Ferry Point Bridge (Hansard, 21 July 1964)

§ 11. Mr. F. M. Bennett
asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and the Colonies when Ferry Point Bridge in Bermuda was completed.

§ Mr. Fisher
Construction has not begun because the U.S. Government have not been able to get Congress to vote the money for it.

§ Mr. Bennett
Is the Minister aware that this was a complete comprehensive obligation which was undertaken without any strings by the American Government during the war? Is he further aware that I have been asking this question for six or seven years and I have always been told that I have no reason to doubt the good faith of the American Government because they will carry out this project? May I be told when my good faith in the intentions of the American Government should lapse, as I am now approaching my 21st birthday in this respect?

§ Mr. Fisher
It is true that the American Government undertook to build this bridge, and it is disappointing that nothing has been done. Discussions are continuing between the United States and the Bermudan Government, and we should be careful not to make them more difficult. The reason why Congress objects to voting money is that it takes the view that this project would have no military advantage to the United States.

§ Mr. Bennett
In view of that answer, I must ask my hon. Friend a further question. Is he aware that no question of military facilities comes into it? If this bridge were built as a quid pro quo it would provide the poorest section of the community living in St. George's and St. David's with direct access to the mainland without their having to go through the American sovereign base, with all the difficulties that that entails?

§ Mr. Fisher
My hon. Friend is wrong. This project was agreed during the war; it was in the context of military advantage, which is now not thought to exist in this respect.