The Dangers of Demonisation

The issue of a provision for young people on the subject of a Waterfront Skateboard and Youth and Community Centre came up in the States recently. I quote below Jacqui Huet's impassioned plea for facilities for young people, and I have also selected from the debate two speeches by Frank Walker. The first was in response to a motion to "reference back" the debate so that it would not be voted on until another States sitting, and the second was before the final vote.

 

For those who have an idea of Frank Walker as Jersey's "bogeyman", it may come as a surprise how much effort he has put into this proposal, and how - unlike Philip Ozouf - he is concerned to support the proposition against the delaying tactics of Bob Hill. The final vote is also given, so that it can be seen who voted for this provision. It will be noted that the following members were missing, including Stuart Syvret:

 

       Senator Stuart Syvret – en défaut

       Connétable Thomas John du Feu of St. Peter – ill

       Deputy Peter Nicholas Troy of St. Brelade – ill

       Deputy Carolyn Fiona Labey of Grouville – en défaut

       Deputy John Alexander Nicholas Le Fondré of St. Lawrence – en défaut

       Deputy Shona Pitman of St. Helier – en défaut

 

For the full debate, see:

http://www.statesassembly.gov.je/documents/hansard/43148-12435-632008.htm

 

 

Deputy J.J. Huet of St. Helier.

We have 10 St. Helier Deputies and a St. Helier Constable that lives in the Parish and we have some of our Senators that live in St. Helier and they - except for one Deputy of St. Helier- are well aware, I think, that our children for a long time had no space about, i.e. be it to mooch or whatever teenagers do which we have all had I think at some time or another.  I think this is long, long outstanding, and it is for a long time we have tried site after site after site and each time there is an excuse, an excuse, an excuse.  Usually the excuses are noise, and you have to be fair if it is close to an elderly folks' home, or people where they live on a continuous… but this is not one of those sites.  The reason against this site as far as I can see is cash.  That is solely all it is.  It is way out from anywhere else.  It is not going to affect people that live around it, and it is central and this is what we need.  Can I please ask, please, please, let our children have somewhere.  The children of St. Helier are a lot more confined, dare I say, than if you are lucky enough to live in the Parishes and have a lot more space and that to roam and a lot more freedom, I might say.  You are very, very restricted in St. Helier.  We have very few spaces like this that are always moving our children on because they are causing a disturbance to somebody.  This is a place that they would not be causing a disturbance to somebody, and I please ask you to finally give our kiddies somewhere to have for themselves.

 

Senator F.H. Walker:

I have been supporting and working to an extent alongside Deputy Fox and Deputy Gorst in all the incredibly hard work they have put into this over many months.  They have, I think, left no stone unturned in trying to find a site for a skateboard park.  They and I have been frustrated time and time again.  I have to say I am frustrated again this morning.  Honestly, what sort of Assembly are we when we cannot take a decision on something like the location of a skateboard park?  The last thing we need is a reference back.  We need to take a decision.  This is just fiddling around at the edges and I am very sad that the Deputy of St. Martin brought the proposition.  Sir, Deputy Fox, Deputy Gorst and others have investigated other sites, they have come to the conclusion and they have provided the information to support that conclusion that this site, although I accept not ideal, is the only chance we have got to provide a skateboard facility in the foreseeable future for our young people.  So let us not delay any longer, let us get on with it, let us vote for or against, but for goodness sake let us not go back over the same thing again and agree to this reference back.  In my view it should not have been brought and I hope it is comprehensively thrown out.

