VOLUME 9 ISSUE 26

JULY 6TH - JULY 13TH, 2013

Website: www.suntci.com

VOLUME 9 - No. 26

Email: sun@suntci.com

Tel: 649-946-8542

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Fax: 649-941-3281

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CANADA WANTS TO OWN TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS A

n influential Canadian Member of Parliament (MP) is making strong and serious representation for the Turks and Caicos Islands to become a part of Canada.

In fact, Conservative MP Peter Goldring feels so strongly about the matter that he raised the topic with Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing when he met with him in Canada a few weeks ago.

Although the Premier did not, and could not, commit to the proposal to make the Turks and Caicos Islands a province of Canada, Goldring isn’t giving up.

According to several reports in the Canadian media, Goldring is seriously doing his part to make that happen.

The idea of the British Overseas Territory joining the Great White North is not a new one.

In 1917, prime minister Robert Borden tried to persuade Great Britain to let Canada annex the Turks and Caicos Islands, but was given the brush-off. Then in 1974, a private member’s bill from NDP MP Max Saltsman examining annexation of the Turks also failed.

TOP THREE CLEMENT HOWELL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: Valedictorian Angena Moncher is flanked by first runnerup Roxie Pierre (left) and Jo-Anne’ Tyson, following the graduation exercise of the Clement Howell High School at the Williams Auditorium on Five Cays Road on Thursday (July 4). The three top students are pictured with their many trophies and awards.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Major investigation at RBC

Residents angry about used bullet-proof vests for Police

PAGE 7

Tough economic measures needed

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PAGE 9

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Bahamas PM praises TCI

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

CANADA WANTS TO OWN TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

And, according to The Globe and Mail, the Turks and Caicos Islands sent a “serious offer” to discuss joining Canada in the 1980s, but it was “politely ignored” as politicians grappled with the Canada-U.S. free trade agreement instead.

But Goldring believes the islands, home to about 30,000 full-time residents, may be a natural fit for Canada.

The Edmonton East MP met with the country’s premier, Rufus Ewing, at a reception in Toronto last Wednesday and told the National Post that while there is interest in an economic association between the Islands and Canada, he remains in favour of pursuing “full provincial status.”

Goldring told the newspaper that a Caribbean province could mean development of a strategic, deep-water trading port for Canada and do wonders for national unity.

“Canadians holiday north and south, they don’t holiday east and west,” he said. “So we don’t get a chance to meet and greet each other on a regular basis. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a common destination in the south?”

Goldring said advances in technology and air travel mean concerns about distance no longer apply. In fact, he suggested the spot could be like a “tiny Nunavut.”

“Turks and Caicos are actually closer to Ottawa, in kilometers, than my riding in Edmonton,” he told The Post. “With air travel and electronic communication it’s a whole new world.”

The Tory MP has been focused on this issue since at least 2004.

In a newsletter from nine years ago, Goldring wrote that while Canada does not want to be thought of as a colonial power, islanders would welcome an association to help them achieve their full potential.

“Perhaps the time has come to end the courtship and finally be wed,” he wrote.

The province of Nova Scotia, evidently, agrees.

In 2004, the province’s three political parties voted unanimously to invite Turks and Caicos to join the province, if the Caribbean islands ever become part of Canada.

The following is an interview which he did with the National Post newspaper.

Q: You’ve been pursuing the Turks and Caicos file since 2004, but what did Mr. Ewing say during your latest meeting?

A: He was definitely interested in pursuing an economic association, and he’s looking for my type of help to work with members of parliament to get some momentum going to see if we can’t maybe get him a meeting with cabinet members to look at what some of these economic interests might be. The difficulty is that they’re a territory of Great Britain, so of course you would want to do things in concert with and with sensitivities to what Great Britain’s interests are.

Goldring.

Q: What do you see as the ideal future relationship between Canada and Turks and Caicos? An economic union? Territorial status? Fullfledged provincial status?

A: I would look at giving it full provincial status because of the potential for the region because they would then be representing Canada’s interests for the entire area. We have precedent; PEI has a relatively modest population. While the Turks population is between 25,000 and 35,000 people, with development and commercialization of the islands, very quickly I could see a population of 100,000 people.

Q: Plans to annex the islands have fallen through at least three time; in the 1910s, the 1970s and the 1980s. What’s different now?

A: The messaging then was for the Turks and Caicos to join Canada, but I think the plan may have [fallen apart] when Parliament considered space and time and distance. But in today’s world, the Turks and Caicos are actually closer to Ottawa, in kilometers, than my riding in Edmonton.

Turks and Caicos Sun Suite # 5, Airport Plaza Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands Tel: (649) 946-8542 Fax: (649) 941-3281 Email: sun@suntci.com Read us online at www.suntci.com Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Hayden Boyce Senior Editor: Vivian Tyson Office Manager: Dominique Rigby Information Technology and Production Manager: Kelano Howell Design by Design2pro.com The Turks and Caicos SUN is a subsidiary of The SUN Media Group Ltd. We are committed to excellence in journalism, educating and informing our readers, serving and satisfying our advertisers and assisting in the overall development of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

With air travel and electronic communication it’s a whole new world.

Q: It’s certainly a nice vacation spot, but what else would Canada do with a Caribbean province?

A: They say that South Caicos Island is on a deepwater channel that could be developed into a deepwater trading port for transshipment from Canada’s Maritimes. Cuba, of course, has great infrastructure needs. As they are probably soon going to be entering a post-Castro era, looking forward I think it would bode well to have Canadian interests based from the Turks. From a Canadian unity point of view [and Canadian unity is why I got into politics], Canadians holiday north and south, they don’t holiday east and west. So we don’t get a chance to meet and greet each other on a regular basis. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a common destination in the south? The Turks would love all the extra business they could get in tourism.

Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie Makes Special Mention Of Turks And Caicos Islands At Caricom Meeting P rime Minister of The Bahamas Perry Christie has told a high-level gathering of Caribbean leaders about the closeness between his country and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

During remarks which were delivered to the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference on Friday July 5th, Christie stated: “Recently, The Bahamas led a special fact finding mission to the Associate State of our Community in the Turks and Caicos Islands. This territory is special to us because they are our kith and kin. Indeed, it is often said that there are more people of Turks and Caicos Islands descent in The Bahamas, than there are in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The fact is however that we share a special concern about them and have encouraged their democracy and self-determination.”

Prime Minister Christie, who met with Turks and Caicos Islands Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing who is also

attending the meeting, said he has been encouraging the Turks and Caicos Islands to “deepen their participation with us and in the Caricom project…now that they have a modicum of say over their own governance and affair”. This, Christie, added, will be to the greater benefit of the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Meantime, Christie said The Bahamas is doubly proud to be attending the CARICOM meeting because next week that country will mark forty years as a nation, having achieved national independence on 10th July 1973. The theme for the 40th anniversary is “A bridge to the future…a Journey continues.” CARICOM also celebrates 40 years this year.

Christie also paid tribute to former Bahamian Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling. He stated: “I wish in particular to pay tribute to our founding Prime Minister the late Sir Lynden Pindling who was a great believer in the

Caricom project. He brought The Bahamas into Caricom shortly after our nation’s independence. In the Caribbean therefore, he ranks in the same generation as (Michael) Manley former Prime Minister of Jamaica; (Eric) Williams, former Prime Minister of Trinidad; (Errol) Barrow, former Prime Minister of Barbados; (Vere) Bird, former Prime Minister of Antigua, and (Forbes) Burnham, former President of Guyana. It was he (Sir Lydnen) who later signed the Grand Anse declaration in 1989 deepening the Caricom project. We stand today on those shoulders, the shoulders of giants.”

The 69-year-old Bahamian Prime Minister said the Caricom region has had an interesting history in democracy, adding that “the wonder of democracy is that in a minute you will see us and in another moment may not see us”.

He continued: “When I lost office in 2007, it was at the back end of a trend

which began with changes in government in St. Lucia, in Barbados, In Jamaica, in Grenada and in Trinidad and Tobago. Now through the mysteries and I would argue the goodness of democracy many of us are back to serve our nations: a little older, and I daresay a little wiser. For those who are spiritual, I would rely on several versus from the book of Ephesians: Put on the full armor of God so when the day of testing comes you are able to stand your ground and when you’ve done your best to stand, still stand, with the belt of truth wrapped around your waist and your feet made ready by the gospel of peace, I SKIP A FEW LINES TO THE MAIN THRUST, THE FINAL VERSE, that says, and the shield of faith that will protect you against the fiery darts and arrows that will be thrown against you.

For all of those reasons, I am here today, proud to stand amongst you once more.”

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Amanyara committed to education at Oseta Jolly Primary

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA CONDUCTING A MAJOR INTERNAL INVESTIGATION

O

ver the past several years, Amanyara Resort has been partnering with Oseta Jolly Primary School, sponsoring them through Amanyara’s Education Outreach Program and the Nature Discovery Centre.

Amanyara’s naturalists have been working with the school to do various presentations to children in grades 2-6. Working closely with the principle and a team of teachers, Amanyara has done several classroom presentations and nature excursions.

Recently Amanyara naturalists teamed up with the school to do presentations to help the students in grades 5 and 6 to prepare for the GSAT examinations.

Subjects included reptiles, amphibians, and mangrove ecosystems. At the completion of the 2 presentations, students were asked to do an assignment to show their understanding of the material. The Nature Discovery Centre at Amanyara received over 50 pictures, stories, and posters on snakes, frogs, turtles, and mangrove ecosystems in the TCI. Twenty four winning projects were selected.

Twelve students got the op-

T

Oseta Jolly students Kayaking in the mangroves with Amanyara Resort team. portunity to do a tour on the Undersea Explorer to learn more about turtles and the coral reef.

Students were taught about the species of ďŹ sh and corals along the reef from the expertise of a local guide.

Another 12 students went on a kayaking trip with Big Blue Unlimited to explore the mangroves and see this important ecosystem. Along with the Amanyara naturalist and a Big Blue guide, students learned proper kayaking techniques, spotted local bird life such as green herons,

and got to explore the complex mangrove channels of Mangrove Cay. Undersea Explorer and Big Blue Unlimited both respectively offer daily semi-submarine and kayak eco-tours.

This outreach initiative, promoted by Amanyara’s General Manager, Marco Franck, has as its main goal, to engage and teach the local youth community about the importance of the TCI environment, and how safeguarding nature goes hand in hand with a positive future for them and the TCI.

he Royal Bank of Canada has launched a major investigation into what has been described as a very serious internal matter.

While the details of the investigation could not be conďŹ rmed by The SUN, this newspaper understands that branch manager Toure Holder has been questioned by senior bank ofďŹ cials from the bank’s head ofďŹ ce in The Bahamas.

When the SUN called the bank and asked for Mr. Holder, he was said to be on vacation.

However, a July 3rd statement from Jan Knowles, public relations and communications manager for Royal Bank of Canada (Bahamas) Ltd, said: “We are aware of a situation at the Bank and the matter is under investigation. RBC is a responsible ďŹ nancial institution and will certainly do what is right to safeguard our bank, our client’s interests and our employees’ rights. RBC has a century long history of good governance and commitment to the Caribbean region.

We value our operations in the Turks and Caicos Islands and we have a zero tolerance policy for actions that compromise our integrity as a bank. As this situation is under investigation we are not able to comment further.�

Parrot Cay Resort and COMO Shambhala have vacancies for the following positions: MANAGERIAL POSITION: Executive Housekeeper Private Estates MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ‡ +H VKH PXVW KDYH WKH DELOLW\ WR 0DQDJH DQG GLUHFW WKH RYHUDOO RSHUDWLRQV RI WKH (VWDWHV +RXVHNHHSLQJ ‡ 7DNH FDUH KRPH RZQHUV LQ UHJDUGV WR KRXVHNHHSLQJ PDWWHUV DQG PXVW ORRN DIWHU WKHLU KRXVHNHHSLQJ QHHGV ‡ 0XVW EH DEOH WR GHYHORS VSHFLILF JRDOV SROLFLHV DQG VWUDWHJLHV IRU WKH GD\ WR GD\ UXQQLQJ RI WKH GHSDUWPHQW DV ZHOO DV WKH LPSOHPHQWDWLRQ WKURXJK FRUUHFW SODQQLQJ RUJDQL]LQJ DQG WUDLQLQJ ‡ 0XVW PDLQWDLQ WKH 5HVRUW KLJK VWDQGDUGV TXDOLW\ ZLWK WKH DELOLW\ WR PD[LPL]H SURILWDELOLW\ DW DOO WLPHV ‡ &RQWURO ODERXU FRVWV E\ HQVXULQJ WKDW DOO HPSOR\HHV DUH SURGXFWLYH ‡ &RQWURO +RXVHNHHSLQJ RSHUDWLQJ VWRFNV

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QUALIFICATION & EXPERIENCE ‡ $W OHDVW )LYH WR WHQ \HDUV H[SHULHQFH DV DQ ([HFXWLYH +RXVHNHHSHU ZLWKLQ WKH +RVSLWDOLW\ ,QGXVWU\ NQRZOHGJH RI )LYH 6WDU 5HVRUW 6WDQGDUGV ZLOO EH D SOXV ‡ 0XVW KDYH H[FHOOHQW FRPPXQLFDWLRQ RUJDQL]DWLRQDO DQG 0DQDJHULDO VNLOOV ‡ 0XVW KDYH D SDVVLRQ IRU VHUYLFH ‡ 0XVW KDYH WKH DELOLW\ WR LPSOHPHQW %XGJHW DQG

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OTHER POSITIONS: Spa Therapist Specializing in Acupuncture and Shiatsu

Night Room Service F&B Supervisor

Only suitable candidates will be contacted for an interview.

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Forward your resume to the Human Resources Department at the following address:

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Salaries for these positions will be paid base on qualification and experience. Please note that all application must be submitted with a valid Police Record, two reference letters from previous employers or a notary public and current educational certificates.

Parrot Cay Resort and COMO Shambhala P.O. Box 164 Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands Ph: (649) 946 7788, Fax: (649) 946 7749 Email: careers.parrotcay@comohotels.com

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

LOCAL NEWS

15 percent Customs and Insurance tax barely passes in Parliament as PDM objects

BY VIVIAN TYSON

T

he Customs Charge, Insurance and Freight Bill 2013, which will see a 15 percent charge on most goods coming into the country, was taken through the parliamentary grinder on Monday, before it was passed with several amendments courtesy of a 10 – 8 margin, with John Phillips, the Governor’s Appointed Member, breaking the strict party line vote.

The hard line stance taken by the opposition against the bill came as no surprised since in a news conference last week, they signaled their intention to vote against it when it comes to the floor.

Amendments were made in the committees to, among other things, allow the minister to vary rates in special circumstances, so that the ability to grow the economy, especially regarding investment, is not impeded.

Finance Minister Hon. Washington Misick said that the bill is to ensure that government meets its fiscal obligations, so as to keep the economy afloat.

“A lot of what we are doing to is to make sure that we meet the revenue targets, which have been agreed to as part of the Financial Framework Document,” the Minister said.

He also cautioned against putting the wrong spin on the purpose and warrant for the tax, also against monumental price hikes by merchants.

“As it relates to the 15 percent (tax), I want to make it very clear to everyone in here, and I want to make it clear to merchants, it is unconscionable for you to use this opportunity either as a spin doctor – to take things out of context – or to use the opportunity to unfairly jack up the price of merchandise,” he said.

The minister reiterated that if merchants do not get too greedy, the imposition of the tax should be barely felt, if any at all, at the cash register.

“On the 15 percent charge on freight and insurance, a normal 40-foot container landing in Providenciales, for example, is $4,000. Fifteen percent of that is $600. A normal container would have literally thousands of items in it. We spread $600 over that. In some cases, the amounts depending on the items and how many in there, is less than one cent per item. This was the least expensive way for us to deal with the issue,” he pointed out.

The Minister also indicated that in the near future, government would seek to undertake customs reform, to keep pace with the rest of the world.

“Part of the tax reform programme going forward is also going to include customs reform.

Again, this is one of the only countries in the world that charges duties FOB. Most country in the world charge duties on CIF. “The only item that we charge CIF on is motor vehicles. I want to make it clear to the public that motor vehicles would not be affected by this measure. It wouldn’t be affected by this measure because they are already paying duties on CIF. Fuel – gasoline, diesel and propane and other items will not be affected by this (tax),” Minister Misick said.

The minister did not hide his disappointment with the opposition for not supporting the tax measure, stressing that some form of tax measure would have to come into play after the controversial Value Added Tax was taken off the table.

“I am very disappointed in my colleagues opposite, when I see in the newspaper and hear that they are not going to support any taxation. I am very disappointed and I think it is very disingenuous based on the fact that you tacitly, if not expressly, agreed that if Value Added Tax goes out of the window, something has to replace it, otherwise you are doing phantom accounting. Because you have to pay, there is no free lunch,” he emphasized.

He pointed parliament to a number of neighbouring countries that are now in the read and have to be scrambling for IMF money. Minister Misick said he does not want the TCI to fall into that category, hence certain revenue-raising measures being put in place.

“These countries that I mentioned a while ago have the IMF riding their necks. And some of them have had to go to back to the well on a number of occasions and restructure the government debt. In the end, what some of them going to have to do is to try to beg for debt forgiveness in order to survive. And as finance minister of the Turks and Caicos, I do not wish, and I will not put TCI in that position.

“The plan of this government is to make sure that we get through 2013/14 by meeting our obligations, generating the surplus that we need to put into the sinking fund in order to reduce our obligations for the debt that we own,” he said.

He added: “By the next financial year it is the intention and the hope of this government, with the corporation of the communities, and you, my colleagues on the other side, that we can come up with a revenue structure that would retire structural deficits, unless the government of the day decides to plan cyclical deficits in order to make investments with the intentions of growing the economy.”

