FINN (COM) Daily Record for 24 November 2003

Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)

By J. Brock (FINN)

The Guides Association is in excess of £1,000.00 richer today as a result of their fund raising efforts at their annual Christmas Bazaar, which was held on Saturday, 22 November. This year the venue was the parish Hall, where there were stalls, guessing games, raffles and some pretty nifty food – curry lunches, etc.

At the Bazaar, the fly-away raffle was drawn and the winner was No. 10032, second was No. 10652. Ticket No 19710 got third prize. There was a variety of raffle prizes as well as Guess the number of sweets in the jar, which was won by John Birmingham. Guess the money went to Hannah Arthur Almond. Shirley Adams-Leech guessed the spot nearest to the treasure.

Thanks goes out to all who helped and, indeed, bought items and participated in any way on the day.

The picture shows: Merrill Leo, Michael Moyce, Simon Benjamin, Carl Stroud, Stuart Duncan, David John, Paul Joshua, Geoffrey Stevens, Adam Glanville, Jeremy Henry, Adrian Joshua, Wayne Yon, Simon Fagan, Robert Legg, Nicky Francis, Chardy Yon Kevin Connolly. Photos © J. Brock (FINN)

By J. Brock (FINN)

Deanos Bar proprietor, Kevin Connolly, has been instrumental in forming Stanley Football League’s newest football team. On Wednesday night 19/11/03 he handed over a new football kit to the recently formed team, " ALL SAINTS, " in Deanos Bar, to Geoffrey Stevens and Adam Glanville, who accepted the kit on behalf of the team.

Kevin said that "Deanos Bar are proud to be able to sponsor the new team, said Kevin, "My staff and I wish them every success in the coming season," he continued. "I would also like to say thank you to Galicia SA, his agents in Punta Arenas, Chile for finding a supplier in Santiago, and manufacturing the kit and getting it to the Falkland Islands within 14 days," he said.

After the presentation everyone joined in the disco and karaoke night.

OTHER DEANOS NEWS:

Kevin and Wayne Leo and Janet Essex have just returned from a 4-week trip to London and then Surrey to attend the wedding of Miranda Moyce and Burt George. After that they went to Ibiza so Wayne could purchase all the latest music and then up to Kevin's home town of Wigan in the North West of England, apparently there are no jeans left to buy in any of the Wigan shops after Janet's shopping spree !!

"A" Press: 24 November 2003

People might be interested to know too that Clarin covered the new Argentine Ambassador Federico Mirre presenting his credentials in London on November 18th. That article said that the Falklands was his most delicate subject and that he wanted communications, exchanges, and for the people to "get to know each other. In short, there is clearly a major campaign to penetrate the Falklands and make them dependent on Argentina again.

Also, I think there is an error in the comments by one of the Councillors in last Tuesday’s Public Meeting that the current Argentine campaign is election driven. There aren’t any more elections due in Argentina soon. The presidential elections were back in May, and there have been a number of provincial elections since then. But the last of these – in Entre Rios, which is a quite insignificant province – was yesterday.

To my knowledge, The Falklands didn’t feature in any of these. So in my opinion it is unlikely that the current Argentine campaign against the Falklands is election driven. It all might well have happened anyhow, but if anything provoked it, it would probably have been the Argentine Biased Conference.

Thanks to Michael Portillo’s unfortunate decision to attend, this got considerable publicity – and attracted a number of major Argentine politicians to the Argentine delegation. The ABC finished on Monday 24^th of October and the articles reporting Argentina’s campaign for flights etc began just two weeks later in Clarin on Monday November 11th. The subject was discussed at the conference, and strong Argentine comments in favour of flights from Argentina were reported then. Also communications between the Falklands and Argentina are dear to the hearts of the Anglo-Argentine pests who organised the conference.

Following the article on November 11^th there was a whole week of other articles about the need for an Argentine airline to fly to the Falklands, the threat to stop the charters that serve the cruise ships, the Argentine government’s wish to get Islanders to use an Argentine base for supplies etc and not just Punta Arenas. These included a report of that the Argentines want authority to fly to the Islands 20 times a month (which is absurd), and that Southern Winds and Federales had applied to do this.

(100X Translation Service)

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The Australian Eastern Market Indicator put on three cents on Tuesday, added another two cents on Wednesday before easing three cents on Thursday. The EMI thus closed the week up two cents at 781 A cents. "The Australian market firmed this week after 10 successive declines during which the Wool Exchange’s Eastern Market Indicator has shed 16%. The Australian dollar has gained 12% against the US dollar in this time. The better tone owed much to business for China and the need to meet shipping commitments for pre-Christmas delivery. 90% of the offering was sold. There are three more sales before the Christmas recess." WRWMR

In New Zealand the stronger currency caused prices to ease again. The Fine Indicator was reported down 43 on a fortnight ago. The Medium Indicator gained seven cents to move to 574 NZ cents. The Strong Indicator lost three to end at 396 NZ cents. 25% of the 13,683 bales were passed-in.

"The Cape Wools Indicator eased by 0.3% sparking hope that the market may be bottoming out." The Cape Wools Overall Merino Indicator lost eight cents (0.3%) dropping from 2,882 SA cents to 2,874 SA cents.

