TCI Receives Final Country Poverty Assessment Report
The Caribbean Development Bank Social Sector Division officially handed over the final Country Poverty Assessment Report to the Turks and Caicos Government today, Thursday, 11 September 2014.
The report showed that the proportion of people living in poverty in the islands has reduced.
In 2012 22 percent of the population and 16 percent of households were living in poverty, compared to 26 percent and 18 percent respectively in 1999.
However, due to the greatly increased population, the absolute number of poor people in 2012 (6,800), rose from the 1999 figure (3,900).
The study found that there was a strong correlation between nationality, household size and level of poverty in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where incomers have contributed to the poverty ratios.
The Country Poverty Assessment funded through a grant of more than $130,000 that also included support for the 2012 Census.
It involved an assessment of the social and economic conditions of the TCI using a household survey.
Commenting on the exercise CDB Social Sector Division Chief Deidre Clarendon said: "The Caribbean Development Bank is pleased to hand-over the Final Report of May 2014, to the Government.
“Having completed the CPA and indeed the Census, the Government is now equipped with up-to-date information and data that is readily available to inform its development, planning and responses."
Acting Governor Her Excellency Anya Williams remarked: "I would like to thank the Caribbean Development Bank for their continued support and partnership with the Ministry of Finance, particularly the Strategic Policy and Planning Unit.”
Premier Honourable Rufus Ewing added: "The Turks and Caicos Islands Government is grateful to the CBD for this report. We will carefully review and will use to assist us in developing policies and programs to assist in improving the conditions of those living in poverty."
A preliminary summary of the CPA's initial findings was released earlier this year while details of the final Country Poverty Assessment Report will subsequently be released by the Strategic Policy and Planning Unit.
Turks and Caicos Islands completes UK hospital fact finding mission
The Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) top health officials returned to office from an intense fact finding trip to the UK, Monday, 8th September 2014.
The group visited medical facilities around London in order to understand the role of the National Health Service (NHS) Trusts in managing the costs and value associated with Public Private Partnership.
Meetings were held at the Department of Health, North Middlesex University Hospital, and Queen Mary’s Hospital with representatives from, National Audit Office, NHS National Property Services, NHS Contracting and Public Finance Unit.
These meetings focused on clinical services performance management, contract management and proper touring of the facilities.
The Minister stated; “It is the responsibility of TCIG to explore all options in regards to our health care system, and through our special relationship with the UK, we were able to visit these medical facilities around London.
“We were able to visit mental health, elderly and special needs facilities that successfully outsource management through Public Private Partnerships. These were just two of many examples that could potentially be implemented in TCI.
“Overall, the visit was an excellent learning experience for the team. We intend to continue utilizing relationships like these to improve on TCIG’s product.”
Team Members Included:
· The Honourable Porsha Stubbs-Smith, Minister for Health and Human Services
· Mrs Desiree Lewis, Permanent Secretary, The Ministry of Health and Human Services
· Ms Athenee Harvey, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance
· Dr Nadia Astwood, Director of Health Services Development, The Ministry of Health and Human Services
· Mrs. Zaneta Burton, Chief Executive Officer, National Health Insurance Board
· Mr Stephen Batts, Adviser to Permanent Secretary, The Ministry of Health and Human Services
CUSTOMER SERVICE IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND WITH THE MY DIGICEL APP
Digicel customers can take care of many of their customer service needs straight from their handsets thanks to the new look My Digicel app.
Designed to put the power in the hands of customers and save time and hassle, the My Digicel app is available for free download on Android devices and is the smart and easy way for customers to manage their mobile lives.
Text numbers and complicated short codes are a thing of the past as customers can use the app for a large variety of their service needs from the basics like checking their account balances and the status of their current plans to highlights like purchasing new plans, using online top up, sending credit to another user or managing their account settings.
But that’s not all – available in English, French and Spanish, the My Digicel app also keeps customers in the loop with all of Digicel’s social media channels and allows users to give feedback on the app from their handsets.
Ava-Dayne Fulford, Head of Marketing at Digicel said; “We are delighted to be making the My Digicel app available to our customers. This is all about putting the power in the hands of our consumers and providing them with the tools to manage their lives through their pockets. With the My Digicel app, time spent calling and talking to customer care can be spent doing something far more productive as all the mobile help you need is just a touch away.”
