had little time to settle into his new role.

"The Election was a Monday, we were sworn in on the Tuesday in the evening up in Somerset, in Dockyard,'' he explained.

"I spent that first night reading briefs,'' he said.

After all, he added, "the Country was running as we walked in the door''.

Since then Mr. Lister has been kept busy "getting to know the personalities'' in his department.

"Part of helping is getting to know what (people's) needs are,'' he explained. "Maybe if we just take a different approach, we can accomplish the same thing.

"When we know the personalities and the individuals, it's a big bridge to get what we want to accomplish.'' Becoming familiar with the host of sports and youth programmes and Government projects underway -- and evaluating them -- was another aspect he has had to deal with.

He pointed out that there are 35 national sporting bodies alone.

In assessing the various schemes in operation, he said it was "important to get a perspective to see if it is something that it is valuable to continue...and how to foster it''.

After establishing that, he hoped to determine what "vacancies'' there were in the system.

But he also pointed out that in some respects, Government's role was not simply to move in and attempt to rectify a solution from above.

For example, he said, encouraging people to resume supporting community clubs -- and therefore boost their revenue -- would be an effective way for the Government to indirectly bring about positive change.

Mr. Lister remained tightlipped about possible future projects the Ministry would become involved with, but admitted the national sports complex was at the top of the list for the near future.

"As a Government, as a new administration, we would love to see the national complex finished as soon as possible,'' he said.

But ensuring that the amenities of the multi-million dollar project "met the needs of the people'' was of utmost importance, he said.

And he said a number of adjustments might yet be made to the still unfinished complex.

"Some things are too far along, other things are early enough that they can be adjusted,'' he said.

For example, Mr. Lister said he had been surprised to learn that the stadium lacked a grandstand or covered seating.

"That's definitely one of the items that we would want to see phased into it,'' he said.