March 22, 2005

Dear Sir,

I had to write a letter to the Editor hoping that parents would read it and act accordingly. The other day I witnessed a little girl no more than six years of age on Palmetto Road waiting to cross the street.

Unfortunately, the crossing guard had finished for the day as it was after hours. What disturbed me is that instead of her going to the crosswalk to cross the street, she waited for a break in traffic (which by the way was very heavy) and darted across the street to the middle of the roundabout, to then wait again and proceed to go all the way across to the other side.

It is dangerous enough when an adult takes on jaywalking but with a minor it is just scary. I wanted to stop my car and assist the young lady across the street but after looking in my rear view mirror I saw that she had safely darted her way across to the other side. Also with things being so crazy in Bermuda I am not sure if the child would have even trusted me enough to assist her across the street.

With the story of Tyeisha Cox so fresh in my mind I became sad to know that a child so young was left to walk home alone. Now I know that parents have to work and cannot have their eyes on their children 24/7 but at least ensure that a child so young is not left to the task of getting home alone by himself/herself.

Along with the chance of the child getting in an accident, is the harsh reality that we have paedophiles, child molesters and all types of crazy people lurking the streets. I would hate for any parent to have to go through getting a call saying that their child has been hurt in an accident.

Every day I see young children walking to school by themselves and most of the time it is two of them with the oldest being no more than seven years old. In my opinion this is not a mature enough age for a child to be walking to school alone, especially if he/she has to ensure the safety of his/her brother or sister.

Now I know that a lot of parents do this and there will probably be tons of letters written after mine where people are going to express their unhappiness with my opinion but being a new parent myself all of a sudden this common practice has begun to upset me. Parents if your child has to walk to school alone or with a younger sibling, please ensure that an older child is walking with them or if this accommodation can not be met can you please teach your child to use the pedestrian and not jaywalk in the middle of traffic. It is always better to be safe than sorry.

Please note that this is not a letter to lash out at parents that allow children to walk alone but to bring to their attention that these same children are not always being as safe as they should and can be.

March 16, 2005

Dear Sir,

I read, with horror, your story about Trimingham's closing. We vacation often in Bermuda. In fact, we are departing March 28 for a week in Bermuda, our eighth visit since 1990. Our daughter, her husband and son will be accompanying us this time, their first visit. I am sure they will love it as much as we do.

During the years, we have observed changes in Bermuda, some very good, others we didn't like at all. I have written my comments to a Bermuda newsletter we receive regularly and I believe they have been forwarded on, to whom, I'm not sure. But, I want to tell you that the concerns relative to duty and VAT are very real.

We love shopping in Trimingham's and always bring items home for ourselves and gifts for others. We would shop more if we could shop duty free and tax free.

I must, also, tell you that we have noticed Bermuda seems to be catering very much to the very rich who are building their expensive homes on private estates, some even blasting holes in the coral reef, you know who I mean. And, I have to tell you that the very rich are not the ones who spend money in Bermuda. They do not spend money in your restaurants and hotels, your gift shops and souvenir shops, and shops like Trimingham's, Smith's and Cooper's.

The people who shop in these shops are tourists like us. However, Bermuda is not encouraging tourists like us to continue to visit and spend money in Bermuda. Over the years, we have recommended Bermuda to many friends, family members and colleagues, telling them it isn't really as expensive as they have heard. However, during our vacation in April, 2003, we were blown away by the cost of a simple lunch at a roadside pub, the same as at a fine restaurant in Hamilton and as expensive as a lunch in a luxury hotel. The cost of eating out was just prohibitive and it was then that we decided to eat lunch out and cook our own dinner.

And, we were disappointed at the American-style food being offered at the pub on Front Street (not sure what the name is now), no steak and kidney pie, no fish and chips. But, they served hamburgers and, as I said, American-style food. One of the reasons tourists travel to a place like Bermuda is to sample the local fare. We really don't expect or demand the SAME food and service we get at home.

