Chicken pox outbreak forces closure of primary school in Grenada
Grenada health authorities Tuesday confirmed that an outbreak of Chicken Pox at a primary school has forced the closure of the school for at least one week.
“The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development further advises that any and all siblings of students who attend the St George’s Anglican Junior School should also remain at home, regardless which school those siblings attend, as a precautionary measure,” the ministry said in a statement.
The advisory said that 17 cases of chicken pox were diagnosed among the students at the school, which is located in the heart of the city.
“In this regard, the Chief Medical Officer has advised that the school be closed for the period Tuesday 23rd to Friday 26th February, 2016, so as to facilitate monitoring of all students, and treatment of those affected,” said the advisory which also appealed to parents and guardians to observe this advisory and to report any new cases, inclusive of adults in the home, to their nearest healthcare provider.
Senior Medical Officer Dr Francis Martin said that chicken pox is caused by the herpes varicella-zoster virus and is spread by droplets from a sneeze or cough or by contact with the clothing, bed linens or oozing blisters of an infected person.
He said that the infection starts with a fever and headache and it’s at that stage the virus can be extremely contagious. The onset of symptoms is 10 to 21 days after exposure.
The most commonly recognised chickenpox symptom is a spotty, blistering red rash that can cover the entire body very rapidly including the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
Judgement in Greene VS Minister of Education
The Ministry of Education has seen some irresponsible reporting in the local media about a judicial review undertaken by three students who aspired to be National Scholars. The Ministry of Education recognizes the importance of judicial review which is a review process undertaken by the court "directed, not against the merits of a decision, but to the examination of the decision making process". The Ministry welcomes the opportunity to ensure that the public understands the background to this matter.
It must be noted that there was a judicial review of the process to establish the National Scholars for the year 2014. The process in place, called for principals to offer to the committee called the External Examinations Sub Committee the top performer in external examinations for that year. Each year the Ministry as part of its effort to celebrate the achievements of students, awards to the three top performing Turks and Caicos Islanders, from amongst those nominated by their respective schools, the honour of being called National Scholars. Among prizes given is a scholarship valued up to the sum of $40,000, to study to the Bachelor's level, at a reputable University in the Caribbean or United Kingdom.
The three students who brought this judicial review argued that the criteria to select the top three for the 2014 year was flawed. They indicated that because they all had at least A's in 9 subjects that they should have been named National Scholars and further challenged that the selection should only have been based from among students who sat a single set of exams in one year and not from among those students who sat exams over two years, as was the case. In mounting their challenge, they alleged among other things that the Minister acted irrationally, outside of her authority and breached natural justice principles.
The three students raising the challenge were not satisfied that at the Sub Committee level all persons being considered to be named National Scholars were nominated for consideration by their respective Principals. Principals determine who the top performers are based on a point scheme. This process has its foundation in a Caricom treaty that established such committees regionally as part of CXC. BWIC write IGCSE and not CXC; they were later included in the awards. The purpose of that inclusion was to ensure that ALL top performing Turks and Caicos Islanders could be recognized as National Scholars. It must be noted that while all three of the students raising the challenge had each achieved 9 subjects with grades of at least an A, one of them had achieved a higher standard of 9 subjects with a grade A* and was named as the 3rd place National Scholar. A grade of A*is given a heavier weighting in IGCSE, and so this student was offered as being the best performer from his school.
In handing down the judgment it is important to note that the Chief Justice ruled in favor of the Minister and therefore against the students in 11 of the 12 allegations mounted by them. She noted that the Minister among other things, did not act irrational, acted within her authority and there was no breach of natural justice and based on the policy must look at the results over a two year period.
It is unfortunate that the picture being painted in the media is an adversarial one. The Government has the interest of all its students at heart, including those students who mounted the challenge. The aspirations and performances of those students who were offered to the Sub Committee for consideration must be taken into consideration and in no way should their achievements be discredited.
All three of the students who mounted the challenge are currently recipients of Government awards to BWIC to complete Advanced level studies or another institution. As with the other graduates of that year, and once this level is completed are all eligible to apply for consideration for tertiary level scholarships.
The court did observe that it is time for a review of the policy. This is an ongoing process. Based on the judgment of Justice Ramsey, the Minister will reconsider the matter in light of the court's analysis. The court did rule that the Minister's decision not to award the title of National Scholar on Greene and Higgs based on the criteria applied by committee and the names offered from principals to the subcommittee was wrong.
The Minister will ask the Sub Committee to once again reconsider the performance of Greene and Higgs and thereafter the Minister will consider that advice and make a final decision.
