But while you might not be able to upgrade your old cottage into the kind of mansion you see in Tucker’s Town, you can still make plenty of improvements without breaking the bank. 

Here’s our guide on home renovations that are friendly on your purse: 

MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU’VE GOT 

Redecorating a few rooms that haven’t been spruced up in years will not only make your home feel like somewhere new, it will also add to the value of your property. 

Start by throwing out any tired old furniture. Replacing it doesn’t have to cost the earth – you can pick up quality second-hand couches, tables or chairs at bargain prices if you scroll through Facebook long enough and keep your eyes open for leaving-the-island sales. 

Your old carpets and curtains can all go straight to Tynes Bay. Then take a moment to consider whether you really need all those shelves that went up 30 years ago and are packed with dusty electronics that don’t work anymore. Don’t just clear the shelves off – rip them off the walls and make your room more spacious. 

You live in Bermuda, so you’ve probably got ugly black spots on at least one or two of your walls. Get an expert to help you deal with any major mould outbreaks but, for minor incidences, a quick scrub and lick of mould-resistant paint and they’ll look like new. Pick a pastel colour to create that island vibe and make the room feel bigger. 

Finally, add a touch of class by repainting your woodwork in neutral colours and staining or painting the floorboards. 

See, you never thought your old house could look so good – and at a fraction of the cost of a full renovation! 

SMALL CHANGES ADD UP TO A BIG DIFFERENCE 

So you don’t have $5,000 for the smartest new oven and the kitchen of your dreams feels more like a pipedream? 

Fear not. You can still give it a fresh look by changing the worktops, replacing the doors and handles of your appliances or drawers, or painting the cabinets a different colour. Even installing new taps and a sink can make doing the washing up a less depressing chore. At least a little bit! 

Another way to make your kitchen special is to splash out on a splashback – it will create that modern touch without the financial burden of a full renovation. 

What about getting a new front door, or repainting your existing door? We might not give it much thought while we’re sitting on the comfy chair watching Netflix, but the front door gives your house character from the outside and can create a lasting first impression for visitors. 

Similarly, fitting a completely new bathroom can be overwhelmingly expensive, but a new toilet seat, taps and showerhead can sharpen things up at a fraction of the cost. 

If you have stairs, fit a stair runner that can complement the floor design. 

New lighting across the property can improve your energy efficiency as well as make the whole place brighter. 

CHANGE THE COLOUR 

One surefire way to make your place feel different is to paint the outside a new colour. 

Get the whole family to join in the fun by voting on the new shade but remember many outsiders will define you by the colour of your house so it’s not a choice to be taken lightly. 

Do you really want to be telling the taxi driver to collect you from the bright purple cottage at the end of the street? Perhaps you do, in which case we’re not judging. 

Pick a different colour to your neighbours to make it easier for the delivery guy to identify. 

When it’s time to paint, you don’t need to hire anyone – just get the family and friends round for a painting party. Although if you’re rewarding them with takeaway pizza and beer you may end up wishing you’d saved money by hiring a painting team instead! 

You’re probably in the habit of painting your roof every couple of years anyway, but make sure you time it for when you’ve painted the house. A dirty roof will take the shine off any beautifully painted house. 

MAKE THE GARDEN GORGEOUS 

A well-maintained garden is the icing on the cake to a happy home. 

The bad news is not everyone has the time or inclination to spend hours weeding the vegetable patch or carefully pruning rows of plants or hedges every week. Not everyone can afford a gardener either. 

The good news is that there are other ways to make the exterior of your property look spic and span. Plant low maintenance indigenous trees instead of flowers and ensure your vegetable patch is small enough to be manageable. 

You’ll still have to mow the lawn though. Just think of the exercise. 

BE THRIFTY WHEN YOU HIRE THE EXPERTS 

If you do decide to hire contractors, there are ways to keep the costs down: 

Reduce labour costs by demolishing old kitchen cabinets, shelves and cupboards yourself. Be careful not to take risks with electrics or plumbing. 

Consider whether it’s cheaper to knock down your building and rebuild from scratch, instead of renovating. 

