GOLD, PENSIONS, DRAINAGE AND AQUACULTURE DOMINATE EXCO MEETING
Intro by J. Brock (FINN)
Instead of the government press release that normally is issued each month, it has been decided that this time the contents of the FIBS interview would be posted on FINN and SARTMA instead. This is a fuller report that reflects some of the thinking and explanations behind the decisions that have been taken during the September EXCO. After transcribing the interview and comparing it with the original document, it was decided to publish the interview instead.
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL INTERVIEW WITH H. E. THE GOVERNOR MR. HOWARD PEARCE
A Report for FIBS by Corina Goss (CG)
CG: I believe one of the things that you discussed first was that the Financial Secretary presented a paper about the new permanent incapacity benefit for civil servants, who are forced to retire through ill health. How did that come about?
HP: Occasionally, a civil servant gets to the point they need to leave early, to retire early because their health prevents them from continuing in office. We had a report on this from the UK Government Actuaries Department. This was following some decisions by EXCO earlier in the year, when we looked at the whole range of arrangements for permanent incapacity benefit. And, the UK Government, through its Actuaries Department has provided us with some very useful advice. And, the new provisions follow the recommendations we have from the Government Actuary. There was a full discussion of these at EXCO and the feeling was that these arrangements were sensible ones, they were fair and reasonable ones and gave the very unusual rare cases of a civil servant, who has to go early for ill health reasons, are a really sort of pretty fair set of benefits and provisions. These provisions will be set out in an amendment to the Civil Service Management Code, Chapter Nine - for those who are interested in the detail. I understand that the papers are being published, so anybody who wants to see the detail of what the Government Actuary has recommending can do so by deciphering those papers.
CG: Moving on, you also discussed Pension Schemes. What came out of that discussion?
HP: The discussion was really about investment strategy. As you know, the way pension schemes work is that the scheme invests funds in a range of investments in order to secure a return for the people who are going to benefit from the pension scheme. There are principally two schemes: the Pensions Old Scheme Fund and the Recurrent Pensions Equalisation Fund. Both of these pension funds have substantial investments in the UK. Some of them are managed by HSBC and some by fund managers called Newtons. And, we, again, had sought advice from the UK Government Actuary on how these funds were being invested. The result of that advice, and as a result of discussions through the Government Actuary and HSBC and Newtons, we have come up with a new investment strategy. The purpose of this is really to improve the performance if the investments and improve the performance of the funds so that there is adequate provision for pensions in the future. And, the people, who of course benefit from this revised benefit strategy are the pensioners themselves.
CG: I believe there could be some exciting news for anyone interested in Aquaculture in the Falklands as well.
HP: This really follows on from an initiative by Cllr. Mike Summers during a meeting in Brussels. I think it was last December. And, the result of that has been a joint proposal, which we are working on with the French Territories, St. Pierre and Miquelon in the North/West Atlantic and Kalaalit Nunaat (Greenland) and the Falkland Islands, three of whom have expressed an interest in having an aquaculture industry. The proposal is that the European Development fund should make the funds available to run a training course in about a year’s time. Probably some time in September next year for a significant number of people from the Falkland Islands and from these other territories. The course will probably take place in St. Pierre and Miquelon if we are successful in our bid. That will be submitted shortly to the European Commission. EXCO Members have looked at this proposal and were unanimous that it was an extremely good idea to use European funds in this way if we indeed can persuade the European Union to make them available.
CG: How money are we talking about?
HP: The total value of the project will be somewhere between E180,000.00 and E190,000.00 So, we will be bidding for just over E180,000.00 from the Development Fund. That will be split three ways between the three territories. The European Union quite likes these joint bids and it’s often in the interest of the Falkland Islands if we can get together with others with similar interests. We will have to see how this fares. Lets hope the bid succeeds.
CG: It might be a bit too early because it won’t happen for a year September now. You are bidding for places for 15 people but if 20 people wanted to go along, how would you select those more worthy to go on a course like this?
