BMA: ‘Sir David Made An Enormous Contribution’
The Bermuda Monetary Authority today paid tribute to Sir David Gibbons, who passed away on Sunday [Mar 30] at age 85. Sir David served as Premier of Bermuda from 1977 to 1982, and also as chairman of the Authority’s Board of Directors from 1984 to 1986.
In recognition of Sir David’s outstanding contribution to both to the Authority and to Bermuda as a whole, Authority Chief Executive Officer, Jeremy Cox, recalled the foundational work of a man who “knew business and understood Bermuda”.
“From what I have been told, there was nothing passive about Sir David’s chairmanship,” said Mr. Cox.
“It was clear to me from my own conversations with him that he was a global thinker who knew what made our economy tick, who appreciated that it was heavily influenced by markets overseas and who recognised Bermuda’s exceptional potential as an international financial services centre.”
Ms. Marcia Woolridge-Allwood, Director, Banking, Trust, Corporate Services & Investment at the Authority, clearly remembers her encounters with the former Chairman during his tenure at the Authority.
“Sir David used to arrive at the office at exactly 8 a.m. every morning,” she recalled. “As managers, you had a daily meeting with him to discuss issues requiring a decision by him.
“Your audience was a max of ten minutes so you learned early on to be concise and to the point so that you got the decision you needed before you left the room!”
Mr. Cox described Sir David as “a visionary leader”.
“There is no doubt that he helped to create the Authority that we have today and in doing so he shaped Bermuda’s financial services sector,” he said. “He was an iconic figure who made an enormous contribution to our country.”
Following his passing yesterday, Governor George Fergusson said Sir David made an “astonishing contribution across a broad sweep of Bermuda’s political and business life,” while Premier Craig Cannonier said “Sir David was a man of great accomplishment – a political leader during a time of turbulence and change, a renowned businessman who succeeded both here at home and abroad and a philanthropist whose generosity benefited many.”
As a mark of respect, all flags on all Government buildings were flown at half-mast today, and will also be at half-mast on the day of Sir David’s funeral.
NOT one of today’s MP’s will ever be as good as this man was for Bermuda!
That’s the difference when you have people that go into politicks because of love for their country as opposed to most today that do it for a pay cheque!!!
Ya like Dame Lois Brown Evans !
not really lmfao….
the DISLIKES will be from drunks on green kool aid!
@Mazumbo…
There is a time and place when a political barb, a reference of deflection or a one upmanship comment is both poignant and appropriate, this is NOT that time nor place.
When Dame Lois Browne-Evan died no-one attempted to this type of tongue-in-cheek remark. It’s callous.
Sir David Gibbons deserves our unfailing respect and his family our deepest sympathy and kindness – nothing less.
London, England
I was in no way disrespecting Sir David Gibbons I was only responding to “nuffin but the truth”, as you know and read there is a very biased spectrum in Bermuda concerning Politics, like every where in the world, the difference is we’re too small NOT to act civil and express how we really feel but will discuss it around the kitchen table or in our safe environments.
The Truth is we try to reserve our innermost feelings out of respect, it’s like asking British folk their love for Claudia Jones or Bob Crow, you’ll get a different response depending who you ask.
P.S
Would’ve been fair to name the other names for their biased, political barb, reference of deflection comments, but then again this is Bermuda we’re used to it.
@Mazumbo…
There is a time when we should call it how we see, and call it loud and clear. But sometimes, no matter how slighted or subtlety baited and/or provoked, it’s time to allow ‘emotional intelligence’ to override any political divide.
Bermuda has lived in awe in the shadows of some amazing pioneers in our lifetime, in this tiny island of Bermuda. And we must recognise and honour each one for his/her special contribution or gifts that they had and passed on to us as our unique legacy to cherish.
Each pioneer has left behind something very worthwhile for us to build on, and when it came to Sir David, his legacy was his financial wizardry, and it’s unbreakable.
When you live outside Bermuda, you recognise just how silly and/or absolutely pointless it is to carry the armour of race and politics as a woven fabric in society that dissects without discernment.
London, England