Check the cost of competing contractors but remember cheaper isn’t always better – so insist on references, a final contract and schedule. 

Find out whether your building materials are available in Bermuda. If they need to be imported, it can set back your schedule by months. 

The post How to Rebuild Your Home on a Budget appeared first on RG Magazines.

It’s a shift that Greenrock has long been pushing for and one it feels needs to happen if Bermuda is serious about mitigating its environmental footprint. 

“For years we have developed, we have innovated and all of these things are great, we have some amazing technology. The challenge is that a lot of these technologies have been built without considering social and environmental implications,” said Eugene Dean, the charity’s chairman. 

“And so now what we’re facing is a time period where we’re having to deal with, in many cases, catastrophic challenges that our development, industry and innovation created. If you want to get back to a place of sustainability, then that means we need to start to factor those things into our thinking.” 

While it is easier to incorporate energy savers into new builds and renovations there are also ways to improve efficiency in existing homes. 

“The challenge in Bermuda is when you’re looking at a leaky home where air is able to come in or go out, where we’re either letting hot or cold air in or allowing heat or cooling to escape,” Mr Dean said. 

“So when you’re building houses in Bermuda or renovating houses making sure the doors have proper seals, making sure the windows have proper seals, all that type of stuff is really critical.” 

Solar panels are big ticket items that will bring down electricity bills. Having windows that allow in a lot of natural light also helps. Mr Dean believes energy monitor plugs which measure the cost of running appliances are useful. 

“They will let you know how much power the device is using over time. Simple things like putting timers on your water heater also makes a huge difference. 

“And obviously people know now about using LED lights rather than incandescent lights and turning off appliances when they’re not using them.” 

Entertainment centres, sound systems and computers should all be unplugged when you leave home. 

“We’ve got into this thing where we leave TVs on all night and that’s considered normal. Back in the day we had shilling meters where you had to put money in and when the money ran out the power turned off. People were more mindful of what they were using.” 

Had Belco bills existed at that time, there would not have been any surprises, Mr Dean said. 

“With the shilling meter you leave something on, you wake up the next day and there’s no power. So you know right away that you need to change the behaviour.” 

For people interested in lessening their environmental impact, recycling and composting “significantly” reduce waste but most people don’t bother because garbage collectors make disposal convenient for them. 

“Some people will say it doesn’t really make a difference to their house but it makes a difference to the whole country when we’re reducing our waste and it makes a difference to the whole world if everyone is reducing their waste. 

“All this trash that we create, we just put it onto the road and somebody else has to deal with it. How many people are going down to the waste management department? How many people are going to the incinerator and seeing what’s happening? How many people are testing the quality of the air that’s coming out of the incinerator, and the harmful chemicals that are being pumped into the environment?” 

By now everyone should be used to walking around with a shopping bag rather than relying on a store to package their purchases; in restaurants it should be common practice for customers to present reusable containers for takeout. 

People once laid out their best dishes when they had guests for dinner. Today we’re more focused on the ease that plastic offers. 

Where we once gardened and took care of soil health we now rely on chemicals if we bother to garden at all. 

“A lot of these things people might say, ‘Oh that’s just a little thing, what difference does it make?’ Trust me, takeout containers have made a huge difference in the amount of trash that’s generated on the island. To get to a place where we avoid using all those single-use containers would have a huge impact. 

“But the main benefit of a healthy sustainable household is the fact that you’re producing individuals that then go out into the community and incorporate that type of mindset, that type of thinking into what they do every single day.” 

It’s up to us as a community to advocate for that to happen, Mr Dean said. 

At Greenrock’s Living Green Expo last month, a presenter warned of toxic loads – chemicals we ingest from our environment, food, water, household products and toiletries. If we want healthful things around us we need to exercise our spending power, Mr Dean said. 

“The business sector is driven by what we choose to consume. We may look at it as if we don’t have a lot to choose from the things that businesses make available but we dictate what businesses make available. People are not going to produce things that don’t sell.” 

It’s in that same vein that residents should champion renewable energy, he said. 

