Take $ out of drugs

August 27, 2009

Dear Sir,

Today's Royal Gazette reported on an individual who had been spared a jail sentence for impaired driving …and causing severe injuries to another road user the morning of August 16, 2009 at 3 a.m.

The Judge, Charles-Etta Simmons, handed this fellow a six-month suspended prison sentence (among other stipulations) as opposed to a term of incarceration for the offences committed. Please, allow me to make it clear that I do not oppose the way the courts saw fit to impose this particular sentence on the individual who'd shown sincere remorse for his action. The point I wish to make concurs with a statement the Judge was quoted as saying: "The individual was of good character but alcohol is the most deadly drug on the Island, and warned the defendant to use it in moderation."

This past week, I submitted a letter to the Editor referring to taking the dollar value out of drugs. I truly believe that there aren't too many drugs more dangerous than alcohol. To curb the rate of court cases/prison population we have to be realistic about controlling drug use here on the Island. Take a look at Amsterdam. Many years ago they decriminalised drug possession and went as far as setting-up café-style of smoking dens…Crime had decreased (if I'm not mistaken) by 75 percent. Most crimes here in Bermuda are drug related. So, again, let me say "if you take the $ value out of the "drug market" then those who consider themselves "a Bigger" will have to find an alternative way to earn an income. Here is where school will become the "new drug".

The youths will no longer want to emulate those who chose drugs as a way of earning a living, in seeing there is no positive future associated with that style of life.

Of course many of you will think I'm a dreamer. Yet, just as the so called gangsters of the 1920-30 had eventually changed their method of earning a living, we here on our Island can set a precedent, one I'm sure will alleviate much of the stress people are presently experiencing, which is/can be related to "crime driven by narcotics sold on the black-market"

Government can figure out a way of taxing "weed" as they do damn near everything else. Remember, legalising/decriminalising doesn't mean everyone will be using … just those who choose to.

RAYMOND RAY

St. George's

Police accountability

August 25, 2009

Dear Sir,

I believe the Bermuda public deserves better answers on certain issues from the Bermuda Police than "At an appropriate time the Bermuda Police Service will issue a statement on this matter" (in relation to the MV Guardian) and "at the appropriate time a formal response will be made by the service" (in relation to officers' CPR skills). I understand when they say they can't comment on an operational issue or a case in court but these are basic questions that can be answered very easily. The current answers certainly give the impression that the statements will be contrived.

These are the questions I would like answered:

On the matter of the MV Guardian (especially as this boat was built from scratch for us):

1. Why was the Commissioner of Police (the Island's "top cop") not aware that his vessel the MV Guardian was in dry dock the day before a hurricane was due to hit Bermuda? The buck stops with you, Mr. Commissioner, and "I didn't know about that" does not instil great confidence.

2. With his statement, "saving one, two or six lives does not mean we should put other persons' lives at risk" is he now abdicating the first rule of policing – namely the protection of life and property?

3. Why are the Bermuda Police not equipped for offshore search and rescue?

4. Why did a company in Australia get the contract to build this boat in the first place? Was there not a closer company in the US or Canada that had suitable boats?

5. What roles for use were identified for this vessel prior to it being built? (surely the ability to launch a small launch from the rear was a first consideration – for the ability to approach stricken vessels for rescue purposes and to launch possible boat boarding for drug interdiction and fisheries enforcement within the 200 mile EEZ). I don't think the MV Guardian has these abilities, does it?

6. If these considerations for its role were not looked at, why not?

7. What role(s) can this boat perform?

8. Does the $1.7 million price tag for this boat include all the following persons' British Airways Business Class tickets to Australia – via the UK (Google that to see how much these cost people) namely:-

At least one for the present Commissioner when Deputy.

At least one for the then Assistant Commissioner Adams.

At least three for the Marine Police Sergeant tasked with identifying a suitable craft.

CPR Skills

1. Whose responsibility is it for keeping Police Officers CPR/First Aid qualifications current?

2. Should the officers be found not to be qualified, does that not speak to point two previously, namely the protection of life and property?

I ask these questions because I believe that the Bermuda Police Service is accountable to the Bermuda Public. I look forward to the answers because as an ex-officer I already know what the answers should be!

