Instead of austerity, we chose to help people

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 5: During tough times, our community has always found a way to reach out to each other, help ease each other’s burdens and relieve each other’s pain.  During this, the greatest global economic crisis since the Great Depression, I, like the people of Warwick, like all Bermudians, have had to tighten their belts and make tough decisions to make ends meet.

You have done your part in our community and we, the PLP have done our part by:

• Using the $1.15M Unemployment Fund to re-train and re-skill unemployed Bermudians;

• Toughening Immigration policies in specific job categories to make sure Bermudians came first in employment;

• Creating incentives for Job Creators to maximize opportunities for skilled entrepreneurs to build strong businesses, employing Bermudians;

• Creating the Jobs Corp programme to ensure that our young people had the resources and support to acquire the skills needed to compete in 21st Century Bermuda;

• Creating job opportunities for young people by hiring them to work under skilled tradesmen restoring historic buildings and properties;

• Working to increase the number of Bermudian nurses through the Nursing Education Pathways Programme;

• Driving down housing rental costs for over 300 families through our Rent Geared to Income Initiative;

• Housing over 800 Bermudians through the Bermuda Housing Corporation;

• Providing a “hand up” for BHC tenants with programmes for developing skills to become good tenants or homeowners;

• Establishing the High Risk Adolescent Intervention Team to provide support to families and provide an alternative to the gangster lifestyle;

• Driving down the cost of attending the Bermuda College;

• Subsidizing mature, working adults by introducing scholarship programmes for the Bermuda; Police Service and Customs;

• Improving the quality of life for our seniors and driving down insurance costs by introducing FutureCare;

• Driving down household expenses for seniors by eliminating drivers license and registration fees.

These achievements are just a handful of the work that the PLP has done to help ease your financial burden, support society’s vulnerable and bring hope. We could have chosen to take the austerity route, embracing the failed harsh and reckless policies that have plunged countries around the world into chaos and division. Instead, we chose to operate under the simple guiding principle of “I am my brother’s keeper,”  by putting our people and our country first.

Working together

We haven’t gotten everything right and we don’t pretend to have all the answers but I truly believe that working together as Bermudians we will find the answers and come through these tough times stronger and even more unified. 

For the future, our Premier has laid out a 10 Point Plan for Growth that, with your support, will continue the steady progress towards the economic turnaround we are all waiting for.  

Premier Cox’s 10 point plan focuses on:

Job Creation

Cultivating a positive business environment

Strengthening Tourism

Improving Public Safety

Providing a First Class Education System

Improving our Energy, Sustainability and Environment Initiatives

Responsible Budgeting

Providing for Seniors

Improving Social Policies

Improving Infrastructure

Over the next few days, this plan will be elaborated and expanded on and you will have the opportunity to see how each part of the 10 Point Plan for Growth will create positive progress for our people.

• Lawrence Scott is the PLP’s candidate in Constituency 24, Warwick South East.