Olympic Gold Medalist Sanya Richards-Ross to Speak at Shore Club Ground-breaking Event in Turks and Caicos
Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-‐Ross will visit the Turks and Caicos Islands on January 17.
The Jamaican born Olympic track and field world champion will visit the exclusive Caribbean destination to speak at a ground-‐breaking celebration and career fair for the $100 million Shore Club.
Richards-Ross’ travel agenda includes joining Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing, Governor Sir Peter Beckingham, and Hartling Group CEO Stan Hartling for a ground-‐breaking ceremony at Long Bay Beach, the location of the Shore Club on Providenciales. Richards-‐Ross will then deliver a keynote address to the Turks and Caicos graduating class of 2014 at a career fair being held at the Regent Palms Resort.
“Ms. Richards-Ross is an inspiring individual in so many ways,” says Hartling Group CEO and Shore Club developer Stan Hartling. “Ms. Richards-Ross’ incredible achievements in sport and academics, combined with her commitment to promote literacy and numeracy through her Fast Track Program in Jamaica, provides a perfect example of how hard work and a passion to achieve a specific life goal can be accomplished. We are delighted Ms. Richards-Ross will be joining our event and we look forward to introducing her to the 300+ students who are members of the class of 2014 in Turks and Caicos Islands.”
The Hartling Group is one of the largest employers in the Turks and Caicos Islands, employing approximately 400 people at its resorts The Sands on Grace Bay and the Regent Palms Resort.
The 114 suite Sands Resort celebrated its 15th birthday this year. The resort has earned numerous awards including the 2013 Condé Nast Traveler, Reader's Choice Award for Top 15 Resorts in the Atlantic and Caribbean, and the 2013 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence .
The luxurious 72 suite Regent Turks & Caicos is a multi award winning property that has earned numerous awards since it opened in 2005, and most recently a spot on the Conde Nast Traveler 2014 Gold List, and the Conde Nast Traveler 2013 Readers’ Poll Awards #1 Top Resort Spa: The Caribbean.
The Shore Club is the third resort to be developed by the award winning Hartling Group. DECCO, a Dart Enterprises company based in Cayman Islands, will provide construction management and financing services for the project. Upon completion, the Shore Club will feature 38 condos and six luxury villas on a nine acre property spanning over 800 feet of beachfront on Long Bay. Project construction starts in January. For more information visit www.theshoreclubtc.com.
Police updates the Nation on the capsized Haitian sloop
Following the capsize of a Haitian sloop on Christmas day, (Wednesday, December 25, 2013) in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), the Ministry of Border Control and Labour has confirmed to RTC News that 31 of the survivors who were detained have been questioned by the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) were repatriated to Haiti on 1 January 2014.
The 32nd member of this group is assisting the RTCIPF with their inquiries and will be released back into the custody of immigration officials today. He will be repatriated in due course.
The Coroner is still holding the bodies of the 17 Haitians who perished.
The TCI Government is in discussions with the local Haitian Consulate who will determine what will happen to these remains when they are released to them. One option is for the remains to be repatriated with the costs of this effort being met by the Haitian authorities, although this is has not yet to been confirmed to RTC News.
New Non Stop Flights to Puerto Plata, Samana and Providenciales
After Air Turks & Caicos recently unveiled its new name-change to InterCaribbean Airways, the company told RTC News,'We are pleased to announce new air service schedules connecting San Juan to Puerto Plata and Samana in the Dominican Republic, and for the first time a flight connection between San Juan and Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos Islands. With onward connections, now 1 stop connections in the Caribbean to Kingston Jamaica and Nassau, Bahamas are now possible.'
Effective January 20, 2014 traveling from San Juan is convenient, affordable and available to business and leisure travelers with the introduction of these new routes. The Citizens, Residents and Visitors of Puerto Rico looking to create new business and leisure opportunities can take advantage of the following flights starting January 20th 2014, and are now bookable immediately.
