Drug bust in Caribbean Sea nets nearly US$388 million in cocaine
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency says its Office of Air and Marine aircraft while on night patrol in the Caribbean seized 93 bales of cocaine weighing more than 5,180 lbs and worth more than US$387,700,000. (Three hundred & eighty seven million, seven hundred thousand dollars).
“The opportunity to work with our partner nations to effect an interception and seizure of this size makes the hours our aircraft crews put in patrolling the endless miles of ‘blue ocean’ more than worth it,” said Doug Garner, CBP’s Director of National Air Security Operations Center, Jacksonville.
The crew reportedly detected a four-engine go-fast style vessel about 150 miles northeast of Panama City, Panama last week running at high speed with its lights out.
Colombian law enforcement responded to intercept the suspected vessel but before intercepting the crew the vessel beached in a remote region in the Colombian western territory.
When law enforcement arrived the crew had deserted the 93 bales of cocaine on-board.
Haiti's Government Announces New Measures To Cut Expenditure
Haiti has announced a series of measures aimed at reducing government spending.
Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe says resources are very limited and that there is no room for any waste or unnecessary spending.
Lamothe says he has already prohibited ministerial departments from purchasing expensive and luxurious vehicles, and that he has given up the vehicles inherited from his predecessors in exchange for a lower end one.
Economy and Finance Minster, Marie Carmelle Jean-Marie, said the new instructions would be fully implemented when it comes to reducing government expenditure.
Government departments have also been told they must furnish their buildings with materials made in Haiti.
Miss Teen Turks and Caicos Beauty Pageant
Another beauty pageant is on the horizon for the Turks and Caicos Islands. It’s the 1st Annual Miss Teen Turks and Caicos Beauty Pageant.
The Miss Teen Turks and Caicos Organization (MTTCO) in collaboration with the Department of Youth Affairs yesterday announced the 1st Annual Miss Teen Turks and Caicos Beauty Pageant on Tuesday, which will crown one of the nation’s most outstanding young lady to represent our “Beautiful by Nature” islands at the Miss Teen Universe Pageant.
The Miss Teen Turk and Caicos Organization is a non-profit organization, set up in accordance with the Teen Universe Organization franchise and according to the organization, it is their goal to unearth, train, and unveil the nation's finest young women through an annual national beauty pageant system in the Turks and Caicos Islands, by helping to nurture and reward the talent, creativity, communication skills, community service, healthy lifestyle, and academic achievement of young women between the ages of 15-19.
Could the Miss Teen accompany reigning Miss Universe Turk and Caicos Shanice Williams to this year’s Miss Universe? Well that will certainly be one of questions when the Miss Teen Turks and Caicos Organization officially announce the 1st Annual Miss Teen Turks and Caicos Beauty Pageant at a Press Conference at 3:00 o’clock this afternoon at the Blue Haven Resort and Marina Meeting Room on Marina Road, Leeward Providenciales. And of course RTC News will have the scoop in the evening edition of the news.
For additional information kindly contact the Miss Teen Turks and Caicos Organization at missteentci@gmail.com or via phone at (649) 332-3545 or (649) 431-3692. You can also follow them on Facebook: keyword “Miss Teen Turks and Caicos” or facebook.com/missteentci or follow them on Twitter: twitter.com/missteentci.
The PDM is calling on the Governor to act now to stop the unlawful acts of the Government
The People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) has expressed outrage at the way the Government has dealt with the matter of the Business License fees and is calling on the Governor to intervene and stop the unlawful acts of the Government.
“Firstly, its sudden assault with hiking the fees without consultation flaunts the requirement for consultation as set out in the Statement of Good Governance Principles. And even when exposed, the Premier’s response was less than
transparent and honest.
Secondly, the Government set July 1, 2014 as the date for which the new fees would take effect and without legal authority, has refused to accept payments for renewals before this date,” said the leader of the opposition Hon Sharlene Robinson in a press release to RTC News.
Hon Robinson said in an attempt to make legal its illegal instructions which has caused Businesses to operate without valid licenses between March 31, 2014 and July 1, 2014, the Government tabled an amendment to the Business Licensing Ordinance. She said TCIG’s withdrawal of the Bill, removed the protection needed after giving unlawful and erroneous instructions.
“We were shocked when the Government withdrew this, as this offered protection to those businesses that followed Government’s erroneous and unlawful advice.
