BERMUDA could become a flourishing “Monte Carlo of the Atlantic” if the Corporation of Hamilton chose to adopt his revolutionary plan for the city, Sir John Swan said yesterday.

Calling for a luxurious state-of-the-art casino and marina, surrounded by high-end hotels, restaurants and stores situated on the area now used as the country's main docks, the former Premier and leading businessman slammed Corporation and Government officials for their lack of vision and “yesterday's thinking” in their ideas on how to revive and boost the tourism industry in these deepening recessionary times.

“We have to look to innovative ways in which we can create employment in the construction, tourism and commercial areas and realise that further extensive development as we have known it in the context of island suburban tourism will almost become a thing of the past: commerical individualism is more and more moving in that direction - where retailers, for instance, buy on a piecemeal basis and create an inventory,” he told the Mid-Ocean News.

Sir John envisions a Hamilton where the docks are transformed into a waterfront promenade that includes a casino and entertainment centre.

The docks, he said, should be moved to either the vicinity of Tynes Bay in Devonshire or to the docking facility at Southside in St. David's, thus alleviating much of the traffic congestion caused by large trucks rumbling through the heart of the city. He also called for the eventual phasing out of cruise ships which, he said, provide little in the way of revenue for the island.

A camber, built out from Number One Shed to White's Island, would create an up-market, safe yachting basin, especially if Government reduced the present high tax on boats, but receiving proportional revenue in the form of annual licensing and mooring fees. Such a move would encourage both locals and visitors who keep their vessels overseas to bring them to the island.

Provision of high-quality city hotels where people could do business, enjoy themselves and feel they are a part of the activities going on, was essential, Sir John believes.

“The whole process would be privatised so there would be no capital outlay for Government but income would be generated to build a causeway from Blue Hole Hill to Stonecrusher corner, with one roundabout going to St. George's and St. David's and the other to the airport.

“The existing Causeway is in bad shape,” he warned, “and if the prediction of further hurricanes and storms is realised, it will be washed away. And we need to provide a substantial alternative route for the container trucks.”

Although international business continues to thrive, Sir John warned of the dangers of over-reliance on this one pillar of industry and called for Bermuda to rebuild and rejuvenate a second pillar through a new approach to tourism.

Key to this, he said, was the abandonment of the 60-40 local ownership law which was now stifling advancement of the economy.

“It does mean,” he explained, “that we will need to remove some of the fears, phobias and traditional ideas and develop a much more transparent, open and pluralistic economy driven more by market conditions and less by protectionism.”

Bermuda's economic philosophy of protectionism, Sir John claimed, has built a system referred to as the “60-40” rule, perceived to protect Bermudians from competition from without. This, however, had led to a continued deterioration in the availability of capital, service, product, management quality and “know-how” and had now reached the stage where we no longer compete with outside market forces.

“This,” he warned, “is beginning to produce levels of unemployment that should now be considered unacceptable if we are asking people to maintain a standard of living in a high-cost environment without depending on the welfare system. It's our responsibility to create jobs for these people, even if it means removing some of our protectionist policies.

“Unemployment is directly correlated to levels of crime and domestic violence and, in this time of recession, where people are being laid off, hours are shortened and overtime less of an option, I can see signs that people are already quietly hurting.

“Not everyone,” he pointed out, “can be employed in the international business sector and, at present, there is a corresponding widening gap between the ‘haves' and ‘have-nots'.

“I refer back to the City of Hamilton Plan, a paper which I wrote some time ago and which laid out what the city would be challenged with in the year 200l. We are now into 2002 and I've not seen any moves - even at the discussion level - of what we need to do to revive and boost our tourism industry.

“We must now accept,” Sir John said, “that the idea of tourists coming to Bermuda and staying in isolated areas that don't offer any form of entertainment or night-time activities - especially those coming from metropolitan areas and usually with money to spend - needs to be rethought so that we can make provisions for these people.”

Pointing out that municipalities around the world have found it impossible to meet the demands of its people in city infrastructures, recreational and cultural services - let alone new projects - Sir John said that the most progressive cities were turning to casinos to supplement general taxation.

“Through the revenues generated, cities that run casinos have proven their tremendous benefit to overall development. Moreover, casinos have become a recreational and/or an entertainment feature in most tourist destinations. I therefore strongly believe that a state-of-the-art casino should be developed and owned by the Corporation of Hamilton and that the Corporation should use the funds for the overall development of the city.

“Based on what appears to be Government's present and future commitments for capital, there seems little likelihood that it could financially assist the Corporation to achieve the projects that would revitalise our city.

“We are at a crossroads,” Sir John emphasised, “and now is the time to take action - while we are still able to do so - to reinvent Hamilton and create its own uniqueness and attractiveness. I have heard some people argue that it should be the ‘Monte Carlo' of this region of the world. We should aim to attract fewer people with greater spending pwoer which will put less strain on our infrastructure, environment and social well-being.”

Apart from massive land development as recently seen in the ACE and XL projects, abolition of the 60-40 rule would see land generally remaining in the hands of Bermudians: “They will be landlords, enjoying the revenue from the city, which in turn is generated by foreign investment in local retail and commercial business.

“A good example of that is Astwood Dickinson's relationship with Colombian Emerald, and other successful businesses here represented by Bermudians but which follow the marketing and managerial style of their overseas affilities. This would raise the standard of quality of product and upgrading of commercial environments because capital would be available from overseas.

“Commerical activity would return to the city on the same footing as international business. We must recognise some basic facts that sometimes elude us. We have a 1.6 fertility rate which sees our indigenous population shrinking by birth and, with approximately 820 births, of which 700 are Bermudian. With proper structuring and a real bona fide commitment to the use and application of technology in our education system, we should be able, more and more, to address the educational and job opportunities for Bermudians.”

This, emphasised, was the perfect time for Bermuda not to sit and theorise about ‘doing something' about tourism - but to get on and do it: “There is also the potential of recession in our construction industry but all of this can be reversed if we have the will and the commitment to act now. It can be financed through the private sector so the Corporation and Government would get additional revenue without having to provide the funding.

“We are at a deciding moment in Bermuda's history as we were with the successfully concluded Tax Treaty with the US almost 20 years ago. We're now at the same crossroad and decisions made in a constructive way that embraces the whole country will tell the rest of the world that we are open and ready for business.

“If we do not,” Sir John warned, “the consequences we are feeling in the local business community will be felt in the international business community.”

Citing the Corporation's plan for Hamilton, Sir John described it as “benign” in that while it addresses the physical side more than his paper has done, it in no way addresses the ways in which changes are to be made, or the incentives that are necessary for to make those changes actually happen.

“My plan, however, has practical and concrete steps that can be taken to achieve our goals for a revitalised city. If we have the will, there are solutions to our problems. We cannot continue to nit-pick, avoid making the bold decisions that must be made, and fixing the problems we that existed a decade ago, but are not the problems we are facing today.

“Otherwise,” Sir John concluded, “it will be a case of being ‘a day too late, a dollar too poor'.”