Videos: Minister Bob Richards On Airport Plans
The airport project is “expected to create over 600 jobs at least three quarters of which will be Bermudian,” it should be finished by 2019, and “the lease appears to be 35 years and a management contract,” Finance Minister Bob Richards said at a Town Hall last night [Mar 31].
The Minister also there has “been some disagreement” between the Bermuda Government and UK Government over the matter, and “one of the reasons that this project has been delayed many months is because of this entrustment issue”, however they have “agreed on a way forward so that we can proceed.”
Speaking at the Town Hall, Minister Richards said, “It is my distinct pleasure to speak to you this evening about one of Bermuda’s most exciting and important projects in many many years, the redevelopment of the Bermuda airport, something which I’m sure is very near and dear to the hearts of particularly folks that live on the east end.
The Minister showed a PowerPoint presentation which included an artist’s conception of the new terminal, saying: “It’ll be one that has jet bridges where people don’t have to go up and down stairs to get on and off the planes, and it will be a very modern structures but the developers are also, of course, very keen to have the Bermudian architectural signature on it so they’ll be working with Bermudian architects to get that particular flavour there.”
Minister Richards said, “Bermuda has only one chance to make a first impression to a first-time visitor, and the airport is that first impression. The current terminal is not consistent with the brand Bermuda desires to portray to the world.
“Portions of the terminal, as many of you folks who are my age and older will know, date back to the 1940s and beneath the skin of that air terminal, the infrastructure is crumbling and the maintenance costs are rising…
“Now, as our sole gateway to the world, we require a number of things from our airport but as we now know from experience, one of the critical things that we expect is for the facility to be storm-resistant. I don’t think any building is really storm-proof, but after Hurricane Fabian we knew in reality that the present facility we have was not really storm-resistant. We were cut off from the world for a number of days.
“We need a facility that is less vulnerable to storm surge and wind damage. A part of the storm surge problem is the actual location of the present facility. It makes the storm surge exposure worse than where the proposed location is going to be.
“After careful consideration, the Government decided that any such construction project, which is a very large one for Bermuda in the area of $250 million, in view of our current financial circumstances, basically the Ministry of Finance decided that this project had to tick some boxes of criteria objectives or else we couldn’t do it.
- Had to minimize the impact on an already over-extended Government budget sheet.
- Had to reduce and/or eliminate the real risks of overruns and delays and heavy procurement costs.
- Any approach also had to address the urgency of job creation by cutting the time of procurement
- And any project that we approved to go forward must ensure the Government gets value for money.
The Minister continued, “Now, you’ve heard of Canadian Corporation CCC. The CCC model ticks all those boxes that I just mentioned. The project is financed by the developer without increasing Government debt or guarantees. Not financed by the Bermuda Government, it will not increase Government debt.
“The CCC itself guarantees the construction project is delivered on time and on budget. Also heavy procurement costs that were suffered by the hospital project are mitigated. The overall procurement time is greatly reduced, reduced by about half, fulfilling the urgency requirement for the creation of jobs.
Video Part I: Minister Bob Richards at OBA Town Hall in St. George’s
“The sub-contracting to local contractors will engage local labour. Let me say at this point, that we estimate that in the construction phase alone, the airport project is expected to create over 600 jobs, at least three quarters of which will be Bermudian,” the Minister continued.
“This aspect, the requirement for a large proportion of Bermudian jobs and using local contractors is a priority of the letter of agreement that we have signed with the Canadian Commercial Corporation, as well as with Aecon.
“CCC has selected the Aecon Group as the CCC developer. I want it to be clear, CCC are not going to be building this airport. They’re going to be the overall contractor, the sort of super manager, but they’re not going to be building this airport and they’re not going to be managing this construction.
“The company that’s going to be doing that is a private company called Aecon. Aecon, I think, is the first or second largest developer in Canada. Recent projects that they have completed are the new airport in Quito, Ecuador.
“They are also the main contractors to build the CN Tower in Toronto, and they’re the main contractors in building the St. Lawrence Seaway in the late 1950s, so they are a major and very experienced group.
“Now, there’s been a lot of talk about RFP. RFP stands for Request For Proposal. To use an RFP process is the traditional, if you like, normal procedure that is used by the Government of Bermuda to decide who will build, who will do any contract. In other words, putting it out to tender. Will this project use a traditional RFP process? The answer is no. Let’s look at the purpose of an RFP process.
