Airbnb and Caribbean Tourism Organization strengthen partnership
Travel platform Airbnb and the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) have announced an agreement to promote destinations, a research project on the impact of last year's hurricane season, and continued joint outreach for collaboration with local governments
Airbnb hosted Hugh Riley, CEO and secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), at its San Francisco headquarters on Wednesday, October 24, 2018, and announced new commitments to promoting authentic and sustainable travel in the region, as well as continuing to grow economic opportunity.
Last year alone, more than 1.6 million guests booked accommodation in the Caribbean through the platform, an increase of 117 per cent compared to 2016 according to a recent news release.
Through collaboration with local stakeholders, Airbnb has demonstrated its commitment to support healthy tourism and has signed collaboration or voluntary tax collection agreements with 14 countries in the region.
During Riley's visit to Airbnb headquarters, the CTO and Airbnb signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) pledging to cooperate on areas of mutual interest including: the promotion of Caribbean countries as desirable tourism destinations, the undertaking of joint research to understand the impact of the home-sharing on economic recovery following the 2017 hurricane season, and other areas of mutual interest to both organisations.
“We are proud of the fact that the Caribbean is in such high demand among diverse and very discerning global travellers. Essentially, Airbnb is helping to make our region more competitive and to spread the benefits of the tourism industry across traditional and non-traditional segments of our communities,” said Riley. “Airbnb is deeply committed to the Caribbean and we are proud to take this next step with the CTO to advance our mission of local, authentic, and sustainable travel in the region. The platform helps diversify the tourism sector, attract new travellers, and empower over 50,000 hosts across the region”, said Chris Lehane, head of global policy and public affairs for Airbnb.
Hosts set their desired listing price on the platform and pay a three per cent commission to Airbnb for its platform services, allowing them to pocket 97 per cent of the nightly rate.
PNP responds to PDM's statement on their withdrawl from constitutional talks
The official opposition, the Progressive National Party, shared a response of their own to RTC yesterday by way of the party’s chairman, Hon. Royal Robinson, who addressed the PNP’s move to quit constitutional talks with the present government and the subsequent released from the PDM hierarchy.
The response reads:
“To be clear from the outset, The Progressive National Party did break off our engagement with the Government on talks dealing with Constitutional advancement, but it was for a legitimate reason, which was unambiguously communicated to Premier Cartwright-Robinson .
“Make no mistake about it, the work on the Constitution thus far, as presented by the Premier, had its genesis in the Progressive National Party.
“The Premier, in her usual backhanded sort of way had to attest to that fact. What she clearly and deliberately left out of her verbiage was the fact that we had agreed to have town hall meetings to affirm with the people of this country the new positions and get buy in from them so that when we did get an audience with the UK Government, we would be expressing the clear view of the people at this time.
“However, in her usual manner of trying to take credit for other people's work, the Premier has again jumped the gun in an effort to make herself relevant to the time, even though we all have come to clearly realize that "the Empress has on no clothes"
That’s the response of the official opposition, the PNP political party, to the ending of bipartisan constitutional talks, delivered by the party’s chairman, Royal Robinson.
PDM release statement on PNP's withdrawl from constitutional talks
The PDM political party addressed constitutional reform and the PNP's withdrawl from constitutional talks in a release issued to RTC yesterday, Monday, November 5th.
The release reads as follows:
“After a thorough setting out of the historical facts on the current constitutional proposals by the Hon. Premier on a live broadcast today it is obvious to all that the decision by the PNP Opposition to pull out of this process was reckless.
“In the PNP’s reason why it pulled out of the process they told our party that they needed to wait for a Convention that would be held in November which would usher in new leadership. That new leadership would have a new approach to constitutional advancement. But, this last weekend the PNP met and they went contrary to what they said would happen; no new leadership or executive was chosen.
“Therefore, it is right for the PDM Government to forge ahead on behalf of the people without the PNP Opposition. The people’s business is too important and the lives of the people are too greatly impacted by not having greater authority in the hands of those they elected through constitutional change which is a major campaign promise to our people.
“Constitutional advancement is a lengthy and time consuming process and it cannot wait for the PNP to get their act together.
“The message that this decision communicated is simple: They are more concerned about themselves than the betterment of the people of this great country!”
That’s the PDM political party’s input on the PNP’s decision to exit constitutional talks.
Jamaica qualifies for World Cup, first Caribbean Nation to do so
Jamaica's senior women’s national soccer team, the Reggae Girlz, has qualified for the World Cup, making history on the island and beyond.
The Reggae Girlz defeated Panama’s women’s national team on Wednesday in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw. The Panamanian team is scheduled to play Argentina next month and still has a chance to qualify for the cup.
