St Helena : St Helena ExCo Report 37: 18th August 2009
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 22.08.2009 (Article Archived on 05.09.2009)
Much of today’s ExCo meeting was concerned with the detailed arrangements for bringing into effect our new Constitution, as well as for the forthcoming elections to the Legislative Council.
St Helena ExCo Report 37: 18th August 2009
Much of today’s ExCo meeting was concerned with the detailed arrangements for bringing into effect our new Constitution, as well as for the forthcoming elections to the Legislative Council.
Members agreed first that, subject to the Elections Bill 2009 itself being passed into law at the next formal meeting of the Legislative Council, the consequential Elections Regulations and Registration of Electors Regulations should be made. These cover all the necessary details about procedures on polling day, the counting of votes, the declaration of results and the maintenance of a Register of Electors. One significant new feature is that eligible voters will henceforth be able to register to vote at any time, rather than waiting until a new Register is compiled. This will give an opportunity to newly returned Saints, who could not be added to the Register when it was last updated, to register in time for the elections in November.
Members then turned to a list of changes drawn up by the Attorney General that will be needed to existing laws following the bringing into force of the new Constitution on 1st September, 2009. The changes will be made by order of the Governor, because they are essentially of a drafting or presentational nature, but Members were able to ask questions on points of detail. On a related matter, the Attorney General was able to advise that he would be arranging training sessions in matters relating to the Constitution for Justices of the Peace, Lay Advocates, senior officials and, after the election, new Councillors.
The next item, presented by the Acting Chief Secretary, was a list of undertakings given and resolutions made at the last formal meeting of the Legislative Council, held from 26th to 29th June 2009. Members noted the updated position from the Administration in respect of individual items.
Turning to the Closed Agenda, the Financial Secretary introduced a paper proposing changes to the customs tariffs applied to certain electrical goods. The reason for the changes, which were agreed by Members, was to bring the relevant categories of goods into line with standard international trade classifications. The effect in practice is to eliminate tariffs on items such as electric ovens, kettles, blankets, irons, coffee makers and the like.
Also from the Financial Secretary was a paper proposing adjustments to fuel prices following the latest shipment. Details are expected to be published by Solomons in the usual way, but Members were happy to lend their support to a downward adjustment in the price of diesel, largely made possible by improvements in freight and exchange rates, and in spite of a considerable increase in the world price of fuel.
Members then discussed the draft Order Paper for the forthcoming meeting of the Legislative Council on 24th August. Members reviewed the lists of questions and motions put forward and agreed in general terms appropriate lines of response.
In addition to some items that were legally or commercially confidential, there were three items of “Any Other Business”. First, following the statement last month by the substantive Governor, I informed Members that the St. Helena Line (SHL) has reduced its bunker surcharge from 22.23% to 16.83%, applicable to all new bookings. The total cost of a passage on the RMS will fall by some 4.5% as a result. SHL will continue to keep the necessary level of surcharge under review.
Second, I updated Members on the latest developments with the ongoing review of media policy. A public survey on audience preferences and views is being pre-tested this week, and the full survey will be completed by September. This will help to inform further decisions in relation to the draft Media Bill, which is currently under discussion with the three existing media organizations. Proposals from two of these organizations on possible ways to improve their service capability are also being actively studied by the Administration.
Finally, Members noted that the timing for the next Overseas Territories Consultative Council in early December would make it virtually impossible for the Island to be represented. All Councillors agreed that this was highly unsatisfactory – indeed, the matter had been discussed in Informal LegCo last Friday. I agreed to forward their representations to London and to explore ways of overcoming the logistical problems.
The meeting was conducted quite briskly, and ended at 11.45 am.
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