Dear Madam Minister, I did not have an opportunity to voice my views on the Green Paper on Permanent Residents at the meeting of September 7, 2000. I therefore wish to do so now in writing.

I am in favour of giving the long-term residents the vote. I am not in favour of allowing them to own land. I feel this is a reasonable restriction given Bermuda's size and land area.

I have no problem with the August 1989 cut-off of discretionary status grants.

It's a clear point in time when everyone forever after knows exactly what to expect and not expect.

I do have a problem with the parameters used to determine who is eligible to receive the residency permit. Specifically: 5.03.04 15 years in the Bermuda work force and 5.04.02 Status application for the long-term resident child.

5.03.04.1 This condition has the effect of splitting members of the same family into two groups. For example -- a family with two sons, both of whom arrived here on the same date and have been resident here for the same amount of time. One met this qualification because he was older and had less schooling here. The younger one does not meet the qualification because he is younger and therefore spent more time in school and less time working. This is patently unfair. I'm sure that this is not an isolated incident. The option offered as an alternative is clearly aimed at the older long-term resident who made a conscious choice to come here and stay here. Long-term resident children did not make that decision. It is as if they are being punished for a decision made by their parents.

5.04.02 What difference does it make if the child was six years or ten years or 15 years? They would have had no input into the decision to come to Bermuda to live. Once again, they came with their parents and should not be penalised for a decision made by their parents.

It is my opinion that the two conditions discussed above are unduly and unfairly punitive on a group of long-term residents who didn't task to be here and probably would have chosen otherwise if they had known the eventual outcome. I believe that there should be a distinction between these two categories of long-term residents. Furthermore, there is no avenue given for appeal or review of special circumstances. What happens if a long-term resident child who is working decides to further their education abroad? All but the very wealthy need to support themselves while in college. Will they be allowed back onto the island to work if they have no residency status? Where are they expected to go? Must they return to a country in which they were born but of which they know very little and where they probably could not survive? Do we expect an employer to pay $500.00 for a work permit so that they can work during school vacations? Do we just dust off our hands and say tough luck? I appreciate the fact that the Government must put the well-being of Bermudians first. However, since it has been made clear to everyone that came after 1989 that they cannot expect to remain in Bermuda after the expiration of their contract, the numbers are not increasing and we are dealing with a finite group of people. Their numbers will be gradually be decimated by death or by emigration. Some will marry Bermudians. Some of them will have children, some will not.

In closing, I feel that the long-term residents should be offered security of tenure without going all the way to granting status but I believe those who were brought here as minor children should not be held to the same criteria as long-term residents who came here by choice as adults.

MRS. CHARLOTTE TUCKER Time well spent September 13, 2000 Dear Sir, The Hamilton Lions Club recently held their charity Golf Tournament on August 26, 2000, at the Belmont Golf Club. It was the 4th Annual Ralph Ferguson Memorial Golf Tournament and all profits from the fees and other donations, totalling $8,750, were presented today to the St. John Ambulance Brigade and the Bermuda Junior Golf Association. The St. John Ambulance Brigade are using their money to purchase a Propack monitoring unit which is being supplied by Atlantic Medical, who ironically was the winning team in this year's event.

The Bermuda Junior Golf Association will use their money to sponsor golf training programmes for up to 400 youngsters. The event itself was a very successful and enjoyable day for all concerned, mainly due to the generous donations and/or prizes from the following companies and groups:- ACE Insurance; Aon Group (Bermuda) Ltd.; Bermuda Computer Services Ltd.; Somers Construction; Bank of Bermuda; Elbow Beach Resort; Universal Electric; John Barritt & Son Ltd.; Cable & Wireless; Gosling Brothers Ltd.; Frith's Liquors; XL Insurance; Atlantic Medical; BCM McAlpine; The Montgomery/Ferguson Family; Mr. Sandy Mitchell; Deloitte & Touche; Chubb Atlantic; Design Tech International; Meyer Travel; The Upstairs Golf & Tennis Shop; Franklin Travel; British American Insurance; CAPITAL G and MFS Investments; The MarketPlace; Soars & Son Grocery; Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute; Red Carpet Restaurant; Bacardi International; Argus Insurance; and especially Mr. Joe Repose and friends. We are extremely grateful to them all for their support of this very worthy endeavour, and look forward to next year's tournament.

EWEN MACLEAN Committee Chairman -- Golf Tournament Hamilton Lions Club Is this democracy? Dear Sir, I thought we lived in a democracy, where people have freedom of speech.

However, it appears we do not and this Island, under the PLP Government, is veering dangerously towards a dictatorship. The recent Government-sponsored meeting for long-term residents proves my point.

I believe there were numerous militant union members attending this "open'' meeting, who did everything they could to intimidate, terrorize and bully the white people present. These loud-mouthed bullies are, no doubt, PLP supporters who (if they were honest) would admit that they want all white people to leave this Island. Unfortunately, they are not yet in a position to threaten the white Bermudians, but they are powerful enough (or loud-mouthed enough) to threaten and intimidate the Portuguese community, who presently have no rights here. The Portuguese have always worked very hard, are very honest and really deserve to have citizenship after residing and working here for so many years.

Is this really what Bermuda is coming to? Are we going to be run by a bunch of thugs? Remember, these are the same militant union members who caused so much trouble in May, 1981, forcing the closure of all the hotels. I must remind them that the hotels have never recovered since that infamous day. Life has a funny way of teaching us lessons and I doubt whether, in May 1981, the union members could have envisaged the closure of approximately 59 properties.

Believe me, the Portuguese people will have the last laugh. If this is what we all have to look forward to -- no freedom of speech, thugs intimidating people with no rights, murderers getting off scott-free, no one with any values will even want to stay in Bermuda. The thugs will have what is left all to themselves.

JUST WAITING A satisfied customer September 13, 2000 Dear Sir, I would just like to take time to say thank you in a very big way to three establishments in the City of Hamilton for their kind and friendly service towards their customers.

They are: The People's Pharmacy, on Victoria Street, True Reflections, on the corner of Reid and Parliament Streets, and Revelation Clothing Boutique, on the corner of Reid and Court Streets. They are truly an asset to the community and a blessing to Bermuda.

I wish them all well and I look forward to their services in the future.

QUEENY REID Pembroke Three cheers for Sir John September 19, 2000 Dear Sir, On behalf of all of those business leaders that had the opportunity to listen to one of America's greatest assets, General Colin Powell, I would like through the medium of your newspaper, to publicly thank Sir John Swan for exemplifying the very best in public service and social responsibility.

Those of us who listened to General Colin Powell's speech were deeply moved by his dual message -- the message embodied in his personal journey and the message of social responsibility which reflects the highest tradition of service.

Thank you for giving Bermuda this gift.

LYNDA MILLIGAN-WHYTE A stacked deck September 17, 2000 Dear Sir, The outcome of the scheduled meetings to discuss the long-term residents' issues was very predictable.

This was like the Nazi Fascist Brown shirts inviting the Jews to a meeting in a Munich beer hall, to discuss having their windows broken during the infamous "KRISTAL NACHT''.

Surely the format should have been a meeting open only to long-term residents, one open only to Bermudians and one open to everyone.

That is assuming the Minister was serious about getting input from all concerned.

When one has an organiser, a so-called `Political Activist' who in reality is an embittered social misfit, with a criminal background being treated by the media as the coming of the new messiah, then God help us all.

These meetings were a stacked deck to prevent the democratic process taking place.

LIBRA Hamilton