Capital Expenditure Projections Mr. Speaker, the capital expenditure proposals for the coming year 1999-2000 will reflect Government's commitment to support education. While we continue to review the plans for Berkeley Institute, $2 million is allocated for preliminary design work on those plans. Work will also continue on renovating and extending middle schools to support the reform of education. $5.6 million is scheduled to be expended in 1999-2000 for this on-going project.

The Minister of Health and Family Services will examine the needs of Bermuda's rest homes and will begin work on the designs and plans required in preparation for the phased redevelopment of seniors' rest homes, consistent with the Government's statement enunciated in the Throne Speech. $250,000 is to be allocated for this purpose. The Ministry of Health also has $250,000 funding allocated to it for ongoing support to the Hospice, and $468,000 for structural work necessary to St. Brendan's. The unspent $450,000 allocated in 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 to commence work on a Prison Halfway House is being carried forward to 1999-2000 in support of this Government's Throne Speech pledge to make the establishment of such a facility a priority.

Respect for the Judiciary and its facilities is a significant plank in the Government's proposals and as part of the Government's long-term capital plan a new facility is to be constructed on the parking lot at the corner of Victoria and Court Streets. This will house new courtrooms designed for improved security and with modern facilities, as well as a new police station to serve Hamilton. The Police deserve purpose built facilities rather than their much-renovated inadequate current location. $2 million is allocated to commence design work in 1999-2000. Further work will be done on Police facilities in St. George's as $450,000 will be spent on remodeling the Police Barracks.

Mr. Speaker, in its pre-election platform this Government said that it would place increased emphasis on the acquisition of further open spaces and recreational areas as part of our National Parks System. $1 million is included in our capital expenditure proposals for this purpose. $1 million is allocated for expenditure on the Aquarium as part of a four year project to complete an education and services complex there.

A $1.4 million grant is made to the Trustees of the National Sports Complex to ensure the completion of the current phase of the project -- the northern fields.

The Ministry of Transport is engaged in an ongoing programme of maintenance and upgrading of the Airport runway. $1.475 million is allocated for this purpose. In 1999-2000 the Department of Air Operations will be commencing a major fire safety upgrade of Bermuda's Airport, to be spread over a period of four years, and $1 million is to be spent in the first year of the upgrade.

Funds originally designated for work on the Town Cut in St. George's had to be redirected in this current year to urgent repair work on docking facilities in St. George's required to be completed prior to the arrival of the cruise ships in 1999. Accordingly a further $880,000 is now allocated in the coming year for the improvement of the Town Cut Channel.

The Bermuda Land Development Company Ltd. is allocated a grant of $6.75 million through the Ministry of Development and Opportunity and Government Services to support the development plan, which includes improvements to the infrastructure such as roads, sewerage and the demolition of unsafe buildings.

The Ministry of Works and Engineering will be spending an additional $1 million in St. George's as part of a programme to upgrade the sewage plant.

The Corporation of Hamilton is also faced with the urgent need to replace the pumps that evacuate the sewage from the City. The Ministry of Finance will provide a $1.6 million grant to the Corporation to assist with the cost of the new pumping station.

The Ministry of Works and Engineering will receive $12.9 million to support a variety of other projects including $1 million for the continuing work on the Pembroke Marsh Development Plan, $3 million for office relocations and alterations, $3 million for the upgrading of Government buildings, $750,000 for a programme to stabilise rocks in roadside cuttings, $500,000 for widening along Pender Road (the approach road to Dockyard) and $500,000 for asbestos disposal.

Mr. Speaker, this Government was elected by the people of Bermuda who looked at its platform and chose this Government to implement this platform. It is clear from the capital element of this Budget that the Government is following through on its election commitments.

Details of Current Expenditure Projections Mr. Speaker, Government's total anticipated expenditure on current account for 1999-2000 is $511.02 million, which is $35.9 million or 7.6 percent more than the original estimate for 1998-1999.

