especially offenders against children, being free in Bermuda's communities without neighbourhood notification. As far as this newspaper is concerned, all of Bermuda is one neighbourhood and we believe that notification should be extensive. Bermuda is not so large that the Country cannot be kept informed.

Remember the public memory is short and one notification will never be enough.

There is a great deal of mobility in Bermuda and people may only stay a short time in one place, especially if they are aware the neighbourhood has been notified of their proclivities. They move and another area may be in danger.

They live quietly in one area but carry out their activities in another; that is easy in Bermuda.

The Civil Service appears to be slow in reacting to this issue. There have been meetings and consultations but there has been no action. This may be a case where "papers'' have to pass over far too many desks. Perhaps the trouble shooting Cabinet Minister Kim Young should be called in to cut through the "red tape'' and get this job done. That is what she was appointed to Cabinet to do.

We think the delay should alarm concerned people and put them on their guard.

There should be nothing more precious to any of us than Bermuda's children and if they are in danger, their parents, relatives, friends and neighbours have a right to know so that the children can be protected.

We recognise the concern for the human rights of those people who may have offended in the past but are now leading solid lives. Clearly after a period of time, and seven years is the usual timeframe used, those who have sorted themselves out should be left alone. However there are a number of people who have offended in the past and continue to offend. There are some who are released from prison and it is known that they are likely to repeat.

Just as many states in the United States have been enacting Megan's Law to protect neighbourhoods against sex offenders, Bermuda needs such a law.

In the last few years, legal reporting restrictions have been placed on the media which make it impossible for us to report the identity of offenders, in some cases, even when they have been convicted. The public does not even have the knowledge to protect itself from people who have just been convicted. The dangers of that are extraordinary. Just imagine a family with three young children innocently befriending a child molester.

Let us make one thing clear, we have no interest in identifying those offended against, especially children. However we believe that the law which restricts us identifying the offender is actually a law which encourages people to offend. Being identified publicly is a deterrent and if people know that they will not "get their name in the paper'' then the deterrent is removed. We protested when the law was enacted and we protest again.

The law is wrong. We uphold the law because we must but we do not believe this law is in the best interest of the general public.