Frustrating as it may be to be the Opposition, United Bermuda Party Leader Grant Gibbons is raring to go in 2005.

With ongoing issues such as affordable housing, economic empowerment, the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) scandal, and the still-unfinished new senior secondary school at Berkeley Road dragging on into the New Year, Dr. Gibbons promised on Wednesday that his party will continue to ?keep Government on their toes?.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the party in 2004 has also put the UBP in the unique position of redefining itself while returning to the values of its founders: the breaking down of racial barriers in the continuing struggle to form a united Bermuda.

It is not enough to simply talk about bridging the divide, he added.

Action must be taken to empower the majority, not an elite minority ? particularly in the face of an apparently free-falling tourism industry and sagging international business sector.

The economic and social fabric of the country appears to be unravelling as 2005 arrives, he said.

Since 1998, Dr. Gibbons said, Bermuda has lost about half a billion dollars in revenue from tourism, while the costs of living on the Island have escalated at an alarming pace.

The financial hit has in turn caused tidal waves which are pounding at every corner of Bermudian society ? and international business is not as strong a buffer as people would like to believe, Dr. Gibbons said.

?We have a lot of eggs in one basket that is not doing as well as people generally think it is.?

The number of new exempted companies registering in Bermuda in 2003 dropped from a high in 2000 to the lowest it has been since 1997, he said.

Some 20 percent fewer insurance companies registered in Bermuda this year in comparison to last year.

Rising costs that are decreasing the Island?s competitiveness in comparison to other jurisdictions take a large portion of the blame, he said.

Being characterised as ?the poster boy for corporate greed and excess? by some US politicians has not helped the situation, Dr. Gibbons noted.

Future attempts to address the massive US deficit ? possibly by cutting down on the tax losses to the US through offshore entities ? could also prove detrimental to Bermuda.

The cost of Government has also increased consistently, Dr. Gibbons said. The number of employees has increased, as has the money going on wages and salaries, and so taxes have also gone up ? without any significant results for the majority of Bermudians.

The economic stresses are in turn affecting social stresses.

?It?s made it very, very difficult for a lot of hardworking Bermudians to balance housing, for example, with ... the cost of living in Bermuda,? Dr. Gibbons said.

The lack of a tangible plan from Government to address the affordable housing shortage, among other social issues, has exacerbated the problem, he said.

Government?s failure to lead by example has not helped either, Dr. Gibbons said.

Examples of waste and corruption ? such as the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) scandal, the cost overruns at the new senior secondary school construction site on Berkeley Road, and the controversial Coco Reef lease ? as well as the failure of anyone to take responsibility for them have set a precedent.

Even the Ombudsman?s Act won?t assure accountability, as Government took the step of making Cabinet Ministers off-limits, Dr. Gibbons said.

Referring to increasing levels of violence on the Island, such as the Boxing Day murder of Nicolas Dill, Dr. Gibbons added: ?We have seen a lack of accountability at the top, and to some degree that is sending a message to everybody else.?

Simple things like drug-testing for MPs would go a long way, he said. ?There are concerns with the collapse of the NDC, now being folded back into the Health Ministry; there are concerns regarding the Police and allegations of drug corruption ? all that suggests we really need much stronger leadership in a lot of areas. Holding people accountable for their actions.?

The Opposition remains concerned about affordable housing, seniors, and economic empowerment as Bermuda heads into 2005.

However while they can make a lot of noise, without a majority in the House of Assembly members are often frustrated, Dr. Gibbons said.

?Being in the Opposition is always frustrating because you have to continue to put forward alternative ways of doing things ... But while you can make suggestions, you don?t have Government at your disposal to carry them out.?

There is a bright side, he added: the UBP?s time in the political wilderness has given them a much better perspective on what is needed, such as increased transparency and openness.

It has also given them a chance, Dr. Gibbons believed, to change the stereotypical image of the UBP.

?It?s important to get people to take another look at us.?

The UBP has accomplished much for Bermuda in the past 40 years, he said, including desegregation, workmen?s compensation, the creation of the Bermuda College, pensions, and so on.

?There is a foundation of very solid achievement ? not that there haven?t been frustrations and difficult times as well.

?One challenge we had especially was the internal dissension in the late 90s. Now, it?s important to say we have experience, we have members with experience in Government ? but there are also a lot of changes, a lot of new faces.

?We?ve taken an entirely new look at what?s important to the community.?

As a diverse party, the UBP has vowed in particular to concentrate on breaking down racial barriers.

?We recognise Bermuda needs a higher sense of community and inclusion ... Rather than divide and polarise, we feel it is absolutely essential to pull together.

?In fact, these are the same issues faced by the UBP in the beginning, 40 years ago: black and white Bermudians, working together.?

Handicapped by the lack of power to carry out their ideas, Dr. Gibbons said his party is also hoping that voters will see the UBP has learned from its time in Opposition.

?We know what has to be done and we have to ability to carry it out. We just hope the electorate has the ability to see that.?

It may have been dark in other respects, but the past year has been a good one for the UBP, Dr. Gibbons said.

?We?ve had a chance to think a little about where we come from in many respects, do some soul-searching, think about why we formed in the first place.

?Some values are very much still important.?