 

Senator F.H. Walker:

I will not repeat what I said and what many other Members have said in the last debate but much of the debate has centred around other sites.  Well, following the meeting that I had with the Assistant Minister for Economic Development on Friday, I contacted the Property Services Department and asked them for a list of the potential alternative sites and I was given this late on Monday.  There are 6 potential sites that have been identified, but they have all been looked at already and all dismissed for one reason or another.  So there is no other potential site to provide this facility that anyone is aware of in the short term.  Sir, I am under no doubt at all that if we do not vote in favour of this proposition, we will be ensuring that there will be no skateboard park for our young people for a considerable time to come.  Now, I do echo the comments, I think, of the Constable of St. Helier and one or 2 others that if we vote yes, then that might encourage the opponents of this particular site to work their socks off basically to find a better alternative if, indeed, one can be found within a reasonable timescale.  That is a good motivation, I think, if we vote yes.  One way or another, we will get a site.  If we vote no, we will not get a site and it is really as simple, I think, as that.  I do accept and I am saddened that Harbours have come in for quite such a battering in the debate although I do accept that their concerns are genuine.  I am not sure that all of them necessarily stack-up but I believe they do have bottom line concerns which are genuine.  Sadly, for whatever reason, they have come through too late and there was every opportunity prior to us receiving the sheets we did yesterday for that information to come through.  Although I acknowledge their concerns, I do think that we have to proceed.  It is not an ideal site, but I think we have to proceed.  When I made my statement that this was the site for the park, it was on the clear understanding that it had the unanimous support of all parties involved, including Economic Development.  I am saddened that although Deputy Maclean did ask me to add a caveat to my statement, which I did, which was that we needed more information from Harbours, that was the strength of any comment that was made and, despite a number of meetings involving all relevant parties, there was no indication of opposition.  So, Sir, not an ideal site but I really think the choice is do we go here or do we go nowhere and I urge the House to support Deputy Fox and commend Deputy Fox for the incredibly hard work he has put into trying to achieve this result and in coming forward with this proposition.  [Approbation]

The Deputy of St. Martin:

Could I ask the Chief Minister, that bearing in mind this request is to go to the Council of Ministers, has this proposition been considered by the Council of Ministers and have they got the support of the Council of Ministers?

Senator F.H. Walker:

It has not and in all honesty I do not think it is in any way necessary for it to do so

The Voting on the skateboard park:

 

POUR: 26		CONTRE: 11		ABSTAIN: 6
Senator F.H. Walker		Senator L. Norman		Senator T.A. Le Sueur
Senator P.F. Routier		Senator P.F.C. Ozouf		Senator F.E. Cohen
Senator M.E. Vibert		Senator T.J. Le Main		Connétable of Trinity
Senator B.E. Shenton		Connétable of St. Lawrence		Deputy G.C.L. Baudains (C)
Senator J.L. Perchard		Connétable of Grouville		Deputy of Trinity
Connétable of St. Ouen		Connétable of St. Brelade		Deputy of St. Mary
Connétable of St. Mary		Connétable of St. Martin
Connétable of St. Clement		Connétable of St. John
Connétable of St. Helier		Deputy S.S.P.A. Power (B)
Deputy R.C. Duhamel (S)		Deputy A.J.D. Maclean (H)
Deputy A. Breckon (S)		Deputy K.C. Lewis (S)
Deputy J.J. Huet (H)
Deputy of St. Martin
Deputy C.J. Scott Warren (S)
Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier (S)
Deputy J.B. Fox (H)
Deputy J.A. Martin (H)
Deputy G.P. Southern (H)
Deputy S.C. Ferguson (B)
Deputy of St. Ouen
Deputy J.A. Hilton (H)
Deputy G.W.J. de Faye (H)
Deputy P.V.F. Le Claire (H)
Deputy D.W. Mezbourian (L)
Deputy of St. John
Deputy I.J. Gorst (C)

 

I'm not sure I like your tone, sir

"I'm not sure I like your tone, sir"  , William Hartnell, The Tenth Planet

 

I've been surveying a few of the other Jersey blogs on the net, and here is a brief review of them. One thing which is common to all of them is a kind of chatty familiarity, which refers to people like Philip Bailhache as "Phil". I think this is a shame, because it sets a tone which detracts from the more serious content. They could give the Baillif his full title, or they could adopt academic policy - scholars normally refer to individuals solely by their full or their last names, omitting courtesy titles. But I think the kind of "matey" polemic which comes out is - if not abusive - certainly rude and discourteous, and comes close to the ad hominem argument, where people are attacked because of who they are, by name calling, and not for their policies and beliefs.