HP: I think it is a little bit early to answer that question. I guess it might be possible for the Falkland Islands Government to fund additional participants in the course. But that’s an issue, which really hasn’t been addressed yet. But I think we will be looking at people who are going to bring the most benefit to a future aquaculture industry in the Falklands and we will have to judge people and judge applicants on their merits.
CG: What else is happening on the domestic front?
HP: Well, we had as usual, quite a number of domestic issues to consider. First of all, a subject of interest to people who are involved in land transactions. There has been some discussion at previous EXCO meetings about a policy for the fees, which need to be paid for mapping to be carried out by the Public Works Department. Obviously, accurate maps need to be prepared for those farms, which had not in the past been fully mapped. And, there had been, in the past, no clear policy about charging fees for those surveys. What we now have is a reasonably clear policy as a result of the decision, which was taken at EXCO. So, people will know more or less what the costs are going to be when they ask the Public Works Department to carry out the survey on their behalf. There is a paper on that subject, which is being published, which sets out the full details of the costs.
CG: I did actually see the recommendation that went forward. Was that carried through?
HP: Yes. The paper was agreed. And, just to run through, for those who are interested, there will be a minimum fee of £100.00, which is payable for one or more surveyors to complete tasks both in Stanley and the Camp. There will be a daily fee of £100.00, which will apply to survey work on site, as required in conditions, maps and the Design Office. Surveys, which require an overnight visit, will attract a minimum fee of £200.00 but there will be no fees charged in the event that FIG staff are delayed due to inclement weather. Landowners will be asked to cover the costs of transport to the survey areas by air or overland, where necessary and landowners will be asked to provide, at their own cost, Accommodation and meals for the duration of the site survey. And, the Director of Public Works will have the authority to use his own discretion as necessary over fees in order to ensure fairness to the client. There’s a little bit more detail in the paper but that will be available for people to consult if they wish.
CG: Staying on issues to do with the Camp, I think the Fox Bay residents will be quite pleased to hear the next bit of news you’ve got for us.
HP: Yes. At least I hope they will. EXCO agreed that the Camp Building at Fox Bay Village should be sold to the Southern Cross Social Club for £2,000.00, thereby guaranteeing the social life at Fox Bay and plenty of good parties to come in the future.
A couple of other things on the land and property front, two leases were agreed by Executive Council. One was that the Sand Bay Abattoir should be leased to the Falkland Islands Development Corporation at a peppercorn rent. And, that a licence should be granted by FIDC to the Falkland Islands Meat Company to use and occupy the Abattoir. And, the other lease, which was agreed, was a Crown Lease to South Atlantic Marine Services Ltd., who as you know, are developing the jetty in Stanley Harbour. And, this lease is for the seabed beneath their jetty, so they can go ahead and complete that work.
CG: Another issue discussed at Thursday’s EXCO is something, which has been in the public eye lately and that’s street names and also names for the new sheltered housing complex. I know that the public put names forward. Can you tell me what was approved?
HP: Yes. The Stanley Lands Committee had asked the public to put forward suggestions and we had plenty of them. There were a lot of imaginative suggestions and it was a difficult job to decide in favour of just two. The Stanley Lands Committee put their suggestions forward to EXCO - their recommendations, I should say - with a paper that set out all the suggestions they had received. The winning suggestions: first of all, for the Villiers Street Sheltered Housing Complex, was Yates Place and for the new housing development just to the west of Government House, which is near the old BFFI site, the winning suggestion was Hascard Rise. The later one, of course, will need the agreement of my predecessor, Sir Cosmo Haskard and his wife. They are being consulted about that but I very much hope that they will agree to that. I know they were very popular here in the Islands and retain a very close interest in the Falkland Islands. Well done to those who made those suggestions and my commiserations to those who made some other extremely good suggestions. No doubt they will be used in the future.
CG: Did you see the suggestions? Was there any odd or strange suggestions?
HP: I have seen the complete list. They struck me as all pretty sensible and reasonable ones.
