News
Fire in Leeward Palms Tuesday night, homeowner has a warning for the rest of us
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, June 30, 2022 – After nearly half of her home was destroyed by fire Tuesday night one resident from Leeward Palms wants to remind homeowners that burglary is not the only thing they should remain vigilant about.
The homeowner, who asked to remain anonymous wanted to share her story in the hopes it would help other residents to be prepared in the event of any emergency or danger.
She explained that on Tuesday night, she had retired for the evening and was in bed when her dog began barking suspiciously as if to alert her. Immediately she peered out of the windows of the home she shared with her son but in seeing nothing suspicious she got back into bed.
Unbeknownst to her, the eastern side of her house which she could not see from her window was ablaze at that very moment.
Further tragedy was prevented by a Good Samaritan who noticed the flames and rang her son who was at work at the West Bay Club at the time to inform him. Immediately he started home and called to alert his mother who grabbed the dog and got out of the burning building.
The Domestic Firefighters were called for assistance with the blaze but it was the Leeward Palms residents who saved the day. Armed only with regular low-pressure garden hoses the son and neighbors managed to put out the fire in the reported 45-minutes it took the fire crew to arrive on scene.
While no one was hurt, the family especially her son sustained significant losses and the resident, who is an
employee with the TCI Government is warning other Turks and Caicos residents that a little vigilance can go a long way.
Fire emergency experts say you may have as little as two minutes to escape a blazing home. Caribbean people love to say ‘ you neva see smoke without fiyah’ but what if like you can’t see the smoke?
An easy way to get immediate alerts about any potential blaze is to install smoke detectors in your home. Portable smoke detectors that you can attach to the walls or just place on a shelf in each room retail for as low as $12 on Amazon.
Fire extinguishers are especially handy because water won’t put out every type of fire, trying to spray water on an oil fire will only make it worse as oil floats on water (which is how fires can last on the ocean). There are large and small ones available online for as low as $10 dollars.
Even more protection can come in the form of sprinklers, these do need expert installation and are good deal more pricey than a smoke detector but are a guaranteed defense for potential fires when no one is at home.
Another level of protection not necessary for fires but still important for anyone with an A/C unit is a carbon monoxide detector. Retailing for as low as $30 on Amazon these are especially important. Carbon monoxide does not have a scent or visible marker but can make you ill from small bouts of exposure and can easily kill an adult while they are asleep.
Encourage your children not to leave curling irons or similar implements plugged in, pay attention to stoves microwaves, coffee pots, toasters, irons and ovens to make sure they are not touching flammable surfaces and are always unplugged when not in use.
Check your smoke alarm batteries regularly to make sure they still work and purchase home and contents insurance plans to protect your assets and ensure a smooth recovery. Contents insurance may also be a good idea as home insurance may only cover the building while everything that really matters is inside.
Keep your important documents together in one central location that you can grab quickly. Even better would be housing them in a fireproof safe so when the dust settles you can recover them and they will be good as new.
In the unfortunate case that there is a fire you can’t control or prevent, every family should have a fire emergency plan with escape routes. Practice your plan several times a year and make sure your children know it well.
Most importantly do not try to move anything out or save anything! Get your family and pets out immediately; lives are irreplaceable.
In this case, lives were spared and so were important documents; the home is also insured. Now, with investigators having completed their assessment of the scene, the family awaits information on what triggered the fire and report to us that they are busy mopping up water, clearing debris and cleaning soot from walls and ceiling.
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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