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By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us).
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The
Court of Appeal has released its reasons for a decision to uphold an order that
barred two lawyers from representing the patients of Ewart Brown. Sir
Christopher Clarke, the President of the Court of Appeal, said in a written
judgment: “It was, in our judgment, open to the judge to find that, both Mark
Pettingill and Victoria Greening had received privileged and confidential
information in connection with the criminal investigation, as she defined it.”
Mr Pettingill and Ms Greening of Chancery Legal represented 150 clients whose
health records were among those seized during police raids on Ewart Brown’s
two medical clinics, Bermuda Healthcare Services in Paget and Brown-Darrell in
Smith’s. The 2017 raids were part of an investigation by police into
allegations that the clinics ordered unnecessary diagnostic imaging scans to
boost profits. Dr Brown and BHCS’s medical director Mahesh Reddy have denied
any wrongdoing in relation to the alleged overuse of medical scans of patients
and have not been charged with any offences. The patients had been allowed to
become involved in the legal battle between Dr Reddy and the Bermuda Police
Service as interveners. But Mark Diel, the lawyer for the Bermuda Police
Service, in April argued that Mr Pettingill, a former Attorney-General, and Ms
Greening, an ex-Crown counsel, had conflicts of interest due to their earlier
work. Assistant Justice Kiernan Bell ruled a month later that both lawyers had a
conflict of interest and barred them from representing the patients, but Mr
Pettingill and Ms Greening launched an appeal. The Court of Appeal dismissed the
appeal on June 21, but the written judgment was not published online until
Tuesday. Sir Christopher said: “Looking at the matter in more general terms,
there would seem to be an inherent conflict when Chancery Legal are intent on
showing that the actions of the police in seeking, obtaining and executing the
warrants were unlawful and a disgrace, in circumstances where Mr Pettingill/Ms
Greening, as the judge has found, received information in their professional
capacity from the BPS about the progress of that investigation.”
The judge said Mr Pettingill did not dispute that he had been briefed on the investigation into Dr Brown. He quoted a statement by Mr Pettingill when he said: “I have no idea what information I could possibly have, that would give the intervener any advantage to their files being unlawfully seized by the BPS in 2017 and as relates to strategy other that my assessment that a certain contingent of the BPS was obsessed with endeavoring to find any evidence they could against Dr Brown.” Sir Christopher added: “This assessment is likely to have been derived, at least in part, from what he learnt in the communications between the BPS and him. It would seem, of itself, to be of assistance to the patients and to the disadvantage of BPS.” He later added that Mr Pettingill said he had inquired about the ongoing investigation as Attorney-General because he was concerned about its cost. Sir Christopher said: “If, as the judge has found, he was given information relating to the criminal investigation there would appear to be a potential conflict in two directions. Insofar as any information indicated that no crime had been committed, that would be averse to the BPS. Insofar as it suggested that there may have been but it was difficult to prove, that would be averse to Dr Brown and the patients whose camp he had joined.” The judge said Ms Greening could not dispute that she was present at a meeting where confidential information about the investigation was disclosed. Sir Christopher said: “The fact that she was present at that meeting in late 2014 is difficult to square with her suggestion that the possibility of her joining the specialist team was mooted shortly after the beginning of her employment in April 2014 but never taken forward. In addition, her observation about the incompetence of the investigation is difficult to square with the proposition that she played no effective part in relation to it.” The judge concluded that Ms Justice Bell was entitled to reach the conclusion that there was a conflict of interest as the court should act “unless it is satisfied that there is no risk of disclosure”. Sir Christopher added: “The burden of proof on the BPS is not a heavy one. The burden on Chancery Legal is a heavy one. The judge was entitled to take the view that BPS had discharged the former and that Chancery Legal had not discharged the latter.”
The
Bermuda Public Service Union is to host a forum for expatriates to better
understand their challenges of racism and xenophobia. Jason Hayward, the
president of the union, also highlighted institutional racism that Bermuda’s
black population has been subjected to “for decades”. Mr Hayward attended
the five-day Public Service International’s Inter American Regional Conference
in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last week, with Linda Bogle-Miezner, the BPSU second
vice-president who is also the LGBTQI reprehensive for the Public Service
International Caribbean Sub Region. He said that the conference highlighted
racism against black and indigenous minorities while championing human rights
and advocating for social justice. Mr Hayward said: “The Bermuda Public
Services Union plans to host an expatriate workers forum to obtain a better
understanding of the specific challenges currently facing our guest worker
community. Bermuda’s guest workers are often subjected to racism and
xenophobia. In a recent survey conducted by one of Bermuda’s largest
employers, over a third of their workforce reported being subjected to bullying
and harassment based on nationality, race and ethnicity. Guest workers who enter
our economy to fill low-skilled jobs are often subjected to low wages,
precarious work, a lack of benefits and unreasonable working hours. While it is
recognised that there is a local demand for their labour, guest workers
frequently experience a lack of acceptance from the wider community.” Mr
Hayward added that the union would also try to develop partnerships with
national associations that represent guest workers in Bermuda. “The aim is to
produce a customized support package specifically for guest workers,” he said.
“The union is committed to continuing its advocacy for social and economic
development initiatives, which removes systemic disparities and ensures equal
access to quality public services for all. Together we must work to end the
intolerance and discrimination towards our fellow brothers and sisters.” Mr
Hayward added that the BPSU would continue its fight to “eradicate racism and
xenophobia, Bermuda is not excluded from the plight experienced by our regional
counterparts; racism and xenophobia also exists in our own country. Our local
black population forms Bermuda’s economic minority and has been subjected to
systemic institutionalized racism for decades. The impact of racism on
Bermuda’s black population is reflected in disparities in various areas
including wealth, income, criminal justice, employment, housing, healthcare and
education.” Ms Bogle-Miezner spoke at the Public Services International (PSI)
Caribbean Sub-Regional Meeting on human rights and unions serving as allies in
St Vincent and the Grenadines in May. She addressed workplace diversity and the
importance of employers to move towards recognizing the benefits of having
diverse workers. She stood in solidarity with human rights activists at the PSI
Inter American conference, with signs representing the rights of those in the
LGBTQI community.
Soldiers
and civilian volunteers joined forces to clear vegetation at an historic estate
designated as a national park. About 20 troops from the Royal Bermuda
Regiment joined volunteers recruited by the Government’s Mirrors organisation
and Department of Parks staff at Southlands yesterday. Many of the soldiers
involved have just returned from the multinational Exercise TradeWinds held in
St Vincent and the Grenadines. The volunteers targeted invasive species at the
near-40 acre South Shore Road estate and cut back bushes and trees in the first
of what is expected to be regular clear-up events at the estate. Kim Jackson,
the Mirrors programme manager, said: “We want to kick off monthly community
clean-ups of Southlands and get the public involved in community engagement, as
well as learning about the history of the site. It’s a collaboration between
Mirrors and the parks department and we asked the Regiment for some support.
They’ve been fantastic. We so much appreciate the Regiment because they boost
up the manpower. And, because they have people with chainsaws, that helps up
enormously, as the volunteers can focus on picking things up and putting them in
the trucks while the Regiment does the specialist work.” Margot Shane, the
Mirrors office manager, added: “They’re half the people here — I think
that says it all.” Lance Corporal Orville Hall, of the RBR’s humanitarian
aid and disaster relief specialist B Company, said: “I’m enjoying it. Our
expertise makes a big difference and I was happy to help — I like helping out
people.” Colour Sergeant Harry Hunt, the RBR’s chief armourer, was the link
between Mirrors and the RBR and helped organize the military contingent for the
clean-up effort. He said: “We were happy to assist. It’s important because
it allows Bermudians to see us working here as well as overseas. We also have a
lot of useful skills that are transferable to a wide range of civilian
applications. It also helps us improve our initiative and teamwork, so
everybody’s happy.” Southlands was bought in 1913 by Scots-Canadian
department store tycoon James Morgan who turned it into a series of ornamental
gardens and pools based on former quarries that dotted the area. It was sold by
Mr Morgan’s son after the businessman died in the 1930s. The estate passed
through several hands before it was acquired by the Bermuda Government in 2010
in a land swap with the Morgan’s Point site in Southampton to save the open
space from a hotel development and retain it as parkland.
Nikki
Bascome had to overcome another trademark slow start to earn a unanimous points
victory over Filipino Alvin Lagumbay at the Victualling Yard in Dockyard on
Saturday night. The Bermudian often appears most vulnerable during the
opening rounds and so it proved again, with Lagumbay dominating the early phases
before Bascome was able to force his way into the fight during the middle
rounds. Bascome did, however, produce a strong finish, his best work coming in
the seventh and eighth, opening up a cut above Lagumbay’s right eye and
landing a succession of eye-catching right hands to claim the ninth win of his
career. Two judges scored the fight 77-75 and the other 78-74 in favour of
Bascome. Although Bascome did not exactly sparkle under the stars at the
Victualling Yard, which was transformed into a atmospheric amphitheatre, he was
a worthy winner and perhaps could have made it an easier night’s work had he
not surrendered the first two rounds.
The
Premier has accused the British Government of an attempt to impose “modern-day
colonialism”. David Burt said that the Overseas Territories would resist
efforts by the British Government to enforce public registers of beneficial
ownership. He added: “Modern-day colonialism is what is being attempted by
those persons in Westminster and I am certain that all Overseas Territories
resist it vociferously and will continue to do so.” He added the Overseas
Territories would resist suggestions in a recent report by Westminster’s
Foreign Affairs Select Committee that the UK should force the Overseas
Territories to legalise same-sex marriage and that they should look at giving
resident UK citizens the right to vote and run for office. Mr Burt was speaking
on Wednesday at the annual Pre-Joint Ministerial Council meeting in the Cayman
Islands, held in the run-up to a meeting of the council in London this year. Mr
Burt told The Cayman Compass newspaper: “To see persons who don’t
necessarily have a familiarity reverting to a position that we thought was long
gone, where it seems as though Westminster feels they can dictate to Overseas
Territories, is certainly a dangerous development. But this is a committee.
The Government has taken a position and we will wait to see what happens in a future government, but I think one thing is for certain — all Overseas Territories are united to protect their constitutional position as it stands.” Mr Burt said he had been told by other Overseas Territories at the Caymans meeting that the level of engagement between the report writers and some jurisdictions was “very low”. He added that the Overseas Territories would unite to protect each other from British interference in domestic affairs. Mr Burt said: “There are many different issues that we deal with, but at the end of the day if there is an issue that is affecting the Falklands or that is affecting Montserrat, we have to stand united so that we can be sure that our constitutional arrangements are respected by the United Kingdom.” Other Overseas Territory leaders backed Mr Burt’s stance. Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, Premier of the Turks and Caicos, predicted there would be further pressure from the UK on same-sex marriage and voting rights for UK citizens. She said: “It is a matter of constitutional overreach, and respecting territories rights to choose how they want to govern, how they want to grow their countries, who they want to run in their elections and certainly their culture and religious beliefs.” Albert Isola, Gibraltar’s Minister for Commerce, said: “There is no way today we can accept modern colonialism through the back door by allowing these things to happen. On that, as has been demonstrated today, we are all 100 per cent on the same page.”
The
Premier said yesterday that no decision had been made to change House of
Assembly sittings to every two weeks. David Burt said that he had decided to
have the House sit on just two Fridays in June instead of the normal sessions
every Friday. He added: “I think it’s something that somehow a very big deal
has been made about.” But he added: “This is not the first time the House
has missed Friday sittings, and I can assure you that it will not be the last. I
can put it down to efficiency. The fact is that we can get the same amount of
business done sitting one day as we can two. I think that my move is supported
by the Opposition and also the Speaker of the House.” Mr Burt said that over
the past 23 months people had seen that “this government has operated
differently”. He added: “I don’t actually believe in the mantra that just
because things were being done in a certain way, they should continue to do
things in that particular same way. A whole lot of work and energy went into
every sitting of the House. There is actually expense. Legislation was the only
reason you actually have to go to the House of Assembly — if you’re going to
change legislation”. Mr Burt added that policy changes, “the actual work of
the Government on a day-to-day basis”, does not need to be done in the House.
He said that he expected that the House would meet every Friday in July. He will
be absent from next week’s session because he would be at a Caricom meeting in
St Lucia.
Bermuda’s
national youth jump rope team is to represent the island at an international
competition in Norway. The Bermy Bouncers, five boys and girls aged 10 to
17, will fly to Oslofjord to compete in the World Jump Rope Championships next
month. They will be joined by the adult team Bermy Bounce Backs to face off
against more than 40 countries on the world stage. Both teams will compete in
power-based speed and freestyle events, which will be judged based on physical
proficiency and performance creativity Kendia Dill, the assistant coach for the
squads, said that the teams had trained four times a week since September in
preparation for the event. She said: “We do push-ups, sit-ups, jump squats and
running in one spot to get that agility and flexibility, especially in our
legs.” Ms Dill added: “The sport of jump rope is more than just jumping in
spot and crossing your arms. You do have to be physically strong to be able to
go through a lot of the elements that come with competitive jump rope.” Sionna
Barton, the head coach, said that the team had competed in the World Jump Rope
Championships since 2013 and this year would join two Caribbean countries at the
event. She added that this would be the competition’s final year before the
organisers became the International Jump Rope Union, a global governing body,
and launches a bid to become a part of the Olympics. Ms Barton explained that
the team hoped to make a good impression as the sport could become an Olympic
event. She said: “We have children completing in a paired freestyle where two
of them are doing a Chinese wheel where they hold the ends of each other’s
rope. It is a very big competition and it’s a big deal that we are there.”
Premier
David Burt defended the Government’s financial support for the Bermuda
football team as he congratulated them for their achievements at the Concacaf
Gold Cup. The history-making footballers were celebrated at the Cabinet
Office yesterday as the Premier handed out certificates of recognition. He said
the whole country was “proud of the performances that were put on the field,
and the support was immense throughout the entire community”. Mr Burt added:
“A lot of persons actually criticized the Government for the support which
they have given to the Bermuda Football Association during this campaign.” He
announced a $100,000 donation by the Government to the BFA ahead of the first
match against Haiti in Costa Rica. Zane DeSilva, the tourism minister, also
pledged $50,000 of his own cash after the team’s victory over Nicaragua in New
Jersey. Mr Burt said: “People have questioned whether the money could have
been better spent, whether there were other, more pressing needs.” The
Government “will continue to support excellence”, and he added: “I
remember when they qualified; I spoke to the president of the Bermuda Football
Association and said, I do not want you all to have to scrape, beg, borrow and
steal to make sure you are ready for this competition.” Cecil and Jeannette
Robinson, proud parents of midfielder Cecoy Robinson, who plays for Pembroke
Hamilton Club and was the oldest member of the squad at 31, attended with his
eight-year-old daughter, Nahla.
Both parents were at the football match at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, where Bermuda beat Nicaragua 2–0. Mr Robinson said the atmosphere in stadium was “awesome — it was electrifying”. The former PHC player added: “I have played a lot and represented Bermuda myself. Bermuda has never had anything this big. Hopefully, it will up the momentum. It puts us on the map and puts the players in the eyes of coaches looking for players. They might get offers. Everything is going to be on a positive momentum. We’ll see what happens from here.” Ms Robinson added: “It was awesome, a very good feeling — I’m just glad I was there.” Mr Burt vowed to be part of the crowd when Bermuda take on Panama at home in a Nations League fixture on September 5. But plans for a motorcade for the players, earlier announced by sports minister Lovitta Foggo, have been scrapped because they were not “considered proportionate at this stage”. A ministry spokeswoman said: “The ministry recognizes the historical feat of the national team’s participation in the Concacaf Gold Cup match coupled with the win earlier this week against Nicaragua. In that regard, the ministry has made a decision that in lieu of a motorcade the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation will host a special luncheon event with the Bermuda national team to mark their historic achievement in the inaugural participation in Gold Cup. The ministry recognizes that the Bermuda national team still have upcoming international matches to play. Today’s certificate presentation by the Premier and the upcoming youth and sport luncheon and acknowledgement event are considered proportionate at this stage. It’s hoped that these two events, along with the public’s continued outpouring of support, will serve to provide additional motivation for our national football team as they prepare for their next round of upcoming matches.”
A
police inquiry into threats against LGBTQ people circulated on social media is
continuing, a spokesman said yesterday. A police spokesman said Acting
Detective Inspector Derek Berry was the contact for anyone who wanted to report
communications that threatened or suggested violence towards LGBTQ people.
A
42-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an armed robbery at Blue
Hole Hill Park this month. A police spokesman said yesterday that the man
was in custody pending further inquiries. He added investigators still wanted to
speak to witnesses or members of the public with information that could assist
the inquiry into the June 16 robbery in which a woman and her son were attacked.
Anyone who could help should contact Detective Sergeant Windol Thorpe on
247-1474.
Staff
at a building supply company downed tools yesterday in a row over workers’
contracts. About 20 employees from across the retail, transport and plant
departments at SAL Trading were involved in the action and protested outside the
firm’s Devonshire base. Wornell Steede, the Bermuda Industrial Union chief
shop steward at the firm, said a meeting with management at about midday
resulted in a positive outcome, and retail staff at the firm’s Southampton
shop were expected to return to their duties as normal today. Staff in the
transport and plant departments, who do not work weekends, are expected to
resume normal duties on Monday. Mr Steede said earlier the staff had taken
strike action over an “ultimatum” delivered by SAL chief executive Vance
Campbell, who is a government senator. Mr Campbell and a company manager said no
formal grievances had been lodged and the industrial action was a surprise. Mr
Steede explained: “We were in the process of negotiations and we had cleared
everything on our schedule up to the wages. We really weren’t pushing for an
increase this year, but in the negotiations something was said that triggered a
thought. We have fixed-term contract workers, which are one-year contract
workers, and they renew their contracts every year. The new CEO, who has been in
this position for a month, senator Vance Campbell, has given us an ultimatum,
and said, if you demand a raise, these contracts which haven’t been signed
will not be signed.” Mr Steede said three contracts were affected and
described the action as an “outright strike”. He added: “There’s no more
work going on. We came to work with the intention of not doing anything today,
because, Vance Campbell, made the threat of not signing these contracts and
putting these guys’ jobs in limbo.”
The
House of Assembly will not sit today — the second occasion this month there
have not been proceedings. It was unclear if sittings every two weeks will
become normal practice. ZBM News reported this week that David Burt, the
Premier, had “defended the Government’s decision to hold meetings of the
House of Assembly on every other Friday, instead of weekly, as has been the
tradition”. The news story included an on-camera interview with Mr Burt. He
said: “A lot of work that is done in Government does not require us to come up
here and amend laws. It’s change the policy, it’s change the process, it’s
making sure that things get done on the execution side.” Mr Burt said that a
“raft of legislation” would be tackled when MPs convened next Friday. He
added that in other Overseas Territories the legislatures met once a month.
Questions sent to the Government about the issue included whether a decision had
been made to hold meetings of the House of Assembly every two weeks and, if so,
when the decision was made, and who it was made by. One government spokeswoman
said that the questions were “best answered by the Speaker”, Dennis Lister.
Mr Lister directed questions about the scheduling of sittings back to the
Government yesterday. Another government spokeswoman said that the questions
should be answered by Shernette Wolffe, the Clerk to the Legislature. Ms Wolffe
said that she did not have time to discuss the matter. The calendar on the
Bermuda Parliament website yesterday did not show any meetings of the House of
Assembly scheduled for July. Dates for Senate sessions, committee meetings and
Youth Parliament sessions were also not listed.
Bermuda’s
healthcare system will “implode” if general practitioners have restrictions
placed on fees, a doctor warned last night. The source said Bermuda’s GPs
faced costs up to three times those of the United States but fought to keep
medical costs lower. The doctor said: “If they try to make Bermuda like the
National Health Service in Britain, it’s just not going to work. No one will
want to work here under that system.” The source added: “The whole medical
system here would implode. I would go bankrupt; people would just up and
leave.” The doctor was speaking after a marathon 3½-hour emergency meeting
held by the Bermuda Medical Doctors Association on Wednesday night. The meeting
heard concerns that GPs were being subjected to “heavy-handed” regulations
by the BHeC. The source said GPs were ready to protest — and reserved the
option to go on strike. The doctor said: “Hospital doctors are not allowed to
strike, but community doctors can. We will wait and see what happens, but
that’s a possibility. If we stand together, we could form our own union
quickly and down tools.” However, he added: “Obviously, no one wants to do
that.” Another doctor said: “There are no firm numbers on the table.
There’s a lot of unanswered questions and rumblings going back and forth.”
The doctor added: “One of the major concerns is what the council would like is
to decrease the amount we get, to drive down the cost of healthcare. There is no
meeting around the table beforehand. It’s like the Bermuda Health Council is
throwing mud at the wall to see what will stick.” The GP said overall
expenditure for doctors had been “pretty stable” and was much lower than
what was spent on hospital care. The source estimated that about 50 doctors had
attended the meeting. Both doctors, who asked not to be named, said they feared
Bermuda was moving from public and private funded care to a one-tier healthcare
system. Both added there was a widespread belief in the profession that the goal
was to “create a system that’s going to decrease our income”. One said:
“I believe what they’re trying to do is create a single-tier healthcare
system.”
Chief
executives of the world’s largest re/insurers and leading risk experts are to
gather in Bermuda later this year for the PwC Insurance Summit, presented by he
Financial Times. The summit at Hamilton Princess and Beach Club in
November, presents an annual opportunity for senior executives and professionals
in the insurance and reinsurance industry to discuss and dissect the latest
market developments and their implications. The Financial Times,
presenters of the event, has more than one million paying readers. The FT’s
Oliver Ralph, insurance correspondent, and Robert Armstrong, US finance editor,
will moderate panels at the summit, including a conversation with Curtis
Dickinson, the Minister of Finance. Confirmed keynotes and speakers include
Brian Duperreault, president and chief executive officer, AIG; Dennis Mahoney,
executive chairman, RFIB Group and former head of Aon UK; Nigel Frudd, CEO,
Sompo International; Greg Hendrick, CEO, AXA XL; Mary Forrest, president and
CEO, Munich Re, North America (life and health); John Berger, CEO, Ascot
Reinsurance; and Pete Wilson, CEO, AXIS Insurance. Arthur Wightman, PwC Bermuda
leader, said last year’s event, with the Financial Times as its new
partner, attracted almost 300 registrants. He said the agenda this year will
address the most pressing issues in the market, including regulation, climate
change, cyber-risk, industry disruption and digital transformation. Mr Wightman
said: “The urgent need for business and technology modernisation poses the
greatest threat to the global insurance industry, according to our Insurance
Banana Skins 2019 report, published by the Centre for the Study of Financial
Innovation in association with PwC.
According to a separate survey of the Bermuda insurance and reinsurance market, the number one risk faced here is regulation, followed by climate change and then cyber-risk. The response from Bermuda showed a number of striking differences from the global ranking. Most notable was the positioning of technology risk — number one globally — down in fifth position here. However Bermuda did place cyber-risk at number two, the same as the world ranking, given concern over the magnitude and linkage of exposure. Climate change was another higher-than-average scorer, with many in the industry concerned insurers need to do more to address the long-term impact of climate change. But Bermuda’s highest risk was regulation, mainly because of the volume of change and associated cost. One respondent told us that regulation is a ‘strangling of our ability to operate effectively across jurisdictions and leverage our capital’ and presents ‘a huge and expensive problem’.” Organisers say the summit will examine each of these challenges in keynotes and in-depth sessions with leading regulatory, cyber and climate risk experts with a view to increasing understanding and finding solutions.
A
scientist from one of the world’s top technological universities is to give a
presentation on how space technology can benefit people on earth. Danielle
Wood of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will talk about how space
technology can be used to help humanity and promote the United Nations
sustainable development goals. She said schoolchildren involved in science,
technology, engineering, arts and technology were particularly welcome to attend
her presentation, along with the general public. Dr Wood is an assistant
professor in MIT’s media arts and sciences programme and hold a joint
appointment in the university’s department of aeronautics and astronautics.
She is an expert in social development with a background that includes satellite
design, earth science applications, systems engineering and technology policy
for the US and emerging nations and is head of the new Space Enabled Research
Group at the MIT Media Lab. The mission of the Space Enabled Research Group is
to “advance justice in earth’s complex systems using designs enabled by
space”. The group’s research uses design thinking, art, social science,
complex systems, satellite engineering and data science to increase the use of
space technology to help sustainable development. The team also collaborates
with others, including national and local governments, charities, and private
industry to identify opportunities to use space technology in their work. Dr
Wood’s talk, organised by the Department of Energy, was announced after the
launch of Government’s first space and satellite website, designed to help the home affairs ministry’s effort to promote Bermuda as a
base for space and satellite industries. Walter Roban, the Minister of Home
Affairs, said: “As we move towards the future of advertising the space and
satellite capabilities in Bermuda on a national platform, we must remember to
educate and inspire the study of this at home. I am pleased to welcome professor
Wood and am looking forward to her talk. I know it will be very beneficial to
the Bermuda public.” The home affairs ministry will also organize two “space
camps” for 11-14 year old public schoolchildren in August. Dr Woods’ talk,
on how “technology from space helps keep us safe on earth”, will start at
6.30pm next Monday at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo. Entrance is free.
A
lack of public restrooms at a popular South Shore beach has caused problems for
tourists, a resident claimed yesterday. Norman Simons, who lives near the
public section of Elbow Beach, said the only toilet had been chained up since
the start of the year. Mr Simons added that the lack of restrooms had annoyed
beachgoers “as they’re unable to change out of wet clothes or relieve
themselves”, and risked damaging the island’s image among tourists. He said:
“It’s a disgrace — it’s unacceptable, it’s embarrassing and it’s a
disgrace to this island. Shame on the Government for allowing this.” Mr
Simons, 73, explained that he had seen a tourist family last week who were
unable to get a taxi to their cruise ship because they were still wet from
bathing. He said: “The taxi driver politely explained that he couldn’t drive
them under the condition they were in with water dripping off them, but they in
turn said, ‘well, we have no facilities here to change’. They were right,
and the taxi driver was right, but that didn’t solve the problem and the
burden fell on the tourists, unfortunately. I directed them up to the bus, but
one of the tourists had a problem walking and that was a long haul up the hill
and in the sun. I felt so ashamed and I felt for them, but what could I do?”
Mr Simons added: “How do you think those tourists feel? What impression has
Bermuda left on these people? We’re competing with so many other countries to
get tourists and this is what we have to offer them? It’s nothing.” He said
that Elbow Beach was not the only public beach without bathrooms — but its
position as the first beach on the road out of Hamilton made the need for
bathrooms even more important. He explained: “This is the first beach west of
Hamilton; a lot of people used to use the hotel beach when it was open to the
tourists, but now they still go down to the public beach.” Mr Simons also said
that neglect of the beach could be seen in the poor state of the approach road.
He added that the stretch of road had not been fully paved in 60 years. Mr
Simons said: “It’s a disgrace. I don’t understand. They put so much
emphasis on the tourists and spend so much money on the front end of bringing
them here and after they arrive, this is what they’re presented with.” He
added that the car park in front of the entrance to the beach would be a good
spot to build public bathrooms. Mr Simons said: “You don’t need that much
— from one corner to the other you could fit three toilets and a shower.
It’s not a major task, it’s just that nobody cares.” The Ministry of
Public Works did not respond to a request for comment.
Bermuda
Press (Holdings) Ltd made a profit of $285,000 in the first six months of its
fiscal year — down from $1.42 million a year earlier. The company, which
owns The Royal Gazette, as well as commercial printing, real estate and
retail interests, said the decrease in profitability is the result of a
year-on-year decline of operating revenues of $1.95 million in the half-year
ended on March 31, 2019. In its interim report, the company stated that
“management is working tirelessly to find operating efficiencies and ways to
further reduce operating costs to offset the most recent slowdown in the
economy. Year to date, management have reduced costs by $852,000, as compared to
the same six-month period last year”. The company said its publishing and
retail division saw a $1.58 million, or 17 per cent, decrease “as a result of
a slowdown in the Bermuda economy and changing consumer behaviours”. There was
also a 16 per cent decrease in rental revenue, and a 4 per cent decrease in
commercial printing revenue. Operating revenue was $11.22 million. In its
report, the company stated it had made the “difficult decision” in 2018 to
exit the commercial stationary supply business, and that the management and
board continued to review operating results of all divisions to ensure that
loss-making businesses are not being funded at the expense of shareholders.
Basic earnings per share for the six months were 20 cents, down from 85 cents in
the previous year. BPHL said its real estate holdings remained the most
profitable segment with an overall occupancy rate of 96 per cent, with 57 per
cent occupied by third-party tenants. Highlights for the period included the
acquisition of a 20 per cent minority interest in Crown House Properties, which
means BPHL now owns 100 per cent of the company. While The Royal Gazette has
launched video product to enhance customer engagement.
The company stated that renovation work on a floor of Crown House had been completed in a short timeframe to ensure a new tenant could take possession on June 1, while renovation work has been carried out on the vacant second floor space of the Roger Davidson Building to make it ready for market on July 1. Bermuda Stock Exchange-listed BPHL saw its share price rise from $6.15 to $7 during the six-month period. The company has continued to pay a dividend of seven cents per share for the quarter ended March 31. The report also highlighted the company’s sponsorship roles in the MS Amlin ITU World Triathlon Bermuda, Bermuda International Film Festival, Bermuda End-to-End and the Bermuda Festival. It added that supplying the signage and branding solutions for ITU event had reinforced Bermuda Press Digital “as a key player in the sign-printing and solutions business in Bermuda”. The board of directors acknowledged and thanked BPHL’s employees “for their commitment, hard work and dedication”.
A
disabled man has called for more consideration after a speed bump installed in
Dockyard means he has to leave his car at the edge of the complex and use his
wheelchair to get to the ferry station. The 56-year-old, who asked not to be
named, said he hit problems with the speed bump because he could not get his car
over it without grounding it. He has been forced to use his wheelchair to get
from the Clocktower Mall in Dockyard to the ferry, sometimes in bad weather. The
man said: “It’s a good distance. It takes a good three or four minutes. When
it’s pouring with rain, sometimes I just take the risk that my car is going to
get damaged.” The speed bump was installed last year when Dockyard operators
West End Development Corporation pedestrianised the Clocktower Parade between
the fountain outside the mall to the jewellery store Diamonds International. The
man has had no problems with speed bumps elsewhere and told Wedco that the speed
bump needed to be lowered. He said that nothing had been done so far. The man
added: “I was told they were waiting until there were no cruise ships in, so
I’m giving them a little bit of time.” A spokesman for Wedco said they had
had no other complaints, but that they would make changes to the speed bump to
help the man. Carmen Tucker, Wedco’s port facilities manager, said: “We
installed the speed bump and graded it down several inches after this gentleman
called. We have now taken the specifications from the HSBC speed bump in
Somerset to replicate as his vehicle does not touch when going over it. We have
contacted a company to remove the speed bump and reinstall. The new speed bump
will be completed by this Sunday.”
The man, who has been disabled for more than 40 years, said accessibility for people in wheelchairs was a problem in several areas on the island He added: “They are saying they are doing things for the disabled but they are not. I have been trying to get the access to Long Bay Beach in Sandys fixed for about six years now and nothing has been done. A lot more needs to be done for people with disability.” He said Watford Bridge would be an easier point for him to catch the ferry into Hamilton, but it does not have wheelchair access. The man added: “If it was wheelchair accessible, I wouldn’t need my car.” He said the suggestion in the 2019 Green Paper on Transport that minibuses could be used to service disabled people was not a good idea. The Green Paper admitted there were only 11 public service vehicles with wheelchair access to service residents and visitors to the island. It added that the Government would review options for disabled transportation services in the private sector, but that this might require assistance through grants.
A
film about William Shakespeare starring Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh and Ian
McKellen will be screened by the Bermuda International Film Festival next week.
All is True is a portrait of the playwright during the last three years of his
life, as he leaves London and returns to his family in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Biff, which will screen the film at its monthly film series, BIFFFlix, describes
it as a family drama, detective story and quiet reflection on a life dedicated
to art, told with warmth and wry humour. A spokesman said: “Ultimately, it is
the uplifting tale of a man who journeys from darkness and loss to a renewed
appreciation of the richness and value of life, allowing him to play out his
final act in peace.” All is True will screen on Wednesday at 6.30pm at the
Speciality Cinema. Tickets, $15, are on sale now at pix.bm or at the
cinema box office. The film is rated PG-13. The running time is 101 minutes.
A
woman was shocked to see thousands of bees swarm outside her home. Marlene
Bicchieri was horrified and did not know what to do with the insect invaders,
but Wild Island Apiaries came to the rescue and bagged more than 15,000 bees for
re-homing at no cost. Ms Bicchieri, from Southampton, was alerted to the bees
when she heard something strike her third-storey window last Saturday. She said:
“I heard this pinging on the window, which made me look up. I looked outside
and they were just everywhere, just swarming and going out on the balcony. I
panicked.” She called her neighbours for advice and one suggested she should
use a burning newspaper to smoke the bees out. However, Ms Bicchieri decided
against it. She explained: “I was so panicked I would have just caused a
bigger emergency.” Another neighbour suggested she call the Bermuda Fire and
Rescue Service and they referred her to Jonathan Hitchcock, of Wild Island. She
said: “Here I was in what was to me a horror story and they send me to someone
called Hitchcock. He showed up in this big black flatbed truck looking like a
superhero. They had this calm about them and set to work.” Ms Bicchieri said
Mr Hitchcock had caught most of the bees, but a few “stragglers” had evaded
capture. She added: “Some made it inside the house, but because I called so
early they didn’t have a chance to come in and swarm in the rooms.”
A
box of ShopRite cereal was the wrong choice for a shocked shopper — it was
infested with insects. Clifford Somersall was stunned when he opened the box
of Oats & Honey cereal and spotted movement inside the sealed bag. Mr
Somersall, from St George’s, said: “At first I wasn’t certain. I thought I
was seeing things, but I know there’s nothing wrong with my eyesight. As soon
as I opened it they came up. There is a first time for everything, but you never
expect that.” He said there were dozens of the creepy crawlies inside the bag.
Mr Somersall bought the cereal from MarketPlace on Church Street in Hamilton
earlier this month. He said both the box and the inside bag were sealed and the
cereal was not past its sell-by date. Mr Somersall added: “I bought it on the
Saturday morning and in the afternoon I opened it up and I noticed the uninvited
guests in the box. He said he had taken the box back to the shop, which gave him
a refund — but that it was enough to convince him to try a different brand.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “It caught me off-guard, and it turned
me off for a while. You lose your appetite when you see something like that.”
A spokesman for MarketPlace said the company had taken the complaint seriously
and also contacted its suppliers about the problem. He added: “We set
ourselves very high standards for the quality and safety of our food. We have apologized
to our customer as well as given him a full refund and, as a gesture of
goodwill, some additional products. We continue to investigate his complaint
with our supplier and remain diligent on holding our standards high.” A
spokeswoman for ShopRite did not reply to request for comment by press time.
European
Union leaders welcomed an amendment to economic substance laws before it was
tabled in the House of Assembly, the Senate heard yesterday. Vance Campbell,
the government Senate spokesman on finance, said Curtis Dickinson, the Minister
of Finance, sought EU support amid concerns that the original legislation left
the island at a competitive disadvantage. The Economic Substance Amendment Act
2019 was tabled and passed by MPs last Friday and senators followed suit
yesterday. It means that entities that are resident in another jurisdiction will
not fall within the scope of the regulations, provided that their home base was
not on the EU “blacklist” of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
Non-resident entities that conduct relevant business under the Act will need to
state where they claim to have tax residency as well as provide supporting
evidence. The Economic Substance Act 2018 was introduced at the end of last year
to address EU concerns about offshore shell companies set up to avoid onshore
tax rates. It came into effect for new entities on December 31. Mr Campbell told
the Senate that “due to a potentially significant impact on the Bermuda
economy” it was “critical” that the amendment was enacted before July 1,
when the law becomes applicable to existing entities. He explained that when Mr
Dickinson met Lyudmila Petkova, the chairwoman of the EU’s code of conduct
group on business taxations, in April, he “expressed his concerns about a
potential lack of a level playing field” between the jurisdictions affected by
economic substance legislation. Mr Campbell said the chairwoman asked Bermuda to
put its concerns in writing. He added: “The Minister of Finance spoke with Ms
Petkova and her technical team on the telephone about two weeks ago and sought
her support for advancing this amendment before July 1. I understand from the
Minister of Finance that the discussion was very productive and following the
telephone call the Minister of Finance wrote to her formally and presented her
with a draft Bill for her consideration. The minister also wrote to Pierre
Moscovici, the chairman of the EU commission, seeking his support. Last week the
minister spoke with Mr Moscovici by telephone and again, I understand from the
minister, that the conversation was very positive.” The Senate heard Mr
Dickinson also informed Robert Jenrick, the UK’s Exchequer Secretary to the
Treasury, of Bermuda’s intention to amend the legislation to create a tax
residency exemption. Mr Campbell said a draft Bill and reasons for the amendment
were submitted to the Forum on Harmful Tax Practices for review and the results
would be released to the public after notice from the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development.
Questions
were raised yesterday by a senator who claimed that an investigation into the
Department of Child and Family Services was carried out under legislation that
was geared towards financial matters. Nick Kempe, the Opposition leader in
the Senate, responded to comments made by Kathy Lynn Simmons, the
Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, in the Upper House during its
last sitting two weeks earlier. The Royal Gazette had reported that it
asked the Government under public access to information for the “full
report” into allegations against Alfred Maybury, the DCFS director. Mr Maybury
was suspended last August after being accused of ignoring allegations about DCFS
staff mistreatment of children in care. He returned to work in January after the
Government announced that a “thorough investigation” had found the claims
against him were “not substantiated”. Ms Simmons said in the Senate on June
12: “The Internal Audit Act 2010 prohibits release of the report pertaining to
the investigation into child and family services. From a legal perspective we
are not allowed to disclose the report.” During the motion to adjourn
yesterday, Mr Kempe revealed that he later looked up the legislation, which was
introduced to set up an Internal Audit Department. The Act stated that the
department would “provide an independent, objective assessment of the
stewardship, performance and cost of Government policies, programmes and
operations, and to provide reasonable assurance that persons entrusted with
public funds carry out their functions effectively, efficiently, economically,
ethically, equitably and in accordance with the law”.
Mr Kempe said: “You go through the Act and in various places it’s clear that, from not only the composition of the board but the establishment of the department, that this is an audit department in the financial sense. So my next question came down to, why was the Internal Audit Act chosen as the instrument to investigate allegations of child abuse? This isn’t allegations of defrauding the public purse or misappropriation of funds, so it seems like a curious instrument to use to do an investigation. Also, the Department of Internal Audit falls under the Premier, so I’m curious as to who decided that the Internal Audit Act be chosen to do this investigation.” The senator also raised queries about which “outside entity” took on an inquiry originally started by Michael Weeks, the former Minister of Social Development and Sport who previously had responsibility for DCFS but was later removed from the Cabinet in a reshuffle. He asked: “Under what legislation, if any, was that investigation started, and if there’s no restrictions as to its release why hasn’t that been done so? I’m also curious as to ... whoever launched the investigation under the Internal Audit Act, whether they were aware that the results would not be publicly disclosable prior to the start of that investigation.” Mr Kempe confirmed — on request from Joan Dillas-Wright, the president of the Senate — that his questions were directed towards Ms Simmons, who did not tackle the questions during the motion to adjourn. Mr Kempe added later: “I was disappointed that the Attorney-General did not use the time afforded her to provide clarity to any of the questions raised today relating to the DCFS investigations.”
An
Opposition senator asked the Upper House to condemn threats made to LGBTQ people
after the island’s first Gay Pride celebration was announced. Dwayne
Robinson, of the One Bermuda Alliance, said yesterday that he hoped more leaders
would speak out against malicious comments. He told senators: “There is a
Pride parade coming up and in the midst of this Pride parade, we have had
incidents of threats and unintended consequences being aimed towards those
members of the LGBTQ+ community. Though I am not a member of this community, as
somebody in a leadership position within my community, and to fellow leaders
sitting around the table, I would like to publicly denounce these threats and
call upon the Government and my colleagues to also publicly denounce these
threats. Whether or not we agree or disagree with the lifestyle choice of our
fellow consenting Bermudians who are adults, I believe that we all should be
concerned that a minority group within our society has come out to celebrate
their history, their struggle, and they have been met with a huge amount of push
back within our community and this has even resulted in threats of violence. I
would like to personally state that I do not agree with any sort of
discrimination — be it race, age, whatever.” Mr Robinson said that he hoped
colleagues from both the Opposition and the Government “will stand up and
stand with this minority group. I hope to see a bit more denouncement of these
threats and malicious intents within our community and a bit more support for a
group coming out and supporting themselves.” Mr Robinson was speaking after
police confirmed they were investigating threats and suggestions of violence
against members of the LGBTQ community on social media. Commissioner of Police
Stephen Corbishley added this week that the Bermuda Police Service’s backing
of the Pride parade on August 31 was not limited to assistance with the route or
traffic management but included officers’ attendance and more general support
for the island’s LGBTQ community. Anthony Richardson, a government senator,
expressed concern over Mr Corbishley’s comments.
Bermuda
Skyport and Aecon Airport Constructors are calling for Bermudian artists to
submit works of art to be displayed in the new passenger terminal building
scheduled to open in the summer of 2020. A Request for Proposal (RFP) was
issued today with a concept submission date of September 4, 2019 and organisers
are seeking:
The RFP is open to all Bermudian artists, working individually or in collaboration. Artists can propose artworks in any scale, scope and medium. Artists can also submit as many original art concepts as they wish. Work must be original by the artist named in the submission and be the property of the proponent. Frank Ross, Executive Advisor, Infrastructure, Aecon Construction, says: “As the construction portion is coming to a close on the passenger terminal building, we are excited to begin the process to secure artwork for the building. Incorporating original Bermudian artwork is imperative to us and we look forward to viewing the submissions.” The artwork will be judged by a selection committee consisting:
Skyport and Aecon are offering up to 12 Shadow Box locations to be designed and developed in the new terminal. The compensation per shadow box is $3,000, inclusive of materials. Submissions must include the following:
Interested artists are to submit one electronic version of their proposal and a $25 submission fee payable to the organization of their choice including Bermuda Arts Centre, Bermuda Society of the Arts, Masterworks and the National Museum of Bermuda. A briefing session will be held on July 18 at 12 p.m. The deadline to submit work is Wednesday, September 4, 2019.
Pupils
and their teachers staged a protest yesterday against planned class mergers at
their school and fears that staff might be made redundant. Dozens of
children and staff from Paget Primary School congregated outside the Anglican
Cathedral on Church Street in Hamilton to complain about the move to cut the
number of classes. One teacher said other concerns at Paget Primary were the
lack of support staff, including teaching assistants, known as para-educators,
and an education therapist, as well as the lack of a music teacher. The teacher
added: “It is difficult to say whether we need more Para educators, but we do
need to maintain our class sizes in P1, P4 and P6. We also need to keep our
educational therapist full-time. About four years ago, for some reason, they
reduced that time to three days.” The teacher said the school had not had a
permanent qualified music teacher for at least three years. We have been using
substitute teachers, whether they are certified or not, to do music with our
students.” It is planned to reduce the number of Primary 1 classes and Primary
4 classes from two each to one each. The school submitted a letter of opposition
to the merger plans to the Ministry of Education and to the Bermuda Union of
Teachers on Monday. The teacher added: “We have heard that one of the lines of
defence for the Ministry of Education having smaller classes is based on the
school reorganization report which the Government paid for a number of years
ago. Some feedback we got back is that the report has not been adopted by the
ministry so it can not be used as a line of defence.” The teacher said: “We
will continue on. We are going to stand up and be heard and be seen. I have
heard of other schools in a similar situation, but not names — I am sure that
they will follow our lead.” Diallo Rabain, the education minister, said there
would be no job losses at the school. Mr Rabain said after the protest that one
teacher would be moved to another school as part of a re-evaluation of class
sizes across the public education system and another teacher thought to be
affected by the mergers would remain at the school. He added that he and Kalmar
Richards, the Commissioner of Education, had met representatives of the
school’s PTA and the principal yesterday.
Summer water safety was
highlighted yesterday as the boating season gets into full swing. Michael Weeks,
the chairman of the Water Safety Council, said everyone using boats should rate
safety as the “number one priority”. He added: “Recently, there was a
marine incident where a young woman was injured and required medical assistance
at a large event that involved swimmers and a vessels in close proximity. Such
events are common in Bermuda and can be raft-ups, boat races and any other
marine events.” Mr Weeks, also a Progressive Labour Party MP, said basic tips
to ensure safety were:
Mr Weeks added that the Department of Marine and Ports Boats and Moorings Section at the old Paget Post Office, could provide information on water safety to the public. He said that marine incidents should be reported to the Marine Police on Channel 16 or Bermuda Radio on Channel 16 and Channel 27. Mr Weeks added: “I ask all mariners to be vigilant of their surroundings at all times. All of Bermuda can have an enjoyable time on the water while boating or swimming.”
A
man was sentenced to nine months imprisonment today after he admitted carrying a
knife in public. Magistrates’ Court heard that Darren Anglin, 33, was
approached by police after they received a complaint. When Anglin threw up his
arms officers saw an object fly out of his hands. The object was identified as a
folding knife with a 3.5-inch blade and officers arrested Anglin. The incident
took place on Par-la-Ville Road in Hamilton on April 1. Anglin, from Hamilton
Parish, pleaded guilty to the offence on April 15 and was remanded in custody
for a social inquiry report. He told the court that he carried a knife to
protect himself after a vengeful ex-girlfriend had sent people to hurt him.
Anglin said: “I’ve been chased twice while going home, so I feared for my
life. This isn’t the life for me, but if you give me a chance I believe I can
become a productive member of society.” Prosecutor Maria Sofianos told the
court that there was “an issue with bladed article possession on the island”
and jail time for Anglin would act as a deterrent. But Bruce Swan, for the
defence, said that his client suffered from mental health problems that would
not be tackled in prison. He added: “He’ll be back in the same court for the
same offence, but I think if we give him help we can truly make a breakthrough
with him.” Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe said that Anglin had been sent to the
court’s mental health programme before but had been “unresponsive”. He
sentenced him to imprisonment with time already spent in custody to be taken
into consideration.
A
26-year-old man was convicted yesterday of sexual offences against an underage
girl. A jury found William Franklin Smith guilty of unlawful carnal
knowledge of a girl under the age of 14 and sexual exploitation of a young
person by a person in a position of trust by a majority verdict of ten to two.
The verdict came after a week of evidence in the Supreme Court and more than
five hours of deliberation by the jury. Acting Puisne Judge Craig Attridge
remanded Smith in custody, but said he was prepared to hear a bail application
next week. He said: “In the circumstances of the case, I’m not minded to
grant him bail currently.” Smith had denied all of the charges and Elizabeth
Christopher, his lawyer, said after the verdict that he intended to appeal
against the conviction. The Crown alleged that on or about September 23, 2016,
Smith sexually touched the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, and
had sex with her while he was watching her and her younger cousin. Maria
Sofianos, for the Crown, said Smith covered the girl’s face during the
incident so he would not see her face. Prosecutors said Smith attempted to have
sex with the girl again sometime in the summer of 2017, but stopped when he
heard a noise from elsewhere in the home. The offences came to light on November
1 that year when the girl’s great-grandmother found the defendant in his
underwear in the child’s bedroom. A doctor’s examination days later revealed
the girl had a trichomoniasis infection — which is usually spread through
skin-to-skin sexual contact. But the doctor confirmed that the trichomoniasis
parasite can live on inanimate objects such as toilet seats for a period of
time. Smith claimed in evidence that he never touched the girl sexually and that
he was not in the girl’s bedroom on the morning of November 1, despite the
evidence of the girl and her family. He told the court he had felt ill from
drinking and was retching into a garbage bin outside her bedroom when he heard
her great-grandmother screaming at him. The maximum penalty for sexual
exploitation by someone in a position of trust is 25 years in jail. Ms
Christopher applied for Smith to be bailed while he awaited sentence, but the
Crown objected. Ms Sofianos told the court: “This is a very serious case
involving four counts of sexual offences against a child.” She said Smith was
close to the victim’s family. She added: “For that reason, all children in
the community stand to be at risk if he is bailed.”
A
doctor has dismissed the idea that general practitioners were considering strike
action. The doctor, who asked not to be named, said that the possibility of
job action “was not mentioned at all” at a closed-door meeting held at King
Edward VII Memorial Hospital last night. She added: “I would be very, very
surprised if it ever was.” However, two physicians, who requested not to be
identified, earlier suggested that GPs were ready to protest against
“heavy-handed tactics” by the Bermuda Health Council. The doctor said that
about 30 to 40 doctors had turned out for the meeting. She said that Ricky
Brathwaite, the acting chief executive of the BHeC and its director of health
economics, made a presentation to attendees about different healthcare
remuneration models. The doctor added: “This is just the start of the
conversation.” She said that Dr Brathwaite’s presentation was at first
received well by attendees. But she added: “It’s getting a little heated
now.” The doctor said that the current relationship between doctors and the
BHeC was “better than it has been”. But she added: “We live in worrying
times. We all understand that things are getting difficult as the number of
insured adults falls. There’s just not going to be enough money to look after
people. We are going to need to change the way we deliver healthcare.” The
doctor said that island GPs were being “squeezed” by the cost of doing
business. She added: “It’s no different than any other people living in
Bermuda. It’s uncertain and worrying.” Sources earlier said that GPs were
ready to “go on strike” over restrictions imposed by the BHeC. In
particular, doctors were described as being “up in arms” over a proposal by
the independent monitoring group for doctor’s visits to provide end-of-life
care to be capped at $20 per month per patient under the Standard Health
Benefit. The proposal was revealed at a meeting last week, it is understood,
although sources said that nothing official had been shared with physicians.
That move was “the final straw” in the council’s “unilateral” approach
to regulating healthcare, one source said. The source added: “This is just an
example of how they do things. We will stand together on this; we are not going
to take it — if needs be, we will go on a general strike.” But the doctor
said that the topic had not been raised at the meeting.
International
law firm Appleby, which has deep roots in Bermuda and a significant presence on
the island, has finished in second place in the Offshore Law Firm of the Year
category at awards presented by British legal publication, The Lawyer. While
multi-jurisdiction firm Ogier won the top prize, Appleby was “highly
commended”. International firm Bedell Cristin was “commended”, and took
third place. The other finalists were mid-sized Bermudian firm Marshall, Diel
& Myers Ltd, as well as international firms Carey Olsen, Campbells, Harneys,
and Maples Group. Of the eight finalists, Marshall, Diel and Myers Ltd was the
only sole-jurisdiction firm to be nominated. Catrin Griffiths, editor at The
Lawyer, said it is “pretty rare” for a mid-sized, sole-jurisdiction firm to
be nominated in the category. “Most of the offshore law firms that feature at
The Lawyer Awards tend to have globalised quite rapidly over the past decade,”
she said. Appleby has ten offices worldwide, while Carey Olsen has nine offices
globally, and carries on business in Bermuda via Carey Olsen Bermuda Ltd. The
firm won the award in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Maples Group, with ten offices
globally, provides a suite of fiduciary services in Bermuda. Shortlists for The
Lawyer Awards were decided by more than 60 judges from across the industry.
The
Bermuda Government struck a “very sweet deal” when it paid $10,000 to allow
residents of the island to access online courses offered by FinTech School, the
organisation’s chief executive officer told The Royal Gazette. Amilcar
Chavarria was on-island this week along with the San Francisco-based company’s
head of marketing, Deep Kakkad, to present a free, two-day ‘fundamentals of
fintech’ training session for college and university students of any age.
FinTech School, which says on its website that it is not an academic
institution, was started more than three years ago by serial entrepreneurs and
former Wall Street professionals to provide practical fintech training. Mr
Chavarria said he bought the organisation’s domain name seven years ago.
FinTech School’s mission is to improve financial literacy, spur economic
growth, and bank the unbanked by providing fintech and blockchain training and
content to financial institutions, governments, universities and individuals. Mr
Chavarria said more than 250 Bermuda residents had so far taken more than 500
online courses. “It’s $10,000 to train an entire country,” Mr Chavarria
said. “Based on usage so far, we would have charged $50,000. That $40,000
difference is our contribution to our mission — it’s walking the talk. We
gave Bermuda a very sweet deal on a countrywide licence to train Bermudians and
thereby create jobs and economic growth.” The initial six-month licence term
expires at midnight on November 17 but Mr Chavarria said “we are thinking of
expanding it because it’s going really well. We are pleased with the level of
take-up. We are also very pleased that Dr Gina Tucker is the internal champion.
She cares about education and providing opportunities for Bermudians.” Mr
Chavarria said a handshake agreement in San Francisco included a promise by him
to the Government that FinTech School would place two Bermudians in fintech jobs
by the end of 2019. This week, he says, “we expanded the number of jobs by the
end of the year to five people, here or abroad, all in fintech. That will grow
the local industry, and increase awareness of Bermudian talent and the new
blockchain laws here, so that new fintech companies will establish themselves in
Bermuda and create jobs, leading to economic growth. We want to be part of that
story.” .
Music
and food will help to bring Portuguese culture alive when a centuries-old
national tradition marks its 24th year in Bermuda this weekend. Organisers
said everyone was welcome to celebrate the free Festival of the Holy Spirit at
King’s Square in St George. Baked Portuguese goods will be among the treats on
offer alongside live entertainment from 7pm on Saturday. Activities on Sunday
start at 1.30pm with a procession to Stella Maris Church for a 2pm service
before the walk back to the square at about 3.45pm, after which festivities will
resume at 5pm until 11pm. An organizer explained yesterday that the festival
stemmed from Portugal’s Queen Isabel and her husband, King Dom Dinis, who
encouraged people throughout their kingdom to celebrate the Holy Spirit and
established a church dedicated to the Holy Spirit some time between 1296 and
1325. She said the festival had been practiced all over the world where there
are people of Portuguese descent and added: “Twenty-four years ago, the idea
was born to carry on the tradition of this festival here in Bermuda and we
celebrate it in St George’s because this is where it began.” Although in the
Azores one family normally takes on the responsibility of organising the
celebrations at their own expense, a committee, or Commissao, was formed to
bring together the celebrations here. The spokeswoman said another part of the
tradition that followed Queen Isabella’s efforts was the distribution of food.
She said: “Families give a monetary donation and, on the Saturday of the
festival weekend, voluntarily go around and deliver, massa — egg bread, bread,
wine and a piece of meat to say thank you and for a blessing of what these gifts
represent. What the Commissao also does in Bermuda is give a gift to families
who we know, or have been told, would not be able to give a monetary gift. We
give them a gift from the Commissao in the spirit of Queen Isabella who
originally gave of her own food to feed the poor.”
Portuguese-Bermudians have
backed a call by a government MP for a “truth and reconciliation” process to
close a rift between them and Bermudians of African descent. Andrea
Moniz-DeSousa, the Portuguese Honorary Consul, said: “As we commemorate 170
years of the arrival of Portuguese immigrants in Bermuda this year, I believe
that this is, in fact, the time to have this discussion and I praise Mr Weeks
for speaking up on this issue. More does need to be done for the Portuguese
community of Bermuda.” Ms Moniz-DeSousa said a good start would be to tackle
immigration reform and status problems in mixed-status families, which includes
many of Portuguese descent. She added: “While we understand that this is a
tough issue to address and there needs to be a balance, this is an issue which
greatly affects many children of all heritages and it has been prolonged
unfairly for far too long. Ms Moniz-DeSousa said Bermuda had no permanent
resident population until 1609. She added: “We are therefore all immigrants
who have come from somewhere else. It is time, therefore, that we learn to
understand and be appreciative of each other’s differences and struggles. We
have to remain humane and have an appreciation for challenges.” Ms
Moniz-DeSouza also backed a move to teach Portuguese in schools and said that it
should be the official second language. She added: “Generally, aside from the
reason that the world has become increasingly international, learning additional
languages is empowering for any community as it can bring about not only the
ability to communicate with family and friends but also career opportunities.
Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language in the world, after Chinese,
Spanish, English, Hindi and Arabic.” She was speaking after Mr Weeks, a former
government minister now a Progressive Labour Party backbencher, called for a new
approach to people of Portuguese descent.
Mixed
status families have been asked to make themselves known to the Department of
Immigration as part of the next phase of immigration reform. The scenario
includes families where one parent holds Bermuda status or a permanent
resident’s certificate, while a spouse or children do not — despite being
born on the island. Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security, asked for
such families to attend the gym at CedarBridge Academy between 5.30pm and 8pm on
Thursday, and to bring identification. The session is aimed at obtaining an
exact tally of mixed-status families, as methods of collecting information have
changed over the years. Mr Caines said: “Government recognizes the importance
of including every member of our community in the decision making process. To
that end, we are asking for your assistance in providing information to assist
us in making informed decisions on immigration policies that affect
Bermudians.” Data collection will also continue at the Ministry of National
Security at Global House on Church Street in Hamilton. Persons may attend from
Friday through July 12, from noon to 4pm. Mr Caines added: “We have made it
clear that this legislative session, we will be dealing with mixed status
families.” Mr Caines emphasised that families would be able to meet in
relative privacy with immigration clerks. Asked about other issues, such as
long-term residents, Mr Caines said: “There are other key elements, but they
will not come as part of this parliamentary session.”
Bermuda’s
national football squad returned home to a heroes’ welcome yesterday. The
team left the Concacaf Gold Cup with their heads held high after a convincing
2-0 victory over Nicaragua on Monday. Shakia Chamberlain, the mother of
midfielder Lejuan Simmons, watched the team’s win at her home with her mother
and daughter. She was overcome with emotion when her son scored the match’s
opening goal in the 60th minute. Ms Chamberlain, 41, said: “I was screaming, I
was yelling. I was so excited. I couldn’t even cry because I was just so
overwhelmed.” She said that Lejuan’s father, Perry Puckerin Jr, who died
several years ago, was “smiling down” on his son. Ms Chamberlain, from
Pembroke, added: “He was always there at his games coaching him and telling
him what to do. He would have been very proud of his son.” She asked Lejuan
how he felt about his performance. Ms Chamberlain said: “He said, ‘Mama it
just feels good. I feel like a celebrity now’.” She said the entire team had
done the country proud. Ms Chamberlain added: “I’m very pleased with all of
them.” She said yesterday’s announcement by Lovitto Foggo, the sports
minister, that a motorcade would be organised for the team was a “fitting
tribute” and “well deserved”. Paul Scope, cofounder of the Bermuda Hogges
football team, which played in a US league, was in the stadium at the Red Bull
Arena in New Jersey for the Nicaragua game alongside a strong Bermuda contingent
of fans that made their presence known. Hundreds of supporters showed up to
watch the island’s best chance of a win — and were not disappointed. Mr
Scope, also a former Bermuda assistant coach said: “The Bermuda fans certainly
made a lot of noise and showed a lot of enthusiasm. Everybody enjoyed
themselves. The Premier was there, the tourism minister; there were players’
family members, people who had never been involved with football and some people
who had gone to all three matches.”
A
diabetes expert called on the Government to ensure water and diet drinks are
cheaper than sugary sodas and argued that the controversial sugar tax
“completely missed the point”. David Cavan, a UK-based doctor,
questioned whether the island’s sugar tax had worked nine months after the
legislation was introduced. The endocrinologist, who has worked on a programme
to halt Type 2 diabetes in Bermuda, said he had shopped around the island and
found diet sodas on sale for the same price as the sugar-laden drinks branded a
top cause of the disease. He added: “I buy diet drinks, so I was absolutely
amazed to discover their costs were the same as the sugar variety. It has
completely missed the point of what the sugar tax was meant to achieve.” Dr
Cavan said: “My advice to policymakers is that the whole point of the sugar
tax should be to make it more expensive than alternatives and to deter people
from buying sugary drinks. That means there should be an obligation on retailers
to ensure water and diet drinks are cheaper than sugary drinks.” Dr Cavan said
he was pleased when the sugar tax, designed to target selected products with a
50 per cent tax hike, was introduced last October. The extra duty rose to 75 per
cent at the start of April and its scope widened to include chocolate items.
However, Dr Cavan said he had noticed diet drinks — which were exempted from
the tax — were priced the same as sugary equivalents at several places around
the island. A sedentary lifestyle can lead to Type 2 diabetes, which constitutes
the bulk of the disease, and can lead to cardiovascular disease and lower-limb
amputations. The Bermuda Diabetes Association said the tax on high-sugar drinks,
one of the top contributors to diabetes rates, was “a step in the right
direction” after the Government pledged in 2017 to begin consultation on
higher prices for unhealthy foods and drinks. Dr Cavan, who worked with Stanley
James of Premier Health and Wellness on a diabetes treatment programme, said it
had resulted in a 15 per cent success rate in patients reversing their diabetes
after a year of lifestyle change. He added that more victims of the disease
should sign up.
A
22-year-old man who suffered serious injuries in a crash in the early hours of
last Sunday is an off-duty police officer. The officer, who has not been
named, was on his own motorcycle when it crashed on Crow Lane, Pembroke at
2.45am. A police spokesman said it appeared to be a single vehicle accident. The
officer was yesterday in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital’s intensive
care unit. Commissioner of Police Stephen Corbishley visited the injured man and
his family. Mr Corbishley said it was “a tragic accident”. He added: “Our
thoughts and prayers continue to be with the constable’s family at this
difficult time and they have the full support of the BPS.”
Facebook’s
soon-to-launch global cryptocurrency has no link to Bermuda, however it is a
positive indication that fintech and digital currencies are the future. That’s
the view of Denis Pitcher, chief fintech advisor to the Premier, who is among
many in Bermuda following the development that was announced last week. Facebook
aims to launch its cryptocurrency, called Libra, next year. The organisation
that will operate the Libra blockchain will be headquartered in Geneva. Mr
Pitcher said: “While it is disappointing that Facebook and the Libra
Association chose Switzerland over Bermuda as their domicile, it is a positive
indication that the industry is developing and that there is opportunity on the
table if we can seize it. We’ve seen interest from players like Circle, which
is backed by Goldman Sachs and led by a veteran team of tech industry
luminaries, which has an existing 100 per cent USD-backed digital currency and
is looking to set up on island and provide access to their currency and
portfolio of services.” When Facebook announced Libra, and its digital wallet
Calibra, the news was greeted as a positive for Bermuda’s own ambitions in the
digital asset and fintech space. Libra is seen as potentially introducing two
billion internet users to digital currency at a time when Bermuda is
establishing itself in the world of digital assets. Stan Stalnaker, chief
strategy officer at Bermudian-based Hub Culture, which created the world’s
first digital currency, Ven, and Chris Garrod, head of fintech at Conyers, last
week spoke of positives they saw from Facebook’s entry into cryptocurrency. Mr
Pitcher shared that sentiment and said: “Facebook launching a cryptocurrency
is a positive indication that fintech and digital currencies are the future. At
this stage there are still many unknowns with the key question being how
Facebook and the consortium of top players they’ve put together will tackle
the compliance and banking challenges hampering industry growth. Although the
consortium contains top players like Uber, Visa, Mastercard, eBay, bookings.com
and others, it doesn’t appear that any banks are involved. These have been the
biggest hurdles to the development of this industry so it will be interesting to
see how it develops.” He said it showcased the evolution of digital currencies
and the positive role Bermuda has to play in the space. Libra will be
fully-backed by a basket of global currencies and other assets with the aim of
giving stability to its day-to-day value. It is being built on blockchain
technology.
Political
power couple James Carville and Mary Matalin will deliver a keynote address at
the sixth annual Bermuda Life and Annuity Re/Insurance Conference in September.
Mr Carville, a liberal, and conservative Ms Matalin will speak on the topic of
“Civil Politics” on September 19 at the Fairmont Southampton resort. The
discussion will be moderated by Frank (Chip) Gillis, chief executive officer of
Athene Life Re. The one-day conference is presented by the Bermuda International
Long-Term Insurers and Reinsurers organisation. The conference website said:
“The deepening political divide in America and Europe has an impact on
government policy, economics and trade, and our communities ... the
world-renowned husband and wife team of political strategists will cover a wide
range of political topics in a moderated discussion from opposite sides of the
political aisle, including fresh insights on the upcoming presidential election
in 2020, improving political dialogue, and closing the ideological divide.” Mr
Carville, nicknamed “The Ragin’ Cajun”, built his reputation as a
political strategist by steering candidates to a series of election victories at
the state level in the United States. Thereafter, he helped Bill Clinton to win
the presidency in 1992. More recently, he has focused on campaigns in more than
23 countries worldwide, including in South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
He is also an author, actor, producer, talk-show host, speaker and restaurateur. Along with pollster Stanley Greenberg, Mr Carville founded Democracy Corps, an independent, non-profit polling organisation. He is a professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he lives with wife Ms Matalin and their two daughters. Ms Matalin is an author, television and radio host, and political contributor, pundit and public speaker noted for her straightforward manner and political repartee. She served under President Ronald Reagan, as George HW Bush’s campaign director, as assistant to President George W Bush, and as assistant and counsellor to Vice-president Dick Cheney, making her the first White House official to hold that double title. Ms Matalin co-authored the best-selling political campaign book “ll’s Fair: Love, War, and Running for President with Mr Carville. In their second joint memoir, Love and War: Twenty Years, Three Presidents, Two Daughters and One Louisiana Home, released in 2014, they looked at how they — and America — have changed. The afternoon keynote address, “Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules in Life and at Work” will be delivered by behavioral scientist Francesca Gino, a tenured professor at Harvard Business School. Ms Gino has spent more than a decade studying rebels at organisations around the world, and argues that rebels are capable of changing the world for the better with their unconventional outlooks. They defy the status quo, she said, and are masters of innovation and reinvention, and cultivating the rebel talent inside of us allows businesses to evolve and to prosper. Other sessions at the conference include “A View from Above”, “Portfolio Optimization: Collaboration Between Portfolio Manager and Actuary”, and “Demographics and Real Interest Rates”.
Boxing
champion Teresa Perozzi and author Agathe Holowatinc have created a health and
wellness company. Fuelled Bermuda Ltd will start operations on July 15. The
co-founders say the company is devoted to helping the people of Bermuda get
healthier, lose weight, feel more energized and enhance performance in all areas
of their life by realizing success in their health-food related goals. Fuelled
will offer one-on-one high performance food coaching, nutrition workshops,
seminars, presentations, church events, gym events, company events, health food
cooking demonstrations, personal chef services, as well as specific services to
restaurants and bars to help them “uplevel” their menu options so it’s
more convenient for Bermuda residents “to make nutritious and tasty food and
beverage choices everywhere they go”. It will also offer products such as
Bermuda-specific health food brochures, printed information guides and
merchandise. Ms Perozzi and Ms Holowatinc also aim to do charitable work at no
cost to underserved communities in Bermuda. Ms Perozzi is a former WBA
middleweight world boxing champion, award-winning crossfit competitor in
Bermuda, and a certified sports masseuse. Ms Holowatinc is the author of health
food book Fuelled: Transform Your Body, Enhance Your Energy, Supercharge Your
Life and is a certified integrative nutrition health coach, having graduated
from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York. Ms Perozzi said: “I
have personally and professionally been involved in the sports, fitness and
wellness spaces in Bermuda for over a decade and am looking to expand my
horizons and create an even greater impact on our island community by adding a
health/nutrition/food element to what I am a part of, and what I deliver.
That’s why this company was created, and Agathe is uniquely qualified to work
in this company with me because she has actually written, researched, developed
and published a handbook on optimal health and nutrition. It is selling very
well and making an impact on people’s lives around the world. I really like
the name, too, and what it conveys. Her education has equipped her with
extensive, cutting-edge knowledge in holistic nutrition, health coaching, and
prevention. Agathe loves to cook and has spent 20-plus years thinking about how
she can deliver food that will actually benefit those who eat it — that will
actually fuel their body.” She added: “I am very excited to team up with her
in this new venture that aims to serve the people of Bermuda and enhance health
and wellbeing throughout the island. This has truly been a dream of mine. We
look forward to sharing more information about it soon.” Ms Perozzi said she
will continue to run Body in Balance, her massage therapy business.
A
Chinese man on a world tour to promote the country’s 2022 Winter Olympics has
stopped off in Bermuda. Cao Da Fo said that he had enjoyed the warm
reception he had received from Bermudians, as well as the blue sky and water. He
plans to recommend Bermuda as a travel destination to other Chinese people. Mr
Cao, 54, said he had visited more than 200 countries in the lead-up to the
February 2022 sports event in the Chinese capital, Beijing. He added that he
hoped to visit every country in the world before the start of the games. Mr Cao
said that the trip, started in 2008, was to spread a positive message. He added:
“I am the most happy person.”
Jersey,
Guernsey and the Isle of Man have pledged to make their beneficial ownership
registries public by 2023. The move by the Crown Dependencies comes as
Britain is applying pressure on its Overseas Territories, including Bermuda, to
make company ownership records open to the public. Unveiling of the three
islands’ records will come in three phases. By 2021, the registries will be
merged with the European Union system to give access to authorities in the bloc.
In 2022, financial-services businesses will be given access in order to help
them do their due diligence. And in 2023, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man
will table legislation to open the registries to the public. Like Bermuda, the
Dependencies already allow access to the records to overseas authorities who
make a request. In the UK, beneficial ownership records are public and anyone
who owns 25 per cent or more of a company is named. Britain will issue an Order
in Council in December 2020, requiring the Overseas Territories to establish
public registers. The Bermuda Government has argued such an order would breach
the Bermuda Constitution. Lord Tariq Ahmad, Britain’s Foreign Office Minister
for the Overseas Territories, said during a visit to Bermuda two months ago that
Britain’s Conservative government had been opposed to taking this course of
action, but was obliged to do so after the UK Parliament passed an amendment to
the Sanctions and Money Laundering Bill. Gavin St Pier, Chief Minister of
Guernsey, said the Dependencies’ move was bringing the islands into line with
“regional standards” of financial transparency, and that he did not expect
that it would discourage businesses from operating there. Howard Quayle, the
Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, said that the European Union’s plan for all
member states to implement their own public registries by 2023 “creates a
clear direction of travel”. Mr Quayle added: “It is in all our strategic
interests and our standing as responsible jurisdictions to commit to further
develop the accessibility and transparency of our register of beneficial
ownership for companies.” Some in the island’s business communities had
reservations. Tony Mancini, president of the Guernsey International Business
Association, said confidentiality was the “bedrock” of Guernsey’s
financial model and to “unilaterally” discard it could be economically
damaging. Mr Mancini told the Guernsey Press: “Our clients have many
legitimate reasons for wanting to keep their affairs private and they value the
ability that Guernsey has to achieve that in a responsible way. Our clients also
recognize the importance of adhering to evolving international standards. So it
is key to us that Guernsey maintains confidentiality while it is the
international norm. We all accept that if standards change such that publicly
accessible registers become the norm, then we must change in line with that.”
