Premier Ewart Brown has defended his government against growing accusations that it is elitist and leaving behind ordinary Bermudians.
Dr. Brown is currently in the U.S., where he has met with outgoing President George W. Bush.
He has also signed a deal with Homeland Security that could make it easier for passengers aboard private jets to travel between Bermuda and the U.S.
At home, meanwhile, experts have been voicing fears that poor Bermudians are finding it harder and harder to survive.
Hundreds of households are falling beneath the poverty line as the island reaches a "critical stage" that could have huge implications for crime and social unrest.
Bermuda College economist Craig Simmons led the criticism when he said in a TV interview that the island's so-called labour government appears to have left poor Bermudians behind.
He added that any household earning less than $60,000 a year - a significant proportion of the population - could be regarded as living in poverty. Charity heads Sheelagh Cooper and Margaret Giloth added to the debate by warning that more and more families are being left broken and impoverished and are being given little help.
Previously the poverty line had been considered to be around $36,000.
In a phone interview with the Bermuda Sun yesterday, Dr. Brown denied that the PLP had become elitist. He said that a number of election promises - including free daycare and medical care for seniors - are on their way to ease the plight of ordinary Bermudians.
Dr. Brown said: "I don't think that the average Bermudian has been left behind. You only have to look at our election platform; you will see things like free daycare. That amounts to a saving of around $7,200 a year. That represents a significant percentage of the per capita income in a given year, for Bermudians."
Referring to Future Care, a programme of medical aid for seniors, also promised by the PLP during the election, Dr. Brown continued: "This is a significant programme. Neither of those [Future Care or free daycare] has been launched; but they were promised in December, and we are only five, six months down the road and they are on the way."
Dr. Brown said: "I understand what Mr. Simmons is saying. Government is very sensitive to hardship suffered by any Bermudians.
"We are taking steps to make life less difficult for all. I agree that life is becoming more difficult for all people in the world who are in the bottom end of the economic spectrum."
Dr. Brown's office yesterday put out a statement saying that he had signed a "letter of intention" that could see private jet passengers enjoy the benefits of pre-customs clearance at Bermuda airport.
Dr. Brown said that the deal would help attract more affluent tourist dollars to the island.
Sheelagh Cooper said that her charity, the Coalition for the Protection of Children, is currently drawing up a study on poverty. She said: "We don't have all the final figures yet, but it's already clear that people are much, much worse off then they were 15 years ago. With the price of housing, food, we are reaching a critical stage here."
A criminologist, Mrs. Cooper said that there is a direct link between the poverty gap and crime. She said: "We will see an upward spiral in crime. We have seen it already; we are in the throes of that right now."
Social campaigner Margaret Giloth said that families are finding it harder to make ends meet, and that is one factor that is leading to more broken homes. She said: "That is what I want to raise to the Government: what are you willing to do to lift these people up who are not able to lift themselves up?" She continued: "We have children raising children; we have girls who are scared they could end up dating their brothers because they don't know who their fathers are. These are huge problems facing every one of us. What are we going to do about it?"
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, June 26, 2008
Comment by:
Adrian Ifill
I knew Dr. Brown while a student at Howard. He was a great student leader and a caring person. He is proud but not elitist. He would always sit down and listen and he has a tendency to choose people who,like him, are proud. But he is not elitist.
Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Comment by:
hadenough
Remember, because they say it isn't so, doesn't mean it isn't so.
