Gef’s Daily Roundup

Fill up a Fish

Five giant beach clean structures shaped like fish are being placed around the Isle of Man coast this
summer, as part of a new initiative, driven by Suntera Global and launched at a special event at
Government House last week, to reduce plastic on local beaches.

The ‘Fill a Fish’ sculptures have been built to encourage the proper disposal of plastic waste, which will
be collected within the sculptures, and will be installed in close proximity to beaches in five locations
around the island, including in Douglas, Castletown, Peel, Port Erin and Ramsey.

The sculptures have all been designed by children from local primary schools following a competition held over the course of 2021, with five different sea creatures ultimately being chosen from over 600 entries. The winning designs have since been brought to life by Darren Jackson and Stephanie Quayle
from Farmyard Studio.

Mark Reynolds, Chief Operating Officer at Suntera Global, said: ‘Environmental, social and governance values sit at the heart of our culture, and we are committed to caring for our staff, the environment and the community in equal measure. Our collaboration with Beach Buddies and Isle Listen has helped us to make this project really special, as have the significant efforts made by our staff to support the initiative.

‘We hope that the sculptures will actively encourage community participation and as a result we will see more recycling, less plastic waste and more members of our community getting out and about and keeping physically and mentally well.’

Open the Raad

The Emergency closure has now been removed from PROW 361 (Ballquine Bridge to Glen Mooar, Michael) on the Raad Ny Foillan.

The order was put in place due to the deterioration of the deck of the existing footbridge which had reached the end of its life and was considered to be unsafe for use.

The bridge deck has now been replaced by the DoI’s PROW maintenance team and is once again usable by the public. Although the bridge is now open, there is further work to be done. This work has been scheduled after the MGP period. The work includes a ramp up to the bridge deck and non-slip wire fitted to the deck.

Monkeypox

In response to a question from MHK Jason Moorhouse, the island’s Public Health Directorate has said that a Monkeypox Working Group has been formed to respond to the potential, and any actual, threat of Monkeypox under the joint auspices of the Director of Public Health and Manx Care.

This group is has representation from Public Health, Manx Care, DHSC, DEFA, DHA and Cabinet Office.

There are no reported cases of Monkeypox on island and the risk remains low to the general public, however people are asked to be aware of the symptoms including any unusual rashes or lesions on any part of your body, especially genitalia.

Guidance on Monkeypox is available on the Public Health website which includes advice on how to reduce risk exposure and what to do if people experience symptoms when travelling. The advice for travellers experiencing symptoms abroad is to:

• Limit contact with other people,
• Get medical advice locally, calling ahead before going to a healthcare facility. If they are notable to call ahead, they should inform a staff member as soon as they arrive that they areconcerned about Monkeypox
• Check with a health professional that they are fit to travel
• Those who are diagnosed with Monkeypox should not have sex while symptomatic and whilelesions are present and use condoms for 12 weeks after infection. This is a precaution to reduce the risk of spreading the virus to a partner.

Travellers should also follow local public health advice in the country/region they are travelling. There are posters at the airport advising travellers to the Island to be aware of Monkeypox, advising about the symptoms and signposting people to contact the GUM clinic if they think they may have Monkeypox.