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Jamaica’s new Road Traffic Act to be passed by year end

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#Jamaica, November 6, 2017 – Kingston – Transport and Mining Minister, Hon. Mike Henry, says the new Road Traffic Act is currently going through changes and adjustments and should be passed in the House of Representatives by the end of the year.

“Right now, we’re completing the dotting of the ‘i’s and crossing of the ‘t’s. It contains minor things that we have to adjust, but I can confirm, from the Ministry’s point of view, that we will be ready by the end of the year,” he said.

The Minister was speaking at a breakfast function hosted by the Project Management Institute Jamaica Chapter (PMIJC), at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on November 2.   Mr. Henry said he is hoping that road fatalities will remain below 300 by the end of this year.    As at October 31, the figure was 272, some 49 less than the 321 deaths for the similar period last year.

“I really hope that we can maintain that, to be able to say we have achieved under 300. One death is too many anyway. The reality is that I think we’re getting some response from the public,” Mr. Henry said.

The Minister hailed Jamaicans who continue to drive with care on the nation’s roads.   Among the features of the new Road Traffic Act are a restriction on handheld devices and a requirement for drivers to have a licence in their possession while operating a vehicle.   Fines for breaches will also be increased.

Meanwhile, PMIJC President, Arvette Henry, noted that the subject of project management is an integral part of local companies in Jamaica, “because those companies practising it are able to see faster and better results”.

During the awards segment, leading provider of information technology products, Fujitsu Caribbean Jamaica Limited, was awarded Project Management Organisation of the Year.    The company won for their project of providing high-performance computing solutions for the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).

“The project that we put forward this year sought to improve the computing capacity of the climate control division of the UWI. In their data centre, they had challenges in predicting and monitoring what different climatic and seismic events occur,” said Project Manager of Fujitsu Caribbean, Nicola Denniser.

Seprod Limited received the silver award for their Irrigation in Agriculture Project, while Digicel Jamaica Limited won the bronze award for outfitting the St. William Grant Park with WI-FI hotpots.   Held under the theme ‘Change Management, Maintaining Consistency during Uncertainty’, the event was organised to observe International Project Management Day 2017 as well as to present the awards to the Project Management Organisation of the Year.

The PMI, a global organisation with more than 250 chapters and 500,000 members, is set up to advance the practice, science and profession of project management worldwide.   The PMIJC is one of two chapters in the English-speaking Caribbean, and has been operating continuously for 15 years.

Release: JIS

 

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Millions to come from FSC 

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Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

 

 

#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – Revenue from the Turks and Caicos’ Financial Services Sector will more than double in the next few years, if E Jay Saunders, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister gets his way.  It ‘s one of the reasons the country is investing so much capital into getting off of the EU blacklist and becoming a secure trustworthy financial destination. 

“The FSC’s revenues for 2020/21 was $10.5M— the figures for 2021/22, would be about similar,” he said.  He further explained that $10.5 million from the FSC represented about 2.6 percent of the country’s 408.5-million-dollar revenue.  Though it increased to $14 million in the 2021/22 financial year, finance is still a small fry compared to tourism or even stamp duties but that will change, says Saunders. 

“My revenue goal for the Government by the year 2029 [or] the election after the next election – is $500M.  By that time, I want the financial sector (FSC) revenues to represent at least 5% ($25M).  So that’s my goal for the financial sector by 2029.” 

This goal, should it be met, would increase the Government’s revenue by 100 million dollars, a significant increase in spending power for local upgrades and improvements for Turks and Caicos residents and visitors. 

Saunders says it’s time for the TCI to diversify its sources of revenue to make sure that what happened in the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw residents out of a job for months, will not happen again.  Tourism now makes up around 80 percent of the country’s GDP.  The Minister of Finance wants to push that down to 60 or even 50 percent.  

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Debrief on Haiti Caribbean heads visit 

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Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

 

 

#Haiti, March 17, 2023 – When a CARICOM delegation visited Haiti earlier this month, conspicuously absent was the Turks and Caicos Islands despite being one of the nations most directly affected by the multi-dimensional crisis there.  There is no comment, as yet from the Premier, to say why this was the case.  

Still, from the expedition, CARICOM heads of Government have informed that there will be lobbying in Africa for assistance in Haiti.  They say they have decided that the best course of action for the Caribbean country is to bolster the Haitian National Police and act as intermediaries with Africa and the world.  The decision follows a one day visit on February 27th, and a March 5th meeting chaired by the Bahamas. 

CARICOM says during the trip delegates ‘met with a broad range of Haitian stakeholders to hear their views on the way forward to a Haitian-led solution’. With that in mind it has made a decision on how to proceed.

“The Heads of Government agreed to support the Haitian National Police in their efforts to address the security situation.  The focus of the Community will be the provision of training for the HNP and the provision of humanitarian assistance to HNP and the wider Haitian society, taking into account the challenging humanitarian and security situation”

It’s not clear yet where and how this training will take place.  Also distinctly absent from the report, no more mention of boots on the ground from other countries despite CARICOM Member States indicating they were ready and willing should it come to that.

In addition, recognizing ‘the common historical experiences and the strong African-Caribbean relationship’ CARICOM says,

“Heads of Government also agreed to seek support from African countries for Haiti.  They also agreed to work with the Governments of Canada and the United States as well as the UNDP”

Magnetic Media has reached out to the Premier’s Office to get a full debrief of the February 27th visit (led by Jamaica; including The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago) to learn of Turks and Caicos’ posture following the critical sessions.  

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New ASHLEY’S LEARNING CENTRE CONCERT

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Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer

 

 

#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – Musicians from the New World Symphony will be in the Turks and Caicos in concert next month and residents are invited to attend in support of the future of Ashley’s Learning Center.

A fairly young orchestral academy based in Miami, the New World Symphony was launched in the 1980s by 1987, Michael Tilson Thomas and Ted Arison,Carnival Cruises founder.  From the 1500 applicants who vie for a spot each year, the symphony accepts around 35 music graduates annually for training fellowships. 

A select few of those graduates will be in country on April 8th headlining at the Ashley’s Learning Center concert ‘We’re all in this together’.  The concert which also feature local artistes will be held at Brayton Hall on Venetian Road from 6 pm to 8:30 pm

Tickets are available ON ISLEHELP  $75 PER GENERAL SEAT $125 PER PREMIUM SEAT $195 PER GALLERY SEAT – with /FREFRESHMENTS. 

For TICKET RESERVATIONs you can call: 649-341-2304 or email  EVENTS@ASHLEYSLEARNINGCENTER.ORG 

 

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