I enjoyed every minute

April 27, 2009

Dear Sir,

My grateful thanks to the many Darrell cousins in Bermuda and worldwide for welcoming me into their hearts.

Bermuda is a beautiful island and everywhere I travelled I was met by polite friendly faces. I enjoyed every minute of the reunion and my stay in Bermuda.

BILL GRANT

Tauranga, New Zealand

Legislate transparency

April 26, 2009

Dear Sir,

Last week I wrote about the definition, characteristics and effects of a kleptocracy government. Are we living in a kleptocracy? A kleptocratic ruler typically treats his country's treasury as though it were his own personal bank account. I am not suggesting Dr. Brown is a kleptocrat, but do you think Dr. Brown would have spent millions on The Music Festival or a visit to the Playboy Mansion if he was spending his own money? I think not.

The way that kleptocrats normally embezzle money from their citizens is quite simple. They steal funds that are earmarked for public amenities such as the building of hospitals, schools, roads, parks and any other Government-funded projects.

If there are no, or few, financial controls in place that are adhered to, the kleptocrat can carry out this illegal/unethical behaviour. There is much debate on whether or not we have financial controls in place and much question on how the taxpayers' money is being spent.

I am not suggesting that our elected officials are stealing the taxpayers' money, but it would be welcomed if they introduced transparency legislation, in particular when it comes to the way the taxpayers' money is being spent and allocated.

All of us who are concerned about Bermuda's future should be looking forward to this new legislation so that our elected officials can be held accountable to the people that they serve.

DIALOGUE

Smith's

Litter is a problem

April 26, 2009

Dear Sir,

I have spent the past eight weeks visiting in Bermuda, living as a local but with the perspective of a visitor.

Bermuda's reputation as a beautiful place to visit could be irreparably tarnished by the amount of litter that I have observed across the island. Perhaps because we visitors do a lot of walking along the roads and paths travelling to and from bus stops and island attractions, the litter is more noticeable to us than to residents.

I have lost count of the number of rusted remains of motorcycles and motor scooters I have seen along the Bermuda Railway path. I have attached a few photos of litter and graffiti that I photographed only this afternoon as I walked between the Heron Bay MarketPlace on Middle Road in Southampton and my lodging on Spice Hill Road in Warwick.

For the past 16 years, Australians have devoted more than 8 million hours towards the environment through Clean Up Australia Day and collected over 200,000 tons of rubbish: http://www.cleanuptheworld.org/au/About/the-clean-up-story.html

Think how beautiful Bermuda would be, not just from afar, but also upon close inspection, if Bermudians devoted one day each spring to picking up rubbish in their own neighborhoods. What a wonderful community project for Bermuda's youth!

LYNNECE GAINES

Denver, Colorado

Where is the silence?

April 25, 2009

Dear Sir,

What happened to "Silence is Golden"?

What happened to lovely lazy afternoons on a Saturday, when you slipped quietly into a hammock and fell asleep, preferably under a weeping willow tree (not essential) to the sound of a distant lawn mower and the lovely smell of fresh cut grass. Is silence other than nature's sounds lost for ever? Lost to my past and that was long ago.

I find to my great annoyance I have to share air space whether I want to or not to listen to someone chatting away on their mobile phone. I am invaded and robbed of what should be my own personal quiet time. It would seem that the youth of today does not know how to handle silence any more, one of the things I value most; they seem to be embarrassed and even uncomfortable and afraid of silence, so they have loud music (if you can call it music) to drown out any possibility of having to talk and listen, and even say: "How are you?" Wait for the answer? I don't think so.

Excuse me, I have to go inside now as the neighbours' gardeners are starting up their weed whackers and their leaf blowers, and guess what? It's a Saturday afternoon!

DIANA WILLIAMS

Pembroke

Where is tourism going?

April 27 2009

Dear Sir,

Residents must be extremely confused with what is happening in Bermuda "tourism circles".

Not long ago we heard about the firing of Bermudians in the New York offices of the Department of Tourism. Government has now decided to cut the contract with the firm which replaced them, and was presumably going to take us to the "Platinum Level".

Within days of those two disasters, we read about the dark and dingy offices now occupied by the DOT in the back side of nowhere, with perhaps one or two people to answer inquiries. Once again terrible decisions with political innovations were made, which have precipitated a crises, instead of employing credible professionals to turn around our second pillar of income!

However, all is not lost! John Harvey, executive director of the BHA, along with the BHA directorship, told The Royal Gazette: "The Bermuda Hotel Association has every confidence in the Department of Tourism, their understanding of the market and their ability to put in place activity that will produce our fair share of visitors from key feeder markets."

Mr. Harvey obviously has a more positive opinion than most of us. Perhaps he should become the spokesperson for damage control within our Government instead of trying to fill beds for the hoteliers?

Not long ago the Premier announced an "exciting, public-private partnership" to build a luxury hotel and affordable housing on the South Shore in Warwick. The grand scheme was probably concocted with a figment of imagination, knowing it has no real merit, is impractical, financially not viable at this time and above all, the mix of condensed living, combined with the visitor experience, is a recipe for disaster. Have there been any studies on the impact of this unrealistic dream or is this just another wild inexplicable scheme of bad governance?

