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– RELATING TO 2015/16 ELECTRICITY AND WATER TARIFFS

The St Helena Utilities Regulatory Authority has issued its report on a Direction under Section 5 (1) (C) of the Utilities Services Ordinance 2013 – relative to 2015/16 electricity and water tariffs. The report can be found at https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/publications/

 Issued on behalf of the St Helena Utilities Regulatory Authority

16 April 2015

 

 

 

 

A major marine and environmental operation to remove remaining oil in the wreck of RFA Darkdale in James’ Bay – led by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) – will commence mobilisation in Cape Town on 1 June 2015.  Three vessels will be readied for the operation and the salvage group – including a team of Royal Navy divers – is expected to arrive at St Helena around Thursday 25 June, possibly a day or two earlier if mobilisation goes well.  The team plans to complete all phases of the work in James’ Bay by 1 August, with some flex built in to cover adverse weather and technical issues.

On 2 December 2013, the recommendations of an MOD report were published and accepted – including a recommendation that the remaining oil be removed from the wreck.  Since then, MOD, FCO and SHG have worked to bring the operation together – all designed to safeguard St Helena’s precious marine environment for the future.  Given the scale of the operation and St Helena’s remote location, planning for this work has taken some time.  Up to 5000 cubic metres of oil is believed to remain in the wreck and this will now be removed.

The team will be led by Project Director Andy Liddell of MOD’s Salvage & Marine Operations division, supported by Jim Griffiths, MOD Project Manager, and James Brewin, Project Director of  prime contractor Swire Salvage. A team of UK Royal Navy divers, lead by Lieutenant Oliver Shepherd, will initially clear ammunition that is on and adjacent to the up-turned hull of the wreck prior to commencing the operation.

The contract awarded to Swire Salvage is to the value of £6.87m which – as the owners of the wreck – is being paid by the UK Ministry of Defence.

Andy Liddell said:

‘The wreck of the Darkdale first came to our attention in 2010 and I am pleased that we are now taking positive action to remove oil from the wreck and minimise the risk of pollution to the beautiful Island of St Helena.

Head of the Environmental Management Division, Ben Sansom said:

‘We welcome this operation, which will ensure the protection of our wonderful marine environment from this legacy pollution risk. The removal of the oil from the wreck will ensure that in the long term there are no ongoing pollution risks from the RFA Darkdale.

‘In the meantime, EMD will continue to provide local knowledge and assistance when requested by the MOD.’ 

The majority of the work will be carried out from the Pacific Diligence, a large offshore support vessel.  In addition, there will be an oil tanker and a smaller offshore support vessel to assist with other tasks, including laying the moorings for the tanker.

The oil will be removed by divers and remotely operated vehicles from the Pacific Diligence, using a technique known as hot tapping, involving the fixing of valves to the hull and pumping of oil without leakage to the marine environment.  At the end of the task, the valves will remain on the hull, but otherwise the wreck will remain unaffected. The removed oil will be pumped onto the tanker and taken for safe disposal.

The MOD team has said that although outside of UK waters – and therefore not protected in statute in the same way as some of the wrecks around the UK coastline – the Darkdale is the final resting place of the majority of her crew and will be treated with utmost respect.

Andy Liddell will be delivering a talk on the operation whilst on St Helena (details to follow).

Notes for Editors

The RFA Darkdale was a fleet fuel tanker stationed at St Helena in World War II. In October 1941, she was attacked and sunk by a U-Boat in James’ Bay and since that time she has been slowly seeping oil – visible as a light sheen over the wreck site.

The wreck of the Darkdale lies in two parts. The stern section lies on its port side and has suffered substantial torpedo damage. The bow section lies inverted and is in very good condition given the age of the wreck and the time submerged. This section is estimated to contain between 2,326 and 4,952 cubic metres of oil.   The 2012 survey also showed that while there were a small number of shells on or very close to the wreck, there was no evidence of ordnance being scattered more widely across the bay.

The wreck continues to corrode and the eventual release of the oil is inevitable unless this action is taken to remove oil from the wreck.

The most recent background to this operation began in 2010, when the Darkdale leaked a larger than normal amount of oil.  Following representations from SHG asking for action to be taken to protect the Island from pollution, MOD surveyed the wreck in 2012 and found that there was likely to be a significant amount of oil remaining on the wreck (see detailed 2012 report on the SHG website at: www.sainthelena.gov.sh/publications/). 

