NEWS FROM ST. HELENA
Students arrive in UK
(29/09/04)
On 21st August 2004 four students and a teacher embarked on a journey, which took them to what will be home for the next few years. Giselle Richards, Gemma George, Mario Caswell and Sherilee Phillips are four students about to start their University life in the UK. Martin Henry a PE and Maths teacher at Prince Andrew School will be in the UK for two years on an HND/Foundation Degree in Sports Science and will also cover studies in teaching Maths.
The five scholars arrived in the UK on the 4th September along with Ray Mace UK student/teacher placement coordinator, who was returning home from his visit to St Helena. The following information was obtained from Mr Mace’s report to the Education department.
The five travellers were met by family, friends and students who are currently studying in the UK who chose to travel to Portland to welcome the new arrivals. The travelling was not over as the next part of the journey was a five-hour drive to Telford in Shropshire. A part of the student’s induction programme was sightseeing, visiting London Bridge and a 1934 steam engine at work and riding the Cliff railway, which was built in 1856. They also went on a shopping spree in Telford Shopping Centre.
The students toured places such as Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Downing Street, The Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and Convent Garden - to name a few. Visiting these places was a part of the programme to enable the students to become comfortable and competent with travelling on buses and trains.
It wasn’t all fun and games, because apart from getting familiar with UK life which included buying bus fares and working out how to get from one place to another, the students were required to focus on financial planning and budgeting, reporting and monitoring requirements as well as opening a bank account. The students were brought back to the world of study as there was a day of assignment writing, examination techniques and reporting procedures, which included attending a workshop on Education held by a DFID staff member.
The students, completing their induction, were required to find out their train times, routes and changeovers for their individual journeys. Their last evening together was spent at the Crooked House restaurant, which as its name suggests is an unusual shape, due to a mineshaft collapse many years ago. Here the group took the opportunity of taking a photograph together to mark the occasion as the next day they would be on the separate ways.
The students travelled to Birmingham together, then boarded their separate trains on their way to life at University. All students confirmed they had reached their destinations via their newly purchased mobile phones!!!
Public Relations/Information Officer, Office of the Chief Secretary, 29/9/04
Governor Hollamby meets with Tourism Advisory Committee.
(29/09/04)
As Governor Hollamby approached his final weeks in office on St Helena he had a full programme of visits and meetings with various Government and non-Government organisations.
On Thursday 16th September, Governor Hollamby met with the Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC) at the Tourist Office. The TAC is made up of three Government representatives and three private sector representatives as follows:
Chairperson Mrs Pamela Young (Director of Tourism)
Members -
Mrs Barbara B George (Director of St Helena National Trust)
Mr Stephen Biggs (Chairman - Tourism Association)
Mr Dave Tyler (Managing Director - SHDA)
Dr Corinda Essex (Chief Development Officer)
Mrs Gillian Francis (Assistant Secretary)
The Secretary of this committee is normally the Senior Clerk in the Tourist office. The role of the TAC is to represent the interests of the tourism service sector and to provide advice and support to the Tourist Office in achieving its objectives.
Each member gave a presentation on different aspects of tourism, which was fully supported by the other committee members as each presentation was linked.
Gillian Francis gave an overview of tourism development on St Helena; she spoke about the Tourism Master Plan, which was accepted by SHG in 1996 and how the Tourism office/committees are working towards it. It is hoped that the new RMS schedule will encourage an increase in visitor numbers to the Island. Improved access, including improved landing facilities at the wharf is a matter of priority when considering attracting more tourists to the Island.
Pamela Young Director of Tourism has recently been to the UK, Ascension, Cape Town and Namibia to gather information and discuss the best way forward to market St Helena as a Tourist Destination. Pamela added that marketing is an expensive business, adverts alone are extremely costly; a small advert approximately a quarter of an A4 page costs £300. in one magazine and £600 in another. In a national newspaper an even smaller advert in black and white can cost £1000. A more cost effective way to get St Helena promoted in travel/tourist magazines is by encouraging journalists to visit St Helena. Visiting journalists are offered complimentary accommodation and in return St Helena receives colourful promotional articles. There is now a St Helena Tourism website and the staff of the tourist office answers enquires from potential visitors every day. Although there are many ways to promote tourism and market St Helena, Pam says one of the most powerful tools of marketing is still ‘word of mouth’. We all know the powers of conversation and how quickly word spreads, so we can all contribute to singing St Helena’s praises.
