Housing Minister Sen. David Burch earned the tagline "the man who gets things done" in his first spell holding the portfolio during the Progressive Labour Party's first term in Government.

Brought in to clean up the mess in the Bermuda Housing Corporation, he got down to work quickly, although his uncompromising attitude to people who fell behind in their rent and responsibilities was both refreshing and somewhat disconcerting in a party that had traditionally been more sympathetic to tenants than to supposedly rapacious landlords.

Nonetheless, when he went out of Government with then-Premier Jennifer Smith whom he had loyally served as chief of staff, it was difficult to say what precisely he had done, beyond restore much needed confidence to the Corporation and set its financial ship straight.

Similarly, his spells as chairman of the West End Development Corporation, deputy chairman of the Bermuda Housing Corporation and then as "quango czar" were too brief to say he had achieved much, although he won a good deal of praise for his efforts to resolve the cement company situation at the Dockyard when they had been stalled for years.

So his return to Government to take over the Works and Housing portfolios was clearly a major test of whether he could translate strong words into action, particularly as he was taking over a dual Ministry that effectively destroyed the political career of his predecessor.

Last week, there were signs that Sen. Burch will indeed get things done. His announcement that Government has made a deal with developer Gilbert Lopes to buy homes built at Loughlands and will then sell them on to the public at below market prices seems almost certain to succeed.

That's good news after missteps like the Harbourside Village project and the long-running fight at Mary Victoria Road to add more properties there.

At the same time, Sen. Burch seems to be making headway in turning empty buildings at Southside into housing, notably for the Canadian Hotel tenants. While Sen. Burch and the Government can be criticised for not acting on the Canadian Hotel situation sooner, they cannot be faulted for getting the building at Southside up and running in the time they said they would.

To be sure, only the Government could get the Loughlands project going because only the Government could change the zoning of the property from tourism to residential. Mr. Lopes could not have done it as a private developer and was saddled with a hotel component that was probably doomed to failure.

This is not to suggest that there should be any undue sympathy for Mr. Lopes since he bought the property with his eyes open. But the reality is that this housing plan could only be accomplished in partnership with Government.

Indeed, Sen. Burch must have done some arm twisting to accomplish it, since Tourism and Transport Minister Ewart Brown is determined to increase the amount of land zoned for hotels.

So Sen. Burch deserves credit for this accomplishment. And yet he remains perhaps the most enigmatic Minister in Cabinet.

On the same day he announced the Loughlands plan, he delivered a not-so-veiled threat to a Mid-Ocean News reporter, whom he reminded of his "guest worker" status while telling him he would not respond to questions about the safety allegations concerning the Berkeley site or be "lectured to" on his responsibilities to the public.

This follows a fairly consistent line for Sen. Burch. Even as he achieves a great deal, he reinforces Julian Hall's description of him as a slow motion public relations train wreck since he cannot seem to control his tongue.

In doing so, he appears vindictive, dictatorial and high-handed, and worse, gives the Government the same appearance. In doing so, he may do more harm than good, since voters in Bermuda seem able to forgive almost everything except arrogance.