March 24, 2022

Senator, just a minute.


Bermuda Senate We are in Committee of the whole [Senate] for
further consideration of the Appropriation Act 2 022
together with the Estimates of Revenue and Expend iture for the year 2022/23. The Ministry now under
consideration is the Ministry of National Security. The heads for debate under this Ministry are the Ministry
of National Security Headquarters, which i s Head 83;
Defence, Head 6; Police, Head 7; Customs, Head 12; Department of Corrections, Head 25; Fire Services,
Head 45.
The number of hours allocated to these h eads
is two hours. The Senator in charge is Senator Em ilygail Dill, Junior Minister for National Security and
Transport. We will be starting at 12:15 and therefore
we should finish at 2:15. I am not sure what is going to happen with the lunch break, but we will continue right
now.
Senator Dill, how do you wish to proceed?

Madam Chairman,
and Senators , I am pleased to present the current accounts estimate for the Ministry of National Security
Headquarters, Head 83, which can be found on pages
B-263 to B -265 of the Estimates of Revenue and E xpenditure Book.
Madam Chairman, I will briefly discuss the
Ministry as a whole followed by the information for
Head 83, the Ministry Headquarters, and then in detail
for each of the heads under the Ministry, namely:
Head 6—Defence; Head 7 —Police; Head 12—
Customs; Head 25—Department of Corrections; and
Head 45—Fire Services.
Madam Chairman, two hours have been allotted for this Ministry and I trust this will be sufficient
time f or the Opposition to ask any questions or seek
clarification on the financial year 2022/23 Estimates of
Revenue and Expenditure.

Mission

Madam Chairman,
the mission of the Ministry of National Security Headquarters is Wor king together to keep you safe. Madam
Chairman, the mission statements, programmes and
budgets within the Ministry are aligned with this overriding mission. Madam Chairman, I will briefly set out some of
the priorities of the Ministry for the next financi al year
which includes a number of policy initiatives that the
Minister will be delivering on.
• A Police Authority to facilitate an open and
collaborative forum to support the Bermuda
Police Service and the communities they
serve.
• A National Crime Preventi on Plan that will f ocus on deterrence, rehabilitation and reint egration.
• The Ministry of National Security will support
Bermuda’s economic recovery by ensuring
that the people in our neighbourhoods feel
safe and that the local businesses in our communities are protected.
• As part of the focus on crime prevention and
the concentrated efforts to reduce the number
of road traffic offences, this Ministry will advance a new Island- wide CCTV system. An
upgraded CCTV system will result in i ncreased safety for our c ommunity, as a functional CCTV system will also serve as a deterrent to potential criminals. The system will aid
in the identification of suspects in the event of
criminal activity.
• As part of our commitment to ensuring that
Bermuda’s cybersecurity defences are adequate to protect our Island from dangerous
online actors, a Cybersecurity Act will be t abled which will establish minimum standards
for cybersecurity for critical assets such as
energy supply, telecommunications, water i nfrastructure and government data.
• The increase in cybercrime, which has no
borders, is an ongoing threat and requires
modern cybercrime legislation that meets i nternational standards. Bermuda’s Cybercrime legislation will be modernised and provide for the Bermuda Police Service to investigate c ybercrime in cooperation with other jurisdi ctions.

Expenditure Overview

Madam Chairman, I
will now draw to your attention to page B -262 of the
Estimates Book where you will note that the Ministry
of National Security budget for the financial year
2022/23 is $124,713,000, an increase of $2,086,000,
or 2 per cent, which will be discussed in more detail in
the individual heads.
This increase is mainly owing to the austerity
measure salary reductions coming to an end and the
budget for salaries being increased to reflect this.
Madam Chairman, page B -262 shows a rev enue estimate for the Ministry of $1,054,000, a $25,000
decrease or 2 per cent over financial year 2021/22
244 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate which will also be discussed in more detail i n the ind ividual heads.
Madam Chairman, page B -262 also details
the current account expenditure of the departments
that make up the overall budget for the Ministry by head as follows:

HEAD Department FY 2021/22 FY 2022/23 Estimate
83 Ministry Headquarte rs $1,995 ,000 $2,018 ,000
6 Defence $7,282 ,000 $7,857 ,000
7 Police $61,298 ,000 $62,158 ,000
12 Customs $16,086 ,000 $16,575 ,000
25 Corrections $22,829 ,000 $22,893 ,000
45 Fire Services $13,137 ,000 $13,212 ,000
Ministry Total $122,627,000 $124,713 ,000

HEAD 83 —MINISTRY HEADQUARTERS

Madam Chairman, I
now turn to the current account estimates for Head
83, the Ministry Headquarters which can be found on
page B -263.
Madam Chairman, the objectives of the Mini stry Headquarter s are:
• to ensure the Minister’s policy objectives are met;
• to ensure that the Ministry and Departments
deliver services effectively and comply with
relevant legislation, policies and procedures;
• to plan, mitigate and respond to threats to s ecurity;
• to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour; and
• to promote public safety.
Madam Chairman, the Ministry of National
Security Headquarters’ budget allocation of
$2,018,000 for 2022/23 represents an increase of
$23,000 or a 1 per cent increase over the 2021/22
budget allocation. This is primarily due to agreed sal ary reductions by employees as part of the austerity
measures for one year coming to an end and the full
salaries being reinstated.

General Summary

Madam Chairman,
on p age B -263 of the current account estimates you
will note that there are eight business units within the Ministry Headquarters. The estimate for business unit
93000, Administration , is $1,207,000, an increase of
$176,000 or 17 per cent. This increase is off set by the
reduction in business unit 93007, Disaster Risk R eduction and Mitigation (DRRM) , of $193,000, or 91 per
cent. The reallocation of the funds are to reflect that
most of the costs associated with DRRM are admi nistration and should be budgeted under 93000.
Madam Chairman, the estimates for business
units 93002, 93003 and 93004 are for the Parole
Board, Treatment of Offenders Board and Police
Complaints Authority, respectively, and are un-changed from the original and revised estimates for
financial year 2021/22.
Madam Chairman, business unit 93008 r elates to the Gang Violence Reduction Programme with
an estimate for financial year 2022/23 of $621,000. This represents a $40,000 increase, or 7 per cent increase, over financial year 2021/22 in order for the
team to expand programmes to tackle the scourge of
gang violence in our community.
Madam Chairman, the final two business units
in the general summary on page B -263 are for two
business units that are not being funded this year.
These are 93009, the Immigration Appeals Tribunal,
which no longer falls to this Ministry and 93997, the
National Health Emergency which was created for COVID -19 response including the Quarantine Hotel
costs which are not anticipated in financial year
2022/23.

Subjective Analysis

Madam Chairman, I
would now like to address page B -264 of the current
account estimates. This page includes the subjective analysis of current account estimates and the employee numbers or full -time equivalents.
Madam Chairman, six of the object codes see
no change in estimates for financial year 2022/23 over the original budget of 2021/22, and I will therefore limit
my comments to the other six that have been
changed.
Salaries, as I mentioned earlier, are being i ncreased by $38,000, or 5 per cent, to reflect the end of
the austerity measures. Training has been increased
by $20,000, or 125 per cent, to reflect the increased
need for training for cybersecurity preparation and
response and other national security risks . These i ncreases are partially offset by a $22,000, or 27 per
cent, decrease in estimates for travel as COVID -19
has not only reduced the ability to travel but allowed
meetings and trainings to take place remotely.
Further savings have been made in professional services totalling $14,000, or 2 per cent, whilst
materials and supplies have increased by $39,000, or
74 per cent, to provide additional materials for the
Gang Violence Reduction Team (GVRT) and antic ipated inflation, this is offset by a reduction in other
expenses of $38,000, or 18 per cent that relate to a
reduction in maintenance fees for radio and tower
equipment.
Madam Chairman, the employee numbers or
full-time equivalents is unchanged at eight and I will
now move to page C -15 and capital ac quisitions. The
estimate for 2022/23 for Ministry of National Security Headquarters is $1,037,000 for the new Island- wide
CCTV system that I spoke to earlier.



Bermuda Senate 2021/22 Accomplishments

Madam Chairman,
we are all heavily dependent on information and
communication technology but with this reliance
comes significant risks. We must continue to be vigilant and enhance our collective ability to protect sy stems and data and keep ahead of the ever -evolving
and borderless scourge of cyber threats. Our cybersecurity strategy provides the appropr iate framework
for the Government of Bermuda to ensure that Infor-mation and Communications Technology (ICT) sy stems are integrated across all segments of our society
and economy, in a safe and secure manner. In turn, this will promote economic diversificat ion and augment Bermuda’s prosperity and safety.
Madam Chairman, the c ybersecurity key accomplishments during financial year 2021/22 include d,
as part of the Bermuda Cybersecurity Strategy, the
Ministry of National Security conducted extensive consultatio n with Bermuda stakeholders including the
Cybersecurity Governance Board, the Privacy Com-missioner, and the Regulatory Authority, to develop
Cybersecurity legislation.

Good afternoon, everyone. Senators,
we are in Committee of the whole [Senate] for further
consideration of the Appropriation Act 2022 together with the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for
the [fiscal] year 2022/23.
The Ministry under consideration this afternoon is the Ministry of National Security. The heads
for debate have already been listed, but right now we
are resuming the presentation by Junior Minister Se nator Emilygail Dill for Head 83, which is the Ministry of
National Security Headquarters.
Senator Dill, I am handing the floor back to
you.

MINISTRY OF NATIONAL SECURITY

HEAD 83 —MINISTRY HEADQUARTERS

[Continuation thereof]

[No audio] . . . conducted extensive consultati on with Bermuda stak eholders including the Cybersecurity Governance
Board, the Privacy Commissioner, and the Regulatory Authority, to develop cybersecurity legislation. This
legislation will establish clear requirements and r esponsibilities for the protect ion of government and
other critical national information infrastructures
against cyber threats.
• Following a roadmap to implement a Cybersecurity Incident Response Team and Secur ity Operations Centre to protect the Gover nment and Bermuda against cyber threats, the
Ministry has developed an expanded structure
for the Cybersecurity Unit. The planned structure has been reviewed and approved by the
Cybersecurity Governance Board and is in
alignment with the recommendations made by
the International Telecommunic ations Union
following the 2020 assessment of Bermuda’s
needs and capabilities.
• National Security continues to lead the deve lopment of a comprehensive Information Sy stems Risk Management Programme. Working as part of the cross -ministry Cyber Risk Ma nagement team that includes the Chief Information Officer, Head of the PATI /PIPA Unit,
representatives from Libraries and Archives, and other key stakeholders, the team ident ifies cyber risks impacting Government information and systems, and develops strategies,
policies, and standards to ensure the risks are
adequately addressed.
• The security manager during financial year
2021/22 provided cybersecurity training for
heads of departments, government staff, ven-dors, and contractors. This training is tailored
to specific job functions and includes security
governance, management, secure systems planning, secure systems design, and threat
modelling.
246 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate • National Security also provided support to
government departments with securing their
IT systems and information, provid ing gui dance for appropriate planning, design, and
documentation to comply with approved pol icies and standards, and meet security r equirements and defined security objectives.
Identifying threats to information, IT systems,
components, and processes, [identify] vulne rabilities impacting IT system designs , architecture, components, and data flows. Identify
attack vectors and assess ing the likelihood
and impact of attacks. This work included
providing recommendations for secure design
and appropriate adminis trative, operational,
and technical safeguards to meet security r equirements for protecting information and IT
systems, and preventing, detecting, respond-ing to, and recovering from cybersecurity inc idents.
• The Ministry participated in a cybersecurity
conference with other O verseas Territories in
February to discuss a range of critical issues
of cyber understanding, risk management and
mitigation measures. The key aims of the conference were to build a community of support
across all of the OTs and to under stand the
current cybersecurity postures of each territ ory, national requirements and priorities for i mproving cybersecurity.

Gang Violence Reduction Team

Madam Chairman,
there was a statement made to the Honourable Hous e
of Assembly on 4 February 2022, where the Minister
of National Security advised her honourable co lleagues that gangs and violence are a scourge on our
community.
The root causes are a painful reflection of
generations of economic and social inequality i n Be rmuda and the mind- set it creates. This, combined with
a number of other factors, including the breakdown of
the family unit, lack of or limited education and employment opportunities make it very difficult to break
this cycle and enable meaningful soc ial mobility.
However, we can and must address these root causes
to stop this cycle of youth turning to gangs.
Madam Chairman, the Ministry Gang Violence
Reduction Team led by Pastor Leroy Bean has
worked tirelessly throughout the year to provide a
number of programme s including:
• The Redemption Programme (RP), a pr ogramme aimed to be socially restorative and
encourage the desistance of criminality. The RP trainees receive a weekly stipend for their
work , Case Management Services, Educ ational Services and Post Training Support are
also a part of the programme. • Work Placement and Mentoring Programme .
This is a job placement programme that e mploys and targets at -risk youth who participated in the h igh school intervention programmes.
• School programmes and ser vices. Early intervention programmes include the Hype Kings and Queens programmes at the primary level
that target at -risk boys and girls. The G VRT
also conduct weekly visits to primary school s
and middle schools , along with daily visits to
high schools to be on hand to offer guidance
and assist with interventions.
• The Excellence Programme, a partnering pr ogramme with CedarBridge Academy. This 10to 12-week programme focuses on incident
mediation and encouraging self -reflection.
The GVRT help students real ise their self -
worth.
• Street level outreach work and case man-agement. The GVRT continues to lower
community tensions, with a focus on prison,
school s and street level outreach.
• The Coordinated Crisis Response Team (CCRT). The CCRT is available following cr isis response to restore peace in the community and assist family members, relatives or wi tnesses to violent crimes. There is a hospital
team that attends the hospital to support fam ily and close loved ones during the peak crisis.
The community team provide s crisis counse lling to residents following a violent incident.
The team goes door to door offering support
and offering guidance on services to area af-fected residents.
• Mediations and negotiation. The team assists
where needed to bridge gaps and foster r elationships.
• Community service . Av ailable to support
young people in obtaining their court mandated community service hours.
Madam Chairman, the team also provides
non-traditional counselling sessions and family group
sessions; monitors court sessions and provides client
advocacy support during court; connects clients to various social supports including financial assistance,
legal aid, and food support; provides clients who are
seeking employment with assistance in developing résumés and applying for jobs ; provides conflict res olution service and mediat ing between clients to pr event further incidents.
Madam Chairman, in our schools the GVRT
provides incident management support, which i ncludes facilitating multi -agency department meetings
to strategise the development of violence mitigation
plans where there is high tension or incidents between students , delivering ongoing mediation sessions, daily
school lunch visits in high schools, deliver ing individ uBermuda Senate al youth sessions, the launch of the Excellence Pr ogramme.
Madam Chairman, the GVRT key acco mplishments include:
• The Gang Violence Reduction Team Case
Management and Outreach Services have
supported hundreds of young men in our community. Clients are placed with a case
manager who assists them with securing
housing, food, employment, court s upport and
making healthy life choices. The GVRT operates with client -led, strength- based pr ogrammes that meet client’s individual needs and provide a sense of belonging, consistency
and impartial guidance. The GVRT direct ly
supported over 85 at -risk clients between the
ages of 18 to 35 within our Case Management
and Outreach Services.
• The GVRT delivered another successful full
Redemption Programme in 2021/22. Some 16
trainees completed the 30 -week programme.
The programme is a specialised therapeutic,
incentivised programme for at -risk individuals
aged 18 to 35. Redemption Programme
Trainees received a weekly stipend to partic ipate in a training programme that includes Case Management Services, Educational
Services, and Post Training Support.
• The GVRT continues to focus resources on
School Outreach to prevent gang and antis ocial behaviour in school children. The GVRT
provides a number of services and supports to
schools which include individual student case
management, ment oring, specialised small
group meetings, specialised programmes,
mediation and negotiation, and incident management support services.
• The GVRT provides post -incident support
which includes security meetings, school ad-ministration strategy meetings, creati on of mi tigation plans, and coordinating and leading multi- agency meetings to assess and disseminate information pertaining to gang- related
incidents.
• The GVRT delivered another successful full
Work Placement and Mentoring Programme in 2021/22. Sixteen students completed the
eight -week training programme. The Work
Placement and Mentoring Initiative is a job placement programme that selects and employs targeted at -risk young people who have
participated in our high school intervention
programme and targeted students in altern ative education programmes. The programme provides students an 8- to 10- week paid work
experience within different local companies and mentoring support to ensure their success in the workplace. The students are paid
$350 per week. Madam Chairman, the work of the team also
included:
• Thirty to 40 mentoring/casework sessions per month.
• Ten family meetings per month along with
over 40 direct contacts with families.
• The team attended court daily and advocated
for between 15 and 20 clients monthly.
• The team provided 15 to 20 individual clients
each month with employment training, job
coaching, and personal development sessions.
• The team held between 5 to 10 mediations
and negotiations monthly.
• In 2021/22, the team was called out 40 times
to various violent incidents in the community.
• The Hospital Team was activated 22 times to provide support to family and close loved
ones and provide post -incident support.
• The Community Team was activated 12 times
to provide immediate crisis counselling to residents and post -incident door to door neighbourhood check -ins to offer affected residents
further support.
• The team has delivered 160 individual case
management/job coaching sessions with R edemption Programme trainees.
• The team has also supported t rainees through
24 crisis situations.
• The programme delivered 52 sessions covering key areas which include job readiness
skills, life skills, career exposure, goal setting,
and general personal development.
• Nine trainees were offered a full -time or part -
time job during their training placement and
have recently transitioned into their new role.
• Six of our current trainees are actively seeking
full-time employment and/or part -time e mployment. The team is supporting these trai nees to prepare r ésumés and apply to various
businesses for jobs.
Madam Chairman,
• Sixty -three young people from various services were directly supported by GVRT Services in 2021/22.
• The team holds between 400 to 600 general
check -ins and quick touchpoints with youth in
targeted schoo ls.
• The team monthly provided 40 to 60 individual
and small group employment support ses-sions, education sessions, personal develo pment sessions, youth leadership and monthly
check -in.
• Eight to 10 small group sessions with targeted
young people in various schools each month.
• Ten to 15 meetings monthly with outside
agencies including the Bermuda Police Service, Court Services, Workforce Development,
248 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Financial Assistance, Department of Child and
Family Services, CFS, Legal Support, Counselling Services, Foo d Service support, E mployers, and Immigration.
• On average, 10 family meetings each month
along with the 20 to 25 contacts with families.
• Three to four mediations and negotiations
each month.
• Three to four Restorative Circle Groups with young people and meetings with young pe ople and parents monthly.
Madam Chairman, of note is that:
• One hundred per cent of students completed the Work Readiness Workshop. Thirteen of the 14 students completed the entire six -week
programme.
• Ten of the 14 students never missed a sched-uled workday.
• Business partners demonstrated their engagement with the programme with 93 per
cent completing weekly evaluations and
coaching meetings with students.
• A total of 147 job coaching sessions were
held by the programme manager.
• Eighty -five per cent of the business partners
have indicated they would participate in the programme again.
• One hundred per cent of students would recommend this programme to others.
• One hundred per cent of parents saw personal growth in their child over the 8- week period.
• Eight students were offered an additional two weeks of paid work based on their weekly per-formance reports and supervisor satisfaction.
• Four of the students have subsequently been hired in part -time or full -time positions on the
companies’ own accord.
• An additional two students were offered summer jobs for the 2022 season.
• GVRT made three referrals to additional em otional and social support services and supported students through five crisis incidents.
• 100 per cent of students in the programm e
stayed clear of antisocial behaviour or criminal
activity for the length of the programme.

Disaster Reduction Risk Management

Madam Chairman, in
2018 the Ministry of National Security formed the Di saster Risk Reduction and Mitigation Team (DRRM).
The DRRM is responsible for bringing together all of
the disaster plans for Bermuda and ensuring that all
agencies and government departments are engaged
and fully committed to continuously updating these
plans and training their staff in the execution of those
plans to ensure that when the need arises, they work. The DRRM consists of employees who are temporar ily reassigned from various departments.
The key accomplishments for the Disaster
Reduction Risk Management team include the DRRM
Team set up and managed all logistics for the Ministry
of Health designated quarantine facilities from 20 March until 30 September 2021. This saw two
DRRM Team members being seconded full -time for
this task. They were assisted by individuals hir ed
through the Department of Workforce Development.
The services managed were: greeting the arriving passengers at each hotel and providing them with the
COVID -19 documentation; personnel providing the
liaison between the government and guests while in
hotel; care package drop off facilitation; recreational
activities; on -site COVID -19 testing; and coordinating
security detail.
Madam Chairman, in addition to the quarantine hotels, the DRRM Team supported the Public
Health Regulations by processing approxim ately 98
applications for large group gatherings until 17 June
when the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Sport took over these applications. Madam Chairman, the DRRM
Team also supported the Public Health Regulations
with processing approximately 1,000 night -time curfew
applications.
Madam Chairman, the DRRM Team suppor ted the following activities and contingency planning
exercises in 2021 and 2022:
• The Tsunami Exercise, held in March 2021.
Bermuda participated in the annual regional
tsunami exercise called Caribe Wave, which
was a strategic communications exercise for
Bermuda that involved the EMO executive.
This exercise was dialled back due to the
staffing demands caused by COVID -19.
• Cruise ship planning. In 2021, the DRRM
team was involved with the successful
homeporting visits of the Norwegian, Viking,
and Crystal cruise lines. The DRRM Team
coordinated the multi -agency tabletop discu ssions based on the cruising framework that
was developed by the Minister of Transport ation and Minister of Health to identify any i ssues and maximise the success of these i mportant visits.
• Hurricane Season 2021 saw another active
and above- average hurricane season. Three
EMO executive meetings were held for Hurr icane Larry on 9 September and three more
EMO executive meetings were held for Hurr icane Sam.
• At the airport exercise in December 2021, the
DRRM Team, working with Skyport Corpor ation, assisted in coordinating the multi -agency
live exercise involving a scenario of a plane landing and coming to rest in the water in A nnie’s Bay. A live exercise of this type is r eBermuda Senate quired to take place every three years in order
for the airport to keep its accreditation.
• In September 2021, the DRRM Team coordinated training with two instructors from the
Disaster Victim Identification (DVI ) Depar tment, at New Scotland Yard who trained 15
students which consisted of 12 police officers and three R egiment solders in the discipline of
Disaster Victim Identification. This training course was three full days in duration and
cumulated in a practic al exercise and resulted
in all 15 students being qualified. In addition,
approximately 40 commanders and managers from 24 different departments and agencies at
the strategic level received an overview of
what needs to be facilitate d in a DVI incident.
• This training has filled a gap that existed in
the current contingency plans at the airport, for cruise ships, for large international events,
for large scale industrial accidents and other
national contingency plans, should the worst -
case scenario ever unfold in Bermuda. This
puts Bermuda on a good footing when these plans are audited by international bodies, and in agreement with international best practices
as laid out by INTERPOL with trained invest igators using accepted practices in line with i nternation al standards.
• The DRRM Team has also chaired the mont hly supply chain meetings with the private sector which have been meeting since the begi nning of COVID -19. They have proved i mportant, providing Government with an understanding of the global supply chain challenges
and how it is affecting local businesses and
the goods that Bermuda is so reliant upon.
Madam Chairman, event coordination occurred this past year in a reduced capacity owing to
COVID -19, but the following events were held, and
agency conti ngency planning was coordinated by the
DRRM Team:
• SailGP that was held in April
• May 24 Half Marathon
• Cup Match
• PGA event held in October

2022/23 Plans

Madam Chairman,
the cybersecurity plans for 2022/23 in addition to the
legislation already mentioned will include:
• The Security Manager working closely wit h
the Chief Information Officer and h ead of the PATI /PIPA Unit . Improve the Government’s
ability to identify, protect, detect, respond, and
recover from cyber threats.
• National Security will also continue to work with the Cybersecurity Governance Board,
supporting the implementation of the Bermuda
Cybersecurity Strategy. This will include establishing cybercrime legislation and cybers ecurity legislation.

Gang Violence Reduction Team

Madam Chairman,
the mission of the Gang Violence Reduction Team is
• to aid in the transition of at -risk individuals
from delinquent peer groups and toxic env ironments with the aim of reducing violent
crime in Bermuda;
• to change the pattern of behaviour of indivi duals involved in group and gang violence and
reintegrate them back into mainstream soci ety;
• to prevent preteens and adolescents from
joining gangs and engaging in antisocial behaviour by re- establishing positive social
bonds;
• to create opportunities of employment for
young people and i ndividuals who have prev iously not been employable due to antisocial
backgrounds;
• to connect at -risk youth, men and women with
the necessary helping agencies that will aid in
addressing mental and social health issues;
• to place more focus on fostering and sustai ning positive interpersonal relationships.
Madam Chairman, it is important to understand that many of our clients carry life histories
marked by poverty, family dysfunction and violence,
marginalisation and intergenerational abuse and neglect. Many have incarceration experiences or have
pending charges and cases.
The young men we support face additional
challenges presented by institutionalisation, discrim ination, community judgment, major educational gaps,
negligible work history, and criminal rec ords and criminal proceedings which preclude even the hope of
employment. For many of our clients, substances are
a way of coping with the pain of gang involvement,
homelessness, family dysfunction and mental health
issues.
Madam Chairman, the GVRT will c ontinue to
work in our community to reduce gang tensions and
provide a way out of gang life as well as provide chi ldren with alternative life choices to gang life. We must
give the next generation a viable alternative to gang
involvement .
Madam Chairman, we will launch the Safe
House programme; continue to provide the Redem ption Programme, a 30- week therapeutic, incentivised
250 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate programme for the next group of 15 trainees; continue
to provide services and supports to schools and
school children; launch of the fourth cohort of the
Work Placement and Mentoring Programme, a struc-tured 10- week paid work experience providing selec ted targeted at -risk you ng men and women with opportunities for career exploration and skills development
for those who have participated in our high school intervention programmes.
We will launch the BackPax app in partnership with the Ministry of Education. The app is a 100 per cent percent anonymous bully prevention and
intervention app. The bullying app will provide valuable services to school administrators including information about conflicts and resolutions, training and promotion services, monitoring of school incidents,
and investigation tools to manage risks
Re-launch of the Hype Kings and Queens
Programme in six targeted primary school groups
around the Island. The programme is built up of a specialised 14 session experiential curriculum which
is unique to each 15- student cohort. The initiative was
designed to reduce risk factors, enhance protective factors, increase academic moti vation and increase
developmental factors in young people participating.
[We will] work with other government ministries and the third sector to collaborate and coordinate
early intervention efforts for those vulnerable children
at risk of becoming involved in antisocial behaviour
and gangs or have started to be drawn to this lifestyle.

Disaster Reduction Risk Management

Madam Chairman,
the DRRM Team will assist Government Ministries in
developing business continuity polic ies and plans for
implementation post impact of a disaster.
The DDRM Team through the Emergency
Measures Organisation will coordinate the Gover nment’s response to a disaster (whether natural or
man- made) where the local community has been i mpacted greatly . This will require the DRRM Team to
meet with both Government m inistries and external
stakeholders in developing and exercising emergency plans such as:
• cruise ship plans;
• airport emergency plans;
• marine contingency plans for oil pollution;
• major event safety and security plans;
• testing interagency command, control and
communications;
• hurricane plans;
• mass casualty plans;
• chemical facility plans;
• pandemic plans;
• cybersecurity plans;
Madam Chairman, the DRRM Team will continue to work on the following exercises and planning
processes: • Cruise ship planning— With the cruise ship
season intended resumption for 2022, Bermuda expects to see up to 190 cruise ship
visits. The DRRM Team will engage the five
regular callers to develop their contingency
plans involving multi -agency tabletop planning
exercises.
• Airport exercise planning —The DRRM Team
will assist all the airport agencies in 2022 with
tabletop and live modular exercises that are
required by the Bermuda Civil Aviation Admi nistration.
• Cybersecurity pl anning— The DRRM Team
sits on the Cybersecurity Governance Board
and will assist with the development of the
Bermuda National Cybersecurity Strategy,
especially in the area of legislation and the
penetration exercise that is being planned for
2022.
• Marine Pollution planning —Contingency pla nning for marine pollution was lacking in 2021
due to COVID -19, but in March 2022, the
DRRM Team are assisting the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources with c oordinating a live oil spill exercise in Whal ebone Ba y.
• Tsunami Exercise —Bermuda will again parti cipate in this annual event in March 2022. This
exercise is organised by UNESCO under the
umbrella of the United Nations and NOAA and
is a regional multi -country tsunami exercise
involving approximately 30 count ries.
• Chemical facility planning that is required under the International Health Regulations, will
continue for Ferry Reach so that plans are
developed for the residents of this community
and also those that work and travel through
this area in case a ser ious incident occurs at
the fuel farm.
• Critical national infrastructure planning for all
key locations on the Island.
Madam Chairman, the DRRM Team will work
with sports organisations in developing event safety plans for large international spectator eve nts including:
• Sail Grand Prix scheduled for May, with Bermuda now hosting this event for the second time;
• Bermuda Day and weekend activities ;
• Heroes or carnival weekend events;
• Cup Match;
• PGA Golf;
• Rugby Classic in October;
• Gold Cup sailing week also in October;
• International Triathlon Event in November ,
that was just announced; and the
• International Race Weekend in January.


