Video: PLP Hold Press Conference

September 4, 2020

[Updated] The Progressive Labour Party [PLP] is holding a press conference this morning [Sept 4] with Premier David Burt and Minister of Health Kim Wilson speaking. We will have additional coverage later on and in the meantime the live video is below.

Update: The live broadcast has concluded and the 25-minute replay is below

Update 12.50pm: Premier & Party Leader David Burt’s remarks:

Good morning,

This morning, I’ve asked Minister Kim Wilson to detail some of the many reforms we’ve passed to make voting safe, secure and more accessible than it’s ever been in Bermuda’s history.

Minister Wilson will go into the details, but, I want to be clear – never before in Bermuda’s history – under the PLP, OBA or UBP Government’s – has voting been more accessible than it is today. We have more work to do when it comes to voting accessibility, but, we must also balance accessibility with ensuring that we are protecting the rights of Bermudians who live here to choose their own representatives.

Your health and safety is our top priority as is your economic and social well being.

The coronavirus crisis showed the world over – which countries have competent governments and which countries could, shall we say, use improvement.

Bermuda is blessed.

Under the leadership of this government, we united our country, we implemented the most aggressive testing regime in the Americas and we were able to care for our people who, through no fault of their own, lost jobs, lost income and are struggling to provide for their families.

Bermuda, got it right on Covid 19….many countries didn’t.

All of us have witnessed the horror stories out of countries where their governments got it wrong. But, it’s not just ‘listening to the experts,’ it is effectively managing and implementing the recommendations. It’s about bringing people together and bringing them along to have faith in our systems and follow the recommendations.

Leadership matters…working together matters and the capacity to provide steady, calm and compassionate leadership in times of crisis matters.

We faced the greatest challenge our island has faced and the results speak for themselves :

  • Bermuda is ranked highest per capita in the Americas in testing per capita
  • Bermuda is ranked 6th in the world in terms of testing per capita.
  • Our test results turnaround is among the fastest in the world. Testament to the great work of the Department of Health and the Bermuda Government Molecular Diagnostic Lab
  • The protective measures at LF Wade International Airport have received global recognition and praise, confirming that Bermuda has the most extensive border protective measures in the world
  • We ensured that drive-through testing and various pop up testing throughout the country is conducted at no cost to people being tested
  • We added 48 additional beds, increased the number of ventilators and enhanced our oxygen supply systems to enhance the hospitals ability to care for patients with Covid 19 if needed in case of any future outbreak.
  • With the aid of the brilliant Bermudian Dr. Carika Weldon, we created a government testing lab that enabled the island’s testing capacity to expand dramatically while saving taxpayers money.
  • We negotiated air bridge flights enabling stranded Bermudian students and travelers to return home;
  • Early, we identified the need to quarantine people arriving at our shores and quickly identified facilities that could be utilized to quarantine arriving passengers for two weeks and have arranged for all to be tested prior to being released to their homes.
  • We created a new facility that would enable Bermuda’s homeless to be housed, fed and be provided with support during shelter in place and curfew.
  • We arranged for transportation services for nurses and essential workers to cover for the Covid 19 forced closure of public transportation
  • We successfully implemented remote learning for our students and with the assistance of private donors and sponsors, ensured that our students, parents and teachers had the tools and resources they need to continue effectively learning.
  • We developed a strategy to safely and effectively reopen our schools and safely and effectively continue the learning and development of our children.
  • We were able to build from scratch the Unemployment Insurance Programme to create an economic safety net for people economically displaced by Covid 19
  • We gave our people an economic life line, allowing them to access a portion of their pension funds to supplement their income in their short term.
  • We offered extensive tax relief to businesses and launched a series of relief measures and support programmes for small and medium sized businesses via the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation all while engaging in extensive cost saving measures within government including Ministers and MPs taking a pay cut
  • We successfully managed the phased reopening of government offices as well as providing the leadership and guidance that enabled many of our businesses to reopen successfully
  • We successfully conveyed information to the public throughout the pandemic across all media, creating the Government Whatsapp service to enable direct contact to cell phone users and to work in supplement with the Treefrog App

There are those who have claimed that any government could have done this and have sought to downplay the magnitude of what has been overcome and the dangers we have faced. Yet if we look at the record of our opponents it is clear when they faced crisis, when they faced adversity almost every single time they got it wrong.

