Premier Ewart Brown has welcomed British Prime Minister Tony Blair?s sorrow over the slave trade.

Commenting of the approach of the bicentenary of the end of slave trade, Mr. Blair said it was a chance to say how ?profoundly shameful? it was and ?condemn its existence utterly?.

Mr. Blair also praised those who had fought for abolition and expressed ?deep sorrow? it could ever have happened.

Reacting in the House of Assembly on Friday, Premier Brown said: ?While some ? quite legitimately, may question whether the statement on the part of the British Prime Minister amounts to an apology this Government will only say that we welcome Mr. Blair?s comments and view it, as others have already observed, as an important step.?

He said the statement served as a reminder about a painful part of Bermuda?s history which was ?still affecting us today?.

Slavery had viciously exploited the people of Africa for over three centuries as well as devastating native American communities, some of whom were also brought in bondage to Bermuda, said Dr. Brown.

The Premier said former American President Bill Clinton had acknowledged that it was the human and material wealth of Africa which sparked western expansion in the 17th century.

?We can state without equivocation that the West, including the United Kingdom, owes Africa and its people throughout the African Diaspora a great debt.?

He said the recent Commission for Unity and Racial Equality annual review of the workforce illustrated the disparity of incomes between those from different racial backgrounds, including the fact that whites made up 73 percent of those earning $96,000 or more.

But blacks comprised 63 percent of workers in non-professional employment.

The Premier promised to be resolute in fixing the problem.

He said: ?We will leave no stone unturned in our quest to ensure that those who have been historically disadvantaged are restored and made whole.?

A number of initiatives will be unveiled in the coming months, said Dr. Brown to narrow the divide.

Dr. Brown told the programmes will be designed to compensate for the disadvantages of the past.

Pressed for details he said: ?I don?t know if they can be compensated financially but we have to change the system which perpetuates the same statistics.?

He said change was glacial at the moment.

?That?s one of the reasons we think our apprenticeship programme will help out tremendously.?

He said some positive pressure might be brought to bear on employers to encourage them to hire black Bermudians.

Asked about the gender differences which saw black females forging ahead while their male counterparts were floundering he said: ?It?s a worldwide phenomenon, black males for a number of reasons are not doing well.

?Most of our current social dysfunction arises out of dysfunctional history.

?If you don?t believe that, you have to choose a position which says black men are inferior.?

Asked if history was the only reason, he said: ?That?s the main reason, there are all kinds of personal features which play a part.?

Asked if family structures played a part, he said: ?The dysfunction with the family structure can be traced to the system where the family was destroyed.

?We have to rebuild our lives individually and as families. For Bermuda, we think the Uncommon Results programme is going to make significant inroads.?

He said it could transform youngsters via psychological screening and physical activity.

?It?s what we call stripping of the garbage,? he said. ?The belief is that most of the young people engaged in destructive behaviour, have at the root of their activity, some psychological discomfort.

?If you are going to aim for personal transformation you have to deal with that psychological undergirding.?

He said some youngsters would come voluntarily while those in trouble might be given the chance to sign up as a last chance instead of going to jail.

Youngsters who were not fitting in socially would be candidates for the scheme.

?School teachers would make many referrals. We think the vast majority of our so-called ?gangsters? are wannabes, who are looking for a psychological fix.?

The programmes is due to start in the new year.