“Similar Social, Economic And Political Parallels”
Former Premier Alex Scott has expressed his “deep concern” at the decision to not renew Rev Tweed’s work permit, with Mr Scott noting the recent protests and saying that “once again we have in place numerous similar social, economic and political parallels to the years immediately preceding the circumstances that led to riots.”
Mr Scott said, “I am moved to express publicly my deep concern at the recent decision of the Minister of Immigration and Home Affairs to not renew the work application [permit] of the Rev Nicholas Tweed of the St. Paul’s AME Church, Hamilton Bermuda.
“Over the many years of my public service I have worn several hats; however, on this occasion my experience as a member of The Royal Commission Report Into The 1977 Disturbances motivates me to make the following observation — which I hope will assist those who are wrestling with this all important and controversial issue.
“Chapter 4: of the the Pitt Report address: “The Causes of The Disorders” the Commission was mandated to focus upon. Within the chapter we itemized six contributing causes and the sixth [last but not least] stated:
“‘[vi] “Its [Bermuda's] recent growth has depended upon the importation of labour.”‘
“There are those in our current government who have suggested that we have once again entered such an economic construct and phase — where the increased importation of various skills is necessary.
“Thus, my rationale for sharing publicly my deep concern for a notable and distinguished pastor [with a Bermudian family and connections] – to be ‘shown-the-door’ when we are in the process of ‘opening-the-door’ for others who have no connection to the island — other than a work permit.
“My deep concern as a member of the Pitt Commission is that once again we have in place numerous similar social, economic and political parallels to the years immediately preceding the circumstances that led to riots of that era.
“While the events and circumstances maybe too numerous to mention — at this time — anyone who would take the time to read said report will quickly spot the warning signs recited within the pages of that document.
“However, for the avoidance of doubt I need only draw the attention of the public to two recent events that occurred.
“The first that took place in the grounds of Parliament that addressed immigration concerns — and led to the unprecedented closing down of House proceedings.
“Also, more recently the incident where police action [which is currently under review] was used against demonstrators outside of the grounds of Parliament — which once again led to the closing down of House proceedings.
“It is my information that the Bishop of the AME Church is either in Bermuda or planning to make his way to the island. If this is not so… I humbly suggest that an invitation be extended — by the Premier – to this most important Head of the AME congregation in Bermuda.
“Given my experience as a former Premier of the island, I do know that while the Minister of Home Affairs has cited the reasons for her decision in regard to Rev Tweed’s work permit application, Minister does possess discretionary powers to revisit this matter; and, in council with both the Premier and the Bishop of the AME Church is positioned to [should he be present in the island] resolve this matter to the satisfaction of all parties involved.
“Failing such a resolution to this apparent impasse, the immediate future for law and good order in these isles would appear to be following a path that we have travelled before — and should choose not to risk walking again,” Mr Scott concluded.
Go back to sleep Alex.
Your just being used again.
Riots?
This is a work permit issue.
Keep making it racial.
Another person being used by PC.
Its always leads to race, we live in a racist society.
And you onion are leading in that category.
The church needs to re-apply the correct way and the OBA needs to grant it.
The Island is too small for all this division. If this doesn’t stop it will get worst and the election is 12 months away.
The Church is not going to adverise an appointed position..that is dishonest..so reapplying would have the same result..an incomplete application.
The OBA didn’t apply the same standard to the Appointed Catholic Priest..
Is this true Immigration Minister???????????????
Corporations appoint people to positions as well. They still have to go through the immigration process. Everyone does – or should.
I agree qith Onion Juice. There are many racists like him in society. Onion Juice, life is better when you get to know,undertand and befriend those that do not look like you.
This racist ideology in society was here long before I got here, living in denial that we live in a racist society makes it worse because the generations that are coming are less tolerant especially when they are exposed to America’s outright racist issues, knowing they have the same problem here that’s more subliminal.
Only to those who still see different races
Dumbest response award goes to ^^^^^Build a better BDA..
I want you to see me as a Black Man, you know why? Beacuse I’m a Black Man!
I would bet my bottom dollar you no where near the shade of black! So stop your BS!!
