Why pay Hall's debts?

March 7, 2009

Dear Sir,

I was just catching up on some back reading of Letters to the Editor today when I came across two letters published on February 27. The first was headed, "Leaves you wondering" and the second one was headed, "Value for money?"

Both of these letters refer to the humungous increase in consultancy fees Julian Hall has just received from Government, and rightly so. Since the taxpayer is paying these monies, this consultancy increase is completely out of order which should be obvious to any one who can add two and two.

Why should we be paying off this man's debts? Is this a Bermuda style "stimulus" bailout plan for one of Government's friends? The Government is not paying off my debts, so why should they be paying off his? Not only that, we also have a "race relations consultant" who I believe was supposed to be hired for six months and is still on the Government payroll after what now seems to be running into two years?

Mr. Editor, this reminds me of Mr. and Mrs. Wong, the Chinese couple who just had their first child. The father is standing over the bassinet in the nursery of the hospital looking down with surprise on his face at this blonde haired, big blue-eyed baby. The nurse standing close by says to Mr. Wong, "What are you going to name him?" And Mr. Wong replies, "Sum Ting Wong!"

He was darn right there was "sum ting wong" and there is "sum ting wong" with these outrageous consultancy fees that are being paid by the taxpayers of this country who are being taken for a ride in more ways than one. Maybe what we need here is the same sort of investigation that was performed in the Turks and Caicos Islands on that Government and its higher ups!

PAT FERGUSON

Warwick

March 9, 2009

Dear Sir,

About ten years ago I was reasoning with some friends about my prediction that guns would become a daily part of the Police uniform. I'm not for the move, but the reality of it all is slowly taking its course. This may or may not be on the minds of the every day Police officer to exchange their old school Scotland Yard type batons for a nickel plated 9mm. I'm urging all gunmen to refrain from killing one another, stop the drive-bys and seek God.

The community has been in denial for too long about this trend, but now is the time for every Bermudian to be conscious about their surroundings. If you know there's a strong possibility that the people you hang around with will eventually get you killed, the party that you want to go to will get shot up due to the person having it, the fight in which you and your friends jumped someone … etc. The possibilities of catching a slug (being shot) doesn't always mean that the victim deserves it, but on the other hand if you're trying to earn a slug you'll receive one with your name on it.

I don't spoon-feed my thoughts and that's why I may come across harsh at times, but it's due to the conversation at hand. During this time of recession I may become a seamstress if things don't change, because the Police service will need plenty of white sheets …

DESAI MARDEL JONES

Sandys

No evidence at all

March 10, 2009

Dear Sir,

When, on March 6, Stuart Hayward presented the Premier with the BEST petition signed by over 5,000 people opposing Mr. Belcario Thomas's beach bar restaurant at Warwick Long Bay, the Premier was reported by The Royal Gazette as saying that "it (the beach bar restaurant) could help give visitors a more exciting experience". He added, "I have supported this initiative at Warwick Long Bay because it's in line, in my opinion, with the principle of sustainable development".

First, there is not a cockroach's whisker of evidence that visitors to Bermuda want "a more exciting experience" at Warwick Long Bay. As the petition makes abundantly, transparently clear, if the Premier bothers to look through it, visitors to Bermuda value the experience of enjoying the natural and untrammelled beauty of Bermuda's beaches, and Warwick Long Bay in particular because of its tranquil and unspoilt environment, including the coastal dune habitat behind and around it.

Residents, of course, love it for precisely the same reasons. Who in their right mind – or in any frame of mind, for that matter – could ever be so aesthetically challenged as to suggest that people want the "more exciting experience" of a beach bar restaurant there? The Premier, his so-called Environment Minister, and, no doubt, Mr. Belcario Thomas himself, must constitute a very small cabal comprised of such people. (And what is "an exciting experience", anyway? A casino? A discotheque? A horse ride along the beach? The discovery of a plant never seen before? The sublime sense of peace and quiet? Or the raucous thrill and exuberance of Cup Match? One person's "exciting experience" could just as easily be, quite frankly, another person's pain in the neck.)

Secondly, the "opinion" of the Premier that the beach bar is "in line with … the principle of sustainable development" is patently absurd, because it is devoid of rational justification. As he himself says, it is no more than an "opinion". Governance by opinion is, by its nature, governance by prejudice and ignorance. Prejudice, because it is based on a subjective and personal perception of the matter to hand (that is, the proposition to build a beach bar at Warwick Long Bay). And ignorance, because it precludes, or even ignores, any rational, informed and objective assessment of the proposition.

