The Royal Gibraltar Regiment had a change of Second in Command (2IC) this week when Major James Gracia took over from Major Gerald Fitzgerald, who retires from service following a 31 year career.

Major Gracia joined the Regiment in 1990 as a private soldier. As an active 18 year old he was excited about the prospect of a career where his passion for adventure could be an asset, he said: "My dad had always told me stories about his days in the National Service and it seemed so different and a lot of fun. I've always enjoyed the outdoors lifestyle, even when I was a young boy in the Cub Scouts, I loved to camp and learn about survival, so joining the Army was the most natural thing for me to do."

Despite deploying to numerous countries throughout his 24 years, his favourite location for training remains the UK, he explains:

"The training facilities in the UK are excellent and we get to do plenty of real soldiering. As a Section Commander I thrived on the leadership and comradery of my men, working with soldiers, and dealing with issues that arise, has always been a motivator for me."

Major Gracia is very proud of his success, which he attributes to those close to him, he said: "It is an absolute privilege and an honour to become the Regimental 2IC, it will definitely be a challenge, but one I relish. I would like to thank my wife and family for their continued support, without whom, I would never have reached this far."

Major Fitzgerald joined the Regiment in 1984 as a volunteer reserve, in 1986 he made a life changing decision and joined the regulars, he said: "I was working for Lloyds Bank at the time and it was becoming increasingly difficult to fully commit to the Reserves, it got to a point where it was either leave the bank or leave the Reserves. I had enjoyed my military experience so much that I decided to join the Regiment full-time and make it my career."

Throughout his time in the Regiment, Major Fitzgerald has deployed to numerous locations including Afghanistan, Cyprus, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Portugal, but the Falkland Islands hold a much cherished memory for him, he explains: "The Falkland Island was a particular favourite of mine, it is a truly unique location. I was sent on a posting in late 1994 which fell over Christmas. In those days we didn't have the luxury of the internet, we were all given telephone cards to phone home. I remember that a card would only last nine minutes to Gibraltar, but it was during one of my calls home that I first heard my one year old son Nicholas talk, it was a very special moment when he said 'Daddy' for the first time."

Major Fitzgerald, who joined as a private soldier, commission in 2009. His career has been varied but the highlight of his career was when he was promoted to Warrant Officer Class One (WO1) and deployed to Afghanistan, he said: "I was promoted to WO1 in 2006 and took over the Sergeant Major post in Camp Bastion. We landed in the dark on a cold January night and as the tailgate opened a figure appeared and called my name, the plane was packed and I headed to meet him, when I reached him he said 'Welcome to Camp Bastion, this is now your camp' it was the best feeling in the world. At the time it was one of the most prominent Sergeant Major postings in the British Army and I was lucky enough to be selected to do it."

Major Fitzgerald is now seeking his next career move, he will continue in his role as Chief Commissioner for the Scouts in Gibraltar, but after 31 years' service he ready for a change, he said:

"I feel a real sense of accomplishment that I have been able to see through a full career where I joined as a private soldier and became Regimental 2IC. The Army has been a fantastic career for me, it has challenged me both physically and emotionally and the Regiment have been my family, but now I look forward to experiencing something completely different."

14-05-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

EXPOSED: Feetham confirms that all he is doing is trying to scare the public

May 15, 2015

Opposition leader Daniel Feetham has now made a u-turn on the new power station, committing the GSD to completing LNG Power Station as long as building has commenced before the election thus putting aside all his scaremongering tactics and arguments about the project being of a high-risk nature!

"The Leader of the Opposition, clearly not an expert on LNG, health and safety or logic, has once again revealed the hypocrisy and lack of substance of his position," says a Government statement.

In a GBC television programme in which he has copied the Chief Minister's Direct Democracy format, he stated that he would reverse the power station project only if it had not progressed significantly. That logically means that he will build it if under way, even though in the same breath he now says he believes LNG to be even more dangerous than he had thought.

Now, the issue of the allegedly unsafe use of LNG would not be an issue for Mr Feetham because he will progress with the plans however risky.

This view is nonsensical in the extreme and is so plainly illogical that it surely demonstrates that the GSD and Mr Feetham have no real concerns about LNG and are just opportunistically making issues up and trying to scare members of the public who might take their statements at face value, says the Government.

