Falklands : The Hon Mr Ian Hansen: Motion for Adjournment Speech 23 July 2012
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 30.07.2012 (Article Archived on 13.08.2012)
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we shall now go from quantity and quality to the exact opposite. I only have a few brief comments today.
The Hon Mr Ian Hansen: Motion for Adjournment Speech 23 July 2012
Transcript by J. Brock (FINN)
Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, we shall now go from quantity and quality to the exact opposite. I only have a few brief comments today.
At the beginning of this month there was a very well attended Farmers Week which produced many lively and quite a few productive discussions. But the overriding issue that seemed to be foremost in people’s concerns appeared to be the condition of our roads network. At Public meetings, at Rural Development Strategy consultations, whenever transportation to FIMCO was discussed the issue of our roads in conversation invariably returns to the condition of our road network. It always comes out as a main impediment to progress and development. I am not in any way criticising those concerns from people. I absolutely agree that we continue to support the Rural Development Strategy and its support to FIMCO. In fact the overall future of the community lays heavily on the roads system. I will actually go so far as to say that without some improvement of this network, some of the things we aspire to cannot physically happen.
I am no roads engineer so it is difficult for me not to question certain things about our network. For example, I don’t really understand how nearly 4.5 miles of tarmac road at Fitzroy Ridge between Stanley and Mount Pleasant that has been there for about 20 years I would think – it needs very little or no maintenance. Now what materials are in this particular piece of road that has made it such value for money? Can we build more of the same today? If not, Why not? Is it really that cost prohibitive? Do we really have less money to release on the Road Network than we had back then?
By the same token, I don’t fully understand why, over the past few winters more different people are having problems with different sections of road in areas that didn’t used to have problems. I assume it’s because the roads network is getting older so I guess capping is less secure? There are obviously more kilometres of road than there used to be and I guess it hasn’t been possible for one reason or another to increase the work force resource to keep up with maintenance but what other reason? We don’t seem to be able to make up much ground if any in improving our road network. We seem to be constantly fire fighting. And that is in no way any criticism of those out there who work endlessly on roads, grading and capping them. They do what they can with what they have. And because we can’t keep up the good bits are probably not so good and the bad bits are getting worse.
It will be interesting to see if there is a marked difference next winter after the extra funding put into the Capital Programme this season. If there isn’t we may well have to think of addressing the resource issue.
While on the subject of roads and the designation of roads – discussed at some length at Farmers Week – especially the session with MLAs – my view is fairly well known on this but I will state it again. If we can sort out an insurance package that isn’t totally crippling to individuals, that’s fine. Insurance is very important. I don’t have an argument with that whatsoever. But what has to be a road tax for vehicles, and I am not totally convinced it should be, it must be done as it is in parts of the UK for farm vehicles such as tractors, quad bikes and Land Rovers. And that’s got to be done in an affordable and practical way. We may not have any control over insurance issues but the other components of designating or even un-designating roads we do have control over. And I will only support those issues if they are sensibly addressed.
Stepping back to the Rural Development Strategy, I have been talking to some people living on the outer Islands and they feel – and I think quite rightly – that they have been left out of the process up till now. I am pleased to say that the Rural Development Strategy Steering Group now propose to arrange to meet with residents of outer islands and listen to and take into account their views. I think it is very important as the needs and incentives for them will certainly be very different on the West and East islands.
And finally, Mr Speaker, I haven’t had an opportunity to do so in this House and I would like to thank the 6 youngsters who accompanied the not so young MLAs to C-24 in New York in June. We should be very proud of the way they conducted themselves; and I do hope that at least some of them have political aspirations. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that all of us are over the hill just yet but when one of the things on our wish list is a stair lift for the FIGO Flat, I guess it tells us something.
Mr Speaker, I support the Motion for Adjournment.
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