Provide school buses

April 9, 2007

Dear Sir,

Most people who travel to and from work into Hamilton notice a significant decrease in traffic congestion when public and private schools are closed.

I suggest that we provide school buses, as they do in the USA and Canada, to serve the schools that are mainly located in the City of Hamilton, i.e. BHS, Saltus, Dellwood, Mount Saint Agnes.

My idea is to allocate specific “drop-off” and “pick-up” points in each parish, where parents can drive their child/children to in the morning, put them on the school bus and retrieve them at the same location in the afternoon. This location can be decided upon as it fits that specific parish, e.g.: church parking lots could be used.

The reason most people prefer to drive their children to school is to ensure they arrive safely and/or not subjected to being bullied, etc. But if there is a “marshal” provided on every bus (the parents could create a volunteer schedule among themselves to do this); thereby, alleviating anxiety for parents and also help the bus driver to concentrate on his responsibility of driving.

These buses can be painted a different colour from the regular buses, so that they are easily identified. They can be driven right onto the school property or park outside the main gate where the “lollipop” person can help guide the children on and off the bus. We may also need to adapt the same format as the USA and Canada by having a STOP sign and flashing lights on these buses and pass a law that everyone must stop when the bus stops to let the children on and off; not passing until the bus moves on, to protect the children. This would further help the parents come to terms with the idea that their child is going to school on a bus that guarantees the safety of their child.

I believe that we simply have to solve the problem of controlling the enormous and ever increasing flow of traffic in and out of Hamilton during the ‘rush’ hours and it just makes sense for all of us to help decrease traffic, save on fuel and help the environment.

JOANNE HAYWARD-KIPPAX

Warwick

Why not give Ken a call?

April 11, 2007

Dear Sir,

Sounds like Bermuda needs its own “Congestion Pricing” scheme which has apparently worked in London. I suggest Dr. Brown contact London Mayor Ken Livingstone to obtain the details. RICHARD B. DUBUSC

New York City

A World Cup analysis

April 10, 2007

Dear Sir,

It may be of interest to your readers to see in black and white an analysis of Bermuda’s World Cup exploits.

The Bermuda batsmen scored a total of 281 runs in three matches. Leaving aside the contribution of expatriate David Hemp, whose aspiration was to play for England, the players who play in Bermuda scored 191 runs. That works out at an average of over 6 runs per innings.

Given that the Bermuda Government is reported to have invested $11 million in the World Cup programme each run cost $57,591 . . .

It is for the public to determine if the results justify the expenditure. Perhaps very modest housing could be provided for a Club Med squatter for the contribution of each batsman.

I recall that in 1975 when Bermuda was represented in an 11-a-side World Cup team competition, the Government contribution was a warm letter of commendation and good wishes from the Hon. Lancelot Swan then minister responsible for sport.

Definitely not cricket.

WISDEN

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Strange court goings-on

April 5, 2007

Dear Sir,

Exactly what is going on in our Court buildings? Your Page 2 headline of April 3rd states, “Woman denies murdering her boyfriend at monthly arraignments”. Wow!

Next day a report said, “A 24-year-old pleaded guilty to having unlawful carnal knowledge of a 14-year-old girl on Monday in Magistrates’ Court”. Well, this blatant unsocial behaviour in our Courts has to stop.

FOR GOOD REPORTING

Intoxicated by power

April 11, 2007

Dear Sir,

There is a deep sense of discontent in the land which is palpable, an unpleasant feeling of injustices perpetrated by this Government, this Government that was elected “By the People for the People.”

What a shame Dr. Brown, a golden opportunity you had to show the people how you can get things done and in past you have achieved a great deal, but as is so predictable, you have fallen into that trap of your own sense of importance, blinded and intoxicated with your sense of power, and we all know from history what power does!

So you have let the People down who voted for you and your party to show Bermuda how you would govern this little island with an awareness of the underprivileged homeless and undereducated and poor.

“For the People”, a powerful statement from a Labour Government! The Bermudian man in the street is intelligent and discerning and they can see the blatant disregard for their feelings and needs and they can also see how the politicians that surround Dr. Brown have enhanced their own lives, feathering their own nests to the expense of their brothers, first class all the way with money flowing out of the public purse like water into their own private Fiefdom.

