PLP: ‘OBA Doubled Debt, Lost 2,000 Jobs’
“The facts of the OBA’s economic record are simple: in just four years they have doubled Bermuda’s debt from $1.2 billion to $2.4 billion while simultaneously losing 2,000 jobs,” PLP spokesperson for Economic Development Senator Kim Wilkerson said today.
Senator Wilkerson said, “The PLP is deeply concerned that Bermuda’s economy has slipped back into recession, as evidenced by the Department of Statistic’s latest data that shows Bermuda’s economy shrank in the last two quarters of 2016.
“Of additional concern is last week’s release of the quarterly bulletin of statistics that revealed a loss of over 120 Bermudian jobs in the hotel industry, while there was an increase of 59 jobs held by non-Bermudian work permit holders.
“These alarming numbers are clear evidence that the OBA minority government’s economy is not working for Bermudians; our economy is not growing, the cost of living continues to rise, and Bermudians are increasingly losing out to guest workers on the few jobs that do exist.
“The facts of the OBA’s economic record are simple: in just four years they have doubled Bermuda’s debt from $1.2 billion to $2.4 billion while simultaneously losing 2,000 jobs.
“The OBA’s cuts to education and failure to coordinate resources around training and retooling have led to reduced opportunities for Bermudians which is increasing the divide between the 2 Bermudas.”
The “2 Bermudas” narrative is what the PLP is sticking with going forward. Unfortunately they are behaving EXACTLY like the Republicans did when President Obama took office. Obama didn’t fix everything right away even in his first term but the Republicans turned right around and blamed him for all that was wrong with the US. They were, of course, the ones to blame – as is here in Bermuda. The PLP started this entire mess and now are turning right around and blaming the OBA for it all.
The OBA inherited a mess and it doesn’t just take four years to turn it around. But in less than four years they did what the Pop couldn’t in 10 or 12 years – get a new airport started and a hotel in St. george’s. The OBA is very flawed but they’ve had some good results lately and now the PLP are trying to dampen that positive mood.
Even further – the PLP’s 2025 Vision manifesto? Do we really have until 2025 to get this right? No, Bermuda. We don’t. The PLP lost power in 2012 and we have to wait until 2025 (13 years!!) until they sort out their own mess. No, I don’t think that’s right.
O.B.A. are FINISHED.
Onion Juice “O.B.A. are FINISHED”.
Then so is Bda. JS
What Ms. Wilkerson has chosen to ignore is where we would be right now if the PLP won 4 years ago. In th 4 years prior to the OBA coming in, the PLP oversaw more than double that in job losses. A graphed decent path in job loss from the economy, that did not begin to level off until after the OBA were elected. We can also speculate that while the debt may have doubled under the OBA, it could have easily tripled, if not more, under the PLP. And that isn’t idle speculation, but stems from their promises over the last several budget replies, and even now, that they would return government expenditure to the level of deficit that They had risen it to, prior to losing power. Would be easily $300m+ by now, even before you take into the debt services. $2.4b now, under the PLP, that would have been 2 years ago.
Wow! How she can say that with a straight face is staggering. Talk about fake news, completely out of context.
The context is their term, how much more in context do you want?
So the PLP inherited in BOOMING economy, one that was consistently on the top 10 list of best places to live and work and they did what with it? Was Bermuda a better place after one, two or three PLP terms? HELL NO! And there is not one single Bermudian that could honestly say it was. Not the economy, employment, labour relations, education , tourism, crime, international business, public transportation, cost of living, construction, and so on! If I am wrong, please point it out.
In addition, they have had 4 years to come up with a plan, and in all this time the best they could come up with is 2025!?
Sorry, we need a strong and positive government AND a strong and positive opposition. Unfortunately, since the Killer B’s years (Brown, Burch and Burt) the PLP has been neither.
I understand that part of the role of the opposition by definition is to oppose. However, oppose with better options, not false fact, innuendos, scare tactics and divisive measures. They might get some elected, but then what? Ask Donald Trump supporters.
