Falklands : LEGISLSTIVE COUNCIL 26 SEPTEMBER 2008 Part2
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 29.09.2008 (Article Archived on 13.10.2008)
Councillors speak about what is important to them.
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 26 SEPTEMBER 2008
(Part 2)
MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT SPEECHES
TT: Mr Speaker I beg to move that this House stands adjourned sine die
Cllr the Hon Mr Mike Summers (MS):
Mr Speaker, Honourable members, I propose to talk only on one issue this morning. And, it is the issue of the world financial situation and how it might affect the Falklands. I think we truly are in extraordinary times. We often hear people say such things but if you look at what’s happening on the world financial markets hour by hour, day by day, we are in an extraordinary time and what’s happening in the United States will have reverberations certainly across Europe and across the Far East and, I think, into all the developing world.
On that basis we ask the Financial Secretary to produce a report at relatively short notice about the position of the Falkland Islands Government’s public funds in respect of what’s going on and how secure they are. And, the purpose for my speaking about this, this morning is to provide some reassurance to the public about the position of our funds.
In the first instance all the reserves of the Falkland Islands Government are spread between a combination of shares in principally the UK Stock Market, Government Bonds and cash. It is highly unlikely that Government Bonds and cash are going to be affected by any of the crisis that are currently occurring. Equity markets are, of course, volatile and the value of our shares goes up and down. However, there are other protections in place that means that the Government’s reserves, reserve funds and all its funds are well protected.
One of the key issues in this is that our deposits are segregated from other deposits in the bank and they are ring-fenced. So, that means that funds provided to banks by the Falkland Islands Government for investment purposes are not the assets of the bank. They are held in trust, if you like. And so if the bank were to go into liquidation, or have difficulties, those funds belong to us and could not be sequestered by the administrators. So that is an important issue.
We are administering our reserve funds through financially strong investment managers and neither of the investment managers – HSBC or Newton’s – currently have any financial difficulty or any perceived longer-term financial difficulties.
There has been a reduction in our reserves of around £5Million over the last few months as a result of a drop in the equity markets in the United Kingdom. However, that doesn’t mean a cash loss – it is a valuation loss as the stock market falls. If and when the stock market rises again the value of those reserves will go back up. It is, of course, possible that they won’t go back up, in which case, if we have to realise those funds in the longer term there will be cash losses. But £5Million is a relatively small percentage of our total holding and therefore is not a matter of concern for the public.
The one other issue on which I think we do need to do just one other thing is that Falkland Islands Government obviously holds a lot of cash in the Standard Chartered Bank and so do members of the public either directly or using the Standard Chartered Bank to invest their funds elsewhere.
Standing Finance Committee has this morning asked the Financial Secretary to get together with the local Manager of the Standard Chartered Bank to provide some kind of a statement about the security of the Standard Chartered Bank. I am not suggesting for a moment that there might be any danger to the Standard Chartered Bank but I think it is our duty as custodians of public funds and in our general responsibility of care for the community to provide the necessary assurance providing it can be given.
So, in terms of what I wanted to say this morning to the general public, the public’s investments – public investment of its reserves is – generally speaking – not in danger in this extraordinary time. I don’t say that there won’t be a fall out from what’s happening in the world’s financial markets because we are never going to be insulated from that. But at least in terms of these initial issues we are not at risk.
Sir, I support the Motion.
Cllr the Hon Mr Mike Rendell (MS):
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I would just like to make – I’ve just got sort of some breaking news although I think it’s been in the community for a little while and that is in my earlier reply to the Honourable Mike Summers regarding the shipment of Cable & Wireless Equipment. A message has come through from the shipping company saying that it’s now going to be arriving here early in October. So, I think that will be welcome news to everybody – not just in respect of the telecommunications project but in all sorts of other ways, too. I just thought it would be appropriate to mention it here and now whilst everyone’s focused on it.
