decision to push ahead the purchase and entrance into service of the high speed ferries by one year.

It means that he and his civil servants only have about 24 months to put the whole public transport system on a good footing in order to tie it in with the arrival of the fast ferries in 2001.

Dr. Brown has stated that the aim of the changes in public transport will include changes in bus and ferry schedules and pay methods tailored to suit the customers, not the operators.

That is as it should be. For too long, Bermudian public transport users have been at the mercy of the operators of the system, which in some cases operates on a 9-5 basis.

Ferry use to the West End has been limited by the fact that the service ends at 6 p.m. And bus service becomes increasingly infrequent as evening goes into night. At the same time, taxi drivers often run their services at their convenience while fighting other forms of cheaper public transport tooth and nail.

Dr. Brown's announcement that the Ambassador Programme will be extended to all forms of transport should also be welcomed. It does seem to have made a difference on the buses where one is more likely to hear stories of cheerful bus drivers going out of their way to help customers instead of the old descriptions of surly drivers who seemed to go out of their way to be as rude as possible.

Bermuda cannot expect to reduce the dangerous congestion on the roads until an affordable and convenient system of public transport is in place.

Dr. Brown's decision to speed up the purchase of the fast ferries is a step in the right direction; there is still a long way to go.

DENGUE FEVER EDT Dengue Fever Today's news that the mosquito which carries Dengue Fever is thriving in the central parishes should be taken very seriously.

Until the 1940s, mosquitoes were a major pest and carrier of illness.

Concerted community action then made the mosquito a minor irritant instead of a major threat.

Perhaps inevitably, complacency has set in and this has made the Island an ideal breeding ground for new threats and nuisances.

It will only take one person who has contracted Dengue Fever to come to the Island and be bitten to see the virus spread again.

All residents would do well to listen to the advice of the Department of Health to remove the mosquito's breeding grounds. That means eliminating standing water and not letting trash lie around; and that is good environmental advice in any case.