BERMUDA TACKLES RISING PRICES WITH NEW GOVERNMENT-LED INITIATIVE

By staff Writer

The Bermuda government has launched a new scheme to alleviate the impact of the rising cost of living on the island.

Called the Essential Goods Relief Initiative, the scheme to be launched on November 1st is aimed at reducing the cost to consumers of selected essential services and supplies. It falls under the broad heading of a wider government Affordable Bermuda Agenda.

In the initial phases, consumers will benefit from significant price reductions across selected products in an agreement between the government and the business community.

This involves a 10 per cent price cut by wholesalers to retailers who, in turn, will pass that saving on to shoppers with a further 10 per cent price drop.

The Bermuda government describes the plan as aiming to deliver “meaningful cost-of-living relief for Bermudian families and businesses.”

It said the Affordable Bermuda Agenda outlines the government’s immediate and long-term actions across four priority areas: imports and food security, utilities, housing, and consumer empowerment. An official statement also said it reflects a shared commitment between government, industry, and the community.

Minister of Home Affairs in the ruling Progressive Labour Party(PLP) government, Alexa Lightbourne, called the plan developed in collaboration with the business community, “a concrete step towards cost-of-living relief”.

The chairwoman of the Cost of Living Commission, Michelle Jackson, said the initial measures, while not solving the cost-of-living challenges overnight, are nonetheless a step in the right direction. “The reality is that the high cost of living in Bermuda has been decades in the making…Our work is a marathon, not a sprint,” she stated.

But the opposition One Bermuda Alliance(OBA) said the effort does not go far enough. Opposition Leader, Michael Fahy, said it lacked detail and fell short of a scheme his party had proposed.

“It looks good. But it falls woefully short on tangible long-term solutions on lowering the cost of living,” he said, adding that, “It is worth reminding the people of Bermuda that the OBA negotiated a 10% reduction of all groceries on Wednesdays for far more than nine months! The devil in this will be in the detail,” the OBA leader said in a statement.

The Bermuda government hosted a Cost of Living Summit in June involving representatives from government, industry, labour, and the community. It resulted in over 100 recommendations focusing on key areas of food security, imports, utilities, housing, and health.

The scheme follows an earlier government survey and subsequent report, which identified four key policy areas based on public feedback.

These are: modernising legislation and sustainability initiatives to support household food production and reduce import costs, reviewing Bermuda’s energy transition to ensure affordability and fairness, setting up a national consumer rights campaign, and modernising the Landlord and Tenant Act.