Acting Transport Minister Dennis Lister revealed in Parliament on Friday that "increasing acts of vandalism'' were the cause of a recent revamp in security measures at bus depots in St. George's and Somerset.

He was discussing the supplementary estimate for 1998-1999 in the House of Assembly and said Public Transportation required $1,215,707, mostly to pay for wages, but also $90,000 for professional services.

He said the bus depots at both ends of the Island needed security upgrades due to "increasing acts of vandalism''.

Mr. Lister added that $123,000 was needed for repairs and maintenance of what he called "a fleet of buses with a relatively high average age''.

Shadow Finance Minister Grant Gibbons asked why this was, when the UBP started an "aggressive campaign'' in the 1990s to acquire new vehicles.

Mr. Lister added that $56,000 was needed to pay for Y2K upgrades and $23,000 to accommodate schedule changes.

The Bermuda Fire Service got an extra $872,780 to account for oversights in salary payment and because errors were made when calculating the amount of vacation time owed.

Mr. Lister said Marine and Ports needed $726,808, of which $619,000 was for wages and $119,000 was for the refitting of the pilot boat St. George's .

The Transport Control Department got $145,034 to pay for wages, materials and supplies.

In the area of capital developments, Premier Jennifer Smith said $3,377,659 was needed by the Education Department to pay for the "massive'' refurbishment of the Ruth Seaton James Memorial Auditorium at CedarBridge.

And she added that improvements to public schools and the addition of a physiotherapy room at Southampton Glebe Middle School would cost $935,778 and $28,793 respectively. The addition of a day care centre at St. Brendan's Hospital cost $677,196.

Other projects included: Improvements to Bermuda International Airport, including a refurbishment of the baggage reclaim hall, cost $43,284.

Security renovations at the Premier's house and the Governor's temporary residence in Sandys, as well as storage fees, amounted to $50,703.

Some $130,758 was spent on renovations to Longbird Bridge, which included the replacement of a winch which helped the bridge to close.

The replacement of a chilled water plant at Bermuda College set Government back $375,000.

TRANSPORTATION TRA