Clarity on jobs available

November 18, 2010

Dear Sir,

As part of creating jobs for Bermudians, it would be good to also give the tools to assess the number of jobs available. Knowledge is power, the saying goes, and when deciding to take the next substantial step in education or follow in an avenue of experience, it can be particularly helpful to know more about what jobs may become available on the Island.

One thought is for Government to consider posting online. Information such as the title of the position as well as the salary range, in a list broken down by industry, with further information if the particular position is selected from the list, such as the job description with detail as advertised and termination date of the work permit. The name of the company or individual who needs to hire from overseas would not necessarily have to be distributed, and the name of the permit holder themselves would certainly not be distributed publicly. Just knowing exactly what types of jobs are out there would be an important service to those Bermudians who would like to find another job on the island, but may be uncertain in which direction to focus their efforts.

Along with this there are other aspects. Could the application process be improved to increase oversight, efficiency and convenience? Could the time it takes to administer and return work permit applications be reduced significantly by Government? Could a work permit application be denied if there are a specific number of Bermudians on record with the Government who are unemployed or underemployed, who have the required skills to do the job, only unable to compete with an overseas worker due to the salary offered initially with the position?

PAUL BASDEN

St. George's

Refusing drug test

November 19, 2010

Dear Sir,

In the battle for Constituency 26, Warwick South Central, the UBP's Devrae Noel-Simmons and BDA's Sylvan Richards have passed drug testing paid for out of their own pockets ... the PLP released a statement saying they refuse ... what do Marc Bean and the PLP have to hide? I had to take a pre-employment drug test for my job... guess you don't need one to run the Country ... So much for leading by example!

CLINTON J. A. PAYNTER

St. George's

The UBP and the BDA

November 24, 2010

Dear Sir,

The repartee between Kim Swan and the BDA which appears in the Bermuda Sun needs some response. I supported, worked for and was a solid member of the UBP from 1971 until 2009 but I now support the BDA as the Party that holds the future in its hands. I was there when Kim Swan suggested that the report commissioned to study the future of the UBP and what it could do, if anything, to become the Government again, disrespected him. And although that report was not perfect, I did think it hit the nail, generally, on the proverbial head. Politics is like a game and when you play the game of politics, you play to win. When you are the Government, you govern and you put aside (at least, you should!) the game playing. But no one wants to play any game which they don't have a snowballs chance in hell of ever winning. I appreciate that this is one man's opinion, but based on everything I know and all that I've seen, the electorate will never allow a political party called the UBP to form the Government of Bermuda ever again.

You don't win elections based on all the good things you did years ago. You don't win elections just because you stubbornly stay and hold a seat so that younger people don't get a shot. You don't win elections when you think that every time someone says something slightly critical, that you are being "disrespected". You don't win much at all when you start name-calling perfectly well intentioned and intelligent human beings and describing their organisation as "betrayal, deceit and abandonment". You win elections when you allow new ideas and new and younger people to get involved. You win elections when you show leadership rather than resorting to personal attacks. And that's exactly what the BDA is doing ... and which they at least tried to do when they were part of the UBP.

Neophytes and political upstarts they may be but using the Kim Swan logic ... no new political party would ever again emerge either in Bermuda or anywhere else. In my opinion, not only is there no real choice in the matter as I firmly believe that the UBP will never win again, but the BDA really does have great new people and it is slowly but surely putting its ideas into "platform" shape. Any new party, especially one where the vast majority of its members and leaders are young and career oriented, is going to need time to develop – but they are doing just that. I do things for the BDA and I am constantly talking to people about politics. Most of those people are current or former supporters of the UBP. The UBP hierarchy might do well to listen to the wider audience of its so-called support because I suspect that they will find a great deal of that support in favour of just what Craig Cannonier is suggesting ... and that involves a light switch. The problem just might be that some at the top will always think they are being "disrespected" whenever anybody says anything even constructively critical.

