MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Penguin News Update

Headlines:
Connie collects her MBE; Invasive species pose threat to Islands; Celebrate historic wedding with His Excellency.
News in brief: Promising oil progress; Fishing companies in court.
Inside Penguin News: Power Station turns; Readers' letters; Governor's wedding plans.

Connie collects her MBE.

FORMER sheltered housing warden Mrs Connie May has received the MBE from Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Mrs May is renowned for her tireless work with the Falklands' elderly community, including over fifteen years as sheltered housing warden. Mrs May's husband Bruce and granddaughters Tiphanie May and Roxane Morrison accompanied her to the Palace for yesterday's ceremony.

Pictured right: Tiphanie May, Bruce May, Connie May MBE and Roxane Morrison at Falkland House in London yesterday.

Invasive species pose threat to Islands.

THE Falklands needs to close off ‘pathways' through which potentially threatening species of plants and animals might enter the Islands, according to a pair of visiting bio-security experts. Bruce Simpson and John Hellstrom of New Zealand company Biosecurity Ltd, have been contracted by the Falkland Islands Government to review the importation and quarantine procedures within the Islands, in relation to the movement of incoming passengers, live animals and animal and plant products, and to recommend how these procedures can be improved. Mr Hellstrom told Penguin Newshe and his colleague are here to look at the effects of invasive pests and diseases on the economy, the environment and on society. At present, Mr Hellstrom said, the Falklands are at particular risk from weeds. "As far as agricultural diseases are concerned, they appear to be controlled quite well; there are certainly ways in which the system could be made more efficient and more targeted. But big threats like foot and mouth disease, which would be devastating to the Falklands, are well covered. "I think the area where there are much bigger gaps relate to weed species; there is a significant risk of weeds establishing in some parts of the Islands. There have been some thistles emerge recently and calafate; there is potential for more." He continued, "When you look at biosecurity you look at how things get in; we call those things pathways. There are about twenty pathways you can identify for the Falklands and about a dozen of those are potential pathways for weeds that are not well closed off at the moment." Mr Hellstrom said that the level of risk in the Falklands is quite low, due to the climate and the dispersed human and animal populations which combine to make the spread of agricultural diseases more difficult than elsewhere; however the government needs to ensure that existing and adequate regulations are more rigorously applied. Asked if measures such as requiring people to wash their shoes/boots upon arrival in the Falklands would be recommended, Mr Hellstrom said, "It's for the Falkland Islands to decide how far they want to go. There probably is a place for that, particularly with Antarctic boats visiting some of the outlying islands with birds on. "We had a recent example in New Zealand with one of our very endangered wild parrots - we've only got 85 of them left and they're the only ones in the world - three died because they got infected as a result of dirty footwear. "That was an accident - the people that were working with them were just going between two ordinary islands and they didn't think there was a problem. In fact they carried infection from one island to another. It's that easy." Continued on page 3

Celebrate historic wedding with His Excellency.

THE Governor has invited the Falklands community to a party to celebrate his wedding to Miss Caroline Thomée on Thursday. The party will be held in Stanley's Town Hall from 3.30 - 5.30pm (further details on page 2). Those unable to attend the marriage service will have the opportunity to watch the proceedings through live webcam coverage, provided by Cable and Wireless plc. Jo Ellick of Cable and Wireless says viewers should click on www.webcams.horizon.co.fkor go to www.horizon.co.fkand click on the "webcam" link to witness the occasion. Cable and Wireless has also offered nurseries in Stanley free internet time for the children to watch the Governor get married. The Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station will be covering the wedding proceedings as they happen, beginning at 12.15pm. More on page 2

News in brief

Promising oil progress.

FALKLAND Oil and Gas Limited (FOGL) says its sale of shares has been "oversubscribed." On Tuesday FOGL announced that it had received, "...1,294 applications for a total of 17,451,175 Ordinary Shares, representing £6,980,470. "As a result, the offer is oversubscribed and applications will not all be settled in full, but will be subject to scaling back..." John Armstrong, Executive Chairman of FOGL, said: "We are delighted with the level of support for our fundraising that has been given by both the retail public and institutions and now look forward to reporting the results of the 2D seismic survey expected in early 2005." Falkland Islands Holdings plc (FIH) has a 18.06% share in FOGL. David Hudd, Chairman of FIH yesterday told BBC Breakfast News that FOGL is a "single purpose company" with £12 million to spend on oil exploration to the south of the Falklands. He added, "If there's anything there, we intend to find it."

Fishing companies in court.

CHARGES are to be laid against the owners of the fishing vessels Ibsa Quinto and Jacquelinenext month. In court on Wednesday, Mr Hugh Ferguson, representing the vessels' owners Quark Fishing Ltd and Freiremar AS, said he required time to receive instructions from his clients. No charges were read and no pleas taken. The case was adjourned until November 10. Also in court on Wednesday was James Alexander of the Joint Communications Unit at Mount Pleasant. He pleaded not guilty to a charge of drink driving. His case was adjourned until October 27.