Now is the time

July 2, 2004

Dear Sir,

Christian Dunleavy in his recent ?Opinion? piece in emphatically lays out exactly what the Scott Government is all about. Three sentences from Christian are critically correct. ?This (the Scott) Cabinet lacks the credibility of an electoral mandate, a vision or most importantly the community?s trust?, and ?Don?t be fooled into thinking that this dispute (taxi drivers) will be an isolated incident. It?s just one of many battles to come, fuelled by the mistrust of a Government founded on a campaign of deception?.

Couple this with the fact that we have a budget for 2004-5 of $700 million, a 40 percent increase over the last UBP budget in 1998, an $81 million increase in debt this year, and a finance minister that has indicated that our budget base should increase by three percent to $850 million which will be a 70 percent increase over 1998. The mere fact that Ewart Brown admits to being deceitful, that Alex Scott consistently spins yarns that have gaping holes, Paula Cox continues to increase the out of control government spending, and the independence topic is a smoke screen to hide all of this, should be enough warning to the votes that change is needed now. Now is time for an election to let the people choose. But do not hold you breath, dictators never give you choice.

Picking on the Portuguese?

July 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

In a recent conversation with a fellow Portuguese-Bermudian? we were both very upset with the broadcasted ?gentle reminder? from the police about celebrating Portugal?s victory in the European Cup semi-finals over Holland. A long overdue celebration of national pride, and football drought. The Police spokesperson indicated that people would be ticketed, for not obeying the rules of the road, and holding up traffic.

That makes us wonder? If we were part of a sport celebration, we could travel around Hamilton during the middle of the day, horns-a-blaring, hanging out of our cars (without our seatbelts on) with a beautiful silver cup being passed around to the victorious footballers, and I?m sure it isn?t Kool-Aid. Or imagine, if England had won, I?m sure that the English Policeman would turn a blind eye to celebration antics, and positive drunkenness.

We were celebrating! Perhaps it was just concern by the police that we were hanging out of our flat-bed trucks, instead of cutting some grass, or trimming a hedge somewhere. Because let?s face it, that is all we a good for.

KEMH is inadequate

Dear Sir,

I wonder if Bermuda?s community would take the risks that it does if it understood the depth of its hospital?s inadequacy? From the flooding basement to the ethics committee, this institution is bankrupt. Consider the ICU where the level of intensity refers not to the care one could expect but to the anger and frustration of a staff that spend 50 percent of their day in damage control.

The acute skills of front line professionals in this department and others are inversely proportional to the managerial support afforded to them. Internal and external sources alike have prophesied the dangers inherent in this system bereft of accountability.

Despite the promises, committee investigations and top level reshuffling, quality deficits remain unacceptably high. Beware of the insidious and worrying desensitisation experienced by staff as a consequence of this long-standing crisis. The accreditation certificate in the foyer of KEMH hardly even raises a laugh these days.

In the end one gets what one pays for and as far as nurses? conditions and benefits are concerned this community should be embarrassed. The Government (BHB) has taken advantage of our compassion and when all that is spent, good people leave. Well might you say God Save the Queen, because nothing will save King Edward Hospital.