Letter from Bermuda

Only very rarely do Bermudians agree on anything. We prefer to divide our opinion on any issue along any available lines. Most often, the racial divide ensures that we have divergent views, but we are not opposed to splitting along economic, geographic or any other grounds, just so long as we do not share a consensus. Thus when the Bermuda Government recently took steps to solve a non-problem relating to real estate, by banning sales of property to non-Bermudians, and may have inadvertently burst the real estate bubble, half of us thought it an act of the greatest possible stupidity, and the other half applauded the fact that, as we drown, we will be taking a few foreigners with us.

The internet has proved to be enormously popular in Bermuda, with the island recording one of the highest take-up rates in the world. One reason for that is the large number of international companies we have. With the internet a standard feature on the modern office desk, people here quickly became used to the idea and extended their connectivity to their homes. Another reason is that we are 800 miles from anywhere. Any kind of connection to the world is welcome. With the Atlantic Ocean between the 60,000 of us and anyone else, we are desperate for contact. For instance, we gladly pay more than $100 a month for intermittent cable television.

Bermuda abolished special juries late in 2004. On the face of it, that sounds reasonable enough, but in Bermuda, hardly anything is ever what it seems, especially when it seems reasonable. Special juries were composed of ordinary jurors, who had been pre-chosen for having attained a certain level of education. The notion behind the special jury was a more intelligent understanding of the term "jury of one's peers". The system was introduced in Bermuda in 1907 to allow those qualified "by reason of education, qualifications, occupation or experience" to act as specially empanelled juries for complex cases such as those involving technical knowledge or the examination of books, accounts or documents.

One of the main planks on which the Progressive Labour Party won election for the first time in 1998 was the need for accountability and transparency in government. Since that time, the new government has changed its mind on the

A move has arisen to replace the bridge that links the main islands of Bermuda with those at the eastern end. The reason for such an idea, proponents argue, is the loss in September 2003 of four Bermudians on the half-mile bridge during Hurricane Fabian.

The last time we had a general strike was 1981, and 23 successively worse years have followed for our tourism business. We are now threatened with an illegal general strike in Bermuda, perhaps as early as this week.The Bermuda Industrial

Bermuda's schoolchildren and people, its largest industrial union, and the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) all simultaneously suffered devastating blows late in August, when the PLP Government of Bermuda cancelled its contract with ProActive Management for the construction of a secondary school, the Berkeley Institute.

What is government for? Protecting citizens would surely rank high on the list. Lately, however, the Bermuda Government has decided that the most important of its functions is to guard the moral well-being of the nation. Gambling, in the form of one-armed bandits in our bars and potentially casinos on the island, has been banned. Government in this instance is protecting us from ourselves.

It is said that a fish rots from the head down. You may decide for yourself how far the rot has gone in Bermuda, based on the following selected recent reports.

This is probably the sorriest story you will ever have heard, but it is a quintessentially Bermuda tale.Do you know what a "grease monkey" is? If you do, and you happen to be visiting to Bermuda, keep it to yourself.Three

It must be hard for an important person to travel to lands in which his authority does not apply. Used to hearing "yes" from everyone, the VIP hears "no" and must now fend for himself. He will no longer get his way just because of who he is, and he may receive short shrift from those paid to ensure the safety of the rest of us.The feeling of powerlessness is apparently intensified by air travel and the lack of dignity afforded to even the wealthiest or most powerful air traveller. Under such circumstances, ordinary folk are mildly inconvenienced, but they live with it. VIPs apparently experience a complete loss of civility. Air rage sets in with great intensity. Some VIPs go all to pieces immediately, others lash out at the nearest uniformed person. Some cause the police to take an interest in their behaviour.

The month of April has been dominated in Bermuda by a discussion on whether society has irreparably broken down. The debate has proceeded from the wrong point of origin, made the wrong assumptions and will, inevitably, come to the wrong conclusions. The reason for this misdirected effort is simplicity itself: we would rather not face the real problem at the root of the debate, economic inequality, since it is insoluble.The facts of the matter are simple enough. Violence erupted at a weekend soccer game. In the wake of events, arrests were made, and charges laid, up to and including attempted murder.

Ever since its formation in the mid 1960s, Bermuda's governing Progressive Labour Party (PLP) has placed Independence at the centre of its political programme. The PLP's unwavering pro Independence stance is its defining characteristic.For the first five and a half

From a financial perspective, the legacy of the first seven years of a Progressive Labour Party government will amount to a handful of projects. Whether, looking at this legacy, the PLP glass is half full or half empty depends on your view of the components of their legacy.

