VOLUME 9 ISSUE 8

MARCH 2ND - MARCH 9TH, 2013

Website: www.suntci.com

VOLUME 9 - No. 8

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VAT COULD STILL COME

REGENT PALMS WINS BIG AT STAR AWARDS The Regent Palms Hotel in Grace Bay came out on top at the 5th annual Star Awards which were held on their grounds on February 28th.

The hotel won Hotel of the Year, while its general manager Karen Whitt won Hotelier of the Year and its restaurant Parallel 23 won Restaurant of the Year.

In this photograph, Whitt (second from left) shares a proud moment with the hotel’s vice-president of resort assets Pierre Beswick, while owner and developer Stand Hartling looks on. Alan Robinson (right) vice-president of Customer and Corporate Services at Fortis TCI presented the award.

NO SPENDING CUTS THIS YEAR PAGE 8

DOLPHIN COVE PROJECT DEFERRED

BY PLANNING BOARD PAGE 9

NEW HOSPITAL CEO

AMERICAN EXPRESS CARDS CHARGING 28 PERCENT FEE

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lthough the controversial Valued Added Tax (VAT) will not be introduced in the Turks and Caicos Islands on April 1st, 2013, there is still a possibility that it can be implemented in the future.

In a joint letter to Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing dated February 25th 2013, United Kingdom (UK) Minister for Overseas Territories and the Caribbean Mark Simmonds, and Alan Duncan, Minister of State for the Department for International Development (DFID) stated: “We (UK Government) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

VAT COULD STILL COME CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

accept TCIG’s proposal not to implement VAT on April 1st…The Governor (Ric Todd) will not give his assent to the Private Member’s Bill to repeal VAT, but I will instruct the Governor not to sign the Commencement Notice which would have brought in VAT on April 1, 2013. As the signing of this notice is what would have been required to introduce VAT, there is no need for further legislative action.”

Some analysts have stated that because Governor Todd has not given assent to the bill to repeal VAT, neither has be signed the commencement order, it leaves the door open for VAT to be introduced at a later date.

Sources told the SUN that a VAT Commissioner has already been hired and that the VAT Unit has not ceased to exist.

So that although VAT is politically unacceptable and has been rejected by the majority of local business owners and residents, the British Government still has the power to trigger the implementation of the 11 percent tax, if they are of the opinion that the country’s finances are not in order in the short and medium term.

In the UK letter, which thanked Premier Ewing for his January 29th letter to the UK Government which complained about the introduction of VAT, added that the UK Government took the decision not to implement VAT on the understanding that “the Fiscal and Strategic Policy Statement (FSPS) you (Premier Ewing) supplied with your letter is revised in line with your proposed spending reductions. The revised FSPS must show credible surpluses. It must be fully adjusted to reflect the

decision not to introduce VAT, the uncertainty about alternative revenue streams and the weakening outlook for some existing revenue streams set out in the third quarter fiscal forecasts. The FSPS should be signed off by the Chief Financial Officer, as provided for under legislation, before being re-sent to London for final approval. TCIG will need to bear in mind that an approved FSPS is required before its budget can be agreed for 2013/2014 so there is some urgency”.

The letter added: “I will instruct my team to monitor the financial situation very closely. I cannot and will not allow a reversal of the progress that has been made by the interim government, which is a vital component for the reputation of TCI and its people.”

The joint-letter from Simmonds and Duncan said it is still their view that VAT would provide a “fairer, broader and more stable revenue stream” and that without this, the burden of taxation will “fall on a smaller number of businesses and households”.

According to the letter: “TCIG will therefore need to take steps to constrain expenditure within the legal binding fiscal framework which is now in place, as stated in your (Premier Ewing’s) letter dated January 29th. TCIG will also need to take further steps to build TCI’s credibility with the international financial markets so that you are in a position to refinance without a UK loan guarantee after 2016”.

In a rare but strong showing of bi-partisan unity, Members of Parliament (MPs) from the ruling Progressive National Party (PNP) and the Opposition People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) on Thursday February 1st, voted to repeal the contro-

versial Valued Added Tax (VAT) law.

The Turks and Caicos Independent Business Council, led by prominent businessman and Queen’s Counsel Clive Stanbrook, had also mounted an aggressive local and international campaign against VAT, which would have been introduced a rate of 11 percent.

Premier Dr. Ewing last week raised the issue of VAT at the 24th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM which was held in Haiti.

On the issue of taxation without representation, Dr. Ewing told CARICOM: “We have made representations to the effect that VAT is not in the best interest of a small economy such as ours and have provided sound alternative revenue generating measures. While we maintain that VAT will not work in the Turks and Caicos Islands, we are more concerned, as you can see, that the principle of Democracy and Good Governance, which mandates that the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands through their elected officials, must have an opportunity to consider any measure that seeks to impose an additional tax burden on them or to otherwise alter their tax structure, is a principle that is being sacrificed on the altar of despotism.

If His Excellency the Governor (Ric Todd) refuses to assent to the repeal bill, he would have said in no uncertain terms that the voice of the people is the voice of God, only so long as God and the United Kingdom Government are singing in chorus.

I cannot stress with sufficient strength nor overstate the significance of these events. The question is not one of taxation, but rather, one of democracy.”

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GOVERNOR RIC TODD’S POST CABINET UPDATE H

is Excellency Governor Ric Todd chaired the meeting of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ (TCI) Cabinet on Wednesday February 27th, 2013 at the House of Assembly Building on Grand Turk.

During a recess in Cabinet the Governor, Premier, Deputy Premier and Minister for Government Support Services visited the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Knight docked at Grand Turk and had lunch with the Commanding Officer, Captain Ferris. This was the occasion to discuss the ship’s valuable role in disaster management preparations both in the TCI, the other UK Overseas Territories in Caribbean and the region.

Cabinet also took the opportunity to congratulate the Premier on his birthday.

Cabinet was briefed on the upcoming review of the TCI by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes created by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It agreed to ensure that TCIG took all appropriate steps to prepare for this review and that the Exchange of Information Unit in the Ministry of Finance had sufficient resources to discharge its responsibilities. Cabinet agreed to review the issue again its next meeting.

Cabinet discussed and supported a draft bill on Fractional Ownership and decided that this should be put out for consultation for four weeks.

It would then take a final decision on whether to approve the Bill for inclusion on the order paper for the House of Assembly.

Noting the exchange of letters between the Premier and Minister Simmonds on VAT, Cabinet agreed that the Ministry of Finance would finalise as soon as possible the draft Financial Strategy and Policy Statement (FSPS) revised to contain the latest fiscal data and estimates for submission in the first instance to the CFO and the Minister of Finance. When agreed by Cabinet the FSPS would be sent to the Secretary of State. Meanwhile preparations for the 2013/14 budget would continue and the Budget Call Circular in line with the PFM Ordinance would

Ric Todd be issued to assist Ministries in formulating their budget bids and estimates.

Cabinet agreed to put to the House of Assembly Supplementary Budgets on the Integrity Commission, the Human Rights Commission and the purchase of pumps for the Grand Turk Reverse Osmosis water plant. It also agreed a supplementary Capital budget reimbursement of $2.7m to the Consolidated Fund as a consequence of the agreement between NIB and TCIG in final settlement of all outstanding issues between the two parties. This agreement involves the transfer of NJS Francis Building from NIB to TCI Government (TCIG) and the Headley Durham Building from to TCIG to NIB; payment of outstanding liabilities by both parties to the other; conclusion of all outstanding issues; and the balancing sum of $2.7m.

Cabinet agreed to provide a grant of $10-15k to establish a community based and part private sector funded Not for Profit organisation to promote the development of SMEs on

TCI. It indicated that it would be willing to consider grants to the Organisation every year, subject to satisfactory results, as part of the budget process. Cabinet further agreed to a proposal from the Ministry of Finance that TCIG would neither lend money to nor guarantee loans to SMEs. Cabinet also decided that it should refund to Carnival this FY $395k for non performing loans made to small businesses under the TCIG/ Carnival Loan scheme, disbursed through TCInvest.

As part of the modernisation of TCIG revenue and payment processes, Cabinet agreed a pilot project for 6 months from 1 April 2013 for the use of official credit cards by Permanent Secretaries. Subject to satisfactory results, the policy will be continued and extended.

On transport issues, Cabinet first considered a proposal to amend the Road Safety Regulations to increase the maximum age limit for Public Service Vehicle Operators from 75 to 80. It decided to postpone consideration of this pending the result of an

application for judicial review that the existing regulation is discriminatory. Second, it invited the Minister of Environment and Home Affairs to undertake research into and make proposals on the regulation of illegal jitneys on TCI. Cabinet discussed with the TCI Airport Authority the proposal for the $10m extension of the Terminal at Providenciales airport and the accompanying financing model. It underlined that the airport was critical to the economy of TCI. Cabinet noted that this was the third phase of improvement of the airport and would deal with pressing issues around the present terminal. Cabinet approved the proposal which, subject to final endorsement from the Secretary of State, will begin as soon as possible. Cabinet stressed that work should also begin on planning for the potential phase four, a new terminal.

Cabinet decided to put to the House of Assembly technical but necessary amendments to the Financial Services Commission Ordinance and approve amendments to the regulations on Anti-Money Laundering and the Prevention of Terrorist Financing, Companies Fees, Non Profit Organisations and Telecommunications Fee Structures.

On the advice of Cabinet, the Governor agreed to make the appointments to the Telecommunications Commission proposed by the Minister for GSS; details will be announced by the Minister.

Cabinet agreed to take forward as soon as possible, subject to planning permission and finalisation of budget allocation, the establishment of a Juvenile Home (Place of Safety) on Grand Turk as proposed by the Minister of Environment and Home Affairs. This would provide urgently needed safe and appropriate accommodation while consideration is given to a longer term Juvenile Home.

Cabinet agreed that the next session of the House of Assembly should be held on 14 and 15 March.

Further details on the issues discussed will be provided by Ministries in due course.

The next meeting of Cabinet will be on 13 March.

2012 ELECTORS REGISTER TO BE USED FOR BY-ELECTION T

he Supervisor of Elections Mr. Dudley Lewis would like to advise voters in the Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill Electoral District 7, Providenciales that the Elector’s Register to be used in the By-Election on March 22, 2013, will be the same Elector’s Register that was used for the General Elections November 9, 2012.

According to Supervisor of elections Dudley Lewis, there are nine hundred and forty one (941) voters on the register together, plus a Sup-

plementary Register of forty three (43) voters for Electoral District 7. The total amount of voters permitted to vote on polling day in Electoral District 7 Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill By-Election will therefore be nine hundred and eighty four (984). No names were added or removed from the Register.

Voters will be permitted to vote ONLY if their names appear on the 2012 Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill Register that was published in Novem-

ber 2012. Voters are reminded that if their names are not on the published 2012 Elector’s Register for Richmond Hill and Cheshire Hall, they MUST NOT attend polling stations on polling day.

The Elector’s Register and Supplementary Register for Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill will be posted at Polling Stations located at the Gustavus Lightbourne Sporting Complex and the Community College in advance of polling day for viewing.

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LOCAL NEWS

THE BULLIES GOT PUNCHED IN THE MOUTH

BY ROYAL S. ROBINSON, MBE

T

he Premier, Dr. Rufus Washington Ewing has now effectively and publicly engaged the British and the remnants of the Interim Administration head on!

He has said, and has demonstrated that it is thus far and no further! The Turks and Caicos Islands people are now seeing that the doctor is no shrinking violet. He has come fully out of his own shadows and demonstrated why people like me voted for him in our Party’s leadership race that took place recently. The fire and brimstone that was simmering beneath the surface is now out into the open in broad daylight for all Turks and Caicos Islanders, the Caribbean Region and the world at large to see.

By the Doc’s professional stance, he is assesses the situation carefully before bringing his surgeon’s scalpel to bear on the tumor that is adversely affecting the patient. Once that determination has been made, he wields that scalpel with total skill and dexterity. It is out there now how the Governor and Minister Simmonds have been carved up by the Doc. He is not prepared to take no for an answer and neither is he prepared to allow the smoke and mirrors approach by the FCO to deter him from the full representation of the people of this country who have given him the mandate to carry the torch of governing this country for the next four years.

Bullies have the distinct habit of talking loud and saying nothing. They like to give veiled and sometimes overt threats if they feel that people will give in, cower behind the pushes while they have their way. Those days are long gone! The line in the sand has been clearly demarcated and the people of this country are fully behind the stance taken. It was no small measure for the Government and Opposition to join hands in the fight to expose the evils of the implementation of VAT. Yes the businessmen of this country were an im-

portant part of the fight, but we must remember that legislation can only be carried if it emanates from the House of Assembly. Now the Governor has some reserve powers that would allow him to pass Bills on his own, but that particular power must be utilized judiciously. The current Governor and his directors from London do not give us comfort that they will always act in what is clearly in the best interest of our people as they are constitutionally required to do. If that were the case, then a number of pieces of Legislation and policies would have reflected the clear will and wishes of our people.

They surely have the constitutional authority to do most of these things, but they certainly do not have the moral right to do so. Some of us have said that why either or both of the political parties had not done more in the intervening years of the Interim Administration. They just did not have the platform from which to operate. Some point to the flawed and uneven distribution of power between the elected representatives and the Governor. I can safely say that under the circumstances prevailing at the time, we got as best what we could. The two ladies from the Forum and Advisory Council, though being Turks and Caicos Islanders, carried personal positions that were more in line with the thinking of the British and particularly the Governor who made them a part of his team. So the reality of the situation now is that the policy directives and Legislations that offend the sensibilities of Turks and Caicos Islanders can only be amended, repealed or abandoned through an elected government operating through Cabinet and the House of Assembly!

We have seen the push back from a position of strength. They remnants of the Interim Administration cannot as some of their minions liked to say, that the politicians had no power in determining what was good or bad for us. That is no longer a point anymore. Both Parties developed a Manifesto that was presented to the people. A selection was made based on the people’s perception of what was best and in their interest. So a mandate to rule and govern was given. So it is now up to the government to carry out that mandate.

Both the Governor and FCO do not take kindly to the government asserting itself for and on behalf of us. They have taken a school master to pupil or father to son approach towards the relationship with the elected government. The Premier is having none of that anymore. There must be a grown up relationship between the parties with equal and mutual respect. They cannot operate as if they are the fountain of all wisdom, because clearly they are not. When they have their prob-

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 Offic e Manager: Dominique Rigby Distribution Manger: 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.

lems, and there have been many over time, they allow themselves to work them out. We ask no less of them for us. We are not prepared to take a lot of what is clearly hog wash, for a nicely prepared soup. We know the difference!

The Premier and his Cabinet are no longer prepared to let the Governor or the FCO talk down to them! Those days are clearly behind them. The people of this country are fully on one accord in the matter of what is in their best interest. The push back is on! The Bully would be punched in the mouth if he continues in that vein. We are not afraid to take them on. We needed leadership in the fight and we have that.

In poker, it is said that you play the cards that you have and not the ones that might give you a stronger hand. The Premier is punching back after being rushed and pushed to the rope by the bully. The bully has been surprised by the strength and resolve of the Premier. They are now fully exposed for the bullies that they are! The Premier is not afraid to give them more than what they have meted out to us. There was a slogan that probably got misused, “I ain’t never scared”! I can tell you that this Premier ain’t scared to take on the Governor, FCO, CFO AG and whatever remnants of the Interim Administration so that deserving Turks and Caicos Islanders can get their just rewards!

Royal Robinson was a former Deputy Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands and a former Minister of Finance and Health in the Progressive National Party Administration.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Scotiabank announces the recipients of the first International Bright Future Young Leaders Award 12 NAMED OUTSTANDING YOUTH VOLUNTEERS AROUND THE WORLD

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urks and Caicos, February 27, 2013–Scotiabank announced the 12 winners of its first international Scotiabank Bright Future Young Leaders Award, which recognizes youth who make outstanding contributions to their communities. As winners, each will receive a CAN$2500 donation in their name to the charity of their choice and will also receive a tablet computer.

“Through our global philanthropic program, Bright Future, Scotiabank holds a strong belief in supporting the needs of each community it serves and we know how important it is to engage and recognize our next generation of volunteers and community leaders,” said Cecil Arnold, Managing Director, Scotiabank Turks and Caicos. “The Scotiabank Bright Future Young Leaders Award gives us an opportunity to recognize youth who are already contributing to their communities and we encourage others to follow their lead.”

Internationally, Scotiabank congratulates the following winners: Collis Augustine, 23, Georgetown, Guyana Estelle Ah-Kiow,17, Mississauga, Canada Jhoenea Bremmer, 24, Little London, Westmoreland, Jamaica Jerome Cowans, 22, Kingston, Jamaica Kirsti Creaser, 19, Kamloops, Canada Nick Davies, 17, Hamilton, Canada Mercy Muhoza, 20, Toronto, Canada Simon Murillo, 23, Vina del Mar, Valparaiso, Chile Yoisa Elvira Perez Guajardo, 23, Ralco, Bio, Chile Celeste Peterka, 18, Ottawa, Canada Maria Luisa Serrano-Carvallo, 17, Santiago, Chile Anthony Vo, 20, Ottawa, Canada “It gives me great pleasure to recognize and celebrate the outstanding community service of our first Bright Future Young Leaders Award recipients,” said Sylvia Chrominska, Group Head, Global Human Resources and Communications, Scotiabank. “These young people represent the next wave of community leaders and remind us of the essential role of volunteers to the long term operation of charitable and not-for-profit organizations. For 180 years, Scotiabank employees have been supporting the unique needs of each community we serve. It is exciting to have youth from these communities join us in building on our tradition of creating bright futures - one community at a time.”

Winners of the 2012 Bright Future Young Leaders Award were required to reside in a participating country, complete 100 hours of volunteerism in a minimum of three of the Bank’s six philanthropic pillars and submit an essay describing the impact of their volunteerism on charitable organizations, their community and themselves. Essays were reviewed by an international panel of jurors.

Commenting on the program, Jamaican juror Dr. Rosalea Hamilton, Scotiabank Chair, Entrepreneurship and Entertainment at the University of Technology said, “I saw strong examples of community involvement in all applications and I was very impressed by all these young people who have made an important impact on each of their communities. The Scotiabank Bright Future Young Leaders Award is an excellent opportunity that will certainly foster volunteerism and social responsibility.”

The Scotiabank Bright Future program is the Bank’s global philanthropic program which brings together all of the Bank’s charitable, social and community efforts and employee volunteer activities under one banner. Through the Bright Future program, the Bank’s charitable efforts are aimed at being relevant and responsive to the needs of each community at a grassroots level and provide support across the fields of health, arts, education, social services, sports and the environment. In the Caribbean, Latin and Central America, the Bright Future program focuses primarily on children and children’s causes.

For more information on the Bright Future Young Leaders Award program visit www.scotiayoungleaders.com.

STAFF VACANCY  FINANCE AND BUSINESS PLANNING ANALYST Applications are invited from interested and suitably qualified individuals for the position of Finance and Business Planning Analyst, FortisTCI, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.

DESCRIPTION Responsible to primarily coordinate the organization’s financial planning, budgeting, reporting, cost control and analysis (including management reporting, presentations, capital planning, investment analysis, project reviews, financial modeling and ad hoc financial analysis) while strictly adhering to disciplined financial and strategic objectives.

MAIN DUTIES • Serves as Project Leader in FortisTCI transition from IFRS to US GAAP • Oversees and assists in the continued preparation and development of Budgets (5-Year Business Plan), produces Monthly Management Rolling Forecasts and monitors implementation.

• Drives performance improvements through financial analysis and comprehensive understanding of financial transactions.

• Monitors performance indicators, highlighting trends and analyzing causes of unexpected variances in all areas of revenues, expenses and capital.

• Ensures that all corporate policy changes are incorporated in the accounting process according to the guidelines set.

• Performs contract management including due diligence of proposed and completed projects.

• Analyzes complex financial information and reports to provide accurate and timely financial recommendations to management for decision making purposes.

• Provides major support in financial reporting as regards compliance with prevailing accounting standards, as applicable, and provides advice on complex technical accounting issues.

• Oversees the preparation of financial statements for submission to external auditors and to Fortis Inc. • Performs quality assurance review of all financial information before submission to internal and external stakeholders and responsible for all consolidated reports of FortisTCI and AEP. • Monitors costs of capital and operational projects and identifies and investigates non-compliance with contracts and business plan including fraud related allegations.

• Develop and build mathematical and financial models for quantitative analysis and financial reporting.

• Actively provides key support in ongoing regulatory review process and regulatory reporting.

