St Helena : INAUGURAL ADDRESS GOVERNOR GURR
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 22.11.2007 (Article Archived on 06.12.2007)
After 6 months of waiting, it is truly wonderful to be here.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS GOVERNOR GURR
My Lord Bishop, Honourable Speaker, Honourable Members of Executive and Legislative Councils, Honorary French Consul, Madam Sheriff, Distinguished Guests, Saints of all ages, Incomers, Ex-Pats, and Welcome Visitors – After 6 months of waiting, it is truly wonderful to be here. Photographs, stamps and other people’s glowing descriptions have been no substitute. We are most grateful for your welcome, and I would like to thank all of you who have worked hard to organize this ceremony and all that will follow. We are impressed already! Thanks also to Martin Hallam for acting as Governor for the first time. And a very special mention of Mrs. Ethel Yon. * I can tell you that your name came up frequently in my briefings. The skill, judgement and commitment that you have shown as Acting Governor has earned enormous respect and gratitude.
I speak not only to those here, but also to the people of Ascension and Tristan - it is a great honour and privilege to be sworn in as your Governor. Over the past few months I have scoured the internet for all the information I could find. Of particular interest to me was the speculation about who might be the next Governor. I noticed that Donald Duck was mentioned as a front runner for the position. His flying ability would mean that he at least wouldn’t require an airport!
My last few weeks have been taken up with briefings and meetings. Both Jean and I had the honour of attending the Palace to Kiss Hands with Her Majesty, and she remembered her 1947 visit here with great clarity indicating that her “Mama” had greatly enjoyed it too. She was keen that I should pass on her very best wishes to you all. In addition to many others, the FCO and DFID have used their best endeavours to ensure that I am well informed. But now comes the important part – listening to what you, the inhabitants of all three islands, have to say.
The major part of the Governor’s role is surely to know and understand the people thoroughly in order to represent them. I am determined to do that to the best of my ability, and therefore I have to know your aspirations, appreciate your concerns, and grasp your ideas. Reading the Herald and the Independent on Line has been a useful start, but now
I have the opportunity to find out your views for myself. So please don’t hesitate to introduce yourselves, and let me know how you see things. I will obviously be guided by your elected Councillors here, and beyond them, I am sure that most of you will not be reticent to make your feelings known.
I love history, and am deeply conscious of the colourful heritage of all three islands. It is such an honour to be the 64th governor, and in only two years time we will be passing the 350 years marker. But however interesting our history may be, it is current issues that normally occupy our attention. We are living at a critical time. In all three islands, the present holds the key to the future in an unusually tangible way. What happens over the next few years will set a pattern for many generations, and ensuring that the right things happen will not be easy.
There are clearly governance issues, both here and on Ascension. The absence of an with care and sensitivity. The issues of access and long term fishing confront Tristan da Cunha. And here on St.Helena, if I read the press aright, and take notice of attendance levels at relevant meetings, there is obviously room for improvement in the operation of what should be a very strong and efficient democracy in which everyone plays their part.
I do not arrive with a bag full of solutions – I am open to persuasion and argument; but I feel that it is appropriate to provide you with some idea as to the principles I will employ in discussing these matters. I have 7 headline thoughts that will, I hope, give you a pointer as to the style we should be able to develop together:
1. Transparency and openness are essential if trust is to be engendered and cynicism and disengagement is to be avoided. That should be true at all levels of government.
2. Consultation is a process of listening, adapting and adopting. It is not the same as presentation. Nor should the result necessarily be a compromise.
3. Councillors and Officers have quite different roles to play in government – Normally leadership and policy should flow from Councillors. Officers exist to evolve strategies and targets that are in keeping with the agreed policies, and Officers deliver results.
4. Experts are not always right, but it would be wrong to conclude that they are always wrong, or that their advice lacks value.
5. Change must have solid rationale behind it and should not be embraced merely for itself, yet a lack of readiness to change can be a barrier to genuine improvement, and change will almost certainly revert if it is not owned by the people.
6. Perception is not the same as reality. What may seem to be true may not always be so, and I am keen to get behind surface impressions.
7. Small things matter. Just as one straw can break a camel’s back, so one new idea, or one particular commitment by an individual, can change the whole direction of a society. And that means that individuals matter.
I hope that the Dependencies will forgive me for concentrating on St. Helena for a moment. Your turn will come I assure you. But thinking especially of this historical island and occasion, there are two big issues that spring into my mind – two trends that I would dearly love to reverse, and they both begin with the letter “D”. DEPOPULATION and DEPENDENCY. Depopulation, because although it is in many ways caused by the state of our economy, it reduces the scale and viability of that economy yet further. Of course repatriated funds are helpful, but I am sure most Saints would choose to bring up their own children in their homeland rather than endure separation.
We really must look to the time when a better quality of opportunity presents itself here, not just to a few, but to all. And Dependency, because I believe that nobody likes handouts less than those
Address to Ascension & Tristan
After the inauguration ceremony for Governor Gurr on Sunday, His Excellency sent a separate message to Tristan da Cunha. He said “I’m absolutely delighted to be here. But as I spoke mostly about St Helena I wanted to send you all a more personal message of greetings and good wishes, and let you know some of my thinking on matters that relate specifically to Tristan. I’m aware that you face some tough challenges in the next two or three years. In the short term, to get the harbour repaired, so that it’s still there when the refurbishment project begins. I’m pleased to hear that there now seems a very real likelihood that something, at last, is going to be done. And the future of the lobster concession –
I applaud Councillors for deciding to try and secure a better deal from Ovenstone and I had a very useful meeting with Andrew James in London as well as having time, during my journey, to read the documentation surrounding their proposal. I shall be following developments closely. But, as you all know, the underlying challenge on Tristan is a financial one. So long as you continue to spend more than you earn, and your reserves accordingly dwindle, your future remains uncertain. This puts at risk the independence that you enjoy, and of which you are all rightly so proud. A great deal of what I said in my Address applies here – I hope the island Councillors will take a strong lead in helping my Administrator to submit to me a sensible budget following the current Estimates round.
