March 2, 2018

Minister.

Hon. Wayne Caines: No. That is what you are trying
to say. What we are trying to say is that we have to
look at the entire budget, look at everything that we
wanted to do. And so, we had to look at the direction
of the Bermuda Regiment. And so, after Recruit
Camp, the Bermuda Regiment team, they reorganised and they said, We have to put together a
plan, going forward for the year. The main effort was
to go and to create a maritime unit to go with the plan
of creating a full -time battalion. And it was felt that,
based on . . .
And, remember, the second- year and third -
year soldiers, those are the soldiers who travel for the
Overseas Camp, not the first -year soldiers. So, in
keeping with the long- term plans for the Bermuda
Regiment, and they recently put together a team that
is headed by the second -in-command of the Regiment, the Staff Officer, and he has been tasked and
looking at the Regiment from top to bottom. And this
was one of the recommendations that came out of the
total looking at the Bermuda Regiment, and the plan
for going forward.

Thank you, Minister.
Supplementary?
The Honourable Member Dunkley would like
to put a second question.

QUESTION 2: ROYAL BERMUDA REGIMENT
OVERSEAS CAMP
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
And to the Minister, on the top of page 2, the
Minister read, “the Bermuda Regiment will generate
and develop a professional, credible full -time inshore
Coast Guard. In order to meet the operational needs
of the Coast Guard, the Regiment has committed to finding reductions in its 2018/19 budget . . .”
Mr. Speaker, the Coast Guard has been
something that has been talked about for some time, and it has some support on that. So the question is
twofold here. One is, how much money would they
look to find in thi s year’s budget? And what is the total
estimated cost for a redeployed Coast Guard within
the Bermuda Regiment?

Thank you.
Minister.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, as you know, we
will go through this line by line in the Debate, if Mr.
Baron [sic] . . . he would have the opportunity to di scuss that, Mr. Speaker. No disrespect to the answer. We have a full budget coming.
But let us just be clear on what we are talking
about here. The Bermuda Government has made a
decision to create a full -time maritime element to the Bermuda Regiment. That is something that is in train.
We realise that this fiscal year, looking at the budget, looking at the cut, that this might not be at all possible
for the end of the year. After discussing it, we said we
will have to trim a few [items], cut ourselves [in] a few
places and do it in an efficacious manner. The dec ision was made, as a part of looking at getting certain
elements in the water in the next fiscal, that a part of
the way of doing this would be to cancel the Overseas
Camp.
If you look at the numbers, up to $450,000,
and that does not include the flight, the chartering of an airline. Chartering of an airline was approximately $250,000, to charter the airline. When you look at, put
all those things tog ether, the Bermuda Regiment, in
consultation with His Excellency the Governor, felt it
prudent to put that on hold for this year and do the
training locally, and do interagency training at the end
of the year, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member.
Minister.
Bermuda House of Assembly
1294 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, in the not -toodistant future, bringing any, creating any new element
. . . th ere are a number of pieces of legislation that will
be in the not -too-distant future in this House, which we
have to consider. There will have to be amendments,
as the Member would know, to the Defence Act, to the
Maritime Act, to the Criminal Code, to the Fire Arms
Act. There are a number of pieces of legislation that
will be in this House in the not -too-distant future. The
aim is to have the maritime unit active by the summer. However, there are several elements that are conti ngent on having this happen. And so, this is in train. There is a plan. The training is taking place.
Mr. Speaker, you would know that, as a result
of last summer, the America’s Cup, several members of the Maritime Section of the Bermuda Regiment were made special constables. And so, this is som ething that has been an ongoing process, and we b elieve that keeping and getting the boats, getting the uniforms, securing the facility, changing the law —all of
these things are in train. And when all of these things
take place, then we will be able to have specific dates
and deadlines for when we can have our soldiers on
the water, Mr. Speaker.

Yes. I appreciate the
Honourable Member’s answer in terms of the timing.
So, can the Honourable Member say at this
point, given what, presumably, will be a cost, which
will come out perhaps during the budget head debate
session in the next week or so— can the Honourable
Member say whether the Overseas Camp is likely to
be cancelled again next year to offset the cost of the
Coast Guard troop which is being created?

Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. Wayne Caines: Whilst it would be easy to say
the answer is speculative, and sit down and take my
seat, just so that we all, and even the listening members, have a clear understanding, Mr. Speaker, it is important to understand what we are doing. This
country has undertaken a position to end conscription.
The Bermuda Regiment is saying that, We have co nducted Overseas Camps for the last 30 years. Are we
getting value for money? When the soldiers come
back to Bermuda, one year left in the military service, is that a good way to spend money? Chartering a
plane for just under $300,000 a year, spending
$450,000 for a two- week camp—is that the proper
way to us e money?
The Bermuda Regiment has said, Let’s stop
this right now. Let’s look at all of the constituent parts;
let’s analyse it. Let’s look at doing, this year, six
weeks of specialised hurricane training in Bermuda.
Let’s look at the function of the Berm uda Regiment.
Shall we change the function? Are we going to look at a more humanitarian role?
Mr. Speaker, you would know that our soldiers
were recently deployed to the Turks and Caicos [I slands]. When they went to the Turks and Caicos [I slands], the For eign and Commonwealth Office said to
our commanding officer, His Excellency the Governor,
We would like to consider the Bermuda Regiment
playing a full -time role in Caribbean -wide hurricane
relief efforts.
The Bermuda Regiments team, doing their
overall understanding of the battalion, has said, Let’s
hold on for a second. We have done things a specific
way for a number of times. Rather than to continue on
in this path, what we are going to do is we are going
to huddle everybody, we are going to look at the direction of the Bermuda Regiment, we are going to look at
the value for money. Then we are going to make re commendations from the commanding officer to His
Excellency the Governor.
So, it is not just the notion of ending Recruit
Camp; will we do it next year? The Bermuda Regiment has said, Let’s stop. Let’s look at what we’ve
done over the last 50 years. Are we getting value for
money? Will this be the best path if we’re going to a
full-time battalion? Is this the best way to go? Well,
what they deemed m ost appropriate is to stop having
the Overseas Camp for this year whilst they, internally, figure out the direction of the battalion.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

And in particular, through
this House.
Francis Rabain stood on the shoulders of the
great golfers out of Ocean View Golf Club, like He rman Bascome, like the Lowe brothers, like Louis Raphael Corbin, and many others. Mr. Speaker, Frankie Rabain was a trai lblazer. As he stood on the
those shoulders, he was amongst that great group of golfers, the first generation that played golf in an int egrated -golf Bermuda after 1968, or thereabouts. Like
Llewellyn “Peter” Tucker, his dear friend from South Shore, Warwic k, and Eardley Jones, from Warwick,
Mr. Speaker, and many others like Keith Pearman,
Noel Van Putten—they were the trailblazers out of
Ocean View who not only stood in that integrated
Bermuda, but led the way as top players in that int egrated Bermuda.
Frankie Rabain would go on to be the Golf
Pro at Port Royal for 32 years, after first being the
Golf Professional at Ocean View Golf Course, where at that time, in 1971, he was the first Bermudian to
qualify and participate in the British Open Golf Cha mpionship, Mr. Speaker.

[Desk thumping]

Bermuda House of Assembly
1296 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

Frankie Rabain, because
of the era in which he came out of, was not able to
represent Bermuda in the World Cup, like I and others
have. But he was able to use his ability to qualify and
play for several US Senior Open Championships,
several British Senior Open Championships. And because of the greatest smile in Bermuda, the Frankie
Rabain smile, he was recognised as an ambassador, selling tourism up and down the East Coast and E urope, for Bermuda, Mr. Speaker.
Frankie Rabain was legendary in the sport.
But also, like many others who had to do two jobs in spite of [their talent], he was a musician of great ex-cellence. He played with Brian Butterfield. I remember
him playing that bass. And he was the choreographer
for that musical outlet, as many top sportsmen in this country, particularly from the black community, also
were connected with music. And we know their
names. I have called them in this House many times
before.
Frankie had connections around the world. I
cannot speak of Frankie without speaking about the late Frank Weinstein, a great philanthropist from overseas, who loved Bermuda, who had a golf tournament at Ocean View for juniors, which was the first tel evised golf event in Bermuda! H ow do I know? It was in
the finals against Aaron Spencer. It was on ZBM.
Frankie Rabain was part of Frank Weinstein, who helped sponsor him to play in that same British Open,
to play in the Bank of Boston Classic in the Senior
Tour at Nashawtuc Country Club. And Frankie Rabain
represented this country well. May he rest in peace!

[Desk thumping]

Good morning, Mr. Speaker.
I rise just to ask that this House send a letter
of condolences to the family of [Frederica] Luise Jac kson Moseley [Brown]. I declare my interest; she was a
family member of mine, a distant cousin. And I will
associate my other cousin on the other side, Susan
Jackson. And what I would also like to do, just a few
comments about Ms. Moseley, who had a very dynamic personality. When she walked into a room, you
knew she was there. She was somebody who actually
helped give my dad a few pointers to get through the
Berkeley Institute, as they were there at roughly the
same time.
So I just want to let people know that she will
be missed. Her dynamic personality, she always brought a smile to my face when I was around her. In my other life, she used to travel in and out of Bermuda
a lot on certain airlines.
[Laughter]

She used to travel in and out
a lot, and used to look for me when I was down there
at the airport. So, I will miss her. I know the family will
miss her. And I just want to make sure that the cou ntry knew that she was near and dear to our hearts, in the Sc ott family, the Jackson family, and Wakanda
Forever .

[Laughter]

Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
I recognise the Honourable Minister, from
constituency 13.
Minister Rabain, you hav e the floor.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
First, I would like to ensure that I am assoc iated with the condolences done by MP Swan for my great -uncle, Frankie —a brilliant golfer. I did have the
opportunity to do lessons with him on oc casion.

Wow. Wow.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: And he always told me it is
a sport I should take up, but it is just one that I could
never get any interest in. But yes, condolences to my
family on their sudden loss.
But, Mr. Speaker, I did get to my feet to send
hearty congratulations. And I want to associate the
entire House. In fact, as MP Swan said, the entire I sland, for congratulations to the drama students at
Dellwood Middle School.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker , I had the
pleasure to be at Dellwood yesterday as they unveiled
a video that they are calling Save Our Sons. It is an
anti-violence video that talks about the scourge of gun
violence in our Island and how it is affecting our young black men. If we had television screens here, I would
definitely encourage us to show it, so all MPs here
could actually see this video. These young people
actually participated in an event that the Minister of
National Security put together, and they won the prize for doing a s poken -word anti -violence presentation
then. And when we listened to it —all of the MPs who
were there listening to it —there was not a dry eye in
the house when we watched them perform this.
They took those winnings, and instead of doing what typically you would expect middle school
Bermuda House of Assembly


students to do, they said, No. We’ll take these wi nnings, and we will produce a video, a video that our
country can use, a video that our country can watch,
and a video that shows our classmates how we feel
about what is happenin g in Bermuda in terms of gun
violence. So I would like to send congratulations to
Dellwood Middle School, to Ms. Nishanthi Bailey, who is their drama teacher out there, and the Principal, Ms. Tina Duke. It was a very, very well produced video.
And if you have not seen it, I encourage you to get on
your phone, get on your laptop, get on your tablet.
View this, pass it on, forward it on to friends. It is a
very powerful video, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister.
Any other Member?
I recognise the Honourable Minister Caines.
Minister Caines, you have the floor.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, I would like to
echo the sentiment of my brother Minister with reference to the Save Our Sons video. Mr. Speaker, we
did, as you know, a Live Love Life programme at the
Ruth Seaton James Auditorium for the Performing
Arts. And they were the winners of it. And they could
have taken their prize money and done anything with
it. They ploughed their prize money back into a first -
class production . If you go on it, [you will see] in less
than 24 hours on YouTube it has over 5,000 views.
And for a country such as Bermuda, that is actually
significant, for 5,000 views in less than 24 hours. And
so, their message of hope in a school that has been
. . . when I was there yesterday, Mr. Speaker, and
caught the end of it —when I was there, I was walking
around, talking to the students. And I said to two of the young students whom I saw crying, and I asked
why were they crying?, Mr. Speaker. And one said
they had lost a father to gun violence, and another
one said that they lost an older brother to gun vi olence, that they were both murdered. And so, the a ctual nature and significance of it actually hit home.
Mr. Speaker, my next congratulations I would
like to send to BHS, Bermuda High School. I had the
privilege of being asked to be one of their guest rea ders on Wednesday. It was awesome to be there. I
read The Cat and the Hat and My Big Foot. Ironically,
The Cat in the Hat is one of my favourite books. I think
what is important is that we saw young people e ngaged in reading. My hat goes off to Ms. Sarah
Wheddon, who was the teacher who invited us.
She clearly made an effort to get people like
my brother and me to read. My brother read an excerpt from our book. Katura Horton[ -Perinchief], the
local diving Olympian, made an effort to have a myr iad, a diverse element of our country to speak with the young kids. And that was deliberate. And it will reap benefits in the future, that she has asked several
member s of different segments of our community to
present. And I would like to just congratulate the peo-ple at Bermuda High School for that endeavour.
Thank you, sir.

Mr. Speaker, I am just height -
challenged; that is all, nothing more than that.
Good morning, Mr. Speaker, and to my honourable colleagues, and to Bermuda.
On a sad note, Mr. Speaker, I would ask that
this House send a letter of condolences to the family
of the late Norma Darrell Richardson. Mrs . Richardson
was a constituent of mine and a strong supporter of this Administration, which obviously filtered down to her children, because her daughter, Darnel, actually
helped me in my campaign. And she was a lady who
will certainly be missed, because a ny time I went
through Smiths Avenue, on a sunny day she would
always be sitting out on her porch. And I was never
able to [pass] by, because she would always call out
to me. And I would have to spend some time with her.
And she certainly, you know, was one who glorified
the country itself and gave us much support. So I would ask that a letter of condolences be sent to the
family.
On another note, Mr. Speaker —

Thank you.
I ask that a letter of condolences be sent to a
family friend, Mr. Eugene Chesterfield Tuzo, som etimes called “Jip,” who passed. He was a famous, no-torious, I think, bus driver, from what I understand. And two of his sons are very good friends of mine. So
I would ask that a letter of condolences be sent.
Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for your
time.

Thank you, Member.
Bermuda House of Assembly
1298 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

Does any other Member wish to speak?
We recognise the Honourable Leader of the
Opposition. Honourable Member, Madam, you have
the floor.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I too would like to join this
House in sending condolences to the family of the late Frankie Rabain. Frankie was one of those persons
who cared a lot about Bermuda. And actually , whe never he went anywhere, he was more representing
Bermuda than representing himself. In addition to b eing a very accomplished golfer, as Member Swan had
said, he was a musician. But he was a very patient
teacher. And although Frankie did not teach me a lot,
because I have a husband who thinks that he can
teach me, as well, he was one of those individuals
who—he got to be known almost as Mr. Port Royal.
And for the persons who came there, every time they
came to the golf course, they were looking for him , to
talk to him, to find out what he was doing. And he e ncouraged individuals to take up the sport. And I think the proficiency of his daughter, Katyna, is reflective of
how well his teaching was carried out.
I think Frankie was one of those individuals
who, if one looks around, one has to be really sad-dened. And when I heard of his passing, my immediate reaction was, Oh, no. I am so sad. Because he
aged, but he was ageing well. And I would like to think
that we will reflect back and say to ourselves, If we
can be at that age and have lived so well and be so
well-thought -of by everybody in Bermuda, then that is
a success. And my heart goes out to his family, his
daughter, Katyna, his grandson, Hunter , and anybody
else who is associated with his family.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Very quickly, I have associated, of course,
with the comments by MP Swan with respect to Mr.
Frankie Rabain, the great Mr. Frankie Rabain. I got to
know him, of course, as a young boy with respect to
my father and the Esso Steel Band and that larger Bermudian musician family, who actually made the
Bermu dian tourism product so special during what I
call the golden era of tourism in Bermuda, from the
late 1950s up until the mid- 1980s. And certainly, he
was a key member of that musical fraternity of ente rtainers.
Just moving on, very quickly, Mr. Speaker,
also send condolences to Mr. Thaddeus John “Jigger”
Smith. My mother, as many of you know, lives in De vonshire now, for some time. And he was a mainstay of
that Jubilee Road, Orange Valley community down there, and a very noted member of that community.
And my condolences go out to his family.
Lastly, [condolences to the family of] a constituent of mine, Mr. Randy Cardel “TipToe” Carter. Originally from St. David’s, Mr. Carter was living up in Happy Valley for the last four or five years. His son,
who is m ourning his loss deeply . . . I know, they had
purchased a house up there. And it is really sad to
see him go. I will note that, as a Bermudian with the
name Carter, from St. David’s, he is related to the
Pitchers. But I am sure, with that name, his ancest ry
probably goes back to the original settlement of Ber-muda, through the Carters. So, we mourn his passing, as well, and my condolences go out to his family, Mr.
Speaker. Thank you.

We have one Government Bill to be
introduced by the Premier.
Deputy, are you going to do it for him?
Continue, Deputy.

FIRST READING

EXCHANGE CONTROL AMENDMENT ACT 2018

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the following
Bill for its first reading so that it may be placed on the Order Paper for the next day of meeting: Exchange Control Amendment Act 2018.

We are on the Orders of the Day. And
again, for the listening public, this is the third day of the annual Budget Debate. And today, we have two
ministries to be debated. The first will be the Ministry
of Parks, and they will be allocated two hours for their
debate. The second will be the Ministry of Transport and Regulatory Affairs, which will be allotted six hours
for that debate.
I will call on the Minister.
Are you going to move us into Committee,
Minister?
I call on Minister Burch to move us into Co mmittee.

Mr. Chairman, the
Bermuda National Parks Act 1986 is the enabling legislation for the National Parks system, as the Act sets
the general legislative framework, and the Bermuda National Parks Regulations 1988 set the parameters for the management of the Is land’s public park sy stem.
The Department of Parks mission statement
is, to develop and maintain public parks, beaches, and
school grounds and to produce plants necessary for this purpose; to provide safe and aesthetically plea sing, active and passive rec reational and educational
facilities for the enjoyment of residents and visitors;
and promote the educational and cultural history relating to our environment .
Mr. Chairman, the main objectives of the department are to:
• maintain and manage all parks and beaches
to the highest standards;
• provide a trained and professional life guard
service at four public beaches;
• protect a nd preserve open spaces for pre sent
and future generations;
• enforce the Bermuda National Parks Act 1986
and the associated Regulations; and
• manage cultural and natural resources.
Mr. Chairman, the Parks Department’s mandate, objectives, and scope of work are very broad
and entail administration, maintenance, development,
enforcement, cultural and historical management, and education. The department is responsible for the
management and maintenance of approximately
2,000 acres of parks, beaches, and government lands throughout the Island. This includes 75 parks, 96
properties, 30 public school grounds, approximately
30 kilometres of roadside grass verges stretching across the Island, and 6 sports fields under the remit
of the Ministry of Social Development and Sports.
Mr. Chairman, the budget allocation to the
Department of Parks for 2018/19 is found on page B219, an allocated amount of $9,808,000. This repr esents a net decrease of $194,000, or 2 per cent, when
compared with the 2017/18 original estimate. In an
effort to contribute to the target set by the Ministry to
achieve an overall $2 million in savings, the following
programmes were reduced and/or increased: Those that were reduced— Government House, $15,000 in
wages and in horticultural supplies; the Maintenance
and Development, $26,000 in overtime; Western
Parks, $51,000 in overtime; Botanical Gardens, $26,000 in wages; Park Maintenance, $10,000; Lif eguard Service, $120,000 —for a total of $248,000. The
net decrease is reduced to $194,000, Mr. Chairman, by the increase of $54,000 in Administration to fund
the hiring of an environmental training officer.
Mr. Chairman, the anticipated revenue for the
department in 2018/19 is estimated to be $88,000, which is an increase of $20,000 when compared with
the 2017/18 original estimate, or 29 per cent increase.
This anticipated increase is attributed to the new fees
introduced in the Bermuda National Parks Amendment (No. 2) Act 2017. A total of $50,000 will be raised from the activities at Fort St. Catherine, with
cabining fees contributing $20,000. The balance will
Bermuda House of Assembly
1300 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

be earned by rental concessions at beaches, estimated at $7,200; Lifeguard Service fees estimated at
$1,000; horticultural produce estimated at $5,000; and
facilities, rental of buildings at Botanical Gardens e stimated at $3,800.
The department’s capital budget for 2018/19
is $1 million. This includes the capital development
budget of $700,000, and the capital appropriations
budget of $300,000.
The budgeted number of employees or full -
time equivalents for the fiscal year 2018/19 is 143
persons, which is no change when compared with the
current fiscal year , as seen on page B -221. Of note,
however, is the fact that the department currently has
a complement of 115 employees.
Mr. Chairman, on page B -219, you will note
that there are five main programmes for the Depar tment of Parks, and they are as follows: 6801, Park
Service; 6802, Lifeguard Service; 6803, Park Maint enance; 6804, Administration; and 6805, Forts.
Programme 6801, Park Service. The estimate
of expenditure for the Park Service for 2018/19 is
$459,000. This figure represents a decrease of
$10,000, or 2 per cent, when compared with the original budget. Mr. Chairman, this programme has one
business unit, 78000, which is the Park Ranger Service. They are responsible for the enforcement of the
National Parks Act and the National Parks Regul ations. Park R angers patrol the national parks and
beaches to inspect and report on the condition, parti cipants, and activities therein. They manage special
functions in the national parks and liaise with industry
partners to maximise the success of those functions. On an annual basis, the Park Ranger Service is i nvolved in numerous community projects including:
• charity walks;
• cycle riding fundraisers;
• CPR, First Aid, and Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) c ertification courses;
• interpretive tours for school groups and camps; and
• special ly scheduled campaign cleanups and
hurricane cleanups throughout the Island.
The Park Ranger Service employees are very
visible over the Cup Match holiday weekend, when they facilitate and oversee the enjoyment of the activ ities at o ur public beaches and other heavily su bscribed camping areas during the long holiday wee kend.
Mr. Chairman, private- public partnerships are
not uncommon and are a key element to the devel-opment of the projects and assets within the Depar tment of Parks. To this end, the department will continue to collaborate with various industry partners to promote and ensure the success of its objectives.
The Department of Parks has recently par tnered with entities such as the BTA [Bermuda Tou rism Authority], Friends of the Railway, the Skills D evelopment Group, the Bermuda Prison Service, Court Services, the BIU [Bermuda Industrial Union] and BPSU [Bermuda Public Services Union], BELCO, and Friends of Hospice to develop our brand. Partnerships
like these allow the team to tackle large projects that
would otherwise be extremely challenging to complete
in a timely manner. The members of the Park Service
Division perform educational services for the public
with their interpretive tours at Fort Scaur, Admiralty
House, Ferry Point Park, along the Bermuda Railway
Trail, St. David’s Lighthouse, Great Head Park in St.
David’s, Blue Hole Park, and Spittal Pond. These
tours are popular primarily with schools, summer day
camps, and community centres.
The full -time equivalent for c ost centre 78000,
Park Ranger Service, is seven, as seen on page B -
221, which is unchanged from the current year.
Programme 6802, Lifeguard Service. The estimate of expenditure for the Lifeguard Service for 2018/19 is $470,000. And this figure represents a decrease of $120,000, or 20 per cent, when compared
with the original 2017/18 budget. The reduction in the
Lifeguard Service is due mainly to a reduction of $115,000 in the miscellaneous vote. This is used to
pay the lifeguards, and we have traditionally budgeted
for a complement of 22 persons for a six -month per iod. This year the budget was reduced to better reflect the actual spend, as we usually do not reach the full
complement of staff until July and August.
Mr. Chairman, this programme provides services to four public beaches, namely, Horseshoe Bay,
John Smith’s Bay, Clearwater, and Turtle Beach, with
lifeguards, and provides water safety outreach se rvices to the community. This section also supports the
Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO) by advi sing on the surf condition observations before and after hurricanes and storms. The Lifeguard Service also works with the Water Safety Council in the delivery of
water safety talks in the school system and at summer
day camps, such as the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum
and Zoos Aqua Camp, and Youth and Sports summer
day camps.
This year will see the installation of new lif eguard towers at all four beaches. The department is testing these new towers, with the pilot tower to be
installed at John Smith’s Bay so that Lifeguard Service can resume at this popular beach. The Lifeguard
Service will also be replacing and installing sited re scue equipment at various parks, beaches and docks.
The Lifeguard Service and Park Service work closely
together, and in 2018/19 some of the duties to be undertaken include the provision of lifeguard support during the swim portion of the International Triathlon
Union (ITU Triathlon); swim familiarisation on Friday, the 27
th of April, with the main event being held on
Saturday, the 28th of April 2018; training and certific ation of 30 lifeguards to the Royal Lifesaving Society standard; training of 20 staff in the Department of
Parks in either American Heart Association Basic Life
Bermuda House of Assembly


Support or Bermuda Red Cross Community CPR,
AED, and First Aid.
Mr. Chairman, the employees within this cost
centre also provide a valuable resource in tree felling
and clearing roads and other Bermuda Government
properties, as required. They are specifically called
into action for post -hurricane cleanup activities. Also,
during the winter off -season, some members of the
Lifeguard Service assist the Parks Maintenance Se ction with tasks such as removing invasive species,
installing park benches and picnic tables, and repai ring and installing fences.
The full -time e quivalent for the Lifeguard Service is 12, which is the same number for the current
year, and the service is augmented, as I stated earlier,
with 22 trained, seasonal lifeguards.
Mr. Chairman, programme 6803, Park
Maintenance. The estimate of expenditure for this
programme for 2018/19 is $7,007,000. This figure re presents a decrease of $118,000, or 2 per cent, when
compared with the original 2017/18 budget. Mr.
Chairman, this programme, by far, is the largest in the
department, as their budget represents 71 per cent of
the department’s total budget. The sections within
Parks Maintenance comprise Government House and
the Arboretum, Maintenance and Development, Eas tern Parks, Tree Service, Western Parks, School Grounds, Tulo Valley Nursery, Botanical Gardens,
and the Railway Trails.
The Maintenance Division is responsible for
the landscaping requirements of all national parks,
beaches, and schools. This involves hard landscaping
development, renovations, maintenance, mowing, pruning, edging, trash removal, tr ee surgery, and san itation services. Mr. Chairman, in recent years, the Park Maintenance programme has continued to be
challenged with decreasing employee numbers and
poorly functioning vehicles, tools, and equipment. In
spite of these challenges, the crew s have managed to
maintain the Island with limited resources and have
tried to focus on, and be attentive to the areas that
needed immediate remedial action. Major projects to clear invasive and unwanted plants throughout the
Island have been completed suc cessfully.
Mr. Chairman, in 2018/19, this section plans
to make improvements to Blue Hole Hill Park, which
includes repairs to the platform at the lagoon and r epairs to the road leading into the park; repair and r eplace the fencing in Spanish Point Park, Astwood
Park, and Shelly Bay Park; repair and upgrade bat hroom facilities in the parks; installation of park benc hes and picnic tables at various parks and beaches,
such as John Smith’s Bay, Astwood Park, West Whale Bay, and South Shore Park, Warwick Long Bay
Playground; replace gates where required at specific parks, beaches, and the Railway Trails; and refurbish and reopen the bathroom at Parson’s Road Pla yground Park. The department will continue with the impl ementation of an in- house horticultural lan dscaping
training and development programme for employees
in the Park Maintenance Section. Employees are in
class one day per week and will be given the oppor-tunity to be trained professionally to international
standards. This training is essential to ensure the ho rticultural and landscape maintenance is produced and
maintained to industry standards.
Mr. Chairman, repairs to the slat house and
glass house at Tulo Valley are planned for this next
fiscal year. This government plant nursery will play an
instrumental role in the roadside beautification initi ative by propagating ornamental ground covers to be
planted at the roadsides, to compete with and min imise the growth of weeds. Another interesting special
project of the Department of Parks will be the cult ivation of exotic fruit trees, such as mangoes and guava,
to name a few, which will be planted out in the parks and at private residences to determine which varieties
are best suited for Bermuda.