http://stuartsyvret.blogspot.com/

 

This has some very decent arguments, and some good facts. Stuart Syvret is good at opposing the factual inaccuracies of his opponents. For example, on subjects like the Sharp report, when the JEP claimed recently to have published everything there was on record, he noted the singular omission of Francis Hamon who gave Jack Hydes "informal advice" to take no action against complaints by the boys who were abused, or John Le Breton, who is also mentioned in the report and who resigned shortly afterwards.

 

Against this, the reader has to wade through polemic, such as "The community's destiny is in the hands of this collection ignoramuses, deluded egotists and clowns." - as a description of the States of Jersey, or Syvret's repeated calling of the Bailiff as "Phil" and the Attorney-General as "Bill", which is very close to an ad hominem argument, and gives a distinctly unpleasant and chip-on-the-shoulder tone to his blog. 

http://aholidayinthesun.blogspot.com/

 

This blog has some very well argued material, together with some very harshly satirical photographs. Of course, satire is part of the rough and tumble of politics. Again some good arguments and observations, for example:

 

When Ministerial government first came into play three years ago, a worrying trait emerged. Little comments began to appear from senior Ministers about Jersey needing to be "a player on the world stage". As those Ministers got used to having their feet under the table they began to commission various architectural projects. The term "world class" has become commonplace when promoting these projects, and there is a definite intent that the designs should compete with the metropolis-sized standards to be found in locations such as Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Sydney. Even a Jersey national anthem has been thrown into the pot.

Alongside that is a kind of polemic that again tends to ruin the serious debate, with the odd sentence like this:

 

Still, I suppose as long as the island's bloated swine get to keep their snouts buried firmly in the swill, there's no need to ask questions or look for a superior or more democratic alternative, is there?

 

There is less of the purple prose than Stuart Syvret's blog, and more decent arguments, but could still be improved. Sentences like that above show opinions with a high degree of resentment, and I'm not sure that kind of tone is helpful in getting the points - which are pretty well argued - over to the general public.

 

http://www.isthisjersey.com/news.php

 

This is not a blog, but a forum, and the material varies widely from "The Three Stooges - Frank, Phil & Bob", which again has a tone that betrays the serious arguments made. If one is not put off with that kind of polemic, then there is again a decent argument against the Bailiff's saying that Islanders have nothing to feel shameful about:

 

"Whilst it is not immediately comparable, the West has had to apologise for years of slavery. The Australian government has had to apologise for how the aborigines were treated. And Chancellor Merkel herself is now in Israel as I write apologising for the Holocaust. There is nothing wrong with feeling shameful."

 

 

 

 

Marshlands and Sea Defences

One effect of global warning, we are warned, is an increase in severe weather systems. When these storms coincide with high spring tides, as they did recently, the result is flooding in low lying areas, and destruction of sea walls.

One of the reason for this, as marine biologist Andrew Syvret pointed out, is the land reclamation. How does this work? I would imagine that by extending St Aubin's bay outward, one result is that the inflow of water is contained, and funnelled. Before reclamation, there might have still been a funnelling effect, but only so far as the shore extended outwards, and the effect of reclaiming land has increased this considerably. We tend to think of the reclaimed land as the new area by the Marina, the Cineworld complex, the Radisson Hotel etc, but there is by far a much larger area of reclaimed land beyond the extent of the harbour, including a complex of industrial buildings (including the bus storage depot), but further out to sea even beyond that. I went out there yesterday to visit a friend who works in that area, and it is a huge area of landfill.

This also explains why Havre des Pas, while buffeted from the sea, did not have quite the same extent of damage. The reclamation site is only on the far side of Havre des Pas, while the rest of the coastline is relatively flat and curving round to Green Island. St Aubin's Bay, on the other hand, has the rocky coast going round to Noirmont on one side, and the reclamation on the other, making a vast pool of water, with nowhere for the water to escape when rushing in with spring tides, and southerly winds, hence the funnel effect.

