14 February 2018
The Economic Development Committee (EDC) held a meeting on Thursday, 8 February 2018, to discuss a number of items.
A paper was presented by the Agriculture & Natural Resources Division (ANRD) in the form of a proposal for amendments to fees and charges for veterinary services – this was agreed by the Committee. From 1 April 2018, new fees will be charged for small animal clinic procedures, a higher fee for some surgical procedures and a change in fees for the routine veterinary programme (where animals are treated for parasites) from a ‘per animal’ fee to a ‘herd or flock size’ fee.
The Committee provided a mandate to ANRD to progress amendment to three pieces of existing legislation. Under the Bees Ordinance, there will be a requirement for owners of bees to provide a return for bees as part of the Island’s bi-annual animal census. Revision to the Dogs & Cats Ordinance will prohibit owning or importing four specified dog breeds (and their crosses) into St Helena. The Protection of Animals Ordinance requires thorough revision to improve the welfare of animals on-Island and ensure this is respected and thereby prevent undue suffering.
ANRD advised that the Resilience Forum had agreed to lift the ban as soon as possible for all raw bird products originating from South Africa except those from ostriches.
Enterprise St Helena (ESH) delivered a report for the month of December. During December, the Business Development Team (BDT) promoted the changes that had been made to funding regimes following the review of policies. This now enables the purchase of second hand assets, services offering goods for hire, and the purchase of vehicles and assets used in support of agricultural production.
In addition, a consultant from Colliers International spent a week on the Island in December 2017 undertaking field work for the development of the Jamestown Seaside master plan. An extensive programme of meetings and stakeholder consultations were arranged. The draft master plan was submitted to the working group in January 2018. The presentation of the proposals used at public consultations is available on the ESH website: http://www.investinsthelena.com/consultation-masterplan-for-jamestown-seaside/.
Mr Chris Duncan and Mr Charles Ilako from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) attended the meeting. Chris pressed the need for businesses to have business liability insurance to avoid significant business risk to them and recommended a number of options which Solomon & Company (St Helena) Plc could follow to make the process of obtaining the insurance easier.
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SHG
14 February 2018