[Inaudible interjection]

Stop begging.
Mr. Chairman, there has been some i mprovement in the appearance of the Bermuda Botanical Gardens, and it is agreed that the restoration of this property i s a work in progress. The development
of a management plan in 2018/19 for the Botanical Gardens will be undertaken so that this property can be showcased as one that all residents can be proud
of again. Improvements to the Botanical Gardens i nclude repairs to the exotic house and the cactus and
succulent house, and upgrading of the collections. The replacement of benches and picnic tables is also
slated for the Botanical Gardens. I would also like to highlight, Mr. Chairman, and mention, that the Ministry
has counselled and will not be proceeding with the
development of a new maintenance shed at the B otanical Gardens.
Mr. Chairman, at the start of 2017, the Bermuda Railway Trail was maintained by private lan dscapers. However, it was decided that the department
could manage the maintenance needs of these trails
at a reduced cost by utilising Parks employees. The
results have been good, and the department has r eceived numerous compliments on the improved condition of the Railway Trails, Island- wide.
Mr. Chairman, in the past, the Parks team has
worked with inmates from the Prison Farm to clear large areas of invasive plants throughout the Island,
and these works greatly improve the aesthetics of the
specific areas that were cleaned. Therefore, the d eBermuda House of Assembly
1302 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

partment will review and consider re- establishing the
Prison Work programme during the new financial
year. Partnerships like these allow the section to tac kle large projects that would otherwise be extremely challenging to complete in a timely manner.
The full -time equivalent posts for the cost ce ntres 78015, 78020, 78030, 78035, 78040, 78045,
78055, and 78065 in the Park Maintenance
Section, shown on page B -221, are 113, no increase
over the current year.
Programme 6804, Administration. The est imate of expenditure for the Administration Section for 2018/19 is $1,465,000, and this figure represents an increase of $54,000, as I mentioned earlier, or 4 per
cent, when compared with the original 2017/18 bud get. Mr. Chairman, this programme has two cost cen-tres, whi ch are 78050, Administration and Planning;
and 78110, Annual Exhibition.
The Administration and Planning programme
is responsible for the day -to-day operations of managing the Parks team, as well as park planning and d esign, and developing management plans for all of the
national parks. Mr. Chairman, in fiscal year 2018/19,
the Administration Section will be responsible for the
full implementation of an integrated vegetation ma nagement plan. The primary objective in maintenance
of roadside vegetation is to promote the safety of the
highway user, preservation of the highway infrastru cture, and control of weeds where they occur on the
right of way. Other considerations include protection
and preservation of the natural environment, and pr eserving and enhancing the natural scenic quality of
the roadside.
An integrated pest, or in this case, vegetation
management programme is a system that strategically utilises mechanical, chemical, cultural, and biological
methods. The result is the most efficient control plan,
customised to local conditions, that minimises neg ative impact to human health and the environment.
There are also potentially significant cost savings to
be had by implementing an IVM [integrated vegetation
management] programme. The Ministry has already
implemented several elements of this type of pr ogramme that will be further developed, in consultation with the Department of Environment and Natural R esources. The IVM programme will be incorporated in
protected areas within the Parks’ remit, as well as
along the roadside and highways. And may I add, Mr. Chairman, that this plan does include the use of hoes
and shovels.
Mr. Chairman, in an effort to gain efficiencies,
better utilisation of the workforce, vehicles, and ass ociated resources, the Ministry is advancing discu ssions with the Bermuda Industrial Union to amalga mate the teams within the Works and Engineering D epartment’s Highway Road Cleaning Section, and the
Highway Verges Section, within the Department of
Parks, as the synergies are obvious. One cuts hed ges, and the other cuts grass. The joining of these se c-tions has the potential to improve the service output
while reducing the number of hard assets required —
for example, the number of trucks required to co mplete the prescribed job can, potentiall y, be reduced,
and it will result in a well -coordinated work effort and
deployment of labour. The discussions are in the early
stages, and I am optimistic that we can reach an
agreement, going forward.
Mr. Chairman, the Planning Section is also
spearheadi ng the inclusion of new fitness equipment
in the parks, which is a Throne Speech initiative. The
first installation will be at the Arboretum. The equi pment has been received on- Island by the department,
and the installation is imminent, albeit several week s
late (months late). Other parks identified as suitable
for fitness equipment are Warwick Long Bay Park and
Death Valley in Southampton. The installation of all
equipment will be performed by staff members in the
Maintenance and Development Section, and t he Park
Service Section, with the assistance of a contractor if
required.
The number of full -time equivalents for the
Administration and Planning cost centre, 78050, as seen on page B -221, is 11, which is the same as the
current year level. There are curr ently four vacant p ositions in this section, and it is intended for some of these vacant posts to be filled during the next fiscal
year.
As the department is no longer responsible for
organising the annual exhibition event, there are no full-time equivalents, or funding, under this cost centre.
Programme 6805, Forts. The estimate of expenditure for the Forts programme for 2018/19 is
$407,000, and this figure remains the same when
compared with the original 2017/18 budget. Mr. Chairman, the Forts and Histori cal Sites programme,
78080, is responsible for the management and preservation of the cultural resources that exist within
the National Parks. This includes the forts and batteries, as well as lime kilns, museums, and magazines.
With bookings already in pl ace for 2018/19, the forts
continue to be a popular venue for tourists, with Fort
St. Catherine cited as one of the top cultural places of
interest in Bermuda.
In 2017, more than 25,000 visitors were welcomed across the bridge for tours at Fort St. Cathe-rine. The inclusion of the East End forts among local
sites to visit on the Google Maps and Travel websites
has supported and continues to support an increased
visitation of Bermuda’s forts, with the websites d escribing the forts as a “ must see ” when visitin g the
Island. The forts are also popular for tours, weddings, birthday parties, and corporate events.
Mr. Chairman, Members may recall the recent
amendments that were passed in this Honourable House to increase the number of protected areas u nder the Nat ional Parks system. With the recent
amendments, the total number of areas protected u nBermuda House of Assembly


der this system has increased from 98 protected ar eas to 112 protected areas. The total area of the parks
system is now 1,129 acres, or 457 hectares. This is
an increase to the system of 90 acres, or 36 hectares.
One of the areas that has been included and
is of great public interest is Southlands. Mr. Chairman,
its inclusion late last year as a national park presents
a number of challenges and opportunities for the Parks Department in particular, and the country in
general, as the management of this significant natio nal asset requires careful planning and implementation.
You will note from the budget that there is no specific
funding provided for Southlands maintenance. As a
first step, however, we are conducting an internal r eview of the very basic plan which was produced in 2014. Following the update of the overall manag ement plan, we will launch consultation with community
stakeholders. Concurrently, Mr. Chairman, we wil l utilise current resources to conduct some basic clearing
and removal of foliage and invasive trees so that the
property does not look so untidy.
The full -time equivalent for cost centre 78080,
as seen on page B -221, is five employees, which is
the same a s the current fiscal year.
Mr. Chairman, I will now provide a summary
of the capital budget for Department of Parks. As stat-ed earlier, the department’s capital budget for 2018/19
is $1 million. This includes the capital development budget of $700,000 and the capital acquisitions budget of $300,000.
Under Capital Development, as seen on page
C-6, there are two cost centres —75101, Park I mprovements, that is allocated $200,000; and 75234, Parks Maintenance Yard Facility, that has an alloc ation of $500,000.
The Park Improvements will include general
upgrades and installation of new gates, park benches,
bathrooms, and other items and amenities within
parks. The $500,000 allocated under Parks Maint enance Yard Facility will be used to erect a new buil ding to replace the current facility utilised by the D epartment of Parks at Marsh Folly. Mr. Chairman, it will give us some personal satisfaction when we are able
to replace the dilapidated building and provide the
Parks staff, who work out of the Marsh Folly depot, the proper type of facility they deserve.
Mr. Chairman, with regard to capital acquis itions, $300,000 have been allocated for the purchase of new vehicles to replace vehicles that have reached
the end of their economic life cycle.
Mr. Chairman, I draw your attention to the
Parks Department’s performance measures, which
can be found on pages B -222 and B -223. A review of
the performance measures of previous years was
conducted during the budget preparation process, and
a decision was made to amend the measure s or ind icators to more accurately reflect the work and tasks
that are actually performed throughout the year, and
thus provide more meaningful performance targets for outcome measures. Therefore, the new fiscal year
2018/19 is a transitional year where ne w performance
measures are being introduced while others are being
phased out. And as such, you will note that there are
no results for the prior two years.
Mr. Chairman, this has also been a transitional year for the leadership of Parks at several levels,
including the directorship. As you will know, staffing levels fall outside of ministerial responsibility, but I am
keen that permanent leadership is put in place expedi-tiously so that the department can refocus on its core
mission. Mr. Chairman, I must al so commend the staff
for enduring a very challenging year, but never losing
their focus, passion, or commitment for what they do.
They take tremendous pride in their work and deserve
our commendation and thanks for persevering in the
face of significant challenges this past year.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That concludes my
brief for the Department of Parks, Head 68. And I
move that the head be approved.

Thank you, Minister.
The Minister has concluded his summary of
Head 68. It is now 11:45. T his debate is for two hours,
and we call on the Shadow Minister or any other Member who wants to speak at this time.
The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 7.
Shadow Minister Richards, you have the floor.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you very much,
Mr. Chairman.
As a person who had the [purview] of this Mi nistry in the past, I must concur with the Minister that
the employees of the Department of Parks are very
hard-working individuals, very dedicated to their craft,
have put in the time and effort and training, and who
take great pride in their work, which at times can be very difficult and challenging. When most of us, or
some of us, are working in air -conditioned offices with
temperature controls and humidity controls, the men
and women of the Department of Parks are out all
around Bermuda, working hard in the sun and humid ity, sometimes in the rain and the wind, to maintain our parks, our beaches, our Railway Trails, and to ensure that Bermuda continues to remain a beautiful, pristine
island in the middle of the Atlantic.
A lot of us take for granted what they do, until
they stop doing it effectively or efficiently. And then
everybody takes note, very quickly, when the trees
are overgrown or the roadside verges have not been
cut or the grass in the parks is up to your ankles.
Whoever is the Minister at that time gets a lot of
phone calls. I just wanted to congratulate the Parks
employees, who do have a difficult environment to
work in sometimes.
Turning to the actual Budget Book, the challenge that I am having, and it was brought up earlier in the week, is that the Budget Book basically is compa rBermuda House of Assembly
1304 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

ing the 2017/18 revised figures to the 2018/19 est imate figures, whereas in the Minister’s brief, the co mparisons are between the 2017/18 original figures and
the budgeted 2018/19 estimates. In the Budget Book,
the differences that are shown, whether they be the
actual number or the percentages, are based off of
comparing the revised estimates to the 2018/19 est imates, and not the originals. So for my calculations, I
went by the Budget Book. You know, this is the book
that is presented to us, and so my figures are going to
differ somewhat from the Minister’s.
But I have a list of questions that I have put
together. And I am going to run through them, as I have outlined them, or made notes to myself. And
then the Minister can respond to correct me or to
agree with me, if he chooses to do so.

Honourable Member, if I could just
interject that the 2017/18 original would have been the
figures that were approved by the House. And the
2017/18 revised would have been the budget that
came in through actual operating. So we will take that
under advisement.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Sure, sure. Sure.
As an example, looking at page B-219, E xpenditures , when you look at the overall department
expenditures projected, if you are comparing the r evised 2017/18 figure to the 2018/19 budgeted figure, it
shows an increase of 26 . . . yes, an increase of
26 per cent. Whereas, the Minister is using the original 2017/18 figures. When you compare that to the
2018/19 estimate, it is a 2 per cent decrease. So, it makes it a little challenging.
But moving along, and you have clarified your
position, looking at the Park Ranger Service, line item
78000, the 2017/18 was originally budgeted at
$469,000 and was revised to $481,000. And the
2018/19 estimate is $459,000, a reduction of $22,000. So the question I had is, what was driving this decrease? The Minister may have mentioned it in his
brief, but it was a lot of information, so I was trying to
keep up.
Moving along, and, you know, before I move
on, I must say that the Park Ranger Service is very, very important for the reasons outlined in the Mini ster’s brief, and also because they have been a great help in some of the initiatives that I was involved in, such as the Bermuda Tourism Authority, and also the
Friends of the Railway Trail, which is a group of
philanthropists who are basically funding and raising
money and working with the department to ins tall the
new Bailey’s Bay bridges that Bermudians are seeing
going up around the Island. And it is a very, very i mportant project and one that is benefiting Bermudians and our visitors alike.
And the public may be aware, because it has
been announced fairl y recently, that there is going to
be a bridge, a new bridge, erected on the existing p y-lons at the entrance to Flatt’s Inlet. That was an-nounced, and there was actually a video of what it is going to look like, potentially, that was put out on s ocial medi a. And the Park Ranger Service is very, very
instrumental in working with the Friends of the Rai lway Trail and erecting these Bailey bridges. That is
going to be a major one.
And to put everybody’s mind at ease, it is g oing to be erected at a height that i s going to be suff icient for people who have their boats moored inside
Flatt’s Inlet to get their boats in and out of Flatt’s Inlet.
But it is going to be a major enhancement, in my view,
to the Railway Trail in that area. And the long- term
goal is to link up the Railway Trail, from west to east,
so that people will be able to traverse the Railway
Trail, using these series of Bailey bridges that are going to be erected. So that is a very, very notable pr oject. And the Department of Parks has been integral i n
working with the Friends of the Railway Trail to make
that happen.
The Lifeguard Service, [line item] 78010, the
2017/18 budget originally at $590,000 was revised to
$478,000. The 2018/19 estimate is $470,000. So I
was just curious, what is the reduction for in this line
item? And I also made note, and I am very pleased
that the Lifeguard Service is going to be resumed at
John Smith’s Bay, which is in my constituency. Unfo rtunately, the previous structure that was there was a
very nice lifeguard structure, it was wiped out by one
of the previous hurricanes that we had. And it was not
replaced. So I am very pleased that a new structure is
going to be built and that lifeguard service is going to
resume at John Smith’s Bay, which is a very, very popular beach with my constituents, but also with tourists. Because the minibuses, when the cruise ships come into St. George’s and when they are at Doc kyard, that beach is definitely on the route for the tours
on the minibuses that traverse the Island. So I am
very pl eased to see that.
Moving to line item 78020, Maintenance and
Development, the 2018/19 figures originally budgeted at $959,000, that has been revised to $747,000. The 2018/19 estimate is for $933,000, which is up 25 per
cent from the 2018/19 estimate. And I was curious if this included the maintenance cost, which is tying in to these Bailey bridges. Does this include the maint enance cost for government’s portion of the maint enance of these Bailey bridges being installed on the Railway Trail? I know that I had been involved in di scussions with the department and with the Friends of the Railway Trail about the maintenance costs for
these Bailey bridges. And I am just curious if those
discussions had been continued and, if so, what dec ision was made in terms of the responsibility for
maintenance of the Bailey bridges.
Moving on to line item 78030, this is all on
page B -219, Expenditures. Eastern Parks, in 2017/18
revised estimate is $723,000. The 2018/19 estimate is $963,000. I was curious, why the increase in expendiBermuda House of Assembly


tures in the Eastern Parks? Once again, the Minister
may have touched on it in his brief, but if he could just
clarify that for me.
Line item 78035, Tree Service. The 2017/18
number was originally budgeted at $554,000 and was
revised to $345,000. The 2018/19 estimate is back at
the original level of $554,000. But then, comparing it to the revised estimate for 2017/18, there is a 61 per cent increase. So I was curious, what is the reason for
that?
Line item 78100, the Railway Trail. The
2018/19 expendi ture was $320,000, which was 2 per
cent lower than the 2017/18 revised estimate. I am
curious about that because I would have thought that
this expenditure would be budgeted to increase in the
2018/19 year due to the increased usage of the trail, partly as a result of the Bailey bridges being installed.
So I figured, with increased usage, that the expenditures for upkeep and maintenance would be higher.
So I am just curious.
And line item 78050, Administration and Planning, the 2018/19 expenditure, budgeted at $1,465,000, which represents a 56 per cent increase
over the 2017/18 revised estimate. I am curious, what is the reason for the increase in expenditures? And I
know that the Minister mentioned that the Admin and
Planning is responsible for managing the entire Parks
team and all the work that they do. So I was just cur ious about that.
I must comment that I was very encouraged,
in the Minister’s brief, to hear about the planned r epairs to the bathrooms in the parks and on our beac hes. That is very welcome. I know when I was the Mi nister, I used to get quite a few phone calls from var ious persons about the condition of the bathrooms in
the parks system. I must say that I think the best bat hrooms in the parks system happen to be at John
Smith’s Bay, in my constituency.
And those were constructed shortly after 2012
when the OBA became the Government. My constit uents were very, very upfront that they needed and
wanted nice bathrooms/changing facilities on their beach. And they are there now. And I would like to
see the bathrooms in the parks system brought to that
level, and then maintained, because sometimes you can build a nice facility and it is not maintained properly. And that is a big issue, you know, getting the bat hrooms cleaned and properly stocked with the necess ities that are required. But I am very pleased that this initiative is being put forward.
Getting back to the Budget Book, moving on
to page B -220, this is expenditures, the continuation
of expenditures. I am looking at Salaries and Wages.
By my calculations, they are projected to increase when compared to the 2017/18 revised estimates. For
example, salaries are projected to increase by $337,000, and wages are projected to increase by
$1,225,000, for a total increase, when you combine
salaries and wages, of $1,562,000. And that kind of ties in—I am going to skip a
bit—to the employee numbers as shown on page B -
221 in the Budget Book. It shows that the number of
employees is projected to increase by 28 ful l-time
equivalents in 2018/19. My question is, is it the inte ntion to fill all of these positions? Or will some of these positions be budgeted for, but go unfulfilled? And if
the intent is to fill these 28 positions, has the recrui tment process begun? Unfortunately, historically, if
these positions that had been budgeted for [are] not
filled, that money tends to be spent on other things
instead of salaries. So I am curious what this salary —

Thank you, Member. Got it.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Yes? Okay.
I am going back on page B -220, Professional
Services. Since the expenditure for Professional Ser-vices is projected to increase by 126 per cent, accor ding to the Budget Book, to $300,000 in 2018/19, if the Minister could give some information on what these services are, if he could give a description of these
services. That is a material increase from previous
years. S o I am curious what this Professional Services
entails.
And the expenditure for Rentals is projected
to rise, from $4,000 in 2017/18 to $70,000 in 2018/19. Once again, I am curious, what is the reason for this
relatively big increase in the expenditure as a result of
rentals?
The Minister mentioned in his brief about the
cultivation of exotic fruit trees, that this is a new initi ative. I did meet with a gentleman a few months ago, and this was something that he was putting forward.
And we can all recall in our younger years when Bermuda had quite a bit of fruit trees that were throughout the Island. I remember when I was a kid, we would
have to go and pick Bermuda- grown pink grapefruits
and oranges, tangelos, some of the best fruit that I
have ever eaten, you know, grown right here in Be rmuda. But with the development of the Island and the
building of condominiums and other construction, you
know, those fruit trees, you do not see them like you
used to in the past.
Bermuda House of Assembly
1306 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

So I will support, I definitely will sup port that
initiative because our soil seems to grow very good
citrus, especially. I was curious what types of exotic
fruit trees are part of this initiative. Is it going to be
citrus —oranges, grapefruits —

Mangoes.

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Mangoes possibly, lemons possibly. So I am just curious what kind of fruits those are.
And the Minister, he also mentioned upgrades
that will be done to the Botanical Gardens, new benches, et cetera, which is very good also. It is
something that I support. Botanical Gardens is a hig hly used facility by locals. And, of course, it is a tourist
destination. So it is always good to see the Botanical
Gardens maintained and cultivated, with new park
benches and whatnot being installed. So I definitely
support that.
Going back to the Budget Book, page B -220,
looking at revenues, the Revenue Summary. The ex-penditures —excuse me. Sorry, I am on revenues
now. The 2018/19 total department revenues are budgeted at $88,000, which is up from the 2017/18
revised revenue estimate of $31,000. And I have noted that the original 2017/18 figure is $68,000. Looking
at line item 8251, Camping Fees, the 2018/19 rev enues are budgeted at $20,000, which in the Budget
Book is shown as a 300 per cent increase over
2017/18. I would imagine that those increases are a
result of the new fees that have been implemented for renting and camping —excuse me, for camping out in
the parks system. I am just curious if there are any
other reasons for that increase in revenue or if it is just
strictly because of the changes that have been made
to the fees.
Admissions, line item 8253, the 2018/19 figure
budgeted is $50,000, which the Budget Book shows to be a 150 per cent increase over 2017/18. I was cur ious, what is the reason for that uptick? Yes. So if the Minister could just give some explanation for the i ncrease in revenues that are being projected.
I am moving on now to page B -222, the Pe rformance Measures. The Minister did mention in his brief that —and it is a question that I have— why the
previous years did not show any figures for 2016/17 or
2017/18. And the Minister did mention that this was a transitional year for the department. And I did note
that some of the performance measures that were in
last year’s Budget Book are no longer in thi s year’s
Budget Book. So I figured there was something going on in those regards. However, I did take note when I looked at the targeted outcomes that are shown in the
Budget Book for 2018/19, that some of these targeted
outcomes that are shown are confusi ng. And I was
hoping to get some clarity from the Minister on the
figures that are shown in this year’s Budget Book. For example, looking at the business unit
78020, which is Maintenance and Development, it
refers to the first item, 1, percentage of toilet service
at least every other day. And the figure that is shown,
it looks like 2,300, which is clearly not a percentage. So I was curious about that figure. Additionally, the
2018/19 targeted outcomes shown in items 2 and 4 of
that same segment, Maintenan ce and Development —
are they percentages? For example, the percentage
of Maintenance and Development projects undertaken
and completed per year, it is shown as 27 (I am just
curious), if that is a percentage figure. Same thing for
item number 4.
Continuing on with the performance
measures, item 78035, which is the Tree Service, I
would like to get confirmation that the 2018/19 targeted outcome numbers in items number 2, 3, and 4 of
that section, once again, are those percentages and
not total numbers? For example, item number 2, the
percentage of trees pruned twice every six months is
shown as 45. I would assume that is 45 per cent; if he
could just clarify that for me.
Also, line item 78050, which is Administration
and Planning. If you look at item number 7, it reflects
a 2018/19 targeted outcome of 10 parks. Basically,
the line item says, the total number of National Parks
Commission meetings per year . So it is showing that
there are going to be 10 Parks Commission meetings this year. The question I have f or the Minister is, when
was the last Parks Commission meeting held? And when will the next Parks Commission meeting be
held? You know, the Parks Commission is an interes ting commission. So I am just curious if they have met
and when they are going to meet again.
Looking at line item 78055, Tulo Valley, the
2018/19 targeted outcomes shown. Once again, items 1, 2, 3, and 4 are basically saying, what are the pe rcentages? For example, one says, what is the pe rcentage of bedding plants grown and harvested for a
month? The number shown says 120,000, which ca nnot be correct. So I need some clarification on items 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the Tulo Valley line item.
I am just looking at my notes here, Mr. Chai rman.
Let us go to page C -6. Page C -6, at line item
75101, Park Improvements, $200,000 has been
budgeted for the 2018/19 year. I believe the Minister mentioned that these improvements would be general upgrades to the parks system, new gates. I think I
heard new gates and some other items. I would just
like for him to just go over that with me so that the
public and I can get a good handle on what those park improvements are.
And line item 75234, the Parks Maintenance
Yard facility. The Budget Book shows that $500,000 is budgeted in 2018/19 for the Maintenance Yard facility.
I noted that there was not anything budgeted in
2017/18, the revised estimate. So, my question is,
what is the status of the construction of the Maint eBermuda House of Assembly


nance Yard facility on the Brownfield site of the Botanical Gardens? The Minister mentioned in his brief, I
heard him say that the maintenance shed had been
cancelled.
So, correct me if I am wrong, is this $500,000
to build a maintenance shed in another location, if it is
not going to be built at Botanical Gardens? I was little
confused by that. S o if he could speak to that, this
would be helpful. I know that the Maintenance Yard
facility that was going to be built in the Botanical Gardens was subject to some type of court action. And I
do not know if that has been moved on or what the
situation is with that.
Looking at page C -13, Parks Capital Acquis itions, line item 76474, which is Vehicles, there is $300,000 budgeted for 2018/19. I am curious what kind of vehicles these are, because I know one of the
challenges that the department has is having sufficient
vehicles and equipment that they need to do the job
effectively. And I must say, Mr. Chairman, that I was
walking through Hamilton the other day, and a Parks
Department truck, it actually was a brand- new Jeep
Wrangler, drove by. And I said, Wow. That’s a nice,
nice Jeep. And I know, because I have one! Not in this
place, but in another place.

[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I have another one.
But what struck me is that a Jeep Wrangler is
not really a utility vehicle. Ok ay? It is very nice if you
want to go off -road and up in the mountains, and have
enough clearance to cross a river and whatnot. It is very good for that.

[Inaudible interjection and laughter ]

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: However, however —no,
but, hey, I am going somewhere with this, Minister. I
am going somewhere with this, right?
If you are going to buy a Jeep, it should be
something you can put some tools in the back. A
Wrangler does not have that. So, my thing is this:
When I was there, I had no idea that this was in train.

You were asleep at the wheel.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I was not asleep at the
wheel. I paid very close attention to the vehicles that
were going to be purchased. So I was very surprised
when I saw this Jeep Wr angler. All I am saying is that
. . .

[Inaudible interjection s]

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I will move on now.
But—but it is an issue. It is a serious issue. It is a s erious issue, Mr. Chairman, because I tell you. If I would have seen that . . . they would not be driving
around in that brand -new Jeep Wrangler.
And looking at line item 76551, Equipment. I
notice that there is not anything budgeted for 2018/19.

Yes.

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: There was not anything
budgeted for 2018/19, which is peculiar, considering that Parks needs equipment. And one piece of equi pment that I know I used to ask a lot about were the
tractors that are used to rake up the beaches in the
summertime. There were issues at certain beaches,
and I used to get the calls and the complaints, propri etors saying that the beach had not been raked in the morning. So, visitors were coming to the beaches and, you know, there was seaweed, or it had not been
raked. So when I asked the questions, some of the
tractors were not working because they needed parts. Or a tractor was deployed somewhere where it probably was not being utilised as much as it should have
been. So I am just curious why the equipment does
not show any figures for 2018/19.
So, Mr. Chairman, those are my specific
questions, based on the Budget Book and what I have
picked up from the Minister’s brief. But I would like to
make some other comments based off of what I heard in the Mi nister’s brief.
The management of the roadside verges, the
Minister mentioned that there is an integrated . . . I
Bermuda House of Assembly
1308 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

may not be using the term exactly as he has put it. But
there is an integrated road management programme
that is being implemented. So I woul d like to hear a
little bit more about that. I know the Minister men-tioned that it is going to be shovels and hoes, but is it
also going to use, I guess, the pesticides. And I know
there was some controversy about that. So I am just
curious about what the mix is going to be, because as
we all know, when the roadside verges are not in ti ptop shape., the Island looks a little shoddy and sha bby, and people complain. So I am just curious what
that programme is going to look like.
The Minister mentioned discuss ions are being
held or are going to be held between the department
and the BIU to merge sections of Parks and Public
Works. Makes eminent good sense to do that. What we find in government sometimes is that we have d epartments that should be joined up. They are not. One
could be in one ministry and the other would be in a nother ministry. And then, just to get something simple
done, you have to deal with all of the bureaucracy. So
I would like to hear a little bit more about what is being
done to merge those sections of Parks and Public
Works, to make it more efficient and effective to manage our roadside verges.
There was mention of new fitness equipment
being installed under Parks. That is a very good initi ative. And the Minister mentioned that the Arboretum, I
believe, is going to have the first installation, with subsequent installations in Warwick Park and Death Valley. It is a very good initiative. The more that we can
do to encourage our locals to get out and exercise
and walk, and to get themselves in shape, I support, especially if you are doing it out in fresh air. I am just
curious what the fitness equipment is going to be. Is it
going to be chin- up bars?
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I do not think it is going
to be any free weights. I would just like to get a little
bit more about what that fitness equipment is going to look like, what it entails.
And Southlands. The Southlands have stayed
up in Warwick. This has been something that has been on the department’s rad ar for a very, very, very
long time. And I would like to see that initiative moved
forward. The Minister mentioned that there were no
funds set aside for it in this year’s budget, because it requires careful planning on the part of management.
He did menti on that the 2014 basic management plan
that was put together, I believe at that time, is being
revisited and reviewed. I am curious what the timeline
is on implementing that, because there was a steady call, specifically amongst residents in that area, on
what is going to happen with that Southlands area.
I know a few years ago there were people
from the community who got together and went up there, and they did a lot of work removing invasive
species and plants from that area. But that was a few years ago. So I do not think anything has happened
here recently in terms of that. So, I would like to get a
little bit more colour around what is going up there in
Southlands.
To wrap up, once again I would like to thank
all of the employees of the Department of Parks, the management. And we do need to encourage them in
their efforts, in their work —it is very integral to keeping
Bermuda looking pristine —and give them the tools
necessary so that they can carry out their mandate.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The Chairma n: Thank you, Honourable Member.
We have another minute left before lunch.
Would any other Member like to be reco gnised at this time?
The Honourable Member, Mr. Simons.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to open by thanking the staff of
the Department of Parks. I too sat in that chair as the Minister. And I could not have asked for a more dedi-cated team. They are committed to what they do.
They take pride in what they do. And I want to salute
them for their commitment, dedication, and contribution.
I will break now and resume after lunch.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman ,
Mr. Chairman , I do not have much to say, but
I just have a couple of questions that I would like to
raise with the Minister.
The first question I would like to raise has to
do with the Agricultural Exhibition and the contract that is in place with AG Show Ltd. As you may or may
not know in 2016, I think that was the year, the Go vernment entered into a partnership agreement with
AG Show Ltd. to host the AG Show for the next three
or four years. Obviously we had some responsibilities as a Government to provide resources to clean the place, to make sure the agricultural grounds were
ready and prepared, to make sure that garbage collection was addressed, just to make sure t hat the
property looked pristine. On the other side the AG
Show Ltd. had the responsibilities of raising money
and advertising. But in addition, before entering into
the agreement they made a commitment to address
the roof on, I think it is, the education building, and
there was talk about also doing some stabling for the
horses in the main collecting area.
So I would like for the Minister to give an update as to where things are on the delivery of the capi-tal investments that the AG Show Ltd. agreed to ma ke
in regard to the agreement that they signed in 2016.
The next issue that I would like to raise, Mr.
Chairman, is the issue in regard to the bathrooms, and that is [programme] 6803. I heard the Minister indicate that he has some new toilets for the Park s
and the Botanical Gardens. But I found, as the Shad-ow Minister indicated, that this is useful, but the bi ggest challenge that we had running that Ministry was
the maintenance and care. So my question to the Mi nister is: has he outsourced that service? Or will the
maintenance and cleaning be done by members of his Ministry?
In addition, there was the issue of Horseshoe
Bay and the summer tourists. The facility at Hors eshoe Bay was open until ten o’clock at night in the
summertime, and so the question becom es who mai ntains the toilets, who cleans the toilets after 5:30 [pm]
when the Ministry closes? Again, do we contract it out? Is the licensee at the Horseshoe Bay responsible for it? Let us have some clarity around that issue b ecause that caused a number of challenges when I was
in that chair in 2016. So if he can give us an update
on how we are going to manage the toilets going forward in the summer at Horseshoe Bay because, as you know, it is a world -class tourist attraction and we
had a number of complaints.
The same thing applies to cleaning up the
beach during the day because you have people sending video clips, Facebook pictures, around the world
of garbage bins overflowing with trash, and that is not the message that we want to send our tourists and our
international guests. So if you can speak to the plans
for Horseshoe Bay as well.
Mr. Chairman, [programme] 6803, Park
Maintenance, maintenance and development. Again, I want to salute Roger Parris. Roger Parris has a pr ogramme in developing young people and employees.
His plan is basically to provide horticultural services
and courses to young people who have joined the
Department of Parks. In addition they have taken young men and young women who have fallen off the
rails and who have turned their liv es around, and he
has done a magnificent job in helping them rebuild
their lives and make their lives feel valuable through
the industry of horticultural science and gardening. A
number of graduates have gone on basically to go
through horticultural school in the UK. A number of
them have turned their lives around and found jobs at
local landscaping companies.
My question to the Minister is: has he provi ded more resources to Mr. Parris so that he can get on with this programme and continue to do great thing s?
I mean, he has a partnership with the Garden Club,
the union, and the Court Services, and I just was . . .
and as a consequence I would like to know what additional support the Minister is giving to help this pr ogramme that is headed by Mr. Roger Parris . Again,
Mr. Parris and your team, you are doing a great job, keep it up!
The other issue that I have, Mr. Chairman, is
the maintenance. The Minister indicated that there will
be no maintenance shed at the Botanical Gardens. So
my question becomes where wi ll the employees who
are stationed at the Botanical Gardens, who work at
the Botanical Gardens day in and day out, where will
they be able to store their equipment, their tools, and even their vehicles? What area has been designated
for them so that they w ould not have to go all over the
place to get their tools to continue to provide the se rvice that they have ably provided for this country in the Botanical Gardens?
The other issue that I have is in regard to the
management of the stores. I know we had iss ues
when I was there with stores . . . the management of
stores control. So does the Minister, under the Admi nistration section 6804, have a coordinated stores and
supplies management team within the Ministry? You
know, we know that . . . you know there we re some
challenges in that Ministry within the last two years.
There were challenges with administration, there were
tools that went missing, equipment that went missing,
and so I, when I was in the chair, was working to craft
a solution in that space. And so we were wondering if
the Minister has been able to come up with some co ntrols that will better manage the stores and equipment for the Ministry, so that there are controls in place in regard to equipment owned and used by the Ministry
staff.
Bermuda House of Assembly
1310 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

The other question that I have is the control
. . . I know we did not have a full -time controller, in
fact, we did not have a full -time Director of Parks
when I was there. So can the Minister also provide
details on where we stand in having a full -time Dire ctor of Parks that will provide the leadership that is
needed in that Department? In addition, do we have a
full-time controller to make sure that the finances are
in place and that we are able to manage the assets in
a way that adheres to best practices?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I almost
wish I had enough time to read the brief again b ecause most of the questions were covered in the brief, but that being said, I shall attempt to do so.
Let me just start though, Mr. Chairman, by
addressing the whole question of the Budget Book
and the comparisons. And I am glad that the chief architect of this Book is in the House. But let me just say
this, Mr. Chairman , I almost feel as if the two Me mbers who spoke were never Ministers.

