of the bermuda house of assembly official hansard · pdf filebermuda . house of assembly ....

2013/14 SESSION of the

BERMUDA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT

17 March 2014 Sitting number 17 of the 2013/14 Session

(pages 1561-1704)

Hon. K. H. Randolph Horton, JP, MP Speaker

Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for informational purposes only. The printed version remains the official record.

Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1561

BERMUDA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT 17 MARCH 2014

10:01 AM Sitting Number 17 of the 2013/14 Session

[Hon. K. H. Randolph Horton, Speaker, in the Chair]

PRAYERS [Prayers read by Hon. K. H. Randolph Horton, Speaker]

CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES [Deferred]

The Speaker: Good morning, Members. The Minutes for the 12th and the 14th of March will be deferred.

MESSAGES FROM THE GOVERNOR

The Speaker: There are no messages from the Gov-ernor.

ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE SPEAKER

OR MEMBER PRESIDING

APOLOGIES The Speaker: I have two announcements. MP Glenn Blakeney is absent due to illness. And MP Zane De Silva is off-Island.

MESSAGES FROM THE SENATE

The Speaker: There are none.

PAPERS AND OTHER

COMMUNICATIONS TO THE HOUSE

The Speaker: I will first recognise the Honourable Minister of Economic Development and Education.

Dr. Grant Gibbons, you have the floor. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good morning. The Speaker: Good morning to you.

CORPORATE LANDHOLDING POLICY

Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I have the honour to attach and submit for the information of the Honour-able House of Assembly the Corporate Landholding Policy. Mr. Speaker, this relates to the legislation cur-rently on the Order Paper respecting the Companies Amendment Act 2014. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Minister.

PETITIONS

The Speaker: There are no petitions.

STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS

AND JUNIOR MINISTERS

The Speaker: No statements.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES

The Speaker: No reports of committees.

QUESTION PERIOD

The Speaker: No questions.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR OBITUARY SPEECHES

The Speaker: We get to congratulatory and obituary speeches. The Chair recognises first the Minister for Public Works. Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, you have the floor. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask that this Hon-ourable House send a letter of congratulations to In-ter-Island Communications on a very successful host-ing of Bermuda Idol for 2014. There were 14 final-ists—14 people who made it through the auditions and the elimination round—and, of the 14, they chose five finalists. The numbers one, two and three . . . this is one time I can say that the judges got it right. Mr. Speaker, I think that they— The Speaker: Judges always get it right.

Bermuda House of Assembly

1562 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Well, I am not 100 per cent sure. [Laughter] The Speaker: They always get it right. Trust me. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: There are times that we may disagree. The Speaker: We may disagree, but they get it right. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: But I believe in this instance the judges got it right, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to offer congratulations to the successful final three. I would like to associate my honourable colleague, Wayne Scott, and also the Honourable Member Suzann Roberts-Holshouser and the Hon-ourable Member Shawn Crockwell. Thank you. And the Honourable Member— The Speaker: All those in the House. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Everybody in the House, especially those who were there. I believe a good time was had by all, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Minister. Are there any other Members who care to speak? I do recognise the Honourable Minister of Community, Culture and Sports. Minister Wayne Scott, you have the floor. Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to offer congratulations to Mr. Ty-ler Butterfield, who has just performed an extraordi-nary feat in a world-class triathlon field in Abu Dhabi, winning that triathlon. I think that that is something that has been a culmination of a great career so far, and certainly has made Bermuda proud. I would like to associate, as far as I can see, everybody at this point, so the whole House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair recognises the Honourable Learned Member from constituency number 34. MP Kim Wilson, you have the floor. Mrs. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to be associated with the con-gratulatory remarks for Inter Island Communications already advanced in this House by the Minister the Honourable Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin. I attended the event, and it was, as she said, certainly a good time had by all. I think that Inter Island Communications, in particular, in addition to the winners of the event, should be commended because they are active in al-

lowing local artists in Bermuda to become exposed and to show their talent. There were two international judges that were there, and I do recall hearing one of the judges indi-cate to one of the finalists, I would like to chat with you afterwards, in hopes of perhaps helping to develop her career. And we have an abundant amount of tal-ent in Bermuda, as we know, particularly when it comes to singing. And the fact that Inter Island Com-munications continues to take steps and produce pro-grammes such as these to promote local talent and give them an avenue for exposure and so forth, I think needs to be commended. I understand that there is going to be another event concerning dancing in June. Perhaps the Hon-ourable Minister Gordon-Pamplin and I could attend, because we actually thought everybody was going to sing, and then we turn around and look at MP, Minis-ter Crockwell, who was sitting next to Gita Blakeney, of course, so they were talking about falsetto and this and that, and we were like, They sounded good to us. Actually, I had a chat with MP Roberts-Holshouser, who has some type of vocal training. So she could tell when someone was flat. We did not think anybody was flat. But the point is that we have incredible talent. And Inter Islands Communications takes steps to ad-vance that talent. And I think, for that, they too need to be congratulated, as well as all of the participants. One of the youngest participants was 12 years old—the youngest participants made it to the finals. She is a school colleague of my daughter. And she did quite well, as well. So I think the talent is there in Bermuda, and they have an opportunity to show-light it through the organisations such as Inter Island Communica-tions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair recognises the Honourable Mem-ber from Warwick West. MP Jeff Sousa, you have the floor. Mr. Jeff Sousa: Good morning, Mr. Speaker, and of course, good morning to those in the listening audi-ence. Being a big fan of sports like you, Mr. Speaker, delighted to see Bermudians such as Tyler Butterfield and Nahki Wells doing so well on the inter-national stage. Considering our Island’s size and population, we as a people can mix it up with the best in the world. Certainly, my football team, Manchester United, could have used some of that Onion juice on the weekend. The Speaker: They could have used a lot of it Satur-day. Mr. Jeff Sousa: Regrets to your team as well, Mr. Speaker.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1563 Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to congratu-late the Bermuda Equestrian Federation for putting on their fund raiser, Country Hoedown, which I attended with my wife this past Saturday night. For the first time ever, Bermuda is hoping to qualify a team for a major equestrian event. Currently, there are seven qualifi-ers—in jumping, Raishun Burch, Patrick Nesbitt, Jillian Terceira, Nick DeCosta and Ki-Juan Minors; and in dressage, Dawn Fox and [Virginia] “Vee” McKey. The qualifiers are on April 4th for jumping and are being held in Belgium and Florida. The Central American and Caribbean games are being held in Ve-racruz, Mexico in November. This is being held along a modified Grand Prix height, the jumping. These games are a step towards the Pan Am Games and then on to the Olympic Games. What is remarkable about this, Mr. Speaker, is that most Caribbean countries just have one eques-trian individual going. Most of the teams that are going are from Central America. Mr. Speaker, for the first time in Bermuda’s history, we look destined to have a team going to these events. I would like, as Bermudi-ans have rallied around other Bermudians on the in-ternational stage, for Bermudians to likewise assist in this team getting there, to Mexico. If anybody is inter-ested, they can contact my daughter, Lindsay Sousa, at Sousa’s Landscape Management, or of course, myself or another equestrian in the House of Assem-bly, Cole Simons, if they wish to help in any way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Dep-uty Speaker, MP Suzann Roberts-Holshouser. You have the floor. Mrs. Suzann Roberts-Holshouser: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good morning. The Speaker: Good morning. Mrs. Suzann Roberts-Holshouser: I would like to echo the sentiments expressed for both the event of Bermuda Idol, which I think stood well above the American Idol. It does go to show that not only does Bermuda have a lot of exceptionally talented young individuals, we have to remember that those individu-als who were focusing on the talent (i.e., vocal), it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. As a result, they are not the ones that we are losing sight of. They are the ones that are focusing. They are not the ones that are basically finding other things to do with their time. So, while sport is always number one in Ber-muda, I really take my hat off and tip my hat to the organisers of the event. It was outstanding. In addition, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to be associated with the congratulations for Tyler Butterfield, who runs in the steps, I am sure, of his

father, who was extremely proud. His father was, I think, Bermuda’s first triathlete winner. He won the Hawaiian Triathlete many, many years ago. One has to recognise that this is not just a physical feat; it is a mental feat at the same time. [Inaudible interjection] Mrs. Suzann Roberts-Holshouser: Sorry? Seventh. Sorry, you are right, but again a participant. We have to recognise that a 3-K swim fol-lowed by a 200-K bicycle ride and a 20-K run, it is ex-ceptional. And again, it is far more than just a physical exercise. It is a mental exercise in order to be able to start and then continue as you transition from one event to another. So, again I would like to be associ-ated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from Sandys South, MP Lister, from constitu-ency 33. Hon. Terry E. Lister: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. I want to offer three congratulations this morn-ing. First, to Ms. Charlita Saltus, who is a young archi-tect, who, you may recall, became a partner in the Conyers and Associates architectural firm a few years ago, and they decided to wind that down. And she is opening her own architectural practice. I have several Members who want to be associated with that. This is a young lady who is making a contribution, a young lady who is brave. At this point in time, there is not a lot of work for architects, and she could have hidden behind another firm, just joined another firm and taken a paycheque. But she is prepared to go out there and cut her own way. And I think this House should offer her congratulations just for the boldness. Secondly, last week there was the unveiling of the Walter Maddocks Memorial Clock. And I am pleased about this from the point of view of the contri-bution Mr. Maddocks made. Not only was he a fine lawyer, magistrate and that sort of thing, but he was a tremendous Rotarian. Now, I am not a Rotarian my-self, so I am not pushing Rotarian today. But the Head of the Rotary International came to Bermuda to be part of this process. And in his little presentation, he pointed out that prior to Mr. Maddocks taking on the DeGlasses campaign worldwide, there had only been something like $20 million ever raised for a project. Through his drive worldwide, they raised over $240 million. This is a tremendous contribution. I am hoping that the clock, which I have not seen as yet, actually has a properly marked plague so that through time— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Terry E. Lister: I am being assured that it does.


1564 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report So that through time, people can go by. They may wonder why the clock is there. They will see why, and they will see what a Bermudian who is committed can do, not only on the Bermuda stage, but world-wide. Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I too want to join in on the congratulations for Bermuda Idol. I was on hand. I was excited by just about all the performances. I had one of my constituents performing, and their parents kept telling me, Terry, you have to come, you have to come. So I came. I had a second constituent. But best yet, no one has mentioned who came second and first. They mentioned third. Second was a young Jesse Seymour, who performed outstandingly well with a Marvin Gaye se-lection, Let’s Get It On. I think all the women in the audience went wild. But that is okay. The men en-joyed it, too. But then the winner was Olivia Hamilton, who really blew the place apart. Ms. Hamilton, for those who do not know, is the granddaughter of Rev-erend Goody Smith. And my sister was particularly excited because of her goddaughter. She can really perform. I have heard her a few times before. She was the one that the Honourable Kim Wilson referred to as being invited by the judge from BET [Black En-tertainment Television] to have a chat. I think it can be a productive chat because she has got what it takes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Minister of Health and Seniors. Minister Trevor Moniz, you have the floor. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Health and the Environment these days. The Speaker: Health and the Environment. Excuse me, Minister. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: We still cover seniors. We still cover seniors. The Speaker: Right. Thanks for that, though. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to my feet today just to ask that this House send congratulations to the Bermuda Zoologi-cal Society Environmental Youth Conference last week. Their youth conference was entitled Protecting the Sargasso Sea: The Power of One. And it took place at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo [BAMZ]. There were some 83 students who were reg-istered to attend. I was invited to speak on Friday. But they also had keynote speakers, Dr. David Freestone of the Sargasso Sea Alliance, and Professor Howard Roe, the Scientific Advisory Chair of the Sargasso Sea Alliance.

There was good synergy because we signed the Hamilton Declaration last week. These two gen-tlemen came for that. And they also came to the stu-dents’ conference at the aquarium. Other presenta-tions were made by Dr. Bill Curry, the President and Director of BIOS [Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sci-ences], and Dr. Robbie Smith, Curator for the National History Museum, BAMZ.. So I would like to congratu-late them on a very successful conference, which was funded by the Ernest E. Stempel Foundation, together with the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, BIOS, Sargasso Sea Alliance and KBB. In addition to that, I would like to thank the Health Council for honouring one of its members last Thursday afternoon. The Health Council held a tree-planting ceremony at the Arboretum for the recently deceased Louise Jackson. Her two daughters at-tended. It was quite a tearful, but at the same time joyful celebration of the legacy of Louise Jackson with the planting of a moringa tree at the Arboretum. The Members in the House, Mrs. Jeanne Atherden was there, as well as Susan Jackson. Thank you. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Minister. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from Warwick, MP Lawrence Scott. You have the floor. Mr. W. Lawrence Scott: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Good morning. Mr. W. Lawrence Scott: I rise to congratulate Ms. Beverle Lottimore, the former Director of CITV, who was nominated and then granted the honour from the group of Women of Great Esteem. She has been honoured with that award. That means that she joins the likes of former Premier Paula Cox, former Premier Dame Jennifer Smith. You have Dr. Una Clarke of Jamaica; Maxine Waters and Sheila Jackson Lee of the [US] House of Representatives. So, I just would like to send congratulations to Ms. Beverle Lottimore. The Speaker: Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from Pembroke, MP David Burt. You have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good morning to you. The Speaker: Good morning. Mr. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the House to send a letter of congratulations to my constituent, Mr. Antonio Belvedere. He was featured in the Bermuda Sun last Friday for opening a restau-


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1565 rant at Bermuda College campus called Peppino’s. He is a graduate of Bermuda College Culinary School, and I think that it is good to see one of our young people opening up a restaurant in these times, espe-cially. He is an entrepreneur. He was working at an establishment, was not necessarily happy there and decided to go out on his own. And it is something that is very good and something that should be encour-aged and congratulated. I would like to associate the former Chairman of the Bermuda College, MP Minis-ter Dunkley and MP Jeff Sousa with those remarks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member. Would any other Honourable Member care to speak? I do recognise the Honourable Member from Pembroke. MP Michael Weeks, you have the floor. Mr. Michael A. Weeks: Good morning, Mr. Speaker; good morning, colleagues. I would like to associate myself with the re-marks for the Bermuda Idol competition, Mr. Speaker, and also for the remarks about Tyler Butterfield. He did an excellent job over here in Abu Dhabi. But be-fore I take my seat, I also want to congratulate the two teams that were promoted this past weekend to the premier division, St. George’s Colts and Robin Hood. I wore an orange tie because I thought the Devonshire Colts were going to beat St. George's Colts. But it was not to be. It was a great game. It was a great game. So I take my hat off to St. George’s Colts and to the Robin Hood football club. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member. Would any other Members care to speak? Thank you, Members.

MATTERS OF PRIVILEGE

The Speaker: We move now to matters of privilege. There are none.

PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS

The Speaker: No personal explanations.

NOTICE OF MOTIONS FOR THE ADJOURMENT OF THE HOUSE

ON MATTERS OF URGENT PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

The Speaker: No motions.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

The Speaker: No introduction of bills.

NOTICE OF MOTIONS The Speaker: No notice of motions.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

The Speaker: We move now to the Orders of the Day. I will recognise the Minister for Finance, Minister Bob Richards. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move that we now resume in the Committee of Supply to further consider the Esti-mates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Fiscal Year 2014/15. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member. Any objections to that? There are none. So I would like to ask that the Honourable Member from Devonshire, MP Glen Smith, take the Chair.

House in Committee at 10:23 am [Mr. Glen Smith Chairman]

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY

ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2014/15

[Continuation thereof] The Chairman: Good morning, Members and listen-ing audience. We are now in Committee of Supply for fur-ther consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Year 2014/15, for the Ministry of Public Works, Heads 68, 36, 81, 82 and 69. Three-and-a-half hours have been allocated to this head. I call on the Minister of Public Works to proceed. Minis-ter, you have the floor.

MINISTRY OF WORKS AND ENGINEERING Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would like to move Heads 68, 36, 81, 82 and 69. Mr. Chairman, it is with privilege and purpose that I stand before this Honourable House and hon-ourable colleagues to present the Budget for the Min-istry of Public Works for the Fiscal Year 2014/15, and, in particular, the detail as requested by the Opposition for Head 36, Ministry Headquarters; Head 68, Parks; Head 69, Conservation Services; Head 81, Public Land and Buildings; Head 82, Works and Engineering.


1566 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Mr. Chairman, the budget allocation to the Ministry of Public Works for 2014/15 is $82,313,000, a decrease of $5,260,000, or 6 per cent under the 2013/14 budget, found on page B-203 in the Budget Book. Mr. Chairman, the anticipated revenue of the Ministry of Public Works for 2014/15 is $13,138,000, a de-crease of $717,000, or 5 per cent, when compared with the revenue during the 2013/14 budget period, as seen on page B-203. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry’s capital budget for 2014/15 is $39,846,000. This comprises the capital development budget of $38,319,000 and the capital acquisition budget of $1,527,000. The Ministry’s budget for full-time equivalent employees (FTE) over the Fiscal Year 2014/15 is at 772, a decrease of 35, as seen on page B-203. Mr. Chairman, at its core, the Ministry of Pub-lic Works is the custodian and manager of the Gov-ernment’s immoveable assets. In order for the Gov-ernment to carry out the significant responsibility, it is suitably served by the departments already mentioned and an additional two departments which have not been included in the Opposition’s schedule—namely, Land Valuation, Head 49; Land Surveys and Registra-tion, Head 97. I would like to acknowledge my Permanent Secretary, Ms. Marva Jean O’Brien; the Acting Per-manent Secretary, Billy Francis, who served me well when it was needed; and the outgoing PS, Randy Rochester, who ensured a smooth and seamless transition when both my Permanent Secretary and I took over our positions in the Ministry. I would also like to acknowledge the department heads and their teams of over 800-strong who have made and con-tinue to make contributions to the improvement of our Island home. Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this oppor-tunity to recognise the respective chairmen and mem-bers of the boards of the Bermuda Land Development Corporation, the West End Development Corporation and the Bermuda Housing Corporation. I anticipate that these partnerships will continue to be beneficial to Bermuda at large. Mr. Chairman, I would like to conclude my opening remarks by thanking those dedicated chair-men and board members who have served and who are continuing to serve on the boards of Works and Engineering, Historic Wrecks Authority, National Parks Commission, Professional Engineers Registra-tion Council, Land Valuation Appeal Tribunal. Mr. Chairman, I have shared a copy of my brief with my Shadow Minister, and I now move to consider Head 68, Department of Parks.

HEAD 68—DEPARTMENT OF PARKS Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Mr. Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to present the budget for

Head 68, the Department of Parks. The mission statement, Mr. Chairman, for the Department of Parks is to develop and maintain public parks, beaches and school grounds and to produce plants necessary for this purpose; to provide safe and aesthetically pleas-ing active and passive recreational and educational facilities for the enjoyment of residents and visitors; to promote the educational and cultural history relating to the environment for residents and visitors. Mr. Chairman, the department is responsible for the maintenance and management of approxi-mately 1,000 acres comprising the national parks sys-tem, as well as other designated areas including roadside verges, health clinics, public schools, post offices and some sports fields. The Department of Parks is also responsible for the provision of a profes-sional lifeguard service at Horseshoe Bay, John Smith’s Bay, Clearwater Beach, Turtle Cove and Cooper’s Island Nature Reserve. The Department of Parks is also tasked with the protection and preserva-tion of cultural and natural resources and for the en-forcement of the National Parks Act 1986. Finally, Mr. Chairman, the Department of Parks is responsible for the production of the annual Agricultural Exhibition. To these ends, Mr. Chairman, the department has five programme areas, each with a number of cost centres, as shown on pages B-215 to B-219 of the Approved Estimates of Revenue and Expendi-ture—namely,

• Programme 6801, Park Services, comprising cost centre 78000, Park Ranger Service;

• Programme 6802, Lifeguard Service, compris-ing cost centre 78010, Lifeguard Service;

• Programme 6802, Park Maintenance, com-prising cost centres: o 78015, Government House and Camden, o 78020, Maintenance and Development, o 78030, Eastern Parks, o 78035, Tree Service, o 78040, Western Parks, o 78045, School Grounds, o 78055, Tulo Valley, o 78065, Botannical Gardens, o 78100, Railway Trail;

• Programme 6804, Administration, comprises cost centre 78050, Administration and Plan-ning; cost centre 78110, Annual Exhibition; and

• Programme 6805, Forts, comprises cost cen-tre 78080, Forts and Historical Sites.

Mr. Chairman, the Current Account expendi-ture of the Parks Department for 2014/15 is $9,893,479, which represents a 6 per cent reduction compared to the current year’s financial budget. Mr. Chairman, 83 per cent of the budget is devoted to salaries and wages totalling $8.2 million, for a staff of 150, including 114 industrial employees, 24 civil service employees and 12 seasonal employ-


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1567 ees. There are currently three industrial posts vacant and five civil service posts vacant. Business cases have been submitted to obtain permission to fill some vacancies, while others will be left vacant as a means to reduce the budget to meet our cash limit. Programme 6801, Parks Service. Mr. Chair-man, cost centre 78000, Park Ranger Service, has a specific budget allocation of $383,000 fiscal year 2014/15, a reduction of $77,000, or 17 per cent. The reduction in the budget is in response to reduced cash limits for the Department of Parks. As a result, the department will hire less seasonal assistant park rangers for the summer and will realign the services provide and continue to enforce the National Parks Act 1986 and the National Parks Regulations 1988. Programme 6802, Lifeguard Services. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78010, Lifeguard Services, has a specific budget allocation of $356,000 for fiscal year 2014/15, a reduction of $90,000, or 20 per cent. Once again, this reduction was made to meet the new cash limits for the Department of Parks. As a result, the Department of Parks will have to creatively deploy lifeguard services throughout the system. Programme 6803, Park Maintenance. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78015, Government House and Camden, has a specific budget allocation of $289,000, a reduction of $18,000, or 6 per cent over the previous year. This represents a reduction in wages and over-time, as well as in consultancy fees. One of the vacant posts has been temporarily frozen to assist the de-partment in meeting its new cash limits. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78020, Mainte-nance and Development, has a specific budget alloca-tion of $994,000 for 2014/15, a reduction of $230,000, or 19 per cent. This represents a reduction in wages due to the furlough deduction, freezing vacant posts, as well as a reduction in overtime. This will mean that services that typically are offered on the weekends, such as sanitation services in the parks, may be scaled back so that the department is in keeping with its reduced cash limit. Less essential budget items, such as cleaning supplies, maintenance materials, et cetera, have also been reduced. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78030, Eastern Parks, has a specific budget allocation of $891,000, an increase of $24,000, or 3 per cent. We have rear-ranged the work unit and incorporated some of the goods, services and activities previously managed by other cost centres. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78035, Tree Ser-vice, has a specific budget of $558,000, an increase of $16,000, or 3 per cent. The Department of Parks has rearranged its workforce and shifted funds to match this change. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78040, Western Parks, has a specific budget of $1,295,000, a 10 per cent decrease of $140,000. This reflects the deduction of furlough days, as well as the necessity to efficiently use tools and equipment and maintenance materials.

Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78045, School Grounds, has a budget of $510,000, a decrease of $85,000, or 14 per cent. This change is related to the deduction of furlough days, reduction in horticultural supplies, as well as the temporary freezing of a vacant post. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78055, Tulo Valley Plant Nursery, has a specific budget of $567,000, a decrease of 3 per cent, or $19,000. This change, in part, is due to the furlough day deduction. Cost centre 78065, Botannical Gardens and the Arboretum, has a specific budget of $1,661,000, a 6 per cent decrease totalling $98,000. The change represents a reduction for furlough days, as well as the transfer of security funds to cover growing costs in other areas such as mobile equipment and energy costs. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78100, Railway Trail, has a specific budget of $393,000, a decrease of $11,000, or 3 per cent. This decrease is reflected in the reduction of the Maintenance Materials object code to assist the department in meeting its cash limit. Programme 6804, Administration. Mr. Chair-man, cost centre 78050, Administration and Planning, has a specific budget of $1,226,000, a 13 per cent increase representing $138,000. This increase reflects the consolidation of services under the Administration banner for services such as electricity, mobile equip-ment and the transfer of wages into this cost centre. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78110, Annual Ex-hibition, has a budget of $326,000, a decrease of $9,000, or 3 per cent. This change represents the de-duction for furlough days and refreshment provisions at the exhibition. Programme 6805, Forts. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 78080, Forts and Historical Sites, has a spe-cific budget of $444,000, a decrease of $45,000, or 9 per cent. This reduction reflects the Furlough Day, Land and Buildings, Tools and Equipment, and Main-tenance Materials object codes. Budget variances from 2013/14 to 2014/15. Mr. Chairman, the current economic climate has re-quired us to make numerous cost savings throughout our budget and compels us to be creative in the provi-sion of services. We have endeavoured to do this with the 2014/15 budget. Mr. Chairman, the 8 per cent budget decrease in salaries and wages is due to our efforts to reduce spending. This required a reduction in the hiring of seasonable employees, freezing some vacant posts and reducing the overtime budget. This action will impact on the lifeguard services, whereby the department will be required to deploy available resources effectively. Some of the maintenance crews will also be required to work with reduced numbers, and efficiencies will have to be realised in order not to affect their maintenance schedules. Mr. Chairman, the decrease of 22 per cent in the training budget is to reduce spending. However, the Department of Parks is still committed to training


1568 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report its team. We will be partnering with other Government departments to provide land-themed courses to our team, and we will be seeking the assistance of the Department of Human Resources for the provision of professional development courses. Mr. Chairman, the 8 per cent decrease in transport relating to air and sea freight costs for Exhi-bition, Lifeguard Services, and Tulo Valley Plant and Nursery operations reflects the need to reduce spend-ing. Mr. Chair, the 32 per cent decrease in the travel budget is due to our efforts to reduce this ex-penditure. The department hopes to continue to work in partnership with other organisations and stake-holder groups to sponsor travel expenses for events such as the Annual Exhibition and to assist with over-seas training, which is not available in Bermuda. The 138 per cent increase in the Communica-tion budget is due to the cost of providing the technol-ogy for our teams to be able to interact with their cus-tomers in a timelier manner. This increase is offset by savings in other cost centres. Mr. Chairman, the 24 per cent reduction in Advertising and Promotion budget is a cost-saving measure. The Department of Parks will continue to find creative cost-effective methods of promoting the parks and advising the public. The 5 per cent increase in the Professional Services budget reflects an increase in the cost for doing business with our vendors. This covers costs for contractors and security, et cetera. We will once again be partnering with other government departments, where possible, to provide services such as towing abandoned vehicles, borrowing cranes or high lifts or utilising specialised services as required. Mr. Chairman, the 12 per cent increase in Rentals is necessary to cover costs associated with activities, services and facilities which cannot be pro-vided by other Government departments due to either time constraints or lack of resources. Mr. Chairman, the 13 per cent increase in the Repair and Maintenance budget reflects the cost of, and our need to maintain, our physical resources. The 92 per cent increase in the Energy budget reflects the reallocation of existing resources to more efficiently meet our obligations. We have analysed our costs and services and transferred funds from less-essential cost centres to the Energy cost centre to meet the projected needs. Mr. Chairman, the 21 per cent decrease in Clothing Uniform budget is due to our efforts to reduce spending. However, this reduction in spending will not compromise the use of personal protective equipment. Mr. Chairman, the 30 per cent decrease in Materials and Supplies is also an effort to reduce spending. The Department of Parks makes every ef-fort to get discounts and value for money for the pur-chase of materials and supplies.

The 167 per cent increase in Other Expenses, albeit the number is not material, Mr. Chairman, it re-flects a reallocation of existing resources to more effi-ciently meet our obligations. We analysed our costs and services and transferred funds from less-essential cost centres to cover anticipated costs in the new fis-cal year. Minor capital within the Current Account at $2,000 remains unchanged from the previous year, and, again, it is not material. Capital Development. Mr. Chairman, the Capi-tal Development allocation for the Department of Parks, as seen on page C-7, is $2,400,000. The Parks Improvement budget, cost centre 75101, has been allocated $400,000, which will allow the department to undertake much-needed improvements to the national parks, such as renovations to forts, playgrounds, Railway Trail and general improvements. Other parks that will be a part of the general improvement initiative are Parsons’ Road Playground, Kindley Field and St. David’s Battery. Mr. Chairman, the Maintenance Yard Facility budget, 75234, has been allocated $2 million to com-plete the project in the upcoming fiscal year. Capital acquisitions. Mr. Chairman, the De-partment of Parks did not receive any funding to pur-chase capital items such as computer equipment and maintenance vehicles to replace the ageing fleet. As the Department of Parks relies on vehicles to carry out their work Island-wide and to respond to hurricane and storm clean-ups, we will ensure an effective main-tenance schedule for the existing assets and ensure that it is adhered to. Mr. Chairman, total revenue is projected to be $254,000. The Budget Book rounds these numbers to the nearest thousand; 79 per cent will be raised from admissions from Fort [St.] Catherine and the Agricul-tural Exhibition, for a total of $200,000. The balance will be raised through service fees, $1,000; camping fees, $11,500; general, $35,000; horticultural produce, $3,500; other retail sales, $200; facilities, $1,000; and concessions, $1,500. Major Achievements for 2013/14. Mr. Chair-man, the Department of Parks has had another busy year working to maintain the variety of areas under its care. Despite some of the short-staff issues and deal-ing with unprecedented rainfalls which resulted in ex-cessive vegetation growth and equipment breakdown, they have achieved many of their goals. The perform-ance measures for the Department of Parks can be found on pages B-218 to 219, and I would like to bring a few measures to your attention. Mr. Chairman, the Park Ranger Service, pro-gramme 7801. This section was involved in numerous community projects, including

• Chewstick Foundation’s Good Friday Kite Fest; • Emancipation Day at Horseshoe Bay on Thursday,

1st of August;



• End to End Charity Walk along the western section of the Railway Trail;

• the Family Centre’s Cycle for Change; • Centre Against Abuse’s Century-wide fund raiser; • August Insurance adoption of Lighthouse Parks

held at St. David’s lighthouse; and • Bermuda Bicycle Association Mountain Bike Se-

ries conducted at various parks, including the Railway Trail.

Mr. Chairman, the Park Rangers Service also

provided Bermuda Red-Cross-sanctioned CPR [car-diopulmonary resuscitation], First Aid and AED [auto-mated external defibrillator] certification courses to both the public and private sectors. In addition, the instructors trained and certified new instructors. Mr. Chairman, the park rangers provided as-sistance for Morgan’s Point vegetation clearance for the PGA bus route, assisted with the preparation of the old Club Med property for the Department of Tour-ism and provided tours of the golf courses with Ber-muda Tourism Authority personnel to potential devel-opers of the golf course in St. George’s. Mr. Chairman, the park rangers also assisted with neighbourhood clean-ups. The Bermuda Police Service Community Action Team liaised with Keep Bermuda Beautiful for the various clean-ups of parks and beaches and assisted with infrastructure set-up and staff management with the promoters of the an-nual John Lennon Peace Concert held in the Botani-cal Gardens. Mr. Chairman, the Park Ranger Junior Pro-gramme continues to be a huge success with children. The children who participate in this programme are involved in tours and assist at the Agricultural Exhibi-tion. They look forward to their outings, often express-ing the desire to become park rangers when they are old enough. Mr. Chairman, as a part of our outreach programme to educate the public on the functions and responsibilities of the Department of Parks, the Park Ranger Division created an exciting booth at the Agri-cultural Exhibition which detailed all of the work per-formed by the various sections of the Department of Parks. Mr. Chairman, the Lifeguard Services, pro-gramme 6802, provides lifeguard coverage at five of Bermuda’s public beaches. The Lifeguard Services also presented five water safety lectures in the com-munity, also partnered with the Bermuda Cancer and Health in promoting prostate cancer awareness in July. Mr. Chairman, their efforts raised just over $1,000 for Bermuda Cancer and Health Men’s Health Programme. The Bermuda Lifeguard service also pro-vided water safety coverage for the Triathlon Associa-tion’s sanctioned triathlons at Clearwater and provided rescue boat services at this function. The service was deemed to be the first responder services for the Bermuda Powerboat Association during the Around the Island powerboat race.

Mr. Chairman, the Lifeguard Services pro-vided certification courses to the hospital staff in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, First Aid and auto-mated external defibrillator training through the Ameri-can Heart Foundation and certified medical staff at doctors’ offices in CPR, First Aid and AED through the Bermuda Red Cross. This training has proven to be a tremendous service to the public. Mr. Chairman, in commemoration of Geoffrey Burns, a former lifeguard who passed away, the Bermuda Lifeguard Service continued to maintain a corner of Cooper’s Island Na-ture Reserve as a picnic area. Mr. Chairman, the Park Maintenance Division, 6803, are responsible for the landscape maintenance of approximately 1,000 acres comprising national parks and other specific lands. Mr. Chairman, it is important to note that the involvement of the Parks Department in their miscel-laneous areas has been voluminous. I have provided my Honourable Shadow with a copy of the brief. And while the numbers augment the budget numbers, I do not believe that time is best served by continuing to highlight every single item. This is a three-and-a-half-hour debate, and we have to be mindful to be able to cover all of the areas requested by the Opposition and also to allow them time to be able to contribute to the debate. HEAD 36—MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS HEAD-

QUARTERS Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Mr. Chairman, with this quite comprehensive overview of the depart-ment, I will now move on to Budget Head 36, which is the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters. Mr. Chairman, the mission statement, the mandate of the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters is to provide centralised support services to the oper-ating programmes, which include Public Lands and Buildings, Works and Engineering and the newly added Department’s Park Conservation Services Land Valuation and Land Surveys and Registration. Mr. Chairman, the services provided by Headquarters are organised in the following six programmes, shown in the Budget Book at page B-205:

• 3601, Head Office Admin; • 3610, Accounts; • 3611, Purchasing; • 3612, Telecommunications; • 3613, Human Resources; and • 3614, Architect and Design.

Head Office. Mr. Chairman, the Head Office Administration programme, 3601, as seen on page B-205, comprises Headquarters Administration, 46111, and Central Filing, 46112. It has been allocated a total of $1,210,000. Administration Programme, 46111, page B-205, has been allocated $980,000 for fiscal year 2014/15, a decrease of $831,000 over the previ-


1570 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report ous year. Mr. Speaker, the reduction is a result of the Parish Council grant of $750,000 being transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Headquarters Administration, under the direc-tion of the Permanent Secretary, provides oversight and management support to the entire Ministry of Public Works. It also ensures that the Government policy objectives are met and specifically that the im-plementation of the Ministry’s strategic plan and yearly business plan are implemented and that safety and health matters, as well as numerous special adminis-trative projects, are managed. Mr. Chairman, during 2013/14, the Safety and Health Office conducted internal audits in partnership within sections within the Department of Works and Engineering. The audit focused on the following parts of the Occupational Safety and Health Requirements 2009: [Part 2] Safety and Health Committees; [Part 3] Investigation and reporting; [Part 7] Electrical safety; [Part 8] Fire safety and emergency; [Part 9] First Aid; [Part 11] Sanitation; [Part 12] Hazardous substances; and [Part 16] Protective clothing and equipment. All audited sections have developed a corrective action plan and are at varying stages of completion of im-plementation. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works continues to provide safety and health training to staff in an effort to promote the wellbeing of all employees. In 2013/14 the Ministry offered a total of 142 hours of safety training. Training programmes included ladder safety, scaffolding safety, fall protection, asbestos abatement, manual material handling, fire safety and CPR/First Aid Training. These training modules en-hanced employees’ awareness regarding the hazards associated with work activities. One Ministry em-ployee has also been certified to provide training in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, first aid and AED. A total of 408 employees participated in safety training modules in 2013. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works continues to conduct documented risk assessments to manage risks that the employees and the public are exposed to as a result of our activities. These as-sessments will continue into 2014. Mr. Chairman, to improve the quality of inci-dent data collection and analysis, the electronic acci-dent investigation database and the accident report form were modified in 2013. These amendments will assist in providing additional data sets that will assist in improving the environmental working conditions for all employees in the various facets of the Ministry. Mr. Chairman, during the fiscal year 2014/15, the Ministry of Public Works will continue to develop and strengthen its Safety and Health Programme in accordance with the requirement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1982 and the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 2009. In an effort to reduce the number of injury and illness cases, the Ministry will continue within our current initiatives such

as internal safety audits, safety and health awareness training, and risk assessments. Central Filing. Mr. Chairman, another area under the Public Works Head Office Administration is Central Filing, 46112, which provides records man-agement for all Human Resource records, Cabinet documents, capital projects and contracts and main-tenance records for the Ministry’s legislative functions. It has been allocated $230,000.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER

HOUSE VISITOR The Chairman: Honourable Member, do you mind just taking your seat for a second? We just want to acknowledge the presence of Neletha Butterfield, former Member of Parliament, and also was the Minister of Community and Cultural Af-fairs. Welcome. [Desk thumping] The Chairman: Thank you. Please continue. [Committee of Supply continuing, Head 36] Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Public Works Accounts Programme, 3610, as seen on page B-205, has been allocated $1,170,000 for 2014/15, an increase of $109,000. This increase is due to the transfer of an accounts officer from Tourism. This person will assist with supporting the four additional departments added to the Ministry of Public Works from the Ministry of the Environment. This programme provides management and oversight of the Ministry of Public Works operat-ing budget of $82,313,000, along with the Ministry’s capital development vote of $38,000,000 and the capi-tal acquisition budget of $1.5 million. With the use of a centralised accounting sys-tem, the Public Works accounts section not only man-ages the yearly budget preparation, but also provides monthly management reports, a process that enables management to effectively and efficiently monitor and control the Ministry of Public Works operating budget, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, capi-tal asset management and financial reporting func-tions for the operating departments within the Ministry. Mr. Chairman, the accounts department will continue to focus on implementing the debt collection process and strategy. There have been instances where some customers have had their water supply disconnected, and some truckers have been placed on the refuse-dumping stop list. However, Mr. Chair-man, be assured that this Ministry is actively working with these customers to set up payment plans so that they may be reinstated as soon as possible. As a re-


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1571 sult of this proactive stance, we have seen a decrease of 3 per cent in the accounts receivable. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry has also joined forces with the Accountant General’s Department, who have assisted with customers delinquent over 90 days to develop a debt-collection module within the E1 computer system. Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the Public Works Accounts Section, I would like to welcome aboard the new Ministry Comptroller, Bermudian JoAnne Smith, a CPA with over 20 years’ experience in the accounting field. Mr. Chairman, the Purchasing Programme, 3611, as seen on page B-205, has been allocated a budget of $1,226,000 for 2014/15, an increase of 20 per cent, or $207,000, which is due to the removal of the programme recharge. So the credit is not going to be there; therefore, the expense is higher. Mr. Chairman, this programme provides the centralised purchasing and supply function to other programmes within the Ministry and to other ministries from time to time. The services provided range from the initial research of sources of supply, ordering, cus-toms clearance, the physical receipt of goods, to the management of inventory for the Ministry. During 2013/14, the purchasing section focused on process improvements and creating efficiencies. They part-nered with the operational areas to review the current processes and improve the flow of work. This has re-sulted in a decrease of the number of steps and time required for foreign orders, which has historically af-fected efficiency. The purchasing team also partnered with the Office of Project Management and Procurement to review the Public Works Procurement of Contracts Services Management Procedures, PFA-2002, which is being adjusted to be used as a government-wide procurement procedures practice manual. It is ex-pected that this document will be rolled out in Sep-tember of 2014. Mr. Chairman, the Stores Section is currently implementing a recommendation from the inventory internal audit report for 2013. A work-back schedule was developed to ensure all recommendations were addressed in a systematic manner. This year, we also worked to increase our inventory counts, and all the reports have been created in E1 computer system, and we are working on completing a full count before the year end. Mr. Chairman, during Fiscal 2014/15, the pur-chasing team will continue to implement the internal audit recommendations. They will also continue to partner with the operational area to improve efficien-cies in their inventory and purchasing. They will con-tinue to partner with the Office of Project Management and Procurement to review the government goods and services purchases, with a view to increasing government’s buying power.

Mr. Chairman, the Telecommunications Pro-gramme, 3612, as seen on page B-205, has been al-located $1,219,000 for 2014/15, a decrease of $109,000, or 8 per cent. The decrease is related to local telephone bill reduction and a contractor vote. Mr. Chairman, this programme provides a suite of services to the majority of government minis-tries and departments. These services include the repair and replacement of telephones and related equipment, the relocation of departments and minis-tries and the management of mobile service contracts. The programme also provides advice to the depart-ment heads regarding call flows, voice network de-signs and telephone system tenders, resulting in greater efficiencies. In addition, the programme man-ages the implementation of new technologies to maximise cost saving. Mr. Chairman, highlights for the 2013/14 were the successful completion of the Nelson Bascome Centre for Substance Abuse. This is not only the first large-scale convergence project completed outside of Hamilton, but it is also the first attempt to integrate a non-traditional office environment into the core voice network. This serves as the model for the elimination of separate telephone systems currently installed at most remote government locations, which will reduce maintenance costs and carrier access fees. Telephone projects scheduled for the fiscal year 2014/15 will include, but are not limited to, voice and data convergence for the Departments of Man-agement Services, Human Resources, the Cabinet Office, Police Complaints Authority and the Parole Board, all located at number 129 Front Street. Mr. Chairman, the Human Resources Section, 3613, as seen on page B-205, has been allocated funds of $622,000 for the fiscal year 2014/15, an in-crease of $50,000, or 9 per cent, over fiscal 2013/14. This is attributed primarily to an increase in the train-ing budget for the Basic Employee, Foreman and Su-perintendent Training, BEFAST programme. Mr. Chairman, this programme provides recruitment, train-ing and development services for all staff within the Ministry of Public Works.

The Ministry’s dedicated Human Resource team liaises and partners with the Department of Hu-man Resources to provide advice, guidance and ad-ministrative support throughout the Ministry, based on the policies and procedures of the Public Services Commission, the Government of Bermuda’s condi-tions of employment and Code of Conduct, and the applicable collective bargaining agreements of the respective trade unions. Mr. Chairman, in 2013/14, the Ministry of Pub-lic Works Training Committee, in conjunction with the Public Works Human Resources Section, focused on the mandatory training objectives outlined in the Hu-man Resource strategy, which was the creation of mandatory training for all industrial staff and supervi-sors, inclusive of the basic employees to the superin-


1572 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report tendents. The team developed the Basic Employee, Foreman and Superintendent Training, which now carries the name of BEFAST. This programme objec-tive is to advance training, create career opportunities, and build new working relationships with peers and staff, ultimately creating a team that speaks the same language, resulting in providing better service to our internal and external customers. This year, we focused our efforts on the Effec-tive Team Member and Effective Team Leader courses, which are core training requirements listed under BEFAST for the foremen. These courses were delivered by the Bermuda College’s Professional Adult Career Education Department, known as PACE. Both foremen and superintendents attended the train-ing starting September 2013. Thus far, 13 superinten-dents have completed the Effective Team Leading training, and 15 foremen completed the Effective Team Member training. In January 2014, the foremen who had com-pleted the Effective Team Member training enrolled in the Effective Team Leading training, and a new set of 15 foremen enrolled in the Effective Team Member training. Other core BEFAST training covered this year include the Department of Human Resources Management Development Programme, Internal Hu-man Resource Quick Guide, safety and health orien-tation, computer courses at ITO and E1 training with the Accountant General. Mr. Chairman, in 2013/14, the sponsorship programme continued to progress. The sponsorship programme, developed by the Ministry of Public Works in partnership with the Department of Work-force Development, was created in recognition of the need for succession planning. This programme is an apprenticeship programme aimed at fast-tracking the students’ exposure to modern professional working environments. The first set of students enrolled at the New England Institute of Technology in January 2013. The students are currently studying for their associate’s degrees or bachelor’s degrees in the following disci-plines: automotive technology, automotive collision and repair technology, automotive services manage-ment technology. And each of those students is actu-ally named, Mr. Speaker. There will be a place for them. We are grateful for the relationship with the New England Institute of Technology and the Depart-ment of Workforce Development, which allows the Ministry to have a consistent approach in the devel-opment of local workers. Mr. Chairman, during the past fiscal year, the Ministry’s Human Resources Section also continued managing the Ministry’s Apprenticeship and Training Programme, a programme that combines school and on-the-job training. There are six apprentices in the Building Maintenance Section who are currently at-tending the Bermuda College, studying electrical wir-ing; and two employees who are continuing their stud-

ies overseas in the United Kingdom for vehicle body collision and spray-painting at Manchester College; and in Canada for millwright at Cambrian College. The Ministry of Public Works is working closely with the Department of Workforce Develop-ment and the Bermuda College to ensure that the Ministry remains compliant with the apprenticeship guidelines and objectives set by these institutions and that the enrolled employees attain certification in their respective trades. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry also has in place a trainee programme in which two trainees are involved. This programme focuses on training Bermudians for difficult-to-fill professional positions such as draftsper-son. Kimmisha Perinchief is studying at Southern Polytechnic State University for a Bachelor’s of Sci-ence in Civil Engineering Technology; and secondly, management accounting, Rashida Bean is studying for her Certified Public Accountant designation. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry is in the process of hiring a trainee estates surveyor. We are also pleased to report that a young Bermudian, Daniele Bortoli, has completed his trainee commitments as an electrical engineer as of December 2013. Mr. Chairman, in addition, the Ministry of Pub-lic Works also plays a part in the Bermuda Govern-ment bursary scheme and have two bursary students assigned to the Ministry, Ms. Allanette Hayward, who is studying at Coventry University in the UK for a Mas-ter’s of Science and Civil Engineering and is expected to graduate November 2014; Mr. Ricardo Graham-Ward is studying as an engineer at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. Mr. Chairman, the Human Resources team continued its successful partnership with CARE Learning Centre, who prepares a number of the Public Works staff for their general education diploma (GED). To date, 12 Ministry of Public Works employees have gained their GED diplomas, and 11 others are cur-rently pursuing the qualification. Mr. Chairman, you acknowledged earlier the presence in the gallery of Neletha Butterfield, who is the founder and Managing Director of CARE Computer Services. And to her we express our thanks for the work that they do for the staff of our department. Mr. Chairman, during fiscal 2013/14, the Hu-man Resources Section hired a training coordinator. The Ministry will continue to focus on the training needs of the over-700 staff members. Additionally, Mr. Chairman, in 2014/15, they will focus on continued implementation of the Human Resources strategy with a focus on succession planning, BPSU job description review, foremen and superintendent training, appren-ticeship and sponsorship programmes. Architect and Design Programme. Mr. Chair-man , the total budget for the Architect Design Pro-gramme, 3614, is seen on page B-215. For the com-ing year, it is $232,000, which includes capital re-charges. The objective of this programme is to deliver


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1573 architectural design support for Government’s capital development projects in a professional, fiscally pru-dent and timely manner. Further, it provides opportu-nities for Bermudian graduates in architecture and related disciplines to obtain the necessary experience and training to acquire the professional designations in their career field. The objectives established for this programme are:

• to administer the programme in an effective and efficient manner, providing all required reporting to top management within estab-lished deadlines;

• to provide all required administrative functions for the programme within allocated budgets;

• to have all programme staff undertake at least one training and development opportunity each fiscal year;

• capital project fees less than the percentage of fees applied by the private sector;

• to deliver project architectural design docu-mentation within established budgets through more effective quality management admini-stration;

• to provide all required technical support ser-vices for architectural design to meet estab-lished schedules set by the project manage-ment plan.

Capital Works. Mr. Chairman, during fiscal 2013/14, efforts were primarily focused on completing the projects that were already underway at the begin-ning of the year, such as new public toilets at John Smith’s Bay beach and the remedial works to the de-partment headquarters. Progress. Construction to the headquarters is anticipated to be completed in the third quarter of this year, final accounts and close-out done at the end of the defects liability period ending third quarter 2015. The John Smith’s Bay bathrooms are underway, and they are expected to be completed by June of 2015—sorry, 2014. (Sorry. That would upset my member for Smith’s.) Mr. Chairman, the budgeted head count within the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters may be seen on page B-207. The head count has been de-creased by 2, to 51 for the fiscal year. The decrease relates to the reduced storekeeper post that was budgeted. Output Measures. Mr. Chairman, here are a few results of the performance measures for the Min-istry of Public Works Headquarters, as seen on pages B-208 and B-209. This is unit 46111. The Public Works Safety and Health Programme focused on per-forming internal safety audits and hazard awareness training in 2013/14. Eight sections within the Ministry received an audit, and each section has developed a corrective action plan to address the safety concerns. In addition, 40 hazardous awareness training sessions

were conducted for employees, with a total of 408 employees participating in 2013/14. Business unit 46116. As of today, the Ministry has delivered three of four newsletters for 2013/14. The newsletter was created to increase the communi-cation to all the workers. Business unit 46116, as well, during 2013/14, the Ministry complied with the Human Resources Department’s instruction to complete all four job plans and personal development plans with 100 per cent return. Business unit 46118. The Ministry also com-pleted five lunch-and-learns for the industrial staff for the current period. The lunch, breakfast and learns were as follows: Personal budgeting, there were two. Diabetes awareness and screening, there were two. The Bermuda Human Rights Act and Community Gardens, one each. Business unit 46118, in the cur-rent year the Ministry hosted one retirement seminar for employees eligible to retire. Business unit 46030. The water debt-reduction target of 15 per cent was not met. We had challenges with keeping staff in this area, causing a breakdown in the process. We are working to improve that, Mr. Chairman. Business unit 46040. At least 90 per cent of clients serviced during the current year expressed complete satisfaction with the service offered and that the operational needs of projects at completion have been met. Client satisfaction is ensured by a formal approval process at every stage of the design proc-ess. Generally, clients also will be kept involved by inviting them to attend the regular meetings if they so wish. This enables them to continue to provide their input during the architectural design phase. With respect to the second performance measure, to hold regular meetings with project man-agers in business unit 46040 and to increase effi-ciency, the programme continues to work very closely with the client department’s project leader and project managers during all stages of the architect design work to ensure that what is delivered fully meets the client’s expectation. In addition, the programme will be sending out brief non-scientific questionnaires to cli-ents for whom architectural projects are completed. The questionnaires are intended to gauge the pro-gramme’s performance in the delivery of the architec-tural design support services from the perspective of the client ministry department with respect to their sat-isfaction with the project and the overall delivery proc-ess. This points to further efforts required by the pro-gramme to develop methods to assist project manag-ers to expedite delivery of their contracts. Mr. Chairman, in closing, I would like to ex-press my sincere thanks and appreciation to the dedi-cated team of officers and staff of the Department of Finance Administration for the Ministry, led by Chief Financial Officer Thomasina Hassell. Theirs is an of-ten-unseen but nevertheless important role.


1574 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report HEAD 81—DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC LANDS AND

BUILDINGS Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Mr. Chairman, I would now like to turn to Head 81, the Department of Public Lands and Buildings. Mr. Chairman, the budget for the Department of Public Lands and Buildings will be found on pages B-225 to B-228 of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. Mr. Chairman, it is the responsibility of this department to efficiently and effectively manage Gov-ernment real estate assets to support the corporate and service objectives of the Bermuda Government. I will highlight throughout my presentation the pro-grammes within the department, as well as the plans for the upcoming fiscal year that are designed to meet that responsibility. The programmes under Head 81 are as fol-lows:

• Programme 8100, Administration, comprising cost centres:

o 91000, Department of Administration Programme,

o 91001, Training and Apprentice Pro-gramme;

• Programme 8101, Buildings, comprising cost centres:

o 91002, Building Service Management Programme,

o 91003, Building Maintenance Pro-gramme,

o 91500 and 91600, Regular Sick Leave and Training have only been included in the Budget Book due to the 2012/13 comparatives;

• Programme 8102, Estates, [comprising] cost centres:

o 91004, Property Asset Management Programme,

o 91005, Insurance, o 91006, Government Rental;

• Programme 8105, Receipts. Again this is only included due to the 2012/13 comparatives—

o 91014, Property Asset Income, o 91101, Property Programme Receipts.

Mr. Chairman, the total budget allocated to

the Department of Public Lands and Buildings is $20,532,000 for 2014/15, which represents a de-crease of $2,337,000, or 10 per cent, as seen on page B-225. Mr. Chairman, the stock of government build-ings, with the exception of the Dame Lois Browne-Evans Building, is dated and requires ongoing main-tenance and upgrades. Notwithstanding this fact, Madam Chair, the Department of Public Lands and Buildings will continue to do their best to effectively utilise these funds to manage government’s buildings and lands, as well as provide professional real estate advice and services to government departments un-

able to be housed in government properties and re-quired to rent premises in the public sector. Mr. Chairman, to further this objective, the department will develop during this fiscal year an es-tate management plan that will set out how govern-ment’s lands and buildings are currently being used and provide a road map to more efficient utilisation of these assets to help deliver the corporate priorities and services of the Bermuda Government, going for-ward. Mr. Chairman, one of our key resources is our human resources. It is not just about hiring and retain-ing the right people for the job; it is about their devel-opment and succession planning. The department has a total complement of 163 staff, and the continued training opportunities that are provided benefit both the employer and the employee. It provides for a well-educated and motivated workforce with opportunities for advancement both within Government and the pri-vate sector. Mr. Chairman, despite our best efforts to train and develop our teams to assume the various posi-tions, it is a challenge to recruit professional staff across the range of disciplines needed by this Minis-try, and this has provided a challenge for this depart-ment. However, the management team will continue in its efforts to recruit estates surveyors and building surveyors to fill the vacant posts. Mr. Chairman, staff shortages, principally chartered surveyors, has continued to hamper per-formance and the requirement for a proactive ap-proach to estate management. It is our expectation that the vacancies will be filled in the not-too-distant future and that once again the department will be able to improve delivery times significantly, thereby improv-ing customer satisfaction across the wide range of ministries that we support. As part of the succession planning, the de-partment will shortly be hiring a Bermudian trainee estates surveyor and is seeking to offer bursaries to students for study in estate surveying and building surveying. Mr. Chairman, during 2014/15, the Estates Section will continue to provide property- and land-related management services to all government minis-tries. This section will also progress its work on the government estates management objectives, which address such items as the regularisation of en-croachments, both on Railway Trail and foreshore, and the implementation of a strategic initiative to minimise government’s rental payments to third par-ties. Mr. Chairman, the health and safety of em-ployees who work in our buildings and members of the public visiting for government services continues to be a high priority. The department will work closely with the Health and Safety Office to remediate issues found throughout all premises owned by the Bermuda Government to mitigate the risks to both the employ-ees and members of the public. Included with this are


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1575 the government schools and the health and safety of our students and staff. Mr. Chairman, there are three main pro-grammes for the Department of Public Lands and Buildings: 8100, Administration, total budget $413,000. This is split between the two cost centres—namely, 91000, Administration, which has a vote of $330,000; 91001, Training and Apprenticeship, a vote of $83,000. Mr. Chairman, the Administration Pro-gramme, whose objective is to provide administrative support for the Estates and Building Section, has a budget of $413,000 split into two cost centres. When compared with the $428,000 for the current year, this budget represents a decrease of $15,000, or 4 per cent. Mr. Chairman, the Administration cost centre, 91000, has a specific budget allocation of $330,000, which is a decrease of 2 per cent, or $8,000. Training and Apprenticeship, cost centre 91001, has a budget allocation of $83,000, which represents a decrease of $7,000, or 8 per cent. The allocated funding will con-tinue to support a structured apprenticeship pro-gramme, as well as facilitate the training and devel-opment of staff at all levels. Examples of programmes include those pursuing certifications in electronics, carpentry, plumbing, air conditioning and leadership management at the Bermuda College. The depart-ment has enrolled staff who are members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors [RICS] for online ac-cess to continuing professional development training with the RICS. This ensures that professional staff can meet their continuing professional development re-quirements with interactive training without the ex-pense of traveling overseas. Mr. Chairman, programme 8101, Buildings, total budget is $9,594,500. This is split between two cost centres, 91002, Services Management, at $721,000; and 91003, Maintenance, $8,873,00. Mr. Chairman the Buildings Programme, with a mandate to effectively manage the maintenance, repair and minor renovation of all government buildings, has a total budget of $9,594,000. Mr. Chairman, when com-pared to the $10,467,000 allocated during the current year, this is a decrease of $873,000, or 8 per cent. These funds are used for the operational costs asso-ciated with the maintenance and repair work to some 800 government-owned buildings, including all gov-ernment schools. The Buildings Section is also re-sponsible for the preparation of major government events, such as the opening of Parliament, general election polling stations, among others. Mr. Chairman, the Service Management cost centre, 91002, has an allocation of $721,000 for 2014/15, a decrease of 14 per cent, or $119,000 over the prior year. Maintenance cost centre, 91003, has an allocation of $8,873,000 for 2014/15, compared to $9,627,000 during the current fiscal year. This repre-sents a decrease of 8 per cent, or $754,000. The Buildings section’s total labour force of full-time em-

ployees in both cost centres stands at 143. This represents a reduction of three employees, which re-flects the early retirement posts that have been frozen for two years. The manpower is spread across admin-istrative staff, management and the various work units by balancing the workforce across all trades and en-sures that each work unit has sufficient tradesmen to deal with the various maintenance requests that the department receives daily. Mr. Chairman, while our in-house workforce is and always will be the first choice for delivering ser-vices to our client departments, they will continue to be complemented by a wide-ranging group of private contractors that provide services such as general maintenance, painting, asbestos abatement, plumb-ing, security and fire alarm inspections and monitor-ing. This supports the Government’s on-going com-mitment to provide opportunities for local companies.

Mr. Chairman, the goal is to employ sufficient staff to carry out on-going maintenance of our prop-erty portfolio and to use private contractors where needed. Owing to the age and obsolescence of many of our buildings, maintenance and improvements put an increasing demand on our limited resources. How-ever, there is a balance between hiring too many staff and wasting resources or hiring too few staff and be-coming too reliant on contractors for day-to-day main-tenance. Whilst some people are quick to criticise our workforce, it is unjustified and their perceptions do not reflect reality. Our in-house tradesmen provide quality work and value for money. Mr. Chairman, the Buildings section staff has a complement of building surveyors who assist with the correct logging and recording of current building conditions with the goal of improving the maintenance programme. The condition of our buildings provides a significant challenge to our limited resources. Prioritis-ing work and a preventative maintenance programme are key to success in this area. These surveyors have also been instrumental in the roll-out of our email bid-ding system, which ensures that all maintenance and capital contractual services are acquired with trans-parency. This will ensure long-term client needs are met, improve the quality of the building environments, and improve and promote excellent service delivery. Mr. Chairman, I now move to programme 8102, Estates. The mandate of the Estates Depart-ment is to effectively manage the government estate, to provide insurance cover to all relevant buildings and to facilitate and secure office and residential ac-commodation for the government departments, as needed. The Estates section provides property and land-related management services to all government ministries and departments. This service includes in-surance, acquisition, letting, renting and disposal of land and property across the Island. This section is the custodian of the foreshore and seabed and has responsibility for licensing and leasing of the same.


1576 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Mr. Chairman, the Property Asset Manage-ment cost centre, 91004, together with Insurance cost centre, 91005, and Government Rentals cost centre, 91006, have a total allocation of $10,525,000 for the fiscal year 2014/15. When compared to $11,974,000 for the current year, this budget represents a de-crease of $1,449,000, a decrease of 12 per cent. Property Asset Management cost centre 91004 has a total allocation of $3,775,000. When compared to [$3,724,000], there is an increase of $51,000, or 1 per cent. Mr. Chairman, the Estates team has been hindered in the past by not being fully staffed, and as a consequence, having to be reactive rather than pro-active in their work. However, the section has just filled the post of Senior Estates Surveyor with a Ber-mudian, Ms. Sudell Joseph, from within their ranks. The additional senior estates surveyor post is to be filled locally within the next month, and the recruitment for two of the vacant estates surveyor’s posts is in process. The result of this will be a section that will be properly staffed for 2014/15 fiscal year and will be able to be proactive. This proactive work will include an estate management plan being completed, which will enable rationalisation of the government estates and cost savings. Mr. Chairman, the estate management plan that is being developed comprises a number of ele-ments. Government-owned buildings are audited to ensure that the existing occupiers are the most suit-able occupier for the space and that they are making the most efficient use of the space. A similar exercise is carried out for properties that are rented from the private sector. The goal is to maximise the efficient use of real estate, minimise our footprint and thereby lower the cost of renting space from the private sector. To this aim, the rent roll for 2014/15 year was reduced from $13,216,000 to $11,000,468. This can be seen on pages C-27, C-28 and C-29. This was achieved through a combination of reducing the amount of space rented and renegotiating rents to current levels of market value at rent renew and lease renewal. Mr. Chairman, there are a number of govern-ment-owned buildings that stand vacant and in vari-ous states of disrepair. These include Tulsa House, the old Hamilton Police Station and the Bishop Spencer School, among others. Part of the rationalisa-tion of the government property portfolio through the estate management plan will be to bring properties that are needed back into use and to dispose of those properties that do not meet our current or future needs. Mr. Chairman, $6,737,000 under programme 8102 is allocated to cost centre 91005 for the provi-sion of insurance coverage for government buildings for 2014/15. When compared to the $8.2 million for the previous year, or current year, this amount repre-sents a decrease of $1,463,000, or 18 per cent. This

budgeted decrease is the result of a reduction to the premium paid out for insurance coverage.

Mr. Chairman, government’s rental budget, cost centre 91006, has an allocation of $13,000 for 2014/15, which is a decrease of $37,000, or 74 per cent. This reduction is in the continuation of the Es-tates section policy from the fiscal year 2011/12, which prescribed that there would be no funding to assist with the relocation of any government depart-ment into leasehold accommodations.

Mr. Chairman, the Estates section, like others, continues to contribute towards the professional de-velopment of Bermudians and to adhere to the prac-tice of succession planning, thereby reducing the need for such a large number of contract workers. As I mentioned earlier, the Estates section is about to hire a new Bermudian trainee estates surveyor with the aim of becoming a fully qualified chartered surveyor and thereby filling one of the estate surveyor posi-tions. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, the Estates section is seeking to offer two bursaries for students going overseas to study property management and building surveying. When training for internationally recognised RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Sur-veyors) qualification, the trainees spend approxi-mately 60 per cent of their time on study-related work, much of which benefits the section, and 40 per cent of their time on associated tasks within the section.

Mr. Chairman, I now move to the capital ex-penditure budget of $2.7 million. The capital expendi-ture estimates for the Department of Public Lands and Buildings can be found on page C-7 of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Fiscal Year 2014/15.

(Mr. Speaker, let me just make a correction. I believe I said pages C-27, 28 and 29 earlier when I was referring to a reference on the Government Es-tates. And that is just a reference that I have. It is not the page number.)

Mr. Chairman, here are the major building up-grade cost centres. Together with the all schools maintenance, 75309, and the bathrooms upgrade for the Government Administration Building and the GPO [General Post Office], cost centre 75298 has a total allocation of $2,700,000. Mr. Chairman, the capital expenditure for the major buildings upgrade, cost cen-tre 75112, has an allocation of $1.5 million for 2014/15. This represents no change on the fiscal year 2013/14. The capital expenditure for the all schools maintenance, cost centre 75309, has an allocation of $1 million. This also is static to the current year. The capital expenditure for the proposed bathroom up-grades at the Government Admin Building and GPO have been given an allocation of $200,000.

