If Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb worked for any other company other than the PLP Government, she would be fired on the spot for racial disrimination.

She is hurting Bermuda and its people. Why? By violating every human being's right here in Bermuda. I would strongly implore her to get a copy of the Bermuda Constitution and Human Rights Legislation books. They clearly state what she is doing is illegal ! I want to know that the job I hold is not because of the colour of my skin, but because I earned it, because I worked my heart and soul out to educate myself for that right and that position. I most certainly do believe in equal opportunity for all. Not just for black Bermudians, what about the white Bermudians and all other races who are Bermudian or have Bermuda Status? Stop this racism in Bermuda; it has been very badly overplayed. This is not what we want for our country and for the outside world to believe of us. As the old saying goes, "if the abuse does not stop at home'' it will be carried on for generations to come.

I think it is best to educate ourselves out of racism instead of taking ourselves back in time and not allowing us to move forward like we should.

BLACK BERMUDIAN WOMAN Well done CableVision Dear Sir, Thank you for the use of this section of the Gazette. I would like to express my thanks to Bermuda CableVision for the new shows... especially: Channel 41 Fox Channel 43 Speedvision. I am sure all Bermuda motor sports fans join me in my thanks. Since the local programmes seem unable to cope, find the programmes for this channel at www.speedvision.com on the Internet.

Channel 47 Great stuff National Geographic.

Channel 49 Travel the world in your armchair.

Thank you Bermuda CableVision! JOHN MCGILL Paget Cut to the quick March 28, 2001 Dear Sir, I am shocked at the desecration on Marsh Folly Road between the Stadium, St.

John's Sunday School and the graveyard. The Public Works has gone along and absolutely mutilated trees, hedgerow and shrubbery on both sides of the road.

On the northern side the view certainly cannot be considered spectacular and yet everything has been mutilated within a couple of feet from the ground be it hedge or tree.

On the southern side some of the large trees including a huge almond tree have been cut down opening up an area, for what purpose is beyond me. These trees were completely harmless as neither bus nor container truck would pass along this section of the Railway Trail. Furthermore I would have thought that they would have been a great shelter and windbreak for the softball players etc.

The vegetation on both sides of the road has just been pushed further into the shrubbery leaving a real mess behind for the public to see.

One has the impression that these men have had no training whatsoever in the way of pruning as everything would not have been slashed the way it was. Also, half of a few trees have been left but the cut has been straight rather than at an angle to allow the water to run off.

Another heartbreaking mutilation was the lovely old poinciana at the junction of Pitts Bay, Fairylands and Serpentine Roads. This has now been pruned so low that if it should recover the new branches will be too low to be allowed to grow. The height of the previous pruning had been perfect. For what purpose was this extra pruning done? The tree is in no one's way as you have to go beyond it to be able to see traffic.

On the other hand, Public Works has done a fabulous job on St. John's Road.

Congratulations!! Perhaps the pruning department should go back to the Department of Agriculture where I believe it belongs.

MRS. JOHN PHILLIPS Pembroke Deserved congratulations March 27, 2001 Dear Sir, Hearty congratulations to Mr. Leighton Rochester. He is the first Bermudian to be short-listed as a candidate for the position of Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

He has recently returned from an interview in Trinidad. This is the first lap of the race. If he continues in the process and is successful, his responsibilities will involve management of approximately 350 employees from 54 countries and much world travel.

Leighton has so far had a remarkable career in journalism, also in radio and television news broadcasting. Also, he has degrees in International Relations and Law. He is currently employed as a Crown counsel in the Attorney General's Office.

I first met Leighton when I taught at the St. George's Secondary School where he was a student. He was (like many who were at this school) definitely grammar school material. However even as a teen he was eloquent of speech, of distinctive personal character with an inquiring mind and vivid imagination and yet a humble person.

Fellow students remember him because of interesting episodes at the school which gave us all the impression that he would reach great heights and embrace wide horizons.

Here is a man who has the propensity to achieve greatness.

