nov-2017c

82 83 DAVID BURT – PREMIER OF BERMUDA town hall meeting across the country so people can give their feedback; we can let people know precisely what the government is doing and what we’re looking to do.We get that message out through social media. “It’s about collaboration and a more inclusive government and making sure that people par- ticipate.That means we leverage technology; we leverage mobile apps so that people can give their feedback and advice and receive information and updates from government and that they can feel connected in this regard.” BVM: What are your government’s most imme- diate objectives? Burt: “One of the first things that we promised to do was to make sure that financial resources were not a barrier for access to higher education. We promised that we would increase the amount of training programs that were offered and also increase access to Bermuda College for Bermudi- ans. So,we were able to provide 150 Bermudians, who may not have had the opportunity to attend Bermuda College this fall, to attend by providing various forms of financial aid for all different types of programs. “We also said that one of the challenges that we had was the digital divide in our schools,where even our primary schools in Bermuda did not have wireless, internet access. So,we are commencing the installation of the internet in our primary schools; it’s something that we’ve been able to do rather quickly, and we’re moving forward on these and many other issues as quickly as possible. “We are going to be converting our entire fleet of small and medium-size government vehicles to hybrid or electric.We’re going to make sure that all government buildings are energy-efficient.That means energy audits in all government buildings in addition to installing renewable energy facili- ties on government buildings so that government will be energy independent and we can lead by example by ushering in a new, clean-energy, do- mestic economy, ensuring that Bermuda can be a leader of small, island nations.” BVM: What are some of the other major chal- lenges ahead? Burt: “Our economy is still in a very delicate state,with many challenging aspects.Our interna- tional business sector remains resilient and we’re looking to grow it, as it is the largest contributor of our foreign earnings.There is also our tourism sec- tor,which we’re looking to continue to grow. From that perspective, I’d say the future is bright and we just need to make sure that we put into place the smart investments which are required to have more people living and working in Bermuda.That will be the mission of this government and that is the message that I’ve given to our international business leaders and the message that I will take overseas when we visit business and political leaders inWashington,D.C, in NewYork, in London, and in Brussels.