Commission Of Inquiry To Host Hearing
The Commission of Inquiry into Historic Losses of Land in Bermuda will hold a public Planning Hearing on Thursday, March 19th.
A spokesperson said, “The Commission of Inquiry into Historic Losses of Land in Bermuda will hold a public Planning Hearing on Thursday, 19th March 2020 from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the Cricket Pavilion, National Sports Centre, Devonshire DV 01.
“The purpose of the Planning Hearing on Thursday, 19th March 2020 is three-fold:
- [1] To ascertain who may participate in the evidentiary [fact-finding] and other hearings of the Commission;
- [2] To determine who may have information relating to the mandate of the Commission, as set out in the terms of the Commission; and
- [3] To evaluate where further hearings should be held and to estimate the length of those hearings.
“Those persons who wish to participate as a party before the Commission, or those persons who have evidence or information [facts] related to the terms of the Commission, should file an application not later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, 16th March 2020, stating the capacity in which they wish to come before the Commission.
“Persons who seek to have standing as a party should in their application state the nature of their interest in the proceedings.
“The application, together with a summary, can be filed either:
- [1] in writing, addressed to:
- The Secretary of the Commission
- Sofia House- 4th Floor
- 48 Church Street
- Hamilton HM 12, or
- [2] by email addressed to Secretarycoihll@gmail.com.
“The application should state whether or not the person filing the application, or his or her counsel, wish to appear at the Planning Hearing on 19th March 2020.
“The Commission will advise those persons who are [1] granted standing or [2] who will be allowed to present information when their matters will be heard.
“Hearings shall be public. The Commission will however consider written applications from persons who wish to give evidence with the public excluded, and render a written decision.
“The Commission of Inquiry was established on 31st October 2019 by the Premier, the Honourable E. David Burt JP MP pursuant to the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1935, in keeping with the mandate of the House of Assembly as expressed in its Resolution of 4th July 2014.
“The Scope of the Inquiry is to:
- 1. Inquire into historic losses of citizens’ property in Bermuda through theft of property, dispossession of property, adverse possession claims, and/or such other unlawful or irregular means by which land was lost in Bermuda;
- 2. Collect and collate any and all evidence and information available relating to the nature and extent of such historic losses of citizens’ property;
- 3. Prepare a list of all land to which such historic losses relate; and
- 4. Identify any persons, whether individuals or bodies corporate, responsible for such historic losses of citizens’ property.
“As appropriate, the Commission may refer matters to the Director of Public Prosecutions for such further action as may be determined necessary by that Office.
“The Chair of the Commission is Justice Norma Wade-Miller OBE, JP. Its members are Mr. Wayne Perinchief, Mrs. Maxine Binns, Mrs. Fredricka Forth, Mrs. Lynda Milligan-Whyte, Mr. Jonathan Starling, and Mr. Quinton Stovell.
“For further information, persons may contact the Commission Secretariat at [441] 400-3690. The Commission is in the process of developing a website and its Procedural Rules will be published thereon. In the interim, interested parties may collect copies of the Rules from the Commission’s Secretariat, Sofia House-4th Floor, 48 Church Street, Hamilton HM 12 after Monday, 3rd March 2020.”
could it take place a better location in Hamilton like a church hall
it needs to be in the city like a church hall
needs to be in hamilton
…and at some point, take it BEYOND an inquiry and dish out severe consequences. An eye for an eye treatment!!
To whom? Presumably, if there was illegal activity, those responsible are long gone.
Oh, you want to punish all ‘certain’ people…..riiiiiiight…got it. Good luck with that.
“…and at some point, take it BEYOND an inquiry and dish out severe consequences. An eye for an eye treatment!!”
Absolutely! Tear down the airport and give Longbird Island back to the people who were evicted from it (or their descendants)!
By the way, Longbird Island includes Kindley Field stretch, so Bermuda had better rebuild the old bridge from Coney Island to Ferry Reach so people can cross without trespassing on Longbird Island.
Yup!! Take it BEYOND.
Persevere on!!
Can someone explain this to me. Who had land stolen from them in the past? I am from Ireland and about 80 years ago we had a land reclaimation scheme which enforced mandatory purchase orders of land from English landlords and then redistributed the repossessed lands amongst the Irish natives. Is this something similar or something entirely different.
There are 2 issues here Jack.
The first involves the compulsory purchase of land (a) to build Tuckers Town in the 1920s and (b) to build what is now the LF Wade International Airport (then Kindley Field) in the 1930s. Those are the 2 main compulsory purchases in the twentieth century, but there were others.
The second issue involves allegations that certain people (usually white) either by fraud or some other trick took (or “stole”) land from other people (usually black) and the people whose land was taken had no effective recourse.
BDA Gov bought property and some think it was unfair, most sold and moved, some did not want to, some did, Now the land is worth much more and people feel taken advantage of. Nothing was stolen but some feel there “birth right” has been lost.
Not even close
Does bermuda have a statute of limitations? How far back will prosecutions go?
Next on the list, REPARATIONS!
Good luck with that. Pepper spray will be the least of the things you get to whine about.
So 400 years of FREE labour and biased and discriminative lending, hiring and legislative practices and you call it whining?
Typical responce from undeserved privileged recipients.
I doubt you’ve ever done a decent days labour.
Very insensitive, would you say that about Jews and de Holocaust.
I think not.
LOL…I’m not touching that!
You already have your reparations, you get to share an equal portion of a debt which costs each Bermudian about $5.50 in interest each day. Welcome to the real world.
“Next on the list, REPARATIONS!”
Reparations for what, OJ?
Nope
This is all quite sad really. I am unsure how any commission will be able to determine the theft of land without documentary evidence. It’s all well and good to verbally declare certain ownership going back in history, but I would have thought this could have all been resolved previously through a very simple court procedure. How did it all reach this level at such a late date?
Electioneering, it’s about stirring up the masses. It’s got nothing to do with theft or not. It’s politics.
It’s all the PLP have left.
The answer is pretty obvious. Have a look at Onion Juice’s and STRAIGHFORWARD’s posts. They are ready for their payday and aren’t directly on the F&F plan. So this is their chance for some scraps.
It is about keeping us all divided more than anything.
This should be interesting. Aunties, uncles 3rd cousins,you name it will be there begging.