Comments on: Minister: Railway Trail Initiative A Success

By: Triangle Drifter

Triangle Drifter — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 20:34:16 +0000

Where is that guy going to drive the $60,000 Jeep, paid for by you & me, sittting comphy in those leather seat listening to his ipod through the Bose sound system, now?

The private contractors are doing his job. Maybe W&E need a Jeep driving supervisor to check on the landscape contractors.

By: rummy

rummy — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:45:54 +0000

It’s just an election ploy.
We already have Government employees that do this.
Public/Private my ass.

Why hire when you have already a bunch of lazy idiots standing around.

It’s a ploy, you don’t get it?

Estimates are in place for this work. Now they are ‘Hiring’?

I give up.

By: Happy Bermudian

Happy Bermudian — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:45:16 +0000

I am hoping that the landscape companies that are contracted by Government to keep the Railway Trails clean are also picking up the litter and dumped waste. Throwing horticultural waste on top of garbage is not the correct thing to do, so it would be very appropriate to train the staff — including new Bermudian staff — to do the landscaping, maintenance and clean up of our beautiful Trails correctly. Congratulations to the new honourees!

By: Argosy

Argosy — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:01:06 +0000

The usual celebration and congratulations all round of abject failure…….we should be (and are) hanging our heads.

Well, not the you-know-who crew.

By: Triangle Drifter

Triangle Drifter — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:37:40 +0000

You all are kidding, right? Only a 33% completion, or is it pass rate, for basic grass cutting & tree pruning? Working in a McDonalds crew takes more skills.

By: Soooooo

Soooooo — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:04:58 +0000

These certificates? Are they some sort of qualification or is it just a piece of paper made up to look that way? I’m not saying that teaching someone a useful skill is bad, I think we need more ofthis type of training and I applaud the companies that help out.

My problem is the political BS, every time someone “completes” training. If the ministers cared as much about the prople as their reputation Bermuda would be a better place.

By: stan1976

stan1976 — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:01:59 +0000

@james s…you know, a .333 success rate in baseball would get you into the Hall of Fame. Maybe this is what the Minister was talking about! hahahaha

By: James s

James s — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 22:10:49 +0000

33.33% success! Truly something to be proud of!
Or was it 66.66% failure?

By: Poetic Justice

Poetic Justice — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 20:14:20 +0000

So what Minister Weeks is saying is the success of this initiative is down to two out if six workers completing the course? Those statistics are familiar with the success rate of employers trying to hire and keep Bermudians for these jobs. It was one of the main arguments raised when the Landscape moratorium was initially launched it is a challenge to find locals who are willing and capable of working in this field!

As for teething pains Ill share a few Im sure were witnessed. Habitual tardiness (lateness), lack of enthusiasm or professionalism, Bad attitude, alcohol or drug use, AWOL to name just a few.

While I do congratulate and encourage those who finished the program this is hardly any measure for success and little more than a PLP electioneering/PR stunt.

If anything it reinforces what the stakeholders in this field have been saying all along and justifies their need for foreign labour. To remain a viable and profitable business there is a need for foreign labour to compliment what Bermudian’s are already working in this field. You will find precious few who are sincerely willing to commit to landscaping as a career choice.

By: Trail walker

Trail walker — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:35:45 +0000

I know there’s other areas affected , but while we’re on the subject maybe someone in the right department can install a hidden camera or two on sections of the Railway Trail to catch the vermin who use these beautiful areas as their personal illegal dumps.

On the section that I frequent often , the one that runs from Frank’s Bay to Whale Bay , some ‘individual ‘ insists on dumping their household excess appliances under the Chinese Fan Palms just east of Greene’s Guest House , out of sight of the traffic. The last ‘dump’ was about a month ago , the next will probably be around June or so .
For the last few years items such as computers, barbeques , vaccuum cleaners , fold away beds , tool chests,lawn furniture and bike parts have been accumulating under the palm fronds that the landscaping firms seem to dump on top of the garbage hoping that it will just go away. No one ,it seems, is ever notified to come and get rid of this trash making this section of a valuable asset look like a slum.