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Student invites Obama to Turks and Caicos; he says ‘Absolutely’

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Providenciales, 10 Apr 2015 – Once he is done with his presidency, Barack Obama promises to go Caribbean island hopping and the Turks and Caicos makes the list.

Barack Obama, US President: “You know on the second question, absolutely! (laughs) I’ll do some island hopping once I am out of office and you guys can show me all of the good places to go.”

Big move for a Turks and Caicos University of the West Indies student when she is a part of the White House hosted town meeting at the Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica. Katrina King-Smith was selected out of scores of young leaders by US President Barack Obama to ask him anything; she challenges him on how smaller states can be and remain viable economies and invited him to come to the Turks and Caicos.

“My name is Katrina King-Smith, I’m from the Turks and Caicos Islands my question is two part as well. Firstly in countries such as the Turk sand Caicos Island where our population is small and our main sources of revenue are tourism and foreign direct investment, I was wondering if you can suggest two ways that the government may better generate and regulate sustainable revenue, especially with regulations currently being put in place to close off shore financial centers. And secondly, I was wondering if after your term has ended, would you mind coming to the Turks and Caicos to visit?”

Royelle Robinson is president of the Turks and Caicos Student Association at UWI and last night told me, “We are definitely proud of Katrina for representing us so well! One of our aims as an organization is to make the Turks and Caicos known and educate our fellow members of the University of the West Indies community about the lovely country we call home.” President Obama explained to Katrina and the students at the meeting held yesterday at UWI, that the same issue cropped up in his CARICOM heads of government session earlier.

Barack Obama, US President: “Operating in the United States, employing folks in the United States, essentially headquartered in the United States and yet somehow their mailing address is such and such island where they have to pay no taxes. Those are the kinds of egregious concerns that we are trying to deal with, I think we try to take it on a case by case basis and in my CARICOM meeting that I just had, this issue was brought up and there were a number of leaders who brought up that they were being unfairly labeled as areas of high financial risk. What I committed to them, is we will examine their complaints and go through, in very concrete ways, where our concerns are and how our governments can work together.”

Today, all of those CARICOM leaders and US President Obama are in Panama for the seventh Summit of the Americas; historic as it is the first time Cuba will join the caucuses. Before, as a Communist country, Cuba was forbidden to join those meetings.

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RTCIPF Observes World Down Syndrome Day

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On March 21st, 2024, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force joined the international, regional and local communities in observing World Down Syndrome Day. 

Officers showed their support by wearing brightly coloured and mismatched socks to raise awareness. 

The head of the Safeguarding and Public Protection Unit, Assistant Superintendent of Police Grantley Williams, Training Manager Mrs Odessa Forbes and Media Relations Officer Denyse Renne visited the SNAP Centre and interacted with the students.

In a message to the TCI community, the RTCIPF noted that stereotypes perpetuate stigma and hinder inclusion, preventing individuals from reaching their full potential. 

Instead, the RTCIPF calls for individuals to foster an environment of acceptance and support where everyone is valued for who they are. 

By breaking down barriers and challenging misconceptions, we can create a more inclusive society where individuals with Down Syndrome are empowered to live fulfilling lives and contribute meaningfully to their communities and, by extension, the TCI. 

As law enforcement officers, we must protect and serve all members of society, regardless of their abilities. 

Let’s work together to ensure that individuals with Down Syndrome are treated with dignity and respect and that their rights are upheld.

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CARICOM speaks out on Climate Change, looking to May meeting to amplify call for Climate Funding

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March 3, 2024

 

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) remains on the frontlines of global climate crisis, an issue the Region has been aggressively advocating on for the past thirty years. Despite the many commitments and promises of international partners, the window of opportunity to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is rapidly closing.

Heads of Government are concerned that while COP 28 was widely regarded as a historic event, with the completion of the first global stocktake (GST), on progress in achievement of the Paris Agreement goals, the outcomes of GST show that emissions of greenhouse gases continue to rise and the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of Parties will not keep global temperatures below the 1.5 degree goal enshrined in the Paris Agreement.

Heads of Government also expressed concern to be heading to COP 29 where a New Finance Goal will be articulated to replace the 100bn goal, which has not yet been met, even as developing countries require trillions to deal with the escalating impacts of climate change. Developed country parties have not provided enough finance at scale, technology and capacity building support required to help developing countries tackle their pressing needs to build their resilience, especially in adapting to the adverse and increasingly catastrophic impacts of climate change. The clear absence of definitive timelines for action and quantitative commitments for scaling up of investments, and particularly adaptation finance emerging out of COP 28, cause great concern to our Region.

The Conference noted that Small Island Developing States (SIDS), recognized as the most vulnerable group of countries and a special case for sustainable development, have been facing strong push back against the recognition of their special circumstances especially in the context of climate finance. There is limited international support for special allocations for SIDS within financing arrangements and available climate finance from international and private sources is limited, expensive and too onerous to access.

In light of the preceding, Heads of Government called for CARICOM to take a strategic, unified and coordinated approach to ensure that the Region remains influential in the climate and development arena through engagements with key partners and advocacy groups.

They called for renewed focus by the Region to advocate for inclusion of forests, nature-based solutions and blue carbon into market mechanisms with the aim of articulating clear regional positions and strategies.

Heads of Government reiterated the call for improved readiness programmes, simplified approval procedures, a change to the criteria for determining access to low-cost finance, and for the adoption of programmatic approaches to address the bottlenecks in accessing finance.

The Region reiterates its support for the Bridgetown Initiative’s call to expand capital adequacy of international financial institutions.

Heads recognized that the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States, scheduled to be held in Antigua and Barbuda, 27 – 30 May 2024, will be an inflection point for many of these discussions to be articulated. As such, the Region remains committed to participating in the Conference at the highest level.

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South Caicos Development Plans shared with Washington-Misick led Administration

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On Monday, 12 February 2024, the Premier led a delegation to tour the island of South Caicos to view the ongoing public and private sector projects, involving the remodelling and rebranding of the airport terminals, historical districts, and the East Bay Hotel.

The tour of the various developments reinforced the Government’s commitment to collaborating with stakeholders to boost the island’s activity and economy.

Photos courtesy of the TCI Office of the Premier

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