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 […]
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…....
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…...
Accountant General not informed of Aecon role in airport project
correspondence reveals finance ministry at odds with Bermuda's chief accountant
When Accountant General Curtis Stovell first signed off on government’s agreement with the Canadian Commercial Corporation, no one told him that infrastructure giant Aecon was already in line to construct the new airport terminal. And Stovell has made it clear to the finance ministry that Aecon’s selection as the contractor for the $250 million project…...
City Hall closes on advice of Police
Follows protest call; political party meeting on airport to go ahead
City Hall has announced this afternoon that it will close to the general public from 4 pm at the suggestion of the Bermuda Police Service. But a planned meeting of the One Bermuda Alliance, at which Finance Minister Bob Richards is to make a presentation to party members on the airport development plans, is set […]