The
closure of the kitchen at Westgate prison because of a collapsed ceiling caused
by water damage was “regrettable”, the national security minister said
yesterday. Wayne Caines said that a team from works and engineering had been
to the prison to fix the ruptured pipe that had caused the damage. He added:
“Now we are getting contractors.” Mr Caines said that a request for proposal
would be issued for repair work to the ceiling and that Westgate was “an old
building”. He added that the ceiling problem would be dealt with on an
“aggressive basis”. Mr Caines said: “We will make sure to get somebody in
the not-too-distant future to replace it.” A spokesman for the Department of
Corrections said on Sunday night that the kitchen had been closed since last
Friday. He added that prisoner meals had been prepared at the Co-Ed Facility in
St George’s and that the Royal Bermuda Regiment had offered its kitchens to
help out as well. The spokesman said that damage assessment in the kitchen would
be carried out “in the next few days”. He added: “Following this, we will
have a realistic timeline for restoring the kitchen to normal operational
levels.” The spokesman also said yesterday that the prison service’s main
telephone lines were down because of technical problems. Mr Caines said:
“Unfortunately, with the telephone system going down and the roof going in it
seems like all these forces are converging against the work we are doing.
Sometimes you have difficult sets of circumstances.” But he added: “It’s
our responsibility to keep working through them.”
Details
of public contracts worth $50,000 or more must be published under the law, the
information commissioner said today. Gitanjali Gutierrez said that the
Public Access to Information Act required that public authorities publish in the
Official Gazette four pieces of information — the name of the contractor, the
monetary value of the contract, the good or services to be provided, and the
completion date for the contract. Ms Gutierrez said that the requirement
“fulfills important purposes of public access to information”. She added:
“It ensures that the public is aware of the spending of public funds and
reduces unnecessary secrecy. It also allows potential vendors to understand what
contracts may be available with government and for the public to assess how
contracts are procured and managed. “Such details allow the public a deeper
understanding of how a public authority delivers its services and meets the
public need. As the public sector increasingly improves its governance and
accountability, it is critical that the public has at its fingertips the basic
details concerning public spending and service provision.” Her comments came
in a press release issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office today. The
statement said the clarification had been prompted by recent debate in the House
of Assembly and the Senate in the last month about obligations to make public
details of contract payments. The release said that the four details must be
gazetted “unless a particular contract detail would constitute exempt
information”. It added: “Exempt information is defined in the specific
provisions in Part 4 of the Pati Act. Under the Pati Act, an exempt contract
detail does not need to be gazetted, but all other non-exempt contract details
must still be gazetted for the public.” The statement said that the
Information Commissioner “is mandated to monitor public authorities’
compliance with the requirement to gazette contract details and may provide
guidance to public authorities if corrective measures are necessary. Where the
Information Commissioner determines that a public authority has not complied
with its requirements under Pati, the Information Commissioner has the authority
to issue an order requiring compliance with any part of Section 6 of the Pati
Act. An order by the Information Commissioner has the same legal effect and is
enforceable in the same manner as an order of the Supreme Court.” The
statement said that there had been a “noticeable increase” of contract
details by public authorities between November 2018 and March 2019. The Pati Act
went into effect on April 1, 2015.
An
Opposition senator has said the $88 million Bermuda Infrastructure Fund could be
used to pay for the replacement of East End bridges instead of venture capital
for start-up businesses. Dwayne Robinson, of the One Bermuda Alliance, said
a recent government request for information about the construction of a new
Longbird Bridge and Swing Bridge raised important questions. He said he had
earlier been given written answers to parliamentary questions that revealed the
BIF had yet to complete any investments — despite being launched more than a
year ago — except for a small loan to an electric vehicle rental company,
which was expected to get more funds this month. The responses showed that other
projects under consideration included an indoor vertical farm and a start-up
internet provider. A request for information issued by the Ministry of Public
Works on the Government’s website this month appealed for construction firms
from around the world to express interest in the St George’s bridges project
because the existing structures were both expected to reach the end of their
useful lives in 2021. Moving Bermuda Forward, an information document that
accompanied the procurement notice, said: “The Ministry of Public Works is
looking forward to bringing new members to the construction team to finance,
fabricate and build these bridges.” Mr Robinson said: “This raises some
important questions — why isn’t the infrastructure fund being used instead
of funding coming from an overseas company, how will funds be raised to pay for
it, and will all those payments go off-island?” The RFI said that the ministry
wanted to gather “information about the marketplace” to help determine
“future purchasing options or requirements”. It explained that the ministry
sought “new members to supplement the design team in regard to financing,
fabricating and building two new bridges”. Mr Robinson highlighted a
ministerial statement from David Burt, the Premier and then Minister of Finance,
who said in November 2017 that the Progressive Labour Party’s election
platform outlined the Government’s goal to “implement the National
Infrastructure Strategy Plan”. Mr Burt said at the time: “The purpose of
this plan is to identify important improvements and repairs to Bermuda’s
infrastructure that will not only enhance the overall quality of life but will
also create business opportunities for construction companies and jobs for
Bermudian construction workers.” Mr Robinson added last week: “Instead of
being used to upgrade and repair our ageing infrastructure, such as these
bridges, it is being used as venture capital for start-ups such as an electric
vehicle rental business and a start-up wireless internet provider. Why have the
terms changed? Are these the ‘business opportunities for construction
companies and jobs for Bermudian construction workers’ that the Premier
meant?”
The
Governor has carried out “extensive” research into whether a posthumous
pardon should be granted to a pastor who was thrown into jail after he wrote
about the unfair treatment of Jamaican workers in Bermuda more than a century
ago. A Government House spokeswoman said last week that John Rankin was
still considering the request, made by David Burt, the Premier, in the House of
Assembly a year ago. She added: “Since receiving the request for a posthumous
pardon for the Reverend Monk, the Governor has carried out extensive research
into the matter and continues to consider it in line with his responsibilities
under the Constitution. “When a decision has been made on the request, it will
be duly announced.” Mr Burt added: “I have discussed this matter with the
Governor regularly and my hope is that we will have a decision soon.” The
Reverend Charles Vinton Monk was locked up for libel after he exposed poor
conditions endured by people brought to Bermuda to work on the Royal Naval
Dockyard. David Burt, the Premier, told the House of Assembly at the time that
the clergyman and journalist went through a criminal trial “laced with
shocking bias”. He asked the Governor to consult the Advisory Council on the
Prerogative of Mercy on a posthumous pardon for the pastor. The Governor can
grant a pardon to anyone convicted in a Bermuda court after consultation with
the advisory committee. Mr Monk, an African Methodist Episcopal Church minister
and journalist from America, who lived in Somerset, was found guilty of criminal
libel in the early 1900s after he highlighted the conditions of laborers brought
from the West Indies to expand the naval base.
Mr Burt told MPs last year that the pastor “witnessed harsh and terrible conditions imposed on Jamaican workers”. He said then: “In keeping with the doctrine of the AME Church and its commitment to social justice, Reverend Monk took to writing about these conditions and exposed the company responsible for them in the hope that this would bring about a change to the benefit of the workers. Instead of accepting the truth of the obvious state of the workforce, the rampant disease and dangerous working conditions at the site, the principals of the company saw to it that Monk was arrested and charged with criminal libel.” The Premier said Mr Monk was jailed “for simply reporting the truth”. He added: “A review of the case indicates that the whole affair was laced with shocking bias.” The House heard the pastor was unrepresented in court after his counsel died the day before the original trial date, amid speculation he was poisoned. Sir Brownlow Gray, the trial judge, was the father of prosecutor Reginald Gray and the pair were also related to the assistant justice. The Crown called only two witnesses compared with more than 100 summonsed to defend the accuracy of Mr Monk’s reports. Mr Burt’s request was backed by church leaders including the Reverend Nicholas Tweed, pastor of St Paul AME Church in Hamilton. Mr Tweed said the Premier had “both the historical understanding of the importance of this case and also the moral courage to correct an historic wrong”. The granting of full and free, or unconditional, pardon to people after death is rare and there have been only four individual pardons granted in the UK since 1945. These included Timothy Evans, who was hanged in 1950 for the murder of his 14-month-old daughter. He had also been charged with strangling his wife but the case never went to court. He was pardoned after serial killer John Christie, his landlord in London at the time of the child’s death, admitted the murders in the wake of his conviction and death sentence three years later for the killing of six other women.
Mr Evans was pardoned in 1966. Computer pioneer and code breaker Alan Turing, who played a major role in breaking the German Enigma code in the Second World War and made a huge contribution to the Allied victory in the conflict, received a posthumous pardon for his 1952 conviction for gross indecency. He was arrested after he had an affair with a 19-year-old man and the conviction meant that he lost security clearance to continue his top secret work on code breaking at Britain’s signals intelligence agency GCHQ. Mr Turing’s rehabilitation paved the way for a law change that gave pardons, many of them posthumous, to thousands of gay and bisexual men who were cautioned or convicted under historical legislation that outlawed gay sex.
A
new name has arrived in the Bermuda insurance and reinsurance broker space, and
it is seeking to carve a place in the island’s marketplace that is
“dominated by a few big brokers”. Ed Bermuda is setting up its office in
Hamilton after being given regulatory approval. It is anticipated the company
will employ up to 14 staff as it gears up during the next two years. It is part
of Ed Broking, a global reinsurance, wholesale and specialty broker that was
launched in 2016. Ed is a Lloyd’s broker. Earlier this year the company was
acquired by BGC Partners Inc, a global brokerage and financial technology
company. In a statement, Ed said its Bermuda operation will provide its full
range of multiline broking services, backed by the advanced application of
technology through TradEd, its proprietary trading platform. It added that
opening in Bermuda underpinned its commitment to existing and potential clients,
particularly in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean, “and will form an important
component of parent BGC Insurance Group’s global insurance services
offering”. Chris Bonard, is chief executive of Ed Bermuda. He has previous
experience with Guy Carpenter, RK Carvill and NMB Specialty. He said: “Bermuda
is an important and exciting global marketplace, but it has been dominated by a
few big brokers. Using innovative technology, we intend to become a significant
independent player on the island and can now begin to assemble a top-flight team
of professionals. They will provide clients worldwide with an alternative,
credible independent entry point to Bermuda, and will bring new business to the
many high-quality risk carriers here.” The Bermuda Monetary Authority has
given regulatory approval for Ed Bermuda to operate on the island. David Burt,
the Premier, said: “The arrival of Ed Broking in Bermuda is testament to the
island’s continued draw as a (re) insurance hub, with an ideal location to
serve key markets, as well as a regulatory regime that favours agile businesses.
We welcome a significant independent broker that combines both talent and
technology, to help us build opportunities for the island’s economy and
people.” While Brad Adderley, Partner at Appleby and legal advisor to Ed,
said: “The Appleby team congratulates the award-winning Ed Broking team on
becoming registered as an insurance broker in Bermuda. It is testament to
Bermuda’s insurance and tech friendly environment that the innovative Ed
Broking team chose Bermuda as their next base for their global operations. We
look forward to continuing to work with the team on many exciting
initiatives.”
A
spate of crashes involving police cars and bikes is “concerning”,
Commissioner of Police Stephen Corbishley said yesterday. Mr Corbishley
added that a review of the service’s driver training programme had been
launched. He said the review would look at several areas, including how police
respond to incidents and if it was necessary for vehicles to use emergency blue
lights for every call. Mr Corbishley said: “There’s meetings going on at the
moment with the driver trainers to have them involved in the process, in
relation to areas we can improve.” But Mr Corbishley insisted the string of
crashes was not evidence of a crisis in the police. “I’m not at a point
where I am going to turn around and suggest the service is in crisis. It’s
not. We take driving police vehicles very professionally and we have very, very
experienced officers.” He added all the crashes involving police officers were
under investigation. “To reassure the public, those are being investigated
thoroughly and will be transparently presented in due course. We are taking the
matters seriously, and each investigation is being properly addressed.” Mr
Corbishley was speaking after several recent collisions involving police
vehicles and members of the public. Antoine Seaman, 21, from Southampton, was
killed when his motorcycle collided with a police car on Somerset Road, Sandys,
on April 15. The BPS paid $19,000 to fly a 36-year-old American woman tourist to
the US for medical treatment after she was badly injured when she was struck by
a police motorcycle on Burnaby Street in Hamilton on June 17.
A 29-year-old Royal Bermuda Regiment soldier was injured when her motorcycle and a police car crashed at the junction of King Street and Reid Street, in Hamilton, on May 12. There have also been other less serious crashes. A police motorcycle and a private car were in collision yesterday at about 7.25am on North Shore Road, near Penhurst Park, Smith’s. And an unmarked police car was in collision with a taxi at Stone Crusher Corner, on Kindley Field Road, St George’s, last Thursday night. Mr Corbishley said that it was difficult to say what had led to the rise in collisions involving police and that the conditions that had led to the crashes had to be examined. He added: “When those facts are established, that’s the time to start drawing some conclusions. That’s the time to actually understand what’s taken place.” Mr Corbishley said that police officers were responsible for their driving and riding. But he added: “I’m not one who blames people without actual facts. I’m not one who places repercussions on people until I know facts. At a point when we actually know the facts, then we can make judgment in regards to responsibility.” Mr Corbishley said that it was often easy to jump to conclusions about crashes. But he added: “Sometimes some of the optics are not in line with the reality of what’s taken place.” Mr Corbishley said the most important thing was that the police continued to provide a “first-class service”.
Police
officers are to turn out at Bermuda’s first Pride celebration in a show of
solidarity with the island’s LGBTQ people. Commissioner of Police Stephen
Corbishley said he would back officers who wanted to take part in the event. He
added that he would also attend Bermuda Pride to hear how police can improve its
service to minority groups and to “demonstrate partnership support”. Mr
Corbishley said: “The BPS is an inclusive organisation and we want inclusive
communities. I’m very proud to be commissioner of the BPS and that pride
should extend so that we give confidence to every single person in Bermuda that
they can contact their police service at any time and they will be treated
fairly, with respect and we will give them the best service possible.” Mr
Corbishley added that Assistant Commissioner Martin Weekes would join him at the
event, to be held at Victoria Park in Hamilton on August 31. The Bermuda Police
Service earlier pledged to back the gathering. In a letter sent to The Royal
Gazette yesterday, the commissioner pointed out that the service’s
attendance was not only to ensure smooth running on the day but would involve a
show of support. Mr Corbishley said he was concerned by a number of unacceptable
comments made on social media, but believed Bermudians were prepared to embrace
the celebration. He said: “I’ve lived in Bermuda for just coming up to a
year now and I’ve made it my home, alongside my family. I think Bermuda is a
vibrant, multicultural community that reflects very strong family and community
values and Bermuda is in an excellent position to embrace and support the Pride
parade and to ensure that LGBTQ people in Bermuda are equally proud in their
identity.” He explained: “In my time in policing, particularly in the UK,
I’m very familiar with Pride parades and also some of the challenges that our
LGBTQ communities face. I think the BPS, as one of the biggest public service
employers and because of the nature of the work that we do, should be visible in
how we support this event. The BPS reflects local communities and we have LGBTQ
officers and staff here that directly reflect the communities that they police.
It’s important for me as the commissioner to support the event, but also
it’s important that it supports Bermuda in enabling every single person here
to feel, from the police perspective, safe, respected and able to fulfil their
potential, particularly young people who might feel afraid about being who they
are.” It was revealed this month that Bermuda’s first gay Pride event would
be held this summer and campaigners said it would help to reinforce that LGBTQ
people are part of island society. Mr Corbishley said: “As, very
unfortunately, you get with such events, you have a number of people that
express views. I am respectful of different views and people do have different
views on this, particularly from some aspects of a religious basis. But there
have been a very small pocket of views which are wholly unacceptable — one
certainly was brought to my attention that was very extreme and promoted
violence.
The
owners of taxis that are off the road should lose their permits if they fail to
renew them in six months, said the Bermuda Taxi Owners Association. David
Frost, the BTOA president, said: “We believe that owners who do not renew
their licences within six months should have them revoked completely — no
exceptions. We can’t allow a few to damage the industry. There is a demand for
taxi licences.” The get-tough proposal on licences was among several
suggestions made by the taxi industry at a meeting with Zane DeSilva, the
transport minister. The association predicted the number of taxis on the roads
would increase from 565 to 600 if non-operational drivers had their licences
taken away. Other proposals at last week’s meeting included the creation of a
transport committee, credit card readers in all taxis and third-party insurance
for second drivers. The association said it also wanted to enforce rules to
ensure cabs were on the road for a minimum number of hours a day. It added that
drivers who only do corporate work for international business clients should
exchange their taxi permits for corporate transportation licences. Mr Frost
added: “We talked about dress code, driver behavior, drivers refusing jobs.
The minister is prepared to ensure that someone’s pockets will hurt if they
don’t do it. I have faith in Mr DeSilva in that he is the first minister that
has sat down and listened. He doesn’t talk like a politician, he talks like he
wants to get something done. Taxis are public-service vehicles which means that
you are working to serve the public. If you can’t do the job, you need to find
something else.”
Two
insurtech innovation environments created by the Bermuda Monetary Authority are
now in operation. ChainThat, which provides blockchain solutions for the
insurance and reinsurance industry, is the first company to join the BMA’s
Innovation Hub. It did so last week, one month after AkinovA (Bermuda) Ltd
became the first company to operate in the island’s insurance regulatory
sandbox. London-based ChainThat gave a demonstration of its digital decentralized
re/insurance platform in March, and invited interested companies to use and test
its platform for six months, starting in July. ChainThat will be part of the
BMA’s Innovation Hub for the duration of the trial. The hub was launched in
April, and provides insurtech companies the ability to liaise directly with a
nominated representative at the BMA to share ideas and information. Companies
may eventually need to apply for entry to the separate sandbox, which is a live
testing environment for companies that will require regulation and licensing.
ChainThat has rebranded its platform as RiCap (Risk meets Capital), which
supports intercompany processes for an insurance and reinsurance market covering
placement, accounting, settlement and claims. David Edwards, chief executive
officer of ChainThat, said: “ChainThat are delighted to be the first
[technology] company to be approved to join the Innovation Hub. Since the launch
of our Bermuda platform in March we have been in regular contact with the BMA.
To be granted approval to join the Innovation Hub and have access to a BMA
representative to exchange ideas and provide expert guidance will be hugely
beneficial to ChainThat, the trial participants and the trial steering committee
as the trial progresses and we look forward to working with the BMA”. Andy
Burrows, CEO of the Bermuda Business Development Agency, said: “The
collaborative efforts of the Bermuda Government, the regulator, and our
market’s risk-transfer solutions sector to embrace emerging technology are a
clear indication that Bermuda remains the jurisdiction of choice for financial
services.”
A
Bermudian man in the UK was jailed last week for 20 years for a brutal
campaign of domestic abuse against his 29-year-old former girlfriend. Tarik
Hill, 35, formerly from Devonshire, was found guilty of false imprisonment, two
charges of causing actual bodily harm, putting someone in fear of violence by
harassment and of controlling and coercive behaviour after a trial in January.
He was also convicted of the rape of a woman aged 16 and over at a separate
trial at the same court in May. Hill, of no fixed abode in Britain, will have to
serve an extended sentence of 20 years — 15 years behind bars and a licence
period of five years. He will also be placed on the UK sex offenders register
for life. Detective Constable Mark Annal, of London’s Metropolitan Police, who
led the investigation, said: “Hill is a violent, high-risk offender whose
partner was forced to endure a truly horrific campaign of abuse. We are pleased
that he is now behind bars and unable to subject anyone else to this type of
behaviour. The victim in this case will have to live with the impact of this for
the rest of her life.” Mr Annal added: “She has shown great courage in
coming forward and helping to secure this conviction and we hope this sentence
brings her some kind of closure.”
The January trial heard that Hill had met the 29-year-old woman in the autumn of 2016 and the two started seeing each other. But he started a campaign of physical and psychological abuse just months into the relationship. Hill attacked the woman on a regular basis, verbally abused her and deleted the contact numbers of all the men on her mobile phone. The court heard Hill refused to let the woman leave the house and carried out a sustained attack on her over several hours in March 2017. He forced her to have sex with him after the assault and told her she could not leave the bedroom until she complied. The traumatized woman ended the relationship soon afterwards and reported Hill to police in May 2017. Hill was arrested the next day and was charged with the offences in August 2017 after a police investigation. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said Hill had denied the attack in March 2017 and insisted he had been at work all day. But the spokesman added that detectives had found evidence that was not the case and Hill was charged with a string of offences. A spokesman for the Bermuda Police said yesterday that the service had been “recently made aware of the conviction and sentencing of a 35-year-old local man in the UK for sexual related offences”. He added: “However, the BPS awaits official notification from the relevant UK authorities regarding this matter.”
A
man has denied sexually abusing an underage girl. The 26-year-old, who
cannot be named for legal reasons, told a jury yesterday that he never had any
sexual contact with the child. Prosecutors alleged that in one incident that
took place on or about September 23, 2016, he touched and had sex with the girl
while he was watching her and her younger cousin. However, he told the court
that friends had visited the house that night and he only occasionally stopped
by the room the girls were in to check on them as they watched television. The
girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also claimed that the defendant had
touched her on an unknown date in the summer of 2017. But the defendant said he
was not around the house at the time when the incident was alleged to have
happened. He said: “I wasn’t over the house around that time, so I don’t
see how it’s possible to touch her.” And challenged about a third incident
on November 1, 2017, in which he was alleged to have been found in the girl’s
bedroom by her great-grandmother, the defendant said he was ill from drinking.
The defendant told the court: “I started feeling sick and I felt like I was
going to throw up so I rushed towards the bathroom area. I don’t remember if I
went to the bathroom, but I remember going towards the bedroom there was a small
trash bin. I leant over the trash bin and I started retching.” He said the
next thing he remembered was a woman shouting at him. The man denies unlawful
carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 14, and two counts of sexual
exploitation of a young person by a person in a position of trust. The three
charges relate to the incident alleged to have taken place on or about September
23, 2016.
The defendant also denied attempted unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 14. That charge relates to an incident alleged to have happened on an unknown date between June 27, 2017 and September 11, 2017. Earlier in the day, the court heard evidence from the girl’s grandmother, who said she was woken on the morning of November 1 by the sound of screams from her mother — the alleged victim’s great-grandmother. She said she went to her granddaughter’s room and saw the defendant in plaid boxer shorts and the girl in her bed under her covers. The witness said: “I saw the defendant leaning against the wall. He was bent over. I reached out, I pulled his arm and asked him what he was doing in her room. He was groaning. I pulled his arm to get him out of her room. I don’t know if he was sick. I don’t know why he was groaning. I can’t explain why he was making that noise but that’s what he was doing.” She told the court a row broke out among the family, which turned physical, and that the defendant tried to get in the middle to calm the dispute. The witness added: “Any man should know not to go into a little girl’s room.” She also described an incident on September 23, 2016, where the defendant was left at the family home to watch over the girl and her cousin. The witness said it was the only time that he had been left to watch over the child. She added: “I didn’t know what harm was going to be done that night. I trusted him.” Elizabeth Christopher, for the defendant, questioned the witness about what the defendant had said when confronted in the bedroom.
The witness said she remembered him saying something about being sick and the defendant said he was either going to the bathroom or needed to use the bathroom. But she denied a suggestion that the defendant was holding his stomach, or that there was a trash can near the door of the girl’s room. The grandmother agreed that it was “mayhem” in the house that morning. The court also heard evidence from a doctor, who the court ordered should not be identified, who examined the girl several days after the incident on November 1, 2017. She told the jury she found no evidence of tearing or bruising on the girl, but swabs revealed she had a trichomoniasis infection. The doctor said trichomoniasis is a parasite usually spread through skin-to-skin sexual contact. Ms Christopher suggested to the doctor that the parasite could survive on toilet seats and other objects for 30 minutes or more. The doctor agreed, but said: “I’m only aware of survival, not transmission.” The trial continues.
A
class of Primary 3 pupils got a crash course in robot building and programming
from the Bermuda National Trust yesterday. The youngsters from Port Royal
Primary School were taught the basics of robotics, engineering and programming
using Lego WeDo2.0 robots. The real-life versions of Wall-E, the trash collector
robot star of the 2008 smash hit Pixar/Disney animated film, were programmed to
collect plastic waste and deliver the trash to colour coded sorting stations. Dörte
Horsfield, director of education at the BNT, said: “The session was about
teaching children about ocean plastic pollution in Bermuda — why it’s a
problem and where it comes from.” Dr Horsfield said: “We built robots with
Lego WeDo2.0 that were basically little sweepers. We programmed them to sweep up
different coloured plastics then sort them into the correct colors at the play
table. There was a red zone, a blue, a green and a yellow and they had to drive
the little sweeper into the correct one. It’s a wonderful way into the world
of coding, problem-solving and a team-building exercise.” The 18 youngsters
were taught that plastics that originated from the East Coast of the US could
spend up to six years in the water before they were washed up on the island’s
shores. They also learnt about micro plastics, which get into the food chain
because fish ingest them and they are then eaten by humans. The class, held at
the Trust’s Waterville headquarters in Paget, was part of the charity’s
science, technology, engineering and maths programme, which was designed to link
with Bermuda’s natural history and care for the environment. Dr Horsfield
said: “The pupils were amazing — they didn’t even realise it was their
lunchtime because the time went so quickly for them. It really was a fun
experience for them.” She added: It also taught them more about the
environment and how to protect it.” Dr Horsfield said the classes had started
at the beginning of this year and that it was hoped to run them every week from
September. Other lessons are linked to the natural and cultural history of
Bermuda and science topics such as plants and pollinators, habitats, animal
senses and transportation.
An
online hub to help develop Bermuda’s links to outer space has been launched by
the Government. The Ministry of Home Affairs introduced the website to
provide information and support to organisations that consider the island as a
host for their satellite-tracking stations. Walter Roban, the home affairs
minister, said: “Bermuda is ideally positioned for those needing to monitor
space launches over the Atlantic Ocean. “The Government of Bermuda has a
streamlined process in place for authorizing earth stations and is in the
process of finalizing regulations to ensure earth stations deployed on the
island are subject to the minimum amount of regulation necessary, while ensuring
they can appropriately interface with other systems and services, including
international registration, if needed. Also, Bermuda’s LLC legislation
provides entrepreneurs greater flexibility when establishing new businesses.”
The ministry said the website will be the official hub of Bermuda’s Space and Satellite Administration
and “provide a supportive environment where space and satellite operations can
grow and flourish”. It will help with “secure, reliable and efficient
satellite filing administration services”, authorizing earth stations, and
building the right legislative framework for space and satellite-related
business. The ministry said Bermuda has established regulatory procedures to authorize
satellite networks and filing them with the International Telecommunication
Union. It negotiated an extension of Britain’s Outer Space Act, allowing
companies in Bermuda to be licensed by the Governor to operate outer-space
activities in line with international agreements. The ministry added: “The
website also lists the requirements for filing a satellite network through
Bermuda and provides information on the Bermuda Space and Satellite Policy
Advisory Group, which was established in June 2018 to provide advice on the
development of the space and satellite industries in Bermuda, and to serve as a
vehicle for guiding Bermuda’s advocacy efforts on behalf of the satellite
industry in international policy matters.”
The
Court of Appeal has found that the Director of the Department of Public
Prosecutions correctly handled allegations of gross misconduct by one of his
deputies. In a decision handed down on Friday, the court found that Larry
Mussenden, the DPP, did not have an apparent bias in the case of allegations
made against Cindy Clarke, the Deputy DPP. Sir Maurice Kay, of the Court of
Appeal, said: “It is important to keep in mind where it is now said that the
director was not motivated by bad faith or acted pursuant to ulterior motives.
He was the person with responsibility of maintaining the integrity of his
department. He had an important constitutional role. It seems to me that his
interest is more properly described as institutional or professional, rather
than personal.” The Court of Appeal also ruled that under the statutory
framework, the DPP did not have the power to pass on the responsibility to
another party, but that the DPP served as a “filter” instead of a “final
adjudicator”. Ms Clarke, who denies any misconduct, alleged in a lawsuit filed
in the Supreme Court in April that Mr Mussenden acted with “actual, presumed
or apparent bias” and “in breach of natural justice” after making
accusations against her. She said that he investigated the complaint against her
himself, but should not have because he was the complainant. Assistant Justice
John Riihiluoma ruled in Ms Clarke’s favour last month, finding that there was
an “appearance of bias” on Mr Mussenden’s part. The DPP challenged that
ruling last week, arguing that Mr Justice Riihiluoma had applied the wrong
standard, that Mr Mussenden had acted in a professional capacity rather than a
personal one. They also argued the element of “necessity” — that under the
existing framework for complaints, the head of the department was specifically
required to fulfil certain tasks in relation to the complaint and could not
delegate it. Ben Adamson, for Mr Mussenden, said the DPP was the director of the
department, and as such had to write the formal complaint, meet with the subject
of the complaint to get both sides of the dispute, and then decide if the
complaint should be dismissed or put before the Head of the Civil Service.
The details of the complaints of gross misconduct have not been revealed, with the Court of Appeals focused on issues of procedure and not the details of the complaint. But Sir Maurice mentioned that the complaint involved nolle prosequi — sometimes called “nollies” — which are formal notices that prosecutions are being abandoned. The Court of Appeal also explained its decision to lift a ruling which would have kept the names of the parties anonymous. Sir Maurice said: “Open justice, subject to exceptional circumstances, is a vital check on the way [the courts] exercise their judgment and power.” He said the island’s small size did not change the need for open justice and Mr Mussenden and Ms Clarke did not deserve anonymity solely because of their posts in the Department of Public Prosecutions. The judge added: “It is suggested that public confidence in the justice system would be undermined if the public were to learn of this dispute. I reject this submission. It essentially seeks an indulgence for legal practitioners and judges which is not extended to other professions or spheres of operation. This cannot be justified. The director and the deputy are both senior wielders of state power, and if a dispute about its exercise is litigated between them, the public have a right to know.”
Professional-services
firm KPMG Bermuda is to hold two training sessions under the banner
“Transforming the Public Sector”. The sessions, to be held July 8 and
October 16, are designed to showcase how governments and public-sector entities
are rising to the challenge of transforming services, processes and procurement
to meet the increasingly complex and sophisticated demands of the public,
decision makers and extraterritorial authorities. In July, Josh Hjartarson will
present the session “Creating value-based relationships”. The session will
be held from 9am to 11am. Breakfast will be provided beginning at 8.30am. Dr
Hjartarson is a partner in the public-sector practice at KPMG in Canada, and is
adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s school of public policy and
governance, and a senior fellow, service delivery modernisation and
commissioning, at the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. He is at the
forefront of public-sector renewal including the adoption of new service
delivery models for human and social services, transportation and commercial
services such as registries, KPMG said. He will present case studies on
value-based government-provider relationships, and how governments are using new
models to invest in the technological capabilities to more efficiently manage
increasing workloads. In October, Lori Rockhead, KPMG in Bermuda’s
infrastructure, government and healthcare sector lead, will present the session
“P3s and procurement”. The session will be held from 3pm to 5pm. Light
refreshments will be provided. Ms Rockhead will cover leading practice in public
private partnerships (P3s) and procurement being used by governments to achieve
greater value for money in major capital expenditures and procurement of goods
and services, KPMG said. She will also discuss lessons learnt from Bermuda’s
two P3 projects — the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital’s acute care wing
and LF Wade International Airport — methods for analyzing and allocating risks
between governments and private-sector partners, and what it takes for
governments to be effective counter parties. Both sessions will be held at
KPMG’s offices on Par-la-Ville Road in Hamilton. The registration fee for each
session is $100 per person with preferential pricing of $175 if a person
registers for both sessions. Professional development credits will be provided, KPMG said.
Three
“brave” children and a handful of charities forced a legal change that will
protect youngsters by ensuring they have independent representation in court,
the groups involved in a Court of Appeal case said yesterday. A joint
statement by the five charities that backed the children said: “We encourage
the Government to follow through with its repeated declarations to achieve a
greater degree of protection and care for children. It must be said the
Government’s continued resistance to the court action stands in opposition to
that mandate.” A spokesman for the charities added: “The case would never
have begun if it were not for these three children and the charities uniting
with the Human Rights Commission and the Women’s Resource Centre.” The
judgment found that no child can be sent to an overseas institution without
representation from an independent advocate, known as a litigation guardian, and
a lawyer. It said that protection would be continued if they were sent abroad.
The spokesman said that The Royal Gazette had highlighted the scandal of
children being sent to institutions overseas and that some had said “they
suffered ... physical abuse and heard other children being raped”. He added it
was “impossible to overstate” the impact of last Friday’s court ruling.
The spokesman said: “It further identifies that for at least 20 years the
Government, of each political persuasion, has had an ‘unacceptable’ and
‘flagrant disregard’ for children as it has entirely failed to follow the
law that provided children [with] protection in Family Court proceedings.” The
statement was released by Childwatch, Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda, the
Coalition for the Protection of Children, Family Centre and Scars. The spokesman
said that the judgment would benefit not only Bermudian children. He added:
“Thousands of children throughout the British Overseas Territories will also
benefit as the judgment has established the level of protection children must be
provided to secure them a fair trial.
This case may also be relied on to further human rights internationally.” He said that the Children Amendment Act 2018, which has been tabled in the House but not yet debated or approved, “stands in opposition to the mandate to achieve a greater degree of protection for children, as it reduces the amount of children that will be provided with representation”. The spokesman added: “It is sincerely hoped that the Government will reconsider this.” Dame Elizabeth Gloster said in the ruling that there was a “clear and serious continuing breach” by the minister responsible for the Department of Child and Family Services to ensure the human rights of children are protected. The court made declarations that ministers have been in breach of obligations under the Children Act 1998 for some time because they failed to introduce a scheme to fund litigation guardians. As a result, the court found children involved in some court proceedings had been denied effective access to participation and representation in court. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Legal Affairs, in response to the judgment, said on Friday that the Government had already begun to develop a framework to address the problem. She added: “The judgment validates the work started by this government to actively establish a more comprehensive framework which provides both funding and accountability for litigation guardians appointed by the courts. This judgment reflects the general policy direction of the ministry.”
A
Moldovan national was jailed for 12 months for bank fraud for stealing money
from cash machines. Iurie Rogojina, 34, stole $167.50 from Clarien Bank and
$780 from Butterfield Bank. He also admitted attempting to steal $4,315 from
Clarien Bank and $4,150 from Butterfield Bank, Magistrates’ Court heard on
Friday. Prosecutor Alan Richards said that Rogojina came to Bermuda on May 6 as
a visitor and attempted to steal the money with the help of others. He added
that the defendant carried out the thefts with “a sophisticated level of
design” by using fraudulent credit cards to withdraw money from ATMs. The
offences took place on May 11 and 12, but further details about them were not
provided in court. Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe said that Rogojina’s actions
struck Bermuda “at the heart of our financial industry”. He added that the
defendant sought out Bermuda “like a thief in the night” and planned to
leave before his crimes were noticed. Mr Wolffe sentenced Rogojina to 12 months
imprisonment for each charge, which will run concurrently. He added that the
theft would have affected many residents as Rogojina attempted to “wreak havoc
on our financial sector”. Mr Wolffe explained: “Stealing from ATMs is not to
be seen as a victimless crime; they affect everyone.”
Bermuda’s
soldiers were singled out for praise at the closing ceremony of a massive
international military exercise in the Caribbean at the weekend. Sir Louis
Straker, the Acting Prime Minister of St Vincent & the Grenadines, the host
nation for Exercise Tradewinds, said that the RBR had won hearts and minds for
their work in renovating and improving security at a free public clinic near
their base at the disused ET Joshua Airport. The RBR also donated 30 sets of
public order kit, including shields and protective gear, to the Royal St Vincent
& the Grenadines Police. Sir Louis said: “Honourable mention must be made
of the Government of Bermuda and the Royal Bermuda Regiment.” He was also
pleased that Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security, had attended the
closing ceremony. He told Mr Caines and the RBR: “It was truly an honour and a
privilege having you here. You have contributed significantly to the success of
the exercise and we look forward to lasting friendships and sustained engagement
to counter threats, advancement of security and the promotion of economic
opportunities, peace and security in our region.” Colin John, the Commissioner
of the Royal St Vincent & Grenadines Police, added: “Our new-found
friends, the Royal Bermuda Regiment, must come in for a special mention not
because they are the largest contingent here, but because they have been very
enthusiastic.” Mr John said the Bermuda soldiers had been “on time and
professional throughout the exercise”. He added: “I think the Bermudians
should come in for some special mention. They also assisted us with some special
equipment, so I just want to go on record thanking them for what they have
done.” They were speaking at the closing ceremony for the exercise, held at
Victoria Park in the SVG capital Kingstown on Friday. Tradewinds involved 500
ground troops, about 120 of them from Bermuda, as well as four naval and Coast
Guard ships crewed by 100 sailors. Earlier in the exercise, which was organised
by the US military’s Southern Command based in Florida, soldiers from the RBR
painted the Sion Hill Clinic inside and out. RBR troops also cut down trees and
undergrowth which hid the building from the nearby road and which was used as
cover by thieves who have targeted the clinic several times. They also installed
new high-intensity security lights and fencing. Mr Caines, who earlier had a
private meeting with Sir Louis at the SVG government headquarters in Kingstown,
was interviewed by an SVG broadcasting company at the Sion Hill Clinic and at
the closing ceremony by the US military media team attached to the exercise and
the SVG Government’s Agency for Public Information. He told the media that RBR
Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel David Curley “had gone a step above in
integrating us with Southcom, making sure we have key training opportunities,
opportunities that can be used at home”.
Allison
Towlson has been appointed managing director of the Bank of Bermuda Foundation.
She has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry and joined
Ace insurance in 1998 rising to the position of chief operations officer, and
went on to be senior vice-president, distribution and operations, at Chubb. Ms
Towlson has been a member of the board of the Bermuda Tourism Authority, and
served as a mentor under the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies. She is
the past chairwoman of the Insurance Development Council. The Bank of Bermuda
Foundation is an independent, philanthropic organisation, that supports the
Bermuda community. Annually, it provides up to $2.6 million in grants to a wide
range of non-profit groups in Bermuda, and up to $950,000 in student
scholarships. Ms Towlson said: “It’s an exciting time to be part of this
dynamic and well respected organisation. The Theory of Change, that the
foundation has recently embarked upon, really resonated with me as a Bermudian.
The foundation places a high value, not simply on equality, but more importantly
on equity. I am eager to work with our experienced board and talented team, to
ensure we find ways to offer universal benefits for everyone in Bermuda, while
targeting special support for those with need. I look forward to building
meaningful partnerships within the non-profit community.” She will be
responsible for the overall management and direction of the foundation,
reporting to the chairman. She will work closely with Vivien Carter, the
foundation’s director of programmes, responsible for managing and building
partnerships with non-profits through the foundation’s grant cycles, as well
as Kim Pratt, who manages the day to day administration.
A “born journalist” who
spent decades at The Royal Gazette has died, aged 65. Kyle Hunter, whose career
with the Gazette began in 1974 and spanned news, sports and photography, died at
home in St George’s on Friday surrounded by his loved ones. He reported
unflinchingly on his experience with cancer, which was diagnosed three years
ago. He wrote: “One of the first things I decided when it became apparent I
had cancer and would have to go through treatment was: I am not going to feel
sorry for myself. Just suck it up and get on with it.” His brother, Scott
Hunter, and sister-in-law, Janet Kemp, recalled him as “devoted to his family
and a great companion”. Mr Hunter, a graduate of Warwick Academy and Miami
Dade College, happened upon his lifelong trade when he started as a reporter
when he was 20. Reporters in those days worked on typewriters and were expected
to take their own photographs. Sports photography became one of Mr Hunter’s
hallmarks. Decades later, generations of reporters past and present would join
friends at his home for the night of the Bermuda National Trust Walkabout, an
annual fixture. Dexter Smith, the Editor of The Royal Gazette, said yesterday:
“Those who are closest to Kyle knew this day was coming, but that makes it no
less sad. The Royal Gazette mourns the loss of one of its favourite sons.” He
called Mr Hunter “an accomplished storyteller, in print and in closer
quarters” with a keen eye for a photograph and flair as a page designer. Mr
Smith added: “But what he may be best remembered for is his loyalty as a
friend and for being an essential conduit for reporters who were new to Bermuda.
Those many friendships built and sustained over the decades are inarguably his
greatest legacy.” Bill Zuill, a former editor, said: “If there was such a
thing as a hall of fame for Royal Gazette characters, Kyle Hunter would have
been elected in the first class of entrants. Indeed, he was such a fixture at
the Gazette that it is still hard to imagine 2 Par-la-Ville Road without him,
even though he retired when the cancer that ultimately took his life, and the
associated treatments that went with it, made it impossible for him to continue
working.” Mr Hunter, a fervent believer in independent media, “knew a good
story when he saw one”, and could write to order under a tight deadline. Mr
Zuill also commended his editorial instincts, particularly for the power of
photographs to convey a story. “But Kyle was much more than that. His sense of
humour, his directness, his unashamed lack of political correctness and his joy
for life made the newsroom a better place. He also took great care with younger
reporters, giving them practical advice and listening to them when they ran into
difficulties. He did not suffer fools gladly, but he gave freely of his time to
those who were willing to work hard and to become better.” Mr Hunter loved
sports, especially football, and keenly supported Manchester United and the
Miami Dolphins. He was also a tennis player, golfer, rugby player and
equestrian. Along with travel, Mr Hunter loved music. As a guitarist and
songwriter, he played in the Small Axe Band during the 1980s, and recorded
songs.
An
amendment to economic substance laws was passed in Parliament on Friday. The
Economic Substance Amendment Act 2019 was passed without objection by MPs in the
House of Assembly. The Bill will mean that entities that are tax resident in
another jurisdiction will not fall within the scope of the regulations, provided
that they are not on the EU “blacklist” of non-cooperative jurisdictions for
tax purposes. Non-resident entities that conduct relevant business under the Act
will need to state where they claim to have tax residency as well as provide
supporting evidence. The Economic Substance Act 2018 becomes applicable to
existing entities on July 1. The legislation took effect for new companies last
December 31. The amendment was tabled and approved in the same session of
Parliament. Dennis Lister, the Speaker of the House, said that he did not want
to see the practice happen regularly. Curtis Dickinson, the Minister of Finance,
said that the move was sometimes needed “in order to get the people’s
business done in a timely fashion to minimise harm”. He added: “In this
instance, we sought to do as much.” Mr Dickinson said that the issue was one
of “national urgency”. He added: “If we don’t do something, the
potential ramifications for the Bermudian people and the Bermudian economy are
significant.” Mr Dickinson told MPs that the absence of the exemption in
Bermuda’s legislation put the country “at a serious commercial disadvantage
relative to all of our competitors”. He added there was a “serious risk that
up to 20 per cent of Bermuda’s registered entities” might move to a
competitive jurisdiction if the exemption was not put in place.
Leah Scott, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, agreed that the amendment was needed. But she added: “We’re playing catch up to try and get ahead.” Ms Scott said that Bermuda should never have found itself on the European Union’s tax blacklist. She added that if the person responsible for the blacklisting had worked in the private sector “they would have been walked out the door”. Ms Scott said that is was “unacceptable” that Bermuda was “on the back foot because of a human mistake”. She added: “We have jurisdictions that have legislation that is effective. We have legislation that is onerous and is nowhere near what is in the other jurisdictions.” Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said that it was important that Bermuda accept “our share of responsibility” for the situation it is in. The One Bermuda Alliance MP added: “We have to stop overlooking incompetence when we see it and call it for what it is — because our jurisdiction is being harmed as a result of the things that have been done or overlooked. We should be saying this is not acceptable.” Michael Scott disagreed that Bermuda is trying to “claw our way back”. The Progressive Labour Party backbencher said: “We’ve never had to scramble back.” He added that the “legislative glitching” which caused Bermuda to be placed on the blacklist was a “rare occurrence”. Mr Scott said: “The speed with which we have recovered is testament to the strength of the jurisdiction and our prowess.” David Burt, the Premier, said that Bermuda would have to be responsive to regulatory shifts. He added: “As global rules change, we will have to change as well.” Mr Burt said that the Government would have liked to bring the amendment earlier, but that it was not possible due to the timing of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development forum. He added: “It is that simple.”
Mr Dickinson said the two-month blacklisting was “clearly not ideal” and no one wanted to experience it again. He told the House: “We have to decide as a country whether we are going to move beyond it and figure out how we move forward in a constructive way, or whether we’re going to allow this to be the equivalent of a shackle around our ankles.” Mr Dickinson said later that he made commitments to the industries that he would make relevant amendments to the economic substance legislation “to ensure that Bermuda is not placed at a competitive disadvantage”. He added: “The process for us making amendments to this legislation has been divided up into two general phases. The first phase is to address those things that needed immediate fixing, and the second being all of the other issues, in due course we will work towards resolving those differences.”
The
House of Assembly on Friday passed a Bill to suspend mandatory annual payments
into the sinking fund, a reserve for money set aside to pay down long-term debt.
Curtis Dickinson, the Minister of Finance, called the fund, which was
established in 1993, “a concept rooted in history”. Mr Dickinson told MPs
that as minister with capital markets expertise, he was taking a new approach to
tackling the island’s national debt. Opposition MPs queried the Government’s
stance on fiscal prudence during the debate, which saw the Government Loans
Amendment Bill 2019 ultimately approved. The legislation was a prominent feature
in Mr Dickinson’s first Budget Statement in February.
A
Government MP claimed Belco should be nationalized during a Parliamentary debate
about allowing ministerial approval over the company’s sale. Derrick
Burgess, the Deputy Speaker, suggested interest in the power provider could be
increased incrementally until the public owned or had control over at least
half. His comments came in the House of Assembly on Friday when Members approved
the Electricity Amendment Act 2019. The legislation would require the Regulatory
Authority to consult and receive approval from the minister responsible for
energy if it intended to allow the transfer or assignment of a bulk generation
or transmission, distribution and retail licence. Walter Roban, the Deputy
Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, highlighted that a proposed takeover of
Ascendant Group — Belco’s parent company — could not be finalised until
the RA agreed a licence transfer. The Act would also ensure that the authority
will not give consent until an integrated resource plan has been approved,
published and properly considered in the decision-making. Mr Burgess welcomed
any Government’s ability to have “final approval” on a sale of the energy
provider. The Progressive Labour Party MP said: “We all know that Belco is a
so-called private company, and I say so-called because Belco, their electricity,
really should be nationalized. We can’t continue to leave ourselves open to a
private company that can do almost what they want. I’m just hoping one day,
even if we start now, that the Government should acquire some interest in Belco,
with the eventuality down the road of taking it over, or at least having at
least 51 per cent of the shares in Belco, some sort of figure where we can have
a say.”
Mr Roban told the House that he had “every confidence” the regulator will carry out due diligence before it reaches a decision on the licence transfer, which comes after Ascendant Group accepted a takeover offer worth about $365 million from Canadian firm Algonquin Power & Utility Corporation. However, he added: “History has instructed us that in any organisation there should always be adequate checks and balances.” He told the House that Belco was “a strategic asset”, which was “critical to our social and economic wellbeing”. Mr Roban said: “Therefore, it is the duty of this Government to ensure that any proposed sale will promote economic efficiency and sustainability in order to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel, increase the use of renewables and make electricity more affordable for all residents.” Leah Scott, the Shadow Minister of Regulatory Affairs, said she was concerned about the Act’s potential impact on the authority’s independence. The Deputy Opposition Leader told MPs: “It’s concerning when you have people that are devoting their time to contribute to the running of the authority and to make decisions, to essentially then be micromanaged because whatever they do or whatever efforts they expend can then be overturned by the minister.” Rolfe Commissiong, a PLP backbencher, said reducing energy prices had to be “an integral piece” of any prospective sale. He added: “It has to deliver that benefit, primarily to the Bermudian people and consumers but also to Bermudian businesses because the cost of energy is one of the most major headwinds hurting our competitiveness.”
Scott Pearman, the One Bermuda Alliance Shadow Minister for Legal Affairs, claimed the move was about ministerial power. He drew comparisons with an earlier Bill that provided for Government policy direction to the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission, and another that allowed a minister to appoint Bermuda Tourism Authority board members. Mr Pearman said: “The Bill seeks to assert the clunking fist of Government over an independent regulator.” He added: “It would be far better if we let independent institutions remain independent and do the role that they are supposed to do without Government sticking its nose in.” Kim Swan, a PLP backbencher, said: “When it comes to the Progressive Labour Party wanting to put forward legislation, the code words and the code languages that are constantly coming forward are ‘ministerial power’ and ‘misuse of Government power’ when the very Government of the day can be vetoed on any legislation by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office through the Governor. But that’s OK for persons who are quite comfortable with the legacy arrangement that has been handed down to them by their forefathers. I don’t accept that, it’s wrong, and any right-thinking person would know that it’s wrong because the playing field is tilted in one direction — to favour those who inherited the legacy.” Craig Cannonier, the Opposition leader, agreed nationalization of the power company could be an option but said he would give it more thought. David Burt, the Premier, said that prospect left a question over “how exactly does that happen?”. He added: “The only way that actually happens is an amendment to the Electricity Act, which is what we are doing today. Just to be clear, I am not saying that it is the policy of this Government to take private property.”
A
government agency which supports business start-ups has been given greater
powers. The Bermuda Economic Development Corporation Amendment Act 2019 was
passed by MPs in the House of Assembly on Friday. It allows the BEDC to form
subsidiary companies in partnership with entrepreneurs and businesses, and gives
it power to enter into formal corporate arrangements to help people develop a
new business. It also allows the BEDC to purchase shares in, or incorporate, a
local company, and be admitted as a member, or form a local limited liability
company. If involved in a company, the BEDC may be appointed a director or the
chief executive. Where it is involved in a local LLC, the BEDC may be appointed
the manager. David Burt, the Premier, who has ministerial responsibility for the
BEDC, said that the corporation had been Bermuda’s “premier source” of
advice for entrepreneurs and business owners. Mr Burt added: “The corporation
has a focal vision of helping to create an expanded pool of inspired
entrepreneurs running successful business that fuel Bermuda’s economy.” He
said that local small and medium-sized businesses are the “lifeblood” of
Bermuda’s economy. Mr Burt added: “The Government of Bermuda intends,
through this legislative amendment, to broaden its reach to foster local
economic development activity. Without question, the government is serious abut
encouraging a viable and reputable entrepreneurial environment, with the BEDC
providing tangible support and advice.” Patricia Gordon-Pamplin questioned how
the government would buy shares of start-ups and what methodology would be used
to divest later down the line. The One Bermuda Alliance MP asked: “If we take
$100 out of public funds to put into this company, when all is said and done are
we going to get $100 back? Are we going to get $150 because the equity in the
company has grown?”
Ms Gordon-Pamplin also asked what measures would be put in place to minimise losses in case a supported business failed. Cole Simons, the shadow minister of Education and Economic Development, said that he would like to see a training programme in place for the appointment of directors. He added: “It is a serious issue, and I think the entrepreneurs deserve the best support, the best guidance, and the best directorship that is available on this island.” Christopher Famous said that the government through the BEDC would help Bermudians transform themselves from being employees to entrepreneurs. The Progressive Labour Party backbencher added: “We need to teach our people how to start their own businesses. The island needed new businesses to be created by Bermudians in the next five years. We are under threat.” Mr Burt said that the amendment was a potential “game-changer”. He added that he often spoke about problems related to the set-up of institutions that “are not nimble enough and flexible enough to deliver for the future”. Mr Burt said the government was “looking to provide different ways to make sure that we can assist entrepreneurs and other persons in getting started and looking at new ways of doing things in 2019”.
The
Multiple Sclerosis Society of Bermuda held its third annual medical symposium
this weekend aimed at raising awareness of the disease. Kim Wilson, the
Minister of Health, commended the organisation for its work over more than 30
years. Ms Wilson said there was an “undetermined” number of people on the
island living with MS, but that the society’s work brought “awareness and
renewed focus” to the disease. She added: “Sadly, about 200 new cases are
diagnosed each week in the United States. In Bermuda, we are not too far removed
from having new cases being diagnosed annually.” Ms Wilson said the Government
was committed to reforming healthcare payment to rein in costs and improve
access to care. “That work is progressing, and soon we will be in a position
to have more dialogue on what this may look like,” she said.
The
Progressive Labour Party has denied the Senate’s attempt to change legislation
over the appointment of staff by Cabinet ministers. The Senate had returned
the Premier, Ministers and Opposition Leader Personal Staffs Act to the House of
Assembly earlier this month, after claiming it did not go far enough to
strengthen good governance. However, PLP MPs supported a bid from David Burt,
the Premier, to reject the Senate’s amendments yesterday. Mr Burt called the
changes “unnecessary” and scolded the Opposition for “throwing” the
amendments at the Government without consultation. Lieutenant-Colonel David
Burch, the public works minister, hit out at the One Bermuda Alliance and
independent senators who had voted in favour of the amendments proposed by
Opposition senator Nick Kempe. Colonel Burch told the House: “We are not
rejecting good governance. We are rejecting duplicity and conspiracy.” He
added: “If you want good governance, you would have consulted with the
government leader in the Senate before you ambushed them on the floor.”
Colonel Burch accused James Jardine, an independent senator, of having “an
unblemished record of voting with the Opposition”. He added: “He gives them
advice, and I am not going to sit idly by.” Craig Cannonier, the Opposition
leader, told MPs: “This was simply something we believed to be harmless and in
the vein of good governance. We thought this would be a good amendment and not
egregious duplicity.” Mr Cannonier told The Royal Gazette that Colonel
Burch’s broadside at Mr Jardine was “ridiculous. He is one of the most
objective people I know in the Senate. The minister said nothing about the
independent senators who are female and black. He pointed out the white man.
Whenever this government finds itself in a pickle, it reverts to conspiracy and
race.”
Mr Cannonier added: “When you’re debating on the floor, things come up that you didn’t notice.” He said a “loophole” in the original Bill meant that Mr Burt would issue a report in March on the consultants hired over the past year. “Any consultants hired before that, which we know were hired, we will not have to report them.” On the floor of the House, Mr Burt said: “I find it absolutely, positively rich coming from the Opposition talking about good governance when we are talking about a Bill that for the first time brings to this place public disclosure.” The legislation, passed by MPs last month, enshrines in law the chance for Cabinet ministers to appoint experts and political advisers. It means an annual report tabled in Parliament will include the name, job description and pay of everyone appointed from the previous January to December. Mr Kempe’s amendment would have extended that to include everyone who had been a staff member in the previous fiscal year. The senator had complained that the wording of the Bill would fail to include people who were appointed two years previously and continued in their roles. However, Mr Burt told MPs yesterday: “I do not consider these amendments necessary at this time.” Mr Burt said if the Opposition had wanted amendments, it could have tabled them. The Premier told The Royal Gazette: “We have bent over backwards to work with the Opposition, including providing briefs on Bills and making our technical officers available. To get lectured on transparency when this Bill is introducing transparency that was never there before is ludicrous.” Mr Burt called it “a difference of opinion” and said the Opposition had “a narrow interpretation” of the legislation, adding: “We believe what’s written is sufficient.” Mr Burt’s move to reject the amendments was passed, with a message to be sent to the Senate that the original Bill would stay as printed.
Contacted for comment, Mr Jardine called Colonel Burch’s remarks “disappointing and unfortunate, but I guess that’s politics”. He added: “The minister has obviously forgotten December 2017 when I voted with the Government on a major piece of legislation and supported the domestic partnership legislation. When the PLP were in Opposition, there were occasions when I voted with them against OBA Bills. I take great care in my research and make a decision accordingly.” Mr Jardine said none of the senators had seen Mr Kempe’s amendments until the morning that the Senate convened. “There was no collusion of any sort,” he said, calling them “straightforward and simple amendments”. Joan Dillas Wright, the independent president of the Senate, said the Bill would return to the Upper House at next meeting, adding: “If the amendments were rejected, it will have to go to the Governor in its original form.”
The
Court of Appeal has upheld a ban preventing Mark Pettingill from representing
the patients of Ewart Brown whose medical records were seized by police. Mr
Pettingill and Victoria Greening, both of Chancery Legal, had been ordered off
the case by the Supreme Court over conflicts of interests. Mark Diel, lawyer for
the Bermuda Police Service, had argued that the pair could not represent the
patients in the case because they had received confidential information in other
positions. Mr Pettingill was allegedly briefed about the case while he was
Attorney-General for Bermuda, while Ms Greening allegedly received information
while she was a Crown counsel. Both denied having any confidential information
about the matter and appealed the Supreme Court’s ruling. But Sir Christopher
Clarke, the president of the Court of Appeal, said the appeal had been
dismissed. Mr Pettingill’s firm’s clients were among 265 patients whose
health records were seized during police raids on Dr Brown’s two medical
clinics, Bermuda Healthcare Services in Paget and Brown-Darrell in Smith’s, in
February 2017. The raids were part of an investigation by police into
allegations that the clinics ordered unnecessary diagnostic imaging scans to
boost profits. Dr Brown and BHCS’s medical director Mahesh Reddy have denied
any wrongdoing in relation to the alleged over-scanning of patients and have not
been charged with any offences. Chancery acted for 150 patients who were given
permission by the Supreme Court to intervene in a civil case brought by Dr Reddy
and the clinics against Bermuda Police Service. The patients wanted to stop the
police from getting access to their files and to have the medical records
returned. The court also refused an application to stay the effect of a Supreme
Court decision which allowed files to be sent overseas. Puisne Judge Shade
Subair Williams issued an order in February which set out a protocol for how the
patient files could be used by the police, agreed to by lawyers for the police,
the clinics and the patients. Chancery Legal, for the patients, applied for the
order to be stayed until the courts could determine the legality of the seizure
of the files. But the Court of Appeal found that because of the agreed measures
to protect privacy, a refusal of the stay would not threaten patient
confidentiality.
The
Human Rights Commission withdrew from a legal bid to ensure children’s rights
to be represented in court were upheld, without explaining why. The
commission, an independent statutory body charged with promoting and protecting
human rights in Bermuda, was the lead plaintiff in the civil case launched
against the Government in 2017.
It alleged then that the Government, including the director of the Department of
Child and Family Services and the Family Court, had for two decades acted
“unlawfully” by failing to ensure children in legal proceedings were
provided with an independent advocate, known as a litigation guardian, and a
lawyer. The HRC filed the case on behalf of three unnamed minors, with the
support of six charities. However, a Court of Appeal hearing in March heard that
the commission was no longer involved in the lawsuit. Lawyer Saul Dismont, for
the plaintiffs, told the panel of judges that he had been instructed to tell the
court that the HRC was pulling out of the matter. The decision is understood to
have dismayed former commissioners, who finished their three-year term of
service at the end of December and were replaced with an entirely new board on
March 20. The court ruled on the case yesterday, finding in favour of the
plaintiffs. The panel of three judges, commenting on the HRC’s withdrawal,
said: “Given the current absence of state funding for guardians and counsel,
children are in fact being denied (and have for some considerable time been
denied) effective access to, and participation and representation in, court
proceedings that critically affect their lives.” The charities, Childwatch,
Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda, the Coalition for the Protection of
Children, Family Centre, Scars and the Women’s Resource Centre, who were
co-plaintiffs in the matter agreed to press on in the HRC’s absence.
The judges awarded the charities a protective costs order which meant that if they lost they would not have to pay the Government any of its costs. If they won, they could recover up to $50,000 from the Government for the cost of their appeal. Government lawyers unsuccessfully objected to the order. It is not known when or how the decision to withdraw from the legal action was reached by the HRC or who instructed Mr Dismont. The lawyer declined to comment and several telephone calls and e-mails to Lisa Reed, the HRC’s executive director, went unanswered. New commission chairman Vaughan Caines declined to comment. A source said: “There wasn’t a reason given [to the court].” Along with Mr Caines, the new HRC commissioners are Ed Ball, Alex Potts, Charleda Mahon Gibbons, Cristen Seuss, Kai Musson, James McCulloch, Ravi Pachai, Jessica Steede, Stacey-Lee Williams, Mary Lodge and Rajeev Goonewardene.
A
suspected arsonist was branded “deplorable and shameful” yesterday after
fire wrecked a school minibus that transported children to swimming and
gymnastics. The Parents Teachers Association of Happy Valley Child Care
Centre condemned the incident and appealed to the Bermuda public to provide
authorities with information in the hope they can stop the same thing happening
again. Camille Edness, the PTA president, described the act as “totally
unacceptable, reckless and irresponsible”. She said: “It saddens me to know
that there are people in our community who don’t value the education and
wellbeing of our children. To purposely damage school property is deplorable and
shameful.” The centre offers full-time childcare for infants and preschoolers
aged from three months to four years, at a price the PTA describes as cost
effective. The PTA said children represent a cross-section of the community,
with 60 per cent of the intake classed as at risk, or coming from referrals by
the Department of Child and Family Services, the Child Development Programme,
Teen Services and the Department of Health. Their bus was a year old and was
used to deliver children to outside activities, including swimming and water
safety with Aquamania, gymnastics and Kinetix, which provides yoga and
mindfulness sessions for schools. The children take part in a number of
activities every week but the PTA said that since the bus was damaged on Sunday,
plans were “thrown into disarray”. Ms Edness said the school “scrambled”
to secure alternative transport for a fundraising event on Thursday, as well as
for swimming lessons this month and the start of the preschool summer programme.
She thanked Aquamania for temporarily helping to get 26 children to swimming
lessons this week. Ms Edness said: “This past weekend, we celebrated Bermuda
heroes. If anyone knows something, be a Happy Valley hero and say something, by
contacting the Bermuda Police Service, or the confidential and anonymous Crime
Stoppers hotline or website with any information. Our teachers, parents, and
most of all children, deserve better. The person who did this must be caught
before it’s another bus for our seniors or someone’s house or property.”
Police said this week that inquiries were under way into the incident, which was
believed to have happened at about 3.30am.
A spokesman said that the fire was understood to have burnt itself out several hours before the damaged minibus was found. He added yesterday: “The Bermuda Police Service, in conjunction with the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, continue inquiries regarding the suspected arson of a Happy Valley Child Care Centre minibus.” It was understood CCTV cameras at the school captured a person coming onto the property and setting the bus alight. An earlier attempt to set the vehicle on fire was also thought to have happened in February when it was left with minor damage. Andalyn Swan, a Happy Valley Child Care Centre co-ordinator, said: “The minibus is an essential component of the programme that we offer here. It allows us to transport children to various educational opportunities and opens them up to new experiences. It will be a struggle to make things work without the minibus.”
Police
are investigating threats of violence made on social media against members of
the LGBTQ community. The Bermuda Police Service also pledged its support for
the island’s first gay pride parade, which will take place on August 31.
Stephen Corbishley, the Commissioner of Police, said: “I am aware of a
minority of social media comments currently in circulation that threaten or
suggest violence towards the LGBTQ community. We are now investigating these
posts and action will be taken against those responsible.” Mr Corbishley noted
the force was in talks with OutBermuda over the event. He said: “The BPS
represents and supports all aspects of our diverse communities and we want to be
alongside LGBTQ people to celebrate their identity and have confidence that
their police service is there when they have need. We have many in Bermuda,
particularly young people, who may feel alone or isolated due to their sexual
orientation or are subject to hateful comments or actions. This is not right and
all communities deserve respect and equality.” Mr Corbishley said pride
parades can help change attitudes and celebrate progress that LGBTQ communities
have made all over the world.
Bermudian
soldiers mounted an assault on a terrorist stronghold as part of a training
exercise in the Caribbean Thursday. Royal Bermuda Regiment troops stormed a
building occupied by terrorists and bomb-makers alongside soldiers and police
from other countries as part of their Tradewinds training in St Vincent.
Tradewinds, run by the US military’s Southern Command, was designed to
increase regional co-operation in complex multinational security operations, as
well as humanitarian assistance and disaster response work. Countries taking
part include Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda,
Britain, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, France, Grenada,
Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent
and the Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States. Captain
Kenji Bean, the second-in-command of the land force component of the exercise,
said: “I’ve spoken to a lot of the soldiers and they have really enjoyed
working alongside the military and police from different countries. They have
experienced a different part of the world, different cultures and different
levels of training. It also gave them experience of the level of endurance that
is needed to sustain a major operation. They are now better prepared and more
robust for when they continue their training back in Bermuda.”
Captain Bean added: “Tradewinds has worked well because it’s testing our responses to different events, as well as teaching new tactics to sharpen our skills and drills. Our communications ability is being tested as is our ability to get things done efficiently. It has also forced people to get out of their comfort zone and we have been able to network with other agencies from around the Caribbean and around the world and share our experience with them. The RBR as a career is great exposure for anyone looking to expand their skills. It’s hard work, but it’s rewarding.” Lance Corporal Kyree Govia said: “I’ve done this sort of thing before. It’s not brand new and I think we did well. We were told it was a gang that had taken over the compound. Our job was to retake it. It was a snatch and grab operation.” The 24-year-old Masters employee, from Pembroke, was speaking after a platoon of RBR soldiers struck at the Old Melrose police station near the capital Kingstown. They were told that the leaders of terrorist and crime group the Brigade of Martyrs Liberation had taken over in the building and also had a bomb factory there. Two improvised explosive devices were found during a sweep of the compound after a short firefight and were disabled by soldiers from other countries taking part while the RBR surrounded the building.
It
is a glowing reflection of how far Bermuda have come that Kyle Lightbourne, the
team’s coach, wore a look of disappointment when he shared his post-match
musings with the assembled hacks at the Toyota Stadium on Thursday night. His
side had just made a glorious exit from the Concacaf Gold Cup, the nation’s
first appearance at the biennial competition, after losing 2-1 to regional
heavyweights Costa Rica. That is the same Costa Rica to have reached four of the
past five World Cups, the same Costa Rica who are ranked 39th in the world, 135
places above Bermuda, the same Costa Rica who thrashed Nicaragua 4-0 in their
opening group B game. There had been fears, at least from outside this
close-knit group, this band of brothers, that Bermuda could be in danger of
suffering a similar fate to Cuba, who were ruthlessly dispatched 7-0 by Mexico
in group A last weekend. Lightbourne had referenced that match in his press
conference on Wednesday, insisting his side, whose average age of 24 is the
joint youngest in the tournament, would be bold, brave and ambitious. He was
true to his word. “I’m very proud of the team and I can’t ask for more
other than to take our [scoring] chances,” said Lightbourne, whose team lost
2-1 to Haiti in the group opener. “The players are disappointed about the
result, but we know there’s a bigger picture. The work is just beginning and
we have to stay at this level in order to keep improving. You always worry that
a team like Costa Rica can blow you away in 20 minutes, but we managed the game
in the right way and learnt from the other night against Haiti. People all
around the world will have taken notice of some of Bermuda’s players. We’re
a small country, but we have big hearts.” There has been much talk at this
tournament of Bermuda’s new-found professionalism, largely down to the swells
of players they now have earning a living from the game overseas. Nahki Wells,
the team’s most experienced player, however, was more fulsome in his praise of
the non-professionals such as goalkeeper Dale Eve and defenders Jaylon Bather,
Donte Brangman and Calon Minors.
The Burnley forward believes many of them now deserve a chance to join him in the professional ranks. “I’m extremely proud of my team-mates,” Wells said. “Some of those who are not in professional environments have been the best players for us at this tournament. They have really stood up. They have competed against two fully professional teams and have shown they are equally as good as players who are earning a living from football.” Despite scoring a penalty against Costa Rica, Wells said he has been frustrated by his lack of sharpness in front of goal, having missed good chances in both group games. “I’m frustrated I didn’t get a goal from open play,” he said. “I’m happy to score a penalty, but that’s not enough and it’s frustrating. We had the momentum against Costa Rica; I felt if anyone was going to score it was going to be us. We can definitely come out of this with our heads held high and our competition is not done yet. The world now knows what we’re capable of.” Danté Leverock, the Bermuda captain, believes his team-mates have more than proven they belong at the elite level of regional football. Having asked serious questions of Haiti and Costa Rica, Leverock is confident Bermuda can claim their first Gold Cup scalp when they face Nicaragua in their final outing at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, on Monday. “I got a bit emotional when I told the players that I’m proud of them,” the Sligo Rovers defender said. “We now want to beat Nicaragua. It will be like a home game for us as we’ll have a lot of fans there. We’re a young team, but we’ve been together for a long time. We’re a close-knit group, we’re like brothers and we’re here to stay. This isn’t a one-off from us. You’ll see us again.”
An
amendment to economic substance laws to be tabled in Parliament today was
expected to mean companies that are tax resident elsewhere will be exempt from
the regulations. The move would set Bermuda in line with other jurisdictions
that also committed to introduce legislation before the end of last year to
address European Union concerns about offshore shell companies set up to avoid
onshore tax rates. It was believed the Government planned to go through all
three House of Assembly readings of the amendment Bill today, which would mean
it could be passed by MPs hours after it was tabled. Although the amendment was
expected to be welcomed, as it could prevent companies from leaving Bermuda, an
Opposition MP was worried that the public would not have the chance to review
the legislation before it was passed. According to Standing Order 29 published
on the Bermuda Parliament website: “A Bill shall not be called for a second
reading until it has been printed and distributed and not earlier than seven
days following its introduction.” It was understood the order would be
suspended to allow the Bill to progress before the Economic Substance Act 2018
becomes applicable to existing entities on July 1. The legislation took effect
for new companies last December 31. Trevor Moniz, of the One Bermuda Alliance,
said yesterday: “The Government want to do the first, second and third
readings on the same day; it’s quite concerning. Obviously, I’m concerned
from the Opposition perspective, but I’m concerned from the public
perspective, the people of this country should have the opportunity to put it in
the sunshine of public scrutiny. To table it and pass it on the same day, to me,
is not desirable. To me, it seems like damage control on the part of the
Government; that they missed out on this, I don’t know why, like we didn’t
get the memo.” The Economic Substance Regulations 2018 were previously amended
less than two months after they came into force and changes then included
tighter wording and terms for greater clarity.
Bermuda was temporarily placed on the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes in March due to a typographical error in the rules, but the mistake was corrected and the island was later delisted. James Ferris, an advisory leader at PwC Bermuda, told an information session this year that the country needed to stay alert if any jurisdictions capitalized on the provisions in their own substance rules. The Royal Gazette reported in March that Bermuda had not sought a “carve-out” whereby the requirements would not apply to business entities on the island that were tax resident elsewhere, which was in the regulations of other international financial centres like the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands. Mr Ferris was not aware of what was included in the amendment Bill, but said if it set out to address the anomaly, it would be welcomed. He explained yesterday: “I think the business community will respond positively to the Act including an exemption for entities that are tax resident elsewhere for two main reasons. One is that it puts Bermuda on par with the other territories that have enacted economic substance legislation, so there is no jurisdictional arbitrage. Secondly, there is a significant number of Bermuda entities that are tax-resident in other countries and, without this amendment, would need to spend time and money addressing substance in multiple jurisdictions needlessly. This amendment would be welcome because it will ensure a number of employers who are tax resident in other territories can continue to operate with certainty, and certainty keeps companies here and keeps employers on the island.” He added: “Assuming that the amendment goes through to enable a tax-residency exemption, I think it’s great news for the island.”
