VOLUME 10 ISSUE 12

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

VOLUME 10 - No. 12

$1.00

VAT BETTER THAN THE PAYROLL TAX

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Bahamian PM tells TCI the best advice he received from experts is to introduce VAT

BY VIVIAN TYSON

P

rime Minister of The Bahamas Perry Christie has told Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands that although some persons in that neighbouring country wanted his government to introduce a payroll tax, the best advice The Bahamas government received, and is following, is to implement a Value Added Tax (VAT) Christie, who was in the Turks and Caicos Islands for a few days to attend the official opening of a Bahamas-affiliated lawfirm, made the statement at a media briefing in the Premier’s Office on Wednesday.

The Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing Administration is currently facing heavy backlash from sections of the society on its intention to implement payroll tax, while the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie government in The Bahamas is facing similar pushback, especially from the business community on its intent to pursue Value Added Tax (VAT). The counter attack the Christie government’s VAT push, he said, is being waged mainly by the business community, which believes payroll tax is the way to go.

Christie told journalist at the Premier’s Office located at the Hilly Ewing Building on Providenciales that his administration has given the private sector the opportunity to conduct their own investigations to the alternative and report their findings in time so that he would be able to make a decision as to which of the taxes is more suitable for the people of the Bahamas.

“What I have done is, I have indicated to the Minister of Finance – I am the minister of finance – that

let us give the private sector an opportunity to hire consultants, which they have; give them a reasonable period of time to report, and I have given them a good faith assurance that we will review their report to see whether their report will convince us that the payroll tax is the way to go.

“That process is now very near completion, and so, it is for us to carry out my expressions of good faith

to seriously look at their report. We have reports from the crown agents, we have reports from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and we have reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), all of who are in favour of Value Added Tax. “And so, the position is, the best advice that I have gotten to date is that we introduce the Value Added Tax. The ministry of Finance has indicated that it was going to be at 15

Lillian Boyce attends Women In The World Summit

Governor’s Advisory Group formed

Governor expresses confidence in Commissioner

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Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing (centre) and Prime Minister for the Bahamas Rt. Hon. Perry Christie seized a photo op with (from left) Hon. Michael Halkitis, Bahamas Minister of State for Finance; Hon. Porsha Stubbs-Smith, TCI Minister for Finance and Hon. Shane Gibson, the Bahamas Minister for Labour and National Insurance percent; I have indicated that I would not put 15 percent,” Christie said.

Interestingly, the Turks and Caicos Islands, up to a little under two years ago, during the Interim Administration, had pursued Value Added Tax, but that was put on hold following strong objections from the business community and the current administration with assistance from the opposition.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

NIB Pays Out $64M PAGE 5

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Thank you to all of

our employees for your hard work and dedication during our recent major outage.

“I’m proud of your hard work; you’re the best team of utility professionals in the world!”

- CEO, Eddinton Powell

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

Michael Misick wants government to offer economy-growing incentives

BY VIVIAN TYSON

F

ormer premier Michael Misick is urging government to offer incentives in order to grow the economy instead of making plans to tax the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Misick, who was in attendance at the public meeting called by the government at the Abundant Life Ministries International Church on Providenciales, to sell its tax package, said that the TCI economy, at this time, is dead, and therefore could not absorb any taxation.

“You can’t tax an economy that is dead; you have to use incentives to revive the economy. The answer is to grow the economy, not to tax the economy. As much PNP that I am, I believe that the government is on the wrong track, and I believe that the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands have to stand up. Because if you allow this payroll tax to be introduced, I can assure you that next year there will be property tax,” he said.

The former premier also took big businesses to task, saying that they are not railing against payroll tax the way they did against VAT since former will affect their staff and not them, as VAT would.

“Funny enough, the big businesses are not kicking against this. I be-

Former Premier Michael shares his opinion on the proposed introduction of payroll tax lieve that we have to now adopt a philosophy that when the ‘Gracebay Boys’ support something, we should be against it; and if they are against something we should support it. They are not against payroll tax because it is not coming out of their pocket,” he said.

He predicted that most businesses would not absorb the 1.5 percent of the three percent that government is proposing that they should

share between them and their employees.

“You say that the employee would pay 1.5 percent (and employer would pay 1.5 percent); the truth of the matter is that they would pay 1.5 percent at the expense of potential increase for their employees. And so, the same way we kill VAT, the small man who will have money taken from their payroll should kill payroll tax,” he suggested.

In the meantime, the premier said that the Turks and Caicos Islands Government should resist paying the UK guaranteed loan, since it was not borrowed to benefit Turks and Caicos Islanders.

“I don’t accept that it is our debt.

About $160 million of the debt was borrowed by an unelected government, approved by an unelected parliament, and was spent by an illegitimate government. In fact, the British Government borrowed that money from themselves and gave it to themselves, to empower their interim administration. As of today, no one has seen an accounting of where the $260 million was spent.

“The only debt that we should honour is – when I and Gilley (former premier Galmo Williams) left office – there was a debt of $70 million that was accumulated by both the PNP and

PDM. Those debts are our debts; those debts are legitimate debts. The others are not and should not be honoured,” he said.

He also urged the government not to drop customs duties since merchants would not pass it on to consumers.

“The minister of finance talked about reduction in finance duties that would save $4 million. I believe in this day and age we should not be reducing customs duties and replacing it with payroll tax, and I will tell you why; the $4 million that you say that government would not be collecting, I can assure you that Clive Stanbrook and the other merchants will not pass on that reduction to the general public. In fact, all it does is boosts their profits; prices will not go down one percent because of the reduction that you are proposing,” he said.

The former premier told the meeting that if payroll tax is introduced, it could go up next year if government does not meet its revenue target, and continue to rise as the years go by.

“I am against any form for income tax. A payroll tax or income tax today starts out at 1.5 percent; next year when the government has a shortfall we increase it three percent, and then next thing you know we are paying 15 – 20 percent in payroll tax,” he said.

Police concerned about distribution and possession of inappropriate images T

he Royal Turks & Caicos Islands Police Force sis reporting an increase in reports from schools and families about the distribution and possession of inappropriate images.

According to a police press release, these images, generally found on student’s mobile phones or Facebook pages, are of a sexual nature. This practice is often referred to as “sexting”.

The police said that in some cases, the images have been taken by a student and posted directly on their own Facebook profile.

“In other examples, they are sent to a person in-

volved with in a relationship and often sent on to others. The ramification for the students depicted in the images as well as the students in possession of the images is of great concern to police,” the press release noted.

All parents and guardians are urged by the police to have a conversation with their children in relation to the legal and social ramifications this behavior poses: Child Exploitation Material – often referred to as Child Pornography - includes images that depict a child, under the age of 16, clothed in only under-

NIB CELEBRATES 22 YEARS, PAYS OUT $64.5 MILLION IN BENEFITS

N

IB Deputy Director of Operations, Mr. Walter Gardiner, recently released some important statistics to the public that the National Insurance Board has paid in excess of 64.5 million dollars in benefit payments in the TCI since its inception in April 1992.

April 6, 2014 marks the 22nd anniversary of the country’s social insurance programme and, in looking back on the introductory years, speaking on the popular radio programme, “National Insurance Made Simple” Mr. Gardiner commented: “The NIS legislation today is undoubtedly the best pieces of social protection legislation ever implemented in the TCI. Introduced under an extremely dark cloud of suspicion, mistrust and bitter opposition from employers, employees and self-employed alike, convincing the general public to “buy in” was a very difficult sell at that time as this was the very first time that monies were mandatorily deducted from salaries.”

He added: “It was not an easy task enforcing compliance as the majority of persons viewed us at that time as just another form of taxation for the government guised as social security. We received strong resistance from many self employed persons; large and small employers, who threatened to reduce staff

or close business- even petitions from the Chamber of Commerce. Indeed, many predicted that we would fail because we were managed by young, inexperienced persons.”

The NIB Deputy Director continued: “But today, we have proven our worth to the people of the TCI and have earned their confidence, trust and admiration for the social and economic protection that we have provided and will continue to provide in countless years to come. Thousands of people depend on us, but more importantly, thousands of people can depend on us.”

Mr. Gardiner further reported that the NIB currently has over $200 million in reserves; collects $25 million annually in contributions; and pays out $12 million annually in benefits.

The programme currently provides 1,330 persons with long term pensions as follows: Pension Type # of Recipients Retirement Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811 Old Age Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Survivors Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Invalidity Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Disablement Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Death Benefit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Constant Attendance Allowance . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

wear, nude or partially nude.

It is an offence for a person to possess, produce or disseminate Child Exploitation Material.

The social ramifications for students involved in these matters can cause embarrassment both now and into the future. This can also cause further damage to reputation when applying for employment.

Mobile phones, computers and other devices used to commit these offences may be subject to seizure by Police and subsequent destruction on court order.

FOR THE BEST ADVERTISING RATES CONTACT 946-8542

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LOCAL NEWS

VAT BETTER THAN THE PAYROLL TAX

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

While the turnout at most of the venues that the Dr. Rufus Ewing administration held meetings, to pitch payroll tax, the responses were mainly negative and vociferous.

Prime Minister Christie, during a courtesy call on Premier Ewing on Wednesday (April 9), told media representatives that the pushback against his intention to implement VAT was also great, but said he was yet to be convinced otherwise.

“First of all, the advisers that we have for many years – and both governments were affected by this – decided that we are going to have a Value Added Tax. We thought a lot that it would be more effectively put us in a position to more effectively govern the country. Now, the private sector has made a significant pushback and they argued that if we should implement, if anything, the payroll tax. And I am sure that they see that the government would be the biggest contributor of that, because we have the largest amount of employees, as the government,” he said.

He added: “And so, again, it’s another area that we share – how to we get our people to understand that they have to participate in obtaining new sources of revenue to able to finance the police force and education, infrastructure. These are challenges of governments and we share those challenges. And I will be interested to see what in fact, his government done down here,

and I am sure he will be watching what we do in the Bahamas.”

He said that the reality faced by both the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands governments to raise revenue is very real, and are tasks that both the respective governments has to face head-on without flinching, since there are many projects and programmes waiting in the wings to be tackled.

“The point is, we have in the Bahamas, as you have here; we are constantly faced with the need for additional revenue. And the fact of the matter is, in the Bahamas, we are a chain of islands, and I always argue that when a prime minister in Barbados or St. Lucia asks for an airport or a port, we have to ask for 26 of those things, and the requirement to duplicate infrastructure in different islands is a formidable requirement.

“And so, whereas the prime minister of Grenada would look to one island, we have to look at whatever you have here in terms of your responsibilities, and so there is always this need for additional revenue, and our job is to convince people of that and hope that the opposition, given their own commitments to being an alternative, would, at some stage or the other, respond positively, and, if not positively, responsibly to the position,” he said.

The Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson-led opposition here in the TCI has taken government to task on its decision to venture the pathway of payroll tax, saying that there are other alternatives that can

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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.

be pursued. Cartwight-Robinson said, during a news conference last week, that if government was unable to find suitable ways to raise revenue it should resign and call fresh elections.

GOVERNOR’S BUSINESS ADVISORY GROUP FORMED A

new group of leading Turks and Caicos Business leaders have come together to form the Governor’s Business Advisory Group, it was announced by His Excellency the Governor Peter Beckingham on Thursday 3 April 2014.

The Group, which will meet for the first time on 10 April 2014 will provide advice and guidance to the Governor on a range of business interests and developments in the Territory.

Announcing the new Group, Governor Peter Beckingham said: “I have received an overwhelmingly positive response from some of our top business people to this new initiative. I said when I arrived six months ago that I wished to work alongside business for the betterment of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“I am confident that this group, representing a cross section of commercial interests and different parts of TCI, will represent a valuable sounding board and forum to learn how we can work together to strengthen the country’s economy.

“We will consider informally a range of business and other interests, including work permits and employment, links to the Public Sector, the international reputation of TCI, infrastructure and new developments, and security. We may invite the Pre-

mier and other members of the Government and the opposition to meetings, as well as any senior visiting businesspeople.”

The Group will meet approximately four times a year. The members are giving their time voluntarily.

MEMBERS OF THE GROUP ARE: 1. Cecil Arnold, representing ScotiaBank TCI and the Bankers Association 2. Mervin Cox, representing Coxco and the construction industry 3. Lyndon Gardiner, representing Inter-Caribbean Airways, the tourism and aviation sectors 4. Robert Brace and Edith Cox, representing Graceway IGA/Graceway Gourmet and the retail sector 5. Rick Lovell and second representing Grand Turk Cruise Centre 6. Michel Neutelings, representing Amanyara, the Hotel and Tourism sectors 7. E J Saunders, representing Digicel, the telecommunications industry, and the Chamber of Commerce 8. Drexwell Seymour, representing the Accountants’ Association and TCI small businesses 9. Ted Weldon, representing Sailrock, developers and South Caicos 10. Ken and Evelyn Adams, Managing Director, representing the Do It Store, and the retail sector

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

Supreme Court rules against Conch Farm founder

BY VIVIAN TYSON

T

he militant stand by sacked Conch Farm chairman and CEO Chuck Hesse to refuse to turn over company documents after he was terminated end in the Supreme Court this past week with the marine biologist coming out the wrong end of the fight.

Madame Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale, who ruled on Wednesday (April 9) in favor of Trade Wind Industries Ltd., the management company of the Conch Farm, ordered that Hesse turned over all the entity’s property to the new board, which has been battling him for the records for three years now.

Hesse, who found the Conch Farm some three decades ago, was booted from the company on October 6, 2011, by the new board of directors, which was appointed on September 30, 2010, and included John Hartley and Richard Berke. Not only did the board remove Hesse as chairman but also retired him as a director of the Conch Farm.

He was however, offered the position of general manager responsible for the day to day operations of the Conch Farm.

The court was told that in the context of his proposed re-engagement with the Conch Farm, Hesse was asked to immediately surrender all TWI company books, financial records, bank accounts, bank records, employee records and / or any other documents required by the board.

He was asked to turn over all financial records, since wages to Trade Wind Industries employees as well as debts to vendors, suppliers and TCIG remained unpaid and interest continued to accumulate, but Hesse refused.

The Board, in a letter, advised Hesse that even though the board was able to pay its current operational costs and employees’ salaries, his failure to turn over the books was effectively prohibiting the it from distributing funds to its rightful recipients, since it has no independent method to determine the recipients without the records.

The board also warned Hesse that his failure to turn over the documents could put the company at risk of loss resulting from legal fees, court costs, judgments and penalties that it said are likely to be awarded to plaintiffs and creditors, since the debts appeared to be valid and undisputed.

In making her ruling, Ramsay-Hale said that from the evidence presented, it was abundantly clear that Hesse WINE CELLAR FISHING TOURNAMENT GIVES TO EDWARD GARTLAND YOUTH CENTRE: The Wine Cellar Fishing Tournament, which was held on Providenciales a few weeks ago, presented a cheque for $12,500 to the Edward Gartland Youth Centre on Wednesday (April 9). The cheque was presented by Desmond Williams of the Wine Cellar. Roxan Wake-Forbes, Director of the Edward Gartland Youth Centre, on accepting the cheque thanked the Wine Cellar for its continued support for the entity. She said that the funds would be used to ensure that youth programmes are maintained there. In photo, Williams

had the documents in his possession or they were under his control from the time the company made the request for him to turn them over, and that he could have had no difficulty doing so.

The judge stated that none of the reasons Hesse gave as to why he could not turn over the documents was compelling. In one of his reasons, Hesse said that he was not obligated to give the new board information, but it was rather their responsibility to get the information that need. Another is that he did not have the documents, another is that he needed time to produce the documents and that the documents he had in his possession were mere copies.

Hesse’s attorney Peter McKnight said in closing arguments that had the new directors contacted Harolean Taylor - the company’s book-keeper for 25 years – they would have known that documents were store in filing cabinets, boxes and other places on the Conch Farm property.

However, Ramsey-Hale, who referred to the submission as baffling, said that the evidence showed that Taylor stopped working at the Conch Farm since 2009, having been seconded to the Cockburn Village Farm in Grand Turk, at Hesse’s dictates.

She said also that Berke’s explanation for not contacting Taylor was as a result of him believing that she left the company was reasonable, also owing to the fact that Hesse had all the documents stored on his computer and that it was his statutory responsibility to maintain the books.

To this end the judge declared: “I fail to see the distinction Mr. Hesse seeks to make between the company’s correspondence file and his own between his documents and the company’s. There was no evidence that anyone except Mr. Hesse generated correspondence for the company and indeed, Mr. Hesse accepted the proposition put to him by Ms. (Monique) Allan (who represented the plaintiff) that any document created by him wherever created was a company document as he had created it for and on behalf of the company.

“The Company was run exclusively by Mr. Hesse who was its founder, CEO and board chairman. While the company has a distinct legal personality, there was no practical distinction between the acts of the company and the acts of Mr. Hesse as its CEO and chairman of the board. Whether he entered into correspondence and the company’s behalf, designed proj-

WINE CELLAR FISHING (second right) presents the cheque to Wake-Forbes (centre). Also sharing in the moment are (from left) Kency Garland, programme coordinator; Terry Drummey, Chairman for the centre; and Belinda martin, also representing the sponsors.

Chuck Hesse ect proposals, conducted transactions for the company and kept a record of those transactions, the work product i.e. the books, records, projects and correspondence etc created, were all, in my view, the property of the company.”

Ramsay-Hale pointed out that while she rejected the notion that Hesse kept the documents for his personal use but for the use of company based on evidence presented, equally rejected the argument that he possessed the documents as shareholder and not CEO. She said that the evidence made it clear that Hesse removed and interfered with documents from the Conch Farm processing building, since it would be inconceivable that

they would have had any value to Taylor or the Haitians employed on work permit.

The judge said that from the evidence presented, Hesse bore some level of ill-will towards the new management as a result of his sudden termination from the company that he founded, which she said was hardly surprising, given the consideration that he was the brains behind the farm’s establishment, the research for its creation was his, and every document and new projects proposed were created and made by him.

“His animosity towards the new management of the company was manifest from the moment of his termination through to the end of the hearing. He retained the keys to the farm and remained in de facto control of the premises after his termination by the board. He therefore not only had the means and opportunity to remove the documents from the farm but the motives as well. I am satisfied on a balance of probability that he removed the documents from the farm that were stored in the conch processing building.

“I therefore grant the Plaintiff‘s (Trade Wind Industries Ltd), application to amend its summons to seek delivery up of all company documents in Mr. Hesse’s possession and enter judgment for the Plaintiff on its claim,” the judge said.

Both sides are now engaged who should bear the legal costs.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Thank you to all of

our employees for your hard work and dedication during our recent major outage.

“I’m proud of your hard work; you’re the best team of utility professionals in the world!”

- CEO, Eddinton Powell

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 9

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

TCI could benefit from Bahamas $200 million patrol boat investment

BY VIVIAN TYSON

T

he Turks and Caicos Islands could benefit from the $200 million that the Bahamas has earmarked for the overhauling of its border patrol boat fleet to combat illegal immigration into both countries from neighbouring Haiti.

Prime Minister for the Bahamas Rt. Hon. Perry Christie, though spell it out, intimated that the investment in the boats could also benefit the TCI, telling members of the media that his country will be ready to assist the TCI where possible.

“The premier is aware that my government has made a decision to spend $200 million in buying new boats to traverse our waters and building new harbours to give us strategic reach around the Bahamas because we share the same (challenges of illegal immigration).

Countries such as ours that are characterized as being small and vulnerable, we must look to each other to see how much we can share the challenges that we have both in terms of ideas,” he said.

He further noted: “Our issues are normally common issues; those related to national security, illegal immigration, healthcare and also the general state of our economies, including the issues of national security when it comes to crime and violence in our community, and so, those are some of the issues that we discussed and elaborated on.

“We have that way just to show that we have a very long and enriching relationship.

And as you would be aware, a substantial number of Turks Islanders live in the Bahamas – they are Bahamian citizens. And so, that speaks for itself.”

Perry, who was in the TCI for the official

opening of a law firm, which Bahamian nationals are a part, and paid a courtesy call on the Premier at his Office at the Hilly Ewing Building, said that he was thrill to have learned that the Coastal Radar Station Providenciales has been effecting in detecting illegal activities on our waters.

“I have been advised on the radar and the success that you have had here in the Turks and Caicos Islands, to able to detect boats coming in, because we have this concern that whatever the position is with respect to our country, and how we receive immigrants into our country, and in our territories, there are people that come to live and become citizens and productive citizens, we have a concern about being able to ensure that we are able to control or minimize the impact of illegal migration,” he said.

He revealed that the Turks and Caicos Islands has been invited to sit in and contribute to a bilateral meeting on illegal migration with Haiti that his government arranged out of concern for the influx of illegal Haitians into both countries.

“I have indicated to both the government and the premier that a result of an intervention that I made when we met the premier there in St. Vincent; I made an intervention of our concerns about illegal migrants and the president of Haiti has asked for bilateral meetings, and we have commenced those meetings between Bahamas and Haiti, with a view to see how we can work together, to strategize together.

“And I have indicated the possibility of the premier and the governor, who has external responsibilities (for the TCI), giving consideration joining those talks so that their concerns can be placed on the table as well,” Christie said.

Waterloo Hotel Management Ltd. invites suitable applications for the following position: SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Waterloo Hotel Management Ltd. is part of WIHL, a diversified group with interests in the hospitality industry.

We are committed to the Turks & Caicos Islands, where we own or operate different assets, such as Beach House, The Alexandra, Blue Haven Resort and Marina - and now the Market and Deli, located in the Blue Haven Resort.

We are now looking for a Senior Vice President, who will report to the CEO and Chair of the Group. As SVP, you will be responsible for all hospitality related developments and operations, both in TCI and elsewhere. To qualify, you need to have an international business background and successfully managed and developed international businesses in the services industry. You must have a track record in managing and developing complex organizations, change management and delivering growth and profitability.

You must also have experience working for or advised Global Top 100 companies and have management experience within the hospitality industry.

Salary for this position will commensurate with qualifications and experience.

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

Submissions to be no later than April 18th 2014

Belongers need only apply.

LOCAL NEWS LILLIAN BOYCE ATTENDS WOMEN IN THE WORLD SUMMIT

F

ormer Deputy Premier and Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture, Lillian Boyce recently attended the fifth annual Women In The World Summit, which was held at the Lincoln Center, in Midtown Manhattan, New York.

Featuring CEOs, industry icons, and world leaders, as well as artists, grassroots activists, and firebrand dissidents, the 3-day event makes vivid the stories of the courageous and intelligent women who are taking on the status quo in their native countries, leading peace movements in the face of war and conflict, and shattering glass ceilings in every sector.

The powerful and exciting summit is centered on live journalistic storytelling with inspiring women and men from around the world sharing their true stories of courage, resilience, and determination for progress.

Commenting on the Summit, Boyce said: “I was very proud and happy to attend the Women in the World Summit where I got the opportunity to interact with women from different backgrounds from all around the world. You can learn a lot from attending these kinds of conferences because they really broaden your experience and knowledge. The world is indeed a global village and it was interesting to hear the stories and testimonies that women from almost every corner of the earth were able to tell. For me, the highlight of the conference was the opening evening when I attended the session which featured what they called a conversation with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Christine Legarde of the International Monetary Fund. It was a very, very enlightening and educational expe-

Former Deputy Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands Lillian Boyce is seen here at the Women In The World Summit, which was held in Manhattan, New York. rience. They had the audience totally captivated.”

At the opening evening of the fifth annual Women in the World Summit, Clinton and Lagarde, whom summit founder Tina Brown introduced as “first among women,” were greeted with a standing ovation at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Each is the most popular female politician in her country. Each grew up with brothers and learned how to elbow her way in and operate in a man’s world. Each champions women in their public pronouncements and policies, and when Clinton and Lagarde appeared together at a panel moderated by Thomas L. Friedman, together they called for greater political and economic participation by women around the globe.

