IT was a momentous announcement that slipped out almost unnoticed.
IT was a momentous announcement that slipped out almost unnoticed. Last Friday new Health Minister Nelson Bascome revealed that "we will not be breaking any virgin land to build a new hospital".
The climbdown, forced by an onslaught of public protest, was not surprisingly welcomed by green campaigners who had been shocked into action when the decision was revealed at the end of August.
Even Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson — no fan of this Government's treatment of the sick and the elderly — applauded the about-turn. "This is one of the best decisions that the new administration under Dr. Brown has made," she said. "I am sure that the masses of Bermudians who campaigned will feel vastly relieved."
It was, in fact, one of the strongest examples of people power that Bermuda had witnessed, as Mr. Bascome himself acknowledged: "This Government listens to the people first and foremost," he said.
"The debate and the messages of protest that have gone out have definitely been heard."
And indeed the decision should be applauded. If it is an example of a new, "listening to the people" Government, then Premier Ewart Brown has brought about a dramatic change of approach in his Cabinet.
Unfortunately, all evidence suggests that this Government listens only with one ear — and one eye on the ballot box.
Realising it had dug itself into a hole, Government attempted to take backward baby steps in the hope that no one would notice. Instead, it bungled from one contradictory statement to another in a cynical bid to try to salvage its reputation.
At the end of August, then-Health Minister Patrice Minors insisted that the initial decision was made only after years of expert analysis, costly studies, site visits and consultation. Time was critical and work had to begin immediately. This was no time for revolt.
Nobody bought it. The clamour for a rethink was instant and deafening.
But did Government cave in to public pressure? No, it looked for a loophole and, almost three weeks later, found one. Then-Premier Alex Scott claimed that further studies of both the Botanical Gardens and the site of the existing hospital were required — and that once completed, the public would be won over.
The appeasing Premier effectively pulled the rug from under his Health Minister and it was noticeable that Mrs. Minors disappeared from public view thereafter. Instead, members of the Bermuda Hospitals Board were filed out before the prying press whenever future announcements on the debacle were necessary, fall guys for a Government that no longer wanted to be associated with its own unpopular decision.
Several weeks, one new Premier, and a new Health Minister later, the "new" Progressive Labour Party Government was able to make a further reversal. We were now told that a "shift in focus" was needed, that an in-depth assessment of our future healthcare needs was required to determine what sort of hospital should be built in the first place, never mind its location.
This, despite the fact that the BHB had already taken three years and 1.5 million taxpayer dollars to do exactly that. And hadn't Mr. Bascome's predecessor said that work had to begin immediately?
And then the final climbdown last week, made not at an official press conference after the island's media had been summoned, but during a heated debate in the House of Assembly. Made also presumably before Government had been able to complete its week-old pledge to "establish the priorities for healthcare in Bermuda". It was almost as though Mr. Bascome let the announcement slip out accidentally.
Dr. Brown attempts to convey that his is a new Government, but it should be remembered that what took place with the change of leadership at the end of last month was nothing more than a Cabinet reshuffle.
Government might now present itself as the listening Government, but as any human rights or pro-referendum campaigner will tell you, this same administration has been totally deaf to cries of public protest in the past. That is not likely to change. Dr. Brown has already declared that an amendment to the Human Rights Act to out
As for Independence, this "new" Government has discreetly buried this election loser, ignoring the request of more than 15,000 voters who called for a referendum on the issue.
Government was able to stage a gradual climbdown over its decision to turn the Botanical Gardens into a building site because it had nothing to lose and everything to gain. It was worth listening.
But public protest is ignored — and principles are jettisoned — when they prove vote losers. If this Government really is listening to the public, it would have rushed through Renée Webb's call for the Human Rights Act to be amended.
Of course, the result would have been the collapse of the massive church vote that props up this administration, and possible electoral suicide. Nobody should be surprised therefore that that particular public outcry is still falling on deaf ears.
People power
