IN a surprise move the Falkland Islands Development Corporation (FIDC) was sent a bill totalling £35,690.47 from the Falkland Islands Government for fire fighting support on Sea Lion Island.
The bill, which came from the Department of Emergency Services and Island Security (DESIS) was stated to be for half of the costs associated with the fire on Sea Lion Island which occurred after lightning strike in March.
Discussed in the FIDC Board (FIDB) meeting on September 18, it was agreed that the invoice would be disputed and not paid. Chair of the FIDB Michael Poole explained that, “the intention is to not pay until FIG explain the policy,”
Members of the board expressed their surprise that this invoice had come through, with Janet Robertson commenting, “a user-pays principle for fire support seems peculiar.”
There is no breakdown of the costs in the invoice, which was reproduced in the FIDB agenda, or explanation as to how the figure of just over £35,500 has been reached.
Mr Franklin went on to explain that when FIG downgraded the fire, FIDC paid for a volunteer force to continue working on Sea Lion, including food and travel amongst other expenses. This continued for around a month following the fire being downgraded. Mr Franklin added, “it is not like FIDC is trying to get off scott-free. We paid money beyond to ensure there weren’t any hotspots or flare ups.”
Why charge? Chief Executive of the Falkland Islands Andy Keeling is a member of the FIDB, but was unable to attend the meeting during the discussion. Penguin News asked Mr Keeling afterwards what his thoughts were. He said: “FIG have in the past made recommendations to the FIDC and their tenants regarding actions to take to help manage and prevent the spread of wildfires on the Island, for example managed grazing and firebreaks. None of this advice had been acted upon. FIDC and their tenants knew of and understood the potential threat of fire on Sea Lion Island.”
Mr Keeling went on to explain that other landowners had taken steps to prepare for fires and listed a number of measures that could be taken including: having a rotavator and digger, creating fire breaks, maintaining a track to a water supply, portable pumps and hoses and a second trailer.
He said: “It is clear from a Fire Service perspective that the desire to re-wild as much of the island with tussock without consideration of the additional risks, made managing the fire more difficult, as both tussock growth had removed access to water supplies and the lack of fire breaks made fighting the fire more difficult.
“In the circumstances and given that FIDC are a wholly government funded corporation sharing the cost seemed an equitable solution. This is permissible under the ExCo policy of 2000, recharging being an explicit recommendation of that policy.”
Regarding policies surrounding wildfires Mr Keeling added, “Currently the Agriculture Team in DNR are in the early stages of developing a Wildfire Strategy.”
Picture Fire at Sealion Island – FIG
