Mr Healey saw work get underway today in Tyneside on the first new site for Government funded council housing in the country. Many more sites across the country will follow in the coming weeks as the £141 million council housing drive, which is set to create over five thousand construction jobs, gets underway.

This is part of an extra £1.5 billion in the Housing Pledge Mr Healey made in June to build an additional 20,000 much needed affordable homes. As well as getting councils building homes again, this power of Government investment is getting housebuilding work restarted on stalled sites during the recession, and helping Housing Associations build more affordable homes – creating 45,000 extra jobs and nearly 3000 new apprenticeships in the industry.

Nearly £600,000 Government funding for Brancepeth Road, Hebburn has helped to get these first fifteen homes underway. Two more sites in Hebburn and South Shields will also start shortly as part of a drive across South Tyneside to create new homes designed for older tenants. The new homes will help ensure that tenants are provided with housing best suited to them and help reduce waiting list pressure in the area.

The minister also said that there was more funding to come for councils, with the second round of council house funding set for announcement later this month.

Housing minister John Healey said:

“The first spade is in the ground today and marks the beginning of the biggest council house building programme for nearly two decades.  Many more sites across the country will be up and running in the coming weeks, and in a matter of days I will give the green light to funding for further council house building.

“Today Tyneside shows how the power of Government investment is tackling the shortage of affordable housing and also creating new jobs and supporting the construction industry when it needs it most.

“Alongside the extra leeway I am giving councils to manage their waiting lists according to local pressures, the new building started today will help councils tackle the housing needs of their communities.”

Pat Ritchie, regional director of the Homes and Communities Agency, said:

“We are delighted that the three developments in South Tyneside can now move forward to deliver quality, affordable supported housing for the elderly.

“This significant investment will provide purpose-built bungalows to help meet the high demand for properties suitable for elderly residents, which in turn will increase the availability of family homes in the South Tyneside area – stimulating the local housing market and supporting the wider regeneration program.”

Councillor Bill Brady, South Tyneside Council’s Lead Member for Housing Futures, said:

“We are very proud that South Tyneside is the first place in the country to see construction work start on new council houses under this program. We worked very hard to secure Government funding, and the fruits of these efforts will soon be there for all to see.

“Our Borough is in need of more older people’s accommodation, and we have a very high demand for affordable two-bedroom bungalows. Thanks to this program, we can now look forward to the sight of 27 such properties taking shape on three sites in South Tyneside. These properties will be available for social rent and will form part of our efforts to deliver more affordable homes for people in South Tyneside, which is one of our top priorities.”

The start of construction today is a major milestone in a wide ranging package of measures to support councils to meet the housing needs of their communities.

In addition to the £141million funding which, when match-funded by councils, is expected to build over 2,000 council homes, Mr Healey also recently launched the first-ever national crackdown on tenancy cheats, to recover up to 10,000 council and housing association homes from fraudulent subletting over this and next year, and release them to those in real need.

He has also given councils more flexibility in how they manage their waiting lists. He also called on councils to do more to tackle the myths and misunderstandings about housing waiting lists, so local people can have confidence that the system is fair.

And he has launched plans to dismantle the current council housing finance system and replace it with a clearer, more transparent system. Under the revised system, councils will keep all their own rents and revenue to finance their housing services, in exchange for a one-off allocation of housing debt.

Source: Communities and Local Government

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Their convictions followed a co-ordinated set of high-profile arrests earlier this summer (20 July 2009) across West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester in an operation led by the UK Border Agency’s Immigration Crime Team and supported by West Yorkshire Police.

Many of those arrested were apprehended heading for the West Yorkshire churches of St Philip and St James in Scholes and St Lukes in Cleckheaton, just hours before they were due to tie the knot.

The investigation began when UK Border Agency officers received allegations from the Diocesan Registrar who had become suspicious after a sudden spate of applications for marriage, as well as the legitimacy of documentation submitted that pointed towards fake addresses being used.

The UK Border Agency’s Immigration Crime Team, made up of Immigration enforcement officers and seconded police detectives, then stepped and launched its investigation into what appeared to be ‘marriages of convenience’ otherwise known as sham marriages.

