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Mainly non-Bermudians to benefit from SDO, BEST claims

Non-Bermudians would be the major beneficiaries if Government granted Tucker’s Point a special development order, BEST claimed today.The environmental watchdog said a review of the official share register of Bermuda Properties Limited (BPL) and Castle Harbour Limited (CHL) showed most of the shares were held by non-Bermudians.Approximately 90 percent of the common shares of BPL are owned by non-Bermudians, 90 percent of the preference shares of BPL are owned by non-Bermudians, 90 percent of the common shares of CHL are owned by non-Bermudians and 54 percent of the preference shares of CHL are owned by non-Bermudians, a spokesman for the charity stated.“This new information is disconcerting because, contrary to suggestions made by Government and [Tucker’s Point president] Mr Ed Trippe, it strongly suggests that the SDO is a bailout of non-Bermudians at the expense of the Bermuda public.“BEST respectfully repeats its demand that the Minister of the Environment [Walter Roban] cease withholding relevant information from the public and instead allow the people of Bermuda to see for themselves whether the granting of the SDO is in their best interest.“BEST also reminds the public that because the government has chosen to make the Legislature the decider of whether the SDO is to be granted, the Minister has a fiduciary duty to provide Members of the House and the Senate with ALL relevant information to make that decision. We raise the question of whether the Minister has already breached that duty by failing to disclose financial and other information to Members of the House (including members of his own party) when the House voted on the SDO last month. We respectfully suggest that the Minister will be in breach of his duty if he fails to provide Members of the Senate with all relevant information before they vote on the SDO.”