“At Greenrock we’ve embarked upon a feasibility study for offshore wind because we know the harms that are being caused by fossil fuels. Fossil fuels have allowed us to develop some amazing innovations and have transformed the way that we exist. However now we’re well beyond the point where we recognise the downside of the fuel we’re using. 

“We’re not saying that we want to get rid of planes or we want to get rid of cars or we want to get rid of electricity. What we’re saying is we’re now faced with the challenge of how we adopt this technology in a way that we can still utilise it without the harmful emissions. We need to move out of a mindset that’s focused on convenience and move into a mindset that has us focused on optimising our quality of life.” n 

The post A Greener Home Starts with a Mindset Shift appeared first on RG Magazines.

Raised in Smith’s by proper Bermudian parents, RobertGeorge engaged with a “letter-based” education until he was about 15½. 

He was a student at the Prospect School for Boys when he decided: “It was better for me to go. I had put 2½ years up there, and I felt like I was wasting my time.” 

Mr Peets did not believe that the school was a good fit for him. Besides: “At the end of the day, I wanted to be a mason,” he declared matter-of-factly. 

“My dad was the best mason that the island had at the time, so, I went to work with my dad. At 15½, my first job was at Hog Bay Level, at a house across the street from the lodge on Hog Bay Level. 

“We used to make 7.30 to work, have an hour for lunch, and after work my dad used to play Euchre, because that was a pastime back then. I was stuck on the job because I was travelling with my dad – and travelling with my dad, I would get a chance to ask questions. 

“My dad was the best mason. He had an answer for everything he did, and I had a question for everything he was doing.” 

And so Mr Peets became a skilled mason. 

“So much so, that at 17 I took on my tools. I was doing a job for my uncle, and one Saturday morning this gentleman said that he was going to leave. He was a mason – a halfway mason. He said he was going to leave, and I said, ‘Great. If I was you, I would leave too!’ 

“I went right down Standard Hardware, bought all the tools I’d need. The next morning, I was a mason.” 

The rest – as the saying goes – is history! 

Now knocking on 80-years-young, Mr Peets is full of memories, and stories of a life lived well, but perhaps the most compelling constant about speaking with him about his life in the construction industry in Bermuda is the palpable reverence in his voice when he talks about his father. Regularly describing his dad as a “super, super smart man”, his face beams with pride at the mere thought of being his father’s son. 

Sitting in his custom-built ‘man-cave’ on the grounds of the home he built with his father when his eldest son, Anthony, was just 18 months old, Mr Peets is surrounded by his own small empire. 

There’s a corner koi pond, a flatscreen TV, an exercise bike, and a board that is covered in photos of his beloved Paulette, who he married at 21 and lost a few years ago. 

Mr Peets’ pride in his family is rivalled only by his pride in his work – he still gushes over a tile floor he installed at Oleander Cycles in Paget decades ago, testifying that it still looks brand new to this day! 

“At 17½ I tiled my first bathroom,” Mr Peets reminisces. “The tile is still on the wall today. So, at the end of the day, I became a tiler. I became the island’s best tiler. You ask anybody, they’ll tell you Peets.” 

Is he really the best tiler in Bermuda? “I’m the second best, but I’m still looking for the best,” he says with a sly smile. 

Learning his trade the way he did afforded Mr Peets the opportunity to build a life on his own terms, as an independent contractor. An independent contractor has to stand on their skill and craftsmanship: a bad job means a bad reputation, and a bad reputation for an independent contractor means a very short career. 

Mr Peets is content now, having enjoyed a stellar 62-year career as a top Bermudian builder. 

The post Construction industry hero reflects on six decades as a builder appeared first on RG Magazines.

But while most larger contractors have a policy in place for construction jobs, smaller contractors doing one-off jobs throughout the year might not – so it’s an important question to ask before work commences. 

“The big problem that I think people need to be aware of is if you are building on to your house, say building another roof line or an addition to the square footage, if something were to happen to part of the house being built then it’s not going to be covered under your regular insurance policy,” said 

Andrew Hanwell, BF&M’s head of commercial lines. 