This year only four Cruise Ships are scheduled to visit St Helena, the lowest number for a few years. The Tourist Office have begun direct advertising to Cruise companies to inform them of where St Helena is and what it has to offer and to those that have already visited to remind them that St Helena is still here. However there is still the uncertainty of landing for most companies. The Tourist Office is working on providing a professional and appealing package as another means of marketing St Helena to tour operators in the hope that we can encourage group tours to St. Helena. The tour packages will include scuba diving, sport fishing, nature and heritage walks and Napoleonic tours, depending on the tour group and their interest. However this can only work if we have the co-operation of all involved.
Steve Biggs and Dave Tyler spoke about the tourism service sector. Steve said the Tourism Association was created to encourage taxi drivers, hoteliers and anyone with a tourist focused service to act as one body, putting together their ideas and suggestions for providing better services. Unfortunately there is a lack of representation from a lot of service providers, which could be attributed to the low influx of tourists, which is no incentive for service providers to increase their output or improve their services. If small business owners can see a demand for their services they will no doubt work towards boosting the tourist industry.
Dave, representing the private sector through SHDA said “SHDA is working towards encouraging small improvements to existing services and attracting more people to the tourism industry, addressing the issue of”‘ how do we encourage more tourists to come here?” He also suggested that SHDA work with SHG in designing a ‘What to do in St Helena’ guide. Dave drew attention to the fact that on some occasions when cruise ships arrive, certain businesses are not open. He suggested consideration could be given to a Cruise Ship Incentive program where businesses are rewarded for opening on these days.
Barbara George of the St Helena National Trust (SHNT) gave a computerized presentation of the National Trust - its purpose, goals, achievements etc. She added that although St Helena has no white sandy beaches and palm trees, it does have 49 endemic plants, 420 endemic animals and many Historic buildings which are not only a part of St Helena’s heritage but represents a preservation of a world era. The SHNT have been working on a schools project, which comprises of educational packages on local history and geography aiming to increase knowledge of our Island. The SHNT also promotes the Island’s heritage through a website as well as promotions inthe paper and on the radio. A National Heritage register is being compiled of all the Historical books and prints in Government libraries and Archives. The SHNT will shortly have calendars and souvenirs available for sale.
Dr Corinda Essex presented a brief history of the United Nations Development Project (UNDP), which has provided major funding for St Helena’s Tourism Development. Over the past few years St Helena has seen quite a few developments, such as the new Museum and the Leisure Park. A component, which deserves mention, was the UNDP funded project to train unemployed people as tour guides and caterers. The programme included dining skills, bookkeeping, IT, first aid and an international certificate in food hygiene. The building of the Leisure Park and Museum also provided opportunities for the unemployed to receive training in masonry and building skills. This project which involved a lot of the long-term unemployed saw a great result as most of these people were then able to obtain part and full time jobs here or overseas. Corinda also mentioned the Sandy Bay beach development project, which has received a lot of compliments. The compilation of environmental information packs for Schools, local tour operators and Tourists, which include information of St Helena’s flora, animals, fish and trees. The Tourism website was also funded by UNDP. UNDP funding has given St Helena a push in the right direction and it is hoped that we will continue to head that way. Governor Hollamby expressed a keen interest in developing the Tourism Industry on St Helena and acknowledged the efforts that have already been made. He will certainly help to promote the Island by telling those who have never been here to visit this unique little fraction of the Earth so many of us call home.
Website addresses: www.sthelenatourism.com or www.sthelenanattrust.org
Public Relations/Information Officer, Office of the Chief Secretary, 29/9/04
Governor Hollamby visits a few Private Sector Businesses.
(29/09/04)
On the 21st September Governor Hollamby accompanied by SHDA’s Managing Director Dave Tyler, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Agency Advisor Gilbert Yon and Senior Business Advisor Vanessa Yon visited some of the Private sector businesses, which at some stage received financial assistance from SHDA.
The first visit was to the Half Tree Hollow workshops, which houses three private sector businesses. The first workshop the Governor visited was Colin Yon and Chris Bargo’s carpentry workshop. Colin and Chris started a small carpentry business in 1989. Their business has evidently developed, as three years ago there were only 6 employees whereas now there are 14. With all the machines and employees hard at work there seems to be quite a demand for carpentry, Colin, Chris and their employees make furniture such as cabinets and tables and also conduct household maintenance. Most of the wood used is imported from Cape Town although when practical, local wood is also used.
Right next door to the Carpentry workshop is Ronald Lawrence’s metal workshop. Ronald makes rails, gates etc. by welding and turning metal into intricate shapes, which can either be designed by the customer or left to his initiative. Ronald works mostly alone, but with big jobs he is able to hire a part-time worker. All of the machinery he uses is manual; therefore it takes a lot of physical strength. Hydraulic and electric machinery is costly and currently there is insufficient demand for metal work to warrant the purchase of such equipment.
