St Helena : Weekly News from St. Helena
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 11.09.2004 (Article Archived on 25.09.2004)

On Friday 3rd September members of Legislative Council met with Heads of Department to discuss the draft Constitution and outstanding points of policy.

The Public Transport service will be extending its route to Ruperts on Friday mornings only, commencing on Friday 17^Th September.  Fox Motors and Solomons will provide the buses on alternate weeks. Fox Motors will start this new route on Friday 17^th.

The times for this new route are as follows:

First Trip

Depart                      Jamestown, Grand Parade                         1000

Arrive/Depart            Ruperts, St Helena Canning Complex          1015

Arrive                       Jamestown, Grand Parade                          1030

Return Trip

Depart                     Jamestown, Grand Parade                          1245

Arrive/Depart           Ruperts, St Helena Canning Complex           1300

Arrive                      Jamestown, Grand Parade                           1315

The bus fare will cost £1.00 for a single journey and £2.00 for a return

Journey.

The introduction of this route will not affect the usual scheduled times to all

the other areas, therefore apart from the additional route, bus schedules

currently in circulation will remain the same.

With regard to the Public Transport Service as a whole, a questionnaire

will shortly issue regarding existing routes and times of service etc., so if

you have any suggestions you would like to put forward that could improve

the service, advantage should be taken of filling in the questionnaire.

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

8^TH September 2004

Opening times for Cash Office

The Finance Department wishes to advise the Private Sector and the general public that the Cash Office will be opening on Wednesday’s from 9am to 12 noon on a three month trial in the first instance; the new opening hours commenced on Wednesday the 8^th September 2004.  On both Wednesday’s and Saturday’s there will be only one Cashier at the counter at any time.

It is hoped that this opening will have a positive effect on both the Public and Private sector and the opening will offer further support to the business community as many organisations in the past have requested this opening.

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

8^th September 2004

Success in recruiting an Attorney General.

Mr Ken Baddon has been appointed as Attorney General for St Helena under a two-year TC post contract. Ken is no stranger to St Helena as he held the post of Attorney General on the Island in the mid 80’s departing the Island in November 1989. He has been appointed under the Technical Cooperation (TC) recruitment scheme and is due to arrive on 28^th September.

Since leaving the Island, Ken has been an Assistant Crown Prosecutor and then an Authorities Advocate in the London Home Office from 1990 – 2002.  Some of the duties that he performed under the Authorities Advocate role were Lead lawyer in many judicial reviews and assisting with the revision of the compensation scheme.  Ken also performed various consultancy and lecturing assignments.  Apart from writing articles for legal journals Ken has also written a book entitled ‘Maximising criminal injuries compensation’.  A person with such a diverse legal background as well as having worked on St Helena before will certainly be an asset to St Helena’s Legal Department.

Ken has said that he is looking forward to returning to St Helena, as it will be interesting to see how the Island has changed/developed since he departed.  He is also looking forward to returning to the Legal Department, as although the structure of the department has changed, most of the senior staff in the department were his colleagues when he held the post in the 80’s. 

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

8^th September

Referendum for new Constitution

On Friday 3^rd September members of Legislative Council met with Heads of Department to discuss the draft Constitution and outstanding points of policy.

Elected members and Heads of Department opted for a referendum on the new Constitution, including whether to have a ministerial form of Government for St Helena.  The referendum will be carried out in order to guide the Second Sitting of the Fourth Session of the Legislative Council, which will be held on Monday 25^th October.

It is hoped that the mechanism for a national referendum will be in place by the end of September and that the plebiscite will take place in the first part of October 2004. 

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

3 September 2004.

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