[Inaudible interjection]

No, because without
consulting with anyone other than the two people who
I normally consult with—you know, the three people
actually —me, myself, and I, on my first look at the
Budget Book I thought this does not make any kind of
sense to me because it suggested . . . and I will use
the example of the total budget for the Ministry of Pu blic Works, where in the Budget Book it says that the budget for the Ministry will have increased by $5.1
million. That is what the Budget Book says if you
compare the estimates for this year with the revised estimates —because that is what they have got to be–
because you have still have got eight weeks from the
time the Budget Book was printed until the end of the financial year. Be that as it may, I was not prepared to
stand on the floor of this House and say that my
budget had been increased by $5 million. And, in fact,
I said to the Minister of Finance, if you want me to say
that, then you must produce that money for us. True? He is not listening, but I did . . . I told him that. I said if
you want to say that my budget has increased by $5.1 million, I want the money.
[Inaudible interjection]

—having spent weeks
sitting around that table down there at 105 Front
Street arguing about budget and offering up conce ssions that I knew that we could meet, I was not going
to stand here and say that. And so I went to compa ring the amount that was approved by the Legislature last year for funding for the Ministry of Public Works of
$75,018,000 —that is what I used to compare this
year’s with.
Now, the one thing that I did not get out of the
questions was, at some point in my presentation, and
in fact today I said that we had reduced our budget by $2 million. But if you do a straight comparison with
what is in the Budget Book, again, there should have
been a question on that because, in fact, what is in the Budget Book, if you compare what I said, I have
only reduced m y budget by $1.05 million. And the
reason for that, which you would have had to have
been there for the Ministry debate, is because last
year I did not have $950,000 for golf courses and this
year I do, okay? And so that is how we get to where
we are getti ng to, and the reality is that the Ministry’s
budget has been reduced by $2 million. That is the bottom line. And I suspect that next you will be back to square one but for those people that were here last
year and approved that budget, check the Budget
Book. There is a comparison between the original and
the proposed for the New Year.
In no particular order I am going to attempt to
answer every question I was asked. Okay, so the first
one is, what is the reason for the reduction in the Lif eguard Service budget? The reduction in the Lifeguard
Service budget of $120,000 is due mainly to a redu ction of $115,000 in the miscellaneous vote. And as I
said in my brief, this is to pay lifeguards, in particular,
the 22 occasional life guards for the period. And wha t
we have attempted to do in this budget across the board in our Ministry (and I think across all of Go vernment) is to have the budget reflect the actual expenses that you have incurred. And as I said in this
case the reason why we can reduce it by $120,000 is because we never had 22 persons for the whole six -
month period. We normally have them —22—in July
and August. So for four months we have got money left over, so I gave it back to the Treasury. That is the
reason for that.
Does the Maintenance and Development
budget include the maintenance of the new railway
bridges? And the answer to that, Mr. Chairman, is the
short answer is no. The bridges are brand new. We do
not expect that there is going to have to be any
maintenance for brand- new bridges in this next fiscal
year. And in addition to that, the maintenance of those
bridges will not come under Parks, it will come under
the Department of Public Works ––the Works and E nBermuda House of Assembly


gineering’s Structural section. And so I do not even
think next year you are going to see any need for
maintenance of any significant magnitude in terms of
budgeting for those bridges because they are brand
new.
What is the reason for the increase in the
Administration and Planning budget? Again, this i ncrease is $54,000 and I can set out all of the details.
We reduced by the $200 -and something I listed, but
then you have to put back in $54,000 because, as I stated in the brief, we are hiring an Environmental
Training Officer. And so it nets out at a $154,000 r eduction.
What is the funding in Professional Services
used for? This vote is used to pay for any services
provided by contractors to the department.
What type of exotic fruits will be planted? As I
said in the brief, citrus, mangoes, guavas and others.
What is the reason for increasing fees? Mr.
Chairman, this is an increase of $20,000, I believe. It
was covered in the brief. But essentially, whatever the
increase is, Mr. Chairman , halfway through the year
last year we recognised that we were charging fees
illegally. And so, you can not charge fees illegally, so
we stopped. And so that is the reason for the redu ction in the budget of, I think, about $20,000. Now that we are legal because this House, again, at the end of
last year passed new fees that will come into effect at the passage of this budget, you can go back to the
original projection of what your revenue was going to
be.
Can you explain the target outcomes in the
performance measures? In a word, it is a mess. And, as I said in the brief, I looked at it and I did not . . . I
guess I should commend the Shadow Minister b ecause he seemed to have spent a whole lot of time
trying to figure out what was clearly gobbledygook. I
took one look at it and I said, What (in language I
cannot use here) is this? And I thought, Okay, the answer has got to be that . . . we have made a dog’s
breakfast of it and we are going to fix it . And that is
what I said in the brief and that is what it is. I still . . . I
am not going to even attempt to try and figure out
what they put in the Book. But if I am here next year it
will be much, much, clearer because I have indicated
to them that . . . you know, it has got to be.
When was the last Parks Commission meeting? It was in October 27, [2017], last year, when they decided to approve the removal of a dock from the
airport without my permission and consent, and so
they were fired.
Now, Mr. Chairman , you will know that . . .
you will know that part of the amendments to the Act provides for an expanded board and I am close to a ppointing them, so that will happen hopefully before the
end of this month.
Mr. Chairman , can you provide details on the
integrated vegetation management plan? Again, this
was covered extensively in the brief and I know that the mere mention of these three words tends to send
folk t o thinking that all we are going to do is spray
them with weed killer, which is one of the reasons why
I added that the management plan will include hoes
(not that other “h” word) and shovels.
[Laughter and Inaudible interjection]

And I can tell you, as
the PS and I discussed, I think, this morning, after
reading through all this stuff you see . . . you know,
you see things that are not there. Anyway, but suffice
it to say that, in this case, it will cover the whole lan dscape of options in terms of how you address veget ation, particularly on the roadsides. And I mentioned in
the brief, and I am not quite sure I understand this so I
am going to go and do some research subsequent to
the Budget Debate, where you can apparently plant things that will eat up weeds. But anyway . . . that is
probably above my pay grade.
In any case, can you provide details on mer ging, I guess, merging the Works and Engineering Highways section and the Parks crew? Mr. Chairman ,
you may recall that I had some challenges in the, I
think, in some of the reporting on wast e management
in this House last year about having people trying to
explain to me why those who wear green shirts can
only cut hedges and those who wear blue shirts can
only cut the grass that the green shirts stand on to cut
the hedges. And so, it just . . . and both groups have
the same challenges in term of personnel, equipment,
and vehicles. And early into our term in July last year we had a situation where, you know, everybody was
pulled off of everywhere and they had to go and cut
grass and hedges at s chools. And so there were
some questions asked about, Do I have to? And in my
world if your job is to push a lawnmower, you are sup-posed to cut all the grass that Government owns no matter where it is. And so we had that discussion with
the union. So where we are in terms of amalgamating
these two, you will appreciate that first of all there has to be some consultation. And so where we have a dvanced so far is we have met with the union leadership, we have also met jointly with the union leadership and the l eadership of these two divisions, and
everyone —both groups —have agreed that we can
advance this further. So the next step now is to meet
with the staff. But what this will allow us and provide
us to do is to be able to reduce both the number of
Bermuda House of Assembly
1312 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

staff, the equipment, and the vehicles because it does
not matter which grass . . . where the grass came
from, it can now hopefully all go in the same truck, no
matter what colour the truck is either. And so that is
the aim. It is designed to have some economies of
scale and some synergies and some savings in terms
of costs.
What are the timelines for the Southlands
Management Plan review? Clearly, Mr. Chairman, I
indicated in the brief that there is no funding in this
year’s budget for it. It is a huge task that is . . . that
generates, just by the mere mention of those words, considerable public interest. One of the questions that I asked . . . I knew there was an organisation that was
formed to save Southlands and I knew they raised money, and so I am trying to find out where they are in this equation. But certainly, from a Government
point of view, we have had some initial discussions in
Parks, and with all the other challenges in Parks in
terms of personnel and various other issues, Sout hlands has not had a high profile, and I can honestly
admit that. And I drive by it on a regular basis and am
a little discouraged by the state of it. And so in this
current fiscal year what will happen first is the 2014
Plan—I did not even know there was one—I had it this
morning . . . it is here somewhere . . . is fairly light in
terms of . . . it is probably a bit of an exaggeration to
call it a “plan,” it is probably better to call it an “outline plan.” And so that will form the basis of some internal
discussions within the Minis try to see how we can put
some meat on that plan, and then there will be public
consultation in terms of how we go forward and then
we will look to come up with a plan. But the timeline . . . I expect for that first and second phase of this pr ocess to be c ompleted by the end of the summer. But
in addition to that immediately we will utilise some of
the resources that we have in the Ministry to do some
work up there without having to incur additional costs.
And that probably leads me quite nicely into
one of the questions that MP Simons asked about the
programme that is run by Roger Parris. And, in fact, it
is run by Roger Parris and Sam Santucci as volu nteers. And I can tell you that it has expanded. It is not
funded by the Government at all other than we pr ovide assistance from Parks in terms of equipment and
vehicles, and those two officers’ salaries are paid by
Government. But the actual participants are funded
and paid by the Garden Club of Bermuda in an ever -
expanding private partnership, I guess, in ter ms of
funding. There are new people coming on board all the time to add money to it and so, therefore, we are
trying to expand it as much as we can. But it goes beyond just teaching them how to be landscapers. It r eally is hands -on in terms of teaching them some life
skills as well, and about giving back to their communi-ty. So they are not paid a salary. It is a six -month
course that they must sign up for, I believe, with six
modules. And so at the end of each module they get a
stipend that is reflective of their participation. And so there was a . . . maybe a month or so ago a module
ended and so they got a stipend. There is another one
coming up this month where they will have completed
the next module and so they . . . but it really is e ncouraging to see young people who probably did not
know what they wanted to do who, in many instances, have either found their calling or have found an inte rest in some aspect of [what] they are doing. The part
of it that was discouraging when I first learned of this
was t hat in the last iteration of this I understand there
were 30 graduates and only about 24 of them —not
only—24 of them were able to find employment either
within the Ministry or the private sector and the r emaining 6 were left hanging. So I asked if they could
be found and they were. And so, part of the maint enance of the Railway Trail has included that cohort
that graduated from the last group. So it is an excellent programme that we will do our best and utmost to
expand. There is not a day that goes by that someone
is not asking to get involved in it.
There was a question of . . . oh, I am not going there. That was in the performance measures and I think I answered that adequately.
Park Improvements. I think the question related to funding and what was going to be covered in that. So it will be the Parks Office, in fact, there is . . . I
am not sure where we are at in this stage now be-cause Members may be aware that the Parks Hea dquarters had to be decanted from their original hea dquarters for health and saf ety and structural reasons
and have been housed in Global House for the last
year or so I think. There is a plan at the moment to
renovate and relocate them back to the Visitors’ Ce ntre and incorporate a Visitor Centre aspect of that at
the Botanical Garde ns. I think the plans are into Pla nning at the moment and so that process is going fo rward.
Included in that is —

[Inaudible interjection]

I am taking names, Mr.
Chairman, do not worry.
The Flatts Railway Trail bridge is part of that.
The maintenance yard. There was a question
about the maintenance yard at the Quarry . . . I am
sorry, at the Botanical Gardens. I had indicated in the brief that the plan to build a new structure at the B otanical Gardens had been cancell ed. I think I a nnounced that in this House last year sometime. It was the end of August that was the deadline to make a
decision as to whether we were going to proceed with
the court case and I made the decision that we would not do that. Certainly in our discussions we are 21
square miles and so it makes sense to . . . I ask the
silly question again, Mr. Chairman , can mechanics
from Public Works fix Parks vehicles even though they
are painted yellow as opposed to green? And the a nswer was yes. And so that is where we are headed.
Bermuda House of Assembly


We are going to have one maintenance facility in
terms of repairs of vehicles. But the $500,000 that is
included in this current budget is to be utilised to pr ovide a replacement facility for Parks workers at Marsh Folly where they are now. They have inexplicably
moved into what was condemned quarters when I was
in this job a decade ago which was previously occ upied by Public Works, and so we will take some steps
to put them in proper accommodation.
Included in those costs, as well, are the new
lifeguard towers which, as I indicated, will be trialled at
John Smith’s Bay.
The fitness equipment it is . . . this is almost
taking as long as it takes to produce a baby, I think.

[Inaudible interjection]

I know not quite, but
damn near close.
And it has been a painful process in the sense
that . . . all sorts of challenges, none of which I shall
go into here. But it is a 13- person CrossFit rig that will
go in the Arboretum. The exercises that will be able to
utilised are: sit -ups, pull -ups, dips, knee raises, push -
ups, leg raises, parallel pull -ups, assisted squats, and
stretching. Strengthens the chest, shoulders, upper -
and mid -abs, forearms, biceps . . . oh mercy! You will
need . . . you can cancel your gy m membership by
utilising these, I think. It can be used by 13 people at a
time.
The other equipment at the other locations
has not been selected and we will do so. But I know
that one of the requests that we have had is whether we can give some consideration to providing, at least
at one location, fitness equipment for the physically
challenged. And so we are exploring that option.
Why was there no money budgeted for capital
equipment? Well, that is not exactly true. I think it is $300,000 that was budgeted for capital equipment and it will cover equipment such as the equipment that
is used in Parks. It is not as much as it would be b ecause we are expecting that we will get agreement to
amalgamate the two and so they will have access to
other equipment wi thout us having to purchase it.
Okay. I guess the one thing I left off of capital
projects would be the replacement of the slat house
and the greenhouses at Tulo Valley that were storm
damaged.
Are we going to fill the 28 vacant posts? The
short answer i s no. We do have seven that are being
advertised at the moment and this is, I think, a pr ocess that we are applying across Government, that even though there are 40 . . . what is the number of
vacant posts in Parks? Whatever the number is, and it
is true f or across the entire Ministry, there is not an
attempt or a plan to fill every vacant post that we
have. What we are doing is filling posts that are ident ified as critical. In the case of Parks we are currently
recruiting for two superintendents, one assis tant pla n-ner, one environmental education officer, as I mentioned, a cashier for Fort St. Catherine, a curator for the Botanical Gardens, and one heavy labourer; and
so the plan is to complete that recruitment and then to
assess the needs going forward. It is our expectation
that we will not have to fill all of those posts.
And then, I guess, finally, it is in relation to the
Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] with AG Show Ltd. The term of the MOU is until 30 June 2019, next
year. Their financial commitment to the Government
beyond the arrangements that are contained in the
MOU was to provide $75,000 . . . sorry, up to one- half
of the cost of repairs, up to a maximum of $75,000, for
the education building. If the cost of repairs does not
cost the company $75,000 then the unused portion
shall be held by the company as a reserve against the
future cost of the multi -purpose stables building and
the grandstand. I think it is fairly safe to say that all the
second part of that is going to fall away because the building now has to be demolished. So we are going
to utilise the whole $75,000 from them and make up the difference from the Government.
Mr. Chairman , I am quite happy to . . . I can
. . . that is where we are. I am quite happy to see if
there are any more questions, and then I will answer.

Just one question that has
not been answered, and that is the ongoing servi cing
of the toilets in our parks. Will that be outsourced? Or
are they managing Horseshoe Bay when the toilets at
Horseshoe Bay will be open up until ten o’clock at night? Will there be overtime for the employees? What
type of plan does the Minister have i n place to address that?
In addition, how can we also ensure that
Horseshoe Bay is cleaned on a regular basis?
Thank you.

And I thought and it
looks pretty snazzy! And as I drove by I saw the big
Parks emblem on the door and I almost wrote the
damn car off becaus e I thought, You have got to be
kidding me! Well, it was more colourful language than
that, but I thought . . . and then I came straight into the
Ministry and I stomped into the PS’s office and I said,
PS, help me please! What are we doing? And he
could re port that it was ordered by someone who is
now retired from Parks, so I did not have that priv ilege. But I can tell you that it just . . . it . . . it just re nders you almost speechless.

[Inaudible interjection]

But I can say this
though, certainly going forward, we have just conclu ded and have the approval of Cabinet and there will be
a public announcement shortly about new space
standards in Government and accommodation for civil
servants.
And I only say that and go there because the
next item on the agenda is vehicles . . . because it is a
source of some significant irritation to me, this proli feration of vehicles generally across Government. I am
not sure if the PS told me, but I asked somebody, b ecause I noted in the las t couple of years that GP
plates have sort of vanished and you now have “M”
plates. And I thought, Well, that is a trick shot to try
and camouflage the number of GP vehicles . Because
you used to be able to gauge it, you know. Whatever
the highest number you saw driving, you figured that
is the number of vehicles. But now you have “L”
plates, “M” plates, and I so I asked, What does “M”
plate stand for? They said, Miscellaneous. I thought,
Yeah, right.
In any case the next phase of this exercise is
going to be vehicles. So you are going to hear a whole
lot . . . after you hear the squealing about space
standards, then you are going to hear squealing about
vehicles because there is going to be a complete r eassessment of the application of Government vehicles
and the use thereof.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

And with five minutes to go . . . the
Chair recognises the Opposition Leader.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Chairman .
I have three quickies. I wondered if the Mini ster could just give us an update on where we are with
respect to the importation of fruit trees. I know at one
stage when I was in the Ministry that we talked about bringing in citrus fruit trees and there was an indic ation that we were going ahead with mango and guava,
so I just wondered where we are.
The second thing relates to the private/public
partnerships. I am really pleased to see that this is
happening. And I just wondered where . . . how does
the Minister think that he will be able to develop the use of the, I think he said, persons from the prison service? Because I know that this was something that
was utilised quite extensively at one stage and there
were issues with respect to how we could put it in
place.
And last, but not least, with respect to the
fencing. I declare my interest, I am the MP that has
Admiralty House Park as well as Spanish Point Park
in it, and so I am quite interested to find out whether
we will do that because I have sent pictures and put
lots of things into the department to try and get this up
and running.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Sorry? You are going
to give some? In relation to the joint partnership with the
priso n service we have had some fairly extensive di scussions with them already about utilising inmates from the farm facility who really are on their way back to release and joining us in the community. Our view
is that 99 per cent of inmates are coming back to live
with us. We would very much like if they came back to
live with us in peace —and it is p- e-a-c-e—as opposed
to not having any means of sustaining themselves. And so we are quite keen and the Corrections D epartment is equally as keen in expanding this service.
I can tell you that there has been a trial programme running for about six weeks now with some inmates in
the H.U.S.T.L.E. Truck programme. Certainly some
inmates assisted with the garbage collection. But the plan is to fix . . . there are always going to be issues
with people who are not used to working—not just inmates. And so what that means is taking the neces-sary steps to ameliorate any of those challenges. And
so we will work through that.
Bermuda House of Assembly

I n relation to the last question, I said in my
brief they will repair and replace fencing in Spanish
Point Park. So I am not sure . . . so Admiralty House
is not on the list, but Spanish Point Park is.
Shall I just proceed then, Mr. Chairman ?

Good afternoon, Honourable Members and listening audience.
We are now in Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2018/19—Transport and
Regulatory Affairs, Heads 30, 34, 35, 48, and 89. We have an allotment of six hours for these heads. These
heads are now debated.
I call on the Minister in charge to proceed.
Minister, you have the floor. MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT AND
REGULATORY AFFAIRS
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Madam Chai rman.
Madam Chai rman , I am pleased to present
the budget for the Ministry of Transport and Regulat ory Affairs found on pages B -178 to B -206 and pages
C-5, [C -]11, [C -]12, and [C -]18 of the Budget Book.
The Ministry of Transport and Regulatory A ffairs comprises the Ministry Headquarters and the
Departments of Marine and Port Services, Transport Control, Public Transportation, and Energy. Due to
recent ministerial realignment it also includes the r emainder of the Department of Telecommunications. In
addition to having responsibility for the aforementioned departments, the Ministry maintains oversight
of the Bermuda Airport Authority, Bermuda Civil Avi ation Authority, Bermuda Shipping and Maritime A uthority, and the Regulatory Authority.
HEAD 48— MINISTRY HEADQUARTERS
Hon. Walter H. Roban: I turn first to the Ministry
Headquarters.
Madam Chair —

You are fine.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you.
Madam Chairman, the budget for Head 48,
the Ministry of Transport and Regulatory Affairs
Headquarters is to be found on pages B -178 to B -181
of the Budget Book.
Ministry Headquarters comprises two business units: Administration (now including Teleco mmunications) and Transportation Planning; in addition, the Headquarters budget includes a current account
expenditure to the Bermuda Airport Authority.
The Ministry’s mission i s twofold: to develop
effective transportation policies and provide transpor-tation systems that meet the needs of Bermuda’s re sidents and visitors; and to direct and support, where
necessary, the regulated sectors and external author ities associated with t he Ministry.
Madam Chairman, the total current expenditure for Head 48, cost centre 58000 and 58010, A dministration and Transportation Planning, respectively,
is estimated to be $14,394,553 for 2018/19. Included
Bermuda House of Assembly
1316 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

with this budget and, indeed, what comprises a vast
majority of the budget is a grant to the Bermuda Ai rport Authority in the amount of $13,300,000. Overall a
decrease of $25,071,966 compared with fiscal year
2017/18 due to the July 17th election and the subs equent reorganisation of the Government M inistries
that transfer the responsibilities of Tourism to the Mi nistry of Economic Development and Tourism. That
change saw the removal of the Bermuda Tourism A uthority’s grant of $25 million from this Ministry’s bud get.
Madam Chairman, I would advise that in Se ptember 2017 the Government undertook a review of expenditure levels for the Ministry. This resulted in the
unusual occurrence of a mid- year supplementary e stimate which is demonstrated by the difference in the
original 2017/18 budget of $39,466,519 and the a djusted budget of 2017/18 of $44,799,794. The su pplementary for the Ministry of Transport and Regulat ory Affairs was required to fund a series of contractual
obligations entered into towards the end of the prev ious fiscal year. These obligations relate primarily to
the World Triathlon Series grant of $2,885,531 for the
fiscal year 2017/18. Also included in the mid -year
supplementary was an operational loan payment to
the Bermuda Casino and Gaming Commission in the
amount of $1,600,000. On a smalle r scale the su pplementary included a Bermuda Airport Authority capital expenditure request in the amount of $253,154
required for the much- needed repairs to the ageing
Doppler radar system. Also a payment in the amount
of $100,000 was made to the Bermuda S ailing Trai ning Association for the Tall Ships Regatta. Initiatives
of lesser amounts were also funded.
The addition of the Department of Telecommunications functions to the Administrative cost ce ntre 58000 accounts for $225,000 of the 2018/19 ope rational budget. The Administration Section, cost centre 58000, has overall responsibility for the operation,
accounting, and administration of the Ministry of
Transport and Regulatory Affairs. It provides direct
support to the constituent departments as well as pol icy guidance to and financial oversight of the author ities.
Transportation Planning Team, cost centre
58010, oversees cruise ship operation, regulatory,
and legislative matters. It assists the Bermuda Tou rism Authority to develop Bermuda’s cruise ship str ategy with a strong focus on increasing cruise ship pa ssenger spending and attracting a mix of cruise brands that include small premium ships for Hamilton and the
Town of St. George. The Transportation Planning
Team spearheads the logistical support for various Government departments, on- Island stakeholders,
and cruise ship partners to ensure the efficient int egration of all transportation services to meet passe nger demand.
Madam Chairman, in 2017 Bermuda received
161 cruise ship calls and in [2018] we are expecting 181 calls, an increase of 20 calls. Bermuda will also host 11 inaugural cruises this coming season. This
means that Bermuda will receive an estimated 49,000
more cruise ship passengers compared with last se ason.
Madam Chairman, cruise passenger on -Island
spending is expected to go up to $59,800,000 in 2018,
which is up from $50,100,000 in 2017. The Gover nment of Bermuda is also expecting an increase in
cruise tax revenue dollars from $22 million in 2017 to
$25 million in 2018.
Madam Chairman, to put all these figures into
perspective the National Tourism Plan 2012 called for
an increase in cruise passenger arrivals to 428,000
passengers by the year 2022. This means that in
2018, which is five years before the goal date, Ber-muda will host approximat ely 39,000 more passengers than the target number.
The Ministry recognises the importance of
transportation infrastructure as we further develop our
cruise ship strategy. It is key issues such as this which
will be a focus of the Green Paper on Transportat ion
which I will speak on in more detail shortly.
Madam Chairman, new this season —Disney
Cruise Lines, with the Disney Magic, will sail five times
from New York City to Bermuda in October. The Di sney clientele has a reputation for spending more than
the ty pical cruise passenger and we will look forward
to receiving this new brand in Bermuda.
Also Carnival brand ships will make 13 calls to
Bermuda in 2018 for a total of 32 calls from all Carnival brands, which is up from 21 calls in 2017.
Madam Chairman, Norwegian Cruise Lines
[NCL] has replaced the Norwegian Breakaway this
season with the Norwegian Escape , which has the
capacity for 500 more passengers than the Break away did in previous years. The Escape is scheduled to
call between Wednesday and Friday for 24 calls in
2018. In other NCL news, the NCL tender is expected to return to Bermuda from Florida in early April, having
undergone major refurbishment to include all new en-gines, a new steering system, additional seating c apacity, and a brand- new Bermuda logo.
Madam Chairman, the Town of St. George’s
received the first cruise call in January and 50 more calls are expected this season. The City of Hamilton
will expect 17 calls this season, slightly down from last
year.
Madam Chairman, much of our effort in
2018/19 will be focused on ensuring quality transpo rtation services for our visitors, including scheduled
ferry and bus services, taxi and minibus tours. In the
upcoming year we remain reliant on taxis and min ibuses to provide transportation services out of the
Royal Naval Dockyard and, in particular, the services
between Dockyard and Horseshoe Bay Beach.
Madam Chairman, this Ministry continues to
be interested in moving to a cashless payment system
Bermuda House of Assembly


for public transportation and the Transportation Pla nning Team is investigating options.
The Ministry Headquarters’ estimated revenue
for 2018/19 is $37,800,000. This is an increase of
$17,950,000 attributed to the addition of Telecomm unications to the Ministry.
Madam Chairman, the only capital develo pment project that currently falls within the remit of the
Ministry Headquarters pertains to the Bermuda Airport
Authority, which will receive a capital grant of
$2,500,000 for the fiscal year 2018/19. The funds will
be utilised over a number of projects including: the S -
Doppler Weather Radar replacement; the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite licence u pgrades; the Distance Measuring Equipment instr ument landing system; cabling upgrades; and Air Traf-fic Control cabling upgrades, to name a f ew.
It is anticipated that a number of these pr ojects will span over a two -year period.
Madam Chairman, with respect to staffing the
Ministry of Transport and Regulatory Affairs, as seen
on page B -181 of the Budget Book, employs five full -
time equivalent employees in its Administration Se ction: a permanent secretary, a ministry controller, an
accounting administrative officer, an executive secr etary, and a telecommunications technical officer. The
Transportation Planning Team employs one policy
analyst/tran sport coordinator. The total of full -time
equivalents for the Headquarters is now six. This is an
increase of one full -time equivalent due to the amalgamation of the Department of Telecommunications
into Head 48. Currently there are three vacancies
within the Department of Telecommunications, ho wever, it is anticipated that these will fall way when
broadcast reform is completed.
In terms of major policy changes over the
coming year, the Ministry will be working on the com-pletion of broadcast reform, an exer cise which co mmenced in early 2017. This is a continuation of tel ecommunications reform, the purpose of which is to assess Government’s policies and legislation relating
to radio and television broadcasting in the broader context of rapidly changing audio/ visual media se rvices and in view of the transition from analogue to digital technology. It is anticipated that the Bermuda public and direct stakeholders will be invited to co mment on broadcasting options the Government is d eveloping.
Madam Chairman, the Ministry Headquarters’
plans for the coming year include a major evaluation of transportation in Bermuda. I would like now to
share a progress report on the 2018 Transport Green
Paper, a Throne Speech initiative on the future of transportation in Bermuda.
A Green Paper is the first stage of developing
new laws or updating existing legislation. Green P apers usually ask wide -ranging questions about policy
direction and often give a broad indication of what the
Government wants to achieve. They provide an op-portunity for the public to offer opinions and include
questions that the Government would like people to
answer. This Green Paper is no exception.
Madam Chairman, a project of this magnitude
has not been taken since 1999 when the Ministry of Transport embarked on a comprehensive transport ation planning initiative with a Transportation Planning
Team formed for that purpose. The end result was a
National Transportation Management Report dated
January 2, 2002. This report focused on 120 pr oposals submitted via a request for proposal process
and addressed the transportation issues facing res idents and visitors at the time. The public surveys in 1999 highlighted:
• 98 per cent of the Bermuda public was i ncreasingly concerned about the impact of transportation conges tion and road safety;
• 88 per cent were concerned about vehicle
emissions and air pollution affecting their
quality of life; and
• visitors surveyed were concerned about dri vers travelling too closely, pedestrian safety,
excessive speed, the amount of traff ic co ngestion, pollution, and fumes.
Madam Chairman, moving forward, the vision
created for the 2018 Transportation Green Paper is to
invite public comment and discussion on the future of transportation in Bermuda, with a view to identifying
and modernising transportation efficiencies and d eveloping policies that are realistic, fiscally prudent,
and which enhance transportation safety and exper iences for all. So far the Transportation Planning Team
has consulted with 60 stakeholders and their views
and forw ard-thinking ideas will be featured in the
Transportation Green Paper. In addition, the Bermuda
Tourism Authority has conducted a 2017 Visitors Su rvey which will add to our information data base.
All members of the community will be able to
contribute thei r thoughts on the broad range of transportation issues starting the week of March 12
th when
a massive media campaign will commence and two surveys will be launched —one for students, who are
our future leaders of Bermuda; and one for all mem-bers of the general public. Public participation will be promoted and encouraged by the following options:
• Public surveys taking approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete will be available online via a link with www.gov.bm
on the Ministry of
Transport/Regulatory Affairs landing page.
• Submissions in writing , separate from the control surveys , can be made to:
TransportGreenPaper@gov.bm . I
peat: TransportGreenPaper@gov.bm . It will
also be possible to receive the link to the sur-vey via email address .
• For residents that do not have access to the Internet, they may attend buildings such as
public libraries to complete the survey or may
post written submissions to:
Bermuda House of Assembly
1318 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

Transportation Green Paper , Throne
Speech Initiative, Ministry of Transport
and Regulatory Affairs, 11 North Street,
Hamilton HM17
Madam Chairman, the initial findings from the
stakeholder consultation to date indicate a general
consensus on a number of issues to be considered:
1. Having appropriate funding to upgrade the
ageing bus and ferry fleets and/or reinvest in
transport technology, and also to introduce a
modern mobile ticketing solution for convenience of purchasing tickets and to ensure less
queuing time at boarding.
2. Working to provide a reliable public transportation schedule to meet current and future
demands, along with an integrated trip plan-ning app (application) for customers.
3. Working on increased enforcement of existing
legislation as it relates to: road traffic man-agement and safety measures; taxis and mi nibuses; speeding and dangerous and drink
driving; third- lane driving; bad parking; gara ges; over -sized vehicles; and the times allowed
for tractor trailers to travel on our roads.
4. Focusing on improving transportation services
where possible for our resident ageing populations, for persons with differently abled
needs, and for residents and visitors who find
themselves stranded at night together with an
increa sed focus on the safety of our students
on buses.
5. Focus on active transport issues relating to
walking and cycling on safe roads and safe open spaces, such as railway trails; and assessing the role of rental minicars, which have
been found to be a safe and fun alternative to
renting a moped.
Madam Chairman, I am pleased to say that
Government is aware of many of these issues and is actively seeking solutions.
We welcome these and other issues being
championed during the public consultation phase of the Green Paper. We look forward to an energetic
public discussion with a focus on forward- thinking s olutions that emphasise efficiency, safety, and wherev-er possible, green initiatives in transportation. It is cri tical to hear from as many people as possible to e nsure that the range of ideas is broad, innovative, and diverse.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. That concludes
the brief for the Ministry of Transportation and Regul atory Affairs Headquarters, Head 48.

BERMUDA AIRPORT AUTHORITY
Hon. Walter H. Roban: I will now move on to the
Bermuda Airport Authority. The Bermuda Airport A uthority, still within Head 48, is found on page B -80 [sic]
in the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. Madam Chairman, I am pleased to present
the budget for the Bermuda Airport Authority which is nearing the end of its first year as a quango under the
Ministry of Transport and Regulatory Affairs.
The current account expenditure can be seen
in the Ministry of Transport and Regulatory Affairs
Headquarters Subject Analysis of Current Ac count
Estimates, Grants, and Contributions budget line l ocated on page B -80 of the Budget Book.
Madam Chairman, in terms of mandate, the
Bermuda Airport Authority oversees on behalf of the
Government the performance of Skyport Corporation
Ltd. and Aecon, the 30- year public/private partnership
agreement, to redevelop and operate the L. F. Wade
International Airport. The Bermuda Airport Authority is
also responsible for the provision of retained Gover nment services which include: Air Traffic Control O perations, Meteorological Services, Airport Fire and
Rescue Services, and Ground Electronics, also with the day -to-day operations of the airport.
Bermuda Airport Authority also regulates ai rport fees.