• Works directly with independent consultants as regards the Company’s Annual Rate Review process.

• Develops and executes improvement plans on the financial reporting process including updating the Finance Operations Manual for new processes.

• Provides support in contract reviews and contract management using investment decision tools and methodologies.

• Ad-Hoc Reporting and Financial Analysis ACADEMIC/TECHNICAL/MANAGEMENT: EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS: • Must be a Bachelor of Science with a degree or major in Accountancy or a Master’s Degree equivalent.

• Must be a CPA or CA or ACCA and CMA. Master’s degree, and CFA a plus.

• Must possess 5-10 years’ experience in regulatory accounting and finance under US GAAP. • Extensive experience from the big 4 auditing firm a plus.

CORE COMPETENCY SKILLS: • Must possess a strong general utility and regulatory accounting background.

• Must possess excellent team playing and leadership abilities • Demonstrates strong analytical skills with a high level of competence and proficiency in financial analysis; business analysis; planning; and financial, business and econometric modeling and auditing.

• Must possess strong inter-personal, organizational, multi-tasking and written and oral communication skills.

• Must possess high level of professional excellence characterized by sound judgment skills, and drive for results.

• Must possess the ability to ability to develop, monitor and maintain management information • Systems and procedures.

• Must possess excellent working knowledge of MS Office software programs, including MS Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and various databases.

• Working knowledge of Bellamy software and other ERP systems a plus COMPENSATION Salary: based on qualifications and ability Deadline for submission of applications is March 8, 2013.

Kindly submit applications stating qualifications and work experience to: Judy V. Missick Director, Human Resources FortisTCI Limited P. O. Box 132, Providenciales Email address: hrapplications@ppcltd.tc OR jmissick@fortistci.com OR by fax: 649-946-4532

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LOCAL NEWS

Minister of Finance Washington Misick says there will be no public spending cuts this year

BY VIVIAN TYSON

M

inister of Finance Hon. Washington Misick is assuring that there will be no cuts in public spending during the 2013/2014 financial year, but there could be what her term ‘a rationalization of spending’.

Explaining the measure while addressing a news conference called by the government on Tuesday, February 26, at the offices of the Ministry of Health, the finance minister said that instead of cutting, government would be making a list of areas for priority spending. That, he said, would be depending on the performance of the economy, since spending could increase.

“What we will be doing is that we will be reviewing the budget sometime at the end of the first quarter, to see exactly how well the economy is performing. This happens in business and this happens in government. It is a technique called flexible

Minister of Finance Hon. C. Washington Misick budget. So, you review on an ongoing basis, so we can realize the numbers one way or the other, based on the outcome of revenue. It may require a reprioritization, but as you know, we have a number of new revenue-raising initiatives that we have discussed in the past.

He said, now that VAT is off the table, his government would quickly meet with technocrats at all levels of government with the aim to kick-start the revenue-raising course of action,

which he said has already been identified by the administration.

“The intention is to have a meeting with the technicians and expertise and finance through the government system, to fast track the introduction of these measures, probably as early as the beginning of April. So that we can, in fact, raise the revenue and demonstrate very quickly that we have the resources to increase expenditure in a responsible manner,” Misick said.

Further explaining the revenue-raising measure that government was embarking on, Premier Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing, said that while government would be removing the $10 million that the former Interim Administration was prepared to add to the budget in anticipation of what VAT would collect, the Fiscal and Strategic Policy Framework (FSPF) the figures it compiled, has projected an increase in revenue.

“We are currently operat-

The Gift Shop Department requires: The Weddings Department requires: 9 Shop Attendant 9 Weddings Coordinator Requirements include but are not limited to: ŏ Two years sales experience a must ŏ Ability to meet sales targets and quotas The rate for the position listed above is $5.00 to $6.00 an hour.

The Weddings Department requires: 9 Weddings Manager

Requirements include but are not limited to: ŏ Proven sales track record in Weddings exceeding sales targets ŏ Ability to up and cross sell ŏ Over 3 years managing a wedding portfolio The rate for the position listed above is $6.00 to $7.50 an hour.

Island Routes requires: Requirements include but are not limited to: 9 Senior Tour Specialist ŏ Experience managing multiple Requirements include but are not wedding retail outlets(Manager) limited to: ŏ Proven sales track record in Weddings ŏ Must be service driven with excellent customer service skills exceeding sales targets ŏ Excellent Organizational Skills ŏ Ability to up and cross sell The Human Resources Department ŏ Ability to communicate effectively requires: verbally and written 9 Assistant Training Manager Requirements include but are not limited to: ŏ Qualified to teach English Butler Program to certification ŏ Knowledge of Food and beverage, Front office, Concierge (this is not exhaustive) ŏ Ability to design training programs ŏ Over 3 years managing a wedding portfolio The salary for the positions listed above is $25,000.00 to $35,000.00 per annum

Engineering Department requires: 9 Assistant Manager Requirements include but are not limited to: ŏ Experience in managing a team large of technicians ŏ Knowledgeable of in related fields both in theory and practical The salary for this positions listed above is negotiable

ing on the 2012/2013 budget.

Going forward, the Interim Administration was prepared to add an additional $10 million to that budget, based on their projection of what VAT would have brought in.

So the budget that the Fiscal and Strategic Policy Framework has put forward is to simply state that, okay, we would remove what you said VAT would have brought in.

We would remove that $10 million, and we would continue on the 2012/2013 budget, with a marginal increase in that budget, and then look to increase it event further as we go on with the 2013/2014 (fiscal) year.

“So, we would not reduce the budget from what it is now. In fact, the (2013/2014) budget would now be more than what it is now (2012/2013) – just slightly more. So, what we would do then, on a quarterly basis, evaluate our performance to raise revenue, and then, if we have to bring supplementary (budget bills) to the

Laundry Department requires: 9 Assistant Laundry Manager

House (of Assembly), to increase expenditure, based on that additional revenue that we have brought in – based on the new alternative measures that we are putting in place, then we would do that,” Ewing explained.

Ewing said that government was applying that principle because the British government was not giving it the freehand hand to model its alternative method of revenue-raising for its budget.

“So the alternative that we have, we are leaving it out of the budget; we are not counting it in the budget because they are not allowing us to do that. Maybe they would allow us to do it now (that VAT has been taken off the table), and if they allow us, then we would have a significantly increased budget. Because our model has shown us that we would have raised an additional $15 million on the alternative budget – more than what VAT would have raised,” Ewing pointed out.

limited to: ŏ Experience in controlling cost example fuel, electricity, water. ŏ Experience in controlling a multimillion dollar portfolio ŏ Ability to cover day and night shifts The rate for the position listed above is $9.00 to $12.00 an hour.

Requirements include but are not limited to: ŏ Physically fit ŏ Previous experience in commercial Laundry an assist The salary for the position listed above is $15,000.00 to $20,000.00 per annum.

The Accounts Department requires:

Watersports/ Catamaran Department Requires: 9 Lifeguard Requirements include but are not limited to: ŏ Ability to Swim ŏ First aid/ CPR Certification The rate for the position listed above is $5.00 to $6.00 an hour.

The Soon Come Back requires: 9Soon Come Back Liaison Requirements include but are not limited to: ŏ Knowledge of rooms and categories ŏ Ability to up sell ŏ Ability to meet sales target ŏ Manage the loyalty portfolio The hourly rate for the position listed above ranges from $7.00 to $8.50 per hr.

The Cost Control Department requires: 9Assistant Cost Controller Requirements include but are not

9 Accounts Payable Clerk Requirements include but are not limited to: ŏ Inputting and coding invoices into system on a daily basis. ŏ Create supplier payment batches. ŏ Manage and maintain relationships with suppliers The rate for the position listed above is $8.00 to $10.00 an hour.

The Engineering Department requires: 9 Supervisor/ Shift Leader Requirements include but are not limited to: ŏ Knowledgeable of in related fields both in theory and practical ŏ Experience in managing a team of technicians The rate for the position listed above is $9.00 to $15.00 an hour

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LOCAL NEWS

Dolphin Cove construction bid deferred by Planning Board

BY VIVIAN TYSON

T

he application to construct to the controversial $3 million plus Dolphin Cove marine tourist attraction in the Turks & Caicos has been deferred to the next sitting of the Physical Planning Board, to give the government more time to assess the pros and cons of the facility and also for the bidders to pitch their plan to the public.

Minister for Home Affairs Hon. Porsha Stubbs-Smith, told The SUN that government needed more background probe of the facility, while at the same time, the public needed to be aware of attraction’s takeaways.

“The dolphinarium has been deferred; it has not been denied. The Planning Board will take a look at it at the next meeting, and the reason for that is, government needed to do more investigation into it. And we have also asked the investors to present to us some other means of how this project would be an integral

Neil Burrowes

Hon. Porsha Stubbs-Smith

part of revenue generation in the Turks and Caicos.

“We also want them to take it (development plan) to the people. We have asked them to present it to the relevant areas. As you know they not only want to do it in Providenciales; they also want to do it in Grand Turk. So, we have asked them to take it to the people, to get their feedback on it. The government will also be taking it to the people, to get their feedback on it. We don’t just want to bring in a project and not know exactly the benefit that we are going to be yielding from these developments,” StubbsSmith added.

She said that the ball

is now in the developers’ court as to when they wish to make their pitch to the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

There has been strong opposition to the construction of the Dolphin Cove project in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The strongest opposition has come from water sports operators. Some of the opposition came from persons who said that such a facility was cruel to the animals.

Others claim that it goes to the heart of what TCI’s marine ambassador Jojo the Dolphin was all about. They claimed that since Jojo was allowed to run untamed, it was quite contradicting to

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have a dolphin park with the domesticated mammals being showcased for people’s amusement.

Neil Burrowes, the proposed developer for the dolphin park has charged that the opposition to the site was being advanced by a small band of rich self-serving expatriates and not from the indigenous people themselves generally.

The developer, who manages the Dolphin Cove operation in Grand Cayman, was accused, at one point, of being in cahoots with the former Interim Administration to build the 250 feet of water front land space project.

That allegation later turned out to be false.

Burrowes explained that safety to the animals was the hallmark of the Dolphin Cove operation. He even extended an invitation to local officials and media practitioners to visit any of its two Dolphin Cove operations in either Cayman or Jamaica – to clear up what he described as the misinformation of the attraction.

He said that for the most part, the opposition to his dolphin park was primarily a move by some in the community to block competition and to prevent visitors, especially from being granted attraction choices.

“I want people to have an open and honest viewing of what we do. After they inspect us; every cupboard, every drawer, every staff, every guest, every regulatory body; after they inspect us, then make a decision – you want us or you don’t want us. This is reversible. We have not spent a tremendous amount of money. We got the land at a good deal, we would sell it. “(After visiting overseas attractions) if you don’t like us, just tell us, no thanks; if you think we are a good idea, then we would love to come. What I believe the motive for this misinformation is, is a message I got from a Belonger, and the message was: ‘Neil, some very high powered people in the ecological awareness business, including tour operators, seemed hell-bent on killing this project. Some of them are quite rich and influential,” Burrowes told members of the media while on a visit to Providenciales late last year.

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LOCAL NEWS

Local businesses urged to provide US with information to avoid high American Express deductions

BY HAYDEN BOYCE PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

B

usinesses in the Turks and Caicos Islands who are complaining about the high fees (28 percent) being charged when processing American Express cards, are being urged to provide United States authorities with the necessary information so the fees will be reduced and in order to be refunded for certain transactions.

In an exclusive interview with The SUN, Molly Faust, Vice President of Public Affairs Global Merchant Services & Global Network Services for American Express, said that more than half the merchants in Turks and Caicos Islands have provided the documentation.

She said: “In the Turks and Caicos, many of our merchants have provided us with the required information. However, many still have not, and we are required by law to withhold 28% of their card payments until we receive the necessary information. We are trying to work with these merchants. Once we receive the appropriate documentation on

non-U.S. status, American Express will provide to those merchants a refund of the tax deductions withheld from their account. American Express is directly refunding tax deductions withheld from merchants in Turks and Caicos once we receive the required documentation of nonUS status. To date, more than half of the merchants in Turks and Caicos that we were required to withhold taxes from have now provided us with the necessary documentation and the taxes that were withheld from their accounts have been returned to them. This represents the great majority of taxes withheld from merchants in Turks and Caicos.”

A U.S. Federal regulation went into effect on January 1, 2013, requiring all merchant acquirers, including American Express, to collect a valid Taxpayer Identification Number from any U.S. merchant. In addition, for merchants conducting business outside the U.S. that transact in U.S. dollars, request payment to a U.S. bank account, or maintain a U.S. address, the regulations require that merchant acquirers col-

lect a valid Taxpayer Identification Number or the appropriate documentation that shows the merchant is not a U.S. entity subject to the regulation.

Beginning January 1, if an inscope merchant has not provided American Express with the necessary documentation, the regulation requires American Express to withhold and remit to the IRS 28% of the merchant’s card payments.

Faust told The SUN: “We are proactively calling the remaining merchants, and we have client managers who are personally visiting with these merchants. We are reminding the merchants of the information they need to provide to us and offering to work with them on the spot to enter the required information into our website. We are also working with the major tourism organizations and the Ministry and Directors of Tourisms to reach out to their members who are merchants, encouraging them to call American Express and providing our 800 number and web site to provide the necessary documentation. We encourage merchants visit www.amer-

icanexpress.com/confirm where they can provide the necessary documentation by selecting “Electronically submit tax certification” and answering a few simple questions about their business. They can also call us at 1-800-297-2639, option 1 or email us at 6050W@aexp.com to provide the information or ask any questions.”

Faust said American Express has worked closely with merchants who are impacted by this regulation to ensure they understand the information they need to provide to us and the consequences if they do not.

She added: “Over the past two years, we have made extensive outreach to our merchants. We have sent several letters, letting them know the information we need and the consequences of not providing it. We also have included communications about this in account statements and on our web site. In addition, our client managers proactively reached out to merchants about this. The vast majority of our merchants that are in-scope of this regulation have provided us with the necessary information.

Integrity Commission issues Guidance Notes to Political Parties concerning By-Election reporting requirements T he Integrity Commission has prepared and issued guidance notes to provide practical advice and guidance for registered political parties and candidates who will be participating in the forthcoming by-election on 22 March 2013, for the Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill, Electoral District 7.

The guidance notes cover donation and expenditure limits permitted during the by-election period and the reporting requirements following the election. They also cover the requirements in respect of notices to be submitted to the Commission by nominated candidates and the subsequent declarations which will need to be filed by the successful candidate thereafter.

The reporting requirements should not place any significant additional burden on the parties or individual candidates, as it is already a requirement under Section 12 of the Political Activities Ordinance

for the parties to keep daily donation and expenditure information throughout the financial year.

The guidance notes have already been sent to the political parties. They are available to the wider public through this release and accessible on the Commissions page of the government website: www. gov.tc. Hard-copies can also be obtained at the Commissions office in Grand Turk.

Eugene Otuonye QC, Director of the Integrity Commission stated: “This is an important by-election for the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Commission is conscious of the relatively short timeframe available to the parties. It is with this in mind that the Commission has sought to minimize the burden placed on parties and candidates during this period and also to ensure transparency and consistency in the process”

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Opposition PDM Leader disappointed about not being invited to CARICOM meeting

BY VIVIAN TYSON

S

harlene Cartwright Robinson, Leader of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) is disappointed that her party was not invited by Premier Rufus Ewing to be part of the Turks & Caicos Islands delegation to the Caricom Heads of Government Meeting in Haiti last week.

Cartwright-Robinson, who was speaking at the official launch of the PDM’s bid to claim the annulled Cheshire Hall Constituency seat - which would allow that party to form the next government – said that the Rufus Ewing Administration missed out on a grand opportunity to illustrate to the region that the government and the opposition were at one as it relates to a number of critical issues, including democracy.

“I am pleased that the Turks and Caicos Islands has been welcomed, and reinstated as an Associate Member of Caricom. There is much to be gained from association with this body. But I am disappointed that a more united position was not presented overseas, and that an invitation was not extended to the opposition to be part of the delegation,” Cartwright-Robinson averred.

She lectured that a by-election next door should not drive a wedge between the government and the opposition to the spot where they are constrained to seize certain opportunities to move the country forward.

“I believe that though we are having a by-election campaign there are national and regional

Opposition Leader Sharlene Cartwright Robinson statements to be made, and the presence of the opposition would have signaled a strong message from the Turks and Caicos. However, it is my party’s intention to govern differently, and to all times, present a united position on national issues locally, regionally and internationally.

Cartwright-Robinson further explained to the media that, coming out of a three-and-a-half-year British rule, inviting the opposition to the Caricom summit would send a strong message of unity to their Caribbean colleagues.

She said that the siding with government against the implementation of Value Added Tax was a show that the opposition had extended the olive branch to the government, and so, consideration should have been given to invite them to Caricom.

“It (ask the opposition to join local Caricom delegation) was a statement that was going to be made. It is certainly not customary for the opposition to join with the government either the way we did on VAT. And you are going to find that, in these trying times in Turks & Caicos, you are going to see things being done differently; and things have to be done differently.

“It is all fine and good to take our party stance; we believe our party has the best plans, the best people, but at the end of the day there are certain national issues that have to be made. And the time was right to make the right statements coming out of the Interim Government, that we are a party that is prepared to shape our own destiny, to set ourselves on path, having had our country’s constitution suspended,” Cartwright-Robinson asserted.

And while stating that she may not have stood in unison with all the issues raised during the Caricom Summit, the PDM Leader said that there were certain issues that the parties needed to hold firm on, as a show to the regional governmental body that the TCI was back as strong as an Associate Member, and that it was once again in charge of its own affairs.

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LOCAL NEWS

New Hospitals CEO pledges improved patient service

BY VIVIAN TYSON

J

ill Magri, the new Chief Executive Officer for InterHealth Canada (TCI), believes that her background in nursing affords her a different management perspective for the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre in Providenciales and the Coburn Town Medical Centre in Grand Turk.

Magri, who started on the job on January 28, 2013, said that she has 25 years of experience of managing hospitals, having worked as CEO, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Nursing Officer at numerous hospitals – big (over 600 beds) and small (120 beds) – throughout the United States.

Magri said that she recently worked for Joint Commission International – an organization that credits hospitals around the world. She said her tenure saw her working with over 16 countries in that capacity.

“In the capacity of a nurse, I am very sensitive to how health care is being provided to our patients. And also, I am very sensitive to how this organization interfaces with other members of the health care community at large. Prior to coming here, I looked on the internet and I saw where there were a lot of political issues that have been present histori-

cally.

“I also learn that, given the challenges of the organization, that a lot of the skill sets that I have are a good match for them. And so, I think we all want to work where we think we can make a difference, and where we can make a contribution,” Magri said.

She continued: “My focus coming in is to do everything that I can, with my leadership team, to assess the clinical services that are being provided; (and) to assess the programmes that we are providing. Are we meeting the needs and the expectations of the community, and where we need to make changes, then I think that we need to develop the action plans to make those changes. I want this (hospitals) to be a sustainable contribution to this community. I want it to be a jewel for the community. And so, whatever I can do to help keep that jewel shine, then that’s what I want to do.”

Being fairly new to the TCI, Magri said that she was now playing the role of a sponge – getting to know more about the issues and challenges of the institution – so as to determine what are the goals needed to accomplish the desired results, and what methods to be used to achieve them.

“I don’t know that we have a lack

New InterHealth CEO Jill Magri of staff yet. I think we have been challenged by the quick replacement of some staff positions because the challenges with work permit process, etcetera. I think also it goes looking at that assessment of services. We may have persons experiencing longer than usual wait times, but until I can get it and find out more information, I don’t know if that’s because we don’t enough physicians.

“I don’t know if that’s because we don’t have enough support staff.

I don’t know if we really looked at the efficiency of how we move patients through the system, when you think of business and queue analysis. There are several different elements that can contribute to a wait that may or may not have anything to do with staffing,” she said.

She said that one of her undertakings as CEO is to develop a proper public educational system, so that

the roles and functions of the hospitals are clearly defined.

“I think that there are several areas also that I would like to see us do a better job of communicating with the public and communicating with the community about expectations.

Somebody may come into the emergency department and expect to be seen because they’re having vomiting or something like that, and they are feeling very ill, and they may feel that they are in the queue to get taken care of, which they are.

“But concurrently to that an ambulance comes in with a patient who falls into cardiac arrest or a victim of trauma from a motor vehicle accident. The person who is the sickest has to get taken care of first.

The person who is vomiting may not know that the ambulance has brought somebody in that’s sicker.

