Plans for 100 affordable homes in Ireland Island and a scheme to force employers to take on Bermudian trainees in order to qualify for work permits were announced in yesterday?s Throne Speech.

Crime and rehabilitation also loomed large as Government unveiled its platform for the coming year. A crackdown on gangs and a legal shake-up to ensure prosecutions don?t fail when witnesses are too scared to give evidence were key elements of the address read by Governor Sir John Vereker on the Cabinet lawns.

Public Safety Minister David Burch said later: ?Law abiding people in this country sleep with one eye open while criminals sleep peacefully like babies.?

There was also mention of a witness protection programme and an unexplained pledge to prohibit ?certain behaviours associated with gang activity? but Premier Ewart Brown said further detail would be counterproductive.

A review of the entire criminal justice system, ?from infraction to incarceration and all that lies between?, was also promised.

Prisoners will be forced to work to earn privileges and parole with some set to work renovating the former Casemates building while a construction industry workshop will help inmates get skills in one of Bermuda?s booming industries for when they are released.

And Government will give organisations the right to determine whether potential employees have a record involving the abuse of seniors as it pledged to bring in an elder abuse register. Training was a key factor in the first Throne Speech drawn up by Dr. Brown.

It read: ?To enhance training and employment opportunities for Bermudians, the Government will require employers in some job categories to hire a minimum number of trainees or apprentices in order for that employer to qualify for work permits.?

Labour and Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess told a press conference that he had already informed some businesses that work permits would depend on training programmes.

He said: ?You may have a construction firm with 50 work permits so they will have to hire someone to train Bermudians.

?Just yesterday I had a meeting with an employer who wanted to bring X number of drywallers.

?I said that?s fine but when you make an application I would like to see you are hiring X number of Bermudians to train.?

He said the rule would apply to all firms but particularly construction.

A 14-week paid internship programme was also announced, mainly for the hospitality and construction industries.

Mr. Burgess said: ?Sometimes you have youngsters try to seek a job but they are told they don?t have any room left.

?So Government will assist them for a 14-week period ? pay them to acquire the skills in those industries.?

The speech also outlined new technical courses, a fishing apprenticeship scheme and an agricultural programme.

Government will push ahead with its plan for more affordable housing with rent for the Ireland Island project ? due to start early next year ? based on a quarter of a family?s income.

Low-cost house building could also be stimulated by a pledge to remove all duty on materials for approved housing schemes.

Premier Brown said a poverty line will be established to identify those left behind in booming Bermuda. But he said he was not trying to create a welfare state but help people to help themselves. ?Establishing that poverty line will assist us.?

The indigent care clinic at the hospital will be abolished with the poor being given access to health care by other means while seniors were promised improved dental hygiene services.

Unspecified curbs on car use and expanded public transport were also previewed in the short address.

Asked about the lack of mention of sustainable development, a concept plugged by his predecessor Alex Scott, Dr. Brown said: ?Everything we are doing is designed within the concept of sustainable development.?

Opposition leader Wayne Furbert said the country was expecting inspiration but had simply been given a speedy throw together of ideas which didn?t address fundamental concerns.

?We found the Throne Speech was flat, visionless and in many respects irrelevant to modern day Bermuda. It lacked a philosophical base,? said Mr. Furbert.

?When the current Premier was lobbying for the job, he saw all the mistakes and shortcomings of his predecessor. Nothing was to great for him to do, if given the opportunity.

?Today, in his first big occasion, he fell miserably flat. His revamped presentation lacked the innovation that one would have expected.?