August 1, 2002

Dear Sir,

People these days need to be aware of the different lies in Bermuda starting with the Regiment.

Since when in the Bible have you known anybody having a great love for Jehovah and carried a gun? Also Jesus said that his kingdom is no part of the world so why do people follow politics? They figure you can mix religion with political matters. This is also a lie. Even how CableVision claims they treat their customers right is a lie. The truth is being that these are the last days you need to ask yourself do I want to follow man, or do I want to follow Jehovah?

NON-POLITICAL

Pembroke

July 23, 2002

Dear Sir,

Is it a bomb shelter? That ugly structure in front of the American Consul. A lovely residential district is ruined. How could this be allowed to be built?

NEIGHBOUR

Devonshire

July 25, 2002

Dear Sir,

I was appalled to read on the front page of The Gazette on July 24th about the poor dog who was left badly injured by its owner for so long that the wounds had become infected i.e. "had pus oozing out of them".

I find it hard to believe that a man that could do such a thing to a living creature was only fined $ 500 and banned from owning dogs for only one year! If the dog had been a child in the same state the man would have been imprisoned and fined a lot more than

$500. There should be no difference between an act of cruelty taken out on a poor defenceless animal or a child. Most animals grow up from a very young age being completely dependent on us humans. We are obligated to treat them with kindness and to ensure that they are well fed, watered and comfortable! Every day I see animals in Bermuda abused in some way. I drive by dogs being 'exercised' by their owners driving motor bikes. In St. George's I see carriage horses being forced to wait between rides in the heat of the sun with no shelter or readily available water. There is no excuse for making animals suffer!

It is time the Government laid out some proper legislation to protect animals. The SPCA can do only so much. The Government allows so many acts of cruelty to go by with just a small fine. People who are charged with these terrible acts of cruelty etc should be banned from owning any animals for the rest of their lives! It is obvious people who do such things are not going to change how they feel about animal care. A $500 fine is definitely not going to help them change either, maybe a $50,000 fine would.

I urge the animal loving people of Bermuda to start taking notice and doing something about the rampant animal abuse happening around them! Stop ignoring and forgetting about what you see and read about and do something! Lets make the government take notice and adopt a zero tolerance to animal cruelty in Bermuda!

VIRGINIA MCKEY

St. George's

July 25, 2002

Dear Sir,

I would like to respond to the Ferry Reach Residents Association regarding their July 18 letter to the Editor entitled - "Ferry Reach is for all". What a joke. It sounds as if the Ferry Reach Residents will not be happy until there is no marine traffic in Ferry Reach. Ferry Reach is not their personal back yard.

Let's be honest, how many of the actual residents of Ferry Reach actually signed your petition? I personally know of residents who live at Ferry Reach who were never approached about the ten-knot wake zone.

I have been involved with the Power Boat Association for over 35 years and find it ironic that the so called Ferry Reach Residents have now started to complain. In my 35-year involvement with the BPBA I have never seen anyone in kayaks, canoes or wind surfers in the Ferry Reach area. Grotto Bay but never Ferry Reach.

Powerboat racing is one of the biggest spectator sports in Bermuda. If you have any doubt, just take a look at the Round the Island Race every year. We have been racing at Ferry Reach for over 50 years. Why do the powerboat racers have to be penalised for a sport they enjoy doing? Ferry Reach is the "only" safe place for the racers to practice, especially for our junior classes. If one of our racers were to get into trouble or worse, get killed off the North Shore while trying to practice, how long would it take for them to be rescued? I doubt if the FRRA would want to be deemed responsible for the death of a racer who had to practice offshore.

Regardless of whose fault it was, the powerboat racers were once again penalised, this time for not notifying Marine and Ports about the make up race for July 14. Every powerboat racer has a race schedule and it clearly showed that July 14 was a make up race day. I don't think all the racers that showed up at Ferry Reach on July 14 for the make up race were all-wrong, were they?

Have the FRRA ever complained to air traffic control about the planes going over their homes all day? Give us a break. The powerboat season runs from May to September and usually every other Sunday, depending on the weather. This season only 12 races were scheduled, of which five races are being held at different venues, (1) St. George's, (3) Dockyard and (1) Hamilton Harbour.

There will appear to be no pleasing the FRRA until they succeed in banning all racing at Ferry Reach.

The Bermuda Power Boat Association is not out to harass anyone. All we want is to have fun doing the sport we love to do, which is race. We are no different from the cricket, football, go- carters or even cycle racers. Everyone wants to enjoy his or her sport, why can't we?

Yes, you are right, Ferry Reach is a beautiful waterway and we should ALL be allowed to use it.

A LOYAL SUPPORTER OF THE BPBA

Devonshire

August 5, 2002

Dear Sir,

Most issues regarding Caricom membership have already been aired, and most of the questions asked. However I believe that one very important issue has not been raised, and one very important question not yet asked. It is this! We have spent most of the last 30+ years trying to differentiate, and distance ourselves, from the islands to our south, for what appeared to be very good and legitimate reasons, i.e.:

1. We do not want our excellent international business reputation to be tainted by some of the very corrupt and unregulated practices that take place on Caribbean islands e.g. Antigua, Cayman et al.

2. Our tourism industry cannot compete on price with the Caribbean islands, so we have tried (and largely succeeded) in building our tourism industry on quality rather than price.

The question is: What has changed? Why do we no longer feel that the "differentiation and distancing ourselves" strategy is no longer relevant? The answer is "nothing has changed", joining Caricom would be abandoning a strategy that has served us well for 30+ years.

For what?

INTERESTED IN BERMUDIANS

NOT PROPAGANDA

Hamilton Parish