Dunkley makes final call for voter support

OBA Press Conference.

Premier Dunkley makes final statements before general election begins, at a press conference yesterday (Photograph by Blaire Simmons)



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Michael Dunkley called on Bermudians to return the OBA to office tomorrow as the island goes to the polls.

In the final party press conference before election day, the premier noted the OBAs record on tourism and improving the economy.

We have made progress in restoring jobs, opportunity and hope, but we still have a ways to go, he said.

Our mission is to extend the recovery and renewal into every household. Now [PLP leader David] Burt and his colleagues have been trying to convince you that the choice in this election is between them and us, but the real choice is actually much simpler and much more important. Will Bermuda move forward or back?

He noted campaign promises to modernise the infrastructure of the islands schools, explore the concept of an educational authority and the $2,500 Jump Start savings programme, saying the OBA have a broad programme to progress Bermudian life.

Asked if the OBA had done enough to return Bermudians to the work force, he accepted that employment remains a key topic of conversation this election season.

From where we came from, thats to be expected, he said. We were in a dire situation back in 2011, 2012, when jobs were being lost at a rapid pace. When you have to turn around the economy as we did, we knew it was not going to be straight up like an arrow to where we want to go.

We balanced that with making sure we brought the investment into Bermuda, return confidence as we had to do, and against that backdrop we have a very tough immigration policy. We have professionals who sit on that board every week, read through those permits and scrutinise them up and down.

We have worked with the Immigration Department, and Work Force Development to make sure those opportunities are there.

However he added that companies should work to not only hire Bermudians, but train them given the economic turn around.

And challenged about the condition of the islands schools, he noted that the OBA launched the SCORE Report and has since begun work to address the issues raised.

I dont think the government that was around in 2012 wants to talk about the work that they did, but they will use it as a political football, hence why we want to investigate an Education Authority.

You have got to take the politics out of education because the only way we will move forward is if we take the politics out of it and stop our children being used as pawns.

Nick Kempe, who is running in Pembroke West Central, said the OBA had brought the island back from the brink and the impact has been felt by many people.

The job is not done. There is still certainly more to do and coming in for another term will allow us to balance the budget, expand social programmes and be able to work on the things that an expansive revenue base allows us to.

The prosperity that many have felt needs to be felt by all, and we appreciated the opportunity to continue our work for the next five years.

Meanwhile Nandi Outerbridge, who is defending the St Georges West seat, said she was thankful that the OBA gave her the opportunity to make a difference in the constituency.

St Georges had become a commercial ghost town, let down by false promises of a new hotel, misled on the disappearance of cruise ships, shocked by the bulldozing of a thriving community golf course and disappointed by the lack of support to keep the old towns structure functioning.

The change in the old town from then to now is simply amazing. People are positive, people are optimistic and things are finally happening.

 Comments are closed on political content from July 4 to 19 to stem the flow of purposefully inflammatory and litigious comments during the General Election cycle. Users who introduce extreme partisan comments into other news content will be banned.</s>BERMUDA-ELECTION – Thirty-eight year old David Burt sworn in as Bermuda’s new premier</s>REUTERS: The leader of Bermuda's centre-left Progressive Labour Party was to be sworn in as premier of the wealthy, North Atlantic British territory on Wednesday after the conservative One Bermuda Alliance party's loss in a general election.

"First order of business today, changing my son's diaper. Will be going to Government House at 3 pm to get sworn in as premier of Bermuda," David Burt wrote on Twitter.

The PLP won 24 seats in the 36-seat parliament in Tuesday's vote, according to official results, securing a majority and defeating the centre-right OBA, which won the remainder.

The PLP received 20,059 votes, or nearly 59 percent, while the OBA secured 13,832, official figures showed.

Bermuda, a tiny Atlantic island chain east of the U.S. state of North Carolina, has one of the world's highest per capita incomes, stemming from a booming insurance and reinsurance industry and tourism.

