October 14, 2011Dear Sir,It is obvious we have met our saturation point when it comes to cruise ship passengers. We have proven (on a weekly basis) that we cannot support the current ships effectively; lack of (working) buses and ferries, overwhelmed beach facilities, (new) docks falling apart, bus strikes, bus scheduling issues (including school buses being cancelled), fights between cruise ship workers and locals, etc, etc. How does Government’s fixation on opening up Hamilton and St George’s to larger cruise ships address any of those issues? There are a long list of other concerns including cost (it will cost millions before we even get started), the logistics (where are you going to park dozens of buses and taxis in Hamilton or St. George’s), the environmental impact (the rest of the world frowns upon blowing up reefs and islands) and the potential conflict with other tourism initiatives (two proposed high end hotels and marinas in St George’s).In short, “spreading” the cruise ships across the Island will not address the current set of issues but will only create more. Unfortunately this is typical of many Government initiatives; throwing money (carelessly) at an idea without a long-term plan or understanding of what the end game is. Why wouldn’t we spend a fraction of this money on improving our public transportation system so these cruise ship passengers can easily get to and from St. George’s, Hamilton and Dockyard; less money and same result (tourists in Hamilton and St. George’s).KENT SMITHSt George’s