An interesting article appeared in "Newsweek'' Magazine last month under the heading "Japan's Mini Invasion. Its hottest cars are small, cheap and easy on gas. They're catching on.'' Apparently Minis, or what we call class A and B cars, are made in Japan by Daihatus, Honda, Mazda, Subaru and Suzuki. No doubt many others are manufactured worldwide too.

It is obvious we have a traffic problem here which continue to get worse.

Because any sort of restrictions would have been unpopular, the previous Government never offered any solution for fear of losing votes.

Now that the PLP have a mandate for at least five years, we can but hope the new Minister of Transport has the guts to do something, even if it is unpopular.

It can be argued that every household has the right or privilege to own a car, however all these class D,E and F etc. vehicles add to the congestion because of their size, and in almost all cases are unnecessary, even when three children have to be transported. The Minister (and Cabinet) could either phase out all but class A and B cars or instead of making the system compulsory, cut the relicensing fee for class A and B in half, and double the fee for all other categories, i.e. except those large cars already on the road. There would then be a voluntary incentive to drive a Mini. This is just one suggestion, another might be impounding vehicles of habitual speeders and/or drunk drivers.

Let's face it, something has to be done and Governments cannot continue to conveniently ignore this problem forever.

AJB Smith's Parish Speed up court procedure February 12, 1999 Dear Sir, I am writing regarding our present day operating procedures at the Magistrate's Court. After 25 years of maintaining a clean driving licence I unfortunately received a speeding ticket and was subsequently summoned to the Magistrates' Court on February 11.

On arriving at court, I was amazed at the number of people waiting to face various traffic offences and even though the court had arranged everyone by alphabetical order, a state of utter confusion was still apparent, with the court rooms full and the balance of offenders, including me, waiting outside straining to hear proceedings. After a while I was able to secure a chair and await my turn but noticed that all speeding offenders were receiving predetermined fines, for my speeding offence of 56 kph the fine was $200, for 57 kph the fine was $210, 58 kph was $220 and so on.

May I make a suggestion that the Magistrates' Court adopt the same policy as that of parking offences, with the individual having seven days from receipt of ticket to pay at the Magistrates Court or face a far greater fine or even arrest. Surely if our Magistrates are following guidelines when imposing fines, then this same guideline could be followed by our Police Officers when the offence is committed and the ticket written? This procedure would surely ease the pressure on both Courts with so many traffic offenders currently being asked to appear. Of course a separate hearing would still be necessary for those offering a not guilty plea and again this could be fixed after the seven day period.

C'mon, let's give it a try! GORDY GIBBONS Paget East P.s. Please buckle up! Selley thanks his `crew' February 2, 1999 Dear Sir, I would like to openly extend my sincere thanks and profound gratitude to all those past members of the Water Safety Council.

Also, a big thank you should be given to the most valuable contribution of corporate Bermuda, who gave generously of their financial support and made it possible to realise the many initiatives and programmes that the limited budget of $13,000 -- could never hope to accomplish.

Major stakeholders include, the Mid-Ocean News, the Bank of Bermuda, the Shell Oil Company, PW's Marine Centre and the BF&M Insurance Group.

In addition to the monetary support, there are many individuals -- too numerous to mention, who gave me their all.

The Marine Police Section has been vital in all our efforts. They stand ready on the front line.

Also, the staff at the Department of Marine & Ports Services, that I have depended on and interacted with over the last 18 years -- nine of them as chairman, have been real Trojans when the seas got rough. Thank you guys.

The Water Safety Council was a second job to me. It took on a life of its own -- over and above what was ever expected.

There were times when I felt isolated and unsupported by the community I was determined to help. Like the lone voice in the proverbial wilderness.

Challenging -- yes. Worthwhile -- definitely! After all, no-one accepts having their leisure time being regulated.

Unfortunately, we have come to know all too often, that the sea -- for all its awesome beauty and tranquillity -- can and does turn, without warning, into a hellish nightmare and a watery grave. It has got to be respected.

