David Burch

Specially Endorsed Writ of Summons in Jennifer O'Mara, as spouse of Calvin O'Mara (deceased) and brought on behalf of herself v. The Minister of Public Works and Andrew Bean at Bermuda Supreme Court.

"What seest thou elseIn the dark backward and abysm of time" Another chapter in the inexorable decline of old (white) Bermuda was concluded on 2 March 2010, when the island's oldest financial institution, the Bank of N. T. Butterfield &

After an exceptionally mild spring, summer heat suddenly erupted in Bermuda late in June. Almost simultaneously, the fabric of society fell apart. The prognosis for this summer and fall is at least one general strike against our supposedly labour government, with the potential for riots. And that's before the rise in gasoline prices drives our gas later this year beyond $10 a gallon, our bread beyond $8 a loaf, and our electric bills beyond our reach altogether. Change is coming to the Bermuda economy, and it's going to be ugly.

At the end of March, Bermuda convicted a man for his part in a $10 million government swindle. That fact, which is hardly earth-shattering, is surprising on several counts.The man convicted was employed by the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC), a government-funded, yet supposedly independent, body whose job, as best anyone can tell, is to collect rent and carry out repairs on houses owned by government. It might be responsible for housing those who cannot house themselves, but if so, it conspicuously fails to do that. In the past few years, it has evicted more people than it has helped.

Even the most socially aware can succumb to compassion fatigue, the exhaustion caused by caring too much about those less fortunate than ourselves. Caring is a part-time occupation for most of us, so if we take a break from it, not a great deal of damage would be done. What happens, however, when a government stops caring about the people it was elected to serve and protect? We have a Progressive Labour Party (PLP) government. The promise in those words — “progressive” and “labour” — suggests to the poor and less comfortable that someone is looking out for them. The PLP promise, however, appears to be worth little.

Starved as we are for entertainment in Bermuda, the 2003 General Election has been the greatest show on earth. Even those who thought the Progressive Labour Party would be unable to manage the economy believed that they could at least manage themselves. How wrong we were.