There are three main troublespots in danger of flooding, and each was flooded.

St Aubin's Harbour, which is low lying, and in fact is in part an earlier experiment in land reclamation saw flooding. Hopefully, this will put paid to foolish notions about land reclamation for car parking, for unless the parking was raised, it would have been the first to be under water, with considerable damage to any cars parked.

Goose Green Marsh is another area (around Beaumont), and here the problem was compounded by the fact that rainwater and sewage systems use the same network, so that groundwater run-off (which was also floodwater run-off) overloads the sewage system, and led to the eruption of sewage into the marsh, when man-hole cover's blew, despite being bolted down. Firmer bolts - contrary to Guy De Faye's alleged ideas - are not the solution; the pressure will either blow them, or the water will back up and come out at the earliest weak points, probably inside people's houses.

St Helier is of course originally a reclaimed marshland, so it is not surprising that areas below sea level, such as Gloucester Street, became flooded, not for the first time. This, of course, is where the sunken road is due to surface as part of the Hopkins Masterplan. That enormously large document devotes just one mention to "risk of flooding" and directs the reader to the appendix, where there is a map of St Helier, the area by Gloucester Street where the road comes up, a grey oval over that site to indicate that is at risk (as if we didn't know), and a marginal note saying that Transport and Technical Services will come up with a solution. As a Masterplan goes, this is a fiasco! Instead of countless pictures of civic squares and the like from around the world - by way of illustration !!! - surely any plan should have had a whole section on the engineering aspects of the tunnel - pump systems, air filtration, running costs of maintenance - and of course prevention of flooding. It is painfully obvious that it has been prepared by architects who have little or know knowledge of civil engineering.

Of course, one option is to increase sea defences, and this is certainly necessary. But it would be foolish to assume that the tide cannot breach these, and the second line of reasoning should consider what defensive measures could be in place to prevent flooding if the tidal defences fail. Worst case scenarios have occurred recently; they may not be so uncommon in the future.

Mr Wordly-Wise

O God, you have searched us out

and known us, and all that we are is

open to you. We confess that we

have sinned: we have used our

power to dominate and our

weakness to manipulate; we have

evaded responsibility and failed to

confront evil; we have denied

dignity to ourselves and to each

other, and fallen into despair.

We turn to you O God; we renounce

evil; we claim your love; we choose

to be made whole.

The Bailiff has weighed into the Jersey situation by saying that "ISLANDERS are not guilty of some unspecified, collective crime of child abuse". But what does he not say? That the Island authorities set up Haut de La Garenne. That by neglect, by ignorance, and by deliberate action the abuse went on concealed for so long and the home was not properly monitored. That is surely enough for a "collective crime" by the States of Jersey, at any rate. And what of those who voted them in, for whom Haut De La Garenne was a bogeyman, something to be scared of as children, and who did not look into the situation when adults?

"We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done" says the Book of Common Prayer, echoed in the modern liturgy above - "we have evaded responsibility and failed to confront evil". If the Bailiff can not say these words, if he thinks he has no need to say them, then I hope he does the decent thing and says so, rather than hypocritically attend church services and mouth them. A confession, like a faith, that does not apply to the whole of life, is like a man building his house on sand rather than rock.

If the Bailiff can say "the Island was doing all in its collective power to ensure that the truth came out and that wrongdoers were punished" and speak in this way - collectively - on behalf of the Island, then should it also be noted that "the Island did little all in its collective power to ensure that the truth came out and that wrongdoers were punished", whether by neglect, ignorance, or deliberately?

What are we to make of the fact that the Baillif presents himself as a religious figure on formal occasions, speaking for the Island, but seemingly unable outside of that context to make a confession of sin on behalf of the Island's authorities? Is his religion (and his confession) something tucked away neatly in a box, that never emerges into the light of day?