“And so, we as an organization, need to educate the community and educate the public on the nature of emergency departments and why they might not be seen right away.

And also what can we do to support people who maybe using the emergency department as their private physician, instead of going to their family physician for that vomiting,” she said.

She told The SUN that as soon as she becomes familiar with the key ins and outs of the institutions, she would begin to make adjustments where necessary.

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VAT would turn common people into criminals , says Dr. Slattery

BY VIVIAN TYSON

I

f Value Added Tax (VAT) was to be implemented it could create criminals out of many ordinary citizens, so said executive member of the Turks and Caicos Independent Business Council (TCIBC), Sam Slattery.

Slattery, a medical doctor, was speaking at a news conference at Project House, Leeward Highway on Wednesday, February 27, held to respond to the news that the British Government had decided to forgo VAT, at least for now. Plans were in the making to have the tax implemented on April 1 – the beginning of the 2013/2014 financial year.

“It was complex to put this system into place, because thinking through these loopholes and all these little issues were not possible for the VAT team to have done it (successfully implement the tax on April 1) because you cannot do that in a short period of time. The consultation process was so short, and by the time people had figured out the reality what all this meant, then you sudden realize how complicated it was.

“I had spoken to lawyers who tell me it was a very, very complex piece of legislation that they, as lawyers, had deep concerns about - various sections of it; whether they was legal, whether they were legal under the constitution, how they were going to advise their client. It had the enormous potential to make ordinary citizens into criminals,” Slattery said.

He said the reality that the document was laced with spelling and grammatical errors bore testament that it was being hurriedly done to meeting the April 1 deadline.

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Slattery hailed the apparent scrapping of the tax measure, while giving his organization credit for initiating the fight.

“The population is well aware, both locally and around the world that we were successful in persuading the British Government that VAT was not the appropriate form of taxation at this time, and this is reflected in a recent letter sent back to our premier and the leader of the opposition, indicating that at the moment the VAT ordinance would basically remain on the shelf, and the governor is not bringing it into full force of the law,” Slattery said.

For his part, Council member Drexwell Seymour hailed the move to shelve VAT a historic.

The LIME boss remarked that VAT has taught the Turks & Caicos the lesson of what can be achieved when the people stand united.

“So, I hope in the future that we can continue on that pathway, where we can come together as a people whoever you are, whether you are residing here. What affects one person affects all of us,” Seymour said.

Seymour also credits the business council for bringing public awareness on VAT. He said the Council’s research on VAT took its members to the eastern Caribbean island of St. Kitts, which had introduced the taxation measure recently, and after which it was to be modeled in the TCI. While happy at the outcome, Council member Ron Burchill said that the moments of adversity between government and VAT opponents could have been avoided, since valuable time was wasted as a result.

“Hopefully we can move past that and every-

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body can now work together and pull this country out of the economic mess that it was in,” He said.

In the meantime, Slattery pointed out that although the TCIBC was the core group of individuals that initiated and led the VAT fight for the most part, the desired result was achieved through collaborative efforts from almost all sections of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

“We would not be where we are today if a very large group of people in this community had not played their part. And I would like to personally, on the behalf of all of us here at the TCIBC, thank the community; from all of you who put bumper stickers on your cars to signing petitions, to turning up to meetings, to informing yourself.

“I think it is very important that the community recognizes that this was a community effort, and through coming together, through that unity, we have achieved what we all feel is a common sense solution,” Slattery noted.

Slattery also thanked the UK Ministers and Governor Todd “for listening to our arguments”, the two local political parties – the ruling PNP and the main opposition PDM for listening to their concerns in the run up to the election last year, and for their continuation to work on the people’s behalf after the polls. He also thanked the British public for deciding to stand as guarantor for the $26 million debt to the TCI. The, Clive Stanbrook-led TCIBC is a group of business people who came together in July, 2012, primarily to fight the introduction of VAT in the Turks & Caicos Islands, after expressing deep concerns about its implementation.

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CARICOM expresses ‘grave concern’ about the situation in Turks and Caicos Islands

BY HAYDEN BOYCE – PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

T

he Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has expressed “grave concern” about the state of political affairs in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

In fact, the regional leaders are taking matters in this country so seriously that they intend to raise concerns indentified

by Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing with representatives of the British Government.

In a communiqué issued at the conclusion of the 24th Inter-sessional Heads of Government meeting held in PortAu-Prince, Haiti, the Caribbean leaders stated: “The Conference noted with grave concern that, though the elections of November 2012 had led to the restoration of representative government, the overall state of political affairs remained less than desirable and the restoration of true democracy was still a far way off. The 2011 constitution, conceived in London and thrust upon the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands when they were without representation, was viewed as a mere by-law for the continuance of direct rule under the pretext of representative democracy.”

The CARICOM report added: “Of additional concern were the challenges emanating from the workings of the justice system in relation to the criminal investigations that followed the commission of enquiry, and what was portrayed as “constant infractions of democratic principles and insults to the ideals of elected government”. The Conference noted the reaffirmation of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government’s commitment to the Caribbean Community as well as

the expressed appreciation for the pronouncements of the Community on the situation in TCI. It was decided to continue to keep the situation under close review and to raise concerns with representatives of the British Government.”

The communiqué said that the conference “received with interest” the address made by the Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, Dr. Rufus Ewing.

It was the first meeting of the Community at which the Turks and Caicos Islands had been officially represented by a democratically elected Government since the suspension of its constitution in August 2009, and a three-year period of direct rule by the United Kingdom Government.

In his maiden speech to a CARICOM Heads of Government meeting on Tuesday, Premier Ewing called on CARICOM (Caribbean Community), to advocate on the international stage for the full restoration of the institutions of true democracy in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

He also asked regional leaders to “support our (Turks and Caicos Islands) cries for removal of the spectre of colonial influences of the past, as we fight for our rights on our journey towards true self governance and self determination”.

Dr. Ewing’s said then: “The current state of affairs in the Turks and Caicos Islands has the potential to throw our Country into chaos. For so long as I am the leader and principal spokesman of the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands, I will use every means available to me to ensure that does not happen.”

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Support for duty concessions to West Caicos Development

BY FLOYD B. HALL

I

t was a fascinating read for me going through the Development Order entered into by the Government of the Turks & Caicos Islands and West Caicos Development Company.

This was particularly so given that at the Commission of Inquiry of 2009 and the past Interim Administration no effort was spared by the Commissioner and the British big wigs in branding these types of concessions offered by the then PNP Administration as being corrupt and damaging to the people of the Turks & Caicos Islands.

In fact, I can still hear the constant refrains from the British folks that included: “because of the concessions offered by the former PNP Administration the country is broke; because of the former PNP Administration the country has lost millions of dollars in revenue; or because of the concessions offered by the previous administration we have to cut cost.”

Those refrains became so monotonous that I think some people begun to tune them out. However, those statements served their purpose well, for they cultivated a diabolical and malicious narrative that fed into the notion that the PNP Administration was corrupt and that those investors who were associated with that administration or benefitted in any way from duty concessions offered by that government were likewise corrupt and ought to be held to account. Others harped on the chorus to draw erroneous conclusions that as ministers in government, we stole from the Government’s Treasury or sold the country out.

Needless to say, that to jump to such a conclusion was a huge leap, especially given that all Development Orders had to be processed through the Attorney General’s Office and ultimately approved by the Cabinet where the British Attorney General sat as legal counsel and the Governor sat as President. It would appear to me now that for the British, the only thing that mattered was for the elected government of the day to be destroyed and if it were necessary, to brand the activities of that government as being corrupt in spite of the vast level of prosperity that it brought to our shores then so be it.

As far as the British representatives were concerned, they had the “support” of the people of the Turks & Caicos Islands to go after us and that they did. They obliterated our Constitution and cast us all as a group of misfits, save for the few that they picked out to sit on their appointed bodies. Consequently, by their actions or, in some cases inaction, they brought our economy to a screeching halt.

A different tale of sorts is now evolving in the Turks & Caicos Is-

lands today. The sinister plot of the British representatives is gradually being exposed.

Even those who were in the minority calling out for the British suspension of our Constitution and to take control over our country are beginning to see that this was a monumental mistake. The gross incompetence of some of these British representatives is wreaking havoc on our country daily. We now have a Governor who thinks he is the law; an Attorney General who is absent more often than he is present (both physically and mentally) and law suits that appear to have no end. One has to ask the question these days, was it worth it? Or, are we any better off for what we have had to endure?

Getting back to the issue of duty concessions, I must say that I support the West Caicos Development Group getting its concessions. Likewise, I support the concessions that we gave during our time in office to the Seven Stars, Grace Bay Club, The Regent Group of Companies, Third Turtle Club, the Salt Cay Group, Dellis Cay, Beaches, The Veranda and many other foreign investment entities that came to our shores during that period. These concessions are a necessity in small island economies such as ours.

As a small developing country, we have to remain cognizant that we operate in a competitive environment both regionally and internationally. Within the fifty states of the U.S. there is fiscal competitiveness constantly. Texas competes with California for corporate business, New York with New Jersey and there are countless other areas of competiveness. China competes with the U.S with Trade and technology, Hong Kong competes with New York and the City of London. We operate in a competitive universe and elected governments need control of their fiscal policy to make their countries’ economies competitive.

We offer tourism as our main product. Unless we are attractive to foreign investment, it will go elsewhere for certain. Investors everywhere look at the rate of return on their dollars invested and to help them in selecting the TCI for their investment the cost of doing business on our shores is a huge factor in the calculation. That is why we need to remain nimble to adjust to variations in the market place to maintain our competitive edge.

But in meeting the foreign investor’s need for concessions, we cannot forget our indigenous Turks & Caicos Islanders. That is why I am particularly proud of the concessions that our government gave to our local Turks & Caicos Islanders. These included generous concessions to the taxi drivers, the tour boat operators, the owners of apartments, on the fixed assets for commercial businesses, the local car rental agencies,

the cargo brokers dealing with bulk material and the list goes on and on.

The only criterion that was necessary by my office was that you had to be a Turks & Caicos Islander who was engaged in a business endeavor in our country. The benefits that were given went equally to persons of all walks of life, regardless of political persuasion or color of one’s skin.

Some will quickly say that as a small country we cannot afford these concessions. In fact, that is exactly what some of the British pundits said. However, they failed to take into account that had it not been for those concessions many of the properties that we now call development and are contributing heavily to our revenues in the form of accommodation tax, departure tax and import duties would not be here today.

Likewise, had we not given concessions to our local businessmen, they would not be the owners of businesses in our country either. Therefore, it would be a huge mistake to look at the concessions in isolation. While concessions must be tempered with reason and balance, they do serve an important function to stimulate or maintain both local and foreign investment.

Our party is indeed very proud of our initiative with duty concessions as well as the others we made in tertiary education, health and Crown land. Before our administration, these areas were beyond the reach of our people on this scale. Many Turks & Caicos Islanders were able to get their businesses started and have remained successfully engaged in their companies to this very day. Some, however, are holding on by a “wing and a prayer” hoping for the construction industry to rebound. Nevertheless they are grateful for the opportunity from our government and expressions of gratitude are given by some to us regularly.

Unfortunately for some of the foreign developers who benefitted from duty concessions during this period, the British Interim Administration rewarded them by assessing heavy penalties simply because

they supported our political party with campaign contributions. They have been criminalized or at the very least had their once impeccable reputations besmirched. This is patently unfair to these developers as they were properly entitled to support the political party of their choosing with whatever amount they wished under the prevailing laws of our country at the time. These developers were responsible in part for the exponential growth that our country enjoyed during this period. Many of these developments today are beacons of success for the Turks & Caicos Islands like the Seven Stars.

Companies like these are a source of pride for Turks & Caicos Islanders who enjoy employment there. Regrettably, developments like the Salt Cay Group that could have been the gem for Salt Cay residents or Dellis Cay which could have provided invaluable opportunities for the people of North and Middle Caicos had to perish in this ill-conceived exercise by the British.

It is my understanding that some of these developers decided to settle their issues with the SIPT even though they felt that they could win legally but rather than being dragged through an arduous and litigious fight in the courts, they chose to exit this way. For some they settled even if it meant falsely admitting to being culpable to some form of impropriety with the government. For others I understand that no admission was necessary with their settlement.

Regardless of the situation, it seems to me that good governance is only dispensed when duty concessions or other governmental activities are undertaken by the British representatives to our shores.

The question now for all indigenous Turks & Caicos Islanders is, are we back to those days when only those who come to our shores could receive a benefit from the government?

You be the judge!

Mr. Floyd B. Hall is a certified accountant and a former Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

LOCAL NEWS

PDM wary of election day cheekiness

BY VIVIAN TYSON

T

he March 22 by-election in the Cheshire Hall constituency does not require two polling stations since it could stretch the country’s election resources thin and also lead to some level of voting skullduggery; this is the position of the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM).

Deputy Leader Hon. Sean Astwood, on Wednesday, February 27, during a news conference at the PDM headquarters in Providenciales, to launch party standard-bearer Oral Selver’s bid for the Cheshire Hall seat, said that trouble could be brewing if the Governor’s Office and the Elections Office do not scrap plans to open two polling stations for the constituency on election day.

The Gustarvus Lightbourne Complex, downtown Providenciales and the Richmond Hill Preparatory School have been named as the polling stations for the poll.

But the PDM is insistent that the Gustarvus Lightbourne venue was spacious enough to house all the polling divisions needed for the constituency.

“We have written to the governor (Ric Todd) and the supervisor of elections (Dudley Lewis) about our concern of having dual polling stations,” said Astwood. “We believe that the Gustarvus Lightbourne polling station is adequate. And our rationale behind that is that, without having to vote for the at-large candidates, voting would be a whole lot faster than it was during the general election.”

“Therefore, the need to stand in long lines would be negated. We believe that the central location of the Gustarvus Lightbourne centre allows for voters to access the polling station a lot easier. We have also requested that the addition-

PDM Deputy Leader Sean Astwood al polling booths inside of the polling station be assembled to facilitate the quick voting process,” Astwood added.

He argued that having the Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex as the sole voting area would enable proper management.

“We also believe that it allows for better control for election officials to govern and to make sure that we have a smooth and fair election come election day. We have made strong representation on that; we will continue to follow up on it and update the media as we get a response from both ends, at least,” he said.

In support of her colleague, Opposition Leader Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson pointed out that management of the polling stations will be paramount in this election, which she explained was a primary concern to the PDM. “We want to make sure that it is a well-lit area for the security of voters and also to stamp out any possibility of illegal activities being carried out. The pitfalls (of having two polling stations for the by-election) are really stretching our re-

sources very thin in terms of the elections workers. An election is costly, but we have to make sure that we are able to manage the polling stations in terms of police presence, and in terms of reinforcing our resources, instead of spreading it out thinner.

“We believe that Gustarvus Lightbourne is more than adequate. It’s well lit, it’s well accessed, there is adequate parking. Any proposal to go into a bushed area, we are not going to be supporting.

And I think you can read between the lines as to why we prefer to be in the open and doing business in the daylight, she noted.

Responding to the question of what would be the next course of action in the event that the PDM’s request to have one of the polling stations closed is denied, Cartwright-Robinson responded: “Then we have to build a fortress wherever they placed it. And you can rest assured that on March 22nd, there will be a PDM fortress on the ground everywhere. Every nook and cranny, we will be there. It is important that what transpired (on November 9, 2012) does not happen again.

She did not, however, explain what had actually gone awry in the November 9 election.

Shortly after the election, some PDM supporters complained of irregularities in the constituency, which they said caused their candidate to lose.

Selver is going up against Amanda Missick once again. Missick, who were minister of health before the court annulled the seat ruled fresh elections called, came out 30 votes – 394 to 364 – ahead of Selver.

The by-election in the constituency was called after third party People Progressive Party (PPP) candidate Dr. Edward Smith was deemed to have competed in the race without being properly dominated. Smith had polled 58 votes.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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LOCAL NEWS

Washington Misick not surprised at British VAT about-face

BY VIVIAN TYSON

W

hile many in the community may be still pinching themselves as to determine whether or not the Value Added Tax implementation sea change by the British is real, there is one man who remains cool and collected on the turn of events, as he was secure in his mind that this day would come.

Minister of Finance Hon. Washington Misick told a media conference on Tuesday, February 26, that the news by minister responsible for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mark Simmons, to backpedal on the April 1, execution of VAT, was on the horizon due to the meaty revenue alternative package that the government presented to them.

“I am not at all surprised. It is really textbook diplomacy in terms of the reaction. I would like to add my congratulations and my commendation to the minister (Simmons), because I think he did the right thing. The people spoke, and this was a victory for the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands. And to some extend a victory for the

British Government, because we are bound together by history.

“And if we are going to act in the best interest of this country, we have to find a way to work through our differences, to deliver for the people of these islands. Everybody wins in this one, including the British, and I also believe that it important going forward that, as a community, we pull in the same direction,” Misick urged.

The finance minister also singled out the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) Leadership for its role in siding with the government against the implementation of VAT. “I joint with the Premier in congratulating and thanking the Leader of the opposition and her colleague for joining hands with us at a time when it was in the interest of the country, and we need to do more of that. From our side of the table, I can safely say that’s a style that we would like to continue,” Misick emphasized.

In the meantime, the finance minister said that while he was unaware of the monetary investments into VAT’s thwart implementation, government would be looking to channel those

outlays into its revenue programme with aim of achieving the desired results.

“I am hoping that whatever is invested, we can convert it into something good. A number of people have been hired to work in the Value Added Tax Unit. We have serious problems with compliance. Maybe we can deploy those people in different areas so that we can collect the revenues that need to be collected. I know that there has been a huge amount of psychological investment in this (for or against VAT), on both sides,” Minister pointed out.

In the meantime, Misick is exuding confidence that the country’s economy would perform much better in the 2013/2014 fiscal year, which he said was positive news for the government purse.

“What we would be projecting for 2013/2014, at this juncture is probably no major increase in expenses. As we said in the past, I think we would be able to justify that there would an uptick in the economic performance in the Turks and Caicos, and then we can adjust our spending based on that uptick in the revenues of these islands,” Misick said.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

LOCAL NEWS

ISLANDCOM TO LAUNCH 4G LTE I

n a recent decision by the Telecommunications Commission of Turks and Caicos, Islandcom Wireless was awarded one of the spectrum licenses for LTE technology. The decision by the Commission was a huge deal for the telecommunications companies in the Turks and Caicos. All three companies went head to head for the spectrum licenses that would be awarded to only two carriers. For Islandcom, the decision was monumental and signifies that the Commission also recognizes that they are gaining strength in the market. Ms Niamh Blake, CEO of Islandcom stated “Islandcom’s 4G LTE network will provide customers across the Turks & Caicos Islands with the best wireless experience possible, enabling them to stay in touch like never before. It positions the TCI at the top of the most technologically advanced countries in the Caribbean which is also great for attracting inward investment to the islands.”

Under the license agreement, Islandcom Wireless will deploy their LTE network within 18 months. Their LTE network will cover 98% of the Turks and Caicos populace. That is a huge benefit to the communities of the Turks and Caicos and ensures equity in the services that will be provided on all islands.

Those within the industry are well aware of

the changes and implications of what LTE servicing will bring to the TCI. The acronym LTE stands for Long Term Evolution. In a nutshell, LTE means high-speed. It changes not only data speeds but it enhances the quality of voice as well. In addition, it is 10 times the speed of 3G networks. LTE provides you with consistent service. It is an IP based system which reduces the transfer of latency on the network compared to 3G. It simply means the service will have less service interruptions.

Edwin Serpas, Network O&M Manger of Islandcom explains LTE. “The best part of LTE is the higher throughput which means up to 120 Mbps speed on your device. LTE uses Internet Protocol for all services, voice and data. It is the same technology used for other Voice over IP connections such as Skype.” The majority of today’s smartphones give you access to lots of applications such as WhatsApp, Skype, and numerous others.

Having LTE services will enhance some of your favourite apps such as Youtube, Netflix, and also Mobile TV based applications. There are a lot of LTE based handsets and tablets already available on the market such as the iPhone 5, and Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE. Islandcom will use its LTE service to continue to provide customers with the best network available on island. New offers will be available

for the public and the business community. Islandcom will be able to offer businesses services that are rich in content, faster video streaming, instant uploading of photos, and much more.

For the 4G service we have identified clusters in the Turks & Caicos Islands where data usage is expected to be high and adjusted our system so that they will all experience the same great levels of data speeds.