“If you’re only doing internal renovations, taking down some dry walls or changing fittings, then it might not be necessary, but it’s a good idea to contact your insurance provider to let them know the scope of your project to be sure.” 

Potential risks during a project include any negligence on the part of the contractor and the risk that the new build is damaged by something like a fire, hurricane or malicious damage. Mr Hanwell said a home insurance policy will not kick in until the building is complete. 

This is also a good time to adjust your sum insured, once your project is completed, so you aren’t underinsured after renovations. 

The contractors all-risk policy also covers liability for any legal issues that might arise. 

“A contractors all-risk policy is protecting both the contractor and the owner of the property,” said Mr Hanwell. 

“If the contractor was to do something and make a mistake and knock down a wall, for example, the policy covers this sort of liability. 

“The policy has an element of public liability, so if they damage a part of the house that they’re not working on or if they do something negligent and the house burns down then the liability can protect them, and therefore the owner as well. 

“Also, for neighbouring properties, if you’re renovating your condo, for example, and the contractor damages a wall that goes through to a neighbouring unit that can be covered as well.” 

The liability can also protect against any issues during the renovations where you might have to take the contractor to court, as well as if someone were to get hurt on the building site. 

“The coverage is even broader than standard home insurance, which only covers specific named perils. For new build projects, the only way to have any insurance coverage during the building process is with a contractor’s all-risk policy. 

“Say you are three-quarters of the way through building and it’s hurricane season and a big storm comes through and blows off your roof that’s just been put on, the key is that the only way to insure that structure is to get a contractor’s all-risk policy to get coverage while it’s being built,” Mr Hanwell said. 

The all-risk policy can also cover contractor’s basic tools, equipment, materials, heavy machinery (that doesn’t fall under motor insurance) and any temporary buildings erected during the project. A 12-month warranty is also built into the policy for any issues that may arise after a project is completed and a contractor has to return to make repairs. 

“The biggest benefit to coverage during construction is your home is the biggest investment you’ll have and this protects that asset if anything was to go wrong,” said Mr Hanwell. 

“But also on the liability side, if someone gets badly injured and you’re held responsible, you can be protected. It’s peace of mind that protects your asset but also protects people who might seek to sue you due to injury or damage to property arising out of the construction works.” 

The post Insurance – make sure you’re covered before you start building appeared first on RG Magazines.

If not, you soon might be.

Many of the latest kitchen appliances available to buy in Bermuda can be controlled remotely using a mobile phone, taking the meaning of “modern kitchen” to a new level.

Matthew Gerado, VP of Sales at Joshua Bate Trading Bermuda Ltd, said it was possible to preheat your oven or reset the temperature of your fridge on the way home from work.

“You have that option and same with laundry,” he said.

“If you throw a bunch of clothes in the washer and put in your detergent, you obviously don’t want to run your washer first thing in the morning, because by the time you get home those wet clothes have been sitting there for five to six hours.

“You can set it off later remotely. Things like that, I find the Wi-Fi capabilities good for.”

Joshua Bate is the authorised dealer for GE appliances in Bermuda and much of its inventory now includes smart technology and other 21st century innovations.

Many such features now come as standard, including one which is particularly useful in Bermuda’s humid climate.

All GE washers now feature built-in Microban antimicrobial technology, which prevents odour-causing bacteria, allowing the machine’s door to be closed when not in use.

“A lot of people used to keep their washer door open to prevent it getting smelly but insects can get inside, which is not great,” said Mr Gerado. “If you’re buying GE, essentially you don’t really have the option to not have Microban.

“But at the same time you would obviously want it because it is a cool feature and price point and still very competitive with any other brands.”

GE has introduced large front-loading washing machines with an UltraFresh Vent System, which uses a fan to completely dry the appliance after use, preventing mould and mildew.

Mr Gerado said those were proving popular, along with large combination washer-dryers, previously not widely available in Bermuda.

“A lot of European models had got that right in the past,” he said. “Now there is a combo unit that GE has released recently.

“So people that don’t have venting options or they just don’t have the space to have a separate washer and dryer can go with this combo unit. It’s fantastic.”