Joining Tina Brown as co-hosts of the summit were Laurene Powell Jobs, Executive Director of United Nations Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Diane von Furstenberg, Alyse Nelson, Mellody Hobson, Meryl Streep, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Flaurel English, Adele Ambrose, Maya L. Harris, Barbara Bush, and Ambassador Melanne Verveer.

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

Company which imported police vehicles is TCI-owned

BY VIVIAN TYSON

C

laudia Been-Munnings, who owns Champion Trucking with her husband, Rodney, and which is responsible for the sourcing of the 19 police vehicles, has debunked a number of unfavourable public allegations against her company, including that it was not a Turks and Caicos Islands owned entity.

The media caught up with Been-Munnings shortly after she turned over the keys to members of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force at a commission ceremony of the vehicles at the Chalksound Police Station in Providenciales on Tuesday (April 8) Some members of the public became incensed that on being misinformed that an overseas company had won the tender for the procurement of the police vehicles, when there were a number of locally-operated and owned car dealerships.

However, Been-Munnings reiterated that Champion Trucking has been a locally-operated company for some time and sourcing vehicles is part of what the company does. She believes that her company saw the advertisement in the newspapers inviting suitable candidate to tender for the vehicles, sometime last year and applied.

“The tender was put out for police vehicles, and we satisfied every single requirement of the tender,” she said.

There some amount of grumbling from sections of the public especially when Police Commissioner Colin Farquar complained that insufficient vehi-

Claudia Been-Munnings cles had impacted police operations including response time. But Munnings said that the missing of a production date in October due to late payment to Ford and the weather in the early part of the year delayed the shipment of the vehicles.

The tender was actually awarded in September of 2013; the initial payment was made in November, which unfortunately was well past the deadline that was given in order to have the vehicles ordered. Because the payment was made in November it moved the construction of the vehicles because these vehicles are built from scratch, they are not off-the-shelf vehicles. So it (late initial payment) actually moved the production time for the vehicles into 2014.

“The police department was always good in keeping in touch with Champion Trucking, and so they were made aware that production of the vehicles

VACANCY – DYNAMICS AX MECOMS CONSULTANT Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualified individuals for the position of DYNAMICS AX MECOMS CONSULTANT with FortisTCI, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands.

DESCRIPTION • Perform consulting duties related to the implementation of the Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP system and the MECOMS Utility Solution • Develop software customizations using the X++ programming language to meet unique business requirements • Develop reports using Microsoft SSRS with Dynamics AX

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSBILITIES • Meet with department heads and business users to understand business processes and requirements related to the ERP Solution • Configure Dynamics AX and MECOMS to meet the business requirements • Design and develop software customizations using X++ to meet unique business requirements • Design and develop reports using SSRS to meet unique business requirements • Migrate data from existing sources to Dynamics AX and MECOMS • Train users to productively use the system • Support go live and post production phase of new system

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS • 2+ years’ experience as a Microsoft Dynamics AX Consultant • 2+ years’ experience using X++ to customize Dynamics AX to meet specific business requirements • Significant experience using Microsoft SSRS to meet custom reporting requirements in Dynamics AX • Business experience with the Dynamics AX Trade and Logistics Modules • Experience using the MECOMS Utility Solution from Ferranti Computer Systems

ABILITIES AND SKILLS • Experience mapping complex business processes to ERP solutions • Understanding of primary corporate trade and logistics business processes • Ability to function under pressure and meet agreed deadlines

Deadline for submission of applications is April 26, 2014: Dr. Kellie-Ann Evans-Hall Manager, Human Resources FortisTCI Limited P. O. Box 132, Providenciales Email address: hrapplications@fortistci.com or khall@fortistci.com Fax: 649-941-4304

would start at the end of January 2014, because they had missed the production deadline for 2013, not for any fault of the police department, but because the funds were not made available for payment for those vehicles.

“And so, with that production time being started at the end of January 2014, it then moved delivery time down. In terms of timeline from purchase to delivery, they are actually 10-15 days behind schedule, and the reason why they are actually behind schedule had a lot to do with the snow storms that the United States had during the winter season, because they actually delayed the production and transport of the vehicles from Chicago and Detroit where they were made, down to Metro Ford in Miami, so that was actually the main result of any delay as opposed to anything else in terms of the contract. Even though it (tender) was awarded in September last year, you don’t go on the award dates, you go on the payment dates and the dates where orders are placed,” she explained.

She said that since not all the funds were initially available to pay for the vehicles in one tranche, she suggested that the authorities pay what they had at hand so the equivalent of the vehicles could be shipped to Florida, where the police apparatuses could be affixed to them, before being shipped to the Turks and Caicos Islands.

She said that loose talks that her company had collected government money and could not deliver is just false in its purest form.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

A CALL FOR POLICE TO INVESTIGATE IMMIGRATION AGENCIES

T

he Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force is being asked to take a closer look into the operations of some immigration agencies after persons complain that some operators of those entities collect their money but are not able to deliver on the jobs that they promised.

A number of persons have complained that they were being exploited by operators of these agencies, who sometimes not only take their monies and seemingly can’t deliver, but also unable to return important documents mainly passports and police records.

Persons, mainly of Haitian background have complained in the past about this practice. They said that because sometimes they or the persons on whose behalf they are filing paperwork are often undocumented, the agency operators use their situation to their advantage.

Last week, a woman who is Guyanese background, who told The SUN that she has been living in the TCI for some time and have all her document intact, explained that she attempted to file documents through a particular agency on Provo on behalf of her nephew, but after two months of filing, the agent could not give her any real reason as to why there was not favorable or unfavorable reply.

She said that her nephew, who was already in the country, ran out of patience and decided to return to his home country, and so she went back to the agency for a refund, but said that she was given the run-around by the agent.

www.etradeprovo.com Earn US $15.00/hour Must be extroverted, computer literate, self motivated goal oriented, persistent, hardworking and have own transport.

Job is to promote our new website: www.etradeprovo.comto the public.

Please email neilburrowes@hotmail.com with you resume Only people with right to work in Provo need apply.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 11

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

FSC sponsors Foreign Account TOURIST BOARD HOSTS 22 ANNUAL KITE Tax Compliance Act readiness FLYING COMPETITION assessment for Banks in the TCI T ND

T

he Financial Services Commission has announced today that it has retained the international accounting firm of Deloitte to conduct a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Preparedness Survey of the Banking Sector in TCI. In essence this survey will evaluate if banks in the TCI are ready for FATCA, the potential implications on their respective businesses, if any, and prepare their operating businesses as appropriate.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), enacted in 2010 as part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, is an important development in U.S. efforts to combat tax evasion by U.S. persons holding investments in offshore accounts. Since FACTA was signed into law in 2010, the Financial Services Commission facilitated a number of seminars, training and information sharing sessions to provide TCI Financial Services Industry with a comprehensive introduction and critical update on FATCA. Recognising that implementing FATCA Compliance mechanisms was a major undertaking for financial institutions in the TCI, FSC Managing Director Kevin Higgins said: “Implementing FATCA requires significant organ-

isational changes as it impacts compliance, operations and systems. As FATCA comes into effect this year, the Commission is seeking to gain a perspective on the scope and challenges impacting the banks’ ability to meet full requirements of the act.”

He further added:” At this stage, the readiness assessment will permit banks in our jurisdiction to gain an accurate perspective on implementation challenges they may face based on their existing operational data and Know Your Customer procedures.”

Banks taking part in the survey to determine FATCA readiness are: Bordier Bank (TCI) Ltd, British Caribbean Bank Limited, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) Ltd -Turks & Caicos Branch, Hemisphere Bank Inc., Ltd, RBC Royal (Bahamas) Limited-Turks & Caicos Branch, Scotiabank (Turks & Caicos) Limited and Turks & Caicos Banking Company Limited.

FATCA is a U.S. law focused on non-U.S. banks. It requires foreign financial institutions to report, for tax purposes, funds kept

by U.S. taxpayers in foreign accounts. Those companies that do not comply face a 30% withholding on applicable transfers from U.S. financial institutions.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which was approved by the United States government in March 2010, will come into effect in July 2014 to address the issue of offshore tax evasion by US citizens and permanent residents.

The United States collaborated with other governments to develop two model intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) to implement FATCA. All IGAs contemplate that a partner government will require all foreign financial institutions (FFIs) located in its jurisdiction (that are not otherwise exempt) to identify U.S. accounts and report information about them. After consultation with the Financial Services Sector, Turks and Caicos Island Government (TCIG) has opted to move forward with a Model 1B IGA Non- Reciprocal with the USA. This model indicates that Financial Institutions will be reporting to TCIG Competent Authority for onward reporting to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Queries on TCIG agreement with US authorities can be forwarded to the “Exchange of Information Unit” a new sub –department in the Ministry of Finance set up to address international tax transparency measures.

he Turks and Caicos Tourist Board is pleased to announce that the 22nd Annual Kite Flying Competition will be held at Governor’s Beach in Grand Turk on Saturday, April 19, 2014; and on (Easter Monday) Monday, April 21, 2014 at the Children’s Park, Lower Bight Road in Providenciales, at the Horse Stable Beach in North Caicos, and at the Regatta Village in South Caicos.

This much anticipated, public event organized by the Tourist Board and supported by local sponsors displays the traditional art of kite making and kite flying—a pastime for many local children.

“The Tourist Board looks forward to another year of friendly community competition, goodwill and community spirit that the Annual Kite Flying Competition has created over the years,” says Ralph Higgs, Director of Tourism. “We encourage our residents and visitors of the various communities, as well as corporate and civic groups, to come out and enjoy a good day of family fun.”

Now in its 22nd year, this event is expected to be most exciting. In addition to the valued support from our corporate sponsors, FortisTCI has sponsored the children’s activities area on each island. Activities for this year will include an Easter Egg Hunt, clowns, face painting, DJ music as well as, lots of food and drinks on sale by local non-profit organizations.

Children and adults are welcome to fly non-competition kites throughout the day and beyond the competition period. While participants are encourage to bring their own kites.

Kites entering the competition must be handmade, registered with the judges prior to taking flight and kites in all classes, must fly for at least 5 minutes. Prizes and trophies will be given for The Smallest Kite, The Largest Kite, Most Artistic, Best Overall and Best Traditional Kite.

-2% 352),/( Primary Objective of the Job: The IP/VAS Engineer will be responsible for the real-time management of all VAS and IP based networks which support the technical operations and services of Digicel TCI. They will assist in the design and implementation of all new Packet Core, Charging System and IP based systems, ensuring adherence to Group IP network security standards and policies. They will provide first-line identification and resolution of faults, and ensure that all required documentation is maintained in a timely basis.

Main Duties & Responsibilities: • Responsible for the design, installation and support of all Packet Core and IP based systems to support the technical operations of the business.

• Design IP Numbering an addressing schemes, Development, Configuration and Implementation of IP based systems • Perform dimensioning and capacity planning of IP network • Responsible for the operation and maintenance of all Packet Core systems which include, Ericsson SGSN-MME, Ericsson Mobile Packet Backbone Network (MPBN).

• Responsible for operation and maintenance of all VAS Ericsson Charging Systems including Ericsson Charging Control Node (CCN), Service Data Point (SDP), Account Information and Refill (AIR) • Responsible for all IP based systems, which include Cisco network devices (Routers and Switches), SUN Solaris/Linux servers, Checkpoint Firewalls and Above Security IDS to ensure their high availability.

• Perform all required software and hardware upgrades for above mentioned systems and services • Develop and schedule preventative and corrective maintenance policies and procedures, such as regular backups, spares inventory, to ensure high availability of all VAS and IP based systems.

• Ensure that Digicel TCI continue to operate on secure local and wide area networks with the implementation of VPN technologies and firewall policy management • Provide proactive support of WAN data and voice links (VSAT, leased lines) to provide 100% availability of all IP services, including VoIP, ITP (SS7 over IP) and internet, and to ensure continued connectivity to other Digicel locations and external parties • Ensure adherence with IP Security Group (Jamaica) standards and policies as they relate to new and existing LAN and WAN network infrastructure, IP traffic, and network configuration procedures • Ensure that network metrics are closely monitored and captured so as to provide proactive network management, as well as regular feedback on network performance in the form of reports to management • Provide IP Support to other departments and external parties as required

VACANCY – PROJECT MANAGER Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualified individuals for the position of PROJECT MANAGER with FortisTCI, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands.

DESCRIPTION • Manage and supervise the successful implementation of the Microsoft Dynamics ERP System with MECOMS Utility Solution • Function as primary Financial Consultant for the ERP Implementation

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSBILITIES • Manage the end to end process of implementing the Dynamics AX ERP/MECOMS System from initial planning through go-live and post production support.

• Meet with department heads and end users to understand and document requirements and develop strategies to meet business requirements using Dynamics AX/MECOMS. • Communicate project status through appropriate channels to ensure all stakeholders are aware of their responsibilities and the status of the project.

• Communicate problems and issues on a timely basis and work with stakeholders to ensure timely resolution.

• Supervise project consultants to ensure a timely and successful delivery of the solution • Supervise custom development and test plans to ensure accurate function of system.

• Coordinate training plans and delivery to ensure users are capable of using the system productively.

• Function as key Financial Consultant to ensure end to end success of the financial component of the Dynamics AX/MECOMS implementation

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS • 4 Year Accounting degree from an accredited institution • CPA Certification • 7+ years’ experience managing ERP implementations in complex organizations • 7+ years’ experience implementing Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions in complex organizations • 4+ years’ experience using the Dynamics AX Finance and Trade and Logistics modules • Experience with the Ferranti MECOMS utility solution • Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) • Significant experience using the Dynamics SureStep Project Management Methodology

ABILITIES AND SKILLS Academic qualifications and experience required for the job • 4-5 years’ experience in VAS administration and IP based network design, implementation and administration • CCNA and Microsoft MCSE certification and Solid hands on experience with Cisco devices • In-depth knowledge of switching, routing, LAN and WAN technologies • Hands on experience with UNIX and/or Linux systems to support applications Splat and Solaris.

• Design, implementation and operational knowledge of network security (VPN, firewall management, intrusion detection) • Minimum of a Bachelors Degree in Computer Sciences or equivalent field • Knowledge of Intelligent network setup and operation.

• Knowledge of CAMEL and roaming configuration

interested Applicants should forward their resumes to hrtci@digicelgroup.com by April 25, 2014.

• Experience mapping complex business processes to ERP solutions • Deep understanding of primary corporate financial business processes • Leadership • Ability to function under pressure and meet agreed deadlines

Deadline for submission of applications is April 26, 2014: Dr. Kellie-Ann Evans-Hall Manager, Human Resources FortisTCI Limited P. O. Box 132, Providenciales Email address: hrapplications@fortistci.com or khall@fortistci.com Fax: 649-941-4304

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

Don’t panic over negative travel advisory, says- Governor

BY VIVIAN TYSON

T

he recent travel advisory issued by the United States government warning its citizens of increased criminality in the Turks and Caicos Islands does not warrant pressing the panic button, according to Governor His Excellency Peter Beckingham.

Governor Beckingham was speaking at the Monthly meeting of the Providenciales Chamber of Commerce held at the Blue Haven Resort, Leeward, Providenciales on Monday (April 7). The governor intimated many countries go over the top when issuing travel advisory, and so while it should be a concern, it should not be something to go berserk about.

“Basically, every major western government – the (United) States, the United Kingdom, France and others, would feel obligated to look exceptionally carefully at any travel advisory for any country and err on the side of caution. The Americans are exceptionally cautious about leaving anything out of the travel advisory.

“The fact that the Americans feel obligated to refer to recent incidents in TCI, I don’t think we should overreact to it. I realize that it is potentially worrying for tourism, but I do think that we should get a sense of perspective without travel advisories. There is a duty of care to governments

which they take exceptionally cautiously,” he said. making reference to his tour of duty as Ambassador to the Philippines, the Governor said: “In the Philippines, we were, as a British Government, constantly having to revise and reissue travel advisories because there were terrorist incidents within two weeks of me arriving; a bus was blown up and 30 people were killed. Not surprisingly, we issued a travel advisory, saying that probably traveling on buses is not a terribly good idea. And not surprisingly, the Philippine government would get onto me, as the British Ambassador, and say, ‘we don’t like your travel advisories’.”

He said from his interaction with Commissioner of Police Colin Farquar, that progress has been made in cracking some of the cases.

“There is nothing worst that hearing of a friend who had been shot in broad daylight. There was another incident in New Year’s eve, with a person living here, who was killed, I believe in a bar.

So there had been two murders within four months, and I hear of the incident not far from here, in Leeward in the last few weeks have caused considerably anxiety, and I completely understand that.

“But I am pleased to hear from the police commissioner that in the case at least of the incidents in Leeward a suspect has been ar-

rested, and as I was talking to another police advisor this morning in Miami, he pointed out that it was quite likely that if these people have been arrested then hopefully we should see quite quickly a fall in the number of incidents that there have been.

“Obviously that is a risky thing to say because you never quite know when someone else will move into the attack. But I think we should give credit to the police force who have arrested quite quickly potential suspects in both incidents. I do think as well that it is important to try and look at the reasons for those incidents and to try and prevent them,” he said.

In the meantime, the Governor has theorized that some of the persons committing criminality across the TCI may have exhausted all avenues in finding a job or live in substandard homes.

“Some of these incidents are being committed by people who don’t have a job. They probably don’t have a proper home to go to; they somehow managed to get hold of a firearm, but the conditions which they live in are not the sort of condition that any of us want to live in. and until we can tackle some of those problems, I fear that there is always likely to be the risk of armed attack. And we need to look very carefully at the reasons people are indulging in that sort of activity,” Governor Beckingham said.

VACANCY – SENIOR DYNAMICS AX MECOMS Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualified individuals for the position of SENIOR DYNAMICS AX MECOMS with FortisTCI, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands.

DESCRIPTION • Perform consulting duties related to the implementation of the Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP system and the MECOMS Utility Solution • Develop software customizations using the X++ programming language to meet unique business requirements

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSBILITIES • Meet with department heads and business users to understand business processes and requirements related to the ERP Solution • Configure Dynamics AX and MECOMS to meet the business requirements • Design and develop software customizations using X++ and deep knowledge of Dynamics AX and MECOMS to meet unique business requirements • Migrate data from existing sources to Dynamics AX and MECOMS • Train users to productively use the system • Support go live and post production phase of new system

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS • 5+ years’ experience as a Microsoft Dynamics AX Consultant and X++ software developer • Detailed knowledge of the Dynamics AX Trade and Logistics and Project Modules • Training Certification on the MECOMS Utility Solution from Ferranti Computer Systems • 7+ years’ experience implementing Dynamics ERP solutions in complex organizations

ABILITIES AND SKILLS • Experience mapping complex business processes to ERP solutions • Deep understanding of primary corporate trade and logistics business processes • Ability to function under pressure and meet agreed deadlines

Deadline for submission of applications is April 26, 2014: Dr. Kellie-Ann Evans-Hall Manager, Human Resources FortisTCI Limited P. O. Box 132, Providenciales Email address: hrapplications@fortistci.com or khall@fortistci.com Fax: 649-941-4304

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

WILKIE ARTHUR, FREED OF AGGRAVATED BURGLARY ilkie Arthur was recently acquitted along with W two other accused, Antonio Luciano and Lorenzo Rigby on the Wednesday, March 27, 2013 for aggravated burglary that took place at June Plum Lane on Providenciales.

Wilkie Arthur Supreme Court Judge, Her Honour Margaret Ramsey-Hale, rule that the evidence presented by the crown was not sufficient, and so she directed the jury to return a not guilty verdict.

The three were charged with one count of aggravated burglar contrary to section 12 of the Theft Ordinance and two counts of inflecting grievous bodily harm contrary to section 11 of the Offences against the Persons Ordinance.

The prosecution stated that the three acting together along with two other persons entered the June Plum dwelling, occupied by Leslie and Constance Breen and maliciously inflict grievous bodily harm on Leslie Breen by hitting him in the head with a rock.

The prosecution further noted that the three proceeded to rob the house of property valued at $4,350. The items, according to the prosecution, included one gold engagement ring valued at $1,500; one gold wedding band valued at $1,000; one black Iphone valued at $500; one beige Coach bag valued at $150; one grey Kraft purse valued at $90; one pink Fuji camera valued at $300; $530 cash; $200 Canada; one green rubber band watch valued at $30; one Samsung cell phone valued at $50; and a quantity of bank cards and Canadian drivers’ licenses.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 13

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

Kenny Grant, Clifford Ashton promoted to superintendents

BY VIVIAN TYSON

T

he Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force has made two significant promotions, elevating Acting Superintendents of Police Kendall “Kenny” Grant and Clifford Ashton to Superintendents of police, recently.

Commissioner of Police Colin Farquar said that two were chosen from a field on a number of acting superintendents after an interview process by a high level team, which included himself and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Law Enforcement Advisor, Larry Covington. He said that the promotions were made to give the force greater stability.

The Commissioner explained that Grant’s promotion gives him the instruments of charge for the B Division, which encompasses the populous Providenciales, North Caicos and Middle Caicos, dealing with overall policing, including beat and patrol. Superintendent Ashton is set in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for all of Turks and Caicos.

“For quite some time now we’ve had people in acting appointments in the organization, and so what I wanted to do is have some promotions, put some people in substantive positions, to give some stability, especially in

Clifford Aston

the executive. And so, on March the 11th and 12th, we ran a structured interview panel.

On the panel were our HR representative; Mr. Larry Covington, who is the FCO Law Enforcement Advisor out of Miami; the Deputy Commissioner (Wayne Jones) and myself. All the assistant superintendents were invited to sit before the structured interview panel.

And so, as a result of the interviews, Mr. Kendall Grant was recommended by the panel to be promoted to superintendent and so

Kendall Grant

was Clifford Ashton. Clifford Ashton is now in charge of the CID and Ken Grant is now in charge of the B Division; B Division is not Just Providenciales but North and Middle Caicos,” the commissioner said.

Explaining the roles, the commissioner said; “It’s (Grants portfolio) basically general duty policing. It’s all the policing in the three islands. He is responsible for beat and patrol, patrol strategies, first response is a big part of the programme, but it is also doing the representative patrols, but it can

also being in the schools, so it is part of the school programme also.

“Where the CID is more the detective work, more of the investigative part of the organization, Ken is what I call frontline policing. He is the supervisor of everybody that’s out there doing police work.”

In response, Superintendent Grant said not only was he elated by the promotion but his self of duty to his country and law enforcement in the TCI has been bolstered.

“It feels pretty good to be promoted to the rank of superintendent, it is something that I had been working towards, and I have been committed to the force to ensuring that operation needs are met, and it is something that I will continue to work towards,” he said.

The newly-promoted B Division superintendent said that the communities which he serves should expect, among other things, a faster response time and greater police presence under his watch.

“From me, the community can really expect more of our police officers out there; you can see increased response time, and you can see, from a patrol standpoint, our officers will be more involved in investigations also. So really and truly, we are looking to be more involved in every aspect of policing,” Superintendent Grant said.

Page 14

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Zilpha Williams Needs

DOMESTIC HELPER Salary

$5

per hour

Contact

# 343-1392 JENNINGS TAXI AND TOURS is looking for

ADVERTISE WITH THE TCI SUN

A CONCIERGE ATTENDANT

CALL 9468542 FOR SPECIAL RATES

Salary: $5 per hour

Contact: 441-0111

TCI NATURAL CURE & DIET PHAMACY SEEKS

SUPERNATURAL PATCH & TOUR SEEKS

1 Pharmacist 1 Sales Person 1 Cleaner

1 COOK 1 CLEANER 1 WAITRESS

Spanish & Creole is a must Salary negotiable

Spanish, French & English is a must Starting Salary $5.00 per hour

344-8224 344-8224 North Caicos Contracting SEEKS

CARPENTER • An experience carpenter required for full time work at North Caicos • Must be willing to work 6 days a week • Must have 2 years experience & references • Must demonstrate ability to work unsupervised with excellent communication skills is essential for the position.

