Column: Minister DeSilva On Housing & More
[Opinion column written by Minister Zane DeSilva]
There are Bermudian families living in overcrowded conditions, seniors struggling to find affordable accommodation and working people who simply cannot find somewhere they can afford to live.
Affordable, safe housing is our priority
All they know is that every day is a struggle, every week life becomes more uncertain and every month the impact of not having the housing they need is being felt.
Getting every Bermudian experiencing this into new, affordable, safe housing is our priority and speed is of the essence.
Our approach has been criticized, dismissed and seen attempts to block or slow down what we are trying to do in the interest of our people and our country.
The OBA and MP Michael Fahy as His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition have a role to play in keeping the government accountable. No one questions that. So they can continue writing columns and asking questions. We will answer legitimate questions about the programme and the expenditure of public funds as is expected.
Bermudians cannot live in an OBA opinion column
But Bermudians who need housing cannot live in an OBA opinion column, they cannot shelter under OBA political waffle and they cannot wait for us to take the OBA’s slower approach.
When you have a roof over your head, and know that you will be able to stay in your home for years to come, it is easy to believe going slower is the best approach. When your housing situation is secure it can be easy to ignore or dismiss the desperation and suffering of people whose lives and experiences, you’ve never lived.
Who feels it knows it.
Address our housing crisis
The people told us clearly in the last election that one of our top priorities is to address our housing crisis and not just talk about it.
We heard that message loud and clear and are doing what we were elected to do but did the OBA get the same message?
While the OBA keeps talking, complaining and obstructing, we are focused on getting homes built and getting Bermudians into them as quickly and as safely as possible.
- Zane DeSilva, Minister of Housing & Municipalities
Using brownfield sites instead of precious green space would help reduce a lot of the opposition.
“The people told us clearly in the last election that one of our top priorities is to address our housing crisis and not just talk about it.”
Fair enough, now address the reason for the “housing crises”.
The reason developers are not building houses is because of the business environment created by successive PLP Governments going back 20 years or more.
If developers could develop with confidence that they would be allowed to make a reasonable profit and protect their property, developers would develop. But that is not the current environment.
“The OBA and MP Michael Fahy as His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition have a role to play in keeping the government accountable. No one questions that. So they can continue writing columns and asking questions. We will answer legitimate questions about the programme and the expenditure of public funds as is expected.”
But you have not answered these legitimate questions. And TBH no one expects you or the PLP will. Par for the course.
The Minister has monopoly control over cement and aggregate, both major costs of new construction. What is he doing to reduce costs?
The PLP have abolished so many safeguards that had been put in place for decades to protect lower cost housing for Bermudian buyers that its’ pretty much an open market and Bermudians have to compete against non Bermudians for affordable housing. The PLP sold Bermuda to expats, many of whom have no connection to the Island. A total betrayal.
Hook and hold,keep the slack tight
“We will answer legitimate questions about the program and the expenditure of public funds as is expected.”
That one is straight out of the Trump playbook. Don’t want to answer a question from the media, simply don’t answer it. Better still, throw the person questioning out.
Operating in the sunshine of public scrutiny, being accountable to the public. The PLP all over.