March 9, 2022

Mr. Chairman, the
budgeted number of employees for the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters is 39; this can be seen on
page B -221.
The headcount has reduced by nine for the
2022/23 fiscal year, as the HR staff have moved to the new Department of Employee and Organizational Development under the Cabinet Office, and the Architect
& Design posts have moved to the Department of
Public Lands and Buildings.

Performance Measures

Mr. Chairman, during
2022/23 the Public Works Headquarters will aim to
conduct four safety and health assessments with corrective actions, and conduct 12 safety and health training sessions for Ministry employees. In addition,
the Ministry will also establish a Medical Services pr ogramme for employees who have the potential to be
exposed to a variety of hazardous environments and
substances at work. The Ministry has identified a pproximately 120 employees who will benefit from those services. More importantly, these safety and
health initiatives allow the Ministry to be i n compliance
with the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1982 and the Occupational Safety and
Health Regulations 2009.
Mr. Chairman, Public Works Headquarters will
aim to: (1) improve the procurement cycle time from
requisition to the c reation of purchase orders in two
days 95 per cent of the time; (2) produce detailed r eports on all operational and capital actual versus
budgeted expenditures each month by the 10
th day of
the following month 100 per cent of the time.

Capital Development

Mr. Chairman, with
regard to the major capital projects being managed by
the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters, the overall 2022/23 capital expenditure plan for the Public Works
Headquarters is $9,692,000. This represents
$1,120,000 less than the amount allocation 2021/22.
Details are found on pages C -5 and C -6 of the Capital
Accounts Estimates. The capital developments i nclude:
• Cost centre 75050, Minor Works, nil;
616 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly • Cost centre 75053, Miscellaneous Small Pr ojects, [$0];
• Cost centre 75054 , WEDCO Capital Grant,
$1,973,000;
• Cost centre 75099 , Office Reloc ations/Alterations, $2 million;
• Cost centre 75306, Golf Courses Improv ement, $600,000;
• Cost centre 75334 , WEDCO South Basin
Land Reclamation, $4,819,000;
• Cost centre 75003, Corporation of St.
George’s Grant, $500,000;
• Cost centre 75358, Roadside Fencing, nil ;
and
• Cost centre 75359, Landscape Works, [$0].
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works
Headquarters will provide a capital grant of
$6,300,000 to the Bermuda Housing C orporation. This
is found on page C -6 of the Capital Accounts Est imates.

Capital Acquisitions

Mr. Chairman, the
overall 2022/23 capital acquisitions plan for the Public
Works Headquarters is $1,888,000. This is a dramatic
reduction of 57 per cent from the 2021/22 budget all ocation. Details are found on page C -14 under Schedule C of the Capital Accounts Estimates. And the capi-tal acquisitions include:
• Cost centre 76495— Vehicles and Equipment,
$1.5 million towards replacement of trucks and equipment and, potentially, well -aged v ehicles;
• Cost centre 76648— Computers, nill;
• Cost centre 76868—Communications Equi pment, $138,000 towards Fort George’s Buil ding enclosure and anti -climb barriers with high
gates.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my presentation
for the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters —Head
36. I will now turn to Head 53, the Bermuda Housing Corporation [BHC].

HEAD 53 —BERMUDA HOUSING CORPORATION

Mr. Chairman, the
mission statement of the Bermuda Housing Corpor ation is to provide accessibility to adequate, affordable
housing and promote independent living to enhance
the quality of life in Bermuda. The vision statement of
the Bermuda Housing Corporation is, Every Bermudian will reside in an adequate and safe environment .
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Housing Corpor ation’s grant allocation of $6,050,000 represents no
change from the previous year. The allocated grant
will be used to subsidise the annual cost of repairs,
normal maintenance of properties, support services for families and individuals, and rental assistance via Rent Geared to Income to clients of the Corporation
and for the continuation of the H.U.S.T.L.E Truck Pr ogramme.
In addition to the operating assistance grant
the BHC is [INA UDIBLE ] which represents a decrease
of $1,664,000 from the previous year. The decrease is
represented by the economic stimulus funds allocated
to the BHC for emergency housing in 2021/22 that is
not being repeated in 2022/23. The capital grant will
be used to pay for the interest and principal amounts
due on the Corporation’s outstanding bank loans.
There are no other changes between the 2021/22 and
the 2022/23 grant allocation.
Mr. Chairman, the primary functions of the
Bermuda Housing Corporation are to provide housing
in Bermuda, to promote home ownership, to undertake and carry out housing schemes, and to undertake such other functions in connection with housing
as the Minister responsible for housing may require.
The Bermuda Housing Corporation continues to pr ovide methods for Bermudians to gain entry into the
housing market, whether it is by way of becoming first -
time homeowners or renting affordable units that are
available. The Corporation strives to provide adequate, achievable and affordable housin g which will
benefit Bermudians.
The Corporation entered into a public/private
partnership known as the HomeStart programme with
Clarien Bank to assist hard- working Bermudians to
obtain their first home. To date, the HomeStart has
assisted 31 Bermudian families in their quest to be-come first -time homeowners. The initiative has been
very successful in providing properties available for sale at affordable levels of purchase. The sale prices
of these properties have been significantly reduced in
return for sw eat equity to bring the properties back to
a healthy, habitable state.
The Corporation, in partnership with Age
Concern and the Government of Bermuda, continues to assist our valued seniors and the disabled with a
programme designed to assist their famili es to help
the vulnerable to remain in their own homes with di gnity, by providing interest -free loans of up to $15,000.
This funding is for the purchasing of furniture, fixtures
and fittings and/or to make modifications or renov ations for their home which would make it easier for
them to remain in their home rather than be housed in
an ageing facility. The purchases of the fixtures and
fittings under this programme are duty free. Since the
inception of the programme, BHC has provided loans for 15 seniors in a total amount of $201,153. Applic ations for this programme remain available through the
Bermuda Housing Corporation website at
www.bhc.bm or can be collected in person at the Corporation’s reception desk at the Seven Arches Buil ding, 44 Church Street, [H amilton].
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Housing Corpor ation on behalf of the Government of Bermuda have


Bermuda House of Assembly agreed to work with the Salvation Army on the r eplacement of two residential buildings located at the
North Street Shelter. This work commenced September 2021 and is anticipated to be completed in the
next few months. The budget for this project [ INAUDIBLE].
The Bermuda Housing Corporation admini sters a number of programmes in pursuit of its mission, including the managing and leasing of a large invent ory of properties comprising houses and apartments,
and multi -units. Some of these properties are owned
by the Corporation, and others are leased from their
owners. The BHC manages approximately 500 government and private sector residential units Islandwide, and eight transitional homes comprising 180
rooms.
The BHC also manages and controls the
H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck programme, an acronym for Hel ping the Unemployed Sustain Themselves with Limited
Employment, which has been in successful operation
since 2007. Thi s year marks the 15
th anniversary of
the programme. The Corporation, through the H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck programme, has helped over
1,750 unemployed Bermudians in need with short -
term temporary employment and assisted them with
finding full -time jobs. In additi on, the programme has
provided much- valued assistance to our seniors,
community groups, churches and schools, and neig hbourhoods. The Corporation works with local banks to
help Bermudian clients to retain their homes by advi sing on best steps to manage mor tgage payments
when they are under threat due to the continuing challenges of our economic times.
The Corporation continues to find ways to
reduce expenses and generate positive cash flows.
Through efficient use of current staffing levels, redi stribution of duties, retraining and in- house seminars,
the Corporation has been able to use available staff
members to ensure daily operations are performed to
expectations and in some cases exceeding expected
levels.
Mr. Chairman, the BHC received a grant for
$1,664,000 as part of the economic stimulus pr ogramme. These funds are to be used for the renov ation and refurbishing of seven properties, which will yield a total of 17 units. The properties are:
• Rock Oven Cottage, St. David’s, four bedrooms, two baths, $105, 000;
• 5 Captain Fox, St. David’s, three bedrooms,
two baths, $88,000;
• 15 Tommy Fox Road, St. David’s, four bedrooms, two baths, $43,000;
• Regent House, St. George’s, four bedrooms,
two bathrooms, $95,000;
• Ripon Cottage, St. George’s, three bedrooms,
two baths, $89,000;
• Battery Road Lofts, St. David’s, one 2-bedroom and three studios at $444,000; and • Harmony Block B, Paget, eight studios at $800,000.
Three of these projects are now complete,
namely, Rock Oven Cottage, 5 Captain Fox, and 15
Tommy Fox. Two have commenced, namely, Ripon
Cottage and Battery Road Lofts. And two —Harmony
Hall and Regent House—are with Planning.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Housing Corpor ation continues to work on the Bermudiana Beach R esort as we transform it into Bermuda’s newest touris m
venture. Progress continues with the Planning pr ocess to ensure that when the tourism industry returns
to a global confidence level in travel, the Island will be well positioned to take advantage of opportunities
arising by being prepared to provide tour ism units for
visitors to the Island.
The BHC views 2022 as do many in the i ndustry, as a transitional year in the travel and tourism
industry as the pandemic lessens over the year and the world begins a path to normalcy. With this view,
construction is underway at the Bermudiana Beach Resort and an opening date of 1
st of June 2023 has
been set and agreed with Hilton Hotels.
Mr. Chairman, the BHC continues to have
empathy with many of its clients who have suffered a decline in their income through unemploy ment or underemployment . The team at the BHC has constant
meetings with clients to help them navigate through
these difficult social, economic and financial times. Working with each client, BHC agreed and approved a rental relief which was based on the need of each i ndividual tenant. The total of the rental relief is $252,081, helping 77 clients.

Transitional Housing

Mr. Chairman, the
BHC operates eight rooming or transitional houses
that contain approximately 180 beds. The v arious
houses are located throughout the Island and provide a safe habitat for BHC clients. The rooming houses cater to households that need immediate, safe or emergency accommodation. The Support Services
Department holds regular rooming house meetings to
listen to concerns and address complaints from the
residents of the facilities.
Mr. Chairman, the satellite offices at the lar gest rooming houses at Southside are charged with
regular meetings with clients who have fallen on hard
times. The support given includes economic, social
and psychological guidance to occupants to assist
them in graduating out of the facility into more trad itional Bermuda living.

Gulfstream Multi -Unit Rooming Housing Southside,
St. David’s

Mr. Chairm an, the
Gulfstream multi -unit rooming house is comprised of
618 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly 79 rooms and currently houses 49 families from var ious backgrounds. Some families have adjoining
rooms to ensure adequate privacy for parents and
children. The Gulfstream residents are appreciativ e of
the opportunity, and regular house meetings are held
to listen to and allay concerns before they become
problematic to society.
Mr. Chairman, refurbishment work is underway at Gulfstream to improve the overall condition of the rooms and the infrastructure of the building. The
refurbishing will be done in phases as we work on six rooms per phase and move clients once each phase
is complete. Once complete, each room will have its
own washroom, which will allow for greater privacy
and security.

Langley House Multi -Unit Rooming Housing
Southside, St. David’s

Mr. Chairman, Building
632, known as Langley House, is a 63- bedroom housing facility located at Southside, St. David’s. The
rooming house is used specifically to house m en in
need of affordable, safe accommodation. There are
55 men residing in the rooming house. The Corpor ation has qualified social workers working out of the
satellite offices, including a former police officer, to monitor and correct any antisocial behavi ours.

Harmony Club

The Corporation is in
the process of transforming the Harmony Club property into studio, one- bedroom and two- bedroom units
which will be used to primarily for inter -generational
living, those 50 years and older who are mobile and
can live independently. Harmony Club property is also
used as the H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck offices, and the Gate
House building is used to provide emergency accommodation for persons in immediate distress or in need
of immediate rehousing.
Construction has commenced on the lower
floor of Gate House, creating an additional two 2 -
bedroom units.

BHC Staff

The Bermuda Housing
Corporation’s Head Office is located at the Seven
Arches Building (East Entrance), 44 Church Street in
the City of Hamilton and presently consists of 43 per-sonnel. Of that total, four H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck members operate from office space at the Harmony Club. And
four staff members, under the direction of the Support
Services and Property Op erations Departments, operate off -site at a satellite office in the Southside complex.
The current structure of BHC consists of seven departments: 1. Project Management, 2 staff;
2. Property Operations, 10 staff;
3. Finance, Collections and Home Ownership Services , 9 staff;
4. Support Services, 10 staff;
5. Administration, 6 staff;
6. Human Resources, 2 staff; and
7. H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck, 4 staff.

Project Management

Mr. Chairman, the Pr ojects Department consisting of two employees assists with adv ice regarding major repair work necessary on
existing buildings owned by the Corporation to ensure
longevity of the Corporation’s assets. The department
has recently been restructured with the project man-agers overseeing the multiple dwellings that come
under the BHC remit to ensure that effective and cost -
conscious maintenance programmes keep the units in safe and healthy states. They are also responsible for
initial drawings of projected capital projects as well as the project management of the properties through to
completion. Projects planned for this year include:
• conversion of Block B at Harmony Club into one-bedroom and studio units;
• renovation and conversion of the former St.
David’s preschool building into apartments
(this is the second phase of the project because the first phase is currently under con-struction);
• refurbishing of units 88 and 89 at Cedar Park Development;
• restoration and conversion of 27 Beacon Hill
into a men’s rooming house;
• completion of 38 Middle Road from a derelict
house to an active 3 -bedroom, plus 1 studio,
home;
• conversion of 5 Aunt Jinny’s Lane into two 2bedroom apartments.

Property Operations

Mr. Chairman, the
Property Operations Department is responsible for the
maintenance of BHC’s housing stock of approximately
700 units including the rooming houses Island- wide.
The department’s responsibilities include the regular
maintenance of buildings under the control of BHC
and providing advice and assistance to clients of BHC
on housing- related matters.
The department is comprised of three property officers, five maintenance officers and one admini strative assistant, and one intern. The department con-ducts regular maintenance checks of buildings under
the management of the Corporation and is respons ible for small maintenance works, along with coordinating more difficult tasks with trusted and able contractors.


Bermuda House of Assembly Last year the Property Operations Department
completed approximately 2,438 maintenance r equests. The requests for maintenance that this cap able department handles are wide ranging. They tackle
everything from simple plumbing, electrical, water, sewage and roof repairs to landscaping, painting,
flooring and major renovations.

Finance Department

The Finance Depar tment has a total staff of nine employees consisting of
one finance manager; two assistant finance managers, one responsible for reporting and the other for IT;
one accounts supervisor; three finance officers and one cashier. The Finance Department careful ly mon itors the Corporation’s spending and compliance, en-suring that policies and procedures are adhered to
and that clients act responsibly in paying their bills in a
timely manner.
The Finance Department fields questions of a
financial nature, provides mortgage advice and assists
clients with understanding their financial obligations to
the Corporation.

Support Services Department

Mr. Chairman, the
Support Services Department is the department r esponsible for ensuring that adequate housing is found
for BHC clients. The department conducts regular i nspections of BHC housing inventory to ensure clients
are compliant with their rental contracts. The depar tment consists of ten persons: one manager, two rentals case workers, tw o transitional house case wor kers, one junior transitional house case worker, three
rental inspectors and one intake officer.
There is a current waitlist for BHC accomm odation of 115 clients. The Support Services Depar tment offers a myriad of services to clients that include
money management, housekeeping, social and behavioural problem eradication, child care, and health
and safety guidance. In addition, the department of-fers advice on support from other agencies that stand
ready to assist clients who are in need of professional
counselling.

Administration

Mr. Chairman, the
H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck programme has proven itself over
the years, assisting unemployed persons who actively
seek work. The H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck headquarters op-erates out of the Harmony Club and caters to 20 temporary employees per week. The H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck
continues to be of valuable assistance to Bermuda
with the ability to adjust to the needs of the community
as they arise. The H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck programme helps 20 people through the year, with persons able to
remain in the programme for up to three months per
year, taking one week off each month to seek regular
employment. At this level the Corporation is able to
rotate through approximately 260 different people per year. The programme is available for any unemployed Bermudian.
The H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck office keeps a dat abase of information on the unemployed and their skill sets for the specific purpose of making a good fit when partnering with employers. The H.U.S.T.L.E.
Truck office regularly receives requests from emplo yers for qualified and suitable potential employees. U pon receipt of requests, the database is checked and
those persons who have the required qualifications
are sent on interviews in the hopes of achieving full -
time traditional employment.
The H.U.S.T.L.E. Tr uck has fundamentally
replaced the bulk waste pick up section that was
closed in the Ministry of Public Works by collecting
and cleaning neighbourhoods of illegally dumped bulk
waste items such as mattresses, sofas, furniture and
appliances on a weekly bas is.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Housing Corpor ation continues to play a very important role in Berm udian society, assisting vulnerable people including seniors, mental health patients, inmates, young people and those who have fallen on hard financial times.
Despite the trauma caused by the COVID -19 pandemic, the Corporation continue with their daily operations without any interruption of service. There is a direct
relationship in that the more difficulties Bermuda encounters, the more there is a need for the services
provided by the Bermuda Housing Corporation.
In closing, I would like to thank the Board of
Directors and the management and staff of the Ber620 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly muda Housing Corporation for their services to the
community.
Mr. Chairman, with those comments, I now
move to Head 68—the Department of Parks.

HEAD 68 —DEPARTMENT OF PARKS

Mr. Chairman, the D epartment of Parks under the Ministry of Public Works
is responsible for the administration of protected areas
listed under the Bermuda National Parks Act 1986. This Act incorporates changes and amendments from
the Bermuda National Parks Amendment Act 2009
and the Bermuda National Parks Amendment Act
2017. The areas under the Act are inclusive of class A
nature reserves, administered by the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources; class B, amenity
parks, administered by the Department of Parks; and class C, recreational parks under the direction of the
Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation. The department has the added responsibility of landscape and horticulture maintenance of roadside verges,
school grounds, clinics, rest homes, post offices, and
other government properties such as Clifton, the Laurels, Montpelier and Government House. The depar tment also has responsibility to propagate plantings
and caring for plants at the properties listed above.
Mr. Chairman, as per the Act, the department
is tasked with providing safe, protected areas where
patrons, residents and visitors can enjoy active and
passive recreational pursuits. The department has an
objective to maintain and manage all protected areas,
as best it can, to a high standard.
In the peak spring and summer season the
department provides a highly trained and professional
lifeguard service at four public beaches: Hors eshoe
Bay, John Smith’s Bay, Clearwater Beach, and Turtle Bay. The department is mandated by the Act to e nforce the Bermuda National Parks Regulations 1988, the enforcement of which is accomplished by way of
the Park Ranger Service. Ultimately, the departm ent
has to protect, conserve and preserve open spaces
for present and future generations.
Mr. Chairman, the current account expenditure estimate allotted to the Department of Parks for the 2022/23 fiscal year, as seen on page B -226 of the
Budget Book, is $9,458,000, which represents a
$696,000 increase over the prior year’s original budget of $8,762,000. The increase is reflective of wages
for posts that were previously defunded. The budget
was approved for 2021/22 with $8,762,000 with 143
employees. The estimate for 2022/23 is $9,458,000 with 134 employees, an increase of $696,000 or
7.94 per cent.
The department budget is divided into various
programmes including the following:
• Administration Planning;
• Park Ranger Service;
• Lifeguard Service; • the Park Maintenance Section encompassing Government House, Maintenance and Deve lopment, Eastern Parks, Tree Service, Wes tern Parks, Schools Grounds, Tulo Valley and
the Botanical Gardens and the Railway Trail;
and
• Forts and Historical Sites.
As seen on page B -228 of the Budget Book,
the Department of Parks has 134 full -time equivalent
posts within its remit, this is 9 fewer than in 2021/22.
Of note, the department operated during the 2020/21 budget year with only 113 full -time equivalent posts,
due to the hiring freez e and extraordinary efforts to cut
expenses within the Ministry.
Mr. Chairman, despite the global pandemic,
we anticipate the 2022/23 estimated revenues for the
department are projected at $117,000. Although this is down from our 2021/22 original budget by $12,000 it
is more than double our forecast for the current year as Bermuda opens back up with tourism.
The department is also seeing an uptick in the
booking of special permits as residents and tourists book the protected areas for functions for the peak
spring and summer season. The outdoors has been a
safety net and a place for relief from the pandemic.
Popular locations for special permits include:
Botanical Gardens, the Arboretum, for birthday parties
and laser tag; Warwick Long Bay, Jobson’s Cove,
Stonehole Bay and Chaplin Bay in South Shore Park, which continue to be popular for weddings and bonfires. In addition, Fort St. Catherine and Fort Scaur in
Sandy’s Parish remain popular wedding venues. Fort
St. Catherine with the World Heritage Site desi gnation
over the past year has also become a prime destina-tion for a multitude of local events including but not limited to business receptions, cocktail parties, and
even a haunted house. There are also regular patrons
paying admissions for the historical tour.
Mr. Chairman, additional revenue sources
within the department include camping permit fees,
concession fees for small business operating in des-ignated parks and beaches, and voucher payments for plants for horticultural produce from Tulo Valley.
The department is also an integral member of the
Emergency Measures Organization, and we are a cri tical support to other government ministries and departments following the passage of hurricanes.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to report on key
activities in the respective sections of the Parks D epartment for the upcoming 2022/23 budget cycle. The
department’s sections can be found on page B -226.

Administration and Planning—78050

The Administration,
which will have a budget of $1,109,000, is the hub of
the department and encompasses the Park Planning Section, which will continue work on the management
plans for Southlands and the Botanical Gardens. The


Bermuda House of Assembly section will also make use of the geographic information systems (GIS) in the col lection of data in the
analysis of Parks assets and other key operational
data.
With the assistance of the Estates Section, l icences and leases will be drafted for concession op-erations at various parks and beaches. In addition, the
improvements planned f or the year include upgrading
the wooden and chain- link fencing in parks, refurbishment of the park gates, and supporting the Pig’s
Field family connection with a replacement playground for Pig’s Field Park after the structure was destroyed
by arson. The boat ramp at Stone Crusher Corner in
Kindley Field is still in the plans for renovation.
Mr. Chairman, the Sale Centre building and
the greenhouse at Tulo Valley nursery are scheduled
to undergo renovation and repairs in order to increase
the production of native, endemic and other plants for
Bermuda Government properties. New signage, park
benches and picnic tables will be placed in the parks
and beaches. The department has continued the i mplementation of improvement projects such as community gardens, whi ch have now come online at Tulo
Farm, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse Park, Southlands Park,
Avocado Lodge Park and Little Head Park. But we will
also progress at the Southlands Park with an emphasis on the restoration of the grounds for safe, educ ational and produc tive use by the patrons.
The department will continue to collaborate
with industry partners in order to achieve the many
goals and objectives that are beneficial for the parks
system, inclusive of organisations such as Keep Bermuda Beautiful, Bermuda Tourism Authority, Bermuda Zoological Society, Mirrors, Garden Club of Bermuda,
[Bermuda] Botanical Society and the Skills Development Programme, to name a few.
Administration will continue to process special
permits and collect fees for the various functions in parks. This section also provides support services to
the Minister’s legislative board for National Parks
Commission.
Mr. Chairman, the restoration and improv ement of Botanical Gardens is gaining momentum.
Community groups and individuals have come on
board to provide their expertise to assist the steering
committees in updating the management plan, which is a primary component in the initiative to improve the
property and return it to a standard which welcomes
positive use. The networking with indust ry partners
will be key in achieving this objective.
Improvements to the Botanical Gardens r emain as a priority, the Exotic House and the Cacti and
Succulent House, replacement of the Education Buil ding and of a proposed open- plan barn and stable section near the main ring. The upgrading of the collections will be reinstituted and plant labels will be i nstalled. Benches and picnic tables will also be r eplaced. Fencing will be installed to control traffic flow and parking with the former garage and maintena nce yard site being repurposed. The department is wor king closely with the Estate Section of the Ministry to build a new maintenance facility at Marsh Folly, plans
of which are advancing, as their original home base
was destroyed during Hurricane Fabian in 2003.

Park Ranger Service— 78000

Mr. Chairman, the
Park Ranger Service budget for the 2022/23 fiscal
year is $497,000 with seven full -time equivalents. This
section continues to advance the public -private par tnerships, whic h have greatly impacted the department
in a positive way. The Friends of the Bermuda Rai lway Trail is an example. They are nearing completion
of the Flatt’s Inlet Railway Trail bridge, a project
which, hopefully, will be completed by summer 2022. This achi evement will greatly enhance the use of the
Railway Trail by providing connectivity and safe linear
passage between the Palmetto Park in Devonshire
and Coney Island in St. George’s. Special thanks to
Mr. Mike Murphy, his son Tucker and daughter Laura, and all the donors who have provided Bermuda with
this significant asset.
The section continues to have a working rel ationship with the Bermuda Police Service, primarily
the Community Action Team which has provided va luable assistance when enforcing the Bermuda N ational Park Regulations 1988. Abandoned vehicles
and boats in parks remain a problem, and they also
deal with vandalism of fences, park furniture, gates
and bathrooms, facilities which are beneficial to the resource and positive- minded patrons.
The s ection continues to work with Mirrors
Bermuda. The programme has community days at
Southlands Park as work continues towards the rest oration of the park.
Mr. Chairman, the Park Ranger Service also
works closely with the Bermuda Bicycle Association
and the Fat Tire Massive mountain bike group, who,
year-round, have provided assistance in maintaining
walking trails for the community in designated protec ted areas, such as Hog Bay Park, Southlands Park,
Admiralty House Park and Ferry Point Park.
Mr. Chairman, the Park Ranger Service also
provide patrols by boat to the Island- based parks and
nature reserves. As such, campgrounds at Higgs and
Horseshoe Island Parks will be monitored and mai ntained, as will the military graveyards and the lime kiln
at Ferry Point Park. Special thanks to the officers of
this unit, as they go over and above their normal duties and they have assisted the maintenance section
by agreeing to provide landscape maintenance of
zones in order to compensate for staff shortages.

Lifeguard Ser vice—78010

The Lifeguard Service
has a budget of $462,000 for 2022/23. The depar t622 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ment anticipates that there will be 21 seasonal and
reserve lifeguards trained and certified under the
Royal Life Saving Society [RLSS]. The Ser vice will be
on duty to meet the demands of the summer season and will operate from April to November 2022 as the tourist and cruise ship season becomes more active,
as more COVID -19 restrictions are relaxed. The Lif eguard Service works alongside the Park Ranger Service and will continue to provide the lifeguard and w ater safety support during the swim portion of the ITU
Bermuda International Triathlon currently scheduled for October 2022.
The Lifeguard Services staff have also made
themselves available to provide training and certific ation for interested staff members of the Department of Parks in either American Heart Association Basic Life
Support or Bermuda Red Cross Community CPR,
AED, and First Aid with the instructors who have been
certified and conti nue to offer professional services.
Mr. Chairman, the Park Maintenance Section
budget will be $6,934,000. This section comprises the
following:
• Government House, 78015, budget $312,000;
• Maintenance and Development, 78020, bud get $955,000;
• Eastern Parks, 78030, budget $912,000;
• Tree Service, 78035, budget $583,000;
• Western Parks, 78040, budget $1,425,000;
• School Grounds, 78045, budget $609,000;
• Tulo Valley Nursery, 78055, budget $392,000;
• Botanical Gardens and Arboretum —78065,
budget $1,425,000.

The Railway Trail—78100

The budget for the
Railway Trail is $320,000. This has remained constant
for over 10 years. The Railway Trail continues to be
one of the most actively used parks in the system for both residents and tourists. Eve nts such as the Endto-End charity event generally held during the first
week in May and more recently the Cycle for Change and the Triple Challenge have also highlighted the popularity of the Trail. Going forward, the department
is looking to increase public notices and advertis ements to inform and educate the public on things happening on the Railway Trail. The landscape maint enance of the Railway Trail will, once again, be a joint venture during 2022/23 with the Department of Parks employees, the Skills Development Programme, and
private contractors.
We are also appreciative of a new industry
partner, which is the Association of International
Companies (ABIC) who have networked with Keep
Bermuda Beautiful. They have had 17 of their member
companies provi de volunteer Railway Trail clean up
and culling of invasive plants on a regular basis.
Mr. Chairman, projects planned for the Rai lway Trail in 2022/23 will continue with the ongoing replacement and renovation of damaged gates; r epairs of damaged fences; culling of invasive plants; restoration of uneven surfaces; and the installation of
park benches. Contracting a structural engineer to
address erosion issues and stabilisation of rock cuts is imperative.
The department will continue to foster the r elationsh ip with Friends of the Bermuda Railway Trail
for the purpose of working collaboratively to mitigate
further erosion.
Mr. Chairman, the combined sections within
the department provide landscaping for the cultural maintenance and the necessary bedding plants for the
Island’s parks, beaches, nature reserves, roundabouts, schools, and government properties. In addition
to the maintenance performed by these employees, in
2022/23 they will continue to make improvements to: Blue Hole; repair and upgrade bathroom f acilities in
the parks; install park benches and picnic tables at
various parks and beaches, such as John Smith’s
Bay, Astwood Park, West Whale Bay, and South
Shore Park or at Long Bay playground; and they will be involved in the restoration and improvement of
parks including Coney Island, Admiralty House, Ferry
Point, Kindley Field, South Shore Park and Sout hlands. This will involve the major clearing of invasive
species and replanting with natives and endemics.
At Tulo Valley Nursery, plans are progressi ng
for the repairs to the slat house and replacement of both the greenhouse and Sale Centre. This gover nment plant nursery will play an instrumental role in the
roadside beautification initiative by propagating orna-mental groundcovers to be planted at the roadsides to
compete with and minimise the growth of weeds.
Mr. Chairman, the Skills Development Pr ogramme has proven quite successful and has deve loped persons with the passion for landscaping, which has successfully gone on with the support of industry
partners. The programme has been intensely benef icial to the Ministry and the department and has been
involved in the following: landscape maintenance of
the Railway Trail; landscaping of major and minor
roads, as well as tri -roads on behalf of the Ministry of
Public Works stimulus programme. At present me mbers in the programme are supporting Department of Park units who are short -staffed and are gaining practical experience and placement at Botanical Gardens,
the Tree Unit, Woodlands Management, East Broadway and the Cabinet Office. A key element of the pr ogramme is volunteering which they give back to the community.

Forts and Historical Sites —78080

This budget for
2022/23 will be $456,000. The primary management responsibilit y for this section includes Fort St. Catherine, a World Heritage site, and other forts in the eas tern parishes. However, jurisdiction for managing forts


Bermuda House of Assembly extends to other parks in the National Parks System.
Therefore, the department will work with industry partners, such as the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA)
and other local agencies to maintain, promote and
market the forts.
Mr. Chairman, the closure of the St. George’s
Foundation, Heritage Museum has afforded the department the opportunity to preserve his torical art ifacts which are currently being prepared for display
both at the Fort [INAUDIBLE ] to promote Bermuda’s
heritage.
Revenues and patrons’ use should start to i ncrease as the COVID -19 restrictions are relaxed and
the cruise ship season starts to regenerate in 2022.
Mr. Chairman, projects planned for the fiscal
year include painting the guns at Fort St. Catherine, Alexandra Battery, Gates Fort and St. David’s Battery;
and refurbishment and replacement of the signs at
various forts.
The opening of the St. Regis Hotel property
and adjoining golf course has further highlighted the
historical significance of St. George’s in that the golf
course is to be named the Five Forts Golf Course,
commemorating the following area forts: Fort Albert,
Fort George, For t William, Gun Powder Cavern, Fort
Victoria and Fort St. Catherine. This is a follow on for
existing projects which the St. George’s Foundation has been actively working with at the forts and histor ical sites at Ferry Point: The Martello Tower magazine and the military cemeteries.
Mr. Chairman, the global pandemic and its
impact on the ability of Bermudians to travel off Island for vacation and other recreational or leisure activities has highlighted the importance of Bermuda’s green
spaces. The department has observed a marked increase in the use of protected areas under the juri sdiction of the Act. Parks, beaches, nature reserves
and railway trails are the conduit for physical and
mental well -being. The value of the environment, natural resources, open spaces and cultural resources cannot be underestimated. T he men and women of
the Department of Parks who are involved in the care,
maintenance and development of Bermuda’s National
Parks and other government properties are an integral
part of the function of Bermuda Government.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, I take this opportunity to thank the staff of the Department of Parks who
have navigated through a variety of professional challenges, inclusive of reduced resources necessary to
function [ INAUDIBLE ].
I will now turn to Head 81, the Department of
Public Lands and Buildings.

Okay.
Mr. Chairman, it is the responsibility of the
Department of Public Lands and Buildings: To effectively manage Government property and provide na624 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly tional mapping to enable the delivery of effec tive public services.
The Department of Public Lands and Buil dings is responsible for managing the Government’s
estate of over 2,000 acres and some 750 buildings. The land and buildings uses are diverse and range
including key public buildings, schools, police stations
and post offices to the lighthouses, farms, beaches
and islands. In addition, in 2022/23 the department
will be managing 75 leases held from the private sector and the government quangos for the government to provide public services at approx imately
$9,583,000 per annum in rent payments by the Go vernment as a tenant. The department has a critical support role to all ministries and departments to en-sure that their property resources are met in order for
them to provide their services to the public.
Mr. Chairman, I will highlight throughout my
presentation, the four programmes or sections within
the department as well as the plans for the upcoming
fiscal year that are designed to meet that responsibi lity.
Mr. Chairman, on page B -232 you will note
that there are four main programmes for the Depar tment of Public Lands and Buildings and are as follows: 8100 —Administration; 8101 Buildings; 8102 —
Estates; 8103—Land Surveys.
The total budget allocated to the Department
of Public Lands and Buildings is $20,410,000 for fiscal
year 2022/23, as compared with $19,616,000 that was
originally budgeted for the fiscal year 2021/22.This
represents an increase of $800,000. The increase is
due to additional costs for filling vacant core posts that were unfunded in 2021/22 for the expense of mai ntaining the ageing inventory of buildings.
The total full -time equivalents for 2022/23
stand at 167, which is an increase of 5 from 162 in 2021/22. This increase reflects the intent of the d epartment to improve training and succession planning
by filling funded posts which were held vacant in
2021/22. In addition, I can advise that in 2022/23 the
Public Works Architect section will be relocated from
Head 36—Ministry Headquarters, to Head 81 —Public
Lands and Buildings to cons olidate property services.
Mr. Chairman, the budget 2022/23 for the
programmes of the department are as follows:
• 8100 —Administration, $667,000;
• 8101 —Buildings, $8,774,000;
• 8102 —Estates, $10,645,000;
• 8103 —Land Surveys Management, $324,000.
This compares wi th the revised budget for the
same programmes for fiscal year 2021/22 of:
• 8100 —Administration, $237,000;
• 8101 —Buildings, $8,554,000;
• 8102 —Estates, $9,972,000;
• 8103 —Land Surveys Management, $319,000.


Administration

Mr. Chairm an, pr ogramme 8100— Administration Training has a total
budget of $667,276. Its objective is to provide senior
management leadership and administrative support
for the Estates and Buildings Section. This pr ogramme is split between two cost centres, namely:
91000— Administration at $246,947; and 91001 —
Training and Apprenticeship at $420,329.
Mr. Chairman, the Training and Apprentic eship centre, cost centre 91000, has a specific budget
allocation of $420,229 for fiscal year 2022/23 as compared to the $6,439 for fiscal year 2021/22. This represents an increase of $413,890 for filling vacant, but
funded, posts for five trade apprentices. It is important
for the department to have new apprentices to deve lop a future workforce for continuity as tradesmen are
promot ed or age out.

Buildings Section

Mr. Chairman, the
Building Section 8101 has a total budget of
$8,774,000. The Buildings Programme is split between two cost centres, namely: 91002 —Services
Management at $672,000; and 91003— Maintenance
at $8,102,000.
Mr. Chairman, the Buildings Programme, as
seen on page B -232, has a mandate to effectively
manage the maintenance, repair and renovation of all Government buildings. This programme has a total budget of $8,773,851. This is essenti ally equal to the
$8,772,000 allocation during fiscal year 2020/21.

Achievements 2021 /22

Mr. Chairman, I would
like to highlight some of the achievements of the D epartment of Public Lands and Buildings during the
2021/22 fi scal year.
Mr. Chairman, the Buildings Section attended
to over 3,000 help desk building maintenance calls in the year together with intended planned service works
and capital works over the entire stock. In addition, the department’s building surveyors managed works
under budgets for other ministries and departments,
primarily for health, corrections, environment and natural resources.