SHG

14 April 2015

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ACTS OF BRAVERY AWARDS

Nominations are currently being invited for the Certificate and Badge of Honour Awards, 2015.

These awards are available for the Governor to award to public servants for loyal and valuable service worthy of recognition or, in the case of other persons, for their loyal and meritorious conduct that has provided exceptional benefit to the people of St Helena.

The Certificate and Badge of Honour awards will be presented later this year. Up to six Awards can be made at any one time.

Nominations are also invited for the Acts of Bravery Awards, 2015.

Nominations should ideally be made to recognise Acts of Bravery that have taken place since the last call for nominations in February 2014.

Nomination forms for the 2015 awards (and further information) can be requested by e-mail from Mrs Carol George, Corporate Services Executive Manager on email: carol.george@sainthelena.gov.sh or telephone: 22695.

Completed forms should be returned in a sealed envelope marked “CONFIDENTIAL” to the “Executive Secretary, Honours Committee” at the Castle by Friday, 15 May 2015.

SHG

14 April 2015

Two Foreign Office officials with responsibility for St Helena will pay a brief visit to the Island from the morning of Sunday 19 April, departing via Ascension Island on Tuesday 21 April.

Alex Cameron, Head of the Falklands and Southern Oceans Department, and Mairi McKinstry, Desk Officer for St Helena and Ascension Island will meet a cross section of the community, including Councillors, officials, and representatives of the business community and NGOs.

Having spent some time on official business in Cape Town, Alex and Mairi will undertake a short programme on Ascension Island before returning to the UK.

SHG

14 April 2015

Basil Read has published its Annual Environmental Report (AER) 2013-14 on the St Helena Airport Project.  This report provides an overview of the environmental performance of the Airport contractor, over the reporting period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014.

Performance is monitored against a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), grouped under the following headings:

• Legal Compliance
• Environmental Structures
• Environmental Systems, and
• Environmental Performance (Social and Biophysical)

Of the 30 KPIs, 17 (57%) indicators have been fully attained. Nine are unachieved, three have been partially met and there is one indicator (hectares rehabilitated) that is not applicable, as planting plans had not been developed at that time.

Overall there has been significant progress since last year, with improved performance against seven indicators, with thirteen remaining positive. However, performance against five indicators had dropped. These include:

• More than four complaints received on average per month (against a target of three or less) with five of them serious (against a target of nil)
• Four incidents of drunk driving (against a target of nil incidents of anti-social behaviour and crime)
• Two level-three incidents relating to biosecurity and rare and endangered species respectively (against targets of no level-three incidents) and
• The annual number of days that dust limits can be exceeded was breached (during the short period that rock crushing took place on Pipe Ridge).

The AER also presents information relating to the following aspects of the project:

• Environmental governance structures
• Progress in building relationships with our stakeholders
• Overview of studies undertaken during the year, with a report-back on the outcomes of studies described last year
• Environmental monitoring activities
• Targets and challenges for the 2014-15 reporting period

The AER is available online at: http://www.sainthelenaaccess.com/news/publications/ as well in hard copy from the Public Library and the Access Office.

Halcrow will present an overview of the AER to interested parties at the Stakeholder Engagement Forum on Thursday 16 April at 7pm at the Canister, Jamestown. 

Further information can be obtained from Robert Kleinjan of Halcrow via email Robert.Kleinjan@ch2m.com or on tel: 24258

SHG

14 April 2015

WEDNESDAY 29 APRIL 2015

The first formal session (for 2015) of the Public Accounts Committee will take place on Wednesday 29 April at 9.30am in the Court House, Jamestown. The public is invited to attend.

The Order Paper for the meeting is as follows:

1. Chairman’s Address
2. St Helena Bulk Fuel Installation – Audited Financial Statements for Year Ended 31 March 2014
3. St Helena Fisheries Corporation – Audited Financial Statements for Year Ended 31 March 2014
4. St Helena National Trust – Audited Financial Statements for Year Ended 31 March 2014
5. Performance Audit Report 2014: Delivering Government Objectives

 

SHG

14 April 2015

The Cape Villa complex of sheltered housing units, near Plantation Square, has recently been refurbished to provide seven improved one-bedroom self contained units which are fully wheelchair accessible. In addition to these improvement works an extra six one-bedroom units have also been constructed.

