Falklands : GOVERNOR’S REPORT ON THE MEETING OF EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ON THURSDAY 28 JULY 2005
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 02.08.2005 (Article Archived on 16.08.2005)
Executive Council met at Government House for its monthly meeting on Thursday 28 July 2005. H. E. the Governor Mr. Howard Pearce tells us more.
GOVERNOR’S REPORT ON THE MEETING OF EXECUTIVE COUNCIL ON THURSDAY 28 JULY 2005
Executive Council met at Government House for its monthly meeting on Thursday 28 July 2005.
The TV and radio mast on Sappers Hill is nearing the end of its useful life. Moreover, the mast has suffered recent damage and is in need of repair and maintenance in order to enable it to operate for another one to two years until it is replaced. ExCo agreed that an offer by Mr Mario Zuvic of KTV Ltd to employ Chilean engineers to carry out this work should be accepted. ExCo also had a preliminary discussion of options for the long-term replacement of the mast. A decision on this aspect will be taken at a future meeting of ExCo.
Issues related to offshore hydrocarbons exploration often appear on ExCo’s agenda these days, and last week’s meeting was no exception. ExCo agreed to renew for a further year from 20 December 2005 the exploration licence held by Geophysical Service Incorporated, under which they are entitled to acquire offshore seismic data under contract for production licence holders Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd and Borders and Southern Petroleum. It is expected that this work will continue to be carried out by their vessel GSI Admiral.
ExCo also approved a draft amendment to the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Regulations 2000, which gives effect to a decision by ExCo at its April meeting to allow the Falkland Islands Government through Executive Council to open and close open door licensing as required and in specific areas, the purpose being to maximise the economic benefit to the Falkland Islands.
Next, an item of importance to young people in the Falkland Islands. In October last year ExCo agreed to rent the old Telephone Exchange on Ross Road to the Trustees of “The Place” as a meeting place for the young people of Stanley. This decision was subject to review in the middle of this year. ExCo agreed that the premises should continue to be leased to “The Place” and that a further review should take place in July 2006. Members of ExCo noted that usage of “The Place” had dropped off significantly in recent months, and hoped that this vote of confidence would revive interest on the part of young people in using the building. They recognised the importance of young people having a place of their own in which they could meet, and encouraged them to make full use of this facility.
FIG agreed last year to make available some £25,000 to the Museum and National Trust to support work on wrecks and hulks in Stanley. These funds were offered on a matching basis – ie FIG would contribute £1 for every £1 raised for this purpose by the Museum. At its meeting last week ExCo agreed that, since none of this money was spent in the previous financial year, the £25,000 in matching funds could be carried over from the last to the current (2005/06) financial year; that £2,840 of this money should now be released to the Museum to match funds which had been raised; and that the unspent balance remaining at the end of the current financial year should be carried over to 2006/07. ExCo also agreed that Mr Vernon Steen and Mrs Alison Barton should be reappointed for a period of three years as Trustees of the Falkland Islands Museum and National Trust.
A vacancy has occurred in one of the five lay member slots on the Planning and Building Committee. Executive Council accepted the Committee’s recommendation that the vacancy should be filled by Mr Mike Rendell.
Next, a range of decisions arising out of an audit of the so-called Domestic Fuel Formula, which is used to calculate the price of fuel in the Islands. As most people will be aware, Stanley Services Ltd holds a monopoly licence for the supply of fuel products. In return, Stanley Services Ltd is obliged to maintain fuel stocks at or above agreed levels and to set fuel prices in accordance with the Domestic Fuel Formula. Following an audit by FIG’s Internal Auditor of the Domestic Fuel Formula and discussion in Executive Council last year, a series of recommendations were considered by Executive Council last week. The issues involved are complex and technical, but because of the public interest in this issue I have set out the decisions taken by Executive Council in detail. They are as follows:
1. SSL should be asked formally to agree side notes to the Fuel Supply Agreement to provide for:
simplification of the pricing formula and
application of interest to the DFF provision, including a penalty rate for excessive balances owed to the customer.
2. SSL should be invited to discuss a fundamental review of the pricing formula, with the objective of removing perverse incentives from that formula.
3. SSL should be required to compensate the customer for the profit that it has erroneously drawn on transport costs throughout the life of the Fuel Supply Agreements.
4. SSL should be required to obtain itemised invoices for future supplies of diesel and kerosene. Alternatively, the company should agree a transport percentage of prime costs that will be excluded from the 2.5% return calculation for the purposes of the pricing formula.
