Safe Deposits

So in this time of crisis we have no guarantee as residents of Jersey to our retail bank deposit accounts. Needless to say the Council of ministers are slow to respond.

Do the States have the funding to guarantee deposits or the desire to do so. It is all very well saying that they only allow top 500 banks to set up shop in Jersey but that is no comfort to local residents if these banks are toppled. Would our deposits be safe if a Bank was nationalised by the UK government?

Of course we did used to have UK banks here in Jersey but now they are offshore subsidiaries of the main banks except. I think, for HSBC which remains HSBC Bank plc. The remainder are Lloyds TSB Offshore Ltd, Barclays Private Clients international and Royal Bank of Scotland International. These are local or Isle of Man companies. Why is this?

Do you think we will hear much more on guaranteed deposits or will the Treasury minister and Council of Ministers hope it goes away?

Estate Agents blame the Greedy Vendor

It is difficult to know what to make of the apparent apathy of the Jersey property market to the woes of the world.

Clearly there are a number of Estate agents and mortgage brokers whose vested interest is to continue talking up the prices etc. However one of the most interesting remarks by an agent recently was to blame the high prices on greedy
vendors rather than estate agents. Forgive me, but Estate Agentsare the ones that "value" the property and attempt to sell it on behalf of the Vendor to a willing buyer.

Nevertheless they miss the point at present. That is even if you do find a buyer - the buyer then has to get a mortgage and given the paralysis in the money markets this is not as easy as it was. The first time buyer has all but disappeared other than the few that have then have to have a fairly large deposit.

The other fact that has slipped by is the proposed shared equity scheme promoted by the States. Why has it been passed now when one of the major developments in the Island at St. Lawrence is not selling to first time buyers because they cannot get the mortgages. All of a sudden the majority of this development will qualify for shared equity. This is no different to a government subsidy but it is met with silence.

Jim Time

Following Jersey Live & the Legal High - here's a surprise - A Jersey politician wants the sale of 'legal highs' banned.

Jim Perchard, Senator, (who doesn't want us to know the time of day) says it's questionable whether this is legal in Jersey (has he checked it out) and he's asked the Health Department to look into it - (why the Health department - he should be asking the Crown officers to give him a legal opinion as to law.) Shows the calibre of our politicians - they don't even know who deals with law and who deals with health.

This is of course the politician who wishes to mess with time. Notwithstanding that it was in no manifesto last time and most of us are busy dealing with the forthcoming financial whirlwind that is the credit crunch come recession possible depression he has no regard for this because his silver spoon doesn't see the plight of the world markets and the effect they would have on Jersey. No, he wants us to have bbq's til the middle of the night with no regard for neighbours and wants kids and pedestrians to walk to school and work in the dark.

Yes another Jersey politician who is in it for himself.

Anyway saw him on TV the other day. I thought he did a very passable impression of the Housing Minister so he does have a future career in impersonation when he leaves politics.

Mr Bad Guy

Other bloggers have already stated what an embarrassment Guy de Faye is over the proposed incinerator at La Collette and you can look at the Krakow Crapaud and St Ouennais blogs (links to the right) for details on the potential dangers and benefits showing both sides of the arguments.

But what of de Faye. Here is a man who has no electorate mandate brazenly trying to push through a project before his own teneure in office ends at the end of October. Why the States are even sitting when an election is in progress defies democracy anyway. His perfomance on CTV and BBC local television and radio, his "I don't care what anyone thinks" diatribe is a disgrace.

And what a quality politician he is. In the States chamber or on the media if you say something he doesn't agree with he just rubbishes the argument. It doesn't matter if the UK government has asked the critic to look at something such as incinerators and harm they may do - it is not good enough for someone whose career pinnacle is sticking his hand up a toy puffin's a**e.

His position on the council of ministers as a minsiter when he only has a mandate from his parish is untenable and really could only be countenanced in a jurisdiction where the government is a de facto dictatorship, albeit elected.

We can only hope that this man is jobless at the end of the next elections and that he does not get employment in Jersey.

1930's revisited?

When politicians dither over something like the $700 billion bailout of the US economy it shows that some of them, in this case, the Republicans seem to have some self interest at heart with one of their arguments being there should not be an intervenion in the economy.

This is a critical moment not just for the US economy but for the world economy. If someone like Ben Bernanke is involved in requesting the bail out you can reckon it is critical. This man, the head of the Federal Reserve, has studied the 1930's economic depression and knows
the signs. As the USA has a chance to do something then it should. If it leaves well alone then we could all in theory be closer to a depression rather than a recession. All the signs have been there, an economic bubble, easy credit, and a
willing suspension of belief in the reality. The Roaring 20's preceded the Depression and had been charactarized by excess. Recognise the signs.

Any way if a deal is not thrashed out in Washington today we will probably enter into charted territories that were last sailed in the 30's and it will affect little old Jersey.

A Responsible Landlord?

Aren't our States tenants the luckiest tenants in the world having such a wonderful landlord in the States Housing Department.

