OBA’s Fahy On Bermudiana Beach Residences
“The extent of the failing of the Bermudiana Beach Residences to alleviate the housing crisis affecting Bermudians was exposed in Parliament,” Shadow Minister for Housing Michael Fahy said.
Mr. Fahy said, “The extent of the failing of the Bermudiana Beach Residences to alleviate the housing crisis affecting Bermudians was exposed in Parliament after answers were given to questions I posed to the Minister:
“1. Will the Honourable Minister please advise this Honourable House of the number of units at Bermudiana Beach Residences [broken down by each size of apartment i.e. studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom] that are leased to Bermudians?
Response:
- Five [5] Bermudians have leased units from the Bermudiana Development Company Ltd with the following make up – 1 studio, 3 one-bedroom and 1 two-bedroom.
“2. Will the Honourable Minister please advise this Honourable House of the number of units at Bermudiana Beach Residences [broken down by each size of apartment i.e. studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom] that are leased and have been leased to nonBermudian Government and non-Bermudian quango contractors, consultants and Public Servants?
Response:
- Eight [8] units have been leased from the Bermudiana Development Company Ltd by the Ministry of Public Works & Environment [MoP WE], Estates Department.
- The Ministry of Housing and Municipalities is not aware of the origins, business arrangements and makeup of the persons housed.
- The MoPWE/Estates has leased two of each type, studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units.
“3. Will the Honourable Minister please advise this Honourable House of the number of units at Bermudiana Beach Residences [broken down by each size of apartment i.e. studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom] that are leased and have been leased to nonBermudian Government and non-Bermudian quango contractors, consultants and public servants where the lease is or was subsidized or paid for by the Government of Bermuda or quango by way of a housing allowance, bonus or other contractual arrangement?
Response:
- As the units have been leased by the MoPWE/Estates department the Minister is not aware of subsidies, housing allowances, or other contractual arrangements they have with their clients, as this is not pertinent to the leasing of the units.
Mr Fahy said, “Of over 90 units at the complex only five have been rented to Bermudians to date. With over 300 people on waiting lists at BHC and 1100 people homeless or facing homelessness as identified by the charity HOME, this is unacceptable.
“The matter goes further. It was also revealed that a Government Ministry is leasing a number of units. The question is – for who? What is happening here is that the Bermuda taxpayer is paying twice for this debacle – the revamp of the building and then potentially the rental costs of some of the units if Government is not being reimbursed for renting the units to others.
“In the meantime, Minister DeSilva advised that modular housing will be introduced to Bermuda to help move the dial on BHC waiting lists. As yet the units have not received planning permission which seems strange given that the units have already been purchased. Why not are Bermudians going to be placed in modular housing while perfectly good housing units sit empty on South Shore?”
The responses are a damning indictment on the PLP. 90 units and only 5 occupied by Bermudians. Not surprising based on the costs. So taxpayers are still on the hook annually for millions of dollars of maintenance and interest on what is now the PLP’s Morgan’s Point.
If the PLP hadn’t triggered the guarantee thinking they were land grabbing the whole or Morgan’s point and not just the Caroline Bay area, but instead provided a little financial support to the project to keep it going ( perhaps with an equity stake in the project, then it may have been completed.
The failure of this property is epic. PLP Are taxpayers or government or quangos ( public money) paying rent or subsidizing rent or paying housing allowance type payments in relation to the Beach residences? If so, Fahd is right us taxpayers are paying twice and receiving zero benefit.
” triggered the guarantee thinking they were land grabbing the whole or Morgan’s point ”
That is slightly off topic, but correct.
What is really concerning is that the civil servants advising the Minister did not realise that the guarantee was only supported by Caroline Bay and not the whole of Morgan’s Point.
In the future don’t expect anything e other than a flop you won’t be so disappointed next time. Millions to renovate new buildings, the taxpayers should be voting on spending bills because the people making these decisions this far don’t know, don’t care, or just don’t have a clue.
This is exactly why no government should be in the property development business.
Over $100,000,000 spent (according to Lt. Col. Burch) and very few people housed.
there is a colossal unbelievable Government telephone listing ang also unlisted expense for cell phone usage, also let me include computer usage as well at the Bermuda Government The tax payers are responsible for all .
Workers do not need a telephone and computers at home any more .
Now start adding schools maintenance and all insurance costs to the list .
The B.H.C has maintenance bill for damages as long as your good arm .
We can now add Bermudian Beach to that ” Do i want or need to be on that list vacant “.
How does anybody think that Government can get out of the real estate business when they want to build more housing units when they have an over load now .
Where is the accountability called for over and over and why do people not want to rent the beach, much less to buy into it . That was surgested to you for extended stay hotel we would get our money back sooner .
Workers don’t need computers at home anymore? Since when? Says who? Multiple private companies have staff who work from home on occasion. Are you a fossil who only likes to work in the office? So, when the government doors are closed for inclement weather, you don’t want people continuing to work at home if able? SMH.
Yawn.
You’re an old man, shaking your fist at the sky.
If Bermuda ever catches up with the rest of the world, you may begin to understand, but it’s unlikely.
“Now start adding schools maintenance”
What school maintenance? Spice Valley Middle School was closed (and staff and students moved to other schools) because it was not fit for human occupation. Cedarbridge Academy still has mould issues. There is no proper school maintenance and there has not been for years.
To kill the mildew which leads to mold if not treated will cause wood rot . Bleach spray may take absolute dry days and 3 days to cure . Spray house with a pump sprayer from top to bottom you may dilute bleach with water as at 50 % bleach and water. The wood work gets 100 % bleach which prevents the wood rot from forming, after 87 years I do not have any wood rot. Applications best to have the breeze at your back also eat chocolate .
Internal rooms using a portable fan and all windows open using a damp roller and tray.
Take the first cost of the building, include the property value, add the cost of the money to build, the interest charges for it over years it has been empty, the maintainance costs, the insurance costs, the renovations for the hotel conversion, all of the administration costs, the cost of the money for the conversion, travel related to the hotel that did not happen, the conversion to supposedly high end rentals, the cost of that conversion money, the legal costs, a whole lot of expense catagorys missed, and what have we per sq ft for this folly that has gone from failure to failure?
This mess should have never been built. I coud have been an excellent park with a turnout to appreciate the views of the S Shore. But no, the PLP keeps doubling down on this fiasco. Only five apts rented.