In a month of surprises, three civil servants resign and a building firm goes bust. Richard Heath takes a look back.
TO keep us all entertained during the unusually cold, wet and miserable start to spring, the Island embarked on a game of civil-service dominoes. First to fall were Caroline Landon, director-general for health, and chief nurse Rose Naylor, who both left without much of an explanation. The departures did, though, raise an eyebrow or two, not least because they came following what can at best be described as a torrid time for the Health Department neatly summed up in an external report which found there was “a highly problematic culture, which was exposing patients to unquantified risk and staff to poor behaviour… and bullying”. In traditional fashion, the government’s chief executive, Suzanne Wylie, stepped up to thank the pair for their hard work and dedication to the roles, particularly for helping to steer the Island through the Covid-19 pandemic. And then…
A week later Mrs Wylie announced that she too had had enough, and would be heading back to Northern Ireland after barely a year in the top job in government. The shock news, which left the Island preparing for its fourth chief executive in three years, generated more than a handful of questions: Why is Mrs Wylie leaving? How long did the Chief Minister know about this? And why can’t we get anyone to stay? A few weeks later, Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet poured some petrol on this Broad Street bonfire when he told the JEP that the government had been “disingenuous” in suggesting Mrs Wylie had left for “family reasons”, and criticised the way the departure had been handled by some senior ministers. Chief Minister Kristina Moore, meanwhile, said that she had had nothing but a “professional relationship” with the chief executive and the resignation had come as a “shock”.
But in a month of shocks, there were few greater surprises than the demise of Camerons. Not least because it left us with the stark realisation that if a construction firm operating in an island which is concreting over every square inch of land can go bust, then we are all living on a knife-edge. The loss of the company, which was founded in 1954 and had built or refurbished numerous well-known buildings, including the Albert Pier apartments, the Coop and Premier Inn at Charing Cross and IFC4 at the International Finance Centre, left more than 50 people out of work and sent shockwaves through the building industry.
Amid all the surprises, the government did its best to bring us back to normality when it announced that the new hospital would take at least another eight years to build. And that’s only if the planning application gets approved. By now the old Overdale scheme had been well and truly ditched, along with the “Future Hospital” and “Our Hospital” labels, and the government was pursuing a multi-site option under the banner of “Delivering New Healthcare Facilities”. Ministers seemed more determined than ever to see the new scheme through, perhaps because it was becoming increasingly obvious they were running out of project names.
Over in the Royal Court, three teenagers were on trial in an unusual – and horrific – case that was more befitting of the Old Bailey. They were all accused of playing a part in a frenzied attack at Le Geyt estate in St Saviour which left a teenager with more than 20 stab wounds and a knife embedded in his back. The prosecution claimed it was the result of a drug deal gone wrong, and following a two-week trial one of the teens was convicted of attempted murder. He was later jailed along with another teenager who had previously admitted the same charge. The two other boys on trial were cleared.
There was some good news for Condor, when the government struck a deal to allow the French to visit Jersey for a day trip using only their national identity cards. The number of visitors from our nearest neighbour fell off a cliff after Brexit, when the French had to start using their passports (something only about 50% of the population have) to enter the Island. And after a long search, the firm announced that it had secured a new conventional passenger and freight ship. The vessel, which was operating between the North and South islands of New Zealand under the name MV Straitsman, was due to arrive in the autumn, providing overnight crossings from the UK.
The annual Swimarathon got under way at Les Quennevais Sport Centre, raising tens of thousands of pounds for this year’s beneficiaries – the Salvation Army, Grace Trust Jersey and St Vincent de Paul – which have all come under increased pressure during the cost-of-living crisis.
World-renowned chef Michel Roux Jr swapped the kitchen at Le Gavroche for that of The Atlantic Hotel as he headlined the Eat Jersey Festival. The chef, television personality and author recreated some of his restaurant’s signature dishes using a variety of local ingredients. He even made time to personally thank some of those responsible for providing the local produce.
James Kaye – a native of Colorado – flew into the Island to appear before the Royal Court after becoming Jersey’s newest Seigneur. Sam Le Quesne decided to flog the title of Seigneur du Fief ès Poingdestre to raise funds for Jersey Overseas Aid’s humanitarian relief work in Ukraine. It was snapped up by Mr Kaye for an undisclosed fee.
And not that we want to end on a downer, but a new report found that life expectancy in Jersey was lower than in 227 areas of the UK. According to research, Jersey’s average life expectancy of 83.7 years would have sat 228th out of 650 when compared against UK parliamentary constituencies. We had pretty much the same life expectancy as the north-east town of Whitby… which is world-famous for that renowned health food, fish and chips.