Capital Works P rogramme

Mr. Chairman, for
2022/23 there are a number of planned capital w orks
that will take place across the various capital cost centres. It has to be appreciated that the department has
been required to prioritise and limit capital works to meet budget limitations.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, $3,000,000, on page C -6 under
cost centre 7530 9 for All Schools Maintenance has
been spent in 2021/22 on annual scheduled improv ements and repairs work to schools.
Mr. Chairman, the schools continue to be an
annual high priority. Some $3,000,000 have been
budgeted for 2022/23 for these works under cost ce ntre 75309.
The Building and Estates sections continue to
work closely with the Education Department on our
large school buildings with a longer -term strategic
plan for the Bermuda Public School System. Whilst
the Education Plan calls for some schools to be
closed, the infrastructure must be maintained so that it
is available for future purposes.
The Works plan for 2022/23 include:
• interior painting of six school;
• interior and exterior painting to five schools;
• repairs and air conditioning improvement s to
all schools during the summer vacation;
• boundary wall and embankment work to three
schools;
• surveys of school properties for long- term
planning.
Mr. Chairman, for capital cost centre 75112
Major Buildings Upgrade Projects on page C -6 in
2021/22 was $3,700,000. A summary of the key pr ojects completed in the last financial year include:
1. refurbishment of 72 Middle Way, Warwick for
the Molecular Diagnostic Lab for the Gover nment’s COVID -19 testing facility;
2. the Camden [House] refurbishment in the B otanical Gardens;
3. new plant inspection building in the Botanical
Gardens;
4. refit of staff bathrooms and PTB bus depot
Devonshire;
5. internal fit -out for the PTB bus driver’s lounge
at the St. George’s bus depot;
6. refit of bathrooms at the Government Admi nistration Bui lding;
7. residential refurbishments at the Public Works Quarry;
8. exterior works and painting to Catterick Building St. George’s;
9. interior fit -out for offices at St. George’s Post
Office; and
10. improvements to the Southampton Post O ffice.
Mr. Chairman, the 2022/ 23 allocation for capital cost centre 75112 for Major Buildings Upgrade
Projects is $3,000,000. The account enables the d epartment to carry out major works to improve and r edevelop facilities to modernise to make them fit for
purpose and meet statutory com pliance. While there
is a demand for more works than budget permits, the
department strives to prioritise the most effective use
of the capital funds available. The works under this account for 2022/23 i nclude:
1. [INAUDIBLE]
2. replacement and upgrade of the air conditio ning system for offices at the Government A dministration Building;
3. improvements to lobbies and communal areas
at Global House and Government Administr ation Building;
4. improvements for accessibility at the Margaret
Carter Centre;
5. various improvements to buildings in the B otanical Gardens;
6. improvements and repair to workshops at the Public Works Quarry, the Building Section
Depot and at the Public Transportation depot
in Devonshire;
7. General improvements to other government
buildings on various properties, including
Gibbs Hill and St. David’s Lighthouse properties.
Mr. Chairman, in 2021/22 the department
commenced work on the Capital Code 75357 for the installation of roof mounted solar photovoltaic panels
to four key government properties: At the Gov ernment
Administration Building, [INAUDIBLE] General Buil ding, the Transport Control Department, and the [I NAUDIBLE] facility in Devonshire. [INAUDIBLE] had a
budget allocation of $2,022,116 in 2021/22. The pr oject will carry over and is expected to be com pleted in
2022/23 with a sum of $500,000.
Mr. Chairman, building on the success of this
project and in support of the Government’s strategy to
move to alternative energy, the Department of Public
Lands and Buildings is looking into financing and pr ocurement options for solar PV systems on the rooftops
of approximately 30 government buildings. With the
assistance of the Rocky Mountain Institute and the
Department of Energy, a request for proposal will be issued to the solar industry. [INAUDIBLE] will be explored that do not place additional demand on Government’s capital budget. In addition, the projects will
be a driver for employment in this sector.
Mr. Chairman, Capital Budget 75327 has
been allocated a sum of $240,000 for the installation of sewage pumps and septic tanks and bore hole for
the Horseshoe Bay Beach House and public bat hrooms to take place in the off -season at the end of
2022.
Mr. Chairman, whilst the refurbishment to the
exterior of the Sessions House was completed with
the building sealed and protected in 2020, the works
on the interior refurbishment are planned. However,
as in 2021/22, they will continue to be put on hold for
2022/23 to ease the demand on capital budget under
cost centre 75320 for Parliament Building Refurbis hment. The House of Assembly will continue to meet at
Veritas Place through the next fiscal year.

626 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Estates Section

Mr. Chairman, the E states Section under programme 8102 provides property and land- related management service to all go vernment ministries and departments. This service i ncludes insurance, acquisition, letting, rental and di sposal of land and property across the Island. The sec-tion is the custodian of the foreshore and seabed and
is responsible for licences and leasing of the same.
The Estates programme is split between two
cost centres, namely:
• 91004— Property Asset Management at
$4,895,285; and
• 91005—Insurance at $5,750,000.
Mr. Chairman, the Estates section has a total
allocation of $10,645,285 for fiscal year 2022/23 as
compar ed with $10,261,000 for fiscal year 2021/22 as
seen on page B -232. This represents a nominal i ncrease of $2,000.

Cost Centre 91005—Insurance

Mr. Chairman, the O ffice Relocations Capital cost centre 75099 for 2022/23
has a sum allocated in the amount of $2 million compared to a nominal amount of $250,000 in 2021/22.
This capital budget account allows for the planning
and fit -out costs for moving government offices. In
2021/22 a limited capital budget allowed only for pla nning for future projects. Accordingly, there was effectively a moratorium on all office moves in the last f inancial year. However, the capital account has been
reinstated in 2022/23 to permit some selected reloc ations.
For 2022/23, the Office Relocations Capital
account 75099 will enable relocation of the Planning
Department from Level 5 at Dame Loise BrowneEvans Building to the Bermuda Housing Corporation’s
office building at 44 Church Street, Hamilton. This move will allow for the consolidation of the court facil ities at Dame Lois Browne- Evans Building with the
Family Courts moving up to Level 5 to allow space for
an extra Criminal Court on the lower floors.
This capital account budget will also assist
with the relocation of the Police Command Unit by the refurbishment of the Prospect Headquarters property.

Land Survey Management

Mr. Chairman, I now
move to Programme 8103 —Land Surveys, with cost
centre 91007, on page B -232. This programme has a budget allocation of $324,000 for fiscal year 2022/23 as compared to a 2021/22 budget of $326,000, an
immaterial decrease of $2,000.
Mr. Chairman, this section provides traditional
and specialised land surveying expertise and gui dance for the Bermuda Government. For example, the
section establishes, maintains and updates a National
Control Monument Network across Bermuda, ens uring that private land survey companies have a standardised and internationally compatible coordinate sy stem to utilise. The Land Survey section also provides
in-house land survey services for Public Works and
Engineering and building projects.

Conclusion

Mr. Chairman, as I
conclude the Budget Brief for Head 81, the Depar tment of Public Lands & Buildings, I would like to take this opportunity to recognise all the staff in the D epartment and thank them for their hard work thr ough
these challenging—especially times during the
COVID -19 pandemic in 2021/22.
I will now move to Head 82, the last in this
presentation, the Department of Works and Engineer-ing.

HEAD 82 —DEPARTMENT OF WORKS
AND ENGINEERING

Mr. Chairman, the
mission of the Department of Works and Engineering
is: To ensure the effective and prudent management
of all engineering services relating to the construction,
erection, improvement, maintenance and repairs of Government infrastructur e and the operation of essential water and waste treatment services.
Mr. Chairman, the Department of Works and
Engineering is responsible for the provision of essen-tial services to the Bermuda public and the maint enance of highly visible major elements of the gover nment infrastructure. The range of varied and unique activities covered by the department includes: garbage collection and disposal, road maintenance and
repairs, bridge maintenance, government vehicle maintenance as well as safe water extraction, trea tment and distribution.
Services such as safe disposal of hazardous
substances, disposal of vehicles and construction m aterials, recycling, composting, the maintenance and repairs of the government’s infrastructure, which i ncludes roads, bridges, doc ks and street lighting, are
also carried out by this department.
Mr. Chairman, there are seven operational
sections of the department:
• Highways;
• Structures;
• Electrical/Mechanical;
• Solid Waste;


Bermuda House of Assembly • Water/Wastewater;
• Tynes Bay Waste- to-Energy Facility, and
• Quar ry Facility.
All of them are critical to the effective oper ation and maintenance of the government’s infrastructure. It is within this framework that I present the D epartment of Works and Engineering’s Budget Brief for
fiscal year 2022/23.

Programmes

Mr. Chairman, I will
now present the seven programme areas, each with a number of sub- programmes or cost centres, as shown
on pages B -236 through B -241 of the Estimates of
Revenue and Expenditure, namely:
• 8200 —Administration
• 8201 —Engineering
• 8202 —Highways
• 8203 —Waste Management
• 8204 —Quarry Transport
• 8205 —Quarry Products
• 8206 —Water and Sewage

2022/23 Operation al Budget

Mr. Chairman, the estimated budget for the Department of Works and E ngineering for the 2022/23 fiscal year is $27,716,000,
which represents an increase of $740,000 from the 2021/22 original budget level.
[Programme] 8200, Administration, provides
for the salaried senior management team of the de-partment. The mandate of the senior management
team is the efficient management of the seven sections of the Ministry, including:
• Highways
• Structures
• Electrical/Mechanical
• Solid Waste
• Water and Sewage
• Tynes Bay Waste- to-Energy Facility, and
• Quarry Operations
Mr. Chairman, a $376,000 budget has been
allocated for fiscal year 2022/23. This represents an
increase of $12,000 when compared to the 2021/22 budget allocation.
Referring to the performance measure under
[cost centre] 92000, Administration (page B -239) for
fiscal 2020/21 the total Occupati onal Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) accident frequency rate for the department is currently 3.5. This is a slight i mprovement over the previous year’s score of 3.7 and
meets the desired outcome of five or less. The average number of training days per managerial staff
member is forecast to be one as compared to three of
last year, due to the impact of COVID -19. Mr. Chairman, the full -time equivalents for the
cost centre 92000, Administration is one, no change
from the revised 2020/21 budget.

Progr amme 8201— Engineering

Mr. Chairman, the
mandate of the Engineering Services Programme is to
provide quality electrical, mechanical and structural
engineering services. A budget of $1,369,000 has
been allocated for this programme, representing an decrease of $391,000 compared to the 2021/22
budget.
This programme includes cost centres 92001,
Electrical and Mechanical Management; cost centre 92002, Electrical support; and cost centre 92003,
Structures. The majority of these savi ngs are the r esult of not funding vacant posts for the upcoming year.
The Electrical/Mechanical Management and
Electrical Support , cost centres 92001 and 92002,
manage the provision of planning, design, construc-tion, installation and maintenance services f or electr ical and mechanical systems associated with the go vernment's facilities .
Mr. Chairman, cost centre 92001, Electrical
and Mechanical Management , is estimated at
$576,000, representing a decrease of $196 ,000 from
the original 2021 /22 budget. This section provides
support on electrical and mechanical issues to other
sections and departments throughout government.
The full -time equivalents for the cost centre
92001, Electrical and Mechanical is eight , one less
than fiscal 202 1/22.
Mr. Chairman, cost centre 92002, Electrical
Support , is mainly used to provide the budget for
street lights. Cost centre 92002 , Electrical, has been
allocated $551,000, which is the same as last year.
Mr. Chairman, referring to the performance
measure (page B -239) for cost centre 92002, Electr ical Support, the number of new street lights to be i nstalled in fiscal 202 1/22 is forecast to be eight . The
performance measure for the average number of
streetlights out of service is forecast to be only 4 per
cent which is under the des ired target of less than
5 per cent per year.
The Structural Engineering Services, 92003,
manages the provision of structural inspections, design, construction, maintenance, project and contract
management services as well as acting as the go vernment’s functional authority on structural and relat-ed civil engineering matters. The budget for cost cen-tre 92003, Structures, is $242,000 which represents a
decrease of $195,000 against the original 2021/22
budget. This decrease comes from not funding vacant
Struct ural Engineering posts within this section.
Mr. Chairman, with regard to the performance
measures within cost centre 92003, eight inspections
have been carried out on bridges and 29 on docks
during the year to date. The full -time equivalents for
628 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly cost centr e 92003, Structures, is five, representing no
change from fiscal 2021/22.

Programme 8202—Highways

Mr. Chairman, the
mandate of the Highways Programme is to develop and maintain the public road infrastructure to ensure
the safe passage of motorists and pedestrians. This
entails all work associated with the planning, design
and construction of road schemes and includes activ ities such as resurfacing, drainage, signage, road
markings, retaining walls and bus shelters. They are
also mandated to
• provide technical advice to other Government
ministries and agencies on highway -related
matters;
• manage the improvement of public roads;
• assist citizens with their private road i mprovement needs under the Private Road I mprovement Act; and
• act as the Government’s functional authority
on highways engineering- related matters.
Mr. Chairman, a $4,743,000 budget has been
allocated to this programme, representing an increase of $1,220,000 as compared to the 2021/22 original budget. This increase is primarily to compensate for a
lack of capital recharge for next year as the capital
budget for Road Works has been greatly reduced.
Mr. Chairman, cost centre 92004, Management has a budget of $725,000, which represents an increase of $71,000 compared to original 2021/22
budget.
Mr. Chairman, the full -time equivalents for the
cost centre 92004, Highways Management, is nine
which is no change from last year.
Cost centre 92005, the budget for Road A sphalt and Signs is $1,247,000, which represents an
increase of $624,000.
Mr. Chairman, the performance measure for
cost centre 92005, Asphalt and Signs, shows that the
amount of road centre line marked out during fiscal 2021/22 is likely to reach only 1 kilometre. This is due to the lane marking machine being out of service for
the majority of the year. We expect to have greater performance in the next fiscal year as the equipment has now been repaired and we will also look to r eplace the ageing equipment with new equipment as well. The forecast for the road resur facing is 4 kilom etres, which is comprised mostly of temporary rei nstatement for the BELCO trenching works.
The budget for cost centre 92006, Public
Roads Maintenance, is $1,716,000, which represents
an increase of $599,000 when compared to the orig inal 2021/22 budget. This unit is responsible for the
maintenance of retaining walls, sidewalks and other
masonry works, as well as the highways drainage sy stems. The increase is as a result of an adjustment to internal recharge budgets to reflect the projected d ecrease in economic activity for the upcoming year.
Mr. Chairman, the full -time equivalents for the
cost centre 92006, Road Maintenance, is 25, the same as last year.
The budget for cost centre 92007, Public
Road Cleaning, is $1,055,000. This represents a decrease of $74,000 compared to the previous budget year. The decrease is a result of removing funding for
vacant posts, contractors, internal vehicle hire and
maintenance materials budgets.
Mr. Chairman, the performance measure for
cost centre 92007, P ublic Road Cleaning indicates
that the target for fiscal 2021/22 is 0 kilometres of
public road cleaned by mechanical means. This is due
to the new replacement sweeper having not yet ar-rived from overseas. There were also 14 emergency call-outs for fiscal 2021/22, in line with estimates. The
full-time equivalents for cost centre 92007, Public
Road Cleaning, is 25, the same as last year.
Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92008, Private Roads remains unfunded due to bud get constraints.

Programme 8203 —Waste Management

Mr. Chairman, the
mandate of the Waste Management programme is to
arrange for the collection and safe disposal of Berm uda's solid wastes. The aim of the Waste Management
Section is to serve the people of Bermuda by provi ding a comprehensive waste management programme,
utilising the best technologies for disposal, recovery of
materials and energy resources, protecting public
health and safeguarding the environment. This i ncludes:
• education regarding waste reduction, reuse and recycling;
• waste recycling;
• waste collection;
• composting;
• land creation;
• high temperature mass burn incineration with energy recovery (Waste- to-Energy);
• special and hazardous waste disposal;
• management and maintenance of the Tynes
Bay Was te-to-Energy Facility in a reliable,
safe and cost -effective manner; and
• to act as the government functional authority on all matters relating to solid waste, env ironmental engineering, waste- to-energy and
processing.
Mr. Chairman, a budget of $16,653,000 has
been allocated to this programme for fiscal 2022/23. This represents an increase of $1,116,000 as compared to the 2021/22 original budget. This increase
represents the funding of vacant posts, which was
stripped for cost savings last year, primarily in the
Tynes Bay section.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92009, Management, Education, and Enforcement is
$371,000, which represents an increase of $13,000.
The full -time equivalents for cost centre 92009, solid
waste management are three.
Mr. Chai rman, the budget for cost centre
92011, Recycling, is $1,124,000, which is an increase
of $83,000 when compared to the original fiscal
2021/22 budget. The full -time equivalents for the R ecycling programme are five, the same as fiscal year 2021/22.
Mr. Cha irman, the budget for cost centre
92012, Airport Disposal Facility, is $1,224,000, which
is an increase of $10,000 from last year’s original
budget. The full -time equivalents for the cost centre
92012, Airport Disposal Facility, is six, which is no
change from 2021/22.
Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92013, Composting Operations, is $1,591,000, which
represents an increase of $174,000 when compared
to the original fiscal 2021/22. The full -time equivalents
for the cost centre remain at 10, no change from last
year.
Mr. Chairman, cost centre 92014, Special and
Hazardous Waste, has a budget of $1,297,000, which
represents an increase of $60,000. The full -time
equivalents for the Hazardous Waste section is six.
This is the same as the estimate for fiscal 2021/22.
Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92029, Collections , is $3, 325,000, which is an increase of $35,000 when compared to the original fi scal 2021 /22. The performance measure for cost centre 92029, Collections , indicates that on average 325
tons of domestic waste continues to be collected during the week. The average number of trucks available
was seven . The full -time equivalents for the cost centre 9202 , Collections , are 59, the same as in previous
years.
Mr. Chairman, the Tynes Bay Waste- toEnergy Facility provides refuse disposal and renew able energy for the country. The budget for cost centre
92016, Tynes Bay Administration, is $582,000 and
represents an increase of $138 ,000 from the 2021 /22
budget. The full -time equivalents for the Tynes Bay
Administration section are six, an increase of one from
last year .
Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92017, Tynes Bay Operations is $4,965,000, repr esenting an increase of $515,000 from the original fi scal 2021/22. The performance measure for 92017,
Tynes Bay Operations anticipates that 61,000 tons of
solid waste will be processed at the Tynes Bay Waste -to-Energy Facility during fiscal 2021/22. The
amount of electricity generated and sold to BELCO is
forecasted to be 14,000 kilowatt -hours in 2021/22.
The revised forecast for the amount of ash concrete
the facility produced is 4,600 cubic yards. The full -time
equivalents for Tynes bay Operations is 31, the same as fiscal 2021/22. Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92018, Tynes Bay Maintenance is $2,080,000, a d ecrease of $15,000 from the original fiscal 2021/22.
The performance measure for cost centre 92018,
Tynes Bay Maintenance, indicates that the availability of the plant is forecast to be 70 per cent for stream
one, 60 per cent for stream two and 83 per cent for
the turbine respectively for fiscal 2021/22. The full -
time equivalents for Tynes Bay Maintenance is 14, the
same as last year.
Programme 8204, Quarry Transport and [pr ogramme] 8205, Quarry Products. Mr. Chairman, the mandate of the two quarry programmes is, collectiv ely: To manage the fleet and equipment leasing, mechanical maintenance, quarry operations, and to act as the Government’s functional authority on all matters related to fleet management, vehicle and other mechanical engi neering and maintenance activities.

Programme 8204—Quarry Transport

Mr. Chairman, a
$1,136,000 budget has been allocated to this pr ogramme for 2022/23, representing a decrease of $852,000 as compared to the original 2021/22 budget.
The budget for cost centre 92019, Quarry
Administration is $516,000, representing a decrease
of $32,000 from the original fiscal 2021/22. The full -
time equivalent for the Quarry Administration is one.
Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92020, Quarry Vehicles and Equipment Operation, is $2,120,000 which is a decrease of $194,000 from the original 2021/22 figure. The full -time equivalents for
the cost centre 92020, Quarry Vehicle Equipment O peration is 32.
Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost c entre
92021, Quarry Vehicles and Equipment Maintenance,
is $4,000,000, which is a decrease of $690,000 compared to the previous year. The cuts are a result of removing funding for vacant posts. The full -time
equivalents for the cost centre 92021, Quarry Ve hicle
Equipment Maintenance is 52.
Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92034, Quarry Receipts (an internal recharge budget
with a negative value) , is set for $5,500,000 and is the
same as for fiscal 2021 /22.

Programme 8205—Quarry Products

Mr. Chairman, a
$1,805,000 budget has been allocated for cost centre
92023, Asphalt Plant, which is a decrease of
$223,000 compared to the previous year. Additionally,
a $3, 214,000 rechargeable budget for quarry products
have been all ocated to this programme for fiscal
2022 /23.
The full -time equivalents for the Asphalt Plant
remains unchanged at seven.

630 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Program 8206— Water and Sewage

Mr. Chairman, the
mandate of the Water and Sewage Program is: To
provide planning, design, construction, operation and
maintenance of the Government water extraction,
treatment and distribution systems and the
wastewater collection and distribution systems; to
produce potable water on a cost recovery basis to
meet demand; to provide septage receiving facilities for private sanitation truckers and for limited public
facilities; and finally, to act as the Government ’s functional authority on all matters related to water and
wastewater engineering.
Mr. Chairman, a $4,847,000 budget has been
allocated to this programme. This represents a decrease of $68,000 as compared to the original
2021/22 budget.
The budget for cost centre 92025, Water and
Sewage Administration is $1,060,000, which repr esents an increase of $36,000 as compared to the ori ginal 2021/22 budget. The performance measure for
cost centre 92025, Water Section Administration,
page B -241, indicates that the administration area
within the section has so far achieved 99 per cent r esponse within 24 hours to enquiries by customers during fiscal 2021/22.
Mr. Chairman, the full -time equivalents for the
cost centre 92025, Water Section Administration is five.
The budget for cost centre 92026, Water
Supply and Treatment, is $2,665,000 which is an i ncrease of $49,000. This budget ensures that there are
sufficient funds allocated to pay for contractors who
supply supplementary bulk water, remote monitoring
and control systems support, and to pay for the electricity charges associated with pump stations and
treatment plants within th e infrastructure.
Mr. Chairman, the performance measure for
cost centre 92026, Water Supply and Treatment, page
B-241, forecasts that 301 million gallons of potable
water will be produced during this fiscal 2021/22. The
full-time equivalents for the cost centre 92026, Water
Supply and Treatment are nine.
The budget for cost centre 92027, Water
Sewage and Distribution, is $575,000 which repr esents a decrease of $127,000. The performance
measure for cost centre 92027, Water Storage and
Distribution, is forecasting for fiscal 2020/21 that the
average lost service hours due to a main’s breaks are
120 hours. The number of mains repairs made for the
year was 22.
Mr. Chairman, the full -time equivalents for the
cost centre 92027, Water Storage and Distribution are
nine.
The budget for the cost centre 9202, Sewage
Collection, is $547,000, which is a decrease of
$26,000 over fiscal 2021/22. The performance measure for cost centre 92028 gives the amount of time as a percentage that the Tynes Bay septage receiving
facility is operational. For 2021/22 this figure was
97 per cent. The performance measure also tracks the
number of blockages experienced in the sewer mains
across the Island and that number was 10. The full -
time equivalent for the cost centre 92028, Water Sewage and Distribution, is one.

Staff

Mr. Chairman, total
staffing levels within the Department of Works and
Engineering are shown on page B -238. Employee
number estimates for the 2022 /23 budget are 344.
However, only 290 of these required posts are currently filled. This will place an even greater challenge
to meet service delivery. Notwithstanding, the depar tment will look to retain staff that are being poached by the private sector as well as work within the Depar tment of E mployee and Organizational Development to
fill what posts it is able.

Thank you.
I will just take this moment to remind Me mbers and the listening audience that we are now in
Committee of Supply for further considerati on of the
Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2022/23. And we are listening to the Minister of Public Works [who is] covering Heads 36, 53, 68, 81, and 82.
We are presently on page B -237.
Minister.

Thank you, M adam
Chairman.
I was just starting on staffing, that was [for]
the Department of Works and Engineering.


Bermuda House of Assembly Madam Chai rman, total staffing levels within
the Department of Works and Engineering are shown
on page B -238. Employee number estimates for the
2022 /23 budget are 344. However, only 272 of these
required posts are currently filled. This will place an even greater challenge to meet service delivery. Notwithstanding, the department will look to retain staff
that are being poached by the private sector as well
as work within the Department of Employee and O rganizational Development to fill what posts it is able.

Review of Major Capital Projects

I will now provide
Members with a summary of the status of the major
capital projects being managed by the Department of
Works and Engineering.
The overall 2022/23 Capital Expenditure plan
for the Department of Works and Engineering is
$13,964,000. Details are found on pages C -6 and C -7
of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure
2022/23.
1. Road Works (CEP cost centre 75042): Est imate for this cost centre is $500,000. This
budget comprises major maintenance work to
the road network, which includes road resurfacing, as well as road improvement schemes such as junction improvements, road wi dening
and new sidewalks. This year’s budget co nsists primarily of work associated with the
BELCO trenching scheme only. As such, only
emergency response and repairs are slated
for this budget outside of trenching works. While it is not ideal, it is unfort unately, one of
the areas scaled back in order for more critical work to take place within the reduced budget.
2. Water Projects (CEP cost centre 75044):
Madam Chai rman, this programme is for
planned and unforeseen small to medium w ater and sewage projects, including a requir ement every year to provide equipment and
general facility upgrading to meet ongoing
treatment, environmental and safety -related
issues. The 2022/23 estimate for this cost
centre is $300,000. The funding will be used
for continuing an adv anced metering system
to reduce non- revenue water through early
leak detection.
3. Water/Sewage Capital Maintenance, (CEP cost centre 75345): This CEP line item will be
used for various system refurbishments as r equired by the ageing plant and infrastructure.
The 2022/23 estimate for this cost centre is
$250,000.
4. Improvements in Street Lighting (CEP cost
centre 75046): Madam Chai rman, the est imate for this cost centre is $560,000. This budget is used to cover the ongoing LED modernisation project currently being deli vered by BELCO.
5. Bus Shelters (CEP cost centre 75048): Ma dam Chai rman, the 2022/23 estimate for this
cost centre is zero. No new bus shelters will be built for the coming year due to the ec onomic climate.
6. Private Road Street Lighting (CEP cost centre 75051): Madam Chai rman, the estimate for
this cost centre is also zero. This budget is normally used to provide extra lighting on pr ivate roads, but due to budget constraints, no
service is planned for this year.
7. St. George’s Sewage Plant (CEP cost centre
75061): Madam Chai rman, the estimate for
this cost centre is $200,000. This budget sup-ports implementation of the water and wastewater master plan in the East End. The
funding will be used for implementation of the
plan, including primarily consultant services
and operational support for the newly deve loped infrastructure now being installed.
8. Asbestos Disposal (CEP cost centre 75064):
Madam Chai rman, the 2022/23 estimate for
this cost centre is $300,000, which will be
used to continue the repacking of containers
that have deteriorated at the Government
Quarry and also to ship adequately packed
materials to the United States for permanent
disposal.
9. Structural Refurbishment of Bridges (CEP
cost centre 75116): Madam Chai rman, the
2022/23 estimate for this cost centre is
$300,000. This budget will be used to carry out repair work on Watford Bridge which was,
again, delayed due to COVID -19.
10. Refurbishment Ferry Docks and Public Landings (CEP cost centre 75117): Madam Chai rman, the 2022/23 estimate for this c ost centre
is $150,000. The work here will include the
repair work on minor docks and wharfs across
the Island.
11. Middle Road, Warwick, Sidewalk (CEP cost
centre 75207): Madam Chai rman, the 2022/23
estimate for this budget is $200,000. It will
continue the sidewalk and road widening b etween the former T. N. Tatum school and St.
Anthony’s Church on Middle Road in Wa rwick.
12. Stabilise Roadside Rock Cuts (Highways) (CEP cost centre 75142): Madam Chai rman,
the 2022/23 estimate for this budget is
$50,000. Work for this budget will include design work to address multiple erosion sites
across the Island, the projected execution, the
most safety sensitive of these works as time
and budget allows.
13. Foreshore Protections (CEP cost centre
75144): Madam Chai rman, this cost centre is
632 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly used to carry out repairs and mitigating
measures to the foreshore. The 2022/23 est imate for this budget is $700,000 to address
critical areas of the Westgate Correctional f acility and Shelly Bay road. Works for last year
were impacted by resourc ing issues and it is,
again, anticipated for the next fiscal year as
well.
14. Causeway Refurbishment (CEP cost centre
75207): Madam Chai rman, the 2022/23 est imate for the cost centre is $100,000. These
funds are utilised in the event of storm da mage to the causeway over the course of the
year.
15. Tynes Bay Waste Treatment Expansion (CEP
cost centre 75210): Madam Chai rman, capital
funding for fiscal 2022/23 is $3 million. These
funds will be utilised for the preparation of a
contingency area needed to perform the full
planned refurbishment. Additionally, funds will
cover project manager and costs associated with tendering for the project, set to be
awarded in the second quarter of 2023.
16. Dangerous Walls and Rock Cuts (Structures)
(CEP cost centre 75258): Madam Chai rman,
the 2022/23 estimate for this cost centre is
$250,000. This cost centre is used to carry out repairs to collapsed walls and rock cuts. Additionally, as most cases of this damage occurs
due to vehicle accidents, the government will
increasingly be seek ing insurance coverage
from the vehicle owners to pay for the damages.
17. Quarry Refurbishment (CEP cost centre
75264): Madam Chai rman, the 2022/23 est imate for this cost centre is $200,000, which
will be used to fund upgrades at the Quarry
Depot.
18. Pembroke Canal Upgrade (CEP cost centre
75293): Madam Chai rman, this programme is
for the upgrade of the Pembroke Canal. The
2022/23 estimate for this cost centre is
$400,000. This funding will be used to ad-vance initiatives to address flooding issues
associated wi th the canal.
19. Reverse Osmosis Plants Electrical Systems
(CEP cost centre 75294): Madam Chai rman,
this programme has been created for the as -
needed upgrade of all the electrical control and remote monitoring systems in each of the
Water facilities. The 202 2/23 estimate for this
cost centre is $275,000.
20. Tynes Bay Capital Maintenance (CEP cost
centre 75308): Madam Chai rman, the 2022/23
estimated cost of this cost centre is $4 million
and will be used for continuation of the plant’s
stabilisation programme no w taking place at
the Tynes Bay facility, which in total will be
around $13 million. This project replaces crit i-cal internals for the boiler system to provide
reliability of the boilers while the refurbishment
project takes place. With the timing of the pr oject, the full cost will be spread over three f inancial years: $4 million spent in this financial year, $4 million spent in 2022/23 and the ba lance of $3 million in the 2023/24 budget.
21. Morgan’s Point Works (CEP cost centre 75324): Madam Chai rman, the 2022 /23 est imate for this cost centre is $50,000. This budget is used to address any further contam-ination discovered during the Morgan’s Point
site development. The funds for this year will
be used for monitoring of the site and for any
further spreading of c ontaminants on the government owned land.
22. Solid Waste Capital Maintenance (CEP cost centre 75043): Madam Chai rman, the 2022/23
estimate for this cost centre is $250,000 and
will primarily be used to replace ageing
equipment and infrastructure at four sites :
Special Waste in Sally Port, Recycling at the
Government Quarry, Composting at Marsh
Folly and the Land Reclamation at the Airport
Waste Management Facility.
23. Swing Bridge Refurbishment (CEP cost centre
75096): Madam Chai rman, the 2022/23 est imate for this cost centre is $400,000. This
budget will be used to effect repairs to the
Swing Bridge as required as current budget
constraints cannot affect the needed replac ement of the full bridge in the short term.

Review of Major Capital Acquisitions

Vehicles and Equi pment (CEP cost centre 76495). Madam Chai rman, the
vehicles and equipment to be replaced under the 2022/23 budget are those that have surpassed useful
economic life and are in po or and/or dangerous cond ition. Additionally, efforts are being made to transition to electric vehicles. Unfortunately, due to budget con-straints, we do not anticipate much progress in this
area for the next year but will focus on replacements
which provide the best return on investment for the
Government.
The 2022/23 estimate for this annual alloc ation is $1,500,000.


Bermuda House of Assembly Madam Chai rman, that completes my prese ntation on the Department of Works and Engineering
and the Ministry of Public Works.
Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Good afternoon, Members, and the
listening public, we are now in Committee of Supply
for further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue
and Expenditure for the year 2022/23.
This afternoon we are continuing with the Mi nistry of Public Works. The Minister has read Heads
36, 53, 68, 81, and 82. The debate began this mor ning and the time estimated for ending this debate is
4:43 pm.
Would any Member like to speak to the
heads?

