FINN(COM) DAILY RECORD FOR 17 FEBRUARY 2004
(With Relevant Articles from FIBS)
Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)
BILL RAMMELL’S VISIT TO ARGENTINA
A Report for BBC World Service “Calling the Falklands” by Dee Palmer (DP) 02/17/04
The Foreign Office Minister, Bill Rammell, arrived in Buenos Aires yesterday for a two-day official visit. It comes just as Argentina is attempting to negotiate the next instalment of its loan from the International Monetary Fund. Last night, Mr. Rammell gave a speech with the Title, “Role of United Kingdom in Today’s World.” Among the audience was the BBC’s correspondent in Buenos Aires, Elliott Gropkin (EG). He gave me a run-down on what Mr. Rammell said.
EG: Bill Rammell arrived yesterday morning. He gave this report at an institute for international affairs. And, his talk was really about Britain’s place in the world and he talked about the war in Iraq, multinational trade, and many issues. He also talked about the issues of the South Atlantic, particularly the Falkland Islands, who obviously included in his talks and it was of particular interest to the Argentine audience. He was very keen, rather than playing out the recent war of words, particularly over the issue of Charter Flights, which Argentina effectively banned late last year by refusing them to fly over Argentine air space. So rather than emphasise these issues, he was very keen to play up the similarities between the two countries (their histories, for example, Britain’s essential role in Argentina. He joked that Britain introduced football to Argentina, which, over the years, hasn’t always proved the wisest of moves. And, he talked about many other ways where the two countries co-operate, for example, international peace keeping. He said that the only time in history where relations had been bad was the Falklands War in 1982. But he said that everybody viewed it as an aberration. He was very keen to emphasise the positive things rather than the negative things.
DP: Did he have anything to say about continuing to improve relations between Britain and Argentina?
EG: Very much so. He talked about Britain being on the Executive Committee of the International Monetary Fund and right now, this week as well, it is a very busy week here in Argentina. A mission from the IMF arrived to discuss with Argentina the next revision of the agreement reached between the Fund and Argentina late last year. And, this agreement is crucial for Argentina’s financial stability because if Argentina is viewed to have been fulfilling the terms of its agreement and is believed to be negotiating in good faith with its creditors, then they should receive a green light and get the next tranche of its loan, which is worth about $3Billion. And, if Argentina doesn’t get the green light then there are fears that on March the 9th, when Argentina is due to repay the IMF $3.1Billion that Argentina might not be able to pay it. And it could find itself defaulting on its obligations to the International Monetary Fund. This obviously would not go down too well in the international financial community.
DP: Now, Mr. Rammell is going to be having talks with the Argentine Foreign Minister. In his speech last night, did he give any hints about how he will be approaching these talks, particularly when it comes to that crucial dispute over charter flights and whether or not an Argentine air carrier should be allowed flights to the Islands?
EG: After Mr. Rammell’s speech, he took questions and my question to him was: “What kind of reception did he expect from Mr. Bielza today. What was he expecting from the meeting?” What Mr. Rammell said was he expected a frank exchange of views with Mr. Bielza. As Far as this flight issue goes, it’s obviously on the agenda but it wasn’t a topic of discussion between Mr. Rammell and Mr. Bielza’s deputy, Jorge Guyana. The meeting between the two was held yesterday. So, this is very much on the agenda today. And, Mr. Rammell just repeated what he said to the BBC in an interview on Friday – just as he said in the past, which is negotiations are possible on this issue on Argentina’s demand for a flight by an Argentine carrier from Argentina to the Falkland Islands but before any kind of negotiations take place, first of all, this ban on charter flights needs to be overturned. They need to be able to fly to the Falkland Islands. And, at the same time, any decision on this will have to have the approval of the Islanders. Mr. Rammell has said that before and he repeated that last night. He said he hopes that this meeting can kick-start the negotiating process again. Very importantly, he suggested the kick-start over the coming weeks. I don’t think we are expecting any kind of definitive solution to this problem after today’s meeting. We have to look ahead to a few weeks’ time to see if any kind of positive result can come from this meeting – any further discussions that may take place.
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PUBLIC NOTICE
THE PLANNING ORDINANCE 1991
NOTICE OF PLANNING APPLICATIONS RECEIVED
Notice is hereby given that the following applications for planning permission have been received:
Plan Number Applicant Development
128/00/RO4 Mr A. Cruikshank
Renewal of planning permission for siting of Portakabin at 6 Fitzroy Road, Stanley,
18/04/P FIG Outline application for two pairs of semi-detached houses at Anderson Drive
green site, between plots 8 Anderson Drive and 20 Hansen Hill, Stanley.
19/04/PB Mr R. Dickson Erection of extension on existing dwelling at 2 Dairy Paddock Road,
Stanley.