You want to limit yourself to the colour of your skin, that is your choice, I see you as a human being
So the person who highlights race issues is the racist while the person who sits back and enjoys the priviliges of being a certain race while watching injustices happen in front of them are good to go… Lynn Whitfield, Cordell Riley, Rolfe Commissiong and many more have been demonized the same way Onion Juice, do not be deterred.
No, a person that highlights racial issues is not automatically racist. Painting everyone of a certain race with the same brush like you, Onion Juice and others may be thought of as racist.
Same tried old race card eh oj
Bringing it down to race cos you got nothin else oj.
Fanning the flames, quite a stance. What a Statesman . . .
Remember the PLP as Government “we don’t care what you think”. Now they are in Opposition it’s “you’d better do as we tell you to do or else”.
In politics, everything is racial. EVERYTHING! If you don’t see that or understand that, you’re just as bad as Tomi Lahren, who ‘doesn’t see colour.’
Terry only racists in Bermuda say things like “keep making it racial”.
Answer me one thing, what is racial Terry?
You nailed it Terry, this same man can’t figure out he was used by the next Premier that followed him! Just more proof you can’t fix stupid!
Former Premier Alex Scott gave a warning and he is chastised. I feel the deep seated hatred that writer has when he tells former Premier Scott to go back to sleep. This week, that same writer will not say a word when they bring out a lot of heavy weights to tell Tweed supporters to get a life. They will rise to tell us get over it.
How did you handled the Berkeley debacle Alex? How about some honesty there Alex … where did the money go? You helped create this mess, you are culpable. How about you apologise.
Shut the **** up. Do you always have to comment with your stupid, biased, racist, no thought, no purpose comments? What the **** does freaking Berkeley have to do with the topic at hand you *****le. Gosh, wish we could have left you in 2016.
It means that Alex has no credibility. None. DREB’s puppet and now making thinly veiled threats. Shame on him.
Yup, I lost all respect for him when he stated that anyone who claimed Berkley was over budget and over time was being “mischievous” only for everyone to find out that it was him who was being mischievous and it was indeed over budget and over time.
Im disappointed in Alex. I always thought of him as a honest and reasonable man that like some others in the PLP were bullied into doing things they normally wouldnt.
Im surprised that he would make such a statemwnt? Sir, you like many out there KNOW that IF Rev Teeeds application was advertised LIKE THEY WERE ASKED YO DO and if the application was filled out correctly like everyone else has to HIS APPLICATION WOULD LIKELY HAS BEEN APPROVED. However, either the peron submitting the application was incompetitent or they made A CALCULATRD AND CONCIOUS DECISION NOT TO ADVERTISE OR SUNMIT CORRECTLTY.
Im disappointed in you Mr Scott. As a former leader of this country I had hoped you would would LEAD not follow.
Typical. Same responses given when they fought for emancipation. Everytime I think how this mindset fought against discrimination and free education and may have died thereafter, we see evidence that they miss the crucifixion. Alex Scott is so right. But he is being received by some with a smile so they can crucify him.Shameful.
So when people say what you like to hear, you talk highly of them.
But when they say things that you dont agree with ……………
At least he’s not moaning about race like you oj.
I am tired of seeing stupid comments, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander AGAIN. Churches have respectable pardons. And cut the Bullsh*t!!!!!!
Alex, should we then ignore that his work permit had flaws and was not submitted in time??
This whole situation is following a script that has, and is being written by the PLP, BIU and PC. Does anyone honestly believe that a simple oversight led to Tweeds work permit not being submitted on time? I would bet good money that it was intentionally done. This led to the expected result of his application being denied. This now provides a ‘life or death’ cause that the combined opposition can champion. The same goes for the demand of the PLP to have the Auditor General review the proposed airport project. The Auditor General has already says it is not her remit to do so. The combined opposition continues to make unachievable and unreasonable demands that it knows cannot and will not be met. This then allows them to use the failings as examples of government not listening, being underhanded, etc and etc. The combined opposition clearly has as its ultimate aim, to ruin any chances of recovery, ruin AC2017 and to turn Bermuda into a banana republic and blame the OBA for it. Once that happens, they will be voted Ito power. A country that is at the bottom can only go one way…up.
Mr Scott since you have decided to get on board then perhaps you have the answer to the questions many of us have asked.
