Wakely speaks the truth

February 12, 2007

Dear Sir,

As a Bermudian living in Boston I was dumbfounded to see that Dr. Catherine Wakely was asked to resign after writing a letter to the newspaper in support of the needs of the clients of the Hospital’s Indigent Clinic. Having read your opinion piece, which I whole-heartedly agree with, I have decided to write in my support of the good doctor. In Hollywood they make films about people like Dr. Wakely. She’d be the hero fighting for the rights of the less fortunate. Willing to put her career on the line to make sure the needs of the downtrodden are being heard by those high up in their ivory towers. And at the end of the film all the doctors would stand at her side and say: “No, if she goes, we all go!”

Bermuda is a lot like Hollywood. It may be just a small island, an extremely wealthy island mind you, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. But it’s an Island where appearances are often more important than the actual truth. Dr. Wakely speaks the truth. Those that have the need of a good Government-funded health clinic should be heard first and foremost. As the good doctor says, ask them first before deciding what is good for them. Is that too much to ask? Our own Premier is a doctor himself, wouldn’t it be in his best interest to have a place that he can attend to patients and at the same time get first hand advice as to what their true needs are? I can understand a doctor who falsified their credentials being forced to resign. Or if a doctor took off the wrong leg, yes that might get one the boot. But reaching out to help those that cannot help themselves? Showing true compassion? Three dunks of the ducking stool maybe but being asked to resign is profoundly wrong.

DEREK A. G. JONES

Boston, Massachusetts

P.s. One of my favourite moments upon coming home is to drive along Middle Road and as I approach the City of Hamilton from above I get to see the beautiful view of the harbour all the way up to the islands. There are few places in the world with such a spectacular view of a city and its harbour. When Sir John Swan builds his new building, will that most cherished view be forever lost?

Regiment’s vital service

February 14, 2007

Dear Sir,

Amidst the recent discussion concerning the Bermuda Regiment, I’d like to note one very important fact of which the public should be made aware. In the wake of Hurricane Fabian’s devastation on September 5, 2003, the Bermuda International Airport was severely damaged. Wreckage and large boulders were scattered everywhere in our parking lots and roadways. In fact, major portions of the airport’s roadways had literally disappeared in the voracious maw of Hurricane Fabian’s angry waves, which washed over and into the Terminal Building itself. Without the yeoman service by the Bermuda Regiment, which turned out in force to clean-up and restore the airport to some semblance of order, it simply would not have been possible to re-open the Airport in three days as we did. In my opinion, it would have taken weeks, not days, without this vital resource. The Bermuda Regiment without question performed a vital service in helping the airport get back on its feet.

JAMES G. HOWES

General Manager,

Bermuda International Airport<$>

One look will be enough

February 10, 2007

Dear Sir,

Upon our arrival home on February 1 from a trip, which included a three-day stop in Dubai, we were stunned to see the front page of The Royal Gazette of February 2 saying a Jumeirah Hotel was coming here. It makes laughable reading when the developers say the property will be open for Bermudians to wander around and enjoy. The Burj Al Arab is surrounded by security and one has to present one’s reservation for tea, lunch or dinner in order to get into the property. Oh yes, one must get in for a look, but one look is more than enough. Allow us to quote a well-known travel writer on the subject. “Burj Al Arab. This fabulous, iconic building is sadly home to one of the most vulgar, garish and already dated room fit-outs ever conceived. The interior ‘designer’ should be horsewhipped for crimes against décor. Dancing fountains, glitz, more gold than Fort Knox, acres of harlequin red, blue and purple velvet, and slutty mirrors above the beds.” If our Government cared one iota about the environment we would be dealing with a first class hotel on the Club Med property. A World Heritage site deserves that. If they were a transparent government they would have told us why they lost the last “great deal” for The Club Med property.

BETTY AND JESSICA

Devonshire<$>

P.s. The next page of the paper further shocked us with, guess what? A bodyguard. What an ad for safe little Bermuda !

P.p.s<$>. Too bad John Plowman’s plan for the elderly plus an Intermediate care facility and finally a medical section never happened. It was tastefully done and the beach was saved for Bermuda.

