St Helena : Governor Hollamby Reminisces
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Juanita Brock) 01.10.2004 (Article Archived on 15.10.2004)
Governor and Mrs Hollamby departed St Helena on the RMS on Wednesday marking the end of Governor Hollamby’s tour in office as Governor and Commander in Chief of St Helena and its dependencies.
Photo (c) J. Brock (SARTMA-SH) H.E. the Governor Mr. David Hollamby with "Flat Stanley" during one of SARTMA's visits to St. Helena.
Governor Hollamby Reminisces
(29/09/04)
H. E. the Governor Mr. David Hollamby with "Flat Stanley" during one of SARTMA's visits to St. Helena.
Governor and Mrs Hollamby departed St Helena on the RMS on Wednesday marking the end of Governor Hollamby’s tour in office as Governor and Commander in Chief of St Helena and its dependencies.
Governor Hollamby was not enthusiastic about leaving the Island, partly due to the fact that since he was 21 years old he has been abroad. During his career he had 10 assignments 7 overseas and 3 in London, but the longest assignment he has had since he left home at 21 was here on St Helena for a little over 5 years, of which, 4 of the 5 Christmases were spent on St Helena and the 5th on the RMS. With this in mind Governor Hollamby says, to him St Helena is more like home than anywhere else he’s been.
After spending only 6 weeks on St Helena, Governor Hollamby saw the need for improved access to the Island in terms of an Airport and for a new Constitution. He feels that had he been able to spend a further 6 months on the Island he would have had the pleasure of witnessing an agreement for Air Access and further progress on the new Constitution. A few of the events that occurred during Governor Hollamby’s time in Office that he will forever remember are the Millennium, The 2002 Quincentenary, the restoration of St Helena’s British Citizenship and the visit of the Princess Royal.
Two of Governor Hollamby’s pet projects were Air Access and the New Horizons project. He is proud of the development on both. The lack of a youth centre was made obvious when Giselle Richards and Jason Yon began writing articles to the St Helena Newspaper entitled ‘This Island Sucks’. This inspired Governor Hollamby to start a youth project which resulted in the New Horizons being established. The reason Governor Hollamby felt passionate about starting a Youth centre on St Helena was, he, as a young boy enjoyed youth organisations such as the Wolf Cubs and the Scouts and he also achieved his Bronze award through the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme and then graduated to a Youth centre.
The 26th November 2004 will be Governor Hollamby’s last official day in the Diplomatic service. After this he says he no longer wants to be involved in politics or in full time employment where there will be pressure. He feels a part-time magistrate or charity worker would suit him just fine. Charities such as UNICEF and other UK charities are also of great interest to Governor Hollamby; he is a great admirer of the Director General of UNICEF, Carol Bellamy. He would also like to develop his computer and typing skills as throughout his career PA’s and secretaries performed most of his administration.
On a less serious note, Governor Hollamby said one of his big achievements was being able to develop in the sport of golf sufficient enough to allow him to build up the courage to enter a Golf Tournament the week before last, which he added, was played in conditions similar to that of a hurricane.
Governor Hollamby took a liking to St Helena food, although being a diabetic it was not advisable for him to indulge in the St Helena style of diet. The last thing Governor Hollamby wanted to say is that “ St Helena is a beautiful place, I especially liked the views from the Golf course. Every man needs a place in the sun, I would like to return to St Helena for a holiday in Christmas 2005, and who knows after 10 more years of part time work, I might be able to live in my flat in London from April to October and on St Helena from October to April – as the Saints say – God spare”.
Public Relations/Information Officer, Office of the Chief Secretary, 29/9/04
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