It's not remarkable

Dear Sir,

I just checked out the UBP's website and I see that they are still referring to their leader as the Hon. Kim Swan, JP, MP. They used to refer to their former leader, as the Hon. Michael Dunkley, JP, MP as well. I don't know either gentleman well enough to determine whether they are indeed honourable men, but one thing I know for certain is that neither should be using that title. Neither Kim Swan, nor Michael Dunkley has ever served in the cabinet, and only those people who have, earn the right to be referred to as the Honourable. Enough said on that subject.

While I'm at my computer I must respond to Milton Raposo's letter to you today. Mr. Raposo finds it "remarkable" that I find the time to write so many letters to the editor. Mr. Raposo should know that I have been writing letters to the Editor for most of my adult life. He should also know that I make no apologies for being a remarkable woman. At the age of 50, after ensuring that both of my sons were college graduates, I enrolled at Bermuda College as a full-time student.

At the same time I was working full time. I took classes during my lunch hour, during the evenings and scheduled some of my classes at 8.30 in the morning. At the end of my first semester I was on the Vice President's list with a grade-point average between 3.0 and 3.5. During that time I also paid my bills, kept an immaculate home, cooked gourmet meals for my family and friends, and formed many lasting friendships with both students and lecturers from all over the world. In addition to that I was courteous to my neighbours, so there was no reconciliation needed on my part.

Mr. Raposo should also know that I am the descendant of a remarkable people who have done many remarkable things. It is remarkable that my forebears were transported from Africa in cargo ships to the "new world" by the Portuguese, Spaniards, French and British and have survived to tell remarkable stories and execute remarkable feats since they first set foot on this side of the Atlantic. If Mr. Raposo thinks it's remarkable that I write so many letters to the letter, I wonder how he would feel about all of the other writing that I do. I don't think that I'm any different from so many other people who are multi-tasked. I'm sorry for Mr. Raposo if he is not. One other thing Mr. Raposo should know and that is that since November 9, 1998, I've been as happy as a lark.

LAVERNE FURBERT

Hamilton Parish

Over-taxed in Bermuda

February 20, 2008

Dear Sir,

The major concern I had about voting for the current Government, is that they seem to zero in on a small group of people and not the majority of the taxpayers.

I agree with helping the senior citizens as we are all going to be there one day. We should also respect our elders as they were the ones who worked hard to make Bermuda what it is today. I disagree with helping a selected few sporting groups, as this benefits a few and seems to be more of a luxury, than making Bermuda a better place to live.

Working on paving our roads would benefit us all. Also we need to get mothers back in the home, if they choose to be there. Right now mothers haven't any choice but to work and the family unit has fallen by the way side. I know there are people, who believe that having children has nothing to do with raising them. Day-care and nannies are not going to help the problem of children needing family to raise them. It is the responsibility of the parents to guide children through life not the teachers, Government or paid help.

I never thought I'd see the day that Bermudians would become selfish, greedy, materialistic and full of anger and hatred. We are no longer a Christian society, we should stop pretending to be. We have shown we stand for nothing and fall for everything. We have come to believe that educating our minds and exercising our bodies will cure all our problems, but what about the spirit, the soul (the most important part of the person)?

We've had well educated (brilliant minds) top athletes, committing suicide, which tells us their soul was empty and neglected.

Government must come to realise that they can't fix yesterday, they can only live in today and plan for the future.

NO BENEFITS FOR THIS TAXPAYER

Pembroke

History Month poem

February 11, 2008

Dear Sir,

As the month of February is held as Black History Month, I have a short poem or Proverb for all the black students, as well to all of us blacks in this island of Bermuda, which I do hope will make us all feel good, especially the mothers and students, down at the East End Primary School, after reading in the daily paper, what they were given to read during Black History Month, and I totally agree with the mothers, and others being upset, about the whole thing. I felt it was a dirty insult to all of us black people, let alone the students, and from a school that knew better.

This was taught to the children of modern Africa, even as a poem.

Poem Proverbs

I thank you God for creating me black.

White is the colour for special occasions.

Black is the colour for everyday,

And I have carried the world since the dawn of time

And my laugh over the world, through the night creates the day.

I thank you God for all.

A people denied of History, is a people deprived of dignity.

