.
He told BBC Radio 4's World At One: "If it doesn't go through tonight, as sure as night follows day, there will be a general election within a matter of days or weeks.
"It is not sustainable, the current situation in Parliament."
He added: "She will lead us into that general election. We haven't got time for a leadership election."
Downing Street said: "We are not preparing for and we do not want a general election."
It comes after Attorney General Geoffrey Cox told MPs the legal risk of being tied to the EU after Brexit "remains unchanged".
He added that the new assurances secured by the PM did "reduce the risk that the United Kingdom could be indefinitely and involuntarily detained" in the Irish backstop if talks on the two sides future relationship broke down due to "bad faith" by the EU.
He defined "bad faith" as a "pattern of refusing to accept reasonable proposals" on the Irish backstop.
But he said the question of whether a satisfactory post-Brexit deal on a permanent trading relationship can be reached remained "a political judgment" - and he said MPs should back the PM's deal.
In his advice, Mr Cox said "the legal risk remains unchanged" that if a post-Brexit trade agreement can not be reached due to "intractable differences", the UK would have "no internationally lawful means" of leaving the backstop without EU agreement.
Mrs May earlier addressed a meeting of Conservative MPs, in an effort to change the minds of those opposed to her deal.
Conservative MPs leaving the meeting suggested half of those who voted against the deal last time will switch to support it later, said BBC's Chief Political Correspondent Vicky Young.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said she believed the prime minister's deal would go through "otherwise instability will follow which would be so unwelcome".
But Brexit-backing former foreign secretary Boris Johnson told MPs: "I am afraid this deal has now reached the end of the road and if it is rejected tonight I hope that it will be put to bed."
He said the only option to preserve the UK's "self-respect" was to leave on 29 March, without Mrs May's agreement, and then negotiate a free trade deal.
But the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier tweeted that the idea of a "transition period" without the withdrawal agreement agreed with Mrs May was a "dangerous illusion" with no legal basis.
Brexiteer Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns said the UK should leave the EU "without a bad deal", adding that the country needed to look "beyond the borders of the EU".
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable told MPs Brexit will "make this country poorer, weaker and less secure" and called for people to have the final say in another referendum.
And leading Tory Remainer Dominic Grieve warned "we are about to do a serious and historic mistake", describing Brexit as "self-mutilation".
The SNP's leader at Westminster Ian Blackford urged the prime minister to "extend Article 50 and bring forward another EU referendum".
He earned a rebuke from Speaker John Bercow for accusing Mrs May of "sitting there laughing" while he was "talking about the rights that will be taken away from our young people" by Brexit.
Source-BBC
EU names five C'bean countries on new blacklist
The European Union (EU) today named five Caribbean countries on a new list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions which it said had been based on an “an intense process of analysis and dialogue steered by the commission”.
The EU finance ministers said that based on the commission's screening, they have blacklisted a total of 15 countries.
They said, of those, five, namely Trinidad and Tobago, Samoa, Guam, American Samoa and the United States Virgin Islands have taken no commitments since the first blacklist adopted in 2017.
The European finance ministers said that Barbados, United Arab Emirates and Marshall islands that were on the 2017 list and moved to the grey list following commitments they had taken, are now back-listed for not having followed up.
The European said that seven other countries, namely Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, Aruba, Fiji, Oman and Vanuatu were moved from the grey list to the blacklist for the same reason. They said another 34 countries will continue to be monitored in 2019, while 25 countries from the original screening process have now been cleared.
“The list has proven a true success with many countries having changed their laws and tax systems to comply with international standards,” the EU said, adding that over the course of last year, the commission assessed 92 countries based on three criteria: tax transparency, good governance and real economic activity, as well as one indicator, the existence of a zero corporate tax rate.
“Today's update shows that this clear, transparent and credible process delivered a real change: 60 countries took action on the commission's concerns and over 100 harmful regimes were eliminated. The list has also had a positive influence on internationally agreed tax good governance standards.”
Last month, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders at their 30th Inter-sessional summit in St Kitts-Nevis said the blacklisting of CARICOM countries by the EU has wrought considerable reputational damage to the community.
“Despite all member states, with the exception of one, being removed from the EU blacklist, the damage inflicted is irreparable and has consequential implications for building member states' economic and climate resilience given their inherent vulnerabilities,” they said in the communique issued at the end of the two-day summit.
Source-Jamaica Observer
THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS CIVIL SERVICE JOINS WITH THE ROYAL TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS POLICE FORCE IN MOURNING THE LOSS OF PC MACQUENCY CARTER
The Turks and Caicos Islands Civil Service joins with the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force in mourning the loss of PC Macquency Carter
“The passing of Officer Carter or “Quincy” as we all affectionately knew him, has sent the entire Turks and Caicos Islands into a state of shock and grief.
Quincy was a well-mannered, devoted and respected Police Officer who loved his job as a Police Officer as much as he loved his family and his zeal for life.
He was a highly skilled officer who dedicated over a decade of service to the RTCIPF and served across various islands and in various capacities, but was most proud of his service to the Tactical Unit where his level of skill and precision was greatly admired. He was a member of the RTCIPF Police Band and also spent a significant amount of time mentoring troubled young men throughout the islands and the various high schools.
