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Turks and Caicos Islands and 20 of its Resorts Have Been Nominated for Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards

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Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands (Thursday, December 22, 2022) – The Turks and Caicos Islands has recently been nominated for Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards – one of the industry’s most respected and coveted honours. Impressively, 20 resorts in the Turks and Caicos Islands have also been nominated for T+L’s World’s Best Awards 2023 – Amanyara, Ambergris Cay, Beach EnclaveBeach House, BeachesClub Med TurkoiseCOMO Parrot Cay, Grace Bay Club, Ocean Club Resorts, Pine Cay, Point Grace, Rock House, Sailrock Resort, Seven Stars Resort & Spa, The Palms, The Ritz-Carlton, The Shore Club, The Somerset on Grace Bay, West Bay Club, as well as Wymara Resort & Villas.

In 2022, Travel + Leisure listed the Turks and Caicos Islands as one of “The 25 Best Islands in the Caribbean, Bermuda and the Bahamas”, and 3 of the Turks and Caicos Islands’ resorts – The Shore Club, The Palms, and Beach Enclave – were listed as one of “The 25 Best Resort Hotels in the Caribbean, Bermuda, and the Bahamas” with The Shore Club and The Palms also being listed as one of “The 100 Best Hotels in the World”.

“These nominations are indicative of the dedication that our tourism stakeholders have in moulding and sustaining the world-class tourism product that the Turks and Caicos Islands possesses and continues to improve upon”, said Acting Director of Tourism, Mary Lightbourne. “It is an honour to have received these nominations and we highly encourage everyone to take the time to vote for our beautiful by nature, Turks and Caicos Islands” added Lightbourne.

2022 has been an incredibly strong year for tourism in the Turks and Caicos Islands. A recent Tripadvisor report identified the Turks and Caicos Islands as the World’s Top Trending Travel Destination for Fall 2022. In August, at the Caribbean & The Americas Gala Ceremony of the World Travel Awards, the Turks and Caicos Islands won two awards – Caribbean’s Leading Beach Destination and Caribbean’s Most Romantic Destination. The Turks and Caicos Islands was then nominated for three World Travel Awards – World’s Leading Beach Destination, World’s Leading Island Destination, and World’s Most Romantic Destination. In October, for the 2022 Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards, the Turks and Caicos Islands was voted the #3 Island in the Caribbean and The Atlantic, and resorts in the Turks and Caicos Islands claimed 9 of the top 15 spots for the Top 15 Resorts in the Atlantic Islands category – including the top spot, which was earned by COMO Parrot Cay.

“Receiving so many nominations for Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2023 is a perfect way to end 2022, which has been one of the most impressive years for tourism in the history of the Turks and Caicos Islands”, said Minister of Tourism, Hon. Josephine Connolly. “Our tourism stakeholders have worked tirelessly to facilitate a successful rebound of our industry post-opening our borders. And we are excited to continue to build on all of our momentum and strive to achieve even greater results in 2023”, added Hon. Connolly.

Voting for Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards 2023 will be live until Monday, February 27, 2023 and the results will be published in Travel and Leisure’s August issue, as well as online at travelandleisure.com. Votes can be cast online at https://wba.m-rr.com/home.

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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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