FINN (COM) Daily Record for 10 December 2003

Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)

GIRLS’ BRIGADE IS 50:

Today is the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the first Stanley Company Girls’ Brigade. The group lapsed in the 1980s but some of its loyal former members are gathering to celebrate. Three former members now living overseas, have returned to the Islands. As Valma Malcolm told us, some of the old wrinklies have decided to have one last fling and give everyone a final chance to share their memories. There will be a service in the Cathedral next Tuesday to mark the anniversary, where all friends of the Brigade are welcome. This will be followed by a party for former Brigade members only at the parish Hall. They would like to thank FIC for sponsoring the evening and the Cathedral Council for waving fees for the Hall.

SHIPPING NEWS:

The Amsterdam is in Port William today and the Tamar left the East Jetty around 1100 after bad weather stopped her leaving last night. She is due into Bleaker Island today, moving on to Speedwell and Fox Bay tomorrow. There are currently just 6 vessels fishing in the zone.

WHALE STRANDING AT ELEPHANT BEACH:

There’s been another Whale stranding at Elephant Beach, with at least 52 Pilot Whales being examined by the Fisheries Department. The Whales were discovered by Tony Anderson last week and are thought to have been there for about two weeks. The beach has been the site of previous strandings but this one is much smaller than that of June last year when around 200 Pilot Whales died after being washed up near East Beach Settlement in West Falkland.

David Middleton (DM) of the Fisheries Department told me more.

DM: What happened over the weekend was that scientists from the fisheries Department were out at Elephant Beach near Cape Dolphin taking samples of the Whales that had been stranded there. Though the stranding took place about two weeks ago, they were just noticed on the beach last week by Tony Anderson, who is the Farmer there. And, he called the Fisheries Department last week and we went out on Saturday to take samples. These strandings are fairly regular occurrences around the Falklands. There is at least one stranding a year.

There really is very little known about these Whales so Fisheries scientists have been going out and taking samples of teeth for calculating the age of the Whale. We try an see what sex it was and the maturity as far as possible plus we take muscle samples which could be used in future genetic studies. But as yet, there has been no processing of other samples being arranged. On previous occasions we also looked at the stomach content of the whales to see what they have been eating. Obviously, we are interested in their interactions with the fishery and all the fishery species. They have been predating on Squid and fish around the Falklands. But on this occasion, the animals had been on shore for so long, we didn’t sample the stomachs.

There are various ideas about why Whales do strand but nothing conclusive. It’s often thought that one of the younger animals goes ashore first and can’t get back offshore and all the other animals strand as a result of that. But I don’t think that’s proven.

NO NUCS AFTER CONFLICT:

British Ambassador to Buenos Aires, Robin Christopher, has personally insisted to the Argentine Foreign Ministry that the UK left no Nuclear Weapons in Argentine Waters after the Falklands Conflict. He is reported to have delivered a note to the Ministry yesterday stating that all the nuclear weapons aboard the British fleet returned to the UK in Good condition and that no radiation leaked during the deployment. This comes after news broke on Friday that nuclear depth charges had been carried on ships destined to fight in the conflict but were taken off before they arrived in Territorial waters. Argentine President, Nestor Kirshner, demanded an apology from the UK Government over the news. On Monday, Argentina’s Channel 13 television reported that he demanded to know if nuclear weapons were used and which vessel carried them. And he also demanded that a search of the ocean should be jointly carried out by Argentina and the UK. If no reply was received, from the UK, Argentina said it planned to take the issue to the UN.

WHAT THE MONEY COULD MEAN FOR THE ISLANDS:

An interview with Andy Douse (AD) regarding the OST Grant money by Sue Gyford (SG)

AD: We have a short list of projects at the moment. The final decisions on which projects will go forward have not been made and we are busy at the moment looking at the application forms and just making some final decisions on which projects will actually be considered for funding. The Environment Committee have had a look at the draft list of projects but I think it’s likely that from the list of six, we will whittle that down from three, maybe four projects. The project that we are keenest on is one which focuses vary heavily on Albatross and Petrels, in particular, implementing the agreement on the conservation of Albatross and Petrels. We will be pushing this the hardest in terms of getting money from the Overseas Territories Environment Programme. In relation to others there may be a small project in the Marine Environment and the Inshore Marine Environment. And I am looking at another with the implications of climate change for the Falkland Islands.

