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Govt departments clash as weddings become big business
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Weddings have become big business in Gibraltar with the tourist board targeting romantics looking to get hitched as a "niche market" in the same way they do birdwatchers and scuba divers. But a row has blown up between the tourist board and the wedding registrar.
Those wanting a quick wedding are seen by Peter Canessa of the tourist board as an alternative to the day-trippers and cruise ship passengers who are the lifeblood of tourism in Gibraltar.
"There is even an element of future planning," said Mr Canessa to BBC News. "If you get married here then at some point in your life - maybe when you have a couple of kids - you will want to come back."
But Gibraltar registrar George Flower has lashed out against Gibraltar developing a Las Vegas style scenario. "We need to strike a balance between marriages being conducted freely" he is quoted as saying."We can't have a situation where Gibraltar is being used to circumvent immigration rules."
Last year 641 of the 822 weddings in Gibraltar involved two "outsiders" - the majority being Brits coming from the UK or their homes in Spain.
Minehunting and mapping of Gibraltar's seabed
HMS HURWORTH, one of the Royal Navy's HUNT Class Mine Countermeasures Vessels, will be operating from Gibraltar for the next week. In a rare solo deployment for a ship of her class and size, HMS HURWORTH is on the first week of a 4 month deployment to the Mediterranean, says a Press release from British Forces HQ following our exclusive report and picture earlier this week.
They add: Notably, this is the first Royal Navy Minehunter to visit Gibraltar in over 2 years. Her operations in and around Gibraltar will include trials on her minehunting sonar and detailed mapping of the seabed within the Rock's territorial waters. This work is being done as part of the Royal Navy's routine security check of all United Kingdom and Overseas Territories ports to ensure they remain free for use at all times.
In conjunction with HMS HURWORTH's visit, the Royal Navy's Fleet Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Unit will also be surveying areas around Gibraltar. Using unmanned vehicles with cutting edge technology the Unit are able to scan seabed areas not easily accessible to larger ships, such as HMS HURWORTH. These vehicles represent a significant step towards the Royal Navy's future mine countermeasures vision.
The Ship will also be assisting the Gibraltar Museum in collecting data on the seabed in the approaches to the Harbour when visited yesterday by Doctor Darren Farr, Mrs Geraldine Finlayson and Mr Phillip Smith who involved a local underwater archaeology project.
HMS HURWORTH's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Jason Horne stated 'It is great to be in Gibraltar. The Ship has a young crew, many of whom have never been outside UK waters before and they are all looking forward to a week in and around the Rock'.
HMS HURWORTH will call into Gibraltar again in December on her way back to Portsmouth.
Moroccan workers leaders being kept out of Gibraltar for political reasons?
by PANORAMA reporter
The president of the Moroccan Community Association Addul Ratali continues to be refused entry into Gibraltar, but the TGWU says "the impression is that it may be a political and not a labour related decision."
The news first broke out earlier this month. PANORAMA published a front page headline on 11 August which read: MOROCCAN LEADER STOPPED ENTRY AT GIBRALTAR FRONTIER.
A Special Branch officer, on instructions from his superior, stopped Mr Ratali at the frontier that weekend. Mr Ratali lives in La Linea.
The MCA president was described as unemployed. But the opposition, who took the matter up, said that the incident occurred in the knowledge that Mr Ratali had an offer of employment and that his employment contract was with the Employment Service for some time awaiting approval of his work permit.
The opposition said at the time: It seems obvious that if there is no hidden agenda the sensible course of action would have been for the Immigration department to hold off taking action until the Employment Service decided whether to approve Mr Ratali's contract or not.
They added that the impression given by the treatment of Mr Ratali is that he is being subjected to this kind of pressure because of the stand that he has taken on a number of occasions in defence of the Moroccan community and it would be totally unacceptable if this indeed turned out to be the case and the law was being applied selectively in this way.
'DISCRIMINATORY'
The TGWU, for its part, said yesterday that the treatment being given to Mr Ratali by the local authority is "totally unacceptable and discriminatory."