Cllr the Hon Mr Richard Stevens (RS):
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I would just like to talk about one issue as well and that’s the Rural Development Strategy, which I was lucky enough to attend by default in a way at Fox Bay. It was quite a positive experience with two planes leaving Stanley full of people attending the strategy group with the newly appointed Development Officers that have already been spoken about and to arrive at Fox Bay to a very busy airstrip. It seemed to be busy there actually then it did at Stanley actually being what was part of a great turn-out from Fox Bay – from the two Fox Bays and Port Stevens and the positive way that we went about the business and I think it’s easy to think that all these types of things have happened before. But from my way of thinking this is a way of getting the initiatives into the community so it’s not just driven by different councils but it’s driven from within the community, which in my opinion, is always the strongest way.
Anyway, the day for me was very positive. There was lots of interesting things being said and I’m just looking forward to us moving on. Whether there will be an end result that will bring something – I’m sure there will be but whether it’s the end we all would like – I’m sure to a degree that those results will happen in time. But like a lot of things it will take a lot of work.
At the end of the workshop the bar opened and after a few drinks people were able to point out one’s short comings a lot easier and we moved from discussing roads and phones and I was thinking perhaps we would probably move on to a few dog yarns, perhaps even peat and horses but I was surprised to be way-laid and talked about pay and condition of Government. And, I did look round and wondered where the Chief Executive was to give me the back up from that level but very wisely he was by then at Port Howard but I was surprised because having spoken about how pleased I was with the endeavours at Newhaven that I managed to upset other people in the community. And, what was pointed out to me – I think – is very obvious when you think about it but – I mean not obvious to us all the time when we go and switch our taps on or put the washing machine going or switch on a light just what goes on behind the scenes and I was told in no uncertain terms by a member of the Water Department how difficult that job is on a day by day year by year basis when a lot of the members of this group work in very difficult conditions in holes in the ground, working with water over ones knees or even deeper on a regular basis throughout the year whether it’s a nice sunny day or freezing cold. The kind of commitment – I am sure there are other jobs that are less arduous. I was able to discuss the Power and Electrical Department and the dedication of the team from that department who go out at any time of the day or night to sort out electrical issues. Again, when we switch on our lights at night and televisions we probably don’t talk about this or think about this commitment.
So here I am saying I would like to thank everybody who works with commitment within our society but I look forward to Fox Bay or Goose Green or wherever where perhaps we can discuss someone else I have missed out.
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I support the Motion for Adjournment.
Cllr the Hon Mrs Janet Robertson (JR):
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I don’t really have too much to say but I was just going to pick up on some of the comments that the Honourable Richard Stevens made about the Rural Development Strategy. I, too, went to one of the workshops in the Chamber of Commerce and I was really quite thrilled by it I have to say but not everybody was. There is a certain amount of reservation about what the affect of the Rural Development strategy is, indeed the effectiveness of such a strategy – what it will be. And there was certainly a feeling from some people that this has all been done before. There’s been proposals and ideas and policies put forward in the past and here we are going around the same circle again and I could sympathise with those ideas.
I mean it is true – there are no new ideas and I was reminded of that recently when helping my daughter with her Alistair Cameron History project which she did on the swimming pool and we came across an article written in the 1880s and I believe it was the Falkland Island Times then – written by Dean Brandon, who proposed building a swimming pool on the site where Standard Chartered Bank now is – the old gymnasium as it was then and using the heat exchange from the Blacksmith Shop to heat the water.
Just over 100 years later we achieved that. So again it reinforces the idea there probably no new ideas. But they may not be new ideas but the circumstances to allow those ideas to take fruition do change and this applies to the Rural Development Strategy, it will apply, hopefully, to the National Economic Strategy as well – that we might not be coming up with wonderful ideas – new ideas that no one has ever thought of before. But each time as years go on the circumstances change and we will be addressing Rural Development Strategy in the light of a full road network all around the Islands – in the light of a cross sound ferry, which we didn’t have five years or ten years or fifteen years ago.
