Government

Today the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport, Dr. Ernest Peets joined the community in expressing his sadness at the passing of Lt. Col. Brendan Hollis.

On 1 April 2022, the Labour Advisory Council (the “LAC”) reconvened with a robust agenda geared towards strengthening the rights of employees, establishing guidelines for the misclassification of employees and creating further protections for work permit holders.

The LAC, established in the 1960s, is a non-statutory tripartite Government Board tasked with advancing industrial relations and garnering consensus amongst its members to make recommendations concerning legislative amendments, policies, and standards regarding Bermuda’s labour force.

Later this month, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Walter Roban will represent Bermuda at two conferences in the Caribbean.

The Minister will attend The Turks and Caicos Islands Climate Change Summit on April 21 – 22 and the Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum from April 26 – 28. At these events, the Minister will highlight the many environmental, energy and conservation initiatives and programmes undertaken by the island to ensure a more sustainable Bermuda.

Yesterday (April 16), Premier David Burt and Mrs. Kristin Burt hosted an Easter Egg Hunt on the Cabinet Office lawn for dozens of little ones.

This was the first Easter Egg Hunt to be hosted since 2019, and the first time it’s taken place on the Cabinet lawn.

During the festive atmosphere, students from Government’s pre-schools were treated to an array of activities, including face painting, fun castles and other games and events.

Yesterday’s event culminated with a special visit from the Easter Bunny, much to the delight of the toddlers.

Yesterday (April 13), as a gesture of good will in advance of the holiday, the Minister of Social Development and Seniors, the Hon. Tinee Furbert, Premier Burt’s wife, Mrs. Kristin Burt and MP Ianthia Simmons-Wade presented a few of Bermuda’s nursing homes with Easter lily bouquets.

The bouquets were shared with Westmeath Residential & Nursing Care Home, the Packwood Home, and the Dorothy Crane Nursing Home respectively. It should be noted that public health guidelines were observed where appropriate and the visits took place outside the homes.

The Ministry of Health advises the public of the following product recall.

Ferrero recalls a selection of Kinder products listed below because they might be contaminated with Salmonella. This product recall includes all best before dates for the selected Kinder products manufactured at their Arlon site in Belgium between June and the present date. Regardless of the best-before date, these products should not be eaten. 

The Department of Parks is extending the deadline for proposals from suitable concessionaires to provide beach/park concession services at twelve (12) public parklands for the summer season 2022 (May 1^st 2022 to November 30^th 2022). The deadline for submissions is April 25^th at 5:00 pm.

The locations available are:

1.    Mangrove Bay

2.    Somerset Long Bay

3.    Daniel’s Head

4.    Church Bay

5.    Horseshoe Bay Beach (excluding the facility)

6.    Chaplin Bay

7.    Admiralty House

The Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Reform, Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons, JP, MP today issued the AML-ATF Advisory 1/2022 (below) regarding the Risks Relating to Deficiencies in Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing (AML/ATF) Systems and Controls in Specified Jurisdictions. 

The Proceeds of Crime (Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing) Regulations 2008 (POCA Regulations) require the Bermuda regulated sector and relevant persons to apply enhanced customer due diligence to high-risk countries.  
 

The Department of Public Transportation is advising commuters that there will be service delays this week and no public bus service tomorrow, Tuesday, 12 April from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. 

Last week, the Department responded to questions regarding cancellations and delays.  The issues stemmed from resource shortages, including a backlog in the shipment of tires for the diesel fleet. The bus maintenance challenges have resulted in fewer buses in service and increasing cancellations. The new tires will be delivered this week.

The Department of Marine and Ports, Boats and Moorings section advises that boat and mooring license annual registration commenced on 1 April  2022. The deadline for licensing renewals is midnight, Tuesday, May 31st, 2022. 

 Boat and mooring owners are further advised to ensure they have the correct address on file with the Department. Transfers of boats or moorings must be done in person with a photo ID at the Department. 

Premier and Finance Minister, E David Burt, JP, MP, will lead the Bermuda delegation to attend the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) annual conference in San Francisco from April 10-13, 2022. RIMS is the world’s largest community dedicated to advancing risk management.

RISKWORLD is RIMS’ first major in-person event since 2019. This event usually brings together more than 10,000 attendees from over 70 countries, 400 exhibitors from across the globe, and more than 300 speakers.

Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art was the latest visit by the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport, Dr. Ernest Peets, who continued his tour of the island’s museums, galleries and historical landmarks. 

