▶ 02 LocaL April 26, 2012 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ www.fptci.com Beaches’ Stewart defends hiring Jamaican workers Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort Villages and Spa will be hiring more than <strong>10</strong>0 Jamaicans because efforts to hire local islanders have fallen short, says Butch Stewart, chairman and founder of Sandals Resorts International. A recent story in Stewart’s Jamaica Observer newspaper announcing the addition of Jamaicans to the TCI resort staff sparked concern from the Ministry of Border Control and Labour. “If true, t<strong>his</strong> would not be in line with recent discussions between the Ministry and Beaches Resort, as Beaches Resort has never indicated that there is such a major staff shortage which cannot be met from within the Turks and Caicos Islands,” the ministry said in an April 20 statement. “Beaches resort management have also, along with the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association, been working with the ministry to identify jobs for people affected by the (government’s) voluntary severance programme, in a process which is still going on.” Stewart answered the ministry’s call for an explanation with a press statement of <strong>his</strong> own April 23, saying the resort — the country’s largest employer with 1,247 people — is currently understaffed by 13 percent. “The labour shortage at Beaches simply cannot be eliminated utilizing the employment pool in the Turks and Caicos Islands alone, and our need to recruit from overseas is out of necessity,” according to a Beaches document accompanying Stewart’s statement. “In accordance with the Ministry of Labour’s immigration ordinance, we look to recruit from the unemployment register in the Labour Department as the first option,” the Beaches statement said. “Last year we scheduled a total of 554 interviews from the unemployment register, recruiting 154 persons (46 percent) from those interviewed. In 40 percent of scheduled interviews, the interviewee failed to attend.” “Thanks to our ‘Belongers First’ recruitment policy, the Belonger and Permanent Residence Certificate workforce has doubled since 2009. Last year, we recruited a total of 219 persons. 154 were Belongers, and a further 27 were PRC holders. T<strong>his</strong> year we have recruited 70 individuals, 61 of them were Belongers or PRC holders.” Beaches also has intern partnerships with local high schools and the TCI Community College. “Last year, 86 students were attached to various internship and summer student programmes at the resort. Many of these students joined the resort as permanent team members after graduation,” Beaches said. Stewart, a Jamaican, said he was saddened by “the anti-Ja- <strong>10</strong> <strong>defendants</strong> ordered to stand trial sIpt continued from page 1 publication of all but the outcome of the hearings. None of the evidence discussed can be published, but prosecutors have said in previous hearings that the charges involve fraudulent Crown land transactions, money laundering and bribery. Ramsay-Hale’s April 20 order set dates in June and July for prosecutors and <strong>defendants</strong> to submit arguments on various matters, including the prosecutors’ request that <strong>defendants</strong> be tried by a judge without a jury. The Constitution which has been suspended since August 2009 but will soon be replaced by a new document had guaranteed the right to criminal trials by jury in the Supreme Court, but no one has been denied that right so far. Criminal <strong>defendants</strong> had the right to request a trial by a judge alone, but a bill passed in No- sImOns continued from page 1 deficits caused by government overspending and the worldwide economic downturn. Another target for <strong>Simons</strong> would be the governor’s order that the National Insurance Board pay $<strong>10</strong> million to government to cover medical reimbursements that former elected governments never sought. That order currently is being challenged in court. <strong>Simons</strong>, a Queen’s Counsel attorney, was appointed to the Consultative Forum in 2009 but resigned in March 20<strong>10</strong> to announce <strong>his</strong> <strong>candidacy</strong> for <strong>PNP</strong> leader. In August 20<strong>10</strong>, Clayton Greene defeated <strong>Simons</strong>. Since then <strong>Simons</strong> has made no secret that he would challenge Greene, who is facing money vember 20<strong>10</strong> gave that option to prosecutors as well, which is similar to the law in the U.K. Under the new law, a judge would make the decision if a trial would be held without a jury, but that ruling can be appealed to a three-judge Court of Appeal. The judge who makes the ruling then would not be the judge who tries the