St Helena : GENERAL ELECTION 2013- NOMINATION DEADLNE PUBLISHED IN WRIT
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 08.06.2013 (Current Article)

The Acting Governor, Owen O’Sullivan, issued the Writ of Election on Friday 31 May, confirming that the closing date for nominations will be Tuesday 2 July.

 The Acting Governor, Owen
O’Sullivan, issued the Writ of Election on Friday 31 May, confirming
that the closing date for nominations will be Tuesday 2 July.

The Election will be held on
Wednesday 17 July.

The Writ, also listed the
locations of the Polling Stations. There will be one in each Polling District,
at locations used previously for the General Election, such as:

 Jamestown
Community Centre

 Harford
Community Centre

 Levelwood
Community Centre

 Judge’s
Lodge, Alarm Forest

 Half Tree
Hollow Community Centre


Kingshurst Community Centre

 Blue Hill
Community Centre; and

 Sandy Bay
Community Centre

The full list will be republished,
nearer to Polling Day.

Candidates for the election must
submit nomination forms to the Returning Officer, at No 1 Main Street, by 12pm
on 2 July. The forms, with some explanatory notes, are available
from the Clerk of Councils, Gina Benjamin (at No 1 Main Street), and from the
Customer Service Centre and the Public Library.

A factsheet about the work of
Councillors, and their remuneration, is available from the same locations.

SHG

4 June 2013

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

St Helena : COUNTDOWN TO WATER SHUTDOWN CONTINUES
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 08.06.2013 (Current Article)

The countdown to a partial water shutdown on St Helena continues as stored water levels remain exceptionally low. Consumption from the Red Hill Treatment Plant has reduced slightly (at 232 cubic metres today, compared with an average of roughly 400 cubic metres) and this is positive - we thank the public for stretching this precious resource. But stored levels still only give us about 6 days’ supply.

WATER
SITUATION IN AFFECTED AREAS CRITICAL

Residents
Urged to Conserve Water

The countdown to a partial water
shutdown on St Helena continues as stored water levels remain exceptionally
low. Consumption from the Red Hill Treatment Plant has reduced slightly (at 232
cubic metres today, compared with an average of roughly 400 cubic metres) and
this is positive - we thank the public for stretching this precious resource.
But stored levels still only give us about 6 days’ supply.

Rainfall over the past few days
has not raised levels of stored water in any of the Harpers reservoirs.

This weekend, we urge residents
served by the Red Hill Treatment Plant to do all they can to use less water. A
leaflet - Your Top Ten Tips to Saving Water – is now available in local
shops (see below).

The new long term weather forecast
indicates only light, intermittent rainfall over the next couple of months,
which is not good news. So the Contingency Planning Group (CPG) is mobilising
resources in anticipation of a possible shutdown of domestic water in: Half
Tree Hollow, Cowpath, Ladder Hill, Red Hill, Sapper Way, New Ground, Clay Gut,
Pounceys, Kunjie Field, Scotland, Plantation, Cleughs Plain, Rosemary Plain,
Francis Plain, Crack Plain and Guinea Grass.

This would see public water tanks
at key locations in the affected areas, plus other public sources (for example,
in Jamestown) to ensure that the public can access the water they need.

Specific sites for public water
tanks are being identified and tanks deployed (an ongoing process). CPG has
been discussing this and other matters with third parties, including merchants,
retailers, Faith groups and Basil Read. Residents will no doubt be thinking of
family and friends who might be vulnerable and may need help.

A Control Centre, which will be
manned during the day, evenings and weekends, is now in place ready, should
shutdown go ahead.

Finally, any reports of water
wastage will be investigated by the Police.

The public will wish to note that
since November last year, St Helena has received only about a third of the
rainfall it would normally expect – not at all like the seasonal norm.

The Island-wide hosepipe and
sprinkler ban (imposed on Friday 24 May 2013) remains in place until further
notice. All St Helena residents are reminded that they can now use water for
domestic purposes only.

Customs Duty Exemption on Bottled
Water and Water Containers:

Following public representations,
a proposal was put to the Collector of Customs and to ExCo, that all bottled
water and water containers be made exempt from Customs Duty. The Acting
Governor in Council agreed that from 30 May 2013, no Customs Duty would be
payable on such imports from that date.

It is strongly hoped that this
reduction in Duty will result in a comparable reduction in the price of water
sold by retailers, once the ship returns from Cape Town. We wish to see the
full 20% reduction passed on to customers. The price of water will be closely
monitored by SHG. This exemption is for a temporary period, until drought
concerns are lifted, and will be assessed by Customs on a ship by ship basis.

The CPG today also thanked the RMS
for donating 4 pallets of bottled water as a further contingency measure

St Helena residents - particularly
those in the problem areas - are urged to exercise real care and consideration
when using water. A leaflet - Your Top Ten Tips to Saving Water - is now
available at:

Public Library, Jamestown,
Customer Service Centre, Jamestown, Health and Social Welfare Directorate,
Upper Jamestown, and Consulate Hotel.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

St Helena : GENERAL ELECTION 2013 - SICK OR ABSENT VOTERS
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 08.06.2013 (Current Article)

The law allows a voter who cannot attend the Polling Station due to:
Absence from St Helena on Election Day, or Illness or physical incapacity
to appoint a person (a “Proxy”) to vote on his or her behalf.

GENERAL
ELECTION 2013 - SICK OR ABSENT VOTERS

The law allows a voter who
cannot attend the Polling Station due to:

to appoint a person (a “Proxy”) to
vote on his or her behalf.

The Proxy must be a person whose
name is on the Electoral Register for the same Polling District as the sick or
absent elector. No person may act as Proxy for more than one sick or absent
voter.

Appropriate forms are available
from the Returning Officer (at 1 Main Street), the Customer Care Centre and the
Library. Completed forms must be submitted to the Returning Officer by 10am on
Monday 15 July 2013, or earlier.

SHG

4 June 2013

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

Falklands : PUBLIC MEETING 27 MAY 2013 Part 5
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 08.06.2013 (Current Article)

A public meeting took place in the Court and Assembly Chamber of the Town hall on Monday, 27 May 2013 at 1700hrs. MLAs present were Edwards, Sawle, Cheek (Chair) Halford and Hansen.

PUBLIC MEETING 27 MAY 2013

Part 5

A public meeting took place in the
Court and Assembly Chamber of the Town hall on Monday, 27 May 2013 at
1700hrs.  MLAs present were Edwards,
Sawle, Cheek (Chair) Halford and Hansen.

Gary Clement asked where the
tsunami warning come from.  Dick Sawle
thought Mr clement alluded to one issued a year ago but the Met Office issued
one that was announced over FIRS a few weeks ago.  Dick Sawle continued that there was an Ap
that you can get for your IPhone, your IPad or your IPod but Mr Clement
insisted by asking again why the tsunami warning was put out 3 weeks ago for
people to have a little panic.  Dick
Sawle didn’t hear it.  Mr Sawle continued
that if you want an alert, get the Phone AP.  Gary Clement said he didn’t want an
alert.  All he asked was why it went out
on the radio that we had a tsunami coming. 

Jan Cheek said she imagined it was
driven by a person (Ging Davis) who keeps on asking the question.  Dick Sawle insisted the last one we had did
come up on the IPhone before there was a Met Office alert.  Mr Sawle acknowledged there are people
worried about tsunamis but he said more sophisticated systems were linked into
networks that FIG could not afford.  He
recommended the IPhone alerts.

Norman Clark mentioned that the
alert from the Met Office came into the Islands at 0400hrs and had it been for
real, how would we have disseminated that information to the rest of the
population?  Gary Clement was sure it was
via IPhone at 0400hrs.  We got rid of the
air raid sirens but Jan Cheek said they would only help people in Stanley.  Sharon Halford said the radio doesn’t help
everybody in Camp.  Marilyn Grimmer said
there was no mobile reception where she lived and couldn’t use the IPhone alerts.

Marilyn Grimmer brought up the
state of war memorials and cemeteries. 
She had been corresponding with Dick Sawle and was promised a reply by
today so the entity with responsibility would be known and Manfred Keenleyside
hadn’t made a reply by Monday.  To be
fair, Dick Sawle said he promised this and not Manfred.  Seeing it was not in Manfred’s remit, he had
passed the question to the entity with the responsibility for memorials.  Mrs Grimmer said that at the last meeting it
was decided more or less who would be doing the job (except for Blue
Beach).  She presumed there were answers
but there is no answer.  Dick Sawle has a
food idea who it is but he can’t give out the information. 

Mrs Grimmer mentioned that on her
last visit to Blue Beach someone had tidied up but dug up all the bulbs.  She and Nanette Morrison pushed them back
into the ground and covered them with soil. 
She also mentioned a 3-foot length of rotten wood laid on the path ready
for an accident.  She went on to say that
Sarah Jones was livid over the state of the cemetery.  

It has been over a year since Mrs
Grimmer brought this up and she is fed up with the way this has been dealt
with.  If she doesn’t get any joy, Mrs
Grimmer will write Penguin News about it. 
Gary clement mentioned that he got a workforce from the Court System
(Community Service) for painting the fence around the Memorial at Port San
Carlos.  He has been told they can be
used to paint other Memorials so long as someone donates the paint.  The option is not expensive.  Gary Clement mentioned that the lads did an
outstanding job and felt they could be trusted with other memorial
projects.  Ian Hansen said he felt this
could have been done months ago. 

Marilyn Grimmer went on to say
that there is little corporate memory amongst the Military and while the
important things get passed on from CBSAI to his relief, things like the
maintenance of Memorials do not.  MLAs
agreed with Mrs Grimmer but she voiced her frustration at nothing being
done. 

Keith Padgett said there is an
allocation of memorial Maintenance between FIG and MPA with the exception of
Blue Beach but the responsibility for the main memorials has been taken over by
FIG.  He does not, at this stage, know
who is doing the maintenance.  Exco approved
this but Blue Beach is the subject of a private contract from MPA.  The issue with Sarah Jones was that the
Contractor had not been maintaining the cemetery.  Keith Padgett has spoken with the new CBSAI
this morning and he was assured that the Military are committed to keeping Blue
Beach maintained by using the external contract.  Mr Padgett suggested to him that we need to
reach a point where we are all happy that the cemetery will be maintained.  EXCO was not sure, however, that if FIG had
appointed a contractor it would be any better. 
What he said this morning was that if there was satisfaction the
Cemetery is being regularly maintained FIG would be happy to take over the
finance of the contract.

Gary Clement said that if it was
put out for a local contractor to maintain the Blue Beach Cemetery then someone
just might take it up.  He questioned why
it had to go to MPA.  He went on to say
that personal planting over the years has all been taken away and now it has
been made to look like a military graveyard. 
Mrs Grimmer mentioned the plastic flowers.  Roger Edwards mentioned the Andersons, who
lived at blue Beach and who lovingly maintained the cemetery.  When they moved, no one there wanted to take
it on.  They were getting paid for
this.  Gary Clement asked why the pay
wasn’t offered to anyone who took over. 
MLAs said it had and Mrs Grimmer mentioned it hadn’t been
advertised.  Sharon Halford mentioned
that it wasn’t advertised when the locals gave up doing it.

The Falkland Islands Government and KTV Ltd have this week signed
a contract for a new FM radio network to enable the broadcasting of three radio
channels throughout the Islands.

Implementation of the new FM network will be split into 3 phases,
with Phase 1 seeing the procurement of materials and installation of two
transmitters on West Falkland, Phase 2 will be the installation of transmitters
in Stanley with UHF telemetry and control equipment on remote sites and at the
FIRS studio and finally, Phase 3 will see the installation of the remainder of
transmitters to fill gaps in coverage on East and West Falklands.

