Shadow Finance Minister Grant Gibbons yesterday challenged Government to get on with the job.

And he warned that the lack of legislation brought forward since the PLP victory in November could be an indicator of a do-nothing Budget from the PLP.

Dr. Gibbons said: "The interesting thing is the Minister of Finance seems to have been very defensive.

"He has said it was a PLP Budget, but apparently the Premier said they had very little impact on it.'' And Dr. Gibbons questioned PLP claims that they had not had enough time to mould the total Budget in the shape they wanted.

He said: "They have had, from my perspective, ample opportunity to set out some of their vision going forward.

"It's a very important Budget for them and it will set the tone for them.'' Dr. Gibbons pointed out that the PLP had had one-and-a-half months to put their stamp on the financial blueprint for the year.

He said: "There's no reason why they couldn't have crafted a Budget saying how they would actualise their plans.'' Dr. Gibbons pointed out the business of the House since November had been finished in as little as 20 minutes -- and it had been legislation prepared by the UBP which had been laid on the table.

He said: "I'm not optimistic at this point as to what the Budget will be -- so far what we've seen in the House has been very little progress.'' He added: "But we have had a changing message -- there was a fair amount of work yet to be done on it when we left Government, so I don't think it's fair to call it a UBP Budget.'' But he said: "I can't say yet whether it will be a UBP or a PLP Budget until I get a chance to look at it.'' Dr. Gibbons added: "I think all of us are waiting for them to do something here -- there certainly is a fair amount of legislation backing up, both for international business and the community.'' Dr. Gibbons -- in charge of the Budget process up until the PLP General Election victory in November -- pointed out he had intended to include much promised in the UBP's election manifesto if the UBP had won.

He said: "Many of them were not in the Budget at that point, but we would have worked them in. I recognise the PLP are clearly on a learning curve here and may not have been as familiar with it as us.'' And he added he would not have put the finishing touches until after the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland at the end of January alerted him to world-wide trends.

Dr. Gibbons said: "I don't know why they're just not getting on with it -- I've heard rumblings from a broad cross-section of the community asking just that question.'' Dr. Gibbons added some of the main areas he would like to see getting attention in the first PLP Budget were tourism, housing and education.

He said: "Housing is an area where we would expect to see a plan.'' Editorial: Page 4 Gibbons voices fears of a `do-nothing' Budget Dr. Gibbons added that the UBP had approached the problem by renovating old buildings or knocking them down for new building, making available three-bedroom homes at Southside and making sure the Bermuda Housing Corporation was working on making 100 new homes available.

But he added: "We have yet to see any concrete plans on that score.'' Dr. Gibbons added that the balancing act of providing top-grade health care against the spiralling cost of providing it also needed looking at.

He said his Government had commissioned a report by top accountants Arthur Andersen on the subject and stressed that work should continue.

Dr. Gibbons added: "There has been a lot of money spent on CedarBridge Academy and on teaching in general -- more than $97 in the last financial year.

"The question now is how we're going to make that work for our children -- it's not a question of more investment, it's a question of making the system work.'' And he dismissed claims by some PLP MPs that the Island's national debt of between $170 and 180 million would tie their hands.

Dr. Gibbons said the Island's debt was running at 7-8 percent of Gross Domestic Product -- which compared to the UK debt of 73 percent of GDP and the US figure, recently at 60 percent of GDP.

He added: "The debt we have left was for capital investment which will serve for generations, like CedarBridge, and is very conservative.

"We have left them with an economy which is in great shape and certainly we've left them with a very healthy surplus on the current account -- which we estimated would be around $50 million at the end of the year.'' Dr. Gibbons added that industries like tourism and international business depended on "windows of opportunity'' being recognised and acted on.

He said: "If you don't take advantage of these, you lose your competitive edge and get behind the game -- that's what concerns me.'' Dr. Gibbons claimed: "There are people who are pleased there's not a lot happening -- but soon that will become a cause for concern.'' He added that the new Government "had spent a lot of time criticising the UBP.'' Dr. Gibbons said: "There's almost a sense they aren't getting on with it as a new Government -- it's almost as though they're the Opposition-in-waiting.

"And unless they start to get on with it, they will start to look like an Opposition-in-waiting.'' But he admitted: "I'm not terribly optimistic -- I'm expecting more of a litany of what the UBP has done wrong in the past, which I don't think will be terribly helpful right now.'' The Opposition is eagerly awaiting the Budget debate in the wake of proposed plans to speed up the replacement of the ferry fleet.

UBP MPs are keen to know how the Government will provide for an expected $8 million to be spent on four new catamarans to replace the existing vessels.

Last week Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown announced that, pending approval from the Finance Ministry, he would move up the schedule by at least one year.

The UBP had planned to replace the ferries by 2002 but Dr. Brown wanted to order the high speed, low wake craft this year and expected them to be in service by 2001.

Currently the Minister is in Boston as part of a Government delegation at a ferry conference. On his return he is expected to have a short list of possible vessels.

Last night, Shadow Transport Minister Erwin Adderley said he didn't understand how the PLP would be able to include the item on Friday's forthcoming budget.

"At the moment I haven't a clue how he intends to it, you don't just pull $8 million out of the air,'' he said. "Until he presents the budget and tells us how he is going to fund it, I am not in a position to comment.'' The Pembroke West MP, who was the last UBP Transport Minister, said the Boston visit was arranged well before the election and that the original plan was made because of the funding situation.

Dr. Brown's intention is to bring forward the replacements as quickly as possible, as part of massive plans to revolutionise the transport system.

The intention is to overhaul all forms of transport and schedules, for the benefit of passengers.

Mr. Adderley said he would be interested to see how Dr. Brown planned to hurry up the ferry scheme.

"I think we will just have to wait and see. I would be very surprised if he could pull $8 million out of the hat,'' he said.

Grant Gibbons