16/09/2011 BBC Channel Islands News

Good evening. Welcome to the BBC in the Channel Islands. The headlines:

50 civil servants are set to lose their jobs as Guernsey's government

tries to balance the books. Taking bets as suspended poker site

Full Tilt Poker test the resolve of Alderney's Gambling Commission.

And I have found a new hide, find 50 civil servants in Guernsey could

lose their jobs as the States tried so to save �1.7 million a year. PTC

Treasury and Resources wants to centralise services through States

departments as part of the savings programme.

It was not good news for workers here who were told they could lose

their jobs. Treasury and resources want to get rid of 50

administration jobs across different departments. It is a

money-saving measure designed to save �1.7 million a year.

Effectively at in a moment -- effectively at the moment, every

department has accounts departments. That in itself is a duplication of

effort because we have different systems running that and so on.

government estimates it will cost �7.9 million to get rid of the

posts which includes redundancy payouts. I asked the minister

responsible whether it was value- for-money or a false economy.

certainly not a false economy. It will have a five-year payback. If

the amount we are going to spend will produce �1.7 million a year of

savings and this is the sort of the reform that people have been

looking for for a long time. They say that it will cut down on

government waste and where possible, the cuts will be realised through

natural turnover and redeployment of staff. That will be of little

comfort to the workers who could you look -- who could lose their

jobs. Politicians will decide on their fate in October.

Three teenagers have been arrested following an assault in Jersey. The

attack took place near the junction of St Clement Inner Road and Plat

Douet in the early hours of Sunday morning. A 22-year-old victim is

unconscious but in a stable condition at Southampton Hospital.

Postal collections and deliveries in Guernsey may be reduced to five

days a week. The cost-saving measure is being proposed by

Commerce and Employment and will be debated by the States next month.

Guernsey Post is under financial pressure as its income continues to

fall. The Croat side in the Charing Cross

area of St Helier is getting a �50 million renovation. Some of the

buildings date back to 1919 and will include refurbishment, a new

retell units and offices. The picture of His Majesty's Voice will

also be brought back to its original state. A we are very

anxious that we should continue to invest in this area. The whole

development is going to cost �15 million. It is a date waste to St

Helier. It is one of the pivotal date ways -- gateways. The

Architecture will sit very comfortably in of its surroundings

and it will give a massive trading boost to the area.

A hearing to decide whether to revoke the licence of one of the

world's largest online gambling sites will go ahead on Monday. Full

Tilt Poker which is registered in Alderney had wanted to postpone the

hearing but today the bid fails. At stake on millions of pounds of

customers' accounts and the island's gambolling reputation.

It dubs itself the world's best online Popat software. This is Full

Tilt Poker, an online gambling side registered in Alderney. But it was

suspended in June by the Alderney's Gambling Commission after it and

others came under a US investigation for money laundering,

illegal gambling and bank fraud. We have been investigating. These are

serious allegations that the American authorities are making and

they go right to the heart of the credibility of not only Full Tilt

Poker but all of the companies. hearing to decide whether to

restore or revoke Full Tilt Poker's licence permanently is due to take

place in London on Monday. To date Alderney's courts decided the

hearing will go ahead. At stake is not only Full Tilt Poker's licence

but also the credibility of Alderney's Gambling Commission.

Gambling companies will be looking at the decision and looking at the

reasons for it and studying it quite closely by debate -- when

they decide where to locate their business. Other jurisdictions, the

Isle of Man, Gibraltar, even places like malt there will be looking at

Alderney and finding out how they have dealt with this case and also

perhaps seeing if there is any way they could pick up a businesses

that may move from Alderney or choose not to be located in

Alderney in the future. Also watching will be thousands of poker

players around the world who have millions of pounds stuck in Full

Tilt Poker accounts. They will be hoping Alderney ensures that they

can get access to their money. You are watching the BBC in the

Channel Islands. Later, while one man is counting himself lucky after

finding a rare death's head hawk moth.

Intriguing. Now it is Friday which means one thing, Free Friday. The

time of the week when we showcase something on the islands that is

free or costs very little. This week is one of the best times to go

bird-watching. With a new hide in St Ouen, it is making it even more

# Born Free. Let's face it, we all want to go

something a bit warmer as the summer comes to an end. You might

not be able to leave the islands this weekend, but you can come to

St Ouen where there is a new hide poor but watch -- bird-watching.

Migrant birds coming to the Channel Islands this year. We can come and

watch them come from the warmer climes. This is the best time of

year to be bird-watching in Jersey. We can see about 200 feral beasts,

mainly greylag geese. They have escaped from private collections.

More interestingly, we have got four or five Greenspan Pipers.

Other small wading birds, 15 grey herons and about half-an-hour ago,

a white egret flew over. I have never seen one of those in Jersey

before. Many people might wonder what is so entertaining about bird-

watching. How would you sell it to them? It gets you out into the

countryside. On a beautiful day like today, where else would you

like to be? Lovely and peaceful, no telephones ringing, it is just

If you do fancy giving it a go, the new hide is in St Ouen. For more

information, get in latch and -- get in touch with the Jersey

National Trust. Can you guess with -- can you guess

what this is? Any idea? It is a dragon's head of cause and it forms

part of this year's Dragon Boat Festival in Jersey. Teams of people

in dragon boats will be racing up and down the Albert Pier Harbour to

raise money for Jersey Hospice Care. The event has been going for 14

years and this number a record number of teams have entered but

there is still room for more. would encourage everyone to come

down and watch. There will probably be some places on some of the teams

so it come down and ask if you want to have a go. There will be food

and drink and activities for children, craft stalls, bungee-

jumping, loads of going on. Praying for but where there? Everything is

crossed for good weather. If it is like today, I will be happy.

Whatever the weather does, it will go ahead, rain, shine, winds, we

will still be here. Raising money for a great cause.

I think she might need to cross her fingers because I do not think it

Quite unsettled weather coming our way this weekend. Showers on both

Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully, fingers crossed, a bit of sunshine

in between the showers. At the moment, an area of low pressure is

stretching from Iceland down towards Scotland. The weather front

coming in overnight will bring us some more persistent rain overnight.

It should be gone by lunchtime tomorrow. Very quickly some more

showers will come in. Sharif throughout the day and blustery

winds. -- Sharif. Still Wendy on Sunday and still the risk of

frequent showers. There may even be heavy showers with the odd rumble

of thunder. Overnight, showers and perhaps a more persistent rain near

dawn. 15 degrees minimum temperature. A wet start to

tomorrow. Some brighter but but but always the risk of showers until

the end of the day. Temperatures getting up to 18 degrees and fresh

up to strong westerly winds. The Here is the forecast for Sunday.

Sharp showers throughout the day. Blustery northwesterly winds.