During a covert investigation, it was, discovered that Adeola Orobiyi, a Nigerian national, was a central figure in the conspiracy. He was found to be heavily involved in making arrangements for a number of marriages of convenience, providing fake documents and false passports, which were used to establish identity and the status of foreign nationals in the UK. He also arranged transportation for those who intended to marry to see the Diocesan Registrar and to attend various meetings with the clergy. A number of forged Nigerian Passports were also recovered from his house as well as numerous identity cards and the passports of Eastern Europeans together with many other incriminating documents.

The moment the wedding plans were set for 11am and 12pm on Monday 20 July, joint teams of around 80 officers from the UK Border Agency and West Yorkshire Police, moved in on the seven in a closely co-ordinated operation that saw arrests made at a number of different addresses in the Bradford and Manchester areas.

DCI Dave Powell, Regional Head of the UK Border Agency’s Immigration Crime Team that led the investigation said:

“This was a serious attempt to facilitate illegal entry into the UK for a number of Individuals by a well organized criminal network. Once again we would send out the message to those who seek to engage in Immigration related crime, this team poses a major threat to crime groups and will continue to target them and bring them to justice. I am delighted with the results achieved today which is testament to the work done by our joint team.

Welcoming today’s convictions, the UK Border Agency’s Regional Director for the North East, Yorkshire and The Humber, Jeremy Oppenheim said:

“I am very pleased with the sentences handed down today. The regional Immigration Crime Team’s successful operation should prove a clear deterrent to others thinking of perpetrating immigration crime here in the UK – we will not tolerate this type of abuse of our immigration system.

“Over recent years we have clamped down on sham marriages which is why suspected sham marriages have fallen from over 3,500 in 2004 to under 400 in 2008. Steps will be taken to remove all seven convicted today from the UK once they have served their sentences.”

Tom Klouda from the Complex Casework Unit at CPS West Yorkshire said:

“This was a high profile, complex and challenging case and we worked closely with colleagues at West Yorkshire Police and the UK Border Agency to ensure that these defendants were brought to justice. Their sentencing today sends out a clear message to anyone planning to abuse the immigration system in this way that no stone will be left unturned in bringing the perpetrators to justice.”

The defendants:

- Adeola Orobiyi, [Nigerian], of 31 Lilly Lane Manchester pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Assist Unlawful Immigration; Possession of a False Identity Document with Intent and received three-and-a-half years imprisonment.

- Dennis Baiger, [Czech national] of 170 St Leonards Road,Bradford pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Assist Unlawful Immigration and the controlled supply of heroin, he received four-and-a-half years imprisonment.

- Lucia Koncekova, [Slovakian ] of 3 Dalcross Grove Bradford pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Assist Unlawful Immigration and received a 12 months suspended sentence.

- Richard Okunade, [Nigerian] of 12 Bowfield Walk Manchester pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Assist Unlawful Immigration and received 12 months imprisonment.

- Veronika Horvathova, [Czech national] of 29 Regency Court Bradford pleaded guilty guilty to Conspiracy to Assist Unlawful Immigration; Possession of a False Identity Document, and received a 12 months suspended sentence.

- Peter Abbey, [Nigerian] 27 Strickland Avenue, Dartford, Kent pleaded guilty to possession of a False Identity Document with Intent; Making a False Statement with reference to Marriage and received 12 months imprisonment.

- Adesola Adewole, [Nigerian] of 15 Fram Street, Manchester pleaded guilty to Possession of a False Identity Document with Intent; Making a False Statement with reference to Marriage; Possession of False Identity Documents with Intent, and received 12 months imprisonment.

Source: Home Office

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The two men and one woman orchestrated the 15-year-old Slovakian’s passage to the UK and then forced her to sell herself for sex on the streets of Sheffield. She was only rescued from her ordeal when a ‘client’ called the police believing she was being forced to have sex for money.

Investigations by the UK Border Agency’s joint police Immigration Crime Team revealed she may have made the gang £200-£300 by working for 12 hours each night. In court it was estimated she had been made to have sex with at least 40 men.

Welcoming the verdict in Operation Reservoir, Regional Director for the UK Border Agency Jeremy Oppenheim said:

“This was a horrific crime involving the sexual exploitation of a young girl and I am pleased at the tough sentences handed out today which show there is no hiding place for people who break the law.

“The UK Border Agency is committed to identifying victims of trafficking and tackling criminal networks that facilitate their exploitation.”