Soren Kierkegaard wrote "Is this then Christian worship, or is it treating God as a fool, treating Him as a fool by such an official worship, perhaps with the notion that, if only we call this Christianity, we can get away with it, by preacherfying this at Him every Sunday we can make Him believe that this is Christianity?"

Complacency like this taints us all.

---

http://www.thisisjersey.com/news/shownewsarticle.pl?ArticleID=101416

ISLANDERS are not guilty of some unspecified, collective crime of child abuse and need not hang their heads in shame, the Bailiff has said.

Speaking to the JEP about the police investigation into alleged child abuse at Haut de la Garenne and the way in which the Island has been portrayed by the national media, Sir Philip Bailhache said that the Island was doing all in its collective power to ensure that the truth came out and that wrongdoers were punished.

He described phrases used about Jersey by some of the national media like 'culture of concealment' and 'Island of Secrets' as scurrilous.

'Lines like that taint us all and smear us all with the grime of suspicion,' he said.

It's Pi Day today!

 

It's Pi Day today!



Some interesting stuff on the BBC website. For us mathematical Platonists, pi is as real as a rainbow. I only know Pi approx by heart as 3.1415927, so I'm way below the nerds mentioned below (I do know root 2 and root 3 to the same number of places though!)

Archimedes managed a surprisingly accurate measurement of pi; by a method of differences, he calculated that: "The ratio of the circumference of any circle to its diameter is less than 31/7 but greater than 310/71"

To see how he did it, look here:
http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/clindsey/mhf4404/archimedes/archimedes.html

The marvellous Kate Bush, in her album Ariel, has a song called Pi in which she sings her way through over one hundred decimal places of Pi. In fact, she sings 78 decimal places, then loses the next 22 digits before ending with the accurate next 37 digits.

There is some weird and wonderful stuff linking Pi to Stonehenge at:
http://witcombe.sbc.edu/EMIntro.html

I'd be rather suspicious of it; numerologists can do anything; and I've seen links to Stonehenge, Pi and the Great Pyramid (what else!).

Quote:

It's Pi Day, a celebration of the mathematical ratio that man has been trying to unlock for millennia. But why are we driven to find the answers behind it? As we're all taught at school, pi represents the number you get when you divide the distance around a circle (its circumference) by the distance across (the diameter). With just a string and a ruler you can quickly measure that pi must be just over three-and-an-eighth (3.125). With more precise measurements, you may be able to narrow it down to 3.14. SLICE OF PI 3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 However, if you ask a typical maths nerd, you'll get an earful of pi - 3.14159265 and so on. A surprising number of students have memorised 50 or even 100 digits after the decimal point The rough ratio of pi 3.14 gives us the date for Pi Day. March 14, or 3/14 in American dating style, makes sense for a celebration of this famous constant. Coincidentally, Pi Day is also the birthday of Albert Einstein, who no doubt knew more than a little about pi. Pi Day celebrants, usually children with an enthusiastic teacher and a varying degree of personal interest in the subject, learn about pi, circles, and, if they're lucky, eat baked pies of various sorts. Famous constant Some classes offer prizes for memorising the most digits of pi, or for creating interesting mnemonic devices. Count the letters in each word of this classic poem: Sir, I bear a rhyme excelling In mystic force and magic spelling And while pi is a number, its importance goes far beyond simple geometry. Pi represents a deep universal mystery - how is it that something this basic, this fundamental to maths and science, could turn out to be so incredibly difficult to pin down? In fact, it's literally impossible to know what pi is, because its digits rattle off into infinity. While there are many infinitely long numbers in maths, pi is the only one in which an infinitely simple idea - the circle - unfolds into an infinitely complex value. This paradox drives many people to distraction.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7296224.stm

Hard Pressed

Some quotes from Chesterton (in "Heretics") on the press; some seem quite apt with regard to the Jersey Evening Post.

 

On the whole its reporting is fair, but when it comes to political matters, its reporting would certainly not come up to Wikipedia non-POV standards. There is a clear editorial bias.