The ten Heads of expenditure with the largest current account budgets in the coming year, ranked in descending order and with 1998-1999 figures stated in parallel for comparison are: Head 1999-2000 1998-1999 1. Department of Education $68.6 million $61.7 million 2. Hospitals $61.5 million $60.1 million 3. Works and Engineering $42.9 million $39.8 million 4. Police $35.7 million $33.5 million 5. Tourism $35.7 million $33.2 million 6. Accountant General $29.8 million $27.3 million 7. Airport Operations $17.2 million $15.7 million 8. Financial Assistance $16.0 million $13.0 million 9. Health $14.4 million $12.4 million 10.Prisons $13.1 million $12.9 million Mr. Speaker, it should be noted that Ministries and Departments have not been given any inflationary increase in the coming year in funding for existing non-pay items. The effect of this is an erosion of the Budget base by two percent as a result of inflation. Departments however have been allocated additional funding to support new programmes authorised by Government during the current year and permitted to be carried on into the new budget year, as well as to support new programs beginning in the new budget year. Additional allocations have been provided to meet already-negotiated pay increases.

I will now review some of the major new commitments that have resulted in new allocations to Ministries and Departments.

Mr. Speaker, in our platform this Government promised fiscal discipline in all matters, and new standards of revenue management and accountability in all areas of governance. The Auditor's role in monitoring the financial affairs of Government is significant and his activities will assist the incoming administration to achieve its objectives. Accordingly, Government proposes to allocate a further $318,000 to the Office of the Auditor. $100,000 of this will fund secondments to augment the Auditor's staff and $20,000 will support the engagement of a value for money specialist.

First in the list of major spending Departments, Education also receives the largest departmental allocation of new funding in the amount of $5.65 million for 1999-2000. This Government is committed to building an educational system that teaches basic skills to higher standards to more people. $2.62 million supports teachers' salaries and specifically $576,000 of this is in support of the Throne Speech pledge to place more teachers in pre-schools while $450,000 is additionally allocated to support the extra staff required by the reduction of class sizes in Primary 1. $1 million constitutes an increased operating grant to Berkeley Institute as it absorbs more students, and $600,000 represents an increased operating grant to the Trustees of CedarBridge Academy, with a further $350,000 to CedarBridge for text books. $200,000 is allocated to the Department for the purchase of text books generally. Whitney Institute also receives a grant increase of $180,000.

In the Throne Speech we promised to continue to develop programmes at the Bermuda College. $425,000 is therefore allocated to meet various needs.

$89,000 is to support lectures in new and/or improved programmes for social sciences, graphic arts/media studies and business studies. $120,000 supports a programme to assess the levels of incoming students to identify potential support needs, and $70,000 is to be applied to the College's role as the administrator of internet domains in Bermuda.

In concert with my earlier remarks about social equity, health and family care and the hospitals together take a substantial aggregate share of new Government funding with additional allocations totalling $3.62 million. While the hospitals are allocated a further $1.3 million, it should be noted that the total includes over $450,000 for the start-up of the detoxification unit related to the proposed drugs court, and $233,000 for the development of a fifth community group home for the learning disabled.

The continuation of the rise in health care costs causes this Government significant concern. It has slowed somewhat from 1998-1999, but the Ministry Headquarters is being allocated $1 million for consultancy services to implement strategic initiatives developed out of the Oughton report on health care in Bermuda in an effort to manage the problem, consistent with our pre-election promises.

Mr. Speaker, the implementation of the Children's Act is supported by the allocation of $300,000 to Family Services for this purpose. An additional $169,000 is allocated to improved support for the foster care programme, including fees to foster parents. The child development programme (now in the Ministry of Education), also benefits to the amount of $132,600 as additional staff resources are added to speech/language pathology and development testing. $65,000 is allocated to the Health Ministry Headquarters to support the Youth Counselling Services programme begun under the auspices of the National Drug Commission.

As part of the Community Education and Development Programme a School Holiday Fun Camp is to be funded through the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs to the amount of $144,000. This will meet the cost of employing staff during the summer months of the programme.

