VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1 by The SUN Newspaper

JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

VOLUME 10 - No. 1

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FORMER PREMIER MICHAEL MISCK AS HE ARRIVED IN PROVIDENCIALES ON MONDAY JANUARY 13, 2014, AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM PRISON IN GRAND TURK.

MICHAEL MISICK WAS SWARMED BY HUNDREDS OF PERSONS WHEN HE ARRIVED IN PROVIDENCIALES.

THE ABUNDANT LIFE INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES CHURCH WAS PACKED FOR THE THANKSGIVING SERVICE TO CELEBRATE THE RETURN AND FREEDOM OF FORMER PREMIER MICHAEL MISICK.

FORMER PREMIER MICHAEL MISICK RECEIVING A SPECIAL PRAYER FROM BISHOP COLETA WILLIAMS AT HIS CHURCH

Corruption case against Immigration Officer Wendy Seymour dismissed

Middle Caicos residents protest against foreign labour

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Premier says Haiti not doing enough to stop illegals

PDM concerned about Mike Misick’s return

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See pages 24, 25, 28 and 29 for more photos of celebrations for Former Premier Michael Misick.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Former Premier Michael Misick is free on bail BY HAYDEN BOYCE AND VIVIAN TYSON

ormer Premier Michael Misick demonstrated that he has not lost his magnetic charm by wowing the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands on his controversial January 7th extradition from Brazil and then a week later on Monday January 13th when he was freed from prison in Grand Turk where he had been detained because of failure to meet strict conditions attached to his US$10million bail. The 47-year-old politician was literally mobbed by hundreds of persons in Grand Turk and Providenciales who flocked to airports, a courthouse and a church to show their appreciation for the country’s first premier. In what was widely-regarded as a hero’s welcome, public reaction to Misick’s return after three years of absence was remarkably upbeat, defying the expectations of many and stunning even his most strident and loyal supporters and critics alike. Both islands of Grand Turk and Providenciales were enveloped in a spirit of uninhibited abandon and jubilant celebrations as persons from all strata of society, various political persuasions and many different nationalities came out to welcome Misick. In Grand Turk, where he first arrived from Brazil on board a US Customs and Border Control plane on January 7th there was a hive of jubilant activity at the JAGS McCartney International Airport and then at the court house where he was initially denied bail by a magistrate whose decision was shortly thereafter overturned by Chief Justice Edwin Goldsbrough who set the bond at US$10million of property that is free and clear and which can easily be converted to cash in the event that Misick does not show up for trial. When Misick arrived in Providenciales on January 13th after he was released on bail, there was sheer pandemonium outside the Provo Air Center which is owned by his cousin Lyndon Gardiner. It was just after 7 p.m. on a private plane owned and piloted by businessman Crayton Higgs, when a red carpet was rolled out for him at the steps of the plane. The former Premier was accompanied on the plane by the country’s second Premier Galmo Williams, former Cabinet minister McAllister “Piper” Hanchell, his lawyer Jahmal Misick and his brother Joey Misick. As soon as he got off the plane, Misick was greeted by former Deputy Premier Lillian Boyce, his cousin Claudette Gibson and staff of Provo Air Centre. After telling the SUN that it felt great to be free, he was then driven off, where a huge crowd was waiting for him outside the private airport. Hundreds of people flocked to the air centre’s gate where they rushed the vehicle carrying the former premier who quickly got out and then worked his way through a sea of outstretched hands and a chorus of shouts, chants and, screams. It was a sight to behold. Flashes from mobile phones sparked like fireflies as scores of those who gathered took up every possible position to capture the historic moment.

After negotiating the crowd, Misick re-entered the vehicle and led a motorcade to Bishop Coleta Williams’ Abundant Life International Ministries church on Leeward Highway. A long line of vehicles snaked and inched their way up the highway, honking horns and ﬂashing hazard lights.

THANKSGIVING SERVICE As he addressed the congregation which included current Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing and members of his Cabinet, Misick said that had it not been for the Grace of God, he may have died or lost it during his year-long incarceration in what he described as a cold and dark Brazil jail cell. He said that life in the Brazilian jail cell was tough but he held it together through studying the Bible and exercising of his faith. More than a thousand people, including Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing and some of his ministers – Deputy Premier Hon. Akierra Missick; the ex-premier’s brother and ﬁnance Minister Hon. Washington Misick; Minister of Health Hon. Porsha StubbsSmith and Minister of Home Affairs and Environment Hon. Amanda Misisick - came out to attend the impromptu service. “Obviously, I am not going to go into all the details of all of these events that have been taking place because of on-going trial and all that, but I want to share just a few moments with you, because the last year I have been in prison in Brazil (had been tough). Being in prison anywhere is not good – being in prison away from home where you have no family and friend; it is only by the Grace of God (that I am here today). He saves your life for a reason. And my friends, in order to have a testimony, you have to go through a test. You see, some of us want the testimony but we don’t want to be tested, and for the last year I have been tested, and what kept me going was my faith and the scriptures (Bible),” he said. He added: “I read the Bible every day, and one of the verses that stuck with me is (Matthew 17:20) that ‘if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move mountains’, because I never expect this day (when I would return to the TCI) would come because it seemed so far, and as time drew closer it seemed further and further away.” Misick told the cheering crowd that he prayed relentlessly and asked God for, among other things, Strength and courage, so that he would be able to pull through. “I used to hear Bishop (Coleta III) Williams, when I came to Church, say, that if God takes you to it, He will take you through it. Now, I can testify that he is right, because those dark days when I was in prison, (when) I thought I would never make it; being alone, I prayed in my cold, dark cell, and asked God for strength, for peace and for patience, and for the courage, to make it until I can come back home to you,” he Misick pointed out. He said that while the frustrating process to his freedom prolonged, he constantly exercised his faith, which caused him not to lose hope. “It is God’s Grace and his mercy that kept me, and it is because the love I have for you and the love you have for me that kept me – wanting

to come back home to see you and to be among you - not as the former premier but as your family and as your friend,” he said. In the meantime, Misick said that he was overcome with emotion for the love and adoration received from the people on his return, saying that his time in prison has given him enough time to reflect, and which he said has brought him closer to the Almighty. “And I am so overwhelmed by the outpouring of love that I have received through-out the Turks and Caicos Islands; in Grand Turk, when I came off the plane and here tonight. What this experience has done for me is that it has brought me closer to God,” he said. “Tonight I stand here as a child of God, who has (gone through testing) and we all go through tests. My test is no way different from your test. You have been tested, and we all have a testimony, and sometimes we are so anxious for the outcome that we forget to ask God to give us the strength and endurance to take us through it, because everything happens in God’s time. “I am so humbled tonight by the outpouring of love that all of my brothers and sisters have shown me. It is so good to be back home, and when you hear people say there is no place like home, trust me, there is no place like home,” he said. Misick has been charged with conspiracy to receive bribes, conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to disguise the proceeds of crime and conspiracy to conceal or transfer the proceeds of criminal conduct. He is scheduled to appear before the Chief Justice in Grand Turk for a sufficiency hearing on Friday March 7th, 2014. Misick’s bail conditions include a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, not to apply for travel documents, not to leave the Turks and Caicos Islands without the permission of the court; not to leave Providenciales to visit other islands without giving notice to a duty officer; not to go within 200 metres of a port of entry or exit; report to the Five Cays police station between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. daily and no contact, directly or indirectly with a number of prosecution witnesses whose names were provided to him on a list.

“WE MUST TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK” It was clear that Michael Misick’s incarceration in Brazil for more than a year has not dampened his resolve to push for the Turks and Caicos Islands to become an independent country. Invited by pastor of the church, Bishop Coleta Williams III, to make a statement, Misick called on the people to press for autonomy of their own country because that is the only way they would reap the real beneﬁts of what these islands have to offer. In a speech punctuated by deafening cheers, Misick deemed the Turks and Caicos Islands a prosperous and blessed country, but said that the only way Islanders could reap it full reward is if they demand greater control their own destiny. “We have a great country. I like to acknowledge all of you here, certain-

ly the presence of the premier (Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing) and other ministers. We have a great country, Mr. Premier. We have a great country, my people, but we have to take our country back. We have to take our country back. We have to be relentless,” he urged. Misick pointed out that the greatest stumbling block to seek one’s freedom is fear of what could happen, but he encouraged the cheering crowd that there is nothing to fear, also urging them to find ways to conquer such fear so as to move towards self determination. “We have nothing to fear. If we can conquer the fear, then we can conquer anything, because it is fear that has robbed us of our ambition; fear will rob us of our destiny. It is our destiny to be a free people, to be a prosperous people, and we should not be afraid to demand that we get our country back,” he asserted. He said that the caliber of people equipped to take the Turks and Caicos Islands into independence are already here, and that God is also on their side, but all that is lacking is courage. “We have so many bright, intelligent Turks and Caicos Islanders, and this is a blessed country. We have God in the midst; and with God by our side and with us deciding we are not going to be afraid anymore (we can achieve our goal). “No matter how hard they (British) try, we are going to stand up and be counted. And even though we are going to go through persecution, we have to take a stand; we have to not be afraid; we have to not see wrong and call it right. We have to go back to basics and prayer (to) God,” he emphasized. In the meantime, the former premier poured out his appreciation to the hundreds who turned out to welcome him, and promised that he would not relent on the fight for Turks and Caicos Islands being a free country and the people reap what is rightfully theirs. “I want to thank all the people for coming out and welcoming me home. In a way, I feel like a prodigal son,” he quipped. “I love you so much, and this day will be in my heart forever. And no matter what happens to me in the future, the love that I have seen here tonight and the last week coming home, will live with me forever. But I must say again in closing, let us take our country back. Let us not be afraid. Let us challenge the status quo. Let us fight for our freedom, and let us fight for our independence. I love you, God loves you best,” he said. Before the end of the hour-long service, Bishop Williams anointed Misick’ with oil. A statement from the Misick family on Wednesday said: “Michael Misick and his family would like to thank all of those persons who prayed for him inquired about him and sent him well wishes whilst he was imprisoned in Brazil. A special thanks to those who agreed to act as his surety so that he could be released on bail. Michael is pleased to be home to squarely face the allegations against him. Michael’s concern has always been that he and his co accused should receive a fair trial, preferably by their own means. That remains his hope. “

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

SUN newspaper publisher defends accuracy of article on NIB T

he Turks and Caicos SUN, the leading newspaper in the Turks and Caicos Islands, has stoutly defended a recent article which it carried on its website about the National Insurance Board’s (NIB) response to a story which appeared on the unpopular news blog TCI News Now. Hayden Boyce, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief cleared the air after TCI News Now carried an article from NIB chairperson Mrs. Lillian Misick accusing the SUN newspaper of telling lies on her. Boyce said he found it ridiculously absurd and a serious indictment on her own credibility that the NIB chairperson would say the SUN lied on her, when the newspaper actually quoted verbatim from an official email that was sent to media houses by Ms. Rhesa Cartwright Deputy Director of the NIB on December 27th, 2013 and which contained extensive quotes from Mrs. Lillian Misick along with NIB Director Mr. Colin Heartwell. On December 24, 2013, TCI News Now carried a scurrilous and rambling article under the headline “Pensions may be jeopardised to fund health care”. Then on December 27th, the NIB issued an official press release quoting chairperson of the National Insurance Board Mrs. Lillian Misick as saying that “recent reports in the TCI News Now that the funds destined for national insurance benefits will be directed to the national health insurance program are absolutely false”. The NIB statement which was addressed to all media houses, quoted Mrs. Misick as saying in a recent interview that the Government has empowered a single entity to collect the payroll taxes, but the monies collected will be sent separately to the two institutions and used for their individual programs. “I want to make it absolutely clear that the monies for the National Insurance Fund will NOT be used to fund health care or vice versa”, Mrs. Misick was quoted as saying in the press release, adding, “The programs of the NIB and NHIB will NOT be merged and the monies in the National Insurance Fund will be kept absolutely separate. The Government is looking at more efficient and effective ways to collect the monies from our common clients and these improvements will allow us to cut administrative costs while improving service to our clients.” However, in a January 5th article on TCI News Now, the NIB chairperson Misick was quoted as saying, among other things: “I believe it is important for anyone who read that Sun editorial to know that nobody at the Sun ever contacted me for an interview or for comments. Imagine my shock and dismay, therefore, when I had people asking me about quotes attributed to me that I clearly never

made.” Commenting on the NIB chairperson’s statements, Boyce said: “I don’t know Honorable Misick to be a liar and I would be slow to call her such, but if the statements attributed to her on TCI News Now are to be believed, then she has sadly and unfortunately joined hands with TCI News Now in being an enemy and stranger to the truth and a vicious assaulter of the facts.” Boyce added: “We will of course publish the actual email for the world to see, but one finds it exceedingly difficult to understand why the NIB chairperson would seek to categorically deny something that can so very easily be proven as true. Somebody is playing Pinocchio and acting like a chameleon and it surely isn’t the SUN.” Boyce said he guards his credibility jealously and takes his profession seriously and does not take kindly to NIB chairperson Lillian Misick or anyone attempting to cast aspersions on his professional integrity. The SUN publisher added: “The Turks and Caicos SUN has earned a reputation for printing the truth without fear or favour. We call things as we see them, even if feathers are ruffled and the truth pinches some people in the process. This is unlike TCI News Now and Caribbean News Now, whose reports are often riddled with lies, innuendoes and personal opinions masquerading as journalism. I’ve heard some people regard TCI News Now as garbage and sewage, but all I would say for now is that it is a completely worthless website that is free of facts and really does nothing more than continuously cast the Turks and Caicos Islands in a negative light.” In that article in which the NIB categorically denied the TCI News Now article, The SUN also reported that TCI News Now’s main local contributor is David Tapfer, an American retiree who lives in Middle Caicos and who is the brother-in-law of Sam Harvey, former deputy leader of the People’s Democratic Movement. Tapfer is also chairman of the PDM’s Middle Caicos branch. The SUN also reported that TCI News Now, a division of Caribbean News Now, is run by Barry Randall, who was once convicted and jailed in the Cayman Islands for a multi-million-dollar fraud. The SUN also said in the article that TCI News Now is a news blog which has become renowned for publishing opinionated articles that are riddled with factual errors and that its article on the NIB is the latest of several of such misleading articles which often contain libelous and defamatory statements. It was also pointed out that TCI News Now does not carry bylines or corrections to its mislead-

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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.

ing and untruthful articles. After the SUN carried the article which mentioned the name of TCI News Now publisher Barry Randall, there were a few submissions from readers conﬁrming that Randall was convicted and jailed for fraud while scamming persons and organisations for millions of dollars while he was in the Cayman Islands. Boyce said he believes that the TCI News Now article which inaccurately said the SUN lied about the NIB chairperson, was a weak retaliation and silly attempt by Randall and David Tapfer to divert attention away from Randall’s crooked and criminal past which was highlighted on the SUN’s website which is viewed by millions around the world. Boyce said he would like to invite the TCI News Now to practice a higher standard of journalism instead of continuously stooping to the base degrees of writing and engaging in the most putrid form of reckless and fact-free sensationalism. The present Prime Minister of St. Lucia Dr. Kenny Anthony and current Premier of the Cayman Islands Alden McLaughlin are both on record strongly criticizing Barry Randall and his Caribbean News Now for gutter journalism and publishing comments that are damaging to their respective countries.

NIB CEO APOLOGISES FOR MISLEADING PRESS RELEASE; SAYS SUN REPORT WAS ACCURATE

RECEIVE SUNTV NEWS DIRECTLY

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

n light of the recent media exchange related to the NIB/NHIB merger, Mr. Colin Heartwell, the CEO of the National Insurance Board, would like to clarify comments arising out of the press release entitled “Pension Funds Safe”. “The factual elements of that NIB press release sent out on December 24th and reported in the TCI Sun were correct” said Mr. Heartwell, “but I attributed to the NIB Chair, Lillian Misick, certain comments she did not see or approve prior to the press release being sent to the media”. Some of the comments it turns out were at odds with Mrs. Misick’s stated views. Mr. Heartwell said he privately apologized to Mrs. Misick on the matter, but would also like to publicly apologize to the people of the Islands, to the media and to Mrs. Misick for any negative reactions arising out of the contents of that press release. Mr. Heartwell also conﬁrmed the factual statements related to the National In-

surance Fund that Mrs. Misick made in an interview with TCI News Now, which it published on January 6th. He added that her comments in that interview about the rationale for the merger are accurate. “The National Insurance Fund contains more than $180 million and we will continue to manage the funds to maximize beneﬁts for pensioners. Our actuary indicates the NIB will be fully funded to 2027 based on current conditions and the funds will not be co mingled with the health care monies,” he said. Mr. Heartwell went on to say that the Government has made it clear that the sole purpose of the merger of the collection functions of the NIB and NHIB is to improve the efﬁciency of the collection of the contributions for the two parties. Several Caribbean countries already have a common agency to collect contributions and TCI will simply be another country that uses that technique to collect monies.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Corruption case against Senior Immigration Officer Wendy Seymour dismissed at sufficiency hearing

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hief Justice Edwin Goldsbrough has dismissed the corruption charges against senior immigration officer Wendy Seymour. Seymour, who is a well-known and respected immigration officer, was charged with two offences under the Integrity Ordinance. It was alleged that she hindered the Deputy Commissioner of Labour in carrying out his function. According to the allegations, when the deputy chief labour officer referred a Labour Dispute to the Labour Tribunal, having failed to settle the matter between the parties, she arrested and charged one of those parties for the benefit of another person. It was further suggested that the purpose of arresting and charging was for that person to be deported, thus relieving the former employer of the burden of a Labour Tribunal hearing and perhaps, ultimately making payment under any subsequent order for the payment of wages and other benefits due. Seymour was represented by Queen’s Counsel Ariel Misick and his son Jahmal Misick, while DPP Joanne Meloche appeared for the Crown. In his ruling, the chief justice said that the test for establishing a case is whether there is evidence on which a properly directed jury could convict. He said that a properly directed jury would be warned not to speculate and that an inference suggesting guilt can only be drawn based on evidence which the jury decided it can rely upon. The Chief Justice said there was no such evidence presented in the case and he discharged Miss Seymour. The Chief Justice said there is no evidence from the person alleged to have been the person behind this arrest and charge. That, the prosecution submits, is to be inferred from the circumstances. He added: “There is evidence, although not yet in admissible form, that the accused told her superiors in the Immigration Department of the steps that she proposed to take in respect of this individual. Whilst the evidence in the sufficiency bundle is lacking thereon, the prosecution sub-

mits that the accused did not tell her superiors the whole story and so was not being frank and honest with them when she made this disclosure. When faced with the decision as to whether there is a sufﬁciency of evidence under the relevant legislation, one is tasked with determining whether on the evidence contained in the bundle, taken at its highest, there is a prima facie case disclosed that an offence has been committed and that this accused committed this offence.” According to the Chief Justice, there is ample undisputed evidence that the acts themselves took place. He said: “There was a labour dispute between an expatriate and her former employer, there was no work permit permitting same employment, an attempt at settlement failed and the accused, after being told of the failure to settle then took steps to arrest and take before the court the expatriate for alleged offences under the Immigration Ordinance. There is no issue over the fact that the person arrested and charged had no legal status in this jurisdiction, having overstayed her permitted time without attempting to regularize her position. There is, perhaps, an unstated underlying assumption that a person with a live dispute may remain in the jurisdiction without leave but as of right. There is no evidence that the Deputy Commissioner of Labour could not, after the expatriate worked had left the jurisdiction, still refer the matter before him to the Labour Tribunal and there is no evidence that the accused had any direct relationship with the former employer. As referred to earlier, it is an inference that the prosecution seeks a jury to draw….Given the evidence that this accused told her superiors about her actions and given that the result of arrest and charge is not immediate deportation but a possibility that the Court may recommend deportation after having considered the case, there are certainly reasonable inferences available which may be based on evidence other than one suggesting guilt.”

LOCAL NEWS

Middle Caicos residents protest hiring of foreign workers R

esidents of Middle Caicos last week expressed outrage at the hiring of foreign labourers to do work on that island which they argue can be done by locals. Following the unrest over perceived irregularities in the hiring of labourers in a Government-award contract for the cleaning of the roads in that island, Hon. Donhue Gardiner, Minister of Border Control and Labour said he is dismayed that contractors would, by their hiring practices, sideline and bypass Turks and Caicos Islanders, and bring disrepute to a Government Program that was meant keep our Turks and Caicos roads clean and beautiful and in addition, assist the unemployed to ﬁnd temporary work. He stated: “I am aware of the demonstration that took place in Middle Caicos. I have instructed my Ministry to dispatch a Senior Labor Inspector and an Assistant Director of Immigration to Middle Caicos to investigate this matter. I will also be calling on the Cabinet to review the manner in which these contracts are awarded at the next meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday. I will further ask for a full review of the contracts that pertain to this incident, and where the hiring practices are in breach of the contract, the necessary actions will be undertaken. It is my view that contracts should only be awarded to individuals, who are prepared to exercise hiring practices, wherever possible, that would beneﬁt the communities in which these works are to be done.”

