Latest Posts

Further to the press release issued on Thursday, 21 June 2018, the public is advised that the Geo Tech Surveyor arrived on-Island on Saturday, 23 June, and together with the Rock Guards has now carried out his first inspection.

As a result, a plan has been agreed to secure the area with mesh and cables.  Work has commenced and is hoped to be completed by Thursday of this week.

At this time it is not anticipated that the area affected will need to be closed to the public.

The public will be kept informed.

#StHelena #RockStabilityInspection #GeoTechSurvey

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG

25 June 2018

 

A formal meeting of Legislative Council will take place on Friday, 29 June 2018, at 10am, in the Council Chamber. This is the first sitting of the sixth meeting of Legislative Council and will be broadcast live via SAMS Radio 1.

The Order Paper includes four Sessional Papers and three Questions. There will also be a Motion requesting SHG to invite Her Majesty’s Government to undertake an assessment on the economic impact affecting St Helena, arising from the reduced services provided by the Airport and the associated Island infrastructure projects. The following Bills for Ordinances will also be taken to the House – Births & Deaths (Registration) (Amendment) Bill, 2018, and the Liquor (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

The meeting will conclude with the customary Adjournment Debate, giving each Elected Member the opportunity to raise various Island issues.

A copy of the Order Paper can be viewed on the SHG Website at: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/order-papers/.

#StHelena #LegislativeCouncil #FormalLegCo #OrderPaper

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG

25 June 2018

His Lordship Chief Justice Charles Ekins Esq will arrive on St Helena on Saturday, 14 July 2018.

The formal opening of the St Helena Supreme Court will take place on Monday, 16 July 2018, at 10am. This Supreme Court Session will continue until Friday, 27 July, and the Chief Justice will depart St Helena on Saturday, 28 July 2018.

#StHelena #SupremeCourtSitting #ChiefJustice

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG

25 June 2018

The St Helena Minimum Wage increase, which was announced in March 2018, will come into effect on Sunday, 1 July 2018.

The Minimum Wage per hour will increase from £2.95 to £3.05 (for all employees aged 18 and over) and from £2.00 to £2.10 (for young people aged 16 or 17).

Businesses must ensure that the remuneration they pay is equal to or greater than the new Minimum Wage rates.

#StHelena #MinimumWage #AltogetherWealthier

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG
25 June 2018

During the latest round of Councillors’ Constituency Meetings in April 2018, a number of issues were raised by the public on different topics.

Over the next few weeks, each Council Committee will be providing responses to the issues raised during the meetings. This week the focus is on Economic Development with responses provided by the Economic Development Committee (EDC).

Sustainable Economic Development Plan (SEDP)

What is the main purpose of the SEDP?

The SEDP is a live document and sets out the Island’s plan to deal with development over the life of the document and what SHG will do in support of the actions set out in the plan.

The SEDP is good but unfortunately there are unfinished jobs such as Rupert’s Wharf

 Work on Rupert’s Wharf is ongoing and SHG is committed to making Rupert’s a fully functional Port.

Customs

Why reduce duty on fruit and vegetables, will this defeat the purpose of trying to help farmers?

No, we expect to support farmers by helping them to work more closely with Importers so that when there is sufficient local produce then Importers will not import the same produce.  Key to making this successful is both parties working together and sharing the risks.  Reducing the duty on imported goods will ensure that when there is no local produce those on low income can also afford to purchase.

Taxes

Insufficient information on the rationale behind increasing Taxes has been given to the public

Each year, SHG has to balance its budget and show that we are collecting our share of taxes, hence we look across a range of goods and services to support this. This year we also looked very closely at sugary goods. This is in support of  encouraging healthy lifestyles to coincide with other health initiatives and address some of the acute chronic diseases we have on-Island which is using a considerable amount of money from our Health budget.  Most of these chronic diseases are treatable if we lead a healthier lifestyle.  Money saved on treatment can go to other causes such as raising the level of the benefits systems.  This can only be achieved if we all work together.

Enterprise St Helena

Is the Pack House at Longwood a waste of money if we don’t have sufficient vegetables to store there?

The Pack House was identified as a need by the sector in 2010, if not before, and as a result of the South Africa Agriculture Exposure Visit in 2013.  It is an effective use of resources given the derelict site prior to the Longwood Enterprise Park initiative, which was generating no trade or profitable opportunities for the area and the Island.  More critically, the Pack House, quite rightly, serves as an incentive, driver and essential supply- (cold) chain necessity for increased arable production i.e. it is an enabler and the farmers now have a storage and distribution point to fill/maximise for everybody’s benefit.  It is up to the operator and the producers to make the Pack House work, and is the same principle of taking your product to town if there is space to accommodate.  The added benefit of having the Pack House is that it is specifically designed to wash, prep, store and distribute in a more ideal environment/building, and will support a longer shelf-life for all produce.  Again, this enables producers to produce.  Additionally, the Pack House should save farmers time, effort and costs associated with taking their product to market, which is an added benefit.

Immigration 

A Saint passenger had been held back in Johannesburg for a week because they could not check-in due to not having a hard copy of their travel/medical insurance and the electronic copy they held was not accepted

When flights to St Helena started it was determined that hard copies of travel/medical insurance were required. This is no longer the case. Electronic copies that can be viewed by the boarding clerks in Johannesburg and by the Immigration Service staff on St Helena are now accepted.

This change has been in practice for several weeks and is monitored by the Immigration Service. Should there be any concerns, a system has been established to allow the boarding clerks to contact the St Helena Immigration Service during the boarding process. This should remove any issues associated with the production of travel/medical insurance.