Other jurisdictions that incorporated the carve-out in their legislation were understood to have also included the requirement for entities to show evidence of foreign tax residency. If passed by MPs, the Economic Substance Amendment Act 2019, which was listed on the Order of Business for today’s House sitting, would still need to go through the Senate before it went to the Governor for assent. The Government did not comment by press time. MPs will discuss the Electricity Amendment Act 2019, which would require the Regulatory Authority to obtain ministerial approval before transferring a power generating licence. The House is to consider legislative amendments on the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation’s power to enter agreements for the development of new businesses. Kim Wilson, the health minister, will table the Medical Practitioners Amendment Act. Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, will update the House on scholarships to The University of the West Indies.
The
Privy Council in London has refused to hear appeals in two Bermudian murder
cases. The Court said it had declined permission to appeal the cases of
Wolda Gardner and Jaquii Pearman DeSilva, who were convicted of the murders of
Malcolm Augustus and Prince Edness, respectively. In both cases, the Privy
Council found that there was “no risk” a serious miscarriage of justice had
happened. Gardner was sentenced in July 2015 to 20 years behind bars for the
murder of Mr Augustus, who was shot dead near Wellington Back Road in St
George’s on Christmas Eve, 2012. He was also convicted of the 2010 murder of
George Lynch, but that conviction was successfully overturned in 2016 after the
Court of Appeal found evidence used in the trial should not have been admitted.
Mr DeSilva was jailed for life in October 2015 for the fatal shooting of Mr
Edness. Mr Edness, a 29-year-old self-proclaimed drug dealer and known gang
member, was shot outside a Southampton house two weeks after he walked free from
court, having been cleared of the 2006 murder of teenager Jason Lightbourne.
A
Moldovan national was jailed for 12 months today after he admitted bank fraud
and attempted fraud. Magistrates’ Court heard that Iurie Rogojina, 34,
stole $167.50 from Clarien Bank and $780 from Butterfield Bank. He also admitted
attempting to steal $4,315 from Clarien Bank and $4,150 from Butterfield Bank.
Prosecutor Alan Richards said that Rogojina came to Bermuda on May 6 as a
visitor and attempted to steal the money with the help of others. He added that
the defendant carried out the thefts with “a sophisticated level of design”
by using fraudulent credit cards to withdraw money from ATMs. The offences took
place on May 11 and 12 but further details about them were not provided in
Magistrates’ Court. Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe said that Rogojina’s
actions struck Bermuda “at the heart of our financial industry”. He added
that the defendant sought out Bermuda “like a thief in the night” and
planned to leave before his crimes were noticed. Mr Wolffe sentenced Rogojina to
12 months imprisonment for each charge, which will run concurrently. He added
that the theft would have affected many residents as Rogojina attempted to
“wreak havoc on our financial sector”. Mr Wolffe explained: “Stealing from
ATMs are not to be seen as a victimless crime; they affect everyone.”
Government has shown a
“flagrant disregard” for children by failing to pay for them to have
independent legal representation, the Court of Appeal ruled today. Sir
Christopher Clarke, president of the Court of Appeal, said there was a “clear
and serious continuing breach” by ministers responsible for Department of
Child and Family Services to ensure that the human rights of children are
protected. He said: “The current position is unacceptable and amounts to a
flagrant disregard for the human rights of children in the relevant family
proceedings.” The court made declarations that ministers have been in breach
of obligations under the Children Act 1998 for some time because they failed to
introduce a scheme to fund litigation guardians. As a result, the court found
children involved in some court proceedings had been denied effective access to
participation and representation in court. In response to the judgment, a
spokeswoman for the Ministry of Legal Affairs said the Government had already
begun developing a framework to address the problem. The spokeswoman said:
“The judgment validates the work started by this Government to actively
establish a more comprehensive framework which provides both funding and
accountability for litigation guardians appointed by the courts. The judgment
reflects the general policy direction of the Ministry. In some ways, we are
ahead of today’s ruling and are well advanced in our initiative to enhance the
support for our children during the court process so that their voices will
continue to be heard and to ensure that all outcomes are in their best
interests.” Childwatch, Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda, the Coalition
for the Protection of Children, the Family Centre, Scars and the Women’s
Resource Centre brought the civil case to enforce the rights of vulnerable
children to the highest court on the island in March.
They argued that the Children Act 1998 required the Government to find funding
for children to be represented in Family Court by independent advocates, known
as litigation guardians, and lawyers. The charities alleged that, due to the law
not being followed for the past two decades, hundreds of children had been
failed by the system because they had their matters heard without being
appointed any representation.
The cases include custody and access disputes between parents and matters involving petitions from the Department of Child and Family Services to remove children from their families or send them to overseas institutions. Puisne Judge Stephen Hellman had earlier ruled in the Supreme Court that the Children Act required the Family Court to consider appointing litigation guardians for every child involved in legal proceedings. But Mr Justice Hellman said the legislation stopped short of making the Government pay for the service. The charities appealed his decision, with lawyer Saul Dismont, representing the plaintiffs, arguing at a hearing in March that the Minister responsible for the Department of Child and Family Services was breaching her duty in failing to make the necessary funds available. He said there was a constitutional entitlement to a fair hearing in Bermuda and children were being denied that right because they were being denied representation. The Human Rights Commission filed the original lawsuit against the Government, on behalf of three unnamed minors. But the Court of Appeal heard in March that it had withdrawn from the case. The House of Assembly heard in March that $242,000 had been allocated for litigation guardians in the 2019-20 budget to “ensure the independent representation of children during court proceedings”. But Shadow Attorney-General Scott Pearman queried whether that was an adequate amount. He said: “It is difficult to see how that will be anything more than a Band-Aid.” Mr Pearman added that the Children Act intended for children to be provided with a litigation guardian and a lawyer, where necessary. He said: “Obviously those costs, even at legal aid rates for the attorneys — and I declare an interest in [being an] attorney — are unlikely to be $242,000 in a fiscal year.” Attorney-General Kathy Lynn Simmons, the minister responsible for Child and Family Services, said last November that the Government had no legal obligation to pay social worker Tiffanne Thomas for her work as a court-appointed litigation guardian since 2014. Ms Thomas, who withdrew her services as litigation guardian from 17 active cases involving “at risk” minors because of lack of payment. is suing the Government for $2.6 million. Government tabled the Children Amendment Act 2018 last November, which it said would provide for the regulatory oversight of litigation guardians and create a framework for the licensing regulation and appointment of litigation guardians.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry said today: “Prior to the tabling of the Bill there was no legal framework that would allow payment for litigation guardian services. In addition to the Bill, the need to achieve a more financially sustainable model was apparent, given the incredibly high fees demanded by some litigation guardians. Therefore, a working group was established within the Ministry to develop the policies, procedures and recommend legislative amendments necessary to support the establishment of an independent litigation guardian office.” The Royal Gazette revealed in November that just two out of 50 vulnerable Bermudian children sent to overseas institutions in the past five years had legal representation. Prior to 2014, none of the children sent overseas by the Family Court had legal representation.
Lawyers
at a Supreme Court hearing for a judicial review into the termination of the
former chief executive of the Bermuda Health Council have sought to dispel the
possibility of the presiding judge being accused of bias. Assistant Justice
David Kessaram formally disclosed that his firm has acted for doctors and
dentists in connection with “malpractice and disclosure matters”. Mr Justice
Kessaram heard the concern yesterday as Tawanna Wedderburn, who was dismissed
from her post in December, appealed to the courts to have her termination
quashed. The concern of allegations of bias was raised by Charles Richardson and
Juliana Snelling. The lawyers are acting, between them, on behalf of the BHeC
and its chairman, as well as Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, and David Burt,
the Premier. Both sides met to agree a trial date on the preliminary issues in
the case. Ms Snelling told the court that BHeC board members who resolved to
terminate Ms Wedderburn were filing a letter “backing up their decision, and
that they made the decision in good faith”. She said that counsel “just
wanted to make sure that no issue is raised in the future of any appearance of
bias”. Lawyer Eugene Johnston, on behalf of Ms Wedderburn, told the court he
would raise an issue “if there is evidence that arises”. Mr Justice Kessaram
told both parties that potential bias “didn’t appear on my radar”, but
that if Mr Johnston “wants to reserve his position, then he can” The case
continues next month.
A
homeless man sent a series of death threats against David Burt and his family in
a “campaign of abuse and harassment”, the Supreme Court heard yesterday.
The Premier, who has two young children, was “alarmed and disturbed” by the
messages, which raised security concerns while he was on an official trip to
Britain two years ago. Jared Gordon, 29, admitted sending e-mails to Mr Burt in
2017 and 2018 in which he threatened to “put a bullet” in the Premier’s
head and cut off his head with a hacksaw. Gordon appeared in court to be
sentenced yesterday, and Karen King Deane, for the Crown, argued he should be
imprisoned for up to four years. However, Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons
adjourned the matter so a detailed neuropsychological assessment can be carried
out. Ms Deane told the court that on October 4, 2017, Mr Burt received a video
on Twitter from Gordon which included threats against his life. Nine days later,
Mr Burt received an e-mail from an address identified as Gordon’s. Gordon
wrote: “You do realise that ignoring the facts and not admitting to something
and ignoring me asking for a budget is driving me to a point of me wanting to
tell you this, to your face ... I would really put a hole in your head.” It
was followed by a series of gun emojis. The Premier reported the matter to the
police. On November 25, 2017, Mr Burt was in Britain on an official trip when he
received another e-mail from Gordon. In the e-mail, Gordon, who was known to be
in Britain at the time, said he knew Mr Burt was in London.
Ms Deane said: “These messages, coupled with the e-mail received on October 13, caused a great concern for the Premier’s safety and a risk assessment determined that security measures above and beyond what would normally be in place would have to be employed.” Mr Burt received another two e-mails from Gordon on March 28 last year after he had returned to Bermuda. In one message, Gordon said: “You can’t fool the people when you’re in the wide open, you better duck everywhere you walk or ride or go, you clearly don’t think about your wife or kid’s safety. You’re a liar a thief and a snake. Grow up Burt. Come Britain aka England and come see me to my face by yourself.” In the second e-mail, Gordon said: “I’m going to end up coming back like a thief in the night, pulling you out of your house and chopping your head off with a hacksaw.” Gordon added: “Stop selling out a British territory to America. You’re a f***ing doofus. All your sins are in the wide open.” Ms Deane said: “Mr Burt was alarmed and disturbed by the content as the threats had now been extended to his family. Out of concern for the safety of his family a further report was made to police and the messages were forwarded.” Gordon was arrested on May 5 last year when he arrived on a flight to the island, and while he was offered bail by the courts, he has remained in custody for the past 13 months. He admitted to police that he sent the messages, but said he only wanted Mr Burt’s attention and had no intention to carry out the threats. Ms Deane called for Gordon to be jailed for between two and four years. “Even though they were admitted by the defendant, it appears that he doesn’t quite appreciate the severity of his actions,” she said. “His excuse was he was frustrated and he wanted to get someone’s attention.”
Simone Smith-Bean, for Gordon, said it was important that her client received the treatment that he needed. She told the court Gordon was unhappy with the way Mr Burt had been leading the country and cognitive issues limited his ability to understand the effect his words might have. “My client was living in a homeless shelter in the UK, far away from the Premier, when those e-mails were transcribed,” Ms Smith-Bean told the court. "Gordon is really in some need of assistance with these cognitive disorders. I think he would benefit by going through the programmes out there. He has now only just become aware of these things, and, as such, he has not been able to receive any treatment.” Ms Smith-Bean suggested a shorter period of imprisonment, followed by a period of probation which would include treatment programmes. Mrs Justice Simmons adjourned the matter until August arraignments, when a new sentencing date will be set.
A
sex offender will be released without an electronic monitoring device on Monday
after he argued it would cause him pain. Junius Caines, 50, was jailed for
serious sexual assault after his attempt to rape a woman was foiled by
passers-by in August 2016. Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Minister of Legal Affairs,
announced on Tuesday that his release from the Westgate Correctional Facility
was imminent, and warned Caines was a sex offender who was “considered to
present a risk of significant harm”. He will be under a five-year supervision
order with several conditions, including that he must wear the electronic
monitoring device. But the condition for him to wear the device was put on hold
today after he argued in Supreme Court that he had “bad pains” that could be
affected by wearing the device and that it produced radiation. It means he will
not wear the device until a decision is made at another court hearing on July
17. Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons gave Caines time to produce evidence that
the device will affect his health. “If no such evidence can be found then you
are going to be ordered to wear the device,” Mrs Justice Simmons said. With
the supervision order, Caines will be under a curfew from 8pm to 7am and will be
subjected to random urine tests. He will also be required to comply with
recommendations for substance abuse and mental health treatments as required.
Caines, who has had psychiatric problems, will also be required to attend the
Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute from Mondays to Fridays to receive his
medication. He was also told to attend any other programmes deemed necessary by
the Department of Court Services. The order initially required that he be
reviewed in two months to assess his progress. However, his next appearance was
brought forward to July 17 after the prosecution suggested Caines be brought
back sooner to deal with the electronic monitoring device.
The
Government will have an eye on Florida as the state tests the use of insects to
tackle Brazilian pepper trees. The invasive weed was introduced to both
Bermuda and the United States as an ornamental plant, but is now considered a
threat to biodiversity because of its fast growth and prolific seed production.
Florida is considering introducing two “host specific” species of insect,
yellow Brazilian pepper tree leaf-gallers and Brazilian pepper tree thrips, to
tackle the problem. Both species, native to Brazil, feed and lay their eggs on
Brazilian pepper trees, which inhibits their group and hinders the population.
In previous studies, both insects largely avoided other plants even when there
were no Brazilian pepper trees around. A spokeswoman for the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources said results of the work being done in Florida
would be monitored. She said: “This plant has become one of Bermuda’s most
noxious and invasive tree species. With various biological controls emerging, as
well as those agents currently under assessment, the DENR is conducting ongoing
research in pursuit of introducing bio-control organisms which will be most
beneficial to the cause without putting Bermuda at risk. The department will be
interested in the results of the work being conducted in the United States.”
Investors
and executives attended Bermuda’s first multi-industry forum in Canada, part
of a delegation’s visit to Toronto this week that included meetings with
corporate and civic leaders highlighting bilateral business opportunities.
Among the meetings, finance minister Curtis Dickinson met with his Ontario
counterpart, Victor Fedeli, at the provincial politician’s Queen’s Park
office. Their hour-long discussion covered mutual economic links and
opportunities between Bermuda and the province, from insurance and financial
services to the growth and future impact of artificial intelligence and other
disruptive technologies, the Bermuda Development Agency reported. Mr Dickinson,
who was accompanied by assistant financial secretary Stephen Gift, BDA chief
executive officer Andy Burrows, and the honorary consul of Canada in Bermuda,
Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone, said: “The meeting with Minister Fedeli was
insightful — it underscored all we have in common and the potential
opportunities we have to work together going forward. It also allowed us to
re-engage and build on the historic Bermuda-Canada relationship that has
extended over centuries.” Mr Fedeli moved to become minister of economic
development, job creation and trade and chair of Cabinet in an Ontario Cabinet
shuffle announced a day after his meeting with the Bermuda delegation.
He said: “We discussed areas of common interest like insurance, and ways we can work more closely together for the benefit of both Bermuda and Ontario. Ontario has taken an ‘open for business, open for jobs’ approach, and building stronger relationships with important partners like Bermuda will allow our province to expand the economy and grow our exports.” The meeting was arranged by the BDA around its executive forum in Toronto, where more than 120 delegates attended a day of panel discussions and networking opportunities on Wednesday aimed at showcasing Bermuda’s breadth of industries and world-class expertise. The forum was the agency’s sixth in a series, following events in London, New York and Miami over the past two years. Jessel Mendes, BDA director and EY Bermuda partner, said: “Insurance, fintech, tourism — people we’ve met here all have a vested interest in the jurisdiction and are genuinely interested in working with us. “Everyone’s keenly focused on looking for opportunities and leveraging advantages and relationships Bermuda already has, including our beneficial tax information exchange agreement. There’s a lot of common ground linking Canada and Bermuda, and many ingredients for our joint success.” The forum featured a fireside chat-style conversation between Mr Dickinson and Phyllis Yaffe, the consul general of Canada in New York, who discussed geopolitical uncertainty, innovation diversity, and the historic and continuing bonds between Canada and Bermuda, including financial services. Canada is one of Bermuda’s most significant economic partners, with two-way trade between the two nations amounting to $2.6 billion in 2017. “When Canadians and Bermudians get together, there are going to be great business opportunities,” Ms Yaffe said. “I think we bring the same kind of innovative spirit to a conversation. This is a great initiative and I welcome people coming to Canada from Bermuda, and vice versa.” Don Forgeron, president and chief executive officer of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, participated in a follow-up session focusing on Bermuda’s global value.
He said: “The Fort McMurray wildfires, the largest ever insured loss in Canadian history, cost $3.8 billion; 80 per cent was paid by reinsurers, and of those, 25 per cent was paid by reinsurers from Bermuda. “This fact underscores the important relationship between the Canadian and Bermudian insurance industries. We look forward to building on this relationship and to leveraging synergies in the Canada-Bermuda marketplace.” Shanna Lespere, chief operating officer of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, joined Mr Forgeron at the session. She said: “Relationships are always key, whether it’s with industry or other regulatory bodies. It’s important to the BMA to ensure our jurisdiction’s reputation is sound, that we’re well respected from an international community perspective, that everyone has a solid understanding of our regulatory brand and that we maintain open dialogue across all parties.” Fintech entrepreneur Lucia Gallardo, who has partnered with the United Nations to leverage blockchain systems to help resettlement of refugees, among other projects, gave a keynote presentation on ways new-economy businesses are fulfilling shareholder expectations while solving global challenges. Other thought-leadership sessions delved into emerging risks that can be covered by insurance captives, ways Canadians can leverage Bermuda investment vehicles, and the rapid evolution of fintech. “Today reinforces our decision to invest in Bermuda,” said David Pasieka, chief transformation officer for Algonquin Power & Utilities, the Canadian corporation that recently announced its $365 million agreement to purchase Bermudian-based Ascendant Group. “With so many good things going for the island, we are excited to bring additional investment, renewable energy expertise and a growth mindset to help support this flourishing economy.” The three-day Toronto visit included business development meetings, visits to industry groups and stakeholder companies, such as the Canadian Venture Capital Association, Sun Life Financial and Portland Private Equity, and an interview with Financial Post. “Clearly, the Bermuda-Canada relationship is broad and deep,” Mr Burrows said. “This visit has allowed us to engage and reconnect with people who can direct new opportunities to our island. Companies are already reaching out to learn more about how to do business from Bermuda, and it’s evident our two markets share many commonalities, which bodes well for both to grow.”
Bermuda’s
soldiers are playing a vital behind-the-scenes role in a major disaster relief
and security exercise in the Caribbean. Royal Bermuda Regiment troops are a
major component of the land forces for Exercise Tradewinds in St Vincent &
the Grenadines – but senior officers are heavily involved as planners and
coordinators of the multi-national military force. Major Dwight Robinson, who
commands the RBR’s humanitarian aid and disaster relief B Company, as well as
being the Band & Corps of Drums Director of Music, is the land forces
commander of about 170 multi-national troops involved in the exercise. He said:
“It’s been a huge change – not something I, as a musician, would normally
be involved in, but there is learning all around here and I’m grateful for the
opportunity.” Maj. Robinson added he appreciated the assistance Major Ben
Beasley, the RBR’s second-in-command and training officer, had given him. The
multi-national troops in the Tradewinds land forces include several light
infantry platoons, humanitarian and disaster relief specialists, a logistics
platoon and bomb disposal experts, as well as a Barbados headquartered Regional
Security Services platoon. There are a further 100 sailors on board four patrol
vessels, some of which are carrying elite clearance divers. Maj. Robinson said
the soldiers had been involved
in missions ranging from disposing of improvised explosive devices, strike
operations, which included stopping criminal activity and arrests of criminals
and terrorists. He added: “It all reinforces the skills we would need back
home if the need ever arose.” Maj. Beasley, who is part of the directing staff
for the RBR, said he was working with Canadian forces to ensure training and
development was maximized. He added: “It’s the most amount of realism we had
on an exercise in recent years. We are having to work through the exercise and
solve real-time problems as well. There is no real safety net – if something
happens then the Caribbean Task Force or a company commander has to solve it.
The RBR has far exceeded expectations and they have risen to a level they
perhaps didn’t believe they could achieve. Tradewinds not only confirms our
capabilities, it has expanded them and demonstrated to our regional partners our
high level of competency.”
Lieutenant Colonel Rob Horton of the Royal Canadian Engineers, said he had been involved in teaching operational planning to officers from other countries. He added that the 22 countries involved came together with limited experience of multi-national operations. Col Horton said: “We monitor them through the planning process and get them to execute operations as they are learning. This is a good experience for the Caribbean Task Force and the Royal Bermuda Regiment.” Lieutenant Commander Cesar Yañez of the Colombian Navy, the deputy chief of staff, said the exercise involved naval vessels from St Vincent, the US, Canada and Holland. He added: “The Royal Bermuda Regiment have given us a very good performance. They react quickly and they’ve done an excellent job. Maybe in the future we can work together again and I am able to tell my country how professional the Royal Bermuda Regiment is.” Lieutenant Colonel Denzil Carmichael of the Guyana Defence Force, the commander of the combined joint task force, said: “This is my first experience with the RBR and what I’ve seen so far is that they are extremely professional and giving great support to this exercise.” Tradewinds was designed to build increased regional co-operation in complex multinational security operations, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster response work. Countries taking part include Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Britain, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.
Victoria
Pearman, the Ombudsman for Bermuda, has submitted her annual report for 2018 to
the Speaker of the House of Assembly in accordance with her statutory duty under
the Ombudsman Act 2004. The report was tabled in the House of Assembly this
morning and is available to the public. The Annual Report 2018 presents the
Ombudsman’s yearly update to the public on the work of her office. In 2018 the
Ombudsman’s Office handled 309 cases, including 166 new complaints, 98 new
inquiries and 45 outstanding complaints that remained open as of January 1,
2018. The Annual Report 2018 includes an update on the long-awaited opening of
the Land Title Registry Office. It provides selected anonymised case summaries
covering various administrative matters, including immigration policy,
educational services, social benefits and land tax. The office shares helpful
suggestions obtained from public authorities and general useful information,
such as the Government’s outreach to invite the public’s feedback on
proposed policies or initiatives. It highlights some of the office’s work
during 2018, including that the Ombudsman:
The Ombudsman added: “Good communication is a guiding principle for an ombudsman. As a way to reduce costs and also improve efficiency, the Government introduced an electronic version of the Official Gazette on November 1, 2018. Some would argue that the world changes and people have to adapt; people are responsible for their learning; and progress cannot be slowed for those who are resistant or slow to change.” Ms Pearman further commented: “If we are not careful, there is the potential to disenfranchise those who rely on traditional, non-digital methods of communication. Progress does not mean leaving many of the Bermuda public behind. Good communication is using the widest means, properly and effectively. This is a position I will continue to advocate for.” The Annual Report 2018 also describes the office’s advocacy for important improvements to public-service delivery. A notable outcome was a commitment for all government departments soon to implement internal complaint-handling processes, including that their service users are directed to the office if they have unresolved complaints. In addition to championing good administrative practice in the Public Service, the Annual Report 2018 describes internal efforts to increase the office’s efficiency and effectiveness. During the present term, the office has succeeded in steadily decreasing the number of individual complaints that remain unaddressed at the end of each reporting year. In 2018, the office also introduced new performance measures whose outcomes will be reported on at the end of the 2019-20 budget year. The Ombudsman expressed her thanks to those who bring their complaints and inquiries to the office and to the Public Service. She said: “By bringing matters to our attention, it alerts us to challenges, some of which otherwise might not come to our attention. It also may lead to improvements for the wider community. We do not take your trust for granted. My thanks to the hard-working, knowledgeable members of the Public Service who understand the importance of us fulfilling our duties to ensure accountability and work with us towards this end.” The office encourages the public to share their comments about the Annual Report 2018 and the office’s services. A survey is enclosed in the report, along with a postage-free envelope, and is available online. The report can be downloaded from ombudsman.bm, along with all previous reports published by the office. Limited print copies of the report are for the public at the Office of the Ombudsman located at Dundonald Place, Suite 102, 14 Dundonald Street West, Hamilton HM 09. For more information, contact the office at 296-6541.
The
International Cyber Risk Management Conference Bermuda, presented by Canada’s
MSA Research Inc, is to return to the island. The second annual conference
will be held from December 4 to 6 at the Hamilton Princess and Beach Club with
the theme “Speaking a Common Language: From On-Boarding to the Board Room”.
Organisers say the ICRMC Bermuda programme has been designed for corporate risk
managers, corporate counsel, auditors, CISOs, CSOs, and CTOs, governance and
claims professionals, insurers, reinsurers, insurance brokers and service
providers. Joel Baker, president and chief executive officer of MSA and
president of ICRMC, and MSA executive vice-president and chief operating officer
Marilyn Horrick were on island recently. While in Bermuda, they hosted a
supporting sponsor kick-off meeting at the Bermuda Business Development Agency,
the signature sponsor of the conference. The BDA, organisers said, have named
the ICRMC as Bermuda’s exclusive cyber-risk management event. After speaking
about their event plans with leaders of the island’s risk-industry groups,
eight organisations came on board as supporting sponsors, the ICRMC said. Mr
Baker said: “We are very proud to bring ICRMC back to Bermuda where we, with
the support of a stellar steering committee, will focus on cyber risk with an
emphasis on re/insurance and risk-transfer solutions. There’s no better
location than Bermuda to host our vendor neutral ICRMC event given Bermuda’s
central place in the insurance, reinsurance and insurance-linked securities
arena. It aligns extremely well with the aims of the conference which is
designed to serve the thought leadership and congregational needs of the global
risk management community.” Ms Horrick said: “We’re excited to be
returning to the ‘world’s risk capital’ to work alongside the BDA team and
an unparalleled group of Bermudian, US and Canadian contributors to bring this
relevant forum to bear. It’s a professional privilege and a personal delight
to be working with such abundant talent and, moreover, to benefit from the sound
commitment of our supporting sponsors who will ensure we are visible to the risk
management community and build upon last year’s success. We really couldn’t
ask for a more collegial and supportive group of partners.” Jereme Ramsay,
business development manager for the risk sector at the BDA, said: “We’re
extremely proud to have been a catalyst in bringing another relevant conference
to Bermuda, particularly one of this caliber that also generates winter month
hospitality activity for the island. Last year’s event was a success and the
market demand remains high for this kind of conference — I’m excited to see
the ICRMC thrive and grow in 2019.” Organisers say programming for ICRMC
Bermuda is being shaped by an advisory committee made up of cyber-risk subject
matter experts from the fields of information technology, insurance and risk
management, law, audit and compliance, governance, and public policy. Mr Baker
and Ms Horrick met with the members of the advisory group while on-island, the
ICRMC said. The international committee members for ICRMC 2019 are: Katie
Butterworth, chief risk officer, HSBC Bermuda; Mike Cook, managing partner,
financial services sector, IBM; Todd Daubert, partner, Dentons US LLP; Victoria
Edmonds, vice-president, professional liability, Markel; Nick Galletto, global
and Canadian cyber risk services leader, Deloitte; Chris Garrod, director,
Conyers; Giles Harlow, SVP, professional risk solutions, Aon (Bermuda); Gary
Hayslip, CISO, board member and adviser, published author and “cyber
evangelist”; Doug Howard, vice-president, global services, RSA Security; John
Masters, AVP, financial lines, AIG; Bill Stewart, division president, global
cyber risk practice, Chubb, and Mr Ramsay.
Registration for the conference is now open. See the conference website at bermuda.icrmc.com
Residents
of the Town of St George chose Nyon Dowling to fill a vacant councillors’ seat
last night. He took 192, or almost 92 per cent, of the 209 overall votes. Mr
Dowling was elected over Alfonso Harris, who earned 17 votes. A government
spokeswoman confirmed: “An extraordinary municipal election was held at
Penno’s Wharf cruise ship terminal in St George’s to return the seat of
Municipal Residents’ Councillor to the Corporation of St George. At the end of
polls, Nyon Dowling was declared the winner.” The election was open only to
residents of the municipality and came because the sixth councilor's seat was
left vacant after an election last month.
Hamilton
Re has sponsored its first catastrophe bond to provide $60 million of
collateralised reinsurance coverage. The issuance of the series 2019-1
principal at-risk variable rate notes issued by Cerulean Re SAC Ltd, acting in
respect of the segregated account designated as “Easton 2019-1”, was
conducted by the Hamilton Capital Partners business unit. The cat bond will
provide reinsurance capacity against certain losses from US named storms and US
earthquakes, across two classes of notes, on an industry loss trigger and
per-occurrence basis. Kathleen Reardon, chief executive officer of Hamilton Re,
said: “This cat bond will provide additional, diverse reinsurance protection
for our portfolio, alongside our traditional reinsurance coverages, and serve to
further enhance our positioning within the capital markets. Successfully
navigating this solution among broader market uncertainties is evidence of
Hamilton Re’s progress in this space and further strengthens our ability to
serve our clients.” Cerulean is a licensed as a special purpose insurer and
registered as a segregated accounts company. GC Securities acted as arranger,
sole structuring agent and placement agent. Mayer Brown LLP acted as legal
counsel.
An
unmarked police car crashed with a taxi in St George’s last night. The
incident happened at Stone Crusher Corner, on Kindley Field Road, when the
police car was being driven west, and the taxi was going in the opposite
direction, at about 10pm. The police officer, taxi driver and taxi passenger,
who was a local resident, were not hurt. Both vehicles were damaged and
impounded pending further enquiries. Witnesses should call Sergeant Glynn
Kellman on 717-2204.
Members
of the Mirrors Programme will join forces with the Department of Parks to clean
up the Southlands property in Warwick. Teams will unite and will clear
natural debris, trash and abandoned furniture and learn about the history of
endemic and invasive plants and trees, according to a press release from the
Bermuda Government. The clean-ups will take place on June 29, July 20, August
17, September 21 and November 2, from 9am to 2pm. Attorney-General Kathy Lynn
Simmons said: “We are delighted to see the collaboration between two
government departments to harness the power of knowledge and expertise in one
part of the community and pass it to a younger generation to ensure the
preservation of our natural assets for every Bermudian and visitor.”
Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister for Public Works, said: “I am
pleased to see two departments and members of the community coming together to
ensure the preservation of our ecological heritage and the further education of
young Bermudians in how to sustain our open spaces and parks.
Bermudian
author Elizabeth J Jones releases her debut novel next week – at the age of
69. A Dark Iris, partly inspired by the writer’s time as a teacher at the
Berkeley Institute in the 1970s and partly by her art class with Sharon Wilson,
will be launched at an event at Bermuda National Library in Hamilton on
Thursday, June 27 at 6pm. The novel, which explores the infamous story of a
slave burned alive at the stake in 1730 through the eyes of a schoolgirl in the
1970s, was short listed for the 2018 CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult
Literature. It has been published by Blouse and Skirt Books and will be
distributed to 2,500 schools across the Caribbean It is also on sale at
Bookmart, on Reid Street. Jones said: “When I came to Bermuda as a young
woman, I knew nothing about the island’s history at all. But I was fortunate
to be given a temporary teaching post at the Berkeley Institute where I learned
from colleagues and students alike about the effects of racism and colonialism
on Bermuda, which for many years were barely, if at all, mentioned in the
history books. Nearly 40 years later, I wanted to fulfill my dream of writing a
YA novel about Bermuda. It seemed to me very important I should not insult my
young readers by prettifying the island and omitting politically and socially
harsh realities, particularly given my novel is set during the turbulent years
of the 1970s.” The book’s heroine, Rebekah Eve, is a brilliant young artist
whose visions and paintings reveal a new twist on the horrifying tale of Sally
Bassett and her granddaughter Bek. It uses magic realism to explore history and
identity. Jones will take part in a Q&A and sign books at the June 27
launch. She is also set to share a panel with Eloise Williams, author of
Gaslight, at the Edinburgh Festival in August.
A
novel fitness retreat focused on women of colour has found a happy sanctuary in
Bermuda. For two years running, New York City-based Black Girls Pole have
brought more than a dozen attendees to Bermuda for fitness training and female
empowerment activities. Since launching retreats back in 2015, Black Girls
Pole have taken jaunts to Miami, Chicago and London. Bermuda is now a regular
fixture on the retreat rotation with visits in late May of this year and last
year, aligning with Memorial Day in the United States. “Bermuda has quickly
become a second home for Black Girls Pole. The love shown from local Bermudians
is so warm, genuine and inviting,” said owner and founder Dalijah Franklin.
“Bermuda is the perfect place for retreaters to come, vacation and explore
something new — all while pole dancing and meeting other like-minded women in
the pole community.” On social media the group of women are seen practicing
pole routines in Bermuda — in-studio and on the beach. Occasionally, men are
participating as well. When not learning from pole instructors, the group is
photographed boating, eating out and enjoying the island’s culture. In two
years, Black Girls Pole retreats have generated more than 50 visitor arrivals,
including the enrollees who travel with partners. The group has already begun
planning for 2020. The Bermuda Tourism Authority provided logistical support to
Black Girls Pole and their local partner Marilyn Allers, a Poles Move-certified
instructor who owns Aerial Therapy in Pembroke. “While a relatively small
volume travel group, Black Girls Pole is a big win strategically,” said Glenn
Jones, chief experience development officer at the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
“Not only does this group align with growth strategies in the Teams and Groups
pillar of the National Tourism Plan, it also highlights the island’s ambition
to grown African American travel. Mostly black women follow Black Girls Pole on
Instagram and tens of thousands of them are getting to know our way of life out
here. And naturally, the content is reflective of who they are. They’re
getting the chance to literally see themselves in Bermuda.” Local involvement
is also critical to winning groups of this kind, according to the Bermuda
Tourism Authority. Its Bring It Home programme supports local residents who use
their professional connections to inspire group travel to Bermuda in the same
way Mrs. Allers has done through her pole dancing network. “It has been such a
joy hosting each group of attendees and instructors particularly for the fact
that it more closely connects the Bermuda pole community with the wider,
international pole scene,” said Mariyn Allers. “Since meeting Dalijah in
2017, I have come to understand her as well as her brand’s ethos which aligns
closely with that of Aerial Therapy’s and I continue to do everything I can to
ensure its success. Outside of our business relationship, Dalijah has become a
true friend and I look forward to having her and the BGP Retreats return to
Bermuda for years to come.”
Costa
Rica 2 Bermuda 1. They may have suffered a narrow defeat against Costa
Rica on a sweltering Texas night, but in exiting the Concacaf Gold Cup at the
group stage, Bermuda won the respect of the region with a stirring showing at
the Toyota Stadium. Kyle Lightbourne’s men were bold, brave and ambitious.
Against a star-studded Costa Rica side who are 135 places above them in the
world rankings, Bermuda did not look out of place and once again created a slew
of scoring chances. The Central Americans took the lead almost against the run
of play, then appeared to put the game to bed with the second early in the
second half. Bermuda, however, made the final half-hour interesting through a
Nahki Wells penalty. Costa Rica at times were holding on but in the end did
enough to advance to the quarter-finals from group B with Haiti, 2-0 victors
over Nicaragua earlier in the evening. Bermuda made a bright start to the game,
just as they did against Haiti, crafting the first chance when Willie Clemons
quickly released Wells, who outpaced the Costa Rica backline before dragging a
weak effort harmlessly wide. Wells, who had a strong claim for a penalty turned
down, had the ball in the back of the net moments later, but the flag was
already up with the forward was well offside. “I just wish we could replay
that one moment in the first half when Nahki has been caught [in the box],”
Lightbourne said. “I think the guy did it deliberately, but I just think the
referee was afraid to make that decision. The little country didn’t the
decision. I can’t fault my players for the effort they put in and their
never-say-die attitude.” Bermuda were enjoying the better of the early
exchanges in the first meeting between the two sides. They very nearly took the
lead in the fifteenth minute when Clemons flashed a left-footed shot into the
side-netting from a neat pullback by Reggie Lambe with the goalkeeper rooted to
the spot. Hearts were in mouths at the other end, though, when Joel Campbell cut
inside Osagi Bascome, curling in a delivery from the right that took a
deflection off Jaylon Bather’s head and required the excellent Dale Eve to
dive to his left and push the ball around the corner. Bermuda, who missed a glut
of chances against Haiti, then squandered another opening when a shot from Wells
ricocheted off two Costa Rica defenders, falling invitingly into the path of
Lambe. The peroxide blonde-haired winger should have done far better, taking a
needless touch before side-footing straight at Leonel Moreira in the Costa Rica
goal. Lightbourne’s side were playing with real confidence, moving the ball
swiftly between the lines and causing Costa Rica problems with their pace and
movement. It was Costa Rica, however, who took the lead on the half-hour mark
through forward Mayron George, who drove the ball between Eve’s legs after the
goalkeeper had done well to palm away a back-post header by Oscar Duarte from a
corner. Bermuda almost fell farther in arrears when Duarte then headed inches
wide of Eve’s top right-hand corner from inside the six-yard box. Eve
displayed his impressive agility in the 41st minute, making a superb save from a
Celso Borges free kick from a central position, tipping the ball over for a
corner. Bermuda were still creating chances, with Wells breaking free before
thrashing his shot well over the bar. It was the Burnley striker’s third great
chance of the tournament and third time he had failed to hit the target. “We
had a good chance in the first half and we didn’t take it,” Lightbourne
added. “That’s probably our tournament right there. We’re just not taking
our chances. It’s frustrating, but we have to take it on the chin and grow.”
Costa Rica made a switch at half-time, bringing on Bryan Ruiz as the second
striker for the largely anonymous Jonathan McDonald. Costa Rica, who enjoyed 63
per cent of the possession in the first half, were building up a head of steam
and doubled their lead in the 54th minute when Aguilar was afforded too much
time and space, drilling his shot into the bottom right-hand corner. Brangman
forced a flying save from Moreira with a strike from distance before Bermuda won
a penalty in the 59th minute when Jalen Harvey was upended in the box after a
well-worked free kick. Wells was calmness personified from the spot, dispatching
his effort straight down the middle to make it 2-1. Bermuda were right back in
the game and went close again when Wells linked up with Clemons, who took too
many touches and ran the ball out of play. Both coaches made double
substitutions in the 72nd minute, with Gustavo Matosas bringing on Christian
Bolanos and Ronald Matarrita for Campbell and Aguilar, while Clemons and Zeiko
Lewis made way for Justin Donawa and Tre Ming. Lightbourne made his third
substitution in the 80th minute, throwing on another forward, Jonté Smith, for
Osagi Bascome. Smith made his presence known immediately and went close with a
turn and shot that he could not quite wrap his foot around. Bermuda survived a
last-minute scare when George drew a block from Eve and then somehow struck the
crossbar from the rebound when it appeared easier to score. It would have been
extremely harsh on Bermuda, who gave as good as they got against a nation that
has qualified for four of the past five World Cups. “We showed everybody that
we deserved to be here,” Lightbourne added. “We pushed a World Cup team for
90 minutes. Yes, we rode our luck a little bit, but they rode their luck as
well.”
SCORERS. Costa Rica: George 30, Aguilar 54. Bermuda: Wells 59 pen.
TEAMS
Costa Rica (4-3-3): L Moreira — O Duarte, B Oviedo, C Gamboa, K Waston — C Borges, A Cruz, E Aguilar (sub: R Matarrita, 72min) — J Campbell (sub: C Bolanos, 70), M George, J McDonald (sub: B Ruiz, 46). Substitutes not used: B Segura, M Madrigal, G Gonzalez, K Fuller, A Saborio, F Calvo, Y Tejeda, R Leal. Booked: Duarte, Ruiz.
Bermuda (4-3-3): D Eve — D Brangman, D Leverock, J Bather, J Harvey — R Lambe, O Bascome (sub: J Smith, 80), W Clemons (sub: T Ming, 72) — M Butterfield, N Wells, Z Lewis (sub: J Donawa, 72). Substitutes not used: J Hill, Q Hunt, R Lee, C Basden, C Minors, L Simmons, C Robinson, M Warren. Booked: Bather, Ming.
Referee: Y Martinez (Cuba).
Electric
cars are cheap to power up, they produce less pollution, and they’re virtually
silent. Will they come to dominate Bermuda’s roads? Michael Swan thinks
they will. “I most definitely see a day in the future when all the cars on the
road are electric,” said the manager of LocalMotion, an electric microcar
import and rental business on Happy Valley Road in Pembroke. Since fully
launching two months ago, demand is outstripping his still small supply of
rental cars, and people call daily to ask about purchasing one of them. He rents
out two-seater “Bermi 400s”, and custom orders four-seaters with all the
bells and whistles, bluetooth, power steering and a reverse camera. He fell in
love with the cars four years ago when he first saw them in a magazine.
“I’ve always liked cars and bikes,” he said. “I loved the styling.” He
also thought it would be a great little car for Bermuda, where excessive speeds
and distances wouldn’t wear down the battery quickly. “Mostly people drive
only 20 miles a day in Bermuda,” he said. Bermuda has already made some
advances towards encouraging electric-powered vehicles. In 2018, Government made
parts for electric vehicle charging stations and accessories duty free. But Mr
Swan feels that Bermuda’s infrastructure and legislation still needs some
adjustment. He’d like for Government to allow people to have an electric
microcar as a second car on their assessment number. The 2018 Transportation
survey noted community interest in this. “If the Government does allow a
second car on the same assessment number, we will sell a lot of cars because
there is a ton of interest. From an entrepreneurial perspective, you are
creating a new business model. That creates employment and new business
opportunities. You could get other people coming to the game as long as they can
handle the service of it.” He also felt TCD needed to look at changing the
class of micro-cars. At the moment they fall under class A. “But they are tiny
as heck,” he said. “We need a -A class, which would be cheaper.” They cost
$20,400 to buy and put on the road, and around 2.5 cents a mile to operate. Mr
Swan said since purchasing one himself two years ago, he hasn’t seen much
change at all to his electric bill. Piers Carr, owner of Current Vehicles, was
the first to get micro rental cars on the market in April 2017. Since then, his
Twizys have become almost iconic on Bermuda’s roads. He’d like the
Government to allow them to bring in a wider variety of micro-cars. Twizys can
be difficult to access for people with mobility issues, as the back can be a
little cramped. Right now, Mr Carr sees his demographic as the 30-to-60 age
group. “We have had some people older than that who have used them and had a
great time, but we’d like to provide options for people,” Mr Carr said. Like
Mr Swan, he thinks almost total conversion to electric-powered cars might be
possible in Bermuda, one day. “Bermuda has the potential to be a world leader
in this,” he said. “Look at the size and the number of vehicles on the
island, and the cost of operating a traditional gas-powered vehicle. Bermuda has
all the hallmarks to transition over to electric cars.” But not all electric
cars are small. A year and a half ago, former journalist and entrepreneur Chris
Gibbons bought an electric Nissan Leaf car from Auto Solutions on St John’s
Road in Pembroke. The compact five-door hatchback class H car cost around
$40,600. Mr Gibbons and his wife Tracey, bought it because they were interested
in making their lives more environmentally friendly. They’d already put solar
panels on their Devonshire home. “It is a lot quieter than a regular car, but
you can hear it,” Mr Gibbons said. “If it is going less than 25 miles per
hour there is a bit of a hum.” Electric cars are so silent, particularly at
higher speeds, some experts think they might present a hazard to other people on
the road. Car companies such as Mercedes AMG are now looking at ways to put
sounds on their cars. Mr Gibbons said there is very little maintenance involved.
“Other than tires and water, there is really not a lot else,” he said. “If
the battery or computer fails then that would require Auto Solutions to fix it.
You can’t just take it to any garage.” He had to install a special charger
in his house for about $2,000. You can’t just plug it in with any old
extension cord. He gets 120 miles on a full charge and “tops it up” twice a
week. “If we were in a bigger country I would be constantly worried about the
range and making sure you could plug in on the journey,” he said. “That
doesn’t apply here. There is a secondary plug in the back. If you are traveling,
you have a charging station at the hospital and a couple of places in town. The
range of electric cars is getting better all the time. In the United States,
Teslas now have a 300-mile range.” But Mr Gibbons said he’d love to see
Nissan produce a battery that he could swap out, leaving one on charge. Mr
Gibbons said he pays no more than $15 to charge it up. He thought that was
pretty good considering he used to pay $60 to $70 a week to fill up his old
gas-powered car. Auto Solutions estimated that a person without solar power
would probably pay $700 to $800 on electricity for their car annually, compared
to the $5,000 a year the average gas-powered H class car user would spend. But
sales of the Nissan Leaf hit a snag recently when car manufacturers increased
its size by 1.7 inches, making it too large for Bermuda’s car size
requirements. “We are only talking about an inch in length and width,” Glen
Smith, managing director of Auto Solutions, said. He thought something would
come out in the C, D or E class, but it was a waiting game for Auto Solutions.
In the meantime, they have two old Nissan Leaf models left in the warehouse.
When those are sold they will not be able to sell the car unless manufacturers
produce a smaller one, or Government changes its size regulations. They sell one
other electric car, the Hyundai Kona, but are not expecting any in until mid
2020. Mr Smith said they’d met with the Ministry of Transport to discuss the
issue of size requirements. “The Government says they are very pro going
green,” Mr Smith said. “Why don’t they create a special class by allowing
us to have another two inches in width and length. That way we could have more
electric cars here within six months. That would give people more choice and
availability.”
Fast facts. Some facts about electric vehicle from the 2019 Transport Green Paper, based on a transport survey conducted in 2018.
• In 2018 there were 250 electric vehicles licensed and on Bermuda’s roads.
• 63 per cent of respondents said they’d be willing to replace their car with an electric or hybrid car.
• 44 per cent said they would consider purchasing an electric motor cycle.
• Cost was the main reason some residents were reluctant to purchase electric vehicles. Electric vehicles tend to be 1.5 to two times more pricey than similarly sized internal combustion engine vehicles.
• In the 2018 Transport Survey, 75 per cent of Bermudians expressed interest in seeing more electric cars on the road.
The
Government pleaded for patience yesterday as it deals with large piles of
Sargassum seaweed on Bermuda’s beaches. Seaweed has washed up at numerous
spots in the island’s first “inundation event” since 2011. The Department
of Environment and Natural Resources acknowledged it carried a nuisance value
which is difficult to tackle. A spokeswoman said: “We appreciate the patience
of our visitors and local beachgoers as our hotels and the Bermuda
Government’s parks department and works and engineering crews and private
contractors are working to remove as much Sargassum as possible, but some
beaches are inaccessible to tractors.” The spokeswoman reminded the public
that seaweed is a natural occurrence that supports hundreds of species of marine
invertebrate, fish and sea turtles. She said: “As a floating plant it is
subject to the effects of wind and currents in the ocean that can either
disperse or aggregate the plants. We seem to have a period when these forces
have conspired to create a significant aggregation, which causes a nuisance on
our beaches because of the unusual quantity. Sargassum inundations have plagued
most of the islands and coastlines in the Caribbean since 2015, but it is caused
by a slightly different species of Sargassum, which has not arrived here this
year.” Sargassum also helps stabilize beach sand movement during storms and is
a “very useful garden fertilizer”, she said. “Scores of Bermudians have
been harvesting it, although the amount of plastic that has to be removed is
disturbing.”
A
legal dispute between the Director of the Department of Public Prosecutions and
one of his deputies over an allegation of gross misconduct came before the Court
of Appeal yesterday. Larry Mussenden sought to overturn a decision by the
Supreme Court that he had acted with “actual, presumed or apparent bias”
after making complaints against Cindy Clarke, the deputy director. Details of
exactly what she stands accused of by Mr Mussenden remain unknown. But the
allegations are understood to involve papers filed by Ms Clarke in the
Magistrates’ Court regarding a robbery case. Ms Clarke has denied any
misconduct. Ben Adamson, for Mr Mussenden, said there was no evidence of bias
and Mr Mussenden had a professional interest in the case, not a personal one. He
added that Assistant Justice John Riihiluoma had compared the matter to an
allegation that the DPP was personally aggrieved but Mr Adamson said that was
not the case. Mr Adamson said: “The only party that was being allegedly
defrauded or deceived is the department. There is nothing personal. To suggest
there was personal deception is unhelpful.” Mr Adamson also argued that Mr
Justice Riihiluoma had used the wrong test to determine the issue of bias. He
said the Supreme Court had applied the standards used for judges of fact,
whereas Mr Mussenden’s role had been more investigatory. Mr Adamson told the
Court of Appeal that the statutory framework required the DPP, as head of the
department, to write up the complaint and meet with the subject of the complaint
to determine if the matter should go to the Head of the Civil Service or be
dismissed. Mr Adamson also said that Mr Justice Riihiluoma had not addressed the
element of “necessity” in his judgment. He argued under the “detailed”
statutory framework the DPP could not delegate his responsibility to look into
complaints. “We cannot tell the Governor to appoint a new head of
department,” Mr Adamson added. But Mark Pettingill, for Ms Clarke, said an
Acting DPP could be appointed to deal with matters if there was a conflict of
interest. Mr Pettingill said: “What happens when the DPP is off island? What
happens when the DPP is off ill? What happens when there is a blatant conflict?
The answer is an Acting DPP is appointed.” He said there was clearly an option
for the DPP to delegate the matter, and in the circumstances of the case he
should have done so. Mr Pettingill argued Mr Mussenden had launched the
complaint, which meant he could not hear the matter objectively. He said: “I
would suggest he has a vested interest in being right, in that he is making the
accusation.” The Appeal Panel said it would deliberate on the matter and
release a decision at a later date.
Anthony
Richardson, a Progressive Labour Party senator, has been sworn in as the Junior
Minister for Home Affairs and the Cabinet Office. The ceremony was held at
Government House on Friday, according to a statement issued on Tuesday. Mr
Richardson, who ran for the PLP in the 2017 General Election as a candidate for
Hamilton South, has served in the Senate since September 2017. He has more than
28 years’ experience as a chartered accountant holding positions including
Accountant-General of Bermuda, chairman of the Bermuda Hospitals Board, chief
executive of the Bermuda Health Council and chief financial officer of the
Bermuda Land Development Company. David Burt, the Premier, said he was
“extremely pleased” to welcome Mr Richardson to this role. He added: “I
thank the junior minister for stepping forward to serve our country. In this new
role, he will continue to make a real difference to the development and growth
of Bermuda, for all Bermudians.”
Labour
minister Lovitta Foggo is representing the Government at the 108th International
Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. More than 6,000 delegates from
around the globe to discuss the future challenges of the world of work and
celebrate the Centenary of the International Labour Organisation. The
conference, which began on June 10 and concludes tomorrow, is aligned with the
recently released ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work Report, Work
for a Brighter Future. Among the topics being discussed by tripartite
delegations from 187 member states include the standards for labour rights and
fair working conditions. Ms Foggo will take part in a plenary session and
committee meetings to discuss the Work for a Brighter Future report. Also
on the trip are the labour relations department director, Gabrielle Cann, the
Bermuda Trade Union Congress vice-president, Shannon James and the Bermuda
Employers Council president, Keith Jensen.
The
Bermuda Police Service paid $19,000 to fly a pedestrian overseas for treatment
after she was hurt in a crash with a police motorcycle, it was revealed last
night. Stephen Corbishley, the Commissioner of Police, said the decision was
based on the 36-year-old American tourist’s “insurance position and urgent
medical need”. A spokesman later revealed that any delay in airlifting the
woman to the United States could have left her with a life-changing injury. He
also confirmed that the BPS was reviewing its driver training programmes after
the third serious crash in as many months that involved a police vehicle. The
tourist suffered a leg injury and suspected head injury in an incident on
Burnaby Street at about 5.25pm on Monday, when visitors and locals enjoyed the
carnival festivities in Hamilton. Police said that the officer involved was one
of two police riders responding to an “urgent service call” at the time. Mr
Corbishley said yesterday: “This was a terrible incident where an American
tourist has been seriously injured. The Bermuda Police Service has responded in
making payment to medivac her to receive care for her injuries in the United
States. This decision was taken on humanitarian grounds in light of her
insurance position and urgent medical need, irrespective of the full
circumstances of the collision not yet being established.” A spokesman added
last night that information from the doctor who assessed the woman indicated
that she “needed to be airlifted to the US as soon as possible” and that
“any delay could result in life-altering permanent injury”. It was
understood the urgent concern was related to the condition of the woman’s leg.
The police service is in consultation with the Police Complaints Authority over
the incident, which Mr Corbishley said was standard practice. The incident took
place while the area was closed for the Parade of Bands on National Heroes Day,
but the commissioner noted it was available for use by emergency vehicles. He
said: “CCTV evidence has been examined that captures the circumstances of the
collision and a statement from the injured party has been taken by the BPS,
alongside other witnesses that will be interviewed, including the police
motorcyclist. I do recognize the public’s concern when police officers are
involved in collisions with members of the public and a thorough investigation
continues, to which the injured person and her family will be informed on
throughout.” Police added last night that separate investigations into the two
earlier incidents continued and the Police Complaints Authority was notified
“promptly” about each of them. Antoine Seaman, 21, from Southampton, was
killed when his motorbike collided with a police car on Somerset Road, Sandys,
at about 2am on April 15. Police said an officer was heading west in a marked
patrol car on her way to a report of a disturbance. A 29-year-old Royal Bermuda
Regiment soldier was injured when her motorcycle crashed with a police car at
the junction of King Street and Reid Street in Hamilton at about 12.20am on May
12. The BPS said the police vehicle had its lights and sirens on as officers
pursued another motorcycle, which was headed the wrong way along King Street
when the incident happened. The police spokesman said last night: “The
frequency of recent police involved collisions has caused the BPS to review our
driver training regime. While such incidents overall are uncommon, we recognize
the impact this has on the community and seek to ensure police drivers have the
requisite skills to adequately meet the driving challenges the job of policing
carries.”
A
preteen girl told a jury that she was sexually assaulted in her family home as a
Supreme Court trial began yesterday. The child, who cannot be named for
legal reasons, described to jurors how a man groped and had sex with her 2½
years ago. Her emotional testimony came on the first day of the trial of a
26-year-old man facing several sex offences involving a minor. The girl said
that she and her young cousin were alone at her home with the defendant at the
time of the incident. She said that the man had first grabbed her upper torso
and that he later tried to put his hand into her pants as she lay on the bed of
a family member. The girl said: “I kept trying to push his hand away.” She
said that the man later had sex with her on the same bed where her cousin was
sleeping in front of her. The girl told Maria Sofianos, for the Crown, that the
man did not say anything to her during the incident and that she remained
silent. She added that she could not remember what the man was wearing at the
time. The defendant, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, denies unlawful
carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 14, and two counts of sexual
exploitation of a young person by a person in a position of trust. The three
charges relate to an incident alleged to have taken place on or about September
23, 2016. He has also denies attempted unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under
the age of 14. That charge relates to an incident alleged to have happened on an
unknown date between June 27, 2017 and September 11, 2017. The defendant is
represented by Elizabeth Christopher. Karen King, also for the Crown, told
jurors that they would hear evidence of the defendant’s guilt. She said:
“You will hear that he sexually exploited her.” Ms King said that the
defendant had touched the child sexually and that he had sexual intercourse with
her. She added that the child had disclosed what had happened to her in November
2017. The trial continues before Acting Puisne Judge Craig Attridge.
American
International Group has formed AIG Re to consolidate the company’s global
reinsurance operations. The new global business will be led by chief
executive officer Christopher Schaper, who will be based in Bermuda, AIG said.
The businesses to be grouped together under the AIG Re banner are Validus Re,
AlphaCat and Talbot Treaty. Mr Schaper, whose appointment is effective July 1,
will oversee implementation of AIG’s assumed reinsurance strategy with a focus
on continuing to develop, market and deliver innovative reinsurance and capital
market solutions to clients on a global basis, AIG said tonight. The new CEO
will report to Peter Zaffino, president and CEO, AIG General Insurance, and
global chief operating officer of AIG. Mr Zaffino said: “Building on our
efforts to position AIG as an industry leader, Chris will lead AIG Re’s
delivery of differentiated value to our clients through the creation of new
pools of risk and the deployment of alternative capital. Chris’s deep
reinsurance expertise and industry relationships will accelerate the execution
of our strategy for AIG Re. I look forward to welcoming Chris to AIG.” Mr
Schaper brings more than three decades of experience in the insurance and
reinsurance industries to AIG. He joins AIG from Marsh, where he was CEO of the
managing general agent businesses since 2016. Before that Mr Schaper served as
president of Montpelier Re Ltd and underwriting chairman of Blue Capital,
Montpelier’s capital markets entity. Mr Schaper held several leadership
positions at Bermuda-based reinsurer Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd,
including chief underwriting officer and head of reinsurance, and head of
casualty treaty reinsurance. “I am pleased to join AIG as the company focuses
on enhanced opportunities, underwriting excellence and differentiating its
capabilities in the global market,” Mr Schaper said. “I look forward to
working closely with the Validus Re, AlphaCat and Talbot teams as we position
AIG Re to deliver current and innovative products to clients and partners as
well as engage in new initiatives as we further develop our global business.”
AIG is led by Brian Duperreault, its Bermudian CEO.
A
Warwick man admitted handling more than $290,000 of drugs with intent to supply.
Luri Scott, 24, pleaded guilty at Supreme Court on Tuesday to handling cannabis,
cannabis resin and tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in cannabis, at
his home. He also admitted having drug equipment, specifically a digital scale.
The offences were said to have taken place on December 15, 2017. Acting Puisne
Judge Craig Attridge ordered a social inquiry report and a drug assessment on
Scott and released him on bail until August. But Mr Attridge warned Scott:
“You should not take from that any indication that you will not be sentenced
on this matter to a custodial sentence.”
Sports
bars are hoping for big crowds tonight as the Bermuda football team play their
historic match against Costa Rica. Win, lose or draw, managers said the
Gombey Warriors had already captured the imagination of football fans on the
island with their Concacaf Gold Cup campaign. The game, Bermuda’s second out
of three group matches, will kick off in Frisco, Texas, at 10.30pm Bermuda time.
It will be shown back home on television screens in most clubs and bars. Steve
Simons, the managing director of The Spinning Wheel, said the crowd for the
opening game against Haiti on Sunday was “energized”. He said: “We get a
good turnout for all the games. It is a sports complex so people know we are
going to be open and we have multiple TVs. If Bermuda wins, that is going to be
magnificent, that is a plus. If your people are representing you, they want to
watch even if they lose.” Reed Young, the owner of Docksider Pub and
Restaurant, said many fans missed the Haiti game because it clashed with
Father’s Day and the Bermuda Carnival weekend. He said: “People have had
some rest after the carnival weekend and it’s a good time to come out and
support the country. We are hoping for a big crowd. Bermuda played well in the
last game. Hopefully they can play as well and get a better result in the next
game. It is pretty impressive that Bermuda is in this tournament — it’s
quite a feat for them.” Raymond Ward, the day bartender at the Queen’s Club,
said: “I had a nice little crowd on Sunday, but it was also Father’s Day. I
think we had maybe 15 people turn up. Hopefully for this one coming up, there
will be a few more.” Mr Ward added: “I hope that Bermuda wins. We had a
fantastic chance against Haiti, but they didn’t capitalize in the first half.
We are keeping our fingers crossed.” Kamla Battersbee, the manager of the
Robin Hood Pub and Restaurant, said she was on the edge of her seat on Sunday
— partly because the channel she had selected kept blacking out. She said:
“We were able to watch the game fortunately on satellite. It was a good
atmosphere on Sunday, there were a lot of locals, a lot of my regular guests —
it was fantastic. Our locals and regular customers are looking forward to it.”
A
legal row between two of the island’s top prosecutors is expected to go before
the Court of Appeal today. Larry Mussenden, the Director of the Department
of Public Prosecutions, will appeal a judge’s decision regarding the way he
handled a complaint of gross misconduct he made against one of his deputies,
Cindy Clarke. Ms Clarke alleged in a lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court in April
that Mr Mussenden acted with “actual, presumed or apparent bias” and “in
breach of natural justice” after making accusations against her. She said he
investigated the complaint against her himself, but should not have because he
was the complainant. Assistant Justice John Riihiluoma ruled in Ms Clarke’s
favour last month, finding that there was an “appearance of bias” on Mr
Mussenden’s part. The DPP is expected to challenge that decision before the
highest court on the island today. The matter was cloaked in secrecy after
lawyer Mark Pettingill, representing Ms Clarke, successfully applied to the
Supreme Court on April 18 for the parties involved to remain anonymous. The case
was listed in the Supreme Court causes book as being between “AB” and
“XY” and was not listed at all on the public civil court list. The Royal
Gazette was unaware that hearings were held and was not in attendance for
the court proceedings. The newspaper has since obtained from the Supreme Court
the notice of originating motion filed by Chancery Legal on behalf of Ms Clarke.
Today’s hearing is expected to be held in the open, after the anonymity order
made in the Supreme Court was quashed by the appeal court panel during a
closed-doors hearing earlier this month. The gross misconduct allegation against
Ms Clarke is understood to involve papers filed by her in the Magistrates’
Court regarding a robbery case. Details of exactly what she stands accused of by
Mr Mussenden are not known. The motion filed on behalf of Ms Clarke in the
Supreme Court sought:
Mr Justice Riihiluoma issued a ruling on May 17, which was not made public, agreeing with Ms Clarke that there was the appearance of bias on the part of Mr Mussenden, because he had a personal interest in the misconduct allegation. Mr Pettingill said yesterday: “This is an appeal by the DPP on a procedural issue. But any allegation of misconduct of any form is vehemently and unequivocally denied by our client.” Mr Mussenden, who was represented by Ben Adamson of Conyers Dill & Pearman law firm in the Supreme Court, declined to comment. Questions to Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Attorney-General, about the cost to the public purse of defending and appealing the lawsuit went unanswered by press time. Mr Mussenden is due to become a puisne judge next month, replacing Carlisle Greaves, who is retiring. Ms Clarke is understood to have been short-listed to replace him, along with fellow deputy director Carrington Mahoney. Ms Clarke was passed over for the post of DPP three times, in 2013, 2014 and 2016. In 2013 she was appointed to take over from work-permit holder Rory Field, subject to what George Fergusson, who was then the Governor, referred to as a “suggested transitional period”. But the appointment became “untenable”, according to Mr Fergusson, after what he said were “certain subsequent developments”. Mr Field stayed on in the role and was then reappointed in 2014, prompting condemnation from politicians on both sides of Parliament about Government House’s failure to put a Bermudian in the job. Mr Mussenden became DPP in 2016, after Mr Field resigned. Ms Clarke is understood to be seconded to the Attorney-General’s Chambers at present. The disciplinary proceedings against her are on hold until the outcome of these legal proceedings.
The
Government asked organisations to show how they could help fund the replacement
of Longbird Bridge and Swing Bridge, according to documents published on its
website. A request for information issued through the Ministry of Public
Works also appealed for fabricators, project managers and suppliers from around
the world to express interest in the projects, as the existing structures in St
George’s were both expected to reach the end of their useful lives in 2021. It
said detailed designs for the bridges were almost complete and a package of
drawings for tenders was scheduled to be published this year. A separate request
for proposals invited bids from contractors to demolish and remove Longbird
Bridge, which has been closed to traffic for more than a decade. The public RFI
for the replacement project was issued on June 7 and an accompanying document,
titled Moving Bermuda Forward, explained: “The Ministry of Public
Works, Government of Bermuda, intends to replace two of their main access
bridges. The new bridges will be structural landmarks to be used by locals and
visitors for years to come. The ministry is looking to partner with
international experts to work on these interesting projects. After the
successful completion of an options study and a feasibility study, the design
team has now entered into the detailed design phase. This design phase will
result in a tender drawing set scheduled to be made public in the third quarter
of 2019. The Ministry of Public Works is looking forward to bringing new members
to the construction team to finance, fabricate and build these bridges.”
Interested companies were also told that limited resources meant most
construction materials were imported to the island. The document added: “The
local labour is relatively expensive and specialization in bridge construction
and complex infrastructure is limited. Hence, the ministry believes that
high-level prefabrication will enable this project to achieve an economical
solution and help reduce construction risk.” The RFI, which was posted on the
procurement notices page of the Government’s website, said that the ministry
wanted to gather “information about the marketplace” to help determine
“future purchasing options or requirements”. It explained that the ministry
sought “new members to supplement the design team in regard to financing,
fabricating and building two new bridges”. The document invited expressions of
interest from disciplines including general and professional contractors, bridge
or steelwork fabricators, financiers, project management, independent checkers,
trades and suppliers. It added: “This is an opportunity for suppliers to enter
into a dialogue with the Ministry of Public Works, present their
capabilities/experience, and gain a better understanding of an exciting upcoming
opportunity. The ministry intends to use information gathered during this RFI
process to guide the procurement strategy for the bridges’
supply/fabrication/construction.” Respondents have until 3pm on August 30 to
submit information. It was announced in December 2017 that three UK companies,
Ramboll, the lead consultant, as well as Knight Architects and Eadon
Consultants, would work together on the bridge replacements. Blueprints for the
structures were unveiled last September when it was thought construction on the
crossings would begin this summer. It was estimated then that the Longbird
Bridge on to St David’s Island from the Causeway and The Main, the largest
island in the Bermuda archipelago, would take two years to complete.
Construction time for the Swing Bridge from St David’s to St George’s Island
was expected to be 30 months. When asked about costs during a public information
session when the plans were revealed, in September, Lieutenant-Colonel David
Burch, the Minister of Public Works, believed it was too early to provide an
estimate He said: “We’re not prepared to do that until we have the detailed
designs for the bridge and know what materials we are going to use.” The
separate RFP for the demolition of Longbird Bridge was issued on June 10 and has
a submission deadline of 3pm on July 19, 2019. It said the public works ministry
was “inviting tenders from experienced contracting companies for the
demolition, removal and safe disposal of the Longbird Bridge superstructure,
piers, approach slabs, walls and services”. The RFP explained that the present
structure was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers and was officially opened
in December 1952. It said: “When the US Naval Air Station left Bermuda in
1995, they handed over maintenance responsibility to Nasa, who left Bermuda in
1998 and abdicated responsibility. The Government of Bermuda’s requests for
urgent maintenance went unanswered, and the Government assumed responsibility
for the bridge, by default ,in December 1998. Rehabilitation works were
completed in 2001, but by 2007 the bridge had once again fallen into disrepair.
In May 2007, the bridge was closed to marine traffic, and vehicular traffic was
reduced to one lane. On July 31, 2007, the bridge was permanently closed, with
vehicles diverted to the two newly constructed panel bridges which are still in
use today.” The RFP said the agreement was expected to be carried out on
September 30. The Royal Gazette asked for information about the proposed
budgets for the projects, if the public works ministry had revised its timetable
for the construction scheme and further details about how the bridge
replacements will be financed. A government spokeswoman said the ministry
declined to comment.
The
Government has dragged its feet to determine the fate of a school’s Primary 1
class, a worried parent said yesterday. Teretha Talbot, whose daughter
Brialla, 5, was due to join two older siblings at Elliot Primary School, said
that she still did not know whether her children would attend the school come
September. She said: “I am very concerned about this.” Ms Talbot was
speaking after a post appeared on social media last week. The advertisement, on
the Bermuda Public Schools Facebook page, encouraged parents still in search of
a P1 spot for their five-year-old child for September to consider the Devonshire
school. It read: “Elliot Primary School may be the place for you.” The post
said that interested parents should contact the school to arrange a tour and
that enrolment applications are available on the Ministry of Education’s
website. A Government spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that a decision had not
yet been made about whether the class would be offered next term. She said that
the education ministry and Department of Education “are working with Elliot to
bolster enrolment and is also engaging with parents about options for P1”. The
spokeswoman added: “A decision on the status of the P1 class hasn’t yet been
made as parent consultation still needs to take place.” She said that the
consultation process would be completed “in due course. It is our intent to
ensure that all stakeholders are consulted prior to a final decision being
made.” Ms Talbot said that she did not understand why the school would be
advertising to parents of P1 pupils when the future of the class was unclear.
She added: “For them to post the ad they had on Facebook about enrolling more
children at the school — it’s confusing.” Ms Talbot said that she also did
not understand the Government’s statement about consultation with parents.
“They’ve been having meetings all this time.” Ms Talbot said that safety
concerns for Brialla would mean moving her other children Chanse, 6, and Charm,
9, from the school if their sister could not also attend. She was earlier warned
in a letter that the P1 class at the school could be axed because only four
children had enrolled. The letter, from Valerie Robinson-James, the education
ministry’s permanent secretary, said that it was the “provisional view” of
Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, that the class be cut. Potential
Elliot parents were offered spots at other schools. Ms Robinson-James said that
Mr Rabain, whose daughter attends the school, would consult parents who decided
not to accept alternatives before he made a final decision. The Parent Teacher
Student Association at Elliot declined to comment yesterday on questions about
the P1 class. A representative said: “Please contact the Ministry/Department
of Education as they are the appropriate channel to address these questions.”
A
man who was imprisoned for serious sexual assault after his attempt to rape a
woman was foiled by passers-by is to be freed next week. Junius Carman
Caines will be released from Westgate Correctional Facility on Monday. Kathy
Lynn Simmons, the Minister of Legal Affairs, announced the move today in line
with her power to alert the public about sex offenders who are “considered to
present a risk of significant harm”. Caines was sentenced to three years and
four months in prison last July for an offence that happened in August, 2016.
The public notice said: “The minister is empowered to disclose information in
relation to sex offenders who are considered to present a risk of significant
harm to the health or safety of the public, an affected group of people, or an
individual. In accordance with this power, the minister, after consulting with
the Commissioner of Police, has determined that the public should be notified of
Mr Caines’s release.” It said the 50-year-old, who will live in Pembroke,
was convicted and incarcerated for serious sexual assault. The notice added:
“Based on this and on other information received, the minister has determined
that the Ministry of Education should be provided with information regarding
this offender, to ensure that relevant schools are notified about his impending
release.” When Caines, who had psychiatric problems, was sentenced last year,
Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons said the court must recognize its duty to
protect the public and also balance the interests of the offender, who
acknowledged that the justice and mental health systems “curtailed the
court’s ability” to treat him in “an approved programme in the
community”. The Supreme Court heard that Caines’s victim, who cannot be
identified for legal reasons, was walking home in the early hours of August 6,
2016, when she saw him acting strangely in Hamilton. She crossed the street, but
Caines began to shout and follow her. The woman reached her home and went
through the front door, but Caines grabbed her from behind and threw her to the
ground. The court heard he told her: “I want to rape a white woman.” A group
of passers-by heard the noise and came to the woman’s aid, but Caines escaped.
The court heard the assault lasted less than a minute and the victim suffered
minor physical injuries and psychological injury. Later that night, while still
with police, the victim saw Caines and pointed him out to officers, who arrested
him. The court heard police attempted to interview Caines, but he “rambled
nonsensically” and was later sent to the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute.
