Press Council for Bermuda. It seems to me that very few people, especially politicians of all stripes and their close adherents, understand the true purpose of press councils.

Properly, press councils have two functions. They are intended to protect people whose lives are invaded and whose privacy is breeched by a prying and sensationalist press. These are generally people who do not know how to protect themselves and do not have the resources for lawyers and lawsuits.

They are never intended to protect overly sensitive politicians or political parties because the purpose of the press is to keep a wary and watchful eye on them. In any case Bermuda has never had a prying or a sensationalist press.

The idea that somehow a press council will make the newspapers look favourably on every action, right or wrong, of politicians is simply nonsense. The second function of a press council is to ensure that the public's right to know is protected and to discipline those people who lie to the press or mislead the press. Therefore, it would seem to me, Mr. Editor, that the first business of a Bermuda Press Council would be a hard look at the present Government which admits that it denies the public its right to know.

I would think it wrong for Editors to sit on the Press Council. Editors should not judge themselves. As for yourself, Mr. Editor, I know only too well that you do not have the time to sit about listening to ill-informed ravings.

DAVID L. WHITE Paget People have gone too far August 21, 1999 Dear Sir, The letter signed Canadian expat has answered the questions Miss Davis has asked, but I would like to take it further by saying I am Bermudian. I have two nephews living in Canada and they have been treated great. Their papers were all correct and are enjoying the privilege of living in Canada.

But the people have gone too far with this hate business. First by blocking Mr. Saul Froomkin OBE, QC of Canadian Consul. Miss. Davis could have gone to him to make sure their papers were right.

Second with the Rebecca Middleton murder do we really think the Canadian people can forget what has happened here. We reap what we sow. The people voted for the PLP. Now They have to live with them. High tax, taxi drivers who are having trouble, spending the people's money. I thank you Pamela Gordon for looking out for us. We need the opposition.

MARGARET Devonshire Didn't go far enough August 25, 1999 Dear Sir, After reading the letter to the editor from Ronald Viera (Jr) on his sweeping reforms to make the job of the new government easier, I note that he may not have gone far enough with his actions.

Why not get rid of the 45 percent of the voting public and their dependents that did not vote PLP? They have no right to be governed by the new party.

Let's also get rid of the media as they only ask tough questions, and the Premier should not be asked to take time out for such nonsense.

Send all expats on working permits home, since they are only replacing Bermudians in the workforce.

Get rid of the exempted companies as they seem to only hire foreign managers (but leave their accounts in place for the PLP to use, as it would save raising any new taxes).

Shut down all the hotels to avoid the problem of trying to find staff willing to provide first class service at affordable costs.

Only then will the PLP be able to get on with ruling the country and have much more money for essential services, such as limousines, champagne and political appointments. We would surely have a nice manageable population of around 25,000 to draw upon to fill all those positions from doctors right on through to CEOs.

DON'T GO HALFWAY! City of Hamilton Litany of road problems August 26, 1999 Dear Sir, I am still watching you W&E, nicknamed the "Snail''. Noted the response from the Minister on my concerns about the Barker's Hill roundabout which I was delighted to read in that he has taken personal interest in the works taking place and advised that as a result of his visit, changes have been made to improve the traffic flow by creating two lanes going east -- congratulations on that however, there has been a grave blunder made.

They have removed a perfectly good bus layby so now the bus must stop in the middle of the traffic lane so that the traffic will again have to move into one lane.

This is not only a waste of the taxpayers' money, but will cause traffic accidents -- the bus driver will obviously use his indicator light to signal a left turn which could mean he is either turning on to Barker's Hill or merely stopping in the middle of the road at his stop.

Go figure what could happen to the traffic behind the bus when the bus stops rather than proceeding up Barker's Hill. The Minister advises that his Department has miles of roads and lanes etc. to maintain thus the slow response in fixing knocked down walls or bridge railings, however during my travels to and from work daily which covers 26 miles of roads, I have not see any roadworks taking place! When, Mr. Minister are we going to have the Flatts Bridge fixed, surely Mr. Allen is outraged that one of his most visited tourist spots is looking shabby.

Now the other subject, all related to our roads is the concept by the Minister of Transport that our roads would be better suited to larger cars. Have we lost our minds totally? Harbour Road as a good example could not possibly handle a wider car and certainly there isn't any space to widen the road.

Who's vote are we trying to appease now? What we need to do is to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads which could quite easily be done -- ie husband and wife owning two cars -- one registered at the place they jointly reside and the one registered to the apartment on their property. My understanding of the law is that a couple living under one roof can only have one car which is attached to that residence. Also trucks that are so-called required for the family business which we know does not require a truck as it is only used for the convenience of the family, transport for the wife, moving the kids around on weekends and collecting items from the hardware stores. Let's monitor what we have on the roads and reduce the traffic volume. Have stronger licensing policies that demands that trucks be attached to an assessment number for the business. The business has a commercial site to work out of rather than allowing people to work from their personal residence and park their vehicles on vacant lots of land. They are many ways to reduce the traffic if you really want to.

KAL St. David's Parents must support August 27, 1999 Dear sir, On a regular basis, schools and other organisations express their concern about poor attendance at meetings so I would like to give a few Bermudian suggestions guaranteed to increase participation.

1. Bring a beeg, real big, extra beeg, gigantic big, very very beeg machine to the meeting. Everyone will come to see it and your meeting will be a success.

Plus they will stay until that beeg machine disappears. Girt big!! 2. Have an accident. People love to come out and see the crash and they stand around to see how long it takes for the ambulance to come. So have an accident. The more cars you have in the crash the more people will come. Just make sure the ambulance takes its time, so the people will stay.

3. Put the choir on stage, with a school band and a whole class. In fact, put the whole school on stage and parents will come because they love a show. To keep them there, make sure you get each child to have at least five things to say and parents will be forced to stay.

4. Have lots of food and make sure it is free. If you tell them they are going to get Rodney Smith's fish cakes they will stay until 10 p.m. waiting for them. But just make sure he brings some or they will never come again! 5. Have a wedding because Bermudians love to stand outside and watch. Make sure there are at least 30 people in the bridal party because it will take about an hour for them to describe each dress or suit in the office the next day and nobody wants to miss the wedding of the day.

6. Charge admission but make sure it is very high. The more you charge the more people want to be there to be able to say they can afford it.

7. Advertise that the service will only be provided by foreigners.

Bermudians want Bermudian service but they don't want to join the industry.

Just saying that you are having "only foreign service'' will upset them and they will come out to have something to talk about the next day on the talk show.

8. Offer to give them something free like a pencil but charge them $10 to get in. You will have a packed house.

I could go on, but for those who do not have a sense of humour, I will stop.

With school about to start I would like to emphasise the importance of parental attendance. The number one indicator of success is parental attitude.

As a former teacher and principal, I could almost predict success or failure, based on the parents' response to school. Interest, enthusiasm, support, volunteering, attending meetings, reading and having a positive attitude to rules and teachers, will develop good work attitudes in children.

I salute all parents who love and care for their children. I throw a special bouquet to my former single parents who never made excuses, but sacrificed to come to school, when requested, and supported the school as it tried to encourage good work habits and discipline. They sent a clear message to their children and reinforced our philosophy that it takes hard work, a good night's sleep and respect for teachers and the learning process to succeed. So let's get busy and attend meetings this year.

DALE BUTLER JP MP Paget