Salary is $10.00 per Hour (C) Please apply at ncc@tciway.tc or contact 946 7437

Required at North Caicos Contracting

AIR CONDITIONING MECHANIC • An experience Air Conditioning Mechanic and a carpenter required for full time work at North Caicos • Must be willing to work 6 days a week • Must have 10 years experience sizing and construction duct work and installing servicing complete central air conditioning systems • Must be proficient in MS Excel for Inventory purposes • Must demonstrate ability to work unsupervised with excellent communi cation skills is essential for the position.

• salary is $12.00 per hour Please apply at ncc@tciway.tc or contact 946 7437

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 15

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

Chamber president E. Jay Saunders calls for hanging to be introduced in TCI

BY VIVIAN TYSON

E

. Jay Sounders, President for the Providenciales of Commerce is calling for capital punishment to be introduced in the Turks and Caicos Islands to serve as a deterrent to the spiraling crime rate as confirmed by the latest police yearly crime statistics.

Crime statistics released earlier this year by the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force revealed that there has been a 24 percent increase in criminality in 2013, in comparison to the previous year of 2012. This figure has not gone down well with members of the business community, who complained that it could impact their businesses, and so, called on government to address the issue.

As a result, the Governor His Excellency Peter Beckingham, Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing and Commissioner of Police Colin Farquar were invited the monthly meeting of the Providenciales Chamber of Commerce on Monday (April 8), to discuss their plans for crime reduction.

Saunders used the meeting to call for greater action from the executive as well as the police. He told the meeting that the crime rate has reached an intolerable level, which needs to be combated with urgency, and there recommended a raft of solution-oriented action, including capital punishment.

“The crime rate has gotten to a point where it is concerning for a

E. Jay Saunders (second left), President of the Providenciales Chamber of Commerce gave his remarks , while looking on are (from left) Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing; His Excellency Governor Peter Beckingham and Commissioner of Police Colin Farquhar place like the Turks and Caicos. From the layman on the street it appears that we may not be doing enough – government may not be doing enough. Robert Been (who was shot and killed early March) was a friend of mine who I have worked with for several years, and when that (murder) happens and there is a difficulty solving it, then it becomes very concerning because it hits home.

“Why can’t we immediately tell people to take stock of their guns that they have as license for and account for all of them, and penalize them if there is anything missing or take away their licenses? Why can’t we immediately do a gun amnesty,

and ask anyone who doesn’t have a gun license to turn it (guns in)?

“And then why can’t we immediately after that, say that any gun crime is a mandatory sentence, and any gun crime that leads to murder – and I know that we don’t have capital punishment here – then we will try to bring it back and the government will seek that?” Saunders queried.

Saunders argued that the culprits indulging in certain crimes in the TCI apparently want to test the resolve of the TCI community, and it was up to the authorities to repel such attempts.

“We have to show them that we are not going to stand for this, and

that our resolve is stronger than there’s and that this is not a battle that they will win. At some point we should be able to look into their eyes and say to them that ‘if you are going to test our resolve, you will not come out on top’. That is just my naïve view,” the Chamber President said.

He further noted: “Twenty-four percent increase year-on-year is a massive increase is a massive increase. And it has reversed all of the gains that were made in the last four years, and I know that the laws of averages exaggerate small numbers, but 24 percent (increase in crime is really, really out there, and it really means that something needs to be done,” he said.

In the meantime, Saunders is not convinced that the police force has the necessary technical experts to solve crimes, and so, urged the movers and shakers on that periphery to source those experts.

“I don’t think we have any crime scene experts, people who solve crimes. And I apologize and can be corrected if I am wrong, but maybe that is where it needs to start. Crime scene experts, do we have them?

And if we don’t have them, then we need to get them. We’ve spent a lot of time, particularly since the interim administration, concentrating on the administration (of the police force) and we probably haven’t spent any time on the technical, how to solve crime,” Saunders argued.

HOUSEKEEPING SUPERVISOR Requirements: t Possess at least 3 years experience in a Supervisory role at a luxury resort t Possess knowledge of proper cleaning techniques, requirements and use of equipment t Supervise the staff on various shifts t Possess knowledge of proper cleaning supplies and chemical handling t Ensure that the standards of the hotel are met t Assist with administration duties, such as timesheets and tracking lost and found property. t Able to work morning or evening shift and on weekends t Must have good oral and written communication skills and be computer literate t Must be able to resolve problems in a timely manner and provide exceptional customer service Qualified Belongers need only to apply Salary Range: Commensurate based on qualifications and experience Contact: humanresources@thewestbayclub.com

CARPENTER Responsibilities: t Responsible for constructing and maintaining the facility such as furniture, stairs, repairs internal and external structures. t Maintain building and facilities for services and repairs t Perform electrical repairs t Maintain doors, windows, furniture and other items t Monitor and replace weather strippings t Maintain building interiors and exteriors Qualified Belongers need only to apply Salary Range: Commensurate based on qualifications and experience Contact: humanresources@thewestbayclub.com

Page 16

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Page 17

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

Expectations rise as new police vehicles arrive

BY VIVIAN TYSON

B

y now the general public on Grand Turk and Providenciales should have started to see not just increased police presence in their neighborhoods but new vehicles as well, thanks to the sourcing of 18 custom-made Ford Explorer SUVS and one van by the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force.

The first eight arrived on Monday (April 8) and was commissioned into service before day-end on Tuesday. Two of the vehicles were sent to Grand Turk, while Providenciales retained six. North Caicos, Middle Caicos and South Caicos are not slated to get any of the new units.

A handover ceremony was held at the Chalk Sound Police Station on Tuesday, during which Commissioner of Police Colin Farquar gave specifics of how the vehicles would be used.

This has been a long time coming, we have been waiting quite a few months for these new vehicles, and some of them have finally arrived. There are going to be 19 vehicles altogether; there will be 18 SUVs and one 15-passenger van that will be coming a little later.

We received six cars in Providenciales today (Tuesday April 8) and two in Grand Turk also today. We are quite happy and fortunate to have all of these brand new vehicles that will help with safety and security in the Turks and Caicos Islands,” Farquar said.

He added: “The bulk of the vehicles is going to be assigned to Providenciales, they would be shared vehicles among the beat and patrol officers, whether it’s in Blue Hills, Grace Bay, any of the other stations.”

Claudia Been-Munnings, who owns Champion Trucking with her Husband, Rodney Mun-

Photo shows some of the vehicles parked at the Chalk Sound Police Station

nings, said that the remaining 13 vehicles were slated to arrive by Friday (April 11), and that two more would be shipped to Grand Turk by Monday (April 14), making that capital island getting four in total.

“We have been waiting patiently and in some cases impatiently on the delivery of these vehicles, and we are happy that today we can hand over the keys for the first batch of vehicles, the remainder of which will be landed in Provo on Friday – the remainder of the initial 13 – with two more going to Grant Turk, and they should be delivered on Monday,” Munnings said.

She said the maintenance would be done

by Grace Bay motors, which would conduct the exercise every two months.

Commissioner Farquhar explained that one of the first six vehicles would be assigned to police headquarters in Grand Turk and shared by the staff there until the others arrived.

“The other five would be going to the Providenciales Division, and one of them would be identified to the traffic unit. Traffic enforcement is going to be a big part of our pro-

gramme over the next year,” Farquhar said.

He said there was a debate as to whether all the vehicles should have been marked, but said that he preferred all of them marked at this time to enable police presence.

“I think these vehicles give us police presence. With the deckling on them, with the lighting package on them; they all have good radio capacity as far as range, and they are well marked, so everybody will know that there are police in the area,” Commissioner Farquhar said.

Farquar, speaking on the specifications of the vehicles, noted: “The biggest part of it being not an off-the-shelf vehicle as far as specs goes, with police specs, it usually has a heavy duty transmission, heavy duty cooling system, suspension and brake system. And so, those are higher standards than normal domestic vehicles.”

Superintendent Kendall Grant, who received the keys to vehicles from the commissioner on behalf of the B Division, said that they would greatly assist the police in the drive to combat crime on the island.

“One of the strategies that these vehicles will us in is our patrol strategy. They will assist us in having our officers, doing the right thing at the right time, and increase our response time to incidents,” he said.

Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Wayne Jones, who also spoke at the event, said that over the past few weeks the forced receives harsh criticisms from the public, who complained about slow response times, which he said was due to the limited number of vehicles at their disposal.

“So, I am very thankful that they are here today, and I know that we will answer to the public in a satisfactory time,” Jones said.

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

LOCAL NEWS

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

“22 Years Later: The Impact of the NIB on the TCI Today” BY: WALTER F L GARDINER, NIB DEPUTY DIRECTOR OPERATIONS It certainly wasn’t easy.

Turks and Caicos Islanders were not used to being “taxed”; never had the experience of having monies compulsorily deducted from their pay checks- it was certainly not an easy sell. As members of the first NIB Staff, we were cursed, chased off of premises, criticized and ostracized.

Introduced in April 1992 amidst a massive cloud of suspicion, mistrust and opposition from the general public, the National Insurance Prograrmme has had a major social, economic impact on the development of the TCI today.

The effect of this can be seen throughout just about every sector of our society as the programme has transformed the lives of all persons residing, working and doing business in the Islands todayemployees, self employed persons and employers alike.

THEN AND NOW In order to fully appreciate and understand how the NIB has positively impacted the TCI, it is imperative that one takes a candid retrospective look at what life was like pre- NIB. Prior to its introduction, persons working and residing in the TCI private sector encountered numerous social and financial hardships in the areas of: 1. Maternity Prior to April 1992, expectant mothers grappled with several issues with regard to the planning of their pregnancies because the laws at that time granted them Maternity Allowance of 12 weeks at half-pay only after 2 years of service with any employer. Despite the fact that this was law, a large number of employers chose not to abide by the law and actually found reasons to terminate their services after being informed of the pregnancy simply because they did not want to pay the employee half-pay as well as engage a temporary replacement for the expectant mother. In some cases, the expecting employee would actually end up being permanently replaced by her temporary replacement.

Non- compliance was considerably high in the 80’s and government did not have adequate manpower and resources at that time to effectively deal with the issues (to this I can attest as the first Labour Commissioner).

Some employees, not wanting to be a financial burden on the employers and wanting to secure their jobs, continued to work dangerously close to their expected confinement date and/ or returned to work much earlier than legally required, thus reducing the necessary/ recommended bonding time with their newborns.

But the NIS has changed all of that and today provides insured expecting mothers 12 weeks Maternity Allowance at 60% of their average insurable earnings along with a $500.00 Maternity Grant upon the birth of the baby.

Expecting moms are now guaranteed a portion of their salary whilst on Maternity Leave.

No more having to worry about whether the employer could afford or would be honest enough to provide the half pay maternity allowance as previously required by law. NIS has effectively removed the burden from the employer and assumed that responsibility so that a reliable and uninterrupted stream of income is available whilst the employee is absent from work, with no required compensation from the em-

Walter Gardiner ployer.

2. Employment Injury/ Disablement In the past, if an employee was seriously injured on the job, there were no laws which required employers to pay for the loss of income whilst the employee was incapable of work. The employee was, in many cases, at the mercy of the employer who assisted financially for whatever period if he so desired.

If the employee was rendered permanently incapable of work, he would most likely be forced to sue his employer to receive any form of compensation.

In those days, the law limited any civil suit to $20,000.00 and your employer would most likely find a reason to terminate your employment soon after receiving notice of the suit. If you were lucky enough to win your suit, your money would be shortlived as it would not be able to sustain you for the duration of your life.

The NIS addresses that problem today by providing Employment Injury Benefit at 60% of the employee’s pay until the employee is able to return to work up to a maximum of twelve months. If the employee is unable to return permanently, the NIS may pay him a Disablement Pension of 30- 60% for the duration of his life. In addition to the benefit, the employee may also be entitled to reimbursements for overseas travelling expenses, Constant Attendance Allowance (an additional monthly pension for persons who require the continuous services of a care giver).

3. Sickness Prior to the introduction of the NIS, employees who fell ill and were unable to work were only entitled to twelve days Sick Leave per year with full pay from their employers. Once those twelve days were exhausted, employees would not be paid for any other days of sickness. This meant that employees would have to stay at home sick without any pay until they got better to return to work. Because they would have bills to pay and children to feed, some employees would return to work sick, just to keep the money coming into the household. In some cases, employees would return to work only to find that someone else had been hired in their place while they were sick. Depending on the employer, employees were really scared sometimes to miss a day at work although they were truly sick.

The NIS has corrected this serious problem and protect sick workers by paying them 60% of their pay up to a maximum of 6 months illness. Both the employer and the employee do not have to be too concerned about absence on the job due to sickness as the NIS now covers a portion of the employee’ salary at a time when it is really needed.

4. Invalidity In the past, if an employee became sick and was unable to work for a very long period, not only would it be likely that that employee not be paid for any time absent from work exceeding twelve days, but that sick employee would most likely be eventually replaced with a healthy employee. Employees who developed a permanent or terminal illness would certainly be released from their jobs usually without any extended form of financial assistance from their employer- government perhaps would have assisted by way of the Welfare Department in their small way.

Today, the NIS provides an Invalidity Pension of 30% - 60% of the employee’s salary for any period of illness exceeding six months which is likely to be permanent for the rest of the employee’s life. Considering the serious battles our country faces today with the problem of HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and other long term illnesses, the NIS is playing a very critical role in financially assisting these persons who can no longer assist themselves.

5. Funerals The average cost of funerals in the TCI over the past 22 years has risen from $600.00 to $6,000.00. In the past, the expenses associated with funerals created many hardships for many families and left them with large debts following the burial of their loved ones. Here too, government sometimes assisted in a small way, whenever possible.

Today, the NIS provides a Funeral Grant of $2,000.00 for an insured person and $1,200.00 for dependants to assist with the funeral expenses. Indeed, there were very few funerals held in the TCI within the past 21 years where the NIS has not contributed financially, relieving some of the burden on family, friend and state.

6. Survivor’s Pension There is nothing more devastating perhaps than the death of a bread- winner when the survivors are not financially able to care for themselves. In the past, upon the death of a mother or father, the surviving spouse and children were often left to suffer economic hardship and seek the help of family, friends and government just to ‘make ends meet’.

Sometimes, in the case of orphans, these children became wards of the state, depending solely on government.

But now, the NIS provides Survivors Pensions in the form of Widow’s, Widower’s, and Children’s Pensions, to ensure that those persons to not face undue financial hardships. Today, persons who pay NIS contributions can go about their lives confident that should something happens to them, their survivors will be financially protected.

7. Retirement Pension Prior to the NIB, when an employee reached the age of 55 or 60 or became too old to perform with the speed and accuracy in which he once did, the employer would eventually ‘lay him off’ or replace his services with that of a younger person. As pension plans were virtually non-existent in those days with the exception of the government, banks, and some of the large private sector companies, the employee would usually go home empty –handed, with very little or no savings in the bank. Because of this, he and his family suffered.

But now, the NIS provides 30%- 60% Retirement Pension to employees who reach the age of 60 – 65 years and have paid contributions for at least 10 years.

This guaranteed pension ensures that the employee and his family enjoy a rea-

sonably good quality of life beyond retirement because it is difficult to save.

Saving sometimes calls for extraordinary self discipline. Today, many persons in the TCI today receive and depend on their NIS pensions.

8. Non-Contributory Old Age Pension Our fathers and fore-fathers slaved for us and built these beautiful Turks and Caicos Islands for us many, many years ago. They had to struggle and fight very hard in years gone just to survive and when they became elderly and unable to work anymore, many found themselves without any form of regular financial assistance. Some of these persons depended on government (often politically determined) to assist them with a mere $40.00 -$60.00 per month to sustain themselves because family and friends could not or did not assist. Unfortunately, these persons were either too old to pay NIS contributions or unemployed to contribute toward a Retirement Pension, The NIS takes care of these persons (some 484 of them) by providing a NonContributory Pension of $250.00 per month for the rest of their lives. This ensures their standards of living, prevents their living in abject poverty and prolongs their lives a little bit longer to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

CONCLUSION Latest March 2014 figures reveal that the NIB: 1. Collects 25M annually in contributions (20M –TCIG; 3.4M -Private Sector; 650K- Self Employed 2. Pays out 12M annually in benefits 3. Currently has 200M in cash and investments 4. Has 1,330 persons receiving various monthly pensions as below: Pension Type # of Recipients Retirement Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811 Old Age Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Survivors Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Invalidity Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Disablement Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Death Pension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Constant Attendance Allowance . . . . . 3 Distributed over $64.5M (sixty four and a half million dollars) in benefit payments since April 6, 1992 throughout the Islands into the local TCI economy.

I can safely say that every single contributor to the Programme has today benefitted / is benefiting in some way from the NIB or is related to / associated with someone who has benefitted / is benefiting from the NIS. These monies provide much needed assistance for the people of the TCI and keep the economy alive.

The National Insurance Programme has indeed elevated and transformed the lives of the TCI people over the years and has become a key player in the development of the TCI, by making us all ‘our brother’s keeper’ with the strong helping the weak, the rich helping the poor, and the young helping the old – just the way it should be. The NIS has allowed development to come and continue in the TCI because it ensures that our most precious and valuable resource (our people) are protected in times of ill health and financial difficulty to facilitate that development. The NIS provides a certain guaranteed ‘peace of mind’ for our many employers and employees alike and they now worry less about the financial implications of sickness, injury, maternity, retirement and death as they are assured that the NIS will be there for them when they need us.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Rake & Scrape Festival Jolts North Caicos out of Slumber

were six year old Panthea Lightbourne who was Mr. Sax Man-Edwin Forbes who blew the minds VSRQVRUHG E\ Âł0< *,5/ )HUU\ 6HUYLFH´ VHYHQ of the audience with their individual saxophone year old Takeira Williams who was sponsored by renditions. There is no doubt that North Caicos has orth Caicos saw the outpour of a large Âł7UXO\ 1RODQ´ VHYHQ \HDU ROG )DOHQD +DQGÂżHOG given birth to its own stars and super stars. crowd which gathered at Horse Stable Beach ZKR ZDV VSRQVRUHG E\ Âł0 0 7D[L 6HUYLFH´ QLQH ,Q DGGLWLRQ WR WKH VSRQVRUV RI WKH FRQWHVWDQWV Complex to witness the crowning of a mini king year old Catherine Swann who was sponsored by RWKHU VSRQVRUV RI WKH HYHQW ZHUH &RUH 3HWUROHXP and queen on Saturday April 5th. The pomp Âł2WKHU 3HRSOHÂśV $IIDLUV´ DQG VHYHQ \HDU ROG %UHD $OÂśV 5HQW D &DU &,%& 1LFN &DU 5HQWDOV 5R\DOV and fanfare came in the form of the Mr. & Miss Garland who was sponsored by â&#x20AC;&#x153;Caicos Expressâ&#x20AC;?. 7D[L DQG 7RXU 0\ 'HHV 5HVWDXUDQW DQG 'HHS A.O.P.S. Pageant which has become the main 3UL]HV IRU WKH FRYHWHG FURZQ RI $ 2 3 6 ÂśV Creek Water suppliers. The judges for the event annual fund-raising event of the Adelaide Oemler king and queen included tablets complimentary of ZHUH <RXWK 2IÂżFHU IRU 1RUWK 0LGGOH &DLFRV Primary School. The pageant now in its third year 'LJLFHO FDVK DZDUGV JLIW FHUWLÂżFDWHV IURP *UDFH 1LFROH *DUGLQHU 7HDFKHU RI 5*+6 )HOLFLD /HZLV since inception was originally called Mini Miss. %D\ 5HVRUWV $ WURSK\ IRU HDFK ZLQQHU DQG JLIW District Commissioner for North & Middle CaicosDonna Gardiner and Director of Special Needs$ 2 3 6 DQG ZDV ÂżUVW LQWURGXFHG E\ SDVW WHDFKHU EDVNHWV FRXUWHV\ RI 2WKHU 3HRSOHÂśV $IIDLU The event set its rhythm with an opening Bettyann Been.

0V )DLWK -RKQVRQ 6KH DORQJ ZLWK WKH VFKRROÂśV PTA Executive body had perceived the venture as dance from the ten contestants who were adorned 7KH MXGJHVÂś GHFLVLRQ UHQGHUHG WKH YLFWRU\ WR an avenue for the female students to develop social LQ QDWLRQDO FRVWXPHV DV WKH\ GDQFHG WR WKH VRQJ the following contestants: Crowned as Miss JUDFHV WR EXLOG FRQÂżGHQFH LQ RUDO H[SUHVVLRQ DQG Brown Girl in the Ring. Each contestant later made $ 2 3 6 ZDV 3DQWKH /LJKERXUQH ZKR ZDV Ă&#x20AC;DQNHG to engage themselves using a creative medium appearances in sportswear and in the elegance E\ QG SODFH ZLQQHU 7DNHLUD :LOOOLDPV DQG UG LQ ZKLFK WR KLJKOLJKW WKHLU WDOHQWV 7KLV \HDU WKH and regality of their individual formal wear attire. SODFH ZLQQHU )DOHQD +DQGÂżHOG 0HOLTXH (YDQV organizers decided to extend the opportunity for Two among the key areas in which contestants emerged as Mr. A.O.P.S. with Kaylee Williams JURZWK WR WKH ER\V DV ZHOO WKXV JLYLQJ ELUWK WR D were judged were an on-stage interview whereby LQ QG SODFH DQG $OYDGHV :LOOLDPV LQ UG SODFH mini king and queen of Adelaide Oemler Primary. each contestant had to respond to a Social Other Sectional Prizes and awards were given to The event was emceed by the illustrious Cynclair 6WXGLHV TXHVWLRQ DQG LQ WKH SUHVHQWDWLRQ RI WKHLU &DWKHULQH 6ZDQQ DQG %UHD *DUODQG ERWK RI ZKRP Musgrove (Lady C) and musical accompaniment various talent pieces which saw contestants WLHG IRU %HVW )RUPDO :HDU LQ WKH IHPDOH VHJPHQW ZDV SURYLGHG E\ '- 6NHHW DV ZHOO DV E\ PHPEHUV GRQQLQJ RXWÂżWV WR HQKDQFH WKHLU FUHDWLYH WDOHQW the award for Most Congenial went to the radiant of the R.G.H.S. band in the persons of Omel presentations. Performances comprised of vocal and effervescent Takeira Williams whose smile Gardiner and Mr. Benjamin Lewis. In attendance WDOHQW LQVWUXPHQWDO VHOHFWLRQ GDQFH DQG PLPH was as injecting as her poise and grace and to was Member of Parliament for North & Middle and dramatic speech. Among the outstanding 0HOLTXH (YDQV LQ WKH PDOH VHJPHQW $GGLWLRQDOO\ &DLFRV DQG 0LQLVWHU IRU ,PPLJUDWLRQ /DERXU WKH talents displayed was that of Panthe Lightbourne Master Kaylee Williams won Best Talent in the who instantly won the hearts of the audiences not male segment while Panthea Lightboune walked Honorable Donhue Gardiner.

Ten contestants vied for top and sectional prizes. only with her eloquence in dramatic poetry but away with the title in the female segment. Most )LYH RI WKHVH ZHUH PDOHV DQG ÂżYH ZHUH IHPDOHV with her costume highlighting the symbols of our Aware contestants were Imran Laborde and Panthea ranging from ages six to nine years old. Among â&#x20AC;&#x153;Beautiful By Natureâ&#x20AC;? Turks & Caicos Islands. The /LJKWERXUQH LQ WKH PDOH DQG IHPDOH VHJPHQWV these contestants were the following boys- six crowd was also entertained by others of the student respectively.

