GOVERNOR’S Road in Onchan has now re-opened after a road accident this morning.

Police described the incident as ‘serious’.

The incident happened on the road between Summerhill Road and Blackberry Lane.

It happened at about 8.30am.

A MAN employed by the Water and Sewerage Authority died today in Peel after a wall collapsed on him.

Police inspector Derek Flint said emergency services were called to the incident, behind the Marine Parade area.

‘A wall collapsed and as a result a gentleman has lost his life,’ he said ‘It is a very tragic and sad incident.’

The 4-5ft high stone wall which collapsed runs alongside a public footpath.

It is understood that the man who died was was in his 50s and lived in Peel.

The Water and Sewerage Authority confirmed that one of its workers was killed this morning while excavating to replace a water supply pipe.

The chairman of the authority, John Houghton MHK, the vice chairman, Bill Henderson MHK and the chief executive, Peter Winstanley visited the scene of the accident to view first-hand the site and to offer support to the workforce.

Mr Houghton said: ‘We cannot release the name of the worker at this time until the police have informed the next of kin, however it was a very tragic and unfortunate accident and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this time.’

Officers from the Health and Safety Inspectorate are on site carrying out a full investigation into the accident.

This evening’s requisition meeting about the future of sewage in the area, which was to be held in the Corrin Hall in Peel, has been cancelled by the Captain of the Parish, John Kennaugh JP.

Cable and Wireless Communications, the company that runs the Sure telephone service in the island, has been sold.

CWC will sell its operations in the Isle of Man, The Maldives, Channel Islands, the Seychelles, South Atlantic and Diego Garcia to Bahrain Telecommunications Company (known as Batelco) for $680m, as well as creating a partnership with Batelco for CWC’s 55 per cent shareholding in Monaco Telecom. Batelco will have a 25% shareholding in the partnership with CWC maintaining a 75 per cent shareholding.

The sale is subject to the satisfaction of necessary regulatory and other conditions, and is expected to complete by the end of CWC’s current financial year.

Andy Bridson, chief executive of Cable and Wireless Isle of Man, said: ‘We are pleased with today’s announcement that we will be joining the Batelco Group.

‘Batelco is an international telecoms operator respected for delivering value and innovation to its customers.

‘Batelco is committed to the continuing development of our businesses in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands and we will certainly benefit from its partnerships and relationships retaining a very global dimension to our business. Nonetheless, our focus will remain on delivering the best services to our customers.’

Sheikh Mohamed bin Isa Al Khalifa, Batelco Group chief executive, said: ‘The CWC Isle of Man and Channel Islands region is a well-managed business that we want to invest in so that it continues to build upon its existing strengths. Batelco is in the process of building a telecoms business of global relevance of which the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man will be an important part.

‘We are looking forward to supporting each of the businesses and contributing to the communities they operate in.’

CWC says the sale is part of its plan to reshape its portfolio of businesses to focus on the Central American and Caribbean region as well as increasing its financial flexibility. The businesses included in the transaction serve a combined 752,000 mobile, fixed, broadband and TV customers.

More on this news in Thursday’s Manx Independent.

ENERGY firm Celtic Array insists it is listening to concerns about the impact of wind farm developments on vital island ferry routes.

Public exhibitions about the proposed Rhiannon wind farm were held in Port St Mary on Friday and at the i-Museum in Douglas the following day, with a third taking place today (Monday) at Ramsey town hall.

At a press conference last week, Infrastructure Minister David Cretney and Steam Packet boss Mark Woodward joined forces with the Chamber of Commerce and TravelWatch to voice serious concerns about the cumulative threat a series of proposed renewable energy projects planned in the Irish Sea could have on lifeline services.

Of particular concern are proposals for the North East area which cuts right across the Liverpool and Heysham ferry routes.

Isle of Man Newspapers has urged readers to join a campaign to safeguard these vital sea routes by signing a ‘Don’t cut us off’ petition.