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LOCAL NEWS

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Premier Ewing accuses Haiti of not doing enough to stop illegal immigrants from coming to Turks and Caicos Islands BY VIVIAN TYSON

remier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing is not convinced that the Haitian Government is serious about stemming the widespread practice of their nationals packing themselves in boats and illegally entering the Turks and Caicos Islands, causing headaches for the local authorities. Speaking on the Breakfast Club show on Monday, January 6, Premier Ewing said that the Haitian government may even not have in interest in putting in measures to stop their people from illegally sending boat loads of their nationals to the Turks and Caicos Islands and neighboring Bahamas. “From our perspective the Haitian authorities are not doing anything about it. I am not sure that they have any interest in doing anything about it, even though we have had many conversations before and signed even MoU before in Haiti in regards to illegal immigrations and them assisting to prevent persons from illegally leaving Haiti (by boat),” he said. The premier hinted that if the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands know the geographical origination of these boats, then the authorities should also should.

“We know generally the area of Haiti where most of the boats come from, and I really can’t fathom why the Haitian government can’t do a bit more in identifying those areas; looking at the boats, identifying those boats; having them destroyed; and the persons who are the perpetrators of these voyages; put them in jail or put whatever penalty they have in the law there on these individuals. That is what we hope, because that would be the one way of solving the problems of the flood (of boats coming into the TCI),” he said. The premier noted however, that while the Haitian government appears to be doing to stop the inundation of illegal vessels into TCI, locally his government is taking steps to prevent that, and is so, is calling on the people of the country to assist the authorities in that endeavor. He revealed that the illegal migration is a money-making venture, and sometimes the ferrying of the illegal migrants is secondary to the drugs and guns that are key elements of the cargo. “Short of the Haitian government doing their part, we in the Turks and Caicos Islands have to do our part, and likewise, we know that we have individuals here in

PREMIER DR. RUFUS EWING Turks and Caicos, who facilitate these kinds of voyage because there is big money in it, and they don’t only come with illegal immigrants, they come with guns and drugs. “And sometimes I wonder which is the main product. Sometimes I think that the illegal migrants are the byproduct; guns and drugs are probably the main product. And

that of itself is something that we don’t want to see continue here in the Turks and Caicos Islands. So it is important for our citizens, if they have information of those kinds of activities to provide information to the police confidentially, so they can deal with these particular individuals,” the premier urged. In the meantime, Premier Ewing said that his administration would move to take an overall look the varying levels of illegal immigration in the Turks and Caicos Islands and take steps to address them. “Looking at immigration comprehensively, we have to be able to dissect and look at each of those types of immigration matters and deal with them. The most pressing one is the one that persons gained illegal entry into the country, say, example by the Haitian sloops. “And again this in indeed unfortunate, this is a major problem for us here in the Turks and Caicos and also the Bahamas, were persons, because of economic reasons in Haiti, see it to venture over those treacherous waters across the Caribbean Sea for a better life in the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and the United States,” he said.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Beaches Turks and Caicos Sponsors Miss Turks and Caicos 2014! B

eaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa, the leading All Inclusive Resort in Providenciales is excited to announce that they have signed on as one of the headline sponsors of the 2014 Miss Turks & Caicos Universe Beauty Pageant. This is the second year the ﬁve stars ‘Luxury Included’ Resort is partnering up with Turks & Caicos Universe Beauty Organization (MTCUBO). Under the guidance of Kazz Forbes, Principal Designer of Saint George Fashion House (SGFH), this year’s extravaganza promises to display the cultural awareness, talent and creativity in some of Turks and Caicos’ most beautiful women. “We are very grateful for Beaches Resort’s tremendous contribution and their continued commitment to the Miss Turks & Caicos Beauty pageant.” Said Kazz Forbes, “With such great corporate support, we have successfully rebranded the Miss Universe Turks and Ca-

Donald Dagenais, General Manager of Beaches Resort with Kazz Forbes, President of the Miss Turks & Caicos Universe Beauty Organization icos Pageant system and is now able to facilitate quality program that will provide life altering ex-

periences while empowering young women in the TCI.” he concluded. The Beaches Resort sponsorship will include ﬁnancial contributions towards the pageant and also thousands of dollars worth of goods & services. General Manager Donald Dagenais is excited to partner with the MTCUBO for the second year in a row; he expressed his contentment with the partnership. “We were very pleased with last year’s partnership the MTCUBO with the so much so that we have decided to sponsor event again this year to help production to even higher heights” Said Dagenais “This pageant has been a big part of the Turks & Caicos history and cultural celebration, I am glad we are able to contribute to the growth and prosperity of the pageant this year and also help in identifying a lovely lady that will represent TCI at the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant later this year.” The unveiling of the Miss Turks & Caicos Universe Beauty Pageant will take place at a press conference Monday January 27, 2013 at Beaches Resort grand ball room. To view the Miss Turks and Caicos Universe Beauty Organization’s full calendar of national events, please visit www.MissTCI.org.

GOVERNMENT CALLS OUT OPPOSITION ON CONSTITUTIONAL COMMITTEE FOOT-DRAGGING

he opposition Peoples Democratic Movement is accused by government of hijacking the assembling of a bipartisan constitutional committee to be charged with the responsibility of coming up with recommendations for a progressive constitution. Leading up to the election and following it, both parties agreed that the current Constitution is not in the best interest of Turks and Caicos Islands and there was a need for an overhaul. And so, Government suggested establishing a constitutional committee, which the opposition agreed to. However, it appeared that it has hit a snag and appeared to be going nowhere. The constitutional committee is to be made of seven persons three cho-

sen by each party on the political divide, with the seventh to be agreed on by both sides. In Parliament last week, Cartwright-Robinson accused government of foot-dragging relating to the naming of non-partisan individual. Responding to questions from journalists at a post cabinet news conference following the House sitting last week in Providenciales, Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing said that he has become tired of submitting names, only to be rejected by the opposition led by Hon. Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson. As far as I know, we have submitted all the members from our side in terms of Hon. Akierra Misick (Deputy Premier and Minister of Educa-

tion Youth and Sport), Hon. Don-Hue Gardiner (Minister of Border Control and Labour) and Carlos Simons (QC). And I have submitted two additional names. I have submitted two names, only to be rejected by the leader of the opposition. “And I have not yet received an alternative name from the leader of the opposition. So if there is any foot-dragging it is the leader of the opposition dragging her foot, and you have to ﬁnd out if that is intentional or not,” Premier Ewing said. The premier said that while the opposition rejected the names he presented, it has yet to recommend their neutral member. The premier said that at this point he is not con-

cern who that person would because he just wants to move along with the process. Before the committee can go forward, we have to get the third name, and so we are waiting on the last name. “We have to agree on the last person. At this point I don’t really care who it is. If they recommend one I would say let’s go. I had the opportunity to submit two names already, and they were rejected by the leader of the opposition. So, at least give me some names that I can work with; let me see it and I’ll say yes. I am tired of submitting names and get rejected all the time and not agreeing on them,” the premier said.

IMMEDIATE OPENINGS Assistant Financial Controller

Requirements: • BA/BS Degree or equivalent. • At least 3 years management/supervisory experience at a property of similar size and quality. • At least 2 years of international multi-unit property experience. • Post secondary degree or equivalent qualification by experience • Advanced knowledge and skills in computer systems, most specifically, Excel Spreadsheet Solutions. • Complete understanding of Executive Committee level functions. • Demonstrated understanding of interdepartmental relations and expectations in the luxury hotel market. • Sound knowledge of both European and American Accounting Plans. • Previous and in depth experience, understanding and application of management contracts. • Thorough understanding of H.O.A. contracts and contractual management. • Solid training in all areas of Accounting from A/P, A/R, General Ledger, Credit, Collections, Audit, Inventory control, Payroll, Budgeting, Costing, P&L preparation and analysis, etc. • Ability to inspire, develop and train people for promotion. • Must be able and willing to work all days and shifts Duties Include: • Managing the day to day operations of the accounting department and overseeing the staff. • Assisting executive management, ownership and related associations with the production of financial reports, detailed analysis and business outlook. • Directing departments in the preparation and consolidation of financial budgets and projections. • Prepare, present and provide interpretation of operational reports as they impact the business finances. • Developing and maintaining chart of accounts and master lists. • Actively involved in yield management and revenue enhancement. • Coordinating internal and external audits. Starting salary $40,000.00 per annum, not including service charge

Room Attendant/Public Area Attendant/Houseman

Requirements: • Ability to work with heavy cleaning machinery. • Must be able and willing to work all days and shifts Duties include: • Ensuring that standards of cleanliness and organization are met at all times in assigned areas.

• Responsibility for care and maintenance of all equipment and machinery • Restock linens and amenities on carts • Run needed items to guest floors • Assist housekeepers as required Starting salary $5.25 per hour not including service charge

Pool and Beach Attendant

Requirements: • Must be able to work in all outdoor element, rain, sun, etc. as required • Must be able to work long hours on feet • Must be able to lift 30lbs or more • Must be trained and certified in CPR, First Aid. • Life guard experience is a plus • Must be able and willing to work all days and shifts Duties Include: • Creating a luxury guest experience through delivery of high level service for all pool and beach services Starting salary $6.00 per hour not including service charge

Security Oﬃcer

Requirements • Detects potential sources of security problems, safety hazards and fire hazards by maintaining surveillance of resort • Patrols resort on a regular basis • Ensures all resort entrances are locked and unlocked per resort policy • Maintains resort key management procedures and ensures that all keys are accounted for • Closes and secures F & B outlets each night • Ensures that all meeting rooms and exhibit rooms are secured • Completes daily security log, including pertinent information from the shift • Must be able and willing to work all days and shifts Duties include: • Handle ling complaints, investigating and thoroughly reports on guest or employee injuries, worker’s compensation claims, thefts, assaults, lost property, car accidents, loud parties, vandalism and other guest complaints in accordance resort policy and procedure • Responding to emergencies; coordinating the partial or completing evacuation of the resort such as fire, armed robbery, severe injuries, power failure or bomb threats in accordance with resort policy and procedures. Salary $6.50 an hour commensurate with experience, education & training

Executive Chef

Requirements: • 10 years experience as an executive chef in luxury resort • Post secondary degree or equivalent qualification by experience • Formal culinary degree, or formal apprenticeship • Proven managerial experience in a fine dining environment • Practical creativity to provide innovative entrees and developing new, unusual market driven menus while meeting profit goals of property, and menu engineering. • Previous responsibility for food purchasing, including negotiating prices. • Prior experience standardizing recipes, plating instructions, and costing. • Must be able and willing to work all days and shifts Duties Include: • Participate in the development and implementation of business strategies for Food and Beverage including development of annual budget, monitoring actual versus budgeted expenses and recommending menu pricing • Develop and implement menu and dining strategies • Prepare reports summarizing food and beverage profitability, customer satisfaction, etc. • Lead monthly staff meetings Salary $55,000/Commensurate with qualification and experience

Cook

Requirements: • 3 years experience with, and are comfortable preparing a variety of different cuisines in a fine dining environment • Understand the importance of consistency • Knowledge of food preparation techniques and health/safety requirements • Must be able and willing to work all days and shifts Duties Include: • Prepare all food items according to recipe cards and correct handling procedures. • Maintain highest quality and appearance of all foods sent from kitchen and make sure plates are clean and appetizing. • Maintain orderly and clean refrigerators and work areas. • Rotate all foods and correctly fill out production charts. Starting Salary $7.50 an hour not including service charge

Interested applicants should apply by submitting an updated resume to the Human Resources Department, or by emailing marjorie.dorsett@regenthotels.com, not later than Friday, January 24, 2014.

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LOCAL NEWS

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

SEEKS GOVERNOR BECKINGHAM’S Status hope for longstanding OPPOSITION HELP IN HOSPITALS INVESTIGATION illegal migrants in TCI T BY VIVIAN TYSON

here could be hope on the horizon for hundreds of longstanding undocumented migrants in the Turks and Caicos Islands with the passing of Immigration Bill that the Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing administration wants to make into law before the end ﬁrst quarter of the calendar year. The new law, the premier explained, could regularize individuals who have been living in the country for lengthy periods without the claim of status. He said that the law could affect a number of young people who come here from they were babies and have passed through the school system. The premier was responding to questions on how to combat illegal immigration into the TCI on the Breakfast Club Show earlier this week – his ﬁrst radio interview for the year. He said while the temptation to bring back the Special Police Immigration Customs Enforcement (SPICE) unit is strong, his administration is wary of the consideration of the complications that could stem even while they carry out their lawful duties. “Most individuals say would say bring back SPICE. We think that SPICE was effective in – for wanting of the use of a better word – ‘rounding up’ illegal immigrants. And sometimes when they did it they not only round up illegal immigrants but they also round up individuals who were also might be illegal, but these are individuals who might be living in this country for years – for over 25 years. They know no other place,” the premier pointed out. He added: “These are individuals who probably went to primary school with your kids and grew up in high school with your kids, and after high school, still

working with your kids, but have no kind of status. And those are the kinds of individuals whom we need to, at least on a case-by-case basis, identify, determine what their situation is, and if we find that you are eligible for anything, regularize those particular individuals.” He said that those who are found to be ineligible would be given the chance to return to their homeland without being prosecuted, but if they failed to go then the law would take its course. “If we think they are not eligible for anything, we give them a warning and say ‘you go home’. If you don’t go home after you have already gone through that process, regularizing and identifying on a case-by-case basis, then you can let those immigration officers go out with the various taskforces and deal with those individuals who do not have any status whatsoever and don’t have any rights to be here or eligibility to be here, and repatriate them,” he said. He said that when the process begins, his administration would ensure that there would be no human rights risks and that persons subjected to immigration scrutiny would be dealt with under the strictest of humane conditions. “What you want to do with this kind of initiative is to reduce the chances and risk of human rights infringements in those kinds of situations, and so we hope that after the passage of the Immigration Bill, which we hope to deal with for the first quarter of this year, we could then go and look at immigration comprehensively and tackle those particular issues comprehensively, and so we can move on as to how we to how we want to have controlled growth of our population here in the Turks and Caicos Islands,” he said.

he intervention of His Excellency Peter Beckingham will be sought as the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) seeks an investigation into the operation of the InterHealth Canada-run hospitals to determine the delay of the long-overdue audit of the two facilities – Provo and Grand Turk. Opposition Leader Hon. Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson made the announcement while addressing the media at the opposition’s ﬁrst news conference for the year, at the PDM headquarters in Providenciales on Wednesday, January, 8. She said that the two main complaints that the general public has of the hospitals are about the delivery of healthcare and the cost and care. She said that the running of the hospitals is costing government a great deal of money which the country can ill-afford at this time. “The audit would be to see where are the stalls; where are the bottlenecks from ensuring that the audits are done. And audit can be done to look at where we can stop the hemorrhaging and how we can control it. “We are paying into a scheme and we don’t know what the plan is. We don’t know that is under the plan, what is covered. There is something inherently wrong with the system, in I personally feel that it is contract that we can’t afford, but if there is something worth saving, an investigation would bear that out. We are going to forward the information to the governor and then call for it (investigation),” she said. She said that the general public continues to relate horrifying stories of their experience at the facilities and are not sure how to get redress. “We keep continuing to here horror stories, and as representatives we cannot continue to sit down and idly not doing anything. When we speak to them (hospital management) they say ‘we don’t have anything in writing, people are not complaining and writing. There is a complaints box’. “We thought that as representatives that we should assist the public and ensure that

the complaints go to the right places until the government can then fully understand what the people are faced with and appreciate what the people are going through in using that facility. We also think that an investigation is needed in that programme,” she said. She added: “You have heard an overview of the supplementary appropriations request during the House sitting on December 16 and 17. The largest of the request was for health care cost. Some additional $6million was requested for insurance, wind storm insurance and reconciliation and clinical audits. “The state of health care in this country ought to worry the people of these islands. If there is one thing that the former CFO got correct is that the (health care) system is an albatross around the necks of the people of this country. But while he failed to tell us at the time with a full picture and the actual damage being done was, and the payments associated, he was still telling truth. A number of questions have been asked over the past Meetings of the House of Assembly and the answers have created more and more alarm.” She said that while a few months ago during the House of the Assembly, the premier held up a completed audit, he never laid it on the Table of the House. “We have seen no Audits on the Hospital or NHIP since it began its operation some three years ago. The Minister (of Health Hon. Porsha Stubbs-Smith) had answered in the House of assembly that the Clinical Audits (which usually addresses issues of care) had already started but we later found out through the Appropriations Committee that this was not true and that in fact monies were not budgeted for it and was only now included in the Supplementary Appropriation Bill passed on December 16, 2013. “In our raising the issue of care received under this system, the Premier dismissed our concerns and made light of them by saying that there are good and bad stories with all Hospital Care facilities,” she said.

Civil & Structural Engineering Ltd P.O. Box 158, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands, BWI. Tel: (649) 941 4437 Fax: (649) 946 4670 E-mail: cse@tciway.tc

CIVIL & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING LTD.

Seeks A STRUCTURAL TECHNICIAN The successful applicant must possess: • BSc in Civil/Structural Engineering • 5 years post qualification work experience • Computer literate with experience in Word, Excel, Autocad Duties will include and candidates should have experience in: • Structural design calculations and drawing work • Structural surveys • Site Inspection & Report Salary will be $36,000.00 per annum. The suitable candidate will be able to work under their own initative, and be able to see through Design Projects from conceptional design to final drawing works. This position is available immediately and closing date for application is 31st March, 2014. Apply in writing to Civil & Structural Engineering Limited, P. O. Box 158, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands. Contact: Chris Conway on cse@tciway.tc Or fax to Labour Office, Providenciales on 946-7184

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

PDM moves to improve its image BY VIVIAN TYSON

he opposition Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) is looking to add another coat of polish to its image to make it more alluring to voters, the business sector and the general public with the hope of changing certain seemingly ill-conceived perception of the party. Deputy Leader Hon. Sean Astwood made the revelation while addressing his party’s first news conference for the year at the party’s headquarters Downtown Providenciales on Wednesday (January 8). He said that some members of the public are walking around with the perception that the PDM is aloof to especially expatriate businesses which is not the case. He said that such level of perception is either a genuine misunderstanding or one that was willfully cultivated by its detractors to create animosity, because that is not what the party stands for, and so it would be moving with alacrity to build better public awareness. “There are a lot of negative perceptions out there in terms of the PDM not business-friendly or it is unfriendly to expatriates etc. A lot of that is just pure misconceptions about our motives and sometimes in our statements, for example, when we talk about the protection and empowerment of Turks and Caicos Islanders that is not to the detriment of expatriate business owners,” Astwood pointed out. He added: “But at the same time a balance must be struck so that everybody in the country must understand what our objectives are.” Astwood insisted that his party is committed to ensuring that the country progresses financially but at the same ensuring the local populace benefit. “We are here, foremost, to ensure that we have a good country and the people and citizens of this country are well taken care of,” he said.

For some time now there has been a call for the local population to grow in order to, among other things, shore up the economy. But Astwood argued that while the country’s population number needs to up, it must do so with locals not losing control. “But in order to grow this population – we know that we don’t have children as much as we should have or can afford to have. So we will need people to come in and grow the population. We cannot afford to do that if simultaneously we lose control of the country. “So through business, economics and politics we must ﬁnd ways to make that the government of the day keep control. The PDM, as an organization, we see our role in that and how we execute that,” he said. The deputy leader said that the PDM will attempt to change the negative perception of that organisation by staging public meetings with the general public and also have personal and honest discussions with business stakeholders. “The actual details on how we go about that will be mainly through having a serious sit downs in town hall meetings with the various sectors and having open and honest conversations,” he said. In the meantime, the party said that some of its individual elected members created great impacts in 2013, in their constituencies. Member of Parliament for Blue Hills in Providenciales Hon. Goldray Ewing said that he successfully assisted a number of persons in his constituency with well-needed items, sometimes by lobbying the business sector to assist. His neighbor Hon. Delroy Williams, who represents the Wheeland constituency, said that he managed to secure street lights to a section of the community and was instrumental in the opening of the Blue Hills Police Post in December.