In recent weeks Quincy was assigned as a CPO to the Governor and worked from the Office of the Governor/Deputy Governor in Providenciales where his level of professionalism and attention to detail continued to be placed on display.
Quincy’s personality was bigger than life and he was loved and well respected across the entire Turks and Caicos Islands where he will be a great miss.
Our hearts grieve for this great loss and we extend our deepest sympathies to his entire family most especially his children A’Zhi and Adonai Carter, his grandmother Mrs. Valeria Houseman, his siblings Aretha, Moses and Mauqueita, aunts, uncles and the rest of the family circle.
You have served your country well and we are forever grateful for your service Macquency.
Rest in Heavenly Peace!”
Deputy Governor
Anya Williams MBE
ATTORNEY FULFORD CALLS POLICE REQUEST FOR FIGERPRINT FOR POLICE RECORD UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND IN BREACH OF HUMAN RIGHTS
REFUSE TO GIVE YOUR FINGERPRINTS TO THE POLICE FOR POLICE RECORD AS THE REQUEST IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND IN DIRECT CONTRAVENTION OF THE POLICE FORCE ORDINANCE.
By Mark FULFORD LLB
If the Police are requesting a fingerprint when you apply for a Police Certificate it is in breach of the Police Force Ordinance Cap 18.01 and your constitutional rights.
When you provide a finger print it can leave a sweat deposit and therefore it is possible to obtain a person’s DNA from that sweat deposit. If the sweat was classed as fluid from a tissue then it should be classed as an intimate sample and therefore a Court order and written consent would be required but then it can only be taken from a person in police detention.
People come to our shores and automatically assume that we all have no sense and they can do as they like to us without any fear of us defending ourselves. That’s because we have always been an accommodating and welcoming set of people, but don’t take our kindness for weakness and this is exactly what Commissioner James Smith is doing to us by asking ALL of us to give him our fingerprints.
Our biometric rights are protected in the constitution of the TCI, and if the Police think that we will just give up our constitutional rights without it being lawful, they are wrong and all general applicants for Police Records who has NEVER been convicted of an offence should refuse to give their fingerprints unless and until Commissioner James Smith can show you the law which overrides your constitutional rights. The Rehabilitation of Offenders “Amendment” Ordinance 2017 does not give the Police the powers to request fingerprints for general applicants for Police Records. This law ONLY give the Police the powers to request fingerprints FROM applicants who are rehabilitated (convicted) offenders who have not been re-convicted
The storing of fingerprints in a database violates the right to privacy enshrined in s9 of our constitution and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. I call on the Commissioner for Human Rights to advise the Police to cease the implementation of the taking of fingerprints from general applicants as to do so would be a violation of our Human Rights.
Mark A Fulford – Attorney
Flow & RTCs Sports Watch brings Nationals 19’ to listeners across the Turks & Caicos
The 2019 Inter High School National Track & Field Championships was launched at a press conference today at the Department of Sports to commence the most anticipated weekend in sports in the Turks and Caicos.
Full service communications and entertainment provider delivering market-leading video and broadband services, Flow TCI, is today named the official broadcast partner and exclusive telecommunications sponsor for Nationals 19’, providing fans across the TCI with over six hours of live coverage daily via RTC89FM.
“Flow is committed to work collaboratively with the media to help deepen the impact and reach of the National Championships, as well as extend creative possibilities and maximise public value. We therefore welcome your presence at the National Championships and encourage you to promote the triumphs of our young athletes,” stated Acting Country Manager, Flow TCI, Audley Gibbs.
For the first time in the history of the National Championships sixteen schools from across the islands will be participating over the course of the three day holiday weekend. Additionally, coverage will feature live commentary from the RTC Sportswatch duo, Amin McCartney and Donovan Fulford with extended coverage from Sharon Simons & Trevor Cooke via live audio streaming on RTC89FM & Flow TV Ch.104.
Chris Jarrett, Director of Radio Turks and Caicos, and avid sports enthusiast shared in light of this partnership, “Flow is definitely raising the bar for sports in Turks and Caicos and we are thrilled to be a part of this event sponsored by Flow and look forward to powerful synergies like these in the future. This is a great weekend for sports, so let’s take our students higher in love with track through Flow, RTC89FM, and Sports Department.”
Flow customers can also look forward to special deals this weekend. Flow customers activating an XL Prepaid Combo plan will get TRIPLE the data to share their favourite memories, and will automatically enter for a chance to win one of several all access VIP passes to Spring Bling Weekend featuring international dancehall artiste, Kranium.
“Flow is the home for sports in Turks and Caicos & in the Caribbean. Our mission is simply to connect communities and transform lives and we see our role as a sponsor of the National Championships as delivering on that commitment,” shared Flow Marketing Communications Executive, Darron Hilaire Jr.
Be sure to check out the Flow booth all weekend long at the 2019 Inter High School National Championship to top up, activate, and sign up for all your mobile and entertainment needs.