DEPUTY SWORN IN AS ACTING GOVERNOR
His Excellency the Governor Peter Beckingham will represent the Turks and Caicos Islands at two regional events next week, 2-7 Feb 2014.
He will meet with his fellow UK Overseas Territories Governors from Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman, Montserrat and with officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at the British Consulate in Miami on Monday, 3 February.
From there he is heading to the Creating Climate Wealth Conference in the British Virgin Islands 4-6 February. This conference will examine the ways in which the reduction of carbon by organisations can be accelerated.
Deputy Governor the Hon Anya Williams has been sworn in as Acting Governor for the period of Mr Beckingham’s absence.
CABINET MEETING HELD IN THE CAPITAL ON WEDNESDAY
His Excellency the Governor, Peter Beckingham, chaired the meeting of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ (TCI) Cabinet on Wednesday, 29th January 2014 at 9am at the NJS Francis Building on Grand Turk.
All Ministers were present.
At this meeting Cabinet:
1. Approved, effective 1st April 2014, amendments to the Hotel and Restaurant Tax Ordinance to include independent tourism service providers (such as those offering water sports, diving, event management, boat trips, spa operations and so on.) The Ordinance will be renamed the Hotel and Tourism (Taxation) Ordinance;
2. Approved for public consultation a Tax Rationalisation Plan that has been developed as a result of the consolidated recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission. The consultation will seek to inform the public about the implications of the plan;
3. Approved the draft 2014/15 TCIG budget and directed that the annual appropriation Bill be prepared for consideration by the House of Assembly. In addition Cabinet approved the preparation of a supplementary appropriation Bill to make the necessary adjustments to the appropriated sums for the financial year 2013/14;
4. Approved in principle the long lease of 7.2 acres of Crown Land/Airport Authority Land located at the North side of Grand Turk aerodrome to Marina Aviation Services Ltd for the development of a Fixed Base Operation (FBO) and fire hall to accommodate the aerodrome and domestic fire services. A Memorandum of Understanding will be drafted to facilitate progress of negotiations and security of funds for the development ;
5. Approved amendments to the Dogs Control Ordinance to reflect a review of the Prohibited Breeds List and agreed that the Dogs Control (Amendment) Bill 2014 be introduced at an upcoming meeting of the House of Assembly;
6. Approved the membership of a Medical Tourism Steering Committee. The committee, established for a period of one year, will develop clear policies for the operation of medical tourism activities in the hospitals in Providenciales and Grand Turk;
7. Noted the recommendations of the Procurement Board on the award of the following contracts: Provision of RO plant equipment building on Salt Cay; design, supply and commissioning of RO plant on Salt Cay; well-drilling for Salt Cay water plant; sports track upgrade at Raymond Gardiner High School, North Caicos; purchase of Generator at Police HQ, Providenciales; appointment of consultants to develop a strategic plan for the TCI Tourism Industry; construction of a fish market on West Road, Grand Turk. All contracts were subject to open tendering in accordance with the Procurement Ordinance 2012.
Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.
THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND HOME AFFAIRS RESPONDS TO RUMORS
In response to recent queries by RTC News about the recruitment practise at HM Prison, The Ministry of Environment and Home Affairs and Her Majesty’s Prison Service would like the general public to know the following:
The Ministry and TCIG work with the Human Resources Management Directorate to ensure that the hiring process is a fair one. Policy dictates that Turks and Caicos Islanders are given first preference in all situations however; individuals who do not meet core competency minimum standards or who fail a police records check are eliminated from the process.
Specifically as it relates to the recruitment of Prison Officers who are entrusted with the care and safety of others, TCIG must ensure that recruits satisfy not only the basic competency but also a level of ethical standards even as HM Prison strives to increase its recruitment of locals.
Our records show that most recent recruits have come from the local population. Since 2006 HM Prison has only recruited a teacher and a Superintendent from overseas. In 2013 another eight officers were hired, of which five were Belongers and three were expatriates married to Belongers. All other appointments made were Belongers and PRC holders.
The following gives a breakdown of the Prison Staff:
• · 40 members of staff are Turks and Caicos Islanders (Local)
• · 10 are Residency / Permanent Residency Holders
• · 15 are foreign nationals of which 13 were employed before 2007
It is the intention of the Ministry and HM Prison Service to continue to: 1) ensure that qualified Belongers are recruited into HM Prison and 2) work with TCIG and the Human Resource Management Directorate to build on the skills and experience of locals to help reduce the reliance on overseas skills and experience across the Public Service.