G.E.L. BREMAR

Sandys

UBP did nothing to change

Dear Sir,

E.T. (Bob) Richards' Opinion Piece (Royal Gazette, February 20, 2008) underscores the point I made recently. The racial divide was not created by the UBP but by the white power structure long before the UBP came into existence. However, since they all (or almost all) vote for the UBP, the UBP is being held responsible for them.

One thing that Mr. Richards cannot deny and that is that the UBP was established in direct response to not only the formation of the PLP but the fact that they got six MPs elected as a result, one of whom I should remind the reader was white. She was elected because the PLP was so anxious to have whites in the Party that they had rejected a long time and very effective and popular former MCP, Mr. Russell Pearman just to ensure that she was elected.

I do not think that he can deny that it was formed to ensure that the white community would continue to hold political, as well as economic power. From the outset white politicians such as Sir Henry Tucker knew that this would not be possible without some black voters. As a result, for the first time in our segregated history blacks were invited to white held meetings.

I will never forget the euphoria and excitement of some of those blacks who had been invited to those meetings. They were over the moon to be invited to anything by whites. After all since 1834 when the white oligarchy had established two segregated and unequal societies, blacks had wanted nothing so much as to be racially "integrated". Hence the euphoria. Whites wanted them at their meetings. Of course what Bob Richards wrote is true. But he also illustrated how resistant whites were to the politically expedient policies of a man like Sir Henry Tucker. There have not been too many Henry Tuckers. Nor am I likely to overlook the fact that most of those moves were the watered down PLP proposals, and pressures from the PLP, e.g. the Labour Day in September rather than May 1.

Unlike Mr. Richards I believe that whatever the impact of Mr. Clark or Mr. Swain the specific introduction of CURE was the result of a proposal by NAR four or five years earlier. Neither of those men had proposed a ministry to address race relations. NAR had. At the time the proposal was made both parties rejected the concept. But in 1991 -1992 when Sir John Swan knew that many of his black admirers were growing disillusioned with him, he jumped on this proposal and established the Ministry of Human Affairs with only two responsibilities. One was to address drugs the other was to address race relations. The actual term The Commission for Unity and Racial Equality was proposed by a member of the Bahais (whose name I have forgotten). The Ministry of Human Affairs eventually disappeared in its original form. The Human Rights Commission of course was the brain child of former Minister Quinton Edness, no doubt inspired at the time by the priorities of US president Carter.

No one can question what was introduced under the UBP but they certainly can question the effectiveness or productivity of CURE until very recently. We can also take note that with all that the UBP may have done to hold on to its black constituency, it did absolutely nothing to change or modify the racist attitudes of its primary white constituency which ultimately is the primary reason for our racial divide. Why not? I think that it is because as long as they held on to political power it did not really care that most whites continued to believe that blacks were irrelevant to their lives and any qualified black was bound to be worth less than any unqualified white.

They, like the letter writer of "I am not coming Back" in the same Royal Gazette issue (February 20th) believe that as long as blacks are quiet and courteous and pleasant, despite segregation and unequal treatment Bermuda is a beautiful place but as soon as we raise any kind of protest at being so consistently ignored, demeaned and treated unequally whether in strikes, riots or merely in words Bermuda is ugly and we as blacks are responsible for the ugliness. Whether the UBP is a white supremacist party or not, it has never seriously attempted to address those whites within their party who are "white supremacists", and to whom Mr. Richards made reference. Yours etc.

EVA N HODGSON

Crawl

Administration fees hurt

February 18, 2008

Dear Sir,

Like the majority of Bermuda's working population, I had been participating in a 'defined contributions' pension plan.

Following my recent decision to take early retirement, I had the option to

(a) transfer the funds accumulated in my Employer's Pension Plan to a Personal Pension Plan administered by a local pension administrator and invest them in one or more of the pension administrator's eligible investment schemes, up until the time I become 71 years of age; or

(b) receive a pension by purchasing an annuity with the funds; or

(c) select a combination of (a) and (b) above

Due to my personal financial circumstances and the fact that purchasing an annuity would, at the current time, provide an effective return of a mere two percent per annum, I opted for (a) above.

