A good idea

August 9, 2004

Dear Sir,

Without question one of the most pressing issues facing Bermuda today is the lack of affordable housing. The situation has reached a crisis point as illustrated by the fact that the average cost of a home on this Island is $1.2 million. The challenge facing the Minister of Housing Ashfield DeVent and the Government is enormous.

Well-known contractor and entrepreneur Rodney Smith has put forth a brilliant proposal, which if acted upon would I believe serve to alleviate the problem. Mr. Smith has proposed employing the services of those incarcerated at Westgate in the construction industry to assist in the building of affordable housing. I feel this is a good idea for the following reasons:

1. The inmates would be afforded the opportunity to make constructive use of their time, which would provide them a greater sense of self-worth and encourage them to focus on the positive, this I feel would assist in the rehabilitative process.

2. The inmates could earn monies, which would be put aside and used to assist with their re-entry into the community and/or compensate the victims of their crime.

3. Government could keep building costs to a minimum by paying them a reasonable wage.

Let me make it clear that I recognise that not all inmates would be suitable for such a programme, prison authorities and case workers would have to make that decision and those who qualify should be allowed to choose whether or not they wish to be involved.

I recognise that this proposal may be seen by some as encroaching upon and limiting opportunities for those in the private sector but the situation is dire and as social activist and talk radio pundit Rolfe Commissiong has often stated, when the free market economy fails to meet the needs of the wider community then government is obligated to step in. A principle best illustrated by US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's government sponsored 'New Deal' initiatives, which were used to spur a flagging United States economy in the 1930s. Mr. Smith proposal is well worth looking into and I implore Minister DeVent and the Bermuda Government to take it under serious consideration.

RECMAN

Devonshire