As one step towards improving their quality of life, a Seniors' Centre is to be established centrally at a cost of $120,000 where seniors will be able to obtain advice and assistance on a wide variety of matters that affect them. In addition, and as promised in the Throne Speech, the Financial Assistance Department will be provided with a further $500,000 to improve the conditions in Bermuda's rest homes.

Consistent with my theme of supporting those who in Bermuda have become the "have nots'' of the globalised society, an additional $2.2 million will be added to the total social assistance grant budget. $75,000 will be applied to the child care programme for low income families. The Government's commitment to the provision of more and better housing for low income families will be addressed by the Bermuda Housing Corporation which will receive $500,000 as a grant to assist with the private sector rental programme and to offset a loss of income from intended rental increases that did not occur. The Corporation's plan to acquire more properties for rent to those in need of housing and to be more flexible in its policies towards first-time home owners, (the Corporation's "100 houses'' project) will be completed at a nominal cost to the Budget.

Mr. Speaker, this Government supports the initiative of the National Drug Commission (NDC) in its attempts to establish a drug court in Bermuda. This shows evidence of attempting to deal with individuals in difficulty as well as tackling the drug problem head on as we promised to do in our platform. $1.35 million is allocated to the NDC specifically for this purpose which will enable staff to be taken on to administer the programme, a magistrate to be hired, premises to be rented and attendant testing programmes to be set up.

The Ministry of Development and Opportunity will receive an additional $190,000 to establish a consumer protection office. In the Throne Speech we promised legislation to address the issue of consumer protection and staff are required to enforce the provisions of this law.

Government highlighted in its Throne Speech its intention to educate employers to the existence of employment racism and to assist them in understanding how to reduce bad practices. An education officer will be appointed to the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE), and funded at a cost of $51,000, to follow through on the promise made to expand the role of CURE.

A further $438,000 will be allocated to the Ministry of Development and Opportunity to encourage its training arm. The National Training Board will utilise $240,000 on developing apprenticeship programmes and a further $183,000 on the "investment in people'' scheme which has been successfully implemented in Bermuda. Improved training opportunities for Bermudians is a key element of our platform.

The Ministry of Youth Development, Sport, Parks and Recreation will receive $314,000 to support the development of the Springfield Community Centre in Sandys. Some seventeen persons will be engaged to operate the Centre, three of whom will be full time. This is consistent with our Throne Speech commitment to provide recreational programmes and interaction with youth and community groups. A further $250,000 will be allocated, in accordance with our Throne Speech promise, to provide assistance to local sporting clubs, bringing available grant aid for sports development and youth organisations to $1.3 million.

International business is a success story in Bermuda. This Government promised to implement policies to ensure that international companies can compete effectively in the global market. We want to see those companies succeed and we want to see Bermudians succeed in their careers with them. Investment in education and training by Government will provide an equipped and prepared population ready to take its place in the international business world. We require an effective supervisory system of our financial institutions, including our insurance companies. Support for the Registrar of Companies' Office is a key element of this. Transparency in official record keeping enhances our reputation as a jurisdiction and accordingly to assist in meeting this need $312,000 is allocated to that office as it computerises the Companies Register.

We promised to work with the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA) to ensure that the appropriate environment is created for our international business and to that end a further $100,000 is provided in the Registrar's budget to provide support to the work BIBA so effectively does. This brings the total allocated to BIBA to $1.6 million for 1999-2000.

The Registry of Aircraft, operated by the Department of Civil Aviation, is to be provided with an increase of $533,000 principally to enable the necessary skilled employees to be engaged and to provide training overseas in the areas of flight operations and airworthiness for the local director and operations officer. This is an important adjunct to our international business, but to avoid major liability claims, staff must be skilled and trained.

