Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Stanley Morton PLP said it was important to highlight the good things that young people were doing.

Opposition leader Jennifer Smith was a fine model for young people, he added.

Transport and Aviation Services Minister Wayne Furbert UBP outlined Government's transport policies for the upcoming year. Since taking over from the US Navy at the Bermuda International Airport, he began, Government had reduced expenditure from $15.6 million to $15.1 million; it had increased revenue from $5.3 million to $7.3 million; and Bermudians had filled positions previously held by non-Bermudians to the point where they filled over 70 percent of airport positions.

At the Airport Fire Department, he continued, there were 21 Bermudians on the 22-member staff and a Bermudian was being trained to fill the final position of fire chief.

And Airport management would only contain one non-Bermudian, general manager Jack Gordon, by February next year, said Mr. Furbert.

Government would be renewing his contract for two years during which time a suitable candidate for his position would be trained on-site and overseas at Vancouver International Airport.

Also at the Airport, said the Minister, noticeable improvements could be seen in the departure lounge and work would soon begin on a coffee kiosk, the executive lounge and a duty-free shop. Meanwhile, the immigration area had been improved and plans were in the works for a fixed exhibit displaying the history of aviation on the Island.

Work was also set to begin on the baggage area which would be enlarged and have new conveyors installed and there would be a purpose built area constructed where taxi drivers could wait for arriving passengers.

Mr. Furbert said many studies had been carried out to see how the management area at the Airport could be improved.

Several different models had been pointed at by recommendations from these studies and Government had decided to move ahead with an Airport Authority.

Government hoped to create this in the near future but would first conduct a feasibility study over the next six months to see what the benefits would be.

He said advantages seemed to include improved efficiency, increased cost effectiveness, more revenue, improved service, management and finances.

And he added that he believed it would also balance the operations of the airport with a strategic business approach while enabling it to make financial decisions quicker.

Turning to the Transport Control Department, Mr. Furbert said Bermudians would soon be allowed to have vanity licence plates.

Showing an example to the MPs in the House at the time, he said car owners would be able to have up to six alphabetical and numerical figures on their plates along with a map of Bermuda and the logo "Isles of Beauty''.

Some motorists were making changes to their vehicles so they could pass their licensing exams and then they would alter their vehicles again before going back on the road.

Traffic officers would be trained so they could enforce the Motor Car Act on the streets and prevent this from happening.

And Mr. Furbert said TCD hoped to implement a scheme that would allow motorists to licence their vehicles at Hamilton Parish and Warwick Post Offices.

The Minister also announced that a final report on vehicle emissions would be laid before the House soon.

The white paper on traffic emissions would be tabled along with reports on traffic and road safety, transportation for the year 2000 and the way ahead for the Bermuda International Airport Authority.

Mr. Furbert then turned to the concept of shared rides for taxi drivers and told MPs that he would be attending a meeting for taxi drivers later that night.

There had been some confusion over the subject, he said. Shared rides would only work if the taxi driver and the tourist were looked after.

The concept would only be employed during those times when the Island's transportation network could not cope with the demand placed on it.

Staying on the concept of the transportation network, Mr. Furbert said he was looking at setting up a Transportation Authority which would help integrate the Island's transportation system.

Linking up all the elements of the Island's transportation system, he continued, would help solve traffic problems, such as congestion, that the public was concerned about.

Congestion was particularly bad for motorists who lived in the western parishes and had to travel during morning or evening rush hours.

Allen calls for restructuring of Tourism Board A Transport Authority would look at ways to alleviate this problem with concepts such as utilising taxis and "park and ride''.

This would see western parish motorists leaving their cars and catching ferries into Hamilton, he said.

"We have got to find a way to encourage people to leave their transport at home.'' Looking at road safety, Mr. Furbert said problems stemmed mainly from drivers' inattention and inexperience. Aggressive approaches being considered to deal with the problem included mandatory child seats and a graduating licence concept.

