emissions while they are underway, and increased the maximum fine from $10,000 to $15,000.

Marine and Ports Minister the Hon. Ralph Marshall said current law allowed the prosecution of ships who emit smoke while at dock or at anchor, but for some reason omitted ships that were underway, even if they were in the confines of local waters.

MPs also agreed to give the Marine and Ports Minister the power to keep small boats away from ships when they are in port. Mr. Marshall said the measure could be used to prevent the transfer of drugs from visiting ships.

At present, Mr. Marshall said, the Minister has the power to direct ships where to, but has no power to stop other ships and boats from coming up to them.

Security has already been tightened along the docks and at the airport, he said. But more could be done to prevent drugs being passed from the seaward side of a ship.

Mr. Marshall said there was no intention to do anything to limit the usual movement of small boats around the harbour or any other area of the Island.

Boaters would be restricted from approaching ships or particular areas only as needed, and would be warned through official Government notices and press releases.

Shadow Transport Minister Mr. Walter Lister said he and other Opposition members were very much opposed to the use of drugs. At the same time, he said, he was reluctant to impose too many restrictions on pleasure boaters.

How many mariners would see the official notices? he asked. Would they be adequately informed? How far in advance would the notices be published? Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness praised the amendment. Restricting drugs sometimes meant restricting the movements of the public, he said, and a balance had to be struck. The fact was that cruise ships were a significant area for drug importation.

National Liberal Party leader Mr. Gilbert Darrell , president of Bermuda Container Line, asked whether shipping companies had been consulted about the smoke emission amendment.

It was strange, he said, that Bermuda had plenty of Police cars but no protection from drug importation by sea. "You can't send Police cars out there,'' he said. "We need to have some protection around the coast of the Island. This Government has continuously neglected to look at it. You must have something along that line to get results.'' Mr. Eugene Blakeney (PLP) said drug importation by ships was common throughout the world, but there seemed to be some holes in Bermuda's protective barriers.

He said he had heard that gates in the fencing near some ships were being found open by Customs officers, that the security cameras on one of the docks didn't move at all and were not doing an effective job. And Customs officers were complaining that they had no back-up from Police, he said.

Mr. Walter Roberts (PLP) noted that waterproof bags containing drugs were sometimes found on our shores. He suggested that Police craft meet ships when they approached Bermuda, and follow them in to dock to make sure no drug transfers take place.

Mr. Stanley Morton (PLP) said he was concerned that taxpayers' money was wasted when drug prevention efforts were done in a haphazard manner. He said he heard an expert from Customs at Heathrow Airport was coming to train Bermudians. There is plenty of local experience available, he said.

Community Affairs Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons said Government was committed to ensuring that Bermudians were trained.

And he criticised the PLP for saying it was concerned about drugs, while they refused to take part in the Archibald Commission that developed Bermuda's drug strategy. The PLP said it would produce its own report, he said, but had not done so.

Mr. Walter Lister asked what the penalties would be for those who came too close to ships. "We must clear up these areas,' he said. "As it is stated, it is extremely unclear.'' Turning his attention to road traffic, Mr. Marshall said the time had come to deal with speeding in a "summary'' way like a parking ticket. Somebody caught speeding at 54 kph or less should be able to simply pay a fine, and not face a trial in Magistrates' Court.

The courts were overburdened with speeding cases, Mr. Marshall said, 70 percent of which were for speeds of 54 kph or less.

"There are variations of opinion, I'm sure, but we think generally speaking most people in Bermuda feel that speeding at 54 kmph is not a serious speeding offence.'' he said.

Under the present system, he added, those caught speeding at 54 kph or less could be fined up to $500, and taken off the road for three to six months for a second offence in the space of two years.

In practice, speeders were typically fined between $75 and $85 for speeds up to about 50 kph, and about $100 for speeds of 51-54 kph.

Under the proposed new system, speeders would be fined $100 for speeding up to, and including, 50 kmph, and $150 for speeds up from 51 kph to 54 kph.

Those caught speeding at 55 kph or higher would still have to appear in court.

In addition, Mr. Marshall said, drivers who could not produce a driver's licence would have to appear in court.

Mr. Walter Lister , the Shadow Transport Minister, agreed the courts were cluttered. He said he was not happy with the wording of the proposed speeding tickets, and concerned that somebody would sign the form admitting their guilt, but later change their minds. "Out on the road you have no legal advisor,'' he said.

Mr. Darrell recommended a "points'' system, in which drivers accumulated points for each driving offence and, after a certain point, were prosecuted.

He also urged that speed limits be increased. "I don't think there's anybody who drives the speed limit,'' he said.

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Mrs. Lois Browne Evans agreed. "It's a sin that in this country so many people break the law every day.'' Her own car was "ungovernable'' at speeds under 29 mph; She had moved from Warwick to Pembroke to reduce the odds of passing through a Police radar trap.

Shadow Environment Minister Mr. Julian Hall said Bermuda was often called quaint. And one of the quaint things about it was that it encouraged people to buy expensive cars, and then damage them by driving them too slowly.

