The Power of One
When someone thinks about the power of one, what often comes to mind is the power of one person who can make tremendous change through their diligence to a cause and over time change a community, a country or even the world. We have examples of these types of people scattered throughout history. There is Martin Luther King Jr. with the Civil Rights movement in the USA; Mahatma Gandhi with the push for Indian self-determination in non-violent resistance of the British Empire, and Galileo who dared to think the world was round in a time when all learned men “knew” it was flat.
Well, that’s not what I am going to speak to here. What I have noticed over time in the Turks and Caicos is that we find ourselves in the position where we have only one go-to person for whatever field, profession, or industry. That’s not to say in reality we do not have more than one person with said expertise within the TCI in any given area; however, once we deem someone the “Guru of X”, well, without any doubt that’s usually the person used. In politics, we look to the same few families for leadership. When it comes to hosting shows, we have a few go-to people on each island and the same applies in the education or tourism sectors and others. The interesting part is that once that trust is placed in a person they hold the designation until it is seen fit to designate someone else, and the prior holder becomes immediately obsolete.
I believe that this practice is the lingering effect of actually having only one expert in any given area in our recent history; precisely because of our relatively small size and islands segmentation, in addition to our late development as a country. This resulted in your doctor being the only doctor you had for many years. You knew only one mechanic, one dentist, one primary school teacher, one grocery store owner and so forth. I say that to point out that all this has now changed and we do have many Turks and Caicos islanders with significant expertise often in multiple sectors. All they need is that opportunity to contribute. We have grown to the extent that we are more than a singularly minded people. I believe this type of Power of One is perpetuated by the insecurities of some that love being the gate keeper of knowledge and to be looked upon with reverence. If there is someone else who knows what the go-to person knows, this is of no consequence; they are of no use. They fail to realize that the more knowledgeable people we have, the greater the possibility of building a strong nation.
One of the reasons I respect President Obama more than most of the current leaders on the world stage is that when he was to select his Cabinet, he chose the most talented persons available to get the job done. Most notably was Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. Think about it for a minute; he picked his rival to be the face of USA Foreign Affairs after having gone through a sometimes acrimonious primary process that went on way longer than it had to. No doubt he put his country first and was comfortable enough in his own skin to choose competent persons to shoulder responsibilities and not let the fear of sharing the spot light be his driving motivation. Imagine how much growth/ strength we will experience in our country if instead of restricting ourselves to that one go-to person, we also utilize the services of equally competent individuals.
Stay Blessed,
Jamell Robinson
TCIFA TO HOST VISITING TEAM FROM NEW YORK!
In an effort to increase the level of play of its Academy members, the Turks & Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) will be hosting a tournament with a team out of New York this month, August 2014 - to do just that.
Through its Visiting Team Program, driven by its players, coaches and referees, the National Association is excited to host the Manhattan Soccer (Boca) Club B16 Team. This game-centric approach by the TCIFA allows long-term development to occur through a deeper understanding of what makes players successful at the highest level.
The Manhattan Soccer Club is a Youth Soccer Club based in Manhattan, New York - that comprises of both a girls and boys divisions and play competitive soccer at the Premier level and as well as in Division I, and some of the lower divisions. It is the largest football club in New York City with most of its teams competing in the Westchester Youth Soccer League.
The B16 team that will be visiting consists of footballers that have been together since the age of nine (9), finishing a perfect 9-0-0 in league play this season. The team has been playing in a division with teams a year older then they are, and finished a remarkable run of their own to take second place. They scored 40 goals this spring, an average of more than four per match, signaling that they will be a force to be reckoned with next year.
This is their third tournament in the Turks & Caicos for the B16 team; and while here, they will be pitted against the Football Academy’s U16 team, which is coached by Oliver Smith. It is hoped that next year, they will host the TCI’s U17 Boys in New York in 2015.
As a sport, football continues to grow in the Turks & Caicos, young players in this country need the proper environment to compete against more seasoned players. By having teams visit, this program provides the optimum development environment for the nation’s top youth football players. Coaches and referees by emphasizing development through meaningful competition.
