Monday, November 12, 2012
I'm back again...
I've decided pick up where I left off as far as this blog is concerned. I haven't had much free time as I've been forced to concentrate on keeping my family above water. I will most def be posting more latter this week. I have a lot to get off my chest.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Election Budget
In my opinion this has all the hallmarks of a an election budget,
the hard decisions that we know have to be made have been deferred to a
latter date. It is very concerning that our budget deficit continues to
grow at an alarming rate when for the past year we have supposedly
"Reset the Dial" and "Done more with Less." It comes as no surprise then
that the statutory debit ceiling will be raised from $1.25 Billion to
$1.45 Billion if Government jobs are to be retained.
It is good to see that payroll tax will remain at 14%...we can assume something was learned when the recent increase to 16.5% actually reduced revenue instead of increasing it as anticipated. Thumbs up as well for the continuance of payroll tax concessions for the struggling retail, hotel and restaurant sectors.
The most interesting aspect of this budget for me is the personal import duty "harmonizing" at all ports of entry at 25%. This means that clothing which attracted a duty of 6% will be increased to 25%... That's an increase of 317%! Personally I believe that there will be push back from Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda in this area. I am sure this is due to the recent lobbying by local retailers. They would have us believe that increased purchasing online and overseas by returning residents has led to plummeting local sales... 44 consecutive months to be exact. If this is the case, why are both local retail AND overseas purchases down? Seems more likely there are simply a lot less people here. Punitive tax increases are not the answer.
It is good to see that payroll tax will remain at 14%...we can assume something was learned when the recent increase to 16.5% actually reduced revenue instead of increasing it as anticipated. Thumbs up as well for the continuance of payroll tax concessions for the struggling retail, hotel and restaurant sectors.
The most interesting aspect of this budget for me is the personal import duty "harmonizing" at all ports of entry at 25%. This means that clothing which attracted a duty of 6% will be increased to 25%... That's an increase of 317%! Personally I believe that there will be push back from Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda in this area. I am sure this is due to the recent lobbying by local retailers. They would have us believe that increased purchasing online and overseas by returning residents has led to plummeting local sales... 44 consecutive months to be exact. If this is the case, why are both local retail AND overseas purchases down? Seems more likely there are simply a lot less people here. Punitive tax increases are not the answer.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Terry Listers Challenge
Transport Minister Terry Lister issued a challenge to Hamilton retailers to open their shops on Sundays if they want the Government to continue transporting tourists to them. Sounds good when taken at face value but the retailers responded by saying please remove the restrictions you are placing on us and we will gladly oblige. If we are truly interested in tourism why do we restrict opening hours on Sundays? It is ludicrous to have thousands of tourists transported to Hamilton and St. George's on a Sunday morning only to find out that shops are not allowed to open until after 12pm or1pm
Let's face it, businesses will only open on a Sunday if it is profitable to do so. The Government should be pulling every lever available to facilitate this, not placing the blame at the feet of business. This is similar to three months ago when the Premier accused stores of "raping" customers in order to deflect some of the heat. Which reminds me, how has the Price Commission also announced at this time been coming along? This electioneering does nothing to address the real problems retailers are having with profitability.
We can assume the major stumbling block with businesses opening extended hours on a Sunday is the Church. This is where we must ask ourselves if we really want to be a serious tourist destination. We are currently not living up to our visitors expectations, they are not receiving value for money. This is a most difficult situation which will not be satisfactorily resolved with an election in the near future.
Let's face it, businesses will only open on a Sunday if it is profitable to do so. The Government should be pulling every lever available to facilitate this, not placing the blame at the feet of business. This is similar to three months ago when the Premier accused stores of "raping" customers in order to deflect some of the heat. Which reminds me, how has the Price Commission also announced at this time been coming along? This electioneering does nothing to address the real problems retailers are having with profitability.
We can assume the major stumbling block with businesses opening extended hours on a Sunday is the Church. This is where we must ask ourselves if we really want to be a serious tourist destination. We are currently not living up to our visitors expectations, they are not receiving value for money. This is a most difficult situation which will not be satisfactorily resolved with an election in the near future.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
I'm Back!
