All Bermudians and guest workers alike have a major stake in the continued success of Bermuda; therefore we should all share in a common objective of helping Bermuda to realise its potential for the benefit of all.

All our hopes, dreams, opportunities and aspirations are intrinsically linked with Bermuda doing well in this increasing complex global economy.

Each of us need to appreciate how globalisation is affecting our lives and businesses, whether we like it or not. I'd like, therefore, to share my thoughts on the domestic issues that we must tackle if it is our desire to satisfy the basic needs of our people in this highly competitive global environment. Bermuda cannot successfully tackle these issues without an earnest commitment to national inclusiveness. We must not let the past haunt us to the point that we fail to engage the best possible human and other resources that Bermuda and the rest of the world has to offer to address the current issues. We, therefore, need to take race and political affirmations out of our considerations when pursuing projects and programmes that are relevant to the long term interest of Bermuda and its people.

The major issues that, in my view, Bermuda needs to accomplish as soon as possible with quality, integrity and transparency are:

- Housing

- Innovative ideas to raise the standard of education in our public schools

- Build facilities and create policies to stop the decline of Tourism

- Upgrading of our Police and security facilities.

- Hospital and care for senior citizens

- The completion of the National Sports Centre.

- The incinerator plant

- The Causeway

- Bermuda International Airport

- Water

Housing

The human consequences of inadequate housing have an immeasurable social impact on young people. It inhibits children's ability to learn thus adds to our spiralling crime rate amongst young people. Housing needs in Bermuda stretch across generations i.e. the young, not so young and the old need adequate residential accommodation.

Sometime ago, I publicly made the suggestion that low-cost housing could be built from Dutton Avenue stretching on the left side of the road as far as the corner of Parsons and Glebe Roads and continuing along Perimeter Lane.

This development would merely entail the removal of TCD building and relocate it perhaps in Prospect, the redevelopment of the Salvation Army homeless shelter together with redevelopment of two houses on Perimeter Lane. The temporary Salvation Army shelters have lasted for over 20 years and they are way past their lifecycles. After careful consultation with the Salvation Army a permanent structure or structures could be built to accommodate a growing homeless population.

This housing development should be serviced by public water or Watlington water. The sewage disposal should be tied into the City of Hamilton sewage system, which would considerably reduce the cost. This development should be almost simultaneously accompanied by the conversion of the Pembroke dump into a park and recreational area which would include the park on the Parsons Road that would have to be removed to make way for the development. Turning the Pembroke dump into a park was a commitment given to the people in the area. This would be a more conducive area for low-cost housing than, for example, St. David's due to its proximity to schools and employment opportunities. The continued use of the Pembroke dump for dumping horticultural waste must be stopped immediately because we run the risk of jeopardising the enormous fresh water reserves that is below the area.

Innovative ideas to raise the standard of education in our public schools

No parent or student should have to feel that they have to leave a public school to go to a private school in order to get an orderly environment, competent teachers, high academic standards and a challenging curriculum.

There is nothing inherent in 'private' that produces these things. These are things that some of our public schools already do and all of them must do.

Parents taking their children out of public schools and sending them to private schools, together with a number of home schools that have been set up is a clear example of dissatisfied parents voting with their pocketbooks. We can't tell ourselves that it is hopeless because the public schools cater to about 65 percent of our school population of whom over 90 percent are black. Too many of these children, especially black males are falling through the cracks. Too many black people continue to embrace a culture of victimisation and entitlement based on past injustice instead of pushing for equality of opportunity, standards and accountability. These are the scars we carry. These are scars that continue to hold us back.

Fundamental shifts in the expectations of the public have demanded that the business of public education become open and transparent. We have to pointedly and very publicly tell the truth about our successes and failures, about the lack of standards, about problems in teacher preparation and quality, the bad news about student achievement, both in domestic terms and international comparisons.

We must set goals and objectives and make schools accountable for reaching these goals and objectives. We have learned something that business people have always known, when we commit to measurement and public accountability, we force the system to pay attention to performance. In a real sense, measurement is driven by change and provides the framework for change. The administrators of our schools should set benchmarks, evaluate outcomes and report publicly on individual school performance.

Strong academic progress ? language, history, mathematics, science and technology are an essential requirement for preparing young people to make the successful transition from school to work or college. There should be an independent Education Audit Authority that reports the performance to the public.

