being visited by Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan.

Sir John was asked to come and talk to the kids at Young Decisions as part of a series of weekly lectures from professionals.

The Premier had his hands full dealing with questions about the building of the incinerator, the new $40 million prison, the vacant Bermudiana Hotel and what they felt was a lack of youth centres.

Instead of lunch, the campers -- aged six to 16 -- were hungry for an answer as to why Pembroke dump could not be converted into an amusement park.

Twelve-year-old Kenton Swan couldn't keep his arm down while seated next to the Premier.

"People are trying to help the environment today by recycling things, but I don't think the smoke from burning trash in the incinerator is helping the environment,'' Kenton said.

Sir John assured him the environment was not being harmed. "The smoke that comes out of the incinerator is clean,'' he said. "The plant is for sorting so nothing goes in that is of chemical nature. The whole thing has been dealt with cautiously.

"We have to get rid of the garbage somehow and the Pembroke dump is full. I'm hoping that one day the dump will be a beautiful park.'' Another young boy wondered why there were not more than two youth centres especially since their purpose was to keep young people off the streets.

Sir John told him that the Government was working on it and they were hoping to increase the number of centres.

Another concern of the children was the vacant Bermudiana Hotel.

"The object is to convert it back into a hotel,'' Sir John said. "Keep this in mind, the Bermuda dollar can only be used in Bermuda.

"If we don't have foreign money coming in from tourists or businesses then that money is worth nothing.

"We have a high standard of living here and we take a lot for granted. This little Island of ours is small, it's important that we understand that we have to earn American money.'' A young girl challenged the Premier by asking him why the Government promises Bermuda things they can't afford to do.

Sir John said: "We always hope but we can't always get what we want.

Government is nothing but people. We have hopes, dreams and aspirations but conditions change.'' Another concern of the kids was the amount of violence and drug use in Bermuda. Sir John told them the National Drug Strategy was setting up systems in schools that would try and encourage kids to stay away from drugs.

"We try and respond to the problem as best as we can. The society has to work together. There is no magic for solving human problems.

"Locking people up is not the answer. We all have to make decisions about our own lives.'' Concluding his talk with the kids, Sir John said: "If you understand that and nothing else -- what you do in life and what you do about your life is up to you.''