case. Former Premier Michael Misick has not been charged with any crimes, but he has refused to report to SIPT for questioning. An Interpol notice has been issued for <strong>his</strong> arrest, but Misick says he is seeking asylum in an undisclosed country to escape political persecution. He has called on the U.N. commissioner of human rights to intervene in <strong>his</strong> case, claiming violations by the U.K. and the interim TCI government that suspended elected government and took control of the country in 2009. <strong>Simons</strong> <strong>outlines</strong> <strong>his</strong> <strong>PNP</strong> <strong>leadership</strong> <strong>candidacy</strong> laundering charges from the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT). Greene has said he will not seek re-election in May. So far, the only other candidate is Dr. Rufus Ewing, who left <strong>his</strong> job in March as director of Medical Services for the Ministry of Health and Human Services and announced <strong>his</strong> <strong>candidacy</strong> April 11. <strong>Simons</strong> said Ewing is “a bright, well-spoken, charismatic young man with fire in <strong>his</strong> belly,” but <strong>Simons</strong> said the times demand someone with more maturity and experience to “make the case for the TCI, both legally and otherwise, and to press that case in whatever forum it needs to be taken, whether to the FCO in London or to the United Nations in New York.” maican sentiment”some have expressed. “The decision to recruit team members from overseas is not a preference, it is an absolute necessity,” Stewart said. “However, the fact of the matter is that we have to fill certain positions in order to run the resort, and if Turks and Caicos Islanders are not willing or able to fill them, we have a responsibility to find people who are.” Carlos <strong>Simons</strong>, a candidate for leader of the Progressive National Party, called Beaches’ plans “scandalous” and accused the interim government for allowing it to happen. “It is clear to me that the interim administration which ought to be protecting the TCI workforce has abandoned its responsibility to do so,” <strong>Simons</strong> The Ministry of Finance is seeking public input until May 25 on a 23-page report explaining proposed features of value added taxes in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The new type of consumption tax is expected to be implemented April 1, 2013, to raise more revenue and spread the tax burden more evenly in the islands. VAT is considered a stable tax that is more resistant to economic downturns than the current system that relies heavily on customs duty and property sales tax. The VAT rate has not been set, but the Green Paper estimates a rate between 8.5 and 12.5 percent that will depend on how f p said in an April 20 statement. “How else can you explain laying off hundreds of public servants but at the same time allowing a private sector employer to import hundreds of foreign workers without first offering those opportunities to the laid off public servants and other unemployed TCI workers?” <strong>Simons</strong> was referring to the government’s voluntary severance programme in which 400 employees elected to take cash equal to as much as two years’ pay to leave their government jobs. The programme aimed to reduce government spending to match revenues and eliminate deficit spending, one of the requirements for the U.K. to allow return to elected government. Public comment sought on VAT proposal until May 25 For more information Read the 23-page VAT Green Paper with t<strong>his</strong> story at fptci.com or in our online Public Documents section. Submit comments until May 25 by e-mail to vatunit@gov.tc or vatunit@ gmail.com. much revenue is predicted and how many items are exempt. For more information, contact the VAT Unit of the Ministry of Finance in Butterfield Square on Providenciales or e-mail vatunit@gov.tc or vatunit@gmail.com. fp Turks & Caicos First Publishing Ltd. P.O. Box 257 Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands, BWI Published Thursdays on the Web: fptci.com E-paper / News Alerts / Searchable Archives Contact us ▶News tips and press releases: news@fptci.com / (649) 332-5615 ▶Advertising: sales@fptci.com / (649) 332-5615 ▶Web site: info@fptci.com ▶Letters to the Editor: lettertoeditor@fptci.com Letters Policy We welcome letters from our readers. Letters must include the writer’s name, address, e-mail address and a telephone number for verification purposes. Only name and hometown will be printed. Pen names are not allowed, and anonymous letters will not be published. Publication is discretionary. All letters are subject to editing for length (500 words), clarity, grammar, libel and good taste.
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