Islandcom will also focus on enriching the lives of others personally to further advance the community. Soon to be instituted will be a new internship and scholarship program. The goal of the program is to give interested students a taste of the inner workings of the telecommunications industry and give them a complete educational experience of the business. The telecommunications industry makes up a huge part of the Turks and Caicos work force. It has produced a great number of leaders in our community. “My own personal experience working in telecoms has instilled in me a business acumen that I can use in any industry,” says Chandra Craigg, Marketing Specialist. “At Islandcom, all of our staff participates in the working of other departments which enriches their overall understanding of what goes on in the company. The best way to create future leaders is give them real life experience.”

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MARCH 2ND - MARCH 9TH, 2013

Page 19

NOTICE OF PUBLIC AUCTION SALES FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) Ltd as Chargee pursuant to the Registered Land Ordinance hereby gives Notice that it will cause to be sold

by Public Auction the following scheduled properties outside the offices of Miller Simons O’Sullivan, Second Floor, The Beatrice Butterfield Building, Butterfield Square, Providenciales at 10:00 a.m. on 5 March 2013.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

TITLE NO. 60101/21 K2&3, NORTH WEST POINT, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: North West Point Resort Ltd. Comprising approximately 570 feet of frontage onto the reef projected white sandy beach and excellent views of the North Shore. Upon this has been constructed two condominium buildings containing units. This property also contains on site facilities included gated entry, restaurant/cabana area, swimming pool, deck area and gardens. This unit has 1,572 square feet and is known as unit 102 in Building B1. There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, open plan living/dining area, living area, balcony/veranda and closet space.

TITLE NO. 60101/21 K29 NORTH WEST POINT, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: North West Point Resort Ltd. Comprising approximately 570 feet of frontage onto the reef projected white sandy beach and excellent views of the North Shore. Upon this has been constructed two condominium buildings containing units. This property also contains on site facilities included gated entry, restaurant/cabana area, swimming pool, deck area and gardens. This unit has 1,572 square feet and is known as unit 102 in Building B2. There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, open plan living/dining area, living area, balcony/veranda and closet space.

TITLE NO. 60101/21 K36, NORTH WEST POINT, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: North West Point Resort Ltd. Comprising approximately 570 feet of frontage onto the reef projected white sandy beach and excellent views of the North Shore. Upon this has been constructed two condominium buildings containing units. This property also contains on site facilities included gated entry, restaurant/cabana area, swimming pool, deck area and gardens. This unit has 2,223 square feet and is known as unit 201 in Building B2. There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, open plan living/dining area, living area, balcony/veranda and closet space.

TITLE NO. 60101/21 K37, NORTH WEST POINT, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: North West Point Resort Ltd. Comprising approximately 570 feet of frontage onto the reef projected white sandy beach and excellent views of the North Shore. Upon this has been constructed two condominium buildings containing units. This property also contains on site facilities included gated entry, restaurant/cabana area, swimming pool, deck area and gardens. This unit has 1.556 square feet and is known as unit 203 in Building B2. There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, open plan living/dining area, living area, balcony/veranda and closet space.

TITLE NO. 60400/330, CHALK SOUND, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: Karen Rigby This property is located on the south side of Chalk Sound drive. The property has a single storey residence with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, living/dining, utility closet and a front and rear porch. The property has no external improvements in terms of driveway or parking aware. The total floor area is 1,832 square feet.

TITLE NO. 10304/142, 143, 144, CENTRAL, GRAND TURK Registered Proprietor: Whale Watchers Ltd Comprising 0.96 acre parcel containing a partially complete commercial development located on Front Street, Grand Turk with the potential to be used for office or residential units.

TITLE NO. 60609/24, NORWAY & FIVE CAYS, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: Claudine Pratt Located on the south-western tip of Providenciales, in the area known as Norway & Five Cays. A two story house on 1.03 Acres of land.

The house is not yet completed with only snagging items, minor finishing items and some site works left to be completed. Once completed the gross floor area of the residence will be 2,435

square feet. The property benefits from approximately 120 linear feet of iron shore frontage onto the Chalk Sound with impressive 180 degree views being enjoyed to the west.

8. TITLE NO. 10406/88, EAST SUBURBS, GRAND TURK Registered Proprietor- Lorraine/Laureen Williams Comprising 0.21 acre parcel containing an apartment building with two single storey apartments, both with two bedrooms. The property is accessed by an asphalt surfaced main road via the gated entrance of the two apartment properties. The approximate gross external floor area of the whole apartment building is approximately 2,976 square feet, including the area of the covered decks amounting to 576 square feet.

9. TITLE NO. 60505/250, BLUE HILLS & STAMERS RUN, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: Samuel Jules Comprising 0.26 acre parcel with bare land containing indigenous bush and small trees. The property is located between Blue Hills and the northern part of Kew Town and is accessed by turning on Bible Street, the second turning on Blue Hills Road, heading towards the T-junction and taking the northern hand turn to the end of the road and the property is the last lot on the left below the ridge land.

10. TITLE NO. 60719/87 CHESHIRE HALL & RICHMOND HILL, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: Gregory Raymond Pinder and Lisa Phillips-Pinder Comprising 0.74 acre parcel with bare land containing dense native shrubbery and the rear of the plot overlooks the canal. The property is located in the Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hill area of Providenciales.

11. TITLE NO. 60400/284, NORWAY & FIVE CAYS, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: BNA Ltd Comprising 1 acre parcel with a partially completed block structure, dense mature native vegetation and small trees. The property is located on Chalk Sound Road, approximately half a mile beyond the Silly Creek Estate junction on the northern side of the road. The property has a view of the Chalk Sound National Park.

12. TITLE NO. 60713/90/K9, CHESHIRE HALL AND RICHMOND HILL, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: Ivan Gregory Kennessey Located in the Queen Angel Development comprising of studio, one, and two bedroom villas, which can be found in the Turtle Cove area. The property is Unit A201, a second floor one-bedroom corner unit in Building A. Unit A201 has a 1,275 unit entitlement and 1,275 square foot gross external area. The unit is unfurnished and comprises one bedroom, one bathroom, open kitchen/living/dining area, utility closet and storage space. The unit also has use of the resort facilities including the communal swimming pool and deck.

13. TITLE NO. 51201/22, BOTTLE CREEK CENTRAL, NORTH CAICOS Registered Proprietor: Samuel Handfield Comprising 1.75 acre parcel with a commercial building that is currently operated as a supermarket. The property also contains a bathroom, storage facilities, a loading area and office space. The gross floor area of the building is approximately 5,100 square feet. The property is located along Kings Road in North Windsor, Bottle Creek Central.

14. TITLE NO. 51203/37, BOTTLE CREEK CENTRAL, NORTH CAICOS Registered Proprietor: Samuel Handfield Comprising 0.55 acre parcel containing two structures that are currently in poor condition.

The main house contains three bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen and a living room area. The gross floor area is approximately 1,225 square feet. The annex building is a split level building that was previously used as a general store and a one-bedroom apartment. The gross floor area is approximately 1,063 square feet.

15. TITLE NO. 51302/11, BOTTLE CREEK SOUTH, NORTH CAICOS Registered Proprietor: Samuel Handfield Comprising 10.2 acre of undeveloped land and is currently being used as a local farm with native produce. The property also contains a small thatched shed that is used for storage of the farming materials and tools. The property is located on the west side of Bottle Creek Road.

16. TITLE NO. 51108/106, BOTTLE CREEK NORTH, NORTH CAICOS Registered Proprietor: Garnett and Rosemary Jolly Comprising 0.62 acre parcel with a gated town-

house development consisting of ten two-storey two bedroom townhouses, with a small swimming pool, deck, gazebo, marl driveway, car parking, limited landscaping, BBQ area and a surrounding security fence and wall. The property is located in the Major Hill district of Bottle Creek.

17. TITLE NO. 60719/110 CHESHIRE HALL & RICHMOND HILL, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: Finbar Grant Comprising 0.59 acre parcel with a two-storey detached residence, a guest suite and a single-storey guesthouse and is located in the residential sub-division in Discovery Bay. The two-storey detached residence has four/five bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, library, a substantially complete cinema room, laundry room, kitchen, breakfast room, family room and a separate office. The guest suite contains a bedroom, bathroom and a kitchenette. The single-storey guesthouse contains a studio with a bedroom and bathroom and a separate efficiency unit with a bathroom, bedroom and kitchenette. The property also contains a swimming pool and a concrete boat dock.

18. TITLE NO. 60907/226/K4 LEEWARD GOING THROUGH, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: Michael Eugene Misick Located at the Providenciales Golf Club in the development known as The Palms. The property is unit 4 and is a two-storey, two-bedroom townhome comprising 1,282 square feet.

The unit benefits from discounted of the golf course, tennis courts and has communal access to the swimming pool and parking area in front of the unit.

19. TITLE NO. 61113/217 LONG BAY HILLS, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: Robin Roselitta Cox Comprising 0.85 acre parcel located in the Long Bay Hills sub-division near the Conch Farm and the Marina at Heaving Down Rock. The property contains a two-storey building and a single storey building. The two-storey building contains one two-bedroom unit and two one-bedroom units, all with open living space. The single-storey building contains a two-bedroom house with open living space.

20. TITLE NO. 51105/46, BOTTLE CREEK NORTH, NORTH CAICOS Registered Proprietor: Obed Nathaniel Gardiner Comprising 0.78 acre parcel located in Major Hill in the Bottle Creek North section of North Caicos. The property is in a developing residential sub-division and contains three buildings.

The first building consists of a two-storey tenunit apartment building, with four two-bedroom units and six one-bedroom units, all with open living space. The second building consists of a part single-storey and two-storey seven-unit apartment building, with two two-bedroom units and five one-bedroom units, all with open living space. The third building consists of a two-storey two-bedroom unit with open living space on the upper level and a storage and workshop area on the lower level. The property is lightly landscaped with native mature trees and plants and has a gazebo and a front boundary wall.

21. TITLE NO. 60715/210 CHESHIRE HALL & RICHMOND HILL, PROVIDENCIALES Registered Proprietor: Lincoln Hudson Ferriera Comprising 0.54 acre parcel with bare land containing dense indigenous bush and mature trees and is accessed via turning off the unpaved Turtle Creek Drive, which runs from the west of the Shell Station and proceeding southerly until the T junction, the subject land is accessed by taking the western turning and following the road until just before the canal starts to curve, where the subject land is located on the right hand side immediately fronting the canal.

M & S Trust Company Limited. as Chargee pursuant to the Registered Land Ordinance hereby gives Notice that it will cause to be sold by Public Auction the following property outside the offices of Miller Simons O’Sullivan, Second Floor, The Beatrice Butterfield Building, Butterfield Square, Providenciales at 10:00 a.m. on 5 March 2013.

1. TITLE NO. 10102/14 NORTH EAST SUBURBS, GRAND TURK Registered Proprietor: Daniel Stevenson Simmons Comprising a 15-acre parcel with bare land. The property is located in the North East Suburbs in ‘The Ridge’, with frontage on North Creek and Lighthouse Road. The property has views over North Creek and the western shoreline.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

LOCAL NEWS

Miss Tci Universe Contestants Begin Rock It Hot Fitness Training T

he Miss Turks and Caicos Universe Beauty Organization continues to make good on its promise to re-brand the beauty pageant. The sizzling six are being exposed to all facets of grooming: beauty, health and now fitness. Natasha Leybush of Rock It Hot Fitness Center has partnered to provide essential training for the ladies and is doing so; Rock It Hot Fitness is now the Official Fitness Center and Trainers of the Miss Turks and Caicos Universe Beauty Org. During the weekly Sunday session, Ms. Leybush outlined a schedule that meets the need for each contestant. The beauties are expected to dedicate their time and energy and adjust their diets in order to become toned, sleek and fit for the

stage. Each contestant is eager to follow the regiment that includes taebo and other grueling work out exercises. They all accept that hard work and determination will pay off.

According to Leybush, “President Kazz Forbes has selected a group of naturally beautiful (by nature) ladies.

They must now do the work of getting rid of unwanted impediments.”

She is enthusiastic about working with this group. Training started at 6:30am on Monday, February 25th.

Mr. Forbes is confident that Natasha will bring out the best in each contestant.

Look out for more exciting developments as the organization moves forward with plans to showcase the beauties at various social events leading up to coronation night.

TCI TOP MODEL PRESENTS OFFICIAL LINE-UP OF EVENTS FOR 2013!

lages and Spa, Saint George Fashion House, Tremm Jocale, Tropical Shipping Ltd., Williams’ Auditorium, Fetish TCI, Digicel TCI, Caribbean Property Management and Realty, Kazz Forbes Photography, Meta Mindsets, Blakout Entertainment, 4C’s Dental Clinic, Paradise Smiles, Gilley’s Enterprises Ltd., Caicos Express Airways, Business Solutions, The Regent Palms Resort, Miniature Golf, Acres of Diamonds, TCI Ferries, Caribbean Crusin’, FOTTAC, Jais, Rock it Hot Fitness, Villa Del Mar, Kayjo’s Restaurant, Digicel TCI Cinemas, Floral Couture Lounge, People’ Television (PTV), Grace Bay Club Resort, Stix Restaurant, Digicel TCI Cinemas, Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association, 102.5 Kiss FM and Power 92.5FM.

MARK OSMOND DENTAL CLINIC PARTNERS WITH TCI TOP MODEL

T

he 2013 TCI Top Model Contest & Fashion Extravaganza (TCITM) is proud to release our full line up of events for this year’s extravaganza - Royele Couture: LUXE! The TCI Top Model Contest is an event that is envisioned to give those persons residing in the Turks and Caicos Islands interested in careers in the fashion and creative industry an opportunity and the platform to debut, by showcasing their talent, with the hope that this will be a springboard to a career in fashion locally or further afield.

In the run up to the event, All aspiring models (and Contestants) attend workshops on: the fashion industry and modeling, interview & networking skills, personality & self esteem, presentation, fitness & healthy eating, branding, being a spokesperson/ambassador and life in the media from local industry experts. What is more, they undergo professional photo shoots and portfolios complied of their best photographs. TCITM’s intention is to groom talent with the view of shaping a well-rounded individual who is desirous about being a part of the creative industry.

Winners of the TCI Top Model Contest have signed with top New York fashion modeling agencies. Davia Chambers, TCI Top Model 2009 (formerly TCI Supermodel) signed with Ikon Model Management in 2009. Most recently, Washanda Registre, TCI Top Model 2012 - signed a threeyear contract with Wilhelmina Models.

Washanda, also Digicel TCI Brand Ambassador 2012 - has appeared on the cover and in the pages of Times of the Islands Summer 2012, Destination TCI 2013, Discover TCI 2013, Digicel TCI advertising campaigns along with a host of newspapers and online periodicals. What is more, Raynelis Howell, TCI Fashion Designer of the Year (2010) has gone on to produce collections and showcased her designs at such prestigious events as Islands of the World Fashion Week in The Bahamas!

Their next public sighting will be on Saturday, March 2nd at the Rake N Scrape Festival on North Caicos. On Sunday, they will worship at Paradise Baptist Church in Five Cays with the Ministry of Education for Education Week.

Tickets are now on sale for the Miss Turks and Caicos Universe 2013 Pageant Preliminary Competitions and Grand Finale Events, April 26th and 27th. For Tickets Call: 649.243.2985 | 649.241.5777 | 649.243.3000. Please visit www.MissTCI.org for additional information on the Miss Turks and Caicos Universe Pageant.

To date, the Miss Turks and Caicos Universe 2013 Pageant sponsors include: the Turks and Caicos Tourist Board, Beaches TCI Resort Vil-

T

here are many assets that a fashion model must have.

Fashion model requirements are dictated not by the fashion trade, but by the clients of model agencies that require a certain build, height or look for their advertisements or product. To his effect, models must be tall, fit, attractive, personable, photogenic and, importantly – possess a great smile. A smile, like the eyes - opens them up to unlimited opportunities for networking and overall marketing appeal!

To this regard, Mark Osmond Dental Clinic is to provide Contestants in the upcoming 2013 TCI Top Model Contest with a great reason to smile!

Dr Mark Osmond, a UK qualified dental surgeon with over 20 years experience, has been working in the Turks and Caicos since 2005. Through his practice, Mark Osmond Dental Clinic, Dr Osmond offers all forms of general dentistry including fillings, cleanings, and pediatric dentistry and specializes in complex cosmetic work such as implants, crowns, veneers & bridgework, dental whitening and Invisalign Orthodontics. The clinic now also offers his Cosmetic Enhancement Services which include Botox, Dysport and Facial Fillers.

Contestants in the 2013 TCI Top Model Contest will not only

WASHANDA REGISTRE AND MARK OSMOND receive a complimentary consultation, but also dental cleaning which will improve their smile. Just as a model is expected to have good hair, skin and nails, they must also take care of their teeth.

Of the partnership, Dr Osmond said: “A beautiful smile is an important asset for any model and we are really excited to work with all the TCI Top Mod-

el Contestants to help achieve that. Having seen the high standard and success of previous years, we are thrilled be part of this great Turks & Caicos initiative and wish all the girls the best of luck!”

For more information or to make an appointment at Mark Osmond Dental Clinic call (649) 432-3777. Located at the main IGA, Leeward Highway.

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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CELEBRATE WITH CARAMBOLA GRILL AND LOUNGE

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Walk-ins always welcome!

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Dominican Republic natives living in H

undreds of Dominicans who live in the Turks and Caicos Islands celebrated their country’s independence in an exciting ceremony at the Kishco carpark last Sunday. Although the country p p will ofďŹ cially y celebrate its inof 10 million people

dependence on Wednesday February 27th, those who live in TCI decided to have an early celebration.

There was lots of fun, music, food, drinks and g Many y natives of the Turks and Caicos Isdancing.

lands also attended the event.

The Dominicans also said a special happy birthday to Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing who shares his birthday with their independence.

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Turks and Caicos celebrate independence

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Leona Lewis

“I Got You” A place to crash I got you No need to ask I got you Just get on the phone I got you Come and pick you up if I have to What’s weird about it Is we’re right at the end And mad about it Just figured it out in my head I’m proud to say I got you Go ahead and say goodbye I’ll be alright Go ahead and make me cry I’ll be alright And when you need a place to run to For better for worse I got you I got you Ain’t falling a part, or bitter

Let’s be bigger than that and remember The cooling outdoor when you’re all alone We’ll go on surviving No drama, no need for a show Just wanna say I got you Go ahead and say goodbye I’ll be alright Go ahead and make me cry I’ll be alright And when you need a place to run to For better for worse I got you Go ahead and say goodbye (go ahead) I’ll be alright (say goodbye) Go ahead and make me cry I’ll be alright And when you need a place to run to For better for worse I got you ‘Cause this is love and life And nothing we can both control

And if it don’t feel right You’re not losing me by letting me know Go ahead and say goodbye (say goodbye) I’ll be alright Go ahead and make me cry I’ll be alright And when you need a place to run to For better for worse I got you Go ahead and say goodbye (go ahead) I’ll be alright (say goodbye) Go ahead and make me cry I’ll be alright And when you need a place to run to For better for worse I got you A place to crash I got you No need to ask I got you

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ENTERTAINMENT

Oscars 2013: ‘Argo,’ ‘Life of Pi’ Win Big A

lthough Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln led the pack with 12 nominations going into the 85th Academy Awards Sunday night, it was Life of Pi that walked away with the most Oscar statuettes – four, including Best Directing for Ang Lee. However, the night really belonged to Argo, which, despite the Academy snubbing Ben Affleck in the directing category, came out on top by nabbing the coveted Best Picture award.

Argo beat out eight other films – including Zero Dark Thirty, Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln and Life of Pi – and picked up two additional awards, Best Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing. A sweaty, stunned Affleck gave a humble, if not quick-lipped, speech that ended with him saying, “It doesn’t matter how you get knocked down in life, ‘cause that’s gonna happen, all that matters is that you get up.”

Meanwhile, in addition to the directing award, Life of Pi, the 3D fantasy adventure about a boy and a tiger, picked up Best Cinematography, Original Score and Visual Effects. A cheery Lee beat out the likes of Spielberg and Silver Linings Playbook’s David O. Russell for top director.

The Oscars ceremony, hosted by a hit-or-miss Seth MacFarlane, fluctuated between predictable – with expected wins for Daniel Day-Lewis and Anne Hathaway – and surprising, such as Christoph Waltz besting Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Alan Arkin

Ben Affleck with his Academy Award for Best Picture for Actor in a Supporting Role for his turn in Django Unchained. (Writer-director Quentin Tarantino took home Best Original Screenplay for Django, too.)

In a category that boasted the oldest-ever nominee (85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva) and the youngest (9-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis), Jennifer Lawrence walked away with her first Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Silver Linings Playbook, surpassing other fellow nominees Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts. After tripping and falling on the stairs on the way up to the podium, Lawrence got a standing ovation, to which she quipped: “You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell.”

