Harold Darrell is a hero

November 2, 2007

Dear Sir,

I would like to nominate a real national hero in advance of May 24, 2008's National Hero's Day – Mr. Harold (Son of the Soil) Darrell.

Thank you Mr. Darrell, for your personal sacrifice and selfless service to the people of Bermuda.

JAMES TUCKER

Paget

Just sour grapes?

November 2, 2007

Dear Sir,

It seems to me that Mr. Harold Darrell is just crying sour grapes because of his unsuccessful fight with the Bank of Bermuda. That was hardly a human rights issue from the start. What person in Bermuda has not given some friend some advice on their potential choice of friends, employee, business partner, husband or wife for that matter. So I think that the Human Rights people had every right to drop that case.

Now if Mr. Darrell thought the Bank did something unethical businesswise, he should have proceeded with the civil case and not dropped it.

Mr. Darrell goes on to brag about how much Sir John Swan helped to house Bermudians. He neglects to mention that when Mr. Swan had an opportunity to wipe away Bermuda's housing crisis in 1994/1995 he failed to do so.

When the British, Canadian and US armed forces left in between those two years which then freed up several hundred homes. How many keys did the UBP government turn over to locals? None. Not all of them contained asbestos. But there have been foreign nationals living in some of the buildings ever since.

He and his banking, real estate and construction buddies knew where they were taking Bermuda. They planned these average $1.8 million house prices. Those hundreds of housing units would have messed up their plans. Not only is that unethical but that is a true human rights issue. Every human being should have access to food, clothing and shelter.

Not to mention the UBP's decades-long sham of a education system. This is not a PLP system and never has been. They should have started their reform plans back in 1999. It may be nine years late but the UBP and their predecessors have been doing a number on the Bermudian people for over 100 years.

Britain forced them to open four secondary schools in 1956. The Technical Institute, Cunninghams, Girls High and the St Georges Secondary School. Prior to that, they threw the majority of Bermuda's children out of school at age 13, while they used Government funds to educate their little white boys and girls right up to high school age at the Saltus, Whitney and the Warwick Academy.

And where were these four schools located? At the closed Prospect and St. George's British military camps which closed just a few short years earlier. So if the British had pulled out in the 60's or the 70's instead of the 50's. I myself might have been thrown out at 13 in 1972 instead of attending the Warwick Secondary School.

Every last one of those four schools are closed now. That is part of the problem with public education in Bermuda. There is very little history and legacy in it. Why didn't they close their precious Saltus and Bermuda High School for Girls during their revamping of the education system? And send their little white boys and girls to Cedar Bridge and Berkeley That wasn't going to happen. Now that's again is corrupt and unethical.

Those are just two reasons why I could not vote for the UBP. It's not a black or white issue. It is a case of ethics and corruption. They have been corrupt longer than I have been alive.

LESLIE JAMES SMITH

Sandys

Editor's Note: Under the schools restructuring, Cunninghams and the Girls High School in their final embodiment as Devonshore Academy were closed to make way for CedarBridge Academy. St. George's Secondary became Clearwater Middle School at the site of the old Base school, Robert B. Chaffee.

BWVA has duty of care

November 3, 2007

Dear Sir,

Please allow me to state my case. There was a letter in Friday's paper from 'war veteran' Mr. Stevens, stating the Bermuda War Veteran's case for support. I served in Egypt and N. Africa and they will never have mine. Let me tell you why. The BWVA barred all black soldiers from joining the War Vets Association till 1965, so WW1 and WW2 soldiers of the BMA etc. could never have got support from them!

By Act of Parliament, we were supposed to have overseas gratuities, and grants to help us get educated and help us set up in business when the war was over. The War Vets Association never told us about this. After three years, these grants fell away, and we never got the chance to claim. We were supposed to get free hospital treatment and we were never told about that, either.

Some of us have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on hospital bills when we should have been taken care of. The BWVA had a duty of care to all the veterans as they were the War Commissioners, but they ignored us instead.

Twice I applied for help to the BWVA and they sent me away very discourteously, telling me I 'looked all right.'