The British Overseas Territory has the oldest legislature in the Commonwealth outside the British Isles. Its parliament first met in 1620.

Bermuda's premier chooses the cabinet and allocates portfolios, while Britain retains responsibility for external affairs, defence, internal security and the police.</s>HAMILTON, Bermuda, Tuesday July 18, 2017 – A new government will be chosen in Bermuda today, following last minute pleas from the incumbent One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) and the opposition Progressive Labour Party (PLP) .

At press conferences ahead of today’s vote in which 46,669 citizens are registered to vote, the two sought to convince voters they should be the party to govern the British Overseas Territory.

The PLP says education remains its top priority, and promised there would be: a review of all school facilities to identify and correct any health and safety issue in the first 100 days of a PLP administration; an increase in scholarship funding, and implementation of a low-interest student rate programme to “further increase access to higher education”; a phase-out of middle schools and the creation of “signature schools”.

Opposition Leader David Burt said students had been forgotten under the OBA and frequent changes in education ministers had created inconsistencies and a lack of accountability.

“It is a baffling exercise to imagine what the One Bermuda Alliance had been thinking when they had been wilfully ignoring the needs of our children and our teachers,” he said, adding that Premier Michael Dunkley had disrespected teachers “who dared to stand up for their students, and their own health”.

Meantime, noting his party’s record on tourism and improving the economy, Premier Dunkley said it had “made progress in restoring jobs, opportunity and hope, but we still have a ways to go”, as he asked voters to give the OBA another term in office to continue its “broad programme to progress Bermudian life”.

“Our mission is to extend the recovery and renewal into every household. Now, Burt and his colleagues have been trying to convince you that the choice in this election is between them and us, but the real choice is actually much simpler and much more important: Will Bermuda move forward or back?” he asked.

In an opinion poll published by the Royal Gazette newspaper over the weekend, half of the respondents said they would vote for the OBA, 39 per cent preferred the PLP, two per cent would vote for one of the five independent candidates, six per cent were undecided; and three per cent refused to say who they would vote for.

It indicated that Dunkley remains the most popular of the party leaders, with an increase in approval rating from 37 to 44 percent. Burt has an approval rating of 29 per cent, which is unchanged from the last poll in May.

Polls open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.</s>Former Opposition in Bermuda Forms Government; Changes at Helm of Losing Party

HAMILTON, Bermuda, Wednesday July 19, 2017 – The Progressive Labour Party (PLP) yesterday swept the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) out of power in the general elections.

The result prompted former Premier Michael Dunkley to step down as OBA leader and his losing deputy to quit politics altogether.

The PLP won 24 of the 36 seats in the House of Assembly, while OBA took the other 12, which meant that none of the five independent candidates – including former premier Paula Cox – got any success at the polls.

In addition to holding on to the 17 seats it won in the 2012 election, the PLP captured seven others from the OBA, including some regarded as safe seats for the former ruling party.

PLP leader David Burt will this afternoon be sworn in as Premier – the youngest in Bermuda’s history.

While Dunkley won his seat, his deputy in government and in the party, Bob Richards, lost his to the PLP’s Christopher Famous.

The Royal Gazette reported this morning that Dunkley resigned as party leader after the election defeat.

Meantime, the defeated OBA deputy leader, who first entered the House of Assembly as an MP in 2007, announced that he would no longer continue in active politics.

“I’ve done my best. This has accelerated my retirement from politics,” Richards said.</s>HAMILTON, Bermuda, Jul 19 2017 – At 38, David Burt says he is not daunted by the prospect of becoming Bermuda’s youngest premier after his opposition Progressive Labour Party (PLP) stormed to victory over the ruling One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) in Tuesday’s general election, winning two-thirds of the seats.

The PLP won 24 of the 36 seats in the House of Assembly, the OBA taking the other 12 after losing seven seats on the night in a stunning reversal of a weekend opinion poll which gave the OBA a double-digit lead.