JOHN FAIELLA

Southampton

Blue collar work permits

November 23, 2010

Dear Sir,

During the tenure of the PLP Government there has been a significant increase of work permits issued to foreign blue collar workers. These workers predominantly have been employed in the construction, restaurant and landscaping industries. Many Bermudians are losing their jobs as the recession takes its toll on the local economy. A larger than normal amount of home foreclosures are being executed by the banks as many of us struggle to make our financial obligations. Can this (labour government) effectively police work permit holders in these aforementioned fields or are Bermudians going to continuously be ill-affected by this government's immigration policies.

EX-PLP VOTER

Smith's

Beware of fake letters

November 24, 2010

Dear Sir,

I have just received a letter from Mr. Charles Taylor (Jr.) in Tanzania. He has millions of dollars to invest in Bermuda and he's going to give me 30 percent. Wouldn't that be nice! Please warn your readers that many of these letters have arrived on the Island and not to be taken in by them.

LINDA SOUSA

Southampton

Saving Bermuda

November 24, 2010

Dear Sir,

We can save our Country:

Help the Merchants: Always pay in cash. That immediately saves the shopkeepers two percent to five percent of the sales price that they pay for debit and credit card purchases, and costs you nothing. As an added benefit, you will be much less likely to overspend.

Fewer Driving Fatalities: People who are drunk on alcohol drive faster and don't know what they are doing. People who are high on marijuana drive slower and much more carefully, so legalise it. As an added benefit, much of the money and power base of the gangs and other dealers would disappear.

Politicians Can Help Us All: Politicians can truly help our country. All they need to do is to pretend that they are adults, and work together. They just need to remember three things: 1) the other two parties are not always wrong; 2) their own party may be wrong; and 3) the goal is to help all of Bermuda.

If they always test what they are trying to do with those three points, they can actually advance our needs. As an added benefit, if they merely applied those three points before speaking, they would avoid saying and doing very silly things; and eventually we may even come to believe that they actually are adults.

THE CURMUDGEON OF PAGET

Men play equal part

November 24, 2010

Dear Sir,

In response to Davie Kerr's letter dated 14 November I must point out, once again, women do not produce children on their own. A radical notion I know. One might ask men to keep their pants zipped as easily as urging "women to stop this casual mass-production of assorted offspring".

KATHY HARRIOTT

Flatts

Away with bodyguards

November 23, 2010

Dear Sir,

I read with great interest a recent article in your paper stating that Premier Paula Cox confirmed she has not retained the bodyguards that were a prominent feature of her predecessor Ewart Brown's regime. She also feels that it's unnecessary to engage police escorts ... the same ones that the previous premier believed were of vital importance. Could it be a new day in Bermuda? Only time will tell.

CLINTON J. A. PAYNTER

St. George's

Editor's Note: It was always Dr. Brown's position that he had bodyguards on the strong recommendation of the police.

Angry at sculptor choice

November 24, 2010

Dear Sir,

I am shocked, angry and disgusted, that with all the talent on our own lovely island, we commission a foreigner no less, to do a full life-size bronze of our Dame Lois Browne Evans. What's wrong with us? Who is the Minister for Cultural Affairs? It used to be Dale Butler, surely he would not allow this insult to our own talented artists, and sit on a board to seek out from abroad, at double or triple the price, a sculptor? People like Clarence Hill, Clyde Best, and Shaun Goater have all had to beg for recognition, we should be ashamed to print that picture in The Royal Gazette today, suggesting that we should consider this work done by an artist from Greece, when our wonderfully talented artists at home here, would be honoured proud and able, to be so commissioned.

By the way, was it ever put out to tender? And just as an added interest Mr Minister, how much did you agree to pay to Mr Zenos Frudaklis? After all, if this sculptor were to be accepted and we pay whatever was agreed, that money would leave the island. Now that we have a new transparent Government, and that it is planned to be placed in the New Court and Police Building where, we are led to believe, justice is served, I think it is our right to know. We should be able to decide if we want this particular sculptor and whether we like his work, and if we have to pay for it, whether we want to pay that sum to a non Bermudian? We want to be consulted in these matters, that is what democracy is all about. So having said that, we ask that you delay this commissioned work so that we can have some further information on the matter, and that we give serious consideration to a Bermudian sculptor, after all, charity begins at home, doesn't it?

DIANA WILLIAMS

Pembroke