An eight-bed detoxification unit at St. Brendan's hospital will be open by this September, said Health and Social Services Minister, Nelson Bascome yesterday.

The unit is just one of the initiatives the Minister announced in the House of Assembly for his Ministry, which carries the biggest spending in Government with $124.2 million or 22 percent of the Budget allocated to it.

The detox centre was originally planned to open last July in conjunction with the Turning Point Centre at St. Brendan's but lack of funds caused a delay.

The Turning Point methadone clinic for the treatment of heroin addiction was noted by the Minister as one of the achievements of 2000/01.

The new eight-bed centre will complement that clinic by providing a dedicated detox facility. Currently patients needing detox care are placed in the King Edward Memorial Hospital wherever there is space.

Also in the pipeline for hospitals this year are MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and angiography services.

"The provision of these services will eliminate the need for our citizens to travel abroad,'' he said.

In the area of housing, the Minister said that renovations have begun on two properties for the development of shared housing. And by mid-summer, the Ministry hopes to complete two new facilities. One will house eight single men and the other is intended for eight single women and children.

Mr. Bascome said that the Ministry will also be amending several pieces of existing legislation this year.

"The Public Health Act will be amended to ensure the regulation of businesses that practice tattooing, electrolysis and body-piercing,'' he said.

And rooming houses will now have to adhere to minimum standards and register with Government, he added. The Legal Aid Act will also be amended to allow for improvements to the legal aid programme.

The Young Offenders Act will come under scrutiny. "This legislation is outdated and does not reflect the current philosophy and views regarding the management of young offenders,'' said Mr. Bascome.

Any discrimination between children born in or out of wedlock will be removed from Bermuda's laws and the Ministry will also continue to complete phases of the Children's Act.

A child abuse survey will be conducted among senior high school students as a follow up to the Task Force on Child Abuse,'' said Mr. Bascome. This survey will include both public and private schools and will be undertaken by the Ministry's Corporate Services.

"This will help the Ministry to determine the level of child abuse that presently exists in Bermuda,'' he said. "It will also assist in determining what additional steps need to be taken to further reduce the incidence of child abuse in these Islands.'' In addition Corporate Services will continue implementing the recommendations of the Task Force on Child Abuse which include mandatory reporting, child advocacy and training of foster parents.

Mr. Bascome said that the Ministry intends to open a office on aging this year and put in place new procedures for Financial Assistance to make access easier for clients.

And Child and Family Services will begin work on a new facility for the residential treatment programme which will provide assessment and treatment services.

The National Drug Commission will also offer an assessment and referral centre on drug treatment primarily dedicated to the new drug court but open to other clients.

Shadow Minister Kim Young said that she found Mr. Bascome's statements opening the seven hours of debate on Health and Social Services "long and a bit confusing''.

"We feel this is the most important area in Government because it deals with people,'' she said. "We must put people first.'' But she added that despite additional funding of $14 million over the past two years, "people still wait for housing, are still sleeping on mattresses in living rooms, are still living in garages not even fit for cars and women are still prostituting themselves to pay the rent.'' Backbencher Delaey Robinson took this opportunity to contrast the UBP record on housing with that of the PLP, saying that while the Minister highlighted that 160 new housing units came on-line last year, from 1991 to 1998, the UBP only achieved 18 new units.

Ms Young also questioned why salaries within the Ministry had nearly doubled over the last two years and asked for clear information on the drug court such as where it would be located and whether there had been training for a dedicated magistrate to the court.

In response to Ms Young's comments, Mr. Bascome said that the drug court will operate out of Magistrate's Court and there will be an administrative office within Hamilton.

And he said, Magistrates have been given instructions on sanctions and rewards for the court.

Increases in salaries over the last two years reflected the filling of positions that had been open, he added.

Ministry of Health 2001/02 estimates Ministry responsibility: To promote and maintain the physical, mental and social well-being of the people of Bermuda.

Budget estimate: $124,211,000 (last year $112,232,000) Revenue: $688,000, Health Department $607,000 Child and Family Services $80,000 Rent Commissioner $1,000 Budget allocations Ministry HQ $6,221,000 Health Department $18,328,000 Child and Family Services $8,381,000 Hospitals $71,227,000 Rent Commissioner $228,000 Bermuda Housing Corporation $3,706,000 Financial Assistance $16,120,000 Nelson Bascome