News
Exuma bike race raises funds for children’s shelter
Exuma, Bahamas, February 15, 2017 – Annual cycling event in Exuma raises more than $20,000 for new Children’s Shelter and donates bikes to high school. In the hot blazing sun, 15-year-old Cameron Williams peddled and peddled in his flip-flops up the spine of Exuma. His old, rickety BMX scraped the edge of the road where pavement met ash fault. He teetered, but never fell. Older boys in the back of a support vehicle shouted and encouraged the younger boy. Cameron hit another edge, and one of his shoes fell off.
The support vehicle car stopped. But he kept going. One of the boys picked the shoe up off the road, throwing it in the back of the truck. Cameron was the last to finish the Tour de Turquoise, but finish he did, despite the loss of a shoe.
The event last weekend, now in its third year, featured dozens of cyclists of all skill levels and abilities, with more than $20,000 going towards a Children’s Shelter for the island. Last year, Tour de Turquoise raised a similar amount and purchased a new hospital bus.
Howard Chang, the event’s founder, credits the people of Exuma for embracing Tour de Turquoise and helping to make it such a success. “I have been a homeowner on Exuma now for several years, and one of the reasons we chose Exuma is because of the people,” Chang said, who owns an advertising firm in Toronto and helped bring a large group of philanthropists to the island. “The most rewarding part has been the enthusiasm we’ve received from the community, particularly the students.”
With a special focus on youth, Tour de Turquoise, using a portion of its sponsorship funds, has been introducing bikes onto the island of Exuma. Students are given access to the bikes through a newly established club at L N Coakley High School.
This year, eight students got the chance to use the new bikes in last Saturday’s race, while others, like Cameron, were also encouraged to participate in the event. The goal, Chang said, is to gradually introduce more bikes onto the island and allow students to use them in a monitored and safe environment. “Bikes capture the imagination and we were overwhelmed by the support we’ve received from the high school,” Chang added.
Tour de Turquoise features three events: a community ride involving a few laps of George Town, a 50km ride to Turquoise Cay and back, and the main ride, over 70km, taking riders to Santana’s Restaurant and back. In addition to a crop of highly skilled cyclists, all of whom made substantial donations to the cause, there were two VIPs in the mix.
Christian Van Velde, the US cycling star, is best known for his many wins on the professional circuit, including a 4th place finish at the Tour de France. Curt Harnett, a Canadian, has won multiple medals at the Olympics and held the world record for the 200 metre time trial for 11 years.
Overall, Tour de Turquoise was a community effort, with a long term vision to give back to the island. Among many others, Chang was assisted by John Nixon, the Airport Manager on Exuma, the Exuma Foundation of Canada, the Exuma Foundation (US), and GIV Bahamas Inc., one of the leading developers and philanthropic organizations on Exuma.
Tour de Turquoise was sponsored by Grand Isle Resort, Dilly Crab Ranch, Sun-Fun Tours and GIV Bahamas Inc. In addition to the cycling, the philanthropists enjoyed a boat excursion up the Exuma Cays, courtesy of Sun-Fun Tours, and visited the areas many attractions, including the now world famous swimming pigs.
“Giving back to the island is a huge part of what we do,” said Tyrone Munroe, Director and Head of Operations at GIV Bahamas Inc. “We thank Howard for his continuous efforts to give back to the island. I think this event in particular has tremendous potential for the future.”
If the determination of Cameron Williams is any window into the future, the youth of Exuma seem to agree wholeheartedly. For more information on the event, you can visit its website at www.rideforexuma.com
Caribbean News
Agriculture Ministry Providing Two Water Trucks to Serve St. Elizabeth and St. Catherine
#Kingston, Jamaica, April 24, 2024 – The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining is to unveil two more water trucks this week, which will be used to service communities in St. Elizabeth and St. Catherine.
Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, made the disclosure during Wednesday’s (April 24) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
He also informed that of the $90 million earmarked to support farmers being impacted by the current drought, the Ministry will be
providing additional support for storage and drip-irrigation systems.
“So, we have targeted about 600 water tanks and about 400 12-millimetre drip irrigation hoses, and that distribution has already started. Additionally, we have earmarked about $8 million to really help with our livestock farmers,” Mr. Green said.
“We know the difficulty that you’re facing now in this time; [it’s] very hard to get the right nutritional support for your animals. As such, we will be providing some hay, and we will [also] provide some trucking of water to you. Again, our livestock farmers, if you are in need, please contact the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and let us see how we can help in these times,” he further stated.
Mr. Green also encouraged farmers to download the RADA App, so that the Agency can “help guide you, not only in relation to what is happening on the rainfall side, but also in relation to your integrated pest management”.
“We do see some increases of certain types of pests during this time, and it’s important that our farmers are paying attention to that. It’s also important that you’re taking drought management seriously [by undertaking] soil mulching, looking at planting drought-tolerant crops, timely harvesting, implementing land husbandry treatments and contour ditches,” he stated.
Contact: Latonya Linton
Release: JIS
Photo Caption: Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, speaking during Wednesday’s (April 24) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
Donald De La Haye Photo
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, April 19, 2024 – In an attempt to move to 24-hour-a-day operations Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is steadily recruiting Air Traffic Controllers to work at the Providenciales/Howard Hamilton International Airport, according to Godfrey Smith, TCIAA CEO, reporting to the Appropriations Committee.
Speaking on April 8th Smith said a cabinet paper would be sent soon requesting six more Air Traffic Controllers to make round the clock operation at the Provo International possible and to open the airport in Grand Turk till 12 a.m.
Currently, 17 posts are filled and seven are vacant.
Smith was candid with his responses to recent industrial action from ATCs which led to resignations and firings.
“What we have to do is find systems to mitigate such actions and that has to start with filling these jobs, putting people in that want to
work and doing right by people – and we always try to do right by our staff. Persons may not think that we are but we always do – we ain’t pick no fight,” he said in the meetings held at the NJS Francis building ahead of the National Budget Communication.
Smith indicated that recruitment was an issue across the board, ‘we need to find ways to recruit a little bit better’ he told the committee. Also in need of a push was capital spending or projects according to the CEO, who said the agency had ‘not been very good’ at meeting that mark but insisted they had recognized the issue and could do better.
A very important key performance indicator drawn up by the TCIAA is increasing passenger satisfaction at the Howard Hamilton International Airport. For the TCIAA part of this means a 30 percent increase in seating by Q2 of this year.
When queried on if they could even handle this increase the CEO said,
“The fact of the matter is we already have the capacity there. What we need is to make the service a bit better.”
Staff shortages have become such a frustrating issue that the TCIAA is instituting a scholarship program created by Authority Chairman, Selvyn Hawkins
“What the board wants to do is basically allocate $25,000 annually for a scholarship and they’ve approved it already.”
This process would cover tuition and all other costs for one student.
The student would return as a summer intern and other breaks to work at the TCIAA and upon graduation, assume a role at the company.
“We identify a particular skill we need, we go after it and we build capacity that is in a nutshell the nexus of the program,” Smith said.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Airports Authority (TCIAA) is allocated $49 million this financial year; over $20 million goes to salaries.
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