Sunday 7 June 2015

Jersey International Finance Centre. (Waterfront Protest 7 June 2015)




Further to our Previous Posting we are able to announce that today's protest was a resounding success with 2,000-3,000 people turning up to demonstrate against the start of building, and in support of democracy.

This is a significant number of protestors for Jersey and sends a clear message to those running the Island that the people are no longer content to sit at home and complain, they are taking to the streets in numbers, and demonstrating against this government's undemocratic decisions.

Below are a few shots of today's protest and an interview with the former Planning and Environment Minister (who attended the Rally) Rob Duhamel.

Congratulations to all those who were a part of organising this event and to those who turned up in support.

24 comments:

  1. Good reporting VFC and Rob Du Hamel again came over as honest and intelligent. Probably why the chief minister Gorst, and the council of ministers wanted Steve Luce ( he who will do as he is told ) in office and tried to oust Duhamel when he was planning minister.

    A great day for residents, a good day for democracy, a good day for freedom of speech ! let us hope the states members wake up.

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  2. Off subject but something I cam e across trawling through another news site:

    "The panel was later told that two members of staff who had previously worked at Heathfield Children’s Home [Jersey] had been interviewed in the UK regarding sexual offences against children relating to their time in England. Both men had worked at Duncroft Children’s Home, where allegations relating to disgraced TV presenter and notorious paedophile Jimmy Savile were first made."

    Wonder if these two are of significance

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    1. Probably nothing to do with the Jersey/UK Duncroft School paedo link above, but in UK newspaper:

      www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ex-policeman-arrested-in-jersey-childrens-home-313089

      relates to a HDLG "child social worker" who had previously been a policeman. I wondered if his time overlapped with the visits by Wilfred Krichefski and his associates.

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    2. The child-abuser Senator Wilfred Krichefski was a founding partner of Channel Television was he not, the ITV/ITN franchise in the Channel Islands? I'm aware of the identity of another dead former Channel Television figure (who had also worked for the Jersey Evening Post, incidentally.)

      And then there's the former Deputy Bailiff & former Chair of Victoria College Board of Governors, Frances Hamon, who also worked at Channel Television & became a member of the board. His role in covering-up child-abuse at Victoria College is damningly described in the Sharp Report.

      It's not so difficult to understand, is it, why Channel Television have had such an obviously rabid, biased editorial policy of hostility towards the child-abuse investigations.

      That ITV editorial policy has included straightforward churnalism, the cut & paste regurgitation of spin-doctor authored 'news', and the pro-active support for the criminal conspiracy to pervert justice that was the illegal suspension of Police Chief Graham Power.

      Is UK ITV/ITN going to clean out the abuse-concealing toxicity of its branch in Jersey, thus setting a good example where the BBC has so obviously failed in respect of its Jersey branch?

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  3. Don't forget the Scrutiny Panel hearing tomorrow Monday 8 June from 2.30pm in the Blampied Room of the States/R Court building when the Jersey Development Company will be grilled on the International Finance Centre by Deputy John Le Fondre and his team...come early!

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    1. Isn't John Le Fondre a bit of an establishment wet lettuce?

      .....and something of a beneficiary of "family planning gain" himself?

      It will be interesting what happens -even if it is just an issue of corrupt power struggles within the establishment.

      Few from the silver spoon brigade ever lift a finger to help establishment abused children of wield a broom or don marigolds to clean up the place.

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  4. Whens Lundy giving evidence?

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  5. John Le Fondre used to be Ozouf's assistant minister and right hand man. When GST was on the table promoted by Le Suer, and Walker, Le Fondre took the view that the States should cut waste and reduce spending before imposing GST on the people. This did not go down well with Ozouf who sacked him for his stand.
    Le Fondre went against the establishment then big time, he can also read a balance sheet unlike other ministers who could not run a sweet shop, check out the looming deficit and ask how the figure went from thirty million to a hundred and thirty million in just six months.

    Le Fondre is not perfect, but Ozouf is useless, as are many of the politicians that hold his hand, and protect him. Whatever happened to Bailhaches truthfulness and consequences for liars ?