-Did The AME church run an add as requested?
-was the paperwork submitted on time and accurate enough(without being ridiculous…)?
- if the answer is no to the above, please explain why not as we are all starving for the answer so the accusations on both sides can stop.
please before any other politician steps forward with thier opinion, be a leader and explain the details that led to your opinion.
Just do us all a favour and shut the _____ up. You have no, zero, nada, nil, diddly squat idea of what you are talking about. You should really STOP! If you were using your name, you should really feel embarrassed about the level of your ignorance. In 2017, don’t comment just to comment, unless you’re getting paid for it, of course.
“If you were using your name”, says “We the People (1st!!)”
You couldn’t make this stuff up. LOL
@Tony H,
Yup.
Glad I made you laugh.
If you read on, the point was the comments from that person are embarrassing. They are pure ignorance. So much so that if this person was using their name or people knew who was typing that garbage they would be embarrassed.
Maybe you don’t get it.
He gets it. He’s just saying you’re a hypocrit.
“In 2017, don’t comment just to comment, unless you’re getting paid for it, of course.”
How much do you charge?
It’s an election year. You should be asking the OBA how much they charge.
Lol. Says you with your pen name… Clearly I hit a nerve.
Potty mouth nasty individual
Hey people what are you a communist who are you to tell people to shut up every body has a right to speak up whether you agree or not.
LOL Your faux innocence is funny.
How will they ruin AC2017?
“The Auditor General has already says it is not her remit to do so.”
Could you please point me towards a source where the AG makes this comment?
What you fail to realize is that for many people there’s no place to go but up. It’s so easy for people like you to criticize the union, call PLP supporters all kinds of names, hail the OBA as heroes even when they’re dismally failing and get excited about ventures like the America’s Cup when you have a good job, money in the bank, a table laden with food and everything is going good for you. For so many people, that isn’t their reality so why should they care about your government or your AC2017….NEITHER of which is helping them any. Then, when people want to go to one of the few places they can find peace and hope… the church… you all want to destroy that too. Then you wonder why people are so angry, hurt and frustrated!!!
It is helping you and Bermuda. It is paying the debt incurred by the PLP (and pays the Government employees instead of firing them) and providing a lot of jobs for Bermudians. You need to find out what AC means to Bermuda and not listen to the “lots of rich guys having fun”. Many hundreds of Bermudian kids have benefited. The sad fact is that you are not hearing the positives, and that is not right.
You seem to forget Alex, the PLP created the economic mess we face. Acknowledge that and you may have the ghost of a point until then, you need to shut up
Yes the PLP did, they also created the same economic mess that the USA Went through, that literally every country in the western world went thru almost in sync at the same time..
The mess being referred to was the PLP’s willful creation of a debt burden so severe as to essentially cripple future generations of Bermuda.
Which was largely done before the recession, and has nothing to do with it.
But keep following the simple narrative.
Exactly. Bob kept saying to slow the economy down because it was overheated and that a financial crisis, were it to come along, would hurt Bermuda badly. But no, the brilliant PLP didn’t listen.
The PLP took what should have been a six month headache and turned it into a six plus year nightmare because of the way the miss-handled the 2008 financial crisis.
@ mixitup,
Except all those countries came out of the recession years ago while Bermuda continued to decline due to the plp’s numerous mistakes.
Remove your head from the sand why don’t you?! Nah forget it, I doubt it would help you any.
No other country’s recession lasted as long as ours. Most were over in 18 months. Ours lasted years because it was caused by local policies like term limits and only ended when those policies were abandoned.
The economic inequity has existed since long before the recession and the PLP did nothing to address it.
At the time the PLP was making IB as unwelcome as possible. IB took the hint and much of it left and relocated in more welcome territories. An investment firm relocated to Philadelphia, costing us over 100 jobs. Citigroup left, losing 100 jobs. Reinsurance companies moved departments to the US, UK, Eire. Houses stood empty as IB employees left. Car parks in Hamilton became easier to get into. Office developments in Hamilton slowed. As a result, Bermuda’s recession lasted 7 years. A fact you lot love to ignore. The USA and UK were out of recession in 15 months. Canada has no recession. Bermuda was 72 months, seven times as long, because the PLP mismanaged the economy. It was the PLP that destroyed Bermuda’s middle class and destroyed our economy.