Thank you, very much. First
of all, just let me do a sound check. I just want to
make sure that I am being heard clearly. I apologise. I was not able to hear many parts of the Honourable
[Minister’s] layout of some of the areas. So one or two
questions may be redundant, only in that I just missed
some of what was said, not too many areas, but I apologise for interjecting as well. But I just wanted to
ensure that I could hear very clearly as to what was
going on.
The Honourable Minister always lays out a
fairly somewhat detailed layout and I want to say first
to him, Welcome back into your seat. I know he has
been working with some challenges and it is good to
see that he is back in the seat. And I will say that
there have been many that I talk to on a regular basis
who are actually quite happy that you are back into
the seat. So, welcome back, Honourable Minister. It is good to see you.
And I also want to say in the beginning as we
go into much of the public works and the likes, these heads, that I know that we have been living under
some pretty strenuous ti mes. It has been difficult and
sometimes difficult at best to deal with the challenges
of COVID -19 and I really, really want to say to all of
these heads thank you to them for all of the stellar
work that they have been able to accomplish under
some pretty rough conditions, and pretty strenuous
and what I would consider to be stressful, quite frankly, times where it has been difficult to get out. And I
would like to hear a little more from our Minister as I
go through my questions on some of the struggles
that we have had.
You know, these areas that we are highlighting today, starting on page B -217, with Public Works,
Public Works has probably more civil servants than
any other area or department. As you can see on
page B -217 it accounts for about 14 per cent of the
employment of civil service. And that is huge, actually.
And so there is a lot that goes into managing this
number of staff. And again, I will say, compliments to
our Minister under strenuous times that we have had in having to deal with our work force and COVID -19
and people not being able to come out like we would
have liked. Hopefully we are moving [to] a better
place, Madam Chairman.
And so what I am going to do is ask a few
questions where it was a bit muddled and so hopefully
then I can . . . there are about four or five here. In that
way I can get those out of the way for Public Works.
And then I will move through the line items, if Madam
Chairman you do not mind, and the Minister does not mind. So he can highlight some of these areas.
So, b ased on his presentation, it was good to
hear that under [performance measures business unit] 46111, that safety and health assessments were being done on a fairly regular basis. But one of the areas
that I needed a little focus on was on page B -219, u nder [business unit] 3611, and we will go into some
details further, but the Honourable Minister said that
there was a focus on relocating to a more central area. And that was for the purpose of the administration area and inventory control. Have they identifi ed an
area where . . . and I wasn’t sure he had mentioned
that or not, because it did get a little muffled there, so I
apologise. But have they identified an area on which
634 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly they already wish to move to? And he did mention that
it was a more central area so I would assume that it is
probably within the Hamilton/Devonshire/Pembroketype area.
One of the other areas that was a bit muddled
as well when I was trying to hear the Minister was un-der [business unit] 3612 in Telecommunications, [line
item] 46115. Again, I am just going over the areas that
were a bit muddled and I did not hear the full compl ement, so I am asking it just in case he did already a nswer.
He mentioned about replacement of phones
and lack of maintenance and the likes in this area,
and I was not quite sure if he had mentioned . . . Was
that the lack of maintenance on the phones or was he
talking about the towers? I was not quite sure exactly
what that lack of maintenance had to do with or what
area. So I was hoping that he can assist us in that
area.
Then, 3614, Architect and Design. As he went
through the analysis, he mentioned something about
. . . well, we see on page B -219 that it is a zero est imate allocation. And I could not recall hearing exactly where the A rchitect and D esign had gone . I think he
might have said planning. I was not quite sure, so I
just wanted to find out if he could go back and address this particular area because obviously we can see on page B -219 that there is no estimate or alloc ation here. Obviously, I am assuming that it has moved
. . . I am assuming that. And what area has it moved
[to] and the likes?
So, if I will, thank you, thank you for that. I just
wanted to go over those few areas that were a bit muddled, and that is why I am tacking on these m icrophones because it is kind of difficult sometimes
with technology.
So, if I can go back to page B -212, Madam
Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works. As we look at
page B -217 it is clear that expenditure is up, revenues
are down and capital expenditure is down. I wo uld
typically anticipate this trying to manage during these
very, very, very difficult and tough times that we would
be in this position where expenditures will be up, tr ying to cope and balance out things, and revenues are
down and also expenditures are down .
If I take a look at Head 36, [page B -217] under
current expenditure at the very top, it is clear here as
we look at the numbers that there has been a drastic
reduction and those are for any number of reasons
based on the actuals of 2020/21. But it has been co nsistent from 2021/22 right on through to 2022/23. But there was some drastic changes and I know some of that may have had to do with human resources and
the like coming out. But if there is anything else that
might have attributed to the actuals being as high as
$12.3 million, as opposed to $5.6 million now it would be good to hear about that.
Also, under Head 53, housing corporation,
this was one other area that I did not hear clearly. The Minister did mention why the actuals were $5.4 million
as opposed to the usual $6 million and I was hoping
he could re- address this because we could not hear
exactly what was being said.
We will go into some more subjective analysis
as we look at Head 68, parks, where we see an i ncrease of $696,000. Also in Head 81, public lands and buildings, we can also see here that there is an i ncrease of $800,000 and some answers were given to
that and we will get more into the details of the subjective analysis.
Also, under Works and Engineering, a
$740,000 increase, which amounts to a $2.2 million
increase under our current expenditure. And I do be-lieve a large part of that the Minister had mentioned
was under or had something to do with staffing. But
again I think we will go through some subjective ana lysis just to unders tand a little more. But I do believe a
large part of that may have to do with picking up staff
and actually for those funded areas fulfilling some of
them. Certainly I can see that, not all of them.
The revenues also we can see that we have a
reduction, a relatively large reduction under Works
and Engineering of almost $3 million, $2.9 million,
there. I want to go over that because I know that the
Minister was also, under Parks, where we would see
under revenue a slight reduction. I want to understand
a little more about, he mentioned that there were more people at the parks and the likes, and I wanted to just
compa re some of those numbers to see the reflection.
Under acquisitions, of course, and and d evelopment, he was rather clear on many, many of the areas there but there are one or two questions that I
will have. I also noticed under employee numbers, [page B -217] we did not reach our 697 numbers for
the original numbers of 2021/22. I do not know if that
was due to COVID -19, but if we look at revised nu mber, we can see that it was 564, so I am just curious. As more information comes in (as they say) before the end of this March, maybe this number 564 will
change. But I was just curious as to whether or not
this was a true reflection of what was accompli shed in
2021/22 and how come we were not able to fulfil
many of those positions.
It is more than 100 positions. It could be due
to [hiring] freezing; I do not know. But, again, we will get into some of those numbers as we move along.
And it appears, obviously, that we are doing without in
many, many, many areas.
So I will move on now over to page B -218,
Madam Chairman. I noticed that there was a slight
change, under the department objectives. To meet the
human resource needs of the Ministry through assoc iation with Government's Department of Employee and
Organi zational Development . Now, I recognise that
human resources have taken on some changes; ho wever, I noticed two previous objectives were omitted in this year’s objectives. One has to do with Architect
and Design (which I asked the question earlier), E xBermuda House of Assembly actly where is that? And the other had to do with pla nning design requirements. I am hoping the Minister
can shed some light. We know about Architect and
Design; he will answer that. But also I am wonderi ng
about the part with planning design requirements, if you could shed some light on why that is not there.
Also, the very last objective, To ensure that
controls promulgated by the Code of Practice and
other associated p olicies as it relates to the procur ement of goods and s ervices are consistently followed
. . . . I wanted to find out, does this have to do with the
new software management tools that they have? [Is this] why this objective is here? It says, to ensure that
controls promulgated by the Code of Practice. Does
this have anything to do with new software manage-ment tools that they are implementing or have been
looking to implement over the last year or years? I
would appreciate that.
So I am going to move now to Head 36, on
page B -219, Madam Chair man.

On page B -219, Head 36,
Ministry of Public Works Headquarters. We are going
through the general summary here. And so [business
unit] 3601, [line item] 46111, it looks as if we spent $112,000 more than projected for 2021/22. And we
anticipate spending $219,000 more in 2022/23. Or
that is about $107,000 more than the revised amount.
Now, the Honourable Member, I think he mentioned that this had to do with the central filing. If you look at t he total number there in 2020/21 actual, on
the same page of B -219, it has [$8.535 million]. But
for anyone looking at that and also looking at 2021/22
original, $2.134 [million], if you look at that number it is
difficult to figure out how we get to that total, because
above it, administration is $7.610 [million] and $1.896
[million]. Is this an error? Should it be corrected? I was
not quite sure exactly how we got to that number. I
was even trying to go through the central filing numbers to work it back and I could not quite get to these
figures. So if the Honourable Minister could highlight some detail there to help us out.
He also mentioned that . . . under 3610, accounts, [line item] 46030, finance management, the Honourable Minister did mention that t hey were wor king with the E1 system and that is why I was asking
about the objectives, if that had something to do with
that. But that this increase of $40,000 may have had
to do with the E1 system that they are working with
and implementing. I am just cur ious, under the E1
system, with the training and the likes going on, if the
Minister could highlight how effective the E1 system
has been for them. I know that sometimes there is a
reluctance for the new software and the likes. If he could shed some light on how he is able to get his
team moving forward with the E1 system and its eff iciencies. Under 3611, purchasing, [line item] 46113,
purchasing administration [page B -219], this is anot her area that is fairly consistent and well overall and the numbers s eem to be trending down. But yet when you
look at [46114], supply stores, it is trending up. So we
spent $250,000 less in the revised column, but still
anticipate spending $300,000 more than the revised
amount for 2022/23. So I was just trying to understan d
a little more between the supply stores and how that is
going as well as the purchasing administration.
I think you mentioned something about staf fing there as well. But if the Honourable Minister could give the public a little more about what supply st ores
actually does, and some of the things it has been
wrestling with, just shed some light on that because it
will highlight, if you look at the line, under 46114 for
supply stores, you know that we anticipated spending $838[,000]. We are still looking at the revised amount
of $586[,000], which is demonstrably lower. And we
are back at $890[,000] which is more than the original
amount. And the overall figures show that it is a
$52,000 increase. It doesn’t completely tell the story of some of the challenges there. And I was hoping
that the Minister could work with us on explaining
some of the challenges that supply stores has been
having.
In addition, we go down to 3612, [line item]
46115. I already asked the question because I was looking for clarity about the maintenance. One of the
other questions that I had here was I wasn’t quite sure
(also with the maintenance) if it had to do anything
with software maintenance. It was unclear. And so I am hoping that the Minister will give us some clarity
on this area. I know it has had its challenges in the
past. And he mentioned about buying new phones
and the likes, or communication devices. Probably not
phones. It could be; I don’t know. Maybe the Minister
can clarify if it is more of the advanced telecommunicatio n radios or if it is actually phones itself.
Under 3613, central O ffice Administration.
Yes, this was renamed [to] human resources. I did
hear that from the Minister. And suffice to say, we r ecall the changes to the HR , but the 2021/22 original
amount of $238,000 just appears. I can’t find anything
to reference this original amount of $238[,000], if he
could help us out there. Other than the numbers are in
46116, in the revised amount, human resource. (My
apologies. Let me make sure I got that lined that up. I
am not reading my numbers well. Yes. Yes.)
So if you look under central O ffice Administr ation, you will see the original amount of $238[,000] but
you will also see a revised amount of $238[,000] u nder human resource admin. Was this just a moving
. . . I’m not quite sure why the same numbers are
there. I am just trying to understand what that had to
do with.
Also, under 3613, $119,000 under [line item]
46116, he did give . . . I am just looking at my notes. It
is a lot to write down. I do not recal l a complete detail
636 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly of the $119,000 but I may find it as I go through the
employee numbers, actually, as we move on.
Also, under recruitment, considering there
was no original amount, we have spent $123,000 here
in the revised amount. So the original amount was zero. But yet we are forecasting for 2022/23 only
$7,000. Can the Honourable Minister just shed some
light on that and as far as recruitment is concerned
why it went up to $123[,000] under the revised amount
and then back down to the estimate at $7[,000]. And it
probably just has to do with trying to fill positions and the like. I don’t know. But can he shed some light on
that?
Also [line item] 46118, under [business unit]
3613 , we are still on page B -219, trai ning and deve lopment. Now, if you look at the original amount for
2021/22 it is $22,000. And under the r evised amount it
is zero. And then, of course, under the est imate we
are at $30[,000]. Maybe this has to do with COVID -19
for the training and development. A large part of that
was not done, so we see the revised amount at zero. But again, by the end of March ma ybe this will
change. I don’t know. But if the Minister could give us an idea of what was happening here in the training
and development because I do know that this par ticular Minister, when it comes to apprentic eship and
training and the likes, has spent quite a bit of time in
this area. So it would be good to be able to hear from
him to break down and give us an analysis of what
was happening here. Again, I assume it m ight be due
to COVID -19 issues. I don’t know.
Also, if we look at the A rchitect and Design
here, again, I ask the question of exactly where it has moved. And so what I will do then is I will go over to
page B -220, flip over the page there, and get to som e
of the subjective analyses here.
So, under salaries we can see here that it is a
decrease. I was anticipating that there would be a pay increase this year. I could be wrong about that, for
civil service, actually. But I am just trying to understand under salaries the reduction there, because if
you look at the employee numbers, the employee
numbers say that we are down nine. But yet salaries and our wages . . . sorry, our salaries are down. I am
sure that probably reflects some of the reduction of nine people. I do not know if nine of those people ac-count for all of the $265,000 in salaries. But if the
Honourable Minister could give us an idea of how
many people that reflects that would be good for that
reduction.
Also, under training, which is the thir d line
item down on page B -220, under the 2022/23 allotted
amount it is $56,000. This is $16,000 more than on
page B -219. So if you look on page B -219, you will
see that. On page B -219 it is $30,000 for [business
unit] 3613, central office. So I am just tr ying to get a
better understanding here. I know that the Honourable
Minister is big on training. The revised amount is
$6,000 . . . so again that could be due to any number of things. Like I said, it could be due to COVID -19 and
excess of facilities, and t he likes. I don’t know, but we
are going to move substantially doing more training,
as you can see in the estimates of 2022/23 of
$56,000. Can the Minister tell us some of the training that he is looking to do there in both areas?
Professional services. We see an increase of
professional services to the tune of $337,000. The estimate is $804,000. And so the original amount for
2021/22 and the revised amount are pretty close. [For]
2021/22, we are making a big jump here in profes-sional services. It would b e good to know what these
professional services are that are going to account for
the $337,000. If the Minister can give us some highlights on this particular area.
If I look at grants and contributions, there is a
reduction of $107,000. I was hoping, because back on
page C -20 where it has grants it does not lay out
completely the allotment of grants that are given out in
contributions. So I was hoping that the Minister could
give us a list of the grants that he supports and contr ibutions coming up for $843,000, which is slightly less.
And can he also let us know what grants he has bas ically cut out. Understanding that these are tough
times and you are going to have to sharpen your pencil on a continuous basis, I am sure it was difficult for
the Minister t o have to cut back in this area because
he is big on training and the likes. But if he can give
us an idea of where he was and what grants he has
taken out. It gives us an idea of the grants that are still
existing in this particular area. And again we are on
page B -220 under the Ministry of Public Works and
the subjective analysis.
I am going to move to revenue summary on
page B -220, car park monthly rentals. You know
what? For the life of me I just couldn’t . . . I know he
said it before. I could not remember where these
monthly rentals come from. And I couldn’t find it in my
notes. I was hoping that the Honourable Minister, un-der revenue source, 9102, car park monthly rentals, if
he could tell us where that is. At $13,000, how many
cars does that accomm odate in rentals?
Moving over to page B -221 under the employee numbers, it is clear that the reduction has been
had in the A rchitect and D esign area. [This] will be
interesting to see getting answers to some of these
other areas because that really accou nts for most of
the reduction here that we see. I know that is being
moved out.
The area of central Office Administration. We
are going to pick up . . . attempt to get two people.
Can the Honourable Minister tell us what positions
those are? What actual positions in central Office Administration are we looking to fulfil there? Certainly I
am sure that they are vital. The Honourable Minister
has been very frugal on the decision- making on who
he adds and subtracts, but it would be nice to know
what these two positions are for the central O ffice
Administration.


Bermuda House of Assembly I will go back to the question of the grants. I
do not know who would be in control of that, but it
would be great if on page C -20, grants, if maybe all of
the Ministries would be able to put down and list the
grants in that particular area so we would be apprised of the support that we are giving so that we can all
champion in that cause.
I am going to move to page B -222 to the performance measures for Public Works.
It looks like the face has changed there.

[Mr. Scott Pearman, Chairman]

Performance measures under the business unit 4611, administration. The third item down says, Provide safety and hea lth training for
Ministry employees . We can see that this is down.
The Minister did mention that there was a focus and I
believe he mentioned this focus going forward, to
have safety and health training. But there is a reduction here. Does that have to do with efficiencies or
does that have to do with the fact that many areas
have been covered already so they don’t have to redo
them, per se? But there is a reduction here to 12 for the outcome so I would like to hear a little more about
why we reduced it.
On page B -222, under business unit 46113,
purchasing administration, the first item, well, the only item there is improve the procurement cycle time from
requisition to creation of purchase order to two days. That actually has gone down from the original for ecast. Maybe that is due to staffing. I don’t know. But
this is one of those critical areas of course for pr ocurement. And I would like to hear a little more about the procurement process and how that has been
working out. The Honourable Minister has been involved in several projects where he was looking to stimulate the job market and get more jobs out there
by putting out contracts and the likes. It would be
good to hear from the Honourable Minister on the pr ocess and how he has found it, whether or not he is
looking at some improvements in these areas.
I believe that last year . . . or maybe the year
before last, it was mentioned about the process of
people who bring projects to the table without having
to go through the procurement process, pe se. And
they were looking at models because people were
feeling like, Well, I am bringing an idea to the market
but then it has to go out to procurement and then I
have to compete on something that I brought to the
market, or to the Government Ministry. I would like to
hear his assessment on that and whether or not they
have made any progress in this particular area. It would be interesting to hear about that.
Also, just moving down, and we are still on
page B -222, supplies stores, business unit 46114. Again, we are still on the performance measures.
Here the first item says, decrease the inventory di screpancies for year end. And it has been removed out.
Now, I know that they have been working on this par-ticular area and maybe software packages have been put in pl ace to help with inventory discrepancies. I can
recall some people were unwilling to move on to the
new system, still doing it on regular spreadsheets.
Can the Minister give us an idea of how that is
working out in this decreasing the inventory discrepancies from year end? Obviously we do not want to be
carrying items unnecessarily. We want to write them
off if they are no longer needed. But knowing how i nventory works it could be a nightmare at times with
products and the ordering of products, especially
when products become outdated and the likes.
Also under there it says, r eview inventory for
identification of obsolete items , which I just mentioned, out -of-date items, obsolete items. This is good.
It says not applicable [N/A] in the original and revised
amounts, but we are now at a target where we are
hoping that we can get back to identifying obsolete items. It will be good to hear about that as well. Does
the Minister have an idea of the value of some of
these obsolete items in total? Whether or not t hey
have done that assessment would be interesting to
hear, because I do know that the target of 100 per
cent is great. It is great to see that and our ability to
manage supply stores.
Now, I am assuming that, on the same page
B-222, when we go to business unit 46116, human
resource admin, we are removing the newsletter that was distributed to the department and the number of
Ministry -specific human resource policies developed. I
believe that this has probably moved to the substantial human resource depar tment now, which much was
taken away from, or removed from Public Works. I was going to ask the question if he knows whether or
not the newsletter will be going out by the substantial human resource area because actually that was a
really good idea, I thou ght, when we were looking at it
over the last couple of years. But it has been removed
and maybe it has to do with resources and the likes. I
don’t know.
On page B -223, if you go to business unit
46117, recruitment (at the very top), you will see
where i t says, complete recruitment of difficult to fill
posts . And I recall the Minister speaking about these
difficult to fill posts on a regular basis which has led in
large part to why he is doing a lot of training and talks
about the number of people and apprentices that he has enrolled through the Public Works department. I
was just curious as to whether or not this is a result of
the human resource department moving, as to why
that is. Why it is not applicable anymore? Because I
know that within the Ministr y itself they hold some of
the most difficult positions to fill —period.
So just curious about that and whether or not
that is going to be a requirement under the basic h u638 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly man resource department to address these issues
now and it does not fall under the Mi nistry of Public
Works, considering that they still do have a few people at the human resource.
Also, on page B -223, under business unit
46118, training and development. These lunch- andlearns and host seminars, all of this has been taken
out. And again, just curious as to whether or not this
has more to do with the moving of human resources
or was there another reason why this has been taken
out.
I would like to now go to capital development,
pages C -5 through to C -7.

As you get there let me just say to the
Honourable Members and the listening public that this
is the Committee of Supply for further consideration of
the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the
year 2022/23. This is a five -hour debate on the Mini stry of Public Works. And we have about an hour and a
half left to run. The debate will end at 4:43 pm. Currently speaking is the Honourable Shadow Minister Craig Cannonier.
Shadow Minister, please go on.

Thank you.
On page C -5, under Ministry of Public Works,
we see here the grant for the Corporation of St.
George’s. We can see that it has been reduced. I do believe the Minister did mention this, but I am not
sure. Again, I was listening intently but we understand
that times are tough right now and we recognise that this is Island -wide. The Corporation of St. George’s,
we just read in the paper not too long ago, where St.
George’s retail operations and the likes are under a lot
of stress. And I don’t know whether or not the Minister has thought of anything creative to also assist the
Corporation of St. George’s.
We see here that we have for the estimate of
2022/23 it is $500,000 and that is a relatively huge
chunk. It was ha lf of what was granted before. And I
was just wondering whether or not the Minister has
been speaking with the Corporation on other areas or
ways they can assist on behalf of Public Works and
whether or not the Minister can give us some details on some of those things that he is working on within
the Public Works to assist the Corporation of St.
George’s and their challenges.
Also, if we go over to page C -6, we are still
under Head 36, Public Works, and at the very top of the page, mentioned under unit 750 99 was office relocations/ alterations were going from $250,000 to $2 million. Now, we did mention that there was going to
be some moves earlier, as I mentioned he mentioned
they were looking to move offices to a more central
area. But under this particular area, office reloc ations/alterations there is $2 million. (Hang on. I do believe he mentioned something there. Yes.) My apol ogies; we will leave that one alone.
We will move to the golf courses improv ements, 75306. I was just curious here because we
know that we are trying to get the tourism product
moving here. Can the Honourable Minister give us an idea of where we at?
We are at an estimate for 2022/23 of
$600,000 and that is half of the amount allotted in pr ior times of 2021/22. How is that going to affect our
golf courses, and certainly does he believe that there are other areas that we can do to help because we want to get our tourism product back up. And a major
part of our tourism product is golf courses.
So I don’t know what is going to be left out
with that, but certainly that is a huge chunk. And I
know that the golf courses in the past have had some challenges. Now, this could have to do with improv ements up at Port Royal. I don’t know. But it would be
interesting to hear how the $600,000 is going to be
spread over the few courses that Government manages.
Also, go down further, 75358, roadside fencing. This is discontinued if you look at the estimate amounts. And also 75359, landscape works, discontinued. Minister, help us out in understandin g a little
more about that. I have seen roadside fencing, the
wooden fencing going up. I assume that is what we
are talking about here, as to why this is being discontinued in both areas. Again, it may very well have to
be with reduction. It could be staff . It could materials. I
don’t know. If he could highlight it to us, the roadside fencing, because this is a real challenge of people
driving, as he mentioned earlier, looking to try and get people who have accidents to recoup that or get that
financial ass istance from their insurances and the like
because they are the culprits of knocking down the
fencing. If we can hear a little more about why it is has
been discontinued.
Also, if we can go to page C -14, capital acquisitions, under the Ministry of Public Works . . . interes ting. And it was good to hear that the Minister mentioned that they were looking towards electrical vehicles and replacing the vehicles. I don’t know if these
vehicles have to do with sanitation trucks or if these
are just vehicles within the fleet of Government for transporting people and the likes. But if he could us
some more details on this encouraging idea of going
electric. I think it is a great idea.
Does the Ministry have a plan to actually go
electric with most of its vehicles? Is there any kind of
plan that has been laid out that by such and such a
date we will have a number of our vehicles electrical?
This certainly is the way to go with our carbon footBermuda House of Assembly print. But I don’t know if they have a plan or not. It
would be good to hear about that. It looks as if we
slash this in half as well for our estimate of 2022/23.
The Honourable Minister mentioned why , so understood there.
Under 76868, communications equipment,
there is an increase of $138,000. I can’t recall if he
answered that question or not. If not, then it would be
good to hear about that. Parks . . . that was the other
. . . sorry, we will get to parks in a minute.
That completes my questions for Head 36,
Ministry of Public Works Headquarters. Shall I . . .
Minister, is it okay to move on to the next department
or do you want to answer questions now and then
move on?
Shall I move on?

Yes, much obliged. Thank
you very much.
We now move to Head 53, housing corpor ation. I, again, this is a highlighted area. I know this is
probably one of the areas that the Minister also has
taken a lot of pride in, especially understanding that
he was a m ajor part, or the part, of the H.U.S.T.LE.
Truck formation, which continues to aid and support many of those who are falling on tough times and tr ying to find their way through, particularly at this time
through COVID -19.
Again, I mentioned earlier on the very first
page of the subjective analysis summary, when I was
doing Public Works, we can see where there was a
fall of $5.4 million of the actual for 2020/21. And I was not quite sure exactly, I am almost positive he said it,
but I couldn’t make out ever ything, so just a slight r epeat of that. I will go to my questions that I wrote down
as he was going through, because he mentioned so
much here about the housing corporation.
The one question I do have is how is the
H.U.S.T.L.E Truck programme continuing and has it
grown. Have there been additional trucks added to the supply or has that been a bit difficult as we have been
moving through COVID -19 and during the COVID -19
period? Has the housing corporation witnessed an
influx of people who are looking to s upplement, who
are looking to be able to find work and the likes through the H.U.S.T.L.E Truck? Again, I commend
this programme. It has done us and the country well.
So I can’t say enough about that.
There was mention also of first -time hom eowners, that 35 have been assisted in the price reduc-tions of rent, which I can’t say enough about it. I think
that is an admirable area of the housing corporation
providing price reductions.
There was mention of a loan as well, of
$15,000. And when the Minister was talking about it
he mentioned that 15 seniors had been aided and
helped in this area. What I wasn’t sure of was this a
senior citizen’s initiative or is this loan facility available
to just about anyone who is working with the housing
corporation? I wasn’t quite sure. It didn’t give any d etails to that. But it was highlighted that 15 seniors had been assisted in this area. It is good to know that the housing corporation
continues to assist the Salvation Army as well. We do
recall pictures of our Minister and Salvation Army and
initiatives of trying to move forward and to [give] su pport there, so hopefully that will continue to happen.
There was also mention that 1,000 people
had been helped in the H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck, and I was just curious as to how many of those were we able to
find full -time employment for. It was mentioned that
many had received full -time employment. Again, there
is a transition of working with the H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck
and trying to find full -time employment. Can the Mini ster let us know of the kinds of areas that people have
been able to find assistance in full -time, whether that
has been substantial over this year and going forward based on the challenges that we are having out there
with many people looking for full -time employment.
The other question I had for the housing corporation was, Have they had to reduce staffing? I
know that this has been a challenge for many folk. I
think they said the total was 40- something employees.
I could be wrong. Whether or not they have had to
reduce their staffing from the past or whether they
have increased it. Maybe they have increased it. I
don’t know. They certainly . . . if he can let us know
how well they have been doing there.
Also there was mention in the housing corp oration of 700 units and maintenance. I assume they
have a maintenance schedule. I didn’t know the nature of the type of maintenance on these 700 units,
whether it had to do with painting and the likes. But is
there a schedule for annual painting of the buildings or
are the tenants responsible for that? I don’t know. But
it would be interesting to hear a little more about whether or not they have a schedule and the nature of
how that maintenance actually works.
One of the other crucial areas in Bermuda is
illegal dumping. So, li stening to the summary on the
housing corporation, I just want to say that it is good
to hear that they are assisting with this [clean up of
this] dumping that we see happening on a continuous
basis. I was curious, though, because the Minister
640 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly would be ver y much involved with this because a lot of
dumping happens in the parks and the likes, whether
or not we see a proliferation of this. Is it still going on
or has it gotten better? Whether or not in the housing
corporation area they can let us know what the y have
been finding.
This illegal dumping is seriously a problem
and what we are doing to help fix this situation. I recall in the past some people had been prosecuted for it.
But it would be good to know that this is getting better.
But I want to thank t he housing corporation for assis ting in this area. I mean I can’t say enough about the
housing corporation. They have a very, very, very di fficult job. And it is not easy. And I know some of the
challenges, but certainly not comprehensive, all of their cha llenges as we move from year to year. But I
do want to thank them for their stellar work as they have moved through these trying times.
The only other question I have for housing
corporation is . . . there was mention of the Berm udiana Beach Resort. They are still involved based on
what I heard the Minister say. I was curious also as to
whether or not . . . we know that a grant has been gi ven to this area. But outside of the grant from Gover nment, is the funding still in place for an investment funding at the [Bermudiana] Beach Resort across
from Southlands? It would be good to hear whether or
not this is still in place. I do know that there is mov ement and work going on. Can the Minister also ap-prise us of some of the work that is going on as far as
buildi ng the hotel on the property next door, how that
is advancing and where they are?
And thank you to the housing corporation
once again. I am very fond of this particular depar tment or head and kudos to them for all the stellar
work that they are doing to assist.
I would like to move to Head 68, Parks, on
page B -225.

Yes.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Just quick notes on the
summary that the Minister gave and then I will go into
more of the analysis of the numbers and the likes. So,
at the begin ning of each head, I will just ask questions
on the summary that was given first and then go into
the numbers.
For Parks, the Minister mentioned the management of four beaches, and he named those beaches off and I was curious as to how that worked
over the last year. Was it a full complement that Parks
gave to the beaches and protecting of the beaches considering that the beaches at one particular time
during the height of COVID -19 you could not go out
and the likes —if he can give us an idea of some of
what they found on managing it, especially with people who were illegally going onto the beaches and the
likes and whether that posed any problems for Parks,
whether or not, especially in performance measures of incidents and the likes. Just curious as to whe ther or
not this was a smooth transition through COVID -19 or
not.
There was mention of improvements —chainlink fencing, Pig’s Field [Park] upgrade . . .. that there
was arson there. It was good to hear about —in the
general summary that new tables and benc hes and
the likes were being put out there. You know, I do not think we can say enough. The Minister did speak to
the fact that, and I agree with him, that the parks play a major part of a healthy society —mentally and phys ically. With some of the open spac e that we do have,
parks play . . .. they may not think of it on a day -to-day
basis, but they play a major role in maintaining the health of our population here in Bermuda. I am just
going to close my door; I can hear my bird making
noise.

—Shadow Minister. That is all right.
We are currently dealing with the Public
Works debate, and you are on Head 68, Parks, at
bundle B -225, for those following along.
Thank you, please c ontinue Shadow Minister.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, there was mention
also by the Minister of the parks, in particular Sout hlands Park. It was just a slight, slight mention there. I
was curious as to what is happening with the many buildings that are up there right now. I know that one
of them was rented out, at one time, and he men-tioned Southlands Park in relation to community and
gardening and the likes, but I was curious as to what
is happening up there with the derelict buildings or the empty buil dings that is happening up there, whether or
not there has been any movement to renovate or the
likes—especially if we are going to be having more
people coming out there for community gardening and
the likes, as to any work that might be being done on
those buildings.
Good to hear from the Minister about the B otanical Gardens and the many improvements that are there and the many volunteers who get involved with
assisting at the Botanical Gardens.
I would also like to give kudos and thanks to
all those i nvolved with the Inlet, the Minister gave k udos to the support that is there for the Flatt’s Inlet to
be completed, the bridge there, which quite frankly is a real game changer, actually. So, it is great news to
hear that they are looking to have this completed by
this summer, as people begin to start moving out
more and as we are looking to try and improve on our
tourism product, I think that this bridge will be a major,
major addition to our tourism product and also to the health of our local population w ho use this for all sorts
of activities.


Bermuda House of Assembly The Minister also in his general summary said
that we have —I believe he said 21 lifeguards. That did
not match up with the numbers that were in the
[Budget] Book, so I was just looking for a correction
on that, if he can help me there. I do believe he said
21 lifeguards, so if there is a correction there, let me
know. Maybe I heard it wrong. I could be mistaken,
but I do believe he said 21 lifeguards.
So, Mr. Chairman, I would now like to be able
to move to Parks and the general summary and move
into the subjective analysis and the likes.
On page B -226, we can certainly see here, as
I go through my notes, under 6801, park services, there is virtually no change there. I just, under [bus iness] unit 6802, lifeguard services, again, this is fairly
consistent, but I did have that question as to the number of lifeguards because if I look over to the emplo yee numbers on page B -228, under 78010, lifeguard
services —

Yes.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: —I see an estimate of 12,
and I do believe he said there were 21. So, I could be
wrong; just looking for clarification there.
Park Maintenance 6803, maintenance and
development, we can see that there is a $286,000
increase here . . .. and just wondering about that i ncrease whether it had to with wages and the likes. Still not quite sure because, again, under employee numbers we have a reduction of nine on page B -228. So,
just curious as to the maintenance and development
there which I am sure is highly needed. I beli eve there
was some mention about the repairing of some of the
buildings and the likes. I could not recall.
Under 6803 Park Maintenance, also, you
have the eastern parks —let me . . .. I do not want to
get too far ahead of myself here—6803 . . .. yes, u nder eastern parks and then under 78040 western
parks , there was mention as to the number of —I wrote
it down—the number . . .. he mentioned, I believe it
was 75 parks in total. I am just curious, the eastern
parks, how many parks fall under the eastern area and how many parks fall under the western area?
Taking into consideration the vast difference of a lot of
the amounts between the eastern and western parks,
just curious as to the number of parks that fall under
the eastern parks and the number of parks that fall
under the western parks. I am sure that the western
parks probably have vast more acreage that it is r esponsible for.
Under tree services, which is just above wes tern parks, 78035 —and again, we are still under the
business unit of 6803, Park Maintenance. The tree
services seem to maintain itself here, its workload, for
the year past and I probably —I anticipated that they
would probably have had a greater workload due to
COVID -19, in this case. So, just curious as to how
they were able to maintain themselves, or maybe they stayed healthy, the number of staff there and they
were able to still get out and do their work. I do not
know but it would be interesting to hear about the
success then in this particular area since the staffing
is quite . . .. not hing really changed there. They were
pretty —the numbers are consistent, so they were
pretty much able to maintain themselves as opposed
to many of the other areas.
Under 6803, I mentioned about the western
parks . . . Tulo Valley, again, 6803 on page B -226 and
the area, business unit 78055. Just getting my ruler here— where is my ruler? In this particular area here,
there was a $60,000 increase, so it is very consistent
here. But Tulo Valley not much has changed in the
numbers. There were renovations to be done there on
the greenhouse and I am just curious, there was some mention, but are the renovations completed now? Are there more renovations that need to be done because
this has been going on for a little while now, that they
have been looking to renovate —I think they have
been talking about it for two years now. So, I am very
curious as to whether or not the renovations have been done. With these changes and completions of
work, is this likely to change the allotted $393,000
amount? I do not know whether or not, with this incl usion and completion of the new greenhouse and the
likes, whether or not they anticipate this is going to
require more staff.
If we go down just a little further, 78100, under
the Railway Trail, there is an allotment of $320,000
and we know that this is crucial to the movement of
our people and maintaining —what I was not sure of in
this $320,000, Mr. Chairman, I was not quite sure how
much of this is contract work because I know that
some of the Railway Trail area was contracted out. I
do not know if it is still contracted out, so of this
$320,000, just curious as to where the contract work
falls in this allotted amount and how much that potentially is.
Under 6805 on the same page, B -226,
Forts —there was mention, certainly there w as mention of works that needed to be done. It is good to see, actually it was good to see that they have allotted
$110,000 more this year. This will coincide with, hopefully, the new numbers or increasing numbers within the local population getting out an d of course our tourism season. The Minister did mention some of the
works —canons being spray [painted] and the likes, so
it is good to see that focus there, and I hope that they
are able to maintain that focus in that particular area.
I am going to move over to page B -227 under
Parks, B- 227.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Under the subjective ana lysis estimates where we have salaries and wages.
So, you can see combined here, under salaries and
wages it is up substantially, but the employ ee nu m642 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly bers are down. If you go on page B -228, the emplo yee numbers are down. I do believe the Minister mentioned an increase in salaries or something to that
sort. If the Minister could substantiate—the wages are
$586,000 up, if he could clarify that a lit tle more for us
because if we look at page B -226, on the last total
item, we see that we have an increase of $696,000
being spent for the total area parks and a large chunk
of that is the $586[,000] in wages. There is a difference of about $110,000 between the two. What does
that account for as well, between the $696[,000] total
and the increase in the wages? Just curious about
that.
Training, again, if we look at the training and,
again, I know that the Minister is very bullish on trai ning so—for a depart ment that controls $9.5 million I
would have thought that they may have put a little
more into training here—especially in the parks area.
So, hopefully, the Minister can tell us that he plans on
increasing this in this particular area. I do not know
what that training is for, but it seems like a minimal
amount. They may not have identified where they are
going to spend that in training yet. So, I do not know.
What is telling is communications. If we go
down a little further on page B -227, you will see there
that we are spending $21,000 more in communic ations. I assume that in 2021/22, because we were in
the throes of, in the clutches of COVID -19, that not
much was being done. I do not know if this is catch- up
with the $21,000 in communications. But what c ommunications are we . . . what are we doing here [with]
the increase of $21,000?
Repair and maintenance . . . we need that.
We have had the discussions in the past about insurance. In the energy area here, I was hoping the Mini ster could tell us a little more about this energy area.
There is a reduction there and I am not sure why we
think it is going to go down. So, that would be good to
know.
Under revenue, if you go down further under
the revenue area, you will see here on page B -227
revenue, he, yes, the Minister did speak to the renting,
special permits and the likes. They are seeing an i ncrease—it is going to be interesting because under the revised amount for admissions, it spikes up to
$60[,000] and I guess that this is back to the original amount s of 2021/22. Considering it was so low in the
revised amount, I guess . . . I am curious as to the
thinking as to why we are going to get back to the original amounts of 2021/22 of $60[,000], what the
thinking is there.
But suffice to say, with revenues only down by
$12[,000], this is an interesting forecast and so we will
be looking to see how that develops as we go forward
during these still tough times.
Turn over to page B -228 under the employee
numbers —

Yes. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Again, it has already been
mentioned that there is a reduction here, but I do draw
back to the question I recall there being said about the
lifeguards, if we can clarify that number. And of the
four beaches, are they evenly distributed, these lif eguards? I do not know how many are on a particular
beach, if the Minister can tell us how many lifeguards
are allotted to the different beaches that we do have.
Not much to say here about the numbers. The
Minister did give his explanation. There is a hiring
freeze in place and so we recognise that these are
challenging times in many of these areas that have not been allotted for the hiring freeze that has taken
that away.
I will move over to performance measures,
and under performance measures on page B -229, I
did have a question on number 2, under park ranger
services, but the Minister did give some details about
why he thought that there was going to be increased
numbers there. So, I will leave that alone.
I found it interesting under business unit lif eguard s ervices, 78010, where it says total number of
rescues . . . this would probably be more, be more of
an actual outcome as opposed to a forecast or a tar-get amount. I am not sure how we—maybe we should
rethink this here, how we target the total number of
rescues. But suffice the way we do the budgeting target outcome, of an increased amount of 30, which is
more than the revised amount. It would be rather i nteresting, but that is more of a numbers thing. But it
does seem a bit odd to put in a target outcome for the
number of rescues. Let us turn over —let us see here, sorry —
okay. On page B -230 and we go to business unit tree
services, 78035, total number of trees felled— if we
look at the . . . original forecast of 150 and then we
have got a revised amount of 1,000 and a target
amount of 1,200, again this goes back to what I was
asking earlier. They seem to have done well in this particular area, especially if you look at these performance measures, and I do not know if it is because
they had more equipment avai lable to them, there is a
drastic difference between the original forecast and
the revised amount. If the Minister can give us some
highlights there, because that is . . . between 150 to
1,000 that is a massive, massive difference in the r evised forecast.
The number of woodchip truck deliveries to
schools, it is good to see that, I guess we will be getting back to that, but it is telling that the original
amount was 100 and we are down to 20 —maybe b ecause schools were not [open] as much and the likes.
Is that the reason why it is so low, because of the
number of days that school was in? I do not know why
that number is so low compared to the original for ecast of 2021/22. The 2022/23 is considerably low.
I did have a question on the business unit
administ ration and planning, but he answered that.
That was answered under Tulo Valley, as well.


