It isn’t Govt’s job to build privately owned Hotels now is it? They are responsible for capital projects/Govt infrastructure. Get It?

1. The airport is a dump… literally.

2.In it’s present location and state it is vulnerable to Hurricanes as we see most every year. Should they wait until the next hurricane causes it’s complete closure?

3.We are pumping good money into a facility that needs to be replaced. End of.

4. Building a new one will help to stimulate the economy and add more construction jobs even if it is just for 3 years.

4. The Govt cannot afford to pay for it themselves (we all know why) so this method has been chosen.

While I don’t want the airport being controlled by an overseas company there is no choice at this time. The Govt gets slaughtered for some tame austerity measures yet when they attempt to create jobs and get money injected into the local economy they get slaughtered for that as well. LOL

Carry on OBA, you where elected to lead so please lead & get on with this. I hope the out of work construction workers who need jobs remember who has stood in the way of that.

In wrapping up his statement, the Minister said, “I think the people of Bermuda need to focus on what we are doing here.
“What we are doing is trying to create hundreds of job opportunities for Bermudians, to provide new infrastructure without increasing the government debt and with guarantees against overruns.
“It’s a unique model and we have proceeded to try to negotiate with the players, all above board, all according to the book. That’s what Bermudians need to know….there is nothing that we have done that has not been according to the book.”

Minister Bob Richards Sir,
I thank you for, “taking the boogies out of the publics eyes”

People’s Complainers – move on to your next counter productive moaning point.

Oh, and ditch the church guy – he’s clearly of no help.

Pathetic Loser Party

However, I did see part of “Let’s talk” the other night.

From what I saw there was a definite agenda to try and cast the OBA government as corrupt. Gary Moreno was having trouble controlling the insistent innuendo and had to correct and cut people off numerous times.

He asked the several times whether this was political and each time the response was a deflection rather than a straight Yes/No.

He asked why if there was proof of wrong-doing why the issue was not brought to the police. There was some fluff about bringing it to the people and deciding what action to take and then going to cabinet (cue another rally!). He asked why they didn’t bring it to the governor if they did not believe that the governing party would deal with the alleged corruption and there was a spiel about colonialism and slavery etc. Neither question was answered.

Bottom line if there is proof or even perceived proof of corruption, it should be addressed legally and investigated immediately. There is an onus upon the representatives of the ‘people’, whether that be the PC, the opposition party, the governing party or the governor to ensure that occurs AND in the proper manner, not in the court of public opinion.

I do wonder about the ‘Headlines’ put on each excerpt as more than one is quite misleading unless someone reads the whole of the email provided.

In the end, this looks like the People’s Campaign either deliberately or unconsciously misinterpreted phrasing and context, and now trying to raise the ire of those unwilling to bother to read what was supplied, or happy to misunderstand along with the PC.

As a side note, I wouldn’t trust the documentation unless it comes directly from one of the correspondents’ email browsers, or is confirmed by at least one of that parties involved, because it’s not particularly hard to falsify emails, particularly if someone is only working with a printed copy. I hope PC took this into consideration when trusting the documentation they were provided with.

Even a ‘man of the cloth’ can’t add credibility to their BS.

Flatts, Bermuda

Minister Richards pushed for the MOU to be signed before Cup Match in an email to Mr. Adderley. This same MOU that will ratify all parties on board for the untendered, conflict-of-interest-laden $200+ million project. Even Mr. Adderley thought the timeline ‘aggressive’ in his email. You can view these all in the email copies on that People’s Campaign website posted by Bernews at the top of the article. Then CCC and Aecon magically formulate an Advisory Services Agreement between themselves dated immediately after the MOU which seems to assume the Bda airport project is pretty much a done deal.

In the emails:

Aecon saying ‘It’s important to maintain the CCC cover’…

Aecon asking CCC if they could use the CCC letterhead for a trip they would be making to Bermuda thus misidentifying themselves…wow!

Language of using ‘Back channel’ deals. Making up a ‘script’ for PR reasons.. All in the emails.

——-
How is it even conceivable that OBA supporters on this board still think this is an above board situation and that nothing is wrong?? The smell is getting stronger. And still no comment from any OBA leaders.. I am waiting for the master spin and it will be a doozy. My guess is that in a subtle and nice way, Aecon and CCC may be thrown under the bus for their aggressive methods in they way they communicated. Just a guess.

I looked at AECON’s website and here’s what I learned:

The only airport project they and Google have listed is Quito in Ecuador which was a “$700 million project” at least according to their website but Canada.com says “US$414 million”

Canada.com goes on to say, “Aecon will help finance the construction costs, and then earn money through a 45.5% stake in the airport itself. The profits will come from everything from landing fees to food sales.”

There’s more, but I would like to know why so many people are okay with giving our airport away for 35 years?

Why are we suggesting that the island go maybe halves with AECON and then we could also make some money off of OUR airport?

People were up in arms when four Uighurs came here as if we were giving the country away and yet they are still here…nobody died….no money was lost….the island is still Bermudaful….YET as of 9:40am there are 172 who agree with a posting below that says: “another plp tactic to stop forward movement”

We should put our political allegiances aside and think about our island. Thirty five years is a long time. At some point AECON will break even and even if it takes TWENTY FIVE years for that to happen that STILL means TEN YEARS of profits that will leave the island.

I am shocked that there aren’t any people bouncing all over cars like they bounced on Zane Desilva’s car back it the day.

Where is all the outrage? Take Bob Richards and the OBA out of the equation and pretend it’s Ewart Brown and the PLP doing this……now does this airport deal sound like a good idea?

I would love to see the People’s Campaign experience the same sort of scrutiny with their background emails that fly back and forth – as compared to their public statements. Not to say their intent is different; only emails between people who trust and know each other can easily be misinterpreted.

We know we need a new airport to move us forward as a professional and capable destination. I’m sure the PLP tried their best to finance the airport’s redevelopment using the traditional ideas that the Opposition is suggesting now (no?) so by definition new methods and new ideas need to be used.

But then, new ideas tend to be scary – so OBA, please work on enlightening the Bermuda public!! Walk us through these new concepts. Unknowns will always flame the cinders.

Two to three years of employment is fine by me! I’ll take whatever I can – to help feed my family today.

I am for full disclosures and transparencies – however, now is not the time for political divisions and conspiracy theories. We need to work together to find an amicable solution – Bermuda is in dire straits!

Things are bad! I have first-hand experiences with the forgotten side of Bermuda – where people are dying as a result of being unemployed and not having the insurance that would have afforded them a life-saving surgery. Or, families living in cars or derelict buildings – going days without eating. And, school teachers pooling their furloughed salaries to buy food for hungry school children. Or, Senior citizens losing their dream, homes because they have been forced into retirement and can’t no longer afford the mortgage. And, the working, middle-class families with two incomes who are still going hungry and unable to pay their bills. The struggles are real!

Whilst, the employed, bourgeois side of Bermuda are caught up in the political wranglings – the unemployed are busy struggling and starving to death! As a result, I am on bended knees – imploring all of Bermuda, government officials and political parties to come together as a unified Bermuda for this major, life altering project. A project that will help revitalize our economy and get people like myself back to work.

The PLP have admitted nothing EVER. Just look at Port Royal. The financial records are simply not available at all.

Your call for transparency is oddly only relevant for the OBA.