News
TCI Regiment, Tradewinds
#TurksandCaicos, August 14, 2023 – In July 2023 the TCI Regiment sent a contingent of marines to attend exercise TRADEWINDS in Guyana. Tradewinds 23 training focus areas included human rights awareness, anti-trafficking operations, marksmanship, jungle warfare, military support to law enforcement, small unit and confined area security tactics, airborne operations, cybersecurity, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, and maritime skills.
Participants trained across Guyana, in Georgetown, Camp Ayanganna, Camp Stephenson, Camp Seweyo, Air Base
London, the Guyana Police Academy, and the Jungle Amphibious Training School in Makouria.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment continued with growth and development across its newly formed organization; as a territorial infantry and engineer reserve unit of the British
Armed forces, the ‘Regiment’ as its locally known recently participated in US -Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) sponsored Tradewinds which was held in Guyana, South America July 14th -28th 2023.
The Military Contingent force and home defense unit entrusted 19 of its members as ambassadors for the TCI in one of the largest joint exercises of Military Forces within the Caribbean Region where 1,500 plus participants from the USA and 21 partner nations trained in a multi – domain exercise. The TCI being an attachment to the Royal Bermuda Regiment operated and trained alongside Guyana (host nation), Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 
The TCI Regiment’s ISTAR Officer, Lieutenant Earl Henry, lead the 18-member team and was happy to report Mission Success for the troops he led:
‘’Since 1984 Tradewinds was designed to expand the Caribbean Region’s capability to mitigate, plan for, and increase regional training capacity towards interoperability and respond to crisis. We are very grateful to the TCI Government, H.E. Governor Dileeni Daniel – Selvaratnam, and the Royal Bermuda Regiment who afforded us a vast delivery of experiences inside of a twoweek military camp. Despite a steep learning curve everyone worked hard, remained professional and it was enjoyable. This now allows the TCI Regiment an opportunity to develop new and refine existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) within the organization; especially in areas where we increase readiness, promote human rights, and adhere to shared international norms and values.”
The official Facebook page of U.S. Army South, the Army Component Command to U.S. Southern Command shared
a testament of a few marines of the Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment during their tenure at the camp using #FacesOfTradewinds.
Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Regiment Marine Dalton Daniel.
“TRADEWINDS 23 has been tough, so far, but I’m really enjoying it. You know, I’m learning a lot, meeting people from other countries and getting the opportunity to improve my training. Hopefully, what I’ve learned here I can pass back to the rest of the TCI Regiment. I knew some of the other [service members] from Bermuda because we worked the Coronation together so I was really cool to see them again.
I’m really glad that I had this opportunity to come to Guyana to be a part of TRADEWINDS so I really appreciate everything.”
Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Regiment Marine Ronica Ewing.
“TRADEWINDS has been challenging but it’s been fun as well…I get to meet people from different backgrounds. Some people from the different regiments as well. I learned how each regiment operates so I can take things from each one and take it back home to improve the regiment that we now have, which has only been in operation for about three years now.
The best thing is learning about the different weapons that they use and also getting that more hands-on military experience… what to expect and so forth. Another thing is, it is preparing me mentally. So when people look at us, they see we’re just normal people, but what they don’t see is the things that we have to go through, the things preparing us for what is about to take place if a conflict were to take place. I’ve met quite a few people. We have a lot in common.”
Overall, members of the Nineteen (19) member team are now safely back in the Beautiful by Nature Turks and Caicos Islands and have already commenced educating new and existing members of the ‘Regiment ‘on what was learned during US SOUTHCOM Tradewinds Guyana 2023.
TCIG knew from April that fuel factor could surge almost 80%; Minister says $500 cost-of-living payment was part of Government’s response
PROVIDENCIALES — The Turks and Caicos Government knew months before July’s shocking electricity bills that consumers faced a potentially massive increase in the fuel factor.
Minister of Information Technology and Energy E. Jay Saunders revealed Friday that Pelican Energy warned his Ministry in April that generation fuel costs were projected to rise from $3.09 per gallon in May to $4.79 in June and July.
That translated into a projected fuel factor jump from about 17.5 cents to 31 cents per kilowatt-hour — an increase of almost 80%.
Saunders said he personally advised Cabinet of the projected increase and presented options for cushioning the impact.
He characterised Government’s $500 cost-of-living payment as its “initial response” to rising fuel costs, before a separate fuel-factor subsidy was approved.
Cabinet records show Government agreed on June 24 to provide funding to mitigate the fuel-factor impact, with the relief programme approved July 8.
Eligible residential customers — those averaging less than $1,500 monthly over the previous three bills — are capped at 22 cents per kWh from July through October.
Pelican confirmed Friday that Government’s contribution was already applied to July bills, meaning the bills now triggering widespread public outrage would have been even higher without the subsidy.
Saunders did not disclose the programme’s total cost.
His admission that Government knew since April, however, raises another question amid the backlash: why were consumers not directly warned by Government about the scale of the approaching increase?
NASSAU, Bahamas — More Bahamians are accessing HIV and sexually transmitted infection-related healthcare through National Health Insurance, a trend the NHI Authority says should be viewed positively.
NHIA stressed in an August 6 statement that its 2025 figures measure healthcare utilisation, not newly diagnosed infections. They include beneficiaries screened, treated, monitored or receiving follow-up care, including people diagnosed previously.
“Increased utilisation of these services should be viewed as a positive development,” NHIA said.
The Authority pointed to “greater enrolment and use of NHI, improved access to screening and testing, continued treatment and monitoring of existing conditions, and increased willingness to seek medical care.”
The development comes amid a mixed three-year HIV picture. New diagnoses rose from 130 in 2023 to 156 in 2024, before declining to 142 in 2025.
NHIA said increased utilisation demonstrates that more beneficiaries are accessing needed healthcare and actively managing their health, reinforcing the importance of screening, early diagnosis and continued treatment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Americas has recorded 47,459 confirmed measles cases and 44 deaths in 2026, the region’s highest case count in 22 years, prompting the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to urge stronger vaccination, surveillance and rapid outbreak response.
As of July 18, cases were already more than triple the 15,011 recorded during all of 2025. Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Peru
account for 95% of confirmed cases. Guatemala leads with 30,371 cases and 26 deaths, followed by Mexico with 12,255 cases and 17 deaths.
PAHO classifies the regional public health risk as very high, citing active outbreaks, immunity gaps, international travel and populations with inadequate vaccination coverage.
The organization says prevention starts with vaccination. Countries are being urged to achieve and maintain at least 95% coverage with two doses of measles-containing vaccine, particularly protecting children and under-vaccinated communities.
Measles spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash.
PAHO is urging health authorities to detect suspected cases early and respond rapidly to stop transmission. Unvaccinated and under-vaccinated people, young children and communities with limited healthcare access face increased risk of severe illness and death.
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