Shipping

What control does SHG have over the MV Helena schedule? Can this be reviewed as they always seem to be missing the transhipments?

SHG in partnership with AWSML have the ability to amend the schedule where necessary to do so.  The issue of the transhipment is not directly attributable to the MV Helena schedule but more down to the changes that the container carriers have made recently in that they have by-passed the call at Cape Town on the way up to the East Coast and calling into Cape Town only when the vessel returns.

As a result of this, AWSML discussed with SHG and the Chamber of Commerce the possibility of bringing forward the receiving dates in the UK by one week in order to ensure the goods either arrive in Cape Town one week earlier or, in a case where the container carrier does not call at Cape Town, there would be sufficient time in the schedule for a delayed departure from Cape Town without impacting on the forward schedule of the MV Helena.

Following these discussions, it was agreed for all UK transhipment dates to be brought forward by one week to allow export cargo to be loaded on an earlier sailing. Therefore, if the transhipment vessel omits Cape Town, time will be available for the ship to return and deliver the cargo in time for the intended sailing of the MV Helena. Should the transhipment vessel call at Cape Town as planned, cargo will be securely stored ready to be loaded on board the MV Helena for the intended voyage. Costs of this storage will be met by AWSML and will not be passed onto customers.

Due to cargo already booked, this arrangement will start from Voyage 8 and the schedule has been updated on the St Helena Shipping website to reflect this.

#StHelena #CouncillorsConstituencyMeetings #EconomicDevelopment #EDC

 

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

Economic Development Committee

25 June 2018

The Roads Section would like to advise the public that works to modify a manhole gully on the road adjacent to Mr Ray Hudson’s residence in Napoleon Street, Jamestown, will be carried out from Monday, 25 June, through to Monday, 2 July 2018.

Works are expected to take place between 8.30am and 3.30pm each day.

Napoleon Street will remain open while works are carried out. Drivers and pedestrians are asked to comply with road safety signage and to approach this area with caution.

The Roads Section would like to thank the public in advance for their co-operation.

#StHelena #RoadsSection #NapoleonStreet

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG

22 June 2018

The public is advised that Waste Management Services (WMS) have distributed their entire stock of black wheelie bins to Island households and businesses for their waste management.

Therefore, residents and businesses without wheelie bins are reminded that they are responsible for procuring their own waste receptacle(s), preferably one that is compatible with bin lifting equipment fitted to refuse collection vehicles, for the foreseeable future.

St Helena Government (SHG) usually procures bins from British Bins (www.britishbins.co.uk) whose products have been tested on St Helena to be durable and offer value for money.

Please see bin specifications: BritishBins 240 ltr Specification Sheet and BritishBins 1100 ltr Specification Sheet.

For more information, please contact Environmental Risk Manager, Mike Durnford, on telephone: 24724 or email: mike-durnford@enrd.gov.sh.

#StHelena #WasteManagementServices #BlackWheelieBins #OutOfStock  

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG

22 June 2018

New estimates of average incomes from full-time employment for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 financial years have today been released by the Statistics Office.

The estimated median annual before-tax income rose in both the 2015/16 and 2016/17 financial years, to £7,640 and £8,230 respectively. In other words, in 2015/16 half of all full-time employees earned less than £7,640, and half earned more, while in 2016/17 half earned less than £8,230 and half earned more.

The median gross income for 2016/17 was 7.7% higher than 2015/16, and the 2015/16 median was 4.5% higher than the previous year. When the average increase in prices in those two years is taken into account, the estimated ‘real’ annual growth in incomes from employment was 3.4% for 2016/17, and 3.1% for 2015/16.

The estimates are derived from records maintained by the Income Tax Office using methodology consistent with previous releases. Only incomes from employment above an analysis cut-off (set around the level of the Minimum Income Standard) are included; any income from self-employment and investment is excluded. Incomes of Technical Cooperation Officers are also excluded.

More detailed statistics on incomes, including the distribution and the difference between men and women, are available in the latest Statistical Bulletin 6 here: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/statistical-bulletin-no-6-2018-incomes/ A data file is available at: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/statistics-data/

 

#StHelena #Stats #AverageIncome #FullTimeEmployment

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG
22 June 2018

The Rock Guards who carry out regular rock stability inspections have expressed concerns about a section of rock in the Upper Jamestown area.

Meetings have taken place with the appropriate government representatives and SHG has been in touch with the organisation’s contracted Geo Tech experts in the UK.

A Geo Tech consultant is arriving on-Island this Saturday to survey the identified area and provide advice to SHG.

The initial assessments have indicated that there is no imminent risk of a rock fall.

The results of the Geo Tech survey will determine what, if any, steps should be taken.

The public will be updated as and when further information becomes available.

#StHelena #RockStabilityInspection #GeoTechSurvey

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG

21 June 2018

A meeting of Executive Council will take place in the Council Chamber at 9.30am on Tuesday, 26 June 2018.

The following items will be discussed on the Open Agenda:

 These papers (ExCo Memos) are available online at the following link: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/councils/executive-council/.

Members of the public who would like to view hard copies of the ExCo Memos should contact the Clerk of Councils, Lydia Buchanan, at the Castle on tel: 22470 or via email: lydia.h.buchanan@sainthelena.gov.sh.

Elected Members serving on Executive Council are Councillors Anthony Green, Lawson Henry, Christine Scipio-O’Dean, Derek Thomas and Russell Yon.

Non-voting members of Executive Council are Chief Secretary, Susan O’Bey, Financial Secretary, Dax Richards, and Attorney General, Sara O’Donnell.

#StHelena #ExCoMeeting

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt /  

https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG

21 June 2018