The dual function and connectivity means you can set off a wash cycle, followed by a drying cycle, all while out of the house, returning home to a large load of clean, dry laundry.

It’s the kind of convenience that homeowners in 2024 are looking for when creating their dream kitchen and, happily, it doesn’t come at the expense of appearance.

Mr Gerado joked he was “one of the few people that are passionate about appliances” and he’s especially excited about GE’s customisable Café range, which comes in non-standard colours.

“It’s in-between a middle end and high end feel,” he said. “You can customise your finish, you can customise your hardware. You can create a unique experience in your kitchen. People that come in and see them, love them.”

Anyone with grand designs for their kitchen – or just a desire to freshen up the space – can visit Joshua Bate’s Devonshire showroom, where Mr Gerado is happy to discuss the latest tech.

One final tip before visiting? “Know your measurements,” he advised. “If you don’t feel comfortable doing it, I offer a service that I don’t actually charge for. I’m all for customer service, especially for the elderly.”

• The Joshua Bate showroom is at 7 Marsh Lane, Devonshire, or call 236-7866.

The post Smarter kitchens appeared first on RG Magazines.

Getting local talent into the construction field is the whole reason why the Construction Association of

Bermuda dishes out scholarships to six recipients each year. The cash can be used both locally and overseas, and potential recipients can be broader in scope than you might think.

“There’s a recognised need to educate the local population in these professions,” emphasises Simon

Tully, president of the CAOB. “We must grow our own talent.”

The facts support this. Around the 1980s, there was a lot of big construction going on, but foreign companies were behind most of the work – they simply subsidised local companies. Since then, CAOB scholarships have helped to put more work directly into local hands.

The CAOB handed out $16,000 in scholarships to Bermudians this year, helping them embark on courses including civil engineering at Dalhousie University and the University of Edinburgh, and mechanical engineering at the University of Portsmouth. The programme is funded by donations and sponsors from within the industry.

Almost anyone can apply for the scholarships, but they are ultimately given depending on financial need, so Mr Tully encourages all applicants to apply for multiple scholarships. For theirs, you have to be in university in a construction-related field and return to Bermuda to work. Pretty simple, right?

The CAOB has long-standing relationships with the Department of Workforce Development, the Department of Corrections, the Ministry of Education, the Bermuda College and the Bermuda Industrial Union. This means that no matter what your journey has been so far, there may be a prospect just your size.

Mr Tully said there are many educational paths people might consider to get into the construction field.

“Construction isn’t about just a desk job or just outside work,” he said.

“There’s a balance. You can be outside with people, looking at projects, pitching in where necessary.”

There are physical labour options, the boots on the ground so to speak, like carpenters, plumbers, HVAC professionals and masons. Then there’s careers in civil engineering, quantity surveying, construction management and procurement and more. If you’re someone who enjoys “grunt work” or prefers to be an influencer, there’s something for everyone.

Mr Tully is not worried that rising costs for materials and supply chain issues and might influence potential careers and jobs.

“This field is extremely secure because wealth breeds construction,” he said. “When you have money you want nicer things. Even the dog gets air conditioning nowadays!”

He encouraged people with a variety of backgrounds to consider entering the construction field.

“If you’re in reinsurance or even project management, the work is not much different,” he said. “Your background can lead to opportunities.”

As there is a worldwide shortage of people working in construction, there are plenty of opportunities to grab hold of.

“We need to raise awareness of what is possible and available,” Mr Tully said. “From tradespersons to professional designations, we need to keep progressing and let our people know what’s possible.”

The post Construction scholarships open up multiple opportunities appeared first on RG Magazines.

Justin Tavares is operations manager at Bermuda Pest Control and he shared his advice on how to keep

these persistent pest problems under control.

Like humans, insects, bugs and rodents don’t like to get wet, so when it’s cold, damp and miserable

outside, your house provides inviting shelter. The best way to stop this, he began, is to keep them out in

the first place: “Make sure that doors and windows are sealed properly. Make sure there are no cracks

or crevices that pests can get through.”

