Bermuda’s food supply would not be impacted by a catastrophic event or another pandemic, Walter Roban, the Minister of Home Affairs, has insisted.

Mr Roban gave the response when asked by One Bermuda Alliance MP Scott Pearman how long the island could last without food imports.

When pressed by Mr Pearman on whether the island could go without food imports for weeks, or months, if a catastrophe hit, the minister said such a supply shortage situation would not arise.

Mr Roban told the House of Assembly on Monday: “I don’t believe that I am being overly confident here, I am certain that would not happen because of the plans that have been exhaustively put together in co-operation with a number of entities in Bermuda to ensure that that would not happen.”

He added: “That’s likely to never happen. I say that because during the pandemic time one thing this Government did was build a very strong relationship with our importers and our grocers and others.

“And, quite detailed plans were discussed about what we do if the pandemic got worse, and if certain ports became inaccessible.

“There are very detailed strategies that would ensure that Bermuda would not have that situation arise.

“We continue to meet under the auspices of the Ministry of National Security to discuss these issues with our shippers, with our wholesalers, with our grocers, with all suppliers and there are contingencies for every possibility that could be imagined so that Bermuda would not find ourselves in that situation.”

The comments were in reply to Mr Pearman, the Shadow home affairs minister, asking during the Budget debate: “If we faced some other catastrophic event, or pandemic, which prevents the importation of food, or a diminishment in the importation of food, does the minister have a view of how long Bermuda can last without arrivals – are we in weeks, or are we in months? What would the situation be there?”

Speaking afterwards, Mr Pearman told The Royal Gazette: “We cannot be blindingly optimistic that everything will be OK.

“Bermuda is in a unique position in that the vast majority of our food is imported – we depend on a food chain supply. It is important to be prepared for things that could go wrong.”

Mr Pearman said he was “encouraged” that some plans had been put in place.