Mr. Chairman, with the capital expenditures for the major buildings upgrade, cost centre 75112, and all schools maintenance, cost centre 75309, the buildings team shall continue to enhance its planned and preventative maintenance plan to counteract the


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1577 costly measures associated with a reactive approach. Besides the cost benefits of a planned approach, there is an added bonus of minimising the disruption to the occupants.

The importance of properly planned mainte-nance has been highlighted by ongoing discoveries of mould. Most major government buildings were con-structed at least 30 years ago. Over the past 20 to 30 years, many of our facilities have received only basic reactive maintenance and no planned or programme maintenance. This practice has resulted in a portfolio of buildings that are currently facing major refurbish-ment needs with their physical plant and major sys-tems having reached the end of their life cycle. The evaluation as to whether such buildings should be refurbished or even demolished will be assessed through the estates management plan which is now being prepared, which will guide us through our future maintenance decisions.

During the current year, a number of up-grades were completed, with some nearing comple-tion as I speak. These include the refurbishment and painting of Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, new roofs on the Prospect Depot building, Clearwater Middle School gym roof and Sandys Middle School library roof. These two school roof repairs will enable the schools to provide hurricane shelters at the east and west end during the hurricane season. The cleaning and paint-ing of a number of schools was also completed in 2013/14, and these included St. George's Preschool, East End Primary, Prospect Primary, West Pembroke Primary and Heron Bay Primary. West End Primary also benefited from electrical upgrade during the year. During the 2014/15 year, the focus will be on ensuring that our buildings are sealed and water-tight and that the government schools are free from defects and meet health and safety requirements.

Mr. Chairman, coupled with the repairs I just spoke about, the buildings team shall utilise cost cen-tre 75112, or the major buildings upgrade vote, to con-tinue addressing the works that will properly seal many of the government building envelopes, prevent-ing moisture intrusion and improving the air quality throughout. To this end, both Government Admin building and the GPO roofs are to be repaired, re-sealed and painted. Their exteriors will also be re-painted, and the GPO will also have new windows installed.

During 2014/15, the Buildings section will util-ise cost centre 75309, or the all schools maintenance vote, to complete many projects that demonstrate our varied abilities and skill sets. The building team will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Education to develop a planned maintenance programme by identifying and prioritising works based on safety and health, infrastructure and school operations. These works need to be carefully planned to coincide with school holidays to minimise disruption to the school programmes. Teams from the Buildings section have

already begun inspections of the schools to identify and prioritise repairs for the new fiscal year.

Mr. Chairman, there are daily many small pro-jects undertaken and completed by the Buildings team. Many go unnoticed by the public, and they are carried out with little or no disruption to government services. Irrespective of the size or scope, great em-phasis was placed on ensuring that the work was car-ried out to the highest possible standards by mostly all-Bermudian teams. The 2014/15 fiscal year will pre-sent many of the same challenges as the previous years, notwithstanding the primary objective this year will again be to increase the skill sets of our staff, readying them for addressing our greatest challenge, which is to manage and programme wholesale infra-structure replacements. With this additional training, the Department of Lands and Buildings will enable its in-house team to be more efficient and also to under-take a broader range of works than in the past.

Mr. Chairman, as I conclude the budget brief for Head 81, the Department of Public Lands and Buildings, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the team, led by Chris Farrow, for their hard work and dedication.

HEAD 82—PUBLIC WORKS HEADQUARTERS Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Mr. Chairman, I now turn to Head 82, Public Works Headquarters, which can be found on pages B-229 to B-236 of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2014/15. Mr. Chairman, I am very fortunate to be re-sponsible for this department, I think. This is one of those assignments where you say, Thanks, I think. But it is part of my portfolio as the Minister of Public Works. This is the most interesting department, with a variety of different and fascinating activities, which are extremely important to the way Bermuda functions as a civilised and modern society. The staff and work-force of the department, led by Chief Engineer Pete Havlicek, are very professional and fully committed and have given me much support and encouragement in the short time I have been with them. I would like to take a moment to recognise those men and women, who have continued to provide a first-class service to the people of Bermuda despite budgetary constraints. The Department of Works and Engineering is responsible for the provision of essential services to the people of the Bermuda public and the mainte-nance of highly visible major elements of the Govern-ment infrastructure. The range of activities covered by the department includes:

• garbage collection and disposal; • road maintenance and repairs; • bridge maintenance; • Government vehicles maintenance; as well as • safe water extraction, treatment and distribu-

tion.


1578 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report

Services such as disposal of hazardous sub-stances, recycling; water treatment and distribution; the maintenance and repairs of the government’s in-frastructure, which includes roads, bridges, docks and street lighting are all carried out by this department. Mr. Chairman, there are seven operational sections of the department—namely, highways, struc-tures, electrical/mechanical, solid waste, water, wastewater, Tynes Bay waste-to-energy facility, and the Quarry facility. All of them are critical to the effec-tive operation and maintenance of the government’s infrastructure. Mr. Chairman, it is within this framework that I present the Works and Engineering Depart-ment’s budget brief for fiscal 2014/15. Mr. Chairman, the mission statement of the Department of Works and Engineering is to ensure the effective and prudent management of all opera-tions and engineering services relating to the con-struction, erection, improvement, maintenance and repairs of the government infrastructure. The services provided by the Department of Works and Engineer-ing include:

• structural, electrical and mechanical profes-sional services;

• highways development and maintenance; • water production and distribution and sewage

disposal; • solid waste collection and disposal; • vehicle and equipment repair services; and • transport and equipment support services.

Mr. Chairman, the department has seven pro-

gramme areas, each with a number of sub-programmes, or cost centres, as shown on pages B-230 and B-231 of the Approved Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure: Programme 8200, Administration; 8201, Engineering; 8202, Highways; 8203, Waste Management; 8204, Quarry Transport; 8205, Quarry Products; 8206, Water and Sewage.

Mr. Chairman, the recommended budget for the Department of Works and Engineering for the coming year is $31,767,000, which represents a de-crease of 2 per cent from the 2013/14 budget level. Programme 8200, Administration, page B-230 of the Budget Book. This programme provides for the senior management team of the department, the Chief Engineer and the Assistant Chief Engineer. The man-date of the senior management team is the efficient management of seven sections of the Ministry, includ-ing highways, structures, electrical/mechanical, solid waste and water service, the Tynes Bay waste-to-energy facility and Quarry operations. Mr. Chairman, a $173,000 budget has been allocated for 2014/15. This represents a decrease of $147,000 against the current year. In order to keep within budgetary constraints, provision for the Assis-tant Chief Engineer, along with some administration costs, have been removed. Budget for an administra-tive assistant was removed in fiscal 2013/14. The de-

partment will continue to operate with just one seri-ously overworked Chief Engineer. Referring to the performance measures, on page B-234 for fiscal 2013/14, the total number of personal injury accidents that have taken place in the department is currently 35. This means that the all-accident frequency rate for the department is currently 6.09. This represents a good safety record, as it cov-ers all injury accidents, not just the reportable ones. The average number of training days per managerial staff member is forecasted to increase from four to five in the new fiscal year, as more staff take manda-tory courses. Programme 8201, Engineering Services. Mr. Chairman, the mandate of the Engineering Services programme is to provide quality electrical, mechanical and structural engineering services. These services, 92001 and 92002, manage the provision of planning, design, construction, installation and maintenance services for electrical and mechanical systems asso-ciated with the government facilities. This includes such areas as electrical power distribution, lighting, fire protection, security, telecommunications, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, as well as energy conservation and acting as government’s functional authority in these matters. Structural Engineering Services, 92003, man-age the provision of structural inspection, design, con-struction, maintenance and project and contract man-agement services, as well as acting as the govern-ment’s functional authority on structural and related civil engineering matters. Mr. Chairman, $2,734,000 has been allocated for this programme, a decrease of $25,000 as against the current year’s budget. Further provision has been made to both cost centres 92001 and 92003, for an increased allowance for capital works and budgets for technical training have been eliminated in this budget. Cost centre 92001 has been increased by $71,000, to $596,000. This increase takes into account the appointment of a principal elec-trical engineer and the return of a trainee electrical engineer from secondment with an engineering con-sultancy in Canada. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to report that this team is now finally fully staffed after operating for many years with inadequate resources. The team covered by this cost centre provides support on elec-trical and mechanical issues to other sections and departments. For instance, the team was responsible for providing the upgraded fire alarm system in this very House and is currently involved in managing the improvement of the electrical system, activities for which I am sure the House is very thankful. The team is also actively involved in seeking energy savings throughout the government buildings. One of the highlights of cost centre 92001 during the year has been the award of contract for the maintenance of streetlights to BELCO. Included in this contract are initiatives to look at new and innovative


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1579 ways to reduce the energy costs of street lighting and its impact on the country’s carbon footprint. The cur-rent trial of the use of the light-emitting diode [LED] technology on Trimingham Hill between Crow Lane and South Road roundabouts is an example of this. Mr. Chairman, I would also like to highlight the recent attainment of professional engineer status by Bermudian Daniele Bortoli, who has benefited from the excellent training initiatives carried out by the min-istry and the government as a whole. Mr. Chairman, referring to the performance measures, on page B-233, for cost centre 92001, Electrical and Mechanical, the percentage of hours billed to projects for other government departments is currently close to 40 per cent. So it is likely to exceed the forecast of 25 per cent for fiscal 2013/14. Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre 92002, Electrical Support, remains unchanged at $1,717,000. This cost centre covers the energy charges for street lighting. As more energy-saving lights are incorporated, it should help to reduce the budget in the long term. There is currently an average of 56 streetlights out of action per month, which is higher than the forecast for the year as given in the performance measure for cost centre 92002, Electrical Support, and which will receive attention from the de-partment. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 92003, Structures, has decreased by $96,000. Regrettably, the Struc-tures team has continued to manage throughout the fiscal year with lack of resources. The team is cur-rently operating with only two people, when in the past there have been seven engineers. We have been un-successful in recruiting specialist local engineers, and attempts to recruit overseas engineers in the past two years have also been unsuccessful. Despite using local engineering firms, there is still a significant back-log of routine maintenance work that needs to be car-ried out. The Structures team has nevertheless still carried out important capital works of which more will be reported later, and I will wish to acknowledge the principal Structural engineer and his team for the commitment they have shown. Mr. Chairman, the lack of resources for cost centre 92003, Structures, has been reflected in the performance measures on page B-223 in that no in-spections have been carried out on any of the bridges or docks during the year to date. This will be corrected in this upcoming budget year. Programme 8202, Highways. Mr. Chairman, the mandate of the Highways Programme is to de-velop and maintain the public roads infrastructure to ensure the safe passage of motorists and pedestrians. This entails all work associated with the planning, de-sign and construction of road schemes, and includes activities such as resurfacing, drainage, signage, road markings, retaining walls and bus shelters. They are also mandated to provide technical advice to other government ministries and agencies on highway-

related matters, to manage the improvement of public roads and other roads under the Private Roads Im-provement Act, to assist citizens with their private road improvement needs and to act as the govern-ment functional authority on highways’ engineering-related matters. Mr. Chairman, $3,969,000 budget has been allocated to this programme. It has been de-creased by $481,000 over the 2013/14 budget. Cost centre 92004, Management, only has a limited reduction of $6,000, as the savings—accrued from removing the provision for external consultants and the equipment, such as computer software and hardware—have been counterbalanced by the need to provide a budget for a principal highways engineer, who is anticipated to be appointed during fiscal 2014/15. Mr. Chairman, the performance measure for cost centre 92004, Highways Management, on page B-233, indicates that the amount of communications received by the team from members of the public dur-ing fiscal 2013/14 is forecast to be close to 850, which is reflective of the scope of work and numbers of is-sues that this section deals with. For instance, the section has received many requests for measures to slow traffic down, such as speed bumps, and they have responded accordingly. Speed humps have been placed in several locations, such as on Berkeley Road, Woodlawn Road and Harrington Sound Road, and the section has also brought some more elec-tronic speed signs on the Island, such as the one placed on Middle Road, Devonshire, by Somersfield Academy. This section has also been operating short-staffed during the year, with one engineer on sec-ondment on engineering consultancy in Canada, and the principal highways engineer position being vacant. During fiscal 2013/14, there have been four personal injury accidents to date amongst the high-ways workforce, which equates to a current all-accident frequency rate of 3.47. Cost centre 92005, Road Asphalts and Signs, has been reduced by $318,000. This budget reduction has been achieved as a result of the furlough day, as well as by limiting the purchase of materials. There will be a reduction in the amount of signs and anti-skid material purchased, as well as allocating more as-phalting materials to the capital budget. Mr. Chairman, performance measures for cost centre 92005, Asphalt and Signs, seen on page B-233 of the Budget Book, shows that the amount of road center-line that has been marked out during 2013/14 is likely to reach 20 kilometres. The road-marking ma-chine was operational again in October 2013, after being immobilised for a considerable period of time due to the difficulty in getting parts for this specialist piece of equipment. For fiscal 2014/15, it is antici-pated that an increased amount of road marking will be possible. Cost centre 92006, Public Roads Mainte-nance, has increased by $65,000 when compared to


1580 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report the current year. This increase is due to a reduction in the amount of budget that was reallocated to the capi-tal budget. The performance measure for cost centre 92006, Public Roads Maintenance, page B-234, shows that it is anticipated that there will be five new bus shelters placed during fiscal 2013/14. These will be mainly of the plexi-glass variety. A significant amount of sidewalk has been constructed during 2013/14. Examples include North Shore, Pembroke, by Grassy Bay, and North Shore Smith’s, by Gibbet Island, which not only improved the safety for pedes-trians, but motorists as well. Cost centre 92007, Public Road Cleaning, has been reduced by $172,000, which reflects the savings as a result of the furlough day. Mr. Chairman, the per-formance measure for cost centre 92007, Public Road Cleaning, page B-234, indicates that there have been fewer reliability issues with the mechanical road sweepers during 2013/14, and as a consequence, the amount of roads cleaned by this means is likely to exceed 12,000 kilometres. (That is a lot.) There is a provision in the capital acquisition budget to replace one of the existing mechanical road sweepers, as both have reached the end of their economic lifespan. This section also gets called out regularly to deal with emergency call-out issues such as wall col-lapses, fallen trees and rock falls. It is forecast that the emergency call-outs will be 22 for fiscal 2013/14. I would also like to take a moment to recognise these work crews, who respond to such issues at unsociable hours and often in extremely treacherous conditions. Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre 92008, Private Roads, has been eliminated, which has resulted in cost savings of $50,000. The perform-ance measures for 92008, on page B-234, indicated that the number of private roads on the waiting list for improvement under the Private Roads (Improvement) Act 1969 is 35. In fiscal 2013/14, resurfacing work was carried out to Cameron Close. Despite the budget cut, monies from other cost centres will be used to carry out essential drainage improvement on some private roads during 2014/15. [Programme] 8203, Waste Management. Mr. Chairman, the mandate of the Waste Management programme is to arrange for the collection and safe disposal of Bermuda’s solid wastes. This includes:

• the collection of household refuse, provision of appropriate programmes to recycle materi-als, management of special wastes, waste education and enforcement; management of the waste disposal and composting sites;

• the management of the Tynes Bay Waste-to-Energy facility in a reliable, safe and cost-effective manner; and

• to act as the government functional authority on all matters relating to solid waste, envi-ronmental engineering, waste-to-energy and process engineering.

Mr. Chairman, $17,322,000 budget for 2014/15 has been allocated. This has been decreased by 1 per cent, or $229,000, as compared to the 2013/14 budget. Cost centre 92009, Management, Education and Enforcement, has been reduced by $194,000 as a result of a reduction in the amount of advertising and marketing, as well as the removal of the KBB subsidy. This section is very active in engaging with schools and public forums on waste issues such as recycling and enforcing the Waste and Litter Control Amendment Act 2011. The team is also looking at several options to streamline operations and to mini-mise costs. Mr. Chairman, may I also take this opportunity to recognise the achievements of Mr. Allan Hunt, the former Solid Waste Manager, who retired the second time from the Ministry on 28 February 2014. Mr. Hunt’s enthusiasm and energy for his work was infec-tious to both his work colleagues and those members of the public who were fortunate to have his acquaint-ance. The performance measures for 92009, Solid Waste Management, page B-234, is forecast to have carried out some 40 educational lectures during the year, as well as placing 2,800 radio and 40 print ad-vertisements. The forecast for 2014/15 reflects a re-duction in this budget. The budget for cost centre 92011, Recycling, has increased by $19,000 when compared to 2013/14 to provide an allowance for maintenance of the mate-rials recycling facility. A significant amount of recycling materials and e-waste continues to be collected. And I wish to thank those members of the public who con-tribute to this programme. The Ministry is engaged in making the collection of the recyclables more effec-tive, as it is noted that the collection date is still con-fusing to members of the public. The Ministry is also engaged in maximising the revenue from recycled goods and has succeeded in receiving monies from additional materials.

For instance, in January, the Ministry made $15,000 profit from the export and sales of old car batteries. The performance measure for 92011, Recy-cling, indicates that the amount of recycling material picked up in a month for 2013/14 is 100 tons and the amount of e-waste picked up for the year will be 40 tons. The budget for cost centre 92012, Airport Dis-posal Facility, has decreased by $183,000. This de-crease is as a result of reducing the overtime as a consequence of reducing the opening hours during the weekends. The Ministry is continually looking at different revenue streams. In 2014/15, the new weigh bridge will be operational at the Airport Disposal Facil-ity, which will enable the Ministry to charge deliveries by the ton as opposed to the current mechanism, which is by the load. This will enable a more equitable pricing mechanism to be levied. The performance


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1581 measure for 92012, Airport Waste Disposal, page B-234, shows that it is forecast that 20,000 loads of ma-terial will be delivered to the Airport Disposal Facility and the number of cars scrapped will be around 800. The budget for cost centre 92013, Compost-ing Operations, has increased by $393,000 when compared to fiscal 2013/14. This increase takes into account under-funding from the previous year, as well as an increased amount for external equipment hire. Savings will be made from the reduction in overtime as a result of opening hours at the weekend. The per-formance measures for 92013, Composting Opera-tions, found on page B-234, indicates that a consider-able amount of horticultural waste continues to be treated at the Marsh Folly Dump, covered by this cost centre. The Ministry plans to implement charging de-liveries by the ton as opposed to by the load in April 2014 to make it fairer to all concerned. Following the serious fire that took place at Marsh Folly Dump in March 2012, the Ministry now carries out regular infrared surveillance to check for hot spots. During the fiscal 2013/14, only three hot spots were detected, which were dealt with before they became an issue. Cost centre 92014, Special and Hazardous Waste, has been increased by $97,000. This increase will help rectify under-funding of the previous year to pay for contractors to remove hazardous wastes from Bermuda and to dispose of it within the United States. The performance measures for 92014, Hazardous Waste, page B-235, forecasts that for fiscal 2013/14, fifty 20-foot containers will be exported overseas. Mr. Chairman, this section is also responsible for treating asbestos. The asbestos found at Morgan’s Point, however, was treated by the contractors. So there will be no register on these performance measures. The budget for cost centre 92029, Collections, has increased by $197,000 when compared to fiscal 2013/14. This increase is to provide an increased al-lowance for overtime; however, there will be an ex-tremely vigilant process to minimise the necessity for this cost. The performance measures for cost centre 92029, Collections, indicate that, on average, 400 tons of domestic waste continues to be collected dur-ing the week. The section also has had its challenges during 2013/14 in keeping 12 garbage trucks opera-tional during the week, as the older trucks become more unreliable and some of the newer, replacement trucks experience manufacturing faults. Cost savings in 2014/15 will be made by scrapping the bulky waste home collection programme. Mr. Chairman, the Tynes Bay Waste-to-Energy Facility is one of the jewels of the Ministry. It is a well-run plant that is most interesting to visit, as I witnessed, myself, in January, shortly after being ap-pointed the Minister of Public Works. The facility con-ducts about 20 tours annually, as indicated in the per-formance measure at 92016, Tynes Bay Administra-tion, on page B-235, that are typically taken up by

schools. The facility is also proud to boast that there are 20 qualified Bermudian power engineers em-ployed at the plant, and there are minimal complaints received from the public drop-off facility. The budget for cost centre 92016, Tynes Bay Administration, is reduced by $91,000 as a result of administration savings. The budget for cost centre 92017, Tynes Bay Operations, is reduced by $754,000 as a result of the reduction of overtime. The performance measure for 92017, Tynes Bay Opera-tions, page B-235, indicates that 53,000 tons worth of solid waste will be treated at the Tynes Bay Waste-to-Energy Facility during fiscal 2013/14. This figure is reflective of the downturn in the economy and reduced population, and is significantly below what was being treated shortly after the turn of the century. The amount of waste in 2012/13 of 60,700 tons is consid-ered to be an unusual spike rather than the norm. As a consequence, the amount of electricity generated and sold to BELCO is forecast to be less in 2013/14 as compared to the previous year. The facility also generates a forecast 6,000 cubic yards of ash con-crete that is used to form part of the land reclamation and storm protection at the Airport Waste Manage-ment Facility. The budget for cost centre 92018, Tynes Bay Maintenance, has increased by $287,000. This is used to form part of the land reclamation and storm protection at the Airport Waste Management Facility. The budget for cost centre 92018, Tynes Bay Maintenance, has increased by $287,000. This is to take into account the need to carry out increased maintenance now that the two new combustion streams have been operational for two years. The per-formance measure for cost centre 92018, Tynes Bay Maintenance, page B-235, indicates that the availabil-ity of both streams and the turbine is forecast to be 85 per cent for fiscal 2014/15. This figure is an industry standard, and the actual availability is actually closer to 90 per cent. Programmes 8204, Quarry Transport, and 8205, Quarry Products, on pages B-230. Mr. Chair-man, the mandate of these two Quarry programmes is, collectively, to manage the fleet and equipment leasing, mechanical maintenance, Quarry operations; and, secondly, to act as the government functional authority on all matters related to fleet management and vehicle and other mechanical engineering and maintenance activities. Mr. Chairman, $7,504,000 budget and a $4,800,000 rechargeable for vehicles and maintenance has been allocated to this pro-gramme for 2014/15. This budget has been increased by $964,000 as compared to the 2013/14 budget. Cost centre 92019, Quarry Administration, has decreased by $176,000, as a result of removal of the training budget and other administration costs. There have been to date six personal injury accidents in fiscal 2013/14 for the Quarry workforce. This gives a current accident frequency rate of 3.65 per cent,


1582 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report which is marginally above the figure given on the per-formance measure for cost centre 92019, on page B-235. The budget for cost centre 92020, Quarry Vehi-cles and Equipment Operation, has increased by $4,000. The budget for cost centre 92021, Quarry Ve-hicles and Equipment Maintenance, has increased by $1,136,000. This is as a result of the need to allocate all the labour force carrying out this operation to this cost centre, as issues are still being experienced in counter-charging this work to other ministries. Cost savings will be made by not opening the Swing Bridge. This bridge requires maintenance and will be included in the 2014/15 schedule of mainte-nance. The operation and maintenance of the gov-ernment vehicles and equipment fleet continues to be hampered by outdated facilities and issues with secur-ing parts in a timely fashion. There may be challenges with the maintaining of the government fleet for 2014/15 due to mandated limitation on overtime and due to TCD requirements. For performance measure for 92012, Quarry Vehicles and Equipment Maintenance, B-236, the av-erage time for a full service reflects an average of all the government fleet, tract machines, garbage trucks, as well as cars and trucks. Programme 8205, Quarry Products. Mr. Chairman, a $1,636,000 budget, with a rechargeable of $1,780,000 rechargeable for Quarry products, has been allocated to this programme. The income in this cost centre is generated from the sale of asphalt products. As a cost-cutting measure, the production of concrete products previously associated with this cost centre will cease with the men redeployed to work in the highways section. Mr. Chairman, this budget is decreased by $445,000 compared to 2013/14, a change that is at-tributable to scrapping cost centre 92022, Products. The outputs for this performance measure for this cost centre have been reduced to zero for 2014/15, a de-crease in cost centre 92023, Quarry Asphalt Plant, to take into account reduced labour cost for this facility, as compared to 2013/14. During 2014/15, the depart-ment will look to further minimise costs by the in-creased use of recycled materials in the asphalt mix. The performance measure for cost centre 92023, Quarry Asphalt Plant, forecasts an increase in the amount of asphalt produced in fiscal 2013/14 due to the increased amount of resurfacing. It is forecast that the asphalt plant will suffer less downtime in 2014/15, as the Ministry has been [replacing] and will continue to replace several key components which have reached the end of their working life. Programme 8206, Water and Sewage. Mr. Chairman, the mandate of the Water and Sewage Plant is to:

• provide planning, design, construction, opera-tion and maintenance of the Government wa-ter extraction, treatment and distribution sys-

tems and the wastewater collection and distri-bution systems;

• provide potable water on a cost-recovery ba-sis to meet demand;

• provide septic receiving facilities for private sanitation truckers and for limited public facili-ties; and

• act as the government functional authority on all matters relating to water and wastewater engineering. Mr. Chairman, a $5,009,000 budget has been

allocated to this programme. This represents a de-crease of $156,000 as compared to the current year. The budget for cost centre 92025, Water and Sewage Administration, has decreased by $113,000 as the result of a reduction in the amount of water being pur-chased from other companies and organisations. Therefore, if there is a reduction in the supply from one of the water plants, this section will not be able to supplement from another source. This step gives me the opportunity to remind consumers of the necessity for effective conservation of water. The performance measures for cost centre 92025, Water Section Administration, indicate that there are around 700 metred customers. The target is to increase this during 2014/15 by providing new in-frastructure. The budget for cost centre 92027, Water Supply and Treatment, has decreased by $121,000 as a result of the limiting of overtime for out-of-hours checks. As a consequence, if there is an issue with one of the water plants, unless it is an emergency, it will be resolved on the next working day. Mr. Chairman, performance measures for cost centre 92027, Water Supply and Treatment, page B-236, forecasts that 125 million gallons of potable wa-ter will be produced during fiscal 2013/14. This repre-sents a reduction in the quantity produced from the previous fiscal year, which suffered from a long period without rainfall. As only about 40 per cent of the water extracted by the seawater reverse osmosis plant and about 70 per cent of the water extracted from the fresh-water lens is turned into potable water, this ex-plains why the total amount of water extracted is ap-proximately double than that produced. The budget for cost centre 92027, Water Storage and Distribution, has increased by $156,000 to ensure that there is sufficient allocation to include the electricity charges associated with the various pumps in the infrastructure. The performance meas-ure for cost centre 92027, Water Storage and Distribu-tion, page B-236, shows a high figure for the non-revenue water in fiscal 2012/13. This is mainly as a result of inaccurate metre reading, which has now been resolved. The budget for cost centre 92028, Sewage Collection, has been reduced by $78,000 mainly due to the reduction in overtime. As reflected in the per-formance measures, page B-236, a significant number


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1583 of loads of sewage is deposited in the ministry’s septic plant. Mr. Chairman, staffing levels within the De-partment of Works and Engineering are shown on page B-232. Employee numbers for the 2014/15 budget are 334, reduced from those in 2013/14. Posi-tions of employees who leave or retire will not neces-sarily be replaced. Review of major capital projects. Mr. Chair-man, I now wish to provide Members of this Honour-able House with a summary of the status of the major capital projects being managed by the Department of Works and Engineering. The overall 2014/15 capital expenditure plan for the department is $28,555,000, details of which are found on page C-8 of the Ap-proved Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure 2014/15. This highlights the range and variety of ac-tivities that the Ministry is working on. Number one, Road Works, cost centre 75042. Estimates for the cost centre, $4,750,000. This budget comprises improvements to the roads network, which includes road surfacing, as well as road schemes, such as junction improvements. Road improvements have been carried out in North Shore Bay by Gibbett’s Island, North Shore, Pembroke, by Grassy Bay, Burnt House Hill in Warwick, and work has progressed on the South Road, Paget, to create a safer crossing by the Railway Trail. In fiscal 2014/15, amongst projects planned, around about at the junction of Middle and North Shore Road in Flatts, a realignment of St. David’s Road between numbers 1 and 2 gates, to use the old base road, widening of Middle Road, Warwick east of Burnt House Hill, traffic light control at the junction of Middle Road, Southampton, and Rockaway, and a roundabout at the junction of Blackwatch Path and North Shore Road in Pembroke. Progress on resurfacing has been limited by a lack of aggregate and issues with the asphalt plant, and it is anticipated that nine kilometres of resurfacing will be completed by the end of the year. In fiscal 2014/15, it is anticipated that 10 kilometres of road will be resurfaced. Water Project, cost centre 75044. Mr. Chair-man, this programme is for planned and unforeseen small to medium water and sewage projects, including a requirement in every year to provide equipment and general-facility upgrading to meet ongoing treatment, environmental and safety-related issues. The 2014/15 estimate for this cost centre is $500,000. This budget will be used to help improve the Water section infra-structure. There are plans to improve the service and the number of customers in the eastern parishes, as well as improving the operation of the septic plant at Tynes Bay. Improvement in street lighting. Mr. Chairman, the estimate for this cost centre is $500,000. This budget has been increased substantially from that in

previous years to allow more streetlights to be con-verted into energy-saving ones. Asbestos disposal, cost centre 75064. Mr. Chairman, trials have been taking place to provide a method to encase the asbestos in the containers, which has proven thus far to be successful. The 2014/15 estimate for this cost centre is $500,000, which will be used to continue the encasement proc-ess to help stabilise the containers. As many of the containers carrying the asbestos are in a poor state after many years of deterioration, this is likely to be a slow process. Structural Refurbishment of Bridges, cost cen-tre 75116. Mr. Chairman, the 2014/15 estimate is $1 million for this cost centre. This budget will be used to carry out bridge inspection work and a programme of remedial work. Swing Bridge in St. George's needs particular attention, and the expansion joints on Wat-ford Bridge need replacement. Ferry docks and public landings, cost centre 75117. This has been used mainly for the improve-ment of Heritage Wharf and Dockyard, which was successfully completed in time to accommodate the Norwegian cruise line Breakaway. The 2014/15 esti-mate for this cost centre is $1 million, which will be used to provide some of the funding necessary to carry out the feasibility and environmental study of the widening of the shipping channel to accommodate the Royal Caribbean Quantum [of the Seas] class cruise ship. The cost of studies will be shared between the Ministry and Royal Caribbean. Reconstruction of retaining walls, cost centre 75127. Mr. Chairman, during 2013/14, this cost centre was used to fund the completion of the wall at Devon Spring Road, partly funded with the Corporation of Hamilton to repair the wall at Angle Street and design of the collapsed wall at Palmetto Road. The 2014/15 estimate for this budget is $350,000, which will be used to carry out the construction on the retaining wall at Palmetto Road. Stabilise Roadside Rock Cuts, cost centre 75142. Mr. Chairman, 2013/14, money from this cost centre was used to carry out stabilisation on rock cuts at Blackwatch Pass and Marsh Folly Road, The 2014/15 estimate is $200,000. This budget centre will be used to carry out repair work on the retaining wall at Palmetto Road that collapsed on February 14th, 2014. Foreshore Protection Work, cost centre 75144. Mr. Chairman, this cost centre is used to carry out repairs and mitigating measures to the foreshore. This cost centre is also used for the flood modelling initiative that was included in the Throne Speech. The flood modelling project aim is to identify coastal areas that might be at risk during storm surges. No budget has been allocated to this cost centre for 2014/15, although it is anticipated that there will be a carry-forward of money from the previous year to allow work to continue.


1584 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Causeway Refurbishment, cost centre 75207. Mr. Chairman, it was fortunate that the 2013 hurricane season was again quiet, from Bermuda’s perspective, as it meant that the Causeway continued to function as normal. The 2014/15 estimate for the cost centre of $1.5 million will enable the Ministry to carry out a geo-technical survey work and to firm up the proposals for the crossing, which will help to facilitate investment from private enterprise. Middle Road, Warwick, Sidewalk, cost centre 75209. Mr. Chairman, this cost centre is to be used to widen Middle Road, Warwick, between Burnt House Hill and Spicelands Riding School. The 2014/15 esti-mate for this cost centre is $300,000, which will en-able some of the work to be carried out. Tynes Bay Waste Treatment Expansion, 75201. Mr. Chairman, in 2013/14, work continued with the manufacture of the 7.4-megawatts stream turbine, which, when installed, is projected to increase electric-ity sales revenue to $6.5 million per year, at current prices. At this figure, the new turbine will realise a payback of 3.8 years. Work was carried out to refur-bish and upgrade the seawater intake facility by the installation of new seawater pumps and header pipes. Mr. Chairman, funds from this cost centre were also used to award a contract to an environ-mental consultancy to carry out the design of the remediation works for the Airport Waste Management Facility. The Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Authority have expressed con-cern about contaminants in Castle Harbour, which they believe may be emanating from the Airport Waste Management Facility. These contaminants have a potentially detrimental effect on the local flora and fauna. The final report is expected to be with the Ministry in late 2014. The estimated cost for cost cen-tre 75201 is $5 million. Dangerous Walls and Rock Cuts, cost centre 75258. Mr. Chairman, the 2014/15 estimate for this cost centre is $300,000, which is used to carry out repairs to collapsed walls and rock cuts. The recent issues Island-wide have shown the importance of eve-ryone being vigilant and reporting dangerous walls and rock cuts before they become a serious hazard. Airport Waste Disposal Facility, cost centre 75262. Mr. Chairman, the 2014/15 estimate for this cost centre is $100,000, which will be used to com-plete the construction of the weigh bridge at this facil-ity so that a more equitable method of charging deliv-eries by the ton rather than by the load can be imple-mented.

Quarry Refurbishment, 75264. Mr. Chairman, the estimate for this cost centre is $50,000, which will be used to carry out design work when providing new facilities at the Quarry depot. Pembroke Canal upgrade, 75293. Mr. Chair-man, this programme is for the upgrade of Pembroke Canal. The 2013/14 [budget] has been reduced to

zero, as there were insufficient resources to carry out any further design work during the current year.

Reverse Osmosis Plants, Electrical Systems, cost centre 75294. Mr. Chairman, this programme has been created for the upgrade of all the electrical con-trol systems in each of the water plants except Tynes Bay Seawater Reverse Osmosis. The 2014/15 esti-mate for this cost centre is $500,000. This budget will be used to carry out the upgrade of the electrical and control systems of the Devon Springs water plant. Tynes Bay Capital Maintenance, 75308. Mr. Chairman, following the refurbishment of the incinera-tors and the flue glass-cleaning equipment, the con-tinuing major maintenance will focus on the auxiliary equipment. It is proposed to replace the main refuse cranes that feed the furnaces, upgrade the central emissions and monitoring systems, replace critical pumps and compressors, and replace the bulky waste share. The estimated total of these initiatives is $8 million, with $1,500,000 scheduled to be spent in 2014/15. This allocation will facilitate the replacement of air compressors for the plant’s soot-blowing sys-tem, replacement of pumps for the plant’s boiler con-densate return system, upgrades of the control room, refurbishment of the bulky waste share in lieu of a re-placement due to budgetary constraints, and re-placement for the plant’s boiler system. Wastewater Treatment Facility, Dockyard, cost centre 75317. Mr. Chairman, this budget is used to pay the loan payments for the wastewater treat-ment facility that was put in by WEDCO. The 2014/15 estimate for this cost centre is $1,605,000. Morgan’s Point Works, cost centre 75324. Mr. Chairman, the management of this project has been given back to the Ministry of Public Works from the Office of Project Management and Procurement. In 2014/15 the estimate for this cost centre is $8,500,000. Mr. Chairman, I would now like to provide you with a summary of the status of the major acquisitions being managed by the Department of Works and En-gineering, the details of which can be found on page C-13 of the Approved Estimates of Revenue and Ex-penditure. Quarry, number one, Vehicles and Equip-ment, cost centre 76495. The vehicles and equipment to be acquired under the 2014/15 budget include:

• garbage compactors and the bulk refuse con-tainers to help with the garbage collection;

• two new cement trucks to help with the re-moval of ash at Tyne’s Bay;

• one mechanical road sweeper; and • some replacement construction equipment.

Finances. The 2014/15 estimate for this an-

nual allocation is $1,500,000. Mr. Chairman, it has been a most interesting experience in the short term that I have been the Minister of Public Works. The variety of works carried out by the Ministry and the


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1585 Department of Works and Engineering in particular is notable, and the professionalism and dedication shown by the staff and the workforce of the Depart-ment of Works and Engineering is something to be admired. The Department of Works and Engineering will continue to face a great many challenges in fiscal 2014/15; however, we are always striving to find en-hancements and improvements to the delivery of our services. I would like to reassure the people of Ber-muda that I have full confidence that the staff and workforce of the Department of Works and Engineer-ing are committed to providing a professional and effi-cient service throughout.

Mr. Chairman, with this comprehensive over-view of the department, I will now turn to Head 69, which is Conservation Services.

HEAD 69—CONSERVATION SERVICES Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Mr. Chairman, the Department of Conserva-tion Services can be found on pages B-220 to 224 of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2014/15. It gives me great pleasure to present this budget, Mr. Speaker, for this department, the mission statement of which is to conserve and promote Ber-muda’s natural and marine heritage through research, education, advocacy and restoration. Mr. Chairman, the department is responsible for the Aquarium and Zoo, Natural History Museum and Library, government nature reserves and pro-grammes focused on environmental assessment, pro-tection of Bermuda’s bio-diversity, recovery of pro-tected species, management of invasive species and monitoring of marine heritage. Mr. Chairman, the department functions in a dynamic partnership. Technical officers from the Con-servation Section and the Bermuda Aquarium, Mu-seum and Zoo [BAMZ] undertake monitoring and re-search to develop management programmes, envi-ronmental policy and legislation. BAMZ acts not only as Bermuda’s top tourist destination, but also as a repository for all of government-related environmental research and as its very successful educational and visitor outreach vehicle. The Bermuda Zoological Society, as the for-mal charity for the department, provides much added value with volunteer and research support raising capital funding and delivering education programmes. Mr. Chairman, the department has seven programme areas, each with a number of sub-programmes, or cost centres, as shown on pages B-220 to 224 of the [Budget] Book:

• Programme 6903, which is General, compris-ing cost centre 79000;

• [Programme] 6902, Bermuda Aquarium, Mu-seum and Zoo, comprising cost centres: o 79020, BAMZ Administration,

o 79030, Aquarium and Zoo, o 79040, Museum;

• Programme 6903, Conservation, comprising cost centres: o 79050, Marine Ecology, o 79060, Agricultural Services is included

only due to 2012/13 comparatives, o 79070, Marine Heritage and Health, o 79090, Terrestrial Ecology.

Staffing. Mr. Chairman, the key to the success

of the department is its highly motivated and trained staff led by Drew Pettit. The department has a staff complement of 50 full-time employees, as seen on page B-222. While the number has remained static over the last two years, it should be noted that much effort has been made by management to modify job descriptions and retool in order to increase efficiency and secure technical staff with specialised skills in order to better provide critical services in areas such as zoo animal care and ecosystem management. Mr. Chairman, the department’s current ac-count expenditure can be found on page B-220. The budget for 2014/15 is $4,559,000, which is a reduction of 6 per cent for the original estimates for the current year. Mr. Chairman, 65 per cent of the current budget is allocated to fixed costs, including salaries and wages, energy, food costs and cleaning supplies needed to operate the Aquarium, Museum and Zoo. The remainder is fixed costs to operate the depart-ment’s administration and ecology section. Of the total budget, 81 per cent is dedicated to salary and wages for the department. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 79000, the De-partmental Headquarters, has a budget allocation of $989,000 for 2014/15, a reduction of 4 per cent, or $40,000. This reduction is as a result of the acquisi-tion of office supplies, consolidation of services within the department. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 79020, the Admini-stration Section, has a budget allocation of $212,000 for 2014/15, a reduction of $35,000, or 14 per cent. This reduction reflects the consolidation of supplies, consolidation of services resulting from the mandatory furlough, reduction in computer networking costs, as well as advertising and promotion funding for BAMZ. Mr. Chairman, 79030, the Aquarium and Zoo Section, has a budget of $2,156,000 for Fiscal Year 2014/15, a reduction of $133,000, or 6 per cent, re-flecting a reduction in maintenance materials supply, Government supplied water and consolidation of ser-vices resulting from the mandatory furlough. Mr. Chairman, 79040, Natural History Mu-seum and Library Section, has a budget allocation of $291,000 for 2014/15, a reduction of 4 per cent, or $13,000. This reflects a reduction of services resulting from the mandatory furlough and the close of the li-brary on Fridays.


1586 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Mr. Chairman, cost centre 79050, the Marine Ecology Section, has a specific budget allocation of $281,000 for fiscal year 2014/15, a reduction of $34,000, or 11 per cent. This reflects the elimination of the water quality monitoring programme and fur-lough.

Mr. Chairman, cost centre 79070, Marine Heritage and Ocean Human Health Section, has a budget allocation of $123,000 for 2014/15, a decrease of $10,000, or 8 per cent. This is a reduction in the promotions budget and a reduction in service for the mandatory furlough. Cost centre 79090, Terrestrial Ecology. This section has a specific budget allocation of $507,000 for 2014/15, a decrease of $27,000, or 5 per cent. This reflects the reduction in tools and equipment, animal control services, and a reduction in services resulting from the mandatory furlough. Capital Development. Mr. Chairman, the Capi-tal Development allocation for the Department of Con-servation Services, as seen on page C-7, is $1,400,000. The vast majority of this, some $1,200,000 will be used to support the repair of the Aquarium Hall roof. A further $200,000 is designated as minor works for the continued repair and improve-ment of the Aquarium and Zoo and nature reserves. Mr. Chairman, I just have a few performance measures. But as we are on the lunch hour, I would be happy to just spend a few minutes after the lunch break to highlight those areas. I have tried to race through this as much as possible. Hopefully, members of the public and Members of the House have been able to follow this appropriately. The Chairman: Thank you, Honourable Member. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we rise for lunch and resume again with the Honourable Minister at 2:00 pm. The Chairman: The Committee stands adjourned until 2:00 pm.

Proceedings suspended at 12:29 pm

Proceedings resumed at 2:00 pm [Mr. Walton Brown, Chairman]

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY

ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2014/15

MINISTRY OF WORKS AND ENGINEERING

[Continuation thereof]

The Chairman: Good afternoon everyone. We are in Committee of Supply. We are going to continue with the Honourable Minister, Pat Gordon-Pamplin. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, pre the lunch break I was able to do Heads 68, 36, 81, 82 and the majority of Head 69. I will now move into the major achievements for Head 69, which is the Department of Conservation Services.

HEAD 69—CONSERVATION SERVICES Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: This debate will conclude at 3:25? The Chairman: That is correct. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Okay. So we have an hour and 25 minutes. I want to be able to give the Opposition an opportunity to have their chance to speak. Mr. Chairman, the Performance Measures for the Department of Conservation Services can be found on pages B-223 to B-224 and I would like to bring a few measures to your attention. This year has been both busy and successful for the department. Cost centre 79000, General Ad-ministration Headquarters, provides financial and hu-man resource management to the department ensur-ing that programme delivery is efficient and in line with the department’s stated mandate, human resources policy and financial instructions. It plays a key role in administering Bermuda’s biodiversity strategy, con-servation legislation, protected species recovery, in-vasive species management, geographical informa-tion system mapping and maintaining the depart-ment’s website and Facebook page. Mr. Chairman, Headquarters continued its mission to protect and promote Bermuda’s unique biodiversity. Support was given to important initiatives to promote the department and its mission at events such as the National Trust Children’s Walk, School Career Days, World Oceans Day, various science fairs and the Agricultural Exhibition. Mr. Chairman, Headquarters collaborated with other departments on a number of GIS projects, such as mapping of commemorative trees at Government House, Southlands vegetation mapping, concession guidelines for public beaches, recreational fishing mapping, a large scale wind turbine study, mangrove mapping, song bird surveys and data for the marine spatial plan currently being developed. Mr. Chairman, a report on Bermuda’s activi-ties over the last three years to conserve migratory species was submitted to the UK Government in De-cember 2013. This will be included in the 2014 UK Report to the Convention on Migratory Species. High-


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1587 lights of this report include effort to recover the en-demic Cahow, research on whales and sea turtles, and local sightings of a number of rare migrant birds. Further, the department continued to support all part-ner organisations in carrying out their commitments as outlined in the Bermuda Diversity Action Plan and a report was developed which detailed the activities car-ried out in 2013. Mr. Chairman, this year the department launched Bermuda’s first official Geo Tour taking ad-vantage of the worldwide popularity of geocaching and invited residents and visitors alike to explore Bermuda’s parks and nature reserves in a unique way. Since the launch on July 23, 2013 over 50 peo-ple have successfully completed the tour including a number that actually came to Bermuda specifically for that purpose. Mr. Chairman, the staff will continue to de-velop the department’s website www.conservation.bm as well as the department’s Facebook page. Mr. Chairman, let me just back up a bit and it should be noted that the project on the Geo Tour ac-tually received a Bermuda Tech Award 2013 for the People’s Choice and Innovation of the Year for the local market focus. That is quite commendable for the department. With respect to that Facebook page, Mr. Chairman, this year’s website received over 150,000 visits from users seeking information on Bermuda’s flora and fauna, which was a substantial increase from the previous year, an increase of approximately 42,000. Additions to the site in 2013 included flyers on DCS projects and programmes, profiles of Bermuda shipwrecks, new reports and management plans, as well as links to the Bermuda Conservation Geo Tour, an inventory of marine spatial data, and profiles of Bermudian habitats and species with a focus on pro-tected species. The department also added to the website a feral bird control request form enabling the public to easily submit a request for feral birds to be removed from their properties. This online system has already received over 400 requests for service. Mr. Chairman, work continued on the active recovery of Bermuda’s most endangered plants and animals. Much of this work continues to be done in partnership with local and overseas partners at mini-mal cost to the taxpayer. This is known as Bermuda’s Lifeboat Programme whereby small populations of endangered species are sent overseas for safe keep-ing, breeding and research. For example, 12 skinks were transferred to the Chester Zoo in the UK to be part of an off-Island captive breeding population. Col-laborators at the Chester Zoo will provide a husbandry and breeding manual for this critically endangered species, which will help to form any future breeding efforts undertaken in Bermuda. Mr. Chairman, the department also collabo-rated with a scientist from the St. Louis University in

the United States to study the taxonomic diversity of all Killifish presently living in Bermuda. Mr. Chairman, it is anticipated that this study will address a number of action items in the Killifish recovery plan and ultimately provide critical informa-tion necessary to continue managing these endan-gered and unique species. Mr. Chairman, invasive species seem to have a tremendous impact on Bermuda’s ecology. Of spe-cific note are the Red-eared Slider, feral chickens, feral pigeons, and crows, as well as plants such as Brazil Pepper, the Indian Laurel tree and the Jumbie Bean. As such the department began the design of species specific management plans in order to de-velop effective means of control. This year the focus was on amending the feral chicken management plan to include innovative but humane ways of dealing with this pest. Since the inception of this programme in October 2013, the programme has now removed 15,200 feral chickens as well as 2,500 feral pigeons, 150 crows, and 200 Red-eared Sliders. Mr. Chairman, it is hoped that these efforts have not only taken the pressure off our threatened species but also give some relief to our farmers, gar-deners and members of the public bothered at 4:00 am by noisy birds. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 79020 and 79030, the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo [BAMZ] seeks to promote care and appreciation for the Is-land’s environment by providing environmental educa-tion, high quality animal care for the specimens in the collection, and engaging exhibits to support family fun for local and overseas visitors to the facility. It pro-vides the resources needed to collect, maintain and care for BAMZ collection of fish and other exotic ani-mals and their exhibits on a daily basis. Mr. Chairman, BAMZ continues to be the Is-land’s leading tourist attraction and is especially popu-lar with local school children, with visitor numbers in the last year estimated to be 84,000 people—by indi-cation will reach 84,000 by the end of this fiscal year. Mr. Chairman, the Madagascar Exhibit con-tinues to prove to be popular with both tourists and locals alike. The immersion exhibit which allows visi-tors to get up close to the animals has been a huge success. Mr. Chairman, the new restaurant which in-cludes a wraparound balcony overlooking Harrington Sound has replaced the tented concession and has vastly improved the visitor experience by providing an attractive place to obtain refreshments and enjoy the facility. This renovation was made possible by a cor-porate donor through the Bermuda Zoological Society and underscores the value of the public/private part-nership that BAMZ enjoys. Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this oppor-tunity to extend my great appreciation to Dr. Ian Walker as principal curator and to all the staff of BAMZ for their stellar efforts in preparing the facility


http://www.conservation.bm/

1588 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report for the AZA inspection and accreditation which is a vital part of the Museum, Aquarium and Zoo and it demonstrates the continued diligence of BAMZ to raise the bar and to improve the visitor experience. Mr. Chairman, over 1,300 new plants and animals and photographic images were added to the collection in 2013, a significant increase from the pre-vious year. Mr. Chairman, the National History Library continues to develop the online public access cata-logue of library books and research journals adding 553 books and 256 scientific journals for a total of over 4,300 viewable online records. Mr. Chairman, the BZS is the registered char-ity that supports the work of the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo. BZS continues to offer its well-subscribed environmental programmes. They served 6,378 students—youth and adult—in 2013 which is a decrease from 2012. Diverse programmes were of-fered such as Bermuda School Programmes, Story Time Events for preschoolers, the Summer Aqua Camp, the Christmas Camp with Teen Junior Volun-teer Programmes and the Nonsuch Natural History Camp for senior school students. Mr. Chairman, the Schools Programme had a very busy year hosting 6,183 students. And the free programmes supported children from preschool to senior age with onsite and offsite classes including boat trips, providing valuable experiential learning ex-periences. Mr. Chairman, these decreases have been unfortunate year on year as a result of the reduction in the BZS education staff caused by the economic downturn resulting in the team being reduced to only one full-time person and two part-time educators. They have, though, done a stellar job with the re-sources that they have. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 79050, Marine Conservation Programme, allows the department to focus its efforts on monitoring, research, and restora-tion of key marine environments. Priorities lie in the field of study of critical marine habitats, such as coral reefs and grass beds. This field unit provides impor-tant consultation advice to the Department of Planning by the Marine Resources Board and other depart-ments for matters relating to marine habitat assess-ment. This marine habitat assessment programme is in its seventh year, Mr. Chairman. The ecology team resurveyed 183 sites, which include coral reefs, sea grass, algal beds and sand habitats across the Ber-muda platform. The captured data is continually ana-lysed to determine whether there have been any changes in these marine habitats as well as the water column.

This important programme will ensure that the Government has a better understanding of changes in habitat, identify key sites for endangered animals (such as the Sea Turtles and Queen Conch), fisheries organisms and other benthic resources such as corals

and sponges that support our fisheries and tourism industries in Bermuda. The monitoring programme also serves as a mechanism to increase the probabil-ity of detecting invasion by non-native marine species, for example, Lion Fish and green algae. Mr. Chairman, this year’s data from the re-search programme was used to develop a scientific paper, “Tropical species at the northern limit of their range: composition and distribution in Bermuda’s ben-thic habitats in relation to depth and light availability,” which was published in the peer review journal, Ma-rine Environmental Research, in May 2013. Mr. Chairman, cost centre 79070, the Marine History and Human Health section, is primarily re-sponsible for carrying out the mandate of the Historic Wrecks Act 2001, providing advice and assistance to the Historic Wrecks Authority and developing and im-plementing an underwater cultural resources man-agement programme specifically for ship wrecks and marine heritage sites. This programme also under-takes to explore, initiate, and undertake collaborative evaluations of the impacts of environmental conditions on human health. Mr. Chairman, this year was an exciting year for this section. It hosted and assisted in the story production for the BBC Scotland film crew looking at the shipwreck the Montana. Mr. Chairman, the section has also led the research in cooperation with the Waitt Institute for the production of a comprehensive report on the archaeo-logical recovery of artefacts from the Mary Celestia. Recognising the potential that Bermuda’s extensive marine heritage has to international tourism, the sec-tion worked with the Bermuda Dive Association (the body that represents the local dive shops) on several initiatives including the search for the Roanoke, an historic vessel scuttled at the east end of Bermuda during the Civil War.

The section also assisted the Catlin Seaview Survey team with their 360 degree camera work and specifically [with regard to] the shipwreck of the Mary Celestia. Subsequently, the Mary Celestia was fea-tured as the first shipwreck to appear as a full virtual swim through on Google Map’s street view survey. Mr. Chairman, this department continues to ensure it makes a positive impact on the international scene. Cost centre 79090, the Terrestrial Conserva-tion section, manages all of Government nature re-serves, some 200 acres. Mr. Chairman, activities in-clude clearing invasive plants and animal species and building artificial habitats such as Cahow and Longtail burrows. The unit is also responsible for developing management plans for all Government Nature Re-serves as mandated by the National Parks Act 1986, as well as managing the Historic Fortifications within the Castle Islands Nature Reserve, an important part of its mission. Mr. Chairman, this department . . . I could go on ad infinitum. I have a tremendous brief on their res-


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1589 toration of Cooper’s Island Nature Reserve. Their work continues to improve Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve, [helped] along with some supportive corpo-rate donors such as the Ascendant Group of compa-nies. The crew have also helped to protect the historic fortifications of King’s Castle Fort and Devonshire Re-doubt Fort from rampant growth of invasive Casuarina trees. Mr. Chairman, I would like to take a moment to publicly thank HSBC Bermuda, Ascendant Group and the Bermuda Garden Club for all of their support in helping us maintain our Nature Reserves. On behalf of the Government, I must express my gratitude for their investment in our natural heritage from which we all benefit. Mr. Chairman, plans for the upcoming year 2014/15. The department will focus its attention and resources on ensuring that services are provided effi-ciently and critical projects are delivered on budget. The roof of the main Aquarium hall will undergo com-plete replacement. Originally built in 1926, the roof is reaching the end of its natural life and is in need of extensive renovations in certain areas. The renova-tions are scheduled to begin in November 2014 and will be completed in phases in order to allow the Aquarium to remain open during the six months that it is anticipated that the work will take. The department will continue to build partnerships with the Zoological Society in developing its educational programmes. Mr. Chairman, recognising that alien invasive species are considered to be the main threat to the Island’s biodiversity worldwide, the department will develop a National Invasive Species Strategy. Mr. Chairman, the department has mandated to lead efforts to preserve and restore the Island’s threatened species and habitats. Working with inter-national research partners will advance the preserva-tion of key species such as Killifish, Skink, Governor Laffan’s Fern and the endemic Bermuda Land Snail. Mr. Chairman, in order to better manage the Island’s threatened habitats, the department will de-velop and implement strategic long-term Nature Re-serve management plans. This year’s focus will be on Nonsuch Island and Castle Island. Mr. Chairman, drawing on the international prestige of Nonsuch Island, work will continue to re-store Cooper’s Island Nature Reserve as an extension to the living museum, and it will become Bermuda’s premier eco-tourism destination. Restoration will con-tinue with block clearance of invasive plants and re-planting with native and endemic species. Mr. Chairman, work will continue on Castle Island as a priority for both its historical and ecological importance. While the management plan is being de-veloped to ensure the preservation of Bermuda’s ear-liest fortifications and protective species, invasive Ca-suarinas and Brazil Peppers will continue to be re-moved from the Landward Fort and the outer ramparts of the Devonshire Redoubt.

Mr. Chairman, the department will continue to ensure environmental assessments and monitoring programmes for proposed development [submitted] to the Government are undertaken as a priority, specifi-cally to the Department of Planning on matters relat-ing to Bermuda’s important terrestrial, marine and ma-rine heritage protected area as well as protected and invasive species. Mr. Chairman, the department is currently developing a range of products to assist Government departments and the public in the management of conservation areas. This includes the web-based Bermuda plant finder customised to Bermuda’s needs. This product will not only enable easy identification of Bermuda’s common and not-so-common plants, but will give helpful advice on where and what to plant for different situations. Mr. Chairman, the Marine Conservation sec-tion will complete the eight-year Marine Habitat As-sessment Programme and provide data on over 183 sites across Bermuda’s reef platform. Mr. Chairman, the department will also under-take an Island-wide GIS-based survey and assess-ment of Mangroves which will be developed into a recovery plan for this key species and as part of criti-cal information needed for disaster management, such as an oil spill. The department will continue to monitor, preserve and promote Bermuda’s unique ma-rine heritage. The Historic Wrecks Authority will under-take a review of the wrecks legislation, develop a Na-tional Underwater Cultural Heritage Management Plan, and continue the protected dive site mooring programme as an important component of the Na-tional Tourism Plan for offshore Bermuda. Mr. Chairman, Bermuda is endowed with natural wealth, including our stunning reefs, beaches, flora and fauna. Add the mystique of shipwrecks, and we have an award winning recipe. We need to better capitalise on these attributes. Recognising this, the department will work with the Bermuda Tourism Board to identify innovative ways of promoting Bermuda’s unique environmental qualities. Mr. Chairman, in closing, I would like to ex-press my sincere thanks and appreciation to the dedi-cated officers and staff of the Department of Conser-vation Services, again, led by Drew Pettit. Theirs is an often unseen but nevertheless important role. They are charged with the custody of our marine and terres-trial ecological heritage. The sustainability of our Is-land’s natural resources depends on their success. Mr. Chairman, I have given quite a compre-hensive overview of the five areas that have been re-quested by the Opposition. And before I take my seat, Mr. Chairman, I would also like to recognise the ef-forts of Lisa Dawn Johnson, who is the Director of Parks, as I failed to do at the end of my Parks brief. With those comments, Mr. Chairman, I will take my seat and allow other Members to contribute to the debate.


1590 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you, Honourable Minister. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak to these Heads? The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from Hamilton Parish, the Honourable Derrick Burgess. You have the floor. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr. Chair-man. Mr. Chairman, I would hope, being that we just have an hour and approximately five minutes left, that once I finish my questions, Members will give an opportunity to the Minister to answer. And once we are finished, I would hope then they could jump in if there is any time left. The Chairman: Yes, we have a hope. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: I hope that will happen because that has not happened throughout, and I think we have robbed the public of information that they should have. Mr. Chairman, first, I would like to recognise the workers and admin staff of Works and Engineer-ing. I must say that when I was Minister there under . . . and I had my PS Bobby Horton. When questions were coming at me he had those civil servants crack-ing to get the answers for him, which was great. And that is one thing, I guess, he made sure everybody had a pad and a pen or pencil. Also, I would like to thank the staff, the blue collar workers. We have some workers there that work in all conditions, like the garbage collecting folks, I see them working in the rain. I have seen the fellows that unclog the drains, they work in the rain. The tree cut-ting crew; you know, all sorts of elements out there, and they do a very good job despite some of the comments that were made by SAGE. And I take of-fence to some of them. Also, I would like to recognise my relative, Marva O’Brien, Permanent Secretary. I think she has done a great job on this brief. But it is obvious that in all briefs you cannot include everything, you know, and that is the reason why we have two sides here. The Chairman: Yes, sir. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Chairman, the 2013/14 budget for Public Works was $87,573,000, revised to $91,964,000, an overspend of 5 per cent, or $4,391,000. When I look at the Capital Projects, just about every item in the Capital Projects budget was cut. I find it a bit upsetting because many of the items, the projects in the Capital Development Budget, are things that I consider essential. I will not necessarily

go over all of them, but one . . . and I am not going to do this in any order, but— The Chairman: You will let me know what order you are doing them in. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Oh, you will know where I am coming from. You will know. And the Capi-tal budget, you will see it on C-8 in the Budget Book. The Chairman: Yes. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: One concern I have is the Hamilton Police Magistrates Court Building. Last year we had a budget of $733,000 revised to zero. I do not know what the original estimate of that project was, and I would like to know what the original budget was and what the actual completion cost was. The National Drug Rehab Centre, it is the Nelson Bascome Rehab Centre in Dockyard, I would like to know what the original budget was and what the actual completion cost was of that project. One area that was cut that concerns me . . . another area was Lefroy House. Lefroy House had an original budget of $350,000 and was cut to only $70,000. We should never, ever stop or slow down on the refurbishing, improving, adding on to our seniors’ rest homes. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Chairman, this young man, would you ask him to . . . you know, be-fore he came here, we were all quiet. Now if he can-not take the heat, well, you know, get out of the fire.

Now, Mr. Chairman, do you know what an-noys me? They inherited the Government. Now they are complaining about what they inherited. You know, they are complaining every time . . . this is not . . . why does he have to go there? The Chairman: Member, do not allow yourself to be distracted. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: No, no, but I am not going to act like I don’t hear him. I will answer him ac-cordingly and he may not like what I say. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: No, you are not going to like it. I told you before. The other one on C-7 is Sandys 360. They had an original budget of $2,000,000— Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Point of order. Point of order, Mr. Chairman. I do wish to—


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1591 The Chairman: Have a seat, please. What is your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: I just do not wish to interrupt the Honourable Member’s train of thought, but the works that are the responsibility of the depart-ment were actually on C-8 and they were all the pro-grammes that I mentioned earlier. So the other pro-grammes to which he is now alluding to will come un-der different areas for debate. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Development comes under Works and Engineering, Mr. Chairman. The Chairman: You were referring to C-7; correct? Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, I was talking about Sandys 360. All right? The Chairman: Right, yes. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: That budget was cut from $2,000,000 to $500,000—a place that we all know needs money. Horseshoe Beach, that budget, we had a budget of $2,350,000 that was cut to zero. Now that is a very busy beach. It is our prime beach when we talk about cruise ship visitors to the Island and it always needs improvement—always—because of the water we have to use down there for flushing. The Chairman: Mm-hmm. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: You have always got problems with the toilets. And to cut the budget to zero, you know, I wonder . . . are we trying to keep the standard up? I think they do, but you cannot keep the standard up with without money. And we have thou-sands of visitors that go to that beach. The St. George’s Sewage Plant that was $100,000, cut to zero. We know what the infrastruc-ture is like down in St. George’s with those pipes. Every bit of money that the Government allocates to the Old Town of St. George’s should be used, particu-larly on the sewage pipes. That is a serious situation down there and $100,000 will only touch a little bit of the work. You know, it would not do near the amount of work that is necessarily needed down there. Asbestos Disposal. We have had that problem for many years. We inherited it, but we did not com-plain about it, and it is still there. But I would like to know what are the plans for asbestos? Because, you know, we had $1,000,000 budgeted there and that was cut to $100,000. And we all know the condition of the containers, you know, they rust. And it is going to be very difficult trying to encase them. I know we did have some plans. I do not know what has happened

there, but they are still there and they have increased in number. I would imagine there are over 600, 700 containers in Bermuda with asbestos in them. The Pembroke Marsh Devonshire Plan III. We had an original budget of $100,000 and we only spent $35,000. You know, if it rains very hard you see the flooding. That is another area that we should never stop working on because no one needs to tell us about the condition in Marsh Folly out by Masters and different places, on those areas, and the flooding that we have because of the rain. So that is something that we should never, ever cut. The Refurbishing of Bridges, we had a budget of $450,000 and we only spent $50,000. And I proba-bly can understand that, but what I really do not un-derstand is that there were no inspections of bridges in 2013/14. That is kind of serious because if anything had happened on one of those bridges, particularly the bridge that we have down at the Causeway, I think the Government would have been liable for more than water if something would have happened. Thank God that nothing happened. Those bridges should be checked as part of the schedule in Works and Engi-neering, yearly. But the whole year and no inspection of the bridges? Not great at all. Not great at all. And then in the Capital Development budget there is only one thing that increased there. It was the Heritage Wharf. The Chairman: Where are we now? Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: C-8. The Chairman: Okay. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And it went from an original of $10 million to $14,500,000. As I understand it the bridge is still not complete, despite the then-Minister telling us that it should be complete two months after the cruise ship season. Here it is mid-March and it is still not complete.

