Falklands : Falklands General Purposes Committee Report (09/07)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 18.09.2007 (Article Archived on 02.10.2007)
Find out what happened during this vital committee meeting.
GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT (14/09/07)
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the General Purposes Committee took place on Wednesday, 12 September 2007. On Friday Cllr. Mike Summers briefed the press about what happened during the course of the meeting.
The meeting was taken up with a discussion about acquiring a sea harrier for display use at Stanley Airport. Remuneration of Councillors was also discussed. During the course of the month Councillors also met with the new Standard Chartered Bank Manager, the new Chief Police Officer and Dr. Chris Doyle, FIG’s consultant on Telecommunications.
Cllr Summers said that Dr. Doyle had come to further advise FIG on the Camp Telephone network. Talks with Dr. Doyle have been ongoing with advice sought to make the Camp telephone network operate as well as that in Stanley. Cllr Summers said that proposals had been received from several people but there was no formal tender process. Councillors will decide by the end of this year to give Cable & Wireless notice – that is they have 5 more years to run on their contract. It is expected that Cable & Wireless will keep the present system running until it can be replaced with something else. Equipment from MPA will be cannibalised to keep the old system running.
A member of the public had asked about obtaining a sea harrier to display at Stanley Airport in the same way a phantom jet is displayed at Mount Pleasant. Mr. David organ has access to a sea harrier that could be shipped to the Falklands and money is to be raised to bring the airframe here. It is said that the particular airframe could have seen action in the Falklands and could have inflicted damage at Stanley airport during the conflict.
There was a lengthy discussion about Councillors’ pay and it was decided not to implement anything during the life of this council. Discussions will continue with a view to putting something in place during the next council. The number of days for which a Councillor gets paid will be increased from 3 to 5 days per month.
Portfolio changes as outlined will be proposed to LEGCO in November. Cllr Summers said there were issues that needed to be considered. One issue is that Councillors’ pay proposals are not appropriate during the life of this council and the other is that the current Council members were unlikely to want to take up the option and there could be some conflicts of interest as well.
Councillor Summers made it clear that the Falklands did not have any plans to have a Ministerial system of Government. Having 8 Ministers would require drastic changes. The system might not be beneficial to the Falklands as there would be potential for many conflicts of interest in such a small community. Cllr Summers questioned where one would put a Falklands Minister who fell from grace – “there are no back benches in the Falklands,” he said.
Leon Mitchell had written a letter to Councillors about apprenticeships for his son. Cllrs Stevens and Robertson are the most likely to deal with this letter. Each year about this time there is an open public meeting about apprenticeships and one could be held this year as well. Parents and students as well as trainers and other members of the public could well attend this important meeting. There are annually 15 apprentice years on offer.
Cllr Summers added that there are no formal apprenticeships at the Abattoir. Placement is also an issue and there are some employers who take the time and effort to accept apprentices. Others do not. Apprentices cannot be fully productive as time must be taken on the job to train the person.
Finally, Councillors met with the new Chief Police Officer. They noticed that he’s been out in the community and chatting with children.
The V-Sat system at the bank has a “ping problem” that needs to be sorted before online banking can commense. Also, there are plans to install an ATM machine. There are issues about the quality of the notes that must pass through the machine.
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