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    1. I think it fair to say I wouldn't entirely share the political views of John Le Fondre, but I would endorse the comment above. Jersey's parliament is always going to be largely made up of those of a traditional conservative view. But there's a world of difference between the 'old-school' Jersey conservatives in which I'd include Le Fondre, and the shallow, greedy and frankly incompetent collection of over-entitled vacuous, divisive brats and spivs that took the reigns of power, beginning with Frank Walker and his Mandelsonesque wannabe talentless braying fools like Ozouf.

      I wrote about Philip Ozouf's "performance" with Jersey's public finances here: -

      http://freespeechoffshore.nl/stuartsyvretblog/jerseys-public-finances-2004-2014-and-philip-ozouf/

      The last 30 years represents a catastrophic era for governance in Jersey. Not only have the dominant faction of politicians been fundamentally inadequate, the same is true of the Crown Officers - in fact more so. The present 'constitutional' and governance arrangements in Jersey cannot now survive - almost entirely because of the plain functional psychopathy and startling unfitness for high public office of Philip and William Bailhache.

      If only 'old-school' traditional Jersey conservatism had had the necessary leadership, courage - and ruthlessness self-preservation instinct that 'systems' need - and had protected the island from this era of shallow spivs, fools, ignoramuses, megalomaniacs, extremists and frank nutcases, the island would not be so beset with crises.

      Stuart Syvret

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  6. Oh come on, who do you really trust, JDC or Sean Fooley Power?

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    1. "who do you really trust, JDC or Sean Fooley Power"?
      LOL

      You are having a giraffe .........we trust neither!

      I have developed a considerable trust and respect for Mike Higgins, Montfort Tadier, Stuart Syvret and Team Voice.

      I have learned to take an unhealthy dollop of salt with anything to do with BBC-Savile, Krichefski-TV or the JEPaedo

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  7. Part 1.

    Your honest camera filming was badly missed yesterday evening VFC to give an accurate report of the town hall Jersey Finance Quarter proposed office building meeting that saw the Chairman Constable Steve Pallette, try to control an angry audience who's many questions were not answered.

    I was there and was amazed when the chairman tried to stop informed questioner's from finishing and even tried to close the meeting twenty five minutes early, but gave up as the audience called for more, and was getting shouts of " is it getting to hot for you " ? Were heard from the agitated room.

    What would have been caught by your all seeing excellent cam-corder would have been the cringing body language of Lee Henry and his Director of
    finance Mr Simon Neal, and the alarmed faces of the panel Chief Minister Gorst,Treasury minister Alan Maclean and Constable Pallette chairman as the rough ride started and questions kept coming, from incredibly well informed islanders.

    They all gave what seemed like same old same old scripted speeches to start the evening. Then came question time with the chairmen Steve Pallette informing the room that questions would need to be short and to the point ( fair enough ) but when an articulate young man said he had sat in on SoJDC being interviewed by scrutiny, he was worried at how SoJDC refused to answer scrutiny’s questions, he said that ministerial government was failing Jersey and he feared for Jersey's wealth and the future for children ( they would pay for today's mistakes).

    It was then that the chairman tried to close him down with but the room responded by shouting the Chairman down saying let him ask his questions.

    Several speakers were polite but not in the mood to be silenced, many said they had more questions, but no answers, and the states should not be getting involved is property speculation. The gasps could be heard when one speaker said that ex boss of WEB, Steven Izatt in 2011 as head of WEB as instructed by his board, wrote to the planning minister of their concerns that no grade A office building should go up on the Esplanade or Broad Street as this would create an oversupply which would be detrimental to Jersey's economy.

    Worse the man that was in charge of due diligence over the disgraceful Harcourt fiasco, the last time around, when the states members where assured that the ruler had been run over, and all checks had been made several times, was in fact Lee Henry WEB's finance director now advising Minister Maclean and promoted to CEO of SoJDC. He was still keeping most of the important information away from states members, just like last time. He finished by asking if the States were getting desperate to bulldoze this through by not waiting for the scrutiny report due to be published in a few weeks to loud applause from the room, I think I heard him asking in all the noise, if the ministers would resign if scrutiny found the evidence to show the office development doomed to financial failure.

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  8. Part 2.

    The last speaker ( with several others waiting ) of the evening again was a very well informed suit, pointed out the mistake of the add on stitch up approach without proper planning. The SoJDC and treasury Minister cannot tell us whether the road is to be sunk or not but it can't, because the plans have changed.The Hopkins master plan is dead and they are taking a piecemeal confused approach, which is not the way professional developers work, this is not what the states voted for he said. The panel again looked sick, but the bell had rung and the meeting had ended.