They show a greed and arrogance that comes from a lack of compassion, in other words to put it crudely. “I’m alright mate I’ve got mine”. You seem to be swelling in the power image that you have of yourselves, but I must say that we are aware that there are some in his party who are decent caring men who are sad to see such behaviour but feel loyal to their party.

This Government will go down like all the rest in history, because of the way Dr. Brown wants to govern this lovely little island, his dictatorial attitude towards the people will not be tolerated, it might take time, but issue after issue that gets swept aside for ‘HIS WAY’ will not enhance the image of this Government for the people.

Few men have been able to handle power with dignity and compassion, to name a few in our time, Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King and Gandhi. Men that showed us the power of love and decency (my favourite word) hopefully we can get back to that soon.

DIANA WILLIAMS

Pembroke

P.s.Thank you for your wonderful coverage yesterday.

Govt. is all showmanship

April 12, 2007

Dear Sir,

Our Premier also wears the hat of the Minister of Tourism, Dr. Ewart Brown, as Premier, is trying to woo the Bermuda public to vote PLP at the next election by promising this that and the other. Building big new hotels (that no one seems to want whilst letting unoccupied hotels rot and decay away in front of our eyes) and making promises to all and sundry. This is all very well but why not look after the existing island.

The PLP do not appear to have a maintenance plan in effect for existing buildings and structures on the island.

For instance, as Minister of Tourism Dr. Brown must surely have programmed himself to look at Bermuda through the eyes of our tourists, but look at the bus shelters scattered all over our Island - whoever painted them last certainly did not remove the old paint or power wash them prior to repainting. Our tourists go by these bus shelters all the time and wherever they are in Bermuda. A true bad eye sore.

What about our roads? The surfaces are appalling and patches by been repaired — sometimes by more patches. If these roads were in better condition maybe there would be less accidents as some of the potholes or craters in the roads are very large and very dangerous particularly for bike riders - and our visitors are bike riders. This band-aid style of maintenance is not acceptable.

The sign posts at intersections are in a very sad state — in fact some have not been attended to since Fabian — often signs pointing towards the City of Hamilton says St. George’s.

What can I say about the state of the Government water catchments — Government probably used the same painters who did the bus shelters.

Surely someone in the PLP Government has a “friend/friends” who can attend to some of these maintenance jobs and hopefully do a good job — they seem to produce friends who attempt to do everything else. If Bermuda is to compete on a world stage, then Government needs to act accordingly instead of allowing Bermuda to be presented in such a shabby way.

This Government is all showmanship — but the general public are slowly getting the message — just read The Royal Gazette. Today there is a letter from a parent of Southampton Glebe School student who states the school are still waiting for school books which should have been delivered last September.

So wake up Bermuda don’t let this Government run our country into the ground with just trying to fluff their way through with false statements and false hopes. The Ministers are feathering their own nests all the time. They are not concerned at all about the ordinary people — look to the proposed closure of the medical clinic, and who is going to benefit from that. Not the ordinary peopl

CONCERNED

SMITH’S PARISH RESIDENT

Confused by clinic plans

April 8, 2007

Dear Sir,

I have followed the plans to close this Clinic with increasing concern and confusion.

Initially Dr. Brown expressed concern for the dignity of the patients who attended the unit, but now the concern seems to have shifted, according to Mr. Perinchief , as to whether the quality of care they receive is as good as it should be and also whether the patients are really entitled to be there at all. I am not sure how a probe into one’s finances can be called dignified especially if everyone will now know that if you have joined the Clinic you must have less than $5,000 in the bank! Not that $5,000 will be of much help if your house is damaged in a storm or needs rewiring or your medications cost several thousand per year.

The Medical Clinic (the old Indigent Clinic) has been in existence for many years and has always been staffed by qualified nurses and partially by doctors who GAVE their time to run it i.e. did not just ‘pass through once or twice’.

The current site of the Clinic is at the front entrance of the Hospital and is very accessible and well furnished. Where necessary ALL the facilities of the Hospital are available.

