Teachers taking part in industrial action hurt the Island?s public education system HSBC/Bank of Bermuda CEO Phil Butterfield told the Hamilton Rotary Club yesterday.

The guest speaker the club?s new luncheon location at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, Mr. Butterfield said the community must embrace change and he singled out education as Bermuda?s main challenge.

Mr. Butterfield also highlighted heath care and the Island?s Infrastructure as the other critical areas that need to be changed.

?In today?s fast changing global environment, Bermuda cannot afford to become complacent, we must not succumb to the complacency-change index,? Mr. Butterfield said.

?We are competing with other jurisdictions much larger than us, with far more resources, who are giving us a run for our money and are willing to bite the bullet to have a larger slice of the pie.?

?As a jurisdiction, are we willing to hand over our slice of the pie? We need to be more nimble and not so averse to change. If we do nothing we are simply going to fail.?

Mr. Butterfield said a community that boasts about hosting the world cricket classic and places a team in World Cup cricket surely should have a world class education programme producing world class results.

He was critical of teachers who took industrial action last week which affected 20 schools and saw hundreds of students sent home.

?Teachers who appear to be unionists first rather than educators reflect the extent of our challenge,? he said.

The Bank of Bermuda is committed to improving the quality of education, particularly public education, he said, adding that the Bank has partnered with five middle schools to bring about substantial change at that level.

On health care challenges, Mr. Butterfield said King Edward VII Memorial Hospital has only roughly six to eight years of useable life remaining, yet there is no momentum behind the plan to replace our declining health care delivery system.

?We cannot afford to wait any longer,? he said. ?Leadership must emerge. There are partnership solutions available to us. Health care leaders are aware but have not acted. Let?s have the rigorous debate and reach a decision as soon as possible.?

He said the Bank of Bermuda Foundation has already indicated its intent to be a leader in financially supporting this important initiative but if forward momentum is delayed, enthusiasm will wane.

?Our infrastructure whether it is the waterfront development or our environment needs the similar positive attitude towards change,? he said.

?As an anchor landowner on the harbour, we have a keen interest in the plans to redevelop the harbour and will support a realistic, economically viable solution which emphasises open space and opportunities for our fellow citizens to congregate and celebrate life.?

He said the biggest threat to Bermuda?s long-term success is complacency and resistance to change.

?Talking about this critical issue is insufficient, we have to move beyond our national past time which is to focus on problem identification and avoid the rigorous debate which is necessary to achieve problem resolution.

?As a community we need, when we disagree, to question one another?s ideas and not each other?s motives. We behave as if those we disagree with are our enemies instead of our opponents. We must have more fact-based, truthful dialogue.?

?I have been thinking lately about Bermuda?s motto ? Quo Fata Ferunt ? whither the fates carry us. I believe that Quo Fata Ferunt is no longer an appropriate motto for Bermuda in the 21st Century.

?We must transition to collaborative planning and the development of a shared version for the future.?

Mr. Butterfield said the Island must be willing to look to the future, to seek opportunities and grasp them when they present themselves.

?We seem so opposed to change, instead of grasping the issues at hand we stick our heads in the sand, albeit pink sand, and seem happy to let events overtake us, leaving our destiny to whatever fate chooses for us.?