Boarding schools for 'at risk' males

All our children deserve to get a first-rate education. I know, in my gut, because of who I am and where I've come from that given the right learning environment, every child can be educated. In fact today we know what works ? good parenting, good teaching, good discipline, high academic standards and meticulous attention to children's work through proven programmes. We want our children to succeed. We want public education to work and it can. It might be considered a radical decision to rescue "at risk" males who need specific attention, by setting up a boarding academy staffed with first class teachers, catering to males eight to 14 years of age, because that is the age when young males start to crystallise their values, habits and ideas. Some might say it is a compelling idea but there are problems with it. What parent would want to give up the care of their child? No matter how much a parent loves a child, I think some parents realise that they are not doing what they need to be doing for their children, males in particular. Because, they are either single parents or working various jobs or the environment in which they live is not conducive to their child's development. I think many parents in these circumstances might be relieved if their child has a period of development in character building and an academic education that was more conducive to their personal development

We cannot continue to ignore the specific help that some males need.

Teachers

We have a number of incredibly competent teachers in the public school system. Good teaching matters. Most parents have long known this and research confirms it. We need more competent teachers to teach the high academic standards now expected of students. And to quote The Hon. Dale Butler, Minister of Sports and Community Affairs, "You also need to be able to remove incompetence laziness, unprepared people, just as you can in the private sector". There are poor teachers who must be weeded out of the system forthwith. And far too many teachers who have acquired basic credentials are not securing the training, support and encouragement they need to remain and grow in their profession.

But no profession is made healthy by focusing on what's bad and, today, we need a national strategy to strengthen teaching. We need to start treating teachers as valued, respected professionals and modernise their pay structure. In the US the less academically able chose teaching ? as measured by college entrance exams. We have no firm evidence that Bermuda mirrors the experience of the US. Nevertheless, we therefore need to raise standards, prestige and compensation so that our best and brightest young people choose to enter the teaching profession and teachers who can't meet the standards should choose to enter a less demanding line of work.

Are we doing enough to attract, screen and retain competent teachers? We are at a critical juncture in our educational system. We now need something far more imaginative and much bolder than the projection on a somewhat expanded scale of what we have already done. The bottom line is that we need competent teachers and if we can't find them locally we should search the world, like the private sector, to recruit competent teachers. To make the Bermuda Dream achievable for all, we must make our public education system first rate. This means having first class teachers. Good teachers make all the difference. Good teaching matters.

Teachers' salaries

Presently Bermuda's teachers are paid essentially on a single-salary schedule which currently provides pay increases for years of experience, university degrees, posts of responsibility and so on.

Many jurisdictions in the US and Britain have introduced "skills- or competency-based pay" or "performance pay". Skills-based pay is clearly distinguishable from individual performance-based pay systems that traditionally have evaluated teachers against one another for a fixed pool of funds. Individual performance systems usually aim to identify and reward the "best" teachers with additional pay. In contrast, skills-based pay rewards teachers for attaining and being able to use knowledge and competency valued by the school such as the ability to teach all students a certain kind of mathematics. Skill attainment is judged against a pre-determined, clear-cut standard. Skills-based pay systems thus focus individual skill development on the knowledge and skills necessary for the organisation to accomplish its goal.

When the British Education Minister David Blunkett introduced the performance-pay proposals in November, 1998 he said they were intended to trigger the most radical reform of the teaching profession for more than 50 years. Generally, the programme would reward teachers for how well the children in their individual classrooms did. These innovative pay systems, which have been borrowed from the private sector, have been refined so that they are transparent and fair.

These new pay systems were introduced primarily as a device to attract high quality teachers.

All merit pay shares the simple concept of measuring class room performance to determine how much extra a teacher can make.

We should not seek to excuse, to defend or perpetuate failing schools to which we would not send our own children. John Dewey a brilliant educator said, "What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children."

In my view, the ability to close the achievement gap in the greatest Civil Rights issue of our generation. It is nothing more important than to help our children come to the table of opportunity ready and willing to partake of its fruit.

Build facilities and create policies to stop the decline of Tourism

Our Tourism has been declining due to the quantity and quality of new competition coming on line almost every year and our failure not to change the product in such a way to attract a new generation of visitors.

We have not had a new hotel built in the last 30 years and not had a major attraction for equally as long. This is why we should feel so passionate about the Hamilton Waterfront project.

The Waterfront project is a major plan to transform our city into a vibrant, exciting environment in which to do business, visit, shop, relax and play. This will not only be to the benefit of local residents, but will be a major attraction for visitors to Bermuda. The Harbour Nights and the Music Festival at Dockyard stand as gleaming examples of this potential.