Quite frankly they are not the luckiest tenants and the landlord is appalling. In the UK and particularly Scotland where landlord registration is compulsory the States Housing Department would be lucky to get regulated principally because of
the bullying attitude to tenants.

It is highly unlikely with all the health and safety issues surrounding it that the Cedars would be allowed to be redeveloped with tenants in situ. They would in most other jurisdictions have to be rehoused and any prudent landlord would do so on the basis that they did not want to be sued by the tenants and didn't create an insurance liability for themselves.

Further Housing have some properties in the St. John's Road at a development called Le Clos du Martin, which is occupied mainly by OAPs. On the 22 September 2008 Housing Anti Social Compliance unit have seen fit to write in most aggressive terms to these tenants
concerning parking by visitors. Bearing in mind that the parking is unregulated why can these tenants not have visitors on what is a private road. Some of the visitors to the tenants are disabled i.e. possessed of disabled parking badges.

They cannot walk more than 100 yards. Housing appear to be dictating to the tenants as if they have no rights and are bullying them, interfering with their rights as private individuals - yes the State interfering with private citizens.

The trouble with the Housing department is that they appear to treat their tenants as if they are wasters rather than acting as a responsible landlord. It would be no surprise to hear that this rather worryingly named Anti-Social Unit is not busy bullying tenants in other States developments.

By way of example, in Scotland landlords are also regulated to be responsible for Anti-Social behaviour of tenants, also have to have an electrical and gas safety check every year and we have to maintain all fixtures and fittings (not tenants
contents) in good order in case the tenant reports the landlord to the council. Landlords also have to comply to fire regulations. We have to have regard to our tenants privacy and rights and are not allowed to interfere in our tenants enjoyment of their properties. This includes not dictating to them about visitors to the properties. Landlords have to be registered landlords at a fee of about £75 per property. Not sure whether this is per property even though I have to
pay it.

What amazes me is that there is little or no landlord responsibility or liability in Jersey. Why doesn't Jersey regulate landlords and take a fee of £75 per unit per year and a one off landlord registration fee of say £175 per landlord. Is it because they think they might frighten off the Landlords. It would bring in a nice amount of tax.

What a surprise

What a surprise that the businessman at the centre of the two politicians scandal is in the paper trying to drag Lenny Harper back to the Island to be called to account for what police officers do - investigate allegations - and the very fact that in the article Mr. Boschat doesn't deny the holidays allegation and refers to the Island being a small community misses the point entirely - police have to be impartial and are using public funds - that is what was being investigated - it is not acceptable business practice.

It is also unacceptable that his actions to drag Lenny Harper back into the limelight takes away attention from the Haut de la Garenne investigation.

A link to the article is here - Complaint against Harper is revived. As this is the JEP website it doesn't include the full words which also had the telling quote from the complainant "To this day I do not know what it was for (the investigation), They alleged I gave free holidays to police officers. I have grown up and worked with these guys. You live in a small community and you work together and you are bound to help each other".

Well it says it all if he can't what is wrong with his own statement. Did he or did he not offer holidays to officers - can he answer the question - if he did then it could be said it would be to the detriment of other local businesses because the playing field was no longer level.

And what timing for a front page article to help his two friends seeking election.

Election 2008

A brief return to a matter mentioned in previous posts and that is the ultimate undemocratic nature of the Jersey election which of course the States kept in more or less its old form rather than having elections for all on one day. We could either have a house of Senators or Deputies not both and Constables should not be allowed to sit in the States. At present the Constables are frequently returned unopposed to the States and then vote en-masse without an electoral mandate.

Yes of course we have a vote so there is a small element of democracy. But the Senatorial election will have 15 losers. How many of them will turn a month later in the Deputies election. So they have two bites at the cherry with a smaller constituency and therefore a better chance of being returned by the voters in that area. Even worse if a Deputy then makes it to the Council of Ministers.

In keeping the elections much as they are it appears that the existing incumbents have their own self interests at heart rather than those of the electorate - and why wouldn't they with a salary of about £45K plus expenses up for grabs.

Nursery Care

It is strange that after 5 and 1/2 years in the States and just as an election is announced that Mike Vibert has managed to obtain free nursery care for 3 & 4 year olds. It is even stranger that this proposition was approved by the States in the midst of an election - a manipulated vote. In most other countries when an election is in full swing parliament is dissolved. Why is it not here in Jersey? Because Jersey does not believe in true democracy perhaps.

Stranger still but the proposer of Mike Vibert at the hustings actually credited him with bringing free nursery care before the States had actually approved it. Maybe she knew something the electorate didn't - after all what could be better for the populace - now of course is not the time to reject something like this - or to continue harmful taxation of the population.

Whilst it is pleasing for those that now need nursery care for their children in order to be able to go and work to afford to live in Jersey no doubt all those parents who have shelled out £1,000s in nursery care in the past 5 and 1/2 years will be raising a glass and rejoicing and rushing to vote Mike Vibert back in. This man does not really deserve a seat in the States. Let's hope that he does not get in either as a Senator or a Deputy.

