Police raid

Friday's Police raid on the Auditor General's office will have raised further eyebrows around Bermuda and the world.

It might be reasonable to think that the Police, having already been embarrassed in front of the Privy Council when it was revealed they had arrested and jailed Auditor General Larry Dennis in the summer, would have acted with more discretion rather than continuing to treat one of the highest officials on the Island like a common criminal.

That the raid has occurred in the middle of the general election campaign is even more remarkable. To be sure, the Police must act without fear or favour and should not take politics into account when investigating a crime.

Nor is there any suggestion that the Police should not investigate the removal of the infamous Police files.

But one would have thought that the Police would have considered whether it was more judicious simply to ask Mr. Dennis to hand over the documents they were looking for rather than executing a full scale raid in full public view.

Cement crisis

There would appear to be plenty of blame to go around in the looming crisis facing the construction industry as it seems likely that the Bermuda Cement Company will close up shop at the end of the year.

Months after this long-running dispute appeared to have been settled, it has reared its head again, this time over plans to move the cement silos at Dockyard to a new storage facility.

According to both sides, new investors in the Bermuda Cement Company balked at the higher than expected price to build the new storage facility and the company asked for a further extension of time.

The West End Development Corporation, which says it has granted numerous extensions, in turn balked at this, and decided to end the lease in approximately six weeks time.

Now, Wedco, as landlord, is entitled to ask BCC to move, just as it was entitled to put the contract out to tender earlier in the dispute.

At the same time, if BCC does not believe it can afford to build the new storage facility that Wedco wants, then it has no choice but to close.

But what does seem foolish is the idea that somehow a new tenant, following a transparent and open bidding process, can be found in such a short period of time.

In the meantime, it seems possible that the Island's construction industry may well face severe shortages by January, stalling construction projects and possibly putting hundreds of jobs in jeopardy. That's not good business and reflects well on no one.