1 Hour Video: Derrick Burgess At PAC Meeting
Former Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Public Accounts during their Public Hearing held yesterday [May 26] at St. Paul in Hamilton.
Mr Burgess discussed various matters including the forged cheques, the cost of the Dame Lois Browne Evans court building, the Auditor General’s report and more.
The PAC members are Chairman David Burt [PLP], Wayne Furbert [PLP], Lovitta Foggo [PLP], Cole Simons [OBA], Susan Jackson [OBA], Leah Scott [OBA], and Jeff Sousa [OBA]; and their stated purpose is to “examine, consider and report on the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the Legislature, to meet the public expenditure.”
1 hour video of Derrick Burgess’ testimony at the PAC meeting
Also appearing at yesterday’s PAC meeting was Financial Secretary Anthony Manders who discussed various aspects of the Airport Redevelopment Agreement between the Government and the Canadian Commercial Corporation. You can watch the full video of Mr Manders’ testimony here.
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How can the “Public” receive an honest opinion from any PAC meeting when the Note:”The PAC members are Chairman David Burt [PLP], Wayne Furbert [PLP], Lovitta Foggo [PLP], Cole Simons [OBA], Susan Jackson [OBA], Leah Scott [OBA], and Jeff Sousa [OBA]; and their stated purpose is to “examine, consider and report on the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the Legislature, to meet the public expenditure.”
How can the “Public” receive an honest opinion from any PAC meeting when Note:”The PAC members are Chairman David Burt [PLP], Wayne Furbert [PLP], Lovitta Foggo [PLP], Cole Simons [OBA], Susan Jackson [OBA], Leah Scott [OBA], and Jeff Sousa [OBA]; and their stated purpose is to “examine, consider and report on the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the Legislature, to meet the public expenditure.”
Good God bye ya dum !
Burgess thinks he can rap it up here in a PAC presentation. Very defensive, what’s he hiding? COE?
If Burgess was Michael Dunkley, the panel would have burried him.
I would never waste an entire hour of my life listening to what burgess has to say but, I do have to ask, when he was stating during his reign of terror, that the Dame Lois Building was going to cost X amount, he thought it wise NOT to mention that it was for the outer shell ONLY??? And he thinks we should seriously take him him serious??? Just more nonsense from an old relic of yesteryear that put us in the mess that we find ourselves in today!!!
Reign of terror.
Because the PLP called in mortages right….
It doesn’t take a deep thinker to figure out your shallow agenda?? When you can name ONE legitimate and current mortgage that was called in during the entire time of the UBP government, then I will listen to you!! Until then, either put up, or shut up!!!! Now, with that said, we all know of MANY that lost their houses because of the disastrous fiscal policies of YOUR plp!!!
My father had to leave bermuda because the he had made some very strongly worded comments in regards to tge UBP practice of racism and two days later the bsnk called and demanded he pay his business loan in full.
Needless to say he sold everything and moved us to the US until we recovered….
If the UBP wanted to get rid of all the problem PLP people by calling their morgages, Bermuda would not have had the problem of the PLP in poweras all of them would have been gone, just as you said your Dad did. If the UBP didn’t want black people here they would not have allowed so many come up from the West Indies. Bermuda would have been a island with a large majority of white people.
Why so many !!!! Westpalm?
kangoocar I don’t think you have always lived in Bermuda
because under the days of the ubp and bank of Bermuda cartel
a lot a people lost houses just for speaking up against the
racist regime of the ubp government
so you just don’t know sh==t
After many , many years of these allegations we’re still waiting on someone , just ONE person to produce paperwork showing a fully paid up and current mortgage loan schedule that proves that the bank was really interested in losing money on a loan . If the evil banks were that racist , why did they lend to blacks in the first place ?
Interestingly many loans were pulled during the plp years because people defaulted on their payments but we never hear a peep about that .
Thank you, I always find it interesting that no-one to this day has provided proof of mortgages being pulled?? The gullible will always take a huge lie and make it bigger???
So im lying?
I have proof. My father produced proof and was told that it was standard business practice because his business was likely to fail.
He had 14 employees
2 bajans and 1 jamacian
11 bermudians
All lost their jobs. The worst thing is that years later my father was arrested for not paying payroll tax for the 14 for the entire year after his business closed because of a clerical error. He spent thousands on his defence.
People know about this case.
Let me help you!! First off you still have not produced one once of proof?? Secondly, if your father was arrested for failure to pay, payroll tax, then why not be honest and state he was arrested under the plp government for failing to pay payroll taxes???
I have to side with kangaroo here. This is largely urban myth, just like Tucker’s Town being stolen. Mortgages were and are called when people don’t pay or can’t pay.
I say this having worked in Bermudas banking system since 1972 and having closely studied its history.
I know of people who specifically spread racists gossip like this when their mortgages were called. It was always always due to non performance. Never ever due to racial discrimination. This is just another piece of racists garbage put out by certain people.