Bermuda Senate Madam Chairman, I will now move to Head 6,
Defence.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN

SENATE VISITOR

The mission of the
Department of Defence is To protect Bermuda’s interests. Madam Chairman, their objectives include:
• Force Protection— Measures and means to
minimise the vulnerability of personnel, fac ilities, equipment, material, operations and ac-tivities from threats and hazards in order to
preserve freedom of action and operational effectiveness thereby contributing to mission success.
• Humanitarian Aid/ Disaster Relief —The organised response to allevi ate the results of a c atastrophe, the consequences of which put
lives and livelihoods at risk and exceeds the
responsible agency’s ability to cope using its
own resources.
• State Ceremonial —Provide state ceremonial
and musical support for the Government and
to promote Bermuda, through ceremonial p arades, national events and musical displays.
• International Assistance —Upon request, the
Regiment will provide military skills and r esources to assist the UN, NATO, regional, or
international peace support operations or
training, thereby enhancing Bermuda’s repu-tation in the international community.
• Enhanc ing Bermuda Society —The Regiment
will continue to provide an important role in supporting the integration and development of
Bermudian society. • Coast Guard —In order to secure Bermuda’s
territorial waters out to 12 nautical miles and defend the EEZ (200 nautical miles), and in
compliance with the Defence (Coast Guard
Unit) Amendment, the Regiment will expand
its full- time Coast Guard capability.

General

Madam Chairman,
under the authority of the Defence Act 1965, the Ro yal Bermuda Regiment’s mandate is to be a military force maintaining the necessary standards of manpower, training, and equipment, and to enable it to
protect Bermuda’s interests at home and overseas. It
conducts its training and operations while also acting
as a centre of excellence for all Bermudians to be able
to personally and professionally develop whilst serving
their country.

Personnel

Madam Chairman,
the Regiment currently employs 37 full -time staff, of
which three are civilian. There are five Coast Guard
posts approved but not funded and two RBR full-time
equivalent posts currently frozen and unfunded. This
bring the total full- time equivalents to 44 which is r eflected on budget page B -269. In addition to the full -
time staff , the RBR part-time strength is 315.

Current Account Funding

Madam Chairman,
the original budget for 2021/22 was $7,282,000. Due
to the continued support of COVID -19 and health
measures the approved revised budget 2021/22 is
$8,815,000. The main contributors to this increase are
252 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate staff wages, personal protective equipment, and logi stical support.
The budget estimate for 2022/23 is
$7,857,000 which i s an increase of $575,000, or 8 per
cent. The increase is attributable to salaries, wages,
transport and travel which have all increased owing to
the end of austerity measures and the RBR receiving
their cost -of-living increase from 2017. The decreases
in training, rentals, and repair and maintenance are part of the relocation of funds to achieve our current budget ceiling. The RBR are growing their operational
footprint with the addition of Scenic House and poten-tial satellite RBR Coast Guard location in St. David’s.
Cost centre 16000—Finance , $312,000. The
Finance [cost] centre covers the Defence Department
which holds the civilian full- time staff and the accounting function for the Royal Bermuda Regiment [ RBR] .
The 2022/23 b udget estimate is $312,000,
which is a decrease of $13,000, or 4 per cent, from
the 2021/22 financial year. This is the difference in salary due to the reallocation of two full -time equiv alents.
Cost centre 16005—Recruitment , $90,000.
Madam Chairman, the Recruitment c ost centre covers
the advertising, promotion, and local training expens-es. The 2022/23 budget estimate is $90,000, which is
a decrease of $51,000, or 36 per cent from the
2021/22 financial year. Primary contribution to this decrease is reallocating $11,000 in part -time salaries
to cost centre 16010, and a reduction in local training
by $40,000.
Cost centre 16010—Regimental Headquarters, $3,786,000. Madam Chairman, the Regimental
Headquarters cost centre covers all of the Regiment full-time equivalents for Defence, [ Head] 06, liabilities
such as employee- related expenses, marine fleet,
vehicle fleet, and public liability insurances.
The 2022/23 b udget estimate is $3,786,000
which is an increase of $449,000, or 13 per cent, over
the 2021/22 financial year. This increase is due to the austerity measures of wages for full - and part -time
soldiers no longer being accounted for as of April 2022. You will see this reflected on budget page B -
269.
Cost centre 16020—Quartermaster,
$1,343,000. Madam Chairman, the Quartermaster
cost centre covers all the operational and procur ement services for the RBR in relation to facilities land
forces. The 2022/23 budget estimate is $1,343,000,
which is an increase of $40,000, or 3 per cent, over
the 2021/22 financial year. This is due to an increase in the part -time wages.
Cost centre 16030 —Ceremonial , $243,000.
Madam Chairman, the Ceremonial HADR [ Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Recovery ] cost centre
covers the ceremonial and the humanitarian and di saster relief training expenses. The 2022/23 budget
estimate is $243,000, which is an increase of $6,000 or 3 per cent over the 2021/22 financial year. This is
due to an increase in the part -time soldier wages .
Cost centre 16040—Internal Security (MACA),
$183,000. Madam Chairman, the Internal Security
(MACA) cost centre covers the training expenses r elated to internal security and Military Aid to Civil A uthority. The 2022/23 budget estimate is $183,000,
which is an increase of $3,000, or 2 per cent, over the
2021/22 financial year. This is due to an increase in the part -time soldier wages.
Cost centre 16060 —the Bermuda Cadet
Corp, $52,000. Madam Chairman, the Bermuda Cadet
Corp cost centre covers the training and youth engagement of the c adets. As part of the curriculum ,
staff of the Royal Bermuda Regiment facilitate adve nture training, drill, camp craft and similar military activ ities to young Bermudians below the age of military
enlistment. The Corps’ main aim is to enhance the leadership and decision- making skills of school age
cadets in order to make them better citizens. The pr ogramme runs weekly throughout the school year and incorporates weekly meetings, weekend camps and an annual exercise.
The 2022/23 budget estimate is $52,000,
which is an increase of $22,000, or 73 per cent, over
the 2021/22 financial year. This is due to an increase in the part -time soldier’s wages as additional staff
have been allocated to support the growing cadet programme.
[Cost centre 16075]— Overseas Camp,
$794,000. Madam Chairman, the Overseas Camp
cost centre covers the expenses related to the RBR overseas training exercise due to be held in Camp
LeJeune in May 2022. Since the formation of the unit, the Overseas Camp has been the culmination of the annual training cycle and remains a mandated r equirement by the Governor.
The exercise provides tangible evidence that
the RBR is fit for role and able to operate at the scale
and intensity required to complete their missions and tasks. The complexity and range of activities conduc ted, on the land and at sea, are not possible to achieve within the confines of Bermuda; therefore, it is esse ntial that the camp is conducted overseas. It is also a primary component in the recruitment and retention of the RBR personnel.
The 2022/23 b udget es timat e is $7 94,000, a
$228,000, or 4 0 per c ent [increase] over t he 2021/22
financial year. This is due t o the reallocati on of funds
during the COVID -19 health response as the Regiment was unable to hold its annua l overseas training
exerc ise in 2021. You will see this reflected on bu dget
page B-2 69 under Travel.

[Sen. John Wight, Chairman]
Sen. Re v. Dr. Emilygail A. Dill: Cost centre 16080—
Training and Validation, $538,000. Mr. Chairman, the
Training and Validation cost centre covers the exBer muda Senate penses related to the training of recruits and prom otion courses.
To ensure the RBR has manning that is current, qualified and competent, it is essential that the
selection and training pipeline provides development
and assessment opportunities at all levels, for all sp ecialis ms. The Training and Validation budget ensures
these courses and qualifications are delivered in the most appropriate and cost -effective way possible, only
seeking external instruction where it is not possible inhouse. All training and up to Regimental level exerci ses are subject to the UK Armed Forces recognised assurance system, the Defence System Approach to
Training, to ensure safety and consistency.
The 2022/23 b udget estimate is $538,000,
which is an increase of $30,000, or 6 per cent. This is
due to an increase in the part -time soldier’s wages
and additional courses including the RBR Coast
Guard.
Cost centre 16085— Marine Operations,
$516,000. Mr. Chairman, the Marine Operations cost
centre covers the costs associated with the RBR
Coast Guard’s operating expenses and part -time
wages. The unit has eight full -time soldiers and one
office r.
They are supported by part -time staff who
train and operate on weekends and public holidays in
order to provide safety and security on and in Berm uda’s waters 24- hours a day throughout the year. The
2022/23 budget estimate is $516,000, which is a decrease of $139,000, or 21 per cent from the 2021/22
year. This is due to reallocating funds to [cost centre]
16020 which will cover land and buildings, vehicles, security, feeding, and uniforms.
Mi
ssion and Roles

Mr. Chairman, I am
pleased to report that as of Monday, [ 21] February
2022, the Royal Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard has completed its first full year. It represents a meaningful commitment by the Government to provide safety and
security on and in Bermuda’s waters for recreational users and those who depend on our Blue Economy.
During their first 12 months they conducted 977 patrols, observed over 20,500 vessels, conducted over 100 search and rescue missions, and enforced COVID -19 and SafeK ey regulations 144 times.
These are significant achievements from a
relatively small capability. Working with internal and international partners, including the UK law and env ironmental agencies, US Coast Guard, UK Coast
Guard, and Royal Navy, they continue to provide the following services:
•search and rescue or recovery;
•interdiction of marine smuggling operations;
•deterring criminal activity on the water;
•enforcement of natural resource regulations;
•enforcing maritime regulations and ensuring
maritime border and port security.
The intention is to increase the scope an
d
br
eadth of the RBR Coast Guard tasks to beyond their
current 12 nautical mile remit.
Mr. Chairman, the Regiment is also mandated
to conduct the following duties:
•Force Protection. These are the means andmeasures to minimise the vulnerability of
people, infrastructure, and high- value assets
from threats and hazards. This ranges from
military security and public order to explosiveordnance disposal.
•Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief. This is
the organised military response to alleviate
the results of a man- made or natural catastr ophe, the consequences of which put s live
s
and
livelihoods at risk. Ranging from hurr icanes to oil spills and fires, the priorities ar e
s
aving life, relieving suffering, limiting damage, restoring essential service, and settingthe conditions for recovery.
•Ceremonial. The Regiment provides the only
local professional standard Military Band and
accompanying troops to conduct national cer-emonial and civic events.
•International Assistance. Upon request, the
Regiment can provide military skills and r esources to assist the UN, NATO, and regional
peace support operations or training whichenhances Bermuda’s reputation in the international community.
•Enhancing Bermudian Society. Since its i nception, the Royal Bermuda Regiment hasprovided an important role by supporting the
integration and development of Bermudiansociety in the form of:
oa common military experience f or vo lunteers from across Bermuda’s soci ety;
othe opportunity to enhance life andvocational skills through direct prov ision of training or providing fundingsupport for specific qualifications;
oinvolvement in regimental and widercommunity sporting and social activ ities;
oyouth engagement through JuniorLeaders, and in partnership with theBermuda Police Service the facilit a254 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate tion of the Outward Bound Adventure
Training Centre.
Mr. Chairman, the RBR conducts the majority
of these tasks in partnership or in s upport of other
government departments, specifically the Emergency
Measures Organisation (EMO) , Maritime Operations
Centre, Department of Environmental Protection, HM
Customs Bermuda, Disaster Risk Reduction and Mit igation Team, the Bermuda Police Service, Bermuda
Fire and Rescue Service, and the Bermuda Hospitals
Board.

Output Measures and Objectives

Mr. Chairman, the
Regiment successfully completed its preparations and
training for the past hurricane season. In February ,
the Regiment had a successful recruit camp with 16 volunteers participating building on the intake from
earlier in the financial year. There will be an additional
recruit camp in July 2022. Although COVID -19 restrictions have seen the Regiment conduct th e major ity of its training in Bermuda this year, they intend to send a detachment of instructors to Belize in May as
part of Exercise Tradewinds 2022, to develop 14 other
Caribbean countries’ public order training. The Reg iment is also intending to send 120 soldiers to Camp
LeJeune, an overseas camp to develop basic and a dvanced soldiering and tactical skills.
Mr. Chairman, through a targeted recruiting
and retention plan the Regiment has been able to r ecruit 43 volunteers , and in June 2022 is forecasting to
retain at least 80 per cent of their long- serving soldiers . Although statistics for soldiers passing annual
training tests appears static or as a decline, this is due
to an increase in testing standards.

Major Achievements for 2021/22

Mr. Chairman, the
Regiment and Coast Guard provided support for the Ministry of Health in responding to the COVID -19
pandemic. Over the course of the entire year, the
Regiment conducted quarantine enforcement, management of vaccination si tes, and assisted at testing
centres. The Coast Guard provided on water e nforcement with Island boats ensuring compliance with
regulations including SafeK ey.
Mr. Chairman, in addition to its COVID -19
response and development of the Coast Guard, the
Royal Bermuda Regiment has:
• committed to realising the Government’s
commitment to [the] Blue Shield [programme] ;
• commissioned two new o fficers, including its
second female officer in 30 years;
• provided personnel for the management of
COVID -19 testing sites and vaccination centres; • provided health management and security
during the Cup Match weekend;
• developed Adventure Training instructors who
will provide working at heights and cliff rescue;
• hosted a review by Air Vice- Marshal Smeath,
the UK’s two- star Defence Attaché to the
United States with a portfolio including Bermuda.

Closing Remarks

Mr. Chairman, in the
past year, it has continued to distinguish itself as a
professional, dependable and adaptable resource on
land, at sea in Bermuda and with Caribbean partners.
The Regiment has continued to assist in enforcing
COVID -19 regulations, achieved full operating cap ability of the Coast Guard Unit, provided significant
personal and professional development opportunities
for sol diers.
This past year has once again proven that the
Royal Bermuda Regiment remains a proud, dependable and professional organisation that continues to
provide an essential service to Bermuda in routine
matters and during times of emergency, both on land
and at sea.
Mr. Chairman, I am thankful to the Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. Benjamin Beasley and the team at
the Royal Bermuda Regiment for their commitment
and dedication.
Mr. Chairman, I now move to Head 7, the
Bermuda Police Service.

Mr. Chairman and
Members, I am pleased to present the current account
estimate for the Bermuda Police Service, Head 7,
which can be found on pages B -271 to B -275 of the
Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Police Service’s
mission is: Making Bermuda safer . The objectives of
the Serv ice are to:
• maintain the confidence of the community;


Bermuda Senate • treat all persons fairly, with dignity and r espect;
• protect vulnerable victims;
• reduce crime, particularly focusing on serious
crime and gang- related criminality;
• reduce antisocial behaviour; and
• enhanc e road safety.
Mr. Chairman, the Service carries out its objectives by aligning its organisational structure to
maintain its community safety agenda and the preve ntion of criminal risk locally and internationally through a funded establishment of 487 empl oyees , which you
can find on [ page ] B-274.
Mr. Chairman, the BPS continues to advance
its 2021 to 2026 Strategic and Operational Plan, al though progress has been impacted by COVID -19.
The two back -to-back years of the COVID -19 pa ndemic have resulted in th e BPS re -positioning itself
within a pandemic economy. We are optimistic there
are green shoots that suggest a degree of normality is
returning. This will allow a number of key initiatives to
progress.
The BPS Gang Targeting Team continues to
work with the Ministry of National Security’s Gang Vi olence Reduction Team t o reduce the threat in this area and seek to divert persons from gang- related cri minality. However, significant risk remains from gun or
gang- related violence to which the BPS continues to
deter such acts through effective use of intelligence
and specialist policing.
Staffing of the previous marine section, on a
temporary basis, continues to support the Coast Guard as it journeys towards its full complement of staff.
The BPS continues its work regarding standards of professional behaviour and anti -corruption po licy and procedure, to which relevant best practice is
being utilised by the National Anti -Corruption Commi ttee in support of other Government departments and
the United Nations Anti -Corru ption Self -Assessment
for Bermuda.
The BPS also continues its work in support of
the National Anti -Money Laundering Committee
(NAMLC) to prevent financial crime, money laundering
and counter -terrorism funding, with a strategic focus
to maintain its excellent Caribbean Financial Action
Task Force [ CFATF ] grading.
The BPS further continues its work in support
of the National Cybersecurity Governance Board to prevent and respond to cybersecurity matters and
maintain Bermuda’s reputation as a premier intern ational financial jurisdiction.
The BPS is working to implement a framework
for greater multi -agency collaboration on the problem
of domestic abuse. We seek to enhance communic ation and improve training with a view to improving service and reducing victimisat ion.
Expenditure Overview

Mr. Chairman, I
would now draw your attention to the current account
estimates for Head 7, which can be found on page B -
272. A total of $62,158,000 has been allocated for
Head 7 for the financial year 2022/23. This represents
an increase of $860,000, or 1 per cent increase, of the
original budget for the financial year 2021/22.
Mr. Chairman, in order to meet these responsibilities, the Bermuda Police Service operates six
programmes:
• Programme 0701 —Commissioner’s Office
• Programme 0702—Corporate Services Div ision
• Programme 0703—Community Policing Div ision
• Programme 0704— Support Services Division
• Programme 0708— Serious Crime Divisions
• [Programme] 0710— Bermuda Reserves P olice
Mr. Chairman, I will now address each pr ogramme and business unit as set out on page B -272.
Programme 0701—the Commissioner’s O ffice. Mr. Chairman, the Commissioner’s Office is in
business unit 17000 and has an estimate for the fiscal
year 2022/23 of $47,422,000. This represents an i ncrease of $724,000, or a 2 per cent increase from the
fiscal year 2021/22. The increase is due to the auster ity measures salary reductions of 10 per cent from the
Bermuda Police Association [ BPA] members coming
to an end as of 31 October 2021, and the budget for
salaries being increased to reflect this change.
Programme 0702—Corporate Services Div ision. Mr. Chairman, the Corporate Services Division
has an estimate for the fiscal year 2022/23 of
$6,585,000. This represents an increase of $278,000,
or 4 per cent, from the fiscal year 2021/22. The i ncrease is due to the Professional Conduct Unit located
under business unit 17005 paying rent at the new office location in Dockyard. Human Resources located
under 17010, Finance and Administration located un-der 17020, Information Management Services located
under 17025, and Training and Development Depar tment located under 17190, all received increases as a
result of the Bermuda Public Service Union [ BPSU ]
members no longer contributing to the austerity
measures 10 per cent salary reductions. Information
Management Services also experienced an increase
in radio maintenance fees, which was under budget in
2021/22. Vehicles Stores located under 17300 and
Uniform Stores located under 17310 saw no change
in budgets.
Programme 0703—Community Policing Div ision. Mr. Chairman, the Community Policing Division
has an estimate for the fiscal year 2022/23 of
$2,088,000. This represents a decrease of $16,000,
or 1 per cent, from the fiscal year 2021/22. The d ecrease was due to the employees stationed at the
256 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Central Area Command located under business unit
17040 of $17,000, and the Western Area Command
located under business unit 17042 of $10,000, and
the Eastern Area Command located under business
unit 17041 no longer contributi ng to the austerity
measures 10 per cent salary reductions, offset by the
decrease of $43,000 from [ the] Eastern Area Command located under business unit 17041 due to the reduction in one staff member.
Programme 0704—Support Services Division .
Mr. Chairman, the Support Services Division has an estimate for the fiscal year 2022/23 of $3,428,000.
This represents a decrease of $145,000, or 4 per
cent, from the fiscal year 2021/22. The decrease was
due to an increase in salaries for employees stationed at the O perational Support Department located under
business unit 17090 of $21,000, and Garage and Workshop located under business unit 17130 no
longer contributing to the austerity measures 10 per
cent salary reductions, in addition to an increase in
vehicle insu rance of $102,000. This was offset by the
decrease of $227,000 in the Marine and Roads Poli cing Unit located under 17120 no longer operating the
marine unit and the correct allocation of a post under
Forensic Support located under business unit 17160
of $41,000 to the Intelligence Division located under
business unit 17170. The Tape Transcribing under business unit 17055 saw no change in the budget.
Programme 0708— Serious Crime Divisions .
Mr. Chairman, the Serious Crime Division has an estimate for the fisc al year 2022/23 of $2,303,000. This
represents an increase of $19,000, or 1 per cent, from
the fiscal year 2021/22. The increase was due to a
decrease in [ the] consultancy fee for the Special I nvestigations Department located under business unit
17140 of $61,000 offset by an increase in salaries of
$4,000 for the Drugs and Financial Crime Department
located under business unit 17150, and $76,000 for
the Intelligence Division located under business unit
17170. The Police Support Unit located under bus iness unit 17105 saw no change to the budget.
Programme 0710— Bermuda Police R eserves . Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Police Reserves
have an estimate for the fiscal year 2022/23 of
$332,000 and saw no change in the budget.

Subjective Analysis

Mr. Chairman, nine
of the object codes see no change in the estimates for
the financial year 2022/23 over the original budget f or 2021/22 and I will therefore limit my comments to the
other eight that illustrate changes.
Salaries have increased by $1,191,000, or
3 per cent, to reflect the discontinuation of the Government’s austerity mandate of 10 per cent reduction
in payroll.
Wages have increased by $19,000, or 3 per
cent, and as stated earlier for salaries is a reflection of
the dis continuation of the government’s austerity
mandate of 10 per cent reduction in payroll.
Other personnel costs have decreased by
$227,000, or 8 per cent, to reflect the department’s
mandate to reduce overtime.
The professional service decreased by
$47,000, or 2 per cent, as a result of the reduced use
of consultants.
Repairs and maintenance have decreased by
$45,000, or 2 per cent, due to the adjustment to the
radio maintenance fees.
Insurance increased by $80,000, or 43 per
cent, in order to anticipate an increase in motor insurance.
Energy has decreased by $102,000, or 9 per
cent, in anticipation of the savings realised through
the renegotiated government -wide fuel contract.

Revenue Summary

Mr. Chairman, the
Bermuda Police Service is estimated to collect
$698,000, or a 1 per cent increase from 2021/22 in
revenue due to the increase in Government fees and
an increase in security guard licences under revenue
source code 8525 of $1,000.
Employee Numbers (Full -Time Equiva lent
[FTE]) . Mr. Chairman, the employee numbers or full -
time equivalents increased by nine over the original amount from 2021/22 to include seven police officers
and two support staff allocated to Human Resources and Finance and Administration.
Mr. Chairm an, whilst the FTE numbers have
increased, these represent FTEs that were unfunded last year in order to make savings. Although they are
not funded for the 2022/23 year, the Service can fill
the posts if they are able to make savings to cover the posts cos ts.

2021/22 Accomplishments

Mr. Chairman, I will
now speak to some of the accomplishments the Bermuda Police Service had in 2021/22.
Policing and the COVID -19 pandemic . Mr.
Chairman, the COVID -19 pandemic led to significant
changes in policing. Government legislation was i ntroduced to reduce the risk of COVID -19 transfer i ncluding shelter in place, curfew, physical distancing measures and regulations directing COVID -19 pr evention procedures within the retail and leisure sector,


Bermuda Senate which the BPS continues to police. Approximately 200
persons were served summonses, and over 2,000
COVID -19 compliance checks were performed by
both the Reserve Police and the Bermuda Police Service with a view to making Bermuda safer.
Operation Vega. Mr. Chairman, it is also noted that during the immediate periods preceding curfew compliance the community experienced an i ncrease in road traffic incidents. To calm traffic, deny
criminals the use of our roads, and encourage better
driving choices the B ermuda Police Service responded with Operation Vega [Op Vega] . Since the ince ption of Op Vega over 5,000 traffic tickets and 840 m otorist advice notices have been issued. Additionally, the Bermuda Police Service has increased its com-munications with the public through mainstream m edia and social media platforms. The department looks forward to seeing how this level of engagement will
positively affect driver behaviour.
New Recruit Foundation Course. Mr. Chai rman, February 2022 saw the start of a police Rec ruit
Foundation Course with 21 new student officers. These officers should take to the streets in earnest
this summer and the new officers will bring welcomed
relief to their colleagues and reduce demands on the
overtime budget.
Mr. Chairman, I will now provide these Chambers with some sobering statistics on what the Bermuda Police Service dealt with over the fiscal year
2021/22.
Mr. Chairman, in making Bermuda safer, between 1 April 2021 to mid -March 2022, the BPS responded to 13,571 events or incidents of which 2,111
were licenced premises COVID -19 compliance
checks.
Mr. Chairman, there were 1,619 arrests during
the period and whil e this is noticeably down from the
norm of around 2,300, it is unfortunately largely due to
the impacts of COVID -19-related restrictions including
curfew on the community.
Mr. Chairman, 3,327 crimes were recorded
and investigated, that include eight murders and 16
attempted murders. Six persons were tried and convicted in the Supreme Court of murder, attempted
murder or mansl aughter.
Mr. Chairman, the Service dealt with 1,113
road traffic collisions, of which 15 were fatalities and
86 involved serious injury.
Mr. Chairman, 8,627 tickets and stop and
search forms were issued that helped to change driver
behaviour and reduce opportunities for violence.

Gang Violence

Mr. Chairman, as the
Minister had reported to the Honourable House [of
Assembly] in February, the Bermuda Police Service is
the law enforcement entity responsible for preventing
and detecting crime and have adopted a robust ap-proach to tackling gang and gun violence. As early as
2009, the BPS recognised the significant challenges
of tackling gangs and guns and that it required high
levels of community engagement, as enforcement
alone could not address the systemic issues.
Mr. Chairman, since 2009 the BPS has made
a number of adjustments in response to the gun and
gang problem and continued to evolve with a focus on
leveraging community support and technology to assist in bringing o ffenders to justice.
Mr. Chairman, the BPS has implemented a
gang violence reduction strategy with a core focus on partnership. It consists of three pillars:
• Prevention ( which is Education and Awar eness);
• Catch and Convict —Police focused (Targeting
and Suppression);
• Resettlement and Rehabilitation collaboration.
Mr. Chairman, the strategy of Prevent and
Deter is to stop young offenders escalating into prolific offenders and to prevent children and young people
from becoming involved in criminality in the first place. The Bermuda Police Service deploys a school’s r esource officer, primarily to the senior schools, that
meets with school guidance counsellors, teachers, and students to build relationships and share information that is used to ease tensions. Additionally, o pportunities to mediate disputes and model effective problem solving are implemented.
Mr. Chairman, with Catch and Convict, the
BPS deploys a Police Support Unit and a Gang Targeting Unit that are primarily focused on disruption and enforcement activity specifically as it relates to
those involved with gangs. Further, the approach with
our partners is to focus on the same key groups of
offenders who are causing the most crime. The BPS
chair the interagency gang enforcement team that
provides an opportunity for information sharing and joined- up enforcement efforts.
Mr. Chairman, with Rehabilitate and Resettle,
the BPS chairs the multi -agency offender management team that provides ongoing assessment and supervision for high- risk offenders in an effort to encourage effective rehabilitation and resettlement of persons leaving prison services.
Mr. Chairman, the BPS continues to adapt
and evolve in tackling the issues of gangs with the necessary emphasis on an evidenced- based approach to policing. T his includes the use of information, intelligence and lessons learned. This has resulted in multiple arrests for murder and firearms related offences, as well as significant seizures of ill egal drugs and firearms. Multiple persons have been prosecuted with over 40 men incarcerated, receiving
life and/or long- term sentences for murder, attempted
murder and firearms related offences.


258 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate 2022/23 Plans

Mr. Chairman, in
keeping with our mission statement of Making Bermuda Safer the Bermuda Police Service will engage in
the following:
Policing issues for 2022/23 . Mr. Chairman, the
scourge of gang and gun violence continues to play
out in our community. Sadly, more recently we have
seen males and females as young as 14 involved in
violent exchanges, often using knives to resolve their
disputes. The Bermuda Police Service is currently and
will continue to temporarily divert resources from
community policing to bolster its enforcement efforts
to catch and convict those involved in thes e crimes.
However, this cannot be sustained. Until we as a
community examine and act on the issues that would
cause our young people, some as young as 15, to
think that arming themselves, stabbing, or shooting
another person, is an appropriate way to solve a dispute, we will continue to experience tragic and unnecessary violence and death in our community.
Mr. Chairman, given the challenging economic outlook and the differing community views on
COVID -19 restrictions for the Island, the BPS is atte ntive to the potential for social unrest and associated
public protests. The BPS Special Branch unit conti nues to mitigate these concerns with effective monitoring of social media, intelligence processes and early
engagement to address areas of concern.
Mr. Chair man, the summer months will bring
challenges to community safety across the Island as residents and visitors seek to socialise in larger num-bers on beaches, on the water , and within bars and
restaurants. These challenges will include, but are not
limited t o, increased tensions and risks between
gangs, antisocial behaviour, residential and beach parties and drink driving. Additionally, organised
events that do take place may present greater policing
challenges in comparison to previous years as
COVID -19 rest rictions continue to be lifted.

New Initiatives in the Service

Mr Chairman, the
Bermuda Police Service has a Strategic and Oper ational Plan for the period 2021 to 2026 with five key priorities . They are:
• reducing serious crime;
• protecting vulnerable persons;
• raising confidence in the police;
• reducing harm on our roads; and
• developing digital policing.
Additionally, seven new Strategic Ambitions have
been set to support members of the BPS in achieving
their full potentia l and assisting their professional development. The plan will be governed by the Bermuda
Police Service Strategic Executive Group and shared
with the public. Capital Projects

Thank you so much.
Mr. Chairman, I now move to page C -7 and
capital development. The estimate for 2022/23 is
$250,000 for Police Headquarters Prospect. The
Bermuda Police Service has been endeavouring to
reduce spending by reducing rents paid in t he private
sector. To achieve this, the Bermuda Police Service
has been working towards developing the old hea dquarters building with a view to relocating officers from
private sector rents to the usage of its own facilities.
This year’s funding will allow us to enclose the buil ding in preparation for the next step of renovating it for
use.
Mr. Chairman, I now move to page C -15 and
capital acquisitions. The estimate for 2022/23 is
$300,000 for Operational Vehicles. In terms of usage,
the Bermuda Police Ser vice operational fleet is aged.
The fleet provides twenty -four hour s a day, seven
days a week operation throughout the Island These vehicles experience a tremendous amount of wear
and tear in a short span of time. This year’s funding
will allow for some of the uniform patrol vehicles to be
replaced.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to congratulate Mr .
Darrin Simons on his appointment as Commissioner
of Police. Mr. Simons has some 28 years in the Service and has been Acting Commissioner for over six months. Our Minister has enjoyed working with him
and is confident that the community will benefit from
his leadership. We would also like to thank the me mBermuda Senate bers of the Bermuda Police Service for their continued
hard work in accordance with their mission statement, Makin g Bermuda Safer.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes the current and
capital account estimates for Head 7, and I will now
move to Head 12, Customs.