Cafe Le Hocq - Jersey 247 View

Went for a lunchtime meal to Cafe Le Hocq (or the old Le Hocq) this weekend.

Menu

The menu was the same as a couple of months ago. Starters were a very plain leek and potato soup and a rather poor smooth paté which although it claimed to be chefs home made still had a plastic wrapping around it and tasted as if it were straight from the fridge. The bread served with it was slightly old in taste. For mains there was a choice amongst others of a chicken salad, chicken and leek pie and veal was on the menu. The chicken and leek pie is always a little bland.

Quality

All in all not too good in my view. A little disappointing.

Surroundings

For a Sunday lunchtime in September it was very quiet with few diners. Also the muzak tends to be a bit off putting.

Price

Expensive. £72.00 for 4 people - only 2 starters - 4 mains - 1 sweet - 4 glasses of wine.

Jersey247 View

Won't be back until I here better reports.

What's the difference?

Thabo Mbeki has said will as President of South Africa following the revelation days after a High Court judge suggested that Mr Mbeki may have interfered in a corruption case against his rival, ANC leader Jacob Zuma.

Deputies Ferguson and Egre said to the JEP that they see nothing wrong with their helping a constituent and fellow Centenier during an investigation against that citizen.

The fact that these two can't see that they have done nothing wrong is worrying and shows that neither is fit to be a member of the States and certainly not to be the Constable or head of the Parish police. Yet rather than resign they defend themselves and seek election.

So for the Parish of St. Peter it would appear to be a case of Vote Refault and for the rest of the Island to make sure that Sarah Ferguson is not voted for. Of course if they don't get elected we will see them try as Deputies again - no doubt.

See link Alleged Political pressure in 2006

States Sponsored Advertising

Aside from the Planning issue that no obstruction for views should be placed at junctions without the consent of the Planning minister how is each election candidate accounting for the costs of placing the banner and the costs incurred by States employees and TTS erecting these barriers on taxpayers time and money - perhaps one of the sitting politicians will ask Guy de Faye the cost to the tax payer in employees time and manpower and whether a commercial rate is being charged for use of the barriers.

I note that one of the first to put up a banner at Green Street roundabout was Ozouf. This had already been defaced and sloganized evidently by people who aren't too keen on him.

As for the buffoon saying people shouldn't have a licence if they are distracted by the signs yet again he is doing everything in his power to avoid re-election. Roundabouts are not advertising spaces. So if anyone has an accident (and it is an accident not a crash) then I would suggest they have a word with their insurers and lawyers so that the States are brought in as party to any compensation claim and the relevant minister (the buffoon) is called to account.

Shorts

Unfortunately those that practice short selling of shares and other proponents of the method say that it is good because it highlights fundamental weakness in the companies involved. This is of course not correct. What it does is break the company, HBOS, where there was no need for it to be broken.

These hedge funds and "shorters" have no regard for the welfare of the company, the savers and genuine investors and the employees. They have no regard for the 1000's of ordinary lives that their greed destroys.

These people sell shares agressively that they do not own and then as a natural reaction the share price falls buy them back a lower price and get the profit. This is not investing. It is trading or gambling and this method of trading has destroyed the credibility of the markets. One of the reasons the London market rebounded so much yesterday was not a fundamental change of investment it was because shorters of stock had been caught out by the overnight announcement and were rapidly closing their massive positions - in their potential next victims and were having to buy the stock.

How can any private investor, pension fund investment or institutional investor make a rational investment decision when this practice pervades markets. How can any listed company make rational business decisions when it might be next. Shares in any business should be bought on fundamentals of that business.

The shorting of bank stocks has been banned on the London Stock Exchange until January. Hopefully that will be widened to ban it in all stocks. The UK & US government would also do well to make all companies show all their assets and ban off-balance sheet vehicles.

Weather the Storm?

The Chief Minister states that Jersey is well positioned to weather the current financial storm.

The Chief of Jersey finance states that is good for Jersey that Lehman went bust.

The problem is that the Banks and investment banks went about their business but aside from the credit crunch no one really knows the extent of the losses on their balance sheets by using special investment or purpose vehicles away from their balance sheets. Frequently these "vehicles" are held offshore - Jersey for example.

Now, with all the turmoil in the markets, the collapse of HBOS, and the potential rescue in the pipeline of the US financial markets announced today, what happens if one of the possible trade-offs for any government rescue of the financial markets and increased interest of governments in Europe and the USA is that off balance sheet structures are banned or severely curtailed.

Have the States taken into account any impact that this might have on Jersey and particularly if banking and investment banking returns to its traditional roots.

Elections for Senators & Constables

With 21 candidates standing for election for Senators there are rather a lot to choose from.

Unfortunately none of the write up in the JEP inspires any confidence thus far in any of the candidates. Certainly and based only on their performance in the States during the past three or six years and the voting records of the particular
candidates no existing States member - be they Deputy or Senator will attract my vote. I hope a lot of other Islanders see it that way as well. The question is who to vote for instead. Some seem too young, some need to have a grounding as Deputies first and some seem to be after a salary. There are only about two that I can see straight away that may be worthy of a vote and I think one vote may go to a fellow blogger. Anyway I suppose it is a wait and see how the hustings go.