Okay, sorry. Thank you I did not
hear that.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you. I will just continue
on.
The Bermuda Airport Authority also regulates
airport fees.
Madam Chairman, the total Ministry of
Transport and Regulatory Affairs operational expendi-tures grant to the Airport Authority will be $30,000,300
for the year 2018/19 and remains unchanged from the
Bermuda Airport Authority’s operational expenditure grant from 2017/18. Within this ceiling, increases in
airport service delivery costs for retained Government
services and airport redevelopment oversight expen sBermuda House of Assembly


es have been offset by a reduction in budgeted F inance and Administration costs.
Madam Chairman, the Authority’s operational
expenditures are set out in a similar fashion to the
Government’s and have been broken down into three
business units: Finance and Administration; Airport
Oversight Services; Airport Development and Tec hnical.
The Finance and Administration costs are
estimated to be $1,834,000 representing a decrease
of 33 per cent over fiscal year 2017/18. The decrease
is primarily due to lower airline promotional guarantee
expenses, reduced airport third- party liabili ty insu rance costs, and the short -term savings in salaries and
employee benefits from using consultants rather than full-time staff in the following operational areas: PPP
construction oversight; HR and compliance advisory;
and public affairs. Additional s avings have been rea lised by deferring the hiring for one managerial and
two clerical positions.
Airport Oversight Services. Costs have i ncreased by approximately 7.5 per cent or $613,[000] to $8,498,000 —primarily the result of higher expenses
for retained Government services, higher energy costs
coupled with lower airfield maintenance costs, [and]
recoveries from third- party contractors.
The 11 per cent, or $306,000 increase in the
Airport Development and Technical expenses to $2,986,000 is primarily due to higher PPP contract
oversight and revenue expenses. Higher PPP tec hnical construction oversight costs coupled with higher
HR and compliance advisory, public affairs, and ma nagement consulting fees. The bulk of these increases
in the above -mentioned areas have been offset by a
$737,000 reduction in legal and contingency fees.
Madam Chairman, the Bermuda Airport A uthority’s 2018/19 capital budget of $2,500,000 (as
seen on page C -5 of the Budget Book) cost centre
75342, represents a decrease of $172,000 from the
revised 2017/18 budget of $2,672,000. The costs associated with the replacement of the ageing Doppler
radar system has been spread over two fiscal years with the down payment of approximately $623,000
due in 2017/18 and the remaining project payment of
$1,454,000 due in 2018/19. Increased costs associa ted with the replacement of the Doppler radar have
been offset by reductions of $520,000 for various ai rfield operations [and] equipment upgrades; further
reductions of $125,000 for ongoing project agreement
code compliance projects; and a reduction of
$119,000 for other minor capital works.
Madam Chairman, the Bermuda Airport A uthority currently employs seven full -time equivalents
headed by a Bermudian CEO who reports to the
Board of Directors.
Madam Chairman, the Bermuda Airport A uthority reports on the performance of the Bermuda Skyport Corporation and their performance on the pr oject agreement in the form of key performance indic a-tors, such as: cleanliness of the airport restrooms,
technical designs, specifications, and airport -regulated
revenue.
I would like to explain the role of the Bermuda
Airport Authority and how it monitors Skyport’s per-formance. The Bermuda Airport Authority’s Redeve lopment Unit provides technical oversight of the exis ting pass enger terminal building and the airport red evelopment project, where a new passenger terminal
building is being constructed. The Airport Authority reviews design submissions and monitors construction to ensure that contractual obligations are met as
set out in the project agreement with the support of the Technical Committee of the Airport Authority’s
Board, a committee that includes two professional
engineers and a retired director of civil aviation. The
Authority focuses on the detail of all technical spe cifications and quality assurances for compliance. The
Authority’s technical staff works with independent pr ofessional specialist consultants, as required, to verify
financial compliance and provide assurance that contractual specifications are being fulfi lled within the
timelines budgeted and quality standards. The Bermuda Airport Authority is also collaborating with the
airport designers and the local community to dete rmine a sense of space in the interior design features
of the new passenger terminal bui lding.
Madam Chairman, earlier I mentioned the Ai rport Authority’s responsibility for retained Government services. These services or activities are the direct
responsibility of the Airport Authority and they were
formerly the responsibility of the Departm ent of Airport
Operations, which no longer exists. These retained
Government services were deemed being best ma naged by the Government Authority and not a private partner. The Bermuda Airport Authority Act 2017 transferred responsibility for the delivery of Air Traffic
Control, Communications, Navigation and Survei llance, Meteorological Services, and Airport Rescue
and Fire Fighting Services at the L. F. Wade International Airport to the Bermuda Airport Authority. R etained Government services are provided by vendors
under contract with the Authority. Air Traffic Control,
Ground Electronics, and the Bermuda Weather Service operate under the contract with CI ² Aviation Be rmuda, Ltd. And the Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting
services are provided under a Memorandum of U nderstanding with the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service. The Bermuda Airport Authority oversees the delivery of these services on behalf of the Government
of Bermuda, ensuring [that] performance meets contractual agreement standards and relevant regul atory
requirements.
Madam Chairman, in addition to ensuring that
the retained Government services meet aviation saf ety and regulatory requirements, the Authority is r esponsible for ensuring efficient performance against contract deliverables. This is managed through the
development and application of key performance indiBermuda House of Assembly
1320 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

cators: the assessment of risk, proactive assessment
management, and an identification of cost reduction
opportunities. The Authority is also responsible for
ensuring compliance with a long -standing Memorandum of Cooperation between Bermuda and the US
Federal Aviation Administration (known as FAA) e stablished in 1995. The agreement facilitates mutual assistance between the US and Bermuda regarding Bermuda operations and maintenance of FAA loa ned
equipment used for communications, navigation, and surveillance of air navigation services around and
above Bermuda.
Madam Chairman, the Bermuda Airport A uthority’s Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer,
and staff are to be congratulated for establishing the
Authority’s oversight, technical, and administrative capabilities to fulfil its mandate of overseeing the o perations, maintenance, managing, financing, and r edevelopment of L. F. Wade International Airport in its inaugural year, having been formed on 2 March 2017,
a year to the day.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. That concludes
the brief for the Bermuda International Airport Author ity under the remit of the Ministry of Transport and
Regulatory Affairs.

HEAD 30 —MARINE AND PORTS SERVICES
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Madam Chairman, I will now
go to the Department of Marine and Ports Services, Head 30, found on pages B -182 to B -186 of the Est imates of Revenue and Expenditure book.
Madam Chairman, I now turn to budget Head
30, Department of Marine and Ports Services, which
is found on page B -182 to B -186 of the Budget Book.
Madam Chairman, the department’s mission,
as stated on page B -182 of the Budget Book, is to
provide the necessary services to ensure the safe o peration of the Bermuda International Shipping and
local craft in Bermuda’s water s; to contribute to the
public transportation system through the operation of
the ferry service; and to facilitate in marine search and rescue.
Madam Chairman, the total current expenditure for the Department of Marine and Ports Services on page B -182 is estimated to be $20,250,000 which
represents an increase of $153,000 or approximately 0.75 per cent over the original 2017/18 budget. This
increase is due primarily to costs associated with M arine and Ports Vessel Traffic Management System’s
operating licence fee and the lease of additional
communication tower space to enhance our coastal
radio and radar capabilities in the West End of the Island for better coverage [in] assisting in search and
rescue operations and responses.
Madam Chairman, the Department of Marine
and Ports Services estimates that it will receive rev enue of $6,153,000 in the 2018/19 year. As shown on
page B -183, the majority of the revenue is split b e-tween ferry receipts and tug services: $1,600,000 and
$1,400,000, respectively.
Capital expenditure for the department is
found on page C -12 of the Budget Book and is est imated to be $864,000 which represents a decrease of $55,000, or 5.9 per cent below the original budget of
2017/18. The department ’s expenditures are set out
under the following three business units (as found on
page B -182 of the Budget Book):
• Programme 3006— West End (Dockyard):
40040— Navigation Aids;
40140—Tug Service;
40210—Tender Service;
40260— Dockyard Maintenance.
• Programme 3007— Central (Hamilton):
40090—Ferry Services;
40150—Mooring and Boat Registration;
40220—Administration.
• Programme 3008—East End (Fort George):
40100—Marine Safety and Security;
40180—Pilot Service and Offshore Search and Rescue.
The department’s full -time eq uivalents (found
on page B -184 of the Budget Book) has increased
from 155 to 158. Despite the additional full -time
equivalents, the manpower budget remains the same as the additional staff took up fully funded vacant posts.
The department’s performance mea sures are
found on page B -185 to B -186 of the Budget Book.
They remain positive and consistent with previous
budget years. The department has continued to meet
its performance measures, notwithstanding an ageing
marine fleet and the budget constraints of t he public
service in general. The department is working diligen tly to manage these situations and to ensure delivery of a safe reliable service.
Madam Chairman, the Department of Marine
and Ports Services represents one of the critical oper-ational arms of the Government of Bermuda as it faci litates the movement of vital shipping commerce in
and out of Bermuda’s ports. During the fiscal year
2017/18 there was a total of 984 international ship
movements in Bermuda waters.
The department’s services also include pilot
boat (search and rescue), tug boat and tender se rvices, harbour radio, vessel traffic monitoring to e nsure all international shipping passes clear of areas to
be avoided, and Island -wide 24/7 radar surveillance.
Further to this, the department is responsible for the
coordination of international search and rescue oper ations in this region of the Atlantic and retains oversight
of Overseas Seaport Security in compliance with i nternational standards.
During the 2017/18 fiscal year, the depar tment resp onded to over 420 search and rescue ca ses, assisting both ships and aircraft locally and inte rnationally.
Bermuda House of Assembly


With respect to public transportation the Sea
Express Ferry Service represents a comfortable and
efficient means of supporting the local commuter and
visitor markets. The ferry service provided critical m arine lift for the America’s Cup moving approximately
45,706 passengers to and from the America’s Cup
Village between May 31, 2017 and June 26, 2017
without incident and on schedule. The dedicated team from the Department of Marine and Ports Services
executed a well -thought -out transportation plan, successfully managed the necessary lift, while at the
same time providing regular ferry service to the co mmuting public in accordance with the established
schedule.
The Boats and Mooring Section manages the
allocation of mooring positions of local boats as well as undertaking the annual registration of private vessels. Additionally, this section conducts detailed safety
inspections in the licensing of commerci al passenger
carrying vessels or private boats. There are approx imately 9,000 private boats, 5,000 moorings, 280
commercial rentals (small boats, jet skis, and the like), and 115 charter vessels to be processed each year.
Additional duties of this section include: incident i nvestigation, mooring dispute resolution, inspections of
foreshore encroachment, management of small boat channels, and the processing of applications for
commercial operators as well as moorings, pylons,
and floating dock applications.
This section remains located at the old Paget
Post Office Building on Middle Road, Paget, and is
expected to remain at this location for the foreseeable
future. The locale has proven to be an ideal, user -
friendly location based on feedback received from th e
general public.
The department’s website continues to be
well-received, [providing] a convenient, efficient met hod of payment for boat and mooring registrations. This is evidenced by the noticeable increase in users over previous years.
Madam Chairman, the 2018 cruise ship season will see an additional 20 cruise ship calls to Be rmuda, as mentioned earlier, representing a 12.5 per
cent increase over the 2017 season. This will result in
higher revenues associated with cruise ship taxation for the Government.
The introduction of night pilotage for various
classes of cargo and cruise vessels is presently under
review. It will allow ships to be more flexible in their
arrival and departure times, potentially extending
hours cruise ships spend in port and an aid to increase spending by cruise ship passengers on- Island.
The department continues to operate six highspeed catamaran ferries and three harbour ferries.
Passenger load studies will continue in 2018/19 with a
view to deploying more fuel -efficient ferries on selec ted routes with the ultimate aim of reducing fuel co nsumption throughout the fleet. More immediate fuel savings are expected to
be achieved during the budget year as a result of a revised 2018 Ferry Schedule for the Blue Route between Dockyard and Hamilton without any reduction
in passenger lift for our cruise ship visitors and co mmuters.
Madam Chairman, the 400 passenger Millennium ferry from Rhode Island will not be returned to
Bermuda for the 2018 summer season, as the lift be-tween Dockyard and St. George’s will be provided by
a Marine and Ports ferry. This should result in additional cost savings for the department, as it will not
have to fund accommodations, travel and maint enance and overseas salaries.
The Department’s Administrative Head O ffice
relocated back to the East Broadway facility in N ovember 2017 on completion of all renovations. This
section is responsible for the Minister’s duties and
personnel functions of the entire department and the newly renovated offices have boosted the mo rale for
all staff operating out of this location.
In terms of plans for the upcoming year, the
Department of Marine and Ports continues to work
towards the IMO Instrument Implementation Code
(known as the III Code) review addressing all compl iance matter s identified by the UK Maritime Coastal
Agency (MCA) for both port and coastal states, inclu ding search and rescue, ahead of the upcoming 2020
audit, which is in the year 2020.
The International Maritime Organization’s
(IMO) primary purpose is to develop and maintain a
comprehensive regulatory framework for shipping. Its
remit includes safety, environmental concerns, legal matters, technical cooperation, maritime security, and
efficiency of shipping. The United Kingdom is the si gnatory and a contracting party to the IMO instruments
for itself, its overseas territories, and crown depen dencies and, in that way, Bermuda is a contracting pa rty as well.
The audit will evaluate different compliance
areas such as maritime safety and security, which obligations fal l under the United Nations Safety of Life
at Sea (SOLAS) Convention. Such functions are ce ntrally coordinated from the Bermuda Maritime Oper ations Centre located at Fort George. The Centre ope rates in direct support of various government agencies
with loca l and overseas marine interests, including the
Bermuda Police Service, HM Customs, the Royal
Bermuda Regiment, the Department of Environmental
and Natural Resources, Airport Operations, and the
Shipping and Maritime and Civil Aviation authorities,
to properly implement and enforce Bermuda’s rights,
obligations and responsibilities. With respect to the relevant IMO instruments, current legislation, regul ations, policies and procedures are in the process of being reviewed and updated.
Thank you, Madam Chairma n. That concludes
the brief for the Department of Marine and Ports Se rvices, Head 30.
Bermuda House of Assembly
1322 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

HEAD 34 —TRANSPORT CONTROL DEPARTMENT

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Moving on now to the D epartment of Transportation Control, Head 34 is found
on pages B -191 to B -194 of the Est imates of Revenue
and Expenditure book.
It gives me pleasure to present the budget for
Head 34, Transport Control Department. The Depar tment of Transport Control’s (TCD) mission is, To pr ovide excellent service to its customers on a timely ba-sis, thereby ensuring both customer satisfaction and
an efficient transport regulatory environment, which contributes to the safety of Bermuda’s motoring public.
Madam Chairman, the Transport Control D epartment administers the operation of all motor vehicles on Bermuda’s roads. The department monitors
and regulates the size, functionality, physical condition
and quantity of all vehicles by carrying out the follo wing activities:
1. overseeing the management of the Vehicle Safety and Emissions Inspection Programme, which is currently contracted to the Bermuda
Emissions Control Ltd;
2. administering the registration and licensing of all motor vehicles;
3. executing the examination, registration and l icensing of all drivers;
4. regulating traffic by monitoring drivers and
motor vehicles; and
5. implementing road safety programmes.
Periodically, the department inspects public
garages, minicar and cycle liveries, and filling stations
to ensure compliance with permits. The department
also issues special permits, such as one- day permits
that allow a person to drive an unlicensed motor veh icle upon application for the same. These are typically
for transporting the vehicle to the repair shop or to the
department for an examination.
The Transport Control Department has five
business units: Examination, Registration, Road Saf ety, Traffic Control, and Administration.
The Examination team, cost centre 44000, is
responsible for administering all driving and riding tests to certify that applicants are fit to operate vehi-cles on Bermuda’s roads. T he examiners are also r esponsible for writing off private cars prior to their di sposal.
The Registration section, which is cost centre
44040, is responsible for registering and licensing all vehicles, licensing all persons who operate vehicles,
and collect ing revenue for all transactions conducted
within the department.
The Road Safety programme, cost centre
44090, is administered through the Road Safety O fficer. The programme promotes road safety, awar eness through education, training, and public events.
The Road Safety Council, which is part of this cost
centre, advises the Minister on transport matters per-taining to road safety and devises strategies and pr ogrammes to address prominent problems.
Cost centre 44110 is the Traffic Control se ction which is responsible for the management and e nforcement of traffic and ensuring permits for the
movements of oversized containers, heavy loads, unlicensed vehicles, and causal Sunday permits. This
section works with the Bermuda Police Service as a support in traffic enforcement.
Madam Chairman, the officers in this section
also work closely with the Public Service Vehicles Licensing Board and the Trucks Advisory Committee to
monitor and enforce the use of public service and
commercial vehicles. The traffic enforcement officers
are deployed on street patrols as well to ensure all
vehicles operating on Bermuda’s roads are compliant with legislation. They are responsible for ticketing
abandoned vehicles and cycles.
The Administration section, cost centre
44210, is respons ible for the overall operation and
administration of the Transportation Control Depar tment. This includes professional services for the
management of the safety and emissions programme,
as well as IT support for the eTCD, the Driver and V ehicle Registration System, and the appointment management system. All of these programmes are critical
to ensuring smooth operations and excellent customer
service.
Madam Chairman, while in past years it was
unusual to include the words “vehicle registration” and
“convenie nce” in the same sentence, the Transport
Control Department has managed to implement and
retain an effective and convenient vehicle examination and registration programme, which is very user -
friendly. Customers have the ability to manage a ppointments online through the Appointment Manag ement System and the department has partnered with
insurance companies for electronic transfer of information.
The Transport Control Department’s budget
allocation of $5,375,000 for 2018/19 represents an increase of $25,000, or 0.04 per cent over the budget
of 2017/18. And this increase can be found on page
B-192 and page C -18 under Grants and Contributions.
The difference is due to an increase in the grant to the
Bermuda Road Safety Council and Project Ride of
$14,500. The Co uncil will, therefore, receive a total of
$25,000 in 2018/19 for the road safety initiatives and
to enhance the Project Ride programme.
Under the General Summary Expenditure per
business unit, at page B -191, you will find that the e stimates for 2018/19 for each business unit vary from
the 2017/18 estimates, although the core allocation of $5,350,000— setting aside the increase in the funding
for the Bermuda Road Safety Council —remains the
same. The variance between the business units year over year is mainly due to the reallocation of funds to
account for the recruitment to vacant posts, the abol iBermuda House of Assembly


tion of other posts, and the renegotiated salary i ncrease of 2.5 per cent.
It should be noted that of the overall
$5,375,000, $2,601,000, or 48.4 per cent is allocated
to salaries and $2,230,000, or 41.5 per cent is allocated for professional services, including management of
the safety and emissions programme as well as se condary IT support for eTCD, the driver and vehicle
registration system, and the appointment management system. The remaining funds, which account for
10.1 per cent of the department’s expenditure, are
used for general operating expenses such as: utilities,
repairs, maintenance to vehicles and equipment, print-ing, office supplies, and boards and com mittee fees.
Please note the allocation for printing applic ation forms has been reduced to cover the negotiated salary increase of 2.5 per cent. However, the public is
assured that all standard licensing and registration
forms will be made available on the Government portal.
Madam Chairman, it is anticipated in 2018/19
the department will collect just over $30,453,000 in
revenue. This is an increase of $1,420,000, or 5 per
cent, and a direct result of a 5 per cent increase in registration, licence, and misc ellaneous fees effective
April 1, 2018.
Madam Chairman, I am now going to discuss
Capital Expenditure, which is found on page C -12.
The Capital Expenditure is estimated to be $32,000
for a replacement driver’s licence printer. This reflects
a decrease of $11,000 from the 2017/18 budgeted
amount of $43,000 which was allocated for a new
multi-year lease -to-buy photocopier.
The department’s staffing is found on page B -
193. The 2018/19 estimates include funds for 40 full -
time equivalents. This represents six additional staff
members or an increase of 18 per cent over the
2017/18 budget.
Madam Chairman, please know that a comprehensive organisational review was conducted on the department in 2016 by the Cabinet Office’s Management Consulting section. The assessment resulted in the abolition of four vacant posts: one examiner,
one registration clerk, one special investigations officer and one secretarial receptionist. The assessment recommended that six funded but vacant posts be
filled: senior examiner, senior traffic officer, admini strative services manager, assistant registrations officer, a customer service representative, and an IT
support officer. Most of these positions are vacant due
to mandatory retirement or voluntary retirement. While
the administrative s ervices manager post has been
filled, recruitment for the remaining five positions is
under consideration at this time as the Government
balances budget constraints and service delivery.
I am now going to discuss Output Measures.
Madam Chairman, I draw you r attention to Perfo rmance Measures for the Transport Control Depar tment found on page B -194: 1. To maintain the pass rate for Project Ride
students at 90 per cent. This was achieved in 2017/18
and it is expected to be achieved again in 2018/19.
The Traffic C ontrol Department is committed to r eviewing Project Ride, which includes the test taking
process and procedures. (Let me just repeat that se ntence because I think there is some public interest on
this matter.) The Traffic Control Department is co mmitted to reviewing Project Ride, which includes the
test taking process and procedures.
2. To keep response times to abandoned vehicle
[reports] to less than 10 days. The need to regularly
remove abandoned vehicles has become a routine task for TCD. Unfortunately, th e practice of leaving
licensed and unlicensed vehicles —mostly unlicensed —along the side of the main road at parks and
on public property is growing. There are many attri buting factors, but the department has recognised that the main one is that persons wil l purchase a vehicle
for parts and then abandon it once they have e xhausted their use of it. Also, there are persons who keep possession of a vehicle that is no longer oper ational with the intention of repairing the vehicle and it
never happens. This list goes on. We would appeal to
residents to dispose of vehicles responsibly and, if in
doubt, contact TCD for advice on the process.
3. To provide driving test appointments within 10
business days of the requested date. Target —90 per
cent of requests. This is not expected to be achieved
in this current fiscal year due to the reduction in the
number of examination staff available to carry out dri ving tests. The recruitment under consideration may address this.
4. To conduct a minimum of 10 random vehicle
inspection a udits per week and ensure corrective
measures are taken. Similar to the driving test ap-pointments, this was not achieved in the current year.
However, it is anticipated that the Transportation Control Department will meet the target in 2018/19.
5. To serve 75 per cent of all customers within
30 minutes; to answer 60 per cent of all incoming calls to the call centre within 5 minutes; and to process ac-counts payable within five business days of receiving
invoice. It is anticipated that these targets will be met
in the current year as well as 2018/19.
In the upcoming year the department will i mplement the operational recommendations of the Management Consultant section with a view to streamlining application processes and procedures for
more efficient operations and to enhance customer
service.
The department will also bring Bermuda’s
drivers’ licences into the electronic age by introducing licences with radio frequency identification (RFI), also
known as chip technology. In Bermuda, a driver’s l icence has become a de facto document for personal identification with residents using it in Bermuda and
abroad. There are many benefits associated with
transitioning to this chip technology, including assis tBermuda House of Assembly
1324 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

ing in the modernisation of driver’s licences, actively
combating fraud, and increasing trust at both national
and international levels.
Madam Chairman, also in the upcoming year
the Transport Control Department will complete a comprehensive review of the Motor Car Act 1951, an
Act that has been in force for almost seven decades.
Although over the period it has been amended as
needed to meet specific transport related needs and
to adjust to new initiatives, modern trends and safety
measures, the Transport Control Department recognises that not only is it necessary to mode rnise the
Act, but also it is necessary to address some of the
provisions that are contrary to the Transport Control
Department’s own policy.
One example is car licence plates. The Act
makes provision for a black background with white
letters. But Bermuda transitioned to white licence
plates with black letters in the mid- 1970s. Also included in the review is the intention to update provisions
for electric vehicles. The electric vehicle market has
developed tremendously over the last decade and
vehicle manu facturers are now committing to building
more battery -powered cars and motorcycles. Berm uda is not immune to the global push to go green, to
protect the environment and to help save the planet.
And we must ready ourselves with supporting legisl ation.
Madam Chairman, in the 2018/19 year the
Bermuda Road Safety Council will work with stak eholders, including CADA and A Piece of the Rock , to
launch a comprehensive road safety programme i ncluding broadcasting and mass media to educate and
increase public awarene ss of road safety laws and
persuade the public to abide by them. Bermuda al-ready has a sound legislative framework, inclusive of
compulsory wearing of crash helmets, seat belts, child
restraints, a demerit point system and stringent san ctions for speeding and drink driving. This will be e nhanced. In the near future I plan to introduce a Bill to support the implementation of roadside sobriety
checks. This aims to avoid road traffic deaths and i njuries and to engage the community and help change
unsafe behavi our on Bermuda’s roads.
Madam Chairman, road safety is a fundamental human right. I know that accidents through human
error will always happen, but I am counting on all of
our road users to share responsibility for road safety. I encourage all members of our society to work with us.
Our mutual efforts will improve road safety for all of
our citizens and visitors.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. That concludes
the brief for the Transport Control Department.

HEAD 35 —DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC
TRANSPORTATION

Hon. Walter H. Roban: I will now move on to the D epartment of Public Transport, Head 35, found on pag-es B -195 to B -199 of the Estimates of Revenue and
Expenditure book.
Madam Chairman, it is the mission of DPT
(the short version of it) to provide safe, affordable,
reliable, and comfortable public bus transportation.
Madam Chairman, the total current expenditure is estimated to be $21,615,000 for 2018/19 and
represents no change from the 2017/18 year.
The department has six business units: Auxi liary Bus Servi ces, Bus Operations, Regular Servicing,
Inventory Management, Administration and Manag ement Support. While funding levels will be unchanged,
there will be a redistribution of funding between the units, largely to accommodate the need to address
shortages i n human resources.
Auxiliary Bus Services. Public bus transport ation services, other than scheduled service like sigh tseeing tours, charters, special shuttles, are coordinated by the Auxiliary Bus Services team. The current
expenditure of the Auxiliary B us Services team, cost
centre 45000, is estimated to be $151,000 for 2018/19 and represents no change from the prior year’s bud get.
Bus Operations. Scheduled bus service is
delivered every day of the year by men and women of the Bus Operations section. The current expenditure
for Bus Operations, cost centre 45010, is estimated to
be $10,367,000 for 2018/19. This represents a de-crease of $529,000, or 5 per cent compared with the
original 2017/18 budget. The change is primarily due
to the reduction in funded bus operator positions in
preparation for the filling of key positions in other sec-tions of the department. In addition, the overtime budget was reduced in anticipation of the implement ation of a new more efficient bus schedule.
Repair Servicing. The Department of Public
Transportation employs a team of professionals in
Repair Servicing that are at the ready to repair and
maintain the bus fleet of public buses and support v ehicles. The current expenditure for Repair Servicing,
cost centre 45090, is estim ated to be $5,697,000 for
2018/19 and represents an increase of $203,000, or
approximately 4 per cent compared with the original
budget of 2017/18. The increase is as a result of fun ding that was shifted from Bus Operations to acco mmodate the recruitment of a Facilities Manager and
additional cleaning staff. The increase is also attributed to the procurement of a better performing oil that will burn more cleanly, thus alleviating the black exhaust that can sometimes be seen emanating from
our buses on the r oads.
Inventory Management. Parts for vehicles and
equipment are procured, stored, controlled and issued by the stores section which falls under Inventory Management. The current expenditure for Inventory Ma nagement, cost centre 45115, is estimated to be
$2,060,000 for 2018/19 and signifies an increase of
$64,000, or approximately 3 per cent over the prior
year’s budget. The uplift is primarily due to the adBermuda House of Assembly


justment in wages to allow for the addition of a stor ekeeper.
Administration. The Administration s ection is
primarily responsible for developing department pol icies and procedures to ensure that the personnel,
tools, and resources are available to effectively fulfil
the mandate of providing professional, safe, afford able, reliable and comfortable publi c bus transportation.
The expenditure for the Administration section, cost centre 45120, is estimated to be $2,460,000 for
2018/19 and represents a rise of $170,000, or approximately 8 per cent over the budget of 2017/18. Co ntributing factors to the increase are: greater focus on
employee training, resolving occupational safety and
health issues, and cleaning and maintaining the depot
facilities.
Management Support. The Management
Support team is responsible for selling and processing
bus and ferry fares a nd providing internal personnel
services and administrative assistance. The expenditure of Management Support is estimated to be
$880,000 for 2018/19 which is an increase of $89,000,
or approximately 11 per cent compared to the 2017/18
budget. The salary of an additional administrative assistant and the re- grading of outdated administrative
posts are the reasons for the increase in funding for
the 2018/19 fiscal year.
The Department of Public Transport estimates
it will earn $8,190,000 in revenue for 2018/ 19, as
shown on page B -196 of the Budget Book. Most of
this will be earned from the sale of passes, which is estimated to be $3,725,000. Cash sales of $1,250,000
are second on the revenue list.
Capital Expenditure. The capital acquisition
estimates for th e department, as seen on page C -12
of the Budget Book, and estimated to be $3 million, as
is primarily due to the acquisition of eight new buses.
The new buses will be similar to the 18 series, but will
feature safety -conscious improvements to benefit our
operators, and passengers and residents, to share
bus roads with us. Improvements include more interior
camera surveillance and reflective markings for better visibility of buses during night time hours.
The total complement of full -time equivalents
in the new 2018/19 fiscal year is 236, as reported on
page B -197 of the Budget Book. This represents as
increase of two employees, or a 1 per cent increase as compared to the original estimate of 2017/18. The breakdown be each section is as follows: The number
of full -time equivalents of cost centre 45000, Auxiliary
Bus Service, is two (which does not differ from the
original number in 2017/18).
Bus Operations, cost centre 45010, has 162
full-time equivalents. This represents a decrease of
four as compared to the fiscal year 2017/18 and
equates to the shift in of funds from vacant bus oper ator positions to key vacant posts that were not funded.
For cost centre 45090, Repair Servicing the
number of full -time equivalents totalled 50, which is an increase of three full-time equivalents compared with
the original estimate in 2017/18 to account for the r ecruitment of more mechanics.
Inventory Cost Management, cost centre
45115, has been allocated four full -time equivalents
representing an increase of two compared with
2017/18. These positions are the store’s manager and
storekeeper.
The number of full -time equivalents for cost
centre 45120, Administration, was not changed from
last year’s number of four.
Management Support, cost centre 45200, has
14 full -time equivalents, for an addition of one post
titled, administrative assistant.
Output Measures. Targets outcomes for bus
operation for 2018/19 are to minimise accidents per
month to less than eight, and to achieve a target of
less than three staff complaints per month. In 2017/18
revenue forecast the number of accidents per month as 10, and the number of staff complaints per month
as 3. In 2016/17 the accidents per month, previously,
averaged 11.5, and staff complaints totalled 3.
In 2018/19 output measures for repair servi cing are to maintain the number of buses in the service
daily at 80 per cent of the total fleet to respond to road
calls within 1 hour and to service every bus within 90
days. The revised forecast for 2017/18 is that the percentage of the fleet of buses that will be serviced is 50, the response for road calls will be 1 hour and
50 per cent of the fleet will be serviced every 90 days.
The actual outcome of the 2016/17 repair servicing
was that 55 per cent of the fleet was maintained in
service daily. Road calls were responded to in 1 hour and 65 per cent of the fleet was serviced every 90
days.
The number of buses out of service each day
plagued the department for 2017/18. But, with a mult ipronged approach of new and refurbished buses, staff
training and recruitment, 2018/19 is anticipated to be
a more successful year. Or, should I say, a better
year, rather than “more successful,” because last year
was not successful. So I will change that to mean a
better year.
Inventory Management has two outcome
measures for 2018/19, which are, to complete two rolling counts of inventory per year, and to maintain
the procurement pro cessing time for requisition to orders to two days. The revised forecast for 2017/18 is
that one rolling count of inventory will be completed,
and the procurement process time for requisition to
order will be five days. The actual outcome of 2016/17
was th at one rolling count of inventory was completed
and the procurement process time from requisition to
order was five days.
The Administration Section has two new outcome measures for 2018/19, which are, to address
five major identif ied occupational safety and health
issues, and to complete customer service training for 50 per cent of the frontline staff. These two measures
Bermuda House of Assembly
1326 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report
have been developed to address the needs of two of
the most important groups of the public service, our passengers and our staff.
The 2018/19 output measures for Manag ement Support are to receive and deposit 100 per cent of the cash from fares, and sale fare media daily. And
two new measures for 2018/19 are to process vendor
payments within five days and to produce detailed
performance reports each month by the 15
th. The r evised forecast for 2017/18 is that 100 per cent of all cash from fares and sale fare media will be receipted
and deposited. The actual outcome of 2016/17 was
that 100 per cent of all cash fares and sale fare [m edia] was r eceipted and deposited.
The department continues to experience daily
cancellations in the public schedule due to a shortage of operable buses. Whilst there are plans to increase
the number of vehicles in the short and long term, there will not be enough to provide sightseeing and charter services for the 2018/19 fiscal year. As a r esult, sightseeing and charter services will be su spended for this fiscal year, as was the case in the last two summers.
Madam Chairman, the department faces a
host of challenge s which are viewed as opportunities
for growth and improvement for the services, facilities ,
and the personnel.
Madam Chairman, the aforementioned cancellations are a direct result of a lack of vehicles avai lable to service the current schedule. A new bus
schedule has been developed to meet the available
resources and will allow the effective dissemination of
information to passengers. The new schedule has been crafted to streamline the bus service routes that
are used less frequently, and to bolster the service in
the areas of the Island that present the most demand. Once the consultation process involving the relevant
stakeholders is complete the schedule will be impl emented.
I would just like to thank a colleague in this
House for assisting with some of the work that I have
tried to do on this, Madam Chairman—
[
Fire alarm sounded]

Good afternoon, Members.
We are resuming in Committee after a slight
bit of excitement on a Friday afternoon.
Members, we are in Committee of Supply for
further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2018/19. We were currently
on Heads 34, 35, 48, and 89, the Department of
Transport and Regulatory Affairs.
Minister, you have approximately until
9:05 pm. That is how much time you have remaining
for this debate.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, very much. I will
resume where I left off. I actually think I was making
comment, if you will indulge me, Madam Chairman, to
say that I just wanted to thank a colleague of the
House for some work that he did in relation to managing the bus schedule. The Deputy Speaker, [the Ho nourable] Derrick Burgess, and I have had some di scussions of which were . . . and with some assistance
of some stakeholder outreach around the bus [sche dule] which we all hope will reach some positive results
in the end. So I just want to thank him publicly for his
assistance in that area.
Bus Purchase and Refurbishment. A total of
eight buses will be purchased for the replacement of
those that have exceeded the recommended lifespan,
which is, by industry standards, eight years. Fourteen buses procured in 2009 will be refurbished to gai n
approximately eight more years of operation. And just as a reminder of where we are, I will do that for the benefit of the listening public, we are discussing Head
35, Department of Public Transport, found on pages
B-195 to B -199 in expenditure in the Budget Book.
That will be helpful to any [member of the] public that
might have left us or are just coming on after the interruption.
Facilities. In the 2018/19 fiscal year, an emphasis will be placed on investing in the infrastructure of the department. A new facilities manager will be
responsible to lead enhancement projects for the department’s facilities in Dockyard, Southampton, the
City of Hamilton, Devonshire, and St. George’s; coor-dinate and monitor the maintenance of the buildings
and grounds ; and manage the resolution of occup ational safety and health matters; succession planning, training and assessment.
The department has many dedicated, aspi ring, and intelligent employees that provide a valuable
transportation service to the community. There ar e
countless examples of staff members going above
and beyond to ensure that passengers achieve a high
level of service on a daily basis. There will be a directed effort to train and provide beneficial exposure
Bermuda House of Assembly


to the existing employee base. Appropriate ass essment and development will be the springboard to a
robust succession plan that will be undertaken in the
2018/19 fiscal year.
That concludes my presentation on the D epartment of Public Transport. I will now move to the
Department of Energy, Head 89, found on page B -204
to 206 of the Estimates of R evenue and Expenditure
book.

