Politics
Kirchner at the UN
Argentina's President Cristina
Kirchner renewed her country's demand for talks on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands at the UN Security Council.
The Argentine President
said it was not a fanciful stance and that they simply wanted the United
Nations resolution to be enforced and for Argentina
and the UK
to sit down and discuss the issue.
Stacy
Bragger reported.
UN STACY SPEECH
SB: Argentina
is the new rotating chair of the Security Council, and Kirchner admitted it was
controversial to raise the Falklands during a debate ostensibly about the United Nations' ties with
regional bodies.
The Argentine President said that one can have discordant opinions about
something that has not been resolved by the United Nations, but when this body
that covers all nations, that they are all signatories of, whose resolutions
they have all committed to respect, issues a resolution through its General
Assembly, it is not a matter of discordant opinions.
Britain is a permanent Council
member and its ambassador, Mark Lyall Grant, was in the chamber to hear
Kirchner's speech.
The British ambassador's
response was firm. Mr Lyall Grant said that the views of the people of the Falkland Islands cannot be dismissed and there can be no
discussion on the sovereignty of the islands unless and until the islanders so
wish. Mr Lyall Grant told the Council that they made their views unequivocally
clear in the referendum in March when they voted overwhelmingly to remain a UK
overseas territory".
Mr Lyall Grant said that
"The United Kingdom
fully respects all its obligations and responsibilities as a member of the
United Nations. The principle of self-determination on which our position on the
Falkland Islands is based is enshrined in the
UN Charter."
Support for Gibraltar
The Falkland Islands
Government has sent a message of continued support to Gibraltar’s
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.
Tensions have risen between
Gibraltar and Spain
in recent days.
In
the letter to Mr Picardo, MLA Ian Hansen writes that on behalf of the people
and Government of the Falkland Islands, he would like to say how concerned
Islanders are to learn of the rising tensions between Gibraltar and Spain.
MLA
Hansen says that Falkland Islanders are pleased to hear the strong messages
from the British Government in support of Gibraltar
and would like to echo those sentiments. MLA Hansen says that he hopes that the
situation does not escalate and that a swift resolution to the current crisis
can be found.
James Neish, a reporter
with Gibraltar Radio, says that the message of support from the Falklands is greatly appreciated.
GIBRALTAR NEISH LONG
JN: I think
that the people of Gibraltar see many parallels with the Falkland
Islands and of course the support is very warmly received.
Gibraltarians are very angry with Spain. This is nothing new for the
people of Gibraltar but just like the Falkland Islands when you get hassle like
this from Argentina, you can imagine how furious Gibraltarians are and in fact
the message of support which has come from the Falkland Islands has been very
well received here in Gibraltar. Also many messages of support from MEP, from
UK politicians, the Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged that the
Government will stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Gibraltar but
that’s at the political level. On the ground here when you have to sit in up to
six hour queues to drive from Gibraltar to Spain you can only imagine just how
angry Gibraltarians are.
The
people are very much welcoming the intervention of the Prime Minister and the
assurance he’s giving, not only to the government in Gibraltar and the Chief
Minister, but also to the people on the ground. However, there has been a bit
of a confusion because David Cameron has said that the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had agreed to reduce those queues, Mariano
Rajoy, in a statement in some interviews to Spanish media is saying otherwise;
so it’s a bit of a moment of confusion. I am sure that perhaps they will both
sit down, they will talk again, but the interpretation of how this is going to
be resolved may be slightly different from both parties.
The Government of Gibraltar
has thanked the Falkland Islands Government for its message of support this
week.
Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, said it is most reassuring to
know that so many people are behind them on this current issue and so they are
so grateful, not only for their support but for the fact that they have taken
the trouble to express that support so emphatically.
MLA Hansen says it was
important that the Falklands stand shoulder to shoulder with Gibraltar
at this time.