Flight No Dep Arr Days Dep Time Arrival Time
SAN JUAN TO PUERTO PLATA
JY291 SJU POP Mo We 4:25 PM 5:55 PM
JY236 SJU POP Fr Su 4:25 PM 5:55 PM
PUERTO PLATA TO SAN JUAN
JY292 POP SJU Tu Th 11:50 AM 1:20 PM
JY235 POP SJU Fr Su 2:00 PM 3:30 PM
SAN JUAN TO SAMANA
JY 291 SJU AZS Fr Su 4:25 PM 5:40 PM
SAN JUAN TO PROVIDENCIALES
JY 292 SJU PLS Mo Tu Th Sa 02:10 PM 3:00 PM
PROVIDENCIALES TO SAN JUAN
JY 291 PLS SJU Mo We Fr Su 12:45 PM 3:35 PM
Flights from San Juan to Providenciales offer immediate connections to Nassau, Bahamas and Kingston, Jamaica making connections to Islands within the Caribbean a reality. To book a flight contact your local travel agent, call interCaribbean at 1-888-957-3223, or book on-line at flyairtc.com.
Cubans can now buy new and used cars freely
Cubans are now able to buy modern cars freely for the first time since the revolution in 1959.
Previously, Cubans had to get a government permit to buy new vehicles. That requirement has now been abolished but only a minority will benefit.
The state has a monopoly on new car sales and is marking up prices by 400% or more.
Freeing up car sales is the latest in a series of reforms in Communist-run Cuba.
Until new regulations in 2011, people could only sell cars built before the 1959 revolution.
For new cars, people needed a much-sought government permit - a privilege mainly bestowed on senior officials, top athletes and artists.
Permits were often traded on the black market for large sums of cash.
Now, Cubans will no longer need the government's approval to buy new cars from state-owned sellers.
But prices remain out of reach for many.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford, in Havana, says a new Peugeot 508 estate at a showroom in the Cuban capital is on sale for an extraordinary $262,000.
That is eight times more than what it would cost in Britain, for example.
And used cars are not much cheaper. Our correspondent says a five-year-old Peugeot 206 is priced at $85,000.
The vast majority of people in Cuba earn a state wage of around $20 (£12) per month.
The government says some of the profits from sales will go towards developing Cuba's decrepit public transport system.
Following reforms adopted two years ago, Cubans could buy and sell used cars from each other, but had still to request authorisation from the government to purchase a new vehicle or a second-hand one from state-controlled retailers.
Priority for the permits was given to people "in positions of benefit to the government", such as doctors and diplomats.
From Friday, new regulations came into force allowing "the retail sale of new and used motorcycles, cars, vans, small trucks and mini buses for Cubans and foreign residents, companies and diplomats".
People who already have permits are expected to be given priority, however. And buyers will still need to purchase vehicles through state retailers.
Cubans and foreigners will not be able to import their own cars.
The move is part of a series of reforms driven by President Raul Castro aimed at updating the Cuban economic model.
Raul Castro has championed limited free-market reforms since taking the reins of power from his brother Fidel in 2008.
Source-BBC
US visitor - first road fatality in Trinidad
Twenty year old Leon Jagroop has become Trinidad's first road fatality in Trinidad for 2014.
The United States resident died while being treated hospital, after the car he was driving overturned on the north bound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Trinidad yesterday morning.
Jagroop, a safety officer who lived in Queens, New York came to Trinidad on vacation on December 4.
He is the son of Police Inspector Salick Jagroop who is attached to the Point Fortin Police Station in Trinidad. Jagroop was expected to return to the US next week to take up a position in the United States army.
However, around 3.30 a.m. Jagroop, who was staying at Mohess Road, Debe, lost control of his silver Toyota Corolla along the south bound lane of the highway, near Claxton Bay.
The car overturned and landed on the north bound lane of the roadway. Jagroop was rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital where he died while being treated.
Source-Express
St Lucia’s records its first murder for 2014
A police officer came under fire from gunmen as St Lucia recorded its first homicide for the new year.
