National psyche damaged warns Senator Swan

The PLP Government has damaged the psyche of the people, said Opposition Senator Kim Swan (UBP)yesterday.

"When you have an all-embracing mandate, then set out to threaten people, you damage the national psyche," he said.

"Many people are in fear of the Progressive Labour Party (PLP)."

Although he did not specify his claims, Mr. Swan repeatedly stated that the Government's "deeds" were all over the Island.

"Their deeds have made the working class look to abandon them and question what's going on, " he said. "We're in the 11th hour."

Mr. Swan called for people to examine what has happened on the Island in the past four years and said there have been several protests because the Government refused to listen.

He said although promises were made in 1998 when the PLP won the election, the new Government had not come through.

"A fresh approach was given in 1998, but their statement was fallacy.

"For example, the increase in land tax.

"They've fallen short. The PLP has caused the Island to be galvanised."

As he said that the PLP had "I have arrived syndrome", Mr. Swan said the revamped UBP believed in building a new Bermuda.

"The last four years has made us take stock and look at ourselves. We've been listening because it's necessary."

Oughton sheds light on labour relations

A fundamental lack of trust between management and staff is often what drives labour disputes to the point of industrial action or mediation needlessly, Senate President Alfred Oughton said yesterday.

Sen. Oughton pointed out he has been involved in mediating a number of recent labour disputes and also served on the first Employment Tribunal and his overwhelming question is often "why did it get to this stage?"

With Bermuda's teachers, nurses, ferry workers and, more recently, BGA employees threatening to strike and walking off the job in recent months, labour strife has been high.

But very often, Mr. Oughton said, the two sides come into mediation with positions that are not very far apart substantively.

The only thing that prevents the parties from settling their problems amicably without an outside intervention seems to be a lack of trust between staff and management, he suggested, as was the case with the recent nurses' strike threat.

Meanwhile, when a third party is forced to mediate a settlement, both sides are often left dissatisfied with the result and feel defeated.

"I don't know what we want to do but much work might be done to educate people about labour relations and to improve employer/employee communication," Sen. Oughton suggested.

And he offered advice to managers, that if they want staff to trust or respect their position, it is not sufficient to come to negotiations saying they cannot reimburse staff because the organisation has had a rough year.

"You should be able to take employees along so that even in good time and in bad, they are with you," Sen. Oughton said.

Ageing population will depend on an improved education system

Improving the education system is essential, Opposition Senator Neville Darrell said yesterday, if the Island is to meet the challenges of an ageing population.

Sen. Darrell said Bermuda's demographics indicate that growing numbers of elderly will be dependent on today's young people in coming years.

It is in the best interest of the whole society, he suggested, that we ensure the schools are producing the best individuals possible.

Examining Government's record on education during the Throne Speech debate in the Upper Chamber, Sen. Darrell expressed both concerns and praise.

He said the UBP recognised the importance of bring forth legislation addressing school safety in light of recent problems in the schools and the disruptive power of badly behaved children on the educational experience of others. The legislation, which will see parents held responsible for the behaviour of the children at school, is needed, Sen. Darrell said, but creating a successful public school system requires much more.

Sen. Darrell said he believed the key position for strengthening the educational experience is that of the teacher.

He listed several teachers from his school days whom he considered to be critical to shaping his development and said the importance of teachers as role models should never be overlooked.

"Which is why I note with concern that in the last four years, there have been no less than ten teacher protests," he added. "Something is going fundamentally wrong between teachers and the Ministry of Education."

Sen. Darrell also noted that Bermuda has the highest number of students in private school settings, per capita, of any country in the world.

While many parents cannot afford the high fees of private schools, they sacrifice to put their children in these schools because they believe the schools offer greater accountability, he said.

Until public schools offer similar levels of accountability, there will be little change with regards to this educational split.