GIBRALTAR HANSEN
LONG
IH: I think it was very important that we showed
our support to Gibraltar because certainly in the past Gibraltar has been very
supportive of the Falkland Islands and are
great friends of ours so I think just to show support and wish them well in the
situation they have now is very important. This morning I was on BBC Gibraltar
Live, just after the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in fact and they thanked us
for our support and we compared some of the similarities between Gibraltar and
the Falklands.
Letter
The Falkland Islands Government has welcomed the announcement by the Senate of Argentina of the establishment of a Marine Protected Area within the area of Burdwood Bank which lies within the Argentine Economic Zone. They describe it as a ‘positive step’in the interest of marine conservation and fisheries management.
In a letter sent on behalf of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly to the Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, MLA Dr Barry Elsby said practical co-operation on safeguarding straddling fish stocks was the responsibility of both the Falkland Islands Government and the Argentine Government. He encouraged the resumption of scientific exchanges under the auspices of the South Atlantic Fisheries Commission, which last met in full in 2005. Thereafter, Argentina became increasingly uncooperative over the workings of the Commission.
MLA Elsby said that the Falkland Islands Government hoped the formation of the Marine Protected Area heralded a more positive and constructive approach to issues in the South Atlantic and towards the Falkland Islands.
Local News
Immigration Consultation
In other news, consultation
began on Monday on proposed changes to the Falkland
Islands immigration system.
The proposals being put
forward seek to ensure that the Islands has an immigration system that enables
growth in the population to facilitate economic expansion, while ensuring that
all the appropriate checks and balances are in place to protect and preserve
the Falklands way of life.
The consultation will
explore these issues and explain the reasons behind the changes being proposed.
A series of public meetings in camp and Stanley
will be held with a live phone-in program on Falklands Radio to take place on
the 21st August.
FIG Head of Policy Jamie
Fotheringham says that a balance needs to be struck.
IMMIGRATION JAMIE 1
JF: The whole point of the review, we had a
specialist down for six months to really look at that system in depth and to
work out what’s going to work for the Falklands going forward over the next
ten/twenty years, so a system the reflects and responds to those kind of
changes. But in a way, that’s managed and controlled and we have to have, you
know, it’s not about opening the floodgates to people coming into the Islands;
it’s about getting the people we want and that the Islands needs but managing
those numbers so we can retain the social cohesion of the Islands way of life.
That’s something that I know the Islanders are very keen to protect.
Public Meeting
Members of the Legislative
Assembly this week held the first of two public meetings in camp this month.
The meeting was held at Fox
Bay Southern Cross Social Club on Tuesday.
MLA
Ian Hansen says that
the proposed designation of all roads in the Islands
was one of the key issues raised at the meeting.
MEETING
HANSEN LONG
IH: I think it was a good meeting, a good, frank
exchange of views. We began with the Financial Secretary doing a presentation
on this year’s budget and took comments and questions on that. Then Richard
Cockwell spoke about the roles and remuneration for MLA’s and comments and
questions on that; and then we opened the floor up to, just to anything that
other people had concerns about.
The main topic probably was the road
designation. That has been talked about quite a lot lately. We actually are
coming from the angle now that instead of perhaps just designating roads per
say, we are talking about taking the relevant pieces out of the road traffic
ordinance and just applying them to a highway, which will make road safety
better but it’ll cut out all the impractical things that could be in place if
we just designated roads.
SB: How likely do you think they’ll be to get through
before this assembly finishes?
IH: I think it’ll probably be quite unlikely
because we get a paper to ExCo (Executive Council) at the end of this month
with the amendments or suggestions and whether that’ll go through ExCo or not I
really have no idea. If it doesn’t then obviously it won’t go through in the
life of this Assembly and as we only have one more meeting of the Assembly,
which is the day after ExCo, I’m not quite sure if the procedure states we can
put it through then anyway.
Meetings
Meeting of the Education
Board
The Acting Director of
Education Tom Hill gave an update on activities in the Education Department at
a meeting of the Education Board.
On staffing issues, Mr Hill
said that an English teacher post and a new complex needs teacher post will be
advertised in September for the Community
School.