The minister dismissed argument that the new tax measure is Value Added Tax in disguise.

“Now, I hear some people say, it is Value Added Tax by some other name. I don’t understand how anyone could arrive at that conclusion. First of all, Value Added Tax was intrusive. It does not fit an economy that is service-oriented. And generally speaking, the cost for administration is very high.

And so, this does not resemble Value Added Tax in any form or fashion,” he said.

We are revising the banking hours of the Grace Bay Branch to serve you better, commencing July 8, 2013.

Our new banking hours are: Monday to Thursday: 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM Fridays: 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM Closed on Saturdays Thank you for your loyal support and we look forward to continuously serving you from this location.

Discover what’s possible

* Trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under license.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Residents react angrily to used bullet proof vests from Canada R

esidents of the Turks and Caicos Islands have reacted angrily to a decision by the Ottawa Police Service to donate used bullet-proof vests to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force.

According to an article in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, Ottawa police are very strict about replacing bulletproof vests for all officers after five years of use, when they can no longer be sure the armour will stop bullets. That’s when they give them away to a police force in a less fortunate country.

At least, that’s what they are doing this year with 120 of the vests, which the force is planning to donate to their colleagues in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The story noted that body armour costs the Ottawa Police Service almost $700 a piece, but after only five years it becomes useless to the force because the manufacturers won’t guarantee its effectiveness beyond that span.

When the SUN newspaper posted the story on its Facebook page, several residents expressed outrage at the proposed donation.

The article said that Commissioner of Police Colin Farquhar, who knows Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau, asked for the second-hand

gear. (Bordeleau confirmed he knows Farquhar “professionally” from Farquhar’s time with the Mounties.)

“Our Islands Police Force is most appreciative of the Ottawa Police donations and Chief Bordeleau,” Farquhar said in an Ottawa police news release. “Ensuring officers’ safety and giving them the tools they need is always top of mind. These ‘gently used’ items will help us do that.”

Inspector Uday Jaswal, of the material management section, says there isn’t much doubt that many of the vests the force has to get rid of after five years are still in very good condition. Yet, since Ottawa police can’t independently test the effectiveness of the vests or establish criteria to distinguish which vests may have been exposed to moisture or other adverse conditions which could degrade the materials, they are all disposed of after five years — even if they spent almost all of their time hung up in the closet of a senior officer like Jaswal himself.

“I sit behind a desk and I send email,” the 20-year veteran said of his current assignment. “If I got issued body armour today and I stayed in the same job, my body armour would probably last until the end of my career. But that’s not the way we do it.

With a force nearing 1,400 officers, replacing everyone’s vest every five years is “an enormous cost,” but for now there is no choice, Jaswal says.

“It’s a liability issue. I can’t issue body armour that the manufacturer no longer guarantees to have ballistic integrity. The chief of police can’t say that he’s comfortable issuing that body armour to a front-line member.”

The result is an annual bill approaching $200,000 for replacement vests at a time when the police budget is under a lot of pressure.

Jaswal says he isn’t thrilled about that and is trying to do something about it. He says Ottawa police are

CORRECTION In the June 29th to July 6th edition of the Turks and Caicos SUN, an article written by Vivian Tyson under the headline “Companies seeking to supply Fortis with power to help lower electricity costs”, misrepresented a quote from Ms. Talisha Simons, Corporate Communications Officer of Fortis TCI. A section of the article stated: “She (Ms. Simons) said that is not believed that renewable energy would increase the cost of electrici-

in the process of challenging the manufacturer to find out “what the real life cycle of body armour is.”

In the meantime, he says donating the vests, along with 50 used batons (each costs $92.33 new, with a roughly 10-year lifespan) and 59 old pairs of handcuffs (originally $25.75, good for 15 years or more), is a “winwin,” since they no longer meet the force’s high standards, but no doubt still have some life in them. (They can’t be sold to potential customers like security guards, either, Jaswal explains, because that would open the Ottawa police up to liability issues if they should fail on the customer, whereas the donation is a no-liability, “as-is” gift). ty to its customers or reduce safety and reliability of the electricity system.” That was inaccurate.

The article should have stated: “The Company believes that renewable energy should not increase the cost of electricity to our customers or reduce safety and reliability of the electricity system.”

The SUN regrets the error and apologies to Fortis for any embarrassment or inconvenience which the misrepresentation may have caused.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

LOCAL NEWS

Payment of disproportionate sums to English law firms

BY COURTENAY FRANCIS RAYMOND BARNETT- FOR AND ON BEHALF OF ADVOCATES LEGAL GROUP.

A

s a senior member of the Bar in the Turks and Caicos Islands and a member of the Advocates Legal Group, I have been asked to make a response to some recently exposed facts of overpayments by certain English lawyers and law firms relative to the Turks and Caicos Islands.

British parliamentarian, Ms. Diane Abbott, by way of example, cited the English law firm Edwards Wildman. In essence for recovering $19.5m the law firm paid itself $13m as legal fees. This provides a basis to start.

LEGAL PRINCIPLE OF CHAMPERTY Champerty is an agreement where the lawyer will finance a lawsuit and accept a percentage of the money won or recovered and at common law this is unlawful.

In Jamaica in the 1970s the Jamaican parliament in its wisdom recognised that many poor persons had good cases but could not afford to pay legal fees. To address the champerty prohibition a statutory remedy was provided which permitted a maximum one third recovery fee to the lawyer who made a contingency agreement with the indigent client. No recovery, no fee, then became lawful and a mechanism to provide legal services on a mutually beneficial basis was instituted then. By comparison, in the Turks and Caicos Islands we do not have such a statutory provision.

THE LAW IN THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS Under section 52 of the Legal Profession Ordi-

CONTRASTING CONSIDERATIONS OF JUSTICE

nance it is stated as follows:“An Attorney shall not – (i) stipulate for, charge or accept any fee which is not fair and reasonable;”

THE DEBATE Once this letter is published the debate will surely commence as to what the words referenced in the TCI statute “fair and reasonable” mean. Semantic meaning is not necessarily object fact. One person’s ‘ freedom fighter’ could be another’s ‘terrorist’. But the purpose of this letter is not to invite prolonged discussion, but rather succinctly to appeal to reason.

If one were to consider a two-thirds to the client to a third to the lawyer formula, this, I would venture to say, on an objective scale is reasonable. By contrast, if a client who has suffered injury is to be denied at maximum more than 50% of the sum won or recovered then I simply ask rhetorically – is this fair, based on any objective standard? The English law firm Edwards Wildman seems unequivocally to be saying that the arrangement and fees commanded are fair.

But, under the arrangement which independent arbiter has oversight of the payments made the lawyers or law firm? Apparently, from what member of parliament, Diane Abbott, is informing us, it is a pigs’ feeding trough of not merely gouging the Turks and Caicos Islands, but also Her Majesty’s Government’s lawyers, law firms, consultants and appointees have a global charter to receive what is claimed without much oversight and/or accountability over the claims on public funds.

By comparison with the local bar and advocates who do work in the people’s interest, the following is evident:A. A local lawyer of experience on the present scale of legal aid fees will be paid $1,200 for arguing an appeal which will involve 300 to 500 pages of transcripts to be read in a serious matter that carries a life sentence.

B. At present rates of pay, the present lawyers involved in the SIPT cases get $90,000 plus $10,000 plea and directions hearings fees, plus $5,000 for each pre-trial hearing and more money to come once the trial starts. They have appealed to the Privy Council to seek more money and higher levels of pay.

2. On the TCI legal aid scale for the local lawyer, the daily rate of pay is $600.

3. The SIPT lawyers get a $400 stipend for noncourt days during the week, and the locally based lawyers for their days off get nil.

The defence lawyers in the SIPT matters are indeed in the Privy Council, while the locally based advocates are still here doing the people’s work and now are in the court of public opinion.

When the word “discrimination” is invoked, it is therefore not chosen lightly, because objectively it can be seen to be operating, as Ms. Abbott has so ably indicated to us.

The problem being faced is that when discrimination, greed at the highest levels and administrative abuse become endemic and the order of the day, one can but expose and lament as member of parliament, Ms. Diane Abbott has done, at the corruption. So too in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

This letter has been read and approved by all members of the Advocates Legal Group.

Restaurant Supervisor

Summary: Reporting to the Restaurant Manager, responsibilities and essential job functions include but are not limited to the following: RESPONSIBILITIES

REQUIREMENTS

• Consistently offer professional, friendly, hospitable service • Oversee restaurant operations ensuring compliance with departmental standards and meeting / exceeding guest expectations • Knowledgeable of all food and beverage products • Ensure proper staffing and scheduling in accordance to productivity guidelines • Communicate through pre-shift briefings, and departmental meetings all necessary information to support the operation • Train Team members in all job aspects – service, product knowledge and technical skills • Cash handling and daily accounting • Capitalize on revenues by upselling and controlling expenses • Handle guest concerns in a timely and professional manner • Follow resort policies, procedures and service standards • Ensure compliance with all Health & Safety policies • Other duties as assigned

• Previous Food and Beverage Supervisory experience • Degree or Diploma in Hospitality Management • Excellent written and verbal communication, interpersonal and leadership skills • Fluency in English (1 additional language desirable) • Ability to work independently, multi task and prioritize responsibilities • Strong guest service orientation and training skills background • Ability to supervise a diverse staff compliment • POS experience – (IQ Ware desirable) • Computer proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) • Basic First Aid

PHYSICAL ASPECTS: (include but are not limited to): • Constant standing and walking throughout shift • Lifting and carrying up to 25 lbs.

• Pushing, pulling, lifting

Salary for this position will commensurate with qualifications and experience.

PLEASE SUBMIT APPLICATIONS TO: hr@alexandraresort.com A copy should also be submitted to the TCI Labour Department.

Submissions to be no later than July 19th, 2013

Belongers need only apply.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 11

JULY 6TH - JULY 13TH, 2013

LOCAL NEWS

Investment Unit shuts down Private/ Public Committee tasked with promoting key sector of the economy C

I Investment Unit Director, Mrs. Rebecca Astwood, chair of the Financial Services Coordinating Committee, has advised the Financial Services Commission (FSC) that: “The Investment Unit will no longer be actively undertaking the marketing of the financial services at this present time and all current efforts and work for this sectors has been halted. As such the Financial Services Coordinating Committee marketing group will no longer be spearheaded or funded by the Unit going forward.”

The Financial Services Coordinating Committee (FSCC) was established in May 2012 as a result of discussions with the Governor, the Private sector and the Financial Services Commission. The body main objective had been to propose and devise plans and activities that would serve to position the Turks and Caicos Islands as an attractive, well regulated financial services

centre among its global competitors.

The Financial Services Coordinating Committee was comprised of both public and private sector membership, including representation from the Governor’s Office, TCIG Investment Unit, the FSC and various Financial Industry Associations. Following elections in the territory and the return to elected Government, the membership was extended to the Ministry of Finance.

In the first 8 to 9 months of its existence, the Committee took on research work with expert assistance from Mrs. Sherri Ortiz from the BVI’s International Finance Centre. It also discussed sustainable development for the financial services sector, and agreed that improved communications between all stakeholders within the industry and government was key in identifying opportunities for the promotion of the Turks and Caicos Islands to key

The Alexandra Resort & Spa is inviting applications for the following position: Applications are invited for the position of Hospitality Support Analyst To provide support analysis and management and assist in the planning, developing, installing, configuring, maintaining and supporting hardware, software and communication systems in order to maintain the stable operation of the information systems and networks of our Hospitality Group.

Job Description • Assist in analyzing the IT needs of the Group and in determining the immediate and long-range software and hardware requirements • Maintain, secure, troubleshoot and administer Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Internet (Cable / DSL / Wi-Fi connection) and IPTV • Maintain & evaluate computer hardware, communication equipment, networking software, operating system and application software; • Network administration and management • Maintain control records, implement & secure network traffic and optimize server performance;

• Perform & ensure System / Data back-ups and its recovery operations; • Provide problem-solving services and assist network users on systems & software such as PMS, POS Software and Telephone Billing System; • Interact and negotiate with vendors, outsourcers and contractors to seek products and services; • Provide on-call technical support; Job Requirements: • Bachelors Degree in Computer Science or Information Technology • 10 years Working Experience in IT • Knowledge of VLAN and switch management technology • Strong customer service orientation • Microsoft Server Administrator, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint Other Skills/Abilities • Highly self motivated and directed • Keen attention to details • Knowledge of Apple Macintosh Operating System • Knowledge of IQware and/or Visual One would be a distinct advantage

Please Submit Applications to: hr@alexandraresort.com A copy should also be submitted to the TCI Labour Department.

Submissions to be no later than July 13th, 2013 Belongers need only apply.

international markets.

Last month, through its sub marketing committee, the FSCC provided the Governor and the TCI Government with a Marketing plan, which aimed to raise the visibility of the Turks and Caicos as a financial services Industry jurisdiction with a clear message that the country was open for business.

When approached for a comment following the Investment Unit’s surprising decision, Mr Kevin Higgins, Financial Services Commission Managing Director stated that: “ A lot of effort had been put into establishing and funding this body. The Commission believes that the membership was adequate as it drew on a number of areas with crucial expertise for the development of the Financial services Industry. It also offered the opportunity to draw together policy ideas, identify and overcome barriers to progress”.

He further added: “As for the fund-

ing, the Commission pledged in May 2012, that it would assist by providing the necessary expertise and covering a large portion of the costs incurred by the Committee. The Commission has fulfilled its commitment and is indeed saddened to see a year of work discarded in this manner.

The Commission remains ready to support the Financial Services Industry as it seeks to develop its product base and attract new clients to the Turks and Caicos Islands”.

The Financial Services Industry is a growing sector of the TCI economy. In the past two years, a number of Seminars and Conferences held in the TCI and spearheaded by the Financial Services Commission and the Private sector have highlighted interest from international companies to do business in the territory.

Under the Constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands, the regulation of international financial services is a responsibility for the Governor.

Page 12

JULY 6TH - JULY 13TH, 2013

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

LOCAL NEWS

It’s time to embrace other nationalities among us – Louise Garland-Thomas

BY VIVIAN TYSON

L

ouise Garland-Thomas, Education Officer in charge of Public Schools said that it is high time other nationalities are embraced by locals, since a Turks and Caicos Islands has become a melting pot for nationals of many countries, a sentiment expressed by Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing in response to a Jamaica editorial last week.

Speaking at the Clement Howell High School Valedictory Service on Sunday, June 30, Garland-Thomas said that a number of children born to expatriates know the Turks and Caicos Islands as their only home, and therefore must feel that they are a part of this country.

“We must embrace all nationalities among us. Clement Howell (High School) alone has over 10 nationalities. They are here; many of them don’t have another home.

Their only home is the Turks and Caicos Islands,” she said.

She hinted that the fusion of so many nationalities has made the school the best in the country, and so the children should be proud of their achievements.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Clement Howell is the nation’s number one school. The Ministry of Education

Louise Garland-Thomas and the Department of Education join me in congratulating you; and we are incredibly proud of your success here today. By the 5th of July, we would have ushered into the length and breadth of the Turks and Caicos Islands 305 students. Empower your minds for success. Your minds have already been empowered,” she said.

Garland noted, too, that while many of the graduates have achieved

a great deal, their success was made up of many components, including from their teachers and parents.

“These young people could not achieve success on their own. There were several persons who journeyed along with them, and we want to say a special thank you to the educational staff and the hard-working teachers at the Clement Howell School.

We want to thank you for being a

part of their successful journey.

“And parents, we can’t forget you.

You have made the sacrifices for your children to be here with us.

Had it not been for you there would not have been a school. So, we owe it to you for the sacrifices you have made; textbooks, uniforms, lunch and the list goes on. Parents, we owe you a great deal of gratitude,” Garland-Thomas said.

Garland Thomas also encouraged the students not to derail from their educational pathway, and to celebrate every success along the way.

This is your day; don’t let anybody stop you from celebrating. As you leave the environment of Clement Howell High School do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. We are different and each of us is special. Do not set your goal by what other people deem important, only you know what is best for you.

Nothing is really over until you stopped trying. Do not dismiss your dreams; to be without dream is to be without hope, and to be without hope is to be without purpose. Do not run through life so fast that you forget not only where you have been but also where you are going. Life is not a race but a journey. Please, take one step at a time,” she urged.

HAB MANAGEMENT LTD HAB Management Limited is a seeking suitably qualified individual to fill the following opening.

Only candidates who meet the minimum requirements will be considered.

SECURITY GUARD Job Description Responsible for implementing and enforcing security measures in order to provide maximum protection to the lives and properties of the company, employees and guests. Responsible to guard, patrol and monitor company premises to prevent theft, violence or infractions of rules.

Main Duties •Maintaining safety and security for all guests and employees.

•Must be trained in self defense and security operations.

•Document reports of daily activities and irregularities that occur on premises in logbook.

• Inspect and adjust security systems, equipment and machinery to ensure operational use.

•Responding quickly to emergency situation.

Requirements •Must have five years or more experience as a Security Officer.

Law enforcement/ security experience preferred.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills are required.

• Must be computer literate and have working knowledge of CCTV systems and software.

• Must be willing to work a variety of day/night and weekend shifts.

• Able to be on feet for long periods of time.

• Excellent people skills.

•Professional, neat, clean cut appearance is necessary.

•Clean driver’s license.

The salary for this position is $14,400.00 per annum, commensurate with experience, training and education. Interested applicants should email resumes by July 15, 2013 to ronnie@habgroup.com or submit by fax 649-946-5191. Only persons selected for an interview will be contacted by email or telephone to schedule an interview.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 13

JULY 6TH - JULY 13TH, 2013

LOCAL NEWS

Insufficient hotel rooms an obstacle to TCI’s European tourism marketing campaign

BY VIVIAN TYSON

T

he small number of hotel rooms in the Turks and Caicos is one of two major reasons government is not aggressively throwing too much money at the European market at this time.