At the same time they were deliberately shrinking the economy they were increasing spending, which meant more borrowing. The PLP sold us to foreign bankers for generations.
The difference being that those countries did not keep on spending money, in denial of that financial crisis, and have been recovering for the last few years. Bermuda is only now seeing real signs of recovery eight years later.
But the other places didnt continue spending all their money like they had and infinite supply did they? World recession is an easy cop out
You cant explain reality and how the world works to some people, you are wasting your time .
World recession is a cop out and disingenuous
To Mixt it Up – Our debt was not a result of the US? Yes, it is true that not as many Americans travelled, but OUR OWN problems had little to do with that. If you maxed out your credit cards, and borrowed more money from friends and family and couldn’t pay it back is it someone else’s fault. Of course not. Its called BAD MANAGEMENT of your money. Our leaders at the time, the PLP government, overspent knowing the USA was heading into a recession. It wasn’t a surprise!
The countries that were an economic mess were those that made bad decisions, borrowed and overspent. At least the USA was paying for a war. Where did our money go? The USA was in a recession but their neighbors to the north (Canada)were not effected to the same extent. The same was true for the islands to our south, some did well while others suffered. In Europe and Asia some countries suffered while others prospered. those that did well, were prepared and managed their money.
Empty containers make the most noise
If I had done the things the Rev Tweed has done outside the remit of my work permit, I’d have been kicked off years ago. Why should he be treated differently?
if the AME cared anything for Bermuda, on reading these comments, it would remove the problem, in order to avoid what everyone else can see is going to happen.
Bermuda’s self destruction and the AME will own it.
j
Because he is a *friend* of the PLP and BIU. Simple as that. They show they have not learned from their mistakes. They ignored the rules when they were in power and will clearly do so again.
Sadly we live in a RACEIT Society. But we do not have to. Just waiting for the old generation to move on.
Alex Scott:
I asked you directly, do believe our folks should “obey the LAW”?
If yes, then as a former MP and PREMIER your statement has NO credibility!
You’re aim, as an elder Statesman (not sure you’ve earned it here), should ONLY be to calm folks and remind them of acting lawfully; and not to incite or, as I interpret from your letter, condone further civil disobedience. As a former MP who should have read the Parliamentary ACT, you should also know it’s unlawful for sitting MP’s to incite civil disobedience. Correct? That spirit should then also apply to former MP’s, particularly a former PREMIER?
You should remind folks that the LAW is the LAW. Otherwise, your statement is JUST politically motivated! I cannot think of any other explanation?
Ole Wise one!
Smiths
More hot àir.
Where were these parallels when the PLP were revoking work permits of guest workers that didn’t fit with them. Where were these parallel comparisons when the courts were ruling against the PLP’s immigration administration in cases of wrongful permit terminations. Or whe the PLP does it, it’s not the same, it’s somehow legit for them to ignore the rules they demand be applied to protect Bermudian workers.
I was just wondering who was going to reprimand the local AME church for such un-Christian, unethical and unlawful behavior. The President of the AME needs to do exactly that, not preach hate or throw oil onto the fire they have started. AME used to be an institution I held in high esteem. No more.
You are wrong Alex.
This isn’t about race or riots, it’s about a man too arrogant to go through the proper procedures. Someone who felt they were above the system, when a little humilty and respect would have got the deal done.
What does it say if the Govt backs down? That this is the way to behave?
You should know better.
Alex go back to your fat pension which I think you do not deserve.The mess you created started the debt my grandchildren will be paying for
PS remember giving a small firm called Proative a multi million dollar contract.The rest is histoty
Let’s pump the brakes here. Irrespective of whether one supports Pastor Tweed on this issue or not this type of inflammatory rhetoric is reprehensible. Basically this article is nothing more than a veiled threat that if the issue isn’t “resolved amicably” there will be violence. Shame on Alex Scott!
Look who’s talking you sound like the same person that didn’t want a family member to join the Bermuda Regiment but that same family member was probably home playing Call Of Duty on Playstation 4.
