The Government rehashed old plans and failed to mention initiatives to improve the lives of Bermudians in its legislative agenda for the year ahead, the Opposition said yesterday.

Opposition leader Jarion Richardson said this year’s Speech from the Throne, read by Rena Lalgie, the Governor, was filled with “old promises” by the Progressive Labour Party government, “many of which have been unkept”.

He said the agenda “should have offered a beacon of hope to the people of Bermuda, but instead it left them with a feeling of helplessness”.

At a press conference, Mr Richardson said the speech did not address the island’s youth, and he added: “It’s obvious the Government doesn’t value their vote.

“The Government says it will do more to address youth violence, but isn’t that what the Gang Prevention Unit was supposed to do?

“Hundreds of thousands of dollars and a number of deaths later, yet here we are today.

“Lawlessness on this island still continues. “

He said the speech did not mention a plan to encourage the youth to remain on island instead of seeking greener pastures elsewhere, resulting in a brain drain.

Mr Richardson said food security and universal healthcare in Bermuda were among topics that were absent from the speech.

He said insurance companies are merging and purchasing health service providers, adding, “Businesses are doing what they have to in order to survive and we have the PLP government to thank for that.”

“Where are the vertical farms that the Government has mentioned in the past?” he asked, adding that food security will be a priority issue if the OBA is to become the new government.

On education reform, Mr Richardson said the OBA received complaints from stakeholders within the community that they are not receiving the quality of education that they deserve from the public education system.

He said: “Currently the system is under reform, but what is actually happening?

“The plan for signature schools does not appear to be working, yet the Government announces that it is going to be executing the plan at Sandys Secondary Middle School.

“Why would you add another school into a plan that is not working instead of fixing the ones that aren’t operating optimally first?”

He said: “This speech was simply a lot of gifts which have been repurposed and tweaked here and there.

“There was nothing to get excited about, and to be frank, it was a disappointment.”

He accused the Government of lacking a “clear strategy” to improve the lives of residents.

He said the PLP administration “is trying to solve problems that it has in fact created —and expects Joe Public to think that it’s doing something new”.

Meanwhile, Omar Dill, chairman of the Free Democratic Movement, said that while the party will release a full response to the Throne Speech, his initial thoughts were that it tackled a number of the same issues as last year, showing a lack of progress.

“The speeches seemed to highlight a lot of gaps and missteps in the past,” he said.“ There was a lot of repetition of the themes and plans that were in last year’s Throne Speech.”

While he said the Government acknowledged challenges in the area of education reform, recent comments from the Bermuda Union of Teachers painted a less flattering picture of the project.

“The BUT was very vocal in correcting the Government’s narrative and raised concerns about staffing,” he said.

Mr Dill said three months into the education signature programmes — which he noted should have been in the works for the past decade — teachers are still not entrenched in them.

He said: “We understand some teachers haven’t even received copies of the curriculum.

“They admit to the rockiness of it but they understate how bad the roll-out of the new system has been.”

Mr Dill said while the Government had adopted a “top-down” approach, the FDM would have teachers, parent-teacher associations and other stakeholders lead the process.

“This has been a theme of not just the Throne Speech, but this government in general,” he said.

He said there are government boards and independent committees that are expected to be “independent”.

However, he said: “When you look at the make-up of the boards, 60 per cent are politically affiliated.”

Mr Dill added that while the public wanted to see action on antisocial behaviour and gang violence, the Government had yet to deliver on its promise of a strategy.

“We are living in the midst of their plans, and Bermuda is not in a good place,” he said. “If this is their best, then it is just not good enough.”