HEAD 89 —DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Hon. Walter H. Roban: The Department of Energy’s
mission states, We develop energy policy and legisl ation which enables a secure energy future for Berm uda.
The total current expenditure for Head 89,
cost centre 99000, Administration, is estimated to be
$783 ,000 in 2018/19. It represents a decrease of
$116,000, approximately 13 per cent of last year’s
figure. This is mainly due to a decrease in the alloc ation for professional services and advertising and
promotion.
Madam Chairman, the advertising and prom otion budget will decrease to $50,000 from the previous
$70,000, a decrease of $20,000, or 29 per cent. This
decrease reflects the main work of the dep artment in
the upcoming year which will include an energy su mmit in the third quarter of the fiscal year, but will also
include intensive work in reviewing the Regulatory Act
2011 and the Electricity Act 2016, as well as working
with the Attorney General’s Chambers to draft effective fuel legislation to implement the incoming fuels
policy. Given the heavy workload of a small depar tment, it is unfeasible for the department to host major events, which this expenditure will fund.
The decrease of $105,000 all ocated for pr ofessional services, or approximately 24 per cent, re presents an increase in capacity for the department and a commensurately diminished requirement for
consultants. The main consultation work in the coming
year will be spent on procuring spec ialty legislative
consultants to assist in the refinement of the Regul atory Act 2011, the Electricity Act 2016, and implementation of the upcoming fuels legislation.
The other piece of consulting being consi dered for the [2018/19] fiscal year is a market feasibility
study of the utility scale wind for Bermuda.
Madam Chairman, in the coming year the D epartment of Energy expects to receive $200,000 in
revenue, as shown on page B -205. This represents
government authorisation fees paid those in the ele ctricity sector.
Madam Chairman, I am delighted to announce a capital expenditure, found on page C -12 of
the Budget Book, under cost centre 76689, in the amount of $500,000. This amount has been allocated
for use in a new rebate programme for renewable energy technology which will be primarily targeted at seniors, but will not exclude others of the public. R ather than a simple re- boot of the previous rebate and
incentives on solar/thermal and solar/photovoltaic i nstallations, this round of rebates will favour those who
have not otherwise made the investment in solar
technologies. For example, those owning homes with
lower annual rental rates. This is not to say that higher
ARVs will be excluded, but the incentive will be greater for those with low ARV propertie s owned by se niors.
The precise mechanism of the rebate has yet
to be finalised. Nonetheless, the fund has been created in order to allow for a more inclusive programme that encourages ordinary Bermudian homeowners to
avail themselves of these technologi es.
The department is a small department that
employ s three full -time employees, a director, an energy policy analyst , and a research and development
officer. The output measures for the fiscal year may
be found on page B -206 of the Estimates of Revenue
and Expenditure book. The Fuels Bill is being deve loped due, in part, to the need to ensure that the new policy appropriately reflects the direction and goals
espoused by the current administration. The final draft
of the fuels policy is being revised at p resent and we
look forward to maintaining an aggressive deadline for
the tabling of the legislation to frame the policy. The
department is on target with other performance measures.
Madam Chairman, in the coming year the D epartment of Energy will implement the upcoming fuels
policy with framing legislation. The main objective of
the fuels policy will be to ensure that pricing regulation is codified and transparent, the aim of which is to e nsure safety and environmental standards are met and to provide a f ramework for new fuels to be imported.
Continuing the project from the prior fiscal year, the
department will work with the Ministry of Public Works
to facilitate the development of the six megawatt solar
farm at the munitions pier at the L. F. Wade Intern ational Airport.
The site clearing and preparation will begin
over the next few weeks. This project is targeted for
completion within this fiscal year at which time up to
13 per cent of peak demand will be met by clean, s olar power. The department will c ontinue the review of
the Regulatory Act 2011 and the Electricity Act 2016 to ensure that they are fit for purpose and able to r espond with sufficient agility to the needs of a rapidly
changing market.
In an effort to continue to lower barriers to
renewa ble energy and energy efficient technology, the
department continues to work with the electric vehicle
working group. In this past year the duty was elimina ted from batteries for electric vehicles, which, in con-junction with the zero duty on electric vehic les, should
provide greater incentive for their uptake. There is a
need for greater public outreach of electric vehicles,
and toward that end, the Department of Energy hos tBermuda House of Assembly
1328 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

ed the Electric Vehicle Showcase event in November,
which it plans to repeat again i n this fiscal year.
The department will also continue its public
outreach on energy matters in general through anot her energy summit hosted in the third quarter of the fiscal year. Last year, guest speakers included
CARICOM Energy Secretariat, Devon Gard ener, and
discussions ranged from resilience after natural disa sters to energy efficiency and performance- based regulations of the electricity sector. This will be an annual
event having provided much value to attendees.
Madam Chairman, this concludes the budget
for the Department of Energy. Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreci ation to all the staff under the Ministry of Transport and Regulatory Affairs, the Headquarters, staff at Marine and Ports, Transport Control D epartment, Public
Transportation, and at the Department of Energy for
their hard work and diligence. I would also like to
thank the Bermuda Airport Authority for their work that
they have done since the beginning of this administr ation to assist us in fulf illing our agenda in relation to
the L. F. Wade Airport Redevelopment Project.
Madam Chairman, that completes my presentation on the Budget for the Ministry of Transport and
Regulatory Affairs. Thank you, very much.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Good afternoon everyone.
Thank you, Minister, for your budget. First of
all, I would like to thank you for the Green Paper. I am
looking forward to the Green Paper coming out, and that was one of the questions I was going to ask you
about. I agree that we need to look at our transport ation system and it does need a complete overhaul,
beginning with the buses. I note that the infrastructure
has not had an assessment since, I think, 1999. So it
is much needed, and I look forward to having the p aper so that I can make my contribution.
I am going to start with Head 30, Marine and
Ports. First of all , 3006, West End Dockyard, and then
40040, Navigational Aids. I do believe that there was
under the previous Government a plan to retire the old steel buoys . There had been eight that had been d eployed, and I would like to know whether the further
six that were supposed to be deployed have been or will be deployed.
Under 40140, the Tug Service, I know that we
have two tugs, Powerful and Faithful, and that the
fleet is actually ageing. I note on page C -12, 76660,
that there is provision for a tug/sar vessel at $517,000.
Is that correct? Or is that for . . . I would like to know when you answer my questions whether that is prov ision for the tug.
Under 40210, the Tender Service, the Berm udian is gen erally used and I note that the maintenance
costs for the Bermudian are increasing. Is there going
to be a replacement for that tender? And the other
question I have is . . . that the tender is a revenue
generator. How much revenue do we get from the hire
of the tug for the general public?
Under 40260, the Dockyard cradle. There is
revenue generated for repair use d by the private se ctor for this, but I do not see it. Does it come under the total head of Dockyard Maintenance? And what would be the amount of revenue that is generated by the
private sector using the Dockyard cradle?
I understand that the Millennium is not going
to be utilised any more, following the 2017 season.
What I would like to know is what the revenue gene rated was versus the contributi on for AC Bermuda du ring last summer. And what were the deficiencies that have caused us not to want to use the Millennium anymore? Are we not anticipating . . . I know we are not
anticipating the same level of people being here at
America’s Cup but we hav e been using the Millennium
for the past five years. So I just wonder why we are
choosing not to use it, and is expense the only reason.
Ferry Service, 40090, there are six ferries,
and three harbour ferries, and I note that you said that we are going to use the ferries which are more fuel
efficient , and I would like to know which ferries [they
are]. Are they the catamaran ferries, or are they the
harbour ferries?
I would now like to talk to the performance
measures.

This is my first time doing this.
So, page B -185, under business unit Ferry
Service, 40090, Ferries to operate to the published ferry scheduled number of trips , 95 per cent. But the
target outcome is 90 per cent. So why is the target outcome less than what the target is expected?
The other question I have is in terms of the
removal of abandoned boats, there was an article in the Royal Gazette that talked about abandoned boats
and their removal. One of the questions I have is whether or not there is a plan to amend the legislation under Ma rine & Ports Authority (Dumping) Regul ations , the fine for someone leaving a boat is $360. I
just wonder what the cost to the government was for
Bermuda House of Assembly


removing abandoned boats when that boat is not salvageable and whether consideration is going to be
given to ch anging the legislation to make it more of a
hindrance for people to just leave boats and leave it for the government to clean them up.
Under Training, which is on page B -183, I
note that there is an increase to $215,000. I know under the OBA there was a training programme for M arine and Ports staff at the Warsash Maritime Acad emy. And at that point training was proposed for 70 employees. I wonder how many employees have actually gone through the programme, and if they have
not all completed the programme, how many are left,
and whether it is anticipated that they will be trained.
And, I think that is it for Marine and Ports for
me. Oh, I just have one more . . . the Marine Oper ations Centre, which has a total staff of nine, because
this is a 24- hour serv ice . . . I know that there was a
staff increase, but is there enough staff operating this
because it is a very important service?
Under [page] C -12, 76294, the VTMS system.
I know that previously under the previous budget there
was $350,000 allocated for the replacement of the
marine coastal radio system. Has that been replaced, or is it going to be replaced? Is it over a couple of
years that this money is going to be allocated?
And then on C -12 under 76137, Surveillance
Cameras, there was $500,000 alloc ated for the e xpansion of the vessel traffic surveillance system. Has
that been purchased? Or is it going to be purchased? And then C -12, . . . oh, no, never mind. Sorry.
I think this ends Marine and Ports for me. Sorry, under, I guess the general Head of Administration,
or Training, in the 2017/18 budget there was the co ntinued progression of the night pilotage initiative to potentially allow ships to enter and depart the port
during darkness. Is that still going on? Or can you give
me an idea of what is happening with that?
The next one will be under Professional Services, which is just under Current Account Estimates. There was supposed to be a feasibility study to assess whether Bermuda can possibly accept the world’s largest passenger ship. Has that f easibility
[study] been done? And what was the result of that study? And what was the cost of this study?
And this ends Marine and Ports for me, I
think. Oh, under Ferry Service, 40090, I would like to
ask the Minister if every ferry route runs at a profit ?
And if they do not run at a profit, which ones do not?
And on the 29
th of September, the Minister
came and asked for a supplementary of $1.6 million,
or [$]1,674,440. Was that supplementary spread
across materials and supplies and wages? Or how
was it al located?
Under 8183, Port Dues, that increased from
584 to 620, and I guess that is just a general increase. But again, if you would explain the increase.
And that is it for Marine and Ports. Thank you. Next, Transport Control Department. Under
44090, the Road Safety . . . sorry, page B -191, 44090,
Road Safety. I know that they are increasing the
grant, but I just wonder whether or not with all of the
road traffic accidents that we have had . . . and I know
we have got Project Ride and all of those kinds of
things. But is that enough of an increase for the grant,
for the Road Safety Council? [I wonder] whether we
should consider adding more money to educate pe ople about the need to be safer on the roads.
Under Head 34, just the current account est imates. Under Repair and Maintenance on page B -
192, the estimated amount in 2017/18 was 194 and in
2018/19 it is 128 . . . why such a big decrease? And
how did they propose to achieve that decrease? What
has caused the amount to go down? And what is the
repair and maintenance on?
And then under that same category, Materials
and Supplies has gone from 148,000 to 79,000, which is a big decrease. How are they proposing to achieve
that? And what materials and supplies are they planning on reducing?
Under . . . sorry, page B -192, Revenue Summary, 8385, Four Wheel Vehicles, I would like to know
how much of that revenue can be attributed to Amer ica’s Cup and whether any of the increases attribut able to America’s Cup and whether, under 8391, the
Exam Fees for Four Wheel Vehicles also include the Twizy. And if they do include the Twizy, what impact
does the rental income from these minicars have on the revenue for the Transport Control Department?
Under 44210, Administration, page B -191,
does the Electronic Vehicle Registration still work? Are we still utilising it? And, if we are not utilising it,
why not? And if it needs to be repaired, when will it be
repaired and what will it cost to repair it? What, if an ything, are we losing in revenue by not having it wor king?
The other thing that I wanted to ask . . . the
Minister stated that there were people that were
abandoning cars by the side of the road, or leaving
cars in their yard. Just as there is a penalty for people
who abandon boats, would you consider imposing a
penalty on people who just abandon their cars on the
side of the road? Should there be some sort of penalty for people who do that? And, if so, what would that
be? I think that is it for Transport Control. I do not
have any further questions on that one.
Now, I will go to Public Transportation. Public
Transportation has been, I guess, a source of co nsternation for everybody. So, one of the questions I
wanted to ask was . . . last year there was a fir e on
one of the buses. There was an investigation and it
was determined that better protocols would be established to mitigate the occurrence of such an event. Did
that event happen just because of the age of the bus? And will the purchase of new buses prevent things like
that from happening? I imagine that it would, but was
that one of the reasons why it happened?
Bermuda House of Assembly
1330 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

One of the objectives of the department is to
continue to work toward a more cost -effective and
efficient schedule. Does that mean an efficient sche dule in terms of staffing, in terms of number of buses
on the road, in terms of maintenance? Is it all -
encompassing? Do you have anything specific? Is it
just the bus schedule or is it just the general oper ation?
On page B -195, 45010, Bus Operations , I
think you answered the question in your brief, but I am
going to ask anyway, the amount for bus operations
has gone down by 10367 but you are hiring additional
staff, so does that amount net out because of the p ositions that are being filled? Or are you taking funding
from somewhere else?
Again on page B -195, 45115, Inventory Management, that amount is going up from 1916 to 2060,
and I note that that was one of the expenses of the
department and part of the expense of it is because it
is not online. I t is done manually. Will staff be put in
place to assist in doing the tracking and ordering and
the control of the inventory? I understand the depar tment was working with the Attorney General’s office to
achieve that. Where are they with that process?
On page B -196, under Training, I see the . . .
yes, the Training budget has gone up, which I guess would be to train the new bus drivers that are coming
in and any other staff that need to be trained. Who exactly will benefit from that?
Under Professional Services there is an i ncrease from 595 to 647. What is the nature of that i ncrease and what professional services are being ut ilised and for what purpose? The same page, B -196,
Repair and Maintenance, there is an increase from
508 to 627. What is that incr ease for?
On B -196, again under the Revenue Summary, I believe you stated that charter and sightseeing would be suspended for 2018/19, but under charter
there still is an allocation of [$]500,000. Is that correct or should that be removed?
The Minister stated that they are looking at
implementing a new bus schedule . . . or a new bus
schedule has been drafted. I do not know if the Mini ster agrees that adding new buses together with scheduling and maintaining the bus fleet all go hand in hand. I note on page C -12 under 76293 that the
budget allocated for the eight buses is going to be $3 million. With the eight new buses coming on, what does it bring the total bus complement to? Will the
eight buses be replacing eight other buses? Will they
be retired?
The other question I have is . . . I know that a
new bus came in January and I understand that that bus has to be customised in order to be put on the
road. What is the customisation that takes place and
how much will it cost? I know that most of our buses
are custom -made. Would consideration be given to, I
guess, getting buses (for lack of a better description)
off the rack? Can we get buses that do not have to be specifically custom made? I know that there may be
some things that have to be specific to Bermuda, but generally, could we get them at a lower cost and could
we get smaller buses? Has there been any ridership
survey done to determine actually how many buses we do need to have in circulation? How many people
actually are riding the buses?
The Min ister has said that we are going to try
to go to cashless, which means that we are going to, I guess, have to implement new devices within the
buses to accept whatever form of payment it is going
to be. What is the cost for that? And how long will it
take? Will the new buses be coming with the means
for actually accepting whatever form of payment it is
going to be, or is that something that is going to be
added once the buses come to Bermuda?

[Mr. N. H. Cole Simons, Chairman]

Mr. Chair man, I would like to
speak to B -198, Performance Measures. Under bus iness unit 4510, Bus Operations, they want to min imise bus accidents to no less than . . . what? Because
there is no number given; although the target outcome
is eight. Do they want to minimise them to less than
eight?
They want to reduce the number of cancelled
trips per week to 10, but the actual outcome is not applicable. Why is it not applicable? Because there
are more than 10 cancelled trips per week. They want
to maintain the number of buses in service daily at 80
per cent of the total fleet. Right now, it is at 55
per cent, and I assume that is going to improve when
the new buses come.
Under business unit 45120, Administration,
the two new areas addressed identified occupational safety and health issues. What is the target? Because
I know the target identifies whether the outcome is five. And then complete customer service training for
frontline staff . . . there is no target given, although the
targeted outcome is 50 per cent.
The Minister stated that they are working t owards trying to have every bus serviced within 90
days, or maintenance serviced within 90 days. What is
the actual average life of a bus? Because in the Statement that the Minister gave on the 29
th, he said
that we have some buses that are 20 years old. So is
the average life between seven and nine years? Is it between seven and twenty?
Under the Performance Measures there is no
consistency. Some have targets, some without an
outcome; some have outcome with no tar gets. So, if
we could find out what those are supposed to be. And that is it for me on Head 35, Public Transportation.
Now, the airport. We received, or the public
has received, the LeighFisher report that has basically
said that the airport deal is a good deal for Bermuda.

Bermuda House of Assembly

I am sorry, under the LeighFisher
[report] it was determined that the project agreement
that we got was a good deal, and to terminate that
contract would cost jobs and create bad relationships. So it is a deal that we need to move forward with. It
will also [make] us a tourist centre of international
standards. The team that is down at the airport d eserves credit for working in an airport that needs to be
refurbished badly. So, hopefully, once this airport is
done it will be a place of pride where the y can work.
It is important to note that Aecon has conti nued to work with Bermuda collaboratively in terms of
the airport project. The question I have is . . . the ai rport agreement review cost $186,950, how is that being paid? Where is that money coming from to pay
LeighFisher?
And then the last one, which is a quango, is
the Maritime Administration, [page] B -202. So this
transition into the Maritime Authority in 2016 . . . and
my understanding is that the staff is located in both
London and Bermuda. C an you give me an idea of
how many staff there are? What are the salaries?
And the question that I have in terms of the
shipping register —because this is a revenue gener ator—is how we are going to be affected by the DPA
[Domestic Partnership Act]? Because I know that
there are some ships that may consider deregistering
any ship that has a Bermuda flag that flies in other
waters but cannot conduct marriages on board. Will
this affect our revenue? And what things are we going to do to, I guess, stop the bleeding if it does affect our
revenue?
On page C -26, Government Rentals, Head
30, Marine and Ports. There is an increase in rent for
the ferry terminal for Hamilton and the ferry terminal at
Great Wharf Sandy’s. Is that just a general increase? And again under Head 48, Tourism Transport and
Municipal Headquarters, the rent has gone from $13,
552 to $14,230. Is that just a general increase?
And that concludes my questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chai rman. Mr. Chairman, I missed the beginning of my
colleague, the Honourable Member Leah Scott’s
presentation, but as I think you will see we decided to split up this particular Ministry into two parts. My co lleague was effectively going to handle most of the
transportation side, and I am going to concentrate on
the regulatory affairs side. But I think at the end I may
just come back and ask a couple of questions which
came to my attention while the Minister was reading
his brief on some of the transport heads and depar tments .
Let me begin by saying the regulatory part of
this is a little complicated because these are not straightforward departments. But it is very clear on
page B -179 under the Head 48 (which is where I am
going to start) that under the mission statement the
Ministry is to direct (and I am quoting), to direct and
support where necessary the regulated industry sec-tors and external authorities associated with the Mini stry. And then if you go a little further down, Mr. Chai rman, as you will see, under Department Objectives,
and, in particular, the last one there, it is to develop
and direct Government policy on energy broadcasting
the space and satellite industry and relevant regulated
industry sectors.
So I am going to start with Head 48 and then
move to the energy head, which I will tackle a little bit later on. And then, as I said, I may come back to some of the transport heads as well.
So, in essence from a regulatory perspective,
as the Honourable Member said when he gave his
brief, there are three shipping . . . sorry, there are
three, essentially, transport -related quangos. There is
the Bermuda Airport Authority, which used to be the
old Airport Operations Group (which has now been
turned into a quango). And, as the Honourable Mem-ber said, that retained som e of the services that are
required to run an airport. And those are things like air traffic control, meteorological services (which is why
the Doppler radar is included, I think, in his present ation), airport fire/crash rescue and, then, ground electronic s are all very much key parts of running the actual airport.
And then there were two other quangos
which, as my colleague noted, effectively became quangos in October of 2016. And that was the Be rmuda Civil Aviation Authority [BCAA] quango, which was the old aircraft registry which was quite a strong
money spinner for the department.
I was a little disappointed actually that the
Honourable Member did not comment. There are re venue numbers in here for that on page B -180. But it
would be interesting to know how that aircraft registry,
now the (what do they call it?) Civil Aviation Authority
is actually doing, whether the number of aircraft on the
registry has increased or not, whether they intend to continue to grow that. I know there was quite an effort
with Bermuda Business Development Agency to try
and create a more marketing aggressive approach to
Bermuda House of Assembly
1332 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

increasing the size of the Bermuda Civil Aviation A uthority. I think the revenue number for that is on page
B-180, 8108. And it looks like they are budgeting a
little over $19 million as a contribution from that pa rticular Civil Aviation Authority quango for 2018/19.
The other one, which my honourable colleague mentioned as well (that is the third quango
under Transport), is the Bermuda Shipping and Mar itime Auth ority which is the . . . I will call it the old shi pping register. And again, that was quite a successful registry. We have had it for a very long time. We are
part of the British Red Ensign Group, which is certai nly a very well -known and high- end registry . Most of
the ships on there are cargo and essentially petroleum
carrying ships, as I recall. But there are also a number
of passenger ships including the QE2 and a few ot hers. I would
be very interested to know, particularly with
the passenger ships and, essentially, the 180 degrees
on the same- sex marriage issue, whether there have
been any requests to delist from our register to, say,
the British one, because I know British Government
was always very keen—the Minister is shaking his
head. The British Government was always very keen
as a matter of national pride to have some of the C unard and other ships that are registered in Bermuda
. . . they hope to, I think, retain some of those, or I
guess, find their way back to the UK flag as opposed
to the Bermuda one. Anyway, it clearly is an issue for
tourism, and I guess we will have to see how things evolve on that matter.
So those are the three Transport quangos,
and what I would like to do now is focus on Head 48 under this issue of develop and directing Gov ernment
policy on broadcasting space and satellite industry telecom and regulated industry sectors.
I am going to actually start with the space and
satellite sector. The Honourable Member did not me ntion in his brief . . . he did actually give a Statement
back in December of last year, a little bit of an update.
I am going to start with this because I think it is actually a very interesting area, one that I am pleased the Honourable Member took time to visit DC where a lot
of the space and satellite companies and consultants are based.
But the Government is obviously very keen to
focus on economic diversification. We have heard a lot about cryptocurrency and initial coin offerings. But I think this is an area which is not financial services r elated in any direct way and is, in fact . . . and I hope
the Honourable Member shares my view. I think this is
a really interesting diversification sector and I will e xplain a little bit why in a minute.
I think the Honourable Member back in D ecember noted that this is a $260 billion sector —I think
those were 2016 numbers. And it is a sector which we have actually made efforts to try and increase Berm uda business. I think honourable colleagues will recall
that in April 2013 after almost the expiration of the eight -year time period, which we are allowed to bring
a satellite into use, we were able (with FCC permi ssion) to move what was affectionately known as
EchoStar 6 in April of 2013 into the orbital slot that we
were allocated, which was 96.2° W longitude. I think
this is sort of a very interesting issue.
Some Honourable Member s will remember
that Bermuda’s ability to play in this space goes way back to the late Honourable Member John Stubbs in
the early 1980s when he was successful in getting the international telecommunications union to essentially
allocate four slots to Bermuda—one of which was
shared with Caribbean countries. And those are slots that are essentially space assets. You can think about
them, I guess, as a parking lot in a way. These are
geosynchronous orbits, which means that the satellite
actually spins at the same speed of the Earth. So it
sits almost stationary over the equator at a certain
longitude. The one that we essentially brought into
use back in April 2013 was 96.2°[WL], and that was
EchoSta r 6.
The challenge, I think, as the Minister certai nly mentioned, and we have seen for a number of
years now, is being able to commercialise this slot.
And it is currently leased to a consortium. It is called
Satellite Venture s Bermuda , which is a joint venture
between SES, which is a large satellite company and EchoStar, which is another very large satellite compa-ny. And they were given at the time a 15- year operating lease from 2013.
The challenge which the Ministry is well aware
of (and the Minister i s as well) is that it is an ideal
spot. It is over Kansas (if you consider Kansas to be an ideal spot). But the footprint that it was allowed
was over most of the continental United States and
indeed into the Caribbean as well. The challenge we had was that where the money is on these things is in
direct broadcast TV. But I think as Honourable Me mbers will recall, over time there was a moratorium put
in place by the FCC (I think it was about 2005), which prevented additional satellites from broadcasting in
the direct [broadcast] TV space. And that moratorium effectively is still in place. There were some efforts
made by myself and the former Permanent Secretary,
Bill Francis, in 2016 to actually . . . we met with the
FCC and they said they were going to revi ew it.
Now, the update, as I understand it from the
Minister’s Statement back in December, is that EchoStar 6 (which actually was moved back in 2013 —
it had already been in use for a number of years) is actually getting to the end of its useful life. Satellites
do die. And the understanding I had from the Mini ster’s Statement was that they are going to replace that
with a newer satellite —I think EchoStar 6 is getting to
be a bit of a rust bucket at this point —that is able to
have a slightly different commercial orientation and that is for aeronautical and marine markets which was
something that our partners, EchoStar and SES, were
trying to do with the original EchoStar 6.
Bermuda House of Assembly


But a newer one may actually . . . and I would
be interested to hear what the Minist er’s thoughts are
on this. A new one may be able to be better marketed.
I think (and I think this is the sector we are talking
about) most of us now know that you can access the
Internet when you are flying on commercial aircraft.
And that is quite a growt h business. I think that this
may be part of what is being aimed at here, or it may
be simply civil aviation and shipping. There was some
interest during America’s Cup to see if we could use
EchoStar 6 for shipping, but certainly the commercial
aircraft ma rket is a large and expanding one, and I
think if there is an ability to be able to provide broa dband Internet service on planes, that could be hopefully a more lucrative effort than what we have seen
so far. But I think it is certainly an interesting area and
one in which Bermuda certainly has a stake in the
ground. And I think it is something that we should be
looking to commercialise. We have the real estate up
there and we should hopefully be able to get some
revenue out of that.
There are three other slots—one at 31 °WL ,
another one at 37.1°WL and then there is a 92.3°WL
slot that we share with the Caribbean, if I remember
correctly. It would be interesting to know whether there has been any further discussion in looking at
bringing some of those into use with our satellite par tners. I think, clearly, the whole satellite area is a gro wing business. I think it is something that, again, is an
interesting diversification for Bermuda. A lot of other
people are now looking at this area and they have
moved f airly aggressively.
For those who actually follow this area, there
have been some really significant new developments in the space industry. We have seen some of the
larger, more, I guess, interesting, ones with the rocket
launch industry evolving. You have Mr. Musk out there
who is being able to use reusable things. What this is
doing is bringing down the cost of putting satellites into orbit. Satellites, I think as the Minister certainly is
aware and others are as well, had been reduced in
size over the last five or ten years. Satellites now are
probably about the size of toaster. Some of them are
even smaller than that. So, there are literally efforts
afoot and plans to launch thousands of smaller satel-lites into space.
What this means is that there is an area called
condosats, where you can rent space on a satellite or
you can rent a satellite, and I think that is an area that
should be quite interesting for Bermuda for the simple
reason that . . . well, I will get into our strengths in a
second. But fo r the simple reason that it is something
that I think we have an interesting, not only space regulatory infrastructure, but also a very interesting
companies’ legislation infrastructure as well. It is
something that is going to produce a lot of what are called in -orbit services, which is an opportunity for
Bermuda. I think the former Progressive Labour Party
Government and certainly the last OBA Government were looking at ways to try and essentially leverage
some of our strengths, particularly in the insur ance or
reinsurance sector. In -orbit services, it seems to me,
is going to provide a lot of ability beyond simply ensu ring a launch or a satellite, per se, but essentially
providing insurance services. So, I think efforts to try
and leverage that combinati on with Bermuda’s very
strong reinsurance and insurance sector is an inte resting one.
Bermuda’s history and legacy with the space
programme goes back many years. Some Honourable
Member s like you, Mr. Chairman, will remember the
first flight with John Gle nn way back in, I think that
was 1962, where Bermuda played a very key role in that go/no- go decision, as to whether John Glenn was
going to come back to Earth after the launch or whether he was actually going to continue into orbit —
and, of course, he did.
So, right now, we have . . . NASA continues to
do telemetry and tracking from Bermuda. We also have the European Space Agency, and we also have
SpaceX [who] were using some space. So, I think that
they are up around Cable & Wireless where Cable &
Wireless used to be in Bermuda. So, we have some
strengths there as well, and there are a number of
space -related companies which actually use Bermuda
as their jurisdiction for their holding companies and
others.