Now in 2007, they are letting 'certain' sons and daughters join the BWVA as associate members to 'take care of' the money we should all be sharing now. And all these years they have kept the Poppy money, telling the Royal British Legion they were helping all of us. This was not true.They have only helped a very few of their membership, and many black veterans who were members of the BWVA have died poor and without proper medical care, ignored by them.

It's a disgrace. This organisation should be wound up, and the large sums of money they have invested over the years (they had $250,000 in investments before they even sold their clubhouse) should be shared among the white and black membership now –because we all need it now.

And by the way-thanks to the Government for the extra help we now have.

Yours, still fighting for what we deserve:

CARIBBEAN CONTINGENT

Warwick

Legion has not helped

November 2, 2007

Dear Sir,

I wish to reply to Calvin Smith's letter to The Royal Gazette dated November 2, 2007.

1. The Bermuda War Veterans do not pay pensions to service personnel regardless of whether they served overseas or on the home front.

2. The Bermuda War Veterans Association was established in 1919 with a written constitution which has been our code of conduct for the past 84 years. We have assisted veterans, their dependents, regardless of which unit they served in, with financial assistance, medical bills, hospital expenses and funeral expenses.

3. The Royal British Legion was established in 1922. In their 90 years, they have not assisted any war veterans or their dependents in Bermuda in any way whether they served overseas or on the home front. Why has it taken the Royal British Legion 80 years to assist veterans in their needs?

4. All of the allies were on a war footing in the war. I had friends living on the East Coast of Florida watching oil tankers being torpedoed not more than three miles out at sea. Was Florida a war zone?

5. While the US Navy was fighting the battle of the Coral Sea in the Pacific, the joke going around in Bermuda was the US Navy was fighting the Battle of Coral Beach.

6. We did have a Censor Establishment in Bermuda. They did a great job, but they were all civilians. Why one are we mixing their establishments with service personnel? Is Mr. Smith suggesting that they received pensions or other benefits?

7. I served with the BVRC for 11 months. September 9, 1939-August 1940. I joined The Royal Air Force in September 1940. I was repatriated on July 30, 1946. Five years and ten months. I have a nice letter from the Air Military dated 30th of June 1946, thanking me for my services in the period of National Emergency. I could keep my rank for special occasions, but I had no rights to any emoluments, i.e., no pension, no gratuity, no medical assistance.

I was proud to serve, but don't start singing the praises of the Royal British Legion now.

H.F. STEPHENS

WAR VET

Paget

Still waiting for help

November 3, 2007

Dear Sir,

So much for Dr. Brown's interest in our children and their education.

Nine months ago my son turned 18 years old and applied for his Bermudian status, along with a cheque for $1600 and a dozen documents to prove his nationality.

The cheque was cashed within a week and a half. I expressed to the Immigration Department that he needed his Bermudian status very soon because he was going to college in the summer, needed to work to save some money before then, and because he had applied for a scholarship that required him to be Bermudian.

The response I received was that he was no more special than those waiting in line for six months to a year and a half. It has now been nine months with no work, no scholarship, and no right to vote. Because it's not important to them.

Someone should check the backload of applicants that are sitting on someone's desk because they're too busy to give these kids their right to vote in the next election and to elect the leaders of this country.

I should also mention how quick they were to call him to the Regiment to serve this country.

STILL WAITING

Smith's

Not voting PLP this time

November 5, 2007

Dear Sir,

As we all know the election has been called and the weeks leading up to it will be a very difficult time for some of us.

I am a fairly young, black Bermudian female and I have had a difficult time in my decision on who to support, but I have to support the UBP. I really wish that I could continue to support the PLP, but I just can't allow myself to do it. I have to be realistic and sensible at this time. Sad to say, but the PLP has lost its way. Their time is up. They had their chance, and the politicians that they have now absolutely do not deserve another one.

When the PLP came to power I thought that they would do a good job and that we all had to give them a chance. Their mantra for the first term in office was "give us time". They kept bringing up the fact that the UBP was in power for over 30 years and that it would take them a while to get things going. Before the last election they stated that they were just really finding their way, but they now knew what they were doing and that we would see more good things in their second term.

Their mantra during their second term was "they did it so now we're doing it". Whenever someone brought up something they were doing wrong they'd cop an attitude and say "so what – the UBP did it". Their attitude all through this last term was downright combative and ugly. They had a 'don't care' attitude. They even said on occasion that they didn't care what people thought. Now that we're leading up to another election they are back to being sweet, and promising us the sun, moon and stars just to get our votes.

