CDB, UK sign agreement to add GBP30 million to infrastructure fund
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS GOVERNMENT NOTICE: PRE–TENDER MEETING
The Turks and Caicos Islands Government would like to invite potential tenderers to a Pre-Tender Meeting for:
Design and Construction of Promenade and Craft Market
for Bottle Creek, North Caicos, TR 18/08
The meeting will be held on Thursday, 9 August, 2018 at 10:00 A.M. at the PWD Conference Room, Butterfield Square, Downtown, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.
Additional information may be obtained from the Turks and Caicos Islands Government’s website: https://www.gov.tc/government-tenders.
SECRETARY TO THE TCIG PROCUREMENT BOARD
Tuesday, 7 August 2018
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS GOVERNMENT TENDER NOTICE
The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism, Environment, Heritage, Maritime and Gaming invites open tenders for the following Contract:
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF PROMENADE AND CRAFT MARKET FOR BOTTLE CREEK, NORTH CAICOS, TR 18/08
Additional information for these Contracts may be obtained from the Turks and Caicos Islands Government’s website at http://www.gov.tc/government-tenders.
Tenders are to be submitted in a sealed envelope by 9:00 A.M. on Wednesday, 12 September 2018 directly to:
The Secretary to the Procurement Board
Office of the Deputy Governor
Waterloo Plaza (upstairs Scotiabank)
Waterloo Road
Grand Turk
Turks and Caicos Islands
The Turks and Caicos Islands Government is not bound to accept any tender, and reserves the right to annul the tender process at any time prior to award of Contract.
SECRETARY TO THE PROCUREMENT BOARD
Monday, 7 August 2018
TCI Cadets Go to Barbados
The Turks and Caicos Cadets Corps are attending the Caribbean cadet camp on the island of Barbados along with cadets from Antigua, Cayman Islands, Barbados, Bvi, Dominican, st Lucia, Monserrat, Trinidad, st Vincent, Jamaica and other Caribbean countries.
The Premier Robinson, Minister of Education, Hon Karen Malcolm and HH The Speaker, Hon Dwayne Taylor were on hand to see our Cadets off to Camp in Barbados.
This Turks & Caicos T-shirt Company Is Donating All Of Its Profits to Local Education
Since 2016, the I Want To Live On An Island (IWTLOAI) company has been selling a variety of T-shirt styles both on Providenciales and via their online store. Their message is a simple one that resonates with many, but it's their cause that makes this brand a special one. For the last few years, the team behind the shirts — TCI residents Jenny Douglas and Camille Slattery — have been donating 25 percent of their profits to school tuition for elementary school-age children who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to attend school. And unfortunately, there are many kids who fall into this category due to space constraints at government schools and the high cost of private schools.
Today, the IWTLOAI team is upping their efforts. Now all profits from T-shirt sales will go to sponsoring local children so they have an opportunity to attend school. That's right — every single dollar will go back to the community in the name of education.
TCSPCA ANIMAL BUS HAS ARRIVED ON SOUTH CAICOS!
After a few anxious days last week of not knowing whether or not the barge was making a trip to South Caicos the TCSPCA Animal Bus finally arrived early Saturday morning and is now parked safely on the grounds of the School for Field Studies.
The bus was greeted by some school boys who are planning to bring their pets to the clinic when it opens on Thursday August 9th. The TCSPCA has been providing veterinary care on South Caicos for the past 8 years and their efforts have improved the lives of hundreds of dogs and cats that are now spayed & neutered. Also, many pet owners have become more educated on how to care for their pets by giving their dogs monthly heartworm preventative and making sure their annual vaccinations are up to date.
They also welcome Dr. Terry Eylers DVM who will be arriving from New York. Dr. Eylers is from the Peace Love Pets Veterinary Care Center located in Commack NY and she is very excited about visiting the Turks and Caicos Islands for the first time. She is also looking forward to volunteering in the Spay/Neuter clinic on an island where pet owners have no access to regular vet care.
They are looking forward to a very busy and productive week on South Caicos.
Bahamian Court blocks demolition of Shanty Towns
Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson on Saturday granted an injunction blocking the demolition of shantytown structures.
The government had given residents of most shantytowns on New Providence until August 10 to leave before demolition begins.The injunction was granted a day after the judge granted leave for a judicial review of the government’s actions regarding the shantytowns.
