Letters: Horrified that a place of justice is in such a poor state

A reader was shocked to lean about the condition of the Tauranga courthouse. Photo/File.

I read the initial Bay of Plenty Times report on July 30 about the condition of our courthouse and was horrified that a place of justice was in such a poor state of repair.

I have been summoned for jury service and expect to be called in the not too distant future, but do I really want to spend days in substandard conditions if I am asked to be a juror? Quite frankly, I think not.

It is our duty as citizens to "do our bit", but since reading about the sub-standard courthouse I intend to ask to be excused, and I will state the above as my reason.

Liz St George
Ohauiti

Provocative submission incorrect

The August 2 Bay of Plenty Times report of the council meeting about transferring 11 Mission St to the Otamatata Trust cited Mr Ken Evans who made a provocative submission saying the councillors who previously voted for the transfer should be charged with "blatant racism". He drew a parallel, "Fifty-one people died in Christchurch due to racial hate".

All the people who died in Christchurch were Muslims, and Mr Evans made the common mistake of believing Muslim is a race, which it isn't. Muslim is a religion; rather, Muslims are those people who follow the religion of Islam. (Abridged)

Perry Harlen
Mount Maunganui

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