Falklands : General Purposes Committee Report (30/05/07)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 31.05.2007 (Article Archived on 14.06.2007)
Cllr. Summers updated the Press on what happened during this important meeting.
GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE REPORT
By J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the General Purposes Committee took place on Wednesday, 23 May 2007. Cllr Mike Summers gave a brief report to the media on Monday, 28 May 2007.
Briefly,
1. Cllr Summers confirmed that the Chief Executive, Mr. Chris Simpkins was resigning.
2. Claire Kilmartin will be working in the Councillors Office.
3. The lack of a car park behind Millers
4. A proposal to put, in principle, the word Royal in front of Falkland Islands Defence Force
5. The Police Department
6. Stevedores from outside
7. FIDF representation at the Liberation Monument
8. The Disaster Management Team
9. A discussion with Leandro da Colina the Treasurer of the Argentine Families Association about the November Next of Kin Visit
10. A meeting with the Command Secretary
11. A meeting with the Second Sea Lord.
Stevedoring
Ships needing stevedoring services provide their own labour. When there is too much work then local stevedores are called. Lavinia Vessels have Russian Stevedores aboard and there is no regular need for local labour. Cllr Summers said that these ships are not flagged in the Falklands so they cannot effectively employ labour. He went on to say that using local labour could be a cost rather than a benefit to the local fishing industry and the problem had to be looked at in the round.
Car park at Millers
Millers will not be able to offer full services because there is no car-park behind the business. There are broader interests than the planning issue. Cllr Summers said that during the tourist season there will be a demand for beds but the industry next season can get along without Millers accommodation. Its possible that FIDC can talk with Millers about the way forward for the construction of a car-park. There is legitimate concern for having the project completed.
FI Conservation
FI Conservation will be moving to Jubilee Villa and the problem associated with the move and a stay for longer than a year has been resolved.
Royal
Cllr Summers said there were issues with putting the word, Royal before the Falkland Islands Defence Force that concern our identification as a self sufficient overseas territory. While it would be nice to have the title, it could work against us in the long run. We are managing our own affairs. H. E. the governor Mr. Huckle will provide more detail on this.
Islands Plan
This is the final year of the Islands Plan and it is to be renewed. The Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce provides valuable feedback about the plan. Some items to be dealt with are land tenure and detailed economic plans. Cllr Summers said that the frequency of updating the Islands Plan could be ten years but things are constantly changing and that five years could be the limit as things change and 10 years could be too long to have a plan in place.
Air-bridge
The Commander British Forces South Atlantic Islands said that discussions were on-going and that the present carrier cannot extend the contract ending in September. There are a number of discussions to improve working arrangements and they are making progress. Agreement had to be made at a high level and this was considered to be the right thing to do.
Argentine Next of Kin Visit
Cllr Summers said that it would be better for the next of kin to make a visit to the Darwin Cemetery in the spring rather than in the winter. The visit will be late in November and will not clash with the visit of British Next of Kin and Veterans of the Falklands Conflict.
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