MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

FIBS: “ a busy political week”

MPA Company/minimum wage / FMD free status / Cadmium / Busy week / Roadshow / Court / Romeo and Juliet story

MPA Company/minimum wage
Wages will be improved if minimum wage legislation is brought in. This is the message from Mount Pleasant based company, Sodexo. They provide domestic services for the MOD and recently took over from Eurest.FIBS St Helenian news reporter, John Clifford met with Sodexo's General Services Manager, Joanne Robertson.
She says most employees are on a fixed contract so wage increases are beyond the company's control unless a National Minimum Wage is implemented. One point of general agreement, says John Clifford, is that Sodexo needs the workforce provided by St Helena and that St Helena also benefits.
Concerns over leave lost by some employees when the changeover from Eurest happened were also discussed. Sodexo denies liability and has offered to work with employees to try and resolve the issue. Some St Helenian workers may have lost up to two years' worth of leave in their old contract with Eurest. Because they've had to work for a further two years with Sodexo to gain more leave, some haven't returned to St Helena for four years.
Joanne Robertson admits there were serious problems when they took over the contract. She says they are now working to create a better image. A number of management positions have been opened up to St Helenian workers and NVQ training is going to be offered to other staff. John Clifford believes things are moving in the right direction and that Sodexco management is keen to work with their employees to improve conditions.

FMD free status
A meeting was held today which could lead to the Falklands becoming a Foot and Mouth Disease free zone of the UK. This means that if another outbreak occurred in Britain, the Falklands wouldn't necessarily be affected. And could still export meat.
The OIE who are the equivalent of the World Health Organisation but for animals are being asked to approve this recommendation. An FMD sub-committee are discussing the proposal today and if it is approved the next stage is at the OIE meeting at the end of May.
Senior Veterinary Officer, Steve Pointing will be attending the meeting in Paris. He says it's the first time the Falkland Islands will be discussed by the OIE. And this comes after a lot of hard work behind the scenes.

Cadmium
EU tests on sheep meat in the Falklands has found that cadmium levels are low enough to pass their inspection.But one sheep's kidney did fail. Cadmium, found in seawater, is a metal similar to lead. Because some sheep feed on coastal areas and old penguin colonies, they have picked up traces of cadmium. But the good news is all tests on sheep meat have found levels to be negligible. And have therefore passed the EU criteria.
The one sheep kidney was found to have levels which were too high but kidneys will not be exported says Senior Veterinary Officer, Steve Pointing. Because cadmium builds up in internal organs, lambs kidneys would be okay ? it is only in older sheep where the levels may be higher.
Squid is tested regularly for cadmium and is sometimes high in the internal organs but they are removed.

Busy week
A busy political week this week. Tomorrow night is a public meeting on tax followed by a phone-in on the subject on Wednesday.
Then Thursday afternoon, the Select Committee is meeting to discuss new laws for farming ? this is to gain EU certification for the abattoir. Then, Thursday evening Councillors are meeting to review the constitution.
This follows some disagreement among Councillors last month over which was the best way to change the system. Executive Council meets on Friday to discuss the changes to the school year. And next week will be even busier for Councillors Budget Week begins.

Roadshow
The third farmers road show this year was being held today at Goose Green. Discussions in the morning looked at Wool Marketing, the abattoir including meat production, livestock movement and traceability. Falkland Landholdings General Manager, Greg Bradfield was also talking about their role.
During the afternoon they looked at the development of the settlement and lifelong learning in camp. And under the heading "other issues" were items such as tourism policy and development, coastal shipping and the Sound ferry. On Wednesday the Chief Executive and Director of Agriculture will be among those travelling to Hope Cottage. We'll have more on the Goose Green show tomorrow.

Court
A case of poor bookkeeping lead to fines for a Korean Company and Jigger Captain in court yesterday. The Korean Dae Kwang Fisheries Company was ordered to pay a total of four thousand pounds and Captain Park In Po a total of five hundred.
The vessel had logged amounts of Illex on 8 and 9 May far in excess of what they had actually caught. The explanation given was that these had actually been caught outside the Falklands zone, and at an earlier date. But the captain had forgotten to log them in his books. Needing to balance his books for transhipment in the zone he reported the amounts as having been caught at a later date, and in Falkland's waters. It is an offence to misreport a catch for fisheries management and conservation reasons.
The court heard that there was no attempt to cause financial loss to the government and that the false entries hadn't been made for any type of financial gain to the company. The Master and Company who both pleaded guilty to the charges were also ordered to share the prosecution costs of two hundred and fifty pounds.

Romeo and Juliet story
A storm is brewing over a story in a Sunday newspaper, The Observer. It's titled ?Forbidden Love in a Cold Climate' and uses the Romeo and Juliet play to describe Falkland Islander Jamie Peck and his Argentine girlfriend, Maria. Jamie and Marie are currently in Buenos Aires awaiting the birth of their baby. The article claims that they've been forced to Argentina as the hospital has refused to give treatment to Maria during her birth. And that the church has refused to marry them.
In response, Councillor Norma Edwards says the article has inaccuracies in nearly every paragraph. And that treatment has never been refused but Maria is not entitled to free health care. This applies to any other foreign national on a visitor's permit she says.
Jamie Peck claims however that Maria has applied for a permit to live and work in the Falklands and this was turned down because she is Argentine ? and that if she were Chilean this would not be the case. Councillors say ? the Immigration Policy is that Argentines will not be given permits to live and work here due to their country still having a claim over the islands. They can however come to the islands on a visitor permit since the 99'agreement. If however, an Argentine national is married or engaged to a local person, then they can live and work in the Falklands.
Although Maria is pregnant with James' child the policy will not entitle her to the permit, as James is not divorced from his first wife.