All Things Jersey

22/05/2025

A Royal Commission ! Thats what is being called for

JERSEY NEEDS A ROYAL COMMISSION – AND HERE’S WHY

A message from Water Awareness Jersey
22 May 2025

We are calling on the Government of Jersey to establish a Royal Commission — a powerful, independent public inquiry — to investigate systemic failures in our island’s governance.

This is not about one issue.
It’s not about one Minister.
It’s not even just about PFAS.

This is about a long-term failure of transparency, accountability, and public protection across the entire machinery of government — and the urgent need to rebuild trust.

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What Is a Royal Commission?

A Royal Commission is the most powerful kind of independent public inquiry. It is typically used when:
• The public has been harmed or misled
• Multiple departments or officials are involved
• Existing oversight mechanisms like Scrutiny or FOI can’t get to the truth
• There’s a need for binding recommendations, not just polite reports

Royal Commissions can compel evidence, summon civil servants and Ministers to give public testimony, and dig into suppressed information.

They’ve been used in the UK, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere to expose institutional abuse, health scandals, and corruption.

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Why Jersey Needs One Now

There is growing evidence of widespread governance failure in Jersey — not only around the PFAS contamination crisis, but across key areas of government conduct. These failures fall into three core categories:

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1. Transparency Failures
• Test results for PFAS, nitrates, and pesticides are withheld from the public
• FOI requests are routinely denied or delayed, citing vague exemptions like “commercial interest”
• Government decisions are hidden behind anonymous officer groups, such as “[email protected]”
• Settlements with polluters (e.g. chemical companies) have allegedly included non-disclosure clauses, never disclosed to the public

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2. Accountability Failures
• Scrutiny Panels are blocked from accessing critical information or minutes of meetings
• Civil servants make binding decisions without political oversight or public consultation
• The same departments are both polluters and regulators
• Ministers defer action by hiding behind “ongoing investigations” — for years
• The Children’s Commissioner, Ombudsman, and even the Public Accounts Committee are ignored or excluded from key environmental and health decisions

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3. Protection Failures
• PFAS exposure has been confirmed — but no blood testing is offered
• Contaminated sewage sludge is still being spread on land
• Pesticides containing PFAS are still in use, months after government admission
• Nitrate and chemical pollution in private wells is unchecked
• Children’s rights to health and safe drinking water — guaranteed by international law — are being ignored

This is not just mismanagement.
This is not just delay.
This is a system of secrecy.

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And It’s Not Just About the Environment

This crisis highlights broader institutional problems:
• Legal settlements made without public oversight
• Departmental cultures that obstruct rather than inform
• Public health decisions made behind closed doors
• A total lack of independent environmental regulation
• A government that refuses to trust its people with the truth

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Why Existing Checks Aren’t Enough

Scrutiny Panels can ask questions — but they cannot compel answers.
The FOI Law can be blocked with ease.
The Children’s Commissioner has no enforcement powers.
Even the States Assembly has been misled or kept in the dark on key issues.

We are beyond the point of polite letters and well-meaning panels.

We need the highest level of inquiry available — with legal power to get to the truth.

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Our Proposal: A Royal Commission into Governance Failure in Jersey

Terms of Reference (Suggested):

“To investigate whether the current systems of governance in Jersey have failed to ensure transparency, public accountability, environmental and health protection, and the public’s right to information, and to make recommendations for reform to restore trust in public administration.”

This must include:
• Access to information
• Use of internal decision-making groups
• Environmental regulation and PFAS handling
• Treatment of children’s health risks
• Access to justice and the FOI regime
• Systemic changes needed to prevent further failure

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Next Steps
1. The Scrutiny Liaison Committee and Public Accounts Committee should open discussions on launching a Royal Commission.
2. The States Assembly should debate a formal Proposition to establish it.
3. The public — YOU — must be invited to submit evidence, testimony, and questions.

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Why This Matters

This is about whether our government serves the public — or protects itself.

This is about whether the people of Jersey have the right to know, the right to be heard, and the right to be protected.

This is about legacy.
This is about the future.
This is about trust.

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We are Water Awareness Jersey. And we are asking for the truth.
If you believe we deserve a full investigation into how we’ve been governed — and how we’ve been failed — share this post, tag your Deputy, and speak up.

Right to Know | Right to Act

06/05/2025

The Message from the Center of Government is clear. Let’s control the narrative by telling everyone we need to be secretive to stop anxiety and distress and we need to tell them as little as possible as much as possible Are you following media Thats On Message ? What are your Politicians doing about this ? Maybe it’s time for change ?

PFAS Sludge in Jersey: Spread in Secret — Denied in Public

The Government of Jersey claimed that PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge was “given to Parishes and used on amenity land.”

But an official FOI from the Constables’ Office (PFOI-2025-15) confirms none of the Parishes accepted any sludge in the past three years.

