Good evening Bermuda. I am joined today by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education, who will each give a statement. The Minister of National Security is also on hand to answer any questions which may come from members of the media.
Before the Minister of Health, gives her update, I would like to detail the changes to the configurations of the Cabinet of Bermuda.
This morning, a new Minister of the government was sworn in, and welcome to Cabinet, the Honorable Jason Hayward, Minister of Labour.
Under his portfolio will be the departments of Labour, Workforce Development, Financial Assistance and aspects of the Department of Immigration. There were additional department and administrative changes that were made today. And in keeping with my promise with the statement that I made, which was sent out at Government House earlier today, I will detail those changes now. These changes will position the government to respond swiftly to the changing local and global environment.
First, under the Office of the Premier, the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission will be added from the Ministry of Finance. The Parliamentary Registrar, and the Policy and Strategy Section will move from the Office of the Premier to the Minister for the Cabinet Office.
The Deputy Premier will remain the Minister of Home Affairs, and added to his portfolio, are Land Valuation, and Land Title Registry, which have come from the Ministry of Public Works.
Moving to other ministries will be Municipalities, which will go to Public Works. Intellectual Property, which will go to the Minister for the Cabinet Office, and Charities and Parish Councils, which will go to the Minister for Community Affairs and Sports.
The Attorney-General will remain as Minister of Legal Affairs with Social Services being added to her portfolio.
Minister Dickinson will remain as the Minister of Finance, with the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission moving from that ministry to the Office of the Premier.
Colonel Burch, will remain Minister of Public Works, and as mentioned earlier, Municipalities will be added to his portfolio and Land Valuation and Land Title Registry, which was formerly in the Ministry of Public Works will move to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Minister Wilson will remain Minister of Health, and Financial Assistance will move to the Ministry of Labour, which will allow Health to continue to focus on the continued management of this pandemic.
Minister Caines will remain Minister of National Security. Most immigration functions will move to Labour, while the aspect of land licensing will move to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. Minister Caines will retain border control functions under Immigration to amalgamate them into customs to create a Border Force.
Minister Foggo will serve as Minister of Community Affairs and Sports. Added to her portfolio are Parish Councils and Charities, which were previously in Home Affairs.
Moving to other ministries will be Social Services to Legal Affairs, and Labour and Workforce Development to the new Labour Ministry.
Minister Furbert will continue to serve as Minister for the Cabinet Office. Added to this ministry are Land Licensing, Intellectual Property, Parliamentary Registrar, and the Policy and Strategy Section.
Minister Rabain will continue as Minister of Education, and Minister DeSilva will continue as Minister of Tourism and Transport and there were no changes to those respective ministerial portfolios.
Jamahl Simmons will become Junior Minister with responsibility for communications.
In spite of the fact that Jamahl Simmons leaves the Cabinet today, he has accepted my invitation to remain as a Junior Minister to continue assisting me for the Office of the Premier in the valuable role of Communications.
Over the past few months, Minister Simmons has led a communications efforts related to the pandemic, which has rivaled larger countries’ attempts at communications with their populations. He and his team at Communications have done a stellar job over the past few months.
I sincerely thank Minister Simmons for making the sacrifice and continuing on as a Junior Minister, to ensure that the size of the Cabinet is not expanded in this era of tight budgets. His willingness to serve epitomizes the spirit that is required of all of us during this time. I appreciate his dedication to serve the people of Bermuda, and I thank him for his efforts and his continued efforts.
The reconfiguration of the Cabinet is essential as we transition from the management of a health crisis to the required focus on our economy.
With the creation of this new Ministry of Labour, I've determined to unite the areas of government that promote the training and employment of Bermudians, with a unit that can serve to protect their interests, when they seek employment for which they are qualified. We must put our people back to work now, and prepare those displaced by the pandemic to assume jobs that will be created as we recover.
The Constitution gives the Premier, and the Premier alone, the responsibility to decide the configuration of the Cabinet. After reflection I came to the conclusion that this was the best configuration for our island, at this time. It is my hope that all Bermudians would lend their support to our Cabinet, as we continue the important work of rebuilding our economy.
With that, I will now invite the Minister of Health to give an update on the latest test results.
MINISTER OF HEALTH SPEAKS
Thank you Minister of Health.