SIPT DROPS CHARGES AGAINST QUINTON HALL

he Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) has dropped charges against Quinto Hall, the brother of former Deputy Premier Floyd Hall. The charges were dropped last week after Hall, a resident of Grand Turk, agreed to repay an undisclosed sum of money over a certain period of time. Last week, Hall appeared before Madame Justice Ramsay-Hale where he was ﬁrst formally notiﬁed about the charges being dropped, then he appeared before Mr. Justice Paul Harrison who released him. The SIPT previously dropped charges against developers Mario Hoffman and Jak Civre, as well as businessman Samuel Been. On July 17th, 2012, TCIG, Mario Hoffmann and the Salt Cay Development Companies announced the settlement of all claims and proceedings between them and SIPT, in which $7million was paid to Government and 1,506 acres of land on Salt Cay which Hoffman owned were transferred back to Government. Hoffman also gave up his Belonger status. In his settlement, Italian businessman Jak Civre paid US$4. 7million plus US$250,000 in legal costs. Criminal charges were also dropped against businessman and former Cabinet minister Samuel “Sammy” Been after he reached an agreement with SIPT and the Attorney General’s

Chambers to give up a portion of his commercial building, the Sammy Been Plaza, on Airport Road, Providenciales. The value of the settlement is approximately $875,000, which included $50,000 in legal costs. SIPT’s settlement of criminal charges against select individuals came under strong criticism last year from a CARICOM Ministerial Fact-Finding Mission led by Fred Mitchell, The Bahamas’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, when they visited Turks and Caicos Islands between June 24th to 26th, 2013. The CARICOM team stated in a report that was presented to the Heads of Government Summit in Trinidad and Tobago last August, that “another common narrative in the Turks and Caicos Islands which bears examination is that the justice being administered by the SIPT has cost the people of the TCI some $46million with no end in sight” and that only islanders are facing criminal charges and jail time when non-islanders have been able to purchase justice. According to the CARICOM report: “The greatest concerns were expressed over the operation s of the agencies put in place to investigate and prosecute the ﬁndings of corruption and wrong doing arising from the Commission of Enquiry and to recover illgot ten monies and property-the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) and the Civil Recovery Unit (CRU).

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Economy growing but government not satisfied BY VIVIAN TYSON

he Turks and Caicos Islands economy has experienced encouraging growth in 2014, and all thing being equal, it could see further expansion this year, according to Rufus Ewing Administration in the Throne Speech delivered by Governor His Excellency Peter Beckingham at the opening of the House of Assembly on Thursday, January 9. “The economy has seen a 3.4 percent growth in GDP and an even larger projected growth in 2014 due to the injection of Foreign Direct Investment,” the government said. However, the administration has conceded that there is much more to be done and so it would waste no time rolling up its sleeves and getting its hands dirty in a bid to further shore up the economy. “Two of four stalled projects - Shore Club and West Caicos Resort - are slated to commence construction early this year and there are high expectations for the positive economic impact that these will have. In addition, four new hotel projects are scheduled to break ground later this year,” the government noted. The administration asserted that the task of getting the stalled projects up and running is paramount hence the need for a robust investment policy, an effective investment agency, and an enabling business-friendly environment to attract foreign and domestic investments. The government said that it would establish an investment agency similar to that of TCInvest, which was scrapped under the Interim Administration, and also to empower Turks and Caicos Islanders through education, business training, investment incentives, funding support and the continuation and refinement of the reserve category of business licenses. “This will enable us to develop a broad middle class with a greater potential for economic advancement and upward social mobility,” the administration further noted. On the matter of the financial industry, the administration said it has approached and having dialogue with practitioners to craft a modern legislation to develop and market new financial services products, which it said should happen this year, also strength-

ening regulatory framework with international standards and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force guidelines. “The diversification of our economy is critical to sustainable economic growth, and to this end my government is committed to diversification within our main industry of tourism and into other sectors such as manufacturing and processing, agriculture, and aquaculture,” the administration added. The diversification also includes developing a medical tourism policy, an eco-tourism policy and initiative, and a sports tourism policy, the administration said. A manufacturing policy development, the government said, is well advanced, while an agriculture director has been recruited to oversee the completion and implementation of that policy and a robust agricultural programme. The administration said further that the completion of the Providenciales International Airport expansion, now underway, will open the country to new and emerging markets, aided by innovative tourism product development, marketing strategies and strategic planning, slated to complete this year. “My government is committed to the servicing of our debt and provision of educational opportunities, healthcare, jobs and social services for our people, all of which require an adequate and predictable revenue stream for the government. To this end my government will seek to broaden the tax base, lower the tax burden, increase tax compliance and grow the economy through the introduction of new legislation and the enforcement of existing regulations,” the government noted. The government said a review of the healthcare system at all levels with the goal to develop a healthcare reform strategy is underway, while in the meantime, conducting financial and clinical audits of the TCI hospitals, to remedy deficiencies. “My government intends to introduce Health Professions Legislation which will facilitate the regulation of the standards of delivery of healthcare at all levels and all sectors,” the government further outlined. The administration said also that it aims to amend the National Insurance Ordinance and regulations to

ensure adequate healthcare coverage and access all levels to all legal residents. “To this end my Government will be relentless in our pursuit to ensure that, with regards to the NHIP, children under the age of 18, the unemployed and the elderly will be granted coverage, and that a Pharmaceutical procurement program is developed to provide medications at a cost effective price to NHIP community-based pharmacies,” the administration asserted. Water supply and management, solid waste management, transportation, communication and energy will also be priority for the administration, stating significant progress has already made with the Grand Turk water system. Similar work is to be undertaken in Salt Cay and South Caicos. The government said also that it would amend the Road Traffic Ordinance to ensure fairness and high standards. Development of an energy policy and the amendment to the Electricity Ordinance to introduce renewable energy and the lowering electricity cost are also on the cards. Policies to facilitate the proposals of a deep water port development on East Caicos and the linking of the Caicos Islands will also be pursued, government said. The government added that it would tackle overcrowding in schools and find space for those that the public school system are unable accommodate. “While we have provided sufficient funds in the short term to recruit teachers in private places for primary school students, we will continue the work started last financial year to plan the funding of an Early Childhood designated center which will have the effect of opening spaces within the Primary schools,” the government added. The government said that it would earmark a portion of the scholarship fund to certify the young in technical and vocational areas, ensure that scholarships offered meet national development needs and seek to establish formal relationships with universities abroad so that students can access cost effective education. The administration said collaboration with the Culture Department, Ministry of Tourism and other stakeholders, to develop a Culture and National Pride Program to preserve our heritage.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Mike’s return could hurt TCI – Cartwright-Robinson BY VIVIAN TYSON

pposition Leader Hon. Sharlene Cartwright Robinson believes that the return of ex-premier Michael Misick could result is serious implications for the Turks and Caicos Islands, at least over the short term to medium term. Speaking at the opposition’s ﬁrst news conference for 2014, at the Peoples Democratic Movement’s (PDM) Headquarters Downtown Providenciales on Wednesday (January 8), Cartwright-Robinson said that the former premier’s return to the TCI would once again open the Turks and Caicos Islands to the glare of the international media, once again place the country in the international spotlight. “We have 14 (other persons) already charged, but he is the one that was in charged, and I believe that there are more (charges) to be laid at his feet. I am not sure when the charges will eventually be (laid). I understand that there is one charge now levied,” Cartwright-Robinson said. Misick was extradited back home from Brazil where he been living and seeking political asylum from British prosecution over allegation of corruption and bribery. He returned to the country on Tuesday (January 7) accompanied by British security ofﬁcial on a United States Military plane, which landed at the JAGS McCartney International Airport in Grand Turk. He was taken into custody shortly after where he was interrogated by Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) before being charged and taken to court and was granted bail in the Supreme Court after he was denied in the magistrate’s court.

Cartwright-Robinson argued that if Misick had returned to the Turks and Caicos Islands on his own terms the predicted focus on the country on the internationally scene would not be so great. She said that the play out of Misick’s legal battle with the SIPT could scare away investors. “I believe that with his return, more countries would be looking (at us) now with the segment to how he was brought home, so we would have the effect of hitting the headlines around the world now that he is home. The implications for me is that we may have more negative light than we care to have, especially wanting to return investors to this country and to strengthen the economy. I think that if we are not careful and allow the trials to overshadow us this year that persons may be careful in thinking longer and harder, to our detriment and not wanting to come here and invest. I can’t say that his return would be anything wider or worst that what we probably having to experience with persons being already charged and before the court,” she said. She noted however, that the country should move to get the SIPT cases out of the way so that things could return to normal. “But to me it begins a chapter that’s long-awaited. We need to get through it and get through it as quickly as we possibly can. He deserves his day in court and I am happy that he is here to answer the charges. I am extremely happy for his family and his friends that he has now joined them, and we just hope for the very best that we will get through with this as a country in the most digniﬁed way,” Cartwright-Robinson said.

NO BREAKTHROUGH IN NEW YEAR’S EVE GUN MURDER BY VIVIAN TYSON

etectives from the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police are yet to make a breakthrough in the December 31st gun-slaying of Haitian national Joscelin Odisse, who was shot to death by one of three armed men during a predawn robbery at the Altagracia Restaurant and Bar along the Bight Section of the Leeward Highway in Providenciales. A police source close to the investigation told The SUN that crime sleuths were still following a great number of leads that they believe could assist them in their investigation, but so far those leads have not yet yielded a breakthrough. Reports are that at about 4:30a.m., on Tuesday, December 31, while Odisse and his co-proprietor and girlfriend Monica Sueno Vasquez were at the establishment preparing meals for later that day, three armed men pounced on them. A tearful Vasquez said that while the glass entrance to establishment was locked, the reinforcement grille was not, allowing the men to gain entry by shattering the door’s glass. She said upon entering the building they demanded money. She said she handed them a small amount of cash from the register but the men were dissatisﬁed with the amount and demanded more.

“They asked for big money, but I told them I don’t have big money because I already used the money that I had to pay off my bills,” she muttered. However, she said that the men were not satisﬁed with her answer and so two of the criminals marched her upstairs to her apartment in search of more cash. She said that when the men did not ﬁnd any cash, they began to rough her up. One of the men, she said, slapped her across the back of her head with a hand gun. Vasquez said that while she was upstairs with the two armed men, she heard an explosion down stairs, and when she was marched back down into the restaurant, saw the 34 yearold Odisse lying lifeless in a pool of blood. She said the men then made their escaped from the building. Vasquez said she could not say whether or not the men escaped in a waiting motor vehicle or on foot. She said she could not determine the men’s accent. Odessie’s murder culminated a string of robberies, some of them armed, during the month of December. There was also a reported high level of burglaries during the period. Victims reported that among the item stolen from them were valuable household items, including electronics, some of were given to them as gifts.

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JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Government to enact more efficient investment policy BY VIVIAN TYSON

T JAMES M STUBBS

SEEKS

1 Caregiver Salary $5.00 per hour

Must be hardworking and reliable

Contact

241-4134

he Rufus Ewing administration could soon act out investment policies it believes could make doing business in the Turks and Caicos Islands much more efficient as government is unhappy with the current nature of how it is being done. The premier hinted that potential investors who eye the Turks and Caicos as investment opportunities are sometime left with sour tastes in their mouths because of the sometimes deficient manner in which the bureaucratic process works. He said that in order for the country to remain competitive in a global world, a quantum leap has to be made in the way it treats potential investors. “We know that we have some challenges with efficiency in doing business, whether or not it is within business license, whether or not it is within customs, whether or not is within immigration, whether or not it is within the investment unit in starting up a business,” he said. He added: “We need to

be able to have our policies streamlined in a sense that our policies are structured and there are guidelines there to guide those policies and so streamlined them, so that we would be able to let an investor know within a matter of days, first of all whether or not we are interested.” The premier has insinuated that some investors were made to wait long periods before knowing whether or not the country was interested in their business, which he said is awful for good business relationships. “If you are not interested just says ‘no’ right away, because we are not interested. And I think even those decision-making processes to say we are not interested as opposed to waiting six months or a year down the road and you are still stringing them along when you know you are not interested - and they can go elsewhere - is not good business relationships,” he said. He said that it creates a dubious cloud over the Turks and Caicos Islands when an investor is in limbo as to when his application would be processed for him to know whether or not his project would be approved. The premier also reminds that sometimes when an investor makes an application to do business in a country, he also sometimes applies for loans from financial institutions, and the granting of the loans often depends on the efficiency of that country in processing the investment document. “We need to process their documentation within the Investment Unit in

a timely and efficient manner. It doesn’t look good on us when we will take six months, eight months to get an MOU signed or a year to get an MOU signed and then get a development agreement, or takes you a few months to get a business license after government has already approved that they are interested in your business. “If we are interested in the person’s business, then we ought to make the processes efficient that we can give them those things in a timely manner. Because from the time that those persons doing the business decided that they are going to engage in a business, the clock is ticking, especially if they are going to get some kind of loans and other investing partners. The clock is ticking on their money, and as I said, time is money,” the premier asserted. In the meantime, Premier Ewing said that his government is considering granting incentives to potential investors, noting that even big United States cities, including New York, are now engaging is such practice, to attract investors, some of whom he said may have already placed the Turks and Caicos Islands in the crosshairs for investment, but are being lured away by such incentives by those cities. “Offering Incentives is one of those things that we have to look at within our investment policy to ensure that we remain a competitive jurisdiction. Time is money and they (investors) want to know that they are coming into a jurisdiction where there is efficiency in doing business,” he said.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

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LOCAL NEWS

Opposition makes case for Belonger CONTESTANTS PREPARING FOR MISS UNIVERSE TURKS AND CAICOS business empowerment legislation A BY VIVIAN TYSON

ember of Parliament for the Blue Hills Constituency Hon. Goldray Ewing is calling on Government to put in place legislations that would assist Belongers desirous of starting a business enterprise especially in the reserve categories, so they do not have to be made to jump through the various bureaucratic hoops now exist. Ewing, addressing the media during the opposition Peoples Democratic Movement’s (PDM) first news conference of the year, at its headquarters in Providenciales, explained that the legislation that they are asking for would make it possible for the funds to the Investment Unit to be funded so that it would be able to assist locals to open businesses. He said that one of the reasons locals find it hard to start their business is that expatriates already established in business are making it hard for them to enter. “Our people now in the Turks and Caicos are experiencing some hard economic times in various areas, there are more experience local people out there who want to participate in different businesses, where there are a lot of challenges from outsiders, in where there is a lot of unfair practice, I would say, by the foreign businessmen, in this country. It is like being in a lodge, where they can’t even get a funeral, to get their fair share of the market,” he said. He added: “It is very protected by the few people that are out here. So I thought that it would make sense for the government to turn their attention to the local people and make sure that the local people participate in the economy of the country, and to do so, we suggest a review of a Business Support Unit, simply because TCI Invest is no more, it is scrapped, and it was one of the leading financial institutions that we could turn to, to borrow money.”

He said that it is Important to have locals heavily involved in the business landscape because they would remain here through thick or thin but there is no guarantee that expatriate business would remain here when the chips are down. “And it is urgent that the Turks and Caicos people get into position to start taking their rightful place in building the economy of the Turks and Caicos. If you don’t have the native people involved in the building of the economy of the country it will be a false economy because at any time that foreign businessman could pack up and leave if conditions don’t suit him or if he doesn’t like it. It is very important that we get our own people set up in these very different areas and we need to protect it,” Ewing insisted. In the meantime, Opposition Leader Hon. Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson said that the motion it is not part of the job policy that the PDM is advocating for government to adopt. “The job policy will come once we would have identiﬁed the number of persons that are unemployed and the amount of jobs that have to be created for Turks and Caicos Islanders. So that is a separate approach. “This motion really is to the reserve categories by some eighteen different businesses. So it is really an empowerment motion, so that we get to play a part,” she said. She said that aside from providing ﬁnances, the Business Unit would assists with setting up businesses and assisted with proposals. “So it is important that we not only expand the category but we put some mechanisms in place to help those who want to get into those areas of business. It also does have some protection clauses as well for those who want to get into reserved category with an expatriate partner. Yes, it is a matter of contract, but the law also has an additional protection,” she said.

beautiful bevy of ladies are in preparation to compete in the nation’s leading and most anticipated national competition of all time, the Miss Universe Turks and Caicos Pageant. Ranging from age 18 to 24, the contestants label themselves as beautiful, clever, affable and having the willpower to become a beauty ambassador. Commencing Sunday, January 12th at Rock It Hot Fitness Studios, the soon-to-be unveiled contestants enrolled in a sixteen weeks coaching programme facilitated by the Miss Universe Turks and Caicos Beauty Org. (MTCUBO) with former Miss Universe Turks and Caicos Titleholders Wenieka Ewing and Shaveena Been as instructors. Ewing and Been are also officials of the MTCUBO. “Training and coaching are key elements. It is our goal to not only produce a Miss Turks and Caicos Beauty Queen, but a Miss Universe title winner. We want the finest beauty ambassador to represent us on the international scene. There is an abundance of benefits to be gained from the pageant’s overall experience other than winning prizes and making fabulous appearances”, said Wenieka Ewing. “We are not only grooming young ladies for a pageant but developing and empowering respectable young ladies of our society. There are six beautiful young caterpillars that will blossom into six beautiful butterflies. This is a journey that will change their lives forever” Ewing added. The unveiling of the ‘Sassy Six’ will take place at 10:00am, January 27th, at a Meet the Press event at Beaches TCI Resort Villages and Spa. March 26th – 29th, the pageant calendar will see the addition of Turks and Caicos Islands Fashion Week; a stage for cultural expression already

dubbed the premiere fashion, design and style event of the country. TCIFW celebrates the work of fashion artists, craftspeople and other creators with an effervescence all of its own. All contestants are required to walk the runway for designers’ presentations at TCIFW’s Grand Runway Fashion Show “the grand ﬁnale” on March 29th hosted by America’s Next Top Model star Bianca Golden at Brayton Hall, Providenciales. www.TCIFW.com. Miss Turks and Caicos Beauty Pageant National Events of 2014 will take place April 24th – 26th with a grand contestants’ and partners’ motorcade on the Thursday the 24th, and an exciting two nights of competitions on Friday the 25th and Saturday the 26th at Brayton Hall, Providenciales. In lead up to the coronation of the new Miss Universe Turks and Caicos Titleholder, there will be a number of promotional and community happenings, cocktail parties and appearances to showcase the contestants. A ‘Denim and Diamonds’ fundraising party is schedule for January 31st at Zanzi Bar and Restaurant where attendees will enjoy all the evening has to offer whilst giving support to the production of the MTCUBO calendar of events. Tickets are only $25.00. To view the Miss Turks and Caicos Universe Beauty Organization full calendar of events and for ticket information visit www.MissTCI.org. To date, the Miss Turks and Caicos 2014 Pageant partners are the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board, Saint George Fashion House, Digicel TCI, Beaches Resort Villages and Spa., interCaribbean Airways, Rock It Hot Fitness Center, Power 92.5FM, Kiss 102.5FM, SUN TCI Newspaper, TCI Weekly Newspaper, Everything TCI, Gilley’s Enterprises Ltd., Zanzi Bar and Restaurant, Villa Del Mar and The Regent Palms Resort.

