FINN(COM) Daily Record: Wednesday, 24 August 2005

FINN(COM) DAILY RECORD: WEDNESDAY, 24 AUGUST 2005

 

Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)

 

Websites:  http://www.falklandnews.com. http://www.tristantimes.com, http://www.the-islander.org.ac, http://www.sartma.com, http://www.news.co.sh

 

CONTENTS

 

Section 1:  Articles by FINN

                  Article by Graham France

                  Letter to Farmers from Robert Hall

 

Section 2:  Announcements

 

Section 3:  FIRS News Direct

 

Section 1:

 

ARGENTINA REPORTS CATCH DATA

 

By J. Brock (FINN)

 

The Argentine Fisheries and Agriculture Department have reported a significant drop of 26% in the amount of Hake caught during the first half of this year compared with the first half of last year’s fishing season.  This year, 156,000 tonnes of the fish were caught compared with 213.000tonnes caught during the same period last year.  North of 41S the catch was just above 34,000 tonnes, with 120,000 tonnes caught below 41S.

 

It is not clear what species of Squid that the reported catch of 136,000 tonnes is but it is thought to be Illex.  The amount is double what was caught last year between January and June.  Jiggers landed 121,000 tonnes and that caught by trawling was 12,000 tonnes.

 

PUBLIC MEETING: TUESDAY, 23 AUGUST 2005

 

By J. Brock (FINN)

 

A public meeting was held in the Court and Council Chamber of the Town Hall on Tuesday, 23 August 2005 at 1700.  Councillors Summers, Hansen, Cockwell, Cheek, Edwards, R, Edwards, N and Birmingham were present.  Cllr. Mike Summers chaired the meeting.  Approximately 40 members of the public listened to a presentation on the budget and economy by Chief Executive, Chris Simpkins and Deputy Financial Secretary, Keith Padgett.  Another presentation on the telephone system was postponed until the entire focus of a public meeting could be dedicated to it.

 

Mr. Simpkins explained that in May 2004 predictions were made regarding how much the 2005 deficit would be.  This year a comparison was made between what was predicted and the actual deficit that occurred. He explained that the increase in revenue was due to an unexpected increase in corporation taxes and better investment income.

 

He explained that income from fisheries netted £16Million, down from a high of £26 Million but the goal is to achieve a balanced budget on less money.  This year the deficit was £4400,00.00 and it had to do with better revenue raising measures such as User Pays, Avoiding Panic and managing the loss of revenue.  He said that even without Illex income that FIG would function on a sustainable basis.

 

Education and Medical Services are the areas where expenditure would be least cut and without any income at all, FIG could operate for 2.5 years at the present level of spending.

 

Mr. Padgett said that every 6 months saw the re-vamp of the budget in the operating budget, transfer payments and money paid to agencies: FIDC, Falklands Conservation, the Museum, etc.  That payment amounted to £4Million.  Departments were also responsible for bringing in money, for example, Fisheries brought in 18.2 Million, Taxation, £6.5 Million and PWD, £4.3 Million.  He went on to say that PWD was the largest department and it cost £8.1 Million to run it.

 

He finished off by saying that departments not only had to make savings but were also entitled to put in for more money where needed.

 

There was a lively question and answer session which began with a query about the increased amount of OAP payments by Tim Blake, who wanted to know why, if the fund looked healthy, was there a raise in the payments to £21.50 a week.  Deputy Financial Secretary Keith Padgett said that it was because people were living longer and there was a contingency for the future.  He explained that the current rate of £21.50 a week was reflective of a 5% increase but that pensions given out had been increased by £3% and that the health of the fund also depends on the performance of long-term investments.

 

A written question about the cheaper rate for education for long-term residents of the UK as opposed to British Overseas Territories Citizens who paid twice the amount was raised, with Jan Cheek responding that Councillors were aware of the problem and that Governors have made representations up to Ministerial level with no result.  She added that EU students paid twice the amount of what UK students paid.  Cllr. Summers added that over the past eight years the matter has been brought up in the UK and that Falklands students pay what a foreign student would pay for a UK education.

 

Legal costs of the Gordon Forbes Case were brought up by Mr. Roger Spink and were the subject of an article in last night’s transmission.

