Listen to the children

February 22, 2007

Dear Sir,

This letter is in regard to the proposed Southlands development. As the mother of three Bermudian children and two Bermudian grandchildren, the question I have to ask is: Who is this development for? I challenge our Premier or the developers to ask our young people how many of them are interested in going into the hotel workforce?

Go to the college, CedarBridge, Berkley and even the middle schools and do a survey. These are the future adults that will be impacted by any development of this scale on this island. Stop and listen to their voices. They are the future. We are the past. Ask them what inheritance they want us to pass on to them.

WHO’S GOING TO WORK IN THE HOTELS?

Devonshire<$>

Cell phones are a waste

February 27, 2007

Dear Sir,

You know, I’ll bet that 75 percent of all cell-phone use is useless yabbering! Unless, of course, it is an indication of the sense of disconnect that people in this modern-day are feeling. Dear God, tell me it’s the need to feel more connected! Otherwise, it would seem an enormous waste of time and money!

BETTER THINGS TO DO

Pembroke<$>

Education has worsened

February 25, 2007

Dear Sir,

There is little doubt that the public system of education in Bermuda is a scandal and a disgrace. From gang violence, to building defects, to dreadful graduation rates, the horror story goes from bad to worse. In the 1950s, and before, Bermuda politicians tried to keep blacks poor and ignorant but were unsuccessful.

That task has now been handed to the Department of Education, and by all accounts they are doing a superb job. One can just imagine Chinese parents saying to their children reluctant to do their homework: “Think of these poor children at public schools in Bermuda who are prevented from learning to read or count, and who become criminals and work in dead-end jobs — go into your room and do your differential calculus and read your Shakespeare.”

Over 40 percent of parents have no confidence in the public system, and rightly send their children to private schools. Is it not time to consider whether the Department of Education should be abolished? It has done a lousy job and ruined the lives of too many children for too long. It is quite astonishing that a predominantly black government elected to improve opportunities for the disadvantaged has actually made the situation worse.

ROBERT STEWART

Flatts<$>

Railway trail confusion

February 18, 2007

Dear Sir,

Up until very recently, those of us who live Bermuda have been experiencing some spectacular weather. My one-year-old and I like to take advantage of a beautiful day by walking along the Railway Trail by our house in Bailey’s Bay. There is a beautiful stretch of the Railway Trail that leads from Shelly Bay until just before the Swizzle Inn. Most of the trail is set right along the ocean, with glimpses of Dockyard to the west. On a lovely day, there is no better place to be.

However, the trail suddenly stops just past Francis Patton school. Apparently, there used to be a throughway, but someone has planted a large bush and an even larger dog to make sure that people don’t walk by their property. Being a local, this frustrates me, but I double back, cut through the school, and head east until I can pick up the trail again at Bailey’s Bay. In the past, I would always wonder how tourists would handle this situation. Today I found out how some tourists deal with the confusion: They stare at their maps dumbfounded until someone comes along to help.

What a waste! What bad PR! In England, “The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 is well-known for introducing a responsible right to roam across areas of open, uncultivated countryside.” (www.ramblers.org.uk) Do we have anything similar in Bermuda? Perhaps we should consider the tourists , and locals, who we have now rather than worrying about ones who may or may not want to stay in a seven star hotel.

FRUSTRATED IN CRAWL

Will we welcome Rosie?

February 22, 2007

Dear Sir,

It was of great interest to read that Rosie O’Donnell has chartered a cruise ship for an openly gay and lesbian tour ground that plans to stop over in Bermuda. So how do Ewart and his band of narrow minded homophobic cohorts dance around this one? Surely as Tourism Minister we should welcome tourists of all persuasions and orientation. But then those religious zealot PLP voters will not be happy, so what does he do?

One can only imagine the verbal diarrhoea the good Reverends will be espousing yet again. Maybe Ewart will waste more taxpayer’s money and take a private jet to inspect some hotel casino when this cruise is scheduled to arrive. Surely he’ll find some way to back out of this one!

