Where is our money going?

August 15, 2004

Dear Sir,

It gave me great mental distress, the statement of this Mr. Scott that we, the seniors, should consider moving to countries suitable to our income. Where is our contribution to this country been spent? Is it in the areas i.e. first class travelling, luxurious hotel accommodation, large cars for the comfort of being seen, ?exorbitant entertainment? or is it Bermuda Housing Corporation, Berkeley School, among others too various to mention.

Please tell us lies so that we can be convinced of the next election.

Mr. Premier, be honest to us the PUBLIC.

Show moral leadership

August 15, 2004

Dear Sir,

Premier ?I am the man? Scott is trying to confuse the public once again with his statement, ?How can I hold someone guilty to a standard that doesn?t exist?? when trying to defend the BHC report of unethical behaviour between his Ministers and the BHC staff.

Mr. Scott, the definition of unethical is

1. not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behaviour

2. not adhering to ethical or moral principles

Ethical principles do exist ? they are our standards that have guided us for years to choose actions that are right and proper!

They are the moral values and principles that we teach our children.

It appears that his Government Ministers chose unethical behaviour for their personal financial gain and I don?t suppose this should come as a surprise when the PLP ?had to deceive? to be able to win the last election!

In other professions, people are disbarred and prevented from practising if their behaviour is found to be unethical e.g. doctors, lawyers, nurses, accountants, teachers etc. Why not politicians?

If Premier Scott doesn?t ?know if the former premier had such a report? that unethical practices took place between certain Government Ministers and certain BHC staff, why doesn?t he ask her!

Show some moral leadership, set a good example and name the culprits are and do the right and proper thing!

Unethical behaviour by Government ministers should have consequences. These people are taking our money, the people?s money for goodness sake! Perhaps they are the people to send to Costa Rica!

The buck stops with you Mr. Scott. You ?are the man?!

It?s all in the definitions

August 11, 2004

Dear Sir,

I just consulted my Collins English Dictionary for the meaning of ?unethical? to clarify the interpretation in my mind. Unfortunately, the word ?unethical? was not there, so I consulted the Thesaurus on my computer and it defines the word as, and I quote, ?Unprincipled; immoral; wrong; bad; unscrupulous; dishonourable; corrupt (corrupt also means; crooked; shady; and fraudulent), and depraved.?

Then I looked up the word ?illegal? and the Thesaurus defines that word as, ?Against the law; unlawful; prohibited; banned; illegitimate; illicit; dishonest and criminal.? If you look at the meaning of these two words, you will find that there is a very ultra fine line between the two. One says dishonourable, and the other says dishonest. One says corrupt, and the other says criminal. In my book, unethical and illegal are pretty much one in the same no matter what kind of brush you try to paint it with.

If we have elected government Ministers who are unethical, it means that we have unprincipled, immoral, wrong, bad, unscrupulous, dishonourable, corrupt and depraved people sitting in the ?Honourable House,? with the title ?The Honourable Minister,? supposedly looking after our affairs. What a laugh!

The Bermuda public should be up in arms over this disgraceful situation and demand the heads of the guilty ones. In fact, Premier Alex Scott should have asked for the resignation of these so called ?honourable? ministers a long time ago. The story in today?s Royal Gazette smells of a cover-up and a cop out . It clearly shows that the buck has been passed once again and we the public are left standing with our mouths hanging open in disbelief!

The article also states: ?The police said yesterday that evidence gathered over the past two years was not enough under existing legislation ? legislation which is nearly 100 years old ? to accuse many of anything other than bad ethics in a scandal involving public funds which ran into the millions!

When the PLP won the government in 1998, a lot of people, including myself ( I voted for them) were happy for the change in government, and had great expectations, but the PLP Government has since ? which proven time and time again, that they are not fit or equipped to govern Bermuda! But I guess we do have to count our blessings and that blessing is to thank God that they were not governing Bermuda for the past 36 years, because if they had been, today we would be another Haiti!

I have lost complete faith in this government, and in talking to people, PLP supporters and such, too many of them feel as I do. They feel that the PLP cannot be trusted and that too many of them are only there to serve themselves. Their track record speaks for itself. And for those blind supporters, I guess they see what they want to see, and hear what they want to hear... then there are those who cannot see, hear or think for themselves, who believe everything they are told.

