The MV Karoline is scheduled to arrive at St Helena on Wednesday 20 March 2024 and will dock alongside Rupert’s Jetty. Cargo operations will commence as soon as practical and should be completed by Thursday 21 March 2024.
The public are therefore advised that the Jamestown Wharf and the whole of lower Rupert’s, including the beach area, will be closed to the public from Wednesday 20 March 2024 and until the vessel has departed. These areas will be strictly prohibited and is limited only to those who have made prior arrangements with Port Control.
Boat owners and operators are advised that mooring on the ‘span’ mooring rope near the landing steps at the Jamestown Wharf is prohibited for the duration of cargo operations.
The public are thanked in advance for their patience and cooperation.
The road from the General Hospital to New Bridge in Jamestown will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians from 09:00 to 15:00 on Wednesday 20 March 2024. This closure is to allow contractors to use a crane to remove and install a generator set for the hospital.
During this closure, a diversion route will be in effect, via Side Path Road. Appropriate signage will be in place.
The Post and Customer Services Centre would like to inform customers that due to the forthcoming year end processes the centre will be closed from Thursday 28 March 2024. This closure will include Saturday 30 March 2024.
Normal business will resume on Wednesday 03 April 2024 from 08:45 to 15:00.
Jamestown Social Benefit payments for the week ending 28 March will be payable on Wednesday 27 March and Thursday 28 March.
Country Social Benefit payments for the week ending 28 March will be payable from the usual venues on Wednesday 27 March.
Thanks are extended in advance to the public for their co-operation.
Since May last year, the Environment, Natural Resources, and Planning Portfolio (ENRP) has experienced a shortage of professional veterinary provision within their Veterinary and Livestock Section. This has mainly been due to the absence of a Senior Veterinary Officer.
On 24 February 2024, Andrew Cant arrived on St Helena to take up the role of Senior Veterinary Officer on a two-year contract. As a result, full veterinary and livestock services are now once again available to the public.
We thank everyone who has assisted the veterinary and livestock section over the last year, and the public for their patience and understanding during this time.
All queries and feedback regarding veterinary services should be directed to Andrew Cant, via email through andrew.cant@sainthelena.gov.sh or by telephone on 24724.
The Veterinary and Livestock Section can be contacted out-of-hours through the on-call staff member by telephone on 26162.
The French research vessel Thalassa is scheduled to visit St Helena from Saturday 16 March 2024 to Sunday 17 March 2024.
St Helena has a longstanding relationship with the vessel. The Thalassa first visited the island in 2020 and now returns annually to St Helena’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) as part of its long term marine science programme.
While in St Helena waters, the vessel will conduct research around the island. This will include measuring meteorological and oceanographic parameters, ocean currents, temperature profiles, and sampling surface water. The data gathered will be used by the Marine and Fisheries Conservation Section to underpin evidence based management of St Helena’s MPA.
The Marine and Fisheries Conservation Section, along with the Saint Helena National Trust, will have the chance to go on board the vessel and liaise with the scientific team. This will provide an opportunity to tour the laboratories and facilities on board and see some of the science taking place in real time.
A delegation consisting of HE Governor Nigel Phillips, Chief Minister Julie Thomas and Chief Secretary Susan O’Bey arrived at Montserrat on Wednesday 13 March 2024 to begin a six-day official visit to the island. This trip marks the first time that Chief Minister Thomas has made an official visit to another Overseas Territory.
The trip, facilitated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), aims to strengthen ties between the two Overseas Territories. Whilst there they will meet with the Governor, Premier, members of Parliament and officials. These meetings will help the delegation understand the challenges and opportunities Montserrat is facing, approaches being taken to address these and to better understand where there are synergies with St Helena. Similarly, it will allow for colleagues in Montserrat to hear about the approaches being deployed in St Helena, facilitating experience sharing and cross-territorial learning.
The delegation will also be attending a number of events to build social and cultural ties between the two territories. These events will include a flower show and tea party, hosted by the Montserrat National Trust, a visit to the Montserrat Volcano Observatory and the Plymouth Exclusion Zone, and the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade, which celebrates the main national holiday of Montserrat.
The delegation is due to arrive back in St Helena on Saturday 23 March 2024.
Following requests from the public, a minor change has been made to the Route D public bus service timetable.
With effect from Monday 18 March 2024, the following changes will take place:
District
Route
Bus Route
Half Tree Hollow (HTH) and St Pauls
D
Route D will depart Jamestown at 08:30 travelling to New Ground Point via HTH, Red Hill, Model Cottage and Sapper Way, arriving at New Ground at 08:47. Thereafter on to White Gate via Cleugh’s Plain, Rosemary Plain and Scotland.