HEAD 12 —CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT

Mr. Chairman, I am
pleased to present the current ac count estimates for
the Customs Department , Head 12, which can be
found on pages B -276 to B -279 of the Estimates of
Revenue and Expenditure.
Mr. Chairman, the Customs Department’s
mission is Protecting Bermuda’s border and promoting
economic development . The objectives of the d epartment are to:
• assess and collect customs duty and fees on
imported goods;
• to enforce customs laws and administer other
statutes controlling the international mov ement of goods;
• to prevent the smuggling of drugs and other i llegal commodities, enforcing international
conventions for environmental protection and
money laundering, and agency work for Imm igration, Health, Transport Control, and Env ironment;
• to provide information and assistance to the
public regarding customs laws and regul ations.
Mr. Chairman, the Customs Department’s
vision is to be a modern, effective and efficient Cus-toms administration offering professional service to all
stakeholders, using international best practices, max-imising revenue collection and protecti ng the borders
of Bermuda. Mr. Chairman, to make this vision a real ity, specific strategic goals have been set for Customs.
Strategic Goal 1: Staffing, Stability and Trai ning. Mr. Chairman, in order for the Customs Depar tment to carry out its mission, the department will need
to focus on providing a stable work environment that is free from corruption and bribery. Maintaining the
department’s integrity as a respected law enforcement
arm of the government is vital to performing our en-forcement functions.
Strategic Goal 2: Legislation and Operational.
Mr. Chairman, the department recognises its respo nsibility to manage and monitor daily operations in order to achieve our mandate of facilitating legitimate
trade, assessing and collecting the government’s rev-enue and interdicting drugs and other contraband.
The ability to operate in an environment free from ob-stacles and barriers while complying with Bermuda
Customs Law is the ultimate goal. Hence this goal is
to provide new legislation which would support the
department’s operational needs for both the present
and the future. Strategic Goal 3: Policy, Procedures and F uture. Mr. Chairman, while the department’s p olicies
and procedures are a vital portion of its foundation,
the consistent revision of these docum ents will pr ovide a more positive work environment. Revision of the memorandums of understanding within the department’s law enforcement counterparts will also
provide a shared understanding of the department’s
comparable duties, aims and objectives.

Expe nditure Overview

Mr. Chairman, I
would now draw your attention to the current account
estimates for Head 12, which can be found on page
B-276. A total of $16,575,000 has been allocated for
Head 12 for the financial year 20 22/23. This repr esents an increase of $489,000, or a 3 per cent i ncrease of the original budget for the financial year
2021/22.
Mr. Chairman, t he Customs Department operates one programme listed as 1201, General , with
seven business units. Mr. Chairman, I will now a ddress the business units as set out on page B -276.

Business Unit 22030 —Airport Arrivals –Travellers

Mr. Chairman, Airport
Arrivals –Travellers has an estimate of $4,396,000.
This represents an increase of $204,000, or 5 per
cent. The net increase is due to an increase in sal aries of $261,000 as a result of the discontinuance of
the austerity measure salary deduction of 10 per cent;
increase in overtime of $17,000; decrease in other allowances of $70,000; and roun ding difference of
$4,000.
The most significant driver of the cost i ncrease is, therefore, basic salary, which includes i ncremental salary increase.

Business Unit 22050 —Investigations/Audit

Mr. Chairman, Hami lton Commercial Ops has an estimate of $979,000.
This repres ents an increase of $82,000, or 9 per cent.
The increase is due to a salary increase of $67,000
and overtime of $15,000. The most significant driver
of the cost increase is, therefore, basic salary costs
excluding overtime. The increase is primarily due to
the 10 per cent BPSU salary reduction for four months
April 2021 to July 2021 and pay increment increases.

260 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Business Unit 22080 —Administration

Mr. Chairman, A dministration has an estimate of $4,599,000. This represents an increase of $215,000, or 5 per cent. The
Administration business unit is deemed the headquarters of the department and a majority of the oper ational budget is allocated to this unit. The variances of
materiality that impact the increase are:
• Decrease in s alaries of $34,000 [and] increase in
overtime of $9,000.
• Decrease in long service awards of $9,000.
• Decrease in contractors by $27,000.
• Increase in membership fees by $25,000.
• Increase in building rent of $9,000.
• Increase in repair and maintenance for equi pment
by $149,000 and pertains to an increase in
maintenance fees for the Hamilton Dock Gantry X-ray scanner. The scanner is close to the end of
its expected useful economic life and requires a major overhaul and the increase in cost is reflective of that.
• Increase in software maintenance by $9,000.
• Increase in electricity by $30,000.
• Increase in office supplies by $58,000, which per-tains to office supplies, stationery, cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, computer
supplies, consumables for detection equipment
and other miscellaneous items. The estimate is
reflective of the actual expenditure and the i ncrease is due to budgeting shortfalls in the comparative period.
• Finally, a d ecrease in bank charges and commi ssions by $9,000.

Business Uni t 22090 —Vessel Clearance

Mr. Chairman, Vessel Clearance has an estimate of $941,000. This represents an increase of $4,000, or less than 1 per cent.
The increase is due to an increase in salaries of $65,000, again as a res ult of the discontinuance of the
austerity measures 10 per cent salary deductions,
offset by a decrease in overtime by $20,000 and other
allowances by $40,000. The decreases are due to
Vessel Clearance having a much- reduced workload
since the pandemic with most of the officers assisting
in other areas.

Business Unit 22100 —Interdiction

Mr. Chairman, Interdiction has an estimate of $3,717,000. This represents
a decrease of $29,000, or 1 per cent. The increase is
due to an i ncrease in salaries of $25,000 again as a
result of the discontinuance of the austerity measures 10 per cent salary deductions, offset by a decrease in
overtime of $25,000 and other allowances by $30,000.
The anticipated cost reduction is mainly due to a r e-duction in the expected overtime and other allowance
costs. We have found these to have been lower than
in prior years due to the reduced activity the pandemic
had on Interdiction. This is especially the case for the
cruise ship Team element of Interdicti on.

Business Unit 22110 —Seaport Enforcement Team

Mr. Chairman, Seaport Enforcement Team has an estimate of
$1,065,000. This represents an increase of $12,000, or 1 per cent. The increase is due to an increase in
salaries of $20,000 as a result of the discontinuance
of the austerity measures 10 per cent salary deductions, offset by a decrease in overtime by $8,000.
Mr. Chairman, as you can see, we still have a
significant amount of information to cover which r egrettably i t appears that the Opposition did not take
into consideration when they set the schedule. I will
stop at this time to see if there are any questions that
need to be offered and I will do my best to at least
document them and ensure that they receive the r esponses that they require.
Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Dill.
So, we have roughly three minutes left. Are
there any questions on these h eads today?
Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
The comment by the Senator is interest ing
considering that the brief that she is reading was set
for a debate that happened in the House of Assembly
that was five hours. The Senate does not have the
same amount of hours as the House, so it would not
be possible for us to give the same allotted hours that
happened in the House of Assembly. So, to sit here and listen to the same brief is obviously frustrating,
not just to everybody in this Chamber, but probably everybody in the listening audience. It is not given the
opportunity to have a proper debate and now to expect for us to ask questions and have the technical
officer that has been sitting here give those answers
in a timely fashion is just not something that is poss ible.
This has been a waste of everybody’s time,
and it continues to be a waste of everybody’s time and
I apologise that I have to give this speech instead of
the questions that were prepared over the last few
days by listening to the brief that is already in the public domain. The Minister spent an enormous amount of time doing this already —spent the time having a
proper debate in the House of Assembly and now we,
in the Senate, have not been given that same opportunity. To make the excuse that it is because we did
not give enough time means that you do not understand the proces s.
On top of that —



Bermuda Senate [Inaudible interjection]

Sen. Ben Smith: On top of that —

If I can just say, we literally, for this
time period, this is a question period, so we do have
roughly a minute left for any questions to be asked. I
note your comments of frustration, but we now have
reserved —

Sen. Ben Smith: I will ask one question and it will
come from the Fire Service. I am wondering if the Junior Minister can give us an update on any certification
that is needed for the Fire Service to run at the airport.
If there is any details on the amount of Fire Officers that are needed to be at the airport and whether Bermuda has the correct amount of certified Fire Officers
to maintain the certification of our airport.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The C hairman: Thank you, Senator.
Senator Dill, do you have a response to Senator Smith’s question?

[Pause]

Can you say that
again for me?

Sen. Michelle Simmons: The first question was
about the Police Complaints Authority and whether it
is still functioning, and my second question is about the new CCTV system that will be installed. How will
that be procured? Will there be a competitive pr ocess? The Chairman: I think in the interest of time we are
going to have to ask that these questions be respon ded to following so that we can keep on track.
I would like to move ahead to have Senator
Dill to move . . . would you like to move these heads?

Certainly. I will revert
to Mr. Smith with the answer to his question as it is
quite a bit of information that needs to be provided
and we certainly do not have enough time today.
With regard to the Police Complaints Author ity, yes, it is still functioning. With regard to the new CCTV system, we will revert with the answers.
Thank you so much.

That concludes the National Security
debate. We now will move on to the Cabinet Office.
So, just to remind ourselves, Senators, we are
in Committee of the whole for further consideration of
the Appropriation Act 2022 t ogether with the Est imates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year
2022/23.
The Ministry under consideration is the Cab inet Office. The Heads to be debated are numbers 9,
13 and 80 which can be found in pages B -41, B -47
and B -69. The number of hours allocated to these
262 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate heads is two. The Senator in charge is Senator Darrell. My watch has 3:51.
Senator Darrell, over to you.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Good afternoon and thank you,
Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee do
now take under consideration Head 9, the Cabinet
Office; Head 13, Post Office; and Head 80, Project
Management and Procurement.

Thank you. Please proceed.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

CABINET OFFICE

HEAD 9 —CABINET OFFICE

Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chai rman, the Cabinet Office
operates at the centre of the public service providing
leadership advice and guidance to ensure delivery of
Government’s policies and Government’s services.
This leadership is seen in the fiscal discipline within
the Cabinet Office and the example set in the reduction of expenditure to ensure that critical programmes
in other areas can be funded.
It gives me great pleasure to present the
budget for Head 9, the Cabinet Office, found on pages
B-40 through B -46 of the Budget Book.
Mr. Chairman, the total expenditure as seen
on page B -42 is estimated to be $32,162,000 for
2022/23, and represents a decrease of $6,860,000, or
approximately 18 per cent less than the current budget of 2021/22. A portion of this decrease is owed to
the trans fer out of the Bermuda Economic Development [Corporation] grant as well as the Bermuda
Business Development Agency grant to the Economic
Development Department which now lies within the
Ministry of Economy and Labour. In addition, Mr. Chairman, the respons ibility for the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (MDL) will now reside with the Mi nistry of Health which accounts for [ the] $1.9 million
decrease under the National Health Emergency, the last line item o f the general summary of page B -42.
Mr. Chairman, the subjective analysis for the
Cabinet Office can be found on page B -43 of the E stimates Book. Please allow me to highlight the mater ial object code increases as well as decreases.
Salaries, line item 1, estimated at $6,866,000,
represent s an increase of a pproximately 9 per cent, or
$539,000 compared to the current 2021/22 budget
provision. This increase is due to the Cabinet -
approved addition of two permanent secretary posts,
which comes as a result of the Cabinet’s recent approval of a minimum structure f or each Ministry to i nclude a permanent secretary, a co ntroller, a policy
analyst as well as an administrative assistant. The increase will also fund a legal counsel post within the
PATI/PIPA unit.
Mr. Chairman, legal advice is required for the
implementat ion of privacy and compliance, with PIPA
in particular, third- party and vendor contracts. Sharing
and cross -border transfers of personal information
necessitate thorough reviews by privacy -trained legal
counsel in order to minimise adverse consequences
to the protection of personal information. Legal counsel will also be required as Bermuda establishes an international adequacy framework. Additionally, inter-pretation of elements of the PATI Act will benefit from
legal advice facilitating targeted respons iveness linked
to the application of the Act.
Mr. Chairman, within wages, line item 2, there
is a decrease of approximately $450,000, or 75 per
cent. These wages relate to weekly paid temporary
additional staff within the allocation of the National
Health Emergency Fund and, Mr. Chairman, as already mentioned, will transfer to the Ministry of Health
on April 1.
Mr. Chairman, while on the topic of MDL,
please allow me to present a quick overview of MDL’s activities over the course of the past year. MDL met
the country’s needs by expanding its testing capacity
for the SARS -CoV-2 virus. In 2020, MDL averaged
3,000 monthly tests. However, in 2021, at the height
of the outbreaks, the lab was conducting the same volume of tests daily. Testing during the various outbreaks led to the identification of more than 8,000
positive cases. The high transmissibility of the latest
Omicron variant produced our highest positivity rate
yet, 17.28 per cent in January, or almost one positive
result in every five tests processed.
The ability of the team to adapt to the i ncrease in sample collection and laboratory testing
was largely due to MDL moving to Warwick, to a purpose [-built and] renovated facility in June of 2021.
The new lab has greater storage capacity, more space for tandem PCR runs, and its central location
allows for faster specimen reception.
Mr. Chairman, in addition to the change in l ocation, the MDL team improved efficiencies in the
identification and public health management of cases
by modernising the result notifi cation process. Clients
were emailed their positive results directly, allowing
for fast action, isolation or quarantine. MDL also pr ovided four -hour expedited service for travellers who
opted to pay. This was an example of our teams working more effectivel y and strategically to protect
our communities during a pandemic that has been
challenging to the economy.
During 2021, Mr. Chairman, MDL also focused on internal staff development finding ways to encourage young Bermudians to engage in science.
MDL hosted three summer student programmes dur-ing which [the] MDL team taught methods and walked
students through the sophisticated molecular diagnostic processes occurring in the laboratory. The youth


Bermuda Senate engagement extended to the community testing teams
as MDL began school testing initiatives during the
regular school term and summer vacation.
In October of 2021, MDL began a partnership
with the New York Genome Center to sequence
known SARS -CoV-2 positives. Mr. Chairman, through
this partnership, MDL was able to identify the first in-stance of the Omicron variant on the Island.
In 2022, MDL will continue its work supporting
the pandemic response. At the start of this fiscal year,
a long- term strategy for lab operations and research
will be established. MDL, which is currently provisio nally registered with the Bermuda Health Council, is working toward full ISO accreditation this calendar
year and is seeking laboratory technician certification in molecular diagnostics for relevant team members.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, as has been the case
from the day it was formed, MDL with its new partners
in the Ministry of Health, will be committed to operating a highly effective lab network, for the people of
Bermuda, by the people of Bermuda. This was achieved through the commitment and dedication of
Dr. Carika Weldon who led the MDL team through the
most challenging periods of the pandemic.
Mr. Chairman, returning to the variances, this
transfer out also accounts for decreases in:
• Transport , line item 5 , of $50,000 representing
the freight charges related to the import of
COVID -19 medical supplies and equipment;
• Rentals , line item 10, in the amount of
$33,000; as well as
• Equipment , line item 15, a significant d ecrease of $912,000 relating to the transfer out
of funding for COVID -19 medical supplies and
equipment.
Mr. Chairman, the transfer of MDL to Health
did result in a decrease of Professional Services (back
up to line item 9) overall, there was an increase of
$224,000, or 9 per cent compared to 2020/21. Please
note, Mr. Chair man, this increase represents a reprioritisation of funds to provide for a centralised Gover nment Wellness Programme.
As a reminder, the Government of Bermuda
Employee Wellness Committee was established to address the employee wellness objective as set out in
the Government’s Reform Initiative to ensure health
and well -being of its officers. An objective of the people component of Government Reform was to have
50 per cent of public officers participate in a Gover nment Wellness Programme. As the pandemic pr oved
to be ongoing it was imperative that the corporate
wellness programme continue. As an employer, the
Government was forced to adapt [by] approaching
employee wellness differently.
The health crisis ushered in significant wor kplace challenges and chan ges. While the Government
was working tirelessly to adapt to the public health crisis [and] the massive economic and social cha llenges caused by the pandemic, we also were re-quired to focus on employees and the health of public
officers to enable continuit y of services. Research has
suggested, and is readily apparent, that the pandemic
required and continues to require greater focus on
mental health.
Consequently, the Employee Wellness Pr ogramme in 2021 was m ental health and w ell-being
under the theme of “Mental Health Matters.” Improving the mental health of public officers, making them mentally resilient to stress es of the pandemic assisted and
continues to assist in improv ed thinking, decisionmaking, workflow, and relationships at work resulting in inc reased productivity.
In addition, Mr. Chairman, an employee wor kplace stress survey was conducted in June 2021 to identify the impact of workplace stress and the factors
contributing to stress for public officers with the aim to develop and offer program mes to reduce stress levels. Survey result highlights indicate that 44 per cent
of employees feel stressed at work o n a typical day.
The top three causes of work stress are the nature of
the job and its responsibilities, volume of work, and relationships w ith other employees. Mr. Chairman,
42 per cent stated that they worked very long hours ;
46 per cent stated that they too had too much work
allotted to them.
Further results highlight ing recurring themes
on what the organisation can do to help employees cope with work stress, such [ as] therapeutic support,
mental health GEHI coverage, realistic expectations ,
spread the work evenly, improve staffing levels, more
options for the wellness programme, mental health wellness days/stress [days ], incentives, improve lea dership/management training, and flexibility with r emote working and improved work schedules.
Based on the survey results, Mr. Chairman,
there is a need to continue to strengthen the wellness
programme. For 2022/23, there is a total allocation of
$340,000, the amount of which is not fully reflected in the stated increase of Professional Services due to
the already mentioned decreases in other areas such
as the transfer out of MDL.
The budget will be used to organise mental
health courses and worksh ops for leadership, management, and employees with mental health providers
as well as activities and events des igned to continue
promoting mental health wellness in the public service
to assist to achieve the Government Reform wellness
objectives.
Mr. Chairman, the Government of Bermuda is
determined to recognise and assist our valuable public officers in managing the stress es of work. The continuity of services is critical to the Island’s stability and
in innovative ways public officers have met this challenge. The allocation of this funding is a tangible
measure to demonstrate our concern for these women
and men and their well -being.
Mr. Chairman, it will be recalled that an I mplementation Team was budgeted for in the previous
264 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate year and I am pleased to c onfirm that the Implement ation Team funding has been renewed and is in General Administration , cost centre 19000, at page B -42,
in the amount of $750,000. In this fiscal year, the pri ncipal focus has been the advancement of the Ec onomic Recovery Plan. Efforts to stand up the Economic Recovery Plan Project Management Office (PMO)
commenced during the current fiscal year. KPMG was
retained to undertake preliminary work to activate the
unit. The work resulted in recommendations to focus
actively around four lead initiatives and other specifics
regarding goals, economic outcomes, approach to action planning for lead initiatives, the alignment of
resources and activities to be undertaken by the Ec onomic Recovery Plan Project Management Office.
KPMG was supporte d by the PMO Consultant
Project Coordinator, Ryan Robinson Perinchief. He continues to provide project management support in
the areas of research and analysis, planning, schedu ling, and monitoring activities. Further, he is engaged
in providing policy dev elopment support on specific
social development initiatives under the ERP such as
the Cheaper Food initiative.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, returning to the subjective analysis and remaining material variance as seen
in Grants and Contributions (the last line i tem) which
shows an allocation of $20,165,000, a decrease of
$6,274,000 below 2020 /21. This is a result of the already mentioned transfer out of the Economic Deve lopment Department of both the Bermuda Business
Development Agency (BDA) and the Bermuda Ec onomic Development Corporation (BEDC) grants . Mr.
Chairman the Bermuda Tourism A gency grant, r educed for 2022/23 by $1,460,000, as highlighted on
page C-17 of the Budget Book will continue to reside
within the Cabinet Office.

The Bermuda Tourism Authority
Sen. Owen Darrell : Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda
Tourism Authority operates as the destination marketing organisation for the Island’s crucial tourism sector.
The global tourism industry has faced wide- reaching
challenges over the past two years and Bermuda ha s
not been spared.
The Authority continues its mission to develop
Bermuda’s tourism industry by growing the number of
visitors to Bermuda, increasing visitor spending and
nurturing the environment for job creation.
Mr. Chairman, in the 2022/23 fiscal year, the
Government will invest $20,040,000 into the Bermuda
Tourism Authority to support the crucial tourism indus-try for the purpose of rebuilding our economy and
building workforce capacity pipelines.
Total income from the BTA is forecast to be
$28,600,000 . The additional $8, 600,000, or $8.6 mi llion, is forecast to come from fees paid by visitors
staying in our hotels, vacation rental units, and cruise
ship passengers. Accurately estimating total income remains a
challenge, but, as in previous years, the BTA will
regularly review all expenditures and take any necessary action in light of new information affecting income streams. As is always the case, the vast majority of BTA funds is spent on selling and marketing the destination. When adjustments are necessary, funds all ocated for sales and marketing are prioritised.
Of the estimated income for 2022, the Sales
and Marketing Division will be allocated $21,446,000
representing a 76.1 [per cent ] of the total expenses .
[The] Business Intelligence and Technology Division
will be allocated $1,407, 000, representing 5.2 per cent
of the total expenses . And the Operations Division will
be allocated $5,282,000, representing 18.7 per cent of
total expenses.
Mr. Chairman, the BTA is also working with
the Bermuda Business Development Agency and the
Economic Development Department to reinvigorate
interest in new and existing hotel development sites
across the Island. Additional rooms and conference
facilities will open the Island up to more group bus iness, stimulat e investment opportunities, and support
demand throughout Bermuda.
Without additional hotel capacity, Bermuda
will be challenged to plan for group business sales
and increased airlift, which underpins so many el ements of our tourism growth strategy.
Bermuda has suffered the impact that sudden
changes in the major airline carriers’ schedules inflict
on our tourism industry. Airlift and hotel inventory are
interrelated and co- dependent. Bermuda's reduced
hotel inventory has had a negative impact on Berm uda's airlift. The BTA are focused on partnering with the
airlines and developing co- op programmes to fill exis ting flights and fuel demand to necessitate an expansion of the schedule.
BTA works closely with its partners at the
Bermuda Airport Authority, S kyport and the Ministry of
Transport to shape and execute Bermuda's Air Service Development Strategy. The BTA gathers and
shares vital data on Bermuda's visitors and works to
build demands to fill seats, continually striving to expand airlift. Though extre mely challenging during the
disruption of COVID -19, there are several accomplishments to note. Bermuda negotiated and secured
a switch from Gatwick to Heathrow with British Ai rways, opening up greater connectivity to Europe.
Our collaborative partnership with American
Airlines yielded expanded service from their Charlotte
hub that proved so successful that it is now a part of their permanent schedule.
Routes lost during COVID -19 that have not
yet returned were winter service from Boston, and summer serv ice from Washington, DC. These two
markets are always in the top five visitor source mar-kets even in times without direct flights. The BTA recognises the importance of having direct service to and


Bermuda Senate from these markets and will support airlines willing to
serve them with marketing co- op programmes.
The return of cruise ships will play an i mportant role in the sector ’s recovery in 2022, contri buting to local businesses, tax revenue and jobs. Bermuda looks forward to welcoming more than 170
cruise ship calls th is year.
Mr. Chairman, articulating the value propos ition for the BTA is more critical now than ever before.
Through organisational reform, there is a laser -focus
on managing operational and organisational efficiencies and a strategic staffing plan has been designed
to position the organisation to lead and support reco very of their industry.
Staffing and operational costs are being held
in line with last year’s budget. Pre- pandemic the BTA
had a budgeted headcount for 55 roles. The BTA now
fulfils the sam e functions with a current headcount of
34, of which 91 per cent are Bermudian or spouses of
Bermudian employees .
Mr. Chairman, each year the BTA sets objectives to maintain momentum towards achieving the
long-term National Tourism Plan objectives while a ddressing the immediate needs of the Tourism Industry. The objectives set out for the BTA team to achieve
in 2022 are
• to increase visitor spending to $260 million, or
50 per cent of 2019; from $126 million in
2021;
• to increase visitor spending directly inf luenced
by the BTA to $64.3 million, or 75 per cent of
2019 (this includes group and event bookings
and leisure promotions that can be directly tied to BTA activities);
• to increase the share of leisure visitors co ming from UK and Europe from 8 per cent in
2021 to 14 per cent;
• to increase superyacht economic impact to
$2.6 million;
• to increase air and cruise visitors ’ likelihood to
recommend Bermuda to their friends and rel atives to 81 per cent.

Brand Study

Sen. Owen Darrell: The BTA conducted a compr ehensive RFP for a brand study and selected Proverb,
a Boston- based agency, led by Bermudian Daren
Bascome. The study was conducted to better understand the new post -COVID -19 traveller, and adapt a
way to communicate, promote, and serve the market.
As the trav el industry spends billions of dollars luring
eager travellers to their destinations, this brand study
provided a full audit to help identify the strengths and
weaknesses of the current brand strategy, messaging,
and visual identity. This led to a full brand assessment and will inspire the direction of new sales and marketing materials. This brand shift will reflect the findings
and provide a new direction for the BTA as they bid to recapture Bermuda’ s share of the surging travel i ndustry. Proverb will assi st in providing clear strategic
brand direction as it is infiltrated across marketing
channels.

Marketing and Communications

Sen. Owen Darrell: Traditionally, 15 [per cent] to
20 per cent of Bermudian visitors come from Europe
and Canada. The BTA has partnered with Reach
Global in Canada, and Hills -Balfour Agency in the
United Kingdom, to represent Bermuda and build customised travel packages to restore and grow these
important markets. The BTA has been working directly
with British Airways, Air Canada, and WestJet to build
and drive demand.
The BTA are hosting familiarisation trips to
our tour operators and media to provide a first -hand,
personalised experience and education to take back
and raise awareness for Bermuda throughout Canada
and Europe. Wit h the negotiated switch from Gatwick
to London Heathrow, Bermuda has gained powerful
access to significantly more European and international connections, and Bermuda is poised to take full
advantage of this opportunity .
Customised co- op marketing program mes are
now in development with Air Canada and every major
US carrier that services Bermuda, to partner with the airlines to create and drive demand. BTA’s focus on
niche and group travel will be critical to achieve the
incremental visitation and demand needed to incenti vise airlines to return to a more robust schedule.
With the further relaxed protocols that went
into effect on March 7, the BTA is introducing a new
comprehensive marketing campaign, informed and
directed by the aforementioned brand study c onduc ted last year. BTA is rebuilding and will soon relaunch the “Go To Bermuda” website to feature improved
navigation and search- ability and make it easier for
visitors to connect with Bermuda in a more personal way.
Using the “personalisation” platfor m we can
derive specific information [about] t he type of acco mmodation they prefer, the types of activities they enjoy, and experiences that they are looking for . The
new website will connect travellers with the Bermudian experience that is just right for them.

Sales

Sen. Owen Darrell: A large part of the BTA’s sales
strategy is to establish Bermuda as a year -round destination with more balanced seasonality by pursuing groups to fill our traditionally softer months. Despite
the closure of the Island's lar gest conference facility in
Fairmont Southampton, the BTA sales team has not
let that deter them from securing group business and have pursued niche travel opportunities to grow sales.
266 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sport is proving to be a powerful engine for
new business. In addition to being an important part of
Bermuda's legacy, we offer an attractive destination
with world -class facilities, from our beautiful golf
courses to the National Sports Centre and an ideal
sailing environment. We are filling the 2022 calendar
(and beyond) w ith competitions that bring visitors back
to Bermuda, fuel our air and hotel demand, create
excitement, and pride in our community, and deliver
valuable media coverage, such as the recently s ecured US Track & Field (USATF) Bermuda Games
that will be broadc ast live on NBC, with rebroadcasts
around the world representing millions of dollars of
media value. This is a testament to Bermuda's capac ity as a destination to deliver high profile sporting
events.

Workforce

Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, to underst and the
industry’s workforce demands, in July 2020 the BTA
commissioned PwC to engage the h otelier group to
report on their workforce challenges, including the
impact of COVID -19 and the closure of Fairmont
Southampton.
Not surprisingly, the data showed an oversupply of hospitality workers from around 575 to 716, but those numbers were derived from assumptions
that the worst of coronavirus would be behind Berm uda and that there would be a confirmed opening date
for the Fairmont Southampton. We will commence an
update of the industry workforce analysis to get a truer
understanding of where the capacity gaps exist, so that we can commence on addressing the gaps
through core training, leadership readiness and upskilling initiatives.
The first hotelier stakeholder meeting [of this
renewed push] was held on 1 December 2021 to di scuss plans that sought to address the capacity gap
and ways hoteliers c ould collaborate and speak with
one advocacy voice. The immediate action resulting
from that meeting was the firs t collaborative recrui tment drive which saw about 200 applicants competing
for a myriad of hotel roles for the upcoming season.

