constituency are hearing nothing from the residents but "Elbow Beach''. We could not be happier. It is time the people expressed their views and past time for Government to take note. We can only hope that the candidates are getting the message and passing it on.

The Minister of Tourism the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge has chosen publicly to confuse the large issue of collective Cabinet responsibility and continues to support the Elbow Beach development publicly, despite the fact that Cabinet colleague Environment Minister Mrs. Ann Cartwright DeCouto may have to act in a quasi-judicial capacity to decide the matter on appeal. The whole thing makes us wonder just what is going on. We are doubly concerned because we think that Elbow Beach has a hidden agenda for the 39 million dollar condos.

In any case, we have to concern ourselves with the fact that Bermuda has a Minister of Tourism who is not concerned with the environment in a country where the environment, not such things as floor shows, attracts visitors.

Ministers of Tourism need to understand that visitors come to Bermuda because of its unique ambiance and that if you destroy that ambiance you might as well be Las Vegas. Desecrating the environment with "palaces'' on the dunes and million dollar condos for sale to non-Bermudians is not the way to success.

Providing good facilities coupled with a protected Bermuda is the way.

The Minister of Tourism must know as well as we do that once he encourages and supports Elbow Beach in its proposed destruction on the South Shore there will be no stopping foreign hotel owners who might all want to play follow the leader and destroy the South Shore in the name of progress in tourism. Mr.

Woolridge surely knows that while these Elbow facilities may lead to a few quick bucks they will ultimately damage Bermuda's tourism as we know it. If we bow to Elbow Beach's pressure at Mr. Woolridge's behest, we will set a precedent Bermuda will regret long after Mr. Woolridge has gone from politics.

The Tourism Minister is well known for wanting what he wants when he wants it and in that way he and Elbow Beach make a good pairing. Elbow Beach demands quick action. Mr. Woolridge jumps in support. But Bermuda's Minister of Tourism should not be a hotel puppet. Mr. Woolridge has his role wrong. He should be protecting Bermuda and Bermuda's tourism from destructive foreign owners and he should not be encouraging their desecration of Bermuda.

Bermudians must not accept Bermuda being damaged on Mr. Woolridge's say so because he has lost his way.

There was a time when Ministers of Tourism were the first to protect Bermuda's environment. Tourism Ministers worried about the look of the countryside, the use of signs, the widening of roads, the protection of beaches, the quality of architecture and Bermuda's quality of life. Those people understood what was good for tourism, what "Bermuda'' meant and just why visitors wanted to come to Bermuda and spend their money. They built this Country into the best of the islands, the leader in island vacations.

Mr. Woolridge inherited that tradition and that success. He has served a long time and was once a distinguished Minister. Now tourism is in a bad state and he supports pouring concrete over a large slice of the south shore and building "palaces'' on the dunes.

Poor Bermuda.