St Helena : St. Helena Executive Council - 27 November 2007
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 09.12.2007 (Article Archived on 23.12.2007)
Andrew Gurr updates us on what happened during this vital Committee meeting on St. Helena.
REPORT ON EXCO MEETING HELD ON 27th NOVEMBER 2007
The Executive Council meeting held on Tuesday 27th November lasted from 9.30 am until ten to one and included some interesting items and discussion that was particularly helpful to me as Governor. In the public part of the meeting the Attorney General introduced discussion on the Law reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. This bill is designed to sweep up anomalies and uncertainties that have been pointed out in existing legislation.
No law can be perfect and it is considered a useful way of dealing with a number of identified imperfections at the same time. It was pointed out by an Hon. Member that all such changes, good though they may be, lead to a complex situation when trying to discover what the law actually is. However the AG pointed out that there is an index provided for such a purpose, and in any case a totally new edition of the Laws of St. Helena is to be published in 2009 which will provide a clean copy. It may well be possible to update that edition electronically as required.
The second paper was a Memorandum presented by the Acting Financial Secretary about the Solid Waste Management project. This particular project is based on the recommendations of the Jacobs Gibb Report of 2003. When the recommendations are carried out, we will have a modern and sustainable solid waste management regime in place including waste collection, recycling, treatment and disposal. DFID has already indicated that they are prepared to fund the capital cost which is close on £1 million. The ultimate running cost of the scheme will be met by the users. This is in keeping with our Sustainable Development Plan in that the payment of full cost for this kind of service should only arise when the economy and earnings levels are sufficiently high to mean that they can be afforded. I will be acting on the advice of Council and submitting the project to DFID for approval.
In the closed part of the meeting our first consideration was to do with the dry docking of the RMS St. Helena. All of us are affected by the ship’s schedule and therefore I know this item will be of considerable interest. The RMS is no longer a new vessel and in order to comply with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency rules, it must be inspected out of the water at least once every year. Our agents believe that they can obtain a special concession in order to make that once every two years. A hull survey of the ship is due to take place in the June/ July period next year and Exco considered the proposal to link that inspection with a full dry docking, maintenance, and repair programme in order to minimise the inconvenience to the island and our visitors over the coming two years. The proposal was that the dry docking is carried out in Cape Town for 12 days from 28th June 2008. This will mean that the Ascension shuttle scheduled for voyage 117 (in July) will have to be omitted, along with the Walvis Bay calls on 118 and the Vigo call on 120. It was felt that the main inconvenience will be for Falkland/ Ascension passengers during that period in June/July, when there will be no link with Ascension for 47 days. However Councillors felt that the maintenance and compliance with regulations are essential to safety and so the recommendations from Andrew Weir shipping Ltd and the Saint Helena Line with regard to the dry docking were accepted by me as being necessary.
The next discussion was on a request from Saint FM. Cllr. Bernice Olsson declared her interest and very properly left the room for the length of this discussion. A Broadcasting Licence was issued to Mike Olsson in July 2004 and is currently due to expire at the end of June 2009. In his request Mr. Olsson was asking for an additional frequency in order to provide enhanced services as well as an extension in the term of the existing licence. Councillors were happy to recommend allowance of the new frequency, but felt that there are other issues that should be considered before addressing the matter of an extension of the term. I agreed to consider those issues that arise from observations made both in the Sustainable Development Plan regarding the role of government as distinct from the private sector, as well as in the Value For Money Report on Media Services that will be before Legco on 6th December. I will be seeking advice on this matter over the next few weeks and in the interests of open government would be very happy to hear anyone’s views.
The draft Order Paper for Legislative Council on 6th and 7th December was then discussed. 7 Papers, 9 Motions and 19 Oral Questions are in prospect, and they provide the basis for some interesting debate.
I expressed a personal view that I was uneasy with the rigour and tone of some of the Motions and Questions, and felt that they had more than a hint of political edge. In fact that very impression lay behind a brief aide memoire that I had prepared for discussion next.
As Governor I am particularly keen to work with Councillors as a body. As that body represents the people of this island,
I would expect them to be reasonably united on most major issues. However it is obvious that various tensions exist between Executive Councillors and those that are only on Legislative Council. Please understand that I am not in any way blaming Councillors for this, I believe that the problem is in many ways caused by the system and the way it has been operating. Those Councillors who are “Legco only” feel isolated from the main decision-making process, and their only real opportunity to show their mettle is during Legco when they can have a go at the activities of Exco.
Unlike the situation that exists in other Overseas Territories, in St.Helena “Legco only” Councillors do not have sight of Exco papers, and I felt it would be helpful for Executive Councillors to share their thinking on many of the issues with their Legco colleagues prior to Exco. Exco thus agreed with my proposal that, providing the oath of confidentiality is taken by the 7 “Legco only” Councillors I am prepared to release Exco papers to them at the same time as they are released to Exco Members.
This will not necessarily mean all papers, as some will, by their very nature, need to remain restricted, but I am sure that most are capable of being shared by all 12.
During the course of the meeting I was able to tell Councillors that Hon. Brian Isaac, currently in the UK, has been invited to appear before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons.
We were all pleased that this invitation has been given, as we shared our thoughts with Brian at the last Exco meeting, and are confident that he will be a very effective representative of the people here.
This was only my second Exco meeting here and I was once again delighted with the business-like atmosphere
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A.M.G
27th November 2007
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