Education and our young people, as it should, was a top issue in this speech. Highlighting the opportunity for kids to get a tertiary education was good, but we really need to up the bar where secondary education is concerned. Graduation rates don't tell me much if we don't know how these students are faring in GCSEs or SATs or equivalent. Other items in this vein include apprentice contracts and a career centre (which can be useful).
Glad to see healthcare mentioned. Not just the hospital situation, but programmes dealing with fitness.
This one raised my eyebrow:
We must grow trained, exposed Bermudian journalists and the Government intends to cultivate the latent interest in these careers through its own relationships with overseas news and broadcasting agencies.What does that mean? Government wants to handle training journalists? Is that a swipe at the existing media organisations (excluding of course Bermuda Network News)? That whole paragraph was a completely open slash at the Gazette, Sun, VSB and Berm Broadcastin'.
Road safety got a mention, yet it looks like they're focusing not on the current state of poor driving but hoping the next generation miraculously becomes safer drivers. Graduated licenses. Wish they would review the Motor Vehicles Act or Road Traffic Act or whatever it was called.
With regards to crime, it's good that Government is keeping focus on the issue. Witness protection looks like a good idea.
They've committed to getting the swimming complex up. Wow. Good stuff.
The mention of additions to the National Parks system conveniently left out the Southlands area. (*Vexed noticed this first. Actually, shoot, go read his post and leave me alone, heh)
I liked that water conservation was brought up as with a continuing influx of workers and less resources to sustain them, having enough water for drinking and other purposes will be important. Of course they probably shouldn't cut down more trees and burn more electricity in their promotion campaigns, but what can you do. If the reverse osmosis plant is successful that will be great.
I'm not sure what a Cultural Legacy Fund is, but can understand the value it could have to the population if applied correctly and not having things decreed to us without first providing the necessary backstory and chance for sharing opinions.
Well again, go to Vexed for a better study. And to the other blogs and forums in due course once commentary is raised there.
3 comments:
What's odd about this Throne speech is that it dealt very little with legislative agenda - which is the whole point of a throne speech - and dealt instead with normal government activity.
Perhaps this edition of said speech was more like a government press (fluff) blurb, then?
I think that you're right though, it was light on actual legislative items, the things that the Governor has the power to make decisions upon. Wonder what that means.
It would be great if a Reverse Osmosis Plant can be built in Bermuda. It's the one thing she does not have and really needs. Cayman does have one and it's great to know that you have uninterrupeted flow of water (unless there's a hurricane or you don't pay your water bill).
What does Cayman not have that Bermuda does, and really badly needs. An incinerator! Here we dump our garbage at the garbage dump, not to far from town. It's not pleasant!
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