Bermuda House of Assembly On page B -231 total park improvements,
business unit 75101, at the top of page B -231. Total
number of fitness equipment stations installed per
year, there is one, an d I am just curious as to where
they plan on putting this fitness equipment or is it a
redo of what is already existing, maybe upgrading or
something. I do not know. But the forecast of one,
where exactly is that?
There is a total —number 4—under the same
business unit 75101, total number of capital works
completed. This is fairly consistent. The Minister did
give some indications of this, so I can leave that one
alone. But what I would like to be able to do then is go
to page C -6 under capital development for parks,
page C -6.

Page C -6, yes.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Page C -6, yes . . . under
parks. The Minister was very detailed here and I want
to thank the Minister actually for the details that he
gave here, under these particular areas. I noticed that
park maintenance and yard facility is at $500,000 and
I know that this is not always used and at times this
can be used in other areas, these allotments. But can
he tell us what the parks maintenance yard facility —I
think he mentioned somethin g at Botanical Gardens
there, that there was some work needing to be done there. So, I believe that is what he said. So, that is
fine.
Page C -14, if we can go over to page C -14,
under acquisitions, capital acquisitions.

Yes.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: There is an intention of
getting vehicles there, $250,000. Of that allotment of
$250,000 [for] vehicles, what type of vehicles is he
looking to purchase there? Is the intent to go electrical
if it is trucks and the likes? The smaller trucks, I know
that there are many of those out there that are electr ical, whether there is an intent to get electrical trucks within the Parks Department there.
That completes my questions for now for
Parks, Head 68.
I now move on to Public Lands and Buildings
on page B -232.

And we have another . . . or the debate runs until 4:43 this afternoon.
Please continue —it is currently the Honour able Shadow Minister Craig Cannonier asking questions of the Honourable Minister.
Please continue. Thank you.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
and thank you, Minister , as well.
On page B -232 under the general summary
here, 8100, administration, the Minister did give d etails. He said this was under training, 91001, the d epartment there. Training and apprenticeship—these
are filled vacant posts which is why we see an i ncrease of $408,000. But if you look next to that number there, under the differences, the total, it says
$3,400,000. I think that is probably a typo. Hopefully
for the r ecords we can change that, or they can correct me if I am wrong if it is not an error. But if we can
correct that for the record, for our archives. It should not be $3,400,000.

Yes, thank you. Please continue.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, thank you very much.
Now, with the training and apprenticeship, I
was hoping that the Minist er can tell us exactly . . . he
did mention it was for training and apprenticeship, but
in what areas? What areas are we, within public lands
and buildings, what are we training and where are
these apprenticeships to be? There is a huge differ-ence there for training and apprenticeship, so it would
be nice to have an idea where these positions are to
be because if we look at the employee numbers . . . I
was looking for my employee numbers . . . but an yhow, I would be curious as to . . . the training and apprenticeships is plus -eight and that would allot for the
$408,000 increase; but if you look also on page B -233
in relation to our salaries and wages, there is a drastic increase there as well.
So, I am sure that the training and apprentic eship takes up a lar ge amount of, cer tainly a large
amount of that. I would like to know what these trai ning areas are, these apprenticeships that the Honourable Minis ter is implementing. In the past, he has
mentioned some of these areas —which was always
great to hear some of the people that were involved in
these trai ning and apprenticeship pr ogrammes.
If we go to buildings, 8101, busi ness unit
8101, under buildings , we have service management
and we have maintenance. There was a bit . . . he
644 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly was speaking in these areas, but they pretty much,
service management and maintenance, nullify themselves within the same unit here because the service
management is $253,000 under and, of course,
maintenance is $255[,000] . . . and so, the maint enance here, when he says maintenance . . . is this
due to maintenance for the . . . in assistance with the
schools or is it more the Government buildings that
house civil service and the likes?

Thank you.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, again, I go back to
those salaries and those increases, if he can give us .
. . that is like a $618,000 increase, if you add the two
together between salaries and wages. I was just cur ious as to whether or not this accounts for the five new people in training and apprenticeship, in particular.
I did mention about the training already. U nder revenues, if we come down further, if we look under revenues, Works and E ngineering property rentals. The forecast . . . sorry, the original amount for
2021/22 was $1.6 [million] and the revised amount
was $400,000 more, $2,063,000. And so, we are estimating again $2.3 million, and t hat is a whopping
$656[,000] increase in revenue.
Can the Minister substantiate where these i ncreases came from in property rentals, as a revenue source? Obviously, we were not renting things out last
year, so . . . well, last year we did, we rented out more
than we anticipated. Where these increases are coming from would be nice to know and how did we come
about these increases. Is it just due to increased rents
or is it due to increased rental units, per se?
We have been over the employee numbers,
so I w ill not say anything more to that. I will go to performance measures.

B-234?
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: B-234 performance
measures, Head 81. Business units 91000 to 91001
update the G overnment property asset management
plan.
I am very curious as to what work was done
there as far as the property asset management plan.
And did this property asset management plan involve
in it—we have talked about it before—in selling off
some of the assets that we do have? We have many
buildings that, quite frankly, are derelict. They are si tting there; due to the finances we are not able to
maintain them at all. Some of them are eyesores;
some of them are hidden behind trees and some of
them have trees growing within them. These can be
very dangerous as time goes on if we are not able to
maintain them. I was just curious as to whether or not
the property asset management plan involved the sel ling of any of these properties. At this particular time, it
would be an asset, many would think, that if we rid
ourselves of some of these properties that we know
we would probably never maintain for many years to
come. So, does that involve . . . or is any more
thought being given to selling of some of these pro perties?
Further on down on page B -234 under performance measures, under business unit 91002
through to 91003, one of the starred items here: nu mber of sites to have completed asbestos reports in the
year. And we know that this has been a challenge in
the p ast, through various Government s in trying to
deal with this. We know that the civil service and the public have been very much concerned. Just curious as to how this has been working out. The number of
sites to have completed asbestos reports originally
was at 40 in 2021/22. We are down to 12, so I do not
know if we were able to accomplish what we needed
to accomplish. Certainly, it does not look like it. If the
Minister can give us an update on where we are with
the asbestos reports and the remediation pl ans going
forward in that particular area.
Mr. Chairman, I know that time is moving by,
so I am going to move on to our last head which is
Head 82.

—I will just remind the listening audience and Honourable Member s that we are in the
Committee of Supply for further consideration of the
Estimates of Revenues for the year 2022/23. This is a
five-hour debate on the Ministry of Public Works. The


Bermuda House of Assembly Honourable Minister Lt. Col. David Burch who is currently being asked questions by the Honourable
Shadow Minister Cra ig Cannonier. We are covering
Heads 36, 53, 68, 81 and the Honourable Shadow Minister is about to move on to the final head, Head 82 which for those following the Budget Book is at
page B -235.
Please continue Honourable Shadow Minister
when you are ready.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, just before we go on
to Head 82, on page C -6 for public lands —

Yes?

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: —and buildings. I do want
to commend the Minister for the update that he gave
us on the work that is going on as far as the operating
of projects under 75112. Also, for school maintenance
under 75309 and it is nice to see this based on some
of the challenges of confidence in education. It is real-ly great to see that the Minister has stepped in to assist and help here. So, glad to see that.
One question under 75327, Horseshoe Bay
Beach. I do not know what this work has to do with
whether it is bathrooms or the likes, but it would be
interesting to hear what the estimate [of] $240,000 could go towards considering only $10,000- plus by
the end of March had been put into this area, what they plan on doing with the $240,000 for Horseshoe
Bay. Certainly, it will be needed as, again, as I have
mentioned with the tourism and hopefully, we will be
getting more flights coming int o Bermuda—more full
flights, fuller flights if you will, so just curious about the
Horseshoe Bay. I am curious about Horseshoe Bay
and some of the developments as they are moving
forward. I know a lot of work was being put into, with
the new group taking ov er, if the Minister can give us
an update on how the guys are making out. It was
good to see young people taking over. If he can give
us an update there on their progress as they also pr epare for the tourism season coming up.

No, no. I was just checking. I have
got it. Yes, thank you very much.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes—and it was great to
hear about the solar panels for Gover nment buildings
at 75357. I know that there has been talk about this
project —could the Minister tell us whether it was
stalled this last year and for what reasons it might
have been stalled? It looks like we spent $1.5 million. I
thought it was supposed to be finished this year, but
anyhow, it looks like it will be finished the following year which is good to see. It will be a great cost savings to Government .
I see an allotment of $500,000 . . . I am assuming that this is to complete, Minister , the pr oject
for this upcoming year, the $500,000, If you can co nfirm that, that would be great.
And that completes Head 81. My apol ogies.
Head 82 which starts on page B -235.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: And again, I want to say
because this is one of the largest areas of manpower
that this Ministry has and as a single unit probably the
largest [payrolls] in the civil service employment. So, I
recognise that with the tough financial times —I must
say one of the most topical issues you hear is the
roads. You know, you hear so much about the roads, the roads, the roads, the roads. I even saw a map t oday of the numbers —nine traffic lights throughout the
whole of the Island and, of course, you know us . . .
we like to complain. It is not always easy, but Works
and Engineering is out there always on the frontline, per se, especially when it comes to the roads. So,
many times they bear the brunt of scrutiny, but I want
to just confirm with the civil service people, men and
women that are there, to continue on to get Bermuda
where it needs to be, especially during these troubling times. I do take note that we do have a lot of traffic
lights and I mentioned that there is at least nine that I
know of throughout the west right to the east end of
the Is land and now in St. George’s there is even an
added light down within the Corporation. So, it is r ather interesting as people travel to the west and to the east—I travel to the east —and the number of traffic
lights that we go through.
One of the topical areas, another, we dug up
the roads. Considering BELCO’s involvement on Har-rington Sound Road down towards the American
Consul and church there and that work was complete,
although the road is very, very bumpy all along there. I
am just curious —it looks li ke we are digging up the
same area that we already dug up and repaved. So,
curious as to why that is that we are now going back
over an area that a substantial amount of time was spent on in digging up and paving. How come we are
having to go back and to d ig up the exact same area
that we literally, within months, just filled? So, if we
can get a highlight on that particular area and what
has happened. A lot of the folks that I talk to are mentioning it as they head east, traveling on the road and they meet that traffic light, then they meet another traffic light further on down in St. George’s across from
the park in Wellington. Then they meet up with anot her light going into the Corporation of St. George’s . So,
it would be interesting to hear how come we are having to re- dig that area up.
646 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly But again, I want to thank the people who
work there and the work that they are doing to get our
roads to the level that we all like and enjoy.
If we go over to page B -236 under Head 82,
Works —I shall not be too long, I do not believe, here.
Under 8200, business unit 8200, not much to say here
as far as administration is concerned and the Minister
spoke well to this.
Under business unit 8201, E lectrical/mechanical which is 92001 and 92002 Electrical
support , I believe there was mention to the changes
here had more to do with not funding post, I believe. If
you look on page B -238 in employee numbers, B -238,
in the employee numbers, there is no real change
here other than the revised amount which was six and we are up to the estimate amount of eight. So, I was
trying to substantiate the not funding post to the fact
that there is no real change here, under this particular
area other than one employee.
Under structures which is 8201 and the [line]
item 92003 structures, an d we know that has to do
with the bridges and some of the docks and the likes. The Minister mentioned this was due to not funding of
one particular post. Understood.
Under 8202, highways , [line item] 92004,
management , he mentioned about the staffing not
changing, so not much was said there. I would like to
just mention about 92005 and 92006 which is roads
asphalt signs and roads maintenance. These numbers
are good numbers to see because there is a lot of talk
about our roads. There is a lot of talk about the roads
and the conditions of the roads. I remember one person mentioning to me that when they travel on the South Road past the supermarket there in Devonshire
all the way down to Swizzle, that it is just a bumpy ride
the whole way through. So, when I see the amount of
roads asphalt and maintenance and the improvement
in numbers there, it is good to see. I know that there
are challenges as we move forward, especially with a
lot of work with BELCO and the likes —nine traffic
lights that are out there. By the way, just curious if the
Minister can let us know was this planned? There are
nine traffic lights, literally nine traffic lights throughout
the Island, how this was coordinated, per se, and how
we got to that point. It would be good to hear from
him. B ut again it is good to see that the numbers have
increased under asphalt and signs, a $624,000 i ncrease and under roads maintenance a $599,000 i ncrease which is almost double for one of the areas there. So, this is more than double, which is very, very
good.
If the Minister also can give us an idea of his
plans for roads and the paving of roads going forward
considering, we have nine traffic lights. And one of the
other questions I have is inspection —once these subcontractors or contractors do work on the roads, how
does it work as far as inspections are concerned b ecause when you drive over [the road], after the works
have been done, and they are extremely uneven—and I know that is to be expected, whether or not . . .
are we then going to be having road paving over the whole area to smooth it back out? If he can give us a
better idea of the plans going forward and the nine
traffic lights out there.
Under business unit 8203, waste management, the Honourable Member did give us quite a
lengthy explanation to the many [projects] going on
here, and we do understand certainly Tynes Bay is a
major, major . . . of major importance to us for any
number of reasons. So, it is good to see that inves tment is being made there.
Under 8203 the recycling, 92011, the rec ycling, I am just curious as to what condition the plant
is in, the recycling plant, and whether or not it is fully operational and the likes. It is something that we have
not done fairly well over many, many years, is rec ycling and what plans there are to try and maybe educate Bermuda going forward on recycling which is v ital. You know, if you travelled away, you could go to a
supermarket and all your plastic bottles you just put
into . . . it is almost like a vending machine and it gives
you credits. We ar e not even close to that right now.
So, are there any plans for the recycling to start moving towards a better, more sustainable management
of recycling? It would be good to hear.
If you look further down under 8203, [line
item] 92013 composting operations , there is an i ncrease of $174,000 to the far right there. I was just
curious as to why is that . . . that is a healthy increase.
Why did they believe that there is going to be an i ncrease there? Is that because we are selling more,
landscapers are looking for more? I do not know. But
there is an increase there. I would be curious as to
why we have an increase in composting.
Under 92016 which is still under 8203, waste
management, 92016 Tynes Bay Administration. That
increase of $138,000. I am curious as to whether or not . . . does that have to do with the consultant that
we are taking on for the improvements at the Tynes
Bay, and can the Minister also confirm what we are
paying the consultant? I know that in the House we
were told $170,000 and I believe the stand- in Minister
mentioned to me on the road . . . I think he said $175
per hour. So, if the Minister can confirm the conditions
under which this consultant engineer is being taken
on, I would appreciate it. And we know that it is much
needed.
Under 8204 quarry transport, there are d ecreases there and I believe that was spoken to . . .
yes.
And then under 8205 on the same page, B -
236, [business unit] 8205, quarry products, and the asphalt plant. We can see that there is a decrease
from the asphalt plant. So, I am just trying to understand a little more on the production of asphalt for the
roads, asphalt, and signs for road maintenance. I would put more money in there to get on with the
work, but yet the asphalt plant itself has a reduction of


Bermuda House of Assembly $223,00 0. Can the Minister help us out there in understanding the correlation between the two? I know
that the asphalt plant has had mechanical issues in
the past, but we are still not clear on the $223,000
less that is there and why that is less, especially if w e
are going to be trying to get our roads up to par. And
maybe that has to do with the reduction that was mentioned from the $2 million down to the $500,000, and
we will go over that in a minute.
Under the same [business] unit 8205, quarry
receipts, this was explained. And also the Minister ,
under structures, I will go back to structures, there is
something I missed. [Business unit] 8201, [line item]
92003, sorry . . . I am taking you back to the top of
page [B -]236—

Yes.
Hon. L. Craig Cann onier: I understand that has to do
with bridges. Interestingly enough there was a few
boaters the other day who mentioned to me that they thought that the temporary bridge down at the airport,
that it was in pretty bad shape. If the Minister can give
us an update on the condition of that particular temporary bridge that is still there . . . everyone can see the
bow in it now, whether or not there is any movement
as far as something more permanent, where we are with that and where we are with the maintenance of
that particular temporary bridge.
I move over to page B -237.

Yes.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Under business unit 8206,
water supply and treatment, 92026. The Minister mentioned that we are producing 301 million gallons. Can the Minister let us know —is that an increase or a decrease for what we have done in prior [years], these
301 million gallons? I know that a lot of work has been
put into here because there has been challenges to
produce more water, but currently with the 301 million
gallons is that an increase over the past or is that a
decrease and why? If it is more, then what attributed to the more and if it is less, what is attributing it to it
being less than prior years?
Under subjective analysis, Mr. Chairman, of
current account estimates, salaries, wages and the
likes. Under wages, is this due to a loss of staff here?
Under advertising and promotion, it is way low —if you
go down to advertising and promotions, this is a huge reduction here. And I am not sure what that is attributed to. It is $594,000 less. Why is that so, so low for advertising and promotion?

Thank you very much—oh, adverti sing and promotion. Thank you.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, advertising and pr omotion, yes.
Below that you have professional services as
well which has increased to $1,058,000. If we can get
a breakdown of where that falls, professional services
of $1 million , he did mention the receipts credited.
Okay, and that completes my questions there.
If we turn over to [page] B -238—

Yes.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: At the top where it says
revenue source . . . sorry, just going through my notes
here, the general subjects that he mentioned. So, at
the top there, waste collection and disposal we can
see that there is $1 million less in revenues. Also, in
the electricity, less $500,000. I am a little curious as
to—I would assume that because 84 09, waste collection and disposal, is down that this is directly attributable to the electricity. If that correlation is correct, I
would like for the Minister to confirm that, the correl ation between the two. That would be helpful. Of
course, the recharges . . . I get that. But again, the
question there at the top of the page if the two have any correlation with one another, it would be good to hear from the Minister .
Below, to the employee numbers, it was mentioned here that there is . . . if you look a t the total
numbers of employees, you can see here where the
original 2021/22 was 344,000 [sic] and we have a r evised amount of 272. But the estimates for 2022/23 is
344 . . . I might have said thousand . . . sorry, 344.
The Minister mentioned about poachi ng and
we know that Government continues to produce some
pretty stellar employees and management staff alike. The private sector is gobbling some of these guys up. Is the Minister aware of how many staff we have lost
to the private sector over the last year? It would be
interesting to know what those areas might be because when you continue to, in the private sector, if
we see poaching [by] the private sector then we i mmediately look at what is it that we need to do in order
to retain these particular depar tment areas that are
attractive to others and whether or not any thought
has gone behind how we can maintain and keep this
intellectual capital within civil service. That is vital as
we move forward.

Thank you, Honourable Shadow Mi nister. B efore you continue, just to say that we have 45
minutes left in this five- hour debate.
Please continue.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Okay, and I am about to
finish now on page B -239 under the performance
measures. I will quickly go down to . . . halfway dow n
648 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly under business unit 92005, roads asphalt and signs. If
you look under the original forecast for [point] 1, the
amount of road centre line marked out during the
year. And I know the Minister mentioned some m achine issues. Just as a note, we might want to be
consistent if we are looking to do 20 kilometres which
is in 2021/22, then the revised amount and the target
amount should also say 1 kilometre and then
20 kilometres just so that we are consistent throughout. The public, as they are looking at the book s, may
not be thinking anything otherwise because if you did not have kilometres here, I think most people would
think miles, you know. And although we do things under the metric system, most people still operate in
mileage as opposed to kilometres. So, just a point there.
It was also mentioned about BELCO and
much of the work that BELCO is doing, which is under
these performance measures, why there is so much
road work being done.
Under 92006 road maintenance, number of
bus shelters built during the year. It was forecast at
one, that we would do. And I am not sure which one
that was, so obviously we plan on doing it. Can the
Minister tell us where that bus shelter is that they are
looking to build?
Again, under [point] 2, under 92006 on page
B-239 road maintenance, here it says amount of
sidewalks built during the year. In the original forecast
we say 3,000 feet but we failed to continue the consistency under revised and target amounts of saying
328 feet and 3,000 feet. So, it might be . . . just as a
note if we can be consistent there as well.
Under business unit 92007, roads cleaning.
Now, I know that this was a major, major issue in the
past of the machine being down and this was told to
us year before last, I believe it was last year that the
machi ne would be fixed. This still does not seem to be
the case. I do not know where we are. Do we need to buy a new machine or not? But certainly, our forecast
is pretty high, but we did not get any work done last
year. Is the machine still out? Is it working or not?
Also—yes, I am not too concerned about pr ivate roads that are not being funded.
I will go to page B -240. I do not think I have
anything necessarily here. Ah— over on page B -241,
business unit 92023, asphalt plant. Again, the amount of asphalt produced in the year for tonnage . . . we did
not produce as much for the 2021/22 year, but the
target outcome is 8,200 tonnes. But also, I mentioned
earlier where we said that we also saw where asphalt
was down. So, I am just curious as to how that matches o ff. If we are saying here in the performance
measures, we are going to increase it but yet over —I
cannot remember which page it was, it was less for asphalt. I do not want to waste too much time there.
If we can go over to page C -6 to capital d evelopment , page C -6, capital development for
Works — The Chairman: Yes, page C -6?

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes. There was explanation to Works and Engineering, 75042, resurfacing —
and that is where we recognise that it is drastically,
drastically low, but there was explanation being given
to that.
Under bus shelters, there is no forecast here,
but we also saw where we are going to be building
under performance measures, we are going to be
building one shelter. So, I do not know how they play off of one another.
Also, under 75096, swing bridge —sorry,
75064, asbestos disposal, there was mention about all the asbestos that we have in containers. I have act ually seen the site. If the Minister can give us just a
brief on some of the advancements that has [been] made over the years in moving . . . it is a very . . . it is
a sore sight actually, unfortunately. And over time the
elements have taken over the containers —and just an
idea of how we are advancing there to remove that
asbestos.
I mentioned about job creation . . . mentioned
about protection works . . . sorry, just going through
the notes I took.

Sure. While you are doing that, Ho nourable Shadow Minister, just for the listening public,
this is the debate on the Minist ry of Public Works and
the Shadow Minister Craig Cannonier has been pos-ing questions from the Budget Book to the Honourable
Minister Lt. Col. David B urch. This debate is a fivehour debate which will conclude at 4:43 this afternoon.
Did you have any further questions, Honour able Shadow Minister?

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: No. I completed there and
this is always public works, this Ministry has always
been . . . it is a mammoth task to take on. Not very
many people would like to take on such a mammoth
task of this particular Ministry and the heads that fall
under it, so I give kudos to the Honourable Minister for
the stellar work and again I will say to him thank you.
Good to see that he is back at the helm and hopefully he can clarify some of the questions that have been
asked.

Honourable Members and listening
members of the listening public, while we are waiting
to see if the Honourable M inister can fix his audio, this
is the Committee of Supply where the House consi ders the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the
year 2022/23 and this is a five- hour debate which is
nearing its end on the Ministry of Public Works and we
are about to hear from the Minister of Public Works.
Hopefully . . . you want to try that again, Minister?

Okay, we are going to
start with the Minist ry Headquarters. So, in the Budget
Book in connection to—oh, this is in relation to the
grant to the Bermuda Housing Corporation. The
Budget Book has $5,438. That is incorrect. That is a
typo. It should be origina l $6,050,000.
The relation to the income [for] [line
item]46117 of $219,000, what does this relate to? The
answer is this relates to allowance of $100,000 for
occupational health and safety reviewing; $50,000 for
special medical review for staff who are exposed to
asbestos and also an allowance of $50,000 for additional COVID -19 cleaning.
Question: Does the maintenance for [line
item] 46115 relate to software maintenance? This is
the ongoing biannual every other year maintenance
review of the cell tower s. An overseas company
comes to Bermuda to review the structural integrity of
the towers.
Page B -220, the [car park] monthly rentals.
This amount is for the car park on Court Street, by the
old fire station. Spots are rented by staff for the Government at $60 per month.
Actual expenditure was high at $12,379,000 in
2020/21 versus revised budget of $5.6 million. There
were hurricane expenses included in actual costs for
2020/21 of $906,000. Also, COVID -19 relief, WEDCO
of $3.5 million and golf courses of $2.7 million.
Procurement process. The procurement pr ocess has gone through significant change since the
establishment of the office of project management and procurement. I can say that it had a bumpy start, but it
is running quite smoothly now in the s ense that items
that are set up for procurement must follow a certain
protocol before they can get either m inisterial approval
for purchases under $250,000 or Cabinet approval for purchases over that amount. The stimulus programme last year assisted us
in effecting some of the work that we did not have
budgeted for in last year’s budget.
Why did procurement cycle time drop to
90 per cent from 95 per cent? This is due to staff
shortages due to COVID -19 outages.
The revised forecast for the third measur e
went down to 12 from the original forecast of 20—this
650 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly is on page B -222 under 46111. This is due to COVID -
19 and staff quarantines. Training in 2021/22 was r educed.
Performance measures [on page B -221] for
[business unit] 46116, 117, 118 are all not appl icable
as this is because of the move of the HR department
to the new department for Human Resources.
Corporation of St. George’s grant reduced.
The answer to this is due to budget cuts, but I can say that we have been working closely with the Corpor ation of St. George’s and have encouraged them to
form a steering committee in St. George’s led by the
mayor to produce a master plan for the town. Separate and apart from this, we have provided them with
funding to assist in the repair —I cannot think of the
name, but the wharf that is off the square that is going
to be used for mega- yachts.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Ordinance Island?

Yes, yes. Ordinance
Island.
The golf course grant cut. This is due to
budget cuts; however, there is new leadership at the
golf courses, and they are looking at ways to gener ate
non-golfing revenue. MP Kim Swan took over as
chairman last year and is doing an outstanding job in
terms of leading both golf courses. We hired a new
golf pro at Port Royal, Steven Lambert, [Jr.] and we
just hired a director of HR, accounting and . . . som ething else. But that team has hit the ground running and is putting together a master plan for the improv ement of both golf courses.
This is page B -224 [sic]. Why has cost centre
75358 and [75]359 roadside landscaping and fencing
being discontinued? This amount . . . there is no pr ovision in this year’s budget for those two areas. They
are areas that were covered under the stimulus pr oject that was started last year and that work will continue under other capital projects to a lesser degree.
There s till is some funding left from the stimulus pr ogramme that is being carried over into next year and that work will continue under that programme.
Acquisition of —the EV programme—EV or
E1?

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: EV.

We are performing a
pilot study in working with the Rocky Mountain Inst i-tute to develop a plan for the infrastructure to supply a
large electric fleet. We have to have the results by fall
in time to set the budget for next year. A full change of
fleet will involve cars, trucks and cycles. This will r equire a large investment by Government and alternative ways to achieve this will form part of this study. So far, we have currently purchased four electrical
vehicles that will provide the data for going forward in
terms of how we decide to proceed.
There is an estimate of the value of obsolete
items. This is in relation to page B -222, [business unit]
46114. The answer is not yet. This is a task for
2022/23 and is performed at year end. Additional r eports to be cust omised in E1 to assist.
Question: Architects moved to the department
of Public Land and Buildings. This effectively was
done maybe two years ago, in terms of operationally, and so administratively now we are moving the funding and the one employee that i s left in the archite ctural section to Public Lands and Buildings. What we found was that we were . . . it was far more beneficial
to contract out architectural work in the main rather
than have staff on- site, and as the department had
been depleted throug h retirements and departures, it
was a good time to make that move.
Purchasing centralised. I think I misquoted
there in terms of we were looking at the centralisation of purchasing not moving the purchasing function to the central area. So, by that, what we are doing is we
have built a . . . at the quarry, we purchased the two
Artemis buildings and cut them in half to make two buildings. One is to be a storage for all of the areas of the Ministry. This answers another question later on,
too. In terms of obsolete inventory, we are challenged
in terms of how we record the items that we have in
stock. In some cases, we use a number that we have
created and in other cases we have used a number that the manufacturer uses. So, we have found that
we have duplicat ion of items under both of those
methods. In the move to the new warehouse, we will
correct this and record them all now under the manufacturer's number.
Okay, I think that covers the Headquarters. I
am now going to go to Bermuda Housing Corporation
(BHC) , the illegal dumping across the Island. It is an
Island- wide problem. The cleaning up is needed with
the use of the H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck. But it is frustrating
in that people will drive miles to illegally dump their
refuse as opposed to going to Tynes Bay w here you
can drop it off for free and have it properly disposed of. We are looking this year to try and use the e nforcement and education officer to come up with a PR
plan that can help us alleviate t his problem or at least
reduce.
BHC general questions on Bermudiana Beach
Resort. There has been much movement in terms of
the Bermudiana Beach Resort in the last few months. I am not yet up to speed in terms of where it is at, but


Bermuda House of Assembly there is movement and I expect to be making a public
comment in the next few weeks.
What is the seniors’ incentive? This is a pr oject that was initiated about a year ago now. It is in
conjunction with Age Concern and the Government to
assist seniors and the disabled with a programme designed to assist their families to help the vulnerable to
remain in their own homes with dignity by providing
interest -free loans of up to $15,000. This funding is for
the purchasing of furniture, fixtures and fittings and/or to make modifications or renovations to their home which would make it easier for them to remain there
rather than be housed in an ageing facility. The purchase of furniture, fixtures and fittings under this pr ogramme are duty free. Since the inception of the pr ogramme, BHC has provided loans for 15 seniors in a
total amount of $201,153. This programme is still
available to seniors and the disabled by going on the
BHC website at www.bhc.bm
or picking up the form
from the office.
In relation to this as well, the HomeStart pr ogramme, was a public -private partnership entered into
with Clarien Bank about three years ago, I think, to
assist hard- working Bermudians to obtain their first
home. To date, the HomeStart programme has as-sisted 31 Bermudian families in their quest to become
first-time homeowners. The initiative has been very
successful in providing properties available for sale at
affordable levels of purchase. The sale prices of these
properties have been significantly reduced in return
for sweat equity to bring the properties back to a
healthy habitable state. Persons interested in partic ipating in that programme can reach out to the Hous-ing Corporation as well.
The H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck. Has it grown? Does it
have any new trucks? It is the same size as it prev iously was. That is a manageable size in terms of the
20 people. There are no new trucks. They have two
trucks that provide the assistance that is required. For
larger jobs, there is the availability of Public Works assistance with trucking.
How many have received full -time emplo yment? That data is not available, but I can report that there have been painting, landscaping and administr ative jobs that people have acquired as a result of
working on H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck.
BHC. Is there a schedule for painting and
maintenance of the properties? Ther e is a routine
maintenance schedule which includes roof painting, house painting, tank cleaning and landscaping. Ten-ants have an emergency number to call for the one- off
maintenance that is required.
Parks. What is the $696,000 increase? This is
primaril y due to the number of vacant posts —this is in
Parks’ budget —vacant posts that had their monies
removed in 2021/22. The department’s [vacant posts], unable to hire which included six civil service posts
that have [now] been put back into the budget. Has i llegal dumping gotten worse? This is in
relation to Parks. Yes, Parks has seen an increase in
cars, [ INAUDIBLE ] stolen, abandoned bikes dumped
plus construction waste removed by a private contrac-tor for cars and park rangers and trash crews daily.
Lifeguard service. Was there a full compl ement of staff? No, Horseshoe Bay was open until the
30
th of November last year. Other beaches’ lifeguards
started from Bermuda Day to Labour Day.
Use of beaches, parks and nature reserves
has increased since relaxati on of the COVID -19 regulations. For the 21 lifeguards, there is one full -time
lifeguard, superintendent. The remainder are seasonal
for eight months maximum contract, which would be
21 seasonal relief lifeguards.
Tree Service. Have the staff been able to
maintain? Two staff have moved to other sections, so the department has continued the tree service and
landscape crews who had the tree projects complete
such as Horseshoe Bay.
Lifeguard rescues. The forecast for 2021/22
was 26 and that is for the season. Thirty is only a
forecast. It could be higher or lower depending on
weather and tourist numbers.
Fitness equipment. What location? It is either
going to be Pig’s Field or a park in the west, to be d ecided.
Communications increase will be to put information out to the general public about special permits
required plus regulation changes such as [for] dogs
and horses. Vehicles to be purchased. The answer is one
truck for tree work, two Toro lawn mowers and two to
three trailers to transport the Toros.
How many parks on the east and how many
on the west? There are 75 community parks in total;
53 central and east and 21 west and one Railway Trail
Island- wide.
How much of the contract work [is] for Railway
Trail? The overtime amount is $210,000. Overtime t o
staff is $80,000. The S kills Development Programme
and contractors is $195,000 . . . I do not know what
this is, the $30,000, and signage, $5,000.
Question: woodchips for schools, why r educed? The woodchips were for playground school
surfaces. Now, surf ace is sand; however, so woodchips are used onto the park trails for control of the
erosion.
Parks maintenance yard, where is it being
constructed? It will be developed at Marsh Folly for
both industrial workers and administrative staff. The
old garage is used for parking and dog training at B otanical Gardens.
What has or is happening to the buildings at
Southlands [Estate]? Mirrors [P rogramme] was i nvolved in clearing out the buildings of trash plus clearing trees as well as private contractors. The Estate will
put out an RFP to repair buildings for use.
652 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Increase in revenue, where are our increases? This is in relation to Parks. There will be the i ncrease in special permits and admissions to Fort St.
Catherine as tourism increases. More camping permits will be sold.
Public Lands and Buildings. Explanation to
the increase in costs of the Department of Public
Lands and Buildings. Increases in salaries and wages
due to the recruiting of five apprentices to support the
trades in the building sector. In addi tion, the increase
includes the recruitment of two new Bermudian trainee estate surveyors who just passed their first hurdle of reporting on their progress and they both, a male
and a female, are doing very well. Estimates —salary
increase of $600,000—that is for the five apprentices
and two trainee estate surveyors.
Head 81, cost centre 91001, training and apprenticeship increase of costs [ INAUDIBLE ].
Property asset management. Does this i nclude sale of redundant buildings? No buildings have
been sold; however, there is a programme to put r edundant buildings out on a public tender for a long
lease allowing the tenant to improve the property in
return for a long lease. An example of this is the
House of the Azores and the work they did at the v acant proper ty at Admiralty House Park. What they
have done there is to renovate the building and get a
lease to, over time, pay back the Government .
Maintenance. What does this cover? This is
Head 81, [business unit] 8101, [line item] 91003. The
maintenance cost is for all Government buildings, i ncluding general maintenance of schools. Note that
capital works for schools is included in cap account 75309, All Schools Maintenance. This account covers
all other buildings that provide public services: police,
corrections, fire, parks, marine and ports, et cetera.
Increase in property rentals from original
2021/22, [is] $1.652 million to $2.308 million, what does this relate to? It is the renewal of a 21- year for eshore lease anticipated, an increase of $450,000 in 2022/23.
Works and Engineering . . . do I have four
minutes, seven minutes?

