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Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News update

Pre-school children enthusiastically sing - and sign - a musical number

Headlines: Little ones take to the stage; Gallantry awards for RAF men; Jobs 'at risk' as C&W moves 181 service to St Helena; Fuel price increases leading to thefts?

Little ones take to the stagePARENTS flocked to the Town Hall this week to watch the Infant and Junior School's production, Robin Hood. The show marked the end of the academic year and featured star performances from Benjamin Sommerville, Cody McKay, Gareth McGhie, Nicholas Beith, Sorrel Pompert-Robertson, Phoebe Smith, Shannon Alazia and Dean Dent. Gallantry awards for RAF menTHE Ministry of Defence has announced that two members of 1564 Search and Rescue Helicopter Flight based at Mount Pleasant are to receive prestigious awards in recognition of their bravery during a daring and demanding helicopter winch rescue at sea in dangerous conditions earlier this year. As a result of their actions Flight Sergeant Alec Aspden was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery and Master Aircrew Christopher Bodiam received the personal commendation of the Commander in Chief Air Command. In the early hours of February 8 'Rescue 25', a Sea King helicopter, was scrambled to assist a casualty on board the Falklands-registered fishing vessel CFL Valiant.The ship was positioned 185 nautical miles south east of the Islands. Upon arrival, the rescue crew encountered poor light levels and strong winds resulting in the Valiant pitching and rolling violently with the deck heaving about 40 feet vertically. Using skilful winch operating techniques and precise voice marshalling MACR Bodiam began to lower FS Aspden onto the deck. The attempt had to be aborted several times due to the difficulty of the operation, which was hampered by the relative movement of the helicopter and ship, resulting in large unpredictable swings on the winch cable. On one occasion, FS Aspden swung violently beneath the helicopter and had to be lowered into the raging sea in order to stabilise. Just as he reached the deck for the final time the ship rose suddenly on a large wave and he struck the hull. Fortunately, his helmet and back protector absorbed the impact and as the ship plummeted into the next trough he managed to grab the handrail and was helped on board by the Valiant'screw. Once on board, FS Aspden directed the rescue. The casualty was a Peruvian man, who had lost two fingers and fractured his ankle. The team from 'Rescue 25' recovered the fisherman from the heaving deck to the safety of the helicopter - along with a bag containing his severed fingers - and provided medical treatment en route to hospital in Stanley. Consolidated Fisheries Ltd were owners of the CFL Valiantat the time of the rescue. Reacting to the news of the RAF men's commendations, Cheryl Roberts, Chair of the company, commented: "It is always heartening to hear of such awards. These selfless rescues carried out by men and women of the RAF are gratefully appreciated by the fishing companies, in this instance Consolidated Fisheries, and the crews on board, working in what is quite often dangerous and rough weather conditions aboard fishing vessels in the Falklands maritime zone." She said the rescued man remained convalescing at his home in Lima, Peru after sadly losing one finger and part of another. Jobs 'at risk' as C&W moves 181 service to St HelenaCABLE and Wireless staff who provide the 181 Directory Enquiries service have been told their jobs are "at risk" and open to redundancy following a decision by the company to relocate the service to St Helena. However, Aaron Richardson, Director of Cable and Wireless South Atlantic Ltd, said he was "optimistic" that the development of other departments within the Falklands unit of the company could potentially mean the affected staff would be offered alternative roles elsewhere in the organisation. He commented: "We have offered our team members the option of redundancy, but have also indicated the strong intent to retain as many team members as practicable in other departments over the next twelve weeks." The move to St Helena is part of Cable and Wireless's "redefining and restructuring," Mr Richardson said. "We continue to adapt, change and refocus our efforts to meet the ever changing economic challenges of working in our markets. "It is clear that operating three distinct 24-hour directory enquiries call centres on three distinct islands is economically ineffective and must be addressed in today's particularly difficult economic environment. "Further to the consolidation of the company into one discrete financial entity based on the Falklands, we can now leverage our increased scale and serve all three islands from one location." From November 1, all Directory Enquiries (DQ) traffic will be handled by the 24-hour dedicated South Atlantic Directory Enquiries Unit based on St Helena. However, there will be a gradual phasing in of call handling over the next twelve weeks, Mr Richardson explained. He said: "Initially, DQ will only be handled in our dedicated South Atlantic Directory Enquiries Unit (in St Helena) for night-time calls. Once we are comfortable with our processes and procedures, and are sure that all technical elements are performing as intended, then we will move to phase two, whereby we will also cut-over all 181 traffic for the twilight shift. "The final stage will be implemented on November 1, when full 24-hour Directory Enquiries cover will be handled by our dedicated unit," said Mr Richardson. Customers can continue to call Directory Enquiries (181) on an ongoing basis and will not be affected by these changes, Mr Richardson said. Direct phone calls to Cable and Wireless in the Falkland Islands will continue to be answered on free phone 131 as this number is not connected to Directory Enquiries. Fuel price increases leading to thefts?A RISE in reported theft in June is due to alleged stealing of heating fuel, the Chief of Police has said. However, in his report to the Police Committee on Monday Superintendent Paul Elliott said some thefts that had been reported could have been down to people being "caught out" by the rise in the fuel price. He explained: "People who are used to ordering £200 of kerosene are being caught out because it is running out sooner than they expected." However, he added that each report of theft was carefully investigated. - The police will now be strictly enforcing all seat belt infringements - turn to page 3.

Categories: Politics, Mercosur.

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