Independence not the answer

October 2, 2010

Dear Sir,

As we go through our individual "battles", financial, domestic or otherwise, everyone seems to have an answer for the difficulties facing our economy, or for the lack of housing, employment and just about anything else "we lot" find to complain about. Unfortunately, many people still think Independence is the solution to all the problems. First, what will our money be worth, if we go Independent? We have nothing to back it up with. Neither tourism nor exempted company business are guaranteed to stay. Their agreements with Government are not written in blood. In other words, they are not a permanent source of income for the Island. Step back into History and look upon the many former British colonies that have chosen to go it alone… Where do they stand today? Look at Jamaica, what is their dollar worth today when it too was once equal to the USA dollar? Imagine having property or money in the local markets whether real-estate or dollars in the bank, enough to call yourself a millionaire and then all of a sudden tomorrow you wake up and pooph! it's gone…? (What is that old saying, "One day coffee, the next day tea…"?) My fellow countrymen, let's get real … Who will be backing this Island on the International stage?

RAYMOND RAY

St. George's

Weather forecast was wrong

October 1, 2010

Dear Sir,

Let me ask you seriously, what was today like? Was it a few showers with a risk of thunder like the weather people claimed it would be or, was it a calm yet hot and breezy day as the weather people should have said? If you guessed the second one, you are right. The bad part of all this? Who in Accuweather will take the blame for that mistake? Surely this won't change and someone else will goof up regarding the weather so the question remains, when mistakes like today show up, who really in the group receives the whip?

VERY INACCURATE DAY TODAY

Devonshire

Taking a name in vain

October 1, 2010

Dear Sir,

Regarding Mr. Wayne Furbert's comment: "He said UBP leader Kim Swan was trying to lure him back, but that Mr. Swan was 'stuck in reverse' by spending too much time looking up to characters from the past such as Ralph Marshall and Harry Viera." I find that comment offensive. There is one thing I know for certain, Harry Viera didn't know the meaning of the word reverse.

He was always a forward thinker and predicted Bermuda's current state ten years ago. It is amusing that the honourable member waited until the man was dead to make such an outrageous comment, because he surely wouldn't have while Harry was alive! Mr. Furbert would do well to take advice from another character from the past, Winston Churchill: "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see".

PATRICIA VIERA

Columbus, North Carolina

Step in the right direction

October 1, 2010

Dear Sir,

Yea, DPP, hooray! At last, something progressive where we have been shooting ourselves, especially our young boys, squarely in the foot. Effectively we, not the Americans, have been putting our people on the stop list. The lasting damage of the old policy will be with us for some time, so I hope that some other branch of government will spare a thought for those already on the list for the opportunities they have lost.

Now perhaps some of the mystery can be removed: why not publish the matrix so people know exactly where they are at. While we are at it, publish the weight too below which a caution not a charge is merited. So far we knew that if you are a key worker in international business, you could get a fine and keep your work permit for possession of 1.3 grams of cannabis. So how small is small? How pleasing it is that after 12 years of screaming for change we have this small concession to reality, and it's across the board, does not exclude poor people nor black boys/men, how nice.

We are not there yet. Notice it took a non-Bermudian to come out with the policy change. I still cannot imagine a Bermudian making the announcement. We cannot rest on laurels either. There is still some way to go. A policy directed at separating the acquisition of cannabis from the purchasing of hard drugs would go a long way toward limiting the exposure of our youth to hard drugs. Coffee houses à la Amsterdam might not fly so well in Bermuda where we sit right under the nose of the world's biggest drug consumer and drug warmonger. So wouldn't it be novel if the DPP/Police brought no charges for cultivation of one cannabis tree, provided say, that it grows no taller than its owner. That should further drastically reduce the trade/importation of cannabis, (No, I do not advocate poppy cultivation!)

Can we then move on the bigger crime? Is it not time to treat rather than criminalise people dependant on heroin. Qualified medical people are surely in a better place to deal with heroin addiction than police/courts/prisons (we know what happens there, in prisons, with incarcerated addicts) and medics are infinitely more qualified than pushers on the street to administer the correct dosage, without contamination of drugs or needles. This, well administered, would move addiction off the streets along with all the attendant crime and in the bargain drastically cut the recruitment rate for new addicts. The pushers would than find their business reduced to weekenders, and if the experience follows that of other jurisdictions there would be a very significant fall off in heroin use, abuse and related crime. Well so far one small step for the DPP/Police, one giant leap for our youth, well done!

