FCO OFFICIALS OVERWHELMED BY WELL PLANNED FAMILIARISATION VISIT
By J. Brock (FINN)
John Hughes, British Ambassador Designate for Argentina and Tony Crombie, Head of the Overseas Territories Department, have completed their brief familiarisation visit to the Falklands. While here they visited venues in Stanley and in Camp. The Ambassador designate will take up his post next month in succession to Sir Robin Christopher. Mr. Hughes previously was Ambassador in Venezuela and was succeeded by Donald Lamont, former Governor in the Falklands.
Both men had an opportunity to meet the media at Government House on Thursday, when they said that they had an excellent and informative visit. “I very much wanted to get here and find out as much as I could and it’s been an incredibly valuable experience,” said Mr. Crombie. “We had some initial discussions with people in Stanley but also had the opportunity to get out into Camp to talk to a large number of people and I think that has given me a very good feel of what people are thinking about,” he added.
Mr. Hughes said, “ Can I just say first of all, thank you to the Governor and his team for setting up an excellent programme for us here in the Falklands. I am here to look and listen. I am here to learn and not to usurp other peoples’ responsibilities and policies.” Seeing that he has not taken up his post yet, Mr. Hughes did not answer any questions about policy.
For Mr. Tony Crombie, (TC) it was a different matter, as he had been on office for longer and had attended the Overseas Territories Consultative Council Meeting, recently concluded in London.
FINN: Would you briefly outline some of the things that you felt were important that came out of that meeting?
TC: The Overseas Territories Consultative Council is actually a sort of Confidential meeting between British Ministers and Councillors. A wide range of issues was discussed, from the relationship between territories and HMG. A lot of time, because of these tragic impacts on the Cayman Islands, a lot of time was devoted to the question of disaster management, which, I think is very important for a number of territories. Disasters can take a number of forms. We looked at a number of similar sort of issues, we looked at the question of the EU relationship and how the territories may benefit from the EU. We also had a session on Sustainable Development and it gave us something, which I think is generally applicable to the territories overseas. I think it’s something that is an on-going mutual interest is sustainable development, which brings prosperity to everybody. There were a number of specialist workshops with the Department of International Development, dealing with a number of issues like HIV Aids Protection, that sort of thing. So, it was a very wide-ranging and useful conference.
FINN: Speaking of disaster relief do you have a formula for relief given to Islands that suffer from hurricanes, for example? Do you have a figure that will be given to the Cayman Islands as a result of this hurricane? Will it be more physical things that you will be giving to the Caymans?
TC: In any disaster it very much depends on the nature of the disaster, the extent of the disaster, the impact that it has and also where it happened. The automatic response is to try and give as much humanitarian emergency aid initially at a point in time, immediately after a hurricane. Obviously, people are traumatised as a result of what they’ve been through. In the case of Hurricane Ivan, it was probably the most devastating one in the Island’s history. And, it more or less hit the Caymans head-on. HMG was able to do a lot in that respect. We actually had a patrol vessel, which was able to stand by following the hurricane and able to provide help in that sort of way. We immediately helped to put things together again. Obviously, we provided all sorts of emergency aid. The navy provides tarpaulins for people’s roofs that had blown off, to providing chain saws for cutting logs to provide the passage of vehicles. That’s the thing one would obviously do to make a maximum impact. But in answer to your question, there is no set formula. You need to react to the circumstances and what is needed.
CG: Do you visit these territories after a disaster?
TC: I personally didn’t but what is important is that the Department of International Development had people in Cayman within three days of the disaster. And, they waited to get an assessment. And, I think it’s important and it’s those sort of experts that are able to provide useful information and technical input to the territories, that they are able to get there and to do that. My role does not entail that sort of function.
FINN: In saying that, you talk about immediacy, what if the territory is a bit more remote than the Cayman Islands? Would the same kind of aid be available for that territory?
TC: Yes. I mean, obviously depending on what the territory is and how remote it is and how to determine the time, which you would need to get there. It’s in practice, the same sort of standard applies in terms of getting emergency humanitarian aid - lifesaving aid in as soon and as quickly as possible. I mean. Some of the territories are so remote that how you would do that in certain circumstances would differ. But the principle would be the same.
Councillors coming back from the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting expressed the view that much time was spent on disaster relief given the immediacy of Hurricane Ivan. It’s reassuring to know that a response can be made in an effective and timely manner. Other journalists at the press conference were John Fowler, covering for Penguin News and Mercopress, Corina Goss and Sian Ferguson covering for FIBS.
(100X Transcription Service)
