UBP: Overspending & Airport Security Fence

September 29, 2010

Saying “The Government is dicing with Bermuda’s reputation as a responsible jurisdiction,” Pat Gordon-Pamplin, Shadow Minister for Works & Engineering has commented on the statement by the airport’s general manager who is reported to have said they did not have “the financial resources to fix openings in the airport fence all at once.”

Ms. Gordon-Pamplin said “This was an extraordinary admission that showed the Government’s reckless spending is limiting its ability to perform basic functions”, and the failure to fix the fence may possibly trigger reviews by foreign governments.

Readers will recall that yesterday the airport was shut down for hours, due to a security breach in which a 31-year-old man was spotted on the tarmac appearing to be trying to gain some form of access to a plane. The man was arrested, and the planes were searched and cleared. ZBM reporter Gary Moreno ran a report last night demonstrating how he was able to walk through the gaps in the fencing onto the tarmac.

Ms. Gordon-Pamplin`s full statement is below:

One of the major concerns we’ve expressed in recent years has been the government’s perpetual spending spree weakening its ability to help people in hard times.

This became abundantly clear in this year’s budget when Finance Minister Cox imposed payroll tax increases on workers in the midst of recession.

Parks workers having to fight for overtime pay during the Ag Show was another example of the chickens coming home to roost.

Yesterday’s story on the airport security breach sheds further light on the consequences of the Government’s reckless overspending.

What caught our attention was the statement by the airport’s general manager who said his department did not have “the financial resources to fix” openings in the airport fence “all at once.”

This was an extraordinary admission that showed the Government’s reckless spending is limiting its ability to perform basic functions.

It appears the airport fence has been degraded by storms over time to the point that there are now “susceptible areas” where, with little effort, people can literally walk onto the airfield.

The fence was put in place in the 1990s to meet international airfield security requirements, which along with other steps taken, helped Bermuda keep its vitally important Category 1 airport status, as granted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The failure to fix the fence and the inability of the responsible department to do so because of lack of funding is a very serious matter, one that could trigger reviews by the Civil Aviation Authority in London, ICAO and even the US Department of Homeland Security.

We urge it to move with speed to correct the situation.

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  1. Government On Airport, Fencing & Finance | Bernews.com | September 29, 2010
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  1. S says:

    This is beyond ridiculous. The government needs to get it together and deal with the important issues. Seeing as how our two biggest industries are tourism and international business, I would imagine having a high-quality airport is an important issue.
    I can’t believe they need people to point this out to them.

  2. Chop Sui says:

    It’s an airfield not a prison with guard towers and snipers. Do you idiots propose we have something like the Great wall of China around the airport? Or maybe we should bar ppl from clearwater beach since someone could shoot at a plane landing or taking off. Bottom line you cannot stop someone from entering the airfield if they really want to. They could even cut the fence or climb over. Stop being a bunch of pricks and looking for anything to make UBP appear as though it still exists. Stop politic’ing. We are getting a new Hospital, that’s equally as important. Airport fence pft.

    • WireFence says:

      Except that it is an international regulatory requirement to have secure fencing around our international airport. It’s not a political issue – it’s a mandatory requirement and if the fence has holes in it it needs to be repaired without delay.

      • Lissa says:

        So that people know that there is an Airport there and so that people and animals can keep out. If this dude wants to get in, a hole in the fence doesnt give him permission. And if he really wants to get in he can simply cut his own hole or find some other way. Its not like he was walking cross and said “O look a hole in the fence, someone is inviting me in, i better head over there”.

    • UncleElvis says:

      First off, no one said anything about making “UBP appear as though it still exists” except for you.

      Secondly, yes, I do propose that there be, perhaps not the hyperbolic “Great wall of China around the airport”, but at the very least a fence without holes!
      A MODICUM of security around an international airport is required and for you to attack people for pointing out the very real fact that this Government has overspent in so many areas that they cannot afford something as simple as a solid, hole-less fence around THE AIRPORT, in a post 9-11 world is not only “politic’ing”, it’s demagogy at its worst.

      Your argument that the fence is unnecessary because “you cannot stop someone from entering the airfield if they really want to” is completely ridiculous. By that logic, we shouldn’t lock our doors or cars or protect our property in any way, because “you cannot stop someone from entering” your home “if they really want to.
      It’s ridiculous.

      Not that I expect a lucid response to this…

    • Lissa says:

      Exactly Chop! Where there is a will there is a way. There a plenty of areas and ways to get into the airfield (In Bermuda and Elsewhere around the world). Stop letting the newspaper and the UBP’s constant nitpicking rile you up peoples.
      Have a good day y’all!

  3. terry says:

    Good points there “S” but you left out the other two important industries that support growth and infastructure,,,,,,,,……WEED and BOOZE and don’t forget if there was no demand…

    Damn…all us “pots..callin each other Black Rums”…..

    Just imagine Eddie Lamb being investigated because someone left the keys in the door………….I need a rum………………..

    And there in lies the rub. Hands on……………………

  4. terry says:

    Hey “Chop”….man yah had too much soowy. Now were all a bunch of pricks because of concern?

    Tell you what…take two fortune cookies and call me in the morning. And we wonder why young fools shoot each other.