You know, Mr. Chairman, we wasted a lot of money there on that bridge, on that project. [We spent] $2.5 million to bring in and rent equipment when all the equipment was available in Bermuda—all available in Bermuda, Mr. Chairman. All the equip-ment that was done for the Heritage Wharf, and many other areas in Bermuda, equipment was already in Bermuda. I can name them off if you want me to, the different docks that we completed with 99 per cent Bermudian workers.

You have the Hamilton docks, the St. George’s cruise ship dock, the Esso docks—all of these were done with Bermudians, equipment in Ber-muda, 99 per cent Bermudian staff. And the Govern-ment said at that time that we will have 75 per cent Bermudians up there and 25 per cent guest workers. But, Mr. Chairman, that did not happen. How this worked, it was about 60 per cent guest workers and


1592 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report 40 per cent Bermudians. And then they broke the building code. They used black rod. Black rod!

Now in the building code says that you shall use galvanised—that is the building code—and if black rod was so good, why are they not using it today in other projects? They are doing a project up in Paget Town— Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Mr. Chairman, I cannot sit through that one. What he is saying is not true. The Chairman: Your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Yes, point of order.

What he is saying . . . he is misleading the House. He is talking about the residential building code which does not apply to Heritage Wharf. The Chairman: Thank you, Honourable Member. You may proceed. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Speaker [sic], I am not— The Chairman: I have not yet been promoted. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Chairman, I am not misleading the House. Miles Outerbridge who has over 60 years of experience in building in Bermuda, an engineer, and others, spoke against this black rod. They do not use black rod in Bermuda. If that Minister, that former Minister, knew about black rod he would keep quiet. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: See? The code states . . . again, the building code states you shall use—it did not say “may.” You “shall”—nowhere in Bermuda. I do not care if it is residential, hotels or not—nowhere in Bermuda. Black rod [is used] nowhere! People with 60 years of experience can tell you that and you are still trying to prove them wrong, you know? Okay, well, they really do not know. Now the roadside rock cuts . . . that is very dangerous, very dangerous because you have that limestone getting very sandy and falling down, the walls falling down. That is something that should have our close attention. That budget was cut 50 per cent. Foreshore Protection: If you go . . . and I do not travel in a boat. Very, very seldom. But I hap-pened to be on a boat some years ago going up to North Shore. There is a lot of erosion. In fact, one house, when I was the Minister of Works and Engi-neering, these people called me from the North Shore. The erosion had gone under their house. And it is not

the job of Works and Engineering, but Works and En-gineering said, We will provide the engineering work for you. But it is not their job. But all along that North Shore . . . and that is a job that . . . it is a long job be-cause there is quite a bit of erosion on that North Shore and, you know, that is an ongoing job. The Causeway. I see in the Minister’s brief that some geotechnical work is going to be going on. Well, I am wondering if we are doing a replication of it because a lot of geotechnical work has already oc-curred down at the Causeway for that bridge. Some-times people repeat stuff. I am hoping this is not the case because much, much work was done on the geotechnical. The dangerous walls and rock cuts. I know the Minister has seen it out at Marsh Folly—not only the house with the pit that was built by Works and En-gineering was blue . . . in fact, there was bad work there. I am sure the engineer from W&E would tell you. I did not see any rod in that. And it came down. I thank God it happened at the hour it did because if anybody was in that yard when that thing blew, some-body would have been killed in there. So I am happy that that did not happen. And across the street on Marsh Folly it is a very serious situation there. It can go anytime. And we had some sand slides there and it is not finished. So those residents there are going to need some help. The railway, Mr. Chairman, that is . . . I no-ticed an area in Hamilton Parish that I took the Minis-ter then (not Mr. Moniz) and the Honourable Cole Simons to just to look at it on the railway. There is a situation there where they have got the sandy wall ready to fall down, that needs immediate attention. Morgan’s Point, the budget was cut there. I can understand that after having some talks with the Minister on Friday, but there is some unforeseen situations there that will occur, well, they have seen it already because of the . . . there were some pipes found there with oil in them. That was not anticipated, so that is going to be another expense. That is going to be what they call an overrun. What they used to call it with our Government, they used to call it “incompe-tence,” “corruption,” when something went over budget, and you get these things in construction. Mr. Chairman, again, we would certainly like to know when Heritage Wharf will be completed be-cause this is ongoing. And the other thing is, I under-stand they are out there working on King’s Wharf. I am not sure—if I have got it wrong, the Minister will correct me—that they are working on King’s Wharf, I do not think there was any tendering that went on in that area. But the workmen are up there working on King’s Wharf. Now, Mr. Speaker—Mr. Chairman that is— The Chairman: Yes, yes. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1593 The Chairman: That is more appropriate. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, I will get used to it, calling you Mr. Chairman. Head 36, Mr. Chairman, B-205, cost centre 3601, Business Unit 46111, Administration. We have a reduction of 46 per cent, which is . . . I am sorry, it went from $1,811,000 to $980,000, a reduction of $837,000 and one reduction in staff. I did not see that in the Minister’s brief. If it was there I did not see. I do not know if she read that one or not, but if you did. forgive me. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Cost centre 3601, Business Unit 46111, Administration.

On the cost centre 3610, Business Unit 46030, you went from increasing the budget of $109,000. And staff, you have an increase of 17 per cent in the staff. Now, what I find a bit amazing [is that] in 2013/14, the budget was under spent by $130,000. It was $1,061,000 and they only used $931,000. Now, they are going to take it up to $1,170,000 and add two more employees. I find this a bit odd. It may not be odd, but certainly I would like to have some explanation to that.

Cost centre 3611, Purchasing. Purchasing Administration increased from $246,000 to $461,000 in 2015 and you are going to increase staff. Supply Stores cut $8,000, where you are going to cut three staff members. You have Supply Stores cut, you have Materials and Supplies cut, and you are adding three staff. Yet, you have . . . and you have increased the budget by $215,000. It just does not seem to add up. I would like to have some explanation on that.

And the other thing is, I would like to know if these workers are retirees, because I am mindful of the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by the Government and the Trade Unions. So I am sure they are mindful of that, at least they should be.

The Human Resource is 3613, 46118 cost centre, to increase by 61 per cent, or $75,000. In the Minister’s brief it says that they are going to train a Basic Employee Foreman . . . and then they talk about the BEFAST Programme. I am not sure what the BE-FAST Programme is and I would like to know where this training is going to take place because whether the BEFAST Programme is one, two, three persons, I do not know, but obviously the basic employee fore-man, that is one person. So I would like to have some response to that.

The Travel budget, if you look on Head 36 page B-206, we have got a reduction in Salaries and Wages combined of 3.75 per cent, there are two less staff in there. You have got the furlough day, a freeze in wages since September 2013. Now this to me does not add up because when you . . . Salaries and

Wages combined is a 3.75 per cent decrease. It seems like it should be more if you have two less staff. Again, I am concerned about staff as per the Memorandum of Understanding.

Let us go to Head 68 Parks. Out of the num-ber of staff in Parks (and that is Head 68), I would just like to know, out of the 164 how many of those posi-tions are vacant? In fact, Mr. Chairman, under Head 68, Parks has 164 staff under 2013/14 and the esti-mate for 2014/15 is 150. So there are 14 staff they are going to get rid of. Now I would like to know what is . . . Why are we getting rid of 14 staff? Are these retir-ees or what? Because, again, I mentioned the Memo-randum of Understanding.

Now, Mr. Chairman, Head 68, Lifeguards 6802. It is my information that management hires staff from overseas. And the question is, Why are we not training Bermudians for these jobs? Now, also, it has been brought to the attention of management (I do know) that lifeguards . . . it was suggested that we have a lifeguard at the Amity House Park on particular public holidays and Sundays, as they say that is the number two area where people have had serious ac-cidents in the water.

Park Service, 6801, cost centre 78000, Park Ranger Service has been cut by 17 per cent. You are cutting staff by 25 per cent. There has been no signifi-cant change in the performance measures, yet the same amount of work is to be performed by 25 per cent less staff. I want to know how we are going to do this because what you do not want to do, we do not want to put any people at risk, the Park Service, be-cause they do a very important job keeping those ar-eas safe, making people adhere to the rules and regu-lations. Cost centre 6802, I am sorry, this is Lifeguard Service. Lifeguard Service has been cut from . . . be-cause that was Park Ranger Service (my apologies) that I just finished.

Lifeguard Service has been cut from $446,000 to $356,000—20 per cent, or $90,000. We are going to cut staff by four workers. We have the performance measures. I do not know how there is . . . it is an in-teresting target that your rescues will go from 74 to 58. I hope they go to zero, but I do not know how you are going to judge that. But anyhow, it is supposed to go down. So I do not know how you are going to do that. But that is something that we need to have . . . I think we need to have the staff there. We have not only visitors, but we also have our own children on the beach and everybody always says, It’s not going to happen to me, despite the warnings. We need our people safe with the Lifeguard Service and, again, let me repeat this—why are we not training Bermudians for the Lifeguard Service? We are always hiring peo-ple from overseas. Park Maintenance, 6803, cost centre Busi-ness Unit 78020, Maintenance and Development, that is cut from $1,224,000 to $994,000, or $230,000. We


1594 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report see a staff cut by 30 per cent (that is six workers). There has been no change in the performance meas-ures, yet, six workers. I know in the Minister’s brief she said some positions have been frozen. Did you freeze six of them? I do not know, but we need to know. Interesting one—Eastern Parks, 78030, page B-217. In the Eastern Parks, we are going to increase staff by two. We are going to increase the budget by 3 per cent. There is no significant change in Perform-ance Measures. In the Western Parks, we have a budget of $1.4 million and we are going to cut it to approximately $1.3 million—10 per cent, $140,000. And we are going to decrease the staff by two. Yet, under the performance measures we are going to in-crease maintenance site visits from 22 to 24.

Sports Field mowing, we are going to increase from 30 to 36. So that is a 20 per cent increase. And we have a budget decrease of two less staff. It just seems a bit backward to me that you are going to put more work in the Western area, less staff, no more work in the East and more staff—that does not seem right to me. I do not think it seems right to anybody. There has got to be some good reason for that. In addition to what has been stated (it is not in the Budget Book), Parks has inherited the Southlands Park which is 37 acres. And I know the Minister did not mention that there have been no monies allocated for that, at least I did not see it as an item. And where we are cutting staff by 14, we have got more work to do now. We have got to get Southlands ready and we are going to cut staff. It does not make any sense to me. Also, 6803, Business Unit, 78045, School Grounds. We are going to cut School Grounds by 14 per cent or $85,000. I think we all remember the . . . last year a lot of the schools were not ready in terms of the grass being cut. Yes, it rained. It rains in Bermuda, normally at Cup Match time. And— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, it did save some— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And then there is the staff, you are going to cut staff by four. It looks like our schools may be having some problems again this year. You are going to cut staff by four, you cut the budget by 14 per cent. We had problems last year. If numbers work the way they work, this is not going to work. Botanical Gardens is cut from $1.7 million to $1.6 million, staff increased by one and no significant changes in the performance measures. I do not know why we have the [decrease] in the budget.

Cost centre 78050, still on Head 68, Admini-stration and Planning, will increase from $1,088,000 to $1.2 million—a $138,000 increase, with staff cut by 9 per cent. What puzzles me a bit is the performance measures. They were going to have five less events at the Botanical Gardens and we are going to have one less staff, but we have an increased budget of $138,000. It does not make much sense to me. Railway Trail is cut from $404,000 to $393,000. It is a contract and I think it is a result of a better price. I have no problem with that. My question is, Are we still training Bermudians? Because I do know when we put that in place during the previous Government’s tenure, that it was a requirement that they train six—ongoing training of six—Bermudians at a time. I think it was over a three- to six month-period. And I think the problem there was that we had some Bermudians that graduated from that programme and were not able . . . they were denied a job at Parks. That is a tragedy when Government puts on a pro-gramme approved by Parks and then you do not hire the people, to say they are not qualified, [this is] not good. Mr. Chairman, let us go to Head 69, Conser-vation Services. The 6901, General, Administration, 79000, we have an Administration cut of $40,000 or 4 per cent, but we have a staff increase of 14 per cent. I would just like to know why the increase? And I am not saying you should not increase that, I am just saying you should not be decreasing staff. We should not be cutting as per the Memorandum of Understand-ing. The Aquarium has been cut 14 per cent—79020—that is Aquarium Administration. Performance measures, when I look at 79020, it is forecast that we will have 18,000 less visitors. I would just like to know why the forecast reduction in visitors to the Aquarium. But the other amazing part about this here is while the visitors have been projected to be 20 per cent less, the revenue from admissions is projected to be 51 per cent less. The two just do not add up. Maybe admis-sions is admissions . . . visitors . . . I think that is where you get your income from. The Aquarium, that has been cut $133,000 (that is the Zoo part) and staff have been cut by one worker. And the amazing part of this is that every item in the performance measures in this particular de-partment has increased, but we are cutting it by one worker. Now, let us go to Head 81 [which] is Public Lands and Buildings. We have a targeted staff reduc-tion of six workers, or 4 per cent, from 169 to 163. That concerns me. And they are projected to save 2 per cent on the salaries and wages combined. Again, I would like to know the makeup of these work-ers, whether they are retirees or what. Cost centre 8100, Administration, I will do 91000, Administration is cut by 2 per cent and the 91001, that is cut by 8 per cent. Also, the staff has


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1595 been cut by 43 per cent. So you are saving $15,000 in these cuts on 91000 and 91001, yet we are getting rid of three staff. This does not add up. And again, be-cause I do not want anyone to forget the Memoran-dum of Understanding that the Government has with the Trade Union Congress. Buildings, 8101, Services Management, 91002, is cut from $840,000 to $721,000. That is $119,000, with one staff cut. Maintenance is cut from $9,627,000 to $8,873,000, that is cut by $754,000, also staff cut by two workers. Why are we cutting back on staff when we have got these buildings that the Minister described (and she is right) that need all this maintenance—the older buildings—and they need maintenance every day. The older they get the more maintenance they need, but we are cutting the budget and we are cutting staff. It does just does not make sense. Estates. I am glad to see that the insurance premium has decreased by 18 per cent because I know I had to ask a question in Parliament (written question) about what we paid in insurance premiums for a four-year period. I believe it was 2008 to 2012, and the premiums we paid during those times were like $34 million and we had claims of under $2 million. So I am glad to see that. Why could we not have got-ten that break some years ago. Even at this point, I still think it is high because if one of our buildings got damaged. We have to buy the materials. We have the men to do the work. We have those men, so to me it is still overpriced. And I think the reduction should be even more. When you take that four-year period, when you look at the premiums paid and the claims made, that is a no-brainer. When you look at on Head 81 under Revenue 8795, we see Government increasing the rents from $1.7 million to $1.8 million—an 11 per cent increase. Why would we be increasing rents when we have a furlough day for our workers that they are receiving 5 per cent less pay, you are given tax breaks to busi-nesses in town, people are making less money in most areas—in some areas—yet we are taking the rent up by 11 per cent? That is not what Government should be doing. That is not the way Government should lead. That concerns me.

B-226: When we look at our Energy costs it is going to increase 35 per cent. It is going to increase by $543,000. When we look at our Rentals, our Rent-als decrease from $303,000 to $77,000. That is a de-crease of 75 per cent. Why would we have an in-crease in energy costs when we should be using LED bulbs and other energy saving devices?

I know the Minister then came up here and said that is what we are going to be doing and that programme has been in place, we turn off lights be-fore you leave. This does not reflect what the Minister said and does not reflect present day technology. Why are you going up? You are paying less rent—75 per cent less rent—and you are paying more for energy.

Mr. Chairman, let us go to Head 82. The budget for Salaries and Wages has increased by 10 per cent for 2014/15. I am not sure why. We are cut-ting staff by 15 workers in that area, yet we are in-creasing Consultant Fees by $550,000. We have a wage freeze, we have cut regular staff, but we are hiring more consultants. It does not add up. It really does not add up.

B-231: Training has been cut from $369,000 to $141,000. Why cut Training in this area? Yet, Pro-fessional Services, as I just mentioned, increases. And the wages have gone up 10 per cent. I do not know how that can happen. You are cutting 15 staff, you have got a freeze on, you have got a furlough day and wages have gone up 10 per cent. It does not add up.

Administration 8200, 92000 you have cut from $320,000 to $173,000 that is a 46 per cent cut, or $147,000. You are going to cut staff by one, you are going to leave only one administrator (poor adminis-trator, I hope that is not Thomasina), but you are go-ing to increase the Training budget for 25 per cent. You have only got one employee left so . . . I . . . that is a little confusing.

Engineering 8201, 92001 Electri-cal/Mechanical is going to increase from $525,000 to $596,000. It has increased by 14 per cent. We are going to cut staff by 1 (when I say “we” I mean the Government). There is no change in the Performance Measures. Why would you have an increase of $71,000 and you are cutting one staff?

Structures 92003. You are decreasing that from $517,000 to $421,000 or a $96,000 decrease. Staff is going to be increased by two (that could be consultants, I do not know), and a budget cut of $96,000. And yet a 40 per cent increase in staff. I really do not buy that one.

Highways—Road Asphalt and Signs. You know, Mr. Chairman, there were some what I would call “unkind” remarks from SAGE about the Highways crew. They said they do not meet their targets. They meet their targets. They did not ask why they do not meet their targets. You know that asphalt machine has over 100 (and that is on the low side) moving parts, and to get a part today under this procurement sometimes it takes two to three months, which I think is silly because . . . I hope they change it. It was not changed while I was there even though I requested it. If you need a part for a bus . . . no, let me simplify it a little more. If I need a part for a Toyota why would I go to Masters or HWP to get an estimate for a part? The parts come from Grant Gibbons’ company Toyota—Gibbons’ company. That is where it comes from. So why waste time? Get the part. If you need a part for a trash truck, you cannot buy it here so you have got to get three different quotes from around the world be-fore you can get it? Some things just do not make sense, it does not add up, it is silly.



And we heard in the Minister’s brief how we are having problems with the trucks, and I know there have been times when . . . we can normally get some of those parts overnight. Some of them are so des-perate they will fly somebody out, pick the part up and come right back and put those trucks back on the road.

The other thing is, the asphalt plant does not have a dedicated electrician, so when it is down it is down. It is not the [fault of the] workers.

The other question is, Do we have yearly training for staff in the asphalt area? I know one com-pany used to shut down for two weeks and send their people away for two weeks just to get training on as-phalt, and that is how they kept going.

Now I do know they have a new manager down there which is great. So these guys reach their targets. In fact, in some years they have gone over their targets. I know it was in 2009/10 they went over their target, they went 12.5 km (normally they do 10 a year—if they have got the materials). Last year they could not get aggregate for about five or six months, so the Performance Measures for that period would probably be down. If you cannot get the material . . . you could not get it from up North because it was too cold. So before they make these reports. . . because there is no other firm in Bermuda that can resurface those roads like the Works and Engineering crew. They are the best. They are the best.

Then in the SAGE Commission they said, Well, we approached a union but we could not make any headway—I will wait until you finish, Mr. Chair-man. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: They said they could not make any headway with the union in regard to schedule changing.

Well, Mr. Chairman, they never came during my time as President of the Union. I have checked the President, Mr. Furbert, they have never been to him about any changes in the schedule. And they never came to me, as I never heard about it even as the Minister over in that department. So that is just a wild, irresponsible statement. One thing about that union—the Bermuda Industrial Union—all of them will coop-erate. They are showing you that. And if we have got to make some changes to save jobs, that is what they will do.

But in some areas the road crews, they do start on time if they can detour traffic somewhere else. It is quite dangerous out there the way some of our folks drive, and the roads . . . they do not have much space to work with. We all know the size of our roads, but they do a fantastic job.

Mr. Chairman, the Roads Maintenance, that is 92006—

The Chairman: Just refresh my memory, what page is that again? Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Page B-230.

They have increased staff. I can say good, but then I go around it and they can decrease it. They can increase it here and then I go around further they have decreased it more than they have increased it, you know. So I cannot say . . . which is great. Any-how, I will leave that one alone. Let me say this about the Highways crew again, Mr. Chairman. I know there was a time (and I am talking about services from W&E they were out . . . this is how good these workers are. They were out doing construction on a road at Perimeter Lane, mark-ing it out. And they called me, they said Burgess, we can’t follow these plans because if we follow these plans it will create chaos out here. So I said okay, hang on, I went out there and from there I called Den-nis Correia. Dennis Correia came out there at no charge to the Government or anybody, and laid that road out with the workmen in less than a half hour and that is the product you see out there today.

So the workmen know when they are doing something wrong as far as . . . they have got much experience. And I applaud them because if they had followed that schedule, they would have been calling Mr. Havlicek and everybody else. [Peter] Havlicek was not there during that time so he is not responsible for it, but they would have still been calling up until it would have changed. Airport Disposal Facility, 92012, that is going to be cut by 15 per cent and you are going to cut staff by 5 per cent. Again, staff cuts. Memorandum of Un-derstanding. What is going to happen? There is no change in the Performance Measures but there are five less staff. In the Minister’s brief she says there is a reduction in overtime and a reduction in operating hours and then we are going to cut five staff. It does not make sense. I would like to have some answers on that. Special/Hazardous Waste. I would like to, again, thank those staff in the Hazardous Waste De-partment for doing such a great job. Their budget has increased by $97,000 and the staff increased by 20 per cent. Again, I do not understand this either be-cause the inspected containers will be down 10 per cent from 50 to 45 so that sort of throws me, less con-tainers but more staff. Water Supply and Treatment. A budget cut of 4 per cent, one staff cut. We are going to have all these cuts. The production of water will increase from 125 million to 200 million [gallons], water extracted to increase from 250 million to 400 million gallons. I am not sure why the production was down, the Minister could have said it, but I am not sure why the produc-tion was down in 2013/14. But Mr. Chairman, the wa-ter section crew are working with a very old infrastruc-ture. They can give more water in certain areas, but a


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1597 lot of the piping is not adequate enough to give more water. And to trench, again, is going to be very, very expensive. I know they could do it, but they do not have the budget for it. So Government can increase their revenues there. I applaud the water section crew for what they do. They do a great job. Water and Sewage Distribution. We are going to increase that. The budget is going to be increased by $156,000. They are going to cut one worker, and the pipeline installation will decrease by 50 per cent. I do not understand why the increase in the budget when you have got one less worker and you will de-crease the pipeline installation by 50 per cent. I am sure there is a good reason for that. And then in the 8206 Business centre 92025, the budget is cut by $113,000. There are no staff changes, which is great. But the Performance Meas-ures is targeted to increase the metered customers from 700 to 901. Yet, they are projecting less Reve-nue as you will see on page B-232. I do not under-stand that. The Minister could have said something; I think she did, on the big reduction in water sales, be-cause if you look under 8659 we had water sales in 2013/14 of $4,865,000 cut to $74,000. That is a 90 per cent cut. And then you have the Standing Charge Water cut from $235,000 to $176,000 a cut of 25 per cent. I do not understand why you would budget less revenue when you are budgeting to increase your customers by 30 per cent. Still on Head 82, Waste Management 8203, you have got a budget increase of 5 per cent or $197,000 you are going to cut staff by one. Perform-ance Measures are not included. I do not understand the staff cut here. Quarry Transport, the budget was $1.7 million revised to $3,700,000 in 2013/14 and that includes the Quarry Receipts. Cost centre 92019 Administration is cut by 19 per cent or $176,000. The original budget was $931,000 but was revised to $1,500,000. So they were over their budget by 62 per cent in 2013/14. What I do not understand is you had a budget in 2013/14 of $931,000, it was revised to $1.5 million but in the year 2014/15 you budget only $755,000, which is less than the original budget of 2013/14. I clearly do not understand that. Let me this say about the Quarry Transport. The [condition of the] facilities that the men work un-der at the Quarry . . . they have been there where the buildings have not changed in over 40 years. The same size buildings. They cannot put vehicles in some of those buildings to service them. So a lot of those vehicles they have to service outside. They get a bad rap. In fact, in 1979 there were probably 100 vehicles that they had to service down there in the same shop. Today it is over 500. They cannot . . . they cannot operate under those conditions.

And Mr. Chairman, I understand and I know this is not . . . as Ministers will tell you we do not deal in staff issues. But we do deal in Bermudianisation. I

understand that the Ministry wants to bring in a princi-pal highway person, and you have one in the depart-ment. You know my history, I am all for Bermudianisa-tion. We have a civil engineer in the department—a Bermudian—and with unemployment in Bermuda [as it is] the Government should take the lead in not bring-ing in anybody, particularly when you have got quali-fied Bermudians.

We heard in the brief, I thought it was a great brief, how we are training people here, there and eve-rywhere, all right? We need not bring in anybody for this here. Because I have seen people come in, like I told you about Perimeter Lane, they do not know what they are doing most of the time, or half of the time. If we are going to . . . Mr. Chairman, can I get your at-tention? Mr. Chairman, if we are going to bring in any-body and we have got to train them, we need to train Bermudians and get Bermudians ready for positions, right? And I know how some Bermudians feel about some Bermudians—I am not one of them. We need to take care of Bermudians first as they do in any coun-try.

I will never forget Cal Smith, he was the statis-tician living in Canada working in . . . he had a high position— The Chairman: Is this a momentary transgression? Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: No, I am just trying to make a point. It is no transgression, Mr. Chairman.

A job came up that would take him to a higher level and he applied for it, and a lady that he was training applied for it. She was Canadian. The Cana-dian got the job and it was right for her to get the job. And do you know what they told Cal? This lady is a Canadian, right? They were going to train her. It was right. Cal was not upset by that, and he was the one training this lady. She got the job. She was supposed to get the job. Because she was Canadian. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: That was in Canada. So Mr. Chairman, let me sit down because we have not got much time. The Chairman: No, no, it is contrary to your intention of having an actual response. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, I am sorry. Let me sit down. I am not even finished, but I want to sit down . . . at least you can give me a couple of an-swers. The Chairman: Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Minister Pat Gordon-Pamplin.


1598 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, just to let the Honourable Shadow Minister know that any requests, any re-sponses that I am unable to give in the last few min-utes that we have, I will certainly endeavour to ensure that I share with him the information that has come up. I am just going to run through some very quickly. The Chairman: You have about five minutes. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Yes, the Honour-able Member asked about Lefroy House, Magistrate’s Court Building. Lefroy House is under the Health De-partment’s budget and Magistrate’s Court Building is under the Police budget. Head 36, 46111, reduction of 46 [per cent] was the grant. It was reduced to a grant for Warwick Parish Council and was being transferred to the Minis-try of Home Affairs. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Just a Point of Order. The Chairman: Member, I do recognise the Honour-able Member Derrick Burgess.

POINT OF INFORMATION Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, you are very kind. The Public Works manages Capital Develop-ments and the only time a Ministry can manage . . . they have to write to Public Works for permission to do that, but Public Works manages all Capital Devel-opment. The Chairman: Honourable Minister. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: The comments or the questions that you have asked are things that have actually been given to those particular areas to manage for themselves. So it is . . . they are deemed to be “Government Buildings.” You inquired about BEFAST. It was in the brief—Basic Employee and Foreman and Superinten-dent Training. And the course is done at the Bermuda College, so that is where the training is going to be. Why an increase in rental premium for 8795. The increase reflects rental premiums for Foreshore Licences, that is the reason for the increase. It is not household [rents], or . . . so we are not gouging em-ployees. Energy costs—why is there an increase? We had actually under budgeted last year for the cost of energy and this year there is actually going to be a supplementary. So now we have actually budgeted at a more appropriate rate.

Under Head 81 staff reductions. The total staff in the original budget was 169 and an estimate for 2014/15 of 163 (a reduction of 6), 3 posts are frozen for two years owing to staff taking early retirement packages, the other 3 posts are posts that have been vacant for some time and they are effectively frozen. So we have not actually let anybody go in that area. The Honourable Member asked again on Head 81, the employees not adding up. Most of these inconsistencies are from retirees or vacancies that have been frozen. On Head 82, Asbestos Disposal, what are the plans? Recently [we were] successful with encasing the asbestos in the special foam concrete, which was actually included in the brief. We also indicated we have put $100,000 in the budget this time for it, but we indicated that it was going to be a relatively slow process because of the deterioration of the condition of the containers. Pembroke Marsh Canal, upgrading cut to $0. This is basically mentioned in the brief, but it was the design that we are not going to be able to put any more money to. Obviously, if there is flooding or any-thing like that it will be dealt with in the normal course of events.

The Honourable Member asked concerning the Causeway, the geotechnical work on the Cause-way. This is not repeat work. This is work that was not carried out before, so this is just a continuation to make sure that we have a complete overview of eve-rything that we are looking for there. Roadside work cuts. There is annual budget of $200,000. What we are going to do, though, is to make sure that we prioritise and look at some of the important things and, again, as I mentioned in my brief, it is very important for people to be vigilant and to ensure that we are able to attend to those areas before they crash . . . you know, before they slide. The inspections of bridges. There really was just a lack of resources. I did mention that in the brief but it is something that we have actually tried to ame-liorate that. We will not be opening the Swing Bridge. We will make sure that that will be done. And it is part of the 2014/15 to ensure that the bridge inspections come back on schedule. Heritage Wharf. The work that is being done up there at Heritage Wharf is actually finished. What is being done is just some little tidy-up. They are actually doing some minor repairs on King’s Wharf right now, not Heritage Wharf. Refurbishment of ferry docks. The budget was set to cover . . . sorry, I just mentioned that. Inspection of bridges . . . I mentioned that . . . so my staff is really excited there because they are giving me two lots of answers—but the answers were the same. What is the actual cost of the new Police Sta-tion? I can actually give you that information when we do the supplementaries, but it is not part of this budget because that project has been turned over to the Po-


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1599 lice Department, so we do not have that information handy. St. George’s sewage pipe. That was just a study, it was not anything . . . it was not activating anything different. It was a study for St. George’s. Training— The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Are we done? The Chairman: I believe we are. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Oh, I am so dis-appointed . . . my staff . . . well let me just thank eve-rybody—all of my technical staff that are here in the Chambers—Drew Pettit from Conservation Services, Lisa Johnson from Parks, Thomasina Hassel from Headquarters, Chris Farrow from Land and Buildings, Marva O’Brien is my Permanent Secretary, Peter Hav-licek from the Department of Works and Engineering.

I have quite a few questions to be answered and I have them all, and I will share those answers with the Minister. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Mr. Chairman, I would now like to move Heads 36, 49, 68, 69, 81, 82 and 97. The Chairman: Ninety-seven? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: They did not ask, but I am moving all the Heads of the Department other than— The Chairman: Yes, sorry. It has been so moved that the aforementioned Heads be approved. Any objections? There are none. Approved. [Gavel] [Motion carried: The Ministry of Works and Engineer-ing, Heads 36, 49, 68, 69, 81, 82, and 97 were ap-proved and stand part of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2014/15.] The Chairman: Minister, I believe you wish to move another Head. HEAD 53—BERMUDA HOUSING CORPORATION

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Yes, Mr. Chair-man, I would like to move Head 53 which is the Ber-muda Housing Corporation.

The Chairman: It has been so moved. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the budget relating to the Ber-muda Housing Corporation will be found on page B-213 of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2014/15. You will know that this is a one-line item on the book and it actually refers to the Rental Assis-tance Grant, but I think it is important to give some background on the actual Ministry, or this segment of the Ministry. The Mission Statement of the Bermuda Hous-ing Corporation is to provide accessibility to adequate affordable housing and to promote independent living to enhance the quality of life in Bermuda.

Just to confirm, Mr. Chairman, this is a one hour debate so we will finish at 3:20— The Chairman: Four twenty-seven. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: —I mean at 4:27, okay. Thank you. The Bermuda Housing Corporation’s budget allocation of $7,440,000 represents a decrease of $759,000 over the 2013/14 budget of $8,199,000. It is a 9 per cent reduction. BHC (Bermuda Housing Corporation) has significantly increased its responsibilities with multiple rooming houses, emergency and transitional housing, the Rent Geared to Income programme, the support services requirements to clients, and direct responsi-bility for operating the Hustle Truck Initiative that is helping the unemployed sustain themselves with lim-ited employment. The Corporation is cognisant of the current financial challenges of Bermuda and will be maximis-ing services while streamlining costs. The Corporation will continue to strive to provide the best services available to clients with a reduced budget. There are no other changes between 2013/14 and 2014/15 budgets. Mr. Chairman, real estate prices in Bermuda continue to decline. There is currently a multitude of units available for sale or rent on the Island. Although the decline in real estate prices has created chal-lenges for some who purchased when the market was artificially inflated, the historical upward trend of esca-lating real estate prices could not continue without long-term damage to Bermuda’s future and most im-portantly to the children of Bermuda’s future. Today’s real estate market, while challenging, now presents opportunities for good value purchases for Bermudi-ans, as worldwide the real estate market is recovering and Bermudians should be prepared to take advan-tage of the current reduced market rates in Bermuda for home ownership.



I will point out at this stage, Mr. Chairman, that according to the Budget Book and the delivery of the Budget Statement by the Honourable Finance Minister, that one of the challenges inhibiting people from purchasing their homes has been the difficulty they experience [dealing with] the banks and their lending practices. I believe that it is important, it is im-perative, for the banks to row in the right direction, as the Finance Minister indicated. The Corporation continues to work with lend-ing agencies to help assist Bermudian clients to retain their homes by advising on the best steps to manage mortgage payments under the current economic and financial constraints. The Corporation advises home owners on creative ways to service their debt to re-spective lending agencies by either renting out homes or apartments or by providing helpful advice on refi-nancing current loans. Mr. Chairman, the Grand Atlantic develop-ment continues to attract both local and international interest. The Corporation is presently in sensitive dis-cussions with enthusiastic interested investors who are keen to manage the future of the development. The development, consisting of 60 two-bedroom units and 18 three-bedroom units is presently not available for sale to individuals interested in purchasing their own homes in the local real estate market, but, in-stead, the property is reserved for local and interna-tional creative ideas that will not compound the prob-lem of the number of empty condo units that presently exist on the Island.

In addition, Mr. Chairman, it is important to know that we are trying to ensure that there is a large sum of money that is made available in order to be able to repay the financing that is choking the Finance Ministry and the Housing Corporation. The Housing Corporation has taken a realistic approach towards combating the serious social ills that are plaguing our society. Many of the Corpora-tion’s clients have been affected by the anti-social and violent behaviour of our young people. The Corpora-tion is meeting the challenges by working closely with the Police Community Action Team to ensure safety and security in our neighbourhoods. Regular meetings are held with clients and the Bermuda Police Service to discuss their fears and to offer viable solutions to their concerns. Mr. Chairman, let me pause here for a mo-ment to congratulate the Bermuda Housing Corpora-tion for being awarded a Police Community Service Award for the second successive year for their sus-tained efforts and support over a protracted period of time in assisting the Bermuda Police Service with its operations. The award was presented to the Corpora-tion in October of last year. Rent Geared to Income [RGI]: Mr. Chairman, the RGI initiative is a continuing programme designed to assist BHC clients in managing their financial af-fairs. Since its inception multiple families have ex-

pressed their keen appreciation for the initiative that affords them more time to spend with their children and less time stressing about their ability to pay their rent. Where once clients were paying close to 80 per cent of household income on rent, with the innovative Rent Geared to Income only 25 per cent of clients’ household income is requested for rent, a further 10 per cent is required to be put into mandatory savings in order to discipline clients in the art of having a pru-dent savings plan for future emergencies. The RGI programme has been very welcome relief to many BHC clients who have expressed ex-treme gratitude for the timely initiative during these economically distressful times. Accomplishments in 2014/15—Transitional Housing: Mr. Chairman, the BHC continues to operate seven rooming or transitional houses that contain a total of 200 beds. The various houses are located throughout the Island and provide a safe habitat for BHC clients. The rooming houses cater to households that need immediate safe or emergency accommoda-tions. Regular meetings are held with clients at these houses. The supportive services manager and staff listen to clients’ concerns and impart information as appropriate. As well, BHC staff ensures that the houses are operating safely and efficiently.

In order to better effectively manage the two larger rooming houses located at Southside, the satel-lite offices are manned by personnel with strong em-phasis on social work. These staff members have a myriad of tasks and duties including interviewing cli-ents, devising comprehensive plans for their im-provement, and guiding them into their eventual graduation out of the rooming houses.

The supportive services plan includes finan-cial management, good housekeeping, sound social skills and conflict resolution. The aim of the Corpora-tion is to have clients graduate out from the rooming houses into more traditional modes of living, thereby, ensuring that the rooming houses are short-term tran-sitional housing solutions only. Gulfstream—multi-unit rooming house at Southside, St. David’s: Mr. Chairman, the Gulfstream multi-unit rooming house is comprised of 79 units. The Gulfstream residents have become more compliant as time passes, initially having had resistance to the es-tablished strict house rules including regular payment of rent, no alcohol allowed on the premises, no illegal drugs permitted, no intoxication and no fighting. The clients have accepted the rules and regulations and realise the importance of having policies that help guide their daily lives. Non-compliance with house rules can lead to convictions, and clients can fully ap-preciate that transgressions can lead to severe sanc-tions that will be followed after warnings and interven-tions of unacceptable behaviour are given. Langley House: Mr. Chairman, Langley House is a 63 unit rooming house facility located at South-side, St. David’s. The rooming house is used specifi-


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1601 cally to house men in need of affordable safe accom-modation. Most of the men work during the day and return evenings to a unit that is marshalled by hired security to ensure that the environment remains safe and adequate to the men’s daily needs. The Corpora-tion has a qualified social worker based at the satellite office who is available to counsel and provide assis-tance to the residents on a daily basis. Assistance provided includes job advice, conflict resolution, communications skills, and listening to residents’ con-cerns. Harmony Club: The Harmony Club property continues to be of valuable use to the Police Service to house its personnel. At present there are 32 units occupied by overseas Police Officers. The location is centralised affording the Officers [the ability] to re-spond in a timely manner to all means of emergen-cies. In addition, the Harmony Club is also being util-ised as office space and storage for the Hustle Truck Programme along with meeting rooms for the Paget Parish Council. The Corporation has also partnered with tennis professionals to offer the use of the tennis courts to neighbourhood children to enable positive afterschool activities at the site. BHC Staff: The Bermuda Housing Corporation has a supporting role to play in the wellbeing of Ber-muda residents. To this end the BHC has engaged in a social agenda to provide services that help clients better manage their daily lives. The BHC assists in working out payment plans that can help alleviate some of the financial stresses of clients. If a family has trouble coping with social issues the BHC has a support service team that is responsible for interview-ing them and recommending professional helping agencies that can assist the clients in becoming more productive members of society. The staff members are dedicated and loyal to the mantra of the BHC of providing a safe and healthy environment for all to live in. The Bermuda Housing Corporations’ Head Office is located at the IAS Park Building East En-trance, 44 Church Street in Hamilton and consists of 49 personnel. Of that total four Hustle Truck members operate from the office space at the Harmony Club and four staff members, under the direction of the Support Services Department, operate offsite at the satellite office at the Southside complex. The current structure of the BHC consists of seven departments:

• Project Management, 3 people; • Property Operations, 11 people; • Finance, Collections and Home Ownership

Services, 11 people; • Support Services, 13 people; • Administration, 5 people; • Human Resources, 2 people; • Hustle Truck, 4 people.

Project Management: Mr. Chairman, the Pro-ject Department assists with advice regarding major repair work necessary on existing buildings owned by the Corporation to ensure longevity of the Corpora-tion’s assets. The department also meets with outside home owners to provide advice on planning and infra-structure issues on a regular basis.

Property Operations: Mr. Chairman, the Prop-erty Operations Department is responsible for the maintenance of BHC’s housing stock of approximately 700 units. The department’s responsibilities include the regular maintenance of buildings under the control of BHC and providing advice and assistance to clients of BHC on housing related matters. The department is comprised of a property manager, three property offi-cers, six maintenance officers and one administrative assistant. The department conducts regular mainte-nance checks of buildings under the management of the Corporation and is responsible for small mainte-nance works along with coordinating more difficult tasks with trusted and able contractors.

Mr. Chairman, the Finance Department has a total staff of 11 employees consisting of 1 finance manager and 2 assistant finance managers (1 re-sponsible for reporting and the other for IT); 1 account supervisor; 2 finance officers; 1 junior finance officer; 1 collections officer; 1 mortgage officer and 1 special projects officer and 1 cashier.

The Finance Department carefully monitors the Corporation’s spending and compliance ensuring that policies and procedures are adhered to and cli-ents act responsibly in paying their bills. The Finance Department fields questions of a financial nature and assists clients in understanding their financial obliga-tions to the Corporation.

Mr. Chairman, the Support Services Depart-ment is the department responsible for ensuring that adequate housing is found for BHC clients and for regular inspections of the BHC housing inventory. There is a current wait list of 215 clients either looking for accommodation, or keenly interested in changing their present location for a variety of reasons. Clients are not immune to the state of affairs of gang affilia-tions that adds an additional burden on families seek-ing safe and affordable housing. This is a relatively new phenomenon in Bermuda, and intervention plans are in place to try to combat this serious issue. In ad-dition the department provides assistance and guid-ance to tenants to help them in their daily lives.

The department consists of 13 persons: 1 manager, 1 senior rentals officer, 1 rentals case-worker, 2 transitional house caseworkers, 2 junior transitional house caseworkers, 2 rental inspectors, 2 intake officers, 1 rental officer and 1 residential super-visor.

The Support Services Department offers a myriad of services to clients that include money man-agement, housekeeping, social and behavioural prob-lem eradication, child care, and health and safety. In


1602 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report addition the department offers advice on support from other agencies that stand ready to assist clients who are in need of professional counselling. The depart-ment is also a member of the cross-ministries initiative intervention team (CMIT). The CMIT programme is used to assist at-risk families in managing their daily lives including budgeting, learning acceptable social skills, job placement, and more responsible behav-iours.

Administration: Mr. Chairman, the Administra-tion Department consists of the general manager, one executive assistant, one receptionist and two office assistants. The Administration Department is respon-sible for the orderly daily business of the Corporation.

Human Resources: Mr. Chairman, the Human Resources Department has a total staff of two. The HR Department ensures that staff members have the required skills to efficiently and successfully carry out their daily roles as the Corporation continues to pro-vide the services required to ensure that the needs of Bermudians requiring affordable housing are met.

Mr. Chairman, Hustle Truck is “Helping Un-employed Sustain Themselves with Limited Employ-ment” and is a programme that continues to be a valuable assistance to unemployed persons during these troubling economic, financial and social times. The initiative was created in April 2007. To date the Hustle Truck programme has assisted over 1,500 Bermudians with short-term weekly employment and has seen many members graduate into fulltime occu-pations within the community having been counselled and guided in job opportunities.

The programme is currently also working with the Workforce Development Department to also assist those who have volunteered for the newly created Workforce Development Initiative along with the Parks Department. The Hustle Truck has also partnered with the Department of Corrections in providing temporary employment to assist inmates who are seeking parole or who are about to be released from the Corrections facility. The officers liaise with senior corrections offi-cers and commit to temporarily employing qualified former inmates to assist them on the path to redemp-tion.

The Hustle Truck continues to administer their daily operations from the offices based at the Har-mony Club. There is a long waiting list of enthusiastic people anxious for a vacancy so they can gain an op-portunity for short-term employment. The programme caters to the community by providing assistance to those who are in need of a helping hand. Senior citi-zens, charitable organisations, community clubs, neighbourhoods and churches are just some of the entities that have benefited from the free services pro-vided by the Hustle Truck programme.

Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Housing Corpora-tion has had a demanding year with managing the housing and social needs of over 700 families. The multiple rooming houses have brought a new para-

digm of communal living to many Bermudians. This model is not without its challenges, but the Corpora-tion has overcome the obstacles thrown in its way with courage, conviction and commitment.

The Corporation continues to provide suitable and adequate traditional accommodation to its clients. The global financial and economic downturn has cre-ated opportunities for the Corporation to be even more creative and dynamic in carrying out its mandate. With the young energetic workforce of employees continu-ing to strive to provide accessibility to adequate af-fordable housing and to promote independent living while enhancing the quality of life in Bermuda the Corporation is well placed to achieve its objectives.

Mr. Chairman, in closing I would like to thank the Board of Directors, the management and staff of the Bermuda Housing Corporation led by Kenneth Dill [sic], to thank them for their past services. They con-tinue to be flexible and responsive, adapting to the many challenges presented to them.

Mr. Chairman, with those brief comments I now would invite other Members to participate in this debate.

Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you, Honourable Member. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak to this motion? The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from Somerset, the Honourable Dennis Lister. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Mr. Chairman, thank you for acknowledging me. I saw you were stumbling over my name. You are following on from the Minister who stumbled over the last name that she called. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: You said Kenneth Dill, but Minister I will assist you, it is Mr. Barrett Dill— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: It is all in the same family though. I understand how those mistakes happen around here. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: No problem, Minister. Minister, let me start by first of all thanking you for sharing the brief. You passed a copy to the Shadow Minister for Housing and Works, and he has passed it on to me, as the spokesman here for hous-ing on this side. So I am appreciative of that. Let me say that I am somewhat disappointed that you are the Minister presenting it this year in that last year when the former Minister presented it as the


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1603 Minister responsible for Housing, and it was under his Ministry of Community and Culture, I agreed with him at that time that I thought it was a good mix for Hous-ing to be there in that the emphasis of Housing today is not on building anymore and construction as it used to be at one time, but it is on addressing the social need and social fibre. And in fact, Mr. Chairman, I will just read what the former Minister said in his opening remarks last year, if you will permit me. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: No, no, no, no, but I will just read his opening remarks. The opening remarks from the former Minister said: “Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Community and Cultural Development plays a lead role in the so-cial development of Bermuda, in particular, respond-ing to the need to address serious social ills, such as family dysfunction, economic hardship . . . .

“Mr. Chairman, the Ministry has been ex-panded to include responsibility for the Bermuda Housing Corporation [BHC], which will result in oppor-tunities for” (and here is the key point) “[synergistic] action and collaboration between the BHC and the departments under the Ministry, leading to more effi-cient and effective delivery of social services.” [Official Hansard Report, 18 March 2013, page 883] For that reason, Minister, I agreed with the Minister last year—I thought it was a good fit—because we both recognise that the former Ministry that it was under and the Bermuda Housing Corpora-tion do address the needs of the social agenda with the services that they provide. You are a sensitive Minister. Okay Minister. Not to throw stones at that Minister, but just at the system under which we find this department now. I think the key part for me there was recognis-ing last year that I thought that the Government had it right by putting the two together in the need to ad-dress the social agenda, because I think the social agenda is a key component of any Government. And getting it right to address the needs of the people—the Bermudians who are in need, particularly during these economic times that we are going through—I thought it was a perfect fit to have it in that Ministry. But be it as it is, it is under this Ministry. And Minister we will chug along with you as Minister. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Now you have got a pretty face to go with it. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: I have got a pretty face to go with it, okay. Mr. Chairman— The Chairman: Yes, Member?

Hon. Dennis P. Lister: I am sort of repeating myself with my next few comments in that last year I made reference to it (and the Minister made reference to it on her feet) the fact that this particular department is a single line item in the Budget Book. And I know it is not anything new, it has been there for a while. I said it has been like that for a while.

I said to the Minister last year that as we look forward to new transparency and new collaboration on what goes on across this floor it might be nice to give consideration . . . I think it is time to give consideration to highlighting the Bermuda Housing Corporation with more detail as we do with other cost centres through-out the Budget Book to really give us the opportunity in this House to have a full exposure, disclosure, of what goes on in the Housing Corporation. It is a line item of funding that is accounted for under the Gov-ernment budget, and I think a proper disclosure would be helpful, considering the fact that it does play such a vital role in the needs of our community. Now, Mr. Chairman, when you compare this to other Heads that are debated here you know that it is broken down in many different ways. We have the Performance Measures, we have the ministry objec-tives, we have department objectives, we have mis-sion statements. And let me just touch on that one particularly, Mr. Chairman. This year’s mission statement for the Ber-muda Housing Corporation is basically four words—“Rental and mortgage assistance.” Again, I can go back to what was said last year as a mission state-ment and, again, Mr. Chairman, if you do not mind me reading from last year’s Minister’s statement, it read, “To promote accessibility to adequate and affordable housing and to promote home ownership for Ber-mudians.” [ibid] Mr. Chairman, I think that is a more comprehensive mission. It gives some objectives, it gives some targets you could sort of set. You know where it is going as far as addressing social needs, that the Corporation is there to serve [people in need], versus what has been done this year with providing just four words of “Rental and mortgage assistance.”

Again, one has to sort of question, has the Government moved away from addressing the social needs that this Housing Corporation should be provid-ing, or does provide and does address? I really would not want it to reflect or indicate that it has moved away from that because it serves a very, very important part, Mr. Chairman. You know, again, in trying to give more disclosure to this department, to the Corpora-tion, the mission statement is just one of those things that can emphasise more what is the real agenda, what the Corporation should be addressing and should be doing. Mr. Chairman, I think if we really viewed the Corporation from that perspective—of the fact that it really, really serves an important role in addressing the social needs of the country, particularly during this time when many Bermudians are being challenged in


1604 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report this economic state that they are finding themselves in, I think we would have a mission statement that would address that. We could have the performance measures in here, more detailed disclosure in here that would help us look at the objectives, look at the performance, and make sure the BHC is actually mov-ing in the right direction in serving and meeting the targets that it should meet. What is interesting here as I went through the Minister’s brief while she was reading and, again, to sort of relate to last year . . . and that is the only benchmark we really have in that we do not have any performance measures or details in this Budget Book. I only can relate it to the statement that was given last year by the former Minister. And as I followed along and went through the present Minister’s presentation a couple of things stood out to me.

One was that because we do not provide more detail, a lot of the presentation that the Minister gave (and it is no slight at the Minister) was almost very similar to the presentation that was given last year by the former Minister. There was very little varia-tion in there as far as where the Corporation is moving to, what was accomplished, what was not accom-plished, so that we could sort of benchmark the suc-cessfulness or where they missed the targets in a sense, Mr. Chairman.

To highlight what stood out to me as being sort of the difference or variation from last year was that I noticed, Minister, only two new activities from last year’s Budget Statement to this year’s Budget Statement. And those two new activities, Mr. Chair-man, were: (1) in reference to the Harmony Club, when reference was made to the fact that there was a new programme with a professional tennis coach through which they have enlarged the tennis courts to be open to the neighbourhood children to provide ten-nis training, lessons, et cetera. And I know that Minis-ter is a big proponent of tennis, she claims that there was one time when she was probably one of our bet-ter tennis players. She might say she still is, but I will put it that there was a time when she claimed—

The Chairman: I have heard a similar claim. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: You heard a similar claim? Okay. So maybe it was because of the Minister’s own interest and background that we now have the tennis courts available to the neighbourhood children up in the Harmony Club area. But that was one of the new initiatives that were in this year compared to last year. The second one, Mr. Chairman, is the actual Hustle Truck programme and it is now includes the inmates, and the programme is being incorporated to take in inmates and former inmates to help reintro-duce them to the work environment.

So those, Madam Minister, were the only two new initiatives or activities that I saw in my glancing at or going through this year’s presentation in compari-son with last year’s presentation. There was another area that was different from last year. And that was actually one of the pro-grammes that they highlighted that they have had more Bermudians being able to benefit from. Last year the former Minister indicated that there were 1,000 people that benefitted from that particular pro-gramme. This year we have seen a 50 per cent in-crease in that there are now 1,500 people who have benefitted from that programme in the Minister’s pres-entation this year. Mr. Chairman, here is the interesting part. That particular programme that I am making reference to is actually the Hustle Truck again. So my question here, Minister, is what percentage of the 500 new per-sons who will be able to benefit from the programme . . . what percentage of that is actually the new inmate programme? Is the new inmate programme part of what has boosted the 50 per cent increase in this par-ticular programme? And it would be interesting to know— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: In your brief you make refer-ence to the Hustle Truck and that 1,500 Bermudians have been able to benefit from the Hustle Truck in this past year. Last year, when the former Minister spoke to this same programme, he indicated that 1,000 Bermudians had benefitted from the Hustle Truck pro-gramme. So there is a 500 person increase over— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: And then as we moved on to the last comment I made in reference to the new pro-gramme that Hustle Truck has tied in with the Correc-tions . . . what percentage of that 500 person increase are actually inmate increase?

Or is it actually more Bermudians who are ac-tually out in the general public (my words) that are actually benefitting from the Hustle Truck programme, meaning that we have seen a 50 per cent increase of Bermudians who are unemployed, possibly, who have taken part in the programme? Or was it a 50 per cent increase because of the inmates being included in the programme? Okay? Mr. Chairman, I am continuing on in this vein basically to sort of highlight the fact that the Budget Book does not give these details and I am trying to pick out the changes and variations that I may have seen or may have appeared between last year and this year’s. There is actually one, Mr. Chairman, that (in my words) highlights what could have been a failure in the programme. It could have been a failure. Mr.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1605 Chairman, based on the information that the Minister shared with us this year, and compared to the infor-mation that was shared with us last year, it raises that question for me as to whether or not there was suc-cess or indeed failure in that particular programme. Mr. Chairman, if you do not mind me reading I will refer to the comment— The Chairman: What are you reading from? Hon. Dennis P. Lister: I am reading from the Minis-ter’s notes, if you will allow me.

Here we go, Minister, on page 12 of your notes under the Support Services Department, I am going to read the second sentence of that opening paragraph there. It says, “There is currently a wait list of 215 clients either looking for accommodations or keenly interested in changing their present location for a variety of reasons.” Now Mr. Chairman, the reason I highlighted that is because I would like to read what was stated last year, with your permission. And in last year’s statement— The Chairman: From the Minister from last year? Hon. Dennis P. Lister: The Minister from last year, correct.

During his budget presentation, Mr. Chairman, last year the former Minister read under that same Support Service Department, “There is a current wait list of 215 clients either looking for accommodation or keenly interested in changing their present locations for a variety of reasons.” [Official Hansard Report, 18 March 2013, page 884] Minister, it is the exact same as it was last year. The exact same. Which means, in my opinion, the Corporation . . . there is no improvement. The Min-ister hit it right on the head and said there has been no improvement. The Corporation has missed its tar-get, or failed to address the target in that regard, in that if we had 215 persons in need last year, and the same number is 215 this year, again, without the de-tail of performance breakdowns, department objec-tives—those things—we do not know if it is a whole new 215 people and they already serviced the 215 from last year or, in fact, it is the same 215 people. We do not know. And that— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Well, maybe it was a sen-tence that should have been removed from there (as the Minister is saying). But I do not know that. I did not draft it, Minister, so I cannot speak to that. I can only go on what it is presented before me and ask the questions surrounding that as to, you know, whether in fact it is the same number and the Corporation has just failed to be able to address that in their pro-

gramme. And my concern or question here is that if, in fact, it is the same number in reference to the same 215 people from last year, then, obviously, there is some redress that needs to be done to that pro-gramme. And I would implore you to take a look at that, Minister. Mr. Chairman, the other thing that sort of hit me in here was the . . . Minister, in your opening comments, I believe on the very first page (it is on the very first page) you made reference to the decline in funding. There is a decrease in funding for this year over last year. And you basically close the page with . . . I think your last line on the page is “there were no other changes” between last year and this year. What actually hit me here, Minister, is the fact that there is actually a decline in funding this year.

Again, Mr. Chairman, most of what I have spoken about thus far is relating to the social agenda that the BHC should have in addressing the current state of where we are in Bermuda and the need for many families who are finding themselves in hardship and hard times because of unemployment and redun-dancies, et cetera, et cetera.

When we look at the daily newspaper and media we hear of redundancies and job losses taking place, which is unfortunate, on what seems to be a regular basis right now which would mean that there are more Bermudians—increasing Bermudians—who are in need of some type of assistance. And one would think in that atmosphere that one of the de-partments or corporations that are here to assist Ber-mudians in that regard, would at the very least have kept the same amount of funding, or, hopefully, would have increased the funding. But the last thing we would have expected would be that the funding would be decreased during this time.

Again, Mr. Chairman, we do not have the benefit of proper detail and disclosure in the Budget Book as it is drafted. So your mind can wander in many directions as to why we see a decrease, particu-larly during this time. Maybe there is some realisation that the Corporation had been working with funds that they did not need all this time, they were overfunded. And that would be a concern in itself (which is a whole other argument that I could go down), which I really will not go down at this point, other than to stress the fact that we are in a time when we see more and more Bermudians being placed in hardships through unem-ployment and redundancies. And those additional Bermudians will be looking for the social assistance that government offers—whether it be in other de-partments or in the Housing Corporation. So, at the very least, we would have expected that that funding would have remained the same, not be decreased during this time.

Minister, I know you know how to work around if we need to come back and have supplementaries. So if you come back for a supplementary in this area


1606 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report next year I will understand why you came back for a supplementary. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: I got some chuckles over there. But, no, I am serious on that one, Minister. I am serious on that. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: The Finance Minister is there smiling. So the Finance Minister is in support of you having to come back if you need to. Thank you, Fi-nance Minister, thank you. Mr. Chairman, the other point I want to touch on at this point is one that was actually raised . . . yes, yes. And you know before I go on to my next point, let me also address another concern, Minister, behind the number of 215 persons who were out last year and are still out this year looking. We have to keep in mind, Mr. Chairman, that very shortly that number is going to increase because of the housing in Dockyard being deemed not fit for renovation. Which means that at some point persons who live in the housing on Al-bert Row and Victoria Row could find themselves in need of a place to live because, under a plan that was put by a former Government, there was to be an addi-tional 100 housing in that area.

The current Government put it down to 20 ad-ditional housing with new housing, with the original discussion around the fact that they took it down to 20, chopped it down to 20, reduced it to 20 (what-ever term you want to use), because they were going to renovate the existing old housing at Albert Row and Victoria Row. The former Minister (who sits on this side of me down here) had clearly indicated that the former Government had done a full assessment and knew that those buildings were in a state that it would be too costly to renovate—far too costly, far beyond the financial benefit to be able to restore those proper-ties.

The new Government, the new chairman, and the West End out there took a different view that, No, no, we will just chop the 100 down to 20 and we will restore those, under all the protest and argument that was put up by the former Minister who sits on this side. Now, some 14 months later we are being told by that same chairman that, guess what, it is beyond economic sense to repair those buildings. Well, we could have saved them that exercise if they had sim-ply listened 14 months ago.

But the point here, Mr. Chairman, is that if we had 215 persons this year, who were looking for addi-tional housing last year, that have not moved yet, have not been addressed—those 215—expect that number to swell, Mr. Chairman. Expect it to swell. Which, again, goes back to my point about the con-cern that the funding for this line item has been re-

duced this year with us clearly knowing that there will be more people in need just simply from that one loca-tion, let alone those who will be unemployed, made redundant, et cetera, et cetera.

These are actual bodies, real Bermudian fami-lies, Mr. Chairman, who are going to be affected by these things. So it even heightens the concern around the need for that supplement, Mr. Finance Minister, that you were smiling to the Minister about before. Realistically, she probably will have to come back to you for that supplement. So I hope you keep smiling when she comes knocking on your door. Just keep smiling when she comes knocking. The Minister is still smiling. Look, he is joyfully rocking his foot right there, so he knows he is going to have to reach in and pull that pen out. See? The Chairman: Member. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Mr. Chairman, I can talk back to you at this point. So, Mr. Chairman, it is a real concern. It is a real concern that has to be addressed there, Mr. Chairman. Now Mr. Chairman, the other matter I would like to move on to— The Chairman: Member, Member . . . you do want the Minister to answer some of your questions? Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Yes. The Chairman: Just checking, okay. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: I will leave a brief moment for you, how is that Minister? That is fine. That is a good Minister. She and I will talk afterwards, I am sure, and we will correspond back and forth. But, Mr. Chairman, the other matter that I would like to address at this point is one that was brought up here on this floor a couple of nights ago on the Motion to Adjourn and it is the matter of the Grand Atlantic. Now Mr. Chairman, let me state up front that during last year’s debate I basically applauded the Minister and we have had many chats outside of these Chambers in regard to that. I applauded him for the fact that he was prepared to look elsewhere, out-side of it being a residential facility, to find out how can we take (my words) a lemon and make lemon-ade—because we recognise that it is a lemon. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Thank you, Finance Minister, I was trying to find another word to try to ease into that one, but you turned me right into that one, so I will take your word.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1607 [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Yes. But we recognise that. I am not going to have blinders on in there because I do have some interest in the real estate market and understand the market.

I was very concerned even before we got to this point, when we were still Government, [about] the fact that we were taking on that. And I have expressed that before so it is nothing new for those who know. I had a concern back then and I supported the Minister, as I said, last year when he was prepared to look elsewhere.

My concern, however, now Mr. Chairman, re-lates to where we are today. And I would like to read (with your permission again) what the current Minister stated this afternoon in her presentation. And I will just read from page 4, in reference to Grand Atlantic. And I think I will start with the second line of that first para-graph, again.

“The Corporation is presently in sensitive dis-cussions with enthusiastic interested investors who are keen to manage the future of the development . . .” and then it goes on (I am going to skip the part about the number of rooms, et cetera) to say, “ . . . but, instead, the property is reserved for locals and internationals with creative ideas . . .” of what can be done at the site (in a nutshell), Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, here is my concern. The last time this House was informed of any update on this matter, after having supported the Minister last year in his interest in going and looking elsewhere, the last update we had was in September of last year (which was indicated the other evening during the Motion to Adjourn). Let me just briefly go through what was stated in that update back in September.

Back in 1September, Mr. Chairman, the House was informed that eight proposals had been received—eight proposals. There were a variety of objectives in those proposals in that some were of a pure tourism interest, some were of a senior residen-tial component, and others were of a mixed use, which we never got a full clarification of what that mixed use was, or the intention. That statement in September, Mr. Chairman, went on to further say that of the eight, there have been four shortlisted propos-als. All four of those shortlisted proposals were of a tourism nature—all four.

