MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News update

His Excellency the Governor, Mr Alan Huckle, chats to members of the Cubs during the Queen's Birthday parade on Victory Green.

Headlines: An end to Queen's parade?; Puerto Deseado begins survey; Will Desire reveal all?; War focus for feature film.

An end to Queen's parade?COUNCILLOR Andrea Clausen ruffled a few feathers on Monday when, during the live radio coverage of the Queen's Birthday Parade, she questioned whether too many parades and ceremonies were held in the Falklands each year. She told Falklands Radio:"Last year, in terms of the 25th anniversary, we tried to set the scene of a modern Falklands moving and changing forwards; I think it's important to mark these events but perhaps we need to look at moving away from quite so many parades." When questioned further by Penguin News, Cllr Clausen said she felt some occasions which were currently marked on their own could become part of Remembrance Sunday: "Of course I believe June 14 (Liberation Day) should absolutely remain on the calendar as the most recent and highly significant day for the Islands, however other memorials could be all included within Remembrance Sunday." With specific regard to the Queen's Birthday she commented: "I am not clear about the origins of why we as an Overseas Territory celebrate it the way we do - the UK doesn't - and whether all other Overseas Territories do for some significant reason." The councillor was keen to publicly discuss what events should be marked and how, but was adamant her motivation was not to make budget savings. "This is a personal view about the image of the Falklands. Last year was to a large degree about telling the world how we have developed and evolved into a modern forward thinking community, so I feel we have an opportunity to modernise the way in which we mark some of the significant dates in our calendar." Puerto Deseado begins surveyTHE Argentine hydrographic ship has begun its survey work north of the Falklands, part of its country's claim to the United Nations continental shelf limits commission. The Governor, Mr Alan Huckle, yesterday confirmed that the Argentine authorities had informed him that Puerto Deseadowould collect marine scientific data in the South Atlantic, and assured it would be outside of the 200 mile zone. He said: "Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), vessels of all nations are permitted freedom of navigation through the 200-mile zones of coastal states. The Puerto Deseadoinitially passed outside our zone but subsequently sailed within the Falkland Islands Outer Conservation Zone (FOCZ) to the south-east of the Falklands before exiting." While he would not specifically confirm whether the Falklands patrol ship, HMS Clyde, was in the area, Mr Huckle said: "We routinely monitor shipping activity in Falkland Islands waters." Under UNCLOS, permission from the coastal state authorities must be obtained for any marine scientific research within its 200 nautical miles zone. Mr Huckle said the Puerto Deseadoresponded, when hailed within the FOCZ, that it was exercising its right of freedom of navigation. Mr Huckle said it was understood that any data the Puerto Deseadomay collect would be in support of Argentina's submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. "The submissions from the UK and Argentina in support of an extended continental shelf have to be submitted to the UN by May 2009. The UK is considering its approach in respect of the limits of the continental shelf around the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and off the British Antarctic Territory." Will Desire reveal all?THE Chairman of Desire Petroleum, Dr Colin Phipps, is expected to release his annual report on Monday and industry insiders are hopeful the company will reveal the identity of its farm-in partner. In February, Desire announced it had accepted the terms of an offer from a "significant party" to farm-in to three of the eighteen exploration prospects they had identified in the North Falklands Basin, however the identity of the partner was not revealed. Since then, the company's share price has tripled in price. The Times Onlinethis week reported that the agreement was rumoured to be with private Norwegian group Arcadia, however Desire's Falklands spokesperson, Lewis Clifton, was unwilling to confirm this, saying that any announcement had to come via the London Stock Exchange. War focus for feature filmA BRITISH filmmaker who plans to focus his third feature film on the Falklands War is at work in the Islands this week. Sean Ellis, whose 2006 film Cashbackwas nominated for an Academy Award, has been retracing the steps of the men who fought on the mountaintops around Stanley and meeting some of the Islanders who assisted the British in 1982. The film will be "a bit like a road movie" which ends with the battle of Mt Longdon, he said: "It's a journey of a young soldier as he sails miles away from home then walks his way across the Islands to do battle." Having met a number of the men who fought in 1982, Sean said there was plenty of inspiration for the film: "There's honour, camaraderie - it's emotional and heart wrenching." People in both Britain and the wider world had little appreciation of what the British soldiers went through in 1982, Sean said, and did not understand what a close run thing the war was. He said: "There has been very little done about the war in films - An Ungentlemanly Act and Tumbledownwere both made for TV and aimed at the British public." By contrast, he plans to make a film with international appeal: "We went to war for important reasons - a genuine cause, to liberate people. It wasn't about oil. "That's not to say it didn't ultimately serve politicians but there was also such a feeling of support in the UK, and throughout most of the world, that you couldn't walk into countries with your military - and it's even more poignant today." Sean has been working on the script while in the Falklands and is looking at starting filming at the beginning of next year. Whether it will be filmed in the Islands, however, is still to be decided: "It comes down to budgets and whether the MoD supports us. Plus, we don't know how happy people would be about us re-enacting battles on what are essentially graveyards." Continued on page 2