Budget Debate To Get Underway Today In House
Parliamentarians are set to begin 56 hours of debate on the 2014/15 Budget today [Mar 3] in the House of Assembly, with today’s schedule calling for six hours on Cabinet Office Departments, and two hours on Health/Environment. The full schedule of the 56 hours of debate is below.
Monday March 3rd
- 6 hours on Cabinet Office Depts.
- 2 hours on Health/Environment
Wednesday March 5th
- 3 hours on Legal Affairs
- 5 hours on Home Affairs
Friday March 7th
- 4 hours on Health and Environment
- 4 hours on Transport
Monday March 10th
- 4 hours on Finance
- 4 hours on Education
Wednesday March 12th
- 4 hours on National Security
- 3 hours on Economic Development
- 1 hour on National Security
Friday March 14th
- 4.5 hours on Community and Culture
- 2 hours on Non Ministry
- 1.5 hours on Home Affairs
Monday March 17th
- 3.5 hours on Public Works
- 1 hour on Public Works-Housing
- 3.5 hours on Transport-Tourism
It will be interesting to see how much debate there will be in the debate.
The PLP MO was to give a long blah, blah, blah of the same blah, blah, blah that was given the year before going on & on about the jobs of the department. Stuff everyone already, or should already, know. The pupose was to sandbag the Opposition giving little or no time to respond.
A totally infantile behavior.
Lets hope that the OBA does not do the same no matter how tempting it is to give the PLP a taste of their own medicine.
Where can I pick up my ticket to watch the match? ding ding.
You listen on d radio. Mr Speaker this, Mr Speaker that. So many people with nothing to say going Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker, Mr Speaker.
I can already see this is going to be a slug-fest.
I have to admit….this is exhausting.
Can the Opposition please ask where did $38million come from to complete the remediation of Morgan’s Point? I am not questioning jobs and/or work, but rather when this Government claims to have no funds, where precisely did these funds come from? Are the funds from the $180 million Government loan being utilised here?
Did Bermuda ever receive any funds from those who contaminated Morgan’s Point? If no, then what is the relationship between the Government and the new owners? Do we have any written guarantees that we will not be left in the same position as we are in now? We are using funds that could be better spent in real investment terms rather than undertaking the bill for those who left the contamination behind?
$38million is an enormous amount of cash for a cleanup site in Bermuda. It is stated that it was authorised, precisely when was it authorised? By this Government or the last Government before they left office? I may not be an expert on the Budget, but this seems very under the radar.
Can Patricia Gordon-Pamplin give us some transparency here?
London, England
The cleanup at Morgan’s Point was legally the responsibility of the US government. (That was a function of US law, not just Bermuda law – I had that independently confirmed by one of the architects of the US Superfund Law and it was independently verified by a partner at one of the major Bermuda law firms.) Of course the US didn’t want to admit that because it would have set a precedent in the rest of the world. To make a (very) long story short the PLP government of the day let them off the hook in return for $10 million that was supposed to be used to fix the swingbridge. Unfortunately the money ended up being used to plug a hole in the budget and the bridge never benefited from it.
CYPRUS you know that Island in the MED they have to agree to “PRIVITIZATION” to get a BAIL-OUT..he! he! he! he!
There unions are killing the Ecconomy the same as here in Bermuda.
@Page 26, thanks for the information,
However, my initial question is, where did the $38 million come from for the remediation of MORGAN’S POINT?
The $11million given to Dame Jennifer as premier of Bermuda was largely reported in the media at the time. Was it for Morgan’s Point or to cleanup the base in St David’s? However, how it was used is not the question.
Where did $38million come from, especially since this Government claims that they have NO money, why are we cleaning it up NOW? Why the priority of this cleanup, now?
And importantly, when was this $38million authorised and where were the funds coming from, the sovereign fund loan? Or, was money already air marked and available for this purpose – WHEN was it authorised?
And, how was the lease negotiated that made us liable to pay this overwhelming cost from the public purse? What guarantees do we have from the current lessees that we will not be fleeced (left with their contaminants) when their lease expires?
Ms Gordon-Pamplin needs to give us clarity on this issue, and the lease itself.
London, England