Falklands : Motion for Adjournment Speech by the Hon Miss Emma Edwards MLA
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 30.08.2011 (Article Archived on 13.09.2011)
Mr Speaker, Honourable members, I love spring and it really is an absolutely beautiful spring when morning with its smells in the air.
Motion for Adjournment Speech by the Hon Miss Emma Edwards MLA:
Mr Speaker, Honourable members, I love spring and it really is an absolutely beautiful spring when morning with its smells in the air. Spring for me really is the start of the new year and we see a new school year start next month. And, declaring my interest, I’d very much like to congratulate those students who found out yesterday their GCSE results. For those students it is a start of a new chapter in their lives. It may mean heading off to college or starting to look for work. Whatever direction the results take you in, I wish all of those students good luck in the future.
Again, I love spring. Lambs are starting to appear along the MPA Road. Although most sheep do learn quite quickly that playing with vehicles can be terminal, I do ask drivers to take extra care when you see sheep and to slow down. I always find it so sad to see a sheep dead on the side of the road and hope that their deaths have been swift. I also, though, hear of people coming across sheep still alive. I do know that sometimes you cannot help hitting the animals as they tear out of ditches before you can do anything about it. The least a driver can do is to stop and to check the animal and not just leave it in the road for somebody else to come and deal with.
Spring – yes it is lovely. The other day from Gilbert House window I saw the pretty courting dance of Grey Ducks. They will be nesting soon and, yes, this is leading to Cape Pembroke. Spring along the shore of Cape Pembroke is a pleasure. The birds will soon be nesting, the Jack Asses (Penguins) will soon be making their appearances in large numbers in the middle of next month and the smelly old Sea Lions will be roaring and making their harems in the tussock grass. All too often though, we forget about the little birds. They nest in the long grass and amongst the Diddle Dee. And this is the sort of area that our more adventurous drivers like to explore. We are in a society to enjoy freedoms but stones have been placed around a pond known as Yorke Pond for a reason. They are stones and not a fence because we have to allow horses to get access to the water. But they are also there to try and encourage members of the public not to drive in the area. When I hear that these stones have been moved to allow vehicle access I sometimes wonder what goes through people’s minds. It is an important area for our wildlife. If the few members of the public who continue to move the stones and insist on driving around this pond then we will have no other option but to start to look towards legislation to protect this area. It is not a move I would like to go down and I really ask the public to recognise that they are there for a reason so everybody can enjoy the special area.
I am also very pleased to report that the Public Accounts Committee has now completed their Stanley Dairy Report and this has been handed to the Governor. I believe it highlights important issues and I would like to thank the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee and other members of the PAC for their hard work in producing this report. I am sure Members will enjoy reading it, too.
Spring also means time to weed the gardens and to start planting seeds. I was very pleased this Assembly has made provision to encourage more locally produced goods through the Import Substitution Scheme. I am trying to do my bit and now am the proud owner of a young rooster and two very geriatric hens. I have been feeding them for a month and am still awaiting my first egg. I wish others more success but hope that spring will help the old girls pay their way.
Finally, it’s the Single Constituency Bill. I am amazed at the amount of legislation that has to be gone through just to create one question to ask people. I am amazed actually and I already spoke on the subject that we haven’t specified the colour of the paper that the Bill needs to be written on. We have specified the size; we haven’t specified the colour or weight and I do believe that sometimes we get bogged down in Assembly and in legislation.
Thank you Mr Speaker. I support the Motion.
(100X Transcription Service)
|
