highly critical of the way the UBP government treated St. George's before the election. Basically he has criticised the ruling party for taking St. George's for granted.

It may or may not be the case that Government took St. George's for granted but it is certainly a widely-held opinion in St. George's and in politics when it comes to winning elections it is the perception that matters.

East End residents have felt for a long time that they were not getting their share of attention. The town bears a heavy burden of tourism and is Bermuda's major visitor attraction. The town is expected to play host to most of Bermuda's visitors and to keep its smile on.

Yet, the hotel, built originally to keep the East End in the UBP fold, was empty and, to all appearances, without a future. The Tourism Minister kept saying that there was going to be a solution, but nothing meaningful materialised. The dedicated cruise ship was on again and off again and first one cruise line and then another. It was clear to just about everyone that the Premier and his Minister of Tourism were at odds over which line and which ship. St. George's saw itself being deprived because of a Cabinet row.

But the problems were not only the Holiday Inn/Club Med and a dedicated cruise ship. There was a general perception that the Government in Hamilton simply did not have much time for St. George's. In fact, Government had made it very plain that St. George's should do something for itself. The result was that St. Georgians did what they could do, they voted for the Progressive Labour Party.

It may be that St. George's does not pull together very well to help itself.

There seems to be general difficulty getting people to agree on what is good for the Old Town. Sometimes we think many people in St. George's would prefer to snooze.

But it is fair to say that many people thought that Government was bent on reviving Dockyard at the expense of the East End. Clearly the Dockyard project as financed by Government and handled by the West End Development Corporation has been a magnificent success. Dockyard even has a dedicated cruise ship tied up at the dock each week. St. George's wanted some of the same and saw itself as treated like an ugly step-sister and not as an historic town with style.

Then there were all sorts of small gripes which went unattended. As examples, town taxes are levied on top of regular taxes for just about the same services. There is still uncertainty over St. Catherine's Beach, which technically goes with the hotel but is now heavily used by the public. Like much of the rest of Bermuda, the Old Town's roads need work. The fire engine and fire service problems dragged on and on. There was ongoing uncertainty over the St. George's Club. The list is longer.

We think that the UBP government forgot that St. George's is not just another parliamentary constituency which hangs on what goes on in Hamilton. St.

George's is a town itself. We believe people in St. George's think of themselves as an entity. They want St. George's to be recognised as a national treasure and to be treated as a town which is important to Bermuda and to our visitors.

The problem is that the Government in Hamilton has to learn to look both ways, east and west.