A ?clear the air? meeting between the Salvation Army and Health Minister Patrice Minors yesterday morning went well, according to both parties.

Mrs. Minors met with Major Lindsay Rowe, Divisional Commander of the Salvation Army in Bermuda, after publicity about poor conditions at the charity?s Marsh Lane homeless shelter.

Mrs. Minors, whose Ministry funds services at the shelter, had responded to news coverage about the crumbling facility by saying she was ?fed up? with requests for extra cash. She also said she had concerns about the way the facility is run.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Major Rowe had expressed hope that the Minister would clarify the Government?s expectations and concerns so they could go forward together.

Afterwards he said: ?The meeting went very well, just as I anticipated?, but declined to comment further ahead of a joint statement to be released later this week.

Mrs. Minors would only say: ?The meeting was positive. I went in for it to be positive.?

Kevin Monkman, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Family Services, said there had been ?a productive, frank and open discussion? between the Minister and charity representatives.

Major Rowe has also recently spoken out about how a massive funding shortfall means Salvation Army-run programmes for drug addicts are under threat.

A meeting to discuss this has now been arranged with the Minister of Drug Control Wayne Perinchief, who is responsible for this area of funding, in the first week of February.