With his win for his role in Lincoln, Day-Lewis became the first actor to win three Oscars

in the Best Actor in a Leading Role category, prompting him to make a joke at presenter Meryl Streep’s expense about how he had actually been picked to play Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady first.

The award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role was Anne Hathaway’s to lose – but lose she did not. After sweeping up numerous pre-Oscar accolades, the Les Misérables star gasped, “It came true,” as she took the stage to pick up her first-ever gold trophy.

With a theme of Music in Film, the awards show was packed with musical moments – including Adele performing the title song from Skyfall, which won Best Original Song; a timeless-looking Barbra Streisand singing an in memoriam tribute of “The Way We Were”; and Catherine Zeta-Jones strutting through “All That Jazz” from the musical Chicago, among numerous other performances. (However, in a questionable move, the show used the jarring Jaws theme to cut off some rambling award recipients.)

In other notable moments, there was a tie in the Best Sound Editing category, with statuettes going to both Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall; Searching for Sugar Man, about the musician Rodriguez, nabbed the Best Documentary Feature award; and there was a tribute celebrating the 50th anniversary of James Bond, featuring a performance by Shirley Bassey.

Rihanna gets restraining order against alleged stalker R

ihanna loves her fans, but she is establishing boundaries with one whom she believes crossed the line.

According to court documents obtained by “omg! Insider,” the singer (real name: Robyn Fenty) filed a restraining order against Steveland Barrow on Tuesday. The 31-year-old California man was arrested on February 22 for breaking into the Los Angeles home of her neighbor, mistakenly believing it was where the star lived.

In addition to removing “various items from the home,” Barrow “slept

in a bed,” thinking it belonged to Rihanna. “Upon arrest, he claimed he had been invited to Ms. Fenty’s residence” and “had numerous pieces of poetry for her.”

The documents state that Barrow has caused Rihanna, who wasn’t home at the time, to “fear for her safety.”

The temporary restraining order mandates that Barrow, whose whereabouts are currently unknown after he was released from police custody, stay 100 yards away from Rihanna, her home, her place of business,

and her car.

A court date has been set for March 21 to make the order permanent and establish even stricter stipulations.

Rihanna is known for having an open relationship with fans, giving them the play-by-play of her daily life – including photos of her drug use and controversial relationship with Chris Brown – on social media.

This isn’t the first time someone has taken their fandom too far. A man named Zentil Vanzellas was convicted of stalking the singer back in 2010

and spent 277 days in prison after pleading no contest to allegations he was harassing her.

In December, she was vacationing in her native Barbados and called the authorities on another man who trespassed on her beachfront villa.

However, it was later determined that the person – a German tourist – didn’t realize it was private property.

Luckily, Rihanna dealt with the latest incident from afar. She was on vacation in Hawaii – accompanied

by Brown for part of the time – celebrating her 25th birthday.

FORMER TEMPTATIONS SINGER RICHARD STREET DEAD AT 70

DENROY MORGAN GETS PROBATION FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION

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inger Richard Street, who sang with Motown’s famed Temptations for 25 years, died in a Las Vegas hospital after a short illness, according to his wife Cindy, The Associated Press reports. He was 70.

A Detroit native, Street performed with a few other groups as a young man, including Otis Williams and the Distants, a Temptations predecessor of sorts that featured future Temps Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin and Elbridge “Al” Bryant.

100 Greatest Artists: The Temptations Street joined the Temptations in the early 1970s, singing on classics including “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)” and “Papa Was

A Rolling Stone.” Along with many Motown acts, he left Detroit for Los Angeles in the 1970s, and he would stay with the Temptations till the mid1990s.

After his departure from the group, Street began to tour and perform as a solo artist, and sometimes as a duo with fellow former Temptation Otis “Damon” Harris, who died just a few days ago. “They’re dancing up there in heaven, him and Damon,” Cindy Street told CNN. “I’m in disbelief right now.”

Cindy Street said funeral arrangements are still incomplete, though a service is expected to be held sometime next week in Cypress, California.

eggae singer Denroy Morgan was fined $25 and given 90 days probation when he appeared in the US District Court in Manhattan last week.

Morgan had been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana in September. Police said they held him in the Bronx, New York, with 25 pounds of the weed.

According to a statement from Morgan’s New York publicist, his lawyer Sabrina T Shroft, successfully argued that he had no intention to distribute the marijuana but planned to use it for

Denroy Morgan spiritual purposes.

Morgan is a Rastafarian, many of whom say they use marijuana as a religious sacrament.

Shroft’s appeal reduced Morgan’s charge to a misdemeanour possession.

He was facing a maximum 25-year prison sentence.

The Clarendon-born Morgan has lived in the United States since the 1960s. He was part of the underground club scene in New York City during the 1970s.

He broke through in the summer of 1981 with the funk-influenced song, I’ll Do Anything For You. Morgan is the father of the members of roots-reggae Morgan Heritage.

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News CARIBBEAN

UK wants election observers in Cayman Islands

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he United Kingdom government has asked the Cayman Islands to “invite” foreign observers to witness its May 22nd general election, according to a letter written to British Overseas Territories Minister Mark Simmonds by Cayman Islands Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly on 22 January. Mrs. O’Connor-Connolly read out loud the letter during a Cabinet media briefing held Thursday morning.

“We are not averse to this in principle, even though Cayman has had free and fair elections for decades,” she said. “We need to check if it would comply with Cayman’s Elections Law and it requires very careful presentation or it could be seen as very damaging to our reputation.”

In his response to the premier’s letter, Minister Simmonds responded that he was “encouraged” to note that Cayman was not averse to the idea. “I support this,” he said. “It is good practice for mature democracies.”

Minister Simmonds noted that other British Overseas Territories, including the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, had recently entertained overseas observers in their elections.

Premier O’Connor-Connolly also noted during the news briefing that she would want election observers from a broad cross-section of the Caribbean region as well, not just the UK. Addressing budget matters, Premier O’Connor-Connolly noted

that her government received an increase in a temporary borrowing facility during the month of February, but had no need to use it.

Government was also discussing transferring a substantial portion of the environmental protection fund to the budget’s general fund, reducing the environmental fund from more than $40 million to about $10 million.

Finally, crime-fighting funding of an additional $800,000 had been granted for use during the current 2012/13 budget year. The premier did not specify the purpose for these funds.

Meantime, saying that the United Kingdom was merely seeking to further embarrass the Cayman Islands, former Premier McKeeva Bush said he would urge local lawmakers to fight a plan to bring outside observers for the general election.

Mr. Bush said he would file a private members’ motion in the upcoming meeting of the Legislative Assembly asking elected members to reject the election observers proposal.

“These observers usually come from all over the Commonwealth,” Mr. Bush said. “They are only held in countries where the deepest electoral problems exist; none of which exist or existed in these Islands.

“We believe this is only one more attempt to embarrass these Islands and we are going to say no to it.”

MCKEEVA BUSH AND JULIANA O’CONNOR Private members’ motions in the Legislative Assembly can be brought by any elected member, whether government backbencher or opposition member. There is no legal effect if the motion is passed, other than to advise the government of members’ wishes on a particular topic.

Minister Simmonds noted that other British Overseas Territories, including the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, had recently entertained overseas observers in their elections.

However, Mr. Bush said that another British Overseas Territory, Bermuda, recently rejected UK observers during its most recent election cycle without negative effect.

There were no major problems reported during that vote, Mr. Bush said, even though the election led to a major shake-up in power and a switch in political parties leading the territory. “[Cayman] election officials have always operated at the highest level

of integrity and honesty,” Mr. Bush said. “We have nothing to hide, but this request would give a negative impression of these Islands.”

Former Premier Bush made no mention Tuesday night of the criminal investigation proceeding against him, for which he has blamed a conspiracy led by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office that he has said sought to remove him from power.

Mr. Bush was removed as premier following his 11 December arrest in a ‘no confidence’ vote of the majority of Legislative Assembly members.

He has not been charged with any crimes and has denied any criminal wrong-doing.

That 18 December vote led to the formation of Cayman’s current ‘minority government’ of five members who do not represent a majority of the 15 elected members of the house. Mr. Bush has said he believes the current government to be ‘unconstitutional’, but has declined to challenge it in court.

Caribbean model for selling citizenship is not the one for Bermuda, says former premier C

itizenship for sale: A number of struggling Caribbean islands are selling citizenship to raise funds, including Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis.

However, former Premier Sir John Swan believes Bermuda would be better to adopt the investor citizenship model used by countries like the US, Canada and UK, to attract “substantial investment and intellectual capital” that would benefit the Island through employment and business opportunities. A number of struggling Caribbean islands are selling citizenship to generate revenue, and it is a trend that appears likely to grow.

However, Bermuda would do better to model itself on ‘super powers’ such as the US, UK and Canada, and attract high-value residents to live on and invest in the Island and, in return, open up the opportunity for them to be considered for permanent residency and possible eventual citizenship.

So says former Premier Sir John Swan, who has previously presented the idea as one of a number of ways that Bermuda might go about rejuve-

nating its economy. He is aware of the Caribbean trend, but favours the more rigid programmes adopted by countries like the US. Caribbean islands selling citizenship to generate revenue was highlighted last week in an overseas news article, which revealed a foreigner can qualify for citizenship in the Dominica Republic for $100,000, while someone donating $250,000 to a fund for retired sugar workers can gain citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis (alternatively they can receive citizenship with a $400,000 minimum real estate investment). There is no obligation for the new citizens to ever visit or live on the islands. For some applicants the attraction is simply to gain a more widely recognised second passport for hassle-free travel.

A St Kitts passport, for example, provides visa-free travel to 139 countries, including all of the European Union.

Antigua and Barbuda is in the process of launching its own citizenship programme to gen-

erate money, while the island of Grenada has hinted it might revive its citizenship-for-sale programme.

Sir John said the model adopted by Dominica and St Kitts is not what he suggests for Bermuda.

He favours a system that attracts substantial investment and intellectual capital, which in turn would lead to employment and business opportunities for Bermuda.

“What I had in mind was a policy close to the practice in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

“I have suggested repeatedly that we need to attract high-value residents who live and invest in Bermuda. Those who qualify would initially be considered for permanent residency and in time citizenship,” he said.

The US programme allows visas for individuals who invest $1 million in a US business employing at least 10 people, or $500,000 in designated economically depressed areas.

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CARIBBEAN NEWS

Beres Hammond explains why he did not perform in The Bahamas T

he Wyndham Nassau Resort ballroom was full to capacity with eager fans awaiting a signature performance from Jamaican reggae legend Beres Hammond, but at 4 a.m. the concert ended without Hammond touching the stage.

According to those in Hammond’s camp, the 57-year-old reggae singer and his musicians, who were waiting in their rooms to go on stage, had not been paid. Hammond was the star attraction for the ‘A Night of Love’ concert - Hammond’s ninth Bahamian concert. He was expected to perform well before 12:30 a.m. Canadian R&B Grammy Award winning artist Melanie Fiona took the stage around 3:15 a.m.

After her performance the ballroom lights were turned on signaling the end of the concert, and soon after police officers asked the audience to leave. Following the event, many fans took to Twitter and Facebook to express their disappointment and outrage that Hammond was a no-show after waiting hours to watch his performance.

Mervis Walsh, Hammond’s manager, said on Saturday that local promoter Jimmy Smith contacted her around 2 a.m. that morning claiming he would come up to the room within 30 minutes.

Walsh, who spoke with The Nassau Guardian in Hammond’s penthouse suite, said she never heard back from Smith, and the group made a decision not to perform based on principal. “It was so very unfortunate last night that we were unable to present Beres,” Walsh said. “We are deeply, deeply sorry. We still love you Bahamas and we hope we can make amends. “...A lot of people

Beres Hammond may say, since he was here why didn’t he perform.

We have done this numerous times, numerous of times over the years. We have worked and no pay and hoped when the show is over we get paid.”

Walsh said this was the fifth time there has been financial problems and in the past Hammond has still performed, but Friday night, “was the straw that broke the camel’s back.” She continued, “Sound check was done at 10 p.m. Beres got dressed. [He was] ready to go to perform because the people were waiting, but what do you do, principals are principals. Officials from Above the Rim Entertainment, organizers of ‘A Night of Love’, apologized and said they took full responsibility for the artists not performing.

Concert promoter J.S said Hammond lived up to his end of the deal, but the promotion company was unable to hold its end of the bargain, although he did not confirm or deny whether pay-

ment was not made. Walsh said Hammond and his musicians arrived in The Bahamas on Thursday without the customary 50 percent down payment, but they prepared in good faith. Hammond, who had been looking out on the ocean from his balcony, told The Guardian he has enjoyed a special relationship with Bahamian fans. He reiterated that he had every intention of performing.

“I liked to call them more like family because since the first time I came here we have built up the sort of relationship that only family can have,” Hammond said. “I always look forward to every year coming, you know, and not just performing but having a good time with the family.” He said understood the disappointment of the fans, although he did not wish to speak in much detail about Friday’s incident. Asked whether this meant the last of Beres in The Bahamas, Walsh said she hopes not. “I deeply hope that the Bahamian people understand that this is no fault of our own and you know, no disrespect to anyone here.

“We know times are hard and people work hard to buy tickets and have an evening out with Beres, and we hope we can build another good relationship with someone else. “I don’t know if it’s with Mr. Smith anymore, but build a respectable relationship that people will also believe in that when they say Beres is coming the know Beres is here. Whether the artist will take legal action remains to be seen. Walsh said she is considering it, noting her attorney in New York has already contacted her.

Haiti’s Duvalier finally in court to face abuse of power charges F

ormer Haitian dictator JeanClaude “Baby Doc” Duvalier faced corruption and human rights charges in a court on Thursday for the first time since a popular revolt forced him into exile in 1986, and denied responsibility for abuses under his 15-year rule.

Individual government officials “had their own authority” the 61-year-old Duvalier said when asked about his role as head of state from 1971 to 1986.

“Under my authority, children could go to school, there was no insecurity,” he told the court.

Duvalier had boycotted three previous court hearings, and Appeals Court Judge Jean-Joseph Lebrun responded to his last failure to appear a week ago by issuing a warrant ordering prosecutors to ensure his presence for Thursday’s hearing, under police escort if necessary.

Duvalier, dressed in a navy blue suit and tie, quietly slipped into the courthouse unescorted early on Thursday, arriving in his own car several hours before the hearing started accompanied by his longtime companion Veronique Roy. Hundreds of Duvalier supporters gathered outside the courthouse soon after his arrival, chanting “Long Live Duvalier.”

The pre-trial hearing was held to determine what charges Duvalier

may have to face, and it is the first time he has personally been obliged to address crimes allegedly committed during his rule.

The case is being closely watched by international human rights observers who consider it a landmark case for Haiti’s weak justice system after decades of dictatorship, military rule and economic mayhem.

“Duvalier got away with everything all his life, and now he’s being forced to face his victims across a courtroom,” said Reed Brody, a spokesman for Human Rights Watch.

“It’s a powerful message. This is the sort of thing that could restore Haitian faith that justice is possible,” he added.

Several people who said they were victims of Duvalier’s rule attended the hearing and voiced satisfaction that he had finally appeared in court.

“He will have to face history in court, just like other dictators around the world are facing,” said Alix Fils-Aime, who was imprisoned

by Duvalier’s government.

Reynold Georges, who heads Duvalier’s legal team, argued unsuccessfully at a hearing last week that his client’s presence in court was not required.

Duvalier was briefly detained on charges of corruption, theft and

misappropriation of funds after returning to the impoverished Caribbean nation in January 2011 following a 25-year exile in France. Those charges are still pending.

Separate charges of crimes against humanity filed by alleged victims of wrongful imprisonment, forced disappearances and torture under Duvalier, were set aside by an investigating judge last year because the statute of limitations had run out.

But the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, has warned Haitian authorities that there is no statute of limitations under international law for serious violations of human rights.

“I encourage the judicial authorities to act on their responsibilities and ensure the victims are provided with the long overdue justice they deserve,” Pillay said in a statement last week.

Critics say prosecutors have been too lenient in Duvalier’s case. President Michel Martelly’s government recently renewed Duvalier’s diplomatic passport, saying he was entitled to it as a former head of state.

Duvalier, who inherited the title “President For Life” at the age of 19, is alleged to have fled Haiti with more than $100 million stashed in European bank accounts in 1986 after street demonstrations and riots broke out in a number of cities.

JEAN CLAUDE DUVALIER His departure ended nearly three decades of dictatorship begun by his father, François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, in 1957.

The Duvaliers enforced their rule with the aid of a feared militia, the National Security Volunteers, better known as the “Tonton Macoutes,” who were blamed for hundreds of deaths and disappearances.

Soon after he returned to Haiti in 2011, taking up residence in a villa in a posh suburb in the hills above the capital Port-au-Prince, Duvalier issued a brief apology “to those countrymen who rightly feel they were victims of my government,” the first ever public recognition of abuses under his rule.

While in exile Duvalier acknowledged privately that killers in his government went unpunished, according to Bernard Diederich, a New Zealand-born journalist and author of several books on Haiti, including a biography of the younger Duvalier.

“He always passed the blame to others,” said Diederich, who conducted four long interviews with Duvalier in the late 1990s.

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CARIBBEAN NEWS

Jamaican father cuts his two baby daughters’ throats and then hangs himself W

OODGROVE, Trelawny — The normally peaceful farming community of Woodgrove in southern Trelawny was plunged into mourning when a farmer killed his two daughters before taking his own life.

Police said an enraged Kenville Mullings, 33, cut the throats of his two daughters — Kimocoya, four, and K-alee, two — after a recent, heart-rending separation from their mother, Kelly-Ann Smith, with whom he had a relationship for more than seven years.

According to a distraught Smith, who struggled to come to grips with the tragic loss of her “two babies”, last Thursday she ended the relationship with Mullings, left their Trelawny home and took her two daughters to live with her mother in Coleyville, Manchester.

Smith said Mullings tricked one of his friends into lending him his motor car after telling him that his daughters were sick and that he had to go and see them. He drove to Coleyville Monday evening and collected the little girls. He, however, returned minutes after 1:00 yesterday morning and called Smith, informing her he had returned the two infants.

It was reported that when she went to lift her daughters from the vehicle, Mullings attacked her and held a machete to her throat.

Smith’s mother, who was alerted by her daugh-

Trelawny farmer Kenville Mullings with his two daughters and their mother Kelly-Ann Smith in an undated family photograph. The farmer killed his two little girls then took his own life. ter’s screams, went to her assistance and hurled stones at Mullings, one of which smashed the car’s windscreen. Mullings reportedly sped off with the two little girls. But shortly after, the distraught mother was called and informed that her two little girls were killed and that her ex-lover had committed suicide.

Mullings’ body was found hanging from the roof of his house, while the older girl was found lying prostrate on the floor in a pool of blood

MIA MOTTLEY REPLACES OWEN ARTHUR AS OPPOSITION LEADER IN BARBADOS

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RIDGETOWN, Barbados – Less than a week after he led the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) into its second consecutive defeat, Owen Arthur has been replaced as leader of the party.

Mia Mottley Forty-seven-year-old Mia Mottley, QC, a former attorney general, who in 2010 lost the leadership of the BLP, was named as the new leader by BLP executive member Gline Clarke flanked by 13 parliamentary members.

The BLP lost the 2013 general election to the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) by a 16-14 margin.

“As secretary of the parliamentary group, I just want to announce that Mia Mottley was elected as Leader of the Opposition,” Clarke said yesterday.

Arthur, 63, did not attend the meeting, but reporters were told his absence was to allow the opposition legislators a free hand to elect a new leader.

“The party is united. Mr Arthur felt he would give the members of the parliamentary grouping the freedom to choose the future of the Barbados Labour Party and we thank him and respect him for that.

“Mr Arthur has indicated he would be a full member of the House of Assembly and we look forward to that,” Clarke added. In October 2010, after she lost the leadership to Arthur, Mottley said she would remain committed to the BLP but accused it of engaging in a kangaroo court to ensure her removal from the post she held since 2008.

with her throat slashed. During a subsequent search, the body of the younger child was discovered in the yard, covered with a jacket just outside a building which was used as a bathroom.

There was a trail of blood that led from the bathroom to a tree on the premises where it is believed that Mullings slit his younger daughter’s throat. “...Him present himself up there (Coleyville) and take mi baby dem and kill dem,” said a grieving Smith.

“I told him he must move on with his life and I will move on with my own,” she said in reference to the break-up.

