FINN (COM) DAILY RECORD: 09 DECEMBER 2003
(With Relevant Articles from FIBS)
Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)
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STATEMENT FROM GOVERNMENT HOUSE REGARDING BANNING OF CHARTER FLIGHTS
A charter flight was due in this Wednesday the 10th to carry out a passenger exchange with the Clipper Adventurer. Unfortunately, the Argentine government has not authorised the flight of this particular charter over Argentine territory. The consequence of that is that the Clipper Adventurer will not be able to make its passenger exchange here in the Falklands.
Obviously I very much regret that but in the meantime, another charter flight is due in here on Sunday the 7th for a passenger exchange. I understand that charter flight has been authorised and will be going ahead.
We are in close contact with our embassy in Buenos Aires, with the Argentine government about this whole subject. I know it is a subject of great concern to many people here in the Falkland Islands and understandably so.
You will, I am sure, understand why I wouldn’t want to go into the details about those contacts at the moment but I hope we will be able to come to an arrangement which will bring us back to the situation where we were before where charter flights for the rest of this season will be authorised by the Argentine government.
I would also just like to add that I have been in very close contact with Councillors throughout on this whole subject and that also the parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Foreign Office, Bill Rammell, who was visiting the Falklands at the end of last week was also able to have a very full discussion with the Councillors on the subject. Both Councillors and Mr. Rammel thought it was extremely helpful.
The final point I would want to make is that the weekly LanChile flight continues to operate. There is no question mark over that flight. It’s the subject of an agreement completed in 1999 and that has never come into issue.
Obviously, as soon as there are further developments, which I can report, I will be very happy to let you know. But I also ought to say that it’s clear that any new arrangements which may emerge from these discussions with the Argentine government will require the agreement of the Falkland Islanders. There is no question of any agreement being reached or arrangements being concluded against the wishes or which do not have the consent of Falkland Islanders. And, Bill Rammell himself was able to make that absolutely clear when he was here. That point has been made very clear to the Argentine government.
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Press Release
The Swim for Terri sponsored swim took place on Saturday 6th December in both the Mount Pleasant and Stanley Leisure Centre Swimming pools. The aim of the event was to raise money for Terri Calvesbert who was tragically burnt very badly in a house fire. The turnout in Stanley was split between a number of sessions with many swimmers opting to swim at an earlier date due to holiday and other commitments. Special thanks to the EOD swimmers, Bonno and Lauren McKay and
Tasmin Tyrrell who turned out on Saturday to put in the laps, well done. some haggling from the MPA gym staff saw the MPA pool achieve the full distance of 22 miles on their own! Special thanks to all swimmers and the local organisers Sgt Dave Gerrish, Cpl Rob McMillan and the P Ed Officer amongst others. The total figure raised in the Falklands is expected to exceed £1000.00 so well done to all for their efforts. We hope to close the local bank account very soon so please get your sponsor money into the 'Swim for Terri' account held at the Standard Chartered Bank in Stanley or the Stanley Leisure Centre Reception/MPA Gym. If you did raise some sponsorship but did not get the chance to swim on Saturday then please contact Stanley Leisure Centre and we will make some pool time available to you.
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PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF E-MAIL ADDRESS - NOW
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The Dent Family (©¿©¬)
[email protected]
CONTROLLED EXPLOSION:
There will be a controlled explosion on Wednesday, 10 December 2003 between 1030 and 1230 in Minefield 11, which is at Rookery Bay.
FIBS NEWS DIRECT: TUESDAY, 09 DECEMBER 2003
BAD WEATHER HALTS INCIDENT EXERCISE:
The emergency rescue planning exercise, Operation Silver Teal, has been called off half way through the day because of the bad weather. The exercise was designed to put emergency services and the Military through their paces in a mock plane crash with 100 supposed casualties being rescued from Pebble Island. This morning, Government House said the operation was progressing well but the operation was called off at lunch-time as weather conditions worsened. I asked Chief Executive, Chris Simpkins (CS), to explain.
CS: Weather conditions were predicted to deteriorate where helicopters could no longer fly safely. Most of the learning points already emerged and there was little point carrying on just for the heck of it. However, the exercise back at MPA will continue tomorrow because there is equipment to be recovered from Pebble Island. Also, at MPA dealing with the theoretical deaths as a result and sorting out field kitchen arrangements and things like that will all carry on tomorrow.
SG: What hasn’t happened that was scheduled to happen this afternoon?
CS: There would have been further casualties being flown in from Pebble Island. At lunch-time we had evacuated about 50% - that is, the Military evacuated 50% of casualties. So, there was the rest to come in, so the hospital plan wasn’t fully tested but I certainly witnessed the last batch that came in from the Chinook and I think the test has been properly applied. I think everyone involved found it a very interesting experience. And, it was a learning process whether we need to learn, how can we improve our plans. There have been a whole series of points that we have learned as a result. Everybody involved has responded very positively and I would have no doubts whatsoever that in the event of a disaster of this kind, we would cope with it. The public sector has got a reputation for handling things like this well.
SG: I am sure when people hear this they are going to wonder what will happen if we get a real emergency. Will they give up when it starts to rain? What would have happened if this was a genuine emergency?
CS: Clearly, what we can’t do – it doesn’t make any sense at all to put the lives of rescuers at risk on an exercise. In the event of a real situation, it wouldn’t make sense to put their lives at risk either. What we would need to do is make arrangements for catering and dealing with people out there on the island. There was no sense in going to all that today. The Army down here are used to severe weather conditions, and clearly if the scenario were real, we would get the equipment out there – field kitchens, tent accommodation, etc. to accommodate those people. In this situation, the accommodation on the island is extremely limited and we wouldn’t be able to make much use of that accommodation.
SG: How much does it cost to stage an operation like this? Obviously the benefits are huge in doing it.
CS: The real cost to Government is actually very small. I couldn’t tell you what it might be but there is only an opportunity cost because we would still be paying people but they would be doing different things. So, I guess, some jobs that normally wouldn’t be done on a Tuesday morning haven’t been done. Clearly, from the Military point of view, there is a cost that I couldn’t begin to estimate what that would be. From the MOD point of view, much of what they do in the Falkland Islands is about exercise and training experience.
ITT TRY TO REASSURE LAN CHILE PASSENGERS:
International Tours and Travel say they are getting concerned calls from customers who are worried that the weekly LanChile flights will be affected by the on-going dispute over charter flights. The company is assuring customers there will be no disruption to the scheduled flights.
On Friday evening we brought you an interview with H. E. the Governor about the subject. He assured listeners that, although the Argentine government had banned tomorrow’s charter flight that would have brought in passengers for the Clipper Adventurer, the regular scheduled flight would remain unaffected.
THONG WEARERS PUT ON DISPLAY AT GOOSE GREEN:
There was a steady turn-out yesterday afternoon to the Goose green shearing shed. Stephen Jennings and Lee Molkenbuhr kept their promise to shear in thongs. Also sporting smart collars and cuffs the pair put in a full afternoon shearing in front of visitors that were coming through the doors right through the afternoon. They picked up lots of sponsors and as soon as we hear how much they raised, for Wireless for the Blind, we will let you know here on News Direct.
WIRELESS FOR THE BLIND:
As well as the radio auction over the weekend, a few brave souls hit the rocks with the sponsored ab sail at Mt. Harriet on Sunday, including Wendy Luxton who raised an impressive £300.00.
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