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BTC Receives PADI Award for 25 Years of Membership

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#TurksandCaicos, December 16, 2022 – The watersports department at Beaches Turks and Caicos (BTC) was recently recognised by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) for its stellar performance in providing mentorship and diver training with over 25 years of membership in the association. The BTC team in celebrating this momentous anniversary, simultaneously certified three Open Water Scuba Instructors (OWSI) to bring the cadre of resort instructors to 14.

BTC’s watersports department is provides diving enthusiasts with two scheduled dive trips per day and has increased the capacity of those exploring the open waters to almost 50 guests per day.

Elvis Grant, dive shop manager was a happy leader as he shared the benefits of being recognised by PADI and the increase in the cadre of open water scuba instructors. Said Grant, “As a team, being able to provide diving opportunities for almost 50 guests each day will greatly enhance our scuba experiences. Many of our guests return for the fantastic diving expeditions available in the Turks & Caicos and for the open water scuba instructors to not only teach those  exploring for the first time but also to work with more advanced divers, is part of our commitment to provide memorable vacation experiences.”

With the increase in the number of instructors, BTC which is currently an Instructor Development Centre (IDC) has been able to provide one course per year. Additionally, BTC is able to certify divers, by taking them from the beginners’ level to becoming an advanced scuba diver.

Grant who has more than 28 of years diving experience with Sandals and Beaches resorts sees a bright path for the newly minted instructors. “We are on the cusp of achieving what no other resort has been able to achieve in Turks and Caicos and the Northern Caribbean. Sandals and Beaches resorts have certified more people than any other single operation in the world. With us looking at becoming a Career Development Centre, we expect to be able to create an academy that will undoubtedly allow us to become the resort of choice for guests who have scuba activities as a preference,” Grant added.

General Manager, James McAnally while congratulating the Watersports team shared, “this PADI Instructor Development Centre accreditation for 25 consistent years, makes us the only resort with such an accomplishment in the entire TCI and the Northern Caribbean. This is due to the hard work and commitment of the team. Commendations are in order for them in helping to maintain and establish BTC as the premier resort for guests who have an interest in scuba and other watersport-related activities. These men and women continue to give each guest more than what he or she expects.”

The three newest members to become instructors; Arvin Frayna, Elisee Exumat, and Ruben Manzano all shared their commendations on the work of their colleague and mentor Leonard ‘Johnny’ Suckrajh, dive instructor at BTC, for helping them to be the professionals that they have become. Manzano said, “In October, we were able to certify almost 120 scuba divers. With the passion of each member of the team, we are able to commit  to providing e a safe space for learning and becoming certified with PADI here at BTC.”

“Our passion for growth in scuba goes beyond personal development at this level of being an instructor. We value our role as instructors, as we guide guests to  experience advanced certifications and achieve new rankings while on vacation at the resort. As we grew in the industry, Johnny was the first person to guide all three of us to the experiences of scuba diving. As a resort, we live and grow as a team and with the training and development programme available, the opportunities to grow and experience our full potential is always within our reach,” Manzano added.

Michael Clarke, Sandals’ Corporate Director, Watersports and PADI Director shared, “The Sandals and Beaches brand offers so many possibilities from a watersports perspective and diving is just one of them. Our group has over 25 of the best, state-of-the-art dive boats in operation across the region and they are customized specifically for diving and making the entire process of moving equipment and accessibility easy for our guests. We also have 157 highly experienced diving instructors and, overall, almost 700 staff in watersports. Our guests keep coming back because of the service delivery backed by highly-trained staff, a high safety record, and top-tier equipment that we service. We are amassing over 89,000 dives yearly with over 27,000 persons and it shows that people really enjoy this. It speaks to the fact that we’re doing many things right.”

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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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Caribbean News

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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Caribbean News

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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