January 31, 2011Dear Sir,“I warned people about this - Bob Richards”“Cruise visitor numbers set to jump 11 percent in 2011.”Two headlines, two perspectives of the future economic prospects for Bermuda and in the case of the comments of the Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards, he voices his opinions almost with glee at the prospect in his opinion of imminent economic collapse of Bermuda.He states that had he and his UBP party been in power things would have quite different and we would not have had a billion dollar deficit for he would have said no. He is right. The United Bermuda Party has always been the party of no; no social programs of any significance; no further development of the country’s infrastructure and nothing that the people can consider that the government gave us this.I have always considered the greatest monument to the party of no that is the Shadow Minister of Finance’s United Bermuda Party is the incomplete would-be National Stadium at Prospect. The only difference between Bermuda’s would be national stadium and the famous incomplete church on the top of the hill over looking the town of St. George’s is that the former UBP government was not responsible for the creation of the field at the stadium which has always been in existence and thereby could be of some use for the people of Bermuda.If the current PLP government had not spent the money or better yet in the eyes of the government’s critics and political detractors who wish that the United Bermuda Party had been the government; what would they have done with a saved billion dollar deficit? I know one thing. We would not have seen and that is a system of unemployment insurance or benefits which even free enterprise America has in place.The UBP political opposition recently took the PLP government to task for not in it’s words; having proper statistics on the state of unemployment for Bermudians, but that is part of our problem as a country for we have a very short social consciousness and national memory. Before the economic down turn really took a hold of America or any other country; the PLP government mooted the idea that it was thinking of putting in place an unemployment policy or insurance benefits for Bermuda. Had the government stood firm and allowed that become part of the billion dollar deficit; today it may have been less painful for the three thousand plus Bermudians that find themselves unemployed and we would have had a definite figure on just how many Bermudians are unemployed. But as I recall there was such a loud howl of protest and criticism coming from all quarters including elements of the political opposition, that the government got cold feet and withdrew the idea and we heard no more about it.I do not object to Bermuda’s billion dollar deficit when I know most of that money went into social programs for Bermudians; the building of new housing projects; the further development of Bermuda’s infrastructure such as the new cruise ship terminal at King’s Wharf and Heritage Wharf at Dockyard and even if Hamilton and St George’s do not enjoy a significant part of that revenue, it will still go into the economy of Bermuda. Recently Dr. Duranda Greene gave a speech where she lorded the advances of the Bermuda College in particular the college’s accreditations receive from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the fact that more and more Bermudians students are taking advantage of the opportunities at the college. But it also could be easily said that this is enhanced by the government policy of free Bermuda College tuitions which is a prime motivation of a growing number of Bermudians who now find it is to their advantage to attend the college.The proposed building of a new hospital is another example of the strengthening of Bermuda’s infrastructure. I think most Bermudians are aware of where this money is being spent and that is why the leader of the BDA Craig Cannonier can express astonishment over what the polls continue to say concerning the political support of the PLP government continue to enjoy. His lack of understanding of the contexts of where that support comes from is at the centre of where his confusion comes from. Bermuda is not Iceland, it is not Ireland or even Portugal, I do not expect Premier and Finance Minister Paula Cox to announce during the introduction of the new budget that Bermuda has defaulted on its loans or any other financial obligations and this in my view is a far cry from the dire prognostications of the Shadow Minister of Finance.ALVIN WILLIAMSWarwick