A police statement confirmed that a 27-year-old man was shot and killed in New Village in the capital last night, adding that “subsequent to that incident, several shots were fired at a police officer who was in the vicinity of New Village”.
It gave no further details, but residents of he area said that police officers came under fire from gunmen when they turned up to investigate the murder of Joel Nobal, who was shot in the head.
In the statement, the police said they had observed Nobal’s body seated on a bench under a shed with a gunshot wound to the head. He was later pronounced dead on the scene by a medical practitioner.
Police said that one man is assisting their investigations.
Source-CMC
U.S. deports 3,414 Dominicans in 2013, beats the 3,245 in 2012
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 3,414 Dominicans in 2013 –including 62 women- after serving sentences in U.S. jails accused of various crimes, compared with the 3,245 escorted back in 2012.
The ex-convicts served sentences for drug trafficking , murder , assault, theft, forgery, fraud , rape , kidnapping, extortion, money laundering , arson, domestic violence and other federal crimes.
The returnees were brought to the country in 22 flights on planes leased by ICE , which landed at Las Americas Airport from the US.
Prior to arriving in Dominican Republic the aircraft also land in Central American countries to hand over the groups of deportes.
Britain to provide aid to St Lucia and St Vincent
Britain is providing EC$1 million for vital emergency humanitarian support to St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia following the widespread destruction and deaths caused by a low level trough system late last month.
Britain said it would provide essential drugs and medical supplies as well as water and sanitation equipment.
It says the support will be delivered through the Pan American Health Organisation.
The UK Minister of State for International Development, Alan Duncan, is visiting the region, and is meeting with the prime ministers of the two affected countries to discuss the humanitarian situation and reconstruction needs.
American Hustle among Producers Guild nominees
Crime caper American Hustle and space drama Gravity are among the 10 movies up for the Producers Guild of America's version of a best picture prize.
12 Years a Slave and Nebraska are also nominated for its 'outstanding producer of theatrical motion pictures' award.
The Butler and Coen brothers movie Inside Llewyn Davis are notably absent from the 10 films, one of which will collect the prize on 19 January.
The guild's decision comes six weeks before the Oscars on 2 March.
In the last six years, the recipient of the PGA's top award has gone on to be named best picture at the Academy Awards.
Argo, which took the main prize at last year's ceremony, was also the top dog at the 2012 Oscars.
Eight of the 10 films nominated by the Producers Guild last year went on to be nominated in the Academy Awards' best picture category.
Other cinematic releases in contention include Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street and Tom Hanks thriller Captain Phillips.
Fact-based Aids drama Dallas Buyers Club, Spike Jonze's oddball romance Her and Saving Mr Banks, in which Tom Hanks also appears, round out the PGA shortlist.
But there is no place for August: Orange County, a darkly comic family drama starring Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep, or Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom biopic starring Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela.
Despite this, US producer Harvey Weinstein - whose company is distributing both films as well as the Dame Judi Dench drama Philomena - remained upbeat about their Oscar chances.
"We've been so lucky," he told the BBC on Friday, saying the films he is handling had a "great showing" in both the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations.
"It is Bafta and the Academy [of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences] that count the most. Let's see what happens there."
"This is a big year," Weinstein added. "There's a lot of great movies, probably the best in a long time. I think the whole race is wide open."
Bafta - the British Academy of Film and Television Arts - announce the nominations for their 2014 film awards on Wednesday.
Source-BBC
Busta Rhymes hops on Differentology
American rapper Busta Rhymes is featured on the remix of Trinidadian soca artiste Bunji Garlin's song Differentology.
The original version of Differentology was released for the 2013 Trinidad Carnival.
It became a huge hit throughout the Caribbean.
The remix, produced by electro dance maestros Major Lazer, has done well on the American and British club scene.
Differentology won the 2013 Soul Train Music award for Best International Performance and MTV Iggy's Song of the Year.
The track was distributed through VP Records.