While Sen. Darrell praised Government's commitment to establishing a school for special needs children, he questioned the PLP's record on delivering on such promises in the light of the Berkeley Institute project - which is said to be a year behind schedule.

Sen. Darrell called on Government to come clean on the state of the project, if only to allow parents time to plan for their children's next school year.

Offering an outline of the PLP's plans for education, Senator Victoria Pearman (PLP) took the Senate through four key new pieces of legislation included in the Throne Speech.

She said the Parental Responsibility Act will see parents held responsible for the behaviour of their children at local schools.

Other key legislation in the coming session will set out guidelines for school security, regulate home schools and consolidate school boards into a "family of schools" model where one board will represent an area's primary and middle schools.

Special needs students must mix with other pupils

Senators urged Government not to cut off special needs children from other students when it sets up a new school dedicated for them.

Government pledged to establish the new school in the next school year during the recent Throne Speech.

However Independent Senator Walwyn Hughes, who has a relation with special needs, said both categories of student mixed well.

He said: "It's stimulating for a child who has special needs and it's stimulating for those other kids.

"I have seen how well young people have responded, a lot better than some older people quite frankly.

"I hope we won't go all the way and have special needs children divided entirely from the real world."

He said he hoped a special needs school could be built adjoining an ordinary school so students can mix.

His views were echoed by fellow Independent Senator Jeanette Cannonier who said she has been doing volunteer work with children with special needs.

She said Government had done well by putting in wheel chair access in schools.

"I hope these children are not excluded when Government has done such a good job in the last 18-20 years in trying to include those children in what's going on in the school system," said Sen. Cannonier.

Clients must re-educate themselves

While he said the purpose of the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) was to help Bermudians, Housing Minister David Burch (PLP)said some of the agency's clients needed to be re-educated in order to move ahead in life.

"The perception is that some of our clients think that they are owed something from the Government," the Senator said, "but the BHC is there to help the needy and those who just can't make it."

Sen.. Burch said, BHC clients must realise that they should do their best to empower themselves, so that the agency can help others who are after them.

"The greatest challenge we face is the re-education of our clients, but education goes beyond teaching students at school," he said.

"We have to get people to understand they must have responsibility for themselves, but must bring something to the table."

Mr. Burch also emphasised that the community must treat those in need with respect and should be given opportunities for progression.

"There are now opportunities in the private sector which did not exist before," he said.

Tourism Authority is just a rehash of an old, failed idea

Opposition's call for the establishment of a Tourism Authority is a tired rehashing of an old idea that failed, Government Senator Calvin Smith said yesterday.

And he accused Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell of mischief-making in his comments last week that not one of the seven hotels which received tax breaks under the Hotel Concessions Act had seen any money yet.

Sen. Smith said the hotels were not supposed to see any benefits until the their renovation works were completed as Mr. Dodwell knows since his property, The Reefs, was one of those that received concession orders.

Despite the ceaseless criticism, Sen. Smith said the PLP has taken great steps in improving Bermuda's tourism product.

"When we came to power, tourism was in a tailspin," he said, with fewer and fewer arrivals and hotel properties closing their doors.

Criticising the call for a Tourism Authority, Sen. Smith said he recalled that when he was a child Bermuda had a Trade Development Board which was "completely private" and so secretive in its operations "it had blocked voting like the CIA".

"You couldn't examine their decisions or what they were spending," he said. "It was eventually broken up and put under Government."

He added: "You (the UBP) got rid of it and now you want to bring it back?"

And he suggested the only reason the UBP had renewed its call for a Tourism Authority was that they do not trust the PLP Government to run the industry.

While UBP Sen. Neville Darrell interjected the party had called for a Tourism Authority before the 1998 election, Sen. Smith moved on to address the PLP's record on tourism since coming to power.

He heaped praise on late Tourism Minister David Allen for his willingness to pursue risky paths, calling him "Star Trek" both in his personal travels and in his actions as Minister.

