General Elliott Mottley, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

Ms Smith moved in after weeks of work to bring the house up to scratch for a Premier's official residence.

And now The Laurels in Paget may become the permanent home for future Premiers of the Island.

Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott -- in charge of Government-owned property -- said: "That would be a judgement for the Premier.

"Certainly, this is an immediate solution -- it may prove to be a temporary solution, but no plans have been made beyond The Laurels so far.'' Mr. Scott said the total cost of turning the house into an official Premier's residence had not been calculated.

But he said it would be more likely tens of thousands of dollars than hundreds of thousands.

He added: "When one tenant moves out and another moves in work is always required.'' Mr. Scott said: "It is something as simple as a change of colour. There was some dampness and some windows needed to be replaced.

"The cost will be reasonable -- the numbers I'm aware of so far are very reasonable.'' Editorial: Page 4 It is understood Ms Smith has been seen in furniture shops over the last few days selecting items for the new official residence.

Mr. Scott added that security considerations also had to be met, with advice from Commissioner of Police Jean-Jacques Lemay.

Mr. Scott said: "Security was a consideration -- we had to satisfy the concerns of the Police Commissioner. And once these concerns were satisfied, the property had to be furnished.'' But Mr. Scott said Mr. Mottley -- who moved out of the house and into a Hamilton hotel in the weeks before he quit the Island -- had not been forced out.

He added: "That will probably prove to be one of those happy coincidences -- he was literally on the move at the time of the Government change.

"The Ministry had several options and that was one of them.'' Mr. Scott stressed Ms Smith -- who could not be contacted for comment yesterday -- was keen to keep the cost down.

He said: "She wanted a solution which wasn't extravagant and pointed us in the direction of a house which was owned by the Government.'' Premiers of Bermuda already have an official residence -- Camden in the Botanical Gardens, also in Paget.

But Camden -- a gift to Bermuda from the Tucker family -- has no bedrooms and extending the house would be difficult because of its historic value.

And Mr. Scott said any future donations of houses to the Country would be considered as an alternative to The Laurels.

It is not known where the next Attorney General of the Island will be placed, but Government does have other property which could be suitable.

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