Of course. It is 58000,
Administration. This is the HQ which clearly has to
deal with, as I said earlier, develop and direct go vernment policy on energy, broadcasting, the space
and satellite industry and relevant regulated industry
sectors.
I know you think I am perhaps not getting into
how much money is allocated and all the rest of it. I can do that in a minute. But, I think given Gover nment’s interests —not only this Government but the
former Government’s interest —in diversification and
looking for new sectors, this is an area that I think we
are well -placed to compete in. And I think we ought to
make more of a push, and maybe that involves getting
the Bermuda Business Development Agency involved
with this along with the Minister —but more of a push.
There are some very interesting developments that are happening in other jurisdictions. Lu xembourg, for example, whi ch we all know is a very
strong financial services jurisdiction (funds and ban kBermuda House of Assembly
1334 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

ing) is making a huge effort in the evolving space area. They have essentially set up a legislative fram ework to allow companies to incorporate in Luxembourg and then be able to make claims on space mi nerals. There is a lot of talk about essentially mining
asteroids and other moons —our moon and other
places —and Luxembourg has gotten off to quite an
aggressive start in terms of setting up a legislative framework to allow companies to incorporate there to
actually put a claim in on bringing back materials, whether they be diamonds or precious metals, or ce rtain minerals, to Earth. It sounds a little advanced, but we are talking about sending people to Mars, so I think it is not that far out there.
The other country which certainly comes to
mind is the United Kingdom. They do a lot of satellite manufacturing and they are making quite an aggre ssive play as well with respect to space industry. So, I
think, Mr. Chairman —and I am going t o wind up on
this particular sector, space and satellite, in a m inute—but I think it is something where we need to
look at Bermuda’s value proposition. We have already
got regulations for the filing and network administr ation. I think there is quite an int erest in looking at getting that ISAC legislation (you will know, Mr. Chai rman, that stands for Incorporated Segregated Account
Companies legislation) in place for the insurance se ctor. But I think it would also be tailor made for space as well when you talk about condosats and leasing
and sharing various vehicles. It is a nice way of kee ping different liabilities and revenues separate.
I do think it is worth continuing to look and
essentially push on the FCC moratorium. When Bill
Francis and I were there two years ago (or, actually, it
is just a little over a year now) they essentially said they would look at it. But I think it requires a little bit of
prodding from time to time. They said our meeting
with them was sufficient to getting the process moving. I do not know how the Minister made out. It
sounds like there was not a lot of joy there. But I think
it is something that we need to continue to push, b ecause it is that old expression. You know, that is
where the money is. Mr. Chairman, you know that
comment from Willie Sutton when he was asked why
he robs banks. He said that is where the money is. And that is certainly, I think, true here in respect to
direct broadcast TV.
I think there were also some interesting po ssibilities. I think the Minister d id visit NASA when he
was there. They had offered that there are internships
available to university non- US students to essentially
get involved with NASA engineering programmes. And I think it is also worth having a chat with the E uropean Space Agency as well.
I am going to end on this note with respect to
space and satellites, and that is on [page] C -5 in the
Acquisition, the Capital . . . sorry, the Capital Development area. In 2017/18, under essentially what was
then the Economic Development, but is now Transport and Regulatory Affairs, there was a line item —a capital line item —of $400,000. The revised figure was
$200,000 for satellite orbital slots. I notice there is
nothing in there for 2018/19, and I am rather hoping
that does not mean the Minister has ended our par tnership with our consultants Access Partnership who
have been very successful. Maybe the money is act ually somewhere else in the . . . maybe under the A dministration head.
Those consulting efforts were capitalised for
many, many years going back to a former Progressive Labour Party Government, because it was felt that this
was an area where we were actually, sort of, capitali sing an asset which was our orbital slots. So, that was
something that . . . but the Minister has nodded his
head and said that Access Partnership is still in the
picture. And I think they have provided great service
both to the former Progressive Labour Party Gover nment and also to the OBA Government in terms of
access and knowledge of the area. So, I am hoping, given the Minister’s trip to DC, that this area will continue to get some attention.
I would, as I said, recommend that the BDA
get involved. I think there is quite a bit of stuff which
can be leveraged here with our financial services sector and, as I said, t here is legislative framework here
that is certainly worth looking at.

[Inaudible interjection]

Okay, the Minister says
he is on board with that. I am glad to hear it.
I am going to switch gears. Mr. Chairman, I
am still on pa ge B-179, and I am going to occasionally
flip over to B -180. But I am going to shift to the tel ecom sector right now, which, in essence, has been merged from (as I understand it from the Minister’s
brief) with the administration part of the Head 48, the
Ministry of Transport and Regulatory Affairs.
Now, this is quite an important revenue area
as the Minister, I think, mentioned in his brief. So, if you go over to page B -180 you will see under Rev enue Source there are a series of three different types
of fees. One is cellular fees, and that is budgeted at
$10.1 million. There are miscellaneous fees budgeted
at $5.3 million, and then there is spectrum band fees
budgeted at $2.48 million.
Now, of course, it would be hard to resist, but
the cellular fees esse ntially represent . . . it is hard to
tell from this because these heads and these mini stries and these departments have been shifted around
so much in the last year or so. But, in essence, we
know from the Budget Statement that an additional $3.7 million is to be raised through an increase in cell
fees.
Now, last time I looked at my (I think it was a
Digicel) bill, the government has a monthly cellular
charge. I think it was $9.50, or it was at least $9.00.
So, the question I have for the Minister is, what is the
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new fee going to be? Is it going to $12.00? Is it
$11.50? What is the new fee going to be, because to
raise $3.7 million on cellular fees, that is looking like at
least a 30 [per cent] to maybe 40 per cent increase in
the cell fee. Most of us, obv iously at this point in our
lives, have an umbilical cord to our cell phones. So I
think that is going to . . . it is certainly going to add up
for a number of people in terms of increase in the cost
of their cell phone monthly bill. I think that is som ething that we would like to hear a little bit more about
from the Minister in terms of what is actually env isioned there in terms of the increase.
Just sort of commenting more generally . . . I
am going to get into spectrum band fees and the other
fees in a minute. But I think telecom is now, from a
regulatory perspective, firmly under the Regulatory
Authority. In fact, it was the first sector that was
placed under the Regulatory Authority back in January
of 2013. And I would like to say in some respects it
has matured over the last few years. By that I mean it
was a little bit of the Wild West for a while. There was
a period there where lawsuits were flying right, left
and centre. That seems to have settled down.
I am not saying that lawsuits are not still prevalent because telecom is a fairly aggressive sector.
But it seems to have settled down a little bit, which I
think is probably a good thing. And people are busy
competing as opposed to fighting each other, the reg-ulator and the Ministry.
What has happened, though, and I think it
would be interesting to get the Minister’s perspective
on this because there is a decision, a policy decision,
which the Minister is going to . . . either he has been
asked or will be asked to make. And that is, there has
been major consolidation since 2013. If I remember
correctly, there was something on the order of 24 to
26 integrated. They were called ICOLs, Integrated
Communication Operating Licences. And so, ever ybody would understand that the Digicel and the ones
and Tel eBermuda and others would have had those.
But there were as many as, I think, 24 or 25 or 26 at one time. That has decreased appreciably over the last couple of years and, indeed, it think there are a
number of people that are simply sitting on an ICOL
licence and not actually using it. So it really begs the
question, which I will come back to in a second, as to
whether there is a need to review the number of pa rticipants in this market.
Right now, the two . . . it is almost a duopoly.
You have essentially Digicel, which acquired BTC;
and you have Atlantic Tele- Network, which acquired
KeyTech, which, I guess, is now known as one. So,
there are only two there. There had been some fairly significant developments in the last couple of years in
terms of improve ment in service. There was a rollout
of LTE in the last couple of years. The Regulatory A uthority pushed very aggressively on the two carriers to get that rolled out in time for the America’s Cup, and I
have to compliment the two providers. They did a very nice job with improving bandwidth and service certai nly during the America’s Cup itself. There were quite a
few dropped calls during the World Series event back
in October of 2015. But the RA, I think, pushed very
hard and the two carriers rose to the occ asion in
terms of providing good bandwidth and essentially
speed.
Also very interesting, during that period there
was the first we have ever heard of Wi -Fi on the water
during the America’s Cup, where you actually had the
routers on boats out on the Great Sound. And, of
course, Cross Island was used extensively and is now
very wired for IT.
One of the other developments which I think is
useful, and I would be interested to know whether the
Minister has seen any further requests for assignment, and that is back about two years ago the dec ision was taken to see spectrum as an asset. Now,
most other countries in the world do that. They do not consider spectrum something which is free, and go vernments licence out the ability to use spectrum. I think, Mr. Cha irman, you will recall that WOW [World
on Wireless] actually gave up a 700 MHz spectrum in
order to have it used for cell phone use. And that a ctually improved the quality and the service level b ecause one of the service providers was able to actual-ly use part of that particular band.
But, before the service provider was paid
nothing for the use of that (what is called high demand spectrum), and now as we will see on page B -180
under Spectrum Band Fees there is $2.48 million
which comes to the government annually for that.
I think the other huge development in the last
couple of years —probably some of them have been
working on it for about three or four years —is the
rollout of fibre to the home. It is going to be interesting
to see how this evolves. There is a fair cost of infr astructure for the two carriers putting it in, but I think the consumer will certainly benefit because of the i ncreased speed, bandwidth, and, need I say, reduction
in cost of additional capacity which will be provided.
So, with res pect to the issue that I think the
Minister will be asked, and I would be curious to get his perspective, that is, will the Minister be essentially
agreeing with the Regulatory Authority or, I guess he will be asked permission by the Regulatory Authority,
to lift the moratorium on Integrated Communications
Operating Licences to allow possibly more entrepr eneurs in that space.
A market review, which is required under the
legislation, was started a couple of years ago. And
that was necessary before the moratorium could be
reconsidered in terms of allowing others to come in and get operating licences. I am not sure quite where
that is. Perhaps the Minister can comment as to
whether the Regulatory Authority has finished that review or not at this particular point.
I would like to comment a little bit on changes
in the Regulatory Authority, and I am going to be del iBermuda House of Assembly
1336 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

cate here because the Regulatory Authority probably
has assured this Minister (and certainly assured me)
that it was an independent Authority. And w hile the
Ministry was responsible for advancing Government policy it is also responsible for the accountability to
Regulatory Authority as well. But the Regulatory A uthority deals with individual applications, and obviou sly is now quite a bit busier becaus e—and we will get
on to that in a little bit —an additional sector in the
form of electricity has been added to their portfolio.
So, not sure whether the Minister wishes to
comment when he gets a chance to answer que stions. But clearly there was a need, an d I am not sure
they are there yet to build capacity within the Regul atory Authority to be able to handle not only telecoms where they started in 2013, but also to be able to have the bench strength to be able to handle electricity as
well.
You will recal l, Mr. Chairman, we added an
additional two commissioners to the original three that
the Regulatory Authority had. But I guess what worries me . . . and I do not know whether it worries the
current Minister or not, but we have gone through a
succession of CEOs over there. Mr. Copeland, I think,
has either left, or is on his way out. So I worry a little
bit about whether the internal operation is, essentially, from a Ministry perspective, being looked at.
I think the Minister did mention that he was
going t o ask for a management review of the Regul atory Authority to ensure accountability. I think that
probably would be a good thing. Certainly, my exper ience with the commissioners who are there is you have got a very strong and good cross section with experie nce in different sectors —both electricity and
certainly IT and telecoms there. I think the current ac ting CEO, Mr. Smith, is probably a very good choice
until they get themselves sorted out. But, clearly, there
is work to be done in terms of reviewing the Regulat ory Authority Act. The Minister did mention that and
certainly the Electricity Act needs to be reviewed as
well. We expected that because once you actually
start, you know, using the legislation you tend to find there are things which you did not think about or need
to be, as it were, refined when you actually put it into
operation.
The other thing which I compliment the Reg ulatory Authority on is that they actually have an officer over there that is responsible for customer service. I will just sa y that most of us over time have had que stions about phone bills or Internet connections, or things of that sort. And they actually have got som ebody over there who (they will probably hate my sa ying this) can occasionally intervene when a service provider is not being, shall we say, as responsive as
one would like. So, I think that is actually a very good thing.
But again, even though the Regulatory A uthority is independent it is in a place where it can take
policy direction from the Minister. And it has got an extremely important role. It certainly managed and achieved a lot with extraordinary changes in both tel ecom and certainly electricity over the last few years.
But it is a very important role, because I think all of us
as individuals depend, to an i ncreasing degree, on IT.
Certainly the hospitality sector does with visitors co ming here. International business does to a huge d egree and both local business as well as others rely on our competitiveness as a jurisdiction in terms of the IT
and telecommunications sector. So it is a really key
sector from my perspective.
And as we saw in the Budget Statement it is
budgeting some $17.9 million in additional revenue . . . sorry, of revenue this year. An increase of I think I
saw $3.2 million. But, maybe ther e were some drops
as opposed to the cellular fees.
I am going to switch to another regulated se ctor which the Minister mentioned very briefly when he gave his presentation, and that is the broadcast se ctor. I think he referred to it. And certainly I woul d agree
to this. This is the second part of telecommunications reform which started probably back in 1995 and has continued over quite a few years. The broadcast sector, essentially in terms of regulation and the legisl ative framework, has not changed in a long, long time.
But there have been obviously significant changes in the past 10 years in the ways in which all of us —that
is consumers in Bermuda and indeed around the
world —access our news, our information and our e ntertainment. And there has also been the switch which
the Minister did mention from analogue to digital in
terms of how the sector is used.
So, now we have the ability to access these
different sources of entertainment, news, and information in a number of different ways. The old, legacy
way is free over -the-air broadcast radio or television.
A lot of people still use that. In fact, there are probably
some people who still have the rabbit ears on their
TV, although I do not think ZBM is actually broadcas ting that way anymore for TV. So that is gone. There
are subscription services, which refers to cable, either
through- the-ground cable or satellite or wireless cable
TV. And then, I think the more recent development,
which some have been involved with for a while, is
what are called over -the-top services, which are, effectively, over the Internet. And these can be a ccessed by computer, by TVs these days, and mobile devices such as cell phones. Good examples would be Apple TV and Netflix, and there are a whole bunch
of other services as well.
I say all of this because this is a sector which
is dearly in need of attention. I got the sense that the
Minister is going to be looking at this. But when I was in the Ministry a year or so ago, I actually commenced
a review of Government’s existing polici es and legisl ation relating to free -to-air broadcasting, which is the
old ZBM and VSB and others, both TV and radio. And
there are others in there as well, like HOTT and a few
others, as well as subscription services like cable. And
Bermuda House of Assembly


as I said, this is a co ntinuation of the telecom reform,
which goes back a number of years.
The reason this is important is because there
have been a convergence and a blurring of the di stinction between electronic communications and
broadcasting. And that necessitates a differ ent regul atory scheme to be able to look at this. And I think
there was the expectation, certainly the RA [Regulat ory Authority] was notified of this, that broadcast would
eventually come under the RA. The Minister can
comment as to whether he is still hea ding in that direction or not. But, Mr. Chairman, you will know that
there is still the Broadcasting Commission which is set up; and that is an artefact from the past. All of this
stuff should be moving under the Regulatory Authority
so that it is in essentially the same space as telecoms, because it is all electronic communication one way or
another, and digital, these days.
Another reason for this is because there is the
matter of our revenue sources, which free over -the-air
depends on right now. And that is the ability to be able
to advertise. Certainly, with the change in how people
access news, sports, and entertainment, there is a
need to relook at this, because cable is not allowed to
advertise, nor are other methods allowed to advertise.
And so, what that means is that, if you have entrepr eneurial local providers who want to use cable and who are doing more sports stuff, or it could be community issues, they cannot do it and put ads in. At least, they
cannot do it legally.
And so, I think there are some real opportunities here to be able to do that and provide the co mmunity with what I will call more homegrown local
ways of getting sports programming and entertai nment, and community kinds of things like fashion shows, with advertising, to help them s upport that.
But, clearly, there is going to be an issue with respect
to the existing broadcast [companies], who have, I will
say, an exclusive on that right now. But I think that needs to be looked at. And there are a number of ot her areas there which, cl early, need to be reviewed.
And I hope that the Minister will comment. But it is an area that I think is certainly overdue in terms of (I will
just say) an overhaul.
Okay. I am going to shift, again. And you
would be pleased to know, Mr. Chairman, I am ac tually now going to leave Head 48 for the time being. And
I am going to move to Energy, which is 89. And that is on page B -205 of the Budget Book. I think it is perhaps a bit obvious to state, but energy, and particular-ly electricity, are key for maintaini ng Bermuda in its
current advanced state. And there are also key cost areas, cost -of-living areas, for both residents and
businesses.
And as I said before, just like telecom and
some of the other areas, there have been significant changes over the last few years in how Government
has approached energy, particularly since the White
Paper of 2011, which is now well out of date. But there have been huge developments in the last 10
years, since 2011, in technologies for renewable en-ergy, energy efficiency, and conservation, which really
give Bermuda and residents and businesses an o pportunity to change how we source and how we use energy, and I will say more effectively .
To a large degree, and I will get onto this a
little bit more, our cost of living, and par ticularly the
energy, have been really very dependent on the cost
of oil, which has done, essentially, roller coaster rides over the last few years. And we have seen that in our
billing through the fuel adjustment rate and other ar eas in terms of the bill.
So, the old energy framework was developed
back in the day when fossil fuels were the only pract ical option. And, certainly, the old framework lacked
the flexibility to integrate new options. So, in 2015, the
former One Bermuda Alliance Government issued the
National Electricity Sector Policy, and it set out not
only a new way of approaching energy regulation
sourcing and usage; but also, it set out goals and a spirational targets to move away from fossil fuels, and it
brought a new approach to the managem ent regul ation of the sector.
And as I said, going back 15 or 20 minutes,
the Regulatory Authority now has a responsibility, because of the 2016 Electricity Act, which was put in
place a year after the Electricity Sector Policy. And that has created the f ramework for the introduction of
competition in the generation of electricity and opened the door for the increased use of renewable sources
and distributed generation, as opposed to the legacy
approach, which was a centralised approach and op-erated essent ially on fossil fuels since 1918, or whenever BELCO set up. Now, to be realistic, we are still probably 98 per cent fossil fuel. But I think the avenue and the ability now, with this platform, is there to i ncreasingly use essentially renewable sources.
It also shifted the responsibility for regulating
the electricity sector from what was, effectively, a part -
time energy commission to a much more proactive Regulatory Authority. And that process actually star ted in October of 2016 when the Regulatory Author ity
was formally given responsibility for the electricity se ctor; up to that point, it had only been the telecom area.
So, the issue at the moment, because we are
at a very interesting phase, is how do we proceed? And the answer which is set out in the El ectricity Act is
through a device or process known as an IRP, which
is integrated resource plan. So, if you open up the
sector to competition and distributed generation, how do you manage that? And I think the Minister noted
and certainly the RA mentioned it, as well, that the first step actually was to license the service providers.
And those licences were provided back in October of
2017. BELCO, which is the utility, have two licences, which effectively separates two different activities.
The first activi ty is generation, which is, how
do you make the electricity? And the second activity is
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1338 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

known as a TD&R licence, whic h is transmission, di stribution, and retail. How do you get it to the custo mer? How do you transmit it, by cable and overhead
lines? And how do you actually charge the customer
and get them to pay for it? But a very important div ision of activity . . . and this essentially allows the RA
to look at two different licences and two different ways
so that, I will just say, possible internal subsidies and other things can now be avoided.
But as I said, the next step basically is this
IRP, integrated resource plan, which is, essentially,
the implementation of a strategic plan that is managed
by the Regulatory Authority. It is published, and it is transparent. And it gives the public significant opportunity for input into our energy future. The initial r equest for the integrated resource plan comes from the
RA. And I think the Minister mentioned that this act ually was issued back in November 17
th of 2017. And
the responsibility for the initial plan lies with the utility, and their job is to produce a draft integrated resource
plan, which forecasts electricity need for the next few
years, essentially a forecast of demand by homes and businesses.
And the second part of that is how the utility
itself is actually going to meet those needs. Once the first draft is done and the Regulatory Authority have a
look at it, the public can then get involved. And more
important, perhaps, than that is it is subject to cha llenge. So, if the utility says, We’re going to use a certain amount of generation, gen- sets [generator set], to
be able to do this, somebody else can come along
and say, I think I can produce, and here’s my plan. I
can produce some of that demand f or megawatts either using renewable or, perhaps, using a more eff icient way of going about it.
I would be interested to get the Minister’s take
on roughly where we are going to end up with a final
IRP. I had a sense it was probably later this summer,
but I would be interested to hear what his comment is.
But it is an iterative process. And it means that, essentially, it is subject to challenge and it means that
the old method, which was where the utility basically
says, Here’s what’s good for Bermuda, and here’s
what we’re going to do to meet it, is no longer on the
table. The utility, obviously, is still involved. Do not get
me wrong; BELCO is still extremely important. It still
produces probably about 95 per cent of our energy.
But I think we are evolving. And I think we are going in a slightly different direction as we head farther down
the road.
It does raise, though, a very interesting issue.
And I do not think anybody in the public would not
have missed some of the, I will say, fairly aggressive adver tising by the utility in the last six to nine months.
And that is the issue of ageing assets, at least gener ation assets, to begin with, within the utility. The utility basically has said that they need to replace 80 megawatts of the existing 161 megawatts . Those need to
be decommissioned by 2020. Now, what that means is, effectively, 50 per cent of their existing generation
capability is going to be decommissioned in the next
two years, at this point. And because peak demand is
probably, in round numbers, around 100 megawatts at
any given time, what that means is that unless additional capacity comes in, we are going to be short,
and that could lead to insufficient capacity and brow nouts, or worse.
So, the IRP process is a really important one,
both in ter ms of, essentially, trying to determine what
the forecast need is going to be going forward, but also in terms of how that is going to be fulfilled. And I
think BELCO has been working at their IRP for a number of years now. I saw an initial draft back in
2014. They did another one in 2016. In fact, they have
said to the public that they have very specific plans.
The other asset which BELCO has, which is a
separate licence, is their grid. And that is the tran smission, distribution, and retail part. And that really
needs an upgrade. And I do not think the two, the
generation upgrade to the degree the RA allows them
to proceed on the plans that they have suggested, need to be necessarily connected with the grid. But
we have a very old grid in place, in many re spects.
Some of those cables, I think they said, are decades
old. They are deteriorating. And probably more i mportantly, the grid in its current structure is not able to
handle some of the more important sources of rene wable energy, which tend to be interm ittent. Solar can
go, switch on and off, or can reduce or increase, d epending on whether the sun is shining or not. And so,
the grid needs to be able to handle that.
There are also some other really important
issues, which actually, from a consumer perspe ctive,
would provide better service. And that is time -of-day
pricing. A few years ago, Butterfield and Vallis a pproached the Ministry because they wanted to use, essentially, cold battery storage systems so they
could freeze them at night and then allow them to, sort of, as it were, keep things cold in their warehouse during the day. One of the things, and the Minister talked
about it and certainly a lot of others have talked about
it, electric vehicles . . . one of the real demands is g oing to be, as elect ric vehicles increase, you are going
to get more peak demand.
And I think, probably, what is going to happen— a lot of your peak demand occurs during the
summer. People come home from work at five or six
o’clock, and they switch on the air -conditioning sy stem, and the demand goes up increasingly. What they are going to start to do also is plug in their electric v ehicle, as well, and that is also going to increase de-mand. So, things like time- of-day pricing, where the
utility encourages customers to use, shall we say, off -
peak hours like the middle of the night to charge their car or to, essentially, run their hot water heater, makes a lot of sense, and it really speaks to this issue
of conservation and more efficient use of energy.
Bermuda House of Assembly


The other area which is c learly a policy dec ision and one, I think, that I would be interested to get
the Minister’s take on as well, is the issue of fuels.
And he did comment on the fuels policy and the fact
that that was now moving along, something which was
started under the former Government. That is good.
But one of the issues is, essentially, the ability
for new types of fuels to be introduced to Bermuda. We currently have liquefied petroleum gas. But one of
the topics under consideration for a number of years
now—in fact, I think it actually goes back to the former
PLP Government —is the potential use and import ation in Bermuda of liquefied natural gas [LNG]. And that is an energy source which is being used increa singly in the United States, which in the last 10 years has bec ome actually an exporter of liquefied natural
gas, or natural gas. And it is something that, certainly,
the former OBA Government discussed with BELCO
and a number of others. And it clearly is a part of
BELCO’s plan, as well. But it is something that r equires regulation, and it needs permission.
There are a number of advantages to liquefied
natural gas. It is cheaper at the source. Oftentimes,
the price is set by what is called the Henry Hub, as
opposed to, for oil, the West Texas [Intermediate]
crude, or what have you. But on a per -energy -unit
comparison, natural gas is actually a quarter to one-half the cost of fuel oil, depending on how the prices go. So, there clearly are substantial cost advantages
there. It is a lot cleaner, as most of us know. Carbon
emissions are 30 per cent less. You do not get the
soot that you see with diesel, or particularly with
heavy fuel oil. It would help our environmental foo tprint.
And I think another area which could be very
useful for Bermuda is it is a much more effecti ve fuel
for distributed generation. By that, I mean the possibi lity of hotels using small what are known as combined heat and power plants, which produce cold water and air-conditioning, as well as heat, steam, and electric ity. LNG is actually a very good source for that for
power plants around the one- to-five megawatt area. In
fact, there are some buildings in New York that have
combined heat and power plants actually in the buil ding.
But the downside, of course, is that LNG is
expensive to transport, par ticularly to Bermuda. It r equires significant capital infrastructure in terms of not
only getting it here, but storing it and then changing it
from liquid into gas, degasifying it. And all of that capital cost needs to be recouped, which will up the price
to some degree. But again, it is going to require a
government policy decision. Quite a few Caribbean countries are now using LNG as a fuel source for
electricity generation. I think of Jamaica, certainly the
Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico does, as well, if I
recall.
But I think the bottom line for most people is
going to be, Okay. It’s cleaner. And that’s very nice. But is it going to reduce the cost of my electricity bill?
And I think that is a really interesting question. And we
may not actually have a clear sense of that until there
are actual bids from BELCO, and others, in terms of their proposals for the integrated resource plan. I guess the numbers that I saw were between about 16
and 20 cents per kilowatt hour, which is lower than
fuel oil for the cost of generation in Bermuda. There
were a number of reports that were done on it during
the former Government.
But I think, also, it would be useful to perhaps
have a look at some other smaller island states. I have mentioned a couple in the Caribbean. B ut Hawaii also is a good example of a country that is looking at, and I think has integrated natural gas, but also
is using a lot of renewables, as well.
So, it brings me to the fuels policy, which is
mentioned by the Minister and mentioned also on
page B -206, with respect to the performance
measures. And again, that was an initiative started
under the former Government. But it is a way to now
try and essentially put in place the policies and legisl ation to ensure that Bermuda’s fuel sector and the supply is affordable, sustainable, safe, and secure— all of
the things that we look for. There was initial consult ation earlier in 2017 with an energy summit then. And there was a discussion paper, I think published in
June of 2017. But it looks as though the timing on this may have slipped a little bit. What I think it says in the
book is the RA would commence regulation by Q4 of
2018/19, and that would be 2019. And I think the Bill
looks like it is going to slip until the second quarter of
this year. But we would be interested to get the Mini ster’s up -to-date comments on that.
One of the other areas, and I will just mention
this briefly, that is important with respect to the fuel policy is the connection between the oil docks and
BELCO. And that is the pipeline, which has been in
place for many, many years, in which they run heavy
fuel oil and diesel through, depending on BELCO’s
needs. And that goes all the way from the fuel docks
up to the BELCO facility. Now, I think some Honour able Members will know that there i s a fairly, I will say,
hefty charge on the use of that pipeline, which goes into the cost of the fuel which BELCO uses and adds to our costs. So I think at this point it is probably a fully
depreciated pipeline, and I think there needs to be, I
will say, regulation, because it is the only pipeline right
now.
Depending on how the IRP process works out
there also may be the need for another pipeline which
runs from down in St. George’s, which essentially ca rries compressed natural gas. And again, there needs
to be policy and effective regulation by the RA on that,
as well.
I am going to shift gears again a little bit and
talk about the utility scale of solar PV [photovoltaic]
project at the Finger.

Bermuda House of Assembly
1340 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

It is actually C -4, since
the Honourable Member seems to want to know which
line item it is. But it is mentioned on page B -206, as
well, in the Performance Measures. So, I am glad that Honourable Member is following the debate. It means not everybody is asleep. Okay.
The utility scale solar PV project at the Finger.
We got a little bit of an update in the Minister’s brief,
and some of the performance measures on page B -
206. I think a really good project for Bermuda. I think
most Honourable Members will know that the concept
here was to try and re- use some of the acreage which
is down on what I used to call the Munitions Pier at
the airport. It is that piece of land sticking out into Ca stle Harbour, also known more affectionately as th e
Finger. When the initial request for information [RFI] went out, there was huge interest. We had something
like 29 expressions of interest in August of 2016. That
was narrowed down by the Department of Energy to
some 19 potential bidders. And we had bidders from
the UK and Canada, Spain, Germany, Australia, and,
of course, the United States. And some of them were
partnered with Bermuda partners, as well.
The size of the project was, essentially, six
megawatts, which is a fair amount of power. If you look at that from a peak perspective, if your peak is
probably about 100 megawatts, I consider that to be about 6 per cent. The Minister gave a slightly higher
figure, which was good —the more, the better. But I
think the other thing is that this was estimated to r educe our emissions by about 4,000 metric tons, per year, of carbon. The bids that came back were also
actually very positive. Some of those bids came in at
some 50 per cent of the cost that BELCO has charge
to generate electricity, currently.
And so, not only will this be a renewable
source for Bermuda, it also should help to reduce the cost of electricity. Obviously, I guess there is . . . I am
not sure where it is, but there are probably a negoti ation between BELCO and, essentially, the provider,
the successful bidder there, in terms of what that i nterconnection cost is going to be. But we saw some
very aggressive numbers. They were not quite as low
as one in Jamaica, which was 5 cents per kilowatt
hour for production of electricity. But I was surpris ed
that they were not too far above that. So that will use
some 15 acres of the Finger. I am hopeful —or was,
certainly, hopeful —that we could, in a phase two, use
more of that area down there. There is not much you
can do at the Finger. The US Navy, allege dly, had
nuclear depth charges out there. It is next to an operating airport, and you cannot really develop it very
much. So, using it for solar energy generation is act ually, I think, a very good use of it.
But I would be interested in any updates the
Honourable Member has with respect to completion on that. There are some dates on page B -206, but I
hope when it is finished I get invited to the opening.

