September 2, 2003

Dear Sir,

Permit me to agree wholeheartedly with John Barnett about the absolutely disgusting state of the strip of land outside of the old PHC Stadium.

I am afraid his wife is right if you clean it up, within days it is made filthy again by the men who sit and loiter there most of the day. Many of us used to go down there and clean it up only to have that happen over and over. Even if you put trash bins there they do not use them. It needs a more permanent solution like `No Loitering' and `If you litter you'll be taken to court' signs posted.

I am certain Mr. Neville Darrell and Ms Gordon Pamplin will try to do something to help the situation but the area really boarders districts 27 and 26 which are represented by Mr. George Scott and Dr. Ewart Brown respectively. They should be sent letters also and asked to do something about cleaning up the area. Dr. Brown has been contacted previously about it so he knows the problem.

It is not an easy problem to resolve because of the inherent social problems involved, but if the community backs the elected officials, and the police are willing to help, I am sure the matter can be resolved and those layabouts made to take their business elsewhere.

THE HON. QUINTON L. EDNESS CBE JP

Warwick

August 28, 2003

Dear Sir,

My Insight Guide to Bermuda, the `Pocket Guide to Bermuda', and the `Maverick Guide to Bermuda' cite Paget Marsh as a small, accessible nature reserve carefully provided with a boardwalk for visitors. As a naturalist-tourist, I decided it was a good spot to begin our tour of some of Bermuda's nature reserves. My husband and I boarded the appropriate bus at the bus terminal in Hamilton and asked the driver to let us off at Paget Marsh. "Never heard of it" was the reply.

My husband and I walked from Paget village and eventually found the entrance. We picked up some hamburger take-out cartons and soda cans at the entrance and threw them into the readily available trash can. I admit we left the gum wrappers and beer bottles for someone else to pick up.

We walked the length of the boardwalk and were enchanted (the only applicable word) by this "pocket marsh." we took pictures of sawgrass, palmetto palms, Bermuda cedar trees, and a little lizard who obligingly posed for his portrait.

At the end of the trail we found a bench to sit and rest as well as a large pizza box floating in the marsh beyond our reach for retrieval.

Why am I writing this letter? Because it is evident to me that the litter left in Paget Marsh is from local people, not tourists. No tourist would know to take a pizza lunch to the end of the boardwalk. No organisation can patrol all the many nature reserves of Bermuda, picking up other people's trash. Bermuda's nature reserves are precious resources in what appears to be an increasingly crowded island. Bermudians should get smart and stop littering their patches of green.

ELAINE CAMPBELL, PH.D.

Sudbury, Massachusetts

Honesty and kindness

August 15, 2003

Dear Sir,

I would publicly like to say thank you to taxi driver John, and the operator at Radio Cabs. I was on vacation with my wife, daughter and my mother, having a wonderful time. The day before we were to leave my mother left her camera in a taxi so I called to check on it. A very pleasant lady answered and took my information and asked me to stay on the line while she asked the drivers. She returned on the line and said that no one had responded to her call at that moment but she would keep trying.

The next day I was leaving so I called the taxi service again just to get an update. The lady asked me to describe my camera, so I did, and her reply was, "Sir, I have your camera." I was leaving that day, but I was returning so I asked her her name, she said operator 12.

Upon returning to the Island, I called her to ask for directions to the taxi service office so that I could pick up my camera. The next day I came out of the hotel and picked up a taxi. When talking to the driver he recognised me and I him, as he was the driver the day we lost the camera. He told me that he had my camera, my daughter's shoes, and her hat all in a plastic bag under his seat. What an honest man. To operator 12 although the camera in your possession was not mine, I still want to thank you for your help and honesty.

John and operator 12 thanks again for everything. I will always remember you both for your kindness and may God bless you and Bermuda.

PASTOR ROBERT FABER

Boston, Massachusetts

August 27, 2003

Dear Sir,

After a busy day, one Sunday evening recently, my wife and I decided to relax by watching television at 10 p.m. I should explain that we have only the three local channels.

The first film selected began by showing a gang of youths cutting the throat of a man whom they had taken dislike to as they passed him in the street! The victim was killed alongside a prepared grave and in front of his young son who was bound and gagged. We hastily switched channels. The fare offered on our second choice was another film, this time with Satan, in the form of man, killing people in a variety of violent ways. The third channel was presenting some `Real Crime,' which began with a shooting. Needless to say we switched off and did what we usually do - reach for a book. You could say that is the main value of local television - it probably increased the amount of reading but, of course, it's much more serious than that.