Cathedral’s sound trouble

February 14, 2007

Dear Sir,

Holy Trinity Cathedral was packed to capacity for the funeral service held there last week for the late Alan Oliver whose tragic death came as a shock to his family, along with his many friends and colleagues. There is always a reasonable expectation when attending a funeral service that those present will be able to hear what is being said and help them comes to terms with their loss. Sadly, this is not the case at Holy Trinity Cathedral. I would estimate that at least 75 percent of those present could hardly hear a word, despite the fact that the Cathedral appears to have a sophisticated speaker system which was not turned on.

One can maybe accept an isolated incident where there is a technical failure, but this is the third major funeral I have attended in the past year where the speaker system has either been intermittent or has not been used at all. The last one was the service for the late Mayor of Hamilton, Jay Bluck. This situation is not acceptable at a Cathedral used for national and state funerals. The acoustics at Holy Trinity Cathedral are very poor, hence the need for an efficient sound system. Until such time as this problem has been addressed I suggest that anyone planning to hold a funeral service at the Cathedral insist on hiring a sound system for the day.

FRUSTRATED MOURNER

Smith’s Parish<$>

Anger perpetuates problem

February 10, 2007

Dear Sir,

Enough is enough! I am tired of the black/white issue of Bermuda. I was raised in a segregated England in the 1960s when I had to suffer the ignorance of racism first hand coming from a biracial union where my mother then became bitter towards blacks because of what my father did to her. Pulling myself into adulthood, finding in my 40s who I was and recognising my multi-racial, multi-cultural environment and defining who I was, not through society, but through God’s eyes, I have learnt that you can choose to hold on or let go. Yes, there is racism on this Island in every sector, believe me. I find I am accepted mostly by whites here because I have a sweet English accent and my ties to the “motherland”.

I am judged on my skin colour by black and white continually here ... especially when I had dreads, but you know what, black people in Bermuda are never going to go forward until the politicians, the man picking up the trash, the bus drivers, decide, you can’t put me down! Tony Brannon’s remarks, to which he is entitled, have a slight truth to them (I get tired of the attitude sometimes when your trying to pay a bill and ‘my girl’ is on the phone to her ‘ace girl’) but the hyper-sensitivity and the climate of victimisation of blacks here holding on to anything, to discredit the whites and wring out the old laundry of their past, it’s old now... Yes there’s segregation, but by reacting continually, blacks are giving the whole race issue energy to burn... blacks are angry, whites are afraid... what do you do? This is keeping the separation going, and will do.

Looking at my Caribbean roots, with their identity so strong, they know who they are and until the day when future generations can accept themselves based on their own merit, Bermuda is going to stay in this locked-in hatred and angry mood, I think ignorance, and choosing to be angry is only going to perpetuate the situation, not for us, but our children, black and white. In Bob’s words: “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery none but ourselves can free our minds.”

ONE LOVE BERMUDA!

Pembroke<$>

Brannon is unrepresentative

February 7, 2007

Dear Sir,

What Tony Brannon fails to acknowledge in his assertions about the BIU, black Bermudians and the demise of tourism is what preceded the events of the late 1970s and early 1980s and that is, the long-term exploitation of black Bermudian workers by not only hotel owners but their political allies, the UBP. The Union was finally able to flex some muscle on behalf of its people and when it did it was met with such fierce resistance as to cause lingering resentment and dissatisfaction amongst the workers even after the disputes had supposedly been resolved. So to imply that decline of tourism was the fault of black Bermudians is, frankly, an ignorant point of view.

The problem with the Union is that it has chosen to use the power it earned toward increasing wages without taking any responsibility for the service provided by its members so that, along with other factors, we found ourselves having to charge too much for the relative quality of our tourism product. Perhaps that is changing as we become a more equal society. Remember it was Ewart Brown who said Bermudians need to distinguish between service and servitude.

In the meantime it continues to surprise me that this paper provides even one column inch to rantings of Tony Brannon. Equally, I’m surprised that the leadership of the BIU don’t simply respond by saying, ‘Tony Who?’. Don’t give him the satisfaction of an argument. My plea to the BIU, and black Bermudians, is please do not assume Tony Brannon is a mouth-piece for white Bermuda — he certainly doesn’t speak for me.

PETER BACKEBERG

Hamilton Parish<$>

Put teeth in the law

February 14, 2007

Dear Sir,

I don’t think I am alone in my reaction to Dr. Brown’s comments about curbing crime on the island. Lots of pretty words but little or no action. Crime is greater in Bermuda than it has ever been. Drugs are flowing like water, violent crimes have increased dramatically and our leader says: “Law and good order underpins almost everything that we do.” Put your money where your mouth is and take some positive actions. Bermuda is such a small Island, I’m sure that both the Police and the Government know full well who is dealing and who is buying drugs. The crime element is a function of the drug trade. Put some teeth into your words and go after these folks who are making Bermuda an unsafe place to live and visit.

