Latest news with #ISPA
Mail & Guardian
30-05-2025
- General
- Mail & Guardian
City of Cape Town investigates International Peace College building project
The International Peace College South Africa has been accused of illegally occupying part of a refurbished building in Cape Town after failing to submit building plans and appoint an engineer to oversee construction of the revamp project. Photos: Supplied The International Peace College South Africa (ISPA) has been accused of illegally occupying part of a refurbished building in Cape Town after failing to submit building plans and appoint an engineer to oversee construction of the revamp project. Whistleblower Salma Moosa, an interior architect who previously worked on the project in Rylands, told the Mail & Guardian about her year-long battle to get the The Moosa said she had sent emails to the city, including to mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, the office of the city ombudsman and the fire department in November 2024 but had not received a response to her complaint about the failure to In the meantime, she noticed that the building had been occupied. In her letter to Hill-Lewis, Moosa alleged that construction had continued on the site despite the city having issued a stop work notice to the IPSA on 18 April 2024. 'Despite my insistence that a structural engineer be appointed, the client refused to do so. I even went as far as bringing a structural engineer to site to evaluate the work … [The] municipality will be held accountable if the structure fails and there is a loss of life, as I have raised these concerns with the relative building inspectors for the area via telephone,' Moosa wrote. 'I am concerned about the safety of the students as it is a public building, and it is currently being used.' Moosa alleged building works proceeded with no professional engineer being appointed, no structural design plans, no sign-off of construction work and no architectural building plans were submitted or approved for the building works. 'The subcontractor did not follow any of the construction regulations for establishment of the site,' she alleged. 'The building is currently being utilised for teaching despite no occupational certificate issued.' Moosa said she eventually received a letter from the city's ombudsman on 15 May advising that the office was in the process of 'registering and assessing the matter' but this was only after the M&G had prodded the city regarding her complaint. She said she felt it was her moral duty to blow the whistle on the non-compliance with the building regulations. Cape Town's deputy mayor and mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, Eddie Andrews, confirmed Moosa's fears in his response to the M&G's questions regarding the status quo of the development. (Graphic: John McCann/M&G) 'The work done contravenes section 4(1) read with section 4(4) of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act No 103 of 1977. The owners started with building on site prior to obtaining written approval from the local authority for such work,' Andrews said. 'No building plan applications have been submitted to date, hence the matter is referred to the city's legal services department.' He added that it followed that 'no occupancy certificate has been issued, as no building plan has been approved'. Asked why the city had not forced the developer and the IPSA to comply with its stop work notice, Andrews said it was taking legal steps to enforce compliance. 'Due to non-compliance with the notices served on the registered owners, the matter was referred to the city's legal services department for prosecution/further processing to the municipal court,' he said. 'We are awaiting feedback from the processing office at legal services to determine where in the process the matter is. At this stage the matter is still being investigated by the city's legal services department.' Moosa said she had dealt with IPSA representative Nazier Osman regarding the project's construction work and interior design. Osman referred the M&G's request for comment to the college's attorney, Edwin Petersen, who, acting for Osman and the IPSA,demanded that the M&G retract the story and threatened legal action. Petersen said the allegations were 'unsubstantiated, defamatory, and malicious'. 'These claims are categorically denied in their entirety and are unequivocally rejected as false, reckless, and engineered to tarnish the reputation of both our client and the institution.' He said the allegations regarding the illegal building activity were 'devoid of truth' and 'constitute a deliberate campaign to damage IPSA's standing as a respected educational institution'. 'The insinuation that IPSA or Mr Nazier Osman engaged in unlawful construction practices is rejected. IPSA has consistently acted in good faith and is cooperating fully with the City of Cape Town's inquiries. Any suggestion [of] … non-compliance or negligence is vehemently denied. We are currently reviewing the matter, and a comprehensive response will be furnished in due course.' He said the company would submit its detailed response to the allegations by 16 May, but had not responded to the M&G's follow-up email requesting this further comment by the time of publication.