Amazingly my comment went from just 2 dislikes to 95 dislikes overnight. Same pattern with others who rightly criticized the hypocrisy and inflammatory rhetoric of Scott. To those who are obviously part of a well coordinated effort to deliberately distort the true feelings of the Bermudian public know this: Truth always stands by itself. Right will always be right and wrong will always be wrong no matter the percentages. Dislike that!
It’s called hired click farms, the most obvious way to recognize them at work is by the actual ratio of users ‘for’ and ‘against’ comments in an article. The ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ ratio should be a close parallel as well. Click farms aren’t paid to comment, just push a button.
Surely the next step is for the AME church to resubmit the immigration application and follow the rules. The Minister made it clear why the original application was rejected (rules not followed), so the ball is back in the court of the applicant.
No need for emergency meetings and the like. Just get on with the process.
The church has had more than ample opportunity to submit a renewal in proper order. They did not do so. Seems that the church wants Tweed gone too.
If they want Tweed back come back in 5 years & try again. This time get the paperwork right.
Hope the OBA does not cave in to this crap….somehow a protest over an airport is a great tragedy…..all politically motivated……..stand fast this time
Alex take your fat pension and go away.You have done enough damage to our island wit you incompetence as a leader.
PS Remember giving out a multi million dollar contract to a small inexperienced firm called Proactive,the rest is history
Dear Mr. Scott,
It is sad that you choose to threaten the Government with unrest because the immigration rules have not been “bent” for the Reverend Tweed.
It is patently obvious that there exists a coalition of the PLP, the People’sCampaign, the BIU and – recently – the elders of the church which employs Mr. Tweed. This is a political coalition which has as it’s goal the overthrow of Bermuda’s legitimately and democratically elected Government.
It is obvious that the work permit application was deliberately and cunningly botched solely to achieve a refusal of said permit by the D. O. I. This is nothing more than a shameful POLITICAL ploy, PARTICULARLY by the employers of Mr Tweed. They should hang their heads in shame. To hide behind the cloth and do something as shameful as this in order to bring Bermuda to it’s knees, is unforgivable. I dare say an increasing majority of Bermudians are seeing right through this political ploy.
Mr. Scott, I think you are being disingenuous. The same rules should, and do, apply to everybody in these islands.
Although it is a work permit issue, and it should be seen in that context, history has a way of repeating itself, thus Alex Scott,s remarks, may be well worth considering…the discrimination may be unitentional and influenced by race, place of birth and most notably political persuasion or an affinity with the national issues.
How is making sure everyone, no matter who they are or who their friends are, follows the same rules discrimination?
Or it could simply be that the correct procedure has not been followed. If we all look at this logically, this is the first summation one comes to and no further speculation of political, racial or whatever issues needs be reached for, until it can be unequivocally proven that this is not the case.
………………how so? How is the refusal of an individuals work permit repeating history? Alex Scott does not address why this is happening, who should take responsibility or what can be done to address it but is simply adding fuel to the fire but making such inflammatory statements. Mr. Scott if you truly believe in country before party then I would encourage you take on a leadership role (and use your experience as a Pitt Commissioner) address all parties who continue to escalate the current situation. If you believe in party before country then we can expect more of the same one would assume?!
George, that is exactly the point. For Alex Scott to automatically weigh in saying the laws and rules in place should be over-looked without balancing out the fact that Rev Tweed and the AME Church haven’t even attempted to do the basic groundwork by advertising or paying the waiver fee is very cynical and unbecoming of a former Premier.
Mr Scott, you’re the second person who’s spoken lately that I’ve held respect for who has surprised me with their reaction to this.
It saddens me deeply. I just don’t understand how a church’s failure to do what they should have done to follow the law is being supported.
The present Government tried to bring in pathways to status and the people who are demanding an ex-pat be handed a renewal and referring to him as a ‘son of the soil’ are the same ones who protested against it.
I’m sorry but you don’t get it both ways. Either people with Bermuda connections outside the law get a fast track, or they don’t. These people said they don’t, they won. There are now consequences. I’m sorry if they don’t like them but, frankly, tough.
Mr Tweed is not the only ‘son of the soil’ who isn’t legally Bermudian. And all the rest have done the right thing, they’ve accepted the law, or they’ve fought it through legal steps.
