The trouble with paradise… Yes, this island is beautiful, but living here is no holiday

We cannot argue about the beauty and scenery. From the cliff paths we can see some of the most stunning scenes. We do not need a government to enjoy that part of island life and it is something (fortunately) they cannot take away from people however low they are on the ladder of personal welfare in respect of material things and money.

Sadly, for many, this is not the beginning and end of life on the island. At the lower end of the ladder, people are struggling to live. Pensioners and lower-paid workers cannot live off the beautiful scenery and stunning views. It is for those people I try to open up the facts of life in Guernsey – not the rich people who have the full backing of the government to hoard millions and live here because they do not have to pay tax on most of it. The down-to-earth, honest Guernsey person sees this island going to the wall – and any positive writing about the beautiful scenery is not opening people's eyes to that fact.

The island is over-populated and yet the government says it's not. There are too many vehicles on our roads but the government say there's not.

People are struggling to live and paying tax on every hard-earned penny, yet the government refuse to tax the rich on all their income and set a cap on what they have to pay tax on.

We are looking at having three schools on the island when we are getting more and more people living and producing children in our homeland.

We have a government that borrows money we don't need so we can pay back more than we borrowed in interest out of our hard-earned money, which they tax us on.

We ask for sensibleness, which is promised on our doorstep at election time but never put into action after the election.

We hear deputies telling us what is wrong and how it can be fixed, but it never is.

We hear deputies on phone-ins agreeing with just about every caller but not actually doing anything to correct what is wrong.

We go to hustings and hear all the candidates spilling out words and overflowing with how they can and will do what the people ask for. They tell us how wonderful they are going to be and what they will do for us in terms of putting this island back on its feet, and then turn on us and join the clan in keeping us at the lower end down.

No. I am sorry, but apart from the beauty of nature surrounding this island there is very little for the hard-working people to be positive about these days.

Before I close with my latest rant, if anyone does not agree, to be honest I don't really care because what I write is from the heart and is the feeling of the majority of the people at the bottom end of the ladder who either will not stand up and be counted or who cannot put in writing how they feel.

The thing is, if anyone does not agree and wishes to say so, I am not bothered. Like Matt and Trevor, out of frustration we air our views. If anyone does have an opinion, be honest and brave enough to put your name to it. After all, it is only a person's opinion and no one is going to shoot or hold a grudge against you for it. Well at least I won't. After all, Matt, Trevor and I may moan, but at least we are honest.

All the above are the views of myself personally and are not the opinion of any other members of the St Peter Port douzaine, which I sit on.

ROD HAMON,

5, Rosemount,

Mont Arrive,

St Peter Port,

GY1 2AF.