Mr. Speaker, in the 2026/27 financial year, the Ministry of Public Works and Environment has been allocated $3 million to establish a new Community Beautification Programme.
This initiative has one clear purpose: to deliver practical improvements that people can see, use and appreciate in the communities where they live, while giving Members of Parliament a direct mechanism to champion the priorities of their constituents.
Mr. Speaker, Government is often judged by the major projects it delivers. But the public also judges us by the everyday experience of living in Bermuda. They notice the overgrown verge that reduces visibility on a busy road, the broken bench in a neighbourhood park, the peeling railing, the damaged playground equipment or the missing road sign. While each may seem minor on its own, together they shape how people experience the communities they call home.
That is precisely why this programme is so important.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry already operates an extensive maintenance programme that touches every part of Bermuda. Every day, our officers maintain roads, bridges, public buildings, parks, beaches, railway trails, seawalls, drains and countless other public assets. They deliver planned maintenance, respond to emergencies and undertake the capital projects that keep our Island functioning.
It is an ongoing responsibility that requires our teams to continually balance planned maintenance with the unexpected demands that arise each day.
The reality is that approximately 500 dedicated public officers are responsible for maintaining virtually every aspect of Government’s public infrastructure. They perform this work with professionalism and commitment while balancing routine maintenance, emergency response and major capital projects across the Island.
Mr. Speaker, even the best maintenance programmes must remain flexible. A crew scheduled to carry out planned work in the morning may instead be called away to respond to an emergency, such as a water main break. Those urgent situations cannot wait, and when they arise, other planned work must inevitably be rescheduled.
Rather than accepting those constraints as inevitable, this Government has chosen to respond with a practical solution: the Community Beautification Programme.
The Community Beautification Programme is not intended to replace the Ministry’s existing maintenance programme, nor is it an acknowledgement that our officers are not doing enough. Quite the opposite. It recognises the outstanding work already being carried out across Bermuda while creating an additional pathway to deliver the smaller community improvements that residents value most.
For the first time, Members of Parliament will have a dedicated mechanism to identify and prioritise local projects on behalf of their constituents. Rather than these requests entering the wider maintenance programme and competing with emergency works and major infrastructure projects, they will be considered through a separate programme with its own funding and delivery framework.
Quite simply, this gives Government another practical way to respond to the needs of our communities.
Mr. Speaker, the programme has been deliberately designed around projects that are practical, repeatable and capable of being delivered efficiently by the Ministry. These are projects that generally fall within the Ministry’s existing authority and do not require lengthy approvals from other regulatory agencies, allowing us to move more quickly from request to completion.
Eligible works will include, but are not limited to:
Community clean-ups and the maintenance of public spaces; Landscaping and vegetation management;
Repairs and repainting of public railings, guardrails and fences; Repairs to playground equipment;
The installation and repair of public benches, trash cans, picnic tables and bicycle racks;
Improvements to public signage; and
Small public safety enhancements, including the installation and repair of roadside traffic mirrors.
These projects may not always attract headlines, but they will make a meaningful difference to the daily lives of Bermudians. They will improve neighbourhood parks, enhance public safety, strengthen community spaces and help ensure that the places people use every day are clean, safe and well maintained.
Sometimes the greatest impact Government can make comes through the consistent delivery of the small improvements that people experience every day.
Mr. Speaker, delivering these projects also requires additional capacity. Accordingly, the Ministry will fund a modest expansion of the Bermuda Housing Corporation’s Helping the Unemployed Sustain Themselves with Limited Employment, better known as the HUSTLE Truck Programme, through the addition of one new truck and a dedicated support team.
The HUSTLE Truck Programme has quietly become an excellent example of what Government can achieve through partnership. It provides employment opportunities, develops practical skills and enables Bermudians to contribute directly to improving
the communities in which they live. At the same time, it has become an invaluable partner in delivering community-based projects across the Island.
Demand for HUSTLE Truck’s services continues to grow, and this investment recognises both its success and its potential. Working alongside Ministry crews and private contractors, the additional truck and support team will increase our capacity to deliver beautification projects more efficiently and more consistently.
Mr. Speaker, the Community Beautification Programme is expected to commence in August. Detailed programme guidelines, including funding allocations and project submission procedures, will be circulated to all Members of Parliament next week.
This programme will not solve every maintenance challenge overnight, nor is it intended to. What it will do is provide Members of Parliament with a practical new tool to address the everyday concerns raised by their constituents while improving the appearance, safety and functionality of public spaces across Bermuda.
Strong communities are built not only through major infrastructure projects, but also through consistent attention to the places where people live, work and gather every day.
A cleaner park.
A repaired bench.
A freshly painted railing. A safer roadside.
A neighbourhood that reflects the pride of the people who call it home.
Those improvements may seem small in isolation, but together they help strengthen communities, build civic pride and reinforce public confidence that Government is responding to the issues that matter most in people’s daily lives.
The Community Beautification Programme reflects a simple belief: when Government pays attention to the everyday things, people gain confidence that the bigger things are being looked after as well.
That is the standard this Government has set for itself, and it is the standard we intend to deliver.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
