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Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News Update

Sukey Cameron shares a joke with Prince Charles at the Royal Show

Headlines: A Royal gift; Ships to sound horns in protest; New policy man joins Falklands government; Inside Penguin News

A Royal giftHIS Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was among the thousands of people who visited the Royal Show at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire at the weekend. Falkland Islands Government Representative in the UK Sukey Cameron took the opportunity, as he walked past the International Village, to present him with a copy of A Taste of the Falklandsby Julie Halliday and Alex Olmedo. Sukey was working on the Falklands exhibit at the Royal Show, marking the tenth anniversary of the Islands' first appearance there in 1998. She said the stand had always received a good reception at the Show and this year was no exception. "Some 100,000 people visited over the four days and a good number of those came to the stand. Some had connections with the Islands, including two former CBFs (Major General Sir Peter de la Billiere and Air Vice Marshal David Crwys-Williams) whilst others had no connections at all but were interested in finding out more information. "Islanders on leave in the UK, Kevin and Hattie Kilmartin along with their son Toby, and Ben Berntsen were also welcome visitors to the stand." Sukey was assisted on the stand by Susie Hansen for the first two days and Suzi Lapham was also on hand to help out. For the last two days, Nyree Heathman and her boyfriend, Justin Beard, assisted - along with Sukey's husband, Howard Pullen. "The event provides us with an excellent showcase for the Islands," Sukey said afterwards. "People are genuinely interested and want to find out more about the Islands. I am most grateful to those who helped on the stand; I know we were all 'talked out' by the end of it but satisfied that we had made a personal and important connection with all those who visited us." Ships to sound horns in protestTHE owners of vessels operating in the Falklands loligo squid fishery will hold a protest against rising costs this weekend. They are facing escalating operational and government-driven costs, not only spiralling fuel costs but ever increasing hikes in quota access fees; the latter, they say, are being imposed by FIG, "with little regard for the obvious difficulties faced by the fishing industry worldwide, even in those countries where no access fees are charged." For a number of years those involved in the loligo fishery have criticised the government for ignoring its own 'user pays' principal when it comes to licence fees, with the government taking around three times the running cost of the fishery. To underline this concern, vessels owned by members of the Loligo Producers Group will be sounding their ships horns as they depart for the fishing grounds on Saturday and Sunday. A spokesperson for the Loligo Producers Group commented: "Operators in the loligo fishery are all hopeful of a good catching second season this year but even if this hope is fulfilled the effect of the increases in costs will have a serious impact throughout the fleet." New policy man joins Falklands governmentTHE government's new policy advisor, Juanito 'Sonny' Jose, today completes his first week in the job. He has over 25 years' international experience having worked in Canada, USA, Barbados, Far East, and Southern Africa, and brings with him a depth of international experience and a solid educational background in economics and finance, investment and business management, public policy and research, and international development. A trained economist, Sonny's last position was in private fund management and as marketing consultant to Glocap Partners LLC in New York, and his CV includes work in offshore investment, the World Bank and the UN Development Programme. Inside Penguin News- Centre pages: Sue Whitley Memorial Exhibition - Page 10: First crossings for Concordia Bay- Pages 8-9: Financial Secretary bows out - Pages 6, 7 and 17: Readers' letters - Page 5: Farmers Week Variety Show