Time to catch up

August 23, 2008

Dear Sir,

Since I have been in Bermuda I have noticed how tricky it is to get around if you are disabled or have young children who use strollers. When I first arrived a year and a half ago, I noticed that it would be difficult due to the lack of pedestrian walkways, especially out of town areas, and the lack of public transport facilities for wheelchairs. I have since had two visitors which further highlighted the problem to me and showed me that it is almost impossible to get around if you do not have a car and are physically impaired in some way.

My elderly relative who is not very mobile came to visit this summer. I hired a wheelchair from the Red Cross, excellent service, and thought I would manage OK. I was quite wrong. I live near a ferry point so I pushed him along and got on the ferry to Hamilton. He wanted to visit BUEI but the walk from the ferry point to BUEI was fraught with obstacles. The pavement ran out periodically, often blocked with roadwork material or random bricks from old work carried out, motorbikes were parked ON the pavement which had to be pushed out of the way to carry on. Any pavements that were lowered for ease of use did not sit flush to the ground and therefore served no purpose. It was traumatic for everyone involved and it meant that we had to pay costly cab fares to get to places he wanted to visit.

Another friend who came to visit with a seven-month-old baby also had trouble getting about. Getting on the bus was just ridiculous due to the over crowding and the place reserved for storage of passengers items was often used by the bus driver for their own luggage! Most of the drivers were very helpful and accommodated the stroller once folded flat, however some drivers said that it could not be brought onto the bus! Also, if they wanted to change the baby they found a distinct lack of baby changing facilities and absolutely none provided in the men's toilets. How are dads to take their babies out if they cannot change them when necessary?

Is Bermuda going to catch up with the rest of the developed world with disabled access and also become family/child friendly? I truly hope so as it would be a shame not to visit in case you get stuck somewhere. Bermuda is a beautiful island which should be enjoyed by all who come here not just those who can walk and drive.

LISA CANO-ROWLAND

Warwick

Duckett's raiders redux?

August 24, 2008

Dear Sir,

The proposed US-style SWAT team plan reminds us of Duckett's Raiders – the unpopular action plan implemented by the government and the governor to roust the drug lords in the seventies. Under the direction of Police Commissioner George Duckett, teams of police officers stormed the island with rough-handed tactics. It was also at a time when the Black Berets were making themselves known and black power was becoming more open and frustrations were probably never dealt with in a satisfactory manner. In the end, the commissioner was shot on 9th September, 1972. We now wonder if today's move is the way to fight crime? Big sticks don't frighten people and neither do threats. Incidentally Texas is one of the few states that still use the death penalty – they are also the state with the highest rate for serious crimes.

The Premier has indicated several studies will be done to determine the underlying problems of our youth. We welcome new approaches in trying to solve the aggressive behaviour of some individuals but we think it has taken the government too long to come to grips with our social problems, a failed education system, inappropriate and inconsistent sentences in the courts, the war on drugs, white collar crime, alternatives to incarnation which may not be working and above all, not bringing the police service up to full strength. And now we see, according to reports, the Premier has five body guards, which reveals he probably feels very insecure in an island we call paradise. All of this suggests it won't be long before GP1 becomes bulletproof.

We think it imperative to bring back the parish constables and try to create a bonding between the police services and the community. It is assumed former Police Commission Jonathan Smith was instrumental in moving away from this practice. For the record, other jurisdictions around the world have reduced police presence in populated areas, similar to what has taken place in the City of Hamilton. Was there a presumption that CCTV would eliminate Constables on Patrol (COPS), if so the idea is flawed when cameras are not working or were never installed with appropriate mechanisms. Shifting COPS to positions behind the scene doesn't appear to work either. When is the last time you heard the Police Commissioner make a statement to the media?

Former Police Commissioner Colin Coxall incorporated police consultative committees in four locations on the island. I headed up the St. George group. We had approximately 20 people on our committee and we worked very closely with the St. George Police and residents. A number of community 'involvements' took place, too numerous to mention in this brief. Incidentally our group recognised several policeman for their valuable contribution to the community with a reception at Grotto Bay.

Not sure if our schools have enough dynamic speakers to talk about drugs, gang violence etc. Interaction with students is certainly more important than creating SWAT teams.

The government needs to seek more support from social club/bar operations etc., on the sale of alcohol to minors... By extension, government should take a closer look at the minimum age for consuming alcohol. For example in Canada it is 19 years of age. It is however a mixed bag in the United States and could be as high as 21. Lots of research has been done on this matter and we feel our government needs to give this a great deal of thought.