The Island's roads are narrow and winding, but the 35 kph speed limit "is just too low to be realistic.'' He said the courts should be allowed to exercise discretion, however: Somebody speeding to overtake another vehicle should not be treated the same as somebody who was deliberately racing. And disqualification was a much more severe punishment for somebody like a taxi driver than somebody who did not need a vehicle to earn a living.

Mrs. Grace Bell (UBP) suggested a logical speed limit of 45 kph. She wondered how much Police time and money was wasted tracking down people who simply forgot to pay $30 parking tickets.

Mr. Stuart Hayward (Ind.) asked MPs to remember that not all road users drive cars. Equestrians, pedal bikers, tourists riding mopeds and joggers would all suffer if speed limits were raised, he said. "We don't have enough space for each of these to have their own separate roadway.'' He said he feared the big gap between the legal speed limit of 35 kph and the de facto limit of about 49 kph might encourage contempt for the law. The gap was also a "window of opportunity for harassment'' in which Police could legally stop somebody -- but normally did not.

Mr. Blakeney said those who drove at 20 mph were nowadays a road hazard. But he supposed there were concerns that increasing the limit would also increase the speeds people drove.

Mr. Anthony Correia (UBP) also called for judicial discretion. He said he had employed a van driver who was taken off the road for six months. A small business like his could not keep a van driver would could not drive, he said.

He wrote a letter to the judge asking for mercy, but the judge said he had no choice.

Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade agreed that judges should have more leeway. He said he wondered how much of the courts' time was taken up dealing with parking tickets that people forgot about or never bothered to pay.

Mr. Walter Roberts said he did not believe signing the proposed speeding tickets should be a prerequisite for motorists.

"If you elect not to sign it, you still should have the opportunity to go to court and pay the fine in seven days,'' he said. "Parking tickets allow you to do that.'' Mr. Marshall said the speeding form is already being used.

He said presently a person caught speeding under 53 kph can opt to sign the form which admits his guilt and waives his right to a court hearing.

"If he pays the fine within seven days, it's forgotten,'' Mr. Marshall said.

"If he does not pay it in seven days, then a summons is issued and he has to go to court where he can be fined up to $500.'' Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira faced no objections to his proposal to change the name of Queen's Park Golf Club in Devonshire back to the Ocean View Golf Course.

Government and Opposition MPs welcomed The Queen's Park Golf Club Amendment Act 1992.

And some questioned why it was changed in the first place.

"I only know the area over there as Ocean View,'' said Mr. Blakeney (PLP).

Mr. Nelson Bascome (PLP) who caddied at the golf course and played a few games as a child, said he definitely welcomed the change.

He said the public, particularly youngsters, should be made aware of the club history.

"One name that comes to mind is Mr. A.P. Place, editor for the Old Bermuda Recorder,'' Mr. Bascome said. "At that time young black men got together and developed their own golf club so in 1987 it came as a shock that the name was changed to Queen's Park Golf Club.'' He asked that trustees establish some way of providing historical information about the club, so that youngsters would know the history of "one of the toughest golf courses in Bermuda.'' Both Mr. Reginald Burrows and Mr. Stanley Lowe (PLP) said the proposed name change during heritage month was a "fitting tribute'' to "those who laboured long and hard to make the golf course what it is.'' Opposition MPs also asked about an old proposal to change the nine-hole course to an 18-hole golf course.

"I would think that it would certainly be able to make money as an 18-hole golf course and take some strain off the only other public course, Port Royal,'' Mr. Roberts said.

"It is an attractive golf course and 18 holes would make it more attractive and get more play by locals and visitors,'' Mr. Burrows said. "I do hope that if there's any way possible in the near future an architect can lay out or design nine more holes. The whole country could benefit from this.'' Mr. Walter Lister (PLP) said making Ocean View an 18-hole golf course would be the best way to ensure that that area remained open space.

Mr. Gilbert Darrell asked why Ocean View was operated differently from the other public golf courses, St. George's and Port Royal.

Dr. Terceira, who praised past and present trustees for upgrading the golf course, said Government was still seriously considering the 18-hole proposal.

"We did have an offer within the last year but the more we looked at it we realised we could only get it up to a 15-hole golf course,'' he said. "But we are still seriously looking at turning it into an 18-hole course. It would maintain open space.'' Meanwhile, Dr. Terceira said great strides have been made in improving the course.

In addition to recently paved golf cart paths, he said plans are underway to build a new clubhouse. Tenders are already out and the job is expected to be awarded next week.

There are also plans to put in a driving range, Dr. Terceira said, adding that he would talk to Community and Cultural Affairs Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons and trustees at the club to see if a pamphlet or some other publication on the history of Ocean View and the "people who put so much into the club from the 1950s'' could be produced.

Dr. Terceira said Government would like facilities at St. George's, Ocean View and Port Royal golf courses to all be under concession, rather than run by Government.