Speeches by Dr. Douglas De Couto, JP, MP

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

76 words

I don't know . That's what I call regulatory capture because for me the only conclusion is that — Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Point of order , Mr. Speaker . [Inaudible interjections ] POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: I think the Honourable Member is certainly misleading the H ouse, unless he wishes to …

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

21 words

Mr. Speaker , that was such a sweetheart deal that in my view this Government was severely out negotiated by Gencom—

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

42 words

And Gencom forced their hand to provide the kind of financing that most companies would be pleased to have. [Laughter and inaudible interjections ] Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order , Mr. Speaker . Point of order , Mr. Speaker .

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

95 words

The evidence is the sweetness of the deal . Mr. Speaker , I think we all know you can have as many advisors as you want . You might still make some bad decisions . And in my personal opinion a lot of companies would have loved to get a deal like that . That is all I can say …

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

58 words

And then we arrived, was it was for classic cars! And there is a core in there, but my personal view is that was a personal favour to principals of Gencom . That's my personal view . You may disagree. We know that senior government officials have been having cosy champagne brunches with the principals of Genco m—

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

32 words

We know that the G overnment has made special changes to immigration regulations to allow C uban workers up there at G encom. Hon. Jason Hayward: Point of order, Mr. Speaker .

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

7 words

I know there's a lot of —

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

7 words

Mr. Speaker , we do know that—

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

19 words

Mr. Speaker , my understanding is that various regulations were modified to give Cu-ban nationals — [Inaudible interjections ]

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

34 words

—specifically —opportunities to come to Bermuda without the transit visas. There is a very long list. Cuba and one other country — Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Point of order, Mr. Speaker .

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

18 words

If you would like me to take a minute to pull it up, I could pull it up.

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

92 words

It is a fact that Cuba had an asterisk on that list , along with one other country , and they were granted special conditions compared to the other countries on that list. That's the fact. Now I understand that there could be up to 100 or 150 Cuban workers up at the Fairmont Southampton project . And I don't …

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

60 words

Mr. Speaker, I will defer to you. I do know that there are a lot of Cuban workers up there. And my understanding is they are here without transit visas. I do not think that is a false statement, but I stand to be corrected. I know there are a lot of workers from other countries — [Inaudible interjections ]

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

59 words

Third-party . . . third-party travel visas. Now, if I refer back to my notes . . . so I have given you a couple of examples where this particular company, which I believe has regulatory capture over the Government, seems to be receiving outside favourable attention. Most recently we were led to believe, and perhaps I'm wrong, so—

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

11 words

But I understand that there have been — [Inaudible interjections ]

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

38 words

I understand that there have been discussions between this company and senior government officials about possibly purchasing the government quarry. Now, I don't know if there's an agreement or not, but I understand there have been discussions. Oh!

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

10 words

I don't hear a point of information that that's incorrect.

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

7 words

I don't hear a point of information.

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

8 words

And frankly, Mr. Speaker, it makes no sense.

5 Dec 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

96 words

It makes no sense to me because we heard . . . this is one comment about the CIT, Mr. Speaker . We have heard about all of this money, so why does the G overnment need to sell property? And if the G overnment would need to sell property, we know that . . . which should not be …