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LOCAL NEWS

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Scotiabank pumps $40,000 a year in Young Enterprise Programme BY VIVIAN TYSON

orty thousand dollars â&#x20AC;&#x201C; thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the bankroll support that Scotiabank is giving each year to the Young Enterprise Programme, according the ďŹ nancial institutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s managing director Cecil Arnold. In an interview with The SUN on Saturday, January 11, shortly after the launch of the 2014 renewal of the programme at the Graceway Gourmet Parking lot - across the road from the bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Grace Bay branch - Arnold said that the institution has so far dispensed approximately $80,000 (last year and this year) towards supporting the programme, which facilitates secondary-age students becoming entrepreneurs by forming income-generating companies in a competitive setting. Scotiabank is the main sponsor of the initiative, which was conceptualized by the Department of Youth Affairs under the leadership of then Youth Director, Angella Musgrove. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The investment is close to $40,000 per year. It is $40,000 last year and again $40,000 this year. The money is used to do a lot of things, such as to promote a lot of the activities, transports kids from Grand Turk and other islands to Providenciales for events relating to the programme, among other things. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Last year were we approached when the programme was initiated, and we jumped in as a sponsor. The experience from last year was a great experience; it is more for the devel-

TCI In-Style from the Clement Howell High School - one of the Young Enterprise Programme businesses - displays its products, which are gift bags and T-shirts. opment of the young people and empowering them to see education and to see life differently through entrepreneurship,â&#x20AC;? Arnold said. Arnold pointed out that sponsoring the Young Enterprise Programme falls in line with Scotibank Bright Future programme, which is a global philanthropic initiative that ďŹ nancial institution has embarked upon. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the experience from last year was a great experience, so we thought it was worth the while for us to repeat as main sponsor this year. And because it is aligned with our own philosophy with supporting people through or by (Scotiabank Bright) Futures programme. And I think for Turks and Caicos, just seeing our young local kids from the various high schools are being very creative,

thinking as business people at a very young age, those skills set, I think, will be with them for the rest of their lives and will change their lives. So I think for us, those things are encouraging and makes what we are doing worthwhile,â&#x20AC;? he said. In the meantime, Musgrove said that the high proďŹ le launch of the programme is one of three major events that the Young Enterprise Programme will have before Julyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s judging of the companies and eventual declaration of winners. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In March we are going to do a bigger trade show for the students to display their wares, and we are also going to take a contingent to visit one of their major events of the year, so that board members as well as school teachers/advisors who are involved in

the programme to get a bigger idea and see a bigger picture how the Young Enterprise scheme works and hopefully come and inject some of that in our programme. Raymond Gardiner High School of Grand Turk, which topped the competition last year, will not have participation this year. As a matter of fact, aside from Providenciales, no other island in the chain will participate this year, which Musgrove described as disappointing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are disappointed this year that we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get participations from schools in the other islands. We were supposed to have South Caicos (Marjorie Basden High) on board but due to some logistical arrangements we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get them on board this year. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get participation from H.J., and we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get participation from Raymond Gardiner High (from North Caicos). That was disappointing for us, but hopefully next year they will be on board,â&#x20AC;? Musgrove said. This year some of the groups of mixed are with children from different institutions. Clement Howell High has about three groups solely made up of their children. At the launch, groups were allowed to peddle their wares, and were engaged by patronized by both locals and tourists. The groups that were on display are the launch are TCI In-Style; Turks and Caicos Treasures; Do It Yourself Products and Services; Rhythmic Flavour and Varieta;

Civil & Structural Engineering Ltd Seeks

A Chartered Surveyor The successful applicant must possess Â&#x2021; $VVRFLDWH 0HPEHUVKLS RI WKH 5R\DO ,QVWLWXWLRQ Â&#x2021; )DFLOLWLHV DQG $VVHW SRUWIROLR 0DQDJHPHQW RI &KDUWHUHG 6XUYH\RUV RU HTXLYDOHQW $Q DQQXDO VDODU\ RI SOXV Â&#x2021; %6F LQ 8UEDQ (VWDWH 0DQDJHPHQW RI SHUIRUPDQFH UHODWHG FRPPLVVLRQ LV RIIHUHG IRU 5,&6 UHFRJQLVHG TXDOLILFDWLRQ WKLV SRVLWLRQ Â&#x2021; )LYH \HDUV SRVW TXDOLILFDWLRQ ZRUN H[SHULHQFH Â&#x2021; &RPSXWHU OLWHUDWH ZLWK H[SHULHQFH LQ :RUG 7KH VXLWDEOH FDQGLGDWH ZLOO EH DJHG \HDUV ROG DQG EH DEOH WR ZRUN XQGHU KLV RZQ ([FHO 06 3URMHFW 4XLFNERRNV LQLWLDWLYH DQG EH DEOH WR VHH WKURXJK SURMHFWV 'XWLHV ZLOO LQFOXGH DQG FDQGLGDWHV VKRXOG KDYH IURP FRQFHSW WR FRPSOHWLRQ H[SHULHQFH LQ 7KLV SRVLWLRQ LV DYDLODEOH LPPHGLDWHO\ DQG Â&#x2021; 0DUNHW DSSUDLVDOV DQG VHFXUHG OHQGLQJ FORVLQJ GDWH IRU DSSOLFDWLRQ LV WK )HEUXDU\ YDOXDWLRQV Â&#x2021; 'HYHORSPHQW IHDVLELOLW\ VWXGLHV Apply in writing to BCQS Limited, P. O. Box 158, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands or fax to 946 7184. Contact Simon Taylor on email: staylor@bcqs.com

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Opposition Reserved Category jobs motion gets bipartisan support BY VIVIAN TYSON

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pposition Member of Parliament Hon. Goldray Ewing has received bipartisan support for his jobs motion presented in the House of Assembly on January 9. Ewing said that the multi-prong motion seeks to not only to empower Turks and Caicos Islanders to get first preference in certain reserved category of businesses but also to protect them from exploitation when enter into a business partnership with an expatriate partner. The motion includes expanding the reserve business categories to include some that have been enjoyed by locals as well as expatriates, to ensure that local partners benefits appropriately when they enter into partnerships with an expatriate and that a business support unit be set up to assist locals start their own businesses. And be it further reserved that this Honourable House engages the government to review the need for a business support unit geared at small businesses, which will provide guidance and support to local business as well as lead the way in accessing capital for their use. Ewing asked for the reserved business licenses expand to include: • Contracting, including petty, medium contractor and large contractor; • Security services, including security as part of hotels; • Waster sports and tours, including activities scuba diving, parasail rides, windsurf rental, deep sea fishing tours, bone fishing tours, cruise including sunset crises, motorized and non-motorized rental of vessels, including when part of a hotel or resort; • Restaurants that are not part of a hotel operation; • Agriculture and agricultural farming; • Souvenir gift shops, which are not part of a hotel operation; • Commercial fishing licenses and fish plant processing; • Franchised for fast food and restaurant licenses; • Horseback riding; guided tours and rentals; • Sourcing of equipment associated with renew-

able energy such as solar, wind, hydro tidal flow; geothermal energy and magnetic energy; • Pest control licenses; • pharmacy; • Marriage licenses and marriage officers; • Entertainment licenses, including for events planning; • Medical laboratories licenses; • And ferry licenses. Ewing also proposed that where there are partnerships in a reserved category between Turks and Caicos islanders and foreigners, the Turks and Caicos islanders should receive majority share. He recommended that his shares should not be sold or transferred other than to another Turks and Caicos Islander, who should also retain majority shares. In addition he advised that any change to the business must be reported, and that any further capital injection in the business by the foreign partner should be considered a loan, attracting interest rates not greater than that being offered by a commercial bank on a savings or certificate of deposit account. To discourage fronting, the Blue Hills representative recommended that the Turks and Caicos Islands partner needs to take a managerial role, have knowledge or skills in that business must be a signatory on all accounts, while sharing in the profit and benefit of the business. He advocated an annual certificate produced by an auditor and agreed by all parties should be accompanied by the request for business license renewal. The document must show that the local partner has received his financial due under the partnership agreement. Ewing pointed out that there is a need to pilot such a motion because the business outfit has been tailored to suit expatriate interests. “The business climate in these islands has experienced and continues to experience challenging times. In various locals businesses are coming under serious challenges of high cost in operation, while operating in a troubled economy. It is one of the democratically-elected House of Assembly to impose policies that will protect the rights of all businesses and uphold the law of the land. Businesses in the reserved category are coming under unfair competition,” he said.

LOCAL NEWS LILLIAN MISSICK WANTS FIX TO HOSPITALS DENYING CONTRIBUTORS MEDICAL CARE

overnors’ Appointed Member Hon. Lillian Missick wants government to fix the vexing problem of National Health Insurance Plan (NHIP) contributors applying for work permit renewals are denied health care coverage. Speaking in the House of Assembly on Thursday (January 9), Missick described the policy as something fundamentally wrong and urged government to launch an investigation and to fix it. Some persons who said they have been victim of the practice complained that even as they were denied health coverage, their employers were still paying NHIP contributions on their behalf, and argued whether or not extracting money from their salary while being denied healthcare it is criminal deception. But Missick said that such anomaly needs urgent fixing. “They maybe in the process of having work permits renewed; the applications are there for renewal, but something has to be fundamentally wrong if persons who a apply for a work permit renewal, who are current with the National Health Insurance contributions and of course their National Insurance contributions; how can that persons who is current – who is paying – be denied health care because they don’t have the work permit card?” Missick asked. She pointed out that when someone has applied and the work permit is approved, they are issued with a payment receipt for them to use until the work permit card is processed and returned to them. However, she said that the NHIP and the hospitals seemingly do not regard those receipts as legitimate documdents, which is wrong. “National Health Insurance, the hospitals do not accept receipts. So persons go without any access to health care and if they drop down and you go to the hospital (they will be denied health care). And I hear all the arguments that are being put forward, all the statements that are being made that people are not denied health care; that is not the case,” she said. She added; “So something has to put in place. If persons are current with their contribution payments and they have to access health care. If they have a legitimate and current receipt then those persons are not to be denied health care.” Misick, in the meantime, extolled the government for its efforts in ensuring that children under 18 are covered, since there have been many complaints that sick children are denied health care when they turned up at the facilities.

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LOCAL NEWS Beaches stocks Enid Capron Library, gives supplies to needy kids

Elanor Finﬁn Krzanowski, Public Relations Manager at Beaches Resort and Spa, presents a set of books to a student of the Enid Capron Primary School as part of the resort’s back-to-school initiative. to our sponsored school the Enid Capron Primary. This is a back-to-school drive and it is a book donation to the library and also basic school supplies for the kids that may be in need,” she said. Krzanowski explained that the association between Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort and Spa the Enid Capron Primary goes way back to 1999, and said that the resort is committed to education and wellbeing of students across the Turks and Caicos Islands. Accepting the donation, Kimley Phillips, a teacher at the school, and committee leader of the reading programme,

lauded the resort for its commitment to the advancement of educational programmes there. She said that the books would augment the library collection, while students in the school who lacked basic supplies would beneﬁt a great deal from the gifts. “This morning we are quite grateful to receive these books and behalf of the entire school body here at Enid Capron, to receive the books and the other reading materials for our Little C Programme and library which is reopening today. We are quite grateful to you, Beaches for the donation,” Phillips said.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Mosquito borne Chikungunya virus in the Caribbean

BY VIVIAN TYSON

eaches Turks and Caicos Resort and Spa, through its philanthropic arm Sandals Foundation, has donated thousands of dollars worth of school supplies, including reading books, pencils and erasers to its adopted school - the Enid Capron Primary in Five Cays – on Monday, January 13. Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort’s Head of Public Relations Elanor Finﬁn Krzanowski said that the donations were made possible by travel agents who sell the Sandals/ Beaches resort chain and is part of the resort’s back to school drive for its adopted school. She said that the reading books are primary to stock the school library, while the other supplies would be donated to especially needy students. “We, at the Sandals Foundation, are about promoting literacy and empowering education throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands. We are so proud and happy to be here this morning, making a presentation

JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

hikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral illness which is new to the Caribbean, made its debut in the French side of the island of Saint Martin in December 2013. To date, new cases of Chikungunya continue to be identified. The National Reference Centre for Arboviruses confirmed other Caribbean islands being affected, namely St. Martin (66 confirmed, 14 probable, 167 suspected), St. Barthelemy, (11 suspected), Guadeloupe, (1 confirmed, 21 suspected), Martinique (3 confirmed, 27 suspected) and Guyana (1 confirmed in a traveler from Martinique). Chikungunya is a viral disease, carried mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito which is widely dispersed in the Caribbean region including the Turks and Caicos Islands. This is also the vector that causes dengue. Symptoms of chikungunya virus include sudden high fever, severe pain in the wrists, ankles or knuckles, muscle pain, headache, nausea, and rash. Joint pain and stiffness are more common with chikungunya than with dengue. The symptoms appear between four to seven days after the bite of an infected mosquito. The majority of clinical signs and symptoms last three to ten days, but joint pain may persist longer. Severe cases requiring hospitalization are rare, nonetheless, anyone experiencing any of the above signs and symptoms are asked to visit their doctor

or any of our health care clinics throughout the TCI immediately. As there is no vaccine or treatment available for chikungunya. The best ways to protect yourself and others from chikungunya and dengue infections are to: 1. Prevent mosquitoes breeding in and around your home environment 2. Wear long-sleeved clothing or long pants 3. Use insect repellents liberally 4. Use mosquito nets at night 5. Inspect your home and yard weekly 6. Keep water drums and barrels tightly covered 7. Check your gutters 8. Throw out stagnant water from ﬂower vases, old tyres, and other containers that might act as breeding sites 9. Call the Environmental Health Department to treat large bodies of stagnant water on or around your property. The Ministry of Health and Human Services along with other Caribbean health authorities are working with Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) to implement public health measures that include identiﬁcation and clinical management of cases, vector control measures (e.g., fogging), enhanced surveillance, and public education.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Diana Swann is What’s In the Box Winner BY VIVIAN TYSON

roadcaster Diana Swann has been declared the 2013 winner of the What’s In the Box promotion – an annual charitable fund-raising event put on by the Grace Bay Resorts Foundation, telecoms company LIME, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank and the Do-It Centre. The item in the box for 2013 was an elegantly designed model cruise ship, constructed by Albert Higgs of North Caicos. The funds derive from the Christmas promotion is to go towards charities undertaken by LIME and the Grace Bay Resorts Foundation. To enter the contest, LIME customers were asked to guess what was in the box by texting to LIME what they believe to be the answer. As the main prize, Swann wins an all expense-paid trip and accommodation for two to New York and an ipad. She was elated when LIME’s communications specialist Rachel Harvey called her from the FirstCaribbean Bank rounda-bout to inform her of the prize. She told Harvey that such a win prize began the New Year on a joyous note for her. Kirland Rolle captured the second prize, which is a stay at

From left – Rachel Harvey, Albert Higgs, Dr. Carlton Mills and Adelphine Pitter the West Bay Club. The third price, which is a grilling experience, donated by the Do-It Centre was won by someone from Seacare Corporate Services. Lynda Williams was declared the fourth place prize winner, which is an account at CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank, while Kenrick Walters won the ﬁfth price - a smartphone from LIME. In the meantime, Higgs – a longstanding boat-builder in the Turks and Caicos Islands, has been lauded for his exquisite creation, by Dr. Carlton Mills of the Grace Bay Resorts Foundation, who described model cruise ship as magniﬁcent. “I just want to congratulate Mr. Albert Higgs, better known as “Papa”. You know that he

has been in the boat business for a number of years. He is one who has kept the tradition alive. Look at that design; it is a magniﬁcent piece of artwork,” Mills said. In the meantime, Mills said that Adelphine Pitter, who happens to be the boat-builder’s daughter and who was also responsible for conjuring the puzzle, was clinically clandestine in her task, as not even he knew what the piece was. For her part, Pitter explained that since it was her last time organizing what goes into the box, she made it special by contacting her father to have the boat as the answer to the 2013 quiz. Meanwhile, Dr. Mills announced that the model boat is being sold for $3,500.

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE OF DDME’S PUBLIC INFORMATION AND EDUCATION OFFICER

n its continued effort to build internal capacity and foster national as well as international partnerships for disaster risk management, the DDME is facilitating Miss Andrea Been, Public Information and Education Officer at the DDME to attend a one-week knowledge and skills transfer exchange exercise at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Jamaica. Through this partnership with Jamaica, Ms. Been will be exposed to and experience in the roles and responsibilities of counterpart Public Information and Education Officers, particularly as this relates to initiatives in rolling out of the Public Information and Education Strategies for the multi-hazard Caribbean environment in general and the TCI in particular. This partnership with Jamaica is especially appropriate, given that this island is The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency’s (CDEMA) Focal Point for the North Western Sub-Region of which the Turks and Caicos Islands is a part. Public information and education has been identified by the DDME as one of the priority areas for capacity building and as such the skills transfer exercise in which Ms. Been is engaged will significantly improve technical competence of existing staff in this critical area of disaster risk management. This competence will allow the DDME to design more comprehensive and targeted disaster management public education programs for a wider cross-section of people at risk in the TCI and better enable the DDME to fulfill its mandate for effective and efficient disaster response. During the exercise in Jamaica, , Ms. Been, will be assigned to the Information and Training Unit and the Preparedness and Emergency Operations Division of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management where she will acquire practical experience in: Observing the writing of news releases, observing the dissemination methods of news releases, advisories etc.; Examining avenues for social media and how audio visual work is conducted; Attending the Press Conference planned in observance of Earthquake Awareness Week, Examining products used for newspaper supplements and any other information dissemination tool used. The program will run from January 13 - 17, 2014.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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â&#x20AC; This Lower Payment Campaign is subject to certain conditions and limited to salaried applicants meeting credit approvals. The campaign is open to legal residents of Turks & Caicos who are 18 years of age and older. Scotiabank has the right to exclude any individual from this campaign in its absolute discretion without any obligation to provide notice or reason. The terms and conditions FDQ YDU\ DW DQ\ WLPH DW 6FRWLDEDQNÂśV GLVFUHWLRQ ZLWKRXW JLYLQJ DQ\ QRWLFH RU UHDVRQ ,Q WKH HYHQW RI D GLVSXWH DULVLQJ IURP WKLV FDPSDLJQ WKH %DQNÂśV GHFLVLRQ LV ÂżQDO 7KH FDPSDLJQ ZLOO EH IRU WKH SHULRG EHWZHHQ -DQXDU\ WR )HEUXDU\ 70 7UDGHPDUN RI 7KH %DQN RI 1RYD 6FRWLD XVHG XQGHU OLFHQVH (where applicable) *29(51,1* /$: 7KHVH WHUPV DQG FRQGLWLRQV DUH JRYHUQHG by the Laws of Turks & Caicos.

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JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

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FORMER PREMIER MICHAEL

WELCOME BACK TO THE

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

JANUARY 17TH - JANUARY 25TH, 2014

MISICK RECEIVES HERO’S TURKS AND CAICOS

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

“ROYALS” [Verse 1] I’ve never seen a diamond in the ﬂesh I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies And I’m not proud of my address, In a torn-up town, no postcode envy

We don’t care, we’re driving Cadillacs in our dreams. But everybody’s like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece. Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash We don’t care, we aren’t caught up in your love affair

But every song’s like gold teeth, grey goose, trippin’ in the bathroom Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin’ the hotel room, We don’t care, we’re driving Cadillacs in our dreams. But everybody’s like Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece. Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash. We don’t care, we aren’t caught up in your love affair.

And we’ll never be royals (royals). It don’t run in our blood That kind of luxe just ain’t for us. We crave a different kind of buzz. Let me be your ruler (ruler), You can call me queen Bee And baby I’ll rule, I’ll rule, I’ll rule, I’ll rule. Let me live that fantasy.

And we’ll never be royals (royals). It don’t run in our blood, That kind of luxe just ain’t for us. We crave a different kind of buzz. Let me be your ruler (ruler), You can call me queen Bee And baby I’ll rule, I’ll rule, I’ll rule, I’ll rule. Let me live that fantasy.

Ooh ooh oh We’re bigger than we ever dreamed, And I’m in love with being queen. Ooh ooh oh Life is great without a care We aren’t caught up in your love affair.

[Verse 2] My friends and I—we’ve cracked the code. We count our dollars on the train to the party. And everyone who knows us knows that we’re ﬁne with this, We didn’t come from money. But every song’s like gold teeth, grey goose, trippin’ in the bathroom. Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin’ the hotel room,

And we’ll never be royals (royals). It don’t run in our blood That kind of luxe just ain’t for us. We crave a different kind of buzz Let me be your ruler (ruler), You can call me queen Bee And baby I’ll rule, I’ll rule, I’ll rule, I’ll rule. Let me live that fantasy.

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MICHAEL MISICK SHOWERED WITH LOVE AT ABUNDANT LIFE CHURCH SERVICE

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FUN&GAMES HAB MANAGEMENT LTD.

HAB Management Ltd is seeking applicants for the following positions: RESERVATION ATTENDANT

LAUNDRY ATTENDANT

Job Description

The successful candidates will be required to welcome and K>JN>Ă @M>KLKĂ BGĂ :Ă <ÍąMJL>ÍąMK Ă >Ë&#x2022;<B>GLĂ :G=Ă ?JB>G=EQĂ F:GG>J Ă ;ÍąLAĂ face-to-face and on the phone. The candidates will also be required to take reservations via the telephone, email and walkin requests. Candidates will also be responsible for promoting the resort at all times.

)JÍą<>KKĂ KÍąBE>=Ă EBG>GĂ :G=Ă =BKLJB;ML>Ă <E>:GĂ EBG>GĂ in accordance with standard operating procedures BGĂ :Ă K:?> Ă :<<B=>GL ?J>>Ă F:GG>J Ă :KĂ :KKB@G>=Ă ;QĂ management.

Requirements

Requirements :G=B=:L>KĂ KAÍąME=Ă A:N>Ă K>N>GĂ Q>:JKĂ ÍąJĂ FÍąJ>Ă >PH>JB>G<>Ă as a Reservation Attendant. Candidates should also have an >PL>GKBN>Ă DGÍąOE>=@>Ă Íą?Ă /BKM:EĂ (G>Ă )JÍąH>JLQĂ &:G:@>F>GLĂ ,QKL>F Ă Ă :G=B=:L>KĂ FMKLĂ ;>Ă HJÍąË&#x201C;<B>GLĂ BGĂ &B<JÍąKÍąË&#x2014;Ă (Ë&#x2022;<> Ă Ă Candidates will be required to check guests in and out; perform certain accounting procedures, such as preparing bills for guests, performing audit duties, balancing work and preparing H:H>JOÍąJDĂ ?ÍąJĂ LA>Ă ?ÍąEEÍąOBG@Ă =:Q Ă HJ>K>GLĂ :Ă ?JB>G=EQ Ă ÍąML@ÍąBG@ Ă energetic and guest service demeanor. Candidates will also be J>IMBJ>=Ă LÍąĂ OÍąJDĂ <ÍąA>KBN>EQĂ OBLAĂ <Íą OÍąJD>JKĂ :KĂ H:JLĂ Íą?Ă :Ă L>:F Ă Ă &MKLĂ ;>Ă :;E>Ă LÍąĂ KH>:D Ă J>:=Ă :G=Ă OJBL>Ă BGĂ G@EBKAĂ :G=Ă MG=>JKL:G=Ă N>J;:EĂ :G=Ă OJBLL>GĂ BGKLJM<LBÍąGK Ă Ă ,:E:JQĂ BKĂ Ă H>JĂ :GGMF

BARTENDER

Job Description

This is an enhanced position and J>IMBJ>KĂ :Ă ;M;;EQĂ H>JKÍąG:EBLQĂ :KĂ O>EEĂ :KĂ KÍąF>Ă @M>KLĂ K>JNB<>KĂ >PH>JB>G<> Ă Ă The successful candidates should be well versed in bar service and drink preparation.

