St. Helena Executive Council Meeting held 18th September 2007
By Cyril Gunnell
A meeting of the Executive Council was held in the Council Chamber on Tuesday 18 September 2007. On the agenda were three items for open discussion. These were Memoranda concerning: Mutual Organisations Bill, 2007; Land Planning and Development Control Bill, 2007; and, Amendment to the Currency Fund Ordinance. Before the start of the meeting Acting Financial Secretary Cristine Turpin, and also Councillor Victor Lines took the Oath of Allegiance.
The draft Mutual Organisations Bill was presented by the Acting Attorney General, Frank Wastell. This Bill is for enabling legislation to facilitate Mutual Organisations in St Helena, in which Bank of St Helena and Solomon’s Insurance Cell Captive would probably be interested. This is a short bill and quite technical. Some details need to be explained by the Legal Draughtsman. It was agreed that the draft Mutual
Organisations Bill, 2007 should be discussed in informal Legislative Council prior to it being discussed in formal Executive Council. The Governor said this would demonstrate openness and transparency. At some stage the Bank of St Helena and Solomon’s Insurance Cell Captive should be invited to give input. Thereafter the Bill will be printed and published for public consultation and then taken back to Executive Council for final decision.
The draft Land Planning and Development Control Bill, 2007 was presented, also by the Acting Attorney General. This is quite a substantive bill. It was agreed that the Bill should be discussed in Executive Council informally, prior to it being considered in formal Executive Council. Thereafter it will be printed and published for public consultation and returned to Executive Council for final decision.
Finally, the Amendment to the Currency Fund Ordinance was presented by the Acting Financial Secretary, Christine Turpin. Certain accounting procedures had been criticised by the
Audit Services over the years and recommendations were made by the Public Accounts Committee for changing the accounts with regards to commemorative coins, to comply with international standards. The details of Amendment to the Currency Fund Ordinance were agreed in principle. In each of the discussions the Governor took consensus of opinion from those who spoke. Decision was not decided by vote.