 

Sewerage outfalls and the very untidy look of the landfill around the Jetty Centre were brought up by Brian Summers, who asked whether a causeway across the harbour was necessary.  Cllr Roger Edwards explained that the project was being done in stages so that faced off areas wouldn’t have to be dug up again to complete stage 2 of the project.  Cllr. Summers said the matter was raised in the PWD Committee meeting and that it was more cost effective to build the causeway than it would be to dig up the existing sea wall.  The exposed sewerage pipe would be buried at a point near Mr. Brian Summers’ home.  Former Cllr. Lewis Clifton asked when the sea wall would be put right and Cllr Summers answered that the project wasn’t finished yet and that it looked no worse than it did for quite some time now.  Lewis Clifton answered that he looked forward to the project’s completion.  Phil Middleton then asked about covering the Jetty Centre car park and Cllr. Norma Edwards mentioned that work on it could be done when the weather got better.  Cllr Birmingham said it would be at least another year and Cllr. Roger Edwards stressed it was part of stage 2 of the project and there was no sense in covering the car park and having to dig it all up again to complete phase 2 of the project.

 

There was a light hearted discussion about cleaning up the road that leads to the tip and it was suggested that a gate be put at the tip as well as refuse receptacles evenly spaced along the road leading to it.

 

Brian Summers brought up health and safety and, as an example, mentioned that on the front road the Morrison’s Construction employees seemed to be wearing Hard hats, while PWD lads were not. Cllr. Roger Edwards, answering a query about the issuing of safety equipment and subsequent injury to an unprotected person, said that he believed PWD workers did wear hard hats and mentioned that he spoke to someone from PWD that was wearing one only that morning.  He said that safety equipment needed to be used when required.  Councillor Summers added that any injury would be the responsibility of the Head of Department.  He’s on holiday was the response.

 

What’s happened to the Island Plan? Was another question from the audience.  Cllr Summers said it was looked at and modified in EXCO.  There was a copy in the Library.  Keith Padgett said that draft estimates were available from the treasury at £20.00 each.

 

Giving a reception for returning College and University students received a positive response from Councillors. 

 

 

 

REPORT ON THE EXTRA-ORDINARY MEETING OF THE PLANNING & BUILDING COMMITTEE HELD 23^rd AUGUST 2005

 

(By Graham France)

 

This extra meeting was held to consider five applications for planning permission, all submitted by Cable and Wireless Limited for development in connection with their plans to provide a mobile telephone system in Stanley and at the Mount Pleasant Complex.  This, they hoped, to commence before the end of this year.

 

The meeting, held in the Conference Room of Gilbert House and lasting a little over one hour, began with noting apologies for absence from new member Mike Rendell and the Director of Public Works, Manfred Keenleyside, also with a welcome to the new Building Adviser, Alan Dawson, who was making his first appearance at the Committee.

 

Also present for the first time was Alison Inglis, the Crown Counsel (A), who would be providing legal advice to the Committee now and for the foreseeable future.  The Committee was supported in its deliberations by Dr Roger Diggle, the Chief Medical Officer.  Three members of the public were present, including the writer.

 

Chair of the Committee, the Hon Richard Cockwell, drew attention to the circulated copies of five letters of objection. All except one expressed health concerns at the proposed siting of aerial towers, particularly that which was to be located in Malvina Gardens on a site to the south of the Taxation Office.  This, the objectors pointed out, would be close to a children’s playground and not far distant from a child’s nursery. The other objection was made on aesthetic grounds, claiming that the proposed masts were not only ugly but also very tall and would, claimed the objector, dominate Stanley.

 

Much discussion took place, particularly on the perceived risks to health from such aerials, and Dr Diggle was able to provide advice to members, suggesting that an independent expert’s view could be sought from a topographical view of the town which could be related to the applicant’s technical report submitted in support of their proposals.

 

Just one of the facts which emerged from the meeting was that, if the aerials were to be sited further from the town, then the hand-held mobile telephone sets would need to be stronger as more power would have to be extracted from the unit. There would therefore be an increased output when the sets were further from the aerial.

 

The Committee then decided to grant conditional planning permission for the following: the erection of a GSM (mobile telephone) tower and concrete base at the applicant’s Earth Station on the Darwin Road; the erection of a hut for equipment storage on Sapper Hill where a mast is already in existence; the erection of a 20 metre-high GSM tower and equipment hut on a site south-east of the water tower at the Mount Pleasant Complex; and the erection of a 10 metre-high GSM tower and equipment hut on the south side of H Jones Road to the east of Hillside Camp.