At the public exhibition held at Mount Tabor Methodist church hall, as part of the first formal stage of Celtic Array’s community consultation for the Rhiannon wind farm, head of development for Centrica Renewable Energy, Laura Jeffs said: ‘We recognise and understand the concerns. This helps us to shape the project. This is what this consultation is all about. We appreciate the importance of ferry routes. But it’s not just shipping – there are other things to consider.’

‘We are not taking any decisions lightly. We are assessing a number of different concerns.’

She said there were some misconceptions about Celtic Array’s proposals and there was no final plan for the NE area.

‘Yes, we have an intention to build in the NE zone but we don’t know where, when or how much. We will not bring forward a proposal for the NE area for another one or two years yet. There is more consultation to be done.’

Ms Jeffs said a consent application for Rhiannon wind farm, which will be 34km from the island at its closest, would be submitted to the UK planning inspectorate at the end of next year.

How many turbines it will have will depend on their size - ranging from 146 15MW turbines with maximum height to the tip of the blade of 300m to 440 5MW turbines measuring 180 metres. In contrast, the turbines in the Walney wind farm familiar to many passengers on the Heysham ferry generate 3.5MW and have maximum height to the tip of 150m.

Ms Jeffs accepted they were big machines but fewer larger turbines could have a far smaller visual impact and there would be less impact on marine animals during construction.

She said Celtic Array - a joint venture between Centrica and Dong Energy - had entered an agreement with the Crown Estate over the development of the Irish Sea Zone, with a target to produce a generating capacity of 4.2GW although there is no contractual requirement to do that.

Rhiannon can provide up to 2.2GW.

Ms Jeffs accepted that at the moment it is ‘probably unlikely’ that the third area in the zone, the SW area, will be developed.

That leaves the NE Zone which has the biggest impact on the Isle of Man. But Ms Jeffs said that following consultation with the Steam Packet and others, it could be the NE area will not be developed to generate the remaining 2GW but could have a lesser capacity of 1GW or 500MW – and this could satisfy the Crown Estate if all options had been explored.

She said following talks with Dong Energy a commitment had been made to increase the gap between the Walney wind farm extension and the tip of the NE area from the proposed 3.8 nautical miles to 4.3.

The size of this gap had been one of the major concerns of the Steam Packet.

A 14-YEAR-OLD schoolboy is receiving surgery for head injuries after he was struck by a car while waiting a bus stop.

The boy was at the bus stop on Governor’s Road, Onchan, opposite the junction with Wybourn Drive, at just before 8.20am this morning when the accident happened.

A car heading down Wybourn Drive was involved in a collision with a vehicle travelling along Governor’s Road which then struck the boy at the bus stop.

The cars involved were a black Seat Leon and a silver Honda Jazz.

No one else was injured in the incident.

Inspector Derek Flint said the young boy received head injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening. He is receiving surgery at Noble’s Hospital.

Constable Michael Crompton of the roads policing unit is carrying out a full investigation into the accident.

Police are appealing for witnesses. Anyone with information is asked to contact police headquarters on 631212.

Food waste should be collected for recycling, according to proprietor of The Pavilion in Port St Mary, Claire Cox – and she claims it is ‘criminal’ food and other waste is not recycled as part of standard bin collection.

Claire wrote to the local authority about the issue and asked if the commissioners ‘have any plans to offer a service collecting just food waste or if they would consider offering a full recycling facility whereby all items are separated into categories and disposed of accordingly.’

She added: ‘At the moment everything is collected by the commissioners. It goes into the bins and is taken away. I’m not happy about it, I think it’s criminal in this day and age, that that’s what we are doing.

She said that the Balthane-based recycling company Ask Buck ‘can take everything but food waste’, and the Allotment Society (with land by the Southern CIvic Amenity Site) will take food waste, but she didn’t know how much.

She said: ‘It seems ludicrous when people are trying to recycle but it is not available down south. In Douglas, where I live, there is recycling of glass, plastic and paper. I cannot move forward on recycling until I get rid of food waste.’

Her husband takes bottles and cans from The Pavilion to the recycling bins.