He admitted this isn’t always easy, especially for old Bermuda stone homes, but weather bars for doors

and caulking for windows are effective and, if they are still coming in, he said turn off the lights and look

for light coming through from outside. If you see it, seal it.

Rats and mice will also leave point of entry signs such as droppings and rub marks. Follow them, find the

entry point and seal it. After that, if they are still in your house, he recommended “good, old-fashioned

snap-traps”. Some clients ask for poison, but he wouldn’t recommend that for indoor rodents as it must be kept away from people and pets.

West Enders complaining about centipedes are another regular and, while they aren’t new to that end of the island, he said: “They’re making themselves a lot more known.”

This is a direct result of the weather.

“The more rain we have, the more ideal the breeding conditions. They don’t breed inside. They are just

outside. But the more rain we have, the more of the ground is damp. We’ve got wet soil, leaf litter

that’s fallen: it’s just ideal conditions for centipedes.”

These conditions are also perfect for American cockroaches, but they’re not new, no matter where on the island you live.

There’s not much you can do about centipedes, unfortunately, except prevention.

“They’re not technically insects. A lot of insecticides don’t work,” said Mr Tavares. “The best method of keeping them out is getting rid of the available breeding space. Clean up leaf litter. Make sure doors and

windows are sealed properly. Make sure there’s no cracks or crevices they can sneak into.”

Other damp-loving insects for which prevention is the best cure, are psocids, also known as booklice or

barklice, and fungus mites. Psocids are about the size of an ant, but clearer, with larger behinds.

“We get a lot of calls about them, saying ‘I’ve got this weird, clear ant that’s running around in my

cabinets,” he explained. “Just from that we know it’s not an ant.”

While you can spray for them, it won’t fix the long-term problem.

Because they are attracted to damp, moist environments, he advised running a dehumidifier and drying out the area. Then, they will go away on their own.

As well as sealing and drying your house, and cleaning away leaf litter, one final act of prevention

is to create at least a two-foot gap between plants and foliage, and your house. Then, if you have sprayed around the outside, a branch or leaf can’t become an ant or cockroach highway into your home.

“Exclusion is the biggest part of treating the pests that love to sneak in when the rain starts coming

down,” said Mr Tavares.

The post More rain, more unwanted visitors appeared first on RG Magazines.

With help from YouTube, kitchens and bathrooms were given upgrades, garden beds were built, floors were laid and tons of furniture refinished.

It’s ongoing at both Masters Home Centre and Baptiste Ltd.

Sacha Bearden, Baptiste’s chief executive officer and owner, said people often come into the Warwick store fired up with ideas of things they’ve seen online.

“The university of YouTube makes people pretty fearless – there’s so many things that you can get done,” she said.

“People are definitely becoming bolder with finishes; people are recognising that they can do lots of little things themselves to jazz up their space without having to do an entire renovation.”

It’s not unusual for someone to walk in searching for an item they’ve pulled up on their phone. If Baptiste doesn’t have exactly what they’re looking for there is likely to be something that’s “pretty darn close” in store, she said.

“It’s giving people lots more ideas. I think at one time we always did the same raised panel, off white kitchen over and over and over. And then it became the white shaker kitchen. And now the slab style contemporary kitchens are big.”

For anyone looking to personalise, it helps that inspiration is easy to find even in items many people consider mundane.

“Now you can find a million pictures online. There’s exotic hardware, manufacturers are starting to make more exciting stuff,” Ms Bearden said.

“Even the regular brands of locks, Kwikset, Weiser and Schlage – they all now make very contemporary styles. Everybody’s getting in on the action and it’s interesting, fun stuff as well.”

At Masters, the focus has always been on DIY, said Shawn Grant, the store’s vice president of retail merchandising.

“In this day and age you can YouTube or Google anything. Something such as cracks in a wall, you can fix yourself instead of calling someone – and we specifically target that type of customer.”

Shoppers have come into the Dundonald Street store excited by painting projects and improvements to their kitchens and bathrooms.

“Our buyers are constantly looking for new products, looking to get the best price so that we can pass them on to our customers,” Mr Grant said.

