Commitments include pausing new marine protected areas, decriminalising abortion, expanding affordable housing, and introducing absentee voting
All eyes were on Alaska Hall this evening as the Progressive Labour Party unveiled its 2025 Election Platform.
Premier and leader of the PLP David Burt and senior members of the party were in attendance tonight. And one of the pledges to be made by the PLP was of particular interest to fishermen.
If re-elected on February 18th, the PLP will pause the implementation of new marine protected areas.
They will hold off on what proved to be one of the most controversial aspects of the BOPP initiative – until an agreement is reached with local fishermen on better enforcement and fairer data collection rules, to support any new marine protected areas.
They will also aim to redirect funds collected from the sugar tax towards the agricultural and fishing sectors.
Just yesterday, Bermuda Broadcasting interviewed representatives from the Fishermen’s Association of Bermuda about who will earn their vote in the upcoming election.
Feeling their voices have been ignored by officials, they called for a “government that listens” and includes them in ground-level decision-making on the future use of Bermuda’s waters.
These are some of the ranges of pledges announced in a 30-plus page document presented to the public and directed at all aspects of government policy, from domestic violence protections, legal reform, legislative changes for BELCO, affordable housing schemes, further duty relief on the import of essential items and electoral reform.
Premier Burt said: “The PLP is committed to introducing absentee voting for eligible overseas students registered in their course of study, ensuring their voices are heard in Bermuda’s democratic process.”
A number of pledges were made affecting social reforms for women and early stages of child development.
The PLP said it was committed to “removing pregnancy termination from the criminal code and the requirement for Committee approval” .. effectively, decriminalising abortions taking place in Bermuda.
Regarding immigration reform, the PLP said it would continue with their plan to implement and education authority to change how education is funded, governed and led whilst also transitioning away from the use of overseas consultants and focus on utilising local talent.
Education reform will continue as planned, by phasing out middle schools – returning the island’s public school system to a 2-tier framework.
To help educators involved in the five-year transitional period, the PLP pledges to “provide additional resources to support professionals in education as they navigate education reform, including enhanced support for professional development.”
The PLP platform also contained several economic measures meant to offer relief to the “sandwich generation” – those of working age, raising children while also tasked with financially supporting elderly members of their families.
Echoing Premier Burt’s announcement made last week, they said they are committed to the construction of “at least one new” senior daycare facility to reduce the financial burden on families during the work week.
An increase to the minimum wage and the development of a living wage was also mentioned in the party’s election platform – building on the implementation of the island’s first minimum wage introduced last June.
In addition to expanding the availability of more affordable housing on island, the PLP has made a pledge to introduce a rent-to-own scheme and a housing lottery for residents to take advantage of the Bermudiana Beach Resort making units open for locals.
Immigration reform pointed to a change to laws that would guarantee British Overseas Territory Citizen’s who were naturalised would not automatically be granted unlimited access to purchase land in Bermuda.
Looking at crime prevention, the PLP said it was committed to introducing speed cameras through the established island-wide CCTV system to improve road safety.
In the transport sector, the PLP government – if elected, would introduce a “scheme to increase the legal vehicle tint threshold through an annual fee at TCD” that “promotes safety…and generates additional government revenue.”