The Government adds that it also demonstrates the little value to be ascribed to the things Mr Feetham says, given he had previously said categorically that he would not let Gibraltar take part in LNG bunkering because of the dangers he says are occasioned from storage, despite now committing to complete said facilities so long as they have started before the election!

The logical contradictions in Mr Feetham's arguments are so rife as to have almost become unremarkable!

The fact is that Mr Feetham has demonstrated once again that he has no idea about LNG technology, and is now going to pay experts to try and substantiate his hollow arguments.

Indeed, in this respect also, he is about to try to seriously mislead the community yet again. He stated that he will be publishing the GSD report on LNG shortly. Any expert's report on LNG and LNG bunkering prepared by the Opposition at this stage will be of very little value. It will be based purely on conjecture, as details of the proposals are not yet known and are still awaited. Any report will therefore be only speculative, and contain many assumptions, most of which will be incorrect. This will expose his experts to severe, and potentially damaging questioning.

The Government has already clearly explained that its assessments are generic. They point out what should not be done and what can be done, but safety assessments are site and technology specific. The design details for the dual fired power station are being developed as part of the design and build contract and the LNG storage proposal needs to remain confidential until the best proposal is selected and the contract awarded. It is these firm proposals that will be assessed to guarantee safety. Government is committed to publish this information once it is available.

Minister John Cortes, said: "Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar cares about the Community like no other and would clearly never contemplate anything that would bring it any material danger or that might bankrupt it, despite the repeated scaremongering from Mr Feetham. His statements on television in his direct democracy programme were proof positive of the fact he is clearly convinced LNG is safe but that he is trying to just scare people by raising publish incendiary photographs. People are seeing through Mr Feetham's approach."

His scaremongering tactics exposed, all Mr Feetham has so far achieved is to provide the Spanish with ammunition against Gibraltar, however false that ammunition might be.

14-05-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

Man dead in motorcycle accident

May 15, 2015

There was a fatal motorcycle accident yesterday when a 24-year old man died.

The RGP confirmed that shortly before midday yesterday, the traffic accident occurred at Devil's Tower Road by the Government Hostel when 24 year-old British National Jaydan LIMA of Sunrise View, Eastern Beach Road, at the time riding a Yamaha X-max motorcycle in a westerly direction, collided into the central reservation of the said road.

Mr. LIMA sustained serious injuries which resulted in his death early yesterday afternoon at St. Bernard's Hospital.

Police investigations continue and the Coroner has been informed. The RGP Traffic Accident Investigator attended the scene of the accident and carried out a full examination of the area together with officers of the CSI Unit.

*The RGP are appealing for any persons who may have witnessed the accident to contact the RGP Duty Officer at New Mole House Police HQ on Tel. 200 72500.

14-05-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

Marine monitoring and surveillance capabilities expanded

May 15, 2015

As part of the Government's drive to increase its marine monitoring and surveillance capabilities, the Department of the Environment and Climate Change together with the US based company View into the Blue and Wright Tech Media, have recently installed a state of the art underwater camera in the Gibraltar Marine Reserve which is the first of its kind in Europe.

The underwater camera forms yet another element of the wider marine surveillance programme carried out by the Department of the Environment to monitor the status of marine habitats and species within British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. A dedicated website has been created on the Department's Thinking Green website to provide local scientists and members of the public with real time footage of Gibraltar's rich underwater environment. The website (www.thinkinggreen.gov.gi/underwater-camera) also provides users with a simple fish identification guide that will be continuously expanded, together with a comments box to enable users to report any marine life activity. Additional cameras are expected to be installed within the Gibraltar Artificial Reef Network which was recently expanded with the sinking of the Sunswale off the South Mole; a well-known fishing and recreational diving area.

It has now been nearly two years since the Artificial Reef Programme was re-invigorated by the Department of the Environment with the creation of the North West Artificial Reef which has proven to improve marine life in the area. The reef modules themselves have been found to host an array of marine life such as sponges, ascidians, invertebrates and algae. Fish species such of bream, wrasse, congers and sea bass have also been identified within the reef area as well as octopus and cuttlefish.

In addition to the creation of new reefs, the Department has also embarked on a Marine Ecosystem Restoration Programme which is currently in its advanced stages. This programme draws on historical sources of information and local expert knowledge to inform the reintroduction of species that were known to exist in the area such as fan mussels, oysters and seagrasses; the latter species being a tremendously important source of food, oxygen and habitat, as well as an excellent carbon sink. The Department of the Environment has already carried out small scale pilot projects at different locations to determine the most suitable site for seagrasses.

