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Bahamas Dept. Meterology issues Alert #3 on Hurricane Irma

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Bahamas, September 5th, 2017 – Nassau – POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE IRMA MOVING TOWARD THE LEEWARD ISLANDS.

A HURRICANE WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.  THIS INCLUDES THE ISLANDS OF INAGUA, ACKLINS AND CROOKED ISLAND, MAYAGUANA, LONG CAY, SAMANA CAY, RAGGED ISLAND AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.

 A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS COULD AFFECT THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS WITHIN 48 HOURS.

AT 11AM EDT, THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IRMA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 16.8 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 58.4 DEGREES WEST OR ABOUT 225 MILES EAST OF ANTIGUA, 920 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS, 1025 MILES SOUTHEAST OF INAGUA, 1080 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CROOKED ISLAND AND 1363 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NEW PROVIDENCE.

HURRICANE IRMA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST AT ABOUT 14 MPH AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TODAY FOLLOWED BY A TURN TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST TONIGHT.  ON THE FORECAST TRACK, THE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CORE OF IRMA IS FORECAST TO MOVE OVER PORTIONS OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 180 MILES PER HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS.  IRMA IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CATEGORY FIVE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE.  SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE LIKELY DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO, BUT IRMA IS FORECAST TO REMAIN A POWERFUL CATEGORY FOUR OR FIVE HURRICANE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 60 MILES FROM THE CENTER AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 160 MILES FROM THE CENTER.

RESIDENTS IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MAKE PREPARATIONS AS THEY CAN BEGIN TO EXPERIENCE THE EFFECTS OF HURRICANE IRMA BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. RESIDENTS THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER OF THE BAHAMAS ARE ADVISED TO SERIOUSLY BEGIN MAKING PREPARATION FOR HURRICANE IRMA SHOULD THE NEED ARISE.

 EXTENSIVE FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED AS IRMA IS FORECAST TO PRODUCE UP TO 6 INCHES OF RAINFALL.

 STORM SURGE UP TO 10 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE CAN BE EXPECTED.

SMALL CRAFT OPERATORS THROUGHOUT THE BAHAMAS AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS SHOULD BEGIN TO SEEK SAFE HARBOUR FOR THEIR VESSELS.

THE NEXT ALERT ON HURRICANE IRMA WILL BE ISSUED AT 3PM EDT ON TUESDAY.

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Caribbean News

CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

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Following a landmark Public Signing Ceremony for the Pandemic Fund (PF) Technical Cooperation Agreement (“Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response” [RG-T4387] Project) on December 14, 2023, in Trinidad, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) continues to progress towards the start of implementation.

 CARPHA fulfilled the IDB’s nine conditions prior to first disbursement, achieving full eligibility on March 15, 2024, and is now eligible for the first disbursement. This milestone achievement in just 3 months after the signing speaks to the commitment of both CARPHA, the Executing Agency, and IDB, the Implementing Entity, toward the regional PF project with the objective of supporting the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) surveillance & early-warning systems (EWS), laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and in countries.

Since the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement and as part of the conditions prior to first disbursement, CARPHA has achieved the following key outputs (i) the development of the PF Project Operations Manual, Multi-annual Execution Plan, Procurement Plan, Financial Plan, Procedure for CARPHA’s Financial Reporting System; (ii) vacancy announcements for two tranches of consultants with the subsequent hiring of five (Technical Coordinator, Financial Specialist, Procurement Specialist, Operations Officer and Project Operations Coordinator) and (iii) the establishment of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) and Project Execution Steering Committee (PESC). The dedicated PEU will be responsible for execution according to its planned timelines, which will be led by the Dr. Lisa Indar, the Project Director (CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division).

 CARPHA, as the lead regional public health agency and an expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health is mandated by its Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to support its 26 CARPHA Member States (CMS) in bolstering national systems and coordinating regional response to public health threats. The Agency works closely with regional and international agencies and uses regional mechanisms, surveillance systems, and networks for coordinating its public health response work.

In July 2023, the PF Governing Board announced that CARPHA’s regional entity proposal, entitled ‘Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Strengthened Integrated Early Warning Surveillance, Laboratory Systems and Workforce Development’ was successfully selected for the first round of financing. It was one of only 19 proposals selected from over 300 submissions and the only regional project. The three priority areas in the proposal are: (i) Comprehensive disease surveillance and EWS, (ii) Laboratory systems and (iii) Human resources and public health and community workforce capacity.

This project is expected to begin implementation in March 2024, starting off with a blended onboarding session. A Stakeholder Meeting with countries is tentatively planned for July 2024.

CARPHA remains dedicated to working together with the IDB, CARPHA Member States and the Pandemic Fund to successfully implement the regional proposal geared toward reducing the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean.

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Caribbean News

Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

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Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

The prosecution intends to try two young North Caicos men, both age 21 for the offense of possession of property of a murdered man, property that was stolen and landed in their possession.

The phone belonged to Peureton ‘Marley’ Higgs, who is believed to have been an innocent gunned down at his apartment complex in the Glass Shack area in a spray of bullets on February 2 that killed another man and wounded two others, including a ten-year-old little girl.

The cell phone was described as white in colour, an iPhone, in a hard black case. 

On Monday, March 18th, JEFFVANO HANDFIELD of North Caicos pleaded not guilty to the offense, and the matter was adjourned to April 2024. He was granted bail in the matter.

A second North Caicos man was charged similarly.  

SARENO CAPELLAN aka, Kino Williams is the second individual brought before the court pertaining to the said cellphone. He appeared in court a week after JEFFVANO HANDFIELD, the date being Monday March 25th 2024.

The case for the Crown is that both men sometime in February of this year possessed the cellphone knowing or suspecting it to be stolen property.

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Caribbean News

Supreme Court Closed for Easter

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NOTICE is hereby given that the Easter Recess shall commence on Friday 29th April, 2024 and end on Friday 5th April, 2024. During the Easter Recess Judge Selochan will be available to deal only with matters that are urgent or require prompt attention.

Court Business During the Easter Recess

A person who wishes to have a matter heard during the recess must file a certificate of urgency along with an affidavit, which must set out the reasons why the matter is urgent or requires prompt attention. The matter will not be listed during the recess unless the Judge deems it fit for urgent hearing.

Opening Hours During the Easter Holiday

The Supreme Court’s last sitting day for the first term is Thursday 28th March, 2024. The Court will officially resume sittings on Monday 8th April, 2024. The Supreme Court Offices in both Grand Turk and Providenciales will continue to operate while the Court is not sitting during the recess.

The Court Office will be closed on the following public holidays:

  • Friday 29th March, 2024 (Good Friday) CLOSED
  • Monday 1st April, 2024 (Easter Monday) CLOSED

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