Cox's objectives

October 27, 2010

Dear Sir,

In an article published on October 26, PLP party members set out to explain the popularity of PLP leadership contender Ms Paula Cox. In that article, 12 broad objectives were outlined by Ms Cox, but it is two of these 12 that I question. Now let's be clear, questioning two broad objectives does not mean that I am questioning Ms Cox's integrity, as this is an objective probe and not a subjective one.

First, let me say that it is not in the best interest of any country to have its leader manage two or three Cabinet-level portfolios at once. Dr. Ewart Brown actually held three portfolios as the Premier of Bermuda, they were tourism, transport and all departments that come under the remit of the Premier's office (these departments are a separate portfolio or Cabinet ministry). And, in my humble opinion, Dr Brown combined these ministries into a super-ministry which made his job as Premier next to impossible to perform competently. Yet, in his final interview with the media I was struck by his comment lamenting about the enormity of this super-ministry under his control, but he had the opportunity to separate and delegate these ministries to others and he did not – so the responsibility and accountability for them, their performances or lack thereof, rests squarely on his shoulders.

Many students in the UK were very puzzled by Dr. Brown's meteoric rise in political power once he became Premier, which far out-distanced Sir John Swan, who held the premiership for 12 years. I have concluded that Dr Brown's super-ministry, by default, gave him unbridled political power; just look at the combined annual budget under his control coming from each ministry.

Now Ms Cox, whilst vying for the premiership, has failed to tell us whether she will hold the finance portfolio as the Premier of Bermuda. Why should she tell us, the general public? Because we have a vested interest in the financial health and stability of this country, as we make our contribution to, receive our livelihood from and invest our pensions in this economy day in and day out, without fail. This is our collective financial future, not the exclusive domain of PLP or its delegates and, our right to know supersedes Ms Cox's right to hold this card close to her chest or share it exclusively with PLP insiders.

Moreover, when someone seeks to lead the people of this country, at the very least we should be given the respect and shown the dignity of knowing what are her intentions before any announcement is made on who the new Premier will be.

Let me refine my point even further, Ms Cox's speaks of "adopting internationally recognised benchmarks", and a benchmark here is a universally accepted standard; so where in the world are the leaders of a country and the finance ministers of that same country one and the same person? Where, or more precisely, what countries have "adopted this internationally recognised benchmark?"

The second objective that I question is why the broad objectives fail to identify institutional racism and set a benchmark when legislative reform will be successfully completed? Dismantling institutional racism should have been completed by the PLP by now, in its 12th year governing. My understanding is that when Kim Wilson (Attorney General AG) was asked about the backlog of current legislation she stated that she has had to refocus her attention to the current crime wave – fair comment. And, in fairness to Ms Wilson, she was not in office during the last 12 years, but as the current AG it is her responsibility to complete the task. Why is this task so critically important? Because it is the foundation of real, substantive race relations reform – in other words – it legally levels the playing field.

So my final suggestion and comment – the new AG appointed by the new Premier will need to multi-task!

VALIRIE MARCIA AKINSTALL

London, UK

Hospital project facts

October 27, 2010

Dear Sir,

Having read the Letter to the Editor from Enquiring Mind, published on October 26, 2010, I hope you will give me the opportunity to respond on behalf of Bermuda Hospitals Board. All of Enquiring Mind's concerns can be answered with information that is already freely available in the public domain, much of which is on our website and has been included in the regular advertisements we have run about the project. We are sorry if Enquiring Mind did not see this information and hope the following will help.

The need for this new facility was identified in the Johns Hopkins Medicine International Review – released in November 2008. Johns Hopkins stated that based on the acute healthcare services required by Bermuda, we needed 50 percent more clinical space. There is simply not enough space in our current facility to care for the people on this Island to the standards required in modern healthcare.

From the first announcement about this project, we have been very clear on the basic costs. The construction cost of the new facility is about $260 million and the cost of renovating the existing KEMH facility over a number of years is about $55 million. We understand that people may be confused by some of the media calling this a "$315 million project", but essentially the total has always included the two numbers.

Unfortunately, Enquiring Mind's calculation for an in-patient room ignores the many other clinical services being provided. The new facility will also be home to Emergency services; Diagnostic Imaging; Bermuda's first dedicated day surgery unit; oncology, dialysis, asthma and diabetes services; and a new utility plant. Additionally, it is important to recognise that single, en-suite rooms are not a luxury in today's healthcare setting. They are a best practice in the fight against hospital-acquired infections.

