Minister Burch on Border Control
(Updated with video) In announcing new initiatives by his Ministry, National Security Minister David Burch today (Jan 11) intimated that he would like to see an Exit Control in place in Bermuda.
Minister Burch referred to the total $190,000 in cash that had been confiscated, in 2010, from people who were attempting to leave Bermuda without properly declaring the cash that they had in their possession. All of this money had been seized.
Questioned about other controls on money going out of Bermuda, Minister Burch said that in his view these controls were stringent and such that he – personally – thought that they might even be too tight. He referred to his recent experience where he was unable to pay cash for a small cash balance on his American Express credit card; but, instead, had to go through the expense and rigmarole of creating a paper trail and pay by bank order. He said that in his view, the Money Order firms were adequately controlled and overwatched and supervised by the Bermuda Monetary Authority.
The Minister said that border controls were important in stopping contraband, whether guns or drugs, from entering Bermuda. He said that close cooperation between on-Island agencies as well as the same kind of cooperation with overseas agencies had resulted in the arrest and detention of the three Bermudian men recently caught by the Coast Guard in the Caribbean.
When asked about progress with the Hamilton Docks X-Ray shed, Collector of Customs Winifred Fostine-DeSilva suggested that the unit might be in operation in March 2011.
Whilst still desiring some form of better Coastal protection and control, the Minister said that considering budgetary constraints, this was still unlikely to oocur in the near future.
$190,000 means diddly……….and has nothing to do with Bermuda. When was the last time you filled out a form asking you how much money/ies your carrying out that is subject to a Government form.
As for “Coastal protection”…….the monies already there.
What a load of crap. How many Marine and Ports personel have been layed off. How many full time Regiment have been layed off. Come on, name me one. No Cruise Ships, maybe less hours.
Take the vessels that you have and utilies them. Hell, all they will do is fish, pull lobster pots and play cards.
Smoke and mirrors, thats all.
And if the Minister does not like “Money trails”…………………..
Tink about it.
How many Regiment officers have been laid off?
I wonder what is next from Fidel Castro Burch…
He will constantly try to get on tv as much as he can. Day after day, week after week, he doesn’t give two hoots about you or me or even Bermuda for that matter. It’s all just about his image.
Yeah! Come on Burch get in front of those cameras. Showtime!
Does money leaving through the airport really matter? No
Does money leaving through the magic of international banking? Yes
First step? Maybe
Facts, fiction, perceived.
An ironic man with his sly stillness and ambuscading ways………………..may be viewed as a pest to society…………….
Went to school with Tom Carlyle…..ah those were the days. Leonard was there to.
Irony is a beach. There one day. Gone the next but may appear again if the waters right.
I was expecting to read that there would be new controls put in place to ensure that every “visitor” that enters Bermuda leaves….I don’t think they follow up on anything like that. Anyone who overextends their stay by more than three weeks without seeking additional permission to stay should be found and deported. Perhaps this would stop the men coming in to sell drugs, staying past their ticket time and marrying Bermudian women. All part and parcel of an inefficient immigration system, where Burch was Minister for how long?
Good point and I agree Kathy, but I think what we are forgetting is that this, amongst other things, was going on before Burch got into any type of position…the whole of plp for that matter. Remember…ubp had 32 years…plp hasn’t even reached that yet. God spares life I hope I get to see that 32nd year, if plp is still in, then determine, analyse and really weigh out the works of this government. I feel that we should estimate the works of plp from the time/era they got voted in, because some of these problems and challenges that we face were occuring before this government. Soon as this goverment got in errbody started moaning. Where were our voices in the past?? At the ending of the day though, we as a community have failed ourselves and are still failing ourselves because we aren’t standing up for anything physically and our young people are a product of this as we look at what they fight about. We listen and hear the decisions being made and we sit on our couches or pop up on social networks to protest… WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT…If we want change WE have to make it happen… Don’t know what it will take to get the sparks going but I’m looking forward to that day too because as we continue to be divided we will always be set up for a fall.
daytime shootings daily ,IB,retail in free fall,this is no National Security Minister ..this is a monty python skit …who cares what this fool says
you got some nerve…..the ranting, fascist, vile rhetoric that you spew every chance you get hardly places you in a “credible” category…….I accept that you have the right to expresss your opinion Sal but could we just once hear from you some helpful critique rather than that angry verbiage you usually regurgitate. I can tell you are smart and perceptive….so lets hear something positive……..anything?…….Sal?……….hello?
Yeh! Come on sal let’s hear it. What ever you say has never been said before, come on sal you know you have the answers. I tell you what! Make it plain and simple, use an old PLP slogan. CHANGE THEM, CHANGE THEM, CHANGE THEM.
i guess i won that case!
So here we go again,
“Whilst still desiring some form of better Coastal protection and control, the Minister said that considering budgetary constraints, this was still unlikely to oocur in the near future.”
Even he doesn’t want to stop guns and drugs coming onto the island. Funny stuff.
People leaving the island with cash. Hmmmm. Sounds like a form of exchange control to me. How much is too much? I could buy drugs with $5000. Cash or traveler’s cheques. I get his point but am sure there is another way. Can’t I still buy a car for cash over time?
Imagine if $500 would buy you 1 pound of MJ in the Dominican Republic. Imagine that same pound is valued at $6000 in Bermuda. Now lets say imagine someone smuggling $50,000 cash out of Bermuda and purchase MJ in DR with that amount!
$500 devided into $50,000= 100
Now remember we imagined 1 pound cost $500 in the Dominican Republic.
With $50,000 you could purchase 100 pounds!
100 pounds * $6000= $600,000
Now hopefully you understand why people might be smuggling money out of Bermuda.
1 more thing…..now you understand why someone might cross the Atlantic in the Winter!!!!!