Put some teeth into the judicial system and give both dealers and buyers both financial and imprisonment punishments that clearly sends a message. Give them the authority to put these folks away for a long time. Lack of action only implies that Government wants the drug trade to flourish. Yes, “the people of Bermuda have made it clear that they expect great things from this administration and it is the aim of this Government to prove that their trust in our abilities is well founded” to quote our present Premier. Actions speak louder than words. Prove it before it’s too late.

GIB

Flatts<$>

Does Jumeirah suit us?

January 31, 2007

Dear Sir,

Jumeirah Chairman Craig Lawless says “We feel Bermuda suits Jumeirah.” I’m sure it does, but that’s irrelevant. The real question is: does Jumeirah suit Bermuda? Perhaps Dr. Brown honestly believes the answer to be yes, but many people have already pointed out why he is probably wrong.

Yet he continues to railroad the Bermudian public, while failing to address the most serious objections, such as the hotel’s impact on our infrastructure, overheated economy, and social tensions. Dr. Brown is an intelligent man: if he really cars about this country he should spend less time chasing the limelight and more time tackling our real problems, starting with education.

DOUGLASS S.J. DECOUTO PhD

Delayed news

February 9, 2007

Dear Sir

Whoopee! I cannot wait to read it. My Weekly Telegraph newspaper is in the mail box. My sense of deja-vu is profound even uncanny as I learn that Dee Caffari has completed a circumnavigation of the globe and Paul McCartney and his wife are to split after four years of marriage. Now this is time sensitive material, it says so on the mailing label. Yes you guessed it — I did not notice the date on said publication — May 24th to May 30th, 2006. Do I live in Outer Mongolia, no just Southampton.

PENNIE LAMB

Southampton<$>

Review SDO rule

February 7, 20007

Dear Sir,

The use of Special Development Orders (SDOs) in Bermuda and the wisdom of ministerial discretion as it pertains to SDOs is in need of close examination. We have been led to believe that an SDO should in the Minister’s opinion, satisfy the national interest. However, there appears to be an increasing trend in SDOs granted where the national interest is unclear or where they have just failed to deliver on their promises.

l Daniels Head Eco Resort/9 Beaches — Three owners on and we are still waiting for the ashtrays made from our trash and for the “multi purpose community outreach and education center” that the original owners promised. The original vision has been lost and Bermuda has been left with a lemon.

l Pembroke Hamilton Club — A private club, granted an SDO to facilitate construction of new sports complex. Unless they open their new facilities to all the public (and they may do) I cannot see where the public interest is served.

l The Wyndham Resort (Sinky Bay / Cross Bay) — Under the guise of revitalizing the tourism industry an SDO was granted for 27 Guest Units and 61 Luxury Residential Units (some 41 with garages). There will be no public interest served here. I offer the above examples as evidence that a structured method of determining the public interest is required, that greater caution should be exercised in granting an SDO and that the power of approval should rest with the many and not the one.

ROBIN LANG

Warwick<$>

Education lament

February 8, 2007

Dear Sir

I am concerned enough to impoverish myself in order to send my child to boarding school. I don’t know who to blame although from where I stand some of the teachers I’ve encountered appear to make a contribution to the problem. Is it the Ministry or is it the teacher who is on the phone or instant messaging their friends during class times. I do not know but I am truly amazed at the Minister who stands up after years of this to say, “oh yes, we have a problem.”

I am afraid that it will be too late for the poor kids in the system now who don’t leave with even a good basic education and I am hoping that it won’t be too late for my own child. I have friends in the system who tell me about the redundant strategies and initiatives in place in the schools and also about the poor quality of many of our teachers. I was taught in a system that had far fewer resources but some good teachers who inspired and worked hard to make sure that we left the school with some knowledge and skills.

CONCERNED

Hamilton Parish

Writer missed the point

January 31, 2007

Dear Sir,

Glad to read that CedarBridge’s PSTA head Mr. Swan is so sure there is a future Editor in their midst. Just curious, would one actually need basic spelling, grammar or punctuation skills to do your job? Doesn’t seem like they are getting those at high school! (And this is the future work-pool for Brown & Jumeirah Inc.?)

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