Yesterday morning, the grim looks etched on the faces of the scores of residents converged on the scene showed that something had gone horribly wrong.

Both the elderly and youthful community members expressed shock, saying that they did not expect Mullings to commit such a brutal act as they recounted the loving relationship the farmer had with his daughters.

“They were always seen together. Sometimes he has the littler one around his shoulder as he held the other one by her hand,” an elderly woman told the Jamaica Observer.

“God Almighty! What kind a demon possessed him?” one man questioned.

United States frees Caribbean detainees W

ASHINGTON – In a move clearly designed to save money, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says it has released a number of Caribbean and other immigrant detainees from jails and detention centers across the country.

ICE said that the move comes as automatic US federal budget cuts loom on March 1.

“In order to make the best use of our limited detention resources in the current fiscal climate and to manage our detention population under current congressionally mandated levels, ICE has directed field offices to review the detained population to ensure it is in line with available funding,” said ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen.

“As a result of this review, a number of detained aliens have been released around the country and placed on an appropriate, more cost-effective form of supervised release,” she added.

Christensen declined to give an estimate of how many immigrants, and their nationalities, were placed on “supervised release”.

But advocates and immigration lawyers reported a “mass release” including dozens of detainees from separate facilities in New Jersey, Arizona, Louisiana, Texas and Florida.

Bryan Johnson, an immigration lawyer in Long Island, New York, said a client held in New Jersey’s Bergen County Jail called to tell him guards were freeing 12 immi-

grants.

“We’re getting reports from multiple detention centers in Texas, Florida and New Orleans, where detainees who are low priority are being released in mass without bond,” said Domenic Powell, a spokesman for the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, a Washington-based immigration advocacy group.

Christensen, however, said ICE is continuing to prosecute cases in immigration court and will seek deportations.

ICE and the US Department of Homeland Security said they are analyzing spending as congressional inaction increases the likelihood of so-called budget sequestration or across-the-board spending cuts.

The American Civil Liberties Union said that detaining immigrants is an expensive business, with an average daily cost of US$122 to US$164 per person.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said ICE “will be forced” under sequestration to reduce detention and removal of undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants.

Immigrant rights advocates have long called for ICE to release some detainees, either to allow them to stay in the United States or to keep them out of prison-like detention centers until they are deported.

The groups have argued that the Obama administration has violated its stated principle of focusing on the most dangerous undocumented immigrants in favor of padding numbers by going after low-level offenders instead

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News W

RLD

Hugo Chavez is battling for life, says Venezuela VP

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ARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s vice president said Thursday that President Hugo Chavez is fighting for his life while he continues to undergo treatment more than two months after his latest cancer surgery.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro said on television that Chavez “is battling there for his health, for his life, and we’re accompanying him.”

The vice president has used similar phrasing in the past, saying on Dec. 20 that Chavez “is fighting a great battle ... for his life, for his health.”

Chavez hasn’t spoken publicly since before his latest cancer operation in Cuba on Dec. 11. He returned to Venezuela on Feb. 18, and the government says he has been undergoing more treatment at a military hospital in Caracas.

Maduro also called for Venezuelans to keep praying for Chavez and to remain loyal to the president. He said Chavez’s health had suffered because he had dedicated himself “body and soul” to his work as president.

Chavez himself has previously acknowledged that he was neglecting his health in recent years, often staying up late and drinking dozens of cups of coffee a day.

The president has undergone surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments since June

HUGO CHAVEZ 2011, when he first announced his cancer diagnosis. He hasn’t specified the type of cancer or the exact location in his pelvic region where his tumors have been removed.

Most Venezuelans expect President Hugo Chavez to recover from cancer and return to active rule even though he has been in hospital and virtually unseen for two-and-a-half months, a poll showed on Tuesday.

Local pollster Hinterlaces said 60 percent of interviewees believe Chavez will be cured and back to governing, while 14 percent think he will recover but be unable to rule again, and 12 percent view

US boosts aid to Syrian opposition, rebel fighters

JOHN KERRY SAYS AMERICANS HAVE A RIGHT TO BE STUPID

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ERLIN - Secretary of State John Kerry offered a defense of freedom of speech, religion and thought in the United States on Tuesday telling German students that in America “you have a right to be stupid if you want to be.”

“As a country, as a society, we live and breathe the idea of religious freedom and religious tolerance, whatever the religion, and political freedom and political tolerance, whatever the point of view,” Kerry told the students in Berlin, the second stop on his inaugural trip as secretary of state.

“People have sometimes wondered about why our Supreme Court allows one group or another to march in a parade even though it’s the most provocative thing in the world and they carry signs that are an insult to one group or another,” he added.

“The reason is, that’s freedom, freedom of speech. In America you have a right to be stupid - if you want to be,” he said, prompting laughter. “And you have a right to be disconnected to somebody else if you want to be.

“And we tolerate it. We somehow make it through that. Now, I think that’s a virtue. I think that’s something worth fighting for,” he added. “The important thing is to have the tolerance to say, you know, you can have a different point of view.”

Kerry made the comments on his first foreign trip since becoming secretary of state on February 1. After one-night stops in London and Berlin, he visits Paris, Rome, Ankara, Cairo, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Doha before returning to Washington on March 6.

his state as incurable.

Chavez, 58, underwent a fourth operation for cancer in Cuba on December 11. Last week he returned to Venezuela and was whisked to a military hospital in Caracas.

Apart from four photos of him in hospital in Havana, the socialist president has not been seen or heard in public, with even friend and ally Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, unable to enter his room on two hospital visits.

The surprisingly optimistic view of Venezuelans - in contrast to a more pessimistic consensus among diplomats and analysts that Chavez’s 14year rule is probably nearing its end - came in the presentation of two recent surveys by Hinterlaces.

“Far from weakening ‘Chavismo,’ far from reducing the popular support for President Chavez, his absence and illness have strengthened the bonds of affection and identification with the president’s ideals,” Hinterlaces head Oscar Schemel said.

Previously released results from the same surveys showed that if Chavez is forced out, his vice president and preferred successor, Nicolas Maduro, is favored to win an election in a possible match-up against opposition leader Henrique Capriles.

R

OME — The Obama administration said it will provide the Syrian opposition with an additional $60 million in assistance and — in a significant policy shift — will for the first time provide nonlethal aid like food and medical supplies directly to rebels battling to oust President Bashar Assad.

The move was announced by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at an international conference on Syria in Rome, and several European nations are expected in the coming days to take similar steps in working with the military wing of the opposition in order to ramp up pressure on Assad to step down and pave the way for a democratic transition.

“We do this because we need to stand on the side of those in this fight who want to see Syria rise again and see democracy and human rights,” Kerry said. “The stakes are really high, and we can’t risk letting this country in the heart of the Middle East being destroyed by vicious autocrats or hijacked by the extremists.”

“No nation, no people should live in fear of their so-called leaders,” he said, adding that President Barack Obama’s “decision to take further steps now is the result of the brutality of superior armed force propped up by foreign

fighters from Iran and Hezbollah.”

Kerry and senior officials from 11 countries most active in calling for Assad to leave said in a joint statement released by the Italian foreign ministry that they had agreed in Rome on “the need to change the balance of power on the ground.” It said the countries represented “will coordinate their efforts closely so as to best empower the Syrian people and support the Supreme Military Command of the Free Syrian Army in its efforts to help them exercise self-defense.”

Britain and France, two countries that Kerry visited before Italy on his first official trip as secretary of state, have signaled that they want to begin supplying the rebels with defensive military equipment such as combat body armor, armored vehicles, night vision goggles and training. They are expected to make decisions on those items in the near future in line with new guidance from the European Union, which still bars the provision of weapons and ammunition to anyone in Syria.

“We must go above and beyond the efforts we are making now,” said Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, who hosted the conference. “We can no longer allow this massacre to continue.”

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WORLD NEWS

Egypt balloon crash kills 19, mostly foreign tourists A

t least 19 people, most of them Asian and European tourists, died on Tuesday when a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed near the ancient Egyptian town of Luxor after a mid-air gas explosion, officials said.

The balloon came down in farmland a few kilometers (miles) from the Valley of the Kings and pharaonic temples popular with tourists. Rescue workers gathered the dead from the field where the charred remains of the balloon, gas canisters and other pieces of wreckage landed.

One Egyptian was also killed, Health Minister Mohamed Mostafa Hamed said, listing the other victims as tourists from Japan, China, France, Britain and Hungary. Earlier, officials had said all the dead were foreigners.

The balloon crashed on the west bank of the Nile river, where many of the area’s major historical sites are located.

Konny Matthews, assistant manager of Luxor’s Al Moudira hotel, said she heard an explosion at about 7 a.m. (0500 GMT). “It was a huge bang. It was a frightening bang, even though it was several kilometers away from the hotel,” she said by phone. “Some of my employees said that their homes were shaking.”

Ahmed Aboud, head of an association representing Luxor balloon operators, said the fire had begun in the pipe linking the gas canisters to the burner. He said it was an accident.

The deaths were caused by burns and injuries sustained in the fall, said Mohamed Mustafa, a doctor at the hospital where the injured were treated.

The pilot survived by jumping from the basket, Aboud said.

The British government said two British citizens and a British resident of Egypt had been killed. “We can also confirm that one other British national was involved and is in a stable condition,” a British foreign ministry statement said.

Two French citizens were killed, according to France’s foreign ministry. The Japanese embassy in Cairo said it believed four Japanese had been aboard and had sent staff to Luxor to confirm this.

Transport accidents are frequent in Egypt. Dozens of children were killed in November when the bus they were on collided with a train. Accidents affecting foreign tourists are rarer, but not unusual. Five Germans were killed in December in a bus crash near a Red Sea resort.

U.S. photographer Christopher Michel, who was on board another balloon, told Britain’s Sky News television that the balloon was one of eight flying at the time. “We heard a loud explosion behind us. I looked back and saw lots of smoke. It wasn’t immediately clear that it was a balloon,” he said.

Hot air ballooning at dawn is popular with tourists, who are a mainstay of the Egyptian econ-

Hollande least popular French president in 30 years

Libya PM denies Gaddafi premier in “critical condition” L

ibya’s prime minister dismissed reports that Muammar Gaddafi ’s former premier was in a critical condition after being tortured in prison while a United Nations team visited him in jail and said he appeared in “decent” shape.

Al Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi was

Former Libya Prime Minister Al Baghdad al-Mahmoudi extradited from Tunisia in June, making him the first senior Gaddafi official to be returned for trial under Libya’s new leadership.

He went on trial in November charged with corruption and ordering mass rape during the 2011 conflict that toppled Gaddafi and is being held in a Tripoli prison.

On Tuesday, his Tunisian lawyer,

Mabrouk Khorchi, said Mahmoudi was in critical condition and “risks dying” after being tortured in jail.

“Al-Mahmoudi is in good health, and is being treated humanely,” Libya’s present Prime Minister Ali Zeidan told a news conference.

“Our duty is to preserve his dignity ... The Mahmoudi trial is in the hands of the Libyan judicial system. The court will decide whether he is guilty or innocent.”

Mahmoudi served as Gaddafi ’s prime minister from 2006 until he fled to neighboring Tunisia in August 2011 around the time rebel fighters took Tripoli. He could face life in jail or execution if convicted.

Human rights groups have questioned whether former officials can get a fair trial in a country where bitterness over Gaddafi ’s rule runs deep and the militias that helped unseat him have influence.

But Libya’s new leaders have said they are determined to show their state institutions are up to the job of conducting such trials.

omy, although visitor numbers have fallen sharply since a 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. Two years of political instability have kept many foreign tourists away.

Tourism accounted for more than a 10th of Egypt’s gross domestic product before the revolt.

In 2010, about 14.7 million visitors came to Egypt, but this slumped to 9.8 million the next year.

Wael Ibrahim, head of the tour guides’ syndicate in Luxor, said he did not expect the accident to make the situation worse for tour operators in the area than it already was. “We’ve already been affected badly in Egypt,” he said.

Some tourists may be more wary of activities like hot air ballooning, he said, but added: “This (type of) accident could happen anywhere in the world.”

Last year a balloon plunged to the ground in flames in Slovenia, killing four people and injuring 28.

Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Wael el-Maadawi said a committee from the ministry was heading to Luxor to investigate the incident. He said hot air balloon flights would be stopped until an investigation into the cause of the accident.

“We cannot say whether this was because of maintenance or human (error) until the investigation committee is completely done with its investigation,” he told Al Jazeera TV’s Egyptian channel.

T

en months into his mandate, President Francois Hollande scored the worst of any French president since 1981 in the TNS Sofres poll for Le Figaro magazine released on Thursday as he struggles to spur economic growth and create jobs.

French Presdident Francois Hollande Socialist voters who propelled Hollande to the presidency in May 2012 are now questioning his government’s handling of an economy teetering near recession, a series of industrial layoffs and joblessness at a 15-year high.

Hollande’s rating fell by 5 points in February in the monthly poll to 30 percent when respondents were asked whether they had confidence in their president to resolve the country’s problems, pulled

down by a 8 point drop from Socialist voters.

“Until now, the Elysee (presidential) palace could congratulate itself by saying that those who voted for the president remained loyal. That’s now over,” the survey said.

Socialist Prime Minister JeanMarc Ayrault’s rating also fell 5 points to 28 percent.

From November to January, Hollande’s confidence rating was relatively stable, although still low, at about 35 percent in the poll, commissioned by the conservative-leaning publication.

The survey suggested Hollande has only enjoyed a short-lived boost from his military intervention in Mali, widely praised at home and by allies such the United States.

Data on Tuesday showed jobless claims rose to 3.17 million last month, the highest since July 1997, and Hollande admitted this week that sickly growth would make it harder to fulfill his pledge to stem the rise in unemployment by the end of 2013.

The survey of 1,000 people was conducted between February 21 and February 25.

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Bradley Manning pleads guilty to misusing classified data in WikiLeaks case T

he U.S. Army private accused of providing secret documents to the WikiLeaks website pleaded guilty on Thursday to misusing classified material he felt “should become public,” but denied the top charge of aiding the enemy.

Private First Class Bradley Manning, 25, entered the pleas prior to his court martial, which is set to begin on June 3, in a case that centers on the biggest leak of government secrets in U.S. history.

“I believe that if the general public ... had access to the information ... this could spark a domestic debate as to the role of the military and foreign policy in general,” Manning, dressed in full military uniform, testified calmly.

Reading from a 35-page statement as he remained seated next to his lawyers, the short, slight private described his feelings after he submitted the secret information to WikiLeaks.

“I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience,” said Manning, who spoke under oath for more than an hour.

“This was the type of information... should become public,” he said.

At the hearing, through his attorney Manning pleaded not guilty to the most serious charge, of aiding the enemy.

Manning, who has been jailed at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia for more than 1,000 days,

could face life imprisonment if convicted of that charge.

He pleaded guilty to a series of 10 lesser charges that he misused classified information at the hearing before military judge Colonel Denise Lind. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for those charges.

Under a ruling last month by Lind, Manning would have any sentence reduced by 112 days to compensate for the markedly harsh treatment he received during his confinement. While at Quantico, Manning was placed in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day with guards checking on him every few minutes.

Manning admitted to unauthorized possession and willful communication of classified information from the Combined Information Data Network Exchange Iraq and the Combined Information Data Network Exchange Afghanistan, two military databases. He called the two tables of documents he sent to WikiLeaks “two of most significant documents of our time.”

He also admitted to misuse of documents from the U.S. Southern Command pertaining to Guantanamo Bay, a memo from the United States Army Intelligence Center, and records from a military operation in Farah province in Afghanistan.

One of the classified U.S. military videos he said he leaked showed the 2007 attack by Apache

Private First Class Bradley Manning helicopters that killed a dozen people in Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff, photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his assistant and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40.

Manning, an Army intelligence officer, testified that he first tried to give the information to his “local paper,” the Washington Post, but when a journalist there was not interested he left a message at The New York Times, which never returned his call. He then planned to visit the offices of Politico, but when a winter storm cancelled his plans, he turned to WikiLeaks.

Manning was arrested in May 2010 while serving in Iraq and charged with downloading thousands of intelligence documents, diplomatic cables and combat videos and forwarding them to WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks began exposing the U.S. government secrets in the same year, stunning diplomats around the world and outraging U.S. officials who said damage to national security from the leaks endangered U.S. lives.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since June to avoid extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes.

Former Yugoslav army leader acquitted of war crimes T

he former head of the Yugoslav army was acquitted on Thursday of charges of aiding and abetting atrocities committed in Bosnia and Croatia during the 1990s, in a ruling that was condemned by victims but welcomed by Serb officials.

United Nations war crimes judges said Momcilo Perisic had provided legitimate military support to the ethnic Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) forces in Bosnia, but ruled he had not ordered them to commit war crimes.

“While Mr Perisic may have known of VRS crimes, the Yugoslav Army aid he facilitated was directed towards the VRS’s general war effort rather than VRS crimes,” said Theodor Meron, president of the appeals chamber

at the tribunal in The Hague.

Dressed in a charcoal-grey suit and a black tie, a stern-faced Perisic, 68, showed no emotion as Meron read out the acquittal and ordered his immediate release.

Rebel Serbs fought to carve out an ethnically Serb state in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995 after its Muslims and Croats voted for independence from Serbian-led federal Yugoslavia.

Judges said he also was innocent of ordering Serbian forces to shell the Croatian capital Zagreb.

Serb forces committed some of the gravest crimes in post-war European history during Yugoslavia’s break-up, including the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, and the siege of Sarajevo in which more

CHINA SAYS US ROUTINELY HACKS ITS DEFENSE MINISTRY WEBSITES

T

wo major Chinese military websites, including that of the Defense Ministry, were subject to about 144,000 hacking attacks a month last year, almost two-thirds of which came from the United States, the ministry said on Thursday.

This month a U.S. computer security company said that a secretive Chinese military unit was likely behind a series of hacking attacks mostly

Momcilo Perisic than 10,000 civilians died.

The acquittal means the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has not convicted a single Belgrade official for involvement in crimes in Bosnia and Croatia, which claimed tens of

targeting the United States, setting off a war of words between Washington and Beijing.

China denied the allegations and said it was the victim.

It has now provided some details for the first time of the alleged attacks from the United States.

“The Defense Ministry and China Military Online websites have faced a serious threat from hacking attacks since they were established, and the number of hacks has risen steadily in recent years,” said ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng.

“According to the IP addresses, the Defense Ministry and China Military Online websites

thousands of lives.

“We are still digging up the bones of our sons, and we know all the evil came from Serbia,” said Munira Subasic, whose husband and son were killed in Srebrenica.

The court put Slobodan Milosevic, the long-serving Yugoslav president who appointed Perisic and presided over the break-up of multi-ethnic Yugoslavia, on trial but he died in detention in 2006 before its conclusion.

Serbian officials welcomed the verdict, which follows the acquittal on appeal last year of Ante Gotovina, the Croatian general who led the counter-attack that took the Croatian region of Krajina back from Serb forces.

were, in 2012, hacked on average from overseas 144,000 times a month, of which attacks from the U.S. accounted for 62.9 percent,” he said.

The comments were made at a monthly news conference, which foreign reporters are not allowed to attend, and posted on the ministry’s website.

Geng said he had noted reports that the United States planned to expand its cyber-warfare capability but that they were unhelpful to increasing international cooperation towards fighting hacking.

“We hope that the U.S. side can explain and clarify this.”

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WORLD NEWS

Benedict’s reign ends with a promise to obey next pope P

ope Benedict ended his difficult reign on Thursday pledging unconditional obedience to whoever succeeds him to guide the Roman Catholic Church at one of the most crisis-ridden periods in its 2,000-year history.

The papacy became vacant at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT/2PM ET), marking the first time in six centuries a pope has resigned instead of ruling for life.

In a symbolic gesture, the Swiss Guards who stood sentry at the papal summer residence south of Rome, where the pope flew by helicopter less than three hours earlier, quit their posts and the massive wooden doors of the hilltop residence were closed.

At the same time, the papal apartments in the Vatican were locked and will not be opened until a new pope is elected.

As he left the Vatican several hours earlier by helicopter, he sent his last Twitter message: “Thank you for your love and support. May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the center of your lives.”

Bells rang out from St Peter’s Basilica and churches all over Rome as the helicopter circled Vatican City and flew over the Colosseum and other landmarks to give the pontiff one last view of the city where he is also bishop.

“As you know, today is different to previous ones,” he told an emotional, cheering crowd holding balloons and banners after he arrived in the small town of Castel Gandolfo, where the summer residence it located.

