MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

More delays on Falklands' Fisheries Bill.

THERE have been further delays to the Falklands' proposed new fisheries bill after officials at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) raised fresh queries about some of its provisions. The bill is already a year overdue and now in its fifth draft.

Tempers flared at yesterday's meeting of the Fisheries Committee as the frustration of officials and industry representatives spilled over into discussions on whether the bill's movement could be speeded up.

Its most controversial provision ? a property-based rights system, which favours local companies in the granting of long-term fishing rights ? was not under dispute, according to Attorney General, David Lang.

Details still being discussed included the authorisation of the use of force in fisheries protection and some matters of policy which would have to be discussed by ExCo.

Mr Lang told the meeting: "I received FCO comments at the end of January on the previous draft I had prepared. They raised a considerable number of new issues which I find somewhat annoying: issues which could have been raised a year ago but weren't. They apologised for that, but that required a lot more work in amending the fourth draft of the bill and sending it back to them than would otherwise have been the case."

The bill has to be published to the public before it can be made law, and cannot be published without FCO consent, he explained.

Mr Lang's fifth draft was sent to London on March 2, but he said: "I don't know when I will receive the reactions of the FCO to what I've done. At the moment I don't expect that they will be received in time for the policy issues to go to ExCo this month. The $64,000 question is ?When will the bill be published?' I can't give a concrete answer on that. It's very disappointing."

He added: "It's irritating that so many new points are coming up and the amount of time which has had to be spent revisiting a number of issues. This time last year I expected it to be enacted by now. I never expected that we would be in this situation now where the bill hadn't been published."

Sue Gyford (MP) Stanley