 

"The only question now is how much longer the fiction will endure that journalists of this order represent public opinion."

"The only inference is that for purposes of real public opinion the press is now a mere plutocratic oligarchy. Doubtless the public buys the wares of these men, for one reason or another. "

"[The press] have no moral courage or immoral courage; their whole method consists in saying, with large and elaborate emphasis, the things which everybody
else says casually, and without remembering what they have said. When they brace themselves up to attack anything, they never reach the point of attacking anything which is large and real, and would resound with the shock."

 

 

Greenfields: Silence is Tarnished Gold

I see that Mr Bellwood has come to an out of court settlement, with non-disclosure as one part of the deal. Evidently the States knew when they were onto a losing streak, but what did emerge suggests a dirty tricks campaign which may have involved post-dated reports, agendas adjusted etc, by some of those above him.

 

Of course, there is no suggestion of a cover-up. Never, fear, there will be an "independent inquiry" into his sacking. Watchers of "Yes Minister" will watch that with interest - think Hutton or Butler report and you may not be far wrong. The terms of the inquiry will undoubtedly be restricted and fixed so as to ensure nothing untoward surfaces.

 

"There were no questions allowed today following the statement."

 

Silence is golden?

 

---

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2008/03/12/107590/jersey-inquiry-promised-as-simon-bellwood-case-settles.html

Jersey: Inquiry promised as Simon Bellwood case settles

Posted: 12 March 2008 | Subscribe Online

writes Maria Ahmed from Jersey


UK social worker Simon Bellwood reached a settlement in his Jersey employment tribunal today, but a full independent inquiry will be launched into his case. The former manager of a Jersey children's care home has settled his case with the States in the middle of an employment tribunal. Simon Bellwood had claimed unfair dismissal as manager of the Greenfields secure unit. But on Wednesday he and the States issued a statement saying the matter was now resolved with mutual satisfaction.

An independent inquiry is to be launched into his sacking.

Mr Bellwood had told the tribunal he felt undermined by his line manager Joe Kennedy whom he claims did not want him in the post. The former social worker said his superior was territorial and found it hard to pass over the reins when Mr Bellwood took over control of the secure unit from him. The tribunal was adjourned for most of the day while the parties talked.

Later, a joint statement was read on behalf of the States Employment Board and Mr Bellwood.

It said that Mr Bellwood had not been sacked for so-called whistleblowing. He will receive a sum of money in compensation, equal to his statutory and contractural entitlement, but the exact figure has not been disclosed. An independent inquiry will be set up to look into all of the circumstances surrounding the termination of Mr Bellwood's employment. It is unclear at the moment what the scope of this inquiry will be. Both parties are currently refusing to make any further comment.

Mr Bellwood's case is not connected to the ongoing investigation into child abuse allegations at the Haut de la Garenne children's home.

---

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/jersey/7292570.stm

Care manager settles sacking case

The former manager of a Jersey children's care home has settled his case with the States in the middle of an employment tribunal.

Bellwood was claiming unfair dismissal from his job as centre manager at the Greenfields secure unit on the island.
 
Today, a joint statement was issued on behalf of the States of Jersey Employment Board and Bellwood , saying proceedings had been "resolved to the parties' mutual satisfaction" at the tribunal, which began on Monday.

It said there would be a full independent inquiry into all of the circumstances surrounding the termination of Bellwood's employment.
"Mr Bellwood looks forward to contributing to that inquiry and the States of Jersey welcome his involvement," the statement issued by Bellwood's advocates said. "The States Employment Board does accept that employment procedures were not followed as closely as they should have been in Mr Bellwood's case; accordingly the Board has today agreed to compensate Mr Bellwood in a sum equal to his full statutory and contractual entitlement."
 
It also said: "The States Employment Board wishes to make it clear that Mr Bellwood was not dismissed for so-called whistleblowing. Mr Bellwood also wishes to clarify that he personally has never alleged, and does not now claim, that he was dismissed because of any so-called whistleblowing on his part."
 