Very sorry for the lack of posts... my computer decided to self destruct and it has taken me this long to source a new one. I'll have up something new shortly.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Bermuda Public Education
Let me preface this by saying that I currently have two children in the Public School System and two more that will be enrolled in the next few years so I have a vested interest in seeing it succeed. It is my belief that major restructuring is needed and not just the window dressing that we have seen previously or what has been recently proposed. From my own personal experiences I can point out numerous flaws that need to be addressed.
Teachers are being admitted into the system with dubious credentials. Just because you have a degree in a field from a learning institution that nobody has heard of does not make you qualified to teach my or anyone else's children. Backgrounds and qualifications must be vetted more thoroughly.
I have found that there are many wonderful teachers but their creativity is stifled by an overly rigid and controlling structure. If they are truly qualified instructors then please remove the bureaucratic obstacles and let them teach. They enter the system fresh and full of ideas with a sparkle in their eye and a fire in their heart, but within a few years this is extinguished and replaced by the "it's just a job" attitude. I fear that this is causing the exceptional teachers to leave the system and persue more fulfilling roles in the private sector.
When broken down per child the amount of money spent is outrageous for the sub par level of service provided. $150 million dollars divided by 5,900 students equals $25,423 per year. Student enrollment is dropping as more people lose faith in the system and place their children in private education and home schools yet the Ministries budget does not reflect this.
The children are being made to adjust to the learning environment instead of the environment and curriculum being tailored and tweaked to fit them. Outside the box thinking and innovation is discouraged as is anything that is not considered the "norm". It can be seen throughout history that outside the box thinkers that didn't conform are the ones that have led the way. Is the goal to produce strictly average students? If the current regime continues this will undoubtedly be the end result.
I have had experiences with reading recovery and learning support in Primary School. One would think the extra help for the students is a good idea but the problem is this. If a student is having problems with reading and you pull said student out of his mathematics class on a continual basis would you be at all surprised if the students falls behind in math as well? Seems like a simple problem but it occurs more often than you would think.
The Hopkins Report laid out exactly what was wrong and needed improvement. It also clearly explained ways for them to be fixed. We owe it to our children to act on these recommendations as soon as possible, it has already been four years since the report was presented. How many more years must we wait?
Having said all this please realize that I am not making a blanket statement about all teachers or all schools. Also let me say that a teachers job today is more difficult than ever with all the social ills that are so pervasive in our community. We also must not forget that parents have a huge roll to play and I am by no means absolving them of any responsibility in the problems with education today. At the end of the day my ultimate goal is the same as yours, to insure that our children receive the world class education that our tax dollars have paid for.
Teachers are being admitted into the system with dubious credentials. Just because you have a degree in a field from a learning institution that nobody has heard of does not make you qualified to teach my or anyone else's children. Backgrounds and qualifications must be vetted more thoroughly.
I have found that there are many wonderful teachers but their creativity is stifled by an overly rigid and controlling structure. If they are truly qualified instructors then please remove the bureaucratic obstacles and let them teach. They enter the system fresh and full of ideas with a sparkle in their eye and a fire in their heart, but within a few years this is extinguished and replaced by the "it's just a job" attitude. I fear that this is causing the exceptional teachers to leave the system and persue more fulfilling roles in the private sector.
When broken down per child the amount of money spent is outrageous for the sub par level of service provided. $150 million dollars divided by 5,900 students equals $25,423 per year. Student enrollment is dropping as more people lose faith in the system and place their children in private education and home schools yet the Ministries budget does not reflect this.
The children are being made to adjust to the learning environment instead of the environment and curriculum being tailored and tweaked to fit them. Outside the box thinking and innovation is discouraged as is anything that is not considered the "norm". It can be seen throughout history that outside the box thinkers that didn't conform are the ones that have led the way. Is the goal to produce strictly average students? If the current regime continues this will undoubtedly be the end result.
I have had experiences with reading recovery and learning support in Primary School. One would think the extra help for the students is a good idea but the problem is this. If a student is having problems with reading and you pull said student out of his mathematics class on a continual basis would you be at all surprised if the students falls behind in math as well? Seems like a simple problem but it occurs more often than you would think.