The particular species of seagrass that will be planted is 'Neptune grass' (Cymodocea Nodosa). This species was known to be abundant within our waters, particularly towards the North of the Bay, although its presence has diminished over the years due to human activity. The Department of the Environment and Climate Change will be working closely with The University of Algarve's Centre of Marine Sciences on this project.

A new programme involving chemical monitoring of fish and shellfish has also been developed by the Department of the Environment and Climate Change in conjunction with the UK's Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). The species sampled as part of the programme include the White Bream and Common Mussels. Both of these species are abundant species in Gibraltar's coastal waters. The results of this programme will complement the work carried out as part of the Department's coastal water monitoring programme as well as helping scientists within the Department to better understand the ecological status or health of Gibraltar's marine environment.

Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Dr John Cortes, commented, "We are making tremendous progress in increasing our knowledge of marine life, and significantly, in creating new habitat and supporting the regeneration of marine life. Our marine programme started from zero, and over the past three years has rocketed into a serious monitoring, conservation and educational programme, including some of the best technology deployed in Europe. No other Government has ever done so much before. We are clearly showing the world that the environment in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters is in very good hands."

14-05-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

The stars are coming

May 15, 2015

The Gibraltar Music Festival is back in September, with a line-up of stars, its biggest to date.

Headlining proceedings this year are none other than Nashville rock heroes Kings Of Leon who come as a UK/British exclusive performance. Since bursting into the public consciousness with breakthrough album 'Youth & Young Manhood' back in 2003 they have spent over a decade positioning themselves as one of the greatest bands of a generation.

With festival-ready anthems like 'Sex On Fire', 'Use Somebody' and 'The Bucket' at their disposal they are a world-class act not to be missed.

Also headlining will be pop icons Duran Duran. Having sold over 100 million records worldwide and with a new album set for release in mid-September of this year featuring highly anticipated collaborations with the likes of Janelle Monáe, Kiesza, Nile Rodgers and Mark Ronson, the band are as vital and festival ready as ever. Expect a career spanning set filled to the brim with the band's huge arsenal of hits alongside new material.

Joining the headliners is a supporting cast of some of top talent including: the rock/rumba brothers from Barcelona, Estopa; award-winning piano balladeer Tom Odell; breakthrough singer-songwriter Rae Morris; power-pop superstars The Feeling; pop-rock chart smashers Lawson, and; reggae veterans Third World.

Many of Gibraltar's best musicians will also feature. Reach, Strange Brew, Tim Garcia ft Afterhours and Paddy Taylor are already confirmed as part of the star-studded line-up, with many more still to be announced.

14-05-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR

When will Gibraltar embrace modern 'election voting technology'?

May 15, 2015

With an up and coming local election just round the corner, many wonder with technology which today has practically taking over our lives, why Gibraltar is still stuck in the past and has yet to embrace modern 'election voting technology' especially, when it comes to one of the most important individual democratic obligations citizens are asked to perform.

Not for the first time this issue has been raised. But with the Government's e-Government programme spreading across most government services, even more now with the new I/D card initiative and with biometric pass-porting and super-secure travel documents now a compulsory way of life, there is a growing consensus who believe an e-voting system would be part of new democratic technological era!

However, it's fair to say e-voting has not 'hit the ground running' in every place where it has been introduced, as there has been some problems and concerns. But countless nations are embracing e-voting technology as a way to counter low voter turnout.

Technology the Great Enabler!

Experts believe that new voting technologies save time and money and perhaps allow more people to take part in the elections process. Although other professionals in the field worry that security flaws still haven't been fixed and that elections in many places are still decades away from going fully online.

Free elections are the pillar of any democracy. And given that technology is the great enabler in any free and democratic country, it goes to follow that it is increasingly playing an important role in elections.

At the simplest level, technology is used as a voting system, which replaces the traditional ballot. At its more complex, technology delivers candidates' messages and is also used to analyse and predict election outcomes.

The first time, was when social media such as Facebook and Twitter were employed in a strategic manner during the 2008 US election. The then Democratic nominee Barack Obama, who then went on to become the 44th US President now in is second term in office, not only used social media to deliver his message to the masses but also used data mining and analytics to predict who might be interested in possibly voting for him.

