FINN (COM) DAILY RECORD: WEDNESDAY, 03 NOVEMBER 2004

 

 

FIRST CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS PASS THROUGH NEW SECURITY SYSTEM

 

By J. Brock (FINN)

 

 

Cruise Ship passengers experiencing the Falklands for the second time no doubt have noticed that new security measures are in place at the Public Jetty.  Tourism officials, including Director of Tourism, Mrs. Connie Stevens, Marine Officer, Capt. Jon Clark and newly appointed security officers that checked passenger identification and some bags and packages as tourists began to arrive and as they left for the MV Amsterdam, which arrived in Port William at 0700 on Tuesday morning. 

 

Newly qualified tour guides also waited to ferry passengers on tours of Stanley and out to Gypsy Cove.  One new attraction this year was the £10.00 a tour in the refurbished Governor’s Taxi.  The trip included a ride to Cartmell Cottage and on to the Stanley Museum.  Thanks to the Museum and National trust, the taxi, which was effectively used for the Governor’s wedding, was in prime condition.

 

 

INDEPENDENT MEDIA, YOUTH FACILITIES, TAXES AND PENCIL LANE DISCUSSED AT OCTOBER EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

 

By J. Brock (FINN)

 

A meeting of Executive Council was held on 28 October 2004 at Government House.  There were several items on the agenda, including two items pertaining to Government funded and Media Trust managed media.  The proposed legislation and measures are meant to give Penguin News and FIBS the appearance of being independent as well as a degree of independence they would not otherwise have if they were in full Government control. 

 

There was other draft legislation to consider. Executive Council considered four items.  The Education (Amendment) Bill 2004 is designed to amend the Education Ordinance in order to enable the school summer vacation to begin closer to Christmas and to last a little longer.  This is in response to a number of representations received from parents.  The Taxes (Amendment) Bill 2004 introduces four amendments to the Taxes Ordinance 1997.  These concern the taxation of forestry, the timetable for the provision of POAP end of year certificates, the maintenance of business records, and the taxation of government employees recruited in the Falkland Islands and working in the Falkland Islands Government Office in London. 

 

More items have been discussed at the meeting and a proposed new facility for our youth was an important item..  This is where we begin with Sian Ferguson (SF) and H. E. the Governor Mr. Howard Pearce (HP).

 

HP:    There has for a long time been a feeling that young people in the 13 to 17 teenage group lacked any real facilities - a place where they could meet in Stanley.  Executive Council decided last week to offer the old Telephone Exchange on Ross Road - the building which most recently was occupied by EOD - to the Community Centre Committee for use as a youth club to be run by a committee of young people.  I understand it will be with the support of some adults.  EXCO decided that this building should be offered to the Committee on a relatively short-term lease for 9 months or so until the middle of next year.  The purpose of that being, really to see whether the young people really did want to use this building, whether it was going to work well, whether it proved to be a viable facility and in order to give an opportunity to address any problems if there are any problems.  But certainly I very much hope, and I know my fellow members of Executive Council very much hope that this will provide a much needed facility for young people in this age group.  And, I wish them all the very best of luck.  I really do hope it works for them.

 

SF:  Who will actually be on the Committee for the Centre?

 

HP:  The intention, as I understand it, is to set up a new committee, which will actually manage the building.  And, this will be a committee of young people.  But their activities will be overseen by a number of adults represented on the existing Committee Centre Committee.  So, they will be working under wider adult supervision.  The intention is that the young people themselves should take the leading role in managing this new facility.

 

SF:  Why are EXCO looking at increasing the number of members on the Media Trust through the Media Trust Amendment Bill?

 

HP:  This follows discussion with the chairman of Media Trust, Dick Sawle.  He felt that the existing number of trustees was not sufficient in order to enable the Media Trust to carry out the functions, which they are now developing, in particular, to enable each member of the Trust to have a particular functional portfolio.  And, life being what it is and people being as busy as they are, sometimes it’s not possible for everybody in the Media Trust to be present at all meetings.  So, Dick Sawle and I discussed this and we concluded that it would be useful to give the Media Trust a little bit more flexibility in the numbers, which they appointed so we have therefore decided to raise the ceiling from five to nine.  It’s a very simple bill, which does that.

