July 28, 2014

Dear Sir,

I am compelled to write as result of the statements made in the media by the leaders of the BTUC and The People’s Campaign on the Government of Bermuda’s decision to follow the ruling made by the chief justice regarding the granting of status to PRC holders to stand.

Rather than the repeated chant by the People’s Movement, that “Enough is Enough” it should be changed to “Curiouser and Curiouser”.

Which is what Alice said in Alice in Wonderland (one of the books written by Lewis Carroll).

Anyone familiar with this book, which was one of my daughter’s favourites, is that everything is not as it seems — Up is down and down is up. Alice was addressed by the Caterpillar, “Who are you?”.

Alice replied “I hardly know, sir, just at present at least I knew who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”

However the Duchess who owned the Cheshire Cat interjected, “Everything’s got a moral if only you can find it!”

In the words of (former US Defense Secretary) Donald Rumsfeld there were “known unknowns” which we now know!

What is known is that the Progressive Labour Party knew way back in October 2012 that the immigration category for PRC holders, which they created could potentially get status if they applied and the PLP did nothing.

What is also now known, as a result of verbal statements made on Friday July 25, 2014 by the leaders Chris Furbert et all and the Rev Nicholas Tweed is that they are not against PRC holders being granted status.

Mr Furbert, et all and the Rev Tweed are not against the granting of status but “just the process”.

(1) The process is a legal process, you either qualify or you don’t.

(2) PRC holders have permanent jobs, (being a PRC holder allows this), they can work until they die if they have a job, ie their jobs can never to taken from them.

(3) Rev Tweed says that he supports the rule of law, democracy and integrity.

(4) I have no reason not to take his word, but I have to ask, sir, why are you protesting?

(5) The PRC holders are people who have legal rights to be here, these rights having been granted to them by the PLP government.

(6) You and others may not like the law as it is written, but nevertheless it is the law. Are the marchers and their leaders now saying that the PLP government of the day did not know what they were doing when they created this law?

The children in PRC holder’s families only know Bermuda, and a large number of these children enjoy Bermuda status, so why would a church leader want to split up families?

(7) The PRC holders have made a massive contribution to the health and wellbeing of Bermuda and Bermudians, without them giving freely of their time many of our voluntary helping organisations would not exist.

(8) Why are some Bermudians trying to vilify, marginalise and stigmatise PRC holders?

(9) How can marching and protesting create jobs in a fragile economy?

(10) What help was given to the Bermudian that did not get the job that Rev Tweed now enjoys?

The only conclusions that I can draw from the above events are that the marchers and protest are purely for political purposes rather than to help Bermuda move forward.

DAVID DYER