“You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality”— Ayn Rand

Persons in power blinded by their momentary pursuits too often laugh at reality only to be confronted with the consequences later. The arrogant will even deny the consequences by blaming other causes.

Today, most Bermudians from one end of the island to the other will say and agree the cost of living, including such basic essentials as food, is too high and even outrageous. A close friend of mine complained recently about paying $36 for a Swiffer cleaning kit, when her niece could buy the same for $6 in the United States. Unfortunately, now, owing to the tariff war, that kit may go up to $40.

The cost problem begins with the supply chain. Almost everything we consume is imported. We have a shipping industry that delivers a few hundred containers of goods to the island every week and takes back empty containers because we have no export. That means we pay for two trips to get one load.

Not only that, but let’s say a banana picked in Brazil costs three cents. It passes Bermuda on its way to the US to a consolidator now at 15 cents. The consolidator takes to the shipyard to head to Bermuda, which charges for a two-way journey — now that three-cent banana hits the Bermuda docks at 50 cents, and the grocery store charges 75 cents for a three-cent product.

In 2011, I attempted to solve this supply-chain problem. I gained the ear of the City of Hamilton and, during the latter part of 2012, won acceptance for my port idea to be used as the replacement model for the Hamilton port that was soon to be obsolete.

An election was called in November 2012, and the One Bermuda Alliance immediately took aim at the City developers. The port was a completely separate project from the City waterfront development, but became the proverbial baby thrown out with the bathwater.

I took the planned project to the OBA via Grant Gibbons, who gave it only tacit support with the caution not to be overly optimistic simply because I was the first to present it.

I interpreted Mr Gibbons’s comment as the typical Bermuda tale: “You can introduce an idea, but it doesn’t mean you can maintain control of it.”

I had plenty of examples of such behaviour, including when I took the Dockyard plan to David Gibbons in 1977 — only for it to come to fruition three years later under the auspices of West End Development Corporation!

But I come from a family of pirates, too. Michael Fahy, on the other hand, who had become the new care overlord for the City of Hamilton, all but laughed me out of the door — and I quickly understood that it would be a tough ground to hoe with the OBA.

What was planned was a semi and partly automated international transshipment port with blockchain technology. This would mean ships travelling from producer nations offloading and reloading in Bermuda millions of containers annually. Some items at first cost are coming to Bermuda. This was a paradigm shift away from Bermuda’s existing shipping style, which was functionally obsolete, having evolved from the 19th century.

However, the local industry was terrified and feared it would disrupt the supply infrastructure which relied on that old structure that was killing the island — and, yes, it would have — but there were ways to ameliorate the changes. Simple things such as 40ft containers rather than 20ft. Cranes that grip two or four containers in one lift rather than one. Keeping the containers off the streets by stripping them at the port.

OK, so 2017 comes along and there is a change of government. We thought we could now make progress. The challenge became personal: “We will listen to what is said as long as Khalid doesn’t present.”

So, we had to use an intermediary to present the idea.

The transshipment idea gained recognition when one of the world’s top ten port operators, which also owned 24 per cent of the third-largest shipping company in the world, asked for an exclusive — and we could not get a response from the Government.

Instead, what did the Government do? Check your records and even newspapers; you will see that Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, was inviting interested parties to come to Marginal Wharf. To do what? Build a transshipment port. Where did that idea come from? You can’t make this up, but that site is not feasible. The entire East End — because of the height of the cranes, wind factors and proximity to flight lanes — makes the area potentially a danger zone.

This was all before the pandemic; an opportunity that if seized would have brought a $4.5 billion injection to the economy and provided several thousand permanent jobs as another pillar.

Will they see this after understanding where we are today with the cost of goods and a disappearing population? Mr Fahy, you helped to shut down the waterfront development and in the process killed the new port. David Burt as Premier and Colonel Burch as public works minister, you succeeded in blocking the transshipment port. Are you both happy now?

I am waiting for the famous lie to resurface; some will know exactly what I mean, but computer records don't lie.

Instead of fixing an obsolete port, which is the bane of our existential problem, what do we do? We are going to form a new ministry on cost of living. Here is a classic example of “right idea but wrong persons behind it”.

Once upon a time, it was because you were Black. But what do you say when the labour government and the union are locked into supporting the status quo?

“Pay us a good wage and we will ensure the natives remain loyal consumers and calm.”