 

And, finally on the list of legislation, we considered a bill to amend the Electoral Ordinance.  And, this is very much with general elections in mind.  As everybody will know, the next general election here in the Falklands is due to take place in about a year’s time.  And, there were a number of issues, which needed to be addressed in good time before the next general election.  Perhaps I could run very quickly through what those are:

 

• First of all, an issue which did arise from the relative recent Camp By-election, when under the existing legislation it was not possible to provide a polling station in Stanley for Camp electors who happened to be in town at the time of the by-election.  I think that some people were put to some inconvenience as a result.  So, the bill contains a provision, which makes it possible in future to establish a polling station in Stanley for Camp residents when a by-election takes place in Camp only.

 

·          The next provision is actually a rather important one.  Again, its intended to improve the situation for the elector.  And, that is that is it makes possible for preparation for what I describe as a rolling register of electors.  I shall explain by way of background that at the moment, it’s only possible to register as an elector once a year.  The amendment in this bill will make it possible for people to register as an elector more or less at any time during the course of the year so that we can keep the register of electors constantly up to date.

 

SF:  And, how many people do you expect this is going to affect?

 

HP:  I don’t really have a number for that but it’s particularly important, of course, for young people as they reach the age where they become eligible to become an elector.  They don’t, in future, have to wait until a key date comes up - the annual date for registering.  It means that young people, once they reach the age at which they can vote, can then immediately place their name on the register of electors.

 

• We also decided this bill should make generous provision for Falkland Islanders living temporarily away from the Falklands so that it is easier for them to vote in a general election.  And, this in particular is going to benefit those who are living outside the Falklands in order to obtain experience in preparation for employment for coming back to the Falkland Islands.

 

SF:  How long away from the Islands do you class as temporary?

 

HP:  I think that’s a somewhat movable feast.  And, there isn’t actually a specific period involved.  It will require a degree of judgment in each case.  But where people are away pursuing courses of education or where they, having completed their education, pursuing employment overseas, whether it be in the UK or elsewhere, in order to obtain experience, which is invaluable on their return to the Falkland Islands, they will not be deprived of their vote in the Falklands.  They will still be able to vote.

 

• And, there will be a provision for absent in the United Kingdom to send their completed postal ballot papers to the Falkland Islands Government Office in London.  That’s also important because inevitably the post takes some time to get to the Falklands.  It will enable people in the United Kingdom to get their vote in to FIGO from where it can be counted.

 

SF:  And these will be counted by someone in FIGO?

 

HP:  I am not to sure what the mechanism is going to be but it means that if possible, we aim to ensure that your vote is officially received when it is received in the Falkland Islands Office in London.

 

• And, then one more change that EXCO decided we should make and this is to appoint in future the Chief Executive as the Returning Officer at future elections.

 

SF:  Who was this previously?

 

HP:  In the past, it was the Registrar General.  I should explain carefully, the reasons why we decided to make this change.  It’s no reflection at all of the way in which the Registrar General has carried out his job in the past.  It’s been done extremely well and efficiently.  But Executive Council felt, on consideration, that it would be appropriate to make the Chief Executive the Returning Officer in future because this is an extremely heavy responsibility and therefore, EXCO felt that it really needed to be handled at a very senior level.  I should add that this would also bring arrangements here in the Falklands in line with similar arrangements that operate with elections in the United Kingdom.  This whole bill, covering all of these amendments, is now going to be published for local consultation so that members of the public should look at it and send in their views.  And, its likely that the bill will be considered again at the November meeting of Executive Council and again, if necessary at the December meeting and then we expect that it will be submitted to Legislative Council for consideration at its session in late January next year.

 

SF:  And, if anyone wants to go and view this bill, where can they find it?

 

HP:  I guess they can find it at the Secretariat, where it will be available or at the Councillors’ Office.  I am sure if anybody wants to see it, they can contact Claudette Anderson, who will make the bill available.

 

SF:  Next, a matter of local interest, if anyone goes to the pubs and clubs in Stanley, what exactly was decided?