Three years ago I had the privilege to take part in a `Global Headteachers Conference' located in the Starehe Boys' School in Nairobi, Kenya. It is a boarding school. Seventy percent of the pupils are orphans and the rest are from very poor families. It is one of the leading schools in Kenya and a shining example of a responsible, caring and successful community. I was one of about 50 headteachers and principals from across the world - Russia, China, US, UK, African countries, the Middle East (including Israel and Palestine) and many others.

In his introductory speech, the Headmaster told us they hadn't had a case of bullying in 40 years. Of course we were sceptical but it soon became apparent, as I examined the school closely, in the company of a courteous and articulate student guide called Zacharia, that neither he nor the other boys really knew what bullying meant. They instinctively looked out for each other and co-operated in every undertaking. Incidentally, the boys run every aspect of the school outside teaching. This includes preparing and serving food, cleaning the whole premises, running a fire service, security and so on. They also lead all the sporting and leisure activities. Every Thursday evening they hold a `barraza' - an open council - of all the boys and the staff. Any issue can be raised. It is conducted in a very civilised fashion and is very effective. There is one television in the school. It goes to the `House' who gains the most merits in a month. Interestingly, American television is banned. They are required to watch the BBC World News and report on it to all the other boys in assembly and the range of other programmes available to them is restricted to documentaries, historical films and other material deemed (by the Headmaster) to be educationally sound. It may all sound a bit quaint, but I can assure you that, if you visited the school you would be as impressed as I was. The level of maturity, interest, commitment, politeness, sense of community and desire to learn is striking. There are, of course, other reasons that contribute to this. The abject poverty to be witnessed immediately outside the school walls is one of them.

However, as we agonise over the recent loss of life on our roads, we must be prepared to look at the whole range of issues. What is it that leads young bikers and many adults to ride with loose (or untied) straps, to weave in and out of traffic, to blatantly flaunt the rules of the road? What causes them to regard this as `cool' behaviour. Where does the concept of `cool' come from? Just switch on your sets and look. For those who say there is no direct effect on viewers of such televised gratuitous violence, why do they think companies like Coca Cola and others pay thousands of dollars for two minutes exposure? What price two hours? The real price is the shaping of minds.

My wife and I know the despair created by senseless loss. We lost a 13-year-old son in an accident many years ago. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those recently bereaved. I urge the community to support the initiatives of Dr. Froncioni and others, of the efforts of the police to apply the law and bring in some control, but there are broader concerns. Bermuda is small enough to get a grip. I strongly suggest that attention is given to the portrayal of violence by all forms of the media and the entertainment industries, as part of this effort. Perhaps we have lessons to learn from Africa.

ROBERT LENNOX

Head Teacher

Warwick Academy

August 30th, 2003

Dear Sir,

While browsing in the Hamilton bookstore, I came across and purchased a book entitled `Dockyard Cats'. With drawings and text, the book describes the efforts of a responsible group of Bermudian citizens who feed and to some extent care for the homeless cats who live in the elaborate tourist complex at the Dockyard.

I simply wish to commend these men and women who take considerable time out of their busy lives to care for these sick and hungry companion animals. I will send a contribution as soon as I return to my home in the US Virgin Islands. I hope many Bermudians will also support the volunteers of the Bermuda Feline Assistance Bureau (BFAB) with funds, food, medical services, and maintaining feeding stations. We in St. John also have a small group of dedicated volunteers who feed and have neutered our island cats. I plan to take `Dockyard Cats' back to share with my friends at the St. John Animal Care Centre.

JOHN BRUCE,

US Virgin Islands

August 30, 2003

Dear Sir,

At the height of our tourist season the latest figures from our Fiasco of Tourism, oops, I meant Department of Tourism, make depressing reading. Since 1981, there has been a constant decline in the number of visitors but in the make-believe world of government this circus is rewarded each year with a higher and higher budget as its performance deteriorates.

The current circus allocation is $35.92 million according to the figures in the 2003/04 Budget Statement. For the mathematically minded, that is $690,769 per week, or $98,681 per day. Put another way, of our approximately 400,000 tourists per year (this figure is probably way too high given the number of international company visitors who define themselves as tourists), if 25 percent are attracted by the blandishments of Tourism then it costs about $359 per tourist. If 50,000 are so attracted it costs $718 per visitor, and if a more realistic 25,000 came here because of the Department's efficiency then it costs $1,436 per person.

Am I alone in thinking this is a gigantic waste of money by a government department that should have been killed off years ago?

When the late David Allen passed the hat around international companies a few years ago seeking funds for a new Department of Tourism building I suggested that the ideal location would be a filing cabinet in the government archives. Today the case for that is even more compelling.

This Department is a complete fiasco and should either be abolished or privatised.

ROBERT STEWART

Smith's