May 11, 2005

Dear Sir,

I write this letter in response to a statement made in the House and reported in the Gazette on May 9, 2005. I would appreciate it if you would publish it in your “letter to the editor”.

My first reaction to a report in the of May 9 on page eight regarding my “removal” from BHC because ‘he was not getting on with BHC building projects but still found time to work on his own projects’ was, knowing the source, to treat it with the contempt it deserves and move on. However, on reflection, I have no intention of letting the Ex-Minister (or should I say “Axed-Minister “), make a character assassination that is an absolute lie being fed to the public in defence of his own inabilities to manage and administer a portfolio for which he was responsible and from which he was eventually fired. No one, including my wife, knew that I intended to walk out and all were quite surprised to find an empty desk on a Monday morning when I had gone on vacation. What I left behind was a well-oiled machine in tip-top condition in spite of what the Axed-Minister or the Premier would have you believe. Their appointment of several “Acting” General Managers’ and indeed a Cabinet Minister to handle housing, after my seven years of service is indicative of how complicated the matter of housing is and that it takes someone with specialised skills to administer it. Obviously their choices left something to be desired. From 1992 to 1999 audits were completed in full and on time, as required by the Act, by the Auditor General without an serious deficiencies and with out any indication of fraud. Why doesn’t the government and the former Minister of Housing, just have the guts to admit that they or their appointees were unable to handle the job and that they made decisions that led to the problems that, we are told, have now been resolved? Why go blaming others for their own inefficiencies.

One of the reasons that the Bermuda Housing Trust will not release copies of its annual reports, I suspect, is that whatever was going on at BHC spilled over into the Housing Trust and to open that can of worms would be disastrous. The truth of the matter is that the Housing Trust monies were co-mingled with BHC monies and the Housing Trust should have been audited by the Auditor General, and not by outside auditors, to provide continuity in the search to find out what happened to the monies of the Bermuda Housing Trust.

Why did I walk out of BHC? Simply because I have high moral and ethical values and it was obvious to me in the short time that I worked under the new government with those responsible for BHC that they would use and manipulate it for their own purposes. And I was not prepared to be a partner in such a scheme.

With regard to the Axed-Minister ‘s statement, as reported by the press, regarding working on my own projects, (note the plural) let him tell us where they were and how I was involved. “Put up or shut up.”

No happy ending

May 12, 2005

Dear Sir,

I was reading the story in the Bermuda Sun about Mrs. O’Conner’s ordeal. I am happy to hear that things turned out on a positive note for her family. Unfortunately for many other families in similar situations the end results are not quite a happy ending.

In my case I have been given the complete opposite advice by these very same agencies. My ordeal is that I have not been able to work because of an injury I sustained over a year ago. I am receiving an income of less than $10 per week. My children and I have been moving quite frequently within the past year. I was told by these very same agencies that it would be easier for me to put my children in foster care. We are under a great deal of stress as it is and here I’m being told that it would be in my best interest to place my children with complete strangers.

I have to wonder if it has anything to do with who you are or know when it comes to dealing with these agencies who claim to have your children’s best interest at heart. My dealings with them have been very nerve wracking. I have many sleepless nights wondering if they will force me to give up my children. I just lie awake many nights and cry because I feel I have nowhere else to turn.

One thing I’ve noticed is that if I get a highly recognised member of the community to talk to them on my behalf the outcome is very different from when I address them on my own. Different in a positive way by showing me the respect I deserve. Whereas when I’m on my own they tend to look down upon me and show me no respect. Meetings that are held I find myself waiting a half an hour sometimes longer for someone to speak to me.

Although our living conditions may not be that great and despite my financial dilemma our staying staying together is what keeps us going. I do all I possibly can under the circumstances to provide a loving and healthy lifestyle for my children. They should not be taken away from me because I’m unable to provide them with what they (the agencies) consider adequate accommodations.

You say your role is to keep families together especially when there are children involved. I wonder if this applies to all families or just a selected few of whom you choose to help? I for one pray that you all live up to your word, please remember actions speak far louder than words. What keeps my family strong is our being together. We hold each other up.