"He was Star Trek, he went where no man had gone before," Sen. Smith said. "That he, as a white man, first joined the PLP 30 years ago showed he was a Star Trek baby. He was fearless."

As Tourism Minister sometimes he lacked support even within his own party, Sen Smith admitted.

"He didn't have roaring support when he tried to do some things because most of us were just as scared of taking the big decisions as the previous Government had been," he said. "Because they were big decisions."

But Mr. Allen had forged ahead with agendas like the Hotel Concessions Act and the African Diaspora Trial despite criticism.

Sen. Smith said the Hotel Concessions Act prompted investment in properties that the owner might otherwise have left to run down before selling on and abandoning.

And those properties which have invested will receive their concessions when the work is done, as was originally intended under the legislation, he added, saying it was "mischievous" to suggest otherwise.

The first properties will see the benefits early next year, he said.

The upgrades that have resulted from the Hotel Concessions Act include new and improved spa facilities, facility upgrades and new structures at the Fairmont hotels, Mr. Smith said.

Bermuda now has a "whole new hotel structure" and new product to offer, he added, which is why it makes no sense for the UBP to criticise efforts to rebrand. "Of course we are rebranding," Sen Smith said. "We have a whole new product."

Sen. Smith admitted there is much work to be done on Bermuda's tourism product such as ensuring that all Bermudians support the industry.

But taking a final swipe at Mr. Dodwell, he said it was interesting that after all the criticism, it will be some of the critics that get the money in the end.

Parents must take ownership of children's actions - Burch

Government Senate Leader David Burch urged parents to take ownership for their children's actions yesterday as he reflected on the increasing number of crimes on the Island.

"We have seen lots of crimes lately that we never expected to see in Bermuda," he said. "You can point a finger at Government and the Opposition and say that we must solve it, but parents have to take a greater responsibility than what they have taken thus far."

Sen. Burch said after viewing the much-publicised attempted machete assault at the Devonshire Recreational Club at a soccer game on October 29, he had a defining moment.

"These young men belong to somebody," he said.

And, he said, while the authorities have reacted to the incident, he thought parents would have been the first ones to do so.

He said if he had been involved in such an incident as a youth, his parents would have been arrested for punishing him.

And while he admitted that Bermuda has a serious problem that has to be addressed by families, he commended the father of one of the young men involved in the incident.

"He was delivered to the Police by his father. That a father delivered his son to the Police has to be a major shift. It's optimistic," Sen. Burch said. "Hopefully it expands beyond one family."

Sen. Burch emphasised that the entire community needed play a role in uplifting the youth.

"People who don't have teens can't say, 'It doesn't affect us' because if you don't have a problem teen at home, they may bring one home..."

"There is motivation for all of us to be a part of the solution instead of saying 'It doesn't have anything to do with me'."

Throne Speech 'somewhat light'

The thin nature of the Throne Speech was debated by Senators yesterday with Government Senator Calvin Smith saying it was a sign the PLP had delivered most of its promises.

However Independent Senator Walwyn Hughes said it was clear Government was in pre-election mode and gearing up to clear the decks when a date was called.

He said: "It is somewhat light but that's no surprise in light of the circumstances which are developing and the un-certainties of the forthcoming election."

Sen. Hughes went on to praise much of what was in the speech, mentioning tighter controls on home schools as a case in point.

Government Senator Michael Scott said Government should be commended for not turning the Throne Speech into a pre-election campaign booklet trumpeting its triumphs.

He said: "It's a document which some would say is mercifully brief."

He said Government had delivered on the vast bulk of its election promises and what was left reflected the Premiers' strategic thinking as the election neared.

Sen. Smith agreed and said Government did not used the document to talk about what was planned for the next five years because that would give the Opposition an early opportunity to shoot it down.

He said proposed amendments to such laws as the Workmen's Compensation Act 1965 and the Employment Act 2000 certainly would not be viewed by the unions as lightweight issues.