The Bermuda Chamber of Commerce has fired back after David Burt, the Premier and Minister of Finance, appeared to relegate the group’s work on housing and population numbers to the realms of guesswork.

The chamber’s forum featured in a war of words between Mr Burt and Douglas De Couto, the Shadow Minister of Finance, during the motion to adjourn last Friday, when the former unleashed his “guesses on figures” comment — drawing a response from Marico Thomas, the chamber president.

Dr De Couto, who had attended the chamber’s forum last week on the island’s housing and population numbers, suggested the Government would do well to emulate the group’s preparation of more realistic and up-to-date statistics.

Mr Burt hit back that “guesses on figures do not make facts — end of story”.

Commenting on the exchange, Mr Thomas told The Royal Gazette: “In public life, words carry weight, especially when they touch on credibility, collaboration and how we solve problems together.

He added: “If there was concern or misunderstanding around the chamber’s contribution, we welcome the opportunity to clarify our intent and methods.”

Mr Thomas said the housing analysis had been drawn from “public data, primarily from government sources, and followed sound economic and actuarial methods.

“Where estimates were used, we disclosed them. Where data was missing, we said so. That’s not guesswork; it’s responsible analysis.”

Mr Thomas said that in the absence of comment from leaders in Cabinet on the chamber’s presentation, the public had been “left to interpret these remarks in a vacuum”, which he claimed could erode trust.

He added: “Dismissive remarks, without explanation, can inadvertently undermine collaboration.”

The chamber was raised by Dr De Couto as he criticised the Government’s presentation of statistics that he said failed to accurately depict the state of the island.

The opposition MP, who attended the forum on June 12, told the House the group had “assembled a lot of data to look at things like housing and the population of Bermuda, in what I would consider a relatively creative and robust way”.

Dr De Couto highlighted sources used by the chamber to estimate the island’s population at between 55,000 and 57,000, which he compared with the figure of roughly 63,300 for the end of 2023 in the Government’s statistics.

“Those are two really different numbers,” he said.

Dr De Couto noted that the labour survey tabled last week in Parliament dated from May 2024 — “valuable information”, but “a year old”.

He suggested the census set for next year would likely not deliver insights on the island’s population and emigration until early to mid-2027, and called for “hard numbers from the Government”.

Dr De Couto maintained that there were “sources out there”, such as business groups, that could help the Government come up with better estimates.

He added: “Would that be a 100 per cent accurate number? No. But would that be the kind of number one could use to look ahead, to good decision-making? Absolutely.”

Mr Burt, in his reply, said the Government did not dabble in guesswork.

The Premier added: “Anyone can have their views, anyone can have their opinions.

“But you can’t say that we should give the public officers the tools, and when the tools are given to the public officers, and increased resources and technical assistance and all the rest, then you disagree with the result of what is produced by technical officers — you cannot have your cake and eat it, too.”

Mr Thomas’s riposte government response, which came from a Cabinet Office spokeswoman, who said the chamber president had misconstrued Mr Burt’s comments.

She said Mr Burt had been speaking generally on the methodologies for gathering government statistics, adding: “The Premier was not speaking about or referencing the chamber’s presentation, and it would be incorrect for Mr Thomas to draw such a conclusion.

“Further, to make public comments based on an assumption is concerning.”

She said that government ministers and technical officers had attended the chamber’s presentation.

“In particular, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Housing and Municipalities, Zane De Silva, as well as the chair of the Bermuda Housing Corporation were at the forum.”

She said Mr De Silva had spoken to Mr Thomas and “both agreed to discuss matters further”, calling Mr Thomas's comments “disappointing”.

“The Government appreciates the role of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, and has always sought to partner and collaborate with the chamber and its membership.

“Furthermore, when the Premier and Cabinet ministers have been asked to attend chamber-hosted forums or share insights regarding their relevant ministries, in most instances, government ministers have graciously agreed.”

The spokeswoman highlighted work to keep various parties, including the chamber, updated on government policies and programmes — citing the Budget Breakfast, and a meeting held by Owen Darrell, the Minister of Tourism, Transport, Culture and Sport, with Mr Thomas and the new chamber chief executive, Jennifer Woods.

She added: “Mr Thomas’s criticisms of the Premier, Cabinet ministers and the Government are not rooted in fact, and to ensure transparency, it’s only right that the public should be fully aware of the facts.”