America’s Cup Spending: Just Over $14 Million
The Government has spent just over $14 million on the America’s Cup as of December 2015, the House of Assembly heard on Friday, with the figures being provided by Minister of Economic Development Dr Grant Gibbons following Parliamentary Questions from MP Wayne Furbert.
The first question asked by Mr Furbert was, “Will the Honourable Minister please provide this Honourable House with the expenditure on the Americas Cup as at December 31st, 2015; and provide a breakdown associated with this event,” while the second question was, “Will the Honourable Minister please inform this Honourable House with names of all contractors and consultant that have been paid by ACBDA and the total they have received up to December 31st 2015 in regards to the Americas Cup.”
Some of the companies listed in the expenses included Correia Construction who received $371,208; East End Asphalt who received $368,446;Total Marketing & Communications Ltd who were paid $255,753, BCM McAlpine who were paid $174,502, Dynamic Excavating were paid $73,426, Wendy Cooper who received $68,400, and the Bermuda Tourism Authority who were paid $67,394.
According to the Potential Economic Impact [PEI] assessment previously released by the ACBDA, the direct spending on-island for the America’s Cup is estimated to be “in the region of approximately $250 million.”
The reply to the Parliamentary Question follows below [PDF here]:
SOS!
So um gotta beleive a Spread Sheet.
How else are they going to get a dummy like you to understand it lmfao…
Just wait for it – we are going to have to bust out the hand puppets and cartoons in order for some of these people to understand. (These are some of the very people that think they deserve the IB CEO positions over the expats with degrees and experience.) SMH
To be honest if a Bermudian has equal amounts of experience, degrees, etc I’m hiring the Bermudian EVERYTIME! And I’d be willing to let the Bermudian work their way up the ladder to the top…the bad work ethics of a few cloud people’s judgement for the majority of Bermudians, especially people that are not “from” here.
I agree there some really good Bermudian workers out there, including me !
You should start with a dictionary or you’ll never understand.
Well, you believe everything from alaska hole.
Ouch!
Is there a way to get more detail of both indirect and direct costs associated with Americas Cup?
Some of the numbers provided don’t give enough detail to determine what it really means – such as ACBDA grant of $1,771,246. What is the breakdown for that amount? How has that money been spent and on what? Who is being hired and consulting outside of ACBDA and for what services?
Was the $5 million dollar payment to ACEA raised through the efforts of ACBDA. How is the raising of additional sponsor funds against our commitments being tracked in Bermuda? Are we on target, below, ahead and who is involved in spearheading these activities?
What collateral expenses are being generated through ACBDA and AC35 that are outside of this update, like WEDCo, Works and Engineering and BELCO related expenses?
How much in additional expenditure is related to the court costs associated with the South Basin decision? How much is this current court mandated Environmental Impact Assessment costing the taxpayers?
Please help us understand the big picture of how the expenditure of our public purse is being tracked and managed against budget and the decisions being made.
If only you cared this much about the missing $800m…
It’s always one or the other with some people……did it ever occur to you that some care about both?
I personally would like to know about the 800 million so that the issue can be dealt with and offending parties are held accountable.
I would ALSO like to know about what is happening NOW so that no one reaps in a few years about THIS.
EVERYTIME some one questions current events there’s someone to say what about what happened before……but that’s EXACTLY WHY people are more leery now about government spending.
I can not understand why this outstanding 800 million dollars isn’t being looked into more throughly considering the way people go on and on about it.
And is the 24 million spent on Port Royal in addition to the 800 million?
Or about the$24M spent on Port Royal? The irony is astounding
Wow. And Wayne didn’t get the answer “That is a plantation question” and a refusal to divulge anything. That’s progress.
LOL. This total is not even one month’s worth of just the interest payments on the debt the PLP put us in. What a bargain so far.
Sooo no money to keep Primary schools open but over $14 million spent on a boat race hmmm…………
This 14m so far is estimated to generate 250m of on-island spending. This economy needs some short-term boosts and long term fixes as well. education is a long term investment and won’t provide the short term return that is needed due to the country’s dire financial situation.
So really comparing AC spending to education isn’t really apples to apples.
I don’t remember you jumping up and down and making the same analogy when the news came out the Port Royal cost $24M or $20M over budget?