As for the Constables it was predictable that there would be few contested elections. The very fact that these people are in the States defies democracy.

For those that fail to succeed as Senators, well we can be sure if they are sitting States members they will stand as Deputies. If they get in at that point again democracy will be denied.

It is interesting to note that Guy de Faye didn't put his head above the parapet and stand for Senator. Maybe he is frightened of the fight - but we can leave him to make his own comments about standing up and fighting because his gun is usually pointing at his foot.

Credit Crunch and Jersey

It is hard to believe that a fairly senior figure in Jersey Finance should say that the collapse of Lehman Brothers could be good for Jersey as it clears out weaker players.

The western world is in a financial mess. Last night the very real possibility of AIG going bust was on the cards and it is only the Federal Reserve taking a 79% stake in the business that kept it afloat. Had that business gone bust there would have been problems with the capital ratios of all banks as they have policies with AIG underwriting billions of mortgages in the event that the mortgages go bad. You can read about how important both AIG is here on the BBC's Robert Peston's blog.

HBOS is all but finished. Merrill Lynch had to be taken over in an emergency takeover by Bank of America.

It is the very fact that mortgages and debt have been packaged and sold on that started the problem. Here is a link explaining it in simple terms.

The Jersey property market was flying away in recent years on the basis of allowed j category immigration and that a certain lender now out of the market was lending at least 5 times salary but in addition to this was adding into the criteria that there was £150 per week lodging per bedroom of potential income whether or not the prospective purchaser was going to let the room. The people buying these properties were also getting loans from finance houses to supply the balance of the purchase price.

Therefore as prices slip back in Jersey, the Island is probably going to see some negative equity. There is currently little or no funding available for first time buyers unless they have a large deposit. So that market is taken out. The flats being built by large developers and those already sold to UK investors are now probably unsellable unless they are in a prime location. There is no major buy to let lender following the withdrawal of Jersey Home Loans and any professional buy to let investor looks very carefully at location and tends to avoid large multiple developments. It was only investment clubs and those lured by the guaranteed rental schemes that bought these properties. Because the States Loan is gone what does it mean for the St. Lawrence first time buyer scheme on Goose Green Marsh. What happens if redundancies occur in our finance industry, upon which we are over reliant.

Now is not the time for our head in the cloud politicians to be pursuing the Waterfront development. Where will the tenants come from in the next five to ten years.

Economically it is scary out there and really our finance leaders and politicians are not showing that they are up to the job.

Independence Talk Again

The Bailiff and Attorney General are Crown appointees. They are unelected in Jersey.

Yet again the Bailiff has used an island ceremony, the Assise d'Heritage (where Seigneurs renew the allegiance to the Crown and Lawyers affirm their oaths) to promote his argument or agenda for independence. Perhaps his promoting of the idea of independence will lead to the prospect of an already shaky worldwide finance industry considering whether it should have a base or presence in Jersey if there are mutterings of indepedence from the Islands head of judiciary and president of the States of Jersey.

There may be consequences that he hasn't foreseen when uttering the word "independence".

It is interesting that the Attorney General chastised local politicians for contact with MPs who had no mandate in Jersey over the Haut de la Garenne scandal. The fact is the Bailiff of Jersey has no mandate to even be promoting independence. Why
do lawyers need to consider the issue? They have no electoral mandate. The only people who should consider it are elected politicians and the electorate. The Attorney General can criticise politicians - but like everyone they have the right to contact UK politicians if they wish. The UK Members of Parliament have no say in Jersey and no doubt know they have no mandate. However it is not for members of our judiciary to rubbish the actions of local politicians whether we the public consider it right or wrong.

The actions and words of both the Bailiff and Attorney General are flying the face of democracy and also in the face of the UK in his comments about UK judges.

What do they do for you?

What do they do for you? I know the standard establishment (i.e. States or response to such a question would be "what do you do for your island?" or "what do you do for your Parish?").

We do the following. Pay tax. Pay GST. We all pay GST. So we are all taxpayers. We are mostly ratepayers. We are voters. We still pay GST on our food.

What do we get for our money. There is vast expense on projects that aren't needed so that public sector workers can remain gainfully employed thinking up new traffic ruses. There are reams of civil servants in jobs full time while the rest of us worry about the state of the economy.

We pay additional for visits to the hospital. Heaven help you if you fall sick. Because your taxes and social security contributions are not enough and you have to pay fees for X-ray or mammograms or smear tests. If you have assets you then have to pay again for your nursing care. Thanks to Routier, Senator. Women or men who are misfortunate enough to contract cancer or undergo a cancer scare have to pay for the x-rays.

