Those who violate the policies of Government?s new Director of Sustainable Development will be ?named and shamed? in a published Annual Report.

New Director Erica Smith said while at present there was not any specific legislation to enforce Government?s Development policies it might not be needed because her Report would be ?the big stick?.

In a candid interview with last week Mrs. Smith said the Island must plan for a sustainable future in order for it not to be forgotten by the rest of the world.

?If you look at Bermuda?s history we have had an ad hoc approach to how we develop,? Mrs. Smith said. ?We have been incredibly lucky. We were a resilient people and jumped on initiatives and changed with the time but as globalisation happens, we are going to have to plan so that we either don?t get left out or forgotten.?

Mrs. Smith also revealed the current five main themes used to tackle non-sustainability.

?The first theme right now is, ?Protecting our Common Inheritance? ? so that is focusing on the natural environment, Planning and enforcement of environmental issues.

?The second would be ?Sustaining our Communities? so we are looking at everything that has to do with the social side of how Bermuda works ? anywhere from housing to social service provision.?

A third theme ? ?Living within Limits?? deals with consumption patterns, waste and transportation,? she said while a fourth was ?Building and Maintaining an Inclusive Strong Economy?.

?We are talking about such issues as equality of opportunity, lifelong learning and training and possibly diversification of our economy,? she said. ?Finally, is actually the theme that is going to drive all of the other themes and hold them all together, is ?Governance and Accountability.??

However, she added that these policies had yet to be approved by Cabinet.

A newly formed Sustainable Development Unit would be a driving factor to implement change in other Departments, she said.. ?This Government, or previous Governments, has not had a strategy, that governs what the Island will do and this will make it much easier, simpler and clearer for Government Departments to know what the true priorities are,? she said. ?I guess some would say Party Platforms would give an indication, but you need to break that down further into what is most important, and give dates, times and actors about who is going to do it.?

An awesome responsibility and a daunting challenge, was how Mrs. Smith described being Bermuda?s first Sustainable Development Director.

?It?s exciting and I feel it is a privilege to be appointed as the first,? she said. ?It is going to be an exciting time for myself as well as Bermuda. But I can?t really say, at this moment, what it actually will be because there has not been one before me. So I am charting both Bermuda?s course and my own course.?

She said she was taking on the Island?s development issues by herself presently, however she was trying to determine what resources the unit would need in order to drive a future Strategy and Implementation Plan.

?The unit will be responsible for preparing a plan and monitoring compliance against the plan,? she said In addition to the unit, Government had hired a consultant to create development indicators to assess how well Government is doing, she said.

?We have a lot of data in Bermuda,? she said. ?But having done research for this policy, I feel confident in saying those statistics were not used to formulate future Government policy.?

She said her unit would ensure there was a coherent collaborative voice from the centre of Government that and ensure there was collaboration between Government Departments.

But when asked why she opted to go for Sustainable Development and not the Director of Planning ? she left in 2005 as the Department?s Assistant Director ? she said this role would have a broader reach and not just focus on the land-use aspect of Sustainable Development.