The public will be aware that as part of his ongoing support of the island’s cultural institutions, Minister Peets has committed to engaging with those who oversee and manage these facilities. 

Minister Peets was given a tour of the facility by Masterworks Founder, Tom Butterfield, MBE.

Last week (April 8), Deputy Premier Walter Roban and Head of the Public Service, Dr. Derrick Binns recognized Mr. Sheridan Ming as the March recipient of the Bermuda Government’s Public Service Excellence Award (PSEA).

The PSEA is a programme that recognizes outstanding achievement by Public Officers.

Mr. Ming is the Assistant Buildings Manager for the Department of Public Lands and Buildings, within the Ministry of Public Works.

The Government of Bermuda recently experienced delays with its Microsoft Outlook account and an outage to gov.bm. This has impacted the Travel Authorisation (TA) process, causing some travellers to have experienced a delay in receiving their TAs.

At the same time, the volume of TA requests has increased with the start of the cruise ship season. 

The call centre is working to manage the increased calls and emails. There is a backlog of TAs to be processed, and the priority of work now is to address those flights for tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday.

The Department of Parks is seeking proposals from suitable concessionaires to provide beach/park concession services at twelve (12) public parklands for the summer season 2022 (May 1^st 2022 to November 30^th 2022).

The locations available are:

1.    Mangrove Bay

2.    Somerset Long Bay

3.    Daniel’s Head

4.    Church Bay

5.    Horseshoe Bay Beach (excluding the facility)

Recently (April 6), Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, Walter Roban joined Her Excellency the Governor, Rena Lalgie, US Consul General Karen Grissette, Minister of Transport Lawrence Scott, and other invited guests for a tour of the recently arrived U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Angela McShan (WPC-1135).

The public will be aware that the vessel arrived in Dockyard on Wednesday and will be in Bermuda taking part in a multi-month fisheries enforcement operation.

The Minister of Economy and Labour, Jason Hayward, will join industry leaders at next week’s Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) annual conference and exhibition in San Francisco. 

“As the Minister responsible for International Business, I look forward to attending RIMS with the large delegation of industry stakeholders from Bermuda, led by the Premier and Minister of Finance, David Burt. RIMS is a significant opportunity to showcase everything Bermuda offers,” said Minister Hayward.

Today the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport, Dr. Ernest Peets expressed his support for the Senior Women’s National Team, who are set to play in the Concacaf W Championship Qualifiers.
 
The Bermuda Women’s National Team will face off against the Dominican Republic tomorrow (April 8), at the Estadio Olympico Felix Sanchez, in Santa Domingo, Dom Rep.
 
And on April 12, the team will play their final qualifying match against Grenada here at the National Sports Centre.
 

The Health Insurance Department wishes to advise all HIP and FutureCare participants that April billing statements have not been generated and mailed out as yet as a result of an invoice software issue. In addition, participants who currently pay their monthly premiums via direct debit will note that the payment has not yet been completed. We are working on the issue(s) and anticipate a resolution within the next few days. The Health Insurance Department apologizes for any inconvenience.

Earlier today (April 7), the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sport, Dr. Ernest Peets joined Dame Flora Duffy’s parents, Charles and Maria Duffy and local artists Kendra Earls and Shanna Hollis to formally unveil the “Unfolding Flora Duffy” mural.

The public will be aware that the mural which is located on the Church Street side of the General Post Office building in Hamilton, is part of a series of recognition and celebratory events highlighting the achievements of Bermuda’s first Olympic Gold Medalist, Flora Duffy.

The Ministry of Economy and Labour released the January 2022 Consumer Price Index from the Department of Statistics.

Consumers paid 2.5 per cent more in January 2022 than they did a year ago for the basket of goods and services included in the Consumer Price Index [CPI].

In summary, during January 2022, consumers paid 2.5 per cent more than they did in January 2021 for the basket of goods and services.

I am sad to report that Bermuda has had another coronavirus related death,” said Minister of Health, Kim Wilson, JP, MP. “I extend my condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.”

Since the last update, the Ministry of Health received 7112 test results, and 147 were positive for the coronavirus, giving a test positivity rate of 2.06%.

These results are from testing done on:

· Wednesday: 31 positive out of 1957 results (1.6% positivity)

· Thursday: 25 positive out of 1622 results (1.5% positivity)

Good afternoon Deputy Premier, Minister Campbell, Minister Weeks, Members of the Media and to the people of Bermuda,

Yesterday at Government House I was proud to welcome two new Ministers to the Cabinet. Minister of Tourism, Vance Campbell and Minister of National Security Michael Weeks.