The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters and comments from readers. Here you can read the letters we have published in your newspaper today.
Letter of the Week
Everything has been done in Rena salvage
It never fails to amaze me how the uninformed try to be the town cryers, I guess it makes them feel important to know nothing. The Rena is no exception to this.
So let's look at facts. The first is the Government has been prepared for such an event since the grounding of the Mikhail Lermontov.
The ship hit the well-documented Astrolabe Reef on Wednesday morning and the specialist team from round the world landed here on Wednesday afternoon. From here it became complex as the ship had ruptured and was leaking oil straight away, unfortunately pumping oil off the boat is not as easy as it sounds.
The decision was made to use the ship's double-skinned fuel tanks as the safest place to securely store the oil to protect the outside environment, pumping equipment was flown on board the ship and large amounts of oil were stopped from entering the environment by this method.
So to say nothing was being done is hogwash. Everything was being done as per the plan hatched out by the best salvage team in the world today. The Prime Minister and the current Government have down us proud, it hasn't been a matter of what has been done, everything possible has been done.
Town Cryers used to know what they were talking about.
Jeff Ryan, Papamoa
It's a rich man's world
For some time now I have been thinking (as Richard Prebble would say) that National is the only party that will maintain the standard of living of the well off. Really, if you owned a BMW you would not like to go back to a Toyota, would you?
I mean, who really cares about those at the bottom of the pile?
It's their own fault that they are there anyway, eh?
We don't really want to go back to the '50s when there were no very well off people and no poor people either. Who wants to go backwards? I say to hell with that idea and vote National. They will maintain the lifestyle that you have and deserve.
After all, it's not our problem, it's the Government's.
Cedric Sutherland, Tauranga
Crackers or food?
I note that the Mana Party has a large billboard at Parkvale where I have lived for the past 20 years stating "feed the children". Since the sale of fireworks became legal (four days before Guy Fawkes night) we have been listening to fireworks exploding all around us. This will continue until way past November 5, in fact well into next year on any excuse.
So if they can not afford to feed their children, where does the money for fireworks come from? This has been going on for as long as we have lived in this area.
Helen Downie, Parkvale
Rena clean-up
Thanks to S Bibby for the points made about the volunteer organisation of the oil spill clean-up (Letters, October 31). We have reviewed our processes, and now that the situation with the Rena is more stable we are able to advise volunteers earlier of the times and venues of the beach clean-ups.
For example, on Friday we emailed and texted volunteers at 2pm for events on the next two days.
We really value the huge efforts of the volunteers and appreciate any suggestions that would make it easier for them to help out with the oil clean-up.
Events at Papamoa will be held daily until at least today, and at Maketu until at least Friday. We are hopeful that the first phase of the beach clean-up will then be nearly complete. Starting the second and third phases of the beach cleaning process will depend on the risk of a further significant oil spill being much reduced, so that these processes do not have to be repeated.
Thanks for taking the time to volunteer and to contact us about these points. We have more information about the beach clean-up events at www.boprc.govt.nz
Pim de Monchy and Bruce Fraser, Operation Beach Clean managers
Education options
The Government monopoly of the education system is not only immoral and unethical, but it is also extremely dangerous.
I thought Bethlehem College was a private school, but it turns out it's not - it is largely state-funded. This means that the Government calls the shots (or withdraw their funding, holding the school to ransom). This means Government gets to say what they can and cannot teach, and how much they may charge for their services. This means that there is no chance of giving your children an education other than that which the Government approves. That guarantees that the country will pump out generation after generation of clones only believing what the Government decides is appropriate for them to know.
This is the danger of sleeping with the devil. Once you accept his terms, he has you by the throat, and gets to pull the strings to make you jump - these schools become just another puppet of the Government.
In reality a private school should be entitled to charge anything it wants, and teach anything it wants. If parents value those things they will purchase them - or not - of their own free will. Parents no longer have this choice in this country, only various shades of government conditioning.
Graham Clark, Tauranga
Waterfront work
As a businessperson operating from the heart of the CBD I am disappointed the council has decided to continue with the waterfront development during this major global economic crisis.
Can we as ratepayers afford to spend even $600,000 on an area that will produce very little, if anything at all, for the CBD or the council? Who do they think will benefit from this spending?
It will be a huge loss of valuable parking for the central city of which no offer has been made to replace these spaces.
Where are the people who are projected to be using this waterfront area going to park? Are they going to carry barbecues, food, chairs and children from the parking building to the waterfront?
What checks and guarantees will the council put in place to assure businesspeople and ratepayers, particularly from CBD, that this will not be another absolute waste of money and how are they going to monitor its value over a reasonable period of time?
Will they convert it back to a carpark, when, as most people in the area that have some sort of business sense will tell you, and the council finally listens, and declare it as another council failure?
They should stop now and avoid more unnecessary expense.
D. J. Campbell, Tauranga
Vote for change
If black was Act's colour plus blue for National and red for Labour, you have deep purple - the colour of a bruise. They have been bruising us enough. In fact, I think they all are run by the One World people and not us. A coalition of the smaller parties with MMP would be more democractic and really give the people what they voted for.
As the saying goes, "When the intelligent observer detects deceit he is inclined to be sceptical about everything".
Enough is enough, please get out there and vote and throw these turkeys out. It's really time for a big change and not the one they have planned for us.
Jeanette Pawson, Oropi
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