News
‘Lord Help Us Protest’ wants better Medical Care at Home, stands to save TCI $Millions and save TCI Lives
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, August 4, 2022 – Some TCI residents say they are concerned about the medical services being offered on island and gathered in what they call a “Lord help us” protest early last week.
The group gathered at the Providenciales morgue with black signs bemoaning the lack of an ICU and other medical services in country.
Some of the signs simply read “Help” in bold red letters. One of the protestors carried a wreath while others marched with a makeshift casket. The residents say they were tired of the lack of a proper ICU and being sent overseas for care.
The lack of an on island ICU means critical patients have to be flown overseas to receive care via the Treatment Abroad Program (TAP) of the National Health Insurance Plan. This is a process that includes finding and contacting a doctor/facility overseas to treat the individual, waiting for confirmation and transferring the patient via flight or medical ambulance all of which takes valuable time.
Only patients who are unable to be treated at the local InterHealth Canada TCI Hospitals are approved for the Treatment Abroad Program. 
There have been slip-ups in the system before and the Government has created a tribunal to hear the complaints of those who believe they have not been treated properly. The National Insurance Board Appeals Tribunal became active on June 28th, 2022 and manages appeals about treatment abroad and other issues including reimbursements.
Health Minister Jamell Robinson had said once an overseas referral was confirmed by the Joint Referral Committee and a regional doctor has accepted the case the person would be free to leave to seek treatment unless they were dissatisfied. If they were, they would have 21 days to appeal. Contributors with older cases were encouraged by the Minister to file them with the NHIB so the newly set up tribunal could assess them.
“We’re giving a window for those older cases to be ‘grandfathered’ in.” Robinson had explained but everything else after that must stick to the 21-day rule.
The Turks and Caicos Hospitals also announced at the end of June that they are working towards getting an ICU on island but the process is an intricate one that cannot be rushed. A case study is in development for presentation to the TCI Govermment.
CEO of InterHealth Canada, Dr. Denise Braithwaite Tennant had explained that building a business case for an ICU is time consuming, because of the staffing complexity, functional programming, infrastructure complexity and many other areas that must be completed with care.
Despite the difficulty, TCI Hospitals said it is aggressively campaigning for the ICU and expects the government to have the completed business case by the end of 2022.
For this group of protestors, the news may be welcomed but they are letting their voices on the issue be heard. At this time, Turks and Caicos is investing tens of millions of dollars in the Treatment Abroad Program which is partly funded by contributors payments into the National Health Insurance and Government subvention of the shortfall.
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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