singing anything but the blues. Today, Home Affairs Minister Maxwell Burgess outlines progress on pledges made to lower crime in the fifth part in an occasional series highlighting the eight separate areas of the document.

Ground-breaking work on a `half-way house' designed to ease prisoners back into society in a bid to cut the rate of re-offending is set to get underway.

Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Maxwell Burgess said yesterday: "$500,000 had been committed to preliminary work.

He said: "We have got the site near Westgate and I'm working with Works and Engineering to fix a date for demolition work on the old buildings and prepare the site for construction.'' The half-way house -- to be built at Clarence Terrace near Dockyard -- is part of Government's Blueprint-promised drive to get tough on crime -- and tough on the causes of crime.

Mr. Burgess added "huge strides'' were also being made in setting up a Drugs Court specifically aimed at providing rehabilitation as well as punishment.

And he said it was hoped the new Drugs Court would be up and running "early next year.'' The Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety -- the lead body in the crackdown on crime and the war on drugs and alcohol abuse -- had a total of nineteen pledges in the 1993 Blueprint.

According to Government figures, a total of 14 are implemented or recurring, three are complete and two are ongoing.

And Mr. Burgess singled out the National Drugs Commission-led Drugs Don't Work Here programme -- created to beat drug abuse and already implemented in 11 hotels -- for special praise.

Mr. Burgess added: "It's been a major step forward -- and moves are also underway to get it implemented in Government.'' According to the Blueprint, support for the work of the NDC has almost doubled in the last few years. A total of $1 million was given in grants to back the National Drugs Strategy in 1996-97, rising to nearly $1.9 million in the current financial year.

Mr. Burgess also backed the assault on crack houses -- where Police and the Ministry of Works are working together to identify and raze derelict buildings used for drugs and prostitution.

He said: "The assault on crack houses is a major initiative and it's serving notice on suppliers of drugs that their business is going to come to an end.'' But Mr. Burgess said the attack on drugs and crime had to be multi-pronged.

He explained: "It's no one thing -- there are a lot of different strands here and we're using a lot of approaches.'' And he added -- for those who have already fallen foul of the drugs law -- there was still hope, even in prison.

Mr. Burgess said: "There are programmes in prison for those people we have been unable to encourage prior to incarceration not to use or deal in drugs.

"And, if successful, the prisoners know that they have the chance of early release. We will have pegging of early release to satisfactory performance.

"So we have a frontal attack and a safety net if people find themselves in prison.

"The use of drugs is a very personal decision, so it's only when people want to stop and when they have an incentive that anyone is really able to help.'' Mr. Burgess said civilians had also been recruited as auxiliary troops in the battle against crime, through Police divisional consultative groups, which are designed to feed into a national body able to keep Police up-to-date on the latest trends in crime, which will help Police to allocate resources.

Mr. Burgess added that Government and Police Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay were committed to Bermudianising the Police Service as fast as possible.

He added a recent round of promotions underlined the backing of Bermudians in top posts, which he said he found "very encouraging''.

Mr. Burgess said: "I'm satisfied the Bermuda Police is going to be in good, safe Bermudian hands for some time to come.'' But he insisted: "The search is on for Bermudians who will not only end up Commissioner, but also for those who will form the management team around the Commissioner.'' Mr. Burgess added that stemming the flow of drugs to the Island was also a top priority for Police. But he said: "We believe we are making great progress -- the amount of drugs apprehended according to the last statistics is close to $7 million worth.'' GOVERNMENT GVT