The message of which you've shared with masks is something I think which is particularly important. I happen to believe that because of the high prevalence of mask wearing and the requirement for masks to be worn inside is possibly the reason why we've been able to see our transmission numbers be so low. I think it's very important that that continues.
It's very unfortunate that I see images being shared on social media of old advice. Whether it be prior to persons recognizing that wearing a mask can certainly help to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and I just want to remind persons that this is old advice. It is advice that we would have had in March, but given that there's new information that has come to light, it is absolutely essential that when you are in interactions with persons, especially if you are indoors, you continue to wear a mask as it is vital to make sure that we can continue to progress as a country.
I now invite the Minister of Education to give an update on Bermuda schools, and what parents can expect in the coming weeks and months.
MINISTER OF EDUCATION SPEAKS
Thank you, Minister of Education.
Against the backdrop of relatively low numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bermuda, we will continue to exercise, all of the appropriate public health measures needed to keep us healthy.
However, we must press forward with the safe reopening of our economy. The Cabinet Committee led by Minister David Burch met today, and will meet again tomorrow. That committee, however, has confirmed a recommended start to Phase 3 for next week Thursday, 11 June.
During Monday's press conference, we will provide full details of what will be open during Phase 3. However, it is important to remember that our initial plan had Phase 3, including the reopening of churches, gyms, schools, the resumption of full public transportation, the opening of government offices and the ending of mandatory work from home.
However, it is important to note that if circumstances allow you to continue to work from home, this is still being encouraged. The final configurations for Phase 3 will be announced on Monday, but the government is on track to move to Phase 3 on Thursday, 11 June.
I am fully committed to reopening this economy, so that we can get our country on the road to economic health, and I look forward to pressing ahead to Phase 4 as quickly and as safely as possible. That means, we all have to keep wearing our masks.
The global demonstrations and demands for justice in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic together with abject racism and inequality, are also being seen here in Bermuda.
The protests taking place outside the US Consul General's Offices and those planned for the coming days are opportunities for people to stand together so their voices can be heard.
These peaceful demonstrations should not be frustrated by those necessary precautions that we have taken as part of our pandemic response. To ensure that the weekends planned march can be done safely and in accordance with the law, which currently bans outside gatherings of persons more than ten, I have invited the Governor to approve an amendment to the existing regulations to allow the Minister of National Security to set out the appropriate conditions under which a march can take place.
These amendments are now with the Governor for his review, and I will provide further details as part of a Ministerial Statement to the House of Assembly tomorrow.
Yesterday, the Attorney-General, the hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons launched the start of a public consultation on a draft regulated cannabis regime for Bermuda.
The draft bill envisions licenses for cultivation by commercial growers, cannabis retail shops, the manufacture, research, transportation, imports and exports of cannabis and cannabis products.
The regulatory requirements for each category of license is provided within the draft legislation, including specific regulations that will apply to cannabis retail shops. I encourage every person in Bermuda, who has an interest in providing feedback, whether positive or negative, to the policy document to visit forum.gov.bm and add your comments.
We want to hear from you and we want to know your thoughts on this draft policy. The consultation will end on 3 July.
Also, as a reminder, this Saturday evening on CITV and on Facebook, the Attorney-General will be hosting an online Town Hall, so she can discuss this and other matters, which are taking place inside of the Ministry of Legal Affairs. You should visit the Government of Bermuda's social media platforms, to find out more information, and also to submit any questions which you may have.
I would like to thank the Attorney-General and her team in Chambers for their hard work, not just for this piece of draft legislation and the comprehensive policy that they have created, but for their hard work in the past few months, as they have drafted laws and regulations around COVID-19.
Tomorrow, we'll see a busy session in the House of Assembly. Two bills will be considered that form part of improving the legislative tools available to the government to manage future events like this pandemic without resorting to a State of Emergency.
In addition to that, I will invite the House to approve the resolution that will reduce the salary of Ministers by 15%, and members and officers the legislature, by 12.5 percent for one calendar year.
Please tune in via parliament.bm, 105.1, or Bernews.com, to listen.
I continue to be cautiously optimistic about our progress. There is more and more economic activity happening in Bermuda, and with our move to Phase 3 scheduled for next week, we are one step closer to our new normal. Thank you.