Mr. Speaker, as the Government in waiting we heard the people speaking. They were quite dissatisfied with the changes made by the previous administration in the area of waste management and particularly with the reduction in the number of days on which trash was collected. We pledged to restore the twice-weekly garbage collection. Accordingly $439,000 is allocated to the Ministry of Works and Engineering to pay for the drivers, labourers and increased vehicle maintenance and repairs that this will require.

Mr. Speaker, the year 2000 brings some interesting obligations. From a statistical perspective it is the year of the next census. A total of $461,000 is allocated to the Department of Statistics for the purpose of conducting the census, and $166,000 of this is needed for rent for new office space required.

The publicity campaign for the census will cost $100,000 in the coming year.

The balance will be needed for staff and materials.

The year 2000 also brings with it the much-discussed computer problem.

Government is budgeting to have spent in excess of $2 million over a three-year period on its efforts to reach compliance in its computer systems.

An inventory has been conducted, mission-critical systems and equipment are being replaced and programmes are being worked on and tested. All Departments have been alerted to the potential for problems to occur with embedded systems and instructed to obtain assurances from their equipment suppliers that the embedded systems will not fail. Departments nevertheless have been instructed to develop contingency plans in the event of failure of their mission-critical systems, and those of their business partners.

In the Government's pre-election platform we stressed the need for law and good order. The community has more recently been concerned about the ability to address crime both in policing and in prosecution. The Government supports the need for good policing methods in Bermuda, and is prepared to allocate an additional $1.7 million to the support of the Bermuda Police Service for the year 1999-2000. This will cover a wide range of programmes, but I wish to emphasise in particular the $800,000 allocated to training and development which includes the establishment of a junior cadet scheme and the re-establishment of the full cadet scheme, the latter promised in our Throne Speech. This is necessary in order to bring forward Bermudians into the service and will better serve the local community. $167,000 will support training and professional assistance to the financial investigation unit, necessary to support the recent Proceeds of Crime Act 1997. $36,000 will support the installation and operational cost of new Ionscan technology, invaluable in the war on drugs. $85,000 will be used to fund a management services consultant who will assist in a review of the utilisation of the human resources of the service.

Mr. Speaker, I have deliberately left mention of the tourism industry to this point in my Statement. We are all aware of the need for, as we stated in our platform, "a rescue mission for tourism''. The Minister of Tourism has already begun to deal aggressively with the problems he has seen and we know about. However, he does need significant resources quickly to implement some of the remedies. Accordingly, an additional $4 million will be provided to the Ministry of Tourism for 1999-2000.

$1.9 million will be applied to the introduction of a new advertising campaign that will see Bermuda re-introducing the medium of television to show herself to our North American market. A further $150,000 will support Bermuda's marketing presence in Germany at the Straus Burg Affair. Approximately $93,000 will be required to meet our commitments in preparation for the Tall Ships 2000 Race, and $120,000 in further administrative costs of operation of our overseas sales offices. However, a significant portion of the funding will be spent on programmes impacting closely on the local scene. $300,000 will be used to sponsor the Bermuda Bowl bridge championship to be held in Bermuda in year 2000. $500,000 is budgeted for the Monitor Group and their continued involvement in reshaping tourism, and some $486,000 for the Freeman Group working to raise standards of service in Bermuda in cooperation with the Bermuda Hotel Association. $132,000 will support an expanded Visitors Service Bureau to assist visitors to enjoy Bermuda upon their arrival, whether it be to find accommodation or plan an activity. Entertainment will be provided to tourists on arrival at the Airport at a total cost of $390,000. The Department of Air Operations will engage a director of entertainment and the Department of Tourism will provide $250,000 towards the cost of the activities.

Mr. Speaker, we must be aggressive in inviting our tourists to come and we must provide a welcoming atmosphere when they arrive, from the Airport through the hotel to the activities available to them during their stay, and all Bermudians must be involved.

Mr. Speaker, as can readily be seen from the foregoing, this Government is a Government that promised and is now living up to those promises. It is a Government of action, putting into place what it said it would do both in its platform and in the Throne Speech, and it is a Government that is working for the benefit of the whole community.

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY HOA