School Programmes

Sen. Owen Darrell: The BTA will continue supporting
and implementing hospitality skills and career priming
programmes into local middle and high schools, both
private and public . The Hospitality Skills Equals Life
Skills programme supports career pathways by creat-ing interest within primary school -age children for the
possibility of a tourism career. With respec t to the si gnature school education initiatives , the BTA will be
working with the Ministry of Education and all other
relevant parties on assisting with the creat ing of ac ademic modules, appropriate practical skills training, individual and group projects focused on real -world issues, including internships and meaningful work
placements.
Mr. Chairman, while the trajectory of the pandemic and the potential impact of the war in Ukraine is
uncertain, we continue to move forward to build the foundation of a thriving tourism sector.
From a public health perspective, the Island
has shifted gears and we have transitioned our approach to consider the lowered risks [and] the heightened understanding [ of] the new global landscape.
It is important to note that whi le our focus on
infrastructure, inventory and airline capacity remains
steady, the BTA in concert with partners in Gover nment and in the private sector will continue to roll out
training and development initiatives to prepare [ the]
Bermudian workforce for future growth.
Beyond development of the sector’s human
capital, we are seeing progress in improvement of the hotel stock , including the opening of the Tapestry by
Hilton Bermudiana Beach Resort in 2023, the refur-bishment of Cambridge Beaches, the continu ed expansion of Azura and its sister property Nautilus, and
the impending return of the Fairmont Southampton.
Also a ccelerating hotel investment thr ough changes in
the Tourism Investment Act aggressively leveraging
group sales opportunities and building capacity
through marketing are critical for our recovery.
Despite challenges over the past two years,
the Bermuda Tourism Authority is building the found ation not only to meet but eventually exceed 2019 levels. The organisation will pursue the ambitious goa ls
outlined in their National Tourism Plan to provide sustained growth for the future.
Mr. Chairman, as I close this portion of the
brief and move on, I wish to thank the BTA, led by the Board Chair MP Wayne Caines, the Board of Directors including the MP Kim Swan, and the leadership of
the BTA led by Mr. Charles H. Jeffers II.

Manpower

Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, as seen on page
B-44, e mployee numbers , there is a total increase of
four FTEs in 2022/23 compared to the 2021/22 orig inal FTE estimates . This results from the already mentioned two additional permanent secretary posts under
business unit 19000, General Administration , as well
as [the] legal counsel post in the PATI/PIPA unit also
mentioned [within the ] explanation provided for [ the]
incre ased salaries in line items. [The] additional FTEs
within [business unit] 19085, the PATI/PIPA unit is
technically not an increase but merely a prolonged administrative task to transfer the post out of the already dissolved ICT Policy and Innovation Depar tment that should have been reflected in last year’s employee figures.





Bermuda Senate Capital Expenditure

Sen. Owen Darrell: You will note that in accordance
[with] page C -4, there are funds allocated for Capital
Development in the amount of $570,000. This is a
reduced carry -forward from the original 2020 /21 allocation of $1,070,000 for the Shoreside facility which,
Madam Chairman, you will note was entirely unspent
in 2021/22 —sorry, Mr. Chairman.
As seen on pages C -9 and C -10, there w as
no capital acquisition submissi ons for 2022/23 for the
Cabinet Office.
Mr. Chairman, the Cabinet Office has also
been pleased to demonstrate this Government’s support for the Island’s community clubs .
Mr. Chairman, I now turn my attention to Output Measures.

Output Measures

Sen. Owe n Darrell: The performance measures developed by the Cabinet Office are found on pages B -
45 and B -46. The majority of the measures outlined in
2021/22 have been or are anticipated to be realized
by March 31 with continuance throughout the 2022/23
period. Mr. Chairman, kindly allow me to highlight a
few of these measures.
Business unit 19035 , the London Office,
achieved the majority of the objectives set [out] especially the first target of assisting Bermudians living in
the UK, including students.
As wa s previously seen on [page ] B-42, the
London Office has a budget allocation of $1,176,000 for the 2022/23 fiscal year. Mr. Chairman, this office
continues to provide service to the Government by
maintaining our relationship with the United Kingdom,
through high- level dialogue with the United Kingdom
[Government ], particularly through increased e ngagement with departments of Her Majesty’s Government [HMG ] across Whitehall. While doing so, this
office works in cohesion with g overnments of the
Overseas Territories on shared policy areas across the Territories. The London Office is responsible for engaging with
• both Houses of Parliament;
• the UK Diplomatic Corps, such as Embassies
and High Commissions;
• the UK Overseas Territories Association;
• the Commonwealth Sec retariat, along with
UK-based Commonwealth Associations;
• Bermudians living in the UK including st udents;
• the general UK public, to include private companies;
• Civil Societies; and
• all those who have a general or vested interest in Bermuda.
For the fiscal term 2021/22 the primary function of the London Office was to provide the neces-sary immediate assistance and guidance through its
consular function to Bermudians living and studying in
the UK and throughout Europe as a result of the i mpact of COVID -19.
The nature of consular assistance continues
to range in levels of varying circumstances from assisting students transitioning to the UK , to matters of
critical nature such as repatriation as well as the pr ovision of advice in matters of hardship. The offi ce
works with the local UK councils and authorities to
ensure Bermudians are afforded their rights and ent itlement while in the UK, and in most cases, clarifying
the right of British Overseas Territory c itizenship which
impacts on Bermudians obtaining hous ing and employment.
Mr. Chairman, similar to the objectives and
targets achieved in 2021/22, the functions of the Lo ndon Office for the fiscal term 2022/23 will be the following :
• to continue to support [ Bermudians ] for the
UK and Europe with its consular affairs;
• to maintain dialogue across the UK Parli ament by engaging with UK Members of Par-liament;
• to continue engag ing with UK civil servants in
departments across Whitehall and all policy
matters relating to Bermuda;
• to support Bermuda’s Financial Ser vices r egime; and
• to implement the political commitments made
through the Joint Ministerial Council in N ovember 2021.
For fiscal year 2021/22, Bermuda held chai rmanship and presidency amongst the Overseas Terr itory governments through the United Kingdom O verseas Territories Association. During Bermuda’s pres idency the London Office was ultimately responsible
for representation and coordination amongst 14 Overseas Territories for our presence at COP26 in Glasgow under the leadership of our Deputy Premier. O ur
presence and involvement gave Bermuda the opportunity to present our success in environment al protection on the world stage.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, as noted in the Manpower section, the London Office has not increased
the number of FTEs . But I would also like to mention
that it does provide experience to graduates through its current internship progra mme .
Mr. Chairman, on the topic of internships, the
Brussels Office will also provide opportunities to
young Bermudians to gain experience working in
Brussels. The office, as seen on page B -42, has been
allocated $344,000. It is managed by the UK Repr esentative through the London Office while work on the ground is overseen by the Government’s [Senior ] Advisor of European Affairs and Policy.
The objectiv es of the Office for fiscal term
2022/23 will continue to be:
268 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate • maintaining close dialogue with the European
Commission, Council and European Parli ament and other EU institutions;
• facilitating access of the Premier and Mini sters to key persons in upholding the Gover nment’s presence in Europe; and
• working in cohesion with the Ministry of F inance to support Bermuda’s global position as
a robust regulatory financial regime. In par-ticular, focusing on Bermuda’s removal from
Annex II in the next relevant meeting of the EU Council of Ministers, currently scheduled
for October 2022.
Mr. Chairman, still on page B -42, you will note
the [Washington,] DC Office shows an allocation in
the amount of $244,000 for rent and insurance expense only. While there was a determ ined effort to
sublet it in accordance with the existing lease, a sublet
tenant was not secured. However, Mr. Chairman, I am
pleased to confirm that the office will be staffed this
year. An individual has been identified and discussions are now underway to effect an engagement for
a representative presence in Washington, DC.
Mr. Chairman, let me redirect to the measures
of [page] B -46, where I would like to turn your attention to the business unit 19080, Head of the Public
Service. I am pleased to provide an update on the
second measure to develop a five- year public service
plan that requires the review and justification of services provided by Government by June 2020.
Honourable Senators will recall that this
measure derives from the objectives set out in the
Government Reform Strategic Framework and the
development of the Plan has not yet been realised.
The recommendations that will inform the Plan d epend largely on the data gathered as a part of the z ero-based budgeting (ZBB) process. An analytical tool
to assess the public value of government services was tested in the 2020/21 budget cycle, refined, and
implemented in earnest as part of the preparation for the fiscal 2021/22 budget.
A quantitative analysis of the data was completed and a qualitative rev iew followed. The data will
now be reassessed drawing on the output from the
2022/23 budget data and further decisions will be
made with respect to the future of public services. The
data will enable the Government to determine the
relative public value pr ovided by each government
service. Thereafter the Government will be able to make informed decisions regarding the services as it
is able to provide to the public.
Mr. Chairman, with respect to Customer
Complaints, the third of the output measures, while
the feedback system has not yet been implemented,
development is a work in progress and it is expected
to launch in the coming months. Mr. Chairman, you
may recall that the feedback system is designed to
enable the public to easily report via an online sys tem
their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with any gover n-ment service. Members of the public will be able to
identify those public officers providing exemplary services, and similarly, those whose service fails to meet
the Government's standards for servic e delivery.
Mr. Chairman, the Government has completed a Service Standards Policy. The policy on Service Standards has been implemented government -wide in
order to standardise customer service approaches
and provide direction to departments on the expect ations of their service delivery. The entire public service is currently engaged in service standards awareness training with a target completion date of March 2022.
All public service employees will have an understanding of the Government service standards, their r esponsibility to uphold them, how they can use the
standards to promote a culture of service excellence,
and the benefits for being a service provider of excel-lence.
Mr. Chairman, with respect to the final measure, a total of 31 public officers participated in the pilot
Leadership Programme. The Public Service Leadership Programme is a structured programme designed to develop key leadership competencies and is
aligned with the succession planning programme. It
was ultimately determined that the p ilot programme,
which included three management training groups at
an executive, management and introductory levels,
would continue for a two- year period to allow officers
sufficient time to complete the activities set out in their
individual development plans. The pilot group will
conclude the programme in the early summer and a
new cohort will commence the leadership develo pment programme this fall.
Mr. Chairman, the programmes mentioned
above are all evidence of steps taken towards the i mplementation of the Government Reform Plan which
has our people, that is, our employees, and IT infr astructure as its current priorities. Other work impl emented or commenced in accordance with the reform
agenda include a public service excellence awards
initiative, the employee wellness programme already
mentioned and the completion of the succession
planning policy and commencement of a government -
wide compensation strategy review to name a few.
Mr. Chairman, five cases of gross misconduct
remain outstanding and our ability to meet our performance target in this regard has been hampered by a
dispute between the Office of the Head of the Public
Service and the Bermuda Industrial Union over the
authority of the Head of the Public Service to conduct
Gross Misconduct Hearin gs. The matter has been
referred to the Employment and Labour Relations Tr ibunal for consideration and we await a decision.
Mr. Chairman, allow me to turn your attention
[to], as well as to expand on, the last business unit
under Performance Measures,19085, where we see
the first measure as achieved.
The PATI/PIPA Unit is responsible for the c oordination of the Public Access to Information Act


Bermuda Senate (PATI) and the Personal Information Protection Act
(PIPA). In addition, the unit maintains the PATI Code
of Prac tice, provides general advice and guidance to
public authorities, Information Officer training and car-ries out administrative responsibilities assigned to the Minister in accordance with the Act. PIPA responsibil ities include the development and implementation of
the Privacy Programme for the Government of Bermuda, as well as the establishment of the Privacy A dequacy strategy to enable the smooth flow of personal information between Bermuda and other international jurisdictions.
The unit ultimately support s the Government
in creating a beneficial, transparent and data protec-tion environment that underpins our economic ecosy stem. This unit works in collaboration with the Offices
of the Information Commissioner and the Privacy
Commissioner to both ensure the information and pr ivacy rights in the jurisdiction. The work of the unit also
plays a key role in the Government’s effort towards
transformative change in how the Government and our jurisdiction manage information.
The Government of Bermuda interacts with
the public, the broader community, and international
entities and individuals on a regular basis. This interaction includes the collection, exchange, retention and
disposal of personal information using physical and electronic methods in the course of conducting ever yday business and social processes. As such, the Government handles and holds a great deal of information related to such processes, as well as a signif icant amount of personal information. It is therefore
important that the rights of access to information and
privacy principles are ingrained in the Government’s
operations and culture.
Mr. Chairman, the PATI/PIPA Unit has been
allocated $881,000, an increase of $417,000 which,
as detailed under the subjective analysis, specifically
salaries, mostly relates to the transfer of one post
from an already dissolved ICT department as well as
the legal counsel.
Requirements specified for the unit, Mr.
Chairman, include:
• development and implementation of an organ-isational structure to enable the requi rements
of the unit;
• implementing strategic, programme, oper ational and administrative measures to deliver
upon the requirements of PATI and PIPA;
• policy, procedure, guidance and template a dministration;
• liaison with the respective regulatory author ities; and
• training, awareness and communication deli very.
The unit will play a significant role in the administration and facilitation of the compliance r equirements for both Acts. Mr. Chairman, in line with the 2021 Throne
Speech undertaking, a full rev iew of the PATI fram ework, both legislative and operational, will be conducted. Mr. Chairman, the law and internal administr ative practices must keep pace with the increasingly
complex work of the Ministers and public officers.
In determining how to manage documents for
which requests have been made, it is critical to the
efficient management of Government that information
officers can properly apply the law.
The last year has seen much development in
the world of data protection and privacy. Brexit, th e
passage of significant pieces of privacy legislation in
the United States and globally, the increase in data
breaches and the impact on customers as well as the
requirements for cross -border data transfers has underlined the importance of data protection and privacy
to a jurisdiction. The unit has worked in collaboration with the Privacy Commissioner and the Information
Commissioner to examine PIPA ahead of the next
phases of it coming into force. We will soon see
amendments to PIPA and the harmonisation of PIPA
and PATI. Additionally, harmonisation of PIPA with
other pieces of legislation will continue to be identified
and brought forward accordingly.
Mr. Chairman, when PIPA is fully in force, it
will have significant implications for the entire jurisdi ction. The Privacy Commissioner has responsibility to
provide guidance relating to the implementation of
PIPA in the jurisdiction. Guidance notes related to the
elements of PIPA, as well as best practice and best
advice for implementation, are available on the office’s website.
The unit has integrated this best practice into
the Government’s privacy programme and encourages all organisations to become familiar with the i mplementation steps that will help them comply with PIPA. [Those are:]
• Conduct an inventory and classify or, "map"
the personal information that is used in their
processes.
• Document, in policies and procedures, how
personal information is to be “used” in an organisation and how PIPA requirements will be
met, such as [for] individual access r equests
and incident response.
• Provide appropriate training and awareness to
staff and others, like vendors and service pr oviders, who have access to the organisation’s
data.
• Analyse the privacy risk to the organisation,
using tools such as "Privacy Impact Assessments."
Mr. Chairman, in addition to the steps mentioned above, all organisations, including the Gover nment, will be required to notify residents as to how
and why their personal information is collected, used
and stored through “Privacy Notices.” PIPA also i mpacts interactions with other organisations, including
270 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate vendors. Risk assessments will therefore become i mportant in the contracting process for the Government
of Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman, privacy intersects with many
other requirements for the processes underway within
the Government. For example, information technology
security, cybersecurity, which is the protection of electronic data from criminal or unauthorised access and
use, is an important component of PIPA compliance.
The PATI/PIPA unit will work in collaboration with the
Ministry of National Security, the Information and Digital Technologies Department (IDT) and the Cybers ecurity Governance Board to support the implement ation of the Bermuda Cybersecurity Strategy, specif ically in relatio n to data breach requirements. The unit
will also ensure that it leverages and promotes the
Government’s records management requirements,
complying with the regulatory requirements while also
reflecting good governance. Additionally, the unit will
aid in t he ongoing reform process, helping to ensure
that privacy by design and default is an integral component of the Government programme initiatives.
Mr. Chairman, at this time, I take the opportunity to extend my thanks to all of the staff at the
Cabinet Off ice for their ongoing contributions and dedication to serving the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my presentation
of Head 9.

Thank you, Senator. Please proceed
with Head 13.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

HEAD 13 —BERMUDA POST OFFICE

Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, I am happy to pr esent the budget for Head 13, Bermuda Post Office
found on pages B -47 to B -53 of the Budget Book.
The Bermuda Post Office, Mr. Chairman, is
governed by the Post Office Act 1900, t he Post Office
Regulations 1933, and the Post Office (Departmental
Administration) Regulations 1933. Postal services are provided from the General Post Office (known as the
GPO), located on Church and Parliament Street, the
Mail Processing Centre (also known as the BMPC) located at New Venture House on Mills Creek, and
currently seven sub- Post Offices located throughout
the Island. Sub- Post Offices are located in Crawl,
Devonshire, Flatts, Mangrove Bay, Southampton, St.
George’s, and Warwick.
Mr. Chairman, the Perot Post Office was converted to a COVID -19 testing site in 2020 and conti nues to be used for that vital function. Postal services that were normally available there before COVID -19
continue to be provided at the GPO.
Mr. Chairman, the mission of t he Bermuda
Post Office is To provide the general public with accessible, affordable and efficient postal service. The Bermuda Post Office is a member of the
Universal Postal Union [UPU] and works to ensure that it meets the universal service obligations t o the
residents of Bermuda as Bermuda’s national postal service provider. The post office aims to deliver mail consistently within four working days. In fact, the post
office delivers 98 per cent of all local and international
mail received in Bermuda within four working days
and all arrival notifications of international parcel mail,
to advise customers of incoming parcel mail, within
two working days. Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office is
increasing its relevance in this current age of esubstitution and e- commerce and has taken full advantage of global opportunities in e- commerce. For
example, MyBermudaPost was implemented in late
November 2021. To date, they have over 1,500 MyBermudaPost members and have re- assigned staff
for this new initiative, wh ile still maintaining local d elivery and service requirements.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office has
set the following strategic priorities for 2022/23:
• continue implementing digital solutions in service, home delivery and local logistic services;
• generate additional revenue through its website, extend the customer base and online
sale of postal stamps and products;
• increase overall efficiency via implementation
of online forms, a more user -friendly website
and direct payment functionality for PO boxes
and other payment fees for customers; lastly
• most importantly, the post office will become more customer focused and will conduct extensive customer service training for staff.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office hopes
to continue its success story i n meeting the mandates
and challenges to reform its business model. That is:
• meet the postal needs of the people of Ber-muda;
• meet the mandates of the Government of Bermuda in service, policy and mail delivery;
and
• provide an efficient postal service.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office is not
just a local post office. It continues to play a part in global security through its international obligations and
compliance requirements with its global postal par tners regarding electronic advance data (EAD) transmission and increased standards in delivery and qual ity of service. It is also hoped that during 2022/23 EAD data for all incoming and outgoing mail items will be transmitted electronically to Customs to assist with
their border control and revenue protec tion respons ibilities.
Mr. Chairman, it is a well -known fact that the
traditional letter mail is declining, and the Bermuda
Post Office must retool itself to survive and to remain relevant. The post office is a government asset that


Bermuda Senate should be both sustainable and competitive in order to
survive.
As mentioned previously, MyBermudaPost,
online payments, home delivery of parcel mail, and a
renewed focus on customer service, its quality in ser-vice and individual accountability, will assist in transforming the post office. This, coupled with the i ncrease in emphasis on staff training and development,
and the use of technology to drive postal improv ements, will make the BPO a preferred option for local residents.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office’s new
webs ite www.bermudapost.bm
continues to be a benefit to customers. Post office customers can track and trace incoming and outgoing mail items, open an
online account and find information on all postal products and serv ices, in addition to links to government
departments.
Mr. Chairman, the post office will continue to
utilise its Island -wide network to improve revenues
via:
• promotion of local e- commerce shopping;
• promotion of bulk mail services and delivery;
• promotion of direct and national flyer mail and
marketing mail services; and
• improved logistics, services and local package
delivery.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post Office recognises that to remain relevant it also must continue
to generate additional revenue and t o be innovative.
The Bermuda Post Office’s current business plan will be evaluated to explore new products and service opportunities while improving customer service as an
effective marketing strategy and expansion of current
services.
Mr. Chairman, the B ermuda Post Office is
comprised of the Administration Division and Oper ations Division. Although both divisional head positions
remain vacant, the Administration Division includes
administration and finance, information technology
and philatelic services, while the Operations Division
is made up of BMPC (Bermuda Mail Processing Ce ntre), the General Post Office (GPO), Sub- Post Offices
and facilities department.

Expenditure Overview

Sen. Owen Darrell: As indicated on pages B -49 to B -
50 of the Budget Book, the Bermuda Post Office has
been allocated a total of $8,934,000 for the financial year 2022/23. This amount reflects a decrease of
$260,000, or 2.8 per cent, from the 2021/22 budget
allocation of $9,150,000, and after 2021/22, salary estimates were revised.

Salaries and Wages

Sen. Owen Darrell: Salaries and wages continue to
be the largest expenditure item at 90 per cent . . . I am sorry —90 per cent of total expenditure. The total estimate of salaries and wages for 2022/23 is
$7,368,000; down from $7,613,000 in 2021/22 revised
totals, a decrease of $289,000 or 3.9 per cent. The
establishment list of 133 employees in 2021/22 r emains the same for the budget year 2022/23.
Mr. Chairman, operational expenditures for
the Bermuda Post Office make up the remai ning
18 per cent —sorry, the remaining 8 per cent of the
expenditure of 2022/23. The major operational ex-penses include in the 2022/23 budget are rent, repairs
and maintenance, energy costs, materials and su pplies. These are explained in the next paragraphs and
represent the continued effort of the post office to r emain cost -effective efficiencies in operations.
Training costs for the 2022/23 budget is at
$12,000, which is identical to the 2020/21 budgeted amount, as more United Postal Union (UPU) training
and industry workshops will be held online in 2022.
Staff continue to be encouraged to take advantage of
this training to increase their technical skill sets and overall post office efficiency.
Communications expense is estimated at
$72,000 for 2022/23, an increase of 3 per cent from
the 2021/22 revised total of $70,000. This expenditure
also includes telephone rental equipment, local and
overseas calls and GPS devices. The increase in communication expenses includes mobile devices for
the MyBermudaPost c ouriers for customer communications in delivery and eventually, to make online d elivery scans for customer sign- off [for] mail track and
trace purposes.
Rental expenses for the 2022/23 budget cycle
is $319,000 allocated as rent for the Mail Processing
Centre, which remains at the New Venture House at
Mills Creek.
Repairs and maintenance expenses totalling
$463,000 for 2022/23 include charges for New Venture House, building repairs, cleaning contracts, cycle
and vehicle repairs, and security services. Ex penses
are estimated to decrease by only $2,000 compared
to the previous 2021/22 revised budget of $465,000.
Equipment totalling $12,000 for 2021/22
which includes furniture, fixtures, handyman tools and
equipment, the BMPS lift, mail trays and racks i ncreases to $20,000 for 2022/23, due to increased pr eventive maintenance to ensure longevity in usage.
Materials and supplies revised to $189,000 for
2021/22 will be up 3 per cent for the total of $195,000.
The expenditure line includes costs for stamp production, printing, stationery and office supplies.
Mr. Chairman, I would now like to go back to
the smaller line items. The budgeted Transport costs,
which include freight charges for the transport and
handling charges of the mail to foreign postal admi nistrations are expected to remain the same in 2022/23
at $46,000, as the post office looks to continue eff iciencies in mail transport, frequency and route effectiveness.
272 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Travel costs to support BPO required conferences, et cetera, as a member of the UPU and Caribbean Postal Union, remain $7,000 during the 2022/23
budget.
Advertising and promotion expenses to cover
an increased BPO marketing efforts via print media, Facebook and Instagram, is estimated at $49,000,
which is lower than the 2020/21 budget by $5 4,000, or
9 per cent. Professional services include annual dues
for UPU, Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) or EMS c ooperative and consult fees for the Stamp Advisory
Committee. The 2022/23 estimate of $48,000 is a decrease from the 2020/21 budgeted amount of $89,000
as more reliance is placed on in- house expertise to
reinvent the post office.
The budget for energy costs, which includes
electricity, gasoline and diesel for 2021/22 was r evised at $216,000. The budget estimate for 2022/23 is
$213,000.
Insurance expenses to cover vehicle fleets
remain the same at $12,000.
Uniform expenses will also remain the same
during the 2022/23 financial year at $60,000 to meet
negotiated obligations as the post office transitions
into new uniforms for all staff. An annual savings of
approximately $20,000 per year is expected from
2023, and the post office is grateful to its union par tners for making the new uniform and exchange policy
a reality.
Other Expenses include World Post Day
recognition, staff -related expenses (retir ements, et
cetera), office supplies, paper, [and] credit card commission fees. The 2020/21 revised budget for this line item was $48,000. An increase is expected in 2022/23
to $51,000, or 6 per cent.
Mr. Chairman this concludes the commentary
of the Bermuda Post Office for the 2022/23 current
account expenditure.

Revenue Overview

Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post
Office continues to provide postal and other services
as mandated by the Government and regulated by
local legislation and [UPU ] regulations. The total rev enue estimate for the year 2022/23, which can be
found on [page] B -50 is $3,312,000. This is an i ncrease of $296,000, or 9.8 per cent, from the 2021/22
revised estimate of $3,016,000.
Mr. Chairman, despite the COVID -19 interruption to local and residential activities, the Bermuda Post Office collected more revenue for government departments in 2021/22.
In 2021/22 (to 28 February 2022), the Berm uda Post Office collected agency receipts of $923,000, which is more than the revenue collected in 2020/21 of $794,500. This is a reflection of the COVID -19 impact in 2020/21 and also points to the relevance of the post office to local residents as Bermuda’s national
postal provider.
This amount is broken down as follows: Custom duty collected $432,000; Department of Public
Transportation bus passes, tokens and tickets sold, $197,000; Department of Education pre- school and
after school vouchers sold, $255,500; the Department
of Environmental Protection dog licencing fees at
$38,500.
Mr. Chairman, these amounts, plus the no
cost delivery and courier service to the Bermuda Post Office continues to provide to other government departments and to Government House, are not included in the Post Office Revenue figures but should be
recognised i n each respective department’s budget
estimates.
The services provided by the Bermuda Post
Office in this context, adds to government -wide eff iciencies and effectiveness to the greater role the post
office plays and to provide service opportunities for
government departments while helping to reduce its
annual operational costs.
Mr. Chairman, the main revenue sources for
the Bermuda Post Office are frankpost, postal meter
sales, bulk mail, Post Office Box rentals, terminal
dues revenue, and general stamp sales.
Mr. Chairman, frankpost or postal meter sales
is budgeted for 2022/23 at $400,000, with express and parcel services estimated at an additional
$57,000. Postal meter sales is a most efficient way for
small to large businesses to apply for postal and letter
mail packages without having to buy physical stamps.
Bulk mail budgeted for 2022/23 is $427,000,
or the same as in 2021/22. Postal partners are large volume business mailers, as well as business mailers
using the Post Office to market their products and
services used in flyer mail that the Post Office can
target delivery to specific addresses and/or Islandwide.
Traditional letter mail volumes from busines ses have been steadily declining over the years due to
other communication methods and e- substitution for
bills, statements and e- mail correspondence.
Business mailers continue to take advantage
of flyer mail rates. This service is an inexpensive a lternative compared to other traditional and electronic
media marketing to reach 38,000 residences , bus inesses and Post Office Box holders.
Mr. Chairman, the value of offering lower delivery and marketing rates, and having the exclusivity with letter mail in Bermuda has helped the Bermuda Post Office to offset annual declines in traditional mail
letter revenue. This is reflected by increased postal
meter sales by $50,000 in 2022/23.
Direct stamp sales revised revenue for
[2021/ ]22 was $439,000 and is expected to increase
in 2022/23 by $50,000 [ to] $489,000, or 11 per cent.
The Post Office expects incr eased marketing efforts
will be reflected in higher stamp sales revenue as the


Bermuda Senate COVID -19 impact on business and local needs decreases. An additional $75,000 is estimated as rev enue from [ postal ] parcel sales during 2022/23.
Mr. Chairman, Post al Box revenue fees is
expected to remain relatively stable, with projections
rising to $619,000 for 2022/23 compared to revised
2021/22 revenues of $589,000. The Post Office will
continue to market PO Box usage, as an affordable,
secure and private 24- hour service to i ncrease PO
Box rental revenue.
Terminal Dues, or mail revenue received from
foreign postal administrations for the Post Office to
deliver mail received in Bermuda, is expected to decrease to $450,000. This is due to the decline of international letter mai l volumes year -over-year, the
COVID -19 impact on mail transportation, and overall
reluctance to resume full air carrier service around the world.
Customs declaration fees, to be split and renamed MyBermudaPost Processing, and inbound
mail processing fees for 2022/23 is estimated at
$553,000, or an increase from 2021/22 revised rev enues of $203,000. The projected increase is attributed to expected increase of parcel volumes through
MyBermudaPost, a value- added service for the Post
Office and from current and new customers.
Moreover, a future home delivery option for
the UPU inbound mail products, or regular mail,
should result in increased revenue for the Post Office.
Mr. Chairman, other smaller revenue line
items include mail handl ing and licence fees at
$45,000; courier service fees at $32,000; postage
paid indicia fees at $15,000; and late PO Box rental
fees at $29,000, plus other packaging supply and r etail sale items.
None of these revenue items are ex pected to
exper ience significant increases compared to
2021/22, but it is anticipated that new Post Office efforts to better market and sell its products and services will be r eflected in increased revenues.
Mr. Chairman this concludes our commentary
on the Bermuda Post Office for account revenue.