Why is this [INAUD IBLE] much higher than current estimates ? We have to
buy aggregate in 2022/23 that we did not buy this
year.
Can the Minister expand on the electronic
vehicles. I done answered that one.
For Horseshoe Bay, $240,000. This is for a
new sewage system and an upgrade for the beach.
Update on new group at Horseshoe Bay. I
believe they have an application in at Planning, albeit recently, no one was denied. So, the project is moving
along. The E states department is working with them to ensure that there is fairness in the process, as a result
with s ome of the delays due to COVID -19.
Harrington Sound Road. BELCO had to perform additional work which required further trench
work to be performed. I think that project is coming close to an end.
I am going to jump to this one, I think that
people have short memories and we probably have
not been good at reminding folks, two years ago I a nnounced the joint project with BELCO to trench in, virtually the entire Island, but a significant portion of that [was to] to replace BELCO’s underground cables
that ar e past their shelf life. What we also did was to
bring together that BELCO team plus all the other util ities to get them to go in the hole at the same time. And so, the likes of Watlington Waterworks and ourselves, Public Works, to place their equipment in the
hole at the same time so that we would not have to be
digging up the roads regularly in the future.
In relation to the quality of asphalt on the
roads, the trenches require a year to settle before we
can go back and repave the road completely. So, I have driven on some of those roads and they are
atrocious and so we are looking at what we can do in
the interim to ameliorate part of that problem. But I
think it is an ongoing one for the time being. BELCO
has a three- year plan which we are in the second year
of to replace this. I think that there are a couple of
websites that we could, as users of the road, employ
when we are thinking about the challenges. Every
trenching company in the country is employed. Every
one of those companies have hired additio nal staff
and so there is employment in the country, and it is
generating some economic activity. We will have a
look at how we can ameliorate the quality of the roads
for the next year. But I think that in the long run we will
all benefit.
Highways. How is the traffic work coordinated? The highways principal . . . the highways engineer
meets regularly with BELCO to plan the works to have the least [impact] where able as possible. As many
people will know that the road traffic notices are
signed by myself and so I asked the question, Where
are we going to have the least impact on the travelling and motoring public? And in some cases we have de-layed the works so that other works could finish and
there is not a sort of disruption in that folk are complaining about.
What does the increase of $174,000 announced for composting operations, that is at Marsh
Folly, relate to? The increase is due to the following areas: $50,000 for equipment rental, $20,000 for contractors, $90,000 for spare parts and $30,000 for i nventory.
In relation to page B -236, why has cost centre
92023 asphalt plant decreased by $223,000? The decrease is due to the following: billed overtime, $7,500; spare parts $9,000; and maintenance materials
$200,000.


Bermuda House of Assembly Recycling plant. What condition is t he plant
in? Why do we not recycle plastic bottles? The plant is
in operation and there is a different process in Berm uda than in other jurisdictions. We use only landfill —

Thank you, Honourable Minister .
That now concludes the five- hour debate on
the Minist ry of Public Works. Thank you very much,
the Honourable Minister Lt. Col. David Burch and to
the Honourable Shadow Minister Craig Cannonier.
I will now relinquish the Chair to the Deputy
Speaker who I see is already online and ready to go
for the next debate which is three hours of the Ministry
for Youth, Culture and Sport, I believe.
The Clerk: Mr. Chairman, can we have the Minister
move the Heads?

Thank you. Thank you, Honourable
Member Acting Chairman, MP Pearman.
Honourable Members, we are now in Commi ttee of Supply for further consideration of the Est imates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year
2022/23, the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport,
Heads 71, 20 and 52.
This debate will be led by Mini ster Tinee
Furbert.
Minister Furbert, you have the floor.

MINISTRY OF YOUTH,
CULTURE AND SPORT

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Good day, Mr. Chairman. (I am
just checking that I am being heard okay.) The Chairman: Yes, w e hear you very well.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Yes? Thank you. Okay.
Mr. Chairman, I move the following Heads:
Head 71— Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports
Headquarters; Head 20— Youth, Sport and Recre ation; and Head 52 —Department of Culture be now
taken under consideration.

Minister, so continue.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to
present the financial year of 2022/23 Estimates of
Revenue and Expenditure for the Ministry of Youth,
Culture and Sport, which can be found starting o n
page B -242 of the Estimates Book. Mr. Chairman, I
will briefly discuss the Ministry as a whole followed by
information for Head 71, the Ministry Headquarters,
and then in detail the two departments that fall under
the Ministry, namely, Head 20, the Depar tment of
Youth, Sport and Recreation; and Head 52, the D epartment of Culture.
Mr. Chairman, three hours have been allocated for these heads, and I intend to speak for one and
a half hours in order to give sufficient time for the O pposition to ask questions or seek clarification on the
2022/23 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure.
Mr. Chairman, the mission of the Ministry of
Youth, Culture and Sport is to develop and celebrate
our people. I have said it before, and I am happy to
remind us that our people are our country’s greatest asset. Our culture, our values, our strength and resil ience are everything that makes Bermuda the incred ible country that it is today. My Ministry is dedicated to nurturing our spirit of resilience and forging our collective sens e of oneness and solidarity. Mr. Chairman, in
Bermuda we look after each other when we fall, and
we rejoice as one when we succeed. And succeed we
have.
Mr. Chairman, I think everyone will know I am
referring to Flora Duffy’s extraordinary success in last
year’s Olympics in Tokyo and the World Triathlon Championship. The tremendous joy and pride that
Flora’s win brought to Bermuda was simply unpara lleled for decades. At a time of so many challenges
and difficulties, seeing our own on the world stage
perfor ming like no one before her had the effect of
bringing us together as a community and as a people.
Such is the power of sport, and such has been the
power of Flora Duffy.
Of course, Flora brought home Bermuda’s
second Olympic medal, the first being, as w e know,
Clarence Hill’s 1976 bronze medal for heavyweight
boxing. And it gave me tremendous pride to see our
two Olympic champions together on the Cabinet O ffice grounds during the reception motorcade in which the whole country rejoiced on that joyous 11
th of Oct ober day when [Ms. Duffy] returned home to a hero’s welcome. Mr. Chairman, the Department of Youth,
654 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Sport and Recreation, the Department of Culture, and
our Government and community partners put on a
spectacular series of celebrations. I am truly th ankful
to them for showcasing Bermuda at its very best. I will say more about the Flora Duffy events later in my presentation. But although Flora’s gold [medal] could
not have come at a better time for Bermuda’s collective psyche, we must not forget what w e have
achieved collectively throughout the pandemic.
Mr. Chairman, I absolutely get that everyone
has COVID -19 fatigue. We would all like to see this
pandemic behind us. No one has enjoyed the past two
years of restrictions, uncertainty and disruption. H owever, we must not forget the persons who suffered the
most —the 123 individuals we lost, and the families
and loved ones of those 123 very real heart -and-soul
people. We must also remember the pain and worry that survivors and their families experienced. They
thankfully recovered, but a period of severe illness or
hospitalisation is exceedingly stressful and frightening
for anyone. And of course, the economic hardship that many individual families and businesses have endured cannot be overstated.
But, Mr . Chairman, the pandemic may have
decimated our patience, but not our spirit. Bermudians
are resilient. We adapt. We persevere. And we strive
forward to come out better together just like we do after every storm, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, another import ant success of
2021 for my Ministry was the establishment of the N ational Youth Policy, which had been a 2020 Throne
Speech commitment. Underpinned by the belief that
Bermuda’s future must be built by those to whom it most belongs, the youth policy sets out the Gover nment’s clear message that we must respect and value
our young people’s contribution to society. The policy
has been launched, and a working group established
to implement the eight policy goals aimed at develo ping and empowering Bermuda’s youth. There is i mmense value in engaging with our young people. As
such, it is important that we harness their energy, cr eativity, ideas and passion about the causes that are
most important to them.
Looking back on the last year, Mr. Chairman,
a final success I wish to highlight is the establishment
of the very popular Creatives Live open- air concert
series happening monthly on the City Hall steps.
These safely distanced musical events showcase
Bermuda’s incredibly talented performing artists. And
during our c urrent time, this kind of uplifting entertainment from our locally grown talent was truly we lcomed by all.

MINISTRY PRIORITIES FOR 2022/23

Hon. Tinee Furbert: The Ministry’s priorities for
2022/23, Mr. Chairman: Next year our Ministry intends
to continue to develop and celebrate our people
through a variety of initiatives. In keeping with the 2021 Throne Speech theme of economic recovery
and social renewal, the Ministry of Youth, Culture and
Sport recognises the value of sport to our country and
continues to explore avenues that will promote Bermuda as a sporting jurisdiction. We are excited to
support the organisers of the SailGP [Sail Grand Prix],
the Bermuda Triangle Cup football competition and
the CARIFTA [Caribbean Free Trade Association] Tr iathlon and Aquathlon 2022 as they prepare to host
major events in Bermuda this year. Such international
sporting events can assist in bringing much- needed
revenue to our Island.
Additionally, attracting more sporting events to
our shore for our amateur and colleg iate athletes to
compete in will enhance their development by exposing them to quality international competition, thus cr eating more pathways to further their exposure and
training.
As indicated, Flora Duffy’s success highlights
the need for more financi al investment in our elite at hletes so that they can be prepared for the international competition on the world stage. And indeed, in the upcoming budget we have been able to re- allocate
resources to allow for an increase of $21,000 to further assist our e lite athletes. Given the challenging
fiscal environment, we were pleased to be able to allocate more funds to this important Government prior ity. This will be one of the primary goals of a National
Sports Policy. [Currently] in development by the D epartment of Youth, Sport and Recreation, the policy
will outline the steps needed to create an environment
supporting consistent excellence in sports and under-scoring the central role of sports in our society.
Mr. Chairman, the ultimate goal will be to cr eate a platform that allows for us to address the key
needs of our young athletes and a structure that supports the success of Bermudian athletes as a whole. By doing so, a National Sports Policy will establish
beyond a shadow of a doubt the fundamental role sports plays in community well -being. The implementation of this policy will highlight the impact of sports
on physical health, youth development and national
pride.
Mr. Chairman, I would now like to draw your
attention to page B -242 of the Estimates Book, where
you will note that the Youth, Culture and Sport Mini stry’s budget for the financial year 2022/23 is
$12,868,000. Although this appears [to be] an i ncrease from the 2021/22 revised budget, it is due to
the Ministry’s offering significant budget savings in
2021/22. In light of the reduced activity due to COVID -
19 restrictions, which has prohibited certain events, in fact the Ministry had a small reduction of $63,995, or
half of 1 per cent, from the 2021/22 original budget.
Mr. Chairman, page B -242 shows a revenue
estimate for the Ministry of $660,800, an increase of
$115,500, or 21 per cent from financial year 2021/22.
This projected revenue increase is due to programme
changes to be implemented by the Department of


Bermuda House of Assembly Youth, Sport and Recreation. There will be additional
out-of-school programmes held during school midterm breaks, which will increase the department’s c apacity to service the public.
Mr. Chairman, page B -242 also details the
current account expenditure of the departments that
make up the over all budget for the Ministry by Head,
as follows:
• Head 71—Ministry Headquarters fiscal year
2021 /22 estimates about $1.369 million . The
2021/22 revised [estimate is] $990 [thousand],
and the 2022/23 estimate is $1.273 million.
• Head 20— Youth , Sport and Recreation, [for
fiscal year 202 2/23 is] $9.591 million . The
2021 /22 revised estimate is $9. 291 million
and the 2022/23 estimate is $9.616 million.
• Head 52—Cultur e, 202 1/22 estimate is
$1.973 million . The 202 1/22 revised estimate
is $1.373 million and the 2022/ 23 estimate is
$1.980 million.
The Ministry’s total for the 2021/22 estimate $12.933
[million]. The 2021/22 revised Ministry total is $11.654
million and the 2022/23 total Ministry estimate is
$12.869 million.
Mr. Chairman, the summary shows that for
the upcoming year, all departments saw increases
compared to the revised budgets for 2021/22. However, this is due to the significant savings provided by
the Ministry due to the impacts of the pandemic. In
fact, compared to the original budgets, both the D epartment of Youth, Sport and Recreation and the D epartment of Culture saw very slight increases of 0.3
per cent, and the budget in Ministry Headquarters was reduced by 7.0 per cent partly to support public -facing
programmes and offset the Ministry’s overall r eduction. I will discuss these changes as I present each head.
Mr. Chairman, as seen on page C -20, the
grants and contributions budget across the whole Mi nistry is $3,268,000, an increase of $59,076 over the previous year, or 1.8 per cent. This small incr ease
reflects a reallocation of Culture’s grants and increases in grants to Youth and Sport organisations. I will discuss these in turn under each head.
The grants and contributions for the Ministry
of Youth, Culture and Sport include the following:
• Head 20— Department of Youth, Sport and
Recreation, $2, 846,000 for sports development, national sporting bodies and youth or-ganisations . This is an increase of $118,026,
or 4 per cent;
• Head 52—Department of Cultur e, $362,000
for community and cultural activities . This is a
decrease of $59,000, or 14 per cent, due to
the re allocation of funds to support cultural
festivals;
• Head 71 —Ministry Headquarters, $60 ,000 for
parish council commitments and a small all ocation for one- time events that are aligned with the Mini stry’s mission, provided that they
fall outside of the scope of the departments.
This is the same as last year.
Mr. Chairman, page C -23 highlight s the 20 20/2021
actual allocation made to sports development and voluntary youth organisations. [The total is]
$1,000,034.
Mr. Chairman, these grants to the community
align with our mission to develop and celebrate our people.

HEAD 71 —MINISTRY OF YOUTH, CULTURE AND
SPORT HEADQUARTERS

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, I now turn to the
current account expenditure for Head 71, the Ministry
Headquarters.
Mr. Chairman, the financial year 2022/23 estimates of expenditure and revenue for Head 71, the Ministry Headquarters, are found on pages B -243 to
B-245 of the Estimates Book. Page B -243 shows that
the budget estimate for the Ministry Headquarters for
fiscal year 2022/23 is $1,272,905. This is $282,967, or
29 per cent, higher than the revised budget for the
prior year due to the COVID -19 budget savings. But it
is $95,825, or 7 per cent, less than the original budget
for 2021/22.
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry Headquarters
comprises a single business unit, 81000, Administr ation, on page B -244, which supports the Minister’s
Office and the Ministry’s Centralised Compliance and
Accounts functions. This unit consists of eight salaries to provide these services essential to the Ministry’s
operations.
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry Headquarters directs the development and implementation of policy
and legislation, has overall responsibility for the management of the Ministry’s budget and provides gui dance on programming to the departments within the
Ministry. Through its Centralised Accounts Section,
the Ministry Headquarters provides accounting and
financial management services to all departments under its responsibility. The key act ivities of this depar tment are to undertake strategic leadership of Ministry departments, manage the Ministry’s accounts and ensure compliance with Financial Instructions, lead
and operationalise policy and legislative develo pments, issue and manage minist erial grants aligned
with the Ministry’s mission, and appoint and oversee five boards and nine parish councils.
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry Headquarters performance measures are listed on page B -245. Our
annual indicators reflect the administrative nature of
Headquarters’ functions. Due to some COVID -19induced reduced capacity, unfortunately we were able to complete only one of the two compliance reviews
intended for the year and three of the four training sessions. These have been postponed to next year.
Nevertheless, COVID -19 did not interfere with timely
656 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda House of Assembly and accurate processing of payments, which is i mportant to our local vendors to ensure that they can
meet their own cash- flow needs during these difficult
economic times.
Lastly, we completed 100 per cent of the ministerial policy priorities this fiscal year, namely, in the form of the aforementioned National Youth Policy, a
Parish Council Review and large group exemptions
delivery. This indicator was not listed as a current year
measure, but naturally it is the de facto key perfor-mance indicator for our policy work.
Mr. Chairman, looking at the year ahead, the
Headquarters’ budget reduction of $95,825 from the
prior year’s original budget is primarily due to the
transfer of two posts to two new ministri es to assist in
the set up of their operations, as well as other oper ational reductions in light of the Government’s fiscal position. Budget reductions occurred in salaries, trai ning and other small operational costs. Budget reductions have occurred in salaries. There is an increase
in the professional services budget in the amount of $83,000. These funds have been allocated for the achievement of ministerial policy priorities, special projects related to communications, social media
presence, and support for sports and cultural events.
Mr. Chairman, before closing, I would like to
take this opportunity to thank the small, dedicated
team at the Ministry’s Headquarters for the work that they do in ensuring the Ministry meets its mandate. Mr. Chairman, the pandemic has made the past two
years very difficult and stressful for many in our community. This has affected every fabric of society, and hardships experienced by Culture and Sport have been significant. Restrictions limited athletes and per-forming artists the opportunity to practice their skills and perform or compete. However, my Ministry has
done everything within its power to increase opport unities for athletes and creatives.
Through our large group exemptions, we pr ocessed nearly 500 applications for events exceeding
the maximum capacity allowed under the public health emergency measures. Our process recognises events
and works with organisers and with the Government enforcing branches to ensure large events could take place safely. Standards were established together with our health colleagues to ensure that health and safety measures and public health protocols were fit
for purpose. These [standards] protected events, attendees and our whole community by preventing COVID -19 outbreaks. The large group exemptions
process was a very successful undertaking by the Ministry and it enabled us to resume some semblance of a normal life. Our intrinsic cultural rights of passage, such as weddings, funerals and birthdays were
able to proceed. Indeed, 478 were approved since
July 2021.
Large sporting events were able to resume,
from junior team sports to Cup Match and internation-al events that benefited Bermuda’s economy. And a process for trusted establishments was set up so that
venues and organisers could conti nue to host events
with greater ease while maintaining COVID -19-safe
standards. The return to sport guidelines enabled
sport to return safely and to diminish when needed during outbreaks. We are grateful to the numerous sporting organisations who assisted the COVID -19
battle by implementing the requirements to keep at hletes and the public safe. And we continue to cel ebrate athletic and sporting excellence with the recent [Annual] Sports Awards and Arts Council Awards which took place just in the past month, recognising
our local talent.
Mr. Chairman, resilience is at the core of our
cultural DNA, and this year Bermudians have proven this time and time again. So as I look to the year ahead, I am very optimistic for our Ministry’s part that we will continue to do what can be done to ensure that our youth, cultural and sport communities are celebrated, supported and uplifted. The first highlight, of
course, will be the return of a full Bermuda Day cele-bration, which we know the country will be able to par-ticipa te in wholeheartedly and safely.
Mr. Chairman, to conclude, culture is the
backbone of any society. And through sport, we enjoy the biggest rush of national pride this year, or perhaps even this century, thanks to Flora Duffy. Mr. Chair-man, this Ministry has a great role to play in the fabric of Bermudian society and national identity. We will continue to develop and celebrate our people in every
way we can, and we will continue to enhance the
quality of life for our entire community.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my presentation
on the fiscal year 2022/23, budgetary allocations for Head 71, the Ministry Headquarters, and I will now move to Head 20, the Department of Youth, Sport and
Recreation; and Head 52, the Department of Culture.
HEAD 20 —DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH, SPORT
AND RECREATION
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, I will now present
the fiscal year 2022/23 estimates of expenditure and
revenue for Head 20, the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation, which can be found on pages B- 246
to B-251 of the Estimates Book. Mr. Chairman, the
mission of the Department of Youth, Sport and Recr eation is to develop Youth, Sport and Recreation through our services and to celebrate the accom-plishments of our people.
Department’s Objectives
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the objectives for
2022/23 are as follows:
•provide funding/support for the National
Sports Governing Bodies [NSGBs];
•provide funding support for the National Youth
Organising Bodies [NYOBs];

B ermuda House of Assembly •manage and maintain government sports and
r
ecreation faci lities;
•provide after school programmes for school -
aged children;
•provide summer day camps for school -aged
children; and
•prepare and manage [the] budget to ensure
intended deadlines are met.Mr. Chairman, the Department of Youth, Sport
and Recreation administers nine programmes and 21
business units for which a general summary can be
found on pages B- 246 and B -247 of the Estimates of
Expenditure and Revenue for fiscal year 2022/23. The budget allocation for the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation in fiscal year 2022/23 is $9,616,303,
an increase of $25,003, or less than 1 per cent, as
shown on page B -247.
Mr. Chairman, I will now discuss the individual
programmes under Head 20.
Programme 2001— Administration
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the budget alloc ation of business unit 30045, General Administration is $841,437, a decrease of 3 per cent, or $28,795, from
the previous allocation of $870,232.
Mr. Chairman, the allocated funds provide for
the administration and operations of the Department
of Youth, Sport and Recreation Headquarters, which is located in the Craig Appin House, situated at 8 Wesley Street, Hamilton. In addition, the Administr ation Section provides administrative support for eight programmes within the department, and it is respons ible for monitoring departmental spending to ensure that policies and procedures are adhered to in achiev-ing efficiencies and effectiveness.
Programme 2002— Sports Development
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the sports deve lopment programme is operated through business unit 30055, [Sports Programme]. The budget allocation is $418,475, a decrease of $1,436,500, or a 77 per cent
reduction. This decrease is because some of the
funds have been re- allocated to a new dedicated
[business unit], 30065, Spor ts Investments. The reason for this will be explained further in the brief. The
residual funds in business unit 30055, Sports Deve lopment includes salaries at $269,975; training; rec-reational services; supplies; and other funds to ensure
the efficient and effective administration of the sports programmes.
Mr. Chairman, business unit 30065, Sports
Investments is a new business unit. The rationale for creating this business unit was to segregate the administration component and to dedicate a business
unit that highlights how the Bermuda Government is investing in the community through recreational sports. Business unit 30065 has been allocated a
total of $1,486,000. A total of $600,000 is allocated to contributions to sports development, which are grants to the National Sports Governing Bodies; $300,000 to
the Bermuda Football Association; and $586,000 is allocated to the Bermuda Sports Anti -Doping Author ity, which is a statutory authority mandated for Berm uda to be able to compete internationally.
Mr. Chairman, during fiscal year 2022/23, the
Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation intends to continue focusing on all aspects of sporting develo pment. The development of athletes at senior and jun-ior levels and the provision of education to local
coaches and administrators in partnership with overseas agencies such as Positive Coaching Alliance and Sport for Life are key aspects of this programme. Investment in sport is vital for the continued develop-ment of sport Island- wide, because without this su pport many athletes and sporting programmes would
suffer.
The department will also continue to work with
the various government agencies to maintain sporting and recreation facilities that fall under the depar tment’s remit.
Programme 2003— Sports Incentives and Awards
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the estimate for
business unit 30030, Athletic Awards, is $160,000. This represents an increase of $81,250 over the
2021/22 budget, which was $79,750. This increase
facilitates the re- establishment of the Annual Sport s
Awards and the National Junior Athlete Sponsorship Programme Awards, because during the previous budget these funds were redirected to other areas to assist the department and government to manage the
financial challenges caused by the COVID -19 pa ndemic.
Mr. Chairman, investment in sports incentives
and recognition is vital for the continued development
of sport in Bermuda. The 2021 Throne Speech commits the Government to the development of an updated National Sports Policy and to lead the drive to en-sure more funds are invested in our elite athletes. This
business unit supports the achievements of these goals.
Programme 2004— Sports Facilities Management
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the budget est imate for business unit 30060, Sports Facilities Adm inistration, is $1,313,069, a decrease of $2,325 below the previous estimate for 2021/22. Mr. Chairman, the
budget estimate for business unit 30060 primarily
comprises funding for the National Sports Centre, which is $1,100,000. There is no change from 2021/22. The National Sports Centre provides interna-tionally certified facilities for sports training and com-petition, as well as a venue for recreation and enter658 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly tainment. It is an essential part of the country’s spor ting infrastructure and entirely deserving of the funding
designated for it to reflect the Government’s commi tment to sport development.
Mr. Chairman, the Minist er of Youth, Culture
and Sport has discussed openly the financial and a udit challenges of the National Sports Centre [NSC],
which makes this investment critical. Audit deficie ncies have occurred since 2011, spanning multiple administrations. The board and management are co mmitted to correcting this and actively working with the
Office of the Auditor General. The 2016 audit is underway, and financial statements since that year have
been prepared and await audit pending completion of
[the audit for] 2016.
Critical to the NSC’s financial recovery is the
installation of an energy -saving micro- grid system.
This project is designed to make NSC energy ind ependent, and it reflects the Government’s commitment
to ensuring an economic recovery that is fair and ba lanced, and a benefit to our entire community. Ult imately, this initiative will eliminate the NSC’s approx imately $600,000 annual electricit y bill. This means
fewer taxpayers’ funds will be spent on electricity at the National Sports Centre while ensuring more r enewable energy is generated in Bermuda. The project
is also key to getting Bermudians back to work. Mr. Chairman, the remaining budge t for the Sports Facil ities business unit, 30060, is dedicated to salaries and wages totalling $194,269, and operational expenses.
Mr. Chairman, business unit 30075, WMC
Preece Softball Park is allocated $136,099. This rep-resents a decrease of $12,932, a 9 per cent decrease,
over the 2021/22 budget allocation. This allocation
reflects the cost for industrial staff and funds to mai ntain and operate the softball park.
Mr. Chairman, business unit 30080, the WER
Joell Tennis Stadium is allocated $421,531, an increase of $6,000, or 1 per cent, over the prior budget
of $415,531 in 2021/22. This business unit provides funding for salaries and wages totalling $337,177. The
remainder of the funds will be used to maintain and
operate the tennis stadium.
Mr. Chairman, business unit 303 90, the Motorsport Park is allocated $10,000. The decrease of $9,250 represents a reduction of 48 per cent from
2021/22 budget. The funds are used for insurance,
maintenance and water.
Mr. Chairman, business unit 30090, Sports
Communit y Fields is allocated $47,000, a decrease of
$3,500, or 7 per cent decrease, from the 2021/22
budget. The funds for this unit are allocated for
maintenance and operation of the unit.

Programme 2005— Youth Development

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the allocated
budget for fiscal year 2022/23 of $415,306 is for two of the business units under the Youth Development Programme.
Youth Development Administration, business
unit 30210, has a budget allocation of $315,306, a
decrease of $1,000 from the 2020/21 b udget alloc ation.
Mr. Chairman, the allocated budget for bus iness unit 30350, Youth Investments (Grants), of $100,000 has been increased by $1,000, or a 1 per
cent increase. In addition to the grants, Mr. Chairman, this unit is responsible for implementat ion of the N ational Youth Policy, a Throne Speech commitment
from 2020 which was delivered in November 2021.
Following a call for expressions of interest, a working
group was established last month to implement policy
priorities to develop and empower Berm uda’s youth. I
look forward to their progress and ultimate success.

Programme 2006—Community Centres

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the budget alloc ation for three community centres under the depar tment’s remit is $1,447,856—no change from the
2021/22 budget allocation. The community centres’
full-time equivalent count is 19 for fiscal year 2022/23.
These staff facilitate a wide range of programming for
seniors, adults and children, providing engagements
and participating opportunities for families wh ile pr omoting the philosophy for the department’s mission.
The Eastern Zone Community Centre [bus iness unit 30130] has a budget allocation of $447,179. The Sammy Wilson Central Zone Community Centre [business unit 30120] has $517,357, and the Western
Zone Community Centre [business unit 30146] has
$483,320.
Mr. Chairman, the three community centres
provide safe, structured programmes with trained staff and an opportunity to build positive and long- lasting
relationships. The community centres provide opportunities for residents of all ages to experience positive
recreational activities. They have recently extended
their partnership with the After School Programme to
extend services to communities at both ends of the
Island.

Programme 2007—Camping

Hon. Ti nee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the budget alloc ation for the Department’s Camping Programme is
$982,000, a decrease of $72,000. This was achieved
by eliminating overtime. This will result in a small r eduction in the hours of access to the islands by the
public , but it was deemed necessary in the context of
the government’s fiscal position.
Darrell’s Island has been allocated $322,622,
a decrease of $35,150, or 10 per cent. Paget Island,
$271,826, a decrease of $24,117, or 8 per cent. Ports
Island, $118,946, a decrease of $13,909, or 10 per
cent decrease. White’s Island, $86,000, a decrease of


Bermuda House of Assembly $3,000, or 3 per cent decrease. The allocated budget
for Camping provides for the staffing obligations and
administration and includes 10 full -time staff to mai ntain the f acilities and the marine equipment.

Programme 2008— School -Age Activities/
Summer Day Camps

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the budget alloc ation for the Summer Day Camp Programme is
$750,600, an increase of $18,050, or 2 per cent i ncrease. Mr. Chairman, this programme supports approximately 1,500 school -aged children and is provi ded in various schools throughout the Island. Approx imately 130 part -time workers deliver these pr ogrammes, supervised by qualified educators. There is also a Special Needs Programme that provides care
for special needs children.
Mr. Chairman, also included in Programme
2008 are three preschool -aged camps, which were
created specifically for the transition of children from preschool to their first year of primary school. This
programme also provides camps for primary school -
aged children and middle school -aged children.

Programme 2009— After School Programmes

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the After School
Programmes budget allocation provides for staffing,
communications, m aterials and supplies for 14 pr ogrammes .
The budget allocation for business unit 30125,
After School Programme, for fiscal year 2022/23 is
$1,188,350, a decrease of $5,000. The programme
supports approximately 450 primary and middle
school -aged children across 14 facilities and employs
61 seasonal workers along with two full -time senior
supervisors.
The department is committed to providing
quality after school programming for primary and mi ddle school -aged children, ensuring a safe and structured recrea tional programme.

Performance Measures

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the performance
measures for the Department of Youth, Sport and
Recreation can be found on pages B -250 and B -251.
For business unit 30030, Athletic Awards, the intended target for 20 j unior athletes to receive financial
support to develop skills in their chosen sport could not be met due to the necessary reallocation of funds in light of COVID -19 and fiscal challenges. Nevertheless, 16 junior athletes did receive awards at an average of $3,000. It must be noted that one of the recipients, Sebastian Kempe, won a gold medal in sailing at
the Youth Sailing World Championships in Oman.
Mr. Chairman, this year many athletes’ performances and sports competitions were hampered by the pandemic. Consequently, the target to fund 30
athletes —to fund 30 elite athletes —could not be met.
Nevertheless, 15 of the 30 forecasted received funding this year, and we forecast 17 for the upcoming
years as international competition resumes. Notably, Flora Duffy ’s gold medal performance at the Olympic
Games was a first for Bermuda. That and the worldleading triple -jump performances by Jah- Nhai Pe rinchief during this fiscal year are but a few examples
of how well Bermuda athletes can perform when supported.
Mr. Chairman, the departm ent requires all
National Sport Governing Bodies to be certified. To
date, there are currently 24 NSGBs registered with the department. Nineteen of the registered NSGBs have
received funds to assist in the development of their
sports, which includes athlete, coaching and admini strative development.
Mr. Chairman, during the Annual Sports
Awards, which was held virtually, 40 awards were
presented, thus achieving the forecasted performance
targets.
Mr. Chairman, business unit 30075, WMC
Preece Softball Park, felt the full force of the COVID -
19 pandemic and the protocols put in place to keep the Island safe. The necessary restrictions on large
groups and sports caused the decision to keep the facility closed, resulting in the performance t arget not
being met. As the Island gradually returns to some
semblance of normalcy, the use of the facility will i ncrease.
Mr. Chairman, in business unit 30080, WER
Joell Tennis Stadium, the average monthly use was higher than in 2021, up from 300 to 350 persons using
the facility each month but did not reach the forecas ted targets due to the pandemic. The Island is still in
the throes of the pandemic, but the number of indivi duals seeking to play tennis is respectable. The mont hly use for tennis events was down by two, which r eflects the impact of the health protocols that were in
place.
Mr. Chairman, for business unit 30090, [Motorsport Park,] the pandemic had an adverse effect on the use of the Motorsport Park, which remained
closed. As the Island learns to live with COVID -19,
use and participation will improve.
Mr. Chairman, business units 30120, 30130
and 30146, the Community Centres, increased the numbers of attendees from the prior year from 18,000
to 25,000. We are pleased with this improvement,
which is thanks to programming changes. But we recognise that it was lower than originally forecasted at
50,000. Unfortunately, this was due to the pandemic
and the lockdowns and restrictions, which limited the
facilities’ use. The programmes delivered also i ncreased from 13 to 28, although for the same reasons we did not achieve our original ambitious target of 45.
Mr. Chairman, it must be noted that throug hout the pandemic the community centres remained
660 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly open and offered programmes and virtual school opportunities to children of essential workers. The staff
and managers provided a safe environment for all
who used their facilities.

Minister, before you proceed, let me
just remind the Honourable Members and the listening audience that we are now in Committee of Supply for
further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and
Expenditure for the year 2022/23. We are now debat-ing the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Spor t.
Minister, you may proceed.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, it must be noted that throug hout the pandemic the community centres remained
open and offered programmes and virtual school opportunities to children of essential w orkers. The staff
and managers provided a safe environment for all
who used their facilities.
Mr. Chairman, business unit 30125, After
School Programmes and Clubs increased its average
number of participants from the prior year despite the
pandemic. The aggressive target of 400 students was
not met, but the actual numbers of attendees slightly
rose from 365 to 385. The After School Programme operates on the same schedule as the public schools
and followed all protocols established by the Ministries
of Heal th and Education, ensuring the required testing
and sanitation were in place to ensure COVID -19-safe
environments.
Mr. Chairman, business units 30150, 30160,
30165, 30170, Camping Facilities, saw a significant
rise in the number of campers, which is a pos itive si lver-lining effect of the pandemic. Not only did the
number of users increase from 850 to 1,658, the pr ogramme also exceeded its performance target of 1,500. The Camping Section received increase r equests for our camping facilities perhaps because
travel was more difficult and riskier during the pandemic. The large group exemptions and health prot ocols were followed, which limited the number of campers who could use facilities; otherwise, the numbers would have been greater. Notably, the user experience measures continue to reach 95 per cent satisfaction in showing improvement. The department is very pleased to be able to serve the country in this way, providing safe, fun and local recreation and hol idays.
Mr. Chairman, in business unit 30180, Day
Camps, there was an increase to the camping partic ipants from 1,560 to 1,658, which again exceeded the original target of 1,500. Mr. Chairman, as I hope has been evidenced by our performance measures, the
Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation was able
to have a successful year delivering valuable, well -
received programmes to the community despite the
impact that the COVID -19 pandemic had on the Island
socially and economically.
Mr. Chairman, in the past year the National
Youth Policy was completed. A wo rking group was
selected and tasked with developing a working plan to
• keep young people safe and protected from
harm, and achieve full potential in learning,
development and education;
• minimise antisocial behaviours;
• increase employment and entrepreneurship opportunities ;
• engage youth in sport , culture and recreation ;
• support young people to be active and
healthy;
• enable participation in civic engagement; and
• encourage diversity and inclusion.
Mr. Chairman, the Sports Section produced a
monthly sports ne wsletter to highlight events and performances that may not reach the media. There were
many accomplishments in sport in addition to Flora Duffy’s winning Bermuda’s first -ever gold medal at the
Tokyo Olympics in the sport of triathlon. Mr. Chai rman, the Dir ector of Youth, Sport and Recreation represented the Minister at the inaugural Junior Pan Am
[American] Games in Cali, Colombia. There were
many outstanding performances by our junior at hletes. Kaden Hopkins won the bronze medal in cycling
time trial. In o ther sporting events, Sebastian Kempe
won a gold medal in the Laser class at the Youth Sai ling World Championships in Oman. Sebastian was a
recipient of the National Junior Athlete Sponsorship
Programme. Those funds were used to assist him in attending the event. Jah- Nhai Perinchief is at present
the world’s leading triple jumper in sporting athletics.
Madelyn Moore has been crowned the WAC [Western
Athletics Conference] Swimmer of the Year. All of these rising stars are to be congratulated on their accompl ishments.
Mr. Chairman, the department is proud to
have arranged a welcoming motorcade for Flora
Duffy. The Olympic gold medal winner, when she r eturned home on 11 October, [was] presented a check
for $25,000 by the Premier at Cabinet Office. The celebrat ion was a countrywide event, as Flora also r eBermuda House of Assembly ceived the keys to the city from Mayor Gosling on the
steps of City Hall, in addition to getting a special cannon salute by the Spirit of Bermuda and having a special Goslings ru m named after her. The ecstatic w elcome of the proud and joyous crowds along the m otorcade, who presented gifts of flowers and the like,
were a pleasure for the whole country. The other honours presented to Flora in celebration include the r enaming of the former Corkscrew Hill in her hono ur,
and the naming of the Flora Duffy Stadium.
Mr. Chairman, for the upcoming year the department is nearing completion of the sports policy
and is conducting a management service review of
the department’s operations and procedures to ensure
that the dep artment’s mission and goals are in line
with the needs of the Island.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the dedicated staff at the Depar tment of Youth, Sport and Recreation for the work that
they do in advancing amateur s port, recreation and
youth development for all, which enhances the quality
of life for residents of Bermuda. Also, it is important for
me to recognise the significant contributions made by
our sportsmen and sportswomen and the pivotal role
they play in ins piring our youth to achieve their true
potential.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my presentation
on the fiscal year 2022/23 budgetary allocation for
Head 20, the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation.
Mr. Chairman, I am just going to take a sip of
water.