This refurbishment activity is being funded through the DFID Capital Programme and residents of the new units will benefit from the same on-site support and facilities as existing residents – extending the availability of supported accommodation on St Helena.  The new facilities include two larger units designed for two people to live together providing, for the first time, sheltered accommodation for couples in need of extra support.

The design work has been led by Paul Scipio at ProArc, who has also project-managed the works on site, which have been carried out by Ambledale who, after spending just over 12 months on site, have completed the work on time and on budget.

New occupants are soon expected to move into their new homes to join the existing five residents at Cape Villa.

Director of Safeguarding, Greg Hall, said:

“It’s great to see what has been delivered at Cape Villa. The recent work here is a real achievement and something that people should take pride in.”

Manager of Cape Villa, Loretta Clifford, added:

“The new units are coming along very nicely and have all the necessary facilities for those in need. Sheltered accommodation provides independence, but also support for people in the community who need it, and we welcome the changes taking place at Cape Villa.

“The work hasn’t been too disruptive to the existing residents and they are delighted with the improvement work to their own homes.”

Two photos are attached to this release.

SHG

14 April 2015

Additional £1.2m for Safeguarding Services

As the Financial Secretary explained in his Budget Speech on 27 March 2015, SHG has recognised the importance of Safeguarding on St Helena with the introduction of a new Safeguarding Directorate. He said that this Directorate would receive £2.6m in funding for this financial year, £1.2m of which would be new money provided by DFID.

That additional £1.2m was this week secured.

Head of the Governor’s Office and Chairman of the Safeguarding Children Board, Sean Burns, explained:

“The key thing here is the recognition by DFID of the strong work being done collaboratively by all the agencies involved on St Helena.

“Of course more always needs to be done on live and historic cases of abuse, but this additional funding will help us to do just that. We welcome these additional resources.”

Assistant Chief Secretary Paul McGinnety, added:

“Working closely with our colleagues in DFID, we have identified specific areas of support needed to address new and historic cases of sexual abuse. The additional £1.2 million has now been made available to access support services, deliver training across the Island, and recruit key professionals.”

SHG

10 April 2015

 

Eight Officers from the St Helena Police Service have just completed an eight week initial Constable training course. Five officers, including one Cadet, are Saint Helenian and three of the officers are from the UK employed on local contracts. A special ceremony was held in the Council Chamber on Thursday 2 April to mark this achievement.

Subjects covered during the course included:

• Safeguarding, Police Ethics and general police procedures
• St Helena and UK Law – theft, criminal damage, sexual offences, firearms, assaults, drugs, public order and traffic
• Powers of arrest, search and entry
• Officer safety training, water rescue and first aid
• Witness statement-taking, suspect interviewing and case file building
• Two major incident exercises – simulated suspected Ebola case and minibus crash at Prince Andrew School.

These subjects where taught in the classroom, in role play with Officers and then practical application in the community.

All the Officers will now put into practice what they have learnt, over the next 18 months, during which time they will be assessed to ensure they reach the standard expected of Officers in the post of Constable.

Sergeant Matt Breeze commented:

“It’s great to see young Saints wanting to serve their community, during this exciting time for St Helena.

“The Officers were very committed to their training, but the real work starts now as they put what they have learnt into practice on the streets.”

Chief of Police, Trevor Botting added:

“The training of new Officers is critical given the complex nature of policing. I have seen the confidence of individuals grow as they completed their training and I look forward to seeing their continued development as they protect and serve our community.”

Trevor Botting, Chief of Police

SHG

10 April 2015

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office invites nominations for the 2016 New Year Honours List.

Persons wishing to submit nominations for the 2016 New Year Honours are reminded that the overriding principle is that Honours are awarded on merit for exceptional achievement or any service recently carried out over and above what normally is expected.   Where possible, nominations should place emphasis on voluntary services.

It should also be noted that age is not a factor in awarding Honours and younger members of the community who have made an outstanding contribution or have given exceptional service, should not be overlooked.  It is important that nominations are kept confidential and that nominees are not made aware that they are being proposed for award of an Honour.

Nomination forms are available from the Castle and can also be requested by e-mail from Mrs Carol George, Corporate Services Executive Manager, via email: carol.george@sainthelena.gov.sh

Completed forms should be returned to the Executive Secretary, Honours Committee, in a sealed envelope, marked Confidential, by Tuesday 12 May 2015.

SHG

7 April 2015