OBA: Bad Policies Costing Bermudians Jobs
“Saturday’s news that Computer City is closing its doors after 12 years of operation is one more example of bad government policies costing Bermudians jobs,” Spokesman for the OBA Economy Shadow Board and C#7 candidate Sylvan Richards said.
Citing the “unprecedented economic conditions in Bermuda,” Computer City recently confirmed they will be closing their business and all nine staff members will be losing their jobs.
Mr Richards said: “One of the company’s senior officers said the turning point for the company was the Government’s out-of-the-blue payroll tax hike in 2010. The tax hike shocked the local and international business community, whose leaders described the Government action as a ‘breach of trust’. The company director of Computer City said: ‘We started seeing customers – companies and individuals – leaving or downsizing after that.’
“Computer City provides a ground-level perspective of the impact of bad government action on a company’s ability to succeed. The end result is lost jobs for working Bermudians. Computer City’s closure will put nine Bermudians out of work, after the company struggled over the last few years to stay afloat with fewer people coming through its doors.
“These workers will add to Bermuda’s growing unemployment numbers, including those of young Bermudians whose unemployment rate is approaching a staggering 40%. The impact of Computer City’s decline in business has been registered in other ways: Computer City had supported 18-month overseas technical training for a couple of young Bermudians who had to be let go because of the fall-off in business.
“The One Bermuda Alliance has a plan to grow the economy, with specific measures to support local business owners and entrepreneurs, attract foreign investment and stimulate hiring. This is the change Bermuda needs, and it’s the change Bermuda’s workers need. The people of Bermuda can’t afford five more years of rising unemployment and government actions that drive away businesses and jobs,” concluded Mr Richards.
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Give me a break. They loss government contacts and public contracts because there’s a downturn in the economy. Loads of Office Depot, Staples and other computer office outlets have closed. When American sneezes yes we do catch a cold. Follow the lead to where Mr. —- moves onto and you will get a clearer picture. Just like the Romnyiets – waiting for the government to lose to start reinvesting.
False equivalency.
I agree
Well said Sylvan. Totally in agreement with your last paragraph.
Vote OBA!!!!
I will vote for them to be Out By August (OBA) and re-branded the Um Baacck Party(UBP) .
OH FFS,
Are you serious OBA? Are you going to blame the PLP for Triminghams and Smiths aswell?
And everyone knows the director of the business that you are referring to is a high profile anti-plp blogger.
Statements about people losing their jobs from a company should not be political, but they are.
OBA, stop talking down our country!!!!!!
Obviously you are still employed. If in the near future you find yourself in the unemployment que, and I hope you don’t, I hope you are comforted by the PLP’s assertion that its the world or U.S economy and nothing to do with the shortsighted policies here at home!
The onlY people taking down the country are the PLP, in a cynical and deliberate manner.
What can we expect from this circus – the richards and richards show?
Bermuda cannot afford a PLP Government. Sir John Sharp, former Premier & also a finance Minister saw it in the 70s when he said “Bermuda cannot afford a PLP Government”. Folks who voted PLP in 1998 never imagined the PLP could cause such destruction in such a short period of time.
The PLP has taken Bermuda from the envy of the the world to 3rd world with a debt per capita higher than than the US. What has taken the US 100 years to aquire has taken the PLP less than 6 years.
Vote the incompetents out or become Haiti.
I still say follow where the merger deal is going. We will all see on December 18 where the trails leads. Bet the blacks workers will be out of work. Has anyone heard — complaint about seeking financial assistance?
… what is with these paid PLP commenters?
That’s your problem Ryan, you think of dollar signs first and not Bermuda first. Computer City had government contacts and charged hi dollar for their goods. Red Laser gives better service. The tall white man in computer city was not very pleasant to deal with and chatted too much politics bullcrap, his famous word.
Hi… Tall white man here…Red Laser does not do the same thing as Computer City. Maybe we both sell ink cartridges, but we had our area of expertise, and they theirs. We actually regularly recommend people to go there and they did the same for us. they are great guys and offer great service and pricing.
Computer City competed for and earned Government’s business through good sales and service/support.
Computer city owners are capable of speaking for themselves and I am sure Red Lasers better pricing was a factor!
Computer City was a pleasure to deal with and their prices were competitive …they changed their business model and had an excellent website…..thanks to PLP Government policies Bermuda now has a population under 60,000 and that number of people results in fewer grocery stores(whites) fewer restaurants, fewer clothing stores and toy stores, shoe stores…..unemployment numbers through the roof…..the tax hike was a coffin nail and the toothpaste is out of the tube….
This post is another demonstration of superficial economical analysis by the OBA that is clearly aimed at political points scoring. As a further comment, given Sylvan’s background, I would be surprised if he wrote the artical and really agrees with it.
Computer City has long held government supply contracts whereby they sold Dell equipment to meet government standards. Therefore if government wanted a new PC for example, the authorised purchaser would simply call Computer City and get the PC. This practice transcended any generic government policy and I am sure was part of the reason why Computer City had some initial success and was able to grow to the size it did and be sustained for 12 years. If you question this, ask government’s computer department how many large orders were placed directly with Computer City.