Mr Hill said that the
Education Department will at the end of the school year say goodbye to three
Community school teachers. Also, leaving the Infant and Junior
School and Camp Education
will be Anna Stenning after over twenty years working within the Education
Department in many roles. Six other teachers will also be leaving. This was the
last Education Board meeting for Tom Hill who is departing the Islands next week.
On other matters, Tom Hill
said that further vandalism had taken place at the Community School
which has highlighted the need for security cameras to be installed. Money for
this work has already been allocated in the budget.
Ascension/Falkland
Collaboration
Discussions were recently
held between the Education Department and the Ascension Island Government about
the possibility of sharing teaching resources.
Acting Director of
Education Tom Hill told the Education Board yesterday that he met recently with
a representative of Ascension Island Government who expressed interest in the Falklands and Ascension collaborating more closely.
Mr Hill said that it could
lead to teachers from the Falklands who are travelling to the UK at the end of
term for leave spending a couple of days in Ascension en route which he said
could increase their professional skills and would allow them to share their
knowledge. Mr Hill said possibilities in the future could include collaborative
projects and perhaps staff swaps.
HMS Richmond
Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond has sailed for a routine seven-month Atlantic Patrol Tasking which will see her visit the South Atlantic.
Leaving Portsmouth this week, the ship will maintain the continuous Royal Naval presence in the Atlantic. The Type 23 Frigate will provide ongoing protection and reassurance to British interests within the region.
The Atlantic Patrol Task will see HMS Richmond undertake maritime security operations, including counter-narcotics and anti-piracy patrols, providing opportunities to work with a number of other navies to further strengthen ties and demonstrate the Royal Navy’s commitment to the region.
She is expected to complement and replace HMS Argyll which is currently on the end of its Atlantic Patrol.
Commenting on the deployment, the ship’s Commanding Officer, Commander Robert Pedre, said HMS Richmond’s deployment represents the culmination of many months of planning and preparation. Commander Pedre said his ship’s company has worked tirelessly to ensure they are now ready for operations.
Local Events
Italian Quiz
£1188 was raised at the
Italian themed Quiz Night held last Friday night at the Community School.
The money raised will go
towards the students of the travel and tourism course who have been planning a
school trip to the UK.
Teacher Emma Brook said that the evening went very well with thanks going to
everyone for supporting the event, including the businesses who donated raffle
prizes.
The students are now said
to be very close to their target amount.
School News
Martin Winward
The new head teacher of the
Community School
has arrived in the Islands.
Martin Winward takes over
from Helen Bell who had been acting head teacher following the departure of
David Tongue.
He says he is looking
forward to helping students prepare for their future.
FICS MARTIN 1
MW: There’s
been changes in past years and I’m sure the children and families and certainly
the teachers with they’re contracted or local teachers will want to see that
stability really, on the good work that Helen Bell and others have done. So my
time will be to continue with the vision of the school which is for students to
exceed, not just their potential but beyond that and to really go for those
jobs and those aspirations in the Islands, beyond the Islands in terms of their
academic qualifications so it will be all about giving the people of the
Islands the best opportunity for the future.
Goose Green Book Project
Children at the Goose Green
School have completed a
project to create a book.
The book ‘Colin Headwick
Gets Lost’ follows the adventures of a young boy in camp.
Layla Bone was one of the
children involved and she says that they are very proud of the book.
BOOK LAYLA LONG
LB: We started off by one song called ‘Brand New
Day’. It was like, how we wake up in the morning and what we do on a regular
day and then we made the sad song up, after we made, after we realised it was
gonna be sad in a moment. And then we made a happy song for the end about what
you can see in Goose Green by looking at the mountain. All the music come from
our heads, we did all the pictures. It took us nearly a year and Andi Neate
helped us put all the music together, she helped us compose it, she did all the
chords with the violin. She said low or down, high, so she helped us quite a
bit. And Mrs Adams-Leach spent hours at the weekend, putting all the music into
a special document and Richard Cockwell showed us how to do pictures with
watercolour so we could do our pictures and we’re very proud of it.
Teacher Jackie Adams says
that the children have received great support with their work.