What makes us think that they have changed? Are we prepared for another term of this?

When Dr. Brown took over the leadership, I was excited. I was sure that we would see a difference but the only difference is that things have gotten worse. Dr. Brown really needs to humble himself and remember that he is there to serve the people.

It is so obvious that he enjoys all the perks of the top job which makes one wonder the real motives for him wanting the position. On two occasions while driving with my family into St. Georges, we were practically forced off the road by GP1 with its lights flashing making people pull over to let His Majesty the premier go by on his way to the airport. The message this sends is: 'Wherever you're going isn't important. Where I'm going is so get out of my way.' This is such a colossal turnoff.

Some staunch supporters would probably reply that he's on his way to go overseas to conduct the people's business so why not make people pull over? To which I say how much time is he really buying by doing this? It's obviously all for show. Prior to this, I had never seen a Premier carry on in such a grand manner in Bermuda!

This is a time when we have to put emotion to the side and think what is best for Bermuda and our families. I shudder to think of the Bermuda my children will inherit. I think the PLP may have some good intentions when they make these promises. The problem is that they have no definitive plans on how to actually achieve these goals so they keep putting things off for them never to materialize. We sometimes criticise the UBP but to be fair we do have to remember the good things that they have done for this country.

They did build low-cost homes and who primarily benefited – us as black people. They put into place the sound structure that this Country has today with some free or low-cost health benefits, juvenile and age subsidies and the like. They built the civil service with all the services and departments Bermuda relies on.

The PLP inherited everything in good order and it seems that since then everything has just been going on autopilot. They haven't enhanced or improved on anything-they have just continued to work with what was given to them.

Just look around us at what is being done to our beautiful Country by a select few. The sad thing is the PLP cannot be trusted to lead us when Bermuda is at such a pivotal place in time right now. We must be wise and think of our children and ensure that the PLP does not come back to power. If we vote them back in, then sad to say, we will deserve everything that we will get.

Ex-PLP Supporter

Hamilton Parish

Park was not derelict

November 6, 2007

Dear Sir,

In reference to your reporter Tim Smith's report on the Olivebank community park opening.

I would like to know first of all if Mr. Smith as a reporter had ever been in the area of Jones' Village where the Olivebank Park is now located.

I will refer to it as it has been known for as long as I can remember as the Jones' Village playground, or New Field which is actually in the Olivebank area and is now known as Swanville.

The Park is actually in the Jones' Village area and has never as far as I can recall been derelict. The people of t his area, Jones' Village have always used this piece of land to their advantage and have never allowed it to be run down or become derelict.

When I was a young boy my father Frederick L. L. Jones farmed this land and also had pigs and goats on the land. As a child I remember the time my brothers and I had to go and collect dry spice leaves and sea weed by the sack bag full to place in the pig stys and fields. When my father gave up farming and went into the hotel business the land was taken over and farmed by Leroy Riley, a close neighbour. As time went by and life started to improve for our families in the Village the land was no longer farmed but was used as a play area for the children in the neighbourhood.

I remember we used to play cricket, football and even golf on the New Field area and that is where our cousin Eardley Jones, who is an avid golfer, first learned to play golf. Some of the other boys who learned to play golf there still play the game today.

My uncle Arthur Jones, who owned the land, gave it to the Warwick Parish Vestry to develop the land as a play ground for the youth of the area and we are thankful to him for his foresight in seeing the need.

The playground, Park today, is used by the people of Jones' Village for parties, picnics and other celebrations throughout the year. We are thankful for the refurbishing and upgrading of the playground and look forward to many more happy celebrations in the future. We the people of the area would like to thank the Government for understanding our needs and upgrading the area for the whole community.

We as a family will never allow the area to become derelict.

CLARKE L. JONES

"Gov" of Jones' Village and Organiser

Mary Jane & Edmund Charles Jones Foundation

Warwick

Editor's Note: The reporter in this case took a statement made by Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield that Government planned to turn "vacant" spaces into parks to mean that the area was derelict. We are grateful to Mr. Jones for setting the record straight.