March 1, 2004

Dear Sir,

The excellent reply to the 2004 Budget Statement made by Mr. Grant Gibbons in the House of Assembly on February 27 rightly highlights the inability of the PLP Government to manage Bermuda's economy and plan for its future financial needs. In particular he stresses the failure of the Budget to address three obvious major capital needs ? the Causeway, the US base cleanup and the Hospital.

Dr. Gibbons is absolutely right but he has overlooked another PLP government neglect which is more serious than any of the three he has mentioned ? namely the Judiciary ? which is not a time bomb which may need attention in the future, but a decades-long national disgrace due to lack of facilities and space and funds.

The first minimum step in meeting the needs of the Judiciary is to remove the House of Assembly from the Sessions House so that the space it occupies can be used for the desperately needed additional Court and office space. The Judiciary is constitutionally as important as the Executive and the Legislature and unlike them functions five days a week year-round and it is wrong for it to share the same building with the other branches of Government.

This step gives rise to the need to find a suitable building for the Legislature and the City Hall could be adapted to serve this purpose.

The Senate and House of Assembly chambers could be situate in the Western upstairs art gallery and downstairs theatre and the remainder of the building converted to provide offices, library, restaurant and other facilities required for the proper functioning of the Legislature.

The Corporation of Hamilton with its odd taxing and voting arrangements could either be relocated or if this is too difficult it should go the same way as the old Parish Vestries.