HELENA, ASCENSION AND TRISTAN DA CUNHA: BACKGROUND BRIEF
1. St Helena is about the size of the Isle of Wight, and has
two dependencies, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha.
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St Helena, which has no natural resources and is known as the
'unlucky' island, has a population of around 5,000 of mixed
African, Asian and British descent. They are there because the
British authorities put them there to provide a service for
various British enterprises through the centuries. Ascension
has no indigenous population but various organizations the BBC,
Combined Signals Operation, Cable and Wireless, the US Air Force,
National Aeronautical Space Association and Pan Am - employ about
800 people, half of them St Helenians for whom there is no work
at home. Tristan has around 300 inhabitants, also of mixed origin,
whose crayfish have brought recent prosperity.
2. 'The Government of St Helena is administered by a Governor,
with the aid of a Legislative Council, consisting of the Governor, two ex-officio members (Government Secretary and Treasurer) and twelve
elected members. Five committees of the Legislative Council are
responsible for general oversight of government departments and have in additon a wide range of statutory and administrative functions. The Governor is also assisted by an Executive Council of the two ex-officio members and the Chairmen of the Council
Committees.'
3.
St Helena completed its first 5-year development plan in 1979
the main aim of which was to revive the unproductive economy
and to lessen the island's dependence on imports and extensive UK
support. The 1980-85 plan follows the same theme. Development
aid is currently running at approximately £500,000 per year. St Helena is only able to raise around 30% of its recurrent expenditure and is therefore heavily grant-in-aided, (currently £1.3 million). The senior positons in the Government (the chief source of employment), administration, health, education and public works are filled by expatriates under our technical cooperation programme (currently £433,000).
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4. Neither Ascension nor Tristan da Cunha require budgetary aid. Tristan is no longer in receipt of development aid and future development will be financed from the Island's own resources.
West Indian and Atlantic Department February 1981