However, Finance Minister Hon. Washington Misick said that Government is still mindful of the vital role that bloc plays in the region’s tourism, including the Turks and Caicos, and so, would still make the effort to lure visitors here. Misick made the comment while fielding questions from The SUN in a recent interview.

“One issue here is that, at the peak of the season we don’t have enough hotel rooms,” he said during the interview.

He said though that with a number of hotels to come on stream anytime now, the number of rooms should increase exponentially, and

by the next 10 years, the country should have approximately 10,000 hotel rooms, approximately 7,000 up from its 30,000 currently.

“You have got the three Desarrollos hotels; they are going to create another somewhere between 700 and 1,000 rooms. And then you have got Shore Club that should be breaking ground any time now, and a number of other new hotels.

We have got about 30,000 rooms now.

“I think you are going to see somewhere within the next 10 years that it will double, and we could then really see a significant increase in airlift to Turks and Caicos. If the European economy is revived by then, you will see more direct flights from Europe,” The minister said.

Minister Misick pointed out that the other major factor which is hampering government from forcefully expending greater amount of

ROYAL WEST INDIES RESORT is looking for motivated proactive individuals to joins its ‘Resort Team’ and contribute to this growing Condominium Resort. Candidates MUST want to actively participate in creating an excellent and professional guest experience.

POOL AND BEACH ATTENDANT Requirements: • MUST speak English and the ability to write and read english • Fit and able for heavy lifting • Personality suited for the hotel industry • Ability to maintain pools and hot tub chemicals and maintenance issues related to same • Willing to work split shifts, holidays and weekends.

• Some knowledge of water sports equipment • Able to swim.

Wages 5.50/hr

RWI Management Ltd. A small but growing Turks and Caicos Islands management company is seeking a qualified and experienced Managing Director to head corporate and client level operations. The successful candidate must possess: • Bsc. In Hotel and Food Administration • Masters in Business Administration • Minimum five years directly relevant post qualification work experience at directorial and regional level.

• Proven track record in growing business and contract negotiation.

Will be able to produce mission critical reporting and provide solutions and decision making based on proper analysis and understanding.

• Computer literate with modern property management systems, productivity software and internet distributed marketing and reservations systems.

Package is based on qualification and experience, $70,000 to $80,000 negotiable.

All resumes and applications must The suitable candidate will be be forwarded to: aged 30 to 45 years old and be Royal West Indies Resort able to lead all aspects of P.O. Box 482, Providenciales hospitality and corporate Turks & Caicos Islands operations.

You may also fax to: (649)946-5008

time, money and energy on the European Market is that there has been a significant contraction of the general European economy.

This, he said has resulted in a considerable drop in tourists travelling to the region hence a plunge in airline demand to the region.

He said that based on the tanking of the economies of a number of European countries, many travellers are opting to tour sister European Union countries such as France and Spain. And even if they venture out of the region, they may go to Disney in Orlando, Florida.

“Airlines follow demand. It doesn’t matter what we say to British Airways or Virgin, at the end of the day if the demand is not there for the people to fly in (they will not put flights on the route). That is what they are going to respond to. And I don’t believe that the demand is there from European traffic,” Minister Misick said.

According to him, some Caribbean countries that build their economy on high-end tourism, particularly from Europe, have seen their revenues taking a nosedive due to the drop in travel from that region.

“If you would notice, the islands in the Eastern Caribbean that depend a lot on European Tourists, particularly British tourists, they are not doing so well because the European economies, with the exception of maybe Germany, are all sick economies. And so, it is a lot cheaper for them to go to Spain or the South of France on holiday and to Disney World in Orlando.

So, that high-end Tourist that fly to Barbados and St. Lucia, those numbers are significantly down. So it is very unlikely that you are going to find an airline putting on a new flight to a destination like this at time when the travelling industry in Europe has contracted,” Misick said.

Page 14

JULY 6TH - JULY 13TH, 2013

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

LOCAL NEWS JOHN PHILLIPS SAYS CUSTOMS, INSURANCE ORDINANCE COULD STIFLE DEVELOPMENT

BY VIVIAN TYSON

vote.

Making his contribution ohn Phillips, the Gover- in the House of Assembly on nor’s Appointed Mem- Monday, July 1, to the bill, ber to the House of As- which was piloted by finance sembly, cites potential minister Hon. Washington development hindrance in Misick, Phillips said that if the Customs Charge, Insur- certain provisions in the law ance and Freight Bill 2013 al- are not clear, it could place a though voted for its passage squeeze on development. to break the strict partly line “The main danger I see in this bill, is that it may, if not carefully handled, stifle and of delay development. The reason I say Looking for a Certified PADI that is the ones that hurt Divemaster. Must have 3 years most are those goods experience leading guided dive where the cost of freight tours. Must have boat driving are far greater than the experience and safety record.

Must be reliable, hard working, cost of goods itself. Unwork ethics must include safety fortunately, these are the and customer service as top fundamental products priorities. Domestic worker that we need for construcneeded on Salt Cay. Must have tion, for development,” 3 years previous experience in Phillips said. the hospitality industry.

He added: “Sand, agMust be willing to relocate gregate, gravel, cement – to Salt cay full time. those kinds of things are CONTACT very cheap. But the transscdivers@tciway.tc with CV. portation is very high.

Therefore, the danger we must be aware of in this tax is that, when we apply 15 percent to freight, we are applying a very large portion to the actual landed cost of those goods.

This clicks forward; I calculate this input $12 to $15 on a yard of concrete.

That affects construction.

It critically affects those who have had already done their budgets, raised the money and are ready to begin.”

He recommended minor adjustment to the bill so as to make concessions to certain developments.

“If we delay projects that are ready to move, the loss of revenue over a six month or one year period whilst they (developers) raise more money would be greater than the gain we make on this 15 percent. We have to look at a way around that. And think we should be looking at minor amendments to protect our ability to continue with developments, whether a hotel or airports or whatever else, we must be able to go ahead,” Phillips suggested.

Before taking his seat, Phillips pointed to options that government could consider.

“My belief is treasury income is best derived from economic growth, not from increased taxation. If we could stimulate the growth there would be no need for these marginal, small taxes. I see a couple of options. We can place a cap on the sum paid for freight. If we said a 40-foot container – the hon. Minister estimated $4,000n – that’s a

J

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1 Hairdresser

WANTED 1 LABOURER Applicant must be fluent in English hardworking, honest & reliable

Salary $150 per week Contact

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Experience is a must. Must be reliable and have own transportation.

Hours include evenings a nd Saturdays and some holidays.

Salary $5.00 per hour plus commission

232-2098

TCI Sporting Ventures DBA Nautique Sports is looking for a Sales Clerk to work in its store in Gracebay.

• EDUCATION • TRAINING • EXPERIENCE Must have a High School Diploma or at least 5 years experience as a Sales Clerk.

Please drop resume off at the Store in Gracebay or call 941-7544 for further info.

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Interested applicants should email resume and reference letters to Curtis Selver (SSL@express.tc) within 1 week of this notice. Qualified candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Salt Cay Divers

John Phillips $600 charge on that container. That container might have $30,000 worth of goods.

“A barge of aggregate – the aggregate itself could be only $10,000 - but the barge is $20,000. Perhaps we should look at a cap of $1,000 of a barge load of such bulk material, or we could look at facility to make a decision in respect to particular projects whereby they are relieved wholly or in part from the 15 percent in order to ensure that those projects go ahead,” he said.

Phillips, however, believes that the tax at this time is necessary, but hopes that the Blue Ribbon commission that government will be putting together in a matter of weeks, would find solutions to raise revenues without consumers or taxpayers having to tighten their belts any further.

“TCI Government needs income. I agree with the Hon. Minister that we have to find ways. We decided against VAT because the design offered to us was wrong. I hope the Blue Ribbon Committee will find us a more sustainable long term solution. It is only to be expected that, at this time that we see bills such as this coming through in order to balance the budget.

“I don’t think that there is anyone amongst the community who doesn’t want to see better facilities, better infrastructure, and sustainable infrastructure,” he said.

He expressed the hope that merchants do not view the tax as a license to skyrocket their prices. As a matter of fact, Philips believes that merchants should absorb the cost rather than to raise prices.

“The bill does represent a very small marginal increase.

I have some experience personally with imports and exports, and typically, this puts one and a half cents on a bottle of beer, 1.2 cents on a can of beans etc. Hopefully, most of the merchants will be able to absorb that without increasing price. When someone sells a can of bear for more than four times what they paid for it from the wholesaler, I hope they can absorb a couple of cents,” he said.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 15

JULY 6TH - JULY 13TH, 2013

LOCAL NEWS

Integrity Commission should not dictate to House

BY VIVIAN TYSON

P

remier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing has asserted that he would not genuflect to a part of the Ministerial Code of Conduct crafted by the Integrity Commission, which purportedly stipulates that ministers should provide statements to members of the Opposition before reading them in parliament.

The Premier’s comments came after Minister responsible for Health and Human Services Hon. Porsha Stubbs-Smith, was stopped in her tracks by members of the Opposition, while making a statement on the floor, but did not provide them with copies prior.

The Opposition referred to her making the statement as an abuse of the system, and so, called on House Speaker Hon. Robert Hall to have her end that particular statement, which he did.

The Opposition said that the act of Stubbs-Smith delivering the speech without providing them with advance copies goes against the Ministerial Code of Conduct, and so, should not be allowed to continue it.

But Premier Ewing, who was obviously frustrated by the set of governance hurdles being faced by his administration, reminded colleagues that the House of Assembly

Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing

Hon. Clarence Selver

is the body that enacts legislations and should not be guided by outside bodies as to how it does its businesses.

“It troubles me when members on the other side made a statement earlier, quoting something as coming from the Ministerial Code of Conduct that as provided by the Integrity Commission. This is a legislative branch of government. This is the House of Assembly.

“When we have other institutions making provisions on how we conduct the order of business in Our House of Assembly; that goes against the very fibre of democracy,” the Premier said to thunderous applause from his fellow government mem-

bers, who slapped the tables in approval.

He intimated that the House should be governed by standing orders and not by a bunch of rules conjured by an alien body, which is not part of government.

“I doubt very much I am familiar with that (ministerial code of conduct) because the House has standing orders by which we go – standing orders – not ministerial code of conduct. Ministerial Code of Conduct has to do with how ministers conduct doing business on a day-today basis.

“But when it comes to this House of Assembly, this is the people’s house. This is our house, and the

standing orders guide how we conduct our business in this house,” he said.

To this end, the premier, in no uncertain terms, told his colleagues that he would continue to read from prepared statements in the House of Assembly without allowing the Opposition to see the documents prior, until the standing orders dictate otherwise.

“Unless I see something in the standing orders to say we must provide ministerial statement to the members of the other side prior to us delivering it, then I will comply with it. But until I see that I will not comply with it,” the premier asserted to another round of thunderous applause from his colleagues.

The Premier’s statement, however, did not go down well with Opposition’s Appointed Member Hon. Clarence Selver, who points to the governance principles in the Constitution.

“Even though we do not necessarily operate by the Constitution, but the Constitution makes reference to statement of government’s principles. It is not part of the standing orders, but we are bound by government’s principles. So to say if it isn’t in the standing orders you are not going to comply, I can’t see how we can operate like that,” Selver emphasized.

Page 16

JULY 6TH - JULY 13TH, 2013

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

LOCAL NEWS

Opposition PDM names shadow cabinet

BY VIVIAN TYSON

T

he People’s Democratic Movement on Thursday (July 4) released its slate of shadDelroy Williams ow ministers, which it said is geared to make government more accountable to the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands, while at the same time poises itself to gain the reins of power in the event the Rufus Ewing government implodes.

Opposition Leader Hon. Sharlene Cartwright Robinson will be in charge of Border Control; Deputy Leader Hon. Sean Astwood will speak on Tourism, Investment and Trade; Hon. Derek Taylor will be the shadow minister for Finance; Hon. Edwin Astwood will be the Opposition’s point man on Health and Human Services; Hon. Delroy Williams is the shadow minister for Government Support Services and will oversee the affairs of Providenciales; Hon. Goldray Ewing is the shadow minister for the Environment, Home Affairs and District Administration; while Josephine Connolly will be the Opposition Spokesman on Education and Social Services.

Saying that a shadow govern-

Derek Taylor

Edwin Astwood

ment is one aspect of a government in waiting, Cartwright-Robinson asserted that the ministers named will give substance to the issues of the day.

“Today, governance and an imminent paradigm shift demand an opposition that is proactive with willingness and a capability to deem the sitting government ineffective and powerless, and render itself poise to take over as the better government, at the blink of an eye. Therefore, today, as leader of the Peoples Democratic Movement, and the official Opposition Leader, I am establishing a well-defined shadow government,” the Opposition Leader said.

Giving six reasons as to why a shadow government is important to the TCI, Cartwright-Robinson said that such entity challenges the administration of the day; assists the official opposition to adequately prepare for meetings and areas of governance; a well prepared opposition can tip the balance of power in

Goldray Ewing

Josephine Connolly

parliament, which in the TCI’s case has a 9-8 majority; prepare to take over government, which can happen anytime; aid and mature the political system for the current time; and to establish the opposition as a viable alternative to the PNP administration.

“The government of today continues to reflect aspects of its original characteristics – shades of the status quo. It continues to prevent the opposition from having its say, while it has its way. This is encouraged and advanced by the absence of a watchdog and a well established organized shadow government, with an intent to change the ethos of politics as usual that pervades the parliament of the day.

In some cases, the “just like that” attitude still exists. And without any serious concern about the reputation or the impact it may have on the growth and development on our country, especially our people. The players, to certain extent

Sean Astwood

Sharlene CartwrightRobinson

have changed, but the philosophy lives on. Things have changed but the evidence gives credence to the old adage ‘the more things change, the more they remain the same’,” she said.

She said that by forming the shadow government, the Opposition is preparing for the looming change in the political dynamics of the TCI. Such changes, she said, would stipulate a greater maturity among parliamentarians.

“A political paradigm shift is imminent, and however, it demands a higher level of maturity in parliament. The current opposition, with its characteristics of progressive leadership, supported by the resourcefulness of the members in and out of the House, must organize to operate as an integral part of the government of the people; doing so, with the benefit of strength, intelligence and unification, founded and grounded in the leadership of this great party,” she said.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 17

JULY 6TH - JULY 13TH, 2013

LOCAL NEWS

Clement Howell Graduates urged to be change TCI needs

BY VIVIAN TYSON

G

raduating students of the Clement Howell High School have been urged to be the change that the Turks and Caicos Islands so desperately craves.

The challenge came from Rev. Goldstone Williams, Pastor for the Paradise Baptist Church in Five Cays, at the Clement Howell High School’s 24th Valedictory Service, held at the church.

In a short but substance laced charge, Rev. Williams, reminded the graduating pack that they will be the ones to shape the Turks and Caicos Islands, which he said can either be good or bad. He told them that in order to achieve greatness, the mind must be empowered with positive teachings.

“The way is stretched out before you with great untold possibilities but you must decide and make the necessary preparation to get to your destination. The mind is a terrible thing to waste, therefore it must be empowered,” he said.

Rev. Williams informed the Clement Howell pupils that at some point in their career pursuits, they will face great challenges, but in order to overcome those obstacles they must

Pastor Goldstone Williams keep focused. He told the students that the sacrifices made by their parents and teachers should not go in vain, but instead build upon.

“There is a time when your winds will die and your sails fall in, but the journey is not yet finished. You set the goals that you wish to attain, so the ship must proceed to its port of call. Students, you have come too far to turn back. Too much was invested in you. Consider the textbooks, the uniforms, and the lunch money to name a few. Your parents toiled

hard, and consider the many teachers who strained every month to help to equip you to this journey. It wasn’t easy but it was worth it.

“So when you are tempted to drop the ball and give up, I want you to just keep telling yourself, ‘the Almighty God has brought you too far to leave you’. Today, you are preparing for the final leg of your high school education and you have chosen a theme that suggests that you are not going to settle for less. Graduands, the ball is in your court; make

every effort to do the best thing with it. Make the Turks and Caicos Islands proud of you,” Rev. Williams charged the school leavers.

Urging the graduating class to shun the negatives and embrace only the things that are wholesome and critical to their developments, Rev. Williams noted that one’s thinking always manifests in their behavior.

“When I started college computers were not as common as they are today. So many opportunities were not there for us. But if there is one thing I learn in computer class that I will never forget is ‘G.I.G.O’. It means ‘garbage in, garbage out’. And if you pack your minds with foolishness, you are going to end up being a foolish person.

“Don’t waste your time in the things that cannot build you up. People will know who you are as soon as you open your mouth, and not by your teeth but by your tongue. Trust in the things that you can accomplish and trust in God to bring them to pass. You will never fail in your undertaking if you trust in God,” he urged.

The valedictory service was held under the theme: “Empower you mind for success”.

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LOCAL NEWS

Tough economic measures needed, says Minister of Finance

BY VIVIAN TYSON

I

f the Turks and Caicos Islands is to remain solvent in its local and offshore debt obligations, tough measures need to be taken, this would prevent the country from falling into the economic doldrums as some of its Caribbean neighbors have.

This is the view of Finance Minister Hon. Washington Misick, while piloting the Customs Charge, Insurance and Freight Bill 2013 through parliament on Monday (June July1).

Misick told the House that government will now have to make sturdy decisions in to stay afloat in these harsh economic times, triggered mainly by world events, such as the financial burst. He said that no longer can we heap blame on the British because locals are now in charge.

“Today, it is extremely important that we get real. The days of whipping the British are over. We are in charge now. And if we are going to be in charge, we have to make tough decisions. I am here to do my best, to manage this economy. I am not here to play to the gallery. I am not looking forward to my next meal ticket or the next election.

