Dear Sir, It was sickening to read the headlines in yesterday's Royal Gazette , `Bigger cars for Bermuda.' What on earth is the new Government thinking about? Traffic congestion is one of our worst and ongoing problems, and larger cars can only make it worse. Safety measures, my foot! Why were the bigger cars allowed in the first place, if they had to have their bumpers removed to fit into the legal measurements? This is the thin edge of the wedge, now even bigger cars will be imported, and have their bumpers removed, until some bright spark decides that the bumpers should be allowed, as a safety measure.

What will happen on the roads that are already too narrow for the present cars? And what about parking bays? Are they going to be made bigger to accommodate the larger vehicles? It will be interesting to see if Government has broken its own laws by ordering oversized Peugeots, or whatever.

This disastrous decision is just another reason to get very nervous about where we are headed. I suppose the next step will be to increase the size and power of motorbikes. They are the ones that cause accidents with wild antics and speeding, not the bumperless cars.

Let us hope that there are enough people in Bermuda who care about our Island, and who will stick to the smaller more suitable vehicles. There are dozens of smart small cars on the market. It is irresponsible and unnecessary to import larger models.

E. RABEN Web site is damaging February 7, 2000 Dear Sir, While reading the `Electronic Telegraph' (Daily Telegraph) on the Internet on Saturday (5th February). I was interested to see an article headlined: `Bermuda bans Pinochet stopover.' Always intrigued when our little homeland is featured by the world's press, I opened the article and read it. The article quoted Minister Cox's decision and then went on at some length about the Pinochet situation. Now, the Electronic Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk) helpfully provides links to other relevant sites and one such link attached to this article was entitled `Bermuda Government'. Ah, I think to myself, my Government has finally got itself a website -- well done Renee. So I click on this link expecting (as anyone elsewhere in the world might) to be connected to the official Bermuda Government website, right? Wrong! What I got was a connection to the peculiarly inane ramblings of someone called Keith Archibald Forbes.

The site (www.Bermuda-online.org) starts off with a description of the Government, including profiles of some Cabinet Ministers, but written in the most peculiar and ungrammatical phraseology. For example, did you know that Jennifer Smith "...was Editor of the Bermuda Recorder until it was sold in the early 1970s (sic) to Sir John Swan and later died when it was taken over by another group.'' Poor Jennifer. I know the Government's been accused of being a bit non-communicative, but I thought we would have heard about our Premier's demise. Perhaps, as with Mark Twain, reports of her passing are greatly exaggerated.

Elsewhere in this odd Web site, we are told helpfully of our Cabinet Ministers that "They are Ministers because they `administer' these Ministries.'' Further, we learn that `The Department of Tourism is the biggest single beneficiary of tourism.'' So that's where all those tourism dollars go. That must be news to David Allen.

After this rather odd description of our various Ministries, we are then treated to Mr. Forbes' own opinions as to how our Government is doing. Not very well according to Mr. F! He is extremely critical of such things as Land Tax hikes and various other expenses. In fact, he is so critical of so many different aspects of this country and its Government, that I would be surprised if anyone reading this site would ever want to visit us, let alone set up business here.

Is this really what we want as the official Web site for Bermuda? I hardly think so. In fact, I believe the linking of this absurd site to an important news organ such as the Electronic Telegraph may do (or indeed has already done) untold damage to Bermuda's reputation in the eyes of the world.

What's really remarkable though, is that whereas the copy is written by Mr.

Forbes, the site is apparently the property of none other than The Royal Gazette! I believe the Gazette must take the lead on this and disassociate itself from this badly written and very anti-Bermudian site as soon as possible. Further, the Government must quickly move to ensure that anyone clicking on a site entitled `Bermuda Government' should be able to reach an `official' Government site and not the discontented and demented ramblings of some individual who has the temerity to think he speaks for all Bermudians.

JACK A. RANDA Principal is a fighter February 8, 2000 Dear Sir, In light of the recent publicity in the media concerning The Victor Scott School and our principal, Mrs. Esme Trott, I find it necessary to express my opinion.

Mrs. Trott is a compassionate and caring Principal who is always available and listens to parents when they have a concern. At the end of September, 1999 during the Meet the Teacher night, I was appalled and disturbed after hearing the plan for the school year from my child's teacher, who was a New teacher to the school. The very next morning, I telephoned and followed through with a two paged memo to Mrs. Trott, about the situation. Mrs. Trott said she would let the teacher see the memo and set up a meeting with the teacher, my husband and myself to try to sort this matter out. She offered and did go into the classroom on several occasions to see what she could do to address this matter.

Homework started to come, however, to this date I have never seen it returned marked or graded. On my scheduled teacher/parent conference which was supposed to be held before the end of November, I attended only to be told that the teacher was out sick; the appointment has never been rescheduled, and the next thing that I heard was that the teacher would not be back until January, 2000.

On January 9, 2000, while the teacher is still "out on sick leave'', my husband and I saw the `so called' teacher "bartending'' in a local restaurant. Shortly after this the principal informed the parents that he had resigned.

The substitute teacher, who is a retiree and an excellent teacher, has agreed to stay with this class because she loves and cares about our children and wants them to get the education that they need. In the time that this teacher has been with the children there is a remarkable difference in their work progress.

Another new teacher at our school, who is also the spouse of the teacher found working as a bartender, seemed to follow this same pattern. On talking with one of the parents in this class, she reported how her son came home crying because he thought his teacher didn't like them because she is at school for a few days and then gone. She hasn't been to school since last year. Since which she has also resigned. Also there is a third teacher that has resigned.

These students at Victor Scott who are in these classes are definitely affected. My daughter although an `A' student became very lax in her attitude when this teacher was there. If you have a teacher that is for the children and behind them along with parental support they will succeed.

There are teachers and substitutes at the Victor Scott that are excellent and are doing their job with excellent results.

As parents we cannot figure out what the dispute or grievances could be against the principal. We do know, however, that the majority forming this group are new teachers to our school. The `sick outs' staged by these teachers do not show their concern for our children's education. Some of the students that will be leaving for middle school cannot afford to have such inconsistencies with their teacher away so much of the time and in some cases the unfairness to the other teachers having to double up as substitute teachers are not very plentiful.

Our principal is for the children. From the time Mrs. Trott started at Victor Scott, she has always been a fighter to get the best for our children. When she came to the school, the library was deplorable, the books fit for the dump. She has fought to get funds to purchase books and furniture for the school and has taken an active part in whatever the P.T.A. does to raise funds for the school. The principal and most staff work together to instil pride and respect in our children. She initiated the new uniform with the school sweater and necktie. You can always hear her telling the students "when you look good, you tend to act that way''. Mrs. Trott can be found in the classrooms and when she sees that the teacher is not managing his or her class, steps in and tries to help or offer suggestions. Her idea is that every teacher is accountable as she is accountable to parents to ensure the education of their children and for the smooth running of the school. She is only doing her job.

The principal and many of us as parents and teachers are God-fearing people.

We do know that prayer changes things and we want to give all honour to God who is our Victory! MRS. ANDREA PITCHER A Very Proud Parent of a Student At The Victor Scott School