It is hoped that the whole network will be complete by 1st June 2014,
but is anticipated that some areas may go live prior to that, depending on the
final channels selected for broadcast.

Director of Central Services, Simon Fletcher, said “The Falkland
Islands Government is very pleased to be able to award this contract to a local
company, we look forward to working with KTV Ltd on the project”.

A public consultation
exercise will be carried out shortly to assess the most popular channels
listeners would like to have made available to them. 

This article is the Property and Copyright of Falkland Islands News Network.

S.Atlantic : REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE 2013/14 ESTIMATES
Submitted by SARTMA.com (Juanita Brock) 06.06.2013 (Current Article)

This report covers both the Appropriation Bill and the Finance Bill referred to the Select Committee on the Estimates by this Assembly on Tuesday morning.

REPORT OF THE SELECT
COMMITTEE ON THE 2013/14 ESTIMATES

Mr Speaker, Honourable
members

This
report covers both the Appropriation Bill and the Finance Bill referred to the
Select Committee on the Estimates by this Assembly on Tuesday morning.

This
is an exciting year for the Islands and as mentioned on Tuesday the Budget
Select Committee has taken advantage of the additional revenues in recent years
to continue investing in the economy and to freeze a number of Government fees
and charges.

Due to the comprehensive meetings
that have been held since February on the budget the Budget Select Committee
made only one change when they met on Tuesday afternoon. I am therefore not
proposing any changes to the Appropriation or Finance Bills that were put
before the House earlier this week. The proposed appropriation remains at
£60,930,500. The operating deficit excluding oil is £3.8M and including oil
revenues and expenditure is £6.8M.

The Budget Select Committee
reviewed the increase on FIG housing rents and agreed to reduce the increase
from 5% as I announced on Tuesday to 3%, in line with the other inflationary
increases. The Committee also asked for a review of Housing policies to ensure
that the population in general are not disadvantaged by any impact that the
increased demand for housing from the oil and gas industry may have on house
and rental prices.

5. There is one area on fees and
charges which I did not mention on Tuesday, that of Customs duties. The Budget
Select Committee reviewed these duties and agreed a 5% increase in the duty on
tobacco products. This will add 22p to a packet of cigarettes and 47p to 50g of
tobacco. 2

The Committee also approved a 3%
increase in duty on all alcoholic beverages. This will add 34p onto a litre of
spirits, 2p on a bottle of wine and 8p on a case of beer.

This brings me to some of the
specific areas of spending outlined in the appropriation bill. Starting with
departmental spend of £43.7M the largest share of funding goes to PWD with 21%
of the total amounting to £9M, this is followed by £8M for Health and Social
Services, £6M for Natural resources and £5.7M for Education. The remaining £15M
is split between the other FIG directorates.

Some new approvals in the year
are:

 Provisional funding for a
service level agreement with an NHS hospital to improve Health services. This
scheme requires further definition over the next few months before the funding
is released;

 Increased funding for Higher and
Further Education due to increased numbers of students studying overseas;

 Provisional funding for a
revised structure for Members Remuneration. Public consultation is still
underway on this and a final structure is due to be approved prior to the
election.

 Increased funding for the AG’s
Chambers to pursue a variety of projects including the New Edition of the Laws;
and

 The creation of 21 new or
extended Government posts across Agriculture, PR, Health, HR and the Police
service.

9. Transfer payments this year
total £7.2M, including £3.5M for economic development, which will be
distributed as follows:

 £1.8M to support the ferry
between East and West Falkland;

 £1.2M to fund the Falkland
Islands Development Corporation and economic development loans;

 £1M in support of shipping
links;

 £870,000 for Falkland Islands
Tourist Board and the Tourism Development Strategy;

 £312,000 for the Rural
Development Strategy;

 £247,000 to support agricultural
development programmes including a new cattle genetics programme;

 £180,000 each for FIMCo and
FIRS;

 £146,000 for the Museum and
National Trust;

 Just under £100,000 for
Falklands Conservation; and

 Funding to mark the 100th anniversary
of the Battle of the Falklands;

 The remaining funding is provided
to finance a number of schemes and projects.

10. Transfer Funds are those
monies transferred from the Consolidated Fund to the Special Funds in order to
finance various priorities and liabilities. As last year these include a £4M
transfer to the capital equalisation fund and £362,000 between the two pension
funds. I will return to these briefly later.

11. As mentioned on Tuesday this
budget also includes a section to encourage the development of the Oil and Gas
sector. Within the operating section the following projects are included for
2013/14:

 Up to 10 additional (or
extended) posts created to deal with oil related work including Oil & Gas
advice, marine work, financial management of capital projects, FIGAS service,
Planning and Offshore management. These posts will only be pursued if related
projects are progressed and in some cases will be expected to be
self-financing;

 Funding for an Environmental Gap
analysis; 

 £700,000 for drafting of
legislation, amendments and legal agreements;

 £195,000 for consultancies
relating to regulation of telecommunications, health & safety and planning;

 Funding for staff training to
ensure FIG can effectively deal with any emergencies arising from Oil and Gas
development.

 Additional transfers to the
Pension Funds as recommended by the recent actuarial reviews.

12. The approved capital budget is
a net five year programme of £39.8M between 2012/13 and 2016/17. The 2013/14
programme includes the following significant schemes:

 £4.7M for Municipal Services
including the MPA Wind Farm, alternative water supply and the provision of
further serviced housing plots;

 £3M for Roads including an
increased allocation for Camp Roads, the surfacing of Moody Brook Road and the
staged re-surfacing of Ross Road;

 £1.7M for Government Land and
Buildings including the Museum relocation and Jetty improvements;

 £1.5M each for Housing and
Departmental Assets including funding for a number of IT related projects and
increased medical equipment budget; and

 £1.4M for Plant & Vehicles.

13. These schemes do not include
any items arising purely due to oil and gas development. However, the following
schemes are included of a capital nature over the next five years to encourage
oil and gas development:

 Improvements to Stanley Airport;

 Increased Government Housing and
Office space due to staff increases;

 Port related infrastructure
including an access road, funding to investigate financing and investment
structures, waste management and water supply,

Environmental and other
assessments, consultancies relating to design, health & safety and surveys;
and

 Additional serviced plots for
housing.

14. Over the next five years a
surplus (including oil revenues and expenditures) is projected of £2M. This is
based on a number of high level assumptions regarding Illex, investment returns
and the timing of oil exploration and drilling. Should the oil and gas industry
progress at a different pace from that currently anticipated the projections
could change dramatically. Close monitoring of these will be undertaken as
usual through Standing Finance Committee.

15. The Bills put forward today
provide for significant investment into the local economy in a number of areas
whilst not placing reliance on revenues that are highly uncertain.

16. Again, I thank all those that
have been heavily involved in the budget process and also those who have kept
the Treasury running over this time.

17. Mr Speaker, this concludes my
report of the proceedings of the Select Committee on the 2013/14 estimates.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Falkland Islands News Network.

Falklands : Falklands: THE APPROPRIATION BILL 2013
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 05.06.2013 (Current Article)

1. The Bill I will describe is the result of seven months of work and deliberations for elected Members and FIG officers. The budget strategy for the 2013/14 year was approved in November 2012 and departments then set about the hours of work it takes to prepare each individual submission.

 THE APPROPRIATION BILL 2013

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members…

1. The Bill I will describe is the
result of seven months of work and deliberations for elected Members and FIG
officers. The budget strategy for the 2013/14 year was approved in November
2012 and departments then set about the hours of work it takes to prepare each
individual submission. After discussion with Treasury and the Corporate
Management Team budgets were then submitted to the Budget Select Committee
which was established at the last Assembly meeting in February.

2. The purpose of the Bill put
before you today is to authorise the appropriation of monies from the
Consolidated Fund for the next financial year. The items have been included
after consideration of the Select Committee on the Estimates (which I will
refer to throughout as the Budget Select Committee).

3. As last year, the 2013/14
budget has been put together in a very different climate than previous years.
The economy has continued to perform well during the year in all sectors. In
particular the Falklands have been fortunate to benefit from on-going oil
exploration in the Islands and the third consecutive successful Illex year.

4. The operating surplus projected
for the current financial year in May 2012 was £2.6M. This projection made
certain assumptions about revenues in the year;

Firstly, based on the exploration
anticipated at the time, that £4.5M would be received from oil exploration, and
Secondly the method for calculating Illex was changed to the five year average
resulting in £4M of Illex revenues being included. The current projections for the
2012/13 financial year are for £10M of taxation receipts from the oil and gas
industry and £10.2M from Illex. The increase on Illex shows once again how
volatile this revenue stream is for FIG, this time in our favour unlike some
recent years where no, or minimal, revenues have been received. The tax
variance has arisen due to the extended period of exploration. After these
increases a surplus in excess of £15M is now anticipated for the current
financial year. FIG are also anticipating a considerable capital gains taxation
receipt to be received later this month which is not currently included in
these figures.

5. As I mentioned in the
presentation of the previous Bill some of this surplus has been used to
strengthen the Retirement Pension Fund and Pensions (Old Scheme) Fund following
the recent actuarial reviews.

6. The combination of these
positive revenues has once again led to a significant increase in Government
balances with a projected 3½ years’ departmental spend that can be funded from
balances. This means that the long standing policy of 2.5-3 times departmental
spend has been more than met. This has allowed the Budget Select Committee some
flexibility in setting the 2013/14 budget. However, despite this the Budget
Select Committee is conscious that oil development is not yet certain and
therefore in this budget has sought to balance the calls for increasing
government spending and volatile revenues with that of prudence and longer term
sustainability of public funds.

7. The Budget Select Committee has
therefore considered three different areas this year. The first two are those
that have been considered in the budget cycle traditionally; the operating
budget and the capital programme. This year a third component of an “oil
budget” has been added. This has been much publicised Page 3 of 11
APPROPRIATION BILL 2013

over recent months so I shall
briefly explain the rationale behind the concept of the Oil Development
Reserve.

8. The Oil Development Reserve has
been devised so that the Budget Select Committee and Standing Finance Committee
can continue to monitor the financial management of the operating budget
without the large oil related revenues clouding the picture. These revenues and
the associated expenditure will also be monitored over the forthcoming months
through Standing Finance Committee.

9. Any revenues received and
monitored as part of the Oil Development Reserve will be paid into the
Consolidated Fund and any expenditures will be approved during the normal
budget cycle. The resulting surplus or deficit from both areas will form part
of the Consolidated Fund and budgets set now and in the future will take into
account the overall Consolidated Fund in setting expenditure, fees and charges.

10. In summary the Oil Development
Reserve is a mechanism to ensure that prudent financial management continues
within FIG whilst ensuring the increased reserves are distributed in a way
which serves the community as a whole, whether this be for oil development or
achieving another of the subsidiary objectives of the budget strategy. I will
talk about this in more detail shortly.

11. In the oil budget discussion
the Budget Select Committee has considered the revenues that may be received
through further exploration and development in the oil and gas industry and the
areas where FIG envisages there will be a need to spend public funds to
encourage this work. At present no figures are included for royalties or for
one-off tax receipts relating to farm-ins between oil companies. These are
outside the control of FIG and cannot be projected with any certainty.

12. By considering the areas
separately the Budget Select Committee was able to review the underlying
operating budget that will be needed to run government services irrespective of
the progression of the oil and gas industry.

13. Increasing pressures in
prices, wage bills and expectations for service levels has unfortunately not
allowed for a balanced recurring operating budget (excluding oil) to be
presented to the House today. The Budget Select Committee was mindful that
whilst still not certain the oil industry has progressed since last year and
therefore did not wish to consider large cuts to service, particularly
considering the increased revenues received in recent years.

