Following an extraordinary sitting of Executive Council on Monday 17 June, the Falkland Islands Government has agreed that there will be a public consultation from Monday 24 June to Monday 5 August 2024, on the Environmental Impact Statement for the Sea Lion Field Northern Development Area, Phase 1 and 2, which has been submitted by Navitas Petroleum Development and Production Limited.
Tuesday 19 March is World Social Work Day, and 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of Social Services in the Falkland Islands. To mark this milestone the Social Services Department wanted to celebrate the successes that have been made since 1999.
The Chair of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly MLA John Birmingham attended the Margaret Thatcher Memorial in Stanley on Wednesday to pay respects to the former Prime Minister, laying a bouquet at the memorial.
Earlier this week marked the official handover of new build accommodation at the 303 Signals Unit Remote Radar Head Mount Kent in the Falklands Islands, from the contract team Ramboll Volker Fitzpatrick to 303 Signals Unit. The ceremony marked UK's long-term commitment to the Falkland Islands' right to self-determination.
British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, was present on Sunday at the Gibraltar National Day celebrations. Cleverly, who was on a private visit to the Rock with his family, followed the celebrations from a balcony in Casamates, but did not take part in the official events.
A group of eighteen members from the House of Commons and the House of Lords will be in Gibraltar this week on a working visit for National Day, Sunday September 10. They will coincide with a separate delegation of leaders from the British Overseas Territories, including Falkland Islands representatives who will engage in preparatory work with a view to the next meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council with the UK in November.
This Tuesday, 20 June two elected members from the Falkland Islands Assembly addressed the United Nations Special Committee on the situation with regard to the implementation of the declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples, the so-called UN Committee of 24. The first to address the C24 was MLA Gavin Short, who criticized the aggressive attitude of Argentina towards the Falklands and mentioned several actions, which sought to undermine the Islands' economy.
At the invitation of the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Rt. Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP, who visited the Falklands last year, the Falklands Liberation Reception was held this year in the magnificent surroundings of the Speakers House at Westminster.
Letters of thanks from HRH The Princess Royal and Admiral Sir Tim Lawrence, and Rear Admiral Jeremy Larken DSO following their recent visit to the Falkland Islands as part of the 40th Anniversary commemorations have been received addressed to MLA John Birmingham, currently the spokesperson for the Legislative Assembly.
The Falkland Islands City of Stanley is twinned with Whitby and Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, and this week the mayors of both cities are visiting the Islands as part of the commemorations of the 40th anniversary of the Liberation of the Falklands in 1982.