Bus dispute turned over to arbitrators

The recent bus dispute over a new schedule has been referred to arbitration The Royal Gazette can reveal.

Bus drivers and management have been at loggerheads over the schedule which drivers say will reduce breaks and bring in more nightshifts. But the Public Transport Board want to increase service to customers by running the buses longer.

The clash nearly caused a strike at the beginning of the new year until PTB agreed to keep running on the old schedule. Bermuda Industrial Union leader Derrick Burgess said: "It has gone to arbitration but I don't know what date.

"I think this could have been solved in mediation if the other side was prepared to be reasonable. To me it's just a waste of taxpayer's money. The two issues are turn around time and multiple nights.

"The operators told me they did multiple nights 30 years ago and we got rid of them so we don't want to turn the clock back."

Public Transport Board Director Dan Simmons was not available for comment.

Reverse osmosis plant delayed

Water truckers will value recent rainfall more when they hear that Government's $3.25 million reverse osmosis plant will not be in place until late 2006 or early 2007.

The Department of Communication and Information's Public Affairs Officer Valerie Pethen said last week that "a Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO)" plant is in Government's pipeline.

Mrs. Pethen said Government was looking into importing special equipment like the Oasis Water Machine (www.shelf-talk.com/oasiswater.html) which generates up to 68 quarts per day for household use. The Oasis Water Machine literally makes water out of thin air.

Regarding concerns by water truckers last week about inordinate delays and supply at Government water reservoirs, Mrs. Pethen said: "Generally all three are open (except this Sunday when only St. George's will be open).

"However, it is sometimes necessary to modify normal open hours depending on how the day progresses. Reservoir levels and the needs of other customers dictate the trucker opening hours," she said.

And she said the reason the reservoirs were closed over the weekend was because of a lack of water. "Due to low rainfall the demand has been high resulting in lower than acceptable reservoir levels. The trucker outlets are closed, or hours restricted, to allow the reservoirs to recover," she said.

She said closures were primarily related to weather, "but there are also ongoing technical issues that have to be addressed, some of which result in short term reduction in water production".

And as far as the claims that water truckers were losing business due to water shortages, she said: "We are not in a position to respond to this."

Government also said it worked closely with water truckers and relied on them educating their customers on good water management. This included not overfilling tanks and taking only minimum truck loads necessary.

St. George's Corp. hit by water woes

In an effort to return water for flushing purposes to about 70 St. George's homes, the Corporation will be replacing one of the pumps that burnt out over the New Year, while they try and find a long-term solution to the problem.

About three quarters of homes in the old town use brackish water for flushing, but were left without water when one of two pumps burnt out.

St. George's Mayor, E. Michael Jones said divers were sent down to assess to problem, but found that the walls in the cavern where the water is taken from were collapsing and a long-term solution needed to be found.

"Rather than put two new costly pumps in and have them ruined in a short period of time, we are going to replace one pump with a cheaper replacement which should last about a year, while we meet with Government to find a solution," he said.

He said the cavern could be cleared out, but it would simply continue to collapse, eventually causing more costly problems.

"While we are concerned that there might be some leakage with the new pump, it's not a major problem because the water is brackish," he said.

He added that one option would be to connect residents to fresh water, but that would mean rates would have to increase and he did not want to "flush money down the drain".

Mr. Jones said the temporary system would allow residents to get water during the summer, something the Corporation was worried about.

"We're looking at other ways to provide water and whether or not to increase rates, but we'll consult with Government first and see what the best way forward would be before making that decision," he said.

Man denies theft from office

A Southampton man faces a trial in Magistrates' Court after he denied stealing $205 from a Paget doctor's office.

Coolridge Winslow Eve, 46, of South Shore Road was accused in Magistrates' Court yesterday by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner of breaking into Dr. Catherine Siddle's office and stealing cash from inside between April 12 and April 13, 2004.

Eve pleaded not guilty and elected to have a Magistrates' Court trial. the case was adjourned March 22. Mr. Warner granted Eve bail of $1,000 with one surety.

Woman heard burglars in home

A Hidden Lane, Pembroke woman told Police she believed two men broke into her home on Tuesday morning and stole $80 and a purse while she and her two children were in an upstairs room.

A Police spokesman said yesterday that the woman said she heard two male voices downstairs around 10.30 a.m. but when she investigated, the culprits had left her apartment.

Police are also investigating the theft of a 15 inch, Sharp Aquos flat-screen television from a South Shore Road, Warwick home between 7.40 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Pair banned for impaired driving

Two men were given the mandatory $1,000 fine and one year motor vehicle ban yesterday after they admitted to driving while impaired.

Adam Williams, 31, of Wellington Back Road, St. George's was stopped by Police at 2.20 a.m. on December 19 as he was travelling unsteadily at "high speed" and ran a stop sign near Crow Lane.

Crown counsel Oonagh Vaucrosson told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner that Williams had difficulty putting the cycle on it's stand and he was unsteady on his feet and his speech was slurred and he reeked of alcohol.

Although he said he had had "four or five beers" but had a level of 181 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood after a breathalyser test at Hamilton Police Station. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

And Jasper Montes, 22 of Southcote Road, Paget admitted that it was he who was stopped by Police at 3.20 a.m. on September 20 on South Shore Road, Paget near Inglewood Lane.

Mrs. Vaucrosson said Police watched Montes weave erratically about the road and nearly struck sidewalks and a wall several times before stopping him near the Modern Mart.

Montes told Police he had had three drinks and was arrested and cautioned. In Hamilton Police Station he blew 174 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood during a breathalyser test, she said.