Where BBC fails

January 29, 2009

Dear Sir,

This is in response to the letter writer Bermudian Supporter who took issue with my comments and support for Cablevision. You make a valid point of sorts but let's look at the other side of the argument.

First, CableVision is a business and presumably you will accept that they should be allowed to pursue a profit. Second, they offer tiered programming – albeit not quite as a la carte as many of us would like – and that's part of the way they can make a profit. Third, they cater to very diverse interests and although I, like you, am not interested in religious or cartoon programming or programmes in a foreign language, there are many (I assume) who are interested. Lastly, I made the point that if BBC was banking on the marketability of their CBS and ABC programming they may have a real good argument – if they are not, and I don't think they really stand a snowball's chance in hell of retaining those rights if they go bust – their idea of local productions is not worth much.

You mention local programming. We have VSB; we have a Government station that spends millions on local programming that no one watches; we have Fresh TV; we have three local newspapers, about six local radio stations; and, in addition, there are numerous channels carried free on Cablevision which promote various resources in Bermuda. What local programming does BBC provide other than local news, which in my opinion is a joke?

You mention local jobs. Very admirable, but in light of all the other arguments, I think that pales into the background. How many qualified people are we talking about? No doubt the CITV can pick them up if they are so valuable.

I'll emphasise one more point. CITV is a taxpayer paid for station. A public broadcaster. Is there something wrong with that station picking up any slack from a dead BBC? Let them buy the CBS and ABC rights – then you truly will be paying for what you want.

JUNIOR CLUB ALUM

Southampton

Scrutinise dump trucks

January 31, 2009

Dear Sir,

I address this letter to Junior Transport Minister, Sen. Marc Bean.

Thank you for seeing sense in the taxi dispute by allowing TCD to license taxis with or without working GPS.

It is regrettable that Minister Dr. Ewart Brown did not involve himself directly. (Maybe he did not want to admit fault).

However, Sen. Bean your work is not finished yet. The truck issue is still unresolved. The illegal use of trailer dump trucks is continuing to put small trucks under pressure. As you admitted "I am not confident we are on firm legal ground with regard to the Motor Car Act", regarding the taxi issue, perhaps you can scrutinise the Act regarding the use of trailer dump trucks. They are only supposed to be used to carry loads that cannot be carried in a regular truck.

If you consider this matter, thank you.

FEELING THE PINCH

Smith's

Union has vendetta

January 27, 2009

Dear Sir,

I write in response to the Saturday front page article "BPSU angered at Premier's secretary's treatment". Is the Bermuda Public Services Union trying to impress its members by calling a membership meeting? It would be interesting to hear the other side of the story to at least have an accurate account of the matter. We have already seen Mr. Armell Thomas retract previous comments he made about another matter and offer an apology for his outburst at that time.

The President and the General Secretary of the BPSU need to sit down and have an open and honest discussion about why the Union is allegedly being disrespected. The Union should look in the mirror and they'll see where the problem lies. It didn't just begin with the Tourism workers in New York or the Premier's secretary, so why the adrenaline rush now?

Research of previous newspaper articles leads me to believe that the BPSU obviously has a vendetta against Premier Ewart Brown. It amazes me that in some instances they are silent, yet in other instances they are quite vocal. They should, perhaps, quit while they're ahead.

That's all for now…

GETA LIFE

Devonshire

Let's move forward

January 28, 2009

Dear Sir,

I would be utterly surprised if this is the only letter you receive in relation to Eva Hodgson's letter that appeared in your January 28 edition.

I have felt compelled on a number of occasions to respond to letters by Ms. Hodgson but have refrained due to the fact I don't believe her letters deserved any response. The views that she portrays in each of her letters, in particular the latest one (January 28) is nothing short of absolutely appalling.

The main problem in Bermuda lies with the racial divide. This isn't a term I endear to, but one I feel appropriate given the position of Bermuda presently, and in the past. While I would question the moral being of anyone who believes that the events of our past in how the "Whites" treated the "Blacks" weren't horrendous, it is more important for everyone in this day and age to move forward together and build a future together.

