Falklands : Falkland Islands Development Board Meeting Report (06/02/07)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 07.02.2007 (Article Archived on 21.02.2007)
Find out what happened during this important meeting.
FALKLAND ISLANDS DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING
Tuesday, 06 February 2007
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the Falkland Islands Development Board took place in the Function Room of the Chamber of Commerce at 0900hrs on Tuesday, 06 February 2007. Present were Cllrs Clausen (Chair) and Davies, Mrs Cheryl Roberts (Fisheries Representative replacing Mr. Drew Irvine), Mr. Tony Blake (Rural Business Association Representative) Ms Sue Gyford (Minutes), Mr John Fowler, and Mr Mark Brunet (General Manager FIDC). Apologies were received from Mr. Keith Padgett and Mr. Chris Simpkins.
After declarations of interest in items 5 and 6 and confirmation of the minutes of the last meeting, matters arising from that meeting were discussed.
ACTIVITY REPORT:
A busy familiarisation schedule has been arranged for Mark Brunet’s first few weeks in post. He hopes to meet individually with Board members in due course.
The Tamar’s schedule has been changed to cope with the season sheep movements for the abattoir. Except for Camp Sports week, East-West ferry movements will be every three weeks instead of every two. Key crew members have been briefed by the vet and some operational changes have been made to comply with Falkland Island animal transport regulations.
A final layer of tarmac will be laid at the end of January, but the road is currently fully open. The road is already designated, and PWD will be installing double yellow lines and ‘no parking signs’ at FIDC’s request.
The Transit Park is completed and an agreement between FIPASS and FIDC regarding its operation is almost complete (it is hoped that FIPASS managers will operate the site).
David Lambert remains employed as a consultant by FIDC pending the Completion of negotiations regarding the terms of his employment by Company. This is not affecting the development of the company or its activities. A meeting of members of the company is in the process of being organised to take place during Sports Week when the Board will be appointed.
Upstairs refurbishment is complete, and David Lambert is now resident. Retail tenants are happy with the new heating system and have agreed to pay for fuel via a regular service charge. Approved
In October 2003, the Board approved the “interest rate policy” for loans. In October 2004, the Board agreed to give the Credit Committee (FIDC GM, FIDB Chair and FIDC’s Financial Controller) delegated authority to approve loans of up to £50,000.
The Board is requested to approve that the Credit Committee is given authority to apply the “interest rate policy”. Approved
£10K was allocated in this year’s budget for the purchase of a new photocopier/printer. The current model is aging, and although it is still functioning, the cost of new parts and frequency of repairs has been increasing. SG has been exploring the option to buy colour copier, improving FIDC’s ability to print in-house, and offering some savings against obtaining colour prints from Stanley Electrical. Two possible models have been identified, both are likely to cost in the region of £10K. SG is discussing further with Stanley Electrical which would be most suitable.
The Board is requested to approve £10K expenditure on a new photocopier, as included in budget for 2006/07.
The Chairman and two members of the Chamber visited the Islands in 2004 to explore potential trade links and build working relationships with Islanders. Since then, the Chamber has provided invaluable support to FIDC staff and others on visits to Chile and been a ready source of information on both a formal and informal basis. General Manager, Andrew Robshaw is keen to visit the Islands to encourage further links, and it is proposed that FIDC meet the cost of this trip, up to a maximum of £2K. This amount is included in the 2006/07 budget. FIDC is a member of the Chamber.
The Board is asked to approve £2K expenditure for the visit of the GM, British Chilean Chamber of Commerce, to the Falkland Islands. Approved
AQUACULTURE UPDATE:
Board Requirements
Guidance is sought from the Board on:
1. Method for drawing down funds for the programme from FIG
2. Appropriate levels of financial discretion for purchases against both capital and operational budgets.
3. Requirements for tenders
I will attend the World Aquaculture Society workshop and tradeshow in San Antonio Texas in March 07. This is the largest annual aquaculture equipment trade show and conference. My objective is to promote the programme and the Falklands on the world stage and to source suppliers.
January’s BSC is shown in Table 3. The establishment of commercial partners, local stakeholders, IPR arrangements, roles and fixing timetables have been flagged as red, as progress on this front will likely not occur until the demonstration unit is established and potential investors can see what could be possible. I have extended the deadline for these two outputs by 6 months (to June 07).