Prove her wrong.
Damn Trump supporters.
??? Huh, prove her wrong? Are you kidding me? I guess I should be surprised considering it is you Onion Juice.
How much of the current budget is dedicated to doing nothing more than interest on paying off the PLP debt? Look it up Onion Juice. Look at the last budget, it’s all there.
Unemployment in the PLP years was actually far worse than the PLP listed. How? The PLP ministers hired thousand into the public sector to hide the fact that so many jobs were lost. If the economy was shrinking, tourism was down, businesses were closing and companies were leaving because of PLP policies, why would any respectable government in charge of the public purse hire 1000s into the civil service!
There was no plan to create work and we were going into debt at an alarming rate. Why do it? To try and hide the fact that they created a mess that was costing Bermudians jobs. so they gave them a job, even though there was no work and no money to pay them.
Prove me wrong onion juice! You can’t, because what is listed above is a recorded fact.
Are there figures to substantiate this?
Check with Bermuda government employment statistics. What she doesn’t highlight is that the growing debt is in relation to the enormous deficit the PLP ran our government at, and the Ministers approach to guide plane us out of that deficit. Course he could have gotten rid of that deficit much more abruptly, but then thePLP would be harping about the massive job and services losses in government that that would have required. It also would have been disastrous to our economy. Ms Wilkerson doesn’t mention that while there may have been around 2000 jobs lost from our economy in the OBA’s first 4 years, during the last 4 years of the PLP we lost more than 4000, and that doesn’t even start at the beginning of the decline. Now, it can be shown that many of those jobs lost during the PLP were expat, and many of the PLP’s nationalistic followers might cheer the reduction of foreign labour, what they choose to remain ignorant to is that loss of foriegn workers directly relates to the larger scale of Bermudian joblosses that began later
Kim Wilkerson – I expected better of you
Mrs Wilkerson-I am sorry they had you make this statement
I would like to think they put this out without her knowledge because the qual9ty of this statement is quite poor. Far below her usual standard.
Sorry, but your opinion of her does not matter..
And neither does yours…
What is your specific answer to the problem. In other words, Senator, personally what would you have done differently if you had been handed the same situation that the current administration did.
I would be very interested to hear your personal view and not just a regurgitation of the party platform.
Important to hear your views to better understand the experience depth of the PLP leading up to the election.
Thank you and have a blessed day.
‘personally what would you have done differently if you had been handed the same situation that the current administration did’…
At minimun I’m sure she would have fought to see that any growth in Jobs would be that of Bermudians first…or maybe you missed that part.
PLP tried that with their work permit moratorium.
They had to rescind it not too much later because all it did was force businesses to close.
Did you know that during our economic boom of the mid-2000s, Bermudian job holders decreased whilst work permits increased. And that was during economic growth! Facts suck don’t they.
Those are some grim numbers, but to be fair, the OBA was dealt a terrible hand by the outgoing PLP. The PLP of 10 years ago dug us into this hole that we’re in and the OBA has chosen to take the route of pumping money into the economy to stimulate growth, unfortunately for them, its not working so well.
The OBA has had 5 years to get Bermuda back on track but obviously haven’t and when election time comes around, no one is gonna want to hear how difficult it is and whos fault it is. But at the same time, many of us will remember whos fault it is. Man what a tough decision it will be.
Being dug in a hole does not explain why the only growth in Jobs is that of Non-Bermudians….for the second time in a row I might add…. Why people are hell bent on ignoring this is strange……then again
Poor Bermuda – we have to chose between to groups of crony capitalist. Chose wisely! Quo Fata Ferunt
How disingenuous.
In order to stop the debt piling up you must first cut the deficit.
The deficit left behind by the PLP was $400mn.
In four years the OBA has more than halved that to less than $200mn.