Thank you Ed, for providing the real facts!!!
Ed did not provide the real facts.
One has to guild these things together to understand.
Money.
And if we’re going to put a few urban myths to bed , here’s another .
‘De oligarchy shut down de Tech because they were afraid of too many smart black men ‘
Rubbish !
First off , certain people conveniently forget that Tech was not an exclusively black school . Why would ‘de oligarchy’ penalize a whole lot of white men to achieve some secret agenda ?
The fact is that for a good few years prior to the closure of the Tech enrollment numbers had been plummeting because large numbers of black men were enticed by the instant financial gratification of moving to construction and hotel work due to the burgeoning amounts of cash flowing thanks to the fast growing and booming tourism industry .
Why stay in school when I can go out right now and earn large amounts of money without any real qualifications ?
Enrollment numbers plummeted to the point where it was no longer feasible to keep the Tech open .
End of urban myth .
The Only years I did not live here actually the last 3 yrs of the UBP and the first 8 yrs of the plp!! All I can tell you is, Bermuda was a totally different place when I returned, and I can tell you it was NOT for the better!! The plp destroyed the very solid economy the UBP built and the social fabric of this island deteriorated tremendously!!! In all my yrs and they date back to 1962, I had never seen the amount of racist garbage being tossed about this island, until I returned in mid 2007!! So basically, you are the one that doesn’t know sh..t, because you yourself are blind too it!!!!!
Are you for real????…..you definitely have the right name…Kangoo..or rather it should be Kangaroo because your head isn’t in the pouch but rather some other place.
Do you actually know what used to happen to “us” when we didn’t agree with the status quo back then?..and better yet. how many have lost homes since the reign of terror by the OBA?
Where are the 2,000 jobs promised by the falsifiers of truth?….almost double have LOST jobs since you came into power
SO the PLP borrow us into a huge hole on projects such as the Grand Atlantic etc. but an election promise of 2,000 jobs is what you focus on? Those who lost their homes under the OBA were certainly going to lose them if the PLP got into power. The PLP would have also witnessed the loss of jobs after the 2012 election due to the mergers in the re insurance business.
WHy are you harping on about how badly you were treated “back then”? It has nothing to do with the PAC article. Are you saying that is the excuse for the inept mishandling of capital projects, at best, or corruption, at its worst, under the PLP? The PLP had free rein to destroy our economy or raid our coffers because of racism in the past? That is ridiculous.
It was only a reign of terror for the priveleged… the rest of us are suffering from the reign of terror NOW!
Wrong!!!mit was the middle and lower class that suffered big time because of the plp, the ” privileged?? ” actually got affected very little!! When the plp support base wakes up to those facts, maybe then, they might start seeing the light???
Again kangaroo is correct. The people who suffered the most under PLP were the very people who voted for them and were promised a piece of the pie. Poor people who were easily swayed and taken advantage of. Now PLP wants to do it again next year. Can you really be that stupid?
Sadly, the answer is YES, they can be that stupid??
Reign of terror was on Bermuda, and Bermudians future (except for friends and family)
That has ended under the OBA.
OBA is for everyone.
what planet are you from?
Planet Bermuda !
The lack of availability of money is down to the PLP.
The OBA started with minus billions. They ARE turning this country around from going under. that is a FACT.
The PLP worldwide recession myth again? Of course you drag that out. Moron.
The worldwide recession lasted a year, ours lasted six years. It was directly caused by idiotic PLP decisions made by morons who didn’t know what they were doing. PLP are the morons.
I agree.
agree with everything except the PLP put Bermuda in a recession….we were put in a depression by the PLP..whatever mistakes the OBA has made pale in comparison to the PLP disaster
Well it’s all laugh and jokes calling everyone “cousin” what with that ? Beyond believable , no shame for the lost of the people’s money .
Funny. I worked on the new police – court building doing drywall. My self, a trades man ( fully qualified Bermudian ). There was me 4 local labourers + 14 Mexicans!!! That was under Derrick Burgess watch. Hmmm
Right.
Mexicans.
14 of them?
So why we didn’t hear about it back then??? Mexicans?
Please.
Same reason you didn’t hear about the foreign labour on the Port Royal job… (and it isn’t because it wasn’t there).
There were work permit violations during the building of Grand Atlantic. You lot swept that under the carpet.
And how many of the 14 Mexicans did you see standing around talking?
Why have the committee not spoken to those who were involved in the project from its inception, and who were working for government on its development? Those who were working in a professional capacity who were subjected to political interference? They have huge insight and many stories to tell. Is it because they are expats? Is that why so many have had to leave Bermuda?
Definitely a worthy project for investigation, such a shame that the people who worked on it have not been spoken to.
I’ve left long since left Bermuda, but I have questions. Why did so many people travel to China to “study” materials for the project? Have the variations been examined? Has the final account been audited? Who signed off on it?
Hold your ground well, Mr. Burgess.Speak all of the truth.
