Development and Cooperation's drive for "tax harmonisation'' is good news, but it also raises some questions.

The OECD launched the drive two years ago and warned that countries which offered "unfair tax competition'' would be put on a "hitlist'' in which OECD members would impose sanctions if they did not meet their conditions.

Bermuda was not put on the hitlist after saying it would ensure transparency with regard to tax evasion and ownership of international companies and would work towards open competition in the local business sector.

Other countries, including many of the Island's offshore rivals, were put on the list. Many have had to go through hoops to avoid the sanctions due to start this summer.

Now they seem to be off the hook. US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's rejection of tax harmonisation, which was published in yesterday's Royal Gazette , seems to have killed off the likelihood of sanctions, since without the US, they would be virtually meaningless.

That raises two key questions for Bermuda. The first is whether Government made a mistake in meeting the OECD's demands. The second is whether Bermuda should now continue to meet the demands if the whole issue is moot, at least as long as the Bush Administration is at the helm of the US.

There is a good case to be made that Bermuda was right to meet the demands, both due to the circumstances at the time -- had Al Gore won Florida and the Presidency, it is likely the US would be backing the OECD today -- and because Bermuda should have a reputation for being an open centre for international finance and does not need or want a reputation for being a secretive and dodgy tax haven.

The second question is more open to debate.

So far, Government has failed to address these issues in public. But they are reasonable questions which deserve answers.

REST HOMES EDT Rest homes There has been a good deal of concern lately about poor conditions in Government rest homes.

The elderly should not have to live in poor conditions when they have reached an age when they can no longer look after themselves. They should expect to be able to be comfortable and to live in clean and sanitary conditions. This is not a call for a life of luxury; but it is a call for a life spent in dignity and not in squalor.

Health and Social Service Minister Nelson Bascome is well aware of the problem. Indeed, when he became a Minister, this was one of the first issues that he tackled.

St. George's Rest Home, which was in terrible condition, was closed and plans were begun to replace it with a state of the art rest home.

Two years later, the rest home is still closed and ground has yet to be broken on the new building.

That is not Mr. Bascome's fault. Bureaucracy, getting plans drawn and approved and finding the money take time. But what happens to the elderly in the meantime, both in St. George's and in other rest homes, some of which are in little better condition? The efforts by the Sandys Rest Home volunteers are one answer. They are appealing to the public for help and supplies to replace everything from beds to windows.

This is an area where the public and private sectors can work together to give Bermuda's elderly the dignified and comfortable life they have earned.