Falklands : Falklands - Public Meeting Report (23 October 2007)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 24.10.2007 (Article Archived on 07.11.2007)
A public meeting was held in the Court and Council Chamber of the Town Hall on Tuesday evening.
PUBLIC MEETING TUESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2007
By J. Brock (FINN)
A public meeting was held in the Court and Council Chamber of the Town Hall at 1700hrs on Tuesday, 23 October 2007. Present were Councillors Davies, Cockwell, Rendell, Robertson, Hansen, Clausen and Summers (Chair). Over 40 members of the public were present to discuss the Airbridge and Camp Telephones.
AIRBRIDGE
Cllr. Summers gave a brief overview of the meetings held in the UK earlier this month and the points that Councillors must consider by the end of November this year. Due to political problems the east-west Lan flight cannot be expanded to two flights. Due to increasing tourism it is necessary to expand and improve the Airbridge. Key areas needing consideration are tourism and the up and coming drilling round.
The MOD still runs the Airbridge but it can be expanded for civilian use if FIG takes on the risk, said by Cllr Summers to be significantly less than the one that was taken for the LAN flights. He also suggested that a different airframe could be used if increased civilian numbers demanded it. The difference in cost would be paid by FIG. While the 747 has a greater seating capacity, the DC-10 has the same seating capacity as the Tristar.
The cost of tickets is an item that needs to be worked through by the end of November. Differences in prices normally charged must be rectified in that the price of a tourist’s seat may help to subsidise student fares.
Booking would be better because if the seat is available it can be confirmed on the day it is requested. There will still be wait listing. People must pay more for the business class seats but if they are not taken then those paying a regular fare might be moved into them. Service will be better up front than in “cattle class.”
Freight would still be a military priority with civilians being able to take advantage of a limited “Priority 1 Service.”
At the moment there additional staff would not be necessary. Cllr Summers, in answer to a question said that FIG could pull out of the contract if it is not working and things would revert back to the way they are now.
St. Helena and Ascension Island Government officials got involved with the discussions and will report back to their respective governments. They still may wish to share in the risk or participate in another way. Nothing is known yet about what decision they will take.
Former Cllr. Stephen Luxton asked if the facilities at Ascension would be upgraded but this is the remit of the MOD.
The Airbridge will be discussed with the Tourist board for their input and to see if they would be involved in some way. Councillors would like the private sector to take on the booking and other related services.
Cllr Summers explained that the precautions for Foot and Mouth disease were taken for all civilians regardless of whether they were on a farm in the UK or not. It was easier to administrate the programme if everyone went through it. At the moment Chile is Foot and Mouth Disease free but if there is an outbreak facilities will be set up to deal with it.
CAMP TELEPHONES:
The discussion was not as thorough as the one on the Airbridge. Cllr Robertson responded to two written questions. One asked why, if Cable and Wireless did not provide a good service, were the charges not capped. Cable and Wireless felt the individual wanted a cheaper phone bill and said that service was pretty good lately. Former Cllr Luxton mentioned that poor service meant that if a download was disrupted and it had to be started again, the customer had to pay for the failed attempt. There was a question about whether the person who asked the question was talking about voice or fax and internet.
Camp should benefit from mobile phones with the WYMAX system that required much less energy than conventional GSM mobile phones. Peter King had a chat with Chris Harris who said that Mobile phones were costed and it would not be necessary to upgrade the system to accommodate them.
TELEVISION
Cllr Robertson reported that the engineer from Cyprus would not be coming to help with repairs to BFBS infrastructure. Adrian Almond would be coming down to sore the problems out. BFBS has said it is a combination of snow damage and antenna problems. The infrastructure is now obsolete but a search for spares should solve some of the problems.
DEEP WATER PORT:
Eric Goss asked about the deep water port. Councillors said that to build a new port the cost would be between 20 and 30 Million Pounds. In 2004 a decision had been taken to put new facilities in the vicinity of FIPASS but this Council is not sure this is the way to go. 3.7 Million Pounds would upgrade FIPASS and make up for 20 years of poor maintenance. It can cope with the exploration Drilling round but if oil is found it is thought the oil companies would build their own port. Nonetheless the General Manager of FIDC is releasing the Royal Halkoning report later this week.
Cllr Cockwell sees port development as vital to Falkland Islands Development. He said that the Tourism industry would, in future, require better port facilities.
JETTY CAR PARK:
Former Cllr. Luxton noticed that the jetty car park was closed. It seems that there are still joy riders using it for fun. Cllr Cockwell mentioned that eventually it would be surfaced but the soft spots needed to be exposed and construction at the waterfront near the Jetty Centre needed to be complete before the car-park was surfaced. Cllr Hansen said that it would be discussed at the next Tourist Board Meeting.
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