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TCI: Airport firefighters draw public support during strike, labelled as ‘one of the finest’ by Provo Air Center

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#Providenciales, August 10, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – Memes, social media commentary, voice notes and at least one private sector partner lent support to the disgruntled fire fighters of the Providenciales International Airport, PLS in their stance for better work conditions.

“Thank God, I haven’t had to see the fire fighters in major action yet but I’ve seen them operate and react to a lot of minor incidents.  We have one of the finest in the Caribbean.  These guys and women are an elite fire fighting force and I think that we need to recognize them and we need to treat them as such.  So, I feel for them, I understand what their complaints are and I hope that we are all going to be speaking to our representatives and encouraging the Airports Authority to do their best with them,” said Deborah Aharon, CEO of Provo Air Center during an interview with Magnetic Media on Friday.

Twenty of the 25 fire crew walked off the job on Thursday, citing their frustration at requests for improvements and fairness on the job as reaching a breaking point with the Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority, TCIAA. 

Aharon, who has been in the airline business for over 20-years explained, “We rely on them, as we learned today, if they’re not working, nobody is moving.  To me they are heroes just for showing up every day.”

The fire fighters claimed, “employment abuse” by the TCIAA and their strike left the airport with insufficient fire fighters and crippled operations at the country’s busiest airport.  Flights on Friday were delayed and some cancelled as a result of manpower shortage. The incident almost forced cancellations at the Fixed Base Operators, FBOs or private airports. 

“In the beginning, it was a little bit scary because everybody had to stop;  interCaribbean, United, Delta and I think they had to make special arrangements to get American off on-time today, which was a blessings, they came up with work-arounds and some of the fire fighters started coming in to help.  For the FBO, the problem is that most of the one percent visitors are coming in on large private jets, they are coming in on Challengers, Gulf Streams and those are fire-fighting category six.  So, for most of the day we were operating at category five, so that meant that some of our customers could not come in today or could not take off.  Luckily the Airports Authority worked it out, just before I had to start notifying customers.” 

The 23 men and two women which make up the fire crew at their airport told Magnetic Media that they were treated unfairly by the Airports Authority.  Overtime pay was unpaid and sometimes their hours were adversely manipulated, the fire station where the crew could spend up to 16-hours on shift, was run down according to the spokesperson for the group.

Speaking to us at her office at Provo Air Center, which is located on Aviation Drive, Aharon said:  “I don’t know much about it (the complaints) but I would certainly hope that the Airports Authority is going to put every effort into making sure that they have the comfortable working environment that they need.”

The fire fighters on Friday afternoon managed to secure a meeting with the Premier, the Governor and the Deputy Chairman of the TCIAA board; it led to an amicable end to the stalemate and a return to work with the crew feeling optimistic about concerns finally being addressed. 

For Provo Air Center, which handles the lion share of private flights to Providenciales, this was great news.

“I really hesitated to notify customers, because we don’t want this to get out into the world.  So, I think we dodged a major bullet today.  I hope that they’re going to keep the dialogue going and they’re going to reach a good agreement in order for us not to have to face this again.”

Both Provo Air Center and Blue Heron Aviation share a site with the Providenciales International Airport.  The fire fighters stationed at PLS are trained, equipped and mandated by international regulations to be on emergency stand-by in the event planes landing at either of the three facilities, experience trouble.

#magneticmedianews

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TCI Court

Still locked up, Confessed School Burglar awaits Sentencing

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Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

Appearing before Acting Resident Magistrate Ms. Patricia Arana, from the Grand Turk Magistrate Court via video link on Monday March 25th, 2024 was a second North Caicos defendant.

DEVANO HANDFIELD, 25 admitted that he burglarized more than one classroom of the Raymond Gardiner High School (RGHS) in Bottle Creek, North Caicos.  The charge read that on 13th/14th March 2024 he was armed with a knife and used that knife to gain entry in the school classrooms and stole a number of laptops and other items from the school.

The accused was in a very loud argumentative mood, and when first addressed by the learned acting Resident Magistrate, he shouted, ” Who’s the judge? Because I need to know who I’m talking to!” 

The accused added, “I see all kinds of people on the screen, I don’t know who’s the judge.”

At the time, there were indeed, at least six people appearing on screen, all at once during the video link ; they were awaiting their matters to be called. 

It was difficult to distinguish who was speaking.

Once the accused was satisfied about who was the Magistrate in his matter, it proceeded and her Hon Arana asked the Crown to read the facts of the case since the accused had pleaded guilty. 

