Solar solution

July 16, 2005

Dear Sir,

It seems that 15 years of trying to educate the Bermuda public and the Bermuda Government about sustainable energy resources were almost entirely wasted! Sadly, we closed down Bermuda Energy Conservation Ltd., at the end of April, being really too tired of beating our heads against the rock of Government disinterest.

I know of just one home, close to the back of town, in East Pembroke, which will almost certainly today have running water, some electrical services and plentiful hot water. That is the little cottage that my husband and I lovingly prepared for just such a disaster as has fallen Bermuda this week.

Solar energy is what will be maintaining that lovely little home!

Our sympathy is of course with all those folks who are suffering the consequences of the combination lack of forward planning and planned maintenance which seem to be at the root of this week?s problems.

Proper maintenance of essential services like water catchments and storage tanks, mechanical plant for water pumping, are areas of sheer neglect on the part of the decision makers in the Ministry of Works and Engineering, who either did not listen to the advice of the old hands in the Civil service or did not consider it worth the effort to continue preventive maintenance.

Belco of course have a headache of almost Biblical proportions to deal with and the principals have our sympathy. But who was on watch? Were there no smoke detectors in that vital switch room? Was there no night engineer or watch keeper?

For the future, may I suggest that every household in Bermuda with a south facing roof should have an array of photovoltaic panels connected to a small array of 12 volt batteries and an inverter to provide daily power for stuff like ceiling fans, water pumping, compact fluorescent lamps and the fridge! Add to this on that south facing roof, one 4? x10? solar thermal panel, with, down in the house, a large (100 to 120 gallon) hot water storage tank, with one electric element that can provide electrical heating for those few times in the year when the sun does not break through for 2 days in a row. This way, life can go on, at least in reasonably civilised condition if the main grid supply fails for any reason.

Briefly, compact fluorescent lamps call for only 25 percent of the energy of your standard incandescent bulbs, ceiling fans use little energy but move air very satisfactorily, a larger hot water storage tank can hold enough solar heated water to keep most of us supplied for two days, and by then the sun will probably be shining again. It is called energy conservation folks, it really does work!

For the long term I will again appeal to the Government of the day to spend a little money by subsidising the start-up costs for the above residential rescue plan. Belco has its hands full for the next several months just getting the grid back in full running order but I am sure they will actually be grateful for anything the home owners can do to reduce the load on the grid at this time. If the building boom is to continue in Bermuda the demand for electricity is not going to reduce but by having every home owner silently generating some of his own electricity and heating his own water without electricity at all, the concept of sustainable development is not such an impossible dream after all.

May I just make one urgent appeal, please do not plan for the long term to go to diesel or gasoline generators, they are sooo noisy and sooo smelly we shall do even more to damage our fragile and beautiful environment. Solar energy is clean, silent and always there ? let?s get on and use it!

Conservation time

July 18, 2005

Dear Sir,

In the wake of a long weekend brought on by the unfortunate events of last Thursday morning it has struck me that the call for conservation of energy is long overdue on our island. As I was walking through town on Friday evening I noticed that the few offices that had been powered on had much of their lighting on, especially the new office block opposite the ESSO Tigermarket.

As the calls from Belco to conserve power and reduce wastage were sent out over the airwaves and this morning?s plea to the offices in Hamilton to make certain adjustments to timers, air-conditioners and internal usage, it pushed me to thinking: if Bermuda can pull through this, it is a sign that the conservation of electricity (amongst other things such as water and rubbish) is not only feasible but very important.

Each year we hear how Belco is pushed to cater for the growing demands for power on the island and even though Belco uses the best filtration and cleansing processes they are able, Bermuda is still contributing to world pollution. Couple this with the record high prices for oil worldwide it is a wonder that Bermuda is not making a concerted effort to conserve and preserve what we have ? environmentally and economically. Having recently come back from the UK, I am aware that there is a strong advertising campaign at the moment, targeting the over-consumption of electricity over there and it seems to be making an impact.

Education and awareness are the keys to making a difference and even though I know that there are more pressing matters facing Bermuda overall, it would seem that this is not an insignificant one and one that we should all be aware of. Given that we know what the repercussions of pollution are, it seems high time that Bermuda puts its foot down and demands a determined effort on the part of residents and businesses alike to cut back and reduce the waste.

Shocking comment

July 10, 2005

Dear Sir,

Premier Alex Scott likened the explosions in London to the violent machete attacks which took place on the MV last Friday.

How on earth does a terrorist attack on a capital City bear any resemblance to a bunch of local intoxicated thugs fighting over women?

My Family and I have been regular long-term visitors to your Island since 1989, visiting three/four times a year until last year, we call it our second home, my daughters say they have grown up on the Island, we have made many local friends with whom we keep in contact with on a regular basis and I read your newspaper online every day. We are all very emotionally attached to Bermuda and its residents. But to read such a stupid statement from one in such a position is incredulous!

