Ministry of Economics, Resources, and Labor: Term X

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The office of MERL has changed a lot since Langley was there. The Flag of Russia and Eutopia side by side is on the front door, and the walls are decorated with FC Alania Vladikavkaz memorabillia. A bottle of Vodka lies on the desk, waiting to be drunk, and a picture of Alexander Kerensky lies behind a deep oak desk. Gonzov is MERL now.

 

[unmerged(23409)]

NEWS RELEASES:

14th December

John Kenny is now Deputy MERL.

 

[I Killed Kenny]

JONH Frederick Kenny enters the office, he looked to the Russian flag and quickly asks "What is this Gonzov?" without waiting for a reply he says "I am here, ready to work, do you have any plans already?"

 

[unmerged(23409)]

What is it? It's the Russian Flag! No, I don't have any plans yet. I'll be off to the GA soon anyway. Make yourself at home.

 

[I Killed Kenny]

"Mister Minister, I an my colegues have some plans allready for this Portifolio would you like to hear some?"

 

[unmerged(23409)]

Sure, whenever you're ready.

 

[I Killed Kenny]

I believe it is clear that we need to imporve the economy for that I and the P4P propose the creation of the famous VAT and an other pet-project of mine the creation of a State company with the mission of supporting the small and medium size companies with loans with very low interests... this is just a general idea, of cource...

 

[unmerged(23409)]

Yes, a VAT is essential, otherwise we'll be running a deficit economy.

And this State Company, sounds like a good idea, though it'll be hard to fund it without VAT, and the GA doesn't like another Tax, so both these are in doubt.

Good ideas none the less.

 

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Loic calls the MERL to say his faxing over a report on an investigation of the illegal mining site that was involved in the Konigsëe pollution.
"It may be worthwhile for for the state mining company, RECOM, to take a look around there. Copper is sometimes found where gold ore is found as well, which could explain the repeated small scale mining activity mentioned in the report."

The FLEA director confirms that illegal mining is a federal offense. Enforcement agents refer to "Spot mining", as it is called, as generally a very quick and messy operation to extract a relatively small amount of mineral or metal without notice. "Slow mining", on the other hand, is more of a permanent operation, where a mineral poacher seeks the long-term extraction of minerals over a long period of time, however the amount that can be extracted without notice is usually very, very, small.

The site in question does not fit neatly within either category as it seems to have been one common site from whence many quick one-time extractions were made. As such the safety and integrity of the shafts are unsound and traces of waste chemicals used in extraction were widespread.

The site appears to have been abandoned for at least a few years and there are currently no leads. Copper, which seems to have been present in trace amounts, is commonly used in many Neuwestabaden industries.

 

[unmerged(23409)]

A letter is sent to all Major Eutopian Companies:

BUY EUTOPIA

Do you grow your Oranges in Huntingdon? Do you build your cars in Gilford? Do you make your Computers in New Lancaster?

Well the Government wants to help. MERL is launching a "Buy Eutopia" Campaign aimed at expanding the Domestic Market and helping Eutopian companies.

If you make a paticular Product in Eutopia, you can get it stamped with a "Made in Eutopia" Logo, and benefit from a "Buy Eutopia" Media Campaign going to be launched soon.

Buy Eutopia, it benefits you!

All enquiries sent to the Ministry of Economics, Resources and Labour in Eutopia City.

 

[Voshkod]

Incoming message via facsimile for the Minister.

EXERCISE MESSAGE
HIDDEN HERALD​

​

From the Industrial Safety Office

Minister: The Federal Industrial Safety Officer at the Rogarth 2 Chemical Processing Facility outside Uxbridge is no longer in contact with the Industrial Safety Office. We are unable to raise him by telephone or e-mail. We have also attempted to contact other facility officials, but all communications with Rogarth 2 appear to be down.

/s/Levarge, Exercise Coordinator

EXERCISE MESSAGE
HIDDEN HERALD​

​

 

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A message arrives from CAFTA:

Per Minister,

I am writing in my role as acting chairman of CAFTA, which is organizing a meeting of Labour leaders from St. Esprit, Tilapia, and the UPE. Tilapia responded that they will be sending their minister of labour as well, which wasn't what was originally intended, but it would be rude to say so. Therefore, you are cordially invited to attend as well. Timing will be announced when we hear from St. Esprit.

Regards,

p.s. This time, please try not to ask the representative from Tilapia how things are going in St. Esprit, or vice versa. Thanks!

 

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A message arrives from CAFTA:

Per Minister:

Please disregard the prior message. A Tilapian government official will be attending, however it will not be the Labour minister. He is attending because he is also the head of a Labour organization. Therefore, your presence at this meeting of union leaders will not be required.

