Airport problems

February 17, 2005

Dear Sir,

Once again we are hearing excuses for the delays at the Airport in the Immigration/Customs Hall. From what I heard on the newscast this week, the arrival of three flights ? Air Canada, American Airlines and Delta was the reason for the delay, while Customs Officers experienced computer glitches.

There is definitely a problem if in the slow season when flights are not even filled to capacity, passengers are still experiencing delays. Air Canada was the only flight that was almost full carrying 121 passengers of the 140 seat capacity, American Airlines carried 76 passengers of the 158 seat capacity, and Delta carried 68 passengers of the 150 seat capacity. So if all the Primary Immigration desks were occupied by Customs Officers, there?s no acceptable excuse for any delay.

Mrs. Winnifred Fostine-DeSilva made a statement in February, 2002 and I quote: ?By putting Customs Officers on the Primary Immigration counter, you only have to ask those questions one time. The process is therefore quicker.? She also stated that she believed interdiction will be improved instead of having Immigration and then Customs Officers at the airport, there will be two tiers of Customs Officers. This gives the interdiction officers She also felt that it would be more efficient in the long run.

In May, 2002 we saw a new line-up system introduced with the hopes of reducing the delays. Mrs. Fostine-DeSilva at that time stated: ?I wish to assure the public that corrective measures have been put in place to speed up the clearance of passengers through the airport controls.?

One year later in May, 2003, Transport Minister Ewart Brown said new measures should be introduced within weeks to reduce the lengthy passenger lines at the Bermuda International Airport. The Minister also said that a team of civil servants and from the ministries of Tourism and Finance was working on a solution as ?we have always had flights bunched as they are now, so it is not new.? With top level civil servants working on the problem, Minister Brown was confident they would find a solution in the next few weeks.

Almost two years after hearing that statement, we are still hearing the excuse that the arrival of three flights together resulted in a delay for passengers. I guess we can call the problem critical according to Minister Brown?s statement in May 2003, when he went on to say he personally would call the problem critical if a solution wasn?t found in the next few weeks.

Well ? it has been ninety-two weeks to be exact and we are still experiencing technical difficulties. I personally feel those top level civil servants need to be held accountable, for someone is not doing his/her job right.

After all, it was Mrs. Fostine-DeSilva who stated in a May 31, 2002 article that bottlenecks would always occur if flights landed all at once. This, in my view, is true only if all of the flights are full. For instance, four nearly empty flights in the slow season may not necessarily equate one full flight in peak season. Therefore, we can?t use the excuse of several flights arriving at once to be the cause for delays, especially since this is our slow season.

Exactly what is going on with management in the Customs Department? How much trial and error can we taxpayers afford? Remember, this whole operation was intended to be less costly and more efficient.

Can the Financial Secretary of the Ministry of Finance provide some answers?

Remembering Ossie

February 16, 2005

Dear Sir,

May I use some space to comment on the passing of Ossie Davis who has been eulogized in your paper and many others, these past few days. While his name is probably not as recognized as many actors, one gets a sense that he was well respected by his peers. This is seen when he was honoured last December at the Kennedy Center and the fact that Broadway dimmed their lights last week in honour of his passing.

I would like to recall a little piece of Bermuda history when Ossie Davis was the featured artist some 21 years ago. Mr. Davis had agreed to participate in a program called . This was a cultural celebration marking the 150th Anniversary of Emancipation, organised by the Anti-Apartheid Group in 1984. The event was planned as a fundraiser supporting efforts towards South African liberation.

The programme included a variety of local thespians , dancers and other artists; in a three-part programme.

The core of the programme included a skit written by Carlos Symonds which highlighted the Emancipation of 1834; Shangrila Durham Thompson and Rotimi Martins put together a skit marking the Theatre Boycott and Gene Harvey did a one-man piece on Dr. Gordon.

This core programme was interspersed with some wonderful contributions in both music and some spectacular dance, which brought together a wonderful presentation. It was so great, that when Ossie came on stage, he expressed the fact that he was ?flabbergasted?.

As a result he did an abbreviated version of the presentation he had planned. This was not only a testimony to the quality of performance that this group of Bermudians had offered, but the genuine humility that was evidently a part of Ossie Davis? character.

I know all of those who participated in Foundations ?84 have treasured that memory of their participation in that piece of history and the time they shared the stage with a giant, Ossie Davis.

A real solution

February 11, 2005

Dear Sir,

Thank you for this week?s stories of the island being overrun by gangs. I would have been none the wiser, since actual gang activity ? if these gangs even exist in the way you would have me imagine ? is almost nonexistent and nearly impossible to detect.

While many readers may be shocked to learn that the so-called gangs are dressing in secret clothes and flashing secret signs (it sounds as if we were talking about a Boy Scout Jamboree), I don?t buy it. I?m willing to bet that your newspaper is playing its part in a very tired routine: The one where the Police exaggerate reports of crime, so that you can sell more newspapers full of hyperbole. And in turn, the frightened public supports the decision to hire more Police officers and further restrict civil liberties. This time, 11 new officers are being hired to help combat the ?gang problem.?

While Police gang specialist Sgt. Arthur Glasford?s comment that I should not assume I am a victim of gang violence when I am mugged by a group of bandits on Court Street is comforting, it shows the Police bias against certain parts of the island. Combating gang problems will certainly continue the tradition of police profiling, and I?m sure we?ll see the Police sending more units into low-income areas full of people with darker skin tones.

Despite what Sgt. Glasford calls ?any real evidence? that drugs are almost the raison d?etre for gangs to exist, he feels certain that it?s the case. So let?s go along with him. It would seem to me that a lot of Bermudians must support the recreational use of drugs. How else to explain the vast sums of money to be made in the drug trade other than that the market is huge. Regular citizens, who are otherwise law-abiding, are willing to pay 300 percent more for marijuana than they would in North America ? and there isn?t even an import duty on weed! It is only a small but vocal minority of the public who are against the freedom for a person to choose what he or she puts into his or her own body. The rest of the people who accept recreational drugs are too busy finding them and working to pay for them to tell you about it.

Try as the police will to change things, drugs will always be available to people who want them, and to the majority of us. Look at the amount of money and resources the US have spent on the War Against Drugs, and look at the results. Do the police here think they can do better with their limited resources?

Rather than try to ?eradicate? drugs, which is unrealistic, the police and government should work together to educate the public and decriminalise them. This would be useful in many ways. It would halt the illicit trade of drugs and the drug money that is controlled by gangs would cease to exist. Taking away the lifeline of gangs is the first and best step we can take to eliminate them.

Additionally, the resources that are now being wasted fighting the drug trade could be allocated elsewhere. This would have to include a realistic education programme for youths about the real and potential dangers of drug use and overuse. These resources could also go towards setting up successful rehabilitation programmes rather than the ineffective ones currently in place. With the reductions in crime that would arise from taking thus first step, we would need fewer police, which is of course why this will not happen in the near future. The Police are the biggest gang of all on the Island, and they don?t want to give up any of their turf, either.