Falklands : Falkland Islands Development Board Meeting Report (06/06/06)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 07.06.2006 (Article Archived on 21.06.2006)
Find out what happened during this vital meeting.
FALKLAND ISLANDS DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING REPORT (06 JUNE 2006)
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the Falkland Islands Development Board took place at 0900hrs on Tuesday, 06 June 2006 at the Chamber of Commerce Function Room. Present were Cllrs. Clausen (Chair) and Davies as well as Julian Morris, General Manager of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation (FIDC), Mr. Chris Simpkins, Chief Executive, Ms. Sue Gyford (FIDC) Miss Bernadette Lang (Financial Controller) Ms. Jeanie Morton (Financial Controller Designate), Mrs. Leona Roberts (FI Tourist Board), Mr. Ron Binnie (Rural Business Association), Mr. Roger Spink (Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce) and Mr. Stuart Wallace (Vessel Owners Association). Also present to give presentations were Ms. Nuala McKay (Business Advisor for FIDC), Dr. Brendan Gara (Aquaculture Representative) Mr. Neil Judd (Department of Agriculture) and Kevin and Leone Reynolds from the Stanley Dairy.
After the minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2006 were confirmed, declarations of interest, no matters arising from those minutes were discussed.
Mr. Julian Morris, FIDC General Manager gave an update on his activities since the 18th April meeting. Firstly, he introduced Mrs. Jeanie Morton, the Financial Controller designate, who will be taking over while Bernadette Lang is on maternity leave. He also welcomed the New Business Advisor, Nuala McKay to the board.
When he went to Chile on holiday, Mr. Morris had meetings arranged by Mr. John Reece, the British Council in Punta Arenas. According to Mr. Morris he is a tireless supporter of the Falklands. Meetings with the Managing Director of Austral Broom, a Ferry Company, produced an idea about using landing craft for offloading freight in the Falklands. Care had to be taken with storing the freight above the water line. Money would have to be spent on infrastructure.
He also met with Standard Wool International about buying Falkland Islands Wool. The meeting touched on containerisation and the double dumping machine. Tim Cotter would be consulted for the production of a paper and a plan. He also met with the Regional Director of an organisation called “Pro Chile.”
Tim Cotter was pulling together proposals with regard to Coastal Shipping.
Wool marketing contacts with David Lambert who has contacts with British retailers linking on a business to business level will enhance wool development. It is hoped to bring him down for Farmers Week this year.
There were difficulties in persuading people about an improved container-stacking park. The key issue is power needed to the site as it is used for the second fishing season for storage of frozen fish products. There would be meetings with shippers to ascertain their needs. It is thought that 40-foot containers could be stored at the proposed improved container park. Limited investment would be needed and Mr. Morris is pleased with the development thus far.
There was good news/bad news about the FIMCO season. 20% of the produce of the Abattoir remains unsold and it is thought that amount could be re-labelled to get a sale – to get someone to buy the product. Though the sales figures weren’t in front of him, Mr. Morris said that he could have been more pro-active in spotting the trend. Cost increases in manning helped to add to the gloomy financial picture
Chris Simpkins added that any request for funding needed to be channelled through FIG and he suggested an immediate FIMCO/FIG meeting to work out some of the anomalies. Julian Morris agreed with this and continued that the good news was that the staff at the Abattoir processed 40% more sheep than they did last season – that’s 33,500 sheep!
The Department of Agriculture “Wash Up session was a useful exercise and helped to improve communications that have plagued coastal shipping this year. This problem would be remedied by having the right vessel.
Chris Simpkins recommended that John Ferguson and his team at the Abattoir be congratulated for their work and dedication. Andrea Clausen agreed but added it was the market that let us down.
Dr. Brendan Gara updated the board on the Aquaculture project. He said he had finished stage one of his plan which was to identify species that could successfully be farmed in the Falklands.
He identified Mussel Farming and Toothfish Farming presently going on in the Falklands but also identified Sea Trout and Zebra Trout as potential species for farming. He added that Rag-worm farming would provide a good high quality protein feed for cattle and Shrimp. A 10 x 75 Metre Pond would be needed to get things started. In the UK these facilities have drawn comment at planning meetings but it is not envisaged that this would be a problem in the Falklands at an appropriate location. Basic materials would be needed to feed the Rag-worms, which would take a year to mature. This would be a cost-effective way of producing high-quality feed and it should realise £6.00 to £7.00 per kilo.