Now that we have free bus service for school children, government in its wisdom, might consider raising the age limit for auxiliary bikes, so that young people will become a little more responsible before they ride on our roads. Riding a pedal bike for another year could be therapeutic and slow down their anxiety to enter the world of adulthood. This should reduce the number of accidents on our roads along with improved driving conditions. It is important to mention, youngsters need to seriously earn their wings before they are permitted on the road. We concur with Mark Pettingill to a degree, 16-year-olds should be in their homes by 10 p.m. and perhaps at 11 p.m. on the weekends. By raising the age limit for riding on our roads it should encourage young people to stay close to home instead of roaming our streets. We believe it's that social dilemma that is causing teenage rebellion. Drugs, alcohol, and growing up in the fast lane has been allowed to get out of hand. But once again, we don't think SWAT teams are the answer.

TOPPY AND SAUNDRA COWEN

Kelowna, British Columbia

Pink pachyderms

Dear Sir,

Recently, an 'expert' on race relations ws invited to Bermuda by the name of Professor Eduardo Bonilla-Silva who is a lecturer at Duke University. I know from reading his work that Dr. Bonilla-Silva is very fond of terms such as 'denial' and the 'elephant in the living-room', which is very interesting as the good professor seems unaware that he flew in and flew out with his own pink pachyderm firmly in tow...

Well, I must admit that Bermudians are no strangers to denial, "I'm every woman's dream." "God loves me." "I'm not the father." Are some of our all time greats, however, when it comes to the sensitive subject of race, most people try to avoid 'messing with Sasquatch' and do a perfectly good job of it by trying to be decent to each other in other day to day lives. A few minutes of self-maintenance daily does a lot to keep a person from spending months in 'dry-dock'. However, we still have to deal with elephants, unfortunately, some local 'expert' decided the best way to deal with them was by bringing in an elephant of his own, with the result that the social-landscape looks decidedly uprooted, there's a big pile of something nasty in the living room, and someone's swiped my peanut-butter...

Like a doctor dealing with a contagion in the larger community who's so preoccupied with the disease that he doesn't bother to check himself for symptoms, and ends up spreading it around himself, Professor Bonilla-Silva has been so immersed in his field that he ended up succumbing to the very thing he has spent so much time fighting.

Two years ago, there was that an incident of an alleged rape by members of the Duke University Lacrosse team. The victim was black, the accused were white. One and half years later I was doing a Wikipedia search on one of my least favourite TV personalities, Nancy Grace and became reacquainted with the case after reading that the then Ms Grace had rushed to judgment against the accused, only to get her fingers badly burned when the full story came to light. Of course, she wasn't the only one... (Oops.) In fact, 88 members of Duke's own faculty failed to wait for due-process to take place and jumped on the bandwagon. To date, only one of them has expressed regrets at his decision and it wasn't Professor Bonilla-Silva, of that you can be sure.

Meet Dr. James E. Coleman (Jr.), like Dr. Bonilla-Silva a black, member of faculty. Unlike the professor, Dr. Coleman was in the majority who refrained from judging the case in advance. Hardly surprising, as he is Professor of Law at Duke, and started to smell a rat early on in the case. He would in fact, become the fiercest critic of the chief prosecutor. No stranger to history, and in no rush to see it repeated on his watch. He held his head in a crisis and showed by example what it means to be truly liberal, as opposed to running with public sentiment and being merely fashionable. He and many others like him can recall only too well that many a blameless man has been surrendered to the hangman by a well-meaning crowd, and only a society based upon maxim, 'No one above the law, and no one to be denied it.' will do for him.

Some will say that you should demonstrate before a closed door and break it down. (Others will try the handle first.) Some people feel strongly that there must be retribution. (Others know to follow that line of thought will for starters result in every man on this planet ceasing to be one very quickly...!) I like Dr. Coleman. (I don't like scissors...)

GLEN LIMA

Paget

Solutions require sacrifice

August 21, 2008

Dear Sir,

Having listened to David Lopes radio talk show recently, I feel compelled to add my two cents to this matter. There has been some talk over a period of time regarding the immediate residents of Roberts Avenue and the National Stadium Complex. My estimation is that in the overall planning of this Complex, consideration was not really given to this parish, being a residential area, if there was a complete study of this project, and the neighbourhood surrounding the Stadium, eventually, it should have been completed over the years, and there would be very little effect on the nearby residents.

"The original Plan which was outlined and displayed for all of Bermudians to view, the roadway project is long overdue and should have been widening with a sidewalk and parking bays to complete the surrounding area of the National Stadium Complex as previously planned."