So where did it go?

This sludge contains 50 parts per billion (ppb) of PFOS — yet the US EPA’s 2025 draft risk assessment warns that just 1 ppb may already be harmful, particularly to families living on farms and their neighbours.

Instead of openness, we’ve been told that revealing the locations could:
• Harm commercial interests,
• Cause “distress,”
• Interfere with a future report still being written.

But the distress is already here — because people don’t know if their land, food, or water has been exposed.

If this sludge is safe, show us the data.
If it’s not, stop spreading it.
At the very least, we deserve to know where it has gone.

We’ve submitted a formal appeal to the Information Commissioner. We’ve also asked to meet the Constables’ Committee — because the public has a right to clarity, not contradictions.

This isn’t about blame — it’s about transparency, trust, and protecting Jersey’s people and environment.

Follow Water Awareness Jersey and help us stand up for your right to know.

06/05/2025

27 Years on

Jersey, “Leading the World”? The Aarhus Convention Tells Another Story

For years, Jersey’s leaders have claimed we are “leading the world” in protecting the environment . But actions speak louder than words. One glaring example is Jersey’s failure to adopt the Aarhus Convention – a 1998 international treaty that empowers the public with environmental rights . As we approach a new petition to change this, here’s what you need to know.

Aarhus Convention: The Basics

The Aarhus Convention was signed in June 1998 and came into force in October 2001 . It is often called the world’s leading agreement on “environmental democracy” . In essence, it guarantees the public three fundamental rights in environmental matters :
• Access to information – the right to know about the environment (to obtain environmental information held by public authorities, like data on pollution or environmental policies) .
• Public participation – the right to have a say in environmental decision-making (authorities must allow meaningful public input on projects, plans and programs affecting the environment) .
• Access to justice – the right to challenge decisions or seek remedy when environmental laws or rights are violated (access to review by a court or independent body) .

Over 40 countries have signed and ratified the Aarhus Convention, including all EU member states and the UK  . In fact, the UK (which represents Jersey internationally in many treaties) first signed Aarhus 27 years ago in 1998 and ratified it in 2005 . This convention has become a global standard for transparency and public involvement in environmental matters – but Jersey still hasn’t joined.

Jersey’s Record So Far

Jersey has never extended the Aarhus Convention to the island . This means that, unlike people in the UK or EU, islanders do not yet have the full Aarhus rights guaranteed in our laws. Why not? Jersey’s officials have offered various reasons over the years. Notably, in 2013 the government argued that Jersey was “not in a position to meet the requirements” of Aarhus at that time . The Environment Minister explained that complying with Aarhus would require certain domestic laws and infrastructure – for example, having a Freedom of Information (FOI) law to ensure access to information . Back then, Jersey indeed lacked a statutory FOI law, so the island chose not to adopt Aarhus and said it would keep the matter under review .

However, things have changed since then. Jersey’s FOI Law finally came into effect in January 2015 , granting the public the right to request information from public authorities. It’s now been 10 years since we got an FOI law – one of the key tools Jersey needed to meet Aarhus obligations. Despite this, successive governments have taken no steps to extend the Aarhus Convention to Jersey. 27 years have passed since the UK signed this treaty, and a decade since Jersey put FOI in place, yet islanders are still waiting. The government often talks about transparency and engagement, but the long delay in embracing Aarhus’s standards tells a different story.

Secrecy and Consequences

Why does it matter if Jersey hasn’t adopted Aarhus? Because without these guarantees of transparency and public participation, critical environmental decisions can be made behind closed doors – sometimes against the public interest. A stark example is Jersey’s handling of the PFOS pollution scandal. PFOS is a toxic chemical (one of the PFAS “forever chemicals”) that contaminated water supplies around Jersey’s airport decades ago. In 2004, the States of Jersey made a secret settlement with the American manufacturer 3M (which produced the polluting firefighting foam). Jersey accepted £2.6 million from 3M for cleanup – and in exchange agreed not only to drop legal claims but to assist 3M in defending any future claims by others . This extraordinary deal, kept hidden from the public at the time, meant our government effectively promised to help a polluter avoid accountability for contamination in our island.

Details of this settlement emerged years later, sparking outrage. Imagine: island residents suffering pollution in their water, while their government had quietly vowed to help the polluter if those residents ever took legal action. This is exactly the kind of outcome that robust Aarhus rights aim to prevent. If Jersey had fully implemented access to information and public participation in environmental matters, could such a sweeping, secret deal have been made so easily? At the very least, an Aarhus framework would encourage more openness, public scrutiny, and legal recourse in environmental decisions – making secrecy and delays less likely, and holding polluters to account more likely.

