JAMESTOWNSaint Helena are among some of the most remote islands in the world. Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha can only be reached by boat. The RMS Saint Helena runs between the United Kingdom, Ascension, St Helena and Cape Town. It no longer calls at Tristan da Cunha. However, the RMS Saint Helena is due for decommissioning in 2010 and may be partly replaced by a newly built airfield on Saint Helena Island. A large military airfield is located on Ascension Island, with weekly flights to RAF Brize Norton, England. These RAF flights offer a limited number of seats to civilians.
After long periods of rumours and consultation, the British Government announced plans to construct an airport in Saint Helena in March 2005 and the airport was originally expected to be completed by 2010. However constant delays by the British Government meant an approved bidder, the Italian firm Impreglio, was not chosen until 2008, and then the project was officially 'paused' in November 2008, allegedly due to new financial pressures brought on by the credit-crunch. As of January 2009, construction has not yet commenced, and no final contracts have been signed, and Governor Andrew Gurr departed for London on January 14 in an attempt to try and speed up the process and solve the problems. Even if the go-ahead is given in the early part of 2009, the airport will not now be completed until at least 2017.
A minibus offers a basic service to carry people around Saint Helena, with most services designed to take people into Jamestown for a few hours on weekdays to conduct their business.
Radio broadcasting
SaintFMprovides a local radio service for the island which is also available on Internet Radio and relayed in Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands. Radio St Helena provides a local radio service that has a range of about 100 km from the island, and also broadcasts internationally on Shortwave Radio (11092.5 kHz) on one day a year.
Internet
Saint Helena has a 4/2 Mbit/s internet link via Cable and Wireless International UK.
Local newspapers
The island has two local newspapers, both of which are available on the internet. The St Helena Independent and the St Helena Herald.
Culture and society
Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 5 and 15. There is no tertiary education institution in Saint Helena. Saint Helena is a member of the International Island Games Association.
After long periods of rumours and consultation, the British Government announced plans to construct an airport in Saint Helena in March 2005 and the airport was originally expected to be completed by 2010. However constant delays by the British Government meant an approved bidder, the Italian firm Impreglio, was not chosen until 2008, and then the project was officially 'paused' in November 2008, allegedly due to new financial pressures brought on by the credit-crunch. As of January 2009, construction has not yet commenced, and no final contracts have been signed, and Governor Andrew Gurr departed for London on January 14 in an attempt to try and speed up the process and solve the problems. Even if the go-ahead is given in the early part of 2009, the airport will not now be completed until at least 2017.
A minibus offers a basic service to carry people around Saint Helena, with most services designed to take people into Jamestown for a few hours on weekdays to conduct their business.
Radio broadcasting
SaintFMprovides a local radio service for the island which is also available on Internet Radio and relayed in Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands. Radio St Helena provides a local radio service that has a range of about 100 km from the island, and also broadcasts internationally on Shortwave Radio (11092.5 kHz) on one day a year.
Internet
Saint Helena has a 4/2 Mbit/s internet link via Cable and Wireless International UK.
Local newspapers
The island has two local newspapers, both of which are available on the internet. The St Helena Independent and the St Helena Herald.
Culture and society
Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 5 and 15. There is no tertiary education institution in Saint Helena. Saint Helena is a member of the International Island Games Association.
