Premier wants PR firm to 'protect' our image
By Robyn Skinner and Elizabeth Roberts
The Premier is shopping for a US public relations agency to help "counter the destructive imagery" he alleges the media and opposition have constructed about Bermuda.
This announcement in the House of Assembly yesterday, comes a week after Premier Ewart Brown shut down debate on a bill giving further concessions to the Coco Reef Resort, after the opposition alleged corruption.
Yesterday the Premier said parliamentary 'attacks' would be stopped and he had to hire the agency because it was his job to maintain Bermuda's reputation internationally.
His statement said: "I view it as part of my responsibility as the Premier to safeguard Bermuda's reputation in the international arena.
"Therefore I can advise this Honourable House and the people of Bermuda that we have begun the search for a top public relations agency in the United States to design and implement a media campaign to counter the destructive imagery promoted by the Opposition and its assembled media forces.
"The cunning tactic of shielding an attack under the cloak of parliamentary privilege is sad and disingenuous. Such actions play to the worst fears of the population and do nothing to lift the standard and quality of debate in this House."
The Opposition raised concerns last Friday that the initial lease for Coco Reef Resort was completely different from the agreement, owner Jeff Jefferis signed.
The new document doubled the length of the lease from the agreed 21 years to 50 years, drastically reduced the amount of rent to Government, acquired an extra 1.9 acre plot of oceanfront land with two cottages, which were not on the table, and gave permission to build condominiums which can be sold off.
In a special report in 2004 the Auditor General Larry Dennis called for the lease to be re-tendered because it was "considerably more beneficial" to him (Jefferis) than the tender document specified.
The Opposition felt they needed to know what was in the lease before any further concessions could be made.
Further adding to the opposition's consternation was the SDO the Coco Reef Resort received this January giving them the right to build on former woodland reserve.
Last week Opposition Leader Kim Swan called the giving the SDO was a "political payback" and last night Mr. Swan said him and his party would not be deterred by this latest move from raising their concerns.
He said: "The issues remain that Coco Reef was a very serious concern that I believe many Bermudians had and about the way it was handled.
"That's where it (the Premier's decision for an agency) started and I think it's important we don't loose sight of the point we made last week led to the Premier coming here with this statement.
"The bottom line is there are issues the Government chooses not to address and they did it on the back drop of the opposition playing out those concerns."
According to Patricia Gordon Pamplin, shadow Minister of Works and Engineering, in the House yesterday, the agency is unnecessary if the truth prevailed.
She said: "We can save an awful lot of money regarding a media campaign. All we have to say is 'this is the truth, this is the way it is' and allow it to be exposed to the scrutiny not just locally but internationally."
But supporting the need to spend taxpayer's money on the agency, Government MP Walter Lister contended it was because of the opposition.
He said: "We have had to take taxpayer's money and hire a consultant to correct the damage the opposition have done.
"They are there to divide as much as they can. They said they want to help and work with the Government, but that was very short lived."
Shadow Finance Minister E.T. (Bob) Richards worried the move meant the Premier was no longer concerned about the Bermudians he currently employs at the Department of Communications.
Mr. Richards said: "We have a Government Department of Communications and Information, yet the Bermudians who staff this department aren't good enough for the Premier. We have to go overseas."
With Dr. Brown absent from the House of Assembly chamber at the time of that comment, Deputy Premier Paula Cox rose on a point of order.
"There's no suggestion by the Premier or this Government that Bermudians aren't good enough," she protested.
In his statement the Premier added he would no longer stand for negativity and hoped for a more robust debate.
He added: "Bermuda must come first for us and we hope that those who are spreading the negativity about our country will one day come to realise that this country does not exclusively belong to them, but Bermuda belongs to all of us who call Bermuda home.
"We will not entertain the opposition's masquerade of debate but will conduct business of government, the people's business in an efficient manner, focused on the task at hand and continuing to deliver as we promised we would."