The game schedule is as follows, all games to be held at the TCIFA Academy Complex on Venetian Road, Providenciales:
Sunday, August 10th
Game one 5:30pm Kick Off
Monday, August 11th
Game two 5:30pm Kick Off
Tuesday, August 12th
Beach tournament 4:30pm Start
Wednesday, August 13th
Game three 5:30pm Kick Off
THE PDM FINDS PASSPORT CHANGES REGRESSIVE AND CALLS OUT GOVERNMENT ON ISSUE
The PDM has issued a release to RTC News, when they first learned of the UK’s intention to issue passports for the Turks and Caicos Islands sometime last year during a Meeting of the Appropriations Committee, when the Permanent Secretary for Border Control, Mrs Clara Gardiner mentioned it in passing as she sought an increase in expenditure for the purchase of passports.
On that occasion the Leader of the Opposition as Chair of the Appropriations Committee inquired into the policy as it relates to the treatment of emergency situations and the proposed process. It appeared to be in its infancy stage but we found that Bermuda Government in a Statement issued last year said that it would lead the way in challenging this issue as an Overseas Territory.
We wish to remind the people of this country that these talks or dialogue will be with the PNP Government as it is the Government and not with the Opposition PDM Party. The Government has only within the last few days spoken for the first time to this issue. There were no updates provided and we now see the dialogue emerging again with the Minister confirming the UK’s decision. What the Minister of Border Control did not say is what his Government did do to engage the UK or the sister Overseas Territories on this matter. The PNP Government must tell the people of this country what representations were made on the people’s behalf.
We believe this intention to print passports in the UK is regressive and believe that the full process should remain in these Islands even if UK personnel were attached.
In light of the difficulties that we are aware that persons are encountering now with the lengthy process for British passports, we are convinced that this system may not be any better. We have real concerns about efficiency and we are also curious as to what will constitute an emergency. Persons can not find themselves in this country as some did this year without any Travel Documents especially since we do no longer issued other Travel Documents. We also believe that this may negatively affect revenues for these Islands as well. There are many more unanswered questions and the people need to hear from the Government on this issue.
The PDM believes that if this Government has not yet engaged the sister Overseas Territories or the UK, then it must do so as we believe that this step to be regressive and not in the best interest of our people.
Minister of Border Control, Hon. Donhue Gardiner made an appearance on RTC’s Expressions on Monday August 11th, 2014 where he discussed the passport issue among other topics with Rev. Conrad Howell.
TCI pledges further focus on economy following full credit report
The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands has pledged to further improve the islands’ economic prospects and attract new investment following the publication of Standard and Poor’s detailed ratings analysis.
Published by the ratings agency earlier today, the report outlines the detailed analysis behind the islands' new credit rating and provides specific actions to improve its score.
These include further modernisation of public services and maintaining the focus on reducing government debt given the islands’ relatively narrow economy which is focused on high-end tourism.
Commenting on the report, Finance Minister Honourable Washington Misick said:
“Our Government is firmly committed to broadening and strengthening our islands’ economy. This objective and independent analysis will help us make this a reality and attract new investment to our islands.
“First and foremost must be keeping our public finances in order and delivering a balanced, responsible budget. In the long run, this will attract more private investment, reduce the cost of living for future generations and allow us to invest more in public services and infrastructure.”
His Excellency Governor Peter Beckingham said:
“This provides further evidence that TCI is on the way to becoming a prosperous nation with the chance to be a true Caribbean success story.
“The report is right to recognise how the islands’ strong links with the UK bring in new investment and benefits the economy.
“The Government’s plan to strengthen public finances, backed by Britain, has allowed it to get its finances in order, steadily reduce debt and to attract new investment. This must continue.”
The independent research from Standard and Poor’s is supplementary to the islands’ first credit rating released in July 2014. The independent report’s main findings include:
· TCI enjoys favourable growth prospects based on its well-developed tourism industry
· TCI’s relationship with the UK ‘serves as an anchor for economic policies’
· The ‘stable’ outlook is based on S&P’s expectation of successful implementation of recent measures designed to modernise the public sector and strengthen governance.
Dozens of inmates flee after Haiti jailbreak
A jailbreak Sunday at a high-security prison near Haiti’s capital left dozens of inmates on the loose, police authorities said.
The escape came after a mutiny erupted in the jail, a spokesman for Haiti’s national police said.
“It was a spectacular escape. There was no battle. A hundred inmates fled the prison,” a lawmaker on the scene told reporters.
