but there is usually no-one available to drive it, the administrator of the Summerhaven facility said yesterday.

Mrs. Ianthia Simmons-Wade responded to comments made in the House of Assembly on Friday by Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge.

"It has been brought to my attention by the people who operate the Summerhaven facility that they have a bus and it's been made available to visitors if and when they have a request and they have been notified,'' Mr.

Woolridge said.

What the Minister said was true, but "our problem is finding drivers'', Mrs.

Simmons-Wade told The Royal Gazette .

"In a way the bus can be used for tourists, but tourists who come to Bermuda who are disabled are certainly not adequately served.'' When transportation requests from visitors are received, "it's only about 25 to 30 percent of the time, especially during the summer months, that we can accommodate them''.

The $43,000 bus, which has a hydraulic lift for raising wheelchairs, sits idle much of the time because Summerhaven in Smith's Parish must rely on volunteers to drive it, she said.

Last year, Summerhaven applied to Government for a $20,000 grant to hire a part-time driver, but was refused, she added.

Under the terms of its licence, Summerhaven cannot charge visitors for use of the bus and must rely on donations.

Even residents of the 16-unit Summerhaven apartment complex for the disabled are not adequately served by the bus, she said. Some take the bus to work at 7.30 a.m., although they do not start until 1 p.m., because it is the only time a driver is available.

Mr. Woolridge was responding to concerns from Progressive Labour Party MP Ms Jennifer Smith during the motion to adjourn. New cruise ships like the Dreamward have staterooms specially designed for the handicapped, and many cruise ship visitors are now in wheelchairs, Ms Smith said.

But while in Bermuda, the absence of special buses means "they are unable to use public transportation''.

Transport Minister the Hon. Ralph Marshall said the Public Transportation Board eventually wants to make all its buses accessible to the handicapped.

The PTB recently purchased ten new buses, but Mr. Marshall said it would not have made sense for the new buses alone to be wheelchair-accessible.

"We're going to probably have to do them all at one time,'' Mr. Marshall told the House. "If you only have ten (accessible) buses, you can be sure that those ten buses are not going to be the ones that someone (in a wheelchair) is waiting to get aboard.'' But Mrs. Wade-Simmons disagreed. "You have to start from somewhere,'' she said. "What year is going to come that they can afford to do them all at the same time?''