Column: DeSilva On OBA, Morgan’s Point, More

[Opinion column written by MP Zane DeSilva]

MP Michael Fahy and the OBA’s recent call for “clarity” on Morgan’s Point leaves out one important fact: he and his OBA colleagues were part of the Cabinet that approved the $165 million guarantee that collapsed and left Bermudians holding the bag.

MP Fahy served in the OBA Cabinet that made this horrendous, financially irresponsible and catastrophic decision; a decision we are still dealing with to this day. MP Fahy may have developed a case of political amnesia, but we will never forget and never stop holding him and his colleagues accountable for one of the worst financial decisions made by a government in our over 400 years of existence.

MP Fahy and the OBA cannot distance themselves from their foolhardy decision to gamble with taxpayer money on a project that was already raising red flags. When the project failed, it was Bermudians who paid the price of over $230 million in payouts and interest, with little more than an unfinished site and a marina to show for it.

What’s most striking is that neither MP Fahy nor any of his OBA colleagues have ever apologized for this decision. Instead, they now demand “clarity” while pretending they had no role in creating the mess. The same is true for the airport deal, another costly OBA project that continues to drain public funds.

The PLP government has worked to stabilize the situation at Morgan’s Point/Caroline Bay after inheriting the failed OBA-backed project and its $165 million guarantee. To protect taxpayers, the government stepped in to cover liabilities, secured control of the property, and has been actively engaging with potential investors to find a viable path forward. While the cleanup from the OBA’s gamble has cost over $230 million, the PLP’s focus has been on ensuring that future development at the site is done responsibly, with proper oversight and safeguards to prevent Bermudians from ever being left with such a burden again.

Just imagine what we could have done with $230 million dollars.

Just imagine how much further along we would be with $230 million dollars.

The possibilities are endless and that possibility was snuffed out due to OBA incompetence and arrogance.

And here’s something that makes that OBA deal even worse…the costs continue to add up. Currently we are forced to spend over a million dollars a year on cleaning up the OBA’s mess.

Despite this, the then OBA Minister of Finance Bob Richards has stated that if he had to do it all over again, he would have made the same decision!

This from an OBA that claims to be business geniuses?

Let’s be clear. It is our position that the OBA Government knew that the deal was in jeopardy and that they did everything in their power to keep the public in the dark as they went into the 2017 election.

Yes, Bermudians deserve clarity on Morgan’s Point and despite the OBA trying to exploit an issue of national importance, we are providing it. When we can, as quickly as we can, we are making progress, digging out of this massive hole and keeping YOU informed.

Clarity and transparency is essential, however it must go BOTH ways.

It must include honesty about how we got here.

It must include holding the people within the OBA accountable that arrogantly dismissed concerns and forced through a deal that has lasting consequences for all of us.

Until MP Fahy and the OBA acknowledge, and apologize for their reckless gamble, their politicking, masquerading as accountability, rings hollow.

- Zane DeSilva, JP, MP, Constituency #29, Southampton East

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