Seniors are being ripped off ?all the time? by opportunistic contractors who overcharge them for repair jobs, a leading Island social worker said yesterday.

National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged manager Dr. Melvin Dickinson also revealed opportunists have been taking advantage of the Island?s elderly in the aftermath of Hurricane Fabian by charging them to remove fallen cedar trees and then taking them off to be sold.

?These types of things are going on in the community as I speak,? he said. ?We are constantly working with the Bermuda Police because there is a lot of senior abuse going on. This is such a lovely country but it?s happening everywhere.?

He told the Hamilton Rotary Club yesterday that he was frequently hearing of cases where senior citizens were being charged thousands of dollars more than they should be for jobs around their houses.

?There was one case in particular in which a woman was told she would have to pay $20,000 for a $4,000 job. That was $16,000 that person was trying to steal.?

He added: ?Certain people would say I?ll charge you $200 to remove a cedar tree and then take it away to sell it. Those trees are worth a sizeable amount of money.?

Dr. Dickinson said Hurricane Fabian in particular had been a disaster for Bermuda?s 6,722 elderly people, who make up 10.8 percent of the population, because of the damage that had done to property that is often uninsured because seniors cannot afford it.

He said his office had received more than a thousand calls since the onslaught of the category three storm and had been scrambling to try and help the many older residents whose roofs had come off.

He said many old people in Bermuda were ?land rich but cash poor? which meant they had a ?constant juggling act? of trying to pay bills with a fixed income pension.

But Dr. Dickinson said statistics showed Bermuda was actually doing better than many countries in caring for its older citizens.

He said there had been a massive donation effort by international business, the Bermuda Red Cross and philanthropists following Hurricane Fabian, noting that more than $120,000 had been raised in the aftermath.

Dr. Dickinson said another of his office?s roles was to help older people find affordable accommodation through a shared housing scheme.

?We can match you up with someone to stay with. But don?t worry because we do an exhaustive study or review of the person with whom you would live to make sure they are suitable.?

He said, since the establishment of the office in 2002, the six workers in the ?one stop shop? had been working steadily to coordinate with other agencies in an attempt to make life easier for the Island?s elderly.

He urged any older people with problems or queries to call the office on 292-7802.