MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Penguin News Update.

Headlines:
Merry Christmas; High oil price pushes up electricity cost; Korean company fined after chase; Holiday cruisers.

Merry Christmas

RIGHT: Six-year-olds Rhian Alazia of Port Edgar and Matthew Hansen of Main Point Farm combined forces last week to act out the story of the First Christmas, with the help of miniature pony Kirsty.They read, retold and acted out the nativity ? taking all nine characters between them, and requiring eleven costume changes. The pair gave two performances, one at Main Point, where the story was told around the farm using lambs and ponies on the green and in the stable, and the other in the Hill Cove dance hall which was attended by an audience of 11.

High oil price pushes up electricity cost

INCREASES in the world oil price have forced the government to raise the price of electricity by two pence per unit. Executive Council confirmed that the ?user pays' principle should continue to apply to the pricing of electricity, and accordingly agreed to an increase in the unit price from 15p to 17p per unit from the date of the next meter reading, or, in the case of card meters, the date of recalibration. The last price increase, from 13p to 15p, was agreed during the government's budget session in May and came into force in July. Councillor Andrea Clausen said the decision to raise the price of electricity had been "difficult" but was justified for two reasons. She explained, "This is a ?live time' increase in fuel which means Camp has already been paying for this increase as the fuel price has gone up. "So Stanley has, in effect, been paying a subsidised price because the official rise hasn't happened till now. "Secondly, the Power Station is having to buy fuel at the increased price which is outside their budget. "We could end up with a hole in the budget to fill..." In a paper considered by Executive Council, Deputy Financial Secretary Keith Padgett said that under the current pricing policy, the costs of electricity generation are borne in full by consumers as part of the ?user pays' principle. The Power Station therefore budgets to break even and, "if the current policy is to be maintained," an increase from 15p to 17p per unit will be required to achieve this. He wrote, "Obviously an increase of this magnitude would impact heavily on all electricity users. However, if a price increase is not approved there will be a deficit of the above amount on the Power Station budget. "It should be noted that an increase of 2p per unit will only cover the additional costs at the current fuel price. It does not take account of any potential increase in future fuel prices. "It might be appropriate to consider an increase to 17.5p per unit to allow for a further 2p per litre increase in the price of diesel fuel." Given the complexities involved in recalibrating card meters, Executive Council also asked for a further report to be prepared to address alternative methods of charging for electricity. Chairman of Executive Council, His Excellency the Governor Mr Howard Pearce commented, "Members also underlined the important of government departments containing the electricity price increase to the extent possible within departmental budgets."

Korean company fined after chase

A KOREAN fishing company has been fined £15,000 after its vessel, Koras 8, failed to stop when ordered to do so by a Fishery Protection Officer. Through its legal representative, Mr Kevin Kilmartin, Doo-Am Fishing Company pleaded guilty to the charge. Captain of the vessel, Hag Su Kim, pleaded guilty to the same charge and to an additional charge of failing to file a ?fish-end' report when leaving the Falklands zone. He was fined £2,000 for the first charge and £500 for the second. In court yesterday, Crown Counsel Ros Cheek said that Fishery Patrol Vessel Dorada gave chase to Koras 8when she failed to slow or stop, despite being repeatedly instructed by the Fishery Protection Officer to do so. Dorada chased Koras 8for around seven hours, until the Korean vessel eventually left Falklands fishing grounds. Her catch was then transhipped and three days later the Fisheries Department received notice from the owners that the vessel would be re-entering the Falklands zone and proceeding to Stanley. After hearing the case, a panel of Justices of the Peace issued the company and captain with the fines. Panel spokesperson, Phyllis Rendell, told Hag Su Kim that failure to comply with the instructions of the Fishery Protection Officer was "a serious charge indeed" and "strikes at the heart of the sensible management" of the Falklands fishery. Doo-Ann Fishing will pay prosecution costs of £3,298.50.

Holiday cruisers

FIVE cruise ships are due to visit the Falklands over the next two weeks. Explorer II is in Stanley today (with approximately 150 passengers on board). On Saturday it is the turn of Insignia (650 passengers) while on Tuesday Norwegian Crown(1052) will visit the capital. On Saturday, January 31, Grigoriy Mikheev(46) will call at New Island and Carcass Island and on New Year's Day she will be in Stanley. On Monday, January 2, Polar Star (98) will call at New Island, West Point Island and Carcass Island and on Tuesday she will head to Steeple Jason.

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