Imagine if you will an elderly patient with say arthritis, diabetes (the Diabetic Clinic is right next door), hypertension and coronary artery disease who turns up with a variety of symptoms. He will be seen even without an appointment. If the situation requires it, he then can have an ECG, a chest X-ray, blood tests and a prescription at one time and in one place.

Now imagine that this same patient presents himself at the private Doctors office. Firstly a number of Doctors offices do not have wheelchair access. Then he may well be sent away because he does not have an appointment and the office is full. Then if he should get in to see the Doctor and needs all these tests he will almost certainly have to go elsewhere to have them done, possibly spread over several days. Then he will probably need some medication and will have to go somewhere else for that!

We have also been told that medical care should be disease based and not ability to pay based and yet at the Clinic patients are getting care that is equal to and arguably better than that which they might expect in a private Doctors office. Perhaps to be logical we should aim to improve the private care rather than eliminate the Clinic care.

Let’s keep this simple and just say ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

Dr. Brown is a man of great determination as we all know and does not easily change his mind. This is fine when he is right, but something of a disaster when he is wrong, especially for people with limited funds and little power, as in this case. I suggest that he leave his sociological theories and his coterie of followers behind for a couple of days, put his stethoscope round his neck and spend time working at the Clinic in order to learn what it is really all about.

I believe that it is a measure of a person’s strength when he can recognise and then admit that he is wrong.

DR. EUGENE HARVEY

Paget

Support the clinic

April 3, 2007

Dear Sir,

The premier was recently quoted as having said of the Indigent Clinic and related services, that since Government pays for the services, they are entitled to determine how these services are provided.

If this quote is correct, it displays either an appalling ignorance of, or a blatant disregard for the reality of Government.

In order to be able to pay for something, there is a presumption that you have money of your own. In reality, Government has no money of its own, it is merely the temporary custodian of the money of the people it was elected to serve and disburses funds to meet the needs and wishes of that electorate.

In that case, since the Government is using public money to pay for the services provided at the “Indigent Clinic”,. they should continue to support the clinic as that is clearly how the public wishes its money spe

JAMES COLLINS

Paget

Keep this facility open

April 11, 2007

Dear Sir,

Today I read in your paper a letter entitled, “Creating a Monster”. Guess what I did today at work? I participated in a Wellness program and was told a government statistic last year in Bermuda we spent over $376 million on medical care via insurance companies. That equals to over a million a day or just over $6,000 per person or so, the Wellness speaker said. Now, I have insurance and sadly can barely afford the out of pocket portion that I have to pay to my medical provider when I visit four to six times a year and some of those visits I think twice about before going.

Now, I am being told by Government that all patients at the Medical clinic will be distributed throughout the Island’s private practices. So who foots this new bill? Instead of it being paid through my taxes, which is fine with me, I have to pay it in the form of my doctor increasing their charges from approx. $75 to $125 per visit depending on the nature of my visit to more per visit?

I say keep the Medical Clinic open. I wish I could go there for free medical treatment. What will be the final backlash? The people like myself, who have to decide if we are sick enough to go to a doctor for a visit, as my out of pocket expenses they are horrendous, will go to the ER for treatment. After all, when watching my dollars and my monthly expenses 100 percent paid by insurance at the hospital vs. having my personal finances thrown off because of out of pocket expenses of $50-100 per visit? Where do you think I am going, yep the ER and it’s overworked staff, who cares if I have to wait there all night!

Creating a Monster...? No, giving the monster a facelift and the tax payers will stop paying the bill to government and instead to their doctor at their next visit. The decision to close the Medical Clinic has nothing to do with the patient of any ethic persuasion, but everything to do with finances, who gets the money and who has to pay it out. That would be me and every insured worker on the Island.

I want the Clinic to stay open, and pay with my taxes. After all, if the government would take away the travel budget and apply it to our local problems or better yet throw $11 million at the Medical Clinic, wow, problems solved. Make no mistake a Monster still exists, it’s just getting a face lift and enriching all ready rich people.

AP

St. George’s

P.s. Don’t worry Mr. Editor, I’m a Bermudian.