It was thought that Mussel Farming would be better in partnership with a Chilean Company as the product is the same and it would be difficult to market them using Falklands only marketing. We have a better chance with toothfish.
We need to develop a brand and a hatchery where tourists can come to see the business. For that legislation needs to be in place, we need a deep-water port, containerisation and a factory to process our own fish product. The process needs to be tiered for bio-security issues.
Julian Morris mentioned that there was a risk in starting a hatchery and proposed that a hatchery capable of processing several species to would be a good way forward for the future of our fish farming industry. It was hoped that the general public could come and see the hatchery in operation.
Brendan Gara added that company names could be on the fish tanks as a good form of advertising.
The next stages included gaining support for on-going toothfish and mussel projects. He would have a cross-Islands plan ready by December 2006.
This was followed by a discussion about the system that was best for use in farming. It is thought that a closed system would be ideal but funding for a system that could pump a lot of oxygen through the water to keep the fish alive would, at this stage, be prohibitive. We need to work up to getting the right system to suit our needs.
Another method would be to stock two or three rivers with species that are here already. There would be no genetic ramifications as we probably only have one distinct genetic marker for each of our indigenous species. Again, it was suggested that a Chilean company could do business with us in our mussel farming.
Ms. Nuala McKay, the new Business Advisor, introduced herself and explained a bit about her background and the previous employment she had in Scotland.
The Kyoto Protocol paper was approved and there was a brief report on the Rural Energy Grant Schemes. These schemes are, in principle, the same as those for Stanley residents and it was suggested they could be widened in camp to include business applications. This would need discussion because it was for the houses and not the wool sheds that the alternative energy scheme money would be used. FIG had no plans to provide grants for the commercial infrastructure in Camp. People would be encouraged to look at renewable energy systems for camp. The paper was supported and sent to EXCO.
Sue Gyford reported that the Falklands finest scheme debate is on the back burner for now. EFQM results were discussed. It was said that the “Investors in People” was not adequate for the Falklands and was scrapped. It was the overall picture that could benefit from an award.
The Financial Controller gave her report prior to the Stanley Dairy Update by Kevin and Leone Reynolds.
Bernadette Lang said that FIDC had done well as there was still an amount of unspent approvals amounting to the same level as the last meeting. Income was also substantial as there had been payment for the last shipment of wool sent to the UK.
A sum of money approved for the “Gateway to the South” project had been spent on the Tamar. This was an annoyance but it was thought that FIG would be good on their promise to fund the project for the amount specified.
Bank Mandates had to be signed by an approved list of people so Nulla McKay, Jeannie Morton and Brendan Gara’s names would be added.
A technical approval had to be made to spend funds needed until those of the new financial year kicked in.
Kevin and Leone Reynolds arrived for their presentation about the Stanley Dairy. The power-point presentation showed a rise in sales of whole milk and a good response for the other products. It was hoped that the shops would not order or severely cut down their orders for similar products from overseas. Filling and packing machines were costed, with a down payment made and on order. At present many packing processes were done by hand. Seeing that the pasteurisation and homogeniser had been reconditioned, it would not be necessary to carry on with testing for Listeria in the hospital lab. A separating machine was being built. Things should be up and running in August.
They looked at packaging, labels and logos designed by Julie Bellhouse .
The military are keen to begin ordering dairy products but Kevin Reynolds said that if they were asked to supply MPA now he wouldn’t be able to supply Stanley for six days. The Military would bring their families more often if there were a fresh supply of milk. They had only 13 cows and they were ageing. He is looking for local breeds of cattle as well as some from the United States. A good herd of 100 cows would be ideal. The grass wasn’t all that good but the cows at the dairy are being fed on meal.
An explanation about products such as eggs revealed that it was hoped for a flock of 3,000 to 4,000 free-range hens. Also, a piggery is in operation and there was an opportunity to produce veal from cows that were not in condition to produce milk.
Two part time workers from the training centre were hired recently and samples have been given to the Chef at Stanley Arms to produce today’s nibs.
The public session ended at 1045hrs.
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