Under the tutor-ledge of Ms. Antinique Hall year old Melique Evans who was sponsored by body who sang and who modeled fashion wears. $ GHOLJKWIXO WKUHH \HDU ROG VWXGHQW %UHQWDQDH DQG 0V 1RUOLQH 'DOH\ WKH FRQWHVWDQWV VWXGHQWV Âł*R ZLWK WKH )OR 7D[L 6HUYLFH´ VHYHQ \HDU ROG Kaylee Williams who was sponsored by â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lew 1 6PLWK ZLWK D FRQÂżGHQFH DQG FKDUP ELJJHU WKDQ KHU RI $GHODLGH 2HPOHU 3ULPDU\ DORQJ ZLWK NH\ 6KLSSLQJ´ HLJKW \HDU ROG $OYDGHV :LOOLDPV ZKR DJH GRPLQDWHG WKH VWDJH GXULQJ WKH IDVKLRQ VKRZ RUJDQL]HUV $FWLQJ 3ULQFLSDO -DQH :LOOLDPV DQG ZDV VSRQVRUHG E\ Âł6LOYHU 3DOP %LVWUR´ HLJKW \HDU and had the audience spellbound as they watched 37$ ([HFXWLYH /HDGHU %DUEDUD *DUGLQHU JDYH old Imran Laborde who was sponsored by â&#x20AC;&#x153;B&B her walk the ramp and blowing kisses at the North Caicos and its neighbouring communities an Service Stationâ&#x20AC;? and six year old Marco Williams crowd. Guest performances came from Raymond evening to remember. who was sponsored by â&#x20AC;&#x153;Petro-Martâ&#x20AC;?. The girls *DUGLQHU +LJK 6FKRRO VWXGHQWV .DPLD 5ROOH DQG

BY Marguerite Anderson

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(L-R) Outgoing queen-Miss A.O.P.S. and Mini Miss Rake & Scrape

(L-R) Song done by Pandel Lightbourne, Davis Gardiner, Aiyana Been

Alvades Williams, Catherine Swann

RGHS Saxman, Edwin Forbes

Melique Evans and Panthea Lightbourne in Formal Wear

MC, Lady C and the Hon. Donhue Gardiner

The crowd enjoys the sweet rake & scrape music

Henry the conch getting his rake and scrape on

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

Spring Fun Walk & Run 2014

Everyone wins with a healthier lifestyle.

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Come and join our winning team!!!

Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages and Spa, the only 6 Diamond all inclusive property in the Caribbean is inviting applications from suitably qualified Turks and Caicos Islanders for the following vacant positions.

Applicants must have a clean police record and a good command of the English language both written and spoken. In addition candidates must be able to work nights, public holidays and week-ends. The Resort thanks everyone for their interest in advance and advises that only short listed applicants will be contacted for an interview.

Food and Beverage Department requires: 9 9

Rooms Division Department Requires:

Supervisor Shift Leader Requirements include but are not limited to: o Three years supervising a restaurant with seating over 100 persons an asset. o Excellent customer service skills o Knowledge of wines

9 9 9 9 9

Concierge Agent Front Office Agent Departure Lounge Agent Receptionist Soon Come Back Agent Requirements include but are not limited to: o Certified Guest Service Professional o Experience in resolving guest concerns o Sales experience (Soon Come Back Agent) o Ability to go above and beyond for guest

9 9

Bellman Minibar Stocker/Attendant Requirements include but are not limited to: o Physically Fit o Outgoing and friendly attitude

The rate for the positions listed above is $6.00 to $10.00 an hour.

9

Servers Requirements include but are not limited to: o One year’s experience in a restaurant with seating for over 100 persons an asset. o No food allergies o Ability to work in the sun o Physically fit

The rate for the position listed above is $5.00 to $5.75 an hour.

The rate for the positions listed above is $5.00 to $6.75 an hour.

Department requires: 9 9 9 9

Security Department Requires:

Bartenders Bar Porters Cocktail Waitress/ Server Beach/Pool Server Requirements include but are not limited to: o Ability to mix a variety of drinks alcoholic and non-alcoholic. o Outgoing personality o Ability to work in the sun o Physically fit

9 9 9

The rate for the positions listed above is $5.00 to $5.75 an hour.

9

Supervisor Requirements include but are not limited to: o Knowledge of stock ordering and maintenance of par levels o Ability to mix a variety of drinks alcoholic and non-alcoholic. o Outgoing personality o Ability to work in the sun o Physically fit

The rate for the positions listed above is $6.00 to $10.00 an hour.

Rooms Division Department Requires: 9

The rate for the position listed above is $6.00 to $9.00 an hour.

Housekeeping Department requires: 9 9 9

Room Attendants Housemen Public Area Attendants/Cleaner Requirements include: o One year’s experience in a hotel environment an asset. o Physically fit

9

Linen Room Controller Requirements include: o Experience with inventory and maintaining par levels. o Physically fit

Kitchen Department requires: 9 9 9 9

Experience leading a team of cooks (supervisor) Must have worked in a Resort kitchen or medium to large sized restaurant Must have over three years’ experience Professional qualification an asset

The rate for the positions listed above is $5.00 to $10.00 an hour.

Housekeeping Supervisor Requirements include: o Supervises and may participate in housekeeping services including cleaning, mopping, scrubbing, sanitizing the floors and other surfaces

Stewarding Department requires: 9 9

Entertainment Department requires:

9

Chef Cook (Grade 1,2 and 3) Supervisor Junior Chef Requirements include but are not limited to: o o o o

The rate for the position listed above is $6.00 to $8.00 an hour.

9

Butler Requirements include but are not limited to: o Member of the Association of English Butlers o Ability to go above and beyond for guest

The rate for the position listed above is $6.00 to $6.50 an hour.

The rate for the positions listed above is $5.00 to $6.50 an hour.

9

Security Supervisor Security Shift Leader Security Officer Requirements include but are not limited to: o Supervise a team of officers (Supervisor and Shift Leader) o Responds rapidly to all incidents. o Ability to write reports. o Identify and eliminate risk. o Ability to work in the sun o Medically and Physically fit o At least 2 years relevant experience

Kids Counselor/ Attendant Requirements include but are not limited to: o An outgoing personality required o Certificate in early childhood education an asset o First Aid qualification an asset

Steward Labour Requirements include but are not limited to: o Physically Fit o Ability to work with chemical

The rate for the positions listed above is $5.00 to $5.75 an hour.

9

Fun pals/ Players/ Dancers/ Clowns Requirements include but are not limited to: o An outgoing personality required o Ability to sing and dance

Shift Leader Requirements include: o Leads a stewarding team o Experience with cleaning and chemical o Physically fit

The rate for the position listed above is $5.75 to $6.50 an hour.

The rate for the positions listed above is $5.15 to $6.00 an hour. .

Applications giving full details of qualifications and experience should be sent to: mmvaughn@grp.sandals.com or Fax to: 941-4870 Attn: M McClean-Vaughn The Human Resources Department Beaches Turks and Caicos P.O. Box 186 Lower Bight Road

and

The Labour Commissioner Labour Department Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands

and should reach not later than April 26th 2014

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

Come and join our winning team!!!

Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages and Spa, the only 6 Diamond all inclusive property in the Caribbean is inviting applications from suitably qualified Turks and Caicos Islanders for the following vacant positions.

Applicants must have a clean police record and a good command of the English language both written and spoken. In addition candidates must be able to work nights, public holidays and week-ends. The Resort thanks everyone for their interest in advance and advises that only short listed applicants will be contacted for an interview.

The Administrative Department requires: 9 9 9

Off Site Departments requires:

Senior Executive Assistant Manager Executive Assistant Manager Zone Manager Requirements include but are not limited to: o Experience in F&B, Rooms Division and operations o Experience in managing a boutique hotel or an operation encompassing rooms, restaurant and environs

9

o o o

9 9 9 9

Rooms Division Department Requires: 9

Executive Housekeeper Requirements include but are not limited to: o Schedules staff according to forecasted occupancy and maintains productivity standards. o Oversee the financial processes of budgeting, purchasing, payroll and inventory control. o Maintain quality standards to ensure the highest level of cleanliness o Maintain all safety and security policies. o Minimum of 10 years housekeeping management o Experience in managing a team of over 300 persons

o o o o o o o

9 9 9 9 9 9 9

Watersports Manager Requirements include but are not limited to: o Experience managing a waterparks, pools, beach and dive portfolio o PADI certification to dive o PADI certification to teach instructors o First Aid Certification

9 9

Supervisor Shift Leader Requirements include but are not limited to: o Experience leading a team on a shift o Knowledgeable of in related fields both in theory and practical

9 9

Labour Painter Requirements include but are not limited to: o Physically Fit o Ability to carry out labour intensive task

The Housekeeping Department requires: Assistant Executive Housekeeper Requirements include but are not limited to: o Minimum of 5 years housekeeping management o Maintain quality standards to ensure the highest level of cleanliness o Maintain all safety and security policies. o Experience in managing a team of over 150 persons

The rate for the positions listed above is $5.00 to $11.00 an hour.

Photoshop Department requires:

Spa Department requires: 9

Spa Manager Requirements include but are not limited to: o Experience in managing multiple spa retail outlets o Knowledge or certification in Dermalogica Brand an assist o Ability to sell services and product o Ability to meet targets and sales quotas

9

Supervisor Requirements include but are not limited to: o Experience supervising Staff located in two retail outlets

9 9 9

Underwater Photographer Photographer Shop Attendant Requirements include but are not limited to: o 2 years’ experience in field o Ability to sell and make quotas o Ability to dive (Underwater Photographer)

The rate for the positions listed above is $6.00 to $11.00 an hour.

The Photoshop Department requires: 9

The Watersports Department requires:

Photoshop Manager Requirements include but are not limited to: o Experience managing multiple photo retail outlets o Experience meeting sales targets o Ability to cross and up sell o Three (3) years relevant experience

9 9

Dive Instructor Scuba Instructor Requirements include but are not limited to: o Physically Fit o Certified in first aid o PADI Certified

9

Supervisor Requirements include but not limited to: o Ability to lead and train a water sports team members o PADI Certified

Kids Kamp Department requires: 9

Electrician Plumber Room Technicians A/C Technicians Stove Technician Mechanic Senior Plant Operator Requirements include but are not limited to: o Knowledgeable of in related fields both in theory and practical

The rate for the positions listed above is $6.00 to $13.00 an hour.

Project Manager Requirements include but are not limited to: Prepare budgets, programs and monitor expenditure Working experience over 20 years. Hotel Industry over 5 years Review all design drawings, and prepare design drawings where necessary Co-ordinate all shipments, and quantify and orders FF&E items Strong Knowledge of BMS, RO plants, Fire, Chill Water System and irrigation system Co-ordinate ALL Local building approvals eq Health, Planning, Environmental, Fire Software knowledge: ACAD, Microsoft Projects, MSWord, MSExcel, Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat

The salary for the positions listed above is negotiable

9

Caretaker Groundsman Labour Cleaner Requirements include but are not limited to: o Physically fit o Ability to carry out labour intensive task o Willing on be on call and flexible

Engineering Department requires:

The Project Department requires: 9

Certified in a least on technical Discipline Ability to be a Ken-Fix-It Willing on be on call and flexible

The rate for the positions listed above is $6.00 to $13.00 an hour.

The Watersports Department requires: 9

Technician

Assistant Manager Requirements include but are not limited to: o Certification as a Nanny or other child care qualification o 3 Years’ experience developing and implementing children’s programs o Physically fit o Ability to manage a multi-cultural team

The rate for the positions listed above is $6.00 to $8.50 an hour

The salary for the positions listed above ranges from $25,000.00 to $65,000.00 per annum

Applications giving full details of qualifications and experience should be sent to: mmvaughn@grp.sandals.com or Fax to: 941-4870 Attn: M McClean-Vaughn The Human Resources Department Beaches Turks and Caicos P.O. Box 186 Lower Bight Road

and

The Labour Commissioner Labour Department Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands th

and should reach not later than April 26 2014

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News

CARIBBEAN

Cheap Dominican Republic plastic surgeries prompt warnings by US

B

everly Brignoni, a 28-year-old New Yorker seeking a cheaper way to enhance her appearance, flew to the Dominican Republic for cosmetic surgery on February 19.

She didn’t come back.

The young mother died the following day from what her family was told was a massive pulmonary embolism while getting a tummy tuck and liposuction at Vista del Jardin Medical Center, a supposedly high-end clinic in Santo Domingo.

The doctor who performed the surgery, Dr Guillermo Lorenzo, didn’t return calls for comment, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

“I’d really like to speak to him, I have a lot of questions to ask,” said Brignoni’s godmother Bernadette Lamboy, who reportedly last spoke to the doctor on the afternoon of February 20 when he called to say that Brignoni was dead.

The Dominican Health Ministry inspected the clinic shortly after Brignoni’s death and ordered the operating room temporarily closed, citing the presence of bacteria and violations of bio-sanitary regulations.

While the sudden death of the young Bronx woman is unusual, it is not unique.

The Dominican Republic’s booming plastic surgery business has become enough of an issue that the American State Department has posted a warning on its page for travel to that country, indicating that in several cases US citizens have suffered serious complications or died.

Last month, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued an alert after health authorities in the US reported that at least 19 women in five states had developed serious mycobacterial wound infections over the previous 12 months following cosmetic procedures in the Dominican Republic.

Although there were no reported deaths in those cases, treatment for those types of infections usually involves long courses of antibiotics and can require new surgery to remove infected tissue and drain fluid, according to a CDC medical officer.

The main allure for foreigners choosing cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic is much lower costs and the assurance that conditions will be on par with what a patient would encounter at home.

Prices are usually about one-third of the cost of similar procedures in the US.

Last year, 60 percent of cosmetic procedures in the Dominican Republic were performed on foreigners, according to the country’s Plastic Surgery Society.

The numbers don’t appear to have been affected by negative reports, including a previous CDC warning about a cluster of infections in 2003 to 2004.

In February, the Dominican government shut down a widely advertised clinic known as “Efecto Brush,” for operating without a license. A criminal case was opened after at least six women accused the clinic of fraud and negligence.

Other cases included that of Dr Hector Cabral, who New York prosecutors accused of examining women in health spas and beauty parlours in that state from 2006 to 2009 without a license, then operating on them in the Dominican Republic, leaving some disfigured.

Cabral pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized practice of medicine in October 2011 and returned to the Dominican Republic, where he still practices.

Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/ index.php/news/dominican_republic_news/1107459. html#ixzz2ya7bxOVR

Region mourns Professor Norman Girvan ST

JOHN’S, Antigua – The local academic community is mourning the death of one of the region’s most renowned economists and scholar.

Professor Emeritus at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona, Norman Girvan, passed away in Cuba on Wednesday after a suffering a fall while hiking in Dominica, three months ago, which left him paralysed.

Jamaican by birth, Girvan, 72, had a distinguished career in academia and was widely known as the leading regional authority on Caribbean Political Economy. He was also a Professorial Research Fellow at UWI’s Institute of International Relations.

Reacting to his death, Head of the UWI Open Campus in Antigua & Barbuda, Ian Benn, said the death of Professor Girvan is a huge loss to Caribbean Economics and Caribbean thought on a whole.

“His death is a significant loss because he represents the kind of Caribbean economist who contributed significantly to independent progressive thought. I think it is a breed

we do not see much of these days,” he said.

Benn, who recalled having to rely on much of Girvan’s work whilst a student at the University of Guyana, described the professor as an original thinker, whose work is unrivalled by the current generation of academics.

“I do recall as a student of economics at the University of Guyana our professors had a penchant for his writing and we knew, to get the kinds of scores that were desirable, we had to make significant reference to his writing,” Benn noted.

His passing, I think is sad. We do not see these days, a lot of original thought coming out of the Caribbean and therefore his death is a monumental loss to all of us.”

Academics across the region have also been commenting on the passing of Girvan. In a statement, Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), Professor Brian Meeks, offered his condolences on his passing.

“On behalf of the entire faculty, staff and student body of the Sir Ar-

UWI Professor Emeritus Norman Girvan passed away in Cuba on Wednesday after suffering a fall in Dominica. thur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, I wish to express the profound sorrow that we feel at the passing of Norman Girvan, Professor Emeritus, the University of the West Indies and first Director of SALISES,” the statement said.

Another regional academic, Dr Tennyson Joseph, head of the Department of Government, Sociology and Social Work at the UWI Cave Hill, said Girvan’s passing has left a huge void in the academic fraternity.

“Obviously, the passing of Girvan would have left a terrible void partic-

ularly in the economic fraternity in particular those of who have an interest in the Political Economy, Regional Integration and the University Community on a whole.

“He, in a sense, was a living embodiment of the idea that the Caribbean economy should be theorized, explained originally and would be used a basis for giving advice to government and for determining policy,” Dr Joseph said.

Born in Kingston in 1941, Girvan attended Calabar High School before entering what was then the University College of the West Indies in 1959 to study economics.

Part of a brilliant cadre of students drawn from across the region, including, among many others, Walter Rodney and H Orlando Patterson, the young Girvan left to pursue his doctorate at the London School of Economics, returning thereafter to the Mona Department of Economics, where he served for many years and established himself as one of the leading economists of the region.

BRITISH MAN EDGAR DART SHOT DEAD IN BAHAMAS ROBBERY

A

British father was shot dead and his family attacked with a machete during a robbery in the Bahamas.

Police said Edgar Dart, 56, who lived in Winnipeg, Canada, was killed when the masked gang attacked his mother’s home in Emerald Bay, Grand Bahama.

The attack happened at about 07:00 local time (12:00 BST) on Tuesday.

His cousin Michael Dart, from Devon, said the family were tied up during the raid and another male was attacked with a machete.

Mr Dart said: “I think one of the boys was attacked with a machete. I don’t know the extent

of his injuries. They were all tied up. They are too upset to talk because they are in complete shock.

“What is really shocking is that he was visiting his mother Joy after the death of his father.

“I am thinking he intervened when there was an altercation. His young son was there as well - it is barbaric, horrific and just really shocking.”

Edgar Dart ran a farm in Topsham, Devon, but left to emigrate to Canada 16 years ago.

The Foreign Office said it was aware of the death and was providing consular assistance.

Assistant Commissioner Emrick Seymour, of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, said three rob-

bers tied up family members with duct tape and Mr Dart was shot during the ensuing struggle.

The attackers had apparently cut phone services to the house before the attack, and fled in a gardener’s van. No arrests have been made.

Assistant Commissioner Seymour said: “We are right in the middle of our investigation into this situation and we are following some leads.”

The attackers are said to have stolen jewellery and other personal belongings.

The death was the sixth murder on Grand Bahama this year and 30 for all of the Bahamas, an island chain just off the south-east coast of Florida.

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CARIBBEAN NEWS

Former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister and president ANR Robinson dead at 87 P

ORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – Former president Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, who once told Trinidad and Tobago that he was committed “with everything I have or shall have to the future of this land,” has died. He was 87.

Robinson, the only person to have served as both head of state and prime minister died Wednesday at the private St. Clair Medical Hospital on the outskirts of the capital where he had been a patient since March 8.

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Irwin La Rocque, said despite the fact that the region knew of his illness and hospitalization, “his passing…still came as a shock.

“The Caribbean Community has lost one of its truly great sons who will always be remembered for his historic role at the landmark Grand Anse Meeting in 1989, where the decision was taken to significantly deepen our integration,” La Rocque said.

The 15-member regional grouping in 1998 bestowed its highest order, “the Award of the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) on Robinson for his “distinguished service to the Caribbean region.

St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony said no one can deny Robinson the accolade of statesman, saying his life was “a tireless journey in the pursuit of justice and equality for all” recalling the role he played in the formation of the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“Trinidad and Tobago and the region have lost a great son, one whose reputation and influence went beyond the narrow confines of local and regional politics and instead reverberated throughout the world,” Anthony said.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, who described Robinson as

“my friend and political mentor” said as president “he stood as an exemplary Head of State, even when faced with declining health, and served with distinction.

“As a true national hero, he earned a sterling reputation as a visionary and champion of the people. Even as he battled his illnesses for many years, Mr. Robinson never lost his fighting edge, and remained driven by what he believed to be just and right.”

But former prime minister Basdeo Panday said while his death was not unexpected, history would “not be kind” to the former head of state.

“I don’t think history will be kind to him for some of the things he did in office,” said Panday, who in 2001, was removed as head of government

by Robinson following the historic 1818 tie in the general election.

Insisting that “I do not have a spiteful bone in my body,” Panday said he could not recall the former prime minister and head of state doing anything “historic” apart from ensuring the establishment of the ICJ. Robinson was born on December 16, 1926 in Calder Hall, Tobago, becoming the first and only person to hold the three highest offices of Trinidad and Tobago: Chairman of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), from 1981-1986; Prime Minister from 1986-1991; and President from 1997-2003.

He studied law as an external student of London University and, after getting his LLB in 1949, moved to England two years later to attend the Inner Temple, where he passed the Bar in 1953. He then went to St. John’s College, Oxford, and obtained a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

In 1958, Robinson was elected as a member of the Federal Parliament in

Robinson, a former prime minister, died at the private St. Clair Medical Hospital, where he had been a patient since March 8. the short-lived Federation of the West Indies.

A founding member of the People’s National Movement (PNM), Robinson was appointed the Minister of Finance after the Federation collapsed in 1962. He held that post until 1967, when he was shifted to the Ministry of External Affairs, acting also as head of government in the absence of the then prime minister Dr. Eric Williams.

Robinson resigned from the PNM and ecame leader of the Tobago-based party, the Democratic Action Congress (DAC), which would eventually come to defeat the PNM in Tobago.

In 1977, Robinson, then Member of Parliament for Tobago East, presented a motion in Parliament which called for internal self-government for Tobago. Three years later, the Tobago House of Assembly was reconstituted under the THA Act, which specified

the areas under which Tobago would run its own affairs. In 1981, Robinson teamed up with the Organisation for National Reconstruction (ONR), led by Karl Hudson-Phillips, to contest the general election.

But while the ONR got 22 per cent of the overall votes, the party failed to win a single seat.

In 1986, he teamed up with the United Labour Front (ULF) led by Panday to form the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) and becoming victorious in the general election.

On July 27, 1990 Robinson faced his greatest test when the Jamaat al Muslimeen staged their attempted coup and despite being held captive for six days he urged the protective forces to attack “with full force”.

In the 1995 election, with both the PNJM and the United National Congress (UNC) winning 17 seats each, Robinson used the two Tobago seats won by his party to form a coalition with the UNC. Two years later, he resigned to become the head of state.

Robinson was the holder of two international awards: The Distinguished International Criminal Law Award of 1977 and the Distinguished Human Development Award of 1983.

He wrote three books: The New Frontier and the New Africa; The Mechanics of Independence; and his autobiography titled “In the Midst of It”.

In 1987, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honour from California Lutheran University. On a state visit to Nigeria in 1991 he was made Chief of Ile Ife by the Ooni of Ife. He was a Freeman of the cities of Los Angeles and Thousand Oaks and holds Venezuela’s highest award - the Simon Bolivar Award.

Robinson’s wife, Patricia, an economist, died in 2009.

St Lucia Government signals possible tougher economic policies as it gets ready to present 2014 budget

C

ASTRIES, St. Lucia – The St. Lucia government says it will focus on reducing the debt and promoting investment as it prepares to present the 2014-15 national budget.

Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony said the island’s revenue has shown some positive signs and the Value added Tax (VAT) implemented over a year ago, has settled.

“That will now give me some room to manoeuvre in terms of making some other adjustments in taxation. I am on record as saying that I do not believe we should introduce any new taxes at this time,” said Anthony, who is also the finance minister.

“Whatever changes will occur are changes within the existing range of policies. While

there will be adjustments of varying kinds, I do not believe new taxes is the way to go,” he said, hinting at the possibility of changes to the VAT regime.

“The private sector has been clamouring for some time to reduce the number of items on the VAT exempted list of goods. St Lucia has the highest number of exempted items (in the Eastern Caribbean) on its VAT legislation.