Capital Expenditure

Sen. Owen Darrell: The Bermuda Post Office capital
expenditure budget for 2022/23 can be found on [page] C -9 of the Capital Acquisition Estimates
Schedule C. The Post Office has been allocated with
an amount of $39,000 for new computer equ ipment
and the purchase of new delivery cycles to help r eplace part of its ageing fleet of cycles, with an expected reduction in the annual maintenance costs of
service and to fix old cycles.
This capital expenditure compares to a r evised total allocation of $44,000 and is a decrease of
$5,000 or 11 per cent.
Major Policy Changes

Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, the Budget Stat ement for the Bermuda Post Office is a testament that
the Post Office has shifted its focus to a more innov ative, efficient and customer focused.
The Post Office is not afraid to compete for a
greater share of Bermuda’s postal market. The local
market is unregulated, not price sensitive or affordable
for all, and the Post Office will take advantage of this
opportunity . I would like to repeat that, Mr. Chairman.
The Post Office is not afraid to compete for a greater
share of Bermuda’s postal market. The local market is
unregulated, not price sensitive or affordable for all,
and the Post Office will take advantage of this opportunity, as does other local freight, parcel and doc ument companies.
The Universal Postal Union recognises the
annual declining letter mail volume, increased competition and limited local legislation to protect posts. In
this vein, opportunities are recognised by the Berm uda Post Office and postal operators worldwide, to i nnovate and compete to survive.

Plans for the upcoming year

Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Post
Office [philatelic ] website is now operational. Current
customers can now open a BPO account to order
stamps, purchase first day stamp cover issues, [phil atelic] supplies and manage standing orders and account balance top- ups.
The Bermuda Post Office plans to have three
stamp issues and one presentation pack in 2022/23. The stamp program me will include:
• A 100
th Anniversary of St. George’s Historical
Society —this will be May 19, 2022
• The 70th Anniversary of the Queen’s Asce nsion—that is June 10, 2022 , that is tentative
• St. David’s Islanders Native Community Pow Wow —that is July 21
• Present ation Pack 2022—November 18,
2022. It is a combination pac k of all stamps
issued in a year.
Mr. Chairman, postal legislative amendments
to the Post Office Act 1900, the Post Office Regul ations [1933], and the Post Office [ (Departmental A dministration) ] Regulations 1933 are planned as [ the]
Post Office ensures compliance with UPU Acts [ and]
Conventions. These legislative amendments will continue to facilitate postal online services, home delivery
of parcel mail, online forms, et cetera .
Mr. Chairman, the Post Office has not had a
rate change since 2015, though inflation and other
costs to provide delivery service locally and intern ationally continue to increase annually. Therefore, a recommendation to increase postal rates will be made
during the 2022/23 budget year to help offset the Post
Office’s annual operational deficit.
274 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Mr. Chairman, as the only government department that has direct competition, the Post Office’s
deficit reduction strategy is based on the tenets of tel ling its story, better utilisati on of the Bermuda national
asset and its universal service obligation to provide a postal service that is affordable.
Investments have been and will continue to be
made to improve the Bermuda Post Office. Technol ogy and infrastructure improvements will ma ke for a
more lean and competitive service.
Mr. Chairman, we are confident that the Bermuda Post Office will continue to improve and achieve
in spite of resource limitations. The Post Office’s new
organisation structure is in place. The objectives,
goals and projects set by the Bermuda Post Office for
2022/23 will continue to move its mission statement
and business plan forward and to be more innovative
and customer focused. Job descriptions continue to be updated to reflect a future postal state, with emphasis placed on staff training [ and] development to
facilitate the needs of Post Office customers.
Mr. Chairman, lastly, increasing the postal
revenues also remain the Post Offices’ strategic objective. The industry has changed. E -commerce and
logistics into the postal market is a growth area.
The Post Office will also be looking to i ncrease revenues by expanding its courier services for
MyBermudaPost and by increasing its logistic potential and network, to provide local entrepreneurs and ecommerce businesses with an affordable [local] lastmile delivery service called Drop- and-Deliver. Bus inesses can drop parcel mail off at any Post Office and delivery will be made to an Island- wide address within
24 hours. If a business cannot drop their mail off, the
Post Office will pick it up and deliver it for them.
Postal products will be marketed to increase
knowledge among both staff and the general public, to improve and establish the BPO brand and service
levels.
Mr. Chairman, the Post Office’s strategic decision is clear to make: They can close their doors, or
transform from just a delivery service for letters, to a
parcel delivery and logistics management service, which support s all residents.
The COVID -19 pandemic helped to accelerate
postal transformati ons or the future norm. Bermuda
has one of the best, inclusive and accurate addres sing systems in the world. The Post Office will capitalise on its addressing infrastructure to benefit parcel
mail delivery. Additional enhancements in 2022/23
include:
• Touch screen kiosks in selected sub-Post O ffices with public Wi- Fi access within the General Post Office (GPO) and mobile computer
usage for home delivery.
• Renovation and rebranding of the General
Post Office mail letter floor and closure of
Parcel Post, to mer ge both for better econo-mies of scale, increased efficiency and better
management of staff.
• Increase the weight and size of mail items
transported to Bermuda via MyBermudaPost to meet [ the] greater needs of residents and
local businesses for goods not found in Ber-muda.
• Explore postal legislation opportunities to engage in financial services or activities via the
UPU’s financial services postal infrastructure
and international postal footprint.
• To w ork with local vendors and e- commerce
providers to benefit t heir logistics and delivery
needs.
Mr. Chairman, I conclude, by adding that the
Universal Postal Union’s Extraordinary Congress meeting in 2023 may lead to a significant shift in the postal market in the future. This is opening up of the
Union to wider postal sector players. This means that
international couriers such as DHL, UPS [and] FedEx
will have access to UPU product offerings and vice -
versa.
Mr. Chairman, let me thank the hardworking
and dedicated staff of the Bermuda Post Office, who are led by P ostmaster General Mr. Sam Brangman,
Jr. and his management team. Staff have worked
through COVID -19 and have continued to deliver mail
and provide excellent service to Bermuda
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Senator Darrell. You can
proceed forward with Head 80, Project Management
and Procurement.

HEAD 80 —OFFICE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
AND PROCUREMENT

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Office of the Project Management and
Procurement can be found on pages B -69 to B -71.
Mr. Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to
present the budget Head 80, the Office of Project
Management and Procurement (the “Office),” found
on pages B -69 to B -71 of the Budget Book.
Mr. Chairman, the Office of Project Management and Procurement ’s miss ion is To provide oversight and guidance in the project management and
procurement , to ensure transparency and value for
money.
Following are t he objectives of the Office:
• Reform;
• Inclusion;
• Accessibility ;
• Contracts ;
• track dollar values of all procurement and pr ojects that the OPMP are asked to review, assist, or advise during this period, by categ ories low, intermediate, high value and by mi nistries and departments ;


Bermuda Senate • compliance —to assure compliance of project
and procurement activities to the statutory,
regulatory requirements, applicable rules, po licies and procedures for the projects and pr ocurement.

Expenditure Overview

Sen. Owen Darrell: The total current expenditure is
estimated to be $ 799,675 for the fiscal year 2022/23.
This is an increase of their budget from [the] previous
year’s original estimate in the amount of $117 ,276.
This is mainly due to the funding being made available
for one vacant post.
Mr. Chairman, the Subjective Analysis of Current Account Estimates of the Office of Project Management and Procurement is found on [ page ] B-70.
Please allow me to highlight them:
• Other Personnel Costs are $3,000, which is
the same as last year's budget.
• There is no change in Local Training, which remains at $3,000.
• There is no change in Communications, w hich
remains at $4,000.
• There is no change in Rental Expense and
remains at $1,000.
• There is no change in Repair and Maint enance expenses . It stands at $4,000.
• There is an increase in Materials and Supplies, from $2,000 to $24,000.

Capital Expenditure
Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, no capital funds
are allocated for Capital Expenditure for 2022/23.

Current year achievements
Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, the Office provi ded the Minister and Cabinet with the required quarterly
waiver reports and an alysis.
From April 2021 to the present, the Office
completed the Cabinet Memoranda reviews and ensured that the reviews were vetted within five bus iness days after receipt 95 per cent of the time.
Additionally, Mr Chairman, the Office co mpleted five vir tual training sessions in the Introduction
to the Code of Practice for Project Management and
Procurement for 60 participants. The Office also co mpleted five Project Management training courses for
37 participants.
[R]Fx Drafter [ (Orbidder 2.0) ] in-person trai ning sessions were not done due to COVID -19 restrictions. Instead, the Office worked with the RFx drafting software service provider to enhance their
offering. The aim was to ensure that public officers
involved in the procurement and preparation of RFx
documents had access to online s elf-training, a help
desk, and how -to guides or videos for this application. Mr. Chairman, the Office enhanced the online
depository , or Local Vault, the RFx Drafter software to
store other prescribed templates such as Evaluation
Matrix, Contract Award Recommendation document, Pricing Schedules, Social, Economic Environment ,
local benefits form.
The Office released a new template called the
Invitational Request for Quotation (IRFQ) that mini stries and departments can use to obtain quotes for
low-value procurements under $50,000. The IRFQ
may also be found in the Local Vault.
The Office revised all the prescribed Request
for Proposals (RFP s), and Request for Quotations
(RFQ s) templates to include clauses referring to th e
Privacy/Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA ).
These templates have been uploaded to the RFx
Drafter application.
Mr. Chairman, in response to G overnment's
shortage of disciplines specialising in producing cost
estimates for project and procurement needs, the O ffice met with and provided costing tools to 12 public
officers. The Office proposed to assist these officers in establishing a cost management system for develo ping, monitoring, and controlling project and procur ement costs until departments are staffed with the re quisite disciplines.
The Office is a member of the IDT Gover nance Committee, the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP)
Planning Committee and other internal working
groups such as the Education Reform and Health
Care Reform.
The Office is a member of the National Anti -
Corruption and Bribery (NACB) Committee and has
contributed to the United Nations Convention against
Corruption (UNCAC) [ assessment ].

Plans for the upcoming year

Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, the Office will pr oduce quar terly waiver reports for Cabinet.
The Office will complete [the] Cabinet Mem oranda review within five business days after receipt.
Our goal is to complete them 95 per cent of the time
within five business days.
The Office will increase its efforts to ensure
public officers understand its oversight and advisory
roles for the capital projects and acquisitions. This will
be accomplished by delivering virtual training sessions
and one- on-one sessions to ensure project procur ement policies and procedures are understood and followed.
Additionally, Mr. Chairman, the Office will offer
two virtual training sessions i n the Introduction to the
Code of Practice during the next fiscal year.
The Office will work with IDT and the Paperless Committee to develop and introduce a new internal online waiver request form and a contract register
to streamline these processes. These activities are to be completed in the new fiscal year.
276 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The Office will work with programme managers after [ the] capital budget is released to as sist them
in prioritising their capital projects and helping them
gain an early start on the procurement planning and
bidding processes.
The Office plans to deliver the first Annual
Report for 2021/22. This fiscal year, the Office will
also be amending the Code of Practice for Project
Management and Procurement.
Mr. Chairman, the Office will continue to a dvise, guide, and support the development and adherence to project management and procurement regul ations and policies. It will also help to develop pub lic
officers on procurement and project management best practices to raise the level of expertise in these areas across the government.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, the Office diligently
provides oversight and guidance on all government
procurements and simplifies these procedures and
processes while building capacity for procurement and
project management. Mr. Chairman, let me take this opportunity to
acknowledge and commend the Office of the Project
Management and Procurement Team and the Acting
Director, Ms. Elaine Blair -Christopher, for their hard
work and dedication.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This concludes my
budget presentation for Head 80.

Thank you, Senator Darrell. Would
any Senator like to ask questions?
Senator De Couto—
Sen. Dr . Douglas De Couto: Thank you, Mr. Chai rman, and thank you, Senator. I certainly appreciate
the effort there.
I will probably go backwards. Regarding pr ocurement, can you clarify if this is a government -wide
procurement or would Works and Engineering (for
example) or Marine and Ports have their own? So, for
example, would this Office have been involved with
ferries, busses with the stimulus programme, with the
solar panels at NSC, or any of the projects put out by the, I think I mentioned the stimulus programme. It is
clearly of good value and in the right direction. For
example, would they be engaged in rental negoti ations?

Sen. Owen Darrell: Mr. Chairman, if I can just ask the
Senator to speak up. I am having a little difficulty hearing him.

The Chairm an: Sure.

Okay, thank you. Thank
you.
Let me repeat. Is this government -wide or do
some departments, such as Works and Engineering,
or Transport, have their own procurement function? It seems to me, if they do not, are there an y plans for
procurement to become rationalised across all of go vernment? So, was this department involved in the ferries, the busses, NSC solar panels, or perhaps selec ting the vendors for the Works and Engineering stim ulus programme?
I turn to the performance measures on [page]
B-71. I noticed that there were 15 last year, 12 were
marked removed for COVID -19, but they have not
seemed to come back, and I am not sure why not. I
feel they could have worked from home in this de-partment. Would it perhaps be useful to have a measure, such as the dollar value of money saved on contracts, to measure this department’s performance?
That concludes my questions for that Head.

Yes, I am happy to pr oceed to page B -51, Head 13—the Post Office. I take
note of your comments that they are ready to compete, and I understand the pressure there. I know they
work hard, and they are very helpful to me when I
have been in there and very friendly and approach able. So, I do com mend them. They are swimming
against the tide of technology. I would also note the careful control of the costs and expenses and, again, I
know that is not easy work.
My questions will be mostly focused on this
MyBermudaPost thing. And I really want to understand, just so you will understand the context. Is the general operation of the Post Office subsidising the
delivery of the MyBermudaPost service?
So, I guess my first question is would this be
considered the kind of service that should be provided under things related to the Universal Postal Union,
i.e., is it the sort of minimum service that a gover nment should provide in the context of that Postal U nion?
And then I would ask for a breakdown of the
costs, because I could not quite break it out as the
items were listed. So, how many staff work at MyBermudaPost? What is their cost, inclusive of overhead (because I know that typically gets broken out under a
different Ministry for the whole Government ), comm unications cost . . . sorry, marketing ads, IT costs that
can be attributed to MyBermudaPost, transport or fuel related to MyBermuaPost? Any other allocated costs?
So, for example, if that function is using some share of
the General Post Office buildings, what costs would


Bermuda Senate be allocated to that, as if t hey were a standalone
business or a business unit within a larger company?
So, I guess, you know, I would like to . . . if it
is the case that MyBermudaPost, when you put in all
the costs and so forth, is actually working well and competing fairly, that w ould be great. My suspicion is
that it is actually being subsidised by losses els ewhere.
I will turn now to . . . let me rephrase that
question one last time. What are the all -in costs and
revenue around MyBermudaPost, including any all ocated overhead?
I turn now to [page] B -41, the Cabinet Office.
One thing I did hear . . . we all know the COVID -19
situation has made it very complicated to understand the movements in the Book. So, I looked back at the
2019/20 actuals to see if I could help get a little c larity
on what we should expect the new steady state to look like. My understanding is that we have added 12
Heads in the Budget since 2019/20 actual. And I u nderstand a lot of new work is coming to the Cabinet
Office. But, by my understanding the total salaries
cost has been plus $2.839 million, and I want to understand that because I looked in the back of the
Book and that works out to $236,000 per person, for
each of those new posts. That sounds like some pretty high firepower. And my understanding is the max PS salary is $224,000. So, I cannot quite connect
those dots. I would appreciate some explanation.
Thank you.

The Washington DC
office. Okay, sorry. I will skip that question then. That was my misunderstanding.
I was pleased to hear about the assistance to
students in the UK from the London office. Are you
able to provide a breakout of what amount of the costs
of that office are attributable to that? Is there a similar
assistance to students in Canada or in the United
States that can be provided?
Moving on to page B -42, 19060, the Commi ssion of Inquiry. I see that it has been budgeted to zero, but are there any remaining government actions or
policies or outputs from that [where] we should expect
legislation changes or activities? Now, I want to turn to [page] B -45, this is a
little bit back to the London office and it is about Bermuda ’s relationship with the FCO. I think this is pretty
critical in terms of coordinating around this tax stuff. I see it is forecast for 100 per cent, but I would like
some clarification on what that 100 per cent would be
and how you would measure the performance of
managing a relationship with the FCO. Is it number of
meetings? Is it a list of specific policy points that we
want to achieve with them? If there is such a list, can
that be shared?
I would like to turn to Tourism and the BTA.
We know that there is a shortage of hotel beds. Is
there any plan for an initiative of encouraging more
things like Airbnb’s or use of local properties that can
supply beds? Because that seems that could be a
win-win. And then I thought I hear d there was $20 mi llion inves ted into BTA , and then it was $28 million of
income. Is that $20 million the grant that you are tal king about? And of the $28 million of income . . . I
guess I do not quite understand it because I heard $8.6 million of that was from hotel and vacation fees
but if there was a more detailed breakout that would
be good to know.
Also, under BTA, and you discussed it like the
airlines’ schedules . . . I know it is a challenge for the
Islands. I know in the past certain routes or airlines
have been subsidised. Are currently any airlines su bsidised? Or are there any plans to subsidise any of
those airline routes?
I certainly heard the message about the 55
roles going down to 34 roles and I congratulate that
agency on . . . sorry , Authority, on managing that quit e
tightly.
I want to turn now to some of the specific
events that you mentioned, for example, the US Track
& Field games and other events. That one specifically,
are you able to answer what the costs were to have
the attendees come and how many of the at tendees
came on, I would say, the Government’s dime or the BTA’s dime versus their own dime? What would be
the return on that? In general, do we know what our
percentage [of] return is on the money that the BTA
spends on events and what we get back?
I will keep asking questions, if that is okay.
Unless —

So we have, Senator De Couto, I
guess just about 20 minutes left. So, I guess we have
to balance off the response that Senator Darrell will be
providing to you versus more and more questions that
you ask. So, you are welcome to ask some more, but
it is quite a list of questions that you have asked already. But this is your opportunity, so please proceed
forward if you wish to ask more.

I was really pleased to
hear about the initiatives of the leadership programme
in the Public Service. It is important, you know . . . in
some countries to become an officer in the Public
Service is immensely competitive. People study and
compete for a very long time to get a shot to work
there.
I want to understand a little bit about the Public Service . . . I think it is the Public Service Commi ssion or PSC. I was reading a recent, or I guess a cou-ple of years ago, a PSC report about the handling of misconduct and there were . . . it seemed to be a di stinct lack o f accountability with the PSC overturning
certain changes . And the recommendation of the PAC
report was legislation around how the PSC should
operate and its accountability and transparency. I
would like to understand, [are there] any plans for such legisl ation or change in the terms of reference
for how that works in the Public Service? I think one of the themes that we have heard certainly from my co lleagues has been accountability and performance will
be incredibly important in the civil service .
I just want to make a comment of support . I
certainly support the efforts that you started off your brief with on the mental health of the workers. We
know this has been a problem everywhere.
Let me turn to the Economic Recovery Plan,
[page] B -43. You referred to KPMG and the four lead
initiatives. Was there any specific quantitative analysis that we could use to understand the net economic
benefit of each plan in terms of GDP or specific dollars, net increase, into the community from each of
those initiatives ? And then you mentioned the cheaper
food initiative. I assume you refer to the vertical far ming. Correct me if I am [wrong] , but I wonder if you
have also engaged with any of the local farmers on
any of their own sort of, what I would term, agricultural
entrepreneurialism , because I know that they are out
there trying everything they can to grow and sell more.

Well, I think, coming from my perspective, I think it would be helpful to hear some of the
answers to the questions asked thus far. I think that
would be helpful for the Senate and t he listening audience.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank
you, Senator, for the questions.
I have a lot of information coming in, so I am
going to sift through it and do the best I can.
The first question, if I recall, was regarding
Head 80, the Office of Procurement. The OPMP is a
government -wide body that oversees all government
procurement. There are officers that are trained in
various departments on procurement, but they must
conform to the government code of practice, which means going through the OPMP.
I do not have an answer for the money saved
on contracts. I am not . . . I am not sure . . . I do not
quite understand that question.
As far as . . . give me a second . . . there were
some questions about MyBermudaPost. MyBerm udaPos t is a partnership where the vendor pays the
Bermuda Post Office for an on- Island delivery. The
money collected goes to the Consolidated Fund and is recognised as a separate line item. The service star ted in mid- November and will be better listed in the
next budget cycle. There are approximately 12 em-ployees and managers working for the service who
are all multitasking between normal Post Office duties
and the new venture. Without the new venture, these employees’ full salary would be absorbed without the
new revenue stream. The Bermuda Post Office is currently reconciling the new revenue stream and will
make those revenues known when they are available.
As far as some questions on Cabinet Office,
there was a question about the breakdown of salary costs at the Cabinet Office. Unfortunately , a breakdown for assistants like that is not available as that
kind of takes various forms.
There was a question on the Commission of
Inquiry. The report of the Commission of Inquiry is a
subject of court proceedings and so this has delayed
any further implementation or consideration of its rec-ommendations.
As far as the Bermuda Tourism Authority, the
$20 million is the BTA grant. So, the grant is $20 mi llion. The breakdown of that income can be provided. That is the income, the $28 million income that you
were asking about. That can be provided.
There was a question on airline subsidies. It
has always been a practice of the government that we do not disclose or discuss airline subsidies as that is a


Bermuda Senate condition of the c ontract and agreement that is actually built within them. But, you know, that portion of that
does actually come under Transport, but I was happy
to give you that information.
The track event has not happened yet. So, the
return on investment is just a forecast. All attendees for the track meet that you asked are actually being
brought in by the USATF. The BTA is not covering the
cost of the athletes to attend. The BTA is expecting
about 200- plus attendees for this track meet. There
will be more than $3 mi llion in media value in the NBC
broadcast and hopefully we are hoping that it will r eturn on an annual basis.
The BTA . You asked a question about i ncreasing room inventory. The BTA is always working
to increase room inventory. They have an [excellent]
relationship with Airbnb owners, and we work with
them on various promotions.
I do not . . . oh, here we go. I think this is a
breakdown of the income that you asked about —
$20.4 million is the government grant; $4 million
comes in the form of hotel fees; $3.6 million comes in
the form of cruise ship fees and $0.6 million comes in
the form of vacation rentals. I think that is the breakdown of the income that you asked [for].
Give me a second . . . going back to the Office
of Procurement, as noted in the bri ef, the OPMP pr ovides oversight and guidance on projects and pr ocurement. It is not a central procurement or a project
function. The Office works with all ministries and departments in helping the department of the projects
and procurement resources. The O ffice has advised
on all of the projects that you mentioned, and they will
take your suggestions under consideration. The Office
is not involved in any rental negotiations. The input of
the OPMP not only safeguards the spend or monetary
factor, but it also enables achieving quality value
components that are often overlooked.
Also, yes, I think you asked about some sal aries in the Cabinet Office. I can give you . . . I think
this was mentioned in the brief as well. The salaries increased from 2020/21 to 2021/22 due to a transfer
over of the two PS posts in keeping with the central isation of all PS posts within the Cabinet Office. Those
are at PS 47 and then the transfer over of the Hotel
Regulation and Policy Administration unit was another four posts.
You asked a question about farming . . . no,
food initiatives, cheaper food initiatives. As far as vertical farming, farmers have been engaged in the pr ocess all along. It is also important to note that our plan will not be competing with local farming production but will be aimed at [a] reduction in the importation of
crops such as leafy greens.
You [asked] about the PSC. We are currently
in the process of reviewing the PSC regulations with
the view of updating legislation to make it more current and moder nised. The aim is to enhance the r ecruitment process and the disciplinary process. The PSC currently has overall oversight and authority of
both functions, and we are actually looking to improve
that process.
As far as the ERP, the report will be tabled
shortly.
Also, important to note is that the BTA is i ndependent and provides reports on the performance
of the event. So, I think that was to the track event.
The BTA will provide those reports after the event actually happens.
I think that is all I have got right now, Senator
. . . hold on, one more came through.
As far as sponsored events for the BTA, their
return on investment, they look to get at least a 5:1
return on investment for on- Island economic impact
and significant media value. So, that is their aim when they look at return on investment. Mr. Chair man

I would like to say thank
you. I certainly appreciate it. Would you be able to
indicate whether any airline subsidies exist or not? Without further detail.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Give me a second. That actually
would be a question for Transport. I think that is in the
next session. I have heard this question asked before.
I am not qualified at this time to give that answer and I
do not want to misspeak. So, I am sure the officers
who are listening will capture that and [they] can answer it in the next hour.

So, I think we have only one minute
left for any other questions before I ask the Senator to
move these Heads. So, any other . . . Senator Smith?
Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just
a quick question going on from what Senator Darrell
[said] with the BTA and the sports events, specifically
the track and f ield event. Because the track and field
event is something that is new and something that we will be working toward trying to do annually, is there
an outreach programme to other national sport go verning bodies to see if they can create similar kinds of events to attract people in from their sports? There is
280 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate an opportunity for the sports [sector] to increase our
sports tourism.

Sen. Owen Darrell: That will also be a question under
a different Ministry.
[Laughter]
Sen. Owen Darrell: And I think that Minister had his
chance to speak earlier. But I can say I am sure that
the Bermuda Tourism Authority are looking at all av enues to increase traffic coming to Bermuda.

I would like to thank Senator Wight
for Chairing these last two debates.
Senators and listening audience, we are in
Committee of the whole [Senate] for further consider ation of the Appropriation Act 2022 together with the
Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2022/23.
The Ministry under consideration now is the
Ministry of Transport. The Heads for debate are: Mi nistry of Transport Headquarters, Head 48; Marine and
Ports, Head 30; Tr ansport Control Department, Head
34 and Public Transportation, Head 35.
One hour has been allocated for this debate.
The Senator in charge is Senator Rev. Dr. Emilygail Dill and we will be starting at 5:51, so we will finish at
6:51.
Senator Dill, how do you wish to proceed?

MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT

Madam Chairman,
today I am presenting the budget for the Ministr y of
Transport Headquarters, Head 48. The budget appropriation for the entire Ministry totals $72,037,000 as
found on page B -198 of the Estimates of Revenue
and Expenditure for the year 2022/23.
The departments which come under the Mi nistry include:
• Minist ry Headquarters (HQ) —Head 48
• Marine & Ports Services (M&P) —Head 30
• Transport Control (TCD) —Head 34
• Public Transportation (DPT) —Head 35
In addition, the Ministry of Transport maintains
oversight of the:
• Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority
• Bermuda Shipping and Maritime Authority
• Bermuda Airport Authority
Madam Chairman, it is the Ministry Headquarters which is responsible for transportation matters
within Bermuda.
Ministry Headquarters —Head 48, cost centre
58000, f ound on pages B -198 through B -202 of the
Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year
2022/23. T he mission for the Ministry of Transport
Headquarters is , Transporting people and goods eff iciently and safely.
[Madam] Chairman, the Ministry of Transport
strives to make transport an environment w here job
creation and entrepreneurship in the transportation
industry are favourable. The importance of transport ation in our community cannot be [overstated] . Transportation enhances the reach of businesses and peo-ple to find relevant services, jobs, acti vities, goods,
and productivity. It is vital for our tourism sector; for
transporting visitors to the Island and moving them
around the Island —in essence, in the words of our
Minister, there is no tourism without transport.
[Madam] Chairman, the Ministry of Transport,
Headquarters, Head 48, includes two business units:
an Administration Section and the Transportation
Planning Team.

Expenditure Overview

Madam Chairman,
the total current expenditure for the Ministry of
Transport’s Headquarters, Head 48, is estimated to be
[$30,054,000] for the fiscal year 2022/23. This represents an increase of $14,550,000, or 94 per cent over
the prior year’s budget of $15,504,000.


Bermuda Senate The increase is primarily due to the inclusion
in this bu dget cycle of the “Project Agreement” Guaranteed Minimum Regulated Reserve (GMRR). The
amount, included in the operating grant for the Bermuda Airport Authority (BAA), is equal to $11,000,000 and represents the amount to be paid to the Bermuda
Skyport Corporation Limited, should Skyport’s actual
regulated revenues fall below that of the GMRR. The
particulars of the calculation are set out in the Project
Agreement.
The majority of the remaining increase, or
$4,000,000, has been allocated to air services development. In 2022/23, air service development will be
expanded to position Bermuda for transformational
change in the commercial aviation industry, aid ec onomic recovery and enhance the lives of Bermuda
residents. The Bermuda Airport Authority's Air Servic e
Development Committee will expand current air ser-vice to protect our key gateway cities and enter and
expand into new markets.
The remaining increase of $504,000 includes
general operational expenditures and a $200,000
grant to the Bermuda Shipping and Maritime Author ity.
The Headquarters budget includes funding for
the two business units mentioned previously, as well
as the Current Account Operational/Expenditure Grants and Contributions as seen in the Ministry of
Transport Headquarters Subjective Anal ysis of Cu rrent Account Estimates, Grants and Contributions,
budget line located on page B -200 and Schedule 1,
Grants and Contributions on [page] C-19 of the Budget Book.

Administration— Head 48
cost centre 58000

Madam Chairman,
the Administration Section within the Ministry of Transport Headquarters, cost centre 58000, will have
a budget of $29,919,000. Much of this allocation comprises of the Bermuda Airport Authority ’s grant , about
which I will provide more information later in this brief.
For now, I will move on to the Transportation
Planning Team.