After this issue was raised by the PDM, the Government has realized that it could not lawfully refuse to accept payments for renewals, but it in its seemingly “corrective” approach, has made another major illegal blunder by collecting on the new fees that are not scheduled to take effect until July 1, 2014. For the Government to collect payments based on fees and rates which are to take effect July 1, 2014, is again unlawful.
The Governor as the President of Cabinet needs to stop the unlawful acts of this Government and the Opposition is calling on him to act.
The Government is fumbling too much on the issue of business licensing reform and in a Private Members’ item filed with Parliament since May 16, 2014, the PDM will raise this in a substantive Motion on June 5th during the next
meeting of the House. It is our position that the Government needs to
withdraw the Regulations that are hiking the fees and causing confusion of
Businesses and we will continue to agitate for this,” said Hon Robinson.
The PDM in its release encourages the Government to observe the actions of
the Cayman Islands’ where, in its attempt to provide relief to its people and
businesses; it has taken on certain measures which include the ability to pay
its license fees in installments.
“We maintain that the Government is not a friend of businesses and it does
not understand that its very actions are further hurting the economy,” Hon Robinson added.
Ministry Responds to Oseta Jolly Primary School Demonstration
The poor condition of one of the primary schools on Providenciales caught media attention as kids picketed against the uncleanly condition of their classrooms.
The kindergarten section of the Oseta Jolly Primary School was reportedly not cleaned for extended periods and RTC News understands teachers & students felt they had no option but to call the media to highlight their situation.
A press release issued by the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sport and Library Services today said that it will not take lightly the event of Wednesday 28th May at the Oseta Jolly Primary School.
“The Ministry was informed that Teachers at the Oseta Jolly Primary School were reported to have called a media station and with cardboard signs proceeded to engage children in a demonstration to protest the lack of response from the Ministry of Government Support Services (GSS) regarding provision of cleaners for the school’s infant department
Although the Ministry understands the frustration regarding lack of cleaners; we were informed that at the time the Principal was with the Ministry of GSS identifying a relief cleaner. The action violates all principles of cooperation designed to strengthen work between the department, Ministry and other Ministries who work closely with us.
The Ministry of GSS assured us that the matter is resolved and additional cleaners were sent to the school on the same day. While we understand the frustration of teachers we believe that there are options for settling administrative matters without compromising the purpose for which children are at school and for engaging the students without permission from the authorities or their parents,” the release from the department of Education noted.
TCI’S MEN’S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM AGAINST ARUBA
The Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) Men’s National Football Team will play against the Aruban Men’s National team – tonight, Friday, May 30th, in a game that will be LIVE STREAMMED.
The match, which starts at 8PM EST, will be available on www.avbaruba.aw for all to watch and cheer on team Turks & Caicos.
The men’s team travelled to Aruba on Wednesday (May 28th) where they are competing in Group Two of the Preliminary Qualification Round of The 2014 Caribbean Cup. This group consists of three game days that will see team TCI pair up with matches against Aruba, the British Virgin Islands and French Guiana.
While in Aruba, the team lead by Craig Harrington, TCIFA’s Technical Director, coached by Tamiko Davila and Steven Kendrew, President of the TCIFA’s Men’s Football League, trained at the Franz Figueroa Stadium in Noord and the Guillermo Prospero Trinidad Stadium (Trinidad Stadium) in Oranje-stad, in preparation for the tournament. There, they practiced drills and games designed to improve shooting, ball control, communication, teamwork, defending, dribbling and heading.
The 20-men squad for the Turks & Caicos Men’s National Team include:
Raymondson Azemard,
Luis Turby-field,
Marc Fe-nelus,
Fred Dorvil,
Gavin Glinton,
Kely Loui-ma,
Wildens Delva,
Chris Gardiner,
Marcdonald Fene-lus,
James Rene,
Peguy Derilien,
Stevens Derilien,
Paul Collis,
Jack McKnight,
Philip Shearer,
Syed Hassan,
Rodney Davil-mar,
Jerry Liluce and Alex Bryan.
Almost 2,000' killed by Syria barrel bombs in 2014
Almost 2,000 people have been killed by Syrian government air attacks in the northern city of Aleppo so far this year, an activist group says.
The dead included 283 women and 567 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The Syrian air force has used so-called "barrel bombs" dropped from aircraft to try to put down a rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.
Aleppo has seen fierce fighting since a rebel offensive in the area in 2012.
The UK-based SOHR said 1,963 people had been killed in the city - Syria's largest - and the surrounding area since January.
The government has used air and ground forces to drive the rebels back, but they remain in control of some areas to the east of Aleppo.