“The moment is now. And I am here to do the best that I can, and I am going to do that. Part of my job as

an elected member is to educate the public; not to listen to what, in many cases, the misunderstandings of how the economy works or what government policies and plans are. And to regurgitate it, to give people a feel good feeling. Reality is important,” he said.

Pointing to rating agency Moody’s report on the Caribbean earlier this year, which painted a grim picture of the collective economies, the minister said that it is important that the TCI makes the necessary decisions to not fall in those traps.

He said the Moody’s report cited countries such as Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, St. Kits and Nevis, Grenada and Jamaica as having to restructure their Government debts twice because of fiscal constraints. He said the rating agency predicts that more countries in the region would face similar challenges because of their increasing inability to service their debts.

He said while the TCI is far better shape than many of those economies, it has its fair share of fiscal problems and if not manage properly, could face similar problems.

“We are not alone, but we are not the worst either. The Turks and Caicos GDB is around 40 percent of government debt, and is up to 74 percent, when including the weighted of all of the statutory bodies, the PPP, and the

The Hope Foundation for Autism Awareness will be hosting a Walk/Run on July 13th, 2013, entitled “A

Walk for HOPE”

We are inviting the public to join in and Walk/Run with us and support the cause and families living in the TCI who are affected by Autism.

Wear a blue shirt, register for only $5 and support

“A Walk for HOPE” Autism is a disorder of neural development character-

ized by impaired social interaction and verbal and nonverbal communication, and by restricted, repetitive or stereotyped behavior. The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. Statistics suggest that 1 in 88 children born will be diagnosed with this disorder, and of that number 1 in 54 will be male. The Hope Foundation sees the need to help educate and be an advocate for these children and families that have to face these challenges. Your support can make a huge difference in the lives of these children facing this disorder every day of their lives.

PFI arrangements that government has in place.

“I would like to, at this stage, say that as a government, government always has the ability to decide whether it is going to create what I would call a short term deficit, in order to improve infrastructure, invest in things like education, if it is its intention or based on economic trends, it believes that it would actually work towards generally improving the economy, and thereby producing additional revenue in the medium and long term.

“So, to the credit of the last elected governments, investments in infrastructure and education have been made. Whether it was deliberately made with the view that I just outlined, I don’t know. And so, it is, in fact, what has contributed, to some extent, the debt load that we currently have. And while this kind of deficit spending may be planned, for good reasons, and it is common, there is also evidence that structural deficit challenges are due, in part, to poor economic management and a fundamental lack of economic capacity,” he said.

Minister Misick also declared that the Turks and Caicos Islands, despite times of surpluses, always has debts to service, and the current is no dif-

ferent. He said such deficits came as a result of taking in less than what it spends. He said the surpluses earned were as a result of sales in government assets such as crown land.

“The Turks and Caicos Islands has a history of structural deficit. By that I mean permanent deficit. Now, I know that there are those in the House that would say that is not the case, we’ve had surpluses in the past. Yes, we have had surpluses in the past, and we actually have one now. But these have been insignificant, and invariably, they have been as a result of extraordinary events, including the sale of government assets notably crown land.

“And I would ask my colleagues to examine the trend in the past, that the examination of the government’s financial trends would indicate that the TCI’s structural deficit exists regardless of the point of the business cycle. And this is due to underlying imbalance in government revenue and expenditure. We need to go back to the first six to seven years of the early 2000s and the end of the 1990s, you will see that the point that I am making is true,” he said.

Minister Misick calls for a sustainable system that would not call for the selling of government assets to balance the budget and create surpluses.

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LOCAL NEWS

New Turks And Caicos Public Service Performance Management System A

new performance appraisal system (PAS) was introduced to all 1,700 Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) civil servants from Monday, 1 July 2013.

The PAS is a key element of an ongoing and longstanding programme of civil service reform designed to raise the standards of public service delivery in the TCI. It was designed to by a working group of personnel drawn from across the TCI government ministries, and further develops the required levels of competence, the required professional and administrative skills required for a post, for civil servants at each grade.

The PAS is designed to make an individual’s specific objectives and tasks much clearer throughout the appraisal reporting period of 12 months.

The process allows an individual employee and their manager to focus on the work related tasks in hand by promoting and encouraging effective behaviours, whilst removing those that are nugatory or ineffective. It also makes clear the individual’s learning needs which can be addressed

through the correct training or mentoring, for example.

Training on the new system has already begun for managers and supervisors. It will be rolled out to all employees throughout July. All managers are to encourage their team members to attend these training sessions.

“I am personally committed to providing the necessary training and support to make sure that the Turks and Caicos Islands get the public service that it deserves,” said Deputy Governor and head of the public service, the Hon Anya Williams.

“All managers and supervisors are now required to begin following this new performance appraisal process. Completion of officers’ performance appraisals is part of the manager’s own performance objectives.

“Under the new System, all officers will be able to rely upon a more consistent framework for communication of expectations and regular feedback on their performance, as well as clarification of career goals and training and development opportunities.”

PERMITS NOW REQUIRED TO IMPORT ANIMAL AND PLANT PRODUCTS

T

he Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment, Home Affairs and Agriculture is advising all commercial and non-commercial importers that a Permit is now required for the importation of all animal or plant products.

As of May 1, 2013, importers of products that fall under rules governing the importation of Controlled Commodities and Regulated Articles MUST apply for a permit prior to importing their goods. This requirement is in accordance with Part 5, Section 34 of both the Plant and Animal Health Ordinances 2012.

Under Part 5, section 34 (3) of both the Plant and Animal Health Ordinances 2012 “A person who imports, or attempts to import, a regulated article in contravention of this section commits an offence and is liable to a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for 2 years, or both.”

Import permits are

integral to the Department of Agriculture’s biosecurity measures that seek to protect and safeguard the health of the people, plants, animals, and environment of the TCI. In keeping with the Plant Health and Animal Health Ordinance (2012), The Turks and Caicos Islands Plant and Animal Health Divisions have conducted stakeholder sensitisation fora in Providenciales and Grand Turk to advise key stakeholders of the rules and regulations governing the importation of plant and animal products.

The implementation comes seven months after the November 1, 2012 enactment of the new Ordinances giving stakeholders time to familiarise themselves with the new processes. Importation of Controlled Commodities and Regulated Articles into the Turks and Caicos Islands without an import permit is an illegal importation and goods can be subject to seizure and or destruction.

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Make Carambola Grill and Lounge Your First Choice for Catering this year!

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ENTERTAINMENT

Gabrielle Douglas and Rihanna among BET Award winners T

eenage Olympian Gabrielle Douglas, rapper Kendrick Lamar, actor Jamie Foxx as well as singers Rihanna and Nicki Minaj were among the top winners at the annual BET Awards on Sunday.

The BET Awards celebrate black musicians, actors and athletes. The program is televised on the cable TV network BET, Black Entertainment Television, part of Viacom Inc. Lamar, who scored eight nominations, won the awards for best new artist and best male hip-hop artist at the 3-1/2 hour show at Hollywood’s Nokia Theater, which was hosted by actor and comedian Chris Tucker.

Speaking to “all my little homeboys and homegirls back in the city,” Lamar noted that he too came from a world of food stamps, welfare and public assistance housing.

“You’re looking me on TV right now. This is living proof that you can do anything you put your mind to,” Lamar said.

Douglas, 17 and an Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics, took home both the Young Stars award and the Sportswoman of the Year honor. “I’m really shocked right now,” Douglas said after winning her second award of the night.

Drake’s “Started at the Bottom” won Video of the Year, one of the

GABRIELLE DOUGLAS night’s top awards. He also won the Viewers’ Choice award.

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist went to Nicki Minaj for a fourth consecutive year. She said each time she wins, “it’s a humbling experience.”

Rihanna took home the prize for Best Female R&B Pop Artist, while Miguel won the Best Male R&B Pop Artist award.

Foxx, who starred in “Django Unchained,” was named Best Actor.

Foxx paid tribute to “acting gods” he had met during his life, including Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, as well as “Django Unchained” director Quentin Tarantino.

Kerry Washington of the television show “Scandals” won Best Actress.

CURTIS “50 CENT” JACKSON ARRESTED ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CHARGES, BUT BOXING CARD WILL GO ON

R

ap superstar and fledgling boxing promoter Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson was charged

by Los Angeles police Wednesday with one count of domestic violence and four counts of vandalism, but his boxing card scheduled to be televised 50 CENT

by ESPN2 and ESPN Desportes will go on.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Jackson allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his child, and vandalized her home. The Times report assessed the value of her damaged property at $7,100.

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer told the Times that Jackson faces up to five years in jail and $46,000 in fines if convicted on all counts.

Regardless of perceived celebrity or notoriety, domestic violence is a serious crime and alleged perpetrators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by this office. We will continue to look out for the safety of all victims of domestic violence and seek justice for the alleged crimes.

The Times reported the incident occurred June 23 in Toluca Lake, Calif.

Jackson’s company, SMS Promotions, is promoting a boxing card, along with his own birthday party, on Friday at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. The main event pits Eleider “Storm” Alvarez against Allan “Ghost Dog” Green.

The Sportsman of the Year honor went to NBA and Miami Heat star LeBron James, while another Heat player, Dwyane Wade, was presented with the humanitarian award as founder of the Wade’s World Foundation, aimed at helping at-risk children in underserved communities with educational, health and family service programs.

Veteran R&B singer and former Gap Band lead vocalist Charlie Wilson was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Justin Timberlake, who performed alongside Pharrell Williams and Snoop Dogg in tribute to Wilson’s career.

The BET award for Best Movie went to the romantic comedy “Think Like a Man.” Rap duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were named Best Group, while Best Collaboration went to A$ap Rocky, featuring Drake, 2 Chainz and Lamar, for “Problems.”

Mary Mary won the award for Best Gospel Artist, while Emeli Sande was named Best International Act. U.K. Best International Act: Africa was won by Ice Prince.

The show featured performances by a host of top performers including Robin Thicke, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Miguel, Ciara and Janelle Monae, who closed the awards joined by Erykah Badu.

MATT LAUER BUYS $1.4 MILLION DOLLAR HINCKLEY T38 YACHT

T

he “Today” show’s sinking ratings didn’t stop cohost Matt Lauer from taking a long float down Sag Harbor Bay in his shiny new boat.

A Daily News photographer spotted Lauer Saturday riding the luxury Hinckley T38 yacht, which costs $1.4 million without any souped-up options.

Lauer’s jet-powered toy is aptly named Resilient.

The TV celeb got driving tips from two instructors who tagged along during the daylong jaunt. He sported a blue jacket, beige khakis and a blue hat.

Matt Lauer on his yacht Lauer has been drowning in bad press ever since his former co-host Ann Curry was dumped from her morning gig last summer.

The one-time golden boy was blamed for the fiasco, though NBC officials have insisted he had nothing to do with it.

Kathie Lee Gifford was so mad at the criticism of Lauer that she almost ran a full-page newspaper ad in his defense, signed by hundreds of his colleagues and friends.

After dominating morning-show ratings for more than a decade, “Today” has been knocked off its perch by ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Lauer and his Dutch wife, Annette Roque, have a mansion in the Hamptons

JENNIFER LOPEZ UNAWARE OF RIGHTS ISSUES BEFORE TURKMENISTAN VISIT

J

ennifer Lopez would not have performed a private concert in Turkmenistan at the weekend had she known about charges of human rights violations in the Central Asian nation, her publicist said on Monday.

Human rights campaigners, who accuse Turkmenistan’s government of restricting free speech and jailing political opponents, criticized Lopez for performing at the concert attended by Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov on Saturday.

The 43-year-old singer came under particular scrutiny after singing “Happy Birthday” to Berdymukhamedov at the event, which was put on for local executives of the China National Petroleum Corp in the resource-rich desert nation.

“The event was vetted by her representatives, had there been knowledge of human-right issues of any kind, Jennifer would not have attended,” Lopez’s publicist Mark Young said in a statement.

“This was not a government sponsored event or political in nature,” the statement added.

Rachel Denber, deputy director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, commended Lopez for coming clean about the performance but said any sort of vetting on the country should have been easy.

“Just do a few Google clicks to look up their human-rights record,” she said. “It’s hard to know why they (pop stars) gravitate towards these unsavory leaders. It’s worth noting that these leaders want public noticeability and prestige that these celebrities offer.”

Young said the birthday song was not in Lopez’s contract for the show but the company had made a “last-minute ‘birthday greeting’ request” which she obliged.

Berdymukhamedov became Turkmenistan’s president in 2006 after the death of Saparmurat Niyazov, who took absolute control of the former Soviet republic following independence in 1991.

Berdymukhamedov’s regime has been accused by Western states at the United Nations of systemic repression of its 5.5 million people, but the country, which has world’s fourth-largest known natural gas reserves, enjoys support from fellow Islamic and Asian nations.

Young said there had not been any discussion of Lopez donating her performance fee to charity. Other pop stars, including Mariah Carey and Beyonce, did donate their fees after coming under fire for performing for the family of former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

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We are revising the banking hours of the Grace Bay Branch to serve you better, commencing July 8, 2013.

Our new banking hours are: Monday to Thursday: 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM Fridays: 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM Closed on Saturdays Thank you for your loyal support and we look forward to continuously serving you from this location.

Discover what’s possible

* Trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia, used under license.

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GOVERNMENT VACANCY DEPARTMENT: MINISTRY: LOCATION: JOB SUMMARY:

Special Needs Unit Ministry of Health Grand Turk The successful candidate will provide support service to the Wellness Center personnel to maintain the cleanliness of buildings, moving clients and moving supplies and materials.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: v Removes garbage from all wards and maintains a clean environment. v Cleans facilities as requested (including all windows, fans and screens weekly.) v Checks all buildings to ensure they are secure. v Assists with lifting and moving clients. v Lifts and moves equipment and supplies. v Collects supplies from airport/stores as required. v Does security checks and reports on any suspicious activities.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE: v Successfully completed high school and is a recipient of a high school diploma.

SALARY: $ 640.00 Fortnightly APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Resumes with current contact information must be accompanied by a Cover Letter, two letters of reference (one preferably from a former employer), copies of educational certificates, a Police Certificate and a copy of the Passport photo page. Applications should be addressed to the Office of the Human Resource Directorate, Church Folly, Grand Turk. Facsimile: 946-1582 or sent by email to: recruitment@gov.tc with the subject line Porter Application. Applications sent by post or brought by hand should have the subject Porter Application clearly marked on the envelopes. Successful applicants will work in accordance with the Public Service Ordinance.

Qualified Belongers will be given first consideration.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 16TH July, 2013.

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Mother Margaret is here NOW!! and has brought gifts back from overseas for everyone.

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Can show you with your own eyes how God can remove sorrow, sickness and pain and all problem from your body.

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Just call and see how one telephone call can convince you that this is God's messenger on earth.

342-6951 Carambola Grill & Lounge is seeking an enthusiastic Waitress to support the management team in the day to day running of the establishment.

WAITRESS Responsibilities include:

Set table cutlery serviettes and condiments before the start of meals; pleasantly greet and seat guests when they arrive, efficiently take their orders, and professionally serve food and beverages; familiarize yourself with the menu and recommend dishes, drink and wines when taking orders clears used cutlery and replace table settings when guests leave; serve individual portions or dishes and refill drinks when requested salary $6.50 per hour.

Requirements

Must have experience in working in a busy established restaurant as a trained professional waitress.

Must be neat, tidy and smartly dress Must be tactful, courteous and able to communicate well with people Have a good service attitude and be able to work in a team.

Contact 946-8122

Or drop off resume at Carambola, Airport Road, Providenciales

To learn more please contact: T.C. Gas Ltd. Provo Industrial Park Providenciales Turks & Caicos Islands Ph: 649 339 3854/339 339 3585** Fax: 649 941 4654 Email: mcn@tciway.tc

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News CARIBBEAN

Cayman Islands forecasting budget surplus and end to unemployment

C

ayman Islands Finance Minister Marco Archer not only declared the end of unemployment, but detailed an interim budget of nearly $194 million through 31 October. Forecasting a “significant operating surplus” by the close of the 2013/14 fiscal year on 30 June, 2014, Mr. Archer listed broad expenditures, the largest of which was $153.5 million for “output groups”, services supplied to government by various departments throughout the year.

According to the Caymanian Compass, among the highlights were another $13.6 million for “transfer payments”, such as scholarships, housing assistance and poor relief; almost $8 million to finance government debt; $6.6 million for “other executive expenses” such as salaries, medical care, pensions and expenses for the judiciary, the premier, the governor, legislators and the financial secretary; and nearly $9 million in “equity expenses”, which includes payments to the various ministries, a $1.7 million subsidy to Cayman Airways, $2.7 million for the Turtle Farm, $600,000 for the National Housing Development Trust and various sums for CINICO, the Office of the Premier and various statutory authorities.

Mr. Archer also announced a $30 million overdraft facility for the 1 July to 31 October interim period. The overdraft is a short-term loan used to bridge the gap during government’s lower-earning revenue months of July through November.

“We have a $15 million bank account,” he said, boosted by the overdraft, “making a balance that adds up to $45 million.” Coupled with non-cash outgo of $8.5 million in depreciation allowances for fixed and long-term assets, Mr. Archer said, government expected an overall deficit – pegged at $56 million – to be reduced to only $2.5 million at the end of the interim period on 31 October.

“That overdraft is adequate to deal with a possible $56 million deficit [during the four-month period],” he assured the chamber, saying any shortfalls during the four-month period “should not cause alarm. They are perfectly normal.”

BIMINI BAY CASINO OPENS, LAUNCHES FERRY SERVICE FROM FLORIDA

W

ith the July 1 opening of the Resorts World Bimini Bay Casino, the casino launched its Superfast ferry service between Miami and Bimini, Bahamas.

