Last week's criticism of Tourism Minister Renee Webb by the staff of the Department of Tourism must be fully investigated.

It is unprecedented in Bermuda's history for a Minister to come under this kind of criticism by civil servants, who generally pride themselves on their professionalism and ability to work under Ministers of wide ranging temperaments, political beliefs and, yes, abilities.

For an entire department to go to their union to complain about a Minister means they have been stretched to the breaking point. It also means that the usual methods for resolving problems have broken down or been blocked.

Usually, civil servants who are unhappy with the way they are being treated would take their concerns to their immediate superiors or to their Directors or Permanent Secretaries whose duty it would be to resolve the problem, to point out where the politician might be interfering ? or to tell the civil servant to get on with the job.

That these methods have apparently failed is due in large part to the collapse of a once proud and able department where morale has been shattered, experienced professionals have been driven out and chaos has replaced order.

These problems precede Ms Webb. In spite of posthumous efforts by senior Progressive Labour Party politicians to portray David Allen as the saviour of tourism, the truth is that he was a disaster, as Ms Webb has more or less admitted in her own efforts to rebuild tourism. If Mr. Allen were still alive he would be facing precisely the same complaints that Ms Webb is now confronted with.

In five years, the PLP government has seen three Directors depart from Tourism. Two were highly experienced tourism professionals and the third, Judith Hall Bean, was a veteran civil servant. All left because they were unable to do their jobs. The list of other civil servants who have left is too long to reprint here.

In their wake, the Tourism Department is made up of new and young staffers, whose energy and enthusiasm cannot overcome their lack of experience ? or their ability to talk around a difficult Minister to a more reasonable position.

For evidence of that, look no further than the disastrous "Hawaii" advertisement that made Bermuda an international laughing stock. More experienced civil servants would have seen the problem before it arose and, failing that, would have been smart enough to pull the ad as soon as it became public.

It is worth noting that many of the complaints about Ms Webb were made this past summer when Mrs. Hall Bean departed. Some concern the Minister's personality, while the most serious concern interference in appointments and Budget decisions.

When Mrs. Hall Bean left, Ms Webb said the next Director would most likely come from overseas, a clear breach of the Church and State division in Government principle since politicians are supposed to play no role in Civil Service appointments.

The next Director probably will come from overseas, not because there are no qualified Bermudians (there are dozens), but because no one in their right mind would take the job in the current circumstances.

The other serious allegation made by the staff concerns "new and unbudgeted project demands made by the Minister which go against financial instructions and has budgetary implications" and of expenses she runs up in attending every overseas department meeting.

Ministers do not have the right to change spending plans when they feel like it. But that is essentially the complaint the staff is making. As for travel, well, the only things that Mr. Allen's travel increased when he was Minister were his frequent flier miles. Tourism arrivals just kept falling and not much has changed there.

These complaints must be investigated by Cabinet Secretary John Drinkwater and Premier Alex Scott. They need to consider whether this is simply a personality conflict or if there is a systemic problem with the way the PLP Government runs tourism. What is most important is that this not be ignored as it has been for almost all of the past five years.