MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News Update

Wayne Clement

Headlines: 'An accident waiting to happen'; Desire rig prospects improve; New passport stamp for visitors.

'An accident waiting to happen'THE manager of the Falkland Islands football team has blamed the condition of Stanley's newly-resurfaced pitch for a serious leg injury sustained by one of his star players. Wayne Clement broke his leg in three places and dislocated his foot while playing on the pitch last Friday. He was airlifted to Punta Arenas for treatment, and is expected to arrive home tomorrow after having his leg pinned by surgeons. Meanwhile in Stanley, team manager Jimmy Curtis criticised the condition of the pitch following a two-year closure for resurfacing. He told Penguin News: "He was just running along racing to get a ball and his foot went into one of the many little holes on the football pitch. "The pitch has been an accident waiting to happen for quite a while. He's the third player this season to injure their ankle on that pitch, although he's the worst. "I've been muttering about it for a long time and now I've been proved right in a way I wouldn't have wanted. The pitch is a disgrace. It's just been closed for two years and it's worse than when we started." Leisure Centre Manager, Steve Dent, declined to comment and Councillor Richard Stevens, who holds the Leisure Services portfolio, was unavailable at the time of going to print. Island Games Despite Mr Clement's injury, Mr Curtis remained upbeat about the team's hopes for the Nat West Small Island Games: "If it was anybody else I would say that's the end of them playing in the Island Games, but Wayne's a very determined young player and I wouldn't rule him out yet. I know what his character is. If he can't play, it's a blow for us at the Island Games, but one player's misfortune is somebody else's opportunity and hopefully I can discover someone else." Mr Clement's wife, Sarah, who gave birth to the couple's second child barely two weeks before the accident, was not so confident about her husband's early return to the football pitch. She said he was having his first physiotherapy session on Wednesday, but had been told he would not be able to put any weight on his right leg for two painful months. He will require another four months or so of light exercise before the leg - which has been left unplastered to avoid muscle wastage - will be back to anything like normal. Mrs Clement said her husband had been told by Dr Prado, the bone specialist at the Clinica Magallanes in Punta Arenas, that if the accident had not happened on a Friday the delay in getting him to the clinic could have meant he would never have played again. Amazing job'by KEMH She added that Dr Prado was full of praise for what he described as "an amazing job" carried out by surgeon Ahmed Cheema and his team at KEMH immediately following the injury. Desire rig prospects improveOIL exploration company Desire Petroleum says its prospects of securing a rig for Falklands explorations are improving as more become available and hire rates drop. Desire, which holds extensive licences in the North Falklands Basin, gave an update on its activities this week. The company said the forecast for rig activity throughout 2009 was for a reduction, and this was supported by the willingness of contractors to enter into discussions that were not possible three months ago. The company said it was engaged in discussions with several contractors and it was envisaged that more opportunities would present themselves in the near future. The environmental impact assessment on two of Desire Petroleum's tranches in its southern licences in the North Falkland Basin was reported as "slightly behind schedule," due to a delay in receiving the results of the analysis of the benthic samples acquired last year. Desire Petroleum confirmed that the assessment was substantially complete and will be ready shortly for submission to the Falkland Islands Government (FIG) for approval. Desire Petroleum already has an FIG approved environmental impact assessment (EIA) covering its northern licences in Tranches C and D. New passport stamp for visitorsLOCAL graphic artist Julie Halliday of Studio 52 has been working with the Falkland Islands Tourist Board (FITB) to produce designs for a new official passport stamp. General Manager of FITB, Jake Downing, said he was very pleased with the designs, which were created to enhance and encapsulate the visitor's experience. The designs, which have not yet been made public, will be discussed at the next meeting of the General Purposes Committee. Head of the Customs and Immigration Department, Robert King, said the suggestion of a more Falklands-representative passport stamp had been made as far back as former Governor David Tatham's time in the Falklands. A new stamp would have to be the subject of a paper to Executive Council and gazetted in the usual way before it could be used officially.