The $24 million casino is a joint venture between Bimini Bay developer RAV Bahamas and casino operator Genting Malaysia Berhad.

Resorts World is the only casino on Bimini and the closest offshore casino to South Florida, 30 minutes away by air and two hours by the Superfast ferry.

The 10,000-square-foot casino is located at Bimini Bay Resort & Marina, a master-planned oceanfront resort community of 480 homes and villas, the largest yacht marina in the Bahamas, several restaurants, two pools, shops and a beach club.

Mr. McLaughlin revealed Wednesday that some “exceptional expenditures” from the previous United Democratic Party administration, dating back as far as mid-2009, had not been approved in supplementary appropriations before the LA’s Finance Committee. Although the money for most of those items has likely already been spent, Mr. McLaughlin said some “cleaning up” was required for those items.

He did not specify exactly what “exceptional expenditures” had not received approval. It was expected the special Finance Committee meeting Town is the capital of the Cayman Islands and center to would be called sometime in August. government, banking and insurance sectors with over Public-private partnership?

600 banks. George Town is home to many restaurants, Mr. McLaughlin told the House that the preactivities and shopping, as well as being the gateway to vious UDP budget had set “overly ambitious” tarCayman Islands cruise ships from around the world. gets to reduce spending and investment, stifling the rebound in the Cayman economy.

Government expenditures between July and “We believe a more gradual phased approach October, he said, traditionally outpaced revenues. should be taken,” he said.

January through March, he said, “is when governWithout detailing any financing arrangements, ment revenues far outstrip expenditures – and Mr. McLaughlin nonetheless named downtown the full-year budget shows a significant operating cruise ship berthing and airport expansion as his surplus”, although he stopped short of naming a top priorities and alluded cryptically to “another figure. Cautioning that the July through October major infrastructure project that would be strucbudget did not comprise one-third of the 2013/14 tured as a public-private partnership” serving as a accounts, Mr. Archer said the administration “catalyst for economic development in the eastwould “encourage savings”, while the local econ- ern districts”. omy “had rebounded to a full-employment level”.

Revenue raising, the premier said, should not The government’s current budget year ends on burden the private sector, discouraging investSunday. Mr. Archer said he expected the 2012/13 ment. Streamlining performance at statutory budget cycle to end with an operating surplus, authorities and government-owned companies but again would not commit to naming a spe- could offer savings. cific figure. Earlier estimates from April had put Public debt would be refinanced, he said, movthe surplus number at $51 million – down from ing away from “interest-only bullet bond-type the $82 million surplus former Premier McKeeva borrowing instruments”, and creating a “sinking Bush’s government had projected last year. fund” to pay off “non-amortised debt as it comes The Legislative Assembly will meet sometime due”. He also reiterated administration opposiin mid-September to review the full year budget tion to any form of taxation, saying “we stand befor 2013/14, Premier Alden McLaughlin said. hind the Cayman model and do not support the However, there are a few matters to clear up introduction of income tax, payroll tax, property prior to the regular budget meeting. tax or value-added tax”.

Table games, slots and sports betting are offered at the casino, which is expected to account for more than 400 jobs on Bimini and have an “enormous economic impact on the local economy,” according to a statement from Prime Minister Perry Christie in the Nassau Guardian.

Resorts World also plans to build a deep-water jetty and terminal as a docking site for the Superfast ferry and two mega-yachts. Until then, passengers on the ferry will be tendered in on large catamarans.

The Superfast ferry, operated by Genting and RAV Bahamas, can accommodate 1,600 passengers. Onboard amenities include slots, gaming tables, a two-story disco, restaurants and boutiques.

The ferry will make two roundtrips a day; prices start at $49 one-way.

Balearia Bahamas Express, a Spanish-owned company, launched ferry service between Miami and Bimini in February, aboard the 358-passenger catamaran-style Maverick. Tickets for the threehour crossing start at $49.50 one-way.

POLICE DETAIN NINE IN LOTTERY AND MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEMES IN JAMAICA

K

INGSTON, Jamaica– Police have detained nine people in the western part of the island as they continue investigations into money laundering and lottery scamming activities.

The joint operation involving members of the Major Organised Crime Anti-Corruption Task Force (MOCA) and the Financial Investigation Division (FID) swooped down on the communities of Norwood, Paradise and John’s Hall in St. James as well as the community of Welcome in Hanover.

The police said the six men and three women are being questioned in the presence of their lawyers, and that formal charges will be laid at a later date.

The police said they were also warning people against helping others involved in the illegal money laundering and lottery scam activities.

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CARIBBEAN NEWS

CARICOM Secretary General highlights the high economic cost of youth unemployment P

ORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad & Tobago- CARICOM’s Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, has pointed to an number of elements which he says has stymied growth and has threatened the growth of regional economies.

Addressing the opening of the eight ILO meeting of Caribbean Labour Ministers in Port of Spain, yesterday, Ambassador LaRocque said “Among the circumstances that have contrived to lead us to this position are the global financial and economic crises, the deleterious effects of natural disasters to which our Region is prone, and skill gaps in key sectors of our economies.”

He pointed out that “of particular significance and concern is the rising level of youth unemployment which has in some instances contributed to the widening poverty gaps and rising levels of disenchantment, crime and insecurity. “ The CARICOM Secretary General says the ILO meeting “comes at a time when the world is examining options for the United Nations Post 2015 Development Agenda, an exercise which also provides opportunities for reflection and re-examination of development models. This is a debate in which our Member States must continue to be actively involved, given the important role which the agenda will play in advancing sustainable development in all its facets, economic, social and environmental, and in fashioning the global financing agenda for developing countries.”

“Consideration of Decent Work will be an important element in these discussions, given its central role in addressing poverty alleviation.

The Think Piece on Employment prepared by the UN Task Team on the post 2015 Agenda notes that: ‘The availability of decent work opportunities and the capacity of women and men to take up those opportunities are central to the develop-

ment process in general and poverty reduction in particular. However, decent work is more than just a means of achieving development goals.

Key development objectives are thus to sustain a strong pace of employment growth and raise the earning power of the poorest’.

That Report also points to far reaching effects of decent and productive work, noting implications for sense of identity and social relations. It cites studies which show that as work becomes more decent in income terms, people are also more likely to invest in their children’s health and education as well as their own health,” he said.

The CARICOM Secretary General pointed out that “All CARICOM Member States have committed themselves to the ILO Decent Work Agenda at the international, hemispheric, regional and national levels.

Member States are in various stages of the development of their national Decent Work Programmes, which address different combinations of priorities based on national circumstances. In spite of significant ownership of the Programmes by the Tripartite Partners, funds and technical support and assistance to implement the Programmes remain a critical issue, especially given the dire economic conditions in many of our Member states. “ He noted that there was “significant unemployment and under employment existing alongside acute skill shortages in some key sectors of our economies. The lack of access to technology by many of our young people has the potential to widen employment and poverty gaps, and this needs to be addressed.”

LaRocque pointed to the Report of the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development which pointed to the high economic cost of

youth unemployment. “The incidence of unemployment among the youth is higher than among the adult population,” he said.

“In fact the data reveals that youth unemployment rates are substantially above the national averages across the Region. Indeed it is more than twice the adult rate. A reduction in youth unemployment to the adult levels would contribute to growth of between one and two per cent in GDP among our Member States.”

“Further, of increasing concern in our Region, is the fact that even among those who successfully complete secondary and tertiary education, and among those who have access to technology, many are unable to secure a decent job.”

According to LaRocque, “This situation points in part to a mismatch between the skills required for employment and entrepreneurship, and those being developed in our education and training systems. The development of the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ), based as it is on occupational standards developed in conjunction with industry, is a step in the right direction and will render school leavers more readily employable. The CVQ also provides the impetus and opportunity for persons in the workforce to update their skills and have them certified. We need to broaden offerings within our general education system to foster creativity and innovation to enable our citizens to take advantage of emerging occupations.”

“There is also a more general need for access to up-to-date labour market information and intelligence and the use of this information to render education and skill training more demand driven. All of this emphasises the imperative of policy coherence and a whole of government, whole of society approach to employment goals,” he declared.

Barbados facing very serious economic challenges, says PM B

RIDGETOWN, Barbados -- A $400 million fiscal adjustment programme is needed if Barabdos is to stave off economic doom, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said, as he gave the closing address at last Thursday’s one-day national private/public sector consultation on the economy.

He told those gathered that this country was facing “serious problems of debt and deficit” and stressed that if the present challenges were to be overcome, then the cooperation of all Barbadians, in what he termed “this mighty effort”, would be required.

“The Governor of the Central Bank was very clear that we have to make a very serious adjustment if we are to eschew the prospect of economic damage being done to Barbados. He contends that we need to do about a 4.4 [per cent] ad-

justment and that 4.4 adjustment translates into about $400 million in the short-term. Now short and sharp interventions can lead to short and sharp responses and that is a fact which we must bear in mind. I think, therefore, that we have to continue the dialogue.

“But the reality is that we have problems. These problems are not problems of a nature, quality and kind that we can claim to be new.

We’ve had these problems before, what we’re dealing with here is the gravity of the problem. And, as I said this morning, the extent to which the problems have been able to sustain themselves over as long a period as they have,” he said.

Stuart pointed out that Thursday’s meeting was part of an important consultative process so that decisions could be made to save the economy.

“We have heard interventions that have left me in no doubt that people understand where we are and that we’re going to have to take some strong corrective actions, bearing in mind always that there are vulnerable elements in the society whose protection depends on us as well,” he noted.

The prime minister called for creativity, perspective, and innovation rather than imitation, declaring that government had to make decisions while the going was “good”.

“The worst thing you can do is waste a recession. The truth is that it is even more criminal to waste a period of economic buoyancy and that’s the point that I made this morning -- that real beneficial fiscal consolidation in economies like ours should best be undertaken during periods of economic buoy-

ancy. But once things are going well we forget all of the structural challenges and we have a good time, and as soon as difficulties surface, we press the panic button,” he observed.

Expressing confidence that the country would surmount the present difficulties, the prime minister, however, warned that once buoyancy returned to the economy, “some serious structural changes” had to take place in Barbados.

Stuart promised that government would continue its consultative programme, as broadly and as widely as possible “while there was time to do so, and while circumstances allowed”, so that a national consensus on the way forward could be crystallised and the necessary buy-in garnered for the sacrifices that would have to be made in the foreseeable future.

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CARIBBEAN NEWS

OAS Secretary General says drug problem affects pillar of development in the Caribbean S

ANTIAGO, Chile- The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, says that the drug problem affects the “pillars of development” in Latin America and Caribbean.

In presenting a report here on the drug problem in the region, to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Insulza underscored what he described as a fact that “violence is what most worries the population in terms of drugs.

“All stages of the production process tend to be illegal, and drug-related offences generate other offences and then crimes. Drug trafficking produces many more victims than those generated through consumption alone,” he added.

The report recognizes the heterogeneity of Latin American and Caribbean societies, adding that the drug problem affects them differently.

It says that the highest drug-related murder rates are not in the main countries for drug consumption but rather in countries where drug trafficking is concentrated, “which are also the countries where the state has the most difficulty in protecting its citizens”.

Insulza noted that the report raises the possibility of decriminalizing drug use “as a real alternative to be studied and considered, because, if

José Miguel Insulza drug addiction is considered as a health problem, it is not consistent to consider addicts as suffering from an illness while, at the same time, punishing them”.

The OAS chief said that in order to analyze the problem of drugs in the Caribbean and Latin America, “it is necessary to keep in mind data on consumption, which details the extent to which the problem has penetrated the societies of the Hemisphere and the money involved, because the exorbitant profits generated by drug trafficking generate other problems, like extreme vio-

INTERPOL led operation seizes drugs in Caribbean L

YON, France– The world’s largest international police organization, known as INTERPOL, says nearly 30 tonnes of cocaine, heroin and marijuana with an estimated value of US$ 822 million have been seized in an operation targeting the maritime trafficking of drugs and illicit firearms by organized crime groups across Central America and the Caribbean.

On Wednesday, INTERPOL said Operation Lionfish, coordinated by its Regional Bureau for Central America in San Salvador, El Salvador, with support from the Drugs and Criminal Organizations unit at the General Secretariat headquarters here, involved about 34 countries and territories.

It said the operation resulted in 142 arrests, the seizure of 15 vessels, eight tonnes of chemical precursors, 42 guns and abut US$170,000 in cash.

NTERPOL said two operational coordination units, at the Regional Bureau in El Salvador and the Command Centre of the French West Indies Coastguard in Fort de France, Martinique “provided real-time support for information exchange and conducting checks against INTERPOL’s global databases.”

Run in partnership with the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council (CCLEC) with support from the French Coastguard, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Europol, INTERPOL said the joint law enforcement operation was also aimed at enhancing information sharing at the regional

and international levels “in order to improve intelligence on modus operandi, routes and the identification of organized crime structures and key players.

“The value of operations such as Lionfish is not just about the arrests and seizures, it is also about INTERPOL’s support to its member countries to strengthen national and regional law enforcement cooperation in our continued efforts to target organized crime networks behind the trafficking,” said INTERPOL’s director of operational support, who is identified only by his last name, O’Connell.

Describing the operation as ‘unprecedented’ in its geographical scope, CCLEC Permanent Secretary Paul Hilaire said: “CCLEC will certainly build on the achievements and lessons learned during this operation, and stands ready to consider future initiatives making our globe more secure with its international and regional partners.”

Supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada (DFAIT), Operation Lionfish which ran between May 27 and June 10 was held under the banner of INTERPOL’s Integrated Border Management Task Force and is part of INTERPOL’s Capacity Building Programme on Organized Crime for the Americas.

Under this programme, INTERPOL said about 161 officers from 36 countries have already undergone specialist training with events held in Panama, Jamaica, Mexico, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas.

lence utilized by criminal gangs or the growth of corruption”.

Insulza also placed special emphasis on what he called “the second major axis of corruption”, money laundering, claiming that it reaches as much as 62 per cent of the total gross profits from cocaine trafficking.

He said that money laundering “now extends beyond the financial sector, to reach other economic agents, including insurance companies, stock and securities brokers, exchange bureaus, wire transfer companies, casinos, mineral and precious stone traders and concessionaires, real estate dealers, and independent professionals”.

Regarding consumption, the OAS leader said figures in the region are “troubling,” stating that they demand a reaction of the governments of the region.

“Our Hemisphere’s use of drugs is one of the highest in the world and triggers a wide range of effects that are harmful to health in both the short and the long run. And the dependency to which all drug users are exposed, regardless of whether those drugs are legal or illicit, destroys not only the lives of those who are dependent on them, but also those of their families and of those who surround them,” he added.

UN ADOPTS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PEACEKEEPING BUDGET FOR HAITI

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NITED NATIONS- The United Nations General Assembly, acting on the recommendations of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary), has adopted a US$609.1 million peacekeeping budget for Haiti for a one year period starting July 1, this year.

The 9,000 peacekeeping mission in Haiti is known by the French acronym MINUSTAH and it has been on the French Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country since 2004.

The UN said its 13 peacekeeping missions worldwide will receive just over US$7.15 billion in annual funding.

The UN committee approved the budget for Haiti without a vote after the representative of the Dominican Republic had made an oral correction to the draft estimates.

However in recent months, there have been calls for an end to MINUSTAH’s presence on the island.

Last month, a two-day “Continental Conference” was held in Port Au Prince aimed at mapping out “a world-wide campaign to bring a rapid end” MINUSTAH presence there.

At the end of the conference, delegates from 31 countries, including some in the Caribbean, unanimously approved a resolution, vowing to continue their struggle.

“Withdraw your troops from Haiti immediately,” the resolution urged in part.

“Vote at the UN against the renewal of the presence of MINUSTAH in Haiti. “Show your solidarity with the Haitian people by requiring UN compensation/reparations for the victims of cholera,” the delegates urged.

But UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had said in a report that MINUSTAH is in Haiti to ensure security.

The report said there is a “need to strengthen the national police and judiciary” in Haiti, adding that this “remains a key prerequisite for the Mission’s eventual withdrawal from Haiti”.

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News W

RLD

After military coup, Muslim Brotherhood leader arrested, Egypt’s Islamists call protests

Adli Mansour

Mohamed Mursi

gyptian security forces arrested the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday, security sources said, in a crackdown against the Islamist movement after the army ousted the country’s first democratically elected president.

The dramatic exit of President Mohamed Mursi was greeted with delight by millions of jubilant people on the streets of Cairo and other cities overnight, but there was simmering resentment among Egyptians who opposed military intervention.

An Islamist coalition led by the Brotherhood called on people across the nation to protest in a “Friday of Rejection” following weekly prayers, an early test of Mursi’s ongoing support and how the military will deal with it.

Perhaps aware of the risk of society being polarized, the new interim leader, judge Adli Mansour, used his inauguration to hold out an olive branch to the Brotherhood, Mursi’s power base.

“The Muslim Brotherhood are part of this people and are invited to participate in building the nation as nobody will be excluded, and if they respond to the invitation, they will be welcomed,” he said.

Just before he spoke, the air force staged a series of fly pasts in the smoggy skies over Cairo, a stark re-

swept the region in 2011, raised questions about the future of political Islam which only lately seemed triumphant.

Deeply divided, Egypt’s 84 million people are again a focus of concern in a region traumatized by the civil war in Syria.

Security sources said the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, was arrested in the northern city of Marsa Matrouh, near the Libyan border, although the sources said they did not believe he had been trying to flee the country.

The Brotherhood denied his arrest on its website.

Demonstrators often chanted against Mursi and Badie in the same breath. Despite its denials, the Brotherhood never managed to shake off the image that Badie and its executive board were the silent force behind Mursi’s presidency.

Prosecutors also ordered the arrest of his influential deputy Khairat el-Shater after both men were charged with inciting violence against protesters outside the Brotherhood’s headquarters in Cairo that was attacked on Sunday night.