[Laughter]

Yes, Well, you are pa ying.
Mr. Chairman, I am going to switch now to the
Reinstallation of the Solar Rebate Programme. This is
actually on page C -12. And there is a $500,000 r ebate. The Minister actually provided a little more detail
in his brief, and it is going to be targeted for seniors on lower fixed incomes in order to reduce their electricity
bills. And the way the Budget Statement put it, it was
going to be for solar thermal, whic h basically means
heating hot water. The Minister was a little more a mbiguous when he gave his brief, and it sounded like it might, potentially, be used for PV (photovoltaic) panels, as well. But I would be interested to hear him clarify that, perhaps when he gets a chance to answer
questions. He also seemed a little bit more generous
in terms of not just seniors, but it could be others who
have low ARVs [annual rental values] or who are on
the low fixed incomes, as well.
So, if he can provide any guidance at this
point on income levels, whether it is only for solar
thermal. How the subsidy will actually work —is it g oing to be a percentage of the cost of the installation? Those are the kinds of issues that I think would be interesting. Maybe this has not been completely
fleshed out yet. But really, the questions are, how is it
going to work, in a little bit more detail? Will it be done through vendors? Will there be a planning fast track
on this, which is something that I know the Depar tment of Energy was ver y actively working on before?
And how many installations does the Minister think
this is actually likely to provide?
The former solar rebate, which ended, I think,
about 2014 or 2015, probably 2015, was originally slated for about $500,000. I think we got up to as high
as $800,000 when it was actually stopped because
there was a real run on it. We did not think it needed
that stimulation anymore. But, obviously, things have
Bermuda House of Assembly


changed a little bit in terms of the RA’s approach to,
essentially, payback for res idential and commercial
input into the grid, in terms of the amount of how
much revenue they would get for that, per kilowatt
hour.
Anyway, but the last take that I recall, this
goes back to 2015/16, there were about 85 solar
thermal residential systems t hat were installed at that
particular time. The question I think which always
comes up, and I am going to put it to the Minister
again, is, one of the reasons that people do not install
either PV or solar thermal is because there is an up -
front cost. In ot her words, you have got to pay for the
panels. You have got to have an installer put them in
place. And with PV, that can be something on the o rder of $15,000 to $40,000 up front. So, there is an
issue, particularly for those on fixed income or low
income, how are they going to actually finance this?
And hopefully, there has been some discussion with
the banks, because a lot of people . . . and I am not
saying that solar thermal is that expensive; I am not
sure how much it costs these days. But clearly, there
is an upfront cost. And the question is how is that going to be financed?
And, as the Minister knows, I have a sugge stion for him. And there is a programme, which has been in existence in the United States for a number of
years. We looked at it, and it is probably something
that one should have a good look at. It is called
PACE. And it stands for “ Property Assessed Clean
Energy .” And originally, it started out in California back
in 2005 and was known as an on -tax bill solar eff iciency financing. What it actually did was, it was a
way for people to finance the capital cost of putting a
solar system on their roofs or in their backyards or
whatever else.
And what it did was it allowed homeowners,
and actually business owners, as well, to finance the renewa ble initiatives through an agreed increase in
their property tax. So, in essence, it allowed the pro perty tax to be increased by a certain amount over a period of time to allow the carrying charges on interest on the financing to be financed. It provided s ome a ssurance to the banks, because if it was added onto the property tax bill, they figured there was a better chance of it getting paid.
And, of course, the benefit is that the hous eholder, or actually small business owner, gets an i mmediate energy savin gs with low risk of paying back
the capital, because it is on their bill. And it could be on there for five to twenty -five years, depending on
what is sorted out. It is also interesting because the loan is actually attached to the property as opposed to the individual. So for banks and others financing this,
there are some assurances there, as well.
So that is something. It is called PACE, property assessed clean energy use. And I think over 30
states in the United States have it, something that
might be u seful here. We do not get the kicker where you can write off the interest on your income tax, as
they do there. But still, it is a way of financing, and it might be something that would be of interest in terms
of land tax, where one could have an additional increment on the land tax, particularly seniors, who get a break on it, which they would then pay off this upfront capital cost over a period of time. So I reco mmend it to the Minister for a further look.
There was also a comment in the section under H ead 48 about trying to reduce the energy profile
of government itself. And this was something, I must confess, we were not terribly successful at, although
there were some changes. There used to be a joint internal task force with Public Works, particularl y the
electrical engineer and the Department of Energy. But
it was a way to look at how government might start to
put conservation measures in place to reduce government’s energy charge, which those of you who
have looked will know is budgeted for over $16.5 mi llion for 2018/19, which is up a little bit on the revised
figure of $15.8 for 2017/18.
That is a lot of money. And we know, at least
from the experience the Department of Energy had, that a householder can easily reduce their energy by
about 20 per cent without doing anything draconian
like turning off their refrigerator. So there are clearly
ways in which Government can, I think, take a more
practical approach.
There are a number of examples over the last
few years where businesses have retrofitted buildings,
which made a huge difference. (What was it over
there, next to Argus? I cannot remember. Anyway, I
will think of it in a second.) They actually saved over 30 per cent of their energy costs by doing a retrofit. I
think it paid for itself in about 30 months or something.
But a number of businesses have done it, and clearly it is something that is an important issue for hotels
and guesthouses, as well, because energy is a signif icant part of their bottom line. Cumberland House is
what I was trying t o think about. I think there have
been some stories recently about Tucker’s Point,
Rosewood also —they have implemented conserv ation measures.
So I think more effort needs to go into conservation. That is a way to reduce the need for gener ation. I have talked about time- of-day pricing. The Mi nister did mention electric vehicles. Obviously, the de-partment is taking a more aggressive look at trying to get more of those. Clearly, there needs to be an effort
with the utility with respect to charging stations . The
Twizy has taken off. They have been very popular, from what I can see from the tourism sector. Those
need charging stations as well. A number of hotels have put those in. But if people are going to be using
more hybrids and more electric vehicles, charging st ations are going to be important.
And I think the more of these things get used,
clearly there is a possibility of something which I did
not mention, which is storage and the ability to be able
Bermuda House of Assembly
1342 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

to buffer the grid, as well. And, I think, clearly t here
needs to be an effort for storage —that is, batteries to
store renewable energy. BELCO needs to look at it in
terms of its spinning reserve, which is simply running
a generator in case you are going to need the capac ity. But it still costs money to do that. So, those are
some of the issues there. As I said, time- of-day pricing
is important, as well.
Mr. Chairman, I am going to switch gears a
little bit here. I had some questions for the Minister in
terms of the comments that he made in his brief. And I
said I would go back and look at a couple of areas. I was pleased to hear that the cruise ship calls are g oing to continue to increase. Most of us know that
cruise ships make their plans a couple of years in a dvance. And, in essence, you’re welcome . The O BA
did a lot of work to increase the number of callers in
St. George’s and Hamilton and in Dockyard, as well,
made significant efforts to bring in the very large
cruise ships through the widening of the North Cha nnel.
Last year, I think, when I was doing the Bud get brief, I mentioned that the number of cruise ship
visits actually increased. Cruise ship calls increased
from 139 to 163. And I think the Minister said there
was going to be an increase of a further 20 calls this
year, all based on the number of , essentially, contracts and negotiations put in by the former Gover nment. But that is good. It is good for St. George’s, it is
good for Dockyard. And I think it is very positive, and I
am pleased that the Minister is actually working on
that.
I find it a bit odd that —it is kind of a tourism
initiative, but I guess it is under the Transportation and Planning Team line item on page B -179. The thing
that the Minister did not comment on, it was certainly
an issue which the Opposition raised last year, and
that is the reciprocity on driving licences in the United
States. Mr. Chairman, you will remember that there
was quite a fuss, going back a year or two, when (I
think it was) Alamo and a couple of other Boston car
rental agencies refused to honour the Bermudi an licence. And one of the reasons for that was one of
their compliance people, obviously, had picked up this
issue that Bermuda had not had the UK treaty ex-tended to it back God- knows -how-many years. We
had held out on that. And that was because there was
a reciprocity issue there.
So, a former US counsel general got quite
excited about this, in a negative way, and said that he might take it up with the US authorities that Bermudians should not be allowed to drive in the United
States, because we did not give US citizens that rec iprocity here. So, I would be very interested to know
from the Minister where we are in that particular pr ocess. Is it still moving ahead? Is there an intention to
have that treaty, a reciprocity treaty, extended to Be rmuda? And what does it mean on this end with r espect to transport control? Will we need to make amendments to, essentially, regs or legislation to a llow non -Bermudians to be able to drive with a little bit
more facility than they are able to do now, based on
having pa ssed a test for their licence somewhere
else?
I was pleased to see that the Doppler radar ––
$2.5 million, was essentially being allocated for a new
one. This takes me back, Mr. Chairman. I remember
negotiating with the US Navy, after they left in 1995,
for retaining their Doppler radar, which was an oldfashioned model. But I would be interested to know how . . . obviously, the one that we have had since
then has —it may have been replaced; I do not know.
But since then, it is obviously on its last legs. So it is
good to see there is a new one. It would be interesting
to know what the additional features are of this new
radar, because I think things have improved conside rably since that particular time.
The Honourable Member did mention night
pilotage, an i mportant facility, I think, not only for
cruise ships, but also getting cargo ships in. It comes
up occasionally in the news. This is not the first time this has been mentioned. There was work being done
on it at least a year ago. It seems to have taken a very
long time. Maybe there are infrastructure requir ements here, but it would be useful to know where we are in that process, because that was something that
certainly started under the OBA.
I was also interested to know whether that
dock at the airport that was put in for the America’s Cup will be reinstated or not. I think a lot of people
appreciated the use of that, not just those who had
superyachts. The Minister, a different Minister, for Public Works, mentioned something about it earlier
today. I di d not quite get what he said, whether he
said it was going back in or it was not going back in.
But I think that this is something that a lot of people
would appreciate.
Let us see. I have a couple of other questions.

[Inaudible interjection s]

It would be useful to
know. I know my former colleagues who started this issue . . . but it would be nice to know when the cas hless system is going to come into the ferries, and I
think for buses as well. I think that is a facility that
most of the other jurisdictions have something of that sort, as opposed to using cash or tokens. Obviously,
there is a certain amount of what they call in the retail
industry “ shrinkage. ” I am not sure how much it is.
But, I think, having a cashless system would make it a
lot easier on visitors and also local people, as well.
I think my colleague may have asked this
question. But on page B -182, there is a fair decrease
on line item 40090 for the ferry service. It is essentially a decrease, at least from the revised estimate, of a
little over $1.5 million. We have an ageing fleet there.
Bermuda House of Assembly


There were a lot of repairs. And I am wondering why
we are actually decreasing the actual allocation there.
Dockyard maintenance has also decreased,
which is slightly above that, 40260. That has gone
down by almost a half -million dollars. So I just wonder
what the logic is behind decreasing both the ferry operational funding and also the Dockyard maintenance.
Otherwise, we may have a “bus issue” coming up here in due course.
Moving along, Mr. Chairman, Public Transportation, Head 35. Clearly, this has been a difficult issue
for both governments, the former OBA Government
and the Progressive Labour Party Government as well. Part of the challenge going back a couple of
years wa s the contract with the fellow who used to
provide a lot of buses. He was a Dutch fellow. All of a
sudden, I think we discovered that those buses, which
were initially started in Belgium and then moved to
Portugal, the chassis, seemed to disappear. And the re
was money allocated to that, and there were four bu ses. I think the former Permanent Secretary literally
had to go to Portugal to try to find out where they
were. That clearly held up, I think, the four new buses.
I think those are supposed to . . . I am not sure if they
have arrived yet or not. Obviously, it is a good thing
that we are spending money on an additional eight buses.
But what concerns me is the amount of money that we are spending on, essentially, maintenance
and refurbishment. Clearly, four plus eight is going to
help. I think he said that the normal service life of a
bus, at least what they aim for, is eight years. It would
be interesting to know what the new average life of the existing buses will be after the additional 12 buses
have been added. And I think, obviously, the Minister
commented on the refurbishment of some of the
2009 -vintage buses to give them another eight years.
And I think all of that is good. There was a MAN tec hnician, who came a year or so ago. It would be interestin g to know whether he is still there or not. Clearly,
this issue of keeping buses on the road and, esse ntially, the repair and maintenance are very key. But we
would like to know whether that fellow, that technician,
is still here.
The other thing that is . . . when you look on
page B -197, you will notice that, in the original est imates, there were 234 [people] for 2017/18. On the
revised estimates, only 204 are actually there. So, what that means is that 30 people were not hired,
from a head count perspect ive. It would be interesting
to know where that head count is now. Have they
been able to hire people, both for repair service and
also for bus operations? Or is that 236 which is being projected not likely to be actually filled or hired for
some time stil l? You can play funny games with nu mbers.
The other thing that I think people would be
interested to know, and the Minister did comment that
one of the improvements is going to be to use a better quality of diesel fuel to help reduce some of the soot.
The real question is, and this discussion started at
least a year ago, why are we not looking at hybrid or
electric buses? A lot of other places use hybrids. They
use electrics. Certainly, we know from experience . . .
[Inaudible interjection]

Maybe they are. Okay.
Well, the Minister can answer that when he gets up.
We know from experience with electric cars
that they are much easier to service because there are considerably fewer moving parts. So, it seems to me that, if we hav e a parts and maintenance issue,
we probably should start to look a little more aggressively at hybrid or electric vehicles. I know the arg ument is always, Well, our people aren’t trained to deal
with those. I do not see why they would be any different than garages, who have to deal with gas, diesel,
electric, and hybrid vehicles, and certainly are capable
of training their mechanics to be able to deal with it.
So I think this issue of a little bit more off -the-shelf,
looking at electric buses —Bermuda does not have the
same problem that other jurisdictions do with electric
buses in the sense that we do not have to go very far
here. And there are ways to charge these things very
quickly. So I think electric buses would make a lot of
sense here.
Mr. Chairman, you will be delighted to know
that I am done. Thank you.

Please proceed.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The Minister, when he
was talking about public transportation, indicated that the employees, with respect to bus operations, were going to be reduced because those salaried positions
would be transferred into the mechanics. And I guess
what I am trying to determine is, recognising that there
were some times throughout the year where the bus
services, especially with respect to students, were
cancelled because the buses were not available . . .
and I know that the Ministry (and the Minister, I pr esume) had made the decision that some of those monies might be utilised to have minibuses turn and, if
you will, supplement it. And I just do not understand why it was stopped, recognising that you had these vacant positions, which means that the money was
there. An d that would have gone a long way to make
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1344 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

sure that the students, et cetera, were not negatively
impacted.
So I just wondered. I mean, I appreciate the
fact of switching the heads and saying, It’s more i mportant to have mechanics. But I just wondered, b ecause you did not have those bus operators, why we
did not utilise that salary much more.
The second thing that I just wanted to get
some clarification on, and I think the people out there
would like to have the clarification, is the fact that
there appear s to be . . . we have been going with
MAN buses for a long time. And lots of the buses that we use have come from them. And I just wondered if the Minister could explain to us what happens with
respect to, we get them customised, if you will, because I do remember when I was actually in Cabinet,
there was a discussion about buying the buses and
why we went with MAN and all the benefits. It just appears to me that there seemed to be an indication
that, by the time the buses arrived here, there was still
some , if you will, further customisation that had to take
place before they actually were on the road. And I
wondered if the Minister could explain to us whether
some of these further refinements could actually take
place before they got here.
Because the bot tom line is the buses are a
very important part of the transportation system for lots of those individuals who do not have cars and do not want to ride bikes.
The second question that I wondered if the
Minister could explain is the fact that I am aware th at,
at one stage, there was the suggestion that there could be a different bus schedule, a transportation schedule, if you will. And the way it was explained to
me was (and I am perhaps simplifying it, but I do think
that this is the way lots of people in Bermuda look at
these things) if we change some of the routes, esp ecially the ones that are on during the day, what I call
the sort of heat of the day, that there was the oppo rtunity to reduce the numbers of buses that needed to
be on the road. And that would then turn around and
do two things. One, it would make more buses avail able for some of the other routes, the outlying routes.
And I say outlying routes because I declare my interest; I am the MP for Pembroke West. And that is route number 4 and route number 5. And that is a route
where there have always been concerns about how
late the buses run and how reliable the buses are.
Having also been down in St. George’s ca nvassing, I also know that there have been concerns about the gate into St. George’s. So, the public, obv iously . . . St. David’s, St. David’s into St. George’s.
And the public, obviously, are aware of the fact that sometimes the buses are not there. And if the bus
routes sometimes could be changed, because people
who travel during the day, lots of times you will see
only a few people on the buses between eleven and
two o’clock. And there are lots of buses going by em pty. So I wondered if the Minister could indicate to
us whether there is a bus schedule that is in existence
that would have r e-oriented, re- organised the buses;
where we stand with respect to either making the de-cision on it, whether the decision requires a discus-sion with the unions or whether it is a decision that
requires arbitration. And the reason I am mentioning
this is be cause that automatically relates into the
whole question of how many buses Bermuda needs
and how many new buses Bermuda has to have, and
what the schedule will have to be to start to retire the
old fleet and to start to bring in the new fleet? I think
those were the most important things that I had.
I was pleased to see that the Minister was
talking about the TCD Examination Centre and the
fact that there had been a management review and
putting more people in administration. The bottom line
is, you know, i t is important as we go into the years
that more emphasis is put on examining the efficiency
of departments. And I cannot stress enough the fact that SAGE and other people have kept saying to us,
Don’t automatically bring on more people without e xamining t he efficiency. Because efficiency can cause
more to be done with less and also, then, allow the
Government and the Ministers to take some of those
resources to be utilised in other areas. So, it was
when he was talking about the TCD Examination Ce ntre that I made that little note to myself to say that I
must actually applaud the Minister and the Ministry for doing some of this, and hope that more of that will be
done in other areas.
I think those were the few things I had noted,
and I am sure that, once the Minister starts to respond
to some of the questions that my colleagues have
raised, there might be something else that I might
come and raise.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Opposition Leader.
Is there anyone else who would like to contribute to the debate in regard to the Ministry of Transport and Regulatory Affairs?
No.
Minister, will you respond and entertain any
questions that you may deem necessary? Thank you.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chai rman. I will move to respond to the Members’ questions that have been raised.
I will go directly to the question that was just
raised by the Opposition Leader, the Member for co nstituency 19. And then I will just go through the ques-tions that have been raised throughout the debate. On page 56 of my Budget Statement, I did speak to the
new bus schedule. And I will just reread that par agraph for the Honourable Member. Perhaps the Me mber did not hear what I said, or it was such a long time
ago that the Member has forgotten. But the paragraph
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reads as so, Mr. Chairman, if I might have permission
to read this:
“The aforementioned cancellations are a direct result of the lack of vehicles available to service
the current schedule. A new bus schedule has been
developed to meet the avai lable resources and will
allow the effective dissemination of information to the passengers. The new schedule has been crafted to streamline the service on routes that are used less
frequently and to bolster t he service in the areas of
the I sland that pres ent the most demand. Once the
consultation process involving the relevant stakehol ders is complete” the schedule will be implemented.”
I hope that gives the Honourable Member
some answer to her question around the bus schedule. This work is going on now.
The issue of the schedule was a subject of a
parliamentary question which I think has been answered and provided to the Opposition Honourable
Member who was on her feet concerning transport as
well. I hope that answers the question. I am not so
sure [you] will not be back on your feet to inquire
again.
If I can now go through some of the questions
that have been [asked], I will begin with . . . there were
some questions concerning . . . I will start with the
Bermuda Airport Authority [BAA]. I will try and go in
the order that my brief has gone.
One of the questions from the Deputy Oppos ition Leader concerning the Airport Authority was con-cerning the LeighFisher report. I think the question
was, How was the LeighFisher report paid for? The answer to that is that the BAA paid for the report u nder a budget for professional services. The BAA
budgeted for legal services under professional se rvices which was underspent, so they had the funding.
The BAA reallocated these funds for the said report. The BAA initially considered using a legal adviser for
the review that they were requested to do by the Go vernment. But it was less expensive to use the P 3 consultant LeighFisher to do the work. So that is the an-swer to that particular question.
I would like to go in the order of my brief here.
I will go to the next department. I think it will be Marine and Ports. There were some questions presented by the Deputy Opposition Leader concerning Marine and
Ports. The Member raised a question about six buoys, some buoys that had been replaced. Yes, the answer to your question is yes. [They] have been ordered and
we are waiting for others to come. Further buoys w ill
be purchased from their capital budget going forward.
[Are there] provisions for a new tug this year?
There are no provisions currently for a new tug. But
those discussions are . . . I can assure you that di scussions are going on with the Minister of F inance
because we are mindful of the need for tug replac ement and they are open to having a further discussion
to see what we can do perhaps further on in the fiscal
year about tug replacement. But there is nothing all o-cated this fiscal year to deal with t ug replacement,
specifically, in the budget.
Replacement tender? No, there is no funding
currently in the budget for a replacement tender, but
major work is being carried out on the current tender fleet to ensure that they are operational.
You asked a que stion, How much for the hire
of a tug? Was that one of the questions?
[Inaudible interjection s]

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Maybe the writing of my tec hnical officer is a bit off here. I will move on to other
questions.
Revenue generated by government to use the
Dockyard lift? That was a question from the Honour able Member. It is $25,000 per vessel for the current
year for that Dockyard lift.
Contribution of Millennium [ferry boat] to the
ACBDA? The Millennium was not used for the Amer ica’s Cup at all, so the re was no contribution to input
for the ACBDA.
Why are we not using the Millennium in the
upcoming fiscal year? The contract has ended and we
are not renewing it. We can deal with the lift requir ements with the established fleet of vessels. We do not
need the Millennium ferry, so that is why it is no longer
required.
Use of ferries that are more fuel efficient? It is
an abridged question. Use ferries that are more eff icient? I think they said that we use the Bermudian for
the Blue Route. They are more effi cient, and we use
the Bermudian for the Blue Route on the Dockyard to
Hamilton route. Does that answer make any sense?

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Walter H. Roban: I will get clarification for you
later on it.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Walter H . Roban: Yes, perhaps that might help.

The question is, I think that there
are six catamarans and three harbour ferries and I
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1346 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

was asking which out of those two are more efficient.
Are the catamarans fer ries more fuel efficient or are
the harbour ferries more fuel efficient?

Hon. Walter H. Roban: I would probably say that the
catamarans are more efficient.

Continue.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Are there plans to change legislation to make
it more difficult for persons to discard their boats? (I think that was one.) We are looking to address this
through working with insurance companies and perhaps in working with them to get information from
them we can work better to i dentify those owners and
potentially deal with them in that way.
Mr. Chairman, the law is very rigid on how we
deal with people when it comes to those who discard their boats and leave them. We have to go through a
process. And it is not easy, often, to a ctually deal with
them, and the Government does not have the power
to penalise them. We actually give people an oppo rtunity to deal with it themselves or, at some point, if the funding is available, the Government will facilitate the removal of the boat. B ut there is no penalty, as
such. We are going to work with the insurance co mpanies to deal with those issues going forward.

[Inaudible interjection and laughter ]

So there is legislation, the Marine
& Ports Authority (Dumping) Regulations. And under that regulation under section 5, Penalties . . . may I
read it, please? “[(3)] Any person who contravenes
any provisions of these Regulations commits an offence: ‘Punishment on summary conviction: impri sonment for 3 months or a fine of $360 or both such imprisonment and fine. ’”
So my question was w hether the fine, or penalty, could be increased so that it would serve as a d eterrent? Because right now $360 or three months is
not a deterrent for people to . . . you know, it would
probably cost more to have somebody come and get
the boat and take it aw ay then it would to just leave it
and have Government pick it up.

Minister.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: We could look at an increase
of the fine, but as I know from a process standpoint,
the cost is more for us to deal with it than actually the
fines that are levied. So we have to find a different
method for dealing with this that is more effective. It seems that there has been an increase, as you pe rhaps note, of more of these boats being left. People
are essentially leaving it up to the Government to r emove them, and it is costly. In many cases they do not
have the funding themselves to move it. So we have
to figure out a different system for dealing with that because the fines are not effective. So we will look at
how we can do it, but one way i s to work with insurers.
May I go on, Mr. Chairman? Staffing for mar itime operations. We have nine staff. The question was, is that enough for 24/7 coverage? The answer is
yes, we feel that is enough.
Another question was on the VTMS system. Is
it repla ced al ready? Yes. The answer is, Mr. Chai rman, [it is] a five -year programme with rolling capital
expense, and we have more than a year left . So that
has been rolling over. We have been going through that for over . . . it is a five -year programme and ther e
is one year left to it.
The next question, Mr. Chairman, was co ncerning a surveillance system. Has it been pu rchased? The answer to that one is, it is also part of a
five-year upgrade programme as is the case with the
VTMS system.
The question was asked about the status of
the Night Pilotage programme. Mr. Chairman, the an-swer to that is that it is under review and we are wor king on acceptance by our shipping partners and con-sulting with partners to support the cost of that ser-vice.
The next quest ion, Mr. Chairman, was [r egarding a] study for taking larger cruise ships. That is
Bermuda House of Assembly


what it was. A question was asked about the study. A
study was done and it was paid for by Royal Caribb ean. The study that you mentioned, that you que stioned.
The next ques tion, Mr. Chairman —

Continue, Minister.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: I will get that answ er for you
later, as to the result of the study.
The next question put was, Does the ferry
system run at a profit? The answer is no, the ferry
does not run at a profit. But I think it is understood that
most of the public transport does not run at a profi t.
The goal is to have efficient, safe, affordable, and a ccessible public transportation. If we tried to run at a profit, it would not be affordable for those who really
need it. So profit motivation is not the goal with public
transport. [So] that is unde rstood, Mr. Chairman, it is
to have it available and affordable for the country, for the Government to provide the service that people require. That is the main priority.
There was another question here, Mr. Chai rman, concerning a breakdown of the Marine and Ports
supplementary estimate. For 2017, the breakdown was: fuel, $551,000; overtime, $725,440; inventory, $400,000. This was due to the fact that the former
administration (and this was the subject of a Minister ial Statement at the time) . . . funding was not provided
for Marine and Ports to support its services during the AC35. So they had to draw those funds in order to
provide the service that was required, which they did provide . . . they had to draw from these areas to actually allow themselves t o function. And they did pr ovide the services; but it required them to take from these areas of their funding to do so.
Fee increases are every other year, and 5 per
cent is the current increase that has been slated.
Those are the questions that were pre sented
by the Honourable Member from constituency 30 for
Marine and Ports.
I will now go on to questions presented concerning TCD [Transport Control Department] by the Honourable Member. Mr. Chairman, I will now go
through answering some of those questions .
I think this question had to do with the Road
Safety Council. The question was if the $25,000 was
enough. We feel that it is enough on the basis that the
Road Safety Council only had $11,000 last year, so it is more than doubled. It is our expectation t hat they
will be using that funding to advance promotion of
campaigns to affect the behaviour of persons on the road, to begin to address that in an aggressive manner but also to support the Government’s campaign to deploy roadside sobriety testing.
Those are the two chief priorities for the Road
Safety Council this year, to do something to address the deaths on our roads. And that means going right
after how we all behave on the roads. Those are their
two chief priorities. We are going to deploy the roadside sobriety testing. We want them to get out in the
public and talk about that and educate people about that, and also address the issue of the deaths and
how our behaviour as users of the roads can be
changed and how we need to change them.
On B -192 the re was a question about repair
and maintenance, under TCD. [It] was going down
from $194[,000] to $128,000, a $66,000 decrease.
Repairs to land and buildings used to be handled by
TCD, but are now under Public Works, so it is not under their jurisdiction. Grounds maintenance is now handled by Parks Department instead of a private
contractor.
Mr. Chairman, as I go along answering que stions under TCD, [this is] a question concerning rev enue on page B -192, 835 vehicles, four -wheel vehicles,
$399,000, there is no change there that was noted.
This revenue was from the registration of new or r eplacement vehicles.
A question was about how much income
[came from] AC35. The America’s Cup teams and the ACEA, which was the international body, not the local
body (which was ACBDA), had concessions under the
America’s Cup Act and did not have to pay any licen sing fees for licensing or registration.
There is a question here concerning revenue
for the minicars, the Twizy. [This] is referenced to something on page B -192, fo ur-wheel exam. The answer seems to be [that] the breakdown is 25 minicars,
$53 per exam with a total of $1,325.
Again, under Head 34, questions concerning
TCD, page B -191, under Administration, Mr. Chai rman. Is the electric vehicle registration working? Th e
answer to that question is that two of the monitoring
sites are operational and two will be repaired soon.
[These were] damaged in the storm last year. So the
storm of last year damaged that equipment and it is busy being repaired.
Also, we are in the process of upgrading the
equipment and software to cut costs by having TCD’s system programmed to be able to generate summonses. As some people may know, in other parts of
the world, with certain types of technology, summon ses can be generated automatically if people are
speeding or whatever, for infractions, and it comes up on a camera. It takes an immediate photograph and
that goes through the system and immediately a
summons is generated. They either pay it or they go to court. This was handled by the vendor, TransCore,
this will allow full control of the system to be handled
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1348 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

by the government. No tickets are currently being i ssued while the programme is in transition.
A question was asked concerning abandoned
vehicles by the Honourable Member. The answer is
section 68(8) of the Motor Car Act 1951. [This] makes
provision for a charge of up to $250 for the cost of
removing storage or disposal of vehicles. Most people
remove vehicles once they have been ticketed, and just note that a parking ticket is a $50 charge, currently.
There was a question concerning America’s
Cup and revenue. I guess it concerns driver’s licences and vehicle registration and licensing by AC work permit holders and dependents. What was . . . rev enue from that was $250,000, [specifically] $250,750.30 because there was no exemption for de-pendents under the Act or work permit holders. They
did not have the exemptions , so there was revenue
earned from that.
I will now move on for questions that were
asked concerning Public Trans port, Mr. Chairman, if I
can go on?

Continue.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you very much.
[These are questions] from the Honourable
Member who sits for constituency 30 and by the Honourable Member who sits for constituency 22.
One of the questions asked was, Are you taking funding from elsewhere for new hires? Inventory
management, is it done manually and why? The trai ning budget has increased, who will be trained?
The answer to the first question is, funding is
being reallocated between the sections and resources
are placed where they are needed. This reflects the
priorities of DPT [ Department of Public Transport ation]. Our priorities right now are obviously to the r efurbishment and the rebuilding of the fleet, but also
with tra ining of the staff. One of the problems and
challenges that we have discovered in DPT as a result of the hiring freeze was that a number of key posts that would have directed and controlled things like
training, obviously, maintenance, and other supervis ory positions were frozen and were not able to be filled,
even though the posts were properly funded, Mr.
Chairman.
So we are now going through the process of
making sure . . . and it has been challenging, because
there are not a lot of persons easily avail able in the
country who are available to hire for these posts. Do
not get me wrong. I am not suggesting that we are
going outside of the country for doing it, but I am su ggesting that it is just taking time because there are not
persons who are easily avai lable to be heavy maint enance mechanics or to fill managerial roles that we
need at DPT.
So the training budget is going up so that we
can afford people . . . perhaps if they do not come in at the exact requirements we can take them in and then train them up. So we are putting more money
into training so that we can fill these posts. I think we
are currently . . . there is an acting director, and a new
director, I believe, has been selected and will be in the
post soon. We need an HR person who would have
directed a lot of the training for the staff overall. There
was no HR person for quite a bit of time. A maint enance manager was missing, so we needed a
maintenance manager and everybody knows the i ssues that we have had with maintenance. Well, the leadership there was missing for us to be able to effectively deal with a lot of the maintenance issues. So funding is being shifted to deal with those priorities.
Inventory management is done manually,
why? Inventory management is done manually, but it
is manag ed through the E1 system and iMaintenance
system. There were some challenges with that and we
have been working over recent months with the A ccountant General to ensure that our iMat[aintenance]
can speak to E1 so that we can be working much
more smoothly with the Accountant General on expenditures around replacement of inventory. So there
was a requirement to do some manual input, but we
are working through those issues so that, Mr. Chai rman, we can ensure that those systems are working
together and there can be an efficient requisition of
inventory when it is needed.
The third question was [why the] training has
increased. Training has gone up (Mr. Chairman, if you will allow me to read) . . . training has gone up for m echanics and frontline staff. Mechanics will be training on new technology on the new buses and some of that training takes place overseas. While they will
work in an area, the funding for workshop for exposure to a different . . . I’m sorry. It is something about
going away and having to deal with a different time
and culture. There is also a system of web -based
training that we do use there so that persons on staff
can go online and do training modules there at DPT
rather than having to be sent abroad.
Individuals will be getting the nece ssary tec hnical training. This will be done for bus operators, cashiers, dispatch inspectors, and traffic supervisors,
also at the central terminal. All frontline staff and ot hers will be scheduled to have the appropriate custo mer service training, as well . So that is going to be a
part of the objective for the next fiscal year.
Those are the three questions concerning
that. Mr. Chairman, I will now go on to answering ot her further questions.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: What buses are being r eplaced?, is the first question. Eight buses will be r eplaced. This is beyond the four that we are expecting
over the next few months. We are expecting the one
that we received in January. The other three will come
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between now and April. This is with the additional
eight buses of which we have been given the $3 mi llion, Mr. Chairman, to purchase.
The eight buses will be replacement buses for
those that are too old and are continuing to become inoperable soon after they are repaired. So as you
were tol d, we are doing a rebuild on the Series 9 bus.
Many of those older [buses which] we have, they are
just not repairable —which is almost half of the fleet.
So they are going to be decommissioned as we get new buses. But because we can do an effective refurbishment on the Series 9, which will give them a few
additional years, . . . perhaps . . . well, will. With the
appropriate preventative maintenance deployed after
that, they will be able to exist longer.
The additional buses that we are purchasing
should bring down the average age of the fleet slightly. Currently, the average age is 12, which is way, way
above the number that we should have it at, which is
around seven. With the appropriate acquisitions, with
the four plus the eight that we are going to order this
year, that should bring the average age around to
10.5. But that means that we have to order additional
buses. We have to get the fleet’s average age down
to seven.
This is nothing that we can play with. So even
if . . . and I try and explain to people, Mr. Chairman.
Even if I had every bus repaired and operable, even the older ones, we would essentially be spending
more money than we need to [in order] to keep the
fleet operational. The only way to keep that expenditure at a reasonable level is to have an average age
of the fleet around seven. Then outlays and inlays and
proper preventative maintenance programmes and
everything deployed, we could run it efficiently. We
have been here before, so it is not like we cannot get
there. But it going to ne ed the investment, fundame ntally, in the fleet, to do so.
The new buses here, what customisation is
required? Customisation of the 1801 to go? There is
some customisations for the 1801 to go on the road is
negligible. That includes appropriate stickers, signage,
[and] reflective material. Orientation is being carried
out for operators and mechanics before it is used to
service the schedule. So there is nothing substantial such as any parts or anything that needs to be done, it
is just . . . when these bus es come . . . just for the
public’s benefit, Mr. Chairman, and you having been a
former Transport Minister will understand this.
The buses come . . . just like if you get som ething in a package and it comes not with all the pieces
connected up to operate. So when the bus comes, it is
essentially a shell. It is a drivable shell, but it does not
have the seats in place, it does not have certain pieces that are essential to the operation in place. Those
are all assembled on site. So that is what is being done. So the seats have to be put in place, certain
equipment has to be attached, because there is a lot
of technology in the buses now, just as there is in any car. So all of that has to be assembled or put into
place.
Of course, then you have to make sure t hat
our team can drive it properly, and this is a process. It is a standard process that goes with every new bus that comes in. So this is nothing unusual to this bus.
There is nothing that . . . like we are waiting for some
piece from the manufacturer that did not arrive. It is
not that. But, you know, the stickers and all that sort of
thing, it is just a part of the normal preparation for the bus that we are doing. That is all it is.
And of course training of staff, our mechanics
and everybody else need to be oriented to the bus. We are getting three more, so if they are seasoned on
this one, when the others come it will be a quicker
process for everybody.
Ridership surveys. The last question was [r egarding] ridership surveys. They have not been done
but software for passenger counting is being restored.
For some reason it was not deployed, and I have
asked them to start doing that so we can get a picture,
particularly with the Green Paper. Currently it is i mportant to have that information so that we can make
the appropriate assessment even around the Green
Paper process of what the ridership is. And since this
information has not been catalogued for quite some
time, we can get a good picture of the realities of pu blic transport.
Mr. Chairman, as I go o n and answer further
questions . . .