There was no playbook for this pandemic. There was no playbook for a testing strategy that is tops in the world, there was no playbook for reopening our tourism industry.

Leadership matters and we kept our promises.

Covid 19 demonstrated that leadership matters….just as The OBA’s risky, ill thought out and economically devastating Airport Deal is now costing us millions. The OBA’s foolhardy, reckless Morgan’s Point Deal that cost us $200 million as well. The OBA’s arrogant, reckless and poorly thought out approach to immigration reform divided our community. THe OBA’s lack of attention to public education resulted in mould in our schools and low morale among our teachers. And, the America’s Cup resulted in over $100 million spent while Bermudians had to deal with furlough days and cuts to services.

Leadership matters. This election is about who you want to see us through the economic recovery. And, we humbly ask you for your support.

Minister of Health Kim Wilson’s remarks:

There has been a lot of concern raised about accessibility to voting. And, I am here today to speak about the measures the government has taken to make voting SAFER and MORE ACCESSIBLE than ever before.

As we committed to listening to medical experts and protecting the health and safety of our community, so are we committed to ensuring safe, fair and accessible elections for all. To do this we made amendments to the Parliamentary Election Act. These changes include:

Changes to the advanced poll to allow anyone with proof of travel to be able to vote. Previously, you had to go to the parliamentary registrar and register for the advanced poll. Now, you can simply go to the polling station and show them your proof of travel.

We extended the advanced poll to allow seniors 65 and older, and medically vulnerable voters an entire week, ensuring that voters will be properly physically distant during the process.

We have expanded access to voting for more Bermudians by allowing for the first time in our history parolees to vote, creating more equitable voting and giving Bermudians a second chance. We believe that Bermudians who have paid their debt to our society should be able to participate in the democratic process and we took action to make this happen.

We also increased the voting franchise by allowing, incapacitated voters, and our sick and shut in…now have the ability vote from home. You can call the Parliamentary Registrar right now or visit elections.gov.bm to apply to vote from the comfort of your own home.

And, finally, in order to protect our community from COVID-19, we have shared the recommendations from the Caribbean Public Health Agency [CARPHA] with Government House and the Parliamentary Registrar. These recommendations include specific requirements related to masks, sanitization, and physical distancing. We look forward to the Parliamentary Registrar providing more specific information on plans for keeping our community safe.

Across our region, we have seen a number of elections around the world since the COVID-19 crisis began. I am pleased to report that our fellow overseas territory of Anguilla held an election in June and the data is now in – Anguilla currently has no active COVID-19 cases. St. Kitts and Nevis, which is a similarly sized jurisdiction to Bermuda, also did not have any problems or spike related to their general election held in June. Some of the larger jurisdictions in our region have experienced challenges with COVID-19, however, it is important to note that there are also jurisdictions like Aruba, the Bahamas and the US Virgin Islands that have not held elections and experienced a recent spike in COVID-19 cases. At the end of the day, this is about the management of the virus …

and it is clear from our aggressive contact tracing and testing programme, that Bermuda has done one of the best jobs in the world. And, we ask for your support so we can continue to workably manage the crisis and the recovery.

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Comments (4)

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  1. Ringmaster says:

    Bermuda is teetering on the financial cliff yet the Premier has no comments an how the PLP will solve the problems. A few months ago, Fintech was the saviour; then gaming; then cannabis; then cryptocurrency, the list of failures goes on. Just more blame which is ironic based on the 20 years of financial failure of the PLP. In 2012 the debt was $1.5 bn and the Bermuda Government was spending $300 million more a year over revenue. Money had to be borrowed until that was brought down. The PLP has had 20 years to fix the problems Premier Burt is complaining of. 20 years. Total failure.

    • Swing voter no more says:

      Shouldn’t you be busy working hard to find more surrogates troll!

    • haha says:

      Seriously, let me run down the list! Jet gate, the Americas Cup, Failed Immigration reform, not to mention the Airport! What say you now?

      • saud says:

        ” What say you now?”

        $800 Million
        Downsizing and selling the hospital to a foreigner.
        Failed immigration reform
        Sucking up to the UK to discriminate against some Bermudians.
        Arbitrade
        Cryptocurrencies
        Binance

        the list of plp issues is miles longer than your fabricated list of lies above