Community activist Charles Spanswick has renewed his calls for officers from the Corporation of Hamilton to step down and also lashed out at the Government's race forums for over-reliance on foreign experts.

Bermudian Mr. Spanswick, 65, who lives part-time in Barbados, said the litter and trash situation on the Island is steadily worsening yet he sees no effective action to halt it.

He's calling for stiffer fines to deter litterers.

"The Government needs to introduce more legislation that would impose stiffer fines, I'm talking about heavy fines for littering. It can't be $200 or $500, it's got to be in the thousands," he said. "In my platform, when I ran for election to the Corporation, I said I would fine people $5,000 for putting trash on the City's streets and that was for anyone caught dropping anything.

"The last time I spoke about the country in general I was talking about the fact Bermuda could become a third world country because of pollution and trash.

"And I now believe we are a third world country. And I'm really serious about this because there have been no changes whatsoever. I think things are worse than before."

Mr. Spanswick said if the Corporation cannot heal its reported internal divisions and return the City to its once pristine state, Mayor Sutherland Madeiros and others should resign.

"I'm against what's going on in the Corporation right now because they're having a lot of trouble among themselves," he said.

A spokesperson for the Corporation of Hamilton said the Mayor and other management officials would be prepared to meet with Mr. Spanswick to discuss his specific concerns.

Mr. Spanswick contended that most people in Bermuda no longer care about pollution and cleanliness: "People just don't care.

"Now you see on TV and in The Royal Gazette, pictures of all the trash that's being put on the sides of the roads.

"People just do not show any responsibility anymore. You've got Keep Bermuda Beautiful (KBB) out there working hard in trying their best to combat the litter.

"I give them praise because they're trying their best. But I'm wondering why do we have to go through all of this?

"Because people just don't just have the gumption to be kind to themselves and throw their trash where it is supposed to be thrown."

His grievances come only weeks after the head of KBB Richard Lathan, expressed frustration over the amount of litter his organisation is finding dumped from bushes to the Railway Trail.

KBB volunteers have cleaned up about 10 tons of trash so far this year — including one-and-a-half tons of batteries cleared up at one site during one weekend.

Mr. Spanswick also took aim at Government's Bermuda Race Relations Initiative (BRRI), which has been taking place since last year.

He said Government is wasting taxpayers money flying in overseas "experts" on race, and that there are more avenues to healing the race divide than have been explored to date.

"The only way we Bermudians are ever going to solve this problem is by sitting down and talking face to face," he said. "In Barbados the population is 90 percent black and no day goes by when a black Barbadian and a white Barbadian discusses racism. Everyone gets along with each other.

"The only way the race problem is going to get solved is when this PLP Government becomes a mixed party.

"I look at Government organisations like CURE, which was started by the United Bermuda Party.

"My thing with the PLP is, how can they 'cure' anything when their party is all black. I've asked PLP members this but I have never received and answer.

"The only way were going to solve this issue of race is through face to face dialogue, black and white and not by bringing experts here from around the world because they're not experts.

"Their countries have the same problems we have and they're just making money off of us. The taxpayers have to pay to bring these people here to stay at the Princess hotel, get wined and dined, have a great time, then come to a meeting and talk all this crap.

"I've been to a couple of these BRRI meetings and I would never go to any more because none of them make sense to me."