Departments of Environment and Agriculture leads TCI in Celebration of Wetlands Day 2014
This Department of Environment and Maritime Affairs (DEMA) and the Department of Agriculture will spearhead the commemoration of the 2014 World Wetlands Day, February 2, 2014. The international theme for the day is Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growth.
World Wetlands Day marks the signing on the Convention on Wetlands that took place in the Iranian City of Ramsar in 1971 and is used to raise public awareness and appreciation of the significance of wetlands and their contributions to global ecosystems. Wetlands lie at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic habitats and are highly productive communities, providing homes, food and resources for an extensive assortment of species.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are made up of over 50 percent wetlands. The biological diversity found within these wetlands is irreplaceable. In the TCI, there are many types of wetlands; coastal estuaries, mangrove forests, seasonal freshwater ponds and marshes, salinas, pine, palmetto, and buttonwood swamps and salt marshes.
The following activities are scheduled in connection with the World Wetland and World Wildlife Day celebrations:
1) Poster making contest. Theme “Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growth”.
2) Digital wildlife photo contest. Focus on endemic plants and animals in TCI.
3) Wetlands and wildlife display at the National Environment Centre (NEC). Endemic plants and animals will be featured.
4) Mangrove planting along Venetian Road, Providenciales – February 3, 2014
5) Bird monitoring in the wetlands (Jan. 14 – Feb. 3, 2013)
Awarding of prizes for the poster making contest and digital wildlife photo contest will be held during the Science Fair in March 2014. Last year, the digital bird photo contest was sponsored by Kite Provo and the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB), now known as BirdsCaribbean.
THE OPPOSITION ON THE RUMORED "PAYROLL TAX"
The People Democratic Party in a release to RTC News informed us there maybe new taxes on the horizon in the form of Payroll Tax.
The release reads:
"Recently, there has begun a public discourse on new taxes to be implemented by the government. Though it has not yet reached the House of Assembly, where it should be taken through the proper channels, we, the Official Opposition wish to address this as it has serious consequences, should there be any truth to the rumor.
We supported the appointment of the Blue Ribbon Commission but we are not in receipt of the final report. Hence, we cannot say whether this is raised in the report. It therefore follows that there has not been an opportunity to debate this in any Forum.
The FSPS required under the Constitution must make reference to the Government's proposed Taxes even before the Budget which must be laid on the Table 6 weeks before Debate and Passage in Parliament.
In opposing VAT, we called for greater compliance and a complete review of the revenue streams with great consultations on seeking new and steady streams of revenue. Aside from this, there must be an aggressive marketing of our country for tourism and investment in order to attract fresh capital. We cannot continue to tax a shrinking base. The Government cannot and should not come to the people of these islands with any additional taxes until it shows where it is addressing the astronomical cost of healthcare. I am sure there are savings to be made, as well as better management to put in place that will provide oversight of the healthcare system. It is simply bleeding this country. The Government must ensure that the audits are done so that we can identify areas of waste.
The Opposition cannot stand in Parliament and support another tax on the people of these islands.
When I began in my profession to market TCI, I was given four points that gave us a competitive edge - the absence of payroll or income tax was one such marketing tool that presented an edge. We need to listen to the cries of the people and also to see what we are doing to our marketing strategy as a country that is in dire need of fresh revenue through new investments.
I will wait to hear that this rumor is dispelled and I will wait to hear the Government address the unaffordable costs of this new healthcare system. I continue to eagerly await its aggressive plan to market these Islands".
RTC News has not heard of proposed introduction to this tax nor was this on the Order paper to be discussed in the House of Assembly, but will put forth these questions to the Premier of the Turks & Caicos on Monday February 3rd,2014.
Google poised to execute long-delayed stock split
Google is finally ready to split its stock for the first time, more than three years after co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin began discussing a move engineered to ensure they remain in control of the Internet's most powerful company.
The split is scheduled to occur April 2. It had been delayed because of staunch resistance from other Google shareholders, who feared the maneuver would unfairly benefit Page and Brin at the expense of just about everyone else.
Google proposed the unorthodox split so that Page and Brin could preserve power in the company they started in a rented garage more than 15 years ago. It addresses concerns that the founders would lose control of Google as the company creates more shares to compensate its employees and buy startups.