This week the Australian dollar was trading at around A$2.35/£. The New Zealand dollar was trading at around NZ$2.66/£. "The Australian dollar traded above 72 US cents this week, a six year high. To the pain of European weavers exporting to USA, the euro hit an all-time high against the US dollar." WRWMR

Speciality scouring enquiry for high yielding, low vegetable matter wool was received this week. Significant combing demand continues albeit reflecting current global price levels.

All additional new season supplies of Falkland wool, would be welcomed by our speciality customers.

Many thanks for all the wool marketing instructions and bale specifications received to date.

With Regards

Robert

MACHINE READABLE PASSPORTS:

The Customs and Immigration Department has warned that there will be a gap of six months in the issuing of passports from then Islands, beginning on December 31^st. The UK Government has ruled that only machine-readable passports can be issued after that and the equipment for producing them won’t be up and running here until the end of June 2004. But there are various options for British Citizens in the Islands to renew their passports. If you are going to travel after the end of the year and your passport will expire before your trip, you can still get a non-machine-readable passport now that will remain valid after the end of December. You can have your application sent to the UK, where the passport agency will produce machine-readable passports for Falklands residents but you will have to allow a minimum of two months for processing. Applications will be sent in the Diplomatic Bag and the cost will be the UK passport fee of £42.00 for adults and £25.00 for children, with a £10.00 administration charge. Finally, you can get a machine-readable passport by appearing in person at the British Embassy in Santiago. You will need five days in Santiago to wait for the passport to be issued. If you are thinking of going for that option, you are advised to contact Customs and Immigration for more information. And, in the event of a real emergency, Customs and Immigration will be able to issue an emergency passport, which is a one-sheet document valid for a single journey to the UK costing £35.50.

COURT NEWS:

Ian Wilkinson was fined £250.00 with £70.00 costs in Court this morning fro driving without due care and attention after an incident on August 16^th. He pleaded guilty after an earlier charge for aiding and abetting reckless driving was dropped.

Luis Alfonso Hobman changed his plea to guilty to four charges of driving without insurance, a vehicle licence or adequate brakes and reckless driving. Senior Magistrate Nick Sanders said the case was too serious for sentencing to take place today and adjourned for pre-sentence reports.

The Court heard that Hobman had borrowed the rover from Gavin Browning at Fitzroy and drove it into town but ran out of petrel on the way in. Wilkinson offered to tow him but on Reservoir Road, he saw the rover go past him and stopped further down the road. When he got out, Hobman was untangling the tow-rope from around one of the wheels. And Wilkinson assumed the tangle had caused him to lose control of the rover. They continued on their way but on King Street, Hobman again lost control of the rover, colliding with a vehicle driven by Delsha Duncan. Police later found that the vehicle’s breaks were faulty.

Fining Mr. Wilkinson, Nick Sanders said he didn’t want to discourage people from being good Samaritans by offering tows but he should have thought again after the rover lost control.

Browning pleaded not guilty to permitting a person to drive without insurance and without a vehicle licence, saying that Hobman had told him he had arranged insurance. But, in fact, the vehicle was uninsured and Browning was found guilty and given a conditional discharge with £70.00 costs.

HEALTH AND MEDICAL SERVICES COMMITTEE REPORT:

"The Falkland Islands have a very promiscuous society, so if HIV entered the country, it would spread like wildfire," warned Dr. Barry Elsby at the meeting of Health and Medical Services Committee today. Another member of the Committee has asked the question about whether AIDS awareness programmes got a high enough profile in the Falklands. Dr. Elsby said the safe sex message was pushed from the Junior School upwards and was often to be heard on BFBS and Radio Nova. He added that if AIDS were ever to come to the Falklands, because of the promiscuity, of society here, it would spread quickly. Director of Health and Medical Services, Norman McGregor-Edwards, said the message had been flogged some years ago but things had gone quiet recently. He thought that perhaps the hospital should be making the point more frequently.

And, the delaying of overseas treatment for some hospital patients has caused upset in the community, according to Cllr. John Birmingham, also speaking at the Health and Medical Services Committee meeting. Cllr. Jan Cheek said she was unhappy that doctors had imposed delays on some patients treatment despite the fact that Councillors made it clear that this should not happen before a final decision on the matter. The Committee reiterated that, in any case, the Councillors’ position at the end on their last meeting on the subject was that they were not looking to pace or reduce the rate of sending patients overseas and that they would deal with the financial implications later in the year.

Dr. Elsby said he was more than happy with the decision not to delay overseas treatment.

TOURISM NEWS:

The tourist season on the ground is continuing well. The World Discoverer was in yesterday and her 109 passengers were the first visit of the season to Long Island Farm on East Falkland. They enjoyed tea and cakes and demonstrations of horse saddling, shearing, and sheep work. Farm owners, Neil and Glenda Watson, said the passengers seemed to enjoy their two hours ashore despite the rain. And, expedition leader, Klemenz Putz, said he thought the visit went well. Nine helpers including members of Neil and Glenda’s family, sailed back to Stanley onboard the World Discoverer, which finally left the Islands around 1730 on the day. Neil and Glenda said they would like to thank the ship’s agents, Sulivan Shipping, and Klemenz Puts for the efficient organisation of the visit.

There are no cruise ships in today, although the JCR is alongside FIPASS. The Russian sailing ship, Glyna Deshter, is due in tomorrow. There are 12 vessels fishing in the zone where catches are said to be normal.

(100X Transcription Service)