It further went on, Mr. Chairman, in his State-ment that “the Grand Atlantic property is entering final stages of sensitive negotiations.” A potential investor had viewed the site and agreed to submit the second tier of formal documentations confirming their interest including partners and projected costs. It further went on to state, Mr. Chairman, (the same Statement from September of last year) that a rec-

1 Official Hansard Report, 8 September 2013, page 2133

ommended proposal would be submitted to Cabinet for approval very soon. Very soon. That was Septem-ber of last year. And we come here now, in March of this year, with the new Minister only being able to say that the Corporation is presently in sensitive discus-sions—basically the same wording that we were told last year in September. But even in September it went further. So one would have expected between Sep-tember and now . . . and I know the Minister is a new Minister, but one would have expected by now that the Government would have come to this Chamber and updated us once again.

We sat here with bated breath, so to speak, Mr. Chairman, expecting a Statement to come saying that we finally have the ink on the paper, that the in-vestor who was prepared to go to the second tier has gone away and fine-tuned his proposal, has got a clear objective of what he would like to do at that site—that tourist component—and turn it into some-thing that would be beneficial to Bermuda in that we are trying to rebuild our tourism industry, and we need a new property, a new face. And he is taking what the Finance Minister referred to as a lemon and is turning that lemon in what will bring benefit to Bermuda be-cause of this tourism component that has been put there.

We have all sat here, Mr. Chairman, with bated breath waiting to hear such an update provided to us. And now months later—months later—we seem to be in . . . I am looking for the right word here.

Finance Minister, I thought you were going to help me with that word that time. We are in no man’s land again. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Dennis P. Lister: No, no, I am not flogging you though, Minister, I understand that you are a new Min-ister, see? And I am just helping you along because I know you like to be up to speed, and I want to give you the points that you need to get up to speed on this one, see? I do not want you to be lost in the exchange between the former Minister and yourself.

But we would need a proper update provided for this House, but not only for this House, Mr. Chair-man, for the country. The country is also concerned about what is going on out there, Mr. Chairman, and I think time has lapsed too long for it to be left sitting as it is.

The former Minister, in fact, I think made three statements here on this floor that led us up to that last. The September statement was the third statement. But we had had three statements, I believe, to get us to that point. And that gave the impression that there really was some serious activity taking place, there was some real serious interest. The last statement in September indicated just that—that there was a real serious investor who was prepared to go to the sec-ond level and sign off the second tier (to use the Min-


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1608 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report ister’s words) and to sign off and come back with his partners and all the projected costs and the interest of development that would take place there. So we really expected by now that we would have been able to (my words) stand hand to hand on this one, because we know we need to turn that into something positive.

We are not here to knock you and beat you up on that one, we are here to say let us get on with it and get on with it in a way that is going to benefit us all.

Mr. Chairman, I am sensitive of the time . . . it is about . . . eight minutes or so? The Chairman: You have eight minutes left, yes. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Eight minutes, okay. Minister, because of the fact that we do not have a full disclosure in the layout of the Housing Corporation in the Budget Book, I will throw out a couple of quick questions. I am just trying to jump down to the end of my presentation being that time is getting away from us.

When I look at the number of units that fall under the remit of the Housing Corporation, I believe it is some 700 units that they provide [for] housing, and that is in a mixed range. It would be nice to have an update as to the status of those units right now, mean-ing are they all rented? Are there any vacancies? Are there any derelict properties on that list? Are there any properties on that list that need any type of renova-tions to get them back up to speed? That would be helpful for us to get an understanding of what goes on in the Corporation and where the Corporation is at this point so we have a good benchmark when we come back next year to be able to have this debate and dis-cuss this particular Head. Secondly, one of the points that you raised, Minister, was the RGI (Rent Geared to Income). I think actually it is a good programme—we agree to that. I think, again, if we could have some statistical information on that . . . What is the success of the programme? You have a component here. Here is what I like. There is a component in there that re-quires a client to have a 10 per cent savings pro-gramme. It would be nice to know what type of suc-cess we are having with that. Are we really reaching the people and getting them to understand the need to change how they spend, how they live, and put aside that savings, because that would be significant in turn-ing around the lives of those people who are in the programme and trying to gain from the programme.

So if we good get some type of information, Minister, to help us create these benchmarks and gauge whether or not there is actual success or failure taking place—I would like to think that it is success though. Minister, another question would be with the rooming house, those who are living in the rooming housing. What is the ratio between those who have

been able to transition out of the rooming home into more traditional living facilities that fall under BHC? I mean one of the objectives of putting the persons into the rooming home was to try to bring them up to speed to be able to move out and live in a more tradi-tional environment. I think your brief indicated some of the skills that are trying to be shared with those per-sons in the rooming home, how to live and care for themselves so that they can transition out into tradi-tional and hopefully fill that spot with some other per-sons who need to benefit from that training.

So it would be very beneficial to all as we dis-cuss here in this Chambers those types of statistics, those type of stats so that we know how to gauge the real success that the Bermuda Housing Corporation is actually achieving, or if they are falling off their target. And that is what is key; because it is government funds that are being allocated, even though it is a sin-gle line item. It is nice to be able to have a better dis-cussion here about how those funds are really being impacted or not impacted and the targets and objec-tives that they should be reaching. And I note, Mr. Chairman, it is only about five minutes. Minister, I will yield and take my seat. The Chairman: Well that is assuming no one else wishes to speak. Is there any other Member who wishes to speak to these Heads? The Chair will recognise the Honourable Min-ister Pat Gordon-Pamplin. You have the floor. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, let me just say that the Hon-ourable Shadow Minister for Housing has done a wonderful job. It just kind of shows the importance of having time when you are in the Opposition to be able to sit and critique and match last year to this year. And he has done a great job. I think he needs to stay right there in that seat where he is. But let me just say that, yes, the Housing Corporation is a quango and it is just a line item within the budget. The question that the Minister asked ini-tially was has the OBA objective changed in terms of our social conscience based on the Mission State-ment that was included in the Housing Corporation budget. And I would like to say no. The objectives have not changed.

I think that one can see that the staffing com-plement that comes with the Ministry is still dedicated to the social element. The programmes themselves are providing for continued occupancy of the rooming house, ensuring that there is a social element, that there is training. So we are still holding people’s hands and moving along. In terms of the reduction, clearly we were re-quired to follow the directive of the Minister of Finance


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1609 that we have to start looking for efficiencies. And I think what happens is that when you know that you have got a little bit less money to operate with there is a tendency to just minimise a little bit the expectations that you have. So instead of wanting . . . as a matter of fact, there are many requests that can come. But if we cannot afford to pay for it we just have to draw the line and say, No, I’m sorry, it is not going to happen. I agree 100 per cent with the Shadow Minister in terms of transparency and accountability. It is kind of difficult that we have got, you know, a quango. Quangos are effectively self-sufficient. But when those quangos require government money in order to bol-ster their operations, I believe that there is a standard of accountability that should be required for this Hon-ourable House and I think it is something that we will certainly be looking at as to how we can enhance this budget debate. The other thing that I wanted to speak to was Grand Atlantic. The former Minister had indicated, and I think that the Shadow Minister has just indicated, that there was a commitment in terms of an update. That commitment is still there. It is closer than it was. I will hopefully be able to bring a statement to this Hon-ourable House . . . it may not be Friday, but it will cer-tainly be when the House resumes. The programme is still there. We are not making it available for local pur-chase because there is a glut of housing on the local market.

The Honourable Minister criticised about us not listening to them in terms of WEDCO and the Al-bert Row and Victoria Row houses. I think it kind of goes both ways because we were almost begging on bended knee on Grand Atlantic—do not do it. So— [Gavel] Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: —that was the bell for time? The Chairman: No, that was just— Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Oh, okay. The Chairman: —to encourage Members to listen to you. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Okay, thank you. You know we were virtually begging to say don’t go Grand Atlantic it was the worst, biggest white elephant that we have seen perhaps in the history of the country.

But, with that said, the Honourable Member did indicate when life hands you a lemon you have to make lemonade. And I think that we are utilising our best resources to be able to make something of that project where we can actually get it off the books. The Finance Minister does not want to have to continue to pay debt servicing charges. So we need to get that off

the books. And it is closer than it was, but I am not quite at the position of being able to give a statement of the accurate, up to date situation, and hopefully we will be in a position to do that. In terms of the— The Chairman: You have one minute left. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Yes, in terms of the additional people who are coming on the inmate programme, we understand that there are just more Bermudians coming that are coming on to the Hustle Truck programme out of the 500. There are appar-ently only about three inmates per month. So it is that 500 bodies are not made up of inmates, they are just additional people utilising the benefits of that pro-gramme. The Chairman: Minister. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Are we done? The Chairman: We are. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: This has been such an enjoyable debate, Mr. Chairman— The Chairman: It is. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: —and I certainly appreciate Members for their participation, their in-volvement and for their contributions— The Chairman: Yes, all good things must come to an end. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Yes. All good things come to an end, and as I said to the Minister, he has got a pretty Minister to look at this year, so I will work very closely with him. I am more than just a pretty face. I would like to move— The Chairman: Minister. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: I would like to move Head 53, Mr. Chairman. The Chairman: It has been so moved. Any objections? There are none. Agreed to. [Gavel] [Motion carried: The Ministry of Works and Engineer-ing, Head 53, was approved and stands part of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2014/15.]


1610 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report The Chairman: The next few Heads that we are go-ing to discuss involve Tourism. And I believe the Hon-ourable Minister for Tourism and Transport will speak to this. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Min-ister Mr. Shawn Crockwell. You have the floor.

MINISTRY OF TOURISM AND TRANSPORT Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would like to move Heads 48 and 33. The Chairman: So moved. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Mr. Chairman, you will be aware that I actually gave the brief for Head 48 on the 7th of March, which is the Ministry Headquarters. I have already consulted with my counterpart who has agreed that I do not have to repeat that particular presentation as it would be redundant, but he may very well ask questions on that. The Chairman: Fair enough, yes. Proceed.

HEAD 33—TOURISM Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: So I will be dealing with Head 33. And Mr. Chairman, this primarily deals with the transition of the Bermuda Department of Tourism to the Bermuda Tourism Authority as the new entity that will be managing Tourism in Bermuda. [Change in Chairman] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: So Madam Chair, wel-come. I will begin my presentation. Madam Chairman, the launch of the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) in 2014 marks the most im-portant tourism initiative for Bermuda in years. The last decade has seen a consistent decline in tourism visitation with the global economic downturn contribut-ing to further erosion of Bermuda’s tourism industry since 2008.

Due to increasing global competition, Ber-muda’s tourism sector has seen near zero compound annual growth in total visitation over the past three decades with a total growth of 7 per cent over 30 years. Over the same time period, global tourism ex-perienced total growth of approximately 270 per cent. Bermuda has also experienced a significant shift in visitation from air arrivals to cruise arrivals from 76 per cent versus 24 per cent in 1987 (that is air to cruise), to 36 per cent versus 63 per cent in 2011.

Given today’s lower economic benefits for the local tourism industry associated with cruise visitors compared to air arrivals with an air to cruise dollar spend ratio of 9 to1 (for example, lower lodging and food and beverage spend per person), this transition has led to a material decline in tourism industry bene-fits for Bermuda such as contribution to GDP, em-ployment, hotel supply and demand, and availability of airlift.

Madam Chairman, recognising the consistent decline in tourism performance, the Government of Bermuda commissioned the development of the Na-tional Tourism Plan (NTP) in 2012, which has become the blueprint for the vision and objectives of the BTA. I have consistently acknowledged the Shadow Minister, the Honourable Wayne Furbert, for his leadership in creating this Plan.

The Bermuda Tourism Authority was formed under the Bermuda Tourism Authority Act, which be-came law in December 2013, replacing the prior tour-ism governance model, which consisted of two enti-ties: the Bermuda Department of Tourism (BDOT), which executed functions including destination mar-keting, local events and hotel licensing; and the Ber-muda Tourism Board (BTB), which conceived and implemented strategy development for Bermuda’s tourism industry.

To address declining tourism visitation to the island of Bermuda, the BTA has set an ultimate objec-tive to guide all efforts of the organisation to revitalise the Bermuda tourism industry through effectuating a return to growth.

Madam Chairman, the principal objectives of the BTA, as specified by the Act, are more specific and supplement the broader objectives defined in the NTP. Those are to:

• develop and promote Bermuda as a tourism destination;

• advise and assist the Government on matters relating to travel and tourism;

• contribute to the economic growth of Bermuda and to increase the travel and tourism sector’s contribution to the Bermudian economy;

• implement the National Tourism Plan; • provide appropriate tourism education and

training; • ensure the social and economic enhancement

of Bermuda through the development of tour-ism and implementation of the National Tour-ism Plan;

• ensure the development of tourism is appro-priate and sustainable given the size, envi-ronment, resource and population of Ber-muda;

• build a strategy that will seek investment and also facilitate and manage the tourism in-vestment process;



• recommend tax, licensing and regulatory op-portunities in respect to travel and tourism en-terprises as the Minister may determine. The BTA Mission Statement is as follows: The

Mission of the Bermuda Tourism Authority shall be to increase income earned by the Island through tourism and ensure the industry is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. The BTA Vision is as follows:

• The BTA will be an independent, modern, and leading tourism enterprise—dynamic, entre-preneurial, and vibrant.

• The BTA will be the singular voice that con-tinually evolves Bermuda as a world class tourism destination.

• The BTA will partner with the Government of Bermuda to grow tourism and create jobs.

• The BTA will develop creative and innovative ways to make Bermuda a highly desirable destination for visitors and tourism invest-ment.

• The BTA will be results-oriented, accountable, and transparent to our stakeholders.

• The BTA will allocate its resources strategi-cally, take select risks and move quickly to capture the opportunities afforded by growing global tourism demand.

• The BTA will pursue strategic initiatives and actions that add value to Bermuda tourism.

• The BTA will empower its people to be cus-tomer focused, proactive, solution-oriented and make decisions that are in the best inter-est of Bermuda as a tourism destination.

• The BTA will have a fun and positive work-place culture that generates pride in Bermuda.

• The BTA will be impassioned in its communi-cation to the world that Bermuda is open for business. The BTA’s Objectives: Madam Chair, within

the context of the longer term objectives of the NTP, the BTA has defined the following short-term objec-tives, to be achieved by the end of its 2014 fiscal year. These Year 1 objectives will lay the groundwork for longer term success and they are as follows:

• fully operationalise the BTA organisation; • develop and implement a new Sales & Mar-

keting strategy, including a redefinition of the "Why?", "How?" and "What?" for Bermuda to support purpose-driven positioning, sales and marketing;

• develop new and enhance existing products and experiences, supported by the formation of a Product and Experience Fund for co-investments and grants;

• set the tone for creative funding sources (debt, owned property, businesses) to develop new sources of revenue for the BTA;

• focus efforts to improve service quality throughout the tourism value chain;

• to build a strategy for new investment to Ber-muda to fund products and experiences, which will include development of a Capital Fund for tourism related equity or debt in-vestments by the BTA; and

• to maximise value of the cruise passenger by increasing cruise visitor spend in Bermuda and conversions of affluent cruise visitors to repeat air visitors.

The Critical Success Factors for the BTA:

Madam Chair, the Bermuda Tourism Authority was created in 2014 as the new governing body for tour-ism tasked with executing the National Tourism Plan. The NTP and the BTA plan objectives are aligned in their pursuit of tourism growth. The BTA was designed to build a unique and competitive positioning for Ber-muda as measured by new investment into tourism products and experiences, increased tourism arrivals and reduced seasonality, increased visitor expendi-ture, job creation, and overall tourism experience quality improvement. The NTP and BTA plans were created with economic, social and environmental sus-tainability in mind.

Based on our assessment of the Bermuda current state and the evaluation of tourism govern-ance features observed in select destinations (Puerto Rico, Aruba, Hawaii, London, UK and Ireland), the following critical success factors were considered for the enhancement of Bermuda’s tourism governance model:

The BTA is the lead entity for all travel and tourism business in Bermuda, set up as a non-departmental public entity governed by the Minister of Tourism Development and Transport. In order to co-ordinate the transition of tourism governance from the BDOT to the BTA, a detailed transition plan was de-veloped that addressed questions from internal and external stakeholders such as employment, assets and liabilities, and transition costs; civil servants not rehired were considered for other positions within ex-isting government departments.

Functions and services of the Authority in-clude the following and will evolve over time as needed to address changing tourism needs and priori-ties:

• branding; • sales and marketing; • investment and funding, including grant mak-

ing and investor coordination; • business planning and strategic development; • destination and attraction development; • tourism research and business intelligence;



• tourism education and training; • corporate functions (e.g., legal, human re-

sources, financial reporting, general admini-stration);

• convention tourism and sports facility man-agement as applicable. Power and duties of the BTA include those of

the BDOT, supplemented by additional powers and duties as needed for the BTA to meet its stated objec-tives and functions; all powers and duties are being clearly documented and made publicly available to provide industry participants with transparency about powers and limits of the BTA.

The BTA will lead the collaboration specific to the tourism industry with key stakeholders such as the Economic Development Committee of the Cabinet, Labour, Chamber of Commerce, Bermuda First, the Bermuda Hotel Association, Department of Parks, and Department of Public Works.

The powers of the Minister over the BTA have been clearly defined and made publicly available to provide stakeholders with transparency of govern-ance; such powers include:

• appointment of the Chairman of the Board; • appointment of the first Board and consulta-

tion on future appointments of the Board; • power to discharge board members for cause;

and • approval of future strategic tourism plans.

The Board of the BTA is an executive board

and its committees provide an advisory function and include members representing key areas in tourism across public and private sectors (Chamber of Com-merce, Hotel Association, and Department of Eco-nomic Development); consideration has been given to diversity when electing board members; board mem-ber terms are staggered to avoid any abrupt, material loss of intellectual property.

The CEO of the BTA is a non-political execu-tive and corporate employee of the BTA who is re-sponsible for the execution of the tourism strategy as determined by the board; the CEO has no financial interest in a tourism business or entity in Bermuda to avoid conflicts of interest.

To avoid disruption from politics, the BTA considers forming partnerships with private entities that will assist in carrying out initiatives created by the BTA regardless of what political party is in power.

In order to further avoid conflicts of interest by BTA executives, regulatory powers remain within gov-ernment and have not been transferred to the BTA from the BDOT; members and staff with material con-flicts of interest in specific matters will also absent themselves from related meetings and not have a vote related to such matters.

New investment policies and parameters of the BTA ensure that any financial incentives and other

investments by the BTA align with the goals and ob-jectives of the Bermuda National Tourism Plan (or subsequent plans); every investment consideration should be supported by a professional feasibility study and business plan (for example, experience develop-ment and product development initiatives).

The BTA’s public reporting and communica-tion protocol includes:

• an annual report of its activities, financial statements, and performance measured by key tourism metrics;

• tourism research reports that provide market transparency;

• periodic surveys among tourism stakeholders for feedback to highlight measures needed to improve the tourism industry in Bermuda; and

• any other reports or communication beneficial for the coordination of tourism activities and investments in Bermuda. The Authority will periodically carry out an in-

ternal performance evaluation of its own work based on a balanced scorecard, including various economic and social statistics related to tourism; the results of this self-evaluation may inform budget allocation and compensation decisions.

Over time, the BTA seeks to establish inde-pendence from the government’s general fund; this will allow the BTA to execute the strategic tourism plan and its own initiatives without the restraints of a traditional government related budgeting process.

Funding needs to manage the implementation of the National Tourism Plan are anticipated to exceed current revenue sources of the BTA for 2014/15. As per Part 3 section 11(h) of the Bermuda Tourism Au-thority Act of 2013, the BTA shall “charge fees for ser-vices rendered to travel and tourism enterprises as the Minister may determine in consultation with the Minister of Finance” and “exercise such tax, licensing and regulatory functions in respect to travel and tour-ism enterprises as the Minister may determine.” Thus, the BTA will seek additional, alternative funding sources, including taxes, fees and other earnings. The goal is to be self-funding in three to five years.

Measuring the impact and success of the BTA will occur periodically including the BTA’s Annual Re-port. The BTA will continually monitor overall tourism performance as measured against a basket of key competitors. The BTA is committed to assessing and reporting on the effectiveness of a new sales and marketing strategy as well as its operational efficiency as measured by timely and on budget execution of activities, reporting accuracy, hours of training re-ceived, employee retention, and various other key performance indicators.

Organisational Structure and Responsibility: Madam Chairman, the BTA will meet its objectives by providing core functions through the operation of the following divisions:



• Sales and Marketing—this sets and executes the sales and marketing strategy to build unique and competitive positioning, resulting in an increase of demand and awareness for Bermuda.

• Product and Experience Development—this division manages tourism product enhance-ment opportunity identification and develops tourism product enhancement delivery strat-egy to maximise performance of existing tour-ism products and add new tourism products on the island of Bermuda.

• Research and Business Intelligence—this di-vision conducts research on customer behav-iour, trends, satisfaction and on-island expen-ditures. The division also measures brand and advertising performance in key markets on an ongoing basis.

• Operations—this division is responsible for operation and administration of the Bermuda Tourism Authority. The division will provide an environment of business excellence and effi-ciency by performing the administrative func-tions for the entire organisation. It will ensure that the organisation works to best practise standards, that its employees are well moti-vated and that the business support elements are fully functional and effective. In addition, this division is responsible for training, stan-dards and local Bermuda resident engage-ment in the industry along with raising tourism appreciation. The division will also be respon-sible for the funding and implementation of the Bermuda Hospitality Institute (BHI) which will be located in the BTA’s new offices.

• Investment—this division will build a strategy that will seek investment, and also facilitate and manage the tourism investment process. Each of these divisions has clearly defined

objectives as well as an approach and action plan to reach both near and long term goals of the BTA. The divisions will collaborate to achieve the broader goals of the BTA. The core values of the organisation em-phasise a collaborative, entrepreneurial, dynamic and efficient environment.

Hotel licensing will continue to be a function of the Ministry of Tourism and Transport. The Product and Experience Development division of the BTA will liaise regularly with the Ministry of Tourism and Transport for updates on the licensing status of the local hotel inventory.

Madam Chair, the BTA will initially consist of 38 full-time employees with up to 7 additional potential full-time employees to accommodate expanding re-sponsibilities of the BTA over time. The number of employees by division, as conceived at start up, is outlined below:

• In the Sales and Marketing Division, there will initially be 17 employees with a potential to add 3, making a total of 20 employees.

• In the Product and Experience Development Division, there will initially be 7 employees, with a potential to add 1, making a total of 8 employees.

• The Research and Business Intelligence Divi-sion will start with 1 employee, with a potential to add a second.

• The Operations Division includes the CEO and the Executive Assistant and will initially have 12 employees, with the potential to add another, for a total of 13.

The BTA will have offices in an efficient, cost

effective location in Northeast USA to ensure respon-sive, knowledgeable, meaningful and effective com-munications through relationships with its primary business partners. The primary headquarters will con-tinue to be located in Bermuda.

Now Madam Chairman, I would like to provide an update on the transition, which is still in process. The following are transition accomplishments and ac-tivities to date:

Business continuity and transfer of functions: The BTA has worked closely with its BDOT counter-parts to ensure that business continuity is maintained and that there will be a fluid transition of operations from the BDOT to the BTA. The BTA’s project man-agement office has also put together a detailed transi-tion plan to document activities to be completed in order to stand up its operations fully. At this point, the BTA is close to completion of many of these activities. In addition, the BTA has taken on several new func-tions such as Human Resources, IT and Finance, and therefore has maintained regular contact with the various Government departments responsible for these functions in order to ensure the appropriate transition of those responsibilities.

The BTA has recruited BDOT employees, in the Product Development and Sales & Marketing divi-sions, who bring with them much of the institutional knowledge that is critical to the transition. In total the BTA has recruited 18 out of 38 former BDOT employ-ees and 19 BDOT employees have been placed within other government departments and ministries.

While the BDOT will cease operations on March 31 of this year, the BTA will still be in a period of transition for the next few months as it fully ramps up its operations.

Transfer of assets and liabilities: The BTA car-ried out a current state assessment of all of the BDOT’s assets, which was followed by an analysis of all assets needed to be transferred. The resulting list of assets selected has been documented in a memo-randum of understanding (MOU) which was finalised in March 2013. The BTA will work closely with the BDOT to determine mutually suitable timing for the


1614 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report transfer of all the requested physical and electronic assets along with any intellectual property specified in the MOU.

Organisation structure: The recruitment proc-ess for the BTA was initiated in October and is cur-rently underway. BDOT employees had priority after which, the remaining open positions were advertised to the public.

The BTA has appointed three of the four C-suite positions, with the remaining two positions being actively recruited. An industry veteran with over 25 years of senior management experience, Mr. Bill Hanbury (who is in the House today, Madam Chair-man) has been appointed as the BTA’s first CEO. We are very pleased to have someone of his experience and high calibre.

Miss Karla Lacey, has joined the BTA as its Chief Operating Officer, from her previous role as the CEO of the BHI. And I can say from person experi-ence, Madam Chairman, that she did a spectacular job as head of the BHI and we are very excited that she has chosen to join the BTA.

Miss Pat Phillip-Fairn has been appointed as the Chief Product and Experience Development Offi-cer from her previous role as Deputy Director, Corpo-rate Governance and Communications at the Ber-muda Monetary Authority.

I would like to publicly congratulate all of those executives on their appointment and wish them well in their new positions. In fact, Madam Chair, Bermuda needs them to be successful and we firmly believe that we have a high calibre executive thus far.

The BTA has made offers to 19 employees of the BDOT in Bermuda and New York, of which 17 have accepted positions. The BTA is still in the re-cruitment process for the nine remaining open posi-tions, and is prioritising local, Bermudian candidates. It is expected that the BTA will be fully staffed by June 2014.

Sales and marketing plan: The BTA has aligned on a new strategic direction for sales and marketing which will guide and inform the tactical plan through 2014. BTA has made a decision to focus on building unique experiences on the Island, including creating partnerships and alliances to improve cus-tomer touch points. The new strategic direction also includes selecting agencies that are specialised in their respective areas. Vendor selection processes for PR, social media and an event management company is in progress to be initiated.

Fuse (which is an ad agency) have shared their Quarter 2 media plan as well as presented crea-tive concept for Quarter 3. Timeline and creative re-view is in progress.

The BTA is looking to invest its funds, focus and time on activities and events that are aligned with the new purpose and with driving unique experiences to the target personas in their on-Island experiences.

Madam Chairman, other transition accom-plishments and activities to date include a compre-hensive 2014 annual tourism growth plan, including background on current state of tourism in Bermuda, National Tourism Plan priorities, BTA organisation structure and responsibilities, divisional goals and ob-jectives, activities, milestones, KPIs, report inventory and annual budget.

In the first year of BTA operations, with year 1 defined as April 2014 to March 2015, the BTA will demonstrate that it can achieve short-term as well as long-term goals, showing progress in creating jobs and growing market share. While the National Tour-ism Plan will be implemented over a ten-year period, several objectives will be targeted for year 1 of the newly formed authority. The priorities (As I previously stated as objectives) of the BTA for year 1 are: to:

• fully operationalise the BTA; • develop and implement a new Sales and Mar-

keting strategy; • develop new and enhance existing products

and experiences; • develop new sources of revenue for the BTA; • set the tone for creative funding sources; • improve service quality throughout the tourism

value chain; • attract new investment to Bermuda to fund

tourism products and experiences; and • maximise value of the cruise passenger by in-

creasing cruise visitor spend in Bermuda.

Sources and uses of funds: Madam Chair-man, the year 1 annual budget will follow the Gov-ernment of Bermuda’s fiscal year of April 1, 2014 through March 31, 2015. The BTA will be following a calendar year fiscal period. This was decided, Madam Chairman, because the industry itself operates on a calendar year fiscal period and it was deemed prudent that the Authority also work in this manner.

The Sources: The Bermuda Tourism Authority will initially receive funding from two sources: a gov-ernment grant and tourism authority fee collections. The BTA’s funding will be granted every April, at the start of the government’s fiscal year. For 2014, the BTA will receive a government grant of $23,100,000 to fund tourism activities on the Island of Bermuda, a 8.9 per cent decrease over the government allocation to the Bermuda Department of Tourism in the prior year 2013/14.

Collected on a quarterly basis, the Tourism Authority Fee is currently 2.5 per cent of room reve-nues. Hotel guests are charged 2.5 per cent of the hotel room revenues which hotel proprietors are re-sponsible for charging and collecting from hotel guests and paying to the Tourism Authority. It is esti-mated that the Tourism Authority fee collections will generate $3,396,234, or 12.8 per cent of total funding.

The BTA will also institute an emergency con-tingency fund enabling the BTA to continue operations


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1615 given a major operational, economic or governmental disruption. The emergency contingency fund will total $100,000 and will be allocated to the Operations Divi-sion.

Funds used by the various Divisions: The In-vestment Division will be allocated $939,371 or 3.5 per cent of total expenses. The Product and Experi-ence Development Division will be allocated $4,947,151 or 18.7 per cent of total expenses. The Sales and Marketing Division will be allocated $15,656,998 or 59.1 per cent of total expenses.

I see that the Chairman is questioning the Budget Book. The money is now a grant, so you will find the grant in the Grant section, I believe it was, C– . . . my apologies. I will get the number in the Budget Book in terms of the Grant. Madam Chairman, you are not going to see an allocation because all of the mon-ies have now been transferred to the BTA. So that is the primary purpose of itemising it out in this presenta-tion so that Members will know how the monies will be spent.

I know that I did mention the . . . again, if you look in the Budget Book, I believe it is B-185 if you have the Budget Book. So if you look at B-185 you will see in the budget book the Head 33—Tourism—

[Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, I am going through that. So that is where it starts, then the next page B-186— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: [Page] C-19 is the Grant. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No. As you will see on B-185, Honourable Member, that— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, under the Ministry Headquarters, Honourable Member, but for the spe-cific Head of Tourism you will find that on B-186 and you will note that in the 2014/15 estimates there are zero figures because those monies now represent a Grant to the BTA, which can be evinced on page C-19. So the only actual physical line in the Budget Book to depict an allocation will be that of the $23 million found on page C-19. So, the purpose of this exercise is to now go through and identify the expenditure per division. So the Investment Division will be allocated $939,371 or 3.5 per cent of total expenses.

The Product and Experience Development Division will be allocated $4,947,151, or 18.7 per cent of total expenses.

The Sales and Marketing Division will be allo-cated $15,656,998, or 59.1 per cent of total expenses.

The Research and Business Intelligence Divi-sion will be allocated $608,278, or 2.3 per cent of total expenses.

The Operations Division will be allocated $4,244,437, or 16 per cent of total expenses.

Madam Chairman, the following is an over-view of the BTA Divisions:

The Sales and Marketing Division. Goals and objectives:

• Raising brand awareness and tourism demand through targeted sales and mar-keting efforts;

• Optimising the sales network by coordi-nating between sales offices and product and experience development divisions; and

• Developing and executing a focused strategy to attract key market segments.

Madam Chairman, the Sales and Marketing

team will achieve its year—

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Just a point of clarification, Madam Chairman. When you mention these num-bers— The Chairman: Ah! I did not recognise you. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Sorry, Madam Chairman. Do you recognise me now? The Chairman: You are recognised. I recognise the Shadow Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Wayne L. Furbert. You have the floor.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Since we do not have some-thing similar to what we are used to, I just want to ask one question, maybe the Minister will get to that. But when you talk about these amounts allocated to divi-sions, does that include salaries? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, that is correct. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: So is there an amount here that breaks down what the total salary will be? Is it in your report . . . for all divisions together? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No. I do not believe that there is a salary— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I will deal with that later. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Sure. You can deal with that later.


1616 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: That is the first question. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Okay. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. Please proceed. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, the Sales and Marketing team will achieve its year one objectives and set the stage for long-term success by identifying the most effective routes to target consum-ers, and by innovating and redeveloping the sales and marketing approach. The sales and marketing ap-proach will focus on creating sustainable tourism growth in line with the NTP, living by the “Why,” “How” and “What” for the destination, and assisting in the identification and development of the appropriate products, experiences and talent to support growth.

The Sales and Marketing team will curate a cohesive and all-encompassing brand promise through focusing all sales and marketing efforts around a central message: “Connecting the visitor to the beauty of life.” In addition, the BTA and Sales and Marketing team will fund and organise the Golf Sum-mit, an annual event bringing together leaders in the golf and leisure industries. The Golf Summit aims to change the perception of Bermuda from a destination with golf to a golf destination in order to capture addi-tional market share of the golf tourism market and to reduce seasonality.

The Sales and Marketing division will closely liaise with the Product and Experience Development division to effectively communicate the product and experience offerings of Bermuda and ensure the con-gruency of sales and marketing campaigns and deliv-erables with tourism product and experience devel-opment and strategies. The Research and Business Intelligence division will be leveraged to provide con-sumer insights needed to provide strategic direction to various sales and marketing campaigns and projects.

Madam Chairman, the current roles within the Sales and Marketing Division are:

• Chief Sales and Marketing Officer; • Executive Assistant; • Director of Partnerships; • Director of Marketing; • Director of Sales; • Customer Service Representative; • Distribution Accounts Manager; • Hotel Liaison; • Creative Services Manager; • Digital Manager; • Tradeshow and Events Manager; • Group Bureau; • Business Development Manager; • Marketing Coordinator; • Webmaster.

Potential roles include: • Admin Support for Director of Partnerships; • Airline Accounts Manager; • Sports and Events Manager.

Madam Chairman, the responsibilities of this

division include: • Identify sales territories, target groups and

market segments and delegate responsibili-ties to division leaders;

• Seek out and maintain synergistic relations and partnerships that enhance the reputation of Bermuda, improve awareness, refine image and increase demand;

• Set strategy, and execute on action plans and KPIs;

• Develop annual BTA Sales and Marketing Plan, measureable objectives and budgets designed to satisfy the key goals of the Na-tional Tourism Plan, get appropriate approvals and then implement and manage that plan;

Present feedback on key partnership trends. Mar-keting:

• Create and execute a marketing plan that promotes the strategic vision of BTA;

• Identify aspirations of the defined market segments and communicate said aspirations to the other divisions of the BTA;

• Focus BTA sales and marketing on market segments with most return on investment po-tential;

• Drive on-Island marketing efforts; • Oversee trade shows and events, ensuring

marketing information is on-message; • Review website development as well as social

and provide feedback on a regular basis; • Assist in the day-to-day management of third-

party agencies or representation companies; • Manage the database marketing strategy; • Work with the Bermuda Hotel Association in

the creation and execution of a sales, market-ing and distribution plan;

• Monitor return on investment on all aspects of sales and marketing plan, set measurable performance metrics and measure success against those metrics;

• Manage public perception of BTA and the tourism industry in Bermuda.

Sales: • Communicate sales and other performance

data trends signalling investment opportuni-ties;

• Research competitors' sales and marketing campaigns and strategies to enhance devel-opment of strategies for the Island of Ber-muda;

• Sell marketable experiences and activities packages in line with target audience de-



mand, meeting their price point and expecta-tions;

• Set qualitative and quantitative sales and strategy objectives;

• Monitor and report sales activity and results on a regular basis;

• Provide feedback on key sales trends and competitor activity;

• Work with hotels to build innovative packages and tactical promotions for current business lines as well as to create new opportunities.

Budget—Madam Chairman, the Sales and

Marketing division will be allocated $15,656,998, or approximately 59.1 per cent of the total budget. These funds will be used to raise awareness of Bermuda and create demand for the Island as a tourist destination. Sales and Marketing will go through a review of strat-egy and activities, which may impact funding with the reassigning of specific allocations over the course of the financial year.

Expenses for the Sales and Marketing Divi-sion are as follows:

• Salaries and Benefits, Honourable Member, will account for $2,432,410, so that is for the Sales and Marketing division—

[Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, I believe we will go through them one by one and then we can add them up.

—or 15 per cent of the division’s budget. • Travel will account for $415,000, or 3 per cent

of the division’s budget. • Partnership funding will account for $600,000,

or 4 per cent of the division’s budget. • Marketing will account for $1,506,815, or

9 per cent of the division’s budget. • Sales will account for $2,302,773, or 15 per

cent of the division’s budget. • Vendor expenses (including PR, advertising

and social media) will account for $8,400,000, or 54 per cent of the division’s budget.

Changes from Previous Years: • There will be a greater emphasis on public re-

lations and social media; • Consolidation and continuity amongst agen-

cies; • The organisation will be living the brand; • Shifting strategy towards more digital market-

ing; and • Further customer profiling and targeting.

The Product and Experience Development

Division. Goals and objectives:

• Increasing the overall attractiveness and competitiveness of Bermuda as a tourism destination;

• Strengthening tourism demand; • Reducing seasonality; • Allocating capital as determined by Selection

Council and CEO • Developing the five tourism hubs which are:

St. George's and St. David's, City of Hamilton, Royal Naval Dockyard, South Shore Bermuda and Offshore Bermuda; and

• Executing product development initiatives of the National Tourism Plan.

Madam Chairman, the Product and Experi-

ence Development division of the BTA will achieve its year one and long-term goals by identifying and im-plementing opportunities for enhancement of existing tourism product and/or experiences (including tourism accommodations, events, attractions, activities, sights, monuments, beaches, infrastructure, services, et cet-era), or development of new tourism products and experiences anticipated to grow tourism demand throughout all seasons for Bermuda.

Opportunities may be identified through either external partners or entrepreneurs (co-sponsorship program) or the internal initiatives of the BTA. Ap-proved projects will receive co-funding from the divi-sion’s proprietary Product and Experience Develop-ment Fund. Investment decisions will reflect the BTA’s entrepreneurial culture and focus on measurable re-turns on investment.

The Product and Experience Development di-vision will principally impact tourism development in the following ways:

• Funding: The Product and Experience Devel-opment division will coordinate an application process for tourism stakeholders to receive funding from its proprietary Product and Ex-perience Development Fund for qualifying products and experiences, including real es-tate and operations, sports and sports experi-ences and culture and leisure experiences. The application process will occur on a bi-annual basis in the first and third quarters of a calendar year.

• Serving the private sector: Through its internal resources, the Product and Experience De-velopment division will assist the private sec-tor in regards to coordination, strategy, train-ing and services related to privately devel-oped products and experiences.

Madam Chairman, the Product and Experi-

ence Development division will closely liaise with the Sales and Marketing division to identify market needs and aspirations as well as identify consumer prefer-ences and word of mouth via focus groups and social media (for example, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,


1618 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Pinterest, et cetera). The Product and Experience De-velopment division will also liaise with the Investment Division to coordinate foreign capital investments into tourism products on Bermuda. Ongoing product and experience development projects will be coordinated with the Sales and Marketing division to ensure proper market positioning of new experiences and products. The Research and Business Intelligence division will be leveraged to provide consumer insights needed to provide strategic direction to various product and ex-perience development areas and segments.

In close collaboration with the Investment di-vision, the Product and Experience Development divi-sion will work with the Government to update hotel concession legislation as needed to support the divi-sion’s objective of bringing new hotel product to Ber-muda for the benefit of the local economy. Conces-sions to be targeted may include full, partial or tempo-rary relief or deferral of customs duty, land tax, hotel occupancy tax, payroll tax, licensing fees, or immigra-tion related fees.

Madam Chairman, the current roles within the Product and Experience Development division are:

• Chief Product and Experience Development Officer;

• Sports and Events Development Manager; • External Coordination Manager; • Culture and Leisure Events Manager; • Hospitality Real Estate Asset Manager; • Assistant Product Development Manager; • There is potential for one additional role which

would be Admin Support. Madam Chairman, the responsibilities of this

division include: • Developing a strong understanding of “the

Purpose/the Why” of the new organisation and tourism to Bermuda;

• Develop a strong sense of voice of the cus-tomer for the organisation and the Island;

• Act as a “demand function” to the Island—translate customer expectations into strategic requirements for on-Island experiences by continuously refining the expectation demand in the customer journey;

• Build trusted relationships with key partners and stakeholders, bringing investors and stakeholders together to build trust and align on the purpose and the why;

• Build and maintain a strong knowledge and inventory of Bermuda’s existing tourism prod-ucts and experiences;

• Analyse Bermuda’s existing tourism products and experiences relative to market and com-petitor tourism product trends and offerings; develop strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats;

• Develop and cultivate relationships with key industry stakeholders specifically inter-government relationships to source and/or support product and experience development opportunities;

• Identify, manage and develop all tourism events and product development strategies in Bermuda through coordination with the indi-vidual product managers that include the Sports and Events Development Manager, Real Estate and Operations Manager;

• Strategically explore product and experience development for new demand niches (for ex-ample, medical tourism).

Product and Experience Development Divi-

sion Budget. Madam Chairman, reflecting the major

change in the focus of the Authority compared to the past, the Product and Experience Development divi-sion will be allocated $4,947,151, or approximately 18.7 per cent of the total budget.

Expenses for the Product and Experience De-velopment Division are as follows:

• Salaries and benefits will account for $1,137,151, or 23 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Product and experience funding will account for $3,400,000, or 69 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Travel will account for $25,000, or 1 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Vendor expenses will account for $385,000, or 8 per cent of the division’s budget.

Changes from Previous Years: • Clearly defined application and selection

process for funding; • Greater focus on the entire customer experi-

ence; • Using research and intelligence to create ex-

periences the customer wants; • Tracking satisfaction and success of new

products and experiences; • Professionals with real estate and asset man-

agement experience on the team to work with key stakeholders and business owners. The Research and Business Intelligence Divi-

sion. Goals and objectives:

• Developing, executing and managing re-search and business intelligence projects;

• Conducting tourism research, statistics collec-tion and maintenance;

• Communicating research and business intelli-gence to the BTA in order to develop strate-gies;



• Conducting on-Island research to gauge per-ception of BTA and Bermuda's tourism indus-try among its residents.

Madam Chairman, this division constantly

works with other divisions, not just reactively but pro-actively in monitoring trends. Market intelligence and research work as tools to help shape strategic deci-sions, tactical choices, and achieve business objec-tives. A consistent research strategy and coordinated approach to information sharing is essential among stakeholders. It provides a beneficial forum to investi-gate broader tourism issues, and shares information about current trends, new market opportunities, and changing traveller profiles. It should provide up-to-date awareness of market trends, competitive devel-opments and relevant-specific market issues.

The Research and Business Intelligence divi-sion will collaborate with other divisions within the BTA to guide strategic decisions. The BTA will take advantage of opportunities to share research findings, optimise existing research, and establish new rela-tionships to gain additional market intelligence. This division will be proactive in its involvement with the selection council for evaluation of new products and experiences, making interim decisions throughout the development process.

Roles—There is currently one role or position for this division and that is:

• The Director of Research and Business Intel-ligence. (Madam Chairman, it must be dinner-time as we do not have many Members en-gaged).

[Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes. And I am grateful, Madam Chairman. I am sure they are all listening be-cause they quite often like to debate Tourism.

There is a potential role, Madam Chairman, and that is Research Assistant. The current responsi-bilities of this division include:

• Plan and direct research and business intelli-gence projects to support Bermuda's tourism product development, marketing and invest-ment strategies.

• Evaluate results of research and prepares recommendations to marketing, investment and product/experience development.

• Report on key market trends and changing market conditions; highlight opportunities and threats in order to facilitate informed decision-making by the business.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Point of order, Madam Chairman. I heard the Honourable Member say that we had gone out for dinner—

The Chairman: You have not been acknowledged yet, Member. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Sorry, I keep forgetting. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you. The Honourable Member had mentioned that there was no one in the House. He was absolutely right because I needed a calculator to work those numbers which he has not given me. That is why I went out. The Chairman: And this is a point of order?

Well, I am glad you were listening. Thank you very much. And I do believe you have his brief. Do you have his brief, Member? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The number I need, he has not given it to me, trust me. The Chairman: Okay. Thank you, Member. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Madam Chairman. And let me just state that I did provide the Honourable Member with the brief, particularly be-cause . . . and whatever numbers he would be re-questing do the question and answer, I will do my best to address.

But I would just like to make note that I never received a brief from that Honourable Member, al-though we do like to work together. But because this is new and because the numbers are not itemised in the Budget Book, it was imperative and prudent that the Honourable Member be able to follow along. And I know he did not go to dinner, Madam Chairman, but it appears to be just he and I and a few others here lis-tening to this riveting debate. So I hope we can keep their attention. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Oh yes. We were under the current responsibilities of the division:

• Plan and direct research and business intelli-gence projects to support Bermuda's tourism product development, marketing and invest-ment strategies.

• Evaluate results of research and prepares recommendations to marketing, investment and product/experience development.

• Report on key market trends and changing market conditions; highlight opportunities and



threats in order to facilitate informed decision-making by the business.

• Establish an efficient framework for obtaining and disseminating valuable intelligence, and creating high quality, accessible, and timely research for the benefit of all industry stake-holders.

• Maintain and enhance database of all tourism research and statistics including:

o Manage CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool, monitor perform-ance and use to achieve intelligence objectives; and to

o Develop competitive intelligence strategy.

The Research and Business Intelligence divi-

sion budget. Madam Chairman, the Research and Busi-

ness Intelligence division will be allocated $608,278, or approximately 2.3 per cent of the total budget. These funds will be used to identify, develop and exe-cute research and business intelligence projects.

• Salaries and Benefits will account for $251,372, or 41 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Current consumer research will account for $266,996, or 44 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Marketing and Product Research will account for $85,429, or 14 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Travel will account for $4,481, or 1 per cent of the division’s budget.

Changes from Previous Years: • Connect the dots between existing research

methods to track the entire customer experi-ence from when the customer is first deciding where to go on vacation to the post-trip ex-perience and possibility for return.

• Create a proprietary online panel using the 250,000-plus visitors and industry profession-als that are already in our database to gather key insights and feedback.

• Make data collection from visitors and industry stakeholders more efficient and robust using an online portal.

• Keep all stakeholders informed of key market trends and Bermuda’s performance.

• Track the economic contribution of visitors to Bermuda more closely.

• Create a competitive intelligence strategy. • Proactively monitor market trends in order to

drive Sales and Marketing and Product and Experience strategies.

So you will note, Madam Chairman, that there are substantial changes to how this type of business will be implemented by the BTA. The Operations Division. Goals and Objec-tives:

• Effectively and efficiently managing the or-ganisation from a financial, technical, human relations and administrative perspective so that the BTA can fulfil its mission and manage the BTA budget.

• Introducing and sustaining the new culture and vision of the BTA.

• Raising tourism appreciation among the Ber-mudian public through initiatives and cam-paigns such as “More Pink Bermuda.”

• Collaborating with and providing operational funding to the Bermuda Hospitality Institute.

• Identifying, promoting and implementing world-class training programs across the tour-ism value chain.

Madam Chairman, the Operations division will

achieve its year one objectives through budget track-ing and funding development, efficient management of internal operations of the BTA across the Bermuda and New York offices and development of key reports including the annual report and internal audit, and positive employee culture. It will create and maintain a first-class working environment while always identify-ing operational development opportunities and execut-ing strategies to improve operations which will be cru-cial in maintaining and enhancing operational efficien-cies. The division will liaise with the Product and Ex-perience Development, Sales and Marketing, Re-search and Business Intelligence and Investment divi-sions, monitoring the overall BTA budget and opera-tions and ensuring effective interoffice communication.

The Operations division will develop and im-plement a tourism training program based on best practices. It will foster pride in tourism through initia-tives and campaigns such as the More Pink cam-paign. In addition, the division will be responsible for providing operational funding to the BHI which will continue to operate with its own independent board. The BHI will be co-located with the BTA in order to better align the program with the BTA mission and objectives going forward.

The current roles within the Operations Divi-sion include:

• Chief Operations Officer; • Receptionist; • Controller; • Communication and Tourism Appreciation

Manager; • Training Standards Manager; • Office Admin Human Resources; • Human Resources Manager; • General Accountant;



• Accounting Assistant; • IT/on-site support.

There is a potential role which is the Admin

support for the Chief Operations Officer. The respon-sibilities of this division include:

Human Resources: • Ensure the culture and vision of the BTA are

manifested throughout the organisation, par-ticularly in the way employees are retained and managed.

• Instil a human capital development and "coaching" culture through training, develop-ment, compensation and benefits, employee relations, performance evaluation and recruit-ing.

Finance: • Maintain and adhere to statutory requirements

including all applicable acts, taxes and laws impacting financial reporting or integrity.

• Ensure effective internal controls environ-ment.

• Create regular finance updates to leadership and other ad hoc reporting needs.

Information Technology: • Provide technical and network support to all

divisions. • Provide on-site technical support and maintain

hardware and software inventory. Administration:

• Ensure the physical environment of the BTA is fully supportive of the efficiency and culture of the organisation.

• Manage administrative and operation func-tions of the US office with the direction and policies established by the CEO and the Board.

Tourism Training and Standards: • Leverage existing ranking and classification

systems (for example, TripAdvisor, Zagat, Mobile, AAA); to assess the quality of Ber-muda’s products and experiences, including hotels, restaurants, spas and other tourism products through coordination with the Tour-ism Training and Standards Manager.

The budget, Madam Chairman—the Opera-

tions division will be allocated $4,244,437, or ap-proximately 16 per cent of the total budget. These funds will be used to carry out all operational and ad-ministrative functions of the BTA.

The Operations division will administer an emergency tourism fund, financed with $100,000 in year one and set up to counter unexpected events threatening to hurt Bermuda’s tourism image such as hurricanes, criminal events, et cetera. The declaration of an emergency and the corresponding release of emergency funds will require Board approval.

Operations Division Budget. Expenses for the Operations Division are as

follows: • Salaries and Benefits will account for

$2,061,136, or 49 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Real Estate will account for $589,370, or 14 per cent of the division’s budget.

• General Expenses will account for $347,926, or 8 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Vendor expenses (including Bermuda Hospi-tality Institute and all others) will account for $1,023,500, or 24 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Emergency contingency fund will account for $100,000, or 2 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Tourism Appreciation and Public Relations on-Island will account for $122,505, or 3 per cent of the division’s budget.

Changes from Previous Years: • Greater emphasis on culture of the organisa-

tion—modern, entrepreneurial, and vibrant; • Incorporating training and standards as well

as tourism appreciation into the organisation; • Creating efficiencies in IT and Finance by im-

plementing latest technologies.

Madam Chairman, moving on to the Invest-ment Division—Goals and Objectives:

• Streamlining the investment approval process; • Seeking new investment; • Serving as a concierge to external investors; • Devising innovative financial vehicles that en-

courage new investment; • Managing existing investment; • Establishing a capital fund program for future

investment; • Developing a standardised investment proc-

ess; • Implementing the results of the 2013 Invest-

ment Summit including deregulation of the in-bound investment process and procedures, implementation of an investment concierge program to support investors and a program to assist existing hotels.

Madam Chairman, the Investment arm of the

organisation will achieve its goals by bringing the new vision of Bermuda to the global investment community including international investors, private equity joint ventures, hospitality funds, and high net worth indi-viduals. Proactive identification, analysis and market-ing of feasible tourism investment opportunities will generate momentum in attracting capital for new product, service and real estate concepts. Attendance at investment forums as well as the organisation of events with targeted potential investors will provide


1622 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report networking benefits to communicate investment op-portunities in Bermuda.

To further lower the in-bound investment hur-dles into Bermuda, the Investment division will assist foreign investors as an “investment concierge” to navigate local rules and regulations, bureaucracy, market data and research, and investment opportunity identification, effectively reducing their due diligence costs and broaden their market reach.

Finally, the Investment division of the BTA will set up a new capital fund program to make its proprie-tary capital available for the debt or equity funding of strategic tourism projects in Bermuda. Capital will be accumulated from the BTA’s public and/or private funding allocated to this division. Capital not invested in the current business year will remain in the capital fund for future investments. Roles and Responsibilities.

The current roles: A Chief Investment Officer. There is scope for the potential role of Investment Manager.

The responsibilities of the Investment Division are to:

• Develop and implement overall investment strategy to increase the attractiveness of Bermuda from an investment perspective;

• Coordinate with relevant Government entities to develop investment opportunities;

• Coordinate with Government and industry leaders to increase access to investment op-portunities and create a stronger investment climate for tourism in Bermuda;

• Develop and cultivate relationships with cur-rent and potential future investors, including leading local and international investors in public and private sectors;

• Market investment opportunities to parties in-ternal to Bermuda (for example, BTA Board of Directors, Ministry of Economic Development) and external parties;

• Develop and monitor the “red carpet” and “one-stop shop approach” to attracting global hospitality and leisure investors and develop-ers to Bermuda, as well as assisting investors and developers move a project through Gov-ernment channels and approvals;

• Oversee the successful and timely execution of investment transactions including lender selection, due diligence and process man-agement, legal documentation and negotia-tion;

• Provide strategy financial and legal oversight for value enhancement activities including renovations and asset repositioning projects;

• Set up and manage the BTA’s proprietary capital investment fund to invest in qualifying tourism investment opportunities in Bermuda.

Madam Chairman, the budget for the Invest-ment division will be allocated $939,371, or approxi-mately 3.5 per cent of the total budget.

Expenses for the Investment division are as follows:

• Salaries and benefits will account for $386,645, or 41 per cent of the division’s budget.

• A Capital fund will be established in the amount of $500,000, using 53 per cent of the division’s budget.

• Travel and conferences will account for $52,726, or 6 per cent of the division’s budget.

Changes from the Previous Year: • Having a dedicated resource with experience

actively looking for investment; • Creating a one-stop shop for investors looking

at Bermuda; • Creating marketing collateral to promote Ber-

muda for investors; • Researching and recommending incentives to

encourage investment in Bermuda; • Assisting existing hotel industry.

Now I would like to look at the Board of Direc-

tors, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, on December 19, 2013,

the BTA appointed its Board of Directors consisting of six Bermudian and two non-Bermudian business leaders. The Board of Directors are responsible for assisting the Chairperson and Minister in the activities of the BTA including attendance at board meetings, developing select governance committees as needed and advising on strategic and operational matters of the organisation. Government does have responsibil-ity for oversight—for example, borrowing money, con-sultation for major decisions, and selection of the Chairman. There is an active partnership between the BTA and the Government.

The Board is responsible to the Minister for the overall performance of the BTA. The Board’s re-sponsibilities include:

• Setting the BTA’s strategic direction, including approving strategies and targets and estab-lishing policies;

• Accountability for monitoring BTA’s business; • Communicating with the Minister of Tourism

and other Ministers as appropriate; • Complying with general Government policy as

directed by the Minister and according to the BTA’s statutory obligations;

• Ensuring that the performance of the BTA’s functions and the exercise of the BTA’s pow-ers are consistent with, and designed to give effect to, the current Business Plan, the cur-rent Annual Operational Plan, and the Na-tional Tourism Plan;



• Selecting and monitoring the performance of the CEO;

• Reviewing the performance of CEO; • Ensuring good corporate governance, includ-

ing effective risk management, legal compli-ance, strategic direction and appropriate structure of the BTA;

• Fulfilling the BTA’s long-term vision of becom-ing self-funding by identifying alternative fund-ing sources. Madam Chairman, the Board composition in-

cludes the following Bermudian members: • David Dodwell (First Chairman); • Jessica Mello (Deputy Chairperson); • Phil Barnett; • Peter Everson; • Paul Telford; • Allison Towlson.

Board members include the following non-

Bermudian members: • Earl Graves Jr., President and CEO of Black

Enterprise (media company); • Allison Reid, Senior Vice President of Real

Estate, Starwood Hotels & Resorts World-wide, Inc.

Positions, Profiles and Term Structure: Madam Chairman, the Chairperson is ap-

pointed by the Minister. He is required to have travel and tourism background. He will serve for a term of three years and may be reappointed for a further term by the Minister.

Board Members (inclusive of the Deputy Chairperson)—there are seven board members:

• They are initially appointed by the Minister in collaboration with Chairperson and afterwards appointed by existing board members;

• Representation from key areas in tourism and public and private sectors;

• Consideration should be given to diversity; • Limit of two terms at a maximum of four years

each; • There is a staggered term structure with two

members appointed for two years; three members appointed for three years; and two members appointed for four years. This will prevent a material loss of intellectual property from the board at any given time.

Committee Members will have a Governance

focused nature. The number of members determined by Board members as seen fit; they are appointed by members of the Board; and the term is determined by Board. Madam Chairman, Board members are com-pensated for their efforts. In addition to expense reim-

bursement, these Board members may receive an annual stipend of $20,000 for their service.

Madam Chairman, I would now like to look at Governance. The BTA will include the following gov-erning bodies to oversee key financial, strategic and risk decisions. These governing bodies include:

• The Board of Directors—This committee is the highest level of approval, responsible for oversight and approval of all major financial, strategic and risk management decisions.

• The Finance/Audit/Risk Committee—Responsible for oversight of financial docu-ments, reporting, monitoring tax and legal ramifications of all financial decisions and risk management.

• The Human Resource Committee—Responsible for oversight over all personnel-related decisions.

• The CEO—First level of approval for all stra-tegic, financial and risk-related decisions; ap-proval of the CEO is the first level of review required before escalating to other commit-tees.

• The C-Suite—Second level of approval for decisions after CEO approval; responsible for financial, strategic and risk-related decisions. The BTA governance structure will also in-

clude councils to garner community input and in-volvement in advising and supervising key decisions of the BTA. These councils include:

• The Sales and Marketing Council—Primarily responsible for advising on sales and market-ing campaigns and initiatives and selection of on-Island customer experiences aligned with the new purpose of the BTA. The council will also provide some oversight for strategic de-cisions and vendor selection. This council is appointed and chaired by the CEO or other C-Suite members.

• Product and Experience Selection Council—This council is responsible for selecting prod-ucts and experiences to be funded and devel-oped that are anticipated to achieve the BTA’s tourism growth objectives. This council is ap-pointed and chaired by CEO or other C-Suite members.

• Investment Council—Primarily responsible for financial decisions, investing to achieve a fi-nancial return, specifically approving spend for loans and other funding, with some over-sight over strategic decisions. This council is appointed and chaired by the CEO or other C-suite members.

Madam Chairman, the outlook for tourism in

Bermuda for 2014 is very positive, and improvements are already being seen. Hotel occupancies for Janu-ary were up 6 per cent over 2013 and hotel Revenue


1624 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report per Available Room, which is a combination of hotel occupancy and the average daily rate charged per room, was up 12 per cent over last January.

The hotel pacing over the next 12 months is up 12.2 per cent from last year. The group room nights on the books for the next 12 months are pacing up 20per cent over the last year.

An efficient and hard-working BTA team, I be-lieve Madam Chairman, will bring even more positive results going forward.

Madam Chairman, I would like to first of all say that this has been a very challenging exercise—the transition to a Tourism Authority. I believe it is his-toric for Bermuda and I believe it will be the watershed for how tourism is managed. And I fundamentally be-lieve that we will see fantastic results going forward. We had been doing tourism the same way for dec-ades and we were not getting much in return of posi-tive results.

Madam Chairman, this is no fault of any par-ticular Government or no fault of any particular Minis-ter, but the Government fundamentally believes that the methodology of how tourism was managed and implemented was broken. And so we fundamentally believe that we needed to change the status quo.

And as you know, Madam Chairman, that is the mantra of this budget—that the status quo can no longer be considered satisfactory.

And so out of all of the Government’s initia-tives, I believe that the creation of the Bermuda Tour-ism Authority exemplifies no longer doing business like we used to do business. And so we are very ex-cited moving forward that we will see significant im-provements.

I would like to at this time thank the Chairman of the Board, Mr. David Dodwell, a former Member of this Honourable House and Minister of Tourism for his tireless efforts at creating this Authority and at the transition process. Mr. Dodwell, although I had to twist his arm a little bit at the beginning because he recog-nised that it was a yeoman’s task, he is a very busy man with businesses of his own that he must attend to, but let me say that he has not only worked hard, he has exceeded my expectations. And I can say with confidence that we would not be where we are today in the transition process had it not been for the com-mitment and hard work of Mr. Dodwell.

I would also l like to recognise the Permanent Secretary who is also here—my right-hand man, Mr. Francis Richardson—who has also put in a great deal of time. It has been extraordinary because, of course, the Ministry has many other departments that we must oversee and the transition and the creation of a Tour-ism Authority took up a tremendous amount of his time—weekends and nights—I was informed of five-hour meetings and the like that went on for months, Madam Chairman. This has not been a simple task. It has been very complicated and very difficult and he

has done that with great professionalism in addition to all of the other duties in this very challenging Ministry.

I would like to, of course, recognise, as I said earlier, the presence of Mr. Bill Hanbury in the Gallery in the House today behind me. He comes with many years—25-plus years—of experience. He was actually in Washington, DC in charge of their travel agency there right after 9/11 and had the enormous task of getting their tourism product back on track after . . . as you can imagine the fear that tourists had travelling to the US, particularly travelling to a region that was di-rectly hit by that unfortunate event and he did so suc-cessfully. And that is not the only destination that he had turned around.

The Honourable House would know that when I first talked about creating the Tourism Authority and what I was looking for particularly in a CEO—and let me state here that I did not choose the CEO, the Board of Directors chose the CEO, but I made it clear that I wanted someone who had experience in turning a destination around—and I think that everyone that I have spoken to has been extremely impressed by what Mr. Hanbury has brought to this task already. And I have to say to his that he has already passed his first major hurdle by doing extremely well on the Sherri J Show, or Sherri Simmons Show, last week Friday. So hats off to him and I wish him well.

I would also like to recognise the presence of Ms. Karla Lacey. She is now the Chief Operating Offi-cer. I am not sure exactly when she takes that position on full-time— [Desk thumping] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: (Acknowledgement of Miss Lacey by the House.)

She is the former CEO of the BHI and as I said earlier, Madam Chairman, I have had the oppor-tunity to work with her during all of the activities last year in April and she did a spectacular job. She ex-emplifies professionalism and high standards and we are thrilled that she has decided to come on board to lend her expertise to this endeavour. I would also like to recognise Miss Erin Smith, who is in the audience today as well, and who did a wonderful job in helping to put together this presenta-tion.

It would remiss of me, Madam Chairman, if I did not recognise Mr. William Griffith who served as the Director of Tourism for the past five years. He did so with a great passion. He was my right-hand in Tourism over the past year. I had the opportunity to travel with him. I spent a lot of time with him, and he has a great love for Bermuda and a passion. He worked extremely hard and I want to wish him well in his future endeavours and thank him for the service he provided his country.

With that, Madam Chairman, I will now open up comments to the other Honourable Members.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1625 The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. Are there any Members that would like to speak to Heads 48 and 33? The debate will conclude at 7:57. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Wayne L. Furbert. You have the floor. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. Madam Chairman, before I start I would like to have your permission—I am going to try to do some-thing different, I spoke to the Minister already about this. Instead of going through a presentation, I would like to have the opportunity of asking the Minister questions and sitting down and letting him respond. It may be a little bit unprecedented, but I would like to get that agreement from you and the Minister basically because this is a new body—the organisation is just in place—and I believe that it is important that the peo-ple of Bermuda at least have a clear understanding of the TA and where we are going from here. So if that is okay with you, I would appreciate it. The Chairman: Thank you, Member. We will— Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, a point of clarification before you make your ruling on that. I did speak . . . the Honourable Member did bring this idea to me prior to the commencement of the debate, I do not have an issue with it. My only concern is that if there are other Members who would like to speak to it this may truncate the time available to them. But I will defer to your guidance. The Chairman: Thank you. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: What I would love to do— The Chairman: Member! Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Sorry. The Chairman: Thank you. I have heard your request. You have had the liberty of speaking to me beforehand so I was aware of your request. And as I mentioned at that point it is imperative that we give all Members the opportunity, especially as we do have an Independent Member sitting in the room, that we do recognise . . . and I will be recognising individuals as the debate goes on should they choose to stand up and have questions themselves. Thank you, Member. The Chair now recognises, again, the Shadow Minister of Tourism.

