Development at what cost?

November 10, 2005

Dear Sir,

I was saddened to read in your paper today that nine new international insurance companies have obtained licenses from the Bermuda Monetary Authority to operate in Bermuda. The Government?s sustainable development initiatives are a complete joke. Has the Government thought ahead as to the future impact these companies will have on the island?s already stretched/fragile infrastructure? Roads are already jammed packed with cars.

The housing market is in complete disarray (only realtors believe this not to be the case because their pockets are being lined by high-end rentals these international companies spur). Private schools are bursting at the seams, to the detriment of Bermudian students (quotas).

The cost of living continues to spiral out of control with the average Bermudian not able to make ends meet. This new wave of international companies will no doubt tip the scale for Bermuda. May God Be With Us.

Dangerous ambitions

November 15, 2005

Dear Sir,

The end of Prince Andrew?s Throne Speech contains the essence of the PLP leadership?s dangerous ambitions. It says: ?Bermuda?s role on the world stage is performed by others. The UK speaks ... on political issues; the financial sector ... on external economic impact. The .. time has come for Bermuda to rehearse her own voice and to write her own script.?

As everyone knows, if this combined blunder actually occurred, without the UK?s clout, and reluctant commitment to our interests, no one would know we existed. We would sink into the ineffectual and impotent world of the absolute nonentities at the bottom of the UN, to be used, if used at all, like Grenada was by Cuba, as an overgrown, mismanaged stepping stone to prolong the Cold War, an island conned into independence purely to line the pockets their versions of our own tin-pot leaders.

Without the presence and expertise of the Financial Sector, who will hardly put up with ignorant voices ?rehearsing? lines on their behalf that have no meaning or sense to themselves or anyone else, there will be no external economy, and as a result, no internal economy either. The best to be hoped for, among the empty offices and condos, will be an internal trade in feral chickens for fish, and vice versa, like the Caymans before the money and intelligentsia fled there from a Jamaica on the verge of that well known independence disaster.

Look deeper into taxi issues

November 17, 2005

Dear Sir,

It is always difficult to separate cause and effect in arriving at solutions. How can you address poor legislation without looking at the Ministers and questioning their wisdom, egos, ulterior motives, etc? The law for GPS has passed and is being implemented. What will be the outcome if there is no significant improvement in the service? During all the debates, I did not hear one bit of statistical evidence to justify or validate any of the arguments that were put forward.

There was no data to verify or validate the so called complaints of poor service, nor any clarification of what constituted poor service. All of the verbiage was anecdotal. How can you make decisions on someone?s livelihood/business without any corroboration or facts, and with out the use of figures and statistical data?

The Department of Transport has all of the data but, will not analyse it and refuses to use it or make it public. The Minister requires that each taxi be on the road for at least 16 hours. To be truly viable as a business, each taxi should average at least two jobs per hour. This means that there should be at least 19,200 jobs available daily. Can the Minister prove that there is at least this number of jobs out there?

There is the issue also of, who is responsible for updating equipment. I agree that the taxi services need to update their data recording equipment. The taxi operator cannot use updated equipment if the service provider won?t take any measure to do so. The legislation is aimed at the wrong persons. There is little that you can do about distribution and availability.

If the Minister can track us down, how does he propose to ensure that the client gets a taxi and at whose expense? Is he going to beam us to the destination as in Star Trek, using one of those science fiction transporters? He does not understand that distribution and that it is dependent on the number of jobs available, the mobility of clients, activity centres, etc.

Some factors that severely impact this side are: minibuses, more public transport, fewer tourists and hotels, no military bases, more private cars, people driving other?s cars, no nighttime entertainment, peak periods, and gypsy cabs.

Be a part of the remedy

November 17, 2005

Dear Sir,

Over 40 years ago, the president of the USA, John F. Kennedy, challenged the American people: ?Ask not what your country can do for you ? but what can you do for your country.? A lot of the critics of our present PLP government need to take up that same challenge for Bermuda, especially when it comes to tourism.