Time to Lead, Not Lag

Jersey’s government often boasts of “leading the world” on the environment  – yet our track record on transparency and public empowerment tells another story. We have been lagging behind the rest of the developed world in adopting basic environmental rights. It’s fair to ask: What exactly is Jersey “leading the world” in? Secrecy? Delay? Helping polluters avoid accountability? These are the uncomfortable questions we must confront. The truth is, you can’t claim to lead the world while refusing to uphold internationally recognized standards of environmental democracy.

The good news is that it’s not too late to change course. Jersey can catch up and even become a leader – by finally embracing the Aarhus Convention and respecting our citizens’ rights to information, participation, and justice. As islanders, we deserve the same voice and protections as people in the UK and EU when it comes to our environment. Momentum is building to make this happen. Watch this space in the coming days for an upcoming petition calling on the government to end the delays and extend the Aarhus Convention to Jersey. Let’s ensure Jersey leads the world for real – in openness, accountability, and environmental stewardship – rather than in keeping secrets. It’s time for Jersey to live up to its word and put the public at the heart of environmental decisions.

06/05/2025

Spray it Again Sam

Firefighter Sam And Hedley Bogus

06/05/2025

Tea and Sympathy

The States of Jersey sold us out. Plain and simple.
In 2004, while 3M was poisoning our water with toxic PFOS chemicals from airport firefighting foam, the States cut a secret deal with the multinational giant-for just £2.6 million. But here’s the kicker: the States didn’t just take the money and clean up the mess. No. They legally bound themselves to protect 3M from any future legal claims related to the contamination. They agreed to actively help 3M fight any lawsuits brought by anyone-even if those claims came from the very people the States were supposed to represent.
They promised to share information with 3M, make government staff available to assist 3M’s defense, and even cover the costs of 3M’s technical assistance-all paid for by Jersey taxpayers. In other words, the States agreed to use public funds to defend the polluter against the public. This betrayal was rubber-stamped behind closed doors, with a slim majority of politicians ignoring warnings that the science was still emerging and that the health risks could be far worse than anyone imagined.
Rob Bilott, the lawyer who exposed PFAS contamination on a global scale, said of this deal: “I had never seen anything like it before.” Now we know why. It was a deal to protect corporate negligence at the expense of public health and future justice.
The States didn’t just fail to stand up for their people-they shackled themselves to 3M, trading away our right to hold them accountable. And the irony? The money used to defend 3M comes from the very people poisoned by their foam.
This is a disgrace. A scandal. A betrayal of public trust.
We deserve transparency. We deserve accountability. And we deserve leaders who fight for us-not sell us out to multinational polluters.
Wake up, Jersey. Demand answers. Demand justice.

04/05/2025

Everything is going to be fine

The States of Jersey sold us out. Plain and simple.
In 2004, while 3M was poisoning our water with toxic PFOS chemicals from airport firefighting foam, the States cut a secret deal with the multinational giant-for just £2.6 million. But here’s the kicker: the States didn’t just take the money and clean up the mess. No. They legally bound themselves to protect 3M from any future legal claims related to the contamination. They agreed to actively help 3M fight any lawsuits brought by anyone-even if those claims came from the very people the States were supposed to represent.
They promised to share information with 3M, make government staff available to assist 3M’s defense, and even cover the costs of 3M’s technical assistance-all paid for by Jersey taxpayers. In other words, the States agreed to use public funds to defend the polluter against the public. This betrayal was rubber-stamped behind closed doors, with a slim majority of politicians ignoring warnings that the science was still emerging and that the health risks could be far worse than anyone imagined.
Rob Bilott, the lawyer who exposed PFAS contamination on a global scale, said of this deal: “I had never seen anything like it before.” Now we know why. It was a deal to protect corporate negligence at the expense of public health and future justice.
The States didn’t just fail to stand up for their people-they shackled themselves to 3M, trading away our right to hold them accountable. And the irony? The money used to defend 3M comes from the very people poisoned by their foam.
This is a disgrace. A scandal. A betrayal of public trust.
We deserve transparency. We deserve accountability. And we deserve leaders who fight for us-not sell us out to multinational polluters.
Wake up, Jersey. Demand answers. Demand justice.

30/04/2025

Putting Children Last not First ! The States are cutting funding to the only human rights organisation in Jersey

22/04/2025

Over 50,000 patients waited 24 hrs or more on hospital trolleys in the UK last year.

According to Liberal Democrat analysis of data from 54 trusts in England, some patients waited up to 10 days before being assigned a bed.

21/04/2025

Pope Francis has Died. God rest his soul.

18/04/2025

Home buyers or those that want to buy a home may not have money to do so but …….Does this work in Jersey ? If so …..let us know how?

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1KtogiaQJd/

16/04/2025

A Mother who lost her son is raising money for an adhd assessment for an islander please consider supporting her. Thank you

Iʼm raising money to fund an ADHD assessment for a young adult in memory of my son Michael who recently passed away.. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.