Prosecutors said the case had moved slowly due to a question mark over
Caines’s ability to plead and secure legal aid. Caines pleaded guilty to a
charge of serious sexual assault in July 2017. The court heard he had previous
convictions, some for violence, but none for sexual offences. Mrs Justice
Simmons said the starting point for sentencing should be five years and that
Caines was entitled to a 30 per cent discount due to his guilty plea. She also
ordered the term to be followed by a five-year supervision order that required
him to take recommended treatment programmes.
• UPDATE: The Ministry of Legal Affairs issued the following press release today:
A
Warwick man admitted handling more than $290,000 of drugs with intent to supply.
Luri Scott, 24, pleaded guilty at Supreme Court yesterday to handling cannabis,
cannabis resin and tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in cannabis, at
his home. He also admitted having drug equipment, specifically a digital scale.
The offences were said to have taken place on December 15, 2017. Acting Puisne
Judge Craig Attridge ordered a social inquiry report and a drug assessment on
Scott and released him on bail until August. But he warned Scott: “You should
not take from that any indication that you will not be sentenced on this matter
to a custodial sentence.”
Eight
motorists were arrested for drink-driving over the National Heroes Day holiday
weekend. They were arrested at sobriety checkpoints conducted in six
parishes from Thursday through Sunday evening. There are no road sobriety
checkpoints planned for this weekend. Police urged members of the public to not
drive, ride or operate a boat under the influence of alcohol, for the safety of
all.
A
“close” examination of the circumstances that led to a crash between a
police motorcyclist and a visiting American pedestrian was under way yesterday.
The Bermuda Police Service revealed that the officer involved was one of two
riders responding to a call when the incident happened on Burnaby Street at
about 5.25pm on Monday. A police spokesman said the Police Complaints Authority
was also made aware of the crash. The 36-year-old pedestrian was said to be
stable and recovering in hospital yesterday, while the officer was treated and
discharged. Footage taken in the aftermath of the crash was aired on ZBM News and
the broadcaster said the clip was earlier shared on social media. It showed a
woman, who was believed to be visiting the island with a group for the carnival
events, on the ground in the middle of the road as others offered assistance.
The woman was treated at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for a leg injury
and suspected head injury. A police spokesman said last night: “The
investigation regarding the collision involving a police motorcyclist and a
36-year-old visiting American woman on Burnaby Street, Monday afternoon,
continues and the circumstances of this unfortunate incident are being closely
looked at. The officer in question was one of two police motorcyclists
responding to an urgent service call at that time. As per legislation, the
Police Complaints Authority has been notified and the Bermuda Police Service is
currently assessing witness accounts and all other evidence as part of this
investigation.” Witnesses to the collision were asked to contact Sergeant
Caleb Jean-Pierre on 717-2368.
Facebook
is to launch a global cryptocurrency next year, and it has been greeted as a
positive for Bermuda’s own ambitions in the digital asset and fintech space.
The new currency is called Libra, and its structure resembles that of Ven, the
world’s first digital currency, which was created by Bermuda-based Hub Culture
in 2007. Stan Stalnaker, founder of Hub Culture, said the new currency would
introduce more than two billion internet users to digital currency at a time
when Bermuda had positioned itself early in the world of digital assets. While
Chris Garrod, head of fintech at Conyers, described the news as likely to be an
“overall positive” in terms of impact on Bermuda’s fintech efforts. Libra
will be fully-backed by a basket of global currencies and other assets with the
aim of giving stability to its day-to-day value. It is being built on blockchain
technology, and people will be able to send, receive spend and secure their
money in what is described as a” more inclusive global financial system”.
Among organisations involved in the project are Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, eBay,
Uber, Lyft and Coinbase. Those companies and others are part of The Libra
Association. It is a not-for-profit organisation that will have a role in the
operation of the Libra blockchain. It will be headquartered in Geneva, and have
offices in California. Yesterday, Facebook also unveiled a digital wallet called
Calibra, designed to work with Libra, that will allow anyone with a smartphone
the ability to send the digital currency as easy as sending a text message, and
at low or no cost. Facebook said that for many people around the world,
financial services and access to credit are out of reach. It said Calibra aimed
to address that challenge. Mr Stalnaker, chief strategy officer of Hub Culture,
said: “The Facebook Libra project is set to make waves in the world of
cryptocurrency and in the traditional world of banks.” He said it was a long
anticipated move after Telegram, a chat network that rivals Whatsapp, announced
its intention to enable payments with a cryptocurrency called Grams. “The
development of Visa, PayPal and Mastercard nodes to the system points to the
arrival of a payment network that can function between payment networks,
changing how payments occur. It is likely to have global reach through Facebook
Connect, not just Facebook itself, meaning that single-click payments on the
internet are about to become much easier.” Mr Stalnaker brought Hub
Culture’s Innovation Campus, and its Innovation Sprint to Bermuda in 2017 and
2018 respectively. He said Facebook’s Libra project sends a strong signal to
the world that crypto “is both here to stay and ready for the world’s
biggest payment ecosystems”. He added: “With transparency and major networks
opting in, its hard to see how Libra could fail to become a major force in
banking and payments from its inception. This has a strong industry affect; by
introducing over two billion internet users to digital currency, its likely that
some of them will find their way to bitcoin, Ven, ethereum, EOS and other
assets. “If Facebook’s coin then enters trading markets, it’s a natural
way for other currencies to find liquidity relative to the Libra project,
boosting their markets in the process.” Mr Stalnaker noted the similarity
between the structure of Libra and that of Ven, which has remained remarkably
stable in value during its 12 years of existence. He said Ven had shown how
stable such a strategy can be. “So it is validating to see parts of the Ven
model being adopted by other players in the market. Regardless of the relative
size of Facebook’s effort to Ven, the community oriented focus of Ven and the
values it represents around individual data ownership, transparency and security
will continue to differentiate Ven.” As for the impact to Bermuda. He said:
“Every moment counts in the world of digital assets and the stakes are very
high, but it is great to see Bermuda positioning itself for the new world of
finance early, so that the right frameworks are in place to capture the gigantic
opportunities that are emerging in the space.” Last week Jeremy Cox, executive
chairman of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, said the island’s Digital Asset
Business Act legislation was produced “in a very short period of time to help
the Government to promote the jurisdiction as one of those first-mover
jurisdictions to be accepting this type of business”. Speaking at the Bermuda
Captive Conference, he added: “That’s one area of business that we are going
to see develop, and I think Bermuda is a wonderful place for that type of
business to expand into other areas.” Meanwhile, Mr Garrod, of Conyers,
reacting to the news about Facebook’s digital currency, said: “It is
fascinating and certainly, on the face of it, could be seen to be a rival of
other cryptocurrencies. However, it is actually very different from them if you
delve into detail. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, to date have really only
attracted the attention of millennials and those who really don’t use
traditional banking. A major player such as Facebook at least will assist with
the overall acceptance and usability of blockchain technology, such as crypto
and digital assets, those who would never have dipped their toes into this space
before. In terms of its impact in the Bermuda space, you’d have to say it is
overall positive. It helps provide continuing creditability in the financial
world regarding blockchain generally and the way new digital currencies such as
Libra can use it. Based on Bermuda’s fairly recent leap into the fintech
world, it’s hard to point to any negatives.”
Insurance
industry veteran Scott Cobon is the new managing director, Bermuda, for Bermuda-based
insurance managers, Artex Risk Solutions. Mr Cobon moves into the position
formerly occupied by Rob Eastham, who is taking on the new role of executive
chairman, Artex Bermuda. The changes are among four senior leadership
announcements made within Artex’s international division. Artex also announced
that Paul Eaton has been appointed managing director, ILS, and Mike Matthews has
joined the company as commercial director, Artex International. Peter Mullen,
chief executive officer of Artex, said: “These appointments position our team
for even greater innovation and growth in the coming years.” Mr Cobon will
have responsibility for the continued success and development of the growing
Bermuda office, which handles a diverse range of insurance management products,
including captives, insurance linked securities and commercial structures.
Having more than ten years of experience in the Bermuda insurance management
industry, he has been pivotal in the growth of Artex’s ILS business, the
company said. He previously worked as a treaty reinsurance broker in Sydney,
Australia and began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Brisbane. Mr
Eastham is an industry veteran with 38 years of experience in the Bermuda
insurance industry, and is a well-known leader in all aspects of the ILS and
captive industry, the company said. Artex said Mr Eaton will have responsibility
for driving the strategy, planning and growth of Artex ILS business across all
locations. The company has a complement of more than 20 ILS insurance
professionals within its Bermuda, Cayman and Guernsey offices. Mr Eaton joined
Artex in 2004 after a 13-year career with RSA in various underwriting and
management roles. More recently he headed up Artex’s international business
development. Based in Guernsey, he is a director of Artex Guernsey’s ILS cell
companies. Mr Matthews takes on a newly established role, where he will be
responsible for the strategy, planning and delivery of growth for the
international business, the company said. The role encompasses sales, marketing,
product development and supporting client services. He began his career at AIG
and is a seasoned industry professional with more than 30 years’ experience in
structuring and developing complex and innovative captive insurance solutions,
Artex said. Artex, which claims to be the fastest-growing insurance manager in
the world, has had an annual growth rate of 17 per cent over the last seven
years, tripling in size over that term. The company serves some 1,500 customers
with captive management and alternative risk management solutions through more
than 1,000 risk-bearing entities. Licensed in 32 jurisdictions, it has more than
400 staff in 15 offices worldwide.
AS
Cooper & Sons Ltd has agreed to sell part of its business to fellow retailer
Brown & Co, a subsidiary of The Phoenix Stores Ltd. Effective September
1, The Phoenix Stores Ltd will take over the lease, inventory and staff of the
A.S. Cooper’s 7,500 square-foot, ground floor business located at 59 Front
Street. Both companies have stressed that all jobs are secure. The Phoenix
Stores will operate 59 Front Street as a stand-alone store. Somers Cooper, AS
Cooper’s managing director, said: “All ground floor staff and two buyers
will become employees of the new entity under the same terms and conditions as
their current employment. It will be sad to say farewell to so many loyal and
hardworking members of the Cooper’s staff family but gladly nothing materially
changes apart from the signature on their pay cheques. This move allows us to
focus solely on our clothing and fashion businesses.” Included in the
transaction are exclusive cosmetic and fragrance brands such as Estee Lauder,
Clinique, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Jo Malone, Bare Minerals and Shisheido, a
statement said. Also included are exclusive china and crystal brands, Waterford,
Wedgwood, Villeroy & Bock, Kate Spade and Portmeirion alongside fashion
jewellery lines Swatch and Swarovski Crystal (jewellery, accessories, watches
and figurines) as well as the Picturesque Bermuda book and print business.
Remaining AS Cooper retail locations include the ladies’ department at 26 Reid
Street, AS Cooper Man at 29 Front Street, Vineyard Vines at 27 Front Street and
branch stores in Dockyard and the Fairmont Southampton Resort. Mr Cooper added:
“Despite the global downturn in brick-and-mortar retail, we see strength
locally in certain segments and brands. We will continue to invest in growth
opportunities in the sector and aim to keep offering the buying public great
name brand fashions at US prices.” Mr Cooper said it was bittersweet to sell
this part of the business, which was started by his great grandfather, Alexander
Samuel Cooper. He said: “Beginning in 1897 he based the business on his love
of fine china, crystal and glassware. Growth occurred when tourism took hold in
Bermuda in the early 20th century. By then he had established strong
relationships with European brands, some of which still exist today. As an
example, we are Wedgwood’s oldest customer in the western hemisphere.”
George Grundmuller, president and chief executive officer at The Phoenix Stores
Ltd, said: “Our team is excited to add the ground floor of AS Cooper’s 59
Front Street to our group of stores and welcome its employees to our family. We
believe this acquisition will complement our Brown & Co operations and will
add many world-class brands to our portfolio of exclusive lines. We intend to
expand the business in the coming years and will work with suppliers to make
this a top-notch retail location for Bermuda. Customers can expect the
continuation of perfume and cosmetic lines offered at US duty-free prices with
new brands available shortly.” Once the transaction is complete on September
1, a statement said, customers can use their existing Phoenix Stores charge and
gift cards for purchases at the new location. AS Cooper gift cards will no
longer be accepted on the ground floor as of September 1, but they will still be
redeemable at all other AS Cooper locations.
A total of 48 athletes will
represent Bermuda at next month’s 18th NatWest International Island Games in
the British Dependent Territory of Gibraltar. The Games will take place from
July 6 to 12 with Bermuda having competitors in badminton (10), bowling (8),
tennis (5), track and field (4), shooting (1), beach volleyball (8), triathlon
(1), squash (6) and sailing (4). Injury forced runner Tilly Norman to pull out,
leaving Quincy Kuzyk, Brianna Mendes, Shianne Smith and Sean Trott to compete in
track events. Smith has enjoyed success at the Island Games, winning four
medals, including three gold, when Bermuda hosted the Games in 2013. Smith
provides the experience in an Island Games team that includes Kuzyk as one of
the youngest members of the Bermuda team at 18. There are also two 17-year-olds,
Aaron Simmons in badminton and Jordan Etemadi in sailing. Tennis will be led by
top singles player Gavin Manders, along with the experienced David Thomas and
Samuel Butler while Scott Redmond is the youngest tennis player at eighteen. At
the other end of the age spectrum, bowler June Dill is the oldest at 69.
Gibraltar has a population of 30,000 in an area of just 2.6 square miles. It is
adjacent to Spain’s Costa del Sol coast, and has long been a strategic
military position for the British. The views to the south of Gibraltar are of
the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, from which Gibraltar is separated by just 11km
of ocean. In addition to their indoor sports hall, the facilities include a
rackets centre, a 50 metre pool, an athletic track, a football pitch, a cricket
pitch and a rugby pitch. In addition they have recently opened the University of
Gibraltar. The move to new housing for the British military stationed in
Gibraltar has given the organising committee a Games Village for the visiting
athletes. Bermuda has ten players and three officials representing them in
badminton while there are eight ten-pin bowlers and eight volleyball players
also traveling to represent the island.
Island Games team
A
teenager hurt by a boat propeller over the holiday weekend has been treated and
released from hospital. According to a police spokesman, the 17-year-old
girl suffered leg injuries after she was struck by a propeller at Raft-Up at
Shelly Bay on Saturday afternoon. Marine police, Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service
and ambulance personnel all responded to the incident and assisted with initial
medical care. The spokesman said she was admitted to the general ward at King
Edward VII Memorial Hospital, but has since been discharged.
Today
marks 75 years since United States forces towed a captured German sub, U-505,
into Bermuda waters under a cloak of secrecy. The U-boat was brought into
the Great Sound with 57 prisoners, as well as its Enigma code encryption
machines and code books that allowed the Allies to crack German messages. It was
less than two weeks after troops had fought their way ashore at Normandy on
D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the Allied invasion of Nazi-held Europe was raging. But
two days before the biggest maritime invasion in history, the prize catch of U-505
had been forced to the surface under American fire 150 miles off the West
African coast. Its German crew had to abandon their stricken sub before it could
be scuttled, delivering U-505 to the Allies with her precious cargo
intact. The US Navy needed to hide their find, which they reported as sunk, and
brought it to their Naval Operations Base in Southampton, at what is today
Morgan’s Point. Derek Waller, a retired air commodore with the Royal Air
Force, has spent years writing about the U-boats that came into Allied hands.
“U-505 was not part of the ten that were allocated to each of the three
main Allies: the USSR, the USA and the UK,” Mr Waller said. “It was
captured, rather than surrendered.” Absent from the list of prisoners brought
on shore to Bermuda was Ewald Felix, 21, a junior crewman who Mr Waller’s
research reveals had helped keep the damaged submarine afloat and thus aided the
Allied side in its capture. Felix was taken separately on board the USS Guadalcanal,
while his fellow crewmen were told that he had died and been buried at sea. Mr
Waller writes that Felix was concealed from colleagues who “might well have
punished him harshly for facilitating the capture”. A German historical
magazine, Kristall, claimed in 1956 that Felix had been killed in a
prison camp by his fellow prisoners of war as punishment for being an informer.
In fact, he had been spirited to a PoW camp in Norfolk, Virginia. By 1956, Felix
was living in Poland with his parents. He later moved to Germany, where he
resided until his death in the 1990s. Mr Waller said that it was
“imperative” that the capture be kept secret “lest the Germans would
discover that fact and change their U-boat code books before June 6. Thus, the
US Navy decided to tow it to Bermuda and keep the whole event totally secret.”
The Americans held the rest of U-505’s crew under wraps in Bermuda for
the six weeks. The sub’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Harold Lange, who had
been seriously wounded and lost a leg, was also separated: he stayed nine months
on the island, while the rest of the crew were interned in Camp Ruston,
Louisiana. Their confinement broke the terms of the Geneva Convention of the
treatment of prisoners of war, but the US Navy stuck to security as a pretext. The
Royal Gazette reported in 2014, for the 70th anniversary of U-505’s
landing here, how Captain Lange befriended Kate Perinchief, a Bermudian woman
who lived near the base, and exchanged letters with her after the war. Another
article from the Gazette, which never reached publication, was written at
the time of the landing by Ford Baxter, a reporter tipped off by a lighthouse
keeper about the incoming U-boat. US authorities threatened him with arrest
after receiving Mr Baxter’s query about the vessel. With the intercession of
Lord Burghley, the Governor, the story was quietly held. Mr Waller said he had
explored the history of U-boats, and U-505, as a hobby during his
wife’s illness, and had contacted local historians such as Edward Harris and
Andrew Bermingham as part of his research. The full story of U-505 was
published in the July 2018 in Volume 21 of The Bermuda Journal of Archaeology
and Maritime History, maintained by the National Museum of Bermuda.
Haiti
2 Bermuda 1. Bermuda’s players looked a dejected bunch as they made their
way back to the dressing room at the Estadio Nacional after succumbing to a
second-half revival from Haiti. Their heads, however, were held high, and
rightly so. Bermuda had done themselves and their island proud. They fully
deserved their one-goal lead by virtue of a Danté Leverock header on the stroke
of half-time but were undone by chief tormentor Derrick Etienne, a second-half
substitute, who had a hand in both of Frantzdy Pierrot’s goals. Haiti, a team
ranked 101st in the Fifa rankings, 73 places above Bermuda, and winners of the
tournament in 1973, were heavy favourites heading into the group B
curtain-raiser. They had, after all, finished top of the Concacaf Nations League
qualifying standings with four successive victories, including a 2-0 win over
Nicaragua, whom Bermuda meet in their final group game next Monday. It was
Bermuda, however, who looked the superior side during a stirring first-half
performance, as they dominated Haiti, creating — and missing — a hatful of
scoring opportunities. Such was their profligacy in front of goal, relief rather
than unbridled joy was the overriding emotion when Leverock, the Bermuda
captain, headed home Osagi Bascome’s left-wing corner right before the
interval. “We created many chances in the first half, but we didn’t take
them,” Kyle Lightbourne, the Bermuda coach, said. “My biggest disappointment
was that we didn’t hit the target. We got in some very good positions. I can
remember four or five chances in the first half. If we take them, it’s a
different ballgame.” Aside from an early scare when Pierrot blazed over when
bearing down on goal, Bermuda outplayed their opponents during the first period
and could have put the game out of reach had they shown greater composure in the
critical moments. Zeiko Lewis was at his impish best, driving through the middle
after being put through by Lejuan Simmons before firing straight at Johnny
Placide, the Haiti goalkeeper. The diminutive wide man went close again moments
later, linking up well with Calon Minors down the left before befuddling his
marker with a piece of skill so audacious it drew an audible gasp from the
crowd. His brazen trickery was undermined, however, by another finish that
lacked any real conviction, as he squirted his effort wide with the outside of
his left boot. Nahki Wells was the next to find himself with a clear sight of
goal. The talismanic striker created space inside the box after a clever
one-two, but, he too, let Haiti off the hook, slicing his shot horribly wide. A
virtual bystander for most of the first half, Dale Eve, the Bermuda goalkeeper,
had to be alert to palm Pierrot’s scissor kick over the bar during a rare
Haiti attack. Leverock did at least ensure Bermuda had something to show for
their first-half ascendancy when he stole a march on his marker to plant a
header into the bottom corner. Whatever words Marc Callot, the Haiti coach, said
to his players at half-time certainly seemed to have had their desired effect,
as did his decision to introduce Etienne, whose pace and vision changed the
entire complexion of the game. Pierrot looked far more threatening after the
break, as Haiti switched to two strikers, moving Duckens Nazon into a more
central position to accommodate Etienne. The New York Red Bulls forward, a
former team-mate of Lewis, was simply the spark that ignited Haiti’s comeback;
his mere presence appeared to lift his team-mates, who raised their tempo and
began moving the ball with pace and purpose. “We knew about their No 11
[Etienne],” Lightbourne added. “He was a big difference when he came on.
They utilized the flanks a lot better. We tried to shut him down but, on the
day, he was the difference between the two teams.” There was a sense of
inevitability when Haiti leveled in the 54th minute courtesy of an Etienne free
kick, delivered to the back post and headed in by Pierrot. The free kick was
taken by Steven Sabat, with Etienne making a decoy run that worked to
perfection. Etienne, again, was the orchestrator of Pierrot’s second goal in
the 66th minute, twisting and turning the hapless Donte Brangman before cutting
the ball back for Nazon, who forced a fine save from Eve. Unfortunately for
Bermuda, the loose ball fell invitingly into the path of Pierrot, who had peeled
away from defender Jaylon Bather and made no mistake from close range. Eve was
in fine form, twice denying Etienne with an outstretched boot to keep his side
in the game. Surely it is only a matter of time before the former Stoke City
prospect makes a return to the professional ranks. On this evidence, in arguably
the biggest game in Bermuda’s footballing history, he is too good to be
playing at the domestic level. Bermuda offered little in the way of attacking
intent in the second half other than a half-chance from Milan Butterfield, which
he snatched at, thus continuing a frustrating trend from the first half. Their
hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals of the competition, as one of the top
two qualifiers, are now hanging by the slightest of threads. “A lot of good
things have come out of that game,” Lightbourne added. “I think we surprised
a few people with the way we played and I’m proud of my team even though we
lost. It’s about us building and getting better. That’s the most important
thing for me.” There is no escaping that this was a missed opportunity for
Lightbourne’s side. Perhaps that in itself represents a small victory for the
smallest nation competing at the tournament.
SCORERS
TEAMS
Referee: D Parchment (Jamaica).
Revellers
hailed the fifth annual Bermuda Carnival as being among the best of its kind, an
organizer said yesterday. Jason Sukdeo welcomed the “positive feedback”
from partygoers who were treated to packed schedule of events. The Bermuda
Carnival president spoke to The Royal Gazette as the Parade of Bands
snaked its way through Hamilton ahead of entertainment from DJs at the Last Lap
in the car park of City Hall, where the weekend officially started three days
earlier with Five Star Friday. Hundreds of people took to the water at Shelly
Bay for the Raft-Up on Saturday and Sunday’s activities included a Wetta event
at Tobacco Bay and the all-night J’Ouvert Celebration in Dockyard. Mr Sukdeo
said: “The weekend has been really good so far, no major incidents to report.
We’ve had good weather, the bands have been on the road today — another
great day. I’m hearing stories from people who have been experiencing it and
they said it’s definitely one of the best carnivals they’ve ever been to.
From the concert on Friday night, the raft-up on Saturday ... it has all been
positive feedback.” Mr Sukdeo said the carnival weekend was growing “year
after year” and he believed it attracted visitors to the island as unique
events like the raft-up proved popular attractions while streamlining transport
options also set Bermuda apart. “We have more of a united set-up and make
things easy for someone to participate. I can tell that folks do enjoy the
simplicity of Bermuda’s carnival and it makes the experience better for
them.” He said the event’s team will take time to assess how it can improve
or adapt in the future. However, Mr Sukdeo assured fans: “We can definitely
say that we’re looking to go again next year.” Macdonald Stovell, 81, from
Pembroke, “thoroughly enjoyed” the parade, which he watched with wife
Janice, 76. He said: “I was looking for joy and happiness, I found it —
immensely. I like the excitement and all the costumes. People like to relax and
express themselves after a long winter.” Denise Wilson-Adams, 52, thought the
new location, after the event moved from Southside, was “amazing”. The
senior accounts administrator, of Devonshire, said: “It’s a different kind
of routine this year than it has been in previous years. With this format you
get to see it differently, it’s more spaced out.” Beverley Richardson, 56,
enjoyed the energy, colors and “wide variety” of people who took part. She
added: “I love soca.” Karthika Griffith, from Warwick, took part in the
parade and was joined by friends from the US and Britain after the group met on
the “carnival circuit”. The 32-year-old accountant said: “I love the fact
that it brings people to the island. I love the fact that it’s a happy time in
general, all the negativity gets pushed to the side and people are having a good
time, there are positive vibes.” Ms Griffith’s friend Vicky Gunraj, 29, from
Miami, was at her sixth carnival in a row, after taking part in festivities in
Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Guyana and Trinidad. The policewoman
said it was her third year at the Bermuda Carnival. She added: “I love
Bermuda. It’s safe, it’s clean.” Gabrielle Virgo, 59, visited from
Maryland with her husband Ernest Carter, who celebrated his 65th birthday
yesterday. She said: “We came for his birthday and here we have a festival, so
it worked out wonderfully. We did not know the carnival was on this weekend
until we got here, it was a very pleasant surprise. I like the colors, the
culture, the camaraderie — it’s a lot of fun.”
Insurer
BF&M Ltd posted a $4.8 million profit for the first quarter of 2019, up from
$3.1 million in the corresponding period last year. John Wight, the
company’s group chairman and chief executive officer, said: “BF&M
reported good results for the first quarter of 2019. Our earnings were driven by
the strong performance of both the property and casualty operations and our life
and health business. This, combined with solid investment results, helped to
offset higher overall loss experience in the quarter.” BF&M offers
property and casualty products as well as health, life, annuities, pension
products, investment advisory and financial planning services. Three of the
group’s four main operating companies — BF&M General Insurance Company
Ltd, BF&M Life Insurance Company Ltd and Caymanian-based Island Heritage
Insurance Company Ltd — are rated A by ratings agency AM Best, while the
Insurance Corporation of Barbados Ltd is rated A-. Mr Wight added: “BF&M
continues to hold the highest ratings attributed to domestic insurers in Bermuda
or the Caribbean. This reflects our ability to be there for our customers when
they need us — a message that is all the more meaningful at the start of the
2019 hurricane season.” Equity attributable to shareholders at March 31 this
year was $279.5 million. BF&M said general fund assets totaled $1.2 billion
of which $140.8 million was held in cash and cash equivalents. Gross premiums
written for the period were $98 million, driven by growth in home insurance
business experienced in several islands in the Caribbean. With increased
premiums written, the company also benefited from increased commissions on
business ceded to the reinsurance market. Commission and other income increased
from the prior year by 6 per cent to $13.7 million. Shares of BF&M closed at
$17.05 on the BSX yesterday, giving the company a market valuation of about
$150.5 million. The stock is up 5.2 per cent this year to date.
A
pedestrian was in hospital this evening after a crash with a police motorbike in
Hamilton. The woman, who was thought to be an American visitor, suffered a
leg injury as well as suspected head injuries. A police spokesman said it
appeared the officer was responding to “a call for service” when the crash
happened as the pedestrian tried to cross Burnaby Street, near DHL Express, at
about 5.25pm. He added she was understood to be receiving treatment at King
Edward VII Memorial Hospital. It was reported earlier that the motorcyclist
suffered “abrasions” and the bike was also damaged. The spokesman said
traffic was diverted for two hours while investigations were carried out.
Witnesses were asked to call police on 295-0011.
A
13-year-old boy was punched by an armed robber who also attacked his mother and
stole her bag yesterday. Police said the pair were exploring Blue Hole Hill
Park in Hamilton Parish and left a paved path to take a dirt trail, which led to
a cave entrance. The teenager and his 32-year-old mother, of Paget, came across
a man in the trees, who pushed the woman to the ground and brandished a knife. A
struggle broke out and the boy tried to help but he was punched by the stranger.
The woman managed to fight off the attacker and run to the road where she
flagged down a passing motorist, who called 911 at about 5.30pm. Her son also
ran to get help and neither of the pair were seriously hurt but the man ran off
with the mother’s beach bag, which contained personal belongings. A police
spokesman said: “The scene has been processed and a search of the Blue Hole
Hill Park area by police officers, with the assistance of a K9 unit, concluded
Sunday evening without locating the perpetrator, but efforts to trace his
whereabouts continue.” The attacker was described as about 40 years old, 6ft
2in, with a caramel complexion. He wore an olive green camouflage shirt, which
had the sleeves cut off at the shoulder, and similar coloured cargo pants. It
was initially reported that another child — a girl — was with the mother and
son but police confirmed later that only the two were involved. Witnesses,
residents of the area or anyone with information that could help were asked to
call the Criminal Investigation Department on 247-1744 or Crime Stoppers on
800-8477.
Three
women, including an 81-year-old, thwarted a robbery when an armed man targeted a
liquor store in Hamilton Parish. Police said the suspect went into Howzat on
North Shore Road at about 8.40am on Sunday “brandishing an unknown object
covered by a white cloth”, possibly a firearm. The man demanded money from a
staff member, a 57-year-old woman from Smith’s, and a struggle broke out. She
was helped by her 81-year-old mother as well as her colleague, a 28-year-old
Warwick woman. The would-be robber was forced to flee empty-handed on an unknown
motorcycle along North Shore Road.” He said none of the three were seriously
hurt but the 57-year-old woman suffered scrapes to her arms during the struggle.
The suspect is black, slim, about 5ft 8in and wore dark clothing and helmet.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Criminal Investigation Department
on 247-1744 or CrimeStoppers on 800-8477.
Performing
artists will attempt to put a smile on faces in a polarized world through the
45th Annual Bermuda Festival next year. The event, which will take place
from January 17 to March 14, will have the theme “Come Together”. Festival
chairman David Skinner said: “We wanted a theme that would reflect unity and
collaboration. In an increasingly polarized world, we recognize the power of the
performing arts in bringing people together and we thought this theme would be
timely and would convey that message.” Organisers also hope to encourage more
Bermudian talent through a new proposal process for potential artists for the
2020 or 2021 Festivals. Mr Skinner said: “The Festival receives hundreds of
submissions every year from overseas based artists, members of the public and
even visitors to Bermuda who attend the Festival. Our office team, along with
the Programming Advisory Committee, diligently review these submissions and seek
to include as many local artists as possible in each upcoming year’s
programme. We recognize, with pride, that there is world-class talent emanating
from our own shores as evidenced by the number of Bermudians over the years who
have gone on to develop brilliant internationally acclaimed careers in the
performing arts. It is difficult in Bermuda to get the type of exposure needed
to develop one’s talent and skills in these areas, and the Festival wants to
encourage local artists to put their best foot forward. We hope that standardizing
and publishing the criteria for selection will help.” There will be potential
openings for artists within three categories: headline acts, opening acts and
pre-show acts. The submission process will require all prospective artists to
submit a written proposal and supplemental information. For more information,
e-mail to adminoffice@bermudafestival.org
or call 295-1291.
An
American who has been pen pals with a Bermudian for 52 years has set foot on the
island for the first time. Marsha Thomas, 64, from Sparta, Illinois,
describes Juliana Swan, 63, from Pembroke, as “family” and says she has
fallen in love with Bermuda. Ms Swan first wrote to Ms Thomas when she was just
12 years old after reading a pen pal column in an Archie comic book her parents
had forbidden her to read. The pair stayed in touch ever since and she has
visited Ms Thomas in Illinois on several occasions. Ms Thomas recalled: “When
Juliana wrote to me I thought, ‘Bermuda, that’s cool’. She sounded very
interesting so I wrote back and we have written back and forth, and sent each
other pictures and mementoes over the years. We have both raised children and
she has been to visit me. This is my first time here. I just retired and it was
on my bucket list.” Ms Swan, who worked in the medical field, as a reserve
officer and now for the Ministry of National Security, said: “The first letter
was basic, ‘Hello, I live in Bermuda and got your name out of the comic book.
Then we would write about our schools, grades, brothers, sisters. My first visit
was when her daughter got baptized in 1978 — I just had a baby in ‘77 and I
flew out. It was exciting — it felt like my family. Nowadays we keep in touch
through Facebook. The first time we met it was like the long-lost sister you
hadn’t seen for ever.” Ms Thomas, who worked for the Department of Children
and Family Services in Illinois for 30 years, arrived in Bermuda last Thursday
and the two pen pals have been touring the island. She said: “I am still
amazed at how blue the water is. My favourite part so far was going to Horseshoe
Bay. I’m impressed with the colors of the houses and everything is so clean
here, too. It seems like she knows everybody here. She was tooting everyone in
the car. I love it.” Ms Swan recalled how she took her young daughters to
Illinois 36 years ago because they wanted to see snow. Ms Thomas laughed: “It
was one of the coldest winters we’d ever had! My husband and I picked them up
at the airport and there was slushy snow on the parking lot. The girls were so
excited, but it was just this dirty, grey snow. But when we got home they played
in the white snow.” Ms Swan, who is godmother to Ms Thomas’s eldest
daughter, added: “Marsha met both of my daughters again today. They still
remember that trip vividly.” Both pen pals reflected on the dying art of
letter writing. Ms Swan said: “People seldom write letters now. I wrote a
letter to my friend the other day in Atlanta — she asked why she didn’t call
her on the phone. She had been down about stuff. I didn’t ask about it, but
she said it made her cry and that it was the nicest thing anyone could have done
for her. I get friends little cards when I go away.” Ms Thomas added: “I
think people are just too busy for it nowadays. I still send cards to my
friends.” Asked whether she intends to return to Bermuda, Ms Thomas said: “I
would like to, and I’ll bring my husband next time.”
Rising
costs and a drop in sales have forced a garden and pet supply store to close,
its owner said. Jennifer McCarron said that Animal & Garden House, on
Cemetery Road, Pembroke, would end operations this month. She said that keeping
the business open had “become a daily struggle”. Ms McCarron added:
“You’re just pouring out money and there’s no Band-Aid right now to fix
it. There’s nothing coming down the pipeline to give a boost to the economy.
It’s just another family business that’s forced to close its doors.” Ms
McCarron said the store has three employees and that her children often help out
as well. She said that breaking the news to her staff had been hard. Ms
McCarron, who has owned the business since 2009, said she had decided to close a
few weeks ago. She said that decision felt like “a huge weight off my
shoulders”. The Warwick resident explained: “You try to find all sorts of
ways just to try compete and stay in business.” However, she said that her
business did not have the buying power of her larger island competitions. Ms
McCarron added: “People look at the differences in prices. Our overhead is
totally different than theirs.” She said that a number of factors, including
higher rent, bank fees and health insurance, as well as decreased traffic to her
store, had led to her decision to close shop. Ms McCarron added the business had
seen a drop in sales for “well over a year. You just don’t see
anything in the economy changing. Nothing is coming down the pipeline bringing
people to the island — because that’s what we rely on.” Ms McCarron said
that the growth of online shopping had also hit her business. She said:
“It’s such an easier way of shopping these days. People don’t have to
leave home any more to do their shopping.” Ms McCarron said she had mentioned
her business closure to David Burt, the Premier, at a meet and greet for
constituents held in Warwick at the weekend. She said that Mr Burt had suggested
a future meeting between the two. But she added: “It’s just too late. The
wheels don’t work fast enough to make changes. The sales decline has gone on
for well over a year now.” Ms McCarron said that she will be looking for a job
as of next month. She added: “Finding jobs out there is another difficult
matter.” The store will have a closing sale on June 30.
Bad
news for lionfish eaters — the local supply of the delicious nuisance fish is
about to shrink. Reefsweeper, a remote operated vehicle used by company
Atlantic Lionshare to spear, collect and sell lionfish, is moving to Destin,
Florida. “This was always part of the plan,” said Elizabeth Martin, who
founded Atlantic Lionshare with her husband Darius in 2014. “Florida gave us
$50,000 towards our research and development. Part of that contract specified
that we had to be in Florida, around June 2019, removing fish for them. We have
stayed here as long as we can, but we do have obligations to go to other
places.” Mr Martin and his son Nick, plan to drive their $320,000 ROV to
Florida on the company boat, Atlantic Security, later this month. “It should
take about a week to get there,” Mrs Martin said. Mr and Mrs Martin are
Bermudian, and will continue to live here. “No one is quitting their day
job,” Mrs Martin said. She said Florida’s lionfish problem is much worse
than Bermuda’s. “They had a tournament in Florida a couple of weeks ago, and
in four days divers caught almost 20,000 fish,” she said. By contrast, their
ROV only picked up 48 lionfish over a 7-hour fishing expedition last week.
Bermuda has a lionfish problem because the Gulf Stream has brought them up from
Florida, so Mrs Martin reasons that solving the lionfish problem down south,
will benefit Bermuda. Atlantic Lionshare will be working with the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission to cull the lionfish around Florida and the
Gulf of Mexico. Mrs Martin said they are taking their time as a company, right
now, but will probably have to buy more boats and build more ROVs like
Reefsweeper, to keep up with the problem there. She said despite all the
lionfish in Florida waters, divers still have trouble collecting enough fish,
consistently, to keep restaurants supplied. “If they want to make a menu item
they need to keep consistent amounts and be able to offer that consistent plate
of food,” she said. “If they can’t count on the fish showing up every week
they can’t do that.” The Martins first had the idea for the
lionfish-catching ROV, in 2014. “I asked my husband if he had time on a Friday
to get us a lobster for dinner,” Mrs Martin said. “He had just enough time
to go out and hit one of his honeyholes.” But when Mr Martin got there he was
disappointed to find a lionfish living in his favourite lobster hole.
“Lobsters and lionfish like the same kind of holes,” she said. “If a
lionfish kicks a lobster out, he won’t go back in. So we discussed the
problem, what needed to be done and jumped in.” They had an entrepreneurial
spirit, but no experience with lionfish. Mrs Martin is an insurance broker at
Atlantic Security Ltd in Hamilton. Mr Martin runs Island Pool Service, and his
son Nick runs Bermy Blue Pool Service. They found a robotics team in Dexter,
Michigan to help build their ROV. “The concept was to build an ROV that would
successfully remove lionfish in commercial numbers at deep depths with no
bicatch,” she said. The first prototype arrived in 2017, but didn’t work
properly. “That was a suction-only machine,” she said. “It had an amazing
amount of suction, but it wasn’t enough.” What they hadn’t taken into
account was that lionfish spend their entire lives fighting back strong suction
in the form of tidal currents and surges. “The little stinkers stuck their
fins into the side of the rock and just held on,” Mrs Martin said. “I said
okay, round two.” From a boat, operators use cameras and lasers to spot the
right fish, aim, and shoot it with a spear. The fish is then sucked into a
collection basket. “Our shallowest fish was caught in 63ft and our deepest was
in 490ft,” Mrs Martin said. She urged Bermuda to continue to support local
cullers, and the Bermuda Lionfish Taskforce. “Without their efforts, lionfish
will destroy our reefs,” she said. “Our lionfish population is not as bad as
Florida or the Bahamas, but it would be without all the local efforts going into
controlling the numbers.”
• For more information see atlanticlionshare.com or their Facebook page.
June 16, Sunday
A
multinational task force tackled a simulated bomb alert at a hotel in St Vincent
at the weekend as part of their Tradewinds training exercise. Troops from
the Royal Bermuda Regiment joined forces with Caribbean, American and French
forces on a security exercise which featured an abandoned suitcase leaking fluid
in a hotel lobby. The security team, which evacuated the Blue Lagoon Hotel in
the Ratho Mills district of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and bomb disposal
experts were delivered to the scene in an RBR vehicle with a police escort.
Private Camille Jones, an RBR signaler who acted as the team’s communications
specialist, said: “I’m with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team and
transmitting what’s going on to the commanders back at base.” The
24-year-old bank customer services assistant from Smith’s added: “I’m
enjoying the trip and the adventure. It’s been amazing. It’s been great
working with all these different countries. I’ve met people from all over the
world.” Private Jones is part of the 120-strong RBR contingent on phase two of
Exercise Tradewinds, a major security and disaster relief training programme
involving 22 countries. Corporal Douglas Caesar of the Royal St Vincent and the
Grenadines Police Force, who was among the first responders to arrive at the
scene of the bomb exercise yesterday, said he had participated in the annual
Tradewinds exercise, run by the United States military’s Southern Command,
when it took place in Antigua and Jamaica. He added: “I’m not directly
involved this time, but I know it’s a useful exercise. You never know when you
might be called on to assist your sister countries. It’s training everyone to
one standard so there won’t be any hiccups. It’s also building bonds of
friendship with places like Bermuda.” Bermudian soldiers joined troops from
other countries in reaction to a scenario based around a terrorist mass shooting
at a cricket match at the Arnos Vale sports stadium in Arnos Vale. A sweep of
the stadium found a “bomb” and RBR soldiers deployed a cordon around the
stadium. RBR medics set up an emergency triage post and prepared to treat
casualties from the incident while bomb disposal experts disposed of the device.
RBR Lance Corporal Donavin Trott-Burchall, of Boat Troop, but seconded to B
Company for Tradewinds, said: “We’re doing a perimeter check, looking for
the suspects — six people in two vehicles. I’m enjoying the whole
experience. I like traveling to new places and the people here are really
nice.” The 26-year-old from Devonshire added: “The great thing about the
Regiment is that you get to travel, meet new people and you build lifelong
relationships with your fellow soldiers.” Captain Shaun Richards of the
Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force, who acted as part of the Regional Observer
Assessment Team, said the different countries involved were still in the early
stages of working together. He added: “There are things which will need to be
worked on, but this is a learning experience. I am sure everyone involved is
learning a lot and it’s good for all the countries taking part in
Tradewinds.” Edward Rodgers, the US Southern Command deputy divisional chief
for training and exercises and a former US Marine Corps officer, said after the
stadium scenario: “Each day everyone is getting better. There was some good
training today. They were able to respond in a timely manner and the casualties
were treated as fast as possible. It’s an improvement on yesterday and we
expect more improvements as the exercise goes on.” Tradewinds was designed to
build increased regional co-operation in complex multinational security
operations, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster response work.
Countries taking part include Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados,
Belize, Bermuda, Britain, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, the Dominican Republic,
France, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, St Kitts and
Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the
USA.
Premier
David Burt will travel to Costa Rica to watch Bermuda’s historic first
Concacaf Gold Cup match against Haiti tomorrow. The Premier also announced
the Government had provided $100,000 to the Bermuda Football Association to
support the national team’s preparation for the tournament. He said: “This
is historic, Bermuda’s first appearance in Concacaf’s most prestigious
competition. This is a tremendous accomplishment for these young men, they have
made all of Bermuda proud.” Mr Burt said sports minister Lovitta Foggo would
attend Bermuda’s third group match, against Nicaragua in New Jersey on June
24. Other ministers and MPs will attend games at their own expense. The Premier
hosted a farewell reception for the team at Barr’s Bay Park last week. He
added: “I am grateful to have met with the players and coaches during the
farewell reception to offer my warmest congratulations on their success. Bermuda
has played well, fought hard, and they have earned a well-deserved spot at the
Gold Cup. This is an exciting opportunity and we wish our young men the best.”
He also thanked the companies that released players from their work
responsibilities to represent Bermuda.
Community
homes for mental health treatment in Bermuda are to be funded by the Government,
the Premier pledged. David Burt said that funding for the homes would come
in the “very near future”. The statement drew applause from the audience at
the second day of the Adverse Childhood Experiences conference at the Hamilton
Princess & Beach Club. The event examined the lasting impacts of traumatic
events in childhood. Mr Burt told attendees: “The Government will be funding,
and making sure that we make funding available, in the very near future — at
the latest at the next Budget session, but possibly even before — through the
Social Development Committee, to fund community homes so there can be mental
health treatment inside of communities, because we know that that is a
significant gap right now inside of our community.” He said that one of
Bermuda’s challenges was how Aces present themselves in mental health
challenges for youth and adults. Mr Burt added the homes would help to solve
“the lack of that continuum of care for persons once they pass 18”. He said
that support services offered in Bermuda “are not enough”. Mr Burt added:
“Our system of social support is under stress.” The Premier said that in his
two years as leader he had heard the “traumatic stories” of parents who were
trying to help their children who struggle with mental health and behavioral
issues. He added: “It became evident, after the first I would say year in
office, that we needed to do more from the Government on the social services
side. We have challenges here in this country that have to be addressed and the
resources have to be put in place in order to address them.” Mr Burt said that
a Cabinet committee dedicated to social development issues had started its work.
He added: “The lens in which we will view all of our policy implementation is
one that makes sure that we address these issues which so many of our helping
agencies are facing.” Mr Burt said that Aces were a health risk that had a
“tremendous impact on future violence, victimization and perpetuation, and
lifelong health and opportunity”. He said that untreated Aces were also
responsible for increased healthcare costs to the Government and employers, loss
of job productivity, and loss of earnings for employees who miss work. Mr Burt
added: “The wide-ranging health and social consequences of Aces underscore the
importance of preventing them before they happen. Safe, stable and nurturing
relationships and environments for all children are essential and can have a
positive impact on a broad range of health and behavior-related issues, and on
the development of skills that will help our children reach their full
potential.” Mr Burt said that it was not always possible to prevent trauma. He
added: “We can control the procedures, programmes and support that is put in
place to combat and mitigate these Aces. It is our job as a Government, and also
as a society, to help guarantee that children in need are given the necessary
support to thrive. This is our opportunity to build that better future.”
Martha Dismont, executive director for Family Centre, closed the ceremony saying
she was encouraged by Mr Burt’s invitation to her to meet regarding the way
forward for mental health treatment in Bermuda. She said: “I always have mixed
interactions with Government. The Government doesn’t typically involve the
social sector aside from Government, but he has a listening ear — so we want
to ask questions about that. I told everyone in the room he has invited me to a
meeting and I want as many of you to come as possible and I am serious about
that. We need to talk about these real issues.”
Hundreds
of elated Bermuda fans will cheer their team from the stands for the island’s
historic first appearance in the Concacaf Gold Cup. Sports lovers told The
Royal Gazette they will bring pink and blue to Bermuda’s biggest matches
in decades and watch history unfold. Bermuda kick off their campaign tomorrow
against Haiti in San José, Costa Rica, at 7pm Bermuda time. They will also play
group matches against Costa Rica in Frisco, Texas, on Thursday, and Nicaragua in
Harrison, New Jersey, on June 24. The advice from David Sabir, the Bermuda
Football Association general secretary, was: “Make it a Bermuda day.” The
biggest Bermuda contingent is expected for the final group match against
Nicaragua at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. Among them will be veteran coach
Paul Scope, who hopes to witness “the one that decides whether we go through
to next round — even if we don’t manage before that, that’s the one
that’s winnable”. Mr Scope said: “The Gold Cup is huge. I’ve been in
Bermuda for 35 years; I’ve been in football all that time. I came in 1983 and
heard about the team [in 1967] that went to the Pan American Games. We had some
talented players — that was the last golden era.” Bermuda could only advance
so far towards the World Cup, Mr Scope said: aiming for the Gold Cup was “more
realistic. Here we are, all these years later, deservedly qualifying. We’re a
much more resilient team now.” Mr Scope said he saw that same mettle in
Bermuda’s historic qualifying win in March against the Dominican Republic. A
win against Haiti would be “unbelievable”, he said. But even coming home
from three narrow defeats would do Bermuda proud. “A lot of friends are making
a holiday of that and Dallas, and I hear there’s a lot of people going to New
Jersey, as well as people that used to live in Bermuda. There’s a real buzz,
for sure.” Mr Scope said draping himself in the flag was not his style.
“I’m a coach at heart,” he said. “I’ll be analyzing the game.” With
a capacity of 25,000, the Red Bull Stadium, purpose-built for football, promises
a “great atmosphere” for the crowd, Mr Scope added. Nick Ingham and other
Robin Hood footballers are banding into a posse of ten for their trip to Dallas
for the Costa Rica match, which begins at 10.30pm Bermuda time. He said:
“I’ve never got the opportunity to see my country play in the big stadium.
For us, it’s a boys’ trip to support Bermuda and have fun.” Mr Ingham, who
plans to buy a pink Bermuda replica jersey as well as shirts advertising
Barritt’s Ginger Beer, said his contingent will bring “cheers, chants and
singing” to the stands in Texas. “It’s a real mission to go — two
flights, then add in the hotel, so you want to make the most of it,” he said.
“I know the coach [Kyle Lightbourne, the former Robin Hood coach] and a couple
of players on the team. They’ll know we’re in the stands. We’ll give them
the support and see a smile when they hear their names.” Teddy Terceira,
general manager of the Rubis Warwick Gas Station, said: “As soon as they
qualified, me and some buddies put a group together. We’re traveling to Dallas
and then to New Jersey to watch Bermuda play. It’s a big deal; it’s the
first time we’ve qualified in my lifetime for a proper tournament. Without a
doubt, we’ll have flags, shirts, hats, air horns. They will hear us; we will
get a good voice in the stadiums.” Mr Terceira added that he hoped to see
“at least 500 Bermudians, if not 1,000, in New Jersey”. Stephen Simons,
president of the Robin Hood Football Club, said of the national team: “They
know they’ve made a bit of history. There’s that excitement. I think we can
catch a few of these teams and upset the applecart.” Mr Simons’s group of 15
is headed to Costa Rica and then Texas to “cheer for our boys”. He added:
“I’ve played internationally, so I know how it feels to have friendly faces
in the crowd. We’re taking the flag, for sure, and we’re bringing quite a
few things to make noise. Anything to be loud.” Mr Sabir said this week that
the BFA had sold “well over 100” tickets to the New Jersey match, with 30
for Costa Rica and 20 for Texas.
Finance
minister Curtis Dickinson will highlight opportunities for bilateral trade and
investment on a trip to Toronto. Mr Dickinson will lead a delegation of
government, regulatory and industry representatives at a multi-industry forum
hosted by the Bermuda Business Development Agency at The Ritz-Carlton Toronto on
Wednesday. The group will also attend scheduled business development meetings
around the city. The forum will feature panel discussions, thought-leadership
sessions and networking opportunities for investors and businesses interested in
learning more about the island. It is the sixth in a series of overseas
multi-industry showcases, following similar events in London, New York and Miami
over the past two years. It is the first in Canada. BDA CEO Andy Burrows said:
“We’re looking forward to meeting civic leaders, media, investors and
industry executives during the forum and related meetings. The aim is to
increase awareness of Bermuda as a gold-standard international financial centre
and underscore our jurisdiction’s historic and mutually beneficial
relationship with Canadian markets.” The Consul General of Canada in New York,
Phyllis Yaffe, will help launch the forum with a fireside chat-style
conversation with Mr Dickinson. Lucia Gallardo, a fintech entrepreneur who has
partnered with the United Nations to leverage blockchain systems to help
resettlement of refugees, will make a keynote presentation. Industry sessions
include participants from more than 30 Bermuda-related entities, including
AMBIKA, Aon, Appleby, ArcTern Ventures, ASW Law, AXA XL, the Association of
Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers, Bennett Jones, the Bermuda Insurance
Management Association, Bermuda Monetary Authority, Bermuda Tourism Authority,
Butterfield Bank, ChainThat, Conyers, CryptoScan, Deloitte, Estera Services,
Exponential Ventures, EY, Fasken, Insurance Bureau of Canada, KPMG, Kroll Bond
Rating Agency, MQ Services, Outlier Canada, PwC, Quest Management Services,
RGAx, SALT Lending, and Shyft Network. The BDA said Canada is one of Bermuda’s
most significant economic partners, with two-way trade between the two nations
amounting to $2.6 billion in 2017, and $37 billion in mutual assets and
investments. Bermuda supports an estimated 25,000 jobs in Canada, including
15,000 from multinational companies in Bermuda and their Canadian affiliates and
represents Canada’s fifth-largest export market in trade and services. Only
the United States, Britain, Germany and France are greater Canadian export
markets.
The
Bermuda Monetary Authority has fined Estera Services (Bermuda) Ltd $500,000, the
financial-services regulator announced yesterday. The BMA said the civil
penalties were imposed under the Trusts (Regulation of Trust Business) Act 2001
and relate to deficiencies in the corporate services provider’s anti-money
laundering and antiterrorist financing programme. Estera was formed in 2016 by a
management buyout of what was previously known as Appleby Fiduciary Services.
The BMA said the deficiencies “predated the acquisition”. In a statement
yesterday, Estera said: “The fine relates to missing the deadline for the
documentary remediation of historical client files. Our client records have now
been fully updated and independently reviewed and Estera Services (Bermuda) Ltd
can confirm the portfolio is compliant with regulatory requirements. Estera has
invested significant capital and resources to implement enhanced client-related
procedures to maintain the highest standards of compliance.” The BMA stated:
“The civil penalties have been imposed for the company’s failure to
adequately comply within a specified timeframe with certain requirements of the
Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing)
Regulations 2008 (the Regulations), and specifically the regulations relating to
the application of customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence, internal
controls, and risk assessment.” The regulator said it had required the
deficiencies in the AML/ATF programme to be rectified by the end of 2017, but
Estera failed to make deadline. The regulations had been in effect since 2009,
and that this case highlighted the importance of licensees having up-to-date
AML/ATF measures in place and that they should deal with shortcomings identified
by the regulator “within reasonable time frames”.
Construction
will proceed at the Caroline Bay residential development at Morgan’s Point
under an agreement to revive its financing, the developers announced yesterday. It
came the day after Curtis Dickinson, the Minister of Finance, sounded the alarm
over a “standstill” in financing for the development. Mr Dickinson said the
Government faced risk from its $165 million guarantee on the project. The
development is part of a complex at the former United States military base,
which was downscaled last year after costs outpaced its financing. Contractors
linked with the project have gone unpaid, sources told The Royal Gazette
this month. A spokesman for the developers said: “Caroline Bay Limited, its
board of directors, and board chairman Brian Duperreault, announced today that
it has entered into an agreement which will provide the financing to continue
construction of the Caroline Bay development. Since the outset of this project,
our commitment to and confidence in Caroline Bay has been steadfast. We
appreciate the patience that our construction partners have shown and are
grateful for the ongoing co-operation and assistance of Government. We look
forward to continuing the work at Caroline Bay.” The developer declined to
elaborate on the source or amount of the financing.
Hundreds
of people packed out Shelly Bay for a fun-filled National Heroes Weekend Raft Up
today. Nearly 100 boats rafted up for a lively feast of pure soca in the sea
despite the looming threat of rain throughout the day. Residents and visitors
turned up early to stake their place on the beach as the music barge and
pleasure craft made their entrance into the bay. Jasmine Earle and Nikki Baker
travelled to Bermuda from Toronto and Atlanta respectively to attend the holiday
weekend’s carnival events. Ms Earle said: “It’s our first time in Bermuda,
it’s a really beautiful island. Everyone is really nice and super hospitable.
We go to all of the carnivals, we’ve been to Trinidad, Jamaica, St Lucia. I
think it’s great that Bermuda has its own carnival now, I think every country
in the Caribbean area should have their own carnival. You can’t compare them
— each country has its own take on it. There’s always going to be a
different feel. I thought about coming to Bermuda before but when I saw it had a
carnival I thought I would kill two birds with one stone.” Larraine Stevens, a
Bermuda resident, was there with her six-month-old son Xi’on Stevens Simons
early in the day. She said: “I love coming to the raft up because it’s a
family event and I enjoy the atmosphere. When I came last year I was still
pregnant with Xi’on. We are here with a few friends and also my eldest son and
we’ll be here all day. I’d like it a bit sunnier but at least there’s no
rain.” Kejon Trott, who was in a party mood, told The Royal Gazette:
“I love the raft up for the women and the music — I’m a soca fiend. I love
the atmosphere here. I will also be playing mass in the parade. I’ll be with
Party People.” As the day wore on the party atmosphere revved up a notch and
the MC got everyone in the mood for drinking and dancing. Shondenae Woods had
two tanks strapped to her back that she was about to fill with alcohol. She
said: “The liquor comes out of these two taps at the side. There’s three of
us girls and we are going to hydra-bike the liquor out to the everyone in the
water. It’s really nice here today. Everyone looks like they are having a lot
of fun.” John Filson, Jean Mutombo and Jonathon Camacho were visiting from
London and preparing to go for a swim and dance in the water. Mr Camacho said it
was one of many carnivals they had visited. “The music is good, the scene
looks good and the atmosphere is sublime. Bermuda’s carnival is in its fifth
year and it is still finding its feet.” Leslie Simon from Houston, Texas,
brought with her a gigantic inflatable chill island to float on the ocean with
her girlfriends. She said: “We came especially for carnival. It’s my first
time, I love it. We were going to go to Aruba but it was too expensive. We are
staying in a B&B which works out a bit cheaper. I’m impressed by the
people in Bermuda and the culture and I love that you have the English accent
with a little bit of Caribbean. I love the accent.” Despite the cloud cover
throughout the day the temperature was hot and Jazzy Treats served up cold
snacks including snowballs and sherbet shakes. Alfred Butterfield, the stand
owner, said: “It started off slow today but its really hot and people are
getting thirsty.”
The
executive of the Bermuda Cricket Board has announced the appointment of new
marketing and fund development manager, Rajan Simons. In this new role,
Simons will be responsible for event management, media schedules, website
maintenance and social-media management, marketing campaigns, content creation,
sponsorship proposals. Simons joins the Bermuda Cricket Board from The Royal
Gazette, where she was a digital content specialist for the print commercial
products for two years. “The opportunity to work at the BCB is unique —
providing the opportunity to combine my passion for marketing and digital
content with Bermudian culture and sport. I intend to make the most of my
experience using my skills as a young creative, at an organisation that is a
strong pillar in the community.” On her appointment, Calvin Blankendal, the
executive director, said: “The BCB welcomes Rajan Simons into her new role and
looks forward to having her promote the sport of cricket in Bermuda. In addition
to her marketing expertise, she will aid the BCB in maintaining excellent
relations with stakeholders and foster new partnerships with corporate
entities.” Also joining the team as a summer intern is 22-year-old Nilson
Vieira. Having already completed an associate degree in sport administration at
Niagara College in Canada, Vieira will be returning in the autumn to study for
an associate in business. “I hope to work with sports organisations in Bermuda
in the future and I am excited to have been chosen to do an internship at the
Bermuda Cricket Board.” Viera said.
Two
competitors from the 1960s will take centre stage at the 75th Edward Cross Long
Distance Comet Race on Monday. Colin Pearman, 87, who took part in the 1964
race, which features the two-person, Comet class one-design. Mr Pearman competed
in Oriole, which he built himself, and this time will be the official starter
when the race gets under way at the West End Sailboat Club on Watford Island,
Sandys at 11am. Warren Foggo Jr, 79, who competed in his own boat, Iona, in
1969, will present the awards after the race finishes at East End Mini Yacht
Club after 3pm. Organizer WESC, said older members were invited to get involved
in recognition of their efforts getting sailing clubs up and running. Mr Pearman
said: “It’s an honour to start the race. It gives me the opportunity to give
back to the comet organisation the joy I got from sailing.” Mr Foggo said:
“I feel very good about making these presentations. I feel honoured to be
asked.” Mr Pearman recalled how he fell in love with sailing after being
introduced to it by a friend when he returned to Bermuda from college. He said:
“I enjoyed it so much that I thought about getting a Comet of my own. I
couldn’t afford to buy one, but I knew a little carpentry so I decided to
build one.” He had that boat for about ten years. Mr Pearman described Comet
racing as an important part of Bermuda’s history. He said that all Comet
racers built their boats in the early days of the sport, and often used them
socially and for work. Excluded from the island’s sailing competitions because
of segregation, the clubs organised their own race for the mid-June Queen’s
Birthday holiday. He said: “It was quite popular back then especially for
those who did sailing. This was what the black guys did at the time. The Comet
provided a springboard for many to race and sail.” He said all boats are now
imported, but added: “It has changed for the better.” Mr Foggo built Comets
for other people as well as his own. He recalled the excitement of the race
throughout history, and said up to 40 boats participated when he raced 50 years
ago. Noting that 16 boats will take part this year, Mr Foggo added: “There
aren’t as many boats now as it was in my time.” A spokesman for WESC said:
“This year’s race has proved to be an opportunity to bring the clubs and the
community together in a very special way. This race honours and celebrates those
members of the various clubs who have worked hard to keep this race going for
this its 75th year.” Participants in this year’s race include last year’s
winning skipper, Malcolm Smith, sailing for WESC in Summer, and the most
successful skipper in the race so far, Stevie Dickinson, sailing for EEMYC in
Kitty Hawk.
Every
business on the island should understand the wider consequences of traumatic
childhood events because of the huge financial impact, a data analyst said
yesterday. Tara Hines, of the Bermuda Health Council, explained that the
country’s healthcare spending included treatment of conditions, like chronic
diseases, that were linked to challenging circumstances during younger years,
which included abuse, bullying and witnessing a road crash. She delivered the
preliminary results of a survey carried out by the BHeC in partnership with
Family Centre at the second day of the Adverse Childhood Experiences conference
and said that industries were affected. The council’s national health accounts
report showed that 11.5 per cent of GDP was attributed to healthcare costs in
2017, a total of almost $723 million and equivalent to more than $11,000 per
person. Ms Hines, a project associate in data analytics and outcomes research,
pointed out that Bermuda did not have “the highest life expectancy, but we
certainly spend a lot”. She added: “The question is about the quality of the
dollars that are going in to an experience that is lacking the social
determinants understanding.” Ms Hines told the conference: “Whether or not
this is out of pocket, insurance coverage, financial assistance, government
pieces, this is all getting paid for, we are constantly shelling out dollars to
ignore the impact of adverse childhood experience.” She said the issues were
important to “every single industry” because companies pay for half of their
employees’ health insurance standard premium rates. Productivity loss,
healthcare, legal activities including the criminal justice system, child
welfare and special education, also contribute to the lifetime costs, which Ms
Hines explained could be anywhere from $124 billion to $598 billion over a
lifetime “due to childhood maltreatment and adverse childhood experiences”.
She added: “I realise that these numbers probably start to run together but I
don’t know a more motivating way than to look at that and say, ‘maybe this
is important’.” Ms Hines explained that the survey questionnaire, which had
more than 600 respondents, often asked if people had directly experienced the
adverse experiences as well as whether they had seen or heard them. She added
that in the context of Bermuda “trauma was just as powerful ... if people were
indirectly experiencing it as if it had occurred to them directly themselves”.
Ms Hines said almost 50 per cent of those asked said that at some time they
experienced bullying. She added: “For bullying it was more likely that anyone
who identified as black had directly experienced it and anyone who identified as
white had witnessed it, so I think that that is a very telling and important
point.” The questionnaire also considered racial pressures by asking how often
the individual felt that race impacted their emotional or mental wellbeing and
how often they felt they were treated unfairly as a result of their race, both
as a child and today. Ms Hines said: “These questions have never been a
component of the adverse childhood experience research previously. This does
provide some small avenue to be able to assess this in relation to chronic
disease, in relation to people who report the inability to concentrate or to
function or to leave their homes, the inability or the pessimism that we see
when somebody indicates that they do not feel that their overall health is of
good quality and yet have not listed a single diagnosed condition with that
feeling,” Ms Hines explained. “I think that those kind of details really
speak volumes.” She urged more men to take the survey, which is still
available through Family Centre’s website. Ms Hines added that she also hoped
the Government and its Department of Statistics will offer more backing and
introduce the research on a national level.
Bermuda’s
solders took their place among 22 other countries for the opening ceremony of a
massive international disaster relief exercise in the Caribbean today. Island
soldiers lined up alongside representatives of the armies, navies, coastguards
and air forces of regional participants in Exercise Tradewinds phase two in St
Vincent & the Grenadines. Private Gayon Burrows, who carried the Bermuda
flag at the ceremony, said he was proud to represent his country and be a part
of the exercise. He added: “It’s been great so far. It’s something new for
me – it’s my first overseas trip with the Regiment, so I’m pretty
excited.” The 21-year-old from Hamilton Parish, a drummer in the RBR Band
& Corps of Drums as well as a member of humanitarian aid and disaster relief
specialists B Company, said: “Apart from meeting people from different
countries, I’m trying to get more discipline and an idea of what I can do as a
soldier as well as a musician.” Pte Burrows, a two-year veteran of the RBR,
added: “If I hadn’t joined the Regiment, I would never have done anything
like this. I made the choice to join and I’ve never regretted it.” Edward
Rodgers, the deputy divisional chief of training for the US Southern Command,
which organised the exercise, earlier told the opening ceremony for Tradewinds
that it was an excellent training opportunity. He said: “We come together once
a year to exercise. That’s very critical. It builds friendships, trust and
partnership with everyone else.” It is the first time Bermuda has taken part
in the exercise having only observed the training nearly 30 years ago. For the
first time, Bermuda has deployed a full company of about 120 soldiers from Bravo
Company. Mr Rodgers, a retired US Marine Corps officer, added: “It’s good to
see that Bermuda was able to attend and be a big part of phase two of the
exercise. They have come with a good force, ready to train. We’re very happy
to have Bermuda back in the Tradewinds exercise.” 1st Lieutenant Jishar Obergh
of the Suriname Navy, said: “This is our first time here and we’re enjoying
meeting people from other countries like Bermuda.” Leading Seaman Brad
Northrup, a diver with the Royal Canadian Navy, added: “It’s been pretty
cool to see all the different aspects of life, how they do things and how it all
comes together.” Tradewinds was designed to build increased regional
cooperation in complex multinational security operations, as well as
humanitarian assistance and disaster response work. Nations participating in the
exercise include Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda,
Canada, Colombia, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, France, Grenada, Guyana,
Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, the Netherlands, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and
the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and the United
States.
Taxpayers
could be left with a multimillion-dollar bill for the Caroline Bay residential
development at Morgan’s Point, whose financing has reportedly ground to a
standstill. “Should the project go unfunded, we will be on the hook for
$165 million,” said finance minister Curtis Dickinson, who reminded at a
hastily called press conference yesterday that the Government had signed on as a
guarantor under the One Bermuda Alliance administration. “Genuine efforts by
the developers have been made to secure financing and these efforts are ongoing.
In the interim, the principals of the company have continued to fund their
obligations mindful of the importance of keeping some work going on at the site.
This funding appears to now be at a standstill. As such, this accounts for the
sums owed to contractors and subcontractors who have, in good faith, done the
work required. Understandably, some have now lost their patience. However, in
addition to the issues surrounding non-payment to contractors and
subcontractors, I have a wider concern based on my responsibility to safeguard
the public purse, and to avert the risk to which the Bermudian taxpayer has been
exposed, first, by the former government, and now, by delays in the project.”
Craig Cannonier, the Leader of the Opposition, warned against “pointing
fingers”. Mr Cannonier said: “Let’s get everyone working again on this
project.” He added that the guarantee had been provided “if all else
failed”. Mr Cannonier said: “That does not mean that at every hiccup the
project has that Government needs to pay out. An agreement was made. However,
Caroline Bay must do all it can to secure financing. Had a guarantee not been
provided, it may not have received the support it has been given up until
now.” Both the OBA and Progressive Labour Party have shown tremendous support
for the project and what is needed now is to ensure we all work together to get
things moving again.” One of the contractors for the West End development said
that he was still owed “not insignificant” sums. “We did grow
impatient,” said the man, who spoke to The Royal Gazette on condition
of anonymity. “We also recognize that the best hope for it ending well is that
a new deal gets done so that the project can continue.” The contractor added
that potential new investors had given “some assurance” that funding for the
development could be revived. He pointed to similar scenarios at Tucker’s
Point and at Newstead Belmont Hills, where the developments were unable to meet
financing targets, causing investors to step in and put the projects into
liquidation. He said: “A lot of debtors were left holding the bag. The
difference with this project is that the Government has guaranteed this sum.
That is why financing needs, really badly, to come off.” He added: “The
potential investor’s feedback on dealings with the Government were that they
had been professional and extremely diligent.” Construction was downscaled at
Caroline Bay last year when costs overtook financing. Mr Dickinson said the
Ministry of Finance was taking advice, and had met with Caroline Bay Development
principals last Friday to discuss the “advanced” stage of negotiations for
project funding. “We are doing everything prudent to protect the
Government’s position,” he said. “There is much more to be done, however,
to first secure financing to complete the project and to ensure a successful
conclusion of the construction phase of the project.” Asked by The Royal
Gazette whether a scaled-down version of the development was under
consideration, Mr Dickinson said: “The developers are looking at a number of
potential alternatives — looking at the project as originally contemplated and
also the potential of revising it.” Mr Dickinson also said he wished to deal
with “speculation” that the Government was preventing the deal from being
finalised. A ZBM News report on Wednesday suggested that Cabinet was
sitting on approval for licences in relation to financing and immigration. The
finance minister said: “I am not allowed to discuss Cabinet deliberations, so
I won’t. I am not aware of any delays on any applications with respect to
licences that have been delayed or even submitted.” A series of crunch talks
with developers took place in February 2018 based on a forecast that work on the
site was likely to stop, workers could be laid off and contractors not get paid.
Mr Dickinson said: “The persistent demands of the Government was that this
could not be allowed to happen, as this country could not then, and cannot now,
afford to see more Bermudians out of work. As part of the process to shore up
the management of the project and other aspects of the operation of control of
the development, the Government mandated changes to the corporate governance of
the development company, and the marketing of the reconstruction unit was made
the responsibility of a strengthened, more experienced team of realtors. While
work continued at the site, the pace and scope consistently reduced to the point
where it is now stopped altogether.”
Lawyers
for a man fighting for Bermuda status told London’s Privy Council that his
lack of status was “unfair” and an “anomaly”. Richard Drabble, QC,
told the court that Bermudian-born Michael Barbosa cannot apply for Bermudian
status because he was born on the island to non-Bermudian parents. Mr Drabble
argued that while those in Mr Barbosa’s position are not listed in the Bermuda
Constitution as “belonging” to Bermuda, the list was not exhaustive. He
said: “There is a common-law category of belongers, Section 11.5 is a deeming
provision. It puts beyond doubt that all those in the list are belongers and
have the rights contained in the section. The language of 11.5 does not have the
natural effect of excluding people from the category of belongers. The language
is one of deeming, which brings people in.” But James Guthrie, for the
Ministry of Home Affairs, said the law was clear and unambiguous. Mr Guthrie
agreed it was an “anomaly” that Mr Barbosa had lesser rights under the
section than his wife, who was born in the Philippines. But he said Mr Barbosa
was not “stateless” as he had British Overseas Territory citizenship and the
right to live in Bermuda indefinitely. He said: “The question is what can be
done about it if in the face of clear constitutional provisions? The answer is
not to say the Constitution means something it doesn’t mean.” The case
hinges on whether the list of “belongers” in the Bermuda Constitution
excludes non-naturalized British Overseas Territories citizens who acquired
their citizenship through their connection to the island. Courts in Bermuda
heard that Mr Barbosa was born in Bermuda to non-Bermudian parents in 1976 and
is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by birth. He was granted British
Overseas Territories citizenship in 2002 and given indefinite leave to remain in
Bermuda in 2013. But he launched a legal action in 2015 because he was not
eligible to apply for Bermudian status or a Permanent Resident’s Certificate.