 

HP:  Yes.  Licensing hours.  We had a paper, which addressed the issue of current licensing hours and the possibility of amending the arrangements for fixing licensing hours in future.  And, Executive Council concluded that there was a case for replacing the existing licensing ordinance with a new ordinance to be drafted by the Attorney General.  And, this new ordinance would give a rather greater role to the Licensing Justices.  There is a question, however, as to what priority this change in legislation should actually be given.  We are in a situation, at the moment, where there is a very heavy schedule of new legislation, which has to be prepared by the Attorney General’s Chambers.  And, at the next meeting of Legislative Council, we are going to be looking at the schedule across the board with a view to prioritising the list.   So, it’s not yet clear when this new legislation on licensing hours can be prepared.  Once we have sorted out our Legislative Power it will be a little bit clearer when this will take place.

 

SF:  I see here the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station has been under discussion.  Was anything decided at this EXCO meeting?

 

HP:  There has been discussion and indeed, I think, a decision in principle, taken some time ago that the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station should be brought under the umbrella of the Media Trust.  What we spoke about - what we discussed at EXCO was what the arrangements should be for making this happen and we reached three conclusions:

 

• First, Executive Council reiterated its commitment to maintaining financial support to FIBS in order to enable it to continue in its present role and its present function.

 

• Secondly, we agreed that the General Manager of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation should be asked to provide assistance in order to bring about the transfer of FIBS to the Media Trust by the 30^th of June next year at the very latest, although I hope it will be possible to bring these new arrangements into effect earlier than that.

 

• We asked the Attorney General to prepare the necessary legislative amendments.  There will need to be some changes in the law to make it possible for this to happen.

 

SF:  Why was it decided that the management of FIBS to Media Trust considered important?

 

HP:  For very much the same reasons that the Media Trust currently manages Penguin News.  It’s important in any democratic society that the media should be both independent of Government in fact and should be seen to be independent of Government and able to exercise their own editorial control over their output.  That has already been achieved at Penguin News through the mechanism of the Media Trust, which enjoys a very wide degree of independence from Government.  Those arrangements are not yet in place for the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station.  But Executive Council believe and, I have to say, this is a view, which I very strongly support, that it would be right to put FIBS on the same basis so it enjoys the same status so that people here can be confident that Government does not control what FIBS says and the editorial line it takes.  But I think it is also important that this is seen to be the case.  And, by bringing it under the umbrella of the Media Trust, it’s possible to achieve that.

 

SF:  Work has been going on for some time on the application form and guidance notes for Falkland Islands Status.  Can you give us a bit more detail about this?

 

HP:  We have a final draft of the application form at Executive Council in August.  And, at that meeting, EXCO Members asked some further consideration be given to a couple of aspects to the form.  One was the provisions covering the requirement for fluency in the English Language and the second concerned the issue of commitment to the Falkland Islands.  Both, of course, are important in the context of acquiring status.  So, at our meeting on the 28^th of October we had a revised form before us, which took account of these two elements.  We were advised by the Attorney General that the revised form met all the requirements of the Constitution and we therefore agreed to adopt the new form in its final version.  That will now come into effect.  It’s quite a full form but Falkland Islands status is, of course a very important step for anybody to take and it’s right in doing so, they should be able to satisfy Executive Council on all of the points.

 

SF:  And, how would someone in this form, actually prove their commitment to the Falkland Islands?

 

HP:  There are various ways in which one can do that.  And, obviously people will be asked the questions whether they intend to make the Falkland Islands their home.  There are various other considerations, which will enable Executive Council to reach conclusion on that.  For example, whether somebody owns property here or not, or whether they have extensive commitments outside the Falkland Islands, which may lead to some question mark as to whether they are really committed to being here.  Where do they have most of their savings?  Are they in the Falkland Islands or outside - all that sort of thing.  There is quite a long list of considerations, which we shall be taking into account.  And, people will be given the opportunity to add any additional points of their own - anything or consideration, which they think would be relevant to a decision on application to status.

 

SF:  A couple of decisions were made concerning Falklands Landholdings Corporation.  What were these?

 

HP:  First concerns their overdraft.  Falklands Landholdings business, has to manage its cash flow, and at certain times of the year the cash flow situation means they have to operate in overdraft although, obviously, at the end of the year the intention is that they should be in the black rather than in the red.  And, Executive Council had before it Falklands Landholdings cash flow figures and agreed to authorise a ceiling - a maximum overdraft between now and the end of the financial year of some £250,000.00.  Secondly, we had some decisions to take about the structure of the FLH Board.  We reached the following conclusions about the way in which the new board should be shaped:

 

• First of all, it was agreed that membership should include two Councillors, one of whom would be Chairman of the Board.  And, we went on to appoint Cllr. Richard Cockwell as Chairman and Cllr. Mike Summers to be Member of the FLH Board.  I think that more or less reflects the existing situation.