CG: Stanley Sports Association had been refused permission to carry out minor drainage works at Stanley Racecourse. I am sure they will be disappointed to hear that their appeal to EXCO was turned down. Can you tell me why this was decided?
HP: It was quite a difficult decision but EXCO felt that the Planning and Building Committee were right to turn down this application largely because they were concerned about the affect of the drainage works, which the Stanley Sports Association proposed, on some of the houses, which lie to the north of the racecourse. At the same time, EXCO recognised that the Stanley Sports Association do have a problem. There is, as anybody who was at the races last December will remember, there is a problem with drainage on the racecourse, particularly after a very wet period. And, EXCO, like everybody else here, wants people to be able to enjoy the races. They are an important, traditional annual event here in Stanley. So, although EXCO decided to support the decision reached by the Planning and Building Committee, they did, at the same time, make it clear that they wanted the Director of Public Works to meet representatives of the Stanley Sports Association without further delay, with a view to finding some solution to this problem, which didn’t increase the problems already faced by the residents of the houses immediately to the north of the racecourse but, at the same time, did offer some sort of practical solution to the drainage problem on the racecourse. So I am sure that the Director of Public Works and representatives of this horse association will be meeting soon and I hope that they can find a way of solving the problem, which doesn’t create new problems for other people.
CG: It seems like you had a very busy EXCO meeting because you also discussed two pieces of legislation. Can you tell me about these?
HP: One was the Mining Bill. EXCO had a new draft of the Mining Bill to consider. This is actually a rather important piece of legislation because it sets out a framework for onshore mining activities. As many people will know, there is already quite a lot of interest in the possible commercial prospects of mining gold in the Falklands and there is some initial exploratory work that’s already taken place. It’s very important to have this legislation in place so that if, in the event, that commercial quantities of gold, or indeed if other minerals are found here in the Falklands, then there is a proper legislative framework - a proper legal framework within which companies can operate. This Bill will now be published and there will be an opportunity for the public and all interested parties to offer their comments on it before the Bill is submitted to Legislative Council in due course. And, of course, when Legislative Council enacts the Bill, it will become part of Falkland Islands Law.
The second piece of Legislation, which we considered, was a piece of Legislation with a rather long title: The Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990 (Application and Provision) Bill. The Legislation itself is a bit difficult to read because it actually refers to other legislation, which needs to be amended. But the basic purpose of the Bill is to bring about changes to the Law, which are required in connection with the new security regime for handling international shipping in the Falklands. As many people, I think, will already be aware, the international community, through the International Maritime Organisation, following the events of 9 September 2001 in the United States has agreed that there should be tighter security procedures covering the arrival and the handling and port of international shipping, particularly in the case of the Falklands cruise vessels. Although the security threat here in the Falklands is very low, nevertheless, the Falkland Islands needs to meet these new minimum international standards. And, new arrangements are being put in hand at the public jetty and so on. I think people will be aware of those. These changes in the law are part of that process to enable us to give effect to these new international obligations.
CG: And finally, I think you finished on a fairly emotive subject, which was discrimination against women and their rights - an interesting subject to Falkland Islands women.
HP: The Falkland Islands is already party to an international convention on this subject, entitled, “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.” There’s a new optional protocol to this convention, to which the United Kingdom Government is about to exceed. The optional protocol provides for the right of individual petitioners to the United Nations by women who believe their rights under the convention have been violated. In practice, what this means is that if a woman who feels that her rights have been violated under the convention and has gone through all of the means available (in this case) in the Falkland Islands, to redress those rights but feels that nevertheless her rights have not been properly recognised, there is ultimately the option to appeal to the United Nations under this optional protocol. And, Executive Council decided at its meeting last week that this optional protocol should also be extended to the Falkland Islands. What this means is that this option will now also be available to women in the Falkland Islands, who feel that their rights have not been properly respected and that the avenues open to them here in the Falklands have not enabled their rights to be fully recognised.
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