PORT LUIS UPDATE
To enable Port Louis to gain ‘Certificate of Compliance’ for the production of Organic wool and locally produced meat.
Recommendations
Rrecommend that Port Louis for the 5th year running has its ‘Certificate of Compliance’ signed by the Chairwoman of FIDB.
Background
Port Louis farm was first certified as organic on 1st December 2002. This was done after an Organic Inspection, which included an audit of land management, livestock management and record keeping procedures. The farm was found to comply with the Falkland Islands Ordinance No. 22 of 2000. All the land and livestock practice are in accordance with the FI Organic Ordinance.
Organic Area – Port Louis farm is 17,604 hectares, are considered to be organic. The terrain is mainly flat plains and is covered is natural white grass on a peaty base. Ditches and natural springs are scattered all over the farm to give natural water feed to vegetation and animals.
Port Louis is run and looked after by Mr & Mrs George Smith whilst Mr & Mrs Gilding is out of the islands.
Cattle to the abattoir – Cattle was sent to the abattoir but the meat was not bought and sold to the local market as organic. FIMCo does not yet have a system in place to accept organic animals.
Sheep Rotation – Sheep are rotated as and when Mr Gilding or Mr Smith believes that food or water is needed, pasture and sheep are therefore checked frequently.
Lambs – Lambs are usually tailed and castrated at the age of 6 to 8 weeks and left with their mothers until they are about 4 months old. At this stage they are weaned and drenched with an oral levamisole anthelmintic drench to rid of internal parasites. This is the only time that these lambs are drenched.
Non-compliance – Small amount of weaner calves are bought in by Port Louis to keep stocks up from neighbouring farms. The weaner calves under the Ordinance have to be less than 6 months old and it may be times that the original owners don’t keep recorded births.
TEAL INLET UPDATE:
Summary
To enable Teal Inlet to gain ‘Certificate of Conversion to Organic Status’ for the production of Organic wool and locally produced meat.
Recommendations
I recommend that Teal Inlet for the 1st year has a ‘Certificate of Conversion to Organic Status’ signed by the Chairwoman of FIDB.
Background
Teal Inlet Farm was visited in November 2006 for an organic audit to enable them to start a conversion to organic status. This was done after an Organic Inspection, which included an audit of land management, livestock management and record keeping procedures. Farm practices were found to comply with the Falkland Islands Ordinance No. 22 of 2000. All the land and livestock practices are in accordance with the FI Organic Ordinance.
Organic Area – Teal Inlet farm is 12,940 hectares and is considered to be free of any non-permitted materials or substances. The terrain is very hilly and is covered is natural white grass on a peaty base. Ditches and natural springs are scattered all over the farm to give natural water feed to vegetation and animals.
Sheep and cattle Rotation – There are 5744 sheep and 45 cattle on the farm. Pasture management is based on the principle of rotational grazing, in all bar two of the camps. These two camps are not rotationally grazed and are set stocked and expect the management of these two camps to remain unchanged until the farm infrastructure can be further developed.
Non-compliance – Teal Inlet is still part of a shared farm. Since the neighbouring farm Evelyn Station and Teal Inlet were sold in the 1980’s both farms shares the wool shed and the killing house. Ms Thorsen is aware of points in the wool shed where the neighbouring farm can improve on and is taking steps to do so.
SEA LION ISLAND
FIDC, Strachan and Visick and EPD have agreed to develop and adopt a Sea Lion Island Environmental Management Plan jointly in order to achieve designation of Sea Lion Island as a National Nature Reserve. Sea Lion Island is listed under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) because of the international importance of its wetland fauna and flora.
The UK position on designation is that wetlands can only be designated for the Ramsar list if they have some statutory protected status, and in the Falkland Islands, this requires the designation of National Nature Reserve Status. The designation of a National Nature Reserve on private land requires that the owner of the land enter into a management agreement with FIG. This management agreement will make provision for what activities may or may not be conducted within the reserve, and may be made irrevocable or revocable subject to provisions and variations specified in the agreement. The agreement remains valid subsequent to sale and is enforceable against all subsequent owners.