This would see newly licensed bike riders having to wait six months before they earned their stripes and were considered experienced enough to tow a passenger.

An offence committed during this period would see the bike rider waiting a lot longer before they graduated to the next level.

Other ideas being looked at, continued Mr. Furbert, included changing the road surface in areas like Somerset and Flatts Village to encourage drivers to slow down.

Shadow Tourism Minister David Allen said it was intriguing to hear the UBP talk about its new authorities. It seemed as if it was the ultimate action to protect the Country from their "bumbling''.

There were several Ministries where the Country would feel it was an act of mercy if an authority was created to replace the Ministers and their "flawed policies''.

He asked why Bermuda was falling short of the mark in the tourism industry while competing jurisdictions were on the upswing.

While the PLP agreed that everyone had a role to play in the Country's future, Government had to be held responsible and accountable for this, he stressed.

There was no replacement for tourism as a source of employment to Bermuda, he warned, and accountability had to be present at the highest level in the Country.

"You cannot turn over the guidance of the Tourism industry willy-nilly to the private sector without ensuring that it is guided by the elected Government.'' This was not to say that there could not be a cooperative element with the private sector, continued Mr. Allen, but this had been the case in the past when Government had a Tourism Board.

This Board's effectiveness had been diluted however by the selection of its members from the "leading lights'' of the UBP's infrastructure.

Mr. Allen said he believed a wise course of action would be to restructure the Tourism Board so it could provide more valuable input from the private sector.

The Shadow Minister also launched a scathing attack on the Let Yourself Go advertising campaign which was off target and highlighted the need for Government to be held accountable.

Over $30 million of the taxpayers' money had been spent on Let Yourself Go over the past two years, he claimed, and tourism was still sliding.

Mr. Allen criticised Government for failing to help Bermudians into top hotel posts on the Island.

He said it was a "national disgrace'' that no Bermudians ran any major resort hotels.

"I consider it a national embarrassment when, more than 100 years after we entered the international tourism arena, we still don't have a Bermudian who is the top executive at any major resort hotel in Bermuda,'' he told the House.

"That is an indictment of this UBP Government. It is a national disgrace.'' He singled out Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness for criticism, claiming he had granted work permits to foreigners when Bermudians could have been offered the jobs.

Mr. Allen added: "We will twist the arm, embarrass and if necessary humiliate the Government until a Bermudian gets that top position.'' And he vowed the Progressive Labour Party would help Bermudians into the top jobs if they were elected to Government.

Hamilton West MP Maxwell Burgess defended the new tourism authority, claiming it was time to "change or die'' to encourage more visitors to Bermuda.

He said: "We need the private sector and the Government together, to ensure we have the necessary partnership around the table.

"We must get ready for the 21st Century. Far too often I hear how wonderful we are and how great Bermudians are.

"But people aren't coming. And if they are not coming to this great and friendly place, we need to ask why and be prepared to change things. That's what we're doing.'' Dr. Ewart Brown , the PLP's spokesman on Human Affairs, said the UBP were simply churning out old ideas.

He said: "There was an organisation in the past which controlled tourism. It was called the Trade Development Board.

"We have been there and done that. This is clearly symptomatic of a lack of ideas. The Government is just turning back to the past.'' The Shadow Minister also claimed Government had failed to produce proper health insurance plans for the elderly.

And he said the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital was now overrun with pensioners calling into casualty with minor ailments.

Dr. Brown said: "Under the Hospital Insurance Plan, elderly people are covered in hospital but not if they go to see a doctor.

"It doesn't take a genius to work out that people are getting older. And it doesn't take a genius to work out that if you don't want to pay out of your pocket, you go to the hospital emergency room as your primary care clinic.

"You use the hospital for headaches and constipation instead of seeing your family physician. Now the hospital has got problems.

"A long time ago, we should have put something in place that expanded the coverage of HIP. I see 10 or 15 people every day who have no insurance coverage.'' Coverage of debate continued in tomorrow's paper