Small minded

June 1, 2004

Dear Sir,

Mean spirited - that is my view of the decision to exclude bronze-medalist Clarence Hill from our Hall of Fame.

Disgusting! Imagine, sitting in judgment of a world-class achiever simply because he, subsequent to winning the bronze medal, had problems. This was a small, narrow-minded decision if ever I heard of one. How can that crowd have possibly omitted Arnold Woolard from the group? Arnold was the first to enter the English professional football ranks from Bermuda. I ask you, when are we ever going to open our hearts and minds to our people with some level of generosity and stop playing God? We are a small place. We do not need to emphasise the fact by being small minded, do we?

Clarence and Arnold should be in! It would do us all good for a reversal of a poor decision to be made without delay.

Wishful thinking?

WILLIAM LUSHER

Pembroke

Pure incompetence

June 9, 2004

Dear Sir,

After months of what must have been pure agony, a 48-year-old man accused of indecent exposure in Paget has been found to have “no case to answer”. I sincerely hope that he will be fully compensated financially for all damage done to his mental health, reputation and career, not to mention his bank account. The Police and prosecution services are obviously incompetent.

It would be interesting to know how many times there has been “no case to answer” in local courts over the past 12 months, and the cost of such incompetence to the taxpayer.

Y BOTHER

City of Hamilton

Caricom omission

June 6, 2004

Dear Sir,

I'm catching up on my writing on the following: While out of the Island and reading their newspapers, I read an advertisement headline stating the list name of ‘Islands of Paradise' that people should visit. Immediately I looked to see Bermuda's name, but it was not there!

Here are the list of names: Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, Curacao, Bonaire, the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos, Dominican Republic and Haiti.

That list forms the ‘Caricom basin' and Bermuda paid thousands of dollars to join that basin but is not included in their list! Was that some halfway deal that Bermuda agreed to? Years ago many Bermudians were insulted if their Island were thought of as part of the Caribbean Islands, but now they have joined them (but not advertised with them as a Paradise Island) something is wrong here! Bermuda needs to get out of Caricom either before their contract ends (I guess there's a price to pay for that!) or do not renew the contract when it ends! Please note to Premier Alex Scott and followers, always remember you can be friends without joining the club.

THE SCALES OF JUSTICE!

Constitutional flaws

June 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

I would like to commend Mr. Calvin Smith on his balanced and well presented editorial in Wednesday's Royal Gazette. Over the last few months Mr. Smith and I have been at loggerheads over the best way for Bermudians to decide the issue of Independence, by a referendum or by a General Election. Mr. Smith's recent contribution to this debate covered almost all the bases and I would only add one thought. Yes, Mr. Smith is right when he says the issue of Independence is complex (what isn't these days), but the actual decision is really very simple. It is a “yes” or “no” question. You can't go one quarter, one half of even three quarters independent. You either go independent or you don't. This type of question is ideally suited to a referendum.

On the question of when to hold the referendum, that of course should rest with the Government of the day. If they feel that the referendum should be held at the same time as a General Election, then so be it. It would save costs and would likely improve the turnout that I can see is the unpredictability of a General Election date which would make it impossible for either side of the debate to meaningfully prepare for the referendum.

One the dangers in Bermuda is that we tend to stereotype people. Mr. Smith does this when he suggests that those who oppose Independence prefer a referendum. Statistically there may be some truth to that statement, yet the situation may not be quite as clear cut. I believe that there are many individuals like me who are a bit ambivalent about Independence but not necessarily opposed to it. I for one am not very happy with the recent tendency of Britain (as is its right) to impose obligations on Bermuda stemming from its membership in the EU. On the other hand I am very concerned about going independent with our current constitution which I feel is dysfunctional and flawed. The PLP Government has inherited this constitution, and rightfully so they are taking advantage of many of the loopholes in it, something the UBP also did. The most recent example is the dismissal of the motion by the Opposition concerning drug testing of politicians because it potentially involves a Government expense. Whether or not you agree with this motion, we all have to agree that restricting Opposition motions only to matters that do not have fiscal implications, makes the Opposition's role even more meaningless (if that is possible). It is yet another example of the huge flaw in our constitution which gives too much unbridled power to the executive, the office of Premier and the Cabinet. I would contend that one of the major reasons that Ms Jennifer Smith was removed from office as Premier was because she was able, under our constitution, to legitimately assume too much power and control. If the constitution had restricted or offset her power, I believe that she would likely still be Premier. In other words our dysfunctional constitution contributed to her downfall.

I believe that Independence is inevitable and that Bermuda has an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. The world is littered with nations that have failed their people when they went independent. One of the most important issues that we need to address before we go independent is our constitution for that will be the document that assures our future as a free and democratic nation. It may be tempting and enjoyable for the PLP to make the UBP suffer the torment and frustration of being the Opposition in a system that is totally skewed towards the government in power, a system created by the UBP themselves. On the other hand the PLP has the opportunity to create a truly meaningful legacy by restructuring our constitution in such a way that governments in the future will not only be held accountable by the people of Bermuda but will not be able to abuse the trust that is placed in them. Now that would be a legacy that we all could be proud of.

ALASTAIR MACDONALD

City of Hamilton

‘Not good enough'

May 20, 2004

Dear Sir,

May I commend ZBM and Gary Moreno for what they are trying to do, or at least what I think they are trying to do. I think they are trying to get Bermudians to think about issues apart from party politics and race, but that proved impossible!

It was disappointing that Dame Lois Brown Evans seemed to be so dismissive of the effort on the ground that only politics mattered. It is true that during the days of total and official segregation, and before the days of ‘party politics' black Bermudians were united by “movements” and changing leadership, that brought real change such as free education, the removal of government-sponsored segregation and, of course, universal franchise itself. But that was before the days of party politics and an extremely limited (and immovable) party hierarchy that became little tin gods that stifled and discouraged any real “peoples' movements” that were concerned about the welfare and condition of all black people.

If ‘politics' were as useful to the country as Dame Lois suggests we would have a very different and certainly far less divisive scenario. Sir John Swan, out of politics, is thinking more creatively (and realistically) wants to develop Front Street commercially, and recognised the waiting disaster if the have nots do not become haves, wants to provide opportunity for all kinds of people (and himself make money).

If party politics were really useful, this black Government would be saying, “white UBP Sir John Swan develops Front Street and makes more money for white businesses we will invest a few million and develop a black area, like North Hamilton and won't be jealous if some black capitalist minded blacks other than ourselves make some money. They might even encourage men like Mr. Duperreault of ACE to believe that developing an ethnically mixed/black area and pouring some money into more than a few black pockets might do far more for “togetherness” than “volunteerism”. Only the ‘haves' have time and psychic energy to volunteer anyway. It is just as much in the interest of “Bermuda” to develop a black area like North Hamilton as it is to develop Front Street.

The ‘have nots', the jobless, the discriminated against, the homeless and other frustrated black Bermudians have neither the time nor psychic energy to volunteer. Their minds are too filled with bitterness and anger at having placed their faith in “politics” and politicians who they see as being concerned only with their own status and ego and have no creative ideas at all about how to develop, and pour money into a black area like North Hamilton, or anywhere else. They are discovering that too many black politicians think like most whites that “blacks are not good enough” for that kind of investment and that kind of development.

EVA N. HODGSON

Crawl