RESTRICTED
appear to have settled in well.
home from them,
and
remittances
Over 200 Saints now work on the Falklands,
and from over 500 Saints working
Ascension, and the 100 working in domestic service in the UK, amounted to
about £1 million in 1990. This is a significant sum in relation to total
domestic earnings of about £6 million. These opportunities to work abroad
also represent outlets for the frustrations of young people, enabling them
to widen their experience of the world, and return with new skills. They
also represent a valuable, probably an essential, contribution to the
6.
social stability of St Helena. The work permit scheme, under which just 50
Saints a year enter the UK, is a bore for the Home Office to administer,
but very important to the island. The movement of workers has been eased
by the building of transit accommodation on Ascension, and I hope that
employment opportunities for Saints on the Falklands will continue to grow.
Cooperation between Jamestown and the ODA has never been closer, and
we expect shortly to achieve Our objective of negotiating new financial
arrangements which will give us greater local responsibility for budgetary,
developmen! and shipping aid, together with incentives to cut costs and
increase revenue, in the interests of the
the UK taxpayer 26 well as the
island. Events during the year have in particular underlined the need to
exercise much tighter control Over our shipping managers, and to put the
job of managing our expensive new vessel out to competitive tender under a
performance-related contract as soon as practicable. I believe there is
potential for reducing substantially the shipping subsidy, now running at £2 million a year.
7.
11. +
company,
tober i extended for a further year the option for a commercial
Helena Airport Ltd, to take out a lease to build a simple
airstrip on the island and operate commercially a limited air service. The
RESTRICTED