Superintendent Grant to attend FBI course in 2015
Commissioner Colin Farquhar of the Royal Turks & Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) is pleased to announce that Superintendent Kendal Grant has been selected to attend the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy in Quantico, Virginia in April 2015.
Supt. Grant was nominated by Commr Farquhar and then interviewed by Mr. Bill Nicholson the FBI Ass’t Legal Attaché from the Bahamas before being accepted from a long list of highly qualified candidates.
Supt. Grant, who is the Divisional Commander for Providenciales, North Caicos, and Middles Caicos, will attend the ten-week Senior Executive Strategic Leadership course.
“This is not just an opportunity to increase my knowledge to better fight crime but also an opportunity to network and build partnerships with our overseas collegues”, said Superintendent Grant.
The FBI National Academy is a professional course of study for United States and international law enforcement leaders that serves to improve the administration of justice in police departments and agencies and to raise law enforcement standards, knowledge, and cooperation worldwide.
Following graduation, Superintendent Grant will have the opportunity to join the FBI National Academy Associates, a dynamic organization of more than 16,000 law enforcement professionals who actively work to continue developing higher levels of competency, cooperation, and integrity across the law enforcement community.
The National Academy is specially geared for leaders and managers of police departments, military police organizations, and federal law enforcement agencies. Participation is by invitation only, through a nomination process. Participants are drawn from every state, including USA territories, and over 160 international partner nations.
The National Academy has been in operation since July 29, 1935.
'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Releases Official Plot
The synopsis for the upcoming "Avengers: Age of Ultron", which is due Stateside on May 1, 2015, is unearthed. The sequel to 2012's "The Avengers" sees the return of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man who tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program.
However, things go awry and Earth's Mightiest Heroes are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.
Chris Evans is back as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. Together with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and with the additional support of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, the team must reassemble to defeat James Spader as Ultron, a terrifying technological villain hell-bent on human extinction.
Along the way, they confront two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Wanda Maximoff played by Elizabeth Olsen and Pietro Maximoff played by Aaron Johnson, and meet an old friend in a new form when Paul Bettany becomes Vision.
Source- AceShowbiz
Kim Kardashian Defends Kanye West Over Wheelchair Controversy
Kim Kardashian took to Instagram on Monday, September 15 to defend her husband, Kanye West, who recently received backlash after he halted his concert in Australia until fans in wheelchair stood up. Kim posted a lengthy message along with a short clip of Kanye's Australian show.
The "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star wrote, "What an amazing Australian tour! Its frustrating that something so awesome could be clouded by lies in the media. Kanye never asked anyone in a wheel chair to stand up & the audience videos show that. He asked for everyone to stand up & dance UNLESS they were in a wheel chair. #JustWantedEveryoneToHaveAFunNight #TheMediaTwistsThings."
Kanye recently also slammed media for making him look like "a bad person." He halted his Monday show in Brisbane to address the wheelchair controversy. He said media's coverage of him was a "little more sensationalized." He added, "They got this thing where they want the masses, people who never even heard one of my albums, to somehow read a headline that reads negative and to think I'm a bad person or something."
Source- AceShowbiz
Robin Thicke Admits to Lying About Writing 'Blurred Lines'
Nasty truths behind Robin Thicke's 2013 mega hit single "Blurred lines" have been revealed. In a court deposition obtained by The Hollywood Reporter for his lawsuit from Marvin Gaye's family for allegedly ripping off the late singer's classic called "Got to Give It Up", the R&B star admitted he lied about writing the controversial track and said that collaborator Pharrell Williams wrote most of the song on his own.
Thicke said he lied about his involvement in the songwriting process out of jealousy. "After making six albums that I wrote and produced myself, the biggest hit of my career was written and produced by someone else and I was jealous and I wanted some of the credit," he said. "I tried to take credit for it later because [Pharrell] wrote the whole thing pretty much by himself and I was envious of that."
The 37-year-old musician went on saying that he was present at the studio when he, Pharrell and T.I. recorded the song. "I was present. Obviously, I sang it. I had to be there," he said. He was also there when the track was being made, but his addiction to Vicodin and alcohol had limited his involvement in the studio.
"I was high on Vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio. So my recollection is when we made the song, I thought I wanted to be more involved than I actually was by the time, nine months later, it became a huge hit and I wanted credit. So I started kind of convincing myself that I was a little more part of it than I was and I - because I didn't want him - I wanted some credit for this big hit. But the reality is, is that Pharrell had the beat and he wrote almost every single part of the song," he explained.
