high level of traffic on the roads that the Transport Ministry has floated the idea of reducing or eliminating the Paget/ Warwick ferry services.

Part of the concern for the Transport Ministry stems from the reduction in passengers due to the closure of the Belmont and Palm Reef hotels. If passenger loads drop to the point where a route is completely unprofitable, then it makes little sense to continue with it.

But it is inconceivable that commuters would not opt for the ferry if it meant avoiding the gauntlet of the western approaches to Hamilton, where traffic jams begin early and far away and do not cease until drivers reach their destinations and, in most cases, pay for their parking.

The problems arise with the frequency -- there are not enough runs and they stop too early -- of the ferry service and the lack of parking at ferry stops.

If parking was made available at the now closed Belmont and at the Palm Reef Hotel, as suggested by former Sen. Yvette Swan, this would enable more people to leave their cars at the ferry stop for the day and go to and from work by water.

Making more parking available near the West End ferry stops -- and making sure they start earlier and finish later -- would also encourage more Somerset residents to use the ferries as well.

Ferry travel is cleaner, easier and probably quicker than driving to work by car and if more people took the ferry, that would mean less traffic on the raods as well. That's an unbeatable combination.

WE CAN DO IT EDT We can do it In a land where "Government should do it'' sometimes seems to have replaced "Quo Fata Ferunt'' as the national motto, a group of parents and teachers at a Southampton school have set a refreshing example for the rest of the Island.

After the playground equipment at Southampton Glebe Primary School was removed for being unsafe and the Education Ministry said it could not afford to replace it, many people would have accepted it, complained a bit and carried on with their lives.

But, as reported in today's newspaper, the Parent Teacher Association at Southampton Glebe decided to fix the problem themselves. Now they are raising the money and they are doing it in the best possible way -- by promoting literacy through a read-a-thon.

This is the kind of grassroots effort in which parents and teachers team up with business to do something for the community. It saves the taxpayer money, promotes reading and gives children an outlet for their energy as well. The rest of us would do well to emulate Southampton Glebe.