It is completely evident. Bermuda’s roads are a mess, badly in need of repair.

Bermuda is a world-class climate risk industry capital, while our infrastructure is starting to resemble a Third World country.

Not a good impression, at all. Something has to be done and soon.

Government has acknowledged it will cost $100 million for island-wide road repairs and that there is only $2.9 million available in the budget.

What is not clear is whether that number represents a one-year budget residue, or all that is left in the kitty?

Whatever the answer, it is no longer a trivial matter.

Continued complaints range the gamut about potholes, car suspensions out-of-alignment, unequal tyre wear and just plain aggravation.

Where can the money come from to get the roads resurfaced?

Here is a suggested solution, one that our entire community can be proud to participate in.

I’ve long advocated in numerous articles about giving Bermuda island residents the opportunity to invest, to support our own country by us lending our government money (bond) instead of having foreign investors holding the cards.

Here’s how it can work. Government issues a $100 million Bermuda dollar bond with a limited purchase time deadline. Each bond comes with a five-year maturity date, and paying a decent rate of interest, say 5 per cent.

According to the Government Department of Statistics, November 2022 Labour Force Survey Report, there are currently 35,438 working individuals in Bermuda (with 4,867 underemployed).

$100 million divided by 30,571 (the net of the above totals) equals $3,271 cost per bond, plus or minus due to rounding decimal points.

Just to make the interest rate computation easier, let’s say each individual (and possibly local businesses) may be interested and able to purchase one bond at a straight $3,000 per bond.

Some households may be able to afford more, some less, or not at all.

The benefits

• No foreign exchange fees to cut into the cost

• Everyone receives the same rate of interest for five years

• Small investors are allowed first dibs, no large institutions scooping up all issuances

• Offered at par value, no need to worry about a fluctuating price

• Have the ability to sell your bond to another, but can keep it to maturity

So, instead of having your tax burden raised, our community becomes a lender to government, and in a round-about way (no road pun intended), benefits you and your family. The roads get repaired, you earn interest and at the bond maturity term date, your principal is returned to you.

Adopt your piece of Bermuda road

We could even take it a better stage further.

If you purchase a stake in our country’s future buying a Bermuda Road Beautification Bond (BRBB), you can be assigned the right to adopt a piece of the road. Bermuda has 278 miles of paved roads, 140 public and 138 private roads.

Converting just 140 miles of public roads to yards (246,400 yards), then divided by 30,571 bond holders means each individual, family can adopt eight yards.

You can be the caretaker keeping your section free of litter, and responsible for monitoring road repair activities. No more taking one’s time to get the job done, you’ll be checking every day: on your way to work, on your way to church, on your way to a family get-together, on your way to a party, on your way to school, everyone, even children can be involved, everyone will be watching progress.

Nothing getting done, progress too slow? You know who to call. And it won’t be just you; every caretaker will be monitoring, checking and communicating – through the BRBB official website, and other social media.

Now the big question: how is the Government going to pay you back?

Why the same way, we pay our foreign creditors! Let’s start with the interest.

$100 million at 5 per cent, interest annually – it adds up to a total of $5 million a year.

That’s chump change compared to the amount Bermuda has to set aside every day, to pay foreign investors interest on their $3.5 billion – in US currency, too.

Plus, if the City of Hamilton could float a bond to pay for the then new City Hall, then surely the Government can pull off the same idea.

Government has projected a break-even 2025 budget and a surplus by 2026.

So, we need the Government to tighten their purse strings and businesses to pay their fair share of taxes, to set part of that surplus deposited into a special sinking fund.

If the bond were launched, who would monitor spending accountability?

No need to worry about that with 30,000 bond holders keeping an eye on everything, demanding accountability from our constituent representatives.

Community action at its finest – plus everyone will be adding 5 per cent interest to their bank accounts from their bond interest.

I welcome every comment, good, bad, negative.

First question – who is going to buy these bonds?

Trust me, if you can ante up even the cost of one bond, that’s 5 per cent interest you are not going to get anywhere else.

What if we don’t sell $100 million, $80 million, $60 million, or even less?

Readers, it will still be a success.

Some money is better than none – and if the project gets off the ground, the repairs commence, there is always the opportunity to convince the undecided to buy in by having another bond issuance.

What if the Government cannot pay all principal on time? Well, the risk of not getting all is spread out among 30,000 people, or future credits could be issued for land tax and other assessments, etc.

The thing is, at this point, what are you going to do if we do nothing?

Just continue to put up with crumbling roads, walls, and general atmosphere of total despair and neglect?

Remember we are a First World country. We should project that in every aspect of our island. We need to be proud of who we are, where we are and what our community represents on the world stage – working together, this project is possible and could become a reality.

• Martha Harris Myron is a native Bermuda islander with US connections, a presenter, author, finance columnist, YouTube creator and a former international financial planner with a Master of Laws in International Taxation and Financial services. Contact: martha.myron@gmail.com