 

The only application to be deferred was the proposal to erect a 20 metre-high GSM tower and equipment hut in Malvina Gardens.  Further information is to be sought and the submission reviewed again at the next meeting of the Committee which is scheduled for the 8^th September, to commence at 9am and held in the Liberation Room of the Secretariat.

 

 

Falkland Wool Growers Ltd

Craiglearan, Moniaive

Thornhill, Dumfriesshire  DG3  4JD

Tel:  +44 (0) 1848 200 497   Fax:  +44 (0) 1848 200 489

Email:  roberthall@falklandwoolgrowers.co.uk

Website: www.falklandwoolgrowers.co.uk

Registered in Scotland No:  176228

VAT Reg No:  699 5128 75

 

23^rd August 2005

 

Ref: RBA050823

 

Farmers

Falkland Islands

 

Dear Farmers

 

I have been sent a copy of the recent Rural Business Association letter, by a number of concerned RBA members.

 

Whilst it is accepted that considerable improvements in the operation of FIPASS are possible, some of the problems of the past may not occur next year given the changes to north bound shipping.  Next season, all northbound wool is likely to be shipped through the single FIC/MoD service, meaning there will only be one operator, thus reducing confusion and clarifying responsibility.  With FIC proposing two sailing dates each for 5500 bales, departing 12^th February 2006 and 23^rd April 2006, the obvious RBA improvement would be to work with FIC to ensure that FIPASS and the FIC/MoD service manage wool bales to meet each other’s requirements efficiently. Would not RBA be better overseeing their members requirements at modest cost, rather than endeavouring to become warehouse operators themselves at great expense? 

 

An RBA employee is inevitably expensive, particularly if full time.  If the employee is part time how are you to get continuity from year to year? Who manages the employee?  Who trains the new employees? Farmers pay relatively little for the FIPASS service at present, it is thus highly unlikely that with RBA having an employee the ‘wool warehouse service … would be carried out with no increase in charges to farmers’. 

 

Isn’t the RBA proposal by the small group working for RBA: Rodney Lee, Riki Evans and Neil Judd almost the same as the discredited proposal a couple of years ago by Rodney Lee, Ron Binnie and Doug Cartridge?  The last proposal had flawed financial figures and notable job allocations. 

 

The RBA are proposing to “examine the general issue of Wool Marketing” with Rodney Lee of White Rock Ltd part of the three man team.  Is White Rock Ltd working for RBA or is RBA working for White Rock Ltd?

 

No respectable Wool Test House is likely to approve RBA both drawing (core/garb) samples and marketing wool without significant safe-guards.  Who will fund all the extra supervision.  It should be noted that Grab sampling Falklands wool and testing for tensile strength, may not only encourage buyers to pay for staple strength (which they are doing at present) but it may also encourage buyers to discount less sound wool.  Why create a problem in the minds of buyers where none exists?

 

The RBA letter speaks of adding value to Falkland wool as though the industry has not already encouraged this.  Falkland wool usually sells for similar prices to comparable Australian wool, better prices than comparable New Zealand and South African wool and better prices than British, African and South American wool.

 

What on earth are White Rock Ltd doing if they are:

not already “aggressively promoting Falklands wool to the world”

not already promoting the green environmental image, lack of pesticides, lack of mulesing in the Falklands,

not already promoting the improvements farmers are continually making to their flocks through  genetic improvement and improvements to shed practise and operation, most recently through new training opportunities? 

 

Such promotion is more than undertaken by Falkland Wool Growers Ltd., who do all this and more. Falkland Wool Growers and our predecessors have worked for several decades promoting Falkland wool for speciality woollen carding and spinning across the globe and needs more support to achieve premium prices for Falkland wool, in this high class and high fashion market, where Falkland wool's special attributes are appreciated.  At the same time for Falkland wools which are more contaminated with vegetable matter and have lower yield, FWG is continuing to develop speciality worsted demand for Falkland wool’s other attributes (colour, handle/softness, length/CoV/hauteur,  hopefully lower discoloured fibre readings and occasionally organic). Again targeting not mass markets, but speciality manufacturers for high class fashion wear. This is where Falkland wool belongs and is being promoted by FWG and not into the mass wool market, lost in an ocean of other fibres.