We owe it to ourselves and future generations to get behind the Hamilton redevelopment plan and help make it a reality.

This proposal could be the oxygen that breathes renewed life in our Tourism industry and will make a significant impact on our reclaiming our share of the tourism industry as well as create many semi-white collar, well-paying jobs.

I have spent a lot of time and some money thinking and talking about the project. I firmly believe this could be the most important project of our generation economically, socially, culturally and aesthetically. I would go as far as to say a significant part of Bermuda's future lies in the development of the City of Hamilton.

Morgan's Point

In Bermuda terms, this is a massive land area to develop and it is beyond the capacity of our present resources to develop because of our relatively small revenue base. Other countries like the Bahamas, have invited proven developers with impeccable world reputations to develop large tracts of land. Atlantis in Bahamas is one such example. We should be looking for a unique development in the location that helps us to diversify our income.

Those projects have revived Bahamas tourism. The Atlantis resort has a very high occupancy rate all year round.

We, as leaders, must be willing to spend our intellectual and political capital to make not only Hamilton an exciting and vibrant city, but Morgan's Point an interesting revenue earning area.

We should be actively engaged in forward planning before the following issues become crises because of incompetence. We must use whatever resources that are needed to accomplish these tasks including overseas expertise.

Upgrading of our

Police and security facilities

The building of a new Hamilton Police Station and Court Complex has been long overdue.

We must have our Judges and Police Officers working in surroundings that reflect the dignity and relieve the stressfulness of their office.

For a very long time, the public have been complaining of the lack of visible presence of the Police in the City of Hamilton. The Police need to be given the human resources to dramatically raise their visible presence in the City of Hamilton. Moreover, we need to strength the Central Division through more manpower and modern day technology.

Hospital and care for senior citizens

A new building to house the King Edward VII Hospital (KEMH) should be built on the site that houses the Government offices from the present Point Finger Road entrance to Berry Hill Road which would include the nurses' quarters.

When the newly constructed KEMH building is completed and occupied ? the present KEMH building would be extensively renovated to house the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute (MAWI) presently at St. Brendan's. Also included could be provision for a medical facility for patients who require extended care.

MAWI (formally St. Brendan's) consists of an extensive amount of buildings on approximately 30 acres which could become a Senior's Community Village. Portions of the old section would be demolished with the remaining section converted to a Community Centre with recreation, medical and entertainment facilities and also include housing.

The remaining portion of the property would be used to build a village for shared living for seniors.

The village would be used for permanent residents and day care for seniors with very strong occupational and therapeutic programmes.

The completion of

the National Sports Centre

Now that we are on the verge of gaining international recognition in our two main national sports, it has become imperative that the National Sports Centre be completed.

The Board of Trustees of the National Sports Centre have done a good job with the financial resources it has been given and I readily appreciate that our country can only accomplish so much with its limited resources. This is why I am recommending a high power task force that will raise funds through a combination of public and private initiatives. This project should also be inclusive of the local and international community. We can then see the final completion of the National Sports Centre.

The incinerator plant

The incinerator is coming near the end of its lifecycle. So we should now plan for a replacement or an addition to it. There is no alternative site for waste disposal, therefore forward planning is imperative.

The Causeway

We should have the experts drawing up plans to build a new Causeway to withstand a Category Five hurricane. This is an extremely important issue as the Causeway is our life line to the outside world.

Bermuda International Airport

We also should take measures to secure our air strip and Airport from increasing hurricane conditions. We also need to plan for the areas vulnerable to rising ocean tides.

Water

With current climate change and increase in public consumption of water which is so essential to our survival, it is imperative that we have a national water plan that incorporates the public and private sector initiatives to ensure the public that we will not unwillingly be faced with a major water crisis. First of all, we should immediately get all of our public catchments areas and water tanks in good order and operational so that they can make a contribution to our overall water supply.

Secondly, we should consult with both local and foreign water experts to establish our water needs for at least the next 25 years. It is vitally important that we do so in view of the fact that each generation of Bermudians use more water and to cope with the building boom that is likely to go on for at least another two to three years.

The list above contains some significant, complex but necessary projects. We need to set achievable priorities and methodically work through these priorities. These priorities should be made public and the public kept informed regularly on their progress. Our country is too socially and politically fractured to go to Independence at this time. We need first to demonstrate to Bermudians a real understanding and competency in dealing with issues of the day before moving forward to Independence.