The Employment Service, previously known as the ETB, "has still not decided to grant Mr Ratali a work permit after nearly 2 months waiting."
This is the first time that a Moroccan has been stopped from taking up alternative employment after working in Gibraltar for over 20 years, besides the fact that there are no local workers available to fill the post. The union said it will not allow that a prominent figure of the local Moroccan community be "humiliated" in this manner.
"We will not hesitate in taking the matter to the European union when we consider that there is blatant discrimination of our members," said the TGWU.
They urge that the work permit be granted immediately to avoid unnecessary confrontation.
'Spanish speaking employees being taught English by Social Services Agency,' says Opposition
The Social Services Agency have currently been advertising vacancies for support work on full-time, part-time and supply terms, where the requirement is for the applicants to have an understanding of the special needs of people with learning disabilities. Applicants are required to be fluent in spoken and written English. In the past the Agency has been employing Spanish nationals with no knowledge of the English language.
The Opposition says it understands that the Agency has employed a person to teach English to these Spanish speaking employees. Apparently this teacher has been employed to work during August, because in September he returns to Madrid from where he has been recruited and where he is normally working teaching English.
They add: If this information is correct, it would suggest that the Minister for Social Services does not think that there are Gibraltarians here available and capable of teaching English, notwithstanding the excellent results that our teachers produce every year, as evidenced by the achievements of our school leavers.
WORK PERMIT?
Furthermore, if it is also correct that the person recruited is a New Zealander, then one imagines that he would require a Work Permit and that this has been issued, something that should not be happening if there are local people available for the job.
"Unlike the case of Mr Ratali, who is still waiting for a decision to be taken on a Contract of Employment as Restaurant Chef, there seems to be no difficulty in getting the necessary permit if you know the right people," said the opposition.
Pickpockets on the prowl
During the past three weeks there has been an increase in reports of thefts of certain articles from persons carried out by pickpockets.
"The areas where these incidents are occuring are the lower part of Main Street, Casemates Square and ICC. The times are in the early afternoon when there are more persons walking about, says the RGP.
They add: We urge members of the public to be vigilant with their property, especially handbags, mobile phones, purses wallets etc.
The RGP say they are increasing their presence in the mentioned areas both with officers in civilian clothes and uniform.
Agreement signed with services police leads to withdrawal of court action
Statement by BFHQ:
Tom Watson MP, Under-Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans yesterday paid his first visit to Gibraltar in his new post. The purpose of the visit was to see the Ministry of Defence facilities and meet some of the Gibraltar Services Police and their Staff Association members to follow up on recent discussions. During this meeting with the Gibraltar Services Police he signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Chairman of the GSPSA Ruben Benggio and the Commander British Forces Gibraltar Commodore Allan Adair.
The stopover also involved meeting members of the armed forces and their families who are stationed in Gibraltar to gain an understanding of the family issues involved with the posting. The Minister also called on both the acting Governor Philip Barton OBE and the acting Chief Minister Joe Holliday. Mr Watson also took time out to visit the war graves of those who sacrificed their lives during the two world wars.
JOINT STATEMENT BY MINISTRY OF DEFENCE AND GIBRALTAR SERVICES POLICE STAFF ASSOCIATION
The Ministry of Defence and the Gibraltar Services Police Staff Association are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement over a long running pay dispute.
As a result, the GSPSA have withdrawn their UK High Court legal claim.
The exact details of the settlement are covered by a confidentiality agreement and it is not possible to go into detail over the settlement, however, both sides have protected their positions and have agreed to the settlement in order to move on and develop improved employee relationships.
To take the new working arrangements forward, the Commander British Forces Gibraltar and the Chairman of the GSPSA have signed the new Constitution and Memorandum of Agreement of a newly established Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) on the 23rd August 2006 in the presence of the Under Secretary of State for Defence Mr Tom Watson MP at the Gibraltar Services Police Headquarters.
On signing the document Commander British Forces said, "I'm delighted that this has happened on my watch and pleased that it brings closure to a number of issues. We can now look forward to effective employee relationships with the Gibraltar Services Police Staff Association".
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