The Proceeds of Crime Bill that will confiscate drug dealers' assets will be placed before the House of Assembly during the next session of Parliament.

Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness said on Friday that his team, including a senior draftsman from the Attorney General's chambers, had been working over the summer to complete work on the bill.

"We have finalised the bill that we are going to reintroduce into Parliament when we go back in November and we hope that it will be debated,'' he explained.

Mr. Edness' comments came on the same day that his Opposition counterpart Alex Scott questioned why it had taken so long to get this legislation to the House.

Mr. Scott said Government could expect pointed Parliamentary questions from the Opposition benches if the legislation did not reach the House in November as promised.

"We are as mystified as everyone else is,'' Mr. Scott said. "We in the Opposition were prepared to and are still prepared to, vote and facilitate appropriate legislation coming forward.

"There has been a lot of talk from Government but not necessarily any real action.'' However, Mr. Edness retorted:"I want to dispel this perception that has been created in the public's mind that there has been some lagging or failure to get this on the legislative programme.

"The Attorney General's office has dedicated a very senior draftsperson to this project and it is an extremely complex piece of legislation.

"We have also had to deal with other foreign entities as well as consulting with all kinds of financial institutions throughout Bermuda.'' However Mr. Scott was insistent that the PLP was concerned about the paucity of substantive legislation passed in the last session of Parliament.

"When you step back and look at it,'' Mr. Scott continued, "the legislative activity that actually transpired outside of (The Prohibited Restaurants Act 1997) were just many `take note' motions.

"As a consequence, other more important legislation -- that would relieve convicted drug dealers of their assets and allow Police to tape interviews never came forward.

"Regardless of what the actual reason for the delay is we, at the earliest moment in Parliament, if Government has given no indication, will be putting formal questions forward,'' he said.

But Mr. Edness said that once the legislation reached its final form the public will understand why it took so long.

"I resent people who try to tell the public, as Mr. Coxall did, that nothing has been happening. That is simply not true. The Government was onto this piece of legislation long before he even came on the scene.'' DRUGS DGS GOVERNMENT GVT