Everybody keeps asking what is the Government doing to bring back the tourist. They have already got more flights and cheaper ones at that. They have continued to give tax incentives to the existing hotels to upgrade their properties. They are trying to finally get the musicians together to try and revive our very lacking on island entertainment. They are trying to improve our on island transportation issues. These are just to name a few.

What are some of these critics who are in the position to do something for their country doing when it relates to tourism? Nothing positive. They are putting up more ugly office blocks. More polluting cars on our roads. So as Michael Jackson put it in 1993, if you want to change the world or just Bermuda, start with the man in the mirror. I was watching a show on Las Vegas? tourism this week. They say that Vegas had 35 million tourists last year who generated $35 billion in revenue. That works out to $1,000 per person.

What brought all of those people to Las Vegas? All of those spectacular hotels with their fabulous shows and casinos, amusement parks etc. None of those hotels and the like where financed by government funds. They where all privately funded. They didn?t wait for Uncle Sam or the state of Nevada to bring Las Vegas back to life. The Steve Wynns and the like had visions and put their money where their mouths was. And than the state of Nevada and the city also poured in their money.

My challenge to the leaders at City Hall: Do something innovative with your city. What have you built in the last 45 years since City Hall opened in 1960? A car park at Bulls Head and a new Bus Terminal. Can you honestly call that progress? That is not going to bring any tourist to Bermuda or your fair city.

I think you would have been better of joining in a partnership with some business leaders and moving the docks from Front Street and building a world class convention centre on the waterfront with a truly first class transportation hub. I say to all the powers that be in Bermuda: Be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. Be a part of the fix in 2006.

Propagating the malaise

November 2, 2005

Dear Sir,

The October 25 letter from ?Still Proud to be Bermudian? reports a question asked by a visitor in that letter: ?Why are all the people here in such a bad mood?? and it has hit a raw nerve with me! I find it difficult not to blame the current Government for its part in propagating this malaise. A Government which has displayed the most arrogant and dismissive attitude toward its Bermudian charges, so much so, it is amazing that there are those among us who are still ?proud? to be Bermudian! Surely, we do not need to go any further than the hierarchy in the present Government.

They have presented themselves as bitter individuals from the beginning of their general collapse as a viable Government: from the one who would only do business with ?people who look like me!? to the one who said ?we don?t have to tell you!?; to the one who said ?we needed to lie to you...!? and that same one who (in between innumerable flights here, there and everywhere) has been heard to say that we have to ?leave the plantation?; the same one in fact who now purports that ?... there is a big difference between service and servitude.?

Too late! The earlier pronouncements have been taken on board and have simply negated that statement. And now we hear him blame the hoteliers for declining occupancy rates! He?s asleep at the wheel ? or more likely he?s asleep in his first-class seat! He needs to observe, preferably unannounced, that too many (admittedly, not all) of our Bermudian workers have an attitude. To be polite is not on the agenda for them; they, too, can be dismissive which is more than enough to turn off any thought of a guest returning, believe me.

Then there is ?the man? who, in his earlier years before becoming P, screaming from the rooftops that his office had been bugged by goodness knows who; then later in this ?illustrious? career, having led the never-to-end Berkeley debacle deeper into the mire before ridding himself of it to an unsuspecting novice politico.

And now, not only deaf to the cries of a hopefully still proud Bermudian populace to sort out the matter of Independence by referendum ? having announced to all that we did not know what we were signing ? he blindly pushes on with yet another scenario. It just goes on and on. We?re tired and we?re all getting bothered about the not-knowing. Oh, and, as far as the staff at the concession stand upstairs at the Airport is concerned? That has deteriorated: recently, a group of travellers were subjected to them arguing loudly between themselves whilst sullenly serving customers. Ugh!

Lead by example

November 19, 2005

Dear Sir,

Recently the Government decided not to amend the Human Rights Act to make it unlawful to discriminate against persons based on sexual orientation. In his House speech, Dale Butler in less than 30 seconds spoke on this topic and said that Government ?researched? the issue and decided that it would not proceed with the amendment.

I?m very curious to know exactly what ?research? was done. By contrast, Mr. Butler gave a very impassioned and considerably longer talk about renaming schools and streets to recognise significant people in Bermuda?s history and stressed the need to ?change the mentality? of people who are against this idea.