Obama's team targeted demographics directly instead of wasting energy and resources on people who were likely not going to vote for him. Resources were shifted online - in fact, for the first time in history, the 2008 US election saw a diminished amount of TV advertising when compared to previous elections.

Technology Also Playing Vital Role in Counting Votes

Technology is also playing a vital role in counting votes and issuing results as quickly as possible in the US and other places.

In contrast at a local level we still use a manual system of counting, even though both political parties come election time, get geared up and equip themselves with statistical packages to follow and predict where the election will swing using a relatively small sample!

But to be fair, the US has been testing electronic voting systems in elections for the last decade, and with some disappointing results in some places. The biggest issue has been hacking, the threat of which would keep conspiracy theorists rambling on for years if they believed the counting process might have been rigged. In fact some election law experts in the states warned administrators that the electronic voting trial presented an unacceptable risk that would have an effect on the overall accuracy of the result.

Some Technological Surprises in UK Elections

Eight days ago, the UK held its national election. Just like Gibraltar, the UK is probably a long way off from accepting electronic voting. Still, the UK electoral office introduced some technological surprises for the 2015 election. Two years ago a Digital Democracy Commission was set up and commissioned to recommend how democracy in the UK can embrace opportunities offered by the digital world. This commission introduced technology in three main areas: machines in polling stations which are supervised by people, remote electronic voting for UK citizens abroad, and electronic counting of paper ballots. Although the general counting process is similar to the one practiced in Gibraltar.

Although UK Got Its E-Polls All Wrong

Election forecasts and opinion polls is one area where technology is certainly not playing a role here on the Rock. The method used locally and pioneered by Panorama, deemed to be the most accurate and the most successful amongst local pollsters has served the community well.

The situation was quite the opposite in this years UK election when the polls over there got it shockingly all wrong. The cause could have been because most UK poll forecasts were based on what people were searching for on Google using the trends tool, which predicted there would be no overall majority in the UK elections. But as the world witnessed the polls were a total flop when the Conservatives romped home to an unexpected victory. Yet the same method was successful when predicting last year's Scottish independence referendum outcome.

Mixed Opinions When Technology is Taking Over the World in Everything Else

Last year, Estonia - which has been developing its electronic voting system since 2002 - came closest to holding a digital election. Citizens were issued with a smart card identity system to be used to cast votes. However, following analysis and tests conducted after the election itself revealed that the system was vulnerable, leaving it open to potential abuse.

In California, cradle of the computer industry, during the last US elections most voters used paper and ink to cast ballots.

In contrast, voters in Brazil and India press buttons in all-electronic elections that take digital voting technology to the Amazon and Himalayas with very few problems, such are the ironies of how the world votes.

But although some might see low-tech voting in the hi-tech US, experts say Americans will find more reliable and secure voting systems in the next elections than in previous ones

Charles Stewart, a political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and faculty and also member of the Voting Technology Project of MIT and the California Institute of Technology, who said he is "more comfortable than most people" with the new voting tech systems, while acknowledging that any system can be vulnerable.

"I trust my computer scientist friends when they tell me all the ways you can hack into the machines," he said. "But I've yet to see an election hacked."

Many Ask, Why Technologically is Not a Part of Our Electoral System?

Although many in our community are tech-savvy and we trust computers with our banking, personal and most intimate details, including now with the Government introducing the new biometric Gibraltar Electronic Identity Card system. Many ask why technologically is not a part of our electoral system. These people hope of seeing an end to the 6 to 8 hour wait on election night for the final result. Particularly when only some 20,000-ballot papers are involved and when it is possible with today's technology to produce the same result within 10 or 15 minutes!

I've been to quite a few election counts in my time and it's not something I think we ought to hang on to for much longer. Personally, I favour moving towards electronic voting, which would replace the "very 19th Century" system currently in place.

There's always a degree of error in the process, which is inevitable with the number of ballot papers and the number of counters. However, when you think a handful of votes could determine the outcome of an election, which is pretty important. An electronic system would eliminate any errors of that kind, and it would be cheaper in the long run.

For the time being, it seems, Gibraltar will be sticking with the tried and tested method of polling booths, ballot boxes and paper vote counting and of course the inevitable long wait!

14-05-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR