Progressive Labour Party leadership challenger Ewart Brown has pledged a rethink on the new hospital location and a slow down on independence as he unveiled his campaign yesterday.

Dr. Brown, who last week resigned as Tourism and Transport Minister, to challenge Premier Alex Scott for the leadership of his party and country, said independence ?won?t be a high priority?.

But he said splitting from Britain still remained a firm commitment. Dr. Brown said his campaign to win over 150-plus delegates ahead of the October 27 poll was going well.

Laying out his platform to the press yesterday he said an alternative will be found to building the new hospital on the Botanical Gardens site and said the emphasis needed to be shifted to assessing medical needs and boosting facilities at both ends of the Island.

International business was praised as vital to national interests although Dr. Brown said more effort needed to be made to tap the intellectual resources it had by having apprentices attached to it.

Turning to the other main sector of Bermuda?s economy he said: ?With tourism we have only just begun. We have outstanding results for the third quarter. Although I am sure that Tourism Minister David Burch will provide details, I must share with you the most recent good news. Through only the past nine months of 2006, visitor arrivals have exceeded all of 2005?s arrivals. There is a promising future for us.?

With education he said more needed to be done to make sure underachievers were saved and high-flyers were able to prosper while the housing crisis would be tackled by speeding up the building of rental units and bringing empty units back into use.

The spike in crime could be eventually tamed by addressing education and housing said Dr. Brown who also said high level Policing was also needed.

He said: ?I am reminded of a much larger city just next door ? New York City ? which faced tremendous challenges with crime ? and turned itself around. It be done.?

Although admitting his law and order policy contained nothing new, he said: ?I think what will be the hallmark of our administration is that after we talk we will act.

?That will be a new element. I don?t think my Government has been bereft of ideas. We have great ideas but the process is not complete until it is executed.?

Pledging to be cautiously conservative with the public purse Dr. Brown said he would convene a council of economic advisors made up of industry leaders, local businesses and Cabinet members.

?I would engage them in continuous, constructive dialogue geared towards how we can make Bermuda an even better place to work, reside and play, while at the same time, preserve it as the Bermuda so many of us know as our native home.?

Race issues needed to be tackled head on said Dr. Brown who added it was important to create empowerment programmes to help formerly disenfranchised citizens.

But he is not interested in extending the Human Rights Act to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation as he said there was no proven need for further protection.

Radical efforts to curb the traffic blight are on the horizon said Dr. Brown who will limit the right of expatriates to have cars.