I?m just wondering exactly where Government?s priorities are that the renaming of schools, for example, is a more urgent need for Bermuda than passing legislation that ensures that all persons are protected from persecution and are able to enjoy a dignified and equal existence.

This antiquated decision to disregard members of the public based on sexual orientation has unfortunately revealed that our Government is not yet evolved enough or conscientious enough to run this country on their own. If they were, they may have realised that to promote Independence and sustainability in one breath and in the next to speak a language of intolerance and exclusion indicates a lack of integrity, maturity and trustworthiness. A Government that is truly ready to lead a sovereign country must lead by example and refrain from acting in ways that are divisive and exclusive.

When discrimination on such a national level goes unchallenged, it speaks volumes about the collective consciousness. When discrimination becomes the norm, whether it?s race, age, religious beliefs, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or even ideas (censorship) then we are all vulnerable to persecution. ?Plato?s Republic? explains how our western governments were formed by the concept of ?bread and circuses?.

The rulers of ancient Rome realised that if they kept the masses well fed and entertained they could basically distract them sufficiently enough to do anything they wanted without much scrutiny or interference, and the placated masses would acquiesce. Bermuda ? this is the time when we need to be especially awake and alert, and more vocal than ever.

New twist on ?don?t chop?

November 5, 2005

Dear Sir,

As a Bermudian living in Boston, I read your online edition every day. Less than two weeks ago Lt. Col. Burch was appointed the new Minister of Works and Engineering. He came to the position with a very outspoken agenda. He said he would be taking a serious look into the fact that there are 300 or more empty apartments sitting around Bermuda because people used a loop-hole in the system to get an assessment that would allow them to have more than one car for their family.

I cannot but notice that within such a short time he has now stated he will be looking to build over 300 new ?rental? apartments in such locations as St. George, St. David?s and Dockyard. Has the Minister decided not to pursue the issue of all the empty rentals? Is that a can of worms that he just doesn?t want to open?

I am all for finding affordable housing for people in Bermuda and I certainly applaud any programmes that help those that have a difficult time helping themselves get started, but I think he was absolutely right in identifying the assessment loop-hole and wanting to fix it. I therefore suggest Lt. Col. Burch should put a hiatus on any rapid response to housing until he has determined the availability of the empty apartments.

There is another reason why he should wait. Bermuda has very limited resources and every time something gets proposed there should be a cost and and effect analysis performed. In other words, determine if something else could be done that would have a greater value other than what is being proposed. In the case of the hospital in St. David?s, should that be converted to 40 odd one or two bedroom apartments or would it be better served to convert it to an elderly retirement/care centre/clinic?

It would not only help with housing people in need but also allow for the East End to have a facility that could act as a medical clinic for the local community. This would bring jobs to that end of the island as well. With regard to Dockyard, is it wise to build subsidised housing in the centre of what could well be developed for future tourism needs? Should limited space that is a key element of tourism and business resources be tied up by non-income generating government housing?

In light of the recent new laws passed regarding machetes I think the same slogan, ?Stop Don?t Chop!? can be applied to Bermuda?s development. The Minister should step back and take a breather to really gather a clear picture of how this can affect the future of Bermuda and all it?s people.

?Deplorable? comments

November 15, 2005

Dear Sir,

?And Mr. Perinchief went further to claim that giving British Territory citizens Bermudian status, and also to those from other parts of the Commonwealth and to Portuguese settlers, had led to ?their offspring turning against us, saying ?We are going to use our vote to stop your shift to Independence?.? ? TheRoyal Gazette, November 15. My rage towards this remark is leaving me unable to think clearly at the moment ? this is contemptible.

Portuguese workers came to this country and worked hard to make Bermuda the success it is today ? to say that the PLP begrudge the human rights of these people and their offspring because it is hurting their cause is a statement which will invoke violence. This is deplorable behaviour by a member of Government.

Before anyone implies that I am racist for my position, I would say the same thing if it was said by a white Government representative in respect of blacks and their descendents who have contributed to this Island!