BOOK JACKIE LONG
JA: It’s a project that’s been going on all
year and it’s just encompassed all the curriculum in just a lovely way; and
what’s really special about this book is that the children have had ownership
of all of it. They’ve made up the story, they’ve made the pictures and they’ve
chosen the direction it needed to go. I’ve just never been part of a project
where the children has total ownership of the project and it’s just been magic.
We’ve had a print run of twenty, and we’ve sold a few and it’s going over to
Scotland where Colin Headwick, who was the inspiration for the book, so we’re
sending it to…over to Scotland, so yes, it’s going far and wide. I’d just like
to thank the children for just being part of a fantastic project really. We’ve
had a lot of adult support from the community. The book is firmly based at
Goose Green for all those who see it, and it is dedicated for those living the
camp life out at Goose Green.
FICS End of Year Awards
The end of the academic
year was marked with a prize giving ceremony at the Town Hall this week for the
students from the Community
School.
During the ceremony new
head teacher Martin Winward said he was looking forward to working with the
students and staff. Helen Bell was thanked for her work during her time at the
school.
After the awards were
presented Samantha Addison spoke to
students Dephne, Kirsty and Emily and to Helen Bell.
FICS AWARDS LONG
MW: I guess if
I were to say what are the ingredients for success in life then they would be
People First at all Costs, the second is Hard Work, and the third would be
Commitment. The fourth would be the Inspiration of Others and I stand here
looking forward to my team, to being inspired by my students and what made them
a success during the last academic year;
and the fifth and certainly not last would be to be proud of our achievements,
large or small. Often we say that to be proud and to get puffed up in our
importance can often be a bad thing, but I certainly recognise that being proud
of our achievements and successes as being something we should celebrate.
DA: It makes
me feel very pleased and happily surprised because I wasn’t expecting it.
SA: And
how’s it feel to get up in front of everybody to actually collect those awards?
DA: Nerve-racking
but I can’t help smiling.
SA: And
how’s it feel to get an award?
KM: Amazing.
SA: And how
nervous were you to go up in front of everybody to collect that?
KM: It’s
quite intimidating.
SA: What was
your award for?
KM: For
Champion Intermediate Girl Swimmer.
SA: And can
you tell me what you got your award for?
EB: Champion
Junior Girls Swimming.
SA: And
how’s it feel to be able to get that award?
EB: It’s the
first in a long time. It’s good.
HB: Oh it’s
been absolutely wonderful tonight. It’s nice to resurrect some awards that
haven’t been seen since 1983 like the Chess Award; and I always get heaps of
pleasure from seeing the students coming up and being recognised for their
success and hard work and achievements.
SA: And it
must be really nice to go out on a high with this?
HB: Oh,
definitely, yes. As we said in my final assembly, it’s not how you start, it’s
how you finish, so I really feel that we finished very well and I look forward
to hearing how the school progresses and it always has my love and I’ll always
think of it.
IJS End of Year Awards
The achievements of the infant and junior school and
camp education children during the academic year were also recognised this
week.
At the ceremony, awards were presented to the
children, with the ceremony also featuring several well received musical
performances by students.
Head teacher Karen Steen said that this time of year
means the school will sadly be saying goodbye to a number of children and staff.
She thanked everyone’s continued support of the school and said that she was
looking forward to seeing everyone again at the start of the next academic year
in September.
Samantha Addison spoke to Year Six students Lachlan Crowie, Zoe
Millar, Chico Thomas and Shaun Sackett.
IJS CEREMONY LONG
LC: It was really good, a lot of talking went
on. I got two awards, I got my leaving certificate and most achievement in the
year award. It was a great feeling, really nice.
SA: And are you excited about moving on to the
big school?
LC: Excited, and a lot of nerves. Yeah.
SA: And can you tell me about the awards you
received please?
ZM: I got my leaving certificate and the most
achievement.
SA: So how did it feel for you getting up to
collect those awards?
ZM: A bit nervous.
CT: Just a leaving certificate.
SA: And how did you feel getting that?