‘Nothing is recycled unless we take it to the tip ourselves,’ she said, adding: ‘I’m not criticising the commissioners, it is a small community we live in, but I do think in this day and age we should be trying to recycle as much as we can. It’s not easy for a business trying to do it yourself.’

Commissioners’ clerk Jason Roberts said: ‘It was discussed (by the local authority) and the consensus was that we would not be [collecting items for recycling] any time soon.

‘The amenity site is fairly close, the recycling banks tend to do reasonably well.’

The island as a whole does well in terms of recycling and figures compare favourable to the UK, according to the Department of Infrastructure’s waste management unit.

A total of 50 per cent of the island’s waste is recycled, 25 per cent (including food waste) goes to the energy from waste (efw) plant, 25 per cent goes to landfill (including bottom ash from the efw plant).

There are ambitious targets to reduce the amount sent to landfill to 5 per cent in 10 years.

The department has no control over local authorities and how they collect waste, but with 24 different authorities operating over 50 refuse collection vehicles, it has proven difficult to reach a consensus.

Kerbside collection of refuse for recycling takes place in Douglas, Braddan and Malew.

TALKS have been held between the Crown Dependencies and HM Treasury about the potential for new arrangements for automatic exchange of tax information with the UK.

If implemented, it could have a significant impact on the island’s trust and corporate services sector.

The extra administrative costs of regulation could prove a real burden, and could lead some firms to downsize, shut up shop or consider relocating to other offshore centres.

Chief Minister Allan Bell confirmed discussions are continuing over the wider implications of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which requires the automatic collection and sharing of tax-related information with the US authorities.

Mr Bell had indicated in his Agenda for Change statement to the October Tynwald that other nations were likely to want similar arrangements.

Discussions were held last week between the Crown Dependencies and HM Treasury about the potential for such an arrangement with the UK.

Mr Bell said: ‘The issue of FATCA and its implications is not a new one. In my Agenda for Change statement I spoke of a move towards automatic exchange of information becoming the new global standard in international tax co-operation.

‘This movement involves the G20, the OECD, and the EU, as well as FATCA in the US, and not surprisingly we have been discussing the implications of all this with the UK and with our fellow Crown Dependencies in the Channel Islands. The meeting of Crown Dependency and UK Treasury officers was part of the ongoing dialogue.’

He added: ‘I repeat now what I said last month - we need to respond to these changes, not simply because it has been our long-standing policy to meet established international standards, but because a failure to do so will damage our economy in the medium to long term.’

The Isle of Man was one of the first countries to introduce automatic exchange of tax information. Information relating to personal bank accounts has been subject to automatic exchange with the EU since July last year.

FATCA, however, will require automatic exchange of information revealing full details of all account holders, including those whose identities might otherwise be hidden by trusts or companies.

Mr Bell said: ‘The Isle of Man has achieved global recognition for its compliance with current international standards of tax co-operation. The island has never had bank secrecy laws and was one of the first countries outside the EU to automatically share bank account information with EU member states.’

A TEMPORARY halt will be built on the railway line at Castletown so children from the south of the island can take the train to school in the event of a bus drivers’ strike.

This is one of the contingency measures that will be put in place if Bus Vannin drivers voted for strike action.

Some 100 bus drivers who are members of the Unite union are being balloted on whether to strike over increased driving time and the reduction of contractual hours from 42 to 37.

The ballot closes on Wednesday, December 12. A week’s notice has to be given for any industrial action so the earliest day a walk out could take place would be December 21 - the last day of the school term.

Details of contingency plans are not being revealed by the Department of Community, Culture and Leisure for fear of inflaming the situation.

But the Examiner has learned of proposals to build a platform on the railway line close to the start of the Southern 100 course for Castle Rushen High School pupils from Port Erin, Port St Mary, Colby and Ballabeg who will be able to take the train if the strike does go ahead.

A shuttle bus would ferry the students between the temporary railway halt and the school.

Construction of the platform won’t start until the outcome of the ballot is known but a site has been cleared ready for building work to begin.