He told the crowd, many of whom were crying, that he would soon become “simply be a pilgrim who is starting the last phase of his pilgrimage on this earth”.

He then turned and went inside the villa, never to be seen again as pope.

In an emotional farewell to cardinals on Thursday morning in the Vatican’s frescoed Sala Clementina, Benedict appeared to send a strong message to the top echelons of the Church as well as the faithful to unite behind his successor, whoever he is.

“I will continue to be close to you in prayer, especially in the next few days, so that you are fully accepting of the action of the Holy Spirit in the election of the new pope,” he said. “May the Lord show you what he wants. Among you there is the future pope, to whom I today declare my unconditional reverence and obedience.”

The pledge, made ahead of the closed-doors conclave where cardinals will elect his successor, was significant because for the first time in his-

Pope Benedict tory, there will be a reigning pope and a former pope living side by side in the Vatican.

Some Church scholars worry that if the next pope undoes some of Benedict’s policies while his predecessor is still alive, Benedict could act as a lightning rod for conservatives and polarize the 1.2 billion-member Church.

Before boarding the helicopter, Pope Benedict said goodbye to monsignors, nuns, Vatican staff and Swiss guards in the San Damaso courtyard of the Holy See’s apostolic palace. Many of his staff had tears in their eyes as the helicopter left.

Benedict will spend the first few months of his retirement in the papal summer residence, a complex of villas boasting lush gardens, a farm and stunning views over Lake Albano in the volcanic crater below the town.

Benedict will stay until April when renovations are completed on a convent in the Vatican that will be his new home.

PAPAL PROBLEMS With the election of the next pope taking place in the wake of sexual abuse scandals, leaks of his private papers by his butler, falling membership and demands for a greater role for women, many in the Church believe it would benefit from a fresh face from a non-European country.

A number of cardinals from the developing world, including Ghanaian Peter Turkson and Antonio Tagle of the Philippines are two names often mentioned as leading candidates from the developing world who listen more.

“At the past two conclaves, the cardinals elected the smartest man in the room. Now, it may be time to choose a man who will listen to all the other smart people in the Church,” said Father Tom Resse, a historian and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown

University.

Benedict, wearing the white papal cassock and red cape he will shed after his resignation becomes official, urged the Church to strive to be “deeply united”.

A lover of classical music, he compared the Church hierarchy to an orchestra with many instruments which should always seek to be harmonious.

“In these past eight years we have lived, with faith, beautiful moments of radiant light in the path of the Church as well as moments when some clouds darkened the sky,” he said, adding that he had “tried to serve Christ and his Church with deep and total love”.

NEW POPE BEFORE EASTER Once the chair of St Peter is vacant, cardinals who have assembled from around the world will begin planning the conclave that will elect his successor.

One of the first questions facing these “princes of the Church” is when the 115 cardinal electors should enter the Sistine Chapel for the voting. They will hold a first meeting on Friday but a decision may not come until next week.

The Vatican seems to be aiming for an election by mid-March so the new pope can be installed in office before Palm Sunday on March 24 and lead the Holy Week services that culminate in Easter on the following Sunday.

In the meantime, the cardinals will hold daily consultations at the Vatican at which they discuss issues facing the Church, get to know each other better and size up potential leaders for the 2,000-year-old Church.

There are no official candidates, no open campaigning and no clear front runner for the job.

Cardinals tipped as favorites by Vatican-watchers include Turkson, Tagle, Brazil’s Odilo Scherer, Canadian Marc Ouellet, Italy’s Angelo Scola and Timothy Dolan of the United States.

Benedict, a bookish man who did not seek the papacy and did not enjoy being in the global spotlight, proved an energetic teacher of Catholic doctrine but a poor manager of the Curia, the Vatican bureaucracy that became mired in scandal.

He leaves his successor a top secret report on rivalries and scandals within the Curia, prompted by leaks of internal files last year that documented the problems hidden behind the Vatican’s thick walls and the Church’s traditional secrecy.

114-year-old woman enters Guinness Book of Records S

he was born in the midst of the Spanish-American War. The year she was born, China leased Hong Kong’s territories to the British.

Now, 114 years later, Japanese super centenarian Misa0 Okawa is still going strong.

Okawa officially became the oldest woman in the world today, joining fellow countryman, 115-year-old Jiroemon Kimura in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Presented with a plaque commemorating the new record, Okawa simply smiled and offered a few words.

“I’m very happy. It feels great,” she said, at a nursing home in Osaka, with her son Hiroshi, who is 90, by her side.

Born to a clothing merchant in 1898, Okawa married in 1919 and has three children, four grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. She has spent the last 16 years at a senior home where she’s enjoyed a healthy diet of sashimi and mack-

erel sushi, her favorite meal.

While Okawa is wheelchair bound, she still manages to push herself through the nursing home when healthy, according to caretakers.

She has reportedly never had a major illness in her life.

Already the world’s fastest aging country, Japan is home to more than 51,000 centenarians, by far the largest number. More than 87 percent of them are women, according to government figures.

At 115, Kimura currently holds the title as the world’s oldest living person, but he’ll have to share that title with Ookawa soon.

She turns 115 years old next week.

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usiness B AND

TSamsungOannounces Galaxy Note 8, ECHN

LOGY

aiming to dethrone the iPad Mini

B

ARCELONA, Spain — Samsung Electronics is beefing up its tablet range with a competitor to Apple’s iPad Mini that sports a pen for writing on the screen.

The Korean company announced on Sunday in Barcelona that the Galaxy Note 8.0 will have an 8-inch screen, putting it very close in size to the Apple’s tablet, which launched in November with a 7.9-inch screen.

It’s not the first time Samsung has made a tablet that’s in the Mini’s size range: it’s very first iPad competitor had a 7-inch screen, and it still makes a tablet of that size, but without a pen.

Samsung will start selling the new tablet in the April to June peri-

od, at an as yet undetermined price.

It made the announcement ahead of Mobile World Congress, the wireless industry’s annual trade show, which

US economy barely expands in fourth quarter T

he economy barely grew in the fourth quarter as the military slashed spending and companies restocked their shelves with less gusto, but growth already appears to be picking up.

The Commerce Department said on Thursday the economy expanded at a 0.1 percent annual rate in the last three months of 2012, scratching an earlier estimate that had showed a small decline.

The growth rate was the slowest since the first quarter of 2011 and fell short of the 0.5 percent economists had expected.

But consumer spending, while not stellar, was comparatively robust and economists see signs the factors that restrained growth late last year are already reversing in the first quarter. A month ago, the government had said the economy contracted at a 0.1 percent pace.

“The details of the report bode well for the beginning of this year,” said Harm Bandholz, an economist at UniCredit in New York.

Indeed, other reports on Thursday showed a drop in new claims for jobless benefits last week and a sharp rise in factory activity in the Midwest, adding to a string of recent data that suggests the economy improved early this year.

The GDP report showed consumer spending expanded at a 2.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. That suggests modest underlying momentum in the economy as it entered the first quarter, when a significant tightening of fiscal policy began.

Inventories subtracted 1.6 percentage points from the GDP growth rate during the fourth quarter, while defense spending plunged 22 percent, shaving 1.3 points off growth. Many economists expect both of those categories to add to growth in the first three months of the year.

The drag from inventories was actually greater late last year than initially estimated, suggesting an even sharper rebound is due in the first quarter.

starts Monday in Barcelona, Spain.

The Note 8.0 fills a gap in Samsung’s line-up of pen-equipped devices between the Galaxy Note II smart-

phone, with its 5.5-inch screen, and the Galaxy Note 10.1, a full-size tablet.

Samsung has made the pen, or more properly the stylus, one of the tools it uses to chip away at Apple’s dominance in both tablets and high-end smartphones. Apple doesn’t make any devices that work with styluses, preferring to optimize its interfaces for fingers, mice and touchpads.

On Samsung’s Note line, the pens can be used to write, highlight and draw. The screens also sense when the mouse hovers over the screen, providing an equivalent to the hovering mouse cursor on the PC. However, few third-party applications have been modified to take full advantage of the pens.

JP Morgan to Cut $1 Billion in Costs, 4,000 Jobs J

.P. Morgan Chase JPM -0.90%& Co. said Tuesday that its headcount will drop by 4,000 this year as it pares back the consumer bank that accounts for the majority of the bank’s 259,000 or so employees while hiring in asset management and commercial banking.

The company will cut as many as 19,000 jobs in the consumer businesses, principally in a unit that deals with home loans, while hiring about 15,000 across its businesses in the U.S. and overseas. J.P. Morgan had already said that the bank would cut up to 15,000 in the mortgage business.

The 4,000 net reduction in jobs in the consumer business this year will be achieved through attrition, executives said during the bank’s annual investor day.

The cuts are the latest attempt by the New York company to boost returns and curb expenses at a time of soft economic growth and tougher regulations. J.P. Morgan posted record net income in 2012 of $21.3 billion, but revenue was flat at $99.9 billion. The bank also said it intends to cut expenses by $1 billion this year.

Chairman and Chief Executive James Dimon said the bank, the nation’s largest by assets, is “a battle ship,” with strong liquidity and capital.

Still, J.P. Morgan isn’t immune to the struggle that impacts most U.S. banks, particularly the effect of low interest rates on profits from lending and investing.

Net interest income is expected to re-

main flat this year, Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said, adding that she expects strong loan demand from businesses and modest demand from consumers this year.

Last year, J.P. Morgan increased loans by 10%, excluding loans that were paid back or charged off, particularly mortgages.

With costs declining and fewer losses from delinquent mortgages, she said J.P. Morgan could generate about $28 billion of excess capital in 2014.

Kevin Watters, the head of the bank’s mortgage operations, said his business has a staff of about 45,000, and reductions are planned mostly among employees dealing with defaults, which have come down, and also among employees related to mortgage production as volume declines.

Mortgages remain “a core product” for J.P. Morgan, Mr. Watters said, and the bank is planning to grow its market share, which currently stands at 10%. Foreclosures are down about 20% since the fourth quarter of 2011, even in states where banks need court approval, he said. Reserves for losses from delinquent loans are expected to continue to drop, but so are profits from mortgage banking, he said.

J.P. Morgan expects revenue from originating mortgages to decline to $1.5 billion, from $3.6 billion in 2012. He didn’t specify when mortgage banking would drop to those levels. Eventually mortgage banking income is expected to be $2.1 billion, down from $3.3 billion in 2012, Mr. Watters said.

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Walmart says price cuts helped shoppers save billions on produce W

almart shoppers have saved $2.3 billion by buying produce at its stores in the first two years of its push to sell more healthful fare and more of it, the largest U.S. grocer said on Thursday.

Walmart U.S., the largest division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc also said it has exceeded its goal of reducing the amount of sugar in some products.

Walmart said in January 2011 that it wanted to improve the nutritional value of the food it sells, make healthier fare less expensive and make it easier for Americans to access such goods.

Walmart’s customers are struggling to put healthful food on the table, especially with higher gasoline prices and payroll taxes.

“They’ve repeatedly told us that while they

want to feed their families healthier food, they don’t always know how to do that and they worry that it is simply too expensive,” said Leslie Dach, Walmart’s executive vice president of corporate affairs.

Grocers, restaurants and food makers are under pressure from consumers and public health officials to sell more healthful food in an effort to address the nation’s obesity crisis. More than twothirds of U.S. adults and nearly one-third of youth aged 2 to 19 are overweight or obese.

Food is a huge business for the world’s largest retailer, which has been lowering prices, along with its healthier makeover, to boost sales. Groceries, including goods such as paper towels, account for roughly 55 percent of Walmart’s sales.

Best Buy cutting 400 jobs to save $150 million S

truggling electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. said Tuesday that it is cutting 400 employees at its Richfield, Minn., headquarters in an effort to save $150 million.

Most of the savings won’t come from salaries, according to a company statement, and for now, the so-called Blue Shirt sales associates are protected from the ax. No store closures are planned ... yet.

Why all the caveats? Tuesday’s reductions -Best Buy’s way of “enhancing the focus on the company’s core business, removing management layers and eliminating operational inefficiencies” -- is just the first phase of several.

In what the company is calling its “Renew Blue” transformation, which Chief Executive Hubert Joly discussed in November, Best Buy ultimately plans to shave about $725 million in costs.

Additional reductions are to come during the year, according to the statement from the compa-

ny, which is reporting its fourth-quarter earnings later this week.

Joly joined the company in August -- Best Buy’s third chief executive in six months. He succeeded G. Mike Mikan, a board member who served as the interim head honcho after his predecessor, Brian Dunn, stepped down following an inappropriate relationship with a female employee.

Founder and former chairman Richard Schulze also left his post, but has since indicated that he hopes to buy out the company. He has until the end of the week to make an offer.

With more online retailers -- Amazon chief among them -- offering bargains on electronics, Best Buy has fought to hang on to its clientele. Earlier this month, the company said it will offer a low-price guarantee in stores and online starting March 3, matching nearly all prices from local rivals and 19 major online competitors.

RBS moves closer to UK government stake sale R

oyal Bank of Scotland has reported its strongest underlying profit since the financial crisis, potentially paving the way for Britain to sell its 82 percent stake if some big hurdles are overcome.

The bank had to be rescued in a 45.5 billion pound ($68.9 billion) state bailout during 2008 but the government has begun looking at ways to sell off its holding as RBS starts to return to financial health.

“The light at the end of the tunnel is coming closer,” Chief Executive Stephen Hester said on Thursday. “Our job is to deliver a company that is doing its job well and that other investors will want to invest in.”

RBS made an operating profit of 3.5 billion pounds ($5.2 billion) last year, up from 1.8 billion the year before and the highest since its 2008 bailout.

The bank paid out 607 million pounds in bonuses for 2012, down 23 percent from 2011.

RBS has cut about 302 million pounds from bonuses, clawed back from past awards or to be cut from future payments to account for behavior related to the rigging of interest rates, for

which the bank was fined $612 million.

Chairman Philip Hampton said the bank was “much closer now to being in the good financial health that would allow shareholders to receive a dividend and the government to start to sell its stake”.

Britain is considering a range of options for privatizing the bank including giving shares away or selling shares to the public at a discount.

In the meantime, RBS will further reduce the scale and scope of its investment banking business. The bank plans to cut its risk-weighted assets by 20 percent to 80 billion pounds from 101 billion at the end of 2012.

RBS and other big British banks are under pressure from the government to lend more to households and small businesses to help to revive the country’s weak economy.

Finance Minister George Osborne welcomed RBS’s plans to shrink its investment bank further.

“I want to see RBS as a British-based bank, focused on serving British businesses and consumers, with a smaller international investment bank to support that activity rather than to rival it,” he said.

Walmart said its shoppers saved $1.2 billion on fresh fruits and vegetables in 2012 and $1.1 billion in 2011, based on third-party verified pricing comparisons between its stores and those of unidentified rivals. Efforts such as buying more local produce and cutting supply chain costs have helped it keep a lid on prices.

In 2011, Walmart and other chains publicly committed to opening stores in designated rural and urban “food deserts” where access to groceries is limited. In Walmart’s case, some of those urban areas include markets where it has faced resistance to its large stores.

Walmart has opened 86 such food stores since 2011 and aims to open a total of 275 to 300 by the end of 2016.

JC Penney CEO Johnson seen having six months to fix troubles J

.C. Penney Chief Executive Ron Johnson has said his plan to reinvent the 102-year old retailer will take years to carry out. But after Penney’s latest sales debacle, he may have only six more months to get the job done.

The once-vaunted CEO, the man who built up Apple Inc’s retail chain, conceded on Wednesday he made major mistakes in the first year of the turnaround, above all getting rid of the sales and coupons that Penney shoppers want.

In the first year of his plan, Penney’s sales fell almost 25 percent and the company posted huge losses, including Wednesday’s announcement of a dismal holiday season.

Penney shares ended down 17 percent at $17.57 on Thursday on fears Johnson won’t be able to stanch the bleeding anytime soon.

Analysts predicted he will have until after the “back-to-school” season in August, the second most important time of year for Penney, to prove his ideas. Otherwise the board, investors and even vendors could press for change before Christmas.

“That’s when the rubber hits the road,” said Dan Hess, chief executive of Merchant Forecast, which provides retail financial research. “It’d be the last chance to make a change that would have a meaningful impact on the holiday period.”

It would also give stakeholders a chance to see whether the return of regular sales events and coupons brings back shoppers, and whether the new home goods boutiques Penney is rolling this spring are finding favor.

Johnson’s plan has been to turn Penney’s stores into collections of dozens of trendy, branded boutiques; Levi’s, Izod and Liz Claiborne have been among the first batch and shown strong initial results. Next month, Canada’s hip, colorful Joe Fresh fashion brand will open its boutiques as well.

William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund is Penney’s top shareholder, has repeatedly offered support for Johnson and said the turnaround will take years.

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Sports LOCAL

American coach praises Rising Stars Basketball Club

L

ast week Alex Harris of Evolution Basketball Club in the United States came down to the Turks and Caicos on an invite from President of the Rising Stars Basket Ball Club and coach of the Wesley Methodist School Mervin Forbes. Harris was excited at what he saw, and on his return to the US, penned a lengthy but favourable piece on Forbes and the state of basketball in the TCI. The following is his account.

I got the opportunity to work with some players in the Turks & Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. Besides being one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, the thrill of getting to work with players from another country who don’t get the same basketball opportunities as we do in the States made for a trip of a lifetime.

Mervin Forbes, the coach of Wesley Methodist High School in Providenciales, TCI invited me to help him with both a practice and a game. Since there are only two indoor courts on the whole island, gym space isn’t exactly easy to come by… and we thought gym space was tough to get in the DC area.

Going into practice, I had no clue what to expect. Were the kids going to think I was just some random American white guy and not listen to a word I was going to say??? They had never heard of Alex Harris or Evolution Basketball, they didn’t know who I was, where I played HS

Mervin Forbes was praised by Evolution’s Alex Harris or College ball, or anything about me.

To my surprise, this was one of the best groups of kids I had ever coached. They were sponges, listened to every word I said, looked me

in the eye when I talked, and they gave great effort through everything I taught them.

The next day at the game I got a chance to see what basketball was really like on the island.

I got to help coach Wesley Methodist’s game against Clement Howell High School as well as see the next game. The kids are fantastic athletes playing a game that they just don’t know much about. Coach Mervin does a great job with the kids.

Unfortunately we lost the game to Clement Howell. We had too many turnovers against the press in the last few minutes.

After the game I got to meet and chat with the Premier of Turks & Caicos, Dr. Rufus Ewing. For those that don’t know, that’s like saying Obama.

I thought I was meeting their “President”, but I only saw one unarmed body guard get out of the black SUV with him. When I asked Mervin about that later, his answer was simple common sense, “We all voted for him, so why would we want to kill him”. God bless a simple way of life.

Fortunately, Coach Mervin has already invited me back down to TCI again this summer. I truly can’t wait to get to work with these kids again. The opportunity to go to a country where basketball is still very young and help to develop the game from the ground up is too good to be true.

AFC Strikers take championship in style A

FC Strikers defeated their sister AFC Hurricanes a goal to nil to end the Women’s Football League season undefeated.

Having already won the WFL two weeks ago, AFC Strikers were eager to ensure that they finished the league season undefeated last weekend when they faced the Hurricanes.

Although both teams were assured of the respective league positions (first and third) neither team were willing to give anything away in the final game of the WFL season. With a cup competition looming ahead both sides used this encounter to prepare for a potential showdown in weeks to come.

AFC Strikers started brightly and came close to scoring on a few occasions although but with several key players missing they lacked their usual composure in front of goal. Yarileny De La Cruz appeared to have given her team the lead as she followed up on Guerline’s shot but the goal was ruled out for an

Yarileny De La Cruz offside infringement. As the first half drew to a close Hurricanes had

started to exert themselves more and came close to taking the lead themselves.

The second half was an even affair as the Hurricanes pressured the Strikers players into making some uncharacteristic mistakes. Sarah Cenary had two good chances to give her team the lead but Strikers goal keeper Chrystal Stirling pulled off some fine saves to keep her team level. The game appeared to heading for a stalemate as Gaya Smith, Ketani Marajah and Vanessa Joseph were defending the Hurricanes goal with great courage and determination however Yarileny De La Cruz reacted quickly to a defensive error and gave the Strikers the

win with a fierce shot into the roof of the net.

Hurricanes coach Ian Hurdle was pleased with his team’s effort and felt they deserved something out of the game. ”The girls did well against the league champions and it was a cruel way to lose the game in the dying minutes. However, they can all be pleased with their efforts and they will certainly be a match for anyone in the cup competition”.

