It has been one month since the Premier appointed Marc Bean as a new Senator, replacing Wayne Caines who resigned to pursue a career in the private sector.

The new Senator said he is delighted with his new responsibilities and devoted to his party and its leader.

"I will be there to support Dr. Brown until his time is finished as the leader of this country and then I will support the next leader and the next leader and so forth, my loyalty to the party is undividable and not partial," he said. "I look at my deputy the same way.

"I love all the strengths that they both bring to the table because, as a young man and as a young politician, I'm here to learn."

In addition to being a Senator, Mr. Bean is also Junior Minister of Tourism and Transport and Junior Minister of the Environment and Sport and he is responsible for Bermuda's relationship with Caricom.

Sen. Bean said: "I am really enjoying this position and there is a lot I am learning about.

"Only 20 percent of my work has to do with the Senate directly and 80 percent is to do with the ministries and I'm enjoying the challenge."

He noted that his goal is to support the Ministers, as he is a Junior Minster, and added he treats all four areas — tourism, transport, environment and sport — as equally important.

"Tourism is in transition from a position of stagnation to a period of growth. Transport is essential, especially living on an Island like Bermuda so we are looking to increase the use of public transport such as ferries.

"We also need to look at the behaviour of road users.

"We are now experiencing the negative effects of that with 11 road fatalities and countless numbers of serious injuries this year.

"So, that's a challenge with in itself because no legislation or policies can change people's thinking and behaviour.

"Likewise, the environment needs to be protected. The world is facing a food crisis, so it's important we start thinking about ways and means we can increase the agriculture production in Bermuda including fish and, at the same time, finding that balance and protecting the Island's resources.

"And sports, to me, is one of the centrepieces of nationhood."

But Mr. Bean's concerns do not end with his ministries. He feels the most important issues on the Island are ensuring Bermudians have adequate food, shelter and clothing, education and strengthening family values — and these issues are interconnected.

"It is paramount that people in Bermuda have adequate housing so they can start developing their family life, which is the foundation of our society," he said. Many of the issues that we are facing today are because of the breakdown in our family life."

But housing is one of the toughest issues to tackle, Mr. Bean said. "It has been a struggle for years; we inherited the struggle, in terms of being educated and have adequate housing.

"People expect us to do more, we have intentions of doing more and we are doing more."

Dissatisfaction with Government seems to be running high this summer, however, with recent polls showing the Premier's popularity is dropping and public service workers and Police staging a massive march on Parliament on pay disputes.

While critics often accuse Dr. Brown of living high off taxpayers' money and having lost touch with the PLP's labour roots, Senator Bean defended some of the Premier's choices.

Dr. Brown has faced attack for buying a new BMW to replace the eight-year-old former Peugeot GP1 and for flying on a private jet, but Mr. Bean said, if he was leader, he might make the same choices.

"If it's the will of the Lord for me to one day be Premier, I would fly on a private jet every time and I could justify it too, as I am trained in that field I know the productivity of using a private jet," he said.

"It's a time management concept when it comes to business jets not necessarily a luxury. If you think about it, most Bermudians would not even get on a plane that small.

"Let's say, for example, I need to go to Antigua for a very important meeting, it's going to take me 13 hours to get there on a commercial plane but it is actually only a two-hour flight.

"If I take a private jet, I could be there in the morning and back in my office doing more work by 3 p.m. in the afternoon rather than having to over-night or spend days, with expenses incurring, because I have to wait for a return flight.

"Wouldn't the people want me to be as productive as possible within a day? The best way that can be done is through a private jet."

He said that when Dr. Brown recently flew on a private jet, it enabled him to attend events which would have been impossible using commercial airliners.

"There were two things that were going on within a couple of hours of each other, the Bermuda National Team was playing against Trinidad and he also had a meeting with the President of the United States," Senator Bean said.

"The only way that he could do both was to fly on a private jet so he could watch the game and then go meet President Bush. But there are no flights out of Bermuda at 9 p.m., when the game ended.

"If he didn't go to the game, he would have been chastised for not caring about and supporting Bermuda's National Team. Well, Dr. Brown supports sports, he supports our national team.

"On the other hand, if he would have missed the meeting with President Bush, the other half of the naysayers would have chastised him for not taking the relationship with the United States seriously as it is important to our economic interest. They probably would have said: 'Dr. Brown thought it was more important to watch football then meet with the President'."

"So as any good leader would do, he found a solution to accommodate both — use a private aircraft, which costs the same as a first class plane ticket. And his wife accompanied him and paid for her seat with her own means."

And he said criticism of the purchase of a new official car GP1 was misplaced.

"It's not Ewart Brown's car, it's the office of the Premier's car. When his time is office is complete the next Premier will, hopefully, be able to utilise the car as well," Sen. Bean said.

"The Governor has a very similar car plus additional vehicles that we, the taxpayers, pay for but I haven't heard anyone ask any questions about it."

He suggested that few had criticised Sir John Swan's choice of official vehicle, which was also a BMW.

"I wonder what's with the double standards and hypocrisy," he said.

However, there was a good deal of controversy in the mid-1980s when Sir John brought in the BMW.