Requirements :G=B=:L>KĂ KAÍąME=Ă A:N>Ă KBPĂ Q>:JKĂ ÍąJĂ FÍąJ>Ă >PH>JB>G<>Ă :KĂ :Ă :JL>G=>J Ă Candidates will be required to solicit guests drink orders from around the pool and on the beach area and deliver drinks to guests when G>>=>= Ă )E:GĂ :G=Ă F:BGL:BGĂ ;:JĂ BGN>GLÍąJQ Ă Ă &:BGL:BGĂ <E>:GEBG>KKĂ Íą?Ă :EEĂ OÍąJDHE:<>Ă :J>:KĂ LA:LĂ :HHEQĂ LÍąĂ the bar. Candidates will be required to be able to multi-task and assist :LĂ ?JÍąGLĂ =>KDĂ OA>GĂ G><>KK:JQ Ă Ă -A>Ă candidates will also be required to OÍąJDĂ <ÍąA>KBN>EQĂ OBLAĂ <Íą OÍąJD>JKĂ :KĂ H:JLĂ Íą?Ă :Ă L>:F Ă Ă &MKLĂ ;>Ă :;E>Ă LÍąĂ KH>:D Ă J>:=Ă :G=Ă OJBL>Ă BGĂ G@EBKAĂ and understand verbal and written instructions. Good presentation :G=Ă :Ă HE>:K:GL Ă ?JB>G=EQĂ H>JKÍąG:EBLQĂ J>IMBJ>= Ă Ă ,:E:JQĂ BKĂ ÍŹ Ă H>JĂ annum.

Job Description

:G=B=:L>Ă KAÍąME=Ă A:N>Ă K>N>GĂ Q>:JKĂ ÍąJĂ FÍąJ>Ă >PH>JB>G<>Ă :KĂ :Ă %:MG=JQĂ LL>G=:GL Ă Ă :G=B=:L>Ă OBEEĂ be required to receive and sort soiled linen; process KÍąJL>=Ă EBG>GĂ MLBEBRBG@Ă LA>Ă O:KA>JK Ă =JQ>JKĂ :G=Ă BJÍąG>JKĂ >GKMJBG@Ă Ë&#x201C;GBKA>=Ă HJÍą=M<LĂ F>>LKĂ LA>Ă IM:EBLQĂ KL:G=:J=KĂ Íą?Ă LA>Ă J>KÍąJL Ă Ă 'ÍąLB?QĂ KMH>JNBKÍąJĂ Íą?Ă F:E?MG<LBÍąGBG@Ă equipment, supplies needed, damaged linens, to ensure E:MG=JQĂ ÍąH>J:LBÍąGĂ BKĂ JMGGBG@Ă :LĂ F:PBFMFĂ >Ë&#x2022;<B>G<QĂ E>N>E Ă Ă &:BGL:BGĂ :KKB@G>=Ă OÍąJDĂ :J>:Ă BGĂ :Ă <E>:GĂ :G=Ă K:?>Ă <ÍąG=BLBÍąG Ă Ă &MKLĂ ;>Ă :;E>Ă LÍąĂ KH>:D Ă J>:=Ă :G=Ă OJBL>Ă BGĂ G@EBKAĂ :G=Ă MG=>JKL:G=Ă N>J;:EĂ :G=Ă OJBLL>GĂ BGKLJM<LBÍąGK Ă Ă &MKLĂ ;>Ă O>EEĂ HJ>K>GL>=Ă :G=Ă HAQKB<:EEQĂ Ë&#x201C;L Ă Ă -A>Ă <:G=B=:L>Ă OBEEĂ :EKÍąĂ ;>Ă J>IMBJ>=Ă LÍąĂ OÍąJDĂ <ÍąA>KBN>EQĂ OBLAĂ <Íą OÍąJD>JKĂ :KĂ H:JLĂ Íą?Ă :Ă L>:F Ă Ă ,:E:JQĂ BKĂ ÍŹ Ă H>JĂ :GGMF

HOUSEKEEPERS (7)

Candidates will be required to clean guest rooms as assigned, ensuring the hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s established standards of cleanliness.

Requirements :G=B=:L>KĂ KAÍąME=Ă A:N>Ă KBPĂ Q>:JKĂ ÍąJĂ FÍąJ>Ă >PH>JB>G<>Ă :KĂ :Ă !ÍąMK>D>>H>J Ă Ă :G=B=:L>KĂ FMKLĂ A:N>Ă DGÍąOE>=@>Ă Íą?Ă HJÍąH>JĂ <E>:GBG@Ă L><AGBIM>K Ă Ă &:BGL:BGĂ HÍąKBLBN>Ă @M>KLĂ J>E:LBÍąGKĂ :LĂ :EEĂ LBF>K Ă Ă :G=B=:L>KĂ OBEEĂ :EKÍąĂ ;>Ă J>IMBJ>=Ă LÍąĂ OÍąJDĂ <ÍąA>KBN>EQĂ OBLAĂ <Íą OÍąJD>JKĂ :KĂ H:JLĂ Íą?Ă :Ă L>:F Ă Ă &MKLĂ ;>Ă :;E>Ă LÍąĂ KH>:D Ă J>:=Ă :G=Ă OJBL>Ă BGĂ G@EBKAĂ and understand verbal and written instructions. Good presentation and a pleasant, ?JB>G=EQĂ H>JKÍąG:EBLQĂ J>IMBJ>= Ă Ă ,:E:JQĂ BKĂ ÍŹ Ă H>JĂ :GGMF

SECURITY OFFICERS (2)

Job Description

The successful candidates will be responsible for the safeguarding of the ÍąOG>JKĂ HJÍąH>JLQ Ă AÍąL>EĂ HJÍąH>JLQ Ă :KK>LK Ă @M>KLK Ă NBKBLÍąJKĂ :G=Ă >FHEÍąQ>>K Ă Ă -A>Ă ,><MJBLQĂ (??B<>JKĂ OBEEĂ :EKÍąĂ ;>Ă J>KHÍąGKB;E>Ă ?ÍąJĂ BGKMJBG@Ă :Ă K:?>Ă >GNBJÍąGF>GL Ă H:LJÍąEEBG@ Ă =Íą<MF>GLBG@ Ă J>HÍąJLBG@ Ă :G=Ă ?ÍąEEÍąOBG@ MHĂ ÍąGĂ K:?>LQĂ :G=Ă K><MJBLQĂ hazards or infractions.

Requirements :G=B=:L>KĂ KAÍąME=Ă A:N>Ă >B@ALĂ Q>:JKĂ ÍąJĂ FÍąJ>Ă >PHĂ >JB>G<>Ă :KĂ :Ă ,><MJBLQĂ (Ë&#x2022;<>J Ă :G=B=:L>KĂ OBEEĂ ;>Ă J>IMBJ>=Ă LÍąĂ OÍąJDĂ Ë&#x201D;>PB;E>Ă AÍąMJK Ă Ă +><ÍąJ=Ă HJÍą;E>FKĂ >G<ÍąMGL>J>=Ă BGĂ LA>Ă :J>:Ă =MJBG@Ă LA>Ă <ÍąMJK>Ă Íą?Ă =MLQ Ă A><DĂ >Ë&#x2019;><LBN>G>KKĂ :G=Ă K:?>LQĂ :G=Ă :N:BE:;BEBLQĂ Íą?Ă K><MJBLQĂ :G=Ă K:?>LQĂ >IMBHF>GLK Ă +>KHÍąG=Ă BFF>=B:L>EQĂ LÍąĂ >F>J@>G<QĂ ÍąJĂ <JBKBKĂ situations. Candidates will be required to maintain positive guest relations at all LBF>K Ă Ă -A>Ă <:G=B=:L>KĂ OBEEĂ :EKÍąĂ ;>Ă J>IMBJ>=Ă LÍąĂ OÍąJDĂ <ÍąA>KBN>EQĂ OBLAĂ <Íą OÍąJD>JKĂ :KĂ H:JLĂ Íą?Ă :Ă L>:F Ă Ă &MKLĂ ;>Ă :;E>Ă LÍąĂ KH>:D Ă J>:=Ă :G=Ă OJBL>Ă BGĂ G@EBKAĂ :G=Ă MG=>JKL:G=Ă N>J;:EĂ :G=Ă OJBLL>GĂ BGKLJM<LBÍąGK Ă Ă ÍąÍą=Ă HJ>K>GL:LBÍąGĂ :G=Ă :Ă HE>:K:GL Ă ?JB>G=EQĂ H>JKÍąG:EBLQĂ J>IMBJ>= Ă Ă ,:E:JQĂ BKĂ Ă H>JĂ :GGMF Ă

Interested applicants should contact Veronica Rigby via email by January 27, 2014 at ronnie@habgroup.com or by fax 649-946-5191. Only persons selected for an interview will be contacted by email or telephone to schedule an interview.

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News

CARIBBEAN

Carnival interested in dock partnership with Cayman Islands government

ne of Carnival’s top executives has dismissed a floating pier concept for Grand Cayman as “pie in the sky” and urged government to move ahead with a long-term solution by building two permanent cruise piers in George Town harbour, according to the Cayman Compass newspaper. The world’s largest cruise line is interested in partnering with government on the dock project and will likely respond to the request for qualifications which goes out this year, according to Giora Israel, senior vice president of Carnival’s global port and destination development. Mr. Israel said the long-term future of Cayman as a cruise port depended on the development of proper berthing facilities. Carnival was interested in helping to make it happen, he said, but he warned the “economics have to work.” He urged government not to get distracted by ideas like the environmentally friendly floating dock being pioneered in Norway and get a real pier built before it was too late. Executives at the Scandanavian company SeaWalk had expressed interest in bringing the technology to Grand Cayman as an alternative to the extensive dredging of the harbor that would be required for a permanent pier. They said the floating pier could be used in similar or more severe weather conditions as tender boats. But without the backing of Carnival, which is responsible for more than 60 percent of the cruise traffic into Grand Cayman, the idea is effectively dead in the water. Mr. Israel said he believed weath-

er conditions would make the floating pier impractical for Cayman or any Caribbean destination and suggested it could only be used in fjords or lakes where relatively calm conditions could be guaranteed. He estimates it would be unusable 150 days a year in Grand Cayman. He said he had personally been involved in discussions over a pier for Grand Cayman since 1998 and was keen to see it happen “sooner or later.” Whether Carnival decides to get involved will come down to the economics, but shore-side shopping is not a deal breaker for the company. “We don’t in any way or shape need retail, it just has to be a viable pier project,” said Mr. Israel. Government’s favored approach, outlined in a business case produced by PwC, is for a cruise line to finance the building of two piers at a cost of between US$100 million and US$200 million in return for the right to collect port fees from other cruise lines and a share of the per-passenger head tax currently charged by government. Mr. Israel accepts that the attractiveness of the project could come down to the size of the head tax and how much government wanted to retain. But he said Grand Cayman, with its combination of taxes and berthing fees, is currently the most expensive destination in the region, and anything that makes it more costly to the cruise lines would be problematic. “If the costs are too high, it is not going to fly. What is being asked is for us to invest or to provide a guarantee. Why would we invest if the fees are so high or guarantee money to a port when I can go to

others that are much cheaper?” he asked. He said Cayman needs the piers if it is to remain viable as a cruise destination and no one should be fooled by a bump in bookings for the next two years, which he said is connected to economic conditions in Europe and political and social unrest in the eastern Mediterranean. “The credit to the Caribbean in terms of cruise numbers for the next two years is really more of a debit to the Mediterranean,” he said. “There are powers that are bigger than one country has the capacity to impact. “The question of whether or not piers should be built? We are way beyond that. Anyone who questions that has to question their understanding of this business. “Whether you want cruise ships or cruise passengers in your country or not is a different matter. That’s a perfectly legitimate question and a legitimate decision for the government to make. But if you want to be viable as a cruise destination, then a pier is critical.” He said Carnival has built piers in Grand Turk, in Mahogany Bay, Roatan, and is building one in the Dominican Republic, while their “friendly competitors” have built ports across the region. “Each pier that can take two ships is sucking in 1.5 million passengers per year. There is a glut of berths now in the Caribbean and more coming,” he said. “We like Grand Cayman as a destination, but if we have two ports to select, one with a pier and one without, I will tell you which way we will go.”

Jamaica Government wants entire population to have access to internet K

INGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica government says it wants the entire population to have access to the internet and has appealed to local providers to ensure that is achieved. “We need Internet access to all the nooks and crannies of Jamaica, to where the more than 1,100 public schools are by 2015, and we really have to challenge everyone involved in this regard, “ Education Minister Rev. Ronald Thwaites told the ofﬁcial launch of the Caribbean Virtual Academy (CEVA). A virtual learning platform accessed through the website CaribbeanExams.com, CEVA is geared at providing online tutoring and exam preparation assistance to high school students.

The aim is to help students in Jamaica and across the region achieve greater success at the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) levels. Rev. Thwaites, who endorsed the programme, said it was in line with the government’s mission of attaining greater student achievement. He said that the expectation was that the programme would result in significant improvement in student achievement, and also provide employment opportunities for local teachers. He said that the whole arena of virtual education was a powerful tool

for transformation of the system and CEVA is a decisive step in that direction. “At the Ministry, we regard CEVA as complementary, not competitive, to classroom-based teaching and learning, as it provides the opportunity for students to learn at their own pace, and not to hamper those who are capable of managing the curriculum at a quicker pace.” Rev. Thwaites said he would be meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (STEM), to access the progress of the E-learning programme and the roll out of the pilot. Vice President, GoGSAT Ltd, Shallette East, said an estimated 291 teach-

ers were attached to the programme, providing online tutoring and assistance in over 18 subject areas, such as Mathematics, English Language and Biology. She said this was being done through the provision of educational games, thousands of practice questions, topic speciﬁc tests, study guides, topic speciﬁc notes, animated notes, pre-tests and post-tests in addition to access to test preparation materials. CaribbeanExams also provides students with access to live tutorials facilitated by live tutors, essay grading, eMentoring, a 24/7 helpdesk, as well as daily homework and research assistance.

FIDEL CASTRO MAKES RARE PUBLIC APPEARANCE

AVANA - Former Cuban President Fidel Castro made a surprise appearance on Wednesday evening at the opening of a Havana cultural center sponsored by one of his favorite Cuban artists. State television on Thursday broadcast images of Castro arriving at the cultural center in a blue van, to the applause of local residents. The bearded, grey haired Cuban leader, 87, was also shown sitting and chatting with Alexis Leyva, the painter and sculptor known as Kcho, and others attending the opening. A witness, who asked not to be identiﬁed, told Reuters a stooped Castro arrived in the evening and entered the building with the help of aides and a

Fidel Castro

cane, after brieﬂy talking with well wishers in the Playa municipality of Havana. The reclusive Castro was last seen in public in April 2013 at the inauguration of a school in Havana. Castro lives in a villa on the outskirts of Havana where he regularly receives guests, but photos are rare and only occasionally do his writings appear in the local media. He is reportedly still lucid and curious. Castro governed the Caribbean island for 48 years before falling gravely ill in 2006 and handing power to his brother Raul Castro, who ofﬁcially became president in 2008.

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CARIBBEAN NEWS

Joint commission meets to discuss Haiti-Dominica Republic citizenship issue P

ORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – A high level commission established to look into the citizenship issue of thousands of Haitian nationals rendered stateless by a Constitutional Court ruling in the Dominican Republic in September last year, is due to meet on Tuesday. Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, who is leading the local delegation to the talks with the Dominican Republic in the Haitian northern town of Ouanaminthe near the Haitian-Dominican border, said the issue should be solved through dialogue. “We want to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Dominican Republic to ﬁnd a solution that protects the interests of all parties,” Lamothe told the Haitian website, HCNN. Last month, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, reporting on a meeting between President Michel Martelly and his Dominican Republic counterpart, Danilo Medina, said that the high-level committee with representatives of both sides would address various issues. Maduro said the joint commission would comprise ﬁve representatives each from the two countries and that Venezuela, the United Nations, the European Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) had been invited as observers.

Maduro said the proposed commission would address issues regarding trade, migration, environment, security and the border. The purpose of such an initiative is to find a just, proper and balanced solution through which the interests and rights of all parties are protected. On September 23, the Constitutional Court in Santo Domingo has ruled in favour of stripping citizenship from children of Haitian migrants. The decision applies to those born after 1929 — a category that overwhelmingly includes descendants of Haitians brought in to work on farms. But in defending the ruling, Dominican Republic officials said it ends uncertainty for children of Haitian immigrants, allowing them to apply for residency and eventually for citizenship. The Geneva-based office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on authorities in Santo Domingo to ensure that the ruling did not leave persons of Haitian descent in “constitutional limbo”. A United Nations-supported study, released this year, estimated that there were around 210,000 Dominican-born people of Haitian descent and another 34,000 born to parents of other nationalities.

However, the Government of the Dominican Republic estimates that around 500,000 people born in Haiti live in the Dominican Republic. St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, who had written two letters to Medina on the issue, had informed his Caribbean Community (CARICOM) colleagues that quiet diplomacy would not get the Dominican Republic to change its position. Last November, CARICOM said it would defer consideration of the application by the Dominican Republic to join the regional integration grouping following the Constitutional Court ruling. Last week, President Martelly said his administration was committed to having dialogue with the Dominican Republic and denied that the two countries which share the Hispaniola island were engaged in any conﬂict. “Now there is a dialogue which has been established between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, because there are a lot of problems to solve, among them, the denationalization issue,” said Martelly, adding “the Dominican Constitutional Tribunal took a decision that hampers humanity because it has to do with human rights”.

Barbados Central Bank Governor predicts less than one per cent economic growth B

RIDGETOWN, Barbados – Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados, Dr. DeLisle Worrell says tourism- related investment will impart some stimulus to the local economy this year, but this effect will be largely eroded by the ﬁscal contraction, and the forecast is for growth of less than one per cent. In an opinion article commenting on the current status of the Barbados economy, Worrell said the recent economic performance has been commendable given the unprecedented recession in the markets for the island’s tourism and traded services. He said the Central Bank protects the value of the local currency by intervening as necessary on the interbank market. “Up until April this year, Barbados’s foreign exchange reserves were the equivalent of 19 weeks of imports. By September, reserves had declined to a little over 13 weeks. In response, the government took action to introduce a major budget correction in mid-August.”

He said the measures included expenditure cuts equivalent to about three per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), plus additional taxes of about two per cent. Worrell said in December, additional measures, including job cuts in the public sector, were introduced to reinforce the effect of the August adjustments. “Projections are for a deficit equivalent to five per cent of GDP for fiscal year 2014/15, when the budget cuts will have full effect. Tourism- related investment will impart some stimulus to the economy in 2014, but this effect will be largely eroded by the fiscal contraction, and the forecast is for growth of less than one per cent,” he said. “Fiscal consolidation continues into the medium term, and the ratio of net public sector debt to GDP is expected to peak at about 67 per cent of GDP in 2015, and decline thereafter. The ratio of external debt service to earnings of foreign exchange is projected at eight per cent for 2014, and to remain at about 10 per cent for the foreseeable future,” he added.

Last month, the Freundel Stuart government announced the plan to cut public service jobs in a bid to save BDS$143 million (One BDS dollar = US$0.50 cents). It said it would also institute a “strict programme of attrition” across the central public service, ﬁlling posts only where it is absolutely unavoidable, over the next ﬁve years, ending 2018-2019. “This attrition is expected to reduce central government employment levels from approximately 16 970 to 14, 612 jobs – a projected loss of 2 358 posts; and savings of BDS$121 million. Over the current 19-month adjustment period public sector employment will be reduced by an additional 501 jobs with a projected savings of BDS$26 million,” said Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Chris Sinckler. The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), which represents the majority of the 28,000 public servants, has accused the government of already retrenching workers through technical maneuvers.

THE BAHAMAS CELEBRATING SECOND EMANCIPATION

ASSAU, Bahamas – Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes says “Majority Rule Day” which is being observed Friday, memorializes what is, in a sense, a second emancipation, since it was on that day in 1967 people of African descent, who made up the majority of the population of The Bahamas, were enabled for the very ﬁrst time to form the government. In a message marking the occasion Sir Arthur said that on October 11, last year, for the ﬁrst time in the history of the Bahamas, a Bill was signed by the Governor General in a public ceremony attended by several government and opposition legislators as well as the judiciary. He said the Bill in question was for an Act to make January 10, Major-

ity Rule Day, a public holiday. This was done in order to establish this day as perhaps the most important in our history since the abolition of slavery on August 1st, 1834,” Sir Arthur said, noting that on January, 10, 1967 the will of the majority of Bahamians was freely expressed in a general election based on universal adult suffrage where all adult citizens could vote freely to determine who would govern our country. “Majority Rule Day memorializes what was, in a sense, a Second Emancipation, since that was the day when people of African descent, who made up the majority of the population of The Bahamas, were enabled for the very ﬁrst time to form the government.”