Police sacked over hanged girls
Two police officers in India have been sacked for refusing to help search for two missing girls who were later found gang-raped and hanged, authorities say.
One officer was arrested while the other fled. Two of the suspected attackers have also been detained.
The government has pledged to set up a fast-track court to prosecute the crime, which took place earlier this week in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Alleged police inaction sparked outrage in the teenagers' village.
He said that when policemen found out he was from a lower caste, they "refused to look for my girl".
The sacked officers were charged with criminal conspiracy, police said on Friday.
Two of the three men accused of raping and killing the girls have been arrested. The third suspect was on the run, authorities added.
PAHO reports jump in dengue cases
American Health Organization (PAHO) says the number of dengue cases in the Americas, including the Caribbean increased five-fold between 2003 and 2013.
According to data presented this week at a high-level regional meeting on dengue hosted by PAHO, between 2009 and 2012, over 1 million cases were reported annually, on average, with more than 33,900 severe cases and 835 deaths.
PAHO said last year was one of the worst years for dengue in the hemisphere’s history, with 2.3 million cases, including 37,705 severe cases and By comparison, the number of cases reported region-wide in 2003 was 517,617, PAHO said.
Despite countries’ efforts to control the disease, PAHO warned that dengue continues to spread due to, among other reasons, uncontrolled, unplanned urbanization, lack of basic services in communities, poor environmental management and climate change.
In the Americas, nearly 500 million people are at risk of contracting the disease, PAHO said.
Girls’ Empowerment Day at H.J. Robinson High
Following on from a highly successful ‘Boys Day Out’ in January of this year, the H.J. Robinson High School, through its Guidance Unit, today hosted a school day, exclusively for Girls, the first Girls’ Empowerment Day, under the theme “Cupcakes and Conversation – Young Women, Real Talk, Real Issues,”
Girls were in the company of their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, their mentors or some other woman whom that they hold in high esteem for a day.
This initiative was a part of the school’s effort to provide young girls with a friendly atmosphere where they can sit with other women, both young and old, for an engaging conversation, one that will ask the hard questions and get candid answers to relevant topics such as: Sex, Relationships, Reproductive Health & Wellness, Mental Health, Physical Health, Nutrition, Substance Abuse and much more, without the fear of being ridiculed by their peers or rebuked by their love ones.
It is recognized that during the adolescence years, teen girls are certain to face a plethora of challenges, the greatest of which may be making it through her adolescent years with her self-esteem intact. In addition, it is essential that she develops a sense of who she is and who she desires to be in the world as well as to have a 'voice' she feels confident with and is capable of using in a variety of forms and forums.
To this end, a number of resource persons were in attendance, including Minister of Health and Human Services and the acting Minister of Education, Hon Amanda Missick; Leader of the Opposition Hon Sharlene Robinson; Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Ms. Portia Clarke; Director of Mental Health and Substance Dependence, Dr. Alicia Malcolm; Chairman of the Human Rights Commission, Mrs. Doreen Quelch-Stubbs; Director of Gender Affairs, Co-ordinator for HIV/AIDS/STI’s, Mrs. Aldora Robinson; Ms. Claudette Rigby, a person living with HIV; Mrs. Carolyn Dickenson; Chief Nursing Officer, Mrs. Jackurlyn Sutton; Ms. Jayla Kennedy, a social worker in the department of Social Development and Gender Affairs; Sgt. Curvalene Skippings-Godette of the training division of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force and Miss Turks and Caicos Universe, Shanice Williams
The Hon Amanda Missick in her remarks, highlighted the theme “Cupcakes and Conversation – Young Women, Real Talk, Real Issues.”
She recognized the significance of the theme to a child’s life and the care that must be taken through every stage of their lives.
The keynote speaker, Miss Turks and Caicos Universe, Shanice Williams, in sharing with the audience her journey through high school, sought to focus on having a high self-esteem, which she said is dear to her. She says it’s an aspect of her life which she has made her personal philosophy; one which she endeavors to live by and which has motivated her throughout her experience.
Down to earth, no-holds-barred questions were submitted by students of H.J. Robinson High and fielded to members of the panel who all expressed their delight that students felt open and comfortable enough to verbalize their thoughts in such a forum and expressed the hope that the students at would have gained much insight from the down to earth answers that were so ably provided by all of the resource persons.
RTC News will share highlights of those H.J. Robinson High School’s first Girls’ Empowerment Day in our next newscast.