Please proceed. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you. And I did have a discussion with the Honourable Member Terry Lister, and Terry being an accountant like myself— The Chairman: The Honourable Member. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I did say Honourable Mem-ber. I think the second part—you are right—I think I did. Like I said, Michael—sorry Michael. The Honour-able Michael Dunkley. But it is to have a . . . we understand numbers and it is like being on a board. A CFO brings informa-tion and it is important that Members throw informa-tion out to get some feedback. So I am hoping that Members will ask questions if they want to around the same topic that we are discussing at that time. The Chairman: Well— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I cannot stop them, and my side understands that I cannot stop the Honourable Members on that side. Now if they do it, trust me, I will not sit down the next time I stand up. The Chairman: Thank you, Member. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: So I am just saying that. The Chairman: Member? I will control the debate, but thank you for your input. Are Members generally in agreement with the way we should proceed?

Well, for those Members we are going to pro-ceed as requested. But I will point out that I will rec-ognise individuals should other individuals want to participate in the debate. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Understood, Madam Chair-man. Madam Chairman, let me say right up front, and I recognise the former Minister the Honourable David Dodwell; the CEO, Mr. William Hanbury; the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Francis, and my good friend Karla Lacey for . . . I am sorry, you know, I am going blank when it comes to . . . and my good friend, Rhonda Corn, will be happy, and Miss Smith (please forgive me for that. I was trying to think while I was standing here) for being here.

I have met with the Chairman, Mr. Hanbury, for a brief moment saying that the Progressive Labour Party will work with the TA because we believe at the end of the day we have got to make Tourism work. We accept that. But it does not stop us from asking questions during this debate and other debates and also during the engagement for the time to come if we see certain things that are happening.



As I said to them, do not be political because then it will be political. I believe the mistake about coming after the unions was political. If anybody wanted to say something, the Minister should have said it and not the CEO. Just a fair shot across the bow, but that is where I believe the person should have spoken. The Minister should have spoken, not the CEO, because he has a direct encounter or ensur-ing that Tourism benefits and he is responsible for Tourism. I expect the CEO and the Chairman and the rest of the Board to be in that room working ahead and being non-political as they had talked about. But once they become political, trust me, we become po-litical. That is how the game works in this town. Madam Chairman, let me just say right up front, the Honourable Minister said that the numbers will be up this year. Well, let me just say that it was not from the TA, let us make that very clear up front. I do not want anybody to be celebrating because we formed a TA—a Tourism Authority—that somebody heard in Boston that we had a TA and they all started flying in. It did not happen that way. It did not happen that way, all right? So let us make it clear it was from the hard staff that we had at the BDOT and the Hon-ourable Member said—it must have been the Minis-ter—well, the Minister understands one thing better the Honourable Member Michael Dunkley, who con-tinues to try to interpolate, and that is why he sits there because he has not been here for the whole discussion. The Chairman: You can focus on me. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am, but I will be focused on him and every time he opens up his— The Chairman: Be careful. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: —opens up his, you know, to talk— The Chairman: Opinion? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The whole thing is this, Madam Chairman, we know and everybody—no, maybe the Honourable Member Michael Dunkley does not know and some other Members do not know—but this is a special year. Why is it a special year? Because we have the Boston-Newport Race. Thousands of people come down to Bermuda—the Newport-Bermuda Race—all right? [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Where is it located?

So the problem is that that is one of the rea-sons why our numbers will be up this year. Let us be honest. Let us not say the numbers are up because

there is a new TA in town, it happened to be because there is a— Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am not finished. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of order, Madam Chairman. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Oh, boy. Re-start. The Chairman: Yes. If you would take your seat.

The Chair recognises the Minister.

POINT OF ORDER Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, the Honourable Member certainly is partly correct in terms of some of the pacing, but numbers being up in Janu-ary and other numbers that do not affect that particu-lar event are still very positive and do not include those individuals coming for the Newport-Bermuda Race. We have seen across the year improvement in numbers. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I . . . I— The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. You have the floor. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I accept that Madam Chair-man. That Newport-Bermuda Race has nothing to do with January. But if the Honourable Member would be clear that we expect and want them—as a matter of fact, the 6 per cent—we would rather have 12, 10, 20 per cent, let us make it very clear that we would love to have that happening. And maybe the Minister should have given us a better idea of why those num-bers are up. All right? Why were those numbers up? Not because they were just up. So we know that there are going to be a thousand people coming in for the Newport-Bermuda Race; that is one thing.

And the hotels in 2012 (and the Chairman will confirm this) were given a million dollars by the former Tourism Board to promote convention business in 2012, particularly the Southampton Princess. And we know their numbers are up for the convention busi-ness this year.

Maybe, Madam Chairman, maybe it is be-cause the sales and marketing that was done during that time (because they were not going to show up 2013 because they take time to plan their . . . they do not come the next year, they always plan their times ahead) so unless that million dollars was wasted, I would have thought that that money that was put in by


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1627 the Board at that time has some impact on the con-vention business this year.

So it is not because of a Tourism Authority, it is not because there is a new sheriff in town, but be-cause of some work that was done by the BDOT over that period. Now, we all know that the Tourism Author-ity is the baby of David Dodwell, Honourable Member David Dodwell. We all know that. Mr. Dodwell has been talking about Tourism Authority since I was— An Hon. Member: 1997. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: A long time. A long time. In fact, he should be knighted for doing that—being per-sistent.

I think at the end of the day that I will support it. He knows I supported a Tourism Authority. I may not support the total structure that the Government has put in place because if you look at every Tourism Authority around the world there is no one like us. Trust me. Unless he can prove it. Name one organisa-tion. Every one reports to the Minister. Report to the Minister, report to the Minister, report to the Minister. Every one. Singapore, Hawaii, reports to a Governor (I think it is), British Columbia reports, South Africa, Barbados, they all report to the Minister. And the Min-ister, at the end of the day, reports to the people. So to say your independent, you are a private enterprise, and we are giving you 87 per cent, 90 per cent of the funding—do not tell me you are private because if you are, we can just put this to zero right now and tell me whether you exist.

We could vote zero right now and tell me that board will be able to survive. No, they will not! So do not talk about private. Who owns it? Who are the shareholders? That is what private means to me. It is a body that operates and the Minister is giving them some responsibilities, but the Chairman still reports to the Ministers to a certain agree. He appoints them. And as much as he appoints them, he calls them in. Those conversations happen all the time. Every Minis-ter knows that they appoint a certain chairman, you have a little brief conversation. The chairman, I do not think it is going quite this way. You should make some other changes. Now, the chairman could not listen, he could change them, whatever. But he will not renew it after three years. That is how it works. So there is influence by the Minister over the chairman who has influence over the CEO, who has influence over the board. That is how the game is played. So, let us not say that this board . . . I am tired of hearing that this board is pri-vate. We gave them the right and we can take it away.

I will make it very clear. When we get back in we are making some changes. We are making some changes. However long it may take. It may take six months to three years. But those changes will take place. At the end of the day the people—the board—is more accountable to the people. That is all we are

asking for. They can run the operation. We have no problem with that. Matter of fact, I will say that if you look at the Tourism Board Act and the Tourism Au-thority Act—there was not much difference. They can say whatever they want.

But they can buy buildings without the re-sponsibility or responding to the Minister. They can to certain things but the structure overall is pretty much the same. Not much different. I believe, Madam Chairman, that Mr. Hanbury could have come and been the OT and done the same thing. The strategic, the implementation, the strategies, could have been done whether he is BDOT or whether he is a Tourism Authority. We could have changed those same people they have on the board—we could have put them on the Tourism Board.

So it is not a solace that all of a sudden we have this Tourism Authority. It is going to save the world. It is going to save Bermuda. People in Toledo, Ohio are going to wake up and say, There is a Tour-ism Authority let me go to Bermuda. It is not going to happen. It is going through the sales and marketing, all those things that they talked about that they are going to do, that is going to take place. The strategies that are being worked on . . . I wish them all the best, whatever they do, because we want to get people, we want to get hotels here, we want to get more people on the ground, we want to get our people working.

I benefit from the Tourism Authority. I declare my interest. I rent out two of my units at my house to tourists. But I am for all those hotels because I am like my good friend, my cousin, Kenny Bascome, Honour-able Member Kenneth Bascome. When they come to my house I shake their hands the old Bermudian way. I take them by the gas station. I take them to the mar-ket place, pick up their groceries, buy them some eggs from the Honourable Michael Dunkley. An Hon. Member: And milk. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: And milk (I am trying to stay away from milk).

But my point is, that is the old Bermudian way. That is why they came to Bermuda over the years. Not because of a Tourism Authority. They were wel-comed by Bermudians—visitors.

Well, my cousin keeps on reminding me. He is absolutely right. I have a couple leaving tomorrow and another couple just wrote me to come in on Thursday and another one coming in tomorrow—tomorrow and Thursday. They are not coming here because—no—they are coming here . . . do you know why? Because my reviews are good. Look at my reviews. People are commenting about Bermuda and about how I take them out—I do that purposely.

My wife hardly even sees them. She goes up in her room and goes to sleep or reads a book. I am the one there. I went to see them last night because I knew I would be here. I went downstairs and said


1628 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Hey, you know, I am not going to be able to see you tomorrow. How did you enjoy Bermuda? They told me they loved it! As cold as it was, they said they loved it. I am coming back and I am bringing my friends and guess where I am staying? At your place. My other friend will stay in the other unit. That is what it is going to take. It is going to take Bermudians. I will get to it later on. So we know that.

We know—everyone has been involved in the tourism side—the Honourable Kenny Bascome—when you go down to St. George's, he has seen some of the people. He said, I saw the mayor how he spoke to us and how he did all these things. It is because that is what happens. It is not because they said, Wow, you have a great Tourism Authority. No. It is about the people that are on the ground. It is the peo-ple that are on the ground that wins wars.

The generals are sitting back there on Reid Street and they will be making some trips through. But that smile from a Bermudian, that hello from a Ber-mudian, that good morning, good afternoon, good night, that is what has gotten us here. Now where did we go wrong? We went wrong way back in 1980. That is when the numbers started to decrease in tourism. It was booming. Had the problem at the hospital, the United Bermuda Party (which I was a member of) took their eyes off tourism and no other person on that side can deny it.

I remember the Honourable Member Jim Woolridge saying, You gave me hardly any money for tourism. No, because it was focusing their whole trend on international business. That was not where they were going. And let me tell you something, we would not be here talking about tourism right now if interna-tional business was up, because . . . when did we start talking about it? In 2007, 2008. That is when we woke up and said, Oops! We need another leg to stand on. But if the money was flowing like interna-tional business, and hiring up people . . . the Honour-able Member, former Premier, Sir David Gibbons, was the one that started saying IB is where we should be going. And every Premier from then on said “IB” and we went off to IB. So numbers started to decrease.

The Honourable Member was the former Min-ister of Tourism. He knows that. You had the “Let yourself go” campaign to try and attract more people here. Every Minister has tried it. The Honourable Member Premier Ewart Brown got caught up right at that time, that period, and his numbers were kind of going up. I think in 2006/07 it was going up. But guess what happened. The bottom fell out and our major market in the United States started to withdraw.

Well, all we need is 400,000. We were getting 235,000. Has anybody ever asked that question? All we need is 400,000. Now we are up. Our summer months are good. Our summer months are good—80 per cent, 85 per cent occupancy maybe. It is that winter period. I will say, even if the 2,500 to 5,000 beds that I think we have were full every day, we

would have 1,300,000 visitor bed nights. That is a lot. Even with the numbers that we have, you would not even need a hotel, if they were full every night. We could make all that space a green pasture.

But we need it because in the summer time planes are coming in half empty because our rooms are full. So we have concentrated . . . and I have not heard the Minister talk about what we are doing in the off season. That is the key because that is the secret behind our success. I know sports tourism . . . I heard a little about golf. I want to know what is happening after August and September. Every Minister has tried it. So I take my hat off to the Tourism Authority if those numbers come up. We want them to come up. But what difference will they do? So, that is kind of my introduction, Madam Chairman, because you notice I have not actually really asked any questions yet. But here is the first one.

All right, I did talk about the private enterprise and I said the reason why we are giving a grant of $23 million to this board. I think it is $23 million and they want to tell me they are private. Well, let us vote down that $23 million and tell me how private they get. It will not happen. But my heart goes out because I want to make sure Bermudians are functioning and so we all support the grant. There is no doubt that we will sup-port it. In fact, I am surprised that it is less than what we the BDOT had last year. I am surprised at that. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, no, no. We’ll get to salaries in a few minutes. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, they did not cut any salaries.

And we knew that the guest fees (or whatever they call themselves now) get about 2.5 per cent rack rate. Now, that was an idea that I thought of when I was the Minister of Tourism. Do you know why? Be-cause they were getting “X” amount of percentage and it was going to the Bermuda Hotel Association. I said, No, no, I am going to grab that money and put it into the Board. That is how it came about. That is how it really came about. So we are talking about 87 [per cent] to 90 per cent of funding comes from the people. Yet they want to tell they are private. I do not ever want to hear that—

POINT OF ORDER Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of order, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Your point of order?


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1629 Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I was waiting for the question so I could respond, but we have consistently said that this is a semi-private entity. We have made it clear that the private component is the management structure of it and that, as I said in the brief, is the as-piration that it will be fully private particularly through this financing in three to five years. So we have never said, as of today, that this is a private entity. The Chairman: Thank you. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman— The Chairman: Member, the Chair recognises the— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Sorry, I was— The Chairman: That is all right. That is okay. I think by the time we finish you will have remembered. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. I am not going to debate semi-private or pri-vate. This is the first time I have heard the word semi-private. First time I have heard it termed. I could check Bernews, Royal Gazette, I can tell you right now, the Honourable Member David Dodwell said private. And I can read it from Bernews—which I will read it in a few minutes. Okay, he is the Chairman, he is the one run-ning that Authority. But the Honourable Member David Dodwell said it is a private— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I heard the CEO on Sherri's Show. I will get the tape and play it here. He said pri-vate!

So the Minister has not been talking to his board. They said private. Now, you can write a note to him, but they both said it. Now they are the ones run-ning the show—not the Minister. Now maybe he thought it was semi-private. But they are telling him. No, no, you are not in the business—we are in charge. We are the private, and that was done by the Honourable David Dodwell in Bernews and the CEO on Sherri's Show. Now, I will end that part. Now, Tourism Authority—

POINT OF ORDER Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, point of order. I would like for the Honourable Member— The Chairman: The Chairman recognises the Minis-ter.

Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: —to reference. He has made reference to two separate—one publication and one was a radio interview. I know that consistently it has been stated privately managed organisation. If the Honourable Member is going to stand here and make these references, he should quote them. The Chairman: Thank you. Member? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: All right, I am not going to spend too long on it, Madam Chairman, because it is not worth the effort to . . . but they did say it and I could get to it if you want me to.

But let me just say this. So we have a Tourism Authority. It came through this House, was passed, the legislation, September 28th, 2013. Matter of fact, if you will recall, Madam Chairman, it lasted until 5:00 am in the morning. A long debate on this particu-lar topic. The Senate passed it on October 7th and the Governor assented to it on October 9th which, to me . . . October the 9th. I have to verify it— The Chairman: That is okay, Member. Please pro-ceed. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Which means that the Minis-ter is aware that a Bill does not pass until the Gover-nor has given his assent. So it really means the Tour-ism Board Act was in place as of October the 9th, 2013.

Here is the question, the first question: In the Tourism Board Act 2012 guests had to pay 2.5 per cent of the rack rate to the hotel (which is con-sidered a guest fee) and the amount has to be paid by hoteliers every quarter according to the Act. If they did not pay it, they were guilty of an offence and liable on conviction by a court of summary jurisdiction to a fine not exceeding $10,000. The Chairman: And that is under the Act. Right? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes.

Here is the question. Can the Minister confirm to me whether all hotels had paid their rack rate, their guest fee, on a timely basis? The Chairman: Thank you, Member. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Madam Chairman. A direct answer to the question is no. There are hotel properties that are in arrears as it relates to this payment. That was the subsisting position when we became the Government, but I am pleased to say that a substantial amount of those arrears have been collected since the Chairman, Mr. Dodwell, took over


1630 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report the BTA—over $1 million, I understand, was collected on arrears. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, interesting. It says it shall be guilty—not may, but shall be guilty—and so what is the Board doing to collect that million dollars?

What is the Board doing to collect that million dollars? Because they shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction by a court of summary of-fence for a fine of $10,000. Matter of fact, under the current Board it is $50,000 fine. And what am I saying to you Madam Chairman? Hotels are collecting 2.5 per cent from guests, our visitors, and the money does not belong to them (hotels, that is), it belongs to the country. So what are they doing with the money? They should not be using it as operating costs be-cause we give them payroll tax and every other tax reduction.

So do not tell me at the end of the day that the chairman is collecting . . . because I know he is a ho-telier, and I do not want to ask personally whether his hotel is one of them. But there is a conflict of interest here. If it was another chairman, I would have asked that question. But I am not going to put my friend on the line.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of clarification, Madam Chairman, if the Honourable Member would yield. The Chairman: Please proceed. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you. Again, I just want to be clear. I did not say that there is a million in arrears. I said that a million was collected since the appointment of the chairman for the Authority and that the chairman's property is up to date in the payment of this particular fee. The Chairman: Thank you. Although that question was not asked, there was a reference to, so I am glad you— Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, I think it is important, since it was alluded to, that it be clari-fied. The Chairman: Thank you very much. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: But Madam Chairman, do people realise who was the Chair of the Tourism Board? The same Chairman. So why did he not col-lect it when he was Chairman of the Tourism Board?

POINT OF ORDER Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of order, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Point of order? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, the Honourable Member knows that the Chairman of the Board was the Honourable Maxwell Burgess. And when I appointed the current chair, I appointed him as the chair designate of the Tourism Authority. And to facilitate the transition, he took over as chairman of the board. Upon his appointment, it became the focus, based on conversations, that we had to collect the arrears of the tourism guest fee which was not being collected under the previous administration. The Chairman: Thank you very much. The Chair recognises— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman— The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Sorry. The Chairman: I just want to make sure that you un-derstand the reason why I would like to acknowledge you is so that— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, I hear, I do. The Chairman: All right. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am sorry, Madam Chair-man. The Chairman: That is okay. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I apologise. The Chairman: Please proceed. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Is this not ironic? Ironic! The Honourable Member Maxwell Burgess was Chairman up to a point. The Honourable Member appointed the Honourable Member, David Dodwell, Chairman and all of a sudden the Honourable Member David Dod-well started collecting these outstanding fees. I do not want to ask the question, but his hotel was one of the hotels that they were collecting from. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I just answered that. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I do not want to ask that question, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: But Member, I do—


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1631 Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: But they forced me to do it. The Chairman: But Member, we have actually just heard that those particular hotel payments have been made in full. I think that clarifies the question. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Sorry. Madam Chairman, you are missing the point.

The point is this: Did the Honourable Member only pay his hotel fees when he became Chairman of the Board of the Tourism Authority? Because up to that point the question was, Were the Honourable Member's fees outstanding? An Hon. Member: I do not know. The Chairman: Member? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, I have answered the question that the property that is related to the Chairman is up to date. If the Honourable Member wants to have a private conversation with that Member based on when he was the Minister, he can do so. The Chairman: Thank you. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: But when I was the Minis-ter, we had a focus on ensuring that the arrears were paid and I am pleased to say that the majority of them have been paid. The Chairman: Thank you. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well— The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. I will say that the Honourable Member should not have a private word with me. I will actually have a private word with the chairman. The Chairman: Please proceed. Please proceed on the questioning. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Not with me. The Chairman: Member, please proceed with your questioning. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: A private word with the— The Chairman: Member, please proceed with your questioning.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am. I am. I am saying he should not ask me. The Chairman: We have actually heard that. Please proceed. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, he should ask the cur-rent Chairman. The Chairman: Member, if you do not want to pro-ceed—we have actually heard that. Please proceed with your next question. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Hold on, Madam Chairman. Madam Chair— The Chairman: Yes? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I have the right on my feet to ask any questions. The Chairman: We have heard the same question, though. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, you did not. No you did not. I said the Honourable Member— The Chairman: Excuse me? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: You did not, Madam Chair-man. The Honourable Member said that if I want to have a private word with him I could. The Chairman: Correct. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I suggested that he did not need to have a private word with me. He needs to have a private word with the former Chairman. The Chairman: I heard that. Thank you. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I just want to make sure that he hears it. Thank you. All right. But it still does not answer the ques-tion, Madam Chairman. If there are fees outstanding by hotels right now, What is the Board doing? Be-cause under the Act they are liable and it says shall—in other words, the payroll tax comes up on April 15th. I understand that the fees outstanding from January to March, but no one should be outstanding prior to De-cember to January 1. So, let me ask this question, Are there any hotels whose fees are outstanding as of January 1—prior? The Chairman: Thank you. Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you Madam Chairman.


1632 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report As stated earlier, yes, there are properties that are not up to date, Madam Chairman. If the Au-thority . . . the Authority is taking the appropriate measure to help to encourage these properties to come up to date. The legislation does not state that upon a certain time then there is going to be an auto-matic writ granted. If the Authority has to go and en-force the Act to take a particular property before the court, then that is a separate matter. But right now the Authority is proceeding with a particular process to help encourage and work with the hotels to become up to date. The same way the Government does so (the Honourable Member would know) as it relates to Hotel Occupancy Tax. There are similar penalties as it relates to being delinquent with Hotel Occupancy Tax. But we work with the hotels because we understand their challenges and we try our best to make sure that they do pay, be compliant, in a way that is not harmful to the property. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman, I will leave that point alone from there on, but what I want to say is that the money that the hotels collect is in trust. They are entrusted. They collect payroll tax, they collect all these things—matter of fact, they do not pay payroll tax. But Occupancy Tax—it is in trust! They should not be used for buying chewing gum. They should not be used for operating costs. That is not the purpose. The purpose is that they should be using it and paying . . . when the money is collected, it should go in a trust and the money should then be paid to the Government. It is not their money. It is not.

I understand if it was operating costs and we were charging a percentage of the profit—that is clear. But they are collecting money from guests and then you are using it to pay for operating costs. That is not right! That is the point I am trying to make. All right? That is the point I am trying to make. So, I hope the Minister will look into that. Now, let us talk about salary. I am sure you will realise that was going to come up today. The Chairman: You did give us a heads up. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: But why should we . . . let me make a statement by the Honourable Member David Dodwell. He said that the intent of the Author-ity— The Chairman: Where are you reading it from, if you do not mind? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The Bernews. The Chairman: Thank you.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: "The intent of the Authority is to function with as much transparency as possible. We want all of Bermuda to be aware of what we are doing, why we are doing it and how it will impact tour-ism." Except one thing he put in here—except to tell people's salaries.

Why should we not know what the salaries of the executives are? Why should we not know?

Now, I have heard some Members say, Well, you did not tell us what the hospital was. You did not tell us what the BMA was. Okay, you are in position now—tell us. It is not about tit for tat. We should know. It should not be a secret and that is the biggest part that came out. When you try to hide these things, the public starts asking more questions. Do not use the excuse that . . . and this is one thing they said. Here is what he said why the CEO’s salary is not being re-vealed—"The most important assets of the BTA are its team members. Particularly those in senior positions." This is Bernews [February 14], 2014— The Chairman: Thank you. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: "For us to reveal any confi-dential details of employment would simply be feeding competitive information to those who are competing against us."

What does that mean? "We are in the process of hiring other execu-

tive and staff positions right now. If any of those appli-cants were informed that the details of their remunera-tion were going to be revealed by the media, many of them would probably walk away from their applica-tion."

Nonsense! Nonsense! What are we talking about here? We are not going to be competitive be-cause someone knew the salary?

Check this out, Madam Chairman. Let me just say that Mr. Hanbury has an impressive résumé, which I agree. But can someone tell me they do not know what the Governor gets paid? If you do not, you can look in the [Budget] Book right now and let me tell you what it is—$215,000.

Can someone tell me what the Premier gets? $207,000. The Ministers—the Minister is full time—$156,000. No secret. No one is making a fuss. Chief Fire Officer—$150,000. The Lieutenant Colonel—$155,000. The Commissioner of Police—$169,000.

So we know the highest person paid out of the public funds . . . Sorry that is absolutely wrong. In the public service I should say is $215,000, the Governor. Why should we not know what the CEO and the other executives make? And they said . . . and I like Mr. Hanbury. But on the Sherri Show he says that some might want . . . during the interview a person said to him or to the committee, Is my salary going to be known? It was like, I am not going to come work for you. They are out the door. What is that? Because somebody knows what your salary is? Everybody


http://bernews.com/2013/12/bermuda-tourism-authority-launches-website/

http://bernews.com/2014/02/tourism-minister-on-more-pink-bta-ceo-costs/

Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1633 knows what the parliamentarians get. Everybody knows what the Governor gets. But the CEO and the Board will not reveal what the CEO gets. Well, Madam Chairman, why?

Here is a Parliamentary Question put by Mr. Gino Cauchi who asked the Prime Minister the de-tailed remuneration package that other related bene-fits enjoyed by the Chairman and CEOs of Authorities in Malta. In Malta. Okay? Someone asked the ques-tion. They came back and said that the Malta CEO gets $105,000, plus performance bonus, up to a maximum of $17,000, a free car, a free phone, first-class air tickets and accommodations outside Malta anytime he is on official business. And t and medical insurance both in Malta and abroad. If Malta knows, why should we not know?

The Hawaii Tourism Authority, which my Hon-ourable friend David Dodwell loves to quote quite of-ten . . . I do not have the exact number but as of 2011, he was making $194,000, Mr. Michael McCartney. Here we go. Knoxville executive in the Authority makes $411,000. Las Vegas—$409,000. Head of Los Angeles Convention—$535,000. San Francisco—$441,000. San Diego—$435,000. Greater Philadel-phia—$389,000. Washington, DC—$344,000. But we cannot find out what our CEO of our Tourism Authority is making because they are private.

They are private? Madam Chairman, I know I asked early on

about the salaries and I asked the Minister what is his salary for. And he said I can add them up. That is not my responsibility to add them up—that is for his tech-nical people to add up those numbers. What is the total salaries paid out—salaries and benefits—paid out on behalf of the Tourism Authority? Total. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you Honour-able Chairman. Based on the five divisions of the Authority, the total salary, including the benefits (and these are also for potential roles), is $6,268,714.

I would like to also say based on the Honour-able Member's comments in terms of the reasoning—we have stated it consistently. The issue was not [that] it would make us not competitive, but, as he just mentioned, I believe it was in Malta they had an incen-tive plan. I believe what the chairman was stating in that article was that the compensation structure is di-vided between a base salary and various incentives. And we think it is quite innovative.

And so when he said that he did not want to reveal that, he did not want to give away to the com-petitors the actual structure that we have in place, we believe that we have (as the Honourable Member has stated) an exemplary CEO in place. We are thrilled to have Mr. Hanbury and our salary structure is com-

mensurate to the industry, but clearly you do not at-tract individuals like Mr. Hanbury. And we felt that it was important, and it was a decision of the Board of Directors that we not disclose the personal information of these individuals' employment. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. What I am saying is it is wrong. That is my point.


Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of order, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: And you point of order is? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: My point of order is the Honourable Member is misleading the House in say-ing that it is wrong. The Honourable Member was the Minister of Business Bermuda and did not disclose the salary of that CEO. An Hon. Member: Oh! Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: That salary of that CEO has never been disclosed. He was the Minister of that agency and the Government provides the funding. So he understands that these entities do not disclose the personal information particularly compensation of their executives. He protected that when he was the Minis-ter! So he cannot get up here now and say it is wrong. An Hon. Member: Yes, he can. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: He is out of line.

Well, you know what is interesting is that the other side is now very . . . it is common in getting up— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman— Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No, you want to do it this way; we are going to do it this way. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman— Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I am on my feet, Madam Chairman. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, he cannot. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: The Honourable Mem-ber—it is not a point of order.


1634 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report The Chairman: I would like—thank you. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Okay. The other side likes to get up here now and say what they did for 14 years was wrong. That is hypocrisy. That is hypocrisy at its worst by the Honourable Member, the [Shadow] Finance Minister, likes to get up here and speak hy-pocrisy in this House. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman, the Hon-ourable Member . . . you know something? He is a friend of mine. But something is forgotten. It was that Government that hired the CEO of BDA—not me. An Hon. Member: Yes, but you were the Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No I was not. No, that gen-tleman did not last six months. The gentleman who just left only lasted six months which was under— The Chairman: Just focus on the— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am, Madam Chairman, but when we was talking he did not say anything. Let me say this. That CEO of the Bermuda Development Agency . . . that is why the Minister left, because he knew very well . . . came under the Honourable Mem-ber Grant Gibbons. An Hon. Member: No. An Hon. Member: No previous CEOs. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The Honourable Member of the . . . no, it was not. No, it was not. You see you have it—the Bermuda Development— The Chairman: You are—

POINT OF ORDER Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of order, Madam Chairman. I did not say the Bermuda Business Devel-opment Agency. I said Business Bermuda which was under that Honourable Member. The Chairman: You did. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: You know, the Honourable Member, he does not know. He does not know. An Hon. Member: The Government gave them money? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: We gave them—

The Chairman: We actually—Member. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Honourable Member. The Chairman: Members! Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Honourable Member, we gave them a grant of about $2,250,000. Okay? I did not remember and the Member can go back to Han-bury [sic] or any other thing. I do not . . . I am calling it “Hanbury” because I am tying him with Mr. Hanbury. But my point is this—Hansard. My point is this: He can go back to any of those reports he will never find— The Chairman: The Honourable Member, the Hon-ourable Member. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The Honourable Member—he will never find where he asked me or anybody else asked me what the CEO of Business Bermuda made. Never! An Hon. Member: Did you disclose it? The Chairman: Member, Member, just focus on me. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The Honourable Member is saying, Did I disclose it? It was never asked and it does not come under any Heads. All right?

We had a grant and the Member that asked me, because he was not the Minister (I am not sure who the Shadow was, but whoever) . . . they never asked me that question. I would not know. I did not want to be the one . . . and they never reported to us. They reported to another body.

As a matter of fact, trust me, Madam Chair-man, if it ran under us we would have removed that body a long time ago. But we had to fight through all the bureaucracy within that group and other things to get the formation of Bermuda Development Agency. But maybe the Honourable Member who now gives them a lot more money . . . the Minister should reveal to us what he . . . because we asked him. First of all, we asked why he left—six months. Six is all, Madam Chairman. We had a gentleman come here from BDA with a big résumé and everybody said he would come and save the world. And he left. Now we have a Chief Financial Officer who came from overseas who was supposed to save the education. Now we are hearing that he has two jobs. The Chairman: Member, are we going to try to stay to Tourism? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, I am going to use this point. I hope Mr. Hanbury stays here for (and I have told him) a long period of time getting Bermuda on board, too, I have told him that. I hope he is here. But what we do is we undermine Bermudians in all facets


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1635 of our economy. We are not good enough. We are not good enough. And I am sick and tired of it. But we are willing to take anybody from overseas—anything that comes from overseas is good, better— The Chairman: Member, can we stay focused on— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am. I am. Talking about the CEO is not a Bermudian. We are talking about the money that we are giving to help pay for salaries you will not tell me. Not only salary, does he get free hous-ing? Does he get travel? Is it first class, business or economy? Does he get a phone? Does he get a car? Does he get—I do not know—food? I do not know. But the Board should have a responsibility to tell me. So that is why I did it, Madam Chairman.

The average salary for the BDOT was $81,000. Do you know what the average salary is for this group? $164,000—average. Yes, it is. $6 million divided by 38—unless there is another number. Last week you told me it was 38—$164,000. An Hon. Member: Wow. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Do you know what the aver-age salary is for the operation for 12 staff? $171,000—average! [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: But they do not want to talk about that. They do not want to talk about that. They try to, you know . . . being in accounting we want, you know . . . I would have liked to have seen some num-bers down telling me . . . I am not going to reorder stuff and break it down and have to run outside and add up the numbers. That is why he said I was getting my dinner. [Laughter] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I had the same numbers he did. I just wanted him to confirm it. But the average salary (I want it so the people of Bermuda can hear the average salary for the Bermuda Tourism Author-ity) is $164,000. That is not the average for the Gov-ernment, you know. We are down in the five digits. The average salary for the operation which included the CEO and the top level is $171,000. It is either someone is making a lot of money and somebody is making a little money and they are averaging out. But somewhere along the line either one is an average of $171,000.

Now, I could be wrong, but we will not know because they will not tell us, but we have a responsi-bility. We will be giving them $23 million approved by the end of tonight. But let me just make very clear—if they are all in positions when we get back in office, I will float back into Parliament and let everybody in this

House know what the salary he is getting. So if they are not there in two years, maybe six months, I can promise you that number will be known. No chairman and no board will ever tell the Progressive Labour Party that they are not going to tell what the taxpayers paid. An Hon. Member: Yes, sir. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Never. [Inaudible interjections] The Chairman: Member, Member. [Inaudible interjections] An Hon. Member: For 14 years they did it! The Chairman: Member. [Inaudible interjections] The Chairman: Member, no— [Inaudible interjections] [Gavel] The Chairman: We are going to . . . now if the Mem-ber who is standing to his feet would like to continue— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am, but I am waiting— The Chairman: I would love to hear you. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: But the Honourable Member is trying to— The Chairman: You have my full attention. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am just—I asked a ques-tion, so I am going to ask the Honourable Member Terry Lister (I think) wants to ask a question. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Honourable Mem-ber, Mr. T. E. Lister, from Sandys South. You have the floor. Hon. Terry E. Lister: Thank you, Madam Chairman. You know, this is a budget debate. The Chairman: Yes, it is. Hon. Terry E. Lister: We do not normally have heat in budget debates. There is a lot of heat here. [Inaudible interjections]


1636 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report The Chairman: This one is a little bit different. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Terry E. Lister: Not in this. The Chairman: Please proceed. Hon. Terry E. Lister: So I would like to change the subject a little bit just to calm it down. The Chairman: As long as we stay under Tourism, we will be fine. Hon. Terry E. Lister: Yes. Just calm it down. I believe these gentlemen and ladies have a very challenging job ahead of them. I believe returning Bermuda to the heyday of tourism is going to be very difficult. One of the things that has been of concern to me and many other Bermudians has been the unwill-ingness (seemingly) of hotels and others to embrace Bermudian entertainers.

I had a good friend of mine, Bermudian, who was at the Southampton Princess as a musician for 12 years. And for 12 years he had an annual contract that paid straight pay—no benefits of any sort. And finally he moved to Canada in the last year. He is not here anymore. To me, that was extremely disappoint-ing and there was no way I could convince him to stay. He had to go.

I would like the Minister to tell us what the plan is for Bermudian entertainment to get us back in this business because without that it is going to be very hard to sell the tourists on the Bermudian experi-ence. You have heard me say before, Madam Chair-man, there are many beautiful beaches in this world and there are many places that have better setups on the beach. You can do all sorts of things on the beach on the regular (without special permission) that you cannot do in Bermuda. So it is time for us to make some changes. Not put a board in place. The board is fine. I am not going to fuss with the board. Let us do some things that give a real Bermudian flavour that can get us back in the business. Make Bermuda dif-ferent.

You know, we sang that song for so long that we convinced ourselves—Bermuda is another world—and now we realise it is not true anymore. So if you want to get back into a premier position, we have to make that song almost true. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Madam Chairman, and thank you to the Honourable Member. I do not disagree with anything that the Hon-ourable Member stated. We certainly recognise—I

think all Bermudians recognise—that the dearth of local entertainment is a problem as it relates to our tourism industry. And it has been a problem that has been in existence for some time now.

When people travel . . . in fact, I had a gen-tleman [from] overseas who is a high net worth indi-vidual who has a group of friends that golf on a weekly basis. He lives in New York. I met him and he said that on Monday or Tuesday he and his friends will look at the weather for the upcoming weekend in nearby jurisdictions like Florida or the Dominican Re-public or North Carolina and he has two criteria—one, quality golf courses; and two, entertainment at night. And he said, Minister, you only have one. You meet one of the criteria and we are not going to come. We have money. We want to spend it.

So one of the reasons why we are introducing casino gaming in Bermuda is because we believe that will fill part of that void of lack of entertainment. We hope that that would also be the catalyst to help open up the door for entertainment opportunities and op-tions. But the whole point of having this new product development and experience division is to look at how we can create more experiences—particularly get our Bermudian entertainers working again so that when our visitors come they can have an authentic Ber-mudian experience. So I agree with the Honourable Member. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises Mr. T. E. Lister from constituency 33. You have the floor. Hon. Terry E. Lister: Madam Chairman, I want to congratulate the Minister on shining up that crystal ball. He actually answered the question I was going to ask, roundabout. My question was, What is this au-thentic visitor experience? I have heard about it; read about it. I do not know what it is. This authentic (what is it called?) . . . the authentic experience that visitors want. Who is responsible for developing it? When we see it, how will we recognise it? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you. Again, I think that this will fall under the prod-uct development and experience division recognising the importance—an authentic experience is an ex-perience you do not get elsewhere.

As the Honourable Independent Member said earlier, you know, we have beautiful beaches, we have wonderful summers, but you can find that in many other destinations. So we have not been able to differentiate ourselves from our competitors over the last few decades. People say, Where can I go for the same experience maybe at a reduced cost? We have


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1637 to create an authentic Bermudian experience. I mean, people come here . . . I have had an individual, Tony Jacklin, for example. He is a golfer that has travelled the world. He came to Bermuda and based on how we are now he said this is the best Island nation he has ever come to. He just loved it. It was beautiful.

We had Lisa Leslie come here for a women's sports event last year—another person who has trav-elled the world. She said the same thing—that this is the most beautiful Island she has ever been to and is looking forward to bringing her friends. So we have to take a wonderful product that we have—and I believe we all agree it is a wonderful product—and then we have to add the amenities to it that can make it uniquely Bermudian so that those tourists can have that authentic experience. So that is what the BTA will be charged to do so that we can do things differently than we have done the last 20 years. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. You have the floor. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you. Some of the questions I was going to ask also regarding entertainment . . . I would have hoped that the Minister would have laid out some of the (because summer is fast approaching) entertainment that the board would expect to be doing during the summer season. I would have thought by now somebody would have made some decisions on how the enter-tainment is going to take place.

I suggested one thing to the former Minister, the Chairman, Mr. Hanbury, is that maybe on a Friday evening we can call it "Dancing on Front Street." Let us have some fun. Same as we have on Wednesday night, Harbour Night, but Dancing on the Street. Just dancing, get down there—and I have taken it from the idea from the 24th of May. The 24th of May when peo-ple were waiting for the parades, a lot of people are dancing on Front Street and it is fun. So maybe we could keep the stores open and get the right . . . maybe have some of the dancers that come out. I do not think you would need ballet, but you know all the jazz or whatever and dance and get the participation from our audience. I think that is one thing you may want to suggest, that you want to look at. Madam Chairman, Can the Minister let us know who has contracts right now from the board? Who are they and how much are those contracts? Is the Minister able to tell us who they are? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I am unable to answer that question at this time.

The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Education, Mr. C. Walton D. Brown. You have the floor. Mr. Walton Brown: Yes, good evening, Madam Chairman. Just one question for the Honourable Minister. Minister, Can you advise us whether or not the board has determined any criteria or measures of success? Obviously, we want to see improvement in numbers but there are likely to be some interim measures as well which indicate that process is being made. So, can you speak to the issue of measurement of suc-cess and also the timeframe for achieving that suc-cess? Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Madam Chairman. Absolutely, there will be other governance documents. We have them now. It was an extensive process to set goals and objectives for the organisa-tion going forward. I did say in my brief that they will have internal audits as well to make sure that they are meeting certain targets. So in terms of the timeframe, I can consult with the board or the CEO to ascertain exactly when they expect to have certain benchmarks achieved. But we do have governance documents as to how we can go about implementing the National Tourism Plan which is the fundamental blueprint for the organisation and if you reference the plan you would ascertain there are quite a few benchmarks in the plan as well and the board will be following that plan very carefully. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I will give way to the Hon-ourable Member if he wants to ask a question. The Chairman: Thank you. An Hon. Member: No, I do not want to ask a ques-tion. Go ahead. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the one individ-ual that is standing and that is the Shadow Minister of Tourism. You have the floor. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, I do not understand why the Minister cannot give us—he has all his tech-


1638 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report nical people sitting next to him—what the contracts are. Name three. Must be one of them they know. What are some of the contracts that the board has given out (since they have been board Members) and how much are they? I do not understand why they cannot name a few. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, the Honourable Member asked me— The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: He asked me for all of the contracts and the value. I do not have that number and I am not going to sit here and cherry-pick any par-ticular contract. We can have a conversation about that and either the CEO or the board can provide that information to the Honourable Member if they so de-sire. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Let me just say, Madam Chairman, at the BDOT he would know. It normally was about four contracts that I can think of—so there is not a lot of them—PR, the ad agency, the agency in London—this young lady that was a consultant out of Canada. I am just saying are those the same peo-ple—

POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of clarification. Now that the Honourable Member has framed the question differently— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No, you said all of the contracts that will be in addition to— The Chairman: Member, please speak to the Chair-man. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: First of all, the Honour-able Member consistently makes reference to the De-partment of Tourism. We are no longer operating un-der the same structure as the Department of Tourism.

Again, we are fulfilling the mandate of not maintaining the status quo. So any reference or com-parison to the Department of Tourism there will be variances and differences. But, clearly, for transition purposes, the BTA has extended all of the contracts (it is my understanding) with the major marketing and sales companies, ad agencies, the ones in Italy and Germany and the UK—all of them—because of their

knowledge of the destination and because of the con-tinuity that is required. They have been extended. Now, in terms of any new contractual relation-ships, I will not know the answer to that and I am sure that the contracts—the remuneration will be in line with the existing contracts as they were prior to the BTA coming into existence. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, the Honourable Mem-ber can recall those contracts that came over from BDOT and they took them out. I am surprised that with all the top guns sitting around him he cannot mention at least one or two contracts that are new. I just find it quite odd. Go ahead; just get somebody, the Permanent Secretary, to write down the numbers and who they were. There cannot be that many more addition. If there are, then we should know. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: There are not any ma-jor— The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: That was easy. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, well, I was not sure—obviously, they could hire people to do other— The Chairman: I only have one person standing at a time. Please, take your seat so we can hear the an-swer. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman, I was standing and he just stood up. The Chairman: Member, would you like to take your seat, so we can hear the answer? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, to just answer the question there are no additional major contracts. Obviously, there were some contracts in terms of the transition process of the BTA. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Chair-man, my good friend. Golf consultant—is Mr. Andrew Brooks still in New York as the golf consultant? The Chairman: Thank you, if you will take your seat we will ask the Minister.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1639 Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: The honourable member, I believe, is located in South Carolina but he is still the consultant for golf for the BTA. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: All right. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman— The Chairman: Yes? [Laughter] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Andrew Brooks, good golfer, but to sell Bermuda and tell them—unless he is going to play against them—there are many Bermudi-ans around here who can be golf consultants. I will name one—Kim Swan.

But we do not want to recognise Bermudians. We are too caught up on somebody who came here from (I think it was) Ireland, got his job up at Port Royal. But to sell Bermuda? There is nobody . . . I am not saying that Kim is the only one, but there are many Bermudians that can do that.

Now, you asked me, What is their handicap? I can tell them I am the best golfer. I can sell Bermuda. I do not have to play the game, but I can knock on every door. I have done a few. I have been to Canada talking about golf and attracting more golfers here. So I do not know what this gentleman is doing that a Bermudian cannot do. I do not know how long this contract is going to be in place, but I am hoping that the board is wise enough and that the Minister will give advice to them to get a Bermudian there.

South Carolina? Where are you playing golf? How many golfers has he attracted since he has been out there for (I believe) about six months or a year? What is his performance? Are there more golfers on the course because Andrew Brooks was abroad? We have . . . I will ask my dearest . . . Darren Swan, Kim Swan's brother. These are Bermudians who are Ber-mudians and know how to play golf and can sell Ber-muda.

So I am asking the Minister, because if I can-not tell the board what to do—but I am hoping that the chairman and the CEO would pay attention to that one. We do not need Andrew Brooks around here. I said it last year when he was given that job. But it never happened under me. It would never happen under me, Madam Chairman. Here is another one. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Do you want me to an-swer that question or—

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, you can. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Madam Chairman.

The Honourable Member did raise this issue some time ago, but I do not think the Honourable Member was having conversations with some of his own parliamentary colleagues because I will tell you this: When I first became the Minister I got e-mails from two senior Members of the PLP asking me to ensure that we instruct and hire Andrew Brooks. In fact, Mr. Brooks was leaving (I believe) the Port Royal at the time and they . . . I did not even know who he was. I did not know who he was. I found out through Members of the Opposition who are golfers and who were very complimentary of his connections with the PGA, in particular.

Now, without me having any conversations with the Tourism Authority it was brought to their at-tention that it would be advantageous to employ Mr. Brooks. He provides sales in other jurisdictions to bring golf to Bermuda. He enters into various partner-ships with different golf clubs and the like. He certainly helps with our relationship with the PGA and looking to create other golf amenities and activities in Ber-muda. But that Honourable Member is the only Hon-ourable Member I have had say anything negative about the appointment of Mr. Brooks. Not that Ber-mudians are not qualified to sell golf, but specifically because of the relationship that Mr. Brooks has with the PGA is one of the primary reasons, I understand, that the board thought that it would be advantageous to retain him. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman, it is a shame to tell this Honourable House and the people of Bermuda. I am not speaking anything negative about Andrew Brooks. We know he can play golf and we know he is a good administrator. But you cannot tell me that there is not a Bermudian, Minister, who can do that. You cannot tell me that. Do you think when he left Ireland that he knew much about the PGA? He built those relationships up when he got here.

Well, Rodney Carr came through, the former Premier and Minister of Tourism—that is how you build relationships up. The CEO—first time to Ber-muda, he did not know where Shelly Bay was until he got here, but it does not mean he is not a good CEO. You get my point? Give our Bermudians a chance. Give the Bermudian a chance. We have to put our Bermudians back in charge.


1640 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Next question, Is there a Bermudian doing the Canadian marketing or is it still the young lady who was out there? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: The individual in Canada is the same person that you had, Honourable Mem-ber. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, I am glad you said that because when I was the Minister, you can talk to the former Billy Griffith, I said Billy, we can put a Ber-mudian out there in Toronto— An Hon. Member: Did you? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, we lost the election in 2012, as you will recall. [Laughter] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: As you recall—but there are Bermudians who can be knocking on doors in To-ronto. I was there for just about 12 months. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Beg your pardon? An Hon. Member: [It was] 14 months. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am just saying we now know—get a Bermudian in place. You can ask Billy. I said, Billy, we are going to put a Bermudian in Can-ada. We are going to put some Bermudians up in London—because Bermudians can sell! But we are relying on all these non-Bermudians. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Those positions will be under review. Thank you, Honourable Member. An Hon. Member: Whoa! Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, why did you not say that at the beginning? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I answered your question. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Anyway— An Hon. Member: Answered your questions. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I want to be— [Mr. Rolfe Commissiong, Chairman] The Chairman: Excuse me, Members. Can both Members address the Chair, please?

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: All right, Mr. Chairman, I want to be on the quick with you. In other words, let us not wait until next year, we are asking the same ques-tion.

If you [listen] to the recording you will hear me saying the same thing. I said last year that Bermudi-ans should be in place in Toronto. This is about $90,000, if I recall. What Bermudian, who is unem-ployed right now, is not going to knock on some doors . . . and I test them—the CEO and the Chairman should know this.

I went to the Eaton Centre in Toronto when I was Minister and I knocked on some doors at the mall—Eaton Centre, I think it is call Eaton Mall. I knocked on the travel agency's door and I said I wanted to go to Bermuda. There were no flyers up—nothing—and the girl just kind of kept on her computer and she said, Bermuda? Oh, it is cold there right now. You do not want to go to Bermuda. I identified who I was and then all of a sudden the place came alive. Has that lady knocked on Eaton Centre and said, Look—this is Bermuda?

We do not need any foreigners out there knocking on doors selling Bermuda. At the least we need that. We can have the CEO for now, as top brass, but we can do it. If David Dodwell as a Ber-mudian can do it, if the people down at Grotto Bay as Bermudians can do it, then there are other Bermudi-ans also that can do it. Okay. So let us make that happen. Mr. Chairman, I am confused—who is in charge of hotel development? Is the Minister or the Tourism Authority in charge of hotel development? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you.

The Government continues to have the resid-ual authority for hotel development—particularly if you are talking about Government property. We will be working very closely with the BTA. The BTA will have someone specifically on staff to help assist in this process of implementing what we learned during the investment summit and other information that we have received from developers on how we should proceed going forward. But the ultimate authority for develop-ment in Bermuda will reside with the Government. Thank you. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister for Tourism, Mr. Wayne Furbert. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you. So can the Min-ister tell me why we need the general manager of Esso—of the Premier's—in the meeting for the hotel development? An Hon. Member: Whoa! Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Why was that necessary?


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1641 Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Mr. Chairman, we have gone down this path already and had extensive de-bate on whether something is sub judice or not. But, again, I will reiterate that the meeting that the Honour-able Member is referring to was not a discussion of a particular development in Bermuda. Chairman, for the record, I am not going to entertain any further questions on this subject. The Chairman: It is “Mr.” Chairman. [Laughter] [Mr. Rolfe Commissiong, Chairman] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, Mr. Chairman, wel-come to the Chair. Thank you. The Chairman: The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minister— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, you know—thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Chairman: Which Head are you addressing, Shadow Minister? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am addresses the Grants—there is only one Head. The Chairman: What was that? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The Grants. C-22. The Chairman: Grants and— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: There is only one Head and I can talk about that all day. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I understand the Minister to say he is not going to entertain any more questions. Sorry. He has to entertain the question; he may not have to answer them.

But to have the general manager of the Pre-mier's gas station in meetings in Washington . . . it is questionable. Whether they were talking about a hotel development, whether they were talking about . . . whatever they were talking about. There were Minis-ters.

And to say there was sub judice . . . what? We are not going to be sub judice. I am not a lawyer—and he is a lawyer, I am an accountant—but to me . . . I am talking about the general manager. Is that part of the case? I do not know. If it is, I do not know. Is that part of the . . . where you guys write those things out? The writ, or whatever. I do not know. I am not part of

the other party line. All I am saying is that at the end of the day it does not add up.

But you have to answer the question. Some-one has to answer the question eventually. Answer the question, Why was he in the meeting? I know he was bumming a ride and then all of a sudden he ends up in a meeting with a developer. The Chairman: Shadow Minister, with all due respect, I do not see where that is relevant with respect to the issues of grants and contributions. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well— The Chairman: Wait, wait, wait. Notwithstanding that the Minister has offered an answer, I do not think he is going to improve upon it. Can we get back to the sub-stantive part of this discussion right now? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Chairman, you are abso-lutely wrong. What I mean by that is this. We are talk-ing about grants and contributions which comes under C-19— The Chairman: Go ahead. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I asked the Minister who is responsible for hotel development. The Chairman: Okay. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: It is the Minister. The Chairman: Okay. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Okay? And we are talking about tourism. I just asked the Minister why was that person . . . because, at the end of the day, who paid the . . . you know the taxpayers paid for the Minister to go up to Washington—

POINT OF ORDER Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of order, Mr. Chairman. The Honourable Member is— The Chairman: Honourable Member, what is your point— Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: —confusing his facts. But as we stated, it is clearly known that the public purse was not used at all for that trip and I do not know why people are acting surprised. They know that. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I will not pursue this, but I will say this. I want to know whether the Minister took


1642 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report a salary reduction that day if the taxpayer did not pay for that day. [Laughter] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: That is all I want to know. Maybe it was a furlough day for the Minister and he just did not get paid. [Laughter and crosstalk] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: All right. It was a furlough day for all the Ministers and the Premier. But all I say is, Did the Ministers get paid for that day for travel-ling? If they did not, then I understand that . . . they do not know. But if the taxpayer paid for their salary, then it was taxpayers’ money. An Hon. Member: Yes. The Chairman: Thank you, Shadow. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you. The Chairman: I think you are . . . I think the question is fully understood. Are you continuing or— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, I am. No, I think the Honourable Member wants to ask a question. The Chairman: The Chair now recognises the Hon-ourable Terry Lister. Hon. Terry E. Lister: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If the Minister does not mind, I want to take him back to the unique experiences. During January there was a series of workshops put together with a view to having people come in, learn what we were looking for, what the TA is looking for in creating this unique Bermudian experience. They were supposed to attend workshops on (I believe) the 30th and 31st of January with a view to having the experience—their experience—funded or encouraged, and starting ef-fective April 1st (coincidentally, the same time as the new fiscal year).

Having said that, would you be in a position, Minister, to tell us of that workshop, what the atten-dance was, what was the success, and what we can expect to see different in the New Year because of those workshops? The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Mr. Chair-man. My information is that there was a total of 140 participants in those workshops and I have heard a great deal of positive comments as it related to the workshops. The actual presentations that will be em-

braced by the BTA in terms of implementation . . . that decision will be made on the 21st of this month. So this Friday. The deadline to accept the various proposals and implement them will be on the 21st. Hon. Terry E. Lister: Thank you. That is very good. Would you be in position, Minister, to tell us how much money is being set aside for investment in these com-panies? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: The total budget is $4.9 million. The Chairman: The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you. No, I am not happy with that figure $4.9 million. Maybe we need a little breakdown of what that $4.9 million for these new ventures will be. But you can answer that because I see we are going to have to get some work done. Here is the question I want to ask. The Board says that they hope to be fully funded in three to five years. That means the Board should be working on something else—some numbers. Can the Board—through you—give us an idea where it hopes to get a million dollars outside of the—or $5 million—where does it hope to get some of this revenue from? Shall I give you time for that question? Or do you have it? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: You can ask another one. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Okay. Minister, I do not sup-port the rental cars to tourists—I want to make it very clear. As Minister, are you leaning towards rental of cars? because you have not said one way or the other. Are you in discussions? Are you . . . is Cabinet having a discussion on it? Are you there? What is your view of rental cars to tourists? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you. The Chairman: Go ahead, Minister. You may re-spond. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Mr. Chair-man. I have been approached by various entrepre-neurs in Bermuda who have ideas as it relates to the rental of vehicles—whether it be different types of bikes that are more safe than what we currently have, as well as cars.

No presentation or proposal has been put be-fore Cabinet, so right now we are in the discussion phase. I have not taken the view as to whether or not I think it is advantageous for our jurisdiction. What I do know is that we are one of the only jurisdictions that do not provide this service to our guests. So it is something that we are looking at. Obviously, there are


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1643 other considerations that we have to look at in terms of traffic and the like before that decision has been made. But nothing has been put before the Cabinet as yet. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. The Chair rec-ognises the Shadow Minister Furbert. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Before you go running on that road as far as renting cars to tourists, I am hoping that you do some significant studies as far as the im-pact, and do not give me that story that we are the only Island that does not do or whatever. There are a lot of islands . . . we are the only Island which does not allow more than one car. Did you know that? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, I did. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Right.

Open up more of the cars for Bermudians be-cause we had a discussion on cars way back since 19 . . . whatever it is. I recall the time when we were go-ing to move towards (I think it was under Dr. Massey was the Minister of Transport at the time) allowing people to drive cars based on a number on their car, and restrict people coming from Hamilton because we thought there was too much traffic on the road.

We control our traffic based on the assess-ment numbers that we have. So we know the amount. But to open up that door—and I am talking to every Minister now—open up that door and allow cars . . . can you not imagine? Unless you are just going to allow 10 cars and restrict them to only a few tourists. But if you are saying any tourist can have a car . . . can you imagine?

I just want you to imagine, Minister, 6,000 people getting off a cruise boat and they can have a car. Can you imagine them getting out of the airport and they can have as many cars as they want. I am telling you; do not let the Honourable Member David Dodwell lead you down that road. It is the wrong road.

First of all, you are going to hurt the taxi driv-ers. We cannot afford [at] this time of our history to take food out of the mouths of at least 6,000 people in their families—6,000. These are people who . . . some have retired, some people have been there for a long time and we are going to . . . where do you think that . . . you better increase that budget for financial assis-tance! Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Mr. Chairman, if the Hon-ourable Member would allow me— The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Honourable Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Again, just to reiterate, I do know the Honour-able Member's position, he has articulated his position on more than one occasion. I appreciate he is not in favour of it and I believe the taxi industry has also stated their concern. We are looking at it; we are studying it. No decision has been made. It has not even come before Cabinet at this stage. So I think the Honourable Member may be a bit premature at this point. Also, I would like to clarify for the Honourable Independent Member, the figure I quoted was (I be-lieve) the entire budget for the product development, product and experience development division. For specific product and experience funding, it is $3.4 mil-lion, and that would also include some of their own internal ideas as well. So once we make the decision in terms of how many of those proposals we would embrace, then funding will be allocated to them indi-vidually. Also, the Honourable Shadow Minister asked about the self-funding. I have been advised that a committee has now been put together to actually look at different ways as it relates to the Act, how the BTA can generate greater revenue. So it is being looked at now and work has already begun to come up with various ideas through this committee. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. The Chair once again recognises the Shadow Minister for Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Chairman, let me just say, before it gets to Cabinet, the Minister has to agree. I am just saying to the Minister, as the song-writer says "don't touch that one." You will be heading on the wrong path when it comes to allowing tourists to drive cars.

Now, when it comes to those bikes you may have another look at it. I am not too much in dis-agreement with that. We can take a look at that. But then you have to allow Bermudians to drive those same bikes. You cannot allow tourists to have . . . I am assuming that is three-wheel vehicles you are talk-ing about, and Bermudians cannot. Okay, but what I am saying is that I think the cars are the problem. [Cars are] causing congestion on our streets.

Have you been to the Bahamas and gone on Bay Street? because everybody is allowed to drive a car. They are trying to now get policy in place so that [they] have only one car per household. They cannot. Do you know why? Because once you give something to the voters you cannot take it back. It is very hard.

Do not go down that road because we will be—you and I—be suffering when some other people will be either leaving Bermuda or passing out of here. And you are putting your children in jeopardy. It is the future generation that we are looking at. So I am just telling you—getting to your Cabinet colleagues—I hope they turn you down if you go that way. If you


1644 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report bring it, some of us are going to turn you down. You will not make the next election. Trust me. Now, I do not believe that the Board can make $25 million in budget for the next three years. You better then put that Board together and give it to the Minister of Finance so he can make some additional revenue. Unless you can tell me that you are going to ask the Minister for the departure tax, and that means that at the end of the day that the Minister is going to still have to look out for some other revenue to take that—because it is in consolidated funds.

You are telling me that and then you are tell-ing me that tourists and the Airport Authority is going to need that same source of revenue. Someone is fighting over each other. I do not know how, Minister. I do not care how many committees you put together, you are going to get additional revenue in three years. You will be here . . . Well, the maximum is three years you guys can be here. Well, no, I said that you will be here three years . . . the maximum three years you guys will be here.

So my point is, you will not be bringing paper to this House. Get the Honourable Member Patricia Gordon-Pamplin on that committee because she is a nice accountant, and, yet, I do not know how you are going to make those numbers. To think of where the revenue is coming from, it is mind-blowing. Just give me one source that you can get it from. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Chairman: You have the floor, Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I am looking forward to the ideas that will be coming from this committee as it relates to the actual legislation and the various powers it has to raise revenue. But in terms of ideas—and I am speak-ing without consulting with the Minister of Finance, so speaking off the cuff—but things like, if, indeed, this House authorises gaming, then there can be a portion of the gaming revenues that will go towards the Tour-ism Authority. We see this happening in many other jurisdictions right now. In the event that the Govern-ment wants to look at, for example, a lottery—a na-tional lottery—then a portion of those revenues can be segregated for the Tourism Authority.

So as we go forward, the Government has to work with the BTA, who is also looking at innovative ways to raise revenue, but there are other revenue streams that the Government can engender that we will take a portion of it and provide a percentage to-ward the Tourism Authority. So I am sure we all agree that the Tourism Authority needs to be successful, and to be successful it needs sufficient funding.

The Chairman: Thank you, Minister.

Are there any other Members who would like to contribute to this discussion? The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Education, the Honourable Walton Brown. Mr. Walton Brown: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one other question for the Honourable Minister. I understand that the Tourism Authority is working within the Tourism Plan that has been devel-oped. I also understand the point that we cannot con-tinue to do the same thing as usual and expect a dif-ferent result. My question is, To what extent has the Tourism Authority revamped or reconsidered the typi-cal socio-economic group that comes to Bermuda as well as the geographical location (i.e., the northeast coast of the United States)?

Because if you look at global trends, you see in some emerging markets tremendous amounts of people travelling with a lot of disposable income. So to what extent is the Tourism Authority looking seriously at other markets? To what extent is there a renewed focus on those who can actually afford to come to Bermuda and spend their money? Because what has happened in the past is people have been driven by low-cost flights and cheap hotel rates yet they do not have . . . or they are disinclined to spend their money in restaurants, to spend $200 on a dinner for two, for example.

So to what extent are those a part of the Tour-ism Authority’s considerations? Just to repeat, a new geographical area for tourists (i.e., South America and Asia). Secondly, a revamped consideration of the socio-economic group that they are trying to attract (i.e., those who are not fundamentally driven by low fares and cheap hotel rates). If you can speak to that, I would be most appreciative. The Chairman: Thank you, Member. The Chair now recognises the Minister of Tourism. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thank you Honourable Member for you questions. We fundamentally believe that if we aug-mented the marketing to the Eastern Seaboard that we can maximise on those numbers. As the Honour-able Shadow Tourism Minister mentioned earlier, we are only looking at a certain number. So right now we are around 240,000. We would be very happy if we can get 400,000 air arrivals. So it is not a huge target to try and reach. There are 90 million people that we can market to on the Eastern Seaboard and we be-lieve that we need to maximise our proximity and be able to go after those individuals.