Strikers coach James Rene was pleased that his team got the win and remained undefeated but noted that improvements will need to be made moving forward. “It is difficult to criticize a team after they have just won but they know deep down that they did not play their finest game today. A few players were below par but I am sure they will be more determined to prove how good they really are when they play in the cup competition. They are still a very young team but they are learning all the time which is pleasing”.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

LOCAL SPORTS

Cartwright-Robinson commends Delano, Angelo on track exploits

BY VIVIAN TYSON

O

pposition Leader Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson has heaped praises on the Turks & Caicos Islands sensational sprint promise Delano Williams and upcoming athlete Angelo Garland, on their performances on the track in Jamaica in the past week and a half.

Competing for Munro College, Williams captured both the 100m and 200m at the Milo Western Relays in Montego Bay, Jamaica on Friday, February 15 and 16. He then anchored the Munro College 4x400m team to victory at the prestigious Gibson Relays in Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday, February 23. He did so with the help of Garland, who ran one of the earlier legs in the

mile relay.

Cartwright-Robinson offered the public congratulations while addressing the media during a news conference on Wednesday, February 27, at the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) headquarters on Providenciales.

“I wish to say congratulations to Delano Williams and Angelo Garland on their recent accomplishment in sports activities in Jamaica.

Our young athletes continue to make us proud, and we remain committed to create opportunities studies overseas based on athletics,” she said.

She then urged the country to scaffold their support for the Carifta Team that will be head to the Bahamas between March 29 and April 1.

“As Team Carifta gets ready to represent us in the Bahamas, let us support our youth by travelling as part of the delegation and or contributing financially to the team,” she urged.

In the meantime, Cartwright-Robinson crowed about her party’s perennial support for the development of sports in the Turks & Caicos Islands, adding that they remained cognizant of the various lessons in discipline that sports can deliver to those who take up such discipline.

“Sports is an excellent teacher of valuable lessons, and we, as a party are committed to sports development, as our record has shown through the opportunity provided for our youths to compete overseas and the establishments of sports organizations,” she boasted.

Cobras, Stallions, Steelers, Predators, Harbour Boys win in Provo Basketball League C

obras defeated Police 73 to 60 in game one of the matches played in the Provo Amateur Basketball Association on February 22, at the Gustarvus Lightbourne Complex.

Cobras’ Geno Agenor shot 19 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, 6 assist and 3 steals. He was supported by D. Quant, who shot 15 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.

Police’s Denzel Smith shot a game high 23 points and 3 rebounds, while S. Jermain buried 18 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assist.

In game two, Grand Turk Stallions defeated. Flyers 73 to 69. Stallions’ Ira Taylor shot 20 points, 18 rebounds, 2 assist and 3 steals. He was supported by T. Lightbourne, who ended with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assist and 2 steals.

Flyers’ Darado Fulford shot 22 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals.

He was supported by A. Cash, S. Brass and S. Williams, who ended with 10 points each.

In game three, Steelers mauled Customs 99 to 56. Steelers’ Cameron Henry was the main destroyer with 28 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assist and 3 steals. He got valuable support from A. John, who shot 15 points, 1 rebound, 2 assist and 2 steals.

Customs’ Mervin Forbes ended with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 blocks. He received support from J. Swann, who ended with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assist.

The competition, which continued on the 23rd of February, saw G.T Stallions defeating North Caicos

Spartans 71 to 52 in game one. Stallions’ Damon Seymour was the top scorer for his team with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assist and 2 steals. He was supported by K. Williams, who shot 13 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, 1 assist and made 2 steals.

Spartans’ E. Williams came out the top player for his team with 14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assist and 4 steals. He received support from R. Palmer, who shot 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.

In game two, Predators prevailed over Top Shottas 67 to 60.

Predators’ Michael Taylor ended with most points for his team with 15, also grabbing 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals. R. Martinez ably supported with 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assist and 1 steal.

Delano strikes again!!!

Sprint Ace anchors Munro College to victory in dazzling style T

rack and field fans in Jamaica and those in cyber space are still talking about the scintillating Saturday, February 23 run by TCI sprint prodigy Delano Williams, who anchored his Munro College 4X400 team to victory, to steal the spotlight from other events, including that of Olympic Silver Medalist and world 100m champion Yohan Blake.

The event was the 37th annual Gibson Relays that was held at Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston. Jamaica’s sports broadcasters, even up to this week were still

talking about the dazzling run the

by Williams, who got received the baton in a losing position. “ …It was, however, a gallant sub45.00 seconds anchor leg run from Munro College’s Delano Williams to take his team from some 45 metres behind defending champions Manchester High in the final event of the day — the 4X400-metre final — that many will be talking about long after the meet,” the Jamaica Observer said.

Williams, who will be defending his Class One 200m pet event at Jamaica’s National High School

Track and Field Championships dubbed “Champs” next weekend, was reported to have got the packed grandstand to its feet when he caught the Manchester High anchor-leg runner at about the 200-m mark and powered past him to the line.

Another Turks and Caicos Islander, Angelo Garland, a 800 and 1,500m runner, who, with Herbert Thomas and Kaneil Harrison had run the first three legs and put Williams in a position to launch his epic chase, clocking 3:11.45 to Manchester’s 3:2.34, with Wolmer’s Boys

Shottas’ Evans Donatien scored a game high 19 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals. He got strong support from C. Dean, who ended the game with 14 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assist and 2 steals.

In game three, South Caicos Harbour Boys won over the Knights by a 65 to 49 margin. Habour’s Kirk Adams, ended with most points - 15 – for his team, while grabbing 5 rebounds and 4 steals. A. Parker, with 9 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal, gave good support.

Knights’ D. Weydens had a good game, ending with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 blocks and 1 steal.

He got strong support from P. Sylvin, who ended the game with 19 points, 1 rebound, 2 assist, 1 block and 3 steals. third in 3:15.82.

Prior to that event, Williams was coming off a double victory – 100m and 200m at the Milo Western Relays held in Montego Bay. With his brilliant run, no doubt Williams will be one of the crowd pullers for the national high school championships.

In the latter part of March, Turks & Caicos Islands will get the opportunity to cheer for him, when he will suits up for the Carifta Track and Field Championships in the Bahamas. Williams is the defending champion of the Boys Under 200m.

Last year, Williams, who was declared eligible to run for Great Britain, lost out on a place on that county’s summer Olympic team, held in London. The sixth form student is being coached by his former Helena J. Robinson High School coach Neil Harrison, who is now the track and field coach at Munro College.

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Sports CARIBBEAN

Bolt paid $300,000 to run 200 meters in Paris Diamond League meeting

P

ARIS - Six-times Olympic champion Usain Bolt will race over 200 meters at the Paris Golden League meeting on July 6 as part of his buildup for the Moscow world athletics championships in the following month.

The Jamaican world-record holder will compete against France’s European 100 meters champion Christophe Lemaitre in the final race of the evening. Lemaitre finished third in the 2011 Daegu world championships 200 meters which was won by Bolt.

Bolt, 26, who became the only man to win the 100-200 meters double at successive Olympics during last year’s London Games, will compete in a 150 meters race on Brazil’s Copacabana beach on March 31.

Usain Bolt His only other confirmed race this year is over 200 meters at Oslo’s Bislett Games on June 13.

“With Bolt, we know that we will easily fill the Stade de France,” said the head of the meet-

ing, Laurent Boquillet, adding that organisers had shelled out $300,000 (229,000 euros) to bring the Jamaican track king to the French capital on July 6.

Bolt, 26, won 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay gold at last year’s Olympics in London, repeating the feat that he first achieved in Beijing four years earlier, and cementing his reputation as the greatest sprinter of all time.

Boquillet said the fee was standard for a runner of Bolt’s calibre, pointing out that before his Olympic triple feat last year, he was available for $250,000 per meeting.

The Paris Diamond league meeting is the ninth on the main athletics circuit.

The worlds in Moscow take place from Aug. 10 to 18.

Desmond Haynes wants cricket administrators to step up S

t. John’s Antigua - Barbadian cricketing great and former West Indies batsman, Desmond Haynes, believes that administrators of the game within the Caribbean are at a loss as to what it will take for the standard of play to improve.

Former West Indies opener Desmond Haynes

The opening batsman believes there is a need for more programmes geared towards development and that some regional administrators are just on a joy ride.

“In the Caribbean we need to make sure that the administrators of cricket understand the importance of cricket and we have got a lot of administrators who tend to think that they are just going to stay away from the whole development of the sport and just want to make sure that it’s perceived to be a boys’ club; but the only way West Indies cricket is going to get strong again is when we get the administrators really putting in big efforts in making sure that cricket is being developed in the various territories,” Haynes said.

Haynes, who was a Wisden Cricketer of the

Year in 1991, called on regional governments to put pressure on administrators who are not producing as head of their various territories.

“I would also like to think that the governments could also put a bit of pressure on these administrators to make sure that they understand the whole tourism effect. All of our islands depend on tourism and so it is very important for our cricket to be strong because it helps our tourism. So to the administrators, for God’s sake, get it right and try to do what is right for our cricket,” the former batting star said.

The cricketer turned coach also paid tribute to those former Antiguan cricketers who contributed to both the success and development of West Indies cricket while complimenting recently elected head of Antigua & Barbuda Cricket Association, Zorol Barthley.

“I think he is going about it the right way in embracing a lot of the ex-players in order to get Antigua cricket back on track and hopefully in extension get Leeward Islands cricket back to where it belongs. People talk about when Barbados cricket is strong that West Indies is strong; but they also must remember that when the Leeward Islands cricket is strong, the West Indies is strong as well,” he said.

“You guys have produced some fantastic cricketers in the past and I hope that you can do something very quickly to turn around Leeward Islands cricket because if you are looking at a team, it is only as strong as its weakest link and we don’t want to know that Leeward Islands cricket is in such shambles. We really want to see it get better,” Haynes added.

Haynes formed a formidable partnership with Gordon Greenidge for the West Indies cricket team in Test cricket during 1980s.

West Indies complete series sweep in style S

T GEORGE’S, Grenada – Stylish lefthander Darren Bravo fashioned his second half-century of the tour as West Indies fought off lethargy to beat Zimbabwe by five wickets and sweep the three-match one-day series here Tuesday.

Chasing a an insufficient 212 for victory at the National Stadium, West Indies stuttered to 121 for four in the 32nd over before steadying themselves to reach their target with 22 balls to spare.

Bravo took them home with an unbeaten 72, with in-form opener Kieran Powell striking 42 and captain Dwayne Bravo hitting 25.

Debutant 22-year-old leg-spinner Tinotenda Mutombodzi impressed with two for 35 from his ten overs.

He along with Natsai Mushangwe, whose ten overs of leg-spin yielded just 31 runs, tested West Indies and dried up the scoring until Bravo took control in a series of small partnerships to negate any idea of a Zimbabwe victory.

Earlier, West Indies used an accurate blend of seam and spin to strangle the African side and to limit them to 211 for nine from their 50 overs, after they won the toss and chose to bat.

Chamu Chibhabha struck a defiant 48 off 62 deliveries to shepherd the innings while the classy Vusi Sibanda scored 41 and captain Brendan Taylor, 39.

The architect of Zimbabwe’s demise was left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul who undermined the middle order to finish with three for 40.

Fast bowlers Tino Best (2-38) and Dwayne Bravo (2-58) picked up two wickets apiece while speedster Kemar Roach sent down a miserly spell of seven overs for 15 runs.

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TURKS & CAICOS SUN

Sports W

RLD

Rodman tells North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un he has ‘friend for life’

S

EOUL, South Korea -- Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman hung out Thursday with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on the third day of his improbable journey to Pyongyang, watching the Harlem Globetrotters with the leader and later dining and drinking with him at his palace. ‘’You have a friend for life,’’ Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the U.S. play on mixed teams, Alex Detrick, a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company, told The Associated Press.

Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the professional Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, VICE correspondent Ryan Duffy and a production crew to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series.

The unlikely encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet Kim since the young North Korean leader took power in December 2011, and takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Pyongyang.

North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test just two weeks ago, making clear the provocative act

Dennis Rodman and Norgth Korean leader Kim Jong-un was a warning to the United States to drop what it considers a ‘’hostile’’ policy toward the North.

Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Chicago Bulls star he hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North Korea, VICE founder Shane Smith said.

Dressed in a blue Mao suit, Kim laughed and slapped his hands on the table before him during the game as he sat nearly knee to knee with Rodman. Rodman, the man

who once turned up in a wedding dress to promote his autobiography, wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses, but still had on his nose rings and other piercings. A can of Coca-Cola sat on the table before him in photos shared with AP by VICE. The two chatted in English, but Kim primarily spoke in Korean through a translator, Smith said after speaking to the VICE crew in Pyongyang. ‘’They bonded during the game,’’

Smith said by telephone from New York after speaking to the crew. ‘’They were both enjoying the crazy shots, and the Harlem Globetrotters were putting on quite a show.’’

The surprise visit by the flamboyant Hall of Famer known as ‘’The Worm’’ makes him an unlikely ambassador at a time when North Koreans are girding for battle with the U.S. Just last week, Kim guided frontline troops in military exercises.

North Korea and the U.S. fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The foes never signed a peace treaty, and do not have diplomatic relations.

Thursday’s game ended in a 110-110 draw, with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans, Detrick said. The Xinhua News Agency first reported on the game, citing witnesses who attended.

After the game, Rodman addressed Kim in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands of North Koreans, telling him, ‘’You have a friend for life,’’ Detrick said.

At a lavish dinner at Kim’s palace, the leader plied the group with food and drinks as the group made round after round of toasts, members of the delegation said.

Tiger keeps position on anchor ban P

ALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Tiger Woods reiterated his position on the anchored putting debate Wednesday, saying that he doesn’t believe the practice should be allowed. “My position hasn’t changed,” Woods said after his proam round at the Honda Classic, where he begins the first round at 7:25 a.m. on Thursday. “I still think that it should be swung, it shouldn’t be anchored, and that hasn’t changed at all. But obviously nothing is set in stone, nothing’s firm.

“The USGA (United States Golf Association) and R&A (Royal & Ancient) are the governing bodies of our rules, and we’ll see what happens.

Hopefully we don’t have to bifurcate (have separate rules for pros and amateurs) or adapt a local rule like we do sometimes out here on tour (but all are within the Rules of Golf). Hopefully we won’t have to do that with the putter.”

The USGA and R&A announced their proposed change, in which using an anchored stroke would no longer be allowed, to the Rules of Golf on Nov. 28. The rule would not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2016. They allowed for a three-month comment period, which ends Thursday, with a decision expected sometime in the spring.

On Sunday, PGA Tour commissioner Tim

Finchem came out against the ban -- although less than 20 percent of his players use an anchored stroke -- and said the PGA Tour’s policy board had sent a letter to the governing bodies stating its desire to have the anchoring ban dropped.

“I understand that; I get it,” Woods said. “The guys that play our tour, all three of them who have won major championships with an anchored putter … play our tour full time. I understand his position. But I still feel that all 14 clubs should be swung. That hasn’t changed at all.”

Woods was referring to Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Ernie Els, who have won three of the past five major championships using an anchored stroke. Bradley on Tuesday expressed frustration over the issue and how anchored putting is being referred to as cheating.

Woods will be making his fourth official start of the year, having missed the cut at his first event in Abu Dhabi, followed by his 75th PGA Tour victory at the Farmers Insurance Open. Last week he lost to Charles Howell III in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

“Generally, if you’re missing a cut, you’re probably not playing that well,” he said. “But I actual-

Tiger woods ly played well, and only played one day. I missed a few putts out there, but other than that, I really played well and unfortunately I ran into a guy who also played well, better than I did. That’s just the nature of the business in that format.”

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WORLD SPORTS

English cricket to step up drug testing E

nglish cricket bosses are planning to step up testing for recreational drugs following the death of Tom Maynard.

According to post-mortem examination evidence presented at an inquest, the Surrey batsman was high on cocaine and ecstasy when he was electrocuted before being hit by a train last June.

Speaking after a jury at Westminster Coroner’s Court returned a verdict of accidental death, coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox urged cricket and other sports to introduce hair testing to determine long-term drug habits.

The inquest heard that tests on hair samples indicated Maynard may have been a regular drug user up to three-and-a-half months before his death.

Professional Cricketers’ Association chief Angus Porter, who believes cricket does not have a drug problem, told BBC Sport: “More testing will improve our chances of helping players with a problem which is as much societal as it is sporting.”

On average, up to 200 tests are carried out each year as part of the England & Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) testing programme, which encompasses all registered professional county cricketers.

These almost always take place on match days and are only likely to detect the use of performance-enhancing substances.

Last season, one player - Somerset’s Pakistan spinner Abdur Rehman - tested positive for cannabis during an in-competition test and was handed a 12-week ban.

England international players are also tested as part of the International Cricket Council’s an-

English cricketer Tom Maynard ti-doping programme.

“While the ECB accepts that recreational drug use is a part of modern society, we do not condone it and will take all reasonable steps to prevent its use within the game” The ECB and PCA have recently agreed to develop an out-of-competition testing programme to encompass recreational drugs.

Both bodies are holding talks aimed at introducing more testing of hair samples, which can reveal whether players have used recreational drugs in the previous three months.

This would follow the example of the Football Association and Rugby Football Union, which have both introduced measures that go beyond the stipulations of the Wada (World Anti-Doping Agency) code by testing for recreational drugs away from match days.

Any player found to have taken a recreational drug would be offered counselling and support in the first instance, with suspensions only applied to repeat offenders, Porter explained.

“We have a comprehensive programme of

testing, in and out of competition for performance-enhancing drugs - very much in line with the Wada code - and also testing for recreational drugs,” he added.

“What we are now in discussions with the ECB on is whether we need to extend the testing for recreational drugs to out of competition and I think we both think that is a good idea.

“We are working on plans for that and investigating the practicality, following sports such as rugby and football which have done similar things.

“We all think that the use of recreational drugs out of competition needs to be thought of very differently from performance-enhancing.

“The purpose of the taker is very different.

They are not cheating and need to be thought of differently and it is too easy for people to confuse this.”

Cardiff-born Maynard, son of former Glamorgan and England batsman Matthew Maynard, moved counties from his native Glamorgan to Surrey in 2011.

The 23-year-old was found dead near Wimbledon Park station shortly after 05:00 BST on 18 June 2012.

The inquest heard on Tuesday that Maynard, who had been tipped as a future England international, was electrocuted on a railway line before being struck by a train, as he tried to evade police after driving while drunk and high on drugs.

A post-mortem examination showed he was nearly four times the legal alcohol limit to drive and had also taken cocaine and ecstasy in the form of MDMA after a night out with his two flatmates in Wandsworth, south London.

Lawyer for injured Daytona Speedway fans sees settlement S

ome of the NASCAR fans hurt by flying debris from a 10-car crash at the Daytona International Speedway have retained a lawyer, who said on Wednesday he expects their claims to be settled out of court.

Based on NASCAR history, Matt Morgan of the Orlando personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan, said “a lot of times they resolve these claims without having to go through litigation.

So hopefully we can come to an amicable resolution on the value of these claims and move on.”

Morgan represents three of the several dozen people injured on Saturday after a wreck on the last lap of the Nationwide Series race sent a tire and debris over and through a safety fence intended to protect fans in the stands.

More than 30 spectators were injured, including at least 19 who required hospital treatment.

NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said that, while the racing group does not

discuss pending or potential litigation, “we’ll likely provide an update on our next steps at our next race, which is this weekend in Phoenix.”

The Nationwide race

took place the day before Sunday’s prestigious Daytona 500. Rookie driver Kyle Larson’s car went airborne and sailed into the fence in the frightening crash, although he was able to climb

out of the wreckage afterward.

Crews worked through the night to repair the fence so the Daytona 500 race could go on as planned. The speedway is owned by In-

ternational Speedway Corporation Morgan said one of his clients suffered a fractured leg and another an abdominal injury.

He said he was unsure at this time what entity he would sue. A waiver on the back of the race tickets says that fans assume all risks, a disclaimer Morgan said was typical for sporting events and active locales such as ski resorts.

“Arguments can go both ways,” as to whether the waiver absolves the company of all liability, Morgan said.

He said he had not yet determined whether courts had ruled on that issue.

“I don’t believe, in my limited research, that NASCAR has many - if any - pending lawsuits against them right now,” Morgan said.

He said he will focus attention on engineering studies on the safety fence at the Talladega Superspeedway after flying debris injured fans after a similar crash in 2009.

Page 46

MARCH 2ND - MARCH 9TH, 2013

TURKS & CAICOS SUN

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MARCH 2ND - MARCH 9TH, 2013

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