Potholes everywhere

February 25, 2009

Dear Sir,

Potholes, potholes everywhere,

C'mon Minister, don't you care?

ARTFUL DODGER

Smith's

Police must be proactive

February 25, 2009

Dear Sir,

Travelling along Bermuda's roads, motorists are constantly trying to avoid making contact with the many motorcyclists who insist on making a third lane. At a time when the accident rate in Bermuda is at an all-time high, the Bermuda Police Service should be making every effort to reduce situations that can cause serious injury to motorists. I commend the Police for the increased presence of officers in our community most recently; however, their presence is pointless if they are not going to enforce the law. The last few weeks have seen Police officers attending to the morning traffic by issuing tickets to vehicles with tint and ignoring the motorcyclists as they manoeuvre through the traffic in their efforts not to be delayed. The third lane is dangerous and I am very surprised that the Police officers are not fazed by the lack of disrespect the motorcyclists have for the road. I would think that their disregard for the traffic laws would result in a fine, however, time and time again I see the Police officers turn a blind eye. It is time for the Bermuda Police Service to be proactive with the enforcement of the traffic laws, and look to ensure that accidents can be kept to a minimum and put a stop to the third lane traffic.

ROAD SAFETY

St. George's

What the people deserve

February 25, 2009

Dear Sir,

It is my belief and that of many people I speak with that certain factions and supporters of the Government may be attempting to manipulate and control freedom of the print media, in particular as it relates to your newspaper, The Royal Gazette. The Government has not advertised as it once did in your paper. Thus it appears to be a way of Government paying you back as it may be under the illusion that you paint them in a negative light. We read your paper daily and in fact notice the opposite. Many stories your paper prints portray a positive impression of Government.

So, the question to ask is why does the Government appear to take a vindictive approach to your paper? Does the Government want complete control? It would be to their advantage. They then can control what is printed. Is this disguised intimidation? If you print stories which can be construed negatively, by the Government, they will take away advertising in your medium. (It could be suggested that a rival paper benefits from Government advertising contracts, as it seems to play ball by seldom if ever printing negative stories regarding the Government).

Is this a disadvantage to the population as a whole? Dictators such as Chavez, Castro, Mugabe and Putin employed similar tactics as they ascended and gained power. The only press to be had in their suppressed countries is state-owned. There is no longer an objective free press. These controlling, manipulative politicians have the means to brainwash their populations with a constant barrage of press that paints them favourably. The masses are then controlled as they the politicians, carry out indiscretions/ unethical/ illegal/ and even criminal behaviour. Are we headed toward a Government/State owned press? I don't think so, but the early signs suggest that we might be. I can only hope I am wrong. Please Mr. Editor may you continue to strive to report honestly, fairly, with integrity, and without fear or intimidation, it's what the people deserve.

HARD TALK

Sandys

Black pioneers

February 21, 2009

Dear Sir,

Before the month is over, and while we are still admiring the eloquent and beautiful statue of Sally Bassett in the Cabinet grounds, please find some admiration for a few of the many, many black people who have contributed to humanity and society.

Did you know your traffic lights were invented by Garrett Morgan? Dr. Charles Richard Drew pioneered in medical technology of plasma and blood typing, and the first person to try blood transfusion. Matthew Alexander Henson was the first American to reach the North Pole and of course we have all read and heard about George Washington Carver, Martin Luther King, Jessie Owens, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington.

D. ARRISON

Devonshire

Setting a positive example

February 26, 2009

Dear Sir,

I wrote a letter titled, "Getting Involved," which appeared coincidently on my birthday, January 27, 2009 in The Royal Gazette. The letter explained my eagerness to restart my social activism. I explained that I had stopped my activism when the PLP first won the general election in 1998. My reason was that they would, no doubt and justifiably so, argue that they needed time to get their acts together. I had expressed my special interest in the hard-core black male youths of Bermuda, and now through a promotional entity called Dread & Baha Animal Productions, and other leadership skills, mobilise the youths across the island. I ended that letter by writing the phase coined by noted DJ Lee Harvey, "I'm Back!"