The reason I am so incensed is that my eldest Daughter, Alexis lives and works in The City of London and was minutes away from two of the explosions. Very fortunately and thankfully, I was actually talking with her online when the news broke ? she had arrived at her office whilst these bombs were detonating ? we were for a short while under the impression the tube network had gone down due to a power surge ? this was the first news issued by the Transport Police that morning. She was telling me the whole place was alive with Transport Police cars during her walk from her home to her office ? she is very fortunate in that she lives just a ten-minute walk from her office so has no need to use public transport ? so we are one of the lucky families with children, husbands, wives working in the financial district of London.

Does this man know what hundreds of innocent people are going through right now? It is Sunday ? three days since the tragedy. There are still unknown numbers of bodies trapped underground, the conditions to reach and retrieve them is horrendous and dangerous. Newspapers are full of pictures from worried relatives of their loved ones who are missing. The authorities say it is going to be weeks before the dead can be identified! How can this man liken a drunken fight to a terrorist bombing of innocent people?

My daughter was at home with me for the weekend at our family home which is just outside London, she was sitting with me when I read this caption ? she was also speechless when she read it ? her comment was ? this man has no perspective on the situation and should apologise through your paper to all British people for his incredibly insensitive remark.

We sincerely hope Alex Scott never has to go through this experience ? we have all been touched in some way ? I have to live with the fact every day that Alexis does work and live in The City, we saw friends yesterday who are trying to find two friends known to be on one of the trains, the stories are endless!

To finish ? thank you to the friends in Bermuda who did contact me to ensure Alexis was safe.SALLY-ANN ROSE

England

In agreement

July 11, 2005

Dear Sir,

It is not very often that I agree with the scathing opinion pieces of the Editor of your sister paper, Mr. Tim Hodgson. But I not only agree with his comments July 8 concerning the inequities of our taxation system but I find great irony in his view. It is, for me, an irony that it is he and not the PLP Government pointing out the absurdity of a six figure ?guess worker? (probably white) paying the same taxes for his groceries as the mother of two (probably black) living in a car, or homeless.

For some it is worse than being ?back on the plantation? even though we did not vote for the UBP. It was in the interest of slave masters to ensure that their slaves had a minimum of shelter and food. But those in authority today are not inconvenienced if our homeless eat or not in our two tiered economy. Some of us are always so concerned about ?bashing? the International Companies that we have not even made the same demands on them in the interest of Bermudians as has the Bahamas. This Government seem not to even be talking about these tremendous disparities that make Bermudians aliens in their own country.

Keep airways open

July 8, 2005

Dear Sir,

This is an open letter to the myriad of wonderful people associated with the 2005 Bermuda End-to-End walk/ride/paddle/swim/dive fundraising event. On behalf of Open Airways, one of this year?s beneficiary charities, I should like to acknowledge and thank every one of them.

In spite of the inclement weather people of all ages turned out. As I drove to Dockyard to help in the first aid tent, I passed many walkers, soaked to the skin, but still prepared to walk the 26 miles on a Saturday morning to raise money for charities, such as ours. It is something I shall never forget.

To the 2,000 participants we want to say, thank you, for all the hours you put in training and for the blisters, the cramps and the pain you must have suffered to help our small charity. Thank you for collecting pledges, for your enthusiasm and sense of fun on that wet and windy Saturday in May. We truly appreciate and praise your community spirit.

This year, over 500 students took part and raised over $42,000. What an accomplishment! Bermuda should be proud of these young people who will, hopefully, participate for many years to come.

Thank you also for the outstanding work of the organising committee, and to the 400 volunteers who give their time to make the day a success. To raise over $220,000 for charities at this single event is unbelievable. Thank you all so much.

The Bermuda End to End is far more than a fundraiser; it is an event that brings the community together, uniting so many people in a positive way. Distributing over 2,000 T-shirts at registration in the Bank of Bermuda was an event in itself charged with excitement and anticipation. The organisation behind the registration is amazing.

As a result of the wonderful community support for this event, Open Airways will now be able to purchase a van to be called an ?Azmobile?; this will be seen around the island as the asthma nurse visits the schools and clinics helping one child at a time to breathe freely. We are determined to make a difference to each and every child suffering with asthma. Thank you for making this possible.

I need my bike

July 11, 2005

Dear Sir,

This letter is to the person or persons who took my bike ? a Renault Campus 50, licence number 752AE from the Watford Bridge Ferry Terminal on July 1st, 2005.

I am pleading with the person who took my bike to please return it to me. I cannot afford to purchase another one.

If you could anonymously park it at the Somerset Police Station, I would be truly grateful.