Transportation Planning Team —Head 48
cost centre 58010

Madam Chairman,
the Transportation Planning section sits within the
Ministry of Tra nsport Headquarters, cost centre
58010, and is allocated a budget of $135,000 and can
be found on page B -199 of the Budget Book.
The Transportation Planning section oversees
cruise ship contractual, operational, regulatory, and
logistical matters to ensur e the efficient integration of
transportation services to meet expectations in Bermuda. In addition, this section spearheads various transportation projects and policy research initiatives
deemed important by the Ministry.
Madam Chairman, by way of some bac kground, before the COVID -19 pandemic , 2019 was
Bermuda’s last full cruise ship season bringing 185
cruise ship calls to Bermuda and generating $167.7
million in economic benefit to Bermuda’s economy.
In early 2020, before the pandemic brought
the crui se ship industry to a halt in March 2020, the
Ministry of Transport had projected 193 calls with an
estimated economic impact of $171.4 million. Sadly, Bermuda only received four cruise ship visits that year
generating approximately $1.5 million in passeng er
and crew spending, falling outside of the tax period
from April through October.
Madam Chairman, in 2021 the pandemic continued to disrupt the cruising industry worldwide, las ting longer than anyone could ever have imagined.
The Ministry of Transport, working closely with our
cruise line partners, the Ministry of Health, Bermuda
Tourism Authority, Meyer agency, and 72 local age ncies, managed to secure 36 calls between Viking,
Crystal, and Norwegian Cruise lines in 2021, which
brought $9.4 million in muc h needed economic activity
to Bermuda in 2021. It was during th at time that
homeporting became a reality due to the hard work of
many.
The Ministry of Transport is actively attracting
more high- end homeporting opportunities for Bermuda
in 2023/24 when additional smaller luxury ships come
into the marketplace. As an example, the Ritz -Carlton
Yacht Collection has already confirmed one call in
April 2023, and one homeporting turn- call in April
2024. Homeporting is not an economical option in Bermuda compared to ships that embark passengers
in the USA and who can drive by car to the port. It is
for this reason we are focusing our attention on the smaller luxury market where cruise lines can build the
additional expenses of homeporting, including airfare, airpor t taxes, transportation, et cetera, into the cost of
a cruise.
Madam Chairman, even though our cruise line
partners appear bullish on the 2022 season, we do
remain conservative and, for consistency purposes , I
will now report the estimated economic impact numbers that our Ministry provided to the Ministry of F inance. This estimate includes approximately 180 calls
at 50 per cent capacity in 2022, bringing an estimated
281,841 passengers to Bermuda. Cruise ship revenue
projections include: $12.8 million in passenger taxes;
$3.8 million in tourism fees; $5.9 million in transport infrastructure tax; and $68.6 million in passenger and
crew spending, and $11.2 million in Travel Authoris ation fees, for an estimated total of $103.3 million in
economic activity.
Madam Chairman, Bermuda will also see
eight new cruise ships visit Bermuda in 2022:
• The Norwegian Joy
• Azamara Onward
282 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate • Celebrity Beyond
• Celebrity Reflection
• MSC Seascape
• Mariner of the Seas
• Norwegian Prima
• Queen Elizabeth
Due to onboard COVID -19 ship protocols, inaugural calls which traditionally have plaque exchange ceremonies may be handled differently this
year, on a ship- by-ship basis.
Madam Chairman, the 2022 cruise ship
schedule can be downloaded from the Department of
Marine and Ports website at www.marineandports.bm .
Cruise ship calls can change, so it is updated regularly.

Manpower

Initially it was antic ipated that in 2022/23, the Ministry Headquarters will
generate approximately $17,800,000 i n revenue from
the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority Revenue Share,
which is up from $10,000,000 the prior year, primarily
as the previous year had been conservatively est imated owing to the impact of COVID -19 the year pr ior. However, given the impact on the Registry by the current sanctions on Russia, this amount w ould be
revised on completion of a full assessment. Note: The
“revised” BCAA revenue for 2021/22 was
$16,375,000.
Madam Chairman, I would now like to discuss
the year ahead with respect to the Bermuda Airport Authority.

Bermuda Airport Authority’s 2022/ 23 Highlights

[Madam] Chairman,
the only Authority which receives a grant from the
Ministry of Transport is the Bermuda Airport Authority.
Madam Chairman, the Bermuda Airport A uthority is nearing the end of its fourth fisc al year as a
quango under the Ministry of Transport. The current
account expenditure can be seen in the Ministry of
Transport Headquarters, Subjective Analysis of Current Account Estimates, Grants and Contributions, budget line located on pages B -200 and C -19 of the
Budget Book.
[Madam] Chairman, the Bermuda Airport A uthority delivers a range of essential air navigation services, also known as retained government services, at the L. F. Wade International Airport, including air traffic control; air traffic e ngineering; Bermuda public and
aviation weather; aeronautical information services and the Authority’s facilities, vehicle, and equipment
maintenance.
On behalf of the Government of Bermuda, the
Airport Authority, as owner of the airport, also over-sees the performance of the airport developer and
operator, Bermuda Skyport Corporation Limited (or
Skyport), and its 30- year concession to operate, mai ntain and redevelop the L. F. Wade International Ai rport. Substantial completion of construction at the new air terminal building was achieved in September 2020,
followed by the official opening in December 2020.
Both the completion and opening of the new passenger terminal by Skyport were delayed approximately four months due to the onset of the COVID -19 pa ndemic.
Oversight of Skyport includes the monitoring
of key performance indicators, such as compliance
with standard airport operating procedures, international aviation regulations, and building and equi pment maintenance specifications; growth of the airport
revenue streams; and ensuring efficient airport term inal energy consumption.
The Airport Authority regulates the airport fees
and charges charged by Skyport to airport users.
These regulated revenues were significantly lower
than originally projected due to the reduced frequency
of commercial airline flights and lower passenger volumes during the pandemic. As a result, the Airport
Authority was required to fulfil its contractual oblig ations under the Project Agreement to fund a portion of
Skyport’s shortfall in guaranteed minimum regulated
revenues.
The Airport Authority, in coordination with the
Tourism Authority and Skyport, also leads Bermuda’s air service development with a focus on rebuilding Bermuda’s air service. Despite the pandemic, these
efforts hav e maintained air service links with our key
overseas markets and facilitated the much- anticipated
move of our main UK/Europe air service connection to
London’s Heathrow Airport.

Expenditure Overview

Madam Chairman,
the t otal Ministry of Transport operational expend itures grant to the Bermuda Airport Authority will be
$14,400,000 for 2022/23, representing a decrease of
$300,000 over the fiscal year 2021/22 allocation. This is the result of a reduction in costs for the air service
development activity, airport insurance and airport


Bermuda Senate terminal energy usage, and a slightly lower headcount
in the retained government services operations.
Madam Chairman, the Airport Authority currently employs 47 full -time equivalent staff (FTEs).
The mostly Bermudian professional workforce have
the mandate to provide essential retained government
services as direct employees of the Airport Authority,
thus enjoying long- term job stability under the management of a local leadership team with a highperformance culture.
Madam Chairman, as noted previously, the
airport terminal building portion of the redevelopment project was completed during the current fiscal period
and several other capital projects are required to be
undertaken to support ongoing operations at the ai rport. The 2022/23 capital grant request for the Bermuda Airport Authority totals $2,000,000, which re presents no change in comparison to the prior fiscal year.
These funds will be allocated to several ongoing key airport infrastructur e and Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) related projects including, but not limited to:
• Instrument Landing System Replacement (using the new GBAS [Ground Based Augment ation System ] technology ;
• AIS to AIM Organizational Transition —
acquisition of the IT infrastructure required for
certification of the Authority as an air navig ation service provider;
• The Bermuda Weather Service— AviMet
equipment upgrades and website develo pment;
• Immigration e- Gates for the new airport term inal building.
It is anticipated that a number of these capital
projects will be completed during a timespan covering
two or more fiscal year periods.
Madam Chairman, I would like to thank the
dedicated teams at the Ministry Headquarters and the
Authorities under the Ministry for their un wavering
commitment to service during what will probably prove
to be one of the most challenging years for Bermuda in recent history.
Thank you, M adam Chairman. That concludes
Head 48, Ministry of Transport Headquarters. I now
move on to Head 30, Marine and Ports Services.

Madam Chairman, as
found on pages B -203 through B -208 of the Estimates
of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2022/23.
As stated on page B -203 of the Budget Book,
the mission of the Department of Marine and Ports Services (“Marine and Ports”) is the regulation and safe operations of Bermuda’s maritime affairs inclu ding marine border security, search and rescue and
public transportation.

Expenditure Overview

The total current expenditure for Marine and Ports, Head 30, is estimated to be $19,713,000 which represents an increase of
$141,000, or an increase of approximately 0.72 per
cent over the 2021/22 budget. To address Marine and
Ports staff shortages, funding was approved for 12 of
the defunded vacant posts to allow the department to
provide the required services as per its international
obligations.
The 2022/23 budget remained r elatively sim ilar to the prior year s as cost savings were achieved by
a decrease in the fuel budget across the department.
Marine and Ports expenditures are set out
under the following three business units and can be
found on page B -203 of the Budget Book:
Programme 3006— West End (Dockyard)
• Navigational Aids, cost centre 40040—
$741,000;
• Tug Service, cost centre 40140— $1,234,000;
• Tender Service, cost centre 40210—
$339,000;
• Dockyard Maintenance, cost centre 40260—
$3,362,000.
Programme 3007—Central (Hamilton)
• Ferry Services, cost centre 40090—
$6,600,000;
• Mooring and Boat Registration, cost centre 40150—$293,000;
• Administration, cost centre 40220—
$2,684,000.
Programme 3008— East End (Fort George)
• Maritime Safety and Security, cost centre
40100—$2,551,000;
• Pilot Service and Offshore Search and Rescue, cost centre 40180 —$1,909,000.

Revenue

Revenue , provided
on page B -204 of the Budget Book. [Madam] Chairman, it is anticipated that in 2022/23, Marine and
Ports will generate approximately $5,487,000, keeping
in mind these anticipated revenues may be adjusted
based on the continued impact from COVID -19. This
will be realised primarily through fees charged for the
provision of:
• ferry services;
• tug services;
• boat haulage;
• pilotage fees;
• boat moorings; and,
284 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate • port dues.

Capital Expenditure

Capital acquisition
expenditure for the department, found on page C -13
of the Budget Book, is set at $3,629,000. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is set aside for navig ational aids, which represents an increase of $80,000 above the budget of 2021/22 and $74,000 is set aside to replace a department truck beyond repair. The
capital budget for the Vessel Traffic Management I nformation Systems is set at $280,000, whic h is an i ncrease over the 2021/22 budget of $130,000. The
capital allocation provided for ferries in the amount of
$3,000,000, represent funds for the department’s vessel fleet refit and replacement project, and $25,000 for
the department’s Search and Resc ue programme.

Manpower

The department’s
full-time equivalents (FTEs) , found on [page] B-205 of
the Budget Book, have increased from 148 to 160 through returning funding to vacant posts to address
the staff shortages withi n the department.
The department’s performance measures,
found on pages B -206 to B -208 of the Budget Book,
remain positive despite the challenges presented by
the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It is important that Marine and Ports continues meeting its per formance
target measures to meet the required international standards. Maintaining these levels continues to be
challenging with the rapidly ageing fleet that requires
extra maintenance. Nonetheless, the department continues to work diligently to manage these processes and to ensure the delivery of safe and reliable services is maintained.
[Madam] Chairman, Marine and Port repr esents one of the most critical operational arms of the Government of Bermuda as it facilitates the mov ement of vital shipping comm erce in and out of Berm uda’s ports. There was a total of 659 international ship movements in Bermuda’s waters since 1 April 2021.
The services the department provides include pilot
boats, tug boats, tender services and Bermuda Mar itime Operations Centre. A dditionally, the department
is responsible for the coordination of international
search and rescue operations in this region of the North Atlantic and retains oversight of overseas seaport security and marine border control in compliance
with international standards. During the 2021/22 fiscal
year, the department responded to over 421 search
and rescue cases assisting both ships and aircraft,
locally and internationally.
Madam Chairman, the 2022 cruise ship se ason is on target for receiving almost 180 cruis e ship
visits to Bermuda, a marked improvement over the last two years and a much needed boost to Berm uda’s economy.

Output Measures

Madam Chairman,
the target outcomes for Marine and Ports operations
for 2022/23 are to c ontinue delivering the required
marine services in a timely and professional manner
to ensure customer satisfaction.
Madam Chairman, during the coronavirus
pandemic, the Orange Route was suspended be-cause of very little cruise ship traffic. To support the
movement of cruise passengers between Dockyard
and St. George’s, the Ministry has budgeted for the
resumption of the Orange Route ferry for 2022/23
once the department’s staffing levels can support a safe return of this service.
The Orange Route provides crucial connectivity between cruise ship passengers and businesses
in St. George’s, allowing economic benefits for those businesses and cruise ship passengers to enjoy res-taurants, souvenir shops, and attractions in the area.

Major Policy Changes

Sen. Re v. Dr. Emilygail A. Dill: Madam Chairman,
Bermuda performed extremely well during the Intern ational Maritime Organization (IMO) audit in December
2021. We will proceed with bringing the remaining sections of the Marine and Ports Service Act 2021 into
operation and drafting supporting regulations.
Stakeholders continue to be consulted inclu ding ongoing meetings to ensure a smooth transition to the new legislation.

Plans for the Upcoming Year

Plans for the upcoming year wil l include
• continued training of departmental staff to international standards once the travel restrictions for government business es are relaxed to ensure the
department meets its international obligations in line with safe ma nning requirements;
• continued progress with the department’s succession planning to ensure highly technical posts
within the department are filled by qualified Bermudians as we currently have three potential
Bermudian candidates identified for key posts
within the department;
• training for tug captains and engineers of the department’s state- of-the-art tugs will continue to
ensure all personnel are fully trained;
• continue with the refit and replacement of the de-partment’s ageing fleet of vessels which is i mperative for the delivery of reliable services;


Bermuda Senate • progress the renovation project of Marine and
Ports workshops in partnership with the Depar tment of Works and Engineering;
• continue repairs and replacement to our navig ational aids and offshore beacons as per our international obligation;
• continue reviewing legislation amendments to assist with the removal of abandoned derelict boats
across Bermuda left behind by hurricanes; and
• continue with the public -private partnership pr ogramme for the removal of derelict boats.
Madam Chairman, I would like to thank the staff of
Marine and Ports for their excellent search and rescue
and piloting services as well as for delivering an eff icient, consistent, and reliable ferry service.
[Madam] Chairman, that concludes the brief
for the Department of Mar ine and Ports Services,
Head 30.

Madam Chairman,
the budget for Head 34, the Transport Control D epartment, or TCD, can be found on pages B -209 to B -
212 of the Budget Book. The Transport Control D epartment’s mission is to assure the safety of all road
users.
Madam Chairman, TCD administers the operation of all motor vehicles and road users on Berm uda’s roads. The department monitors and regulates
the sizes, functionality, roadworthiness, physical ap-pearance and quantity of all vehicles by carrying out
the following activities:
1. oversees the management of the vehicle
safety and emissions inspection pr ogramme;
2. administers the registration and licensing
of all vehicles;
3. conducts practical riding and driving ex-aminations for all riders and driv ers;
4. regulates traffic by monitoring drivers and vehicles;
5. issues permits on behalf of the Minister
for the operation of commercial and Public Service vehicles; and
6. implements road safety initiatives.
Periodically, the department inspects public
garages, filling stations and rental mini -car and cycle
liveries to ensure compliance with the conditions of
their respective permits. The department also issues
special permits, such as one- day permits which allow
a person to use an unlicensed motor vehicle, usual ly
driven to be repaired or to the department for inspection, and Sunday permits for commercial vehicles.

Department Overview

Madam Chairman,
TCD is divided into five separate business units: Reg-istration s, Examinations , Traffic Enforcement, Road
Safety, and Administration.
The Registration Section is responsible for
registering and licensing all vehicles, issuing driver licences and other documents to all persons who operate vehicles, and collecting revenue for every t ransaction conducted by the department.
The Examination Section conducts all driving
and riding tests to ensure that applicants are proficient at operating the vehicles on Bermuda’s roads. The
examiners also inspect all vehicles that use public
roads for r oadworthiness and carry out write- off pr ocedures for private motor cars prior to their disposal.
The Traffic Enforcement Section is respons ible for the enforcement of road traffic and motoring
laws, issuing moving violation and parking tickets, i ssuing permits for the movement of oversized trailers
with heavy or wide loads, unlicensed vehicles, and
occasional Sunday permits. This section also monitors
the Electronic Vehicle Registration (EVR) system and
works alongside the Bermuda Police Service to support its traffic enforcement efforts.
This section assists the Public Service Veh icles Licensing Board by conducting investigations on its behalf and monitors the use of public service and
commercial vehicles on our roads.
The traffic enforcement officers are also deployed on street patrols to ensure all vehicles operated in Bermuda comply with our legislation. They are also responsible for ticketing abandoned vehicles and
286 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate co-ordinating with sister departments to arrange for
their removal and disposal.
The Road Safety Section is administered
through the Road Safety Officer. The programme
promotes road safety awareness through education, training, and public events, for example, Project Ride,
which became mandatory in 2010 and Road Safety
Week. This section work s closely with the Road Saf ety Council to advise the Minister of Transport on matters pertaining to road safety and devises and impl ements strategies and programmes to address trending
motoring issues.
The Administration Section is responsible for
the overall operation and administration of the d epartment and its three facilities: North Street, Rock away and Southside. This includes professional services for the management of the safety and emissions
programme as well as external IT support for the
eTCD onl ine programme, the Driver and Vehicle Re gistration System (DVRS), the Appointment Management System (AMS) and the EVR system. All these systems are critical to ensuring optimum customer
service.
Customers now can manage their own appointments online through the AMS and the depar tment has partnered with the four major motor insurance providers for “real time” electronic transfer of policy information to the DVRS.
Madam Chairman, TCD continues to impl ement and maintain an effective and convenient vehicle
examination and registration programme which is i ncreasingly more “user -friendly.” Customer interaction
with today’s TCD is less bothersome than in previous
years.

Expenditure Overview

Madam Chairman,
TCD’s budget allocatio n of $4,482,472 for 2022/23, is
a $13,863, or a 0.3 [per cent ], decrease over the all ocation for 2021/22 and can be found on page B -209.
Under the General Summary of expenditure
per business units, you will find that the estimates for
2022/23 for each bus iness unit have changed som ewhat from the 2021/22 estimates. Although the core allocation of funds has not varied much from last year’s budget, funds have been re- distributed due to
the ever -changing customer demands and the department’s procedural adjustm ents to become more
user-friendly.
Madam Chairman, it should be noted that
around 65 per cent, or $2,915 ,000 of the total budget
of $4,482, 472 is allocated to salaries. Also, external
professional services is allocated $379,000, or 8.4 per
cent of the nex t fiscal budget. This allotment is used
for external IT support for the Electronic Vehicle Re gistration system, eTCD, the department’s operating
system (known as the DVRS) and Appointment Management System, all of which are critical to the d e-partment’s dai ly operations and maintaining its excellent customer service levels. The remaining funds are used for general operating expenses such as utilities,
repairs and upkeep of the facilities, vehicles and
equipment, printing, office sup plies and Boards and
Commi ttee fees.

Examinations
(cost centre 44000)

Madam Chairman,
there will be no change in the estimated budget for
this section.
It is important to note that currently there is no
substantive Road Safety Officer in the post due to a
resignation prior to the 2021/22 fiscal year. Ho wever,
the post is being covered by another TCD em ployee
who has been seconded from another section.
Madam Chairman, this post was defunded
during the 2021/22 fiscal year and has remained unfunded for the 2022/23 fiscal year. Therefore, as a
result of budgetary restrictions, no recruitment will
take place for a substantive Road Safety Officer. Of
the $165,000 allocated to the Road Safety Section, as
seen on page B -210 of the Budget Book, the Road
Safety Council will receive a grant in the amount of $50,000, and $90,000 has been allocated to the Pr oject Ride programme.

Traffic Enforcement
(cost centre 44110)

Revenue is found on
page B -210. M adam Chairman, it is anticipated that
during the 2022/23 budget cycle, the TCD will collect
$29,244,000 in revenue. This represents a decrease
of 1 per cent over the prior year.
As a point of correction to the Budget Book,
page B -210, please note there will be a 10 per cent
reduction in licensing fees for private motor cars as
announced by the Premier and Minister of Finance on
25 February 2022. It is therefore estimated that the
revenue for private motor car licence fees will decrease from $17,008,000 to $15,307,200, a decline of
$1,700,800. Unfortunately, the above is not reflected
in the 2022/23 Budget Book but an adjustment will be
made.

Capital Expenditure

Capital Expenditure,
found on page C -13. M adam Chairman, the sum of
$1,389,000 has been allocated to begin the long
overdue repairs and upgrades to the vehicle testing
equipment in the department’s three facilities: North Street, Rockaway and Southside. The majority of
these funds will go to the aforementioned project,
whilst the remainder [ of] $13,000 is for the purchase
of new auxiliary bicycles for the Project Ride pr ogramme.

Human Resources

Human Resources ,
found on page B -211. The 2022/23 budget estimates
include funds for 42 full -time e quivalents (employees).
The full complement of staff at this department is 48.
Therefore, this number represents the six posts that were defunded to reach mandated budget targets.
Madam Chairman, I take this opportunity to
thank the staff of the Transport Control Department for their efforts in delivering a high level of quality customer service.
Plans for upcoming year

Madam Chairman,
the Transport Control Department will continue to r eview and update the Motor Car Act 1951 and the Auxiliary Bicycles Act 1954 and their ancillary regulations.
For example, recommendations have recently been submitted to reduce the legislated waiting times between driving test failures.
Madam Chairman, in 2022/23 the department
will focus o n modernising public service vehicles
through a process that has commenced with consult ation and feedback of key industry stakeholders, including minibuses, dispatchers, limos, and taxis. Phase I
of this initiative includes proposed amendments to
motor car legislation to improve the public service v ehicles sector to ensure improved service, customer and driver safety, and consumer protection. The over-arching aim is to strengthen the transportation support
to meet the increased service demands in preparation
for increased air and sea and cruise passenger arrival
numbers and provide a level playing field to better
deal with the continuing and inevitable changes and
meet customers’ needs. It will also increase the likel ihood of profitability for all public serv ice vehicle oper ators while reducing key liabilities.
Madam Chairman, the Bermuda Road Safety
Council will work in conjunction with the Road Safety Officer to continue the implementation of Operation Caution, the Government's five- year Road Safety
Strategy , 2018 to 2023. Operation Caution will be extended to 2024 to implement those items that were not funded to date, including the stoplight cameras
and Project Ride training course.
One of the key deliverables of the Strategy in
2022/ 23 will be recommendati ons for enhancing [the]
Project Ride programme for students to gain on- theroad training. The Project Ride Safety Council will
continue education and awareness of good driving habits. The goal remains preventing collisions and
decreasing serious injuries —road deaths.
Thank you, M adam Chairman. That concludes
the brief for the Transport Control Department, Head
34. I now —

Madam Chairman,
the total current expenditure, page B -213 of the
Budget Book, is estimated to be $17,788,000, which is
$2,574,000 less than the 2021/22 budget.
The department has three business units:
Transportation, Maintenance, and Administration. The
budget breakdown is as follows:
Programme 3501—Transportation
• Bus Operations, cost centre 45010 —
$9,959,000.
Programme 3502— Maintenance
• Repair Servic es, cost centre 45090 —
$3,792,000;
• Inventory Management, cost centre 45115—
$1,074,000.
Programme 3503— Administration
• Administration, cost centre 45120—$2,225,000;
• Management Support, cost centre 45200—
$738,000.

Transportation —Bus Operations

Madam Chairman,
the public bus service operates 18 hours per day, 7
days per week. Additionally, the school bus service operates on weekdays during term times. The current
account expenditure for Bus Operations, cost centre
45010, is estimated at $9,959,000 for 2022/23. This is
an increase of $312,000, or 3 per cent more than the
prior year’s budget.

Maintenance —Repair Servicing

Madam Chairman,
the department employs a team of professionals in
Repair Servicing to maintain the fleet of public buses,
support vehicles and equipment. The current expend iture for Repair Servicing, cost centre 45090, is est imated to be $3,792,000 for 2022/23. Thi s is a d ecrease of $447,000, or 11 per cent less than the prior
year’s budget, largely due to an anticipated reduction
in diesel fuel cost s as a result the new electric buses.

Inventory Management

Parts for vehicles
and equipment are procured, stored, controlled, and issued by the Stores Section, which falls under Inve ntory Management. The current expenditure for Inventory Management, cost centre 45115, is estimated to
be $1,074,000 for 2022/23. This is a decrease of $582, 000, or 35 per cent less than the prior year’s
budget, largely due to the retirement of aged diesel buses.

Administration

The Administration
Section is primarily responsible for developing department strategy, policy, and procedures —ensuring
that the people, processes, and resources are avail able to deliver a quality public bus service. The ex-penditure for Administration, cost centre 45120, which
accounts for salaries, utilities and shared services is
estimated to be $2,225,000 for 2022/23. This is a decrease of $1,016,000, or 31 per cent less than the
prior year’s budget due to reduced contractor, mini-bus, and security expenses.

Management Support

Madam Chairman,
the capital acquisition estimate for the department, as
seen on page C -14 of the Budget Book, totals
$2,574,000. This is primarily for the acquisition of new
elect ric buses consistent with the procurement strat egy for replenishment of the aged bus fleet.
The automated bus washer and recovery tow
truck are both past their useful service life and will be
replaced.

Manpower

Madam Chairman,
the total complement of full -time equivalents in the
new 2022/23 fiscal year is 223, as recorded on page
B-215 of the Budget Book. This is unchanged from the
2021/22 budget. The breakdown of FTEs by each section is as follows:


Bermuda Senate • Bus Operations, cost centre 45010, has 156
full-time equivalents, unchanged from the pr ior year’s budget.
• Cost centre 45090, Repair Servicing, has 46
full-time equivalents, unchanged from the pr ior year’s budget.
• Inventory Management, cost centre 45115,
has been allocated fiv e full- time equivalents,
unchanged from the prior year’s budget.
• The number of full-time equivalents for the
cost centre 45120, Administration, is four, unchanged from the prior year’s budget.
• Management Support, cost centre 45200, has 12 full -time equiva lents, unchanged from the
prior year’s budget.
Madam Chairman, I take this opportunity to
thank this dedicated team at the DPT for their efforts
in delivering a safe public bus service.

Major Policy Changes

[Madam] Chairm an,
the department is focused on delivering reliable public
bus services. To this end it is replenishing the aged
bus fleet, recruiting operat ions and maintenance staff,
and investing in new technology.
During COVID -19, minibuses have been contracted to pr ovide transportation specifically to get
students directly to schools in a safe environment. As
we transition to “learning to live with the virus” and
once the bus fleet reaches 88 operational buses, we
will no longer provide independent transportation for
school students.
In February 2022, the department took deli very of Bermuda’s first electric buses —a significant
milestone on the journey to zero emissions public
transportation for Bermuda.

Thank you, Senator Hodgson. Madam President, I am handing it over to you again.
[Motion carried: The Committee of Supply agreed to
rise and report progress and sought leave to sit
again.]

Senate resumed at 6:56 pm
[Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright, President , presiding ]
290 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate ORDERS OF THE DAY

The Presiden t: Senators and the listening audience, I
would like to announce that we are now back in the
Senate to continue with our Orders of the Day. Ho wever, I would like to take this opportunity to thank
Senator Michelle Simmons, the Vice President of the
Senate a nd Senator John Wight for Chairing the
Committee of the whole Senate in today’s full day of consideration of the Appropriation Act 2022/23 during which several Ministries and their departments were
considered, and I would also like to thank all Senators
for their participation. We will now continue with our
Orders of the Day.
The next Order of the Day is the consideration
of the draft Regulations entitled the Government Fees
Amendment Regulations 2022, Governor’s recommendation signified. And this is in the name of Senator Arianna Hodgson, the Junior Minister for Finance.
Senator Hodgson, you have the floor . . . oh, I
would just like to indicate for all Senators that Order
No. 2 is carried over until Monday.
Senator Hodgson, you have the floor.

Sen. Ari anna Hodgson: Madam President, I move
that the Senate do now take under consideration the
draft Regulations entitled the Government Fees
Amendment Regulations 2022.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection, carry on Senator Hodgson.

[No audio: 04:58:10- 04:58:58]
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: I do apologise. Should I
go—
The President: Yes, I think you need to start again.

DRAFT REGULATIONS

GOVERNMENT FEES
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2022
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, in the
past, the Government reviewed and updated all fees
charged for government services every two years.
This review was done to ensure there was appropriate
cost recovery for the provision of the various services
offered by a range of government departments and
that inflation was appropriately taken into account. An
across the board update of all government fees was
last done 2018. The Government has taken the dec ision since 2018 to hold this practice in order for
across the board fees increases to relieve pressur es
on Bermuda’s families and businesses.
Madam President, the Government will ther efore only be amending a few of the government fees in 2022. All other government fees will remain at their
2018 rates.
Madam President, the following fees within
these Regulations
will be amended within the existing
Heads in the revised 2022 fee schedule and are as follows:
• Head 06, Immigration and Protection Act
[1956] . Provisions : [paragraph] 2(b), new fee
section ( 15A) [(a)] and (b) , and new fee section (16A ) [(a)] and (b)
• Head 10, Building Act 1988 .
• Head 11, Bui lding Authority Act 1962.
• Head 21, Development and Planning Act
1974 .
All provisions for the above Heads have been
revised to streamline planning fees and introduce r enewable energy systems fees section.
• Head 18 Customs Department Act 1952 is
amended [by clause 5] in [paragraph] 1(a) (ii)
and (ii i) [sic], (1b) (i) and ( iii) [sic] and [by
clause 5] (c) through (g) [which inserts] new
fee paragraph (7).
• Head 71, Royal Prerogative . Provision :
[clause 7(a) amends paragraph] ( 3) [and i nserts] a new fee section, paragraph 5 [(6)].
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson. Would any Senator care to speak on this Regul ation?
Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Senator Ben Smith, you have the
floor.
Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, the Opposition would just like
to state that we have no objection to what the Junior
Ministe r has put forward.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Smith. Would any
other Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Hearing none, then Senator Arianna Hodgson, it is back to you.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I move that th e said draft Regulations be a pproved and that the following message be sent to Her
Excellency the Governor:
May it please Your Excellency: The Senate,
having had under consideration the Draft Regulations entitled the Government Fees Amendment Regul ations 2022, proposed to be made by the Minister of
Finance, under the provisions of section 2 of the Gov-ernment Fees Act 1965 has the honour to inform Your
Excellency that the Senate has approved the said
Draft Regulations.


