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JAMAICA: Government Will Never Allow Criminals to Tarnish Tourism – Prime Minister

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#Jamaica, May 03, 2018 – Montego Bay – Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Government has no intention to sit idly by and watch the country’s iconic tourism brand get tarnished by criminals.  Addressing a function at the Jewel Grande Hotel in Rose Hall, St. James, on April 28, the Prime Minister said that on a recent trip overseas, he was frequently asked by journalists, “what are we doing about the crime situation?”

“Then the second question they asked was, ‘how is the state of emergency affecting tourism?’,” Mr. Holness added.

“Two contradictory positions.  They want us to address the crime and violence issue, but they are not understanding the need for the use of extraordinary powers to address it,” Mr. Holness said.

The Prime Minister said the Government took careful consideration of what was at stake prior to calling a state of public emergency in the parish of St. James, adding that the only criticism was “why it took so long for us to call it”.

“The effect of it in the first three weeks was significant. My assessment of it now is that there is still some effect, but there is recovery,” he noted.

Mr. Holness said the Government ensured that in making the call to have a state of public emergency “in our tourist area that our security forces were trained and prepared to be an asset for Jamaica”.

“In other words, there is no one who could report that the behaviour of the security forces had a negative impact on the tourism product.  Indeed, our strategic thinking is that, in the long run, when this is assessed… the credit will be given to the security forces and to Jamaica that we were able to use extraordinary powers without abusing citizens or our visitors,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr. Holness said the Government is willing to wager that at the end of “these extraordinary security powers, we would have eroded the three main threats to the St. James economy”.

“They are the same three threats to Jamaica – guns, gangs and dons. You would have heard about what happened earlier today (Saturday, April 28), in an upscale community, where one of St. James’ most wanted was fatally apprehended by the police.  The police were very patient and precise as there were no civilian casualties,” he noted.

Mr. Holness pointed out that during the standoff, two policemen were injured, but, fortunately, not critically.  He added that the state of public emergency should not be viewed as a public relations exercise.  “We are actually using these extraordinary powers to degrade the capacity and to remove the opportunity of the criminals,” he said.

Mr. Holness said he wants the criminals to know that they are not reading the situation correctly, adding that the Government has no intention to relent or give up its strategic objectives.

 

Release: JIS

 

 

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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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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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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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