“More recently we’ve seen an increase in people who want to refurbish their apartments. They want to get them ready to be rented because we know that there is a shortage in apartments that are on the island.”

At Baptiste, Ms Bearden has also noticed that homeowners are investing in their apartments in a way they didn’t previously.

“People seem to be more willing to spend money on better quality products. The days of looking for the cheapest thing are thankfully behind us. I guess people recognise that the nicer they do the apartment the nicer tenant they’ll get because it is kind of competitive out there now.”

“Big construction” didn’t happen during the pandemic, she added. However, people spent funds normally used for vacation on home improvement.

Although such renovations kept business steady, sales were nowhere near those of the boom of 2007 when there was lots of residential construction taking place.

“Renovating a bathroom or renovating a kitchen or putting on a new coat of paint, that’s not a major project, that’s not building a house,” Ms Bearden said.

“While those little projects sustained a lot of companies during Covid, it doesn’t keep the business running on a day-to-day sort of thing. We’ve seen a lot of renovation projects but not a lot of unique hubs.”

The post Thanks to the pandemic, DIY became the ‘new normal’ appeared first on RG Magazines.

In December last year, however, the Minister for Public Works, Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, bucked this trend: “Let me begin by apologising to the people of Bermuda and those who live here and use our roads, for the state they are in,” he told the House of Assembly, adding: “They are in a significant state of disrepair and few of the plans to address this situation have been successful.” 

No one who has tried to navigate Bermuda’s roads in recent months would argue with him. Dodging ever larger and deeper potholes is becoming a national sport, and those who aren’t practised enough plough right in. 

In phone calls to some of the island’s garages, auto mechanics reported a booming business in vehicle suspension repairs, with one saying that suspension work is up by 50 per cent since the asphalt plant stopped working last summer. 

Furthermore, in a recent Royal Gazette online poll asking the public for their wish list of new year’s resolutions from the Government, “fix the roads” came out on top by far with 46 per cent of the votes. 

To put this in perspective, “pay down the national debt” came in second with 27 per cent and “balance the budget” fourth attracted a mere 11 per cent. 

But an apology and recognition that there is an urgent problem that needs to be fixed is appreciated. 

So does this mean there is a smoother road ahead? The answer is: Eventually, or to quote Colonel Burch: “The journey to smoother roads is a marathon, not a sprint.” 

To compound the problem of “biblical” rain, as he called it, the government’s asphalt plant and asphalt miller were, at the time of writing, still out of service, awaiting repairs. Then, in February, it was announced that East End Asphalt, which had been providing back-up services to the Government’s plant, was also experiencing difficulties. In the meantime, the rain continued and the potholes were seemingly becoming pot-ditches. 

While temporary measures are being implemented as fast as is feasible, we are told that a longer-term, more permanent fix to our problem is on the horizon. A new asphalt plant is expected to be operational before the end of the summer, and the road paving budget has more than doubled to $5 million. 

Furthermore, Astec Industries, who provided the current asphalt plant 20 years ago and with whom the government is working on the new one, offered places for several Bermudian workers to train at their headquarters in Tennessee. This is a “train the trainer” scheme, which will then provide for further training locally. 

“Additional capital funds” to cover this new plant as well as the training and development for highways personnel was also confirmed in the 2024 budget. 

In the meantime, with clouds often come silver linings. My home backs onto a busy ‘cut-through’ road and when we first moved in, several years ago, that road was a mess. Uneven, potholes, the works. 

Motorists had to drive slowly and my children could ride happily on their bikes or scooters. Then it got repaved. Since then, the motorists have sped up, and bikers regularly use it to practise their poppa-wheelies. I’m now terrified of my kids going anywhere near that road. The point of my story? Even potholes have a silver lining. 

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Dozens of young Bermudians have sharpened their skills and broadened their knowledge by attending programmes run by the National Center for Construction, Education and Research over the past few years.

For some, NCCER courses have opened their eyes to new job opportunities in an ever-evolving industry; for others, the courses have increased their employability even if they end up searching for a job in a different industry.

Of course, it’s possible to get a job on a construction site simply because your dad or uncle knows the boss.