Turnout was 72.98 per cent with the PLP winning 58.89 per cent of the vote to the the OBA’s 40.61 per cent. The five independents won just 0.50 per cent of the vote, garnering just 169 votes between them, including 41 for Paula Cox, a former PLP premier.

Just before 11.20 p.m. local time, Burt, a father of two, got word of his own win in Pembroke West Central over the OBA’s Nick Kempe and shouted “Hallelujah!”

“We have a strong team … and we will wait to go forward but right now we celebrate tonight and we get to work tomorrow,” added Burt, who is expected to be sworn in at Government House on Wednesday.

Burt, who increased his majority almost fourfold from 2012, when the PLP’s previous 14-year reign ended in a 19-17 defeat to the OBA, embraced his wife Kristin, before declaring that he felt “fine” about the result.

Striking a solemn tone, he said: “Service is something I have committed my life to and, the fact is, I have served my community to the best of my ability and my constituency.”

Burt, who has a Bermudian father and Jamaican mother, said of the overall result across the country: “I’m certainly happy for the results …but, the fact of the matter is, this is about work. We cannot pretend that we can celebrate a victory today when there is still a huge challenge to Bermuda.

“We have unemployment, we have debt, we have a structural budget deficit, we have an economy that is unfair. We have lots of things which we have to do so there’s excitement, yes, but there’s also a measure of reality for the job ahead.”

The OBA’s biggest casualty was Bob Richards, the former Finance Minister and Deputy Premier, who lost by 513 votes to 419 in Devonshire East to union activist Christopher Famous, who is also a newspaper columnist.

Afterwards, Richards, the son of Sir Edward Richards, a former United Bermuda Party (UBP) premier who was born in British Guiana (now Guyana), announced his retirement from politics.

“I am certainly going to retire from politics. This is the end of the line for me. My public service is done,” said Richards after his defeat.

Nandi Outerbridge, the former Minister of Social Development and Sport, was another high-profile OBA casualty during a night of high drama as she was soundly defeated in St George’s West by Kim Swan, a former leader of the now defunct UBP, which ran the country for 30 years until losing to the PLP in 1998.

On a disastrous night for the OBA, defeated former premier Michael Dunkley acknowledged that his party had suffered some “crushing defeats” on a “tough day”.

“Congratulations to Mr Burt and the PLP,” he said. “My colleagues and I wish them all the best as they try and move Bermuda forward.”

Wayne Caines won back the Devonshire North West seat for the PLP, defeating OBA incumbent Glen Smith and independent Cox. The former premier, who many in the PLP had thought would take votes from her former party, trailed in a distant third as Caines picked up 568 votes to Smith’s 385.

Before Tuesday, the OBA, after four and a half years in power, had high hopes of holding on to most of their seats and even pinching one or two from the PLP in the so-called marginals.

But Ray Charlton, who lost by just eight votes to Michael Scott in Sandys North in 2012, was defeated 577 to 297. Andrew Simons, who lost by just six votes to Walton Brown in Pembroke Central five years ago, lost by 540 votes to 283.

The PLP’s Dennis Lister III defeated Jeff Sousa in what was considered a reasonably safe OBA seat in Warwick West. In Warwick North Central, a seat won narrowly by the OBA in 2012, David Burch defeated Sheila Gomez by 661 to 338.

For Burch, a former senator and cabinet minister in the previous PLP administration, it was his first success in winning a seat in the House. He lost by just 10 votes to Wayne Scott in 2012.

Sousa lost by 12 votes to Lister, a shock defeat for a politician so certain of victory that he said before the count: “I am not going to lose. That would be a miracle. I know my people. I know my constituents.”

For more on this story go to: https://caribbeannewsservice.com/now/opposition-party-wins-general-election/</s>No matter what your cocktail preference, I’m sure you’d agree with me that there is nothing quite like sipping a cold beer on the beach. Our friends at Narragansett sent us a bunch of their beer a few weeks ago to sip on at Luke’s 5th birthday party and to mix up some cocktails with.

