Finance Minister Bob Richards has issued a point by point rebuttal to criticism of the airport project, saying that a critique by Larry Burchall and Craig Mayor was flawed by inappropriately mingling two forms of analysis. At a press conference yesterday he dismissed the pair’s insistence that government had understated the true cost of the…...
Finance Minister: “They’re just wrong, what can I tell you?”
says airport deal critics simply don't understand finance
Two reports by retired chartered accountant Craig Mayor and commentator Larry Burchall reiterating criticism of the airport redevelopment project as proposed by the Government have been released. All MPs received the reports on December 7. Burchall and Mayor’s analyses purport to show that the real cost of the airport project is $1.4 billion. This is…...
Richards turns down airport debate proposal
remains silent on request for an interview
Finance minister Bob Richards has turned down a proposal for an on camera debate on the controversial airport redevelopment deal with his Opposition counterpart. And he has remained silent in response to a request for a full length interview. Think Media proposed the debate last week in the wake of protests and civil disobedience which…...
Police planned to transport MPs into parliament in paddy wagon
Paddy wagon outside OBA HQ on Friday. Police strategy to gain MPs entry into the House of Assembly on Friday involved bussing them. Not all MPs were convinced when Premier Michael Dunkley informed them of the paddy wagon plan. Some openly rejected the idea of being bussed in by the police van. As members of the…...
Police action against airport protesters to be investigated
BIU members file complaints; premier and seniors advocacy group join calls for investigation
About 24 members of the Bermuda Industrial Union descended on police headquarters this morning to file complaints against officers who discharged pepper spray indiscriminately on unarmed non-violent protesters. They were directed to the Police conduct unit – formerly the police complaints authority – on lower Court Street, to make individual complaints. Accompanying the complainants were […]
Pepper spray used in police assault of airport protesters
Police use of Captor spray may have been in violation of established protocol
Police officers physically assaulted people outside the House of Assembly and discharged a form or pepper spray in what could be a breach of protocol on Friday. The incapacitant spray known as “Captor” was issued to officers of the Bermuda Police Service in 2005 for use “only on those occasions when there is an immediate and […]
New airport: opposition demands continue as debate looms
Party seeks a delay in parliamentary approval to allow for an independent assessment
Government and the Opposition Progressive Labour Party are still at loggerheads over the new airport development project as a critical parliamentary debate looms. Finance Minister Bob Richards insists that all necessary due diligence is complete and will be asking lawmakers on Friday to approve measures creating an Airport Authority which will have the power to…...
Finance Minister’s misleading “rebuttal” to airport project criticism
Effort to "discredit" critic falls short; FCO says Government should address criticism
Finance minister Bob Richards has circulated a misleading “rebuttal” to a harshly critical report on the ministry’s due diligence on the airport project, we can report. The minister failed to tell the public that his comments were a response to an earlier draft and had already been taken into account in finalizing the report which remains unanswered…....
Government used flawed methodology to assess airport options – Craig Mayor
A government financial analysis on the airport project contains “significant and unacceptable errors and omissions” and used a flawed methodology to assess options for the airport, the Public Accounts Committee has heard. On Thursday, Craig Mayor, a retired accountant who spent the last 20 years of his career handling credit facilities and guarantees for a […]
Airport out of bounds, Government tells Commission of Inquiry
Civil servants told not to cooperate with requests for information
Civil servants have been instructed by the Government not to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry’s requests for materials relating to the airport redevelopment project. But both the Commission and Government are maintaining a stony silence about what has become an embarrassing impasse that could test public perception of the integrity of the Commission and fuel perceptions…...