Please.

[Pause]

HEAD 52 —DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, I will now present
for fiscal year 2022/23 estimates of the expenditure and revenue for Head 52, the Department of Culture,
which can be found on pages B-253 through B -261 of
the Estimates Book.
Mr. Chairman, the department’s mission is “to
develop our creatives, preserve our heritage and celebrate our people.” The department’s objectives for
2022/23 are to
• support Bermuda's cultural, heritage and arti stic communities and institutions through developmental programmes and partnerships;
• preserve our heritage by promoting an understanding of Bermuda’s cultural identity
through education, research, publication and
enrichment programmes;
• celebrate our people a nd the development of
our national identity by curating cultural fest ivals, public discussions and educational pr ogrammes; and • serve as stewards of Bermuda’s cultural heri tage.
Mr. Chairman, the Department of Culture administers two programmes and 11 busi ness units. A
general summary is contained on page B -254 of the
Estimates of Expenditure and Revenue for financial
year 2022/23. The total estimate is $1,980,000. This represents an increase of $7,000, or less than 1 per
cent, from the 2021/22 original bud get of $1,973,000.
Mr. Chairman, we can note the general summary for
Head 52.
Mr. Chairman, like the rest of Bermuda and
indeed the world, the Department of Culture and its stakeholders have been impacted by a second year of
the COVID -19 pandemic. However, by putting into
practice some of the principles involved with the go vernment reform initiative, the department responded
with agility, embracing new ways of celebrating our culture that had been learnt in the first year of the
pandemic. The department r elied on creative thinking
to develop new ideas, new programmes and new formats of the programme delivery. This ensured that the
department served the community despite the cha llenges of these times.
Mr. Chairman, the department recognises that
the pandem ic has taken a financial and emotional toll
on our community. Our fellow Bermudians who keep
the doors of museums and galleries open, who are
musicians, performing artists and tradition- bearers of
all kinds have been affected. The Department of Culture is prepared to respond to the challenge by di aloguing with stakeholders to ensure that our pr ogrammes are having the intended necessary impact.
The department’s programming for the 2022/23 budget year is focused on addressing these challenges by providing pro gramming that will uplift our community
and offer opportunities for creatives to develop.
Mr. Chairman, I will now offer highlights of the
accomplishments, programmatic plans and changes
in estimates for the business units associated with the
Department of Culture.

Programme 5202—Cultural Affairs
Business Unit 62000 —Grants to Organisations

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the total amount
budgeted under these business units for financial year
2022/23 is $213,000. This represents a decrease of $35,000, or 14 per cent, when compared with the ori ginal budget allocation of $248,000 for financial year 2021/22. The decrease is primarily the result of grant
money allocated to support the Gombey troupes being
transferred directly into the Gombey Festival cost ce ntre.
Bermuda Arts Council: The Bermuda Arts
Council’s grant has decreased by $10,000 to
$130,000 for financial year 2022/23. This decrease
takes into account the funding that was needed by the council during the 2021/22 financial year. One of the
662 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly primary roles of the Bermuda Arts Council is to review
applications submitted by individual creatives and organisations for projects such as the creation of mus ical albums, film projects and visual arts exhibitions. The Arts Council represents the primary funding body
of the department to assist with these kinds of applic ations.
This 2021/22 financial year recipients of the
council’s grants included Melanie Eddy to assist with
showcasing her jewellery at a Sotheby’s exhibition in
New York; KaVon Busby to produce music videos of
self-composed songs; assisted Sierra Brangman to
publish a book intended to erase some of the stigma
around mental illnesses; Tiffany Paynter for the pr oduction of animated videos of spoken word poetry to
be used as teaching tools for the youth groups; and
support for other creatives.
In addition to the individual grants that were
awarded during the 2021/22 financial year, the Bermuda Arts Council also awarded six student scholarships to students for degrees in art education, theatre, production arts, film and digital media, dance, visual
arts and graphic design. The recipients were Naimah
Frith, Zihaire Adams, Nalani Dowling, Ravi Cannonier -
Watson, Gherdai Hassell and Daelyn Saint -Surin.
The Bermuda Arts Council also recognised six
artists in their annual awards ceremony: Major Ke nneth (Toki) Dill, Marjorie Pettit, the late Ted Ming, Paul
and Penelope Leseur and Daren A. Herbert.
Mr. Chairman, in addition to the fine work of
the Bermuda Arts Council, the department recognises the importance of supporting our tangible cultural heritage. Government plays a vital role in assisting Ber-muda’s museums and cultural institutions. As a result,
the department not only met but exceeded the for ecasted performance measure of providing grants to
organis ations that support our cultural heritage deve lopment, by providing 10 grants rather than the 5 pr ojected.
Heritage grants were awarded to the Bermuda
Historical Society Museum, the St. George’s Historical Society Museum, the Bermudian Heritage Museum,
the Bermuda National Trust, the National Museum of
Bermuda, as well as all five of Bermuda’s Gombey
troupes.
The Heritage grant will again be open for application during Heritage Month this May. The D epartment of Culture also provided a grant to the Ber-muda National Gallery in part for their stewardship of
the Watlington Collection of art owned by the Gov-ernment of Bermuda.

Business Unit 62001 —Administration

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the function of
this business unit is to provide for the administ ration
and operation of the Department of Culture, which is
located on the 3
rd floor of the Government Administr ation Building. Mr. Chairman, the allocated budget for financial year 2022/23 for this business unit is
$863,000, as shown on page B -254. This amount r eflects an increase of $55,000, or 7 per cent, compared
to the original budget for financial year 2021/22 of
$808,000. This increase is the result of salaries in f inancial year 2021/22 returning to standard levels, as well as funding needed for soci al media promotion of
the department’s programmes.
Mr. Chairman, the allocated budget sustains
both programmes of operation, including salaries and wages. The remainder of the budget provides for de-partment -wide promotion, office supplies, website
maintenance and development, and telephone services.
The department also met its new performance
measure of establishing initiatives related to digitiz ation. The online artist registry, creatives.bm
, was po pulated with 50 additional profiles, and a new website is
in development to be unveiled later in the calendar
year.

Business Unit 62010 —Emancipation and
Cultural Festivals

Hon. Tin ee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the total amount
allocated for this business unit in financial year
2022/23 is $75,000. This represents a decrease of
$2,000, or 3 per cent, compared to the original budget
of $77,000 allocated in the 2021/22 financial year. Mr.
Chairman, this business unit focuses on highlighting
the contributions of our root cultures —African, Cari bbean, Azorean, British and St. David’s Island Native
Community. The programmes in this unit align with
goals of our N ational Cultural Heritage Policy.
Emancipation Programme: The Department of
Culture commemorates Bermuda’s Emancipation
through programming that recognises the history of
enslavement and segregation experienced by Berm udians of African descent. Beyond commemoration, the initiatives of this programme also celebrate our African roots. Given our current environment, the theme for
the 2021 commemoration was appropriately “The R esilience of the African Spirit.”
The department produced a diverse calendar
of events and lectures sponsored in col laboration with
the Department of Libraries and Archives. These
events included Mary Prince Legacy Bus Tour with
Titan Express ; Art of Resistance Tour with Treasures
of Bermuda; and an open mic brunch with Tanaya
Presents, among other offerings.
The depar tment also hosted its second
Emancipation Youth Creativity Competition around the theme, “How have my ancestors made me strong?”
and partnered with Dr. Michael Bradshaw to host a
visit to the Good Samaritan Friendly Society Lodge.
The department met its objectives of hosting an event
for the 2021 commemoration. The event featured the
department’s first partnership with Jumuiya ya Afrika
showcasing an evening exploring the music, clothing


Bermuda House of Assembly and culinary traditions that connect Bermuda and ot her cultures of the diaspora with the African continent.
A “Roots Festival” planned to meet the department’s performance measure of supporting fest ivals, events and publications celebrating Bermuda’s
diverse cultural heritage was unable to proceed due to
COVID -19 restrictio ns. However, it is anticipated that
this will be able to proceed in the 2022/23 budget
year. A 2022 commemoration will feature an explor ation of Bermuda’s history of segregated nursing. In meeting with the department’s performance measure of supporting two research projects on Bermuda’s root
cultures Ms. Meredith Ebbin has conducted the r esearch necessary for this project to proceed in the upcoming financial year.
An additional project, the “Culture in my Yard”
workbook for families was created to meet the challenges of the pandemic. The booklet was based on
earlier research by naturopath, Dr. Kuni Frith, and
provided an activity for families during the stay -athome Order in April of 2021.

Business Unit 62020 —Heritage Celebrations

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the total amount
budgeted for this business unit for financial year
2022/23 is $273,000. This represents a decrease of $1,000, or less than a 1 per cent, compared to the
original budget of $274,000 allocated in 2021/22 f inancial year.
Mr. Chair man, this business unit covers the
cost of both Heritage celebrations and the Bermuda
Day Parade. Heritage Month began in 2021 with the fulfilment of one of the department’s youth performance measures, sponsoring a conference of cultural
heritage and arts stakeholders, where we launched
the department’s National Cultural Heritage Policy.
Many of the department’s performance
measures. including five public meetings, preparing
participants for the Bermuda Day Parade, 500 schools
and businesses courted to par ticipate in the Bermuda
Day Parade and 15 organisations participated in the
Bermuda Day Parade, were unable to be met as a result of the parade’s cancellation due to the pandemic.
However, in lieu of the annual parade, the d epartment hosted a Bermuda Day s howcase at the N ational Sports Centre featuring musical and dance per-formances. The creative and COVID -19-safe event
epitomised the 2021 Heritage Month theme—“Bermudian Resilience.” Partnering with CITV, a r obust schedule of past Bermuda Day Parades and cu ltural content aired throughout Heritage Month.
In 2021 the department launched the mini -
float initiative. Members of the public were invited to
create miniature floats on shipping pallets with items from their home, which were then displayed at the
Botani cal Gardens. The department met the performance measure of collaborating with our cultural par t-ners during Heritage Month events, celebrating Bermuda’s heritage. And this was a partnership in part
with the Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation, whose team
created m any how -to-do videos for the department.
As was announced earlier this week, the
theme for Heritage Month and Bermuda day 2022 is “Togetherness .” The department intends to host their
second annual Cultural Conference with stakeholders
in the creative community as a Heritage Month focus.
The department also looks forward to returning to
hosting the Bermuda Day Parade, as Bermuda e mbraces a return to normalcy.

Business Unit 62030 —Cultural
Education Programme

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the amount
budg eted for this business unit for financial year
2022/23 is $67,000. This represents an increase of $5,000, or 8 per cent, when compared to the original
budget allocations of $62,000 for financial year
2021/22.
Cultural Films: Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda
Folklife Documentary Series is a collection of full -
length feature films highlighting the traditions and tr adition -bearers of Bermuda. Documentaries in partic ular offer the opportunity to collect oral histories, the transcripts of which serve as a deeper record of the knowledge of our interviewees. The pandemic pr esented challenges in producing documentary films in
2021/22, and as a result [the department] did not meet
the performance measure of producing eight oral hi story transcripts or four educational materials.
However, the department not only met the
performance measure of producing and supporting
two films, but exceeded this measure through creative
short films on Bermuda’s folklife and culture. For example, our H aunting Bermuda[: Chilling Stories from
the Isles of Devils] and our interview films related to
Gherdai Hassell’s exhibition, “I Am Because You Are.”
In financial year 2022/23 the Department of
Culture will shine a light onto previously unexplored
areas of our history and culture by producing t wo do cumentary films.

Business Unit 62050 —National Heroes Day

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the amount
budgeted for this business unit for financial year
2022/23 is $45,000. This represents a decrease of
$16,000, or 26 per cent, when compared to the original budget in financial year 2021/22, or $62,000.
The decrease in this business unit takes into
consideration that expenses will not be incurred relat-ed to the naming of a new National Hero, as one will
not be selected this year.
Mr. Chairman, funds allocated with this bus iness unit are used to celebrate our National Heroes. In financial year 2021/22, the department fulfilled its
664 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly performance measure of boosting its annual educ ational public awareness campaign. This campaign is
intended to raise the pr ofile of our heroes and instil
national pride.
The department also met its performance
measure of organising an event marking the signif icance of our National Heroes by organising a series of
musical tributes at Victoria Park. Family members of
the heroes were invited to attend and [performances
were] livestreamed for the enjoyment of the general public. Performances included Joy T. Barnum, Val
Sherwood, Gene Steede, Willard Burch, Hannah
Bushara , Roddy Nesbi tt, Lamont Robinson and Shine
Hayward.
In financ ial year 2022/23 the department will
again boost educational campaigns and tributes honouring our National Heroes.

Business Unit 62060 —Promotion of the Arts

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the amount
budgeted for this business unit for financial year
2022/23 is $95,000. This represents an increase of
$9,000, or 10 per cent when compared to the original
budget for financial year 2021/22 of $86,000. The i ncrease in this business unit can be attributed to costs
relating to hosting the Writer in Residence.
Mr. Chairman, the Department of Culture
supports programming to develop our literary arts. With this aim in mind, the department hosts an annual
Writer -in-Residence workshop. In January 2022, the
Bermuda National Gallery included literary art submissions a s a category for its 2022 Bermuda Biennial.
To support Bermuda’s poets, the Department
of Culture met its performance measure of hosting an
annual developmental programme featuring a master
artist [and] hosted a four -week Writer -in-Residence
programme. The programme focused on generating
poetry for submission to the Biennial.
Although the usual format for this workshop
shifted to accommodate pandemic restrictions, the
department was delighted to host five Bermudian poets as workshop instructors: Dr. Chris topher Astwood,
Yesha Townsend, Alan C. Smith, Dr. Paul Maddern,
and Andre Simons. This workshop provided the opportunity to explore the theme of the Biennial “A New Vocabulary: Past. Present. Future” through the lens of
creative writing. The Department of Culture was ho noured to host this workshop in memory of Mr. Ronald Lightbourne, a Bermudian writer, musician, teacher,
mentor, and social activist who passed away in 2018.
In fiscal year 2022/23, the department’s Wri ter-in-Residence programme will host a ward -winning
author and Poet Laureate of the British Virgin Islands Dr. Richard Georges, for an intensive poetry wor kshop series.
Premier’s Concert: Mr. Chairman, the Premier’s Concert features talented artists that the depar tment has given funding to or s upported through pr o-gramming throughout the year. The concert serves as
a showcase of the Island’s most productive and current talents.
Mr. Chairman, although the department could
not meet its objective of hosting this event in the 2021/22 financial year due to COVID -19 and budgetary restrictions, it will still take place during the cale ndar year since in financial year 2022/23, the Premier’s Concert will be realigned as a showcase as part of the
National Heroes Day celebrations. This not only cr eates addi tional prestige for the event but also prevents
duplication of highlighting the same talented individ uals.
Art in Public Buildings: The Art in Public Buil dings project was launched in 2019 as part of a Throne Speech initiative and featured the works of art ists i ncluding Graham Foster, Sharon Wilson, and Gherdai
Hassell.
Mr. Chairman, the department will meet its
performance measure of supporting community initi atives that promote the arts through this programme. The department is currently in the process of selecting
the artists for this, with new work to be on display in
advance of Heritage Month.

Business Unit 62070 —Folklife

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the amount
budgeted for this business unit for financial year
2022/23 is $59,000 (see page B -254). This represents
a decrease of $41,000, or 41 per cent when compared
to the original budget of $100,000 for financial year
2021/22. This decrease is the result of reducing the
number of cultural apprenticeships as well as eliminating overseas lecturers, in order to reallocate funding in
accordance with the department’s priorities for this
financial year. Activities that come under this business
unit are the Bermudian Heartbeats Lecture Series and
the Cultural Apprenticeship Programme.
Bermudian Heartbeat s: Mr. Chairman, the
Bermudian Heartbeats Lecture Series, now in its 19
th
year, highlights various aspects of Bermudian history and culture. During financial year 2021/22, the D epartment of Culture met its performance measure
forecast of hosting six lectur es through this series.
Some of the programmes included a tour of historical
locations in St. David’s, a talk on Bermuda’s response
to the current pandemic, and a panel discussion on
Asian identity in Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman, in the 2022/23 financial year,
the Department of Culture will feature events such as
a lecture on climate change, a talk on the history of the Cottage Hospital and of course, and our annual
holiday concert designed to highlight young, up- andcoming musicians.
Mr. Chairman, the Department of Culture offers the Cultural Apprenticeship Programme to support the preservation of cultural knowledge and skills from one generation to the next. During financial year


Bermuda House of Assembly 2021/22, the department’s plans for this programme
were somewhat impacted by the pandemic, and as a
result the programme is beginning this month with a
focus on the cultural industry of sustainable farming.

Business Unit 62080 —Research and Publication

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the amount
budgeted for this business unit for fi nancial year
2022/23 is $31,000. This represents a decrease of
$22,000, or 42 per cent when compared to the original
budget of $53,000 for financial year 2021/22.
Mr. Chairman, the department recognises the
importance of supporting original research on Ber muda and is pleased to contribute to the development of material on Bermudian Folklife , culture and heritage.
Although the department was not able to meet its measure of producing a publication during the
2021/22 financial year, the focus was instead placed
on a new “Culture at Home” project, launched in r esponse to the stay -at-home order in April 2021.
Through this initiative, the department created recor dings such as filmed webinars of Ronnie Chameau’s
instructional doll- making and an at -home concert with
Joy T. Barnum.
Building upon the success of Flora Duffy’s
Olympic win that we recently celebrated with a rush of national pride, in the 2022/23 financial year the department will produce a series of short films entitled
“Gold Bermudians: Profiles in Excel lence. ” These
short films will capture the inspiring stories of Berm udians who have excelled on the international stage.

Business Unit 62180 —Special Projects

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, funding has not
been allocated for this business unit for fina ncial year
2022/23, reflecting a decrease of $26,000, or 100 per
cent when compared to the original budget estimate for financial year 2021/22 of $26,000.
Mr. Chairman, typically the funds allocated to
this business unit are used to support any special r equests on cultural projects. However, funding was di stributed to focus more precisely on other priorities of
the department.
In the 2021/22 financial year, these funds
were used for the Flora Duffy Day Celebrations. Highlights included a welcome motorcade w ith music truck
from the airport and a public art contest that resulted
in a commemorative mural that is presently being cr eated. The celebrations culminated with a tribute con-cert offered both in- person at Victoria Park and virtually as a pre- recorded mus ic video. The video featured
interviews with Flora Duffy between performances by
Bermuda’s best artists in tribute to our golden Olympian. These celebrations met the performance measure of implementing aspects of the National Cultural Heritage Policy.
Programme 5203—Community Services
Business Unit 62100 —Uncover the
Arts Programme

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, the allocated
budget in financial year 2022/23 for this business unit
is $115,000. This is an increase of $22,000, or 24 per
cent, when compared to the original estimates for f inancial year 2021/22 of $93,000. This increase is the result of a change in programme, with different ass ociated costs.
Mr. Chairman, in previous years, this cost
centre was dedicated primarily to subsidising cultural
tours. However, in financial year 2021/22, funds ass ociated with this business unit were shifted away from
the original forecast of portfolio building and coordinating cultural certification initiatives. Instead, a robust focus was placed on sponsoring events showcasing
and supporting musicians affected by the pandemic
through the Department of Culture’s new “Creatives
Live” lunchtime concert series.
Through the implementation of this series, the
department exceeded its performance measure of hosting four events showcasing and supporting the
development of performing artists, and instead hosted
12 events. This programme provides the dual benefit
of giving our artists the opportunity to perform, as well as enlivening our social atmosphere. The department also sp onsored open mic nights at The Griot, intended
to encourage our community to share and develop
their talents.
Mr. Chairman, in financial year 2022/23 the
department will continue to build upon the success of
the Creatives Live programme and sponsorships f or
open mics. We will also develop a programme de-signed to develop our creatives through portfolio buil ding. This programme will provide support such as vi deo production and pairing with industry mentors.
Business Unit 62210 —Gombey Festival

Hon. Tinee Fu rbert: Mr. Chairman, the amount all ocated for this business unit in 2022/23 is $144,000.
This represents a $60,000 increase, or 71 per cent,
when compared to the original budget estimate of
$84,000 for financial year 2021/22. This increase is
the result of funding to support the G ombey troupes
shifting from 62000—Grants business unit to the
Gombey Festival business unit. This additional funding also covers costs associated with creating a leg acy film about the Gombey troupes.
The Bermuda International Gombe y Festival:
Mr. Chairman, prior to the pandemic, the Gombey
Festival has been held annually to provide exposure
to the folk art and traditions of the G ombey. In
2021/22, the department was unable to meet the per-formance measures associated with hosting a G ombey Festival as a result of the pandemic including
hosting a festival educational component, sponsoring
666 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly a Gombey cultural project, showcasing the troupes’
contributions to Bermuda’s culture, or inviting performers from similar root cultures to participat e in the
Gombey Festival.
However, Mr. Chairman, it is the department’s
vision that the Gombey Festival will continue to cel ebrate the Bermuda Gombey and related art forms.
The allocated budget for fiscal year 2022/23 will f inance the cost of event infras tructure, financial
awards to participating Gombey troupes, local partic ipating other dance groups, and other weekend events
related to the G ombey art form.
Mr. Chairman, there is no change to emplo yee numbers with the full -time equivalents remaining at
eight as found on page B -256.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my presentation
on the budgetary allocation for financial year 2022/23 for Head 52, the Department of Culture.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
and thank you Minister for delivering that comprehensive brief. It was very comforting to hear that the Mi nistry has been able to continue throughout COVID -19
to produce and pivot where necessary from in- person
[to being able to] pick up new ways to chronicle our
culture and our history through digital forms and other
means. So, it is much appreciated. It has been a
tough couple of years, and I am sure that most all of
us are very happy to be able to put the COVID -19
pandemic behind us and get on with the next gener ation and getting back to some form of normal lifestyle.
I would like to begin by commenting on the
overall Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport, which
begins on page B -242. In particular, I just wanted to
make the observation of the fact that we have clearly,
or the Government has clearly been able to keep the
budget under control. It looks as though a lot of
thought has gone into this to make sure that we are
able to continue to develop within this Ministry and
produce results without having to severely decrease
or increase the budget in order to produce results.
I am sure that much of that has come from the
creativity and innovation especially in Culture to be able to find new ways in which we can express ourselves. And I do just want to just generally without calling out any line items highlight creatives .bm. I was
super impressed with that website. I am hoping that this is the kind of thing that we can continue to generate where people are able to really gain additional exposure on such a broad level because once it b ecomes digital it is worldwide. And the exposure is fantastic.
So, congratulations to the Ministry, congrat ulations to all of the team members who have worked hard through very difficult times.
I would like to begin with Head 71, Ministry of
Youth, Culture and Sport. I am going to begin on page B-243. I am going to use line item 81000, Administr ation.
Are you okay, Mr. Chairman?

Okay, thank you.
I would again like to congratulate the team of
about eight members of staff who have been able to
develop the National Youth Policy. This is clearly a comprehensive document. The document covers ev ery aspect of youth development. I could not think of
anything that was missing. So, it is a comprehensive
overview and a great start. The idea that last month
the working group was appointed. Eighteen members
of the community are now willing, prepared and committed to really give a deep dive into that policy and
come up with some strategies and some individual
action plans in order to bring that policy to life.
So, we certainly hav e a good ground to stand
on, and this is great, because we also have some
challenges when we consider youth, which is the audience that we are speaking to today, they have been
inactive for two years with the pandemic. I am sure
that there are health issues, whether mental wellness, the physical through obesity and rising weight due to
the difficulty in being able to exercise and be active
and maybe not eating as well as they could , and it is
difficult. You cannot blame anyone; the circumstances
were just s o unbelievable being sheltered in place for
so long.
And because of that we have also seen the
possibility and the threats, the risks of antisocial behaviour. So, as we are embarking on the National
Youth Policy, it is almost as if we are also focusing i n
on a target audience of youth who have taken a step
or two back. So, it is going to be a real challenge for
the working group to be able to get our children, our
youth, back up to the threshold and then be able to excel them forward in their development and their
growth.
Now, with the national working group and the
team that has written [the National Youth Policy] and
prepared it under 81000, on page B -243, they have
done a great job. But I do have one question around the Youth Policy. And that is wheth er there is going to
be any real meat around it. It is a four -year plan, and I


Bermuda House of Assembly am curious whether there is going to be a budget for
that, whether there are going to be stipends or pa yments to the working group members at all, and how
we are actually going to form our structure around that
financially. Can the Minister give us a little bit of infor-mation on that?
I am also curious, on the non-financial side of
things, whether there are going to be any young pe ople resourced through the National Youth Polic y. I did
notice that the age group of the working group is more mature, solid adults. I am just wondering whether any youth who are actively in that space right now may be
able to provide some additional insight.
I am also wondering, if we are going to ha ve
the National Youth Policy for the next four years or so
whether there will be formal performance measures
put into the Budget Book moving forward, especially if
a budget is applied for the implementation of the pol icy. Will we have performance measures so that we
will have a clear indication of where we are in the pr ogress of the strategy and also be able to see how the young people are progressing with the activities and
strategies that will be activated through that.
There was one other piece as well . I noticed
that there have been small financial grants provided for some entrepreneurial support. When I was reading
through the Youth National Policy I was just thinking about young or entrepreneurial organisations that are
sprouting out. I remember Pay a Kid, I know that there
is someone who started yoga, just things that are sort
of the non- traditional programmes versus the traditional programmes that will be brought into or woven
into the policy in some way so that we are not left necessarily just going along the same track that we
have always gone, but that we are also looking at ot her ways in which we might be able to spur the interests of our youth, get them committed, and get them
motivated to get involved and hopefully make lifetime
commitments to healthy activity.
Before I leave line item 81000, there was talk
about the National Sport Policy. So, it will be interes ting to see how that develops over time. I did a little
research and I noticed that especially after the Oly mpics that there are some c ountries that are really developing quickly. And some of them have some very progressive sport policies in place. One of them, as an example, was Canada. They have a website called
Sport Canada. And their national sport policy really
starts with the young child introducing activity at a
very early exploratory stage. And the policy really develops through recreation and then junior sports and
then into elite sports. The pathways and the strat egies
of that process seemed very attractive, and the kind of
thing that would interest a lot of people be cause it is
not immediately jumping into the deep end and having
to swim. But it is a development over time.
I also appreciated through research incorp orating the fact that we are not all the same. We are not all going to be introduced to sport in the same ways, and to recognise our diversity and to recognise the
differences that we bring to the table and being able to
recognise and accept and be able to have a plan for
all people and not just what might be descri bed as the
mainstream.
So those were my suggestions for the National Sports Policy. I certainly look forward to hearing
more about its development over the coming months.
The other piece too, while I am at it, Flora
Duffy and Clarence Hill are fantastic resources, and
certainly as we are developing a sport policy it will be really interesting, and hopefully the Ministry will tap
into them as a resource to find out more about their
journey. I am sure that they both have their own ind ividual ways in which t hey got to the elite athlete
space, and I am sure there is much for us to learn in
that space as we develop the sport policy. So, I am just putting out there that I am looking forward to hearing more as that policy develops.
I would like to move on to page B -244. I would
like to look at the professional services, which is seeing not a particularly large increase over the 2021/22 original. And given that in 2021 the spend was substantially less, I would presume that this came from
the restrictions due to CO VID-19. But I would be i nterested in finding out a little bit more about what pr ofessional services will actually be involved in that,
whether that is going to have anything to do with the National Youth Policy and funding the National Youth
Policy. I hear d the Honourable Minister speak to trai ning and some other kinds of developments that would require professional services. But I would not mind hearing just a little bit more detail around that if poss ible.
On page B -245, performance measures,
number 4. I t is a new performance measurement for
2022/23. But I would like to know what that is. It says,
“Percentage of Ministerial Policy Priorities Completed.” I am not sure if that means the National Youth Policy, but I am just curious to find out what those po licy priorities are.
Now, I would like to move on to Head 20,
Youth, Sport and Recreation. I would like to begin on
page B -247 and head to 30055. Now, I may get this
confused. As I was listening to the Honourable Mini ster, I got the impression . . . I want ed to speak to anti -
doping for a moment. There was a reference that anti -
doping may have moved to 30065, to Sport Inves tments. Is that correct, Minister?

Please excuse me if I have
gotten it mixed up. If I look at the number of the budget for anti -doping, I would suspect that it has been
668 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly moved to line 30065 because the anti -doping budget
for this year is about $450,000. And, of course, that
new line item would be able to manage it, given that it
is budgeted at $1.486 [million]. So, I am going to go
on the assumption that anti -doping is there.
This comes up every year. And I guess it is a
thorn in a lot of people’s sides because it is so expe nsive; that so much money is spent on this anti -doping
programme. As I was doing my research the bottom
line is that we seem to be spending more money on
the anti -doping programme than we are ac tually
spending and investing in the individual sports pr ogrammes to develop the athletes to get to the level
where they even need to have the anti -doping pr ogramme.
So, I am really wrestling with how we can
make the anti -doping programme more robust. May be
there is more we can do at the local level just to utilise
the programme and get value for money from it. Or
how are we actually able to reconcile that we are actually spending $450,000 on a testing programme, but yet there are so many sporting associat ions that are
getting grants for, you know, $10,000, $5,000, $20,000 and so how can we develop our young at hletes with such low amounts of money and then this
whole bunch of money is going towards this testing
programme?
One thought that I had was, Well, we are in an
environment where there is the use of recreational
drugs. So maybe as we are developing our sports
programme, I am sure the athletes and coaches would like to see more discipline in the fields of athletics. And maybe we might be able to utili se the pr ogramme more at a local level. But I will leave that at
the side for a second, just to go back and speak to the
programme itself.
As I understand it, the anti -doping testing is
predominantly used when athletes are preparing to travel overseas to compete. And I also understand
that when we have athletes traveling from abroad into
Bermuda for events, such as the World Triathlon or
the CARIFTA Games, whatever it may be, that our
anti-doping programme is utilised for those purposes
as well for visitin g athletes.
I do not mean to ruffle feathers, but in an effort to find value for money with this programme, given the fact that we have national sports here, such as
cricket and football, is there an opportunity as we d evelop our sports policy and really start to generate
athletes from a young age and get them committed
and disciplined to their particular sport and as they are
developing that, at a national level we may be able at some point to introduce the programme in an effort to
keep a high level of i ntegrity around our national
sports here in Bermuda. It particularly brings to mind
that we just move toward as much . . . we have such
an opportunity. We have all of these talented young
people. We have an array of sports and a variety of
sports on the Is land. If we can get our youth in at a very young age and watch, sort of, the “Flora” journey
of starting at the age of 6 or 7 and make it a complete
lifestyle, that we really have an opportunity to open up
an entire new channel for our young people through
education and sports scholarships, travel and good
health. There is just so much to be gained here. The
investment that we are able to make into the sports
programmes in Bermuda would really reap benefits
and great dividends, not only for the athletes, but also
for Bermuda as a whole.
I will move on from line 30065 or 30055 (I am
not sure which one it is), and I would like to move over to page C -20 which has 6880, which is the elite at hlete assistance. A welcomed amount of money is being allocated, $100,0 00, to the elite athlete assistance.
I understand that this will give a positive boost for our elite athletes to have the resources to proceed with their athletic abilities to be able to travel and compete
and really ass ert themselves onto the world stage.
But as we are doing that, and creating more
assistance and putting more investment into the elite
athlete, I am just making a suggestion that as we are increasing the budget that we are also able to i ncrease and improve our policies and procedures
aroun d the elite athlete assistance and the pr ogramme, that we are able to make it very clear what
the instructions and standards are for our elite at hletes so that they understand and that all of the sports
governing bodies also understand what policies are in
place so that when an athlete is heading into an international sporting stage that everybody fully understands what decisions are being made, how decisions are being made, in order for them to compete overseas on the international stage as elites.
Stayin g on page C -20, number 6878, contr ibution to sports development. Last year this was
$1.34 million and this year it is estimated to be $1.546 million. I am of the understanding that these will be
the contributions to sports development and has ev erything to do with the sport governing bodies and the
sports associations. My suggestion as we are taking a
look at the amounts of money that we are giving . . .
and it was wonderful to see in a different financial c apacity that we were able to support sports associ ations from an operational perspective so that they
were able to keep the lights on, and make sure that
the facilities were kept up to date through COVID -19.
But as we move into a disciplined, more structured sports policy, as we start to really seriously develop
our youth and get more and more children interested in athletics, I would like to see as part of the grant gi ving that we also provide an opportunity for the sports
bodies to improve as well. There may be ways in
which the Government might be able to work with the
idea that as the sports bodies are able to improve that
there are also the possibilities of larger grants or additional incentives of some sort.
One of the reasons that this comes to my
mind is that as I was doing research for this debat e, I


Bermuda House of Assembly noticed that we still are grappling with a culture of behaviour that is sometimes a little un- sportsmanlike and
that we need to begin to move in a positive direction
rather than allowing what I am going to describe as
un-sportsmanlike [behaviour] to continue because it
bodes badly on our sports clubs, it is not a best feeling
for our athletes, and, of course, we often times have
visiting umpires and other officials who are participa ting in our sporting events. And the last thing we need
to do is spend a whole lot investing in the youth, getting them to the point where they are right at the
threshold of national elite athlete, and yet we are
missing a component of sportsmanship.
So, the clubs can play a part in that. And with
the grants that are provided we may be able to put in
place the ability of the clubs to take on a bit more of
the responsibility that we can potentially look at giving
incentives for when clubs and their sports teams are
able to perform well, where the behaviour is exempl ary, you k now that there may be the incentive of additional points for the season and that sort of thing. And
in the reverse, that if we are unable to have a sort of
disciplined environment that there would be the potential of maybe losing points for the season. May be that
kind of environment will maybe get more people ves ted in making sure that we are always at the top of our game as far as our behaviour and our conduct on the field, and off the field.
I am quite sure, maybe as part of the professional services, th at the Ministry may be able to pr ovide support in the way of instruction and strategies
on how the sports bodies may be able to provide pr ogrammes around discipline. And I mean athletic disc ipline. You know, the ability to say, Yes, I am going to
get up a 6:00 am every morning and I am going to do
my drills and I am going to get to the field on time and
I am going to make sure that no matter how angry I
am or whatever may happen on the field I am going to
manage my emotions in such a way that I am always
at [my] best. So, then we are developing an all -around
athlete and it is not just about the physical skill, but it
is also developing the person and the behaviours and
the conduct of our players.
Under the contributions to sports develo pment, still with 687 8 on page C -20, the Minister
touched ever so gently in the news, not so much in the brief, about the lottery system. I do not know
whether this is the appropriate time to find out a little
more around that, but the idea, again, moving into
having structure and guidelines around the allocation
of grants and funds that, should we proceed with the lottery, we have really clear guidelines, that the alloc ations are clearly understood and that maybe these
lotteries and additional funding can be used as a part
of the incentives to really good performance at the
clubs within the associations, et cetera. And that we
would have performance measure around that as well.
As the Budget Book continues to grow, as you
know it is many hundreds of pages already, I believe that it is really important for us to see how the ass ociations and governing bodies are performing, and if
we continue to give grants and if we are able to i ncrease grants over time, whether that is through lotteries or reallocation of funds, that we are als o having
performance measures to see how these sporting clubs and sporting bodies are actually performing and
measuring their participation and their team conduct
on the field.
I would now like to move back to page B -247,
30065, which might now be 30055, I am not sure, but
again as we are developing, I spoke on page C -20
under the sports bodies about the well -developed,
seasoned athlete. But as we are developing our youth, again, if we can have some kind of performance measure around that investment that w e are
making in sports so that the youth programmes are
actually reporting results, that we have structured
youth guidelines and policies and procedures around
any future investments that are made, especially as
the young are developing over time.
Now, on the same page, B -247, line 30060,
again I am not sure. I wanted to speak a bit to the N ational Sports Centre, which I believe falls under this
heading. The budget is $1.313 [million] and has r emained consistent. But I did want to raise the same
issue agai n as I was referring to with the anti -doping.
We are spending a lot of money. In this case, keeping
the lights on at the National Sports Centre to the tune
of about $1.1 million in grant money for operations.
I would just really like to feel that there is
some skin in the game in the operations versus the
actual development of our youth. It is challenging
sometimes to drive by the National Sports Centre. It is
super large. And if there are people there, sometimes
the size of the stadium swallows up the par ticipants.
But it would be wonderful if we were able to have more activity at the National Sports Centre on a larger
scale. If we really put our heads together, there may be ways in which we can have more sporting events,
especially if it may be tied to some of the funding that
we are providing.
Now, I know that our hands are tied because
if they (“they,” being the board of trustees or those
that are managing the sports facility) . . . but, you
know, the lights have to come on no matter what or
the facilit y will fall apart. But at the same time, if we
had some regular annual, whether during the budget
debate, kind of indication that there is a real effort being made to attract events and sports festivals to the
sports centre and that the school usage . . . I reme mber last year there was conversation about why, now
that we are getting back to in- person and the rest,
can’t we have more schools find ways to get children
back to the sports centre so that they can use the f acilities on a regular basis as part of the school curric ulum, having more community activity at the National Sports Centre. But I just feel as though we are just
losing money every year, and such a substantial
670 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly amount of money, again, to keep the lights on. And
that money could be going to the development of our
children. So, it is really, really hard to see an inves tment in brick and motor instead of having that inves tment going into the development of our youth and sport. So, I wanted to make that comment.
I would like to move on to Culture. S o that is it
for me on Head 20. Let me just have a double check here to make sure there weren’t any little questions
. . . No, that’s it.
Okay, Head 52. Before I get started, I am just
so impressed with the submission of the National Cul-tural Policy. It is robust. It is well presented and put
together. Certainly, the author , as written on the document submitted by Kim Dismont, so well done. And
the team that she worked with all deserve s o much
credit. It is well put together. It is motivating, it is inspi-rational, and I look forward to seeing the results that
come out of the implementation of that policy.
So now I just have here Head 52, line 62100,
and that is on page B -254, under Uncover the Arts.
So, $115,000 has been allocated. Clearly last year it was lower, but I also understand that this may . . . and
I understand through my interpretation of some of the
performance measures that the Arts Council is taking
a larger role in that. Please correct me if I am wrong.
But I would like to give credit to th e Arts Council and
the procedure and the manner in which they are able
to receive requests, how they are processed, and
grants provided where they are approved.
Actually, a couple of years ago, I went through
the process. I found that those who are managing the Arts Council were responsive. They were highly knowledgeable and able to give guidance and answer
questions, and really drive that initiative with real force
and expertise. So at this point I don’t have any particular questions. It is going well, as I can see. I look
forward to the Arts Council taking a greater role in being able to attract arts and culture and artists to the
Ministry and be able to provide the support and assi stance that they need.
I noticed under 62001, administration (I am
still on page B -254), that there is a bit of an increase
from the 2020/21 revised, which was $706,000 and
the estimate is going up this year 2022/23 to $863—

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman.
MP Jackson, I just wanted to know which
business unit you are speak ing to. I am not following
that number.