“We were able to catch 13 escapees,” said police spokesman Garry Desrosier, adding authorities were still searching for others, though he refused to give an exact number.
Among those on the loose, he said, is “Clifford Brandt, an influential businessman jailed since 2012 on allegations of kidnapping for ransom.”
Source-Associated Press
He said a million-gourde (US$40,000) reward was being offered for the recapture of Brandt, as authorities continued the search.
Haitian police said that measures had been taken to reinforce border controls and embassies had been warned.
Before the jail break, the prison in Croix-des-Bouquets, northeast of Port-au-Prince, held 897 inmates. The jail was built in 2012, at a cost of more than US$5.7 million, financed by Canada.
According to residents of the small town, several hundred people came out of the prison, running in every direction, just moments after intense gunfire broke out in the jail.
“It was a conspiracy carried out inside the prison that caused the escape. There was no attack from outside — contrary to what had been announced,” the police spokesman explained.
“What happened is shocking when we know that this prison is very secure and, in theory, well-controlled,” said Marie-Yolaine Gilles, head of a human rights group.
Anti-riot police were deployed to restore order, while Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe also came to the scene.
Source-Associated Free Press
St Lucians to pay more for bread
The St Lucia Bakers Association has announced an increase in the price of bread as of Monday.
On Tuesday the association said all packets of white rolls, hamburgers, hot dogs, butter bread, butter loaves and french bread will move from EC$2.00 (One EC dollar= US$0.37 cents) per packet to $2.50 per packet.
It said all packets of whole-wheat rolls, loaves, and sandwich bread will move from $2.50 per packet to $2.75 per packet.
“We have had to absorb the price increases of flour, sugar, water, electricity, value added tax (VAT) on salt, yeast, butter, margarine, shortening, packaging, as well as the increases in the wholesale price of gas and diesel,” the Association said in a statement.
It added that the increase in the price of bread has become necessary in an effort to try to mitigate the effects of the almost 25% increase in some items and other indirect costs associated with the production of bread and the operations of businesses.
Source-Caribbean Media Corporation
Dominican Republic looks to rid US$1.44B energy ‘leech
Dominican Republic’s State-owned Electric Utility (CDEEE) has hired a law firm aimed at canceling the contract with the San Pedro power company (CESPM), formerly Cogentrix, in a decision through which the authorities seek to put an end to paying at least US$4.8 million (RD$208 million) to that company each month regardless if operational or not.
Quoting Government sources, outlet elnacional.com.do said during the 12 year-and-4 months contract period Cogentrix has been paid US$1.44 billion, mostly when its generators are offline since they are too expensive to operate.
Citing figures to the end of July, CESPM had billed US$32.9 million to the CDEEE for just only 16 gigawatts, an average of US$ 2.06 per kilowatt. Since its incorporation into the interconnected grid in March 2002, Cogentrix became a headache for the CDEEE, due to its high cost to produce energy and the contract’s onerous conditions that binds the Dominican State for 20 years.”
The contract was signed during ex president Leonel Fernandez’s first term in office by then CDEEE -CEO Temistocles Montás, and Council president Celso Marranzini, and then Radhames Segura, who replaced Montás in the CDEEE.
Privileged contract
The original contract with the firms Cogentrix Energy and Scotia Energy was structured when Montás headed the CDE and Celso Marranzini was president of its Board of Directors, and César Sánchez, former head of the Utility during Hipolito Mejia’s Administration, signed for the power companies.
The former Cogentrix has been often labeled as the “leech” in the country’s electric utility, pillaged by companies such as the Canadian Hydro-Quebec-Sofati and Spain’s Union Fenosa.
Source-Dominican Today
Obama Praises Selection of Iraqi PM-designate
U.S. President Barack Obama praised Monday’s selection of Iraqi lawmaker Haider al-Abadi as the next prime minister, calling it "a promising step in this critical effort" to build an inclusive new government and to battle insurgents of the Islamic State that threaten the country’s stability.
Iraqi President Fouad Massoum picked Abadi, the deputy speaker of parliament, on Monday to lead the Baghdad government as it faces the onslaught of militants who have overrun much of its northern and western parts.
Obama, speaking from Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, said he and Vice President Joe Biden both had phoned Abadi to pledge U.S. support.
"This new Iraqi leadership has a difficult task," Obama said, citing the challenge of regaining the confidence of Iraqis and the international community.