14. The budget strategy approved
by Executive Council therefore takes this into account by continuing with the
spirit of a balanced operating budget but accepting the use of some element of
the increased balances achieved in recent years and projected for the future.
Therefore the targets for this year’s budget are based around the use of oil
exploration revenues equal to the same expenditure as last year in real terms.

15. The operating budget proposed
today meets this target in four of the five years of the Medium Term Financial
Plan. Over the five year period the target is exceeded by £7.5M.

16. The “oil budget” is also
included in the amalgamated appropriation bill and the related Capital
Equalisation Order. The revenues (again, excluding capital gains) projected for
2013/14 are £3.8M and the expenditure £6.8M, £1.9M of which relate to operating
budgets, £3M to capital projects and £1.9M to Fund Transfers.

17. The Appropriation Bill I am
presenting to the House this morning therefore includes a further section than
usual. As in previous years the bill details departmental expenditure. This
year this is £43.7M compared to £40.5M last year, an increase of just under 5%.
The Bill also includes Transfer Payments of £7.2M resulting in operating
expenditure before Fund Transfers of £50.9M. Transfers to Special Funds are an
additional £4.3M. However, a new line relating to Oil Development is also
included totalling £6.8M. The total appropriation is therefore £60.9M. The breakdown
between departments is included in the Schedule to the Bill. In addition to the
appropriation the budget also includes internal charges of £1.1M resulting in
total expenditure of £62M.

18. Transfer Payments have
increased by £2.8M compared to last year. Included in the transfer budget of
£7.2M are investments of £3.5M to encourage economic development in the form of
subventions for rural development, shipping links, tourism development and
FIDC.

19. Fund Transfers include
transfers to the Pensions (Old) Scheme, Retirement Pensions and Capital
Equalisation Funds to strengthen Government Funds and fund infrastructure
development through the Capital Programme. These are supplemented further by
the additional transfers made available from increased oil revenues.

20. Operating revenues of £51.5M
more than cover the departmental and transfer payment budgets of £50.9M.
Including transfers to special funds 89% of expenditure is supported by the
total revenue (including oil) of £55.2M. Page 6 of 11 APPROPRIATION BILL 2013

21. The net capital programme for
the current financial year totals £18.4M with a further £12M projected for
2013/14. The net five year programme is £39.8M and this will be financed from
the capital equalisation fund. The majority of these schemes do not directly
relate to oil development and a further £39.8M is anticipated over the same
period.

22. Moving on to the detailed
fees, charges and allowances proposed for the operating budget…

23. To start, for a number of
years FIG have had a policy of increasing fees by an inflationary element
unless the user pays policy is more relevant. RPI at the end of March was 3.7%
and an inflationary increase of 3% is proposed in the following areas: Training
Centre course fees, Town Hall charges, agricultural fees, Attorney Generals
Chamber’s fees, Registry fees, Civil Aviation fees, immigration permits,
applications and visas, harbour dues and customs clearance fees, car licence
fees, vehicles, firearms and drivers’ licences fees and police vetting fees. In
the case of car licence fees this will increase the fee for a Land Rover to
£120.50.

24. To allow sufficient time for
implementation within the tourist industry increases to FIGAS rates and
passenger landing fees are announced a year in advance. This year a 3% increase
in FIGAS freight rates is proposed commencing 1st July 2014. The passenger levy
was last increased in 2009 and no increase is proposed at this time therefore
for the 2014/15 tourist season the rates remain at £18 for Stanley and £6 for
Camp. To further support the Tourism Development Strategy no increase is
proposed in FIGAS fare rates for 2014/15 and the embarkation tax of £22 will
remain at this level for a fifth year in 2013/14.

25. To recognise the increasing
cost of the provision of the accommodation facilities at Stanley House it is
proposed that fees increase by 10%. Likewise the charge for funerals is
proposed to increase by 15% and for septic tank cleaning to £130.

26. Government rents are to be
increased by 5%. This increase above the inflationary rate is to recognise the
continuing gap between FIG and private sector rents. To continue to protect low
income tenants the rent and service charge rebate allowances will increase by
5% and the thresholds by 3%. To recognise that the recharges for heating in
communal buildings are not sufficient to cover the cost of heating it is
proposed to increase these charges by 23% to bring them to full cost recovery.

27. During the budget speech last
year I advised that the Budget Select Committee had equalised the quarry
aggregate sale prices between the public and private sectors and no increases
to the private sector were agreed. This year there will once again be no
increase to quarry prices for either sector.

28. Having undertaken a review of
the costs of providing services no changes in fees are recommended within the
Court, medical and dental charges (including MTO flight charge), electricity
unit rate, electricity connection charge, cemetery plots, general service
charge for domestic properties, metered water charges or waste collection
charges.

29. Postal charges are reviewed
every other year and therefore no increase is proposed this year.

30. Grazing fees have been
reviewed and these will now be equalised over the year resulting in a monthly
charge of £3/month. This is a substantial decrease on the previous winter
charge which worked out at over £22/month.

31. Moving now onto spending
measures. As the first step of a review of Pay Policy the Budget Select
Committee have proposed a 5% cost of living award for FIG staff.

32. As a consequence of this
decision Customs Services fees linked to staff pay will also be increased by
5%.

33. The same increase is proposed
for public service pensions and the standard retirement pension (including
ex-gratia pensions). This will result in a full retirement pension of £134/week
and both pension changes will come into effect on the 1st July 2013. Resident
pensioners will continue to receive a Christmas Bonus equivalent to one week’s
pension.

34. Welfare, fostering and
attendance allowances are also proposed to increase by 5% as is family
allowance. This will result in a family allowance of £66.20/month.

35. The actuaries have recently
undertaken a review of the retirement pensions fund. As a result of this review
they have made a number of recommendations to address the funding deficit in
the scheme. The first of these is an increased subsidy by FIG to make up the
deficit between the retirement pension contribution rate and the full rate
assessed as required. As highlighted in the Supplementary Appropriation Bill
earlier Standing Finance Committee has approved such a subsidy for the current
financial year and the Budget Select Committee has proposed the same for future
years.

36. The actuaries have also been
asked to look at the contribution structure for the Fund to highlight more
equitable means of funding the scheme. Until this review has been considered no
change in the local weekly pension contribution rate is proposed. Likewise no
increase of the earning limit of £180 is currently recommended.

37. As mentioned last year FIG is
conscious of the deficit in this Fund and the need to reduce the on-going cost.
As a result of this Executive Council in April approved the increase in
retirement age from 64 to 65 from the year 2020 with an increase in qualifying
age of 1 year for each of the following ten years. This will result in an
increase in retirement age to 70 by the year 2070.

38. I now return to one of the
subsidiary goals from the budget strategy; that of returning some of the
windfall to the local community. The Budget Select Committee has reviewed tax
policy and have not recommended any changes to the underlying structure or
rates. However, to recognise the general increased cost of living in the
Falklands and to reduce the burden to income taxpayers the Budget Select
Committee has recommended an increase in the income tax personal allowance of
greater than RPI to £15,000 from 1st January 2014.

39. To further reduce the taxation
burden on individuals the Budget Select Committee has also recommended the
introduction of a personal allowance for the purposes of Medical Services Tax.
Therefore from the 1st January 2014 a personal allowance of £15,000 will apply
to employees MST deductions. Self-employed individuals will also receive a
personal allowance of £15,000 on which no MST will be payable. Employer
contributions and contribution rates remain unchanged. Page

40. Last year I announced that the
Budget Select Committee had requested a review be undertaken into ways that FIG
could better assist lower earners in reducing their financial burden. The
increase in the personal allowance and creation of a personal allowance for MST
are two steps further in achieving this. In addition, in November 2012
Executive Council reviewed the schemes that are in place to provide financial
assistance in the community. As a result of this the working credit and
childcare credit scheme was created. This scheme has now been in place for five
months and the Budget Select Committee is therefore not currently considering
any changes to the scheme. However, it is proposed that the threshold for the
scheme is increased to £15,000, in line with the proposed personal allowance
from the 1st January 2014.

41. In the same review Executive
Council approved the extension of the winter fuel allowance to those receiving
Levels B and C of Attendance Allowance from this winter. The Rent rebate scheme
will also be extended to cover directly owner FIG housing outside of Stanley,
for example in Fox Bay.

42. Mr Speaker, in summary this
budget, whilst more complicated than previous years, has achieved the aims of
the Budget Select Committee. The additional revenues from oil have enabled FIG
to invest in the following ways in this budget:

 To encourage economic
development through the inclusion of funding of £3.5M in 2013/14;

 To strengthen infrastructure by
a total net capital programme over five years of £80M;

 To strengthen Government Funds
with Fund Transfers of £10M to Pension Funds and a projected 3.2 – 3.5 times
departmental spend in the Consolidated Fund;

 To return some windfalls to the
local community through increase of the personal allowance for income tax,
creation of a personal allowance for MST and no increases in a number of
government charges. and

 To promote the development of
the oil and gas industry through additional operating funding of £5M over the
next five years.

43.
Over the period of the MTFP FIG will only spend funds that it has received and
by doing this we will ensure that we are not spending beyond our means. This
Assembly has recognised that it is not prudent to spend oil, or any, revenues
before they are received and in doing so has set FIG on the road to ensuring a
sustainable economy and Government into the future.

44.
Once again this budget has only been possible due to the hard work of many
people. In particular I’d like to thank Daniel Heath, who has continued to
manage the overly complicated spread-sheets created by his predecessor and
Lydia Morrison, who joined the Treasury partway through the process but has
picked up the reins quickly. Margaret Butler has once again provided pages of
minutes during the process. My thanks also go to Tracy Floyd who has ably been
managing the Tax Office over the last 6 months in the absence of a Head of
Taxation and to everyone across the Treasury and Tax Office who has continued
to provide services whilst the rest of us have been in meetings.

45.
Mr Speaker, this concludes my budget presentation to this house and I beg to
move that the bill be read a second time.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Falkland Islands News Network.

Falklands : PUBLIC MEETING MONDAY, 27 MAY 2013
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 02.06.2013 (Current Article)

A public meeting took place in the Court and Assembly Chamber of the Town hall on Monday, 27 May 2013 at 1700hrs. MLAs present were Edwards, Sawle, Cheek (Chair) Halford and Hansen.

PUBLIC MEETING MONDAY, 27 MAY 2013

A public meeting took place in the
Court and Assembly Chamber of the Town hall on Monday, 27 May 2013 at
1700hrs.  MLAs present were Edwards,
Sawle, Cheek (Chair) Halford and Hansen.

The meeting featured a
presentation on the Minimum wage by Jamie Fotheringham, who outlined the 17
parts of the Minimum Wage Bill that is due to be debated in the Assembly,
hopefully in August.

Mr Fotheringham explained that the
Minimum Wage Bill would implement proposals for workers in the Falkland Islands
to be guaranteed a minimum wage for their work.

Copies of the Explanitory
Memorandum and a public consultation questionnaire were available at the
meeting.  The Explanatory Memorandum is
intended to assist readers of the Bill by providing a detailed explanation of
the Bill’s provisions which include 34 clauses and 2 Schedules.

The memorandum formed part of a
package of draft legislation that also has a draft order and two sets of draft
regulations dealing with specific issues – copies of the drafts are also being
gazetted with the Bill.

The presentation briefly outlined
the 17 parts of the Bill which are as follows:

· Part 1
deals with the title of the proposed Ordinance (the Minimum Wage Ordinance) and
the procedure for bringing it into force.

· Part 2
defines a number of words and phrases used elsewhere in the Bill. Key terms
that are defined in Part 2 include: “worker”; “eligible work”; and “pay
reference period”.

