MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Time running out for Darwin Memorial summer construction.
According to Ken McKenzie, Regional Manager of Morrisons (FALKLANDS) Ltd, unless there is a conclusion to a contract by the end of June, then there is little prospect of the proposed Argentine War Memorial being constructed in the Falklands during the austral summer 2003/04.
Mr. McKenzie confirmed that nothing had been heard from the Argentine group, who has taken responsibility for the Memorial, since a one-day meeting was held in Stanley in early March. ?As much of the work will have to be undertaken during the Falklands summer, there is a real necessity to have a contract drawn up by the end of June'.
The project will be entirely financed by an anonymous Argentine businessman.
Reliable sources in Buenos Aires suggest that should former President Carlos Menem be re-elected in Argentina's forthcoming Presidential elections, he will officially unveil the Memorial at Darwin in November. However Mr. McKenzie said that the project would take at least six months to complete, so the possibility of a November unveiling seems highly unlikely. He said, ?The Darwin Cemetery is a remote location, sixty miles from Stanley so all the materials will have to be transported to the site. The foundations are 4 meters wide, requiring 500 cubic meters of concrete ? it will take some considerable time to construct the base'.
Mr. McKenzie also refuted suggestions that the cost of the Memorial would, ?exceed one million dollars'. Although reluctant to give a firm figure he said that something around ?half a million pounds' ($US750,000) is a more realistic amount. However he pointed out that this does not include the cost of black marble which will come directly from Argentina, and on which the names of all those Argentines who died in the 1982 War, will be inscribed. Nor does it include the cost of the Patagonian Porphyry slab layering, which similarly will be imported from Argentina.
He also emphasized the need for financial security, saying, ?Morrisons (FALKLANDS) Ltd will require that money will be suitably placed in an agreed location before work can commence'.
There is every possibility too that Islanders who are employed by Morrisons (FALKLANDS) Ltd will be involved in the building of the Memorial. Most of the 15 employees of the Company, who have a ?sharing arrangement' with the Falkland Islands Government, are Islanders. Asked if those who may refuse to work on the project faced possible dismissal, Mr. McKenzie said, ?NO, we would respect their opinions, and their refusal to work at Darwin would not endanger their future with Morrisons'.
It has been suggested that the Memorial costs could be reduced considerably with the introduction of skilled Argentines to undertake some of the work at the Darwin cemetery. Mr. McKenzie when asked if this was a realistic proposal said, ?It would be unlikely that the eight elected Councillors would allow Argentine labor to build the Memorial'.
Patrick Watts (MP) Stanley
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