MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands: “Penguin News” weekly update

Headlines:
Conversion underway on new East West ferry;'FIG have spent £400k on my training, but won't employ me”; FIGAS without General manager; The Falklands today.

Conversion underway on new East West ferryYOUR East to West Falklands ferry crossings next year will be on board the drive-on drive-off vessel Concordia Bay. Pictured (right) in Malaysia, the vessel is currently undergoing conversion work. The picture was taken prior to the conversion work getting under way. The ferry has been purchased by Work Boat Services to provide a ferry service between East and West Falkland. Work Boat Services are happy to respond to any questions or comments - contact Jan Cheek or Stuart Wallace on 22616 or stuartwallace@fortuna.co.fk or make an appointment to call into their office in Waverley House. "FIG have spent £400k on my training, but won't employ me"ISLANDER Diana Miller (nee Roberts) has spent almost a decade studying and training to be a veterinary surgeon at the expense of the government and now wants to come home, but there is no job available for her. "Over the past nine and a half years the Department of Agriculture (DoA) has spent approximately £400,000 training me, a permanent DOA staff member, to become a veterinary surgeon," explained Diana. In the four and a half years since she graduated, the DOA has not been able to provide any plan for her to return to undertake the duties for which she has trained. As the recipient of this great opportunity and the substantial funding that has accompanied it, the situation is now both, "highly frustrating and embarrassing," she said. Particularly so since she has kept in contact with the DOA, as requested, and notified the appropriate senior DOA staff that was responsible for planning the future staffing requirements of the Veterinary Service that she planned to return. "In arriving at the current staff structure two years ago, the DOA made un-authorized, deliberate and offensive assumptions about my ability to return home, without contacting me and despite my consistently repeated expressions to the DOA that I wanted to return at that time. "As a consequence, and put simply, there is no job for me to return to and no plans have been developed to allow me to return now or at any time in the future." In 1998 the DoA sent Diana to Australia, to undertake a Bachelor of Veterinary Science. "In making this decision, both the Director of Agriculture and the Senior Veterinary Officer at the time made a far sighted and determined effort to alleviate one of the Falklands' greatest human resources issues; namely the lack of suitably qualified locals available to be engaged in many of our professional services," said Diana. The DOA funded Diana's studies and living expenses throughout the five year course, whilst maintaining her as a permanent member of staff. "The Department's intention in training me to become a vet was that upon my return home after completing my studies, I would take up the position of veterinary officer instead of relying on overseas contractors. This decision was founded on the previous success that the DOA had experienced in providing me with overseas training opportunities and capitalizing upon those enhanced skills upon my return." Diana explained she and FIG were signatories to a contract that bonded her to return home and remain in-service for at least three years. "For the past 18 months I have been unsuccessfully attempting to have FIG acknowledge the existence of the contract and to allow me to return in accordance with its terms," she said. "At all levels of FIG administration my requests have been frustrated with ignorance of the contract, denials of my service status with the DOA, attempts to implement inappropriate FIG policies retrospectively, blame shifting, and distraction from the core issue," she said. "Disturbingly, I have now been informed that FIG has allowed the in-service training contract to expire, effectively meaning that I am no longer required to return home and that if I do want to return in the future that I am required to apply for a vacancy if and when one occurs; competing against all other applicants, including non-Falkland applicants. One of the most pertinent questions, says Diana is, "...how can an agency justify the expense of hundreds of thousands of pounds training staff for specialized professions if they are unable to develop plans to effectively protect and obtain returns on these investments?" Continued on page 2 FIGAS without General ManagerTHE government's efforts to replace a head of department have again been foiled at the last moment. Stefan Koehler who was appointed as the General Manager of the government air service (FIGAS) did not arrive in the Islands as expected last week and Chief Executive, Chris Simpkins has confirmed that Mr Koehler has withdrawn from taking up the post, "...despite very regular contact having been maintained over the past few weeks," he said. Mr Simpkins said he is currently in discussion with another suitable candidate who was interviewed during the last round. However, he added that he did not anticipate that the discussions/negotiations would be completed, one way or another, for at least another week. In the meantime, Captain Derek Clarke continues to be Acting General Manager. Mr Simpkins said that Capt Clarke has his support and that of the FIGAS team in the role. The staffing difficulties being experienced by FIGAS at the moment are, "...far from unique" said the Chief Executive, "... and serve to illustrate just how fragile staffing resources are in many government departments. "That said, the situation is being managed as effectively as possible and I'm very grateful for the efforts being made to maintain as near normal service as possible by the whole of the FIGAS team," he concluded. The Falklands todayWATCH and discover the Falklands story via www.falklands.gov.fkThe Falkland Islands Government (FIG) has launched 'The Falkland Islands Today' a short film which tells the story of how the Falklands has transformed itself into one of the UK's most dynamic overseas territories. The film can be watched via the FIG website and lasts one hour and 33 minutes. It can be downloaded but at 296 megabytes this could take a little time.