· Part 3
deals with the entitlement of a worker to a minimum wage (and the obligation on
employers to make additional payments if the amounts that workers are treated
as having been paid are less than the minimum wage to which they are entitled).

· Part 4
deals with minimum wage rates and includes duties for the Governor to set
minimum wage rates for adults (those aged 18 or over) and young persons (those
aged 16 or 17) and for those rates to be kept under review.  He added that originally the Minimum Wage
Bill only dealt with adults over 18 years old.

· Part 5
deals with the calculation of the hours worked by a worker for the purposes of
the minimum wage. This would be dealt with in the draft Minimum Wage
(Calculation of Hours Worked) Regulations. 
Accommodation, benefits in kind and median wages went into the
calculation.  It was necessary to make
the wage above the poverty line.

· Part 6
deals with the calculation of the amount treated as having been paid to a
worker for the purposes of the minimum wage. This would be dealt with in the
draft Minimum Wage (Calculation of Amount Paid) Regulations.  Adults 18 and over should earn £5.05 per hour
and young people can expect £3.10 minimum wage. 
Provisions are made for food and accommodation provided by the
employer.  This is capped to just over
£100.00 per week.  Tips and gratuities
are excluded as well as advances are excluded from the calculation.  Special amenities like working time and a
half, etc. tools and uniforms are also not included.  The list of exclusions ends with any other
benefits in kind.

Mr Fotheringham also alluded to
the questionnaire which asks about benefits like travel to and from work to be
included and/or excluded in the minimum wage calculation.  Time spent on call is currently excluded and
would kick in when you are actually working.

· Part 7
deals with the obligation on employers to keep records for minimum wage
purposes and the rights of workers to access their records. If you are an
employer, it means you must pay your employee at least the minimum wage for the
day and records will help demonstrate this. 
Employees are entitled to ask for this information.  Employees can have reasonable access but the
privilege is not to be used for nuisance value.

· Part 8
deals with the right of workers not to suffer adverse consequences because of
their entitlement to a minimum wage or because of action they take to enforce
their rights.

Parts 9 to 17 were not covered in
the meeting but it is helpful to include them here:

· Part 9 deals
with procedures by which workers can enforce their rights in the Summary Court
– however, it is intended that court action should only be a last resort.

· Part 10
deals with the burden of proof in minimum wage cases.

· Part 11
deals with appeals from the Summary Court in minimum wage cases.

· Part 12
deals with restrictions on contracting out of the minimum wage legislation –
attempts to contract out would not be effective but it would be possible to
settle claims out of court if they arise.

· Part 13
deals with publicity for the minimum wage legislation, guidance for employers
and workers and the information to be given by employers to their workers.

· Part 14
deals with consequential amendments, including an amendment to the Employment
Protection Ordinance (Title 32.3) dealing with dismissals relating to the
minimum wage.

Other
consequential amendments could be made if necessary.

· Part 15
would allow for transitional provisions to be made.

· Part 16
makes it clear that the minimum wage legislation binds the Crown and would
apply

to
the Crown as an employer.

· Part 17
would repeal the Labour (Minimum Wage) Ordinance (Title 32.5), which dates from

1942.

Initially the consultation would
have been closed on 17 May but the period has been extended because of the
public meeting and the phone-in planned for Tuesday evening on FIRS.  Now the consultation ends on Wednesday, 29
May 2013.

The next step is to analyse the
findings and highlight issues that need to be addressed so any necessary policy
issues can be addressed and any re-drafting can be done.  There will be a period of three months from
the date the legislation comes into force for employers of comply with that
legislation.  This should give employers
time to ascertain whether or not they are in compliance.

FIG plans to issue two sets of
guidance.  One will be given to employers
and one will be aimed at employees.

Mr Fotheringham concluded his
presentation at this point and asked for questions.  Those questions and comments will be featured
in Tuesday’s issue.

The meeting featured a
presentation on the Minimum wage by Jamie Fotheringham, who outlined the 17
parts of the Minimum Wage Bill that is due to be debated in the Assembly,
hopefully in August.

After the presentation, members of
the public quizzed Mr Fotheringham about its content.

Marilyn Grimmer wanted further
explanation on how the £5.05 was arrived at.  
Mr Fotheringham said it was 60% of the median incomes.  The census data was looked at and
compiled.  The mid-way point was figured
out and 60% of the figure of £17,000.00 was used, being just above poverty
level and equates to £10,500.00 per annum.

Norman Clark had heard an
interview on the radio where the words “notional poverty line” were used and he
asked Mr Fotheringham to further explain this, saying the rest of the
calculations must be somewhat flawed.  Mr
Fotheringham explained that 60% of the median income is where the poverty line
lies, not only for the Falklands but for the rest of the world.  Mr Clark said that Lookout Lodge was used in
calculating the formula for social housing and this is not representative of
social housing in the Falkland Islands. 
Mr Fotheringham explained that the original proposal before he arrived
in the Falklands was linked to Lookout Lodge. 
When it was reviewed again, he realised that it wasn’t appropriate as
the rates could change, so that’s why the figure of 60% of median income was
derived.  It is a more stable basis on
which to make a comparison.  Lookout
Lodge rates, therefore, are no longer a part of calculating minimum wage.

Mr Clark wanted to know why FIC
(he meant FIG) stock used as a factor in calculating the social housing aspect
of minimum wage calculations.  Mr
Fotheringham said the reasoning was the same as well as making the calculation
complicated when multiple housing stocks are used to arrive at a figure.  It was important to have a more stable measure
to calculate where the policy of calculating the figure lies.  Mr Clark thought that disposable income after
housing costs were paid should be used in the calculation as it would be far
more accurate.  Mr Fotheringham said that
the policy unit is trying to ascertain what a living wage in the Falkland
Islands is.  At the moment data available
about how much people spend on housing has just come in.  Another calculation is what is the basic
standard of living in the Falkland Islands? 
This should be included in the legislation.

Norman Clark said he did a survey
four years ago after the general election looking at the cost of housing using
FIG rental fees, heating and the minimum amount of food required for survival on
a daily basis.  The calculation arrived
at was just over £14,000.00.  This is
without running a car, buying toiletries – purely to survive.  On Monday Mr Clark went to the Chandlary and
priced 21 items that he priced 4 years ago and there was an overall increase of
26%.  He went on to say that FIG rents
had gone up and this brings the calculation way over £5.05 per hour minimum
wage.  Mr Fotheringham said that price
increases were being replicated to some extent to update it from 4 years ago.  He also mentioned there were differentials
between private and FIG housing.

Norman Clark said that £5.05 per
hour was exactly the same as the UK minimum wage in 2005.  Mr Fotheringham was not aware of that.  Jan Cheek said that one of the things MLAs
were looking at is a regular review of the minimum wage.  MLAs just have £5.05 as a working figure
because there is more work to be done and the figure will be reviewed on a
regular basis.  Mr Clark pointed out that
the review would be done in a year’s time. 
Mr Fotheringham clarified that the review could happen at any given
point.  In a year a lot of work on the
calculation and other factors such as calculating a living wage in the
Falklands will be completed.

Ian Hansen felt it made sense to
have an annual review even though a more immediate option is always there.  Roger Spink and he were on a panel where this
point was made.  Perhaps a 6-monthly
review would be appropriate. 

Dick Sawle asked if this would
apply to civilian workers at MPA and Jamie Fotheringham said it would.  Derek Howatt asked if it was based on a 40
hour week and Mr Fotheringham confirmed this. 
The rate must be paid for every hour that is worked.  Phil Middleton wanted to know if it applies
to FIG employees and Mr Fotheringham confirmed it did.  Mr Middleton pointed out that current
employment law does not cover FIG employees. 
Jan Cheek said that the intention is that it would include and cover FIG
employees.

Ronnie Maclennan-Baird said that
there were two specific provisions. 
Clause 33 of the Bill and paragraph 1 of schedule 1 of the Bill
specifically says it applies to the Crown and specifically to the employees of
FIG.  Crown immunity had, in the early
2000s been repealed in the Employment Protection Ordinance.

Roger Spink said that the info
paper that was published in July 2012 seemed to indicate that only 12
individuals at Mount Pleasant would be affected by this but my research is very
different and there would be a considerable cost at Mount Pleasant.  Mr Spink wanted to know what steps were being
taken to work out what that effect would be to the increased costs for the
defence of the Islands.

Jan Cheek said that at the time it
was discussed that some of the contractors at MPA were already building in the
expectation of a minimum wage.  So they
may have been collecting the money without paying it out.  Roger Spink said he spoke with the Command
Secretary on the matter last Friday and he said no one had consulted him about
the current proposals.  He thought it
would be well worth talking to him.

Jan Cheek said it is possible the
message wasn’t passed on by his predecessor. 
Dick Sawle mentioned that Brigadier Aldridge sat in on the sessions
where this was discussed and he was well aware of the issue.  Roger Spink made the point about people at
MPA being better off on the minimum wage as MST and OAP would have to be paid
as well.

Ronnie Maclennan-Baird said a
locally recruited employee would not benefit from those exemptions – only those
recruited from outside the Islands.  Tax
would be miniscule but Roger Spink mentioned it wouldn’t be if a person were
working 60 hours a week.

Stella prindle-Middleton asked
about the process of review and increasing the minimum wage each year.  Jan Cheek said it wouldn’t necessarily be
confined to budget time.  It would be for
the policy department to decide this. 
Ronnie Maclennan-Baird said the legislation didn’t specify a time
table.  The process was on-going.  Mr Fotheringham said it made sense to keep it
under review by the Policy Unit.  Any
results would go to EXCO for a decision. 
The Governor’s input would be a formality after being approved by
EXCO.  After changes a 3-month waiting
period would allow employers to adjust their estimates.

Marilyn Grimmer wanted a fixed
time put on the review.  Jan Cheek said
it could be done at least annually.  Mrs
Grimmer want on to say the £5.05 figure was quite low.  Mr Fotheringham said it was a minimum wage
and near the poverty line.  Mrs Grimmer
feels it doesn’t give young people the incentive to try and save money and
there will be companies that will take it to the Minimum.  Dick Sawle agreed that there are people on a
low hourly rate who have no money.  £5.05
is a lot more money than some of these people earn.  Jan Cheek mentioned that we don’t have a
serious unemployment problem and employers will have to compete with offering
better wages for workers.  Keith Watson
wondered what the effect of people on the higher £5.05 would have on the median
line and Jamie Fotheringham said it hadn’t been calculated yet.  This could quickly move the median upwards.  A quick adjustment may be needed.  Mr Fotheringham said it was proposed that an
adjustment would be made 12 months after the wage is in force.

The question of being able to pay
OAP was raised and the threshold was £180.00 a week or £9,000.00 a year so
£5.05 would put minimum wage earners above that.  Roger Edwards said that as part of the budget
process the weekly wage is looked at. 
Currently FIG are not paying OAP for lower paid wage earners.  Jamie Fotheringham said there was currently
no provision to deal with that but will keep this as part of the consultation
process.

Question
from Derek Howatt

At a public
meeting some months ago on the subject of this old chestnut someone mentioned
it would be helpful to know how much the current state of the MPA Road costs
the economy.  Nobody disagreed and it was
suggested the PAC could be tasked to find this out but at the meeting on 18
March 2013 MLAs said it would not be appropriate as the PAC can only look back
and not forward.  

Can MLAs please
explain why undertaking an exercise of looking at costs that have been incurred
is not regarded as looking back?

How do MLAs come
to the view that FIG cannot afford to blacktop the MPA Road when the costs to
the economy of not doing it have not been quantified?

What was the
estimated cost of the investment in blacktopping the MPA Road when the project
was last submitted to Executive Council for inclusion in the Capital Programme
but rejected as unaffordable?

