News

A service of Commemoration was held at San Carlos on 21 May to remember those who lost their lives and to mark the day, twenty-eight years ago, when the British Forces landed in the Falkland Islands. HMS Portland and HMS Clyde were at anchor off the cemetery at Blue Beach and a service was conducted by Military Chaplains, who gave thanks for the courage and example shown by those involved as they landed under enemy fire. (Penguin News)

The academic awards of the Shackleton Scholarship Fund for 2010-2011 have been announced. An award has gone to Chilean scientists Dr Sergio Radic and Dr Sergio Opazo, who are using satellite photography to map the vegetation of the Agricultural Department’s farm at Saladero. The archaeologist Dr Rob Philpott, of the National Museums Liverpool, also received an award and will be excavating farms established by the Falkland Islands Company in the nineteenth century. A further award has gone to the scientists Dr Aldo Anensi and Professor Bruno de Reviers, of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, who are world authorities in the study of brown algae. The final award was given to Sam Bosanquet, from the Countryside Commission for Wales, who will form part of a four-person expedition which will investigate the “lower plants” of the Islands – mosses, liverworts, lichens and fungi – in co-operation with Falklands Conservation. (Penguin News)

Over the last two years, the format of the Governor’s address has been changed so that it reflects the views and policies of elected representatives rather than the Governor’s own. In November last, we saw the election of a completely new Assembly. So it is appropriate that this year this speech should set out the policy priorities of the new Assembly Members and outline their legislative programme.

To read the Address in full, please click on the link below:

• Speech by HE the Governor to the Legislative Assembly

The Honourable Emma Edwards, MLA attended a seminar in New Caledonia organised and funded by the United Nations to mark the 50th anniversary of the General Assembly’s Declaration on Decolonisation.  A key objective of the seminar was to help the Special Committee on Decolonisation (the ‘Committee of 24’) to assess progress towards decolonisation, particularly in the Pacific region.

To read the report in full, please click here:

• Hon Emma Edwards MLA Reports on UN Decolonisation Seminar

The Falkland Islands Government is pleased to announce that its legal department has been granted organisational membership of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP).  The Attorney General fulfils the function in the Falkland Islands of Director of Public Prosecutions, and his or her independence from executive control is guaranteed by the 2008 Constitution.

The press release can be read in full by clicking the following link:

• Falkland Islands joins International Association of Prosecutors

London reaffirmed British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands by rejecting a call on 14 May from Argentine President Cristina Kirchner to new Prime Minister David Cameron to halt all oil exploration in the waters around the Falklands. On 18 May, Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne MP said there “cannot be negotiation on sovereignty unless and until the Falkland Islanders so wish,” following a statement by the Argentinean President.  This was followed on 19 May by a ‘Note Verbal’ from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office challenging the legality of recent attempts by Cristina Kirchner’s government to hamper the free flow of shipping between the Islands and the continent.  (Penguin News / MercoPress)

The Note can be read here:

• Note Verbal handed to the Argentine Charge d’Affairs

British oil exploration company Borders & Southern Petroleum (BOR) announced on 20 May that it would launch an exploration campaign in Falkland Islands’ waters at the start of 2011.  The decision was taken after the AIM listed company raised US$184 million.  Borders & Southern thus becomes the fourth company to announce exploration activities in the Falkland Islands following the current round launched by Desire Petroleum in February. (Penguin News)

Eight students from Punta Arenas in Chile arrived in the Falklands on 15 May to spend three weeks as pupils at the Falkland Islands Community School (FICS) in Stanley.  The students, who are accompanied by a teacher, come from eight different schools in the Punta Arenas public school system.  Their visit to the Falkland Islands is sponsored by various bodies, including Chilean airline LAN and the municipality of Punta Arenas.  The students have been given the twin aims of learning about the geography and culture of the Falkland Islands and improving their English.  All of the students, with one exception, are lodged with families in Stanley and on 19 May they and their hosts were entertained to tea at Government House. (Penguin News)

A new world of training and qualifications is available for the Falkland Islands’ population at the modern new premises of the Falkland Islands Government’s Training Centre.  Staff at the Training Centre worked with colleagues in the Public Services Department to transform a former plumbers’ workshop into a brand new training facility for the Falkland Islands.

To read the press release in full, click below:

• New Training Facility for the Falkland Islands

The Honourable Sharon Halford, MLA attended the annual conference of the British Islands and Mediterranean Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, which was held on the Isle of Man from 10 to 14 May.  Mrs Halford said, “This was an opportunity to renew old acquaintances with friends of the Falkland Islands, to share common experiences, to gain fresh perspectives, and to bring back new ideas to discuss with my colleagues in Government.”

To read the press release in full, click here:

• Hon Sharon Halford MLA reports on Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Regional Conference