“The private sector has been making demands to reduce that list because they are cannot claim the input VAT on these exempted items. This is a matter we are considering, as there are a number of items that ought not to have been on the exempted list,” Anthony said.

The Finance Minister said there is no question

that this is a challenging period for the government and indeed for the entire country.

Anthony said he is on record as indicating that the worse is over for the private sector but that is not so for the government as it still has a budget deficit to deal with.

“We have made good progress on reducing the deficit. The year before, the deficit stood at 9.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and we have been able to reduce it to 6.3 per cent. We have to continue to reduce it and so, some effort and attention will be paid to reducing the deficit even further.

“It is clear that in order to reduce the deficit, we must engage in significant expenditure reduction,” he added.

DEATH THREATS MADE AGAINST DPP FOLLOWING VYBZ KARTEL MURDER TRIAL

K

INGSTON, Jamaica – The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn, has confirmed that deaths threats have been to her and members of the prosecution following the murder trial of Dance Hall singer Vybz Kartel who was jailed for life.

Kartel, whose real name is Adjidja Palmer, along with Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John, were found guilty on March 13 for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams.

Kartel is to serve 35 years in jail before he becomes eligible for parole, while Campbell and Jones will serve 25 years, and St John 30. They were sentenced on Thursday.

Police say Williams was killed over the disappearance of two missing firearms. His body has not been found.

The Jamaica Observer newspaper reported Friday that the death threats had been made to the DPP and the prosecution team and that security had been beefed up.

“During the course of this trial we have had threats during the course of our jobs; we have to do our jobs, we have to do it without fear or favour. We suffered threats as well but we have had to ignore it.

The police, at every turn, responded immediately. We have had to beef up security around the prosecution,” Llewellyn told the newspaper.

“I would appeal to the public to appreciate that we have a job to do as professionals. We don’t take it

personally. We have an obligation as ministers of justice to make sure that everything is fair to the defendant. We cannot be intimidated. We are salaried public servants doing a job that we are committed to doing.

If we get a conviction or if someone is acquitted we get the same salary,” she added.

Meanwhile, police Thursday issued a statement outlining a number of threats that were made against prosecution witnesses during the trial.

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Caribbean urged to strengthen measures to deal with proceeds of crime R

OSEAU, Dominica – The two-day eighth annual regional Proceeds of Crime Conference began here on Wednesday with Caribbean countries being urged to strengthen measures aimed at curtailing the activities of criminals that could undermine national security.

“This conference is important because serious and organized crime threatens national security by fueling violence, breeding insecurity, creating instability and weakening governance.

“In doing so it poses a significant threat to prosperity, threatening economic growth by discouraging inward investment and creating barriers to business,” said Eamon Kearney, the Programme Manager-Caribbean Criminal Assets Recovery Programme (CCARP).

The conference, funded by the United King-

dom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and hosted by Dominica’s Financial Intelligence Unit, is part of the DFID’s initiative that covers the seven independent countries of the Eastern Caribbean, along with Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Montserrat.

Kearney told delegates that criminals often fight harder to protect their assets from confiscation than they do to avoid going to jail.

He said the conference is an opportunity for the Commonwealth Caribbean ‘to share best practice and discuss new and innovative ways of recovering assets from criminals.

“Financial gain is very often the motive behind serious and organized crime. It is certainly our experience in the UK that criminals fight harder to protect their assets from confiscation

than they do to avoid the prison sentence imposed for their crime.

“Having in place a robust, asset recovery regime sends a very clear message to those engaged in serious organized crime that they will not profit from their criminality,” he added.

The main purpose of CCARP is to help build the capacity and capability of law enforcement agencies, financial intelligence units (FIUs), public prosecutors and the judiciary by enhancing their efforts in countering serious organised crime, particularly drug trafficking.

To date, countries participating in the CCARP have removed EC$8.6 million (One EC dollar = US$0,37 cents) and frozen more than EC$38.7 million from criminal organisations across the region excluding Jamaica.

Jamaica records decline in murders in first quarter of 2014 K INGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica recorded a 12 per cent decline in murders during the first quarter of this year, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen has said.

Last year, Jamaica recorded 1,200 murders as compared to 1,097 in 2012.

Delivering the traditional Throne Speech at the start of the new Parliament on Thursday, Sir Patrick said that there had also been a 13 per cent decline in the overall category of serious crimes.

According to the head of state, fatal police shootings for the first quarter of 2014 had dropped by over 50 per cent, reflecting better operational planning and improved community co-operation.

Speaking under the theme, “Going for Growth: Creating Opportunities”, Sir Patrick said that the long contemplated merger of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) had been approved by Cabinet and will be implemented this fiscal year.

He said the merger would eliminate duplication in the command structure and release more personnel for operational duty.

Additionally, the Governor-General noted that significant capital investment would be made this fiscal year to upgrade the technology available for the investigations and operations of the police.

This will include communication, palm and fingerprint identification, and cyber forensic systems.

The Governor-General made

special mention of the Unite for Change (UFC) initiative, which was implemented in December 2013. It is aimed at building a national movement to encourage positive social behaviour and promote a safer, gentler society.

“This important prevention initiative was born out of the realisation that violence is the outcome of dysfunction at many different levels in the society, including family, school, community, social services, and popular culture,” he told legislators.

Puerto Rico plans to become Caribbean air transportation hub

S

AN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Officials in Puerto Rico say the US island territory aims to position itself as a key air transportation centre in the Caribbean, taking advantage of growth opportunities in an industry that is essential to regional economic development.

The island got a big boost with Seaborne Airlines’ recent decision to relocate its operations base from the US Virgin Islands to San Juan, bringing along its managers, mechanics, and other personnel.

The new facility in Puerto Rico is scheduled to open this weekend.

Seaborne Airlines moved its operations base to San Juan after American Eagle left the island last April after decades of operating out of Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in the Puerto Rican capital.

Seaborne currently offers flights from San Juan to St Kitts and Nevis, the Dominican Republic, and St Martin.

The Puerto Rican Economic Development Bank (EDB) got a 20 percent stake in Seaborne and two board seats, one of which will go to EDB President Joey Cancel Planas, for US$9 million.

Under the agreement between the EDB and Sea-

borne, the carrier will establish 10 new routes this year linking San Juan to Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Haiti.

JetBlue, Air Europa, Southwest, Cape Air, Avianca and LIAT are among the carriers said to be planning to expand service to and from Puerto Rico, with some of the airlines picking up routes previously covered by American Eagle.

Southwest plans to offer flights linking Puerto Rico to the east and west coasts of the United States.

Avianca has been offering three flights a week between Bogota and San Juan since last July.

Four of eight accused death squad cops in Jamaica denied bail

T

HE eight policemen allegedly involved in a death squad in Clarendon are being investigated for unlawfully killing 40 civilians, it was revealed in court, where four of the accused were denied bail.

Senior Corporate Area Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey, in explaining why she would not be giving the four accused men bail, cited the figure from Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) documents submitted to the court.

“I am mindful that INDECOM said they are investigating some 40 cases that these men are linked to.

These assertions must not be taken lightly,” RM Pusey said.

The magistrate said further that there was evidence that witnesses were “afraid or reluctant” to come forward, and that “the possibility of interference [with witnesses] is massive”.

The magistrate, after denying bail for the four Clarendon-based policemen — Sergeant Leeford

Gordon and constables Romaine De La Haye, Damon Robinson and Pete Samuels — set a June 23 date for preliminary enquiry into the killings.

The magistrate’s decision left the accused cops’ colleagues and family members in tears as they left the courtroom in Half-Way-Tree, St Andrew.

Following the proceedings, attorney Peter Champagnie, who appears for Samuels, told the Jamaica Observer that his client would be appealing Pusey’s decision.

“Samuels is a fit and proper person for bail,” Champagnie said. The attorney said he would be filing the appeal as soon as he gets the magistrate’s written reasons for the denial of bail.

Gordon, De La Haye and Robinson are charged with the murder of Marvin Shand on the night of January 4 at New Longville Park in Clarendon, while Samuels is charged with the May 25, 2011 killing of Syl-

vester Gallimore. Another police officer, suspected in the killing of Gallimore, has fled the island, the court was told yesterday.

It’s alleged that Gordon, De La Haye and Robinson ambushed and shot Shand, who was carrying bags of ground provisions and other items on his head and in his hands.

Allegations are also that a photograph of the dead man’s body was found in De La Haye’s cellular phone, which supported reports that Shand was travelling with loaded bags and had no weapon.

Yesterday, the defence said that a gun had been recovered from Shand and that the witness, Shand’s girlfriend, was in no position to tell if Shand had a gun in his hand when he was shot.

The other four policemen, who are being investigated along with yesterday’s four for the extra-judicial killings of 40 civilians are Constable Collis ‘Chuckie’ Brown, who is facing four counts of murder,

conspiracy to murder and wounding with intent; Detective Corporal Kevin Adams, who is charged with four counts of murder; and constables Carl Bucknor and Jerome Whyte, who are both charged with one count of murder. They are to also appear before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on June 23 for the preliminary enquiry.

According to INDECOM Commissioner Terrence Williams, these fatal shootings were initially reported as civilian-on-civilian attacks, but investigations later allegedly uncovered that the killings were done by the police.

In court yesterday, Gordon was represented by Queen’s Counsel K Churchill Neita, Dwight Reece appeared for De La Haye and AA Hinds represented Robinson.

The attorneys made impassioned applications on behalf of their clients but were opposed by Williams.

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Health secretary resigns after Obamacare launch woes

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.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning after overseeing the botched rollout of President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, a White House official said on Thursday.

Her departure removes one lightning rod for critics as Obama and nervous Democrats try to retain control of the U.S. Senate in November midterm elections, but Republicans continue to see problems with the Affordable Care Act as a winning issue.

“If the Obama people thought this was going to calm the waters, I think they misread it. I think it’s just going to embolden Republicans,” said David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.

The October 1 launch of new Obamacare health insurance marketplaces, which was plagued by computer problems that stymied access for millions of people, has been condemned by Republicans as a step toward socialized medicine.

Obama has chosen Sylvia Mathews Burwell, his budget director, to replace Sebelius, the White House said. Wellknown inside Washington, where her appointment was praised by the likes of Republican Senator John McCain, Burwell will have to manage the program through its next major challenges in the height of elections season.

But Burwell is relatively unknown

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius listens as she testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 10, 2014, before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the HHS Department’s fiscal Year 2015 budget. outside the Beltway, and has a “tall order” to fix all the detailed issues with the law, and improve its standing among voters, Yepsen said.

Polls show Obamacare remains unpopular. In March, 46 percent of people said they had an unfavorable view of the law, while 38 percent said they liked it, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Sebelius remains on the job until Burwell is confirmed by the Senate, an administration official said.

“HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE” Sebelius, 65, became the public face for the problem-plagued start to the en-

rollment period for Obamacare, which was meant to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance and cut into massive U.S. healthcare costs.

When enrollment opened in October, the federal HealthCare.gov website used by consumers in 36 states failed to work for weeks. The White House called in a team of management and technology experts to fix the site, which began working more or less smoothly by December.

Even as she took responsibility for the failures, Obama stuck by Sebelius, brushing aside pressure to fire her.

“Hold me accountable for the debacle. I’m responsible,” Sebelius said at an October 30 hearing.

The enrollment period was ultimately successful, surpassing the 7 million figure the Obama administration had predicted. But Sebelius, a former governor of Kansas, told Obama in early March she wanted to leave the administration, a White House official said.

“She believed that once open enrollment ended it would be the right time to transition the department to new leadership,” the official said.

MANAGEMENT CREDENTIALS Burwell, 48, is no stranger to top-level administrative positions, having served as deputy White House chief of staff during the Clinton administration and in top roles at the Treasury De-

partment and the National Economic Council.

She served at the Office of Management and Budget twice, as deputy director under Jack Lew from 1998 to 2001, and took over as director about a year ago. She helped the administration manage its response to a shutdown of the federal government brought on by a budget battle with Republicans in October.

In the intervening years, she worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and as head of the Wal-Mart Foundation.

Burwell “seems to have a strong background in management, and that’s what we need now,” said Timothy Jost, a healthcare expert who teaches at Washington and Lee University.

“We’re over some of the biggest hurdles now, and what we need is somebody who can stay the course.”

Her nomination into the contentious position will likely be eased by a Senate rule change last year known as the “nuclear option,” which lowers the vote threshold needed to overcome procedural hurdles for confirmation of presidential nominees.

Instead of the previous 60 votes required to override a senator’s objection to a nominee, only 51 votes are needed to advance to a final vote under the changes made by Senate Democrats, who currently control the Senate 55 votes to 45.

Hillary Clinton dodges shoe during Las Vegas speech A

woman hurled a shoe at Hillary Clinton on Thursday as the former secretary of state was delivering a speech at a Las Vegas hotel, but Clinton dodged it and continued with her remarks, a U.S. Secret Service spokesman said.

Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie said the protester was not a ticketed guest for Clinton’s speech at the Mandalay Bay hotel and had been spotted by Secret Service agents and hotel security guards before the incident.

“As agents and hotel security approached her she threw a shoe and was immediately taken into custody by the Secret Service and hotel security,” Ogilvie said.

Footage of the incident broadcast by KTNV-TV showed Clinton, 66, crouching to dodge an object as she stood on stage.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper reported that the former first lady joked about the incident as she continued her speech to some 1,000 people attending a metal recycling conference “Is that somebody throwing something at me?”

Clinton asked, according to the Review-Journal. “Is

Hillary Clinton ducks after a woman threw a shoe toward her Thursday in Las Vegas that part of Cirque du Soleil?”

The newspaper quoted Clinton as saying, “My goodness, I didn’t know that solid waste management was so controversial.”

Mark Carpenter, a spokesman for the Institute of

Scrap Recycling Industries, which hosted the speech, said that the woman was not affiliated with the event.

“Our staff denied her access before she later rushed past security. An ISRI staffer then stopped her as she approached the stage. She was then handed over to law enforcement,” Carpenter said.

The throwing of shoes at political figures is a form of protest in many parts of the world. In 2008 a shoe was hurled at then-President George W. Bush when he appeared at a Baghdad press conference with the Iraqi prime minister.

Clinton, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to then-Senator Barack Obama, said at a marketing conference in San Francisco earlier this week that she was thinking about running for president again in 2016.

She has been giving speeches across the country since leaving the State Department last year.

A hotel spokeswoman told Reuters she had no information on the episode, and a spokesman for Clinton did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

IRAQ’S DEPUTY PM ESCAPES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

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AGHDAD — Iraq’s deputy prime minister escaped an assassination attempt in which militants dressed as soldiers opened fire on his convoy west of Baghdad on Friday, according to an Iraqi lawmaker and a statement from the deputy premier’s office.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack — the latest violence as the country heads toward crucial parliamentary elections on April 30. But Islamic militants have in the past frequently targeted officials in their effort to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Sunni lawmaker Talal al-Zobaie said he was accompanying Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, also a Sunni, and several other government officials on a visit to the villages in the Abu Graib area, west of the Iraqi capital, when the attack took place on Friday.

A group of armed men in army uniforms and driving military vehicles opened fire at their convoy, triggering a shootout with guards and soldiers protecting al-Mutlaq, said al-Zobaie.

Three of al-Mutlaq’s guards were wounded in the shootout and the attackers fled the scene, the lawmaker added.

According to a statement from al-Mutlaq’s office, the officials were inspecting flood damages to the area after militants from an al-Qaida-splinter group overrun territory in and around the nearby city of Fallujah and shut off a water dam.

Both al-Zobaie and al-Mutlaq have in the past called on politicians across Iraq’s religious and ethnic spectrum to put aside their differences and focus on protecting the nation.

Also on Friday, a roadside bomb struck a minibus outside the northern city of Mosul, killing one civilian and wounding six.

Violence has surged in Iraq since last year, with the country weathering its deadliest bout of violence since it pulled back from the brink of civil war in 2008.

The April 30 balloting will be Iraq’s first since the 2011 U.S. troop pullout.

More than 9,000 candidates will vie for 328 seats in parliament, but there will be no balloting in parts of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, which is engulfed in clashes between security forces and the Islamic militants.

The militants have seized and are continuing to hold parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi, and nearly all of the nearby city of Fallujah.

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Scottish nationalists mark countdown to independence vote A

BERDEEN, Scotland - Despite a drumbeat of warnings from businessmen, financiers and British government officials that an independent Scotland would be doomed to failure, Scottish nationalists go into their spring conference this weekend with banners flying and polls showing support for their dream is gathering pace.

Under the conference slogan “Forward,” the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) will hammer home its message that oil-rich Scotland can be a prosperous nation that decides its own future if it votes on Sept. 18 to end the 307-year tie with England.

A year ago, the chance that Scotland’s 5.3 million people would vote to leave the United Kingdom looked slim, with support for a break stagnant at just 30 percent.

But opinion polls this year have narrowed the gap, buoying the SNP before the two-day gathering in the oil capital Aberdeen, its last big meeting before the referendum. The “No” to independence side has warned against complacency.

“Everyone now realises that at the very least it will be close,” Blair Jenkins, a former TV executive who is heading the “Yes Scotland” campaign for independence, told Reuters.

“In the course of this long campaign the concept of independence has become normalised. Whatever the result in September, we now have a generation hooked on discussing policies and what kind of society we can be.”

Political experts said the SNP, which dates back 80 years, has focused on policy issues - with the none of the national identity debates seen in other breakaway aspirants such as Quebec in Canada or Catalonia in Spain.

RACE NARROWING Key policies under discussion include how independence would affect the economy, making Scotland nuclear-free, European Union membership, and the currency. The main British political parties reject a Scottish government proposal to share the pound.

Two polls released on Thursday confirmed the gap between the Yes and No sides has narrowed to about 13 percentage points from 22 points a year ago.

A Survation poll found voters planning to back independence had dropped two points to 37 percent in the past month while support for a No vote was down to 47 percent from 48 percent.

A separate poll by Panelbase carried out for the Yes Scotland campaign put support for a Yes vote at 40 percent compared to 45 percent for staying in the United Kingdom, with 15 percent of voters still undecided.

“The Yes side has made progress this winter and the race is narrowing but to how narrow we still don’t know,” said John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde.

“Activists will be hoping that (SNP leader Alex) Salmond gives the speech of his life. It is certainly not an opportunity he can afford to waste.”

Salmond will address the party conference on Saturday.

Pro-union “Better Together” campaign chief Alistair Darling, a Scot and a former British finance minister, said the latest polls showed Scots want to remain part of Britain and would rather opt for more powers to be given by London to Scotland’s devolved parliament than go for independence.

The UK parties oppose Scottish independence, arguing that the United Kingdom is better and stronger together.

“It’s increasingly clear that people in Scotland want to have the best of both worlds - a strong Scottish Parliament, with the guarantee of more powers - backed up by the strength, security and stability of being part of the UK,” Darling said.

The narrowing of polls has made the final five months vital for both sides with campaigning in full swing in town halls, streets and schools across Scotland and on social media.

Michael Keating, professor of Scottish politics at Aberdeen University, said a big factor for the vote could be turnout on the day, which was expected to surpass traditional political elections.

He said the Yes side was very active on grassroots campaigning, targeting Scots who would not normally vote, such as those in lower socio-economic groups.

“That could matter. In the small towns of Scotland this could make a big difference,” Keating told Reuters.

MONEY MATTERS The British finance ministry said on Thursday Scotland would have the second-highest budget deficit among advanced economies at the likely date of independence - the latest in a stream of reports from the ministry arguing against the split.

Last month University of Glasgow researchers forecast that Scotland would have a budget deficit of 5.5 percent of GDP in 2016, when independence would be likely to take effect.

This is around 2 percentage points higher than estimates from the Scottish government in September, which the Glasgow researchers said significantly underestimated the pace at which tax receipts from North Sea oil and gas would decline.

An independent Scotland would be likely to inherit most of Britain’s oil and gas reserves, which lie off its coast, but this previously large source of tax revenue is now in steady decline as reserves become costlier to extract.

Four school stabbing victims in critical condition; teen suspect charged as adult

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urrysville, Pennsylvania - A teenage boy wielding two kitchen knives went on a stabbing rampage at his high school in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, early Wednesday, before being tackled by an assistant principal, authorities said.

Twenty students and a security officer at Franklin Regional Senior High School were either stabbed or slashed in the attack, Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck told reporters.

The accused attacker was been identified as 16-year-old Alex Hribal, according to a criminal complaint made public. Hribal, who was arraigned as an adult, faces four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon on school grounds, the documents show.

“I’m not sure he knows what he did, quite frankly,” Hribal’s attorney, Patrick Thomassey, said, adding he would file a motion to move the case to juvenile court. “...We have to make sure that he understands the nature of the charges and what’s going on here. It’s important that he be examined by a psychiatrist and determined where he is mentally.”

A doctor who treated six of the victims, primarily teens, said at first they did not know they had been stabbed.

“They just felt pain and noticed they were bleeding,” Dr. Timothy VanFleet, chief of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told CNN. “Almost all of them said they didn’t see anyone coming at them. It apparently was a crowded hallway and they were going about their business, and then just felt pain and started bleeding.”

The suspect of a school stabbing incident is walked to a police car Arguing against bail for Hribal, the district attorney told the court that four of the victims were in critical condition, including one who was “eviscerated.” There’s a question whether the victim will survive, Peck said.

Hribal is being held without bail at the Westmoreland County juvenile detention center.

Authorities have not detailed a possible motive in the attack, but the district attorney said in court the teen made “statements when subdued by officials that he wanted to die.”

‘DON’T KNOW WHAT I GOT GOING DOWN’ The carnage began shortly before the start of classes, when an attacker began stabbing students in a crowded hallway and then went from classroom to classroom.

Student Matt DeCesare was outside the school when he heard a fire alarm ring and then saw two students come out of the school covered in blood.

Then he saw teachers running into the building and pulling “a couple of more students out,” he told CNN. The students had been stabbed.

To stanch the bleeding, the teachers asked the students for their hoodies.

“We all took our hoodies off and handed them to the teachers to use as tourniquets to stop the bleeding,” he said.

Recordings of emergency calls released in the wake of the attack provide a soundtrack of sorts to the terror and chaos that played out inside the school.

“I don’t know what I got going down at school here but I need some units here ASAP,” one officer can be heard saying.

Minutes later in another call, another official, breathlessly, can be heard detailing casualties: “About 14 patients right now.”

Then another call for help. “Be advised inside the school we have multiple stab victims,” one of the officers said. “So bring in EMS from wherever you can get them.

‘SAW THE KID WHO WAS STABBING PEOPLE’ Student Mia Meixner was standing at her locker.

“I heard a big commotion like behind my back,” she told CNN. “And I turned around and I saw two kids on the ground.”

She thought a fight had broken out, but then she saw blood.

“I saw the kid who was stabbing people get up and run away,” she said.

Then she saw a girl she knew standing by the cafeteria. “She was gushing blood down her arm.”

Meixner dropped her books and went to help the girl.

“I started hearing a stampede of students coming down from the other end of the hall, saying ‘Get out, we need to leave, go, there’s a kid with a knife.’

Then a teacher came over to me and the girl I was trying to help. And she said she would handle the girl and that I should run out. So then I just ran out of the school and tried to get out as soon as possible.”

Meixner never heard the attacker utter a word.

“He was very quiet. He just was kind of doing it,” she said. “And he had this, like, look on his face that he was just crazy and he was just running around just stabbing whoever was in his way.”

She said she didn’t know the boy, but he had been in a lot of her classes. “He kept to himself a lot,” she said.

“He didn’t have that many friends that I know of, but I also don’t know of him getting bullied that much. I actually never heard of him getting bullied. He just was kind of shy and didn’t talk to many people.”

Hribal’s attorney described him as a “nice young man,” who has never been in trouble.

“He’s not a loner. He works well with other kids,” he said. “...He’s scared.

He’s a young kid. He’s 16, looks like he’s 12. I mean, he’s a very young kid and he’s never been in trouble so this is all new to him.”