SG: Bids for projects will be at Government House by mid January and could be underway by the beginning of April. The £3Million will be on offer until March 2007.

JOHN BARTON IN BA FOR SAFC:

Director of Fisheries, John Barton, is currently in BA for a meeting of the South Atlantic Fisheries Commission. The meeting begins tomorrow. Not much progress has been made to persuade the Argentine Government to enter into a long-term fisheries agreement.

(100X Transcription Service)

CASH INJECTION TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT IN UK OVERSEAS TERRITORIES (10/12/03)

The remote islands of Ascension, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha in the Atlantic, and pristine coral atolls in the Indian Ocean are just some of the unique habitats in the UK's Overseas Territories which stand to benefit from a new £3 million cash fund designed to save precious eco-systems from destruction, it was announced today.

The new Overseas Territories Environment Programme (OTEP), the result of a joint initiative between the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development (DFID), doubles the amount of money available to Overseas Territories for sustainable environment work.

The OTEP will give funds to support the Overseas Territories in developing and implementing action plans under their respective Environment Charters signed in September 2001. These agreements between the UK and the Overseas Territories were designed to develop sound environmental management practices.

The OTEP will also fund locally-based projects which encourage local people towards a sustainable use of their natural resources, enhancing their quality of life and livelihood opportunities.

Speaking at the launch of the Programme, Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary Under Secretary at DFID, said:

'The Overseas Territories embrace a rich and diverse heritage of natural environments. It is the duty of us all to protect and conserve this heritage for the benefit not only of the Territories themselves, but also for future generations and the world as a whole. Good environmental conservation practice brings its own benefits and rewards in terms of sensible and sustainable economic development.'

Many of Britain's 14 Overseas Territories, ranging from Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific Ocean to Cayman Islands in the Caribbean, are home to some of the planet's most precious habitats and species. Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell said:

'We want to work closely with the Overseas Territories to promote the sustainable use, or protection where necessary, of their natural resources so they are preserved for future generations.

'The UK's Overseas Territories have some of the world's most precious habitats and species and I believe that increased UK funding will help OT Governments and local people to build on the successes of the FCO's previous OT environmental funding programme. In particular, it will support the implementation of sustainable environmental management practices and increase the OTs' ability to implement their international environmental obligations [arising from international treaties].'

Chief Minister Michael Misick of the Turks and Caicos Islands welcomed the pooling of FCO and DFID resources for the benefit of environmental work in the Overseas Territories, saying 'This funding reflects the partnership on the ground between the TCI Department of Environment & Coastal Resources and the TCI National Trust, which has been reaffirmed through the TCI's implementation of the Environment Charters. The Department and the Trust have in the past received project development support from DFID and the UK OT Conservation Forum, itself funded by the FCO. It is hope that OTEP will continue to assist the coordination and prioritisation of environment projects in the TCI.'

The £3 million cash fund will be available until March 2007, by which time the UK and Overseas Territories governments need to show that real progress has been made with the money. This new money builds on previous Foreign Office programmes which provided £500,000 a year for environment projects in the Overseas Territories.

It is notified for general information that the Government Departments (other than those providing essential services) will be closed on the following days:

Thursday 25 December 03 Christmas Day

Friday 26 December 03 Boxing Day

Monday 29 December 03 Christmas Holiday

Tuesday 30 December 03 Government Holiday

Wednesday 31 December 03 Government Holiday

Thursday 1 January 04 New Years Day

The Secretariat

Stanley

10 December 2003

Ref: INT 21/5

Public Notice: 160/03

The 2004 Raft Race is less than a month away.... Have you started to construct your raft yet? Do you have what it take to beat the teams already puffing their chests out in anticipation?