They adopted the glide path as suggested by the SAGE Commission. If they wanted they could’ve made draconian cuts to balance the budget and reduce the debt. That would’ve meant cutting the civil service by about half. Instead not one civil servant lost their job whilst the rest of the island has had to sacrifice to sustain government employment levels.
The OBA made a mistake by promising 2000 jobs. Buy try have stopped the rot as the PLP saw almost the same amount of jobs lost in the last year of their reign.
Ms. Wilkerson you are a smart lady, so please do not all into the political trap of treating us like fools and presenting an argument with no context or pretending that the OBA inherited government finances and a national economy that were in tip top shape. You of all people know that is the farthest thing from the truth.
And then the blew it on a not so needed airport
Always thought better of Kim…debt increased to pay the civil service.. and we all know why they bloated the service….not sure where the job statistic came from. Most likely made up…..
She just has her pic and name attached the release. PLP buzz words: deeply concerned, additionally concerned, minority government, two Bermudas, deep divide, double debt blah blah.
Any one who votes for the PLP will deserve exactly what they get, if returned to the govt.
just because something is negative suddenly it must be illegitmate? face the truth, the oba is failing us, all of us, supporters of them or not. they need to address the problems and they havnt
And this is it Earl, these folks are so blinded in defence of this Pathetic Excuse of a Gov’t, that has fallen apart since it’s inception …cannot even pick the bones out as to why.. I’m one of few that continue to respond to these ppl but to most Bermudians, these opinions on this page no longer matter.
Please state specifically how and where and when the 2000 jobs were lost, please point to the figures that show that.
We have seen the need to fact check and to pressure politicians into not making unsubstantiated statements, so please Senator, add the links/add the context into the column ….
We are clearly in a pre election mode and we, the public, must insist on politicians, of all parties, to provide facts and back up statements.
The most recent stats I could find was the 2016 employment stats on gov.bm.
It shows from 2013 (when the OBA took over) to the end of 2015 total jobs fell from 34,227 to 33,319. That is a total job loss figure of 908 or 45% of the 2,000 figure being touted by the PLP talking heads. I doubt very much that in 2016 a further 1,100 jobs were shed.
Either way, would be interesting to see where Ms. Wilkerson is sourcing her 2,000 job figure. More than likely it is simple ‘alternative facts’ that so many politicians indulge themselves in these days, which I find to be completely insulting to the electorate.
However, the truly ironic thing is, that within the same employment brief it notes thas between 2011 and 2012 the PLP oversaw total job losses of 1,956 in ONE YEAR. Maybe that was the stat to which she was referring.
So whilst the 900 jobs lost under the OBA is nothing to brag about that was spread over 4 years. So apparently the OBA have slowly been plugging the hole in their tenure.
In terms of debt I won’t even bother to get into that disingenuous argument with the PLP. But they should be telling the civil service that the OBA has been the best Government for them as not one civil servant was made redundant. And despite that they still managed to reduce the PLP deficit by more than 50%.
But in a post-truth world, facts don’t matter.
Facts matter to me. Thank you for setting the record straight. I really find disinformation and spin to be deplorable tactics. With every utterance, the possibility of my vote returning to the PLP becomes more and more remote
Fair comment but have you asked for links/context/facts to back up the following statements:
1. tourism is booming
2.investor confidence has returned
3. the cruise ships for St. George’s were out there but only the OBA went looking for them
4. interest in The Loren is very high
5. sponsors are keenly interested in backing the America’s cup
Or do we just accept those statements because of who makes the claims to whose political benefit they accrue?
I am very interested in your phrase “Sponsors Are keenly interested in backing the America’s cup.” What does this mean? The America’s Cup is already heavily sponsored.
So what are the PLP’s solutions to resolve this?? The debt has doubled in order to pay for years of budget deficits first run by the PLP, budget deficits that the OBA are slowly reducing despite bitter opposition from the PLP. So the question I ask the PLP is what are your plans to return Bermuda to a budget surplus that will enable us to start paying off our national debt (preferably without touching our pensions
Can you spell disingenuous?
