Changing the Municipalities Act, et al

One of the more unpopular bills that has come up in recent times (I suppose the Gambling proposal ranks higher) is this Municipalities Reform Act. The public appears to be overwhelmingly against this, namely on the basis that it's seen as Government taking over certain aspects of the Corporation of Hamilton's functions (and thus drowning it in its own bureaucracy), yet the ruling government party is adamant that this must be done, and also be given priority.

Personally, stamping out the gun violence and crime ranks as a much higher issue to me (as well as issues dealing with the economy, tourism, traffic and road use) but ces't la vie, I suppose.

One thing that bugs me about the way that Government has gone about this, is that apparently up to $800,000 - that's eight hundred thousand dollars - went to some overseas consulting firm for the purpose of allegedly determining how to reform the CoH and Corporation of St. George's. However the findings of the report have not come close to sniffing the air. Nobody outside of the PLP inner circle appears to know the findings of this expensive study. Makes one wonder if the purpose of the consultants was instead, how to come up with a bill to successfully put forward a bill which can serve Government's wishes, while yet appearing not to be the prophecy of doom that the CoH may think will happen (and have enough lingo that certain MPs can use to deflect criticism).

I dunno. More astute and critical posts exist at Vexed Bermoothes and Politics.bm, and I'm sure they and other local sites will have posts on the fallout soon enough.

Recman gets it

Bermuda's senior men's team have been pretty poor of late. Their results over the past couple of years have been disappointing in all aspects, and in every one of their matches there's at least one area that has shown up to be abysmal (usually the batting effort).

The popular newspaper columnist known as 'Recman' attributes this to the demise of the longer form of the game on the island, a stance I completely agree with.

Bermuda's cricketers have fallen in love with the swash and thump that 20-20 cricket affords them, and on our minuscule grounds, it's a delight for the casual fan to behold. But it does nothing at all for developing sound cricketers.

It's been proposed by many a person in the island that if anything, the domestic season can start with proper 'open' or two-day cricket, followed by your limited overs matches and then you can have your wham-bam cricket at the end of the season. By then, the good habits that are hopefully picked up earlier on can then get applied to playing decent cricket when the shorter form of the game comes around.

Unfortunately, I think the horse has already left the stable, so to speak. Good luck to the national programme.

Cell phone ban in Bermuda

It's at least four years too late, but Government actually did something I agree with, in regards to banning the use of cell phones while driving.

What remains to be seen is how this is enforced; police resources appear to be stretched really thin, and with cell phone use in cars and on motorbikes now firmly entrenched in our culture, it's going to be hard to see a drastic improvement in driving habits at this time.

And Government must make it clear that this legislation is not just simply another way to make some extra cash, but an actual road safety improvement where MPs and the like lead by example.

But at least it's a start.