MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Families Commission make whistle-stop visit to Falkland Islands.

A group of nine people representing the Argentine Families Commission, the architects responsible for designing the Darwin Memorial and the businessmen who will be funding the project today visited the Falkland Islands for a whistle-stop series of meetings with the local authorities and the construction firm working on this project.

Shortly before midday a Gulfstream jet touched down at Mount Pleasant Airport carrying Hector Cisneros, Delmira de Cao and Leandro de la Colina of the Families Commission, the organisation that groups the next-of-kin of the 649 Argentine servicemen killed during the 1982 conflict. For several years the Commission has been spearheading the project to build a memorial to the Argentine war dead at the Darwin Cemetery as agreed in the 1999 Argentine British Agreement.

Accompanying the families was the architect Carlos D'Aprile who designed the monument and a group of Argentine businessmen who are supporting and helping finance the project.

After being bussed into Stanley the group held a series of meetings with the different Islands organisations who are directly involved in this project, in particular the construction firm who will build the monument.

FIBS reported that the Argentine group met with the Regional Manager of Morrison Falklands Ltd., the Islands main construction company.

On return to Buenos Aires this evening, De la Colina told MercoPress that the visitors were extremely pleased with the outcome of the different meetings held during the afternoon. "We are confident that the Monument continues moving closer to its completion, step by step". Although reluctant to disclose details of the talks with the constructors, De la Colina said he was confident that "we will see this project completed in the near future" and thanked all involved for their "collaboration in ensuring that any obstacles can be swiftly overcome".

Veterans of several next-of-kin visits to Darwin, Cisneros, De la Colina and de Cao were making their first visit to Stanley and said the were greatly moved by the experience and the warmth with which they were greeted while on the islands.

The other aspect of the day's events that was duly noted by those travelling to the Islands on a second visit was the celerity with which the Gulfstream turbojet linked Buenos Aires and Mount Pleasant.

As the candles burn into the night at the Families Commission offices in downtown Buenos Aires this evening a sense of achievement could be sensed all round.

In the words of De la Colina "we feel that we have moved one step closer to seeing this dream come true and for that we all very grateful," he concluded.