Yes, it goes like O-B-A
Wow Ms Wilkerson you must have done well out of the 14 years!
But the PLP said debt was good!
Touchee.
Now that the shoes are on someone elses feet, the PLP want nothing to do with them shoes!
Ms. Wilkerson please let us know where the PLP would have gotten the money to pay the civil servants in Jan. of 12 if they didn’t borrow. A fact, in ’98 when they won anyone up to that time who wanted to work could find a job, no unemployment yet 13 years later over 5,000 were unemployed or under employed without counting the 2000 extra civil servants jobs they had created for friends. If I am not mistaken they increased the debt at that time threefold also. Please do not insult our intelligence by suggesting that the PLP could ever be trusted to run our economy again.
It just goes to show you how out of touch the plp are they have no plan plain and simple.When Bob got the online bank key and opened up the account he probably said to himself O BOY this going to be difficult got to borrow more just to keep things going.
So not one person from the PLP nor one supporter of the PLP has ever uttered a word about the debt they racked up being an issue. Now we see it all of the sudden being a big deal. I don’t think they even realize how deep the hypocrisy runs.
There is always concern about debt, you just didn’t care back then either. People change oddly enough
I meant that they don’t mention the debt from their PLP NOW. Their is no accountability for what they did and their voters don’t care that they did it! And don’t tell me I didn’t care back then! I was concerned when Bob Richards told the PLP in 2007 to change their spending habits because the recession in America would indeed affect us! I tightened my belt way back then thank god! And the PLps response at that time was that Bob Richards was scaremongering. Look at us now, go figure. Had the PLP took their arrogance down a notch and actually listened to Bob back then we would be in way better shape. The fact that their is no accountability for the mistakes and no admittance of mistakes makes me realize the PLP can not be trusted anymore.
The “2 Bermudas” narrative is what the PLP is sticking with going forward. Unfortunately they are behaving EXACTLY like the Republicans did when President Obama took office. Obama didn’t fix everything right away even in his first term but the Republicans turned right around and blamed him for all that was wrong with the US. They were, of course, the ones to blame – as is here in Bermuda. The PLP started this entire mess and now are turning right around and blaming the OBA for it all.
The OBA inherited a mess and it doesn’t just take four years to turn it around. But in less than four years they did what the Pop couldn’t in 10 or 12 years – get a new airport started and a hotel in St. george’s. The OBA is very flawed but they’ve had some good results lately and now the PLP are trying to dampen that positive mood.
Even further – the PLP’s 2025 Vision manifesto? Do we really have until 2025 to get this right? No, Bermuda. We don’t. The PLP lost power in 2012 and we have to wait until 2025 (13 years!!) until they sort out their own mess. No, I don’t think that’s right
if you’re willing to give the oba time to “fix” bermuda (they didnt) then extend that to plp
@ marie….yes the OBA needed time to fix the PLP’s mess. They’ve had progress (you wouldn’t admit it ever).
This is just wrong. The job losses occurred while the OBA was in power. the PLP had nothing to do with it.
And you love in dreamland.
Listening to ANYONE in the PLP , including members , expressing all this faux concern about debt is just mind blowing .
Local and foreign business confidence in Bermuda rebounded the minute the PLP were booted out .
What would you like for the OBA to have done Ms Wilkerson , fire 2800 civil servants on the spot ?
You should be kissing the OBA’s back side for their handling of the disastrous mess that was handed to them and not making thousands redundant .
To return to those days will be the end for this island .
Sounds like Fake news Trump style- Fact check before you speak or you will loose all credibility.
How is this fake news if the stats come from the government itself? This is a review of the year thus far, and all evidence is pointing toward the OBA failing to do their job
Where was your concern Senator Wilkerson when the Commission of Inquiry report came out about Port Royal, Dame Lois Brown Evans Building and so on…don’t recall any. The money that went missing under your PLP party is factual. Your numbers not so much…..