“The purpose of an RFP process and the theory is, is to use the competitive bidding process to obtain fair value for money for Government. The question is, ‘Has the traditional RFP process resulted in value for money for Bermuda in recent times?’
“Let’s consider the departure lounge that was built in the 1980s by a former Government. As you all will recall, that was over budget by millions of dollars. Well, the Berkeley Institute building…need I say more? A project that was supposed to cost $60 [million] ended up costing about $130 million.
“The Dame Lois Browne Evans building, a project that was many, many millions over budget. Heritage Wharf, the price has doubled from the original estimate. These overruns have been paid for by your tax dollars. They’re not paid for by the man in the moon. They’re paid for by you and me.
“The theory behind the traditional RFP process is a great theory, but it has a very poor track record providing value for money in Bermuda. When we looked at this in the Ministry of Finance, we said we cannot afford to take these kinds of risks and end up having hundreds of millions of dollars of overrun being financed by taxpayers. It was a risk that I as a Minister of Finance refused to take, so we had to look for an alternative process.
“Now, one of the alternative processes is called, to an RFP process, is called a Fairness Assessment and that’s the assessment that we’ll be using here.
“This involves a hiring of an independent international construction company — and I have to tell in this case that that company cannot be Canadian — an independent company to fully examine and assess the details of the entire arrangement to determine whether or not the Government has obtained value for money.
“If that company does not give its stamp of approval, we will have to renegotiate the deal. That’s how this works. We’re paying for this and it’s not going to be cheap, but this is what we have to do to ensure that we are getting value for money for the taxpayers and the people of Bermuda.
“The next issue is that we’ve heard people say that this is privatization of the airport. No, it is not privatization. It’s got many names, depending on what side of the Atlantic you are from, but it’s called PPP or P3. In the U.K. and Europe they’re called PFIs, but PPP kind of spells it out. It stands for Private Public Partnerships.
“The airport is one of the biggest assets we have in Bermuda and the airport is the single unit consisting of assets and services. The assets themselves are, at replacement value, worth about $4 billion. Billion with a B. Services consist of air traffic control, electronic equipment maintenance, Bermuda Weather Service, as well as security services and baggage screening. All of these services are already outsourced.
“In addition to that, there’s the Department of Airport Operations staff. That’s what the airport consists of. This arrangement will have a concession agreement and what a concession agreement is that a company, in this case Aecon Group, will sign a lease. At this point, the lease appears to be 35 years and a management contract.
“The private sector involvement in management does not mean privatization. There will be a considerable government oversight built into that contract. The $4 billion of assets will remain the property of the people of Bermuda.
“This will not be privatization as government will continue to own the assets and will have oversight of the management team. That will be, that oversight won’t be casual. It will be built into the concession agreement to be part of the contract.
Video Part II: Minister Bob Richards at OBA Town Hall in St. George’s
Minister Richards continued, “Should the concession agreement be part of the contract? What will be the ultimate cost? Well, I’ve never said that it will be free. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and clearly no such thing as a free airport.
“The revenues generated by this airport will support the repayment of the debt of the developer, so the developer, in this case, Aecon, will go out into debt markets and borrow this money. The reason that they will be able to borrow the money because they will be able to show a financial model to lenders that the lenders can have confidence in that they’ll get their money back.
“Will the departure tax become earmarked for the airport? The answer is yes, that’s part of the revenue. It’s not all of the revenue, but it’s part of the revenue. It’s not being earmarked for the airport project yet, but it will be earmarked for the airport much closer to when construction starts.
“Won’t this deplete consolidated fund by removing one of its revenue sources? Somebody asked me that. The answer is very very little, if at all, because not only are the revenues being removed from the Government, but the expenses of running the airport will also be removed from the government. Currently, the two are almost equal, so the net effect on the consolidated fund is minimal.
“Do we need an entrustment letter from the U.K.? I have to say that one of the reasons that this project has been delayed many months is because of this entrustment issue. The Government’s view is that CCC is a Canadian quango. It’s not the Canadian Government, just like BLDC is a quango, just like Bermuda Housing Corporation is a quango. These are quangos, but it’s not Government itself.
“The nature of the transaction is that CCC acts as an intermediary between Bermuda and the Canadian developer whilst also guaranteeing on-budget and on-time delivery of the construction phase only. After the construction phase, after it’s built, the long-term concession agreement is with Aecon only. CCC are basically out of the picture once the place is built. The debt is assumed by Aecon, not CCC, and not Bermuda.
