Alcohol counsellors have blasted a Government plan to serve free rum to passengers arriving at the Airport.

The Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse condemned the move for sending the wrong message, after The Royal Gazette exclusively broke the news.

CADA executive director Dominique Smith said the plan, to start on Sunday, had "shocked'' the organisation.

She added: "Surely the number of road deaths -- 17 to date -- and the number of impaired drivers who are charged each week throughout the year, would be enough to have our Ministers rethink this project.

"We at CADA were shocked to read the front page article in The Royal Gazette about how we are going to give visitors an immediate `friendly' welcome to Bermuda by serving free rum upon their arrival at the Airport.

"The headline of the article -- "Airport swizzles worry Customs'' -- should not only worry Customs officials but the whole community.

"We believe that this is sending the wrong message entirely to our visitors and the community.

"We can give visitors just as friendly a welcome with a non-alcoholic special Bermuda drink and achieve the same goal, only in a more responsible and safe way.

"As is stated in another article on the front page, many of 1998's worst accidents have involved drivers suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

"That information should send out loud warning bells to us all.'' The plan for a Gosling's rum stand -- serving free samples of swizzles, rum punches and dark 'n' stormies -- was attacked by Customs officers and Shadow Transport Minister Erwin Adderley.

Transport Minister Ewart Brown said the initiative should be allowed to get off the ground before it was dismissed.

And the first passengers to receive the free samples will arrive from the US tomorrow morning.

The stand has already been set up near the baggage hall in the arrivals terminal -- just before the Customs checkout area.

And some Customs officers are worried travellers could be rum punch-drunk when they present themselves for searches.

One officer said: "We'll have to beef up security now.

"It's not appropriate. We don't want people doddering on their feet when they come to fill out their documentation or present themselves to Customs for searches.

"There's always the chance they could become aggressive and that would give us extra headaches.'' Collector of Customs Bill LeDrew added: "If a decision is made to go forward with this, we will do what we can to accommodate it.

"Our objective is to move people through as quickly as possible. The last thing we want to be dealing with is intoxicated passengers.'' But Transport Minister Ewart Brown defended the idea of a rum stand, saying: "We are in the midst of doing this and preparing it and organising it to make sure that it's done in the most tasteful manner possible.'' Gosling Brothers manager Charles Gosling said the initiative would be given a trial period over Christmas and New Year but added staff expected passengers to go through an entire case of rum -- or 12 bottles -- every day.

He said the idea was to give visitors an immediate "friendly'' welcome to Bermuda.

Tourism officials behind the plan hope the initiative will run all through 1999.