The official spokesperson has officially spoken on the official officials.
Well done PLP. Standing Strong.
I remember the PLP debt was well over $1.4bn before they left and that was at least a year in arrears.
I would be curious to see where she is getting her debt figures from? I woudl not be surprised if the final debt number was closer to $1.8bn when the OBA took over.
The debt under the PLP grow mostly between 2006/7 and 2011/12 . Within the same time period the OBA increased the budget by the same amount . But the reasons must be looked at. The country was set after 2012 , in a certain direction . Had major change occurred , thousands of Bermudians would have had lost jobs . We are indebted to our civil servants. The private sector took the hit while government did not lose one job. Wages are being driving down so that locals would not accept them . I could be wrong , but when was the last time the Hotel Division went on strike ? Problem solved. Someone has played Bermudians .
Somebody whistle and we can all chime in together the name(s) of the ‘someone who has played Bermuda”
you know a hotel strike ain’t happening. Bermudians have been played by their own countrymen and women
How many times are they going to drag this up? How many times does it have to be explained to them? Maybe the OBA should have defaulted on the PLP loans. How would that have worked out? Maybe the OBA should have cut the civil service like Barbados did. How would that have gone over? Who grew the civil service numbers while the population of Bermuda shrank?
Who dumped us in this financial sewer? Bermuda was once the most successful, most envied micro nation on the planet. Who gave us a per capita national debt in 5 years bigger than the US per capita national debt that has taken over 100 years to get to where they are?
Sometimes you have to wonder. Must have been her turn to say something.
What does she think about the debt increasing by almost 6x in the last 6 years of the PLP?
She could float a hot air balloon.
fact is, people have lost jobs from 2012-2017. debt is being doubled as well, as the article states. the oba clearly hasn’t been doing anything well, otherwise we would see an INCREASE in jobs
Surely this woman can’t be this dim? What would she have done in 2012?
I still say that “you know who” booby trapped the OBA (and ALL of Bermuda)with an over sized civil service.
Also what does the PLP propose? All we hear is negativity but we cannot vote for them unless they tell us what they will do and more importantly HOW? They took us for a long and expensive ride once before I don’t wanna catch that train again. STANDING IN THE WAY OF BERMUDA would be a more apt slogan.
All she is a puppet on a string
Thats just what she is! That’s a David Burt speach if I ever heard one!
Plain and simple every one got a free lunch.
What happened to the SAGE report ?
If I have to make some cutback so can our oversized government.
Tell the girl at the immigration dept to be a little more cordial
We could always sell the Grand Atlantic ! as a time share, yes !
Bananas are a good cash crop.
A lot of the so-called ‘OBA debt’ occurred because of deferred and exponentially rising liabilities incurred pre-2013.
Here’s an example. Let’s say a spendthrift teenager over many months accumulates lots of debt on his or her credit card. Eventually, the teenager’s father confiscates the card to try and bring some fiscal restraint to the situation and stops making any purchases. His focus will be to pay down the credit card debt.
Unfortunately, the father has a modest income so he can only make minimum payments. From time to time, things are good, and he can pay down a little more. At first, he struggled to make a serious dent, and in actual fact, the payments kept increasing because the accrued debt is growing. Last month’s interest is levied not just because of the outstanding principle but also because of past missed payments – interest piling on top of interest. The father is in a precarious position.
Over the course of a year, after the father takes over, debt continues to balloon. Sure, this increase in debt occurred under the father’s watch, but you cannot say it is because of him. And he is trying to do the best he can in spite of his child’s past profligacy.
That’s the same with the OBA. Sure, there has been some increased debt since the OBA took power. But it’s largely because of (1) payments on deferred liabilities from the PLP’s day – especially the salaries and benefits of civil servants, which are owed regardless of which party is in power, and (2) interest that has to be paid on past interest.
