before it wraps up on the eve of the referendum, The Royal Gazette has learned.

A Government source said yesterday the cost was expected to be just into six figures.

But Human Affairs and Information Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill refused to comment on the cost of Government's information campaign on television and radio and in newspapers.

A specific amount was budgeted, but Mr. Dill said he would not make it public.

He would neither confirm nor deny the $100,000 figure.

"I don't want us to get sidetracked'' by a debate about costs, he said. "I just see it as another issue to distract people.

Asked if Bermudians did not have the right to know how much public money was being spent to educate them, Mr. Dill said: "Of course they are.

Ultimately, the decision as to when we reveal that information is one that I will make,'' he said. "Not now.'' Mr. Dill would not say whether the figure would be revealed before August 15, when the referendum on Independence is to be held.

"Let's look at the content of the ads.'' But the ads have also been criticised for their content.

Director of Information Services Mr. Gavin Shorto, who defended the ads, said former Government Senator and lawyer Mr. Wendell Hollis telephoned him to complain that the newspaper ads showed a pro-Independence bias.

And yesterday, Government backbencher Mr. Rick Spurling said the same was true of television ads which began appearing in the last week. Radio ads are to begin shortly.

Unlike the position papers on which Mr. Dill said they are based, the ads were not vetted by the United Bermuda Party Parliamentary caucus.

As for the TV ads, "I don't want to make a comment on the quality of the production, but the comments are kind of slick,'' Mr. Spurling said. They can be interpreted in one of two ways. "When you combine the person speaking, and you know where he comes from, together with the statement, then it's quite clear what the message is, which is a pro-Independence message.'' For instance, the statement, "Don't be led astray'', when uttered by someone known to be pro-Independence, could only be interpreted as applying to those who are anti-Independence, he said.

Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira, the only openly anti-Independence member of Government's five-member Cabinet committee on Independence, is also the only one who does not appear in any of the ads, Mr.

Shorto confirmed.

But that was because the shooting did not correspond with Dr. Terceira's schedule, not because he did not have the opportunity to appear, Mr. Shorto said. Dr. Terceira was off the Island yesterday.

The TV ads, produced by Bermuda's Aardvark Advertising Ltd., feature Cabinet Ministers including Mr. Dill, the Hon. Irving Pearman, the Hon. Maxwell Burgess, the Hon. Gerald Simons, the Hon. Pamela Gordon, and the Hon. David Saul.

"The Premier felt that he ought not to get involved.'' Questions have been raised about whether statements in the ads were fact or opinion, such as Dr. Saul's contention that Independence would have no impact on the value of the Bermuda dollar.

"Dr. Saul is the Minister of Finance,'' Mr. Shorto said. "If anybody in the Country is going to know, it's going to be him.'' A statement by Mr. Burgess that Government believes only Bermudians should be allowed to vote has also been questioned, in light of about 300 non-Bermudians who are on the electoral roll and will be able to take part in the referendum.

In the event of Independence, the foreign voters would be offered Bermudian citizenship and would only be able to continue voting if they accepted it, he said.

All the ads are based on the assumption that the Country votes in favour of Independence, Mr. Shorto said. "For an anti-Independence person, they must in and of themselves be considered biased.'' But to educate people about how an independent Bermuda would be governed, the assumption that Bermudians opted for Independence had to be made, he said.

The ads are intended "to answer people's questions'', Mr. Shorto said. Many countries faced radical changes after Independence, but "this is not a country in which radical change is proposed at all''.

Mr. Shorto described the cost of the campaign as "very modest'', and "way less'' than $500,000.