Many of these people have better ties to Bermuda than Mr Tweed. They were actually born here, grew up here, know no other home but here. Mr Tweed, this beloved ‘son of the soil’, only came to the island a few years ago.
I know the history of Mr Tweed’s father. But he is not his father.
I know he is important to the church. But so is every leader to every church.
I know he has done a lot of good for his congregation, this is what church leaders do.
He has been an outspoken leader of groups against the government. This is where Mr Tweed differs with other ex-pats. The others know they’re only here for a short time. The others know to stand back and let the locals speak for themselves. The others accept that they’re going to have to go home when the law decrees their time is up. Because this isn’t their country. This isn’t Mr Tweed’s country either.
To those who think Mr Tweed should remain, pretend Mr Tweed is some unknown ex-pat who has done the same things as Mr Tweed. Would you be equally as adamant they should remain? You know the truth in your heart and head, regardless of what you say publically. So do the rest of us.
Ahhh once again Kangoocar has his head buried not in his pouch but rather “behind his back” instead and Onion’s is underground.
Do you FOOLS honestly realize what kind of Bermuda we would be living in if it wasn’t for people like Bro Chris Furbert, Rev Tweed, Bro Ottiwell Simmons, Bro Drip Minors et al?
But then again you and the others who think just like don’t care!
The Labour Movement has made Bermuda the prosperous place it is today and don’t ANY of you forget it
This is a bit part in the script. I hope everyone is paying attention. The plot of this real life drama is just about to get the main storyline. This and Tweed is not it.
So the government should take direction from the Bishop of the AME church to resolve an immigration matter? Are you serious? I’ve never heard of such nonsense! Are we living in a democracy or a theocracy!
William Alex Scott CBE words of counsel his warning and urgings and advice are all necessary pithy and timely I agree with our PLP Statesman’s assessment and his holding up the light the Lessons we ought to have learned from the Pitt Report are steering us in the face to day .Thank You Alex.
This SOCIAL BANTA IS SO UNFRIENDLY AND MEAN.
Yes, racism has been brought into the issue but only due to the ploys of certain people/agencies, namely the AME, BUI, Peoples Campaign and the PLP. Who should Mr. Scott be looking to for reasons why this has occurred? Quite simple answer. There are many reasons why the work permit was denied. Lets hear the response from the people/agencies above as to why they didn’t provide the necessary information. Sadly that would be too simple. Better to incite than follow the law.
Alex is playing statesman.he knows how to compare and stir. He, too, has had lots of practice. As a PR person and advertiser for many years he knows how to put a spin on anything.
So, please Alex, let us deal with this matter in a mature manner and in a lawful, legal, non-racial way. Please do not invoke or compare this with those days of gone but conditions. We have moved on from that. Had we not, Bermuda would not be as prosperous and racially harmonious as it is. Things ar not and will never be perfect or all that one wants. But, please stop stoking fires and trying to put fear up the country by pretending that the Government and the Minister are morally and socially wrong.
judging by the recent responses someone must have sent out the call to the toadies…
If Mr Scott is correct then we have an government – and. A country – that finds itself between a rock and a hard place.
Govt gives in and it may as well hand over the keys to the BIU.
Govt does not cave in and we face civil unrest.
Time to dust off that plan b
Crawl back under your rock Alex. Continue to enjoy your Premier & MP pension cheques graciously provided to you by taxpayers who will not be on the streets tomorrow, or any other day for that matter.
Why don’t we all dispense with the lies? This “Rev Tweed work permit issue” is really about a deliberately mishandled work permit application being used as a political football by an extremely unholy alliance of the BIU, the “People’s Campaign”and the PLP, who seek to overturn a democratically elected government by feeding Bermudians a steady stream of malicious and untrue BS.
The church elders who issued the denunciation of the D O I’s ruling should hang their heads in shame for going along with this hateful political sham. They are heaping shame upon themselves.
I wonder if this is trying to defer the attention from the enquirey?
if the Church had completed the application by advertising, what is an appointed position in the Church..just to say we checked all the boxes to satisfy the granting of a work permit.. wouldn’t that be dishonest..
Isn’t that what Tweed and others are fighting for.. fairness, honest, and transparency.
