February 1, 2011Dear Sir,The significance of the decision by Bermuda's ‘First Bank' to pull the rug out from under Newstead Belmont Hills must not be lost in yesterday's news.Having been brought to the brink of their own financial ruin just last year by other inept investment strategies, Butterfield Bank's opportunistic new management stepped in with high hopes for a relatively quick stock rebound. This has failed to materialize, and this is how they act.Butterfield's loaned the money for this development with a view to a long term investment in Bermuda's tourism renaissance. At least that's what I heard the bank officially said at the ribbon cutting ceremony just two years ago.In this dire tourism and international business climate, there can be no doubt that the ability of Newstead Belmont Hills to repay its creditors has been severely impacted. Has anyone even seen a tourist lately? The management at Butterfield's clearly felt that not enough was bing done to satisfy the debt so they stepped in and now run the business while searching for a similarly opportunistic buyer to pick it up for cents on the dollars.Ask yourself these questions. Do you think this would have happened in Charlie Mann's or Hackie Davis' time? How do the other recently completed hotel properties with outstanding debt obligations feel now? Isn't part of our public purse invested in this Bank? Why the silence from our Government? Do we need to be investing in new tourism properties on South Shore when brand new Bermudian owned four star hotels are in receivership?Kevin Petty dared to invest in Bermuda's first economic pillar and in hindsight the timing could not have been worse. His vision created beautiful properties from derelict eyesores. He employed a large number of Bermudians and is held in the highest regard by all his staff, particularly those in the BIU. His passion for Bermuda and her people are an example to us all. He truly is one of the good guys and what is happening here is a travesty. We should all be outraged.MOVING MINE TO CAPITAL GPaget