December 18, 2012Dear Sir,To: The new Government; Reducing our debt.A major challenge facing Bermuda is how to reduce the massive debt we now have. I have a few suggestions which may be worth considering by the Government and our elected representatives.1. Parliamentary salaries: Of the persons who tried to be elected to Parliament, every one said that they were running because they wanted to serve Bermuda. Not one said that they wanted/needed a job as a parliamentarian. Bearing this in mind, totally scrap the current payment and start anew. All elected members should receive a monthly stipend of $1,500. All members should receive a further payment of $800 for each full session of Parliament attended. This is reduced to $300 for ‘showing your face’ and then disappearing. Combine ministries so that all aspects are now under about nine ministries. A full-time minister gets $5,000 per month. A part time minister gets $2,500 a month. Same guidelines for the Senate.2. Labour’s value for money: Many (not all) of Government’s employees now go to ‘a job’ and get paid. A few actually go ‘to work’ and get paid. Weed out those who are being paid for doing nothing and reward those who are producing. We have many people out there who want ‘a job’ and some who want ‘to work’. Find the latter and put them to work.3. Pull back wages and salaries: Several decades ago Barbados went into a similar financial spiral. The unions worked with the government to ensure that no jobs were lost. They took a substantial pay cut to keep all employed. If the suggestions in #1 above are implemented then you will find the unions more willing to talk along those lines.4. Government travel: First class air travel and five star hotels need to be stopped. Premium economy and three star hotels and taxis, instead of limos, should be good enough for our representatives. Take a page out of Warren Buffett’s book! He is worth much more than the economy of Bermuda. He does not own a private jet or a yacht or a limo. He travels business or economy, takes taxis to get to appointments and has no bodyguards. He does not have a mansion but lives in the modest house he bought 50 years ago.5. Government equipment: Every Government department has competent mechanics who are not given the proper support (tools, parts, directives, advice, supervision) to carry out their functions. We need to switch from band aid repairs to preventive maintenance of out fleets (cars, trucks, buses, boats). It is not economical to buy 12 buses, or any other vehicles, at hefty prices and cannibalise one for parts for the others.6. Government contracts: It is about time we exercise the penalty clauses in contracts so that we get projects done in a timely manner, within budget and with the quality required.These are just basic areas where we could start to address our financial woes. I am sure the economists and businessmen out there have much more to offer. Do we have the courage to start with item # 1?SIMPLE SIMONSouthampton