APRIL 7TH, 2018 – APRIL 14TH, 2018
Website: www.suntci.com
VOLUME 14 - NO. 14
Tel: (649) 348-6838
Email: sun@suntci.com
$1.00
Fax: (649) 941-3281
www.facebook.com/tcisun
LABOUR CLEARANCE ISSUE CLARIFIED BY CHIEF JUSTICE by Hayden Boyce Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
TCI wins gold at 2018 Flow CARIFTA Games
E
mployers in the Turks and Caicos Islands “cannot give the preference to Belongers who do not apply for jobs, even if they are suitably qualified”, says Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale. The country’s top judge made the statement in a judgment following an application for judicial review between the Commissioner of Labour, The Immigration Board, The Immigration Appeal Tribunal, the Director of Immigration and a Trinidadian by the name of Cliff Sampath, who was represented by attorney George Missick, while Ms. Khalila Astwood and Ms. Shayone Gardiner. Crown Counsel, appeared for the Crown. “...I would observe that the question of whether Belonger preference has been met cannot be answered by saying that there is some Belonger out there who can do
Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale
A
t the 2018 Flow CARIFTA Games Jamaica College athlete, Wilkenson Fenelon, finishing in second place for the Boys Octathlon Open, one-point shy of a gold medal. This year, Fenelon returned with a vengeance, capturing first place after a gruelling eight events, earning TCI their third medal. Commenting on his win, Wilkenson Fenelon said, “Firstly I would like to thank the lord for putting me in this position because the world is filled with people and it didn’t have to be me so I’m grateful for that. I had family and friends who
the job. There are hundreds of permits issued to persons who are employed in low paying, unskilled jobs to whom labour clearance has been given, notwithstanding the large number of Belongers who are qualified to perform such unskilled jobs; and it is given for the reason that there are no, or few, Belonger applicants for those jobs,” the Chief Justice stated. Continued on page 2
Hurricane season 2018 predicted to be very active
Not all Government jobs require degrees By Todeline Defralien
By Allie Capron
E
D
eputy Governor Her Excellency Anya Williams, who is also head of the Civil Service, said not all Government jobs require university degrees. Following reports circulating on Facebook that Turks and Caicos Islanders now need a degree to get a Government job, the Deputy Governor, in an exclusive interview with The SUN, stressed that there is no new policy that requires that Turks and Caicos Islanders possess a degree in order to qualify for appointments in the Turks and Caicos Islands Civil Service. She added: “The Turks and Caicos Islands operates on a 10 Point Grading System as per the Pay and Grading Review which was implemented some years ago. Positions
Deputy Governor Her Excellency Anya Williams are classified into each grade depending on the qualifications and experience required for each role. Most positions at the level of Grade 6 and above require a first degree as a requirement for the role. Positions below the level of Grade 6 do not require a Bachelors Degree and are reserved for Turks and Caicos Islanders. You will note that this reference is included in most of our advertisements. Continued on page 4
believed in me and also fight alongside with me .I must give special notice to the supporters who have lifted my spirit throughout the season and even on the actual competition day they were huge in numbers, I could’ve look around and say that “Turks and Caicos is in the house”, very warm feeling which made competing 10 times easier, we won the medal together thank you all.” Pictured here is Wilkenson Fenelon celebrating with the TCI Flag at the 2018 Flow CARIFTA Games. (See page 24 & 25 for more photographs from this year’s games.)
arly predictions are indicating that we will be having a very active hurricane season, similar to last year or worse, says Dr. Virginia Clerveaux, Director of the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies (DDME). “Scientists are attributing the active hurricane season to climate change. One of the effects of climate change is more frequent and more intense storms so this will become the new norm going forward,” she said. The weather patterns known as El Niño and La Niña are also key factors. These terms refer to temperature phases of the Pacific Ocean along the equator and both affect the Atlantic hurricane season. El Niño typically brings stronger wind shear which leads to fewer hurricanes while La Niña (weaker wind shear) has the opposite effect. The
current lack of El Niño and formidable presence of La Niña this year means that more storms are likely to form. There’s no country that is totally prepared to take on more hurricanes and stronger hurricanes, said Dr. Clerveaux, but DDME is taking concrete steps to ensure maximum preparedness throughout the country. “Last year was the first time in the recent history of the Turks and Caicos Islands that we had two major storms impacting us weeks apart; it was a worst case scenario so there were many lessons learnt. The country needs a robust communication system with early warning capabilities. There is a need for redundancy to be imbedded in our communications system as well. Stakeholders need to be more familiar with their role and that or their agency during emergency situations. There’s a need for more inter-agency training and exercising,” she
Dr. Virginia Clerveaux, added. “One of the things that the UN and various regional and international agencies have always said is that it is cheaper to invest in preparedness and mitigation then it is to invest in response and recovery. And I think that lesson was definitely highlighted when you take into consideration the cost of Irma and Maria last year,” Dr. Clerveaux explained.
Continued on page 4