The Head of State said the event removed the last psychological shackles from the minds of many and shattered false notions of superiority or inferiority. “It initiated the fulﬁllment of the promise of universal access to education; it created the foundation upon which to build a society with opportunity for all; it unleashed the hitherto brutally-suppressed but powerful entrepreneurial instincts of a people; “It freed many Bahamians from the fear of one another because of differences of colour or ethnic origin; it opened the possibility of fully sharing and nationalizing a rich and diverse cultural heritage; and it held forth the promise of a new kind of political culture in which no Baha-

The government said it intends to trim the service by 3,000 jobs starting from January 15. Worrell said the current economic recession in Barbados, which hit its lowest point in 2009, is the fourth since the mid-1970s. He said previous recessions in 198182 and 1991-93 were deeper and more prolonged, even though the challenges faced then were nowhere as daunting. “Economic growth in Barbados is driven by the sectors that earn foreign currency. Small countries like Barbados specialize in the export of a few categories of goods and services that are produced proﬁtably at prevailing international prices. The foreign exchange earned is used to fuel economic growth, which requires a range of consumer and producer goods for which there are no domestic substitutes.” Worrell said that the Central Bank estimates the potential savings from additional import substitution at less than two per cent of imports. mian would ever again be made to suffer for exercising his or her right to free association.” Sir Arthur said that it has been a “long, hard struggle” recalling that slavery had been abolished in 1834 and men of colour had sat in the House of Assembly since the 19th century. “But the majority still suffered from political, social and economic discrimination, and a blatantly unfair electoral system prevented them from achieving true representation in the House of Assembly.” He said that in 1833 Stephen Dillett, who was born in Haiti, became the ﬁrst man of colour to be elected to the House of Assembly and that from that time up until the 1950s there was only a handful of representatives of African descent in the House of Assembly.

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OAS says perseverance resulted in progress in Haiti W

ASHINGTON,– Four years after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti, the Organization of American States (OAS) says the impoverished country has become “a place of perseverance and opportunity.” Noting the anniversary of the tragedy that crippled Haiti on January 12, 2010 – four years ago, OAS Secretary General, Jose Miguel Insulza, and the Assistant Secretary General and Chair of the Group of Friends of Haiti and the Haiti Task Force, Albert Ramdin, described the progress in Haiti as “concrete” and “inspiring.” “We have seen the government and people of Haiti persevere, work through issues, ﬁnd opportunities and secure results,” Insulza said. “Today, although much remains to be done, Haiti can demonstrate concrete results and the journey

is inspiring,” he added. Working with the government of Haiti, private sector agencies, international partners, member states and observers, the Washington-based hemispheric body said it has provided technical support to the country in areas ranging from trade facilitation and business development to tourism and education, among other areas. “The government must be commended for the progress made,” Ramdin said. “They have worked with a wide range of partners internationally, sub-regionally and locally and four years later, business and development interests in Haiti have increased, education and training opportunities have been expanded, and, in concrete terms, more than 1.3 million Haitians have been

moved out of tent camps and into safer housing. The work continues for everyone. There is a long road ahead for Haiti, but progress always starts with a single step,” he said. Both Insulza and Ramdin said political stability, good governance and democracy will contribute to continued growth in Haiti. “In this regard, I am encouraged by the steps taken by the government, the legislative organs and other stakeholders to hold overdue senatorial and local elections as soon as possible,” Insulza said. “The OAS stands ready to assist and support the electoral process,” he added. On January 12, 2010 , the 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti, destroying thousands of buildings and displacing one million people.

Veteran journalist Therese Mills dies at 85 P

ORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad- Therese Mills, a veteran journalist and Editor in Chief of the newspaper – Trinidad Newsday, died on Wednesday following a brief illness. In a release, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar offered condolences to Mills’ family and colleagues . “It is with deep sadness that I learnt of the passing of a real stalwart in the ﬁeld of journalism. She was a woman of substance, a woman of power, who earned the respect of everyone, in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean, and the world.” She added that “Mrs Mills changed the way journalists functioned, and I am sure all those journalists who passed through her hands over the past 68 years, can attest to this today.” The Prime Minister said journalism, and Trinidad and Tobago as a whole, have lost a truly remarkable woman.

Therese Mills “Mrs Mills was a guiding light to many young persons who wanted a career in journalism. She demonstrated that there was room for a third daily newspaper in Trinidad

and Tobago, although there were inﬂuential persons who said otherwise, “ the Prime Minister said. The Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) also extended condolences . “Mrs Mills´ contribution to national education, entertainment and opinion-shaping through news and opinion was recognized by the state in 1987 with the Humming Bird Medal (Silver). In 2012, she received the nation’s second highest award, the Chaconia Medal (Gold), also in recognition for her outstanding contribution.Since taking up the challenge at Newsday, she was able to guide the paper to its pinnacle, being the most-read paper for eight consecutive surveys,” MATT said in a release on Wednesday. Respected journalist and former colleague at the Guardian, Jones P Madeira said Mills epitomized journalism at its best in this country.

“She moved from being a journalist to being at the very top of the editorial function. “She was the ‘Iron Lady’ of journalism in Trinidad and Tobago, and she was gentle when she had to be gentle and had a very kind character. She never looked a year older despite advancing in age,” he said. Madeira said Mills was never prepared to just sit at the desk when she was an administrator. “She was very aware of accuracy and had a sense of toughness yet she was gentle, very tolerant and maternal. She is going to be missed,” he said. Mills, a mother of three, grandmother and great grandmother, began a career in journalism in 1945,retired in June 1993 and was asked to be the ﬁrst editor-in-chief of a new daily newspaper, Newsday, a position she held up to the time of her death.

Haitian and St. Lucian among Pope’s choice of new cardinals P

ope Francis put his first stamp on the group at the top of the Roman Catholic hierarchy on Sunday, naming 19 new cardinals from around the world and emphasizing his concern for poor countries. Sixteen of them are “cardinal electors” under 80 and thus eligible to enter a conclave to elect a pope. They come from Italy, Germany, Britain, Nicaragua, Canada, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea, Chile, Burkina Faso, the Philippines and Haiti. Half of them are non-Europeans, indicating the importance Francis attaches to the developing world. Francis is the first Latin American pope and the first non-European pontiff in some 1,300 years. Cardinals are the pope’s closest advisers in the Vatican and around the world. Apart from being church leaders in their home countries, those who are not based in the Vatican are members of key committees in Rome that decide policies that can affect the lives of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. The new cardinal electors are aged from 55 to 74. From Latin America are Archbishop Aurelio Poli, 66, Francis’s successor in the Argentine capital, and the archbishops of Managua in Nicaragua, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Santiago in Chile.

Two are from Africa - the archbishops of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Abidjan in Ivory Coast. From Asia are the archbishops of Seoul in South Korea and Cotabato in the Philippines. Archbishop Chibly Langlois, 55, is the ﬁrst cardinal from Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, where according to the World Bank some 80 percent of the rural population lives in abject poverty. The Philippines, Nicaragua, Ivory Coast and Brazil also have high rates of poverty.

A POOR CHURCH “The winner here is the South of the world,” said Andrea Tornielli, who has written some 50 books on the Catholic Church and interviewed Pope Francis last month. “The geography of the consistory helps the churches of the world, particularly in Latin America, Africa and Asia. What is also noteworthy is the pope’s attention to the Church in Haiti, a country that is on its knees because of the (2010) earthquake and poverty,” Tornielli said. The pope, who made the announcement to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday blessing, has often said since his election

on March 13 he wants a church that “is poor and for the poor”. “The disproportionate representation of wealthy nations in the College of Cardinals is something that Francis is trying to rectify,” said Candida Moss, professor of New Testament and early Christianity at Notre Dame University in the United States. “The movement of cardinals to the south was just as predictable as the migration of birds in the winter.” Only four of the cardinal electors are Vatican ofﬁcials, chief among them Italian Archbishop Pietro Parolin, 58, Francis’s new secretary of state, and Archbishop Gerhard Mueller, 66, the German head of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation. The most prominent European elector from outside Italy is Archbishop Vincent Nichols, 68, the Archbishop of Westminster in London and the main link between Catholicism and the Anglican Church. The three who are 80 or over will assume the title cardinal emeritus as a sign of gratitude for their work for the Catholic Church and will not be able to enter a conclave. They come from Spain, Italy and the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia.

CUBAN NATIONALS DETAINED AFTER ILLEGAL ENTRY INTO BAHAMAS

ASSAU, Bahamas – Police said they had detained six Cuban nationals and seized a 15-foot outboard ﬁshing boat in the latest wave of illegal migrants trying to enter the Bahamas. Police and Immigration ofﬁcials in Inagua said acting on intelligence they were able to carry out the raid on Tuesday.

They said the six Cuban men appeared “to be in good health” and would be ﬂown to New Providence. The police gave no further details on the incident but last year, the Bahamas government held talks with Cuban ofﬁcials on the illegal migration problem.

Last month, Nassau said it would continue to pursue “spot checks” and dismissed suggestions that the Perry Christie government had singled out certain immigrants as part of the proﬁling policy of its administration. Last year, the Bahamas deported more than 100 Cuban nationals who entered the country illegally

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News W

RLD

Senate says Benghazi attack could have been prevented

ASHINGTON — A bipartisan report by the Senate intelligence committee blames the State Department for failing to increase security at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, despite warnings from the CIA and staff about the danger of militant attacks. The report also says that 15 people in Benghazi who have tried to help the FBI investigate the murders have been killed, though it is not certain all the deaths were connected to cooperation with the United States. “The attacks were preventable, based on extensive intelligence reporting on the terrorist activity in Libya — to include prior threats and attacks against Western targets — and given the known security shortfalls at the U.S. Mission,” the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence panel said in a statement. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks after having made requests for more security to the State Department, headed at the time by Hillary Clinton. The report faulted intelligence agencies as well for not sharing information about the existence of the CIA outpost with the U.S. military in Libya. Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, a Republican on the House Oversight Committee who has been investigating Benghazi, said the report is further evidence that State’s Benghazi policy was made for political and not security reasons. “The bottom line is Hillary Clinton wanted the appearance of normalization” in Libya, Chaffetz said. “Security was not driving these decisions. Politics was.” The report, based on hearings and interviews with ofﬁcials, government documents and survi-

vors of the attack, says that six CIA employees responded to the attack. But the Pentagon has been criticized by several Republican senators for not coming to the aid of the Americans in full fashion. The report said the military response was slow and hindered. Documents show that the CIA was aware of the existence of Islamist training camps and militias in Benghazi, said the report. Some of the local militias had been contracted by State to provide security at the consulate. U.S. ofﬁcials involved in security at the consulate testiﬁed before a House committee last year that Stevens had informed his superiors of several incidents that concerned him greatly about the need for improved security. The CIA has also said it had made its concerns about security known to the White House. Among the incidents leading up to the attacks were assaults on the Red Cross and British embassy personnel, and local militia charged with protecting U.S. staff acting in suspicious manners. The Libyan militia that was supposed to protect the consulate did not arrive to help the Americans during the attack, said the Senate report. Then Clinton appointed an Accountability Review Board to look into the attack too and it faulted a “lack of proactive senior leadership” for security in Benghazi, and said physical security was “profoundly weak.” In testimony before Congress in January 2013, Clinton said that diplomats “accept a level of risk” in taking posts in dangerous areas and that they “cannot work in bunkers and do their jobs.” But she said it was State’s responsibility to make sure diplomats have the resources they need to re-

duce the risks. Clinton called the attack “one of those terrible tragic times” when the State Department’s security assessment of the situation failed. “We are constantly assessing. And sometimes we get it wrong, but it’s very — it’s rare that we get it wrong,” Clinton said. Clinton said she was aware of some security issues in Benghazi but that she had not personally reviewed an Aug. 12 cable requesting reinforcements for security. In a letter to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., she said the Accountability Review Board “made very clear” that the level of responsibility for the failures outlined in the cable was set at the assistant secretary level and below. In a House report released in April on Benghazi, Republicans say Clinton personally signed off on cuts in security at the compound. The April cable from State acknowledged then-Ambassador Gene Cretz’s formal request for additional security but still ordered “the withdrawal of security elements to proceed as planned,” the Republicans said. State Department cables, or internal messages, often are sent with the secretary of State’s signature. The report did not say whether the cable regarding security was personally signed or drafted by Clinton. Despite the latest report on Benghazi, Chaffetz said signiﬁcant questions remain about the lack of military response to the attack, which went on for several hours after the Pentagon and the White House were aware it had begun. “You’d think that would get people out of bed — let’s get some planes ready — but apparently not,” he said.

Chris Christie fires aide and apologises for controversial traffic jams

RENTON, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday apologized for highway lane closures apparently ordered by his aides as political retribution, said he had “no knowledge or involvement” in what happened and sought to assure New Jerseyans the actions are not typical of the way his administration does business. “This is the exception, not the rule,” he told a news conference. Christie, who had previously assured the public his staff had no involvement in the road closings, said he had ﬁred Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly “because she lied to me.” Kelly was the latest casualty in a widening scandal that threatens to upend Christie’s second term and likely run for president in 2016. Documents suggest she arranged trafﬁc jams to punish Fort Lee’s mayor for not endorsing Christie. The revelations thrust a regional transportation issue into a national conversation raising new questions about the ambitious governor’s leadership on the eve of a second term designed to jumpstart his road to the White House. The U.S. attorney in New Jersey, Paul Fishman, said he was “reviewing the matter to determine whether a federal law was implicated.” The legislature is also investigating. Christie on Thursday focused repeatedly not on the closures themselves but on how upset he was that his staff didn’t tell him the truth when asked about the closures. “I was blindsided,” he said during a more than 90-minute news conference, speaking in a quieter tone than is typical for him.

Embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie “What did I do wrong to have these folks think it was OK to lie to me?” he asked. Email and text messages obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press and other news organizations indicated that the lane closings were retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Christie last fall. “Time for some trafﬁc problems in Fort Lee,” Kelly wrote in August in a message to David Wildstein, a top Christie appointee on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A few weeks later, Wildstein closed two of three lanes connecting Fort Lee to the heavily-traveled George Washington Bridge, which runs between New Jersey and New York City. He also told him he didn’t want him working any longer as a consultant to the Republican Governors Association, which Christie heads this year. The messages do not directly implicate Christie, but they contradicted his assertions that the closings were not punitive and that his staff was not involved. Christie acknowledged Thursday that was a lie, because his staff didn’t tell him what they had done.

He also said he had “no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or execution” and was stunned by the “abject stupidity that was shown.” He said he was “embarrassed and humiliated” by his staff. At the same time, he said he accepted responsibility. “I am responsible for what happened. I am sad to report to the people of New Jersey that we fell short,” he said. Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich called it “appalling” that the traffic jams appear to have been deliberately created. Christie said he would go to Fort Lee on Thursday to apologize to Sokolich. What he said he found most puzzling was that he had never known his campaign was seeking the mayor’s endorsement. “This guy was never on my radar,” he said. Kelly hasn’t commented. Christie said he hadn’t spoken to her since the emails were released, saying he didn’t want to be accused of trying to influence a possible witness. Besides firing Kelly, the governor asked a second onetime aide, former campaign manager Bill Stepien, to withdraw from a bid to become the next state GOP chairman. He said he was disturbed by the “callous indifference” displayed by Stepien in the emails released Wednesday Beyond the specifics of the lane closures, critics suggest the incident reflects a darker side of Christie’s brand of politics that contradicts the image he’d like to project as he eyes the presidency. The governor repeatedly sidestepped criticism that he bullied adversaries in an overwhelming re-election victory in November.

“I am not a bully,” he said. Facing a little-known and underfunded opponent, he cast himself as a different kind of Republican: a compromising, consensus builder who ultimately earned strong support from minorities, union members and even many Democrats. It was described as the opening argument for Christie’s prospective White House run. That argument is now clouded, at least temporarily, during one of the most important transitions of his political career. In less than two weeks, he is scheduled to celebrate his second inauguration in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty on historic Ellis Island, a symbolic beginning to a second term designed to expand Christie’s bipartisan appeal. He also is expected to unveil his second-term priorities — solidifying his presidential resume — in a state-of-the-state address later this month, while beginning an aggressive national travel schedule as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Wildstein, a childhood friend of the governor, is scheduled to testify later Thursday before a state Assembly committee. He asked a judge Thursday to quash the subpoena, but the judge refused to do so. Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said the “revelations are troubling for any public ofﬁcial.” But she said: “They also indicate what we’ve come to expect from Gov. Christie — when people oppose him, he exacts retribution. When people question him, he belittles and snidely jokes. And when anyone dares to look into his administration, he bullies and attacks.”

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Syrian government forces advance as rebel infighting rages T

he Syrian government has retaken territory around the northern city of Aleppo, the military said on Tuesday, after two weeks of rebel inﬁghting that has weakened the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad. The internecine conﬂict among various rebel groups will allow Assad to portray himself as the only secular alternative in Syria to a radical Islamist regime when peace talks begin in Switzerland on January 22. His military advances will give the Syrian government delegation greater leverage at the negotiating table. An army statement said government forces had pushed out from their base at Aleppo’s international airport, southeast of the city, and were moving towards an industrial complex used as a rebel base and the al-Bab road, needed by insurgents to supply the half of Aleppo under their control. It said that government forces, along with militia loyal to Assad, were in “complete control” of the Naqareen, Zarzour, Taaneh and Subeihieh ar-

eas along the eastern side of Aleppo, which was the major Arab country’s commercial hub and most populous city before the conﬂict erupted in 2011. In the past year, the Syrian government has pushed back at rebels across the country, besieging restive suburbs around the capital and pushing opposition ﬁghters from towns near the Lebanese border and along the road linking Damascus to the coast. Assad’s forces took ground in central Homs province and his forces regrouped as rebel rivalries grew. While the embattled leader avoided U.S. military strikes by agreeing to give up his chemical arsenal, his forces continue to bomb opposition territory from the air and using long-range artillery. But neither side appears to be able to break the overall deadlock. While the army has been able to take some towns on the outskirts of Aleppo, rebels have held their ground in the districts of the city they entered in 2012 and the government has not made major ad-

vances in the urban areas where opposition fighters are dug in. Fighting between the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and rival Islamists and more moderate rebels have killed hundreds of people over two weeks and shaken ISIL, a militant faction led by foreign jihadists. But ISIL regrouped and retook much of its stronghold in the eastern city of Raqqa on Sunday from remnants of the Nusra Front, another al Qaeda affiliate although much more Syrian in makeup, and Islamist units called the Islamic Front. ISIL took control of the town of al-Bab, east of Aleppo, from other rebels on Monday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. The Observatory, which tracks Syria’s war using sources from both sides, said eight fighters from Ahrar al-Sham, a unit within the Islamic Front, were killed by an ISIL car bomb in the western province of Idlib just before midnight on Monday.

Defying US concern Afghan government to free 72 terrorism suspects A

fghan President Hamid Karzai and his top justice ofﬁcials on Thursday ordered the release of 72 imprisoned terrorism suspects for lack of evidence to prosecute them, defying U.S. objections to freeing men still considered a security risk. The prisoners at the Parwan detention facility at Bagram air base, north of Kabul, were captured by U.S. and NATO forces over the course of the 12-year-old U.S.-led war in Afghanistan against the Taliban and Al Qaeda-backed militants. But a case review by Afghan ofﬁcials of 88 prisoners deemed by the United States to be too dangerous to set free found enough evidence to prosecute only 16 of them, Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi told reporters after the president met Thursday with the Afghan attorney general and justice minister. “We cannot allow innocent Afghan citizens to be kept in detention for months and years without a trial for no reason at all,” Faizi told foreign

journalists in Kabul, the capital, the BBC reported. The move is likely to further strain U.S.-Afghan relations, already damaged by Karzai’s refusal to sign a bilateral security agreement that would keep about 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan even after the NATO combat mission winds down this year. Karzai, due to leave office in April after a new presidential election, surprised and angered U.S. officials in the fall when he decided to put off signing the post-withdrawal agreement, even though a 2,500-strong council of Afghan elders had approved the plan. U.S. officials warned that budget and deployment plans had to be in place by the end of 2013 to ensure a continued U.S. presence to fight terrorism and train Afghan security forces, but Karzai said he would leave it to his successor to make the decision. The Obama administration has expressed its concern to Kabul about the imminent prisoner release, State

Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday. “These 72 detainees are dangerous criminals against whom there is strong evidence linking them to terror-related crimes, including the use of improvised explosive devices, the largest killer of Afghan civilians,” Psaki said at a news briefing. Faizi said the Afghan judicial review of the detainees’ files found that 45 of the men in question were “completely innocent,” and the evidence against 27 others was too flimsy to bring a case to trial, the Guardian reported. The U.S. military-backed newspaper Stars and Stripes, however, quoted an unidentified Pentagon official with access to the detainee list as detailing the alleged crimes of four prisoners set for release. The men were said to have been involved in organizing suicide bombings, ambushes of Afghan and NATO forces and a fatal bombing at a school in Paktia province.

