$3 Million+ for ID cards???

The only thing that makes less sense than the ID cards for ex-pats is the admission by Immigration Minister David Burch that one of numerous firms behind the project will receive almost $3 million dollars to implement it

“It will likely come as a surprise to some that one of the firms that stand to receive almost $3 million from this project is none other than one controlled by Mr. E. T. Bob Richards"

It is more of surprise that $3 million is being spent on this project than it being tied to an opposition minister, especially considering we're in a recession and should be cutting back on unnecessary spending.  

Really, do the numbers.  According to the August 2008 employment brief there were just over 10,000 Non-Bermudians employed in 2007.  $3 million into 10,000 suggests each card is going to cost nearly $300, and that's for just "one of the firms", not all of them. 

For someone who contends that the ipod generation will have to made do with less in these tough times he should take a closer look at his own "vote myself a pay raise" (twice) generation along with a deep hard look at his own budget and how he justifies the return on $3 million+ for ID cards for ex-pats.

Comments

[Tryangle]

Hm, save money and divert resources into actually tackling illegal workers and the employers that break the law in hiring them? What a concept :-)

[Andrew]

When I read the article, I had the same initial thoughts. $3M is a lot of money for an ID card.

I like the idea of having a card to carry rather than having to travel with a paper work permit. Instead of a card, I would much rather have the information available to immigration officials at points of entry. Didn't they just spend a zillion dollars on a new border management system? Shouldn't this include work visa status of all people in the system?

I don't like the idea of government inspectors popping into work locations and demanding, "show me you papers". This is a little too totalitarian to me.