Regards,

 

[unmerged(33865)]

MIDA Loic de Fougéres drops by the MERL offices and first calls on the Assistant Deputy Minister with responsibility for the Labour portfolio.
"I recently had a chat over at MESA, with the Assistant Deputy Minister for Welfare. I suggested a training proposal for some of the coal miners that are being laid off due to the non-renewal of the coal agreement with the USA. Obviously, if that agreement or an acceptable replacement is negotiated soon, then the miners wouldn't be the ideal candidates for this training program, but we still have a surplus of unemployed workers, so I am sure that some suitable candidaes can be found. My basic idea was that the cost of a training program saves money within a term, provided a high enough percentage of the trainees get jobs when they complete the program. For that to happen in this case will also require some action from the new head of RECOM whenever the replacement is appointed, or by the current interim CEO, perhaps acting under instructions from the MERL, or the Assistant Deputy Minister for Non-renewable Resources and Mining, with instruction from the President, if the obvious benefits of this course of action are insufficient to get him act on his own initiative. Therefore, I will be visiting him next. From you, I would appreciate it if you would have a chat with the Welfare ADM over at MESA and to work out what would be required to coordinate this training program. Details like how to determine who should be eligible, how to pay for this, etc. Feel free to check with your Minister, but I would like to get this moving, for the good of Eutopia, ASAP, so if you can't get him to focus on this, let me know and I will ask the President to speak to you directly."

Loic then checks to see if MERL Gonzov is currently available, and getting an initial negative reaction, decides to walk down the hall and speak the Assistant Deputy Minister for Non-renewable Resources and Mining.
"I wonder if the following article..."
Loic hands the ADM a clipping.

ARCHEOLOGICAL TOURIST ATTRACTION CLOSED

The caves, where never before seen archeological discoveries were made in the small W.E.T. community of Heimdallseye, was closed to the public after high levels of noxious and flammable natural gas have not subsided since the explosion that killed several tourists and an archeological team.

"...made you ask the same question that I had. Are there commercial quantities of hydrocarbons deeper underground in the Heimdallseye region of Western Eutopia? Now I understand that you have had other, more pressing items on your plate, with the non-renewal of the coal agreement with the US and the resigination of the RECOM CEO, but this appears to be significant opportunity that should be investigated. Obviously, there are significant issues that would come with this, like respecting Topa burial grounds, but slant drilling should enable us to avoid drilling through known or suspected burial sites and still access the crude oil or natural gas that may lie underneath. I have already spoken the Welfare ADM over at MESA and the Labour ADM here about setting up a training program so we can launch a training program for laid off miners or other unemployed workers to be able to qualify for work if there is something worth drilling for. Obviously, before that starts up, we need to find out if there are enough oil and/or gas reserves to make it worthwhile to start commercial drilling.

There will be a host of environmental issues to coordinate as well, whether to build a refinery in Western Eutopia, how to get the raw or refined product to a refinery or to market. But before we build castles out of swamp gas, we need to find out more about the source of this persistant gas. What will it take to get a seismic analysis done of the area and one or more test wells drilled in the most likely place(s) revealed by the seismic data and the site of the gas leak? I realize this will be more difficult in the absence of a regular CEO of RECOM, but the interim CEO could make quite a name for themselves if they move this forward. Please consult with the Minister Gonzov, but if you can't get on his calendar, let me know, and perhaps I can get the President to authorize this directly. It is about time that mother nature provided Eutopia with gift, after the hurricanes she threw at us before. Obviously, I want to get this moving this term, but it is good for Eutopia if we do so. Please see what you can get started, and let me know if you run into any roadblocks."
After taking his leave from the ADM, Loic goes to see if MERL Gonzov is available.

 

[von Streusser]

Loic gets essentially the same response from the MERL ADMs that he got from the MESA one. They're busily trying to keep the ministry from falling apart in the chronic absence of their minister, and they can't take on anything new right now.

The ADM for labor, a burly and rather unpleasant fellow, seems about to suggest what Loic can do with his new ideas before he is cut short by another worker who attempts to put his sentiments more diplomatically; while they would like to help, they simply can't do anything more without an active minister running the show. They also express contempt for their absentee minister, and little hope that the President will fix the problem with anything more than the rotating band-aid approach he's used thus far, which will only leave other ministries to fall apart in the wake of the only active members of the administration. The labor minister openly wonders if the President is afraid of the other parties tearing apart his power base if one of them actually got something done.

The meeting is brief and quickly breaks up as the ADMs are far too busy to sit around and chat long.

-vS as NPCs

 

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Loic had an idea to help out the coal miners that lost their jobs find new ones. Here's what it looks like:

oil drilling roustabout/roughneck
The work
Roustabouts and roughnecks are normally based at such as a drilling rig or production area, working as part of a small team.

