News
Smoke from the city dump forces school closure in Grand Turk
#GRANDTURK, Turks and Caicos Islands – December 7, 2017 – Unbearable billows of smoke and the health hazard it presents to students and staff have forced Education officials to shut down the high school in the Capital; HJ Robinson High parents are now asked to come and collect their children because school is cancelled for the day. A fire, believed to have been intentionally set at the Grand Turk landfill rages on and is creating potentially sickening smoke, now polluting North Backsalina, which is where the school is located. 
School is “possibly closed for the rest of the week where students and teachers were seriously affected by the unhealthy smoke blowing directly over the high school. Some teachers and students were seen coughing and with watery eyes from the inhalation of this contaminating smoke.”
A resident explained that a shift in the wind direction overnight, from the southwest to west has turned the annoyance of the smoke from the JAGS McCartney International Airport to a busier part of Grand Turk, which includes bustling Church Folly. 
On Monday, December 4 around 3 a.m. the security guard at the ‘dump site’ discovered that a series of fires had been set, and though there have been attempts to put out the blazes, resources are limited because there is only the airport fire unit. That aerodrome fire squad has to be stationed at the airport for plane landings, according to Civil Aviation standards.
The absence of a domestic fire unit continues to be problematic for Grand Turk which has lost schools, popular and iconic businesses and community sites and homes.
One report to Magnetic Media reveals that it has been nearly 20 years since there has been a domestic fire crew, and the near one year old PDM Administration has reported that the plan is to re-establish the unit during the next fiscal cycle which does not begin until April 2018. Even then, with all of the cut backs and re-prioritising forecast to have to happen since the double hit of hurricanes Irma and Maria in September, it puts many promises on precarious ground.
Turks and Caicos Environmental Management, TCEM reported on Monday that they are doing their best to extinguish the fires; “additional mitigation will be ongoing until the fire is completely extinguished.”
An investigation is said to be launched into the cause of the fire.
TCIG knew from April that fuel factor could surge almost 80%; Minister says $500 cost-of-living payment was part of Government’s response
PROVIDENCIALES — The Turks and Caicos Government knew months before July’s shocking electricity bills that consumers faced a potentially massive increase in the fuel factor.
Minister of Information Technology and Energy E. Jay Saunders revealed Friday that Pelican Energy warned his Ministry in April that generation fuel costs were projected to rise from $3.09 per gallon in May to $4.79 in June and July.
That translated into a projected fuel factor jump from about 17.5 cents to 31 cents per kilowatt-hour — an increase of almost 80%.
Saunders said he personally advised Cabinet of the projected increase and presented options for cushioning the impact.
He characterised Government’s $500 cost-of-living payment as its “initial response” to rising fuel costs, before a separate fuel-factor subsidy was approved.
Cabinet records show Government agreed on June 24 to provide funding to mitigate the fuel-factor impact, with the relief programme approved July 8.
Eligible residential customers — those averaging less than $1,500 monthly over the previous three bills — are capped at 22 cents per kWh from July through October.
Pelican confirmed Friday that Government’s contribution was already applied to July bills, meaning the bills now triggering widespread public outrage would have been even higher without the subsidy.
Saunders did not disclose the programme’s total cost.
His admission that Government knew since April, however, raises another question amid the backlash: why were consumers not directly warned by Government about the scale of the approaching increase?
NASSAU, Bahamas — More Bahamians are accessing HIV and sexually transmitted infection-related healthcare through National Health Insurance, a trend the NHI Authority says should be viewed positively.
NHIA stressed in an August 6 statement that its 2025 figures measure healthcare utilisation, not newly diagnosed infections. They include beneficiaries screened, treated, monitored or receiving follow-up care, including people diagnosed previously.
“Increased utilisation of these services should be viewed as a positive development,” NHIA said.
The Authority pointed to “greater enrolment and use of NHI, improved access to screening and testing, continued treatment and monitoring of existing conditions, and increased willingness to seek medical care.”
The development comes amid a mixed three-year HIV picture. New diagnoses rose from 130 in 2023 to 156 in 2024, before declining to 142 in 2025.
NHIA said increased utilisation demonstrates that more beneficiaries are accessing needed healthcare and actively managing their health, reinforcing the importance of screening, early diagnosis and continued treatment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Americas has recorded 47,459 confirmed measles cases and 44 deaths in 2026, the region’s highest case count in 22 years, prompting the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to urge stronger vaccination, surveillance and rapid outbreak response.
As of July 18, cases were already more than triple the 15,011 recorded during all of 2025. Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Peru
account for 95% of confirmed cases. Guatemala leads with 30,371 cases and 26 deaths, followed by Mexico with 12,255 cases and 17 deaths.
PAHO classifies the regional public health risk as very high, citing active outbreaks, immunity gaps, international travel and populations with inadequate vaccination coverage.
The organization says prevention starts with vaccination. Countries are being urged to achieve and maintain at least 95% coverage with two doses of measles-containing vaccine, particularly protecting children and under-vaccinated communities.
Measles spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash.
PAHO is urging health authorities to detect suspected cases early and respond rapidly to stop transmission. Unvaccinated and under-vaccinated people, young children and communities with limited healthcare access face increased risk of severe illness and death.
-
News1 week agoFacts According to the Turks & Caicos Premier About His Constitutional Amendments
-
News1 week ago80 DAYS. $80 MILLION. – PDM Demands Answers from Government
-
News1 week ago“The Contract is The Problem, Not The Hospitals”
-
News1 week ago
Premier Lays Out Cost of Hospital Dispute
-
News1 week agoPAY FIRST. QUESTION LATER.
-
Education1 week agoDr. Candice Williams Appointed First Vice-President of Regional Higher Education Association
-
Health4 days ago47,459 MEASLES CASES, 44 DEATHS ACROSS AMERICAS
-
News4 days agoELECTRICITY BILL SHOCKER: PELICAN ENERGY WARNED GOV’T