MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Penguin News Update.

Headlines:
Year 11 receive their GCSE results; Ring tones for Christmas; Fuel spillage due to failure in base of tank; Medi-vac to Monte; New vet takes up post.

Year 11 receive their GCSE results

FALKLAND Islands Community School GCSE students received their results yesterday. Director of Education, Sylvia Cole congratulated those who have achieved or exceeded their predicted grades, adding, "they must be feeling very proud of themselves. (More information on GCSE results next week.) Photo:Back L-R: Alex Pearce, Anna Connelly, Teenie Ross, Tamara McCormick, Gilly Cotter, Emily Hancox, Stephen Biggs. Front: Mark Plunkett, Ashley Jaffray, Megan Middleton, Michael Brownlee and Liam Stevens.

Ring tones for Christmas

By Rob Burnett STANLEY and parts of East Falkland will soon benefit from a mobile telephone network, possibly by the end of the year, if plans by local telecommunications provider Cable and Wireless go ahead. Traffic Manager for the company, Brian Summers, told Penguin Newsthat despite objections raised about the siting of masts needed for the network, "ideally, we'd like to get it in by Christmas." Cable and Wireless intend to have a Global System Mobile (GSM) network in place that will provide coverage for Stanley, Mount Pleasant, the road in between, and limited coverage as far as Goose Green. The system would be compatible with standard UK mobile phone handsets and would include a voicemail and text messaging service. International text messaging would also become available, but not until, "April or May" according to Mr Summers. He explained that, "Providing your UK handset isn't ?simlocked'," you would be able to remove your UK sim card, and insert a local Cable and Wireless one for use in the Islands. Mr Summers was unable to give any indication as to the pricing structure at the moment as he said, "The whole pricing regime will be discussed with the government consultant Dr Doyle when he visits the Islands in September." The Planning and Building Committee held a meeting on Tuesday at which they considered several planning applications from Cable and Wireless for the equipment needed to run the proposed network. As well as one site on the Mount Pleasant Complex, there were three applications for masts in Stanley, one at the site of the Earth Station on Darwin Road, one on the South side of H Jones Road, to the East of Hillside Camp, and one in the Malvina Gardens, to the South of the Taxation Office. It was the latter application that caused the most concern and prompted several letters of objection from members of the public who felt the proximity of this site to a children's playground and nursery may present health risks. There was also an objection based, "solely on aesthetic grounds." The objector felt that, "The proposed mast structures are not only ugly, but are also very tall and will undoubtedly dominate Stanley." The author of the letter was also concerned that allowing these tall structures (up to 20 metres high) to be located in Stanley could set a precedent, "for further obtrusive development such as large advertisement boards for example." The health risk concerns voiced by several objectors centered on the suggestion that emissions from the masts could be detrimental to health - especially among children. Advising the committee, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Roger Diggle said that mobile technology is used worldwide and that there are masts in urban areas in every country in the world. He said that it was very difficult to prove that mobile phone technology was entirely safe but, "having said that, there is no evidence to suggest it is unsafe." There had been a suggestion that the masts be located outside of Stanley, as it was thought this would lessen the health risk. Dr Diggle dispelled this myth saying that the greater health risk came not from the masts, but from the telephone handsets themselves. Although the emissions from the handsets are much lower than the masts, the close proximity to the user's brain means the risk is potentially higher. With this in mind, the further away the GSM masts are from the handsets, the more powerful a signal the handsets would have to transmit. In a letter to the Chairman of the Planning and Building Committee, Chief Executive Officer of Cable and Wireless in the Falklands, Rick Hall, moved to reassure committee members that the health risks were minimal. He said, "...based on the current weight of scientific evidence there are no known adverse health effects from exposures below international guidelines." He said that typical exposure in Stanley would be less than 1000th of international guide lines, "at most." Mr Hall said despite the lack of any evidence regarding a health risk, Cable and Wireless have still taken a "precautionary approach" to choosing the sites of the towers. He added, "The scrutiny of the proposed GSM service in Stanley is welcomed by Cable and Wireless," who, he said, were also willing to fund independent verification that all aspects of the network were, "well within the international guidelines in all cases." Dr Diggle broadly agreed with Mr Hall and said at the meeting that he felt, "health is probably a small (factor)," adding, "No site is fundamentally unsafe." (continued on page 3)

News in brief

Fuel spillage due to failure in base of tank

HAVING contained the fuel leak discovered on August 13 at the Petroleum Storage Depot at the Mount Pleasant Complex, the MoD responded, through Defence Estates Overseas by contracting in International engineering and environmental consultants, Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB). A team arrived late on August 16 and undertook an assessment. The PB representative Tim Greaves said," Any fuel spill is of course undesirable but the response to the spill was prompt and effective, such that only small amounts of fuel entered the sea." PB have assessed that the likely cause of the spillage was due to a failure in the base of one of the storage tanks. The MoD is now planning to undertake inspections of the remaining tanks in order to avoid a reoccurrence.

Medi-vac to Monte

THE British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has completed a precautionary medical evacuation from its Rothera Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula. A spokesperson for BAS said that the member of staff was not in any danger and has been under the care of the research station's resident doctor. The BAS Medical Unit, based at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital, advised transfer to the UK for assessment and treatment. On August 18, the BAS de Havilland Dash-7 aircraft left Canada for Rothera via Stanley. The aircraft with the patient arrived in Stanley for onward flight to UK via Montevideo yesterday.

New vet takes up post

A NEW Veterinary officer, Vic Epstein, will arrive this weekend. He comes from Goondiwindi in Queensland, Australia.

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