years in Government has been how little has been heard from Alex Scott.

As Shadow Home Affairs Minister, Mr. Scott was seemingly everywhere. He spoke on labour relations, he spoke continuously on work permits and the rights of Bermudians in the workplace.

Police Commissioners and Regiment Commanding officers lived in fear that he would come after them; such were his contacts and influence that he could end careers with his relentless attacks and revelations.

Then on November 10, 1998, Paula Cox became Home Affairs Minister and Mr.

Scott ended up at the Works and Engineering Ministry. The appointments were seen as sending a message to the business community.

Ms Cox, a lawyer at the Bank of Bermuda and someone who presumably understood the needs of business, would be looking after Immigration and labour relations. The pre-election fear that Mr. Scott would be vetting every work permit and ruling over the Police Service was out to rest.

The appointments by Premier Jennifer Smith have been largely successful. If Ms Cox's policy changes in Home Affairs have not received universal support, she has gained credit for listening to all sides and being prepared to compromise.

And Mr. Scott? Buildings have risen. Roads have been repaired and resurfaced.

Garbage has been collected (twice a week). Everything has gone swimmingly in the Works Ministry and Mr. Scott has barely been heard from, apart from a timely intervention in support of his old business partner Ms Smith when her leadership was being challenged by Arthur Hodgson.

Then this week, the old Alex Scott was apparently back with all barrels blazing on, of all things, hedges.

People have viewed with wonder and surprise the scorched earth policy of the Works and Engineering Ministry's road crews, who seem to think that the problem of overhanging trees, such as it is, is to remove the trees altogether.

This is fine, according to Mr. Scott. If residents want to save their trees when they are overhanging the road, they should cut them themselves; the Works Ministry is not a free gardening service.

What a lot of problems Mr. Scott could solve by following this logic. If Government does not want people to use the Police to act as a free crime stopping service, we could solve the problem by executing all the criminals.

At least Mr. Scott's crews do not discriminate. They have been as destructive on Government's own land as they have on private property. Whether Government does not want vegetation on its open space or not is not known.

There are people in the Agriculture Department who are trained and skilled at cutting and pruning trees so that they can survive. Why are they not being used for this work? The Works Ministry has a responsbility to ensure that Bermuda's roads are usable and attractive. This is an economic imperative because those formerly pretty roadsides were in their own way, a draw for tourism, especially compared to the strip mall roadsides which characterise so much of the US.

They are also a lifestlye imperative for Bermudians. This is a small and crowded community. Hedges and trees on the roadsides give the illusion that we live in a green land. Until Hurricane Emily tore out trees and plants, many people did not realise how built up Bermuda had become.

More than that, it gives us a degree of comfort and can be a calming influence. Government policy has been to avoid having Bermuda become a concrete jungle because the beauty of the Island and its surroundings is one of the things -- along with privacy -- that makes living on a small and isolated island tolerable.

Mr. Scott is being cavalier and should have the good sense to admit it and to end this foolish policy.