Keeping it clean

September 21, 2004

Dear Sir,

It is very comforting to know that the Broadcasting Commission is still active and protecting our sin-free Island from all of the social ills that exist in the outside world.

The members of this body are so pure in mind, body and soul, that if Mother Theresa were alive today, she would not have been able to have an audience with them.

In fact the activities in the ancient biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah would have been viewed as heavenly if compared to what goes on in the Island behind closed doors.

We all have skeletons in our closets, and those of you who say nay to this are liars, and our watch dog Commissions are no exception.

St. George?s shame

September 16, 2004

Dear Sir,

I sincerely hope that you will give this letter, and hopefully many more, room in your column so that the point is put across to the powers that be!

I agree wholeheartedly with the letter written by Sandra Outerbridge regarding the sorry state of the conditions for carriage horses in St. George?s.

I myself and the SPCA?s inspectors have tried several times in the last four years to convince the Corporation of St. George?s to put up some sort of shade and water trough for the horses. We are told each time that something is indeed planned and will be up by such and such a month and over and over again nothing happens!

The SPCA is called regularly regarding the horses standing in the heat with no shade and no water. We are told that they are watered at their stables during their carriage tours but they can not possibly be given enough time to rest and get an adequate amount of water while their paying passengers wait in the carriage.

The carriage horses along with the cobbled stone roads and centuries old buildings help give our visitors the feeling that they have gone back in time. As a World Heritage Site, the Corporation of St. George?s are working hard to keep and make the town look perfect perhaps they will help look after the living, breathing creatures that work for them as well as the old buildings!

A tasteful awning of some sort and a water trough will cost a fraction of the cost of cobbling a street or fixing the town?s plumbing!

Maybe if enough people call and write to the SPCA, and of course the Corporation of St. George?s, maybe just maybe something will be done for next summer!

Inhumane for the horses

Dear Sir,

After reading several letters to ?The Editor? and Friday?s , article ?Carriage horses put at risk on streets?. It is time someone set the record straight.

To the gentleman that wrote about a horse and carriage on Harbour Road who thinks that Bermuda no longer needs horse and carriages for ?tourists with white socks?, just because he got held up going home from work.

I say this, Sir, how many times have you been held up, because many of us are held up after football games and cricket games. We could say that they are not a necessity, just like you feel carriages are not.

For the record it is not just tourists that hire horse and carriages but Bermudians that love the old traditional slow pace way of life that hire us for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays graduations and christenings.

To Sandra Outerbridge, who complained about the horse?s in St. George?s. Well done! It is good to see that someone knows something about horses. They are without shelter and proper water facilities and the Corporation of St. George?s should be ashamed of themselves.

It does not take several years to put up a shelter or proper water facilities. These horses are doing sometimes 1 hour rides booked with the cruise ships with two horse?s pulling sometimes 12 people.

This is ridiculous when you consider that in Hamilton, the longest ride we do is one hour (mainly hour) and we are allowed to take only eight people in a two horse carriage. We come back to the carriage stand with excellent water facilities where we often hose our horses completely down. We also have a lovely shaded canopy provided by the Corp. of Hamilton, which we truly thank you for, as do the tourists.

Tourists complain to us every single day about the conditions of the horses and lack of facilities in St. George?s. It becomes embarrassing because at the end of the day it reflects on all of Bermuda.

Several years ago I complained about a certain carriage operator in St. George?s starving his horses. What was done? He did not get taken to court, instead he was monitored in the feeding of his horses. Still, today these horses are malnourished.

With regards to Sandra Outerbridge comments on improper harnessing. Yes, you are quite right. If not harnessed properly one horse will do all the work, and yes they are quick to use a whip.

But, lets also look at the pony races down Vesey Street. They do the same thing but worse, as these ponies obviously cannot go any faster and still the driver uses his whip. Does anyone recognise how much stress these ponies are in, in those few minutes with its heart beating away.

What about the pony?s being trained in the heat of the day at level gallop along South Shore. I commented to the last SPCA inspector who told me that she saw them. But yet she never approached them. I wonder if we did that to our carriage horses in Hamilton would it be acceptable. I think not!