With the departure of the US Navy, we as a community had to become individually responsible for our own safety and ultimately for search and rescue.

The transition has for the most part, been made safely and painlessly due to great effort put in by Harbour Radio and the Marine Police Section -- together with the boating public's support in accepting their individual responsibility and accountability. Well done everyone! Briefly, highlights include the introduction of the Lifeguard Programme on our beaches as well as the Children's Water Safety Colouring Books -- our biggest success story ever.

More recently, we completely revised the safety regulations and the diving regulations. We also implemented a code of practice for commercial boat rental operators and recreational water sports. Last year saw the outcome of the cabinet committee on jet skis.

The most recent publication of the Water Safety Handbook that was mailed to every registered boat owner was a mammoth task and is proving its value. There are many more successes -- and I really hope they continue to impact and educate the public.

There was disagreements, of course -- but always there was compromise and resolution.

I have served under three wonderful Directors; Clive Bennett, Capt. Gilbert Hallam and Ron Ross.

In November, at the request of the new Government, under the Westminster system -- I was asked to tender my resignation, which was like losing my job, which had become a way of life.

I offered my services to be considered in the new Council. This was not to be.

I have had the privilege to serve Bermuda, alongside some of this Island's most committed and dedicated volunteers. The camaraderie unique -- respectful and enjoyable.

Finally, to you, the boating and swimming public -- I thank you all for your past support and criticism. It was certainly appreciated.

To those heroes, who have been recipients of the Annual Recognition Award scheme that introduced in 1992; well done! I challenge the rest of Bermuda to follow by their example and to continue to show courtesy and respect to others.

To the new council -- good luck! Water Safety is...No Accident.

D. Mark Selley Past Chairman Bermuda Water Safety Council Leaders must set example February 10, 1999 Dear Sir, A few thoughts on the "zero tolerance'' proposal from the new Road Safety Council. First, I think it is an excellent proposal. However, as long as alcohol, the world's most widely used drug/poison after caffeine, remains legal, and is sold and distributed by our Island's legal and glamourised "drug'' dens, this proposal would come crashing to earth in our legal system, who legalises this poison in the "first'' place.

Secondly, Mr. Editor, if one wants others to act and behave right, we all know that it is better to lead by example and not just by mere words. Simply put, first let all Members of Parliament, our judicial system, and Police force, take a public oath or pledge to abstain from alcohol and other drugs, and televise the event. Could you imagine, Mr. Editor, what positive effect this would have on our young people and everyone in general who at one time or the other thought that most of the Island's leaders are idiots and gutless.

Also Sir, I think our Island's churches shoulder some of the blame for our Island's serious problems concerning the use of alcohol and drink driving for not taking a vocal stance against the sale of drugs and alcohol in their respective parishes. Are they not the Spiritual "eyes'' of the community? I believe that if one person dies as a result of drink driving, whether it is from one or 100 drinks, or is intoxicated from medications containing alcohol, that is one too many.

If a person wants to drink alcohol or take drugs, to enjoy life, let them do it at home on their own premises where they can destroy their own families and not others.

Yes Mr. Editor, I am for "zero tolerance'', but it would only work if first "all'' our Island's leaders, Government officials, Churches, Sports officials, to name a few, Sober up First! TEMPERANCE Warwick Fair treatment needed February 11, 1999 Dear Sir, Last Friday I was listening to the debate in Parliament about introducing paid parking at the Airport. During the debate a female MP, whose name I did not catch, gave an example of her use of the scratch parking vouchers in Hamilton.

The MP explained how she had put a voucher in her car, but her meeting ran over the hour, so she asked someone else to put in another voucher for a further hour. This was done, but unfortunately the voucher was incorrectly filled out and the MP came out to find a parking ticket on her windshield. So far so good.

The MP went on to say that she then had the parking ticket cancelled after she had explained these circumstances to the appropriate authority. This is where I would beg to differ with the MP in question and ask if all motorists are getting the same lenient treatment.