(Further details on the formation of the committees and judgment will be posted on www.gov.tc)
Guantanamo Prison Undermines National Security says President Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama outlined his administration's plan for closing the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying the facility "does not advance our national security, it undermines it."
"If, as a nation, we don't deal with this now, when will we deal with it?" Obama asked at the White House, after the U.S. Defense Department delivered the plan Tuesday to Congress. He appealed to Congress to be "on the right side of history" and asked that the nation act on the "lessons" learned over the past 15 years.
Republicans already have criticized the Pentagon's proposal.
"Congress has left no room for confusion. It is against the law—and it will stay against the law—to transfer terrorist detainees to American soil," Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said. "We will not jeopardize our national security over a campaign promise."
“We are at war, yet incredibly the president is more focused on relocating and releasing enemy combatants than on detaining new ones, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul added.
However, a senior administration official said closing the prison is a national security priority, adding that the facility has “inspired” jihadists and served as a recruiting tool for terrorists.
The President stressed the importance of closing the facility when he took office in 2009, but with less than a year left in his presidency, some 91 detainees remain. Obama said that when he took office there had been bipartisan support for closing the prison, but that over time lawmakers had become "worried about the politics" of it.
“It’s purely politically driven,” Gary Solis, a law of war professor at Georgetown University, told VOA. “There are individuals who are so opposed to the Obama Administration, and I believe Obama personally, that they are simply unwilling to participate in any activity that might further his goals.”
The Pentagon plan to close the facility includes discussion of 13 potential sites within the United States where the military could transfer a group of about 30 to 60 detainees. However, it does not recommend which U.S. site should be chosen. Potential sites include federal prisons in Kansas, Colorado and South Carolina, as well as military facilities.
Source-VOA
T&T pollster finds momentum leaning to JLP
The February 25 General Election will come down to 14 marginal seats, which a new poll conducted by Trinidad- based political scientist Derek Ramsamooj shows is leaning towards the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
According to Ramsamooj, the privately commissioned poll conducted between nomination day (February 9) and the past weekend, before the JLP-and the governing People’s National Party (PNP)-hosted major rallies in Half-Way-Tree and Montego Bay, respectively, found that 51.76 per cent of electors in these marginal seats would vote for the JLP and 48.24 per cent for the PNP.
“The political momentum at this point is leaning favourably towards the JLP forming the next Government. However, the winning of an election is based on the resources — financial and human — and the [effectiveness] of the election machinery [on election day],” said Ramsamooj.
He warned, however, that any “unforeseen error” by either of the political parties in the next 48 hours will be a political disaster. Ramsamooj said he and his team interviewed 1,859 people for the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent.
“It has a 95 per cent confidence level,” Ramsamooj told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.
He said that when Jamaicans were asked who would make a better prime minister, 53.47 per cent said JLP Leader Andrew Holness and 46.53 per cent Portia Simpson Miller, the president of the PNP and current prime minister.
At the same time, when asked if Prime Minister Simpson Miller deserves another term, 52.02 per cent said ‘no’ and 41.41 per cent said ‘yes’.
Some 6.51 per cent, he said, responded that they did not know. Asked what factors would influence them to vote, 74.44 per cent of respondents said leadership; 71.37 per cent the competence of candidates; 69.74 per cent national issues; and 61.30 per cent loyalty to party.
The constituencies (marginal seats) in which the poll was conducted were:
• St James Central;
• St James West Central;
• St Mary Western;
• St Mary South Eastern;
• St Andrew East Rural;
• St Andrew West Rural;
• Hanover Eastern;
• St Andrew Eastern;
• St Thomas Eastern;
• St Ann North Western;
• St Catherine East Central;
• St Elizabeth South Eastern; and
• St Elizabeth South West.
“No polling was done in the hardcore PNP and JLP constituencies,” Ramsamooj said, making it clear that it was not a national poll.
According to Ramsamooj, when asked what they expected in 2016/17 if the PNP remained in office, 66.91 per cent of respondents in the marginal seats said rising unemployment; 77.70 per cent rising taxes; and 69.32 per cent an increase in crime.
At the same time, when asked what are the most urgent issues that need to be tackled now, 85.65 per cent said unemployment was the most important; 77.23 per cent identified poverty as the second most important; 71.79 per cent said problems facing the youth; 75.89 per cent education issues; and 73.58 per cent said cost of living.
At the same time, Ramsamooj said when respondents were asked what was the most urgent political problem that needed to be addressed in Jamaica, 72.28 per cent said constitutional reform; 70.24 per cent better governance and dealing with public financing; 69.86 per cent dishonesty in politics; and 68.29 per cent corruption in the political system.