“This is strictly a commercial transaction which Bermuda is already empowered to engage in our Constitution and also our standard, if you like, entrustment letters that we’ve have received from Her Majesty and Government, and does not involve external relations for which the U.K. is responsible.
“This is an area that I have to say there’s been some disagreement between the Bermuda Government and the U.K. Government in the last couple of months, but we now have worked out a way forward so that we can put this matter to bed, so that, if you like, the controversy about the entrustment permission from the U.K., there’s no longer a problem. We have agreed on a way forward so that we can proceed with this project.
“Now the timing. There are major milestones and some of which have slipped into the future. The initial go-no-go analysis, that’s the one that slipped into the future. You may recall originally I thought we could do that by December. We can’t. Then I thought we could do that by March 31, which is today. We cannot, but we think that we can get this go-no-go decision done by the end of May 2015.
“I have to tell you that a lot of analysis and work is going on, particularly financial analysis work is going on right now that has to be completed before we can get past that stage. Remember, once we get past that stage, we have to sign some documents to say that the deal is on. If the Government of Bermuda pulls out after that, then we will be liable for some damages.
“So the go-no-go decision is a very important decision and even though it’s been pushed out into the future a couple of times, we want to be sure that the financing, particularly the financing details are worked out before we go past that, but we’re pretty confident that we see our way forward now on this. The financial model has been worked over many times and we now, particularly myself, I’m now feeling a lot more confident that this something we can really do.
“Details of the project design, financing, costing, and concession contracts will be worked out after we get past the go-no-go decision the next 12 months. At the end of all of that, the final agreements will be signed and we will be having many public meetings about this project between now and then. We want to keep public up-to-date on how this thing is progressing.
“Of course, after that construction starts. We estimate construction will take about 3 1/2 years. Unfortunately, this new airport will not be finished for the America’s Cup, but this is a project that will have very very long-term implications.
“The terminal should be finished by 2019,” added the Minister.
In addition to Minister Richards, the Town Hall saw presentations from Premier and Minister of National Security Michael Dunkley, Minister of Tourism Development and Transport Shawn Crockwell, Minister of Public Works Craig Cannonier on topics including the planned hotel development in St George’s, gambling, crime and more. We will post coverage of all the presentations later on.
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BS From Bob Richards.
Departure Tax is $20 million, how is that a minimal impact?
@ What went wrong
because you need to also look at the expense savings and not just lost revenue to see the whole picture.
Its really not complicated.
Actually I want to know what books you are looking at because the airport nets about $10 million looking at years 2010-2014. So it is a big impact on Bermuda’s revenues.
Obviously the airport is making money or the CCC wouldn’t take the project!
The fact is, the Government cannot afford to borrow another $250m for this infrastructure project. So the only way is to allow a management company to do it. Our debt service levels are already peaking. Also having the decaying asset off the balance sheet means less infrastructure cost which means less capital tied up and borrowed. Everything is borrowed right now. So he is right $10m annually is a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.
Just think if we had the $300m in PLP cost overruns, that alone we could have paid for it!
Tell that to BIU !! They think money grows on trees
Departure tax as of now goes to consolidated fund not airport. So your numbers are inaccurate.
All money goes to the consolidated fund!
Departure tax currently does not show as revenue for the airport.
the second video about 1.07 into the presentation, says
Will the Departure Tax become earmarked for the airport?
- Yes
all the departure tax will be earmarked for the airport. what that really means is there will be future increases in the departure tax to the detriment of every flyer, and no departure tax going into the consolidated fund because the airport would no longer be run by the government.
Like I said, “as of now”. Bob Richards said that at some point in the near future, yet to be finalised, the departure tax will be going to the new operator. His point was that although some see that departure tax as going to the airport in fact it goes to the consolidated fund right now.
I don’t have a good feeling about this project. 35 years is a long time. And the jobs created are only temporary for 3 years. The new airport won’t even be ready for the America’s Cup.
They already told government workers at the airport they cannot guarantee their jobs.
Something just doesn’t feel right. I would have felt better if a full bidding process was undertaken. How do we know if this is the right thing to do. How are we for certain that the project actually costs 255 million.
@umok, would have been good if you had all the same questions and concerns when it came to the plps projects?? Heritage Warf, Dame Lois brown building, Port Royal golf course, Grand Atlantic and Berkley School just to name a few??? Just those projects alone with their mysterious missing money and cost over runs would have more than paid for this much needed airport!!!!
This article isn’t titled, ” PLP past years” BTW. Can you please stick to the topic. Can you reply again.