The construction cost should not be confused with the repayment cost, which is currently being finalised with our preferred bidder, Paget Health Services. While the contract is currently being finalised, and so is commercially confidential at this time, an affordability cap has been in place throughout this project ensuring that BHB can plan for and meet its 30 year repayment obligation.

The payment obligation is rather like repaying a mortgage based on your finances, although in this case our repayments as part of the Design Build Finance Maintain Public Private Partnership will include costs for: design, construction, construction management, financing the construction, as well as building and life cycle maintenance. The other key difference between the program of repayment for the new hospital and payment of a mortgage is the fact that repayment to the private partner depends on the private partner maintaining the new hospital in accordance with BHB's specifications. This means payments are subject to deductions if the new building is not performing to BHB's predetermined standards and specifications. This transfer of performance risk is one of the key benefits of a Public Private Partnership.

I would like to make completely clear, however, this building belongs to BHB, not to our private partner. It is not leased to us. BHB will own it. The private partner simply maintains it as part of the contract.

The costs to Bermuda have also been made publicly available since the beginning of the project. Essentially, the impact will be felt through premiums, which will rise less than three percent due to the project by 2014. No additional taxes are required.

Finally, the only project approved is this renovation and rebuild. The phases referred to by Enquiring Mind were recommendations by Johns Hopkins Medicine International in the report released in November 2008. This report is available on our website in full. JHMI reviewed the feasibility of long term development on our existing site. It demonstrated how, in a number of phases over many decades, the site could be developed. The existing project, however, will ensure we can meet Bermuda's acute healthcare needs for 20 to 30 years.

As we have also said from the start, the Continuing Care Unit is not part of this development as it requires a community solution for long term care. The focus for this project is the acute care needs of Bermuda.

I hope this clarifies the issues raised. We urge Enquiring Mind and anyone else with questions to review our website information: the advertisements we have been running are posted, as are fact sheets, background documents such as the JHMI Review, and Frequently Asked Questions. If there are outstanding questions, please do not hesitate to email our VP of Public Relations at anna.lowry@bhb.bm. Details about the proposed design of the new hospital can be found at www.pagethealthservices.com.

HERMAN TUCKER

Bermuda Hospitals Board Chairman

No getting a job

October 26, 2010

Dear Sir,

A spiteful HR, a good resume, and a dedicated applicant equal a bad combination when seeking employment in Bermuda. This letter is dedicated to the HR Departments throughout the Island and the qualified individuals who have been denied a place of employment. Around the world a resume is a document containing a summary of career goals, education, work experience, activities, honours, and special skills you might have. Apparently that idea does not fly here on the island. The Bermuda Resume should simply ask for:

¦ Your contact information

¦ Who do you know

Check a box if you think we will like you

¦ Are you willing to take responsibility for someone else's faults

¦ On a scale of 1-10 how much sucking up are you prepared to do

¦ Check a box if you are a "yes man"

¦ On a scale 1-10 how beautiful do you think you are.

The idea of educational ability seems to be the last, if not the least important, thing on the agenda. It appears that the more you can provide for the company the lower your chances are of getting that position. It sounds crazy but true.

I was told by an HR that: "One of the main reasons that I did not receive a job was due to me coming in to the interview too confident."

An acquaintance of mine lost an opportunity because they volunteered to repair a computer at an interview for a position as an IT with that company; they knew that after the computer was repaired, the job was not going to be offered because the HR was intimidated by they're ability.

Another friend was told by an HR that: "They tried calling the applicant's number but their mail box was full", when asked by the applicant: "Why didn't you use the email or home address provided on the resume if that was the problem"; the HR's reply was: "I'd rather try to call you, but it's too late, because the job is gone now."

It seems as if the HR is not looking for someone with assertiveness, dependability, or accountability; they are simply seeking robots to fill a spot and "smile for the camera".

College graduates work hard to return as tops in the food chain but instead they are always being denied their rights of employment for every excuse other than the truth. You can turn a high school graduate without a college degree into a top accountant with on-job training, but telling a person with a degree that they are not qualified does not, and will never, add up.