According to the Ramsamooj poll, 62.03 per cent of respondents said ‘yes’ when asked: “Do you think the Government was able to pass the IMF tests at the expense of the citizens of Jamaica?”
Another 21.14 per cent said ‘no,’ and 12.84 per cent said they did not know. Respondents were also asked if they agreed or disagreed with the slogans of the parties — the PNP’s ‘Step up the Progress’ and the JLP’s ‘From Poverty to Prosperity’.
Some 53.47 per cent agreed with the PNP’s slogan, against 46.53 per cent who disagreed. On the other hand, 62.27 per cent were in agreement with the JLP’s slogan, and 37.73 per cent in disagreement.
The JLP, meanwhile, had 80.70 per cent of respondents endorsing its growth agenda as part of its job creation plan; 77.71 per cent endorsed its planned creation of a Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation; and 75.64 per cent backed its National Apprenticeship Programme.
“Both the PNP and the JLP have been able to motivate and mobilise core supporters, and both have demonstrated that they have been able to bring out their support base as a method of testing and reviewing their election day machinery,” Ramsamooj told the Observer yesterday.
However, he said that what is critical is the political appeal of both platforms in attracting the undecided voters. He said it was evident that the electorate is looking for leadership that will meet the IMF conditionalities, while improving their lives.
“The political rhetoric and political optics displayed, while resonating with party supporters, have a different interpretation with the undecided, first-time voters, the business community, and swing voters,” he said.
Voters, he added, would also be concerned about the benefits under a new Administration over the next five years.
Political interest, he said, has been heightened since the parties launched their manifestos last week, but noted that the public conversation is more about the JLP’s 10-point plan.
The PNP, he said, has been responding through a single voice (Dr Peter Phillips), which has raised the question of who will be the next leader of the party.
“Maybe there is a not-so-visible political hand at work that may see Dr Phillips emerging as the leader of the PNP in the next five years” he observed.
He said that in the few days leading up to Thursday’s election, it will be hand-tohand combat in the marginal constituencies, while pointing out that the various incentives being offered to motivate certain voters — the strength of various candidates and strategies on election day to get out the voters — will be crucial.
“One would expect a strategic allocation of campaign resources in the marginal constituencies,” he said.
Ramsamooj, who commended the Jamaican electorate for their level of maturity, said the choices made by citizens will be critical to choices of leadership and policies that should guide Jamaica through the turbulent global waters.
He said, too, that political trust and competitiveness and connectivity to the electorate at the constituency level will also influence voters.
Ramsamooj has, over the years, done political polling in Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Suriname, Belize, Guyana, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguila, and St Kitts and Nevis.
Source- Jamaica Observer
PNP refutes JLP's accusations of possible political misconduct
The Jamaica People’s National Party has said claims by the Jamaica Labour Party that the PNP is planning to disrupt the elections scheduled for February 25 is “disingenuous and mischievous”.
Delano Franklyn, PNP campaign spokesperson, in responding to a letter written from the JLP to the political ombudsman, refuted the assertions.
The JLP has written to the political ombudsman expressing concern about misconduct on election day PNP supporters. The letter was also copied to the commissioner of police and the chairman of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica.
"We have heard from credible sources that yesterday electoral ink was removed from the stock of the Electoral Office issued or in use for the purposes of voting by the security forces and election day workers," said Kamina Johnson Smith, JLP spokesperson, in a media release.
The party also urged Jamaicans to be on the lookout for any misconduct during the election process leading up to and on election day.
"We will not stand for any attempt at subverting the rights of Jamaicans to vote, nor allow our democratic process to be tainted. Our supporters will be on alert for any attempt at voter fraud," said Johnson Smith.
However, Franklyn described the JLP’s assertions as “absolute and unmitigated nonsense”.
“The JLP’s position is reflective of a party that is in a state of panic and is trying to frighten the Jamaican people and tarnish the reputation of the PNP,” he said.
Source-Jamaica Observer
Police investigates the attack on an elderly man
Officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are seeking the public’s assistance in finding the culprit (s) who may be responsible for attacking an elderly man at his home on Grand Turk over the past weekend.
A complainant reported on Saturday 20th February 2016, he went to visit his 89-year-old friend on Hospital Road, Grand Turk and found him sitting in a chair with his face swollen. The elderly man stated that during the early hours of the morning he was awakened by an unknown male who dragged him out of his bed and beat him about his body then placed a knife around his throat before taking off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The 89 year old was then taken to the Cockburn Town Medical Centre where he was treated and released.
Investigations are ongoing into his matter.
Police are urging anyone with information about this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1-800-8477 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: www.crimestoppers.tc, Chalk Sound Police Station 338-5901 or National Crime and Intelligence Bureau (NCIB) via email ncib@tcipolice.tc Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter page.
