week, with extra House of Assembly sittings on both Monday and Wednesday, Deputy Premier the Hon. Irving Pearman said yesterday.

Mr. Pearman, who chaired the Cabinet committee that prepared the discussion paper, is to open the Independence debate this morning.

He expected an extra sitting would be needed on Monday and said debate on the motion to "take note'' of the Green Paper could continue on Wednesday, if necessary.

In a "take note'' debate, MPs are free to state their views without voting to take any action.

Mr. Pearman expected the Green Paper debate would be "relatively straightforward,'' but it would be "a prelude'' to the important debate on the Independence Referendum Bill 1995 set for next Friday.

With the United Bermuda Party holding a slim majority in the House and some Government backbenchers staunchly opposed to a referendum, voting on the bill is expected to be very close. A similar bill failed on first reading last year.

Mr. Pearman has defended the Green Paper from critics on both sides of the Independence argument who say the document is biased in favour of the issue.

The committee was charged with setting out the objective facts.

Yesterday, the Minister said he would be responding further to concerns about the Green Paper in his speech today.

The document estimated the annual costs of Independence at $800,000 to $2.3 million.

It said while there would be "some additional cost to the taxpayer,'' it "should not cause a dimunition of confidence within the international community.'' While "the status quo offers the reassurance of continuity to Bermudians and foreign residents alike,'' Independence, "giving Bermudians full responsibility for both Bermuda's internal and external affairs, offers the prospect of new opportunities developed by Bermudians for Bermudians,'' the Green Paper says.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan, just returned from accompanying a Bermuda International Business Association delegation to woo investors in London, said the trip was "excellent,'' and nobody he met "seemed untoward'' about Bermuda's Independence debate.

It was "a democratic process,'' and "the Bermuda people were being given a chance to decide on the issue,'' he said.

Sir John said that Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul brought a chart with him to London showing that "in the last 18 months we've had more growth in international business than we've ever had''.

"It's not an indication that people are holding back,'' he said.

The Premier, interviewed in the March 1995 issue of the mass circulation British magazine Business Age, said many in Bermuda felt alienated, and the feeling "springs from someone else always seeming to be in charge of your destiny.'' As well as addressing international business, Bermuda had to "address the black question,'' Sir John was quoted as saying. "Blacks in the United States at least feel that that country is their home.

"But at the moment, you have got a lot of people who feel that Bermuda is British.'' Bermudians felt the impact of that, he said. They had a different culture, and many of them were educated in America, so they should have a say on "whether they want to have that continued British dominance''.

"Do they feel that it's time that when a British person comes here, he should act as if he is in a foreign country, like any other foreign country? "When people come here from London they feel they can act the same way as in London -- maybe not in a contemptuous way, but you get this sense of alienation, which hurts. It's a subtle thing but it's a significant thing -- if these people have the managerial say in what's going on in this Country.'' People feel alienated Sir John said even if the feeling of alienation was felt by 20 percent of the population, it had to be arrested or else it would grow. "And then you've got a disaster on your hands.'' The Premier said conservative critics of Bermudian Independence were "the people who have access to the media,'' and their case was articulated more often.

"So one gets the impression that Independence is going to lead to disaster,'' he said. "But I don't see any disaster at all. I see that if we reconcile our society, business will go ahead in leaps and bounds.'' IN THE SPOTLIGHT -- A British Broadcasting Corporation TV crew interviews Environment Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons outside the Cabinet Office this week. Next to him is Independence opponent Mrs. Joyce Hall. The BBC was on the Island interviewing people about the issue. A news item on the issue could be shown in Britain as early as today. See Reporter's Notebook -- Page 5 .