Falklands : Pulic Meeting Report 24 November 2009
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 01.12.2009 (Article Archived on 15.12.2009)
A public meeting took place in the Court and Assembly Chamber of the Town Hall at 1700hrs on Tuesday, 24 November 2009. Present were The Hon Bill Luxton (BL), The Hon Gavin Short (GS), The Hon Dick Sawle (DS), The Hon Roger Edwards (RE), The Hon Jan Cheek (JC), The Hon Sharon Halford (SH), The Hon Emma Edwards (EE), and The Hon Glenn Ross.
PUBLIC MEETING REPORT
TUESDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2009
By J. Brock (FINN)
A public meeting took place in the Court and Assembly Chamber of the Town Hall at 1700hrs on Tuesday, 24 November 2009. Present were The Hon Bill Luxton (BL), The Hon Gavin Short (GS), The Hon Dick Sawle (DS), The Hon Roger Edwards (RE), The Hon Jan Cheek (JC), The Hon Sharon Halford (SH), The Hon Emma Edwards (EE), and The Hon Glenn Ross.
Cllr Jan Cheek was this month’s Chair of the meeting and she began by welcoming the full to over-flowing capacity audience. She went on to say that in this format no items of a personal nature would be discussed but that she was available for one to one meetings at Gilbert House for that purpose. Cllr Cheek finished her intro by asking the audience to express their ideas about what format public meetings should take – whether it should stay as is or be augmented by the internet in some way.
There was one submitted question by Gerald Cheek. He asked about legal ramifications for people driving whilst talking on mobile phones. Dick Sawle said that the Attorney General’s Office was working on the problem and people still could be prosecuted for driving without due care and attention and careless and inconsiderate driving if an incident occurred while mobile phone users were behind the wheel when an accident occurred.
Stella Prindle-Middlaton said that she was satisfied with public meetings as they were but welcomed innovations such as broadcasting or the use of the internet to get the message across.
Eric Goss asked if Councillors would answer all questions put to them and mentioned that he had two pieces of correspondence awaiting an answer since before the last Assembly was dissolved. He wondered if the non-answering of correspondence would carry on in this Assembly.
Jan Cheek said that she was aware of correspondence and tried to contact individuals involved via phone but was unsuccessful. Dick Sawle said that there was a high volume of items to read and that more time was needed to get around that but as soon as practical he would be answering all correspondence coming his way. Jan Cheek agreed, saying that Councillors were working flat-out, going to briefing meetings but it was her policy to answer all correspondence. Glenn Ross said he preferred to talk to people one to one and that in a public meeting a person can become identified with a certain subject or issue.
In agreeing with this, Val Berntsen asked about the lack of a security person or persons at the Stanley House Hostel. He said it was frightening that no one was there in case of an emergency. Jan Cheek said she would raise it with the head of Hostel. Dick Sawle added that at the moment hostel security was in the remit of the Royal Falkland Islands Police.
Norman Clark asked about the status of the Doyle Report. Jan Cheek said it was due to go to EXCO before it would be made public. However, there are some matters that Dr Doyle needs to clarify before the report can progress any further.
Barry Elsby wanted to know what Councillors’ priorities were and they answered that at the moment they were in accordance with what they wrote in their manifestos. Jan Cheek also pointed out Finances and the review of Government but it was a matter of finding the time to do this. Bill Luxton said that the first real meeting – that of the General Purposes Committee – would help to set priorities. Sharon Halford said she would be better able to answer the question after Christmas and that the Christmas Bonus was important to her. Emma Edwards said she wanted to end means testing for Child Benefit. Glenn Ross felt that young people needed to have affordable building plots at a fixed low price.
Former Councillor Mike Summers asked if the Islands Plan would be used as a basis by which priorities are met and Jan Cheek said that the plan may have to be reviewed but that it was a large piece of work and it would be ignorant to ignore it. Dick Sawle wanted to see how the Economic Development Strategy dove tailed into the Islands Plan. Roger Edwards said that the budget process began in January and he would consider it then.
