Better means of spending

January 14, 2010

Dear Sir,

I read today the article regarding cutbacks for the Civil Service. It is all well and good that civil servants are being asked to curtail spending, but there are some things that bother me:

¦ Some departments' finances are in such poor state that they "can't even order paper".

¦ The already strained, I'm sure, Social Services Department. is losing funding

¦ We are spending "close to $100 million" on consultants and "professional services".

¦ Departments "don't even know from day to day where cash is coming from".

Given these statements, our "leader" and Minister of Tourism still feels that it is prudent to spend a few million on a Music Festival that, once again failed miserably to attract substantial amounts of visitors to the Island, its so-called purpose. He also feels that a "Love Festival" is a good way to spend money. If he really cared about Bermuda, its economy and our future, he would cancel these events which only serve to entertain him and his friends, and provide him with opportunities for posturing with B-list celebrities! Everyone loves a little entertainment, but in the grand scheme of things comes way down in the list of priorities!

Those millions of dollars would be much better spent on social programmes, policing ... almost anywhere other than where they are currently being spent! Can you say priorities? I liken this ridiculous overspending on public money to that of the person we all know who can't/won't pay his or her rent, is receiving housing assistance from the government, but yet can afford to take a trip to New York to go shopping!

The Head of the Civil Service or someone who makes policy should have seen to it ages ago that civil servants were flying in economy class. Furthermore, why is it that Government was able to spend "$77 million more than it budgeted for in 2008/9"? If I ran a business the way our government is running our finances, I'd have been fired long ago!

Bermuda, we are in for a rocky future if we don't speak up and demand that "our" government, those we elect to work for us do so and act with our collective best interests at the forefront!

SERIOUSLY CONCERNED BERMUDIAN

Paget

Customs and guns

January 12, 2010

Dear Sir,

My perspective on the current crisis as it relates to firearm crimes in Bermuda is that it all boils down to relaxed standards, amongst other things. Let's focus on the Ministry/Department responsible for interception of illegal drugs, firearms and ammunition.

The Ministry of Finance is the Ministry responsible for HM Customs. The Honourable Minister Paula Cox is the Finance Minister and is, therefore, responsible for the work of her Ministry. As the political head of that Ministry, she must bear the consequences for any defect of administration, whether she is personally responsible or not. She is obliged to have a very close working relationship with the Financial Secretary (Mr. Donald Scott) and the Head of Department; i.e. Collector of Customs (Winnifred Fostine-DeSilva) and should, therefore, be well informed.

If Mr. Scott and Mrs. Fostine-DeSilva are responsible for the day-to-day management and operation of their Ministry/Department, in addition to the fiscal responsibility, they should be providing Minister Cox with sound and impartial advice; full, factual information and loyal service. Not forgetting the responsibility for ensuring an efficient organisational structure for their Ministry/Department, including the efficient utilisation of all human and other resources, with the training of those individuals being a very high priority.

I am not convinced that the management team at HM Customs has efficiently utilised the manpower and resources available to them. All residents should be very concerned about the increasing use of firearms in Bermuda and are probably thinking, "how are the guns and drugs getting onto this Island so easily?" If the Collector of Customs was out of touch in 2005 when she publicly stated that gun smuggling was not common in Bermuda, perhaps that's why her officers weren't trained well enough to detect them. If gun smuggling is not common in Bermuda, then, alternatively, the focus should be placed on the failures in the system.

The emphasis is being placed on the new technology as opposed to the human beings who are expected to operate this equipment. They are the same human beings who are supposedly considered the greatest asset of the Civil Service, yet are amongst the group who are being offered a one and a half percent increase in pay. It would be sensible to bring the salaries of the Customs officers in line with the Prison and Police officers especially considering the risk they now face. An increase in salary and a bigger overtime budget may encourage them to be more enthusiastic about protecting our borders.

The availability of guns on this Island simply highlights the fact that guns and ammunition have either been smuggled into Bermuda just as easy as it was to smuggle the Uighurs and the beagle puppy or, sadly, there is an internal problem involving corruption.

Minister Paula Cox recently expressed concern about Bermuda's increased gun fatalities and she, together with the Public Service Commission, should now realise the desperate need for a management and leadership revolution in the very Ministry/Department that Minister Cox is responsible for. She should also recognise the importance of having qualified managers.

In future, the high standards set for managerial positions should be adhered to and not relaxed for certain individuals because, eventually, the incompetence will be unveiled.

JENNIFER CAINES

Devonshire

Commissiong misses mark

January 18, 2010

Dear Sir,

Rolfe Commissiong's politically charged comments regarding Dale Butler's premiership ambitions are almost frightening in this day in age. The fact that he believes Mr. Butler's opinion that it is time to stop hammering home the race message to whites is flawed and shows that he is disconnected to reality, but his belief that Mr. Butler's views regarding sexual orientation would be a considered a negative factor in determining the right leader for the party is absolutely ridiculous!

The right candidate to be chosen by the PLP delegates should see all Bermudians for who they are – Bermudian, regardless of race, class, religious background or colour of their skin. He or she will see the economy, crime, education and stability as paramount to the future success of the Island. He or she will know that the only way forward is with one Bermuda, not a white Bermuda or a black Bermuda.

Dale Butler is as good a candidate as any, and regardless of whether or not he supports gay rights, his candidacy has my support. Furthermore, while Mr. Commissiong tries to worry the conservative PLP members with the thought of Dale at the helm, citing the loss of conservative religious votes, Mr. Commissiong should be reminded that the text of the Bible can be interpreted or construed to support or condemn anything one wants it to – in fact, there are many documented biblical cases which show support for gay marriage! That said, the Ten Commandments are pretty simple and straightforward (and do not mention sexual orientation). How many members of the current government, including the current Premier himself, can honestly say that they are good Christians and consistently abide the commandments within the Bible? For those readers who have forgotten, the Ten Commandments are as follows: Exodus 20:1-17.

And God spoke all these words, saying: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5. Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

6. You shall not murder.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

10. You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour's."

Finally, Mark 12:31-31 (New International Version) states, 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." 31 The second is this: "Love your neighbour as yourself. 'There is no commandment greater than these."

Mr. Commissiong, let's not pick and chose when we are going to use or ignore religion when discussing current and future leadership within the PLP, as I know for sure that not one of the members of this government love me even remotely as much as they love themselves!

A CONCERNED BERMUDIAN

Devonshire