David Burt, the Premier, has insisted that his government is listening to voter concerns and is working to build a consensus on policies that will benefit the majority of Bermudians.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr Burt emphasised that the Government was obligated to press ahead with policy initiatives promised in its election platform. He said that, while change would inevitably leave some groups disaffected, he recognised that consultation was key to getting people on board.

He also said that the Government had tweaked legislation after a consultation process.

Mr Burt spoke out in the wake of a protest on Wednesday organised by a number of groups ‒ including taxi operators, teachers, farmers and fishermen ‒ who claimed that the Government was refusing to listen.

He said that he sensed the frustrations of protesters and was aware of their concerns.

But he added: “It cannot go unnoticed that even by their own admission in many cases we have been meeting with and consulting on some of these issues, for a while.

“The fact that many of them remain outstanding is precisely because the Government is working to try to build consensus.

“We do not act without considering all of the implications for the majority of Bermuda and not just for one group or another. This Government has responsibility to govern for all of Bermuda.

“The demands for a better taxi service did not start with the Government ‒ it comes from customers. The No 1 complaint from our tourists is our transport and if we do not fix that, there is no way that we’ll be able to cope with further increases in visitor numbers.

“Building consensus means that we listen to one another, attempt to understand different perspectives and see what we can do to meet in the middle. It doesn’t mean that we get our own way on everything that we want.

“It means that we give somewhere when we can and when we’re concerned with people’s livelihoods we proceed with extra care and concern because decisions made to appease the lobbyists may not always benefit the majority.

“As the Government, it is vital that we continue to deliver on the policies that formed in our election manifesto. That is what we have done and that is what we will continue to do, making sure that we do it in the same way that we’ve done it over the last six years ‒ with careful consultation to ensure that when things are implemented they can be successful while enjoying broad support among the entire populace.”

Mr Burt also argued that the Government should not accept full responsibility when solutions to disputes were not found.

He said: “We know that the constant dialogue that is taking place with members of the Fishermen’s Association of Bermuda.

“Remember, the Government worked to try to resolve those issues and the membership rejected the executive’s own MOU. That is not something that can be put on the Government of Bermuda if the Government tried to work out something, worked on an agreement with the FAB executive and then their own members rejected something that came from them.

“The fact is we’re aware of the particular issues and will continue to work on in that particular fashion.”

The Premier also speculated that, with a by-election next month, yesterday’s demonstration may have been politically motivated.

He said: “Different persons have different motivations. We know that we’re in a political season. We know that persons who may be inside certain organisations may be members of other political parties and may want to agitate around a by-election.

“I’m not going to say ‘yay’, ‘nay’, whichever way. What I can state is the facts and the facts are this government engages in consultation and dialogue.

“In many cases and spaces we’ve been accused of consulting too much ‒ ‘make a decision and go ahead with it’. But these are complex issues which have been going on for quite some time and so we want to make sure that when we resolve them, resolve them overall.

“Let me give you an example. The taxi industry has come to the Government asking for a rate increase. OK. Persons who use the taxi service will be aggrieved by a rate increase and I think it’s only proper that with the rate increase we also have an agreement to make sure that we can improve services so that our No 1 complaint is not transportation.

“There are things that the industry wants. The Government has told the industry to come back with proposals. Those proposals have come back and I know that there’s a team actively in the Ministry of Transport working on those.

“The easiest way to not have opposition is not to change anything but that is not what we were elected to do. We recognise there is various challenges with our transportation system that we must fix.

“Any time there is change there are persons who are going to be impacted and affected by that change and they’ll be disaffected. But the thing is the Government must make sure that we are delivering for what we believe is best for the majority of the population.”