News
TCI: School Students meet Satellite-Tagged Sea Turtles
#TurksandCaicos, March 6, 2018 – Providenciales – School students on Providenciales had an opportunity to meet four sea turtles who were tagged with satellite transmitters as part of the turtle project. The project, initiated in 2008, is a collaborative assignment by the Department of Environment & Coastal Resources (DECR), Amanyara and the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), UK.
The turtles were caught by experienced South Caicos Fishermen, Mr. Dave Clare and Mr. Gilbert Jennings, and the project scientists tagged and released four sizeable green sea turtles over a period of five days. The turtles were tagged at the National Environmental Centre, at the DECR, and while this was being done school students had the opportunity to learn and ask the scientists questions about the turtles, the tagging process, as well as meet the turtles face-to-face.
“When I first saw the turtle I was scared, but I see that they are gentle animals that we should look after. I love turtles!”, said one student.
Gaining an understanding of the movements of sea turtles is far from a simple task: turtles spend most of their life at sea, below the surface and 
tend to migrate long distances during different developmental, breeding and adult feeding phases. Recent technical advancements and the use of satellite transmitters have greatly increased our knowledge of local turtle migrations.
“The DECR is excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with the public and private sector to understand more about sea turtles in the TCI and how they use the marine environment here, as well as where they migrate to. It has also been rewarding and inspiring to have students involved in the experience, and we hope they stay engaged with the project, track the turtles over the coming months, and continue to ask questions and learn about the amazing natural environment in the TCI.” said Katharine Hart, DECR Environmental Officer.
Sea Turtles are very special animals, for a number of reasons, here are some fun facts about sea turtles: The oldest known sea turtle fossils date back about 150 million years, making them some of the oldest creatures on Earth. They love to travel, and some species can travel more than 10,000 miles every year. When it’s time to lay their eggs, female sea turtles return to the same nesting grounds where they were born, however since they don’t have to return to land to lay eggs, males almost never leave the ocean. During incubation, sex is determined by the temperature of the surrounding environment. Warm temperatures tend to produce more female hatchlings, whereas cooler temps result in males It is estimated that only one hatchling in a thousand will make it to adulthood.
Green sea turtles can stay underwater for up to five hours, but their feeding dives usually only last five minutes or less. There are seven species of sea turtles, six of which are either threatened or endangered. Humans pose the biggest threat to a sea turtle’s survival, which contributes to problems such as entanglement, habitat loss and consumption of their eggs and meat.
The DECR respectfully requests that anyone encountering a satellite tagged turtle in TCI waters please leave the animal alone, but report the sighting to DECR at environment@gov.tc or 342-7729.
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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