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Minister of Works puts government buildings reconstruction post hurricanes at $8.6m

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PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos – October 26, 2017 – It will take nearly $9m to reconstruct government buildings and offices alone and the body of work is significant according to the Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Planning, Hon Goldray Ewing.

In a one on one with the Minister Wednesday, it was explained that if the body of work were rated on a scale of one to ten, with ten being hardest – the job ahead for the Ministry would earn a ‘nine’.

“Irma was a category five plus (storm), never before have we had one of them and never before have we had a storm right after that, at a category three; this set a precedent for what the Turks and Caicos could handle.  And as bad as they were and as bad as the damage is, we handled both pretty well,” shared Minister Ewing.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) post-Irma report exposed that there were levels of damage ranging from one to four, four being most severely impacted and that the damages were to nearly 80% of buildings, including homes across the country.

Magnetic Media spoke to the Minister outside of Oseta Jolly Primary and Clement Howell High schools both in his constituency of Blue Hills on Wednesday; these were among the five worst hit public schools.  The others named were Marjorie Basden High and Iris Stubbs Primary in South Caicos and the Eliza Simmons Primary School in Grand Turk.

“The two schools in South Caicos will run us into $1.2m to repair,” said the Minister.

The Public Works team was praised by Minister Ewing, who shared that the assessments and costing of the repairs and the reconstruction was done within two weeks following the catastrophic Category 5 hurricane Irma.  A commendable feat, though many are still concerned because work has yet to begin.  On the day we were near the storm ravaged schools, there was no one working at either Oseta Jolly or Clement Howell High.

“I want to say a big thanks to my staff, honestly.  They jumped into the process of doing assessments right away.  They had some help from the British Army Corps of engineers but we worked as a team and we got the assessments done in record time, the costing done in record time and there is nothing to stop us from building the schools, hospitals and clinics but schools are priority right now.”

Minister Ewing said it will take patience from the public as the procurement process is both tedious and necessary to not only ensure the work can be done by a reputable contractor in good standing with Government but that the money is there to pay for the work.

The Turks and Caicos Islands was paid a claim of $13.6m by the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility or CCRIF but still outstanding is the actual cost of the storm to the islands. The Premier, Hon Sharlene Robinson has advised that this will be done by the UN ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean); their team arrives in early November.

Still, there is strong demand from the general public to get moving on rebuilding and rebounding and that includes input from the Opposition, Progressive National Party.  Former Finance Minister and leader of Opposition business in the House of Assembly, Hon Washington Misick has been vocal and put the cost to the country figure at $250m; that was back in September.

Mr. Misick’s ‘cost’ though is being called a conservative estimate as more people place the bill from Irma at closer to half a billion dollars.

Still, even at the rate quoted by Hon Misick, it is worth noting that the expense to clean up, fix up, build up and fully stand up after the back to back September hurricanes of 2017 would in perspective, take nearly the entire national budget.

Magnetic Media is a Telly Award winning multi-media company specializing in creating compelling and socially uplifting TV and Radio broadcast programming as a means for advertising and public relations exposure for its clients.

Caribbean News

CANARI outlines climate priorities ahead of Cop28

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Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

 

The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) informed that the Caribbean Climate Justice Alliance, in preparation for the upcoming annual COP28 in 2023, launched its “Caribbean Climate Justice and Resilience Agenda,” outlining the priorities for climate justice and resilience in vulnerable Caribbean small island developing states (SIDS).

 

In a press release, CANARI highlighted that the agenda recognizes the major threat of climate change to the region as well as aims to louden the voices of the at-risk groups “on the frontlines of the climate crisis and catalyze actions for climate justice and local resilience in the Caribbean SIDS.”

 

The priorities stated under the agenda are:

 

  1. Curbing emissions to limit global temperature

increase to 1.5 ̊C

 

  1. Scaling up locally-led solutions for adaptation and

loss and damage

 

  1. Improving access to and delivery of climate finance

for frontline communities, small and micro enterprises, and civil society organizations as part of a ‘whole of society’ approach

 

  1. Scaling up just, nature-based solutions for resilience

 

  1. Supporting a just transition for pro-poor, inclusive,

sustainable and resilient development

 

  1. Promoting gender equity and social inclusion

approaches to climate action

 

  1. Promoting youth and intergenerational equity as

core to the climate response

 

  1. Integrating a rights-based and earth-centered

approach in addressing all these priorities and ensuring climate justice

 

The at-risk groups referred to in the release include small-scale farmers and fisherfolk, rural women producers, income-poor people, elderly and disabled people, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, migrants, and LGBTQIA+ people.