What part of, if the plp had not squandered our money that would have easily paid for this, did you miss??? Also I will stop talking about past years the moment a certain sector of this community does the same!!! Get my drift????
I bet you went on different devices and different Internet browsers and like your own comments and dislike mine.
I would totally expect this from you. People like you are no good for society. You defend the OBA like they are a football team and treat politics like it’s some sporting event.
If you think I would do that, you are long on pettiness and short on brains?? First off I disn’t even have the knowledge with computers that you can do that!!! How do you know that can be done??? Also your support for the plp after all the carnage they caused to this island and in particular those that support them, proves my point!!! You are short on brains!!!!!
The Airport according to Bob Richards will need 400+ permanent jobs to run after it is built, so you can now show some support for the project! The new operator wants to retain the workers at the current airport, Bob Richards said so in the House, so again relax, it’s not all as bad as you think. The cost will be a binding contract, like the hospital, that is the advantage of using this approach. There won’t be overruns. Again that should please you after all the massive overruns in the past 10 years. Do you not trust Bob Richards? Who would you rather trust?
400 new jobs? LMAO
The airport does not currently support 400 jobs. Are you serious ?
You are correct, currently the airport does not support 400 jobs. Again I am telling you what Bob Richards said himself. The number of 400 I imagine, is based on the new airport and its increased size and opportunities it presents and they have estimated that number, based on other airports that have been built and staffing requirements. Anyone that works down there now that is of good standing, will no doubt be working at the airport.
Thank you for carrying on the message on how Bob Richards and the OBA are deceiving the HOA, and Bermuda.
You have done us a favor.
Lois Frederick has officially gone off his/her head. lol
400 jobs doing what??? I want to see the break down. Because it sounds like you pulled that number out of your ….
Nowhere in the presentation did Bob Richards state that the new terminal will create 400+ permanent jobs. They aint building an airport for NYC!! You need to retract that statement. That’s a bold lie. Stop polluting these forums with your OBA falsehood, deception and lies.
OBA supporters are some characters these days. They say anything.
He has said exactly that it in the House. No need of me to retract something that the Finance Minister himself has said. Go check the Hansard yourself.
And they said they were going to create 2,000 jobs.
Going to…
Going to…..
Going to… but It Never Happened.
All Broken promises.
The govt won’t be responsible for running the airport which is an expense that currently offsets most of the $20m you mention. Just get on board. 450 Bermudian jobs next year working on the airport!
You know what is sad. We are all currently discussing Assets and infrastructure, however there have been NO discussion of the airports biggest asset…ITS PEOPLE! The People of Department of Airport Operations are the biggest asset. We are specialized individuals that have been trained in their respective devisions, however to this day the staff do NOT know anything about their future. Min. Richards and others have not once had any serious discussions about us. Bermuda biggest asset is its people. It has always been about its people and not a freakin’ Building. But there is still no real discussions or feedback. Everything is ‘hold tight’, ‘be patient’ don’t worry you still have a job…for now…What about US!!!???
Bob Richards said in the House he had a meeting with airport staff. The new operators want to retain the existing staff adding more. Assume you are an asset to the airport you will be still working there in the new building. If you weren’t at the meeting ask your boss about it.
450 temporary jobs for 3 years but we give away the airport for 35 years!!
I’d at least look at other ways to finance the airport or simply not do it. 3 Years cannot justify giving the airport away for 35 years.
I’m not sold on this project. It feels raced.
The new airport will require over 400+ permanent jobs. The construction phase will require 600+ of which over 75% must be Bermudian, as part of the agreement.
You will be lucky to find 100 permanent jobs at the airport today. You need to stop shouting this. no matter how many times you say it, IT IS NOT TRUE .
It was said in the House by Bob Richards. Check the Hansard. I don’t make things up.
So why they tell government airport workers they can’t guarantee their jobs?
I don’t see how that place will create 400+ permanent jobs. That is quite contrary to what they told the workers there.
Why would any company or government promise something ahead of the deal. Could you be more naive.
@Lois Fredrick “The new airport will require over 400+ permanent jobs. The construction phase will require 600+ of which over 75% must be Bermudian, as part of the agreement.”
Danny and Lois are two dreamers.
They didn’t go down there and promise 400 jobs you two dream boats. They said they could not guarantee any jobs!!!! Wake the up!! You are being naive. C’mon man stop the ignorance.
