Column: ‘These Promises Have Not Been Kept’

April 19, 2017

[Opinion column written by Senator Renee Ming]

Crime in any community negatively impacts upon the residents and businesses in the immediate area and the spill-on effect ultimately will impact the island on a whole. In a community as tightly-knit and closely connected as St. George’s, any crime has an impact beyond the victim, touching virtually everyone.

Renee Ming Bermuda TC April 18 2017

This week’s aggravated burglary and violent assault on two men is nothing short of deplorable. Sadly, it is just the latest disturbing chapter of a series of criminal acts in the East End, leaving St. Georgians uneasy and the whole island dismayed and concerned.

The recent robbery at the East End Bus Depot and vandalism to ten public buses is nothing short of deplorable. This act caused confusion to commuters, saw school children, the working public, seniors and visitors inconvenienced greatly and will cost taxpayers dollars that Bermudians can scarcely afford.

Over the years, there have been many promises made to the people of St. George’s by the OBA including to:

  • “Reopen the St. George’s police station on a full-time basis, staffed and adequately equipped to manage the safety and community needs of the Town.”
  • “Implement a fully operational CCTV system in the Town.”

After three years, these promises have not been kept.

Just last year Minister of National Security Jeff Baron and the OBA again promised additional CCTV throughout the old town, specifically outside of area businesses. This promise, like so many others, still has not been kept.

It is evidenced that cameras have played a role in the reduction of crime as they are a definite deterrent. Cameras can also be vital in detection after a crime has been committed. With the OBA promise of a fully operational police station in the old town seemingly no longer on the table, it is clear that CCTV must become a priority.

It isn’t just OBA promises on crime that above been broken and had a negative impact on the quality of life of St. Georgians. The OBA promise of 2000 jobs has been broken, with nearly 2000 Bermudian jobs lost on their watch and continuing to be lost. Also, for yet another year, the only job category experiencing growth is held by non-Bermudians.

OBA promises on immigration have been broken, with the OBA attempting to give status and voting rights to thousands of non-Bermudians and even attempting to give the children of guest workers the right to compete with our Bermudian children for summer employment.

OBA promises on healthcare have been broken with health costs continuing to rise. The OBA’s attempts to shut down the Lamb-Foggo Urgent Care Centre had no consideration on the impact on East End residents reliant on their services or on what would happen if the Causeway were to collapse again; a causeway in need of a rebuild that the new multi-million-dollar airport deal will not fund.

Sadly, when it comes to the laundry list of broken promises surrounding St George’s the two OBA area MPs have been oddly silent, failing to be a voice for Bermudians and failing to stand strong for the people of St. George’s. In fact, every action taken against the best interests of Bermudians that their Party has thought of, they have supported.

Despite this, I will continue to advocate for a safer, better protected and better policed St. George’s. Enough promises have been broken. Enough silence on the issues the that matter to this community. Enough is enough.

- Renee Ming

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Comments (23)

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  1. watching says:

    Well said Renee!

  2. NCM says:

    I suppose it’s the Opposition’s job to be as negative and critical as possible. St. George’s was totally neglected under the PLP and has been revitalized under the OBA. They received emergency funding in 2013, now collect revenue from fuel sales, have dedicated cruise ships for the next few years (something the former government said couldn’t be done) as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars invested by the cruise company in visitor experiences, dedicated new ferries that will be operated by Bermudians, a hotel is coming soon, and on and on. OBA has done great things for St. George’s and all the opposition can do is nit-pick and complain.

    • Its me again says:

      What does any of that have to do with the fact that the OBA made promises that they didn’t keep?

      Don’t get me wrong they’ve done ok with St George’s but they should have done better.

    • @ NCM, Don’t get it twisted and we don’t need to look as far back as the P.L.P or even the U.B.P, all we need to do is look at the O.B.A and what it is not doing for the working class Citizen in this Island.

      We are the ones being over taxed and under paid, and the saddest state of affairs is that all the elite, and their projects are being protected and money invested, and even greater amounts then what was first told to the tax payers, Yet we continually see cuts being made, that is hurting our Seniors and our Children and education to name a few.

      Now we have a crisis with Sunshine League closing it’s doors once again, and homelessness been driven to a all time high, Invest in your people and the plight of your people and boost those who needed most.