It does not take a rocket science to see the need for road improvements, since this road is frequently used by the Stadium complex, public buses, Police, ambulance, water trucks, vehicles school children and pedestrians. In addition to the overflow of traffic, entering from Palmetto and Montpelier Road i.e., traffic attending to a wedding/and or a funeral, from the neighbourhood church's and the grave site on Roberts Avenue. Recently, a gentleman called into the David Lopes talk show and voiced his opinion on the makings of the National Stadium, and how it is long overdue, David rudely cut his conversation short. This gentleman knows the situation, having worked for many years at the Complex. I can recall when David Lopes and others had a whole lot to say regarding Smith's parish and how, particularly late at night, the speeders and the traffic had an effect on the Parish, therefore, Stop lights have since been erected.

Most Bermudians will have a whole lot to say and distort situations when it is not in their backyard, therefore, I will say be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle and we never know when we need someone. The way Bermuda is at this present time, good retail is gone, we have problems with our young men/women, drugs and crime, less face facts, it is apparent that criminals have taken over our island, if we the people of Bermuda and our Government leaders, do not get a handle on the affairs of our homeland, (since Bermuda is considered a tourist and exempted company destination), sooner or later we will have even less visitors frequent our shores.

I do believe that it takes years of study and trying various things, our politicians seem to give the public quick "fixes" and at times, do nothing but distract attention, or even make things worse. The real answers are not in passing laws to control. The things that will work will require commitment, sacrifice and investment from all of us. What are some of those things that will work? One of the primary things is that we need essentially everyone to have the well-being that comes from wide economic well-being. A primary facet of this is that a greater portion of the public needs to be able to earn a "reasonable" living.

Promote widespread adoption of the original "golden rule" (not the one that goes "he who has the gold, rules"), including the teaching of it to our youth both formally and by example. People need to believe that gossip, hurting or taking from others is something they should avoid doing, not just because they may be punished but because it will make the world better for us all. Making people good is also something that cannot be achieved, an easy way such as by legislating it. Functional families are essential for teaching morals. I say that living in broken homes correlates more with becoming criminal than anything else does.

We do not want to believe that life for most Bermudians is not going to be as rosy in the future, as it has been since the 1950s. It is easier to close our eyes. The solutions will require sacrifice. We, as Bermudians must stand strong, remembering that when something happens on our shores, collectively, we must all work together as a team, assist with wiping out crime and the ills of our Island; the welfare mentality is closely allied to the criminal mentality. In both cases there is a desire to have without exerting effort. "I deserve to have and, if you do not give it to me, I have a right to take it from someone". This not only affects one segment of our island, but the entire island of Bermuda. What can we do to help protect ourselves and each other? We need to tell our Legislators that people have a right to protect themselves and that we all need the right to be retained and protected. I am listening, waiting and watching!

SIMMONS

Devonshire

Let's change our motto

August 23, 2008

Dear Sir,

When my daughter was a little girl, if anything was amazing to her, she would always say, "Myyyy DUR!" And after reading the Letters to the Editor in today's Royal Gazette, I have to say the same thing. What are we becoming? We used to be known as "The Isles of Rest" but that has all changed now! We have LaVerne Furbert who thinks I am a fool; Phil Cracknel who thinks Lavern Furbert is a fool; "Sick of Chicanery" of Paget who thinks the Commissioner of Police is a fool", and last but not least, our illustrious Government with their smoking mirrors who thinks all of us who do not think or look like them are fools! We should change our motto from "The Isles of Rest" to "The Isles of Fools"!

PAT FERGUSON

Warwick

P.s. I wonder what the outside world thinks of us? I wonder if they think we are a bunch of ignorant, puffed up with our own importance, fools also?

Post implosion

August 24, 2008

Dear Sir,

A meeting held at the East End Primary School for members of the Community attended by Minister Burgess, which the 'media' failed to attend, heard the Minister provide the following information on the Club Med implosion:

¦ The rubble from the building following the implosion would be removed by the use of trucks (not the monster type) travelling through the main street of St. George to the east of the Airport over a 45-day period between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.

¦ The number of transits would total 2,000 and during this period the speed bump on the road outside 'Robertsons' would be removed and replaced once these transits were completed.

¦ Further during this period the Police would be in attendance and a five miles per hour speed limit (for the trucks?) would be in force.

¦ The roadway of the route would be resurfaced after the transits were completed. Should any damage to peoples' property be caused by the implosion or due to the trucking, Government would make good and pay for the repairs. (guess the insurers would be happy to hear that).

For those not in attendance at that meeting, it would be helpful for The Royal Gazette to advise the comminity at large.

SPEEDSTERS BEWARE

St. George's