BRITAIN HAS COME TO THE ONLY LOGICAL SOLUTION TO PREVENTING POLICE ABUSES: CAMERAS

he outrage over the death of alleged gang member Mark Duggan, shot twice by London police officers in 2011, won’t go away. In the weeks after his death, riots spread from London to other cities around the country. Five people died in the riots, which also caused thousands of pounds of damage. This week, there were angry scenes outside the courthouse after a jury found Duggan’s death was lawful even though he had no weapon in his hand. Duggan’s family were heartbroken. They told reporters afterward that their son had been “executed” by police. It’s obvious that Duggan’s death was a tragedy for everyone who knew him, and there are serious questions about the way that the investigation was handled. But there’s a glimmer of hope in the aftermath of the inquest. The U.K. police force, already relatively restrained in their use of firearms by U.S. standards, have indicated they may force officers who use guns to wear cameras to record their conduct. It would have been hugely helpful to have an actual record of Duggan’s shooting. One of the reasons that the Duggan trial has proved so controversial is that a number of key events in a chaotic situation have been disputed.

Authorities at first implied that Duggan, allegedly on his way to avenge his cousin, had shot at police officers, but were later forced to admit that he hadn’t. A bullet that hit a police radio turned out to be an officer’s. Police also said that Duggan had a handgun in his waistband, but immediately after the shooting they reportedly couldn’t find a gun at all, and the family later suggested that a gun found 20 feet away from the scene had been planted. Some witnesses even said Duggan had been shot while pinned to the ground by police. With basic facts so fuzzy, how can we expect Duggan’s parents to accept their son’s death? In response to these discrepancies, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Chief Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, announced today that British police will begin trials for putting cameras on armed officers. The hope is that, in complicated, chaotic situations like Duggan’s, the cameras can provide useful evidence to complement (or contradict) testimony from officers and other witnesses. But there may be other benefits. One recent study from Rialto, Calif. found that officers not wearing cameras instigated violence almost 30% of the time, while those wearing cameras almost never did. During the yearlong study, Mike

As U.S. and other NATO forces have prepared to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of this year, responsibility for security operations gradually has been transferred to Afghan forces. Kabul authorities took over the running of the Bagram prison in March, and have since released hundreds of inmates held for months or years without trial or charges against them. The Karzai government’s decision to release 72 of the men on the U.S. list of those posing a continued threat suggests that the mercurial Afghan president has finally rejected the U.S. policy of “administrative detention,” which Washington has practiced for more than a decade. Beginning with President George W. Bush and continuing with President Obama, the U.S. government has claimed the right to indefinitely imprison terrorism suspects for the duration of the proclaimed war on terror to prevent their returning to the battlefield.

Riggs of the Atlantic Cities reports, complaints against Rialto police declined 88% over the previous year. According to the Associated Press, the London police trial will begin on April 1, though it is not clear how many of the U.K. capital’s 2,300 firearms officers will be involved. That number is important — most police officers in the U.K. do not carry firearms. In England and Wales, there are fewer than 7,000 trained firearms officers. Between April 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012, their firearms officers were called for 14,261 operations. They discharged their weapons five times. Fifty-four people have been shot dead by U.K. police since 1990, according to data compiled by the charity Inquest. For contrast, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are around 780,000 police officers in the U.S., almost all of whom are armed. Nationally, the number of killings by police officers ruled justifiable each year runs into the hundreds. In 2012, 12 people were shot dead by police in New York City alone. While some police officers (including the union that represents the NYPD) have resisted being forced to wear cameras, others have embraced them. The recording can also be a protection for the officer, it turns out. “In this job, we’re frequently accused of things we haven’t done, or things were kind of embellished, as far as contact,” police officer Ben Sias told NPR.”And the cameras show a pretty unbiased opinion of what actually did happen.”

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United States sending more troops and tanks to South Korea T

he United States said on Tuesday it will send 800 more soldiers and about 40 Abrams main battle tanks and other armored vehicles to South Korea next month as part of a military rebalance to East Asia after more than a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The battalion of troops and M1A2 tanks and about 40 Bradley ﬁghting vehicles from the 1st U.S. Cavalry Division based at Fort Hood, Texas, will begin a nine-month deployment in South Korea on February 1. A Pentagon spokesman said the personnel would remain for nine months but on departing would leave their equipment behind to be used by follow-on rotations of U.S. forces.

“This addition of forces to Korea is part of the rebalance to the Paciﬁc. It’s been long planned and is part of our enduring commitment to security on the Korean peninsula,” Army Colonel Steve Warren said. “This gives the commanders in Korea an additional capacity: two companies of tanks, two companies of Bradleys,” he said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se in Washington on Tuesday and stated the U.S. position on nuclear weapons in North Korea. “The United States and the Republic of Korea stand very ﬁrmly united, without an inch of daylight between us, not a sliver of daylight, on

the subject of opposition to North Korea’s destabilizing nuclear and ballistic missile programs and proliferation activities,” Kerry said. The United States has some 28,000 troops based in South Korea, which has remained technically at war with Communist North Korea since the 1950-1953 Korean conﬂict ended in stalemate. The deployment of additional U.S. troops comes at a time of raised tensions on the Korean peninsula after North Korea executed the powerful uncle of young leader Kim Jong Un last month, the biggest upheaval in years as the ruling dynasty. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted military ofﬁcials as saying

that the new U.S. troops would be deployed in North Gyeonggi Province, just south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. U.S. President Barack Obama announced a strategic rebalancing of U.S. priorities toward the Paciﬁc in late 2011 while ending the direct U.S. military involvement in Iraq and announcing plans to wind down the long U.S. engagement in Afghanistan. Since the announcement of that so-called “pivot” in foreign, economic and security policy, the Philippines, Australia and other parts of the region have all seen increased numbers of U.S. warships, planes and personnel.

Critical Gates memoir rocks Obama administration W

ashington - The White House on Wednesday fought back against former Pentagon chief Robert Gates’s blunt criticism of President Barack Obama’s war leadership and damning of Vice President Joe Biden. Gates, who served six presidents in senior national security jobs, sent political shockwaves through Washington with his unsparing assessments of the administration in his new book. Among other accusations, the Republican accused Biden of being wrong about every big foreign policy issue for decades and alleged Obama lost faith in his own troop surge strategy for the Afghan war. The White House insisted that Obama had expected and welcomed constructive dissent in his foreign policy team after picking a so-called “team of rivals” in his first term cabinet. And in a rare move, press photographers were invited into Obama’s weekly lunch with Biden in the private dining room off the Oval Office, in an apparent show of unity. The defense of Biden also left the impression that White House aides are not averse to the focus being trained on the vice president, rather than Obama’s credentials as commander-in-chief. “As a senator and as the vice president, Joe Biden has been one of the leading statesmen of his time,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney. “He has been an excellent counselor and adviser to the president for the past five years.” “He’s played a key role in every major national security and foreign policy debate and policy discussion in this administration.” Tell-all memoirs by former administration officials looking to gild their retirement and bolster their legacies are nothing new -- and uniformly infuriate presidents, whichever party runs the White House. But the Gates bombshell was remarkable be-

President Barack Obama and Bob Gates cause of the pedigree of the former defense secretary and CIA chief, his long experience as a confidant of presidents, and his reputation for unruffled integrity. So it is more difficult for the White House to write off the book -- “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary of War” -- due to be published on January 14, as typical score settling by a holdover from the George W. Bush administration who was kept on by Obama. In the most damaging revelations, Gates suggested Obama soured on his own troop surge strategy in Afghanistan and lost confidence in General David Petraeus and other military brass he picked to lead it. Obama “can’t stand (Afghan president Hamid) Karzai, doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. “For him it’s all about getting out,” Gates wrote, according to the Washington Post. Gates also slams White House aides for obsessive attempts to control US national security and foreign policy to the detriment of the State Depart-

ment and the Pentagon, and excerpts from his book reek of a deep distaste for Washington and its political games. rack Obama receives applause from then defense secretary Robert Gates (L), then secre … In comments which could reverberate in the 2016 presidential campaign, he says former secretary of state Hillary Clinton told Obama she only opposed a troop surge strategy in Iraq for political reasons during the heat of their primary battle. The political gang that Gates so disdained was out in the president’s defense on Wednesday. “He always indicated he had a good working relationship with the president,” David Axelrod, a former top Obama aide who remains close to the president, told NBC. Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley said on CBS that Gates’s memoir represented a “disservice” while the administration was still ﬁghting the Afghan war. Gates’ stature gives the allegations extra currency and they are likely to linger in the political discourse in Washington for years, and in histories that will shape Obama’s legacy. While Gates said plenty of positive things about Obama -- calling him a man of “integrity” and praising him for gutsy decision to order a raid to kill Osama bin Laden -- and Clinton -- who he sees as smart, and a great ambassador for America abroad -- it is the criticisms that will likely be remembered. The book also offered ammunition for critics of Obama’s foreign policy record. Republican Senator John McCain, who lost the 2008 presidential election to Obama said he had known about his rival’s antipathy to the Afghan war before Gates spilled the beans. “It was obvious. For anybody who observed their activities, it didn’t come as a surprise,” McCain said. “What’s new is how revealing Gates’s statements are.”

INDIAN DIPLOMAT TO LEAVE US AFTER VISA FRAUD INDICTMENT

he Indian diplomat whose arrest and strip-searching in New York caused a major rift between India and the United States was indicted for visa fraud on Thursday, and the U.S. government immediately asked her to leave the country. A U.S. government ofﬁcial said Washington accepted a request by India to accredit the diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, at the United Nations and then asked New Delhi to waive the diplomatic immunity that status conferred. India denied the request, leading Washington to ask for her departure, the ofﬁcial said. In a letter accompanying her indictment on Thursday, the prosecutor in the case, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan, initially said

Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general, attends the India Studies Stony Brook University fundraiser event in Long Island, New York, December 8, 2013. Khobragade had left the country. Shortly afterwards, a spokesman for Bharara said in a statement that she had not left.

A lawyer for Khobragade conﬁrmed this. “Despite Preet Bharara’s reports to the contrary, Devyani Khobragade has not left the country,” Daniel Arshack, her lawyer, said in a statement. “She is at home with her children.” There was no immediate comment from the Indian embassy in Washington or its mission to the United Nations. Khobragade, who was deputy consul-general in New York, was arrested December 12 and charged with one count of visa fraud and another of making false statements about how much she paid her housekeeper. Her arrest set off protests in India amid disclosures that she was strip searched on the day of her arrest. It

also soured the broader U.S.-India bilateral relationship, leading to the postponement of two visits to India by senior U.S. ofﬁcials and another by a U.S. business delegation. Furious at Khobragade’s treatment, India has curtailed privileges offered to U.S. diplomats and ordered the U.S. Embassy to close a club for expatriate Americans in New Delhi. The arresting authority, the U.S. Marshals Service, characterized the strip search as a routine procedure imposed on any new arrestee.

UNDERLYING PROBLEMS Khobragade’s departure would remove the focus of current friction between New Delhi and Washington, but it is unclear how long it will take the anger to subside in the run up to national elections in India in May.

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Lawmakers unveil $1.1 trillion spending bill

egotiators in the U.S. Congress on Monday unveiled a $1.1 trillion spending bill that aims to prevent another government shutdown while boosting funding levels slightly for military and domestic programs - but not for “Obamacare” health reforms. With a deadline looming at midnight Wednesday for new spending authority, lawmakers will still need a three-day stop-gap funding extension to ensure enough time for passage of the spending bill this week. The measure eases across-the-board spending cuts by providing an extra $45 billion for military and domestic discretionary programs for ﬁscal 2014, to a total of $1.012 trillion. It also provides an additional $85.2 billion for Afghanistan war funding that is typically handled off-budget. The spending measure ﬁlls in the details of a budget agreement passed in December in the aftermath of a 16-day shutdown of many government agencies in October. The shutdown was prompted largely by disputes over funding for “Obamacare” health insurance reforms. Although many programs will get a slight increase over 2013 levels and avoid steep cuts previously slated for this year, the proposed bill does not provide any increase for implementation of the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare reform law.

According to a House Republican summary, a public health fund will be reduced by $1 billion to prevent Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from “raiding” these funds to spend on Obamacare insurance exchanges. The chairs of the Senate and House of Representatives Appropriations Committees said in a joint statement that the deal will eliminate the economic instability caused by Congress’ recent funding battles. “As with any compromise, not everyone will like everything in this bill, but in this divided government a critical bill such as this simply cannot reﬂect the wants of only one party,” Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and Republican Representative Harold Rogers of Kentucky said in a statement. White House Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell said the measure will help fund critical investments in education and infrastructure. “This legislation adheres to the funding levels in the budget agreement enacted in December, unwinds some of the damaging cuts caused by sequestration,” she said in a statement. The military avoids about $22 billion in the across-the-board cuts, with total non-war spending of about $520.5 billion under the bill, while agencies focused on domestic programs will get $491.8

billion, representing an increase of about $22 billion over sequester levels. But some controversial budget items took a hit. The spending measure provides no funds for highspeed rail projects, and it again denied a funding transfer needed to pay for critical reforms to the International Monetary Fund.

MILITARY PENSION FIX But both Republicans and Democrats touted a provision in the bill that reverses planned military pension cuts for disabled veterans, a controversial part of the December budget deal that helped pay for about $6 billion in new spending. Military retirees of working age were to see smaller cost-of-living increases in their pensions starting in 2015 but it was later discovered that the change was inadvertently applied to disabled veterans and survivors of deceased veterans as well. While the spending bill will reverse the cuts for disabled veterans and survivors, many Republicans in Congress still want to cancel the cuts for all retired military service members. Negotiations on the measure bogged down as lawmakers attempted to attach policy provisions on issues ranging from restricting abortions to curtailing regulation of carbon emissions. Many of these were successfully fought off, including new abortion provisions, Mikulski told reporters.

JPMorgan profit hit by Madoff, weaker investment banking

PMorgan Chase & Co posted a 7.3 percent decline in quarterly profit on Tuesday, as legal woes and weak demand for investment banking services capped off a tough year for Chief Executive Jamie Dimon. The largest U.S. bank had $1.1 billion of legal expenses in the fourth quarter, about $850 million of which was linked to a recent settlement for failing to report its suspicions of fraud at its client Bernard Madoff’s fund. The bank agreed to some $20 billion of legal settlements in 2013 - almost equal to a typical year’s profit - which covered everything from mortgages it packaged into bonds before the financial crisis, to bad derivatives trades it made in 2012. Dimon said some investigations into JPMorgan are just beginning, implying that legal issues are likely to dog the bank for some time, even if on a smaller scale. Legal headaches aside, the bank faces headwinds in businesses ranging from debt underwriting to advising companies on mergers. Rising bond yields are cutting into demand for issuing debt, and new rules designed to make the financial system

safer are also cutting into trading volumes. Investment banking fee revenue dropped 3 percent to $1.67 billion, and stock and bond trading revenue combined was unchanged before accounting adjustments. The results from JPMorgan, the ﬁrst of the major investment banks to report for the quarter, show the difﬁculties that rivals like Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley are facing. “It’s going to be a slugfest in 2014 to grow earnings,” said Chris Mutascio, a bank analyst at KBW. Still, JPMorgan is hopeful about the future. In 2013, the bank added staff in investment banking and it won market share in most major businesses, including advising companies on mergers and underwriting stock offerings. But overall revenue in most Wall Street businesses is falling or barely growing. Merger volume, for example, fell 6 percent last year to the lowest level since 2009, Thomson Reuters data shows. Bond underwriting activity fell 2 percent to its lowest since 2011. JPMorgan posted net income of $5.28 billion, or $1.30 per share, for the quarter, compared with

$5.69 billion, or $1.39 a share, a year earlier. Excluding special items, the company earned $1.40 per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of $1.35, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The special items included a beneﬁt of 21 cents per share from the sale of Visa shares and 8 cents from the sale of its building at One Chase Manhattan Plaza. It posted an expense of 27 cents from legal bills, including the Madoff settlements. Three months ago, JPMorgan posted its ﬁrst quarterly loss under Dimon after recording after-tax expenses of $7.2 billion to settle government and private investigations. Investors have been looking for reassurance from the company that the worst of its legal expenses is over. There were bright spots in the quarter; for example, equity underwriting revenue soared 65 percent to $436 million. But investment banking fees were pulled down by lower debt underwriting, where revenue declined 19 percent, and merger advisory fees, which fell 7 percent. Altogether, investment banking fees declined 3 percent to $1.67 billion.

US RETAIL SALES AND INVENTORY DATA SUGGEST STRONG Q4 GROWTH

.S. retail sales edged up in December with a core spending gauge posting a big jump, a sign the economy gathered steam at the end of last year and was poised for stronger growth in 2014. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that retail sales gained 0.2 percent last month, even as receipts at automobile dealers recorded their biggest drop in more than a year. November’s sales were, however, revised to a 0.4 percent increase from 0.7 percent. Excluding autos, sales rose 0.7 percent in December, the largest increase in 10 months. “The surge in sales in December

means the momentum will continue into the ﬁrst quarter of the new year. 2014 is shaping up to be pretty good from where we sit,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. Economists had expected retail sales to rise just 0.1 percent last month. For all of 2013, sales increased 4.2 percent. Sales excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, increased 0.7 percent after a 0.2 percent rise in November. Economists looked for a gain of just 0.3 percent. These so-called core sales correspond most closely with the consumer

spending component of gross domestic product, and the increase suggested consumption accelerated in the fourth quarter from the third quarter’s 2 percent annual pace. While a report on Friday showed job growth stumbled in December, that was largely dismissed as being due to cold weather, and economists said a wealth of other data suggest the economy is gaining strength. “Weather aside, if we’re right in thinking that the underlying trend in jobs growth is still improving, households will continue to spend more freely in 2014,” said Paul Dales, senior U.S. econ-

omist at Capital Economics in London. “This report supports our view that a 4 percent annualized rise in real consumption will help to generate a decent 3.0 percent gain in overall GDP in the fourth quarter,” he added. The government report suggested holiday sales were better than some had expected, though at the cost of heavy discounting by shopkeepers. The National Retail Federation said a measure of holiday sales, which leaves out spending on cars, gasoline and restaurant meals, rose 3.8 percent in the November-December period from a year earlier, up from the 3.5 percent rise in 2012.

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Samsung Wants to Be the World’s Biggest Appliance Maker by 2015 T

he technology industry hums with disruptive new companies that enter the market by taking share away from others or creating markets of their own. But kitchen appliances? The brands that dominate the field today—Whirlpool General Electric, Kenmore are the same names we’ve known for decades. Samsung Electronics plans to upend that. The Korean electronics company says it wants to become the world’s largest appliance manufacturer by 2015. It’s already the fastest-growing appliance brand in the U.S., having jumped from 2.3 percent in market share to more than 10.5 percent over the last five years. “We’re on track,” says B.K. Yoon, Samsung’s co-chief executive officer in charge of consumer products such as TVs and appliances. But grabbing the top spot from appliance leader Whirlpool won’t be so easy. Samsung’s appliance-related revenue totals roughly $12 billion a year; Whirlpool took in almost $18 billion in 2012. (Whirlpool declined to comment.) In the U.S. especially, “Samsung has a way to go,” says Eric Voyer, a vice president and former appliance-industry analyst at the Stevenson Co., a market research firm. At the weeklong International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Samsung announced a Smart Home initiative, which aims to allow owners to use smartphones and tablets to control their air conditioners, refrigerators, washers, and LED lighting. The appliances will also connect to the Internet independently to download new software or let users monitor their homes via built-in exterior cameras. At the Jan. 7 press conference, the company spent as much time talking up its new refrigerators and washing machines as it did

its tablets and ultra-HD TVs. Beyond its Smart Home designs, Samsung has pushed appliance-speciﬁc features into each product to differentiate them from the competition. Its Chef Collection refrigerator can dispense still and sparkling water, keep different zones cooled to different temperatures, and convert a small fridge compartment into a secondary freezer. The company’s FlexDuo oven comes with an insert that can partition it into two cooking areas heated to different temperatures. At CES, Samsung executives introduced a dishwashing technology called WaterWall, which replaces the familiar rotary spray arm with a linear system that promises to get water into hard-to-reach corners of the dishwasher. Samsung also aims to capitalize on its association with the Michelin-starred chefs who consulted on its Chef Collection line, including famed French restaurateur Michel Troisgros and California chef Christopher Kostow. The company’s high-end refrigerator has a target price of $6,000, almost 50 percent more than the most expensive Kenmore model. Currently, Samsung’s average price for an appliance is $1,046 in the U.S., according to the Stevenson Co. The industry average is $702. For Samsung to become the world leader in appliances, it will have to broaden its appeal with cheaper models, says Bob Baird, vice president for appliance merchandising at Home Depot. “Right now they’re a premium brand, but you can’t be No. 1 without capturing the core of the market,” says Baird, whose company began selling Samsung products at the end of 2012. Yoon knows this. “It would be very difﬁcult for us to reach our goals if we only focused on the pre-

mium market,” he says. “If the consumers want us, we are going to be there. But starting at the premium end lets us develop solutions that can start at the high end and then filter down.” One area in which Samsung may have an edge is consumer recognition that extends beyond appliances. The company’s success in TVs and mobile devices means that far more people are familiar with Samsung than ever before. In 2012, Samsung spent $29 million on U.S. appliance advertising, according to data from Kantar Media which tracks ad spending. That’s less than the $33 million appliance archrival LG Electronics spent on home goods, and a lot less than the $54 million spent by Whirlpool. Zoom out, though, and Samsung’s advertising dwarfs that of the other appliance makers: In 2012 the company spent $600 million on ads overall. “They have terrific brand awareness, and smartphones help with that,” Baird says. “People come in looking for Samsung.” The connection to smartphones and tablets goes beyond branding. As a company that already makes mobile devices, Samsung should find it easier to connect its appliances to a home network for remote control and maintenance. Right now only one Samsung washer can be controlled via a smartphone app, but the company is adding its microprocessors and wireless chips to a wide range of appliances. Even if Samsung doesn’t top Whirlpool next year, it’s well-placed to lead consumers into a kitchen full of Wi-Fi-enabled machines. Says Yoon: “We do phones, TVs, semiconductors. We have the technology to build the smart home.”