To gain clearance for the split, Google settled a shareholders lawsuit and agreed to pay up to US$7.5 billion if the split doesn't pan out the way the Mountain View, California, company envisions.
Google's split will create a new class of "C" stock that carries no voting power. One share of C stock will be distributed for each share of voting Class A stock owned as of March 27. Initially, the value of the current stock will be divided equally between the two types of shares. But they will then trade separately with different ticker symbols. Class C shares will get the company's existing "GOOG" ticker symbol, while Class A will change to "GOOGL."
If the split hadn't been delayed by a legal skirmish, Google's stock probably wouldn't have exceeded US$1,000 for the first time last fall.
Page and Brin primarily own Google's Class B stock, which already gives them 10 times the voting power of each Class A share. Combined, the Google founders control 56 per cent of the shareholder votes, even though they own less than 15 per cent of the stock issued.
Nonetheless, the voting clout of Page and Brin has been gradually shrinking, as Google has used Class A stock to reward employees and finance some of its acquisitions during the past decade.
Distributing a new class of non-voting stock will enable Google to continue doling out shares to its nearly 44,000 workers without further undermining the co-founders' power.
As with any stock split, the division will lower Google's trading price on the Nasdaq Stock Market as investors account for a big increase in shares. The company will be distributing about 277 million shares of Class C stock, based on how many Class A shares had been issued as of late last year.
If Google's shares behave similarly to other two-for-one splits, the stock's price would be cut roughly in half from its current level of more than US$1,100. Google's market value would remain roughly the same at about US$380 billion because it will have nearly double the number of shares issued.
But some shareholders suspect the non-voting status of the Class C stock will cause those shares to trade at a significant discount to the Class A stock once the new stock is issued. The concerns led to a class-action lawsuit in Delaware chancery court filed shortly after Google announced its plans for the split in April 2012.
Google delayed the stock split until the lawsuit was resolved. A trial was averted after Google hammered out a settlement. Court approval came three months ago.
Google will have to pay the Class C shareholders if the average price of their stock is at least one per cent below the Class A shares during the first year after the split. The size of the payments will escalate as the gap widens, with the maximum payout required if the gap between the average prices of the Class C and Class A shares is five per cent or more.
In the most expensive scenario for Google, Class C stockholders will get five per cent of the average trading price of the Class A shares. So if the Class A stock has an average trading price of US$600 during the first year after the split while the Class C stock averages US$565, Google would have to pay US$30 per share in cash or additional stock.
In court documents, Google argued that it's unlikely there will be a big difference between the prices of the Class A and Class C shares, despite their contrasting voting powers.
Source- BBC
Wal-Mart lowers profits guidance
Wal-Mart has trimmed its trading outlook for this year, citing a range of one-off costs including the closure of some stores in China.
The world's largest retailer said profits were likely to be at, or below, the lower end of financial forecasts.
Specifically, earnings for the current financial quarter, ending this month, would also be at, or below, forecasts.
The restructuring moves undertaken by Wal-Mart included the closure of 50 stores in Brazil and China.
Also, the cost of ending some franchise agreements in India would higher than previously anticipated, Wal-Mart said in a statement.
Bad weather in the US, which closed several stores, contributed significantly to poorer trading in the past few weeks. Cuts in food stamp benefits provided by the US government also weighed on sales.
Wal-Mart is due to report its full-year results on 20 February. Shares in the company fell 1% in early trading on Wall Street, although that was not out of step with the wider market.
But Wal-Mart's warning undermines how retailers are struggling. There has been disappointing news on profits and job cuts recently from other chains, including Best Buy, Sears, and JC Penney.
Also on Friday, toymaker Mattel reported weak sales, sending its shares down 10% at the start of trading.
Source-BBC
Argentines jockey to cope with economic turmoil
Prices are soaring, foreign reserves are falling and the peso has had its sharpest slide in 12 years. Instead of rioting, though, Argentines are falling back on tried and true survival skills learned in earlier, more dire times.
Some are hoarding dollars, while others stockpile goods or plough their savings into real estate.
More people ride bikes now following recent increases in public transportation fares. They eat out less and buy cheap, pirated DVD copies of the latest films rather than go to the cinema.
With inflation running at about 30 per cent, Sofia Basualdo, a 43-year-old geography teacher, has used shopping sprees to beat further price rises.