Governance by "opinion" indicates, moreover, an overwhelming arrogance of ego, that one man's "opinion" (and a politician's "opinion", at that!) is superior to the insight, knowledge, expertise and understanding of people who are specialists in their field who condemned this project outright when it was first proposed to the authorities. Governance on the basis of opinion is governance by arrogance. In this case it is compounded by its cavalier disregard for the thousands of ordinary people – the vast majority of them, by the way, constituting part of the electorate of Bermuda, to whom the Premier owes his current position – who have raised their collective voice to oppose this proposition. Is their voice inconsequential relative to that of the Premier's "opinion"? Does the arrogance of one man's "opinion" invalidate the opinion (including the scientific opinion) of the majority?

The Devil's Dictionary (1911) defines prejudice as: "A vagrant opinion without visible means of support." Bermuda cannot afford to be governed, or its people dictated to, by such flimsy, insubstantial and prejudiced governance. The people of Bermuda – indeed, the environment of Bermuda – deserve better than that. A lot better.

And here is perhaps the saddest thing about all this. Rather than supporting a project that, in his "opinion", will "help give visitors a more exciting experience", the Premier and Minister for Tourism could actually do exactly the reverse, with potentially far more lucrative (and, dare I say it, electoral) benefits. He could, in his ministerial position, help give people – tourists and residents – what they really want and value most about Bermuda, namely, the unique experience of being able to enjoy those natural and unspoilt parts of Bermuda that are its most precious crown jewels.

Keeping Warwick Long Bay, and the other jewels in the crown of Bermuda's natural environment, in their unspoilt and natural condition would, financially and environmentally, benefit the "sustainable development" of Bermuda infinitely more than the injudicious, inappropriate and ill-considered erection of this proposed beach bar restaurant.

GWELLY GOLIGHTLY

London, UK

Done too much to die

March 9, 2009

Dear Sir,

I have been actively involved in the Bermuda Sailing Association's National Sailing Program since I was seven years old. As a student, instructor, and eventually the head instructor, I have been with the programme for the majority of my life. Throughout my time with the programme it has been consistently excellent in its attempts to spread knowledge of sailing and seamanship to Bermuda's youth.

In its mission to provide low cost and high quality sailing instruction to the children of Bermuda it has been exceptionally successful. In the fifteen summers that I've been involved I've seen hundreds of children given the opportunity to safely and effectively explore Bermuda's greatest natural resource. The values of discipline, sportsmanship, and dedication are all deeply entrenched in the lessons I spent seven years learning through the National Sailing Programme. I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to pass on those lessons for another eight years as an instructor and to more clearly see the benefits that this type of education can have.

The sport of sailing has afforded me many opportunities that I would never have been able to experience otherwise. From trips to represent Bermuda around the world to a first-class university education to the simple joy of harnessing the power of the wind and waves, every moment has been a blessing. I'm actually writing this letter from Melbourne, Australia where I've been given the chance to represent Bermuda at the Etchells Class World Championships.

None of this would have been possible if not for the National Sailing Program. It's true that there are other programs across the island that offer similar lessons, but at these private clubs the costs are higher and the boundaries between the haves and the have-nots are significantly harder to overcome.

While the private clubs have gone a long way towards opening their doors to the less wealthy — and I commend their efforts without exception — there is still a divide. I am well aware of the perception of sailing as a rich white-man's sport. To a large extent this is unfortunately true. However, there is one program in Bermuda that was doing more than any other to break down the barriers that prevent a large portion of Bermuda's youth from taking advantage of all the benefits I've listed. I know with absolute certainty that the National Sailing Programme has helped bridge the gaps between rich, poor, black, and white that have been a problem for so long in Bermuda. I also know that with more time and support they will help ease the racial and economic disparity that has plagued our beautiful home.

I don't know what caused the government to decide it needed to hamstring the NSP's budget and effectively terminate its existence. I could theorise, but the reasons aren't important. What is important is that the program continues. There is a possibility of corporate sponsorship picking up the slack that the government has left, which will allow the program to continue, but only as long as the sponsors are willing and able to provide that support.

If the National Sailing Programme wasn't performing up to standard or wasn't providing an actual benefit to Bermuda's youth, then I could understand the government's decision to cut its budget, but this simply isn't the case. In the recent Bermuda Sports Awards, the Bermuda Sailing Association was given an appreciation award. That is all well and good, but I would feel a lot more appreciated if the funding was made available to continue this vitally important programme. This programme has done too much good to die at the whim of a politician.

ALAN FRITH