So you think when they build a bigger airport that is hoped to be more busy, they will need less staff than at present? Bob Richards said that the new operator was keen to retain existing staff and will need to add more. I imagine, if you are a productive, skilled employee, you will be still working there. A new airport means more opportunities for people like you with those skills. How is this a negative for you? Although I can understand that you might have some anxiety right now, it should open up possibilities for you, that up until now were not available.
“So you think when they build a bigger airport that is hoped to be more busy, they will need less staff than at present?”
I thought you had a higher intelligence level..
The size of the airport will not magically make it busier. What kind of dumb logic is that. People don’t come here to see our airport. Most of the time airlines fly small planes and we only have a handful of flights each day.
Are you forgetting we had the same size airport during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s during our golden era for tourism? I typically think OBA supporters are usually smart but you on the other hand are some sort of naive an ignorant. You can’t even think for yourself. It’s like your in denial.
I bet that any job that even touches the airport is counted as a “job.” For example: a postman delivers or picks up the mail once a day is counted as a job; pizza delivery dude bringing one pizza a week for one person at the airport is counted; etc, etc.
Or, looking at it another way, that $20 million is about enough to pay interest & service charges for maybe 60 days or so on the Debt that the PLP ran up in a few very short years.
You are right. What went wrong?
Historically, Departure Tax has netted around ~$12-14 million. Expenses are more than $20 million. I don’t know where this implication that the Bermuda airport is some money-making operation for the airport (misinformation from MP Burt, I think), but it’s not the case. If anything, the airport barely breaks even most years. Budget book is clear.
Lies! The airport, expenses and revenues have netted about $10 revenue.
Obviously the airport is making money or the CCC wouldn’t take the project!
Even if you were right about $10m of net revenues, wouldn’t it be worth foregoing that create 450 new Bermudian jobs?
Today anyone can go and retrieve the pertinent information from PATI…Just go to their offices and request this particular subject. Ask what is being made and what is being spent then “pick the bones out for yourself.”
Lesson below.
“The Opposition, which happen to be today, the Progressive Labour Party who can see clearly all the success coming down the proverbial road.
Their initial strategy was to keep people angry so that they would not notice the progress being made by the One Bermuda Alliance Government”
So after 35 years were’ gonna need a new airport !!!!!
Priceless
So 450 Bermudians are PROMISED (again) down from the 2000 .
Like the song ” You made me promises, promises you knew you never keep
Promises, promises, why do I believe
Hopefully we can set aside some funds to clean up all the busted up boats that have been left along the shoreline in this area. Be also nice to get something done to improve the state of the airport dump. First impressions……..
April fools Bermuda ? Don’t let the fool’s play u
Been there, done that.
So now it goes from 30 years to 35 years?
and the management contract is basically privatization.
Sigh.
GET AWAY OBA!
It’s not privatisation. The assets $4Billion worth remain in Bermuda’s hands the whole time. It is the management of the airport terminal that is being contracted out. The 35 year term is much like when you apply for a mortgage and you have to choose the length based on what you can afford to pay. In this case it made sense to extend to 35 years to make it all work financially. Over 600 jobs and 75% of those for Bermudians i.e. 450, is great for Bermudians who need work. Breaking ground around Spring 2016. So much good news coming these days, things are looking up, you have to admit, aren’t they.
Thanks Lois.
Now let us “pray” this will become clear to them who seem to have difficulty envisioning what it is we are truly getting.
“The assets, ($4Billion worth) remains in Bermuda’s hands the whole time.” Need more be said?
Don’t bother your head with it. Just accept it’s beyond your powers of comprehension.
I don’t buy his rationale for not doing an RFP.
Most of the ones he cited were disasters because the RFP process was flawed.
It’s going to happen, with an independent, non Canadian firm making sure we are getting value for money from the developer. Great for 450 Bermudians that need work.
That’s all well and good. It’s the reasoning that’s weak, not necessarily the project itself.
“One chance to make a first impression” and that is the airport? Now, does anyone believe the tourist arrivals are going to jump significantly because of the airport.
Conversely, has the existing airport remained a drag on the tourist numbers so far?
Does the finance minister honestly think people are going to go “Wow, the new airport is awesome and I am going to come again and again to Bermuda”
Tourist numbers will increase only if the place is affordable in terms of the food, lodging, taxis and other expenses that tourists incur.
Stop making sense man! You’ll cause the cattle to stampede!