You know the term, Fish where the fish are at. It does not mean that we are going to ignore those emerging markets like South America and Asia and the like, but the difficulty we have is in airlift—getting here. If we want to incentivise an airline to travel here that is going to be quite costly with minimum revenue


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1645 agreements and the like in order to get that going. We are looking at it. We know that the South Americans are travelling extensively. We know that Asia is right now probably the most burgeoning market as it relates to tourism. But we think that to get the industry back on track, we need to more effectively market Bermuda to our closest destination. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. The Chair now recognises, once again, the Shadow Minister of Education, Mr. Walton Brown. Mr. Walton Brown: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to follow up, you know, if you can get . . . I cannot remember what the data points to but there are literally millions of Asians who are flying to the United States now. New York seems to be a very big attraction. So I am just thinking you might want to consider some added value and I think there is also a decision made that if you have visa to enter the United States, Canada and (I believe) the UK, then one would not need a visa to come to Bermuda. So that might be a way of getting some additional traffic. The Chairman: Thank you, Member. The Chair now recognises the Minister of Tourism. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. In relation to the visa challenge, I think we have to look at that further because I know that the CTO, or the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, had that high on their agenda in terms of how we can break down those visa restrictions and visa require-ments coming into the Caribbean region and Bermuda because right now there is a challenge of tourists coming from Asia being able to come here. In many instances they have to wait three to six months to get a visa and that is quite onerous just to go on vacation. So there is right now a collaborative effort within the Caribbean Tourism Organisation to come up with a solution to this problem. But, no, we recognise that, again, that is the emerging market. I would love to be able to go to Asia on a regular basis to try to drum up business, but I might get criticised for going to Singa-pore and China and the like, so, definitely—the BTA is definitely looking at these other markets. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. The Chair now recognises the Honourable Member, the Shadow Minister, Mr. Walton Brown. Mr. Walton Brown: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Not to belabour the point but the thinking is that in some groups, some areas, that if you could get the United States, Canada—and Canada for exam-ple—to actually process the visa applications for peo-ple who come to those countries anyway, then the

Caribbean territories (including Bermuda) could auto-matically accept those visas for purposes of entering Bermuda. Just for consideration. The Chairman: Thank you, Member. The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter for Tourism, the Honourable Wayne Furbert. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you. Just to pick up from what my Honourable col-league said, Minister, this side has no problem with you travelling, you know. We have already told you that. You had a problem with us travelling and we are just saying, Why are you travelling? Well, we had no problem with you travelling if you are doing business on behalf of the people. We make that very clear. So when we get back in I do not want you to be sitting on this side (if you are still here) saying, Why are you travelling? We believe that travelling should be done. Let us be clear on that.

Let me tell you about Qatar and the CEO and the Chairman. We met with Qatar, and when we left Qatar—and there is a report sitting I think in either your Ministry or at . . . probably at your Ministry, but definitely at the Cabinet Office. There is a report of a study we did on a hotel in St. George's, a feasibility study. I hope that you have seen that report because they were going to fly in to see the property. And what they said to us, we said (the Premier and I—the Hon-ourable Premier Paula Cox and I said around there) they were going to fly the three top Ministers in, be-cause the Prime Minister (I think they call him Prime Minister or President, I am not sure what they call him in Qatar) [said] make it happen.

So we had our first meeting on a late night and they said get us a feasibility study of the hotel. So we got it done and I said it is either in your Ministry . . . I know it is definitely in Cabinet of this feasibility study for the hotel and see what is the return on investment because they were not interested in making a return on investment in the first five years.

These guys have . . . you know, they make $761 million a day! All they wanted was a long-term investment. They have interest—I am not sure if you are aware—in Fairmont. So, if they have that interest in Fairmont, why could they not own their own prop-erty here in Bermuda? Because 40,000 of them travel to London every year—every year.

Here are what my thoughts were at the time. They fly in a beautiful airline—Qatar flies from Qatar to New York on a daily basis. I said, Wow. Why could they not fly Qatar, New York, Bermuda, New York, Qatar and drop off some wealthy individuals on this beautiful rock. But we have to have the products that they want. They love high-end stores. The stores that they buy from are, you know . . . you have seen every-thing else. You just go down there, they have . . . that is what they have. So if we can combine that and the development of the waterfront and everything else


1646 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report with high net worth stores and attract these wealthy Qataris every year—because it is too hot in Qatar in the summer time. They fly to London. Beautiful vehi-cles they drive. But if they had their own place here . . . and we had some discussions. I am not sure how far you are with Morgan’s Point, but we had some dis-cussion with them.

I support and I agree with what the Shadow Minister of Education is saying, that we should be able to attract some of the high net worth individuals. We know there are 98 million people on the East Coast. They are not coming. We have to find out why they are not coming because all we need is 450,000 out of New York, out of Florida, out of Boston or wherever, Atlanta, our gateway cities, London. So do not dis-count . . . and I see your budget has gone up for travel. I am assuming that is where you are heading.

If your travel budget has gone up, Minister, I thought that is where you were heading. That you were going back to talk to Qatar and talking to China. That is why I never talked about your travel budget, because it went up 30 per cent. Now if you are travel-ling to New York, I want to know why are travelling to New York because you have sales people there— The Chairman: And your specific question, Member? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I do not have to ask all ques-tions—I am the Shadow Minister. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I do not have to answer any question. The Chairman: Continue Member. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: This is not “P” and “Q.” It comes down to this: Is the Tourism Authority going to be making any headway on leads into those markets that are talking to them?

In Brazil? Okay, in Brazil. Are we heading their way?

We know that at the end of the day, I think it was Copa Airlines—Copa? Okay, I will leave that to our leader because he knows more about airlines than I do, he and Lawrence. He knows more about . . . anyway I am not going to get into that one. But my point is do not just discount. This party will never complain about your travelling on behalf of Bermudi-ans to get things done. Just do not complain when we get back in. That is all we are asking. And keep your Members at bay because they do not complain when you are travelling. But when we get back in they com-plain when we are travelling. Okay? You know. So that is all I am saying to you.

And the other thing, there are a few other things, so other Honourable Members can ask their questions. What are some of the new initiatives they

are doing for the winter programme to get to in-creased business here? What are you spending on the cost between the different markets—USA, Can-ada, and Europe? Are you spending money in other jurisdictions?

The new products that we . . . I know you had a meeting with some Bermudians as far as bringing new products here. What are some of the new prod-ucts? Do not discount Horseshoe Bay. Tony Brannon has quite often talked about the beach tennis or soc-cer (whatever it is). We can turn Horseshoe Bay . . . and, you know, because there is one tree about three feet high with a red bird on it does not mean that we cannot knock that tree down. One small tree about three feet high and it has a little red bird on it—one of the environmentalists complained about it. All I am saying to you [is that] maybe Horseshoe Bay can be-come a destination in itself. We talked about it in the plan.

What more can we do within that Horseshoe Bay? Massages out on the beach for Bermudians to get involved in? Maybe a little Dark ’N Stormy—a little tent? You can create that in a decent way that is envi-ronmentally protected, but new creative business ideas. So what is the Board thinking about? Who is taking that grip to make things happen up in Horse-shoe Bay? You want to keep Long Bay with nobody on it—you have some bathrooms there—and all the other beaches. But maybe Horseshoe Bay can be a special area that Bermudians like, that the tourists like, and can be something working behind the dunes that can be making things a little better. That is all I am saying to you.

So new products, and I am going to give a chance for my leader to ask a few questions, and then I will take some more if need be later on. The Chairman: Any other Members who would care to speak to these Heads? The Chair now recognises the Honourable Opposition Leader, Marc Bean. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Good evening, Mr. Chairman. Good evening, colleagues. Good evening, Minister. Minister, a few minutes ago you mentioned, or a question was asked in terms of the diversification of our markets and you spoke of the focus being on the Eastern Seaboard which has been our focus since I think the 1920s. Then you spoke of Asia and Latin America and I heard the discussion going back and forth. I will ask you this question. Last year, around this time I mentioned about the need to go and visit Copa and Panama. Have you in any way? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, to respond to the Opposition Leader's question I do recall during that debate him saying—and actually he offered his knowledge and


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1647 whether or not we could collaborate on that. It is not off the table. And, clearly, now that the BTA is going to come into its own on the 1st of April—it is part of the conversations to be had with them as well. We recog-nise the benefit of the emerging markets. We want to look at how we can actually tap into that. One of the biggest challenges that we have found at this stage is airlift, and the conversation that I have had is that, you know, we will have to incentivise these airlines to come here. But just on the, again, I just want to clarify my earlier comment and that is that it is the BTA's po-sition right now to try to get on our feet by looking at our closest destination or our closest jurisdiction, and then as we develop from there we can look at other destinations. Thank you. The Chairman: You have the floor, Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, when you look at, for example the Bahamas, which the Honourable Minister has travelled to. And I use the Bahamas as an example instead of other jurisdictions to the south because there are a lot of similarities between Bermuda and the Bahamas culturally and the economic foundation of both countries is similar also.

Well, I am sure you are aware that Copa flies daily to Nassau, Bahamas, from Panama. But they started with three flights a week. I am pretty certain that they did not have any minimal revenue guaran-tees attached to it. Now, the Bahamian market is a little larger—or is much larger—it is five times larger than the Bermuda market. But the reality is that Latin America, at this point in time, especially where we are located in the Atlantic Ocean, that should not or can-not be considered just an emerging market. And Ba-hamians look at it as a market they have to tap into right now.

So it is not a question of getting airlift when you have airlines that have the capacity to actually provide the service. It is not a question of minimum revenue guarantees because you can start with a very minimal schedule—two flights a week. You can even have a line route system where you can negotiate with Copa to say, Listen, depart Panama City, come to Nassau, and then come to Bermuda. That ensures higher load factors. But the South American market today represents a tremendous opportunity for the revitalisation of Bermuda.

We cannot be a one-leg pony anymore. If you are telling me that the money that we are directing—taxpayers’ money—towards the Tourism Authority is going to be focused on the same market we have been focused on for the last 94 years—94 years—because you got up and you said earlier in the budget speech . . . the whole spirit of the budget speech was we have to get rid of the status quo. Well, the Eastern

Seaboard is the status quo! It is the status quo. So I am not saying we should not give attention to the Eastern Seaboard, but we cannot discount as an emerging market, Latin America—one that we have to look into and we have to discuss while other countries are actually doing it. They are acting. That is the dif-ference.

Whether we are going to be competitive or not. Those who are competitive do it. They do not just say it. So I encourage you. I encourage you and I promise you—I know you all like to take every word we say from this side as gospel—but I promise you that we will not complain one bit if you got on Ameri-can Airlines and went to Panama City and saw Pedro [Heilbron], the CEO of Copa, and he will talk to you because they have a strategy where they are looking to expand into the Caribbean and connect the Carib-bean into Latin America.

There is a lot of money flowing down south. To show you the approach that the Bahamas takes, there is a concerted effort to learn Spanish by Baha-mians in order to adapt to that new market. That is something that we have to be encouraging our people to do too. We cannot just have the plane fly here and have Spanish-speaking people come here and then we have a communication barrier. So it has to be part of a holistic strategy. It cannot be piecemeal, but it is something that we have to pursue ASAP. Another question that I have, Mr. Chairman, to the Minister, you mentioned earlier because the Hon-ourable Independent Member, Mr. Lister, spoke of an “authentic experience” and you said that that is, once again, what differentiates us from our competitors. Can you, again, just remind me what a Bermudian “authentic experience” is? The Chairman: The Chair now recognises the Minis-ter of Tourism. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you. That is what we are trying to create, Honour-able Member. I appreciate the question. We now rec-ognise that we do not have that experience. People come to Bermuda. It is a special place so it is always going to set itself apart because of our natural beauty. But in terms of the entertainment, in terms of the ex-periences they will have, the BTA is looking at . . . and we have just had back in January, we had confer-ences entertaining Bermudians who had ideas that could make the experience uniquely Bermudian and we hope to implement that going forward. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am sure the Minister has travelled through-out the Caribbean, as an example. If you go to the


1648 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Bahamas, do you experience an authentic Bahamian experience? Yes or no? Tell me.

If you go to Jamaica? Yes? Barbados? Trini-dad? Antigua? St. Kitts? Cuba? You get authentic ex-periences.

If you go to Hawaii, you get an authentic ex-perience. In fact, if you go to 99 per cent of the tour-ism destinations around the world you get an authen-tic experience.

So the reason why I asked, What is it? was to really actually take our discussion up a little higher. What distinguishes the Bahamas from Jamaica is nothing but the people of the Bahamas—Bahamians. What distinguishes Jamaicans from Trinidadians in terms of the authentic experience are the people themselves. So the authentic experience that I am speaking of or alluding to is centred around the people of a country. An Hon. Member: Yes, it is. An Hon. Member: Culture. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Culture. Thank you, Mr. Minis-ter. That is what I was trying to draw out of you, so we can start thinking a little bit more instead of just throw-ing out terms like authentic experience.

So the question is, What is our culture? If we are looking to develop a culture, is the Tourism Au-thority the vehicle by which to develop it, or is it (on the other hand) the people themselves? The Chairman: The Chair now recognises the Minis-ter of Tourism. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I must say this format might become some-thing new for the Budget Debate because it is very effective. But, again, it is the people. It is the people. But how can the people have their unique ideas—for example, whether it is through their entertainment, through music, visual arts, food, beverage, whatever it is? The BTA can be the vehicle to help support, whether it is through finances, whether it is through other support mechanisms to allow these individuals to create and develop the various unique experiences within our culture.

We all know Bermudians are well known for their friendliness and people come here year in and year out because of that experience, but I fundamen-tally believe that we have not developed and we have not matured in terms of a special cultural experience for our tourists, and I believe the BTA will provide the funding and the support to help those entrepreneurs who have these great ideas. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister.

The Chair now recognises the Honourable Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the response because that allows me to segue into the next point, which is the Tourism Authority itself, where you say that it is the responsibil-ity of the TA to cultivate this cultural or authentic ex-perience. Instead of saying, Oh, it is just the people themselves.

You know, that is a serious distinction be-cause one says that you have a group of people who sit in a room who determine what the market or what the product offerings will be. When really the more effectual way is when you allow the people them-selves to determine what the product offerings should be. So one is a free market approach from the grass-roots up where you allow the people to be free. You remove the regulations that say, No you cannot do this, no you cannot do that. Even though there are 6,000 tourists at Dockyard you cannot set up your store here or there because there are park rules. Re-moving those regulations is something that the TA can do, but it is the people who determine what the market desires. It is not a group of people getting paid $20,000 a year to sit on a board, and a CEO and COO with undisclosed compensation packages.

It leads me, if there is a few minutes left, to re-iterate our position on this side, Mr. Chairman, about the Tourism Authority. The Tourism Authority . . . the Minister keeps saying that it is private, as if there was a connotation that it is free market. But there is a dis-tinction. Privatisation does not necessarily mean an open free market. Not at all. So here we have a clas-sic example of the opposite. The one that pulls the wool over your head and makes you think one thing when there is actually something else going on that is different. I would like to ask, as the first question, and you probably answered it, but for the record, I would like to know the CEO and COOs compensation pack-age. The Chairman: Thank you, Opposition Leader. The Chair now recognises the Minister of Tourism. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Mr. Chair-man. Again, just to clarify I have consistently said that at this point the Authority is semi-private because we do appreciate—and I empathise for those who ask this question because the majority of the funding for the Tourism Authority is coming from the consolidated fund. There is no question about it. But I have also stated that the Board of Directors, which is responsi-ble for the employment of the BTA, made a decision not to disclose the compensation package of all of their employees as standard practise of private enti-


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1649 ties that manage their affairs privately, and I did not take objection to that position. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. The Chair now, once again, recognises— Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So the Minister is saying that the Board of Directors, for whom the taxpayers pay $20,000 a year each, is telling the taxpayer that it is none of our busi-ness as to how much the compensation package is for the CEO and the COO? The Board of Directors that we pay is telling us that we are not privy to how much the compensation packages are? [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The Minister . . . you are look-ing around and I figure you are saying, Yes that is what they are saying. But can you, Minister, actually . . . are you clear with your conscience on that? Speak-ing from a perspective of transparency and account-ability, are you clear with it? I just want to know for the record. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I appreciate the question and I under-stand why the question is asked. I am comfortable with the position because it is the aspiration and the objective of this Government that the Tourism Author-ity evolve into a fully private entity. We fundamentally believe that it is through that model that the tourism industry will be effectively and efficiently managed to bring the results that we want, and so therefore we must treat it now how we want it to be long term. So I appreciate the prudence in having it managed in a private capacity. The Chairman: The Chair now recognises the Oppo-sition Leader, once again. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me make it clear: When the Progressive Labour Party returns to Government the current ar-rangement with the Tourism Authority will change, and will change immediately.

Now, I am not going to go on record to say which direction it will go. It could either be absorbed back into government proper or we will truly have it privatised. Not just in word but in deed—meaning, okay, if your budget is $25 million, go find it! Get the stakeholders in the tourism industry who have been subsidised for what—94 years—by the taxpayer, to go and fund that private Tourism Authority themselves. We do not want to hear that they will be private at some point in the future. The here and now is that you are spending the taxpayers’ money. There is no lee-way to say, Well, while we get there this is the aspira-

tion. We are going to spend the money and not ac-count for it.

That is the big problem. I asked you, Minister, do you have a clear conscience with it? Because I do not think there is a greater example of redistribution of wealth in this country in the last few decades. Like blatant in-your-face redistribution of wealth.

You mentioned earlier, Mr. Minister, some-thing about $4.9 million being distributed in a private or entrepreneurial venture capital manner to assist—I guess it was in response to MP Lister's question on authentic experience. See that is the problem right there. That is just that alone. If it was $4.9 million of private capital, we would have no problems with it. But the fact that it is $4.9 million of taxpayers’ money means that it is being redistributed, and it is being re-distributed based on what criteria?

See? It is a criteria that actually picks the win-ners and the losers. It picks the winners and the los-ers, Mr. Chairman. Let me move on because there are a couple minutes left.

Mr. Andrew Brooks, is he the golf consultant for Tourism and all things golf? The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Tourism Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. These matters have been canvassed already. The answer is— Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I asked, is he all things golf? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I do not know if all things golf, but he has been hired to help market golf over-seas. An Hon. Member: Market. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Nothing to do with develop-ment? [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No, my information is to market and attract golf groups and the like to Ber-muda. But I can seek greater clarification for you, Op-position Leader, on that. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister of Tourism and Transport. The Chair now recognises the—is there any other Member that cares to— An Hon. Member: How much time do we have left, Mr. Chairman? The Chairman: We have three minutes.


1650 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Finance, the Honourable David Burt. Mr. E. David Burt: Mr. Chairman, can the Minister please let this Honourable House know under what financial instructions the Authority operates and whether or not he would be willing to share those fi-nancial instructions with the House?

The reason I ask is because insofar as public money is being spent there is certainly something that is a concern when we are talking about tendering, making sure that things are fair, open and transparent. We understand the Government has given financial instructions to the corporation who received public monies, and we were just wondering if they will be sharing those financial instructions that are part of the Tourism Authority with the people of this country. The Chairman: Thank you, Shadow Minister of Fi-nance. Minister of Tourism and Transport, would you care to respond to that? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I will take the remaining questions and then quickly respond if there is time. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism, Honourable Wayne Furbert. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, let me just say that I have en-joyed this discussion going back and forth between ourselves and I hope in the future that Ministers can work with Shadow Ministers to make this happen be-cause you get more answers and you leave here with a clear mind. But here are my three last points: One is, Why has the Minister not laid the financial statements of the old Tourism Board before this House, because the financial year ended March 2013, and [they were] supposed to lay it by at least September—at least laid by.

Were the financials every audited? Have they been audited?

And the last one would be about the assets of BDOT being transferred to the Tourism Authority. What is the total value of those assets that are being transferred to the Tourism Authority? The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow [sic] Minister of Tourism and Transport. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I think he has just sat down, but I am the Minister of Tourism and Transport. [Laughter] The Chairman: The Minister of Tourism and Trans-port.

Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you.

I will undertake to answer the Shadow Fi-nance Minister's question at a later date due to the time constraints and I am trying to remember your questions, Honourable Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The financial statements for the Tourism— Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, those financial statements are currently being audited [by] the Auditor General. We have been pushing and trying to get it done in a timely manner but have been told that there were some delays within that office. So once they are finished they will be laid before the House. In terms of the assets, I will get that to you, Honourable Member. Mr. Chairman, I now would like to thank all Honourable Members for their questions. Historically, Tourism has been one of those debates that can evolve into a heated debate at times, but that is be-cause we all appreciate the value that it has to our community. So, I would like to thank everyone for their participation and I now move Heads 48 and 33. The Chairman: The Honourable Minister— [Pause] The Chairman: My microphone was off—I will do that again. The Honourable Minister has indicated that he is now prepared to move Heads 48 and 33. Are there any objections from the Honourable Members? No objection. [Gavel] [Motion carried: The Ministry of Tourism and Trans-port, Heads 48 and 33 were approved and stand part of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure 2014/15.] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Mr. Chairman, I am not sure of the process but I think I defer now to the Fi-nance Minister as this concludes the debate. The Chairman: Yes. The Chair now recognises the Honourable Finance Minister, Mr. Bob Richards. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Chair-man. I would like to move the remaining Heads, the Heads that have not been already moved—Heads 5, 3, 74, 12, 50, 49, 97, 56, 18, 19, 29 and 94. The Chairman: Members, the Minister of Finance has moved that the aforementioned Heads be approved. Are there any objections?


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1651 No objections. [Gavel] The Chairman: Agreed to. [Motion carried: Remaining Heads 5, 3, 74, 12, 50, 49, 97, 56, 18, 19, 29 and 94, were approved and stand part of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure 2014/15.] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Chair-man. I move that the Current Account Estimates, the Capital Development Estimates and the Capital Ac-quisition Estimates be approved. The Chairman: Members, the Finance Minister has moved that the Current Account Estimates, the Capi-tal Development Estimates and the Capital Acquisition Estimates be approved. Are there any objections? No objections. [Gavel] The Chairman: Approved. [Motion carried: The Current Account Estimates, the Capital Development Estimates and the Capital Ac-quisition Estimates were approved and stand part of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure 2014/15.] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Chair-man. I move that the Estimates of Revenue and Ex-penditure for the Financial Year 2014/15 be now ap-proved. The Chairman: Members, the Finance Minister has moved that the Estimates of Revenue and Expendi-ture for the Financial Year 2014/15 be approved. Are there any objections? No objections. [Gavel] The Chairman: Approved. [Motion carried: The Estimates of Revenue and Ex-penditure for the Financial Year 2014/15 were consid-ered by a Committee of the whole House and passed.] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Chairman, I move that the approval of the Estimates be reported to the House. The Chairman: Thank you, Honourable Finance Min-ister.

The Honourable Finance Minister has moved that the approval of the Estimates be reported to the House. Are there any objections? None. [Gavel] The Chairman: Approved.

House resumed at 8:00 pm


REPORT OF COMMITTEE

ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE 2014/15

The Speaker: Honourable Members, the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2014/15 have been ap-proved. Are there any objections? There are none. Minister? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the Bill entitled the Appropriation Act 2014, with the Governor’s rec-ommendation signified. The Speaker: Are there any objections? Carry on, Minister. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, I move, in accordance with Standing Order 28(5)(1) that, under the provisions of Standing Orders 41, 12 and 42, the remaining stages of the Bill entitled the Appropriation Act 2014 be taken forthwith. The Speaker: Are there any objections? Carry on. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that the Bill entitled Appropriation Act 2014 be now read the second time in the House. The Speaker: Are there any objections? Carry on, Minister.

BILL

SECOND READING

APPROPRIATION ACT 2014

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, I move clauses 1 to 6, inclusive, together with Schedules A, B and C, as printed.


1652 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report The Speaker: Are there any objections? Minister, carry on. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Minister, I move the Pre-amble. The Speaker: Are there any objections to that? Carry on, Minister. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled the Appropriation Act 2014 be now read the third time by its title only. The Speaker: Are there any objections? Minister, carry on.

THIRD READING

APPROPRIATION ACT 2014 Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, I move that the said Bill do now pass. The Speaker: Are there any objections? There are none. Carry on. [Motion carried: The Appropriation Act 2014 was read a third time and passed.]

MESSAGE TO THE SENATE

APPROPRIATION ACT 2014

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I move that the following message be sent to the Senate. The message is as follows: “To the Honourable President and Members of the Senate, the House of Assembly has the honour to forward herewith the undernoted Bill for the concur-rence of your House, the Appropriation Act 2014.

“Copies of the Estimates of Revenue and Ex-penditure for 2014/15 are also forwarded for the in-formation of your House.” That is the end of the message. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Minister. Are there any objections to that? There are none. So, therefore, the message will be sent to the Senate. Thank you. Order No. 3 is carried over, I believe, and we move now to Order No. 4, in the name of the Minister of Finance. Finance Minister E. T. (Bob) Richards, you have the floor.

BILL

SECOND READING

SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATE (NO. 2) FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2012/13

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 43(4) and 43(5), I move that the Supplementary Estimate (No. 2) for the Financial Year 2012/13 be approved. The Speaker: Are there any objections? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, I move that the estimates now be committed. The Speaker: Thank you. Are there any objections to that? I would ask that the Deputy Speaker, please, take the Chair of Committee.

House in Committee at 8:05 pm [Mrs. Suzann Roberts-Holshouser, Chairman]

COMMITTEE ON BILL


The Chairman: Thank you, Members. Honourable Members, we are now in Commit-tee of the whole for further consideration of the Sup-plementary Estimate (No. 2) for Financial Year 2012/13. I call on the Minister. Minister, you have the floor. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chairman, I am introducing the Sup-plementary Estimate for the year 2012/13 No. 2. This is the second supplementary for that year. Madam Chairman, this Schedule identifies five items totalling $10.325 million and . . . Let me do that right out—$10,325,410, to be introduced in the Supplementary Estimate No. 2 for the 2012/13 year, made up of $10,289,080 on Current Account and $36,330 on Capital Account. Honourable Members will note, in respect to the total $10,325,410 supplementary, the full amount is considered a technical supplementary. A technical supplementary indicates that the requirement for addi-tional funding can be met within the original appropri-ated estimates. However, it cannot be transferred, since they are appropriated within another Ministry and/or on the Capital Account. In this case, no addi-tional appropriation is required. Honourable Members will recall that the crite-ria for determining debatable supplementary esti-


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1653 mates requires all items on current account to be de-bated if the total current account spend of a Ministry, which when taken with prior supplementary estimates for the year shows an increase of greater than 10 per cent, or $250,000, when compared to the original es-timate. All capital items are debatable. Supplementary Estimate 2012/13 No. 2 was a combination of the above budget and unanticipated expenditure items. Of the total supplementary request on the current account, $6.9 million relates to support for the Continuing Care Unit of the King Edward Me-morial Hospital, and $3 million of additional expendi-ture was required for inventory purchases and airline revenue guarantees for the Transport Department. The total current account spending for 2012/13 was $23.5 million, or 2.3 per cent over the original budget of $1 billion. On the capital account, a minor amount of $36,000 is required. Total capital ac-count spending for 2012/13 was $12.7 million, or 16.7 per cent below the original budget of $76.2 mil-lion. Applying the criteria that I have just described, all three items on the current account and both capital account items are debatable. I would therefore move approval for the items as follows: Current account 1 through 3, all debatable; and Capital Account 4 and 5, all debatable. The Chairman: Are there any Members that would like to speak to Item No. 1? We will go by each item, and I think it will be easier to go [straight] through. Are there any Members? Thank you. Minister, we are going to do Item No. 1, and then each consecutively. And I will then go to the Op-position for their input. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Do you want me to go through each one of these myself? The Chairman: I believe it will be the Minister respon-sible. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: The Minister responsible. The Chairman: So in this particular case, it will be the Ministry of Health. The Chair looks for the Minister of Health. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, whilst we wait for Minister of Health, I do not mind doing the Ministry of Transport. The Chairman: Fine. That will be fine. We will move to Item No. 2, and then go back to— [Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Well, if they want us to wait, we can wait. There seems to be objection from the Opposition, Madam Chairman. Mr. E. David Burt: Point of order, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: And your point of order is? Mr. E. David Burt: Has the Minister moved Head 1? The Chairman: No. We have not moved Head 1. We are going to do items 1, 2, 3 individually. The Minister of Health is not in the room. So we thought we would proceed, rather than wasting time. Is there an objection to that? Mr. Walter H. Roban: Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Yes. Mr. Walter H. Roban: It is—it is— The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Honourable Member, the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs. Mr. Walter H. Roban, you have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: The normal procedures are that the head has to be moved once it has been dis-cussed, and then you move on to the next one. But I do see the Minister of Health coming in now. I will wait, if he is ready to move. The Chairman: Absolutely. Have a seat so we can hear from the Minister. Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, Madam Chairman. This is the 2012/13 Supplementary? The Chairman: Yes. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: This deals with Head 24, Hospitals? The Chairman: Yes. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Madam Chairman— [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: No, no, no, no, no. You will be aware that I spoke earlier regarding the Supplemen-tary for 2013/14. Right. We are now addressing 2012/13. Under the Health Insurance Act 1970, certain persons are eligi-ble for subsidies at the local hospital for inpatient and outpatient services. These subsidies require the claims for the standard hospital benefit be paid out of the Consolidated Fund to certain populations, includ-


1654 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report ing young people, the elderly and those who cannot afford to pay. A budget is created annually based on the predication of utilisation, increases in fees and historical data. In 2012/13, the approved budget was $104 million. Madam Chairman, again, the approved budget was not sufficient funding for the subsidies. An additional $6.931 million is required for the 2012/13 fiscal year. I will also discuss again the initiatives that have been embarked upon for 2014/15 to address this particular budget to minimise the spending and avoid supplementaries. In the 2014/15 approved budget, the age sub-sidy has been reduced by 10 per cent for each of the two aged categories. This will see a savings of ap-proximately $8 million to the Consolidated Fund. The aged population will not be disadvantaged by cover-age because the cost will transfer to the insurance companies. There are also two projects that are currently in place to review: one, a case management system which will seek to minimise utilisation by having the frequent users managed by an alternative, appropriate and less-costly facility or practitioner. Two, Manage-ment Services is conducting a review of the whole health system and some of the business practices in determining where some economies of scale can be achieved in the short term. Madam Chairman, the initiatives mentioned above will have an effect on the upcoming 2014/15 Budget; however, a supplementary of $6.931 million is required for Head 24, Hospitals, for 2012/13. Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 1, Ministry of Health? Honourable Member, Walter Roban, you have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. I am interested to get clarity from the Minister, because how this is listed as Current Account, and then separately, KEMH Subsidy—Continuing Care Unit. Is that all just one figure? Because it is just a little confusing how it is listed. If it is separate, a Cur-rent Account and also KEMH Subsidy, I would like to know what the breakdown of expenditure was on the Current Account expenditure itself. And what else can he tell us as to the Continuing Care Unit [CCU] as to what expenditures did they find, particularly as a part of the overspend in relation to the Continuing Care Unit? What aspects of expenditure caused this par-ticular overrun? The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister of Health.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Madam Chairman, I am pre-suming that this is just for the number of people in Continuing Care that grew beyond what was budgeted for. These are charged on a per-patient basis. So I presume that what happened during the course of the year was that under the last administration, there were more people in CCU than they had budgeted to be in CCU. So that is what was happening. The population of CCU was growing faster than was anticipated. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Home Affairs. You have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: Thank you for that. If the Minister could say what that number was and what the ultimate number was? What essen-tially was the number that we thought we were funding at the time, and then what it ended up being, I would like to know that. Also, this is definitely one whole number. It says Current Account, and then under it, KEMH Sub-sidy—Continuing Care Unit. Is that just one amount itself? Or is it separate for Current Account Hospital, and then there was a separate part of that $6.9 million that was also a part of the KEMH Subsidy Continuing Care Unit? [Inaudible interjection] The Chairman: Thank you. I need to have one sitting down, please. If you would like to have a response, we will hear a response from the Minister. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Do you want me to answer that or— The Chairman: Minister, you have the floor. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I mean, it is paid as a Current Account expense. The subsidy as it is going forward is paid on Current Account. That is why it is under Cur-rent Account. The amount that was budgeted was $104 million, and it came in, presumably, to $110.931 million. But it is dealt with as a Current Account ex-pense. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Finance. You have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I do not believe it is too late, but I am a little bit dense on trying to follow this. I need to make sure I get this. The question that I would ask is, Is this entire $6 million figure only for Continuing Care Unit? It does not have to do with age subsidy? It does not have to


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1655 do with old-age subsidy? I just want to know, is it just for Continuing Care Unit? The Chairman: Perfect. Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Yes. That is the case, yes. Just the CCU. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Home Affairs. You have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: Yes. I also ask the question . . . Thank you for the clarification. That is what I was ask-ing. But, fine. As it relates to the number, because you did say that there was a number which was funded, and then there was a dramatic change or an increase in the number. Can you give us what the actual number was expected to be funded? And then ultimately, this number is brought about because of the [increased] number of persons. Can you give us the difference in the number of persons who actually ended up [being counted] and why that contributed to this number in-crease? The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: No, no, Madam Chairman. I do not have that. All I know is that . . . I mean, we are going back several years now. And we were not the Government. A total of $104 million was budgeted. The charges were higher than that. But the numbers in CCU can change by the day. So this is at the end of a year. So, you know, when you added up all the charges over the period of a year, the attendance in CCU was that much higher than was budgeted for. I mean, you do not know whether the budget-ing was unrealistic or whether genuinely there were more patients going through CCU than were ex-pected. It is hard to look back under a different ad-ministration and see what the thinking was when they budgeted the $104 million. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises Mr. T. E. Lister, from Sandys South, constituency 33. You have the floor. Hon. Terry E. Lister: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, you have heard me speak before about bad budgeting, just putting numbers down on a piece of paper that are not going any-where. And some of that results in us standing here tonight doing this exercise. In the current year’s budget that we just dealt with, this head has actually been reduced by $6 mil-lion. Now, if we were over in this particular year and we are over again in the next year, which we are go-

ing to debate in a little while, why would we reduce the budget by $6 million for the current year? And are we actually setting ourselves up for this same conversa-tion in a year’s time? Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. [Inaudible interjection] The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Minister. Please have a seat.

The Chair recognises the Minister. We are go-ing to have a response. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, Madam Chairman. In answer to that question, I think the answer is the hospital is doing its best to reduce the number of people in the CCUs. So, for example, there were a number of CCU patients that were sent to Summer-haven. The situation is that, over the process of time, some people at CCU are passing away. And they are not accepting any more people into CCU. And they are taking some out of there and putting them in other places where there are suitable places for them. So that is why it has been budgeted, the figure will go down. We think it is realistic. We believe that that is realistic. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs. You have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I have heard the Minister’s answer. I would ask if the Minister could at least endeavour to come back and provide myself or the Shadow Minister re-sponsible on this particular 2013 issue with the num-ber that was actually budgeted for and then ultimately the $6.9 million as it relates to the number of people who actually went through Continuing Care Unit and the associated increase with that. I would appreciate it if the Minister could make that undertaking. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Well, Madam Chairman, it is not really figured out. The charges are made on a per-patient per-day basis. So you cannot say we budgeted for 50 patients, and we had 52. You are doing it over the period of a year. There are patients who are com-ing in and going out. There are patients who are com-ing in and maybe passing away. So you cannot say that we budget for “X” number. It is patient/days dur-ing the year. It would be too complex to go back sev-eral years now to try and calculate that. The Chairman: Thank you.


1656 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Are there any other Members? Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. You have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, can the Minister confirm . . . It is kind of along similar lines. But I am sure, un-der the subsidies Act, which this is a part of, that the subsidies which are paid under this would fall under old age, because they are at hospital and it is a per-centage. So I am figuring that it falls under there. The reason why I am asking that question is, was there not an agreement with the Bermuda Hospitals Board for a total cap to this subsidy? And would this increase the figure, although in the past, and recognising it does not take the overall spending figure of Government from that part, does that impact that cap, seeing that we are basically giving money back under the subsidy and there was a cap that was put in place? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Madam Chairman, the Shadow Finance Minister speaks of caps. There was an agreement for a cap. But that was between the hospital and insurance companies for insured claims. These are not insured claims. So there was no cap that applied to these charges. The Chairman: Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 1, Ministry of Health? There are no other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 1. We will move to Item No. 2, and I would then call on the Minister of Transport. We will move the whole thing afterwards. So the Minister of Transport, Item No. 2. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, the requirement for sup-plementary estimates more often than not indicates unforeseen challenges a Ministry or department of Government has to meet in any given year. The Minis-try of Tourism Development and Transport, formerly the Ministry of Transport, has three departments in-cluded in Supplementary Estimate (No. 2) for the Fi-nancial Year 2012/13. In the case of the Department of Marine and Ports Services, Head 30, the unbudgeted sum is in the amount of $374,198. The Department of Airport Operations, Head 31, the unbudgeted sum is in the amount of $1,374,850. In the case of the Department of Public Transport, Head 35, the unbudgeted sum is in the amount of $1,255,883.

The total for the Ministry of Tourism Develop-ment and Transport in Supplementary Estimate No 2 for the Financial Year 2012/13 is $3,004,931. I am now looking at Head 30, Marine and Ports. Madam Chairman, the actual Current Account expenditure for 2012/13 for the Department of Marine and Ports Services was $21.2 million. Supplementary Estimate (No. 2) for the amount of $374,198 is now requested to cover the remaining budgetary shortfall, which is subject to debate because it exceeds $250,000. Madam Chairman, Estimate (No. 2) relates to expenditure for inventory purchases which, prior 2013/14, are expenditures for which budget was not formally appropriated. The residual budget amount on hand to cover inventory purchases in 2012/13 was inadequate and in this case related to critical me-chanical parts and repair work on the water jet propul-sion systems of the catamaran fast ferries. Unfortu-nately, the anticipated funding amount for such me-chanical work can never be precisely assessed until the actual dismantling and mechanical inspections and repairs begin. In turn, any problems discovered have to be fixed on the spot, using the available spares inventory, as well as specially ordered parts, such that the boat’s underwater propulsion system can be reassembled and the boat put back overboard, ready for service. Madam Chairman, the total for Supplementary Estimate (No. 2) for 2012/13 for Head 30, Marine and Ports Services, again, is $374,198. Now looking at Head 31, Airport Operations. Madam Chairman, actual account Current Account expenditure for 2012/13 for the Department of Airport Operations was $25.2 million. I refer to this Depart-ment as the DAO. Supplementary Estimate (No. 2) of $1,374,850 represents 5.4 per cent of the depart-ment’s total expenditure, and is subject to debate be-cause it is greater than $250,000. Madam Chairman, historically, new airline routes have taken three years to become financially viable. However, with the increase in fuel prices and the lure of more attractive routes elsewhere, airlines are loathe to continue allocating aircraft and resources to an underperforming or low-profit route. As such, minimum revenue guarantee agreements have be-come a prerequisite of sorts for new leisure routes, with airlines increasingly calling upon vacation desti-nations throughout the Caribbean and North America to share in underwriting the financial risk. Madam Chairman, the DAO continues to ne-gotiate with our airline partners to safeguard the scheduled air services to and from Bermuda. These negotiations have resulted in commitments pursuant to agreements in support of the Government’s airline and air service development policy in the amount of $1,374,850. Madam Chairman, the total for Supple-mentary Estimate (No. 2) for 2012/13 for Head 31, Airport Operations, is $1,374,850.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1657 Now moving to Head 35, Public Transporta-tion. Madam Chairman, the actual Current Account Expenditure for 2012/13 for the Department of Public Transportation was $25.3 million. This Supplementary Estimate (No. 2) of $1,255,883 represents 5 per cent of that total expenditure and is subject to debate be-cause it is greater than $250,000. Madam Chairman, the Department of Public Transportation, known as DPT, projected a budget overspend for 2012/13 of $3.07 million. This projection outlined a detailed analysis of expenditure and pro-vided support for Supplementary Estimate No. 1 for 2012/13. During 2012/13, DPT reviewed its inventory and determined that there was a need to purchase additional body and engine parts to be used to effect vehicle repairs. This resulted in part from the increas-ing usage of spare parts to maintain an ageing bus fleet. The subsequent expenditure was higher than originally projected and also more than was spent in previous years. It should be noted that the parts ac-quired will be used over several years. As noted earlier in the brief in discussing the Department of Marine and Ports Services, prior to 2013/14, expenditure on inventory purchases were expenditures for which budget was not formally ap-propriated. Madam Chairman, DPT was also obliged to provide support for additional bus runs, requiring resources for manpower, fuel and other operating costs. This included transport for passengers arriving on two megaships at the dockyard. As a result, DPT’s final cost for the year exceeded its original projection. Madam Chairman, the 2012/13 Supplemen-tary Estimate for Head 35 is $1,255,883 for the pur-chase of inventory. That concludes my presentation on Supple-mentary Estimate (No. 2) for 2012/13 for the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. Are there any Members that would like to speak to Item (No. 2), Ministry of Transport, Head 30, 31 or 35? It would be easier if you could identify which head, and that way we know which line you are on. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. You have the floor. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes. This is Head 31, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: That would be Airport Operations. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Right. The Chairman: Please proceed. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Airline Revenue Guarantees. I am not going to get into the details as far as what was paid to whom. But the only thing I would ask the Minister, because every year the minimum revenue

guarantee, even when we were Government, came here as a supplementary. And I know it was not budg-eted for this year. It was not budgeted. The Minister will be back here next year with another amount of money. It could be . . . I mean, last year, it has not come up yet, but last year it was $2.4 million. Okay? This year, the one we are talking about now is $1.3 million. So somewhere between $1.5 and $2 million, the Minister will be coming back again next year for that. So I do not understand why governments do not budget for this. I did not find out until later on . . . As a matter of fact, it came out of Transport at the time. Then they came to us, asking us at Tourism for some money. And, no, no, no. We did not budget for it. Because it should have been your budget. It should have been your budget, Transport. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, this is Transport. This is Transport. The Chairman: Please refer to the Chairman. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: It is not Tourism; it is Trans-port. So all I am saying is that you are going to be under budget again this year. I mean, we hope that . . . I know with your lines what you are paying for. So, I mean, it is too late now. But just every year we did the same thing. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members? The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Madam Chairman. And I do appreciate that the Honourable Member respects the fact that many of the terms of these agreements are confidential, and so we do not want to get into the specifics. But the overall MRG [minimum revenue guar-antee] is deemed to be a contingent liability. So it is difficult to budget for it because we do not know [what it will be] exactly, as the Honourable Member just noted. Last year, I think he said it was over $2 million. Now it is, I believe, $1.3 million. So it is hard to budget for it when you do not know exactly what the liability is going to be. Having said that, we hope that there is no li-ability at all. And if we can get the Tourism numbers up and get the airlines full, then ultimately, as we have seen with other airlines that started off with an MRG and after a few years no longer needed it because of its performance, it is our hope that that would happen in this case as well, But I do take the point from the Honourable Shadow Minister that we normally come


1658 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report back for a supplementary in this particular depart-ment. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 2 that covers Heads 30, 31 and 35? There are no other Members that would like to speak to that. We will go down to Item No. 3, the Ministry of Public Works, which is Head 36. The Chair recognises the Minister for Public Works. You have the floor. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works provides centralised support services to the operation programmes within the Ministry. The Head-quarters Administration, under the direction of the Permanent Secretary, provides oversight and man-agement support for the entire Ministry of Public Works. It ensures that the policy objectives are met and is responsible for the implementation of the Minis-try’s strategic plan, yearly business plan and any number of administration projects. The revised budget for 2012/13 is $12,662,202. The original budget for Public Works Headquarters is $12,199,808, creating a supplement request of $352,827. The supplement is required for Public Works Headquarters; it is the purchasing pro-gramme, which is responsible for centralised purchas-ing and supply function to the operating areas within the Ministry. The inventory purchases were higher than the usage for the 2012/13 period, thus creating this negative variance in the Headquarters budget. This is for 2012/13. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Honourable Members who would like to speak to Item No. 3, which is Head 36 Supplementary. The Chair recognises the Deputy Op-position Leader, Shadow Minister of Public Works. Mr. Derrick V. Burgess, you have the floor. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, on Head 36, Head 36 only went over budget by $123,000. Yet the supplementary is for $352,827. I would like to know why the differ-ence. The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: The information that I have is that this is relating to the inventory pur-chases. So if there is any further information, I am afraid I will have to get that and bring it back to the Honourable Member.

The Chairman: Are there any other Members that would like to speak to the Ministry of Public Works Supplementary under Head 36? Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. Mr. David G. Burt, you have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Minister said this was for inventory pur-chases. Could she possibly, in any way, shape or form, be more specific? The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: I could make an attempt at it. It has been an ongoing challenge for the system that they use to actually purchase inventory, and this goes across the spectrum. The Ministry Headquarters is actually responsible for purchasing things like materials and supplies for use within Head-quarters. It also is responsible for purchasing aggre-gate and the like for use down in the quarry. So there are all manner of things that are the responsibility of the Ministry Headquarters with respect to purchases. So all of that [purchasing is done] out of the Ministry Headquarters. And this specific one, as is mentioned, Inventory, I do not have a breakdown in terms of, you know, whether it was nuts, bolts, paper towels or bath-room tissue. I am afraid I do not have that information at that granular level. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, and I understand that. But in this paper here, they have got Head 36. And that is where I have the problem, the issue, with. I am clear where you are coming from. But it is Head 36. It does not say the whole Ministry. If it did, then it should have been under those different heads. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Head 36 is the Ministry Headquarters, but it is responsible for the en-tire purchasing function. So that if it purchases some-thing and then it is used out somewhere else, then it would charge it out to that other Ministry. This is the extra between that which was budgeted and that which was actually spent in inventory, spent by the Ministry Headquarters. And ultimately, it will get charged onto the various other cost centres. But the responsibility for ordering and paying for it is actually with the Ministry Headquarters. And that is why we have this number. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Deputy Opposition Leader. You have the floor.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1659 Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: I think you are making it more difficult. The thing is, if Head 36 is purchasing for other Ministries, then there would be a charge back. They will get a credit on that. I think what needs to happen is you just need to let us know—I know you cannot let us know tonight—why is it that it is only overspent by $123,000, yet they are asking for $352,000? They should have supplied the information. That is the problem I have. It specifically says just Head 36. And it is okay to get it later; I am fine. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I take the Honourable Member’s point, and I will endeavour to get slightly more granular detail in order to give the Honourable Member a little bit more information. I do have my technical officers in the Gal-lery. So if they are able to provide that information momentarily, I will certainly give it to you before we finish tonight. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 3, Ministry of Public Works? No? We will move to Item No. 4, which is Po-lice. That is Head 65, Capital Development for Hamil-ton Police Station and Magistrate’s Court. The Chair calls on the Minister in charge to come to the floor. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Madam Chairman. This amount for $7,912 is in conjunction with the Hamilton Police Station and Magistrate’s Court. It is a small amount of money, and the reason why it is coming here tonight is because this project has had a number of extras over the TAF [total allowed funding], and this is getting close to the end of the project. So that $7,912 is a change to the TAF that needs to come here. And I understand the project is almost fully completed this time. So this should be just about the end of it. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 4, Police? No? We will move to Item No. 5, Works and Engineering, Head 65, Capital Development Recon-struction of Retaining Walls. I call on the Minister responsible. Minister. You have the floor. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Madam Chairman, the allocated budget for cost centre 75127, Reconstruction of Retaining Walls, for fiscal 2012/13 was $350,000. In 2012/13, this budget was used to carry out two significant and vi-tally important projects: the construction of the ammu-nition storage building at Warwick Camp for the Ber-muda Regiment; and for work on the police firing range at Southside to contain stray bullets, which oth-erwise could, in certain instances, ricochet onto the airfield. The police firing range was used in the 2013 NatWest Island Games, and so it was important that the range was safe. Whilst carrying out work on the ammunition storage building, it was also necessary to build a large retaining wall— Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Just, Madam Chair-man, for clarification. The Chairman: I just need one person standing. Minister, do you want to sit for a clarification? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Yes, I will. The Chairman: I call on the Deputy Opposition Leader. You have the floor.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Well, this is under head Capital Development of $7,900 and $28,000, which is $36,000 total. I mean, no explanation is nec-essary. I do not know what— [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: It is. It is. It is capital. It is capital. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Oh, it is capital. Okay. $36,000? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Yes. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Okay. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: I am referring to just Item No. 5 under Works and Engineering, the Capital Development, Head 65, for $28,418. The Honourable Minister for Public Safety just gave the total of $7,912. Because it is capital, all capital items are debatable. So this is the explanation relating to what happened and what caused the overspend of $28,418, compared to that which was originally budg-eted.


1660 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Let me just carry on. Whilst carrying out work to the ammunition storage building, it was also neces-sary to build a large retaining wall to repair a rock cut adjacent to where the ammunition building was to be built. The work on the retaining wall had not been planned. Madam Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works requests the supplementary funding of $28,418, that it be approved to Capital Cost Centre 75117, Reconstruction of Retaining Wall. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would like to speak to Item No. 5, Works and Engineering? The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. You have the floor. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. Just one quick question to the Minister. Minis-ter, at the beginning of your brief just now, in talking about the regiment and the police range, you gave a figure of $300-and-something-thousand? [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Yes, for clarification. I just missed . . . I was confused. The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Yes. In the total head, for that particular head, the total budget was $350,000. That was everything. And then part of it, when all the money was spent, we were overspent by $28,000. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 5, Works and Engineering, or Police, 65? There are no other Members that would like to speak to Works and Engineering. The Chair recognises the Minister. [Pause] The Chairman: The Chair now recognises, because there was an open question, I do believe, the Shadow Minister of Finance, Mr. David Burt. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman, and I thank you for your indulgence. I would just ask if the Minister of Finance, be-fore he closes out the Supplementary Estimate, he did say that the entire $10.325 million was a technical supplementary and no additional monies, because there were monies being able to be found in other places. Would the Minister have the information of

what other places that money was able to be found so that this did not increase the overall appropriation? Thank you. The Chairman: Yes. The Chair recognises the Minister of Finance. You have the floor. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: No, Honourable Member. I do not have that information. The Chairman: Are there any other Members? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much. Will the Minister undertake to provide that in-formation to the House? I think it would be interesting to know where the money was saved in order to make sure that overall additional money or additional Gov-ernment money was [not] spent. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Yes. I will get that to the Honourable Member. Madam Chairman, I would like to move the heads now. The Chairman: Yes. Please proceed. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I would like to move Min-istry of Health, Head 24; Ministry of Transport, Heads 30, 31 and 35; Ministry of Public Works, Head 36; Po-lice, Head 65; Works and Engineering, Head 65. I would like to move all those heads, please. The Chairman: Thank you. It has been moved that Item No. 1, Ministry of Health, Head 24, be approved; Item No. 2, Ministry of Transport, Head 30, 31 and 35; Item No. 3, Ministry of Public Works, Head 36; Item No. 4, Police, Head 65; Item No. 5, Works and Engineering, Head 65 [do pass]. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections.

Agreed to.

[Gavel] [Motion carried: Items 1 through 5 passed.] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Madam Chairman, I move that the adoption of the Supplementary Esti-mate (No. 2) [for the Financial Year] 2012/13 as printed to be reported to the House.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1661 The Chairman: We will approve Supplementary Esti-mate (No. 2) for Financial Year 2012/13 and submit it to the House. Are there any objections to that Motion? No objections.

Agreed to. [Gavel] [Motion carried: Supplementary Estimate (No. 2) for the Financial Year 2012/13 was considered by a committee of the whole House, passed without amendment.]

House resumed at 8:45 pm [Hon. K. H. Randolph Horton, Speaker, in the Chair]

REPORT OF COMMITTEE


The Speaker: Members, the Supplementary (No. 2) for Financial Year 2012/13 has been reported to the House as approved. Are there any objections to that? There are none. So those supplementary es-timates are approved. We now move to Order No. 5 on the Order Paper, Consideration of the Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) for the Financial Year 2013/14, in the name of the Minister of Finance.

I recognise the Minister of Finance. Minister E. T. Richards, you have the floor.

BILL

SECOND READING

SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATE (NO. 1) FOR THE

FINANCIAL YEAR 2013/14 Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 43(4) and 43(5), I move that Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) for the Financial Year 2013/14 be approved. The Speaker: Are there any objections? Carry on, Minister. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Just one or two words before we go into Committee, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Carry on, Minister.

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: As the Finance Minister, I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that none of these supple-mentaries that happened under our watch I am pleased or proud of—none of them, even though some of them, I think, were unavoidable. But I have to say one or two things. Firstly, that these supplementaries have been tallied and have been presented to this House in a timely fashion. That is the first thing. Some, as you will go through them, will be seen are a result of strategies that were implemented after last year’s budget was approved. So they are a result of an actual deliberate, if you like—deliberate action and strategy by the Government. And these actions were done to ultimately save the Consolidated Fund money in the long run. Some others were not quantifiable at the time of the Budget, and their quantification happened after the Budget was passed. Quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, some are the re-sult of inertia in the civil service that the SAGE Com-mission identified, where inertia of a practice that people were not accountable for overspends on budgets [continued]. This has historically been the case in Bermuda. It is a corporate culture that we are trying very hard to eradicate. But it is still with us. And the reform of the civil service that has been an-nounced and that has been started is one of the things that is going to be implemented to help lower the frequency and the amounts of overspends, going forward, because people will be held accountable for overspends, particularly senior officers. So with those few remarks, Mr. Speaker, I would like to move the House go into Committee on this matter. The Speaker: It has been moved that the House go into committee. Are there any objections? I would ask that the Deputy Speaker, please.


COMMITTEE ON BILL

SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATE (NO. 1) FOR FI-NANCIAL YEAR 2013/14

The Chairman: Honourable Members, we are in Committee of the whole for further consideration of the Supplementary Estimate (No. 2) for the Financial Year 2012/13 [sic]. I call on the Minister in charge. Minister, you have the floor. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Actually, this is Supplementary Estimate 2013/14 (No. 1).


http://parliament.bm/uploadedFiles/Content/Home/Supplementary%20Estimate%20No%201%20-%202013%202014.pdf

http://parliament.bm/uploadedFiles/Content/Home/Supplementary%20Estimate%20No%201%20-%202013%202014.pdf

1662 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Madam Chairman, this Schedule identifies seven items totalling $52,266,000 to be included in the Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) for the 2013/14 Fiscal Year, made up of $50,138,000 on Current Ac-count and $2.128 million on Capital Account. Honourable Members will recall that the crite-ria for determining debatable supplementary esti-mates requires all items on Current Account to be de-bated if the total Current Account spend for a Ministry shows an increase greater than 10 per cent, or $250,000, when compared to the original estimate. All capital items are debatable. This Supplementary (No. 1) for Fiscal Year 2013/14 is a combination of above-budget and unan-ticipated expenditure items. Of the total supplemen-tary requests on the Current Account, $12.7 million relate to interest payments on public debt due to the Government’s revised financing strategy, to borrow for multiple years; $11.5 million for the hospital subsidy, of which $10 million is in support of the Continuing Care Unit; $9 million in support of Financial Assis-tance; $4.5 million for Public Works in order to provide for waste collection, maintenance and repair, quarry operations, water supply and treatment for the entire Government; and $12.4 million of the Ministry of Tour-ism, Development and Transport, which is to provide for additional wages over time, airline revenue guar-antees and operational costs. Also included in this amount is a $4.2 million grant to support the transition costs of the Bermuda Tourism Authority. On the Capital Account, the $2.1 million re-lates to the completion of the Aquatic Centre at the National Sports Centre, and that is for $1.6 million, and infrastructure upgrades to assist the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute of $500,000. Applying the criteria that I have just described for all items on the Current Account and Capital Ac-count, all of these items are debatable. I would there-fore move approval for the items as follows: Current Account 1 through 5, all of which are debatable; and Capital Account 6 and 7, all of which are debatable. The Chairman: Thank you. We will begin with Item No. 1 on the Supple-mentary Estimate (No. 1) for Financial Year 2013/14. That is the Ministry Department of Ministry of Finance. It is Head 58, for the Interest on Public Debt. Minister, I call on you to continue. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I will not spend much time on this because all of the details of this are well known to the House, and in particular to the Honourable Member who speaks for Finance on the other side. We had a multiple-year strategy. It was not in the original budget. We bor-rowed $800 million last year, $750 million in US mar-kets and $50 million in Bermuda-dollar markets.

Therefore, our net interest has gone up, and that is what has caused the supplementary. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would like to speak to the Ministry of Finance, Head 58? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. Mr. E. David G. Burt, you have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, the Minister is correct that, of course, this is something that we have discussed and debated on many occasions. But the fact is that the Government spent $12.7 million more than they anticipated to spend. Now, when the multi-year budg-eting or multi-year borrowing framework came into place, that is it. But if the Government would have only borrowed for one year of funds, given the amount of money that was predicted in the deficit, they would have only spent $16.16 [million] in additional interest this year, whereas we are looking at a total of $27.8 [million] in additional interest this year. In addition to that, Madam Chairman, what we have seen is that interest rates, by and large, have not gone up. Now, I know the Minister always says that interest rates will go up in the future. They will not go down. They are only going to go one way, and up. That is fine. But the thing is that, thus far, interest rates have not gone up. And thus far, that means that the Government paid more because we were borrow-ing [more] for future years than we would have. So we had to pay all the interest in the future years on the expectation that interest rates would have gone up. But because interest rates did not go up, we are tech-nically overpaying. So if we are looking at all things being equal, and the $333 million deficit for this year, if we are looking at the other side of it, which would be $470 million, or $467 million, we are paying interest this year on $467 million that we are not spending. And in addition to that, the interest rate is about 4 per cent, but we heard in a different speech, the amount of re-turn that is coming in on that from the Sinking Fund is only 0.5 per cent. So we are spending money that we do not technically need to spend. So I have posed this question many times, and I am hoping that we can possibly have this dis-cussion today: How much do interest rates need to rise in order for this bet that the Minister of Finance made to pay off? Because right now, it is on the nega-tive side. Right now, it has not benefited Bermuda. Right now, we are paying more than the expected benefit of which we are supposed to receive. How far do interest rates have to rise before we get to the point where we need to be? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister?


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1663 Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Madam Chairman. This is the problem, and you do not have the ability to look over the horizon. One thing about being a Minister of Finance— [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: As a Minister of Finance, you have to look . . . As a financial planner, you have to look over the horizon. You just cannot look from year to year. You just cannot do it! The plan that we have implemented as a Government is a 10-year plan. The Honourable Member is talking about what has happened in the last eight months. I mean, there is a non sequitur there. And the non sequitur is that this is long-term planning. I have borrowed money for 10 years! The results of this financing really will not be known for 10 years. Anything in between is really not relevant, particularly in eight months. So, I would invite the Honourable Member to raise his horizon from eight months to 10 years to see what we are trying to do here. If you would look at the yield curve, you will see that the yield curve is still steep and that the market is pricing into the price of bonds, rising interest rates. There is no question about that. I did not just make this up, Madam Chair-man. You know, I did not wake up after having a reve-lation in the middle of the night and say, Oh, well, we are going to just do this. This was an act that came out of market analysis and our situation of having to borrow money to finance the operations of this Gov-ernment, going forward. That is the imperative. If we did not have to borrow this money to finance the Gov-ernment, we would not be here talking about this stuff! We would not have the need to borrow money. The truth is that, under the former administra-tion, they were borrowing little bits, really little bits of money year to year to finance a deficit without any kind of plan. In doing so, they missed opportunities to finance the position of the Government in an efficient way. That is what we have done here. We have ex-panded the reach of the Bermuda Government to fi-nancial markets outside of Bermuda instead of trotting down the street to our friends down on Front Street year after year. Mr. E. David Burt: Point of order, Madam Chairman. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: What is the point of or-der? Mr. E. David Burt: That the Honourable— The Chairman: If you could hold on a moment, Minis-ter. Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance.

POINT OF ORDER

[Misleading] Mr. E. David Burt: To say that we are expanding be-yond the reach of the banks down the street without realising that we have been financing globally for a long time is misleading the House. We have been get-ting financing from global capital markets for quite some time. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Madam Chairman, the vast majority of their financing has been managed by one manager, who will remain nameless—the vast majority, by one manager. Even though there were investors from overseas, they went to one manager. That is what I am talking about. Okay? So we have— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: That is right. One man-ager down the street. And they have arranged the fi-nancing year after year after year.

We have broadened the reach of this Gov-ernment insofar as a catchment area and insofar as our options going forward. Because, unfortunately, this money that we borrowed last year is going to run out. Yes. It is going to run out. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Therefore, there is no question that we are going to have to go back to the capital markets. Therefore, one has to get the market presence that is required so that you can get this fi-nancing as cheaply as possible. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I will remind the Honour-able Member that the cost of these financings that we got last year have never been cheaper—have never been cheaper. They were very successful. Given the fact that we have to borrow, given that necessity, we have done well in this particular endeavour. So it is not about the short term. It is about a medium-term plan, which is what we have implemented. The former Government, the Government which that Honourable Member was a Member of, was the Government that introduced this concept to Bermuda. But they did not do it! That is the difference. It was a great concept. They talked about it; they did not do anything about it. We did something about it. We executed it. So, I understand, if you want to keep your horizon at eight months, the Honourable Member is


1664 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report right. But I do not believe that that is the appropriate horizon. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Finance, Mr. E. David G. Burt. You have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, I am certain that the Mem-bers in this House and the listening public heard the Minister of Finance just contradict himself in his own statement. He said that this money is for 10 years. And then he said this money is going to run out in two years and we are going to have to go back to the market. So which one is it? The fact is that we will be able to calculate how much money this has cost or saved in two years! We will not have to wait until 10 years, Madam Chair-man. We can calculate how much it will save in two years. So it is clear that the Minister of Finance does not wish to answer the question which I posed. He says that it is unanswerable. But if the Minister made the statement when he first put this multi-year borrow-ing strategy out to the public and he said it will save the Government between $20 [million] and $40 million over time, then surely, as he professes to look at the markets and look at the yield curve and take into ac-count all these things, surely he must have had a pro-jection on how high interest rates would have to rise in order for us to save the money in which he says that we are going to save.

Because right now, Madam Chairman, we are not saving money. We are spending more money than we would have spent. No one can tell what may hap-pen. But we can go by what has happened. And what has happened is that interest rates have not gone up, and we are here now looking at spending $11 million more than we had originally anticipated in spending. That is the point, Madam Chairman. So, yes, we can take a long-term view. We can talk about the medium-term expenditure frame-work. But if we want to talk about what happened when we were on that side, we can also talk about what the Minister of Finance currently said when he was on this side and said that, When I am the Minister of Finance, we will not be having supplementary esti-mates. So we can see that times have changed! We can see that because the supplementary estimates are here. And it is not necessarily, as the Minister said, because of poor budgeting. But we will get there later, Madam Chairman. What I would like to know is, and we have had this question many times, and certainly, certainly the Minister of Finance sat down, opened up a spread-sheet and did some form of calculations to say that this would save us between $20 [million] and $40 mil-lion. Madam Chairman, if the Minister of Finance can-

not share how much he predicted interest rates to rise, then one must deduce that he only made those numbers up. Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Minister? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Madam Chairman, the Honourable Member really is doing a very good job of just talking— The Chairman: Be careful. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: —pure foolishness. You know, it is great to be able to look into the past. Any-body can do that. But the job of a Minister of Finance and any financial manager/treasurer, anything like that, investor, the easy part is looking back. The hard part is looking forward. Quite frankly, one of the big-gest failings of the Government that they represent is that they had no ability to look forward. None whatso-ever! [Inaudible interjection] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: None whatsoever. You had the ability to look forward? No, you had no ability to look forward. The Chairman: Member! Member! Refer to the Chairman, please. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: No ability to either look forward or plan forward. The Chairman: I should not hear any other voice other than the one who is on the floor standing. Thank you. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: To look forward or plan forward. So, the Honourable Member can get up there and pontificate about how we are spending more money than we budgeted for. He is right. He is right. There is no question about that. I take the blame for that. But I am doing it to save $20 [million] to $40 mil-lion in this country. That is what I am doing. The yield curves at the time told us that; they still tell us that.