At least a dozen FBI agents could be seen going in and out of Hribal’s family home in the hours after the attack.

Shortly before the agents arrived at the house, a man believed to be Hribal’s father drove up.

“My prayers go out to everyone who was injured today, and I hope they recover as soon as possible,” he told reporters.

Hribal’s attorney said the family was upset by the allegations. “They did not foresee this at all,” he said.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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Prosecutor says Pistorius story doesn’t add up P

RETORIA, South Africa — The prosecutor cross-examining Oscar Pistorius in his murder trial Friday tried to shred his version of events the night he shot and killed his girlfriend, saying they do not add up and go against how people would react in the situation the double-amputee Olympian has described.

Pistorius is charged with premeditated murder for Reeva Steenkamp’s shooting death. He claims he shot the model by mistake, thinking she was an intruder about to come out the toilet and attack him.

The state says he intentionally killed her by firing his pistol through a closed toilet door after they had an argument in the predawn hours of Valentine’s Day last year.

Chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel led the Paralympic champion through his own account of what happened in those moments before he shot Steenkamp. Pistorius said he heard a noise in the bathroom and moved down a passageway on his stumps toward the bathroom with his pistol while screaming to his girlfriend to get down from the bed and call the police. Pistorius says he then heard a noise in the toilet that he perceived to be the sound of wood on wood, which he said made him think someone was opening the toilet door to attack him. And then, Pistorius said, he opened fire.

At each stage, Nel argued that the account was improbable, questioning why Pistorius did not establish where Steenkamp was and make sure she was OK, why he would approach the alleged danger zone if he felt vulnerable on his stumps, why Steenkamp would not respond to him and why an intruder would close himself in a toilet stall.

Oscar Pistorius, right, leaves the the high court in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, April 10, 2014. Pistorius is charged with murder for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentines Day in 2013. ‘‘If you spoke to Reeva, the two of you could have taken lots of other steps,’’ Nel said, adding that they could have merely left the bedroom.

Pistorius said he wanted to put himself between the bathroom and the bed, where he said he thought Steenkamp was.

Nel noted in Pistorius’ version of the moments before the shooting, Steenkamp ‘‘never uttered a word.’’ ‘‘It’s not probable. It’s not possible,’’ the prosecutor said. ‘‘She was standing behind the toilet door talking to you when you shot her,’’ Nel put to Pistorius, saying the couple fighting was the only ‘‘reasonable explanation’’ for why she was standing behind the cubicle door and facing it. Steenkamp wasn’t scared of anyone ‘‘other than you’’ Nel said. ‘‘That’s not true,’’ Pistorius said.

The exchange dramatically capped the first week of the double-amputee Olympian’s testimony at his murder trial in a Pretoria courthouse. Trial resumes on Monday, the start of its fifth week.

Earlier, Nel highlighted what he said was an inconsistency in Pistorius’ testimony, noting that the Olympic runner had said Steenkamp didn’t scream when he shot that night but also saying he could hear very little because his ears were ‘‘ringing’’ from the first gunshot. ‘‘You knew that Reeva was behind the door and you shot at her knowing that she was behind that door,’’ Nel said. ‘‘That’s not true, my lady,’’ Pistorius said, addressing the judge.

Nel also argued that Pistorius was prepared to lie about an incident as far back as five years ago when he claims someone shot at him from another car on a highway to build a backstory that he had a longheld fear of being attacked.

Pistorius said he saw a ‘‘muzzle flash’’ and heard ‘‘a banging noise’’ as a black Mercedes drove past him in the incident, which he said was in 2008 or 2009. Pistorius said he slowed down turned off the highway and eventually went to a restaurant car park and called someone to come and pick him up.

Nel asked Pistorius who he called and Pistorius replied he couldn’t remember. ‘‘You cannot not remember,’’ Nel said. It was ‘‘such a traumatic incident,’’ the prosecutor said. Nel said Pistorius’ failing to remember who he called was because ‘‘it never happened.’’ ‘‘It’s the one night that someone almost shot you, am I right?’’ Nel said. Pistorius said it was. ‘‘If I could remember who I phoned I would gladly give you their name,’’ Pistorius said.

Pope asks pardon for sex abuse by priests V

ATICAN CITY — Pope Francis asked for forgiveness Friday from people who were sexually abused by priests, and vowed that there will be no going back in the church’s fight to protect children.

Francis made the off-the-cuff remarks after coming under criticism from victims’ advocacy groups for a perceived lack of attention to the problem and ongoing demands that he sanction bishops who covered up for pedophiles.

In his remarks to members of the

International Catholic Child Bureau, a French Catholic network of organizations that protects children’s rights, Francis said he felt ‘‘called to take it upon myself’’ and ‘‘ask forgiveness’’ for the evil that some priests had committed against children. ‘‘The church is aware of this damage,’’ he was quoted as saying by Vatican Radio. ‘‘We don’t want to take a step back in dealing with this problem and the sanctions that must be imposed. On the contrary, I think we must be even stronger! You don’t play

around with the lives of children.’’

Last month, Francis named the initial members of a commission to advise him on best practices to combat sexual abuse in the church. Half of them are women and one was assaulted by a priest as a child.

The Vatican has said the members will draft the statutes of the commission and would look into the legal ‘‘duties and responsibilities’’ of church personnel, a suggestion that they might take up the critical question of disciplining complicit bish-

TEN KILLED, MANY OF THEM STUDENTS, AFTER TRUCK SLAMS BUS IN CALIFORNIA

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en people died, many of them high school students, when a truck slammed into a tour bus with college hopefuls heading to a campus tour in northern California on Thursday, police said.

Five students, three chaperones and the drivers of bus and FedEx truck were killed, according to the California Highway Patrol and Humboldt State University, which was to host the students’ visit.

The tenth fatality was confirmed by a CHP spokeswoman early Friday as a chaperone on the tour bus.

“All of a sudden I heard people screaming,” 17-year-old Jonathan Gutierrez told NBC’s “Today” show, saying he had been asleep before the impact.

Gutierrez, who suffered cuts on his face, said the aisle of the tour bus filled with smoke and students broke windows to escape. “It was a very surreal moment,” he said.

More than 30 people were hurt after the driver of the FedEx truck lost control, jumped a divider on Interstate 5, side-swiped a car and smashed head-on into the bus Thursday evening, CHP spokeswoman Tracy Hoover said.

Fire-fighters douse the wreckage at the scene of a collision of a tractor-trailer and a tour bus on Interstate 5 near Highway 32 near Orland, California, April 10, 2014 “They are traumatized, absolutely,” Hoover said of the injured.

“Most of them have scratches, cuts, burns, contusions and lacerations - a magnitude of injuries.”

About 34 people were taken by air and land ambulances to area hospitals in varying conditions, police said.

No one in the car that was sideswiped was killed, though the driver was sent to hospital with unspecified injuries.

Apart from the driver, the bus was carrying between 44 and 48 students and several chaperones to the university for a campus tour, CHP spokeswoman Lacey Heitman said.

The crash took place near the city of Orland, 95 miles north of Sacramento.

The students, traveling from Los Angeles-area high schools, were part of a program Humboldt State said “brings low-income and first-generation prospective college students from the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas to HSU’s campus.”

Pictures from the scene showed the bus reduced to a burned-out chassis resting sideways across the highway. Yellow tarps appeared to be draped over bodies in the wreckage.

Hoover described hunks of twisted metal and broken glass and said flames had roared through the vehicles.

“The big rig and the bus were both engulfed in flames. You are talking about two vehicles that are destroyed. There is hardly anything left of the truck,” Hoover said.

Two other charter buses that were also carrying students to Humboldt - one from the Los Angeles area and one from the Fresno area - had arrived safely, the university said.

ops. Church law provides for sanctions if a bishop is negligent in carrying out his duties, but to date no bishop has been disciplined for protecting an abuser.

Francis named the commission members after coming under fire for taking no action since the commission itself was announced in December. Victims groups also have been irked that he hasn’t met with survivors and recently told a newspaper that the church had been unfairly attacked for its abuse record.

PHILIPPINE, UNITED STATES REACH AGREEMENT ON NEW SECURITY DEAL

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he Philippines and the United States reached agreement on Friday on a new security accord allowing American military forces to share local bases for maritime and humanitarian operations, a senior Philippine defence officials said.

The two oldest allies in the Asia-Pacific region had been negotiating a new military deal for nearly eight months to increase U.S. rotational presence in the Philippines and improve its former colony’s defence capability.

The pact will also raise the level of protection against China, which has strengthened its naval presence in disputed areas in the South China Sea after seizing control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012.

Pio Lorenzo Batino, Undersecretary of Defence and chair of the Philippine negotiating panel, said both sides had reached a “consensus on key points” during an eighth round of talks.

“The draft provisions on key points of an enhanced defence cooperation will be submitted to the president for his review,” Batino said in a statement. The accord is expected to be signed during President Barack Obama’s April 28-29 visit to Manila.

The agreement will be a highlight of Obama’s visit to Asia, underscoring the U.S. “rebalance” to Asia despite preoccupations elsewhere, including Ukraine, Iran and Syria.

“No, I don’t think there should be any doubts to the U.S. rebalance to Asia,” said Jose Cuisia, the Philippine ambassador to the United States.

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Tory MPs get code of conduct after sex harassment claims A

code of conduct has been emailed to all Conservative MPs and their staff setting out how they should behave in the office.

It sets out “best practice” and a grievance procedure - but it is up to individual MPs whether or not they adopt it.

A Conservative source confirmed that the code would be voluntary.

It follows a Channel 4 News report identifying a “climate of sexual harassment” in Parliament.

Channel 4 News said it had interviewed 70 people from “all political parties and sexual orientations”, and found that incidents of sexual harassment and abuse of power in Parliament were commonplace.

Young men were more likely to be sexually harassed than women, it concluded.

A Conservative spokesman said: “The code of conduct acts as a basic statement of what should

be best practice in the workplace for Conservative members and their staff.

“It explains the rights and responsibilities which are expected of both the employer and the employee.

“The grievance procedure is available for staff to use if a grievance arises with their MP as employer.

“It protects both parties involved, brings with it consistency and fairness, and in doing so upholds the reputation of the Party and of Parliament.

“It is based upon a three stage process of mediation, grievance hearing and appeal.

“The process conforms to relevant employment law, ACAS guidance and HR best practice and is added as a schedule to the contract of employment.”

In a statement, Commons Speaker John Bercow said bullying and harassment in the work-

place was “completely unacceptable” and that he would now look into whether procedures in Parliament were in need of reform.

“People are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect as they carry out their work,” he said.

“The experience of working in Parliament for an MP should be positive and fulfilling. Time and again, people have told me how fortunate they feel to work here.

“That said, having learned for the first time this afternoon of these allegations, I will consider if there are lessons for the House of Commons to learn or procedures to be reformed.

“MPs are self-employed and employ their staff directly. The House, therefore, is limited in its ability to intervene in cases in which allegations of bullying or harassment by MPs of their staff are concerned. These cases are clearly a matter for the political parties.”

Venezuela’s Maduro meets opposition as death toll from protests rises

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enezuelan President Nicolas Maduro cautioned opposition leaders to keep their expectations modest on Thursday as he hosted them for mediated talks intended to stem two months of deadly political unrest.

Maduro has held similar meetings previously but this was the first to include Henrique Capriles, who Maduro narrowly beat in last year’s presidential election, and the first to be brokered by foreign ministers from the Unasur bloc of South American governments.

The six-hour meeting coincided with violence that raised the death toll from the protests against Maduro’s rule to 41, and Capriles warned the unrest would escalate in the absence of political reforms.

“The road here was long and complicated, but it was worth it,” Maduro said earlier in lengthy opening comments.

He cautioned against unrealistic expectations.

“There are no negotiations here. No pacts. All we’re looking for is a model of peaceful coexistence, of mutual tolerance.”

Pollsters say approval levels for both Maduro and the opposition have fallen during the crisis, while an already slowing economy has suffered a further drag

by a car while demonstrating in central Valencia.

Those fatalities brought the death toll to 41.

About 650 people have been injured since the protests broke out in early February, officials say, and more than 2,000 people have been detained.

Of them, more than 170 are still behind bars.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with representatives of the opposition, the Roman Catholic Church and Union of South American Nations’ (UNASUR) at Miraflores Palace in Caracas April 10, 2014. from the impact of violent clashes on businesses and transport.

Dozens of anti-Maduro demonstrators remain in jail and some hardline opposition groups, including the party of jailed protest leader Leopoldo Lopez, boycotted the talks, which took place at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas and were broadcast live on every TV channel.

Authorities said on Thursday a policeman was shot dead during a protest in western Barquisimeto city, and opposition activists said a woman died in hospital almost a month after being hit

‘WE DON’T WANT A COUP’ Capriles, defeated in last year’s election to replace late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, was one of the last to speak, well after midnight.

He told the foreign ministers of Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador that Venezuela was crippled by violence, economic misery and political polarization.

“We don’t want a coup d’etat. We don’t want an explosion on the streets,” Capriles said. “Either this situation changes, or it bursts. I hope it changes because I don’t want violence.”

The volatile political atmosphere was illustrated in the reactions of National Assembly boss Diosdado Cabello who, sitting across the table from Capriles, described him as “the fascist assassin” on his Twitter account.

“He doesn’t understand he lost the election in April (2013). It looks like

UKRAINE LOOKS TO EUROPE FOR GAS AS RUSSIA UPS PRESSURE

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kraine said on Friday it would turn to Europe for gas and won a promise of help from Brussels after Russia warned it could cut supplies over Kiev’s refusal to pay Moscow’s “political, uneconomic price” for supplies.

Presenting a united front a day after President Vladimir Putin wrote to the European Union warning that its supplies could be disrupted if Ukraine failed to cover its bills, European officials said they had little to fear and would help Ukraine pay.

With Russia increasing the pressure on Ukraine’s faltering economy, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan told parliament the EU would stand in solidarity with Kiev if Russia reduced supplies, making sure Moscow could not increase flows through alternative pipelines to bypass its neighbour.

“Ukraine cannot pay such a political, uneconomic price, so now we are negotiating with the European Union about reverse deliveries into Ukraine,” Prodan said.

“We will make gas purchases from reverse flows urgently. On the conditions offered by European gas companies. We plan that they will be Germany’s RWE and a French gas company.”

The ministry’s spokeswoman confirmed the French company was GDF Suez, adding no agreement had been signed as yet.

GDF Suez declined to comment.

Prodan said Ukraine needed European gas to build up its reserves as Russian gas was no longer being pumped into storage, adding Ukraine had unused capacity of 15 billion cubic metres.

Kiev has around 7 bcm in storage and says it needs 14-15 bcm to be able to guarantee transit to European consumers. Russia meets 30 percent of Europe’s natural gas demand, and half of this goes through Ukraine.

Russia has nearly doubled the gas price it charges Ukraine, punishing an economy that for years was mismanaged by pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovich and has been in freefall since he was toppled in violent protests.

Kiev’s new leaders accuse Moscow of using gas as a way of punishing them for pursuing closer ties with the EU, and the standoff has deepened the worst EastWest crisis since the end of the Cold war in 1991.

Washington accused Moscow on Thursday of using energy as “a tool of coercion”.

But on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stepped up the pressure on Ukraine, reiterating that its gas debt was mounting and Kiev was failing to meet its payment obligations - a wording that could trigger the reduction of supplies.

He also criticised the EU for not responding to Putin’s letter on the situation.

EU SOLIDARITY European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger advised against taking the threat of gas cuts at face value, saying Russia needed the revenue from gas deliveries.

He told Austria’s ORF radio he was working on a plan to help Ukraine pay its gas bills to ensure its debts do not rise.

he’s missing something,” Cabello also tweeted.

Hardline protesters have openly sought to provoke a “Venezuelan Spring” that would force him from office, but failed to bring the millions onto the streets they hoped for. The demonstrators have proved persistent, however, with sporadic roadblocks, marches and other protest tactics in some cities.

Maduro says that if the opposition wants to get rid of him, it would have to be via the ballot only. His foes could force a presidential “recall referendum” in 2016 if they garner about 4 million signatures for it. Maduro’s six-year term ends in 2019.

Venezuelans across the political spectrum are fed up with violent crime and economic problems including an annual inflation rate that is pushing 60 percent and shortages of basic products from milk and flour to toilet-paper and car batteries.

Liborio Guarulla, the opposition governor of southern Amazonas state, told the meeting people should not think the start of talks would solve problems overnight.

“We won’t make miracles with this.

The economy won’t improve by tomorrow,” he said. “But we are building something.”

“I am preparing a solution that is part of the aid package that the IMF, the European Union and the World Bank is giving to Ukraine and from which payment for open bills will be possible,” he said, adding he would meet Ukraine’s energy and foreign ministers on Monday.

Russian state gas company Gazprom says Ukraine owes $2.2 billion and Putin’s warning has rekindled fears of the “gas wars” of 2006 and 2009, when Russia stopped supplies to Ukraine, disrupting onward supplies to Europe.

The European Commission, the EU executive, called on Russia to respect its gas commitments and urged Ukraine to respect its transit commitments.

Germany said it saw no reason to fear an interruption in gas supplies.

Ukraine’s search for alternative supplies has prompted Gazprom to question the legality of reversing flows to export gas from Europe to Ukraine.

Prodan said Ukraine could get small amounts of gas from Poland and Hungary and a bigger volume from Slovakia, but there were “political questions” to be solved.

Slovakia has called for talks with Ukraine, Russia and the European Commission to ensure it can export gas to Ukraine without violating existing contracts.

Russia, Ukraine, the EU and the United States are due to meet in Geneva on Thursday to talk about the Ukraine crisis.

Prodan also said Ukraine would turn to an arbitration tribunal in Stockholm to try to cancel a deal struck with Russia in 2009, when Kiev agreed an inflated price.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

usiness B AND

TToyotaOto recall 6.4 million vehicles ECHN

LOGY

T

oyota is recalling 6.4 million vehicles globally, including 35,124 in the UK, over five separate issues.

Some 3.5 million vehicles are being recalled to replace a spiral cable attached to the driver’s side airbag.

It may be damaged when the steering wheel is turned and result in the airbag not being deployed in a crash.

Other issues include problems with seat rails, steering columns, windscreen wipers and a glitch with the engine starters that poses a fire risk.

Toyota said it was not aware of any vehicle crashes, injuries or fatalities caused by these conditions.

However, it said it had received two reports of fires in connection with the engine starter problem.

The carmaker said that “due to inefficiencies in the design of the starter motor relays, metallic particles might accumulate on the contacts within the relay”.

It said that if the relays continued to be used, the particles could come off and enter the relay’s circuitry and in the “worst case, this could lead to the starter relays catching fire”.

Approximately 20,000 vehicles involving six Toyota models and the Subaru Trezia are being recalled

Certain 2014 Toyota Corolla models are among those affeted by the stop-sale order. to replace both engine starter relays and the engine starter motor.

Other recalls include: Approximately 2.32 million vehicles over problems with the seat rails Some 760,000 vehicles because of a potential defect with the steering column bracket The latest recall, which affects 27 different models, is the fifth major one that the company has is-

sued in recent months. In February, it called back 1.9 million of its top-selling Prius hybrid cars because of a software fault that might cause the vehicle to slow down suddenly.

In the latter half of last year, it issued separate recalls affecting more than 2.2 million vehicles.

Overall, the company has recalled more than 25 million vehicles over the past two-and-a-half years.

That is far more than the number it called back in 2009 and 2010 - widely seen as the worst years in terms of damage to its reputation.

Toyota’s sales had suffered in the aftermath of those recalls, which were prompted by problems with accelerator pedals becoming trapped under floor mats.

The recalls had also triggered a criminal investigation against the carmaker in the US. Earlier this year, the firm agreed a $1.2bn (£720m) settlement with US regulators after a four-year inquiry into its reporting of safety issues.

Recalls are not uncommon in the industry. For example, General Motors is in the middle of recalling millions of vehicles as well.

However, there are concerns that Toyota’s current troubles may hurt its efforts to rebuild its reputation, which was damaged by the 2010 recall fiasco.

British exports as well as business investment had been disappointing

B

ritain’s goods trade deficit narrowed in February helped by a fall in imports including aircraft and aircraft parts, official data showed on Wednesday.

The Office for National Statistics said the goods trade deficit shrank to 9.094 billion pounds from 9.463 billion pounds in January. Economists in a Reuters poll had forecast a gap of 9.2 billion pounds.

Britain has been seeking to boost exports as a way of reducing its reli-

ance on consumer spending which has been the main driver of its surprisingly strong economic recovery over the past year.

Its trade performance has been volatile in recent months due to socalled erratic goods such as aircraft.

Over the three months to the end of February, Britain’s goods trade deficit narrowed by about 3 billion pounds to 26.219 billion pounds.

Goods exports in the month of February slowed to 23.547 billion

pounds - its lowest since November 2010. Imports of goods also slowed to 32.641 billion pounds - the lowest monthly figure since April 2011.

The monthly figures tend to be volatile, but over the three months to February, exports fell 0.1 percent while imports were down 3.5 percent.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said British exports as well as business invest-

CONTROVERSY FLARES AS CONDOLEEZZA RICE JOINS DROPBOX BOARD

T

he appointment of ex-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the board of technology firm Dropbox is being criticised by some service users.

Protests on social media say she is a controversial figure after revelations of widespread wiretapping on US citizens during her time in office.

A petition has been launched inviting supporters to boycott the firm.

However some analysts claim the bigger concerns for the file-sharing company are competing services.

Following the launch of Mailbox for Android and the wider implementation of Dropbox for Business, the company also announced the addition of Condoleezza Rice as a new board member.

Ms Rice, who served as former President George W Bush’s Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009 and National Security Adviser 2001 - 2005, was appointed by the company to expand its global footprint, according to its official blog.

However, this has been condemned by some Dropbox users who have launched a campaign.

Voicing concerns on social media, some have said it is inappropriate for the file-sharing company to hire Ms

‘SHORT-TERM’

Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State 2005-2009, was appointed by Dropbox to help expand their global footprint Rice, accusing her of being involved in widespread wiretapping during her time in office.

Those pressing Dropbox to revoke Ms Rice’s appointment are using the hashtag #DropDropbox in an attempt to boycott the company. A petition has also been created which amassed approximately 3,000 signatures in its first few hours.

Another site said: “This is deeply disturbing, and anyone - or any business - who values ethics should be concerned,” before listing a number of Dropbox alternatives for those who wish to boycott the company.

It also says Ms Rice should not hold power at Dropbox because of her role in the Iraq war.

However, Chris Green, Principal Technology Analyst of Davies Murphy Group, told the BBC that most users probably wouldn’t be concerned over Ms Rice’s appointment.

“The vast majority of the company’s 275 million users are unlikely to be swayed or concerned by the shortterm negative PR that Condoleezza Rice’s appointment is generating for Dropbox,” he said.

“The backlash is fuelled far more by pent-up anger at the administration she served in than a genuine concern for the security of Dropbox users’ data.

The bigger concern for Dropbox, says Mr Green, is the growing competition it faces, which includes big names such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon.

All of them “are offering competing services with either more free storage or more compelling commercial packages than Dropbox offers.”

The company has yet to release an official statement addressing the backlash, but a recent Dropbox blog post said: “We’re honoured to be adding someone as brilliant and accomplished as Ms Rice to our team.”

ment had been disappointing even as it raised its forecast for the country’s growth.

Including Britain’s surplus in trade in services, the overall trade deficit narrowed slightly to 2.058 billion pounds.

The goods trade deficit with non-EU countries narrowed sharply to 2.919 billion pounds in February from 3.910 billion pounds in January, against forecasts for a gap of 3.4 billion pounds.

US AND CHINA APPEAL WTO RULINGS

T

he United States and China have both appealed against recent rulings in disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO), filings published by the WTO showed on Friday.

The United States said it wanted to correct some legal issues in a case that it brought jointly with the European Union and Japan, handing China a heavy defeat over its restrictions on exports of rare earth metals.