DELAEY W. ROBINSON JP

St. George's

Best of all parties needed

October 1, 2010

This was sent to John Barritt and copied to The Royal Gazette.

Dear Mr. Barritt,

I take this opportunity to thank you for bringing forth some very interesting topics. In the segment entitled "View from the Hill" of today's edition of The Royal Gazette, (October 1, 2010) you've touched on some extremely import points; one being, the way things have been and continue to be done "Up on the Hill." I have to agree with much of what you've mentioned. Our Governments, "governmental method/s" are way out of date and out of sync/touch with the people of Bermuda. I personally believe the vast majority of the voting public have had enough of "Party Politics"

May I suggest as an alternative to "Party Politics" we look at the pluses and minuses of forming a Government from the best of all present day parties. In other words, if a person from UBP, (or whichever party) is elected by their constituency to represent them, then they should be allowed to sit in the "Government of the day"(regardless of which party won the majority of seats) i.e. If the PLP were to win the majority of seats then they should have the authority to sign, negotiate or whatever for the people of Bermuda but not permitted to have a final say and change what the majority of those representing us, "The Public" want done. Thanking you in advance for your input and allowing me and others to also share our views via your weekly segment of "View from the Hill"

RAYMOND RAY

St. George's

Cut the Civil Service

October 1, 2010

Dear Sir,

When the PLP came to power the size of Government was 4,825 souls, plus or minus. Huge for such a small country but obviously not big enough for the PLP. The Government is now 20 percent bigger at 5,858 souls, plus or minus. What in heck's name are they all doing because I cannot find any discernible improvement in the any of the services provided by the Civil Service over the last 12 years. Based upon the debacles surrounding just about every project they touch, large and small, one must wonder if the top senior Civil Servants were hand-picked by imbeciles based upon whom they knew rather than what they knew because based upon their performance in advising their respective Ministers on how to manage our country prudently and effectively for the benefit of all Bermudians they have enabled the PLP Government to create a country that does not function as smoothly as it once did and helped to create a financial mess that nobody has as yet found a way to reverse.

At one time Civil Servants were paid somewhat poorly compared with private sector wages and salaries but had almost guaranteed employment until they retired. Now they are often paid more that the private sector without a shred of accountability, have a very generous health plan, had their working hours reduced below most of the private sector and still have virtually guaranteed employment until retirement even if they are totally and unbelievable lazy and incompetent, rude to their employers (us taxpayers) and spend their time cell phone using, computer browsing, Facebook updating and twittering with the world at large when they should be productively working. We have all seen and witnessed these activities and yet there is no outrage. Does every family have a Civil Servant on the payroll now?

Nobody wants the hordes of Civil Servants to lose their jobs, there are more than enough Bermudians hurting already, but by their actions or inactions they have contributed to the mess our country is in. The Civil Service numbers should be reduced by attrition to a level we can afford, and that is now many less than when the PLP came to power. Saying that, I don't believe that Civil Servants who contributed to the mess we are in should continue to enjoy the high life while other Bermudians are seriously struggling. My plan:

Programmes should be reviewed and cut where unsustainable, irrespective of the political ramifications. Bermuda must be the beneficiary, not a political party or the select few a programme supports. Hard but necessary. Consultants, many of whom seem to be repeat beneficiaries of huge sums of Government money that seem to be necessary to support our Civil Servants in doing what they should already be able to do, should be axed ASAP. If Civil Servants are unable to do their designated jobs demote them to the appropriate pay band until they can. Top Civil Servants receiving over $120,000 a year should immediately take a 20 percent cut in salary until such time as the national debt and staffing numbers are where they need to be; zero and under 4,500 souls.

