Stop the greed

July 24, 2006

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter in respect to the housing in Bermuda.

I am a Bermudian and I cannot find a place to live for only six months anywhere in this island until the place we are currently in is finished being renovated because for one the rents are so outrageous and I have children.

My husband and I have been seeking temporary accommodation for about three months now. We have been turned downed over and over and over again, for the main reason our children.

Can I ask this question to all landlords, don?t my children need a place to lay their heads too?

Please stop being greedy and stop discriminating. It is not fair.

Where $11 million went

July 22, 2006

Dear Sir,

I now see where the $11 million is going by the Sports page dated July 21, 2006. I mean ?really?, Mr. Editor, a training session? Looks like a bunch of guys with beer bellies having fun at a Luxury Beach Resort to me ... 74 All out! So much for that training session. Here?s a thought PLP, give them another $11 million, maybe that will help! (not)!

Value of a passport

July 22, 2006

Dear Sir,

On TV we are seeing the emergency evacuation of US and British citizens from Lebanon. I wonder what help we could expect if independence should deny Bermudians the right, which we now have, to British passports.

Bermudians travel a great deal, all over the world, and even now a Bermudian passport can cause problems with immigration officials in some foreign countries; many of us have experienced this. The present opportunity to get a UK and Overseas Territories passport is a tremendous privilege and safety net. We must protect this right.

Hypocrisy is rife

July 6, 2006

Dear Sir,

Yet again we see the Profiteering and Looting by the governing party politicians in their cynical attempt to ransack the public purse in a ?smash and grab? raid by voting themselves massive pay hikes. This has been exacerbated by the PLP?s attempt to ensure that the Senate does not have a say in this affair, clearly so that the ?raise? can be rammed through the House prior to the impending election. Unfortunately this behaviour is synonymous of the PLP Government?s aim of ensuring that Government members will depart with gold lined pockets. Essentially the pay hikes represent the true hypocrisy of the ?Labour? principled PLP Government.

Mr. Editor, hypocrisy is indeed rife within the PLP Government. Whilst people in this country go un-housed, P spends $1.5 million on Clifton. Whilst money cannot be found to repair and maintain rest homes for seniors, P and the gang guarantee their future by securing their pensions which will mean they will never have to see the inside of a rest home in their twilight years. Whilst many Bermudians cannot find a reasonably priced apartment to live in, the Doctor travels the world staying in five star resorts. Whilst Minister Horton pretends he is protecting Bermuda?s land stock for Bermudians, he presumably ?forgets? that one of his ex-Cabinet colleagues signed a long-term sweetheart deal for Stonington with a ?friend? of the PLP. Whilst P explains how Independence will bring the races together, he allows the Colonel to stay in Cabinet. Whilst P and his gang make statements in the press that MP?s should be paid like private sector employees, they fail to explain that private sector employees are paid according to job performance, established industry standards and merit.

I could go on and on about the hypocrisy of the Profiteering and Looting by the governing party, but to what end? I must make it clear that I am not totally against pay hikes for our parliamentarians. Some of those in Cabinet (and those persons are in the minority) have worked hard and deserve to be paid well.

However, I do ask for some accountability. How about a Ministerial Code of Conduct as a start? How about phasing in the pay rises over a defined period of time? How about creating rules as to what Cabinet posts should be defined as full time and what posts should defined as part-time? Remember at the moment it is up to individual Ministers to decide whether they are full-time or part-time. How insane. That is no better than having Independence stalwarts accepting awards from the Queen!

No doubt my detractors will bleat, as they have in the past, that my opinion has been clouded by the supposed existence of inherent racism, another favourite PLP tactic to obfuscate and duck when an election is looming. This transparent tactic would be laughable if it were not so pathetic.

Mr. Editor, I leave you with some ?thoughts for the day?. Could it be possible that the PLP knows it will lose the next election hence its desperation to ensure higher pensions by pushing through such massive pay hikes? Whether the PLP prevents the Senate from considering the mater or not, the pay rises will be accepted. What you can be sure of is that an election will not take place until the salary hikes (and consequent pension security) are formally adopted. Cynical perhaps but time will tell.

Accountable Govt.

July 17, 2006

Dear Sir,

A friend recently sent me a copy of ?Harper?s Weekly? dated Saturday March 21, 1857. (Vol.1. - No.12) On page 184 is an article entitled ?A cruise to the Somers Islands?. The author is not acknowledged.

In view of the current furore over the Parliamentary salaries, the quote from this article is interesting, and I quote, ?The Government of the Colony is a compromise between two despotisms ? that of the English Secretary of State by his instrument the Governor, and that of a snug little body called a Legislature, elected by a few pocket constituencies, of a couple of dozen qualified electors each. I am not a politician, and won?t undertake to describe how these institutions work; but, so far as I could learn, the principle and joint of the Government machine is the salary of $2 a day paid to members of the Assembly; they can be made to do almost anything the Governor wants by a threat of prorogation, for their pay stops when the session ends.?

Oh for the good old days, and maybe, we should return to paying per diem. How long is Government in recess, three or four months? If I don?t work, I don?t get paid. Just to change the subject, I would like to comment on yet another booklet placed in my post box, called: ?Charting our course: sustaining Bermuda?. What a wonderful booklet on bureaucratic gobbledegook. If one can say in 50 words what can really be said in five, then it must be good. This is truly a wonderful document which could have achieved the same result in three pages.

Page 13, Theme 2 ?- Transforming Governance and the Public Sector: ?The success of the Sustainable Development Strategy and Implementation Plan, and ultimately the future viability of Bermuda, lies in an effective and accountable Government and Civil Service.?