ELOISE TROTT DZOFONOO Devonshire Some irritating things March 28, 2001 Dear Sir, After a brief repose, I put pen to paper again, as I now find quite a number of totally irritating local things, which have wakened me from my contented slumber. Good grief, I say, to the following: Good grief! The Premier and her benchmen want the taxpayer to fork out half a million dollars to protect her! From what? Why doesn't she spend the money on protecting us from the never-ending bag snatchers, house breakers, knife stabbers, etc.

Good grief! Well done, W&E Dept. What a lovely lake you've created at the road-widening effort at the exit to the Quarry at Bailey's Bay! A once, pretty winding piece of Bermuda road now floods to the point of one-way traffic only -- which genius came up with this engineering marvel? Probably the same one who constructed the new traffic maze at the Swizzle Inn junction, now topped with a set of traffic lights for tourists to cross the road! Go! Ho! Ever heard of a pedestrian crossing? Good grief! You hiked up the price of cigarettes, wine, taxing the old jalopy, leaving the country, etc., but what about something for us seniors? We love our free bus rides but how about something practical, like an increase in our pathetic pensions? Good grief! David Allen continues to spend money like water on his beautiful jaunts, like to Spain! Good night, we're going to be knee-deep in Spanish tourists. When will the public opinion rise and put an end to the Don Quixote meanderings of this man? Good grief! CableVision gets worse and worse. Missing blank channels, a weather report that is virtually illegible, gives out no information and expects one to be a computer-literate, scientific, meteorological genius. Go back and tell me what tomorrow's weather will bring. Charts, funny floppy flags -- none of this I understand.

Good grief! The Premier has a P.R. man at $100,000 a year. What's wrong with just going on TV, going to the Press, going to public meetings and explaining what you're going to do. Why do we, the taxpayers, have to pay so much for your refusal to talk to us. The bottomless barrel of money does, indeed, have a bottom and we must be getting close.

GOOD GRIEF St. George's BIU should be concerned The following letter was written to Bermuda Industrial Union President Derrick Burgess and copied to The Royal Gazette.

March 27, 2001 Dear Sir, As a Bermudian, I am concerned, as should you, with the recent news of Cable & Wireless' endless effort to re-establish Quantum as a local business. This news raises quite a few questions that should be addressed and more so, information that must be investigated by your company.

Cable and Wireless (C&W) is an international company, providing Bermuda with international telecommunications. It was once a monopoly in Bermuda until TeleBermuda entered the market as a competitor. C&W, a Class Z Carrier, is seeking to buy a company with a very broad licence. Many see this as a backdoor manoeuvre into areas of the industry for which they are not currently permitted to operate. To allow C&W these licences, through Quantum's acquisition, would allow the company to operate under a licence without having to go through the necessary hearings and scrutiny that other carriers have passed.

Both TBI and C&W wholesale bandwidth to ISP's in Bermuda at considerable margin. To allow the Class Z carriers to compete with the Class Cs in the value-add space will be tantamount to signing a death warrant for the smaller local companies who will be forced out of business as the Class A carrier's arbitrage their bandwidth advantage.

So, why am I writing this to you? If I was in your position I would be extremely concerned with a significant number of potential jobs that can be lost for unionised workers. Cable & Wireless does not recognise a union and it already outsources its Help Desk. Its Marketing and Product Development begin in overseas offices (Cayman Islands and Barbados). This is likely to be replicated in Quantum and it is less likely that the union will be recognised within Quantum.

The very real concern, of course, is the potential loss of jobs at the Bermuda Telephone Company when Quantum, a direct competitor to BTC, begins operation.

Once again it appears that C&W is seeking to monopolize areas of telecommunications, at the expense of the survival of local companies, such as NorthRock Communications and Cellular One and their Bermudian employees. It is my hope that you will be able to make some representation to the appropriate Government authorities to voice these community concerns in an effort to halt the C&W unconditional acquisition of Quantum.

CONCERN ABOUT BERMUDIANS