Director of public transport Ian Longworth confirmed the plan was bring considered. He added: ‘We have no indication what strike action the drivers are going to take. Once we know what strike action is going to be we can say what our response will be. We we will want to minimise the inconvenience to passengers.’

A spokesman for the Department of Education said: ‘While we are continuing to have discussions with the DCCL and other departments over contingencies in the event of industrial action by bus drivers, any release of those plans would be made by the DCCL at the appropriate time.’

Unite’s ballot for industrial action is the latest move in a dispute over changes to their terms and conditions which the union says will cut drivers’ wages by about £3,000 a year.

Notices of termination of their existing contracts were issued to drivers on October 13. Since then, about a third have agreed to new terms and conditions which include an end to paid lunch breaks.

Unite blames the DCCL for the dispute reaching this stage. The union said the basic salary of the drivers is about £24,300, but can be boosted by overtime. DCCL Minister Graham Cregeen says drivers are paid an average of £30,000 to £45,000, including overtime.

PUBLIC health bosses in the Isle of Man are considering the introduction of a 50p a unit minimum price for alcohol in a bid to cut binge drinking.

Confirmation of the move came after the Coalition UK government unveiled plans to impose a minimum price of 45p a unit, claiming the measures will save hundreds of lives every year - and save the taxpayer millions of pounds a year by cutting crime and health problems linked to alcohol abuse.

But public health officials in the island want to go further and impose a 50p a unit minimum.

Dr Paul Emerson, consultant in public health medicine, said: ‘We in public health fully support this proposal and we have the support of our Minister (David Anderson) and the Department of Health on this stance.

‘A 50p price would help save more lives and give more overall benefit than 45p. This would not impinge significantly on moderate drinkers but we believe it would help cut the rates of binge drinking and problem drinkers.’

A 50p a unit minimum has already been proposed in Scotland.

But minimum pricing moves have been condemned by the drinks industry and the British Retail Consortium which claims they will be ‘ineffective’ in tackling alcohol misuse, penalise responsible drinkers and put more pressure on household budgets.

MICKY Swindale, associate director of KPMG in the Isle of Man, has been appointed offshore head of people and change for KPMG, providing leadership to the specialists in that advisory field in all of KPMG’s member firms in offshore jurisdictions.

Micky, who trained with Arthur Anderson in Manchester before joining KPMG in the Isle of Man in 1997, moved from Audit into Advisory Services in 2003 after a period with Zurich Financial Services.

KPMG’s local advisory offering, for which Micky has oversight responsibilities, covers a range of services using a core staff of 15, to which it adds from the wider firm for large projects. Notable specialisms locally include:· l Regulatory and Compliance, led by Sinead O’Connor

l Restructuring, led by Mike Fayle

l Transaction Services and Corporate Finance, led by Russell Kelly

l IT Advisory, led by Archie Watt

l Internal Audit, led by Jenny Trimble

Micky is also responsible for building new markets and relationships for the firm across all its service lines, including its 50-strong Audit team and 18-strong Tax team, led by Greg Jones.

As part of this role, she is instrumental in organising the annual eGaming Summit and was a founder of the eClub, which holds quarterly events at the Courthouse Club.

It is Micky’s particular enthusiasm for people and performance management that has led to this recent appointment.

She is responsible for the operation of KPMG’s online remuneration and benefits survey across a number of jurisdictions and sectors, and has delivered performance management and business development skills training to a number of boards and management teams locally. She regularly works for clients and with KPMG teams in other offshore locations, and has recently completed a key project assisting a Caribbean government to restructure the scope and framework of its service delivery.

David McGarry, managing director at KPMG said: ‘KPMG is a global firm which offers a wide spectrum of services and employs the greatest talents in order to do so.

‘Financial services in particular is one of the areas of economic activity which has become globalised at a rate unequalled by other world industries and as a result it is imperative that we remain ahead of the curve in terms of our ability to monitor and respond to this dynamic environment.

‘It is with this in mind that we have chosen Micky as our new offshore head of people and change because of her unrivalled energy and capacity to enhance our client offerings on trans-jurisdictional scale.