 

In the RBA paper "The final suggested stage in the plan would be to commission a marketing professional to aggressively promote Falkland wool". What sort of professional would this be ! Someone who totally lacked any knowledge of Falkland wool !. Well really, this would be a recipe for disaster and the loss of speciality demand for Falkland wool, which requires long experience in promoting Falkland wool, so that the demand is continuously there in good and bad times. Falkland wool is promoted by FWG to manufacturers who appreciate and have continuous demand for Falkland wool and who desire it for it's special attributes. That takes time, it takes training, it takes work, it takes experience, it takes goodwill and a good reputation; FWG is not just selling lumps of wool which can be quickly substituted in bad times; FWG is all about speciality and continuous demand. This is not "professional" marketing, it is Falkland wool marketing as it should be.

 

Yours sincerely, Robert H B Hall: Cc RBA

 

 

Section 2:

 

 

 

No New Announcements today

 

 

Section 3:

 

FIRS NEWS DIRECT: 24 AUGUST 2005

 

Compiled by Stacy Bragger (SB) and Amy Johnson (AJ)

 

STANLEY KIDS ZONE:

 

AJ:  Work is ongoing on the renovations at the Stanley Kids Zone at No. 3 Jersey Road.  This is including conversions to the inside and hopefully there will be drainage works carried out on the garden.  Stanley Kids Zone are hoping to have an open day on Saturday, 03 September at No. 3 Jersey Road.  I spoke to Director, Andrew Newman, at the house to find out more.

 

AN:  So far as you can see, we’ve got Energise FI fitting fire alarms and protection systems and wiring to the house and boards and electricity and whatever that takes.  That’s quite a bit of work.  We’ve also got items of equipment arriving - fire extinguishers and stuff for the rest of the fire protection.  Other works that will be carrying on in the next few days include shuttering and some work to do on the steps and to all the entrances into the building, which we are progressing at the moment.  Richard Short is fitting the required fire exit in the big room in the back.  That will have steps outside put to it.  There will be some cleaning and some pieces to do before we have our open day on Saturday, 03 September.  As you can see, it is quite damp out there and that is probably a longer-term project but we will see how it goes through the summer.  I am sure we will end up with some dry bits that children can play in.  Sooner, rather than later, we will do some drainage work on it to try and improve the drainage.  And, long-term plans - we haven’t completely decided all this but the garden will be used to the benefit of all age groups.  There will be some outside play equipment.  It’s a big area so we should have enough space for age groups to be separated out.

 

On the 3^rd of September we decided to have an open day for people who have helped so they can have a look at the house.  There will also be members of staff that we have recently employed, who will be up here.  And, we would like parents who would like to use the facility to come up and have a look and chat with the staff and directors that are here.

 

 

AJ:  Andrew says that Morrison’s have taken down the fence and are currently putting in a footpath.  This sorts out parking areas and drop-off points for the children.  The fence was being put back up yesterday.  Decorating is to be done on weekends bit by bit.  I asked him if the directors had decided which rooms would be used for which purposes.

 

AN:  I’ve got a rough idea.  This big room will be a general room - Tanya McCullam’s area of expertise.  She’s our Manager and will be able to tell us better about it.  Dave Lewis of Décor Services is also doing some work for us in that they are laying a section of vinyl flooring in this room and in the lobby area and in the feeding area.  We have plans for other rooms so that you can separate age groups.  There is a sleeping area and three bathrooms.

 

AJ:  You were saying about you wanted a mural in the main room.

 

AN: We are going to be open to suggestions of decoration inside the house.  At present it has a mixture of the normal plasterboard and paint and some wallpaper coverings, which aren’t nursery-like.  We have been toying with whether we can get the wallpaper off and re-paint it or have some murals painted on it.  We want to make it look bright and cheerful.  We are certainly open to help from anyone including skilled people.  There is a contact sheet around in most of the shops detailing the open day and staff with phone numbers.

 

AJ:  Andrew says that the open day times have not been finalised yet but adverts will be put out nearer to the time.

 

INDOOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE:

 

Two more matches were played in the Indoor Football league last night.  The first game saw the Wanderers beat Tyrell’s Squirls and Nuts.  The score was 15 - 10.  The second game saw the Goose Gunners win comfortably against the Boom Boomers, 28 - 9.

 

(100X Transcription and Monitoring Service)