Reaching the FIFA Women’s World Cup, to be held next year in France, was not only a first for Jamaica. The Reggae Girlz became the first Caribbean team to qualify for the tournament, FIFA said.
The players celebrated their historic win by singing Jamaica’s national anthem after the match, as seen in a video from the team’s Facebook page.
The Reggae Boyz, Jamaica’s men’s national team, famously qualified for the FIFA Men’s World Cup in 1998, which was also in France.
The Reggae Girlz’s journey to the World Cup has been a long but inspiring one.
In 2014, Cedella Marley, daughter of Bob Marley and Rita Marley, became an ambassador for the team to help the Reggae Girlz drum up financial support.
Marley has been supporting the team via the Bob Marley Foundation, leading efforts to fund players’ travel so they could access training and practice matches, she told Complex Sports in 2014. The Jamaica Football Federation launched an online crowdfunding campaign at the time to help fund the women’s training. The Bob Marley Foundation also partnered with the Alacran Foundation, another sponsor of the team.
Marley, a recording artist and CEO of Bob Marley Group of Companies, has long been an outspoken supporter of women’s programs in Jamaica.
In August, Reggae Girlz head coach Hue Menzies expressed appreciation for the support the team receives from Marley and her family’s foundation.
“That support from the Bob Marley Foundation has been so important to us,” Menzies told FIFA.com. “Bob Marley loved football, of course. Cedella has continued that passion and she really wants to help women’s football develop in Jamaica.”
Marley shared her excitement over the team’s win on Twitter.
“The journey has just begun,” she wrote.
IMF pleased with Jamaica's economic policies
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Jamaica's implementation of the US$1.66 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) remains strong, five years after the country began the task of reforming its economy.
The IMF executive board, which has completed the fourth review under the SBA, said nonetheless that structural impediments need to be quickly addressed to foster private capital formation and accelerate growth and job creation. It also called on the government to ensure that the public sector wage bill is placed on a downward path.
It said modernising the Bank of Jamaica, (BoJ), the island's central bank, will help facilitate the needed move to full-fledged inflation targeting.
The Washington-based financial institution said that Jamaica continues to view the SBA as precautionary, an insurance policy against unforeseen economic shocks that could lead to a balance of payments need.
IMF Deputy Managing Director, Tao Zhang, who served as the acting chair of the board review meeting, said that the Jamaican authorities continue their impressive track record under the SBA.
He said macroeconomic stability is entrenched, with reduced public debt and improving social and unemployment indicators, growth remains subdued.
“Against this backdrop, supply-side reforms to facilitate private sector investment are needed to achieve higher, sustained growth and job creation.”
Zhang said that the BoJ remains committed to maintaining inflation within the 4-6 per cent target range over the medium term.
He said the recent tabling in Parliament of legislation to upgrade the BoJ Act is an important step toward the eventual shift toward full-fledged inflation targeting.
“Maintaining exchange rate flexibility and limiting FX (foreign exchange) sales during periods of disorderly market conditions is necessary to support an inflation targeting framework. The authorities are also planning to accelerate FX market development and the building of technical capacity in monetary operations,” he said.
The IMF official said the public-sector wage bill needs to be placed on a sustained downward path. “Reduced wage outlays will allow the government to reprioritize public spending toward security, social assistance, and growth-enhancing capital expenditure.
“Achieving such a wage bill reduction will require a broad overhaul of the public compensation and allowance system and a reduction in the size of the government workforce,” he said.
Zhang said the financial sector should be further strengthened in line with the recommendations from the accompanying Financial Sector Stability Assessment.
“Priority should be placed on enhancing coordination, data collection, monitoring, and strengthening technical capacity of the financial regulators. Improving consolidated and risk-based supervision are important reform areas.
“Addressing impediments that constrain access to finance would help support private-sector investment,” Zhang said.
Premier Robinson supports increased Public Service Benefits, calls for the return of CSA.
While there is no role for the elected Government in the management or oversight of the administrative arm of Government, it is still the role of the elected Government to look out for their well being and to update the public more on the workings within the Public Service.
On coming to Office, I arranged and met with members of the Executive within the first 100 days of my Administration as promised. Unfortunately I have not been able to meet with this Body since as it has become unoperational and I believe it to be a huge disservice. As an avid supporter of the CSA and former Trustee, the importance of this Body can not be underestimated. The role of the CSA to make recommendations and to advocate for better working conditions and benefits of the Public Service is a vital one. What has proven fatal for Bodies of this sort is when persons use this Body as a political platform. Nonetheless it is important that this Body is functioning and given the support to.
