Following an extraordinary sitting of ExCo, it has been approved for Fenix Insight Ltd to provide a qualified Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Adviser for the development works of Bennett’s Paddock. This decision follows the discovery of a number of unexploded munitions while excavation work has been undertaken to develop properties.
The Falkland Islands Executive Council (ExCo) approved a proposal to remove the fences which secured former minefield sites around the Islands over a three-year period of 2021 to 2024.
Today 14 November 2020. the Falkland Islands have been officially declared mine-free, almost 40 years after the end of the Falkland Islands war. The minefield danger signs and fences that were once the hallmark of the invasion have all finally been removed, and the community is again free to enjoy some of the Islands’ most beautiful areas which have been off-limits since 1982.
STANLEY, Falkland Islands – On 14 June 1982 as British Forces liberated the beleaguered small Falkland Islands population from Argentine occupation and the Islanders rejoiced as British democracy was restored, disturbing rumours began to circulate – Argentine soldiers had reportedly been observed laying vast numbers of mines in areas close to the town and beyond.
The Falkland Islands have been cleared of deadly landmines laid during the 1982 conflict and will be celebrating the occasion with two major events on Saturday, November 14. The legacy of the war with the occupying Argentine forces had meant that large areas of the Islands, for 38 years, were previously off-limits.
On Saturday 14 November 2020, the Falkland Islands community will be taking part in celebrations to mark the completion of the Islands-wide demining program after 38 years since the end of the 1982 conflict. The Falklands' Government has announced that activities will begin with an event to officially reopen Gypsy Cove/Yorke Bay, the final area of the Falklands to officially be declared mine-free.
She born and raised in the Falklands in a family long established in the Islands, and belongs to the first generations of Islanders who went to university, helping to transform a lethargic sheep-farming colony into a vibrant, proud community with a vigorous sense of self-sufficiency and country spirit.
The minefields around the Falkland Islands capital, Stanley, dating back to the South Atlantic conflict, have remained largely untouched for most of nearly 35 years, due to the restrictions in place around access to the minefields. Over this time, they have become a haven for Falkland’s wildlife.
SINCE their deployment in October 2016 through to June 2017, the BACTEC teams have worked on 47 minefield areas from Fox Bay, Port Howard and Goose Green to the Stanley area. The team will now leave for three months before continuing the current phase.
The Falklands and the efforts to clear minefields left by the Argentine invasion in 1982, which have become de facto nature reserves for penguins, will be aired on BBC Radio 4 under the heading of Listen to Exploding Penguins, presented by Peter Gibbs and produced by Matthew Teller. The presentation will be Tuesday 9 May at 15:30 UK time.