Dear Sir,

Thank you for promptly publishing my letter on April 24 regarding the abandoned truck on Marsh Folly Road, a vehicle that had been left to rot for many months, but was removed by midday the same day. Thank you to the government department that jumped on it within hours.

But I can only ask: why was this left abandoned for months and not removed earlier? Why was it not removed when Bernews published an article on April 5 highlighting the same vehicle’s abandonment in Pembroke as a community concern and hazard? Why was it, however, immediately removed after I made the abandoned rusting vehicle a political liability to the Progressive Labour Party, demonstrating that it tended to Paget more than Pembroke?

Why is it that when the vehicle affected the image and safety of only the residents of Marsh Folly Road it was ignored, but when it impacted the political image and credibility of the PLP it was removed?

Immediately. The speed in which the truck disappeared speaks volumes.

Could it be that the PLP cares as much — or, in their words, as little — about the “Back of Town” as they said the One Bermuda Alliance did? Could it be that the PLP is prioritising the care and upkeep of areas regularly exposed to guests and international media for the ITU World Triathlon Bermuda as the OBA did for the America’s Cup? Could it be that the OBA was not nearly as malicious as the PLP claimed, and that the PLP’s messaging was not nearly as sincere as they profess?

Don’t believe me? Let’s revisit the outrage by now MP Christopher Famous in his “Two Bermudas: we must be treated equally” column of January 16, 2015:

For the last few months, we have been hearing how we all should:

• Pull together and make Bermuda the “Jewel of the Atlantic”

• Put our best foot forward for tourism and the America’s Cup

• Keep the island clean

• Be great hosts to our visitors

During these same months, a pile of trash had been left unmoved for near three months from the side of the road next to the public roundabout at the top of Parson’s Road leading to CedarBridge Academy. The roundabout itself had been neglected.

In comparison, the northern and southern-side roundabouts of Trimingham Hill are given attention at least once a week, with mowing, weeding, and rows and rows of colourful flowers.

So, again, thank you to whichever minister, MP or civil servant made this political problem go away, and by extension solved a daily nuisance and hazard for Pembroke residents.

But, and I hate to say it, perhaps the PLP can pay some attention to Parsons Road just around the corner. The parking lots of the playground and the basketball court are littered with abandoned, rusting and broken-down cars that are dangerous to area children.

Nor would it hurt to run a lawnmower over the grass the way the PLP does in Paget “at least once a week with mowing, weeding and planting rows and rows of colourful flowers”.

And the Parson’s Road roundabout looks as neglected today as it did on January 16, 2015.

These small acts would go a long way to ending the “Two Bermudas”, which appears to be thriving under the PLP.

CHRISTIAN DUNLEAVY

Smith’s