Race activist Eva Hodgson has again called for Government to close the economic divide by giving black Bermudians their share of construction contracts.

Dr. Hodgson says she was pleased Jim Butterfield lost the Dockyard Cement Facility contract — but was disappointed it went to Maxcem.

Premier Ewart Brown's administration has repeatedly been accused of failing to distribute contracts fairly, with recent critics including Government backbenchers Ashfield DeVent and Terry Lister.

Dr. Hodgson says Dennis Correia — boss of Maxcem, which won the ten-year cement contract yesterday — has benefited regularly while struggling black Bermudian companies have missed out.

"Just as there was a deliberate effort to demean us and exclude us, this Government and our future leader must be as deliberate in attempting to ensure that the economic gap is closed," she told The Royal Gazette.

"One way of doing that is by looking at to whom they give such things as contracts and rentals."

Myron Piper, of Island Cement which also wanted the contract, says the way the lease was given out favoured Maxcem and "made a mockery of black empowerment and the democratic process".

Mr. Butterfield, whose Bermuda Cement Company held the cement lease for 40 years, sold up after West End Development Company (Wedco) told him he would have to shell out for a costly relocation of Dockyard's two silos.

However, Wedco has ruled Maxcem will not necessarily have to rebuild the silos.

Some say that process was designed to remove Mr. Butterfield. Dr. Hodgson said: "They can do it to Jim Butterfield, they can do it to other people. I think they should because how else are you going to narrow the economic gap?"

Progressive Labour Party leadership challengers, Deputy Premier Paula Cox and Mr. Lister, have both pledged to turn down the volume on race discussions.

"Both have said we must move forward together, but for the average man on the street, they don't see any likelihood of moving forward together," said Dr. Hodgson.

"Blacks and whites can't move forward together because there are extreme differences in economic, cultural, social and political backgrounds. To simply say 'push aside the differences' may be easy for the Deputy Premier and Mr. Lister, but for the man on the street, that's not likely.

"In some ways the PLP has exploited the black community because even before the current Premier we would hear PLP supporters insulting black UBP people, calling them Uncle Toms, which implies that all blacks should vote PLP.

"They didn't return the compliment by doing what they could for the black community. They said they were governing everybody.

"I think the voters need to be paying attention to those who want to be our next Premier. Paula Cox has reminded us of the enthusiasm and the euphoria throughout the entire black community in 1998.

"It's well for all of us, particularly in the black community, to remember why there's been such euphoria, because there's been such disappointment since 1998 that we might even forget not only how euphoric we were but why we were so enthusiastic.

"Sometimes the political elite in the PLP have been far more effective in punishing those supporters whom they might dislike than they have been in coming up with ideas and proposals to benefit the entire black community."

She called for residents to demand their MPs tell them how they plan to end economic disparity.

"The current Premier has said black Bermudians have a malaise and they are soft," she said.

"I think the black community has been very soft in how they react to the PLP and leadership. They have not demanded that they reward the black community as a whole in how they voted for them.

"Our leaders [Dame Jennifer Smith, Alex Scott and Dr. Brown], all three of them, seem to be more concerned about the comfort of the white community than they are about addressing the economic, social and cultural gap in the black community.

"The fact that the PLP go on trying to please whites says something about the psychology of black people generally."