Category: News

St Helena Government (SHG) has recently signed a contract with ‘CAN SA’ from Mirmande, France, to install rockfall protection measures in support of SHG’s Rockfall Protection Strategy 2017.

The Contract will see rockfall protection measures installed in Upper and Lower Ruperts Valley and James Valley, with specific emphasis on cliffs above the General Hospital, Cambrian House and Estcourt Gardens, and other areas on the western cliff face in James Valley, as well as protective measures to safeguard the wall on Mundens Path. In Rupert’s, protective measures will be installed at the Wharf, above the Power Station, BFI and also on the Haul Road.

Operationalisation of Ruperts Wharf is a priority for SHG and installing rockfall protection measures above Ruperts Wharf, will be the first step to providing safe and secure cargo operations.

The works are expected to be delivered in six months, and personnel from CAN SA will be arriving on-Island from early January 2020.

There will be direct benefits to the local community arising from this project as it is expected for some local labour to be employed, accommodation to be rented, and vehicles and plant equipment to be hired.

Financial Secretary, Dax Richards, commented:

“We are pleased to have CAN SA as our partner in delivering this key infrastructure project for the Island. The project has been planned for some time and importantly the works will create opportunities for employment, improve safety for our residents and build momentum as we look to create a stimulus for the economy. SHG is keen to progress other areas in the Economic Development Investment Programme, including Rupert’s Development as quickly as possible.”

Notes to Editor

The Rockfall Protection Project is being funded from the DFID funded Economic Development Investment Programme and was approved by Executive Council in July 2019.

#StHelena #CANSA #RockfallProtection #AltogetherSafer

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SHG

22 October 2019

A graduation ceremony to celebrate the first cohort of the SHG Future Leaders Programme took place at the St Helena Community College on Thursday, 17 October 2019.

Chief Secretary, Susan O’Bey, welcomed invited guests and said:

“The Future Leaders Programme is an internal SHG programme designed to give a group of motivated and ambitious young professionals the opportunity to develop their leadership skills, gain a wider exposure to SHG, gain the necessary skills to assist them in progressing within SHG and develop them as potential SHG leaders of the future.”

HE Governor, Dr Philip Rushbrook, then presented the Future Leaders – Belinda Piek, Nicole Hercules, Nikita Crowie and Sasha Bargo – with their certificates.

Organisational Development Manager and Programme lead, Laura Stroud, added:

“The desire to lead is the most necessary pre-condition to becoming a leader. Once you decide you want to lead, you don’t have to wait for anyone else to come along and appoint you leader. You just have to go out there and accept the leadership challenge. This is not to say that desire alone is enough to convert you into a leader. You need to develop and enhance specific skills (which is what opportunities like the Future Leaders programme is here for), and you’ll also need a lot of discipline and focus. It is not easy. However, if you want it badly enough and are prepared to work hard, you can become a highly effective leader. Leadership is a decision, not a position.”

Since joining the two-year Programme, each member of staff has taken on additional leadership roles within the organisation:

Belinda, who is currently the Judicial Services Officer, was twice seconded to a senior management role as Temporary Head of News within the SHG Press Office while the substantive Head of News was on overseas leave.

At the time of joining the Future Leaders Programme, Nicole was the Supervisor of the Children’s Residential Home and has now progressed to Team Manager (Designate) for Adult Services, managing Barn View.

Nikita, currently the Legal Officer within the Attorney General’s Chambers, is due to take up the role of Deputy Head of Property within the Infrastructure & Transport Directorate in the New Year.

Sasha joined the Programme when she worked for the Landscape Ecology Mitigation Programme (LEMP). Since then Sasha has worked on an Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA) Project and has progressed to the role of Terrestrial Conservation Officer, managing eight staff working on Diana’s Peak.

Future Leader, Nicole Hercules, commented:

“This has been the best training I have participated in throughout my working life and I am certainly trying hard at putting into practice the concepts of the programme.

“I think that one of the most important things that I have got out of this course is that I need to become more self-aware in order to lead others. This causes me to examine myself more in terms of motivation and attitude which in turn will help me to better lead others.

“We all took an enormous learning out of the programme, as you say the challenge is to work hard, to optimise the value of the learnings. Again thanks to Susan O’Bey, Laura Hedley and Laura Stroud for the excellent manner in which they ran the programme; it was stimulating, challenging but above all a real learning opportunity and a huge thank you to SHG for your investment in my future.”

Susan concluded:

“As with programmes of this nature, a lot of people have been involved at various points either in terms of developing the programme, delivering elements of the programme or mentoring and supporting the Future Leaders.

