For someone who doesn?t need to work Nelson Bascome is a very busy man.

The former Health Minister could easily kick back his heels and enjoy a life of leisure but as he fast approaches 50 he is involved in a multitude of projects including counselling drug addicts at FOCUS. It is a role he is perhaps best known for, outside his political work.

?I enjoy what I am doing ? this is my life. If anyone asks me ?what do you do??, it?s service. Service to mankind with the view to trying to assist those who have difficulty in assisting themselves.?

The Focus appointment is supposed to be part time but it take up a lot of hours.

Then he outlines his other commitments. It makes quite a list ? vice president of the Boxing Association, president of the local alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi his college fraternity, teaching drums at Pembroke Community Club, deputy chairman of the Golf Course Trustees and chairman of the Board of Education.

He?s also chairman of the Historic Buildings Advisory Committee ? a job more stressful than it sounds as it requires informing new owners of listed buildings that they won?t be able to add on extra apartments and storeys. He is hoping to get Government to put together a budget for owners of historic buildings to use to fund preservation work.

Too much of Bermuda?s historical legacy is being lost in the rush to develop believes Mr. Bascome. ?If you go to Hong Kong you get no sense of what their history is. You would think it is a place of tall buildings only.?

Keeping the cultural facets which bind Bermuda are important to Mr. Bascome who, when he spoke to , was preparing to play in his neighbourhood?s Easter up-hill, downhill football game in Friswell?s Hill.

He laments the commercialisation of that holiday after seeing so many young people buying Easter outfits they couldn?t afford to show off on Good Friday. ?Bermudians haven?t kept everything in perspective.?

Exposure to travel has lead to unsustainable expectations. ?People are building in every little square corner of Bermuda.?

While it enriches the individual struggling in an expensive economy, it degrades Bermuda?s beauty, he argues. ?Bermuda is in dire need of ensuring we are not overgrowing our means.?

Sustainable development ? that hard to define buzz word ? means to Mr. Bascome actually breaking down the figures of how many tourists can be sustained by the available transport, support services and workforce. ?We must start whittling down to that type of formula and apply that formula to international business ? how many companies can Bermuda sustain, how many high rise buildings can Hamilton sustain, how many apartments can guest workers take and how that is going to affect the cost of living in Bermuda?

?That is the formula for sustainable development.?

A planned economy then? ?Every finance ministers plans the economy,? he counters.

Now it is vital to take it a step further. ?In 21 square miles we have to. You can only entertain so many people in 21 square miles. Then it gets mad.?

He worries about the housing crunch, the congested roads and the stress levels in people who daily scramble to make ends meet in ultra-expensive Bermuda. ?It can all be pinpointed on how we have grown.?

The rush to flee the nest puts financial pressures on young people.

?Families are separating a lot earlier. I don?t see that family nucleus of everyone working together for a common goal anymore but that?s key.

?We don?t prepare ourselves for marriage. But in preparing yourself for marriage you are preparing yourself not only for the children but economically.

?Quite a number of marriages run afoul because of money. Secondly, it runs afoul because they do not manage the stress of a relationship. Communicative skills are lacking.

?It is all fine and well when you are going into the honeymoon stage of a relationship but when we deal with the phase where you?ve got to put work in we have the ability to opt out of the situation faster than most other countries. It is more culturally acceptable. Rather than work it out people just say ?get out!?. We don?t deal with stress well.?

Mr. Bascome has experienced his own share of marital difficulties when he had another child out of wedlock. Now he is back with his wife of 26 years while his four-year-old daughter Madison lives elsewhere with her mum.

The Bascome family unit was also put under strain when his son Nelson III was caught importing $11,000 of cannabis into the country.

The December 2002 incident saw Mr. Bascome and his wife Shirlene call an emotional press conference at their home. ?This is not a child who wanted for anything,? Mr. Bascome said at the time as the family repeatedly asked themselves why it happened.

Four years on it is clear the family has moved on and he denies it was embarrassing. ?Young adults have choices and make mistakes.

?The most embarrassing thing for me would have been if he wasn?t able to pull up his bootstraps and move on from the trouble he got in.?

His son is now working on architectural projects and plans to finish his degree. Indeed Mr. Bascome believes not facing family problems head on, including incest and substance abuse, is Bermuda?s biggest problem. ?No one is taking a stand and dealing with the issues.?

Youngsters are forgetting their roots, said Mr. Bascome, who despite being a youthful looking 49, is decidedly old school in his message. ?The kids today don?t even have a sense of the struggle of our fore-parents. Parent say they want the best for their child ? not recognising that it isn?t about giving material things but giving love. So many of our kids are coming up today without love.

?That was a basic tenant of our fore-parents. They remained, worked and built as a community, as a family. We don?t get that anymore, everyone is for self.?

Reversing that trend will take a lot of work says Mr. Bascome who cites the need for God, even though he is not a church goer but instead describes himself as spiritual. Despite his rollercoaster ride in Government he has few regrets. ?It was five great years. It was exciting.?

Proud of the Alternatives to Incarceration scheme, the National Office for Seniors and the St. George?s Rest Home project, he believes his housing projects and legislation never got the fanfare they warranted. ?I am about getting results. I don?t need all the news coverage.?

He might be ensconced in one of Bermuda?s safe seat where is neighbours are his voters, but he is taking nothing for granted and declines to predict whether his party will win again at the next polls. But he is glad the Independence debate has started. ?The important spoke in the wheel is education about independence which is key. Once people have all the information, it won?t matter whether it is via referendum or election.?

Despite his obvious hurt about still being out of Cabinet Mr. Bascome will bide his time. ?I am not in a rush to (get back in). It is his call.?

To some observers he is a better counsellor and community worker than politician but he sees the two as intertwined. ?This is politics ? people.?

?I could not be retired. I have a few plans. I want to build another house for my family. I don?t have any bills. I own a house, basically there?s a salary I get as a part time counsellor.

?There?s my parliamentary salary and I do private counselling through my firm.?

His time out of Cabinet has enabled him to finally get his paperwork as an International Certified Drug Addictions Counsellor ? something he had to put aside when he became Health Minister in 1998. Indeed our interview is periodically interrupted by Focus clients checking in to report their progress and ask for further help.

Chairman of the Parole Board is another thing he crams into his busy schedule. ?I really enjoy that. You work with men who have got into trouble, been incarcerated and are now working through the rehabilitation process and are merging back into the community.?

Those who make it are those who keep up with their meetings and counselling. ?Those who can make it on their own and go into high risk situations fail.?