A few months ago, I parked my car on Queen Street. I looked at my watch and it was ten minutes to three. I took out a voucher and scratched the time. I came back to my car ten minutes later only to find a parking ticket on the windshield. I then realised I had entered the time as 3.50 p.m., not 2.50 p.m.

I immediately went to the Magistrates' Court to explain and I was advised to go to the Police station. I explained my error to the duty sergeant and although he was sympathetic, he said there was nothing he could do. I wrote a cheque for the fine and enclosed a letter to the Magistrate together with the offending voucher and explained my error. My cheque was cashed and I never received a reply to my letter.

Now I ask if everyone is getting fair treatment, or are MP's getting fairer treatment than others? FAIR TREATMENT Warwick Senator undemocratic February 11, 1999 Dear Sir, This morning, I was disturbed to read of Sen. Patricia Gordon-Pamplin's demand to return to the days of criminalising homosexual sex. She stated that the Private Member's bill "...encourages moral decadence...'' and that "...we have to be sensitive of what our Christian friends believe''. My question is simple: what about everyone else here who is not Christian and does not agree with Christian beliefs? As a non-Christian, I object to the Senator's arrogant assumption that we should use the moral standards of some to decide what is appropriate for others to do. If we are to value and encourage diversity within our community, then we can not continue to legislate on the basis of a morality that is not universal.

When we, as a society, decide to suppress individual rights on the back of what is `religiously appropriate' then we are dangerously close to undermining the very essence of democracy that we hold dear. The debate over homosexuality isn't the real issue here; rather, the ability of lawmakers to decide what is legal based on their own religious and moral stances. As a Bermudian, I hope that the rest of the Senators and MP's resist Sen. Gordon-Pamplin's attempts to legislate morality, and recognise her position for what it is -- discriminatory and undemocratic.

CAROLYN THOMAS City of Hamilton Clean up the errors, RG February 12, 1999 Dear Sir, I just read a letter sent by a fellow eagle eyed reader. The author described the need for proofreading of newspaper articles. I have also noticed a great deal of typos and grammatical errors as I have read the newspaper over the past year. I am sure that these errors must be due to limited staff to proofread submitted articles; and limited writers' time to re-review (is that a word...?) stories entered by data entry technicians.

The latter reason may be the true problem, I suspect, after viewing an article I submitted to The Royal Gazette (printed February 20, 1998). I was surprised to see typos and misspelled words in what I thought was my carefully written and edited article. As I compared the printed version to the copy I had sent the errors proved to have developed somewhere between my employer's fax machine and The Royal Gazette's computers. If proofreaders are needed, I would be happy to assist.

N. BEAN Warwick Millennium date is wrong February 14, 1999 Dear Sir, Good news, folks. There is no need to worry over all the scaremongering regarding the end of the millennium stories being circulated by the false prophets in our midst. In reality, there has actually been a bit of a mistake made as to the exact date of Christ's birth, and in fact it can be shown that he was actually born four years earlier than official records show.

In the year 533 A.D., Pope Justinian instructed a scholarly monk named Dionysius Exigiuus to determine the exact beginning of the Christian era.

However he made one huge error which put the actual chronology out by four years. He used the dates that the Emperors of the Roman empire ruled as his guideline, and yet failed to account for the fact that one Emperor by the name of Augustus also ruled for four years under his other name of Octavius.

Verification of this can be found, surprisingly enough in the Bible itself! Turn to Matthew verse 2 ch.1 and you will read -- "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod...'' Herod, however, actually died in the year 4 B.C.! This therefore is indeed confirmation that Christ was born before 4 B.C.

Due to an accounting error therefore we are now actually living in the year 2003 A.D.

Unless God also made the same error, we are thus able to tell all these money grabbing liars who so piously inform us about the end of the world in the year 2000 to go take a hike.

ICONOCLAST Southampton