PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos, CMC – Voters in the Cheshire Hall and Richmond Hills constituency will elect a new parliamentary representative on February 22 in a by-election that could possibly result in a change of government in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). Following the November 1 elections last year, the Progressive National Party (PNP) held a one seat majority over the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) but a court ruling last week, meant that both parties now held eight seats each in the Parliament.
Associate Member
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Feb 10, CMC - Four Irish sailors bound for the Caribbean were rescued from their stricken yacht, which later sank, 70 miles north of Bermuda. According to reports the sailors had planned to stop in Bermuda before heading to Antigua following the incident marine officials reported that the sailors are now heading to Turkey. The men - two in their 70s and two in their 50s , had to deal with battery failure 400 miles off the Delaware coast as well as engine failure on board the Wolfhound, a 48-foot Swan class sloop, a day after departing Westbrook, Connecticut.
MCALLEN, Texas, (Reuters) – U.S. authorities seized $2.2 million from a bank account they said was controlled by a former Mexican official-turned-fugitive who is accused of stealing public funds in a scheme that involved hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent bank loans, according to court papers released yesterday. Federal authorities seized the money from the Bermuda bank account believed to have been controlled by Hector Javier Villarreal Hernandez, a former finance secretary in Mexico’s Coahuila state on the border with Texas.
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, CMC – Police have extended the bail of ex premier McKeeva Bush to late March this year after he presented himself to law enforcement officers on Tuesday in keeping with the terms of his original police bail following his arrest on suspicion of theft and corruption last December. The Cayman Islands police said the investigation into the 57-year-old former head of government in this British Overseas territory “is still very active and police are following several positive lines of enquiry.
Bermuda, CMC - A Canadian low-cost airline says it plans to sue a couple after they were fined US$500 each in a court here following an altercation on a Caribbean-bound plane which forced the captain to divert the airline to Bermuda.
Bermuda police arrested the Canadian couple and their 22-year-old son after the Sunwing Airlines' flight, carrying 170 passengers, touched down at Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport last Friday. A younger son with the family was not arrested.
The plane continued its journey to its original destination on Saturday.
HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC -- The new One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) government has scrapped the island’s term limit policy, introduced by the previous administration 12 years ago, in a move aimed at boosting the sluggish economy. Announcing the policy change during a media briefing on Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy said “We believe that the elimination of the policy will help spark economic growth and create employment opportunities for Bermudians. “I want to assure the people of this country that this was not a decision that was taken lightly.
PROVIDENCIALS, Turks and Caicos, CMC – The Turks and Caicos Islands government has formally requested the extradition of former premier Michael Misick from Brazil, where he has been in prison since his arrest on December 7 last year.
A brief statement by Attorney General Huw Shepheard, noted that “the formal request” had been lodged with the Brazilian government on Tuesday”.
“The Turks and Caicos Islands’ Chief Magistrate and the acting Attorney General formally certified the papers last week and they were taken to Brazil on Sunday.
HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – The main opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has dismissed claims by Premier Craig Cannonier that it spent “upwards of US$100 million a year on consultants”.
PLP chairman Maynard Dill described the claims as “fairytale numbers” indicating that figures released on the website of the Ministry of Finance showed the figure to be $50.7 million for the year.
HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC - Premier Craig Cannonier has announced a 50 per cent reduction in the fleet of official cars used by cabinet ministers as his new One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) administration moves to reduce expenditure.
Premier Cannonier said while the OBA is still analysing the country's financial state, voters have clearly indicated that they “want and expect our government to be rational and organized as we face these enormous financial challenges that were inherited from the PLP (Progressive Liberal Party).
HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC - Finance Minister Bob Richards says the new One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) government will honour a pre-election pledge not to lay off any civil servants but “shared sacrifice” is necessary to tackle Bermuda’s soaring debt.
He said government finances were "every bit as bad as we had feared" before the OBA took power a month ago.
On Wednesday, Richards said the government would seek talks with public-sector unions with pay cuts and shorter working weeks among the options on the table.