Hamilton Spectator
08-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Toronto Public Health is starting to suspend students over their vaccine records. Here's what to do if you've received a letter
Toronto Public Health has started to issue suspensions to some of the thousands of Toronto high school students whose records aren't up to date on required vaccinations. In a statement, the agency said over 10,000 Grade 11 students born in 2008 aren't caught up on immunizations in accordance with Ontario's Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA). TPH is gradually rolling out these suspension orders, starting with 21 secondary schools, from which an initial group of 173 pupils were suspended Tuesday — a number that has since decreased to 131, according to Dr. Vinita Dubey. Dubey, TPH's associate medical officer of health, told the Star on Wednesday the decline in the suspensions is due to more vaccinations or valid exemptions being reported after the initial suspension orders. As of Wednesday, of a second group of students from another 20 public Toronto high schools, 268 Grade 11 students are being suspended. 'Every day there's going to be more and more students who will be suspended. And hopefully more and more students who will also come off the suspension list,' she said. Suspensions will be sent across Toronto post-secondary schools on a rolling schedule until May. TPH says from the first batch of students at the 21 schools, the records of 957 students — about 70 per cent — weren't up to date at first, which means they received a letter from TPH about the missing vaccinations. A month later, 58 per cent were up to date. The remaining 574 students were sent suspension orders. Ontario is experiencing one of its largest measles outbreaks in decades though most recent vaccine suspensions are related to other diseases . The ISPA requires students to be vaccinated for diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease and pertussis (whooping cough). Students must also receive the vaccine for varicella — commonly known as chickenpox — if they're born in 2010 or later. Under this act, immunizations for the nine diseases are mandatory unless a valid exemption is on file, for medical, religious or conscientious reasons. Failure to meet these requirements could lead to a suspension from school for up to 20 days. During the COVID-19 pandemic, routine school-based vaccination programs for Grade 7 students were mostly unavailable, resulting in a number of current Grade 11 students falling behind on vaccinations for hepatitis B, HPV and meningococcal vaccines. Dubey said it's normal for parents and students to take a while to respond to these letters due to factors including language barriers for newcomers and situations when parents don't recognize 'this is something that has to be dealt with right away, or even that there's a suspension associated with this.' The agency doesn't just rely on the letter to inform parents but also sends the suspension list to principals to contact students' parents. Immunization assessments were conducted by TPH starting in the fall, revealing that of the 24,678 students born in 2008, only 26 per cent were initially on record with their vaccinations, prompting the agency to send letters to the families of 18,320 students missing immunizations. By February, 59 per cent of students were up to date — but the remaining 10,000 who didn't meet the ISPA got notices that if they didn't provide updated information to TPH, they would be suspended. Dubey said sometimes the onus is on parents to contact TPH to provide a child's up-to-date immunization record to avoid suspension, even if their child has already received their required vaccines. This is because sometimes TPH doesn't have all records or the child might be missing a booster dose. 'What parents don't recognize is their child may be fully vaccinated and they did the right thing and they got the vaccination,' she said. 'But unfortunately, there's no way for the physician to report the vaccination directly to public health. And so this is where the parent actually has to report the vaccination to us,' she said, adding that they're 'better off' contacting TPH to make sure the record is up to date. TPH says this 'underscores the importance of an electronic immunization registry .' TPH can help clarify to parents what vaccines their children are missing and Dubey says 'as long as we know that the child has started the process of getting vaccinations, we can pause the suspension.' Parents and students can call TPH (416-338-7600) for questions.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Agilysys Announces Its Book4Time Spa Software Solution Will Receive the 2024 ISPA Innovate Award at the 2025 ISPA Conference March 11-13 2025