I also meant what I said when I referred to my visiting Tristan. I want to come as soon as possible and David Morley and I will be working on plans for a visit at an appropriate time.”
Message to Ascension Island
“I have only just arrived on St Helena to take up my position as Governor of the Territory but I fully intend to visit Ascension as soon as that can be arranged. I expect that to be in mid January. I have of course read and heard much of the fascinating history of Ascension and very much look forward to visiting the island and to meeting the people living and working there.
Since my appointment I have been very interested to learn of the political developments on Ascension that have taken place over the past year or two. In recent months too I am aware that my predecessor has succeeded in moving forward with a number of initiatives designed to lead towards a restoration of the democratic system of providing advice to the Governor. My intention is to continue that process.
And I look forward to working with the Administrator, the FCO and the people on the island towards a hopefully successful conclusion.” who receive them. The self-esteem and self-confidence that flows from being self-sustaining is plain for all to see in the Falkland Islands. Here we have a Plan that leads us in a similar direction and many of you have been involved in creating it - our Sustainable Development Plan. It is full of good sense and I believe that it provides a basis on which to move forward, a framework on which to build.
There are those who believe that we are at a cross roads. All that I have witnessed indicates that this is not a cross roads at all – it is a “T” junction. Projecting the existing trends is only an option for those who care nothing for the future of the island.
Representing your views to HMG may well be the major part of the task ahead of me, but I also have the job of representing HMG to you. After years of debate we have arrived at the time when HMG is doing something on an unprecedented scale – it is investing many millions of pounds in the future by funding the building of an airport. This provides us with the kind of opportunity that is rarely experienced. There has been no greater opportunity since 1502 when da Nova sailed over the horizon.
The airport is not necessarily everyone’s favourite scheme. I am well aware that concerns have been expressed over possible changes to our lifestyle and the environment. These things are precious and rare, and as a convinced traditionalist, I will work with you to ensure that we respond to this challenge in a positive manner. However I am in no doubt that the airport is by far the best way forward. It really does give us the opportunity to reverse those dreaded “D”s once and for all.
Travel in your imagination with me to 2057 – many Saints have returned to a prosperous life here. There is cheap energy from investment in wind and solar power, the infrastructure has been tastefully improved over the years, and the education system is world class – offering the young Saints the opportunity to excel both here and internationally.
The health service is state-of-the-art and the ability to obtain more specialist treatment is rapid and open to all. The elderly and infirm are well cared for in the most appropriate manner. The pressure on the tourist quota is enormous and all accommodation is fully booked at least 3 years ahead. And if you will indulge me in a final personal twist – we have just thrashed the Falkland Islands cricket team for the third year in a row and so get to keep the trophy. Many Falkland Islanders are seeking to come here and work, because we offer more opportunity for genuine development in a wider variety of skills than can be provided in that smaller population. And an ageing Saint meets another in the Consulate Bar and confesses that he is old enough to remember the presence of a DFID Representative on the island! Just a dream? Far-fetched though it may seem, we need to have a vision of the future that attracts us. This kind of speculation helps us to raise our eyes above the level of concerns about the relatively trivial things that often bog us down – this kind of dream can be healthy as long as we keep an eye on the present.
“But who is actually going to do it?” With all the boldness, and I trust humility, that goes with only having been on this Island for (2) hours, I can answer that with some certainty – WE ALL ARE.
Nobody is going to arrive from outside to actually do all this. Leadership, teamwork, resolution, resilience will all be required of those present this morning – Governor, Councillors, Officers and the entire population. We need to embrace a culture of enthusiasm, professionalism and political will that drives the process forward.
You see the airport is actually not the biggest challenge facing us – the real challenge is the use of our own ability to actually make it happen and seize the benefits. But is the outside world worth joining? Material wealth is not everything, it can be corrupting, the modern world is deeply flawed; but becoming self-sufficient here would see families re-united, would open up pathways for our future, and broaden our choices in education, health care and welfare. These are worthy goals.
The alternative is the downward slope of steady decline, with more Saints being forced to live abroad and the public services that we all want to see improve, becoming more decrepit each year. A modern-day Dom Fernando Lopez would become the last inhabitant. Scare mongering? No – merely highlighting the importance of my earlier vision.
I know that those living on Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha will wish to discuss their future with just as much enthusiasm as those here. And I promise to visit both as soon as it is appropriate. The Tristanians will as usual have to be patient, but I will come – complete with a listening ear and walking boots!
We move on shortly to the solemnity of Remembrance Day. We will take time to recall the sacrifice of those who fought and died for this future that has become our present.
They believed that the future was worth fighting for. The link with all that I have been saying is obvious. We owe it to the future, to our children and grandchildren, to manage the genuine opportunities that have presented themselves to us. At last we have a real chance to get out of this bind of depopulation and dependency.
Both Jean and I look forward very much to what the immediate future holds – getting to know you all, and sharing our mutual concern for these issues. We are aware of the immense privilege of living in your Plantation House, and hope to see many of you there over the coming months. I am confident we will all derive considerable enjoyment from working together over the next few years.
© St Helena Herald
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