In the last couple of years MRSA was rampant for a time in certain wards. An elderly relative went into hospital for a routine operation and contracted MRSA. He was treated by the staff as if he was a leper. The hospital had actually exacerbated his problem. He was left isolated for weeks. Only when members of the family had words with the Ward sister about the abhorrent treatment he received in Hospital did his situation improve coupled with a veiled hint that legal action would be forthcoming about the MRSA. Strangely enough the ward had a thorough clean shortly thereafter but one can only surmise that this was a coincidence. Fortunately his contraction of MRSA only lasted a year. At least it didn't kill him. The whole matter was to do with the standard of cleanliness in the wards - the fact that they are not cleaned properly. Indeed if you do contract MRSA, the most likely place you will catch it is in Hospital, however the first thing they will say to you as the patient is that you or a member of your family were a carrier of the virus. I believe this has more to do with the accountants and managers in charge of the hospital rather than the staff. They would be better off cutting the administrative burden and employing more cleaners, nurses and doctors and also returning the hospital to a teaching hospital rather than exporting our training to Southampton.

In your local Parish what do they do for you? They collect your bins although some would now like you to involve you in the recycling scam - that is visit your recycling area and do their job for them. That's a good idea isn't - one truck picking up loads of rubbish - quite a green idea - or 5,000 cars visiting various recycling sites through the Island. Brilliant. Where do the bottles go for recycling. Are they re-constituted as bottles. Does paper get recycled in our local factories!

If you live in a street with no parking for your own house or insufficient parking as occurs in St. Saviour or St. Helier you have to deal with the sort of people who come and park outside your house so they don't have to pay for public parking and then walk to work for the whole day. So they oust the local who has to park elsewhere. It doesn't matter if you have children or are a single female having to walk some distance from your home. If you live in St. Saviour (Constable Peter Hanning, no mandate - unelected - although he does acknowledge that fact so credit to him) you will know that the Parish does absolutely nothing for residents - will not even consider residents parking - will not alleviate the problems with the school runs and rat runs and the speed of the drivers. Yes they do have to get to the schools, but stick to the main roads, stop using the country lanes - make them stop using country lanes - make them one way half way down the road - do something to make your residents lives better. Hopefully someone will stand against him who will look after Parish residents or he will listen to his conscience and introduce residents parking for Parish residents and rate payers. Don't ask your local Deputy to do anything for you or your constable because it appears at face value once they are elected contested or not they are only in it for themselves and they will prevaricate - if they have enough intelligence - or if they don't send you a damning e-mail - I refer there to the Education Minister - chastising for daring to criticise things that don't work in Jersey.

We also have to pay for planning applications and building applications. Those who are not connected to mains water have to pay the States majority owned company the cost of the pipe work. Fair enough if it is a housing estate but what about individuals. It is a basic right. The same goes for main drainage. Has there been an extension of the sewer system during Deputy de Faye's tenure. Not as far as I am aware unless the private individual pays. The only thing I would agree with him on would perhaps have been the right to place main drain through private property. In contrast to the emotional statements that the drains would be placed through gardens etc this is a health issue. It is quite easy to dig a trench remove the area of land above and reinstate it above. I know because we are in a similar situation with private drains.

Equally with TTS and the Parishes how many of you have noticed that although we pay our taxes and Parish rates how the road borders and pavements which once were fairly clean are now invariably littered with weeds, have litter etc.

I know its a silly question but haven't we already paid for this in our income tax.

Ransom's Gardeners Restaurant - Jersey247 View

Went for a lunchtime meal to Ransoms recently.

Menu

The menu always varies at Ransoms but one thing I noticed about the menu was that seemingly simple fish dishes were always supplied with a prawn sauce or some similar shellfish sauce. There was very little by the way of chicken dishes. So being somewhat allergic to shellfish had to make do with a jacket potato and egg mayonaise filling. Never mind.

Ice cream for dessert.

Quality

Was ok. I think Ransoms is a place you can take or leave.

Surroundings

I found it rather cramped to be honest. There were three of us. We were put on two tables joined together. A circular table would have been better. A couple were put on a circular table for four.

Price

Slightly expensive to my mind.

Jersey247 View

Still worth a visit.

Ridiculous

Now our esteemed politicians who are not even up for election Ben Shenton, Freddie Cohen and Jimmy Perchard - are setting their sights on having the tax removed from healthy food.

Chief Minister Frank Walker hopes that next week politicians will back Deputy John Le Fondre's call to give back some GST income to poor people through income tax relief and government benefit handouts. As it is a tax on everybody it should not be given back to some.

It proves we have a government that is bereft of ideas to help the economy and that cannot make the simplest of decisions.

Here again for our States members is the solution to their problem: No GST on any food or water, fuel and electricity. Simple.

Sod the Proles

So it's official. We have a government that doesn't know what it is doing. It takes four days to debate the bleeding obvious as if it is trying to tell the electorate however clever it is.

Then they are so confused that some of those that voted for GST on food initially voted for it to be off food and those that voted for GST to be off food in the initial debate voted for it to remain on food in this debate.

Well it was all vote catching stuff. Eventually the exemptions idea was all too confusing any way. Here is the simple way of putting it. No GST on any food or water, fuel and electricity. Simple.

Nevertheless the Council of Ministers were seeking a U-turn, commendable though it may have been, and those that voted against it clearly forgot there is an election around the corner and treat the electorate with contempt and treat them with derision and contempt. It's a sod the proles vote.