During the process of transferring my pension funds to a Personal Pension Plan, I learned that my pension administrator also offers individuals the opportunity to invest their personal funds that are not locked into a pension plan in many, if not all, of the same investment schemes in which they may invest their pension funds.

I was therefore shocked to learn that local pension administrators charge an administration fee in the range of 1.5 percent to two percent per annum on the funds in a retiree's Personal Pension Plan but not on other funds that an individual invests in the same investment schemes.

Clearly, there is no justification for local pension administrators to charge an administration fee on funds held in a Personal Pension Plan that is no longer a 'contributory' pension plan because they no longer have to track and report on employer and employee contributions, vested and not vested amounts, additional voluntary contributions, etc.

Essentially, they are providing no more than the same investment products and service that they provide to those who invest non-pension funds with them. For this, they earn a portion of the management fee that is typically built into such investment schemes and set out in their prospectuses.

As I understand it, one of the goals of our pension legislation was to make contributions to a pension scheme mandatory to ensure that employees saved money for retirement. It therefore makes no sense to me that a retiree who has accumulated retirement funds via a mandatory pension plan should be penalised a 1.5 percent to two percent administration fee for holding them in and investing them via a Personal Pension Plan, versus investing the same funds outside of such a plan.

The administration fee is particularly harsh in the current economic environment in which savers/investors will find it difficult to earn positive returns, in real terms, without the imposition of such fees. The imposition of administration fees will merely add to further erosion in our retirement nest eggs.

I understand that the charging of such fees is a common practice of most local Pension Administrators.

In my humble opinion:

(a) local Pension Administrators should immediately cease imposing such administration fees in the circumstances outlined,

(b) legislation should be immediately be drafted to prohibit such fees and to allow retirees to transfer their pension funds to eligible investment schemes, with the proviso that the funds may only be transferred to another eligible investment scheme or used to buy a specified type of annuity

AN ABUSED RETIREE

Smith's

Hospital seeks feedback

February 22, 2008

Dear Sir,

There have been a couple of letters recently published in The Royal Gazette and we would appreciate the opportunity to respond and talk about some of the programmes and projects that have are being initiated in our Continuing Care Unit.

As has been previously announced, we run a continuous patient satisfaction survey that allows patients to comment on our services. We have been using feedback from these surveys to identify key areas to improve the patient experience at BHB. Earlier this year, the Board had made a case to the Minister of Health that additional funding was required to address certain issues relating to care and also the environment. The Minister accepted this case and ensured the uplift for 2008/09 would provide enough resources to be put into improving our hospital ward areas.

For example, by May this year, we expect to have established a 'hospitalist' programme. This will significantly improve the quality and consistency of care throughout the hospital, by having dedicated physicians (called 'hospitalises') in the hospital caring for patients. CCU will have a hospitalist assigned who will walk the wards to monitor the care of residents every day.

Cleanliness is vital in a hospital environment, and some of our additional funds will go toward additional staff for our Environmental Services department. Our goal is to further improve cleaning in all areas of the hospital.

In support of our CCU staff, I would like to note that they work exceedingly hard to bring variety and stimulation into resident's lives. Six staff work in the CCU Activities Team and their monthly activities calendar is posted both in the Activities Room and in the CCU Entrance on Point Finger Road. The team's sole focus is to plan activities for residents, including trips outside, for example visiting the aquarium. As it is difficult for some of our residents to travel, there are regular in-house social events, celebrations and live music concerts.

Even residents who have very limited mobility or mental capabilities will have music and massage therapy, and someone come to read to them. Events are often put on at the weekend so that family members can participate. A monthly Residents Family Council also meets, made up of clients, their families and staff. This group deals with issues related to living, visiting or working in CCU. It should also be noted that not all residents in CCU are seniors. Anyone, at any age, who requires long term care is welcomed by our facility.

We are always delighted when relatives and friends participate in CCU events and also in the care of their loved ones. We also appreciate the continuing feedback from visitors, and thank everyone who takes time to raise their concerns. All of us are united by wanting to do the best in caring for our residents in CCU.

We will continue seeking feedback as our programmes unfold in the coming months. We are cognizant that now we have the financial support for these programmes, the community will be looking to see a positive impact on the service we provide.

With thanks for this opportunity to respond,

DAVID HILL

CEO

Bermuda Hospitals Board