On behalf of my family and many others in similar situations, I would like to say, thank you very kindly for allowing me this space in your column.

Learn tsunami lesson

May 12, 2005

Dear Sir,

I found it very interesting upon checking out the World Wildlife Fund website, how many areas in the path of the terrible December tsunami had less damage if they had either the protection of mangrove swamps or coral reefs.

I think the Minister of the Environment should take heed of this, and come down hard on those who are trying to destroy our island with bulldozers and trash.

Truly eunuchs

May 1, 2005

Dear Sir,

All governments seek to control development so that their economies do not experience violent shifts, from boom to bust.

This PLP government seems to be woefully inadequate in even giving an impression that they are trying to manage the economy. There is rampant inflation in the real estate sector, labour costs have skyrocketed for simple repairs of everything from plumbing to painting, rents are soaring out of this world and the number of work permits has broken our ceilings of reasonable expectations.

There is a hue and cry that the country is overpopulated and there is some truth in this; however the overpopulation is not from natural births but from the importing of labour for everything from managers to pot washers, from butchers to baby sitters.

Every parcel of land is now a potential condo development and the destruction of old buildings to make way for new office cubicles is epidemic. And the government soldiers on in a state of mindless euphoria.

Here’s a simple but practical suggestion which might help this people’s government since they seem to be truly eunuchs in this respect:

Place a moratorium on any more work permits unless it is as a replacement for someone who is leaving – one out, one in.

This may serve to dampen down things a bit. Developers will have to wait until other developments are complete before they embark upon their “development” because there will be no workers to import.

The Greed Game

April 12, 2005

Dear Sir,

When I was in University one of my economics professors made a statement to which I took great exception. He stated that “everything can be reduced to economic terms because everything has a price, one only had to find it.” This was a shock to me as I had always thought that there were some things which were beyond pricing.

Today, I believe that this philosophy is rampant in Bermuda. It was vocalised formally by Dr. David Saul when he proclaimed that Bermuda was now Bermuda Incorporated. Everything in Bermuda is now a business and measured in dollars and cents. Some call it capitalism. I call it the Greed Game.

This concept of everything has a price and all that the market will bear is insidious and engenders a degree of greed which is now permeating the very fabric of Bermuda society. From top to bottom everyone appears to be grasping for whatever he/she can get and the devil take the hindmost. From masons to mechanics, plumbers to PhD’s, doctors to drug pushers everyone has entered the greed game.

Doctors’ visits are reduced to dollars and cents and not patient wellbeing. “If you miss your appointment you must pay. However if the doctor is out that’s unfortunate”. “Pay your bill before you leave and collect your refund from GEHI . You’re too old to go up those steps? That’s your problem. Pay now!”

You own a plot of land, squeeze as many units as you can on it and charge as high a price as you con conjure up. And it an exempted company wants it, Santa Claus is here!! Play the greed game.

If Bermuda is destroyed in “the future”, it won’t be by any natural tsunami, it will be by the tsunami of our own making, one based on our abject greed and the lack of charity toward our fellow Bermudians.

A merchant sells an item for $45 of which 20% of the price is due to custom duties. The merchant asks the government to make the item duty free. Will he reduce the item by 20% and thus charge $36 or will he/she leave it at the $45 price?

Jacks are here

May 7, 2005

Dear Sir,

I’d like to respond to the letter writer who asked ‘where have the jacks gone?’ They haven’t gone anywhere. Jacks come to Bermuda by the millions, not just a few. They come here for 2 reasons: the warm water and for the availability of bait for food.

Right now they are here but are located through the Hamilton Harbour islands, Somerset, North Shore and Spanish Point areas. There are a lot of reasons they are not seen to be plentiful on Harbour Road now. The water temperature needs to be above 75 degrees, the best months to see them there are June through to October and the main reason is the lack of available bait in that area. The fish are here to eat, not spawn.

Fisheries have already blocked off several areas where fishermen can’t net. There is no need to block off more.