TCHTA's former Lit'l Chef wins big at Taste of the Caribbean 2016
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands: June 16, 2016- TCHTA's former Lit'l Chef Robinangel Simmons walked away with the prestigious “Caribbean Junior Chef of the Year" Hall of Fame Award at this year's Taste of the Caribbean event in Miami, after competing against fourteen other junior chefs from around the region.
Robinangel was a part of the contingent who recently returned to TCI after competing at the event after an almost 20-year hiatus. The decision to compete at the event which provides a forum for culinary teams to learn, demonstrate their skills and provide the general public with an exhibition of the most savoury and delectable treats of the islands, was one which Team TCI can look back on with great pride and accomplishment.
Stacy Cox who cheered on the team every step of the way noted, “I am overjoyed and overwhelmed and truly feel like a proud mother after seeing what our team was capable of producing at this year’s Taste of the Caribbean and the level of professionalism they exhibited during the various competitions. After years of not being a part of such a forum we are already slated to compete next year and will be starting our preparations early as we aim to take home all of the coveted Hall of Fame Awards. We encourage all of TCI to come out on July 13 to our Taste of Team TCI fundraiser event at Seven Stars Resort where you will get an opportunity to sample the winning dishes and cocktails from Taste of the Caribbean. Also we encourage you to travel with us to Miami next year to witness for yourself what I know will be an outstanding presentation by the 2017 Team TCI”.
Cox added, “All of our team members performed so superbly, I can’t help but say again that the level of
Professionalism and camaraderie displayed was phenomenal. Not only did we walk away with the “Caribbean Junior of the Year” Hall of Fame Award but also received Gold, Silver and Honorary Awards in various categories.”
Minister for Tourism shared the good news with the HOA-
• Caribbean National Team of the Year – Silver
• Caribbean Junior Chef of the Year – Gold - Robinangel Simmons
• Caribbean Chef of the Year – Silver – Edward Gallardo
• Caribbean Bartender of the Year – Silver - Jean Tissaint
• Caribbean Pastry Chef of the Year – Honourary – Yoginder Singh
• Seafood Competition – Gold – Joseph Charles
• Beef Competition – Silver - Edward Gallardo
• Cheesecake Competition - Honourary – Yoginder Singh
TCHTA congratulated Team TCI for representing the culinary world of TCI and encouraged them to perfect their skills in order to take TCI cuisine to another level.
Colin Watson – Executive Chef, Beaches TCI (Team Manager) | Joseph Charles – Executive Chef, West Bay Club | Edwin Gallardo – Executive Chef, Seven Stars Resort | Yoginder Singh – Pastry Chef, Beaches TCI | Robinangel Simons – Jr. Chef, The Regent Palms| Jean Tissaint – Bartender, Seven Stars Resort | Ian Ongjoco – Student Chef | Martin Wilkiens – Student Chef
TCHTA also thanked those sponsors who made travelling to Miami and competing this year possible.
DDME Culinary Cook-off
On 15th June 2016, The Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies and the TCI Community College Providenciales, hosted its first Culinary Cook-off, which was held at the TCI Community College, Downtown Providenciales.
The Student Chefs were given the opportunity to showcase their talents and further develop their culinary skills. It also helped to highlight how a well-balanced meal could be prepared following a disaster event such as a hurricane.
The aim of culinary competition was showcase the versatility of using disaster food items to prepare a creative, nutritional meal using only items normally available after a disaster event. This can serve to broaden the meals available to persons post a disaster even to get away from the norm of eating a lot of snack foods, which so many of us tend to do following a hurricane event.
There were two teams comprising of three chefs and one head chef. The teams were known as team “A” and team “B”. The following chefs made up the teams:
Team “B” won the competition with a score of: 518 points
The Judges for the event were: Chef Nik, from Crackpot Kitchen, Mr. Eddy from Fresh Catch Restaurant, Mrs. Dorothy Clarke, and Mrs. Almartha Thomas.
This inaugural culinary competition also gave the young chefs a chance to further develop their culinary skills, but mainly it is to further emphasis the department’s commitment to involving our schools and education institutions in disaster management.
The future disaster managers will come from our schools, so it is important that we introduce them to the disciple at an early age.
FortisTCI Limited and the Turks and Caicos Islands National Insurance Board Close on US$5 Million Bond Agreement
FortisTCI Limited (the Company) and the Turks and Caicos Islands National Insurance Board (NIB) held a joint press conference to announce the closing of a US$5 million bond agreement. The closing consisted of a US$5 million 5.14% Bond Issue 2016/2031, due by July 1, 2031.
