St Helena : St Helena Councillor Buckley Returns from Overseas Visit
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 23.12.2011 (Article Archived on 06.01.2012)
Councillor Rodney Buckley is back on the Island, having attended a range of meetings in the UK to discuss everything from Education to Climate Change.
Councillor Buckley Returns from Overseas Visit
Councillor Rodney Buckley is back on the Island, having attended a range of meetings in the UK to discuss everything from Education to Climate Change.
Councillor Buckley left St Helena in November and was away from the Island for just on a month.
On arriving in the UK, his first meeting took place in London with personnel from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who are regularly involved in work relating to the Island. Here, discussion focused largely on the recent signing of the airport contract and the need to bring economic growth to the Island. Similar discussion took place with persons in the Department for International Development and there was also talk about what needs to be done in readiness for this major development.
The RMS was the next item on Councillor Buckley’s agenda and, at a meeting with the St Helena Line Board and personnel from Andrew Weir Shipping, he was able to join in discussions about the running of the RMS.
After this, he travelled to Shropshire where, as Chairman of the Education and Employment Committee, he focused his attention on education matters. St Helena has links with the Education service in Shropshire and various meetings took place with discussion concentrating in particular on how to further improve education on the Island. Councillor Buckley also visited a number of schools to get an insight into how they operate and to find out what works well for them.
Following these visits, Councillor Buckley represented the Island at the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting. The St Helena Government UK Representative, Kedell Worboys MBE was also in attendance. The Consultative Council was established as a result of the 1999 White Paper ‘Partnership for Progress and Prosperity’, and since the UK Government is planning to publish a new White Paper on the Overseas Territories next year, it was particularly useful for Councillor Buckley to be in attendance.
At the meeting there was much discussion on this new White Paper which will explain how the UK and Overseas Territories will work together in the future.
The signing of the Airport contract was also mentioned at this meeting and Councillor Buckley took the opportunity to express thanks to the British Government on behalf of the Island and its people. He told those in attendance “St Helena now has a future”.
A wide range of other issues were also discussed from education to climate change, food security and economic planning.
Councillor Buckley also attended a meeting of the South Atlantic Territories where there was discussion between the Falkland Islands, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha and St Helena on matters of common interest. Various topics were discussed including the benefits of possible exchange programmes between the four Islands.
In addition to these meetings, Councillor Buckley attended an International Parliamentary Conference on the Millennium Development Goals. These goals were adopted by world leaders in 2000 and relate to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing global partnerships for development.
At the conference, there was much talk about what still needs to be done to achieve the goals, the challenges and opportunities.
Public Relations/Information Office
The Secretariat
22 December 2011
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