I decided to make my own version of a shandy using their Bermuda Style Pilsner, because not only is it delicious, but the can is absolutely beautiful… and SO Hamptons.</s>The Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) has claimed the island can navigate changes in government without disrupting business relations, after a new party swept to power in yesterday's general election.

Bermuda's Progressive Labour Party (PLP) regained control of the House of Assembly from the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA), which had been in power since 2012.

BDA CEO Ross Webber said the organisation looked forward to working with the government to ensure the local market remained vibrant.

If you are a non-subscriber but would like to be able to view this article, then please go to our Publications page for further information on joining our readership</s>KING CITY, Canada, (CMC) – Skipper Arjun Patel led the United States to a six-wicket victory over Bermuda in the opening match of the triangular ICC Americas Under-19s World Cup qualifier which was reduced from 50 overs to 20 overs because of a wet outfield at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club here on Monday.

Patel’s unbeaten 46 from 42 balls, including two sixes and two fours, helped overhaul Bermuda’s 103 for eight with 21 balls to spare.

Opener Solomon Burrows played a lone hand for Bermuda after they lost the toss and were sent in, striking 56 from 65 balls with three sixes and four fours before he was one of four batsmen dismissed in the final over.

Aravind Patnam claimed three of the wickets to finish with three for 12 from his four overs.

Sahil Patel, who opened the bowling with Mohak Buch, took two for 28.

Apart from Burrows, Dalin Richardson (14) and Marcus Scotland (10) were the only other Bermuda batsmen to reach double figures.

In reply, the US suffered an immediate setback when Buch was run out for nought off the second ball but number three Patel, later named Man-of-the-Match, teamed up to add 36 for the second wicket with Harish Easwaraiah (15) and 29 with Raymond Ramrattan (15) for the fourth wicket.

Vivek Narayan (nine) was the fourth wicket to fall at 81 in the 13th over but Patel ensured there were no further hiccups as he and Gaurav Patankar (five not out) added 23 in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand to steer their side home.

Bermuda’s most successful bowler was fifth-change Jaiden Manders, who took two for 10 from 3.3 overs.

The double round-robin tournament continued yesterday with the US versus hosts Canada.

The prize for the winners will be a place in the 16-team Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in January next year. The winners will also compete in the Super50 One-Day tournament in St Kitts next month.</s>Bermuda was recently featured the BBC Travel Show, with the episode following host Ade Adepitan as he explored the island.

The show takes a look at Bermuda’s shipwrecks alongside locals including ‘Adventure Tour Guide’ Jamie Harvey, Crystal Schultz from the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Insititute, Head of Marine Heritage Dr. Philippe Rouja.

The episode focuses largely on the use of photogrammetry by a team of scientists hoping to document Bermuda’s wrecks in 3D.

The footage follows Dr. Rouja as he explores the ‘Montana,’ which sunk in 1783. The 70-meter vessel “was used to run supplies to the Confederates during the American civil war and was one of the first ships to be digitally recreated using this cutting-edge technology.”

“The team has been working with the University of California to record thousands of images and build a 3D digital replica of the vessel. It means that it will be preserved for generations.”

Dr. Rouja says, “I have never really seen this shipwreck from end to end. You can see how big and long it is. So in one snorkel, you can’t visually take it all in.

“But the minute that it’s laid out in that 3D fashion, using photogrammetry, suddenly you can see it from the stern all the way to the bow and you just take in the full extent of the ship and it literally brings it back to life.”

Host Ade Adepitan concludes the segment by saying, “Diving is a luxury that is out of reach for many people. So, the plan is now to map at least 100 of the shipwrecks, meaning that anyone from anywhere in the world will be able to take a digital dive and experience centuries of maritime history.”

The next showings of the episode on Cablevision are scheduled for Wednesday, July 19 at 5.00pm and 11.30pm and Monday, July 24 at 11.30pm.
Voters in Bermuda go to the polls to elect their Premier and members of the House of Assembly.