A ray of Bermuda sunshine

July 16, 2002

Dear Sir,

Recently, my daughter and I arrived in Bermuda to attend the funeral of a close relative who was flown from Toronto, Canada to be buried in the family plot in beautiful St. Mark's Cemetery, Smith's Parish.

We would like to take this opportunity to commend the Reverend William R. Hayward for the kindness and genuine concern he showed during this sad time. He is truly a giving person, an uplifting soul who in true Bermudian style, went out of his way to ease the pain of our loss.

Bermuda is certainly very fortunate to have such a worldly, refreshing minister representing his parishioners and visitors alike.

God Bless you Rev. William R. Hayward. You are a ray of Bermuda sunshine.

TIM GURNEY

Deputy Governor

Bermuda

End of the world is nigh

July 4, 2002

Dear Sir,

I wish to inform the public that the truth behind the gang violence is that these are the last days and the devil is trying to get a lot of people to follow him before his day is due.

Being that the violence is increasing,crime is increasing, nationalism is on the rise and other things that don't follow biblical principles increase, that day is nearly here.

It's nice that the Police wish to end this violence but can they truly accomplish this great task?

Take a look at the schools, at one particular time we had a vast majority of schools, then CedarBridge came along and soon it was students getting arrested as soon as the school opened and yet, this is just the beginning.

Some of the students that attend this school are `country' guys while others are `town'. Put them together and you have `Rumble in Bermuda' (not some Jackie Chan movie).

So basically, how many people have turned to Jehovah for guidance? Very few yet,only he is the answer.

NETTA WILLIAMS

President, Bermuda Pharmaceutical Association

The waiting game

July 17, 2002

Dear Sir,

Allow me to attempt to add a little perspective to the complaints by the visitors to our shores regarding the time passengers arriving at the Bermuda Airport stand in line for processing through Immigration.

I shall share my not-so-speedy processing experience. On Sunday, June 23, 2002 I returned to Bermuda via the United States. After exiting the airplane I had to clear US immigration as my point of origin did not have a preclearance arrangement for entering the US, such as is the case here in Bermuda. I entered the line at 2.55 p.m. along with the other 190 passengers on my flight and an additional flight that had arrived ahead of us. Thankfully I had plenty of reading material as I did not reach an immigration agent's station until 4.45 p.m! For those who cannot compute, that would be one hour and 50 minutes later and I had yet to clear Customs!

There will be defenders who will argue that the US is much larger than Bermuda and therefore this is to be expected. Not so. Be it two airplanes full of people in the US or three airpalnes full of people in Bermuda there does not seem to be much difference in the processing time. Fair is fair and after Sunday's experience I am not convinced the complainers are totally unbiased in their assessment of things at the Bermuda Airport.

SPANISH POINT VOTER

Pembroke