We have always enjoyed so much the British and Bermuda heritage in everything we have sampled over the years in Bermuda, from the Bermuda Fish Chowder to the Tea and Scones at Gibb's Light House Tea Room. This is a big part of our travel enjoyment. I've been relieved that there isn't a McDonald's or Burger King on every corner, although, I'll hold my breath on that one until we arrive in two weeks. I've been happy that there is no gambling in Bermuda and a feeling of safety no matter where we go. I hope none of that changes.

Please, I hope the Bermuda government finds a way to help shops like Trimingham's stay open. It will be to Bermuda's benefit and ours.

March 24, 2005

Dear Sir,

We do have some thinking people in the community! I was delighted see Senator Kim Swan's comments in today's paper on expert evidence.

I too was shocked to see the overseas expert on the TV news explaining how information is collected at a crime scene. This type of information should only be made public, if at all, after the perpetrators of a crime are brought to court. Bermuda is getting too Americanised where evidence is presented on TV prior to a court appearance.

There are far too many TV news interviews of persons directly or indirectly involved in cases coming before the courts. The 'public need to know' should be an after event situation. Let us have more support for Senator Swan for bringing this matter to the attention of the legislative assembly and the general public.

Dear Sir,

I work for one of the oldest exempted companies in Bermuda (first established in 1971). We recently held our bi-annual shareholders' conference in Cancun, in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico.

As long ago as October, 2004, we sent notices to our shareholders about the conference in mid-February. One of our shareholders, whose captive insurance company is in Barbados, had their insurance manager ? who holds a Trinidadian passport ? immediately apply for a visa to enable entry into Mexico. Sadly, four months later, the visa application had still not been processed by the Mexican Embassy in Miami and so the week before the conference we received word that, sadly, this representative would be unable to attend. Why is this of interest to Bermuda and Bermudians? For the simple reason that if we go independent, we will be in the same position as this Barbadian "exempt company" worker: unable to travel on company business, unable to suddenly decide on a whim to have a holiday somewhere nice; to have one's life dictated by the schedule of any foreign embassy, anywhere in the world, who can, and will, decide where and when one can travel. Independence? I don't think so. About eight of our Bermudian staff travelled from here to Cancun to attend this conference, (including me). None of us needed visas to enter Mexico and all of us travelled freely via the USA (unlike our South African, Australian and other non-EU shareholders, some of whom went to great lengths to fly from various points around the globe straight to Mexico City to avoid having to transit the US thereby removing themselves from various US visa requirements).

Lest any of our fellow Bermudians be deluded that the status quo will remain after Mr. Scott has taken us for a long and expensive walk down the proverbial garden path and into a murky future, let us think of our fellows to the south whose travel plans have been severely restricted post-independence ? never mind the curtailment of the career plans for those of us fortunate enough to be employed in the international company sector.

Independence will mean the end to sudden decisions to travel anywhere we feel like and the end to the "protection of her Britannic Majesty" which currently accompanies us wherever we travel in the world. This Bermudian for one will be hanging on to the little red EU passport, regardless of which path of folly the Scott Government would like us to wander down.

WANDERLUST

Pembroke

March 24, 2005

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your editorial titled "Church controversy" in The Royal Gazette of March 24, 2005. You have expressed a thoughtful and well balanced viewpoint in your editorial on what is, or soon will be, a very sad day not only for Holy Trinity Church, Bailey's Bay but for the whole Anglican Church of Bermuda when Canon Tilson and his wife Jenny finally leave these shores.

For those of us who have a strong emotional attachment to Canon Alan's method & style in running a happy church family let us clutch to the hope and pray for a change of heart in the decision that Bishop Ratteray has made. Brotherly love and a rebirth of how we see and serve our world should be what this Easter week is all about ... not a controversy.

VAUGHAN EVANS

Hamilton Parish