02/04/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

Good evening. Guernsey's government "needs to get

off its backside" and do more to encourage a new university in the

island. That's according to the former Treasury and Resources

Minister Charles Parkinson. He's slammed the States for dragging its

feet and not doing enough to promote the potential of a university in the

island. The States say they've been working hard. Simon Fairclough

reports. Will the University of Guernsey ever

have its own prospectus? The first postgraduate students were supposed

to start in October, but that target looks likely to be missed. Now the

island's former Treasury and Resources Minister has slammed the

States for not doing enough to promote the potential economic

benefits and dragging its feet. I just think this is far too passive.

It is all very well having a committee meeting once a month and

waiting for Susan Jackson did tell you what happens next time. The

States needs to get off its backside and do something. It is far too

important a project judges said I can wait. `` to just sit back and

wait. This is where he thinks the new campus should go ` the Castel

Hospital and the King Edward VII Hospital. He thinks the States

should be doing more to improve the infrastructure and making the sites

available. But today, as young people plan their futures at a

career show, the Commerce and Employment Minister insists the

States is working as hard as it can to encourage a university. You have

the Chief Minister, myself, the deputy minister all sitting on this

group, and the chief officers. We couldn't be doing more. All we are

waiting for is Susan to come up with the private funding. We couldn't be

working harder. So, we've heard both sides of the argument ` the only one

we haven't heard is from the company behind the scheme. Despite repeated

attempts by the BBC, no`one from Susan Jackson Associates was

available for comment. A public briefing ahead of the start

of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry into historic abuse gets

under way tomorrow. It will investigate what went wrong in the

island's children's homes and fostering services over many

decades. It'll also look into the claims of abuse at the former

children's home Haut de la Garenne. Job seekers in Jersey are to be

taught the basics of computer coding, like building a website, in

the first scheme of its kind in a bid to help them into the digital

sector. More than 1,800 people are currently unemployed. The States

body Digital Jersey, which promotes digital growth, hopes to provide

2,000 extra jobs in the industry by 2020. Sophie Sulheria reports.

Coding, computer language that to most scenes complex and Cobb

located, yet it is something we use nearly everyday. For the first

time, local job`seekers will be taught the basics of coding. We want

to find people are potential work placement. Hopefully, the course

will give them a further understanding of the code, so when

they go into this trainee role, they have that problem`solving mind. This

six`week scheme with the idea of this former headteacher, to help

some of the unemployed people in Jersey to get into online work. I

decided to teach myself how to code. I find it straightforward. I

thought, if I can do it, surely anybody can. The government team

helping Islanders find employment support the idea. It'll give them

another the background to help them with interviews and give them the

confidence to go out and get jobs in different areas. Digital Jersey said

they welcomed the scheme and that learning skills is essential for

growth in the. `` growth in this sector.

People from Guernsey who suffer from a serious eye condition will no

longer have to travel to Southampton for treatment. New equipment and

staff have been employed to help patients suffering from age`related

macular degeneration. Mike Wilkins report.

This is what age`related macular degeneration, or AMD, does to your

eyesight. The blurred vision will never go away. In fact, the

condition is the leading cause of blindness. People from Guernsey have

to travel to Southampton for treatment, but not any more. This

machine and two specialists mean that patients can now be treated on

island. Nick Le Poidevin has suffered from macular degeneration

for just over three years. He told me he's had to fly to Southampton 30

times and won't miss the travelling. I had one occasion when I broke my

leg at the end of 2012 and I had to continue the injections, because

they have to be done in six`week they have to be done in six`week

intervals. They're a was on a cold January morning leaving with my leg

in plaster. It just shows the inconvenience which people do have

going to Southampton all the time. Now, this is great news for the

patients and their families, but at a time when the HSSD is trying to

trim its spending, how can it introduce a new service? There are

about 100 people who currently stand to benefit from this new

arrangement, with 30 new cases each year. And as our population

continues to age, the staff here could become a lot busier. It is a

win`win situation. We have been paying for the travel for people. We

will save about ?60,000 a year not having to pay for the travel. It

enables us to treat two other conditions which we weren't funding

previously. That is it for now.

We have some rain in the forecast over the next day. There could be

some quite heavy bursts later on tonight. It will clear and then

become mainly drive. The best of any brightness will be right at the end

of the day. Initially tonight it is dry, then the cloud turns up and

thickens and produces a few light showers. The heavier bursts will

come up from the south tomorrow morning. The showery outbreaks of

rain will continue to the morning and then Peter Wright in the

afternoon. The wind will become westerly and 14 degrees will be the

top temperature. Into the weekend that will stay unsettled and the

wind direction will be from the West or Southwest, meaning fresh air for

us. A fine day on Friday, more cloud and showers on Saturday and more

persistent rain on Sunday. be dry. The air pollution has been

hitting the headlines today. For more information on that, here is my

colleague. Good evening. Very hazy skies in

London today and many other towns and cities across the UK. On

Thursday there is the chance of some pretty high pollution in the

south-east and East Anglia but by the time we get towards the end of

the week, we will see clearer Atlantique air coming in and we

should get rid of the Saharan dust which has been making services

grubby in the last few days. You can see