As the Senate met to discuss the Throne Speech, Government Senate Leader praised Bermuda and its people as being ?extraordinary? and said: ?We see opportunities and we come out top no matter what is going on.

?As Bermudians we are action-minded and this Government is action-minded. Members of the public will know that it is not about cosying up to any private sector, the PLP Government speaks to all people in the country.?

The Bermuda Football Association president used a football field as an analogy to explain the concept of sustainable development ? one of the key features of this year?s Throne Speech.

?You put 100 people on the field and you tell them, ?okay this is where you have to exist?. We have to make decisions about how we are going to exist,? he said.

He said the Government had pulled together and decided that it needed to do something about sustainable development and it is something everyone should be thinking about.

On the subject of a Government TV channel, he refuted the claims of scaremongers who warn it will be propaganda and a step towards dictatorship. He said it would promote Government services, programmes and information.

And he said: ?If you go to Belco?s offices or one of their centres they have an internal news channel that you can watch that shows what they are doing. I though that was a great idea. Maybe the Government channel can be shown in Government buildings so that when people go in they can see it. One day it could be expanded to the House of Assembly.?

With Sen. Gina Spence-Farmer absent from the morning session, Sen. Mussenden looked across at the vacant chair on the UBP side of the table and said: ?And the public will be able to see who is sitting in their Senate chair and who is not.?

He made mention of the housing initiative and a review of divorce procedures and then focused on legislation to amalgamate the Island?s fire service.

?They do a fantastic job. The Bermuda Fire Service enjoys high level of confidence in the community,? he said.

But by amalgamating the Island?s various fire services, such as the volunteer service at St. George?s and the Airport fire department, he said: ?There will be cost savings, a uniformity, cross-training and career development.?

Sen. Mussenden also had a message for young men and women thinking about enrolling at Bermuda College ? pack up your bags and boots and run down to Warwick Camp.

Referring to the Throne Speech pledge to offer financial college grants to those who serve with The Regiment, he said: ?If you are thinking of going to college, run to Warwick Camp and sign up today because it will be worth around $5,000 (in college fees).?

He said there was also an undisclosed ?bounty? payment made during the year to those serving in The Regiment.

On crime and drugs, Sen. Mussenden mentioned last Saturday?s rally by Bermudians Against Narcotics, which he had attended, and said Police had identified 17 crack houses which were to be found in a variety of places, from abandoned buildings to open spaces. And since his appearance at the rally he said he had had taken two calls from residents concerned about drugs in their area.

Whoever is dealing in drugs, rich or poor, black or white, they will be caught and their ill-gotten assets seized or confiscated, he said.

Opposition Senate Leader responded by saying he too had attended the BAN anti-drugs rally and offered support, but questioned the wisdom of Attorney General Sen. Mussenden revealing that Police were aware of 17 crack houses.

?He has forewarned them if they read the morning daily. They may now be setting up new shops from where to do business. And while they can run but they can?t hide, the element of surprise is important.

?I see the need to let the public the things are going to be done. But when it comes to taking the necessary action we do not need to provide intelligence of that magnitude to the criminals.?

On the subject of fire service amalgamation he said he hoped the volunteer fire service would not be a dying breed as it was a breeding ground for many of the Island?s now highly-trained Fire Service personnel, as well as being a cost-saving enterprise.

And he said at a time when the Government is looking at the possibility of introducing mega cruise ships to the Island?s three ports ? possibly by making changes to the environment to accommodate them ? it was in danger of not ?practising what it preaches? regarding sustainable development.

Picking up Sen. Mussenden?s opening comment about Bermudians being extraordinary people he wondered if Premier Alex Scott felt the 14,000 people who signed the petition for a referendum on Independence were ?extraordinary?.

He asked why two Government ministers had been ?missing in action? last Monday when Parliament had debated the Throne Speech.

?There were two ministers from two important ministries not there, they were missing in action on the jet set racking up air miles. That the Government can enjoy the luxury of having its ministers missing in action is a real tragedy. The people have been robbed off a degree of accountability,? said Sen. Swan.

He welcomed the Government?s pledge to deal with race relations and said: ?Racial polarisation is a crippling dependency often used in politics. It does not help when the Government of the day engages in racial devices and tactics.?

Sen. Swan said both sides of the political divide needed to move towards racial reconciliation.

He said it was too easy for opponents to call him an ?uncle tom? or ?the master?s son?.

?I?m highlighting this because I want us to reach a higher plane for Bermuda and we will not do it until we are comfortable in our own skin,? said Sen. Swan, who recognised there was blame on all sides ? black and white ? and that all leaders of industry and the business community had to put the truth of race relations on the table if the country was ever to achieve true reconciliation.

He called for an early referendum to settle the issue of Independence adding: ?I call on the Government to set a date-certain for a referendum if they believe in one man one vote. True democracy would be served by allowing people to express how they feel without prolonged delay.?