Roustabouts undertake labouring tasks that help to maintain the drilling area. These include:

cleaning, scraping and painting the equipment and work areas offloading supplies and moving them to storage areas moving supplies and equipment to the work site stacking drill pipes general work in the pump room, for example helping to repair mud pumps mixing and conditioning drilling mud.
Most of the work is carried out under the supervision of a lead roustabout.

Roughnecks carry out duties related to the actual drilling operation:
adding fresh lengths of drillpipe as the drill moves deeper into rock retrieving the whole drill - to change the drillbit or collect rock cores cleaning, de-sanding and de-silting equipment keeping the drilling equipment in good order.
Most of the work is carried out under supervision of a driller.

Skills and Interests
To be a roustabout or roughneck you should:

have good practical skills
be able to live and work as a member of a team
be prepared to work away from home
be aware of health and safety issues
be physically fit
be able to work at heights.

Entry
No formal academic qualifications are needed to work as a roustabout. New entrants start as roustabouts, then progress to working as roughnecks. You must be at least 18, and a minimum of 1.63m (5ft 5ins) tall. You may have to pass a medical examination as part of the recruitment process.

Relevant work experience, for example in shipbuilding or construction, or service in the armed forces is useful.

Training
All workers must complete a fire-fighting course. The course itself does not guarantee you a job in the industry.

As a roustabout you are given induction training onshore, which lasts two or three weeks. This includes information on the industry and the employer, health and safety, and skills training. Further on-the-job training as a roustabout, and later as a roughneck, is required.

 

[jacob-Lundgren]

*ML reviews over the idea a bit. He then writes up a letter to the stock exchange and has a secretary fax it over.*

"The president is in agreement with me, for the next few days we will keep the stock exhange closed for a little while to make sure security is in place and there damage to the bank has not impaired the ability of the markets to function properly*

 

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MIDA Loic Fourgéres pays a call on MERL Michael Ludgren.
"I am glad you decided to accept this job. Eutopia was suffering without adequate management of MERL. You are a successful businessper, so you recognize the importance of lower taxes, sustainable lower taxes, not temporarily lower taxes made possible by higher deficits. The two key ways to make that possible, higher non-tax revenues and lower expenditures, are within your grasp here at MERL. The higher non-tax revenues can come from RECOM, the state corporation that has a monopoly on mineral extraction here in the United Provinces of Eutopia. There are two ways that that can be improved, but first you will need to appoint a new CEO, or remove the word 'interim' from the interim CEO's title. (OOC: it isn't usually a PC role.)

Then they and the rest of MERL could get to work on the ideas I mentioned to the deputy ministers before you were appointed. The are certainly some hydrocarbons in the ground out in Western Eutopia, the question is whether they are there in commercial quantities or not. If there is enough to begin drilling, then having the Labour section of your ministry run some training programs to unemployed to work there will reduce unemployment and therefore cut government expenditures, while the profits from the production would increase government revenues, although the effect probably wouldn't be felt until next term.

This term, you can also have an impact if you can negotiate a successor to the coal agreement with the US. That will enable the immediate recall of laid-off miners and start bringing in the revenue immediately. I would say to coordinate that with MTIA, but since we need a new minister there, it would probably be better to go ahead and start negotiations, and just check with the President once before you sign.

Well I know you are going to be quite busy here, so I will leave you to it. I expect you will find some even more important ways to help move Eutopia forward beyond the 'outside-looking-in' plans I developed from just publicly available information."

 

[jacob-Lundgren]

(hey its time to get moving again )

*ML has another fax written up and sent over, stating that tommorow the markets should once again open up for business*

Removing interim from the CEO would be a more pro-stability move so I shall make that done. *as such ML has such paperwork filled out and the people involved informed*

Can we get together some teams to study the commercial viability of the region in question regarding the hydrocarbons?

 

[unmerged(33865)]

Glad to see you settling in.

As to the commercial viability of extracting the hydrocarbons in that region, there are two approaches, we could do (or have someone do for us) a seismic analysis, where they position sensors around the region and then either set of a small explosion or have a truck with a pile-driver-like device THUMP the ground, and the note when the shock and reflections thereof off various strata show up at the sensors. They repeat a few times and then let a computer build an image out out of it. That would give us the best idea of where to drill.

Or we could just have some geologists look at the surface terrain and guess how it might be underneath and drill a wildcat well or two at a plausible sites. Given that gas is leaking to the surface, that could work. As we don't have any domestic oil or gas production to speak of, we will probably have to buy or lease some foreign drilling equipment, and allow them to bring in the skilled workers to run them at the start. But with a training program we can gradually increase the number of local workers and also rely on local manufacturers, if they are competitive, for the basic needs, like drilling pipe. Drill bits we would be better off importing, I expect.