Sooo no money to keep Primary schools open but over $24 million spent on 18 holes in the ground HMMMMMMMMMMMM…………
I wouldn’t consider education primarily to be a long-term economic investment. It’s function is much, much more than economic. Like you said, AC and it are two different fruits.
Public educaton is an essential public service that must be delivered with the utmost fidelity at all times. It, specifically any funds required to ensure its proper delivery, should never be compromised on, never.
Simply because it won’t play a part in a short-term economic solution isn’t sufficient rationale to have AC funding take any kind of priority over it.
The Dept Education budget for 2015-16 is over $127m. So I don’t see how you can say AC funding “takes priority”.
It really is amazing. People say they want to the government to create jobs. Well, you do that by creating economic activity. Stimulating the economy. It happens several ways in Bermuda. One way is by employing a thousand or so civil servants we don’t need. One other way is by encouraging business and investment here, like the AC.
Most of the $14m has been spent in our own economy. Employing us. And if it generates anywhere near the $250m of economic activity that was estimated, then it will have been very worthwhile in terms of jobs and, by the looks of it, longer term infrastructure improvement.
I don’t believe for one minute that you don’t already know this.
Yes, and the current system is delivering poor quality. That’s why they want to consolidate schools.
Duh. It isn’t short-term, it’s the epitome of long-term because while it’s unpopular in the short-run it will improve education in the long-run.
…but if you’re looking to get an emotional response from your comment maybe you should say “the government is selling our children for their boats” or something even more dramatic.
There are not enough kids to justify the amount of schools. Back in the day when government ran at a surplus we could justify education running at a deficit but NOT after 14 years of cookie jar raiding.
Thank you PLP.
Though….if we ploughed millions upon millions into education in 20 years time I would not have to explain this to you. So perhaps you have a point….on the top of your head.
$26,000 per kid in public vs. $20,000 per kid private.
Hmmmmm…..
Private. Schools. Also get. A lot of. Money from. Private. Donations
$14m, most of it already spent in our own economy.
That’s about 1/3 less than it cost the PLP to build a swimming pool.
Or about 40% less than it cost the PLP to returf a golf course.
Or about 70% less than it cost the PLP to build some ugly condos that no one wants to live in.
BINGO…can’t wait to hear the response on this one. A little boat race. SMFH
Love it! Thank you for asking Wayne. Are you sure you are working for the opposition?
it’s nice to see you agree with serengeti’s point.
Just curious about what kind of consulting did the BTA do for $67,394?
But I thought they had spent $77 million.
If if we haven’t spent $77 million we’ve still spent more than San Francisco did on the overall event already and still are not ready for the big race. To get ready more will need to be spent.
$14 million of tax payers money may not be close to $77 million but it’s still $14 million we will have to make back just to break even.$14 million could have been put into much safer and quicker return investments but hey since PLP mismanaged our money it gives permission to mismanage it also or at least a deflection. Both parties are like pointing finger children who cant grasp the concepts of the difference between an asset and liability.
No, and they never will spend 77 million. That figure is a lie and deliberately counts guarantees as expenses.
The 77 million is what Americas Cup will hold us to just as they did San Francisco who ended up in the red because of the miscalculations made. They are only bringing light to what has been spent so far to distract on the amount owed.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/63969278/americas-cup-wooed-to-bermuda-with-a-98m-package.html
- a US$15m event fee to the America’s Cup Events Authority
- a US$25m underwrite to cover any sponsorship shortfall by ACEA.
- $14m for site preparation and infrastructure for docks and America’s Cup village
- US$11m (NZ$14m) operation expenses for the America’s Cup village.
- $12m to cover transport costs, security, emergency services, insurances and legal bills.
According to the Potential Economic Impact [PEI] assessment previously released by the ACBDA, the direct spending on-island for the America’s Cup is estimated to be “in the region of approximately $250 million.”
BRING PROOF !
Yes I do understand that the staff are renting homes , but who owns these homes , what real estate agents are benefitting ? I bet if you dare scratch that surface , a much clearer picture would emerge as to who is eating really well in Bermuda of off the initial 14 million dollar investment !
$250 million is an estimate so there is nothing they can do to prove it.
Have you even read the EIA?