Lastly, in response to Dr. Madeiros in the article ?Carriage horses put at risk on streets?. I say this: Every year around January before the carriage season begins (which is from May to October) I ask for a meeting with Agriculture & Fisheries, Corp. of Hamilton, TCD and SPCA, plus carriage owners and drivers, which is held at the City Hall.

This is done solely to discuss how we can all improve the industry. Last year the SPCA were the only ones that did not attend. Would this not have been the perfect time for them to express any concerns they might have with the carriage industry.

With regards to Dr. Madeiros? comments on dilapidated stables and ?grounds that look like a dump site?. I think Dr. Madeiros has a short memory of the SPCA having kept a horse and pony on their own property with wire and rubble in the paddock.

Inadequate fencing and disgusting water buckets while the horses are in six inches of mud for over several months. You, Dr. Madeiros as the president of the SPCA, were ultimately responsible for the welfare of these animals.

As a reminder of the conditions these two horses were kept in, I can show you the video that I took. I also hasten to add that neither animal had any housing facilities. Were you (the SPCA) not the ones that were taken to court by the Health Department for having mosquito?s breeding on your grounds and found guilty ? with a $200 fine!

With regards to your comment about old horse?s posing a risk to motorists. How do you know a young horse from an old horse? This is done by looking at the size of a horse?s teeth! When have you ? or any member of the SPCA ? looked at any horse?s teeth coming out of a licensed stable.

Also, what would you consider old? How many old horses are driving horse and carriage. I can assure you very, very few. But how can you tell when several US vets have tried and failed (some miserably) when we ask them on the carriage stand in Hamilton, BEFORE they look at the horse?s teeth!

Dr. Madeiros says he is concerned about the pollution for the horses. What about the people of Bermuda! You only have to get on a moped to witness pollution from other mopeds and cars. While trying to put this into perspective, has Dr. Madeiros taken a carriage ride in New Orleans, New York, or Philadelphia? That is pollution! Bermuda?s horses and people do not have a problem compared to these cities.

As the carriage season is almost to a close I would like to take this opportunity to thank the general public for their patience while we drive out tourists through Hamilton ? they do appreciate it and so do the carriage drivers. The Taxi drivers have also been great this year and let?s not forget the bus drivers who have been patient with us this year.

We have options

Dear Sir,

Why independence? Europe is joining together in the EU. North American countries are moving closer with the NAFTA agreement. Then there is Caricom. So why does Bermuda want to become independent? Why do we want to become separate?

Over the years I have looked into this. If we were to become independent, who would protect us and at what cost? Who would help us internationally and at what cost? We are a nation of less than 100,000. Do you think the UK or US will help us, especially if they have their own issues?

How about Caricom? With the recent destruction from Hurricane Ivan, they are having a struggle helping themselves. So I have kept looking and thinking about independence. What do we have to support ourselves? Tourism?

No, we no longer have the beds to put them. ?Offshore? business? With one stroke of the US president?s pen, it could be wiped away. Then I thought: ?Do the people of Bermuda really want independence or separation from the UK??

Some black Bermudians say they have no connection with the UK. I as a white Bermudian lived in the UK and still found no true connection there. Yes, it was a good spot to base my European travels and I do have some family and friends there, but no real need or want to be there, no real connection with the people.

Then there are the black Bermudians that have no connection with the Caribbean, actually there are some black Bermudians that look at the Caribbean as the Third World and want no part of it. I like the Caribbean. It is a nice place to vacation, but do I want to be a full-time part of it? No.

Then I thought: The US is the most powerful nation on earth, why not join them? We are too small to become a state. I can?t see anyone wanting to become a US territory, isn?t that what we are trying to get away from? Then what?

How about a county of either South Carolina or Georgia? Become Americans. Sounds crazy? Maybe. In 1990 the US put a cap on the number of people immigrating to the US of 675,000. That is about ten times our population. So do you think they would notice? Probably not. One difference with us (as opposed to) all other immigrants, we bring our own land. Not much, but we do bring some.

Our leaders are looking into Independence and want us to look at it as well. I say we need to look at all the possible options. Independence: Yes/No.

Becoming American: Yes/No.

Staying as is: Yes/No.

Please give us the choice.