A project investigating the potential for trade between the Falklands and Argentina appears to have involved a dearth of research.
Falkland Islanders has been warned that fresh produce may be in short supply for some time to come due to changes in the Chilean Customs' procedures. Stanley Growers owner Tim Miller said that a large order for fruit and vegetables was not shipped from Santiago last week, as Customs officials at Punta Arenas insisted for the first time that LATAM airline provide them, in advance, with exact weight and contents of the cargo.
Uruguayan port charges and fees from port operators and shipping agents are the cause of fresh produce being so expensive in the Falkland Islands, Stanley Nurseries Tim Miller told Penguin News this week. Montevideo port costs add 75-100%, “on top of actual SAAS (shipper) freight costs. In UK similar operations add a mere 20% to the SAAS freight cost said Mr. Miller.
The Falkland Islands have been for many years utilizing waste fuels and oil for energy from a variety of different sources and now the oil companies operating in the Falklands, having complied with all the safety regulations on storage and handling, are also contributing to the local 'processing' industry managed by Tim Miller and his greenhouse fresh vegetables enterprise.
A lively debate, at times impassioned took place earlier this week in the Falkland Islands during a public meeting at the Chamber of Commerce to discuss bad behavior from Argentine visitors which was described as 'disturbing and distressing” for many Islanders.
Commemorative events to mark the centenary of the Battles of Coronel and the Falklands were brought to the table by the Falkland Islands 1914 committee. Chair of the committee MLA Phyl Rendell said the committee split into two working groups last year to organize the schedule of events and to progress the memorial wall plans.
The UK public opinion controversy over the cost of Baroness Thatcher’s funeral has reached the Falkland Islands where a member of the public proposed a ‘six figure’ contribution towards the event from the local government.
Representatives from the Falkland Islands Agriculture Department and private sector visited Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile to establish closer commercial, technical and academic links related to farming development.
Almost twenty five years after its inception, and despite setbacks primarily brought about by Falklands/Argentine politics, the bustling market garden, Stanley Growers, on East Falkland Islands, now prides itself on being in the top three countries in the cruise ship catering world for the quality of its produce.