paid much attention to the persons who have served the office of Police Commissioner with dignity, a Shadow Minister said.

Alex Scott the Opposition spokesman for Home Affairs and Public Safety made these remarks during a take note debate in the House of Assembly on Friday on his own motion entitled the Constitution of Bermuda the Public Service Commission Amendment Regulations 1997.

These regulations first appeared in the June 6, 1997 issue of the Bermuda Sun.

Mr. Scott said the last portion of the notice is what concerned him because it opened up the possibility that current Police Commissioner Colin Coxall could have his contract extended.

At the moment he said Mr. Coxall's contract was for three years and the regulations only allow a non-Bermudian to seek more permanent status after they had been working for five years.

The intent of the new regulations he said would allow a contract worker to stay on past three years so that they could be permanent after five years.

Mr. Scott said that Mr. Coxall's original terms were that he was to be here for three years and then prepare a list of officers who would then be expected to take over that office.

Yet there has been no public mention of who is being considered for the top job, he said, which makes these proposed changes to the Public Service Commission regulations -- which would have the effect of extending Mr.

Coxall's term -- "dubious''.

Mr. Scott recalled that when the Police first began releasing crime statistics they were noticeably void of any reference to drug dealing, transportation and interdiction despite information which showed drugs were behind a lot of the Island's crime.

He noted that the UBP had not seen it fit to bring the Gazetted information before the House although it impacted on Police Service staff and the placing of Bermudians to the post of Commissioner.

He asked when the Commissioner's and Deputy Commissioner's contracts would be concluded and who was being trained to take over.

Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Quinton Edness said the burden of Mr. Scott's argument had been that the regulations were put down specifically to extend the Commissioner's contract to five years.

Mr. Edness said this was because Mr. Scott had "conniptions'' whenever Mr.

Coxall's name was mentioned and he added that he hoped that sort of paranoia was never allowed to run the Country.

He pointed out that it was the Governor who caused regulations to be presented so the PLP claim that the UBP did not bring them to the House for discussion was nonsense.

The regulations had been in the process of amendment for the best part of a decade, noted Mr. Edness, which meant that they were being considered for amendment before Mr. Coxall was selected to his present post.

And the regulations did not change the present status of Police officers as they had been in place since 1968.

The regulations had nothing to with Mr. Coxall and Deputy Commissioner Jean Jacques Lemay, stressed Mr. Edness, as the Governor appointed people to fill their respective positions.

He said he was sorry that the motion was allowed as it was wasting the House's time.

To answer Mr. Scott's question, he continued, he did not know if Mr. Coxall's contract would be extended as the decision had not been made yet.

But it may well be that it should be extended for the security of Bermuda, he added.

And Mr. Edness pointed out that officers had been sent overseas for training and discussions had taken place on the subject of getting officers trained up to take over.

But if they were not ready when the time came then they would not take over as the Country's security was too important.

These regulations were a normal procedure and had to be Gazetted after being in the making for a long period of time but had nothing to do with the status of Police officers or extending the Commissioner's and Deputy Commissioner's contracts.

PLP backbencher Ottiwell Simmons said it seemed quite clear that Mr. Coxall would be here beyond the end of his three year contract.

In July, 1995, he pointed out, the Commissioner presented the Bermuda Police Service Strategy and it contained no mention of plans to train up a Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner for when his contract expired.

He noted that the PLP's criticism of the Police Service was to make it more effective, not because it was soft on crime.

When will the Police Service be re-Bermudianised, he asked. Young Bermudians kept seeing the top of their opportunities severed, he said.

Could the PLP have the Minister's assurance that Mr. Coxall's contract will not be extended, he asked.

If the contract was extended, he continued, then the UBP were breaking their promise.

Minister of Technology and Information John Barritt said Mr. Scott's motion was misguided and based on an erroneous reading of the regulations and the Constitution.

If Mr. Scott's concerns were over Mr. Coxall then he should have posed a Parliamentary question and not brought them to the House through this back door route.

The regulations were made by the Governor after consultation with the Premier and the Public Service Commission, he pointed out.

And he added that the regulations did not apply to the positions of Attorney General, Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Auditor which were Government appointed.

Shadow Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs Trevor Woolridge said this issue was another example of the UBP's defence of non-Bermudians and failure to fight for Bermudians.

He said he expected to find Coxall's contract would be extended in another six months time.

And he warned the public to watch the Official Gazette for these kinds of regulations as it was important to monitor the behaviour of those with a responsibility for the Country.

Finance Minister Grant Gibbons stressed the regulations did not apply to Mr.

Coxall and the changes were not substantive to the status of Police officers.

Shadow Minister of Legislative Affairs and Women's Issues Lois Browne-Evans said the changes concerned Mr. Coxall because he did not fit the 1968 regulations.

She said Mr. Scott's attention was drawn to the regulations because people were concerned about them but when he brought their concerns to the House and talked about them he was insulted and called paranoid.

Mrs. Browne-Evans claimed it was Mr. Edness who was paranoid as he was afraid he might lose his Parliamentary seat in the next election.

Shadow Minister of Works, Engineering, Parks and Housing Stanley Morton said it was important that people knew about issues which should be heard to have been debated in the House.

Shadow Minister of Tourism and Marine Services David Allen said the Opposition's concerns were not all about Mr. Coxall.

But the PLP had a problem with Mr. Edness when he continually tried to shortchange Bermudians of their birthright in the workplace.

Mr. Allen said the regulations were "a slap in the face'' to Bermudian Police officers.

Where would Bermudians get opportunities if they could not get them in Bermuda, he asked.

Shadow Finance Minister Eugene Cox said Mr. Edness was insulting to Mr. Scott and that the UBP was missing the point when it claimed Mr. Scott had a vendetta against Mr. Coxall.

Walter Lister meanwhile said that Lennett Edwards had done a good job while he was Police Commissioner and there were many Bermudians like him who were also capable of doing a good job.

But Government sent a harmful message when it goes overseas to fill top jobs and ignores its own people.

PLP's Scott concerned over contract extension In response Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness said that Government has done an excellent job Bermudianising the civil Service.

And he pointed out that there were programs in place that trained senior managers successfully.

Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith said that the PLP was concerned about the process being fair and just where Bermudians were concerned so that they have a chance at upward mobility.

Paula Cox said that the intent of the take note motion was not to attack Mr.

Coxall because it was aimed at the larger principle that when there are changes to legislation these must be aired and discussed openly.