ENQUIRING MIND

Southampton

Remember better days

August 25, 2009

Dear Sir,

Can I take you down memory lane? Do you and your readers remember when:

You could remember the Education Minister's name?

When cruise ships docked in Hamilton on a regular basis?

When drug dealers were not on every corner?

When the Police Force were just that, a Force?

When it didn't matter if you weren't politically connected, you still had a chance at a Government contract?

When gangs were not heard of and seniors were safe at home?

When the grass and hedges were kept nicely trimmed?

When owning a taxi was a lucrative venture?

When there seemed to be thousands of tourists coming to and fro?

When there were just a few mini buses?

When huge tractor trailer dump trucks were illegal?

When roadways had few pot-holes and were clearly marked?

When our politicians did not have scores to settle or felt they had to deceive us?

When the conviction rate in court was a lot higher?

When you could not remember the last murder?

When taxis did not have to have GPS?

When our politicians made collective decisions?

When our leaders spent more time in Bermuda tending to our affairs?

When we did not have such a huge national debt?

When reported tourism figures were believable?

When taxpayers did not have to provide body guards and cooks for our leaders?

When walls knocked down were rebuilt the next day?

When International Businesses were ever increasing in number?

When a wall cost a few thousand and not a few hundred thousand?

Finally Mr. Editor, do you remember when the UBP was the Government of the day?

Please Mr. Kim Swan, will you and your colleagues keep up the hard work for the people, it is not going un-noticed.

MEMORY LANE

Warwick

Disservice to our youth

August 27, 2009

Dear Sir,

I currently reside in the US and am by birth and nationality a Bermudian. Therefore I take great interest in The Royal Gazette as I feel it allows me to remain connected to my home and the events associated with it. Yesterday, while reading The Gazette, I was both shocked and appalled by the comments given by Mr. Stowe. In his statement he concluded that the young males on the Island were better suited for technical training versus academic learning. That's a horrible and debasing statement to make about Bermuda's most treasured resource – children – not tourism or banking!

I would venture to say that perhaps an evaluation of the methods used to educate our children should be done. It's been my experience for many years (as I grew up in the States) that Bermudians have been sending their children abroad to receive their secondary education due to the lack of quality resources on the island. Many of my family members have studied in the States during their high school years. I've witnessed that to still be the case today.

Therefore, before you incriminate the children, take a look at the system and see what can be done to correct the gaps. The Island has a very large Black population (68 percent of Bermudians are black - http://www.bermuda-online.org/population.htm) and I am finding those statements to be a racial slight. Knowledge is the key to opening the doors of discovery and power. If we say that our young men are not capable or interested in obtaining knowledge, then we ware saying that the keys to power in Bermuda will be given to others. That my friends, this is what I would describe as a slave-mentality stating that others are much brighter than our own.

In short, I believe that Mr. Stowe owes not only the youths of Bermuda an apology but also his fellow Bermudians as a whole. I leave you with this quote from Barack Obama, a shining example of a Black male that has reached his potential and truly believes in empowering youth to succeed:

"We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible." Barack Obama

ANITA STEWART

New York City

Change the language

August 26, 2009

Dear Sir,

Language is important. Language is not merely a tool that we use to express our thoughts, it also frames and shapes them. Our words are not the end product of our thought processes, they are the building blocks of our thoughts themselves.

Throughout the Selassie trial, Rhiana Moore was described as Selassie's "young lover" and his "girlfriend". Their relationship was categorised as an "affair". I appreciate that given the presumption of innocence there were constraints on the manner in which events could be described, but now that the trial is over, we must clarify our language.

She was not his lover, she was his victim.

She was not his girlfriend, she was a child.

They did not have an affair. She was below the legal age of consent. He raped her.

Let us all make an effort in our own minds to replace those glossy, romanticised words – lover, girlfriend, affair – with words that accurately reflect the facts. Victim. Child. Rape. If we use the correct words when we frame our thoughts about these events, perhaps we will come to see matters as they really are. We must change the language of our thoughts, not only to honour Rhiana's dignity, but for the sake of other little girls out there who are preyed upon by paedophiles.

BARBARA PADEGA

City of Hamilton