STEM CELL CLINIC TO– SET UP IN BERMUDA

July 23: A stem cell research centre was set to open in Bermuda later in 2007 after Premier Ewart Brown and his wife Wanda teamed up with American company Stemedica Cell Technologies. In October, The Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) called for a halt to plans for the clinic until outstanding medical and regulatory questions were answered. The UBP also wrote to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to raise concerns about Premier Ewart Brown's intention to set up a private adult stem cell clinic on the Island, called The Brown-Darrell Clinic.

In November the Brown-Darrell Clinic pledged to encourage new stem cell legislation after the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office expressed concern over a potential risk to Bermuda's reputation. The FCO said it understood the UBP's concerns about the potential risk to Bermuda's reputation, and has given Government contact details of the Human Tissue Authority, a group in the UK that offers guidance over codes of practice and licensing information.

Later in the month a lab manager post for Bermuda's new adult stem cell clinic was being advertised through an overseas website. The post — placed by California-based Stemedica on Jobpostcanada.com — did not appear to have been advertised in Bermuda first, meaning any resulting appointment would break strict work permit rules laid out by Government.

A search of Royal Gazette records since August showed no adverts had been placed by Stemedica for any position. But on December 6 Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess pledged normal practice would be followed in the appointment of a lab manager for Bermuda's new adult stem cell clinic.

WHERE IS THE FAITH BASED TOURISM?

Premier Ewart Brown's political campaigner was contracted in July to receive $400,000 of taxpayers' money to set up ten faith-based tourism events in a year, according to a document received by The Royal Gazette. However, at first, neither Andre Curtis, the Premier nor the Department of Tourism could point to any events which had either taken place or were in the pipeline for 2007-08, other than a women's conference next February.

Dr. Brown, who was also Tourism Minister, denied allegations that he set up the scheme to get cash to Mr. Curtis as a thank you gesture for running his constituency in Warwick South Central. Mr. Curtis hit back at his critics by insisting he had lined up ten faith-based tourism events to justify his $400,000 payment of taxpayers' money.

Mr. Curtis also launched an attack on former Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert, who had repeatedly questioned how the cash was being spent. At a press conference, Mr. Curtis provided brief details on ten scheduled events, between May 2007 and March 2008, to which he said a total of $200,000 had been allocated.

He also produced a document stating that $200,000 was being spent on salaries for faith-based tourism during 2007-08. Auditor General Larry Dennis later backed down from questioning the legitimacy of ten events organised by Mr. Curtis. He said in the future his team would look to see if the terms of the contract were being met.

By late November, there was still confusion over exactly how many visitors had been brought to the island by Mr. Curtis' projects. On November 29, Mr. Curtis refused to back up claims that he has lured 1,500 tourists to Bermuda this financial year, despite critics insisting his figure was wildly inaccurate. Asked for an accurate statistic on visitors so far, Mr. Curtis directed The Royal Gazette to the Department of Tourism.

SCHOOL GRADUATION FIGURE FIGURES

Teachers' union leader Mike Charles called on Government to issue clear statistics on the number of students graduating from the two senior public schools. The general secretary of Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) spoke out after figures released by the Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy indicated an overall pass rate in 2007 of almost 82 percent.

The figure represents a huge leap from 2006, when just 48 percent made the grade.

In early July, a leading education figure on the island, who did not wish to be named, said Bermuda's so-called "education crisis" could have been overstated due to misleading graduation statistics in previous years. The source said the apparent dramatic increase in 2007 in the percentage of students achieving a Bermuda School Certificate (BSC) was likely to be down to the way figures were calculated in the past.

The debate over education graduation rates, and what to do about them continued throughout the year. In October, Education Minister Randy Horton insisted that graduation rates were not being fudged or inflated before admitting that the 58 percent pass rate claimed for 2006 included students who took an extra year to complete their Bermuda School Certificate.

BASELANDS CLEANUP CALL

Calls for a massive clean-up at Bermuda's former Baselands were reignited in July as an investigation continued into claims lethal defoliant Agent Orange was dumped at Kindley Air Force Base in the 1960s. A former US Air Force serviceman, Ronald Slater, made the claims. He said numerous barrels of the toxin — now said to cause horrific disfigurement and severe long-term illness to those exposed to it, were poured into deep pits before being burned for days, sending poisonous fumes over St. David's homes.

It was feared dioxins in the herbicide, much of which soaked into the earth when the containers were emptied, remained a serious environmental risk today because they are so chemically stable they will not degrade over decades.

In late June, Works & Engineering Minister Dennis Lister, downplayed the claims, insisting there was no evidence Agent Orange was used at Bermuda's Baselands.

In December, tests results from the former baselands at Southside did not suggest the presence of dioxins to be a health risk. Mr. Lister rejected the media's request to release experts' report into safety of land where the lethal defoliant was allegedly dumped and burned.

Statistics

The price of an imported barrel of oil reached $96 — a rise of almost 50 percent since $68 in January.

Bermuda's public school graduation rate appeared to have leapt by an astonishing 34 percent in 2007. A Ministry of Education spokeswoman attributed the jump to cleverer students in the class of 2007.

Inflation touched a 16-year high in Bermuda, driven by higher oil and energy prices and more expensive hotel room rates overseas biting into the pockets of Island residents.

The monthly inflation rate leapt 1.4 percent between April and May, putting Bermuda in the unenviable position of having a higher rate than the US, UK or Canada.

The latest Retail Sales Index report revealed a 10.5 percent rise in purchases abroad in May 2007 compared to the same in 2006.

Nearly three quarters of all voters believed the public should know the full contents of Police files from a corruption investigation into the Bermuda Housing Corporation before an election was held, showed an independent poll done by Research.bm.