When you have a former plp Premier suggesting rules should be bent for certain people, then it is proven that the plp still have learned nothing concerning their previous mistakes when they were ruling with terror! The plp during their 14 yrs governed exactly that way and look at the mess they left when we finally relieved them of OUR misery! The COI was only commissioned because of that type of thinking and the skulduggery that resulted from it!
The real debate is should the church continue to enjoy the exemption they enjoyed pre 2014..
I don’t know if the Church or lack of consultant by the government caused the mix up..but it needs to be rectified..
I am a Christian woman,not AME or the Catholic..but I would not want the government interferencing in who we the congregation or Leaders choose as our spiritual teacher..
The same exemption IB Executives enjoy….no government interference..
Grant AME their right to choose their leadership, even if it just a year…
go back consult with ALl clergy and rewrite the policy..
IB has rules and Immigration will act if they are not followed. Same for AC2017. Don’t fall for the “IB gets what it wants” nonsense. Immigration quite rightly has a set of rules and they do apply them.
LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DEPARTMENT. IB GETS WHAT IT WANTS AND SO DOES AC2017. TRUST ME THIS IS FROM SOMEONE THAT UNDERSTANDS THE POLITICAL GAME BEING PLAYED BY BOTH SIDES. NOW LAY DOWN AND KEEP QUIET. I REALLY WISH I COULD PLACE MY NAME ON HERE BUT LIKE MOST GOVERNMENT WORKERS I HAVE A JOB TO PROTECT.THE ISLAND IS OVERFLOWING WITH RACIAL TENSION AND IT WILL GET WORSE.
Alex, I am disappointed in you. You want to put riots in the minds of the people? Do you think that your comments are helpful! So Rev. Tweed should be treated differently? I thought that we were trying to move this country forward with the same rules for every person regardless of race, religion and or political persuasion. Maybe the AME church should advertise the position properly and Rev. Tweed could reapply, and if there are no qualified Bermudians and Rev. Tweeds provides all of the required details to the church administrator they can complete the form in its entirety!! Then the Immigration Department can approve the application. But then and only then. Stop saying it is political or a decision based on race. It is an application that didn’t meet the Immigration requirements! What are the inconsistencies in the application anyway? If there weren’t any, why wouldn’t the AME Church simply come out and say that, it makes you wonder.
This is 2017, we have a mului racial party in Government, elected by a cross section of the community (excluding our non Belonger Status Bermuda born and long term residents, you don’t count )
Just becuase you don’t your own way doesn’t warrent a comparison with criminal riots. We can’t have politicians and other leaders advocating special provisions. Rev. Tweed is not a captain of industry, he is not a jib creator and does not bring inward investment. I am sure that to those who know him personally he is a warm compassionate man. These are wonderful character traits but they do not provide a means to jump the line.
Once again, why not just file the renewal application properly? I think this is the issue most people simply cannot get their heads around and no reasonable explanation has ever been offered.
This whole debate about a work permit seems funny, if it was not filled out right the first time,let him know then I’m sure he would have done it over.Anyone that speaks up for black people has to go, that’s the bottom line,now they are using pepper spray,what next,you know the saying every dog has its day!!!
@ v smith,
Good grief! The church was informed weeks ago and clearly they still haven’t complied. Where have you been, asleep like Rip Van Winkle. Smh
They were told and subsequently given plenty of time to file it correctly. So the question is why do they refuse?
Why do you entice riots my God are you stupid it does not take the types of people that follow your crap much to start the BS. Path ways to status you all just sat on the hill illegally and now you are fighting for a person who didn’t even fill out the paperwork and put them in the right time. All you people who have work permits please send your paper to Furbert he will fight for you lol.
More gibberish to stoke the fire to try to get the PLP in power.
I just asking a question to all of you out there would you rather have the PLP in again and put us in futer debt or have the OBA in that is for the people even if some of you don’t think so not sure why. We have seen lots of progress in the last few years more tourist hotels one of the larges venues that we have ever had in this country and yes it will help to get jobs for people but they also have to want to work. The PLP issued the most work permits ever but no one remembers all the bs they did they just excepted it and followed them like sheep if you love your country you would want the best for it. Power greedy that all it is with the PLP