Lawyer Peter Sanderson argued at the time that Mr Barbosa belongs to Bermuda on
the basis of common law. Bermuda’s Supreme Court ruled in Mr Barbosa’s
favour in 2016 and found that he “belonged” to Bermuda, but the Court of
Appeal overturned the decision later that year. Mr Drabble said that Mr Barbosa
was a “belonger” by virtue of the fact he obtained British Overseas
Territory citizenship by his birth in Bermuda. He said Section 11.5 of the
Bermuda Constitution establishes several categories of people who can
“belong” to Bermuda, but does not exclude those who obtain it under common
law. Mr Drabble said: “It doesn’t matter what the draftsman of the
Constitution actually thought at the time of drafting. The constitutional
principles that we have to apply are that Section 11 as a whole should not be
construed in a way that cuts down the rights granted in Chapter 1 of the
Constitution unless the language explicitly produces that result. The natural
meaning of ‘deemed’ is to bring things in, not to exclude them.” He added:
“Mr Barbosa is not the only one affected by the anomaly. Our best estimate is
some 300 people are in roughly the same circumstances and at least potentially
the beneficiaries of a ruling on the section.” Mr Guthrie however said the
section is intended to define who is Bermudian under the Constitution and not to
“bring in” more categories as suggested. He said: “We say the Court of
Appeal were quite right to conclude that it is what it is and it cannot
reasonably be read as anything else but intended to provide a list of those
persons who belong to Bermuda. That is really that. It’s not capable of
enormous elaboration.” The panel reserved their judgment until a later date.
After
two oil tankers with links to Bermuda were apparently attacked in the Gulf of
Oman yesterday, a shipping expert has expressed growing concern. He warned
that freight rates and prices related to some commercial marine insurance could
spike if blast incidents involving tankers in the region continue. A month ago,
four tankers in the same area were damaged in what has been described as a
“sophisticated and co-ordinated operation”. In separate incidents yesterday
the Front Altair, a tanker owned by Bermudian-headquartered Frontline,
and the Kokuka Courageous, a tanker operated by Bernhard Schulte
Shipmanagement, which has an office in Bermuda, were damaged by explosions that
caused the evacuation of their crew members. It is not clear what caused the
blasts. However, Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, said: “It is the
assessment of the United States Government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is
responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman today.” A senior
Iranian official told the BBC that Iran has no connection with the incident.
Iran said it helped rescue the crew members affected. The Kokuka Courageous was
reported to have a breach of its hull above the waterline. The Panama-flagged
tanker is operated by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement Singapore, and was
transporting methanol from Saudi Arabia to Singapore. Although not directly
involved, Jens Alers, group director of Hamilton-based Bernhard Schulte
Shipmanagement (Bermuda), expressed concern at the incident in the Strait of
Hormuz. “If this happens more often, the so-called war insurance rates go
through the roof. You will then have an enormous increase in the cost of
freight, especially out of the gulf,” he said. The Joint War Committee, which
comprises underwriting representatives from Lloyd’s and IUA markets who write
marine hull war business in the London market, has the Strait of Hormuz listed
as an area of “perceived enhanced risk”. This is due to enmity between Iran
and Saudi Arabia, which are on opposite shores of the waterway, and tensions
between the US and Iran. Neil Roberts, of JWC, said the enhanced risk listing
means underwriters now require ships entering the Gulf to notify them, and
“insurers then have the opportunity to assess the specific vessel and voyage
and may change terms and conditions accordingly”. Meanwhile, Mr Alers wondered
what would happen if the Strait of Hormuz is closed. “All these kind of
questions pop up when tensions rise,” he said. “That area is not a war zone,
but if it is declared a war zone, and it is a hot war zone because ships
actually get attacked there, then rates will go up.” He said if the Straits of
Hormuz were closed it would impact about 30 per cent of the world’s oil that
is transported in and around the region. “It would cause a dramatic spike in
oil prices if they were to do that.” When asked about concern the latest
incident will cause for the shipping industry, Mr Alers said: “In the context
of last month, there was no need to evacuate the crews. These attacks must have
been at a level that caused the captains to immediately abandon ship. “If this
happens more often, no one will want to go there, or there will be extremely
high freight rate. There is no trend line yet, but we have now had six ships
attacked in four weeks.” Frontline’s Front Altair, suffered three
explosions yesterday and was on fire. The tanker was said to have been carrying
75,000 tonnes of the petrochemical product naphtha. Robert Hvide Macleod,
Frontline Management’s chief executive officer, told shipping newspaper TradeWinds:
“We don’t know the reason for the explosion and work to clarify through
thorough investigations.” The Royal Gazette was unable to reach the
Norwegian company’s management offices in Oslo, and no details were available
from its Hamilton office, or an operations branch in Glasgow, Scotland. The
Marshall Islands-flagged tanker was being chartered by Taiwan’s state oil
refiner CPC. It was off the coast of Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, when
the incident occurred. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is
part of the Royal Navy, said it was aware of the incident involving the two
tankers and is was advising ships moving through the area to exercise extreme
caution.
Frontline
Ltd, the Bermuda-based oil tanker operator whose Front Altair vessel
burst into flames in the Strait of Hormuz after an explosion, today said the
fire has been put out with no pollution and that all crew members are safe. The
ship was one of two tankers in the area to be left stricken by explosions that
the US Government has blamed on Iran. The company said the cause of the incident
remained unknown. In a statement released this afternoon, Frontline said:
“Most importantly, the 23 crew members on-board the Front Altair are
unharmed after being rescued by the cargo vessel Hyundai Dubai and
subsequently carried by an Iranian naval vessel to the port city of Jask.
“We commend our highly-trained crew, the vessel master and ship managers, for
following protocol and operating according to the highest standard during this
distressing and very serious incident. Frontline is profoundly grateful to all
parties who have contributed to ensuring the safety of our colleagues.”
Emergency responders put out the fire on the vessel within hours of the incident
and ensured no pollution resulted, Frontline said. The vessel remains afloat and
is being attended to by a salvage vessel. Frontline added: “The company’s
modern vessels are designed to withstand catastrophic events in order to ensure
the safety of crew and cargo.” A rescue tug reached the Front Altair
today and two further support vessels will arrive on scene tomorrow with a
specialist team to inspect the tanker and make recommendations. “The cause of
the explosion remains unknown to the company, although we have ruled out the
possibility that it was caused by mechanical or human error,” Frontline
stated. “The incident will be thoroughly investigated by the company along
with third parties, including governmental officials, to determine the cause.”
Frontline added: “The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most densely trafficked
sea routes in the world and serves as the passageway for greater than 25 per
cent of the world’s seaborne crude oil. As geopolitical tensions rise in the
Persian Gulf, the company is intensely focused on the safety of our colleagues
in this region. Until further information is received regarding the cause of the
explosion and the security of this important shipping lane is secured, Frontline
will exercise extreme caution when considering new contracts in the region and
the company will consider all possible measures to insure the safety of our
vessels currently operating in the area. The company is consulting with regional
security experts to ensure the safety of our crew, our vessels and our cargo.”
The
US Federal Reserve needs to “act like the parent, not the teenager” after
appearing to be increasingly swayed by the whims of the financial markets.
That’s what delegates at the Bermuda Captive Conference heard as two economic
experts exchanged views on global events and markets. They were also told that
Alan Greenspan, who was chairman of the Fed Reserve from 1987 to 2006 — the
second-longest tenure in the position, would be “disgusted” by the position
the US central banking system finds itself in today. Those opinions were shared
by Henk Potts and Daragh Maher, the speakers at the Economists’ View session
at the conference, which was held at the Fairmont Southampton. On the one hand,
investors don’t need to panic as the next recession still looks to be on the
distant horizon, according to Mr Henk, an equity strategist with Barclays, as he
gave an overall view on financial conditions. He acknowledged there is a “a
lot of turbulence”, such as the trade tariff wars, signs of slowing US growth,
policy mistakes and social unrest in a number of countries. Mr Maher, HSBC’s
head of FX strategy in the US, was not so upbeat and said there is cause for
worry. He said: “We have US equities at or close to all-time highs, US
treasuries not far off all-time highs in context of price and low yields. At he
same time we have gold for the most part doing really well. So, all things that
should not be moving in the same direction are all bid. Either people don’t
have a clue, or people are worried and are buying treasuries and gold, but are
also truly confident that we can be rescued. That’s what we should be worried
about.” Mr Maher said there is a “huge presumption” about the
effectiveness of central bank policy, and that they will ultimately rescue
investors from whatever they might face. “Given the starting point for central
banks, that’s a big leap to make. That’s where the wheels come off. If
there is reason to be nervous it is that lack of policy response if things are
truly as bad as some in the market are suggesting.” More meat was added to the
argument when the discussion zeroed in on the US economy, and a shared view that
it was not going to do spectacularly well or spectacularly badly. Mr Daragh said
that being the case, it was curious that the financial market has come to the
conclusion “that we are teetering on the brink of something horrific in the
US”. He cautioned that one of the signals touted as foreshadowing such a thing
is the inverted yield curve on bonds. Mr Maher said it is a different
environment today than in the past, due to quantitative easing and the
“tightening and messing with the balance sheet. The signal is muddied from the
yield curve, but also it reflects the financial markets — they hate the idea
that nothing was going to happen.” Mr Maher said the Fed in December had
decided it was going to raise rates three times this year, but then said it was
not going to do very much at all. For a while the financial markets accepted
that change of sentiment. “Then very quickly they said ‘No, we think you are
going to have to cut — and cut really quite quickly and aggressively’,” Mr
Maher said. The Fed responded that it might do so, but would first wait to see
if the [economic] numbers got worse. There is an impatience and immaturity in
the financial markets that always something needs to be happening; the Fed
cannot do just nothing. It is going to be very important for the Fed
communication not to let the tail wag the dog. At the moment, and in December,
that’s what happened — the financial markets said ‘Here is how we think
you should be behaving. You should be a lot more dovish than you are right
now,’ and the Fed finally capitulated. Now the markets are saying again
‘Hey, we think you should cut really aggressively’. I think it’s for the
Fed to behave like the parent rather than the teenager and say ‘actually no,
we are looking at the data, we are going to wait, we have told you what we are
doing’. Whether that plays out, at the moment there is a risk that the
financial markets always get their way. The Fed needs to regain the agenda and
drive market expectations, rather than market expectations driving the Fed. Mr
Potts agreed, and said: “Alan Greenspan would be absolutely disgusted by the
position the Fed finds itself in today. There has been such a dramatic change in
communication that we have seen from the US central bank.” The Fed has hiked
rates nine times since the end of 2015, most recently in December. Mr Potts said
the Fed had at the end of 2018 continued to normalize its policy in response to
the US economy’s strong growth profile and tight labour market. That left it
with “ammunition for the next time there is an economic downturn. Maybe we
should ask what has changed so substantially over the course of the past few
months. Now the Fed points to risk for the global economy from trade wars, they
point to tighter financial market conditions. Inflation is still benign in the
US.” He had heard some analysts mention the potential for a 50 basis point
rate cut as early as next month, and that markets have been pricing this in, and
that there could be another 25 basis point cut in September. Mr Potts said there
has been significant change in market expectations around the Fed, and added:
“I find it bizarre that they have got themselves into this position.”
A
Warwick man accused of a 2017 fatal shooting was unanimously found guilty by a
jury yesterday. Kiari Tucker, 22, was found guilty on charges that he
murdered Morlan Steede and used a firearm to commit an indictable offence after
5½ hours of deliberation. Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves remanded Tucker into
custody for sentencing on July 16. The Supreme Court heard Mr Steede, 30, was
chased through the Deepdale area of Pembroke at about 9.40pm on November 3, 2017
by a gunman who shot him at least three times. He was rushed to hospital and
treated for gunshot wounds, but died of his injuries. Born in Jamaica, Mr Steede
was a married father of one who lived in Hamilton Parish. His death was the 35th
caused by gun violence in Bermuda since 2009. CCTV cameras from the area
recorded a man walking up Two Way Deepdale in a full-face helmet at 9.14pm. Half
an hour later, the same camera recorded a foot chase from One Way Deepdale to
Parsons Road. Footage from minutes after the shooting showed bystanders on
Parsons Road, where Mr Steede collapsed. Tucker was arrested for the attack the
next day after police found him hidden under clothes in a closet in his
godmother’s apartment. Tests later showed particles consistent with gunshot
residue on his hands, along with items of clothing found at his home.
Prosecutors claimed Tucker was the man seen on camera walking through Deepdale
and chasing Mr Steede. They argued mobile phone records placed Mr Tucker in the
area at the time of the murder and evidence from a British forensic gait expert
who identified similarities between his walk and that of the suspect. They told
the jury that Tucker stalked and killed Mr Steede before he returned to Court
Street, where he was seen without a jacket he had worn earlier in the evening.
But Tucker denied the allegations and said he was not involved in the murder. He
told the jury he spent most of the evening selling crack cocaine on Court
Street, but went to the Deepdale area during the evening to buy cannabis. Tucker
said he saw the victim there, but returned to Court Street after he bought the
drugs. The defendant said shortly after he returned he walked to Curving Avenue
to prepare more crack for sale and accidentally left his jacket at a “gambling
spot” on his way back to Court Street. He admitted that he hid from police,
but said he did so because he was afraid of going back to jail, not because he
had shot Mr Steede. Tucker said he had no idea how gunshot residue could have
got on to his clothing.
The
man who introduced National Heroes Day praised the team behind what has been
called “the world’s fastest-growing carnival” which coincides with the
Bermuda heritage event. Dale Butler believed it was important for younger
generations to develop their own celebrations and said if others found the
costumes too revealing they could make alternative plans. The former Cabinet
minister added that the island probably boasted a maximum of only three more
people who had done enough to earn the national hero honour but hoped the
Government would help to increase awareness of the eight already on the list all
year round. Mr Butler, who was the minister responsible for cultural affairs and
was charged with setting up the award, said there had been a “longing” for a
carnival-style gathering in Bermuda, which was heightened as young people gained
experience of similar festivals during visits to other parts of the world. The
former Progressive Labour Party MP added that they had the drive to turn
ambition into reality. Mr Butler said: “They came along and they’ve
developed this carnival and they’re bringing it to Hamilton, which means
it’s really growing — I can only salute them for the energy. I’m just glad
that they’ve put some energy in it so that it doesn’t die. I know that
there’s a group in Bermuda ... the older generation, who expected us to be a
little bit more sedate, are somewhat concerned that the costumes are revealing,
which comes with the territory of having a carnival. There’s nothing
whatsoever that prevents anybody else who doesn’t like a carnival celebration
from doing something else.” Mr Butler said he commended the people for staging
the Bermuda Carnival because they would have been “left out” otherwise. The
event is headed by soca DJ Jason Sukdeo and was launched in June 2015 as a
“celebration of Caribbean carnival” which incorporated National Heroes Day
festivities. However, the words “heroes weekend” were dropped from the name
last month when organisers said it was being rebranded as a tribute to
supporters. The team added: “All together, your participation made this
festival the fastest-growing carnival in the world.” On Monday, which is
National Heroes Day, a Parade of Bands and Last Lap will allow people to enjoy
performances and soak up the party atmosphere in Hamilton. A Bermuda National
Heroes tribute staged by the Government is to take place at the World Heritage
Centre in St George’s two days earlier. Lovitta Foggo, the Minister of Labour,
Community Affairs and Sport, said the event tomorrow will “remind the
community of the importance of National Heroes Day” and is to include tributes
that show how the heroes have inspired others. The late Dame Lois Browne-Evans
was the first person to be named as a national hero in 2008. A committee was
later set up to review and select more people for the list, and in 2010 the
public was invited to suggest nominees. It was the next year that another three
heroes were named, E.F. Gordon, Roosevelt Brown, who would become Pauulu
Kamarakafego, and Sir Henry Tucker. Mary Prince joined the group in 2012 before
Gladys Morrell and Sir Edward Richards were added in 2015 and Sir John Swan a
year after that. No one has been named since 2016 and Mr Butler believed the
number of candidates was finite. He said: “You’re not going to find more
than ten national heroes. You’ve only got about two or three left unless they
watered down the criteria.” Although he noted that banners highlighting
national heroes were on show around Hamilton, Mr Butler thought more could be
done. The former minister said: “I think we’ve reached a nice level but
we’re not doing enough to promote those who are national heroes on a regular
basis. All year round you should be hearing about these national heroes, there
are a lot of creative ways to do that.” Mr Butler suggested that CITV, the
government-owned television station, could regularly broadcast features on
national heroes and that special debates could be held for people to discuss
their lives. He raised the possibility of regular homework assignments, a
national heroes scholarship for academic studies and even a game on the subject.
Mr Butler claimed people who made significant contributions to the island but
were not selected for the honour could also be recognised as part of a wider
programme. He added: “Bermuda has a lot of very outstanding people that just
missed, by a mark or two, being designated as a national hero.”
Two young men sent from
Bermuda to an American reform school have told how they were beaten and
humiliated by teachers, with one alleging he would lie in bed at night hearing
students raping other children. Both were sent to Glen Mills Schools in
Pennsylvania by the Department of Child and Family Services when they were in
their teens, almost 20 years ago. The men claimed government officials on the
island knew about the mistreatment, yet boys continued to be sent there by the
department until 2017. The school was ordered to shut in April this year amid a
raft of allegations about violence against children and cover-ups. One of the
men, aged 33, said he spent “six months of hell” there when he was a
16-year-old. “They used to beat us,” he alleged of the staff. “They used
to take us in a room behind closed doors and tell us to square up and then
they’ll punch us in our chests.” The other, who went to the school aged 15
and is now 34, claimed: “Some of the kids were being raped by the older boys.
We all knew about it. I never saw anyone being raped, but you heard it. We could
all hear it. “You could tell what was happening but we were not allowed to get
out of bed or you get beat. That was one of the rules. So it wasn’t like I
could have gone and stopped it. You would just have to lie there, even though
you knew a kid was being raped. I am telling you, that place was evil. In the
morning you could tell who it had happened to because the kid would be all sad
and quiet and would keep to themselves for a while. The kids would all talk
about it too. When I went to bed at night, I never knew if it could happen to
me.” The first man said he experienced first hand and witnessed physical and
verbal abuse at Glen Mills but was not aware of and did not witness anyone being
raped. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Legal Affairs, which is responsible for
the DCFS, said yesterday: “The Department of Child and Family Services and the
Ministry of Legal Affairs are deeply concerned with the allegations being raised
through the media. We condemn any actions that would harm a child physically or
emotionally. We encourage those individuals to come forward and file a formal
complaint, to enable a proper investigation to occur.” Like almost all
children sent overseas as part of the department’s psycho-educational
programme, the two former teens who spoke to the newspaper did not have
independent legal representation when they were sent away. Lawyer Saul Dismont,
who has made repeated calls for youngsters in care to have attorneys and
litigation guardians, said he was aware of “reports of sexual assault [at Glen
Mills] and of ... Bermudians making such allegations”. Mr Dismont added:
“But I don’t know whether Bermudian boys were ever the direct victims.
Anyone can understand why such offences are very difficult for the victims to
disclose. Imagine how hard it is for children who feel they have no one and have
been abandoned. If it is found that it was epidemic at Glen Mills then,
unfortunately, I think it would be inevitable that a Bermudian child would have
been a victim. They were sent there for decades.” The department said in April
that boys from Bermuda went to Glen Mills for more than 35 years until 2017 but
it was too “time prohibitive” to find out how many attended the school. It
said it had not received “any information related to any children sent to
Glenn Mills being abused or mistreated” and that it only became aware of
allegations in February this year when it was informed by the school. But the
two men, during separate interviews with The Royal Gazette, detailed the
violence they endured and said they knew before attending the school from other
Bermudian boys who had been that it had a brutal reputation. The 34-year-old
said: “All that was done to me was being abused, hurt, humiliated — and it
broke my spirit. Glen Mills has been the worst experience of my life.” The
33-year-old man said he told the DCFS staff over the telephone about the
violence but was made to retract the allegations under duress by workers at Glen
Mills. He also called his sister, whom he had told about the abuse, to retract
what he had said. “My sister was more the smarter one. She asked me ‘they
are making you do this, right?’. I answered yes. It wasn’t on speaker phone.
She called [the DCFS] and went ‘get him out of this place’. A couple of days
later somebody called up and was like ‘we are coming to get you Sunday’.”
The allegations come amid a renewed call for an inquiry into the Department of
Child and Family Services and its programmes. Children’s rights campaigner
Sheelagh Cooper said an independent public inquiry, perhaps even a royal
commission of inquiry, was needed. She said: “We need a complete overhaul in
the way we address what has clearly become a serious situation. I suggest we
take the bold step of a non-partisan, public, professionally driven and
independent inquiry to look into the multiplicity of issues raised here,
including the representation of children, the practice of utilizing offshore
‘treatment’ facilities, the overall competency of the Department of Child
and Family Services and the questionable location of the department within the
Attorney-General’s Chambers.” Her remarks follow a similar call made by
Shadow Attorney-General Scott Pearman in Parliament in April. The Opposition MP
said then: “Enough is enough. If Bermudians are to have any confidence that
these allegations are being treated seriously, the Attorney-General must appoint
a well-respected, senior lawyer or judge to conduct a proper, thorough and
independent investigation.” David Burt, the Premier, told Parliament on May 10
he was “happy to discuss” making public the results of internal
investigations into the DCFS conducted last year. He said of the findings:
“Possibly, it might be something that a parliamentary committee may be able to
request.” The Royal Gazette asked the Premier and the Governor yesterday if
either would establish a commission of inquiry into the DCFS. Mr Burt said:
“As per my statement in the House of Assembly, the best way forward is for the
standing committees of Parliament to look into the matter.” No response was
received from John Rankin, the Governor, by press time. We put the allegations
of violence and child on child sexual assault to Glen Mills Schools yesterday.
School spokesman Jeff Jubelirer said: “As this is the first time we are
hearing of these troubling allegations, it is difficult at this time to comment
further. We continue to co-operate with all agencies conducting independent
inquiries.” The school has denied allegations about the mistreatment of
students in a detailed appeal filed with the Pennsylvania DHS Bureau of Hearings
and Appeals.
The
Ministry of Health announced a plan of action today to encourage Bermudians to
receive vaccination shots. Kim Wilson, the health minister, said that
Bermuda’s Strategy on Vaccination Hesitancy would aim to increase Bermuda’s
vaccination coverage by 10 per cent by 2021. The plan was put together after the
ministry conducted research on the delay or refusal of vaccinations. Ms Wilson
said health officials would:
Ms Wilson announced her intention to increase vaccines for children under the age of six months in April. She said that the number of children who received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine had dropped to 87 per cent — below the 95 per cent global target. Ms Wilson added yesterday that the decreased global target, when combined with our status as a popular travel destination, made Bermuda more vulnerable to outbreaks of disease. She said: “Not only is measles at our doorstep, being one flight away considering the recent outbreaks in New York City, but also because in Bermuda we have detected high levels of vaccine hesitancy, which means that not enough people have been vaccinated to give our people herd immunity.”
Ms Wilson issued the following advice:
A
Bermuda Government agency that supports small and medium-size business start-ups
with advice, funding and loan guarantees is to be given greater powers. In
some instances, the exercise of those powers may include taking an equity stake
in the start-ups. The Bermuda Economic Development Corporation Amendment Act
2019 has been tabled in the House of Assembly. It empowers the BEDC to form
subsidiary companies in partnership with entrepreneurs and businesses, and gives
the BEDC power to enter into formal corporate arrangements, in association with
other persons, for the purpose of aiding those persons in the development of a
new business or a new undertaking. Once the legislation passes, the BEDC will be
able to purchase shares in, or incorporate, a local company, and be admitted as
a member, or form, a local limited liability company. If involved in a company,
the BEDC will be appointed a director and chief executive. Where it is involved
in a local LLC, the BEDC will be appointed manager. The BEDC, the legislation
says, shall divest itself of all of its shares in a local company, or resign its
membership in a local LLC, where the BEDC deems that it has fulfilled its
purpose under the Act, or at any other time for any reason it deems fit. The
organisation must receive prior written approval from the minister having
responsibility for the BEDC, before it purchases shares, incorporates a company,
is admitted as a member of an LLC, or forms an LLC. It must also receive such
approval before it divests itself of shares in a company, or resigns from an
LLC. David Burt, the Premier, has ministerial responsibility for the BEDC. He
said: “Increasing numbers of entrepreneurs are seeking more than investment
capital or loan guarantees in support of their endeavor. To take advantage of
the protections afforded to incorporated entities, entrepreneurs often seek the
added assistance of the BEDC as more than a lender or guarantor. Currently the
BEDC has, through section 5, subsection 2 of its Act, the power to borrow money;
to lend money; to make grants or guarantee loans; to acquire, hold and dispose
of personal and real property. The BEDC can also do anything incidental to any
of its powers. Whilst the broad power currently contained in section 5 of the
BEDC’s Act may already lend itself to create subsidiaries, it was recommended
that out of an abundance of caution, the specific power to create subsidiaries
be included in the Act. The proposed amendments would also allow the BEDC the
specific power to engage in the incorporation of entities in support of
public/private partnerships. In addition, as part of the incorporated entity,
the BEDC would have the opportunity to exercise greater oversight in support of
the businesses supported through its existing powers. The amendments will only
focus on local companies or LLCs. This, with the goal of specifically assisting
in the development of new businesses or ventures.” Mr Burt said that the BEDC
would “in some instances” take an equity interest in a start-up that it is
assisting. He said: “If we are forming companies to assist start-ups and
facilitate PPPs, then BEDC will essentially be owners in that business and as
such, will have the capability to enjoy the full rights of that business
including an equity stake if that makes sense. Each company will be different
and so each negotiation on the best framework and structure of the company will
be customized to that company.” Depending on the framework and structure
negotiated for the company at the time it is formed, Mr Burt said, the BEDC’s
options for consideration upon divestment or resignation will include
transferring its interest to the start-up’s co-owner for a nominal fee or
selling it for the going market rate. Mr Burt said money realised upon
divestment or resignation will be used to “assist BEDC, through its annual
budgeting process, to continue to have adequate funds to provide advice,
resources, and support for Bermuda’s local small and medium-sized businesses,
which will help inspired entrepreneurs to build and run successful businesses
which fuel Bermuda’s economy”. He added: “We are determined to open
avenues for business success for entrepreneurs. The BEDC will have the ability
to provide additional support to new businesses in their start-up phase and this
is critical to our objective of promoting small-business growth and economic
diversification.”
Senators
have voted to change legislation that enshrines in law the chance for Cabinet
ministers to appoint experts and political advisers. Nick Kempe, of the One
Bermuda Alliance, moved an amendment to the Premier, Ministers and Opposition
Leader Personal Staffs Act 2019, which was passed by MPs last month. It would
mean that the law stated an annual report tabled in Parliament will include the
name, job description and pay of everyone who had been a staff member as defined
in the Act in the previous fiscal year, instead of only those appointed from the
previous January to December. Opposition and independent senators joined forces
to approve the amendment, outvoting the objections of government members six to
five. Vance Campbell, the Progressive Labour Party’s finance spokesman in the
Senate, presented the Bill for its second reading in the upper house yesterday.
He said it was largely similar to the Premier and Opposition Leader Personal
Staffs Act 1983 but provided that ministers, with written approval from the
Premier, could hire up to two members of personal staff to offer political or
other expert advice, in line with the Ministerial Code of Conduct. Mr Kempe, the
shadow finance minister, said the original version of the Bill stated that the
annual report “only names those people that were appointed during the previous
year”. He added: “That manner of wording would fail to publish on report
people that had been appointed, say, two years ago but continued as a personal
staff member of a minister or the Premier or the Opposition Leader.” Mr Kempe
also pointed out that ministerial personal staff would be deemed government
employees for the purposes of healthcare and pension obligations “when they
were not before”. Mr Campbell read from a member’s proof of the Hansard
record of the House of Assembly from May 31, when he said David Burt, the
Premier, told MPs: “I will state the undertaking which I will give, and given
that the Hansard is recording this, on each and every time that this
report is given, it will show the persons who were hired under this Act, under
that calendar year whether or not they were appointed that year or appointed the
year before and all the rest.” Mr Campbell said that based on that commitment,
government senators saw no reason for making any amendment. Mr Kempe said the
“whole point” of the proposed legislation was to strengthen existing
practices and suggested there was an opportunity to “correct it while we
can”. He added: “Having the assurance of a person is a far less important
layer of good governance for the public than actually codifying that undertaking
in the Bill that we’re debating today.” His amendment also stated that the
annual report would be laid in Parliament on or before May 31, instead of March
31, to align with the fiscal year and that it would include the “gross”
remuneration “for the entire fiscal year”. The amended Bill will be returned
to the House of Assembly for MPs’ agreement.
About
120 soldiers from the Royal Bermuda Regiment arrived in the Caribbean today to
join a major multinational disaster relief exercise. The troops bedded down
in the disused ET Joshua Airport on St Vincent before phase two of Exercise
TradeWinds 19, which will involve a variety of tough scenarios, starts in
earnest tomorrow. Lance Corporal Gary Dowling, a bandsman and member of the
humanitarian aid and disaster relief company, said: “We’re still waiting to
be tasked but I know there is a lot planned. It’s a really brilliant spot.
They’ve tried their hardest to give us a relatively comfortable standard of
living to help us get off to a good start.” Exercise TradeWinds, in its second
phase after an intensive planning session in the Dominican Republic, involves
soldiers, sailors and airmen from over 20 countries. It is the first time a
contingent from Bermuda has had any involvement in the annual exercise, run by
the US Southern Command for almost 30 years. Other countries represented include
the UK, Canada, Jamaica and France, as well as forces from the host country
Private Marketa Raynor, 36, of Hamilton Parish, said: “I love it so far. The
scenery is fantastic and the atmosphere is awesome, much better than I expected.
Pte Raynor, a housekeeper at the Elbow Beach Hotel in civilian life, added:
“The military from the other countries have been really cool. It’s like
being around Bermudians you haven’t seen for a while. The accommodation is
quite basic but much better than living in the bush.” Private Adam Curley, 30,
added: “I’m looking forward to the exercise. It’s always good to meet new
people and hopefully we will learn from each other. The RBR has a huge amount of
experience with hurricanes.” RBR Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel David
Curley said the first tasks for the RBR contingent would be to refresh their
skills and rehearsals for scenarios, which will include practical exercises and
tests of knowledge. He added: “The soldiers are very enthusiastic — it’s
an adventure for them, it’s a different country, culture and the climate has
already begun to test their resilience as it is already hot and very humid. We
will be working closely with Caribbean agencies and security force and at the
end of it our soldiers will be a lot stronger in all aspects of disaster relief
and humanitarian aid. If we are ever called on to do this for real at home or
overseas, we will be well prepared.” Colonel Curley said the scenarios used to
test the RBR’s skills were still being kept secret — but predicted a grueling
workout. “We needed to do something different and TradeWinds was an operation
which was ideal. We performed really well during the first phase of the exercise
and that leads directly into phase two. We are a modern and forward-thinking
force and have restructured to be better organised to face the threats to
Bermuda that we’re most likely to see. We also want to provide interesting,
enjoyable and testing training to our soldiers and to develop skills that they
can easily transfer to civilian life.”
Two oil tankers that were apparently attacked in the Gulf of Oman today have
links to Bermuda. The Front Altair, which is operated by
Bermuda-headquartered
Frontline, suffered three explosions and was on fire. Its 23 crew members have
been rescued. The tanker was said to have been carrying 75,000 tonnes of the petrochemical
product naphtha. Robert Hvide Macleod, Frontline Management’s chief executive officer, told
shipping newspaper TradeWinds: “We don’t know the reason for the
explosion and work to clarify through thorough investigations.” The Royal Gazette, was unable to reach the Norwegian company’s
management offices in Oslo, and no details were available from its Hamilton
office, or an operations branch in Glasgow, Scotland. The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker was being chartered by Taiwan’s state
oil refiner CPC. It was off the coast of Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates,
when the incident occurred. The other vessel damaged was the Kokuka Courageous. It was reported to
have a breach of its hull above the waterline. The crew was evacuated from the
ship. The Panama-flagged, Japanese-owned tanker is operated by Bernhard Schulte
Shipmanagement through its Singapore office, and was transporting methanol from
Saudi Arabia to Singapore. Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement also has an office in Hamilton.
It is not clear what caused the blasts in the separate incidents. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which is part of the Royal
Navy, said it was aware of the incident involving the two tankers and is
advising ships moving through the area to exercise extreme caution. Today’s incidents come a month after another four tankers were damaged in
the same region, in what has been called a “sophisticated and coordinated
operation”. At the time, the US accused Iran of direct involvement in those
incidents, an accusation Iran denied. A senior Iranian official today told the BBC that the country has no
connection with today’s incident.
Bermuda
Industrial Union members approved a wage increase offered by the Government
yesterday. Hundreds of unionized staff voted on a new collective bargaining
agreement (CBA) settled by their negotiating team. Chris Furbert, the president
of the BIU, said about 600 members turned out for the meeting at St Paul AME
Centennial Hall. “They accepted the proposal that the BIU negotiating team
presented to them,” Mr Furbert said, estimating that 95 per cent of attendees
had agreed. The CBA, which is regularly adjusted, covers salaries and other
conditions of employment. According to ZBM last night, the wage rise agreed was
retroactive to last year. The 2019 wage remains to be negotiated. The option of
pursuing arbitration was turned down, Mr Furbert added. The union head
emphasised that the Bermuda Government held its own separate agreements with
both the Bermuda Union of Teachers and the Bermuda Public Services Union. At
least half the BIU membership gathered for the meeting, which concluded at noon.
The session had an impact on services for the morning, from public transport to
postal delivery and school support staff.
The
process of finding a successor to Jeremy Cox, the executive chairman of the
Bermuda Monetary Authority, has begun. For the past nine years Mr Cox has
headed the BMA and guided the financial-services regulator to important
milestone including, in the insurance space, achieving jurisdictional
equivalence status with the European Union, and qualified status with the US. He
began a three-year term as executive chairman at the start of this year, which
combined his previous role as chief executive officer. He succeeded Gerald
Simons, who retired as chairman of the board at the end of 2018. Mr Cox’s
achievements with the BMA were hailed on Tuesday when he was awarded the Fred
Reiss Lifetime Achievement Award and received a standing ovation at the Bermuda
Captive Conference. He returned to the conference yesterday as a keynote
speaker. When asked by The Royal Gazette about the succession issue, he said the
BMA board has begun the process and before the end of September there will
likely be an advertisement for a CEO-designate. The aim is to have a person in
position for a “handoff” period with Mr Cox before his three-year term comes
to an end. In his keynote address, Mr Cox spoke about “game-changers” the
BMA has dealt with during its 50-year history. The first came soon after the
authority was formed in 1969 when, the following year, the UK ended its sterling
area-based exchange control laws. “It was a surprise move that left Bermuda
out on its own and excluded from sterling area privileges. We were no longer
part of a club that was thought, in those days, to be the source of our economic
stability,” Mr Cox said. The BMA introduced the Bermuda dollar, effectively
replacing the British pound as the island’s currency. Its second job was to
assume responsibility for supervising the banks, while the third was taking over
responsibility for vetting company licence applications, and the fourth job was
exchange control. Its responsibilities increased over the years, and it took
responsibility for the island’s insurance industry in 2002. Mr Cox said the
second game-changer was the global financial crisis of the late 2000s. “From
the early days of captive insurance companies, to the arrival of the large
commercial reinsurers, and more recently to fintech and alternative capital, we
have refereed a game in which the goalposts were constantly being moved.” He
said that since 2005 — the year of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, and the
introduction of insurance sidecars — the BMA’s function has become more
complex and challenging. “Goalposts are now considered a luxury, and one that
we have had to learn to live without. Now the focus is on understanding the
elegant, but often esoteric, definitions of what actually constitutes a goal.”
Looking back on the financial crisis, Mr Cox said the island had been fortunate
to have, in the BMA, an integrated supervisory architecture; one regulator for
all financial services. “What that meant was the left hand knew what the right
was doing,” he said. He contrasted this with what was happening elsewhere,
where there was separate supervision for banking, insurance, and regulation for
other financial services. He said that was a situation “which was eventually
blamed for the regulatory arbitrage that contributed to the great recession”.
Many authorities today no longer favour supervision by different independent
agencies When Bermuda set its sights on full equivalence to the EU’s Solvency
II standards for its commercial insurance regime, it was a tough challenge.
“But we never gave up,” Mr Cox said. The aim was achieved in 2016, and it
included a negotiated carve out for the captive sector. “Solvency II served as
a major rallying point, bringing private industry and the markets regulatory
teams together on common ground like never before,” he said. Today, Bermuda
and other jurisdictions are getting to grips with EU concerns about economic
substance. “Only time will tell whether meeting the challenge of economic
substance — which in my view ranks as game-changer number three — will have
the same unifying effect as Solvency II.” Regarding the regulations, he said
all Bermuda companies engaged in relevant activities, such as banking,
insurance, fund management and other financial services activities, will be
required to meet an economic substance test. In March, the island was placed on
the EU’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes as a result of
a typographical error in economic substance regulations submitted by the Bermuda
Government to the EU. The island was removed from the list last month. “The
damage our jurisdiction sustained on March 12, when we were temporarily placed
on the EU blacklist, is not irreparable. But it served as a warning that,
despite the close relationships we’ve developed with the world’s financial
authorities, we are not immune to reputational setbacks. We cannot afford to
become complacent.” He said the EU has forced every offshore financial centre
in the world to change its game. “We have to respond by showing that we apply
an appropriate level of vetting. We have to show that even though our technical
analysis may cost us in lost clients here and there, we will not accept business
that even remotely resembles a sham.” Mr Cox, referring to an earlier
observation that the BMA had become guardian of the Bermuda brand as well as
regulator of the market place, told conference delegates: “I want you to
consider that we are all guardians of the Bermuda brand — regulators and
regulated. “The brand is not just what you say and do in customer-placing
situations, it is also reflected by what you say and do to each other. So
let’s take joint ownership and responsibility. That’s my call to arms.”
The
sharing of information on accounts in offshore financial jurisdictions like
Bermuda is bringing in billions of dollars in tax revenue for the home countries
of the account holders. The island joined a global effort to improve
transparency on matters of taxation by signing up to automatic exchange of
information agreements. “We really are moving closer to a world where there is
nowhere left to hide,” Ángel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development, said. The OECD reported last week
that more than 90 jurisdictions participating in a global transparency
initiative under the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard since 2018 have now
exchanged information on 47 million offshore accounts, with a total value of
around €4.9 trillion ($5.53 trillion). Voluntary disclosure of offshore
accounts, financial assets and income in the run-up to full implementation of
the AEOI initiative resulted in more than €95 billion in additional revenue
(tax, interest and penalties) for OECD and G20 countries over the 2009 to 2019
period. This cumulative amount is up by €2 billion since the last reporting by
OECD in November 2018. Automatic exchange of information has also caused
deposits held offshore to fall, according to preliminary analysis by the OECD
for a full report that will be published later this year. Deposits held by
companies or individuals in more than 40 international financial centres
increased sharply over the 2000 to 2008 period, reaching a peak of $1.6 trillion
by mid-2008. These deposits have fallen by 34 per cent over the past ten years,
representing a decline of $551 billion, the OECD dead, as tighter transparency
standards took effect. “A large part of that decline is due to the onset of
the AEOI initiative, which accounts for about two thirds of the decrease,” the
OECD stated. “Specifically, AEOI has led to a decline of 20 per cent to 25 per
cent in the bank deposits in IFCs, according to preliminary data.” Mr Gurria
said there was now “an unprecedented level of transparency in tax matters,
which will bring concrete results for government revenues and services in the
years to come. The transparency initiatives we have designed and implemented
through the G20 have uncovered a deep pool of offshore funds that can now be
effectively taxed by authorities worldwide. Continuing analysis of cross-border
financial activity is already demonstrating the extent that international
standards on automatic exchange of information have strengthened tax compliance,
and we expect to see even stronger results moving forward. These impressive
results are only the first stocktaking of our collective efforts. Even more tax
revenue is expected as countries continue to process the information received
through data-matching and other investigation tools. We really are moving closer
to a world where there is nowhere left to hide.”
Findings
from an investigation into Bermuda’s child protection agency are prevented by
law from being released, senators heard yesterday. Kathy Lynn Simmons, the
Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, said legislation meant the
report of an inquiry into the Department of Child and Family Services, could not
be shared publicly. She was responding to Nick Kempe, the Opposition Senate
Leader, who cited an article in The Royal Gazette, which reported
yesterday that it asked the Government under public access to information for
the “full report” into allegations against Alfred Maybury, the DCFS
director. Mr Kempe quoted from the story when he told senators it showed that
the legal affairs ministry refused to disclose whether a record existed because
to do so would “add unnecessary confusion to misinformation which is already
present in the media and public domain”. Mr Maybury was suspended last August
after being accused of ignoring allegations about the DCFS staff mistreating
children in care. He returned to work in January after the Government announced
that a “thorough investigation” had found the claims against him were “not
substantiated”. Mr Kempe said: “I’m struggling to understand how the
release of an investigation would add more confusion. One would think that if
there’s concerns about rumor and innuendo, that releasing a report would put
to bed any confusion and, in the name of transparency, allow the public to
understand what it is exactly the government investigation has uncovered or not,
and would provide people with some insight into why certain decisions were made
or not made.” He also referred to earlier comments from Ms Simmons in the
Senate, when Mr Kempe said she spoke about “requesting the newspaper to not
ask essentially uncomfortable questions”. The Attorney-General claimed last
week that the Gazette was “fishing overseas” as part of its inquiries
into a government psycho educational programme that sends vulnerable children
abroad. She urged then: “Please do not harass these institutions. Please do
not try to obtain information that is detrimental to what we are trying to
accomplish.” Mr Kempe said yesterday: “That approach to asking questions,
whether it be a source of journalism or the Opposition, I think is entirely
counterproductive to the checks and balances that we’ve built into our
society.” Ms Simmons said she listened to his remarks with “great dismay”.
She explained: “We cannot characterize an investigation as something that is
fraught with innuendo or respond to reports that put it in a category of
information that should be dealt with outside the parameters of the law. The
Internal Audit Act 2010 prohibits release of the report pertaining to the
investigation into child and family services. From a legal perspective, we are
not allowed to disclose the report.” Ms Simmons offered reassurances that the
department “always” acted in the best interests of the children it served
and ministry officers would not respond to stories reported by individuals to
the press with details that would provide “clarity to the situation but which
would also involve having to release personal information about the child or
family situation”. She added: “Last week, I spoke about the reporting that
did nothing to advance our interests, and when I say our interests I mean our
collective interests in terms of the efforts that we make to support and protect
our children.” Ms Simmons said she planned to offer a statement about her trip
abroad to visit children’s facilities but was “daunted” and “had to put
the brakes on” when she learnt from one of the overseas facilities that
inquiries were made about a child “who was there some time ago, which breached
all protocol”. She indicated she was distracted by providing the establishment
“reassurance that Bermuda remains a committed partner”. Ms Simmons said
treatment for some children was not available on the island. She explained:
“We simply don’t provide the programmes, resource, expertise that would be
able to address the very intricate dysfunction and problems and psychological
issues that arise with respect to some of our children. So we are actually very
pleased that we have these relationships, but I can say hand on heart I don’t
know one child who would ever jump with glee and happiness if they were told
that they were being sent overseas for assessment, if they were told that they
had to leave their family and their friends.” In the House of Assembly last
Friday, Craig Cannonier, the Leader of the Opposition, suggested there be a
“shuffle in the management” at the DCFS. Mr Cannonier said: “I do believe
that there are certainly some realities that Bermuda has to face. I am sure that
everyone in this House of Assembly does not appreciate when they open up the
paper and they once again are seeing that we are having challenges within the
DCFS, that we see there are people, individuals, private citizens speaking out
about some of the conduct and some of the things that were going on within this
ministry. I believe that at this time, having looked at the newspaper just now,
that it is extremely challenging. I am encouraging this government, and it is my
opinion that there needs to be a shuffle in the management within that
department.”
Youth
activist and soon-to-be law graduate Eron Hill was sent abroad as part of a
controversial government programme for vulnerable children — and credits it
with turning his life around. Mr Hill told The Royal Gazette he was
compelled to share his story after reading reports of youngsters alleging they
were tricked or forced to go to overseas schools by the Department of Child and
Family Services and mistreated while there. “I have seen the news,” said the
23-year-old. “My experience is different. I credit where I am and what I have
been able to achieve today to my experiences out there. I owe that to the [DCFS]
director [Alfred Maybury]. I am indebted to the director. The fact that I have a
positive outlook on my experience doesn’t negate any story of any other
individual. Other people have legitimate concerns.” Mr Hill grew up without a
father, clashed with his mother as a teenager and ran away from home in 2011,
aged 15. I was the average 15-year-old, struggling with a bit more at home. I
was struggling with the absence of my father. That really affected me. I felt
here is somebody who brought me into this world and they don’t care about me.
At the age of 15, being the rebellious young man that I was at that time, [I was
not] really wanting to listen to authority.” After 12 days at a cousin’s
house, Mr Hill went to lawyer Elizabeth Christopher’s office to seek advice.
He said she notified the authorities he was safe and he was then taken into the
department’s care. The teenager and his mother consented to him leaving the
island within about a week to go to the Discovery Academy, a therapeutic
boarding school in Utah in the United States. Unlike almost
all participants in the DCFS’s psycho-educational programme, Mr Hill had
independent legal representation, in the form of Ms Christopher and lawyer Saul
Dismont, who then worked in her chambers. Mr Hill said he was academically
gifted and not diagnosed with a mental health condition but was sent abroad
because of “behavioural and social” issues and his inability to “best utilize
the leadership skills” he had. Being removed from Bermuda was the best choice
for him, he said, because of the social stigma he felt was attached to staying
in a local children’s home and a need to have some distance from island life.
But he said: “I resisted the programme [at Discovery] for a bit. The facility
is relaxed [but] my first three months, I struggled.” Mr Hill transferred from
Discovery for a short stint in a “wilderness programme” at Redcliff Ascent
in the same state. The Royal Gazette reported
yesterday the story of a young man who claimed he was tricked into going to
Redcliff as a teenager, where he dealt with harsh living conditions and
“children caught up in crime or self-harming”. Mr Hill said Redcliff marked
a turning point for him. “I would sit there in my sleeping bag at night,
looking at the stars and you think ‘I’m a long way from home’.” He said
he came to realise the department was trying to help him and that he needed to
help himself, return to Discovery and complete his studies. Back at the
Discovery Academy, he lived in a house with 12 other at-risk boys from the US,
Canada and the Caribbean facing “many difficulties. That was, in itself, an
education. It was a learning experience for me.” He said none of the students,
including him, really wanted to be there but he began to view it as an
opportunity, applying himself to his studies, his chores and forging
relationships with his peers and teachers. He had weekly calls with his mother
and other relatives. “For me, it was growing up that was necessary,” he
said. “I grew up quickly. I’m grateful for it. You had to learn to
compromise. There are lessons that I would never forget and friendships that I
would never forget.” Mr Hill said he graduated at the top of his class at
Discovery, a year earlier than his peers at Bermuda Institute, where he had been
a student. Aged 17, he was allowed to observe law classes at a nearby
university, solidifying his long-held ambition to become a lawyer. He is now the
chairman of Generation Next, an organisation for young professionals, and
credits his time abroad with harnessing his leadership potential and mending his
relationship with his mother. Mr Hill now talks to youngsters involved in the
psycho-educational programme to help them prepare for going away. “You have
got social workers or even the Family Court panel who have never been to these
facilities. I think it’s my responsibility to talk to these young people. I
tell them ‘the river doesn’t drink its own water, neither does the sun shine
for itself. I have to ask myself: why did I go through that? I always tell young
people ‘success requires sacrifice’. I tell them ‘I was just like you’.
I don’t want to sound like it’s all great. But for me, this is my
reality.” He questioned whether Bermuda had the right facilities to deal with
some young people’s challenges and insisted there was often a benefit in going
abroad. “I am not a proponent of scrapping that arrangement should it be
befitting,” he said. Mr Hill, who will graduate next month with a degree from
the University of Law in London and will soon start a nine-month Bar course,
said he wanted youngsters facing time overseas to have a “full picture” and
not assume the worst. “A lot of the time, we as 15-year-olds tend to believe
we know what’s best for us. The reality is that I wouldn’t be where I am
today without what happened to me. That experience taught me invaluable life
lessons.” A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Legal Affairs, which is
responsible for the DCFS, said: “The Department of Child and Family Service
Psycho-educational Programme provides children and youth with protection, care,
and nurturance by licensed therapeutic overseas facilities. It affords us the
opportunity to have external input with regard to therapeutic intervention and
aftercare services. Sending young people overseas is not the first phase of
intervention, the decision to use the services of overseas treatment facilities
is determined when local services are unavailable. The department’s first
priority is to protect the welfare of children who require intervention and need
additional care outside of what is being provided at home. Since the programme
started, we can point to numerous positive outcomes. However, we are not at
liberty to publicly release information or discuss those cases. It is up to
individuals to share their stories.”
One
in three people said they experienced some form of sexual abuse as a child,
according to a new survey. More than 600 people took part in the adverse
childhood experiences research conducted by the Bermuda Health Council in
partnership with Family Centre. The survey, which has been running on Family
Centre’s website since March, also found:
The research will be shared during a two-day conference on the issue starting today, organised by Family Centre, Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda and the Inter-Agency Committee for Children and Families. Tara Hines, project associate in data analytics and outcomes research at the Bermuda Health Council, said that the research showed that adverse childhood experiences have caused trauma not only for victims, but the wider community. It indicated that children have not only suffered trauma from personal experiences, but from things that happen to others around them. Ms Hines told The Royal Gazette: “We are seeing a lot of people who are reporting on trauma they have experienced almost second hand.” Ms Hines said that residents appeared to share the burdens of the community, and added: “This may speak to the culture of Bermuda.” She noted that 78 per cent of the respondents were women and said the survey would be extended to hear from more men. Ms Hines said: “We would really love to have more men participate in the research.” She identified road crashes as a main area of trauma that impacts on both the victim and the wider community. And she said that people from all social backgrounds were at risk of developing a chronic illness. Ms Hines added: “The trends that we are seeing are that there are actually higher chronic disease burdens among the most educated.” She said this was not a trend observed in other countries. People who have experienced two or more traumas were more likely to develop a chronic disease. Ms Hines said that findings in the research — which will be released to the public — could be used to shape policies to reduce the cost of healthcare. The first day of the conference will focus on understanding and addressing racial trauma, at HSBC on Front Street, from 9.30am to 5pm. The second day will focus on the economics of adverse childhood experiences, at the Hamilton Princess and Beach Club from 9am to 4.30pm.
A
lifelong devotion to the environment has earned the former head of the Bermuda
Environmental Sustainability Taskforce a top award from the Catholic Church.
Stuart Hayward, also a former independent MP, attended his presentation of a
Peace and Justice award at St Theresa’s Cathedral in Hamilton despite recent
illness. He told the gathering: “Thank you for making me feel special.”
Heather DeSilva, of the Peace and Justice sub-committee at St Theresa’s, told
Mr Hayward: “Thank you, Stuart, for your inspiration over the years. Thank you
for what you have done. Thank you for inspiring our diocese.” She added the
Catholic Church would work to cut waste at special events and reduce the use of
harmful chemicals on its properties. Mr Hayward, also cofounder of Eco Bermuda
and Save the Garden Campaign, was said to be an inspirational influence on many
people who had since joined the fight to protect the environment. Stuart
Kriendler of green energy firm BE Solar, said: “You are like Captain
Bermuda.” Mr Hayward, 77, explained he opted to become an environmentalist
because “Bermuda was such a near-perfect environment when I grew up”. He
told the audience at the event last Thursday that there were no fast cars or
bikes and no electronic noisemakers. Mr Hayward added there was “lots of blues
and greens”. He said: “These assets helped Bermuda to be a near perfect
environment.” Mr Hayward’s mother helped him to develop strong environmental
values. He said her maxims such as “waste not, want not” and “wilful waste
brings wilful want” had stayed with him. Mr Hayward, who cofounded BEST,
worked for decades to protect Bermuda’s “near-perfect environment” and was
the driving force behind many projects designed to protect natural heritage. He
founded the Admiralty House Park Association with residents who wanted to keep
the property in public ownership and control. The former chairman of the
National Trust’s Environmental Committee and member of the Government’s
Roads Advisory Council also started Save Open Spaces in 1982 to reduce or stop
the use of public open spaces for roads or houses, or other purposes that were
not environmentally sound. Jamie Beacon, Mr Hayward’s wife, said he had been
involved in other work to benefit Bermuda. Mr Hayward was instrumental in the
creation of the Transcendental Meditation Centre and a cofounder of the Bermuda
Leadership Forum. She said: “While Stuart may be best known for his
outstanding environmental work and advocacy, he also did much for the people in
his community as well.”
A
tenpin bowling pioneer who headed the first office of Parliamentary Registrar
after it separated from the Registrar General has died, aged 83. Lionel
Dowling traced his bowling career back to 1962 and led the sport in Bermuda as
an administrator for decades. He founded the popular American Airlines
Spectacular and ran it for 28 years before stepping down in 2006. Mr Dowling was
a longstanding president of the Bermuda Bowling Senate, affiliated with the
National Bowling Association in the United States. His contribution to the sport
was recognized in 1989 with a special achievement award at the Government Sports
Awards. Mr Dowling was appointed Parliamentary Registrar in 2000, and the
separate office opened in 2001, in the wake of legislative changes allowing
voters to sign on to the electoral roll at any time of the year. His new title
made Mr Dowling responsible for elections, as well as campaigning to keep voters
registered with up-to-date details. His career in the Civil Service began in
1976, when became an inspector in the social insurance department. Marlene
Christopher, the former Registrar General, worked with Mr Dowling as her deputy
before the separation of offices. She recalled Mr Dowling as “a meticulous
person who just got on with what had to be done. He was a good civil servant who
adhered to the ideals of good service given in a pleasant and congenial way. He
was a team player who worked with professional skill, liked by the staff, who
kept people to the code of dress as well as conduct.” Hattieann Gilbert, a
champion bowler, said Mr Dowling had been key in getting the sport organised in
Bermuda. She added: “He was a quiet man who helped everybody come together as
one big happy family. There’s not too many left from that time. Lionel was a
leader to us. He was great for getting things organised.” Mr Dowling pushed
for the creation of the Bermuda Bowling Federation, incorporated in 1997, to
move the sport into the mainstream. His dedication showed after a serious fall
on the job in 2000, when he was treated in the intensive care unit. At the time,
Mike McCallum, the president of the Bermuda Bowling Association, told The Royal
Gazette it had come just before the American Airlines tournament presentation.
Mr McCallum added: “Do you know that while barely conscious, and at a time
when he seemed to be slipping back, that man was more concerned about how the
presentation would go than himself? That’s typical Lionel. More worried about
other people than himself, always willing to go that extra yard to do for
others.” Traci Lambe, the head of the Bermuda Junior Bowling Association at
the time, said Mr Dowling “always had bowling at heart and put his heart into
bowling — he’s been very instrumental as to where we are today”. Mr
Dowling’s inspiration for the tournament was his hope to see as many players
as possible represent the sport in Bermuda. He also planned bowling events such
as the Canada Dry Special, the Non-Bowlers Tournament and a Bowl-A-Fun
tournament for the Bermuda Government. Mr Dowling told the Gazette in 2003: “I
said to myself, why not have a special tournament that would benefit the
lower-average bowlers and give them a chance for glory?” Mr Dowling’s
funeral will be held today at the St Paul AME Church in Hamilton at 2pm.
The
fight over the legal representation of the patients of Ewart Brown returned to
the Court of Appeal yesterday. Mark Pettingill, who represents patients
whose medical records were seized by police, called on the court to quash a
ruling that he and Victoria Greening, both of Chancery Legal, had a conflict of
interest in the case. He told the court: “It’s not in the interest of
justice to let a perceived ‘obvious’ conflict of interest to ripen and then
take issue two years later after significant litigation and expense.” But Mark
Diel, for the Bermuda Police Service, argued that the Court of Appeal should
uphold the decision of the Supreme Court because Mr Pettingill and Ms Greening
had both received confidential information about the case in their previous
posts. Mr Diel added: “The fact that they don’t remember it is neither here
nor there.” The Supreme Court heard in affidavits that Mr Pettingill had been
briefed about investigations into Dr Brown while he was the Attorney-General. Ms
Greening was said to have been given information about the case while she worked
at the Department of Public Prosecutions. Assistant Justice Kiernan Bell ruled
in May that both lawyers had a conflict of interest and could not represent the
patients, but they launched an appeal against the decision. Mr Pettingill told
the appeal court he received no information during his time as Attorney-General
that would give him any advantage in the case. He also told the court that even
if there had been a conflict, the police service had waived it because they had
not raised it for more than two years. Mr Pettingill highlighted a February 2017
letter Chancery Legal sent to the police about the seizure of the medical
records on behalf of a patient. He said: “The purpose of that was laying down
the gauntlet by way of a challenge. We were challenging their legal ability to
take our clients’ property and they responded to that challenge.” Mr
Pettingill said he did receive some information about investigations into Dr
Brown, a former Premier of Bermuda, but he did not receive details about
allegations of over-scanning at his clinics. He added that he resigned as
Attorney-General in April 2014, about three years before the police raided the
clinics. Mr Pettingill said: “I unequivocally have no knowledge into any
investigation into these claims. Most certainly I didn’t know any details of
it.” However, Mr Diel told the court: “The defence of ‘I have no
recollection of it’ is not a defence. It doesn’t get you out of the problem
of the conflict.” He told the court that Ms Greening accepted she had a
meeting while at the DPP with members of the investigation team and that Mr
Pettingill had been briefed about matters related to the investigation of Dr
Brown. Mr Diel said when Chancery Legal became involved in the case as
interveners, the focus was on the rights of the patients to privacy. He said:
“Our position at that time has been given that we were talking about patient
confidentiality — the issue of conflict of interest didn’t arise. At that
stage all the parties were working to try to guarantee patient confidentiality.
What they knew about the investigation was not relevant. Then circumstances
changed.” Mr Diel said the patients had since expressed an intention to take
over the judicial review, which caused the conflict of interest to arise. He
said: “It’s knowing the other side’s hand in a game of poker. We have
counsel that were working with police and know we have the same counsel working
for the interveners who want to take over the judicial review and work in direct
opposition to the police in this matter.” The hearing continues.
Information
Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez will decide whether the Department of Internal
Audit was right to keep secret the findings of its inquiry into the head of the
island’s child protection agency. Alfred Maybury, director of the
Department of Child and Family Services, was suspended last August after being
accused of ignoring allegations about DCFS staff mistreating children in care.
The Ministry of Social Development and Sport launched an inquiry the same month
but the ministry was later abolished. The DCFS moved to the Ministry of Legal
Affairs and that ministry was understood to have taken over the investigation. In
November, the Department of Internal Audit, in the Cabinet Office, revealed it
was conducting a “review into the Department of Child and Family Services”.
Mr Maybury returned to work in January after the Government announced that a
“thorough investigation” had found the claims against him were “not
substantiated”. It said the claims were that Mr Maybury failed to perform his
duty regarding the care and safety of children at a residential facility, and
that he was not following financial instructions. The Royal Gazette asked
the Government under public access to information for the “full report into
allegations of misconduct against Alfred Maybury, which was conducted by the
Ministry of Legal Affairs and Department of Internal Audit”. Legal Affairs
refused to disclose whether the record existed because the ministry said to do
so would “add unnecessary confusion to misinformation which is already present
in the media and public domain”. It said such investigations had to remain
highly confidential so as not to prejudice or undermine future investigations.
Marva O’Brien, permanent secretary at the ministry, did not respond to a
request for a review of that decision in the six-week time frame required by the
Pati Act. The Department of Internal Audit said records it obtained or created
in the course of carrying out its functions were exempt from Pati. Cabinet
Secretary Marc Telemaque reaffirmed that decision after an internal review. The
newspaper appealed Mr Telemaque’s decision and Ms O’Brien’s lack of a
decision to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Ms Gutierrez’s review
into Legal Affairs will be limited to whether Ms O’Brien failed to make a
decision in accordance with the Pati Act and will not consider whether the
report into Mr Maybury should be released. Her review into Internal Audit will
look at whether the department was right to refuse to release the report under
section 4 of the Pati Act. A spokeswoman for David Burt, the Premier, said:
“Internal Audit reports are exempt from Pati under section 4 and, as such, are
held internally for use by the Government for its decision-making purposes in
accordance with the Internal Audit Act 2010 and international internal auditing
standards and code of ethics.” A Ministry of Legal Affairs spokeswoman said:
“We do not discuss internal personnel matters publicly.”
The
Bermuda Police Service has denied a claim that officers had accessed medical
files seized from Ewart Brown’s clinics. A spokesman for the patients
claimed on Monday that they were “shocked” to discover that “police were
going through” seized files without the patients being notified. She said:
“Neither the police nor their lawyers bothered to inform us. This is nothing
short of outrageous. “We think this was deliberate to try to make our appeal
to have our files back, worthless.” The spokeswoman added: “Who can we trust
if we cannot trust the Police Commissioner? Who can we trust if we cannot trust
the Governor?” Stephen Corbishley, the Commissioner of Police, said the
Bermuda Police Service has acted strictly according to a court-ordered protocol,
as agreed by lawyers for the clinics and the patients. He said: “If the
clinics and others are under a misunderstanding as to the position in relation
to the protocol, their misunderstanding is not due to any fault of the BPS. The
BPS is fully observant to both the required undertakings in these matters and
the sensitivities in respect of patient confidentiality. In this regard,
examination of evidence is being facilitated by an independent overseas expert
and the BPS has no access to the material within patient files.” Police seized
the health records of 265 patients from Dr Brown’s two clinics in February
2017 as part of an investigation by police into allegations that the clinics
ordered unneeded diagnostic imaging scans to boost profits. Those files were
sealed on the orders of a judge after civil proceedings were brought against the
police by Mahesh Reddy, the medical director of Bermuda Healthcare Services, and
the clinics. A group of 150 patients, represented by Chancery Legal, were given
permission to intervene in the case in November last year. The patients sought
to block access to their files by police and to have the medical records
returned. In February, the parties agreed on a protocol through which selected
files of 75 patents would be uploaded to a secure server. Under the protocol the
server was to be set up and managed by the National Crime Agency in the UK and,
once the files were uploaded, the BPS would have no further access. Two
independent doctors appointed by the BPS would have access to the files in order
to prepare expert reports on whether patients were over-scanned. But in a letter
send by Dr Reddy to the patients at the Bermuda Healthcare Services and the
Brown-Darrell Clinic which said “the BPS have undertaken not to access your
files”.
Bermuda
Industrial Union members have endorsed the collective bargaining agreement
settled by their negotiating team, after hundreds met to vote this morning.
The gathering, which began at 10.30am, ended at noon with the overwhelming
majority of members opting for the terms as negotiated. Chris Furbert, the
president of the BIU, said about 600 members turned out for the meeting at St
Paul AME Centennial Hall. “They accepted the proposal that the BIU negotiating
team presented to them,” Mr Furbert said, estimating that 95 per cent of
attendees had agreed, The session had an impact on some government services,
including:
A
tribute to Bermuda’s national heroes will be held at the weekend. The
event will recognize the island’s National Heroes, Dame Lois Browne-Evans, EF
Gordon, Pauulu Kamarakafego, formerly Roosevelt Brown, Sir Henry Tucker, Mary
Prince, Gladys Morrell, Sir Edward Richards and Sir John Swan National Heroes
Day is on Monday. Lovitta Foggo, the Minister of Labour, Community Affairs and
Sport, said: “We are hosting a recognition event where we intend to use the
opportunity to remind the community of the importance of National Heroes Day and
to share tributes that will highlight how our National Heroes inspired those who
will be participating in the ceremony. “This is an event that is open to the
public and we are encouraging people to attend so that they can learn more about
the legacy and contributions of Bermuda’s national heroes.” The event will
be held at the World Heritage Centre, St George, on Saturday from 6pm. The
celebration will feature contributions from historians and family members of
some of the national heroes, as well as a musical performance by Joy T. Barnum.
Jeremy
Cox received a standing ovation at the Bermuda Captive Conference as he received
the Fred Reiss Lifetime Achievement Award. The executive chairman of the
Bermuda Monetary Authority was visibly moved after he received the acclaim of
hundreds of delegates. Mr Cox joined the BMA in 2002 after working as the
Bermuda Government’s Registrar of Companies. Named chief executive officer in
2010 and executive chairman this January, he has led the authority through
market milestones, most notably, its 2016 achievement of full equivalence with
Europe’s Solvency II insurance regulatory regime. The BMA marks its 50th
anniversary this year. Mr Cox received the award onstage in the Amphitheatre at
the Fairmont Southampton from Curtis Dickinson, the finance minister, and Mike
Parrish, the conference chairman. He said that before the event, the knowledge
that he would be honoured with a lifetime achievement award had not really hit
him. “As I sat there reflecting on the 26 years I have been involved in
regulation in Bermuda ... it’s hit me now,” Mr Cox said. “It’s quite an
emotional moment.” When he joined the financial services regulator 17 years
ago, he said there were just 35 staff — as of the end of last year, there were
196. “They have been a phenomenal group of people over all the years I’ve
been there,” Mr Cox said. His award reflected their success, he added. He also
paid tribute to Brian Hall, last year’s Fred Reiss award winner, whom he
described as “one of my mentors”. Mr Cox first worked as an auditor at
Arthur Andersen & Co in Bermuda, before joining the Registrar of Companies,
where he served as technical officer in the insurance division, and later
inspector of companies, and finally Registrar. In this role, his
responsibilities included providing technical support to the finance ministry on
all insurance-related matters. After joining the BMA in 2002, Mr Cox served as
executive director and supervisor of insurance, becoming deputy CEO in 2008, and
CEO in 2010 until taking up the role of executive chairman this year. In
addition, four captive insurance companies have joined the Bermuda Captive Hall
of Fame, having completed 25 years of business on the island. The companies are
Fairtide Insurance, Iboba Insurance, Pitts Bay Insurance Company, and Trimark
Insurance.
A
former head of communications at the Bermuda Business Development Agency has
been appointed to a top job at the Bermuda Tourism Authority. Rosemary Jones
is the BTA’s new director of corporate communications and strategy. She said:
“It’s a real honour to join the BTA’s talented team and help build on its
already impressive achievements. Travel and tourism have always been big
passions of mine, so I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to tell our story,
encourage national dialogue, and support the industry and its stakeholders as we
take Bermuda’s tourism economy to the next level.” Ms Jones will replace
Glenn Jones, who was promoted to chief experience development officer in April.
Her responsibilities will include oversight of the National Tourism Plan and
media communications. Ms Jones will join the BTA on July 1. Ms Jones served as
the head of communications and marketing at the BDA for four years. Her
responsibilities included national PR plans, content production and campaigns.
Kevin Dallas, the chief executive of the BTA, said: “Rosemary’s reputation
for excellence precedes her and we’re thrilled to bring her on board at the
BTA. We know she will be a great addition to the team and will help us continue
the momentum of moving our National Tourism Plan forward in a passionate and
sustainable way as well as connect with relevant stakeholders to ensure all
voices are heard.” Ms Jones earlier worked as a journalist for a variety of
media, including Te Royal Gazette, Broadcast News Toronto, The
Bermudian magazine and Bermudian Business magazine.
A
vulnerable teenager “dumped” overseas by the island’s child protection
agency claimed yesterday that social workers tricked him into going and then
“abandoned” him for years. The youth, whose mother died when he was a
child, said in an account to The Royal Gazette that when he was 13, the
Department of Child and Family Services told him he was being taken to a
“kids’ camp in the US, where I would go skiing and do other fun activities
for a couple of weeks”. The young man alleged: “It wasn’t a kids’ camp
and they dumped me in the US for 2½ years.” He claimed he was sent to a
wilderness programme in Utah for “children caught up in crime or
self-harming” and then to an academy in Tennessee where most other children
already had criminal records and were linked to gangs such as the Bloods or
Crips. The boy alleged that letters he sent to social workers pleading to let
him come home made no difference and that no one from the department visited him
the whole time he was in the United States as part of DCFS’s psycho-educational
programme. A Ministry of Legal Affairs spokeswoman said yesterday she could not
comment publicly on individual cases. The ministry earlier said the department
vetted overseas institutions every year and that children had weekly conference
calls and were visited every six months by a case worker. It said the psycho-educational
programme was for children “who could not be effectively serviced locally or
those who had exhausted all local available therapeutic services”. But the boy
said in the letter: “I felt real bad, very far away, alone and that no one
cared about me. The department never made me feel like it wanted me or cared
about me. They would say they were spending a lot of money on me, like I should
thank them for it.” He added: “I don’t want any other kid to be treated
like I was ... I really don’t want it to happen to any other children. There
may be some that might need treatment in a special place but it should be a nice
place.” The teenager said: “And keep them in Bermuda. Sending them away will
make things worse. And when they come back they have nothing and are just
dropped.” The youngster spoke out after Attorney-General Kathy Lynn Simmons
told the Senate last week that The Royal Gazette should not “harass”
schools involved in the psycho-educational programme or “try to obtain
information that is detrimental to what we are trying to accomplish”. Ms
Simmons, the Senate leader and Minister of Legal Affairs, said: “We’ve had
parents speaking out, we’ve had The Royal Gazette fishing overseas and
undermining the operations of the Government ...” She said she and Alfred
Maybury, the DCFS director, were impressed when they visited more than six
overseas institutions last month. But the teenager said: “I was in care for
most of my life and the director sent me away to those places. So I know more
about it than a quick visit and a show by those places that Bermuda makes
rich.” And he told the department: “You all know why the parents are
speaking out and why the media are asking questions.” He claimed: “You have
just been throwing children away in those places. And you leave us there. When
we complain you don’t listen. When we ask for help, you tell us you are there
to help us. Then you do nothing. You know you can ignore us because most of us
have no one, not even parents. And then when adults try to help us or the media
ask you questions, you attack them. And you all care about children? You’re
jokers.” The letter details how the boy lived with a variety of relatives
before he was sent to a residential home on the island. He was in foster care
for a short time but he said he did not think Mr Maybury ever tried to find a
family to adopt him. After he got into trouble at school, mainly for fighting,
he said the department raised the subject of going abroad. The DCFS must apply
to the courts and explain why the youngster should be sent away to remove a
child from Bermuda. The letter-writer, like almost all the children who have
taken part in the psycho-educational programme since it began before 1999, did
not have independent legal representation during court proceedings. He said:
“I never knew how it happened. I didn’t have a criminal record. I had never
even been arrested before but the director sent me to a wilderness programme
with American children caught up in crime or self-harming. It was at Redcliff
Ascent in Utah in the middle of nowhere with just trees and bushes. There were
no toilets and just cold water. The other children were all messed up. Some had
slash marks all up their arms. One tried to commit suicide while I was there. It
was a lot for me to deal with. I was only 13.” He added: “I kept asking why
I was there but no one ever gave me a real reason. I wasn’t a criminal. I had
never even been arrested before. I wasn’t self-harming. I wasn’t crazy. I
was just there because the director didn’t know where to put me. I was missing
my mama and angry about what was happening to me. All I wanted was for someone
to come and get me.” The youth completed a five-month programme at Redcliff
and then went to Natchez Trace Youth Academy in Tennessee. He claimed: “It
looked OK from the outside but really it’s kind of like a prison and a school.