Boeing 787 aircraft grounded after battery problem in Japan J apan Airlines has grounded a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft after detecting smoke or gases that may have come from faults with the main battery. The problem was discovered during routine maintenance, and is a reminder of the battery faults that grounded all 787s for three months last year. Boeing said it was aware of the issue and is working with Japan Airlines. The airline said smoke was noticed in the cockpit, and then warning lights ﬂashed - signalling a battery fault. Boeing said early indications suggested that a single battery cell had released gases, and that the warning system had operated as planned. No passengers were on board. The company’s shares price initially fell 1.5%, but eased backed later. Any 787 battery problem is a sensitive issue. The worldwide ﬂeet of Dreamliners was grounded last year while investigators looked into why two batteries on separate aircraft

overheated in less than two weeks. Boeing redesigned the battery system, although the precise cause of the problem was never conclusively proved. Richard Westcott, the BBC’s transport correspondent, said: “Boeing says it appears that one cell within the lithium ion battery had gone wrong. The number of cells is highly significant. “There are eight in total for each battery, and if the chemicals spread from one to the next it can potentially start a fire. “Boeing never did solve the battery problem that grounded the entire Dreamliner fleet last year. Instead, Boeing put in a raft of safety measures to contain any future issues.” There are 115 Dreamliners currently flying with 16 customers. Boeing has revealed record deliveries and orders for 2013, putting it on track to become the world’s largest plane maker for a second consecutive year. The plane manufacturer delivered 648 commercial planes last

year and had a backlog of 5,080 unfulﬁlled orders - both company records. The ﬁgures mean it is likely to have beaten rival Airbus which will reveal its 2013 orders on 13 January. Airbus is expecting 620 deliveries. Boeing Commercial president and chief executive Ray Conner said all three of its US-based commercial plane factories had delivered a record number of planes. “The Boeing team performed extremely well in 2013,” he added. Overall, Boeing booked a record 1,531 gross commercial orders for the year, with 1,355 net commercial orders, the second-largest in its history. Boeing said three of its plane-making programmes had set individual records for delivery: its next generation 737 of which it delivered 440 in 2013, its long-haul 777 of which it delivered 98 and its 787 Dreamliners of which it delivered 65. The record deliveries for Boeing come despite a series of problems

with its 787 Dreamliner last year, which meant deliveries were halted for four months. In January, the aircraft was grounded after a fire broke out on a Dreamliner belonging to Japan Airlines (JAL) and an All Nippon Airways (ANA) Dreamliner was forced to make an emergency landing because of a battery fault. In July, a fire broke out on a 787 jet operated by Ethiopian Airlines while it was parked at Heathrow airport. It was traced to the upper rear part of the plane where a locator transmitter is situated. Then in August, ANA said it had found damage to the battery wiring on two 787 locator transmitters during checks. US carrier United Airlines also found a pinched wire during an inspection of one of its six 787s. Despite the setbacks, Boeing was able to step up the pace of production once deliveries resumed in May. Of the 65 Dreamliners built last year, 25 were delivered in the final three months of 2013.

TIME WARNER CABLE REJECTS CHARTER’S $60BN BID AS ‘GROSSLY INADEQUATE’

ime Warner Cable has rejected a $60bn (£37bn) bid from rival, Charter Communications, saying the offer price was “grossly inadequate”. Charter had offered $132.50 a share, with $83 of that in cash and the rest in its own stock, to buy the ﬁrm. It said it was going public with its offer because of a lack of interest from Time Warner’s management in its efforts to purchase the ﬁrm. But Time Warner said Charter was trying to buy it for a “bargain” price. “In essence, these guys are just trying to get a

premium asset at a bargain basement price,” Rob Marcus, chief executive of Time Warner was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. “This makes the job of fending it off rather straightforward. Our shareholders will see it as what it is, an attempt to steal the company.” Charter said it had made previous offers to buy Time Warner over the past six months, but had been rebuffed. “They came back to us with a design to be dismissive,” Tom Rutledge, chief executive of Charter, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“They have not engaged with us. All of the conversations have been one-way,” he added. On Monday, Mr Rutledge released a letter he had sent to Mr Marcus, in which he accused Time Warner of having “an unrealistic price expectation”. If the deal were to go ahead, the combined ﬁrm would have more than 15 million customers in the US. The takeover would be the biggest in the sector since 2002, when Comcast acquired AT&T’s cable-internet division in a $30bn deal.

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JC Penney to cut 2,000 jobs, close 33 stores J

.C. Penney Co Inc said on Wednesday it will close 33 stores and cut 2,000 jobs as part of the struggling retailer’s efforts to return to profit. Chief Executive Myron Ullman in a statement called the move an important step that “addresses a strategic priority to improve the profitability of our stores.” Penney, which operates about 1,100 mid-market department stores in the United States, is trying to stanch enormous losses and win back shoppers after suffering a 25 percent drop in sales in fiscal 2012 during a failed attempt to go upmarket. It has returned to the discounts that were long its hallmark and brought back popular in-house brands. Sales started ticking up in the au-

tumn after nearly two years of monthly sales drops but remain well below fiscal 2011 levels. A press release last week with scant details on its December sales results raised concerns that the turnaround stalled during the key holiday season. “It is not surprising to see them close stores given their financial situation,” said Maxim Group analyst Rick Snyder. Analysts expect Penney to report a 70-cent per share loss for the holiday quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company would not say whether further closings were planned, but Ullman told Reuters in an exclusive interview last month that Penney did not intend to significantly pare the

size of its store ﬂeet. “There’s no solution in taking a big chunk of stores and lopping them off - that doesn’t solve anybody’s issue,” Ullman said in the interview. A Penney spokeswoman on Wednesday said two of the 33 stores were locations owned by the company, with the remainder being leased stores. Penney leases its stores at over half of its mall locations, according to an analysis last year by Green Street Advisors. The closings, expected to be completed by May, will generate cost savings of $65 million per year, beginning in 2014. Penney expects estimated pretax charges of about $26 million in the current quarter and another $17 million spread across future periods.

Stores closing include five in Wisconsin, where archrival Kohl’s Corp is dominant, three in Pennsylvania, and two in Florida. No stores in Penney’s home state of Texas are slated to close. The struggling department store chain had 116,000 employees as of Feb. 2, 2013. That was about 40,000 fewer than a year earlier as the company tried to cope with lower sales. Best Buy Co Inc and Sears Holdings Corp are two retailers that in recent years announced significant store closings. Last week Macy’s Inc said it was closing five stores, but also opening eight new locations. Shares slipped 1.6 percent at $6.90 in after-hours trading. They have fallen 70 percent since hitting a 52-week high last February.

FDA asks doctors and dentists to stop prescribing high-dose acetaminophen T

he Food and Drug Administration has asked doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to stop giving patients high-dose acetaminophen, the active ingredient in the popular pain-reliever Tylenol. Pills, capsules, tablets, syrups and other formulations that contain more than 325 milligrams of acetaminophen have not been shown to reduce pain better than lower doses of the medication; however, such high levels of the drug can cause liver damage, the FDA explained in a recommendation issued Tuesday. Pharmacists who are asked to ﬁll prescriptions for medications with more than 325 mg of acetaminophen should contact the doctor or dentist who ordered it and see if a lower dose would sufﬁce, the recommendation said. The FDA has warned consumers about the risk of inadvertent overdoses of acetaminophen, which can happen when people simultaneously take several drugs that contain the painkiller. Reducing the

maximum dose of acetaminophen should also reduce the risk of an accidental overdose, since nearly half of such cases involve a prescription medication, the FDA said. Patients who have too much acetaminophen in their systems can suffer liver failure, since that organ is responsible for metabolizing the drug. Consequences of liver failure include the need for a liver transplant and death. As explained by Harvard Medical School’s Family Health Guide, most acetaminophen is broken down into harmless substances that are removed from the body in urine. “But a small percentage is rendered into a compound that’s extremely harmful to cells,” the guide says. The compound is known by the acronym NAPQI, and it’s combined with an antioxidant called glutathione to make it safe to ingest. But in the case of an overdose, there’s “not enough glutathione to sop up NAPQI,” making liver damage a threat. Three years ago, FDA regulators asked drug man-

CHARTER AND COMCAST IN RENEWED TALKS ON TIME WARNER CABLE BID

AMERICAN AIRLINES CUTS FLIGHTS FROM REAGAN AND LAGUARDIA AIRPORTS

merican Airlines will halt yearround, daily nonstop service to 17 cities from Washington’s Reagan National Airport as a result of the divestiture of slots required by the U.S. government for American’s merger with US Airways, the company said on Wednesday. The airline, owned by American Airlines Group Inc, said it would also stop operating nonstop service from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Atlanta, Cleveland and Minneapolis, while adding new service from LaGuardia to 10 cities. American Airlines Group, formed when US Airways Group and AMR Corp merged in December, agreed to give up 52 pairs of takeoff and landing rights, or 104 slots, at Reagan National, located just outside Washington, D.C., as well as other assets under the settlement of an antitrust lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department seeking to block the combination. The merger created the world’s largest airline. Last summer, Doug Parker, the U.S. Airways chief executive who became CEO of the combined company, told lawmakers that forcing the combined airline to surrender slots at Reagan National would risk fewer ﬂights to small and medium-sized cities. Among the 17 cities affected by the Reagan National changes are Augusta, Georgia; Jacksonville, North Carolina; Little Rock, Arkansas; Omaha, Ne-

braska; Pensacola, Florida; Fort Walton Beach, Florida; Islip, New York; Detroit; San Diego and Montreal. The airline said affected customers would still have access to the Washington airport through connecting ﬂights. “Washington Reagan and LaGuardia will continue to be a key part of the new American’s network,” Andrew Nocella, American’s senior vice president, said in a statement. “We know how important this service is to the people and the communities affected, and we hope that our competitors who acquire our slots and gates will maintain service to the impacted cities,” he said. On Sunday, Reuters reported that airlines have submitted bids seeking to purchase the takeoff and landing rights at Reagan, citing two sources familiar with the matter. An announcement about the sales of the slots could be made this week, the sources said, but they did not know how many airlines had submitted bids. American said the effective dates for the changes at Reagan National will be announced after the sale is ﬁnalized in coming weeks. American also was required to give up 17 slot pairs at LaGuardia, but it said the merger has allowed it to provide new service from the airport to 10 cities, including Little Rock, Louisville, Kentucky, and four destinations in Virginia, beginning April 1.

ufacturers to voluntarily reduce the amount of acetaminophen in powerful medicines like Percocet and Vicodin that also contain opioids or other painkillers. Physicians and dentists typically prescribe these drugs to patients following surgery, serious injuries or dental procedures. The FDA had set a target date of Jan. 14, 2014. As of Tuesday, more than half of the manufacturers contacted had complied with the request, according to the agency. Regulators will take steps to withdraw their approval of drugs containing more than 325 mg of acetaminophen “in the near future,” according to the statement. Acetaminophen is also an extremely popular over-the-counter drug. Both Tylenol and generic versions are used to treat pain and fevers, and they are also combined with cough and cold medicines. Some of the over-the-counter brands that include acetaminophen include Benadryl, Excedrin, Nyquil, Robitussin, Theraﬂu and Vicks, according to the Acetaminophen Awareness Coalition.

harter approached Comcast on Wednesday to discuss carving up the second-largest U.S. cable company’s systems and subscribers, the people said, asking not to be named because they were not authorized to speak with the media. Charter, the No. 4 U.S. cable provider, and Comcast, the top U.S. cable provider, are in preliminary discussions about how to structure a potential alliance, the people said. One possibility is that Charter buys all of Time Warner Cable and sells off some of its markets and subscribers to Comcast, one of the people said. It was not immediately clear which geographic markets are under discussion, but analysts have said that Comcast would be interested in Time Warner Cable’s largest markets such as New York, Los Angeles and Dallas. The two companies held similar discussions late last year but those talks did not progress at that time. Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter declined to comment. A successful tie-up would take out Comcast from the bidding for Time Warner Cable. Comcast, which has also evaluated a takeover bid for all of Time Warner

Cable, was seen as the only likely suitor besides Charter. Analysts have said any attempt to merge the two largest cable operators, however, would face tough scrutiny from U.S. regulators. Securing backing from Comcast could also allow Charter, with a market capitalization of around $14 billion, to pay more for Time Warner Cable, which has a much larger market value of $38 billion. Charter, backed by billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp, formally announced its $132.50 per share bid for Time Warner Cable on Monday, which the larger rival promptly rejected as too low. Time Warner Cable instead made a counter proposal worth $160 per share, including $100 in cash and the rest in stock. A number of large Time Warner Cable shareholders would support a deal with Charter if the company sweetens its bid to $145 to $150 per share, Reuters reported earlier on Wednesday. Charter has said the combined company may have to do “swaps and divestitures” of cable systems to serve regions more efﬁciently, according to its investor presentation on Wednesday. Comcast is not interested in doing swaps, but is seeking to buy systems, one of the people said.

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Powell says therapist injected him K

ingston (Jamaica) - The former 100-metre world record holder Asafa Powell told a Jamaican disciplinary hearing that he received several injections from his physical therapist. The 31-year-old Jamaican sprint star said he received “four injections,” including vitamin B12, from Christopher Xuereb, who Powell had been working with for two months. “It took me four weeks to have confidence in him,” Powell told the three-member panel. The panel also asked if Xuereb was the first person outside of a doctor to give him injections. “Yes, he was recognized,” Powell said of Xuereb. I got the same injection once by Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt.” The German physician is known for working with Bayern Munich of the German football league and sprinter Usain Bolt. Powell also testified that he doubled the dosage of his supplements the morning of his positive drug test. The sprinter said he did so on the advice of Xuereb. Powell, who tested positive for the banned stimulant Oxilofrine at the Jamaican national championships in June, said Xuereb told him to take two

Asafa Powell capsules of Epiphany D1 each morning for the ﬁrst week, then double it for the second week. Powell claims Epiphany D1 was the source of the Oxilofrine. “I didn’t remember to do that (double the dosage). Chris (Xuereb) came to my room the morning of the trials and said I must remember to take four,” Powell said. The hearing in front of a three-member panel is scheduled to last two days. Powell said he started taking the supplements

from Xuereb, a Canadian physical therapist, about a month before the Jamaican championships, which were held June 20-23. Powell also testiﬁed that he couldn’t remember the names of the supplements he was taking at the time and he had not checked to see if Epiphany D1 was on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned products. “I don’t know the list, but I knew of the list,” Powell said. “I know there is a list we are supposed to check.” Powell also said he did not include Epiphany D1 on his doping control form. “I could not remember after all the excitement at trials,” he explained. “All the supplements were new to me, so I could not remember all of them.” Powell’s training partner Sherone Simpson, a three-time Olympic medallist, also tested positive for the same stimulant. Both sprinters have been banned from competing. Simpson told the panel that she knew Powell was taking the same supplements as her. Powell, one of Jamaica’s greatest sprinters of all time, set a world record in the 100 metres in 2008 with a time of 9.74 seconds.

Australian heat giving Williams and other players nightmares

ELBOURNE, Australia -- Just the thought of playing in the sweltering heat at the Australian Open is keeping Serena Williams up at night. So to combat the soaring temperatures, the 17-time Grand Slam champion is doing her best to stay indoors, rolling through her matches as quick as possible. On Wednesday, the American beat No. 104-ranked Vesna Dolonc 6-1, 6-2 and equaled an Open era record held by tennis great Margaret Court with her 60th match win at the Australian Open. ‘’I kept waking up in the middle of the night last night, just paranoid,’’ Williams, who regularly trains in the Florida heat, said after dropping only three games for the second straight match. ‘’I just wanted to stay hydrated,’’ Williams said. ‘’The last thing I want to do is to cramp in this weather. It can happen so easy.’’

If the forecast of four consecutive days of 40-plus degrees Celsius (104plus degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures in Melbourne proves correct, it will be the worst heat wave in the city in more than a century. After two days of temperatures touching 42 degrees C (108 degrees F), the forecast was for 44 C (111 F) on Thursday. That will make conditions brutal again for the likes of Maria Sharapova, who opens play on the center court on Day 4 of the season’s ﬁrst major, and top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who has a late afternoon match. After peaking at 2 p.m. Wednesday, the temperature dropped signiﬁcantly later in the afternoon, and Australian Open tournament referee Wayne McKewen for the second consecutive day said the low humidity made it unnecessary to invoke the Extreme Heat Policy.

Serena Williams Overhead clouds and the lack of a hot breeze made it less stiﬂing than the previous day. A Grand Slam record-equaling nine players retired during the ﬁrst round, when some were describing the conditions for playing matches as dangerous and inhumane. No. 32 Ivan Dodig joined the list on Wednesday, retiring with cramps in the fourth set against Bosnian qual-

iﬁer Damir Dzumhur. Dodig created a stir when he was reported as saying he thought he could die. But tournament doctor Tim Wood again said it wasn’t hot enough to endanger professional players. ‘’There were only a couple of court calls today related to the heat and no player required medical intervention,’’ he said. Williams concedes there is a stage in the heat when the body goes into auto-pilot, regardless of the preparation. ‘’Sometimes my body just says no to hot weather,’’ she said. ‘’Sometimes I have no reaction.’’ Three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic has struggled in the Australian heat before, but has conditioned himself to deal with it. Even so, he was happy to get off the court in less than two hours with a 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 win over Leonardo Mayer - his 26th in a row since September.

DODGERS AND KERSHAW AGREE TO 7-YEAR, $215 MILLION DEAL

or all intents and purposes, the Dodgers have agreed to pay Clayton Kershaw $1 million per start for the next half-decade. The lefthander’s record seven-year, $215 million contract extension comes with a $30.7 million average annual value as well an opt-out clause after the fifth year. He can still become a free agent at the age of 30. Everyone would be happy with $215 million, but there’s a chance Kershaw actually left money on the table with the extension. He is only 25 and he’s the best pitcher in the world, leading baseball in ERA in each of the last three years with two Cy Youngs to show for it. He was also scheduled to hit free agency next winter, when a bidding war could have broken out between the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers ... pretty much every team. Kershaw could have easily wound up with $250+ million on the open market. That said, this is a great deal for the southpaw. Obviously. His family is financially set for generations and, thanks to the opt-out, he will still have the opportunity to test the free agent waters at a relatively young age. This might be just his first $200+ million deal. Kershaw also gets to say he

Clayton Kershaw will become the highest-paid pitcher in major league history, surpassing the seven-year, $180-million deal Justin Verlander signed with the Tigers last winter. landed the largest pitching contract Even if things go wrong, he gets hurt in history (by $35 million) and the or declines or whatever, the deal will largest contract in history overall in still be off the books when he is only terms of average annual value (by $3.2 32 and not 35 or 37. The two sides had million). He’s young, he’s wealthy and been talking about a 10-year, $300 he’s on a World Series caliber team. million deal at one point, a contract that would have been far riskier than It’s not a win-win, it’s win-win-win. For the Dodgers, on the other the one they agreed upon. It’s hard to hand, the extension is both great and think of it this way, but this pact is a very necessary. They secured what bargain for Los Angeles. At the same time, the deal was should be Kershaw’s prime years from age 25-30 without being saddled with very necessary for the team. Since too many potential decline years. taking over the team two years ago,

the Magic Johnson-led ownership group has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the Dodgers to make them a contender. They made huge trades (Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez) and signed big name free agents (Zack Greinke), but at the core of it all was their homegrown ace. Kershaw is the face of the franchise and letting him hit free agency next winter was almost a non-option for the team. Losing him would have hurt more than any single player addition can help. The Dodgers have made it very clear these last few seasons that they are all-in. They got their big television contract last year and they have taken the whole “you have to spend money to make money” approach to the extreme. Re-signing Kershaw was about more than retaining the best pitcher in the world. It was about retaining a popular player who does incredible work in the community and is a great ambassador for both the team and MLB. They need him to win on the field and, just as importantly, they need him off the field because the Dodgers’ brand is built around him. Kershaw is the very definition of a franchise player and he will now be paid accordingly.

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