Bellwood began work at Greenfields in August 2006 and was dismissed in May the following year.
 
He had criticised policies including a system that involved putting children in solitary confinement at the unit. Bellwood also complained that Joe Kennedy, his line manager at Greenfields, had bullied and harassed him but neither complaint was upheld, the tribunal heard earlier this week.
 
Yesterday David Le Quesne, the chairman of the tribunal, had to order Madeleine Davies, a senior human resources partner at the States of Jersey, to hand over notes of interviews she held with Greenfields staff in connection with Bellwood's complaint.
Davies had refused to give the documents to the tribunal without an order, saying to do so would have compromised her "integrity".
Today Le Quesne expressed concerns about the new evidence, saying it sat "uneasily" with Ms Davies' witness statement. But he turned down a request from the media to have the documents released to the public. It is believed the documents will now form part of the inquiry into Bellwood's dismissal.
 
There were no questions allowed today following the statement.

 

High Tides and Sunken Roads: The Hopkins Masterplan?

The high winds and high tides saw the crumbling of the sea wall at the end of Victoria Avenue the night before last, and also extensive flooding in Gloucester Street, right up to the Opera House, which was flooded. The area around there was awash with water.

I have a copy of the map which is part of the "Hopkin's Masterplan" in front of me, and the idea is to "join" the waterfront to town by sinking the road, and building an extensive commercial development - as usual beautifully prettyfied - above it. Apparently this can be paid for by the developers, who get the development land, who will meet the entire cost - with a "national art gallery" as a sweetener thrown in for free.

The proposed road sinks down into the underpass just about where it does at present when coming from the tunnel under Fort Regent, and it re-emerges from the depths just around Gloucester Street. That's right, the area that we can expect to be flooded if we get high tides and strong winds. Now wasn't that a bright idea!

I do hope that someone has the sense to bury the plan, rather than the road.

Broken Links in the Chains of Command

According to the Citizen's Advice Bureau, the Prison Governor is "Steven Guy-Gibbens who reports to the Minister for Home Affairs"; actually he resigned last year; their site is not up to date. But it suggests he reported directly to the Minister, Wendy Kinnard.

The story from the JEP was that he resigned because of frustration with red tape.

What was clear in an interview he gave was that he had no direct access to the Minister for Home Affairs, Wendy Kinnard, and that his requests for better facilities, more staff and notes of problems with morale and over-crowding - were filtered through the Home Affairs chain of command - and never reached the Minister at all.

Given that this obstruction is very recent, and the resignation only took place last year, it makes one wonder at the way in which Chief Officers "insulate" their Ministers, and - with regard to Haut De La Garenne, and other possible cases of abuse - Blanchepierre, Greenfields.

How likely it was that a Minister - or back then a President of a States Committee - would have been to know what was going on back in the 1960s or 1970s?

I think there are good grounds for supposing that they could have been easily "insulated" from finding out what was happening, and the case of the Prison Governor - in a quite different area - shows how easily this can happen even today!

Note also that he says the bureaucracy was even more strifling than anything in England!!

http://www.thisisjersey.com/news/showarchive.pl?ArticleID=001932&year=

FRUSTRATION over too much bureaucracy in the Island led to La Moye prison governor Steve Guy-Gibbens' surprise resignation this week. In a thinly veiled attack on senior civil service figures, he says he had expected a challenge when he took on the post in 2004, but not such a negative attitude from people outside the prison with whom he was expected to work. Mr
Guy-Gibbens, said that the frustration had proved too much. He said: 'It is the bureaucracy which is so frustrating. Everything takes so long, and in my view that is not a very efficient way of operating. There are so many tiers of administration every step of the way'. Mr Guy-Gibbens worked for the Prison Service of England and Wales for 29 years, the last five at the Prison Service headquarters in Westminster - which he had believed was the height of civil service bureaucracy. 'That was nothing like I have come up against here,' he said. 'I was hoping, in vain, that someone may think we ought to be doing things slightly differently, but that did not happen.'

Published 14/07/2007