What benefits to
the economy were identified in the cost-benefit analysis in that submission?

Response
provided by Director Public Works

The estimated cost to surface the MPA road, when this was considered in
April 2012 was £34,112,000 which was based on an estimated cost of £701,900 per
kilometre.

The project cost is very directly affected by the price of bitumen,
which rose very sharply during the period when the project was being reviewed
and costed - with the price of bitumen increasing from £750 to £1,280 per tonne
over that period. This made a cost difference of just over £94,000 per
kilometre – this price change adding £4.5 million pounds to the overall cost of
the project. The general trend since April last year has been upwards although
remaining variable.

The projected Capital cost per year, per Kilometre, based on the above
costs and an assumed life of 20 years was £35,000

The additional annual recurrent cost for the higher level of salting
needed if the road were to be surfaced was £21,660

The projected overall direct additional capital cost per year to FIG of
surfacing compared with not surfacing based on a 30 year usable life was
£493,000.

Although the project was costed on the basis of progressive surfacing
over a 14 year period, it would have been necessary to commit the full cost of
the project which would have either required significant transfer into the
equalisation fund, or impacted on the recurrent budget to offset the additional
capital expenditure.

Cost benefit analysis within the paper related to capital and operating
costs to FIG and in relation to broader economics these obviously link to level
of nature of usage of the road, but also to the length of the road relevant to
the rest of the network.

The MPA road represents only 6 percent of the road network and much of
the heavier traffic on the MPA road itself relates to the shipment of cargo
into Mare Harbour which is then road hauled into Stanley.

At the time the paper was considered the capital equalisation fund was
already fully committed in meeting the projected programme and it was clear
that the new deep water port was going to be constructed in the Stanley area,
which would potentially change the traffic pattern significantly and it
therefore appeared prudent not to commit to a project of this magnitude at that
stage, particularly when the benefit of doing so was going to reduce when the
port was built.

Gerald Cheek asked when the Wave
Swell measuring buoy installed in Port William, what was its installation date
and how many days since its installation did it remain operational?

The Director of Central Services
said the Swell measuring buoy was deployed in Port William in early December
2012. When retrieved in early February 2013 it was found it was damaged and
unfortunately no discernible data was able to be recovered.  The electronic element was sent back to the
UK for a replacement under warranty.  We
expect to receive it back in the Islands and for it to be operational in
July.  The total cost to date is
£34,294.00 and additional operational costs once re-deployed will be roughly
£10,000.00.  Dick Sawle acknowledged it
only worked for a few days.  He asked
about the data following the easterly gales just after Christmas.  There was an unsuccessful attempt to get the
data off the Buoy as the information would be useful.  The Buoy was damaged when water got into the
battery pack located in a cone-like structure at the bottom and Mr Sawle feels
it was a design fault from the start.

Carl Evans asked about a recent
vehicle purchased for patient transport now not being fit for purpose.  He asked how this came about.  He also mentioned that the existing
ambulances were constantly breaking down and recently haven’t worked when asked
to respond to 999 calls, possibly risking lives in the process.

The response was that the small
fleet of vehicles at the KEMH have broken down for a number of different
reasons and this is constantly under review. 
There have been issues with some vehicles used for transporting patients
and changes have been made to these arrangements to ensure that the most
appropriate vehicle would be used.  All
vehicles are regularly maintained.  As
with any piece of equipment, vehicle break-downs do occur.  Although it gets little use, the second
ambulance is available as a back-up.

Mr Evans also wanted to know why
the KEMH switchboard is not manned during lunchtime.  This is unacceptable and a constant engaged
tone usually is heard and there isn’t even an answer machine message
deployed.  For clinical safety and image
aspects both locally and internationally some resolve is needed for this basic
and fundamental issue.

Arrangements for KEMH Lunchtime
cover are being reviewed by the interim Director of Health and Social Services
with a view to a more appropriate arrangement being instituted and this should
come into place shortly.

The Director of health and Social
Services provided the answers to Mr Evans’ questions.

The next written question was from
Catherine Catton regarding tsunami warnings. 
As she was not present, Mrs Cheek said she would forward an answer to
her and refer her to other questions asked by another member of the public.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Falkland Islands News Network.

St Helena : WATER CONSERVATION LEAFLET NOW AVAILABLE
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 02.06.2013 (Current Article)

A Water Conservation leaflet has today been made available in various outlets around the Island. The leaflet, entitled ‘Your Top Ten Tips to Saving Water’ contains information on how residents can conserve and limit their water usage during the current water shortage.

YOUR TOP TEN TIPS TO
SAVING WATER

WATER CONSERVATION LEAFLET NOW AVAILABLE

A Water Conservation leaflet has today been made available
in various outlets around the Island. The leaflet, entitled ‘Your Top Ten Tips
to Saving Water’ contains information on how residents can conserve and limit
their water usage during the current water shortage.

Residents in the affected areas are encouraged to pick up a
leaflet which can be found at the following outlets:

Public Library, Jamestown

Customer Service Centre, Jamestown

Health and Social Welfare Directorate, Upper Jamestown

Consulate Hotel, Jamestown

Half Tree Hollow Supermarket

A & D’s Mini Mart, Half Tree Hollow

Phillip John’s Shop, St Paul’s

McDaniel’s Shop, Cleugh’s Plain

New Ground Shop

Andy’s Shop, Half Tree Hollow

Sydneyray’s Shop, Cow Path

Red Hill Shop

MTB’s Pick and Pay, Half Tree Hollow

Godfather’s Rock Club, Half Tree Hollow

Leaflets will also be available at the Consulate Hotel
during next week’s Environment Week activities. There will also be informative
displays focusing on the importance of water as a precious resource and
efficient ways of conserving it for the future.

SHG

30 May 2013

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

St Helena : MINIMUM WAGE IN FORCE FROM 1 JUNE 2013
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 02.06.2013 (Current Article)

All employers on St Helena are reminded that a Minimum Wage for all employees will come into force on 1 June 2013.

REMINDER TO EMPLOYERS

MINIMUM WAGE IN FORCE
FROM 1 JUNE 2013

All employers on St Helena are reminded that a Minimum Wage
for all employees will come into force on 1 June 2013.

The hourly minimum wage rates agreed by Executive Council on
26 February 2013 are:

 £2.30 per hour for all employees
having attained the age of 18 years;

 £1.45 per hour for all young people
having attained the age of 16 and 17 years.

Under the Employment Rights Ordinance 2010, employers must
from 1 June 2013 ensure their employees are paid at a rate that is at least the
minimum rate they are entitled to receive.

SHG

30 May 2013

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

St Helena : WATER SITUATION IN AFFECTED AREAS REMAINS CRITICAL
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 02.06.2013 (Current Article)

The countdown to a partial water shutdown on St Helena continues as stored water levels remain exceptionally low. The light rains over the past two days have helped very slightly but have not raised stored levels.

COUNTDOWN TO PARTIAL WATER
SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

WATER SITUATION IN AFFECTED
AREAS REMAINS CRITICAL

The countdown to a partial water
shutdown on St Helena continues as stored water levels remain exceptionally
low. The light rains over the past two days have helped very slightly but have
not raised stored levels.

Consumption from the Red Hill
Treatment Plant is disappointingly high at 373 cubic metres today, compared
with a normal average of roughly 400 cubic metres. We must stretch this precious resource – please use less water in this
area. Stored levels still
only give us about 6 days’ supply.

The medium term weather forecast
shows no substantial rainfall over the next few days, so the Contingency
Planning Group (CPG) is progressing the plan for shutting off domestic water in
specific areas if necessary. This will see water tanks at key locations in the
Red Hill Treatment Plant area and other public sources (for example, in
Jamestown) to ensure that the public can access the water they need.

The affected areas would be Half Tree Hollow, Cowpath, Ladder Hill, Red
Hill, Sapper Way, New Ground, Clay Gut, Pounceys, Kunjie Field, Scotland,
Plantation, Cleughs Plain, Rosemary Plain, Francis Plain, Crack Plain and
Guinea Grass.

Specific sites for public water
tanks are being identified and tanks deployed (an ongoing process). CPG has
been discussing this and other matters with third parties, including merchants,
retailers, Faith groups and Basil Read.

Residents in the affected areas
will now want to consider whether they have suitable clean containers to
collect water, and will no doubt also be thinking of family and friends who
might be vulnerable and needing help. If we have to take the step of shutting
off supplies, we have been examining phasing options.

A Control Centre, which will be
manned during the day, evening and weekends, has now been assembled and systems
are being put in place should actual shut down happen.

Some specific reports have been
received about water wastage, which are now being investigated (principally by
the Police). We urge the public to
continue to think very carefully about their water usage.

The
public will wish to note that since November last year, St Helena has received
only about a third of the rainfall it would normally expect – not at all like
the seasonal norm.

A water conservation leaflet will
soon be available from Health and Social Welfare, the Customer Service Centre
and various other outlets, including local shops. Further details will follow.

The
Island-wide hosepipe and sprinkler ban (imposed on Friday 24 May 2013) remains
in place until further notice. All St Helena residents are reminded that they
can now use water for domestic purposes only.

St
Helena residents - particularly those in the problem areas - are urged to
exercise real care and consideration when using water.

Residents are reminded that they
can save water by:

 Not
flushing the toilet on every occasion

 Using
washing up water on the garden or vegetable patch

 Using the
washing machine sparingly and only when full

 Taking a
short shower instead of a bath - you can save up to 90 gallons of water a week

 Turning
the tap off while brushing teeth - this could save 25 gallons of water a month

 Using a
bowl when washing vegetables/fruit instead of using running water

 Checking
your taps for leaks and fixing them - a small drip can amount to 20 gallons a
day.

More water saving tips can be
found online at http://www.thameswater.co.uk/home/540.htm

Residents not served by the Red Hill Treatment Plant may use water for
agriculture if they are growing on a
large scale for commercial purposes. Such residents should ask ENRD to
answer any specific questions they have.

The use
of fresh water on a small scale, such as on household vegetable patches, is
prohibited throughout the Island.

The
water storage situation at Harpers remains severe.

The Contingency Planning Group
includes members from Connect SH Ltd, Health and Social Welfare, ENRD, the
Police and other senior SHG officials.

Leaks in mains supplies remain a
priority and any problems should be reported promptly to Connect Saint Helena
Ltd on telephone 2255 during working hours, or 2522 out of hours.

SHG

29 May
2013

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

St Helena : RESURFACING OF GRAND PARADE
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 02.06.2013 (Current Article)

Work started yesterday (27 May 2013) to resurface the western side of Grand Parade. This work is intended to remove a lot of the scarring and damage which has occurred over the years. If left unattended when the much hoped for rain arrives, the surface could have broken up and become dangerous.

Work started yesterday (27 May
2013) to resurface the western side of Grand Parade. This work is intended to
remove a lot of the scarring and damage which has occurred over the years. If
left unattended when the much hoped for rain arrives, the surface could have
broken up and become dangerous.

The Roads Section has decided to
use the newly developed MicroAsphalt, or Slurry Seal, for this work. There are
many reasons for this, and it should provide a more suitable finished surface
than traditional surface dressing would have done. Slurry Seal has been tested
in small patches around the Island, with a large scale resurfacing carried out
on the Upper Plantation Road. In general, these trials have all been
successful, and it is expected that the use of this material in the heavily
trafficked Grand Parade will be the final validation of the process and
material.

MicroAsphalt is a mixture of
Bitumen Emulsion (a mixture of Bitumen and Water), various sizes of Grit and
Dust, Cement and Water. It is mixed at room temperature in a cement mixer and
spread by hand. The material goes off, or cures, by the water from the emulsion
and the added water evaporating out of the mixture, leaving behind the cement
enhanced bitumen. The speed with which this process takes place varies
depending upon weather conditions, temperature and layer thickness.