The net proceeds from the bond issue will be used to finance a portion of the Company’s estimated capital expenditure of approximately $70 million during 2016 and 2017 and will be paid 100% at par value plus accrued interest on redeemed amount.
Negotiations for this bond began in February of this year. It was during this period that members of the FortisTCI Senior Management Team met with the NIB Board of Directors to provide a complete overview of the Company’s operations and for the NIB to conduct its due diligence exercise.
The NIB has a bond portfolio valued at US$40,359,465 (unaudited) at the end of April 2016. Historically, the NIB has always made special provision for local investments in its portfolio, which is guided by the Domestic Investment Policy in the Investment Policy Statement.
The NIB believes that besides the social impact of investing locally that the TCI being a rapidly growing economy provides an opportunity to earn competitive risk-adjusted returns. Over the years, the NIB has primarily invested with the public sector or with quasi-government entities but has also invested in private entities. While historically this investment is not the largest local investment to date, it is significant in terms of the fact that it affords the people of the Turks & Caicos Islands an avenue to invest in a local reputable and fiscally sound company through their contributions entrusted to the NIB.
NIB Chairlady Lillian Misick added that "The Board of Directors believes that this investment with FortisTCI represents the ideal type of local investment that the NIB should be pursuing, considering the underutilization of funds allocated for domestic investment. It also provides the opportunity for the Board to pursue its mandate to grow the fund to meet its future statutory obligations."
FortisTCI President and CEO Eddinton Powell said, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the Board of Directors of the Turks and Caicos Islands National Insurance Board. FortisTCI is indeed a strong company and a good investment that the Turks and Caicos Islands can be proud of. I join in celebrating this landmark achievement for FortisTCI, the NIB, and the people of Turks and Caicos Islands. I hope that this bond investment by the NIB in FortisTCI will be the first of many.”
61st Annual Health Research Conference
The Ministry of Health Agriculture and Human Services in collaboration with the Caribbean Public Health (CARPHA) will be hosting the 61st Annual Health Research Conference. This is the first time the conference is being held in our 'Beautiful by nature Turks and Caicos Islands,' at Beaches Turks and Caicos, 23-25 June 2016. It will be preceded by a series of workshops and satellite meetings beginning 18 June 2016. This conference will attract about two-hundred local, regional and international researchers, medical professionals, university professors and health students from the broader Caribbean, USA, Canada and the UK. The theme of the conference is Family Health: Health Living at All Ages.
The conference will host a number of capacity building workshops, which will be attended by TCI health practitioners to strengthen the health system and health services delivery in the TCI. Monitoring and Evaluation, Data Analysis, Policy Dialogue, and Community Based Rehabilitation are some of the workshops being offered during the-preconference and conference week. Which also includes the meeting of the Chief Medical Officers of the Region.
Dr. The Hon Premier and Minister of Health, Agriculture and Human Services stated; "This is a historic moment with tremendous exposure for the TCI." He added; "It is an opportunity for our local health professionals to share their experiences and challenges and at the same time be educated and informed, the TCI welcomes CARPHA and delegates."
The premier was speaking during the house of assembly which just concluded.
CANDIDATES VYING TO BE STANDARD-BEARERS FOR THE PROGRESSIVE NATIONAL PARTY
The Progressive National party today broke the news to RTC of the proposed candidate listing for the upcoming General elections.
On the presented list, incumbents that are unopposed or one person vying to be the Standard-bearer has been added for the Progressive National Party, except in constituencies where the listed nominees meets the requirements for the respective constituencies.
The following is the list of constituencies where primaries will be held with multiple persons vying to be standard-bearers for the Progressive National Party: In ED 1, Grand Turk North; ED 3, South Caicos; ED 4, North and Middle Caicos; ED 8 Blue Hills and ED 10 Wheeland. There will be a selection process to determine the five standard-bearers for ED 11, All Island.