@encyclopedia, as usual your plp way of thinking is just plain silly and full of misguided nonsense!! How about the 450 bermudians earning a living and circulating the money in the economy??? Also being 85% of the government revenue comes from the IB sector, would you not think if we want to get even more IB here, that we should at least give them a dry walkway into the airport terminal??? Even if it is net $10 million a year that is taken in from the airport ( highly unlikely ) that is a pittance to what will be generated by having 600 hundred people spending their money here!!! I would bet there will be some happy Bermudian landlord renting to the 150 expat workers who need a roof over their heads while working on the project as well?? posts like yours makes it very easy to say that those that think like the plp are just as dense as the plp!!!! just stay out of the way and let the pros handle this!!!!
14 dislikes in less than 5 mins?? You pathetic plpers sitting in Alaska Hall tonight sipping the special plp tea hate to hear the truth don’t you??? What a bunch of dismal failures you all are?? Hahahahahahaha
I’m in my living room, actually never been inside Alaska hall… so what now?
Can we expect a new bridge as well? This is a long over-due need as the bailey bridges were never designed to be in this sort of extended service. No politics please, lets just get it done before we have a disaster. Surely $20M or so can build an attractive fixed span “Gateway” to Bermuda.
But how is it going to be paid for? The airport can be financed because it can generate income. The bridge cannot easily do the same. As Bob Richards said last night, when he finds a way of building a causeway and a way to pay for it, he will do it.
Toll bridge! Ya…aha.
Where does that money come from?
Fabian blew through here in 2003, 11 1/2 years ago. How many times did the PLP trumpet away that the bridge was about to be replaced? It was going to started like next month over & over. That bridge needed to be replaced long before there was any new terminal talk though that was trotted out time after time as well in the past 15 years. Nothing happened.
Just another project the Gonna Government was gonna do that never happened. Oh well, Beyonnce came here, the Gombeys got to go to Switzerland, plenty others went on junkets around the world.
@ Triangle Drifters: Ain’t dat strange, for some reason diehards fail to acknowledge the waste of millions of dollars when the Progressive Labour Party were, “the big dogs in the yard” and having the audacity to tell the voting public, “we had to deceive you.”
The Airport project is financed by C.C.C. and the construction of said project will be done by Aecon Group who’ll be hiring 2/3 of their employees from the unemployment lines presently on the Island.
That’s at no expense to we the Bermudian public, and when they have to leave the Island, they would leave the airport in tip-top shape because that is a part of the agreement e.g. to keep up maintenance etc.
Now the Causeway, yes it is deplorable and must be replaced or repaired but right now we / Bermuda Government do not have monies to do either… As a matter of fact, that’s possibly why the former Government, (P.L.P.) hadn’t fixed the problem.
Your argument is flawed bcos u haven’t taken into account the fact that the economy is about to overheat with all the hotel and other construction projects going on and it’s a limited number of construction workers on the island so thus project will probably be 75% foreigners by the time they will be ready to build while the AC village is being built, Morgan’s point, Hamilton princess and any other project.. jus how many construction workers do u think we have? If u believe they will jus Hire any Joe Blow that shows up for work u are sadly mistaken..I see 450 jobs and about 100 tops to be Bermuda residents if that..
Just curious, why did we choose CCC if they are just going to hire Aecon to manage and build this new airport? Why not just choose Aecon themselves? Wouldn’t it be cheaper??
Because CCC is paying Aecon, not the Bermudian government.
CCC puts up the money, oversees the building and management of the airport once built.
you not understanding CCC broker the deal. You see with all the international standards and paperwork etcc… etc.. that needs to be adhered to these companies do not want to do. You see the Canadian Government have all that built in expertise. Thus the private firms use the government entities to facilitate all the grunt work. Why? Because CIVIL SERVICE workers know their jobs better than any other private sector entity. Oh Yes us civil service workers know our STUFF! And to prove it to you i want you to watch a little Youtube video about the “biggest company you never heard of” This company is the KING of outsourcing. The Big Cahuna of Outsourcing, The head HONCHO of outsourcing. That company is SERCo! Oh yes! Big Bad SERCo. And you can best believe that is somewhere implanted into the CCC. But again go to youtube and listen to the staggering figures that Serco generate from the NO.1 Asset …wait for it… “CIVIL SERVICE WORKERS” that’s right 85 % of the expertise Serco uses worldwide come from ex-civil service workers. BPSU you have the expertise in the palm of your hand now its time to think outside the box. FORM a COMPANY like SERCo and utilize all the expertise you have! SIMPLE! We could do international RFP just like CCC and or Serco!
