I recently witnessed the following.

1. A few weeks ago the driver of a cream van decided it would take too long to go round the roundabout at the Swing Bridge in St. George's. He proceeded to drive directly up the wrong side of the road and it was fortunate there was no one coming east.

2. On Friday September 17, a recycling truck HX48 heading west on Kindley Road passed at least eight cars. He was going at an excessive speed leaving a trail of cans from the back of the truck. So much for recycling! 3. On Sunday September 19 at 1.45 p.m. car number 18037 came towards us on the Causeway going west. This driver was doing at least 70 mph and at one point swerved and looked like he was going to lose control of his car. Having young children in our car a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive became a very frightening one.

Do the drivers of these vehicles have any moral conscience, sense of responsibility or thought for other road users? ST. GEORGE'S Land tax is a ripoff September 22, 1999 Dear Sir, So, we have now received the bill for the new land tax with the bottom line figure, and those of us caught in the "25 percent'' trap, and being discriminated against will see that this must be the biggest ripoff in the history of these islands. How can they justify putting the ARV up more than triple to what it was previously without doing any ground work or investigation? My tax has gone from virtually nothing (a benefit for getting past 65) to a whopping $3,000 annually, and that includes the measly few hundred dollars deduction for being a pensioner, which, by the way is also less than what it was before. After working for 50 years, most of them helping to build this land, this is a prize I can do without. How is one supposed to work out what it is going to cost you to live on annually when one is slammed with outrageous taxes such as this, and what other unexpected expenses and taxes can we look forward to in the next four years? It is my understanding that the people at the Land Valuation Department have taken a list of properties that are already being rented and whatever the figure is that the Tenant is paying they have assumed that adjoining residences in the same category would get the same, and as there has been nobody around to justify the ARV increase, it is easy to believe.

We should put on the Internet how the Bermuda Government takes care of things to celebrate the International Year of Older Persons and let the rest of the world see how things are done.

A year ago people were saying, "Give the PLP a chance, they are ready to take over'' well so far their proposals and ideas have left a lot to be desired, and this Land Tax Bill is by far the worst. They have assumed that because you live in a nice place, large or small, you must be a millionaire, "So let's take their money away from them!'' It doesn't concern them that you have sweated and saved and denied yourself the little luxuries of life to get a small comfortable place to retire in. Of course, the UBP is partly to blame for all this by falling down on the job, and getting lackadaisical during the last number of years they were in power which appeared to get worse with the hamburger fiasco, and as a consequence handed over the reins on a silver platter.

SEEING IT AS IT IS Pembroke Dolphin Q a tourist sham September 24, 1999 Dear Sir, David White, the former editor of The Royal Gazette , in a recent interview inferred that the Bermudian public are no longer protesting or commenting on issues that affect our Island. I agree.

We have become a nation of zippered mouths, releasing our indignation over the calamity that surrounds us only to close friends and family. It is time to unzip. Hurricane Gert has acted as a catalyst to bring to the fore many objectionable aspects of what has become of our island.

Dolphin Quest, masquerading under the pretence of scientific research, is in fact being no more than a degrading tourist sham slightly higher on the scale of commercialism than McDonald's degrading tourist sham slightly higher on the scale of commercialism than McDonald's. Dr. Rae Stone's interview on TV showed her `command centre' as a backdrop with stacks of folded T-shirts, orange plastic visors, postcards and other memorabilia which they hawk to their captive audience of dolphin enthusiasts who pay no less than $95.00 to kiss an unsuspecting mammal in cesspit green slime.

This money-making machine and blatant extortion at the expense of wild animals extracts this entrance fee, then tweaks the participants ego by selling them a photograph, plus all the other paraphernalia that their carnival spectacle is promoting with the dolphin image. Give us a break. Where are the scientists? What is the research? Their hold on commercialism of the dolphin is so strong they have created a total monopoly forbidding any other shops in the Princess Hotel complexes to sell any products bearing the image of the mammal. Is this feat that competition will take away their sales done in the interest of science? To think we were worried about hamburgers! The lady in question has `Dr.' in front of her name. Pity. She thought the hurricane was going to hit the east of the island? Did she think Gert was going to draw a line on the map to distinguish which side of Bermuda would get the highest waves? Isn't there anyone old enough in that whole operation who has lived through hurricane weather in Bermuda? I am one of the most fortunate of humans to have done ocean crossings and have witnessed many schools of free-roaming dolphins off the coast of the Azores and in the waters of the Continental Shelf of the United States -- and that is exactly where these dolphins should be. To bring these mammals into the nutrient-starved waters of Bermuda with the possibility of escape is a death sentence. We have no wild dolphins around Bermuda because there is no food source for them, so this careless act of human greed and exploitation of a wild animal is the murder of a beautiful species.

JOAN K. ASPINALL City of Hamilton Great tourist experience September 25, 1999 The following letter was sent to Environment Minister Authur Hodgson and copied to The Royal Gazette.

Dear Mr. A. Hodgson, Re: DOLPHIN QUEST ENQUIRY Whilst we do not claim to have any expertise in the siting or engineering of a facility such as the one on the South Shore, we believe we are in a unique situation to express an opinion on the whole operation of Dolphin Quest.

Our son, Jason was the first Bermudian to be sent away for training by the organisation, before the building work here was completed. From his initial contacts and throughout his interviews, he was impressed with the encouragement and commitment of the owners and management to their staff and the dolphins. For many years he had worked in the Government Lifeguard Service and was very used to maintaining high standards of performance and discipline.

However, during the months of training in Florida he was required to surpass those levels. The same demands for complete professionalism and high standards exist today. The safety and welfare of staff and animals is paramount in Dolphin Quest's creed.

He accompanied the present dolphins from the Florida Keys to Bermuda, monitoring their progress on route. This was a once in a lifetime experience for a young Bermudian. From the very first he was treated as part of the "team''. This concept of team building has continued to this day with Dolphin Quest's multicultural, multinational staff.

The commitment to training local staff is incredible. Our son was sent to the United States to participate in international research on wild dolphins and to Hawaii to gain experience in handling mothers and new babies when the birth of Somers was imminent last years. Many other staff have been sent abroad for specialised training or to attend conferences and workshops. As parents, we know how many nights he spent sleeping down on the docks of the facility when a dolphin seemed off-colour or a baby was expected. This not only applied to trainers but to other staff and volunteers as well. And now we see the anguish and the agony not only over the "escapees'', but also as the owners and staff are maligned and the international reputation of Dolphin Quest is questioned.

Apart from being fringe members of the Dolphin Quest family, we also operate a charter sailboat. Hundreds of tourists who sail with us have also visited the facility and interacted with the dolphins and to a person they have marvelled at the experience. What other tourist attraction is so popular that a lottery has to be held to decide who has the chance to buy a ticket? We believe all of Bermuda's schools have been able to tour the facilities also and participate in the education programme.

Certain people have called for a boycott of the operation, or even closure.

This would achieve four things. It would jeopardise the existing animals. It would jeopardise the livelihoods of many Bermudians. It would jeopardise the finance of the worldwide research sponsored by Dolphin Quest. It would jeopardise an amazing visitor experience.

Having seen also the other damage inflicted on beaches, homes and hotels on the South Shore, it is apparent that expertise must be sought from an engineering perspective, in addition to refining hurricane contingency plans.

We applaud your efforts in setting up an enquiry so quickly.

We would hope that our observation could be placed before the Commission.

DENISE HANSFORD-SMITH NEIL HANSFORD-SMITH Hinson's Island Warwick