‘Myself and the team here at KPMG would like to congratulate Micky on her appointment and I have every faith in her ability to excel in this crucial position.’

A CHILDREN’S drama series filmed in the island in August this year will be shown on television from tonight (Tuesday).

It will be broadcast on the CBBC channel today, tomorrow and on Thursday at 6.15pm with repeats on BBC1 at 4pm on December 18, 19 and 20.

Rocket’s Island, previously known as ‘The Knot’, features Debra Stephenson, Mark Moraghan and Kelle Bryan.

With a story set in the Isle of Man, Rocket’s Island centres on a farm called The Knot, a place where a number of children are fostered by Peter (Anthony Flanagan) and Sarah Boulsworth (Debra Stephenson).

Filmed largely in the west of the island, Rocket’s Island involved a number of local people both in front of and behind the camera during its production.

THE closing date to apply to enter a young people’s talent competition called ‘The Next Big Thing’ is looming.

Fifteen acts will be selected to take part in a grand final at the Gaiety Theatre on February 23 when the winner will take away a cash prize of £500, sponsored by the Steam Packet Company. Second prize is £250, sponsored by the Manx Educational Foundation and the £150 third prize is sponsored by Nigel A. A. McFarlane.

‘The Next Big Thing’ is in aid of Junior Achievement Isle of Man.

Junior Achievement’s chief executive Sue Cook said: ‘When we launched the Next Big Thing in 2011 it captured the hearts and minds of so many people and brought to the fore some truly outstanding young talent.

‘Last year’s winners, the gymnastics troupe Asteria, went on to perform at a number of large-scale events and we’re confident that this year there’ll be similar opportunities for whoever lifts the trophy.’

For more information call Tina Edge on 666266 or email tina@jaiom.im.

The closing date for applications is December 7 and auditions will be held in January.

Entry forms can be downloaded {www.thenextbigthing.im|here}

Entrants must be aged 11 to 17 on February 23, 2013.

{www.jaiom.im|Junior Achievement’s website}

A FAIRTRADE banana farmer from St Lucia visited the Isle of Man for the first time last week to speak to pupils from six primary schools.

Nicholas Faisal is a smallholder from the south of the Caribbean island, who grows bananas which are exported to the UK, including supermarket chain Sainsbury’s.

He talked to primary school children about how bananas are grown and what life in St Lucia is like.

In addition, he spoke about how Fairtrade helps producers in the Caribbean to earn a fair wage as well as to develop their businesses for the future.

Mr Faisal’s visit was hosted by the One World Centre, based at Thie Garey Ny Cloie, in St John’s.

One World Centre director Rosemary Clarke said: ‘Meeting Nicholas was a great way for children to hear about how some people’s lives are very different from ours – and how Fairtrade can have such a positive impact for farmers and producers in other parts of the world.’

The visit followed the first Fairtrade conference for primary school children last month. The event, organised by the One World Centre, saw 70 children take part in a range of Fairtrade activities at Tynwald offices in Douglas including workshops on the themes of chocolate, bananas, and philosophy for children.

There was also a formal debate on the price of Fairtrade and ordinary chocolate.

Rosemary said: ‘At the end of our conference the children were very keen to think about ideas of how their school could support Fairtrade Fortnight next year and we’re hoping Nicholas’ visit and hearing about Fairtrade in action will inspire them further.’

The Fairtrade mark is a registered certification label for products sourced from producers in developing countries. Its use is licensed by the Fairtrade Foundation.

POLICE have confirmed the name of the man who died in Peel yesterday.

He was John Lawrence Gell, who was known as ‘Lude’ and used Lawrence as his Christian name.

Mr Gell was 52 years old and lived in Peel.

The father-of-two worked for the Water and Sewerage Authority.

He was educated at Peel Clothworkers’ Primary School and Ballakermeen in Douglas.

Mr Gell was well-known as a keen angler and was a member of Peel Angling Club.

He also played football, mainly for Michael United as a younger man, and had a keen interest in golf.