"I might pay one peso for a product today, but next week I'll likely have to pay two pesos," Basualdo said as she left a Buenos Aires supermarket pushing a shopping cart filled to the brim. "In this country, when you start smelling inflation it's best to buy and save."
Many Argentines note that the current economic woes are not as bad as Argentina's financial collapse in 2001-2002. Unemployment remains relatively low, and many people benefit from government handouts. Yet they worry the country may be at a tipping point.
"People are adopting defensive measures to survive," said Jorge Raventos, a political analyst and former spokesman for Argentina's foreign relations ministry. "People endure this by zig-zagging along, but it's hard to know how much they can take before they explode."
The thirst for dollars was fed over the past few days when the peso suddenly slipped 15 per cent against the greenback.
Although it is exceedingly difficult because of strict regulations, some people and businesses have succeeded in past years in sending their dollars out of Argentina as a hedge against inflation. Then Deputy Economy Minister Axel Kiciloff last year estimated Argentine individuals and companies had socked away up to US$200 billion in undeclared currency outside the country.
Like most people, Carlos Partcha, an 80-year-old retired journalist, has taken the simpler measure of buying US dollars and stashing them under his mattress — as he has done for more than a decade.
"We don't trust anything anymore. Not even the banking institutions," Partcha said. "I had saved in dollars, and when the banks froze deposits in 2001, I got pesos back and lost my money."
"We're so used to these levels of uncertainty that the Argentine has developed a sort of workout routine to deal with" economic instability, he said.
The crisis 13 years ago was so bad that one of every five Argentines was out of work and some reported going hungry. The peso, which had been tied to the dollar, lost nearly 70 per cent of its value.
Banks froze deposits and barricaded behind sheet metal as thousands of protesters unsuccessfully tried to withdraw their savings. At least 27 people died in protests and looting that swept Argentina in December 2001 as South America's second-largest economy unravelled and eventually defaulted on a debt of more than US$100 billion. Argentina saw a revolving door of five presidents over two weeks.
Restoring Argentina's sense of pride and sovereignty after that collapse has been the central goal of President Cristina Fernandez and her late husband and political predecessor, Nestor Kirchner. The presidential couple negotiated or paid off most of Argentina's defaulted debt, nationalised the pension system, and retook control of the national airline and oil company. They also kept energy cheap through subsidies and dug deep into the treasury to redirect revenue to the poor through handouts.
For several years, Argentina enjoyed annual growth of seven per cent fuelled by the high prices foreigners paid for the country's soybeans and other agricultural commodities.
But now, Argentina suffers from a shortage of dollars, one of the world's highest inflation rates and an inability to tap into global credit markets because of its debt default.
Argentina's economy this year is expected to expand by no more than 1.5 per cent, mainly because of lower commodity prices and waning demand from China for its agricultural goods. The government's policy of nationalising private firms has also spooked investors.
Inflation estimated last year at 28 per cent and projected to be even higher in 2014, forces rounds of wage and price negotiations. Hugo Moyano, one of Argentina's most powerful union leaders, recently said inflation is "eating up salaries" and "must be corrected and compensated."
The government recently eased tough restrictions on exchanging pesos for foreign currencies after they backfired by pushing many Argentines to buy dollars on the black market.
Independent economists say the government's pullback on currency controls is just a bandage for a wounded economy that needs to contain inflation by dialling back public spending. The government, in turn, blames banks, energy companies and big businesses, accusing them of speculating with the peso and raising prices to provoke instability.
Kicillof, now the economy minister, on Wednesday announced agreements with business leaders aimed at keeping the peso's sharp depreciation from leading to higher prices for consumer goods. Producers of steel, aluminum, metal products, petrochemicals and plastics are to hold prices to the levels of January 21 — the day before the peso's big drop.
Amid fears of even higher inflation, Argentines are seeking to protect their wealth by buying cars and real estate.
"I'm investing in my own house, building it with my husband. That gives me security because I don't have to pay rent that constantly goes through the roof," said Miriam Rodriguez, 35, a maid who lives on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. "Bricks are a good way of guaranteeing some stability."
Rodriguez said rising prices have forced her to make other changes. She's stopped buying clothes as well as top brands at the supermarkets, and she canceled her Internet and cable TV service. When she gets together for a dinner with friends, everyone brings their own food.
