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Penguin News Update

Headlines:
Kids celebrate as nursery turns 1; Workboat Services Ltd wins coastal shipping bid; Fisheries meeting breakdown;
Wool co-op must be considered: RBA.

Kids celebrate as nursery turns 1

RIGHT: Rachel Hutton (left) and Bailey Benjamin sneak some cherries off the cake at Stanley Kids Zone nursery's first birthday party. As part of their birthday celebrations, the nursery is holding an open day tomorrow (Saturday) from 2-4pm and anyone who wishes to take a look around is welcome, Kids Zone director Alison Ward said. There will be a number of stalls on offer including raffles and face painting. Alison said the directors and staff of Kids Zone are grateful to the government for its support. Among a small number of people who have been specially invited to attend the open day are former councillors John Birmingham and Jan Cheek who Alison said, were great supporters of the nursery when they served on the last council. "They fought for it," she said.

Workboat Services Ltd wins coastal shipping bid

WORKBOAT Services Ltd has been chosen as the preferred bidder for the provision of coastal shipping in the Falkland Islands. At a special meeting held on Tuesday, Executive Council decided to progress negotiations with Workboat Services Ltd over its competition, Western Marine Ltd, Workboat Services Ltd is a new Falkland Islands-registered company owned jointly by Fortuna Limited, Holyhead Towing Company Limited and Dan and Marie Loveridge. A new, 45 metre bow ramp landing craft, adapted for Falkland Islands waters and to carry up to 36 passengers on the cross-sound ferry service, is to be purchased by the company. According to the government, detailed pre-contract negotiations are likely to take some time to complete and it is not therefore possible to say when the new service will commence. Until then, the service will continue to be provided by the MV Tamar. Councillor Mike Rendell, holder of the transport portfolio, said he was pleased the government had moved to the next stage of letting a new contract for the shipping service. He commented, "Members faced some difficult choices in weighing up two very different proposals. We have decided to opt for the one which offers the greatest potential to develop an improved ferry and supply service to the Islands and for use by the Ministry of Defence which will provide much needed income. "Effort will now be concentrated on the fine details of the contract and service so that it can be introduced just as soon as possible." In comparing the bids from Workboat Services Ltd and Western Marine Ltd, Councillor Rendell said Executive Council agreed that the successful tender had to demonstrate an "enhancement" of the current service. "Whereas the Western Marine tender was able to provide a ferry service and a coastal shipping service, both of these services would in some areas have been at lower levels of service than are currently provided by MV Tamar. "The Workboat Services tender was successful because it brings a much greater capability." He revealed that the principle functions that Workboat Services will be providing include:- ? At least two weekly cross-sound return ferry trips between New Haven and Second Creek (south of Port Howard). ? The ability to carry up to two 12m trailers plus five other vehicles and up to 36 passengers on each cross-sound ferry trip. ? A coastal shipping service at six-weekly intervals to all established island ports, which should allow the landing and loading of much larger loads than have been possible before. "This will, however, be subject to finding a suitable beaching point, and for those islands that do not have one a sea truck service will be provided," Councillor Rendell said. ? Additional cross-sound runs carrying livestock. "With suitable transportation this should allow most stock movements from West Falkland to the abattoir to be dramatically speeded up, and will reduce animal welfare problems to an absolute minimum." ? Additional cross-sound runs carrying military loads. Councillor Rendell said Executive Council wished to thank Western Marine Limited for its "comprehensive and well thought through" tender. As for the future of the MV Tamar, Chief Executive Chris Simpkins said this has not yet been discussed in detail but added, "...we are currently planning to sell her."

Fisheries meeting breakdown

"DISAPPOINTING" is how a meeting of officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Argentine Foreign Ministry in London this week has been described. According to a statement from Government House, the UK agreed to hold the latest round of talks on the mandate of the South Atlantic Fisheries Commission (SAFC), "...in the hope that this might help to get the process of regular fisheries talks restarted, to the benefit of both sides." The statement said the UK government was, therefore, "very disappointed" by the "unconstructive line" taken by the Argentines: "It was our impression that the Argentine side was seeking to engineer a breakdown of negotiations by making demands they knew the UK could not meet." According to the statement, the UK places great importance on the SAFC and they called upon the Argentine government to, "...agree to further fisheries talks, without preconditions, based on proposals designed to reach consensus."

Wool co-op must be considered: RBA

NO ONE will be forced to join the proposed new wool co-operative, the Rural Business Association (RBA) has assured farmers. In a statement released this week, RBA Chairman Riki Evans said the committee has reservations about some parts of the scheme, however they are expecting to discuss these with the man behind the proposal, David Lambert, when he visits the Islands this month. Three members of the RBA have resigned their membership in recent weeks, however Mr Evans said only one cited the Lambert proposal as their reason for resigning. He said this loss of valuable members is viewed as a "serious matter" by the committee and some measures have been implemented to try and address the issues raised by these members at a meeting held on Monday. Of the Lambert proposal, Mr Evans said it is the responsibility of the committee to follow up any options which may bring benefits to its members: "To this end the committee has been prepared to give the Lambert proposal a chance to develop. "It needs to be stressed that it is exactly that, an option, there is no one forcing farmers to join this co-operative, it is purely optional. " He said the RBA has a duty to try and make this option available to those who wish to use it and ensure it remains open to anyone who wants to join later. Continued on page 3

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