Brendan Lawrence’s garage, the last workshop at this location. It is obvious that business is booming for mechanics as more and more cars are imported. With such a busy schedule a small problem with Brendan’s workshop is limited space, although when the weather is suitable work can be done outside an advantage for having the workshop in this location is the fact that it’s not too far from Jamestown. Brendan has two full time mechanics that he is proud off, he says they are dependable and with their efforts the business is running smoothly. Vehicles are taken to Brendan’s Garage for anything from mechanical repairs to bodywork. With the current increase in car numbers - this is a good business to be in.
Leaving Half Tree Hollow, it was on to Stevens’ Butchery at Farm Buildings. Gary Stevens the owner of this business was pleased to show the visitors around his establishment. The clean white walls and work surfaces made it hard to believe this building is used to slaughter animals and butcher meat. Gary’s team is made up of his two sons and one or two employees are hired as necessary, making this a family business. Stevens’ butchery slaughters animals for farmers and butchers the meat, which is sold locally or exported to Ascension. Gary has a herd of 25 cattle, and is currently monitoring the progress of some new Murray Grey calves, which are the result of artificial insemination. Gary said after research was conducted it was found that this breed of cattle would be suited to St Helena’s climate and conditions. The calves are healthy and are growing well. Gary feels that with better use of pastureland and with the breeding of more cattle, St Helena could be in a better position to provide local meat and meat products.
A little further down the road is Colin Williams School Bus service headquarters. Colin has been running the School Bus service for 5 years. There are currently 9 buses used for transporting children to and from school. The drivers, who also perform maintenance on the buses, take the buses home at the end of a working day to enable them to start their route from their districts. Apart from the School Bus Service the mechanics also repair the A&NRD vehicles as well as private vehicles. Colin also performs his administrative work at this location.
At Sunnyside Phillip John runs his building materials site. Phillip said business is slow; he has more cement on hand than ever before. It seems the building business has slowed down tremendously. Phillip’s business involves the importing of cement and building materials and the making of cement blocks but due to little demand the operation is quiet. Phillip’s interpretation of the slowing building business is the fact that land is hard to purchase therefore fewer houses are currently being built.
Reg Yon’s coffee/banana plantation in Sandy Bay was next on the list. Reg gave a quick demonstration of how coffee beans are pulped. Reg has been in the coffee business for 7 years, in the best of the 7 years 2 ton of good quality bean was produced. One of the main problems Reg faces is a lack of pickers, most of the coffee trees have grown tall over the years and as they are growing on sloping land picking is difficult. Reg is proud of the coffee beans his trees are bearing, they are all relatively the same size and are of a good quality. Most of the finished product is sold locally, very little is exported. Coffee is a time consuming business, after the bean is picked it is pulped and then dried; it takes about 2 months for the bean to dry completely. Reg uses the machinery at A&NRD for hulling which is the procedure to remove the 2 shells to reveal the actual bean. It takes 4kg of cherries to produce ¾ kg of roasted beans. Reg only roasts sufficient beans to meet customer’s requirements.
Apart from 10, 200 coffee trees, Reg also has 1000 banana trees. A great accomplishment for Reg is the fact that his coffee production is totally organic. Spring water is used throughout the production of coffee; there is no chemical interference to his trees or the finished product, which enables him to have ‘Organically grown’ on his product label.
Still in Sandy Bay, Paul Duncan’s farm was the last on the list. Paul took over this farm approximately 2 months ago, it was previously owned by Solomon’s. Paul’s farm produces a variety of vegetable such as cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Paul is also giving consideration to developing fruit farming, some of the fruits he has harvested since taking over the farm are apples, citrus fruits, papaya, avocado, guavas and of course bananas. Paul added that the bananas are plentiful at the moment and he hopes that it continues this way.
Apart from the normal land farming, Paul has two polythene tunnels in which he grows certain crops. Most of Paul’s produce is sold to Solomon’s for local sale. Paul has a problem finding workers. With another tunnel and a few workers, there is certainly potential for producing a lot more fruit and vegetable contributing to the Island’s self-sufficiency in fresh produce.
Governor Hollamby and the SHDA team were impressed with all the businesses visited. The private sector needs to be developed and these businesses are just a few which are setting a good example. SHDA is still working with some of these businesses and are always ready to provide advice and assistance where necessary.
Public Relations/Information Officer, Office of the Chief Secretary, 29/9/04
Tristan Da Cunha: Earth Tremors
The following information was received in a report from the Overseas Territories Department (OTD) of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
The British Geological Survey (BGS) has indicated that the seismic activity on Tristan Da Cunha is tailing off and the level of risk is low enough to justify remote monitoring.
