Vexed Bermoothes

Further undermining the claims of prudent management by the PLP Government, the Auditor General has called for Police investigations into:

• Poor or non-existent controls and non-compliance with Government’s Financial Instructions for the Faith Based Tourism intiative (at least $400,000)
• A complete breakdown of internal controls and a pervasive lack of accountability by the National Drug Commission (at least $20 million)

These are on top of the two years of Qualified Opinions of Government’s Consolidated Fund, and the ongoing special audits into the King’s Wharf (now called Heritage Wharf by the Premier) and the TCD Emissions centre (has any vehicle been failed for emissions yet?)

This is all sickening news.  But it also shows a glimmering of hope that some of Bermuda’s institutions are doing their job to blow the whistle and put on the brakes.  It is up to us to see that their warnings and remediations are heeded, not pushed aside in the diversions and political games that have dominated in recent years.  We can’t afford to keep pretending that everything is ok.  It ain’t platinum, it’s rusting.

Government’s debt is scratching the ass of $1 billion dollars now.  Not only has Government spent beyond our means, I believe that large sums of that borrowed money has been squandered, wasted, and possibly misdirected.

Bermuda has had a lot of bad economic news recently … and I fear that the bad news will accelerate before the situation stabilises.

When will Bermuda reach the tipping point that it chooses its Government based on performance rather than identity politics?