We have addressed the long standing issue of service charge/workers' benefit for the largest worker base in the private sector and country and it will be hypocritical to ignore the large public service and its many pressing issues.
We were pleased as a Government to offer the first ever hurricane preparedness advance and the opportunity to pay back over a period of time. We believe that many were pleased. We wish to address longer benefits and are open to hearing representations.
I have recently requested a copy of the findings and recommendations of the Working Group appointed many years ago under the former Administration looking into the implementation of a gratuity scheme, among other benefits and I am advised that this work remains ongoing and has not yet been finalised. I urgently await those findings and recommendations and believe a vibrant CSA is necessary to take a collective approach on these matters. Persons will recall a Private Member's Motion brought by me while serving as Leader of the Opposition which spoke to benefits inclusive of the Gratuity Scheme and its role in attracting and maintaining professionals. It is important that the work of this Committee concludes as we consider further the costs of recovery.
There are many hardworking public servants who truly put country first and who unfortunately feel under appreciated for a myriad of reasons. Whilst there are many ways to show appreciation, my Government and I do support a system that provides for financial incentives that is tied to performance and has supported staff increase to allow for a well oiled performance management system.
I have also sought the approval of the Head of the Public Service to meet with Civil Servants around the Turks and Caicos Islands. I hope to announce these dates soon. This is in an effort to hear directly from them on issues they hold as priority and to advance my Government's views especially as we seek to move more strategically in planning.
My Government is committed to improving the lives of our public servants and by extension the services that we offer to the people of these Islands.
Official: Hallmark Trust card services have been suspended
It’s official. RTC can now surely confirm that Hallmark Trust Ltd.’s card service has been interrupted by MasterCard.
In a press release from the TCI Financial Services Commission (FSC), it was confirmed that Hallmark Trust’s services have been discontinued for the time being.
This official confirmation follows widespread speculation yesterday, Wednesday, October 31st, 2018, when rumors began swirling that Hallmark Trust Ltd. may be closing its doors in the TCI and that account holders should remove their funds immediately.
It was alleged in public forums that this closure was the result of an FSC investigation.
Yesterday, reliable sources at the FSC told RTC that this notion of their involvement in the closure was false and if Hallmark Trust services were to be interrupted, it would be the decision of MasterCard, of which Hallmark Trust is a principal member.
We now know this scenario to be true following the release of the official press statement in which the FSC also confirmed that they are aware of the suspension and they are working with Hallmark Trust to address the disruption of services and to ensure the protection of cardholders’ funds.
Hallmark Trust Ltd. is a registered and licensed trust company based in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Hallmark is also a principal member of MasterCard Worldwide. Hallmark Trust Ltd. issues the Compass Prepaid Mastercard which is used widely by TCI residents.
Further guidance will be provided to cardholders on this matter in the coming days. RTC will keep you updated as more details become available.
Source: Allie Capron (RTC News)
Kanye West quits politics, says his "eyes are now wide open"
Kanye West, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, announced he is quitting politics after being 'used to spread messages I don't believe in' and denounced the president over his immigration policy.
The singer made the surprising declaration on Twitter on Tuesday.
'My eyes are now wide open and now realize I've been used to spread messages I don't believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative !!!,' he wrote.
In an extended Twitter rant, he criticized Trump's immigration policy, denounced the 'blexit' movement, and thanked his family.
West indicated the split came over Trump's policies on immigration, which had seen migrant children separated from their parents who came to the country illegally and ordering troops to the border to stave off a caravan of people walking to the United States from Central America.
'I support those who risk their lives to serve and protect us and I support holding people who misuse their power accountable. I believe in love and compassion for people seeking asylum and parents who are fighting to protect their children from violence and war,' the rapper wrote.
He also denounced the 'blexit' movement - black people leaving the Democratic Party - and its conservative founder Candace Owens.
West said even though his name was used he 'never wanted any association' and has 'nothing to do with it.'
'I introduced Candace to the person who made the logo and they didn't want their name on it so she used mine. I never wanted any association with Blexit. I have nothing to do with it,' he tweeted.
Owens has urged Black voters to leave Democrats as part of her 'blexit' campaign.
'Blexit is a Renaissance,' Owens told Fox News on Monday. 'Blexit is the black exit from the Democratic Party. It's the black exit from permanent victimhood, the black exit from the false idea that we are somehow separate from the rest of America.'
Her movement got national attention after she said West helped her design its logo.
'Kanye saw my original design, and said, 'I can do it better,' Owens said. 'It certainly was. He redesigned the logo with vibrant colors inspired by his trip to Uganda.'
The rapper and designer also debuted a line of shirts endorsing a 'Black Exit' from the Democratic Party at the Young Black Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, on Saturday - even as he denounced the movement on Tuesday.