The filing said the U.S. concerns would not need to be dealt with if there was no appeal from China. China has not appealed the ruling, but it still has time to do so, with a 60 day window from the time of the ruling on March 26.

In a separate filing, China lodged an appeal in a WTO case that it brought to challenge U.S. punitive tariffs on exports including photovoltaic cells and modules, windtowers and certain steel and aluminum products.

Although Beijing scored a partial victory in that case, by successfully saying the United States had been wrong to punish some Chinese exports twice over, it lost the bulk of the argument against U.S. laws targeting unfair trade subsidies.

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BUSINESS AND T ECHNOLOGY

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

The most hated US airline is also the most profitable S

pirit Airlines inspires a special kind of wrath among the American traveling public: It’s the industry leader in customer complaints by a wide margin. Over the last five years, Spirit’s rate of complaints to the Department of Transportation was three times higher than other U.S. airlines, according to a report released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.

This is not the first time Spirit has been dinged for customer dissatisfaction. Last year it was the lowest-scoring carrier in a Consumer Reports survey of 16,000 readers. “Poor service, poor communication, poor quality,” a commenter at airline-rating firm Skytrax wrote this week. “You couldn’t even make up how bad they are.” The loathing has also inspired a dedicated Twitter feed: @hatespiritair.

Its customers will probably find this annoying, too: In spite of the rancor it inspires, Spirit has become the most profitable U.S. airline in terms of its operating margin and return on

invested capital. Spirit’s 16.2 percent margin is highest among U.S. public airlines, as is its 26 percent return on capital, according to data compiled

by Bloomberg. Allegiant Travel the nation’s other ultralow-cost airline, has the second-best operating margin—12.7 percent—followed by Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Spirit shares have gained 439 percent since its mid-2011 public offering at $12.

“Customer complaints generally have a loose but inverse negative correlation to return on invested capital,” Wolfe Research analyst Hunter Keay says, noting that well-liked JetBlue Airways Virgin America, and Southwest Airlines lag financially. “The commitment to make the customer happy costs money.” Keay says the low-cost model rightly treats airfare as a utility.

“There really does not need to be a service component attached to consuming airfare.”

To that end, Spirit, along with other ultralow-cost carriers, has done all it can to drive ticket prices as close to

Spirit’s 16.2 percent margin is highest among U.S. public airlines zero as possible. The point is to attract new customers with low fares, then squeeze them into a spartan, cramped cabin and charge them for any and all amenities: water, carry-on bags, seat assignments, and the like. Spirit’s planes pack far more seats in the cabin than do other airlines, 178 on an Airbus A320—that’s 28 more than on the same plane at United Airlines or JetBlue. And Spirit’s seats don’t recline.

On the flip side of this financial success, Spirit is still growing rap-

idly. It plans to almost triple its 54jet fleet by 2021. A cheap fare may be able to lure first-time customers, but it cannot necessarily keep them. Over time, if travelers increasingly dislike the experience, it’s possible that Spirit’s financial performance could stall.

On the other hand, airfares are rising across the board (consolidation will do that), and plenty of people may decide that saving $100 or more is worth a little temporary indignity.

“Many of the DOT complaints about Spirit are driven by our customers not fully understanding that we offer unbundled fares that let them control how much they spend,” spokeswoman DeAnne Gabel wrote in an e-mail on Thursday. The airline has declared 2014 its “Year of the Customer.” The goal, she says, is “to reduce complaints by helping customers learn about how to fly Spirit to go where they want and keep more money in their pocket.” Spirit isn’t an airline for everyone, but so far it hasn’t had to be.

Google Glass to go on sale for one day G

oogle Glass will go on sale to the US public on 15 April for a single day, the company has announced.

Users must be 18 years old and are required to fill in an online form in order to be eligible to buy the device.

The eyewear will cost $1,500 (£894) and the BBC understands UK developers may have access as early as May. The high price will be likely to deter many enthusiasts, who may be forced to wait for price reductions.

The tech giant sold the device to 8,000 individuals in 2013 as part of their Explorer programme. Google will now give more people the opportunity to test the computer, a sign that the company is getting closer to an official release.

The BBC understands that UK developers may have access to the device as early as May or June, making Britain the first country outside the US to gain additional prototypes.

Those who purchase the device will be known as Explorers, a term Google uses for its testers The Glass team said they were “excited to meet our new Explorers, and we can’t wait to hear your thoughts about Glass.”

While the £894 asking price seems high, Steven Graves, deputy editor of Stuff.tv, told the BBC this was likely to change: “The thing you have to bear in mind is it is still in development and that people are buying into that development.

“I think it’s quite a high price but that doesn’t necessarily reflect what the price will be when it is eventually released to consumers. At this stage they just want to get it in a few more hands.”

Google Glass will be sold on a first-come, firstserved basis after an initial online sign-up process.

Evan Kypreos, editor of TrustedReviews, said: “$1,500 is far too expensive for something that has very limited functionality at the moment.

“Google is targeting just a few early adopters to understand how to further develop Glass and doesn’t actually want average Joes using it until it’s a much more mature product.

“It’s similar to how mobile phones came about,” explains Mr Kypreos. “In the 80s, only a handful of people used them. They were bulky, expensive and could only be used to make calls. Thirty years later and most of the population has a smartphone that can do pretty much anything a PC can.”

Early adopters of the wearable headset include BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones, who has been blogging about his experience.

‘HEARTBLEED’ COMPUTER BUG THREAT SPREADS TO FIREWALLS AND BEYOND

H

ackers could crack email systems, security firewalls and possibly mobile phones through the “Heartbleed” computer bug, according to security experts who warned on Thursday that the risks extended beyond just Internet Web servers.

The widespread bug surfaced late on Monday, when it was disclosed that a pernicious flaw in a widely used Web encryption program known as OpenSSL opened hundreds of thousands of websites to data theft. Developers rushed out patches to fix affected web servers when they disclosed the problem, which affected companies from Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc to Yahoo Inc. Yet pieces of vulnerable OpenSSL code can be found inside plenty of other places, including email servers, ordinary PCs, phones and even security products such as firewalls. Developers of those products are scrambling to figure out whether they are vulnerable and patch them to keep their users safe.

“I am waiting for a patch,” said Jeff Moss, a security adviser to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and founder of the Def Con hacking con-

ference. Def Con’s network uses an enterprise firewall from McAfee, which is owned by Intel Corp’s security division.

He said he was frustrated because people had figured out that his email and Web traffic is vulnerable and posted about it on the Internet - but he can’t take steps to remedy the problem until Intel releases a patch.

“Everybody is going through the exact same thing I’m going through, if you are going through a vendor fix,” he said.

An Intel spokesman declined comment, referring Reuters to a company blog that said: “We understand this is a difficult time for businesses as they scramble to update multiple products from multiple vendors in the coming weeks. The McAfee products that use affected versions of OpenSSL are vulnerable and need to be updated.”

It did not say when they would be released.

The Heartbleed vulnerability went undetected for about two years and can be exploited without leaving a trace, so experts and consumers fear attackers may have compromised large numbers of networks without their knowledge.

Companies and government agen-

cies are now rushing to understand which products are vulnerable, then set priorities for fixing them. They are anxious because researchers have observed sophisticated hacking groups conducting scans of the Internet this week in search of vulnerable servers.

“Every security person is talking about this,” said Chris Morales, practice manager with the cybersecurity services firm NSS Labs.

Cisco Systems Inc, the world’s biggest telecommunications equipment provider, said on its website that it is reviewing dozens of products to see if they are safe. It uncovered about a dozen that are vulnerable, including a TelePresence video conferencing server, a version of the IOS software for managing routers. A company spokesman declined to comment on how those issues might affect users, saying Cisco would provide more information as it became available.

Oracle Corp has not posted such an advisory on its support site. Company spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger declined to comment on Heartbleed.

Microsoft Corp, which runs a cloud computing and storage service, the

Xbox platform and has hundreds of millions of Windows and Officer users, said in a statement that “a few services continue to be reviewed and updated with further protections.” It did not identify them.

Officials with technology giants IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co could not be reached. EMC Corp and Dell said they had no immediate comment.

Security experts said the vulnerable code is also found in some widely used email server software, the online browser anonymizing tool Tor and OpenVPN, as well as some online games and software that runs Internet-connected devices such as webcams and mobile phones.

Jeff Forristal, chief technology officer of Bluebox Security, said that version 4.1.1 of Google’s Android operating system, known as Jelly Bean, is also vulnerable. Google officials declined comment on his finding.

Other security experts said that they would avoid using any device with the vulnerable software in it, but that it would take a lot of effort for a hacker to extract useful data from a vulnerable Android phone.

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APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

Page 41

BUSINESS AND T ECHNOLOGY

Galaxy S5 launch: No lines, but preorders look strong N

EW YORK -- The Galaxy S5 is no iPhone when it comes to launch-day craziness.

But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

A cursory visit to a handful of stores in the New York City area for the Galaxy S5 debut Friday found no lines and just a handful of customers, a sharp contrast to the block-spanning lines and festivities found when Apple first releases an iPhone or iPad. The truth, however, is that it’s impossible to judge just how well a product will do based on those early, at times fanatical, crowds (or lack thereof). While there may not be a lot of early hoopla at the stores, the Galaxy S5 will likely be a hot seller and help keep Samsung perched atop the smartphone heap.

Samsung has never been able to draw the crowds that flock to the iPhone and the iPad, but there are logistical explanations for that. Unlike Apple, Samsung doesn’t have its own retail stores, instead rely-

ing on a large network of retail partners and carrier stores. Even during an iPhone launch, these stores don’t get the kind of massive lines that you find at an Apple store. In New York, most of the attention is centered one the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, known as the “Cube.”

The carriers, retailers, and Samsung have also made it a lot easier to preorder the smartphone for delivery on launch day, so customers don’t even have to leave their house to get the Galaxy S5. By contrast, Apple makes it much more difficult to preorder an iPhone or iPad, with supply restrictions limiting the number. For some people, the only way to get an iPhone is to wait at a store.

Representatives from all of the carriers noted strong preorder numbers for the Galaxy S5, although none would provide specific figures.

“Preordering has been a pressure valve release,” T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert told CNET. He previously tweeted that the Galaxy S5 drew more than 100,000 preregistrations, breaking a record at the carrier.

“I wouldn’t expect lines at our retail locations,” said a Sprint spokesman. Still, he said, “we’re pleased with the response to the Samsung Galaxy S5.”

A Samsung spokeswoman said the company doesn’t typically break out US sales numbers or firstday sales figures.

Possibly the first owner of the Galaxy S5 in New York was Edelfin Cintron, a central processing technician for a hospital in uptown Manhattan.

He dropped by Best Buy’s flagship store in Union Square at 8:30 a.m. ET on the way home to pick up the phone (Other stores were instructed to begin selling the phone at 9 a.m. ET).

Facebook says WhatsApp deal cleared by FTC F

acebook Inc said U.S. regulators have cleared its $19 billion acquisition of mobile messaging service WhatsApp, even as the Federal Trade Commission warned the two Internet companies on Thursday that they must not backtrack on commitments to user privacy.

The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a letter to the two companies on Thursday, said WhatsApp must adhere to its current privacy practices after the merger, including a promise not to use WhatsApp users’ personal data for targeted ads.

“If the acquisition is completed and WhatsApp fails to honor these promises, both companies could be in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and, potentially, the FTC’s order against Facebook,” the letter from Jessica Rich, director of the consumer bureau, read.

The letter did not address the status of the government’s review of the merger on antitrust grounds.

FTC spokesman Jay Mayfield said the agency does not comment on investigations.

But a Facebook spokeswoman said that the deal has been approved in the United States, though it has not yet been approved in Europe.

“We’re pleased the FTC has completed its review and cleared our acquisition of WhatsApp. Naturally, both companies will continue to comply with all applicable laws after the transaction closes,” Facebook said in a statement.

The move brings Facebook, the world’s No. 1 online social network, closer to completing the largest deal in its 10-year history, which will give Facebook an important asset in the fast-growing mobile messaging mar-

ket.

WhatsApp, which allows mobile phone users to send each other messages, has had a longstanding commitment to not collect user data for advertising purposes. WhatsApp stores users’ mobile phone numbers, but unlike many online services, it does not collect user names, emails and other contact information.

Some privacy advocacy groups are worried that that commitment could

ICAHN BACKS DOWN FROM DEMAND THAT EBAY SPIN OFF PAYPAL GOING UP AGAINST THE VALLEY

C

arl Icahn backed off calls for eBay Inc to spin out its fast-growing PayPal payments unit on Thursday, after the billionaire investor failed to drum up support from the e-commerce company’s major shareholders.

Icahn withdrew his two nominees to eBay’s board ahead of the company’s annual meeting in May. But in a concession to the famously pugnacious activist investor, eBay added David Dorman, a founding partner of investment firm Centerview Capital Technology, as a 10th independent director.

The settlement caps a monthslong acerbic war of words and marked a reversal for Icahn, who had accused eBay Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe of “inexcusable incompetence” and attacked the company’s board repeatedly for shoddy governance.

He appeared to soften his stance on Thursday, saying he found several of Donahoe’s ideas “compelling” and looked forward to working with eBay’s board.

In an interview with Reuters, Icahn said he might add to his eBay holdings. He added that while he supported a PayPal split in the near future, now was not the time.

“If they did the split-up now, yes, the stock would go up,” Icahn said. “But I am looking at it and think, ‘Why do it now?’ I think the stock is very undervalued.”

Icahn emphasized to CNBC that he “did not capitulate” to eBay. He and Donahoe will meet regularly to discuss strategic alternatives for PayPal, now eBay’s fastest-growing business.

The billionaire told CNBC that his perspective shifted during talks with major eBay shareholders who did not to see eye to eye with him about a PayPal spinoff.

They also threw their support behind Donahoe, Icahn said.

Icahn, who owns more than 2 percent of eBay, also said he greatly respected Dorman, a former AT&T Inc CEO and current chairman of CVS Caremark Corp.

Dorman has known venture capitalist and eBay director Marc Andreessen for years.

“I am tickled pink to welcome my old friend David Dorman to the eBay board!” Andreessen said in a tweet.

Shares of eBay tumbled 3.2 percent to $54.08 at Thursday’s close, during a selloff in tech stocks that drove the Nasdaq Composite Index down 3.1 percent.

Icahn has successfully pushed for change at companies like Forest Laboratories Inc, but has not always been able to replicate that success in the technology sector.

Earlier this year, he failed to push Apple Inc to increase its stock buybacks significantly, though the iPhone maker did accelerate share purchases under an existing program in February.

But he has also profited from his tech investments. When asked on Thursday if he had made money on his eBay investment this year, he said he would not argue that point.

It’s unclear, though, how much Icahn made on his eBay stake. Since eBay first disclosed his proposal on January 22, the stock has ranged from $54 to a high just above $59 in March before sliding just below $54 late Thursday afternoon.

With regards to Apple, Icahn said in January that he owned roughly $4 billion of Apple stock, after adding to his position several times during a very public campaign that began when he first disclosed a stake in the company on August 13. At the time, Apple was trading at about $467; it’s now slightly below $524.

PayPal was founded in the late 1990s and went public in 2002. It was acquired by eBay soon afterward for $1.5 billion. PayPal had 143 million active users at the end of 2013, up 16 percent from a year earlier.

be scrapped after WhatsApp becomes part of Facebook, which generates the majority of its revenue by showing ads that target users by age, gender and other traits.

In the letter to Facebook and WhatsApp, the FTC’s Rich said the companies must obtain user consent if they use any of the data collected

by WhatsApp in different ways than they presently do.

Facebook is required to get user consent for certain privacy changes as part of a 2011 settlement of federal charges that it deceived consumers and forced them to share more personal information than they intended.

“The FTC staff will continue to monitor the companies’ practices to ensure that Facebook and WhatsApp honor the promises they have made to those users,” the letter said.

JPMORGAN PROFIT WEAKER THAN EXPECTED AS TRADING REVENUE FALLS

J

PMorgan Chase & Co posted far weaker-than-expected quarterly profit as uncertainty about the U.S. economy weighed on investor trading volumes and consumer borrowing.

Results from the first of the major Wall Street banks to post earnings underscore how difficult the first quarter was for the financial sector. JPMorgan’s bond trading revenue plunged 21 percent, and mortgage lending revenue fell 84 percent from the same quarter last year.

Most of the bank’s big businesses, including commercial lending and credit cards, delivered lower profits. But the bank is not responding by dialing up its risk-taking in commercial lending, and it views falling revenue in its bond trading business as part of a business cycle instead of a symptom of a broad-based and lasting decline in fixed-income trading.

“It’s not like selling cereal - it’s not like your volumes go up 2 percent every day,” Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said to reporters on a conference call. The business will grow over the next decade or two, he added.

Dimon, who earned plaudits for keeping his bank consistently profitable during the financial crisis, is struggling to figure out how to navigate the current environment.

In his annual letter to shareholders earlier this week, Dimon noted that JPMorgan will have spent more than $2 billion more than usual from 2012 through the end of this year on complying with new rules, and devoted more than 1 million work hours to meeting new mortgage rules. The bank’s net income dropped 16 percent last year due to massive legal settlements and rising compliance costs.

Page 42

APRIL 12TH - APRIL 19TH, 2014

CARIBBEAN SPORTS LOCAL NEWS

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

TCIFA TO HOST CONCACAF GRASSROOTS WORKSHOP T

he Turks & Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) will be hosting a CONCACAF Grassroots workshop in early April 2014. The TCIFA, through CONCACAF, is putting on this initiative in the Turks & Caicos Islands to further strengthen the TCIFAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youth development programmes, whilst educating its stakeholders.

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, commonly known as CONCACAF, is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, to which the TCIFA is a member.

The main objective of the Grassroots program is to bring the game of football directly to the children in the CONCACAF region. CONCACAF believes that one of the most effective ways to attract future football players is by giving them the opportunity to play football in their own

environment. The concept being that you cannot have a strong house without a solid foundation.

To this regard, the Grassroots program will focus on girls and boys between the ages of six (6) and 12 years of age, as well as everyone involved in the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education; be they parents, schools, coaches, and government.

Established since March 2013, the CONCACAF Grassroots program has been hosted in 21 Member Associations such as St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago to name but a few.

Of the program, Sonia Bien-Aime TCIFAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Secretary General says: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The TCIFA is pleased WR KDYH EHHQ FKRVHQ DPRQJVW WKH ÂżUVW 0HPEHU $VVRFLDWLRQV WR EHQHÂżW IURP RQH RI WKH PRVW important programmes offered by CONCACAF. This programme will no doubt provide a foundation for our game, whilst providing coaching and

an opportunity for all to experience a socially inclusive environment.â&#x20AC;?

Some of the topics that will be covered in the course are role of educator, principals of coaching and training, embracing diversity, age-appropriate training objectives and methodology, session planning and Grassroots Festival planning and set up.

Lenny Lake, CONCACAF Senior Instructor; Heather Dyche, CONCACAF Instructor; and Jonathan Martinez, Program Administrator, will facilitate the program, which will take place 10th â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 12th April 2014 at the TCIFA Academy on Venetian Road, Provo.

For more information on the TCIFA or the Visiting Team Program, kindly contact Sonia BienAime, Secretary General on 941-5532 or email tcifa@tciway.tc.

HOWARD INDUSTRIES CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP OF TCIAA FIREMEN

CARIFTA TEAM GETS WINE CELLAR FISHING TOURAMENT SUPPORT: Two entities were recipients of the Wine Cellar Fishing Tournament this year. They are the Edward Gartland Youth Centre and the 2014 Turks and Caicos Carifta Athletics Championship Team which will journey to Martinque over the Easter Weekend to compete DJDLQVW WKH EHVW LQ &DULEEHDQ 'HVPRQG :LOOLDPV WKH :LQH &HOODUÂśV 3XEOLF 5HODWLRQV 2IÂżFHU PDGH WKH SUHYVHQWDWLRQ WR the two entities during a brief presentation. Here, Williams presenting the cheque of $12,500 to President of the Turks and Caicos Islands Amateur Athletics Association (TCAAA), Edith Skippings, and Rosalie Ingham, general secretary for the TCAAA. Looking on in the background are members of the Carifta team

Jay Bitzer (standing at centre) of Howard Industries shares in a photo op with members of the TCIAA Flames Basketball team

The Providenciales International Airport Firemen have received corporate sponsorship from USA based supply company Howard Industries out of Boca Raton, Florida. (www.howardindustries.bz).

Invitations were sent to a number of corporate entities to participate in an annual basketball competition that is expected to take place during May. /RFDO DLUSRUW ÂżUHPHQ GHFLGHG WR take on the challenge and form their own team to be called the TCIAA Flames. The Flames will vie for the championship spot and look smart while doing so by wearing their new uniforms inspired by the company colors.

Howard Industries has offered to sponsor the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basketball uniforms in order to make this all possible. This is the second year that this tournament will be held in Providenciales and the TCIAA Flames will be competing with the likes of staff from Beaches TCI,

Scotia Bank and even last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winner, Fortis TCI. Mr. Stanford Ricardo Forbes, local ÂżUHPHQ FRPPHQWHG ÂłHYHQ WKRXJK WKLV ZLOO EH RXU ÂżUVW \HDU FRPSHWLQJ we hope to bring home the trophy.â&#x20AC;?

He further noted that the 15 member team has been practicing almost every day since March of this year and shows promise of excelling. This competition will encourage the young PHQ WR VWD\ ÂżW DQG KHDOWK\ ZKLOH WKH\ train for the upcoming games.

Mr Jay Bitzer of Howard Industries was very happy to offer assistance and made a special trip to the islands to hand over the uniforms. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is always a good thing to be able to offer a helping hand to companies with whom we do business. I wish the team all the best and hope that they win a shiny trophy just for us.â&#x20AC;?

He said.

The competition will take place at the Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex

TCIFA HOST TOURNAMENT TO ENCOURAGE FOOTIE SUCCESS!

In an effort to increase the level of play of its Academy members, the Turks & Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) will be hosting a tournament next month to do just that.

Through its Visiting Team Program, driven by its players, coaches and referees, the local football association is excited to host a Boys U13 and Boys U15 team from Brooklyn, New York in April. This game-centric approach by the TCIFA allows for long-term development to occur through a deeper understanding of what makes players successful at the highest level.

As the sport of football continue to grow in the Turks & Caicos, young players in this country need the proper environment to compete against more seasoned players. By having teams visit, this program provides the optimum developmental environment for the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top youth football players, coaches and referees by emphasizing development through meaningful competition.

The games schedule is as follows:

Friday, 11th April Game one: 5 - 6:45PM, U13 game Game two: 7 -8:45PM, Boys U15 game Saturday, 12th April Game one: 9 - 10:30AM, Boys U13 game Game two: 10:45AM â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 12Noon, Boys U15 game

Sunday, 13th April Game one: 3 - 4:30PM, Beach Tournament for B13 Game two: 7 - 8:45PM, Boys U15 game (where will this be played) Monday 14th April Game one: 4:30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6:00PM Beach Tournament for B15 Game two: 5 - 6:30PM, Boys U13 game (where will this be played) For more information on the TCIFA or the Visiting Team Program, kindly contact Sonia Bien-Aime, Secretary General on 941-5532 or email tcifa@ tciway.tc.

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Sports

CARIBBEAN

Doping ban for Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell

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INGSTON, Jamaica — A Jamaican disciplinary panel on Thursday banned former 100-meter world record holder Asafa Powell from athletics for 18 months after the veteran sprinter tested positive for a banned stimulant last June.

In the sprinting powerhouse’s capital of Kingston, the head of the three-member panel of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission said its decision was unanimous after examining the ‘‘voluminous nature of the evidence.’’ ‘‘In all the circumstances, Mr. Powell was found to be negligent, and he was at fault,’’ said commission chairman Lennox Gayle, adding the panel would issue a written statement explaining its decision in about a month.

