August 27, 2007

WHITHER shall the Fates lead? Forgive me for re-phrasing the island's motto but with the current political situation and the potential for disaster looming the question has to be asked - where are we heading?

Leaving aside education, housing, taxation, immigration - all of them of the utmost importance to our future - there seem to be three major issues that we need to understand and about which we should stop bickering! They are, of course, race, local and international business, and tourism, all of which are interrelated. If we do not get the race "thing" resolved it will become increasingly difficult to keep encouraging business people and tourists (many of whom are business people) to come here.

Let us, therefore, take race first. The vast majority of Bermudians get on pretty well together and the likes of Mr. Alvin Williams would be better respected were they to encourage the races (white, black, brown, yellow, etc.) to try and improve their understanding of each other, rather than implying that we never will. Mind you I am not sure that Mr. Williams is capable of such thoughts - I just encourage the majority of Bermudians to think positively in that direction.

If we cannot think positively and reverse some of the crazy immigration laws (or policies as they are sometimes known) then we will find it increasingly difficult to encourage international business to come here and, as ABIC (the Association of Bermuda International Companies) has implied Bermudians will find it almost impossible to find even the most junior administrative positions - they will not exist.

What then of the tourist industry? For years international companies have been saying that business, including local business, is dependent on a vibrant tourism industry. The bulk of our tourists are probably businessmen anyway and we need to look after these people NOW!

Mercifully there are a number of "Visitor Facilities" e.g. Tuckers Point, Belmont/ Newstead, the Reefs, and, perhaps, Horizons that are developing in the near future. The major developments like Southlands, City Hall/Par-la-Ville will not be "on line" for 2-3 years if we are lucky - or unlucky according to your point of view - and by then we may be too late because some other resort elsewhere will have plugged the gap.

It is a tragedy that successive Governments have not been more aggressive in their attitudes to "Club Med", the old Naval Operating Base (Morgan's Point) and Southside rather than abusing what little is left our lovely "countryside".

In the current state of politics in Bermuda I have my doubts whether any party is going to cope with our future adequately. One thing is certain, our current direction is taking us straight down the Zimbabwe/Mugabe path and that will be of no benefit to Bermudians of whatever colour.

The political party to have our vote for the future management of our islands will be able to tell us how they see the long term future of Bermuda and the strategy they will put in place to achieve it.

I am not talking about vague political platitudes but real plans that are achievable and are being managed by people who know what they are doing.

The young of Bermuda deserve it and particularly the assurance that the right to live, work and be educated in Europe will not be thrown out the window by some half-baked, self-serving, rule by the used scheme for Independence from the United Kingdom.

A. GOODFELLOW

Paget