Comments and letters of the sort Dr. Hodgson continuously writes only have an unconstructive impact on the whole situation and incite further anger and resentment amongst the community. If we were to dwell on every atrocious event in our pasts we would still be living in the middle ages. It is time to stop the racism and move as one towards an ultimate goal where the more important issues facing us today are addressed.

I have never known a country so small and divided due to the colour of one's skin. Peggy Cooper's recent letter to the Gazette summed it up perfectly when she asked someone in the Caymans what the black/white ratio was and was looked at like she had two heads. For a country so well advanced in the world in so many areas we are so far behind in the ones that matter and it is an embarrassment.

My suggestion to Eva Hodgson and the others with the same opinions is to put an end to your negative outlook and strive for something greater. Yes, the black community suffered inexplicably in the past, but so did the Jewish community, so did the Irish community. So did many other races and cultures.

Barack Obama, a mixed race human being, has the support of the whole world behind him not because of what he aspires for some of us, but for what he aspires for all of us.

Hatred breeds hatred.

RDK

Dublin, Ireland

Profit drives beach bar

January 29, 2009

Dear Sir,

Let's be clear about the real reason why Mr. Belcario Thomas wants to build a beach bar at Warwick Long Bay: it is so that Mr. Belcario Thomas can make money out of his truly misguided venture. Whoever else might make money from the business is a moot (but not necessarily unrelated) point. But be in no doubt that this is nothing more nor less than a commercial enterprise from which Mr. Thomas hopes to benefit financially.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with "environmental sustainability", as the Minister for the Environment has claimed. It has even less to do with the "minimal environmental footprint" that Mr. Thomas claims it will have (and which, by the way, it will not have; the noxious environmental impact of the restaurant will be felt the length and breadth of Warwick Long Bay and adjoining stretches of beach and dune habitats to the west of the site). These claims are smoke screens to disguise the clear and simple fact that this is a private commercial venture designed to make money for the operator by exploiting the natural beauty of the surrounding beach environment which is public property. And who is really fooled by these nonsensical claims? Some squirrel fish swimming around North Rock, perhaps, but I doubt they fool anyone else.

The Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) has made a legal challenge against the Ministry of the Environment's decision to allow this project to go ahead. That action is extremely important for various reasons but for one in particular, namely, that (whether it states as much or not) it challenges the legal right of a Government Ministry to establish the precedent of allowing a commercial, for profit business to set up premises on a National Park. Whatever the legal merits of the challenge, the public (and I emphasise, public, meaning "of the people" land in National Parks should be inviolate and never, ever be allowed to be used for the commercial gain of a private business or enterprise.

One supporter of the project wrote recently in your august organ that if Horseshoe Bay could be commercialised the way it is, why can't Warwick Long Bay? (He – or she – also said the beach restaurant would benefit Warwick Long Bay because it was a rather "dead" beach, which reveals his – or her – ignorance about the very nature of the life of our environment which gives life to each and every one of us on the planet. I would contend that Mr Belcario Thomas's beach restaurant would kill, not give life to Warwick Long Bay.)

Horseshoe Bay must never be used as a precedent to argue in favour of a beach restaurant at Warwick Long Bay. Why not? Because it could then logically be used as a precedent to argue for a beach restaurant or bar or night club or any other commercial abomination at Church Bay or John Smith's Bay or whatever bay or beach in Bermuda you care to name. (I'll bet ten gwellies to your one porgy that you'll never see any such commercial development at Grape Bay where a lot of very wealthy and influential people have their homes. Ditto Tucker's Town beach.)

Horseshoe Bay is done; it's there; and that's that. But it does not constitute a legal precedent for allowing any other development along any other stretch of Bermuda's coastline, in the name of "sustainability" or tourism or Bermuda's economic wellbeing or for any other specious reason the Government claims is in the best interest of the people of Bermuda. Each precedent strengthens the argument for a new venture ... and another, and another.

When does it all stop? Where do we draw the line and state emphatically that enough's enough? The profit motive of commercial interests exemplified by Mr. Belcario Thomas's project must not be allowed to destroy any more of Bermuda's public natural environment which, I'm convinced, the vast majority of the people of Bermuda, and its visitors, appreciate infinitely more than a noxious and offensively positioned beach bar restaurant.

GRAHAM FAIELLA

London, UK