5. SSL should be required to reduce the DFF operating cost apportionments to a level that better reflects the proportion of turnover from fuel activities, except for those items where the company can provide firm activity data to demonstrate that a different percentage is appropriate.
6. Apportioned costs for marketing and entertainment should be removed from the DFF calculation.
7. SSL should be asked formally to agree a side-note to the Fuel Supply Agreement to clarify that, for the purposes of the pricing formula, depreciation is always to be based on the initial historic cost of fixed assets.
8. SSL should account for shared use assets in a manner that clearly demonstrates that only the fair proportion of the costs is borne by the DFF. In the meantime, notional rents should be increased, where necessary, to provide for full recovery of the non-fuel element by the DFF.
9. In the event that SSL resists implementing all or some of the recommendations in this report, FIG should solicit the company’s agreement for the Principal Auditor to be asked to review those findings when he next visits the Falkland Islands. This would provide a cost effective alternative to invoking the potentially expensive option of employing a firm of accountants to act as expert and make binding recommendations.
On a related matter, and following its discussion in June of the problems arising from the quality of fuel recently supplied by Stanley Services Ltd, Executive Council considered possible amendments to the Petroleum Products Ordinance in order to provide added protection to consumers. After some discussion, Executive Council agreed that the Petroleum Products Ordinance be amended so as to:
(a) provide for complaints relating to the supply of fuel by any licensee under the Ordinance to be made to a Fuel Commissioner and for the powers of the Commissioner;
(b) provide for the fuel price formula agreed between FIG and SSL to have statutory force;
(c) provide for the results of any audit of the application of the fuel price formula to be published.
I should add by way of clarification that the responsibilities of Fuel Commissioner will be carried out by an existing official (identity yet to be decided) and will therefore not involve the establishment of an additional post or any further expenditure.
There has already been some coverage in the press of applications from two farms for licences to shoot turkey vultures because of the damage which they have been causing to sheep. Executive Council held a full discussion of these applications and reached the following conclusions:
(a) the current arrangement, under which the Governor’s powers in the Conservation of Wildlife and Nature Ordinance 1999 to issue licences to kill protected birds have been delegated to a government official, should be revoked;
(b) a paper should be prepared by the Department of Agriculture, following consultation with all interested parties (including the Rural Business Association, Falklands Conservation, Falklands Tourism and the Environmental Planning Officer), setting out the issues and making recommendations for future policy;
(c) meanwhile, no licences for the killing of turkey vultures or other protected birds should be issued.
At its meeting in the middle of last month, the Planning and Building Committee granted planning permission for the extension of a dog kennel at Murray Heights. It subsequently came to light that a number of letters of objection sent before the meeting had not been received in time for consideration by the Committee. Executive Council agreed that in these circumstances the planning permission should be revoked and reconsidered at the next meeting of the Planning and Building Committee on 8 September.
The next item of news will I am sure be welcome to all of those who visit the King Edward Memorial Hospital. Executive Council agreed a proposal to provide limited parking for six vehicles on St Mary’s Walk immediately opposite the entrance to the Hospital. Parking in this area will be limited to one hour between 8.00 am and 5.00 pm from Monday to Friday. This is designed to make it easier for outpatients to park their vehicles when they attend the hospital, while leaving sufficient space at either end of St Mary’s Walk for unlimited parking for other vehicles.
Executive Council considered a paper from the Attorney General setting out proposals for new legislation and prioritising those proposals into three categories: essential/urgent, highly desirable, and desirable. The purpose of this is to help the Attorney General to prioritise his work over the next few months. Executive Council agreed at the beginning of this year that legislative priorities should be reviewed at six-monthly intervals, and the issue will appear on the ExCo agenda again in January 2006. For those who would like more detail, the paper is being published.
A specific area where legislation needs to be updated is that of workmen’s compensation. Executive Council agreed that a working party comprised of representatives of the private sector and Government should be established, to examine the compensation provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation Ordinance and report back with recommendations.
Finally, a subject of interest to all sportsmen. A new international convention has recently been agreed (UNESCO International Convention Against Doping in Sport) with the object of eradicating the use of drugs at international sporting events. The UK Government has invited the Falkland Islands Government to consider whether it wishes the Convention to be applied to the Falkland Islands. Since it seems likely that adherence to the Convention will in future be a necessary condition for participation in major international sporting events (eg the Commonwealth Games), Executive Council decided that the UK Government should be told that it wishes the Convention to be applied to the Falkland Islands.
|
