It´s the “experts” who panic

Dear Editor, WHEN is the Media in general and the Daily Bulletin in particular, going to stop publishing appeals for the public not to panic. It is NOT the public that behaves in this irrational manner, it is the pundits and experts plus newsreaders, on TV, writers of Editorials who, when something occurs that MAY threaten the public, in this case so-called bird flu mutation, which has NOT even been established yet, but is proclaimed as though it has, which leads to hordes of “experts” pontificating ad nauseam that in turn is followed up by them telling us not to panic, the very word inducing PANIC!! What is the point? One of the truly sensible and wise quotations of the 20th century is that of Mr. Asquith, when he suggested in Parliamnet that the Honourable Member should “WAIT AND SEE”. Too often today the rush to judgement comes first, thought later. It is time to reverse that sequence. I READ with interest the article on the last part of the Port De Pollensa ring road. I have been advised by residents that the road will now cross a “protected” bird sanctuary when it leaves the coast road at Llenaire. How can this happen? What does protection mean if it can be over-ruled by politicians seeking to bow to the pressure of the motor vehicle at the expense of irreplaceable natural areas of beauty? Surely the road should run an extra 500 metres along the cost road and join the already constructed access road near the Llenaire restaurant. This will leave the birds alone, the houses undisturbed, save money and utilise existing brand new roads. Or am I missing the point? In the UK, many towns and cities now just ban cars and provide alternative out of town park and ride schemes. Oxford and Cambridge would have been destroyed by new roads had the local politicians not been brave enough to say NO. Since London introduced the road toll, 35 percent more people use public transport. Majorca needs to wake up to the real world: it is popular with tourists because it is a naturally beautiful place. We do not visit to see new roads. Very soon we will be travelling to alternative parts of the world and then no one will need the roads.