 

• We then decided that the Chief Executive should be Executive Vice Chairman of the FLH Board, that the General Manager of Falklands Landholdings should be a member of the board and then that there should be two representatives of the farming community and we had a number of candidates to consider for that and concluded that those two representatives should be Ben Berntsen from Elephant Beach and Donna Minnell from Mosside.

 

• And finally it was agreed that the Rural Business Association should be represented on the board and the RBA has nominated Ron Binnie to fill that role.

 

SF:  And, I hear there’s only one shipping matter.

 

HP:  Yes.  Quite an interesting one, actually.  This was a proposal to register a new vessel, or at least to make a new registration on the Falkland Islands Shipping Register.  And, the vessel concerned is the IFV Chokyu Maru 35.  It’s interesting because this vessel combines the jigging and long-lining technique.  The vessel is both a jigger and long-liner.  EXCO agreed that this vessel should be registered, subject to its meeting a number of standard conditions, which we require of any vessel, which registers in the Falkland Islands.  And, the purpose of these conditions is to ensure that the vessel meets essential local standards and requirements before it’s accepted on to the register.

 

FIBS Reported last week that Head of Policy, Mr. Michael Hart, has recommended to Executive Council not to impose a minimum wage for the time being, although a report on this and working condition related issues be prepared annually by him, with the next one being due in September.  Progress to date is that MOD at MPA employers have agreed to a non-statutory process to prevent exploitation of migrant workers.  The report consists of a statement of basic workers rights and minimum working conditions, a grievance resolution process and an employer/employee council or forum.  In a paper prepared by Head of Policy, Margaret Hart, it said regarding the next step would carry on jointly with MOD and MPA employers and that the Chamber of Commerce and Rural Business Association will be kept informed of developments and be invited to adopt similar voluntary schemes for Camp and Stanley, saying that at this stage there’s no apparent need for legislative action in the minimum wage by FIG.  This should be reviewed in December or sooner, should there be evidence wide-spread exploitation of vulnerable workers. 

 

Here is what H. E. The Governor Mr. Howard Pearce said to FIBS:

 

HP:  There’s been some discussion on this subject going on, I think, for quite some time.  Basically, the issue is whether the Falkland Islands should introduce legislation, which sets a minimum wage and minimum conditions for employment.  We had a paper to consider on the subject at EXCO.  This had been prepared following full consultation with the Chamber of Commerce, with the Rural Business Association and also with representatives of the Ministry of Defence at MPA and also with the Civilian employers there.  We concluded that at this point. At any rate, there was no requirement to introduce legislation to set a minimum wage and minimum conditions of employment.  But members felt that this was an important issue, which we should keep under review and keep under discussion with all the interested parties.  So, we are going to have another look at it again in just under a year’s time in September 2005.

 

CG:  So, what will happen in the meantime?

 

HP:  We will be keeping a close eye on this general subject, in particular, up at MPA where, I think there has been some expression of concern in the past.  New arrangements have been set in hand.  They have introduced what I might describe as sort of a voluntary code, setting out some minimum conditions there.  There is also a grievance procedure, which has been introduced for employees at MPA.  And, they’ve also set up a committee or council, bringing the Ministry of Defence staff, civilian employers and representatives of the employees together so that there is a forum in which any complaints, any concerns, any questions can be raised on a regular basis.  They have already had their first meeting.  I think that proved to be a useful occasion and there will be regular meetings in the future.  So, we are going to keep all this under review.  And, if we come to the conclusion that it is necessary to take further measures, obviously, EXCO will discuss that.  But in the meantime, we feel that what’s in place is probably enough but we will take another formal look at it in September 2005.

 

CG:  Do you know whether there was much feedback from the employees?  What were their thoughts on this?

 

HP:  We have had feedback from employees at MPA.  What we haven’t had so much feedback on is employees in the wider civilian community.  Certainly Government would welcome rather more from the Union side and that’s something, which we did discuss at Executive Council and we’d like to look at ways of encouraging the Union side to be a bit more vocal and to engage in rather more active discussion of these issues.