Bermuda Senate The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
Hearing none, then thank you Senator Hodgson. A suitable message will be sent to the Governor.

[Motion carried: the Government Fees Amendment
Regulations 2022 were approved.]

The President: We move now on to the next item on
our agenda and that is item 4 . . . oh, I need to advise
Senators that the Payroll Tax Amendment and Validation Act will be carried over to Monday.
So, we are moving on to item 5 which is the
second reading of the Customs Tariff Amendment Act
2022 and that is also in the name of Senator Arianna
Hodgson, the Junior Minister for Finance.
Senator Hodgson, you have the floor.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I move that the Bill titled
the Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2022 be now r ead
a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.

BILL

SECOND READING

CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT ACT 2022

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President , this Bill
proposes to amend the Customs Tariff Act 1970, the
principal Act, w ith measures that create specific national tariff codes for cash and negotiable instruments, lower the d uty rate for LED light sources, make mi scellaneous harmonising amendments to the simplified tariff currently in use by the post office and courier
service s, and expand the scope of duty relief available
to the Bermuda Hospitals Board.
The v arious measures of the Bill affect both
the First Schedule and the Fifth Schedule to the pri ncipal Act. Madam President, the first measure of the
Bill involves the introduction of separate national
codes for bank notes, cheque forms, and stock share
or bond certificates and similar documents of title.
These proposed new national codes are intended to
make classification of cash and negotiable instr uments easier for importers and to facilitate more detailed statistical reporting on declared imports and exports of currency in support of Bermuda’s anti -money
laundering efforts.
Madam President, in the 2022/23 Budget
Statement in support of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, it was asserted that Bermuda is a juri s-diction committed to cooperation, transparency and
high levels of compliance with our international obligations. It was indicated that we have been working with
the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in
relation to our anti -money laundering regime. These
new national codes are a small but important part of
the process of updating and strengthening our regime as we work with the CFATF to ensure the most effective implementation of Financial Action Task Force
standards r elated to c ross border movement s of cu rrency in negotiable instruments.
Madam Pr esident, for the avoidance of doubt,
these proposed amendments are all revenue neutral.
The duty rate applicable to currency negotiable i nstruments remains 0 per cent ad valorem. Madam
President, I now turn to the proposed lower duty rate
for LEDS.
Madam P resident, it was predicted in the
2022/23 Budget Statement that the current conflict
between Ukraine and Russia will be likely to put further pressure on electricity prices due to the increase
in the price of oil. In order to help cushion the cost and
inflationary pressures arising from increasing energy
prices, the Bill makes provision to reduce the duty rate
for energy -efficient light emitting diode ( LED) bulbs
and modules from 12 per cent to 5 per cent. It is anti cipated that the resulting reduction in the price of LEDs
will encourage their use thereby reducing the amount
of money spent by the community on electricity. Madam President, i t has been estimated by the Director of
Energy that for residential customers alone this could
lead to savings in excess of $450 per year.
Also worth considering is that the lifespan of
LED light sources is much longer, up to 25 times longer than that of incandescent bulbs. This will ult imately result in additional savings for those hous eholds taking up this technology. I t is further anticipated
that some of the savings on electricity could also
translate to additional beneficial spending in the local
economy.
Madam President, I now progress to the mi scellaneous harmonising amendments to the simplified tariff. These proposed amendments affect heading
98.03 of the First Schedule to the principal Act. Heading 98.03 is used to classify goods imported by post or via courier service. The Bill introduces a number of
textual changes and new national codes to better
align with subheading description of heading 98.03
with those of the headings of the first 97 chapters of
the First Schedule to the principal Act.
Madam President, once again I would emphasise that these harmonising changes are all rev enue neutral.
Madam President, in the 2022/23 B udget
Statement, it was pointed out that the increase in anticipated Government current account expenditure includ ed the additional $11.1 million to the Bermuda
Hospitals Board [BHB] to meet the funding shortfall.
Senate Members may be awar e the BHB has exper i292 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate enced a reduction in actual and forecast revenue
largely attribut able to the economic impact of the
COVID -19 pandemic.
Madam President, while the BHB already
benefits from extensive duty relief in respect of hosp ital equipment , the Bi ll proposes to introduce a new
end-use duty relief in the Fifth Schedule to the princ ipal Act for hospital operating supplies. This is being
done to assist the BHB in offsetting additional operating expenses. The period of the new relief is to be
restricte d to 17 months, from the 1st of April 2022 until
the 31st of August 2023.
Madam President, in addition to the principal
measures of the Bill that I have already described, the opportunity is being taken to correct a number (eight
in total) of minor textual errors arising from the HS
2022 amendments made to the First Schedule in D ecember 2021.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson. Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

To the Junior Minister,
my question is where do I find the . . . and this is my
. . . you know, being brand new here, where do I find
the information that you are speaking to? Because I
do not see it in the Bill, the Schedules, about the bulbs and the energy. I just see a Schedule about the hospital supplies.
Is there another place I need to go to look to
find the detailed Schedule?

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: These details are provided
in the Bill, in the Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2022.
If you look at page 1, it talks about the amendments to
the Fifth Schedule.

The President: Senator Hodgson, could you repeat
the comment you just made? I did not hear it —

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Madam President, I do not
know if it is just me, but I am having trouble hearing
Senator Hodgson and Senator De Couto. If, you know, they can just get closer to their microphones. I
really cannot hear them.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: I was guiding Senator De
Couto, sorry, to page 1 of the Bill draft. He was asking
the relevance of the Bermuda Hospital Board, or
where it would be found, I believe.

[Inaudible interjections]
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Oh, the LED bulbs.

[Pause]

It just may be procedural and, maybe, Junior Minister, it is as simple as I just
. . . I am supposed to know to look on this website and
pull that up and know t hat I must read that page on
that website in conjunction with this Bill.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: No, this is the Bill. So, you
would look at page 352.

[Inaudible interjections]

The President: Senators, there is a reference in the
Schedule if you look on the back page.
The Clerk: Page 3.

The President: On page 3 of the Bill itself.

[Inaudible interjections]
The Clerk: There is a website cited here on page 3 in
the Schedule, in the Bill.
[Inaudible interjections]

The Clerk: Yes, there is a reference t o the First
Schedule and it says it is published on the Bermuda
Government portal at the following web address, and
that is on page 3 in the Bill.

Thank you. Would any other Senator
care to speak on this Bill?
Senator Smith, you have the floor.

Sen. Ben Smith : Thank you, Madam President .


Bermuda Senate The Opposition has no objection to the Bill
and obviously anything that is going to lower costs
and probably have an impact on the environment as
well is important for all of us to support. So, thank you,
Junior Minister.

The President: Thank you, Senator Smith.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Hearing none, then Senator Arianna Hodgson
it is over to you. Can you be sure that you have your
mic close to you and speak loudly? Thank you.

Sen. Arianna Hodgso n: Yes, I do apologise.
Madam President, I move that the Bill titled
the Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2022 be now read
a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I move that [Standing O rder] 26 be suspended in respect of this Bill.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT ACT 2022
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. I move that Bill entitled the Customs Tariff
Amendment Act 2022 be now a read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
There is no objection.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. I move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill titled
the Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2022 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson.

[Motion carried: The Customs Tariff Amendment Act
2022 was read a third time and passed.] The President: We will move now on to the next item
on our agenda which is the second reading of the Motor Car Amendment Act 2022 and that is in the name
of Senator Emilygail Dill, the Junior Minister for Transport.
Senator Dill, you have the floor.

Madam President,
the Bill I pr esent today is the Motor Car Amendment
Act 2022. Members of these Chambers may recall
that reducing private car licensing fees by 10 per cent
is one of the initiatives set out in the 2022/23 Budget
Statement to lessen the burden of taxation on our
communit y. The Bill amends the Motor Car Act 1951
to provide for the 10 per cent reduction in the licence
fees for private motor cars and for the reduction in fees to come into effect on the 1
st of April.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President : Would any Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Ben Smith, you have the floor.

Sen. Ben Smith : Thank you, Madam President . The
Opposition has no objection.

The President : Would any other Senator care to
speak on the Bill?
Senator Michelle, you have the floor.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. I would just like to say that at this point any r eduction in licence fees will be welcomed by, I think,
most sectors in our community. So thank you for this,
to the Government of Bermuda.

The Presiden t: Thank you, Senator Simmons.
Senator Dill, it seems you have full support,
so continue.

Madam President, I
move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill titled
the Motor Car Amendment Act 2022 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed. Thank you, Senator Dill.
[
Motion carried: The Motor Car Amendment Act 2022
was read a third time and passed.]
The President: We are moving on to the next item
and that is consideration of the draft Regulations titled the Mortgaging of Aircraft and Aircraft Engines (Fees)
Amendment Regulations 2022 . And that is in the
name of Senator Dill, as well, the Junior Minister for
Transport.
Senator Dill, do you have the motion?

Madam President ,
today I am presenting the Mortgaging of Aircraft and
Aircraft Engines (Fees) Amendment Regulation s
2022 . Madam President, the Bermuda Civil Aviation
Authori ty, (“the Authority”) submitted a request for
these amendments since the fees for mortgaging ai rcraft and aircraft engines have not been adjusted since 1999 and do not reflect the increased cost of providing such services since that date. The Authority
analysed fees charged by other aircraft registries and
found that Bermuda’s fees are pretty low.
Madam President, the increase in fees will
cover operational costs for providing the services and generate revenue from banks and leasing companies based offshor e. It is intended that the fees will come
into effect on the 1
st of April 2022.
Thank you, Madam President .
The President: Thank you, Senator Dill. Would any
other Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator Smith?
Se
n. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam Pr esident .
The Opposition has no objection to this Bill.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you. Would any other Senator
care to speak on this Bill?
Hearing none, and it has full support, Senator
Dill, it is back to you.

Madam President, I
move that the said draft Regulations be approved and
that the following message be sent to Her Excellency
the Governor:
May it please Your Excellency: The Senate,
having had under consideration Draft Regulations entitled the Mortgaging of Aircraft and Aircraft Engines
(Fees) Amendment Regulations 2022, proposed to be
made by the Minister of Transport in exercise of the


Bermuda Senate power conferred by section 7(1)(b) of the Mortgaging
of Aircraft and Aircraft Engines Act 1999 has the honour to inform Your Excellency that the Senate has approved the said Draft Regulations.

The President: Is there a ny objection to that motion?
No objection.

Thank you, Madam
President.
[Motion carried: the Mortgaging of Aircraft and A ircraft
Engines (Fees) Amendment Regulations 2022 were
approved.]
The President: Thank you. We will now move on to—
[Crosstalk]

The President: Senators, item 8 on the Orders of the
Day is carried over until Monday. So we will move on
to item 9 which is the second reading of the Municipalities Amendment Act 2022 and that is in the name of
Senator O. K. Darrell, the Junior Minister for Public
Works.
Sen. Owen Darrell : Thank you, Madam President .
Madam President, I move that the Bill titled
the Municipal ities [ Amendment ] Act 2022 be now read
the second time.
The President : Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Sen. Owen Darrell : Thank you, Madam President .

BILL

SECOND READING

MUNICIPALITIES AMENDMENT ACT 2022
Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, I introduce the
Bill entitled Municipalities Amendment Act 2022
. This
Bill seeks to amend the Municipalities Act 1923 to
provide for the next ordinary municipal elections for
the Mayor and Councillors of the Corporations of
Hamilton and St. George’s to be postponed for a year and to be held May 2023, not May 2022.
Madam President, the Government promised
in the 2020 Throne Speech that municipal refor m for
the Corporations of Hamilton and St. George’s w ill be
advanced. However, due to the constitutional cha llenge brought against the Government by the Corporation of Hamilton in 2019 in relation to the Municipal ities Reform [Act] 2019, which proposed the abolition
of municipal elections and replacing elected mayors
and officials with appointed ones, those plans were
halted. The Supreme Court of Bermuda ruled in f avour of the Government as articulated in the Chief Justice’s judgment of the Corporation of Hamilton ve rsus The Attorney General and The Governor of Ber-muda 2019.
Madam President, the Corporation of Hami lton appealed to the Court of Appeals which was held
over four days in November 2021. During the period between November 2021 and March 2022, w hile
awaiting judgment, the Government proposed to pos tpone the scheduled May 2022 municipal elections to May 2023 to err on the side of caution.
Madam President, though the judgment from
the Court of Appeals received on the 18 March 2022 favours the Government , the Government wishes only
to maintain the status quo while it determines the next
steps.
Madam President, as further stated in the
House by the honourable Minister, and I reiterate,
consultation has been undertaken with respective Corporations r egarding the proposed Bill. During the
consultation period the Government requested that
any information regarding possible resignations be sent to the Ministry with responsibility for municipal ities so that the Government can best plan if such an
event were to occur.
To this da y, the Ministry has not received any
communication following said meetings .
Madam President, this Government will fulfil
its promise to the people of Bermuda who have put
their faith in us. Municipal reform for the Corporations
of Hamilton and St. George’s will be advanced in the
future.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President : Thank you, Senator Darrell. Would
any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam
President .
My understanding is that the current Gover nment is a big advocate of representation, and it seems
to me why not let the taxpayers of the city have their
selected representatives until such proposed reforms
may or may not actually occur .
Thank you.

The President : Senator?

Sen. Owen Darrell : Yes . . . I am sorry. Do I need—
The President: I do not know if he has posed that as
a question or just a comment.

As such, I do not agree
with this Bill, Madam Presi dent.
Thank you.

296 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, I am a little
confused by the statement by the Senator. In my brief,
I clearly stated that all this Bill is doing is postponing
the elections for a year and all elected positions will
stay in place, un less there were any resignations. And
I think [there is] a line in here that says, to date, we
have not received a note of any resignations.
So, what the Senator is asking is actually exactly what this Bill is doing.
Thank you, Madam President .

The Pre sident: Would any other Senator care to
speak on the Bill?
Senator Michelle Simmons has indicated
first—
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I just want to say that I support this Bill because it still allows the voters in the two munic ipal districts to exercise their constitutional right to vote to
elect their own representatives.
So, I am in support of the Bill. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak? Se nator Ben Smith, you have t he floor.

Sen. Ben Smith : Thank you, Madam President . I actually [am] supportive of the fact that there will be a further consultative process and that the Government
will take the time to listen to any objections and any
potential plans that will come fr om both Hamilton and
St. George’s . And postponing for a year, giving that
opportunity to happen is important for us to try to get
the best result in this. And for that reason, I can su pport it.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President .
I would echo Senator Smith’s comment. I
think the consultative process is what is required moving forward. So, I am supportive of t his Bill with the
proviso that the consultation takes place in the coming
year as well.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Wight. Any other
Senator care to speak? Hearing none, then Senator Darrell, it is back
to you.
Sen. Owen Darrell : Thank you, Madam President . Madam President, I move that the Bill titled
the Municipalities Amendment Act 2022 be now read
a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 2 6

Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, I move that
[Standing Order] 26 be suspended in respect of this
Bill.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

MUNICIPALITIES AMENDMENT ACT 2022

Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, I move that
the Bill titled the Municipalities Amendment Act 2022
be now a read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading? No objection.
Sen. Owen Darre ll: Madam President, I move that
the Bill do now pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Municipalities Amendment Act 2022 do now
pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.
Thank you, Senator Darrell and Senators for
your response.

[Motion carried: The Municipalities Amendment Act
2022 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: We are moving on to the next item on
the agenda and that is the second reading of the Municipalities Ame ndment (No. 2) Act 2022 and that is
also in the name of Senator Darrell. You have the floor.

Sen. Owen Darrell : Thank you, Madam President .
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the Municipalities Amendment (No. 2) Act 2022 be
now read the secon d time.
The President : Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.


Bermuda Senate Sen. Owen Darrell : Thank you, Madam President .

BILL

SECOND READING

MUNICIPALITIES AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2022

Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, I introduce the
Bill titled the Municipalities Amendment (No. 2) Act
2022 . The Bill amends the Municipalities Act 1923 to
provide for the appointment of parking enforcement
officers (PEOs) by the Governor for the purpose of
enforcing the law with respect to parking offences on the streets of municipal areas of the City of Hamilton
and the Town of St. George’s , and to make cons equential amendments.
Madam President, colleagues may recall that
the Corporation of Hamilton announced in September
2021 the implementation of P arking Enforcement Officers for the purpose of enforcing traffic laws within
their jurisdiction. However, in 2021 the Ministry of
Public Works questioned the lawfulness of suc h action. As a result, the then acting Minister of Public
Works issued a directive for the P arking Enforcement
Officer s to stand down effective November 4, 2021, in
order to facilitate the amending of existing legislation
which would accomplish the goal of making P arking
Enforcement Officer s lawful.
Madam President, this Bill will give the P arking Enforcement Officers powers similar to those of
the traffic wardens within the City of Hamilton, and permit the Corporation of St. George’s to implement a
simila r parking enforcement regime. The revenue
generated from issuing tickets will go to the respective Corporation in accordance with section 18A of the Traffic Offences Procedure Act 1974, which provides
that the penalty for a parking offence committed within
a municipal area shall accrue to the revenues of the
Corporation of Hamilton or the Corporation of St.
George’s.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President : Thank you, Senator Darrell. Would
any Senator care to speak on this?
Senator Ben Smith, you ha ve the floor.
Sen. Ben Smith : Thank you, Madam President .
I was just wondering if the Junior Minister
would be able to tell us whether those parking atten dants had been retained during this period while the
transition is happening because, obviously, w hen it
was announced it was quite a big deal. I could tell that
all those people were quite proud of having that job.
And now over this period of time where this process
was happening, were they retained in those jobs so
that they can now carry on once thi s amendment goes
through? If he has that information, I think it would just be good for us to know that those jobs were kept while that happened. Other than that, we do not have an
objection with this being put forward.
Thank you.
The President : Thank you, Senator Ben Smith.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I just want to add that we were beginning to
see the positive effects of these PEOs in the town of
St. George’s , until it was realised that their actions
had to be made lawful. We are looking forward to seeing their return, so I am in support of the Bill. And, obviously, we want to see them back in Hamilton and St.
George’ s.
Thank you, Madam Presi dent.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Hearing none, then Senator Darrell, it is back
to you.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Just an answer to Senator
Smith’s question: I have been reliably informed that
the Parking Enforcement Officers were retained, and
they have been moved to other duties in the interim
while this was getting rectified. So, they will be back in
their posts shortly.

[Laughter]

Sen. Owen Darrell: Some of you may have seen . . .
and this is just extra. You may have seen over the
Christmas holiday when town was really busy, they were actually helping to direct traffic.
Okay, Madam President, I move that the Bill
entitled the Municipalities Amendment (No. 2) Act 2022 be now read a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, I move that
[Standing Order] 26 be suspended in respect of this
Bill.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

298 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate BILL

THIRD READING

MUNICIPALITIES AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2022

Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled the Municipalities Amendment (No. 2)
Act 2022 be now a read a third time.
The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
No objection.
Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, I move that
the Bill do now pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled t he Municipalities Amendment (No. 2) Act 2022
do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed. Thank you, Senator Owen
Darrell and all Senators.

[Motion carried: The Municipalities Amendment (No.
2) Act 2022 was rea d a third time and passed.]

The President: We move on to the next item on the
Order Paper, and that is the second reading of the
National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions)
Amendment and Validation Act 2022, and that is in
the name of Senator Arianna Hodgson, the Junior
Minister for Finance.
Senator Hodgson, you have the floor.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I move that the Bill entitled the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment
and Validation Act 2022 be now read a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.

BILL

SECOND READING

NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME
(OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS)
AMENDMENT AND VALIDATION ACT 2022

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: I am pleased to provide for
the consideration of the Senate the Bill entitled the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions)
Amendment and Val idation Act 2022 .
Madam President, Senators will be aware that
the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pe nsions) Act 1998, provides for the establishment, administration and regulation of private sector occup ational pension plans in Bermuda. The Act became
operational on the 1st of January 2000, and over the
years a number of amendments to the Act and Regulations have been introduced to provide for various
matters.
Madam President, I am pleased to provide the
following statistics received from the Pension Commission as of the 31st of December 2021, based on
estimates and actual data received from plan admini strators. The National Pension Scheme contained
49,324 plan members or former members. There were a total of 3,203 employer plans; 3,188 of which are
defined contribution and 15 defined benefits. The total
value of assets under the National Pension Scheme
was US$3.8 billion, consisting of US$2.6 billion in employer plans and US$1.2 billion in approved local r etirement products. There were 544 self -employed
plans, and a total of BMD$36.4 million in financial
hardship payments have been made.
Madam President, recognising the significant
economic impact that the COVID -19 pandemic
caused on the domestic economy, Government intr oduced a number of amendments to the Act since 2020
to provide active plan members and those 65 and ol der additional access to their pension funds. In partic ular, the following refunds were granted:
• temporary refunds up to $12,000, which en ded on the 30
th of June 2021; and a further
$6,000 for persons under the age of 65, which will end on the 30
th of June 2022;
• small pension refunds for those who have
reached their retirement age of 65 with
$50,000 and under pension fund account balances, and lump sum refunds for those reac hing normal retirement age up to 25 per cent of
an applicant’s pension fund account balance.
Madam President, these additional refunds
have provided timely and substantial financial support
to Bermudians, and I am please to provide the follo wing summary of appr oved refund payments up to 31
December 2021:
• temporary refunds of $188.7 million;
• small pension refunds of $5.68 million; and
• twenty -five per cent lump sum refunds of
$35.01 million.
Madam President, Senators will recall that last
year the Government int roduced the National Pension
Scheme (Refund) (Temporary) Regulations 2021 to
provide for the ability of plan members under the age
of 65 to be able to withdraw up to $6,000 from their
employer pension plan fund or individual local retir ement product. Appli cations for such temporary refunds
are made via the respective pension plan administr aBermuda Senate tors with oversight provided by the Pension Commi ssion.
It has been determined that such regulations,
while approved, were not published in the Official G azette due to an administrative oversight. Senators are
advised that in order to rectify the publication of the
required regulations, the National Pension Scheme
(Refund) (Temporary) Regulations 2022 were pub-lished in the Official Gazette on the 8
th of March 2022.
Madam President, the proposed Bill deems to
have the 2022 Regulations to have had effect since
the 5th of July 2021.
Madam President, the financial impact of
COVID -19 is still with us . And many in our community
are still facing economic challenges requiring the
Government to consider providing additional financial
support and relief. Madam President, the 2022/23
Budget Statement recognised the Government ’s actions of the last two years to allow persons to have
voluntary access to their pensions in case they w ere
having difficulty making ends meet due to reduced
hours of business. In particular, in 2020 residents
could withdraw up to $12,000, and in 2021 they could
withdraw up to $6,000.
This Bill reflects the Government’s commi tment to provide an additional avenue for relief for
those Bermudians who really need it by permitting, for
a final time, a further voluntary withdrawal of up to
$6,000.
Madam President, in closing, I would like to
thank all those persons within the Pension Commi ssion, the Attorney General’s Chamber, and the Mini stry of Finance who have assisted with the develop-ment of this Bill.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson. Would
any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator Ben Smith , you have the floor .

Sen. Ben Smith : Thank you, Madam President .
Obviously, we are supportive of this because
we are in a situation where we have portions of our
population that have had to not just do this once but
multiple times. The difficulty is that this is going to
mean that they are taking from their future in order to
pay for today because things are so bad.
Bermuda is an expensive jurisdiction, and
when people are getting older and they are going to have more needs, they are not going to have the o pportunity to re ly on this money. So, although we are
supportive of taking care of the today, we are going to have to find a way to support people in the future because once this money is gone they are not going to
have an opportunity to replenish it, really —especially
if they are at an age where they are not going to be
able to continue to earn.
This is a balancing act. It is something that we
have to do to take care of our people today, but we are all going to have to get our heads together to fi gure out how we are going to deal with this going forward because it could have a devastating impact on
our community in the years to come.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Smith. Would any
other Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Yes, Senator John Wight, you hav e the floor.
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President .
Yes, I will just add to Senator Smith’s comments. Being the CEO of one of the large pension providers, I have seen a number of people over the
last couple of years withdraw funds for many good
reasons to make ends meet. Just anecdotally, we
have also seen instances where people are using those funds for reasons other than, I think, strictly
necessary reasons.
So, to Senator Smiths’ comments, many pe ople’s defined contribution plans are slim enough as
they were before to provide for adequate retirement
finances. I would just caution any individual who considers withdrawing a further $6,000 that this be done
for emergency requirements only, because, as I say,
the case of insufficient pensions has long been an
issue in Bermuda. With the cost of living and inflation
being what it is, it will only get worse in the future.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator John Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Robin Tucker, you have the floor.

Sen. Robin Tucker : Thank you, Madam President .
I echo the sentiments of my Senate co lleagues. I would just like to ask the Junior Minister . . .
obviously, this is the final withdrawal during this particular crisis. But I just wanted to get some clarity. Is it
only a final withdrawal for this crisis, or final withdra wal, sort of, period, outside of the regular sort of pension commission already pre- approved types of wit hdrawals?
So, in other words, is it just about this partic ular crisis that we are dealing with? If another crisis
comes up, is it likely that we are going to have this
type of opportunity again? So, just some clarity
around that.
Thank you, Madam President .
The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
Senat or Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I would like to join with my Senate colleagues
who have spoken already about caution. It is really
important that people should carefully consider
300 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate whether they sh ould go ahead and make such a wit hdrawal, especially if they have already made one from
their pension plan, because the future is coming when
they will have retired and they will be looking for si gnificant support from their pension. It is really i mportant that before any lump sum withdrawal is made
this time around that they should carefully consider.
I also wanted to ask a question about . . . and
it is really connected with what my Senate colleague, Senator Tucker, has just asked. When does this come
to an end? Can the Junior Minister clarify when people will no longer be able to go and withdraw this lump
sum that we are approving, hopefully today? I could
not really pick that up from the amendment to the Bill.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Senator Hodgson, you have a couple of questions.
[Pause]
The President: Senator Hodgson, as you are waiting
for [answers], I have a question with respect to
whether individuals are counselled. You know, before
they actually take or are given the money, are they cautioned?

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, in response to your question, I can say at this time they
are not counselled.
With regard to Senator Tucker’s question, at
this time we can state that it is final. And, of course,
we cannot speak to what would happen in the future,
but as of today this will be the final withdrawal. This
withdrawal can take place up until the 30
th of June
2023.
An Hon. Senator: Oh?

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Yes, 2023.
Thank you.

The President: If those are the answers to the questions, then Senator Hodgson, just back to you to —

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pe nsions) Amendment and V alidation Act 2022 be now
read a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I move that [Standing Order] 26 be suspended
in respect of this Bill.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME
(OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS)
AMENDMENT AND VALIDATION ACT 2022

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. I move that Bill entitled the National Pension
Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment and
Validation Act 2022 be now a read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
No objec tion.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, I move
that the Bill do now pass. The President: It has been moved that the Bill do
now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed. Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson and all Senators who contributed.

[Motion carried: The National Pension Scheme (O ccupational Pensions) Amendment and Validation Act
2022 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: We now move on to the next item on
our agenda, and that is c onsider ation of the draft
Regulations entitled the National Pension Scheme
(Refund) (Temporary) (No. 2) Regulations 2022. And
that is also in the name of Senator Arianna Hodgson,
the Junior Minister for Finance.
Senator Hodgson, you have the floor.
Sen. Arian na Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I move that the Senate do
now take under consideration the draft Regulations
entitled the National Pension Scheme (Refund) (Te mporary) (No.2) Regulations 2022 .

The President: Is there any objecti on to that motion?
No objection.