Senior level Civil Servants receiving over $90,000 a year should immediately take a 15 percent cut in salary until sustainability is reached. Middle level Civil Servants receiving over $75,000 should take an immediate ten percent cut in salary until sustainability is reached. Lower level Civil Servants receiving over $60,000 should take an immediate five percent cut in salary until sustainability is reached. Those earning less than $50,000 a year should not be penalised financially but their productivity, with all others, should be measured and those found wanting encouraged to improve their performance to cover for those who voluntarily leave the service or retire. Savings in salary and wages should be immediately paid into the sinking fund and only be used for paying off the deficit. The Government must live within its income from now on. Should the salary reductions force Civil Servants into the private sector, great, they will generate income for Government. Select privatisation with Civil Servants forced to move into the private sector would also improve Government's bottom line. May add to the numbers eventually unemployed but that would simply demonstrate that they were ineffective when the taxpayer paid them. I strongly doubt we would lose any irreplaceable Civil Servants based upon their overall performance in recent years. In time we can rebuild the Civil Service with the best Bermuda can afford.

Should Civil Servants take strike action, so be it, but don't pay them, don't let them use sick days and don't give them overtime to "catch up" if and when they return. At present whenever a Civil Servant goes on strike our weak Government backs down and then pays them extra money. We need a strong and resolute Government. Use the private sector if required to maintain key activities like refuse collection and bring in Von Roll to operate the Incinerator if needed. It won't be pleasant, but it is necessary if Government employees cannot see that they are currently immune to the hardship suffered by many in the private sector who have lost their jobs or are on reduced hours or reduced pay.

Personal cell phone use should be banned during working hours with every supervisor's contact number given to next of kin for emergency needs. Use can be monitored. The cell phone companies may see a significant drop in profits, but Government productivity should improve. Computers should be monitored for personal use and all general web (not e-mail) access restricted to one computer per department, placed in a high traffic area. I am sick to death of Government and Civil Service incompetence and wastage of my money and it is about time they shared in the grief they all helped to create. The voting public can let the PLP know if they appreciated the mess their representatives got them into at the next election. However, the Civil Service is forever as they write the rules that keep more and more of them employed. We need to reverse that self sustaining ability.

FOR A SLIMMER CIVIL SERVICE

Pembroke

We're better than this

October 1, 2010

Dear Sir,

Come on Bermuda, come on Bermuda! We are better than this, really we are, we're better people. In honour of our legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, the late Dame Lois Browne Evans, the late Dr. E. F. Gordon, the late Malcolm X and the Fabulous Dr. Barbara Ball, we need to come together and show respect for them please, protect the dignity of our family ancestors and the future of our children. Give the authorities the information so they can get the guns off the streets, or turn them in please, we must. This is the 11th hour, we can win this you all really we can. Stop being selfish and call so the police can get the warrants they need. Gossip in a positive way, Bermuda!

SYBIL BARRINGTON

The Queen of Bermuda

Promises, promises

October 1, 2010

Dear Sir,

Can someone responsible, i.e. not a PLP politician, please tell me why Dr. Brown bribed the BIU with $6.8 million of our money so they would not take industrial action without notice and we are now on our fourth or fifth wildcat government worker strike since they were gifted millions by the public they are seriously inconveniencing?

I WANT MY MONEY BACK

Pembroke

No knighthood for Dr. Brown

Dear Sir,

I am sure there is more than a handful of Bermudians who believe that Dr. Brown should be awarded a knighthood when he leaves office. However, I believe there are hundreds if not thousands for every Brown supporter who believe he should not. To be kind, he has admitted to misleading us, he has misled his own Government, he has been disrespectful to "his" people and to British Government representatives and left us in a financial mess worse than the most ardent UBP supporters had nightmares about prior to November, 1998.

He has allowed the introduction of vehicles that are too big for our roads and our Bermuda stone walls that are no match for these careless gas guzzling monsters. Real tourism has further declined under his watch and many of the jobs that could have been undertaken by those left challenged by a further 12 years of failed education policy have nowhere left to go. He has also destroyed the gains we had made as a people in trying to come together by his politically motivated racist remarks and programmes that seemed aimed at vilifying all whites outside of his special friends. I neither support the UBP, the PLP or the BDA as political parties but this one man has done more to demonstrate the divisiveness of party politics within our small town population than any other in history and he used tactics foreign to us to achieve his self serving goals. I do not envy the incoming Premier who has to try and clean up his mess and just hope for one who is approachable by all Bermudians and one who will help all those affected by the disaster that has been the net result of Dr. Ewart Brown political tenure in Bermuda.

FOR CARING GOVERNMENT

Pembroke