What, Mr. Editor, has happened to an accountable Government and Civil Service, where the taxpayers do not know where their money is going and there have been more problems in the Civil Service than ever before? I look forward to an accountable Government and Civil Service later this week. I don?t want to leave it until the House resumes its activities in October, or is it November?

Other people?s money

July 18, 2006

Dear Sir,

Your recent stories abut the outrageous spending by Government ministers of the public?s money on such things as travel is not at all surprising although naively many voters seem to be saying: ?I am shocked, shocked.? Let me explain.

Economist Milton Friedman elaborated on this problem sometime ago when he pointed out that there are only four ways to spend money.. When you spend your own money on yourself, you make occasional mistakes such as buying milk that has gone sour but such mistakes are few and far between. The connection between you, you who earned it, you who are spending it, and you the one who is reaping the final benefit is obvious. You do not, as a rule, waste your hard-earned cash. When you use your own money to buy a friend a gift, you still have an incentive to get your money?s worth, but there is a risk you might end up getting something the intended recipient does not really need or value. That is why I have quite a number of ties in my closet. We are getting hot now. Let?s consider the position when you use somebody else?s money to buy something for yourself, such as a Minister travelling to some obscure conference. If you are morally upright, you have some incentive to be prudent but little reason to economise. Instead of travelling economy, you go first class, instead of water you buy expensive French wine, instead of Motel 6 you sleep at the Four Seasons. Before you know it, you and your mates, have blown a bundle. But then, it is not your money, and maybe no one will ever know. Besides, you deserve it for having been elected, and most of the voters are gullible fools. It is really immoral to allow stupid people to spend their own money ? you can do a much better job of it. when you spend other people?s money (the taxpayers) to buy something (a school) for someone else (the voters or your supporters), the connection between the earner, the spender and the recipient is the most remote ? and the potential for mischief and waste is the greatest. That is why Berkley Institute is, at last count, about $80 million adrift, or why you want the Government auditor to move to another office.

If the voters just remember the above four rules they will better understand the motivations of our leaders. Believe me they understand them only too well.

Unequal access

June 29, 2006

Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter concerning the newspaper article titled ?Our patience had run out? which appeared in on June 8, 2006. It was a good article. However there are some concerns that I need to address.

My first concern is the statement made by Minister E. Brown about the BPHA not cooperating with his Ministry of Transport . This statement is not true. I have met with his Ministry twice in the last few years and had talks with the Permanent Secretary. Minister E. Brown was there for a few minutes of the meetings. Minister E. Brown says he works with Keith Simmons. Mr. Simmons is a government worker with the Age Concern and Physically Challenged office. In my opinion he has to watch what he says in public because he is a civil servant.

Disabled people who have their own private transportation don?t really sense the urgency of those who don?t have transportation. Here is a case in point. Access Awareness Week had a low turn out of wheelchair users due to a lack of accessible transportation. I am frustrated because, those who need accessible transportation are still waiting. Minister Dr. E. Brown, you are in the position to write the prescription so we can cure the transportation problem.

My second concern in the article is the statement by Minister Brown that there are 25 disable vehicles on the road. Yes there are and maybe even more, but they are not available to be used Islandwide by wheelchair users. I want to bring to Minister Brown?s attention some of the reasons why. Some of the vehicles belong to the Ministry of Education, some of the rest homes and some belong to private individuals and they do not lend them out to other organisations.

On one occasion a driver who worked for the Education Ministry and gave me a ride to work was disciplined by his employer. When the employee asked why he could not help any disable person he was told they are not a part of that Ministry. The only ones who has assisted in lending out their transportation is Summerhaven and the BPHA to all the above mentioned over the years and the BPHA are still doing so up to today.

At this time I would like to thank for the coverage you gave for the Access Awareness Week. Thanks to the reporter Nadia who came to do the interviews with some of the residents in Summerhaven about their concerns.

Thank you to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and the Office of Age Concern and Physically Challenged coordinators, Ann Lindroth and Keith Simmons for their hard work.

I would like to acknowledge whoever was responsible for putting an elevator in the House of Assembly and making it accessible for people like me. The late Margaret Carter would be so happy that one of her wishes has finally come true. Now I can visit in person to see and hear my politicians legislate. (I hope I don?t end up having to go to the Supreme Court now that its accessible for the wrong reason)!!

Marlin fishing facts

July 19, 2006

Dear Sir,

In response to the Annoyed in Pembroke regarding the article titled ?Macho Fishermen?, please allow a bit of space for the following Fishing Information.

1. Not all fishermen are men ... women also fish and no, I don?t need to prove my womanhood.

2. Not all fishermen are ?portly rich guys?; local fishermen actually fish for a living ... and not to mention women. Fishing is their job.

3. Not all Marlin are killed, not sure if you knew that in the entire world sport fishermen are responsible for less then one percent of the Marlin killed. Gill net boats kill the vast majority of them, not fishermen in Bermuda.

4. The fish are not killed ?plain and simple?, as you said ... the local and visiting fishermen release 99.99 percent of their Marlin catches, but you never hear about that. However there are some circumstances when the fish dies, this cannot be helped. I actually know of some fishermen who brought a Marlin back to life and it was a great moment for them.

5. For the fish that does die, that fish is not wasted. A true fisherman will use the meat for catching other fish and local lobster ... fish and lobster you may even consume. Talk about recycling.

6. The fish and lobster the local fishermen do catch they sell to the restaurants and locals ... wouldn?t you prefer fresh local fish or imported fish.

7. By buying the local fish that is caught with the meat of the dead marlin you are supporting your local fisherman, who is turn, is trying to support his family. Are you starting to see the big picture here?

8. Before you start assuming, ask fisherman about the facts, ask how many Marline are released every year... you may just learn something.