Extremely noisy motorbikes terrorise Bermudians on the road resulting in a barrage of complaints. The police respond with a crackdown. The community responds by saying the police were too heavy handed and should not have confiscated the bikes.

The community forgets its initial complaints .The Governor, who is responsible for the police, reacts by stopping the police action. The noisy bikes continue. But I thought we wanted something done?

Bermudians rant and rave that Cablevision is not providing quality service. They expect the Government to do something about it. The Government responds by extending their license by one year to provide that quality. Cablevision withdraws its licence and the ranters and ravers say the Government was acting too heavy-handed. But I thought we wanted something done?

Working class Bermudians protest that they are not getting a piece of the pie. Efforts are made to include them and assist them in how to make a proper bid. The job is awarded and it cost a bit more. The contractor finally gets a chance but Bermudians want to hold the Minister responsible for even trying to distribute the pie.

Had a Minister just followed the normal procedure we would have to ask ourselves why we bothered to change the Government in the first place. But I thought we wanted something done?

Bermudians have high standards for dress, cars, homes, travel and where they eat. They always want the very best and are fastidious. The Minister of Transport gives them two ferries that reflect Bermudian taste and what our tourists demand. So why are Bermudians picking at it like a sore? Don't they know that everything in life is NOT perfect; the boats might break down and they might have smoke?

And is the Minister responsible if the people don't use them every day? Don't we realise that there are very few countries that could even consider such a purchase. Or did Bermudians want to row boats? But I thought we wanted something done?

It would seem to me that if you drink your coffee black you should not ask for cream. If we have a problem with noisy bikes we have to deal with the bikes and if warnings do not bring about a result something has to be done. It is therefore pointless in complaining about a problem and when the medicine is given we respond “Not that kind of medicine”! Bermuda would be a much better place if we were honest and if we really wanted something done. And that is the question facing the country now.

We have opportunity all around us but we have hundreds of young people just sitting around ignoring it. If we put them in mandatory work programmes we would be violating their human rights so we leave them alone.

But I thought we wanted something done? We allow drugs to be sold in the open and then condemn the police when they crack down because they used “too much force” or were too rough. But I thought we wanted something done?

We said ‘this' and ‘that' about the UBP and now we have the power to get things done we lose the priority list. Well I found it and I submit that we can develop a Bermuda for all Bermudians where we can proudly stand and deal with our problems and say with pride: I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!

This is my vision and here is my plan.

...Housing for single people with affordable rents. We must use some of the Baselands to do it. While it may be fine and dandy to build a small guest house we don't have Bermudians to work in them now so why do that? If we house our people they would be happy and this happiness would be passed on to our valued visitors;

...Enfranchise our alienated youth with novel programmes that give them leadership roles and responsibility;

...Work programmes for prisoners;

...More affordable medicine for seniors;

...A Bermuda where seniors are respected along with our core values that epitomise our Bermudianness;

...Discipline in our schools without security guards;

...Quality teaching;

...Merit scholars in our schools;

...A cleaner Bermuda;

...The development of pride by regularly highlighting our heroes and our own worth

...Regular publishing of immigration statistics so Bermudians can clearly see where the jobs are and how many Bermudians did and did not apply, and the final results;

...A liaison between The Ministry of Home Affairs and Labour and Training so a rejected Bermudian is seen and supported if additional training is needed;

...Parish leadership committees to tackle parish issues and to empower people to get involved;

...Discuss those bedroom topics we never want to discuss. In other words those hypocritical things like casinos that so many Bermudians don't want here, but brag about enjoying elsewhere. We should at least discuss it and have a referendum on it and other issues.

...Utilise student talent during the summer to investigate and develop action plans for tackling many of the issues we are currently facing. They should be our experts and our consultants because they will inherit Bermuda. Of course Bermudians will review this list and improve it, add and delete to it because we are a very smart and intelligent people ready to even recommend to God almighty how to improve heaven.

...establish hotlines for getting information to people and things done

...establish volunteer grievance bodies were allegations and concerns can be addressed before they paralyse or polarise our thinking

But remember, if we really want change we have to be prepared to see these things happen for a better Bermuda or we are just a bunch of “National Moaners” who are spoiled rotten and don't want any kind of medicine to make us better.

Dale Butler J.P., is a Member of Parliament for Warwick East