Pharrell appeared to agree with Thicke in his deposition, saying, "This is what happens every day in our industry. You know, people are made to look like they have much more authorship in the situation than they actually do. So that's where the embellishment comes in."
However, he gave Thicke so much credit (Thicke receives about 18-22 percent of publishing royalties) because he believed it's Thicke's voice that holds the song together. "It's the white man singing soulfully and we, unfortunately, in this country don't get enough... we don't get to hear that as often, so we get excited by it when the mainstream gives that a shot," he added.
Source- AceShowbiz
Chikungunya tests continue — CARPHA
The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) says it has not stopped conducting tests for the Chikungunya virus but has instead "scaled up its capability" to meet increased demands.
A CARPHA statement said that contrary to media reports, the agency has stepped up its activities in light of the evolving epidemic.
CARPHA Executive Director, Dr C James Hospedales, said that the agency has scaled up its capability to meet the increased demand for testing in the Caribbean.
Last week, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) urged Caribbean countries to eradicate the breeding sites of mosquitoes that transmit dengue and the Chikungunya virus even as it warned of a possible increase in patients suffering from these diseases.
Since the start of the year, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have reported nearly 850,000 cases of dengue and 470 deaths from severe dengue.
PAHO said that between December 2013 and September 5 this year, 650,000 cases of Chikungunya, including 37 deaths, have been reported.
Dr Hospedales said that CARPHA adheres to public health surveillance principles, and that once several people with Chikungunya have had their diagnoses confirmed through laboratory testing in an area within a country, then testing is only carried out for certain groups of people based on clinical symptoms.
He said tests are also carried out in newly affected areas to confirm whether or not the virus is present and circulating in that community.
Additionally, if a dengue test is positive, it is unlikely that the person would be tested for Chikungunya. Given this policy, Dr Hospedales said it is not necessary to test every single case, but reiterated that the agency continues testing for the region.
Source-CMC
PM leads Jamaica’s delegation to UN General Assembly
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is leading Jamaica's delegation to the 69th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, which starts today.
Consul officer at Jamaica's permanent mission to the UN, Kurt Davis, said that while the itinerary for the prime minister's visit was not yet finalised, she
is scheduled to address the world body on September 27.
She is also expected to hold bilateral talks with other heads of government and will be engaged in a number of other events.
Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly will conduct a special session as a follow up to the programme of action on the International Conference on Population and
Development, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will hold a summit on climate change during the session.
Contributor— Harold Bailey
Source-Jamaica Observer
Former WICB president honoured for service to game
The West Indies Cricket Board on Saturday honoured former president Sir Julian Hunte, for his contribution to the game across the region.
Sir Julian, served as president from 2007 to 2013 and also served as a Director of the International Cricket Council.
The function which was hosted by the WICB and attended by several local and regional dignitaries as well as West Indies cricket legends, was held at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.
Sir Julian was hailed as a “St Lucian hero” and also praised for his calm guidance and leadership during a challenging period in West Indies cricket. The 74 year old, who is a former St Lucia Foreign Minister, said his greatest joy was being on hand to see the West Indies team win the ICC World T20 trophy in Sri Lanka in October, 2012.
“I have a love for cricket – cricket at all levels from the grassroots level to the international level. I have a special love for West Indies cricket and I am happy to make a contribution to the game at all levels,” Sir Julian told the audience.
“I served because of the love of the game and I was happy to contribute in any capacity, in any way I can.
“One of my greatest privileges was to be there on that night when the West Indies team won the ICC World T20 tournament. The outpouring of emotions and the celebrations we saw filled my heart with great joy. It was a wonderful triumph and a true outpouring of West Indian joy.”
Sir Julian was presented with two special awards by Dave Cameron, president of the WICB and Clive Lloyd, the most successful captain in the history of West Indies cricket and who now serves as head of selectors.
“His service to cricket in St Lucia and in leading the growth and transformation of cricket in the Windward Islands is legendary. At the regional level he has given yeoman and dedicated service to the West Indies cricket board for 33 years, seven of which were as president of the WICB,” Cameron said.
Also in attendance were legends Sir Curtly Ambrose, Sir Richie Richardson and Courtney Walsh, as well as veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Test captain Denesh Ramdin.
Source-The Daily Observer