Mursi was in military custody, army and Brotherhood sources said, and authorities opened an investigation into accusations that he and 15 other Islamists insulted the judiciary.

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Protestors in Egypt. minder of the military’s role in the latest upheaval. The stunt, involving dozens of aircraft, was repeated at dusk.

But a senior Brotherhood official said it would not work with “the usurper authorities”. Another of its politicians said Mursi’s overthrow would push other groups, though not his own, to violent resistance.

Mursi’s removal after a year in office marked another twist in the turmoil that has gripped the Arab world’s most populous country in the two years since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

At least 16 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in clashes across Egypt since Mursi’s overthrow. In fighting late on Thursday between his supporters and opponents in his hometown of Zagazig northeast of Cairo, 80 more people were wounded.

According to state news agency MENA, protesters fought with rocks, birdshot and knives, and security

forces fired teargas to disperse them and made 11 arrests.

INVESTIGATION OPENED INTO MURSI The United Nations, the United States and some other world powers avoided condemning Mursi’s removal as a military coup. To do so might trigger sanctions.

Army intervention was backed by millions of Egyptians, including liberal leaders and religious figures who expect new elections under a revised set of rules.

Egypt’s armed forces have been at the heart of power since officers staged the 1952 overthrow of King Farouk.

The protests that spurred the military to step in this time were rooted in a liberal opposition that lost elections to Islamists. Their ranks were swelled by anger over broken promises on the economy and shrinking real incomes.

The downfall of Egypt’s first elected leader, who emerged from the “Arab Spring” revolutions that

Peru police fire tear gas on protesting students, civil servants L

IMA - Peruvian police fired tear gas at hundreds of students and civil servants in Lima on Thursday as they marched towards Congress to protest reforms that would impose tougher standards on universities and bureaucrats.

Protesters lashed out at President Ollanta Humala for proposing the laws, which he says would improve the quality of sluggish government services and a lagging higher-education system. Critics say they would force thousands from their jobs and compromise the autonomy

of Peru’s universities.

Though the protests lacked the large size of recent demonstrations in Chile and Brazil that have defied political leaders, they could expose Humala to renewed criticism after several months of relative calm.

Humala, a former military officer, was elected in 2011 as a moderate leftist but critics say he has since drifted to the right.

Civil servants clashed with riot police as they tried to protest in front of the presidential palace

- normally off-limits to rallies - a day after Humala signed a law that requires public employees to undergo annual performance evaluations.

A separate bill to reform universities and tighten standards for professors is pending in Congress.

Local television showed police firing tear gas and water cannons against protesters, some of whom wielded sticks and were throwing rocks.

Several injuries were reported in Lima and at similar protests in several provincial capitals.

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Latin America furious over Bolivia incident in Snowden saga B

UENOS AIRES - Latin American leaders slammed European governments on Wednesday for diverting Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane on rumors it was carrying a wanted former U.S. spy agency contractor, adding a new diplomatic spat to the Edward Snowden saga.

Morales was returning from Moscow on Tuesday when France and Portugal abruptly banned his plane from entering their airspace due to suspicions that Snowden, wanted by Washington for leaking secrets, was onboard. Italy and Spain also banned the Bolivian plane from their skies.

The unusual treatment of the Bolivian military aircraft touched a sensitive nerve in the region, which has a history of U.S.-backed coups. Several furious presidents from across the region rallied behind Morales and protests erupted on the streets of Bolivia. “(These are) vestiges of a colonialism that we thought were long over. We believe this constitutes not only the humiliation of a sister nation but of all South America,” Argentine President Cristina Kirchner said in a speech in Buenos Aires.

Heads of state in the 12-nation South American bloc Unasur denounced the “unfriendly and unjustifiable acts” and some members wanted an emergency summit in Bolivia. Ministers from the bloc will meet to discuss the affair in Lima on Thursday.

The bloc includes the leftist leaders of Vene-

zuela, Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia as well as more moderate ones in Chile and Brazil. Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador were among the other Latin American countries speaking out against the Europeans’ actions.

“These are times of sovereign, democratic, popular governments that won’t be pushed around by foreign powers,” said Venezuelan communications minister Ernesto Villegas.

Brazil’s foreign ministry spokesman said the government would not comment on its own because Unasur would do so collectively. The Chilean foreign ministry issued a statement saying it “lamented” what happened to Morales and that more clarity was needed on the facts.

ANTI-U.S. RHETORIC Bolivian officials were quick on Tuesday to accuse the United States of strong-arming the Europeans into denying access to their air space in an “act of intimidation” against Morales for suggesting while attending an energy conference in Moscow that he would consider granting asylum to Snowden if requested.

The restrictions were later lifted and Morales was on his way home after a stopover in the Canary Islands.

Snowden is believed to be still in the transit area of a Moscow airport, where he has been trying since June 23 to find a country that will offer him refuge from prosecution in the United States

on espionage charges.

The Bolivian government said it had filed a formal complaint with the United Nations and was studying other legal avenues to prove its rights had been violated under international law.

Legal experts say Bolivia could take its case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague if Austrian officials had boarded Morales’ plane in Vienna without his consent, presumably to search for Snowden.

Bolivian Defense Minister Ruben Saavedra said authorities did not board the plane, contradicting an Austrian official who said the aircraft had been boarded and checked.

Some Bolivians took to the streets in protest, burning the French and European Union flags outside the French Embassy in the capital of La Paz. Bolivia is part of the ALBA alliance of Latin American socialist countries that has for years delighted in confronting Washington.

Morales has yet to restore full diplomatic relations with the United States after expelling the U.S. ambassador in 2008.

But the regional leftist bloc’s two leading members - Cuba and Venezuela - are in a cautious rapprochement with the United States that likely would be dashed if they gave sanctuary to Snowden.

U.S. President Barack Obama has warned that giving Snowden asylum would carry serious costs.

British surveillance firm denies bugging Ecuador’s embassy L

ONDON - A British private surveillance company denied on Thursday that it had bugged the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living for over a year.

Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino made the allegation against the Surveillance Group Ltd in Quito on Wednesday, adding that Ecuador would seek help from the British government to get to the bottom of the matter.

In a statement, the Surveillance Group’s CEO Timothy Young rejected Patino’s allegation as “completely untrue”.

“The Surveillance Group do not and have never been engaged in any activities of this nature,” Young said.

“We have not been contacted

by any member of the Ecuadorean government and our first notification about this incident was via the press this morning,” he said.

The Foreign Office in London declined to comment.

Patino described the Surveillance Group as “one of the biggest private investigation and undercover surveillance companies in the United Kingdom”.

On its website, the company says it combines “the practices, skills and experience of special forces, police and commercial surveillance to create an entirely new form of surveillance”.

It says its clients include British law enforcement agencies, other government bodies and financial institutions, and that it has teams in

OHIO SINKHOLE SWALLOWS CAR

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OLEDO, Ohio — A northwest Ohio sinkhole has swallowed a car traveling down a street and briefly trapped the driver, who climbed out after authorities gave her a ladder.

Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan says a water main break beneath the road may have caused the sinkhole Wednesday. The hole is estimated to be at least 10 feet deep.

Police say driver Pamela Knox didn’t appear hurt but was shaken up and was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

Heffernan says Knox saw the vehicle in front of her start to slip into the hole but drive beyond it. He says Knox couldn’t avoid it.

Officials used a crane to pull the car from the hole. Repairs to the road are expected to take days.

Europe and Canada.

Services on offer include digital forensics, corporate investigations, professional witness surveillance and intelligence reports, according to the company website.

Patino has said the microphone was found in the office of Ambassador Ana Alban at the time of his visit to the embassy on June 16 to meet with Assange, who has been granted asylum by Ecuador but cannot make his way to that country.

Assange risks arrest if he steps out of the embassy because he has breached his bail terms in Britain.

He sought refuge inside the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Assange fears that if sent to Swe-

den he could be extradited from there to the United States to face potential charges over the release of thousands of confidential U.S. documents on WikiLeaks.

The anti-secrecy website described the alleged bugging of the embassy as an example of “imperial arrogance” but did not elaborate.

The topic of covert state surveillance has been at the top of the global news agenda since a series of leaks last month by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about secret U.S. and British espionage programs.

WikiLeaks is trying to assist Snowden, who is believed to be stranded at an airport in Moscow and seeking asylum in a variety of countries including Ecuador.

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Labour Party fight to replace David Cameron as Prime Minister fails B

ritain’s Labour Party leader suffered a setback in his fight to replace David Cameron as prime minister on Thursday when his election coordinator quit after a row over whether unions manipulated its selection of candidates.

Less than two years before voters go to the polls, Tom Watson stepped down, saying in a letter to Ed Miliband that it was “better for you and the future unity of the party that I go now”.

His departure is a blow for Miliband, who narrowly beat his older brother David in a Labour leadership contest in 2010 with the crucial support of the trade unions, one of the party’s biggest sources of funding.

Since then, Labour have led Cameron’s Conservatives in

the polls at a time of economic slump, but Miliband’s personal ratings have been weaker than the prime minister’s or those of Tony Blair, who won three elections for Labour.

Watson’s departure follows days of bad headlines for Labour over claims that Unite, Britain’s biggest union, tried to hijack the process to choose a Labour candidate to contest a parliamentary seat in the Scottish town of Falkirk at the 2015 election. The union’s preferred candidate was Watson’s office manager. Unite said it operated within Labour’s rules.

Cameron seized on the episode as evidence of Miliband’s weakness at the hands of powerful unions trying to push Labour back to the left after a shift to the center under Blair.

In his resignation letter, Watson said he hoped Labour would publish its internal report into the Falkirk affair to allay “spurious suppositions” in the public domain.

“I am proud of your Buddha-like qualities of patience, deep thought, compassion and resolve,” Watson wrote to Miliband. “I just don’t think you need me in the Shadow Cabinet.”

Miliband said Watson’s resignation made “sense for you and for the party”.

Watson, 46, has been a member of parliament since 2001. He is known for his fierce criticism of Rupert Murdoch and his campaigning during the phone-hacking scandal which embroiled the media mogul’s British newspaper business.

Obama Visits Mandela’s Robben Island Cell C

APE TOWN, South Africa With the world’s eyes on the ailing Nelson Mandela, President Obama today walked in the footsteps of the man he’s called his personal hero.

Touring the prison on Robben Island, Obama stood alone in the stark “7B” cell where Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years in captivity and stared out at the blue sky through the barred window.

Obama visited the island before, in 2006 when he was a senator, but today he returned for the first time as president and brought along his family.

“For me to be able to bring my daughters there and teach them the history of that place and this country, and help them to understand not only how those lessons apply to their own lives but also to their responsibilities in the future as citizens

of the world, that’s a great privilege and a great honor,” Obama said Saturday.

The first family viewed the quarry where Mandela and his fellow prisoners were forced to do grueling labor, endlessly breaking large stones into smaller ones, and the courtyard provided for their recreation.

They walked through the tiny, barren cells, which were barely wide enough for the prisoners to lie down.

The president, first lady, daughters Sasha and Malia, first grandmother Marian Robinson and the president’s niece Leslie Robinson were guided through the prison by a former inmate.

Like Mandela, Ahmed Kathrada was imprisoned for 18 years for his anti-apartheid activities.

The president was overheard chiming in with his own history lessons.

“One thing you guys might not be aware of is that the idea of political nonviolence first took root here in South Africa because Mahatma Gandhi was a lawyer here in South Africa.

Here is where he did his first political [activism]. When he went back to India the principles ultimately led to Indian independence, and what Gandhi did inspired Martin Luther King,” he told his family.

Before departing, the president and first lady signed the visitors log.

“On behalf of our family we’re deeply humbled to stand where men of such courage faced down injustice and refused to yield. The world is grateful for the heroes of Robben Island, who remind us that no shackles or cells can match the strength of the human spirit,” the president wrote.

President Barack Obama in Nelson Mandela’s former cell

RUSSIA INCREASINGLY IMPATIENT OVER SNOWDEN’S AIRPORT STAY

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dward Snowden should find another country to seek refuge in, a Russian official said on Thursday, signaling Moscow’s growing impatience over the former U.S. spy agency contractor’s stay at a Moscow airport.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia had received no request for political asylum from Snowden and he had to solve his problems himself after 11 days in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

President Vladimir Putin has refused to extradite the American and Russian officials have delighted in his success in staying out of the United States’ clutches since revealing details of secret U.S. government surveillance programs.

But Moscow also has made clear that Snowden is an increasingly unwelcome guest because the longer he stays, the greater the risk of the diplomatic standoff causing lasting damage to relations with Washington.

“He needs to choose a place to go,” Ryabkov told Reuters. “As of this moment, we do not have a formal application from Mr Snowden asking for asylum in the Russian Federation.”

Ryabkov told Itar-Tass news agency separately that Russia “cannot solve anything for him” and the situation should now be resolved “one way or the other”.

His remarks echoed comments by Putin, who has urged Snowden, 30, to leave as soon as he can.

France and Italy, both U.S. allies, said they had rejected asylum requests from Snowden.

“Like many countries France has received, via its ambassador in Moscow, an asylum request from Edward Snowden. For legal reasons and given the applicant’s situation, it will not be processed,” Interior Minister Manuel Valls said in a statement.

Valls had said earlier that France’s relations with the United States would not allow it to harbor Snowden.

Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said any asylum request would have to be presented in person at the border or on Italian territory, which Snowden had not done.

“As a result there do not exist the legal conditions to accept such a request, which in the government’s view would not be acceptable on a political level either,” she told parliament.

On Monday, Putin said Snowden could only be granted asylum by Moscow if he agreed to stop actions that could harm the United States.

Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said on Tuesday that Snowden had withdrawn his interest in asylum in Russia after Putin spelled out the terms. His options have narrowed further since then as no country has agreed to grant him asylum.

Russian officials have kept Snowden at arm’s length since he landed from Hong Kong on June 23, saying the transit area where passengers stay between flights is neutral territory and he will be on Russian soil only if he goes through passport control

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WORLD NEWS MANDELA FAMILY DRAMA OVER GRAVES INTENSIFIES AS GRANDSON FACES CHARGES

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OHANNESBURG - A family feud over the burial site of three of Nelson Mandela’s children intensified Tuesday when criminal charges were filed against one of his grandsons, as the ailing 94-year-old former president remained hospitalized in critical condition.

Sixteen relatives have taken grandson Mandla Mandela to court after he reburied the children’s remains in Mandela’s birthplace of Mvezo in 2011. The Mandela relatives claim Mandla Mandela had not sought permission or even informed family members when he did so.

The revered statesman has long said that he wants to be buried in Qunu, where his children were buried in the family plot. Mandla Mandela moved the children’s remains to Mvezo, where he plans to open a hotel.

Arguments were heard Tuesday over a court order calling for the bodies to be returned to Qunu; the case was adjourned until Wednesday.

Meanwhile, police said criminal charges of “tampering with a grave” have been pressed against Mandla Mandela over the exhumation of the three bodies.

“A case is opened at the police station and we will now investigate that case,” said police Lt. Col. Mzukisi Fatyela, who declined to reveal who pressed the charges.

Nelson Mandela was taken to a Pretoria hospital on June 8 for a recurring lung infection. Since then, there has been a groundswell of concern in South Africa and around the world for the man who spent 27 years as a prisoner under apartheid and then emerged to negotiate an end to white racist rule before becoming president.

Authorities also announced that former President F.W. de Klerk, who shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela, was fitted with a pacemaker on Tuesday. De Klerk is the last leader of South Africa’s apartheid era and freed Mandela from prison before going on to serve as his deputy president.

A Cape Town-based foundation named after 77-year-old de Klerk said the former president felt dizzy after returning home on Sunday from a trip to Europe, following several such spells of dizziness in recent weeks.

It said de Klerk was “doing fine” after the pacemaker was successfully implanted and that de Klerk, in line with standard procedure, was staying in the hospital overnight.

South Africa President Jacob Zuma released a statement wishing the former leader a speedy recovery.

On Saturday, the foundation issued a statement on behalf of de Klerk and his wife Elita, saying they had decided to suspend a working visit and vacation in Europe because Mandela is critically ill, and that they were praying for an improvement in the health of the anti-apartheid leader.

De Klerk, a former education minister who had backed segregated schooling, was a key figure in a delicate transition that turned out to be relatively peaceful despite fears of widespread racial conflict.

In 1990, a year after becoming South Africa’s president, he announced he was legalizing the African National Congress, the banned group that led the anti-apartheid movement, and would free Mandela. De Klerk received the Nobel prize along with Mandela for his reformist initiatives and effectively negotiating himself out of power.

De Klerk later served as a deputy president during Mandela’s single five-year term as president. Since his retirement from political life, he has travelled widely and delivered lectures. His foundation says its mission is to help poor and disabled children, contribute to conflict resolution and uphold South Africa’s constitution, which robustly supports the protection of human rights.

Last year, Mandela’s archivists and Google announced a project to digitally preserve a record of Mandela’s life. In one online video, de Klerk recalled being asked to address parliament alongside Mandela in 2004. It was the 10th anniversary of the day Mandela became president. Mandela took de Klerk’s arm as lawmakers applauded.

“It is, if you now look back, a symbol of how reconciliation can manifest itself,” de Klerk said, reflecting on his encounter with Mandela.

Zimbabwe court orders polls to go ahead July 31 H

ARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that crucial elections will go ahead on July 31 despite appeals to delay the poll from the former opposition in the country’s shaky coalition.

Regional mediators had urged President Robert Mugabe to postpone the polls until Aug. 14 to allow for more democratic reforms and changes to electoral laws. The court unanimously ruled against delaying the vote, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, head of the Constitutional Court said Thursday.

Chidyausiku said the elections will proceed on July 31. He said detailed reasons for the decision will be released later.