On Friday, the judge agreed to hear the injunction application at 1 p.m. on Saturday via telephone conference.It is unclear how long the injunction is in place.
“The exact terms of the injunction are being discussed between [attorney] Fred Smith and myself because I don’t accept that his interpretation of what the judge said is correct,” said Attorney General Carl Bethel. “I’ve sent him some wording that reflects my view of what I heard the judge say and so I’m waiting to hear from him.
“Whatever the actual wording was the judge clearly issued an injunction restraining any steps towards any sort of relocation or removal of derelict structures past the 10th deadline.
The attorney general stressed that as the matter is now in court, it would be inappropriate for him to deal with the merits of the case.
But he said there is no possibility that demolition will commence when the deadline expires on Friday.Lawyers representing a group of 177 shantytowns residents – including some people who live in Abaco shantytowns – filed an application for leave to apply for judicial review last Tuesday.
The applicants are seeking a declaration that the decisions made as a part of the government’s shantytown eradication program are unconstitutional, and are therefore void, illegal and of no effect.
Among other reliefs, they are seeking an order restraining the government from entering the shantytowns and causing any utilities connected to it to be disconnected other than according to law.
They are also seeking damages for the “infringement” of the applicants’ constitutional rights.
That application also sought an interim injunction “pending the determination of this action or pending determination of this application or until further order restraining the respondents directly or through their agents, appointees or employees from taking possession of, demolishing any building on, or otherwise interfering with the individual applicants’ and other residents’ and occupiers’ enjoyment of land in shantytowns throughout The Bahamas, including by disconnecting any utilities other than pursuant to the relevant enabling legislation.”
“The application is about the lawfulness of the decisions by which the government respondents are seeking to implement the policy, and the constitutionality of the policy itself,” the court document states.
“In essence they have presumed a right to take possession of land where no right has been established or lawfully exercised, and they have used unlawful threats to demolish buildings and disconnect utilities as a proxy for taking possession. “More generally, the policy is unconstitutional because in applying only to the areas the government has designated as shantytowns it discriminates unlawfully against people of Haitian race or origin.”
New Haitian prime minister appointed
Almost a month after the Haitian fuel-price subsidy riots that caused previous Haitian prime minister, Jack Guy Lafontant, to resign his position, President Jovenel Moïse has appointed Jean-Henry Céant to become the new prime minister of Haiti.
Moïse made the announcement of selecting Céant on Twitter: “After consultations with the presidents of the two branches of Parliament, I made the choice of citizen @jeanhenryceant as new prime minister.”
Céant, who was also a presidential candidate in the 2016 Haitian elections, comes in at a time where anger and resentment over the fuel-price subsidy removal is still fresh in the mind of Haitians.
The fuel-price subsidy removal, which was reversed by his predecessor Lafontant shortly before resigning his post or facing an all but certain expulsion through a vote of no confidence, is still an issue Haiti is grappling with, as the costs of continuing the subsidy far outweigh spending on healthcare, the World Bank estimated in its 2014 report on the Haitian post-earthquake recovery efforts.
Céant has limited experience in public and government administration, but has been a part of, or has founded or co-founded several social charities and socially conscious organisations in Haiti and is very active in Haitian civil society.
American billionaire Stan Kroenke makes $777m offer for 100% ownership of Arsenal
The takeover battle for English Premier League side Arsenal between American and Russian billionaires could be about to end.
On Tuesday, Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke made a $777 million (£600m) offer to assume full control of the English Premier League club, which would take its value to $2.33 billion (£1.8 billion).
Kroenke, who currently owns 67% of the club through his company KSE, has put forward a proposal to buy the remainder of the club's shares -- 30% of which are owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and his company Red and White Securities. The deal was published on the London Stock Exchange Tuesday.
"We at KSE are moving forward with this offer leading to 100 per cent ownership of the club," the statement read. "We appreciate Mr Usmanov's dedication to the Arsenal Football Club and the storied ethos and history the club represents."
Uzbek-born businessman Usmanov tycoon is worth $12.8 billion, according to Forbes, but he never attained a seat on the Arsenal board.
"KSE's ambitions for the club are to see it competing consistently to win the Premier League and the Champions League, as well as the major trophies in the women's senior game and at youth level," added the KSE statement. Arsenal finished sixth last season and will play in the Europe's second tier competition -- the Europa League -- during the 2018/2019 campaign.