Free from what exactly?

March 12, 2004

Dear Sir,

We are free at last!

We have Independence, nationhood, self-pride!

We have a President-for-Life! He lives in Government House.

We have ambassadors around the world ? all living high on the hog.

Most of the big companies have left, hotels are mostly empty ? closed down!

Our housing problem is resolved ? squatters have moved into empty hotels and office buildings. But ?they have running water, nice views and electricity.

Most of us Bermudians have lost our homes, unable to pay our mortgages. Nobody to rent our homes. The foreigners have left ? no jobs. We have a hugh national debt.

Most of the white Bermudians have left ? can't blame them. Nobody would listen to them prior us getting our freedom. On reflection, they were the pulse behind our economy.

All we had to do was take a look at Haiti ? Caribbean Islands. All have black rule ? Free at last! ? poverty, crime, anarchy!

What is this Independence all about?

I blame the white man!

Silly us!

Three good reasons

March 12, 2004

Dear Sir,

In reading the articles from authors that oppose Independence for Bermuda I have yet to read any valid reasons as to why Bermuda should not become an independent nation.

What follows are my views as to why Bermuda should seek Independence. According to our Constitution there are three items that make us a dependent territory and I will address Independence from that perspective:

Internal Security ? While Great Britain, on paper, has responsibility for internal security we manage and pay the cost for it. Therefore, what purpose does Great Britain serve in this regard? I may be have been very young at the time of the Island-wide riots but one thing that has stuck with me is the fact that Britain sent troops to assist with putting an end to the riots and than after the fact they send a bill to the Bermuda Government for the services rendered. If Great Britain is responsible for internal security should it not provide the services as its duty?

External Affairs ? Even though this is supposedly the responsibility of Great Britain our Government is able to negotiate on our behalf and then seek a sign-off from the British Government, who will only sign-off if it does not negatively affect them.

A clear example of this is a request in the early 1990's by Virgin Airlines to fly between London and Bermuda. I know this to be fact because it was an issue brought up by Mr. Colin Curtis during the lead up to the 1995 Referendum on Independence. He stated that Virgin decided not to take this route because after reviewing the numbers it was not a profitable route.

I made a telephone call to the executive office of Virgin at the time and was advised that an application was indeed made by the British Government had refused to allow it because it would have given competition to British Airways, in which the British Government still had an interest. The decision was made, not in the best interest of Bermuda but in the best interest of the British Government.

All new airline routes have to be agreed by the British Government and when the talk of air fares come up you cannot look to the Bermuda Government, you must look to the British Government and the airlines as the parties of the contracts.

External Security ? Due to the proximity of Bermuda to the US Eastern Seaboard, Bermuda and Bermudians need not worry about this area because the US Government would not allow a hostile party to enter and occupy Bermuda.

Bermuda is the oldest self-governing colony of Great Britain and its economy as we know it today was not created by Great Britain nor is it influenced by Great Britain. The Bermuda economy is successful because of the ease of conducting business and because it is and always has been politically stable, no matter which party forms the government. This fact would not change with independence.

Most people in Bermuda may not know this and those who do know will not openly admit it but Great Britain has closer economic and political ties with the Bahamas, a former British Dependent Territory, than it does with Bermuda. Evidence of this is the fact that the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Hon. Perry G. Christie has been appointed as a Privy Councillor. How many Bermudians can stake this claim? This being the case what value does Bermuda derive from being a dependent territory?

With regard to travel, The Bahamas has been independent since 1973 and Bahamians travel just as much as Bermudians and there are no problems in their travels. The author of a recent letter, Mr. John Zuill, states they Bermudians can work anywhere in Europe, yet Bermudians need to require visas to enter many of these countries. Just so Mr. Zuill is aware there are a great many Bahamians living and working in Europe and the Far East, so his argument is nullified.

There has been talk of the Bermuda dollar being devalued under Independence, yet Independence has nothing to with the revaluation of any currency. The Bahamas dollar is pegged to the US dollar.

Contrary to the thoughts of many there is no reason for a newly independent country to assume any great level of debt. Many will talk about the national debt of the Bahamas, which stands at roughly $1.7 billion, of which roughly $400 million ($1,333.33 per capita) is external. If I am not mistake, this is lower than the per capita external debt of Bermuda. Any student of economics would understand that domestic debt, while it does have to be controlled, is not a major concern. For the record, the Bahamas has in excess of US$560 million in reserves.

Why does the Bahamas carry this debt? The Bahamas is made up of 700 islands and cays starting off the coast of West Palm Beach and stretching nearly to Cuba. Thirty five of these islands are inhabited. During dependency Great Britain did nothing with regard to infrastructure on the out-islands, or Family Islands as they are called, therefore, the Government of the Bahamas had to undertake to build airports, roads, schools and utilities on these islands.

An independent Bermuda would not have these issues as Bermuda is effectively one island and all the infrastructure is in place. There would be no reason for Bermuda to take on any additional debt directly related to independence. So that argument is nullified.

I could go on and on but would take up your entire paper so I will end here. I now challenge those who are opposed to Independence to provide factual, not theoretical, reasons as to why Bermuda should not become an independent nation. My reasons for wanting Bermuda to move toward Independence have nothing to do with emotions they are based on the fact that as an independent nation Bermuda can form alliance that would best serve her needs.

I will close by saying that I liken independence of a country to that of a relationship between a parent and a child. As a child grows into an adult he needs to become independent of his parents in order to grow and mature and is thus able to make decision that benefit him long-term. He controls his own destiny and while he may hit a few bumps in the road he become stronger for it.

Let's look beyond colour

March 17, 2004

Dear Sir,

I write this letter as a young Bermudian of mixed race who is tired of hearing the Island's people being discussed as black or white Bermudians.

Racism, from any individual should be a thing of the past, and yet as we continue to make this a black or white issue, it never will be. With the recent discussions about independence the question is asked, 'how will you vote?'.

For any government to convince me to vote for Independence they would have to prove that they are not just looking for support from one race, but instead from Bermudians as a whole. This current government has not done that, and after last week's comments from Mr. Burgess and no public apology or remark from our Premier, they have in fact done the exact opposite.

Face it Bermuda, if a white person had made that comment there would have been a huge outcry.

The time has come for us to stop seeing this as being a black or white Bermudian issue and focus on making this Island better for all Bermudians. Our leaders are supposed to set the example ? our Government needs to do better. We as Bermudians need to demand and see that they do.

ALLISON

Sandys Parish

What's the point?

March 11, 2004

Dear Sir,

What purpose will be served by extraditing the accused drug smuggler Andrew Hall back to Bermuda? Just blacklist him so he can't come back. Think of the costs to the Bermuda tax payers.

A private plane to fly him back. You don't think the US or Canada will allow an accused smuggler through their land. The cost of the trial. And if convicted, the cost of keeping him at Westgate. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am a little tired of paying for foreign criminals to vacation at Westgate.

SAVING MONEY

Pembroke