And finally, Terry Le Sueur, can't alter arrangements for 1 1 (K)'s and their taxation arrangements as it is immoral. I don't suppose being a tax haven is immoral notwithstanding that these are generally funds upon which tax should be paid
elsewhere. He also didn't consider it immoral to change the taxation arrangements of 1000's of Islanders with his 20/20 provision. Anyway sod the proles.

So let the proles eat cake vote in the next couple of months. I suppose it will be a case of better the devil you don't know and not voting for any States member.

A Little Free Publicity Please

I know some readers and writers of blogs are not too enamoured of the JEP however it was interesting to read Ben Queree's article on Monday concerning certain items that had been passing the JEP news desk. Here is the link

He gets it spot on about the buffoon and the U-turn on GST. Here is a man doing everything he can not to get elected. Let's hope he fails to get re-lected.

Quite frankly the current incumbents are ridiculous in their attempts to manipulate the press.

It shows that those named in his article have nothing but contempt for their electorate - do they think we are all stupid. Well yes it would appear that they do.

Maybe they don't see the cause and effect of their actions or the consequences - they may not get many votes.

Ozouf and 100% Mortgages

I see that Ozouf now has his name in the paper over the credit crunch and is showing everyone how intelligent he is.

Does our government (elected dictatorship) not think it interferes enough. It is only media speak from a media person - someone who offers nothing to society.

We are lucky that we have such people in government that mean we don't have to think for ourselves. Of course, having someone with a family and all the worries of the family man with children helping us along is a real help. I realise Ozouf does not have the experience to know what he is talking about but the lenders are not offering 100% mortgages. At the moment you are lucky to get 80%. Never mind that the economy is taking care of itself and people are worried about their jobs - Ozouf why don't you make everything 100 times worse by legislating?

The fact is the man(!) is talking nonsense - clearing banks don't lend to mortgage lenders. The clearing banks - Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, HSBC and RBS all lend throughout the UK direct to retail customers. All are having difficulty to some extent securing funds to lend. Since Jersey Home Loans left the market there has undoubtedly been a further slowdown. But there have always been other lenders.

As for saying our market is holding up well perhaps Ozouf should check how busy things are with Estate Agents or check how many houses are changing hands at Court each week. It's not many.

The first time buyer market is dead and it doesn't seem to bode too well at the moment for some large developments in Gloucester Street or St. Lawrence - but that will pan out over time.

Politicians saying otherwise proves only one thing - their fingers are not on the pulse.

2008 Education Abuse

Back to Education and to the post on Voiceforchildren website ("vfc") and the story of his son suffering bullying and a beating.

Yet another damning indictment of the current Education system. It seems that the school teachers can only provide support for the perpetrators and damn the victim and their parents for being a bloody nuisance.

Hopefully when Mike Vibert is up for election next month questions will be asked of his current tenure at the Education department. Particularly it is hard to believe that there appear to be no contact details of the Education officers that are employed civil servants paid with our taxpayers money.

I am pleased that vfc has contacted the police. Assault is assault no matter what. It appears that the school and the Education policies are aiding and abetting such behaviour and should be taken to task as such.

As I have mentioned before the one and only time I e-mailed him with a mild criticism I received an e-mail of abuse from him stating how he didn't like people who belittled Jersey. It was an absolute diatribe from someone who did not pick up on the point I was making.

Nevertheless the Education Department and the chief officer of Education are clearly allegedly allowing a form of alleged abuse or bullying to continue on their watch. Shame on them. They are no better than the scum who bully or the teachers that tacitly support so as to avoid trouble.

But it is open to the parent to seek advice from the citizens advice bureau or if he/she feels that strongly to see a lawyer or obtain legal aid so that at the least a lawyers letter can be sent to Education and the Minister concerned putting them on notice. Also for your son to remember, one day when his schooldays are over, he is likely to have a good job and will no doubt pass the perpetrators of his bullying in the street. Likelihood is that they will be no marks and wasters. If not you can bet that they will then be trying to befriend your son and pretend nothing happened in the past.

Anyway good luck to you vfc and neither you nor your son should give up. There is a lot of support to standing up against bullies - be they at the school - or as it appears in Jersey in the very heart of the Education establishment because of their do nothing attitude.

Air Display Week

Air Display week has come around again - all too quickly as the years pass by. Unfortunately we can't go to the static display because of other commitments.

May go out west to watch a few take offs for the Guernsey display and likely to watch the display from the front this year. Previous years we always used to go to Mount Bingham. However the planes seem to take a different route these days because of the waterfront development I presume and come in more over Elizabeth Castle.

A bit of a disappointment to see the headline in the JEP that this years event might be the last or the future is in doubt. Well didn't the JEP say that about the Battle of Flowers. To my mind the Battle of Britain Air Display remains a more worthy event particularly given its historical connections and also the current world situation and armed forces involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan - so if I had to pay for the display - and I do always try to buy the brochure and donate to the various collectors - I would pay.