Ruth Taylor mentioned that she thought one to one conversations were good. She went on to ask about the backlog of legislation and wanted to know if there would be an increase in people doing legislative drafting work. Dick Sawle mentioned that a person present in the room had been hired on to help with the backlog. Roger Edwards said that one of the reasons Councillors had Gilbert House was that there was space for one on one conversations with constituents.
Eric Goss brought up surfacing camp roads and mentioned the track to Gypsy Cove being fixed before the tourism season got into full swing. Roger Edwards said four areas including Gypsy Cove where Councillors had received written complaints and that they would be dealt with in due course. Eric Goss then asked about the Murrel Road. Areas were not capped and fixing that road would help the budding tourism industry in that area. Roger Edwards said it was in hand, along with the public jetty. And he agreed that the sooner it was done the better. Gavin Short mentioned that due to bad weather earlier in the month the road crews were behind schedule.
Roger Spink felt that it was heartening to see a good turn-out to the public meeting and that he would like to see participation by people in camp by a phone link of some sort. Sharon Halford mentioned that in Camp in the evenings the radio seems to go dead and can’t be heard. She sends out a weekly report via e-mail to constituents. Bill Luxton added that Radio phone-ins are useful.
Dave Eynon asked about the condition of Boxer Bridge and the fact that Lorries as well as tourists go over it and that the bridge needs to be checked. Eric Goss said that 10 days ago Bob Hancox with a team of surveyors scraped away rust and measured what was left with callipers. The readings were not good as the bridge has stood 24 years without maintenance. Glenn Ross mentioned that a structural engineer surveyed the bridge and says it’s in good condition. He will check out what Eric Goss said.
Dave Eynon expressed concern about the employment of Ken Johnson. He had been less than adequate in communicating with stakeholders. Dick Sawle agreed that the consultation would have to take longer but reminded Mr Eynon that public meetings were not the place to discuss individuals. Barry Elsby said that the Government were shelling out for the project but that the tax payers haven’t had a public brief yet. Dick Sawle said that now wasn’t the time for that but it needed a great deal of thought. He feels that more than FIG investment is needed – the Fishing industry FIFA, the Chamber of Commerce needed to be involved and investment wasn’t a done deal yet. He agreed that the new port had not been discussed in the open as it should have been.
Cheryl Roberts said that stakeholders have had no input into the process and had only one meeting with Mr Johnson. A lot of debate is needed before we can move on she added. Dick Sawle said he made the point prior to the election. A gap needs to be bridged and the industry needs to invest in this project as well. Jan Cheek said that as far as she can tell the consultation period is still in the early stages and Dick Saul agreed saying that we need to speed things up. Glenn Ross said he remembered talking to a team from Mott-McDonald about 8 years ago and at that time he knew that the project was important enough to make the right decision.
Eric Goss asked about the Government re-shuffle and whether redundancy pay ate up all the savings they thought would occur when departments were amalgamated.
Jan Cheek said that members of the previous Assembly thought there would be savings but none had come about. Eric Goss said that it will end up costing Government not only for the redundancy pay but in early retirement pensions. Jan Cheek said that most of the super-heads were in place but Councillors would look at how they would fit into their plans as they didn’t want any more redundancies. Roger Edwards said that the review process was going to be reviewed in due course. Gavin Short mentioned that redundancies were an item 15 years ago and at that time it cost FIG a lot of money and the same would hold true today.
Glenn Ross mentioned that to recruit a head of department would cost roughly £40,000.00. Roger Edwards said it cost nearer to £44,000.00 and it cost £32,000.00 to recruit the Chairman of FIDC. Jan Cheek mentioned that we should explore the use of websites for recruitment and she knew that teachers used certain ones to find jobs. Emma Edwards said a considerable amount of money was saved by using the internet.