“I would like to say thank you in particular to Elected Members and Directors for their support in developing the competencies which underpin the Programme, the HR team, particularly Bronwen Yon, for designing and facilitating the recruitment and selection process, the Occupational Psychology Centre, particularly Laura Hedley, for designing the Programme and providing support thereafter, Directors and their teams for hosting the Future Leaders Programme at various stages, to the line managers and colleagues of each of the Future Leaders, to all who acted as mentors, guest speakers, and the families of the Future Leaders. Finally, I would like to say thank you to Laura Stroud who saw the programme through to completion.”

#StHelena #SHG #FutureLeaders

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SHG

21 October 2019

 

St Helena Government (SHG) is consulting on an increase to the Minimum Wage from 1 April 2020.

Minimum Wage

The Minimum Wage per hour is currently £3.13 (for persons over 18) and £2.18 (for persons aged 16 or 17).

The Employment Rights Ordinance, 2010, prescribes that the Minimum Wage must be reviewed on an annual basis and, during the consultation for previous increases, businesses told SHG that it was better to propose smaller increases to the Minimum Wage regularly on 1 April of each year.  The Minimum Wage review is undertaken by the Employment Rights Committee who is required to have regard to effect of any recommendations on the economy as a whole and on competitiveness.  The committee recognises that St Helena’s economy is extremely sensitive at this time to increased costs to businesses and the knock-on effect it would have on their customer base and ultimately the cost of living on St Helena. In addition, there are a number of upward pressures on the Minimum Wage. Since the Minimum Wage was recommended to be changed last year:

• Prices have inflated by 2.9%
• The Income Related Benefit (IRB) has increased by 3.26% or £2.50 per week (the equivalent of 7p per hour for comparison).

As a result the Committee is consulting on three options for this period of consultation on an increase to the Minimum Wage from 1 April 2020:

1. An increase of 9p (2.9%) to £3.22 for persons over 18

This is a 0% real increase in the Minimum Wage as the increase is in line with inflation. The Minimum Wage for persons aged 16 or 17 would also increase by 9p to £2.27.

2. An increase of 5p (1.6%) to £3.18 for persons over 18.

This is a -1.3% real change in the Minimum Wage, after inflation is taken into account. The Minimum Wage for persons aged 16 or 17 would also increase by 5p to £2.23.

3. No increase

 This is a -2.9% real change in the Minimum Wage as there is no increase to keep in line with inflation.

Consultation

SHG would like to hear your opinions on the options provided, and how the changes might affect you or your business.

If you would like to respond to this consultation by the Employment Rights Committee, please contact the Chief Economist, Nicole Shamier, by email:  nicole.shamier@sainthelena.gov.sh or calling: 22470 by Monday, 18 November 2019. Anyone wishing to discuss the matter in person can also do so by booking an appointment with Nicole before the above closing date.

#StHelena #MinimumWage #PublicConsultation #AltogetherWealthier

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SHG
21 October 2019

Governor Dr Philip Rushbrook has today issued the Writ of Election for the upcoming Bye-election to be held on Wednesday, 27 November 2019.

The Writ confirms the last day and time for receiving Nominations to elect a new Member to fill the vacant seat on Legislative Council.

The last day and time for receiving nominations is 12 noon on Wednesday, 13 November 2019, and all nominations should be delivered within this time to the Returning Officer, Mrs Carol George, at the Castle, Jamestown.

Nomination forms are available on the Government website here: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/forms/ or can be obtained from The Castle reception, the Customer Service Centre and the Public Library.

If more than one nomination is received, a Poll will be taken on Wednesday, 27 November, at the following Polling Stations:

• Blue Hill Community Centre
• Half Tree Hollow Community Centre
• Harford Community Centre
• St Mary’s Church, The Briars
• Kingshurst Community Centre
• Levelwood Clinic
• Jamestown Community Centre
• Sandy Bay Community Centre

The updated Register of Electors to be used in the Bye-election was published on Friday, 18 October 2019.

Only those persons with their name on this Register of Electors will be eligible to participate in the Bye-election, with those who are 21 years of age and over being able to stand for election.

Further information on becoming a Councillor will be issued in this week’s newspapers.

#StHelena #ByeElection2019 #WritOfElection

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SHG
21 October 2019

The Social & Community Development Committee (SCDC) held their monthly meeting on Wednesday, 9 October 2019.