A jury at Sheffield Crown Court heard how the teenager was snared into a life of prostitution when she ran away from a children’s home in Slovakia after attending her mother’s funeral in May 2009. The girl, who was placed in a children’s home in September 2008, decided not to return after the funeral and instead took a train to the town of Trnava.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was promised a better life in Sheffield by Roman Dunka and Alzbeta Dunkova.  She was given a passport and together with Dunkova travelled to France by coach and then crossed into the UK.

On arriving in Sheffield she was taken to the home of Dunkova and her husband Marcel Dunka which they shared with others. In the coming weeks she was taken out on to the streets of Sheffield at night and forced to have sex for around £20 or £30 a time. During the day she slept and cleaned the family’s house. This was the routine for the Slovak teenager until she escaped in mid June this year by pleading for help from a ‘client’.

Detective Chief Inspector for the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber Immigration Crime Team Dave Powell said:

“These substantial sentences are welcomed by the team and we send out a message to those who deal with vulnerable people as a commodity, we will actively and vigorously pursue all investigations of this type. UK Border Agency officers and police have worked hard to secure these convictions against a group of evil individuals who targeted someone who put her trust in them.

“The victim is now being cared for by a team of professionals who will attempt to help her to rebuild her life and put this misery behind her.”

When sentencing the defendants, Judge Roger Keen recommended they be deported on completion of their sentences.

Source: U.K. Border Agency

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President Museveni was meeting the Chief Executive Officer of Elsewedy Cables, Ahmed El Sewedy, in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt on the sidelines of the 4th ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Elsewedy Cables is an integrated energy solutions company and one of the leading manufacturers of electrical products including transformers, total telecoms solutions, turnkey projects and wind energy solutions.

“I would like to invite you to come and make transformers and meters in Uganda. We would be interested in the use of wind to make water pumps,” he said.

Ahmed El Sewedy, who was accompanied by the company’s Regional Director Amr Abdoun, said they specialize in the manufacture of cables, transformers, meters, wind and green energy in Africa and the Middle East.

Source African Press Agency

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Xiang Li, 29, of Stratford, London, who denied the charges, ran two bogus law firms, issued fake passports and work permits, and even staged a phony citizenship ceremony where the unsuspecting immigrants were greeted by actors playing the parts of officials and local dignitaries against a backdrop of a picture of the Queen and the Union flag.

The investigation, Operation Catalina, began when police officers working at King George Docks in Humberside arrested a Chinese national trying to enter the UK using what he believed to be a legitimate UK passport.

Further inquiries by the UK Border Agency’s Immigration Crime Team led to two suspicious ‘law firms’ based in and around various addressed on Lombard Street in central London, called Lombard and Borough de Law, who advertised their services in the Chinese language press.

Following operations on both firms, the team unearthed receipts showing the companies had charged up to 50 individuals an average of £20,000 for their services. It was also here that they uncovered evidence of the meticulously planned bogus citizenship ceremony that took place at the Methodist Hall in Westminster close to the Houses of Parliament in December 2007. The gang were also involved in issuing forged documents. This led to the arrest of Xiang Li in January 2008.

Welcoming the verdict, Regional Director for the UK Border Agency Jeremy Oppenheim said:

“Criminal gangs should be warned – we are putting an end to scams like this. Major reforms to the immigration system are making life harder than ever for those seeking to abuse our hospitality. Today’s verdict is the result of the strong partnerships we have forged with the police across the UK to crack down on organized criminals seeking to abuse the immigration system

“The sentence handed out shows there is no hiding place for those that break the rules. We will take steps to deport Mr Li at the end of his sentence. ”

With Xiang Li’s conviction the search continues for his alleged accomplice, Tian Zhao, 26 real name believed to be Wentao LI.

The trial was the culmination of a twenty-month investigation by the newly formed North East, Yorkshire and the Humber Immigration Crime Team, which comprises UK Border Agency officers working with detectives from seven police forces in the region to tackle organized immigration crime.

Detective Chief Inspector for the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber Immigration Crime Team Dave Powell said:

“This was a highly organized and elaborate national scam and we are pleased to see this successful conviction today. The combination of skills from UK Border Agency Immigration officers and Detectives from the Police make for a formidable team that can pursue suspects wherever they reside in the UK.

“We remain committed to tracing other’s suspected of being part of this organized crime group, to ensure that they cannot take advantage of  other vulnerable people who seek to live and work in the UK.”

The trial judge recommended Xiang Li for deportation after serving his sentence.