I am just curious what has
been added, whether that is an additional salary or
whether that is some amount of money that is going to
be allocated towards the National Cultural Policy. I am
just interested in finding out who or what has been added to the administration under the Department of
Culture.
I am going to the next page, B -255, again we
are still on Head 52, under expenditure for profes-sional services. Last year, given there was COVID -19,
there was about $300,000 for professional services.
We have brought it back up. We have gone just a little
above what it was originally budgeted for at $574,000.
But if I could just get a little bit more detail on what the
professional services will involve or include for the
$574,000. There is on page B -254, 62020, Heritage
Celebrations. Last year there was mention, and you
might have mentioned it this year, about a cultural conference. I was just curious as to what that might
be. I know that under the heritage celebration we are
budgeting for the Bermuda Day Parade. I love that
parade. So, I am sure all of Bermuda will be super excited about that.
But a cultural conference was also mentioned.
If that is something that we are looking for, whether we can afford it this year, but it sounded interesting
when I heard it last year and I made a note of it. I
would like to know more and what that will actually
involve and, if it happened this year maybe virtually
and I missed it. But it sounds like an exciting and i nteresting concept, especially if we can do something
in person. So, I just wanted to ask the Minister a little
bit more about the cultural conference under heritage
celebrations.
Under 62030, Cultural Education Pr ogrammes. It looks as though only $3,000 was spent
on this line item last year. But this year we are going to go back up to the $67,000. And I would suspect
that under Cultural Education Programmes that ma ybe there is . . . I would like to know a little bit more
about what kind of programmes are involved. As I was
just brainstorming myself I was thinking that it is a
great tim e to have things like maybe study guides for
education, maybe some documentaries if maybe that is already what this is. But to have more documen-taries. And then I started thinking about some of the
historical and cultural milestones that we have exper ienced this year. And I was thinking about historical
land loss and the possibility of developing stories on
that, and Spittal Pond and Jeffrey’s Cave, whether this
is something else that can be added to the cultural education programmes. I am just curious as t o what is
in the works for this year for that, and if they are still in
the process of planning that maybe there would be
consideration to add additional subjects.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chai rman.
I am just reading over my notes. Some of
these the Minister answered in her brief , so I am not
going to be repetitive.
Folklife Bermuda, 62070. In 2020/21 we spent
$100,000 for the celebration of Parliament’s 400th Anniversary I believe, which was very well done in my
personal opinion. And this year we are budgeting
$59,000. I am just curious. I believe I heard the Mini ster make reference to the Premier’s Concert and
maybe the Writers -in-Residence. But I am just curious
as to what else.
I’m sorry, promotion of the Arts, 62060, which
I am sorry I completely . . . the wrong line item. We
spent about $30,000 last year, but we are going back
up to the $95,000 this year. I think I understood that
that was around the Premier’s Concert, things like Writers -in-Residence. So I am just curious if there is
anything other than that for this year if the Minister might be able to remind us what some of those are.
And then going back to 62070, Folklife Bermuda, I believe that last year that was the 400
th [Anniversary] of Parliament. I am curious. We only seem to be budgeting about half that amount, $59,000 this
year. I am just wondering if there is anything in the works for Folklife this year.
Still on Head 52, 62210 , I am just curious if
the Minister might . . . I am sure the community would
be okay with a surprise, but under Gombey Festival there w as some discussion about investment. There is
$144,000 allocated for this year. There was some di scussion . . . I thought I heard the Minister say som ething about investment in infrastructure. I am just cur ious if we might get a little more detail as to wh ether
that money is going to be used for the actual troupes to travel, to import troupes that have been part of the festival in the past. But I am interested in finding out a
little bit more about what is planned for the Gombey
Festival to support it this year, especially since I went
over to page B -261, under performance measures. I
do not understand number 4, where it says, “Invite performers from similar root cultures to participate in the Gombey festival.”
We have had in the past up to three groups
come in. I was just curious why we are targeting for
this year not to have any groups come in. It kind of
makes me feel like we will have a different model, a
different kind of Gombey Festival this year. I was just interested in finding out more about that.
With that, I am going to close, Mr. Chairman.
That is it for my comments.

That’s fine.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Okay.
There was a question in regard to whether the
National Youth Policy have any meat around it, or
budget for it, or are there any stipends or payments to
the working group. So, there is not a dedicated budget
for the working group. However, Youth, Sport and
Recreation will support it when necessary and also
the participants in the group are volunteers. So, there
is no payment for this work or financial reporting necessary for it. So, they are very graciously giving back
to their community by making sure that t he National
Youth Policy, the work around it, is being done. So, we want to thank all of these participants in the wor king group.
Will there b e any young persons resourced
into the working group? Actually, five of the members are aged under 24 and the you ngest member is 16.
As far as performance measures, more details
in regard to the National Youth Policy, ministerial pr iorities vary from year to year. And that sometimes can
be unanticipated. For example, the Creative Lives
programme and the large group exemptions became
the priority but were not necessarily planned. I did
mention actually in the report that the Ministry’s prior ities were around the large group exemptions as well
as the National Youth Policy.
There was a question as to whether or not
there would be formal performance measures for the National Youth Policy in the Budget Book. Youth pr ogrammes partnered with the National Sports gover ning bodies to expose clients to all of the fundamentals of the various sports. And it aligns with the National
Youth Policy goals five and six.
Additionally, there was a question around
Youth and Sport providing grants to organisations with youth development programmes. The initiatives are geared toward increasing youth engagement in sports
and recreation and actually in the Budget Book I think
it is page C -23. There is $1,034 million that is contri buted to sports development, and it varies across di fferent sport team associations. So, Government is still
committed to providing $1,034 million towards spor ting p rogrammes which also includes youth development programmes.
672 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly There was a question in regard to the anti -
doping budget. I just wanted to share that it is necessary for Bermuda to have an anti -doping funding
structure in order for our athletes to perform int ernationally. Bermuda has to have an anti -doping mechanism and structure wrapped around it. So, it is a necessary cost.
Bermuda has to remain neutral in performance enhancing testing, and it is very expensive. We have an educational component for participants to
ensure that they understand the pitfalls of sports dop-ing. So it is a very necessary programme, the anti -
doping structure.
There was a question around will there be any
other ways to spur interest from our youth and get them involved. Our communi ty centres will be facilita ting quarterly platforms for dialogue and development. So, we know that our community programmes actually
have a variety of these children. So, to even answer
MP Jackson’s question in regard to younger children
being involved in dialogue and development, there will be opportunities for that.
There was a question in regard to the working
group, eight subcommittees. They have two seats to
be filled by our school leaders.
There was question around youth starting in
sports at a younger age and whether or not the Mini stry was looking at that particular issue. All of the n ational sporting governing bodies have a youth compo-nent to them which funds are specifically for development. So most of the national sports governing bodies
have a youth development component to their bodies.
Another question was, is there a way for Go vernment to work with the NSGBs [national sporting governing bodies] to include and provide larger
grants. Youth, Sport and Recreation provides the
grants, which I m entioned earlier, to the NSGBs,
which can be found on page C -23.
There was a question in regard to the lottery
system. This idea is still in its early stages. It is an
idea deemed to have potential, but it has not been
developed to any extent. It is stil l in its early stages.
There was a question around professional
services and what they were. On page B -244 the pr ofessional services actually relate to events, marketing
and consulting services for research and develop-ment. And, if necessary, yes some can be attributed
to the Youth Policy because there was a question will
any of it be towards the National Youth Policy.
There was a question in regard to professional services for achievement of ministerial policy prior ities, a special project related to communication, social
media presence and support for sport and culture
events. And the Youth Policy expenditure will be all ocated in the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation budget. So this all goes back to whether or not the Youth Policy will be suppor ted if necessary for
budgetary reasons. So, yes, that will be supported through Youth, Sport and Recreation budget. There was a question in regard to the National
Sports Centre in regard to the amount of money spent there, possibly a need going to our sports athletes.
But we must recognise, as I did already mention in the
Budget Debate, is that the National Sports Centre is an essential part of our country’s sporting infrastructure, and it is deserving of the funding designated.
There was a comment in regard to the electricity bill
being expensive. We are actively working on that —it
is in the public sphere —in regard to the system panelling. I mentioned in the report in regard to the electric bill being at $600,000 and we are looking to reduce
that with the solar system that will be put in place. It is
actually underway as we speak.
We spend lots of money on the National
Sports Centre, so there has to be some skin in the
game in the operations versus the development of our youth. There was a question in regard to can we have
more activity at the National Sports Centre on a larger
scale. There is activity at the Centre. We would know
also in the public sphere that we have teams that
come down to actually train, and actually in the midst of COVID -19 we had an o verseas team come down to
train using our National Sports Centre.
The National Sports Centre does provide an
activity report which the Ministry of Youth, Sport and
Culture will detail more in their year -end review, which
is near completion. So, that information should be
forthcoming so we have a better idea of the utilisation
of the National Sports Centre. But it is used.
There was a question in regard to pre- COVID -
19, was the National Sports Centre used. It was used
every day by the public, including th e gym, the north
field, the swimming pool, the aquatic centre, the hoc key pitch and the track. I have to say I was out there. I
was using the track as well, walking in the mornings.
There were many people out there using the track. And the facility is ful ly used after working hours because the population is either in schools during the
day or working. On any given day there were 300 to
400 people noted utilising the National Sports Centre
at the same time, in addition to football teams, hockey
teams, swim clubs, rugby teams, track clubs and the
regular members of the National Sports Centre all ut ilising the facility.
I just wanted to clarify a point that was made
in regard to the Uncover the Arts, 62100, which was
on page B -254. The arts mentioned in regard to the
Arts Council being involved with Uncover the Arts. I
just wanted to clear that up that the Arts Council is not
involved with Uncover the Arts. Uncover the Arts funds creative lives and the new programmes assis ting with developing creatives.
There was a question with regard to what has
been added on page B -254, [cost centre] 62001, with
the increase in budget to $800,000. The increased cost is associated with the department’s plan to i mplement a social media strategy to improve public
awareness of Bermuda’s [ INAUDIBLE ] programmes.


Bermuda House of Assembly And also, it was mentioned in the Budget today that
there was also a component of increasing our salaries
to standard levels and that was due to the austerity
measures that were in that previous year.

No, that’s fine. I thought I heard MP
Jackson speaking. But she was garbled.
Please proceed, Minister.
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Okay.
There was a question in regard to Head 52
requiring more information in regard to the professional services. And MP Jackson , I was just going to
answer the question that you just had.
We shifted some of the funding originally captured in contribution to contractors. This is partially
attributed to developing more working partnerships with stakeholders as opposed to strictly grant funding.
There was a question in regard to the cultural
education programme. The heritage cultural ed ucation
programme. You wanted more details in regard to the programmes. In my Budget Statement I referred to the
kinds of programmes which were the cultural films, the
documentary films, the Bermuda Folk documentary
series. I mentioned the accompanying study guides
for classrooms. In 2021 we were actually hampered in
the production of films due to COVID -19. And we do
have films planned for this year, which will address
topics that will address the history of Bermudian culture and Bermudian history.
In regard to centre 62020, heritage celebr ations and the cultural conference, in 2021 there was a
virtual conference which MP Jackson mentioned, and
we also mentioned, which brought together multiple
groups which officially launched the Department of
Culture’s National Cultural Heritage Policy, as well as the various breakout groups on a variety of cultural
subjects. And in 2022 it is planned to have an inperson cultural conference, with virtual options, under
the Heritage Month. So not only will it be in- person
there will also be a virtual component as well. This
month’s heritage theme will be “Togetherness” which
focuses on ways that cultural stakeholders can col-laborate, and how Government can best help them
succeed. Additionally, also mentioned was work done
around short films, interview films. Particularly we
mentioned interview film with artist Gherdai Hassel.
There was a question in regard to cost centre
62060 mentioning the Premier’s Concert, wanting to
know whether or not there was any other programming within that cost centre. I mentioned that there
was the Writer -in-Residence programme which is an
extensive programme offered to our community in
writing. I just wanted to remind about the Writer -inResidence programme which is being led by an internationa l author and is giving a public reading. The
2021/22 Writer -in-Residence programme was actually
led by Bermudians virtually, which is why there was a slight increase in cost. So under that cost centre is,
yes, the Premier’s Concert which focuses on artists
and will be funded this year and will be funded from
this cost centre.
There was also the initiative in regard to art in
public buildings. So Bermudian art is placed in our
public buildings. And again, that will be funded through this cost centre.
There was a question in regard to Folklife this
year under Bermudian Heartbeats event series. It has six events this year. And we will have exclusive local
lecturers and will be partnering with several local cul-tural organisations and charities, including an ex ploration of the history and cultural meaning of the Railway
Trail (interesting!) with the National Museum of Bermuda with an accompanying podcast. A lecture on the
history of the Cottage Hospital and the segregated healthcare in Bermuda. And a boat tour of Herrington
Sound and Trunk Island with the Bermuda Aquarium
and Museum & Zoo . Those are some very exciting
initiatives. And all of these events will be featured in
public and will be done under a COVID -19 friendly
approach with both virtual and in- person attendance
options.
In regard to cost centre 62070, Folklife, there
is a culture apprentice programme which will resume
in 2022/23. We could not have it in the previous year.
But this will see two young Bermudians having the
opportunity for apprenticeshi p under a Bermudian tr aditional bearer to learn traditional skills. And this
year’s cultural apprenticeship programme will focus on sustainable bio- intensive farming with Chris F aria of
the AgraLiving Institute.

Are ther e any objections to that?
674 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Minister.

[Motion carried: Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport,
Heads 71, 20 and 52 were approved and stand part of
the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure 2022/23.]

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, I move that the
Committee rise and report progress and ask for leave
to sit again.

Thank you, Minister. It will be repor ted to the House.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[Motion carried: The Committee of Supply agreed to
rise and report progress and sought leave to sit
again.]

House resumed at 7:45 pm

[Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]

REPORT OF COMMITTEE

ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE
FOR THE YEAR 2022/23

Thank you, MP Tyrrell, Chairman for
the last session in Committee.
Members, the Committee has risen to report
progress for this evening and will resume on Friday
when we resume the debate process.
Member s, the next item on the Order [Paper]
tonight is the second reading the Investment Business
Amendment Ac t 2021 . . . 2022, rather, in the name of
the Premier and the Minister of Finance.
Premier?

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker —

Are there any objections to that?
There are none.
Continue, Premier.

BILL

SECOND READING
INVESTMENT BUSINESS AMENDMENT ACT [2022]
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank y ou very much, Mr.
Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present the Bill
entitled the Investment Business Amendment Act
[2022], the Bill, to this Honourable House.
The purpose of the Bill is to enhance the i nvestment business supervisory framework primar ily to
provide for the following:
• to expand the scope of existing investment
business regime;
• to refine the existing lists of investments and
investment activities; and
• to enhance existing regulatory and supervis ory measures.
Mr. Speaker, Bermuda’s financ ial services
sector is subject to the regulation and supervision of
the Bermuda Monetary Authority, hereinafter of which
I will refer to as the “Authority.”
The Authority was established in 1969 under
the Bermuda Monetary Authority Act 1969. The I nvestment Business Act 2003 provides the Authority
with substantive licensing supervision and intervention powers.
Mr. Speaker, the Act provides a licensing r equirement for any person or entity that wishes to e ngage in investment business in or from Bermuda. Se ction 8 of the Act grants the Authority powers to supervise and regulate investment business operating in or from within Bermuda.
The governing framework for the ongoing development of the Authority’s investment business pol icies is driven by the core principles issues by the I nternational Organization of Securities Commissions ,
known as IOSCO, together with the nature of the i nvestment business market in Bermuda.
This Honourable House would be aware that
the Authority has been a member of IOSCO since 6 June 2007. Accordingly, principle two of the IOSCO
core principles requires regulators to frequently review
the particular way in which securities regulation is carried out in its market.
Mr. Speaker, by way of background, the Bermuda Monetary Authority iss ued a discussion paper in
March 2018 entitled, “
Proposed Enhancements to the
Investment Business, Investment Funds and Fund
Administration Regimes .” The purpose of the paper
was to initiate engagement with stakeholders of the modernisation of the sector with respect to each of
these three supervisory frameworks.
Following feedback from t he consultation pr ocess, in 2019 the Authority began the process of enhancing the first two of these regimes with the passage by this Honourable House of the Investment
Funds Amendment Act 2019 and supporting instr uments and the Fund Administration Provider Business
Act 2019.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, I am now pleased to present the
third piece of legislation arising from the 2018 discussion paper, being the Investment Business Amendment Act [2022] .
Mr. Speaker, the Authority commenced work
in 2020 to review the Inve stment Business Act 2003.
The objectives were to upgrade the regime to ensure
that the legislation met international standards and
expectations and to provide for the appropriate oversight of relevant undertakings whilst ensuring that the
framework would r emain accommodative of the future
growth of Bermuda’s investment business sector.
The review was conducted under three pillars,
or phases, and considered
• the appropriateness of the framework scope;
• the accuracy of the supervision and regulat ory, including enforcement requirements and obligations; and finally,
• the adequacy of the ancillary instruments i ncluding regulations, codes, statements or principles, guidance and other supporting
documentation which give effect to the
framework.
Mr. Speaker, upon c ompletion of this review it
was agreed that it would be beneficial to make enhancements to the framework, principally to widen its
scope through the amendment of the root concept
within the Act of carrying on business in or from Bermuda and strengthening t he administrative arrangements around this concept and around exemptions
related to this concept.
Mr. Speaker, the key highlights of the
amendments are as follows: First, carrying on inves tment business in or from Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, the definition of carrying on i nvestment business in or from Bermuda has historically
centred on the criteria of maintaining a place of bus iness in Bermuda. But in this age of remote working
and digital nomads, the Authority sought to broaden the scope of this definition to encompass geographically mobile operating models.
The Authority also sought to broaden the
scope of carrying on investment business in or from Bermuda to allow for more effective monitoring of the
regulatory perimeter and to support the Authority’s response to international regulatory cooperation in
respect of Bermuda formed entities which operate
outside Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, it is proposed to remove the current definition’s reliance on the linchpin concept of
maintaining a place of business in Bermuda. Such a
person will now be deemed to carry on investment
business in or from Bermuda where that person
• carries on investment business and is incorporated or formed in Bermuda;
• is incorporated or formed outside of Bermuda
and carries on investment busines s in or from
Bermuda; or • engages in investment activity, the doing so of
which constitutes the carrying on by such person of investment business in or from Berm uda under an order made by the Minister of F inance.
Mr. Speaker, it must be noted that even
though the express obligation of the concept of mai ntaining a place of business in Bermuda will no longer
serve as a test of whether investment business is
conducted in or from Bermuda, the concept will r emain in relation to the obligation for specific persons
to maintain a place of business in Bermuda.
Moving on now, Mr. Speaker, to Class A registered persons. Mr. Speaker, the Authority is aware
that there are several Bermuda formed entities that
currently carry on investment business outside of Bermuda and may be subject to foreign regulatory
and supervisory oversight in the jurisdictions in which
they operate. Accordingly, the Authority proposes to
introduce a risk -based approach to supervision for
Bermuda formed entities that operate exclusively outside of Bermuda but are licensed, authorised or regi stered by a recognised foreign regulator and do not
wish to be licensed in Bermuda.
Such persons will now be able to apply to the
Authority to operate as a newly classified Class A re gistered person. The creat ion of this new class of regi stered persons will allow the Authority to provide a ppropriate oversight whilst ensuring protection of Be rmuda’s blue -chip reputation.
Mr. Speaker, all Bermuda formed entities
which apply and are approved to be registered with the Authority as a Class A registered person will be
required to designate a senior representative to e ngage with the Authority on behalf of the Class A regi stered person and provide financial and supplemental
submissions to the Authority on a routine bas is.
The senior representative who will need to be
approved by the Authority will be required to be phys ically present in Bermuda and maintain up- to-date records and documents to ensure compliance with the
Authority’s requirements.
Mr. Speaker, now moving on to Class B regi stered persons. It is proposed that persons currently listed under paragraphs 1 and 3 of the exemption order be reclassified as Class B registered persons.
Class B registered persons will continue to qualify for
proportionately less oversight than licensed persons and the previously mentioned Class A registered persons above. However, these persons will be required to apply and obtain formal approval from the Authority
prior to undertaking investment business under the
new designation.
Mr. Speaker, all other entities that are currently deemed to be exempted persons under the existing exemption order will be redesignated as non -
registrable persons (NRPs) u nder the new regime. In
addition, this new NRP category will also include i n676 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly surance marketplace providers and digital asset bus inesses which satisfy certain eligibility criteria.
Mr. Speaker, the new order to apply to
Class B registered persons and non- registerable persons will be titled the Registered and Non- Registrable
Persons Order, and such persons will have the option
under that order to apply to be licensed.
Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of F inance will retain the right to further specify types of
entities which may be designated under either category of persons.
Mr. Speaker, the Bill will encourage innovation
and expansion of the investment business sector in
Bermuda by providing for the introduction of a new
sandbox facility and an expansion of permitted legal
structures. The Bill will facilitate a sandbox environment within the investment business framework which
is comparable to those now in place for insurance and the digital asset business sectors. The new sandbox
environment is designed to allow eligible persons d esirous of pursuing investment business -related i nnovation to test new technologies and delivery mec hanisms and offer innovative products in a controlled
environment within the parameters of a limited term
licence known as a “test licence.”
Moving to other matters, Mr. Speaker . It is
proposed that the definition of a “company” be expanded in the new investment business regime to i nclude a limited liability company (LLC) or an incorp orated segregated accounts company (ISAC) and an
incorporated segregated account thereby allowing for
greater flexibility with respect to the legal structure of
undertakings permitted to be either licensed or regi stered to conduct investment business. The Bill will also propose to widen the meaning of controller of an
undertaking to include an LLC manager.
Mr. Speaker, the Bill will introduce a new i nvestment activity of promotion of investments to the public. One of the reasons for this step is to reduce
the risk of and enable the Authority to adequately a ddress instances of improper promotion and product
mis-selling to ret ail clients. Accordingly, the Bill enhances protections for customers in investment services offered by Bermuda undertakings. The First
Schedule to the Act is to be updated to include this new activity with an appropriate definition of promotion of investm ents to the public.
Mr. Speaker, to support the new investment
business framework the Authority has reviewed and revised, developed and consulted on a number of
supporting legislative and supervisory instruments to
ensure that they align with proposals s et out in the Bill
and the Order.
Mr. Speaker, the supporting legislative and
supervisory instruments proposed are as follows:
• Investment Business (Capital , Net Asset s and
Liquidity ) Rules 2022;
• Investment Business Amendment Regulations 2022; • Investment B usiness (Client Money ) Rules
2022 which replace existing Investment Bus iness (Client Money ) Regulations; and
• Investment Business Annual and Quarterly
Statutory Return Rules 2022.
Mr. Speaker, the Regulations, like the prev iously referenced Order, are subj ect to the negative
resolution procedure and the Government intends to
publish and [table] the relevant statutory instruments
in the House in the near future. All of these instr uments are intended to facilitate greater effectiveness
and efficiency of regul ation and supervision of inves tment providers and clarity in relation to reporting and correspondence between industry and the Authority.
Mr. Speaker, in conjunction with the new rulemaking powers we introduced via section 10A of the Bill, section 10B of the Bill proposed to provide the
Authority with the ability to modify or dis -apply obligations established in rules under appropriate and spe-cific circumstances. In addition to these other instr uments, the Authority has updated its Statement of Principles, Code of Conduct and Practice and Gui dance Notes to support the new initiatives and assist
industry as they transition to the new regime. The A uthority consulted on the proposed statement of princ iples as revised in late 2021, while the Code of Conduct and Practice and Guidance Notes are to be published imminently for consultation.
Mr. Speaker, the Authority is mindful partic ularly given the expansion of the scope of the regime
proposed that an appropriate period of time must be
provided to all the takings to achieve compliance with
the new framework.
By way of context at present there are 90 i nvestment firms registered as non- licensed persons
and it is expected that many of these will now apply to
be licensed or registered under the new regulatory regime, joining the 51 licensed investment businesses
that currently exist within the sector. Accordingly, the
Bill provides for a transition period of 12 months. In
this context it should be noted that the Authority has engaged with industry at each stage of the new r egime’s development via both a representative working
group and broader consultation process.
Mr. Speaker, before I close, I do want to touch
on the amendment which was circulated to the House.
I am not going to go specifically on a clause- by-clause
basis, but I do certainly want to speak to the general
principles.
Is that okay, Mr. Speaker ?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

Continue on.

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, sir.
Mr. Speaker, a floor amendment has been
circulated for consideration of Members. The House is
advised that the floor amendment affects clauses 6,
42 and the Schedule of the Bill as follows:


Bermuda House of Assembly • It will insert new sections 10A and 10B, which
I mentioned in regard to prudential and other
returns.
• There will be additional consequential
amendments that will be introduced under
clause 42 which will be included by modifying
references to the Bermuda Monetary Author ity, and
• Mr. Speaker, the Schedule will also be modified by amending the Third Schedule of the Bermuda Monetary Authorit y Act to update
the references to the investment business
sector in the list of financial institutions.
• In addition, Mr. Speaker, the Schedule will also be modified by amending the Fourth Schedule of the Bermuda Monetary Authority
Act under the heading Inv estment Business
Act to make sure that the fee schedule is up-dated to include a number of fees, which I will
certainly cover in the Committee stage.
Mr. Speaker, as for the Authority’s normal
custom and practice, the House is advised that these amendments represent a collaborative effort between
the Authority and various industry stakeholders. I would like to thank all those persons within the A uthority, the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Minist ry
of Finance and the private sector who have assisted
with the development of this Bill.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would note that the
Bill and the other instruments will comprise a new r egime that will provide for the continued transparency and effective regulatory oversight of investment pr oviders while maint aining the attractiveness of the r egime thereby strengthening Bermuda’s position as a
leading international financial services centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

Opposition Leader, you have the floor.
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
I would like to first thank the Premier for brin ging this legislation to the House. I would like to make it
very clear that the One Bermuda Alliance is suppor tive of this legislation, and we will do our best to ensure that Bermuda as a financial service continues to
be on the cutting edge of legislation and governance.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to also declare my
interest in that I work in the financial service industry
and, as I said, the industry continues to ever evolve
and likewise the prudential regulations and the regul atory standards will also evolve.
I would like to also recognise the work that
was done in 2018 in enhancing and modernising the regime. As the Premier said, this is one of the stages that we have, the third stage, that we are presenting
on the investment business side and the fund admi nistration side. So, we have no objections there.
I do have a couple of comments, Mr. Speaker .
As was said, generally the legislation addresses administrative issues and prudential standards and e nhancements. It speaks to the filing and the submission
of returns. It provides the framework for exemptions
and modifications to the prudential standards. But the
interesting thing that I found, Mr. Speaker, is that they
speak about implementing and enhancing the prudential regulations and supervisory regulations on one
hand, and on the other side, they speak about provi ding various exemptions from the prudential and supervisory regulations.
I find it very interesting that in this legislation
we are trying to accommodate both sides of the coin, so I would like for the [Premier] to provide examples. I
am not sayi ng it is wrong; I would just like for him to
provide examples of situations whereby we would in
essence provide these exemptions to the prudential regulations and supervisory regulations so that the
general community can see why we have these exemptions and have a clear understanding of the examples of the exemptions.
I would like to also recognise the new classif ication, i.e., as the Premier said the innovative san dbox environment. I am one for new innovation when it
comes to this space. And it helps us t o become more
competitive. I note that the Class A company . . . hang
on, let me just get the name . . . Class A person. I find
that also very, very interesting. And I would invite the Premier to give us an example of these companies
that are incorporated in Bermuda and registered in
Bermuda but not operating in Bermuda.
My thought would be why would a company
want to incorporate and not operate in Bermuda. What is the business proposition that would allow us to sup-port that type of endeavour? So, again ca n he give us
an example of a company that is incorporated and
registered to Bermuda but is not operating from Be rmuda? I am thinking of possibly . . . and I could be
wrong, so I am just asking the question. I am thinking
of a number of fund companies who are possibly i ncorporated here and are administered in Halifax or in
Hong Kong. Are we talking about those types of ent ities? So, again just for clarity for myself and the listening public.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier also indicated that
most of the prudentia l regulations and supervisory
regulations stem from IOSCO, which I understand and
I recognise is the leading governing body in this
space. But one also questions whether this has to do
with the economic substance legislation, or the
NAMLC legislation, or t he OECD legislation in regard
to KYC, ultimate beneficial ownership, et cetera, in
regard to the funds themselves and how they are i n678 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly vesting and so forth from a prudential and regulatory
perspective.
The other issue is . . . I think it is important,
and I am very, very supportive of the new section in
regard to promotion of investments to the investors
and consumers because, as I said, I am in the industry. I have worked in the mutual fund area. I am wor king in the banking area and investment area, and I
have seen situations where people were promoting
investments that were not appropriate for the consumer or the potential investor. And somehow, we have to continue to protect those consumers and
those investors to ensure that they understand the risk
assoc iated with these types of investments and the
liquidity requirements.
So, again, I am very supportive of the new
feature which includes the promotional arm of these
investments, especially when it comes to the appr opriateness to the potential investors or consumers.
The other issue that I would like to speak to is
the issue in regard to . . . IOSCO is, in essence, kind
of the standard bureau. But what other resources did
the BMA or the Ministry use in arriving at our prudential standards or technical standards? What model of
other jurisdictions did they look at to arrive at where
we are today? Just for informational purposes. And
the model that they used, are they certain that they have best practises?
And the other issue that I think is important
that, yes, we may include more enhanced and more
stringent regulations on both the prudential and the
regulatory side, but we also have to find a balance to
ensure that as a jurisdiction we are competitive and that we do not overregulate and that the fine balanc e
is there so that we can be competitive to other juri sdictions who are playing in this space. We know we
have Cayman, we have Hong Kong, we have Luxem-burg, and they all adhere to regulations. And most of
them, I suspect, are tied at the waist to IOSCO. And I
just want to ensure that whatever we do we balance
the prudential nature of these funds and the regul ations over these funds so that we are world- class and
that investors are protected, that we balance it also
with the fact that we are competitive and that we are
not stymying business when it comes to our regul ations. In other words, I do not want us to overregulate and as a consequence chase some of our clients to
other competitors. So, it is just a fine balance. I would
like to ask the Premier or the Minister of Finance to
speak to that as well.
I think, I think those are my general comments
and I will ask questions in Committee. So, thank you,

Thank you, Mr. Speaker . I
will follow the Opposition Leader’s comments thanking the Honourable Premier for bri nging this legislation
forth. It has been long in coming and long needed.
Mr. Speaker, the original Act, principal Act, is
dated 2003, and the world has changed quite a lot
since 2003. So, for Bermuda to maintain our compet itive edge we have had to constantly use a dated Act.
My disclosure being, sir, that I also work in this space.
What this new Act does is make things clear,
exceptionally clear, by amending certain provisions and providing new definitions. It will definitely make Bermuda far, far more competitive. It may seem like it
is counterintuitive, Mr. Speaker . But when we have
updated legislation, updated rules, when we have updated regulations governing investment business or
governing any space, what that means is that we are basically better e quipped to advise clients on the
types of structures that they can bring into Bermuda
and that just makes the market far more confident in
the Bermuda product.
To that end, Mr. Speaker, I am very happy
with this legislation. What it will do is enable . . . a lot
of times in our current regime the Bermuda Monetary
Authority has . . . I would not say been painted into a
corner, but it has to interpret requirements. And I think
that updated legislation will enable them to have bet-ter and clearer criteria to do the work.
This will also have positive impacts into our
regulated entities or fiduciary services companies in
Bermuda, Mr. Speaker, because there are requir ements that certain types of licensed persons or regi stered persons have to have a senior represe ntative on
the Island. That will generally be the local professionals, and that means that certain records will have to
be kept on Island. And that requires computerised
systems. Those professionals obviously offer the contracts to clients and so, in all, what we actually wind
up doing is providing for further growth in the financial services market, again, by way of updating legislation or regulation.
I am very pleased that we are creating rul emaking powers for the Bermuda Monetary Authority. They have the obligation not only to supervise the
conduct of financial services companies in Bermuda,
but they also have to be able to enforce standards.
One of the things that makes their jobs a lot easier is
being able to draft and generate rules to hold those
institutions accountable.
I remember, Mr. Speaker, when we started
what was called the non- licensed person’s regime in
Bermuda, which a lot of this is going to replace, that
was quite a project. I see now that we are going to
swap it out and update the entire regime, and that is