Insofar as coming up with an exact amount, that is a useless exercise. Interest rates change every day. That would just be an opportunity for somebody to fixate on a number that is meaningless. So we are not doing that. I am not going to dance to the Honour-able Member’s tune. The only thing I am going to tell the public of Bermuda is that for the first time in decades, that a Government of Bermuda is taking charge of its fi-nances. It is taking charge in a professional and or-ganised way. [Inaudible interjections]


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1665 Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: It is taking charge in a way that I can explain to people what we are trying to do. And you know what, Madam Chairman? It is doing it in a way that very nicely convinced institu-tional investors all over the world who invested in our paper at the cheapest rate ever. So, you know, it really does not matter what the Honourable Member thinks. It matters what the markets think. Because they are the ones who are paying. They are the ones who pay out the money to us. We are borrowing. We are borrowing, but they are lending it to us. It matters what they think most when it comes to this! They are the ones who have got all the skin in the game. They have got $800 million of skin in our game. So it mat-ters what they think a lot more than what that Honour-able Member thinks. You know, he can pontificate and he can make political points. That is all fine. But I can tell you that for the first time in decades, the finances of this country are under proper professional control. And we are going to continue to make the decisions for the best interests of this country and its Government. [Desk thumping] The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. You have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, what type of professional financial control cannot tell you how he arrived at $20 [million] to $40 million? What type of professional financial control is that, Madam Chair-man? What type of professional financial control will not get up and admit that, during the deficit recession, we had interest rates at 2 per cent that we were bor-rowing money at? What is that, Madam Chairman? What I am saying, Madam Chairman, is that the entire country and listening audience would have heard that the Minister of Finance said that it was a pointless exercise to fixate on how the Minister arrived at the prediction that we are going to save $20 [mil-lion] to $40 million. At the same point in time, he wants to— Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Point of order. Point of order! [Laughter] The Chairman: Point of order. Minister?


Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: The Honourable Member is misleading the House. I never said that. I never said that. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Finance Minister. Mr. E. David Burt: I wrote it down, Madam Chairman. He said, It is meaningless. How is it meaningless to ask the Minister of Finance, who gets up on the floor of this Parliament and says that this will save us $20 [million] to $40 million, how he arrived at that figure? How is that meaningless? I mean, I am sitting here with a spreadsheet. I can calculate the interest rates going forward and how much would be needed for the rates to rise [for Bermuda] to save. Why cannot the Honourable Minister just tell us: We have predicted that interest rates will rise to this level, and that is the reason why I have made this thing forward, and that is the reason why I made the prediction that it will save $20 [million] to $40 million? I will ask another question, Madam Chairman. Maybe this one is a simpler question for the Minister of Finance to answer, which does not have him go back into his spreadsheet and just tell us numbers that are in spreadsheets. Maybe he will be able to an-swer this question: Does the Minister of Finance still believe that his multi-year borrowing strategy will save the Government $20 [million] to $40 million, or is he willing at this point in time to revise that number? The Chairman: I call on the Minister of Finance. You have the floor. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I have a very long answer for that, Honourable Member. The answer is yes. [Laughter] The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to [Item] No. 1? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. And I appreciate the extraordinary, long answer. But the facts are, Madam Chairman, that in-terest rates have not gone up over the past year, as the Honourable Minister of Finance has predicted. And the facts are that this supplementary estimate of which we are approving in an additional $12.725 mil-lion in debt of interest in this year is money that could possibly not have to have been spent. Those are the facts, Madam Chairman. Because if interest rates, when we go to the anniversary and if interest rates are along the same lines that they are today, then we would have paid more for financing than we would have, and that for-


1666 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report ward interest of which we paid could have been spent on other programmes or could have been spent on deficit and debt reduction. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 1, Ministry of Finance? There are no other Members. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Honourable Member, I just cannot let that Honourable Member have that last say, which was not correct. The Chairman: By all means. The Chair recognises the Minister of Finance. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you. The fact is that interest rates have started to rise, Madam Chairman. The markets say so in every way. The US economy is starting to grow, and as it does, interest rates will rise with it. Even the slow-boat economies in Europe are starting to show growth. Economies around the world are starting to recover. They are recovering. They are expecting sort of like over 3 per cent growth in the United States this year. This growth rate is going to produce higher interest rates, Madam Chairman. So I do not want people— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: The Honourable Member says I am speculating. The Chairman: Well, do not worry about the Honour-able Member. You have the floor. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Yes, but, you know, this is important, because it shows a lack of understanding of financial management. I will repeat. I will repeat. I will keep repeating it over and over again. Financial management is about looking into the future. It is looking— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I sat on that other side, Madam Chairman, at the beginning of 2008. I sat in that same chair that that Honourable Member is sitting in and got up here in a written speech and told the then-Government that the outlook for that year was bleak and that we were facing an economic storm. And in the face of that, the PLP Government were busy spending more money, borrowing more money and trying to stimulate an economy that was already overheated. That is the understanding of economics they have over there. We do not work like that over here. We do not work like that. So interest rates are rising, and the

scenario under which we made the decision to borrow multiple years’ worth of deficits at once is still intact. The Chairman: Thank you. Moving to Item No. 2, Ministry of Health and Seniors, which is Hospitals, Head 24.

I call on the Minister, the Honourable Trevor G. Moniz, the Minister of Health. You have the floor. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, thank you, Madam Chairman. This is very similar to the earlier one. Again, it is Head 24, Hospitals, which deals with the grant to hospitals, which deals with subsidies for young peo-ple, the elderly and those who cannot afford to pay. Again, the budgeted amount for 2013/14 was $104 million. In this case, the additional amount that is re-quired is $11.482 million for this year. Again, as I said in the earlier brief, there are a number of measures which are being taken to control the amount of sub-sidy going to the hospital. And we have seen during the budget the changes to the standard hospital bene-fit, which will produce reductions, savings, to the Con-solidated Fund. I will not repeat those ad nauseam, but we have a case management system, and the Management Service is conducting a review of the health system. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would like to speak to Item No. 2? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs. Mr. Walter H. Roban, you have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. I will present similar questions as I presented before to the Minister. This number is considerably higher than the previous supplementary that was ap-proved. So, the Minister gave certain explanations about this being far in the past, the previous number. But this is last year’s numbers. So perhaps the Minister can give me or this House, Madam Chairman, more details in relation to the $11.4 million in overspend on the Current Account for the Hospitals as he said relates to the funding for the Continuing Care Unit. Can the Minister perhaps give, for this year, a calculation as to how many more persons were admitted or cared for at the Continuing Care Unit who, as it might have accounted for as overspend, or what activities related to the Continuing Care Unit contributed to the $11.4 million overspend? Bearing in mind I understand the Minister has already said that there are steps to be taken that are going to substantially reduce any future spending with Continuing Care, perhaps the Minister can also give us a projection now as to the expectation as to how many persons will, based on the number that have


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1667 been cared for at the Continuing Care Unit now, what is the likely projection of, if you are moving persons to other facilities, like you mentioned before to Summer-haven, how much is that number of persons that you care for expected to reduce by? What percentage, or numerically—because clearly that will affect this num-ber, going forward. But I would like to know how much was budg-eted for, how many persons it was budgeted for, like I said before, and what actually was the end number of persons that actually were cared for at the Continuing Care Unit for this calendar year, of which this over-spend is responsible for. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. I call on the Minister of Health. You have the floor. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, thank you, Madam Chairman. Well, the information, as I have it, is laid out in the Budget Book at B-155. So most of this is what is put under Geriatric, and most of that which is under CCU. But there are some other amounts there for what was budgeted and some variances. The big numbers are Geriatric; the other ones are minor ones. I do not have numbers of individuals, but you can see on that— An Hon. Member: B what? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Page B-155. At the bottom, you see that the original estimate was $104 million and the revised estimate was $115.482 [million]. So that is the difference of $11,482,000 of this supple-mentary. And you can see there, a column over, for 2014/15, the subsidy estimate, the total is $109,491,000. So that is what is being budgeted. Now, we have taken steps through the changes to the subsidies that we saw on Friday as the standard hospital benefit. We have seen changes where we are trying to get control over that subsidy amount. And we are taking other steps as well. That is what was mentioned, the Management Services re-view, to change the way that we are dealing with these subsidies at the hospital. But we will not see that . . . We will see the success of that as we go for-ward. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Home Affairs. Mr. Walter H. Roban, you have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: Thank you for that from the Minister. But I completely understand that. But I am interested in knowing, since this figure accounts for . . . If I can reflect slightly on what the Minister said before in that the additional capacity that the Continu-

ing Care Unit was required to expend on, if the Minis-ter can tell us what that additional capacity was, based on what they are projected for? How many more people were cared for at Continuing Care Unit over what was projected for? And also, we know from public announcements that the Continuing Care Unit is scaling down, winding down its capacity. What is the projected reduction number that you expect to be caring for over this calendar year? We know what the plans are, and we know that there has been some limitation by the Govern-ment in expenditure on Continuing Care. Is that be-cause, like you said, you are moving people to Sum-merhaven and other care facilities? How many people are you moving out—10, 20, or 10 per cent, 20 per cent of those persons who are constantly cared for now? What is your projection? Clearly, that will be responsible for us perhaps next year not having any subsidy related to Continuing Care. And I am happy to get these numbers later if you cannot give them to me now, Minister—I am sorry, Madam Chairman. If the Minister can give an undertaking to give those numbers later, I am happy to wait for them if he cannot give them now. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Madam Chairman, I do not have those numbers for the Honourable Member. And the changes to CCU at the moment are not huge changes. They are very gradual changes. So it is not that we are making radical changes there. There are a number of balls in the air at the moment. Obviously, this year, we are going to see the opening of the Acute Care Wing. As we open the Acute Care Wing, changes are going to be made to the utilisation of the old King Edward [Hospital] and the even older building that CCU is presently in. So we are trying to deal with a number of balls in the air at the same time. But what we have said to King Edward is that we are bound by our budget, and in some cases, you know, This is the amount you are getting. You are unlikely to receive any more than that. You have to review what you are doing and come up with a plan. So it is really being pushed onto the Bermuda Hospitals Board to see what they can do. We are will-ing to help them in any way we can. But we have said, You really have to come up with a plan to deal with this issue. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 2? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. You have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman.


1668 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report [The] $11.4 million is a significant amount of money. Why was the Minister, whether it be his Minis-try team, whether it be the Bermuda Hospitals Board, whether it be the Health Insurance Department or whether it be the Minister of Finance, not able to budget for this better, seeing that we saw a supple-mentary the previous year and the year before that? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Well, I cannot really answer that. In fact, for the previous year, that was the second supplementary. So I do not know what the variance was from the budget, whether that was the only sup-plementary for that year for this head. I am not sure. But I do not know the answer to that. But all I can say is in the future, we will en-deavour to be much better. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister. Mr. E. David Burt: Just for clarity, there was no hospi-tal subsidy supplementary in Supplementary No. 1 for 2012, just so we are clear. So the overall supplemen-tary for the hospital subsidy was $6 [million], which we just did in the previous year, and right now we are looking at $11.4 [million]. If the Minister cannot answer the question, I am wondering if he might be able to possibly get some explanation either from the Minister of Finance, who sits next to him, or the former Minister of Health, to find out the reason why was this not taken into ac-count? Why are we once again, after being relent-lessly criticised when we were on the Government benches in regards to poor budgeting on this specific issue, [learning that] the Ministers and the team not been able to resolve this and we are now looking at what is, in effect, an almost 10 per cent overspend? The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Well, Madam Chairman, as the Shadow Finance Minister is aware, the election was very shortly before the budget period last year. So largely, the budget that was arrived at was the one that was already prepared for. Preparing for the budget begins in August. The budget is in February. So if you are elected four weeks before the budget, there is very little you can do to change it. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs. You have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: Yes, Madam Chairman. I find the answer quite interesting. Bear in mind, as having been the Health Minister, I remember

being soundly criticised for a substantial supplemen-tary in this area at one point by Members on the other side. But I think the question is valid as to, having seen those overspends, it is quite interesting that the Government did not budget better. But we understand why these things happen. Health is a moving target, which is why we were con-fronted with the same things when we were in similar seats. What I would like perhaps the Minister. . . And he may have already answered this in a way that he felt was satisfactory. What steps are going to be taken to minimise . . . Since the last two supplementaries are related to Continuing Care, what steps other than some of the things we have already mentioned, be-cause the Minister has stated that the changes with Continuing Care are going to happen over time. They are not going to be immediate. What steps are going to be made to control the overspend, since these seem to be specifically related to Continuing Care? Are there other methods other than moving people to other facilities that will be made to deal with over-spends related to Continuing Care Unit? The Chairman: Thank you, Member. Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Madam Chairman, all I can say really is that we are going to apply much stricter budget discipline in the future and also look at far bet-ter efficiency and effectiveness in the utilisation of the facilities that the hospital has. So I am meeting with the board of the hospital, the Hospital Board, as well as the Executive of the Hospital Board to impress upon them the changes that they need [to make]. So there are entrained measures to create greater efficiency at the hospital. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister. You have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, it is absolutely fascinating to listen to the Minister of Health say that the Budget that the Minister of Finance presented in this House last year February was an entirely PLP Budget and had nothing to do with the One Bermuda Alliance. So I will just ask the Minister— Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Madam Chairman, Madam Chairman. That is not what I said. I said it was largely, because it takes six months to prepare a budget. The Chairman: Yes. That is correct. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: So, in four weeks you do not make major changes.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1669 The Chairman: That is correct. Mr. E. David Burt: I appreciate the clarification, be-cause if it was largely the Progressive Labour Party’s Budget, maybe the Minister of Finance will [answer] (and I will yield), did he make any changes to the Budget which he found when he came into office? Do you wish to answer that? The Chairman: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Mr. E. David Burt: No? Okay. So, the Minister, we have heard largely and we have heard overall . . . I will refer back to statements of which were made, if I could. And these were taken by the Hansard. And these are spoken by none other than the Honourable Minister of Finance. And he said, “This particular item having to do with the hospital is the biggest offender . . . ” while talking about supplementaries. We were talking about the 2011/12 Supplementary No. 1, where there were supplementaries for the hospital subsidy. And he goes on to say, “. . . when it comes to overspends, in the whole Government—every year! I mean, all you have to do is look to see what hap-pened last year. I mean, it is not hard. You are not going to know how many people walk into the hospital for treatment, true. You are not going to know that. But you can estimate it from your experience. That is what budgets are all about.” He goes on to say, “. . . Because this is just not good enough. It is . . . not good enough for the people’s money. If it was your own money, fine. You can spend your own money any way you like. But for the people’s money, we need to have better budgeting than this. And there is no way that this can hold water that somehow you cannot predict this if it happens year after year.” So the question that I would ask on this par-ticular head, Madam Chairman, is, Seeing that this was largely the PLP’s Budget, and given that the Min-ister of Finance had made these criticisms, saying that this has happened all the time, why were there not any adjustments made to the Budget to make sure that we are not here approving an $11 million supple-mentary on the Hospitals item and history is repeating itself? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Unfortunately, Madam Chair-man, under the PLP administration, the hospital got used to going over their budget. They still did not be-lieve that efficiency was going to be enforced. During the course of this year, they have begun to realise that that efficiency will be enforced. And in the coming year, I think the lesson will have sunk home. The Chairman: Thank you.

Member, I just want to point out (if you could just take a seat for a second) it would be a lot easier for me if you wait for me to acknowledge who is about to speak. If it continues that you do not give me that opportunity, then I just will not. So, that being said, are there any Members who . . . Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposi-tion Finance Minister. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you. That response is curious. The reason why I say that, Madam Chairman, is because what meas-ures have been taken with regards to efficiency at the hospital that has resulted in an overspend of $11.4 million? When last year there was not that much over-spend, the final year of the PLP’s budget. They are saying efficiency measures were put in place. What efficiency measures yielded this change? It is non-sense to say that there were efficiency measures. It is nonsense to say the hospital was getting used to it under the PLP, but under us, they are understanding. If they were understanding, Madam Chair-man, then we would not be here with an $11.4 million overspend at the hospital. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs. You have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: Yes. My honourable colleague, I think, makes a valid point that if the previous 2012/13 year was so problematic, certainly what the OBA Government would have put in place the follow-ing year would not have accumulated an $11.4 million overspend. But I will ask the question again because I think I would like if the Minister cannot give me . . . And the Minister may have already given the under-taking. Can the Minister perhaps provide, even later, the amount of traffic that did go through the Continu-ing Care Unit for the calendar year of this year? So we can get an idea as to the number of persons that are going through, whether as permanent persons or as occasional clients of that facility. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister, do you care to respond? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Yes. Madam Chairman, I am not prepared at this time to go into that level of detail with respect to this. It will become clear as we go for-ward. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs. You have the floor.


1670 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Mr. Walter H. Roban: I am not asking the Minister to give the information now, Madam Chairman. If the Minister can provide that information later, I am per-fectly satisfied with that. I did not expect the Minister necessarily to go through that detail now. So if an un-dertaking can be made to provide it later, that will be fine with us. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 2, the Ministry of Health and Sen-iors? We will move to Item No. 3, the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, the requirement for sup-plementary estimates indicates unforeseen challenges a Ministry or department of Government has to meet in any given year. The Ministry of Tourism Develop-ment and Transport has five departments included in Supplementary No. 1 for the Financial Year 2013/14. In the case of the Department of Marine and Ports Services, Head 30, the unbudgeted sum is in the amount of $3,764,000. The Department of Airport Operations, Head 31, the unbudgeted sum is in the amount of $2,467,000. The Bermuda Department of Tourism, Head 33, the unbudgeted sum is $3,600,000. The Department of Public Transport, Head 35, the unbudgeted sum is in the amount of $1,845,000. And in the case of the Ministry Headquar-ters, Head 48, the unbudgeted sum is in the amount of $91,000. The total for the Ministry of Tourism Develop-ment and Transport in Supplementary Estimate No. 1 for the Financial Year 2013/14 is $11,317,000. Madam Chairman, looking at Head 30, Marine and Ports. The original Financial Year 2013/14 Cur-rent Account estimate for the Department of Marine and Ports Services was $18.5 million, with a revised expenditure estimate for March 31st, 2014, of some $22.3 million. The requested supplementary Current Account estimate of $3,764,000 is subject to debate because it is greater than $250,000. Madam Chairman, while every effort is made to avoid operations, including overtime, invariably overtime work is required in order to avoid service interruptions at short notice. Boat crews and/or me-chanics receive certain premiums assigned by the collective bargaining agreement, and crews must sometimes be called in on rest days to operate service vessels due to crew sickness, or leave in or-der to maintain scheduled public transport services. Some 71 full-time staff and six part-time staff assist with the operation of the SeaExpress ferry service, supporting the Government’s marine transportation programme, which benefits local commuters and visi-

tors to our Island alike. The service’s operations are highly seasonal, requiring additional staff in summer to assist cruise ship passenger processing at the Dockyard in Hamilton ferry stops, where high passen-ger volumes are encountered. Ferry service overtime was funded at $129,000, while actual expenditure is estimated at $739,000. It was apparent from the start of the finan-cial year that the allocated budget was insufficient, as the projected ferry service public holiday overtime coverage alone was $130,000. Other overtime costs within the ferry service include overtime costs to cover for sick leave, totalling $114,000, and other built-in operational costs—for example, providing additional services on weekends when cruise ships are in port. Madam Chairman, overtime to Dockyard en-gineering personnel supporting engine and system repairs aboard the three tugs, the tender Bermudian, Dockyard slipway operations and additional mechani-cal support to the ferry service amounted to $207,000, and overtime expenditure for this section was un-funded in the 2013/14 allocation. While a further $383,000 is paid out against a $20,000 budgeted overtime amount to tug crews supporting port opera-tions, although this expenditure is offset by the reve-nue generated. The department’s Aids to Navigation Section incurred $66,000 in overtime against a $30,000 budg-eted amount. Maritime Safety and Security is ex-pected to incur a year-end overtime cost of around $90,000 versus a budgeted $70,000 due to short staff-ing. The Pilot Service overtime is anticipated to be around $125,000 versus a budgeted $120,000 total. Madam Chairman, based upon this synopsis, the total overtime cost for the department is expected to be $1,880,000 versus an initial 2013/14 budgeted amount of $380,000, an overspend of $1.5 million. A budget shortfall of $600,000 occurred with insurance. Insurance was initially budgeted at $830,000. However, the department had to designate the insurance budget to other areas of expenditure, requiring cash payments that were not sufficiently funded in the 2013/14 budget award—for example, the purchase of spare parts. The appropriated insur-ance budget was reduced by $530,000 to $300,000 through the year to meet these necessary outlays for operations, despite fleet insurance commitments be-ing essentially fixed and obviously critical to protecting the Government in case of accident and any potential liabilities. Example of such marine liabilities include heavy lift operations by the buoy tender Dragon, dan-gerous manoeuvring scenarios by our tugs around larger ships and the operation of pilot boats offshore in rough weather and against the size of ships, where damage and injury can occur if a boat is not handled correctly. Madam Chairman, the need for the charge of the fast ferry Millennium was previously explained at


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1671 the start of the 2013/14 Budget year, with the rationale being to provide relief to our local ferry fleet through local technical support staff being able to get ahead of critical maintenance. This larger fast ferry is also able to provide a 400-passenger capacity versus the 350 maximum passenger capacities of our two largest catamarans. Charter arrangements for this vessel were not concluded until after the 2013/14 Budget was submitted, but our inability to assure mass transit operations afloat in 2013 with the arrival of the Nor-wegian Breakaway was sufficiently in doubt that the vessel’s lease was viewed imperative. As such, an apparent budget shortfall of some $1.5 million is now reflected in this supplementary re-quest, given the resulting charter fee and crew costs. Fuel costs for the entire Marine and Ports fleet was budgeted at $2.7 million for the year, with an overspend of some $100,000 anticipated, and there-fore also needing supplementary coverage. Note that, despite the budget overrun, the 2013/14 expected expenditure of $2.8 million represents a reduction of $145,000 from 2012/13 actual fuel consumption. Madam Chairman, the 2013/14 Supplemen-tary Estimate for Head 30 is $3,764,000. Now moving to Head 31, Airport Operations. Madam Chairman, in 2013, the Department of Airport Operations (DAO) continued with its efforts to intro-duce measures designed to reduce energy consump-tion throughout the airport facility. In November, the airport completed the first phase of the visual slope segment penetration (known as VSSP) capital im-provement project that included the installation of the new LED runway edge and centreline lighting. The newer, more energy-efficient lighting replaces the old incandescent system and stands to reduce the air-field’s annual energy consumption. The DAO has also remained consistent in its attempts to minimise its energy bill by processing early monthly BELCO payments that resulted in dis-count savings totalling $244,377 in calendar year 2013. However, despite these collective efforts to re-duce energy expenditure, the approved budget alloca-tion proved insufficient to meet the annual energy costs of approximately $2.6 million required to operate the L. F. Wade International Airport. This figure repre-sents 13 per cent of the department’s annual operat-ing and maintenance cost. The shortfall was $200,000 in 2013/14 against the approved budget of 2013/14. Madam Chairman, historically, new airline routes have taken three years to become financially viable. However, with reduced capacity and the lure of more attractive routes elsewhere, airlines are loathe to continue allocating aircraft and resources to an under-performing or low-profit route. As such, minimum revenue guarantee agreements have become a pre-requisite of sorts for leisure routes, with airlines in-creasingly calling upon vacation destinations through-out the Caribbean and North America to share in un-derwriting the financial risk.

While there has been positive growth in reve-nue performance, the WestJet flight has yet to reach the profit levels realised by the airline elsewhere throughout its route network. Madam Chairman, DAO continues to negotiate with our airline partners to safeguard the scheduled air services to and from Bermuda. These negotiations have resulted in agree-ments in support of the Government’s airline and air service development policy whereby, in consideration of providing regular air service to Bermuda, the Gov-ernment is required to pay the airlines a calculated sum if there is a financial shortfall on the route. Agreements may vary in detail, but guarantee the air-lines either a certain level of revenue or a specific level of profit on a particular route. Government’s commitment pursuant to cur-rent agreements is in the amount of $1,361,536. Madam Chairman, the 2013/14 Supplementary Esti-mate for Head 31 is $2,467,000. Now, Head 33, Department of Tourism. Madam Chairman, the original estimate for the De-partment of Tourism was $27,273,000. The supple-mentary estimate of $4,250,000 represents 15.5 per cent of that original estimate. All of this overspend is attributed to costs for the transition for the Department of Tourism for the newly created Bermuda Tourism Authority. Madam Chairman, the Bermuda Tourism Authority (or BTA) became effective on Decem-ber 16th, 2013. The BTA is now assuming activities of the former Bermuda Tourism Board [BTB] and the Bermuda Department of Tourism (known as the BDOT). The transition is scheduled to be completed by the 31st of March of this year. Madam Chairman, the BTA has continued to maintain a budget of transition funding to successfully set up the organisation and its operations, along with funding to support operating costs to ensure business continuity. In November of 2013, the BTA estimated the total amount needed to support these activities to be $4.7 million, and this amount was adjusted to $4.25 million. Due to modifications to the transition plan, delayed hiring and ramp-up of operations, and a further refinement of assumptions, the BTA now an-ticipates the total remaining funding amount to be around $3.6 million, a decrease of $1.1 million to the total original transition funding request. Madam Chairman, as a semi-autonomous entity, some of the services that were previously pro-vided to the Department of Tourism at no cost by other Government departments will now have to be paid for by the BTA. The costs of these now-outsourced services are included and are not part of the BTA one-time transitional cost. The one-time tran-sitional costs include:

• the creation of the new BTA entity, website and social media update and website domain;

• support for finance vendor in setting up fi-nance function and assisting with related tran-sition activities;



• costs for advertisements, marketing campaign for the launch of the BTA, as well as monthly charges for PR agency;

• legal fees to support activities, such as legal entities set up, vendor contract review, em-ployment contract review;

• visa and tax analysis support for New York of-fice;

• investment capital fund set up and additional US support for labour law compliance;

• support for IT vendor in setting up IT function; and

• assisting with all transition activities. Other setup costs include:

• purchase of new equipment and software for all divisions;

• tenant improvement, deposit, moving fees; • signage, architectural fees, and estimate for

New York office reconfiguration and/or moving expenses;

• HR services for recruitment support and strat-egy, job advertisements, benchmarking, on board and training, payroll, benefits and pen-sion setup;

• support to project manage the operationalisa-tion of the BTA;

• vendor and cost management; • sales and marketing strategy; and • planning.

Madam Chairman, funding was also required for ongoing operational costs that included the fully loaded salary costs for new BTA employees, existing BTB employees and temporary support staff for ad-ministrative services. Operating costs also include administrative expenses such as meeting costs, ex-periences workshops, grant repositioning, telecom-munication, ongoing back-office support services, bank fees, rent and audit fees. Madam Chairman, the 2013/14 Supplemen-tary Estimate for Head 33 is $3.6 million. Now, Head 35, Public Transportation. Madam Chairman, the original estimate for the Department of Public Transportation was $20.945 million. The sup-plementary estimate of $1,845,000 represents 8.81 per cent of that original estimate. Madam Chair-man, $1.54 million, or 83.5 per cent of the sum will be used to fund personnel costs for overtime. In 2013/14, the department received $151,525 to fund overtime costs. This sum was inadequate to finance the cost of present staffing levels and the additional routes and services that DPT was required to provide. This Hon-ourable House will note that the bus service includes additional routes outside of the fixed schedule, includ-ing school bus and shuttle services to the cruise ships at the Dockyard. These services combined are com-monly referred to as the grey schedule, which has

evolved since the current bus schedule was first im-plemented in 1999. Much of this service is, by necessity, handled with overtime at premium pay. Additionally, overtime was incurred to provide cover for short-term staff ab-sences as a result of sick leave and furlough days. It was intended that some savings in this area would be garnered through implementation of new, more effi-cient work rosters aligned with the new schedule. We are again addressing this issue with the objective to enact a new schedule by July of 2014. Notwithstanding the new schedule implemen-tation, it should be noted that in 2013/14, the level of service provided was not reduced. In its 2013/14 original estimate, the Department of Public Transpor-tation was provided with $1.4 million for the cost of diesel. This represented 71 per cent of the cost in-curred for diesel for 2012/13 and proved to be inade-quate to meet the department’s needs. An additional sum of $305,000 is required to fund the cost of fuel to operate the bus fleet until the end of this fiscal year. Madam Chairman, the 2013/14 Supplemen-tary Estimate for Head 35, Department of Public Transportation, is $1,540,000 for overtime and $305,000 for fuel, totalling $1,845,000. The final head is Head 48, Ministry Headquar-ters. Madam Chairman, the original estimate for the Ministry Headquarters, Head 48, was $882,000; the supplementary estimate of $91,000 represents 10 per cent of that original estimate. With the appropriate approval, the Ministry employed the services of the Innovation Group to update their 2009 report on gam-ing in Bermuda. Their updated report included re-search on the economic and social impact casinos will have in Bermuda and recommended the gaming model that should be pursued, with the eventual deci-sion being to adopt the integrated resort casino model. Madam Chairman, the 2013/14 supplemen-tary estimate for Head 48 is $91,000, and that con-cludes my presentation on the Supplementary Esti-mate No. 1 [for the Financial Year] 2013/14 for the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would like to speak to Item No. 3, Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport, Head 30, 31, 33, 35 and 48? Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Transport. Mr. W. Lawrence A. Scott, you have the floor. Mr. W. Lawrence Scott: Thank you, Madam Chair-man and Deputy Speaker. My question to the Minister is that he came to this House and told us before that the total cost of the Millennium was going to be $1.2 million. And then he came back, and after I made some comments and did


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1673 some math on my own, which took it to $5.5 million, he said that, No. I was wrong. I had fabricated those numbers, and that it was going to be actually $1.5 mil-lion. So, how do we go from $1.5 million to an ad-ditional $3.7 on top of that which, if my math serves me correctly, 1.5 plus 3.7 would equal 5.2 million? How do we actually get to that without even going into the other additional costs for having the Millennium on the Island? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I am not sure if the Honourable Member was listening to my presentation. But I made it clear that . . . He is mixing up the overall costs of the depart-ment and the specific cost of the Millennium. I made it clear that out of the overall supplementary of $3,764,000 that the Millennium accounted for $1.5 million. The other costs were taken up with overtime and other expenditures. But for the 100th time, the Mil-lennium cost was $1.5 million! The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Leader of the Op-position. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. I just heard the Learned Minister say for the 100th millionth time. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I said 100th time. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The 100th time the cost for the lease of the Millennium was $1.5 million. Right. So tell me. The insurance and fuel that are here, is that part of the Millennium’s operations? The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: My information, as articu-lated in the brief, was that the cost for the Millennium was $1.5 million. The fuel was across the entire fleet, which may have included—and I will find out—the Mil-lennium. The insurance, my understanding is, no. So the overall cost for the Millennium is $1.5. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I would think— The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the— Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I would think— The Chairman: Excuse me!

I would like to recognise you for Hansard and for those who are listening. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. You have the floor. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I would like to thank you, Madam Chairman. I would think that the fuel costs for the regular ferry schedule was already budgeted for that fiscal year, was already in the budget. So this fuel cost, which is a supplementary, has to be attached as an operational cost for the Millennium. [Inaudible interjections] The Chairman: Minister? [Crosstalk] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: It is being brought to my attention that there is actually . . . I am being told that the overall cost of fuel was a reduction of $145,000 from 2012 to 2013 as we relate it to the actual fuel consumption. In 2012/13, there was a reduction this year of $145,000. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: So, could I ask, was there a reduction in utilisation year over year? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: The information is that there was a reduction of the speed of the vessels, which led to a reduction of fuel consumption. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you. But the Millennium was an additional vessel. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes. And I take the point. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: You see what I am getting at. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: So I will see if the fuel, the diesel increase here was attached to the Millen-nium. But in terms of the basic costs for the Millen-nium, it was $1.5 million. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. You have the floor.


1674 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Would the Learned Minister also confirm that the wages and overtime, you said it was spread across the entire Marine and Ports, the wages and overtime which was part of the supple-mentary? Or is it associated with the lease of the MV Millennium? The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No, it is not associated with the lease. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Transport. Mr. W. Lawrence Scott, you have the floor. Mr. W. Lawrence Scott: Yes. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I just want to make sure that the Minister is including the accommodations for the Millennium staff while on the Island and the furnishing for the apart-ment for the Millennium staff while on the Island in this $3.7 million, plus the air fares for the rotating of the overseas staff for the Millennium while they are on the Island. Are all those things included in the $3.7 mil-lion? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No. All of those costs were included, Honourable Member, in the $1.5 mil-lion. So all of the costs associated with the Millen-nium, barring maybe the diesel, are $1.5 million. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Madam Chairman, you mean variable costs such as travel and accommodation, but in particular travel to and fro, is contained in a lease rate of $1.5 million—variable costs like travel? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: It was not the figure. I believe the original figure was $1.2. But it was not a leased rate. These were the projected costs for bring-ing the Millennium here, which include some of the items that you have raised. It ultimately cost $1.5 mil-lion. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Okay. Just for clarity, because I think when we first had this discussion in the House, we did not get the clarity that we sought. There are a

variety of types of leases that you can use for trans-portation equipment. You have a dry lease, a damp lease and a wet lease, usually. Can you tell me . . . And you understand the distinction? Dry lease is just the asset. You have the crew, you have to maintain it, you have to pay the insurance and whatnot. A damp lease or a wet lease comes with full crew, fuels in-cluded, insurance is paid for, the works. Then a damp lease is a combination of a little bit of dry and wet. What type of lease is this, based on that de-scription or definition? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? [Pause] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you. Actually, my understanding is that it does not fall into any of those categories. The explanation was that the cost of the lease was for the actual utilisation of the vessel, the crew, salaries and the like. And we then added in fuel. But there were specific costs as-sociated with the Millennium. But I am being told it was not categorised as one of those three definitions. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you. So the rate of the lease is determined on an hourly basis? Or is it a monthly basis? Because you used the term “utilisation.” The rate was based on its utilisation. That really speaks to a wet lease on an hourly basis. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: My information is that it was set for that particular fixed period. So there was a cost for that fixed period. The Chairman: Are there any Members that would like to speak to [Head] 30? Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Transport. You have the floor. Mr. W. Lawrence Scott: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. Now, when it comes to Marine and Ports, an-other thing that was brought up that I noticed for this past fiscal year was the tugboat Powerful, which was estimated at $300,000 to be for work to be completed. But yet, we know that it came to a total of $1.2 million. Why is there not a supplementary submitted for this overage? The Chairman: Thank you.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1675 Can I ask you, Member—Member. Can I ask you to repeat the question, please? Mr. W. Lawrence Scott: Yes. Sure—submitted for this overage? The Chairman: Thank you. Can I ask you, Member, to repeat the ques-tion, please? Mr. W. Lawrence Scott: Yes. Sure, Madam Chair-man. In Marine and Ports there is a tugboat named Powerful. It was budgeted to have maintenance done to it which would have cost $300,000. However, after the maintenance was done, the total cost was $1.2 million. Why is there not a supplementary submitted for this tugboat Powerful? The Chairman: Thank you. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: My information is that the additional costs for those repairs were capitalised. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to just the Head 30? [Crosstalk] The Chairman: Thank you. We will continue on Item No. 3. I recognise the Shadow Minister of Tourism. You have the floor. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. In the $2.4 million for the current account and airport operations, I am only going to speak to the minimum revenue guaranteed portion of $1.3 million. That is what he said, $1.361.

Honourable Minister, is that correct? [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Sorry. For the minimum revenue, you said $1.3 million? I believe that is what you said. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Okay. So, $1.3 [million] for the financial year 2013/14, and it was $1.3 [million] for the financial year 2012/13, so it has been consistent.

So, again, I ask the Minister, Have you budg-eted for this amount in 2014/15? (Which we know you have not.) And so, you will be here again next year asking for, basically, the same thing.

Now you also mentioned that this funding—and this is the first time that you have mentioned an airline. You said WestJet. Is this amount only for WestJet? The Chairman: Thank you.

Minister?

Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No, and if the Honourable Member would allow, I am not going to get into specif-ics in terms of amount. That airline was mentioned in the previous year, that why it was mentioned again. I would rather not get into details of that. I probably should have omitted that statement. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I understand what the Minis-ter was saying, and I was just surprised that you did mention it. And so, are there any other airlines (with-out mentioning)? because we know that there was at least two. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Okay. Are there any other airlines that we are talking about within this $1.3 mil-lion? [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Outside of West— The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: There are other airlines, yes, that received MRG payments. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: First and foremost, Madam Chairman, I would like to let the Minister know that these questions are not intended to attack him. We acknowledge that we started minimum revenue guar-antees [MRG]. But it is always an opportune time to assess their effectiveness.

And so, you did mention WestJet, which then allows us to analyse the Toronto and the Canadian market and the effectiveness of an MRG. It also speaks to whether or not our tourism spend, in terms of marketing, is being effectual, because there should be a synergy between the two. I ask the question of what airlines, and we do not need to know the amounts, but which airlines ser-vicing Bermuda today are in receipt of minimum reve-


1676 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report nue guarantees? Because that allows the people to understand which markets have a depression in de-mand, which markets are people finding difficulty. That is not a dangerous question; it is a fundamental question of marketing. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: It is not dangerous question. I would like to know, is it American Airlines out of Mi-ami? Is it American or Delta out of New York? These questions are important, so if you could furnish the answers, please. The Chairman: Thank you.

Minister?

Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Opposition Leader, I am sure, would be aware that many of these agreements have confiden-tiality clauses which is important in— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I know you are not asking the amount, but even in dealing with the actual indi-viduals that we are engaging [with] because of the competitive nature of the industry. I would rather have this conversation with the Honourable Opposition Leader offline, if he would accommodate. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I appreciate the response, but this is the second instance where we have heard “confidentiality” invoked because of competitive pres-sures or secrecy around competition. But we just do not accept that. We just cannot accept it. We are not asking to know the actual amounts of subsidy that each particular carrier is getting. We would just like to know: Are there carriers, which routes, are experienc-ing that type of suppression in demand which requires us to give out minimum revenue guarantees.

And the reason why I ask is because . . . for instance, is there an airline operating out of the New York area that is receiving minimum revenue guaran-tees? I raise that because we have at least three or four different carriers coming out of New York. And if there is one that is getting an MRG, it means that they are not being competitive, which means that they need to remove themselves from the market. The Chairman: Thank you.

Minister?

Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you.

I hope that the Honourable Opposition Leader will accept this answer. And then, again, I would like to have the conversation offline. But I can give you the destinations. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Canada is a destination, and Miami. [Inaudible interjection] The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: That is all I wanted to know. All right? Because Miami, in particular, is a very impor-tant gateway into Bermuda, especially even for locals trying to get to the Caribbean and Latin America. But we also see when . . . because the Miami route has no competition, American Airlines is able to play their yield management to the highest level. Okay? So the cost per seat, on a 73 coming up and back, is proba-bly, I could calculate it off the top my head, maybe, $200 a seat. And that is at the high end—$200 a seat, round trip. But, you see, the average fare out of Miami is about $600 or $700.

Now, even with that high fare they are still asking for minimum revenue guarantees. I think an alternative approach, and I know that the General Manager of Airport Operations has always cautioned us over it, is go and approach JetBlue and see if they can introduce a service out of Fort Lauderdale. Now, maybe that might increase the competitive pressures on American, but it will also require them to up their game, and that could also stimulate more demand, which means that they would not have to rely on minimum revenue guarantees.

Well, once you give someone a minimum revenue guarantee, it is a pacifier. Okay? It destroys the initiative to compete. And so we should introduce competition. And if American has to scale back their operations as a result—fine! Because JetBlue’s pres-ence would be beneficial to us and our tourism prod-uct. Instead of being overly focused on their bottom line. So I encourage the Minister to go with the Gen-eral Manager, Mr. Adderley, who is quite capable, to go talk to JetBlue to see if we can get some competi-tion out of Fort Lauderdale for the southern Florida market. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Finance Minister. You have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, I just wanted to make something very clear to all Members of the House and


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1677 all members of the listening audience, that minimum revenue guarantees are not confidential, as they are disclosed in full in our financial statements every year as contingent liabilities. They are not confidential. The amounts and terms are stated clearly inside of the financial statements. And we know how much money was paid out. We know the irrevocable letters of credit that have been issued to secure these amounts. We know and we understand. So it is not confidential in nature here. It is fine. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 3? [Inaudible interjection] The Chairman: Item No. 3. So it depends on which . . . thank you. [Inaudible interjection] The Chairman: You just have to tell me which Head you are going to speak to. [Inaudible interjections] The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Opposition Tourism Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: So we have finished Heads 30 and 31. Correct? The Chairman: Yes. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Okay. So as far as Head 33, which is the $4.2 million for the Tourism Authority Grant, the Minister was well aware they were moving toward a Tourism Authority, in last year’s budget. And so, I am quite surprised . . . either the Government did not set aside additional money for the transfer or the combination, or the Tourism Authority, or the board itself, because they collect $3.8 million in revenue from guest fees. Why did they not put it in a budget as far as moving? So I am a bit surprised that it is up to this amount, $4.2 million.

Now, I am going to ask the Minister, What was the cost? Because during the actual staffing, em-ployment costs were advertised by, I think, a local company here and an overseas company. What was the total employment agency’s fees? Is it in this amount here? And how much is it? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you. We are approving $4.2 [million], but as I said in my brief I have been advised that it is going to ac-

tually be $3.6 [million] and then the balance would obviously revert back to Consolidated Fund. In terms of the itemisation of the cost, how much is in this, it could be an overlap. I do not know. I know that this was the cost of the transition, and I itemised all of the various initiatives. I can undertake to get you more specifics, Honourable Member. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Tourism Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, I cannot believe that the Minister is asking us to approve $3.6 [million] (if that is the number) without knowing the full details. I mean, that is extraordinary.

I would have thought—and I see the one rep-resenting the TA [Tourism Authority] sitting there—that they would have come here with some informa-tion. Just to say $3.6 million: Parliament, approve it is unacceptable, Madam Chairman. So maybe this number should be held over because I just think it is crazy.

What are we approving? I mean, it is one thing if it was the employment agency. I heard the Minister read out a different transition plan, you know, employment agency. That TA started already, without giving us full detail on how they are spending the tax-payers’ money. It is unacceptable. So I do not know where we go from here, but I do not think . . . how can we approve this? [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: And what is it for? It makes no sense at all. And now you are saying it was $4.2— Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of order. Point of order, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Your point?

POINT OF ORDER Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I accept the fact that you do not know specific amounts in relation to what it was for, but I clearly explained what the amount of money was for. I went through, in fact, quite a few of the costs of the transition. Now, I did not put a line item next to it. I accept that. We will provide that informa-tion once I can get that. But I explained what the cost was for. So we are not just coming here asking for an amount of money without understanding what that money was spent on. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair now recognises the Shadow Minis-ter of Transport. You have the floor.


1678 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Mr. W. Lawrence Scott: Yes, Madam Chairman, I just ask for your indulgence, if I could just go back to Head 30, with the Millennium. Just because the Mil-lennium was brought into the Island to help relieve the workload of the local fleet, and I understand that he has a supplementary for $3.7 million. If the Honour-able Minister could let us know what major repairs were done on the local fleet while the Millennium was in service, I think that that would help us put the value for money in perspective. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I think it was very evident when you compare the transportation system as it relates to the tourists that were arriving in Dockyard last year with [the] pre-vious year, no one can say that value for money wasn’t abundantly clear. I do not believe any ferries were out of service during the high season. With the Millennium, in service it allowed for your regular main-tenance, and it also reduced the capacity and the bur-den on those ferries during that time. We had almost zero complaints last year during that period of time from our tourists and others because they were able to effectively get across the Island.

Do I know the exact mechanical cost and the like toward the fleet during the Millennium? No I do not. But I think the value of the Millennium was very evident. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. I think a question (if it has already been an-swered then I apologise) . . . but does the Govern-ment, does the Minister have any intention in acquir-ing additional ferries so we can move away from this lease arrangement with the Millennium? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: At this time, we do not have the budget for purchasing new ferries. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Finance Minister. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, I am on Head 33, in regard to the current account—

The Chairman: Member, I am going to just ask for your patience here. I would prefer that we go down from each Head, and not go back and forth.

So just to confirm, is everyone satisfied that they have asked all their questions for Head—

Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman? The Chairman: Yes. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: We are still on the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport, and I think we should have the flexibility and leeway to go between the various Heads. The Chairman: Member, I understand what would be easier; but, quite honestly, we would be here all night. So I am asking— [Crosstalk] The Chairman: I am asking as we go forward that we will go forward by each Head. So if you can . . . and we do it with other Bills. Once you are complete and you are happy, then we move on to the next Head. [Crosstalk]

POINT OF ORDER Mr. E. David Burt: Point of order, though, Madam Chairman. I will note that the Minister in charge, moved Heads 30, 31, 33, 34, 35 and 48, all at the same time. The Chairman: That is correct. Mr. E. David Burt: Okay. So we can debate all Heads. I understand where you are going, and I happy to go in order. I just want— The Chairman: And we are going to go in order. Mr. E. David Burt: Got you. The Chairman: And that is all I am asking— Mr. E. David Burt: No problem. The Chairman: —is that we go in order. Mr. E. David Burt: But I just want to make sure, for the record, that people can go back because those are all the Heads in which we are discussing. The Chairman: Thank you very much. Let me confirm, just in case anyone is con-fused. In order to smoothly go down each of these


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1679 Heads, I would like, and I plan, to finish with each Head and go on to the next one. And so, therefore, I am, to be clear, not going to go backward. We are going to go down the Heads in front of us. So if you can prepare your thoughts as we go down each Head, it would be easier for us to proceed. Ms. Lovitta F. Foggo: I beg your indulgence, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Opposition Whip. Ms. Lovitta F. Foggo: In order for there to be a fair debate around these Heads, because they were all moved at the same time, then we should be allowed . . . I do not think that you can dictate that we cannot do that, because they were moved at the same time, so we can speak to them. The Chairman: Fair enough. Ms. Lovitta F. Foggo: Thank you, Madam— The Chairman: Fair enough. That is fair enough. And what we will do, since basically you are guiding at this point, when we finish with three, when we start the next one, number four, be prepared. We will go down by— Ms. Lovitta F. Foggo: Well, I am just saying that you cannot dictate it, but I do understand it would make it more orderly, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: And I am hoping that you can be a little bit— Ms. Lovitta F. Foggo: Yes. I think people will try to comply. The Chairman: Perfect. Ms. Lovitta F. Foggo: Yes. Okay. The Chairman: Thank you. [Crosstalk] Mr. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, I am on Head 33. The Chairman: I recognise the Opposition Finance Minister. You have the floor. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you. The Chairman: But do tell us what Head you are on.

Mr. E. David Burt: [Head] 33. The Chairman: Yes. Mr. E. David Burt: In regard to Head 33, and the Bermuda Tourism Authority Grant, I must concur with what the Shadow Minister of Tourism said. I would have expected that the Minister in at least coming up here with this would be able to give some sort detail, some sort of itemisation, some sort of idea, instead of just saying, Here! I want you give $4 million to Tour-ism Authority. We have had other details in other Heads where the Minister said, It has been this much for gas. It has been this much for overtime. It has been this much for . . . et cetera. But here we just have a whole bunch of subjects and there is nothing.

So let me try to get some clarity from the Min-ister. The Minister said that in the cost for the Ber-muda Tourism Authority there were website costs, HR services, project management support. Were those items and activities managed by the Ministry of Tour-ism? Or were they managed by the provisional Tour-ism Authority? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you. All of the items that I listed were costs that were implemented by the ETA. The Chairman: Thank you.

The Chair recognises the Opposition Finance Minister. Mr. E. David Burt: I thank the Minister very much for his answer.

The next question I would ask is: Can the Min-ister confirm of the items of which he noted for web-site costs, social media, HR services, and project management support, if the Bermuda Tourism Author-ity put those items out to tender? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: The answer is yes. I could not say all or how many, but I know most of those services were put out to tender. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Opposition Finance Minister. Mr. E. David Burt: Would the Minister undertake to share at least the documents that were put out to ten-der so that the House can see those documents? Be-cause I would like to know, specifically, how the ten-der and the detail was released. The reason why I say this, Madam Chairman, is I think it is very important


1680 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report because we have heard a lot about the Tourism Au-thority. We have been told that we are coming here today to approve funds for the Tourism Authority with-out knowing what those funds are for.

And if I could, Madam Chairman, refer to Fi-nance Instructions, because Finance Instructions are very clear. And they say that, “Any organisation that receives funds from the Bermuda Government must have a set of written financial procedures in place to provide for the control of financial transactions to-gether with the governance and control of capital pro-jects which should be available for review by the fund-ing department, and/or provided upon request to the Accountant General and/or the sponsoring Depart-ment.”

Before, in our earlier debate, we spoke our Finance Instructions and what we were done, and they said it would be provided. Financial Instructions call for items to go out for tender for various things that are above $5,000 for three quotes, and $50,000 for tender process, and Finance Instructions should be complied, especially when someone is getting a significant amount of funding. So I am asking, Will the Minister share those items of which were put out to tender? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman, yes, the Minister also mentioned that certain government de-partments will be charging the TA for services. Can the Minister tell us what departments will be charging, the TA? The Chairman: Thank you. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I believe you mentioned that the TA will be charged by certain government depart-ments, I believe that you mentioned that. Did you mention that? I thought I heard you say that in your Statement, that the TA will be charged by certain gov-ernment departments. You did not mention that? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Just a point of clarifica-tion. I think you are referring to when I said earlier that things like human resources, IT, which currently the Government provides or provided for the Department of Tourism. Now the BTA would have to outsource that since they are now separate from government. The Chairman: Thank you.

Are there . . . thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Finance Minister. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much. On Head 33, still, is the Minister able to pro-vide an estimate in any way, shape or form to provide any sort of details on Head 33? Specifically, could the Minister please state how much was spent by the in-dependent Bermuda Tourism Authority on the promo-tion of gaming in Bermuda? The Chairman: Thank you. Are we on [Head] 33 or down to 48? [Head] 33. Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes. Thank you. I do not believe that is part of the supplemen-tary, Madam Chairman. I think what I mentioned in the supplementary in terms of gaming, was the $91,000 that was spent on re-engaging the Innovation Group. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow Finance Minister. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. From answers provided in response to Par-liamentary Questions from the Honourable Independ-ent Member, Terry Lister, the Honourable Premier stated in his response that the projected monetary costs of educating the Bermuda public on the benefits of gaming are approximately $2,200 from the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport, enhanced by additional funding from the Independent Bermuda Tourism Authority.

There was no funding for the Bermuda Tour-ism Authority before any of this. This is the first fund-ing for the Bermuda Tourism Authority. Therefore, the question is being asked: How much did the Independ-ent Tourism Authority spend on promotion of gaming in Bermuda? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: The amount that was spent does not form part of the supplementary that is before the House today. It was actually when it was the Tourism Board, at that time, when we were ex-pecting a referendum. I asked the board if they would segregate funds to help support that process. Those funds were used for the education programme. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Finance Minister.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1681 Mr. E. David Burt: Madam Chairman, we are getting mixed messages from the Cabinet again. These ques-tions were asked after the referendum on gaming was cancelled, and it was spoken in regard to— Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Point of information, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Will you yield? Minister?

POINT OF INFORMATION Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: As I will say again, I re-quested before there was a Tourism Authority for the Tourism Board to approve funding to support the Government’s position in the referendum, which we were supporting a positive vote. They did so with monies that were already budgeted. When the deci-sion was made not to have a referendum, those mon-ies were used to support the education programme. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. Mr. E. David Burt: So is the Minister of Tourism say-ing that the Premier was wrong by saying that addi-tional funding would be provided by the independent Bermuda Tourism Authority? The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No. It was the Tourism Authority at the time that provided the funding. But the funding . . . the board transitioned into an authority. It used the same funding. It was the same funding. The money that the Tourism Board had, they had segre-gated funds for certain purpose, and those funds were ultimately used for the education programme. When the education programme commenced, it was a Tour-ism Authority. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. The Chair now recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. Madam Chairman, still on Head 33, Bermuda Tourism Authority Grant. Minister, correct me if I am wrong, because I missed a part of your brief, but is there any part of this $4.25 million that is a part of the compensation packages for any employees in the Bermuda Tourism Authority. The Chairman: Thank you.

Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I believe it was, yes. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you. Well, Madam Chairman, the first two employ-ees were the CEO and CO, correct? To be hired? The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No. The Honourable Member will remember that during the transition we formed a Project Management Office which was called the PMO. I think those salaries, primarily, are reflected in this supplement. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Madam Chair-man.

Was the current Chairman, Mr. [David] Dod-well, a part of this PMO?

The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No. No, he was not. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Was Michael Winfield part of this? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, he was— The Chairman: Thank you. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes. The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. Can the Minister confirm the actual amount that was paid, I guess, in consultancy fees or to the PMO out this supplementary? The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I do not have the exact figure and I would be loath to try and estimate. But I can give it to you, Honourable Member.


1682 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you. So the Minister has given indication that he will provide that information about the PMO, as part of this . . . their salary or consultancies fees of $4.25 mil-lion. Which begs the question: Why not also provide the information for the CEO and CO? The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: It is two different things. You have the . . . this was the transition team taking us to the BTA and the employees, not just the execu-tives, all of the employees that have been hired in the BTA have been hired under a certain category, and it has been deemed that they were going to keep their compensations confidential. But it was three staff of that transition team. We told the public about the tran-sition team. I will get you what their compensation was during that short period of time. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Finance [Minister]. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, given the amount of ques-tions and given that the Minister does not have the details, would the Minister consider possibly holding off on moving Head 33 until he can provide those fig-ures to the House. We could do it on Friday so we are not here trying to get answers to questions all night and we are not able to get them. The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No, I am not prepared to do that, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would—the Chair recognises the Opposition Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman, would the Minister confirm, the CEO, I believe, came on board in January? [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: So the payment of his sal-ary, was that already budgeted under the BDOT or under . . . where was it budgeted for the payment of January up to March? The Chairman: Minister?

Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you. The CEO did start the end of January. The CEO is not full time, as yet. Funds to cover various expenses were transferred from the Bermuda De-partment of Tourism to cover certain expenditures. The Chairman: Thank you.

The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: So are you saying that it is in the $4.2 million? The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No, as I said earlier, my information is that it is not reflected in this supplemen-tary. Monies were transferred, because you have got to understand that the Department of Tourism still ex-ists, in fact, the full transition is not complete until the 1st of April. So monies were transferred to cover cer-tain expenses. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. So the Minister is confirming that the CEO was paid with direct funds from the Ministry of Tourism and he is still being paid directly from funds reallo-cated from the Ministry of Tourism and not [by] the Bermuda Tourism Authority? The Chairman: Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: The ultimate transition is going to require funds that were held by the Depart-ment of Tourism to go to—just like all the other as-sets. And the funding is an asset. So in essence, what was transferred to the Bermuda Tourism Authority becomes the property of the Tourism Authority and allocated accordingly. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the— Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I do not . . . sorry. The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I do not believe what I just heard. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Are you saying the Govern-ment approved for funding [by] the Government? Where does it show on the financials? That somebody


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1683 was transferred to . . . what was the transfer? Was it grants? What was the transfer of that? The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, I do not have the specifics of that. That does not form part of the supplementary. So we, we— [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Well, I have informed this Honourable House that it does not form part of the supplementary, so we are now venturing outside of the supplementary debate. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman, we do not know that, as my Leader has said. So until we know what these numbers are, we can ask whatever we want, basically. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Because he cannot . . . he does not know what they are either. So, again, how much was transferred from BDOT over to TA for the salary of the CEO? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Madam Chairman, as I said already, I know (if the Honourable Member does not want to accept it, that is up to the Honourable Member) that that does not form part of this supple-mentary. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Minister of Finance. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Hopefully we can bring this Head to a close. Could I have an undertaking (I will just ask again, just for complete clarity) from the Minister of Tourism De-velopment and Transport to provide a breakdown, in the same way that we get it on the Budget Book, for the money that was spent out of this additional sup-plementary that he is calling us here to do.

Before we had a debate. We asked questions. Now, being asked to allocate funds that we do have the supporting information for is a challenge. He has said that he does not wish to rise and report progress, so we can actually get the answers to the questions we asked, could he undertake—because we are here back on Friday—to give us a breakdown of the sup-plementary for the Bermuda Tourism Authority Grant.

The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: As I said earlier, yes. I give an undertaking. Whether or not it will be ready by Friday, we will endeavour to do so, but I give that un-dertaking. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other— Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Tourism. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Madam Chairman, I respect what my colleague had asked the Minister to do. The Chairman: Mm-hmm. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: But this is a new revelation. He did not reveal this information while we were on the Tourism part. He said “assets” and we thought it was just physical assets. Now, knowing that cash was transferred over from the BDOT—which was taxpay-ers’ money, again— The Chairman: Mm-hmm. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: —so I am disappointed that . . . we do not even know how much it was that was transferred over in total assets. But, you know, that is how they do things around here. The Chairman: Thank you. That was not a question then. Are there any other questions to Head 33? Are there any questions for Head 35, Public Transportation? Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Real quickly, Madam Chair-man, Head 35, it says $1.845 million for wages over-time. Would the Minister confirm that that is just a reflection of the age-old scheduling problems that we still face at the department? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes. As I stated in the brief, and during the debate on this department, that is the challenge of grey schedule, the cost of the pre-mium over time, which is approximately $1.5 million. The Chairman: Are there any other questions pertain-ing to Head 35?


1684 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report No? We will go to Head 48. That is a Ministry Headquarters. Are there any Members—thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Finance. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. The question that I have is in regard to $91,000. What was the breakdown of that figure? Was that entire amount for Innovation Group? Or do we have additional funds? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you. That entire amount, in full, was to the Innova-tion Group. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Opposition Finance Minister. Mr. E. David Burt: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, in going back to the an-swer [to the Parliamentary Question] that was pro-vided by the Honourable Premier where he said that the education costs would be $2,200 from the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport, can he just say that that does not form part of the supplementary, and if so, where did the money come from? The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: It does not form part of the supplementary, and it was just part of the Minis-try’s budget. We had the money to pay for it. The Chairman: Are there any other questions pertain-ing to Ministry Headquarters, Head 48? No? We will move to the Ministry of Public Works, which is Item No. 4. The Chair recognises the— Mr. E. David Burt: Point of order. The Chairman: Were there further questions? Mr. E. David Burt: Don’t we have to approve the Heads first? The Chairman: Sorry? Mr. E. David Burt: Don’t we have to approve the Heads before we move on?

The Chairman: We were going to approve it like we did in the last one, when we did the supplementary estimate for number two. So we are going to . . . thank you very much for bringing that . . . and by the way, I would like to say at this point, thank you very much for your patience and endurance as we continue to go through the supplementary estimates. [Inaudible interjection] The Chairman: No, we are going to move them in the end. [Inaudible interjection] The Chairman: Then, we will move them one by one and we will start up with the Ministry of Finance. So, before we go to the next Ministry, we are going to— [Inaudible interjection] The Chairman: No, they were not moved. We moved the last Heads all together. [Inaudible interjections and crosstalk] The Chairman: We approved them en masse the last time. So we will now approve them individually . . . [Crosstalk] The Chairman: We are going to go to [item] 1 [Minis-try of Finance], and we are going to approve [item] 1. So if the Minister of Finance would . . . Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Madam Chairman, I move Head 58. The Chairman: It has been moved that Head 58 be approved. Are there any objections to that motion? There are no objections to that motion. [Motion carried: Item 1, Head 58 was approved and stands part of the Supplementary Estimate No.1 for financial year 2013/14 ] The Chairman: Minister? Item No.2, Ministry of Health and Seniors. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Yes, I move Head 24. The Chairman: It has been recommended that we move Head 24. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1685 [Motion carried: Item 2, Head 24 was approved and stands part of the Supplementary Estimate No.1 for financial year 2013/14] The Chairman: Ministry of Tourism and Transport, Item No. 3. [Crosstalk] The Chairman: And he is moving. [Laughter] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Pardon me, Madam Chairman. I move Heads 30, 31, 33, 35, and 48. The Chairman: It has been moved that under the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport, Heads 30, 31, 33, 35, and 48 be approved. Are there any objections to that motion? AYES and NAYS. The Chairman: The Noes have it. [Motion carried: Item 3, Heads 30, 31, 33, 35, and 48 were approved and stands part of the Supplementary Estimate No.1 for financial year 2013/14] The Chairman: We will now move to Item No. 4, Min-istry of Public Works and we are going to go Head by Head here. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Yes, thank you, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: And thank you again for everyone’s endurance. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I would like to move [Item No. 4] Head 36, Ministry Headquarters, a current account amount for inventory for $856,000. The Chairman: Please proceed. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, for the fiscal year 2013/14 Public Works Headquarters required a budget sup-plement of $856,000. Revised budget for 2013/14 is $7,102,000. The original budget for the Public Works Headquarters is $6,246,000, creating a supplement request of $856,000. Madam Chairman, the supplement is required for Public Works Headquarters, the Purchasing Pro-gramme, which is responsible for centralised purchas-

ing and supply functions to the operating areas within the Ministry. Tynes Bay storage required a large num-ber of new parts due to the replacement of furnace and boiler components and the flue glass cleaning equipment, which had an estimated capital cost of $15 million and $10 million, respectively. The inventory parts were selected based on the wear and failure potential to ensure the reliability of the plant, especially within our isolated Island. Fail-ure to obtain these parts could lead to unplanned shutdowns of the plant, which would have financial and physical consequences in the long term. Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Are there any Members that would like to speak to the Ministry of Public Works, the Min-istry Headquarters, Head 36? The Chair recognises the Deputy Opposition Leader, Mr. Derrick V. Burgess.

You have the floor. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, you know, the Govern-ment, when they were Opposition, gave us a lot of flak about spending money before it was approved. And here we have got $50-plus million spent without ap-proval. And I am only speaking on it because they made so much fuss about it. In Head 36, I can see most of it, about $788,000 is to do with materials and supplies, and the rest are odd pieces. Madam Chairman, the damage is done. That is all we got to say about that. The Chairman: Are there any other Members that would like to speak to the Ministry Headquarters, Head 36? No other Members. Minister? Please move it. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I would like to move Head 36. The Chairman: It has been moved that Head 36 be approved. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections. [Motion carried: Item 4, Head 36 was approved and stands part of the Supplementary Estimate No.1 for financial year 2013/14] The Chairman: Continue, Minister. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, I would like to move Head 81, Public Lands and Buildings.