Everything was crazy there. I felt like a criminal. I was still only 13 but
you’re put with all ages up to 18 and a lot of the other children had already
been convicted of criminal offences and were linked with Bloods or Crips gangs.
There was a lot of ‘street’ behavior, with fights every single day.” His
final stay was at Devereux, an advanced behavioral health centre in Florida,
which he said was a “better place”. But the teenager claimed there was no
plan to reintegrate to Bermuda when he returned and he took to crime and ended
up in the Co-ed facility. He said he avoided going to Glen Mills in
Pennsylvania, the reform school recently shut down amid child abuse allegations,
only because he got a lawyer, Saul Dismont, and an independent litigation
guardian, social worker Tiffanne Thomas. The ministry has said that the DCFS
“implements an aftercare programme” which consisted of “reintegration to
the education system, ongoing individual and family support and referrals”.
The young man, who no longer lives on the island, said: “I’m older than 18
now and I have started learning a trade. I am trying to not get caught up and
stay out of jail. But I’m not going to lie, it’s hard. You do what you have
to do to survive. That is what I was taught at the department and when I was
away. I also learnt not to trust them too and how to look after myself on the
street.” We contacted Natchez Trace and Redcliff Ascent by e-mail and
telephone yesterday. Anthony Troutt, Natchez’s director of risk management,
said: “While we cannot share details on any individual youth or circumstances
due to privacy laws, we are committed to providing appropriate care and
structure for each individual entrusted to us. This includes facilitating a link
between the youth receiving care and their family members.” Mr Troutt said the
Natchez Trace Youth Academy was a 115-bed behavioral residential treatment
centre on 123 acres, serving adolescent males 12 to 18 years of age. He added:
“Our most important responsibility is and always will be the wellbeing of our
youths. We are committed to our mission of providing high-quality treatment
programmes and services to youths with special, and sometimes complex, mental
health needs. We have been in operation for almost 20 years.” Steven DeMille,
Redcliff Ascent’s executive director, was not available for comment.
Bermuda
must do more to improve access for the disabled, a new non-profit group set up
to help people who have lost limbs said this week. LeKiesha Wolffe and Ryan
Gibbons, of A New Life, said very few places were designed to be accessible to
people with disabilities. Mr Gibbons added that wheelchair-bound people — and
even those who were physically fit — faced an “assault course” in
Hamilton. He said: “You can go around the city and there are very few places
with real ramp access. There’s always one stair or a lip. We get it that the
infrastructure is old, but at the same time are we just supposed to throw up our
hands and not do anything about it?” Mr Gibbons, an award-winning bartender
who lost his leg as a result of a 2008 motorcycle crash, said legislation
intended to improve accessibility needed more teeth. He said: “There’s a
place on Front Street that just got a design award — a new construction in an
older building — and there is no access to get to the bathroom. You still need
to go up a flight of stairs to get to the toilets. These businesses are not
taking local people with disabilities into account, but there are also thousands
of cruise ship passengers coming and some of them have handicaps. You have
people who want to buy your products that can’t get into your building to buy
your products.” Ms Wolffe, the executive director of A New Life, said she had
encountered regular problems since she lost her leg in a 2013 motorcycle crash.
She added: “My first year I was wheelchair-bound and it was horrible. I had a
meeting a few weeks back while I was still on crutches. I went to go into the
bathroom at a restaurant and I wasn’t able to get into the bathroom because
the doorway was too tight. The stall was so small I couldn’t turn around. I
have a small wheelchair, but it would never have been able to fit, either.” Ms
Wolffe said she was in the maternity ward at the King Edward VII Memorial
Hospital three years ago to give birth — and found the ward did not have a
wheelchair-accessible bathroom. She added: “They were building a bathroom in
the maternity ward so that I could have access to a bath and a shower. All these
years there have been other people who are handicapped having babies. I
couldn’t go in with my wheelchair. I had to go in and hop with these stitches
from my Caesarean section, with the possibility of tearing my stitches.” Ms
Wolffe said the lack of resources to help the disabled sometimes meant she could
not do things with her young children without assistance. She added: “People
have these great ideas, fantastic things for Bermuda, but handicapped people
don’t seem to exist when you’re building a business.” Ms Wolffe said that
there should be tougher penalties for those who park illegally in disabled bays.
She added: “That fine should be up to $1,000. Do that, and I guarantee you no
one would park in that bay. I go to park outside the post office and have people
tell me they are just running in. You’re in a handicapped bay, honey.” Ms
Wolffe said that there were not enough disabled parking spaces and obvious
spots, such as outside the office of the Department of Financial Assistance, had
none.
Bermuda’s
first march to celebrate gay pride is to be held this summer. LGBTQ people
and same-sex marriage campaigners said the Bermuda Pride event would help to
reinforce that gay people are part of island society. A spokesman for
OutBermuda, the main sponsor of the march, said: “OutBermuda is proud to
support Bermuda Pride 2019. There is an inherent value in a public celebration
of our LGBTQ community in Bermuda as a reminder that we exist and that we are
members of the Bermuda community. It is also a beacon of hope to LGBTQ youth and
others who feel that they are alone. OutBermuda will continue to promote and
support the wellbeing, health, dignity, security, safety and protection of the
LGBTQ community in Bermuda, for as long as we are needed.” The march, to be
held on August 31, will follow World Pride day in New York this month — which
will also mark the 50th anniversary of a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay
bar in Manhattan, that sparked large-scale demonstrations and disorder which led
to a more tolerant attitude towards gay people. Winston Godwin-DeRoche, who
challenged Bermuda’s same-sex marriage ban with his husband, Greg, said a
march in Bermuda was “a huge step in the right direction”. He said: “In
Bermuda we are so quick to sweep things under the rug if they challenge the
status quo. People argue why isn’t there a straight Pride, and I say, really,
be thankful you don’t need one. Pride originated from Stonewall and the LGBTQ
community fighting back and resisting police because they’d had enough. Pride
has now become a celebration of that and remembering what it took to get where
we are now. We are still fighting for equality in Bermuda.” The march was
organised by equal rights campaigners Liz Christopher, David Northcott and Chen
Foley. A spokeswoman for gay rights group the Rainbow Alliance said: “Gay
pride events exist globally as celebrations of visibility, progress, and the
continued struggle for LGBTQ equity within hetero-normative society. “The
Rainbow Alliance advocates for safer spaces in Bermuda and applauds the
organisers of this summer’s Pride celebration.” Pride parades are now held
around the world, with some of the largest in the US, Britain and Europe. Mark
Anderson, a Bermudian entertainer, who is gay, said he was “ecstatic” that a
parade would be held in Bermuda. He added: “I think this is the right timing
for it. Now Bermuda is going to be put on the map with all the other
jurisdictions around the world — it will be recognized that Bermuda is joining
the world in taking a stance with gay pride.” He added: “I would like to see
every Bermudian living abroad make a great effort in coming home and supporting
this parade and if they do, be sure to put it on their immigration slip. Adrian
Hartnett-Beasley, who married husband Shane in New York in 2015, said the couple
would attend the parade. He added: “We are looking forward to celebrating,
with our LGBTQ community, all the accomplishments of the last few years and
especially as we reflect on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 1969
— so much that we have now has come at great cost to those who came before us.
Mr Hartnett-Beasley said: “I believe that Bermuda Pride is a good opportunity
for allies to show up for us in a visible way and I will be encouraging my
straight friends and family to march with us in celebration of who we are as
people and in solidarity in the face of the very real obstacles we face on a
daily basis.”
Perfumery
Lili Bermuda has launched Nautilus, the first summer fragrance designed for men
that it has released in more than a decade. Nautilus is a fragrance inspired
by the relationship between man and nature, the company said. It is a young, but
fierce fragrance inspired by the Colours, sounds, and energy of a summer Bermuda
storm. The fragrance reflects the supernatural energy of the crashing waves,
which have sculpted so perfectly our idyllic natural landscape, Lili Bermuda
says. It is a gift from nature with its most dramatic expression of power and
beauty. A fusion of water, air, and woods, Nautilus is characterized as a Fougere,
one of the main olfactive families of perfumes, with vetiver and white musk. It
opens up with top notes of refreshing bergamot, green verbena leaf, a dash of
ginger, and sparkling petit grain. Its heart is composed of a cool aquatic salty
accord with blue sage, lavender flower, geranium, and sea notes. It ends with
vetiver root, a touch of fig leaf and sensual amber. Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone,
master perfumer for Lili Bermuda, is the creator of Nautilus. She said:
“Nautilus is a personal and intimate part of how I see and admire the good and
strong men of my universe. I wanted this fragrance to be an oceanic reflection
of Bermuda and I wanted to give it a very masculine aura.” Whether young or
old, son or husband, Nautilus is suited for the boy who yearns for adventure in
the wide-open sea, she said. Nautilus is available as an eau de toilette and as
a refillable travel atomizer. It is available from the Lili Bermuda perfumery in
Stewart Hall, Queen Street, St George’s, at the Lili Bermuda boutique in
Butterfield Place shopping concourse, 67 Front Street, Hamilton and from AS
Cooper & Sons, Brown & Co, Gibbons Company, and the Bermuda duty free
shop.
A
grandmother restaurant cook relived her terror after a man with what appeared to
be a handgun charged at her and demanded cash. The woman said: “I thought
he was joking — like it was somebody just playing games — but then he put
the gun up. “He had it wrapped up in a red scarf, so I don’t even know if it
was a real gun or a play gun.” She added: “This is the first time that
something like this has ever happened, that’s why we were so shocked.” The
staff member at Grannie’s Kitchen take-out was speaking after a man in a dark
helmet robbed the restaurant in North Shore Road, Pembroke, at about 11am
yesterday and escaped with $80 in cash. The woman, from Somerset, who asked not
to be named, said the raider was accompanied by another man, also wearing a dark
helmet, who walked out of the restaurant before the robber demanded cash. She
added: “He ran around the other side of the counter and asked for the money. I
said ‘we don’t have any money, we use the till’ and showed him where the
till was. He couldn’t get the till open, so my boss opened the till and threw
the money at him, almost like she was shooing him away. When she threw the money
at him it all fell on the floor. He only picked up some and then left the rest
of it there.” The cook said that the thief and his accomplice escaped on a
motorcycle. She added that, although nobody was hurt, the staff were stunned by
the ordeal. The woman explained: “I really thought it was a joke, because
everybody jokes around. We have people who come here that mess around all the
time. Everybody’s fine now, but it was upsetting when it happened.” The
woman added that the area was a “beautiful” community and staff did not
often have to deal with troublesome customers. She said: “They wait for their
orders, they don’t grumble and we don’t argue or anything. The customers are
great.” Grannie’s Kitchen was bought by Debbie Bean in 2015 and is staffed
by several members of her family. Kee Bean, also a chef at the restaurant and a
niece of the owner, said local people had rallied round after the robbery. She
added: “A lot of people have been calling and saying that they’re outraged
that this happened to Grannie’s. We’ve even had people tell us that they
were willing to cover the cost of what was taken.” Ms Bean said that the
restaurant had CCTV cameras outside but they were taken down two weeks ago for
repairs. She added: “You’d think that something like this wouldn’t happen
to you because you do good for the community and that they would do good for
you.” Michael Weeks, a Progressive Labour Party backbencher and the MP for the
area, said anyone with information about the robbery should contact the police.
He added: “Let’s make a difference and assist in any way that we can to aid
in eradicating these criminal acts.”
When Shawnette Simmons Smith
opened the Green Lite Café and Eatery across from the Somerset Cricket Club in
Sandys, she really wanted to create an all-vegan eatery. But the previous
occupant, the Shabazz Bakery, had left too much of a meat-lovers legacy. “I
didn’t want to put the community into shock,” Ms Smith laughed. So in 2015,
she compromised, keeping Shabazz’ signature dishes such as steak and take, but
adding lots of meat free dishes. Her vegan dishes are made from scratch, and
include several different types of burgers including lentil, chickpea, black
bean and black eye pea. There’s also a vegan salad bar on offer, and vegan
quiche and lasagne. “I pride myself in using all fresh vegetables and all
natural products that are not processed in any way,” she said. “I make my
own soy cheeses and soy mayonnaise.” Four years ago a customer asked her if
she would provide vegan food for It’s Only Natural, a health food store on
Princess Street in Hamilton. “At first it was just Friday but then it grew and
now it is on Wednesdays and Fridays,” she said. But last week she relocated
the town service to the Ambiance Lounge on Angle Street, on Wednesday and
Fridays from 12 to 3pm. The offerings are strictly vegan. “When I was at
Ambiance on Wednesday, for the first time, I had quite a few first timers,”
she said. “They came back on Friday, and said they’d be back again. They
complimented the burgers.” She feels that interest in veganism is growing in
Bermuda, but local restaurants aren’t keeping pace. Finding somewhere I can
sit down and enjoy a full vegan meal is difficult,” she said. “My favourite
place is the Fairmont Southampton. They have a Mexican falafel wrap. I love it.
I go there quite a bit. Other than that, if I go out I have a pasta or a salad.
I do patronize the Adventist bookstore in Hamilton and buy a lot of supplies
from them. They have a really good fish cake made from chickpeas. Other than
that I basically just eat my own food.” Her mother, Myra Muhammad ran the
Shabazz Bakery with another lady. In her childhood she ate the steak and takes,
fish and chicken at the bakery, the same as everyone else. But when she reached
her teens she became more health conscious, and also concerned about the
treatment of animals. While living with the Hebrew Israelites in Israel for 20
years she was able to explore veganism more. “That community really helped me
to be able to embrace the things I was feeling,” she said. She returned to
Bermuda in 2006, with her four daughters. “They were raised as strict
vegans,” she said. “But since we moved back to Bermuda, they found they love
cheese. That is their weakness, but for the most part they try to stick to a
vegan or vegetarian diet.” Her daughters now help her at the restaurant, when
they can. During the week her clients are mostly from the Sandys area.
Surrounded by four schools, including Dalton E Tucker, she sees a lot of
teachers popping in for a bite at lunch time. Her biggest challenge is that the
cost of doing business in Bermuda is escalating. “In the Somerset community
there is not a lot of business going on,” she said. “I have to rely on the
same clientele to patronize us. Every now and then we get different people. On
the weekends we see people from all over the island, but during the week it is
mainly people in the Somerset area.” She said recently she had to let one
staff member go because she couldn’t afford to pay them. “I am trying to
diversify enough to sustain myself without losing myself completely,” she
said. “In the establishment here, I do pizzas, paninis, quesadillas.” Her
ultimate goal is to open a second location in Hamilton. She came close last
year, but then her mother, Myra Mohammad, became ill in January and needed care.
“That just took the wind out of my sails,” she said. But she hasn’t given
up on the idea yet.
• Green Lite, at 15 Cricket Lane, in Sandys, is open from 8am to 9pm, Monday to Saturday. For more information see their Facebook page or call 234-1211.
The
wife of a former Governor of Bermuda has been praised for her support for
charity on the island. Jennifer Masefield, who died in April, aged 79, the
wife of former governor Thorold Masefield, was given a service of remembrance
last week at St Saviour’s Church in Brockenhurst, Hampshire in England. She
lived in Bermuda during Mr Masefield’s governorship from 1997 to 2001 and both
were keen supporters of Pals, the cancer charity. Ann Smith Gordon, the former
executive director of Pals, said Ms Masefield was patron of the charity during
her time on the island. Ms Smith Gordon said she invited the charity’s five
oncology nurses in turn to regular lunches at her home with Mrs Masefield. The
gatherings were followed by individual visits to each nurse’s patients. Ms
Smith Gordon said: “It was a huge boost to the patients, who were thrilled to
have the Governor’s wife visit. We took photographs if they wanted, and the
next time we visited we would see the picture prominently displayed. She and her
husband were very supportive of anything I asked of them, and they became very
dear friends.” Mrs Masefield, an orthopaedic nurse and physiotherapist, was
awarded an MBE in the 2002 New Year’s honours for her services to charity. Ms
Smith Gordon said Mrs Masefield developed Alzheimer’s disease in her later
years, but was “such a happy soul when I visited and was always smiling. Mr
Masefield himself looked after her so well and she managed right up to the end.
The loss has left a hole in his heart — she was his soul mate.” The couple
had three children, Nigel, Sally and Roger. Her obituary in The Times of
London said she was “an inspirational, multitalented author, nurse,
needlewoman and consummate diplomatic hostess”. The service in her memory was
held on June 7.
An
expert panel has urged Government to review the possible linkages between
immigration policy reform and sustained economic growth. Members of the
Financial Policy Council made the recommendation after their latest meeting. The
prospect of declining demographics represent a major risk to Bermuda’s
government finances, in particular as it relates to sustained funding for
healthcare and pension benefits, the council said. FPC members also discussed
Bermuda’s fiscal situation and debt outlook at the meeting. While noting the
improvement in the medium-term fiscal outlook in the wake of decisions taken in
recent budgets, FPC members urged Government to continue to identify ways of
making progress in reducing the large level of outstanding government debt.
Several areas of Bermuda’s emerging fintech sector were also discussed during
the meeting, including the regulatory framework for digital asset business firms
and initial coin offerings. Members reviewed some international comparisons and
examined the balance of risks and opportunities emerging from fintech, and how
best to promote the further development of Bermuda’s fintech sector, while
ensuring that Bermuda’s reputation as a world-class international financial
centre was robustly protected. FPC members also discussed the work under way in
Bermuda aimed at strengthening the jurisdiction’s resilience to cyber
incidents, including measures taken by the Bermuda Government, regulated
financial institutions and the BMA, as well as activities under way at the
Ministry of Finance and the BMA with respect to continuing with the development
of a resolution framework for Bermuda banks. Set up in 2015, the role of the FPC
is to assess possible threats to Bermuda’s financial stability, and to
identify policies and actions to mitigate or eliminate such threats. It also
advises Government on the development of the financial stability framework in
Bermuda, and makes policy recommendations designed to support the general
economic and financial wellbeing of the country. Curtis Dickinson, the finance
minister, chairs the FPC. He is joined on the council by deputy chair Sir Andrew
Large, former deputy governor of the Bank of England, and now an adviser to
central banks and governments; Jeremy Cox, the BMA executive chairman; Michael
Butt, chairman of Axis Capital Holdings Ltd; businesswoman Dame Amelia Fawcett,
who is also a non-executive member of Her Majesty’s Treasury Board; chartered
accountant Gil Tucker, former Bermuda managing partner at Ernst & Young, and
now on the board of HSBC Bermuda; and DeLisle Worrell, former governor of the
Central Bank of Barbados, and now a member of the Bretton Woods Committee. Dr
Worrell also worked with the International Monetary Fund, focusing on monetary
policy, financial stability and stress testing.
The
Privy Council in London has ruled that the Bermuda Bar Council was wrong to deny
law firm Walkers Bermuda Ltd a certificate of recognition. The Bar Council
had argued that the law firm was not controlled by Bermudians as required
because of a licensing agreement with Walkers Global, based in the Cayman
Islands. The Supreme Court had found in favour of WBL but the Court of Appeal
ruled that a company owned and directed by Bermudians could be controlled,
directly or indirectly, by non-Bermudians through commercial arrangements and
WBL appealed to the Privy Council. However, Lord Hodge said in a written
judgment: “The board has sympathy for the predicament of the Bar Council when
faced with a proposal which, despite the robust protestations to the contrary,
appears to amount to a franchise arrangement by which WG seeks to extend the
provision of legal services under its brand into Bermuda. The board sees no
reason to disagree with Sir Christopher Clarke’s conclusions in his judgment
that there is a prospect that almost everything other than local legal work will
be carried out by WG offshore and that the financial obligations on WBL under
the licensing agreement are likely to confer very substantial power on WG over
the conduct of WBL. But, agreeing with Chief Justice Ian Kawaley, the board
concludes that the proposed arrangements regulating the operation of WBL as a
professional company are not contrary to the Companies Act 1981.” The Privy
Council decision, delivered yesterday, said that the Supreme Court ruling by
then Chief Justice Ian Kawaley had been correct and that the Bar Council should
have granted WBL recognition. Lord Hodge said in the judgment that the issue of
legal control, not commercial control, was crucial to the case. He explained:
“If it were sufficient to establish non-Bermudian control by commercial
control alone, a local company might face intolerable uncertainty as to whether
it was carrying on business legally or was committing an offence. “For
example, if a primary producer in Bermuda were to enter into an exclusive supply
agreement with an overseas buyer which made it dependent on the commercial
decisions of the buyer, the latter would have considerable influence over the
supplier’s commercial decisions and in one sense have the potential to control
the quantity and quality of the supplier’s products. If such control by itself
sufficed, the legality of the supplier’s business would depend on the way in
which the overseas buyer chose to exercise its commercial influence.” Lord
Hodge added that a similar problem would arise if a local company borrowed money
from an overseas lender and found themselves in financial difficulty. He said:
“There would be great uncertainty as to what actions of, or advice by, the
lender would amount to control thereby causing the local company to commit an
offence.” Michael Hanson, managing partner of international law firm Carey
Olsen Bermuda, said the ruling could benefit Bermudian-based businesses. Mr
Hanson said: “The Privy Council has in essence concluded that so long as
non-Bermudians do not have legal control over the manner in which directors and
shareholders vote in the conduct of a local company’s business, local
companies may confer upon non-Bermudians de facto control by commercial
arrangements. Time will tell, but this looks to be a significant decision and
one that could have wide-ranging implications for local companies. There will be
polarizing views as to its impact, but our initial assessment is that it will
likely increase the range of options available to entrepreneurs and local
businesses seeking capital or foreign investment.” WBL was incorporated in
Bermuda in 2015, with all shares owned by Bermudian barristers. The Cayman firm
would not have any legal control over or beneficial interest in the shares of
WBL, but WG would lend up to $5 million to WBL to fund its start-up under the
terms of the proposed licensing agreement. WBL applied to the bar association
for a certificate of recognition, but was refused in June 2016 on the grounds
that their agreement with WG would contradict the Companies Act, which requires
island-based companies that carry on business in Bermuda to be controlled by
Bermudians.
A
man stabbed 13 times in an attempted robbery was just one millimeter away from
paralysis or death, he revealed yesterday. Borislav Angelov, who was
attacked as he came home from work as a bartender, said one of his stab wounds
just missed penetrating his spine. He added: “I was so lucky. One of the stabs
hit me exactly on the spine. If it went deeper, just a millimeter more, I would
be paralyzed for life. And I already told my wife I don’t want to live paralyzed.”
Mr Angelov was attacked in the early hours as he rode his bike along Harbour
Road, Paget. Two men on a bike chased him and attacked him on his patio. Mr
Angelov said his helmet and backpack probably saved him from even worse
injuries. He said: “There were a few more cuts in the knapsack. And there were
probably more in the helmet. He got me the first time hard and after that he
didn’t have a chance to go deep again.” Mr Angelov, originally from
Bulgaria, added that the attack ended only when his wife, Deborah, who was
recovering from a broken leg, heard the noise and turned on the patio lights. He
said: “If she didn’t flick on the lights, I would be dead.” Mr Angelov was
rushed to hospital after the attack, in the early hours of October 23 last year
and doctors battled to save him. He said: “When I got into the hospital, I
wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I don’t think anybody thought I would
survive at the time. I have to thank the doctor — he put me back together. If
it was not for him, I would not be speaking today.” However, Mr Angelov said
the emotional and psychological scars left on him and his wife by the attack may
never heal. He used to be able to tell visitors with confidence that Bermuda was
the safest island in the Atlantic. But Mr Angelov said: “How can I say this
today? A lot of people say it is very unlikely to happen to you, but how can I
say it is not going to happen to someone else? I can’t say the same thing to
the tourists. I can’t say this is the most safe place. I can’t.” He was
speaking less than a week after Alex Wolffe, 20, was sentenced to ten years in
jail after he was convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily
harm. Wolffe, from Southampton, was also sentenced to five years for attempted
robbery and 12 months each on two charges of intimidation, but the sentences
will run concurrently. Police continued the hunt for Wolffe’s accomplice after
the trial. Mrs Angelov said the attack still terrified her. She added: “Never
in your life do you think you would see something like this. And with a broken
leg so you can’t ... I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have
a broken leg. If I opened the doors, would they have stabbed me? Would they have
shot me?” Mrs Angelov said: “Many people say many things. They say what they
would have done, but they don’t know what they would have done. How many
people would stand through 13 stabs? Most people would collapse after one or
two, but he just kept going.” She added: “They didn’t expect him to fight
back as hard as they did, but he did. Most people would just surrender.” The
couple praised the police and paramedics for their fast response. Mr Angelov
spent ten days in hospital after the attack and the court heard he still
suffered side-effects, including “constant pain” on one side of his body and
no feeling on the other side. He also suffers flashbacks and memories of blood
running down his back and legs. Mr Angelov flew to Bulgaria after he was
released from hospital because he wanted to tell his family about the attack in
person. He said: “My mother, she didn’t know anything until I went back to
Bulgaria. It has been very emotional. Nobody expects this. They didn’t expect
me to be home. It’s very hard to explain to your mother you almost died, you
know? I can see how it has changed the way she acts. Every time I call she
thinks something happened. She expects me to tell her something bad.” But Mr
Angelov said: “I hope I will be the last victim of these type of crimes.
That’s what I hope. Lets hope Bermuda has a better future. I’m not angry,
I’m not upset. I’m very happy I’m here still today and can enjoy Bermuda
with the time I have.” However, the couple no longer feel safe in their home.
Mrs Angelov said: “We are in the process of moving. I can’t be there any
more. He can’t be there. Too many bad memories. I look outside and I can hear
the scraping of chairs. I know it sounds really crazy and stupid, but every time
I hear something move, I jump. And with the trial and everything you worry if
they are coming back.” Mrs Angelov warned the public that they needed to be
careful, particularly late at night. She said: “I hope this is a lesson to the
community, that people take heed and don’t think casually about what can
happen. We can’t do the things we used to do. The days are gone where we left
our windows open all night and our doors unlocked.” Mrs Angelov added: “I
feel bad for the children and families of those who are doing this to others. It
must be devastating and mortifying.”
A
man who stole a police car for a “joke” was not laughing when he was jailed
for six months yesterday. Ross Parsons, 47, took the car from Court Street,
Hamilton, after police officers left it unattended with the keys inside as they
carried out a routine licence check at the Spinning Wheel bar, Magistrates’
Court heard Parsons, from Warwick, who also admitted a drink-driving charge, apologized
to the court and admitted that his actions had been dangerous. He said:
“I’ve been deterred from getting into the front and the back of a police
car. I meant it as a joke, but the joke was on me.” Shocked officers found
their patrol car missing when they returned and reported it. A later review of
CCTV camera footage spotted Parsons taking the car and driving away. He
abandoned the car on nearby Elliot Street. Police found Parsons outside the
Spinning Wheel with the car keys still with him and arrested him. The incident
happened on April 28. Parsons was fined $1,000 and banned from the roads for 18
months on the impaired driving charge. Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe also
sentenced Parsons to three months in jail on a separate charge of having an
offensive weapon. The court also heard that Parsons was caught by police
swinging a metal baseball bat in the car park of the King Edward VII Memorial
Hospital on April 8. Parsons pleaded not guilty to the offensive weapon charge
when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court on April 10. But he was found guilty
after a trial on May 6. Parsons told the court yesterday that he had the bat to
protect himself and his girlfriend as he walked her home. However, Jason
Outerbridge, for the prosecution, said that was not reasonable grounds. Mr
Wolffe ordered that the two jail terms should run concurrently. He said: “I
could’ve given you more, but I accept that this is an incident that you
regret.”
Armed
robbers stole a motorcycle and personal items from a 20-year-old man. The
pair, who were riding a motorcycle, approached the man as he sat on his bike in
the parking lot of Bermuda Squash Racquets Association on Middle Road,
Devonshire. Police said the pillion passenger held what appeared to be a firearm
while the rider demanded “everything”. The pillion passenger escaped in the
direction of Vesey Street on the stolen motorcycle and his accomplice rode off
on the bike they had arrived on. The incident happened at about 8.30pm on
Sunday. The pair were wearing dark clothing and dark helmets. Police have
appealed for witnesses.
A
woman who complained about a leaky roof for years has won a $38,000 case against
her condo management firm. Maria Rose Hill said the leaks had caused her
years of distress and discomfort and resulted in thousands of dollars of damage.
Flamingo Court Ltd, the company that managed the property, admitted it had an
obligation to maintain the roofs, but could not afford to carry out the work.
Assistant Justice Mark Diel, in a judgment dated May 27, said: “One does not,
fortunately, need to be a legal scholar to realise that while this may be the
reason for not repairing the roof, it is not an excuse.” The court heard that
Ms Hill, of Ferrars Lane, Pembroke, had made “requests too numerous to particularize”
about the problem. She asked the court for $19,575 for roof repairs, $17,692 for
kitchen cabinet replacement and $1,500 for temporary accommodation while the
work was carried out, a total of $38,687. Colin Jones, a director of the
company, accepted in a witness statement that there were leaks caused by a
combination of termite damage and ageing and that the roof needed to be
repaired. He said: “The defendant does not have the funds to properly repair
the roof over the plaintiff’s unit or any unit and there is no consensus on
how to raise the funds. It is one thing to say that the roof must be fixed. It
is quite another thing to say that funding for repairs is available.” Mr Jones
admitted that the company had a duty to repair the roof, but had failed to do
so. Mr Diel said that given the financial hardship of the company, a ruling
against them could result in it looking to tenants, including Ms Hill, for the
funds to award Ms Hill, or the company being wound up. He added: “While I am
not unsympathetic to the financial plight the company finds itself in, I do not
see how this is a matter for the court in these proceedings. Even if I had some
discretion on this matter, it would be remiss of me not to comment upon the
defendant’s conduct. Clearly the plaintiff cannot and should not be expected
to continue under the current state of affairs.” Mr Diel was also critical of
Ms Hill’s conduct during the proceedings and said she had been warned at least
three times about being in contempt of court. He added: “I have little doubt
if her conduct was as bad as it was in court, it could only have been worse when
dealing with the company representatives over the years.” Mr Diel found in
favour of Ms Hill and awarded her the amount she had claimed. He said: “The
defendant does indeed, as it accepted, owe a duty to the plaintiff to maintain
and/or repair the roof. It has breached and continues to breach that duty.”
Bermuda’s
captive insurance know-how gives it an edge in an industry that has become
increasingly competitive. That is the view of Brady Young, chief executive
officer of Strategic Risk Solutions, who added that changes in US tax rules had
helped to make onshore US captive domiciles more attractive. “Bermuda’s
sustainable competitive advantage is the expertise among it’s service provider
and regulatory community,” said Mr Young, who was speaking to Captive
International ahead of the three-day Bermuda Captive Conference, which started
at the Fairmont Southampton yesterday. “Few if any domiciles have the breadth
and depth of knowledge and experience that can be found in Bermuda. Also the
accessibility and convenience of Bermuda continues to be attractive to captive
owners, especially on the East Coast of the United States.” Mr Young added:
“The above bodes well for the more demanding and sophisticated clients who
need what Bermuda can provide. The challenge for Bermuda is remaining
competitive for those less complex clients who have the option to implement
their captive programme in various onshore domiciles.” US domiciles such as
Vermont, Utah, Delaware, North Carolina and Tennessee have seen significant
growth over the years. A number of states have also been modernizing and
updating their captive laws to facilitate new business. Mr Young’s company has
offices in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Vermont, as well as many other
captive domiciles. US tax reform that took effect the start of last year
increased the compliance burden for offshore captives, which has become an
additional consideration in forming a captive and may drive captives to redomicile
onshore, Mr Young added. He added that Bermudian captives have more flexibility
than those onshore to do third-party business, an area in which he is seeing
more growth. “Many clients continue to like the ability to meet and access
reinsurers and excess insurers in the same market at the same time they are
doing captive business,” Mr Young said. He added that the Bermuda captive
market is seeing some “exciting developments” and is well placed to benefit
from the changing landscape of players in the insurance supply chain. “Mature
captives are being used to solve new problems such as gaps in cyber-risk
programmes and in response to the hardening market to access alternative sources
and forms of reinsurance and capital,”
A new history book written to
highlight ignored Bermudian stories is to be distributed to public and private
schools and libraries. Prudent Rebels: Bermudians and the First Age of
Revolution (1774-1849) by Bermudian historian Clarence Maxwell, with
contributions from Bermudian Theodore Francis II and Alexandra Mairs-Kessler,
has been launched by the Government’s Department of Community and Cultural
Affairs and the National Museum of Bermuda Press. A spokeswoman for the national
museum said: “Prudent Rebels contextualises previously ignored Bermudian
narratives and examines the ways in which different groups of Bermudian mariners
and merchants, enslaved and freed, black and white, used the events taking place
during the Age of Revolution to further their own prospects by growing their
personal networks, purchasing their freedom, and increasing their social status
through financial gain and land ownership.” The book depicts aspects of the
last decades of the 1700s to the first half of the 1800s, when the Atlantic
World experienced a period of intense revolutionary activity. The spokeswoman
explained that a Humanitarian Revolution grew out of the unrest, inspired by the
Haitian Revolution and decades of anti-slavery campaigns in Europe. This
resulted in an attack on slavery and the commerce of human trafficking that fed
it, and the legislation that abolished both in the first half of the 1800s. It
also placed on the agenda civil rights for all men and women, regardless of
race. The book, which took more than ten years to produce, explores the role and
response of Bermudians during the Age of Revolution. It is the first book to be
launched under the National Museum’s new education strategy, which was
designed to make history accessible, relevant to the public and reflect the
diversity of Bermuda’s cultural heritage. The National Museum spokeswoman said
there was a genuine Bermudian contribution to the changes, which were a
self-interested rebellion whose consequences would shape the island long after
1834. The authors gave a free lecture at Bermuda College on Thursday night. A
teacher’s guide to the book is expected to be available in the near future.
The book is available from the National Museum of Bermuda Press at 234-1333, the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs at 292-1681, and from
bookstores island-wide. The publication and its accompanying resources were
backed by Bank of Bermuda Foundation, the American Friends of the National
Museum of Bermuda and private donors.
Ministerial
questions from the House of Assembly on Friday, June 7
Question to Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security, on Exercise TradeWinds. Sylvan Richards, the Shadow Minister of Home Affairs and Environment: “Would the Honourable Member inform the Honourable House what was the size in terms of numbers of the Bermudian contingent to attended Exercise TradeWinds in the Dominican Republic?” Mr Caines: “It was ten, including myself.” Mr Richards: “Would the Honourable Member advise whether there will be a similar-sized contingent that will attend phase two in St Vincent and the Grenadines?” Mr Caines: “As per the statement, the second part would be the significant part where we have taken an entire company down. We expect we are actually chartering a plane, as the Bermuda Regiment does every year, to take the soldiers on overseas camps. We believe an entire company — I’m not sure the numbers we’re working with, we believe it to be about 120 soldiers — will be going to the second phase of TradeWinds in St Vincent.”
Tributes
have been paid to a beloved receptionist at the Cabinet Office, who has died,
aged 69. Premier David Burt said in the House of Assembly on Friday that
Beunice Crockwell’s spirit would “brighten even that place”. The Premier
told MPs: “She was kind to every person who came into the Cabinet Office,
regardless of party or who you were. She loved life.” Craig Cannonier, the
Leader of the Opposition, said that Ms Crockwell was a “lovely and spirited
person” with a love of travel, and offered condolences to her fellow Cabinet
staff. Leah Scott, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, said Ms Crockwell was a
“ray of sunshine — an always welcoming woman”. Renée Ming, the
Progressive Labour Party MP for St George’s North, said Ms Crockwell was “an
avid St George’s supporter” at Cup Match. Christopher Famous, a PLP
backbencher, called her “a Belco mom” to Garrett Crockwell, his colleague at
the power plant. Michael Weeks, of the PLP, told the House that Ms Crockwell
would “always remind us that we are doing the people’s business”. Scott
Simmons, a government MP, hailed her “mischievous wit, big smile and deep
laugh”. Tinée Furbert, the Junior Minister of Disability Affairs, said her
passing was a loss to the community at Duck’s Puddle in Hamilton Parish. Ms
Furbert added: “She was my aunt, as the stepsister to my mother.” Jamahl
Simmons, the Minister without Portfolio, called her a close family friend and
“cruising buddy” to his parents. Michael Scott, the PLP MP for Sandys North,
said that Ms Crockwell had been a close friend of the late PLP leader Dame Lois
Browne-Evans. Both were now gone, Mr Scott noted. “Love conquers death,” he
added. Ewart Brown, the former Premier, recalled Ms Crockwell as “the only
Cabinet office receptionist with whom I ever worked as Premier”. Dr Brown
added, in a statement sent on Monday: “She was also the only person I can
recall who wore a bright, wide smile everyday no matter the climate in the
office. I clearly recall the day when angry demonstrators against the Uighurs
being allowed into Bermuda filled the Cabinet grounds and employees were
concerned. Ms Crockwell remained calm and with that ever-present smile said,
‘Premier, don’t worry, you can handle it. She was a delight to work with and
I will always be grateful for her love and support. Wanda and I wish her family
strength and understanding during this difficult time.”
Six
high-flying undergraduates will intern at the Cabinet Office this summer under a
programme offered by the Department of Workforce Development. The scheme,
announced in the 2018 Throne Speech, coincides with two other programmes to
develop the talent of Bermudian youth. Students interested in social and public
policy, strategy, business and management science or law were encouraged to
apply via the Bermuda Job Board website. The successful students are:
David Burt, the Premier, said the summer programme afforded young people “applicable experience in public service as well as exposure to great career opportunities for those interested in the inner workings of government and making real changes in Bermuda”. Mr Burt added: “I look forward to working with them and benefiting from their policy work and research.” Ms McLeod noted that there was “a lot of emphasis on engaging with the youth in Bermuda”. She added: “There’s a desire for insight and opinions that come from young people of Bermuda, and that’s really exciting.”
A
government plan to issue 20 temporary taxi permits to boost the number of cabs
on the road has been put on hold. The news came after Zane DeSilva, the
transport minister, held a meeting with 300 members of the Bermuda Taxi
Owners’ Association to discuss improvements to the service. Taxi drivers said
they were concerned about the $4,000 cost of a temporary permit compared with
about $100,000 for a standard permit. David Frost, the president of the BTOA,
said: “There is a lot more to just putting an extra 20 cars on the road —
you are talking about a $100,000 taxi permit being devalued because you are
putting a $4,000 taxi on the road. We have 600 registered taxi permits in
Bermuda and we have to make sure that we have 600 taxis on the road before we
start moving to bring other taxis on the road. The minister knows why they are
not on the road — you have taxis in probate, taxis that are not insured and
taxis that are owned by drivers, including government workers, that are not on
the road during the day. They should be, but it comes down to enforcement.” Mr
DeSilva said: “It is some people’s perception that this move would devalue
their permits. I am a listening minister. If we don’t get to a stage where we
can move people around without waiting hours on end for transportation then we
are going to have to make some moves. I would prefer to do it with the taxi
drivers than to make that decision. Maybe we need to change the law to say if
you own a taxi we need to know who you are going to leave it with when you die.
Or maybe if the taxi is not used, the permit gets returned to TCD and we give
them a prorated refund.” Mr DeSilva added that the law on taxis “needs to be
blown up and rewritten, which I will do”. The meeting was held at Warwick
Workmen’s Club last Thursday. Taxi drivers also discussed the need for better
regulation of the industry by the Transport Control Department, night-time taxi
availability, as well as abusive taxi drivers and badly behaved passengers. Mr
DeSilva said that after a Green Paper on transport was unveiled last month he
would issue 20 special taxi permits for use during restricted hours to help
boost taxi numbers because only 556 out of 600 taxi licences issued were being
used. Taxis owners are required have their vehicles on the road for 16 hours a
day, but they are not monitored after a policy decision was made in 2010 by the
TCD. But Mr DeSilva said that a decision had now been made to collect
information from dispatchers on the hours that individual taxis were on the
road. He added: “We are compiling the information. Once we start seeing the
trends and seeing who is working and who isn’t then we are going to take
action.” Mr DeSilva said that he planned further meetings with the BTOA.
A
number of factors including Brexit could be driving up prices on some
prescription drugs in Bermuda, it is feared. Pharmacists said medication
recalls and manufacturing issues also played a part, after one patient reported
that the cost of his treatment had soared by more than five times. A wholesaler
explained that it was not unusual for access to supplies to be limited by events
in other countries. The Bermuda Health Council confirmed it was aware of
challenges and hoped to improve the prescription drug industry “in the near
future”. One drugstore customer said: “I went to renew a prescription and
the cost of the prescription that I normally obtain had risen from $13 to $71.
The pharmacist actually drew my attention to it, explaining that this was an
impact of the Brexit events, that their supplier in the UK was stocking up on
this particular type of medication and was not able to provide it, so they had
to source it from the US initially and that resulted in the increase in cost.
Given that people were interested in the cost of health at the moment, I thought
this is something that was a bit beyond the reach of our government to
control.” The Government Employee Health Insurance scheme member wrote to Kim
Wilson, the Minister of Health. A health ministry spokeswoman confirmed that the
customer’s concern had been raised. She added: “We are observing the
situation as it has not been a problem across the board.” Ricky Brathwaite,
the BHeC acting chief executive and health economics director, said: “The
health council is aware that there are sometimes challenges with getting
prescription medications from the international market. As a small country with
a population of 63,799, Bermuda is sometimes not the priority for the
manufacturers and suppliers that have the inventories. And to make the situation
even more complicated, when there are times when the world is buying up certain
medications because of political or economic uncertainty, the demand leads to
higher global prices. During those times we do not have the buying power by
ourselves to combat those increases in prices or the ability to negotiate to the
best of our ability because of the relatively small quantity of those
medications we want to purchase.” Dr Brathwaite said the council’s
recommendations included consolidating orders and reducing an “affinity”
towards brand name medications. He added: “We understand that many of the
issues in the world are out of our direct control. The council will continue to
work with our pharmacist, hospital and physician partners to make improvements
to our prescription medication industry in the near future so that we can do our
local part to reduce the costs of medications to our consumers and their
families. We will also work with our international partners ... on better
procurement strategies to mitigate the roller coaster that can exist in
medication pricing.” David Ugwuozor, the Bermuda Pharmaceutical Association
president, believes stockpiling took place before the original date for the
UK’s exit from the European Union, which was March 29. He added: “In
Bermuda, people did buy in anticipation that Brexit was going to go wrong.”
The pharmacist at Robertson’s, in St George’s, said: “I don’t think it
was everyone, but some pharmacies did panic buy for sure — the last thing we
want is to be short here.” Mr Ugwuozor explained that the UK sourced much of
its medication from Europe, so changes in regulations, tariffs or trade
relations could affect the purchase of drugs, which would create problems for
Bermuda because it orders from the British market, among others. He added:
“We’re a small island, the knock-on effect would be significant.” Mr
Ugwuozor said various factors appeared to be affecting a number of drugs.
“This fluctuation is quite bad for the patients, especially if they’re
struggling to pay, so I can understand the concern. They would not really
understand why it’s happening ... not just Brexit, there are tons and tons of
issues — supply issues, manufacturing issues, stockpiling — those are just
three factors that would affect distribution of drugs, which in turn affects
price.” He added that concerns had been raised with the BHeC and the industry
would keep watch in the coming months as the new Brexit date of October 31
approaches. A UK Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said that
“robust contingency plans” were in place and if they were followed there
should be no interruption to medical supplies when the country leaves the EU.
She advised that suppliers were asked last August to stockpile six weeks’
supply on top of their usual buffer stocks ahead of a possible “no deal”
Brexit but that should not impact the ability to meet demand from other
countries. Jon Turner, who covers pharmaceutical supplies at BGA Wholesale
Distributor, said: “There’s always something that’s causing problems for
supply for pharmaceuticals to Bermuda. We have had challenges and we have done
our best to divert supply to other jurisdictions to resolve those.” It was
unclear if disruption caused by Brexit was the cause. Mr Turner explained: “I
wasn’t really getting a specific message from my suppliers, the order comes
through unfulfilled so BGA, with it’s experience and expertise, makes
alternative arrangements as best as we can to maintain supply for
pharmaceuticals in the community, but that can be a demanding task. I would say
it’s the normal ebb and flow of supply.” Terry-Ann Waite, at People’s
Pharmacy, said the issues were also linked to “global shortage and several
manufacturing companies having problems with their plants”. She added that the
FDA had recalled some hyper- tensive medication, which had become “extremely
hard” to source. Ms Waite said: “For the ones you can get, the prices have
gone up.” Although a finance ministry spokeswoman said the GEHI scheme had no
“specific carve-out” for generic prescription medication, the programme’s
benefits schedule suggested policyholders paid 20 per cent of the total cost. In
comparison, most Argus, Colonial and BF&M policyholders are covered 100 per
cent for generic prescription drugs and 80 per cent for brand name medication.
An Argus spokeswoman said: “While we generally see an upward trend in
medication costs, we have yet to experience any unusual spikes in our
prescription claims.” A BF&M spokeswoman added that the company was not
aware of cost increases that could be attributed to Brexit.
In
the UK, the British Broadcasting Corporation, holding the British Government's
absolute monopoly as the only beneficiary (with none of the other TV or
broadcasting companies getting a penny of it) of the UK's infamous TV tax,
announced that most UK pensioners over 75 years old will no longer get free TV
as they have had for years. Only those who have applied for and get Pension
Credit - a top up of the UK's not generous State Pension - will qualify. Until
2019, any pensioner over 75, without any means-testing, could get free TV. All
households have to pay about £150 every year to both use and have a color TV,
irrespective of channel selected, BBC or not. Without such valid annual TV tax
they are also breaking the law if in the home they use any laptop or desktop
computer or cell phone or iPad or tablet or online game or record any
shows. Members of Parliament, representing millions of constituents over 75,
recently ignored their constituents by voting for the BBC, no longer Government
as before, to decide who should and should not pay, even though the BBC is the
only recipient of the TV tax. It has caused a national and international uproar.
No such tax is imposed by Bermuda or USA or Canada or any Caribbean island. It
applies in most of the European Countries but their very old or disabled
residents can obtain a waiver without means-testing. It is yet another
indication that any Conservative Party replacement for Prime Minister Theresa
May who has been forced to resign by the end of July 2019 will have a very short
tenure.
With
two weeks to go until the third event in the inaugural calendar, SailGP has
announced an exciting collaboration with Bermuda Tourism Authority as an
Official Event Partner for New York SailGP. Taking place on June 21 and 22
from 5 to 6:30pm., SailGP will bring the world’s fastest sail racing to the
East Coast, with Brookfield Place in Battery Park City serving as the hub of
spectator activity. Six national teams will compete in New York City on the
Hudson River, just off the Battery and north towards Rockefeller Park, with
Ellis Island and Manhattan’s iconic skyline serving as a stunning backdrop.
“Aligning with SailGP in New York City makes perfect sense. Not only is the
island just a 90-minute non-stop flight from New York City, but it is our top
feeder market,” said Bermuda Tourism Authority CEO Kevin Dallas. “Bermuda
has long been a top destination for sailing and luxury. As such, many of
SailGP’s sailors are familiar with Bermuda’s turquoise waters. Ideal weather
conditions, gorgeous waters, deep connections with the international sailing
community and host to major sailing events go well together with island life.”
SailGP is equally committed to hosting world-class events as well as looking to
build the next generation of sailing enthusiasts. During the two-day event,
Bermuda will present an immersive activation space in the New York SailGP Race
Village, which will be the best place for fans to experience the thrilling
racing excitement onshore. Located at Brookfield Place in Battery Park City,
this free-to-the-public event will be the hub for all activity over the race
period, offering access to big screens showing live race coverage and
commentary, concessions, the official merchandise shop, the awards ceremony, and
other athlete appearances and activities. For those who are watching from home,
global race coverage spans 91 countries across five continents and is also
available via the innovative SailGP APP and social channels. A full list of
viewing options can be found here. Bermuda will be visible during the global
broadcast via on-course brand signage, along with TV advertising spots. In
addition, all six boats will feature Bermuda branding on both sides of the wing
mast. “We are excited to add the Bermuda Tourism Authority to our partner
roster for New York SailGP,” said SailGP CEO Russell Coutts. “I’ve been
going to Bermuda since 1989 and have gotten to know the island and the Bermuda
spirit well. It’s a beautiful island, a brilliant sailing venue and a fabulous
getaway for New Yorkers. New York is shaping up to be an event that fans won’t
want to miss, whether they are enjoying it from the Race Village on the shore or
from one of the ticketed on-water experiences. We are hoping that fans will turn
out to support their home team and witness something that’s never been seen
before in New York City.” For all the information on New York SailGP or to
purchase tickets, visit SailGP.com/NewYork.
Eleven
police officers have been promoted to the rank of Sergeant. A promotion
ceremony was held for them at the police headquarters in Prospect, Devonshire,
on Friday. Dignitaries in attendance were: John Rankin, the Governor, Wayne
Caines, the Minister of National Security, Stephen Corbishley, the Commissioner
of Police, Darrin Simons, the Deputy Commissioner Designate, and Antoine Daniels
and Martin Weekes, Assistant Commissioners. Family, friends and colleagues of
the officers being promoted turned up to the Police Recreation Club hall in
support. The newly promoted Sergeants are Sergeant Lennox Ince, Sergeant Mark
Tomlinson, Sergeant Nidol Barker, Sergeant Cerepha Bridgeman, Sergeant Rohan
Henry, Sergeant Bernadette Lawrence, Sergeant Dominique Simons, Sergeant Francis
Blackman-St John, Sergeant Caleb Jn Pierre, Sergeant Christopher Thompson and
Sergeant Windol Thorpe.
Soldiers
from the Royal Bermuda Regiment have spent their first week as part of an
international disaster relief exercise in the Caribbean. Seven soldiers are
in the Dominican Republic in the run-up to the deployment of more RBR soldiers
for the second phase of Exercise Tradewinds, to be based in St Vincent and the
Grenadines. Lieutenant-Colonel David Curley, the RBR’s Commanding Officer,
said Bermuda’s soldiers were on parade for the opening ceremony at Las
Calderas Naval Base before he and Wayne Caines, the Minister of National
Security, were given high level briefings by the US Southern Command (Southcom),
based in Miami and responsible for operations in the Caribbean region. Colonel
Curley added: “I was proud to see the RBR contingent lined up alongside
service personnel from 12 other countries.” He said: “The Minister was very
impressed at the sight of RBR troops in various locations working with Southcom
and other units from different countries.” The RBR group includes Major Ben
Beasley, the Second in Command of the Regiment, and Captain Gordon Emmerson, who
joined the RFA Mounts Bay, a logistics ship, when it visited Bermuda last month.
Two medics, Sergeant Husayn Muhammed and Lance Corporal Sivakumar
Senthamaraikannan, joined forces with medics from other armed forces for
training and teaching sessions. Captain Emmerson, along with Colour Sergeant
Curtis Grant, worked with troops from the elite 24 Commando Royal Engineers on
the use of explosives and tactical and operational planning. Colonel Curley said
the second phase would involve soldiers from the reorganized RBR humanitarian
aid and disaster relief (HADR) B Company, who will fly to St Vincent and the
Grenadines on Wednesday (JUN 12). He added: “This will test the RBR in all
aspects of training and operations and will strengthen our abilities in all
areas of HADR, which is crisis management at all levels. I have no doubt the
exercise will make us even better prepared to tackle natural disasters and
hurricanes, both at home and overseas, in the future.” A Regiment career
offers recruits opportunities to travel, acquire skills useful in civilian life,
test themselves to their limits and competitive rates of pay, as well as a $500
bounty for new volunteers. For more information, call 238-1045 or visit
bermudaregiment.bm.
City
of Hamilton Press release. " The City looks to welcome over 10,000 carnival
revelers and spectators, including international visitors to the City over the
Carnival Weekend next week. Those businesses that are capitalizing on the
influx of foot traffic are encouraged to contact the City with any in-store
promotions, special events or discounts they may be offering so that the City
can cross-promote their events. The City advises the motoring public that there will be numerous road and car
park closures in the lead-up and throughout the duration and break-down of this
Friday night’s Five Star Friday event in City Hall Car Park as well as the
Parade of the Bands event on Monday, June 17th. The City Hall Car Park will be
closed from 6:00pm on Wednesday, June 12th and will not reopen until 6:00am on
Tuesday, June 18th. Dismont Drive will be closed to through-traffic from 6:00am
on Thursday, June 13th and will reopen at 6:00am on Tuesday. Parking on Dismont
Drive will be available at times but will be limited. Parking will be prohibited
all day on Wesley Street on Friday, June 14th and the street will be closed from
12:00pm until 6:00am on Saturday. Church Street will be closed between
Par-la-Ville Road and Queen Street starting at 5:30pm on Friday and will reopen
by 4:00am on Saturday morning. Victoria Street will be closed between Washington
Street and Wesley Street starting at 12:00pm and will reopen at 4:00am on
Saturday morning. Motorists exiting from the Washington Mall parking lot will
have access to Church Street. Access to the walk-in health clinic on Victoria
Street will be permitted. On the public holiday, Monday, June 17th, the Parade
of the Bands and Last Lap will incur numerous road closures in the City starting
at 6:00am until 2:00am on Tuesday - Front Street, between Par-la-Ville Rd and
Court Street, Court Street between Front and Reid Streets, Reid Street between
Court and Queen Streets, Parliament Street between Front and Dundonald Streets,
Dundonald Street between Parliament Street and Par-La-Ville Road at the
Serpentine Road round-a-bout, Par-La-Ville Road between the Serpentine Road
round-a-bout and Front Street and Church Street between Par-La-Ville Road and
Parliament Street. City Hall Car Park will remain closed for the Parade of the
Bands and Last Lap. As a result of the road closures there will be no access or
parking on the affected streets located within the perimeter of the parade route
during the times noted. Motorists to the City are encouraged to park in Bull’s
Head and Elliott Street Car Parks. The City has engaged the Traffic Wardens as
well as Traffic Enforcement to be extra vigilant in ticketing offending vehicles
that violate parking regulations starting on Thursday. With the closure of City
Hall Car Park, short-term parking on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be
limited to street parking, Par-La-Ville Car Park and No.1 Car Park. Bull’s
Head, Elliott, Cavendish and King Street car parks will remain open at all
times. Police, emergency services, security personnel, diversion notices,
signage and barricades will all be in place during the BHW events in Hamilton.
The City apologizes for any inconvenience caused during these closures and
restrictions and kindly asks the motoring public to exercise patience and
understanding as the Bermuda Heroes Weekend celebrations get underway.
Argus
Group Holdings Ltd bounced back to profitability with annual net earnings of
$14.2 million compared to a net loss of $18.6 million in the previous year.
The year ended March 31, 2019 closed with net equity at $120 million, an
increase of $14.1 million compared to the previous year end. Alison Hill, Argus
Group’s chief executive officer, said net operating income was $18.1 million,
“a significant return to strength from 2018’s year of tough decisions”.
The Argus board declared a dividend of nine cents per share for shareholders of
record as of July 31, 2019 payable on August 23, 2019. Ms Hill said: “This
year has seen us act strategically and decisively to enhance the long-term
economics of our business. We have controlled the cost of our healthcare
business in partnership with One Team Health, and are strengthening our
international presence through the acquisition of FirstUnited Insurance Brokers
in Malta.” She added that the employee benefits division performed well, while
the health division working hard to reduce the cost of claims. “Against the
backdrop of hospital financing reform, we experienced a challenging health
renewal, where premium rate increases were necessary for many clients in order
to keep pace with global health cost inflation,” Ms Hill said. “We work
closely with our valued clients to ensure plan benefits fit their evolving needs
and take our role as custodians of their health dollars very seriously. We also
work closely with our health members to support healthy lifestyles. Supporting
healthy lifestyles helps to control the cost of healthcare and promote a better
life for our members.” Argus added that client retention rates were over 90
per cent. “Our position of financial strength, and capital in excess of
regulatory requirements, has given us the robust foundation to accelerate
investment in our future,” Ms Hill said. "We continue to focus on putting
our capital to best use, making responsible and judicious choices to further our
strategic aims, whilst ensuring long-term sustainable shareholder value.” The
company was investing in new technologies and new ways of doing business to
improve service and value to customers, she added.
CURB
Press release. 2CURB applauds the announcement by the Premier, The Hon. David
Burt, on the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the historic losses
of citizens’ property in Bermuda. This is a historic and important
announcement and a part of what CURB sees as a national healing, which includes
acknowledging the harm, loss and trauma of the past, whilst looking at ways to
repair the damage that was done. Understanding that land is crucial to a
people’s economic development, the denial of access to land historically, and
then the dispossession of property that occurred following Emancipation up until
contemporary times, under girds the ongoing economic disparity today. CURB sees
the establishment of this Commission as one part of a process that the people of
this country need and must go through in order to find a way forward, hopefully
together. The history of white colonial land dispossession is documented
worldwide, and Bermuda had its own form of dispossession, which resulted in
poverty, homelessness, insecure land tenure, and the destruction of communities
and the undermining of personal and collective identities. Land ownership in
Bermuda was skewed by historical practices that favored giving/selling land
along racial lines or to the connected few. Legislation targeting people of
African Bermudian descent was passed ensuring that land ownership was denied for
years. This was followed by resolutions, proclamations, and laws which played a
key role in legitimizing land/property dispossession, the Tuckers’ Town land
grab in the early 1900s being a prime example and the taking of land from St.
David Islanders in the 1940s. Land grabbing needs to be understood in the
context of power and the desire for profit, this overrides existing meanings and
uses of land that were rooted in local communities. This history of land
dispossession and segregation were key to the creation of a racially and
spatially divided Bermuda. Addressing the trauma and legacies of that past is
essential to not only helping repair the harm that was done but is needed to
bring about acknowledgement and closure around a shameful part of our history.
We urge that part of the Commission’s mandate is to collect and collate
narratives from the people of Bermuda to create a historical record of what
occurred and happened. It may be that many of these stories are unable to be
validated by documents or the ‘proof’ required by the legal system to
correct past injustices. However, part of the healing process must be in the
telling and recording of these stories so that it is not forgotten, and future
generations understand the injustices of the past and acknowledge the need for
racial equity and justice moving forward. We urge both political parties to
ensure that the Commission is not used as a political football, and instead
embrace and support the need for this reparative work for our society to
heal."
Collie
Buddz, one of Bermuda’s most successful musicians, has topped Billboard’s
Reggae Album charts. The reggae star’s third album, Hybrid, was released
on May 24 and has been at the top of the charts for a week. The self-produced
ten-track album follows on from his 2017 song Good Life and includes a rap by
Tech N9ne and collaborations with Russ, B Young and Ghanaian Grammy-nominated
singer Stonebwoy. Collie Buddz, whose real name is Colin Harper, was born in New
Orleans, but moved to Bermuda as a child after his father passed away. He was
soon influenced by reggae music and when he was 19 attended Full Sail Academy in
Orlando to pursue an audio engineering degree. Since then he has toured the
world with his music supporting artists including Cyprus Hill, Rebelution and
Matisyahu and has played at major music festivals, including Lollapalooza and
Summer Jam. He continues to record new music, which he releases on his own
record label Harper Digital and owns Bermudian radio station Vibe 103 on top of
being a father.
A
female visitor is being treated in hospital for suspected head injuries after a
serious crash this afternoon on South Road, Southampton. The rental scooter
crashed at about 3pm near the Fairmont Southampton. An update on the woman’s
condition is anticipated in due course, and as of 4.30pm traffic was being
diverted from the scene. Any witnesses are encouraged to call the main police
telephone number 295-0011.
Bermuda's
“historic wrongs” that deprived citizens of property are to be investigated
by a commission of inquiry, Premier David Burt announced yesterday. The
Premier told the House of Assembly that some victims might have died, along with
“those who committed wrongs”. However, he added: “It is never too late for
justice.” Mr Burt said that the House had approved a commission in July 2014.
But it was turned down by George Fergusson, then the Governor, which sparked a
protest march on Government House. The House passed a Bill authorizing the
Premier to approve a Commission of Inquiry in 2015. Mr Burt said the commission
would “likely” consist of a judge, an expert in conveyancing, a land title
officer and two lay members, as well as a secretary. The Premier told MPs that a
budget was being prepared. The answer came in response to questions from Craig
Cannonier, the Leader of the Opposition. Cost was one of the reasons given by Mr
Fergusson for his rejection of a commission five years ago because it was
suggested that the Britain should cover the expenses for the inquiry. His veto
led to demands from the Opposition for the Governor to be recalled, which was
followed by a Progressive Labour Party boycott of Parliament. Mr Burt told the
House that costs would be “prudently managed” and said he hoped to bring
further updates during this session of Parliament. He added that the selection
process for commission members and administrative planning had already started.
The original push for a formal investigation came from Walton Brown, a
government backbencher who was then an Opposition MP. The Premier said yesterday
that Mr Brown had “quietly kept attention to it” since the PLP returned to
government in July 2017. Mr Brown declined to comment yesterday, but told The
Royal Gazette last year that the commission would hear testimonies from
“people who had land stolen from them”. He added: “It all emanates from
the fact that we had lawyers and realtors who conspired to deprive Bermudians of
property.” Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works,
highlighted the same practices when he announced updates to the land title
registry last year. Mr Brown has maintained that allegations of a property
swindle clouded the compulsory purchase of 500 acres at Tucker's Town in
Hamilton Parish, which was approved by Parliament in 1920. The family of Etoile
Burch said last year that they believed they had been unjustly deprived of land
in Warwick that included the site of the Grand Atlantic development. Mr Brown
said in January that budget constraints prevented the commission from going
ahead. However, Mr Burt told the House yesterday that “technology will play a
large part in keeping costs down”.
Trooping
the Colour from London.
From 10:30 am GMT, Horse Guards Parade.
Broadcast live from the BBC London.
Televised worldwide for about 3 hours.
Celebrates the Sovereign's, Her Majesty the Queen's, official birthday (her
actual birthday is on 21 April, when she was 93 in 2019). (It has traditionally been held in June, for
better weather). See the full majesty, military precision, pomp and splendor of the London ceremony.
Invited
guests include all adult members of the Royal Family, some on horseback and/or
in military uniforms, British Commonwealth heads of state or their
representatives. The ceremony dates back to at least the early 18th century when
the colours (flags) of the battalion were carried (or 'trooped') down the ranks
so that they could be seen and recognized by the soldiers. The Queen attends in
a horse-drawn carriage and the regiments of the Household Division, her personal
troops, parade in front of her. Note how the lines of troops are somewhat
ragged, not precisely straight. Over 1100 soldiers are on parade, plus 200
horses and over 400 musicians. A 41 Gun Royal Salute is fired by the King's
Troop, Royal Horse Artillery in Green Park at 1252 hours GMT.
4 hours later. Queen's
Birthday Parade, Front Street, Hamilton. Always an event for visitors to
watch Bermuda's British militia salute Her Majesty for her Official Birthday.
The Royal Bermuda Regiment was front and centre today for the traditional
celebration of the Queen’s Birthday. RBR soldiers and the RBR’s Band &
Corps of Drums led the parade from Cabinet Office in Hamilton to Front Street
watched by hundreds of onlookers. Ingo Wiedermann, 48, a tourist from Frankfurt,
Germany, said: “We stopped by accident and it was a pleasure to get a chance
to see it. I was aware Bermuda is still a British Territory. It’s showing
tradition — there is a lot of ancient history here.” The RBR led the parade,
which also included the RBR Junior Leaders, the Bermuda Police Service and the
Sea Cadets, and fired the feu de joie, a rolling rifle salute in honour
of the anniversary. Governor John Rankin, with David Burt, the Premier, and
Cabinet members, Leader of the Opposition Craig Cannonier and other dignitaries,
watched the parade from the flagpole stand on Front Street. Chris Jones, a
property manager from Southampton, added: “This is a tradition that Bermuda
should honour.” Sharon Craig, his partner and a corporate administrator,
added: “I love the band. I’m a big fan of the Regiment band.” The event
was a special day for Sergeant Major James Van-Lowe, who was awarded the
Queen’s Certificate and Badge of Honour in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List
for 43 years of service to his country, most of it in the RBR band. Sgt Maj.
Van-Lowe, 59, from Warwick, who has retired as band Sergeant Major, but still
plays, said he could not single out a highlight in his career. He added:
“Everything’s been a highlight.” Sgt Maj. Van-Lowe said the news of the
honour came as a shock. He added: “I was minding my own business and the phone
rang — I was surprised. But it is a honour to be recognized.” Colour
Sergeant Sheldon Fox, trainee Bandmaster in the Regiment, said: “The Band
always knows how to put on a good show at any performance because we serve the
people of Bermuda. The Band is heavily involved in creating a marvelous tourism
experience. We perform regularly throughout the year at events like Beating of
the Retreat, the Queen’s Birthday, the Peppercorn Ceremony in St George’s
and Remembrance Day. We are proud to represent the Royal Bermuda Regiment and
our country.”
A
work-to-rule by bus operators has ended, Minister of Transport Zane DeSilva said
yesterday. It was confirmed in a statement today by the Department of Public
Transportation, which said that during the nine days of industrial action,
management and the Bermuda Industrial Union had engaged in “constructive
dialogue”. The Minister of Transport, responding to comments made on a Green
Paper in Parliament, said he had visited the St George’s bus depot on
Thursday. He said the building had a notice posted on the door stating that it
was condemned from July 2014. Mr DeSilva said the problem would be remedied
within the next week. The bus operators started a work-to-rule last month, over
what Mr DeSilva said was “a myriad of issues”.
A
veteran sergeant-major in the Royal Bermuda Regiment Band has been honoured
after more than 40 years’ service. James Van-Lowe, who joined the regiment
in 1976 and mainly served with the Band & Corps of Drums, was awarded the
Queen’s Certificate and Badge of Honour. He was joined by Delano Ingham for
services to broadcasting; Patricia Petty for services to sport and triathlon;
and Muriel Richardson for services to tourism. Retired Deputy Commissioner of
Police Paul Wright was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished
Service. John Rankin, the Governor, said: “I am pleased to congratulate each
of the recipients for their distinguished service and well-deserved awards. Each
has made a very valuable contribution to the community in their respective
fields and their achievements should be rightly celebrated.” Mr Van-Lowe
started as a part-time volunteer with the regiment and switched to full-time in
1995. He assisted with the band in administrative roles, played a key role in
recruiting and retaining members, and served as coach and mentor to band
members. He was named Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year in 2009 for
his engagement with the community. He was also recognized for his work in
producing the Bermuda Tattoo the same year. Mr Ingham started his career with
broadcaster ZFB in 1965 as a trainee engineer and was involved in Bermuda’s
first live broadcast in 1966. He became managing director in 1981 and later
served as operations manager and chief engineer at ZBM until his retirement in
2005. He has worked as a consultant since 2007 and assisted the Bermuda
Government with broadcasts on CITV. Mr Ingham assisted victims of Hurricane
Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi in September 2005 and was recognized for
his volunteer work at WindReach Recreational Village and for his work in prison
ministry. Ms Petty has been a dedicated volunteer at triathlons for the past 38
years. She was a founding member of the Bermuda Triathlon Association in 1981
and has served in numerous capacities including team manager for more than 23
international triathlon events between 1990 and 2013, including the World
Championships, Commonwealth Games, Olympics and Pan Am Games. Ms Petty served as
a technical official for the International Triathlon Union, the world governing
body for the sport, between 2006 and 2018. She was the only ITU-qualified
technical officer in Bermuda when she organised the first official training
scheme in 2017. That clinic qualified 16 officials in preparation for the
Continental Cup held in Bermuda in 2017 and the World Triathlon Series event in
2018. Ms Richardson retired as general manager of the award-winning Rosedon
Hotel in 2016 after 37 years of service. She was one of the few woman Bermudian
hotel managers and was the first female Hotelier of the Year and the only woman
president of the Bermuda Hotel Association. Ms Richardson was also member of the
Board of Governors of the Bermuda College, director of the Caribbean Hotel
Association, a member of the Bermuda Tourism Board, a member of the National
Tourism Action Group and chairwoman of the Bermuda Hospitality Institute. Ms
Richardson was a founding board member of the Investors in People Programme in
Bermuda, a founding member of the Bermuda Employment Tribunal, served as a
member of the Employee Assistance Programme and still serves as a director on
the board of Bermuda Press (Holdings) Limited. Mr Wright retired as deputy
commissioner late last year. During his 40 years of police service, 34 of which
were in Bermuda, he helped to modernize the management of the Bermuda Police
Service and the methods for tackling the threat of gang and drug violence in
Bermuda. He was also chairman of the Firearms Working Group of the British
Overseas Territories Commissioners’ Council.
Prison
officers marched to the House of Assembly yesterday in protest over longstanding
issues relating to pay and work conditions. Timothy Seon, president of the
Prison Officers Association, said in a Bermuda Broadcasting Company report that
no formal pay offer had been made and refused a request by the Government for
the officers to pay into the Government Employee Health Insurance plan. Mr Seon
said that he did not understand why they were at an impasse and that work to
rule would continue. David Burt, the Premier, was present on the lawn outside
Parliament along with Wayne Caines, the Minister for National Security, and
other Cabinet Ministers to hear Mr Seon speak of the “deplorable conditions”
they are working in, a decade-long pay freeze, and requests for GEHI payments.
Mr Seon told Mr Caines he wanted to express on behalf of his membership, the
displeasure with the way negotiations had developed. Mr Seon is heard during the
report saying: “We don’t know how we have gotten into this current situation
of being in a labour dispute — we were in mediation with a labour relations
and then we received a letter on June 4 saying that we were at an impasse and in
a dispute. The men and women simply want to be treated with human dignity and to
be able to work in a safe environment. It is a calling and a passion that the
men and women are tirelessly doing behind those walls to reinforce security in
this British territory and we have been coined as the forgotten service. When
Government called for our assistance in the matter of furloughs we rose to the
occasion, when they asked for the wage freeze we also complied. We have been
working for ten years without a wage increase and now we are expected, working
in the deplorable conditions that we work in, to pay into the GEHI benefit.
Twelve years, sir, we have been working in mould infested facilities. We have
seen other facilities and other government agencies shut down in these
conditions.” The Premier said he was confident that Mr Caines, along with
Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, Minister for Public Works, are working to
rectify the issues. Mr Burt said he had spoken yesterday with the Public Service
Negotiating Team and today with the Minister to make sure that they could
“advance the resolution of these issues as soon as possible”. Mr Burt said:
“I understand very deeply the work that you do is not easy. During the
election campaign, I said it was an injustice that public officers had not had
pay increases for a long time. The government will ensure that at least the
offer that is on any table will be for any pay increases that have been given to
other public sector workers that have not accrued to yourselves — we will make
sure that they are part of any particular offer that is going to go forward.