      This Government leadership is sickening to say the least, and the have not’s feel it the most, while those that have say that we should be thankful for what ever we have, and my last point is, for all those who hide behind pen names, you are cowards, I know the meaning of privacy, but if you want to make blanket statements, be adult enough to stand behind your statement by saying who you really are.

      Michael Dunkley needs to go, and I personally can’t wait to see the backside of him going out to political pasture.

      • Earth watch police says:

        The plp f##k#d st George’s we will never forget so yeah pop by the house when you canvass so we can talk about broken promises.

    • Triangle Drifter says:

      Must be her turn this week. Next week somebody else will be holding the bale of hay. Desperation.

    • Stinky D. says:

      I have heard about a hotel coming and I will believe it when I see it
      No cruise ships so far in St.george they have been going to Hamilton
      No dedicated ferries until September when cruise ship season is ending

  3. Kim Smith says:

    A small bunch of people in Government (no matter which government) will never have the impact that 50,000+ people can have.

    It would be nice, for a change, if a call could be sent out to the citizens of this country to see what we can each contribute or assist with to make life better for us all in Bermuda.

  4. Tired Bermudian says:

    Considering all that the OBA has done to get Bermuda “back on track” and out of a mess they did not create, I’d say this article is petty nit picking. While I understand crime is an issue, the OBA is putting its money where Bermuda will see future economic growth. This means that certain things have to be sacrificed temporarily until we are in a better economic position. Obviously some people don’t understand how an economy works. Without investment in other areas that will stimulate current and future economic growth there will be no future funds for public services such as the police, education, public works etc. Bermudians being impatient again and expecting over night results. Sorry but you can’t fix 14 years of economic destruction overnight or in one term as government for that matter. Sorry to bury your bubble. Perhaps the PLP should take more blame for our current issues relating to public services.

    One you point a finger three point back at you…

  5. Mary says:

    the PLP promised to let us know where the millions of taxpayer dollars went????

  6. Zevon says:

    She says healthcare costs “continue to rise”. Healthcare govt insurance cost was reduced this year, something the PLP never did. Does she think we don’t know when she’s lying?

  7. aceboy says:

    How many times did the PLP announce the construction of the Hotel?

    The PLP went to WAR on St. Georges during their reign of terror.

    Which party was it that closed the police station? How quickly you forget.

  8. puzzled says:

    Things never change.
    She has some points but stick with one thing.

  9. Onion says:

    How disingenuous. Crime is down since the PLP’s time in office.

  10. Sorry Sir says:

    Man, the PLP LOVE to play that “2000 jobs” drum.

    It seems that’s their only play these days in light of the good job the OBA are doing.

  11. Alleycat says:

    I wouldn’t call Ms. Ming’s comments nit-picking or complaining. These are facts. Promises have not been kept. So I note NCM that you make no mention of the fact that St. George’s needs a police station and CCTV, as promised. We can get all the cruise ship visitors, new hotel, ferries etc., but if the Town doesn’t have any protection in place for EVERYONE, then we are still in the same position. How many more attacks, burglaries will it take to get this protection in place? Maybe they could use some of that revenue generated from fuel sales?!

  12. hmmm says:

    Under the PLP, crusie ships were moves to Dockyard from Hamilton and from St Georges.

    this meant that the fees collected for wharfage all went to Dockyard, none to St Georges and none to Hamilton to help pay for things the towns need.

    So Rene, how about you chastise your PLP for the damage they caused !

    The OBA brought in a ferry to get people from Dockyard to St Georges, have worked on getting cruise ships to St Georges.

    If you live in St Georges you know who killed it and who is working on reviving it.

    • skinnydipper says:

      Sounds like you don’t know who it is yourself..

  13. wahoo says:

    You need to very careful about making crime a platform because crooks will be crooks. However there is a lot that we can do to combat crime as a population for instance if you know someone with a gun you need to report them. If you claim to know people with weapons you are technically breaking the law by not turning them in.

  14. The Original Truth™ says:

    Didn’t you get the memo Senator Ming? Dock Yard is where it’s at for OBA not St. Geos.

  15. bdaboy says:

    “the PLP promised to let us know where the millions of taxpayer dollars went????”

    Anyone from the plp care to comment on this?

    Just think, $800M could have supported more than 2000 jobs.