The regional leaders made their appeal to delay elections at a special summit on Zimbabwe in neighboring Mozambique on June 15.

The 15-nation regional, economic and political bloc known as the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, has said it will abide by any ruling by Zimbabwe’s courts on its request for a poll postponement.

The Constitutional Court in May ordered Mugabe to hold polls by the end of July, arguing that the elections should be linked to the dissolution of the parliament at the end of its current five-year term on

June 29.

Mugabe last month used special presidential powers to unilaterally set July 31 for the national vote arguing he is obeying a court ruling after a private lawsuit brought against him demanded early polls.

Lawyers for Tsvangirai argued Thursday that Mugabe’s poll call was illegal because Tsvangirai had not agreed to the July 31 date under the terms of the coalition deal that required consensus on major policy decisions in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai, had applied for a 25-day delay from the July proclamation by Mugabe last month.

Tsvangirai claims under the nation’s power-sharing deal, brokered by the same regional leaders after violent and disputed elections in 2008, Mugabe needs his consent on when to hold elections.

Tsvangirai’s attorney Lewis Uriri said they wanted the elections held by Aug. 25 to allow for much- needed reforms in the police and military loyal to Mugabe as well as amendments to electoral laws that critics say have led to vote-rigging by Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party in the past.

Polls after Aug. 14 would clash with one of the world’s largest tourism conferences, the United Nations World Travel Organization summit, that Zimbabwe is set to host on Aug. 24.

Police and workers exhume Mandela’s children M

VEZO, South Africa - Workers armed with pick-axes and a court order broke into the compound of Nelson Mandela’s grandson on Wednesday to exhume the remains of three of the anti-apartheid hero’s children, a new twist in a row that has split South Africa’s most famous family.

Within hours of a ruling against Mandla Mandela by the high court in Mthatha, 700 km (450 miles) south of Johannesburg, police and hearses arrived at Mandla’s complex in the nearby village of Mvezo, where the three Mandela offspring are buried.

The grey palisade gates blocking the road were forced open in front of a scrum of photographers and cameramen.

The three bodies were initially laid to rest in the family cemetery in Qunu, the village where Mandela - now 94 years old and critically ill in hospital - spent most of his childhood.

But they were moved two years ago by Mandla to Mvezo, where he serves as the official head of the clan.

The spat over the site of the Mandela family graves has transfixed and appalled South Africa’s 53 million people as they

contemplate the reality that the father of the post-apartheid “Rainbow Nation” will not be with them forever.

In a court affidavit filed against Mandla last week, Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe, argued for an urgent hearing, saying her father was in a “perilous” condition and breathing with the aid of life-support, local media said.

“The anticipation of his impending death is based on real and substantial grounds,” the City Press newspaper quoted the court papers as saying.

Mandla has not made clear why he moved the remains the 20 km to Mvezo, where Mandela was born, but many South Africans believe it is part of a campaign to ensure the country’s first black president is buried there.

Mandla has already built a visitor center at Mvezo and a memorial to his grandfather, one of the 20th century’s most admired political figures, revered across racial and religious lines as a symbol of opposition to injustice and oppression.

Last week, a faction of the family led

by Makaziwe sought a court order compelling the bodies to be returned to Qunu.

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usiness B AND

T O ECHN

LOGY

End may be near for BlackBerry

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he death knells are sounding for BlackBerry.

“It is not the end / of the road for BlackBerry / but it may be close,” wrote BGC analyst Colin Gilllis in a haiku to investors.

BlackBerry (BBRY) continues to struggle to sell phones. The former smartphone giant said Friday it shipped just 2.7 million BlackBerry 10 devices in its fiscal first quarter, and the company reported a surprise loss. Shares promptly lost nearly 30% of their value.

If the next few quarters echo this one, BlackBerry’s dreams of once again becoming relevant in a market it once dominated will be destroyed. Over the past several years, BlackBerry’s smartphone platform market share has been surpassed by Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and even Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500).

“The [stock] drop of 30% after that report shows how desperate the situation has become,” said Brian Sozzi, CEO and chief equities strategist at Belus Capital Advisors. “The market is telling you there is something fundamentally wrong with the company and you need a major fix.”

Sozzi thinks that move should be a sale of BlackBerry, or at least some

of its assets.

Related story: You’re going to love the BlackBerry Q10 (or hate it) Despite its struggles in hardware, BlackBerry does possess other valuable resources that could make it attractive to potential buyers.

BlackBerry owns a trove of lucrative patents, which is a huge advantage in the competitive -- and litigious -- smartphone field. The company’s several enterprise software solutions, including a newly announced security platform for iOS and Android, could be another strong source of revenue. And BlackBerry’s reputation endures as a company that specializes in that strong

Oil near $101 amid Egypt unrest, stockpiles fall

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he price of oil eased to below $101 a barrel Thursday after jumping higher on unrest in Egypt and signs of rising demand in the U.S. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for August delivery was down 48 cents at $100.76 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the contract gained $1.64 to $101.24, its highest close since May 3, 2012.

Two events have propelled the price of oil higher in the past days: unrest in Egypt and a big drop in U.S. oil supplies.

Traders were worried that political upheaval in Egypt could slow the flow of oil from the Middle East to world markets.

Egypt is not an oil producer but its control of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes gives it a crucial role in maintaining global energy supplies. The Middle East accounts for about a quarter of the world’s crude oil output, or 23 million barrels per day. About 2 million barrels of that, or 2.2 percent of

world demand, are transported daily through the Suez Canal, which links the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. Much of that oil is headed to Europe, but a supply drop anywhere in the world leads to higher prices everywhere.

In the U.S., the Energy Department reported Wednesday that crude supplies fell by 10.3 million barrels from the previous week, more than three times the drop that analysts had expected.

The drop was likely the result of reduced supplies from Canada because of a temporary pipeline shutdown, as well as increased demand from a BP refinery that restarted in Indiana.

Gasoline supplies fell as well, while analysts expected an increase. The drop in oil and gas supplies could be an indication that U.S. demand is rising.

Brent crude, which is used to set prices for oils used by many U.S. refineries, was down 65 cents to $105.11 on the ICE exchange in London.

mobile security.

It also has an impressive $3.1 billion in cash on hand.

That portfolio could be attractive to a big rival like Microsoft, Apple or Samsung.

“We believe BlackBerry’s biggest assets remain in its patents and its cash,” wrote Kevin Smithen, an analysts at Macquarie Capital, in a research note on Friday. “We think the likely end game for BlackBerry is a break-up for liquidation at a lower price.”

BlackBerry declined to comment for this story, though CEO Thorsten Heins has repeatedly said that the company is constantly considering

all of its strategic options -- even as it continues to pin hopes on its current strategy of wooing back customers with its improved smartphone lineup.

Yet some believe the end isn’t quite as near as you’d think for BlackBerry.

The company as it stands now isn’t a great fit for any one suitor, says Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. That could complicate a potential sale.

“I don’t think owning the brand, or even owning the whole company, is something anyone would consider,” said Milanesi. “I can see them picking and choosing. The BlackBerry brand itself isn’t compelling at this point.”

Even if BlackBerry tried and failed to find a buyer -- or refused to consider that option -- and the downward spiral continued, the company wouldn’t disappear overnight. BlackBerry will certainly tap into its big cash hoard to continue marketing BlackBerry 10 devices.

“No matter what they do, the wrong move won’t kill you overnight, and the right move won’t save you overnight,” Milanesi said. “It’s going to be a long, drawn-out process.”

Airbus A380 marks start to fleet modernisation for British Airways

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ONDON (Reuters) - British Airways receives its first Airbus A380 jet at Heathrow airport on Thursday, marking the start of modernising its aging fleet with new, more fuel-efficient planes able to better compete with fast-growing rivals.

BA, part of International Airlines Group , which received the first of its new lightweight Boeing (NYSE: BA - news) 787 Dreamliners in June will become the first airline in Europe to fly both new planes when it launches passenger services with the two jets in September.

The aircraft are the centrepiece of a 10-year $15 billion (9.82 billion pounds) upgrade to BA’s longhaul fleet, which will include retiring the older and less fuel-efficient Boeing 747-400 jumbos.

“Over the next 12 months we will take delivery of new long-haul aircraft at an average rate of one every two weeks,” said BA Chief Executive Keith Williams.

BA has 12 A380s and 42 Dreamliners on order for delivery over the next 10 years. BA’s fleet moderni-

sation program also includes orders for six new Boeing 777-300ERs along with 18 Airbus A350 jets.

BA’s ageing long-haul fleet has put it at a “cost and quality” disadvantage to rivals, especially deep pocketed Middle Eastern carriers such as Emirates , with newer, more cost-effective planes that are also more comfortable with superior facilities, according to Davy analyst Stephen Furlong.

IAG will need to wring all the profit it can get from its new jets if operational problems at its Spanish carrier Iberia continue to wipe out progress at BA. IAG, Europe’s third-biggest airline group by market value, had an operating loss of 278 million euros in the year’s first three months, with Iberia contributing 202 million euros of that as it suffered from competition from low-cost rivals and high-speed trains and labours disputes.

BA broke even during the quarter, helped by strength in business and first-class traffic.

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BUSINESS AND T ECHNOLOGY PAKISTAN AND IMF AGREE TO $5.3 BILLION BAILOUT

I

SLAMABAD — Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund have reached an initial agreement on a bailout of at least $5.3 billion to stave off an economic crisis as the country’s foreign reserves dip perilously low, officials said Thursday.

The announcement should help calm fears of financial instability in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people that Washington is relying on to combat Islamic militants and negotiate an end to the war in neighboring Afghanistan.

The agreement comes less than six years after Pakistan’s last IMF bailout, and the driving need for the money this time around was to repay the institution billions of dollars that Islamabad still owes.

Pakistan’s previous government failed to implement many of the requirements of the last loan, including reducing the deficit and improving tax collection. That left the new government, which took over at the beginning of June, with the difficult task of convincing the IMF that this time would be different.

The IMF mission director in Pakistan, Jeffrey Franks, acknowledged Islamabad’s checkered history, but said the institution would not punish the country for the failure of its predecessors.

“It is true that some previous programs have not been completely successful,” said Franks at a joint news conference with Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar in Islamabad. “But the IMF is in the job of helping countries when they have difficult situations and need help, and we’re not going to turn a country down because previous governments did not do what they had promised to do.”

The $5.3 billion loan will be disbursed over a threeyear period and will have an interest rate of roughly three percent, said Franks. It will be repaid over 10 years after an initial grace period of four years, he said.

The deal has been approved by the Pakistani government and IMF staffers in the country. It still needs to be approved by IMF officials in Washington and the institution’s board of directors.

Apple Hires Yves St Laurent CEO for Special Projects A

pple Inc. is hiring Paul Deneve, the former chief executive officer of luxury fashion house Yves St Laurent Group , to work on special projects for CEO Tim Cook.

Deneve returns to the iPhone maker after working for Apple in Europe during the 1990s. He was also CEO of Lanvin and Nina Ricci prior to joining Yves St Laurent.

While Apple has traditionally promoted from within, the move shows that Cook is looking outside the company to fill some senior roles. Apple is also hiring Hulu LLC executive Pete Distad to help with negotiations to acquire content for Apple TV, two people familiar with the hire said yester-

day.

Deneve isn’t the only fashion executive within the iPhone maker’s corporate ranks. Mickey Drexler, the chairman and CEO of J Crew Group Inc., is on Apple’s board. Cook is a director at Nike Inc. “We’re thrilled to welcome Paul Deneve to Apple,” the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement yesterday. “He’ll be working on special projects as a vice president reporting directly to Tim Cook.”

The jobs in high fashion give Deneve experience selling products at a premium price. A pair of women’s shoes from Yves St Laurent cost $625 or more, while a leather jacket from

its permanent collection is more than $5,000, according to its website.

Vacant Position Deneve won’t be filling Apple’s vacant job running its retail store operation. The position remains open since the departure last year of John Browett, who was on the job less than a year after replacing the company’s first retail chief, Ron Johnson.

The Apple-focused website AppleInsider reported yesterday that Apple had hired Deneve.

Francesca Bellettini will be Yves St Laurent’s new CEO after Deneve’s departure to “take up a new career opportunity in the high tech industry,” the company said in a statement.

Facebook gives UK man $20k for discovering security flaw F

acebook has rewarded a British man with $20,000 (£13,000) after he found a bug which could have been exploited to hack into users’ accounts.

Jack Whitton, a security researcher, discovered a flaw in the social network’s text messaging system.

Facebook thanked Mr Whitton, 22, who is part of the site’s “responsible disclosure” hall of fame.

The company, like many on the web, encourages experts to report bugs to them rather than cybercriminals.

To make it worth their while, rewards are offered of varying amounts depending on the severity of the flaw.

Such programmes are known as “bug bounties”, with similar schemes being run at the likes of Microsoft, Paypal and Google.

“Facebook’s White Hat programme

is designed to catch and eradicate bugs before they cause problems,” Facebook told the BBC. “Once again, the system worked and we thank Jack for his contribution.”

The bug, which has now been fixed, allowed Mr Whitton to spoof Facebook’s text message verification system into sending a password reset code for an account that was not his.

Using this, he could go to Facebook, reset a target user’s password, and access the account.

Mr Whitton is what is known in security communities as a “white hat” hacker - someone who can discover security holes and faults in software, but chooses not to use them for criminal gain.

On the other side of people like Mr Whitton are black hat hackers the bad guys - who will sell their skills

and services to cybercriminal gangs and organisations.

The Facebook bug would have been of great interest to cybercriminals, noted Graham Cluley, a security expert.

“It could have been worth an awful lot more money,” he told the BBC. “Imagine if he were a black hat hacker, one of the bad guys, if he were to offer his services to criminals saying any account they wanted breaking in to, he could do it.”

He said Facebook should be “extremely grateful” that Mr Whitton opted to report it to them.

“It could have been a PR disaster,” he told the BBC. “This security flaw is terrible. It should never have existed. It’s a gaping hole, thank goodness it’s closed now. We are really relying on the goodwill of researchers.”

Hyundai told to pay $14m in airbag verdict A

US jury has said Hyundai Motor must pay $14m (£9m) in damages to the family of a man who suffered traumatic brain injury after side airbags in a Hyundai car he was driving failed to deploy.

Zachary Duncan’s attorneys said the airbags did not deploy because Hyundai put the sensors in the wrong location.

The crash happened in 2010 and Mr Duncan was driving a Hyundai Tiburon.

South Korea’s Hyundai has said that it disagrees with the verdict and

it plans to appeal against the decision.

“This is an important victory for our client and for public safety,” Mr Duncan’s lawyer, Ari Casper, was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

“Hopefully, this will cause automobile manufacturers to really make sure they’re putting safe vehicles on the road.”

However, Hyundai said that the airbag system met federal safety standards, and that it had been thoroughly tested and found to be safe.

Industry watchers said the incident appeared to be isolated and therefore was not likely to damage Hyundai’s reputation.

“America is famously litigious,” noted Derryn Wong, editor-in-chief at Top Gear magazine in Singapore. “(Hyundai) really do make rather safe cars.”

However, Mr Wong said there was a possibility the company would issue a recall. “They might take steps to assuage the public,” he said.

The US is the second largest market globally for Hyundai after China.

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Sports LOCAL

Beaches Sponsors National Girls Soccer Team B

eaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa is excited to announce that they have signed on as corporate sponsor of the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) National Girls Development team.

This sports program was initiated to offer several gifted and committed local players the opportunity to develop their skills. The Soccer squad, which consists mainly of female players between the ages of 12 and 20, is the brainchild of Technical Director Coach Matthew Green and the TCIFA and is designed to help the young local players develop socially as well as academically.

“We are pleased that Beaches has signed up as corporate sponsor and purchase training uniforms for our National Development team,” said Coach Green, “Many of our players lack support; be it financial or moral, so we are pleased that Beaches has

The National Female Soccer team proudly displays their outfits sponsored by Beaches Resort and Spa shown that they care about our players and the team as they prepare to face two of the top teams in the USA.”

Beaches Resort, a longtime supporter of community, education and sports initiative in the Turks & Cai-

cos, recognizes that the association is expanding and is always in need of sponsors to assist with their development programs and that is why this sponsorship was developed. “We understand the continuous progress of the association and the growth of the sport in the islands and have decided to take the initiative in supporting the wonderful program,” said Donald Dagenais, general manager of Beaches “We hope to maintain this as a continuous sponsorship between Beaches and Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association’s National Girls Development team.”

The team is currently in the process of training for a game in July where they will be competing against two visiting teams from the USA. “These uniforms are a clear boost to the players as they will look and feel like professional players” Green concluded.

Sizzling Coed Soccer delights fans I

n appreciation of the many players that represented the TCIFA in the various football leagues the football association held a “5-a-side” Coed Tournament last Saturday followed by a presentation evening. Players from AFC Academy, AFC Hurricanes, AFC Strikers and the COE U15 Boys played in an eight team world cup competition.

that there was some great skills on display today.”

Following the tournament all the players received certificates and trophies were handed out to individuals that had been particularly impressive during the season. The U15 COE Boys who will face opposition from the USA in August had their awards go to Jeff Beljour (Most Improved) and Mackenson Cadet (Player of the Season). Bel-

Player of the Season award. Both young players are dedicated to the sport and have all the qualities to become excellent players.

Trincy Reid, who has become one of the most feared defenders in the women’s game won the Most Improved Player trophy for WFL league and Cup Winners AFC Strikers and the lethal finishing of Yarileny De La Cruz ensured she re-

1929 – AFC Hurricanes Most Improved

1935 AFC Strikers MVP

Action from the game (Football action)

The fun event pitched players of all abilities and ages as well as both sexes against each other.

In the end it was Holland who lifted the World Cup after a close fought game against Italy. Argentina defeated Brazil for third place.