That is something that we will commit to.” Mr Caines added: “I believe that
we have a workable plan. My door remains open — I know that we are at an
impasse now and it is our desire to resolve it.”
A
female police officer has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert
the course of justice, the Bermuda Police Service said yesterday. The
27-year-old officer, who works at Hamilton police station, was alleged to have
had an accomplice, a 43-year-old Smith’s man, who was also arrested for the
same offence. A police spokesman said: “Detectives from our Specialist
Investigations Department are investigating the matter and no comment will be
made while the investigation is ongoing. The Bermuda Police Service is committed
to upholding and enforcing the highest of professional and ethical standards. We
hold our officers to account through our code of ethics and when it is believed
that conduct falls into the criminal realm, we will take positive action to
uphold the law.” Commissioner of Police Stephen Corbishley said: “I am
confident that the BPS is a professional public service with integrity. However,
it is essential that each and every day we protect the public’s trust in our
services and when serious wrongdoing is suspected it will be investigated
robustly to identify the facts of the matter.”
A
tearful tourist grandmother apologized as she was fined $2,000 yesterday for the
importation of drugs. American Wendy Incatasciato told Magistrates’ Court
she was sorry for her actions and that she used the drug to help relieve the
symptoms of migraines and stress. Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe told the
65-year-old, from Staten Island, New York, to take home the message to other
potential visitors that Bermuda did not tolerate people who tried to bring
illicit substances to the island. Kenlyn Swan, for the prosecution, said customs
officers on duty at Heritage Wharf in Dockyard carried out routine checks on the
gangway of the Norwegian Escape cruise ship on Wednesday. They searched
Incatasciato’s bag and found three rolled cigarettes inside a black spectacles
case. Ms Swan said: “She admitted the cigarettes were hers and that they
contained marijuana.” Officers also found electronic vaporizers with
cartridges, which Incatasciato admitted belonged to her and contained oil with
THC — a main constituent of cannabis. The prosecutor added: “When asked, the
defendant admitted to customs officers that she also had a little marijuana in
her cabin on the cruise ship.” Officials searched the cabin and found further
substances and plant material, which were later sent for analysis. The court
heard police were called and Incatasciato was arrested and taken to Hamilton
Police Station, where she confirmed that the items all belonged to her. Ms Swan
said results from tests of the substances showed that the total amount of
cannabis found was about 9.3 grams. Incatasciato admitted the offence. Vaughan
Caines, the duty counsel, said his client appealed for “the mercy of the
court”. Incatasciato, who was accompanied by her daughter in the courtroom,
said: “I truly apologise ... I’m really so sorry. I’ve never been in
trouble, I’m a grandmother of two.” She told the court: “I get very bad
migraines, I have a severe stress disorder and it helps me, especially with the
migraine headaches.” Mr Wolffe confirmed that she was aware that the offences
could lead to a jail sentence and asked: “Why shouldn’t I lock you up?”
Incatasciato, who fought back tears, said: “I’m begging you, please, let me
get back to my ship. I promise I won’t ever come back here.” She added:
“I’ve never been in a court, I’ve never been in a police station.” Mr
Wolffe fined her $1,500 for the cannabis charge and a further $500 for the THC.
He said: “You need to send the word back to Staten Island, New York, that we
have some very harsh laws in Bermuda when it comes to drugs.”
A
man was fined $500 for stealing 25lbs of sweet potatoes. Normando Simons,
63, admitted taking the vegetables from a farm in Somerset owned by J & J
Produce. Magistrates’ Court heard that Simons, from St George’s, was caught
when a government inspector spotted him digging up the potatoes with a hand
rake. The inspector took photographs and confronted Simons, who said that he had
permission to harvest the crop and left with a bag of sweet potatoes. The
inspector alerted one of the owners of the farm and sent her pictures of the
thief. The woman co-owner said that neither she nor her husband had given
permission to harvest the crop and they contacted police. Simons was later
arrested for theft and admitted the offence while in custody. The incident
happened on February 21. Simons apologized for his actions and told the court:
“It was a foolish thing to do.” Magistrate Juan Wolffe ordered Simons to pay
the fine by June 28. Roland Hill Jr, an owner of J & J Produce, said that he
was glad that justice had been done. He explained: “Every day, every farmer
faces this problem. I figure about $500 every day is stolen from me. Mr Hill
added: “The bigger problem is that they might steal 50 pounds of broccoli, but
they damage just as much as they take.” Mr Hill added that security on
farmland was a problem. He said: “I farm from Somerset to St George’s and I
can’t be everywhere all the time. Just because my business doesn’t have
walls protecting it doesn’t mean you can walk into my farm and take
something.”
A
Commission of Inquiry will be set up to look into historic land grabs. David
Burt, the Premier, told the House of Assembly a group will investigate the loss
of citizens’ properties through theft, dispossession and other unlawful means.
Mr Burt said: “Unearthing historic wrongs may be inconvenient for some. It may
well be that some of those who were victims and those who committed wrongs have
since passed on. But it is never too late for justice.” The Commission will
consist of a judge, an expert in conveyancing, land title officer and two lay
members. Mr Burt said the process of identifying Commission members and
administrative planning had begun. He said he hoped to bring further updates
during the present session of Parliament.
The
House of Assembly is expected to hear about status of the stalled Ritz-Carlton
Caroline Bay hotel resort at Morgan’s Point in Southampton. A statement on
the development will be given this morning by Curtis Dickinson, the Minister of
Finance. A construction source told The Royal Gazette this week that the
project had stalled and that money was owed to subcontractors who worked at the
site. Walter Roban, the Minister of Home Affairs, will update the House on the
sale of Belco to Algonquin Power & Utility Corporation, a Canadian utility
group. Mr Roban will also table amendments to the Electricity Act.
Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, is to speak on the
West End Development Corporation, while David Burt, the Premier, will make a
statement on technology in education. Legislators will also debate the
recommendations of the Green Paper on transport, which was brought to the House
last month by Zane DeSilva, the transport minister.
An
attempt by Attorney-General Kathy Lynn Simmons to shut down questions about
vulnerable children sent abroad without legal representation was criticized
yesterday, including by a teenager who claimed he was made to go overseas under
false pretences. The 18-year-old said he strongly disagreed with comments
made by Ms Simmons in the Senate on Wednesday about the Department of Child and
Family Services’ psycho-educational programme. Ms Simmons accused The Royal
Gazette of “fishing overseas and undermining the operations of the
Government”. The teenager, who asked not to be named, said: “I know what
those places were like and I know what the department is like.” He alleged:
“When I was 13, the department told me I was going on holiday in the US.
Instead they just dumped me at those places for years. When I came back to
Bermuda, my friends thought I had died.” Ms Simmons, the Senate leader and
Minister of Legal Affairs, said she travelled abroad last month to visit
Bermudian children at “more than” six places and was impressed with the
facilities. But the 18-year-old said: “She doesn’t know what she’s talking
about. She’s there a minute and thinks she knows everything. What did she
think they were going to say to her? ‘Oh by the way, we treat children badly
here’?” Lawyer Saul Dismont, meanwhile, said a client of his who has a child
at one of the centres told him that “neither the AG nor the [DCFS] director
[Alfred Maybury] spoke with [the child] when they visited”. The Ministry of
Legal Affairs says the psycho-educational programme “precedes 1999” but it
has shared figures on the number of children sent abroad since 2013 only. The
ministry said in November it had 30 referrals between 2013 and 2018. It said 50
youngsters were sent abroad between April 2014 and November 2018, only two of
whom had legal representation. Mr Dismont said: “It should make us all very
uncomfortable to know that there is missing data about vulnerable children being
sent abroad and that only two of at least 50 children had representation. It
should also make us uncomfortable that answers are not being provided. There is
nothing more important than our children and the public are entitled to know
that all those children sent abroad are there legally and are safe.”
Independent social worker Tiffanne Thomas, who has acted as a court-appointed
advocate for at least 35 children since 2014, said: “This is a matter of
public interest, as taxpayers are funding the practice of sending countless
children overseas through the psycho-education programme. It is unfortunate that
there has been a shroud of secrecy associated with this. To state that this
programme has been in existence since before 1999 and then only provide
empirical data for 2013 to 2018 is alarming.” The Royal Gazette has
interviewed programme participants who claim to have been tricked or forced to
go abroad and mistreated while there. Some attended Glen Mills Schools, in
Pennsylvania, which was recently shut down amid allegations of child abuse. Ms
Simmons told the Upper Chamber “we’ve had parents speaking out” and that
there have been “numerous reports, negative reports, about our operations”.
Ms Thomas said: “To minimise the disclosures made by persons who have been
sent overseas, or those directly affected by a child being sent overseas, is not
only insensitive, but it suggests that we lack the capacity to value or validate
the experiences of others, and that we do not truly care about the welfare of
children.” Children’s rights campaigner Sheelagh Cooper questioned the
“reluctance to respond to basic questions from the press”. She asked: “Is
not this the role of the press in a democratic society?” Ms Cooper added:
“This must not become a political issue. The lives and safety of our children
must transcend all of those kinds of debates. Who can possibly argue that
children can be removed from Bermuda without representation?” A mother whose
teenage son was sent to Utah in the US by DCFS said she welcomed public scrutiny
of the programme. The woman, who did not want to be identified, alleged: “They
dump the children out there and it’s like out of sight, out of mind. ‘See
you when you are 18’. They don’t want to deal with the issue [in Bermuda] so
they send the children overseas.” In the Senate, Ms Simmons urged The Royal
Gazette: “Please do not try to obtain information that is detrimental to
what we are trying to accomplish. If you have a legitimate question, I’m more
than happy to answer it.” We asked the Attorney-General for an interview on
Wednesday and yesterday but have yet to receive a response. Shadow
Attorney-General Scott Pearman said Ms Simmons had been silent on allegations
about DCFS for months. “When she finally chooses to speak, she instead attacks
the media for asking the questions that need to be asked. She says that she will
answer ‘legitimate’ questions. What can be more legitimate than those asked
already?”
Bermuda’s
final court of appeal will hear a case next week which could open the door for
British Overseas Territories citizens to apply for Bermudian status. The
applicant, Michael Barbosa, will argue that parts of the Bermuda Immigration and
Protection Act 1956 discriminate on the basis of place of origin. Peter
Sanderson, Mr Barbosa’s lawyer, said the case could affect hundreds of people
born in Bermuda, but who have no route to Bermudian status. He added: “If it
is successful in the Privy Council, then it would immediately impact a very
limited number of people who were born in Bermuda prior to 1983 and so have a
Bermuda passport, but who for whatever reason have fallen through the cracks and
have been unable to obtain PRC or status. It could also impact on around 300 to
400 children who were born in Bermuda after 1983 and lived here for the first
ten years of their life. These children are able to register as British Overseas
Territories Citizens, but in many cases have no pathway to status.”
Bermuda’s Supreme Court ruled in Mr Barbosa’s favour in 2016 and found that
he “belonged” to Bermuda, but the Court of Appeal overturned the decision
later that year. But Mr Barbosa appealed to the Privy Council, which is
scheduled to hear the case next Thursday. The case will hinge on whether the
list of “belongers” in the Bermuda Constitution excludes non-naturalized
British Overseas Territories citizens who acquired their citizenship through
their connection to the island. Five law lords, Lord Reed, Lord Kerr, Lord
Lloyd-Jones, Lord Kitchin and Lord Sales, will sit on the bench for the case. Mr
Sanderson said the case would address the issue of “third-class citizens”
with no rights in Bermuda. He said: “If somebody is naturalized as a British
Overseas Territories citizen, for example, because they are a PRC holder or
spouse of a Bermudian, then they will be considered as somebody who
‘belongs’ to Bermuda and have constitutional protection to live and work
without restriction. Bizarrely, the same is not the case for somebody who was
born as a British Overseas Territories citizen.” He added that the legal team
was working on a “very limited budget” and invited anyone who wanted to help
to donate. Courts in Bermuda heard that Mr Barbosa was born in Bermuda to
non-Bermudian parents in 1976 and is a citizen of the United Kingdom and
Colonies by birth. He was granted British Overseas Territories citizenship in
2002 and given indefinite leave to remain in Bermuda in 2013. But he launched a
legal action in 2015 because he was not eligible to apply for Bermudian status
or a Permanent Resident’s Certificate. Mr Sanderson argued at the time that Mr
Barbosa belongs to Bermuda on the basis of common law. Puisne Justice Stephen
Hellman found in favour of Mr Barbosa, ruled that he belonged to Bermuda and
that he had been discriminated against. Mr Justice Hellman also granted Mr
Barbosa the option to apply to the courts for a remedy if the Bermuda Government
did not provide a legal remedy before the end of the parliamentary session. The
judgment was believed to clear the way for other British Overseas Territory
citizens to apply for Bermudian status. Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, then the One
Bermuda Alliance government’s Minister of Home Affairs and Mark Pettingill,
the Attorney-General at the time, launched a successful appeal later that year.
They argued that Mr Justice Hellman had interpreted the Bermuda Constitution too
broadly and that he could not add to the categories of people who “belong”
to the island. The Court of Appeal judgment, written by Appeal Judge Desiree
Bernard, said section 11(5) of the Constitution was legislatively a list of
those who qualify as “belongers”. She wrote: “It sought to make clear and
remove doubt about those whom the Constitution regarded as belonging to Bermuda.
I do not agree with Mr Justice Hellman that the list is not exhaustive.
Unfortunately, persons such as the respondent who was born in Bermuda of parents
who did not have Bermudian status were not part of that list.”
The
Prison Officers Association said last night it was not aware that a labour
dispute notice had been gazetted by the Government and that a work-to-rule by
prison staff continued. A spokesman for the POA confirmed it was “not
aware of any reported labour dispute as gazetted.” The executive of the POA is
expected to meet with David Burt, the Premier, today to discuss the dispute. A
notice was published by the Minister of Labour, Community Affairs and Sport on
Monday that a labour dispute existed between the Department of Corrections and
the Bermuda Prison Officers Association. The notice said that “after its
publication any lockout, strike, or irregular industrial action short of a
strike is unlawful and any person who takes part in, incites or in any way
encourages, persuades or influences any person to take part in, or otherwise
acts in furtherance of, a lockout, strike or irregular industrial action short
of a strike that is unlawful under this section is guilty of an offence”. The
move came after prison officers started a work-to-rule in a bid to get the
Ministry of National Security to tackle concerns in the prison service,
including safety, maintenance of buildings, salary rates and government employee
health insurance payments. Police officers are being used to carry out duties
such as the transfer of prisoners to court. Wayne Caines, the national security
minister, announced prison officers had started a work-to-rule on April 29. Mr
Caines said the industrial action came after the POA met a day earlier to
discuss “working conditions and outstanding issues with reference to the
prison service”. The industrial action came days after three prison officers
were attacked by inmates at Westgate prison.
Bermuda’s
emergency agencies are prepared for the threat of major storms as the hurricane
season gets under way, Wayne Caines told the House of Assembly today. Mr
Caines, said he had chaired a meeting of the Emergency Measures Organisation
Executive this week. He said: “All preparedness activities being under taken
by the 60-plus agencies that form the wider EMO, are being coordinated and
documented by the Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation Team which works out of
Ministry headquarters. The Bermuda Weather Service reports that the latest
hurricane forecast by international agencies have predicted an average season
with thirteen named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.” The
hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.
Almost
20 buses were cancelled this afternoon, according to a Government alert. A
total of 19 buses scheduled to be released between 4.11pm and 10.20pm have been
cancelled. Affected routes include Routes 8, 9, 7, 11, 10, and 4. The alert was
released at about 4pm. A Transport Green Paper, which details planned changes
regarding public and private transportation, was submitted this morning during
the House of Assembly. It has been the first comprehensive review of
transportation since 2002. Changes suggested to the bus system included GPS
tracking, access to wi-fi, and cashless bus fares. For a full list of this
afternoon’s bus cancellations, click here.
Chris Furbert, the president of the Bermuda Industrial Union, said earlier this
week that a work-to-rule by bus operators would only be lifted if two portable
air-conditioned restrooms were made available for staff in St George’s. He
added the BIU had made Zane DeSilva, the transport minister, aware of the
condition.
Bermuda’s
oldest church has appealed for help to repair the flagpole on top of the
17th-century building. The pulley system on the flagpole at St Peter’s
Church in St George was damaged after the flag became entangled in the ropes
last year. Gillian Outerbridge, the parish administrator, said that the
flagpole’s position on top of the church made it “dangerous and
inaccessible”. She explained: “The flagpole’s at the top of a tower where
the only place to stand is on this tiny little balcony that runs around the top.
Ms Outerbridge added: “From that you need to get up another ten to twelve feet
to reach the bracket that the flagpole is on, and once you release that 15ft
pole from the bracket you’ve got a long, heavy pole that you can’t control.
It’s really quite a dangerous situation, and certainly we don’t have anybody
on the staff of this old church who could do it.” Ms Outerbridge said that the
flag became tangled around the flagpole in heavy winds during a storm last
December. Church staff said they expected the flag to untangle itself over time,
but instead the weight of the heavy fabric snapped the rope pulley. Ms
Outerbridge added that the congregation did not have the skill or manpower to
remove the pole themselves. She said: “It’s almost like a piece of sailboat
equipment, like a mast or a boom, and if you haven’t got good control of it,
it’s just going to fall and crash through the roof or take somebody down with
it.” Ms Outerbridge added that the parish hoped a construction company, the
Bermuda Fire & Rescue Service or the Ministry of Public Works would help the
church out so the flagpole could be repaired and repainted. She added that
anyone who sponsored the repair work would get the chance to re-hoist the flag
once repairs were completed. The flag design was granted to the church on its
2012 400th anniversary by the Queen, which coincided with her Diamond Jubilee.
The church was given the title “Their Majesties Chappell” and the special
flag, a St George’s Cross with the depiction of the 1609 wreck of the Sea
Venture, which led to the island’s colonization by the English, taken from
the church’s chalice in one of the quarters. Ms Outerbridge said that the flag
had become a fixture at the church, part of the St George’s Unesco World
Heritage Site, and its absence was “quite depressing”. She said: “It’s a
very distinctive flag. It’s very high up above the ground and it’s a very
significant part of St George’s, so people recognize when it’s missing.
It’s like Buckingham Palace: people look up and say ‘where’s the
flag?’.”
A
Moldovan man admitted four charges of bank fraud and attempted fraud yesterday.
Magistrates’ Court heard that Lurie Rogojina, 34, stole $167.50 from Clarien
Bank and $780 from Butterfield Bank. He also admitted an attempt to steal $4,315
from Clarien Bank and a further $4,150 from Butterfield Bank. The offences
happened between May 11 and 12 in Smith’s and Hamilton Parish. Alan Richards,
who appeared for the prosecution, told the court that Rogojina had not worked
alone. Magistrate Maxanne Anderson remanded Rogojina in custody until June 16
for sentencing.
The
Ascendant Group sale must be approved under ministerial directions, home affairs
minister Walter Roban said today. Mr Roban told the House of Assembly the
Regulatory Authority must give consent to the licence transfer of the utility
group, which is the subject of a takeover bid from Algonquin Power & Utility
Corporation of Canada. He continued: “If the RA approves a licence transfer
without adhering to ministerial directions, the only remedy to the Government is
to appeal to the Supreme Court. “ Mr Roban added that the Government would
ensure that any sale would promote “economic efficiency and sustainability”
in order to reduce reliance on fossil fuel, increase the use of renewables and
make electricity more affordable.
A
petition for the Government to legislate a renewable energy target in Bermuda
has been backed by hundreds of people. Stuart Kriendler, the managing
director of green energy firm BE Solar, one of the main supporters of the
petition, said more than 700 signatures had been collected by yesterday. The
petition, launched on May 24, asked the Government to require that 70 per cent
of the country’s electricity is produced from renewable energy sources by
2040. Mr Kriendler said: “Bermuda currently spends approximately $80,000,000
per year to purchase fossil fuels for electricity generation. If that money
stayed in our economy, likely 1,000 jobs could instead be created with that
money. In essence, transitioning to renewable energy is a climate and social
justice issue as well as an economic one: a win-win-win.” He said the threat
of climate change had forced countries around the world to take steps to help to
save the environment, but that Bermuda had lagged behind. Mr Kriendler added the
petition was in line with Government’s plans for a greener Bermuda. Less than
2 per cent of Bermuda’s electricity is produced with renewable resources at
present. A small amount is produced by incinerating waste and the rest is
generated using imported fuel. With Belco to be sold and its Integrated Resource
Plan, a 20-year energy plan, expected to be finalised in the next few weeks, BE
Solar has partnered with environmental charity Greenrock to launch the petition.
BE Solar joined forces with UK-based sustainability engineering firm Etude last
year to produce a 56-page report as an alternative to the Integrated Resource
Plan. The document set out a proposal for an offshore wind farm six miles west
of Dockyard and increased use of solar power. But with the Belco energy plan,
which relies mainly on fossil fuels, expected to be accepted, the petition was
started to encourage the Government to legislate for the use of renewable energy
in Bermuda The petition said that parts of Bermuda were predicted to be
underwater within the next 25 years due to rising sea levels caused by climate
change. It added that Bermuda had some of the highest electricity costs in the
world and a reliance on expensive imported fuel. A supporter of the petition,
who asked not to be identified, said that a cut in the use of fossil fuels would
also improve health. The supporter said: “Living close to Belco, we suffer the
harming effects on a personal level added to our deep concern of the impact on a
global level.” They added that a daughter had suffered health problems and had
tested as allergic to benzene, a component of oil. Salayah Stange and Katarina
Rance, Bermuda High School pupils who have lobbied for environmental changes,
said they supported the petition. Salayah said: “For years, Bermuda has been
asleep when it comes to the topics of sustainability and renewable energy. We
are not nearly invested enough in the conservation of fuels or environmentally
friendly production methods. It has been announced by the UN that in 12 years,
the effects of climate change will become catastrophic and irreversible. It is
my generation, Gen Z, that will ultimately have to bear the consequences of
years of pollution and harmful emissions. We cannot leave this for later, as
there may be no ‘later.’ Action needs to be taken now. I support this
petition because I believe it is our responsibility to our island, our
environment and our younger generations to do our part in combating climate
change, and it is time Bermuda did this.”
Bermuda-based
holding company Colonial Group International has received regulatory approval
for the acquisition of a minority interest in The Beacon Insurance Company Ltd
of Trinidad and Tobago. The approval was issued by the Central Bank of
Trinidad and Tobago after it secured approvals from each of the jurisdictions in
which Beacon operates. The deal provides Colonial with access to Eastern
Caribbean markets where Beacon is licensed to do business, including Grenada, St
Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Barbados and Trinidad and
Tobago. Colonial’s presence expands to 12 jurisdictions across the Caribbean
region, the company said, enabling Beacon to leverage Colonial support to
strengthen product offerings in health insurance and to introduce new and
innovative products related to life insurance and pension services. The
Colonial-Beacon partnership is expected to generate significant growth
opportunities for both insurers, Colonial said. Naz Farrow, chief executive
officer of Colonial, said: “This partnership significantly extends our market
reach while allowing us to combine Colonial-Beacon attributes to strengthen our
products for the benefit of existing and new customers. Integral to this
partnership is a mutual people-first approach to service. Beacon has a strong
and experienced management group that has enabled it to build a successful
business by putting people first. That is precisely the approach we take here at
Colonial and this business synergy bodes well for meeting customer needs.”
Gerald Hadeed, chief executive officer of Beacon, said the partnership
“enables us to expand and deepen the range and quality of our products. This
development is a significant positive for both our companies and the people we
serve”. Colonial Group has commercial operations in Bermuda, the Cayman
Islands, The Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Barbados and the Turks and
Caicos Islands. The group offers property and casualty insurance, employee
benefits for pensions and health, life assurance and personal investment
products. Beacon was founded as the Caribbean Insurance Company in 1972. It has
branch offices in Barbados, Grenada and St Lucia and agency operations in St
Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis and Dominica. Beacon provides
general insurance for both individual and institutional clients including motor,
property, marine cargo and hull, employee benefits and all commercial lines.
75 years ago today, from the
UK's southern coast, the UK, USA, Canada and other military units from the
British Commonwealth of Nations including Bermuda invaded and began the
liberation of Europe. Yesterday, at Portsmouth, England, with Queen
Elizabeth, other members of the royal family, President Trump of the USA and
other world leaders in attendance including the Chancellor of Germany and
President of France, commemorated that occasion. Significantly, Britain will
soon be liberated from Europe, but the 2019 cost will be not free, as France,
Belgium, Holland, Germany, etc. got entirely free of charge in 1944 for the
liberation of Europe from and with the geographical and enormous military aid of
the UK Instead, today, about £38 billion is being
demanded by the EU for Britain to leave the EU with a deal, despite three years
notice to the EU of the UK's stated intention to leave. There are many now in the UK who are insisting
publicly that either the EU should be forgiving Britain that £39
billion "debt" for services rendered in 1944 and later, or that the EU
prepare for both a no-deal Brexit and a £38 billion additional cost of funding
NATO instead of the USA and UK alone bearing 70% and 20% respectively of NATO's
cost as they do now, with some EU countries paying nothing at all, such as
Ireland.
Some
of the seized medical records of 75 patients of Ewart Brown and Mahesh Reddy
have been sent overseas for review by two independent doctors, with the rest
under way, police confirmed yesterday. The announcement came after patients
of Bermuda Healthcare Services and the Brown-Darrell Clinic were sent a letter
by Dr Reddy last week to tell them that “the BPS have undertaken not to access
your files”. But Stephen Corbishley, the Commissioner of Police, said that was
not the case. He said it was true the police agreed to take no further action on
the files at a February court hearing pending an attempt by the patients to
appeal an order made by Puisne Judge Shade Subair Williams to allow the medical
files to be reviewed. But Mr Corbishley said the patients’ application to
appeal was rejected and the police undertaking lapsed on March 1. He added:
“Since then the matter has been progressing as ordered by the court in the
manner as agreed by counsel for both the clinics and the patients.” The health
records of 265 patients were seized from former premier Dr Brown’s two clinics
in February 2017 as part of an investigation by police into allegations that the
clinics ordered unneeded diagnostic imaging scans to boost profits. The files
were sealed on the orders of a judge after civil proceedings were brought
against the police by Dr Reddy, the medical director of BHCS, and the clinics. A
group of 150 patients, represented by Chancery Legal, were given permission to
intervene in the case in November last year. The patients wanted to block access
to their files by police and to have the medical records returned. Mrs Justice
Subair Williams issued an order in February which set out a protocol for how the
patient files could be used by the police, agreed to by lawyers for the police,
the clinics and the patients. The order said selected files of 75 patients,
represented by Chancery Legal, would be uploaded to a secure server by Detective
Sergeant James Hoyte, Detective Constable Paul Fenwick and consultant John
Ashington, who made the first copies of the medical records. The secure server
was to be set up and managed by the National Crime Agency in the UK and, once
the files were uploaded, the BPS would have no further access. Two independent
doctors appointed by the BPS would have access to the files in order to prepare
expert reports on whether patients were over-scanned. The order said: “The
medical experts shall anonymise only the files in which the expert considers
further investigation is required, by redacting the names, address, telephone
numbers, occupation and other material, including family history, that might
lead to identification of the patient.” Mr Corbishley said yesterday: “If
the clinics and others are under a misunderstanding as to the position in
relation to the protocol, their misunderstanding is not due to any fault of the
BPS.” Dr Reddy’s letter to patients said: “We will continue to fight tooth
and nail to protect what we all believe to be your fundamental, constitutional
right to confidentiality, which was unnecessarily breached by the BPS.” He did
not respond to a request for comment yesterday. Dr Reddy and Dr Brown have
denied any wrongdoing and have never been charged with any offence. Chancery
Legal was ordered by a judge last month to stop acting for the patients because
lawyers Mark Pettingill, a former attorney-general, and Victoria Greening, a
former prosecutor, had a conflict of interest. The law firm was told at a
Supreme Court hearing yesterday that it could represent the patients at an
appeal against that ruling in the Court of Appeal on June 11. A spokesman for
Chancery Legal said last night: “We continue to fight a number of battles on
many fronts and are very pleased that the court has ruled we are able to act for
the patients on this current appeal. We are addressing this latest issue and
will fight to preserve our clients’ rights in accordance with the court’s
ruling.”
The
Attorney-General asked The Royal Gazette yesterday to stop inquiring about a
government programme that sends vulnerable children overseas and about
child-abuse allegations at some of the schools used. The youngsters go to
institutions abroad as part of the Department of Child and Family Services’ psycho-educational
programme after social workers decide they have exhausted all the services
available on the island. Almost
all of the children involved had no legal representation. Kathy Lynn Simmons
said in the Senate: “Please do not harass these institutions. Please do not
try to obtain information that is detrimental to what we are trying to
accomplish. If you have a legitimate question, I’m more than happy to answer
it.” She said there had been a “very unfortunate narrative and dialogue”
on the psycho-educational programme. Ms Simmons, the Senate leader and Minister
of Legal Affairs, was speaking during the motion to adjourn. The Human Rights
Commission criticized the psycho-educational programme in an affidavit filed in
the Supreme Court in 2017. The HRC said sending youngsters to secure
institutions in the United States was a “disturbing practice”. The
commission also alleged that some children were forced to take medication and
denied contact with family and friends. The Royal Gazette has since interviewed
several children involved in the programme who claimed they were tricked or
forced into going abroad and abused and mistreated while there. The Gazette reported
in April that vulnerable boys were sent for decades to American reform school
Glen Mills, in Pennsylvania, which has now closed
down after allegations of child abuse and cover-ups. Ms Simmons said there
had been “all kinds of negative comments made about why, how, where, who?”
She added: “We’ve had parents speaking out, we’ve had The Royal Gazette
fishing overseas and undermining the operations of the Government, with respect
to the services provided to our children.” Ms Simmons said she travelled
overseas last month to visit Bermudian children at “more than” six
facilities. She was accompanied by Marva O’Brien, the legal affairs permanent
secretary, and Alfred Maybury, the DCFS director. Ms Simmons said she “will
applaud until the end of time” the relationships created by Mr Maybury with
overseas institutions “to provide services that we do not and cannot provide
for our children”. She said visits were made to residential care facilities,
psychological assessment facilities and hospitals. She also highlighted sex
offender programmes. Ms Simmons said that one programme focused on children with
“various sexual disorders — things that I’ve never even heard of”. She
added: “I got a lesson on the effects of pornography and I intend to come back
to this chamber with real details and to speak about it publicly.” Ms Simmons
said that there were problems in Bermuda “that surpass political
partisanship”. She added: “There have been numerous reports — negative
reports — about our operations, about the staff of child and family services.
I can say hand on heart where there is ever a misdeed it is dealt with, with the
procedures that are in place to deal with it.” Mr Maybury was suspended on
full pay last August after he was said to have ignored allegations about the
mistreatment of children in care by some DCFS staff. He returned to work in
January after an investigation found the claims against him were “not
substantiated”. The Government has refused to release the inquiry’s findings
under public access to information. Two staff members who
were disciplined after allegations of abuse and neglect against them were
“substantiated” are understood to have returned to work. Ms Simmons told the
Senate that the people overseas responsible for the island’s children were
“dedicated, committed and were so happy to see that Bermuda actually cares”.
Ms Simmons added: “We are actually miles ahead.” She said she would
introduce legislation to protect children in “the months that come” and that
she had invited several of the specialists she had met overseas to visit
Bermuda. Ms Simmons told senators there was “much work to do”. She added:
“There are issues and matters pertaining to our children and the socioeconomic
condition of this country that we must partner and move forward on in the
interest of the country.” The Royal Gazette has asked overseas institutions
about allegations of mistreatment, as well as for information about their
treatment programmes. None of the children involved in psycho-educational
programmes have been identified. The DCFS refused to reveal the list of
institutions where it sends children last November on the grounds it would be a
“breach of confidentiality and directly impact the children and parents who
currently have children overseas”. Questions
were vasked, but only some answered. The Royal Gazette has asked the
Ministry of Legal Affairs a series of questions about the Department of Child
and Family Services’ psycho-educational programme. They included:
A film made to highlight the proposed development of a marine protected area by 2021 has been released. Walter Roban, the Home Affairs Minister and Deputy Premier, is featured in the short movie talking about the Bermuda Ocean Prosperity Programme the Government has launched with the Washington DC-based public policy group the Waitt Foundation and the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. Mr Roban said in the four-minute film: “Our history in protecting the ocean goes back to the beginning of settlement — we were protecting sea turtles back in the 1600s. We are very excited that the Bermuda Government is partnering with Waitt and BIOS around the development of a marine spatial plan and also the development of our blue economy. How can we ensure that our area of the ocean is used in a sustainable way to make us more prosperous? How can we ensure responsible use of our ocean? We can develop an economy around the ocean that will allow Bermuda in the 21st century and beyond to be sustainable — that creates a great opportunity to protect the ocean that is such a part of who I am and all Bermudians are.” The MPA could see at least 20 per cent of Bermuda’s Exclusive Economic Zone, 90,000 square kilometers out of 465,000 square kilometers of ocean, turned into a marine protected area. The plan also featured the development of ocean industries such as tourism and sustainable fishing. The tie-up with the Waitt Foundation is part of Blue Prosperity Coalition, an organisation set up to create long-term partnerships with governments to implement marine protection schemes for 30 per cent of seas around the world. The coalition said 30 per cent of the oceans must be protected to maximize fisheries and allow marine resources to recover. Ted Waitt, founder and chairman of the Waitt Foundation and Waitt Institute, said: “On behalf of the Blue Prosperity Coalition, we are really excited that the Bermuda Government recognizes that the key to its long-term economic growth is protecting its ocean and you can do both at the same time. You can build prosperity for all citizens and do so in a very holistic manner that not only protects the environment but builds the economy for its citizens for a long time.”
A
man convicted of a brutal knife attack on a bartender outside his home was
jailed for ten years yesterday. Acting Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe said Alex
Wolffe, 20, had shown no remorse for the attempted robbery of Borislav Angelov,
who was stabbed more than a dozen times as his wife watched from the house. He
said: “The sheer number of times the victim was stabbed, combined with the
words and actions of the defendant who brandished what appeared to be a gun,
puts the case on the borderline of being attempted murder.” Mr Justice Wolffe
was speaking after Wolffe, 20, was convicted of wounding Mr Angelov with intent
to cause grievous bodily harm on October 23 last year. Wolffe was also convicted
of attempted robbery and two charges of intimidation. Mr Justice Wolffe said:
“It’s clear from the victim impact statements that what happened to them was
horrendous and words cannot convey how they were feeling on October 23, or how
they have felt since. No matter what the amount of time that has elapsed, they
will probably never forget that dreadful night.” He sentenced Wolffe to ten
years behind bars for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The
judge further sentenced the defendant to five years for the attempted robbery,
and 12 months each on the two counts of intimidation. He ordered the sentences
to run concurrently, with time in custody also taken into account. Prosecutors
told the court the defendant and an unidentified man, who were on a motorbike,
chased Mr Angelov’s motorbike along Harbour Road, Paget, as he returned home
from work in Dockyard after midnight. The two attacked Mr Angelov on his lawn,
but Mr Angelov fought back and the fight moved onto his patio, where one of the
men stabbed Mr Angelov 13 times. The attack ended only after Mr Angelov’s wife
Deborah turned on the patio lights and the men fled. Mr Angelov said one of his
attackers pointed what appeared to be a gun at him as they ran and warned him
not to move or he would be shot. A witness, who cannot be identified for legal
reasons, earlier told the court that Wolffe confessed he was involved in the
attack while they were both in Westgate prison. The witness added that Wolffe
said he had suffered an injury to his hand as he tried to stop his
accomplice’s attack on Mr Angelov. But the defendant in court denied any
involvement in the incident and insisted he had not been near the Harbour Road
area on the night of the attack. Larissa Burgess, for the Crown, said Wolffe had
“terrorised members of the public” in an act of “monstrous social
deviance”. She suggested a sentence of between ten and twelve years was
appropriate given the serious injuries suffered by Mr Angelov. The court also
heard victim impact statements from Mr Angelov and his wife, Deborah, who said
the attack has had a lasting impact on their lives. Mr Angelov said: “Life
since that day has never been the same. I have constant pain on one side of my
body, I have no feeling on the other side. I have constant flashbacks of the
incident and a feeling of warm blood running down by back and legs and into my
shoes and screaming for my wife that I am going to die and I love her. I find
myself constantly looking over my shoulder and wondering what the person behind
me is up to. It is no way to live life.” He added: “Every day I look in the
mirror and see the scars. My wife has told me not to take off my shirt around
her because she cannot bear to see them.” Ms Angelov said in a written
statement that she had seen a “sea of red” on the couple’s patio when she
turned on the lights. She said: “This was an image that will never go away for
the rest of my life. I can still hear the scraping of the furniture on the patio
and him screaming for me to call the police.” Susan Mulligan, for Wolffe, said
that her client maintained his innocence and would appeal the conviction. She
added that the sentence suggested by the Crown was excessive given the
defendant’s clean record, youth and a number of letters that highlighted his
good character. Ms Mulligan said: “People are shocked. They are saying that
they cannot believe that he could have done anything like this.” She asked the
court not to deliver a sentence that would “crush” him and instead suggested
three years in prison, followed by a long probation period and a community
service order. Ms Mulligan also said that, according to the Crown’s case,
Wolffe had injured his hand in an attempt to stop his accomplice from stabbing
Mr Angelov. But Ms Burgess said the Crown’s case was that he only did so after
Mrs Angelov had turned on the porch lights. She added: “I don’t think it’s
fair to say he was a good Samaritan after 13 stabs.” Mr Justice Wolffe said it
was “neither here nor there” if the defendant had attempted to stop the
attack. Detective Sergeant Jason Smith said the attack was an outrage and that
police were still on the hunt for the other man involved. He added: “The
investigation is still open, and for that reason we continue to make our appeal
for members of the public who do have information that might be able to assist
us bring the second perpetrator to justice to come forward.”
Prosecutors
have dropped proceedings against a man accused of threatening to kill someone in
a message to a government MP. The news came after Perry Smith was earlier
charged in a case that related to Michael Scott, the elected member for Sandys
North. But Larry Mussenden, the Director of the Department of Public
Prosecutions, said last month: “A nolle prosequi was entered in this matter
meaning that the Crown will not proceed with a prosecution at this time.” Mr
Smith was charged on indictment and his case was called in the Supreme Court in
March. He was accused then of causing Mr Scott to receive a written threat
towards “a person” on or around August 10 last year and pleaded not guilty.
Mr Smith, 56, also denied being in possession of a knife sharpener on September
8, 2018. Mr Mussenden confirmed last week: “The nolle prosequi applies to both
counts on the indictment.” Mr Smith appeared in Magistrates’ Court in
connection with the alleged offences last September and was charged with two
counts of making written threats to kill Mr Scott on or around August 10 and 19.
He was charged with possession of a knife in the parish on September 8 and with
stalking Mr Scott between August 10 and September 8. But only the two modified
charges were on the Supreme Court indictment.
Bermuda
is one of 129 countries and jurisdictions to have agreed on a road map aimed at modernizing
international tax rules for the digital age. The Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development/G20 Inclusive Framework on Beps [Base Erosion and
Profit Shifting], of which Bermuda is a member, produced a 40-page document that
it hopes will be the foundation to creating a global deal on an outline for tax
changes by January next year. The “programme of work” has a particular focus
on digital commerce multinationals, who have been able to book profits in
low-tax jurisdictions, largely avoiding tax liabilities in the larger economies
where most of their users and customers reside. Alphabet, the parent company of
Google, has become a poster child for internet giants’ tax avoidance by channeling
tens of billions of dollars in profits to its Bermuda entity, which employs no
one. The road map agreed by the inclusive framework countries at its meeting on
May 28 and 29 will be put to finance ministers of the Group of 20 economic
powers next week. The aim is for international agreement on an outline for the
overhaul of cross-border tax rules by early next year, with the more technical
negotiations over the details to take place in the months after. The document
sets out two “pillars”. The first is focused on how to divide up rights to
tax a company where the good or service is sold even if it does not have a
physical presence in the country. Under the second pillar, if companies are
still able to book profits in low-tax jurisdictions, countries could then apply
a global minimum tax rate at a level to be determined. The move comes at a time
when international pressure is being ramped up on multinational companies using
entities in low-tax jurisdictions to reduce their tax bills. Bermuda is one of
many jurisdictions to have introduced economic substance rules which will
require companies in several target sectors to have “adequate” staff, office
space and economic activity, or face penalties.
The
Bermuda Health Council issued this press release. "Today, the Health
Council launched a campaign #ImagineBermuda, about their vision of Bermuda’s
health system. The campaign provides a timely reminder that the youngest and the
oldest amongst us can still impact and even create the Bermuda we want to see
for tomorrow. We want to give Mr and Mrs Bermuda, and all Bermudians alike, a
voice to shed light on the many issues and opportunities within our communities.
This is a great opportunity for everyone to promote their hopes and dreams; and
a great opportunity for our kids, youth, adults and seniors to share their
version of an economically strong and healthy population. The campaign
encourages members of the public to create and post a social media video, no
more than 60 seconds, about what they imagine for the future of Bermuda. This
video does not have to focus solely on the health system but rather any hopes
you have for making this the best Bermuda, for all.
People
aged 50 and older with chronic conditions could be missing out on crucial advice
on how lifestyle changes could boost their health, it was revealed. A survey
by Age Concern Bermuda found that although almost 80 per cent of respondents had
seen a medical professional in the past year, 70 per cent of those asked were
not told how healthier living might help. Claudette Fleming, the charity’s
executive director, unveiled the results at a session that focused on high blood
pressure — or hypertension — yesterday and said that the findings were “a
big eye opener”. Age Concern carried out health checks at several locations
across the island in 2017 and 2018, when some participants responded to a
questionnaire about their wellbeing and use of medical services. Dr Fleming said
51 per cent of people reported high blood pressure, 28 per cent said they had
high cholesterol and 21 per cent reported diabetes. But she added that on the
day that people were checked, 62 per cent had hypertension stage 2, which is the
level just below hyper-tensive crisis. Dr Fleming said that 79 per cent of
respondents reported that they had seen a doctor or medical professional in the
past year. She added: “We knew that, for the most part, these are individuals
who are tuned in. They are going to health providers, and interestingly it was
the reverse in terms of, have you been to the emergency room in the last six
months? 79 per cent said, ‘no I haven’t’.” From what we could see, our
assumption is this is a pretty responsible group of individuals who know that
they have a chronic disease of some kind — hypertension in particular — and
they are dealing with the medical profession accordingly.” She said 73 per
cent of the respondents said they were taking prescription drugs for high blood
pressure. Dr Fleming told the session: “We can see this picture now — you
are going to the doctor, you have been diagnosed with this condition for quite
some time and you are managing it and you’re taking medications. 70 per cent
of participants across all of the health checks said during the last 12 months,
‘although I have this condition I have not been given any advice on lifestyle
change’. We kind of knew this intuitively but you proved it for us. That was a
big eye opener for us.” Dr Fleming explained that Age Concern wanted to look
at ways to tackle health problems and that she had managed to end her own use of
hypertension medication. She said: “We want to provide awareness around what
you can do differently, not just check your health, because you don’t
necessarily have to be on these prescriptions for the rest of your life, there
are things that can be done.” Annabel Fountain, an endocrinologist whose work
includes treating people with hypertension, highlighted the importance of
reducing salt intake, particularly for people of west African descent. She said
that customers needed to “demand” that food served in restaurants and at
deli bars was healthier. Dr Fountain added that being overweight, a lack of
exercise and high stress levels increased the risk of hypertension. Leonard
Gibbons, a doctor who specializes in preventive care and lifestyle coaching,
also spoke at the event, which was supported by insurance giant Chubb.
The
Queen’s Birthday Parade will take place in Hamilton on Saturday. Traffic
restrictions will be in place for the parade, which starts in Front Street at
10am. The parade will feature the Royal Bermuda Regiment, Royal Bermuda Regiment
Band and Corps of Drums, Bermuda Police Service and Bermuda Police Reserves,
Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, Royal Bermuda Regiment Junior Leaders and the
Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps.
A
total of three food outlets were shut to carry out improvements after random
health inspections found problems with their food and hygiene routines. The
three were among six food sellers ranked “D”, the lowest score, in the
latest grades on licences list by the Government’s environmental health
department. It was the first time the lowest of the four categories has been
used since the programme started in 2017 and is given where the inspector
considered closure or decided that urgent action was needed. The list, published
on the Government’s website last month, showed that D grades were awarded to
Chopsticks Restaurant on Reid Street, Casablanca on Washington Lane, Pasta Basta
on Elliott Street West, Sung Sing Restaurant on Victoria Street and The Pie
Factory on Parliament Street, all in Hamilton, and Crow Lane Bakery in Hamilton
Parish. The list did not identify which three restaurants had closed their doors
on a temporary basis for work to be carried out to come up to standard. A
Ministry of Health spokeswoman said yesterday that “substantial
improvements” were made after the inspections. She explained that a range of
problems were found at the D-graded establishments, including poor cleaning
standards, food cross contamination, poor temperature control, evidence of pests
and unsafe conditions that could lead to accidents. The spokeswoman said: “It
should be noted that not all of these contraventions were found in all of the
establishments. Three of the six establishments closed in order to carry out
works necessary to remove any risks to public health and to become compliant
with the legislation. The other three did not have to close, but still had to
carry out the necessary works. All of the establishments have been re-inspected
and substantial improvements have been noted. However, they must retain their
grade for at least three months before they can apply for a re-insertion for the
purposes of regarding.” The government website explained that the scheme was
introduced to let the public know how well Bermuda’s food suppliers maintained
sanitary standards. Environmental health officers mark each outlet on factors
like personal hygiene practices, protective clothing for staff and vermin
control in annual and unannounced visits. Premises can score up to 100 points
with deductions made for violations dependant on their significance to public
health. An A grade is awarded for 90 to 100 points, 80 to 89 points would get a
B, and from 70 to 79 rates a C. The website added a D grade was “below 70
points and urgent action or consideration of closure is usually indicated for
such a score”. It said: “Some critical violations must be corrected
immediately to remove an imminent risk to health.” Kara Simmons, the manager
at Chopsticks, said problems found included fridge temperatures and the location
of thermometers. She added: “Once the lady told us all of the things that were
wrong, we did a voluntary closure. We closed our kitchen, did what we had to do
to get it where it needed to be.” Ms Simmons explained that the company was re-inserted
a week later and “passed with flying colors”. Sonja Seaman, owner of The Pie
Factory, said it was the first D grade she had been given in more than 20 years
of business. She added: “I was so upset, I was depressed because I’ve never
had anything lower than a B, so I took it very personally ... it’s not
characteristic of The Pie Factory.” Ms Seaman, who was not at the café when
the inspector visited, explained that concerns related to frozen meat left out
to thaw, a delivery of meat “sitting on the floor” and workers unaware of
where the first aid kit was kept. The businesswoman said she had held meetings
to ensure staff knew what was expected of them and to encourage greater
teamwork. Amre Elsayed, the owner of Casablanca, insisted the company had
“fixed everything” since its Washington Lane restaurant was graded about
three months ago. He said the problems related to dating items to go in the
fridge and the need for mats on the floor. Mr Elsayed added: “We did exactly
what they asked us to do and we had another inspection and they passed us.” A
manager at Crow Lane Bakery said concerns over the North Shore Road premises
included painting and were “more cosmetic stuff than anything else”. A
manager at Pasta Basta said it was up to the owner to comment, but he was “at
sea” and a woman who answered the phone at Sung Sing said no one was available
to answer questions. The health ministry spokeswoman said a re-inspection
application must include details of the improvements made before an unannounced
visit by a senior Environmental Health Officer. She added: “It should be noted
that a better or worse grade can be awarded or the grade can remain the same
depending on the hygiene conditions found at the time of the re-insertion.” Of
the 307 establishments listed, 142 were graded A, 132 were B, and 23 were C. Two
were marked with “0” but the spokeswoman explained that one had closed and
will be removed from the list. She said the other one, Blackbeards Hideout, St
George’s Beach Club, was not operational when the list was published. The
spokeswoman added: “It has since reopened and has been inspected and has been
awarded an A grade. We will update the list to reflect this.” Two venues were
listed as “new” and will be monitored over six months to achieve a grade.
Bus
operators will continue a work-to-rule until safety problems at the St
George’s bus depot are tackled, the president of the Bermuda Industrial
Union said yesterday. Chris Furbert was speaking after bus service BIU members
gathered yesterday for talks as part of a dispute that has seen a work-to-rule
imposed. Mr Furbert said that the work-to-rule would only be lifted if two
portable air-conditioned restrooms were made available for bus staff in St
George’s. He added the BIU had made Zane DeSilva, the transport minister,
aware of the condition. Mr Furbert said the workers were not comfortable using
the facilities in St George’s because of health and safety fears. He added:
“It is my understanding that place has been condemned twice. They have to use
the facility every day, that’s where they sign on and off.” He said workers
were also concerned about the poor condition of the depot in Dockyard. Mr
Furbert added that bus staff also wanted changes to their job descriptions and
complained about radios which are not working, lack of security for cashiers,
the flooring in eastern depots and roaches on the buses. Mr Furbert said drafts
of new job descriptions would be available by tomorrow. He said 16 new staff
members were also expected to be hired to ease a shortage of 25 staff members in
maintenance and operations. The bus operators started a work-to-rule last
Thursday, over what Mr DeSilva said was “a myriad of issues”. Cancellations
of bus routes this week have included school services. The DPT announced a total
of 46 cancellations on Tuesday afternoon and 20 on yesterday.
A
veteran pilot who steered ships into Hamilton Harbour for decades has died. John
Kennedy, who retired in 1989 at the rank of pilot warden, was 95. Department of
Marine and Ports staff said he was a mentor who left a mark on the Bermuda
Branch Pilot Service. One of his sons, Robert Kennedy, said that “the service
was his life”. Mr Kennedy grew up fishing with his uncle at Spanish Point, but
his career at sea began at the start of the Second World War in 1939. His son
said: “He wanted to avoid getting called up, so he got on a cargo ship at St
George’s.” Mr Kennedy pretended to be older to get accepted — which led to
a lifelong confusion over his year of birth. But the sea was no sanctuary, as
convoys of cargo ships became prime targets for German U-boat attacks. Mr
Kennedy told The Royal Gazette in 2014: “You would be down shoveling
coal and then you would come up and see that there were one or two ships missing
from the convoy. They had been sunk.” Mr Kennedy said he was a keen fisherman
with his own boat and that seafaring was “in my blood”. He became an
apprentice pilot in 1952 under pilot Walter Darrell and worked his way up the
ranks. His son said he built his house, Hard-a-Port at Tablerock Avenue in
Pembroke himself and the view over North Shore allowed him to keep watch on
shipping. His son added: “Life for him had to be work, even exercise — he
would lift concrete blocks and cut the hedges instead of going to a gym.
“Piloting was literally his life. He always wanted to be on the move. In later
years he loved to drive.” A tribute from Marine and Ports said he served
“unselfishly and with pride” and trained pilots over a 37-year career. Mr
Kennedy’s favourite ship to pilot was said to be the Royal Caribbean Cruise
Line’s Veendam. Branch pilots like Mr Kennedy relied on lighthouses and
islands as landmarks for navigation before modern navigation technology. The
narrow channel of Two Rock Passage in St George’s proved an especially
challenging job. He told the Gazette: “In the early days, you had to
climb a rope ladder called a Jacob’s ladder to board the vessel, which could
be unnerving if the wind and waves were up. Other than that, everything was very
good.” Mr Kennedy’s family and friends were recruited to drive him around
after he retired. He also enjoyed hailing passing ships by radio from his home.
Mr Kennedy had a son, John-Arthur, with his first wife, the late Mildred Musson.
He married the late Barbara-Jean “Niecey” Smith in 1965, and the couple had
two children, Jacqueline and Robert. David Burt, the Premier, offered his
condolences to the family in the House of Assembly last Friday. Mr Burt said:
“I do hope that his loved ones find comfort.”
A
“lack of confidence” in the public-school system is to blame for the loss of
pupils to private institutions, the education minister said last night.
Diallo Rabain said: “There is a belief that the private schools are better.
That’s why we see that flight. Our job is to change that mindset. Our job is
to put a system in place that produces a quality of graduates, the quality of
grades, that people can now say ‘I can trust my child to be here’.” Mr
Rabain was speaking at a town hall meeting on education held last night. The
event, organised by the Progressive Labour Party, took place at the Bermuda
Industrial Union headquarters. Several dozen people attended, including
principals, teachers and parents. Mr Rabain disagreed with the suggestion from
an audience member that the private-school system was better than the public. He
added: “One thing that I do want to make clear — the direct apples-to-apples
comparison is just not possible at this time.” Mr Rabain said that there were
problems related to pupil needs that private schools “do not have to deal
with. The Education Act states that as long as the student has the ability to
learn, we have to figure out a way to teach them.” Mr Rabain said that
public-school classrooms were made up of pupils that included the “high
flyer” as well as pupils with special learning needs. He added: “The private
schools, they only have one type of student. And that really is the biggest
difference there.” O’Brien Osborne, the principal at Somerset Primary
School, asked Mr Rabain to “dispel this myth” that all students in private
schools are smart. He said: “And when I say smart, I mean above average. That
is not true. I am a former teacher in the private-school system.” Mr Rabain
said that the Government will start to collect more in-depth pupil and school
data to allow for public and private schools to be more accurately compared.
Other topics raised by event attendees focused on middle schools, pupil
assessments, class sizes, school zones, special education and how resources are
distributed. Mr Rabain thanked the teachers in attendance. He said: “Teaching
is the only profession that teaches all other professions. We have a great
admiration and respect for our teachers. We might not get along at times, we
might butt heads, but at the end of the day I think we all have the same thing
in mind, and that is to ensure that our students get the best that they can
get.” A second town hall event will be held at Somerset Cricket Club on
Thursday at 6pm.
Buses
will be off the roads for two hours today as bus drivers hold a union meeting.
The bus service, already on a work-to-rule, will down tools between 10.30am and
12.30pm. The Department of Public Transportation said there would be an
interruption of service as staff were updated on “matters of concern to the
employees” in an effort to end the industrial action. A spokesman added:
“The DPT look forward to resuming full bus services and apologise for the
inconvenience to the traveling public.” The announcement came yesterday as 46
bus routes, including school runs, were cancelled.
Bermuda’s
register of beneficial company ownership cannot be released under the island’s
public access to information law, according to a decision due to come out today.
Gitanjali Gutierrez, the information commissioner, said
the Bermuda Monetary Authority was right to refuse The Royal Gazette
access to the register after a public access to information request was made in
February 2017. The BMA denied the request on the grounds that the secrecy
provision in section 31(1) of the Bermuda Monetary Authority Act prohibited
disclosure. The authority said in its denial letter: “Under that provision,
the servants and agents of the authority shall preserve and aid in preserving
secrecy with regard to all matters relating to the affairs of the Government of
Bermuda or the Bermuda Monetary Authority or of any person that may come to his
knowledge in the course of his duties. The authority continued: “Breach of
this provision amounts to a criminal offence.” Ms Gutierrez said she was
“satisfied that the BMA’s denial of public access to the records was
justified”. The commissioner said the Pati Act allowed records to be withheld
if their disclosure was prohibited by other legislation. She added public
authorities did not have to weigh up whether there was a public interest in
release of the records in such cases. Ms Gutierrez examined the BMA’s
database, which holds information on the real owners of Bermuda-based companies,
as part of her review and said she was satisfied it came under the secrecy
provision of the BMA Act. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the British
Parliament recommended this year that Britain should order all its Overseas
Territories to make their beneficial ownership registers public. The committee
said: “We believe it is a matter of national security, because there is
evidence to suggest that money tied to autocratic regimes has been connected to
OT-registered companies, and that considerations of competitiveness cannot
prevent action. The public in the UK and elsewhere have a right to see
beneficial ownership information and we are calling on the Foreign Secretary to
lay out plans for achieving this.” Ms Gutierrez said the committee’s
recommendations, in its Global
Britain and the Overseas Territories: Resetting the Relationship report,
concerned a “policy proposal and do not reflect the existing legislation
applicable in Bermuda”. She added: “The statements by the committee do not
carry any weight in this review.” The commissioner added that Parliament had
amended several laws in recent years to remove beneficial ownership records from
the scope of the Pati Act, including the Companies
Act 1981, the Limited Liability Act 2016 and the Partnership Act 1902.
Secrecy over offshore company ownership came under renewed scrutiny in 2017
after the “Paradise Papers” revelations by the International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists and other media organisations. Almost 100 news outlets
around the world revealed how the rich hid their money after client information
hacked from Bermuda’s Appleby law firm was made public. The reports, and
comments by Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, branded Bermuda as
one of the world’s most secretive jurisdictions. The British Parliament later
agreed to issue an Order in Council in December 2020 to force British Overseas
Territories to establish public registers. The Bermuda Government has argued
that the order will breach the Bermuda Constitution and damage the island’s
economy. Lord Ahmad, Britain’s Foreign Office Minister for the Overseas
Territories, said
on visit to Bermuda in April that the territories would have until 2023 to
establish public registers and that the UK would push for that to be the
international standard.
A
total of $330,500 in uncashed cheques were left “in a drawer” at a
government department, a report to Parliament has revealed. The report by
the Efficiency Committee said only $50,000 of the owed cash was claimed back and
accused the Government of “poor management of staff and inadequate central
controls”. The group’s report, tabled last Friday in the House of Assembly,
added the pile of uncashed cheques included one for $6,369 that dated back to
December 2006. The committee also found that the financial assistance department
had continued to pay allowances to rest homes after residents had died because
of a lack of co-ordination between departments. The report also said revenue was
left uncollected at the offices of the Tax Commissioner and Registrar of
Companies because of a lack of trained staff and old-fashioned technology. And
unassessed stamp duty on 1,590 property conveyancing files added up to “a huge
backlog of work with the resulting loss in significant amounts of revenue”.
The nine-member team’s recommendations, drawn up after the yearlong review,
included:
A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Health said last night the ministry had made changes after an internal policy review. She said: “The amounts owing are now significantly lower. The Department of Financial Assistance has identified these gaps as outlined in the Efficiency Report and internal policy reviews, and are working to recoup any outstanding funds.” James Jardine, the independent senator who wrote the consolidated report, said that “overall, no matter who it is, the Government needs an overall strategic plan for the next five years. A problem I see is the confusion over just what they necessarily want to achieve in each department. Each time the Government changes, their goals change, and ministries and departments have to reign their thought processes.” Mr Jardine said that the IT systems in government departments worked in isolation. He added: “They don’t talk to each other. So when they are trying to collect outstanding taxes, there is no one system bringing it all together.” The committee’s report recommended that the Government should “invest in a completely new tax software system”. It also highlighted staffing problems across departments, which included a lack of manpower at the Attorney-General’s Chambers to collect outstanding debts on behalf of the Department of Social Insurance. Mr Jardine added that the committee had “resurrected” the findings of past reports, including the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission, or Sage, compiled six years ago. The committee highlighted that the Sage report had suggested a plan to get isolated departments of the Government to work together. The Efficiency Committee agreed with Sage’s statement that the need “cannot be over-emphasized”. Their report also said there should be a review of previous reports where “little may have been done to implement their recommendations”. The committee’s review of the Office of the Tax Commissioner quoted concerns raised in the report of the Tax Reform Commission, tabled last November, which said the OTC was “understaffed and under resourced”. An earlier report by the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre, released in October 2015, recommended major improvements to Bermuda’s tax billing and collection systems.
A
violence-hit sports club has been ordered to shut its bar at 9pm six nights a
week as a condition of its alcohol-licence renewal. Southampton Rangers
Sports Club was also subjected to a string of requirements by the Liquor
Licensing Authority after the police objected to its licence renewal based on
concerns over “gang-related activities and antisocial behavior”. The club
was told after a five-hour hearing last week that “having recognized and
accepted that Rangers is working diligently to put necessary safety measures in
place to protect its patrons”, the LLA was prepared to grant the licence with
conditions. They included that alcohol will be served in plastic cups and none
will be served after 9pm, except on Thursdays when it can be sold until 11pm.
The club was also ordered not to open the bar during youth-team training
sessions or games — a stipulation that the club said it had already met. The
hearing heard last week that the CCTV system at the club was of “poor
quality” and that police had found it impossible to identify troublemakers
from its footage. The LLA, now chaired by Marc Daniels, added that the club’s
management team must install new, high-definition security cameras within three
months and continue to ban individuals who commit, or threaten, anti-social behavior
or violence. The club was also told to have security personnel present at all
sporting events and club members should be prepared to show their membership
cards on demand. The LLA added the club’s executive should continue to work
with the police to take steps to ban individuals who may be members of, or
associated with, gangs. The ruling was issued to The Royal Gazette
yesterday. The LLA added that it was prepared to crack down on any social club
where violence or bad behaviours became a problem. The authority said: “We
therefore put all establishments, inclusive of Rangers, on notice that should
they have infractions going forward, especially those that may be tied to
antisocial behaviours and violence, they are at risk of having their licences
revoked, or amended, in the interest of public safety.” Inspector Alex
Rollins, a police intelligence expert, told the renewal hearing that the club
was “a hub” for gang members and associates and that its position between
rival gangs in the central parishes and western parishes had led to violence at
the club. The LLA report added that Mr Rollins “offhand” had identified at
least four gang members or associates on the club’s membership list. Shannon
Dyer, of legal firm Walkers, who represented the club, told the LLA hearing that
the South Shore club was active in its community and provided assistance to
seniors and food to people and families who struggled. Mr Dyer added that a
refusal of a liquor licence would result in “effectively shutting Rangers
down” due to its reliance on bar sales to fund its community programmes. The
15-page LLA report also highlighted that Jason Wade, the club president, had
“highlighted concerns that all members’ clubs face, which calls for standardization
across the community in relation to similar establishments”. The report added:
“Mr Wade demonstrated that he was a member of our community who recognized our
challenges and was committed to steering his club through its current pitfalls
with the view of restoring its legacy and true purpose within the community. A
spokesman for the club said last night: “Southampton Rangers Sports Club
acknowledges the conditions imposed by the Liquor Licensing Authority and shall endeavor
to adhere to all of the conditions that have been ordered.” The Bermuda Police
Service said last night that it was reviewing the Liquor Licensing Authority
ruling regarding the renewal of Southampton Rangers’ licence and would make a
statement today.
A
prevailing view that new economic substance regulations will have minimal impact
on captive insurers in Bermuda is to come under closer consideration next week. An
expected 800 delegates and speakers will attend the Bermuda Captive Conference,
and the topic of economic substance and how it might impact the sector will be
discussed. “Economic substance is very topical. We have a panel of three
people talking about it,” said Michael Parrish, chairman of the conference.
Bermuda has grappled with the issue of economic substance since the European
Union raised concerns last year, and earlier this year it was temporarily placed
on the EU blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions due to a typographical
error in its economic subsistence regulations. The mistake was corrected and the
island is no longer on the list. The island has more than 700 captive insurers,
who directly employ upwards of 550 people in Bermuda. The sector annually
contributes an estimated $174 million into the economy. At next week’s
conference, a panel will explore and answer questions related to the Economic
Substance Act, and address key requirements that may apply to captives, and
discuss how Bermudian-based service providers support captives and their owners
in demonstrating Bermuda substance. One view is that economic substance
legislation will not impact the captive industry, to the degree that captives
compliant with the Insurance Act and Companies Act are deemed to be compliant
under the economic substance legislation. However, Mr Parrish cautioned that
view has not been endorsed by anyone. The three-day conference at the Fairmont
Southampton starts on Monday. One session will look at emerging issues,
including the shared economy, autonomous driving, terrorism and cybersecurity,
which fits with the conference’s 2019 theme of “elevate”. Mr Parrish said:
“The idea is to get people to elevate their thinking, to move away from
thinking that captives are just a mechanism for traditional property and
casualty risk, [and] to move on to other things, such as developing areas —
cyber, employee benefits, autonomous vehicles, and crypto commerce.” While the
captive market in Bermuda, and generally, has not grown notably in terms of
captive numbers in the past year, premiums have increased, and captives are
being used in more areas. Mr Parrish said: “We have seen new developments for
crypto commerce. We have seen a captive being set up in Bermuda for digital
assets, covering a digital asset deposit taker. That’s a crypto captive,
probably the first one. That is going to be a developing area. It’s an area
where people in that industry find it very difficult to buy traditional
insurance. There are traditional insurance companies that don’t like insuring
that industry because it is so new and a lot of the companies are start-ups and
do not have track records.” The Bermuda Captive Conference is marking its
fifteenth year. It is the biggest industry conference held on the island, and
about half of attendees come from overseas. This year, as part of a
sustainability drive, the event will introduce water stations allowing delegates
to refill water bottles. Mr Parrish said he attended a large overseas conference
and calculated that thousands of complimentary plastic water bottles ended up as
trash after each was used only once. A number of innovations introduced at the
conference last year will continue, including the improved layout of the
exhibition hall and more functionality in the mobile app that gives
opportunities for networking among delegates, and proving live feedback during
sessions. As part of its outreach, the conference is encouraging some high
school and Bermuda College students to come along, particularly to parts of the
programme where they can connect with panels discussing opportunities for jobs
in the sector, especially for young people. A charity programme that debuted
last year, is back. This time Big Brothers Big Sisters will be supported and
have the opportunity to secure a presence at the event. Keynote speakers are
Tripp Crosby and Jeremy Cox. Mr Crosby is a well-known YouTube comedian whose
business-related material includes the video sketch A Conference Call in Real
Life. While Mr Cox is the executive chairman of the Bermuda Monetary
Authority. Mr Cox will also receive the fourth Fred Reiss Lifetime Achievement
Award. In addition, four captive insurance companies will join the Bermuda
Captive Hall of Fame, having completed 25 years of business on the island. The
companies are Fairtide Insurance, Iboba Insurance, Pitts Bay Insurance Company,
and Trimark Insurance. “We salute these companies and their longstanding
commitment to our market,” Mr Parrish said. This is his second year as
conference chairman. He said: “It’s been a very good experience. There is a
committee that frankly does all the work. This is the fifteenth year of the
conference and there are people involved who have been here for every one. The
chair just needs to make sure that all the moving parts come together on the
day. It’s a great event, and it is testament to the influence and importance
of the captive industry to Bermuda.”
A
senior has denied sexual assaults on two girls more than 30 years ago. The
81-year-old man pleaded not guilty in Magistrates’ Court yesterday to three
counts of sex assault on the girls, who were aged under 14 at the time of the
alleged offences. The man, from Hamilton, who cannot be named for legal reasons,
is alleged to have committed two of the offences between May 1981 and April
1983. The third offence is alleged to have happened between May 1984 and May
1985. Magistrate Maxanne Anderson adjourned the case until July 1 and released
the defendant on $6,000 bail. She also ordered him to have no contact with the
alleged victims.
An
attempt to create a special clinic for amputees in Bermuda has been launched, The
Royal Gazette can reveal. Ryan Gibbons, of the non-profit organisation A
New Life, said a prosthetics clinic would make a huge difference to the 300
people on the island who have lost a limb. The organisation will hold its first
tag day today and has launched a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for the
clinic. Mr Gibbons, an award-winning bartender who lost his leg as a result of a
2008 motorbike crash, said yesterday: “I just ran May 24. Afterwards, I was
bleeding from behind my knee where my prosthesis is. That could be fixed if I
could go into a clinic right now, but I don’t have access. The only way I get
that is if I either send my device up to Boston, which means I can’t do
anything until it’s done, or I have to fly away and get it sorted and then
I’m losing work.” He explained that an on-island prosthetics clinic would be
able to measure patients for artificial limbs, make them and keep them in good
working order without the need for patients to leave the island or ship their
prosthetics overseas. Mr Gibbons said the clinic would also help to keep costs
down for patients. He explained: “There is no full-time clinic for prosthetics
here, and insurance offers roughly $100,000 for prosthetics, but in some cases
the companies don’t want to make that portable. So there’s no one who makes
prosthetics here, but if you want to go away, that means you won’t be covered
by insurance all the time.” He added that many people are unaware of the high
cost of artificial limbs, and their sometimes limited use. Mr Gibbons said the
artificial limb he used to run cost around $30,000 and if he wanted to do other
sports he would need a different one. He added: “Triathlon people have asked
me why I don’t get into the biking. To get another device for biking would be
another $20,000 and insurance doesn’t necessarily want to cover it.” Mr
Gibbons said in addition to assisting those who need artificial limbs, a clinic
would be able to help those who needed orthopaedics, which would help make the
project more economically sustainable. “We see with the cancer centre
how it is reducing some of the costs. It is definitely reducing the patient
stress levels because they don’t have to travel out of their comfort zones.”
Mr Gibbons and LeKiesha Wolffe, the executive director of A New Life, who lost a
leg in a 2013 motorbike crash, said artificial limbs suffered wear and tear
which was worsened by Bermuda’s humidity and the salt in the air. Ms Wolffe, a
mother of two, said having her leg shipped overseas for repairs or travel
overseas affected her family life. She said: “I have to go back to Boston in a
few weeks because it is causing lumps under my skin and I’m not sure if I’m
allergic to the silicone piece I’m using. I have two kids, so I have to find
someone to watch them. I need someone to travel with me because I’m an
above-the-knee amputee and I need someone to help me with my wheelchair.” She
added that the additional expenses might not be covered by insurance which left
some patients with an extra financial burden. Ms Wolffe said A New Life did not
know how much it would cost to open a clinic but had set an initial fundraising
target of $200,000 to get started. Mr Gibbons said the figure would “just
scratch the surface”, but it would mark the first step towards a service that
would improve people’s lives. He added: “While I’ve been running the
miles, LeKiesha has been putting in the paperwork. Now it’s about coming
together to serve people and help them find their best quality of life.”
Payments
made to members of the Bermuda Government’s efficiency committee were
optional, and did not include civil servants. Wayne Furbert, the Minister
for the Cabinet Office, said yesterday that all MPs who sit on government boards
and committees were remunerated for their work. He added: “This is nothing
new. It’s been done since time immemorial.” The report from the nine-member
board, chaired by Mr Furbert, was given to Parliament on Friday showing a return
of more than $12 million in government revenues. In response to Opposition
questions, the House of Assembly heard that the minister garnered $5,000 per
month for the one-year job, while committee members received $2,000 a month.
Edward Ball, the general secretary of the Bermuda Public Services Union,
clarified that he had not taken any payment in his role. Mr Ball said: “I made
it clear from Day 1 that I would volunteer to sit on the board. Sometimes you
get remuneration, but I did not receive one cent, nor would I accept it.” He
added: “I have served on several boards over the course of 30-plus years.