No criminal investigation in Bermuda's history has ever taken as long or reached as far as the probe into criminal activity at the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC). Yet in the more than 18 months since the Auditor General concluded that significant crimes had been committed under the BHC umbrella, not a single charge has been laid — despite the fact that newspapers have published copies of documents that would convince even the keenest government supporter that something had gone seriously wrong with the use of public funds at the BHC.

Among teaching methods used at business colleges is the case study, of which IBM is considered the classic example. Its rise to the top is taught as a shining example of how to manage a new company. Now, the way in which the Bank of Bermuda has handled the public relations side of its potential buy-out by HSBC can be added to the list of case studies, but sadly as a model of how not to do things, a kind of negative case study. People who pay attention to such things say that the deal could hardly have been handled worse. Since shareholders will not vote on the buyout for several weeks, this study may not yet be complete.

In November, the Auditor General of Bermuda released a report on the "Work of his Office and on the Accounts of the Government of Bermuda for the Financial Year April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002". The report paints a

We were not a little surprised this week when the Bank of Bermuda (BoB) announced that it wanted to be purchased by Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation. The bank is our largest financial institution and the largest private sector employer, until the deal is sealed. We have yet to hear from the bank's shareholders and the Bermuda Monetary Authority, neither of whom is expected to throw up much opposition, although why the shareholders would choose not to turn this deal down is beyond understanding.

It would be wrong to describe a hurricane as an enjoyable experience, especially one like Hurricane Fabian, which tore through Bermuda on September 5, killing four. Our hearts went out to the families and friends of the victims, who were

Bermuda has more churches and more police officers than anywhere in the world, based on the size of its population. There may or may not be more sin here than anywhere else, but there is less crime in Bermuda than there is in most other places — except on the roads, where, mile for mile, we must top the world league of crime.

Starved as we are for entertainment in Bermuda, the 2003 General Election has been the greatest show on earth. Even those who thought the Progressive Labour Party would be unable to manage the economy believed that they could at least manage themselves. How wrong we were.

The Westminster parliamentary system affords a sitting leader the ability to call general elections at any time before the five-year term of office is completed. Unlike the US system, in which elections are held every four years without variation, a leader under the Westminster system may select the date most favourable to his or her party's re-election chances. In the right hands, this is a significant advantage.

The main topic of conversation in Bermuda today is the next general election. It looks as if the governing Progressive Labour Party (PLP) may have turned what could only have been a straightforward victory into something of a contest.When the

No one who lives in Bermuda is ever surprised to find a local newspaper filled to the brim with the odd, the weird, or the downright bizarre. What passes for normal behaviour here would often result in the application of a straitjacket and a lifetime locked away almost anywhere else. But a story that ran in one of the local rags late in April may just take the all-time wackiness cake.The headline only scratched at the surface. It said: "Premier told: 'God is angry with Bermuda'." The sub-head read: "Prophetess tells Premier that Bermuda should brace itself for God's wrath, unless island repents within 30 days." An accompanying photograph showed "Prophetess Alicia Perry, pictured leaving the Cabinet Building after her meeting on Wednesday afternoon with Premier Jennifer Smith".

Some time in the next ten months, Bermuda faces a general election. Given the euphoria that reigned four years ago, when the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) won its first ever victory, re-election should be a foregone conclusion. In reality, the PLP has performed so poorly that the Opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) may represent an unexpectedly strong alternative and the election may be a close thing.

Although our internal differences are often put down to economics, the theme running through Bermuda society these days is racism. No one plays the card better or more frequently than members of our first PLP- controlled black Government, elected in 1998 after what we constantly refer to as "400 years of abuse" at the hands of whites. The first PLP government set out to change the economic order by favouring blacks in the awarding of government contracts. Such behaviour is entirely illegal under our Constitution, but we don't worry much about that. Just this week, our Minister of Transport, Dr. Ewart Brown, who is black, said that Government was embarked on a policy of "compensatory economics — compensating for the injustices of the past."

Some in Bermuda take a point of view that is best expressed in a comment attributed to Works & Engineering Minister Alex Scott. He is supposed to have said: "We don't need the best possible chief of police. We need a Bermudian chief of police." It would be unfair to characterise this attitude as being a PLP view; it is a Bermudian view, held by a percentage of the population, including Mr. Scott and others who should know better.