She then asked the obviously agitated accused Devano Handfield, “Do you agree with the Crown’s fact? He replied, “I ain’t agreeing to nothing. I just want this case over with. He then changed his position, and sucking his teeth said, “Man, yes, I agree with everything she said.”

He told the Resident Magistrate that he is on drugs, naming crack cocaine and other drugs, “but yes I broke the school open.” 

The Hon. RM then attempted to adjourn the case but Handfield butted in, demanding that the matter be settled no.

“No, no, no I wa get this over with today” “I ain’t into my case getting put off over and over again and gotta come back and forward to court.”

The RM told him, “you don’t dictate the process. The matter is adjourned until 10th April for sentencing, and you’re remanded in custody.

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Crime

North Caicos man admits Guilt to Cocaine and Marijuana

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Wilkie Arthur 

Freelance Court Correspondent

Monday, March 25th, 2024, in the Magistrate’s Court before Her Honor the Acting Resident Magistrate Ms. Patricia Arana, from the Grand Turk Magistrate Court via video link, the following matters were called:

North Caicos man #1 DYRON FULFORD pleaded guilty to two of three charges in relation to the cocaine and marijuana he was found with at Bellefield Landing in Kew, North Caicos on Valentine’s Day of 2024.

After the Crown had laid out the facts surrounding the case to the learned Resident Magistrate, and when he was asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, he said “I would like if you can probation me or give me reasonable fine and I’m saying sorry for getting into this trouble.”

The cocaine was eight grams with a street value of $80.00. The weed was 4,689 grams with a street value of $4,680.00. 

One final charge was read to the accused Fulford, and that is of intent to supply the large quantity of cannabis taken from him by police Superintendent Dean Holden in an undercover sting operation on the Island of North Caicos. 

The Crown may withdraw the intent to distribute the weed charge or proceed with a trial on that count alone following the sentencing of Fulford.

His sentencing for the guilty pleas is adjourned to next month.

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TCI News

Setting Bad Precedent or Unfair Administration of the Law? Same Sex decision ignites public debate

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Garfield Ekon

Staff Writer

Former premier Michael Misick has levelled fraud assertions against his former employee, Richard Sankar who was successful in a court case challenging his Turks and Caicos (TCI) Islander status.

The case was decided in Sankar’s favour in 2021, and the former Premier is now saying the man, a Real Estate Broker, who once worked for his family real estate business, married a woman for Islander status, and never consummated it, then married a man to give him status. 

Sankar and his spouse, Timothy Haymon won a claim for his same-sex partner to work in the Islands, in line with permissions granted under the TCI Constitution. That landmark ruling was handed down by Justice Anthony Gruchot on March 12, 2024 upholding his partner’s right to work in the TCI, as typically provided for heterosexual spouses. 

Hour after news of the ruling broke, Misick took to his official social media page to blast the Real Estate Broker. The former Premier called on the Government to revoke Sankar’s Turks and Caicos Islander status, claiming that it was obtained by fraud.

“I further call on the Government, after revoking Richard Sankar status, to have him deported never to set foot in our country again. This is making a mockery of our system and country. Deem him to be persona non grata,” the former premier stated. 

In a response, Sankar through his attorney Tim Prudhoe, said the claims, stating that he married the local woman in 2008 and their divorce became final in 2020. 

He stated: “At no stage during that period up-to-any, including the Decree Absolute, was any evidence presented either by or on behalf of my then wife that the marriage was not valid or somehow otherwise void.”

Sankar further added that prior to his marriage, in the first half of 2005, he had applied for a Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) based on the then requirement of five continuous years of work permits.

“That application was never decided.  Its existence at all was not even acknowledged on behalf of TCIG until 2021.”

Sankar also exposed in his statement, that during 2007, when Michael Misick was premier, he was “placed on the Stop List (a power of the Director of Immigration, then Desmond Wilson).  Thus, preventing my re-entry to the jurisdiction.  No reason has ever been given as to why Part VI (Sections 59-60) of the Immigration Ordinance was used to so designate me.”

Sankar admits that he married a Turks and Caicos woman in 2008, once he returned to the islands having been removed from the Stop List.

In May 2021, Sankar says he finally managed to secure his Turks and Caicos Islander status and had hoped to understand, “how an employment disagreement with a powerful family of Turks and Caicos Islanders could ever be used for the purposes of the Stop List.”

That matter remains in court and pending, according to Sankar.

While Michael Misick remains resolute that, “If this is allowed to stand as it is setting a terrible precedent that anyone can become married through fraud and then get a status and divorce a Turks and Caicos Islander and marry someone else and pass it on to them.”

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