Burt and DeSilva must resign, says Opposition leader
Opposition leader Jarion Richardson has called on the Premier, David Burt, and Cabinet minister Zane DeSilva to resign in the wake of revelations about the latter’s dealings with Savvy Entertainment.
The move was branded a “political stunt” by the Progressive Labour Party, which accused Mr Richardson of choosing “partisan attacks over constructive dialogue”.
Mr Richardson told The Royal Gazette yesterday: “I think the Premier and the minister should step down. It is the appearance of impropriety that is causing the issue now.
“Until the matter is fairly examined, then the public are going to have very fair scepticism about accountability in government.”
He added: “The public must have faith in government ministers. It’s the appearance of wrongdoing that’s now causing a lack of faith in government.”
Mr Richardson’s call comes after the Gazettereported on Monday that Mr DeSilva, who became deputy leader of the PLP in a three-way contest this evening, discussed giving a private loan to exempt company Savvy in December 2017, while he was in Cabinet.
Mr DeSilva’s lawyer, Jerome Lynch KC, said his client offered to lend $200,000 to Savvy founder and chief executive Anthony Blakey but did not do so, instead lending the money to a “lifelong friend” who then lent funds to Savvy.
When construction boss Mr DeSilva made his offer of a private loan, Savvy was already seeking funding from the Government for a music studio at Dockyard and a watersport contest called Poseidon Games, and a police document seen by the Gazette showed that the minister was involved in those talks.
The ministerial code of conduct bars ministers from entering into a financial relationship with anyone negotiating or seeking a contract with the Government.
Savvy received an $800,000 taxpayer-funded loan for the studio from the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism in April 2018, about ten weeks after Mr DeSilva quit as Minister of Social Development and Sport.
Mr Richardson said issues raised in Monday’s Gazette report, and in an article last week that revealed that Savvy transferred $100,000 to Mr DeSilva less than a month after the company received the government loan, could not be ignored.
“These are all allegations but they are serious enough allegations” to warrant the resignations of both the Premier and Mr DeSilva, he said, citing potential breaches of the ministerial code of conduct by the latter and a pattern of “poor decision-making” by the former.
The One Bermuda Alliance politician said last week that the opposition-led Public Accounts Committee would investigate the Savvy loan once Parliament reconvenes on Friday.
He added today that the recent revelations raised serious questions about whether Bermuda’s anti-corruption framework — including the ministerial code, the Good Governance Acts of 2011 and 2012, and the Code of Practice for Project Management and Procurement — was sufficient to hold those in power to account.
Mr Richardson noted that the ministerial code required members of Cabinet to ensure that their official duties and financial arrangements were not in conflict, adding of Mr DeSilva: “There is a potential violation there.”
The code also states that ministers must not attempt to influence the awarding of a government contract, regardless of whether the minister has an interest in the contract being considered.
Mr Richardson noted that Mr DeSilva left the Cabinet before Savvy was granted a government loan, but he said the proximity in time between those public funds being given and the private loan discussions was “too close for it to be easily explained away”.
“There’s a presumption of innocence,” he said, adding that there was a lot of “ambiguity” surrounding the role that Mr DeSilva played.
Government House noted last week that Mr Burt was responsible for upholding the requirements of the ministerial code of conduct.
However, Mr Richardson pointed out that the Premier, as Minister of Finance, approved the $800,000 loan to Savvy. Monday’s article detailed how the Accountant-General at the time viewed the loan as “unusual” and felt under “extreme pressure” to release the funds.
“You have persons who were concerned in alleged conduct being the investigator and arbiter, or judge and jury, of the conduct,“ said the Opposition leader. ”This isn’t going to work for those purposes.“
The Bermuda Police Service have launched an investigation into information being leaked to the media about Savvy Entertainment and Zane DeSilva.
Darrin Simons, the Commissioner of Police, issued a statement on Monday after a report in The Royal Gazette about the housing and municipalities minister discussing giving a private loan to Savvy while in the Cabinet.
The article cited evidence contained in a police document obtained by the newspaper.
Mr Simons said: “Since 2019, the Bermuda Police Service confidentially held information about the Savvy matter. That information was recently leaked.
“The release of confidential information from any investigation constitutes a breach and is of grave concern to the BPS.
“When a serving or former officer leaks confidential information, it undermines the trust you place in us.
“After this matter was first reported in the media, I initiated an investigation.
“Confidentiality is not optional. It is a fundamental responsibility of every member of our organisation.
“We remain committed to transparency and accountability, and treat breaches of our professional standards seriously.”
• Chief Reporter Sarah Lagan contributed to this report
Mr Richardson, MP for Paget West, said the bipartisan PAC was the “best place” for a comprehensive investigation, including delving into why the studio contract did not follow procurement rules.
He criticised Mr Burt for appointing Mr DeSilva as housing minister after the General Election last month, saying it showed “poor decision-making” because the MP had previously been “embroiled in controversies” such as the Blu party, which forced him to resign from the Cabinet in July 2020.
He said it followed previous poor decisions by the Premier, citing the appointment of Rolfe Commissiong to the Cabinet after a harassment complaint, and the “debacle” surrounding former attorney-general Kathy Lynn Simmons and her husband, Myron Simmons, being given a job, and later a contract, in her ministry despite numerous civil lawsuits against him.
Mr DeSilva was charged with money laundering in relation to the $100,000 he received from Savvy on April 27, 2018. The criminal case was dropped in August 2023 after he repaid the money to the public purse. He denies any wrongdoing.
A government spokeswoman told the Gazette last month: “No breach of the ministerial code has been identified to the Premier, and in circumstances where breaches are noted or alleged, matters are addressed pursuant to the code.”
A PLP statement in response to Mr Richardson cast the Opposition as prioritising “not progress and not solutions but political grandstanding”, and said his remarks were an attempt to score political points.
The party said its new legislative agenda would be read out by Andrew Murdoch, the Governor, in the Throne Speech on Friday — adding: “It is these items that the public are interested in, not the distracting utterances of the Opposition leader.”
Marc Bean, the Free Democratic Movement leader, commented on the recent Savvy revelations in a statement on Monday.
He said the party had “taken interest” in The Royal Gazette’s reports on the ”Savvy fiasco“ and ”likewise, we have noted the responses of minister DeSilva and his legal counsel“.
Mr Bean, a former leader of the Progressive Labour Party, said: “These matters reflect negatively on Bermuda and the reputation that we continuously seek to enhance.
“As such, they must be resolved by the courts of justice rather than the court of public opinion. There are many persons involved and they should all be held to account by the appropriate authorities.
“The PLP needs to decide if it is going to accept such behaviour and thus confirm what many claim to be true, or take a stand and return to the ways of our elders and fore parents.”
• Gareth Finighan contributed to this report
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