1686 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report The Chairman: Please proceed. [Crosstalk] Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, the Department of Public Lands and Buildings within the Ministry is responsible for the management and maintenance of all Govern-ment-owned properties. Our property stock is dated and requires ongoing repair, some of which is plant maintenance, and some of which is emergency repair. The department is also responsible for the electricity bills for the four main government buildings in the City of Hamilton; namely, Global House, the Dame Lois Browne-Evans Building, the Government Administration Building, and the GPO.

For fiscal 2013/14, the Department of Public Lands and Buildings, require a budget supplement of $649,000. The total budget for fiscal year 2013/14 was $22,869,000. The requested budget supplemen-tary is to cover the unanticipated cost of maintenance materials for government buildings for the year and the total electricity bills for the four main government buildings through year end, which are to exceed the original budgeted amount.

The original budgeted amount for electricity was $1,556,000 and the anticipated final costs for the financial year will be $1,900,000. That is a differential of $344,000. For maintenance materials, the initial budget was $300,000 and the anticipated final cost for the financial year will be $708,000, a difference of $408,000. While these two increases are more than the supplementary requested, savings were made in other areas to keep the request to a minimum.

Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would like to speak the Ministry of Public Works, Public Lands and Buildings, Head 81? The Chair recognises the Deputy Opposition Leader. You have the floor. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, Madam Chair-man, you know, I think it was last year when the then-Minister of Public Works came here saying in the brief that he brought here how they were saving money by paying the electricity bills on time, and they saved so much money. I find it a bit hard (well, difficult) to un-derstand why would you budget for $1.5 million and you end up paying $2.2 million, over $700,000 differ-ence? That is a big differential in what you budgeted and what you actually paid.

You know, with all the modern technology, again, this . . . obviously, the Minister’s Statements that he brought here, he even brought one here about LED bulbs and everything else, that is not following by

the Ministry, because you are paying $700,000 more in that. Maintenance, materials, again, very high, the actual was $600,000. A lot of money spent without approval. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, maintenance and materials here. It is budgeted for $621,000, actually spent $1,046,000. Yes, so about $400,000, just over $400,000. A whole lot of money spent; no approvals at that time, as per the regulations.

Again, Madam Chairman, I would hope that next year that, according to the Finance Minister (not his exact words) will hold people accountable for this overspend. You know, it is quite a bit. Quite a bit overspend for these little items. Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Thank you very much. The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Madam Chair-man, I have no problem with the level of accountability to which the Minister alludes. He did make some sort of error in the calculations, but I think that the initial was $344,000, as I indicated, for the electricity. And $408,000 for the maintenance materials. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Point of order, Madam Chairman. The Budget Book— The Chairman: The Chair— Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: I am sorry. The Chairman: Thanks okay. The Chair recognises the Deputy Opposition Leader, if the Minister would yield.

POINT OF ORDER Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. The [Budget] Book, if you look on Head 81, [page] B-226, the energy charge is $1,557,000. It was revised to $2,217,000. That is a difference of $740,000. There is no error there. The Chairman: Thank you— Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: If the Honourable Member— The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Minister. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1687 If the Honourable Member would just like to point me to that number again, because I am just a little . . . [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: [Page] B-226. Look under energy, in the expenditure. The Chairman: For 2013/14. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes. You see it? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Right. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: You see the $1,557,000 for energy, original? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Right. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Revised to $2.2 mil-lion? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Okay. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Right there. The Chairman: Thank you very much. Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: [It is] $1.556 mil-lion and revised to $1.9 million.

So I will have to get a proper explanation of that difference, of the revised, because I am not happy with that number. But the information that I have, Madam Chairman, is that the amount was $1.9 million as against an original of $1.556 million; hence, the reason why I indicated that it was $334,000.

With that, and no further comment, I would— The Chairman: No. There are other individuals. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Oh, sorry. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Public Safety. The Honourable Michael J. Scott, you have the floor. Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Arising from the question by the Shadow Min-ister of Public Works, about achieving the benefit of early payment of electricity bills so that we get the (what is it called?) the discount, is that progressing or has that now been successfully implemented to make those savings pointed out by the Minister in previous Statements? The Chairman: Thank you.

Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you. Yes, I did speak with the Engineering De-partment and they indicated that one of the highlights for this year was to ensure that electricity payments were made on time in order to get the benefit of the discounts. I am not sure why the extra utilisation, not-withstanding . . . because with the discounts that would indicate that there is higher utilisation of elec-tricity and that is something that we would have to look at. I am not sure if there are revisions in actual charges out from BELCO, or the like, but they did highlight the fact that they are quite proud of ensuring that they met their deadlines with respect to taking advantage of the discounts that were available. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 4, Public Lands and Buildings, Head 81? No? Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, I would like to now move Head— The Chairman: We have to move and approve Head 81 first. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Yes, that is what I am trying to do. The Chairman: Okay. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: That is what I am trying to do. I would like to move and approve Head 81. The Chairman: Thank you. It has been moved that Head 81 be approved. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections. Agreed to. [Gavel] [Motion carried: Item 4, Head 81 was approved and stands part of the Supplementary Estimate No.1 for financial year 2013/14] Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, I would like to move Head 82, the Department of Works and Engineering. The Chairman: Please proceed.


1688 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: This is a supple-mentary amount of $3,009,000.

Madam Chairman, the Department of Works and Engineering provide highly visible and essential services to the Bermuda Public. Essential services, such as garbage collection and disposal, safe dis-posal of hazardous substances, recycling, mainte-nance on the government vehicle and equipment fleet, water treatment and distribution. They are all carried out by the department, as well as maintenance and repairs to the government’s infrastructure, which in-cludes roads, bridges, docks and street lighting. For the fiscal year 2013/14, the Department of Works and Engineering requires a budget supplement of $3,009,000. The original budget for 2013/14 was $32,286,000. The budget for the department has been progressively reduced from [2007/08] when it stood at $40,380,000. But the department has continued to provide the same level of service, despite material and labour cost increases in that time.

The revised budget estimate for the Depart-ment and Works and Engineering in fiscal 2013/14 is $35,295,000. The overspend is attributable to seven areas: Solid waste collection, solid waste special haz-ardous waste, Tynes Bay maintenance, quarry ad-ministration, quarry vehicle and equipment mainte-nance, quarry receipts and water supply and treat-ments. The solid waste collection, which is cost cen-tre 92029, requires a budget supplement to cover for extra overtime costs that have been necessary while carrying out the collection of garbage. The Ministry has struggled to keep 12 garbage trucks operational for each collection day due to the delay of the pro-curement of parts in a timely fashion.

The solid waste special hazardous waste, cost centre 92014, requires a budget supplement to cover for necessary payments to a specialist contrac-tor to remove hazardous waste material from Ber-muda and to dispose of it in the United States. Insuffi-cient budget had been allocated to this operation. In-sufficient budget had been allocated to this operation. The original budget was $978,000 and the revision was $1.262 million, a differential of $284,000.

If I could just back up one, to solid waste, I did not give the actual numbers. The original budgeted was $3,976,000, the actual was $4,396,000 for a dif-ferential of $420,000. Madam Chairman, Tynes Bay maintenance, cost centre 92016, requires a budget supplement to cover for maintenance work carried out at the plant that was not budgeted for. Following completion of the upgrading of the existing waste stream works in early 2012, most maintenance, until early 2013, was cov-ered by warranties. Since then, all maintenance costs are now covered by the operational budget. The origi-nal budget amount was $1.747 million, the revision was $2.168 million, or a differential of $421,000.

Quarry administration, cost centre 92019, re-quires a budget supplement to cover for wages and internal vehicle hire that had not been included in the original budget estimate. The original budget estimate was $931,000, the revision was $1,510,000, a differ-ential of $579,000.

Quarry vehicle and equipment maintenance, cost centre 92021, requires a budget supplement to cover for wages and materials required for carrying out repairs to vehicles and equipment that are used by other departments and which have not been charged to those other departments. The original budgeted amount was $3,052,000. The revision was $3,588,000, for a differential of $536,000.

Quarry receipts, cost centre 92034, requires a budget supplement due to the reduced recharges re-ceived from the utilisation of vehicles and equipment. This is as a result of reduced hiring requirements and due to less vehicles being operational because of the lack of receiving spare parts in a timely fashion. Also, some vehicles have not been charged properly to other ministries and departments that have actually used them. The initial estimate was that the depart-ment would receive $4.8 million, when it fact their re-vision was that they received $4 million. So that put an extra $800,000 cost to the Ministry.

Cost centre 92026, water supply and treat-ment requires a budget supplement to pay for the pur-chase of water from external sources that was not included in the original budget, which was $3.362 mil-lion, and the ultimate cost was $3.671 million, a total of $309,000.

The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would like to speak to Works and Engineering, Head 82? The Chair recognises the Deputy Opposition Leader. You have the floor. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, Madam Chair-man. When we look at the quarry transport and re-ceiving parts, I know it is a hold-up there, and I think that the Government must do something about pro-curement, and have procurement live in the real world. Because when you are taking the time to se-cure parts, that certainly adds another expense. Also, in this Ministry, in that particular Head, 13 more staff were hired when the Government was telling us [that] we have got too many people hired, but they hired more people. And hence you have got that $4.5 million overspend. Materials and supplies, I think . . . I am sorry.

The consultant fees increased about a million dollars. Salaries and wages, $1.6 million. And what I find a bit . . . I thought overtime had been frozen. But we have overtime in the waste collection of $420,000, and that almost is about $8,000 per employee in over-time. I found it a bit hard to believe. Obviously, that is


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1689 not managed properly. If you are going to spend $8,000 per employee in overtime, we have a problem. We have a big problem with the collection because many times during last year we did not get collection in many areas, for some time. And so I do not know what is happening there. That is all I got to say on that, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, in the Honourable Mem-ber’s reference to the refuse collection, he is abso-lutely correct terms of overtime. We have made a concerted effort to freeze overtime, but, as you would have noted, both within this brief and within the earlier brief today, there have been challenges with the ac-tual trucks themselves. One of the things that we tried not to do, notwithstanding that one may not have re-fuse collection on the appointed day, they would come in another day or work later in order to clean up the rubbish that had been left by the roadside. Madam Chairman, I know that, notwithstand-ing that this is an inconvenience and a difficult thing to spend more money [on] and it is really not the way to run a railroad, we also have to recognise that the sani-tation workers are working under some very stringent and difficult conditions. Not least of which is finding themselves with equipment that has been outdated, and even some of the newer equipment that were ex-periencing mechanical difficulties. So they have tried their best to ensure that the rubbish has been cleaned up from the roadside, and for that I applaud them.

Notwithstanding that, we do not want to see people working overtime. But I would rather have them working a little bit of overtime to make sure that our streets are left pristine and our residents and con-stituents are satisfied rather than leaving the garbage along the roadside for, you know, two or three or four extra days.

So it is not the way to run a railroad. Certainly we are looking at the issue of updating the parts and ensuring that the maintenance on the existing vehicle fleet is appropriate. We are also looking at why there are issues respecting the failure of some of the newer trucks to be able to operate in a manner in which they ought to. These are things that we definitely have to look at because, truth be told, [with] the amount we are spending in overtime we could have actually two more trucks. So it is not the sort of thing that I would like to see happen, but it is something that we are ab-solutely on top of and you can be assured that I will hold my Permanent Secretary accountable to ensure that we have a proper proactive maintenance program in place and in operation for the trucks at the sanita-tion department.

The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises the Deputy Opposition Leader. You have the floor. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, I appreciate the comments by the Minister. That staff—we have had the waste collections—probably the best staff in the world. They do a good job. As I said earlier today, they work even in the rain. They are a great crew.

But when this it is a non-scheduled collection day . . . normally what they do not get on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday is their normal day to do it. Also, it probably would help if we would have the trash drop off on Tynes [Bay] down Palmetto Road open at 7:00 [am]. It opens at 9:00 [am] and a lot of people normally would take their trash on their way to work. But it opens at 9:00 instead of 7:00. So people do not bring their trash—they have more trash hanging around in the streets.

I would hope that the Minister would look at that and open that at seven o’clock, even if you have to close it early. People are not going to leave town, go back home and come back and bring the trash af-ter hours. They would normally bring their trash when they come to work. I just think that makes sense. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Works and Engineering, Head 82? No other Member. Minister? Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Chairman. The point is noted with respect to the hours of operation of the drop-off facility. It was something that was done. The timing was clawed back in order to effect cost constraints. But with that said, we might be in a position . . . we are certainly looking at to see how efficacious it is to have it open at the time that it does. We might be able to split the difference and open it at 8:00 as opposed to opening it at 9:00 and maybe clos-ing it an hour early. We are trying to curtail the amount of money that we are spending and we have to cut back somewhere. We thank the public for their coop-eration and their patience during this period of time of tight budgetary constraints and with that, unless there is any other Member that wishes to speak, I would like to move Head 82. The Chairman: It has been moved that— Hon. Patricia J. Gordon-Pamplin: Be approved. The Chairman: —we approve Head 82, Works and Engineering. Are there any objections to that motion?


1690 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report No objections.

Agreed to. [Gavel] [Motion carried: Item No. 4, Head 82 was approved and stands part of Supplementary Estimate No.1 for financial year 2013/14] The Chairman: Minister? We are looking now at Item No. 5, Ministry of Community, Culture and Sports, Head 55, Financial Assistance. I call on the Minister responsible. You have the floor. Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I would like to move Head 55. The Chairman: Please proceed. Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Thank you. Madam Chairman, this supplementary esti-mate relates only to cost centre 65050, Grants Ad-ministration within Head 55. Honourable Members will know that the man-date of this department is to ensure that individuals and their families have sufficient financial resources and services in order to gain, maintain or regain a minimum standard of living while encouraging per-sonal economic independence. These services enable clients to maintain dignity and self-worth and encour-age the development of personal skills and resources. I would like to just point out (as I said in my brief) that of course the actual expenditure of Head 55 has increased dramatically from around $16 million in 2005/06, and it is expected to reach almost $50 mil-lion this year. The original budget for Head 55 in 2013/14 was $39,476,000. I will also point out that, recognising a lot of the expenditures over the years, in April 2011 the then-Government made several amendments to the Financial Assistance Regulations in an effort to tighten the overall expenditure and re-duce the financial assistance costs.

Some of these measures were changing eligi-bility criteria such as persons who own property, or homeowners who have interest in property—whether inside or outside of Bermuda—would be ineligible for financial assistance, imposing the three-month time frame after a person had their job terminated, as well as a residency requirement of one year before a per-son can receive financial assistance benefits, as well as adjusting parameters on the scale of allowable ex-penses. Although previous legislative amendments resulted in reduced individual monthly financial assis-tance payments, the fact remains that the people that are receiving financial assistance have continued to increase and this Government does recognise its statutory obligation to provide assistance to qualified

Bermudians in need. Thus, the Department of Finan-cial Assistance has to make such payments as de-mand dictates. This is a consistent issue that we have. [For] fiscal year 2012/13 they had to come back for a sup-plement of $2 million; in fiscal year 2011/12 that was $12 million that had to come back for supplement. So, again, this supplementary estimate of $9 million is required for 2013/14, cost centre 65050, Grants, Ad-ministration. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would like to speak to Item No. 5—Ministry of Community, Culture and Sports, Financial Assistance, Head 55? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Community, Cultural Development and Sport, Mr. Mi-chael A. Weeks. You have the floor. Mr. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. There is not really much to say on this $9 mil-lion increase other than I did notice that the original for 2013/14 was lower than 2012/13. So at first glance I think that what the now-Government had promised the electorate, that if they voted them in and got 2,000 jobs right away . . . when I saw the decrease, I just thought that it was going to come true. But having said that, it did not come true. Right?

There is $9 million—it is definitely much needed. But I prefer to have and not need than to need and do not have. So rather than keep coming back for supplements we need to make proper allow-ances for financial assistance because people are losing jobs more and more. I mean unemployment is going up and whatnot so there is not much more I can say other than I understand this $9 million. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 5 Minis-try of Community, Culture and Sports, Head 55? There are no other Members. Minister? Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Yes, thank you, Madam Chairman. I just have to comment that this Government did not promise that 2,000 jobs would happen imme-diately. And I believe it was in the spring of last year that I informed this Honourable House that it looked like this would be where we would end up. So I think I have kept this House fully in the loop. I do take the Member's point, though. I mean, every year for the last several years we have come back for a supple-ment in this area and that is something that I would certainly like to end the trend. I will certainly do my best towards that.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1691 With that, Madam Chairman, I would like to move that Head 55 be approved. The Chairman: It has been moved that Head 55 be approved. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections.

Agreed to. [Gavel] [Motion carried: Item No. 5, Head 55, was approved and stands part of Supplementary Estimate No.1 for financial year 2013/14] Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Madam Chairman, I would like to move Head 65— The Chairman: Minister—we will look at Item No. 6, Community, Culture and Sports Headquarters, Head 65. Please proceed. Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Honourable Members may recall that the Na-tional Sports Centre, Aquatics Centre, was officially opened in June 2013. A capital supplementary esti-mate in the amount of $1,628,000 is requested to cover outstanding invoices associated with the con-struction of the Aquatic Centre in order to facilitate a successful opening and operation of the facility.

This $1.628 million includes funding for addi-tional electrical work, mechanical work, parking lot excavation and architectural fees associated addi-tional excavation, paving, finishing, flooring for the dive tower, painting, site cleaning, site security plus a variety of small ancillary costs associated with the pro-ject as well as the BELCO substation. This BELCO substation was an unexpected addition late in the pro-ject that had not been anticipated nor provisioned for. Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 6, Community, Culture and Sports Headquarters—65? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Community, Cultural Development and Sport, Mr. Mi-chael A. Weeks. You have the floor. Mr. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Madam Chair-man. Again, there is not much more to say about this addition. I mean, the National Sports Centre is a nice project. It is a good facility now and I know that hidden costs come with construction sites. But let me ask you, How much did the new BELCO substation cost?

The Chairman: Minister? Hon. R. Wayne Scott: I do not have that exact figure. I can get that exact figure to you. I could tell you that the taxpayers spent approximately $750,000 or so on that. It was a shared cost.

As the Member would know, the original plan was that there would be enough power at the old sub-station. As a matter of fact, during construction as the Member would know, there were conduits that were built from the National Sports Centre to the substation at the entrance going up the hill to cross back and it was only halfway through construction that it was really sprung on Government that this substation was needed.

I will just say to this House that I do not con-sider that to be a closed topic. I will just leave it at that. We can have an offline discussion if you would like. The Chairman: Are there any other Members that would like to speak to Item No. 6, Head 65? No other Members. Minister? Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Madam, Chairman, I would like to move that Head 65 be approved. The Chairman: It has been moved that Head 65 Community, Culture and Sports Headquarters be ap-proved. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections.

Agreed to. [Gavel] [Motion carried: Item No. 6, Head 65, was approved and stands part of Supplementary Estimate (No.1) for financial year 2013/14.] The Chairman: The next item is Item No. 7, Hospi-tals, Head 65. I call on the Minister in charge. Minister you have the floor. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I move Head 65 under Hospitals—its capital development, supplementary of $500,000. It is for Bermuda's Hospital Board infrastructure upgrades. Madam Chairman, Mid-Atlantic Wellness Insti-tute (MWI) has had challenges with its ageing facility. The air handling units have reached the end of their 30-year useful lives and are at an advanced stage of dilapidation. The total costs of replacements esti-mated to be $770,000. The Ministry has granted MWI a funding of $500,000 to assist in that cost. Therefore, a supplementary of $500,000 is required to assist in the purchase of new air handling units at the MWI fa-cility.


1692 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would like to speak to Item No. 7, Hospitals, Head 65? The Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Walter H. Roban. You have the floor. Mr. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I do not have much to ask about this, but I was curious what component of BHB this was with because I know that there were major infrastructure upgrades going on at the KEMH facility old site. But this is exclusively to do with Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute's upgrades of the area you described and nothing else to do with any other part of BHB? The Chairman: Thank you, Minister. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: No, this is just for MWI. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members? The Chair recognises, Mr. T. E. Lister. You have the floor. Hon. Terry E. Lister: Thank you very much. My question is an easy one. The Minister said that these are repairs that have become necessary to the cost of some $750,000 or so and this is an alloca-tion of $500,000 already spent. Can you tell us where the remaining $250,000 is coming from? Because, obviously, we need to spend that. The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Madam Chairman, I would be happy to answer that. Those funds the Bermuda Hos-pitals Board have, and they are able. But they need additional funds from Government. The Chairman: Thank you. The Chair recognises, Mr. T. E. Lister. You have the floor. Hon. Terry E. Lister: Thank you. My concern, as I listen, is, given the state of MWI, given the age of the plant, given what is hap-pening here now—is this a Band-Aid? An Hon. Member: Yes. Hon. Terry E. Lister: What really should we be doing and what is the plan? Because clearly this is a Band-Aid. I am not aware of any monies in this year's budget—the current year's budget—for overall main-tenance or an overhaul to MWI. What is the plan for it?

The Chairman: Thank you. Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Well, Madam Chairman, the Honourable Member asked a very good question. He is asking me to use my crystal ball.

There are serious problems with the estate at MWI, but I do not think it is any secret that the infra-structure for the new acute care wing at the hospital site, the KEMH site, is quite capable of handling fur-ther building and it has been examined whether it is possible to move both of these hospitals onto one es-tate. But, obviously, we are looking down the road for that so it is going to be some delay before we can even look at that. But that is what we are looking for down the road some period. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members who would like to speak to Item No. 7, Hospitals, Head 65? There are no other Members. Minister? Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I move Head 65, Hospitals Capital Development for $500,000. The Chairman: It has been moved that Item No. 7, Hospitals, 65, Capital Development, $500,000 be ap-proved. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections.

Agreed to.

[Gavel] [Motion carried: Item No. 7, Head 65, was approved and stands part of Supplementary Estimate (No.1) for financial year 2013/14] [Supplementary Estimate (No.1) for financial year 2013/14 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without amendment.]

House resumed at 11:18 pm [Hon. K. H. Randolph Horton, Speaker, in the Chair]

REPORT OF COMMITTEE

SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATE (NO. 1) FOR FI-NANCIAL YEAR 2013/14

The Speaker: Thank you, Members. The Supplemen-tary Estimate (No. 1) for Financial Year 2013/14 has been approved and reported to the House. Are there any objections to that?


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1693 Thank you, Members. We move now to—it is my understanding that all orders are carried over? Oh, sorry—yes, Honourable Minister. Minister Dunkley, which order— Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: [Order] No. 7. The Speaker: [Order] No. 7. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes—Criminal Code Amendment (No. 2) Act. The Speaker: Okay, thank you. The Minister will be looking at the Criminal Code Amendment (No. 2) Act 2014. Minister of National Security, Minister Michael Dunkley. You have the floor.

BILL

SECOND READING CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2014

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that the Bill entitled the Criminal Code Amendment (No. 2) Act 2014 be now read the second time and committed. The Speaker: Are there any objections? Minister, please carry on. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Bill before the Honourable House this evening is the Criminal Code Amendment Act (No. 2) 2014. Honourable Members will recall that in the very first Throne Speech in February of 2013 this Govern-ment promised to make the breach of parole arresta-ble. This Bill delivers on that promise and is yet another legislative means to assist law enforcement in disrupting the rhythm of anti-social and gang behav-iour and institutes a clear regime for the enforcement of parole conditions with consequences for any breaches. Honourable Members will be aware that an inmate released on parole ordinarily has conditions by which he or she must abide. A breach of these condi-tions, no matter how serious, is not in itself a cause to arrest that parolee. Presently, where a police officer witnesses a breach of conditions of the parole, but where no other offence is committed, the police can-not immediately arrest the individual. Parolees must be recalled by the Parole Board and can only be ar-rested if a warrant has been issued by Magistrate where they have failed to attend a breach hearing. Mr. Speaker, in many jurisdictions parole offi-cers have the authority to arrest with or without a war-

rant any person who is on parole for any violation or breach of the conditions of the parole. The Bill before this Honourable House this evening proposes to allow the police to carry out this function in keeping with established practise in this jurisdiction. This Bill also makes (in my view) a very useful addition to our body of laws by codifying the condi-tions and special conditions of parole. Inmates, parol-ees and affected family will have already access to the conditions of parole and can see what kinds of things will form part of any parole made by the Board. I would invite Honourable Members, Mr. Speaker, to take note of the provisions of this new section 70R, in particular. We know that the risk of reoffending is in-creased if parolees are exposed to the destructive elements that led to their original incarceration. The new section 70R makes it clear that the Parole Board can impose conditions aimed at keeping parolees away from people, groups and venues that are un-suitable and may adversely affect their rehabilitation. The principle of this Bill is not without prece-dent. Some Honourable Members will recall the Bail Act 2005, specifically section 10, which provides for arrest without warrant of a person who has been re-leased on bail in criminal proceedings where a police officer has reasonable grounds for believing that that person is not likely to surrender to custody or is likely to break or has broken any conditions of his or her bail. Mr. Speaker, the ability of officers to arrest a person on parole for a breach of the conditions of their release is tempered by the reasonable test. That is to say a police officer must have reasonable grounds for suspecting that the person has breached any condi-tions of his parole. Additionally, the parolee supervis-ing officer must consider it to be in the public interest to recall the person. These and other safeguards in this Bill are designed to provide a balance between these new police powers and the rights of the individual. It must however be borne in mind that an inmate released on parole has not yet completed his sentence, but is on licence and the regime surrounding his conduct is de-liberately strict. As I commend this Bill to the Honourable House for debate, I wish to thank the Parole Board under the chairmanship of former Honourable Mem-ber of this House, Mr. Ashfield DeVent, for their work and the even-handed manner in which they administer the parole of inmates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Minister. Is there any other Honourable Member who would care to speak? The Chair will recognise the Honourable Learned Member, the Shadow Minister for National


http://www.bermudalaws.bm/Laws/Consolidated%20Laws/Bail%20Act%202005.pdf

http://www.bermudalaws.bm/Laws/Consolidated%20Laws/Bail%20Act%202005.pdf

1694 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Security, the Learned Member from Sandys [North], constituency 36. MP Michael Scott, you have the floor. Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very clearly, the old regime are under the [Prisons] Act 1979 of placing a requirement on a per-son paroled and released on licence placing a number of requirements on them to comply with or to be in compliance with the requirements of the society or a probation officer are noted. But we recognise and agree with the concept of specifically codifying or pro-viding the roadmap for persons released on licence to be in compliance—not just with requirements, we have given a new rubric of conditions.

I note that the Bill very sensibly adds specific, or additional, or specified, conditions that can be im-posed either before the person is released on licence or even after they have been released on licence, and it is determined by the monitoring authority that these new or additional conditions need to be put in place to manage the successful licensee.

So we agree with this codification that seeks to manage a person released who is really on . . . He is serving his time, he is in jail, but for the fact that he has been recognised for the movement of time and good behaviour and is now being integrated back into the society—all recognising the whole point of reha-bilitating our persons who come into corrections and then moving them back into our society.

So I believe that the balance is right. And I be-lieve, too, that the balance takes account of our cur-rent and modern conditions. We know that we went through a period . . . and I believe that these amend-ments specifically speak to some challenges that we have met in our society with the release of licensees. Every person who ends up in jail, no matter how bad a criminal they are . . . and we developed a criminal profile in our country now associated with gangs. And I see how the scheme of these amendments are tar-geted or directed at managing persons who have as-sociations with gangs.

I recall, too, that when I managed corrections as Minister of Justice, the Corrections Authorities rec-ognised that even in the prison setting there was the need to manage members of gangs or members with gang associations. So I commend the Minister for drafting a set of amendments which do in fact speak to how we manage persons who are released on li-cence who have gang affiliation, gang association, because on licence the conditions are fairly specific. They are aimed at preventing or discouraging a licen-see from participating in gang associations or manag-ing a gang or operationalising a gang.

There were one or two specific instances that gave this country great cause for pause on the occa-sion when persons with high gang leadership profiles were released and they certainly did cause the coun-try's public safety to be brought into threat or jeopardy.

So we see that a reason for an arrest or a basis for a police officer having the grounds for making an arrest would be his having a reasonable suspicion that either public safety or public order is being put at risk.

I note, too, that one of the Members on the PLP bench asked the question, Is the arrest to take place on a first breach? I note that the Act seems, again, to demonstrate a commendable balance by offering two options. First, if there is a breach of these conditions by a licensee or a person released on li-cence they are subject to recall and/or (so there is an option) arrest provided the police officer who has made this arrest has these reasonable causes for ar-rest.

So I think the balance is there and the recog-nition that we are still pursuing giving persons re-leased on licence the opportunity to reintegrate and to get their lives and the glide path back into the integra-tion of the Bermuda society, one that is fair and flexi-ble (I think is the word I am looking for). But the as-sessment is that they are causing either real risk to the places where they are living, to themselves, or are participating in crime that is going to bring the level of crime in our country to an unwanted place—this is where it triggers.

I say all of that to say that the amendments do appear to strike the right balance of putting in place both this format and this regime now for improving the conditions of [Part IV] of the parent Act, section 70Q, [under Part IV] of the parent Act, which simply referred to a very broad set of requirements for licensees to adhere to a more specific and codified roadmap for conditions for parolees. I would like to invite the Minister to address if he can (perhaps I will take that up under a separate heading), but there are some issues relating to the disparity between how foreign parolees qualify for eli-gibility or not and locals. But I believe that goes a little outside of our consideration here. As far as the aims of the amendments to both lay down good conditions and follow the conditions for persons and make the management of their release on licence something that is both, certainly for them, clear for them to follow and to the extent that it then introduces the sanctions for breach to be either that they be recalled to answer for some breach or a sup-posed breach or a suspected breach and/or to be ar-rested if they cannot simply return on a notice being given to them that, you know, you have been recalled. We support the amendments as being ones that are fit for purpose. Thank you. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member Scott. The Chair now recognises another Member from Sandys—Sandys South this time, constitu-ency 33. MP T. E. Lister, you have the floor.


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1695 Hon. Terry E. Lister: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the last 16 years I have repeatedly heard Government trumpeting promise made, promise kept. You know there is a platform that goes out during the election time and when successfully elected, we start ticking the boxes. I also heard the Honourable Mem-ber Bob Richards quite wisely say, I am looking under the hood. And when he looked under the hood he had to adjust what he was going to do. He claims he found things were not quite what he thought they were going to be. So I give him credit for looking under the hood. This one here I think may have needed a look under the hood. It is a campaign promise the Minister said. It is delivery on the promise and that is good. When we are in Opposition another powerful long time we have thoughts of how things are. But when we take over we have the chance to see how they are. I am concerned about the need to make these changes. I am concerned about what it is in the pre-sent system that is not working. I did not hear that. What I heard was there was a promise that we are carrying out. An Hon. Member: Yes. Hon. Terry E. Lister: So I do not know what we are fixing. And if it is parolees who are misbehaving—how many instances do we have of parolees committing serious crime while on their parole? I do not know. I have not heard about them over the years and the Minister has not told me tonight. I am concerned as to why the need to give power to the police to arrest without warrant—to simply pick people up out of no-where. Again, where are the statistics? Where are the figures? Tell us more about what is actually being fixed here. When we come to this House with an amendment, we are fixing something. So I want to know what is going to be fixed. Now, there are two pieces to this. One is pick-ing up people for breaches and the other piece is clearly setting out conditions for parole and relating to the parole. I support that 100 per cent, and I com-mend the Minister for bringing that. It is to clarify what a person has to do, how they have to conduct them-selves under parole. I think if the Bill had stopped there my speech would be very short. I would just get up and congratulate the Minister, give him my full support and ask him to get on with it. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Terry E. Lister: Yes, but I would not be being very fair. That would not be right for me to stop there. I have to deal with part two. But there is a chorus that tells me I was great at the first part and just congratu-late him. Well, I think I gave a great congratulation. Now I am going to move on to the second part—the breach.

The lawyers know these things better than me but I tend to think that you are on a slippery, slippery, slope (I had problems with “s” last time, did I not?). You are on a slippery slope. An Hon. Member: I have problems with “s” all of the time. [Laughter] The Speaker: Honourable Member, be careful down there. Be careful down there. [Laughter] Hon. Terry E. Lister: I will not follow that! You can rest assured I will not go there! [Laughter] Hon. Terry E. Lister: Mr. Speaker, I am worried about the slippery slope when you start to take people's freedoms away without very strong reasons. Why would we allow the police to detain people if they think they are in breach? And even worse, I believe I heard the Minister say you can detain them if they are likely to breach. Now, that is really into the slippery slope position. An Hon. Member: Yes. Hon. Terry E. Lister: I see Joe going down the street. I know Joe. Joe likes to break into houses. Joe is walking on a street where there is not anybody else around and the cars are not in the yard because eve-ryone has gone to work. I think he might break into a house so I am going to arrest him and have him sent back to Westgate [Correctional Facility].

I do not know, Mr. Speaker, that does not sound like a good thing to me. But that surely is not the way you want to conduct Bermuda. So there is a concern. You know, if Joe was actually committing the crime—I know he breaks into houses and, as I follow him at a distance down the street, I see him actually climb in a window—that is fine. He is committing a crime. He has had a history of doing it. I see him do-ing it now let us get him out of that house and on his way back to Westgate. Arrest him. But on the simple suspicion of a breach, we must be now bordering on infringing one's constitutional rights and that concerns me. The part that I gave credit to was setting out what the terms of one's parole are and each prisoner upon becoming a parolee can have a different set of conditions that he is to comply with. Only seems rea-sonable—that is why you want to set it out. How are the police going to have knowledge of the varying conditions of all parolees? How will they know that? How do we expect them to know that? So I am a little


1696 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report surprised to think that we are going to allow the police, without warrant, to simply approach Joe and grab him on failing to live up to his terms of parole when in ef-fect they are specific to him. Do you follow where I am? So it can be very tricky here. As I looked through the Bill I could not find any specifics as to time—i.e., time to be held. What is in place for due process to have the matter brought back before the Board (who I believe does have the ultimate say), the Parole Board? If I am arrested on a particular day, deemed to be suspected to be in breach, taken back to Westgate, how long is it before I appear before the Board? Suppose it is two weeks, and, in fact, when I appear before the Board there is a complete agreement that I am okay, and I should be released and I should not have been picked up in the first place and, We want to apologise to you, Terry, you can go about your business.

Now, remember, Terry is a criminal who is now trying to reform his life. He has employment—that is one of the conditions of parole—but he has been locked up for two weeks. And by the end of two weeks the boss is convinced that he has really done some things that are wrong, he has given his job away and does not want him back on the premises. So having been picked up in this manner, the job that was pro-vided for Terry does not exist anymore. Now, that is a tricky one because one of the conditions of my parole is that I have a job. But you just picked me up and disqualified me from my job. So at the end of the two weeks do I just get released into the streets? Or should I now be kept at Westgate until such time as somebody can find me another job?

Do you see the implications to this? They are fairly serious. It should not be taken for granted that everything is going to be okay.

It would be helpful if the Act had specified how long someone could be held before being seen by the Board. Just like when you are picked up on suspicion of something, you [can] be held for 48 hours maxi-mum and then released if there is no charge to be made. That is pretty clear. The police know; every-body knows. You cannot hold me for more than two days. In this case it is not specified and so we do not know how long I am going to be held. Ultimately, somebody has to make a decision that there has been a breach and then start the wheels in process. It could be the probation officer but at the same time we are aware here in Bermuda—forget about the rest of the world. We hear of the fail-ures of probation officers. We had a situation not too long ago where one probation officer was eventually made to retire because they were consistently writing up how they had seen parolee A, B and C and even-tually it turned out they had never seen them. Never seen them! [Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Terry E. Lister: Okay, so which one are you talking about here? [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Terry E. Lister: Okay, I took a note when you were speaking because I heard you say the probation officer— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Terry E. Lister: Okay, then I will change my notes and apologise. But I wrote down probation offi-cer because I thought that is what I heard. So it will be the parole officer who will decide if there is a breach. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Terry E. Lister: Okay, do not give me too many terms. I cannot handle them all. Just give me one that I am going to work with. Now, Mr. Speaker, part of the thrust here is to keep control over the behaviour of gang members. I understand that. But as you have heard me refer to before four years ago when 50-, 60-year old men were getting killed on the road driving drunk the Gov-ernment reacted by putting in penalties against 16-year old children. I never understood that. You and I fought against it as well as we could, if you remember. It did not make sense.

Well, here I would like to have an idea what percentage of our parolees are gang members. Is it 98 per cent? Or is it 2 per cent? Because it could be 2 per cent. People go to prison for all sorts of things and those who are not really criminals, who made a mistake, when given the opportunity to get out they say Yes, I will go. But people who are really criminals, half the time . . . I do not know statistics, I should not say half the time. But it is my understanding (How do you like that? that is a better way to put it) that some of those people would rather say, I will do all of my time and go and I will leave as a free man. Having been in prison before they are comfortable with the situation, they understand how it works and they stay. But those who are there for the first time because they just did the wrong thing—they will take the parole.

So whilst this may be desired as a means of controlling the behaviour of gang members, I would be interested to know if the gang members are 98 per cent or 2 per cent. Now, the last comment I want to make refers to section 70S, and I discussed this with the Minister a little earlier. I told him I would raise it anyway. Under this a person can be taken back to prison if, while maintaining regular employment with a specified em-ployer (so they are doing what was agreed), that per-son jeopardises the safety of any other person in their employment. Well, when you first read and you think


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1697 about it, what it means is the parolee gets on the job site and because he has anger issues, he starts to threaten other people—tells them he is going to beat them up, that he is going to do this, that or the other every time they cross him, or he perceives that they have crossed him. And he actually does it once or twice. Well, he is a danger to the guys at work. They do not deserve that. And back he goes until he under-stands.

But, you know, I think what the law says in English is what it is supposed to do. So what this ac-tually says is if this person is jeopardising the safety of any other person.

You will recall a few years ago when a pa-rolee was working up at the roundabout for Works and Engineering. He was doing his job. He was happy to work there. And another gentleman from a gang came by and shot at him—right there on the worksite. They had to have a special meeting amongst Works and Engineering to decide what was going to happen be-cause the other fellows did not want to work with a man who would get them shot. It is not fair to them. So arrangements had to be made. Now, following the letter of this law, to me it would appear that in that case this young man would have been in breach because he has put his col-leagues in danger. So the only appropriate thing to do would be to put him back to prison because he brought danger on the people. Do you see where I am? [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Terry E. Lister: I am taking the law as written, the words—the English. That is what I think it can say. You can read it either way. That is the point I am mak-ing. As always, Mr. Speaker, I will bow to the law-yers who understand these things far better than I. But as someone who can simply read an Act and work my way through it, I see both implications in there and my suggestion would be that my concern be eliminated. Just write it in a way that I do not have the concern. Then I can say I fully support it because I know what you intend and we are all there. But right now the words (to me) yield both ways. Those are my comments, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member Lister. Is there any other Honourable Member that would care to speak? Looks like no one else would care to speak. We turn back to the Minister. Minister Dunkley, you have the floor. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the support of the Members on the other side with the slight exception to the Honour-

able Member who just spoke. I appreciate the com-ments of the Honourable Member as well. An Hon. Member: You have my full support. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: And the Honourable Member says I have his full support. He would just like some explanation. I guess it is late at night I must have missed some of the support during the conver-sation. But, Mr. Speaker, let me try to start where the Honourable Member ended with that example he made in regard to the worker working up at the round-about. Let us look at it this way. I spoke to the Hon-ourable Member before the debate, let me try to put it another way.

One has to take action that is considered to jeopardise the safety of others—not that he was pre-sent when somebody took action. So working up at the roundabout is not jeopardising the safety of oth-ers. If he had taken action at the time by threatening his colleagues or threatening somebody when they drove by on a bike, that would be different. So you have to take that action to jeopardise the safety of others, and I think it is clearly written in the Bill.

And, Honourable Member, I do understand that at times we have to keep rereading some of this law and get advice from lawyers, but I feel very com-fortable with the way it is written. I think the Honourable Member, the Shadow Minister for National Security spoke very clearly on this, and he amplified a point that I made in my brief, that parole is not an absolute release. Parole is a re-lease on licence. And then the Honourable Member I think used the example that they are still under the conditions but they are just not locked up. So we have to be very strict on how we deal with it because as soon as we give an inch then a mile can be taken.

Certainly, in these times when we are faced with some of the challenges that we face, I think it is important not only to codify the conditions of parole but make the breach arrestable. I think it makes good common sense. For example, Honourable Member, Members on that side . . . some of you are probably aware, some are not aware, but when inmates are released on parole, the police know about the release on pa-role. So naturally they know what is going on when it takes place. So the police naturally would be able to question somebody because they know Michael Dunkley has been released on parole and they would have the ability to check the conditions of parole. So as the law currently stands now if they see Michael Dunkley in a place that he is not supposed to be, they cannot do anything about it until they go get a warrant. When they come back, Michael Dunkley is gone. This here makes the law act in a much more efficient way and emulates the good practise that we


1698 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report see throughout the rest of the world. I think it is an important example to make. In addition, when you have the reasonable grounds built in, I think it is quite clear to police offi-cers the responsibility that they have. The Honourable Member mentioned (and I think I wrote the exact words down) the police can pick people up out of no-where. That is not the case. The police cannot pick people up out of nowhere. They have to have reason-able grounds that there is a breach and they have to take a look at it from there. So I appreciate the support of Honourable Members on that side and unless there are any other questions I move that the Bill be committed. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Minister. It has been moved that the Bill be committed. Are there any objections to that? There are none, so I would like to ask that the Deputy Speaker, please take the Chair [of Commit-tee].


COMMITTEE ON BILL CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2014

The Chairman: Honourable Members, we are now in Committee of the whole [House] for further considera-tion of the Bill entitled the Criminal Code Amendment (No. 2) Act 2014. I call on the Minister to proceed. Minister, you have the floor. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I move all the clauses. The Chairman: Thank you. You move clauses 1 through 2. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes. The Chairman: Thank you. Please proceed. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Madam Chairman and honourable colleagues, Clause 1 is the standard cita-tion clause and sites the Bill as the Criminal Code Amendment (No. 2) Act 2014. Clause 2 amends the principal Act to insert two new sections, section 70R and section 70S. Sec-tion 70R provides for the codification of the conditions and special conditions for parole that a person re-leased on licence is required to be subject to. Under subsection (2) of section 70R the Parole Board is em-powered to specify special conditions that shall apply to a person released on licence that shall take into consideration the particular circumstances relating to

that person. Section 70R further provides under sub-section (3) that a person who fails to comply with a condition or special condition of parole may be re-called by the Parole Board under section 12(5) of the Prisons Act 1979 or may be arrested as provided in the new section 70S of the principal Act. Section 70S provides to enable a police offi-cer to arrest, without a warrant, a person released on licence who fails to comply with the conditions or spe-cial conditions of his parole. The section further pro-vides that the arrest of a person for failing to comply with the conditions or special conditions of his parole shall be treated as a recall of that person to prison in terms of section 12(5) of the Prisons Act 1979 and the person recalled shall be entitled to appear before the Parole Board in terms of section 12(5A) of the Prisons Act 1979, before the Parole Board makes a final deci-sion regarding his recall. Where a person released on licence is arrested under section 70S for committing an offence separate from his parole conditions, his arrest shall not be treated as a recall but shall be dealt with in accordance with the normal procedure for a person charged with an offence as set out in the Criminal Code 1907. Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any Members that would like to speak to clauses 1 through 2? Thank you, the Chair recognises the Shadow Minister of Public Safety, the Honourable Michael J. Scott. You have the floor. Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thank you, Madam Chairman. Just addressing the provisions of 70S which deal with the arrest powers including the proactive arrest powers on suspicion that there may be an ar-restable offence that the Honourable Member, Mr. T. E. Lister, raised, it is curious that under that regime before today's amendments there was no arrest pow-ers. I mean, it left us in the unenviable position of hav-ing no power to do anything but issue a recall notice and then rely on the good graces or goodness of the parolee to comply, and if they could not be (you know, if they went on a frolic of their own), they were left at large. So I was curious to read section 4 of the parent Act to see that there was no provision there. On the question of whether this amounts to a constitutional breach of rights, there has to be (I be-lieve) this proactivity to control a person who is sus-pected based on intelligence from the supervising offi-cer or from court services that a person is at risk of causing a public disorder issue or a crime. If that intel-ligence is available to the police officer, I believe that our society is served well by having that person ar-rested before they create mayhem in our community. I recall, as Minister of Justice, that the statistic that the Honourable Member Mr. Lister asked for on what are the specific numbers (and Colonel Lambe


http://parliament.bm/uploadedFiles/Content/House_Business/Bills/Criminal%20Code%20Amendment%20No.%202%20Bill%202014.pdf

http://parliament.bm/uploadedFiles/Content/House_Business/Bills/Criminal%20Code%20Amendment%20No.%202%20Bill%202014.pdf

Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1699 gave me the information and it was surprisingly—it is significant) of gang leaders and persons with gang affiliations, I do not recall it, but it struck me as a num-ber that was significant. I thought it might be low too, like the Honourable Member Mr. Lister, but it was a significant percentage.

I know that if the Minister of National Security asked the question, he will be provided with that spe-cific detail and the Honourable Member Mr. Lister can put it back in to the perspective of just how prevalent the conditions may be once we start dealing with the release on licence of persons with associations to gangs in our country. I believe the former National Security Minister had that information made available to the prior administration. Those are my observations on illuminating a little more the power—not only to arrest but to have the proactive, pre-emptive powers to arrest are there for those reasons. Thank you. The Chairman: Thank you. Are there any other Members that would like to speak to clauses 1 and 2? There are no other Members. Minister? Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I appreciate the Honourable Member’s com-ments. I will endeavour to break out specifics on sus-pected gang members released on parole and talk to Members offline. During the budget debate, I did pro-vide some information on the number of gang mem-bers that we believe are incarcerated at the present time. It is not a majority but it is close to a majority of members in prison. So I will provide some information to Members offline when I compile them. Unless there are no other comments, I also move the Preamble. The Chairman: We have to move the clauses first. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I move all clauses. The Chairman: It has been moved that clauses 1 and 2 be approved. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections.

Agreed to. [Gavel] [Motion carried: Clauses 1 and 2 passed] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I move the Preamble. The Chairman: It has been moved that the Preamble be approved. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections.

Agreed to.

[Gavel] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I move the Bill be reported to the House. The Chairman: It has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Are there any objections to that motion? No objections.

Agreed to. [Gavel] [Motion carried: The Criminal Code Amendment (No. 2) Act 2014 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without amendment.]

House resumed at 12:00 am [Tuesday, 18 March 2014]


REPORT OF COMMITTEE CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2014

The Speaker: Members, the Criminal Code Amend-ment (No. 2) Act 2014 in the name of the Minister of National Security, has been approved. Are there any objections to that? An. Hon. Member: No. The Speaker: Order No. 8 in the name of the the— An Hon. Member: All Government business carried over. The Speaker: All Government business carried over. All right. Order No. 14— An Hon. Member: Carried over. The Speaker: Okay. All Opposition business carried over as well. So we move now to the third readings, so I would like to call on the Minister for Public Safety, Minister Dunkley.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21 Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to House of Assembly move the Bill entitled the Criminal Code Amendment (No. 2) Act 2014 be now read the third time by title only. The Speaker: Thank you.


1700 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Any objections? Carry on, Minister. [Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.]

THIRD READING CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2014

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The Criminal Code Amendment (No. 2) Act 2014—I move that the Bill do now pass. The Speaker: Thank you, Minister. Are there any objections to that? The Bill is now passed. [Motion carried: The Criminal Code Amendment (No 2) Act 2014 was read a third time and passed.] The Speaker: I will now recognise the Premier.

ADJOURNMENT Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I now move that we adjourn until Friday the 21st, 10:00 am. The Speaker: Then the Chair will recognise the Leader of the Opposition, MP Marc Bean. You have the floor. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you very much and good morning to you, Mr. Speaker— The Speaker: Morning, just about good morning, yes.

FORMER OMBUDSMAN AND UK HOUSE OF COMMONS SUSTAINABILITY IN UK OVERSEAS

TERRITORIES REPORT Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Mr. Speaker, it is not very often that I will stand to my feet this early in the morn-ing (or late at night). But I feel obligated as a result of an article that was in the Friday edition, March 14th, of the Royal Gazette on the front page.

There were a few articles on the front page of the Friday edition of the Royal Gazette, Mr. Speaker. You had the Honourable Deputy Leader—the Deputy Premier—he was showcased reading in the World Book Club, the book club held by Ms. Nikita Robinson, in addition to others in this Honourable Chamber who participated. You also had a discussion by the Deputy Premier on legalisation, or the potential, to legalise cannabis in the country. You also had an article re-garding myself in private capacity—and I am going to leave that alone, Mr. Speaker. No need to . . . I will just leave it at that.

But, Mr. Speaker, there was another article and it was on the retirement of our former Ombuds-man, Madam Brock. If you allow me, Mr. Speaker, I would like to read some parts of that article so I can provide the proper context as to why I am presenting what I am presenting on Motion to Adjourn. The Speaker: Mm-hmm. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: It said, Mr. Speaker, "the out-cry over the granting of a special development order (SDO) to Tucker’s Point in 2011" (which we are all aware of in this Honourable Chamber) "convinced Ms Brock to look into what she saw as an issue of ‘na-tional importance’. "Her conclusion was that Government acted unlawfully by not carrying out a required Environ-mental Impact Assessment (EIA) of developing the resort. "She contended that the Island was legally obliged to do the study since it signed up to the UK Environment Charter—but Government insisted it wasn’t." Now there is a reason why I have to stand. Not just to my defence, because I was the substantive Minister at the time, but I also stand to the defence of the current Cabinet Secretary who was my Permanent Secretary and all the hard-working civil servants in the Department of Planning. The story goes on to say, "Marc Bean, who was Environment Minister when Ms Brock’s report was issued, claimed ‘own motion’ investigations by Ombudsmen were rare, adding of her inquiry: ‘It is left in doubt whether the outcome is without bias.’" Fair enough. "Ms Brock says now of that reaction: ‘When stakes are high you recognise that people will be re-sistant. Nobody likes to go to their grave thinking ‘the Ombudsman found that I did everything wrong’”." Okay, I am reading it—I am absorbing it. "‘You know, no one likes that. So you recog-nise that people will be people.’ "But she says the thing she ‘obviously hasn’t let go of because I keep bringing it up’ is Govern-ment’s claim that she was wrong about its legal obli-gation. "Ms Brock says: ‘I know absolutely without a shadow of a doubt that I am completely correct. We have a slew of things that all point to this—and the Government said ‘oh no, we disagree’ but didn’t pro-duce a shred of evidence, a scintilla”— An Hon. Member: Scintilla. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Scintilla—sorry. Above my vocabulary. Sorry. [Laughter]


http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20140314/NEWS/140319856

Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1701 Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Yes, scintilla. An Hon. Member: “Skintilla” is good, too. [Inaudible interjections and laughter] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: "But it didn't produce a shred of evidence, a scintilla of anything. "The outgoing Ombudsman says her office obtained two legal opinions which it shared with Gov-ernment—but Government refused to share the legal opinion it claimed to have obtained from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. "‘I’ve had the opportunity to speak with the young man from the Foreign and Commonwealth Of-fice,’ says Ms Brock. ‘He said he gave a preliminary cursory view; he did not give a legal opinion. "‘So I would say if you think I am wrong, go and check your sources.’" [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: She is retired. She is retired. I spoke of it in our Ministry here. I spoke at length of the Ombudsman. But I said, Mr. Speaker, that it was an-other part that I was going to touch on in the motion to adjourn and because of the lateness of the hour on Friday, I thought I would just hold. Mr. Speaker, go and check your sources. Now, I did. I did. On January 17th, the Environmental Audit Committee of the United Kingdom's House of Commons, in their tenth report, on Sustainability in the UK Overseas Territories—and this was this year, January 17, 2014—produced a report that speaks to, in essence, UK Environmental Charters whether it is legally binding and we are obligated to adhere to it. And it also spoke of the charters being in the greater context of the convention of biodiversity. It is true. This discussion here is not going to put food on anybody's table It is not going to clothe anybody. It is not going to make sure that the aged are protected and the infants are cared for. But we have to set the record straight for the sake of poster-ity. I looked at the report—lo and behold, on January the 22nd— The Speaker: Which report are you looking at? The report from the— Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The House of Commons “Sustainability in the UK Overseas Territories” Tenth Report [of Session 2013–14] which was released January 17, 2014.

If you go to Bernews and check January 22nd, you will see an article by Madam Ombudsman where she gives a commentary of this report. She also left a link to the report, so I went and actually clicked on the link and said, Let me take a look at what this report is saying.

Mr. Speaker, I do not think time permits, but if you compare (and anyone who is listening can go on the website and google “UK House of Commons Envi-ronmental Audit Committee” and read the report your-self or go on Bernews and click the link and read the report). If you compared what is actually written in the report with the commentary of January 22nd . . . all I can say is that something is wrong. Something is afoot. Someone is practising a high degree of intellec-tual dishonesty—a high degree. So, thank goodness I went and looked at this report. I would now like to refer quickly to the report so everyone can understand what is going on. Be-cause, remember, this whole issue was whether or not it was legally binding for this Government to ad-here to the environmental charter. The former Om-budsman says, Yes you are; we said, No, we are not. It is aspirational. And it went from there. So I looked at the report—the same report. I would like to go down to the Conventional Biological Diversity, which is number 16. I will read it very quickly but very briefly. I am not going to read the whole thing, Mr. Speaker. "The UK signed the UN Convention on Bio-logical Diversity (CBD) at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The CBD comprised a comprehensive list of actions that parties must take to protect species and ecosystems. CBD signatories are committed to devel-oping strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. . . ." I move down to num-ber 18. "When the UK ratified the CBD in 1994, ratifi-cation was extended to three UKOTs under the Vi-enna Convention procedure, namely British Virgin Is-lands, Cayman Islands and St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha." That sets out the original Overseas Territories in which it was ratified and bound. Mr. Speaker, I move on to number 20. It says, "The UK submitted its Fourth National Report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in May 2009. This 136-page report addressed biodiver-sity in the UKOTs in four-and-a-half pages, despite the UKOTs containing 90% of the biodiversity for which the UK is responsible. Under the heading ‘Statements from UK Crown Dependencies and Over-seas Territories’, the report covered St Helena and Bermuda. The entry covering St Helena referred to neither Ascension nor Tristan da Cunha, to which the CBD has been extended. The report on Bermuda was puzzling, because CBD ratification has not been ex-tended to Bermuda." CBD ratification has not been extended to Bermuda.

So if the CBD, which the UK Environmental Charter springs from, is not ratified and legally bind-ing—then environmental charters are not legally bind-ing—according to the UK House of Commons. Again, I am checking my sources. I move down, Mr. Speaker, to Environment Charters, which is the crux of the matter. And I will


http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmenvaud/332/332.pdf



http://bernews.com/2014/01/ombudsman-on-territories-environment-report/

1702 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report finish after this referring to this report. It says in num-ber 26, "Environment Charters were a key develop-ment following the 1999 White Paper. They consisted of a high-level agreement between individual UKOTs Governments and the UK Government setting out their shared environmental responsibilities. The cur-rent UK Government has distanced itself from Envi-ronment Charters.42 In 2012, for example, the Ber-muda Ombudsman stated that the requirement to conduct environmental impact assessments in Ber-muda’s Environment Charter was binding. Having clarified the situation with the UK Government, the Bermuda Minister of the Environment . . ." (which was myself at the time) "subsequently stated: [‘]We have taken advice from both the Attorney-General’s office and the FCO via Government House, and conclude that the UK Environment Charter does not constitute law. It is unenforceable. Rather, the UK itself consid-ers the Charter to be aspirational.[’]"

Last sentence: "The 2012 White Paper claimed to build on the achievements of the 1999 White Paper, but it contained no references to Envi-ronment Charters." None. Now, remember, I just read out this very self-absorbed article from Friday and it ended by saying—“So I would say if you think I am wrong, go and check your sources.” And then we have this report coming out from the UK House of Commons to which we looked to from these hollowed Chambers—some of us. Right? But it is through this House of Commons and the report comes out to say that in fact, in fact, Madam Ombudsman, you are wrong. An Hon. Member: Always wrong. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The Government of the day—meaning the Minister at the time, the CS, currently, who was PS—and the entire Department of Planning were vindicated. But if you look on Bernews on Janu-ary 22nd and look at the commentary by the Ombuds-man on this report, there is no indication in her com-mentary that she was wrong. None. Intellectual dis-honesty. Let me move on, Mr. Speaker, let me move on. Going down in the same article on Friday, March 14th, she talks about Tucker's Point Golf Club and the destruction of gravestones, which, in our country, is one of the most emotional topics you can bring up. When you are talking about Tucker's Town, the gravestones, black people being dispersed from the land—it is very emotional. So it is not something that you should just throw out there irresponsibly unless there is some ulterior motive.

So it is clear, again, in quote, the Ombudsman says, "She wrote that civil servants resisted her rec-ommendations by ‘focusing on what cannot be done, rather than what can be done; and giving me informa-tion that borders on misleading.’" She said that she hammered home the point during her final investiga-

tion, into the destruction of the tombstones—the cemetery—should have an extra layer of protection. But she says the Department focused on what cannot be done rather than what can be done. Mr. Speaker, as I said previously in the de-bate, a cemetery cannot be listed as a building be-cause it is a cemetery. So regardless of what one per-son thinks up in their mind, to say let us offer an extra layer of protection by taking an historic protected area and calling it a listed building—an extra layer—the reason why the Department ignored and did not re-spond is because it is not relevant. It is not even real-istic. A cemetery is not a building.

So all the archaeologists had to do, all Mars-den Church had to do, was go to Planning, follow Planning rules and ask Planning can they do A, B or C with this graveyard. Planning would have said, Listen, it is an historic protected area. You can’t touch it. That is all the layer of protection you need! That is why it was there. But yet, as a result of this SDO issue—this SDO issue, where we challenged the ivory tower of the Ombudsmanship when she said, Listen, you are wrong. We are right. You broke the law. We said, No. Actually, Madam, no you are actually wrong. It was like, How dare you challenge the Ombudsman!

Well, maybe that concept might apply in the world of Ombudsmanship, but in the real world we can challenge anyone when they are wrong. Especially when they accuse the Government of the day of actu-ally breaking the law. Not just the law but international law.

So now we bring up this whole concept of Tucker's Point. The last report put out in February from the former Ombudsman was of grave error talk-ing about tombstones—an emotional topic—all as a result of us challenging the Ombudsman over UK En-vironmental Charter. Now in the midst of all that, Mr. Speaker, in the same article last week, it says, "She mentions with obvious satisfaction the new administration’s an-nouncement earlier this year that it will do a compre-hensive EIA before deciding whether to widen one of Bermuda’s shipping channels. "‘Let me heartily say that this is the way to go’” she says. “‘That’s the modern era; that’s what should be done. Before making any decisions, get your facts.’" Now is not the Ombudsman going to be the watchdog of a good governance transparency and accountability? So you mean to tell me that over the last 14 months, the only comment that the former Ombudsman can give regarding the current admini-stration is that she is pleased that they are actually going to carry out an EIA in the midst of the Tourism Authority that was questioned today where you have taxpayer money being unaccounted for. [Inaudible interjections]


Official Hansard Report 17 March 2014 1703 Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I am not reflecting. The Speaker: Yes, you are somewhat. Carry on. Carry on, but stay— Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: In the midst of a referendum that was stolen by the people. In the midst of Jetgate. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I am not reflecting. It broke the Ministerial Code of Conduct. [Inaudible interjections] An Hon. Member: We disagree with that. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The Honourable and Learned Member said they disagree, but they never reim-bursed— An Hon. Member: Never declared. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Never declared and they never reimbursed for the cost of the trip. So you are still in breach— The Speaker: Just be careful, Honourable Member. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I am not going over— The Speaker: Just be careful. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: And last but not least, proba-bly the worst piece of legislation we have seen since 1968, the Municipalities Amendment, which actually allows the state of Government to make private con-tracts retroactive which actually turns the rule of law on its head. Absolutely destroys the reputation of our jurisdiction. It is the epitome— [Inaudible interjections] The Speaker: Yes, Honourable Member, we just fin-ished talking about that and you had the opportunity— Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: —it is the epitome of bad governance. Mr. Speaker, on the motion to adjourn—it is the epitome of bad governance. You had five or six instances where you have poor governance. No ac-countability. No transparency. But the only remark after 14 months by the former Ombudsman was that she is pleased that they are looking to do an EIA over a shipping channel? I do not see that type of . . . a lack of energy directed to the Corporation of Hamilton.

So what is it? How is it that your whole focus for the year, of 14 months under the OBA, would be focused on the SDO and Tucker's Point and then you

give compliments to a One Bermuda Alliance Gov-ernment that any Ombudsman— An Hon. Member: Worth their salt— Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: —worth their salt—would have launched [an] own motion systemic investiga-tion.

We do not see one and we are not going to see one. So I have already proven, Mr. Speaker that all of this started from us challenging her recommen-dations, her position, as if the Ombudsman is the Su-preme Court Justice; as if her word is binding, her word becomes case law. An Hon. Member: And it does not. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: And it does not. So because we challenged it— [Timer beeps] The Speaker: Honourable Member, that is your time. Thank you, Honourable Member. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to the new— The Speaker: Thank you, thank you. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: —Ombudsman taking her role. The Speaker: Thank you. Honourable Premier? Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I simply just wanted, at the end of this Budget Debate, to thank everyone for this op-portunity. I believe that there may have been some surprises in some of the debate. Some things ex-pected. There certainly was some informative dia-logue that went back and forth that we can glean from and take note from, suggestions that came from those informative sessions.

But I will say this: The budget takes the econ-omy of Bermuda and the reality of where we are today to heart. It does not pass the buck. It does not kick the can down the road. But it certainly looks at the reality of where we are to ensure that we continue to work on our debt situation and our unemployment and some of the inefficiencies that we do believe that exist.

I want to give the Finance Minister great ap-preciation for the job well done and for the community receiving this budget in a wonderful way. [Desk thumping]


1704 17 March 2014 Official Hansard Report Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: And I also want to com-mend the Opposition for a lively debate, as I have al-ready mentioned, and in many cases, a very informa-tive debate going back and forth.

So at the end of this, I simply want to say that there is no easy road going forward with the realities of where we are, Mr. Speaker. It is a tough assign-ment between the peoples' needs and our financial obligations. Yet I do believe that this budget has struck a great balance in moving us forward on the right path to recovery. So with that in mind, I would like to thank the House and the listening audience for tuning in over the last couple of weeks to the Budget Debate. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Premier. [Gavel] [At 12:24 am (18 March 2014) the House stood ad-journed until 10:00 am, Friday, March 21, 2014.]


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