Joyce Allen asked about starting a new Dairy and Jan Cheek admitted to taking black tea instead of using boiled imported milk. Bill Luxton said he thought it was disgraceful in an agricultural society not to have a dairy. He mentioned the 112 bay milking parlour indicating it was over-kill and mentioned that Malcolm Ashworth managed to do a profitable business with less cattle. It is thought that with the ferry and roads that a dairy could be set up in Camp. Emma Edwards mentioned that Trudy McPhee has made a small business out of milking her cows and delivering about 40 litres of milk to Stanley per week. Sharon Halford mentioned that before the conflict Stanley had three dairies.
Stella Prindle-Middleton mentioned that the Public Accounts Committee was important and she urged people from the private sector to consider an appointment to it. Jan Cheek agreed and Dick Sawle said that it wouldn’t prevent some inadequacies and that the committee would operate mainly with hindsight. Jan Cheek said it would benefit everybody. Glen Ross mentioned that it would cost £1/4 Million to set up and operate the committee but that he would be uncomfortable if it cost £1/2 Million in future.
Dick Sawle mentioned the Complaints Commissioner and Stella Prindle-Middleton asked about a time scale for getting a person in post. Dick Sawle said that he has seen the paperwork and an appointment will happen. Jan Cheek added that it should be sooner rather than later. Dick Sawle said that alternatives to dispute resolution should also be looked into just in case the Complaints Commissioner is not an appropriate person to see for any particular complaint. Mike Summers asked if the Complaints Commissioner would have the remit to arbitrate and the Senior Magistrate would be a poor choice for Complaints Commissioner because conflict of interest issues would mean a substitute would be recruited at great expense. Roger Edwards said a strategy of timings as it needed to be put forward at the budget considerations in January.
Stella Prindle Middleton quizzed Councillors again about the format public meetings should take. Glenn Ross said he liked the one to one format. Jan Cheek said she was old fashioned and liked surgeries. Dick Sawle said that he was having a website developed and would use it to keep in touch with constituents.
Rev. Richard Hines asked if anything positive had been observed by Councillors. Glenn Ross mentioned teachers giving up their Saturday mornings to take students to the Golf Course, Emma Edwards mentioned the oil rig coming, Sharon Halford mentioned the fact we had camp tracks is a vast improvement on what we had 25 years ago, Jan Cheek mentioned all the hard work going into a recent Community School musical evening, Roger Edwards mentioned the dedication of government employees working with reduced finances, Dick Sawle mentioned the fact that Government Officers answered e-mails on Saturday and Sunday. Gavin Short mentioned his surprise at the public participation at the meeting and he asked that we keep talking to him and Bill Luxton mentioned the dedication of regular employees at Cable & Wireless who worked with an inadequate system.
Eric Goss asked whether this Assembly would consider a minimum wage and Jan Cheek said that a review of the employment laws was coming up. Eric Goss mentioned Chilean workers at FIMCO and Zimbabwean workers clearing mines. Gavin Short mentioned that the legislation we had was ancient and needed revising. He knows people are being exploited.
Stella Prindle-Middleton wanted to know where we were with the BFBS project. Dick Sawle said the project was severely bogged due to a supply problem with 1.8 metre dishes. There were alternatives that needed to be explored. Bill Luxton mentioned that we are back to square 1 and needed to look to the private sector for an alternative. Sharon Halford mentioned that KTV were now broadcasting to North Camp and looking to install the service elsewhere. Roger Edwards apologised for getting his statement in Legislative Assembly wrong but he was operating on the best info at the time. Dick Sawle said the equipment won’t arrive until May 2010 and then it had to be installed. Estimated capital costs are £255,000.00 for Camp and £455,000.00 for Stanley. A deposit on this had already been paid and Dave Eynon asked if we would lose it. Dick Sawle said that at this point he didn’t know.
The meeting ended at 1805hrs.
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