A management plan produced by Emma Philip in 2005 was not officially adopted, although it currently guides some management activities on Sea Lion Island. The plan is a good starting point but has some gaps regarding assets and threats to biodiversity. For example, fuel storage was not addressed. It was agreed that the first step in the new process was to produce full environmental audit that identifies:
- Biodiversity assets – e.g. base line data of habitats and species, particularly for protected habitats and species;
- Processes that threaten biodiversity – e.g. disturbance by visitors, damage by vehicles, livestock grazing, fire, fuel storage, invasive species.
The environmental audit would lead to a production of an Environmental Management Plan, which has “buy-in” and commitment from the key stakeholders of FIDC, Strachan and Visick and FIG. The plan would include:
- Measures to record change in species and habitats;
- Best practice management of activities/processes that threaten species and habitats, particularly protected and sensitive species and habitats
A number of activities were undertaken between September and January by FIDC, Strachan and Visick and EPD. Nuala McKay (Business Advisor, FIDC), the EPO and EO visited Sea Lion Island in September, and in December, Robin Woods, on behalf on EPD, visited Sea Lion Island to carry out some surveying to fill the remaining knowledge gaps. James St Clair, who is conducting research on plovers and dotterels on Sea Lion Island for the next three summers, completed his first field season, including developing a bird monitoring programme for the Environmental Management Plan. The Warden, Morag Smart, and current Manager, Chris Barnes, also provided written comments about the Emma Philip management plan to the EO in December.
The EO is currently working on the environmental audit, which should be completed by the end of April (she has a 4-week holiday during Feb-Mar). The Environmental Management Plan could be completed by the middle of the year.
Some delays in the process have, and will be, expected during September 2006 to June 2007. These include the start of the new EO in September 2006, the arrival of a new manager at Sea Lion Lodge in November 2006, the departure of the EPO in January 2007 and the arrival of a new EPO in mid February 2007. In addition, FIG has tasked the EO with producing a final version of the Falkland Islands National “Biodiversity Strategy” during 2007 and this action takes priority over the production of management plans for proposed national nature reserves.
FINANCIAL UPDATE:
Recommendations
That Mark Brunet be added as an ‘A’ signatory to all FIDC bank accounts.
Detailed Financial Update
Budget
There is still £93k unallocated budget relating to Port Development projects in the Commerce Sector. Part of this will be used for the Port Development Plan, but it is currently not expected that the remainder will be required. Other projects unallocated in Commerce are £30k allocated to the development of a Ferry Service, £4k to investigate improved internet service for FIDC and £2k for a visit from the Chilean Chamber of Commerce later in the year.
There is a £590k addition to the £250k Tamar budget approved by SFC. This represents expected costs of running the Tamar for the remainder of the financial year as well as covering additional expenses to date.
Expenditure
Expenditure to date has mainly been in the administration and commerce sectors. Of the £342k total commerce expenditure, £229k relates to the Tamar.
Income
Income in total is above budget due to receipts upon payment for the long term leases on Lookout and increased container rental receipts. Other income headings are below budget; the two main ones being farm loan interest and rents. Rents are down as there has been no income from the reflections flat, reduced income from 8 Biggs Road and no income relating to rent on the Spraybooth or Beauchene buildings on Lookout.
Reserves
There is funding of £1,874k available to FIDC, of which £1,275k is reserved to fund unspent approvals and unallocated budget. This means that there is in theory £417k available to loans etc, and when the remainder of the FIMCo overdraft is repaid this next month £667k will be available. As part of the severance of FIMCo from FIDC it is proposed that the annual overdraft facility will be requested from SCB this year. If FIDC are not required to provide the overdraft, there will be much less pressure on the reserves than usual in the last half of the financial year.
Audit Update
Final preparation of the Statutory Accounts for FIDC and FIMCo is ongoing, there is a delay on the FIDC accounts due to a glitch in the accounting software used at the Dairy. This is currently being investigated by the suppliers in the UK. Preparation of Stanley Dairy and Pebble Hotel statutory accounts is complete and currently undergoing the final review process by Deloittes.
Fieldwork on the internal audit review of Loans and Fixed Assets is complete and the report is now awaited.
Software Upgrade/Replacement
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