He welcomed the appointment of Wayne Perinchief as a ?Drugs? Czar? to address the growing problem of narcotics on the Island and said there needed to be support by politicians on both sides for a zero tolerance of drugs.

The Senator spoke about the need for help to be given to the 30 percent of the population who are poor or nearly poor and efforts that are required to improve the academic standards of Bermuda?s schoolchildren.

Independent listed the education issue as being his top priority, and praised the Minister for Education for acknowledging that there are problems with the current Terra Nova tests and seeking to revise the system.

Pointing out that Bermuda?s poor test results were worse than those in the USA ? ?hardly the most rigorous benchmark in the world? ? he said far more action was needed.

?Just revising the testing system will help evaluate the problem but it will not address the problem. What happened to the teacher certification scheme and independent licensing scheme we were promised in the 2000 Throne Speech?? he asked.

?Other initiatives are needed to deal with this problem from which so many problems with our youth arise.?

Independent added her voice to the independence debate by saying that it is important not to label those who are against breaking from the UK as being UBP supporters ? something she feels would alienate the electorate and have a detrimental effect.

Commenting on the criticism of Government plans to set up a television station, she said she had no concerns that it might be used as a propaganda tool.

?If it is abused then Bermudians are smart people. They will just take that wonderful device known as the remote control and switch the channel,? she said.(PLP) added his voice to the race debate, telling how his own family had been subjected to racist abuse.

He was firm in his view that this issue cannot be tackled by legislation, stating that: ?As a nation, a people and a family need to discuss this in our homes and be honest enough with ourselves.?

And he cited the example of advice that his grandmother gave to his mother: ?Get over it and deal with it and don?t stop fighting.?

He said that many PLP members were involved in the party when it was not a popular thing to be associated with on the Island.

Many of these members felt the scourge of racism for being black and PLP and sometimes they lash out not because they hate anyone in Opposition but because they felt the double sting of racism.

?I am not saying that UBP members have not had experience with racism but side has had intimate experience with racism.?

He went on to call for more emphasis to be placed by the people of Bermuda on recognising and celebrating the achievements of the majority of youngsters who are making a positive contribution to society rather than ?those falling through the cracks and sitting on the wall.?

He was particularly outspoken on the issue of Independence, asking why people were afraid of independence and stating: ?I don?t think Great Britain wants us hanging around for ever and I don?t think Britain has time for us.

?I don?t believe if someone attacks me here in Bermuda, they are going to come down and save me, and I don?t believe that as we become part of the global community that they will speak for me with a passion. No one is going to take care of Bermuda like Bermudians.?

Sen. Roban said there were many critics and sometimes outright hostility towards the PLP but the Throne Speech illustrated the boldness and courage his party used while trying to bring good governance to the Island.

Speaking on Independence, he said the Government is mindful of what people want but that sometimes leaders must ?open the door and help them see something they have not.?

He said that compared to the way the Independence issue was dealt with by the UBP his party has been open and transparent through the Bermuda Independence Commission.

?The concept of Independence was misused, misappropriated, propagandised under the leadership of others. The country underwent trauma when the UBP led the Independence debate.?

He said the PLP was consistent but flexible when it came to determining how Independence would be decided.

He also criticised the UBP for calling his party a dictatorship regarding the Government?s plans to have a television station.

Sen. Roban said channels similar to the Government?s proposal are found elsewhere in the world. He said he found 1,800 in the US, 110 in Holland and 150 in Canada. ?It is nothing unusual and is simply public access to information.?

He criticised the UBP stating that under section 11.1 of the cable television legislation the UBP had drawn up regulations that stated: ?The Minister may require a licensee to provide, free of charge, two channels on the System for use by Government in such manner as the Minister shall by writing direct.?also weighed in on the race discussion saying Sen. Swan was wrong that the PLP stirs the racial pot.

?We?ve all been called all sorts of names in the heat of battle and out of emotion. He needs to get by it,? Sen. Tyrrell said.

Sen. Tyrrell also criticised people who said the Government would not concentrate on certain issues, such as education, because they were not covered in the Throne Speech. He said many of these issues were addressed by the Social Agenda, which the Government was committed to pursuing.

Newly-appointed PLP said he had been a supporter of Independence for his entire adult life, but that there had been ?hysteria? in the debate surrounding this topic.

He also stated his view that Independence would not not damage international business, and said the amount of building work taking place in the City of Hamilton was proof that international business was not concerned.

He took the opportunity to hit out at the media over negative reports about Government plans to start a television station.

He referred back to the media reaction to pre-Throne Speech comments by Premier Alex Scott, who promised that the speech would ?include a major initiative to address those elements that seek to divide us?.

These comments at the time, and Mr Scott?s refusal to expand upon this remark, had sparked questions about whether the Government would be seeking to censor the media. yesterday said it was ?fascinating? that since the Throne Speech there had not been any acknowledgement by the media that what the Premier had been talking about was the planned television station.

He added: ?This probably has something to do with the fact that we have few reporters of real note and most of them just regurgitate what we say.?