Bermuda House of Assembly good, though I do have a question for the Honourable
Premier around this area. I note that he said that we
have about 90 NLPs on our current register. I would
like him to just clarify that they will all have to reapply
for a different version, to be a non- registered person.
Moving on, Mr. Speaker, I would also ask the
Premier to speak to a provision where the BMA can
effectively exempt a person from a set of rules or r equirements. One of the problems this can cause, Mr.
Speaker, is inc onsistent application. So, in one case
the regulator may decide it works this way, but they
could face a similar or identical case but apply the
rules differently. That inconsistent application would
be a problem to the market. So if you could speak to if
there are any mechanisms being developed to make sure that we see consistent interpretation.
Further, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that
we are going to be creating statutory obligations as it
relates to regulatory reporting. Again, the previous
regime did not provide for a very strong statutory r eporting process and that meant that we wound up
having a lot of companies who could potentially abuse
the process. So, I am glad to see that is there.
With that being said, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the Committee stage, but overall following the
Opposition Leader’s comments, I strongly support this, [it was] long in coming, and this will undoubtedly benefit Bermuda in multiple ways.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly be
brief this evening, particularly recognising t hat this
does not appear to be any sort of contentious matter,
particularly after listening to the previous two speakers.
But I, too, support the Bill, recognising that as
the previous two speakers spoke to the financial i ndustry, it is constantly evolving and so it is critical that we as a G overnment continue to amend and update
our legislation to meet these evolving conditions. Many times, what we will find is that as things begin to
evolve what was in scope . . . there could be entities
that are out of scope. So this legislation is brought
forth to help capture some of those out -of-scope ent ities and certainly bring them within scope.
So, I appreciate the Premier clarifying that
under the new regime there will be a standard licence,
a test licence, Clas s A and B registered persons and
certainly also a category for non- registered persons. It is helpful because these new additions look to ensure
that we mitigate that risk and ensure that those ent ities that were out of scope, as I said, are now brought
within scope.
Mr. Speaker, the Bill also demonstrates that
the Government continues to find the balance, as the
Opposition Leader spoke about, from the perspective
of trying to be current, relevant, meeting the needs of
the customer base that we are trying to attract here to
Bermuda, but also keeping in mind that we maintain
the exemplary reputation of both our . . . or the reput ation of our regulators, the Government and the country
as a whole. So, it is appreciated to know that [many]
of the decisions that have been made in relation to
this Bill are based on the evolving international stan dards of (let me get this right) IOSCO [International O rganization of Securities and Commissions] and other
organisations.
Mr. Speaker, I am also encouraged to see
that t his Bill fits into the Government ’s economic r ecovery plan. As you may recall, one of the seven themes is to develop a supportive, legal and regulat ory framework that enables innovation on the Island.
So, as the Premier mentioned, part of this Bill is aimed
to facilitate a sandbox environment within the inves tment business framework which is designed to encourage investment business related innovation. A nother example, if you will, Mr. Speaker, of the Go vernment recognising the plan and putting forth the
legislation and the policies and whatnot to stick with
the plan and certainly look for it to bear fruit in the
near future.
Mr. Speaker, sometimes when I look at legi slation or updated legislation, one of the things that I am automatically drawn to, I guess , are the associated fees. So, it is encouraging to see that the majority
of the associated fees are existing fees and it is not
being proposed to make any changes. In fact, the only
new fees are simply related to the new classes of l icences and registered persons, which appear to be
benchmarked against relevant existing fees.
Mr. Speaker, again I support the Bill and appreciate the Premier acknowledging the consultation
process because it is important for stakeholders to
remain engaged with one another. I personally believe that one of the main attractions to Bermuda, partic ularly for the IB sector, is the close proximity and the
close relationship between industry, regulator and the Government and this Bill is another example of the
three working well to gether, ultimately for the betterment of Bermuda.
With that, I thank you for your time and again
appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, MP Adams.
Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time?
Any other Member?
There are none. Mr. Premier.
680 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Opposition for their
support and the contributions from the Honourable
Member for constituency 19.
There were a few questions which had come
from the Shadow Minister of Finance and Opposition
Leader, so I will try to make sure that I address those
questions appropriately.
The first question that was asked was to pr ovide examples of situations where it is appropriate for
persons to be exempt from certain aspects of pruden-tial regulation. What I will say, Mr. Speaker, is that it is
the key to good regulation. And the reason why the
Bermuda Monetary Authority has been so successful,
certainly in the digital asset space and the insurance space, is that we do not apply a strict rules -based
framework. We apply a risk -based framework.
A risk -based framework takes into account the
individual risk to ensure that risks were being managed. And if we want to go with a one- size-fits-all,
then they will find that it is exactly as the Opposition
Leader alluded to in other statements of being in a
non-competitive space. So, the key to good regulation
supervision is that it be proportionate and recognise
the nature, scale and complexity of regulated firms.
And so that is the reason wh y those provisions for
certain requirements if appropriate, in appropriate ci rcumstances, [can] be modified and varied.
We have seen this in the digital asset bus iness regime. So, I know and understand this, and we
will note that as financial services beg in to kind of
merge we would have seen previous amendments to
the Digital Asset Business Act, which incorporated certain matters from the Investment Business Act,
Insurance Act, that are kind of merging with all of
these other various things as digital ass ets now
comes to the fore. There are some things which may
not be applicable to certain companies and, if those
rules are not able to be varied by the Authority, we
may find in other jurisdictions where those rules are
able to be varied. So they may want t o set up in other
jurisdictions and not here. So, it is important that we
are flexible, and that is something that is necessary and important.
So, it goes to the point, certainly, of the Opposition Leader where he said to ensure that we are competitive and do not overregulate. That is precisely
what this is about. But it is important to also make
sure that flexibility is provided.
There was also a question from the Oppos ition Leader asking why would a company wish to i ncorporate in Bermuda but not maintai n a physical
presence in Bermuda, with an example of Class A
companies that do not operate here. The truth is, Mr.
Speaker, that could be a range of firms. And the examples of which the Opposition Leader had given are
the types and sorts of those companies that are appl icable here. Also, Mr. Speaker, it is key to note that clearly
under the current laws, under the Companies Act of Bermuda, companies which are exempted companies
do not necessarily operate in the local market unless
they have a 129A licence to be able to offer products
and services to the local market, but they may be
promoting things globally and internationally and not
necessarily inside the local market. The Investment
Business Act covers people who are providing things
to the local market, but who are also providing things
on a global scale. So, some of the examples of which were given by the Opposition Leader fit certainly into
precisely what the question was on this particular i nstance.
There was another question that asked a
range of peer jurisdictions which . . . or what other
sources or jurisdictions were we compared to when
we went through this. It should be noted that the Bermuda Monetary Authority goes through a consultative
process. Before we do these types of changes, a consulta tion paper is put out soliciting feedback from i ndustry; sometimes there is follow -up on industry, there
are industry associations. Also, in the Business D evelopment Agency there is a legal and regulatory
working group which covers the legal and regulatory
changes that are needed to make Bermuda more
competitive.
That body now falls under the Minister responsible for Economy and Labour. But in my prev ious responsibilities as the Minister responsible for
Economic Development, Mr. Speaker, I can tell you
that this is something that they constantly look at, and
there is constant feedback from the legal and regul atory working group. Now that we have the Department of Economic Development which has been esta blished by this Government , the Economic Develo pment Department works hand in hand with the Bus iness Development Agency to make sure that we can advance the various proposals that are put forward by industry to ensure that Bermuda becomes more and
more competitive.
By way of example, earlier today, Mr. Speaker, we had an International Tech Summit which is going forward and I was speaking to some of the lawyers who are from some of the new law firms which are set up in Bermuda which have been established in Be rmuda and which are providing the services. They
constantly talk about comparing us to other jurisdi ctions and speak about the things of which need to be
done to attract even more business here. We have
certainly been successful attracting more business inside of this space. We are committed to making sure
we continue to build on this space. It is an area that
receded a couple of decades ago due to the fact that
we were so strong in insurance. But we certainly do
have advantages that we want to make sure we put
forward and we are now getting to this space, M r.
Speaker, that even in incorporated segregated acBermuda House of Assembly count companies, we can now get those matters up
and running within 24 hours in Bermuda.
So, that is what we are going to do. We are
going towards speed to market, we are going to make
sure that we are ab le to be competitive in this space,
and some of the changes which are inside of this Bill
certainly are applicable in that. So, we certainly do
make sure that we compare ourselves with peer juri sdictions and we certainly get the feedback from our
local leg al community who are the ones who are r esponsible for attracting these businesses, setting up
these businesses, and also with the accounting firms
which do work inside of this space as well, Mr.
Speaker .
I do believe that answers most of the questions. As I said, the purpose of this is to make sure
that we remain competitive and improve Bermuda’s
competitiveness. And what we have demonstrated over the last few years, Mr. Speaker, is that we will
continue to make upgrades to legislation to ensure
that Bermu da remains in the forefront of financial services, to attract more financial services companies to
Bermuda and to ensure that we can be flexible, recognising the varied changes which are happening.
And this sandbox item is something that is particularly
important because we see companies that may want
to experiment, which may want to do things, and we
want to make sure that people can get in on the
ground floor and be able to test their products and
services here in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker, under the
auspices of our internationally renowned and respec ted regulator.
So, with that, Mr. Speaker, and having a nswered the questions which were put forward, I move
that the Bill be committed.

One second, Mr. Premier. I have got
some problems with my camera, so I am still fiddling
with it to try to put me on, but continue.

AMENDMENT TO CLAUSE 1

Hon. E. David Burt: No problem, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, before I move the clauses, I
would like to move first that the title of the Bill be
amended to reflect the year 2022 and now be read as
the Investment Business Amendment Act 2022.

Continue.

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, clause 1 provides a citation for
the Bill.
Clause 2 of the Bill amends the principal Act
in section 2 by inserting the following definitions:
“Class A Registered Person”, “Class B Registered
Person”, “incorporated segregated account”, “incorporated segregated accounts company”, “limited liability
company or "LLC”, “Non -registrable person”, “recognised regulator”, “registered person”, “standard l icence” and “test licence”.
Clause 3 amends section 4 of the principal
Act to provide that “carrying on investment business in
or from Bermuda” also refers t o entities that are: - (i)
carrying on investment business, and are incorporated
or formed in Bermuda; and (ii) entities that are formed
or incorporated outside Bermuda and carrying on i nvestment business in or from Bermuda. The clause
further deletes refer ence to “maintaining a place of
business”.
Mr. Chairman, clause 4 amends section 7 of
the principal Act to include the term “manager of an
LLC” in the definition of “Controller”.
And, Mr. Chairman, clause 5 amends section
10 of the principal Act to provi de power to the Author ity to issue codes of conduct or practice in line with
powers afforded to it under other regulatory Acts.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Are there
any further speakers?

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I just
have a question for consideration by the Premier.

682 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Yes, continue, Opposition Leader, Mr.
Simons.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons:
I would like to refer the Premier to [clause]
2(b) under the definitions of “company.” Was there
any consideration of includi ng insurance linked secur ities or products in this classification because of the
investor exposure to these instruments.

Hon. E. David Burt: Could you repeat the question? I
am not fully following you.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: There are insurance linked
securities, or insurance linked product management
companies. And a number of these instruments have
investors that invest in it directly instead of going
through the insurance company. They go through
these ILS instruments and products. As a cons equence, I would just ask, Have we considered including those under the definition of “companies.”

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you. I do not believe that
this has been considered and I will say that because I
know that we went through an extensive consultation
process and the things that were deemed appropriate
are inside of the particular Bill.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Okay. I am just asking; that
is all.

Thank you.
Thank you, Honourable Premier.
As it relates to clause 5 where the Authority is
being given power to issue codes of conduct or prac-tice in line with other powers. As it stands right now
the Authorit y has probably three, four, five codes that
are pretty outdated under this regime—I want to say
2010, 2011. Do you have any expectation for when
the Authority will issue likewise updated codes of practice or guidance?

Mr. Premier?
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Chairman.
Just to respond to the questions from MP
Richardson and I will go bac k to the questions from
the Shadow Minister of Finance. In my brief, MP
Richardson, I did state that the Authority consulted
with the proposed statement of principles as revised in late 2021 and the code of practice and the guidance
notes are to be published imminently for consultation.
So, that will certainly happen after the Bill is complete.
In addition to that there are the other regul ations which cannot be issued, of course, until the Bill
has been passed in both Houses and has been as-sented to by Her Excellency.
In response to the question from the Honourable Opposition Leader, the response in which I have
been provided, which I will share with you Opposition
Leader, is that ILS is not a type of company; it is cer-tainly a type of business. So, we are certainly putting
types of companies that are specified inside of this
matter, so whether it is ISACs, LLCs or regular companies. If one of those companies are offering those
services, that is the type of business that they offer.
But the type of which they are registered under, it will either be an ISAC or a LLC or a company.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Thank you.

It has been moved that clauses 1
through 5 be approved. Are there any objections to
that?
There appear to be none.
Approved.

[Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 5 passed.]

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
would like to move clause 6 which I know has an
amendment in it, so I will read the original clause and
then the amendment, if I may.

Yes.
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, clause 6 amends the principal
Act to insert new sections 10A and 10B to provide


Bermuda House of Assembly power to the Authority to make Rules prescribing pr udential and technical standards. The prudential Rules
under the new section 10A will provide prudential and
technical standards for cyber security; financial stat ements; net assets; liquidity; and statutory returns. The
new section 10B empowers the Authority, where it
deems it appropriate or on application, to exempt an
undertaking from the requirement to comply with any
prudential or technical standard requirements or other
requirement or to modify any such prudential standard or requirement.

AMENDMENT TO CLAUSE 6

Hon. E. David Burt: And, Mr. Chairman, the amendment to clause 6 that I would like to move as well is
that I m ove that clause 6 be amended as follows:
In clause 6, the new section 10A(1), by inser ting after paragraph (e) the following:
“(f) additional capital;
(g) client money.”

Go ahead, sir.
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, clause 7 amends the principal
Act to amend the heading of Chapter 1 of Part III to
align the same with the proposed new classes of i nvestment providers.
Clause 8 repeals and replaces section 12(1)
of the principal Act to align all references to “exempt-ed” in any order issued by the Minister to “registered
and Non- registrable persons” accordingly.
Mr. Chairman, clause 9 amends the principal
Act to repeal and replace section 13 and to insert new
sections 13A to 13D. Under the new section 13 the
current “exemption regime” administered by the A uthority is being replaced by a moderni sed regime of
registered and Non-registr able persons. The Minister
shall, under the new regime (similar to the existing) be
provided with a power to make orders specifying those persons who are required to apply for registr ation as Class B registered persons, and those who are
designated as Non- registrable persons. These classes of persons are similar to those currently classified
as “exempt” under the existing regime. The newly i nserted sections 13A through 13D impose qualification
requirements in respect of “Class A Registered per-sons”, “Class B Registered persons” and “Nonregistrable persons” and, where appropriate, establish
application and other requirements in respect of the
new classes. Section 13C imposes a requirement on
Class B Registered persons to “maintain a place of
business in Berm uda”.
Clause 10 amends section 14 of the principal
Act by deleting reference to the exemption regime and
substituting requirements relating to the proposed registered and Non- registrable persons.
Mr. Chairman, clause 11 amends the section
heading of sect ion 15 of the principal Act to align it
with the new regime comprising licensed, registered
and Non- registrable persons.
Clause 12 amends section 16 of the principal
Act to insert subsections (1A) to (1D) to provide for a
tiered licensing system. Under th e new system the
Authority is to issue a “standard licence” or a “test l icence” under the Act. A standard licence is to be the
same as a “traditional” investment business licence;
while a test licence shall allow applicants to be licensed to conduct invest ment business only for the
duration specified in the licence. All current licensees
are to be designated as standard licence holders
when the Act comes into operation.
Clause 13 amends the principal Act to repeal
subsections (6) and (7) of section 17.
Clause 14 amends the principal Act to insert
new sections 17A to 17D. Section 17A provides for
the definition and requirements of “maintain a place of business in Bermuda” and provides a power for the
Minister to amend such requirements. Section 17B
provides the Authority with the ability to grant or r efuse an application for registration or impose limitations on the scope of the investment activity or the manner of operating investment business depending
on the nature and scale of the proposed business.
Sections 17C and 17D impose on Class A Registered
persons the requirement to appoint a senior representative who is to be a person approved by the A uthority and who shall act in such capacity on behalf of
the Class A Registered person. The sections further
684 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly require that the senior representative must report to
the Authority certain events in relation to the operations of a Class A Registered person.
Clause 15 amends section 18 of the principal
Act to update the manner in which the Authority pu blishes information with respect to licensed or regi stered entities.
Mr. Chairman, clause 16 amends section 19
of the principal Act to align the section to reflect the
new registration regime and for the term “investment
provider” to refer to both licensed persons and the
new registered classes of persons.
Clause 17 amends section 19D of the princ ipal Act to substitute reference for the exemption r egime with that of the new registration regime.
Mr. Chairman, I did previously move clauses 7
through 20, but I would like to ask permission to stop
at clause 17.

Go ahead, Opposition Leader S imons.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: I would like to direct the
Minister of Finance to page 7. I touched upon it before
and I would just like to speak to the philosophy behind item 13A[(1)](b) which does not maintain a place in
Bermuda—that is Class A registered persons.
My question is, philosophically, when we ar e
trying to create jobs in Bermuda, when we are trying
to get human capital in Bermuda, why would we allow
this to occur, because it encourages the exportation of
jobs and it does not provide opportunities for Berm udians if these businesses are operating overseas in
regard to the place of business even though the company is incorporated in Bermuda. That is one question.
The next question: I would like to direct the
Minister to page 10, [clause 14] and it is [new section
17A](3). And I read, “ The Minister m ay, after consult ation with the Authority, make an order amending the
meaning of ‘maintain a place of business .’” How likely
is this to occur and what would be the determining
factor for him to make such decisions?
So that is [clause] 14 [new section]17A( 3).
My last question is [clause 14, new section]
17C (3) on page 11. It says, “ The approved senior
representative shall maintain an office in Bermuda. ”
Can this be a corporate entity or does it have to be an individual? Now, I know that a number of our —
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Chairman, my apologies. I
am sorry. If I may, can I just ask the Shadow Minister
just to clarify what section? He was going very fast.
17C . . . what subsection? Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Page 11 —

Hon. E. David Burt: Got it. Page 11. 17C —which
section?
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: 1, 2, 3 —number 3.

Hon. E. David Burt: 1, 2, 3? Or just 3?

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Just number 3.

Hon. E. David Burt: Okay, got it. Thank you.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: “The approved senior representative shall maintain an office . . .” So I am as king can the approved senior representative be a corporate entity? Because I know that right now a num-ber of companies have corporate secretaries which
are corporate entities, and not individuals playing the
role as c orporate secretary. So, I was wondering
whether you could have a corporate entity being the
registered representative or an individual person be-ing a senior representative. It is just a question I am
asking because what I see in my banking world,
whereby y ou have corporate entities being corporate
secretaries and the directors are foreign entities and
because we needed a local representative they have
used corporate service providers as the corporate
secretary and therefore make the nexus to Bermuda.
And t hose are my questions for this section,

Yes. Mr. Premier?
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Chairman.
Let me try to deal with the first question that
deals on page 7, section 13A, B where the Shadow
Minister asks a question about companies which do not maintain a place in Bermuda and spoke about the
fact that you know, with that kind of substance and
other types of things, why would this type of thing be
allowed?
What is important to note, Shadow Minister, is
that w e are seeking to certainly address companies
that are already in existence, I think this is a key point,
[which] do not have a presence here, rather than looking prospectively. Clearly, if we would then write those
people out of the Bill, then we would los e the fees ,
certainly that are related to that, in the first place—
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Right, right, right.

Hon. E. David Burt: —and so it is a question of certainly making sure that we provide flexibility.
It is important to note, certainly, under this that
Class A companies only apply for such a classification
if they are regulated by a recognised regulator. So, it


Bermuda House of Assembly does not mean they are . . . you know, so they cannot
get a place where there is not a recognised regulator.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Right.

Hon. E. David Burt: They only apply or are eligible for
this if they are in the space of a recognised regulator. So, I hope that answers the questions that you may
have on 13[A]. I am happy to defer, Mr. Chairman, if
he has follow -up questions.
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Yes, I think my question is
a philosophical question, and that is given that Bermuda is trying to create jobs . . . and I take your point,
these are existing companies. But I would be concerned if we had a slew of new applications com ing in
like this, incorporating in Bermuda, and yet the place of business is not in Bermuda and [our] community
does not enjoy employment opportunities from these
companies. And we are trying to, in essence, invite
people to Bermuda to increase our workfor ce so that
we can reinforce the economic stability of this country.
That is my point, that’s all.

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Chairman, may I?

Yes, you may, Premier.
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I will accept the point which the Opposition
Leader has made. But what I will say is that the most
important thing for us to make sure to do is to be flex ible in these particular cases and incidences. You
know, you could have circumstances as I said where
this is something that is applic able and where it is
something that just accrues to the benefit of the country. And the automatic exclusionary basis [may] not
necessarily be helpful, because sometimes these type
of companies may start here and they may set up a
presence here at the end i f they are attracted by other
natures and dealing with a regulator and other types
of things.
But we won’t want to find ourselves excluding
these companies which remain in existence and bas ically say We don’t want you operating here anymore
or operating un derneath this regime. So, I think it is
important to maintain flexibility, but I do accept the, I
will say, the premise of which the Opposition Leader is
stating. But what I could also say is that from an ec onomic substance perspective there may be certain
companies that are, you know, doing these particular
matters via structures in Bermuda, for example. But for substantive companies, clearly they will need to
certainly have persons that are on the ground to comply with the economic substance regime in that case
and instance.
Moving on to the next question, if I may, Mr.
Chairman, which was on page [10] —

Yes.
Hon. E. David Burt: —17A(3) which talks to “The
Minister may, after consultation with the Authority,
make an order amending the meaning of ‘maintain a place of business.’” My answer to that would be it is
just to maintain flexibility.
It is important to note, of course, that any time
these things change, then you know, if we are writing things that are specifically in the law that are not part
of negative resolution of statutory instruments that are there, then it is a requirement, of course, to come
back to the House of Assembly to amend it. And in
order to recognise flexibility in certain cases, it is just
as we have the flexibility in the changing and excl usion of certain prudential requirements upon applic ation if they may not apply. It is to make sure that we have this type of flexibility so that we do not have to
keep coming back to amend and change it.
So, whether or not it is lik e that I cannot necessarily say that. But I think it is important that since
this is a new definition and it was probably [INAUD IBLE] because there may have been some things in
the consultative process which may have raised a few
flags. And the one thing w e do not want to do is to set
something down which can cause problems and actually lead us to not have additional business . And the
purpose of this is certainly looking to attract additional
business. So, I think that this is an important matter.
On page 11 moving on to 17C (3) where it
said the approved senior representative shall maintain an office in Bermuda. The question from the Oppos ition Leader was whether or not that person could be
served by a corporate entity, or whether or not it had
to be, I gu ess, a human person versus a legal person
(understood). And if the senior rep is a corporate ent ity, then it will still need to be represented by the persons who comprise the board of that company. So it
does have to be a specific designated person, as that
person who deals specifically with the Bermuda
Mone tary Authority. So, it will have to be designated
as a human person and not just a natural or legal person.
And if I may, just to go back to the point which
you raised on page 7, back to 13A [(1)(b), be speaking about this issue of maintaining a place in Berm uda, the only way that a company will not have to have
a place of business in Bermuda, but only a senior rep,
again, is if they are regulated by a recognised regul ator and this is not expected to be a common occurrence.
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Okay, so, I am going back
to page [11], 17C, and I am just trying to get clarity on what you just said.
So, if it is a corporate representative, you can
register as a corporate representative, but the flow -
through would be to the directors of the corporate rep686 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly resentative? Or it has to be individuals, based on what
you just said?

Hon. E. David Burt: In my understanding, Shadow
. . . I’m sorry, Mr. Chairman. I will wait to be recognised. My apologies.
The Chairm an: Yes, go ahead, Premier.
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you.
My understanding in regard to the registered
person, the information of which I have been provided
from Bermuda Monetary Authority, is that if the senior
representative is a corporate entity —so it can be a
corporate entity. However, they will still need to be
represented by the persons who comprise the board of that company.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Okay. thank you.

Continue.

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Chairman.
Clauses 18 through 22 amend sections 20
through 24 of the principal Act to update the sections
by inserting registration references.
Clause 23 repeals and replaces section 26 of
the principal Act to provide for the process to be followed by an investment provider when surrendering a
licence or registration.
Clause 24 amends section 33 of the principal
Act to exclude persons issued with a “test licence”
from the right to appeal to the Tribunal a decision
made by the Authority under subsection (1). Clause 25 amends section 35 of the principal
Act to update the section by inserting registration references.
Clause 26 amends section 38 of the principal
Act to require investment providers to prepare financial s tatements.
Clause 27 amends the principal Act to insert
new sections 38A and 38B to impose an obligation on
investment providers to prepare annual and quarterly returns. Section 38B is to require submission of quarterly returns by investment providers issued standard
licences, and Class A Registered persons, where ap-propriate.
Clause 28 amends section 40 of the principal
Act to provide for definitions for purposes of the sections of the terms “institution” and “investment provi ders”.
Clause 29 amends section 41 of the principal
Act to insert subsections (1A) to (1C) to require that
audited financial statements be submitted to the A uthority by investment providers and for investment
providers to submit to the Authority the auditor’s management letter and management’s response letter.
Clause 30 amends section 44 of the principal
Act to update the section by inserting registration references.
Clause 31 amends section 45 of the principal
Act to empower the Authority to obtain information
relating to codes of conduct or practice.
Clause 32 amends section 49A of the princ ipal Act to empower the Authority to investigate a Nonregistrable person to ensure the manner in which it carries on investment business or conducts any i nvestment activity is prudent.
Clause 33 am ends section 52 of the principal
Act to substitute reference for an order made under
the exemption regime with reference to the new order
specifying Class B Registered persons and Non -
Registrable persons.
Clauses 34 to 37 amend sections 55A, 61, 64
and 66 of the principal Act to update the sections by
inserting registration references.
Clause 38 amends section 84 of the principal
Act to enable the Authority to serve a notice relating to
a Class A Registered person at the office of that person’s senior representative.
Clause 39 amends the First Schedule to the
principal Act.
Clause 40 amends the Second Schedule to
the principal Act.
Clause 41 provides transitional provisions for
existing investment providers.

Thank you, Premier. Are there any
speakers to clauses 18 to 41?

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I only have one question. I would like to direct
the Minister of Finance to page 16. And that is


Bermuda House of Assembly [clause] 29 [new section] 41 (1B). And it reads: “Every
investment provider shal l submit a copy of its auditor’s
management letter and management’s response letter, to the Authority upon request made by the A uthority.”
Can the Minister confirm why the legislation
does not support that the management letter and
management’s response l etter not be automatically
filed annually with the Authority, instead of waiting for
the Authority to ask for it? I think it would be more expeditious, and it would be more transparent, and the information would be on file when they make their fi lings or t heir reporting. This is all part of addressing
management controls and so forth, and how they are responding in the event that they are raised in the au-dit report.
So, I would have encouraged the Minister of
Finance to have the auditor’s management letter and
management’s response letter as an automatic prot ocol instead of waiting for the Authority to request this
information. So, I would like to hear the Minister of Finance’s thoughts on this matter.

Premier?

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If
there are no further questions on those sections, our response is as follows.
Certainly, looking at the principal Act where
there is no such requirement for the submission of
these items and then looking what is placed here, Mr.
Chairman, my view on this particular matter is that the
one thing that we do not want to do is to have over -
burdensome regulations. So, there may be a case, cause, and instance where there is some type of i nvestigation taking place, some type of looking, some
type of just trying to find out if there is prudential, and
just to make sure that this is explicitly stated inside of
law that if these things are requested, those matters
should be provided. So, of course when these things
are inserted inside the law, it is t o ensure that the
companies which are regulated know that these matters do need to be provided and there is no particular ambiguity.
Section 41 of the principal Act (which this particular section is amending) speaks to the issue of the appointment of the auditor. What it also states, and I
think it is important to note that section 42 of the pri ncipal Act, not dealing just with the issue, is that section
42 of the principal Act does state that the auditor is to
communicate certain matters to the Authority a nd puts
a requirement upon auditors who are auditing inves tment businesses if there is something that they may find that they have to certainly report those events
directly to the Authority in certain cases.
And I think that it is important to certainly note
that the one thing we are not trying to do is to overburden. And certainly, when we are dealing with how
the regulator does things in Bermuda, we want to make sure that we are flexible and not implementing
things which may not be seen in other jurisdic tions.
And certainly, when you are dealing with proportional
regulation, it would not be necessary in the case of all
companies. And so, I think that it is important to rec-ognise that this is what is there.
And it is just important to note that if it is
needed to be seen that a legal obligation has been
created for those particular matters, not only [will] the
auditor’s letter but also the management’s response
be provided.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My question relates to clause 24 which
amends section 33 of the principal Act to exclude persons issued with a test licence from the right to appeal
to the tribunal for a decision made by the Authority.
My question is —

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Chairman, my sincere apol ogies. I was just looking at something. What page and
section again that is?

Clause 24, Mr. Chairman.
Yes, my question is even a test licence for a
business, especially if it goes for a period of time, can
be capital heavy and quite costly. So, one of the guarantees that a person would have going for a test l icence is that it would be something innovative, the
BMA would put a lot of monitoring on top of that l icence and in all. But it is quite the process , especially
when you add on service providers, including law firms and accounting firms, and you just sort of add up
the costs. And when you get to the end of your test
licence period and the BMA would say, Well, no thank
you, for whatever reason, the test licence holder
would not have the ability to appeal that decision,
which basically puts [INAUDIBLE] a lot of capital.
So, my question to the Honourable Premier is
could you explain some of the logic behind excluding
persons with test licences from the appeals process?
Thank you.

Premier?

688 9 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. David Burt: I am happy to do so, Mr. Chai rman. Just give me one second. I am just reading section 16 fully here. Just one second.
Yes, Mr. Chairman, I can certainly speak to
this just fro m my familiarity with licensing strat as, dealing with the digita l asset businesses and the fact that
we have a standard full licence. We have the sandbox
licence. We also introduced the test licence. In this
case and instance, there is a standard licence and a
test licence.
My simple response is if an individual wants to
then go ahead and appeal, then they would apply for a full licence. The test licence is just that. It is to make
sure that they are setting out these particular prov isions to say that they are trying to be part of an innovative business; they are tryin g to test out these particular matters. And it is not something to create addi-tional burdens for, I guess, the tribunal or other reg ulators to say, you know, we are going through this
process. The Authority is basically in that sandbox and that is the way these type of sandboxes are governed.
And you know, I hate to say it, but these are
things that we deal with on the digital asset business
side as well. And when there are certain companies that are saying, you know, Oh ! The BMA has set up
these type of t hings for sandbox licences that are not
allowing us to grow to a certain level . The thing is that
the test licence is for a sandbox. It is not for the full
item and matter. So, when you get to the full registr ation process, those rights of appeal are certa inly there.
But the test licence is, you know, in this period
unlike the Digital Asset Business Act where it is spec ified for a limited period of time, in this Act it is stating
that it is a limited period of time. But it is not specifying
the time limit. And so, what I would say is that for
companies that may find themselves in that space, the objective is to certainly get themselves to a full l icence. And these types of provisions are to apply for a full licence.
But if you are dealing in a sandbox, the rules
that a regulator certainly sets down are the ones that you need to comply with, because that is just the way that these sandbox things work. It is not the full shebang. It is you want to test something; and they are
basically saying, These are your limits which you
have. And it would be impractical for them to say,
Well, we don’t like what you have set up on this test
licence , we are going to appeal to the tribunal to mod ify that. No, that is not what it is. That applies when
there is a full licence, but not when it is test licence for
the investment sandbox.

My question relates to exempted persons would be expected within 12 months
. . . there it is [clause] 41 subsection (3) exempted
persons would be required to make an application
within 12 months once the Act comes live.
Does the Honourable Premier have any idea
how many exempted persons we currently have under the regime? And I am very mindful that this is a very
specific question. But the second part would be the expectation is that currently all persons who are exempted . . . and there is a process for the BMA to exempt a person. The expectation is within 12 months
all of them have to be pushed back through the BMA.

I do not know if you are right to the
microphone, Premier, but you are coming and going
as far as volume.

Hon. E. David Burt: Okay, I’m sorry. Let me just
move to the centre.
What I will say is that the question from the
Honourable Member from constituency 23 is quite
specific. I can undertake to try to make sure that we
get an answer to that specific question.
I also certainly just want to make a minor clar ification on the items which I said before on the test
licence, because it is important. The one t hing is that
the right of appeal on that section which you may
have gotten already is not to the granting of a licence
which is an appeal to the tribunal on a test licence. It is only dealing with the modification of a test licence.
So, if someone says, I want to modify my test licence


Bermuda House of Assembly and do something else, and the Authority says no, it is
not a question of you going to appeal.
Also, in regard to the question which was
stated . . . I cannot find the page in the brief, but I can
give you the answer. And the answer is 90 entities or
90 investment firms which are registered as nonlicensed persons, and it is expected that many of
these people will now apply to be licensed or regi stered under the regulatory regime.

There appear to be none.
Mr. Premier, do you want to move [clauses]
18 through 41?
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Chairman, I move that [clauses] 18 through 41 be ap-proved as printed.

The C hairman: It has been moved that clauses 18
through 41 be approved as printed.
Are there any objections to that?
There appear to be none.
Approved.

[Motion carried: Clauses 18 through 41 passed.]

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to move clause 42.

Yes.

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you.
Clause 42 provides consequential amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Anti -Money Laundering and Anti -Terrorist Financing Supervision and E nforcement) Act 2008 and revokes the Investment
Business ( Exemptions) Order 2004.

AMENDMENT TO CLAUSE 42

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Chairman, I would like to
move to amend this section or this particular clause. I move that clause 42 be amended by inserting after paragraph (b) the following: “(c) Bermuda Monetary
Authority Act 1969.” If I may, Mr. Chairman, could you stand by for
one second?

Are there any speakers to the
amendment? Oh, I am sorry.
Hon. E. David Burt: I just want to check because I
am relatively certain that this is supposed to read
Bermuda Monetary Authority Act 1969, not Amendment Act 1969, because the Act came in during 1969,
so I am relatively certain it is not the Bermuda Mon etary Authority Amendment Act 1969.

[Pause]

Hon. E. David Burt: Yes, Mr. Chairman, it is the Bermuda Monetary Authority Act 1969.

Yes.

SCHEDULE AMENDED

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Moving on to the Schedule, there is an
amendment to the Schedule which was circulated as
well, and the Schedule is s tated there. But what I
would like to move is that the Investment Business
Amendment Bill 2022, the Schedule be amended as
provided below in the Schedule inserting the following
paragraph:

Amends the Bermuda Monetary Authority Act
1969 .

3 The Bermuda Monetary Authority 1969 is amended—
(a) in the Third Schedule, by deleting “ An
investment provider licen sed under
the Investment Business Act 2003”
and substituting the words “ An investment provider as defined in section 2 of the Investment Business Act 2003” ;
(b) in the Fourth Schedule, by deleting
contents of the table under the hea ding “Investment Business Act 2003”
and substituting the following . . .

Mr. Chairman, a Schedule of Fees that was
done was circulated in writing. Do you wish for me to
read all these fees, or can we accept it as I will ci rculate it?

It has been moved that the Bill be
reported to the House as amended.
Are there any objections to that?
There appear to be none.
The Bill will be reported to the House as
amended.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Thank you, Oppos ition Leader Simons and MP Richardson.
Mr. Speaker?

[Motion carried: The Investment Bus iness Amendment
Act 2022 was considered by a Committee of the
whole House and passed with amendments .]

House resumed at 9:16 pm

[Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]

REPORT OF COMMITTEE

INVESTMENT B USINESS AMENDMENT ACT 2022

Thank you, Deputy.
Members, are there any objections to the I nvestment Business Amendment Act 2022 being r eported to the House as amended?
There are none.
The Bill has been reported. Members, that is the end of the items on the
Order Paper for today.
Mr. Premier, would you like to do the third
reading?


Bermuda House of Assembly SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 21
be suspended to enable me to move the Bill entitled
The Investment Busi ness Amendment Act 2022 be
now read a third time by its title only.

Are there any objections?
There are none.
Continue.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

INVESTMENT B USINESS AMENDMENT ACT 2022

Hon. E. Da vid Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled t he
Investment Business Amendment Act 2022 be now
read for a third time by its title only and passed.