This Government has demonstrated time and again, it simply cannot be trusted.
Its own interests supersede that of Bermuda and Bermudians.
This staggeringly flawed project already cost Bermuda one of the few politicians who can credibly engage with our creditors in managing, structuring, and resolving our debt.
Then, this Government’s weak negotiations and negotiators have enabled a poorly funded investment to consume the island’s flagship property, impoverish the hotel employees and over develop our environment.
They keep giving away more and more. Now we will have a concrete Southampton skyline, an infrastructure disaster waiting to happen and $75 million in tax concessions.
To date, Bermuda has entirely surrendered – because this Government’s economic policies made us weak and desperate. Never mind the fox getting into the chicken coop – now we’re letting the fox design it as well.
By removing the requirement for a Special Development Order to go before Parliament before approval, this Government has deliberately reduced transparency and governance. By the time, the people’s elected representatives will have the chance to opine on the project, the deal will be so advanced that to go back on it, will get the Government sued. And the taxpayer will have to pay that bill.
The Government owes Bermudians more than a patronizing rehashing information the public already knows.
This Government has now shown its complete inability to listen, both to the public and its own experts.
In June 2021, this Government wholeheartedly and without reservation passed a motion in the House of Assembly, “That this Honorable House supports the Bermuda Plan 2018”.
The Minister of Planning called the Planning Team, “the most experienced team on the island in this area” and said that developers should work with the team. That same team has subsequently said this project, “… is in direct conflict with the strategies, goals and objectives of the Bermuda Plan 2018 and is considered to represent an unsustainable form of development …”
At this point, the Government and its supporters have let Bermuda know, there is nothing they won’t do to pursue their own interests.
And Bermudians will be left holding the bag for yet another poorly conceived, poorly executed pipe dream.