When first laid, MicroAsphalt can
look unappealing and is considered by some to be less attractive when compared
to other methods of resurfacing. But, once the material has cured properly and
been trafficked for a few weeks, it wears and increasingly looks like any other
road surface.

Resurfacing an area like Grand
Parade is never going to be a simple process and there will always be
inconvenience. Over the next 4 weeks, Roads Section will be cordoning off
different sections from Sunday to Wednesday, as work progresses. The timing of
the work has been chosen to minimise disruption to the public - with no work on
Thursdays to Sundays and no work on Ship Days. We ask the public to be patient
during this vital work, finding alternative places to park when necessary.

Important

It may occasionally look like part
of Grand Parade is closed off for no reason, but Slurry Seal requires 24-48
hours to ‘go off’ (cure), so it may be that the surface has not yet achieved
sufficient strength to drive or walk across.

Please respect the
barriers, as if you cross the surface too early you risk getting bitumen on
your shoes or paintwork.

In the short term, there will be
periods when parking spaces are not marked out. During these times, please park
responsibly to avoid blocking people in. Once the surface has cured, new
parking spaces will be marked in a slightly different arrangement. The new
arrangement is intended to make Grand Parade a more welcoming sight, to
slightly increase the size of individual parks, and to make it easier for Grand
Parade to cope when there is increased demand for parking, such as on St
Helena’s Day.

Roads Section,

SHG

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

St Helena : GENERAL ELECTION 2013 – UPDATE
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 02.06.2013 (Current Article)

The Acting Governor, Owen O’Sullivan, has today announced his intention to fix the closing date for Nominations, which will be Tuesday 2 July 2013. This will be confirmed formally, along with other Election details, in a Writ of Election which is to be issued shortly.

The Acting Governor, Owen
O’Sullivan, has today announced his intention to fix the closing date for
Nominations, which will be Tuesday 2 July 2013. This will be confirmed
formally, along with other Election details, in a Writ of Election which is to
be issued shortly.

Nomination forms will be available
from the Returning Officer, at 1 Main Street, from Monday 3 June.
Duly completed forms can be submitted to the Returning Officer, during office
hours, up to noon on the closing date of 2 July 2013.

Candidates, and their sponsors and
supporters (each nomination needs two sponsors and five supporters), must all
be registered as electors. In addition, Candidates must be over 21 years of age
and not disqualified due to (for example) to mental illness, holding a judicial
office, serving a prison sentence exceeding 12 months, or being a member of the
Public Service. Public Officers can, in fact, be allowed to stand in certain
circumstances - Officers should seek guidance from their line managers, or from
the Returning Officer.

The period allowed for application
to amend the Provisional Register of Electors expired on Friday 24 May.
The final Register of Electors, which will take effect from 1 July 2013, will
be published as soon as possible.

SHG

28 May 2013

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

St Helena : GENERAL ELECTION 2013 – AN UPDATE
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 02.06.2013 (Current Article)

The Acting Governor, Owen O’Sullivan, has today announced his intention to fix the closing date for Nominations, which will be Tuesday 2 July 2013. This will be confirmed formally, along with other Election details, in a Writ of Election which is to be issued shortly.

GENERAL ELECTION 2013 –
AN UPDATE

The Acting Governor, Owen
O’Sullivan, has today announced his intention to fix the closing date for
Nominations, which will be Tuesday 2 July 2013. This will be confirmed
formally, along with other Election details, in a Writ of Election which is to
be issued shortly.

Nomination forms will be available
from the Returning Officer, at 1 Main Street, from Monday 3 June.
Duly completed forms can be submitted to the Returning Officer, during office
hours, up to noon on the closing date of 2 July 2013.

Candidates, and their sponsors and
supporters (each nomination needs two sponsors and five supporters), must all
be registered as electors. In addition, Candidates must be over 21 years of age
and not disqualified due to (for example) to mental illness, holding a judicial
office, serving a prison sentence exceeding 12 months, or being a member of the
Public Service. Public Officers can, in fact, be allowed to stand in certain
circumstances - Officers should seek guidance from their line managers, or from
the Returning Officer.

The period allowed for application
to amend the Provisional Register of Electors expired on Friday 24 May.
The final Register of Electors, which will take effect from 1 July 2013, will
be published as soon as possible.

SHG

28 May 2013

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

Falklands : FLH Chairman Updates Corporation News
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 25.05.2013 (Current Article)

Members of the Falklands landholdings Board have been updated on the latest news from the Corporation.

FLH
Chairman Updates Corporation News

Report
by Owen Summers

Members
of the Falklands landholdings Board have been updated on the latest news from
the Corporation.

Wool sales had picked up a bit
since the last report and FLH has sold approximately two thirds of its total
clip; prices achieved over all sales to date are currently approximately 6%
below those of last year however there are still a number of oddment lines to
sell which will further impact that average if the wool market continues to
decline.

The wool market had picked up
since the February report but any gains that had been made were lost plus some
more since the Easter recess; as a general rule of thumb prices are
approximately 108 pence (13%) down at the finer end and 17 pence (4.5%) at the
coarser end for the FLH micron range.

Landmark Wool Weekly reporting on
supply and demand says that ‘While wool prices have experienced a sharp
downturn in recent weeks, the wool market has been faring well compared to
other agricultural commodities, particularly red meat. ABARES recent forecast
release suggests that they expect wool prices to remain buoyant for the long
term, although they do predict lower prices into the 2013/14 season.’

With the abattoir export season
having just closed FLH has exceeded its budgeted income despite the lower
prices offered by FIMCO. This has been achieved through higher than anticipated
numbers and increases in average weights in old season lamb of 1.23 kg lamb and
0.5 kg for new season lamb which also includes a number of smaller lambs
supplied for the fishing vessel market.

The North
Arm wind power system continues to operate successfully; Neil
Finlayson of North Arm has been
monitoring fuel usage and generator hours for the new system and is shown for
comparison purposes in appendix 1 to this paper, since the system has not been
in for a complete year a monthly average for the last eight months has been
used for both generator hours and fuel for the last four months (Apr to June)
to give an annual estimate.

To date this is indicating an 80%
reduction in generator hours and 40% reduction in fuel used; overall current
savings are 60% per annum however the possibility exists for this to increase
if the trends of Aug, Sept & Apr are indicative of winter usage.

Payback in operating costs is 8.4
years.

Generally, all three farms are
carrying out the final bits and pieces of stock work and general maintenance.

Wayne McCormick has been appointed
as Section Supervisor for Walker Creek and will move in full time when Len
Clifton retires to Stanley; he is going to spend some time with Len at
particular times of the year to familiarise himself with camps etc e.g. putting
out the rams. Goose Green is currently seeking applicants for a handyman to
replace Wayne.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Falkland Islands News Network.

St Helena : LAST CHANCE: PROVISIONAL ELECTORAL REGISTER
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 25.05.2013 (Current Article)

The General Election will take place on Wednesday 17 July 2013. You will not be able to vote, or stand as a candidate, unless your name is on the Register of Electors.

The General Election will take
place on Wednesday 17 July 2013. You will not be able to vote, or stand as a
candidate, unless your name is on the Register of Electors.

A Provisional Register of Electors
was published on 8 May, and can be inspected at the Customer Service Centre or
the Public Library, or at any of the rural sub Post Offices. Copies are also
available for inspection by contacting any of the following people:

-Alicia Thomas, Jamestown

-Olive Williams, Jamestown

-Ronald Coleman, Levelwood

-Alfreda Yon, St Pauls

-Paula Moyce, New Ground, (SHG
Transport Division)

-Jane Augustus, The Briars

-Brenda Thomas, Nr Gordon’s Post,
Alarm Forest

-Connie Johnson, Half Tree Hollow

-Karen Henry, Archives Office, the
Castle

-Sheridan Richards, Audit Service,
Post Office Buildings

-Vilma March, Audit Service, Post
Office Buildings

-Alfred Isaac, Sandy Bay

If you are eligible to be
registered (St Helenian Status or spouse/life partner, over 18 years of age,
and normally resident on the Island), you can apply to have your name added, or
to correct your name, address, or Polling District. You can also apply to
remove the name of someone who has died or left the Island. To do so, you must
submit the appropriate form to Gina Benjamin, Assistant Registration Officer,
at 1 Main Street, by 4pm on Friday 24 May. (The form was included as a
newspaper insert on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 May. Further copies are available
by contacting the Assistant Registration Officer on tel: 2314, or any of the
persons named above.)

Each registered voter will be able
to select up to 12 Candidates in the Election this year. But remember: in
order to vote, or stand as a Candidate, your name must be on the new Electoral
Register.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

St Helena : WATER SHORTAGE ON ST HELENA – UPDATE
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 25.05.2013 (Current Article)

Domestic water supplies on St Helena continue to be at very low levels and SHG and Connect Saint Helena Ltd appeal to all residents across the Island to use water conservatively and to limit their consumption.

Domestic water supplies on St Helena continue to be at very
low levels and SHG and Connect Saint Helena Ltd appeal to all residents across
the Island to use water conservatively and to limit their consumption.

The current water shortage is centred on the Red Hill
distribution area, which includes Half Tree Hollow, Cowpath, Ladder Hill,
Red Hill, Sapper Way, New Ground, Clay Gut, Pounceys, Kunjie Field, Scotland,
Plantation, Cleughs Plain, Rosemary Plain, Francis Plain, Crack Plain and
Guinea Grass.

Therefore the hosepipe and sprinkler ban continues in the
Red Hill distribution area and we remind residents in these areas that it is an
offence to use hosepipes or sprinklers or otherwise waste water intended for
domestic use until further notice.

It is vital that residents in the above areas show proper
restraint in the use of water and limit this by, for example:

 Not flushing the toilet on every
occasion

 Using washing up water on the
garden or vegetable patch

 Using the washing machine sparingly
and only when full

 Using the shower instead of taking
a bath

 Not using a dishwasher

 Turning the tap off while brushing
teeth

Efforts continue to try to source additional water in these
areas and we will update residents as plans develop. In addition, leaks will be
treated as a priority and any problems should be reported promptly to Connect
Saint Helena Ltd on telephone 2255 during working hours, or 2522 out of hours.

Please think about how you use water and how you can
use less.

Further updates will follow.

SHG

23 May 2013

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

Falklands : FALKLANDS MLA REPRESENTS ISLANDS IN C-24 REGIONAL CONFERENCE
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 25.05.2013 (Current Article)

The United nations has announced that Mike Summers will visit Ecuador to attend the C24 Regional Conference (C24 is the UN Special Committee on Decolonization) next week.

FALKLANDS MLA REPRESENTS ISLANDS IN C-24 REGIONAL CONFERENCE

By J. Brock (FINN)

The United nations has announced that Mike Summers will visit Ecuador to attend the C24 Regional Conference (C24 is the UN Special Committee on Decolonization) next week.  The Falkland Islands Government was invited to attend by the UN and Mike has been selected as an elected member of the Assembly to represent them.

The C24 Regional Conference will focus on the third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2011-2020), as the Seminar reviews developments during the first quarter of the International Decade and related novel trends affecting decolonization.

Members will discuss the situation concerning the Non-Self-Governing Territories within the remit of the Special Committee in the Caribbean, Pacific and other regions, as well as assistance from the United Nations system assistance.  The Seminar’s conclusions and recommendations will be considered by the Special Committee at its substantive session in June, and subsequently transmitted to the General Assembly.

Presiding over the Seminar will be Diego Morejón-Pazmiño ( Ecuador), Chairman of the Special Committee, which is formally known as the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.  It is also called the Special Committee of 24 or “C-24”.