Contract : Management start 2019
The year Bermuda Gov get it back, = year 2054
I’ll take the PLP seriously when they rage against the 262 year Waterfront lease and White’s Island lease.
The finance minister says RFP does not guarantee best results.
The RFP process is good for selecting a hotel/casino, while RFP process is bad for selecting the airport developer.
What kind of logic is that?
Did anyone here what Minister Richards had said about the RFP process? “HE HAS NO FAITH in the RFP process!” Because of the cost overuns of past administrations, PLP and UBP he no longer has faith with in the process. But what many people are not understanding is the Minister Richards has no faith in the current professions that also comprise the expertise from Architects, Engineers, Lawyers, Contractors and any othe professional entity that the PRIVATE and PUBLIC sector offers! He threw everyone under the BUS! Many of or professionals let that comment slide but I took great offense to it! What he failed to address is politicians involvement in many of these cost overuns the political pandering and infiltration in the psyche of all government projects. That has NEVER been addressed!!!
………….look in the fine print for the Government Guarantee which I guarantee will be in excess of $200m……..yawn you natives are so pedestrian it is unreal
The OBA/UBP got lucky for 50 years running the government – a rising economy bails out fools. The PLP were unlucky and unable to govern in a changing economic environment. Good luck with austerity and outsourcing.
Quo Fata Ferunt
@ San George,
No Bermuda got unlucky having the inept & amateurish PLP in control during the changing economic environment. No one forced the PLP to continue spending like drunken sailors while revenue dropped!! That was Dumb.
They sold the sheeple grand promises and backed it up by proclaiming they are spending mega $$$$ for us but simply wasted much needed revenue. $42 Million on the Not So Grand Atlantic sums up their approach nicely. But still the Sheeple want them back in power LMAO!!
I could get funding for a new causeway if belco would purchase the electricity from the causeway hydro electricity produced from a dutch design that curently exists,after it pays for itself the profit could be utilised in many ways…or the electricity could be used to produce solid hydrogen fuel cells ,which could be sold as fuel for bats cars buses etc…which are also now existing in holland……..apperantly…wwhat a word…apperantly…
Seriously I’m telling you this government in particular has no clue when it comes to sustainable development. They are so worried about controlling every and i mean every facet of any kind of new initiatives. They are ALLL about TOTAL CONTROL! And yes I voted for them I voted for change…all me and my people are getting is greif and a couple of fast ass sailboats. I like the sailboats though…when they come ill be front and center.
That’s a good idea
i do not think the airport is something we should do at this time. like the doing of cedar bridge made many wealthy people from one party Berkeley made the other now that’s done another project that will surely make many more wealthy. and further more how can you be so sure Bermuda has the man power to build such a thing when building starts excuses will blur the truth!! the oba gave 77 mill in breaks to an idea with no guarantee of success and 14 million to an already stablished wealthy family that owns a hotel blaming the plp for such legislation instead of fixing it and back dating it. but yet continue to borrow at twice the speed as the plp to give tax breaks :: I voted oba and will be surely staying away from the polls next election unless the plp get new leaders and rid the ubp rejects…
@sebring
I am glad you brought up the $77m for the AC. On the one hand, the PLP criticize the OBA for a $77m expense without recognizing future revenue. Conversely, when it comes to the airport they only want to talk about lost revenue and ignore future expense savings. Both are examples of “half-truths” to serve an agenda.
*like the doing of cedar bridge made many wealthy people from one party*
Sounds like you know nothing of the dozens of small firms that were contracted to work there so the pie was intentionally spread around .
As for the Berkely , I think there’s a lot of independent truckers you need to speak with .
Tax concessions is not giving people money. What it is, is not paying tax on something they would otherwise pay. Now tell me this. Would you have preferred for that wealthy family to have not got the tax concessions and not spent $100m + in Bermuda hiring many Bermudians. Or to give them the tax concessions and to spend the $100m+ and hire those Bermudians. That wealthy family also had a choice as to whether or not to do business and spend their money here in Bermuda or somewhere else. The Govt. made the wise choice to not collect some taxes from them and get a whole lot more in return. Can’t you see it? I suppose you just expected them to build and pay those taxes too, it doesn’t work that way.