On the 10TH September a volcanologist Dr Vicky Hards arrived on Tristan. She assessed the potential threat caused by the recent periods of earthquake activity. Below are her main conclusions:
* There is no immediate threat to the Settlement: a significant
volcanic eruption in not imminent.
* The 29/30 July tremors were caused by pressure of rising magma on
the rocks below the seabed some 25km to the South East of Tristan.
* There is no sign of recent activity at the 1961 volcano site on the
Island.
In light of these conclusions, Dr Vicky Hards will leave the Island on 8th October and return to the UK.
The BGS are developing software, which will allow them to accurately analyse the information produced by the seismometers on Tristan. This data will be monitored for the next four months, allowing them to assess the longer-term implications.
The Administrator of Tristan has updated the Islands emergency planning documents, which have been reviewed by Frank Savage, OTD adviser. The Overseas Territories Department (OTD), the Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department (CHAD) and the Ministry Of Defence (MOD) have revised their disaster planning for Tristan da Cunha.
Public Relations/Information Officer, Office of the Chief Secretary, 29/9/04
Office of the Chief Secretary - Staff Development Day
(29/09/04)
The Office of the Chief Secretary, which includes the Tourist Office, Archives and Printing Office, will be holding a Staff Development Day on Tuesday 5th October and will be closed for business on that day. Any inconvenience caused is regretted.
Public Relations/Information Officer, Office of the Chief Secretary, 24/9/04
Correction to the Certified Accountant Technician (CAT) Article published in the Herald 17th September.
(29/09/04)
In the CAT article published in the Herald on the 17th September, credit was wrongly given to Mary Stewart for having initiated CAT training on St. Helena. For this we apologise and wish to put the record straight. Ken Jones (Chief Auditor, 1994-97) initiated the move from existing training for Audit staff to professional training, and used his background as an ACCA lecturer to give training sessions on various aspects of the professional syllabus to audit staff. However his application to ACCA for St Helena to be an examination centre was not granted.
This was taken up by Carolyn (Lyn) Thomas who initially qualified as an Accounting Technician under AAT, and then moved on to ACCA to become professionally qualified. She was successful in getting agreement for St Helena to become a special examination centre. By this time ACCA had also launched their own technician level - CAT. Lyn obtained all of the background information on CAT and started interest among the clients of SHDA (she was then MD of SHDA).
Lyn also passed the CAT information on to Miss Jenny Corker who started interest among the Audit staff. Unfortunately they were not in a position to fund the course - it costs on average £700 per student. Jenny then approached Mary Stewart with the idea of CAT training when she arrived and she managed to obtain funding via her tools of trade with DfID for the Audit staff, and Bob Dolan agreed to do the same for Finance staff. Mary also undertook the administration for the course and provided CAT students with training on a regular basis, to supplement their home learning.
Public Relations/Information Officer, Office of the Chief Secretary, 29/9/04
EXCO INFORMATION RELEASE
(22/09/04)
At the Executive Council meeting of 14 September 2004, the following matter was discussed:
St Helena Government Budget 2005/06
The Financial Secretary, Ms Linda Clemett gave a presentation to Executive Council regarding the preparations in hand for the budget for 2005/06. She commenced the presentation by reporting on what had happened in 2003/04 financial year. She explained that the draft accounts for that year indicated an overspend of £454,090, of which £22,526 represented under collection of revenue. As a result, the Consolidated Fund showed a balance of £642,114 compared with a recommended level of £750,000.
This year’s budget comprises of funding identified by departments when preparing their detailed business plans linked to the Strategic Objectives and, during the course of this financial year, regular management accounts will be prepared indicating government’s expenditure position so that spending can be monitored and controlled within budget. Departmental monthly accounts will be discussed with Heads of Department and any significant issues will then be brought to Executive Council for a decision. At the same time, efforts will be made to recover all outstanding debts and to build up the Consolidated Fund with a more focused approach to collection of debts and the implementation of new systems to improve debt collection.
The 2005/06 budget process requires Heads of Department to identify any areas where significant changes have occurred which will affect the 3-year Estimates that were drawn up in 2003. Heads of Department will be required to continue to focus expenditure on achieving SHG’s strategic objectives and meeting statutory obligations, and all expenditure must be linked to measurable outputs so that it is possible to see what is being achieved with the money spent. The Financial Secretary stressed that no additional monies were available and any changes that are identified by Heads of Department will have to be funded by re-allocation of resources. Additionally, all posts already provided for within the budget will be reviewed as part of the process to ensure they are still applicable to departments’ operations.
Carol Yon, Clerk of Councils