West did not attend the summit although there had been rumors he would be there.
West also thanked his family for their support. He is married Kim Kardashian, who has met with Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner about prison reform.
'I would like to thank my family, loved ones, and community for supporting my ACTUAL beliefs and my vision for a better world,' West wrote on Tuesday.
Kardashian's May meeting at the White House led the president to grant clemency to Alice Marie Johnson, whom Kardashian had become a prominent supporter of after reading about her case online.
Kardashian visited the White House in September for a second time. She's not known to have spoken to the president during that trip. She participated in a prison reform panel with Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
West is close with Trump, having first met with him at Trump Tower shortly after Trump won the 2016 presidential election.
He has tweeted his support of him and often wears a red 'Make America Great Again' hat.
He also met with the president in the Oval Office earlier this month where he went on an extended rant as he sat across from Trump at the Resolute Desk, where he dropped the F bomb, spoke about his bipolar disorder diagnosis and even shared a warm hug with the president, who concluded that his speech 'pretty impressive'.
West, who wants to be known as Ye, said he has come to understand that 'bravery helps you beat this game called life' and that he was misdiagnosed with a mental health disease when he was really just sleep deprived in a 10-minute speech, followed by nearly 10 minutes of questions, in which he labeled himself a 'crazy motherf***er' and called the amendment that ended slavery a 'trap door' and said it should be abolished.
West showed up to the meeting wearing a 'Make America Great Again' ball cap.
'They tried to scare me to not wear this hat, my own friends, but this hat it gives me, it gives me power,' West asserted. 'You know, my dad and my mom separated, so I didn't have a lot of male energy in my home. And also, I'm married to a family that, you know – not a lot of male energy going on. It's beautiful though,' he said, breaking into nervous laughter as he spoke about his wife Kim Kardashian West and her family.
He said the hat is like a Superman cape and said that Trump made him a billionaire.
Brazilian soccer star found mutilated, police say he was tortured
A 24-year-old soccer player was found dead in southern Brazil over the weekend.
Police are investigating the death of Daniel Corrêa Freitas, a midfielder for Brazilian club Sao Paulo, after his body was discovered in a rural area southeast of the city of Curitiba on Saturday. The Legal Medical Institute of Curitiba listed knife wounds as the preliminary cause of death.
While police have not publicly discussed any of the findings of their investigation, multiple Braziliannewspapers reported Monday that Freitas was at a nightclub Friday night before his disappearance and his body had been mutilated. One newspaper, Folha de São Paulo, reported that Freitas was nearly decapitated, among other gruesome injuries.
Freitas, who was on loan with second-division Sao Bento at the time of his death, started his senior career with Botafogo before signing a contract with Sao Paulo. All three teams issued statements mourning his death.
"It is with deep regret that the São Paulo Football Club laments the death of Daniel and is in solidarity with friends and family in this moment of pain," Sao Paulo said in a news release.
"The club's board regrets the fact and sympathizes with the player's family and friends at this time of deep sadness," added Sao Bento, where Freitas was on loan.
Ganja shortage hits Canada just two weeks after legalizing
Marijuana shortage hits Canada just two weeks after legalisation.
“The producers keep saying there will be some bumps in the road, but right now it's not a bump in the road. It's a big pothole,” said Trevor Tobin, one of the owners of the Labrador City shop--a ganja store in Newfoundland.
His mother, Brenda Tobin, is a part-owner and said that after she tells customers there's nothing to buy, “a lot of them are saying, 'Oh, well. I guess it's back to the black market.'”
Legalisation arrived October 17th, and Canada became the world's largest national marketplace for so-called recreational marijuana. But for now, it's a superlative in name only.
The first weeks have felt more like a soft opening with few retail outlets operating and rampant supply shortages. It's not because Canada can't produce enough cannabis products — licensing those producers has been slow, and the federal government is taking steps to speed up the process.
The provinces are handling the sales and most of the regulations. Reports from around the country are similarly discouraging when it comes to supply.
Quebec closed its Government-run shops for three days this week because of a lack of supply and will continue to keep them shut Mondays through Wednesdays until availability is stabilised. Shortages in both brick-and-mortars and online stores could last six months.
Ontario, Canada's most populous province, won't have any stores open until April at the earliest as the new conservative Government writes regulations. Meantime, police have shut down at least 11 illegal dispensaries in the province.
Ontario residents who want to make legal purchases are flooding the online Government store. At least 150,000 orders arrived in the first week, more than all other provinces combined, and the store can't keep up.
Contributing to the delivery problem is a strike by workers at Canada Post, the nation's postal service that handles online marijuana orders that are legal countrywide.