Source: UK Border Agency

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Speaking at a workshop on the subject, Garry Alain of the Ministry of Employment declared that the International Labour Organization (ILO) of the United Nations had made an appeal to all its members to work on the program and adopt it very quickly.

Alain added that the ILO delegated Georges Okutho, the Regional Director of the ILO for Eastern Africa together with his team to help Mauritius prepare its program.

Alain added that the program has four primary and strategic objectives, namely principles and fundamental rights to an employment and international labor norms, the possibility of employment and remuneration, protection and social security and social dialogue.

Also Alain added that these objectives are valid for everybody, men and women, for those who work in fields, in factories and offices, at home or on work sites.

Alain added that the ILO is of the opinion that program is at the heart of efforts to eradicate poverty and constitutes a means to attain sustainable development in all countries.

Source African Press Agency

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The Bank and the Government of the Republic of Vanuatu inked a $37 million partnership in support of the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2010-2014 aimed at “…reducing poverty and promoting private-sector led sustainable growth,” in the country, according to an ADB September 17 news release.

“The CPS provides a platform for ADB and the Government to work together to improve the effectiveness of the assistance earmarked under the strategy,” said S. Hafeez Rahman, Director General of ADB’s Pacific Department. “It will support Vanuatu’s fight against poverty and help the country meet some of its key development targets.”

According to the ADB, the bank’s financial support for the CPS will enable greater energy efficiency and improve access to markets and social services by its injection of funds into the country’s transport infrastructure. Rural areas, currently lacking electricity services will also benefit from the scheme.

The Bank says it will list as one of its main aims the boosting of the country’s private sector.

“The CPS aims to boost private sector development by continuing to assist the Government with improvements to Vanuatu’s business and legal systems, increasing access to finance opportunities, and reforming state-owned enterprises,” said Eugenue Zhukov, Regional Director of ADB’s Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office in Sydney.

In a statement released the same day, the Bank also announced $26 million in private sector initiatives for the Solomon Islands over the next three years.

The Director General said the global economic crisis had made the Solomon Islands initiative “challenging.”

“The development context in the Solomon Islands is very challenging,” said Rahman. “With the Interim CPS, ADB is responding through a sharply focused strategy and program, which seeks to promote private-sector led economic growth through improved transportation infrastructure and services and a more conducive environment for business.”

Monitor ADB initiatives: Oxfam

The provision of extra funding to international monetary organizations such as the Asian Development Bank to help nations weather the global financial crisis has been welcomed by the governments of Pacific nations. However Oxfam Executive Director Andrew Hewett, writing in Online Opinion earlier this month, has cautioned that many funding initiatives launched by the Asian Development Bank have done communities more harm than good.

Mr Hewett cited the West-Seti Hydropower Project in Nepal and the planned coal-fired power plant project in the Philippines as two examples of ADB projects causing harm. The former “…will displace at least 9,096 people and cause social disruption among different ethnic minorities groups,” said Mr Hewitt in the September 9 opinion piece and the latter “…lacks a health program that monitors coal-ash related diseases,” in its Environmental Impact Assessment.

He called on governments to monitor the extra funding given to international monetary organizations to ensure they bring benefit to communities.

By Rich Bowden

Source: theAngle Australasian/Pacific News Coverage

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The extended flight will assist ongoing efforts to provide materials and goods to the United States military in Afghanistan. National Air Cargo began the flight to Bagram in April 2009.

Operated by National Airlines, the DC 8 flight will depart Ypsilanti every Friday on route to Bagram and Kandahar. The flight to Bagram and Kandahar will continue to be the fastest possible cargo transport from the United States to Afghanistan.

“Extending the flight to Kandahar from Bagram continues our efforts to supply American military operations in Afghanistan,” Robert Schlager, regional director – Americas, National Air Cargo said. “Our goal is to do everything we can to expediently and efficiently send and deliver materials and goods to the military wherever it is needed.”

The materials that will be shipped via air transport from Ypsilanti to Kandahar will include similar equipment currently being delivered to Bagram such as electrical generators, water purification systems, medical supplies and other materials to help with the expansion and construction of hospitals, sewage plants, libraries and other facilities in and around both air bases.

“We will do whatever we can to assist the military as they work tirelessly to rebuild and revitalize Afghanistan,” Schlager said. “We are honored to be contributing to the efforts of our brave men and women who put themselves in harm’s way everyday to give the people of Afghanistan a better life now and in the future.”

Source: Business Wire

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