Falklands : Falklands Candidates Hold First Joint Press Conference
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 20.12.2007 (Article Archived on 03.01.2008)
Candidates for the January 3rd Legislative Council By Election held their first press conference on FIRS from 1830 to 1930 on Monday, 17 December 2007.
CANDIDATES HOLD FIRST JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE
By J. Brock (FINN)
Candidates for the January 3rd Legislative Council By Election held their first press conference on FIRS from 1830 to 1930 on Monday, 17 December 2007. Present at the press conference were Dr Richard Davies (RD), James Peck (JP), Roger Edwards (RE) and John Birmingham (JB). Media representatives, Corina Bishop (FIRS), Station Controller for FIRS, Jenny Cockwell, Managing Editor of Penguin News (PN) and Juanita Brock (FINN), Bureau Chief, Falkland Islands News Network asked a wide variety of questions.
The first question asked of all Candidates concerned whether they felt that Government had its budgeting priorities right.
RE: felt that Government needed to think about hiring on qualified local people instead of changing the goal posts after they were educated to the extent that someone from overseas was brought in to fill a post that a qualified Islander could have taken.
JB: felt there was not a lot he could do in the two years left in this Council because the policy has been set. RD wanted to finish the job he started and he mentioned improving things for Government Employees and moving towards open government.
JP: feels that this Council has lost touch with the community and the Community is disgruntled with them. He went on to say he thought the idea a Councillor would go to Argentina to tell them about the Falklands was flawed and dangerous.
RE: went on to say that Government has been wasteful and that he couldn’t understand why it found an extra £5.6 Million and said he thinks something is wrong. He added that major posts come up and it was difficult to persuade Government to hire qualified local people and he feels a Falklands First policy should be adopted.
JP: mentioned that the Hart Report for the Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce outlined the problem. He said he felt the Chamber of Commerce was against giving continuing subsidies to areas that are losing money. He was dismayed that people can’t speak the truth any more about the culture of dependency.
JB: mentioned that at the budget session of Legco this year there was no mention about increasing taxes. Now we find that taxes have increased. This does not lend itself to investment and is not the way forward to create new opportunities. He went on to say that he suspects the costs for a project are not fully calculated before it goes ahead. He mentioned that FIG had not been involved in the wool industry in 160 years and all of a sudden there is a loss making wool Company that all FLH farms were obliged to join.
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