For all the good achieved by the Progressive Labour Party Government, and there has been some, the PLP overall gets a failing grade. Much of the good is no more than is to be expected of a responsible government. But no one expected so many disappointments. The list is quite long, almost daunting. But here’s a start.The economyPLP policies and practices have increased the Island’s outgo and decreased the Island’s income.On top of whatever effect the global economy may have had, PLP actions toward International Business (IB) — changeable/unstable policies (term limits variations), hostility toward foreigners (xenophobia), and hostility toward whites (race-baiting and racialism) — have reduced the attractiveness of and confidence in Bermuda as a preferable location.Similarly, the animosity being stirred and bubbled by PLP leaders and apologists against the local white community — a prominent feature of the PLP’s election strategy — impinges on our bread-and-butter visitors and guest workers. It doesn’t automatically get turned off when dealing with tourists and IB guests, all of whom are foreign and most of whom are white. Thus the stability and cordiality that was our hallmark and gave us an income advantage has been severely shaken if not destroyed.As for outgo, the known overspends for various capital projects is compounded by the funds unaccounted for and an unprecedented level of debt with no credible plans for repayment.AccountabilityI remember the PLP tooting its own horn about the progress it was making toward full democracy with its “one vote of equal value” move, but it seems to have stalled in moving toward full accountability. Kevin Comeau made the case for it (http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20121123/COMMENT03/711239955), and I endorse giving the Auditor General the power to subpoena relevant records of individuals and companies that do business with the government.The PLP has blocked fiscal openness by withholding that invaluable auditing tool, and by failing to enable the PATI legislation (Public Access to Information) and failing to protect informants through whistle-blower legislation.The PLP has tolerated, if not enabled, unethical if not crooked finances, and has refused to pursue any but a token of the culprits. At very best there have been financial irregularities which have not yet been satisfactorily probed in a number of big-ticket government projects. Going all the way back to the BHC scandal, where the phrase “unethical but not illegal” first surfaced, through to the cruise ship piers at Dockyard where, as just one example, the contractor reportedly caused some equipment rental charges to be four times higher than they actually were.At worst there has been deliberated efforts to undermine the financial controls. Examples? The Dockyard piers and the TCD/emission control centre where the Tourism and Transport Ministry under Dr Ewart Brown inappropriately usurped fiscal responsibility for these projects from the ministry qualified to oversee large capital projects, Works and Engineering.Had the Auditor General been equipped with full powers to follow the money, we might have traced and even recouped millions of the dollars that went inexplicably down these drains.Chaos, injury and death on our roadsSome PLP leaders have claimed that the Government doesn’t have responsibility for the police and therefore it is not the government’s fault that traffic laws are not being enforced. That is misleading, false actually. The Government has been delegated responsibility over the Police for, among other things, Recruitment, Training, Equipment, General Organisation and Finance.The size of the Police force, the training its members get, the calibre and adequacy of its equipment, the way the Service is structured (whether or not it has an active Cycle Squad, for example), and whether, when and how well the Police are paid is all in the hands of the government.And even if they weren’t, I would have expected government MPs to be publicly getting on the case of the Police Service after every serious traffic collision. I’ve heard platitudes and condolences, but no accountability or commitment. And I hear not a peep from them about the vehicles that exceed the noise limit.Aside from not cranking the enforcement handle, the Government has actually handicapped the policing effort by permitting larger, more powerful and faster vehicles on our roads. Faster bikes, for example, make it easier and more tempting to exceed the speed limit, and make the job of apprehension more difficult.And I reject the blather about “personal responsibility”. We don’t allow the public to own guns because they are powerful weapons (and remember that “power corrupts …”). We don’t leave gun use to “personal responsibility”, do we? That would be absurd.And how about the equally absurd argument, as one PLP MP has made for not apprehending speeders, that allowing vehicles to travel over the speed limit lets people get where they are going faster and therefore is a boost to productivity? Suppose the same logic was applied to guns: that they help people settle arguments faster, so they are a boost to relationships? That kind of shallow thinking really needs to look at itself in the mirror.Meanwhile the traffic gets wilder; the collisions more severe; the risks increase to unavoidably slower road users — bicyclists, walkers (including children on their way to and from school), equestrians and tourists — and medical and collision costs grow larger.I’ll have to defer venting my disappointment on how the PLP has dealt with crime, the environment and education. I am sorely disappointed by the arrogance and sense of entitlement that has overtaken many PLP MPs.They’ve had their chances through three elections to get it right and, too often, they’ve got it wrong. The time is right now for the PLP to have a break, to reflect, rethink and regroup. A little time on the backbenches could restore humility while we patch up the mess they’ve made of Bermuda.The above was written by Stuart Hayward and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) or its Board of Directors