Connect with us

Caribbean News

What is possible between Turks and Caicos and Estonia, the Deputy Premier believes ‘much’

Published

on

#Basseterre,  February 28, 2019 – St. Kitts and Nevis – Maybe the reported tens of thousands of Turks and Caicos Islanders who live outside of the territory can be added to the voter register to build from a mere 8,000 electors, maybe lines at government offices and banks would be completely eliminated because transactions and applications could be seamlessly entered online; could we imagine an end to traffic stops as police officers could access onboard computers for relevant data or perhaps information and personal security could become totally impenetrable!

These are the possibilities because these are just some of the astounding feats of Estonia, home to just over 1.3 million people in northern Europe.  Estonia is hailed as the most digitally advanced country on the planet and the TCIs Deputy Premier, Sean Astwood was impressed by her message at the 30th Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM. 

“Estonia is an example that a country can go from nearly zero to 100 in less than 15 years. They were a client state of the Soviet Union, and they developed a vision and strategy and actually executed it,” the Deputy Premier replied via WhatsApp while on a flight; following the conclusion today of the CARICOM meeting hosted in St. Kitts and Nevis.

We asked:  Does Estonia’s e-Governance model provide potential solutions for TCI?

The Deputy Premier responded with: “Yes. First, they are the example I just spoke of. Second, there are aspects of Estonia’s success which are best practices for small nations in my view. Third, it’s not a question of just looking at Estonia and trying to copy. But looking at ourselves and deciding what of their success applies to us.”

Hon. Sean Astwood (TCI) and PM of St. Kitts Hon. Timothy Harris

In a near 28-minute presentation at the CARICOM meeting which ran February 26-27, the President of Estonia made quite an impression on the group when she challenged the region to ‘do it together’ in order to ‘leap frog’ over regional counterparts for a Digital Caribbean.

The DP, who is also minister of Border Control and Employment assured us that this gesture by Estonia is not only amazingly intriguing but amazingly generous.

Magnetic Media asked; “Is this a service they are selling?  Is it cost effective for SIDS or Small Island Developing States?”

“No. There is no selling. Estonia is doing what smart nations do. They use their intelligence and skill to develop from zero to the most wired nations in the world. Sharing this success is part of their foreign policy; they are developing global networks of collaboration. In my view, it’s a new good kind of globalisation.”

#magneticmedianews

#isegovernanceanswerfortci

Continue Reading

Caribbean News

CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Caribbean News

Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Caribbean News

Supreme Court Closed for Easter

Published

on

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

Continue Reading

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

TRENDING