The rest of the Route D timetable remains as previously published. Route D operates on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
In November 2022 the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) allocated up to £1,800,000 for the purchase of equipment of critical importance to St Helena. This was focused on areas including healthcare, emergency services, port operations, road maintenance and the airport.
£267,687.70 was allocated to what was then the Treasury, Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Portfolio. This was used to purchase a Minimac Slurry Paver from VSS Macropaver. The paver arrived at the end of last year, and training for the operators and maintenance staff of the roads section and vehicle fleet section took place.
Since the arrival of the Minimac Slurry Paver, the roads section has carried out successful slurry work trials at the following locations:
on the road at White Gate, opposite the bus shelter
the road from Phillip John’s Shop to Scotland roundabout
at the car park, located behind the museum in Jamestown
on the access road to the public works yard
The latest works took place on Friday 01 March 2024 in Jamestown on the seafront, from the road through the arch to the concrete benches near the swimming pool entrance. This demonstration took place to provide the public and Legislative Council elected members, as well as representatives of the FCDO, with a visual demonstration of the capabilities of the slurry machine.
The slurry machine is also available for hire to do private work. A long term program of where around the island the machine will be working throughout the year is being compiled and will be published. This schedule will include opportunities for private hire of the machine. The public living in the areas where the machine will be working are encouraged to contact the roads section for a quote for service. The machine can be used for various paving jobs, including private roads, car parks or driveways.
For further details on this service, please contact Roads Manager Deon Robbertse by telephone on 23765.
On Wednesday 13 March 2024, students, parents and invited guests gathered at Prince Andrew School (PAS) Hall to celebrate the annual Certificate and Awards Ceremony.
The ceremony, to award students their certificates for exams that were taken in May and June 2023, began with a welcome speech by Acting Governor Stephen Thwaites.
In an address to the students, the Acting Governor said:
“This awards ceremony is a celebration of your achievements, so I want to begin by congratulating all of those collecting certificates or awards on your successes. You should be proud of what you have accomplished. These achievements take a lot of hard work, and you have had a disrupted education due to Covid. Successes in easy times should be celebrated, but when you persevere through tough times those successes are magnified and you should all be very proud.”
The first round of presentations were to award former year 9, 11, 12 and 13 students their certificates in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), Vocationally Recognised Qualifications (VRQ), International Computer Driving License (IDCL), AS-Levels and A-Levels.
Shortly after, presentations were made for individual awards which recognised achievements in a range of areas:
Award
Awardee
Jean Beadon Art Award
Sadie Herne
Governor’s Award for Excellence at Key Stage 3
Dionne Muranganwa and Asa Bushuru
PTA Student of the Year Award
Maria Dachraoui and Brooke Yon
SURE Sponsorship Awards
Maria Dachraoui and Kalem Henry
Jeanette Williams Maths Awards
Maria Dachraoui and Jaede Benjamin
English Language Awards
Maria Dachraoui and Amy Thomas
Eliza Mary Lloyd Trust Agriculture Award
Joey Harris-Henry
Bishop Houghton Award
Mitchell Crowie
Joy George Award
Kyle Benjamin and Anna-Lucia Roberts
Certificates were also presented to Joshua Midwinter, Taye Peters and Stefan O’dean who completed their Skills for Justice Level 2 Award with St Helena Airport.
The ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks from Student Council President, Maria Dachraoui and Student Council Vice President, Erik Robbertse, with closing remarks delivered by Assistant Director of Schools, Kerry Lawrence.
Acting Head Teacher for PAS, Isabel Andrews, concluded:
“We would like to congratulate all of our awardees on their achievements. They have had to be committed to their studies both in school and spend time at home working hard as well. A big thank you to everyone who supported the students in any way to reach their goals – teachers, mentors and also parents and family members – your input is invaluable! We trust that you will use these achievements to help you make positive next steps in your journey.”
St Helena is currently experiencing unsettled sea conditions and is forecast to continue through to Friday 22 March 2024 in James Bay and Rupert’s Bay.
The public are asked to take caution when accessing the sea front area in Jamestown. To avoid damage to vehicles, drivers are advised to take care when parking near the safety rails and boat owners should ensure their vessels are securely fixed to their moorings.
The same conditions are expected in Rupert’s Bay and the public are advised to take care in the beach, shears and wharf areas.
Port Control will be monitoring sea conditions and may restrict access to the sea front and Jamestown Wharf if conditions worsen.