    I heard on BBC Jersey this morning several good snapshots and quotes taken from the meeting but also Treasury Minister Maclean was let off lightly, when he was quoted twice by the BBC, first time he said " we need as a government to get our message over ", the second quote " I think we got our message over last night "

    No Senator Alan Maclean, CM Gorst, Ozouf, Bailhache, Farnham and the rest, you need to drop the phony pretence and start speaking the truth, or have you forgotten how ?

    What was gained yesterday evening is confirmation that Jersey is in a bad place politically, with Ministers acting like dictators far removed from the islanders they represent.

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  9. Did Mario wink at you this morning?

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  10. Funny how even the JEP says "scores of Islanders in attendance at the Town Hall" (http://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2015/06/11/public-vent-anger-as-panel-stand-firm-on-finance-centre/)
    yet Cover-up TV titles its story "Just 50 people turn out for finance centre meeting" (http://www.itv.com/news/channel/update/2015-06-10/more-than-100-islanders-turn-out-for-finance-centre-meeting/)

    You couldn't make it up! Nice new studios at the waterfront yet the same old pro-establishment spin all the time!

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    Replies
    1. That's funny :-)

      The best bit is that the nerd in the IT dept (bless him or her) is less comfortable with lying so the web address states

      "more-than-100-islanders-turn-out-for-finance-centre-meeting" contradicting/correcting the headline LOL

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    2. Accurate, investigative journalism "Cover-up TV" style

      http://www.itv.com/news/channel/update/2015-06-11/former-les-chenes-principal-defends-school-discipline/

      Quotes MARIO LUNDY.....Mr Lundy dismissed these claims. He told the inquiry: ".........if you’re asking me did I receive a formal complaint about any member of staff the way they interacted with students, no, I didn't."


      No apparent contradiction reported; Lundy (head of Les Chenes) elsewhere states that he DID NOT HAVE A FORMAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE at Les Chenes!

      Well hows about that then guys and girls?

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  11. so, according to Lundy he is innocent, what happens next does he sue his accusers?

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    1. Mario always was innocent until proven guilty and he was waiting specifically to give his side to the Inquiry.
      He is aware of these blogs and the names of the people behind them so who knows what's going to happen?

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    2. Quite right. Surely with Lundy being "innocent", suing his many accusers would make total sense.

      Not only would it clear his name and exonerate the establishment for promoting him to CEO of the Child/Education Dept. (& then keeping him in position!) -also the damages would beef up his already considerable pension pot.

      Good pickings there as some of his victims have surely already received compensation from from taxpayer under the redress scheme, for the care and discipline they received.

      Others must surely be prosecuted for contempt of court. See news clip:

      https://youtu.be/Oq7H9pU0NkE

      Our esteemed Ex-Bailiff recently described this compensation as generous (in the States, while trying to halt the CoI). Surely it would only be fair of our Jersey Courts were to pass this generosity on to te real victims like poor Mr.Lundy?

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    3. To use an esteemed quote, I would go as far as to say that it would be a "real scandal" if Mario Lundy were not to receive justice.

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    4. Mario Lundy has responded.
      Whether people like his responses is their call though the harassment he has had from these Blogs cannot be lawful, and continual snide remarks towards him only endorses his counter claim of being witch hunted. Stuart Syvret attacked Lundy and others by writing serious accusations online and I'm disappointed he is not attending this Inquiry to give his evidence.
      If this Inquiry is unlawful like he claims then why did he attend yesterday?
      Moving ahead, how many more accused are yet to give evidence?

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    5. @16:42, Yes one of those snide remarks from above

      www.itv.com/news/channel/update/2015-06-11/former-les-chenes-principal-defends-school-discipline/

      Quotes MARIO LUNDY.....Mr Lundy dismissed these claims. He told the inquiry: ".........if you’re asking me did I receive a formal complaint about any member of staff the way they interacted with students, no, I didn't."

      No apparent contradiction reported; Lundy (head of Les Chenes) elsewhere states that he DID NOT HAVE A FORMAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE at Les Chenes!

      Clearly a lovely, honest, direct chap
      What's not to like?

      Blogs and commenters should not be allowed to quote the contradictions and nonsense in Mario Lundy's claims. Can't lawful surely?

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