 

And finally, EXCO chose the name of the new road running alongside the Infant and Junior School.  Pupils at the Infant and Junior School had been invited by the Stanley Lands Committee to make suggestions and they produced some very imaginative proposals.  Sian Ferguson asked H. E. the Governor Mr. Howard Pearce about it.

 

HP:     We had a lot of names put forward by pupils from the Infant and Junior School itself.  Perhaps I could give you a few examples.  We had “Twirly Lane, and “Twisty Lane, Rockhopper Road, Reindeer Rise and a number of others.  I won’t go through what was a long and imaginative list.  The one I liked most was “Geol-break Lane.”   But I think other members of EXCO might have thought that would be a little bit too frivolous.  What we concluded with was what seems to me to be an appropriate name for a road, which runs by the Infant/Junior School.  We decided that the new road should be Pencil Lane.  I don’t know the pupil, who proposed that particular name but I congratulate him or her for coming up with the winning name.

 

Corina Goss (CG) and Sian Ferguson (SF) of FIBS asked the questions.

 

(100X Transcription Service)

 

FIBS NEWS DIRECT: 03 NOVEMBER 2004

 

LEISURE CENTRE:

 

Leisure Centre staff have recently gained new qualifications in swimming and lifesaving. Achieving the UK based training qualifications means that the Centre can become more independent of outside agencies and gives the Centre a chance to enhance links with other agencies by offering training opportunities for staff.  Karen Rozee, Mandy McKay, Chris Biggs, Stacy Bragger and Alistair Ceballos-Anderson have all achieved their swimming teachers “B” qualification, which now enables them to offer more structured and varied swimming lessons.  Steve Dent, Karen Rozee, Mandy McKay and Alistair Ceballos-Anderson have also gained their NARS Pool Lifeguard Teacher and Examiner qualification.  They can now offer training in pool life-guarding and first aid.  Irine Joyce from the Swimming Teachers Association, who coached the staff, says she was thrilled to be asked to tutor the courses at the Centre, adding that the candidates on the courses worked hard and had to learn many new methods in a very short time, saying the quality of swimming and teaching was very high and that the Centre displays a caring, constructive and developmental attitude towards customers.

 

COURT NEWS:

 

In Court today, Veronica Summers was fined £600.00 and received an 18-month disqualification after pleading guilty to drink driving. 

 

Crown Prosecutor, Ros Cheek, told the Court that early last Friday afternoon, Police received information that Mrs. Summers was intoxicated at work and may drive afterwards.  Just after half four the defendant drove along Ross Road and parked in the Capstan Car Park.  She was approached by Police, who noticed she smelt strongly of alcohol.  When asked if she had consumed alcohol in the last 20 minutes, she said no but she had a drink at lunchtime.  She then provided a positive sample at a roadside breath test and was taken to the Police Station, where she provided a lower reading of 69mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

 

Senior Magistrate, Claire Faulds, sentencing, said she took a very serious view on this, as the defendant was driving on the road in the middle of town immediately after work when there were many people about.  Mrs. Summers was ordered to pay £70.00 Court costs and her licence was also endorsed.

 

A Stanley Man was fined £200.00 when he pleaded guilty to speeding.  Geoffrey Loftus, who has two previous convictions relating to traffic offences, had pleaded guilty by post but the case was adjourned last week.  Senior Magistrate, Claire Faulds, told Mr. Loftus that he had been driving quite considerably over the limit and he was fortunate the references from his current employer and the Fire Service both said that they would like him to keep his licence and that he is not normally irresponsible.  After careful consideration, she was therefore prepared not to disqualify him on this occasion but if he appeared before the Court on another Road Traffic charge again, this discretion would not be used.  Mr Loftus was also ordered to pay £70.00 Court Costs and had his licence endorsed.

 

An inquest into the death of Mrs Betty Miller was formally opened this morning.  It’s been adjourned to a date yet to be fixed.

 

HARBOUR, FISHING AND SHIPPING NEWS:

 

The tanker, Libra, is in Berkley Sound.  Catches have been steady and there are 17 vessels fishing in the Zone.

 

(100X Transcription Service)