MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Penguin News Update.

Headlines:
Meet Argentina head on';
Petition lodged requesting changed Murrell road route;
News in brief: New child sex charge; Cruise ships this week; House and Camp fires.

?Meet Argentina head on'

THE Falkland Islands needs to meet challenges from Argentina "head on", visiting British Members of Parliament have said. On the eve of their departure from the Falklands, after a week long visit, Labour MPs Dari Taylor, Vera Baird and Alan Campbell and Conservative Welsh Assembly member Alun Cairns encouraged Falkland Islanders to "keep talking" to Argentina about mutually beneficial topics. At a press conference held on Wednesday afternoon the four spoke of their visit in glowing terms, paying particular tribute to the Islands' "magnificent" wildlife and the "warm" hospitality of Islanders. However all four had strong words to say regarding Argentina. Alan Campbell commented on the "lack of trust" with Argentina: "If you're not under a situation of military siege, then there's certainly a feeling of being under one of economic siege. "It is for the Argentinians to try and build on that trust; unfortunately it seems subject to the hopefully short but very unreasonable attitude of the Argentine government at present." He recommended, "...parking those issues which are not open to negotiation, such as sovereignty, while keeping the door open on those issues that will be of mutual importance, like environmental matters and issues around tourism and fishers." Dari Taylor said that before departing the UK, she and her colleagues spoke to Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammel about Argentina's ban on charter flights to the Falklands. She said Argentina's actions were, "...damaging international relationships." "There is no relationship that is specifically Argentinian/Falklands; we are now an international global community and that interdependence is going to be more the case, not less the case." She confirmed that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will continue to work towards the reinstatement of the flights commenting, "There is a serious determination (from Argentina) to undermine your economic development and that challenge has to be met head on." But Alun Cairns said Argentina's rejection of the existence of the Falkland Islands Government makesit "impossible" for Islanders to "make the first move". He said, "I think there needs to be recognition from their part in the first instance in order to open the door to communications." Vera Baird said she had noticed a "strong feeling" that Islanders are, "...anxious to be good neighbours to Argentina, anxious that Argentina should be good neighbours back" and, "...it is key therefore to keep open every channel of communication that is available." However she acknowledged the difficulties of being dependant on Argentina's good will and advised Islanders to look elsewhere for future trade opportunities. Continued on page 5

Petition lodged requesting changed Murrell road route.

A PETITION to have the road to Murrell Farm rerouted has been presented to the Environmental Planning Officer. Signatories want the road to be routed further west than currently planned, to cross at Drunken Rock Pass, not Mastin's Point. Campaigners behind the petition say they have no wish to deny the owners of the Murrell Farm, Adrian and Lisa Lowe, a road to their home as it is "long overdue". However they say the Murrell estuary is an unspoilt beauty spot and a road at Mastin's Point would disrupt this, bringing with it noise and vehicle pollution. They also say a road across Mastin's Point would, "...no doubt lead to over fishing in a short time." They say a crossing at Drunken Rock would take the road away from this scenic area and, "...would assist greatly in trout fisheries management in future." Andrew Brownlee, one of the campaigners behind the petition, stressed the importance of maintaining the recreational area. He said, "We appreciate that a route via Drunken Rock could cost more, but I believe it would be well worth it in the longer term. We lost a huge amount of land around Stanley to minefields." Lisa Lowe of Murrell Farm said she had, "...no real strong feelings," about the route the road will take, however she added, "Personally I think that the Drunken Rock way would be better. "We've said all along that Black Point or Drunken Rock would be a better place for the road to go - at Mastin's Point it's terribly deep and there could be tide wash problems with culverts there." The issue is likely to be deferred by the Planning Committee to the Transport Advisory Committee (TAC). TAC member, Councillor Ian Hansen said the route was picked because it, "...was the shortest and most economical." He said if the route were to be reconsidered, "...budget constraints would play a big part - the costing would have to be looked at and the fact that the material at Drunken Rock may not be so good."

News in brief.

New child sex charge

A MAN who faces charges relating to the sexual assault of a child has reappeared in court. In addition to two earlier charges, Robert William Smith now faces an additional charge of intentionally touching a child in a sexual nature. The case was adjourned until December 9 to allow Mr Smith's defence counsel to seek advice. Senior Magistrate Clare Faulds said she wanted the fortnight to be "well used" as she would prefer to see the case come to trial "sooner rather than later", should a not guilty plea be entered. Mr Smith was once again released on strict bail conditions.

Cruise ships this week

CRUISE ships Akademik Ioffe (carrying approximately 103 passengers) and Endeavour (62) are both visiting Stanley today. Tomorrow, Endeavour will head to Carcass and West Point or New Island while Professor Multanovskiy (collecting 41 passengers) will be in Stanley. On Sunday Orion (53) will be in Stanley and on Monday, QE2 (1669) is due to arrive in the capital. Orion will visit Carcass Island and West Point Island on Monday. On Wednesday Endeavour will visit New Island and Carcass Island. On Thursday she will return to Stanley.

House and Camp fires

STANLEY'S Fire Brigade have had a second busy week. In the early hours of Sunday morning a blaze destroyed the home of Roger and Anne Howells on Davis Street and on Monday a mine demolition by Explosive Ordnance Disposal sparked a fire on Stanley Common which continues to burn. More on page 3.

Inside Penguin News Centre pages: Innovative farming Pages 10 & 11: Watch Group outings Page 9: Electoral law changes Page 5: Diana's new wheels Page 3: Tanker grounding Page 2: Public meeting news.