Chairman of the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (Cure), Florenz Maxwell, has resigned her post, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

And at least one commissioner is questioning Government's commitment to Cure. When contacted Mrs. Maxwell would not discuss reports of troubles at the Commission charged with leading efforts to eradicate institutional racism from the Island.

"I'm having my supper," she said.

But commissioner Allan Clarke did confirm that Mrs. Maxwell had resigned. "It was a personal decision on her part," was all Mr. Clarke would say.

Cure officials have been reluctant to discuss their troubles in public in recent months.

The news comes amid rumours that the entire board had resigned in recent days, and months after the resignation of Bryant Trew who had been a commissioner for just six months.

At the time no one would discuss Mr. Trew's reasons for resigning or respond to reports that a number of Commissioners were of the opinion that Government was not backing Cure with adequate resources.

At the time Human Affairs Director Kenneth Dill denied that there was any discontent at Cure.

Cure recently published the first annual review of the Bermuda workforce.The report showed that blacks bore the brunt of institutional discrimination in terms of employment levels, income and benefits.

Last night commissioner Tom Vesey confirmed that he had asked not to be re-appointed when the board's term ends at the end of the year.

He said that not enough resources were being made available to Cure. "There's not enough manpower to do anything. There's no money to do anything and no indication of any relief in sight," he said. "My view is what is the point of serving on this Commission if there are no resources to carry out its mission? The staff has done a tremendous job and I'm pleased the (workplace) survey has gone ahead but you don't need the Commission to do that."

Asked what the Commission had been doing, he said : "We've been doing a lot of talking and coming up with a lot of new ideas but no resources to carry them out." He said besides the manpower issue there was "the larger issue of what role Government should play in improving racial equality in Bermuda. Is there a role for Cure? And if there's not a role for Cure, what's the point of serving on it ? I get the sense that it's extremely low on Government's priority list. Other than the survey there's very little to indicate that it considers it important".

Community and Sport Minister Randy Horton was not available for comment last night. Other resignations in recent months were that of Rev Andrew Doughty, who resigned his Commission seat after Easter because of work commitments, and Sharol Simmons who quit the full-time executive officer post for a job in the private sector during the summer.

It is understood that some feathers may have been ruffled when it was learned last week that Ms Simmons replacement had been selected without informing either the Commission chair or the acting executive officer Leona Scott, who also made a bid for the job.

David Northcott, a Bermudian, has been selected as the new executive officer. A formal announcement is expected this week.