I am writing to concur with a recent letter by R. Burns, in which he expressed his concern about the danger of roundabouts. A couple of years ago I called the Corporation of Hamilton to express my concern about the roundabout near The Royal Gazette and the pedestrian crosswalks nearby. Since then, speed bumps have been constructed on the approaching roads. Unfortunately, these bumps are not near enough to the roundabout to have any effect on the dangerous flow of traffic. Not only must the hazards to drivers be addressed but also something must be done to make the area near the Royal Gazette roundabout safe for pedestrians, especially for the many school children who use the crosswalks.

I have seen some of the problems firsthand, not just as a driver who uses the roundabout twice a day but also as an observer whose office is within 50 yards of the site in question. From this vantage point, I have seen roughly one bike or car accident a month and a couple of children hit by moving traffic.

Why is this spot so dangerous? First, many cars do not stop for pedestrians using the crosswalk near the Royal Gazette . Some cars and bikes come out of the roundabout onto Par-la-Ville Road and don't respond quickly enough to pedestrians using the crosswalk. Pedestrians at this spot also are taken by surprise by cars that veer left off of Serpentine Road just past Buckaroo onto Par-la-Ville Road. These vehicles have less than ten yards to respond to pedestrians on the crosswalk and many don't, often because the drivers are looking to the right to see if they can merge with traffic.

The other crosswalk very close to this roundabout is on Serpentine Road between Buckaroo and the roundabout. Here, pedestrians are at risk because traffic backs up approaching the roundabout. When children cross between cars, drivers coming from the other direction (coming out of the roundabout) often don't see the child as he/she steps off the sidewalk. The child suddenly emerges in the middle of the crosswalk from between two cars (often hidden by the height of minivans), taking the driver by surprise.

In both cases, the problem is the proximity of the crosswalk to the roundabout. For pedestrians' safety, the crosswalks need to be moved further away from the roundabout and measures need to be taken to slow down traffic in the area. Let's not wait until a more serious accident happens in this spot.

JANET KEMP Sandys Parish What's up Cablevision? March 10, 2001 Dear Sir, This is an open letter to Bermuda Cablevision.

Today, to my dismay I turned on my television and found The Bible Network was on Channel 13 instead of the regular ABC affiliate, WXYZ. I also discovered that you removed KTLA (43) and put in its place, The Speedvision Network. So here is a question that I am sure others would like to know the answer to: What the devil are you doing? When you changed channel 47 to the World Geographic Channel, and Channel 21 to Bloomberg, I thought to myself, I don't like this but I guess I can live with it. This, however, I cannot live with. For a while now you have been promising us NEW channels, and I admit that I was excited at the prospect to having new channels. However, instead of giving us NEW channels, what you have actually done is REPLACE some of our best channels.

KTLA was one of the best channels that you had to offer us! Why did you replace it?! Please tell me why we just had to have the Speedvision Network.

Channel 13 was also one of the best channels that was offered to us. Why not replace TNN (31) or FSWO (50) with The Bible Network. Channel 13 was our alternative to being forced to watch cricket! Please bring back these two "must have'' channels, and while you're at it, bring back VH1. For future reference here are some of the channels that we would not mind having replaced: BBC (8), CNBC (12), CNHN (15), ON-TV (16), BLOOMBERG (21), CMC (22), TNN (31), CNN/SI (35), TWC (38), AP (39), NGC (47), GOLF (48), FSWO (50), RTP (51), OVAT (53) and JAZZ (54).

You would be doing us a favour by replacing the above channels! Why not give us channels like MTV, Cinemax or even the Sci Fi channel. Please give us our money's worth. If we want to be bored to death we could do it for free! A DISGRUNTLED CUSTOMER Devonshire No grass golf March 18, 2001 Dear Sir, Attention has already been drawn in your columns to the sad dealing in the condition of Port Royal Golf Course. Port Royal is the premier visitors course on the Island. Designed by Robert Trent Jones, it was once listed among the finest public courses in the world.

Today grass can hardly be found on the course. The first fairway is a mud slide in the rain. It appears the greens staff set out early in the morning to cut the "grass'' before they depart for other work in Parks and Gardens. For the rest of the day they are not to be seen. Every amateur gardener knows that grass should not be cut when it is wet with morning dew, or after overnight rain. And certainly not during a downpour as happened last week. Cutting wet grass tears up the growth by the roots. As a result the only grass to be found in Port Royal is on the uncut rough.

Workmen have been busy at Port Royal for weeks. But not on the course.

Currently they are levelling the driving range. And recently a band of men showed up with chain saws and they have been decapitating harmless trees around the course. Most of the bunkers have not been properly raked for years.

Below a thin layer of sand, the ground is packed solid as concrete.

The Minister for Tourism should take note. Bermuda golf is not competing against Scotland as the recent misguided advertisement implied. Scotland invented golf and has hosted it for centuries. Bermuda is competing against thousands of manicured courses from Florida to California, and Myrtle Beach to Arizona. And often at bargain prices.

Lastly let me pay tribute to the courtesy of the general staff at Port Royal who has to make excuses for the condition of the course. Hopefully the summer sun will promote same growth. But only a change of strategy will repair the long-term damage to the course, and more importantly its reputation.

BOGEY GOLFER Sandys Parish Year round cleanliness March 19, 2001 Dear Sir, My husband and I are on a first visit to the beautiful Island of Bermuda.

Since we arrived, we have seen many wonderful views and have been delighted by the may lovely flowers, trees, butterflies and the occasional glimpse of beautifully coloured birds. We are both keen conservationists and, coming from a country where litter is prevalent, we were more than a little surprised to see so much in Bermuda. Our friends drove us to Tobacco Bay and we were amazed at the amount of rubbish on that beach.

Whilst we understand the tourist season starts over here from April onwards, there are always going to be visitors out of season and do we not deserve to find clean beaches? We were down on Horseshoe Bay yesterday and, on my way to the waste bin, I collected up a beer bottle and a spirit bottle.

Each part of the world has its own particular beauty and it is gradually being spoiled by lack of care. I hope the powers that be will instigate a "clean up programme'' all year round.

PATRICIA BROOKS Kent, England