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/man-killed-as-wall-collapses-1-5190674|Click here to read yesterday’s report}

Health and Safety Inspectorate officers are continuing to investigate his death.

--------------

iomtoday invites readers to pay tribute to Mr Gell by using the comments system below.

THE government has issued a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the proposals for tuition fees.

Every member of Tynwald has been given a copy by the Department of Education and Children and it’s available on {http://www.gov.im/education/ViewNews.gov?page=lib/news/education/studentawardsreg1.xml&menuid=11570|the department’s site}

Just scroll down to the downloadable documents.

Tynwald is due to discuss the {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/manx-students-might-have-to-pay-tuition-fees-1-5163909|proposals} next week.

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/sixth-formers-stage-protest-at-tuition-fees-1-5189930|Sixth-formers have protested against the proposals} and {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/education/students-say-plans-for-university-tuition-fees-are-too-soon-and-too-much-1-5181644|criticised them} in our past coverage.

THE island’s GPs will take part in a training session tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon.

The Department of Health says the event will be ‘an opportunity for GPs to meet together, to share good practice, and to learn new skills’.

Each of the island’s GP practices will remain open tomorrow afternoon for patients who wish, for example, to make appointments, collect test results or order repeat prescriptions.

Practice nurses will be working as usual.

Provision has been made for any patient who is in need of urgent GP attention to be seen by an on-call GP in a similar way to out-of-hours cover.

A ROAD is shut south of Foxdale this afternoon after a lorry shed its load and ended up on its side.

The A36 Shoulder Road (which leads to Rushen Mines) is closed between its junction with the main A3 Barrule Road to its junction with the C17 Slieau Whallian Road.

An emergency road closure notice has been ordered by the government’s Department of Infrastructure until 8am tomorrow or whenever the road has been cleared.

The vehicle lost 12 tonnes of scalpings.

POLICE are investigating after the body of a 52-year-old man was recovered from the River Douglas opposite Leigh Terrace in Douglas earlier this evening (Tuesday).

In a statement issued at around 9.30pm, they confirmed that the matter was not being treated as suspicious and that formal identification has yet to be conducted.

It is understood the Isle of Man Coastguard Line Rescue Service assisted officers in searching the river and recovering the body.

Police thanked the public for their understanding and patience following the closure of Bridge Road.

The Coroner of Inquests has been informed.

EMERGENCY funding provided by the Isle of Man is playing a small part in alleviating the humanitarian crisis triggered by unrest in Syria.

The Overseas Aid Committee of the Council of Ministers has donated £10,000 to the British Red Cross to assist the charity’s disaster management operations in the country.

The Isle of Man’s contribution to the international relief effort has been praised by the organisations working at the front line.

Domitille Quillien, of the British Red Cross, said: ‘I wish to thank the Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee for its generous donation of £10,000 towards the Red Cross Syria Crisis appeal. Your valuable support has allowed us to continue delivering essential aid and relief even under precarious conditions.’

Latest statistics indicate that 1.5 million people are now affected by the unrest in Syria.

Phil Gawne MHK, chairman of the Overseas Aid Committee, said: ‘I am pleased that the Isle of Man’s modest contribution, combined with the efforts of the international community, is helping to make a genuine difference to the victims of the unrest.’

ONCHAN’S traditional torchlight procession takes place tomorrow (Thursday).

It will start at the top car park at Onchan Park (near children’s play ground) and proceed through the village finishing at the Onchan Youth and Community Centre.

The approximate times are:

6.45pm Children’s Christmas song – Jingle Bells

7pm Torchlight procession led by Onchan Silver Band

Indoor Christmas Market opens

7.20pm 12 Days of Manxness performed by Platform Theatre Company

7.25pm Community Christmas Carol – Away in a Manger

7.30 p.m Outdoor Christmas service at the Community Centre

8pm Fireworks display

8.15pm Warm up with hog roast, and a snack

Summer Hill, Main Road and School Road will be closed to traffic from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

Torches, glow-sticks, neon bracelets and lanterns will be available at the assembly point.and at Corkill’s Garage, Onchan Library and Commissioners’ Office.