• Turnover of £4.9m (2002: £5.3m)
• Pre-tax profits of £300,000(2002: £421,000)
• Basic earnings per share of 3.2p(2002:4.6p)

• Stronger start and outlook for second half:

• Shipping revenues restored to normal levels
• Retailing benefiting from redevelopment and food hall extension
• Agreement to act as sole agents for Caribbean Alliance Insurance Company
• Plans under consideration for use of Group land for housing development (subject to relevant planning and other permissions)

• Continued exploration activity:

As we anticipated, the first half of the year produced lower profits than last year. Profit before tax fell to £300,000 (2002: £421,000) on turnover 7% lower at £4.9m (2002: £5.3m).Earnings per share were 3.2p (2002: 4.6p) .

The fall in profit was attributable to reduced shipping revenues, in the aftermath of the poor fishing season in 2001/2 which we referred to at the time of the announcement of our year end results. However, activity levels have now been restored and a satisfactory result is anticipated for the year.

The directors are not recommending payment of an interim dividend but, in the absence of unforeseen events, they would anticipate paying a final dividend of not less than 5.5p in respect of the year ended 31 March 2004.

Cash generation remains strong and the Group maintained net cash balances of £452,000, the same level as at 31 March 2003. Capital expenditure of approximately £389,000, primarily relating to the West Store redevelopment, was financed from cash flow.

Operating profits declined to £304,000 from £435,000. Retailing profits were maintained despite the disruption resulting from the extensive building work at the West Store. Management services, the fishing agency and the automotive operations, produced results comparable to last year.

The shortfall in profits was largely attributable to the decline in shipping activities and a disappointing result from the Upland Goose Hotel. Three voyages were completed in the period (2002:3). However, bulk freight cargoes were at low levels reflecting the reduction in infrastructure and capital spending by the Islanders which followed the 2001/2 fishing results. Shipping costs were significantly higher as a result of increased bunkering costs and the decline of sterling against the euro.

Occupancy levels at the Upland Goose were lower this year ; the hotel benefited last year from increased visitor numbers linked to the 20^th anniversary of the 1982 conflict.

The West Store extension and fit out was completed in July at an overall cost of £550,000. The extension provides a 65% increase in the food hall floor area. The introduction of the Waitrose own label range, which was one of the key drivers in the decision to carry out the development, has proved popular with customers. For the first time the Falklands has a store offering a comprehensive range of products in surroundings comparable to retail food outlets in the UK.

The Group has successfully concluded an agreement to act as agents for Caribbean Alliance Insurance Company (CAIC) which is replacing Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA) as the main provider of insurance cover for the Islands.CAIC is a former subsidiary of RSA and the approval of the Falklands Government has been secured for the change. CAIC specialises in providing insurance cover for island communities. We believe that their appointment will lead to a significant increase in the range of insurance products for our clients.

Both the oil and gas and the mineral exploration licences have been the subject of much activity over the last 6 months and your directors remain committed to ensuring that the Company participates in future exploration activity.

The Hydrocarbon oil and gas consortium, in which the Group has a 20% interest, has completed the reprocessing and analysis of some 1,000km of the 4,460 km of seismic data which was purchased last year. Several large leads have been identified which the consortium believes warrant further investigation and it is likely that additional seismic will be shot in 2004/5. The Group intends to limit its capital expenditure on this oil and gas exploration activity through the introduction of a farm-in partner and is in discussion with a number of potential partners.

The Onshore mineral Joint venture, in which the Group holds a 33% interest, has a prospecting licence covering the whole of the Falkland Islands. Discussions are continuing on the future work programme with potential joint venture partners.

The Falklands economy has recovered from the uncertainty earlier in the year and the trading performance of the Group has improved since the end of the first half. The Group is pursuing a number of new developments which your Board believes will generate long term growth. The board is confident that the Group will achieve a satisfactory result for the year.