FIBS NEWS DIRECT: THURSDAY, 31 JULY 2003
SUPREME COURT:
There are two cases being heard in the Supreme Court today. At 1100, there will be a judicial review in the case of the Queen vs the Attorney General for the Falklands regarding Michael Bingham. And, in the afternoon, it’s the case of the Attorney General vs Gordon Forbes Construction Ltd. This is for an arbitration application and, during this, the Court will be giving directions on costs.
DEATH:
Former Falkland Islands Trust Administrative Secretary Dora Dodson, has died. After serving 26 years with the charity, she retired two years ago. FIT’s Founding Chairman, Gen Nigel Gribbon, recruited her in 1985, having formerly worked for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The trustees, headed by their Chairman, Air Commodore Peter Johnston, and his two predecessors, General Gribbon and Captain Paddy Vincent, said a fond farewell to her at a special lunch in London. The organisation sent flowers to her funeral and a card of condolence to her family and they also made a donation to her church, St. Mary’s in London.
£250.00 FOR SAMA:
SAMA is over £250.00 richer because of money raised at the FIDF Club’s "Punk Party." The event, held on Saturday, was very successful, with money collected both from ticket sales and donations on the door. Around 180 people danced into the small hours to the music of bands, "Too Short" and the DeeJays."
FUTURE OF STANLEY RACE COURSE:
The future of Stanley’s Race Course is up for discussion. This evening the Stanley Sports Association will be meeting to talk about the matter. They will be getting together at 1700 in the Chamber of Commerce Building.
UNEMPLOYMENT IN CHILE:
Its no wonder that Chileans want to get work at MPA. Latest unemployment figures released stand at more than 9%, although this is a slight decrease of .05% since the last quarter of the year. It’s estimated that more than .5Million people are out of work in the country. The plight of low-paid Chilean workers recently sparked a debate at a public meeting about whether the Islands should have a minimum wage.
STANLEY RACE COURSE:
The future of Stanley’s racecourse is up for discussion. This evening, the Stanley Sports Association will be meeting to talk about the matter. They will be getting together at 1700 at the Chamber of Commerce Building and everyone’s welcome to go along.
HARBOUR AND FISHING NEWS:
The harbour has been thriving over the past two days with the arrival of around 25 vessels. They are made up of Loligo and Finfish vessels. They are picking up licences getting ready for the start of the season. There’s also one trawler, the Pratadina 28 in Berkley Sound, transhipping to Frio Vladevostock before she comes around to Stanley. There are only 5 vessels fishing at the moment but that will all change at midnight tonight when the season officially opens.
NEW FALKLANDS PROTECTED PLANTS:
Following on from Executive Council’s decision in June to approve a proposal put forward by Falklands Conservation to add a variety of plants to the protected list, the Falklands Conservation Newsletter names the 10 plants that are to be added. These include Antarctic Cud Weed, Patagonian Hawk Weed, Skull Cap and Tassel Weed. A full list of the remaining plants is incorporated in this months’ edition of the newsletter.
(100X Transcription Service)
"A" Press: 31 July 2003
Clarin is carrying an article this morning quoting Bill Rammell the Minister with responsibility for the Falklands as saying that the Falklands will remain British as long as the people there want this and that there is no doubt about this and it must be clear to all. Clarin interprets this as a reply to the claims by President Kirchner when he was in Britain recently. The article goes on to report Bill Rammell as saying that this position doesn't mean to say that there aren't mutual interests, for example fishing and trade, but that this should be dealt with by the South Atlantic Fisheries Commission. The article is by Ana Gerschenson and as usual is hostile. She devotes much of it to waffling on about what Kirchner said recently in London and the current Argentine complaint that Falklands fishing harms Argentina etc. and has made Islanders rich, etc. The article doesn't say what the context was for Mr. Rammell's remarks.
But the top subject at the moment is another indication that President Kirchner wants the annulment of the amnesty laws Punto Final and Obediencia Debida so that Dirty War criminals can be tried in Argentina and not extradited overseas. He is quoted in Clarin's headline story as saying that he always regarded these laws as unconstitutional and that they were extorted from the Government by the threat of a coup. Congress is also reported to be considering a law to repeal these, but it looks as if Kirchner thinks it should be done through the Supreme Court (when he has tailored this to his liking) which has a case over the constitutionality of these laws before it now.
Another important story today is a major diplomatic row with Paraguay after a Paraguayan government minister called the Argentines (and Brazilians) "shameless."
(100X Translation Service)