-- Solution wins for RevStream Analytics™ technology that provides real-time, centralized visibility into spa revenue and data across multiple properties to identify trends, optimize yield management and improve operations and profitability -- ALPHARETTA, Ga., March 04, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), a leading global provider of hospitality software solutions and services, today announced that its Book4Time spa software solution will receive the 2024 ISPA Innovate Award when the ISPA organization hosts its annual conference and expo March 11 – 13, 2025 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Agilysys acquired Book4Time, a spa software company based in Canada, on August 20, 2024. The Book4Time spa software now is part of the Agilysys portfolio of hospitality software solutions, a broad array of market-leading, cloud-native solutions organized around the Company's technology platforms for property management (PMS), point-of-sale (POS), inventory and procurement (II&P) and food and beverage service management (FSM). ISPA Innovate Awards recognize creativity and adaptability displayed by ISPA member organizations across a variety of categories. Book4Time is being recognized in the Resource Partner – Software category for RevStream Analytics, advanced multi-location spa enterprise performance analysis logic and dashboards incorporated into the solution in 2024. RevStream Analytics consolidates and streamlines data from multiple spa locations in a portfolio to enable consistent revenue tracking, accurate forecasting and strategic yield management so that operators, owners and corporate leaders can optimize overall profitability. The system provides real-time, centralized visibility into key performance indicators, helping decision-makers quickly identify trends and areas for optimization. With actionable insights at their fingertips, users can make informed decisions to maximize efficiency and enhance the guest experience across their entire portfolio. Representing the Book4Time spa software at the 2025 ISPA Conference and Expo will be Sean Anderson, formerly Chief Revenue Officer of Book4Time and now Vice President of Ancillary Solution Sales and Business Development for Agilysys. "Now that we are part of Agilysys, we can extend the impact of our Book4Time software, not only through innovations such as RevStream Analytics, but also through integration with the Agilysys platform of hospitality solutions," Mr. Anderson said. Frank Pitsikalis, Senior Vice President, Product Strategy, for Agilysys, noted, "Through Agilysys, Book4Time users can gain the extended capabilities they want, such as club and membership management; digital marketing; loyalty and promotions; and personalization and recognition informed by broader guest data such as loyalty status and spend levels across a property. They also have the opportunity to up-level their PMS and POS capabilities through Agilysys systems seamlessly integrated with the Book4Time software." ISPA attendees can see demos of Agilysys solutions in two expo hall booths. The Book4Time spa software will be demonstrated in Agilysys Booth #602 (registered as the Book4Time booth prior to becoming part of Agilysys), while the Agilysys core software platforms for property management (PMS), point-of-sale (POS) and F&B inventory and procurement will be demonstrated in Agilysys Booth 102, along with ancillary revenue solutions -- including Agilysys Spa, Agilysys Golf, Agilysys Membership and Loyalty, Agilysys Residence Management, and Agilysys Digital Marketing. Attendees will learn how Book4Time spa software now integrates with these Agilysys software solutions, significantly broadening business automation and revenue expansion capabilities. About Agilysys, Inc. and Book4Time Spa Software Agilysys exclusively delivers state-of-the-art software solutions and services that help organizations achieve High Return Hospitality™ by maximizing Return on Experience (ROE) through interactions that make 'personal' profitable. Customers around the world use Agilysys Property Management Systems (PMS), Point-of-Sale (POS) solutions, Food & Beverage Inventory and Procurement (I&P) systems and accompanying hospitality ecosystem solutions to consistently delight guests, retain staff and grow margins. The Agilysys 100% hospitality customer base includes branded and independent hotels; multi-amenity resorts; casinos; property, hotel and resort management companies; cruise lines; corporate dining providers; higher education campus dining providers; food service management companies; hospitals; lifestyle communities; senior living facilities; stadiums; and theme parks. Book4Time, now a solution in the Agilysys hospitality software portfolio, is the leading spa and ancillary revenue management software for the world's top hotels and resorts, used by more Forbes 5-Star resorts than any other solution. Book4Time manages the end-to-end guest experience for international hotels, resorts, casinos, golf and private member clubs operating in more than 100 countries worldwide. View source version on Contacts Media Contacts: On site at the 2025 ISPA Conference and Expo:Sal Capizzi, Senior Director, Marketing, Agilysys716-906-4369 Americas: Jen Reeves, 770-810-6007 Rest of World: Alan Edwards/Champion Communications +44 207 030 3818agilysys@ Investor Contact: Jessica Hennessy, Agilysys, Inc., or investorrelations@ Sign in to access your portfolio