CT: It was fine.
SS: It was really good, I reckon everyone
enjoyed it.
Sports
Display
The Community School
hosted a display of memorabilia from the Bermuda Island Games this week.
A number of the Falklands squad were at the school to speak to students
about their experience of the Games. Governor Nigel
Haywood also visited the school to learn more about the Falklands participation at the Games.
Stacy
Bragger spoke to Falklands competitors Laura Minto and Scott Thain and to
Governor Haywood about the display.
Laura said she has been
motivated by the Games in Bermuda to again represent the Islands.
BERMUDA DISPLAY LONG
LM: We were there just to train and play
badminton. I didn’t think we’d collected this much. It’s pretty impressive.
SB: Are you hoping that youngsters who come
along and see this might be inspired to take part in the future?
LM: I hope so. I mean, we just want to promote
it as much as we can. It’s not all about the competition, we do have fun as
well.
ST: Scott, you’re one of the Islands
Games competitors. You’ve come along to the Community School
today, is it quite nice to see all the material you’ve collected from the
games, and show people that?
ST: Yeah it’s nice to show all the people all
the stuff we’ve brought back and hopefully it motivates them to join the sports
and hopefully compete in the next Island
Games.
SB: You must have had a fantastic time, would
you recommend it to people to represent the Islands, at things like the Island Games?
ST: Yeah. The Island
Games was a fantastic experience and I think anyone who joins a sport and is
good enough to go away, that they’ll enjoy the next games.
SB: Governor Haywood, you’ve come along to the Community School
today to look at some of the memorabilia that the Bermuda
team have collected. It must be nice to see the team here and hear how well
they did and how much they have enjoyed it.
NH: Yes, it’s very good and I think everyone’s
learnt an enormous amount form it and everyone was very enthusiastic and
clearly they’ve enjoyed participating. I think what’s also very important is
that they’ve taken plenty of time to look around Bermuda and learn about other
teams and talked to people from other areas so it’s a really broadening
experience apart from the sports aspect.
SB: And important, do you feel, for the
Falklands just generally getting out there and speaking to the rest of the
world about the Falklands?
NH: Yeah, I think, two things really, I think
that is immensely important and it’s good to have the Islands being visible,
but I think the other thing about the Island Games team is now they’re back and
they’re enthusiastic about it. I hope what they’ll do is encourage other people
to take part and people can see, other youngsters can see what fun they had and
how the main thing really is to compete and do your best. You’re not going to
beat, really, top medallist countries, but you’re going to participate so I
hope that the enthusiasm that this team brings back and they display they’ve
just put on will encourage lots others to take up sport.
Otto’s Outlaws Leads
Otto’s Outlaws have
extended their lead at the top of the darts league.
After the 15th
week of matches, they have 41 points and have won 185 legs. Sharpshooters
follow them in second place with 37 points.
For the men, Colin Smith
has won the most legs and has the highest on the back of the card. Darren Plato
has scored the most tons and Alan Bonner has scored the most ton pluses.
For the ladies, Natalie
Smith and Jackie Thomas have won the joint most legs. Lizzy Bonner has scored
the most tons and has the highest on the back of the card. Teresa Clifton has
scored the most ton pluses.
Obituaries
Admiral Woodward
Admiral Sir John “Sandy” Woodward, who led Britain’s
successful task force to retake the Falkland Islands after they were invaded by
Argentina,
has died.
He died on Monday aged 81 after a long illness.
Prime Minister David Cameron hailed Admiral
Woodward's leadership of the taskforce, saying that the admiral was a truly
courageous and decisive leader, proven by his heroic command of the Royal Navy
taskforce. The Prime Minister said that Britain
was indebted to him for his many years of service and the vital role he played
to ensure that the people of the Falkland
Islands can still today live in peace and freedom.
A statement released today
by the Falkland Islands Government says that the people and Government of the Falkland Islands were very saddened to hear of the death
of Admiral Sir Sandy Woodward. The statement says that Islanders recall with
gratitude the important part he played in the Liberation of the Islands from Argentine Forces in 1982 and that Islanders
thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this sad time.