How many people reading this letter can look around their office or place of employment and say: "How did this person get this job because they have no idea what they are doing and no one of authority seems to be concerned?" The blame is strictly devoted to the individuals who are paid to decide employees that best represent company growth and should not simply be on if they like you or not.

To rectify this middle-man problem, an examination should be provided to individuals interested in the position advertised and the best scores decide the employee; if there are equal scores in the end then an interview with the boss should be given.

The idea of "Bermudians come first" and "there aren't enough qualified Bermudians" is a smoke screen, the racial excuse is small, and the foreign count is high but the ones who've made that decision to employ them are firmly liable. Egos, who you know, fear of another's success, jealousy, stereotyping, and envy decide employment on the island and not an individuals working abilities.

There are right-thinking businesses abiding to protocol but that percentage is insignificant to those who do not. I want to see letters of certification for your degree in Human Resources because it needs to be revoked.

THE TRUTH TELLER

Southampton

Mailed to the cross

October 24, 2010

Dear Sir,

I was wondering when my turn would come to be affected by Bermuda's new, utterly ridiculous, (to put it politely) postal policy. I sent a birthday present to a relative, (and paid a fair amount of postage on it) to the same address I have always sent his mail. Surprise! It came back to me, without anything written on it by way of explanation. I asked at the local post office here in the Czech Republic, if they knew why it had come back, and they were as mystified as me. According to them, whenever post is returned, from whichever country, it is the international custom that the post office returning the goods, stamps, or writes on the package an explanation of why it was returned. So Bermuda's postal system fails firstly in this respect.

Secondly, the postal system is supposed to be a service, paid for by the taxpayer, to serve them. However, it seems to me the main duty of the postal workers now, is not to deliver the mail to the rightful recipient, but to examine the address carefully, and then gleefully and maliciously send it back, as the writer has been a very naughty boy or girl! Tut tut.

And where was my mistake in the address? Oh dear, I forgot Hamilton Parish. So, to an address which is a postal box, PO Box CR xxxx one would have thought that the CR was enough to tell a postal worker that it is Crawl post office. But no, one has to add Crawl, just to be sure. And then, in case the brain failed to register that, one must put CRBX. All of which I did. But now, as never before, we must also put Hamilton Parish, because obviously no one in the postal service knows where Crawl Post Office(!) is, without that. What a farce, with Bermuda less than the size of an average city.

The policy itself of having the "exact" address is a ludicrous idea. To quote the post office website,"non-compliance (with regard to correct address) will result in non-delivery of mail". How can anyone expect all innocent foreigners to know about, comply with, or even imagine such a law? An old friend trying to get in touch to send a condolence, a lawyer trying to get in touch to tell you of a legacy, a business wanting your help, an agency hoping to hire you, well, anyone who wants to get in touch either for the first time, or after a long time, and to whom you naturally haven't sent the "Hamilton Parish" part your address, will have his letter returned, and not even with the courtesy of an explanation.

I don't know who thought up this utter nonsense, but perhaps it should be hastily and quietly reversed before he/she becomes either a laughing stock, or a valid object of people's rage. It is a disgrace to Bermuda. I can think of no other country in the world where the policy is one of nitpicking addresses, rather than delivering post, (or at least trying to). I wonder, fellow Bermudians, how many of your letters have simply never reached you, and you will never, ever know about it?

As for the postal workers themselves, I can think of only two reasons why they would obey such a policy. Either they hang up their brains at the office door, take no responsibility for delivering post, and just make more work for themselves by painstaking scanning each address. Or they do it out of un-Christian vindictiveness ... tee hee to you, oh sender. (Hmm, are these same workers so strict when a letter arrives "badly" addressed to themselves?) I'm sorry, but I cannot conceive of a more petty-minded attitude. A postal worker should be proud to deliver the mail on time and to the right address, even if the address is less than full.

I would be grateful if the Bermuda post office would refund the price of the stamps I put on my parcel, which has now been utterly wasted. Until the policy changes I will not use the "service" again.

JANET WINGATE

Prague, Czech Republic

P.s. I note on the Government website that the Post Office Act states under Part V Section 75 (e) that Any person ... who ... wilfully misspends his time so as to retard the progress, or delay the arrival of, a mail bag or postal packet in the course of transmission by post, or does not use due care and diligence safely to convey a mail bag or postal packet at the due rate of speed, commits an offence against this Act: Punishment on summary conviction: a fine of $1,440.