MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Penguin News Update

Headlines:
Cautious reaction to sovereignty umbrella ?threat'; Broadband testing; School seeks views; Scores join in midwinter mania.

Scores join in midwinter mania

THE sight of more than a hundred semi-clad people rushing into the icy waters of the South Atlantic can only mean one thing - it must be midwinter. Turn to centre pages for the full story.

Cautious reaction to sovereignty umbrella ?threat'

COUNCILLORS are refusing to speculate on reports that Argentina is considering dismantling the "sovereignty umbrella" agreed with Britain in 1990. The umbrella was established to allow the two governments to put aside their respective sovereignty claims over the Falkland Islands and allow talks on matters of mutual interest. This week, a report in The Timessaid that President Nestor Kirchner has told ministers he will abandon the sovereignty umbrella. During their monthly General Purposes Committee meeting held on Wednesday, councillors discussed the issue but were reluctant to speculate on what it could mean for the Falklands. Councillor Mike Summers commented, "We have discussed it with the Governor and we would discuss with the Foreign Office any action that it would be necessary to take, but for the moment it is all purely speculation. There have been no official statements from Argentina that they are either thinking about or intending to dismantle the sovereignty umbrella. "With that being the case we don't want to get into any wild speculation..." According to the Buenos Aires press, the Argentine government has established a parliamentary commission tasked with focusing on events and issues in the Falklands, including fishing and oil developments, and progressing the sovereignty claim. Councillor Summers said that while this is probably a pre-election move by Kirchner's government, "...some of it is, I think, a genuine frustration on the Argentine side. "They have made no progress at all on sovereignty issues for a number of years and they don't seem to have yet understood that there is no benefit with pursuing this line of activity. "The United Kingdom and Falkland Islands governments are not going to yield on the issue of sovereignty. They are creating their own frustration in a way by insisting that we should, when it is very clear that we are not going to." He said the Argentine government would be better off, "... adopting a very different line of approach that was more to do with cooperation and managing our differences than trying to pursue an aim that is not achievable." DVD Argentine diplomats are reportedly to present their foreign counterparts with a DVD setting out their claim and Britain's non-compliance with agreements established at the end of the 1982 conflict, according to The Times.Councillor Summers said the Falklands government will get hold of a copy and see what it says. "If they are peddling half truths or downright lies then we may feel we need to do something about that." However he cautioned against a knee-jerk reaction: "Getting into a large scale propaganda war waged in the medium of American tourists is not going to be very productive for anybody." Comments ?out of context' Councillor Richard Davies says comments he made in the Chilean press about future independence for the Falklands were "taken out of context". The headline of the article in La Tercera quoted Councillor Davies as saying there is "no reason why" the Falklands could not become independent. However Councillor Davies said that when he was asked by the paper if the Falkland Islands could ever become fully independent he commented that it was not a question councillors had discussed. "I said that there is no theoretical reason in my opinion why a country of this size could not be fully independent... but I also said that in the foreseeable future, because of the Argentine claim, it's not even an option for us, we depend entirely on the UK for defence." Councillor Davies was keen to record that, "...the wishes of the Falkland Islanders are extremely clear and that is to continue to increase internal self-government but in the context of retaining the link with the UK which we greatly value. "Everyone appreciates the commitment of the UK to defending our interests not only in a military way but also in a diplomatic way - the message from the UK over the last 25 years has been very strong and very consistent. "We are not looking for independence..."

Broadband testing

CABLE and Wireless say a problem which caused a delay in the migration of customers to the new telephone exchange, has now been solved. The problem was discovered during the final testing stage and referred back to supply company Ericsson; now it is solved, further testing is being conducted. Should the testing prove to be successful, Cable and Wireless says it will then be in a position to move test customers to the new telephone exchange within the next few weeks, "...to begin the reliability run." This is a 28 day period to ensure alarms for any faults or outages are operating correctly. "If the reliability run proves to be successful then Cable and Wireless will be able to commence the migration of all customers to the new exchange." During the reliability run, Cable and Wireless says it will be conducting a market research with test customers on the various ADSL (broadband) packages. "Once this is completed and reviewed the ADSL packages and prices will be published."

School seeks views

THE Infant and Junior School is asking pupils and their parents how happy they are with the school. The parents survey is based on the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) pre-inspection questionnaire sent out in the UK. Headteacher Nick Barrett said the survey has been sent out as the school needs to be aware of and responsive to "stakeholder aspirations and concerns". Pupils have been given a different questionnaire in school, again based on the OFSTED pupil questionnaire. Mr Barrett said once the surveys have been returned, "the school staff discuss and refine our mission and ethos, using the data we have gleaned..." He added, "As part of our ongoing development process we shall analyse the results and gain a parental and pupil profile of the school. We can then develop our perceived strengths and further investigate any areas that have given cause for concern."

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