In fact, the Minister of Tourism said at the meeting last night, that the Govt. are considering getting rid of the Concessions Act from back in 2000, as it is outdated and not competitive with our competitor. They would like to implement an Incentives Act, that would make the island much more competitive compared to other islands and in turn help attract new investment. Isn’t that what everyone is crying out for? The reason for the lack of investment is the high costs of building here and if we can make those costs less prohibitive with creative incentives, I say get on with it.
still don’t see the need to rush to get the new airport built as it won’t be ready in 2017 when we expect to see a spike in visitors. and, when we consider a new airport we have to at least consider the environs. no good looking at a first class airport and then within seconds be looking at a third world causeway…not seeing Bob’s logic.
it is all about creating jobs. People are always on about the 2000 jobs, well here will be 600+ with 450+ of them going to Bermudians. Otherwise, where exactly do people expect the jobs to come from? People can’t on the one hand complain that the OBA has not create the 2000 and then on the other hand, when they come up with a plan to create 25% of those jobs, complain they don’t like the way those new jobs are being created. I find it baffling really, but I guess that politics.
You don’t see the need to create hundreds of jobs for Bermudians then. No urgency about that. Not an issue for you. Ok, got it.
Bob Richards said at the meeting last night that the causeway is the other part of the problem. He said once he can figure out how to pay for it, or more likely, for it to pay for itself, he will do it. So it is on the radar, but because the causeway has no source of income at present, unlike the airport which has a revenue stream which can be increased if developed properly, the causeway will be done at a later date.
GET BUILDING NOW! or it will be another 50 years of BS
The causeway is not included in this sparkling OBA jewel? Does anyone believe that some time over the next 35 years that a hurricane is not going to hit Bermuda and sweep the causeway away; than what?
The sooner you all let go of this Party Politics that have divide you all down the middle, the sooner Bermuda will prosper. You all have been divided and conquered but too blind to see. In a Party Politic system, such as the one we have, Politicians enter the arena not out of the goodness of their hearts but for the power and clout that comes with being in power. You are all brain washed and polarized so you can’t see that you are just being like a flock of Sheep, who are too impaird by hate and distrust. All your thoughts and opinions are guided by your Shepard, both OBA and PLP alike. I know the OBA flock, would like to think that the PLP flock has a monopoly on being sheep like but you are as blinded if not more blind. For the simple fact that all of what you complained about, is all of a sudden OK because your Shepard is in power. Unity is strength but as long as you all are blinded by hate and distrust, you will never unite and gain the prosperity that comes with unity. The sooner you all realize that we all float or sink together, the better it will be for all. For the Bermudians with a bit of wealth, who thinks that keeping the divide will serve them just fine, wait until the people, who has nothing to lose let loose. You all better stop this racial/political bickering and join forces to better your Bermuda. Oh, I forgot? They are two Bermudas, my bad.
In the winter months, we sometimes handle 4 commercial flights a day. There are more daily corporate jet operations than there are commercial ones. For sure the commercial operators are not going to accept paying higher fees. There is no committment to us with Bermuda’s low load factors. Back in the day, Eastern Airlines alone had 9 flights a day and least 4 were Widebody L1011 Tristars. Nowadays we are lucky to get B737.
And we did not have 100 workers back then….. How ridiculous a statement.
Does this new airport include a new Cargo Shed? We certainly cannot have a brand new airport alongside a delapidated looking Cargo facility that looks like it should now be a part of the dump.
Or is that another $35 million snow job after thought ?
Of the 2000 unemployed Bermudians, do we really have 450 of them as skilled construction workers ready to go to work tomorrow or is that just a pie in the sky number that looks and sounds good?
So Bermudians aren’t good enough to do the jobs? Why are you being so anti-Bermudian?
You people can’t stand it can you. Hundreds of jobs are being created, and you hate it.
So we’re Building a new airport for 3 flights a day??? I say 3 cause it seems as though some days that’s the most passenger flights that come.
We’ve outpriced ourselves uncle bob thus the reason the numbers keep getting lower and the air lines keep cutting and cutting flights to Bermuda. Soon enough Bermuda will have a new terminal with 0 flights a day.
It ain’t rocket science people.
With all the projected construction with the Americas Cup, hotels, and other projects, are the same people in construction (or any other industry) somehow being double or even triple counted?
Example: if an electrician or plumber or roofer or whomever; works on two or three projects during the same month, is that person counted as one job or two or three?
One always has to double check government math & assumptions.
The airport is the “Sole Gateway to the World”, Mr Richards??? Uh, what about the Cruise Ship Terminals? (Which are other than optimal in their presentation of Bermuda.) Or are we really upgrading the airport for the business traveler?