Speaking to the BBC, the
Evening Standard’s Defence Correspondent Robert Fox said that Admiral Woodward
knew how to take risks.
WOODWARD FOX LONG
RF: He had
to take some of the biggest risks of any commander in modern British history,
certainly in the last 50 years; and I think to some extent he didn’t quite get
the full credit with them because the kind of risks he took and was ordered to
take wouldn’t be taken today.
It’s very, very difficult to take a force of around
ten thousand, 8,000 miles to recapture islands, and do it all in eleven weeks.
But the point is, the biggest risk, there was going to be minimal, minimal,
minimal air cover. They had got rid of the big aircraft carriers so they only
had the little jump-jets, the Harriers of which they had, in the teeth of the
fighting, only 20 fighters about at a time. That meant they landed troops on
the 21st May 1982 on the islands with, and we didn’t realise and I
was one of the first reporters amongst them, we did not realise how minimal to absolutely negligible the air cover was
because he would only put up two Harriers at a time, close into the Islands
which could pick up the Argentine aircraft attackers, and they were, they were
pretty hit and miss, they were pretty good as they came back, so there we were;
and he got a very bad press with us. I can remember being with Dave Norris of
the Mail in the middle of goodness knows what at Goose Green and where were the
Harriers, where were the Harriers? We kept on getting the message that they had
to protect themselves and there was fog at sea and a battle went on there for
ten, twelve hours before the Harriers came in at sunset and it was a very much
‘come as you are’ campaign. Woodward could be quite peppery, but by his sheer grit
that the whole thing got through, but he wasn’t in charge of everything, that
was the point.
He took criticism, I think, quite hard, wouldn’t
you, because he had run a successful campaign, he took personal criticism from
me about that lack of coverage at Goose Green quite hard, and we talked about
it and at least he was very fair. He was absolutely part of a tradition that
goes back to Nelson. Those, the ships stood there, I watched some of them and
took it all. He knew how to take risks. 255 fatalities. The risks, the lack of
air cover, the way the whole thing was conducted against the unknown would
simply be deemed amongst the people in Westminster
as unacceptable today.
Ray Burke
The Falkland Islands
Company regrets to advise that Ray Burke, Export Manager for the Falkland
Islands Company, died on Sunday the 28th July after a short illness.
Ray joined the FIC on the
19th June 1978 as Export Administrative Assistant and over the years
he assisted many people in shipping their goods to the Falklands.
He is survived by his wife
Lesley and their three children. His funeral will be held on the 16th
August at 12 Noon in the large room at the Crematorium on Ockenden Road, Corbets Tey, Upminster,
Essex.
Peter Lapsley
The death has been
announced of Peter Lapsley. He died on 3rd August aged 70.
Peter’s father, Air Marshall Sir John Lapsley, who was a founder member
of the UK Falkland Islands Committee, spent his early childhood in the Islands; his uncle, Captain Paddy Vincent, formerly
chairman of the UK Falkland Islands Trust, was born here. Peter visited the Islands a number of times in his professional capacity
when he worked for the Aviation Security Section of the Department of Transport
and for many years he served on the Executive Committee of the Falkland Islands
Association.
His funeral will take place
in London on Monday 19th August and
the Islands will be represented by Sukey
Cameron.
Local Reports
Weather
Both the mean maximum and minimum temperatures were above
the long-term average for July, making it the third warmest July on record
according to the MPA Met Office. Rainfall was well below average, being 69% of
the long-term average, the 8th driest July on record. Sunshine was well above
average, being 128% of the long-term average, making it the 3rd sunniest
July on record.
The highest temperature recorded was 9.5 degrees Celsius
recorded on the 2nd July. The lowest minimum was –3.2 degrees Celsius recorded
on the 22nd.
The
monthly sunshine total was 84.0 hours compared with the long-term average for
July of 65.7 hours.
The
monthly mean wind speed was 16.8 knots, which is well above the average of 14.0
knots, making it the windiest July on record.