GRAND TURK NORTH ED 1
1. Hon. George Lightbourne (Incumbent)
2. Ms Sharon Simons
GRAND TURK SOUTH AND SALT CAY ED 2
1. Arthur Lightbourne
SOUTH CAICOS ED 3
1. Mrs. Ruth Blackman
2. Mr. Alden Durham
3. Mr. Dorn Fulford
4. Mr. Andrew Hall
5. Mr. Alvin Parker
NORTH AND MIDDLE CAICOS ED 4
1. Mr. Mark Fulford
2. Mr. Tueton Willims
LEEWARD ED 5
1. Hon. Akierra Misick (Incumbent)
THE BIGHT ED 6
1. Hon. Porsha Stubbs-Smith (Incumbent)
CHESHIRE HALL AND RICHMOND HILLS ED 7
1. Hon. Amanda Missick (Incumbent)
BLUE HILLS ED 8
1. Mrs. Claudene Pratt
2. Mr. Adrian Williams
FIVE CAYS ED 9
1. Mrs. Rachel Taylor
WHEELAND ED 10
1. Mr. Dameko Dean
2. Mr. Elry Lightbourne
ALL ISLAND ED 11
1. Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing, Premier (Incumbent)
2. Mr. Earle Barranco
3. Mr. Samuel Been
4. Mr. Trevor Cooke
5. Hon. Ricardo Donhue Gardiner
6. Mr. John Malcolm
7. Hon. C. Washington Misick (Incumbent)
8. Hon. Norman Saunders
9. Ms Alicia Swann
10. Mrs. Sheba Wilson
Royal Robinson party Chair told RTC News moments ago that the candidates listed have signed the Party’s Pledges, most particularly the one provided in Schedule 2 Part A of our Party’s Constitution, which will be part of the primary or selection process by the National Executive Committee for recommendation to the National General Council for ratification next month during the NEC.
RUGBY 2016
The High school rugby competition ended over the weekend past in Provo with various new comers taking part.
The defending champions HJ Robinson won in one category but lost in the other.
Trump's Orlando Comments Deepen Republican Split
Just over a month ago, Democrats were fretting about their party's unity challenges facing their presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton. Now Republicans are wringing their heads over their expected standard-bearer, Donald Trump after certain comments he has been making.
Trump complicated his own unity efforts this week with divisive comments in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando, doubling down on his proposed Muslim ban and suggesting that President Barack Obama's priorities were more with the terrorists than the American people.
Jim Malone shares more on the latest debatable.
Orlando Shooting
Obama condemns LGBT discrimination Discrimination against LGBT people must be tackled at home and abroad, President Obama has said after meeting relatives of Orlando attack victims.
A gunman killed 49 people on Sunday morning at a gay nightclub in the city.
Mr Obama challenged the Republican-controlled Congress to pass gun control legislation.
But Republican Senator John McCain said the president was "directly responsible" because he had failed to tackle the Islamic State group.
Gunman Omar Mateen claimed allegiance to the militant group as he carried out the massacre.
The senator said: "When he pulled everybody out of Iraq, al-Qaeda went to Syria, became Isis [Islamic State], and Isis is what it is today thanks to Barack Obama's failures, utter failures, by pulling everybody out of Iraq."
He later clarified that he did not mean the president was personally responsible.
On Thursday, hundreds of people gathered outside the Amway Center in Orlando as the president and Vice-President Joe Biden consoled relatives inside.
Microsoft to help track legalised marijuana sales
Microsoft has teamed up with California-based technology start-up Kind Financial, which helps businesses and government agencies track sales of legalised marijuana "from seed to sale".
It is the first-ever partnership of its kind for Microsoft.
Kind has been selling its marijuana tracking software to businesses and governments for some three years.
The start-up will now be able work on Microsoft's government cloud.
Kind's software, which is called Agrisoft Seed to Sale, "closes the loop between marijuana-related businesses, regulatory agencies, and financial institutions," a press release said.
Third internet peering forum to be held in the Caribbean next year
WILLEMSTAD, Curacao — The third Caribbean Peering and Interconnection Forum will be held on June 7, 2017, and the Internet community is already looking forward to it.
Referred to as CarPIF, the annual forum is two days of meetings and deal-making specifically to promote regional Internet development. The first CarPIF meeting was held in May 2015, Barbados, the second in June 2016 in Curacao.
Major global players look forward to these peering forums, or PIFs, because they provide a perfect setting for brokering new business deals in the various regional markets around the world. And the significance of the opportunity is hardly lost on Caribbean internet stakeholders.
This year, more than 100 key decision makers from across the region — including officials from internet organisations, telecommunications regulators and governments — gathered in Willemstad for the opportunity to meet with exchange point operators, Internet service providers and well-known international content providers, including Facebook, Google and Akamai.