Now that I am back and have expressed a great deal of interest in the hard-core areas in this country with respect to black youths, as that element is deemed by society to be adversely affecting our community, I wonder just how serious government is in finding positive ways to rehabilitate or diminish the negative impact of that social element. I will tell you a story to justify my concerns with respect to government. As you know I was a senior member of Dread & Baha Animal Productions and because of the simple fact that our productions were promoted within and to that element we were always sensitive to the -isms and schisms relative to it. "Town and Country" as we call it, is a term that we've adopted to frame this dynamic. Dread and Baha produced a whole lot of concerts all over the island, and on one particular occasion we were having the concert out at Spanish Point — "Pontoons". I received a call from a politician, namely Nelson Bascome.

Now I know Nelson quite well, and other politicians from both sides of the house. Nelson called me just prior to the concert at Pontoons to express his grave concern toward pending violence that he was certain was going to take place at our concert. I asked him where he got his information, he replied, "his son". I thanked Nelson for the information and told him that the event would go on. With that he raised his concerns even further and insisted that I call off the event. I replied to Nelson by saying, "Nelson, firemen run to fires, not away from them". We ended the conversation with him standing his ground on cancelling the event. We had the event and it went off like a Sunday School Picnic, no incidents whatsoever.

Now what troubled me about that experience was not the concern that Nelson Bascome shared with me about the likelihood of pending violence. What troubled me was the fact that after the concert went off without incident he didn't call back. Now if that was the only time that this happened to Dread & Baha Animal Productions, it would be far less of a concern to me. However, because of the experience of these concerns of people in the community, and the fact that we consistently have violence free events, I would think that the concerned would sit off with us and be just as eager to understand how we do it; This is one example why I am concerned about the seriousness, or lack thereof, of politicians looking to seriously address this obviously growing social problem.

In addition to this, in recent newspaper articles I've read where the Police are trying or are going to try to build better trust with the community and youths of the country (black youths). My question is how? By getting them to inform on each other? I wonder if the Police really understand their challenge. The Police really don't have any political clout and for the most part our problems are social and political and have little to do with the Police. They, the Police, get caught in the middle — between a rock and a hard place. The job of the Police is to address crime, mainly after it occurs. If the community at large, and particularly the leaders with special emphasis on the Government, set a positive social foundation from which the community can work together on or with I know we will decrease crime; significantly. REMEMBER, IT TAKES A VILLAGE.

In closing; Otti Simmons, Jennifer Smith, Dr. Brown and particularly Dale Butler etc... all know my attitude and community work very well. I pray that I don't have to spell it out. So the question is where am I going with this? And the answer is... AS FAR AS I HAVE TO! The PLP didn't come to power by itself. I can clearly remember when Dale and others were frustrated because the black community wasn't responding to their leadership styles, and people like me would make it look easy by comparison. SO, what about the people that don't belong to either PARTY? We were far more than a little helpful to you forming government, and yet programs that were good enough to help the PLP arrive to power are not good enough for the community now that you're in power. Four years is a short time; so I think we should talk now.

P.s. People are products of their environment; Youths follow what they see.

CultureFest

Unity in the Community Worldvibe

Fighting with Peace & Not for it

GLADWIN SIMMONS

Sandys

Tag day thanks

February 23, 2009

Dear Sir,

The Bermuda Chapter of the Continental Society wishes to express sincere thanks to all who helped to make our 2008 Tag Day a success. The collaborative efforts of our members, sister organisations and volunteers enabled us to achieve our goal.

We are grateful to the business establishments for making their premises available for us to tag.

We raised $9,000, and as a result we donated an apnoea monitoring machine to the Children's Ward at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. We also supplemented our scholarship fund and assisted some families with food vouchers and school uniforms.

We are gratified by the support of the public over the years, and trust that we merit favourable consideration in our future endeavours to raise funds. We aim to promote, foster and develop the welfare of children in our community; to advance their educational opportunities and sponsor a climate of security and well-being in their environment.

Continental theme: "Our Children, Our Commitment, our Concern".

BETTY I. CHRISTOPHER J.P.

Tag Day Coordinator