Government should consider taking extra measures to put the squeeze on parents who refuse to pay child support.

Shadow minister of Health and Social Services Mr. Nelson Bascome yesterday called on Government to "make a comprehensive review of the situation''.

He suggested enlisting Police to enforce warrants and putting delinquent parents on a stop-list.

While the courts report a significant increase in maintenance collected from reluctant parents, a full 40 percent are still getting away with paying nothing.

"Government needs to make a comprehensive review of the situation -- not just a piecemeal review,'' Mr. Bascome said.

Meanwhile, parents who owe thousands of dollars in child support can still vacation abroad, open charge accounts and use credit cards.

And although the courts report a dramatic increase in child support payments since they knuckled down on non-payers three years ago, there is still little to force those determined to fight the order to pay up.

"We are really fighting a social problem,'' said court administrator Mr.

Tracey Kelly. "For some people what we're doing works. For others, if prison doesn't make them come around to supporting their children, nothing ever will.'' His comments followed a complaint by one single mother who claims she has been battling in the courts for almost 20 years to force two delinquent fathers to pay child support. Recently, she said she was infuriated to find one of the men, who owes her in excess of $12,000, buying a cellular telephone.

Meanwhile the single mother works three jobs to make ends meet.

"I am tired of striking a dead end,'' she said. "It leaves me in a very awkward position. I'm in a Catch-22 because I can't do anything. I locked into a job where I can't grow or educate myself or my children. I'm afraid I'll never see the end of it. I can't go anywhere or do anything.'' She said bailiffs should be more rigorous in tracking the men down.

"If I owed money to a Front Street store you can be sure they would find me.

Why can't they find him when I see him every day in town?'' She said Government should bar delinquent parents from leaving the Island.

And credit associations should cut off credit until child support bills have been paid up, she said.

Bermuda Credit Association general manager Mrs. Dora Whitecross admitted civil debts are not listed within the organisation, giving those in default of child support payments carte blanche to open credit accounts or acquire credit cards.

But she added the system was not fair to parents left struggling to support their children singlehanded.

`There is an awful lot wrong with that law,'' Mrs. Whitecross said. "I feel very sorry for those women.'' Mr. Kelly agreed that limits on travel and credit could put extra pressure on reluctant payers to come up with the money.

"It could work,'' he said. "It would give us another little bit of ammunition.'' In some jurisdictions in the United States, where collection of child support payments is as low as 20 percent, non-payment is a criminal offence, he said.

Mr. Kelly admitted it was possible Bermuda could go the same route.

At present, warrants are issued for contempt of court -- not for non-payment of bills.

"We don't put people in prison because they can't pay bills,'' he said.

But lawyer Mrs. Honor Desmond-Tetlow said turning parents into criminals is not the answer.

"In a smaller jurisdiction like ours, it might not be necessary provided that we are really pursuing the avenues we have,'' Mrs. Tetlow said.

"They (parents) have the backing of the law -- the problem lies in the enforcing.'' And she said warrants effectively prevent delinquent parents from leaving the Island.

Measures taken by the courts that include attachment payments (docking wages at source) and hiring extra bailiffs to enforce warrants have pushed up the percentage of payments from 52 percent in 1991 to 60 percent.

Chairperson of the Womens' Resource Centre Ms Toni Daniels said the situation had improved significantly over the past three years.

"There is probably still room for improvement but they have travelled leaps and bounds toward getting payments,'' she said.