Always an exciting event for me and my son - looking forward to seeing the B52 and Vulcan if they come along - anyway long may it continue.

1970's Jersey Education - A form of mental abuse & bullying

In light of the current child abuse disaster I was pondering about my own schooldays
and times during the 1970's.

We went as shining examples to that beacon of education establishment "Le Rocquier" (spelt incorrectly to allow for an extra class - each one was 1L 1E etc); As the first intake we had to wear the new school uniform. The first insult to the children was that the school badge to be affixed to the pocket of the blazer consisted of a map of Jersey which omitted the Parish of St. 0uen; most I think refused to wear this badge until it was fixed.

Anyway at the time as one of the first intakes and coming from a broken home this school subjected us to various forms of education the worst of which was "needlework". What a ridiculous waste of the an hour's lesson per week.

In particular however the head of English who had decamped from Victoria Cottage (sorry College) and I understand subsequently returned there was an arrogant and nasty b@stard. For some reason, because one particular pupil who came
from a broken home and was having a difficult time, this teacher mercilessly picked on him in all lessons - it was what you could call mental torture - so coming from their own personal mental torment at home - pupils came to school to this - the school and its headmaster were fully aware of the particular troubles - however from homework to schoolwork this guy would always single out the particular pupil for reading out loud - his favourite Shakespeare play was "A Midsummer Nights Dream" and therefore he always cast this pupil as "Bottom". One event was all too much for him and it ended that he walked out of the class and was heading out of school; he refused to be taught by him again and was moved to a lower class. In addition to this such treatment perpetuated other bullying from other pupils. I believe that the behaviour of the teacher concerned and the support he received from the staff caused that pupil to break down and leave without any formal qualifications despite being in the top 5 of the school.

It would be interested to know whether such bullying by the head of English and the lack of action by the school was a form of abuse but more particularly if anyone else suffered similarly during that time at this school or any other of the Island schools. I know Senator Syvret has alluded to experiencing a similar type of education at another school on the Island.

I also recall that there was a perception that all pupils from Haut de la Garenne (for Le Rocquier was their catchment area) were trouble or to be avoided and no teacher did anything to remove this perception. Some of these pupils were
quite fine although I am now aware that a couple of them died young one in a vehicle crash and the other apparently suicide. For what reasons we will never know but one can surmise.

Does this sort of unacceptable behaviour still exist in the Island education system?

Roundabouts and Filter in turn.

Roundabouts and Filter in turn.

Following on my post about Jolly Green Guy I thought I would suggest some possible ways to improve traffic flow and assist pedestrians so as not to be seen as picking on politicians without providing some ideas.

Why not have roundabouts or filters in turn instead of traffic lights and zebra crossings instead of the crossings. You could have going East to West, a filter in turn at the Recreation Grounds onto the St. Clement's Inner Road, a roundabout or filter in turn at Georgetown, a filter in turn/roundabout at St. Clements Road and Route du Fort, then a roundabout at the west end of the tunnel (it might have to remove the steam clock), filter in turn at the end of Gloucester Street (this would have to co-exist with the sinking of the road), a roundabout at the East end of Victoria Avenue (to the South-West of the Grand Hotel). It may help with traffic flow with a little common sense.

You could also have a roundabout and filter in turn system at St Clements Road/Howard Davis Park and also Don Road coming out of Mont Millais. The same could also be done leading out of Castle Street onto the Old Esplanade.

Sharp Report - A Damning Indictment

I have now read the Sharp Report scan as published and linked to by Stuart Syvret.

I will not break it down in detail, that is being done elsewhere.

The report is a damning indictment particularly of Le Breton, Hydes and most severely of Baker. To have any of these in charge of my children would have been a severe worry. Throughout the report there is a pervasion that they refused to believe any wrong of someone associated with the college. Particularly damning is a rather arrogant letter written by Baker to the Police.
In the Hydes case, and whilst I know Senator Syvret rails against Francis Hamon, it appears from the reading of the report, that the Hydes were using a "social" connection to obtain advice as to what to do. Now if a person cannot have the moral judgement to take that decision themselves rather than bringing all around to discuss then they are not a very strong person. It is a question of morals - "I have been told by a pupil/teacher of a serious allegation against a teacher" - do I (1) do nothing (2) hush it up (3) discuss it with all and sundry except the appropriate authorities (4) dismiss the allegations and thereby emotionally damage the person concerned or (5) have the courage of your convictions and report it to the authorities. The last option would have been the correct option of course. If the allegations had been untrue then there would have been no consequence. The prevarication of these people in fact left children, who were in their care, at risk.

The worst of the case is, unbelievably, that Le Breton is now a member of the judiciary. Now that the Island and the world in general has access to the report he has only one option - that is to resign - and the sooner the better. His judgement was flawed at that time and therefore he cannot sit in judgement of others.

The other fact that is deeply disturbing is that the government of Jersey saw fit not to publish the report. The report is a statement of facts. It is a fairly simply if traumatic read and details the flawed decisions on varying scales made by various people. It is as simple as that. Those that read it can make their own judgements on the matter but the very fact that the authorities chose not to publish the report shows the contempt with which they hold the people of Jersey and the apparent contempt that some politicians hold their electorate.