And, I would just like to encourage people to attend the workshop. Those who did attend the one in Stanley, I think, did get excited by it in the sense that they felt that there was a very good opportunity for them to put forward their ideas and their views on things. And also I think some of them realise that the point we have been trying to make that it’s not just about assisting the brothers in the rural areas but that a successful rural development strategy will be a benefit to everyone. It will be a benefit to people in Stanley as well as successful rural development will give opportunities for people to make moves the other way and in the past people have come into Stanley through lack of opportunities in Camp. A successful rural development strategy might allow that stream to reverse a little and those people who live, perhaps, in Stanley reluctantly for a perfectly good economic reason might, in the future, have opportunities to move back to Camp.
I really just wanted to emphasise that the whole strategy should be about – should be a benefit to everyone and I’d like everyone to approach it from that perspective.
Just quickly on the National Economics Strategy – massive piece of work and I think that the success of the outcome will largely depend on our ability to consider and debate what might be rather strange and over-radical ideas. And, to a certain extent we’ve got to accept that we’ve got to consider first what we really want in the future or where are we going to and maybe at the end of the day we are going to have to make some decision about to what extent we are prepared to change or even want to change. It might be that in order to achieve some of our goals we would have to male fairly radical changes to the way we operate and our structures and we might not be prepared to do that. I think that at least though we must be prepared to contemplate all the varied suggestions the varied criticisms that have been put forward and take them head-on and that this is not just something that Government has to do but that this is a National Economic Strategy, it is in the interests of all of us public and private and community to look at ourselves and challenge, perhaps, some of the things that we take as given.
The only other thing I was going to say – I just wanted to say a really big congratulations to Andy Brownlee and Louise (Taylor) Birmingham for their amazing fete last weekend. It was really quite uplifting. I know that I know the Governor was there to walk the last little bit. And it was a beautiful day they came in. It was probably about 60 or 70 people there at the end to accompany them on their last leg. They were foot-sore and weary but in amazing spirits and, I think they are perfect examples of what a community can do when it puts their mind to it so congratulations to them and to everybody who assisted them and to all the donors as well because I think they have been very successful.
Sir, I support the Motion.
Cllr the Hon Mr Richard Cockwell (RC):
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, it’s clear you have heard too much from me this morning already but however, I have noticed that the Councillor on my left has about four pages of winding up speech so I will be as brief as I can.
While we were talking about port development – we were talking about earlier on this morning, there will be people in the community who say in this day of financial constraints, why do we need a port, why do we need to spend what will be a considerable amount of money on a port? And, I think we need to put this in perspective. At the moment, our major industry – fishing – most of the fish which leaves the Falklands is put into reefer vessels, which anchor in Berkley Sound, and these fish are taken away and containerised somewhere else and sent around the world. Internationally, these vessels are not being replaced. It’s just not going to happen. Within 10 years it’s going to be almost impossible to find a reefer vessel. So, we have to do something about that. We have to actually recognise that our fish have to leave the Falklands in containers.
This also gives our fishing companies who have ITQs – are better at advancing their markets, taking their fish direct to the markets and actually improving their profits hopefully. And so we have to actually build a facility which will allow this to happen.
There is also the issue of cruise vessels and such like but the most important thing is to make sure that we do have the ability to support our major industry and not find that more and more of our costs are going overseas and so less money is actually kept in the Falklands and made by our companies.
So that is why I believe we need to do it and it is going to cost us money but if we don’t do it it’s going to cost us money as well and it’s going to reduce our ability to develop our industries.
The Honourable Janet Robertson mentioned the Rural Strategy Group. I, too, welcome this. I think it’s a very important issue. I, as I think everybody knows, have been actually promoting successfully and unsuccessfully development in Camp and I think it is something which we have to take forward. It is possible to run successful businesses in Camp. It is possible for people to live in Camp and particularly with broadband – as mentioned earlier on – to run their businesses from Camp. And, I think we need to really focus on this because we are not here to develop just Stanley. We are here to develop the Falklands. The Falklands is our responsibility.