 

Being cognizant of the severity of the effects of climate change on the Caribbean, CANARI referred to the fact that the very existence of the region is on the line.

 

“If greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated and global temperature exceeds 1.5 ̊C, the impacts of rising sea levels, more intense hurricanes, rainfall variability, ocean acidification, and other changes threaten the very existence of our way of life in the Caribbean and other SIDS that have contributed the least to global emissions.”

 

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Bahamas News

CARICOM Sec Gen speaks on Gender Based Violence

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Rashaed Esson

 

Staff Writer 

 

“Everyone must continue to invest in preventing violence against our women and girls (VAWG). It is an investment in our shared future,” were the words of Dr. Carla N. Barnett, CARICOM Secretary-General, as she reiterated the need for solutions against VAWG.

 

She called attention to VAWG as she gave a speech surrounding the annual campaign “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence,” which runs from November 25 to December 10, 2023.

 

Barnett expresses the well-known fact that VAWG is one of the most prevalent issues affecting all corners of society.

 

“VAWG remains one of the most pervasive forms of human rights violations in the world and cuts across all races, cultures, genders, and educational backgrounds,” she maintained, as she continued to point out the sad reality that this is still a major issue despite regional and global policies.

 

“Despite the existence of regional and global policies and legislation to combat VAWG, weak enforcement and discriminatory practices remain significant barriers to ending VAWG.”

 

The Secretary-General highlighted statistics for VAWG, bringing attention to how serious and embedded this issue is in society.

 

She said that globally, 736 million women—nearly one in three—have experienced violence—physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or even both.

 

For the Caribbean region, she said surveys conducted between 2016 and 2019 inform us that one in two women experience intimate partner violence, which is higher than the global average. 

 

In continuation, Barnett expressed that the campaign calls everyone to action against VAWG, including “development partners, civil society organizations, women’s organizations, youth, the private sector, and the media.”  Also, world governments are being asked to share how they are investing in gender-based violence prevention.

 

Ending her address, the Secretary-General urged everyone to wear the color orange for the duration of the campaign, as well as on the 25th of each month, “as a symbol of hope for a brighter future where women and girls live free from violence.”

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Caribbean News

Support for Flood-Affected Farmers

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#Kingston, November 26, 2023 – A total of $157 million is to be provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, to support farmers affected by the recent heavy rains from Potential Tropical Cyclone 22.

Portfolio Minister, Hon. Floyd Green, made the announcement during a National ‘Eat Jamaican Day’ ceremony in Portland on Friday (November 24).

The Minister lamented that the country had moved from a period of harsh drought to the next extreme – flooding.

“A number of our farmers suffered tremendous loss and the team from RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Authority) has been out since last week Saturday, trying to quantify what has been the losses that have been suffered by our farmers,” he said.

According to the Minister, preliminary figures reveal that $274 million in damage was done to the agricultural sector, with livestock farmers suffering about $25 million in losses; equipment loss of over $10 million; $173 million in crop loss; and $64 million in damage to the farm road network.

“The good news is that we are not going to leave our farmers alone and we know, as they said to the Prime Minister when he toured last week, that once they get some support, they are willing to go back out and farm,” Mr. Green indicated.

The $157 million support package from the Ministry will be used in several ways. A total of $70 million is to be provided for crop support – inputs, seeds, and fertilizers – and another $8 million for equipment support.

A total of $15 million will be expended for support to livestock and $64 million will be used to rehabilitate farm roads.

Minister Green also announced that resulting from a gift from the Kingdom of Morocco, 24,000 bags of fertilizers will be distributed among farmers over the next two weeks.

The Minister informed that the parish that was most affected by the recent weather event was St. Thomas and that, “almost every farming community in St. Thomas suffered from flood damage.”

Farming communities in St Andrew were also cut off because of landslides.

 

Contact: Mickella Anderson-Gordon

 

Photo Caption: Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green.

Photo by Mark Bell

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