The following is a letter that was sent to Bermuda Tourism Authority chairman David Dodwell and copied to The Royal Gazette.

April 8, 2014

Dear Mr Dodwell,

I am 50 years old and have been travelling to Bermuda since I was 13 in 1977. I first came to the Island as part of Geoff and Muriel Parker’s running of the Atlantic International Golf tournament which featured junior golfers from around the world in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

I fell in love with your Island from day one and have been an honorary ambassador of the Island ever since.

I spent two weeks there on my honeymoon in 1991 and I now bring my wife and three kids every summer. I stay in touch with several Bermudians I met during my junior golf years who I now call my friends. Anthony Mocklow is the director of golf at the Princess and Ian Bickley is a frequent host to me at Mid Ocean.

I live just outside Washington, D.C. and am constantly “selling” Bermuda to my friends, co-workers and anybody else who may be looking for a great place to visit. I tell them that the Island of Bermuda is a much better option than going to the crowded and not nearly as attractive east coast beaches in the USA.

I can honestly say that I have probably sent over a dozen families to your Island in just the past three years and I am not even a travel agent. I have referred people to the Reefs, Pompano Beach Club, Marley Beach, Southhampton Princess and the Coral Beach Club. I consider myself an expert on the Island, the places to stay, places to eat and things to do, so I often get calls from friends of friends with questions on all of the above.

Over recent years I have defended Bermuda with their increase in crime, drugs, and overall high cost of visiting. The recent 25 percent increase in taxi fare was appalling as there are already so few transportation options on the Island. I was even robbed once in the middle of the night by an intruder in our cottage. (The police blamed me because we did not lock our door.) Through all of this though I still promoted Bermuda as a great place to visit because I have a great emotional attachment to the island. I understand that the fabric of today’s society is different so these issues are a challenge for any town in the USA as well.

So it was with a heavy heart that I read the recent articles on the dumping of raw sewage near Grape Bay in Paget. And then I got angry. Angry because last year while staying at the Coral Beach Club, I came down with a severe ear infection which led to a 102 degree fever, massive pain and the loss of hearing in my ear for more than two weeks. There is no doubt in my mind that this was probably the result of the nearby sewage dump.

I also started to think about my three young kids and what potential dangers they were exposed to. I can tolerate some things from Bermuda but this is not one of them. The fact that this has been going on for years does not make it OK. And if by some chance my illness was not a direct result of this does not make it OK.

The recent rebuttal from Mr. Moniz as to the accuracy of these reports reminds me of the comments by the police to me when I was robbed — irrelevant. For Bermuda to be involved in this type of activity is wrong on so many levels. I might expect this from Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and perhaps even the Bahamas or the USA. But not Bermuda.

Bermuda has always been about protecting the reefs, the ocean and the life around it. It’s a sophisticated, educated, and prosperous Island with economic diversity. It’s wrong and it’s unnecessary given the technology that exists today to deal with this issue. I know it’s expensive to fix but it needs to fixed and now. This should be treated like a natural disaster or an oil spill which gets immediate action to stop and repair it as though the Island can’t function properly without it.

If you do not choose to fix this, your tourism product will be forever tarnished and it could be devastating. The word will get out that Bermuda is a gross place to visit and can be harmful to your health. Many visitors to Bermuda are like me, loyal repeat customers. We are not the cruise ship visitors who come to the Island just once and spend very little. We stay at your hotels and cottages, play golf, shop, eat at the restaurants and hire your taxis. Year after year. If you do not take this seriously, you will lose your most loyal customers. You cannot afford not to fix this.

Right now I have plans to return this summer but only because I have already paid for the airfare and accommodations. It just might be my last visit ever to Bermuda and that makes me very sad. And for all those people I have referred to Bermuda over the years, I will have to tell them not to return, as I will have to search for that special island to replace my first love, Bermuda.

KEN SIEGFRIED

Alexandra, Virginia