SDO: BEST Commends Ombudsman
The Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce [BEST] has commended the Ombudsman for “her independence and initiative in taking this important step of furthering democracy in our Island.”
Ombudsman Arlene Brock announced earlier this week that she has launched a “systemic investigation into the scope and research that ought to be gathered” to assist legislators as they consider applications for Special Development Orders.
The full statement from BEST follows below:
BEST commends the Ombudsman for her independence and initiative in taking this important step of furthering democracy in our Island.
We were frustrated repeatedly during the debates and decisions on the TPR SDO from the “dearth of data” the Ombudsman refers to.
If legislators are asked — as they were in the TPR SDO debate — to make weighty decisions that involve the surrender of tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars of public amenity value, they must have not only all available information but also unfettered access to any information they consider relevant to the decision. It should not be that Ministers who have a hefty stake in the outcome of a decision are able to filter or otherwise control access to the information pertaining to that decision. Whether this is done deliberately or benignly is not the point — halfway transparency is still not transparent.
In this case, there was inadequate financial information to support TPR’s claims a) that they were in dire need, b) that the SDO would satisfy that need, and c) that Bermuda’s Tourism fortunes would fly or fail dependent on the SDO. In addition there were environmental and cultural/historical questions to which legislators had conflicting information that should have been resolved before a decision was taken.
As we have said before, this is a new process, and the government is to be congratulated for taking this first step. It is clear to us, however, as it must be to the Ombudsman, that there are further steps that must follow to complete the process.
We endorse the Ombudsman’s analysis that “The quality of the decision-making process by the legislature depends on the quality of the information provided to them”. BEST will be making a submission and encouraging other organisations and individuals to do so.
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