Sometimes there is a stipend, but nothing like $2,000 a month. I cannot speak
for anyone else.” Mr Furbert told The Royal Gazette that civil servants
such as Cherie-Lynn Whitter, the Permanent Secretary of Government Reform,
received no extra payment. He said: “They got paid for their regular pay. Mr
Ball and others were there representing their organisations.” Glenn Simmons,
representing the Bermuda Industrial Union, said he had found the experience
“very helpful”. He said: “For example, we looked at savings for
blue-collar workers’ uniforms. We suggested issuing them biennially as opposed
to annually. All the different members brought a lot of different knowledge.”
He declined to say whether he had accepted payment. James Jardine, another
committee member, said he had opted to take payment for his work. Mr Jardine, an
independent senator, added: “I didn’t think it was an unreasonable sum.
I’m happy to serve on boards for free, but I gave a lot of time.” Mr Jardine
said he had given several hundred hours to Spending and Government Efficiency
Commission. “On this commission, I ended up writing all the reports, which was
a lot of work. I also prepared 13 appendices.” Mr Furbert’s salary for the
job drew criticism on Friday from the One Bermuda Alliance. Mr Jardine said that
was “a matter for him and for the Government”, adding: “He spent a lot of
time on it personally. I hope that people read the report and that the
Government takes on all our recommendations.” In the House, Mr Furbert said
the efficiency committee’s work had cost roughly $130,000. He said that the
millions recovered marked a return on investment of more than 9,130 per cent. A
government spokeswoman said last night said $2,000 per month stipends were also
paid to Richard James, and Karamoko Darrel-Dickens, an IT specialist, who was
paid for two months at the end of his government service. The two trade union
representatives who served on the board elected not to receive compensation. She
said the efficiency committee “focused on areas where the greatest value could
be achieved and made 93 recommendations covering a wide range of departments.
This was excellent work, great value for money and resulted in $12 million
additional revenue for the people of Bermuda.” The spokeswoman concluded:
“Members of Bermuda government boards and committees are paid; this is not
unusual. However, public officers who sit on boards are not paid, as they are
giving guidance in the context of their jobs.”
A
law firm was told yesterday it needed to lodge an appeal in the Supreme Court to
dispute a ruling that they could not represent patients of Ewart Brown who had
their medical records seized by police. The Court of Appeal ruled that
Chancery Legal should apply in the Supreme Court to stay a decision that barred
them from involvement in the case while it tried to have the decision quashed.
The finding came after the Supreme Court decided last month that Mark Pettingill
and Victoria Greening, lawyers from the firm representing the patients, had a
conflict of interest. Assistant Justice Kiernan Bell found the law firm had been
in contempt of court after it applied for a stay of the decision so it could be
appealed. The Court of Appeal found that the law firm could represent the
patients in an application for leave to stay the ruling’s effect so it could
appeal the decision. Mark Diel, who appeared for the police, asked the Supreme
Court to bar Mr Pettingill, a former Attorney-General, and Ms Greening, a former
prosecutor, from representing the patients. Mr Diel argued that they had access
to confidential information on the long-running police investigation into Dr
Brown’s clinics through their former roles, which the court accepted. Mr
Pettingill and Ms Greening will now have to ask Supreme Court for permission to
argue their case in the Court of Appeal. A draft judgment said: “Since those
applications are to be made to the Supreme Court, they are not applications of
which we are currently seized. But, it seems to us right to say that, in our
view, although it will be a matter for the Supreme Court judge, it would be
appropriate for the judge to hear Chancery Legal on behalf of the client make an
application for leave to appeal and an application for a stay, because, although
that would be contrary to the terms of the existing order, it is that very order
which the client seeks to appeal. That observation is subject to the proviso
that Chancery Legal has undertaken that, pending the appeal, it will not discuss
with the client or any co-counsel, anything other than the appeal itself.” The
appeal court panel added that, if permission for a stay and an appeal were
granted, the Court of Appeal would be able to hear the case this month. If the
applications to the Supreme Court were refused, the firm will still be able to
appeal the refusal to the Court of Appeal. The firm represented 150 of the 265
patients whose records were seized in raids on Dr Brown’s two medical clinics,
Bermuda Healthcare Services in Paget and Brown-Darrell Clinic in Smith’s, in
February 2017. The raids were part of an investigation by police into
allegations that the clinics had ordered unneeded diagnostic imaging scans to
boost profits. Dr Brown and BHCS’s medical director, Mahesh Reddy, have denied
any wrongdoing and have not been charged with any offences. The patients
represented by Chancery Legal were given permission by the Supreme Court to
intervene in a civil case brought by Dr Reddy and the clinics against Bermuda
Police Service. The patients wanted to stop the police from getting access to
their files and to have the medical records returned.
A
former client of a bankrupt lawyer said yesterday he had never paid her any
money on the more than $63,000 that a court ruled was owed to her. Lynda
Swan added that she feared barrister Rick Woolridge would never pay back the
cash as ordered by the Supreme Court in 2014. Ms Swan said: “I don’t think
he intends to pay me at all.” She added that she needed the money. Ms Swan
said that Mr Woolridge continued to practise law after the 2014 judgment and
that “my salary a week doesn’t even add up to one hour that he charged”.
She added: “Mr Woolridge was allowed to work in order to pay his debts — his
creditors. And he was working and not doing it.” Ms Swan was speaking after a
bankruptcy order was made last month against Mr Woolridge by Chief Justice
Narinder Hargun. Mr Woolridge told The Royal Gazette last month that the
bankruptcy was sparked after Ms Swan took legal action. Ms Swan, 69, from
Hamilton Parish, said Mr Woolridge’s statement was true. She added: “I’m
not the only creditor.” Ms Swan said that there were “12 or more”
creditors owed money by Mr Woolridge. She added: “We had a meeting with the
Official Receiver. We have been to court several times, and Mr Woolridge
promises that he is going to do this and do that ... and doesn’t do it.” Mr
Woolridge was ordered to repay Ms Swan after the Supreme Court ruled that he had
overcharged her by more than $60,000. Ms Swan complained that Mr Woolridge had
billed her at 5 per cent interest a month instead of a year for legal services.
Mr Woolridge argued at the time that Ms Swan had agreed to pay a higher interest
rate and that she still owed him more than $24,000. But Ian Kawaley, then the
Chief Justice, found that Ms Swan and Mr Woolridge had never reached an
agreement on the interest rate and awarded Ms Swan $63,498.60. Ms Swan said that
Mr Woolridge was supposed to register all his clients with the Official
Receiver. Mr Woolridge said yesterday that he was under a court order about his
bankruptcy. He added: “I shall, as always, abide by the law.” Mr Woolridge
said that any questions Ms Swan had about her money should be directed to the
Official Receiver. He added: “Of all the creditors, she is the only one who
attended court on each occasion. It was at her insistence that the bankruptcy
order was applied for as they told her that it would disrupt my work. Her reply
was that she did not care. She has now achieved her aim.” Lawyers who are
declared bankrupt lose their practising certificate under the Bermuda Bar Act.
Mr Woolridge said last month that he planned to apply for a temporary
certificate. He added that he had also hired a debt collection agency to try and
recover unpaid bills from clients. Mr Woolridge said that he was owed $1.7
million by “hundreds” of clients and that he would pay his bills once he had
collected the outstanding cash.
Southampton
Rangers Sports Club succeeded in its application to keep selling alcohol, a
member told The Royal Gazette yesterday. The Liquor Licensing Authority had
been mulling the club’s liquor licence after police raised concerns about some
of its patrons and its security cameras at a meeting last Thursday. But the club
member confirmed last night that, while it had not received official documents,
the club had been granted its licence. LLA chairman Marc Daniels said on
Thursday that a decision would be issued in writing the next day. The LLA has
not provided any details about its decision or any conditions with the licence
since then. Club president Jason Wade is overseas and could not be reached. A
Bermuda Police Service spokesman said the police were awaiting the official
ruling from the Liquor Licensing Authority before making any public statement.
At the five-hour hearing, Mr Daniels said the board had received a list of 21
serious incidents at Southampton Rangers dated from January 2017 to April of
this year. The club argued it was an active community club that had several
programmes. It added that it had banned troublemakers, kept working with police
and security firms and closed earlier on Sundays in keeping with recommendations
by the LLA last year. Christopher Famous, who is a member of the board, told the
House of Assembly last Friday that many sports clubs had their reputations
tarnished because of non-members who visited and caused trouble. Mr Famous said
club members were volunteering to help make clubs a success, and called on MPs
to support the clubs in their constituencies.
Ascendant
Group has accepted a takeover bid worth around $365 million from a Canadian
utility group. Yesterday’s announcement of the intended sale to Algonquin
Power & Utility Corporation marks the conclusion of a four-month evaluation
of “strategic alternatives” by Ascendant. The deal signed by Ascendant is
worth $36 a share to shareholders, representing a premium of more than 63 per
cent over last Friday’s closing price of $22 on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.
Shareholder and regulatory approval is needed before closure of the deal, which
Ascendant expects to happen in the second half of this year. The common shares
of Algonquin, which is based in Oakville, Ontario, are listed on both the
Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol
“AQN”. The company has approximately $10 billion worth of total assets and
operates natural gas and water utilities, as well as electricity companies.
Algonquin states that it is “committed to being a global leader in the
generation of clean energy through ownership of or investments in long-term
contracted wind, solar and hydroelectric generating facilities representing over
two gigawatts of installed capacity”. An Ascendant spokesman said:
“Algonquin has the capital resources, operational knowledge and experience in
technological innovation necessary to advance the company’s efforts to
introduce renewable energy and meet future challenges that will benefit the
community as a whole.” He added: “They currently own and operate 54 energy
facilities, of which approximately 90 per cent are renewable.” The spokesman
said Algonquin had pledged to run Ascendant’s businesses from Bermuda and
retain the Bermudian employee base. Algonquin added it would also introduce
advanced training, to be carried out in Bermuda and abroad. The Ascendant
spokesman said: “The company will continue initiatives such as the voluntary
early retirement programme but is committed to no company-initiated job cuts.”
He added that Algonquin’s commitment to renewable energy and power storage
development would help the island to achieve a move away from fossil fuels and
boost employment in new technologies. Angela Berry, chairwoman of The Regulatory
Authority, which oversees the electricity sector, said: “As the RA regulates
Belco, we will evaluate the proposed change of control of Belco in accordance
with the provisions of applicable legislation and any ministerial directions.
The next step in the process, from the RA’s perspective, will be for Belco to
submit a formal application for a change of control, so that the RA can make an
informed decision.” Walter Roban, the Minister of Home Affairs, whose
responsibilities include the Department of Energy, said: “I note the
announcement around the sale of Ascendant Group Ltd today. There are
considerable steps before this is finalised. I am confident that once an
application is made to the Regulatory Authority, there will be a robust review,
to determine that Algonquin Power & Utilities Corporation has a strategy
that is in line with the IRP and this Government’s commitment to drive down
energy costs for the Bermuda public and ensure a more affordable and sustainable
energy future for the island.” Mr Roban told the House of Assembly in March
that the new owner would be expected to be “transparent, inclusive and
collaborative” and referred to labour disputes over the dismissal of several
Bermudian staff last year. Asked about other bidders considered by Ascendant, a
spokesman for the company replied: “The process was very robust — and there
was interest from many reputable international firms. We do not want to comment
further for the sake of confidentiality.” Ascendant said that the integration
of additional low-cost renewable energy into Belco’s supply mix was
“expected to contribute to lower energy costs”. The company added: “For
Bermuda, Algonquin has committed to introducing modern energy technologies and
will look to accelerate the introduction of renewables, conservation, and
battery storage for the island. The current board has provided the strategy that
has brought Ascendant this far. We have laid the foundation for reliably
powering Bermuda in cleaner, more efficient, and more cost-effective ways.
Algonquin will bring the knowledge, the experience and the capital necessary to
carry Ascendant into the future. All parties will work diligently to obtain all
necessary approvals so the transition can happen in a timely manner to minimise
any disruption to our companies, employees and our customers.” Ian Robertson,
chief executive officer of Algonquin, said: “The acquisition of Bermuda
Electric Light Company builds materially on our international growth programme
through the addition of this high-quality utility, an acquisition which will be
immediately accretive to earnings. In addition to Ascendant customer and
employee benefits coming from the scale of our existing utility operations, we
are confident that our demonstrated capability in renewable energy development
can help Bermuda realise on its carbon reduction. aspirations.”
A
timely trade on the Bermuda Stock Exchange is set to pay off handsomely for
whoever bought 37,300 Ascendant Group shares last Friday. The shares, worth
$820,600 at Friday’s closing share price of $22, look like a good buy with the
news yesterday morning that Ascendant Group had agreed a $36-per-share takeover
offer from Algonquin Power & Utility Corp. At that price the same stake
would be worth $1.34 million. If the takeover is approved by shareholders,
regulators and the Bermuda Government, the gross profit on Friday’s purchases
would amount to $522,200, representing a gain of more than 63 per cent. Greg
Wojciechowski, chief executive officer of the Bermuda Stock Exchange, said the
BSX routinely monitors share trading. He added that insider dealing was a
criminal offence and in breach of the BSX’s rules. Under amendments made in
2004 to the Criminal Code Act 1907, penalties for insider dealing include up to
seven years’ imprisonment and fines of up to $175,000. “In the course of its
normal activity, the BSX monitors market activity and makes inquires when it
deems that circumstances require further investigation to ensure compliance to
BSX regulations,” Mr Wojciechowski told The Royal Gazette. “In addition to
its typical oversight processes, the Exchange has monitored trading in Ascendant
shares from January 28, 2019 when the company announced it was ‘evaluating
strategic alternatives’.” He said the principal function of the BSX was to
provide a fair, orderly and efficient market for the trading of securities
issued by both domestic and international issuers. “The BSX operates and
oversees activity on the exchange’s electronic market platform to ensure
compliance with its regulatory framework,” Mr Wojciechowski added. “The BSX
Operations and Compliance Departments are tasked with ensuring that BSX
regulatory requirements are met by all users of the exchange.”
Advice on how to become a
successful entrepreneur will be shared by leading keynote speakers from across
North America and Bermuda at the first Bermuda Entrepreneurship Summit. Among
the speakers will be Elyse Archer, of Brand Builders Group, who is a personal
branding strategist with clients including Shark Tank’s Kevin
Harrington and No. 1 New York Times best-selling author Lewis Howes. Also
lined up is Tim Francis, the founder of ProfitFactory.com and
GreatAssistant.com, who will explain how to avoid burnout and take more time off
from work, and also assist corporate executive with hiring, delegation, and the
development of effective methods for training staff. The all-day event on
November 21 will teach practical skills related to personal and corporate
branding,; health and wellness; networking and professional
relationship-building; marketing and business development; and time management
for executives and “intrapreneurs” alike. It will also teach how to
successfully run a small business in Bermuda, and how to best support women and
minorities starting new companies on the island. The summit will be held at the
Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, and coincides with Global Entrepreneurship
Week. Interest in the event is high, and has resulted in early bird tickets
selling out. However, general admission, VIP and bulk ticket packages are
available. Organisers say attendees will have the opportunity to participate in
facilitated networking sessions and connect with hundreds of talented
individuals from Bermuda’s business community, including the government and
corporate sectors. Among those attending from across North America will be
founders of feature film funds, executive coaching practices that work with
Fortune 500 financial institutions, chief financial officers, TED speakers and
certified cryptocurrency experts. Among Bermudian keynote speakers will be
Gaynette Jones, author of Lucky Code, and founder and chief executive
officer of GAME Changing Industries, together with Kidist “Pinky” Emery,
owner of Salon Pink, and Erica Smith, executive director of the Bermuda Economic
Development Corporation. Ms Smith and Ms Emery will be among Bermudians
participating in a discussion on “Business In Bermuda”, which is to include
advice on how to transition from a side hustle to small business ownership.
Meanwhile, another overseas speaker will be athlete Matt Thomas, a weight
division chess boxing world champion, and captain of Team USA Chess Boxing. He
is cofounder of the summit, and also founder of Brawl For A Cause, an
organisation hosting charity boxing tournaments to raise money for worthwhile
non-profit. Jared Kleinert, an award-winning author, entrepreneur, and TED
speaker who has been dubbed “Most Connected Millennial” by USA Today,
will also be a speaker. He is a co-founder of the summit and a frequent visitor
to the island, where he has spoken at sell-out events at the Bermuda Underwater
Exploration Institute, City Hall, and private events for the Bermuda Business
Development Agency. In March, Mr Kleinert was a keynote speaker, along with
David Burt, the Premier, Brian Duperreault, CEO of AIG, and Michael Bloomberg,
former mayor of New York, at the BDA’s Executive Forum in New York. More
speakers are expected to be announced on the event website in the coming months.
General admission tickets include lunch, coffee, and healthy snacks throughout
the day, and a full day’s agenda of keynote speeches, breakout sessions, and
facilitated networking opportunities. There is also access to private attendee
Facebook group, a digital download of select resources from the speakers, and
access to a post-summit webinar on “How To Follow Up With Other Attendees”.
The event will be on November 21. Organisers said those who attend will be
“part of the collaborative effort to make Bermuda one of the premier
destinations in the world for starting and scaling a business”. CEOs and
senior executives are being encouraged to consider the VIP and corporate ticket
packages in order to “invest in your team’s professional development, so
they can become more ‘intrapreneurial’ and thus add more value to your firm
through their work, then this is a great opportunity to engage rock star
employees”.
The
selection of consultants and advisers for the Premier, Opposition leader and
ministers is to be set in law in a Bill passed on Friday by MPs. It came
under fire from the Opposition as enabling ministers to appoint themselves an
“entourage”. But David Burt, the Premier, called the criticism
“misinformed” and “making a political meal” of the issue. The Premier
and Opposition leader are to appoint “such number of persons as he deems
fit”, while ministers, with the Premier’s approval, can take on one or two
personal staff. Under the Premier, Ministers and Opposition Leader Personal
Staffs Act, their payment shall not exceed a cap designated by the legislature.
Personal staff would not be part of the public service, but would be treated as
government employees for pension payments and payroll tax, as well as having
access to government health insurance. The Bill also affords advisers access to
confidential information to carry out their work. It provides for an annual
report detailing the appointments, including pay, to be brought to the House by
the Premier “on or before” March 31. Mr Burt told the House that a code of
conduct for “special advisers” had been drafted, and would be shared with
the public. Craig Cannonier, the Leader of the Opposition, queried the need for
an annual report, while Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, the shadow health minister,
said the announcements of an appointment would be better made “up front”. Mr
Cannonier said while he welcomed an annual report, when appointments are made,
announcements should be made in the House “to avoid rumors and rhetoric” in
the past. Trevor Moniz, a One Bermuda Alliance backbencher, went on the attack
over taking on government staff when “this country is in economic trouble”.
Mr Moniz said there had been cases of “nepotism”, adding: “The people have
seen through it.” He said of the government side: “They see this as a
rearguard action to paper over the cracks.” Sylvan Richards, the shadow
environment minister, told the House: “Where this government is falling down
is staffing levels.” Mr Burt responded: “There is no entourage. This is
putting a structure around a particular process.” He called it “offensive”
to suggest nepotism in hiring personal staff. Mr Burt said: “Ministers have to
trust the person who is their personal staff. Personal staffs have access to
minister’s e-mail accounts.” He added that ministers would not be expected
to hire people they did not know and give them access to personal information.
Mr Burt said while there were no immediate plans to expand personal staff, he
encouraged ministers to have personal staff so they can focus on
transformational initiatives and not on matters that would not necessarily
require their attention. On the issue of reporting appointments as they were
made, the Premier said: “We felt it makes the most sense to lay it out in one
document on an annual basis — and that is the decision we have come to.”
An
interactive wellness programme for government employees will be launched next
month in an effort to tackle the $12.8 million cost of public sector sick leave.
Workers were urged to take on the team-based challenge as part of a Throne
Speech pledge that would place them at the front of a “strategic plan to halt
the rise of obesity and diabetes in Bermuda”. A Cabinet Office spokeswoman
explained that 42,681 days were lost through illness last year, after employees
each took an average of 9.6 sick days, and the figures were unsustainable.
Covering food choices, exercise, sleep and stress management, the scheme will be
the first of its kind in the island’s public service and is designed to
develop long-lasting habits in a “culture of wellness”. The spokeswoman
said: “We must find ways to encourage healthy lifestyle choices and do all
that is necessary to help make the more than 4,000 public officers as healthy as
possible.” She explained that in 2017 the Progressive Labour Party
administration’s Throne Speech vowed: “The Government will engage all
sectors of society in a coordinated, strategic plan to halt the rise in obesity
and diabetes in Bermuda. The Government will lead the way in wellness by
encouraging its employees to make healthy choices, and will contribute to their
wellbeing by offering programmes, incentives and education to support the
journey to a healthier public service.” An employee wellness committee was set
up last year and members carried out “extensive research” before they
settled on a scheme that addressed the needs of their island-wide colleagues.
The spokeswoman said that the cost of certified sick leave in 2018 was
$9,687,287, with the Government’s 4,455 employees each taking an average of
7.2 paid days. Uncertified absence through illness was found to be worth
$3,115,304, accumulated by an average of 2.4 days per worker. Government
Employee Health Insurance claims amounted to $63 million, the spokeswoman added.
She said: “The health-related numbers within the public service are
unsustainable and must be addressed from the front end.” The spokeswoman
added: “If you look closely at the numbers you will see that more than
$9,600,000 was spent on certified sick days. This is indicative of an ageing
workforce together with employees who have long-term illnesses. Our goal is to
reduce these numbers by improving employees’ health.” She said the wellness
committee, with the support of Derrick Binns, the head of the public service,
and senior managers — introduced a Wellness in 2019 programme with a yearlong
Global Challenge that will start with a “kickoff event” for participating
staff members on July 10. Teams will be made up of seven people, and the cost of
$113 per head can be shared between the participant and the Government. The
spokeswoman added: “For 31 cents a day, we hope to see small changes in
participants’ health. Through the programme they will learn to make healthy
food choices, understand the importance of adequate sleep, increase physical
activity and begin to effectively manage stress, among other sustainable
lifestyle choices. This is an important step for the public service. We want to
create a culture of wellness. While there have been other options in the past,
this is the first time we are introducing a holistic approach to managing the
health of employees.” The Global Challenge programme is run by Virgin Pulse,
which is part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and “designs technology
that cultivates good lifestyle habits for your employees”, according to its
website. It explained: “For over 15 years, this 12-month programme has been
improving lives, boosting culture and camaraderie, increasing job satisfaction
and productivity and reducing employee stress levels. Through an immersive and
engaging experience, the Global Challenge addresses key elements of employee
wellbeing including physical activity, nutrition, sleep and mental wellbeing.”
The website said that the team aspect created “healthy competition”, a
support network and provided accountability. Group members will each receive a
starter kit that includes a Max Buzz activity tracker to monitor steps, sleep
and the number of calories burnt. Employees will find out how to assess their
own health as they embark on the programme and will be able to measure their
progress. The Virgin Pulse website added: “Real-time reports allow employers
to monitor overall health improvements across their workforces.” Public
servants will have access to an online platform and a smartphones app where they
can take advantage of tips and advice and share their experiences with others
involved in the scheme all over the world. The Bermuda Government spokeswoman
said employees still had time to sign up and should contact their head of
department to show their interest. She added: “With the introduction of this
healthier living lifestyle tool, we anticipate public officers will, over time,
adopt healthy choices.” The sick leave total value of more than $12.8 million
was an increase from the sum revealed in the 2013 Sage Commission report on
spending and government efficiency, which said that employees’ illness rates
cost more than $10 million a year. It said then that Bermuda public workers took
an average of eight days off sick annually.
Increasing
the retirement age to 70 could reduce the need for immigration as a growth
strategy, David Burt said on Friday. The Premier told the House of Assembly:
“Those who simply say we need more people living and working in Bermuda do a
disservice to that argument when they fail to include those men and women in
this community age 65 and over who can and want to continue working.” He
added: “They, too, will continue to contribute to the economic activities in
Bermuda.” MPs debated a motion on the issue after Mr Burt tabled a report from
the Labour Advisory Committee recommending that the retirement age should be
increased from 65 to 70 over a ten-year period. People would retain the option
to retire at 65. Mr Burt noted the Progressive Labour Party had pledged in the
Throne Speech last year to “revise mandatory retirement age to take account of
longer life span, the necessity to add additional stability to pension funds and
to promote greater choice among the working population”. He said the average
life expectancy for Bermuda had climbed from 71 to 81.3 over the past 30 years.
Mr Burt added: “Living longer, and certainly beyond the age of 65, is a
demographic reality that must now be married with economic reality.” He added
that moving the age of retirement would ensure equality in recruitment, hiring
compensation, benefits, training and working conditions. Mr Burt said: “Age
discrimination is real in Bermuda. It is not just for those persons who may
reach the age of 65 and then wish to retire, it is for those in their 50s, who
may have been let go from their previous job, and who want to work, and who may
be qualified and are not given the job because of their age, because they are 55
or close to retirement.” Derrick Burgess, the Deputy Speaker of the House,
agreed that age discrimination would be addressed through an increased
retirement age, but said it may need to be done on a case-by-case basis. Mr
Burgess said a policy now exists to allow people in public service to continue
working beyond 65, provided they have medical clearance, but that it was not
being fully enforced. He said only 14 employees were now employed in public
service beyond the age of 65. Mr Burgess said: “That is ridiculous. It’s
shameful, embarrassing to have a policy just for show. The way we have treated
seniors in this country is criminal. You are competent at 64, but come 65 all of
a sudden you become incompetent.” He pointed out that the Bermuda Hospitals
Board had access to this policy, but was not using it even with a shortage of
nurses worldwide. Mr Burgess said: “You are telling nurses they have to go at
65, but you have doctors in surgery at 70. It makes no sense. It makes a mockery
of the whole system.” Craig Cannonier, the Leader of the Opposition, said he
supported the motion, but that there was a need for early retirement planning.
Mr Cannonier also said a balance must be created because young people also face
age discrimination. One Bermuda Alliance MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin pointed to
the importance of job creation and her colleague, Jeanne Atherden, said that the
Government should make sure that seniors are prepared for the jobs that will be
available. Rolfe Commissiong, the PLP backbencher, said that Bermuda was
struggling with a “demographic winter” of an ageing population and a low
birthrate. He said: “This issue is going to transform Bermuda in a way that
hardly anyone can imagine.” Mr Commissiong added that as more people retire
there will be extra pressure on pensions and healthcare. He said: “There are
no easy options left for Bermuda in a lot of key matters.”
The
Government has been ordered to make public a report into the finances of a
failed sports centre that cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Information
commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez, in a decision due to be released today, told
the Department of Public Lands and Buildings to provide The Royal Gazette
with a copy of the report by audit firm KPMG by July 8. Taxpayers funded Sandys
360 to the tune of at least $5.3 million, and possibly even more, before it
closed its doors because of financial problems in November 2013. Ms Gutierrez,
noting that the Government is now in the process of buying the centre for $1
million from the trustees of Sandys Secondary Middle School, said: “The
Government has provided limited rationale and factual information concerning its
decision-making around Sandys 360, primarily provided during parliamentary
debate. The public has not received, for example, an executive summary of any
assessment, factual information provided in advance of a town [hall] meeting or
consultation period, and so on Disclosure of the KPMG report will undoubtedly
close the knowledge gap in a number of areas for the public concerning the
spending and decision-making related to Sandys 360.” The KPMG report was
commissioned by the trustees of the middle school, who own the freehold of
Sandys 360, after the short-lived West End sports centre closed down just four
years after opening. The report was passed to the Government but was never made
public. The Department of Public Lands and Buildings rejected a public access to
information request from The Royal Gazette for the document in February
2016, claiming it was exempt from disclosure because it was provided in
confidence. The newspaper appealed the decision to the information commissioner
and, during her review, KPMG and the school trustees also objected to the
report’s release. But Ms Gutierrez concluded there was “no express
communication or understanding that the report was given in confidence to, and
would be kept confidential by, the department or Government”. She said:
“With respect to the actions the Government may have taken, KPMG and the
trustees reasonably could have expected any number of circumstances to have
arisen which would have led to public disclosure of some or all of the KPMG
report. This includes disclosure during public consultation on the options
concerning Sandys 360, in connection with the parliamentary debate on a decision
to purchase the land and buildings, and so on. Both KPMG and the trustees were
aware they were negotiating with a public body, and that the processes
applicable to a public body’s financial commitments of this nature may be
subject to future consideration or inquiry.” The commissioner said releasing
the report would further the purposes set out in part 2 of the Pati Act, which
included promoting accountability for public spending and government
decision-making. Ms Gutierrez also ordered the department to issue a decision on
whether it would share records about payments made to Sandys 360 from the public
purse and the amount the centre owes the Government.
Releasing
personal details under public access to information about sex offenders who have
served their jail terms would not be fair to those individuals, according to
information commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez. Ms Gutierrez, in a decision
due to be made public today, upheld a refusal by the Department of Corrections
to provide The Royal Gazette with a list of all convicted sex offenders
released from prison between November 2006 and November 2016. The commissioner
said: “All of the individuals were released between three and 11 years ago.
Disclosure may place them at risk for retribution and violence, or further
negatively affect their efforts or ability to reintegrate into society.” She
added: “The information commissioner is mindful that convicted prisoners who
have served their sentences, and have no other legal restrictions placed upon
them — eg, probation requirements — have their rights fully restored when
they are released from prison. These individuals should not be held to have
lesser rights in relation to their privacy and personal information than another
class of individuals.” The newspaper submitted its Pati request to the
department of Corrections in November 2016, after the Government opted not to
notify the public that convicted pedophile John Malcolm “Chalkie” White had
left prison after not taking part in any rehabilitation during his 12-year stint
at Westgate. The Gazette reported then that the power to issue a notice
and picture of a sex offender to the public had been law for 15 years but had
never been used until Michael Dunkley, then the Premier, released White’s
photograph in response to a request from this newspaper. Ms Gutierrez said in
her decision she accepted that there “can be a strong public interest in the
public being notified of the release of a sex offender where that offender
presents a significant risk to the community”. But she said it would require
“very significant public interests” to overcome an individual’s privacy
rights. Ms Gutierrez said a protocol for assessing and disclosing information
about sex offenders, including where individuals presented a significant risk,
was established by the Ministry of Legal Affairs in 2008. “The information
commissioner defers to the assessment under the protocol of the need to release
an individual’s personal information to safeguard the community,” Ms
Gutierrez said. She added: “Disclosure of the records requested in this Pati
request ... cannot be necessary to achieve the public interest in disclosure of
released sex offenders who present a significant risk.” Attorney-General Kathy
Lynn Simmons became the first minister to issue a public notification about a
dangerous sex offender, in early 2018. She issued a second notice in February
this year.
Teachers
will return to schools today after industrial action on Friday. The Ministry
of Education said yesterday that all public schools would be open and ready to
receive students today. Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, said: “I
want our parents to be assured that the Government is committed to ensuring
incidents like Friday’s are relegated to the past. Discussions with the
Bermuda Union of Teachers also revolved around changing the nature of the
relationship between the Ministry of Education and the BUT. Clearer lines of
communication will be put in place, allowing more access to myself and the
entire body of teachers. The disruption of our children’s education is
unfortunate under any circumstance, and we must do what is necessary to prevent
this from happening again. I am happy we could discuss these outstanding issues
and look forward to a renewed and reformed relationship with the BUT, as was
discussed in our meetings on Friday.” The Bermuda Union of Teachers said
yesterday that the decision was made for its membership to return to classes
after their meeting with David Burt, the Premier, two days ago. Shannon James,
the president of the BUT, said: “As a result of the discussions led by the
Premier on Friday evening, we are asking teachers to report to school as per
normal on Monday.” A Ministry of Education spokeswoman said discussions with
the BUT on Friday regarding the issues that led to teachers not reporting to
class on Friday, was positive and fruitful. She added: “Over the next few
weeks, attention will be brought to several issues that have been outstanding
for many years, as well as plans put in place on how to address other items
before the start of the 2019-20 school year.” Teachers did not turn up for
school on Friday after the BUT called an emergency meeting at 8.30am to discuss
a range of issues including support staff and mould. Parents were asked to pick
up their children at noon.
World-class
athlete Hazel Clark has found her calling in Bermuda. Ms Clark, an 800-metres
runner, represented the United States at three Olympic Games, and was a
seven-time national champion and five-time NCAA champion. But it’s only
now, as director of sports business development at the Bermuda Tourism
Authority, that she feels she’s found her niche. “I did not like running,”
Ms Clark says. “I did it because I was good at it, it made my parents proud,
and it made my sponsors happy. Now, for the first time, I am doing something I
truly enjoy. I feel that I found a lane that is perfect for me.” Ms Clark was
speaking in the Trudeau Ballroom at the Hamilton Princess and Beach Club. She
was the first presenter at the hotel’s new business breakfast speaker series.
Ms Clark says she “fell in love” with Bermuda while here as a guest speaker
for International Race Weekend in 2015. “I thought ‘I could live here’,”
she recalls. She met her now-husband, Bermudian land surveyor Shane McIlwain, on
that trip — and moved to the island. They have a daughter, Hazel. Ms Clark
leads a BTA team charged with bringing targeted sports events to the island as
well as attracting teams to Bermuda for sports training opportunities, and
camps/retreats. The BTA also promotes the island as a place to hold sports
conferences. Golf, endurance sports, sailing and tennis offer the entire
“vertical” from pinnacle events to leisure, she says, while rugby, soccer,
swimming, track and field, field hockey and lacrosse offer team-training
opportunities. While high-profile events like the America’s Cup and MS Amlin
World Triathlon Bermuda are part of the sports tourism equation, so is the World
Sailing Conference, the annual meeting of the sport’s global governing body,
scheduled to be held here in October. Ms Clark said the BTA evaluates events
based on criteria including direct spending impact, value of brand exposure,
level of engagement, environment/stability, infrastructure/legacy (eg the
America’s Cup Endeavour youth sailing programme), and inclusivity. Funding is
provided for events where a business case can be made. “It comes down to
getting people here,” Ms Clark said. A priority for 2019, Ms Clark says, is a
“pinnacle” golf event. “We are close to the finish line,” she says. The
BTA has built a database of coaches with organisations having a budget to travel
internationally. Ms Clark travels widely, attending conferences and other events
in order to market Bermuda. Contacts she made informally during her years as an
athlete, and later as a sports executive, event producer and brand ambassador
are proving valuable. Shortly after she took up the post 11 months ago, for
example, a 38-strong group from USA Track and Field visited Bermuda for a
retreat. The BTA has produced a “lure guide” that outlines what Bermuda has
to offer — and has developed a facilities inventory detailing island amenities
as well as hotel and transportation options. In a competitive sports tourism
market, Ms Clark said the BTA must help visitors plan an itinerary that shows
off Bermuda’s attributes. “We want people to leave Bermuda saying they
enjoyed great hospitality, that the cuisine was fantastic, the beaches were
amazing, and the spas were breathtaking,” she says. Ms Clark says Bermuda’s
competitive advantages include proximity to the East Coast of the US, as well as
safety, cleanliness and a reputation for hospitality. “We also have a
dedicated sports team to ease the process, a destination manager to help with
logistics on island, and connectivity to our national governing bodies as well.
Those are all important pieces of the puzzle. Not many places do it like we have
done. We see that as a differentiator.” Ms Clark grew up in a family of
achievers. Older sister Joetta is a four-time Olympian, sister-in-law Jearl is a
five-time Olympian — and her father is inner-city educator Joe Louis Clark,
who inspired the hit film Lean on Me, starring Morgan Freeman. Her mother, Ms
Clark says, helped her to develop her confident, outgoing nature. “It was so
challenging for me as a young girl,” Ms Clark says. “I’d leave the house,
and there were cameras everywhere. The president of the United States was
calling the house, Morgan Freeman was at the house to meet my father. As a kid,
I wondered ‘how can I live up to this’? I didn’t run track until I was 16.
I couldn’t face it, the weight of expectations. My dad calls me a ‘reluctant
champion’.” Ms Clark’s competitive spirit is now being channeled for the
benefit of her new home. “I know that I am supposed to be here doing this,”
she says. “My daughter is Bermudian, and I want to do this for the island, for
sports tourism, and help to drive this positive impact on Bermuda through
sports. There is no limit to the potential that Bermuda has in the area of
sports tourism.”
The
struggle for equality endured by Bermuda’s pioneering female police officers
was acknowledged in a ceremony. The tribute on Saturday was organised by
retired officer Tracey Armstrong to “recognise all the police women who have
broken the glass ceiling in the Bermuda Police Service. Our accomplishments have
gone unnoticed,” Ms Armstrong told The Royal Gazette. “I will not say
it is intentional, but just an oversight.” She said part of her inspiration
for the tribute came from the eulogies delivered at the funeral of a former
colleague. Ms Armstrong said: “Listening to the glowing comments about him, I
wondered if they ever told him these things while he was living.” She looked
at female colleagues who made “inroads in the service”, as well as the young
female officers who now make up close to half the force. Ms Armstrong, who
joined the force in 1974, recalled thinking: “It would be nice if they knew
how they got where they are today.” Plaques were made for 21 retired female
officers, bearing their names and “whatever ceilings they broke”, Ms
Armstrong said. Among them were Jean Vickers, who turns 85 tomorrow, Bermuda’s
first policewoman who joined the force in 1962 and retired in 1987. The former
inspector said of her career in the force: “I would not have wanted any other
job.” Ms Vickers was recruited by George Robins, the Commissioner, who had
advertised seeking female officers, and selected her out of the 13 candidates.
“That man had it together,” she remembered. “I was young, 27, and very
sheltered; I don’t know what he saw, but he told me I was the type of person
they needed. Nobody ill-treated me or was mean to me. It was a beautiful
experience.” Roseanda Young, who became the island’s first and only female
deputy commissioner, said it was “difficult for the men to accept us doing all
the same things they did” when she joined in 1978. Ms Young added: “We
couldn’t just be police women — we had to be exceptional.” She said she
signed up on a dare after her brother-in-law spotted an advertisement. “I said
they’d never take me,” she said. “They were taking very few women.” Her
career spanned almost 30 years: she retired in 2007. Ms Young, 64, said: “I
feel very humbled to be recognized. We were in a predominantly male
organisation. Whatever women did was not significant to them. But it obviously
was for the evolution of the service.” Women were excluded from departments
such as the marine police and the motorcycle department, but more and more
joined the force. Gertrude Barker, a former superintendent, joined in 1966,
becoming one of eight women officers. Now 74, she retired in 2003. Initially
women were a separate department, under the leadership of a British inspector,
Isabelle Lee. Ms Barker said: “Over time it evolved, and we became a fully
fledged part of the service. It was the usual male-dominated society. It could
be challenging patrolling with males, but it was certainly not challenging when
it came to my ability to do the job.” She added: “I’d like to think I was
a role model because of my ability to move upward. Police women should get the
recognition they deserve. Some of the things we did in the service were
momentous. I broke a lot of ceilings.” Ms Armstrong, organizer of the tribute,
told the Gazette that she joined “to make a difference in the community
and for the island by trying to help people”. She said: “Back in the day, if
you were a single female with a child, they would not take you on the force; you
would not even be entertained. If you were on the force and became pregnant,
that was it for your career.” The uniform of a black skirt, white blouse and
“black shoes with a small heel” came with drawbacks. Police women were
tasked with tracking down young people who had run away from home. “There were
times we had to run after them. It wasn’t easy running in a skirt and those
shoes.” A woman transferred to the marine section complained that she could
not ride a boat wearing a skirt, and gradually trousers were adopted. “I
served 27 years in just about every department — central, eastern, western,
narcotics, CID and traffic. I was transferred to traffic, which was
male-dominated, with another female, Coralie Trott. There were no women. We were
stepping into uncharted territory. The men did not help us in any way. We were
just left driving around, doing nothing. I got tired of it and went to Chief
Inspector Derek Taylor, who was in charge, and told him, we make the same money
as the men, and we want to feel productive.” Ms Armstrong said: “From that
day, we were regular police officers like anybody, handling accidents, domestic
complaints, whatever we had to do.” She added: “There was no problem at all
from the public. It was a new thing to see two women driving around. They were
fine; they didn’t give us any hassle.” The recognition ceremony was held at
the Bella Vista Bar and Grill in Southampton. Of the retired officers honoured,
Ms Armstrong said: “These women broke glass ceilings. The girls today need to
know whose shoulders they are standing upon, and what we had to go through.”
Having
benefited from the expertise and history that Bill Jewell’s letter to The
Royal Gazette dated May 7 provided on the complex subject of the past and future
of Bermuda’s electricity supply and the need for maximizing use of renewables
in our rapidly changing world, Sir John Swan and Michael Murphy took advantage
of Mr Jewell’s holiday visit to the island to discuss with him further many
questions, history and disclosure of facts still needed to provide clear answers
to the public on this most important subject. Mr Jewell, a retired former
senior managing engineer of Belco with a varied lifetime experience in all
aspects of power-generation transmission and delivery prepared the commentary
hereinafter, building on the discussions As widely publicised, Belco launched an
intensive propaganda campaign in 2013 to promote a transition from fuel oil to
liquefied natural gas. This message appeared in its annual reports and press
articles. The previous government was seemingly influenced by this initiative,
despite no valid justification being provided and a refusal to discuss any
aspects of this with the public. Various unanswered challenges were raised,
since LNG is generally recognized as being unsuitable for a small and remote
island utility such as Bermuda, with similar jurisdictions focusing on energy
conservation and renewable-energy solutions to reduce emissions and dependence
on fossil fuels. This extreme change of direction resulted in the Government’s
2011 White Paper being ignored, and its ambitious demand side management and
renewable energy targets not acted on. The public were assured that they would
be given the opportunity to participate in achieving the best energy solution
for Bermuda after the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda was established and the
Electricity Act 2016 passed. This would be achieved by the requirement for Belco
to provide a comprehensive Integrated Resource Plan that would meet the
stringent requirements of section 40 of the Electricity Act. These IRP study
requirements included consideration of all possible resources, with a range of
renewable energy and efficient generation options. The basis of selection is to
include least cost solution and environmental impact, with expectation of study
being carried out in an unbiased and transparent manner with opportunity for
invited feedback from the public and other interested parties after its
submission to the RA. So what could go wrong? It was not a promising start when
Belco boldly stated in its 2013 annual report that it had commenced preparation
of an IRP and it would demonstrate natural gas — LNG — as the favored
choice. This gave the appearance of being a biased one-horse race. So Belco
appointed its consultant Leidos to prepare the IRP that was eventually submitted
to the RA in early 2018. This voluminous report was several hundred pages long
and included numerous computer printouts. Its executive summary stated it had
made a case in favour of LNG, albeit by a slim margin and with an evaluation
process that factored in a very subjective qualitative assessment element.
Needless to say this was heralded with press releases claiming LNG was shown to
be the way forward for Bermuda’s next 20-year energy-planning scenario. It is
unlikely that members of the public were inclined to read the whole of this
massive report, and would be tempted to settle for the contents of its executive
summary. I was intrigued as to how a case favoring LNG could possibly be made,
with its obvious disadvantages of extremely high capital cost, major safety
concerns — with particular reference to citing of a very hazardous
regasification plant — and supply problems with mismatch of available LNG
tanker sizes owing to Bermuda’s relatively small consumption. Sir John Swan
was particularly interested to see how it could outrank obvious choices such as
renewable solar PV and offshore wind options, together with the fallback of LPG
— LPG/propane is already on island and avoids LNG problems. So how can the
winning odds be improved? The best method of improving winning odds is to
eliminate likely contenders wherever possible. So offshore wind was immediately
dismissed, with the excuse of the need for a more detailed study. Similarly no
ambitious solar PV and energy efficiency options were considered. Bearing in
mind Belco commenced offshore wind studies in 2000, and the Bren Bermuda
offshore wind energy study was carried out in 2014 with promising results, there
was ample opportunity for Belco to have included the additional offshore wind
studies within the IRP study brief, with probable commitment of one year and
costs of about $250,000. The IRP was under preparation for five years at a cost
of more than $2 million. So this still left LPG (propane) as a very serious
contender that we expected to rank above LNG. Sir John Swan said: "While
I had reservations that inadequate capital costs were assigned to the LNG case,
I conducted a thorough analysis review of the IRP based on the Leidos study data
provided. Its quantitative results clearly show the LNG scenario as the most
expensive of all options in levellised cost ($/MWh) terms, which was no
surprise. I then scrutinized its qualitative scoring assessment against the
alternative propane fuel case, and immediately identified extreme bias and
fudged results. For example, one of the five factors it evaluated was
“logistics” defined as “evaluate the degree to which the asset provides
ease of logistics and implementation”. It scored ten for the LNG case and only
five for the partial conversion to propane, whereas clearly a transition to LNG
is a far more challenging case. Similarly, it scored LNG higher for “economic
development” — defined as contribution to the economic development of
Bermuda with focus on job creation. The propane case was assigned a lower score,
whereas in reality the lower-cost propane option would both focus on local
spending and facilitate future investment on renewable options to benefit
Bermuda. My reassessment of these qualitative factors dramatically change the
scoring from its results favoring LNG over LPG to a clear demonstration that LNG
ranks the lowest by a large margin. Since it is vitally important that
Bermuda’s 20-year energy development plan is based on the best possible and
reliable information, the RA commissioned an independent consultant, Oxera, to
carry out a review of the IRP proposals’ compliance with the guidelines. Its
report was issued to the RA on May 1, 2018 and was posted for inspection by the
public. Its review expressed considerable concerns, with particular reference to
a very subjective qualitative assessment having a large influence on selecting
the preferred scenario. These concerns were heightened since the qualitative
influence on results was magnified by the small dispersions of the quantitative
analysis results. It was clearly not convinced by the qualitative scoring
procedure and allocations provided by Belco’s consultant, Leidos. Oxera gave
an example of the very high capital cost favoring the LNG project by providing
more employment. (I would further suggest this would principally consist of
overseas specialist labour, whereas the low-cost alternatives would provide a
higher percentage of local labour and also allow funding of other projects to
benefit Bermuda such as renewables.) Oxera’s reservations in its closing
statement: “We recommend that the Authority undertakes further detailed
analysis of the IRP proposal in order to determine whether the proposal
represents the least cost capacity expansion plan for the electricity market of
Bermuda” In response to the RA’s invitation for feedback on the IRP, I
submitted a 12-page detailed analysis on May 17, 2018, in my capacity as both a
minor Belco shareholder and a professional engineer with extensive international
power engineering consultancy experience. This independent analysis clearly
demonstrated that the LNG option should be reassigned the lowest, and not
highest, ranking. Should further steps be taken such as the apparent need to
significantly increase the study capital cost assigned to the LNG case, or
introduce new qualitative scoring factors such as “safety implications”,
then the LNG case would score even lower in any unbiased analysis. Hence, there
is very strong evidence that any reference to LNG being the favored choice
should be deleted with immediate effect. The RA has not replied to my
independent detailed analysis submission, nor has it provided any evidence of
the independent IRP analysis review stated as a requirement by its independent
consultant, Oxera. After receipt of more than 900 invited feedback comments on
the IRP, the RA is mindful that the vast majority of participants wanted to see
far more emphasis on renewables and less use of fossil fuels. Belco has been
liaising with the RA over the past few months to finalize a revised IRP by the
end of June 2019 that demonstrates more emphasis on renewables. However the RA
has already stated it will allow offshore wind to be omitted at this stage since
the follow-up detailed offshore wind study has not yet been carried out.
Imminent important decisions and actions to be taken by the RA and government
ministers will require the provision of full and accurate information in this
vital process. Hence, the aforementioned independent IRP analysis review(s), as
recommended by RA consultant Oxera will be an absolute requirement. The
Electricity Act 2016, Section 40, and RA procedures purport that Bermuda’s
energy-planning decisions will be conducted in a transparent manner with
opportunities for the public and interested parties to participate with feedback
on the IRP. Access to the independent IRP analysis review would be welcomed
since full disclosure is considered essential for the public to view. Based on
the foregoing comments, the public will have lost confidence in the process, but
will still be expecting delivery of a viable and validated IRP that reflects a
different and unbiased mindset. This crucial decision-making process that will
shape Bermuda’s energy future needs to comply with a plan that is in the
absolute best interests of Bermuda as a whole and reflects the feedback already
received and reported on. It is crucially important to disregard any
unsubstantiated, flawed or erroneously derived claims that support LNG. It is
expected that, with the deletion of LNG, Bermuda’s energy plans will thereby
revert to resembling the earlier 2011 White Paper on energy. A detailed
explanation is required on how it will be possible to select from the bidders a
purchaser of Belco in the near future in the absence of a viable IRP. Full
transparency is also required on the potential purchaser’s experience in
renewable-energy installations and demonstration of a track record of reducing
reliance on fossil fuels."
A
series of bus routes were called off this afternoon, including school routes.
Affected schools include CedarBridge Academy and the Berkeley Institute.
According to the Government’s website, linked here,
44 routes were cancelled. The move comes to a backdrop of industrial action over
what Zane DeSilva, the transport minister, said on Friday were “myriad”
issues.
The
letter floor section of the General Post Office will close for six weeks to test
a new system. All postal services will be provided at the General Post
Office’s parcel post section, on the basement level of the GPO, from tomorrow
until July 12.
The
Member of Parliament in charge of a committee set up to save Government cash and
improve efficiency was paid $5,000 a month for a year, the House of Assembly
heard yesterday. Wayne Furbert, made the Cabinet Office minister in April
after a stint as junior finance minister, netted the $60,000 for his role as
chairman of the Efficiency Committee. Other members were paid $2,000 a month.
Craig Cannonier, the Leader of the Opposition, criticized Mr Furbert’s extra
salary. He told The Royal Gazette: “I take note it’s a former United
Bermuda Party member receiving this and I wonder how the rest of the back bench
feels. They have to be questioning what the Premier is doing with these kinds of
appointments. We have a sitting minister who at the time was junior minister,
but a minister all the same. While receiving a junior minister’s salary he has
been appointed to this committee and it was not made transparent. We found out
through questioning.” Mr Cannonier added: “Had the One Bermuda Alliance
taken a junior minister and paid them this, we would have heard a lot of people
screaming ‘conflict of interest’. But this government feels it’s OK.” Mr
Furbert revealed his paycheque for the committee work after questions from
Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, the shadow health minister. Mr Furbert told The
Royal Gazette: “This is nothing new. I come with expertise. I am a
certified public accountant, and I can ask questions because of my training that
allow me to get things done. We met 32 times as a committee, but I was working
continuously on it, on a daily basis. The taxpayer has achieved significant
returns on the work.” Mr Furbert earned a total of $67,410 as a junior
minister, which rose to $156,864 when he became Cabinet Officer minister,
according to the Bermuda Parliament website. Mr Furbert earlier told MPs that
more than $12 million had been recouped by the committee, which sat 32 times in
the year ended on March 31. He added among reviews included the Office of the
Tax Commissioner, the Registrar of Companies, Social Insurance, and the Office
of Project Management and Procurement. Mr Furbert said the Tax Commissioner’s
Office had an $8 million backlog in stamp duty, staffing and IT that there were
“significant deficiencies”. Mr Furbert said another problem was the
processing of alien licences for the purchase of Bermuda property, which the
committee had recommended should be automated. Mr Furbert added: “Further
discussions with realtors led to a more progressive way of calculating
leases.” He said the committee made 93 recommendations, 24 of them for
“immediate change”. He was speaking as a report on the committee’s work
was tabled in the House. Mr Furbert said the committee had cost a total of about
$130,000 and provided value for money. Michael Dunkley of the OBA questioned
during the motion to adjourn why Mr Furbert was paid $60,000 for his work on the
committee. He added: “While the people of Bermuda struggle, while we discuss a
living wage, while we discuss the cost of living, while we realize that there
are brothers and sisters out there in our community that are finding it hard to
make ends meet and find it hard to get a job, we learn that somebody is paid
$60,000 to sit on a committee and do the work that is expected to be done
anyway. I would ask the Honourable Premier to identify all extra payments to
members who sit on committees because the public has a right to know.”
Opinion.
By Craig Cannonier, MP, Leader of the Opposition and the MP for Devonshire
South Central (Constituency 12). "Today the
Government will effectively go into the healthcare business. It has been a
rushed process and its consequences were not thought through. Why rushed? There
were only a few weeks separating the introduction in the House of Assembly of
the Health Insurance Amendment Act, which changes the way healthcare has been
funded for decades, and its date to come into effect. The insurance companies
all complained about a lack of proper consultation and there were a couple of
public meetings, one of which was held at an apolitically neutral location. The
result has been confusion among Bermudians about what is happening, why, and its
impact on them and their wallets. In addition, the subject of a $65 million fund
as back-up should the Bermuda Hospitals Board spend its full $330 million grant
was introduced only the night before this legislation was debated in the House.
It meant there were many unanswered questions — for instance, how is this $65
million going to be funded? Given that the latest BHB report from 2013-14 has
only just been tabled in the House, how do we know if the right checks and
balances are being applied? Will we be told how pricing is being calculated? How
will we know if all of the $330 million is being apportioned to healthcare in a
cost-efficient way? For an issue as important and as complex as healthcare, the
rush in passing this legislation looks like an attempt to railroad something
through — never mind the consequences. Bermudians have every right to be angry
about these tactics. Just because the Government has a large majority, it does
not mean it should be allowed to ride roughshod over the people. That is
supremely arrogant. One of the consequences of rushing legislation is that its
implications are not fully considered. Whatever the Government says, whatever
the reasons given, people are not seeing healthcare premiums decreasing. This
affects those in the private sector much more than in the Civil Service and is
in contradiction to the Progressive Labour Party’s promise to lower the cost
of living, notwithstanding the pledge to reduce healthcare costs. As a result,
yet another burden is being added to the increasing woes of businesses and
Bermudians. On top of things such as the sugar tax, the dividend tax and the
increased land tax, banks are passing on the cost of the increased charges that
were levied by the Government in the last Budget and charges are now being
passed to Bermudians paying their tax with a credit card. At the same time,
there is no sign of the Government reining in its spending and, while fintech
may eventually produce jobs, it is not going to do so anytime soon, nor with the
kind of numbers we need. There appears to be no Plan B. That leads to the other
key issue here: the need for more people on the island to increase the pool and
spread the cost of healthcare. Despite the Immigration Reform Group’s report
being tabled almost 18 months ago, the Government is yet again asking for
feedback and engaging in even more consultation. It is clearly all at sea over
this and cannot reach a solution that satisfies different factions within
Cabinet and the party. We are on course to spend $1 billion a year on
healthcare, the burden of which will fall on fewer, and older, people unless the
population is increased. The $1 billion figure is staggering for a population of
some 60,000. Why are we heading there? It’s largely because of overuse of
medical services — a crucial issue that this government has done nothing to
address. We are approaching a tipping point, with our future uncertain as the
burdens being placed on Bermudians increase. I am very concerned for my country."
Industrial
action launched by bus drivers on Thursday is likely to be resolved early next
week, the transport minister said yesterday. Zane DeSilva was speaking after
bus drivers voted for a work to rule after a midweek meeting at the Bermuda
Industrial Union. A work to rule means that staff stick to their contracts and
minimum duties. Mr DeSilva said that the drivers were concerned about a number
of problems. He added: “It’s a myriad of issues — facilities at the east
and west ends, roaches on the buses, and not having hot water at some
facilities.” The transport minister said he had inspected the West End depot
on Thursday and planned to visit the St George’s terminal next week. He added
that he and Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the public works minister, had
agreed a schedule to tackle problems with bus service buildings. Mr DeSilva
said: “We’ll look at these issues in terms of infrastructure and get them
sorted out quickly.” He added that if bus drivers were “confident that we
will move on this, we will see a resolution”. His remarks were made just
before 29 services were cancelled yesterday afternoon.
Children
were dropped at school yesterday by parents unaware that there were no teachers
to look after them because of an industrial dispute. Many principals across
the schools system were forced to look after 100 or more pupils before the
Ministry of Education advised parents to collect their children at noon. One
woman with a son at a primary school said: “As a parent who is heavily
involved in my children’s lives and by extension their school, I empathize
with the teachers. However, today was an example of how not to keep that bridge
open. I understand the need to take action to make sure their voices are heard
but never at the expense of my child’s wellbeing. My children had a
grandparent to go to, but many people didn’t and, with the buses working to
rule, some parents were still trying to find out where their kids were at
lunchtime.” The Bermuda Union of Teachers gave notice of a meeting over
grievances just before 6pm on Thursday. A Ministry of Education spokeswoman said
at 7pm that teachers were expected to report to school for a regular day. The
grandmother of a six-year-old boy said she found out by chance that there was a
potential problem after she logged on to her computer to check her e-mails. She
said: “His father dropped him off thinking everything was normal. He would not
have had a reason to question why anything might be different. I called the
school and asked where in the world is he now? The receptionist said he’s in
the classroom, maybe with the principal or the deputy. This is the third or
fourth time he’s been dropped off and the teachers haven’t been there. This
is beyond ridiculous. The woman asked: “What kind of message is this sending
to the children when it comes to education, discipline and order?” One woman,
who has children in primary and high schools, said she supported the teachers,
but the last-minute notice of the meeting was “a recipe for chaos”. She
said: “My child in high school is preparing for end of year exams so he’s
missing critical work reviews. It’s not a major issue as it’s only one day
out of class. Thankfully we have a strong support system and were able to keep
our children home and not miss work.” But the woman added: “It’s annoying
that the BUT could not organize better communication to parents so that we could
plan appropriately. I’m in full support of the teachers in having their issues
addressed. But as a parent I would prefer full transparency and disclosure so we
can help where we can.” One senior education official in the public-schools
system said: “Most of the deputy principals will be in the schools supporting
the principals. Sometimes some of the PTA members will stand in as well at times
like this.”
A
decision on whether schoolchildren will return to the classroom on Monday is in
the hands of teachers, the education minister said last night. Diallo
Rabain, speaking after teachers downed tools as part of an industrial dispute,
said: “That was something that was not finalized in our discussion.” Mr
Rabain added that he had asked Department of Education employees to come up with
a contingency plan if teachers did not return to their schools on Monday. But he
said: “We are very hopeful that we have answered the questions sufficiently
enough for the Bermuda Union of Teachers that they will come into the classrooms
on Monday and get back to doing what it is they do best.” Mr Rabain added:
“We have held up our part of the bargain.” He was speaking yesterday
afternoon after a meeting between government education figures and the BUT.
Shannon James, the president of the BUT, said after the meeting that progress
had been made. He added the two sides “were in a much better space” and that
a statement from the union would be released later. The talks followed an
emergency meeting held by the BUT yesterday morning where teachers identified
nine urgent problems they wanted tackled. These included problems with teaching
assistants, contracts and job evaluations. Enrolment and staffing problems at
Elliot Primary School and the reopening of TN Tatem Middle School were also
identified as stumbling blocks. Mr James offered his “humblest and sincerest
apologies to the parents and students of Bermuda” at the teachers’ meeting.
He said that teachers would much rather be in the classroom. But Mr James added:
“We believe that the ministry has left us no other choice.” He said that the
union had voted to demand a meeting with leaders of the education department,
including Mr Rabain, Kalmar Richards, the Commissioner of Education, and Valerie
Robinson-James, the permanent secretary. Mr James added: “We demand that this
meeting take place with the entire BUT membership.” Teachers picketed
Parliament after the union meeting. David Burt, the Premier, announced outside
the House of Assembly that the meeting would take place. In a letter dated
yesterday addressed to Mike Charles, general secretary of the BUT, Mr Burt said
he had previously invited the union to speak to him before “things escalate to
this point. This offer has not been taken up in this instance and I would hope
and implore that you would do this in the future. When teachers in our public
education system withdraw their labour, this causes immense strain and hardship
on parents and support staff who have to make alternate plans at incredibly
short notice. Industrial action which leaves very little space for parents and
other persons to plan cannot be seen as ensuring that we are as productive as
possible. In the best interests of our children, we need to return relations
between the BUT and the Government to a collaborative place where walk outs are
not needed.” Mr Rabain said that better communication was needed between the
Government and the BUT. He added: “We need to change the dynamic of this
relationship. We cannot continue to have situations arise where we have things
that are disrupting our children’s learning. The only people who suffer are
our children.” Mr Rabain earlier accused teachers of going “absent without
permission”. He told the House of Assembly that principals were “holding the
fort” at schools while teachers attended their meeting. Mr Rabain added:
“The simple fact is that school is not off.” But a spokeswoman for the
education ministry said at noon that a decision had been made to close public
schools for the rest of the day “in the interest of the safety of students,
teachers and other school staff”. She added that the ministry had been
informed that teachers would not return to class until a meeting was held with
the minister and officials.
The
Government could take over land to grant public access to a beach cut off by
private property, the public works minister said yesterday.
Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch said the Government would step in over a
long-running controversy at Gibbet Island Beach, also known as Police Beach, and
would acquire the land with a compulsory purchase order if necessary. He told
the House of Assembly: “When the opportunity arises, even in a very small way,
to take steps to correct past injustices, we must. It is never too late to do
the right thing and I believe we are doing so in this case.” A sign posted on
the property next to Police Beach already permits access “at the discretion of
the owners”. The sign said that there was no night access and banned loud
music and “antisocial behavior” on the beach. The property is owned by
Jeremy and Helen Wright, who declined to comment yesterday. Police Beach, which
is public below the high water mark was rented to the Police Recreation Club for
a peppercorn rent of $1 in 1977, which is how it acquired the name. Colonel
Burch said the arrangement had allowed police “almost exclusive access to the
beach”. He added: “In practical terms, that meant white policemen only.”
The lease agreement with the Police Recreation Club agreement ended in 1992.
Colonel Burch said that the ministry planned to approach the property owners to
“gauge their interest in selling it”. He warned the Government would pursue
ownership under the Acquisition of Land Act 1970 if the owners were not prepared
to sell. Colonel Burch also told MPs that a portion of the Railway Trail in the
same area was about to be made public. This applies to a separate property with
different owners. He said the section of trail had been leased to a private
trust in June 1998 for 21 years to allow access to a privately owned property.
He added: “The grant of this lease effectively blocked access to that entire
portion of the Railway Trail to the general public, who cannot access it without
traversing land that is now privately held.” Colonel Burch said that lease
expired at midnight last night and would not be renewed. He added: “The former
leaseholder, like any other member of the public, will still be able to access
their property from the trail.”
Gibbet Island/Police beach
Opinion.
By Martha Harris Myron CPA CFP JSM. "Today is the day that your monthly pay-cheques will become smaller.
This reduction is due to the significant increase in health insurance
premiums caused by Government’s mandatory (now legislated) decree that
private insurers remit each month almost 70 per cent ($231.33) of the SHB
(standard health benefit premium for each insurance subscriber) to Government
for further dispersion in the form of a $330 million grant to Bermuda Hospitals
Board. Public servants are required to contribute as well, to a lesser amount of
$50 per month. You didn’t have any choice or say in this decision;
nevertheless, without your consent, your health insurance premiums are
increasing again to compensate for this reduction in the amount of remaining
premium available for the rest of your health insurance benefits. The Bermuda
Hospitals Board will now undertake to care for its clients and bill itself for
the same client claims. It does not matter if you never use the local hospital,
a significant component of your health insurance premium paid by you is now
allocated to pay across the demographic health pool for everyone else who does utilize
hospital services. Regardless of how it is explained: more cost-effective, fair
and equitable, effusive statements of new health benefits and so on, this is an
implied unequal, divisive tax of anywhere from 8 per cent to 15 per cent (or
possibly more) on you: retirees, and working people of all ages in the private
sector, particularly the middle class. There is much community frustration,
probably some real depression in those just managing to get by, facing the
continued spiraling of the cost of living in Bermuda. One only has to read the
social media commentary to see that working people (and their employers) are
feeling the impact. An indicator of financial stress was last week’s money
lender legal filings against defaulted borrowers, distressing to read. No one
benefits from such news, nor is it small consolation to know that in similar
reports from our neighbours: 40 per cent of adult Americans do not have $400
saved for an emergency, in Canada, 50 per cent have less than $200, and in the
United Kingdom, 25 per cent have no savings. So, you, dear readers, with your
household survivor determination may now be considering what you can do to
manage the financial fallout from another unexpected dent in your budget. The
new health expense hurdle for the middle-class Bermuda islanders — the drivers
of the economy — is probably out of your control, but you can take action on
what you can control.
The five basic necessities for humans: are sunlight, air, water, food, and shelter. We’ve got the first two in abundance, hallelujah. The third, water, is carefully regulated. We can’t control the cost of shelter (rent or mortgage) as much as we’d like, but we can be more mindful of how much emphasis we place on food consumption.
The article, “Ultraprocessed foods are easy, cheap and could be killing you”, by Susan Scutti of CNN cites two studies in the British Medical Journal. UPFs are more expensive; add 500 calories or more to your diet every day, causing weight gain, and promote an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and early death. Everyone is challenged to control the costs of, and better management of healthcare. We know that Bermuda has a massive health problem with third highest expenses per capita in the world — behind just the US and Switzerland. Diabetes, mobility problems, cardiac issues, and related are all concerning. There is a rising incidence of kidney disease that brings with it enormous financial cost. The Fiscal Responsibility Panel’s annual assessment for 2018 stated that fewer than 200 individuals were on dialysis in Bermuda, but that this cost more than $20 million. Dialysis costs were 60 per cent higher than the US and four to 12 times higher than in Jamaica or Barbados. Diabetes, type two, particularly, is well entrenched, but a healthier lifestyle can have a positive effect. Think less co-pays, fewer hospital visits, fewer doctor appointments, lower costs. The Bermuda Diabetes Association is always there to assist Bermuda islanders in this health challenge. These two ordinary steps — listed above — can lead to better overall health. Change can be overwhelming. Start small positive steps by using this opportunity to become more focused on yourself and your family’s well being, while keeping your budget controllable. As for the government healthcare change transitions, we’ll just have to see how it all shakes out."
A
teenager was arrested after three people were hurt in a three-vehicle crash
yesterday. Police said a 19-year-old man was taken into custody after he was
discharged, having had treatment at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. Two
motorcycles and a car were involved in the crash on Stowe Hill in Paget at about
12.55pm. A man riding the other bike and his female pillion passenger were taken
to hospital for “medical assessment” of injuries that were not
life-threatening, police said. Traffic diversions were in place while police
carried out their investigation, but at 3.30pm the road was clear. Police have
appealed for witnesses.
A
motorbike rider has been fined almost $3,000 for a string of roads offences.
Thurston Minors, 47, pleaded guilty to two counts of driving an unlicensed
motorcycle and one charge of having no third-party insurance, as well as a
speeding charge. Magistrates’ Court heard on Thursday that Minors, from St
George’s, was stopped by police on December 8 last year when he was found
driving an uninsured bike without third-party insurance. Minors was stopped for
the same offences on August 5 last year. The defendant was also caught speeding
at 80km/h, more than twice the speed limit of 35km/h, on April 18. Minors
pleaded guilty to all the offences except for driving without insurance in
August, which was accepted by the court. Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe fined
Minors $500 for speeding, $1,500 for not having third-party insurance in
December and a total of $700 for the two unlicensed motorcycle offences. He
ordered Minors to return on June 6 to provide proof of insurance for last
August. Minors was also ordered to pay an outstanding fine of $1,000 that dated
back to 2013 by the end of the day.
Artists
and performers have been given a new way to promote their work. The Creative
Catalogue, at website creatives.bm, will allow artists, performers,
musicians and designers to create free online public profiles. The site, set up
by the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, was unveiled yesterday at a
home-grown talent showcase at the Blue Waters Anglers Club on East Broadway.
Lovitta Foggo, the Minister of Labour, Community Affairs and Sport, said: “All
month long we’ve been celebrating Heritage Month and Bermudian excellence. We
couldn’t think of a more appropriate time to launch this Bermudian
talent-focused website. We are looking to create supportive spaces for the
cultural and creative community in Bermuda so we have designed a unified
platform aimed at bringing together local creatives so they can represent
themselves. The site is free for the artists who wish to sign up and we believe
that this tool in some small way will help develop and uplift Bermudian national
pride.” The site will also include a search function for several creative
categories and enable the viewer to see who is available for hire. Some of the
artists who will be featured on the site include Wendell “Shine” Hayward,
Imari, Live Wires, Mugzydancer, Brixx and Alan Smith. Ms Foggo said she also
wanted to promote “less established creatives, who are considered younger
Bermudians doing unique and big things in small pockets across our community”.
She added: “Ultimately, we want to get creatives in a space to mingle and
network with each other.”
• Anyone interested in signing up for the site should visit creatives.bm
Portuguese
reggae star Richie Campbell is to star at an event to mark the 170th anniversary
of the Portuguese in Bermuda. Joe Carolo, one of the organisers, said: “We
have had a few comments about Richie already. People are already asking when
tickets will go on sale. The Portuguese are excited to have him come down to
Bermuda. This will be his first time here.” Richie Campbell is considered a
leading figure in Portuguese reggae after he became the first artist in Portugal
to sell out a major venue, Campo Pequeno. He has notched up hits with Heaven,
Slowly and Midnight in Lisbon. Mr Campbell, who has recorded five
albums, will come to Bermuda with his backing group The 911 Band. Award-winning
albums such as Focused in 2012 and In The 876 three years later
led him to tours of Britain, Poland, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy,
Austria, Luxembourg, and also Jamaica and Barbados. Jamaican reggae artist
Romain Virgo will also perform at the concert. The organisers, which include the
producers of the Cup Match Summer Splash, said they decided to have Virgo
because they wanted to attract the entire Bermudian community. Declan Harris,
promoter of Summer Splash, said: “I think they complement each other quite
well — both their styles of music are non-offensive. They are true
entertainers.” Mr Virgo, 29, won the Jamaica Digicel Rising Stars competition
aged just 17 and has since made three albums, two EPs and released several
singles. He has performed in the United States, Europe and Africa. Mr Harris
said the event would be family-oriented one with a Portuguese flavour to food
and drink. He added: “If you want burger and fries that day, that will not be
the place.” The venue for the event has not yet been decided, but Mr Harris
said it will be in Hamilton and that the promoters were in talks with the City
of Hamilton. Early-bird tickets for the November 3 concert will go on sale today
with general admission $65 and VIP tickets at $150. Bermudian performers will
include Cdaynger and YGS, who are of Portuguese decent, along with Rusty G.
Tickets can be bought at bdatix.bm or from Cafe Acoreano and the Vasco Da Gama
Club, both Hamilton.
A
utility pole fell on to a home after a sanitation truck crashed through a wall
today. The vehicle knocked over two poles in the incident near Dub City on
North Shore Road, in the Crawl Hill area of Hamilton Parish, at about 6.25am.
Police said no injuries were reported, but the house and wall were seriously
damaged. Traffic was reduced to one lane while Belco staff repair the poles.
Both lanes were open again by 2pm. Belco said no customers lost power. Witnesses
should call police on 295-0011.
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Authored,
researched, compiled and website-managed by Keith A. Forbes.
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