Other participants will include a specially constituted delegation of the Special Committee, comprising the bureau and members of regional groups, United Nations Member States, including administering Powers, as well as representatives of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, civil society and non-governmental organizations and experts.

Members of the Special Committee are Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Chile, China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Grenada, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Mali, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Syria, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania and Venezuela.

The Non-Self-Governing Territories are American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States Virgin Islands and Western Sahara.  The administering Powers are France, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States.  The annual Secretariat working papers on each Territory are available on the United Nations decolonization website:  www.un.org/en/decolonization.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Falkland Islands News Network.

Falklands : INTRODUCTION TO THE RT HON KENNETH CLARKE’S KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY LORD BLACK OF BRENTWOOD
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 16.11.2011 (Current Article)

Before introducing our keynote speaker I am very grateful for the opportunity that Robin (Esser) has given me to just very briefly to draw your attention to an important report that has just been published today which focuses on press freedom issues on shores of countries where challenges to press freedom are even more intense and often literally a matter of life and death.

INTRODUCTION TO THE RT HON KENNETH CLARKE’S KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY LORD BLACK OF BRENTWOOD

Transcribed by J. Brock (FINN)

Before introducing our keynote speaker I am very grateful for the opportunity that Robin (Esser) has given me to just very briefly to draw your attention to an important report that has just been published today which focuses on press freedom issues on shores of countries where challenges to press freedom are even more intense and often literally a matter of life and death.  It’s a report which has been published by the Commonwealth Press Union Media Trust, the successor body to the old CPU (Commonwealth Press Union) which over the past year has undertaken a project to look at the key laws that constrain a free and independent media in a number of representative Commonwealth countries from the UK to Uganda. 

The result of this is a draft report which has a number of recommendations about the protection of content, of self regulation, the repeal of the laws on defamation, opposition to the licensing of journalists or publications and the importance of effective freedom of information laws. 

And one of the most crucial messages of this report is the UK’s leadership role in this area and the chilling effect internationally that any moves to crack down on press freedom here or initiatives which weaken the principles of self regulation are magnified many times over in countries where governments need little excuse to seek to extinguish investigative journalists. 

I commend this report to you and copies will be available to you at the end; and I hope it might also find its way into the red box reading of our keynote speaker as so many of these issues land in his In-Trey.

The Secretary for Justice, the Rt Honourable Kenneth Clarke needs really no introduction to anyone here.  He’s been a towering figure in British politics for a generation, holding two of the great offices of State – Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Ex-Chequer – a position from which he formed the golden economic legacy which was then handed to an incoming Labour Government.

After the last election he became Secretary of State for Justice; a job which is absolutely vital to this industry, whether it be on issues of freedom of information, court reporting, data protection, privacy, the human rights act and the issue of super-injunctions which has come out of that and now also – we were hearing earlier – the implementation of the Bribery Act.  The Secretary of State is dealing with issues which are central to debates we are having today and the freedoms which everyone in this room cherishes.

Secretary of State we warmly welcome you here, we thank you for joining us at such a critical time.  We greatly look forward to your remarks.

(100X Transcription Service)

This article is the Property and Copyright of Falkland Islands News Network.

St Helena : The Directors – Part VI Carol George, Director of Health and Social Welfare
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 02.06.2011 (Current Article)

St Helena Government has introduced a new directorate structure which came into effect on 1st April. Because of this, instead of Departments SHG now has ten Directorates.

The Directors – Part VI

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

All : Jobless and Poverty Rates are key to Economic Recovery
Submitted by (Juanita Brock) 12.08.2009 (Current Article)

Policy makers in the US Federal Reserve Bank are sitting down to discuss – amongst other things – interest rates, which are expected to remain the same at near zero percent. Also on the agenda, couched in eco-speak, is a concluding summary on the state of economy. SARTMA wonders – whose economy – theirs or ours.

JOBLESS and POVERTY  RATES ARE KEY TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY

An Editorial by J. Brock (SARTMA)

Having lived through difficult financial times before, familiar alarm bells ring when people tout recovery in 2009.

Policy makers in the US Federal Reserve Bank are sitting down to discuss – amongst other things – interest rates, which are expected to remain the same at near zero percent.  Also on the agenda, couched in eco-speak, is a concluding summary on the state of economy.  SARTMA wonders – whose economy – theirs or ours.

Ben Bernanke’s summary will only bring nervous stomach to investors, who are being cautious prior to the expected announcement.  The rest of us – especially the jobless and the poor - will continue seeking alternatives just to put food on our tables.

They have money to invest and we have emptied our savings accounts to pay our food and energy bills.  Prices have increased since rumours of green shoots have replaced prudent economic reporting.  For the still increasing numbers of jobless and those on fixed incomes this means too much month at the end of the money.

An uncomfortable memory from my high school years can be applied today.  I lived with my brothers and sister in a small town in Upstate New York where there was an industry that employed 40 people.  After successful negotiations the workers got a marginal pay rise and as a family we were happy to have money to pay for my spectacles.  The eye appointment was made but before it was kept the prices in all the shops increased to the point where we were worse off financially than we were before.  The eye appointment was cancelled and money I had saved to help pay for the glasses was kept until the opportunity arose again.

Our family were the lucky ones.  To get recompense for 40 people higher prices made the rest of the village worse off than they were prior to the pay rise.  The community fought back by car-pooling so that housewives could travel to a larger town where prices were affordable in supermarkets and a shopping mall.

In order to recoup their losses the village shops increased their prices even further, only to be faced with closing down as they lost custom.  Their Going out of Business sales were packed with shoppers lost since the pay rise for 40 people.

Had they not been greedy shop owners and employees still would be in the retail trade in our village instead of looking for work.

I think this is happening now but on a larger – more world wide scale.  At the moment crude prices as well as food prices are increasing.

People who are poor will struggle to find cost effective alternatives.  With green energy and hybrid vehicles some savings are made and unless these people have money to spend the trend towards alternatives will increase exponentially.

Talk about recovery is lost on people who have run out of benefits and don’t know where their next meal is coming from.  Their hope of better times is dashed each time green shoots are grazed by people looking to make a profit.  It’s time to let the pasture recover.

The key to a better economy is to give people the money to buy food and energy and to keep prices at a cost-effective level.  Other benefits will follow.  It is the number of jobless and poor people that will either be a benefit or detriment to the economy.  When food and energy prices are artificially high the jobless rate and numbers of people in poverty will also be high.

It’s my opinion that members of the Federal Reserve Bank know this and will not increase interest rates.   Would that the Federal Reserve could do more for people who, through no fault of their own have found themselves without work and on fixed incomes.    Agreed, this is not in their immediate remit but it would be q-dos for them if they acknowledged it in their closing remarks.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Saint Helena Herald.

Falklands : ARGENTINE CLAIMS TO FALKLANDS SEABED CONTAINS NOTHING NEW
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 25.04.2009 (Current Article)

Both Argentina and the United Kingdom are claiming a vast area of seabed from South America to the Antarctic in their latest bids for control of the South Atlantic.

ARGENTINE CLAIMS TO FALKLANDS SEABED CONTAINS NOTHING NEW

By J. Brock (FINN)

Both Argentina and the United Kingdom are claiming a vast area of seabed from South America to the Antarctic in their latest bids for control of the South Atlantic.

Britain has a huge amount of paperwork in its bid to control the area and Argentina also presented years' worth of research to the United Nations. 

Argentina hopes to prove its continental shelf extends up to 150 miles (240 kilometres) beyond the current 200-mile (320-kilometer) limit – an extra 688,280 square miles (1.8 million square kilometres) of submarine area.   

Tuesday’s presentation repeats Argentina's claim to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and as such contains nothing new.

“The Falkland Islands government is currently exploring its nearby seabed for oil, “ said the Embassy spokesman, who went on to say that Britain will formally object to Argentina's presentation.

Both sides acknowledged that because of procedural rules governing the U.N. commission, any territorial disagreement raised by either party means the claim must be dropped.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Falkland Islands News Network.

S.Atlantic : Sartma Daily (30/08/05)
Submitted by SARTMA.com (Juanita Brock) 30.08.2005 (Current Article)

A quick overview of South Atlantic News

SARTMA DAILY (30/08/05) 

Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)

Websites:  http://www.falklandnews.com. http://www.tristantimes.com, http://www.the-islander.org.ac, http://www.sartma.com, http://www.news.co.sh

CONTENTS

Section 1: Articles by FINN

Section 2:  Executive Council Report

Section 3:  BAS Press Release

Section 4:  Announcements

Section 5:  FIRS News Direct

Section 1:

POACHING VESSEL TO BE SCUTTLED

By J. Brock (FINN)

The long-liner, ElQui, that was convicted of illegal fishing in South Georgia waters, will be scuttled as soon as possible, according to H.E. the Governor Mr. Howard Pearce.  It has been previously announced by the South Georgia Government that ElQui would never fish again and alternatives were being discussed about the ElQui’s disposal.  It was further decided that the vessel would never be of any commercial use.

The South Georgia Government will be licensed to scuttle the ElQui in Falklands waters.

In preparation for the scuttling the ship has been thoroughly cleaned, including  the removal from the vessel of all hydraulic fluids, fuel, engine lubricating oils, paints, batteries, fishing and other associated gear, loose domestic equipment, refrigerant and welding gases, pyrotechnics and medical drugs.  All of these items have been safely disposed of ashore in the Falkland Islands.    The galley has been thoroughly cleaned to remove cooking oils, and all food and other waste has been removed and burnt, as well as life rafts and other loose materials.  An old binnacle compass and other objects of interest have been offered to the Stanley Museum.

Falklands Conservation and the Marine Officer have been fully consulted  about the clean-up and are content that when the vessel is scuttled it will not cause any adverse environmental impact or hazard to shipping.  

The ElQui had been berthed alongside FIPASS for several months.  Due to an Executive Council decision, berthing fees were waived.

WELCOME BACK LYLE

By J. Brock (FINN)

Falkland Islander, Lyle Craigie-Halkett is no stranger to the Falklands.  He’s back again, however briefly, to supervise the clean-up effort on convicted poaching vessel. ElQui.  Last year he was involved in the clean up and restorative effort on South Georgia at Grytviken.

Mr. Craigie-Halkett has made a career in maritime exploration and recovery, as well as salvage services.  He worked on the Great Britain project in the 1970s after having been away from the Falklands for some 18 years.  Later, he returned to South Georgia with Capt Miller, also a Falkland Islander on the Throsk to help in the removal of heavy heating oil from tanks throughout the Island.

Welcome back!

Section 2:

GOVERNOR’S REPORT ON THE MEETING OF EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ON THURSDAY 25 AUGUST 2005

Executive Council met on Thursday 25 August for its regular monthly meeting.

We had a number of fishing and maritime issues to address.  First, Executive Council considered recommendations by the Fisheries Committee for the fees to be charged for various categories of fishing licence during the 2006 season.  ExCo took decisions on all of the recommendations received from the Fisheries Committee with the exception of the fees for longline licences, which it returned to the Fisheries Committee for further consideration.  The details of the new fees are being published. 

Secondly, two decisions were taken with regard to the Elqui, the longliner which was recently arrested for illegal fishing in South Georgia waters. It was decided that, because of the circumstances leading to the berthing of the Elqui at FIPASS and the shared interest of FIG and the South Georgia Government in removing the vessel from further commercial use, harbour dues and berthing fees should be waived for the period of the lay-up.  It was also decided that the South Georgia Government should be licensed to scuttle the fishing vessel in Falklands waters.  The scuttling is likely to take place soon, following completion of the current clean-up work on the vessel. 