"I'm not worried about the dollar," she said. "I don't even have money to go trade for dollars."
IMF predicts economic growth for St Kitts-Nevis
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting economic growth as high as three per cent for St Kitts-Nevis in 2014.
An IMF mission Friday ended a three-day visit to the twin island Federation conducting reviews of the three-year US$84-million Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) the country has with the Washington-based financial lending institution.
The IMF team headed by Judith Gold said that there has been considerable progress under the authorities’ economic reform programme, noting that after a four-year contraction of economic activity there were firm signs of a recovery in 2013.
It said that Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by 1.7 per cent with a pickup in tourism and construction, notwithstanding declines in the manufacturing and communications sectors. Employment also showed signs of improvement with the number of total employees up by 10.2 per cent and wages up by 5.1 per cent in the first half of 2013. Inflation has remained low at 0.6 per cent.
Gold said notwithstanding the challenges associated with the prolonged recession and the debt restructuring, the financial system has remained stable.
She said the recovery in tourism receipts and strong increase in Citizenship by Investment (CBI) application fees contributed to a narrowing of the current account deficit from over 20 per cent prior to 2011 to about 11-12 per cent in 2012 and 2013.
Pressure mounts for Apple to expand its horizons
Apple reshaped technology and society when Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone seven years ago. Now, the trend-setting company is losing ground to rivals that offer what Apple has stubbornly refused to make: smartphones with lower prices and larger screens than the iPhone.
The void in Apple's line-up is a major reason why the company's quarterly revenue may be about to fall for the first time in more than a decade, much to the dismay of investors who are worried that Apple Inc is losing its verve and vision.
Wall Street vented its frustration after Apple reported late Monday that it sold fewer iPhones than analysts anticipated during the holiday season. Apple compounded that disappointment with a forecast raising the possibility of a slight revenue decline in the current quarter. It would be the first time that Apple's quarterly revenue has dropped from the previous year since 2003.
Apple's stock shed US$44, or eight per cent, to close last Tuesday at US$506.50, marking the company's largest one-day drop in a year. The sell-off leaves the stock about 28 per cent below its peak of US$705.07, reached in September 2012 when Apple's leadership in smartphones and tablet computers was still generating robust revenue growth.
Since then, Apple has been relinquishing market share to Samsung Electronics Inc and other companies that primarily make devices running Google Inc's Android operating system. Those competitors offer a broader selection of designs and prices than the iPhone and the iPad.
That trend is one of the reasons that Apple's revenue growth hasn't exceeded 6 per cent in any of the past three quarters. By contrast, Apple's quarterly revenue was consistently increasing by at least 20 per cent two years ago and even exceeded 70 per cent during the 2011 holiday quarter.
Apple remains in stellar shape financially, coming off a US$13 billion profit in its most recent quarter -- more than all but a handful of companies make in an entire year. The Cupertino, California, company also is sitting on nearly US$159 billion in cash.
But Apple's stock is unlikely to bounce back to its previous high unless the company's growth accelerates.
The challenges facing Apple have been most glaring in the smartphone market.
Phones in less affluent parts of the world are selling for less than US$200. By comparison, iPhones sold for an average of US$637 in Apple's most recent quarter. Even Apple's cheaper iPhone 5C is just US$100 less than the high-end 5S.
Meanwhile, a variety of Android phones boast screens measuring five to 6.5 inches diagonally, while the latest iPhones are all four inches.
Apple's insistence on catering to the upper end of the smartphone market with only one choice of screen size is undercutting the company's growth, International Data Research analyst Ramon Llamas said.
"There is a gap where Apple is not playing, and it's clear that many users want some of these other things in a phone," Llamas said.
As a result, Apple's share of the smartphone market fell from nearly 19 per cent at the end of 2012 to about 15 per cent last year, according to IDC. Samsung remains the market leader with a 31 per cent share at the end of last year, up a notch from 30 per cent in 2012.
Apple tried to widen the iPhone's appeal with the cheaper 5C, which was essentially a recycled version of the iPhone's previous generation. To make the 5C look like something new, Apple dressed it up in a brightly coloured array of plastic casings.
In Monday's conference call with analysts, Apple CEO Tim Cook made it clear that the 5C didn't sell as well as the company anticipated, though he didn't provide specifics. Cook hailed the 5S model as the star performer in the company's holiday quarter.