Clyde Glinton was sentenced in the TCI
On Monday 22nd February 2016 in the Supreme Court, Clyde Scottie Glinton of Providenciales plead guilty to Theft and was sentenced to a Conditional Discharged of 3 years and a fine of $25,000 to be paid within 90 days or 12 months imprisonment.
The facts are, a complainant file a report on behalf of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government that between November 16th, 2011 and January 8th, 2012 a total of $19, 273.42 (Nineteen Thousand two hundred and seventy-three dollars and forty two-cents) were missing and unaccounted for from the Custom Department at the Providenciales International Airport. Financial Crime Investigators of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force launched investigations.
The investigation revealed that Mr Glinton, who at the time was the senior Customs Officer responsible for collecting funds from that unit (Airport Customs) and to hand over to the cashier at the central office; However, between November 16th, 2011 and January 8th, 2012 this was not done.
On September 20th, 2013 investigators arrested and formally charged Mr Glinton for Theft.
Police read for kindergarten children as part of school program
When the Kindergartners at the Enid Capron Primary School saw Acting Assistant Superintendent Butterfield of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force this morning, they were overjoyed and shouted, “Police!”
As part of the school’s 1st Annual Literacy Drive, which aims to engage parents, community, staff and students to promote the importance of reading and writing, Officer Butterfield was invited to read to the students.
Assistant Superintendent Butterfield said she looks forward to reading to the children. “It gives them a positive idea of what officers are and that we are here to help them; we’re here to help guide them”. She said.
Before reading the two (2) books from Dr. Seuss collection ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ and Mr. Brown can moo’ to the three Kindergarten classes, she informed the children that the Police are their friends and are there to protect them.
The children listened attentively and were able to answer questions about the books correctly.
“An early love of reading often translates into a thirst for knowledge that lasts a lifetime,” said Officer Butterfield. The children paid attention and showed much interest during the reading session.
According to the Principal Mrs. Garland, “The Program is designed to assist the students with their reading and writing skills. We have planned a read aloud with Community persons, parent workshops in literacy and each month a teacher’s workshop in literacy. We are thankful for the police taking time from their busy schedule to come and read to our students.”
Police Investigate shooting Incident
Investigators of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are investigating an incident of a shooting that occurred earlier today when a 21-year-old female was shot.
At around 4:18 am today (Monday 22nd February 2016) officers responded to the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre where the female was seen complaining that she was shot in the back. She told officers that she was riding with a male friend driving in the Kew Town area and upon reaching Walter Cox Drive some men tried to stop them. The driver did not stop; as a result, one of the men began shooting at the vehicle.
The vehicle also checked where bullet holes were seen at the rear of it.
A crime scene was established, and investigations are ongoing.
Police are urging anyone with information about this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1-800-8477 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: www.crimestoppers.tc, Chalk Sound Police Station 941-8067 or National Crime and Intelligence Bureau (NCIB) via email ncib@tcipolice.tc Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter page.
Nathanelle Louis to be sentenced next week Monday 29th
In November of 2015, Nathanelle Louis of Haiti who was charged and who pleaded guilty to a number of Money Laundering charges in the Supreme Court will be sentenced next week (Monday 29th February 2016).
The charges were Concealing Criminal Property, Removing Criminal Property from the Islands and Possession of Criminal Property; all from the Proceed of Crime Ordinance.
The facts are, a complainant stated that on Friday 27th February 2015 he checked his account online and discovered three (3) unauthorized internet wire transfers dated 27/02/2015 of $4,620.00USD, 26/02/2015 of $4,620.00USD and $3,000.00USD. A report was made and officers of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force Financial Crime Unit commenced investigations.
Investigation revealed that Ms. Louis was contacted via Facebook by an individual unknown to her by the name of Lucia Myk, who offered her (Ms. Louis) a job. The particulars of the job were for her to evaluate and comment on customer services at Money Gram and Western Union. In order to assess and comment on customer services Lucia Myk requested Ms. Louis’s Bank account number which she gave so that monies can be transferred to her account so that the evaluation can be carried out. She would be paid 10% of each evaluation she carried out.
Between Thursday 26th and Friday 27th February, 2015 The total amount of $12,240 was withdrawn from the complainant’s bank account and was wire transferred to Nathanelle Louis’ account. The monies were withdrawn from her account and was sent via Money Gram to persons unknown to her namely Undgwa Joy Onyinpechukuu, and Kalu Joseph Nkobi.
On Thursday 27th August 2015 she was formally charged and cautioned for the offences.
In November 2015 Nathanelle Louis plead guilty to the charges.