constructive and permanent about the two old and troubled East End bridges.

It does not seem sensible that Bermuda goes on with bridges which are capable of cutting off traffic to and from the Airport and to the town of St.

George's.

Surely smooth traffic to and from aircraft should be a priority in a tourist resort if only to stop visitors thinking that we are a rinky-dink Country.

Nothing can be more annoying to departing visitors than to sit sweating on The Causeway with departing aircraft in sight because Longbird Bridge is stuck open. This also must be of great concern to the airlines serving Bermuda. It costs a fortune to delay an aircraft.

We are well aware of the history of Longbird Bridge and of the complex disputes with the United States Government going back to their promises to build a new civilian bridge from Coney Island to Ferry Point. However Bermuda has to forget all that now and get on with providing its own bridge for its own sake. After all, these bridges are important both to road traffic and to the always increasing boating public.

Where the Swing Bridge is concerned, residents of St. George's are fed up with being stuck on one side or the other, especially during rush hours when they are trying to get out of St. George's or back home after a day's work. Those people who chose to leave buses and walk across the bridge in the August heat on Monday evening must have been thoroughly annoyed.

Aside from the inconvenience, there is the entire question of emergency vehicle access which has been raised so often by the Progressive Labour Party MPs for St. George's North, especially Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith. There are great dangers to the public and Government should recognise that fact. We can only hope that it will not take an avoidable death to spur Government to action.

From the point of view of the UBP Government we should point out that they could once count on four safe seats in St. George's. But successive governments chose in their wisdom to ignore St. George's with one Premier saying that St. George's had to learn to look after itself. St. George's North did just that, it elected PLP MPs. The UBP says that it wants St. George's North back but that is increasingly unlikely if it goes on being careless about the voters. Now St. George's South gives every appearance of being a marginal district. There are enormous improvements going on in the Old Town but St. George's cannot build new bridges, if it could it probably would.