Listeners and readers may like to be reassured that the clean-up process has been extremely thorough.  It has involved the removal from the vessel of all hydraulic fluids, fuel, engine lubricating oils, paints, batteries, fishing and other associated gear, loose domestic equipment, refrigerant and welding gases, pyrotechnics and medical drugs.  All of these items have been safely disposed of ashore in the Falkland Islands.  The galley has been thoroughly cleaned to remove cooking oils, and all food and other waste has been removed and burnt.  All liferafts and other loose materials have also been removed.  Some objects of particular interest, including an old binnacle compass, have been offered to the Stanley Museum.  The result is that when the vessel is scuttled it will not cause any adverse environmental impact or hazard to shipping.  Both Falklands Conservation and the Marine Officer have been fully consulted and are content.

Still on maritime issues, ExCo had some more maritime fees to decide  – this time freight rates for the coastal shipping service, about which there has apparently been some confusion.  Full details of these rates are being published.

There are long-standing arrangements between FIG and the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) under which the MCA provides various survey and certification services for the Falkland Islands Shipping Register.  A new Memorandum of Understanding has been agreed with the MCA.  ExCo approved the terms of this MoU. 

ExCo also approved the making of the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Amendment Regulations 2005.  The purpose of this amendment to the regulations is to clarify the way in which the Merchant Shipping Ordinance 2001 and the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Regulations 2001 apply to fishing vessels which were registered under the pre-2001 arrangements.  The effect of this is to make it clear that vessels already registered on the old Stanley Register are not obliged to meet the new and more stringent eligibility requirements of the Ordinance and Regulations in order to remain on the Register.

People may recall that at its July meeting ExCo amended the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Regulations 2000 in order to enable FIG to suspend the operation of the open door licensing system for offshore hydrocarbons exploration.  At last week’s meeting ExCo decided to exercise these powers and to close open door licensing throughout the controlled waters of the Falkland Islands for an indefinite period.  A notice will appear in the Gazette to that effect.

FIG has been invited by the UK Government to consider whether it wishes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol of that Convention to be applied to the Falkland Islands.  Following some thorough research by the previous and current Environmental Planning Officers, it appears that it should be relatively easy for FIG to collect the statistics required and to meet the obligations imposed by the Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.  ExCo therefore agreed that the FCO should be informed that FIG wishes these arrangements to be applied to the Falkland Islands.  This means that the Falkland Islands will be making its own small contribution to global efforts to tackle the problem of climate change. 

The helicopter refuelling facility at Fox Bay has come to the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced.  ExCo approved various arrangements requested by the Ministry of Defence in connection with the construction of the new facility, and to the provision of a temporary fuel store for use during the construction.

There has been considerable local interest in the proposals by Cable and Wireless to establish a mobile phone service in the Falkland Islands.  In that connection the Planning and Building Committee had earlier in the week considered two applications from Cable and Wireless for the siting of mobile phone masts, and permission was sought from ExCo for the lease of Crown land on which to place these two masts.  ExCo agreed to grant the request in principle, but noted that the Planning and Building Committee had decided to defer until its next meeting consideration of the proposal to site a mast to the north of St Mary’s Walk.

A couple of Committee issues next.  ExCo agreed to the appointment of Mr Mike Evans as the new Rural Business Association representative on the Board of Falkland Landholdings.  ExCo also agreed the proposals for the restructuring of the Apprenticeship Committee, including a new Committee membership and new terms of reference.

Falklands Conservation carry out regular censuses of the principal bird species in the Falkland Islands.  Beauchene Island is a particularly important location for breeding colonies of black-browed albatross and rockhopper and gentoo penguins.  Falklands Conservation have sought permission to visit Beauchene Island to undertake censuses of these species.  ExCo gave their agreement to this.

Finally, the tricky issue of licensing the shooting of turkey vultures.  ExCo had a full discussion of a report by the Director of Agriculture.  Given the considerable local interest in this issue, I am recording the conclusions reached by ExCo in full, which were as follows:

The Governor’s power to issue licences to shoot protected birds should be delegated with respect to turkey vultures only to the Environmental Planning Officer (EPO).

In the absence of the EPO the delegated power should be exercised by the Director of Agriculture (DoA).

In exercising this delegated power the EPO/DoA should:

(i)  seek advice in respect of each licence application from representatives of the Tourist Board, Falklands Conservation, Farmers and the Department of Agriculture;

(ii)  limit any licence to the shooting of a maximum of twenty birds;

(iii)  require every licensee to provide a full report detailing when, where and how many birds were shot;

(iv)  ensure that the information submitted under (iii) above is passed to the Environmental Committee and Falklands Conservation.

The EPO should follow the procedures and criteria set out above in taking a decision on the licence applications received from Pebble Island and North Arm.

Applications for licences to shoot any other species of protected bird should be submitted to Executive Council.  Executive Council’s decision on any such application should take account of the views of the EPO and the bodies referred to in paragraph 2.3 (i) above.

Falklands Conservation should be invited to conduct a programme of Island-wide turkey vulture censuses with a view to identifying the size and status of the turkey vulture population, together with a study of turkey vulture feeding behaviour.

Section 3

RELEVANT INTERNET NEWS

BAS Press Release

Early Drake Passage Opening Led to Global Change

No: 12/2005   30 Aug 2005

New results shed light on how Antarctica became the icy, barren continent that we know today. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists have discovered that 30-50 million years ago, South America and Antarctica split apart very rapidly. This formed the Drake Passage and resulted in a major global cooling. The findings are published in the latest issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Lead Author Dr Roy Livermore says ‘we deciphered the remarkable ‘herringbone’ pattern of ridges that were etched into the Earth’s crust beneath the remote Weddell Sea when South America moved away from Antarctica. This revealed that the two continents separated extremely quickly in geological time forming a shallow ‘gateway’ between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. We estimate that this happened some ten to twenty million years earlier than the previous oldest estimate. Even a shallow (less than 1000 metres) gateway would have had a profound effect on Southern Ocean circulation and subsequently climate".

Such a gateway, by completing a circuit of water around Antarctica, eventually led to the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the world’s largest deep current which now transports some 130 million cubic metres of water through the Drake Passage every second. The effect was to cut Antarctica off from warm southward flowing currents leaving it frozen and desolate.

This new research reinforces findings from deep-sea sediments cores taken from the Southern Ocean and supports the theory that the opening of the Drake Passage could have triggered the abrupt global cooling event and extensive growth of the Antarctic ice sheet 33-34 million years ago.

Paleogene opening of Drake Passage by Roy Livermore, Adrian Nankivell, Graeme Eagles and Peter Morris is published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 236, pages 459-470.

British Antarctic Survey is a world leader in research into global issues in an Antarctic context. It is the UK’s national operator and is a component of the Natural Environment Research Council. It has an annual budget of around £40 million, runs nine research programmes and operates five research stations, two Royal Research Ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica.

Issued by the British Antarctic Survey Press Office. Amanda Lynnes - tel: +44 1223 221414, mob:07740 822229, email:  a.lynnes@bas.ac.uk  Linda Capper - tel: +44 1223 221448, mob: 07714 233744, email:  l.capper@bas.ac.uk Author Contact: Dr Roy Livermore - tel: +44 1223 221572

© Copyright Natural Environment Research Council British Antarctic Survey 2004.

Section 4:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Royal British Legion Meeting scheduled for Monday, 05 September has been cancelled due to holiday commitments.  The meeting will take place on the 10^th of October.

Section 5:

FIRS NEWS DIRECT: 30 AUGUST 2005

Compiled by Amy Johnson (AJ) and Stacy Bragger)

INDOOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE:

Sunday night saw two more matches being played in the Indoor Football League, with Lots a Leftovers and Bragger’s Boys both claiming three points.  Bragger’s boys stay top of the league.  The next round of fixtures will be played tonight with the Left Overs playing the Wanderers and Tyrell’s Squirls and Nuts taking on the No Namers.

FALKLANDS GUN CLUB:

The winter season carried on again for the Falklands Gun Club, with a 50-bird Skete Competition.  The wind and rain went against all shooters on the day but Stevie Burroughs managed to hold off all competition to take first place.  Jon Butler and Steve Dent were unable to find previous form but with constant problems with the low house bird and the wind, all shooters’ scores were well below the expected level.  The next arranged shoot is on the 11^th of September, which will be another skete competition.

FRESH PRODUCE SHORTAGES:

There will be some fresh produce shortages this week according to Stanley Growers.  The shortages are due to a full passenger flight from Chile resulting in minimal freight space.  Stanley Growers had anticipated a lack of freight space and had double booked the previous week but it was also heavily booked with passengers so they were unable to have the required volume on the plane.  Tim Miller from Stanley Growers said as long as more passengers do not book flights, they should be allocated 2500 kilos for the next flight.  Jenny Forrest from International Tours and Travel Ltd. said that space on the flights is mainly due to the school holidays but said that a flight due on 03 September wasn’t that full and that subsequent flights would have more space.

In other Stanley Growers News their salad production this coming season will be about six weeks late.  The delay is due to previously not being able to obtain an affordable heating fuel.  With help from the MoD and Stanley Services, they have overcome this problem for the time being.

LISTERIA IN MILK:

The latest tests for Listeria in milk from Beckside Dairy has proven to be negative.  Roger Diggle, the Chief Medical Officer, says that the current situation is that samples from all the individual cows were negative and last week’s tests in the packets of milk were negative.  He also said that it was too early for the people at risk to start drinking milk without it being boiled from the dairy.  The next set of test results are expected to be available on Thursday.

FISHING, SHIPPING AND HARBOUR NEWS:

From the weekend:  The Reefer Frio Oceanic came into Berkley Sound on Saturday for transshipping.  The tanker, Sentaurus, Trawler, New Polar came into Berkley Sound over the weekend and both left for Port William on Sunday.  The Shanghai Reefer entered Port William on Saturday for transshipping and left for the high seas the same day.  The Trawler Beatrix Norres also came into Port William on Saturday and left the same day to the Fishing Grounds.

(100X Transcription and Monitoring Service)

This article is the Property and Copyright of Falkland Islands News Network.

Tristan : Postcode Not So New For Tristan
Submitted by Tristan Times (Juanita Brock) 10.08.2005 (Current Article)

One of the nice things about having a Tristanian working for SARTMA is that the record can be set straight about various things, including the Island’s postcode. TDCU 1ZZ has been available for at least 18 months.

Photo (c) James Glass Tristan Times - the building that houses the Tristan Post Office

POSTCODE NOT SO NEW FOR TRISTAN

An Editorial by J. Brock (SARTMA-TdC)

Tristan's Administration Building where the Post Office is housed.

One of the nice things about having a Tristanian working for SARTMA is that the record can be set straight about various things, including the Island’s postcode.  TDCU 1ZZ has been available for at least 18 months and as early as April 2004 I have used it to help differentiate between Scotland and Tristan.  Indeed, people on the Island have said that Tristanians, their families, as well as families and friends living overseas have used the postcode for a long time before that.  The advertisement for the Short Guide to Tristan da Cunha, written by Anne Green and James Glass contains the Tristan Postcode, as well as a story on Tristan Times about snail mail. 

Today I got an enquiry from the BBC about the postcodes through the Tristan Times Online website, which that news agency visited quite frequently since it came on line in 2003.  I wondered why this subject was so important now.  It seems that it is not the postcode but it is the fact that an item ordered over the internet (it’s not clear if it was ordered from the Island) reached its buyer.

I, too, have run afoul of those pesky Internet forms.  Before South Atlantic Islands received their postcodes I used to put BR1 T1SH in the place provided.  It worked. 

Now, lets solve that other problem – cheaper Internet access from Tristan so that one doesn’t have to pay a small fortune for an item valued at only a few Pounds Sterling.

This article is the Property and Copyright of Tristan Times.