But Allanette Hayward, an NCCER master trainer with Urban Construction Services, argued such a pathway is fraught with barriers.

“Sometimes a small business will take on new people to see if they are able to do tasks,” Ms Hayward said.

“Nine times out of ten they fail because they are not trained or do not have the skillset. Therefore, it’s a challenge when you go to apply for a position at a construction site.

“In construction, the quality of your work speaks for you. If you don’t have the skills, then you won’t be able to produce the quality of work.”

Since last November, five young Bermudians at the Adult Education School have been learning the ropes in the NCCER’s Core: Introduction to Basic Constructions course.

A simple description of some modules offers an insight into the depth of learning required to get your career up and running:

• Basic safety on a construction site. How to recognise hazards and avoid risky behaviour.
• Construction math. From plumbers planning drain slopes to carpenters framing walls and ceilings precisely, math skills are essential to the construction industry.
• Introduction to hand tools. How to select, maintain and use the basic tools of your trade like saws, screwdrivers and hammers.
• Introduction to power tools. Learn how and when to operate safely and efficiently.
• Introduction to construction drawings. Understand the purposes of different types of drawings and the measurement tools to produce them accurately.

The course also provides an overview of the construction industry, highlighting the opportunities available through careers such as a carpenter, pipefitter, welder, electrician or crane operator.

There’s also a communications skills element, which encourages the worker to speak with clarity, listen carefully, understand written materials and become a more effective leader.

Meanwhile, a basic employability skills module helps people learn how to display the positive personal characteristics that will impress a potential employer.

Samario Valasse-Paul, 22, passed the industry-standard NCCER course last year and has used it as a launchpad to the career he dreamed about.

“My grandfather, Christopher Paul, was a mason in the 1970s and built a whole legacy on it. He built my house!” Mr Valasse-Paul said.

“I respect that and look up to him. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to work in the construction field.

“I hadn’t had any experience before, but I knew I was a hands-on learner. Being in the construction field was something I was interested in.”

Mr Valasse-Paul said the course was intense.

“The most challenging part was that I was learning something different every day and had to retain the information.

“But it gave me the basic information to bring into the field. It gives you that starter knowledge.

“That’s not to say you will be able to do exactly what the book is telling you, but they tell you what to look out for and what to expect.”

After completing the programme, Mr Valasse-Paul got work as a labourer through the Department of Workforce Development.

“Just knowing the terms for tools and materials helped me understand what my mason tried to explain to me.”

Before long, he joined H&H Plumbing while he continues his educational journey through a plumbing course at Bermuda College.

“It’s given me a positive outlook on my future,” he said.

“This time last year, I was asking myself what do I want to do with my life? Now that I’m here and doing what I’m doing, I can tell you that, in five years from now, I may have progressed higher up at H&H, or I might even have started my own business.”

The course at the Adult Education School has had multiple benefits for learners.

Thaao Dill, the director of programmes at the school, said: “The obvious value is that the programme provides them with noteworthy skills and experience which makes them that much more employable than they were before.

“But also, some young men who have had difficulties in traditional schools and training environments have been able to find success on this course, which can be life-changing for them.”

As the first woman to receive a scholarship from the Construction of Association of Bermuda, Ms Hayward knows first-hand about the value of training.

She has been helping run NCCER courses through the Adult Education School and Urban Construction Services since 2001.

“The Construction Association provided me the scholarship, so when I came back I wanted to give back to the community,” she said.

“I have a passion for the environment, construction and learning.”

She said construction can provide young people with numerous career opportunities, from dealing with numbers to project managers or quantity surveyors.

“You can work in different fields and can transition your skills into whatever industry you wish,” she said.

“You can make good money if you are consistent and passionate at what you do. The NCCER programme is a good foundation to help you pick a career in the industry.”

The industry also benefits from training young people.

Ms Hayward explained: “The ageing population is dying out and we need more young apprentices to come and learn from them, bring energy and rejuvenate the industry.

“Young people are often pushed to get a college degree so that they can work in an office in a business, but we have to let youths know construction is also a business and brings many different job opportunities.”

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