Insurance and reinsurance firms are going to provide the money for the Bermuda Homes for People (BHP) project, Premier Alex Scott announced yesterday.

And manufactured housing units should be arriving in Bermuda in June 2005 ? but Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent remained tight-lipped yesterday over where they will be erected, saying he did not want floods of calls from "caring Bermudians" saying "not in my backyard". Speaking at a Government press conference yesterday, both the Premier and Mr. DeVent continued to defend the BHP project, swearing the project is viable and will go ahead.

"The project is safe," Mr. Scott said. "Anybody making deposits, the deposits are secure."

All businesses at the Southside property have agreed to move, he said, while Mr. DeVent announced that new units to accommodate those tenants are expected to be completed by May, 2005. Construction of the residential units at the proposed Harbourside Village is expected to begin shortly after that, he said. Both the Minister and the Premier called on the Opposition to stop "politicking" with the project.

Mr. Scott said he has heard only speculation regarding Clifford Schorer's decision to back out of the project. Mr. Schorer formerly spearheaded the plan, having already implemented a similar concept in Nantucket.

However Mr. Schorer has given no official reason for backing out to Government, the Premier said, other than business commitments. And the Premier, while saying it was fine for the Opposition to be "vigilant", called on the UBP to stop "politicking" with the project which was declared viable in the now-infamous KPMG report declaring the BHP insolvent.

The KPMG report was done because Government was doing due diligence on the project before putting the taxpayers' money on the line, he said. "Now we are aware of their financial position ... 200 units will be put on that site. The BHP will work through their challenges. "The bottom line is that project is going forward ... We are not putting money where we can't account for it."

The Ministry has looked at several sites, he said. Government is also working with the supplier and local contractors to form an on-Island team to assemble the units.

Meanwhile, the team put together to develop the Five-Year Master Housing Plan are expected to submit a recommendation to the Legislature upping the maximum lease for quangos to 120 years.

"This initiative is seen as key to enabling our three quangos ? the West End Development Corporation, the Bermuda Land Development Corporation, and the Bermuda Housing Corporation ? to become self-sustaining and financially viable into the future," Mr. DeVent said at a press conference updating the public on Social Agenda initiatives yesterday.

"This initiative will likewise allow the quangos the ability to proceed expeditiously with funding their housing and commercial developments with the assistance of the private sector thereby avoiding unnecessary delays."

The Ministry is taking a hard line with violence and crime at sports clubs, however.

"My Ministry, along with the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation, has begun the process of revising all existing sports leases ... We are ensuring that all sporting grounds under our remit are free of illegal and unsavoury activity going forward," Mr. DeVent said.

"Any clubs which do not abide with this requirement will face financial penalties or risk the loss of the use of these Government-owned grounds and facilities."

The Ministry has received design proposals from five experienced bridge design firms regarding the replacement of Longbird Bridge, Mr. DeVent said.

"Following resolution of all environmental issues, I plan to recommend a way forward to the Cabinet by mid-April with a preferred company to carry out the full feasibility study," he explained.

However the Land Title Registration Programme will not be brought forward until November's Throne Speech, with legislation hopefully tabled early next year, he said. "This initiative will mandate the central recording and monitoring of land and property ownership in Bermuda."

Inter-agency conferencing at the Bermuda Housing Corporation already succeeded in helping a number of families suffering in the housing crisis, Mr. DeVent added.

"In recognition of the multiple and often complex issues that some of our clients face the BHC, in conjunction with the Departments of Financial Assistance, Child and Family Services, and other Departments within the Ministry of Health have increased inter-agency conferencing in an effort to globally address issues that have become barriers preventing these clients, who have had dealings with all of the above agencies, from being able ... to cope within our community," Mr. DeVent said yesterday.

"The client and agency representatives sign a memorandum of understanding under which the client agrees to abide by the respective programmes prescribed by the various agencies and accepts that a default on any individual programme is a default on all the programmes and could lead to serious consequences."

Meanwhile, the BHC is busy with two new construction projects and two major renovation projects currently underway that will give rise to 33 units. The total cost of these four projects ? at Sandhurst, Orange Hole, Butterfield Lane, and Anchorage Road ? is contracted to be $9,428,000.