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6. There are 450 established civil servants and of these 30 are UK-based expatriates. Local talent for future localisation is short, but training to improve the situation is being done. Civil Service is only modestly efficient.
B. Resources Controlled by the Territory
The
7. There are few exploitable resources to control. In years past, the Island's main export was New Zealand flax, but increasing costs and the introduction of synthetic fibres led to the collapse of the industry. The fishing industry is slowly being developed but it is unlikely ever to produce a large export revenue. In the absence of any other readily expbitable resources, St Helena is heavily depend- ent upon grant-in-aid and capital aid. Grant-in-aid for 1979-80 is running at £1,348,345. Capital aid for the same period is £0.7 m., with £42,850 reserved.
8. The two spectres that most haunt St Helena are isolation and unemployment. The island has no airport or airstrip and almost no hope of building one. Despite the acquisition last year of RMS St Helena (out of aid funds) to link the island with the UK and South Africa, plus the possibility of purchasing a smaller inter- island vessel to ply between Ascension, Tristan da Cunha and the African mainland for supplies, the problem of isolation seems insoluble. Likewise, unemployment remains high and is likely to grow even larger with the loss of about 400 well paid jobs for St Helenians on Ascension when the US NASA and Cable and Wireless installations there close down in 1981-82. There is also poverty, not grinding but real nonetheless, exacerbated by rising costs due to the island's heavy reliance on imports, which bring with them their own inflation.
9. In the short term, the problems of unemployment and poverty are being tackled by labour intensive "make work" projects, but the limit to this has been reached. The longer term objectives of the development plan and the use of aid money are three-fold:-
(a) to increase self-sufficiency and eliminate costly imports; (b) to create jobs and reduce unemployment; and
(c) to improve modestly the quality of life and promote further
self-reliance.
These objectives are in hand, but results will inevitably be slow in coming. The possible creation of small home or cottage industries such as lace-making, is being investigated with some likelihood of success. The possibilities of tourism (linked to Ascension), fishing and other investment are being looked into, but isolation and lack of entrepreneurs willing to invest are serious constraints.
10.
Tristan da Cunha, with its lobster fishing industry, thrives, and apart from the periodic complaint of excessive drinking of the profits, the island presents no real problem.
/c.
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