Shadow Home Affairs Minister attacked Government's handling of the Berkeley issue in Parliament on Friday night.

He said it had failed to give contractor Pro-Active adequate support.

"They have put at risk black contractors' reputations for two generations."

Attacking the lack of action on housing he said: "How can we brag about how well we are doing when we can't house our own people?"

He spoke about the need to boost tourism because the island was now over-reliant on international business.

And Mr. Burgess said he was sick of people who admitted they enjoyed a good standard of living because of international business but then condemning it.

That sector had kept the Island afloat during the recession of the 1990s, said Mr. Burgess.

He also spoke of the need for technical education to be improved and lamented his party had abolished Bermuda Technical Institute.

On the crime issue, more should be done to foster links with the community, said Mr. Burgess, who regretted a recent radio poll had shown an enormous amount of people distrusted the police and would not offer them help if they were in danger.

He said he wanted more information on why Government was devoting another $200,000 to fighting white collar crime

Health Minister said Government was actively pursuing a social agenda in which her department was pivotal.

She said drug court had been a success and Court Services would soon appoint a manager to co-ordinate the Alternatives to Incarceration scheme.

The Minister said a forthcoming multi-addiction conference would cover gambling and sexual addictions as well as substance abuse.

And Parliament heard there had been a decrease children referred to the Department of Child and Family services for abuse and neglect.

The Minister said strategies were being worked on to reduce burnout among staff in that department.

She said Dianna Taylor had recently taken over as Director of Financial Assistance from the Premier's wife Olga Scott.

Shadow Community Affairs and Seniors Minister said it was wrong that seniors paid taxes all their lives and were then forced to rely on charity to lead a normal life.

She again attacked Government for the poor state of the island's senior homes, noting Sandys was closed, Lefroy House had its roof missing six months after Hurricane Fabian, while St. George's had not been fixed.

She said one pensioner was so hard up she could not afford bandages for her leg and had to use paper towels.

Mrs. Jackson lamented the fact that there was only one geriatrician on the island.

Home care for seniors needed to be expanded said Ms Jackson while medication costs were far too high. She said one pensioner was asked to pay $288 for prescription medicine.

She said: "It's a tragedy seniors have to be made into paupers before they get assistance."

Minister of Tourism said she was disappointed that the opposition would raise an ongoing investigation during the budget response.

"The investigation has taken place and has been completed and the financial allegations were totally unfounded," said Ms Webb.

She said the Tourism Department was implementing new initiatives that would bring more tourists to the Island and she highlighted the fact that the high value of the pound against the dollar would bring people to the Island.

She said Bermuda was ahead of other other locations that were implementing golf tourism.

"In Barbados they built two significant golf courses to attract golfing tourists, which is having much success," said Ms Webb.

Shadow Youth and Sports Minister called on the Government to find cost effective ways to end the cycle of locking up young people.

He said: "We spend $55,000 on each prisoner at the end of the year with 1,000 or so prisoners it is an estimated $55 million ? the money would be better spent if we could use sport as an Alternative to Incarceration."

Minister of Community Affairs and Sport congratulated Mr. Brunson on his statements and outlined what the department were planning to do in the coming year.

He said provisions were made to continue to support youth groups, the elderly, upgrading the facilities at the National Sports Centre, with both accommodation and extra sports facilities.

"We also are planning to have a rubber tree festival in Warwick," said Mr. Butler.

"We are also planning to have a loquat festival and a loquat queen ? pretty soon this will become part of our culture.

"It's like the boat parade, right now it is still relatively new, but in 20 years time it will be a part of our cultural makeup ? we will just do it."

He said he is also encouraging sports clubs to find funding for their organisations.

Shadow Minister of Women's Affairs said there were many single mothers on the bread line in Bermuda.

She said 11 percent of the single parented families are headed by men, but 88 percent of the homes are headed by a mother.

She said the majority of these women were living on $400 a week, which she said: "In Bermuda the poverty line is $35,800 so these people are poor.

"Bermuda is an affluent society, but everyone cannot afford to pay. Bermuda is not affordable."

Mrs. Holshouser also encouraged the Government to support the Women's Resource Centre and the Physical Abuse Centre as many who are abused cannot afford to leave.

Shadow Education Minister called on the Government to look on the "invisible poor".

He said many people who were working in the hotels could not afford to live in the off season.

He said: "Since 1998 Bermudians working in the hotel have almost halved with the number being 4,028 and it now stands at 2,066."

Shadow Environment Minister spoke of the need for more black people in executive management positions and he called on help for the small business man with help in applying for Government contracts.

He commended the Government on the planned Financial Academy and he called on Government to teach children and young people how to save money.

Mr. Simmons also said it was too easy for people to get back on the road after being banned for drink driving.

He said a rehabilitation programme was needed and he also called for an increase of three new traffic officers to help Police cope with the volume of work. questioned whether the $2 million budgeted for a new asphalt plant would be wasted given problems with similar plants in the past.

He said from canvassing his neighbourhood he had noticed an increase in the foreigners buying houses through trusts and therefore breaking the rules which barred them from buying cheaper housing.

He said when he was the Bar Council chairman lawyers were constantly calling him complaining that colleagues were arranging such shady deals.

"Government doesn't seem to be interested." Government was losing money on licensing fees, noted Mr. Moniz.

He said it had started when he had raised the matter in Parliament in 1998 and Government had said they wouldn't do anything about it.

This was later denied by Finance Minister Paula Cox who said government did look into such matters as much as it could.

Mr. Moniz criticised the run down state of St. Brendan's and said it was rumoured that one section was now occupied by squatters.

He said the PLP's new interest in independence was merely a diversion from re-occurring problems it could not deal with including tourism.

"It's like the advertisements in the middle of a TV show."

And he appealed for the PLP to tone down its xenophobia and he asked where was its much vaunted social agenda.said Government was committed to empowering the community.

He said: "Bermudians should not just work for the economy, the economy should work for Bermudians."mocked the Government's budget commitment to financial accountability given the extra money needed for Berkeley and the scandal surrounding Bermuda Housing Corporation.

He said: "We would like Government to run on its record but one can't because its with the Police."

Statistics showed the amount of Bermudians employed had fallen since the PLP got elected while the number of expats employed rose.

Government was spending vast amounts of money on tourism with no sign of recovery, said Mr. Barritt.

His colleague called for tax relief for taxi drivers during the slow months and said cabs should be employed by Government instead of minibuses to take commuters to the ferry terminal.concluded the debate which will resume today. She said she grew angry at claims there was no social agenda and pointed to achievements with alternatives to incarceration and long term residents.

She said $5 million had been budgeted for the Bermuda Housing Corporation as Government sought to tackle housing issues for all sectors of society.

One million dollars had been budgeted for the small business development corporation as her Government sought to boost economic opportunity, said Ms Cox.

Through a financial services college Government would ensure learning was linked to the needs of the economy, said Ms Cox.