20/04/0P FIG Outline application for creation of serviced building plot on corner of Ross Road East/
Rowlands Rise, Stanley.
21/04/PB Mr & Mrs J. Bates Extension to dwelling at 8 Watson Way, Stanley.
22/04/P Mr & Mrs R. Roberts Outline application for erection of 1 ½ storey and provision of off-street parking (access off Davis Street) on land south of 57 Fitzroy Road, Stanley.
23/04/PB Mr E. Jones Erection of dwelling at 8 Anderson Drive, Stanley.
24/04/PB Mr & Mrs J. May Erection of two extensions with internal alterations at 12 Jeremy Moore Avenue, Stanley.
25/04/PB Mr S. Francis Erection of dwelling at 10 Sulivan Street, Stanley.
26/04/PB Mrs K. Bedford Replacement of lounge window with patio door plus small decking area at 13 Jersey Road, Stanley.
27/04/PB Mr J. McLeod Erection of dwelling at 23 Hansen Hill, Stanley.
28/04/PB Goodwin Offshore Ltd Construction of cold storage facility at The Chandlery Estate, Airport Road, Stanley.
This application may be inspected during normal office hours at the office of the Secretary of the Planning & Building Committee, Environmental Planning Department, Malvina House Gardens, Stanley. Comments on the applications should be made in writing and should be sent to the Environmental Planning Officer, Environmental Planning Department, PO Box 611, Stanley, within 10 days of the date of this notice.
The next Planning & Building Committee meeting at which these applications will be considered is due to be held on Thursday, 4th March 2004 in the Liberation , Secretariat, commencing at 9.00 a.m. Members of the Public may attend to observe the workings of the Committee.
The public are advised that the closing date for the meeting to be held on 1st April 2004 is 4.30pm Monday 15th March
Environmental Planning Department
P.O. Box 611
Stanley
Public Notice No: 02/04
Dated this 17th day of February 2004
FIBS NEWS DIRECT: TUESDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2004
OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK TO THE START TO THE ILLEX SEASON:
The Illex season hasn’t got off to a good start with a number of vessels leaving the zone to try their luck on the high seas. Of 92 vessels fishing in the zone over the weekend, 22 have now left. 26 of the vessels were fishing for Illex and all reported nil catches, except one which caught 70kg. But are catches really that bad? I spoke to Director of fisheries, John Barton, (JB) to find out his view on the current “No Fish” situation.
JB: The Falklands season started on the 14th of February. That’s when licences actually start but it would be pretty rare for any Illex catches to really happen at that time. Usually the Falklands season starts in late February and sometimes it’s even been into the first or second week of March. We have had catches starting around the 10th of March and still producing a good season. It’s pretty early days for the Falklands Zone yet. I think the thing that is more worrying to some degree is that catches on the high seas have been pretty low. It has been reported that so far catches in the Argentine Zone have been variable. They started reasonably but tailed away as well. That’s certainly the view from some of the commercial people. This could well just prove to be a late year. It would be a bit more encouraging if we had catches being taken even if it was 400 or 500 miles from here at this moment in time. There is a view that it might be better for the Falklands Zone if their season is a bit later. And, the other thing that is happening at the moment is that there is a joint research cruise using an Argentine research vessel. It only started recently so it’s probably quite a bit early for too many results from that just yet.
LH: For other vessels fishing in the zone, things aren’t too bad. Fisheries Operations report reasonable catches of Hake and Blue Whiting on vessels fishing to the west/south/west of the Islands.
BA HERALD JOURNALIST:
An Argentine Buenos Aires Herald Journalist suggests that Argentina should live and let live over the Falklands, rather than continuing to push its sovereignty claim. The article is by a British born journalist, Max Gynzer, who is Argentine by nationality and was recently in the Islands. He writes, “Argentina will always claim sovereignty and has every right to historically and geographically. Unfortunately, 170 years is more than the average age of today’s nations. Something went wrong back in the 1830s but in this day and age, two wrongs cannot make a right. The lesson for Argentina, loser of the 1982 war, is now to live and let live. And, hopefully to befriend what is ultimately a quaint and affluent remnant of a once massive empire.” He also observed that Islanders welcomed him despite his nationality and was amazed at the size of MPA, which he said was, either a fortress to defend the Islanders’ freedom or a total waste of tax-payers’ money, given the current state of the castrated Argentine military.
ROBERT NAPIER:
The Chief Executive of the World Wildlife Fund, Robert Napier (RN), left the Islands this weekend after a two-week visit to the Falklands and South Georgia. He was full of praise for youngsters who helped raise money at the end of last year.
RN: Can I just say a big thank-you to many people in the Falkland Islands who went on our “Walk for Wildlife” for Polar Bears. It raised around £3,000.00. I think it was the second highest of any group around the world. Certainly in terms of per head of population, it was the highest. A huge thank-you to Falklands Conservation and others who did that for us.
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