Now under the leadership of Dr. Grant Gibbons, I have found the ?New UBP? has a completely different outlook on governing ? they are for the people, and believe in ethical behaviour, transparency and integrity.

the time has come for Bermudians to take back this country before it is too late. We need to restore some sense of community, unity, brotherhood, respect, principles and whatever else it takes to make a place fit to bring up children and to live in. If we do not, we can kiss Bermuda goodbye.

On another note, with all this talk about Independence, rest assured this is only so that these so-called unethical ?honourable? ministers can get complete control of the whole island and live like kings. This independence is not for you, and it is not for me. It is for the unethical ones!

In closing, the public has a right to know, and should demand to know, who these corrupt, past and sitting members of the Honourable House are and if the right thing is done, the Governor and the Auditor General will make sure that the information regarding Government officials is passed on to the Premier.

The outcome of this BHC scandal (this corrupt/unethical behaviour), is not good enough and is definitely not acceptable. This is a very explosive situation and if these corrupt/unethical culprits are not named, it very well could become more explosive.

Lacking in national pride

July 27, 2004

Dear Sir,

Recently the Premier noted the different nationalities in Bermuda and how their first loyalty and sense of pride was to their country of origin be it the UK, Canada, the Azores, the Philippines, Jamaica, etc. He was probably more aware of this because of the recent Portuguese demonstration at the recent victory during Euro 2004.

But he could also be aware of it if he listened to the Jamaicans on the talk shows, or recalls the lovely floats and parades put on by the Filipinos and others on May 24.

The Premier seemed to be suggesting that ?Independence? would turn this national pride of all these different nationalities towards Bermuda! The question is where are the Bermudians? Bermuda born for many generations?

The Bermudian has been told that we need all of these different nationalities because the Bermudian is not good enough and all of these late arrivals are led to believe that they are here because they are superior to Bermudians. How can Bermudians have pride in Bermuda, if they are indoctrinated with the concept that Bermudians themselves are so inferior and must always look to ?foreign experts? to solve our problems and fill the most significant roles, even when Bermudians are equally qualified (including the role held by the controversial Mr. Ahad ).

National pride is probably in the mother?s milk. But most Bermudians, that is black Bermudians, over the age of sixty spent their first twenty years (and more if they are older) feeling shame and embarrassment at being Bermudian because that is when they were segregated, humiliated and made second class. There are still quite a few of us left even if we are dying out. Few changes have come and the support given to the documentary ?When Voices Rise?, showing the process indicated the satisfaction and even pride which it gave many Black Bermudians.

But even today there is enough of the past with us that many can find no pride in being Bermudian. Certainly the homeless and those on what is minimum wage can have no pride in being Bermudian when they hear how high our average income is knowing that they are primarily non-Bermudian workers who have those high incomes.

We all know Bermuda is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and when we see on TV the slaughter and devastation in other parts of the world we recognise that we are blessed. But it is still difficult to work up national pride when we see that they are expatriates or non-Bermudians who are enjoying the cream of our economy and the best that Bermuda has to offer because we have built an economy for expatriates rather than Bermudians.

However, having said all of that, I remember November, 1998. I recall the euphoria, the sheer joy and yes the unanimity of the expressions of pride. So much so that even the UBP and many whites had a sense of tolerance and even shared in the sense of hope. In less than two years it had all evaporated and disillusionment had begun to set in a community that could have been inspired to do almost anything, meet any challenge, solve any problem, even to take pride in and show responsibility in their daily tasks, was bitterly divided, disillusioned and mired in all of the social problems and no imaginative leadership addressing any of them.

?Independence? even for those who believe that it will usher in the Millennium, cannot be greeted with any more euphoria, joy, hope and promise that was the PLP victory in November, 1998 and it will evaporate just as quickly with the same kind of self involved, selfish and bitterly divisive leadership.

It is also worth noting that it was a woman who was invested with all of the peoples high hopes and promise, a woman who appointed as many women as possible.

While it may be well to have more women in politics it is far more important to call for integrity and selflessness and humility in our politicians, be they men or women, and ?Independence? is no more likely to give us men and women of integrity and compassion, if we do not find them or develop them before ?Independence?.