The Committee supported the introduction of legislation to protect the vulnerable and disabled people but first wished to clarify the position as to what precisely is required, what already exists in law and might need strengthening (employment legislation) and what the needs are in legislation terms after this review is conducted. The CEO of the Equality & Human Rights Commission who presented the proposal will be taking this forward with the Attorney General’s Chambers. Supporting the discussions were the Inclusion Officer (Education & Employment), Crown Counsel (Community Care) and the Legislative Drafter.

The Committee will consider endorsing proposals expected on the review of the Immigration Ordinance and Immigration Policy after a presentation of the recommendations has been made to all Elected Members.

The recommendations from the Social Security Review had been presented to the Committee which was a very good piece of work undertaken by the Working Group. A further meeting will be held to take the recommendations forward.

The Social & Community Development Committee were voting members Councillors Anthony Green (Chairman), Cyril Leo (Deputy Chairman), Derek Thomas and Non-Voting Member, Deputy Chief Secretary, Gillian Francis. Councillor Gavin Ellick and Non-Voting Member Director Children and Adults Social Care, Tracy Poole-Nandy were excused for this meeting. The Committee’s Secretary is Nicole Plato.

#StHelena #SCDC #MeetingSummary

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SHG

18 October 2019

In a Proclamation issued on Wednesday, 11 September 2019, Governor Dr Philip Rushbrook announced that a Bye-Election to fill the vacant seat on Legislative Council (following the resignation of Kylie Hercules on 31 August) would take place on Wednesday, 27 November 2019.

Following this, a window of opportunity was available to members of the public, who were not registered voters, to have their names added to the Register of Electors which came into force on 1 July 2019.

An updated 2019 Register of Electors has today been published in an Extraordinary Gazette. 

This Register is effective from 18 October 2019 and will be used in the forthcoming Bye-Election.

Only those persons who are named on the updated Register will be eligible to vote, or stand, in the Bye-Election which will take place on Wednesday, 27 November 2019, and only those who are 21 years and over can stand for election.

The updated Register of Electors for 2019 is available on the SHG website at: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/government-gazettes/.

Alternatively, hard copies of the updated Register will be available from the Assistant Registration Officers or from the following locations:

• The Castle, Jamestown
• Customer Service Centre, Jamestown
• Public Library, Jamestown
• ENRPD Office, Scotland
• Rural sub-Post Offices

Further information on the 2019 Bye-Election will be issued in the coming weeks.

#StHelena #GeneralElection2019 #RegisterOfElectors

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SHG
18 October 2019

A draft Waste Management Policy for St Helena is out for public consultation until 4pm on Friday, 8 November 2019.

St Helena Government (SHG) acknowledges the need for a Waste Management Policy which plans for short, medium and long term environmental changes that are likely to impact on the quality of Island life if left unmanaged.

Environmental Risk Manager, Mike Durnford, explains:

“If not properly managed waste is a problem because it takes up valuable and limited landfill space, can cause pollution and other negative social impacts, uses up natural resources that could be used again, creates reputational impacts on eco-tourism, creates greenhouse gases which contribute towards Climate Change and creates a lasting problem for future generations.”

 Measures that can be taken to mitigate the potential problems of poor waste management include:

• Reducing the amount of waste that is produced
• Re-using items such as plastic bags, clothes and furniture that might otherwise be thrown away
• Recycling items like glass, cans, plastics and cardboard so they can be made into new products
• Treating organic waste such as food and green waste to convert biodegradable waste into compost, which can be beneficially used to enhance local soil conditions; and
• Controlled landfilling of remaining wastes after reducing, re-using, recycling and treating as much as possible.

Waste recycling and treatment also offers opportunities for the establishment of commercially viable private sector businesses on the Island.

Mike added:

“Reducing, reusing and recycling more waste will help to reduce reliance on landfill. This increases St Helena’s reputation as the sustainable Island and contributes towards climate change mitigation.”

To achieve the aim and objectives of the draft Policy, several strategic waste management actions will be delivered through an implementation plan including, but not limited to:

• Embedding the principles of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ in all aspects of decision making throughout the Island
• Promoting existing ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ activities and encouraging and supporting the development of new initiatives
• Converting organic waste into compost and
• Ensuring that unavoidable landfilling is managed in a manner which does not significantly impact on public health or the natural environment.

A copy of the draft Waste Management Policy is available under the Public Consultations section of the Publications page on the SHG website (www.sainthelena.gov.sh/publications).

Comments should be sent to Environmental Risk Manager, Mike Durnford, via email: mike.durnford@sainthelena.gov.sh or tel: 24724.

#StHelena #AltogetherGreener #ReduceReuseRecycle #GoodWasteManagement

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SHG

18 October 2019