St Helena : Gareth Thomas Writes to the People of St. Helena
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 20.04.2006 (Article Archived on 04.05.2006)
The people of St. Helena hear officially about subjects near and dear to them.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Gareth Thomas’
writes to the people of St Helena.
Since I last wrote in the Herald in 2004, the prospects for St Helena’s future have been transformed. I was pleased I was able to approve the air access project in March last year, a decision which offers the opportunity for all of us to work for a brighter and more prosperous future for the island.
Outline plans for the airport are on view at venues around the island this Easter week and representatives from DFID and St Helena Government will be on hand to hear your views and answer your questions. I hope you will take this chance to look at the designs, consider the options and have your say. I believe we need to work together to make sure that air access brings lasting benefits to islanders, while preserving the aspects of the island that make it unique. We can only do this by DFID working closely in partnership with the St Helena Government. In my view, that partnership is strong and working well.
Good planning and preparation are crucial to the success of the project and a lot still needs to happen before digging starts. The air access team has been working on the details that will go to the companies invited to tender. They have looked at many issues, like the haul route, the temporary landing facilities, the route of the permanent access road, and expansion of bulk fuel storage. These also have to take into account social and environmental issues.
Subject to the consultations now under way, we expect the Invitation to Tender will be issued in late May. All three of the consortia that have expressed interest will be invited to submit proposals.
No doubt the path ahead will have many twists and turns. That’s inevitable in a project as complex as this. But through the air access team, we and the St Helena Government aim to make available as much information as we can, and tell you about developments as promptly as possible. We have appointed an experienced DFID staff member to represent us on island. His presence will also help to make sure that information gets from us to you quickly.
Alongside this work, St Helena Government is reviewing relevant policies which need to be updated if St Helena is to make the best of future opportunities, such as strategies for land management, tourism and inward investment.
It is absolutely essential to get these policies right now because they will affect St Helena’s planning and investment decisions for a long time to come. This can take time and I know that this causes difficulties to some. But experience with similar projects elsewhere shows that it is always in the longer term interest to do the planning and preparation well, even if this takes more time than some of us would like. Meanwhile, daily life goes on too. I know the difficulties St Helena iscurrently facing. I have had informative discussions with Councillors when they are in the UK, most recently with Eric Benjamin last October.
Lord Triesman, my opposite number in the Foreign Office, and I meet regularly to discuss issues of common interest, and we are both committed to working closely with St Helena to move forward together.
This is an unprecedented period of change and progress for St Helena. Many challenges lie ahead in moving from where we are now to where St Helena needs to be in 2010 and beyond to take best advantage of improved access: building a modern public service; creating an entrepreneurial private sector; improving vocational training; attracting inward investment that benefits Saints; marketing St Helena to the outside world. These are exciting prospects, but none, of course, is easy. DFID will continue to work with the St Helena Government to help Saints make the most of the opportunities that will now open up.
Gareth Thomas
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
|
