| Letters |
Have your say. Send your letters by email to office@coastrider.net, by fax to 966 701 037 or by post to CoastRider S.L., C/Joaquin Chapaprieta 59 (Local 7), Torrevieja 03181 (Alicante).
Remember, all letters should include full name, address and telephone number (Please note: addresses and other contact details are for our records, not for publication unless specified by the sender).
The views expressed in the CoastRider’s letters page are the views of our readers and are not necessarily the opinion of the CoastRider. We reserve the right to edit letters where necessary.
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Dear Editor,
I did not wish to have to write this letter, but following the events of the last number of months, I feel I have no choice. I have been slandered, defamed and disparaged and for the sake of 'putting it all behind me', I wish to make clear a number of points.
During my time as Councillor of the church in La Siesta, the Lay Reader was suspended for portraying himself as a priest. The Bishop of Gibraltar called together a committee of seven people, including myself, to support our vicar in the decision to issue the suspension.
Although I stand by the decision made, it seems that accepting this role was, on my part, a regrettable choice. Dennis Cheetham, a friend of the suspended Lay Reader, has since decided to blame me for spear-heading the entire suspension process and has sought revenge by slandering my good name ever since.
One of the first incidents which came to light began when Mr Cheetham was eavesdropping on a conversation of mine. I was explaining to another individual that, during a previous career in the hotel business, my wife and I were involved in the sale of a hotel in Wales. It later emerged that Mr Cheetham had gone to the trouble of telephoning around Wales to verify if this was true...which it was! I wonder why a virtual stranger would go to the trouble of making international phonecalls to verify if I was telling the truth.
The second, and perhaps the more serious, incident is in connection to the Chaplaincy of St Peter and St Paul. Last year, the treasurer of the chaplaincy had to step down due to illness. I stepped into the position on a temporary basis to help out. I closed the 2004 accounts in December 2004, had the books audited in February 2005 and presented the audited accounts at the open forum in March. The audit confirmed that everything was in order and, as was agreed with the assistant treasurer, the books were taken over in January 2005.
I was appalled then to discover that Dennis Cheetham had been blackening my good name by blatantly telling other individuals that I had been sacked by the Chaplaincy for having my fingers in the till!!! Both my wife and I were extremely upset by this, especially since we had welcomed Mr Cheetham into our home and had done nothing to deserve this type of degradation. Again, this abuse is stemming from the Lay Reader incident, which Mr Cheetham seems to think I am responsible for.
I was determined to let it lie and not rise to the bait, but when I discovered how underhand and devious Mr Cheetham had been in his efforts to poison my peers against me, I had to take action. I contacted Rev. Colin
McCormack and explained the situation. Rev. McCormack was as appalled as I had been and was kind enough to put in writing that my reasons for resigning from the position of treasurer were nothing to do with financial irregularities (a copy of this let-ter is enclosed for your records). Since then, the backbiting is continuing and all lies and slander can be traced back to the mouth of Mr Cheetham. I have been threatened with violence, I have been defamed and I have been deceived - and all because I was asked by our vicar to support a decision by the bishop.
It is a sad day when a man has to write a letter to a local newspaper in order to clear his own name but as I said before, I feel I have no other option in order to set the facts straight.
Should any person wish to see Rev Mc Cormack's letter and/or the audited accounts in question, I am more than happy to provide copies of same.
Yours truly, John Hollywood
Dear Ed
I am writing to express my concern at the grossly exaggerated and sensation seeking nature of the television programme broad-cast last Monday on the Costa Blanca.
It is typical of most media these days that their objectives are to create interest by shock cover-age of stories that are distorted to suit there devious aims. Unfortunately there aims ignore the distress and worry caused back in England to all those people who have relatives in this area.
The facts are that the whole of Western Europe is suffering from an increase in crime due to the population changes brought about by world circumstances. In my view, Torrevieja does more to combat crime that most towns and cities in England where policing is paid for entirely by local communities which raises big issues of affordability.
I am happy with the local services and policing I experience in Torrevieja and have no wish to return to England.
BJF Torrevieja
Dear Editor
I read with interest your article "Follow the money" in the 2nd August edition of Coastrider. As a member of Vecinos Colaborando, I was contacted by all of the Journalists mentioned in the article. Tom Worden from Madrid was working freelance for the Daily Mail and I introduced him to people who live in the area of Torreta 3, who have experienced a lot of violent crime against themselves and their property.
Isamabad Wilson of the Daily Telegraph also contacted me but I was unable to help him because of other commitments.
I was told by Rebecca Hoggarth
at Granada TV that the pro-gramme "Tonight with Trevor MacDonald" would be unbiased. The level of crime in Torrevieja is very high, much higher than is officially reported. One of the reasons being is, non Spanish speaking people who are robbed or attacked are loathe to report the incidents to the Guardia Civil because it is so expensive to do so and can cost as much as sixty euros.
Translators at the Guardia Civil and at the Saluds should be provided fee of charge urgently. The majority of the people who come to live here come to retire. They are unable to speak Spanish and should not be expected to especially in the first year or so. A man/woman of age 65+ will not pick up a foreign language in a few weeks.
We are told by the British Government that, as Pensioners we are entitled to free health care if we choose to live in another Country within the European Community. I personally know old ladies who have paid Translators as much as fifty euros for one visit to their doctor. What´s free about that?
You said in your article, "All of those pensions sent overseas and spent in euros".
There is no doubt we ex pats make a good contribution to the local economy and should there-fore, be treated in a more equitable manner.
Brenda, Torrevieja
Dear Editor
Ref: Cathy's Social Roundup, Edition 82
After speaking with Lynne at the CoastRider office on Wednesday and being given directions, my husband and I went out to find Villa Andreas.
Not hard if you follow the signs carefully. It is very high up above Bigastro and the views are spectacular. The pool is exceptionally well maintained and a credit to the people who run it. There is also a pool for small children and very warm. The main pool is very big and quite cold despite the weather we have been having. The showers and changing rooms are spotlessly clean.
The food served by the Spanish people is of a high quality and their Sangria is one to die for. Don't drink too much if you are driving it is quite potent.
Our friends who have a home in Siscar joined us for the afternoon and were also very pleased with everything. Plenty of areas to keep out of the sun and grass to lay on if you want to sunbathe. As a resident now in Spain, that option does not bother us as we have the sun for a long time, but holidaymakers only have two weeks or so.
Once again, thank Cathy for finding this place and publishing it in the Coastrider.
Carol Sear
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