The Waterfront Anomaly

Now here's a little quirk and perhaps a little bit of investigative "journalism" from Jersey 247!

Between the old abattoir, i.e. the new Tourism building and the new Ernst & Young/CPA building - "The Island Site", which lead from the harbour to the Esplanade and which is now a building site and used to be the old road which bordered on its west the sea and which was the main thoroughfare going west from the tunnel. You know the road which was replaced by the underpass so formerly joining the old Esplanade with the Route de la Liberation to the North of Albert Pier.

You may be interested to know that this was never in fact a road despite the fact that it was a major public thoroughfare for many years. The Public (States) sold this land to the Waterfront Enterprise Board on the 26th August 2005 without a general States debate under the authority of a letter signed by the Treasurer of the States on the 28 October 2004 under the auspices of a Finance and Economics Committee minute dated 20 December 1999 pursuant to the provisions of the States of Jersey Law 1996. The land, which we all used for years as a public road and drove and walked on and no doubt had accidents on and claimed on insurance on was described in the contract as being "the Private Road" which had never been a public road, parish road, neigbourhood road or any other road which is public but formed part of "the Port of St Helier" and had erroneously been previously described as Public. This is a big surprise as it was the major thoroughfare before the underpass was opened.

Given the importance of the site if it was not a road to the Waterfront development it was then sold to the Waterfront Enterprise Board for £10.00 plus legal fees of £1,010.00 and on condition that it must never be sold without consent of the Public (States). Interestingly the contract also placed an estimated value on the land of £80,000.00. Why then was it not sold for at least that price given its strategic importance to the Waterfront development.

Was there ever any investigation on this prior to the sale. Why was it not put to the States? Was a RICS valuation undertaken in respect of the land or was the £80,000 just someone's estimate? Will any of our politicians investigate?

Anyway ask your politicians or point them to this article or e-mail the link to them. Do you think we will receive any comment from them?

Jolly Green Guy

I wonder really what green and environmental credentials the Jolly Green Guy in charge of TTS has.

For a start he is afflicting the Island with the energy from waste plant which is one of the ugliest prospective buildings to be considered in Jersey for years and if built will be a testament to folly.

But what about the buses and the contract he has afflicted on the Island. The Connex buses were too big for the Island roads but this did not stop the jolly green Guy. He had obviously not heard about the Connex South East contract cancellation in the UK in 2003 when the Strategic Rail Authority cancelled the contract for poor punctuality and management and "citing poor financial management and "a serious loss of confidence... in the ability of the company to run the business in its widest sense". Little did it matter to Jolly Green Guy that a locally owned business which had provided the bus service was swept away by a foreign business and rather than have am assumed tax paying business we, the taxpayer, would pay Connex for providing a bus service. Remember that when the Jolly Green Guy seeks his Island wide mandate.

If you take a stroll through the parks you will now see that the park keepers and workers are supplied by TTS with these blowing machines (which I assume are powered by petrol or diesel and hot air). A very green solution to removal of leaves and a good amount of noise for the neighbours. Well done Jolly Green Guy - what is wrong with brushes and bins?

What about traffic lights and crossings. Do these not use electricity and contribute to light pollution. What about roundabouts and zebra crossings - a far better solution (upon which I will write a separate post).

What about the car parks. The Jolly Green Guy said that scratchcards were on the way out during 2006. We are now nearly in 2009 and this waste of paper and environmentally wasteful system still exists. I can't think where else one would find such a system in Europe. Well, Jolly Green Guy what about an electronic system similar to the auto-péage in and out of the car park and with the fee deducted direct from the bank account? Pay on exit tickets similar to the airport could also be available.

Finally Jolly Green Guy also sees nothing wrong with flouting the competition law concerning the fixing of fares in taxis and cabs - a cartel.

Jersey Live & the Legal Drugs High

I see in the JEP this evening there is a headline about the festival drugs tent at Jersey Live which allowed festival-goers to snort, smoke and swallow legal drugs and was shut down on Saturday.

Apparently it was selling "legal" replacements for cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy, offering people the chance to snort substances or smoke herbal highs under the nose of the States of Jersey Police.

This is supposed to be a "world class" event promoting Jersey and will no doubt have had to obtain "kind" permission from the Bailiff.

Even if these items were legal why was it allowed to open in the first place at the site. What example does it set to children and youngsters encouraging them to
seek highs. What is a high! Did we all need a "high" when we were younger. I suppose given Jersey's record on child care it is no surprise that a top tourist event should encourage a learning experience on how to become a drug user.

What about parents who were taking young children to the event. Were they exposed to this behaviour and its after effects.

It is an absolute disgrace. The event will of course have caused a weekend of noise misery for its neighbours - all promoted by the States in the name of Tourism - and now it has the seedlings of a drug school - learn how to get yourself high and then graduate to the real thing.

The promoters, the authorities and the customers of the "tent" are no more than fools and idiots.

A worthy punishment in my view would be to stop the whole event all together next year.