Bermuda Senate DRAFT REGULATIONS

NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME (REFUND)
(TEMPORARY) (NO.2) REGULATIONS 2022

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I am pleased to present the National Pension
Scheme (Refund) (Temporary) (No. 2) Regulations
2022 for the consideration of Senators .
Madam President, the National Pension
Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment and
Validation Act 2022, w hich Senators have just approved, provides the authority to permit members and
former members of defined contribution pension plans
and individual local retirement product s to be able to
voluntarily withdraw up to $6,000.
These Regulations provide the fra mework for
applying for the refund and other related matters, such
as applicants having more than one account, stat ement of account, incomplete or defective applications,
consideration of applications, decision of Administr ator, payment of refunds, non- imposition of charges by
Administrator, Administrator compliance, Administrator
recordkeeping, Administrator reporting to the Commission and commencement and expiration of the
Regulations , as well as supplement ary provisions.
Madam President, as in previous temporary
refunds, the applications for these refunds will be made via the pension plan Administrators. These
Regulations provide various checks and balances to
ensure that applications are correct and that plan
members only apply once and limit the withdr awal to
not more than $6,000 for all accounts held by the ap-plicant.
Madam President, Administrators are well
placed to provide for the administration of these r efunds having successfully done so on the two prev ious occasions of such temporary refunds.
Madam President, the specifics of the pr oposed Regulations are as follows:
Regulation 1 is self -explanatory and provides
for the citation of the Regulations .
Regulation 2 inserts various definitions.
Regulation 3 provides for those who can apply
under the Regulations and the process for applying for
a refund.
Regulation 4 enables persons with more than
one account to submit an application for any or all of
their accounts, but limits the total refunds to $6,000 for
all such accounts.
Regulation 5 requires a statement of account
to be received from an Administrator within seven working days.
Regulation 6 provides for the consideration of
applications by a plan Administrator, the handling of incomplete or defective applications and restrictions on approving such applications. Regulation 7 provides for the decisions of the
Administrators and notification of such to applicants.
Regulation 8 provides for the payment of r efund for any approved application within 20 working
days.
Regulation 9 prohibits Administrators from i mposing a charge in performing their duties or requir ements under the Regulations.
Regulation 10 provides for the Administrators’
compliance with the Regulations notwithstanding any contrary terms of the pension plan or local retirement product and having regard to any advice or guidance
issued by the Commission.
Regulation 11 specifies recordkeeping r equirements by Administrators.
Regulation 12 provides for the requirement to
submit reports to the Commission and the information contained in such reports.
Regulation 13 provides for the commenc ement of the Regulations.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson. Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator Ben Smith, Opposition Leader, you
have the floor.
Sen. Ben Smith : Thank you, Madam President .
Obviously, after the last one we are not going
to object to this, but it is interesting. The comment that Madam President made at the end of the last group
had me thinking that potentially this is something that
we should have . . . where there is somebody there to
talk them through this decision.
It is not to tell them no; but to at least give
them some information about the decision they are making —why they are making it, what kind of savings
do they have, what that plan looks like. Because I
know certain people that have gone out and used the money and purchased a bike, as an example. The
problem with that is that in six years’ time when that
bike is no longer working, that money is gone. And
that was pro bably not the decision that was the right
one for them. And maybe if somebody had had the opportunity to talk them through it, they might not have made that decision.
I think it is important that when we have people who are suffering the way that they are we take
out the time to maybe give them some of those details that they might not have. And this was my only opportunity to speak to that.
I thought it was a great idea, so thank you,

Thank you, Senator Ben Smith.
Woul d any other Senator care to speak?
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.

302 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. John Wight: My understanding and recollection,
Madam President , and I may have this a little bit
wrong, but . . . prior to the pandemic starting there
was a hardship provisio n whereby policyholders could
approach the Pension Commission to withdraw funds.
I think in that process there was some sort of counselling.
During the pandemic, when that started, there
were literally thousands of people putting requests in. So you can i magine the urgency of people getting
their funds was much greater than the time that the
Administrators would put into trying to counsel people
on whether they really indeed needed those funds.
So, I guess all of that is to say that I think that the pr ior-to-pandemic policy of applying for hardship prov isions to the Pension Commission might be the recipe
going forward.
To Senator Smith’s comment, we do not want
people buying bikes with the funds that they are taking
out. So, I think we do have something in place that
can provide the advice by way of the Pension Commission. That would, I think, be of comfort to my Senate colleagues in that regard.

The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Any other Senator care to speak?
If not, it is back to you, Senator Hodgson.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident, and I would like to thank the other Senators for
their comments as well during this time.
Madam President, I move that the said draft
Regulations be approved and that the following message be sent to Her Excellency the Governor :
May it please Your Excellency: The Senate,
having had under consideration the Draft Regulations
entitled the National Pension Scheme (Refund) (Te mporary) (No. 2) Regulations 2022, proposed to be
made by the Minister of Finance under the provisions
of section 24(9)(c) and 69 of the National Pension
Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Act 1998 has the
honour to inform Your Excellency that the Senate has
approved the said Draft Regulations.

The President : Is there any support for that motion?
There is support .
Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson. A sui table message will be sent to the Governor.
[Motion carried: Draft Regulations entitled The National Pension Scheme (Refund) (Temporary) (No. 2)
Regulations 2022 were approved.]

The President: Thank you.
That moves us on. Item 13, Senators, is being
carried over until Monday.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHE S

The President: Would any Senator care to speak?
Senator Darrell?
Sen. Owen Darrell : Absolutely, I would love to speak
on this one.
The President: You have the floor.

Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, I was once
told by a few political colleagues that you do not us ually use congratulations [and obituary speeches] to
wish people happy birthdays —unless they are extremely important milestones for birthdays. So, I would
like to take some licence today and put everyone on
notice that this birthday right here will get shouted out
every single year. I just want to take this opp ortunity, if
she is listening to wish a very, very happy birthday to
Ms. Tatum Suraeya Darrell . She is at home celebrating her 11
th birthday —

[Laughter]

Sen. Owen Darrell :—today, March 24th, and she
happens to be the daughter of Senator Owen Darrell.
[Laughter]

Sen. Owen Darrell : So, again, Tatum Darrell , if you
are listening, daddy loves you. And I would like to
congratulate her on her 11
th birthday.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: We will join you in the celebrations!

[Laughter]
The Pre sident: Would any other Senator care to
speak on congratulatory and/or obituaries?
Hearing none, then it is over to Senator the
Honourable Dr. E. G. V. Peets, Minister and Gover nment Leader in the Senate for the adjournment.

Yes, thank you,
Madam President .
Before I announce the adjournment, I just
want to follow up on a comment that I heard earlier,
particularly as it relates to the budget rules. I think that all of us here tonight and throughout the whole day
are aware of the constraints in how this process
works.


Bermuda Senate Having said that, Madam President, you
know, the Senators behind me have worked really
hard, as well as all of the civil servants that help pr epare them for the budget. None of us made the rules. But if there is an issue with the rules, I think we can
certainly benefit with some information on how we can
redirect our efforts to collectively change those rules,
rather than unnecessarily complaining amongst each
other about how the rules actually work.
So, havi ng said that, you know, we just want
to do the best job we can both from Government side
and I believe also the Opposition wants to do the best
that they can as well.

ADJOURNMENT

Having said that,
Madam President, we stil l have got work to do, so let
us adjourn this Chamber to Monday, 28 March 2022.

The President: Thank you. Would any Senator care
to speak on the motion to adjourn?
Senator Ben Smith, you have the floor.

FRUSTRATION WITH CURRENT
BUDGET PROCESS
Sen. Be n Smith: Thank you, Madam President .
Firstly, I would like to start by just echoing the
comments that were made by the Minister. Obviously,
there has been some frustration in the process of the
budget debate. It is something that we discussed at
length last year, and we have discussed it again this
year. And I think it is important that just because things have been done a certain way, traditionally,
that, as legislators, we need to think [about what] we
are trying to do and what is in the best interests of the community —not one team or the other. And that has
not really been the case.
It has been about frustration with a system
that is set up to be adversarial when really the Go vernment has put forward a budget. If the Government
is happy with the budget they have put forward, there
should be no reason why questions should not be asked and answered so that the community gets clar ity for what is being put forward. That was the objec-tive. I believe that in the beginning of this process we
had had a discussion to try to change what the system
looks like so that it would be a better debate for ev eryone and that the community would get more information out of what was happening in our Chamber.
Today, the specific frustration is that we watch
technical officers sit here for an extended period of
time where they had nothing to do because the brief
that was being read, the brief that had been prepared,
was much longer than the time that was available. So,
yes, there are issues with trying to put together Heads and not having the time to go through all of the Heads. Frustration happens because the exact same
brief was read maybe a couple of days ago. So, even though it is information that is being provided over the
airwaves to the public, it is information that was a lready provided over the airwaves to the public.
So, it is not that we do not want the information. The Senators in this Chamber have already
listened to the information once. Probably they have
read through the information and then they have come
to this Chamber after spending hours preparing for the
budget to listen to it again. That cannot be something
that is helpful for anybody in this Chamber, and I know
that it cannot be helpful to the listening public.
This is our opportunity to show the worth of
the Senate. There are really smart people in this room who have the ability to change something that has
been done for a long time that is not helpful to the
community.
Bermuda is in a really difficult situation today,
and the population is hurting. We have a duty to tell
them that we are doing everything we can, Gover nment /Opposition/Independent Senators, to help them.
And the budget debate is our opportunity to make
sure that we are crossing every t and dotting every i in
spending the money that is pr ovided by the taxpayers.
When we sit here and do not have the opportunity to
ask those questions, it is not that it is just frustrating to
us in this Chamber. It has to be frustrating to the pe ople, because they do not have the opportunity to ask
these questions. That is our job. So, if we cannot do it
for them, then it is the community that is suffering.
There were times today where we would have
been better off leaving this Chamber and going and
reading books in our schools because just having somebody read for an extended period of time a story
that everybody has already heard . . . why do we not
take that time and actually work with our young peo-ple? That would be time well -spent.
In many cases we did not earn our money
today. In many cases democracy failed today. Not because it was our intention. It is the system that we
are working in.
But, Madam President, if we are bold as legi slators, we can figure out how to fix this so that when
the budget happens in 2023/24 we are not getting to
day two where I have to make the same speech I
made last year about the frustration. This is not pointed at any individual. This is us as a Senate Chamber
deciding that we do not want to continue this farce.
And if we make the change then potentially the House
will chan ge the way they do the budget, because it is
broken there as well.
The information that is provide by the tec hnical officers is important. Why do we not have ques-tions put forward in advance and then have a debate
on the answers to the questions that wer e asked?
Now we are communicating to all of our community
Because, remember, it is not about just the people
that support the PLP, and just the people that support
304 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate the OBA. and the people that are undecided. All of
them, together, make up Bermuda and it is our r esponsibility to deal with all of them and their needs.
I look forward to the debate on Monday. And I
hope that as a group we can decide together that we
are going to be the change.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President —

The President: Senator Owen Darrell, you have the
floor.

FRUSTRATION WITH CURRENT
BUDGET PROCESS

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President .
As we all know, I had some celebrations to
get to, but I will not let this pass, Madam President .
Madam President, as we were sitting here
trying to inform the public with as much detail as possible [about what] the Government is doing, I was actually forwarded a cute article from the Royal Gazette
.
Madam President, can I read the headline,
please?
The President: You can.
Sen. Owen Darre ll: “New OBA senator calls time out
on Government Budget filibuster .”
Interesting, in this article, Madam President,
the new OBA Senator, former United Bermuda Party
candidate, decided to take a shot at the leadership of the Progressive Labour Party.
This article also, Madam President, in the
brief time that I took to read it, is filled with a lot of i naccuracies that I will get to in a moment. I just listened to the real Senate leader give his plea for more time in
these budget debates. Yet, while he is speaking here,
the wannabe Senate leader for the One Bermuda All iance has decided to go to the Royal Gazette to take
shots at the Progressive Labour Party.
Madam President, if you would give me a few
moments to possibly lend some advice to the wann abe le ader—wannabe Senate leader —of the One Bermuda Alliance . . . I am not going to teach him what a
good Opposition does. That is for him to look toward
his leadership and figure out how is it that the Oppos ition sets the time limit for these budget debates. T hey
put down for National Security two hours to debate.
They list one, two, three, four, five, six Heads, which
they must have known was long because they li stened to it a few days ago, and then they came to the
Chamber and took aim at the Junior Minister who is
simply giving the information of which they asked for. Madam President, I believe that this is a trap,
because if I were to get up on Monday and speak for 15 minutes on Education, I am sure that the real Senate leader of the OBA would tell me that the Gover nment is not doing anything or not doing enough for
Education. He would tell me that the Government did
not provide enough details for Education. But I would
go back and ask the real leader (Senate leader, I am
sorry) of the One Bermuda Alliance to possibly speak
to the wannabe leader of the One Bermuda Alliance here in the Senate and come up with a decent Oppo-sition strategy as to how they divide up the time that is
allotted to us to get briefs on this debate.
Surely, you cannot just come unprepared and
throw numbers on a paper and then ask for me to do them a favour. Let me tell you about the public officers
that come here. These public officers are hard wor kers. They are proud people, and they sit here with
pride, or listen in their offices to the work that their
departments and Ministries are doing for the people of
Bermuda. So, I actually think that a lot of them would
take offence to the One Bermuda Alliance saying that
they come up here and are wasting their time.
So, yes, Madam President, we have got another day left. And, yes, this Government and these
Junior Ministers will continue to share our briefs and continue to discuss the good news [about the work]
we are doing with the money that we have been all ocated.
Unfortunately, unlike headlines that we saw
today, the Royal Gazette will not report it. So, if I have
to come here and my colleagues that sit in another
place have to sit here and go through every single detail to explain to people about the good things that
this PLP Government is doing, we will do so.
And I am sorry, that is not my job. It is not the
Senate leader’s job. It is not the Premier’s job to show the Opposition how to be a good Opposition. The
Progressive Labour Party had many, many years be-ing in Opposition. And, quit e frankly, the way that they
are operating they might have many, many years in
the Opposition, as well.
So, we are in a very interesting spot here. It is
that if we talk too short, the One Bermuda Alliance is
going to say that we have no details to give. Yet, if we
talk too long, the One Bermuda Alliance and the wannabe leader of the Senate in the OBA is going to go to
the Royal Gazette and put a headline to say that we
are filibustering.
Madam President, the Progressive Labour
Party will continue to press on with the work that we
are doing for the people of Bermuda. Maybe next
year, the Opposition will learn how to better lay out a
Senate budget debate because, quite frankly, just like
I gave a birthday shout -out that most people had
heard before, I heard the exact same speech from the
Opposition last year. So, if you complained about it
last year, you mean to tell me it took you 12 months to


Bermuda Senate come to this Chamber and complain about the same
thing without making any changes on your own?
Let me go back to this report in the Royal G azette today, by our new Senator. It is funny . . . the
few times he has spoken today, he said, I do not know
how things go in here. Yet, it seems like he is well -
versed in coming with political shots.
As I am reading this artic le, may I refer to it
again, Madam President ?

The President: Briefly.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you.
“Mr De Couto . . . took aim at [Senator] . . .
Darrell . . . and claimed [that] he made repeated references to ‘people who look like me’ during his pres entation.”
Also, I do not even know how this gets in here
because I do not even talk about my presentation.
Let me set the record straight on this. Multiple
times? I said that line once. You can check the Hansard.
He then went on to say, the “leadership and
Government ” . . . he hopes that it can “represent us
all, regardless of race, creed, and background.”
I invite the Opposition Senator to go home this
evening and listen to my presentation from last night and listen to the exact line of which I said, and then
listen to what happened after that because I quantified
it. I said people that look like me, such as my first
cousin, who is very proud of the work that he is doing
on these streets. He was very proud to come to Cab inet Office and receive a trenching [ certificate from the
Minister of Public Works. I then went on to say and
individuals who used to be my students .
So, I do not know, Madam President, how the
Opposition Senator who sits across the aisle can take
people who look like me , listen to what I said after that
and turn it into race- baiting. I have no idea, Madam
President, how he got that from what I said yesterday.
Madam President, I will say this again I will
invite the Senate leader of the One Bermuda Alliance,
I will invite the leader of the One Bermuda Alliance
that sits in another place to remind their new Senator
of . . . I guess who the leadership of the One Bermuda
Alliance is before he comes in here taking shots at
myself, the leader who sits in another place, as well
as public off icers.
Madam President, I did not wish to end t oday’s Senate session like this. But as this was sent to
me there was no way that I was going to allow Senator Douglas De Couto to put words in my mouth and take shots at the Progressive Labour Party leaders hip
and the hard work that the Progressive Labour Party
is doing for the people of this country.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell. Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator De Couto, yo u have the floor.

FRUSTRATION WITH CURRENT
BUDGET PROCESS

Madam President,
thank you.
Senator Darrell’s passion is inspiring. And I
think it is that passion to do right by the country that
brings us all to this Senate, or whi chever way we
choose to participate in the political process.
Now, I have no PR officers. I have no tec hnical officers. I have no staff. I have no Ministry. I do
have sore eyes, Madam President . In fact, I cannot
quite see you from back here because I ha ve spent
weekends from my family, like many of you, studying this Book. I have had my calculator and I have had my
pencil sharpener going, Madam President . My wife
was not happy to hear it.
And I can tell you that I was quite disappointed that I was unabl e to engage with the Junior Mini ster for Finance. So, what you might consider to be one of the most important ministries . . . they are all i mportant, but this being the Budget debate, the Finance
Ministry, of course, is a cornerstone. I was heartened
to hear Minister Peets refer to the possibility that this
process might be revisited. I think that would be better
for everybody, because I am not here to listen, and I
am not here to score political points.
But I am here, Madam President . . . I am
here to r epresent the people and I am here to hold the
Government accountable. And if the Government and
those Senators wish to run roughshod—run roughshod—over the democratic process and the checks
and balances that are made available for the people, I
will not sit by. All I have is a voice and a pencil and a
calculator. And I will use it and I will not be afraid.
And I wonder if perhaps I have hit a nerve—

[Inaudible interjection]

I wonder. It is a very
good tool, along with the Inter net and the various
online things. I know that many politicians know how
to use them to great effect. But I suspect that I have
hit a nerve. And I am curious.
I am curious. A strong leader can take the
barbs. He can take the hits. He does not need an ybody to stick up for him. A strong leader rolls with the
punches. As they say, politics is not for friendships.
Let me turn my comments to technical offi cers. I actually feel that technical officers were disr espected because I can see from that Book how much
work was put into these policies and plans. And they
have been brought up here to sit on the side of a con-ference room. Now, I do not know about you all, but I
have done that. I have been brought into a conference
306 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate room by a boss and sat at the side of the room and
was then sent away without an ability to offer any i nput or knowing that the hard work that I had prepared
was not able to be fully discussed. So, in fact, if there
is anyone here disrespecting the technical officers it is the people that have br ought them up here and
caused them to sit around all day wasting the taxpa yers’ money while they droned on.
With respect to the timings on the debate, I
am disappointed that the various Senators were not able to adjust their briefs to meet the times whic h
were allotted. And it is certainly within their remit to
bring remarks that are appropriate to the time appointed and we would have welcomed that. And I
would like to acknowledge the Senators that made the effort to leave time [for questions to be] asked, the
questions which I felt were valuable, and I do believe
the answers will be illuminating and informative to the
public of Bermuda. If you were to listen to my remarks
and questions you will note that actually many of the
questions would have allowed t he Senators, the Government Senators, to highlight their accomplishments.
So, it is a two -way street. And I believe that
when we have the opportunity to bring questions, we
allow the traffic to flow both ways.
In respect to the comment of looks like me, I
do not know of any other reasonable explanation. And
I am just going to leave it at that.
So, I make no apologies for using my voice or
for using the tools at my disposal to highlight what I
believe to be an abuse by the Government of our
democratic pr ocess in a way that they are hiding from
the people.
Now, I will admit that I am fresh and that I am
new. And I do look to guidance from my new co lleagues, and I have great respect for them. Senator Darrell may not realise it, but we do get together and
talk. You know, he does seem to have quite an ESP.
He seems to think he knows what I am thinking. So, perhaps he can get a hotline to my wife because she
would like to know, too.
With that, I would like to say thank you to the
Senators for their passion and their commitment. It is
a learning experience for me, and I hope I will only
continue to do better with each day.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto. Would
any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Tucker, you have the floor.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Good evening, Madam Pres ident—

The President: Good evening.

FRUSTRATION WITH CURRENT
BUDGET PROCESS
Sen. Robin Tucker:—and again to my Senate co lleagues.
I just want to join my sentiments with my fellow Senate colleagu es. And I want to do that from the
. . . and I am joining in with Senator Peets’ comments
as well.
I think that as Senator Ben Smith has already
said, we have an opportunity to do things differently.
And having been through this process once before,
what it has highlighted to me is that we can never forget the reason that we are all here. We are all here for
the people of this country. And without having an av enue for accountability . . . we can talk about how many
hours were not given, or what could have been done
differently. I mean, in my heart, I believe that if we had
one Head and had been given 18 or 20 hours, we still
would have 18 or 20 hours of all reading.
And that is no slight against the Government
Senators, because they are doing what they are instructed to do. What I am saying is that if . . . I cha llenge myself as to why I am in this room. I am here because I care about what happens to this country. I do not care if it is green or if it is red, but I will make
sure that I do all that I can for the people of this country. They have questions. It does a disservice to the
people of this country when we do not answer, when
we do not get those questions asked.
We are not . . . the slight is not against us. I
do not take any of this stuff personall y, because the
slight is not against us. It is a disservice to the people.
We are asking questions that some sectors of this
community also have. We have an obligation to ask those questions, and the Government should be obl igated to answer those questions . Accountability is
everything. If we do not . . . and it does not matter
what Government is in place. Everybody —every si ngle person that is in any level of leadership should be
held to an account. And an opportunity to hold people
to an account should be taken.
The Government should be happy we are
asking questions. This is an opportunity to showcase
what it is that you have done. And to constantly make
it about us , and our not giving enough time, is a deflection. As I said, it is a disservice to the peop le that
we are here to serve. Whether you are PLP, OBA,
FDM . . . whatever group you are affiliated with, certainly you are contributing. Your $10 is going into this
pot that we are here talking about today. So, you
should want to know what is happening to your mo ney. I certainly do. I am a taxpayer. I want to know what is happening to my money.
The Government , who is in charge of writing
those cheques, is obligated to answer the questions
from the people about what is happening to their
money. And we have to come to a point where we do
things differently because what we are doing now is insanity! And it is not beneficial for this country.
We are in a mess!


Bermuda Senate We cannot afford to keep doing this nonsense. We have to do better. Whether you are wearing green, whether you are wearing red, whatever, if
you have an opportunity to do things better, you have
to . . . you should take it!
We have to do things differently!
So, Madam President, I hope, I pray, that we
are able to somehow come together as a people, as one people, and do things that are going to benefit the
people of this country and stop politicking.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, a point of i nformation.

The President: Point of information, Senator —

Sen. Robin Tucker: Can I just finish? Becaus e I am
actually finished, if the Senator would like to continue
and do whatever, but I would just like to—

The President: Let me—Senator Tucker —

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you.

The President: It is the motion to adjourn, and she
has—

Sen. Owen Darrell: Point of information, Madam.
Sen. Robin Tucker: No, because I do not . . . and I
am not going to take it because, Madam President,
what we are doing again is we are deflecting.
Let us just stay focused on the fact that this is
about having a lack of accountability and holding the
Government to account. That is the whole point.
If I have misspoken and it is not earth shattering, then fine. If I need to apologise, I am happy to do
that in advance. I just do not want to start going down
roads that we are not talking about so we forget what
the point is.
The point is we need to hold the Government
to account for the monies that are being spent, and
every other policy and decision that is being made. That is the point. If there is a way that we can do that
collectively . . . because we are all one people. We
are all Bermudians in this room who care about this
country. And, as I said, we have to stop politicking.
As I said when I first agreed to be a part of
this whole process, I said that I was not going to be a
part of this politicking system. I am here to have a
voice. As my Senate colleague Doug De Couto just
mentioned, the only thing he has is a voice. And I am going to continue to speak to those things that are not
holding the Government and decision- maker s to account.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker. This is the [motion to adjourn] and individuals
have an opportunity to speak. And we have given you
an opportunity to speak.
Does any other Senator want to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Lindsay Simmons, you have the floor.

FRUSTRATION WITH CURRENT
BUDGET PROCESS

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, what I find interesting is
how the Opposition can come in here and say that
they want things done differently if they are doing the
same thing they did last year. I mean, for me, it falls under poor leadership because, Madam President,
they say that . . . for instance, Senator Hodgson had,
under Finance, Senator De Couto say that he wanted
to debate her. She had 10 Heads to read. If they really
wanted to debate, they could have picked one or two,
because they are saying it was said in the House. So, if Head 10 was an hour, then they would have had an
hour to speak. But they want us to get through all
these Heads that they gave us to read and want to
say that they do not have time.
For instance, when I speak on Monday, I have
an hour to read two Heads —two important depar tment Heads. How am I supposed to get through it in
an hour?
Madam President, I do not know if the public
knows, but the Opposition had 22 hours that they
could have given us. What did they give us? Eighteen
hours. So, they want things to be done different? “D eflecting,” “insanity” they are throwing out. Those words should be shot back at them because it is unfair for
them to throw this back at the Government and then
want us to do all these Heads and have a robust debate. It is impossible Madam President .
The Government has a duty, when we have
these Heads to read, to read them! We are not just
going to pick out little parts of it. We need to be con-sistent and read what those Heads entail. Not part of
it. Not what we think the public wants to hear, but all
of it. They need to know what these Heads represent, because we are talking about dollars and cents here.
We are not talking about just winging things. This is a
budget debate.
I would suggest that the Opposition, next
year, pick one or two, or increase the hours. We had
National Security today. Again, she could not even finish because she had two, four, six Heads, Madam
President !
We have got to be realistic. It is not enough
time to do all these Heads. So, they want to have a discussion about certain things, pick one or two
Heads because to me it is insanity that they want us to come up and just read a little piece of here and a
little piece of there in seven or six Heads. It is impos308 24 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate sible, Madam President . The Government is doing
their best to give information out because not ever ybody that listens to the House listens to the Senate
and vice versa.
We have a duty to read these Heads out fully.
And if they already know . . . they claim they already
know what we are going to talk about or what we are
going to read, then they should pick what they want us
to read about or debate about. So, I throw it back to
the Opposition that maybe the leadership needs to do a better job and pick less Heads and extend the hours.
That is all I want to say. Thank you, Madam
President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Si mmons.
Senator Dill, you have the floor.

—and Senate co lleagues.
Like [Senator] De C outo, this is a very new
process to me. And I cannot begin to express the level
of disappointment that I have felt as an individual who
worked very hard to prepare for this debate. I waited and waited and waited and waited for the schedule
only to find that when it was presented to us, not only
were the hours that were allocated for us to be able to
debate not distributed in a manner or even totally
used up—I think there were at least four hours that
the Opposition elected not to use at all —[I] then [saw]
the number of Heads that they wanted us to share on.
In observing the process, I would like to make the following recommendations to the Opposition —as it is
your debate:

• send your schedule in a timely manner ;
• select the Heads that you need clarification on so that we can zero in on those areas ;
• allocate sufficient time to be able to both pr ovide the information and then respond to the
questions that you have.
I have found your comments tonight to be i nsulting and disingenuous. And what I would like to say is that if we all really care about Bermuda, first of all,
let us be honest about the process that took place this
week, and prayerfully, when we return on Monday that
you will give these individuals and the technical offi cers the respect that they deserve based upon a pr ocess that you have basically put together —a schedule
that you have put together and that we can, together,
move forward for a better Bermuda. Thank you, Madam President .
The President: Thank you, Senator Dill.
I would just like to . . . sorry, Minister Peets,
did you want to make a comment? I saw you —

FRUSTRATION WITH CURRENT
BUDGET PROCESS

I guess in closing,
and I do understand that the hour is certainly late,
Madam President, but in my long career working with
individuals, you know, some things sort of come to
mind and sometimes the problem is how we see the
problem. Having said that, Madam President, the
Senators behind me, you know, have not broken any rules, to my knowledge. And if they have, you k now,
that would need to be brought to our attention.
We came into this budget debate with very,
very clear information, as far in advance as we could, that, you know, these are the rules for the budget debate. And everyone knows what the rules are. So, l et
us just get about the business that we are supposed
to be doing without necessarily having to send unnecessary complaints, because we are not here for that.
We are actually here to present the information that
we have based on the Heads that were discus sed.
Having said that, Madam President, I am very,
very proud of the team that is behind me. I am very proud of the Ministers and their technical staff who
have worked extremely hard to get this information to
the Junior Ministers. Sometimes they are get ting that
information, you know, the week of. And it is a lot of
reading and lot of prepping. I just wanted to share
those comments.
And the information that I shared just prior to
the motion to adjourn was sincere. We do not make the rules here, necessar ily. And if there is a way of
doing that and fixing that, then that needs to be done,
not during the debate; that needs to be done long before the debate gets here.
Hopefully, this will be lessons learned. That
will be my conclusion.

FRUSTRATION WITH CURRENT
BUDGET PROCESS

The President: Thank you, Senator Peets, Minister
Peets, Government Leader of the Senate.
I will tell you . . . this has been a concern over
some years. This is my 14
th year in the Senate, and I
can tell you it has always been an issue about the
Senate debates and what needs to happen. Som ething needs to change.
I was pleased, some years ago (I think two or
three years ago) when we decided that we would sit
down, the Opposition Leader, the Government Leader, Independent Senators and myself. We would sit
down and we would discuss how this process might


Bermuda Senate be changed for the better. We thought we had come
up with suggestions. But it is obvious, when that did
not happen, that we would find ourselves in this situation again.
I thank you all for your comments. And we are
all here; we are committed to our role in the Senate. And I think, since I have heard everybody’s comments
tonight, that it is imperative, it is imperative, that this
Senate body get together and make the change, because this should not be happening going forward. I
hope that I would have a commitment from the Senate
leaders, the Opposition, the Independent Senators,
that we will address this because we cannot continue
to function in the way we are.
But at the same ti me, I thank everyone, all
Senators, for their work today —particularly the Ind ependent Senators, both Michelle Simmons, the Vice
President, and John Wight, who ran the debates really
quite well, chaired the debates, and I think they did an
excellent job.
I am looking forward to Monday. And I hope
that each of us has taken on board what has been
discussed today and that we will come with a different
attitude on Monday, listening to everyone and trying to
at least work together. We are all here to work toget her and do the best that we can for this country.
So, I will say to you, have a wonderful evening
and weekend. I am prepared to be back here on Monday along with each one of you and we will do the
work that we are appointed to do here.
Thank you all for your work. It has been a long
day and I know people are tired. So, get some rest and I look forward to seeing you on Monday.
The Senate stands adjourned until Monday
the 28
th of March. Have a good evening. Thank you
for your work.

[At 8:36 pm, the Senat e stood adjourned until 10:00
am, Monday, 28 March 2022.]

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