The Hopkins Report laid out exactly what was wrong and needed improvement. It also clearly explained ways for them to be fixed. We owe it to our children to act on these recommendations as soon as possible, it has already been four years since the report was presented. How many more years must we wait?
Having said all this please realize that I am not making a blanket statement about all teachers or all schools. Also let me say that a teachers job today is more difficult than ever with all the social ills that are so pervasive in our community. We also must not forget that parents have a huge roll to play and I am by no means absolving them of any responsibility in the problems with education today. At the end of the day my ultimate goal is the same as yours, to insure that our children receive the world class education that our tax dollars have paid for.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Is it Really Justified?
The following comment was sent to me by a Bermudian that has lived in the UK for quite some time...
I love Bermuda and advertise of its beauty often, even in the advertising I stress with out reservation that it is extremely expensive.
I was enquiring about a hotel or guest house for a friend to come down last year and thought that I could find something for maybe $70 a night and was told even with a staff discount I would find nothing less than $200, I was dumbfounded.
I have been back there twice since leaving and was stunned at the prices of everything. I could never think of coming back to live as I couldn't possibly justify it.
Here you pay $1,800 for a 4 bed room house with two ensuite bathrooms, a full bathroom, large lounge and a cloakroom and good size kitchen, but over there I hear you pay more than that sometimes for a one bedroom; that is just mad.
I can buy a 2 litre bottle of water for 50 cents but have to pay almost $3 for it there. Not dissing the place but I believe that the truth has to be told, it is unnecessarily over priced.
Is it really justified?
So... it could all be explained away by saying that we pay more because everything has to be imported and with that numerous people must be paid for said services etc. but at the end of the day is the struggle that is life in Bermuda really justified? I'm beginning to wonder... and I am not alone.
I love Bermuda and advertise of its beauty often, even in the advertising I stress with out reservation that it is extremely expensive.
I was enquiring about a hotel or guest house for a friend to come down last year and thought that I could find something for maybe $70 a night and was told even with a staff discount I would find nothing less than $200, I was dumbfounded.
I have been back there twice since leaving and was stunned at the prices of everything. I could never think of coming back to live as I couldn't possibly justify it.
Here you pay $1,800 for a 4 bed room house with two ensuite bathrooms, a full bathroom, large lounge and a cloakroom and good size kitchen, but over there I hear you pay more than that sometimes for a one bedroom; that is just mad.
I can buy a 2 litre bottle of water for 50 cents but have to pay almost $3 for it there. Not dissing the place but I believe that the truth has to be told, it is unnecessarily over priced.
Is it really justified?
So... it could all be explained away by saying that we pay more because everything has to be imported and with that numerous people must be paid for said services etc. but at the end of the day is the struggle that is life in Bermuda really justified? I'm beginning to wonder... and I am not alone.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Premier Cox's $150 Million Savings Fallout
As reported in the Royal Gazette bus drivers aren't happy with the new rota system put in place by the new Minister of Transport Terry Lister. A meeting is scheduled for Monday. I wonder if the buses will be in service? Might have to make other arrangements for the journey to and from work in tomorrow... sigh.
Methinks this is just the beginning as it appears the new Premier is serious about the $150 million in savings she has previously announced. Considering Gov. payroll is somewhere in the $500 million region this will be an obvious place to to make cuts. Cutting jobs will be political suicide so it looks like reducing work hours, overtime cuts and wage freezes will be the name order of the day.
Hopefully the Union and Gov. Departments will realize that strike action will be futile in this economic climate. They will find little sympathy from the taxpayers as Joe public has already been forced to cut back, it is government who has arrived late to this party.
Methinks this is just the beginning as it appears the new Premier is serious about the $150 million in savings she has previously announced. Considering Gov. payroll is somewhere in the $500 million region this will be an obvious place to to make cuts. Cutting jobs will be political suicide so it looks like reducing work hours, overtime cuts and wage freezes will be the name order of the day.
Hopefully the Union and Gov. Departments will realize that strike action will be futile in this economic climate. They will find little sympathy from the taxpayers as Joe public has already been forced to cut back, it is government who has arrived late to this party.
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