Good luck with that…truth….I wouldn’t trust the guy after my experience.
If anyone disagrees he gets them in a headlock.
The truth???? He sounds clueless.
I think there where some Brazilians there as well…
I had a small part with the mill work…
Oh know, how many in a Brazilian?
The bottom line is, nothing will come out of this
think it was more than 14 thats why it got completed on time not like d hospital with wrong layout on floors in-correct arche angles just to mention a few. many more i no about on the hospital but mexicans/americans/canadians wats d difference sound like jealous haters to me.
Gather round children. It’s story time with MP Burgess!
LOL!!
Reminds us of the reign of clueless fools oh lawd no more of that
It is difficult for me to believe that this committee, which virtually con sist of politicians, will be forthright, factual, and prepared to proceed with complaints. If there was evidence pass the point of sheer incompetence and a foolish waste of public funds, what is the next level ? Is this a mat ter that has over-sight by the Accountant General and Attorney General. I recall when the Auditor General was arrested, and files seized, I am not su re of the outcome. Is this all political? Can the fox be trusted to look af ter the hen house? This committee is likely to be bias, there are no indepe ndent persons.
Accountant General and Attorney General; I recall when the Auditor General was arrested, and files seized, I am not sure of the outcome. Is this all political? Can the “fox be trusted to look after the hen house?” This committee is likely to be bias, there are no independent persons.
What I said was a fact!! Like it or not. Check (pati) under work permits back then
this is a dress rehearsal for the eventual trial….it is coming…..
So if I get this right, they signed a contract for a building without any actual interior design (and at the time said that the court building would cost x, but never said that was without the fit out to be usable for occupation) and was of an unfit design for Bermuda standards… and he is trying to blame the architects??? The PLP government signed the contract for this to be built, why did they not know that the building couldn’t meet our codes??? Wouldn’t it be the government’s fault for not ensuring the building could meet code before signing a contract to build it??
Yea…it sounds like you and your OBA Government regarding the airport!!….but then again the meetings aren’t for the public but rather OBA members
So why is it the the Chairman of the PAC can easily reference a…. I don’t know how many page testimony… from Mr. Burgess, to lead and draw points from random pages for Mr. Burgess to testify on, but forces the FS to read a couple of legal letters and emails that he is already in possession of, but never eludes to having seen?? They were expressly sent to the PAC in response to the request, why didn’t he have a copy of them in front so he could read from???
The PLP/BIU $2BILLION IN DEBT
The OBA $1BILLION dollars in investment in Bermuda and growing
That is the difference.
But we are almost 3 billion in debt…
I love the way he “explains” the cost overruns for DLBE building ” Dat was just for a base building, a shell”.
Didn’t include the “optional extras”. And we all know how that worked with you lot eh Derrick?
Over the past few years a number of Accountant Generals, had spoken out, af ter they had retired, about the excessive over-spending and failure by civi l servants to follow financial instructions. It seems they had no ability to control or exercise discipline toward those who did whatever they felt like doing. If a body shop says the estimate for spraying my car is $500 and 3 days later I am billed for $800, he sure would have to of explaining to do and will have to except I am hardly gonna pay past $600. If there are any problems or extra work needed it will have to be discussed first. Each layer of those giving authority i.e. supervisor,manager, department head, head accountant..must meet regularly to going over the business of the day and do the necessary paper-work to ensure waste is limited, and performance is on point. There are times a Minister may rule and have very limited knowledge of the workings of his/her department..and forgotten to give attention to the advice of his top civil servants.
like bugs said ‘that’s all folks’
there will be no accountability. the money is gone. the days of surplus tax dollars to cover up UBP crap are done. We cannot borrow more and more money to cover up crap like the PLP did. The OBA have PPP tricks up their sleeves to look like someone else is paying for a major project….MPs get their fat pensions regardless of their shinanighans….Politicians SMH
Erm Hospital PPP….yah knows we pay millions every year for the new wing don’t you.
yup that one too. thanks for proving my point
fey ?
?
years ago if a person was wandering the streets at odd hours, he was asked a few questions, if his answers revealed he was homeless, he most likely was arrested for ” wandering abroad ” Is it a crime to be homeless? Yes. Politicians have the responsibility of over-seeing services to the general public, i.e. education, judicial, police, prison , works and engineering, etc…there is some latitude given to them….now when millions of dollars cannot be properly accounted for….the answers go all over the place. Ther e is always some waste, yes, and there are also likely to be some over-runs. The person doing 3 months in prison for wandering abroad, has not harmed a fly. The seemingly casual handling of the public purse will hurt many programs and folks in need.
$71 million was just for a shell?
You ARE kidding right?
Overbudget by “between” $13 million and $26 million dollars? BETWEEN? A $13 million dollar question mark???????
I can only assume Mr. Burgess will be brought back to substantiate the numbers backing up that the $71 million was for the shell or explain why he doesn’t seem to be aware of what the overrun numbers are?
Surely alarm bells are ringing??