The business reality is that many suppliers provide computer equipment and services to the business and residential community. In this instance, supply, demand and competition have caused the demise of Computer City and it is completely ridiculous to blame it on government. Futher evidence of competition is the number of small suppliers that will source equipmetn and accessories directly from overseas at substantial savings, although sometimes with a longer deliver period sicne the equipment must be ordered.
I note however, that there is an increasing trend by posters and some owners to blame business closing on government. If that was correct, they would also have to attribute their success to government, which none of them do… simply put, you can not have it both ways (to this point Foreign Cargo comes to mind – note the association with the OBA!!).
From experience, Computer City provided a very convenient location and pleasant staff but their pricing was sometimes higher, most probably due to the higher rent they paid. One question I have (although I do not expect an answer) is to what degree did the landlord copnsider reducing their rent to offset some of Computer City’s costs??
Reality check on Bermuda’s economy. Well said! It is so tedious reading responses from people who blame the Government for everything. All businesses make decisions that affect their bottom-line, and whether to cut their losses and get out. In the case of Bermuda, they do not pay income tax, no tax on dividends etc.. What they pay to Government in the form of taxes is minuscule compared to most places. The PLP has given concessions in many facets of the business sector to keep it afloat. Whether we like to admit it our economy is at the behest of outside forces. America is not only an ally of Bermuda, what is affecting their economy affects us. Debt, job losses, the need to create new sources of revenue are what they are facing, and so are we. Electing the OBA will not change that, they will have the same problem that the current Government has. Obama was facing the same economic crisis, and issues that Bermuda is facing. Just as he was reelected, so will the PLP, and the Cox administration.
Just plain drivel… just reading the first paragraph shows you speak from a speculative standpoint. You have no clue whatsoever.
How can you highlight a company that closes but do absolutely nothing to help it other than say oh well we could have saved you under “OUR PLAN” as the OBA..that’s garbage if you knew how to help this company stay in business they why the hell didn’t you help them stay in business??If you could have helped then you should have helped and then we can say ..hey they helped a company stay in business..The economic downturn is a direct result of what happened under bush and his administration which led to a recession , plain and simple, at least the PLP is trying to help but they are not granting favors to companies because this is a hard time to run a business, and we are all feeling the effects. If PLP was to borrow more money to help out more local companies the OBA would complain about this as well…..I hope those that were let go is able to find work.
Also does anybody know people who fall into the percentile of not having a job?? Now out of that percentage how many of those people are lazy no good bums who would rather smoke weed and drink and complain about the government Babylon system? How many out of that percentage is actively looking for work, the percentage as a whole is not of those who are actively searching for work, it has a large percent of our lazy good for nothing spoiled people as well who are looking for work.
Bermuda is finished. Doesn’t matter if people here are black or white, rich or poor, every one on this stinking rock never fails to be rude. They pretend they’re been funny but really people here aren’t taught any respect and it goes for all segments of the community. I’m sick of peoples snide jealous remarks where ever I go when I do nothing to provoke such comments. Rock Fever is running rampant and Bermuda can never escape that, but teaching people how to respect people would be a start. And I mean EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ Rock Fever
“Bermuda is finished… every one on this stinking rock…but teaching people how to respect people would be a start.
They say those in glass houses should not throw stones! Please give respect to get respect.
I wasn’t talking to anyone or anything in particular. I was making a general comment venting my frustrations about the social problems i see in this country. Give respect to get respect??? That doesn’t work in a place where people don’t know what respect is!!!!!
Understood. But do not confuse the minority with the majority.
The majority of Bermudians (and all residents) are very respectful.
Two things! The PLP has shipwrecked this island! That is a fact! Second, to the OBA! You can’t blame the PLP government for every single downfall or unfortunate mishap that occurs.
Bermuda is on the path to become a third world country. When Trimminghams closed down that was the beginning of the end. OBA nor the PLP can fix our economy. Why? Because local business fail to evolve. We live in a digital age and too many companies are stuck in the 70′s. We want online shopping, delivery to our door step, able to shop at the a mall until 9pm. Actually we need a real shopping mall not some joke establishment for window shopping. The government need to approve bigger signs, and encourage aggressive marketing. Half the time the public doesn’t even know what shops sell what. Bermuda is dying, and the OBA nor PLP can help. We need the help of private enterprise and overseas franchise. Computer City where on their way out for many years. Companies need to innovate and become the Amazon, or Wal-mart of Bermuda or simply we need to ride the globalization wave…. I am a computer enthusiast and I haven’t bought anything from Computer City in like 8 years. There prices were too high, their online website didn’t list the details of product you were buying properly. I almost always had to look up the same product on Amazon or Newegg who had “proper” online shopping websites. Its time for local businesses to step up or just let companies from overseas take over who have grown to become the best at what they do…i.e. Best Buy etc.
Going a bit off topic have you seen how bad our fast food is lately? We don’t even have a drive through. Bermuda is so far behind I feel like I live in a third world country. I hope somebody from the OBA or PLP really wakes up. Fix inflation, Fix Retail, fix the country, and if you don’t know how to find someone who can!!!