Could we fault the OBA for not doing enough? Sure. But to say that the OBA ‘doubled’ our debt is one of the more fundamentally dishonest things I have heard coming from the PLP.
Yet she fails to mention the industry she works in. This is from someone working for an insurance/reinsurance company who, like others, have and will continue to follow the trend of mergers and acquisitions, therefore adding to the pool of the unemployed.
When they get the smattering and smell of money they say anything to jump on the train
More drivel…..no mention of the OBA having to pay off the contracts the PLP entered into. It is embarrassing this mentality is out there. Clueless. Recession? Plenty of jobs for employable people. Empty containers make the most noise.
What would be entertaining is to hear the lady explain the debt restructuring Bob Richards was able to accomplish saving Bermuda millions.
Who is this person? Someone who needs an education in deficits and debt.
At the economy’s peak, the government was spending more than it was making. As the economic output declined, it’s a miracle we have steered through this while closing the deficit.
Kim, give me a call. I’d love to further explore your perspective.
if the statistics point to an increase in debt, and these are current, why are you all in denial?
Because it is impossible to not have an increase on the debt with the current payments to satisfy just the interest on the debt, we are not even paying off the debt at all, it is constantly getting bigger, the OBA have just managed it better than the PLP so that this process is much slower, but rest assured every day the debt grows, the interest grows with it.
The hope it is the revenues will start to rise significantly through increased tourism, business to start actually reducing this debt. But guess what, even if the revenues of the government, somewhere around 900 million, were doubled, you still would not see a penny of it as only then would we be able to start paying back money we owe.
PLP supporters have no idea of the financial mess we are in, government making more money does not mean investment in schools, roads, social services. those days are gone thanks the PLP who hired everyone they know into the civil service, if we maintain that service then there will never be an increase in funding for any social program, ever.
Next election the choice is:
PLP – spend, increase debt, increase interest payments, borrow more and prob increase funding for education, health etc. the cost being he economy collapses, the loans are called in, the dollar is separated from the US dollar and crashes making our money useless. Our children future gone.
OBA – fiscal restraint, try and increase investment in Bermuda, begin to pay off the actual debt and lower the interest payments, less social service funding short term, the rich will prob get richer but then the economy will pick up and 10-15 years down the line we will be at the point of 1998 levels of prosperity for all.
Seems to me the PLP supporter cares about themselves while the OBA supporter cares about their grandchildren.
the oba hasn’t done all it could have and this is showing. jobs lost, increase of debt? enough is enough
The PLP spinning facts again….. SMH
The PLP increased debt by 6 times and lost 6,000 jobs.
It took some time, but thankfully the OBA team managed to turn the PLP captained tanker around just before it hit the rocks.
Just imagine how much worse debt and unemployment would be today if the PLP was still at the helm!!! :-O
PLP, please stop the divisive “fake news” and focus on proposing solutions to keep the ship afloat.
What!
This is last time the plp can say this for the next 3 years – unless they win.
These figures are so inaccurate, the PLP got the country in 1998 with almost no debt and in 14 years to the debt to 1.4 billion, and that was while they had the highest GDP in the history of Bermuda, how do you explain that ?
Can someone from the plp explain why the PLP did this ?
I bet nobody will answer this question, because this is the same plp today as it was then but with a different leader.
There is no way out of this downward spiral for Bermuda.
This article is speaking the truth. The OBA has lost 1.6k Bermudian jobs! This is unacceptable. We can’t have one Bermuda if everyone is unemployed. Especially because they are hiring foreign workers. There aren’t that many jobs to go around!
Oba trolls give it a brake. All of your noise is falling on deaf ears. The oba are terrible stewards. Its as simple as that, you can bring up the plp reign all you want. Truth is the oba made all sorts of promises and failed us. Doubled the debt and to date have not produced the jobs they promised. Shouldn’t have made promises, simple. Now react to the truth, you oba supporter are so predictable. Come on i’m waiting, troll up on me lol.