Transport solutionsAugust 8, 2006

Dear Sir,It is laughable that the Premier catches a bus to work to show people how easy it is to leave your car/bike at home, but does this during non peak hours. Did you notice that the bus was empty? What time of day did he travel? Peak time when the schools are in, that’s when the truth of the matter will be told. You see Mr. Premier; it’s not as easy as that. Some people have children to transport to and from school, who may be too young to ride the bus/ferry alone. Some people need their cars/bikes to provide transport while at work, salesmen, office assistants, delivery persons and so on, and no, not all companies provide transportation for employees, even if they did there would still be just as many vehicles on the road.

The real answer is to bring in new tough laws, which will eliminate these vehicles from being on the roads at all. I seem to recall a law, which would not allow a person to own another car within three years, once the car was sold, unless it was taken completely off the road. Why was that law ever changed? It was sensible and an asset to our continuing and ever growing problem of pollution. If the PLP Government is so concerned about sustainable development maybe they should start there. After that has been accomplished I suggest that all Government MPs travel by bike, or ferry to reduce vehicular traffic on our roads, and to lead by example. They can take their bikes on the ferries, that’s if they’re serious, although I do not believe that will ever happen. Imagine how much money we will save not having to pay for their gas, insurance and licensing every year.

The Government should look at ways and means to redirect the traffic, especially from the East End of the island coming into Hamilton. My suggestion for this is to build a giant bridge from Dockyard to Spanish Point or an underwater tunnel from and to the same location. The Government could charge a toll entering or exiting these locations while offering parking at Spanish Point and a mini bus system to deliver persons into Hamilton. At the same time, the Government could finally give the people of Spanish Point their own dock. The next step is to encourage people to carpool. I have mentioned this before and since no one else, including the transport minister, seems to have the answer to reduce traffic, then maybe the Government should look at this. It could be done quite easily. To further encourage persons to carpool, give them some money back off of their licensing fee for their efforts, you know, just like our Tourism Department gives the tourists. It’s called an incentive programme. One thing a past boss of mine always told me was, if you have a problem; find a solution before you come in to talk to me about it. I do not profess to have all the answers, but to try new and different things is being creative and forward thinking.M. DUBOIS

PembrokeWhy bother with Planning?August 9, 2006

Dear Sir,How can any country take sustainable development seriously when they openly and blatantly by pass the planning process. The recent two developments that I am talking about are the Loughlands development in Paget and the Southside development in St. George’s. Qualified planners are trained to look at planning applications to ensure that a quality of life is maintained within development guidelines and to ensure that standards of living are not compromised within new development and equally important in surrounding neighbourhoods. A total of 96 homes in Loughlands means 96 parking bays plus visitor parking and similarly at Southside with 50 plus units. No country should have the right to seriously jeopardise any neighbourhood to simply get on with the job without showing respect to the existing homes and infrastructure of the area. Clever as it may seem to some, I wonder why we bother having a planning department in the first place and this is a perfect example of why bother.GET IT OFF MY DESK<$>Reading is criticalAugust 7, 2006

Dear Sir,I read, with interest, the article about lawyer Charles Richardson in the August 7th edition of your newspaper. Congratulations are certainly due to this young man who has been successful in turning around his life. When I read Mr. Richardson’s comment “I got my first law book from Mark Pettingill and READ it and fell in love with it” I was reminded of why I am committed to the Reading Clinic. The ability to read is fundamental to academic success and it opens many doors! However, we know that there are far too many children and adults who struggle with reading. Consequently, doors to success are closed to them.

For 38 years the Reading Clinic has provided services that have opened the doors to success for hundreds of individuals who have been diagnosed with dyslexia. Through the generosity of our community we are able to offer both academic help and financial assistance to our clients. In 1998 our generous community also supported a Literacy Research project in Bermuda’s prisons. A conference and workshops were help the following year to look at ways in which the Reading Clinic could help with the problems identified in the research. As a result, the following services were offered to HM Correctional Facilities: screening for learning disabilities; multisensory social skills and anger management classes; individual reading instruction by Reading Clinic-trained tutors and workshops on learning disabilities for prison officer recruits.

We regret that, this year, screening and social skills training appear to have been put ‘on hold’ and tutors who have been providing reading instruction have had their hours of employment reduced. As Mr. Richardson said: “It almost makes you wonder if there is some predetermined plan to ensure some segment of the population remains as second class citizens.”ANN DUNSTAN

SmithsWhat is going on here?July 30, 2006

Dear Sir,What cheek. I could hardly believe my eyes when I read in the July 29th Royal Gazette that according to the general manager of the Fairmont Southampton Hotel plans were still in place to build on the golf course. And this despite a howl of protest from Bermudians and visitors alike, and a massive petition signed by 600 furious residents. He states that they have not made any decision to withdraw any plans at this point, and that these decisions are not made locally. Who makes these decisions if they are not made locally? Who are these greedy foreigners planning to turn one of our most picturesque golf courses into a sea of cement? From what I understand, the Fairmont Hotels in Bermuda are up for sale. Are the present owners planning to build a few hundred condos on the property, sell them, and buzz off with the cash? What is going on here?

Surely it is up to Planning to simply refuse permission for such carnage, and any plans to ruin the golf course should be turned down at once. It is as simple as that. If this does not happen one will be forced to the conclusion that there is something suspicious going on, a hand out perhaps, a little corruption in high places; but of course, our government could never be guilty of that. am simply stunned by the arrogance of the hotel, assuming that they can just go ahead and build on green space, regardless of the local outcry. If these so called golf villas are allowed to go ahead, there is something very rotten in the government of Bermuda.E.RABENStop patronising usAugust 15, 2006

Dear Sir, On a recent radio news broadcast I was struck by the Premier’s stream of consciousness on how to deal with the revelation that a recent poll result indicates that support among voting Bermudians to reject the Independence initiative has now grown in excess of 70 percent. In case you missed the Premier’s articulation of how to correct this problem, he proclaimed that rather than take the view — as suggested by the interviewer — that the Independence push now be put on a back burner, the way forward he declared, and these are his words, not mine, is to patiently teach Bermudians “that they can walk and chew gum at the same time”. Hopefully this is not a true reflection of how the Government responds to the wishes of the voting public?“ENLIGHTENED” IN SOUTHAMPTON<$>Would it not be easier?August 10, 2006

Dear Sir, In the Mid-Ocean News of August 2, PLP spokesman Scott Simmons expressed the Government’s disappointment at Bermudians’ failure to “readily attach themselves to the prospect of self-determination”. Maybe the dog resents being wagged by the tail? I am reminded of a poem about the most intransigent of all communist regimes, written by East German author Bertolt Brecht:

THE SOLUTION

After the uprising of the 17th June

The Secretary of the Writers’ Union

Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee

Stating that the people

Had forfeited the confidence of the government

And could win it back only

By redoubled efforts.

Would it not be easier

In that case for the government

To dissolve the people

And elect another?BB

St. David’sBack off, BFRAugust 15, 2006

Dear Sir,Message to Mike Marsh and all those people calling for a Referendum on Independence: Back off and let the idiots call an election and ask us to vote on Independence. As Kim Young said so eloquently, Bermudians are some of the most educated and rational people in the world... not likely to throw away something for nothing. Even Wayne Furbert, who previously supported Independence, has seen the value in European Union citizenship and understands the irresponsibility of taking that away from our children and grandchildren. If Walter Roban, Scott Simmons and the rest of the clowns in the circus want Independence — go down to that independent paradise known as Jamaica!SAM CLEMENS

Southampton