Powell’s backdated ban begins from the date of his sample collection on June 21, 2013 during national trials for the world championships. That means he’s eligible to return to competition on Dec. 20, about a month after he turns 32.

Once the top sprinter on the track, Powell lowered the world record in the 100 to 9.77 in 2005, then 9.74 in 2008 before being eclipsed by countryman Usain Bolt. Powell was the Jamaican athlete who first put Jamaica’s dominating athletics prowess on center stage in the 21st century. But unlike Bolt, he could never win the big one.

The 31-year-old sprinter tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrone at Jamaica’s national trials last June. He’d been suspended from competition since his doping case was disclosed in July.

Powell did not attend the Thursday session, but he issued a statement through his publicist saying his defense team will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He described the ruling as ‘‘not only unfair, it is patently unjust.’’

Like former teammate Sherone Simpson, a three-

Asafa Powell time Olympic medalist who tested positive for the same stimulant at the national trials in June, Powell placed the blame on a newly-hired trainer who provided the two athletes with supplements, including one called ‘‘Epiphany D1’’ which lab tests later showed to contain oxilofrone. ‘‘I have never knowingly taken any banned substances, I did all the necessary checks before taking Epiphany D1 and it is my hope that the CAS will prove to be a more open and fair avenue for the review of all the facts in my case,’’ Powell said in his Thursday statement.

During hearings earlier this year, Powell testified that he received nine supplements from Canadian physiotherapist Christopher Xuereb, including Epiphany D1. Powell said he started taking the capsules in early June after he and a friend researched the supplement for up to six hours online and found no prohibited substances.

But Xuereb has said he never gave Powell or Simpson any performance-enhancing drugs and only purchased major brand vitamins. In July, he

Pietersen signed by St Lucia for CPL F

ormer England captain Kevin Pietersen was drafted by St Lucia Zouks for his first season of the Caribbean Premier League.

The batsman, however, is likely to miss the first part of the tournament, which starts on July 5, to fulfill his commitments towards Surrey in the NatWest t20 blast. Prior to that, Pietersen will be leading Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2014.

One of the notable omissions during Thursday’s draft was Shahid Afridi who was not selected by any franchise. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Daniel Vettori, Tamim Iqbal and Netherlands’ Tom Cooper were also not picked. However, the teams have a day to conduct trades and a final list of players for CPL 2014 will be released on Sunday.

Pietersen was the first player to be selected in the draft and had a salary slab of $80,000. He will be part of a squad that includes Brad Hodge, who will also be playing in the CPL for the first time. The franchise also recruited Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir and South Africa’s Roelof van der Merwe.

Corey Anderson and Saeed Ajmal were the other big firsttime picks in the draft. Anderson,

Kevin Pietersen may miss the first part of the Caribbean Premier League due to county commitments who holds the record for the fastest ODI hundred, was drafted by Guyana Amazon Warriors, while Ajmal, one of the top-ranked bowlers across formats, will join Antigua Hawksbills.

Apart from Ajmal and Tanvir, there will be five other Pakistan players in the tournament - Mohammad Hafeez (Guyana), Ahmed

Shehzad (Jamaica Tallawahs), Nasir Jamshed (Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel), Imran Nazir and Shoaib Malik (Barbados Tridents).

Australia’s Adam Voges is another new face and has been drafted by Jamaica, while his compatriot David Hussey will represent Antigua, alongside Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera. Martin Guptill (Guyana), Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien (T&T) and Shakib Al Hasan (Barbados) have been retained by their respective franchises in keeping with the trend of the teams sticking to a core group of international players.

A majority of West Indies internationals who were part of the squad that exited from the World T20 on Thursday have also been retained by their respective franchises. Samuel Badree (T&T), Denesh Ramdin, Krishmar Santokie and Lendl Simmons (Guyana), Dwayne Smith (Barbados), Andre Russell (Jamaica), Andre Fletcher (St. Lucia) and Sheldon Cottrell (Antigua) make the list.

Johnson Charles has moved from Antigua to St. Lucia for this season, while Ravi Rampaul, who missed the last tournament due to injury, has been selected by Barbados.

asserted to The Associated Press that both athletes were looking for a scapegoat. Xuereb once worked at the Toronto clinic run by Anthony Galea, a sports physician who pleaded guilty to bringing unapproved and mislabeled drugs into the U.S. for house calls.

On the morning of the Jamaican trials, Powell said he took four capsules of Epiphany D1 at Xuereb’s suggestion after previously taking two each morning. Powell ended up finishing in seventh place and failed to qualify for the world championships.

The sprinter, who turned professional in 2002, raised eyebrows during his testimony in January when he said he wasn’t acquainted with doping control rules. He also testified that he did not tell a doping control officer about all the new supplements he’d been ingesting, only listing three on his declaration form, because he couldn’t remember their names amid the excitement of the Jamaican trials.

On Tuesday, Powell’s former teammate Simpson was also banned until Dec. 20 after testing positive for oxilofrone. Her 18-month ban also began from the sample collection date at Jamaica’s national trials. She will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The two athletes, both represented by agent Paul Doyle, delivered nearly identical defenses.

The Jamaican disciplinary panel on Tuesday also issued a two-year ban for Olympic discus thrower Allison Randall, who is suspended until June 2015.

Earlier this year, sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown was cleared of doping on appeal by CAS after testing positive for a banned diuretic at a Jamaican meet. The full reasons for the three-time Olympic gold medalist’s exoneration have not yet been released, but CAS said the ruling was based on faulty sample collection.

WEST INDIES COACH OTTIS GIBSON SHIFTS FOCUS TO 2015 WORLD CUP

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est Indies coach Ottis Gibson wants his team to immediately shift gears towards the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year following a semi-final exit which led to them relinquishing their World T20 title to eventual winners Sri Lanka. Gibson was optimistic that his team could put forth a formidable charge at another global tournament, and has urged his troops to ride the wave of their impressive T20 form over the past few months.

“I’ve been speaking to Richard Pybus (Director of Cricket) about getting together a core group of players to target the 50-over World Cup, getting some fitness done and making sure those guys are at the peak of their fitness,” Gibson said. “All those [series] are opportunities to start to for-

Ottis Gibson mulate a team or a squad of players that will then become the basis of the team that is likely to play in the World Cup, and get those guys playing together as often as possible.

“It would give captain [Dwayne] Bravo an opportunity to work with this group of players and get a brand of cricket that he wants to play developed and strong, so that by the time we get to the World Cup next year, the guys are ready to peak again and have a real good go at winning a world title.”

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Sports W

RLD

The Heats Big Three to meet

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iami Heat teammates Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh all have opt-outs in their contracts at the end of this season, but no collective decision has been made as to whether they will all choose to test the free-agent waters.

The three met before they made their free-agency decisions in 2010 and could have another such meeting before their June 30 opt-out deadlines, which allow them to leave in 2014, 2015 or 2016.

Wade revealed on Tuesday as part of an interview for the cover story of an upcoming issue of ESPN The Magazine that the three, who have gone to three straight Finals and won the past two, plan to have that conversation at some point.

“I’m at a position where I don’t really have to worry about it,” said Wade, who also won a title with the Heat in 2006. “I’ve been with the same organization for now 11 years. We’ve won multiple championships, so it’s no reason where I need to think about that yet. I’m not at a point where we are a bad team and I need to think about the future, so right now I’m really focused on just enjoying this team, enjoying our quest to try to three-peat. And when the season is over, and whatever happens, then I will sit down with Chris and I will sit down with Bron and I

The Miami Heat’s Big Three, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh will sit down and make the best decision for myself and my family.”

Last week, Bosh hinted that he and James would stay in Miami when he answered “True” to a question posed by ESPN’s Dan Le Batard as to whether he and James would be back with the team next season.

“When we sat down and we signed our deals and all of us made sure we had an opt-out in that fourth year, that was our option, so the option is there and

you would hope that someone wants to be able to use their option as a player,” Wade said. “As players, you only have so much time and you only have so many moments where you have the ability to control your own fate, so it’s not a bad thing at all if that’s what someone is thinking. I haven’t had that conversation with Chris. I haven’t had that conversation with Bron.”

Wade took a pay cut and less than a max deal to help the Heat add depth to the roster in 2010 and it’s possible the team could approach him about doing so again this summer.

Wade is due $42 million over the next two seasons, which would be the most lucrative contract years of his career. But the Heat could try to persuade Wade and the others to take another discount in the name of more titles.

The Heat are facing the prospect of becoming the first team to pay the new “repeater tax,” which could triple or quadruple luxury-tax penalties from their rates when the Big Three signed in 2010. In recent years, players like Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan have used opt-outs in their contracts, lowering their salaries to help their teams deal with tax issues while getting more guaranteed years in return.

Masters opens with Woods on the sideline A

UGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters began Thursday with three shots right down the middle of the fairway.

Just not terribly far.

Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus hit the ceremonial tee shots with fans already lining both sides of the first fairway on a brisk, sunny morning. Still competitive even after all these years, Nicklaus went last and hit a drive that went about a yard past Player’s shot. ‘‘But it’s not bad when you think he used to outdrive me by 50,’’ Player quipped.

The ‘‘Big Three’’ combined to win 13 green jackets, including seven in a row at the start of the 1960s.

This Masters is far less predictable.

Without Tiger Woods or a dominant figure, it’s seen as the most wide-open Masters in years.

A bunch of brash Augusta rookies are eager to fill Woods’ shoes, and the last two dozen majors have been divvied up among 21 winners.

Early Thursday, Webb Simpson birdied the first three holes and Sweden’s Jonas Blixt also was at 3-under par, shooting 33 on the front side. Stewart Cink, Kevin Stadler, Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker were at 1 under.

Ryan Moore, who won the Par 3 contest Wednesday, thinks it might be time to break the curse of that winner never

Tiger Woods is out of golf until the summer winning the tournament. ‘‘You never know,’’ he said. ‘‘Someone has got to break that (Par 3) curse at some point in time, so hopefully it’s me. Who knows? I might go shoot 8 under or something, make a couple of hole-in-ones.’’

As unlikely as that sounds, pretty much everything else is up for grabs at this Masters. Recovering from back surgery, Woods is sitting out the opening major of the year for the first time since turning pro.

Even as his dominance waned in recent years, he was always the clear-cut favorite coming into Augusta, where he has won four times.

Now, as Moore said, who knows?

Jason Day, Sergio Garcia and former Masters champion Zach Johnson are the

only players from the top 10 who have won anywhere in the world this year.

Only one of the past seven winners on the PGA Tour was ranked in the top 75. ‘‘I think if you’re outside the top 50 in the world this week, you’ve got a great chance,’’ U.S. Open champion Justin Rose said with a laugh.

Woods is out of golf until the summer, but the show goes on at a tournament that rarely fails to deliver plenty of drama. ‘‘It’s a huge loss,’’ defending Masters champion Adam Scott said. ‘‘But, as every year here, this event produces something special no matter what. It just has a way of doing it. It’s not going to involve Tiger this year, but it will involve someone else and it will be a memorable event anyway.’’

It could be Scott, trying to take over as the world’s No. 1 player and join Woods, Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only back-to-back winners.

Or it could be Phil Mickelson, who last year won the British Open at age 42 and now has a chance to join Woods and Palmer with a fourth green jacket.

While Woods last won the Masters in 2005, he had finished out of the top six only once since then.

That’s what made him such a compelling figure at Augusta.

He always seemed to be there.

3 NFL PLAYERS NAMED IN POLICE REPORT, NOT CHARGED

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IAMI — Three NFL players are named in a police report involving a woman who passed out in a hotel and later woke up in a hospital not knowing how she got there, though no one has been charged with a crime, authorities said Thursday.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and wide receiver Quinton Patton, and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette, were with the woman at a Miami hotel where Lockette lives, according to the Miami Police Department report.

Police stressed that the report contained only unproven allegations at this point. ‘‘As far as whether there was a crime committed, it’s too early to say,’’ said police spokeswoman Kenia Reyes.

The account of the woman, who was not identified by police, is described in the report: The woman mixed drinks and gave the men shots, and the men told her ‘‘in order to drink the shots she had to ‘hit’ the bong which contained marijuana.’’

The four were watching a basketball game when the woman began feeling light-headed and went to lie down in a bedroom. Kaepernick came into the room, began kissing her and undressed her completely. The woman told police that they did not have sex, and that Kaepernick left the bedroom saying he’d be right back.

A few minutes later, the woman told police, the other two men ‘‘peeked’’ inside. She said to them, ‘‘What are you doing? Where is Colin? Get out.’’

Rose falls on the side of experience — knowing where to miss, knowing where you can’t afford to miss, where the hole locations tend to be on the contoured greens and using the slope to get the ball close. ‘‘Always you can have the unknowns,’’ Rose said. ‘‘But I would say 15 guys are pretty strong favorites.’’

Fuzzy Zoeller was the last Augusta rookie to claim the green jacket in 1979, and the only other ones to do it were the first two: Horton Smith and Gene Sarazen.

Then again, there are 24 first-timers in the 98-player field, a record (except for the first tournament), and none of them will concede an insurmountable learning curve.

Besides, no one is dominating golf at the moment. Walker has the most PGA Tour wins (three) this season, but this is his first Masters. Scott had a chance to go to No. 1 three weeks ago at Bay Hill, but he lost a three-shot lead in the final round to Matt Every, who had never won in his career. ‘‘Doesn’t matter if you’ve played here once or if you’ve played here 50 times,’’ said Patrick Reed, who has won three times in the past eight months. ‘‘When it comes down to it, it’s just going to be that whoever is playing the best is going to walk away with the trophy.’’

The report says the woman does not remember anything after that and later woke up in a hospital room with no memory of how she got there.

The woman told police she has had a sexual relationship with Kaepernick in the past.

Kaepernick’s agent, Scott Smith, did not immediately respond to email and voice mail messages seeking comment. The 49ers and Seahawks issued statements saying they were aware of the incident but declined further comment.

Kaepernick, 26, is one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl after the 2012 season and the NFC championship game this past year. For his three-year career, Kaepernick has thrown for more than 5,000 yards and 31 touchdowns, and he has rushed for 937 yards and another nine touchdowns.

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Bradley finds Pacquiao lacking before rematch L

OS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao’s latest pastor wants him up at 5 a.m. every day for prayers. The eight-division champion sometimes has 100 people and a yappy dog named Pacman in his home after training sessions, playing darts and carousing into the night.

Even during a hiatus from his duties as a Filipino congressman, it’s tough to see how a great boxer could keep his focus and fire amid Pacquiao’s hectic life and long career.

According to Timothy Bradley, Pacquiao can’t do it. ‘‘When was the last time you saw him knock somebody out?’’ Bradley asked, knowing it’s been nearly five years. ‘‘He’s not the same guy. He’s more compassionate, more kind. That spark isn’t there.

That’s not good for a boxer.’’

Bradley isn’t afraid to voice unpopular opinions.

After all, he’s one of the few prominent boxing observers who believe he actually won his first fight with Pacquiao two years ago, a split decision that sent Bradley on a wild career loop of his own.

When Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs) repeatedly declares Pacquiao has lost his killer instinct and competitive fire heading into their highly anticipated welterweight rematch Saturday in Las Vegas, he realizes it could motivate Pacquiao to produce his best performance in years.

He claims he simply doesn’t care what Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KOs) thinks or does with that bulletin-board material, and that might be Bradley’s greatest indictment of all. ‘‘It wouldn’t affect him if he didn’t believe it,’’ Bradley told The Associated Press. ‘‘He definitely started thinking, ‘Maybe I am too nice. Maybe I have lost my fire.’ He started second-guessing himself and really thinking about it. Freddie (Roach) should thank me for saying that. If he gets offended by it, he needs to check himself. Maybe he got a reality check.’’

Roach believes that check will get cashed at the

In this Feb. 6, 2014 file photo, boxer Manny Pacquiao, of the Phillipines, left, poses for a photo with current WBO World Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley of Indio, Ca., during a press conference in New York. Bradley believes former pound-forpound king Pacquiao has lost his competitive fire heading into Saturday’s, April 12, 2014 welterweight rematch in Las Vegas.

MGM Grand Garden. Pacquiao’s longtime trainer insists he sees signs of the hellacious puncher who captivated the boxing world during a 15-fight winning streak before that hotly disputed loss to Bradley. ‘‘I think he’s really winding my guy up to be explosive in this fight, so I thank him for that,’’ Roach said. ‘‘Manny feels like he’s being disrespected, like it’s a little bit of a slap in the face.’’

For the first time in several camps, Pacquiao knocked down a sparring partner at Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club. For the first time in ages, Pacquiao is talking about inflicting pain rather than minimizing it. ‘‘He’s very religious right now, but he has mentioned during the mitts and so forth that if he hurts this guy, he’ll finish him,’’ Roach told the AP. ‘‘He showed me the combination he’ll use. I like that, because he’s talking about hurting people for the first

time in a long time. I think that hunger is back a little bit.’’

When Pacquiao is asked about Bradley’s bold declarations, he doesn’t respond in kind. While Roach insists Pacquiao knows and cares about the perceived disrespect, he doesn’t engage in verbal sparring. ‘‘Maybe I’m too nice and too kind in the ring sometimes,’’ Pacquiao said while wrapping his hands for his final Wild Card workout earlier this week. ‘‘Maybe I’ll try to change it.’’

After nearly a year away, Pacquiao looked solid last fall in a clear-cut victory over Brandon Rios. But Pacquiao’s inability to stop a defense-deficient opponent stoked the discussion about whether Pacquiao’s most dynamic days are over. ‘‘I couldn’t believe it when I saw him take a backwards step in the 12th round,’’ said Bradley, who has stopped just one opponent himself in the last seven years. ‘‘He didn’t try to engage. He didn’t try to finish.

I had never seen that from Manny Pacquiao before.

It’s amazing to me.’’

Pacquiao will fight without his wife, Jinkee, at ringside for the first time since his career moved stateside. She is home in the Philippines, due to give birth later this month to their fifth child, a boy to be named Israel.

Roach is used to the Pacquiao circus by now, and he remained patient with Pacquiao’s myriad distractions even after a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in late 2012. The trainer steadfastly believes his prize pupil is still capable of the remarkable feats that got him to the top.

Still, Roach raised an eyebrow when he heard about daily pre-dawn prayer sessions with the latest in a dizzying line of spiritual advisers to the increasingly pious boxer’s camp. ‘‘I told the pastor to stop waking him up so early,’’ Roach said with a smile. ‘‘I told him, ‘I thought God was with us at all times, not just 5 a.m.’’’

FIFA chief hates Brazil drug test doubts M

ONACO -- FIFA’s medical chief is “really not happy” with drug-testing plans for the World Cup in Brazil because samples taken from players must be flown across the Atlantic for analysis at a laboratory in Switzerland, which could slow results.

FIFA had to turn to the Swiss lab because the Brazilian laboratory that was expected to analyze World Cup samples repeatedly failed to comply with World Anti-Doping Agency standards.

FIFA expects to send about 1,000 blood and urine samples to the WADA-accredited facility in Lausanne, at an extra cost of $250,000 for the governing body, said Michel D’Hooghe, who chairs FIFA’s medical commission and sits on its executive committee.

Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, D’Hooghe said that at previous World Cups “we always managed to have the (anti-doping test) results before the next game of the team. So if you were positive or if I was positive we knew it before you or me played a second game.”

But “I am not quite sure” results will come back quickly enough for

that to happen in Brazil, he said. That means, at worse, that a player who has failed a doping test could still get to play in another match.

“I hate this. I’m really not happy with that,” D’Hooghe said on the sidelines of a sports medicine conference.

“We have to live with it. We will do our best. But this is a weak point. And I attacked this point in the last meeting of the (Brazil) organizing committee where I was, yes, rather, how I say? Disappointed.”

Brazil is hosting the World Cup in 12 cities across the world’s fifth-largest country, making transportation for fans, teams and organizers a major issue. Samples collected outside of Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo, which together will host 13 of the 64 matches, must first travel to either of those cities before being flown across the Atlantic to Zurich or Geneva and then going on to Lausanne, D’Hooghe said. FIFA has contracted DHL for the transportation, he said.

D’Hooghe appeared most concerned about getting samples in a timely fashion from Manaus in the Amazon basin, calling it the “worstcase scenario.” Manaus is rough-

ly 4 hours flying time from Rio and Sao Paulo. England, Italy, the United States, Portugal, Cameroon, Croatia, Honduras and Switzerland play a total of four group matches there.

Samples from Manaus could take “maybe 36 hours” to get to Lausanne, said Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s chief medical officer. From other venues, the travel time should be 24 hours, he said.

But D’Hooghe expressed concerns about possible flight delays. Promised improvements are ready at only two of 13 major airports being used in the June-July tournament. Analysts are warning fans to brace for unfinished construction work, long checkin lines, and last-minute gate changes and flight delays.

“The problem is not so much the laboratory, they can easily be ready (with results on a sample) mostly in 24 hours. The problem is to get it there,” D’Hooghe said.

Complex transport logistics might make it easier for a lawyer defending any player who failed a test to argue that FIFA’s drug-testing process in Brazil was unsound. Should a player test positive, FIFA may have to show to a hearing or court that the sam-

ASSOCIATES TO GET A SHOT AT TEST CRICKET

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ssociate teams will have the opportunity to play Test cricket, with the ICC Board approving an ICC Test Challenge, which will take place every four years between the lowest-ranked Test team and the winner of the ICC Intercontinental Cup. The inaugural Test Challenge will take place in 2018, with the intention of giving a context to the Intercontinental Cup. The Intercontinental Cup, spread out over two years, is a first-class tournament played among the Associate teams. According to the new proposal, the side ranked 10th in the ICC Test rankings on December 31, 2017, or at the conclusion of any series in progress at that time, will play two five-day first-class matches at home and two five-day first-class matches away against the winner of the upcoming Intercontinental Cup.

The next Intercontinental Cup will run from 2015 to 2017, and the next edition from 2019 to 2021. The second ICC Test Challenge is scheduled for 2022. Since the Intercontinental Cup’s inception in 2004, Ireland have won it four times, with Afghanistan and Scotland winning one each. The new proposal will give promising teams like Ireland a chance to take their international cricket to the next level.

“The ICC Test Challenge now opens the door for Associate Members to play Test cricket and in doing so gives even greater context to the ICC Intercontinental Cup which will now be a pathway to Test cricket,” ICC chief executive David Richardson, said at the end of the two-day board meeting in Dubai.

The Test challenge is not, however, intended to be a

ple wasn’t tampered with on its long journey or poorly handled in a way that skewed lab analysis.

“The longer the journey that the sample has to take and the greater the number of steps before it gets to a laboratory, the greater the risk that some form of mishandling might occur,” London-based sports lawyer Mike Morgan said by email, in response to questions from the AP. “Needless to say, FIFA will have a task to ensure (1) that the chain of custody is maintained at all times to protect the integrity of the samples; and (2) that storage conditions are optimal throughout the transfer of the samples so to avoid any risk of sample degradation. Failure to ensure either one of these conditions could render the analysis of any given sample unreliable.”

Samples will be transported in temperature-controlled and monitored boxes, Dvorak said.

“The samples will be in perfect condition, but it is also something that costs money. It is not so easy,” D’Hooghe said. “But I have the guarantees that it will be done OK, because I have put forward the same question.”

relegation process for any Full Member who may be defeated in the contest. Full Member nations will not, it is understood, lose their status and voting rights and their FTP arrangements are also expected to be completed.

The Board has agreed to set in place the Test challenge and its structure, format and principles will be passed through following at the ICC’s annual conference.

During the previous ICC Board meeting in February 8, the Board had gained the necessary votes to approve a large number of sweeping changes relating to the governance, financing and structure of international cricket. One of the cornerstones of the new financial model is an extended Future Tours Programme (FTP) which will now run until 2023, and while it may still be monitored by the ICC, it is expected to comprise bilateral memorandum of understandings that are binding.

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