We pose the question: Is the road map to a tourism recovery in someone's back pocket, as we seem to have lost our way? Bermuda's direction in tourism could be more appropriately equated to a butterfly winding it's way down a valley, fluttering from one flower to another, but not really getting the substance it needs to keep it alive.

TOPPY AND SAUNDRA COWEN

Southampton

TCI action welcomed

April 22, 2009

Dear Sir,

We need to invite the Premier of Bermuda, Dr. Ewart Brown, to visit the Turks and Caicos Islands to see what is going on.

First of all, the vast majority of Turks and Caicos Islanders support and endorse the much needed intervention of the British Government. The right thinking members of the TCI public, those who are not corrupted or tainted, overwhelmingly support the move.

The message is that this kind of corruption will end and cannot endure in the TCI.

Dr. Brown, you need to come here and read what people on the street, who are suffering, are saying. The move to suspend elements of so-called democratic government was long overdue because democratic government, as we knew it under the Premiership of Michael Misick, was dead a long time ago.

Patients at the hospital cannot get medicine. Students cannot get scholarship monies and are being thrown out of class in universities abroad. I don't know what you deem as needed to pull a constitution but this is more than enough. Right now we must "yank" this Constitution out of absolute economic survival and constitutional necessity.

We need to address freedoms. As we speak there are only three publications in these islands that members of the public can freely speak on and that is the tcijournal, the TC Weekly News and the TCInetnews. The rest are loyal to the Government.

You should take our case to the President of the US. Ask him if the British have briefed him on the serious issues affecting the TCI. We don't mind you taking a photo with the goodly President Barack Obama but read our situation first. Go through the transcripts. See what's happening here. This will be no ordinary suspension of the Constitution. The move by HMG was not heavy handed. It was overdue and much needed.

We needed to remove this Government, recover our lands, monies, feed our patients at the hospital and send our children back to school. The future of this country is bright because the UK is about to suspend our Constitution, assist us in recovering our lands, monies and restoring good government to these islands.

Dr. Brown please come, see for yourself and then give the President a full report that he can appreciate.

HENRY JOLSON

Springfield, Massachusetts

Stealing our children's future

April 25, 2009

Dear Sir,

I was surprised at the reaction of many readers to my recent letter pointing out that the Bermuda Government debt of $3.5 billion was spiralling out of control. Many congratulated me on its contents, but were worried about its implications for the future.

The problem is, I regret to say, even worse than that, because I was unaware of the impending costs of FutureCare for seniors.

Government has not released the costs of that programme, and the Permanent Secretary mentioned that no one is interested in any actuarial estimates on the grounds that they would be boring. The translation of his comment is this: Government is appalled by the huge cost of FutureCare and dares not make it public. It would not surprise me to see Government debt rise to around $4 billion or around $67,000 for every man, woman and child in Bermuda.

Government debt will not be repaid by adults over the age of 50, but will fall largely on the shoulders of children at, or not even at, school. This is child abuse of the grossest nature. The current Government has used our children and grandchildren as collateral to finance their extravagant life style.

There is, of course, a fine irony in all of this. Slavery forcibly uses one person to serve the purposes of another. The Premier who loves to speak about "The Plantation" is actually creating a plantation of financial slavery for those innocents who still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. He is effectively creating slave-like conditions for people too young to have even an inkling of what he is doing. It is one thing to steal from adults because they are too stupid to understand what is going on, but is quite another thing to rob Bermudian children of their future – to put them back on "The Plantation" as it were.

Tragically, many Bermudians think it quite proper for one person to be forced to serve the purposes of another – for children to meet the debt obligations of older people provided it is part of government policy.

There is another issue. The 8th Commandment states: "Thou shalt not steal." We are stealing the future of our children by the creation of this massive debt. The 8th Commandment does not say: "Thou shalt not steal, except by vote of a majority in the House of Assembly." Anyone over 50 is as guilty of stealing as any masked man with a gun. We just pretend that we either do not know, or that when financial child abuse is done by an act of the Government that, somehow, we are innocent bystanders and not to blame.

When readers of this letter go to church on Sunday, and when they kneel to pray, they should remember the 8th Commandment and how their agent, the Bermuda Government, is stealing the future of our young people with our silent approval.

ROBERT STEWART

Smith's

Thanks for walk support

April 26, 2009

Dear Sir,

Through the medium of your newspaper, I would like to thank everyone who participated in the 8th annual Peter Grayston Memorial Walk held on Sunday, April 19.

On a glorious spring afternoon, 130 people joined our annual walk, including some bikers, runners and some family pet dogs.

Yves Paul made sure we stretched and limbered up before we commenced our walk.

Giorgio Zanol of Lindo's Market kindly donated oranges. John Barritt & Son generously supplied us with water and powerade. Family and friends baked delicious cookies and we even had some Bermuda strawberries, all of which were enjoyed after the walk.

Our marshals kept everyone on route and offered encouragement.

The generous cash donations will help PALS in their much needed work in our community.

Thank you all.

JANET GRAYSTON

Pembroke