Mm-hmm.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: What are we doing to become
cashless? Right now that is in a research stage for electronic fare collection, but it is an objective of the Government this year to have a cashless . . . be clear
as to where we are going with that.
There was a cashless payment system deployed with the ferries during the America’s Cup per iod. It proved successful so it seems to make sense for us to move to expand this beyond just the ferry sy stem and move it to all public transport. I always have
the example for myself in that the London transport system has 8,000 buses, and London is a totally cas hless city when it comes to public transport. So there is
no reason with 50 or 100 buses here we cannot do it.
There are some issues that have to be sorted
out with that. Obviously, we have to decide which sy stem is going to work for us, but we are doing the r esearch and we are looking to do something this year
on that and be prepared. A lot of this wil l be fleshed
out in the Green Paper and White Paper process. The
people will begin to see what is going to happen. I am
even interested in seeing our taxi system also take up
more cashless payments. I can recall being in London and getting into a taxi and I did not even have to give
them money. You could book the taxi, pay for it, and not even have to reach into your pocket. If you had a
Bermuda House of Assembly
1350 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

card you could do a tap and pay for it, or you could
pay for it online right on your cell phone. And that is
the current existing fleet in London.
Just to say that those taxi drivers are not
rocket scientists. They are obviously competent in
what they do, but they have adopted cashless and all
that technology 100 per cent, and they welcome it.
Also, frankly, being able to t ake all these different
payment systems means more revenue. If you have these different revenue streams that you can accept
payment, effectively you can make more money. So it
is important for us to do this for those reasons, so we
are going forward.
Performance measures for bus operation. A
question [was asked as to why there are] some pe rformance measures and outcomes but no targets. Performance measures for bus operations, cancelled
trips [shows as] non -applicable for 2019 because ca ncellations are not always as a result of bus operations.
As it relates to the current situation, cancellations are
as a result of inoperable buses and vehicles. I think
we know what the situation is with buses right now
with cancellations, and we know why. And we are doing what we need to do in order to fix that situation, as
I spoke in my Statement.
As it relates to administration, both targets are
new for 2018/19. And the targets regarding maintai ning weighted average age has been removed as it
does not reflect the perfor mance of the staff as a
whole.
An additional question asked was, What is the
lifespan of a bus? Mr. Chairman, the lifespan of a bus is eight years. I think I actually mentioned that in my brief, according to industry standards. However, due
to continued m aintenance and the sturdiness of the
vehicles, they are able to last a little longer.
The question came up about the fire last year
and looking for better protocols and whether this has
to do with the fact that the bus was old. The cause of that fire was electrical and the Maintenance Depar tment has taken steps to ensure that this incident is not repeated. That answers that question.
There was a question about staffing, the
number of buses and the bus schedule efficiencies. Was that the question that you had?
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Walter H. Roban: The answer given is that the
efficiencies of the new bus schedule will be as a result of the need for less overtime, less buses, and this has
to do with the change that we proposed in the sche dule. I understand that the schedule has not been
changed since 1998, and since then Southside, for
instance, has become a bustling community. Does the
current bus schedule reflect that? Probably not. So we need to make adjustments like that.
Clearly, we h ave a census where it shows the
population has shifted. We need to certainly review the bus schedule overall over time to see if we can make Adjustments to reflect that. But for the immed iate situation, as I said in my Statement, we are doing
work now to r ationalise the bus schedule with the
availability of buses. So that is going on now. We are
expecting, due to the fact that we have hired additional staff operators that the overtime budget will shrink
and that will be a savings for us overall.
[There wa s] a question about the increase of
the repair and maintenance budget, it does not account for the increase of the 14 staff members. The
repair and maintenance section increase of 23 [pe rcent] will accommodate the increase in three mecha nic posts as reflected in the full -time equivalents, which
is accounted on page B -197, when the 2018/19 nu mber of 50 is compared to the 2017/18 original of 47.
The second question on this was, professional
services budgeted has increased, who and what?
DPT has appropriatel y brought in additional MAN
technicians, this perhaps also relates to a question by
Dr. Gibbons. There are no MAN technicians here right
now, but we are doing a rebuild project which is ex-pected to bring about 10 to 14 additional buses in line
and MAN technicians will be coming for that exercise.
That should start later this month. With hopes . . . our
goal is to have those buses back in service close to
the summertime. That is our goal. We are going to
work hard to reach it. So that is why . . . so we have
an arrangement with MAN that will have some co nnections. They will specifically be working on rebuil ding engines, rebuilding aspects of those bus oper ations to get that Series 9 that I spoke about back into operation. So, other than that, they come as nec essary, as we request it.
Mr. Chairman, I will go on and answer further
questions. If there will be no sightseeing for 2019, why is there an allocation for charters? (I will yield.)

Minister.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you. I think the answer
will satisfy that.
From time to time there are significant national events that require supplemental transportation
over and above arrangements secured with the pr ivate sector. Some of the events involve the movement
of resident students. So this allocation allows for us to
provide that when needed. So even though we are not
officially providing for the summertime standard charBermuda House of Assembly


ters and tours, we have support there so that if it is
needed we can provide it. That is why it is there.
What are the occupational safety and health
targets for 2019? The main occupational safety and
health target, Mr. Chairman, that will be met will i nclude improvement to the headquarters at St.
George’s depot.
I have some additional questions here that
were asked by the Honourable Member Ms. Scott for constituency 30. That is Maritime Administration . . . I
think I have some more here for us for transport.
Have the four buses arrived? I think I have
already answered that. They already have one.
What is the new average life of buses? I answered that already. It is about 10.5 years.
Going on, Mr. Chairman, if you will allow me.
Why . . . oh, I’m sorry. Some of these are Dr. Gibbons’
questions . They are all on transport, so I will just go
on to them.
Why are not looking at electric and hybrid? I
can certainly tell Dr. Gibbons that I have asked for us
to look at that. In the next RFP that we officially put
out, this is after the initial $3 mill ion, we will obviously
. . . we are currently developing an RFP to go out i nternationally. Just so ––some of the people have
raised questions about MAN; we are not wedded to
MAN in the long term. Certainly, if they can provide a
competitive bid with anybody else, but the next RFP
that we put out around the fleet will be international
and anybody can apply.
I have asked to include the consideration for
renewable vehicles as part of that RFP going forward.
I do believe that we need to look at adding that co mplement to the fleet, and in the long term that will pe rhaps be the future of Bermuda transport. It also can be fleshed out with the Green Paper and we look fo rward to public feedback around that. As you can see,
technology is moving quite fast and there ar e renew able electric, hydrogen, you name it, options of buses
out there. Whether it is economical yet for us to look
at that, is a totally another question. But the options
are out there to consider and there is quite a bit of information that anybody can see online about electric
transport. And we are looking at it as well.
There was a question from the Opposition
Leader about why the minibus service was disconti nued in relation to the service to the schools. The an-swer to that is the minibus service was used to au gment the regular bus schedule. At that time it was b eing used by the fleet as a daily service of around 50-plus . . . when we did not have a daily service of
around 50 buses. What has happened is that we have gotten more reliability from the regular fleet, and e ssentially, as well, it was costly to run that minibus se rvice to augment the fleet. The budget was just not there. It came out to something around almost half a million dollars for the period of time that we ran it,
which was from Septem ber to December. I certainly
could not convince the Finance Minister to continue on with that for reasons . . . and we understood that. It
just forced us to do things differently. And that is what
we did.
I did make a public announcement about that.
And w hat I said is that we could not guarantee the
service for the schools. By in large we have provided
that service for the schools. There have been certain
days where there has been perhaps deficit in some
service, but there has not been a total “no service” for
schools. Every morning I see regular public buses taking children to school. So we are providing the service. There was a question of guaranteeing it in the
way that we have in the past, that’s all.
And we are moving . . . as soon as we get
more buses available, we will begin to add that bac kup. One of the things that we are doing is that on the
public bus service routes where schools exist we have
ensured these are a priority. So we make sure every
morning that there are buses on those routes that have schools so that the children can get bus service.
So we make sure of that.
There may be deficits in some other areas.
That might happen on occasion, but it is not every day. I get reports every day from public transport
about it and we liaise with the Ministry and so it has
been fairly consistent, with a few holes here and
there. So it has not been a total “no service” for our
kids. It has been just occasional drops where maybe a bus here and there has not been provided. But we are
moving back to providing that as we have always.
Moving on, Mr. Chairman . . . the question
was [regarding] reducing the amount of buses during
the day so that other routes may be serviced more frequently. This relates to the new bus schedule. The
new bus schedule has been dr afted, but I will not say
any more about that because we are in a consultation
process with our stakeholders around this. But the
goal is . . . and as I made reference earlier, I did have
some assistance from the former Transport Minister to
begin a conver sation with our union partners, which I
would say went very well. But we are in a formal pr ocess now of getting that situation sorted out. So we
have a revised schedule, but we have to discuss how
it gets implemented with the unions. There is a formal
process to that. I do not want to pre -empt those di scussions, so I do not want to say anymore because I
want the process . . . without any intervention from
myself or others to move the course along.

The Minister said that the last
schedule was 1999. I may be wrong, but I thought that
the last schedule was in 2001. And that in 2014 to
2016 there was a new schedule negotiated, but it
never came through.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: I think you have answered
your question. There was no new schedule. Those
discussions did not actually result in a new schedule.
So they discussed them, but they were not impl emented. But there has not been a new formally approved bus schedule since 1999.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Point of clarification. I believe that
the schedule had been agreed by DPT management
and the BIU leadership, but the workers were not in
agreement with it.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes, but again, you have a nswered your own question, Hono urable Member. You
said it is not in place. Even though that process went
on, it was not finally implemented because of the re asons that you just outlined.
May I go on?

Continue. Continue.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you.
I will now move on, Mr. Chairman, to que stions concerning telecoms and the Regulatory Author ity [RA] that were raised. The question that was raised was concerning a management review of the RA. The
Honourable Member raised a question about whether
a management review is g oing on. The answer to that
is, the Honourable Member is correct. We are conducting that review with the help of a consultant. As
soon as there is more about it, I will share what is go-ing to happen. But the essential work is currently g oing on with the review of the RA, and along with that review will be a look at the [Regulatory Authority] Act 2011 and also the ECA [Electronic Communications]
Act 2011 and the Electricity Act 2016. So that is cu rrently going on right now.
The other question, Mr. Chairman, is broa dcasting reform, will it be moving to the RA? The a nswer is yes, with the appropriate regulation and tec hnical changes that need to be made. But I would just
like to say that I think the Honourable Member made reference to this even in his own comm ents, that the
RA must be fit for purpose. It began as a telecomm unications regulator. It has since taken on electricity and perhaps it is quite [well] known publicly that there have been challenges with the RA and how it has r elated to its role with the r egulated sectors. Before we
put any further regulatory responsibility on them, this review needs to be done. I think there is an appropr iate time for it. We have had time to see how all that
originating legislation worked and now once that r eview is done i t will assess, and the appropriate
changes can be made, which we believe will make it a better regulator.
And of course there has been an issue of it
having three or four different CEOs in a very short
space of time. No, that is not acceptable. It certain ly
does not suggest that the RA is on the solid footing
that it should be to do the work that is required of
them. So the review needs to go on so that we can
get to a point where there can be public confidence in
the RA, and there can be some, I guess, a decent
workable relationship between the RA and its regulated sectors.
[There was] another question concerning energy . . . I’m sorry, national electricity policy. The issue
is, How do we proceed? A question was raised about
the IRP [ Integrated Resources Plan] addresses these
issues and requested . . . and there were questions
around the IRP. The other part of the question . . . he
wanted the Minister’s take when the IRP will be co mplete. I cannot really predict that, other than that I can
say it is not a secret. The IRP request was sent to
BELCO as our licensed bulk generator transmission and distributor and retailer in November. They had 90
days to respond to that. They filed their official IRP in
the middle of last month and, subject to that, it is then
prepared for a period of public consultation which then
will last 60 days.
It is currently with the RA and they will pr epare that for a period of public consultation which should last 60 days. That will allow the public to have
a full engagement around and know what BELCO is
proposing within the integrated resource plan (that is
what IRP means), and they will have their say in the
direction of energy in Bermuda. This will be an oppo rtunity for every member of the public to have some
voice in an area of which they have not had a voice
before and will be able to shape what we do around energy going forward and address issues of pricing,
address issues of the cost to them as consumers and
hold, essentially, BELCO as a bulk generator, and any future bulk gener ators potentially accountable for what
they do in the country, which I think will be a healthy process. That then will arguably see the total process
somewhere in late summer conclude. But I cannot
predict that myself. That is subject to the law and to how this process goes on.
As the Honourable Member Dr. Gibbons did
say, it is a process where there can be engagement. So it is not just rigid in saying, Well, it will start here
and end here. It all depends on what happens in the
process. Perhaps there will be such a substantial pu bBermuda House of Assembly


lic involvement it may stretch it out longer and require
a lot of consideration of the public involvement because the public will even have the opportunity to
challenge what BELCO is saying. BELCO may say
one thing, [and] they [may ] say, No, no, no, no, no.
But somebody over here who says, Well, I can do it
different from BELCO. And that will be a part of the
discussion too. So it is not just exclusive and rigid. It is giving an opportunity for a process to go on that will
end with a wider national view of energy. So that is
the plan; that is how the law lays it out. I would encourage all persons in the country to get involved with
that.
There was a question here about the grid,
comments about the grid. I think the Honourable Member knows that this is a matter for the Regulatory
Authority to deal with BELCO. And what happens with
the grid, certainly, if we are going to advance as a
country, there are some changes that have to be
made there. Those changes will have to be discussed.
That will also be a part of what people will be able to
engage in with this IRP process as well.
There was a question here about the fuels
policy. The fuels policy, as I believe I stated in my
Statement will be brought forth soon, Mr. Chairman.
That, again, will be public and people will know the
types of fuels that will be available in Bermuda. There
is a variety of options that the country can have avai lable, other than what we already have. But we have
made it very clear in the Government that we want a
cleaner, renewable, more diverse energy future. So
the fuels policy will respect that objective. We expect
that will also have influence over this process as it is discussed when it comes to the integrated resource
plan.
A question was raised concerning the rebate
programme. The rebate programme actually is not going to be rigidly just about the installation of solar
water heating. It will . . . and we are working through
the finer details of it, Mr. Chairman, but the rebate
programme will also include ot her efficiency and co nservation technologies that people can deploy. Pe rhaps the focus will be on solar water heating because
I think we all should know, if we do not already know,
that the cost of water heating is perhaps the largest part of anybody’s wat er bill—it does not matter who
you are —as much of one -third or near one- half, d epending on the efficiency of your water heater.
So if there is a way to help some of the persons who are struggling with these costs to go directly at where they are experiencing their greatest challenge, and unlike the photovoltaic systems which are
perhaps sort of the blue chip side of the renewable solar technology, which can be as much as $15,000 to
$20,000 for an install, or perhaps even more . . . a
water heater install can be somewhere around
$7,000. So that is more economical and more feasible
for someone who has a medium -size local home, and
the rebate can help them to potentially get that i n-stalled. That is why the focus is on solar water heating.
Anybody who goes to the Caribbean knows
that it is quite popular and well established in the Ca ribbean to have solar water heating across residential homes. So that is what we are looking to first start,
how we do this programme so that persons of low i ncome, our seni ors, and persons who are more challenged with income, with their homes can have the
benefit of this and potentially it will break out in a way
that will encourage other people to look at these options more than they have in Bermuda up to this point.
I think I have some questions here on some
other areas that I would like to go through, Mr. Chai rman, concerning maritime administration, from the
Honourable Member Leah Scott. Maritime administr ation and transition of the BMA staff in Bermuda and
London, what is the number of staff? We will get that
information for you later. We do not have those nu mbers. I understand that the BSMA was not the subject
of our budget because they are self -funding, just like
the RA and the other parts. I can get that information
for . . . I commit to get that information for the Honou rable Member later.

Domestic Partnership Act.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Oh, okay. Sorry.
I can say at this point that we have had inqui ries from shipping companies concerning this, the cruise lines, but nothing . . . I can certainly say I have
not been tol d of anybody deregistering, at all. There
have been inquiries about it by certain cruise lines, but no one has deregistered as a result of that Act being deployed, at all.
Another question here, Mr. Chairman, the i ncrease in rent for Marine and Ports ter minals. The answer to that is, yes, it is a general increase per the
rental agreement. So there is an increase in the rent
at the Marine and Ports terminals, and it is per the agreement.
Going on, Mr. Chairman, another question
[was asked as to] which fe rries are . . . well, I am r eferring to more efficient. I think we have already a nswered that question, yes.
Penalty for boat wrecks. I think that that was
already answered.
There are some other questions here that
came from Dr. Gibbons concerning the aircraft regi stry. Mr. Chairman, may I go to—
Bermuda House of Assembly
1354 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

Yes, please make it short.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: I will not go very far. That is
the only item that references the Civil Aviation Author ity, and I can give just a short answer to the Honour able Member’s question.
The question related to how . . . in February
. . . about the Civil Aviation Authority. In February the
BCA reported additional aircraft registered. It is at an
all-time high of 831. But that is not a precise number
and I can get a more precise number later.
We did discuss, Mr. Chairman, under the tel ecommunications . . . under the department Head 48,
there were questions raised by Dr. Gibbons about
satellite. His question was that there wa s $200,000 for
cellular over 2017/18 that it was no longer there. I
think I kind of answered that we are continuing the work there. Access Partnership is still working with us
and that is going to continue.
There was a question raised about the fees,
the new fees for handsets. The answer is $12.50 is going to be the new fee and it is up from $9.00.
There was a question raised by Dr. Gibbons
concerning the new radar system. The answer being
that the system will use the latest software technol ogy, remote moni toring, vendor Jadex in Germany.
There will be lifecycle management plan with a vendor
guarantee of 97 per cent availability, excluding
planned maintenance. There are no features in terms of radar data as this would have cost us more.
I think I have gone through most, if not all, of
the questions. Perhaps the Members have more
questions, but I will sit down —

Any further questions from Members?
The Chair recognises the Leader of the O pposition, Ms. Atherden.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I have just a few questions. On C -12, under
buses, the—

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Sorry, I am speaking to
the Chair.
The Minister had indicated that there were
four buses which had been purchased dur ing the year
which is adding to 2017/18, and that there were eight buses that were coming for the year that was going to end 2018/19. I wondered if the Minister could explain
four buses with a budget of $2,500,000 and eight
buses for $3 million. I just wondered what the differ-ence was in terms of either the type of buses that we
only got four in the year that is ending, or the new
buses that is coming up. It just begs the question as to
whether there was some different type of buses or
whether it was much m ore expensive. So that was the
first question.

Minister, will you clear that up,
please?

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Shall I finish my three
questions? Or do you want me to do them one at a
time?
Hon. Walter H. Roban: I will answer this one r ight
now.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Okay.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: This is a question that the
Honourable Member [asked] when I did a Ministerial
Statement some time ago. I think you will appreciate
that this funding was not funding that was allocated
Bermuda House of Assembly


under this Government. It was allocated under a pr evious Government, and that four buses are the completion of an order that was well in flow prior to July
2018. So those buses all are around between
$300,000 to $400,000, and that allocation was already
paid for and started long before we came in. I can
speak with you in detail about the eight buses that we are ordering and the $3 million that we are spending there.

Member.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Point of clarification, I
mean, Mr. Chairman, all I am trying to establish is if
we are getting eight buses for $3 million, and accor ding to this we only got four buses . . . and the reason I
am asking the second question is because we have actually seen in some cases the budget could have
. . . the original estimate could be $2.5 million, but the
buses could have come in less in which case the e stimate is a reduced amount. But the estimate and the revised estimate is still the same, so all I wanted to
get clarification on was, what was the type of bus that
we bought, four for $2.5 million, and now next year we
are buying . . . the Minister could tell me, Hey, the
sterling went down, or something went up, or we got different types of buses. I just want an explanation as
to why we were able to get eight for $3 million and
only four for $2.5 [million].

Continue, yes.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My second question related to . . . the Minister
was talking about the penalty for removing the illegally moored vessels. He had indicated that there was pe rhaps . . . a question was raised about the penalty to
remove the vessels and whether that was sufficient. And I just wondered whether the Minister c ould ind icate to us whether any consideration had been given to determining that these boats, per se, were aba ndoned.
And the reason I say that is because I know I
live . . . my constituency is in Pembroke West. And the
Spanish Point Park is out there. When we did the KBB
[Keep Bermuda Beautiful] clean up, we went out and
cleaned all the trash up and then you started to go and look at all of these boats that are out there, aba ndoned. We actually went so far as to get the registr ation numbers so that we could send it to the appropr iate authorities. But what happened after that is, as the
Minister knows, you go there and you put the notices out and nothing happens, and then it goes on.
So I was just wondering at some point in time
whether we are able to get t o a situation where we
say, We are not going to fine. We are going to start
saying after a certain point in time they are deemed to
be abandoned. Because I know from the perspective
of the community we would have arranged to take
those boats away. We were sufficiently concerned that we would have arranged to take them away just
so that we could then have the beautification of the
area.
If I can ask him whether that is considered
and why something like that would not have been
possible? Because it would mak e Government’s life
easier.
And I will ask my second question since I am
on the floor. The Minister was talking about looking at the Motor Car Act and the fact that it was so old and
other things that might be looked at, and I just wondered . . . I know right now that we have the Twizy,
you know, the little small electric vehicles. I just wonder, if I remember correctly, those can only be rented
by tourists.
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: And I wondered whether
this could . . . pardon?

[Crosstalk]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Okay. So they can be
rented . . . the electric cars and the other . . .

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: So all cars and even . . .
well, then, I guess what I would just say, I am not certain whether the general public is so aware—

[Inaudible interjections]

If you would talk to me, it might be
little better, you know.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Sorry, Mr. Chairman.

[Laughter]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The only reason I say that
is because I have run across lots of people who think
that being able to rent . . . or I guess the question becomes, . . . maybe I will rephrase it. Has any consi deration been given to, not just renting them, but also
Bermuda House of Assembly
1356 2 March 2018 Official Hansard Report

whether they would then be for sale? Because people
look at the bikes –

Member, the legislation does not call
for that.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: No, and I am saying that if
they are going to turn around and talk about looking at
the legislation and potentially changing that, lots of
people who . . . you see them riding with their children
in front of them, with their little children in front of
them. Look at the Twizy, or whatever, as an alternative if it was available to them. But obviously rental is
an impractical solution but purchasing might be another practical solution. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Minister, you want to quickly ans wer
that?
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I think you partially answered it for the Honourable Member. The law does not allow for pur-chase. Rental is available to visitors as well as locals,
of those Twizy mini electric vehicles. And that is how it
is going to stay. There is only a limited amount on the
Island at the moment. We are including looking at those, as I said in my Ministerial Statement today, but
also in my brief, we are revising the . . . the Green
Paper is going to look at everything. At how we wrap
everything into a larger transportation plan for the I sland. So that is how we are going to handle the issue
around that. So whether a consideration is made to
allow sales, that will be a part of the Green Paper pr ocess. What we do going forward, whether we have
more on the Island or different types are allowed, the
Green Paper process will allow that to be considered.
Your other question was concerning the der elict boats. We will look at those fees. But understand that even the removal is a very laborious legal pr ocess to removal. If persons in the community wish to
take it upon themselves to remove those derelict
boats that they find in their areas, and wish to . . . that
is fine with us. I think that is a matter between those
who move and the owners. The Government knows
what its responsibility is around this, but it is a labor ious process, and it is costly because removal of these
derelict boats is not cheap, whether they are in the
water or stuck in the bushes or whatever. But w e will
review that so we can see what we can do better
around that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I do not have any more questions. I would just
like to thank the Minister for answering my questions
thoroughly. And for giving me answers that were ac-tually beyond the scope of my question. I appreciate
that. I would like to thank the PSs, the technical offi cers, and members of any authorities who have been
here this evening for your information and input. Thank you.

That is all right. I am off
your port bow there.
I just had a couple of . . . and I would unde rscore that. I think the Minister has done a very thorough job of trying to answer questions.
There were two that I asked that I am interested in [getting] an answer [for]. One was the issue
of the reciprocity with respect to Bermuda drivers l icences and the United States. That was an issue that
the gentleman behind him asked a lot of questions about last time. The Government has obviously inhe rited this issue. I am curious as to whether you are
moving to resolve it or whether you are hoping it will sort of go away? That is the first question.
The second one was, and the Minister may or
not have a sense of this, but there was a moratorium, as he will know, on new ICOL licences [that is, Integrated Communications Operating Licence] which was put in place some years ago. The law requires a
market review to be done. The RA started that, then
they stalled because they had other issues. I am cur ious as to where that may lie and whether there has
been any recommendations as to whether the number
of ICOLs, or new licences, should be allowed. Thank you.
And I would also like to thank the various
technical officers for the help that they have provided
as well. Thank you.

Minister, will you . . .

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
To the question concerning the foreign drivers
licence, we intend to resolve that. It does require
Bermuda to become a signatory to certain aspects of
the convention, not the whole convention, but we are working through that. We have to make sure that we
do it right so that we do not have some unintended
consequences on Bermuda as it relates to that, but
we intend to do that so that Bermudians are relieved
of any cont inued challenges with renting cars, partic ularly in North America.
The other question concerning the ICOLs, I
think you kind of answered that question yourself, Dr. Gibbons, in that the review, a sectorial review, is well
overdue by the Regulatory Author ity. I, frankly, am not
quite happy that it has not been done because I beBermuda House of Assembly

lieve that some of those are the questions that can be
answered by that sectorial review of whether it is a ppropriate to remove the moratorium on the ICOLs or
not. But that will be a subject of a sectorial review.

It has been moved that Heads 30, 34,
35, 48, and 89 be approved.
Are there any objections to that motion? No objections.
Agreed to.
[Motion carried: The Ministry of Trans port: Head 30,
Marine and Ports; Head 34, Transport Control D epartment; Head 35, Public Transportation; Head
48, Headquarters; and Head 89, Energy, were
approved and stand part of the Estimates of
Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2018/19.]

It has been moved that the Commi ttee rise and report progress and ask for leave to sit
again. Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Agreed to.
[
Gavel] [ Motion carried: The Committee of Supply agreed to
rise and report progress, and sought leave to sit
again.]
House resumed at 8:19 pm
[
Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]
REPORT OF COMMITTEE
ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE
FOR THE YEAR 2018/19

Good evening, Members.
Is there any objection to the Committee r eporting back to the House?
No objections.
Then the Committee has been reported and
will rise until next sitting.
No other matters on the items. I understand
everything else has been carried forward.
Deputy, would you like to do the motion?
ADJOURNMENT
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I
now [move that this House] adjourn until Monday, 10:00 am.

And good evening to Be rmuda.
Mr. Spe aker, I was going to talk about absenteeism, but I will leave that for another day. But I want to speak about . . . I want to quote Mr. Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson once said, A little rebellion . . .
is a good thing. So, Mr. Speaker, I want to take tonight
to recognise the second anniversary of one of the
greatest rebellions in Bermuda’s history. [It is] prob ably one of the greatest rebellions in the world’s history.
Which rebellion are you asking for, Mr. Speaker?

The rebellion of thousands
upon thousands of Bermudians surrounding this very
House two years ago.
Mr. Speaker, you might ask yourself, Why
would thousands upon thousands of Bermudians surround this House? Well, they surrounded this House
in protest against the then OBA’s draconian plans for
immigration gentrification . Mr. Speaker, I think the
term they used was “Pathways to Status.”
You see, Mr. Speaker, their plan was to almost gentrify the voter’s list. I do not hear any points
of objection but anyway . . . Mr. Speaker, Bermudians
by the thousands, multiple generations, surrounded
this House for five days. Imagine, Mr. Speaker, tho usands upon thousands of Bermudians locked in arms around this House. Thousands upon thousands of Bermudians making sure that their grandchildren did
not go to school and came to this House to stand up
for their rights.
Before they even rebelled, Mr. Speaker, they
pleaded with the OBA to step back , to not go forward
with their plans. They went to town halls, they went
outside the Government Administration Building, they
even blocked East Broadway. Did the OBA listen, Mr.
Speaker? No. Did the Premier Dunkley say, Whoa!
Let’s hold back? No, Mr. Speak er. They pressed forward, arrogantly. And what happened? The people had to stand up.
Mr. Speaker, not only was there a rebellion,
but it was a revolution. Do you know why it was a re volution, Mr. Speaker? Because the people of this
country showed that if you push them far enough, they
will peacefully —a key word, peacefully —stand up for
their rights. Not only will they stand up, they will stand together. And do you know what came out of that revolution, Mr. Speaker? Thousands upon thousands of
Bermudians ensured that they and their children and
their grandchildren and, in some cases, great -
grandchildren, were properly registered to vote in the
upcoming election. Thousands upon thousands of
Bermudians ensured that they would not be dictated
to by any Governme nt.
Mr. Speaker, we live in a world in which we
say that the young people are “Millennials” such as your son, the Honourable Member. They are apolit ical. But what we say, Mr. Speaker, was that there
were thousands of young people around this House
who re alised what democracy is really about. It is not
about reading a word in a book, or reading something,
it is about participating in it, Mr. Speaker. And from out
of that rebellion/revolution the OBA Government
ceased to exist.
So the lesson I want to leav e here . . . first of
all, I want to thank the thousands of people who came
out. The lesson I want to leave here, Mr. Speaker, is
that no matter if you are the PLP, the OBA, or wha tever they change their name to next election, they
should never . . . no Government should ever discount
the value of what the people are saying. [Inaudible interjections]