The greatest achievement of our first experience of a Progressive Labour Party (PLP) government was supposed to be the $68 million construction of a new secondary school, the Berkeley Institute.We already have a Berkeley Institute, which has produced almost the entire black professional cadre that runs the Civil Service and the government. Building a new school a few hundred yards up the road from the first one was considered important by the new government.

Given the state of our economy, the terminal collapse of our tourism industry, and the wave of secrecy that now surrounds much of our official business, observers of the Bermuda political scene can make out few grounds for confidence.The mood

Two leading Bermudians died within a few days of each other late this summer. The way in which their passing was received says a great deal about the nation we have become.David Allen was Minister of Tourism at the time

In 1998, when Bermuda's Progressive Labour Party (PLP) took office for the first time in its 34 year history, the general view was that a generation or two would pass before the party would be unseated. The self confessed black

Since the mid-1980s, Bermuda's insurance sector has grown to become the island's main source of business. The protracted, relentless collapse of the tourism sector since 1989 has eroded the notion that Bermuda leans on "twin pillars" of industry. One-third, probably, of Bermuda's overnight visitors are now here on business. Risk-related business fills a larger fraction of Bermuda-bound airline seats.

Bermuda's work permit situation has deteriorated to the point where it has all the hallmarks of a Keystone cops comedy routine, except that it's not funny.Months and months are passing between the approval of a work permit application and the issue of the permit. In the case of an annual permit, it has become normal, if that is the word, to wait eight or nine months for permission to work. By the time the permit arrives, it is time to reapply for next year's permission. (Employees may work once the application has been filed, but they may be deported if their application is refused.)

That Bermuda's taxi drivers are a law unto themselves was proven when a bill to regulate them, which they had bitterly opposed, was defeated in the Senate in June. Equally exposed was the inability of a lawmaker unto himself to make law for the rest of us.

A political situation is building in Bermuda that could lead to the collapse of the ruling Progressive Labour Party before its first term of office is fulfilled. The party's backbench, routinely ignored when important decisions are being made, has openly

In 1938, or thereabouts, the front page of The New York Times carried an article decrying the trust services Bermuda provided to America's wealthy to minimise their US taxes. In March 2002, the same newspaper carried a similar article which made similar sounds about the corporate services Bermuda provides to America's wealthy to minimise their US taxes. The first matter, clearly, blew over. The second may not go away as easily.

One Thursday evening late in February, just about everyone in Bermuda sat glued to his or her TV set as Premier Jennifer Smith gave "an address to the nation". Bermuda is not a nation, of course, but our leader has never been one to diminish the scope of her own importance.

The British decision, announced a couple of weeks ago, to share sovereignty over Gibraltar with Spain has caused at least one Bermudian commentator fits of apoplexy over possible implications for Bermuda. Roger Crombie writes a weekly finance column called "Penny Wise" in the Mid-Ocean News, a sister publication of Bermuda's only daily newspaper, The Royal Gazette. Penny Wise is a mix of financial advice and interpretations of current economic events.

Late in November, the government's chief economic advisor broke with many years of tradition and gave us the bad news straight. He informed us that Bermuda will be in recession for both this year and next. 2001 will see a reduction in gross national product of 0.4 percent, and 2002 will see a further contraction of 1.5 percent.Our tourism industry, which has been in decline for 13 years, is now on the critical list. The events of September 11 have produced lamentable occupancy rates in our hotels, just after the Big Five resort hotels in Bermuda renewed their paintwork to the tune of about $70 million.

Bermuda being a democracy, we are subject to the influences of neither the Taliban nor Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. The extreme and unpleasant views embraced by both groups are not entirely absent from our midst, however, and a gross embarrassment they

Statistically, Bermuda's losses from the events of September 11 dwarf those of any other country on the planet.Two Bermudians died in the World Trade Center attacks. With fewer than 60,000 Bermudians in total, on a per capita basis, that's twice

In the wake of the WTC attacks, attention has focused, naturally, on Bermuda's insurance and reinsurance sector. The bigger question, which no one apparently has the stomach to face, is what an extended recession in the US might to do

The wave of euphoria that Progressive Labour Party Premier Jennifer Smith and her followers rode back in 1998 has all but dashed itself against the shore.Since those heady days, Government has delivered on all, or none, of the promises it made back then, depending on your point of view.