Government has spent nearly $90,000 on "propaganda'', a Shadow Minister claimed yesterday.

And he said the cash could have been better spent on social problems like affordable housing or renovating seniors' rest homes.

Shadow Development and Opportunity Minister Allan Marshall was speaking after Government revealed that the cost of the 500 Day `report card' was more than $35,000.

And he pointed out that -- added to the $52,000 spent last year on a 100 Day report -- the total bill was almost $90,000.

Written answers to questions tabled by Mr. Marshall outlined the cost of the brochure -- 35,000 of which were mailed out through the Post Office -- and the cost of distribution, listed as zero.

Mr. Marshall said: "My first response is to express surprise that there were no distribution costs associated with the report.

"When you deal with the distribution of any type of document, one would expect there would be some associated costs from a handling and delivery point of view.

"It could make me suspicious enough to wonder if the amount given for production is correct.'' Mr. Marshall added that the 20-page give-away listed routine matters like roads repaving but failed to tell "the whole story''.

He said: "We've seen higher payroll taxes, higher land taxes, higher Government fees -- but we haven't seen any information released regarding important issues in the UK White Paper on the Overseas Territories.

"We also haven't seen anything from the Premier, who goes on overseas trips where the public aren't consulted and no civil servants are accompanying her.'' Mr. Marshall added: "From our perspective, we haven't seen value for money and this is $35,000 which could have been better spent on renovating seniors' rest homes, dealing with the social issues of the Country -- like the derelict housing programme, better education through scholarships for our children or putting the money towards those with lesser academic achievements and more inclined towards the trades.

"What we got is really just a glossy public relations exercise that seems to indicate a Government which is very insecure about what they've done to date.

"A lot of their focus has been very self-serving, so I think they figure if they point to the obvious, like they've repaved a road, they can convince the people of Bermuda they're doing something.

"But it doesn't cut it. It shows their priority is to try and build up what they're doing when the real issues of the Country aren't being addressed aggressively.

"We've had $90,000 splurged on propaganda which could have brought a lot more benefit to the people of this Country.'' Allan Marshall