This morning’s letters to the editor discuss the running of Dundee City Council, a way of dealing with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, sanctions against Israel and the scheme to give Cupar residents radar speed guns.
Involve public in decisions on spending cuts Sir,-I was interested to read Brian Allison’s article, Plea for more cooperation on city council.
A collective, joined-up look at how Dundee City Council responds to its severe financial challenges must be welcomed. However, the article only mentions the unions, politicians and council officials as having a role in reshaping services.
Why be so restrictive? Why leave out the most important stakeholders in the city its people?
Dundee City Council exists to serve the people, so, surely we should have a say on how our services are to be reshaped.
Judging from recent articles, the council is not an exemplary service provider, so perhaps we should see the gathering financial storm as an opportunity to have a say in what service we want and where cuts should fall.
My guess is that there is much sympathy for people providing frontline services and frustration with the incompetence that can sometimes be found behind the scenes. Opening up the debate would also highlight good practice and could result in a level of cooperation between the council and the people, which is needed if the ambitious goal of creating a more positive perception of Dundee is to be realised.
Liz Broumley.1 Richmond Terrace,Dundee.
Roll out barrel for slick solution
Sir,-I am surprised that there is never any attempt to recycle oil from oil slicks.
It could be easily done by joining a number of 45-gallon barrels together and pushing them against the oil slick and rotating them, with a rubber scraper removing the oil from the barrels.
This could then be pumped into a small tanker. Any water in the oil would separate given time. Crude just now is $86 per barrel. I wonder how many billions of pounds could be saved? Although I am 92, I would like to have a go at this.
Peter Bett.1 Lyndsay Court,Cupar.
Nature reveals mankind’s origin
Sir,-I read the letters column each day in my favourite daily newspaper, The Courier, and the same people keep telling me that the Bible is fiction.
I would like them to explain how it came about that humans are made up of 60,000 miles of blood vessels, 204 bones, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, intestines, eyes, ears and so on.
God also made us male and female so that the human race would not die out.
There never was a Big Bang that could make all these miracles come to pass.
In my 97 years, I have never had any other satisfactory reason given to explain who we are and how it all came about.
Alex Ramsay.4 Helmsdale Place,Dundee.
Choose fresh produce wisely
Sir,-Sadly, and perhaps disastrously, the mighty peace-seeking President Obama and the sycophantic “new politics” UK Government continue to bark at the behest of the Israeli tail.
Had the murder and piracy been carried out by Iran or North Korea or many other countries, an outraged world would have passed UN resolutions to condemn, withdraw ambassadors and cut off diplomatic relations.
But the US vetoed UN serious condemnation and the UK followed in describing it as regrettable. Al Qaida is a dangerous, nasty terrorist organisation and UK soldiers are dying pursuing them.
The Israeli regime, stacked with nuclear weapons is, through its words and deeds, the most likely country to be responsible for a third world war, which will affect us all more than terrorism.
There seems little that ordinary people can do to stop this catastrophe but we can stop financing it. Tayside supermarkets are awash with Israeli fruit and vegetables.
W. J. Harris.18 Queen Street,Carnoustie.
Israel has broken EU agreement
Sir,-We may feel helpless in the face of Israel’s appalling, illegal behaviour but one thing everyone can do is to urge the EU, via our MEPs, to cancel the trade agreement the EU has with Israel. This agreement gives favourable trading terms to Israel, provided Israel does not abuse human rights.
Need I say more?
Mary Henderson.36 Luke Place,Dundee.
Danger in radar vigilantes
Sir,-We do not require “vigilantes” operating hand-held radar guns to detect speeders in Cupar (May 31).
This is the job of the police and must be carried out in a professional manner by trained and qualified officers.
This scheme could leave itself wide open to many allegations and even also result in the operators being assaulted by offending drivers, which would then require the real police to devote time to investigate.
On the other hand, police could be detecting the speeders in the first place.
Fife Constabulary has always been an efficient force at the forefront of many initiatives and does not require to copy some scheme tried out in Strathclyde.
In any case, with traffic bottle-necks, when is it possible to exceed the speed limit in Cupar?
John McDonald.14 Rosebery Court,Kirkcaldy.
Time for PM to get tough
Sir,-I feel our new Prime Minister should adopt a firmer approach on important matters. Under the guise of democracy, the previous administration permitted socialism to run riot. We have inherited a crisis, which will only be corrected by effective leadership.
We need national service for young people. Head-teachers should have full autonomy and curriculums should include the teaching of manners and proper social conduct
Let’s have the police operating on a 20% administration and 80% on-the-beat basis.
Kenneth Miln.22 Fothringham Drive,Monifieth.