Technical Director Matthew Green was delighted with the afternoon’s competition “It was good to see all the players and coaches relaxing and having some fun. It is important that we remember that football is just a game and we should not take things too seriously. Having said

jour has become an accomplished player who can play a variety of positions and Cadet continues to lead his team both on and off the field with his professionalism and commitment to the sport.

Both awards for AFC Academy went to the hard working David Jasmine whose has become one of the most consistent goalkeepers in the country. For the female teams, Ketani Marajah picked up the most improved award for the Hurricanes with Sydnee Campbell receiving the

ceived the Player of the Season award after leading her team to many victories.

TCIFA President was full of praise for the players that have represented the association over the past twelve months saying “it is pleasing to see that not only have you all (the players) improved your skill levels, you have a clear love of the game and you have a sense of fair play and respect. This bodes well for the future and I hope you will all continue to work hard and make the most of your talents”.

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Sports CARIBBEAN

Usain Bolt says he is on target after Jamaica confidence-boosting trials

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lympic champion Usain Bolt believes he is getting back to his best after the Jamaican trials gave him a confidence-boost in the build-up to next month’s world championships in Moscow.

The world record holder won the 100 meters at last month’s trials to secure his place at the worlds, having been given a wildcard entry into the 200 by Jamaica as defending champion.

“The trials helped me to get a lot of runs, to define where I should be,” Bolt told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s Paris Diamond League event, where he will run the 200 meters.

“And after the trials, I felt more confident. It felt great to run and actually accelerate at the end.”

Bolt was beaten by Justin Gatlin in the Rome Diamond League 100 meters last month after returning from a hamstring injury.

But victory in the 200 meters at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo a week later, in a thenworld leading time of 19.79 seconds, followed by his win in 9.94 seconds in the 100 at the national trials, showed he was getting back to his best form.

American Tyson Gay has recorded the season’s

Usain Bolt – “When you get injured, the more you compete the better you start to run.” fastest 200 of 19.76 seconds since the Oslo run and tops the world leading times for the 100 with 9.75 ahead of Gatlin and Bolt.

But the Jamaican, who won Olympic gold in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay at last year’s London Games, having claimed the same haul at Beijing in 2008, was happier with his latest times.

“After my first race (in Rome), I wasn’t pleased, really. But last year, I also started badly,” said Bolt.

“The second one (in Oslo) was better.

WEST INDIES AND PAKISTAN TO PLAY IN GUYANA, ST LUCIA AND ST VINCENT

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T JOHN’S, Antigua -- The West Indies Cricket Board has announced the schedule for the West Indies v Pakistan Series starting on July 14.

The series will include five One Day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals.

Guyana will host the first two ODIs, followed by three ODIs at the Beausejour Cricket Grounds in St Lucia. The Arnos Vale Cricket Ground in St Vincent will host the two Twenty20 Internationals on July 27 and 28 to conclude the tour.

The series will also mark the return of international cricket to Guyana after a one year absence.

“This has been a bumper year for international cricket in the Caribbean. We have had a full series with West Indies and Zimbabwe and the Celkon Mobile Cup including India and Sri Lanka is about to commence. The seven match series involving Pakistan will give fans, especially cricket starved fans in Guyana, more international cricket action to rally behind the West Indies team,” WICB corporate communications officer Imran Khan said.

“2013 has been a landmark year in West Indies cricket with four teams touring the Caribbean for the first time ever outside of world

events. We look forward to the fans in Guyana, St Lucia and St Vincent turning out in their massive numbers to enjoy the cricketing action and the unparalleled cricketing atmosphere which many have copied but not matched,” Khan added.

West Indies v Pakistan Series 2013 - Schedule

GUYANA Bourda Cricket Ground Thursday July 11 – Pakistan 50 over warm up game (opposition TBC) Guyana National Stadium, Guyana Sunday July 14 – First ODI Tuesday July 16 – Second ODI

ST LUCIA Beausejour Cricket Grounds, St Lucia Friday July 19 – Third ODI Sunday July 21 – Fourth ODI Wednesday July 24 – Fifth ODI

ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES Arnos Vale Cricket Ground, St Vincent Saturday July 27 – First Twenty20 International Sunday July 28 – Second Twenty20 International

“When you get injured, the more you compete the better you start to run. The body gets used to the competition again, you see the mistakes and you work on them.”

Bolt said he had been working hard, was focused, and sacrificing a lot and now he was on target.

He denied that Gay would be his only rival in Moscow, adding: “Everybody next to me in the finals (will be a challenger). You’ll have the top eight guys there.”

Bolt said he is aiming to preserve his sprint dominance and add to his collection of six Olympic gold medals before he ends his glittering athletics career after the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.

“I have pretty much four more years I think personally, in the sport, so now it is all about dominating for those four years,” Bolt, 26, told a news conference in Rome where he was preparing to make his European season debut at Thursday’s Golden Gala meeting.

“I am looking forward to the next Olympics to do something that has never been done before so that is one of my biggest things right now,” he said.

Scotiabank and WICB sign new five-year contract

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cotiabank and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) yesterday signed a new five-year contract to officially return the bank as the exclusive sponsor of the Kiddy Cricket Programme and the official Bank of West Indies Cricket.

The contract was inked at the headquarters of the Jamaica Cricket Association by Dave Cameron, the new president of the WICB, Michael Muirhead, Chief Executive Officer of the WICB, and Scotiabank’s Director of Marketing for the English Caribbean, Heather Goldson.

The new agreement will see the bank almost doubling its investment in the Kiddy Cricket and is the longest sponsorship contract that the bank has signed with the WICB in its 14-year history of the supporting the game.

Scotiabank’s renewed investment in the programme comes as a clear commitment to the development of West Indies cricket and a vote of confidence in the future of the game. “We have seen significant progress in the Kiddy Cricket programme over the last 14 years as title sponsors. We

have reached over 750,000 children since inception, and have had the satisfaction of seeing Kiddy Cricket rising to the pinnacle of the game as national and as West Indian players. We are fully committed to continuing to play our part in growing the sport, and building that next generation of cricket greats, explained Goldson.

Commenting on the renewal of the contract with Scotiabank, WICB’s CEO Muirhead said: “WICB holds the Kiddy Cricket programme as a high priority initiative as it is the base of the cricket development path in the region and we are very pleased to renew this sponsorship with our long-standing sponsor and partner Scotiabank.”

The new contract will allow the board to execute an expanded technical programme aimed at teaching foundation cricketing skills to the over 150,000 students who are currently enrolled. As part of the expanded programme, Scotiabank will be funding the provision of close to 10,000 Kiddy Cricket kits including bats, balls, stumps to schools across the region.

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Sports W

RLD

Tyson Gay gears up for showdown with Usain Bolt at world championships

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yson Gay, the fastest man over 100m in the world this year, has insisted he can go even quicker and is targeting his own US record as he eyes a showdown with Usain Bolt in Moscow in August.

Gay, who has suffered with injuries, said that he is running with confidence and aiming to beat his best time of 9.69sec, set in 2009, at Thursday’s Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“It’s definitely a goal of mine because I haven’t done a personal record in a long time. I’m definitely looking forward to PBing,” said the American, who has run 9.75sec this year. “Hopefully the conditions will be good, my start’s better and everything is working well so I can accomplish one of my goals.”

Bolt will aim to regain the 100m world title in Moscow after being dramatically disqualified for a false start in 2011 and allowing his compatriot Yohan Blake to take the title.

Four years earlier in Osaka, it was Gay who won the gold medal at the world championships, and despite the depth of the competition in the event he said he is targeting victory in Moscow.

“I go into every race to win. A lot of people

Tyson Gay: “I go into every race to win” may think that last year I was maybe just running for a medal because I ran out of gas a little bit, but every race I try to win,” said Gay. “I hope to stay healthy and I hope Usain’s at his healthiest and may the best man win. It’s no secret that this guy is a championship performer and you have to be on your A game to beat him.”

Gay is leading the rankings for the 100m and the 200m going into the Lausanne event, at which he will face the Jamaican Asafa Powell and fellow American Michael Rodgers. At the recent US trials Gay ran four times in six days for the first time since 2007, the year he won world championship gold, and he said running more slowly in practice had helped his times in competition.

“Feeling strong comes from training and confidence comes from training as well. Part of being confident is knowing that you’ve put the work in and you know what the results could be,” said Gay. The sprinter said that he now planned to make the most of his good health after several years punctuated by niggling injuries.

“At the start of the season my coach and I said that the plan was to stay healthy not only for this year but for the next three years. So that’s the plan. It was very difficult mentally and physically being injured over the past few years,” he said.

“The surgery and the little knick-knack injuries here and there – it was just nagging for so long. But it’s finally over and done with. I have no excuses.

I have no pain. I’m feeling good and I’m over the mental problems of always being injured.”

Apartment search yields evidence against Aaron Hernandez, cops say W

RENTHAM, Mass.- Aaron Hernandez’s home address was no secret after the media camped outside the massive house for days, and cameras caught him leaving, hands cuffed behind his back, when he was arrested for murder.

But police didn’t know about his “flop house.”

A tip from a friend of the former New England Patriots tight end led authorities to the apartment about 11 miles away. Subsequent searches turned up boxes of ammunition and clothing that police believe could help prove the murder case against Hernandez, according to court documents.

The items were found June 26, the day Hernandez was arrested for allegedly orchestrating the death of Odin Lloyd, according to search warrant records filed in Wrentham court.

Hernandez, 23, has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys have said the evidence against him is circumstantial and he’s eager to clear his name. A message requesting comment on the documents was left Wednesday with a spokesman for Hernandez’s legal team.

Hernandez’s two-bedroom apartment, which went for $1,200 a month, was located in a three-story complex in Franklin, a few towns over from his North Attleborough house.

Police learned about it from Hernandez’s friend, Carlos Ortiz. Prosecutors say Ortiz was with Hernandez and Ernest Wallace when they drove with Lloyd to an industrial park where Lloyd was shot.

Police haven’t said who shot Lloyd.

Former New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez, right, stands with his attorney Michael Fee during a bail hearing in Fall River Superior Court Thursday, June 27, 2013 in Fall River, Mass. Hernandez, charged with murdering Odin Lloyd, a 27-yearold semi-pro football player, was denied bail at the hearing.

Ortiz, who lives in Hernandez’s hometown of Bristol, Conn, has since been charged with carrying a firearm the day of the shooting. Wallace is charged with being an accessory after the fact in the slaying According to the documents, Bristol police interviewed Ortiz the day before Hernandez was arrested. He told them “Hernandez has another address that not many people know about,” and that he thought he’d left a cellphone there.

Police initially got the search warrant to look for Ortiz’s phone. But as they spotted additional

items in the apartment - including a box of ammunition on an end table - they applied for additional warrants for the residence, and for a Hummer parked outside.

In a bedroom, they found a white hooded sweatshirt, according to the documents. A cranberry-colored cap, with a light blue front panel and the word “society” spelled backward, was found on a kitchen table, the documents said.

Surveillance video showed Hernandez wearing a similar sweatshirt the night Lloyd was killed on June 17, the records said.

And he was wearing “this same unique hat” in a picture shown on a local news station taken outside a nightclub June 14, the Friday before the killing, according to the documents. Prosecutors say Hernandez arranged Lloyd’s shooting because he was upset at him for talking to certain people at the club.

The searches also turned up a magazine loaded with .45-caliber ammunition and 11 boxes of ammunition, including .22-caliber, .45-caliber and 7.62 mm rounds.

Besides the Odin killing, Hernandez has been linked to the investigation of a double homicide in Boston.

Police in Bristol said Tuesday that, based on evidence developed through the investigation of Lloyd’s slaying, Boston police asked for their help in their probe of the 2012 murders. Police have since searched a house in Bristol and seized a vehicle from that address.

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Brazil World Cup to have cheapest ever tickets T

ickets for next year’s World Cup in Brazil will be “cheapest ever”, football’s governing body Fifa says.

Fifa Secretary-General Jerome Valcke said 70% of the matches would cost less than in previous events; ticket prices will be announced on 19 July.

Mr Valcke and Fifa President Sepp Blatter praised the Confederations Cup in Brazil which ended on Sunday.

The tournament was marked by protests against the high cost of the World Cup, corruption and poor public services.

Mr Blatter said the Confederations Cup was a success despite the demonstrations which took millions to the streets.

“I am happy we come to a conclusion now with a sporting result and the impression that the social unrest is now resting - I don’t know how long for,” he told reporters in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.

The head of Fifa also admitted there had been fears that Brazil would not be ready for the World Cup in 2014.

Building work at some stadiums was finished shortly before the start of the Confederations Cup and there were doubts about how the coun-

T

Towering over Rio de Janeiro, the Christ Redeemer statue is 125 feet (38 m) tall, including the pedestal which contains a chapel large enough for 150 worshipers. The statue took five years to construct and was inaugurated on October 12, 1931. In 2007, the Christ Redeemer statue was named one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. try’s infra-structure would cope with a large scale event.

“When we started the competition there was some uncertainty what would happen,” Mr Blatter said.

Fifa officials avoided commenting on security issues, saying they were a matter for the government to deal with.

During the Confederations Cup there have been several clashes between protesters and security forces, who fired rubber bullets, pepper

spray and tear gas into the crowds.

There were reports that the public was affected by the gas inside the stadiums, including Rio’s Maracana, where Brazil beat Spain 3-0 in Sunday’s final.

Fifa was one of the targets of protesters, who complained that football’s governing body gained profits exempt from tax and that high investments of public funds in the preparation for the international football events would have been better used for hospitals or schools.

Celtics hire Brad Stevens as coach B

OSTON — Butler’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse couldn’t compete with the Boston Garden and all those NBA championship banners hanging from its rafters.

The Boston Celtics hired Brad Stevens away from the school he led to back-to-back NCAA title games, putting the 36-year-old coach in charge of their brand new rebuilding effort on Wednesday. Stevens had turned down offers from bigger college programs, but couldn’t resist the lure of the NBA’s most-decorated franchise.

“There are some brands in sports, and in the world of basketball the Celtics are one of those,” Butler athletic director Barry Collier said in an on-campus news conference on Wednesday night.

With aging stars Kevin Garnett

GINOBILI STAYING WITH SPURS FOR 2 YEARS SAN ANTONIO — Manu Ginobili is sticking around to see if the San Antonio Spurs can get back to the top.

Ginobili tweeted Wednesday that he is staying with the team he has helped win three NBA titles and nearly a fourth last month.

“Thrilled to announce that as I

PGA TOUR ADOPTS ANCHORING BAN

and Paul Pierce on their way to the Brooklyn Nets, and Doc Rivers already coaching the Los Angeles Clippers, the Celtics have been trying to get younger. In Stevens, they have a mentor who is younger than Garnett and wasn’t yet born when Bill Russell won his 11th NBA championship in 1969 — or even when John Havlicek added two more in the 1970s.

It’s the first time the Celtics have hired a college coach since Rick Pitino in 1997 and their first coach with no NBA experience of any kind since Alvin “Doggie” Julian, who was hired in 1948 and gave way to Red Auerbach two years later.

“Though he is young, I see Brad as a great leader who leads with impeccable character and a strong work ethic” Celtics general manager Danny

Ainge said in a release. “His teams always play hard and execute on both ends of the court. Brad is a coach who has already enjoyed lots of success, and I look forward to working with him towards Banner 18.”

The Celtics gave Stevens a sixyear deal worth about $22 million, according to a basketball official with knowledge of the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the terms were not public. Ainge met with Stevens at his home in the Indianapolis area along with Celtics owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca and worked out the deal Wednesday morning.

always hoped, I’m gonna stay with the @Spurs for two more years,” he wrote.

Ginobili, who turns 36 this month, battled injuries during the season and said he would think about retirement after the playoffs.

But he helped the Spurs come within 28 seconds of the championship before falling to the Miami Heat in seven games, and his return ensures

the longtime Big Three that includes Tim Duncan and Tony Parker will be in place next season.

Details of the contract agreement weren’t available, but Ginobili figures to take a pay cut from the $14.1 million he made last season as the Spurs’ highest-paid player. Duncan did the same thing last summer, going from $21.2 million to $9.6 million.

Brad Stevens

he PGA Tour announced Monday that it will implement the ban of anchored strokes beginning Jan. 1, 2016, opting not to go against golf’s governing bodies and adhere to the rules set forth by the United States Golf Association and R&A. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who in February expressed the tour’s desire that the proposed ban be rescinded, said the PGA Tour’s policy board came to the decision during a meeting at the Greenbrier Classic.

But Finchem also strongly suggested that the USGA/R&A should consider extending the time period for amateur players beyond Jan. 1, 2016.

“In making its decision, the Policy Board recognized that there are still varying opinions among our membership, but ultimately concluded that while it is an important issue, a ban on anchored strokes would not fundamentally affect a strong presentation of our competitions or the overall success of the PGA Tour,” Finchem said in a statement. “The Board also was of the opinion that having a single set of rules on acceptable strokes applicable to all professional competitions worldwide was desirable and would avoid confusion.”

The issue of anchored strokes -- seen among players who use a belly putter or a long putter -- has been a contentious one since the USGA and R&A’s joint announcement in November that it was proposing a ban to begin with a new rules cycle in 2016, Rule 14-1b. Many prominent players, including Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson, were vocal in their displeasure for the rules change, given that the practice has been allowed for decades and there is no discernible statistical evidence that suggests the method is a benefit.

Four of the past seven major winners, including Scott at this year’s Masters, used an anchored stroke. The USGA and R&A have said anchored-stroke putting flies in the face of the traditions of the game.

Nonetheless, there existed the possibility that the PGA Tour -- which has always followed the rules of the governing bodies -- could go its own way and not implement the ban. The PGA of America, which runs the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup when it is played in America, also had fought the rules change, but last week said it would defer to the PGA Tour.

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