"We stand ready to partner with Iraq" and its new government, Obama said, "and build on today's progress."
He urged those working to form a new administration to come together peacefully with a goal of eliminating the threat of Islamic State militants who have seized much of the country with little opposition.
The president noted recent U.S. airstrikes in support of Kurdish fighters and civilian refugees in northern Iraq. He said U.S. aircraft remain in position to strike at extremists seeking to carve out a caliphate in the vast regions now under their control.
Incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is resisting an end to his eight-year rule. Seeking a third term, he has defied calls from Sunnis, Kurds and some fellow Shi'ites to step aside for a less polarizing figure.
Obama, who had authorized airstrikes on the Islamic militants last week, said the U.S. had "stepped up" military advice to Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
The U.S. president noted the U.S. had continued airdrops of humanitarian supplies to the Iraqi religious minorities, especially Yazidis, trapped on Mount Sinjar. He also thanked the United Kingdom, France and other countries for providing aid.
Source-VOA
Israelis, Palestinians Begin New Truce
A new 72-hour truce between Israel and the ruling Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip is holding, clearing the way for negotiations aimed at ending a month of hostilities.
Palestinians fired rocket barrages at Israel right before the cease-fire went into effect at midnight. But then the guns fell silent.
The truce cleared the way for an Israeli delegation to return to Cairo for indirect talks with Hamas on a long-term cease-fire. The negotiations, which are mediated by Egypt, broke down last week after a previous 72-hour truce expired with a new round of fighting.
Both sides remain entrenched in their positions and the gaps are wide: Israel wants the demilitarization of Gaza while Hamas is insisting that Israel and Egypt lift a crippling blockade on the territory.
While Israel is willing to ease the blockade, it will not allow the free flow of goods that Hamas could use for military purposes.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Tzipi Livni said any import of cement to rebuild Gaza must be under international supervision to prevent Hamas from rebuilding a network of tunnels that can be used for terrorist infiltrations into Israel. She said money and material entering Gaza must benefit the Palestinian people and not Hamas.
Livni told Israel Radio that Hamas must lose this war, and it will not be allowed to turn terrorist aggression into a victory.
Hamas, on the other hand, needs an achievement to show its people for all the death and destruction wreaked on Gaza. And lifting the blockade would provide just that.
Hamas says the seven-year “siege” is illegal and immoral and there will be no agreement unless it is removed.
Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said it is impossible to return to the situation before the conflict, in which Gaza was a big, open-air prison.
One emerging compromise is that the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank, will supervise the Gaza border crossings along with European officials.
Source-Reuters
Ukraine Warns Civilians as Troops Close In on Rebels in East
The Ukrainian military says troops are continuing to close in on remaining separatist regions in the east, and are warning civilians to evacuate the areas to avoid being caught in the crossfire. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continue to be at odds over a possible humanitarian mission to bring supplies to besieged residents.
Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters in Kyiv Monday “anti-terror” forces are attacking separatist strongholds from four directions, closing in on the main rebel-held city of Donetsk.
Lysenko warned civilians to leave the areas around Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk province - near the border with Russia - to avoid the coming assault.
"We are once again addressing civilians,” he said. “If you can, leave these areas temporarily because there will be liberating operations and attacks on terrorists.”
He added that the armed forces will do what they can to provide transportation for citizens wishing to flee. The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been internally displaced from the two eastern regions in Ukraine since the conflict began in May.
Military spokesman Lysenko said 568 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and more than 2,000 injured in fighting with Russian-backed separatists.
Lysenko said the military plans to maintain pressure on rebels who still control substantial swaths of territory in the east.
"If we pause,” Lysenko said, “the terrorists will have time to regroup, to get more supplies, more civilians and military will be killed; that's why we are moving forward, we are not stopping."
In another development, a prison in Donetsk was reportedly shelled late Sunday, killing one inmate and allowing others to escape.
It is not clear who fired the shots, though Ukraine's military denies responsibility.
Russia, meantime, has asked for a humanitarian mission in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide relief to distressed citizens in the eastern regions.
Ukrainian, U.S. and European officials have said any unauthorized Russian intervention would be a violation of international law.
A statement from the office of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the weekend the possibility of a Ukrainian-led humanitarian mission in Luhansk in coordination with the ICRC.