I was very sorry to hear and have to report that David Waugh, the person who was appointed to take over as the substantive General Manager of the Development Corporation has had to withdraw. It is a big blow to us. It is a big blow to him as well because I know he was looking forward to coming down but circumstances did not allow it to happen. I am also pleased to hear that, subject to one or two points of agreement, that Tom Cosh, who is the interim Manager, is prepared to stay on for a longer period to give us time to find a new substantive manager. So I look forward to hopefully finding a new substantive manager in the near future.
And finally I was very impressed to hear what – interested to hear what the Honourable Janet Robertson said about the amazing fete of the walkers. They must have had amazing feet, I agree. Chair I beg to support the Motion.
Cllr the Hon Mr John Birmingham (JB):
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, it may be four pages of scribble but I hope I will be as brief as the previous speaker, which is five minutes – by reckoning. It is usual to comment on the current issues and some Members have – not all Members have. And I won’t be any different.
Yesterday there was a press release at lunchtime about the economic development strategy. The FIG is going to undertake this. I support the idea but what’s going to be released – if it hasn’t already been released is a document entitled “Focus Group” – this is the title of it – “Focus Group Strategic Planning Framework.” This is a document that’s been put together by a section of FIG and, as far as I am concerned – and this is my view – I’d like to distance myself from some of the contents of that document.
There’s a view around certain sectors that the Falklands are inconsistent in that inconsistent with our approach to planning. One of the reasons, I would suggest, is that we have individuals at certain high levels who come here for a given period of time and try to move us in one particular way, only to disappear over the horizon and to be replaced by somebody else who will say – “no – we shall go t’ other way.” And some of this has been going on for some years.
Two Leg-co’s ago I read a piece out and I brought the piece of paper back again. I was asked what does it all mean? I will read it again for those who weren’t here – the gist of it – not all of it. This is from 2,000 years ago. “We trained hard but it seemed that every time we were getting to form up in teams, we would be re-organised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by re-organising. And, a wonderful illusion it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and (the one that I like is) demoralisation.” (Gaius Petronius – satirist to Nero ’64 AD).
There is actually a fair bit of stress around at senior levels within the FIG. We had a public meeting here the other evening on the Mental Health Ordinance and stress was one of the topics spoken about. There is stress. There are only so many people within the system. There is an ever growing number of ideas being bandied around. And ideas are all to the good. We can all have ideas. I’ve been ballooning myself – but there are only so many people who can take those ideas and put meat on them and I would suggest that sometimes – in fact – no – now is the time to have a think before we start anything else. There is enough on the plate at the moment.
The Education Department will be getting a visit soon from the school inspector – the same one that came last year to have a look at FICS. As a Councillor but more importantly as a parent, I am looking forward to speaking with him and asking him a few questions.
I see in today’s newspaper there’s a new part time post for the Falkland Island(s) Community School. There’s been a lot of money put into the Falkland Island(s) Community School recently and I don’t know whether we are going to be putting any more money in but what I do know is that reading the newspapers from the United Kingdom and elsewhere and looking at the results that come out of the school – we are not that bad. There’s a feeling and certainly was some months ago that in some way the school was a failing school and I heard that we were a failing school. I would suggest that we are far from it.
I was somewhere the other day – we are always somewhere the other day – it’s a rather large family isn’t it that somebody’s – and this person suggested to me that we do – well I don’t believe that we do – ok and we will survive. But if you do go-carting round those ideas you are going to get a bit of a ribbing.
Mr Speaker, I support the Motion.
The Honourable Financial Secretary Mr Keith Padgett (KP):
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, I had intended to speak this morning about the state of the stock market and FIG’s investments but in view of the fact that the Honourable Mike Summers has already made assurances I will not repeat any of it. I would just add my endorsement and support to the sentiments that he expressed. The only thing I would add is that the report that went to this morning’s Standing Finance Committee is a public report and if any member of the public wants a copy of that, all they need to do is contact my office.
Sir, I support the Motion.
TT: Mr Speaker, I am not going to add anything to that. Thank you very much.
AH: The House stands adjourned accordingly.
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