LOVEBOAT

Flatts<$>

Ban cellphone driving

February 28, 2007

Dear Sir,

After reading today’s paper, I can only wonder when, will cell phone driving be considered against the law in Bermuda? The UK has already done it ($118 fine), so what’s taking Bermuda so long to follow suit?

READER

Pembroke<$>

Kudos to Dr. Wakely

February 10, 2007

Dear Sir,

I write in respect of the reports concerning the forced “resignation” of Dr. Catherine Wakely. It seems that, these days, anyone who voices an opinion criticising Government policy is silenced. I commend Dr. Wakely for her courage and conviction to speak up about the decision to close the Medical Clinic which will adversely impact a segment of our country’s population who cannot speak for themselves.

Truly, if we do not speak for our brothers and sisters, who then will speak for us? In a society where freedom of speech of all people is guaranteed by our constitution, it is atrocious that a guest worker (whose skill and dedication was good enough to justify her coming to Bermuda to fulfil a badly needed service) should be ousted by an administration that cannot tolerate the expression of an informed opinion.

L. MARTIN

Smith’s<$>

Visit Saltus for a lesson

February 18, 2007

Dear Sir,

I have a concern about the way the government are treating people. When martin Luther King was around people thought that whites and blacks couldn’t be with each other. Thanks to Dr. King’s work people have freedom now to live peacefully together. But the government are trying to undo his hard work by doing it again, but only the other way around.

I just want everybody to get along. The children at my school Saltus Junior all get along well. Why can’t the grown ups do the same? The government should come to Saluts so we can show them the proper way to behave. I am sure that our principal Mrs. DeSilva and our teachers would welcome you, so please come. Thank you.

KAYLA TAVARES

St. George’s<$>

Are expats in slavery?

February 27, 2007

Dear Sir,

Regarding expatriates’ rights in Bermuda: is having no rights or opinions, but costing money not dissimilar to slavery? Does asking that question make me opinionated or even racist?

Disclaimer: this letter contains no opinions. Any perception of opinion in this letter is entirely a figment of the recipient’s imagination. If the recipient is a Minister or other Personage of Importance, then the act of reading this letter will be construed as acceptance of the deference, humility and ignorance of the sender.

X. PATRIAT

Warwick

Losing control of roads

Editor’s Note: This letter was written before Shannon Nusum succumbed to the injuries he received in the accident to which the author refers.

March 6, 2007

Dear Sir,

Another near fatal accident in Flatts, numerous close calls through the narrow opening in Flatts Village, third lane driving on North Shore road morning, noon and night, uncontrolled speeding along North Shore Road at all times of the day and night. Nice scenario, but that’s reality in this section of Bermuda every day. Here’s my question ... Where are the police to assist in traffic control? Do we have a shortage of police dedicated to traffic control or am I mistaken when I see many patrol cars parked in front of Police stations. There is no Police presence or programmes to deter speeding.

Like the drug problem on the island, we are losing control again of a dangerous situation. The real question is when are the Police and the Government going to stop talking about the growing traffic situations and take some actions? Talk is cheap and that seems to be all that is happening. How many more accidents and deaths have to occur before action is taken? Or perhaps you just don’t care.

GIB

Flatts Village<$>

Face time

February 28, 2007

Dear Sir ,

“Nowhere else in the world would he be able to get up in the face of an MP” — which planet has Mr. George Scott spent his life on? He should surely know that to “disrespect”, lampoon or satirise politicians and other prominent persons goes back for centuries and is found in all western democracies. The Hanoverian cartoonists up to the present-day Private Eye and TV programmes such as “Have I Got News For You” (UK), The Onion (USA), Le Canard Enchaine (France) and of course our very own, very excellent Not The Um Um Show — they all “get up in the face” of people who need to be reminded that their own self-esteem is not necessarily shared by others. The ability to do so is the stuff of which healthy and free democracies are made.

IAN HILTON

Pembroke