You're not listening...

July 13, 2003

Dear Sir,

This is for the PLP. You're not listening to us! We're crying out for, among other things, affordable housing and better health care for seniors, and you answer us by saying you're going to get more fast ferries and build a school for performing arts.

Those things are very nice, but only for a very few Bermudians. There are thousands of us who live nowhere near ferry stops, and the majority of us cannot afford to send our children to a school for the performing arts. It's hard enough for some parents to buy uniforms for regular school as it is.

And those of us who are not on the government HIP get no benefit at all from your last minute scheme to pay $1,000 per year towards prescriptions for seniors. Besides, $1,000 a year won't even pay for my asthma medication. Hello PLP, you're not listening to us!

TIRED OF WAITING

Warwick

'Arrogant and insensitive'

July 10, 2003

Dear Sir,

One can only assume Ms (Aurelia) Burch has hidden assets that allow her to be so arrogant and insensitive.

If she had saved all her working life and then had to line off her pension after 65, she would never make it.

She too would be asking for a handout for her health insurance, her medications and the general rise in the cost of living compared with 30 to 40 years ago.

Her "tiredness" with the less fortunate is very revealing, considering her political preference!

SAGITTARIUS

Pembroke

'Open Day' at Berkeley?

July 9, 2003

Dear Sir,

The Minister of Works and Engineering, Mr. Alex Scott, states that the Berkeley project will be completed in a matter of months, but the feeling amongst the people of Bermuda is that it will not be finished before September, 2004 and possibly much later. To confirm, if Mr. Scott is telling the people the truth I propose that he hold an Open Day at the site for all present and future members of Parliament, a reporter from each newspaper, and representatives from each construction company that were unsuccessful in the early bidding process.

I am prepared to supply protective headgear for all visitors and this exercise to take place no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, 2003. In this manner we will know for sure whether Mr. Scott is being honest and truthful about telling the people the reality of the situation on this project.

W.A. BLACK

Paget

Drivers need direction

July 8, 2003

Dear Sir,

On the evening of Saturday July 5, the restaurant manager and hostess of the Waterlot Inn spent approximately 90 minutes on Middle Road trying to get taxis for guests leaving the restaurant. They managed to flag down taxis T1346, T1166 and T1087 but the drivers refused to take the guests to Cambridge Beaches saying that they were not going in that direction.

Please be advised that we wish to register a formal complaint against these three taxi drivers.

Allan Trew,

Hotel Manager,

The Fairmont Southampton

Community policing?

July 14, 2003

DearSir,

On Sunday July 13, I witnessed two police officers, one male and the other female, frantically putting parking tickets on cars at Clearwater beach.

I approached the male officer and asked him what the problem was. He informed me that the vehicles were being ticketed because there was not enough space for an emergency vehicle to pass.

I managed to move my car before either of them had a chance to put a ticket on it. One man pulled his vehicle another six inches over to the side of the road and was told that his car was all right, hence he was not ticketed.

There is a gateway that leads to a small stretch of road to the far southern end of Clearwater Beach, and it was beyond this gateway that several vehicles were ticketed. The gateway itself was much narrower that any of the spaces between vehicles that were being ticketed, which meant that an emergency vehicle would have more of a difficult passing between the gate-way than it would have between parked vehicles.

The action by these two police officers certainly did not display the type of community policing that I know the Police Commissioner is attempting to implement in this country.

I did not read any of the tickets that were displayed on cars, but they certainly did not look like warnings, which I am hoping that the Police Commissioner will see fit to administer the owners of the ticketed cars. Meanwhile Police vehicle registration number 09671 was parked in the centre of the road while this was going on.

NEVILLE T. DARRELL

Devonshire