than a week as the Senate debated the Tumim Report yesterday.

The report on the Island's criminal justice system has fuelled lengthy -- and at times heated, debate in the House of Assembly for the past two weeks.

But Senators yesterday managed to avoid eruptions yesterday as they examined the report and its recommendations.

Prepared by UK Judge Stephen Tumim last year with the help of local and British experts, the report calls for wholesale changes in the justice system -- moving towards rehabilitation rather than imprisonment.

Its underlying aim is to cut the disproportionate number of young black males jailed.

And one of its objectives was to examine whether people of different races and backgrounds in Bermuda were treated differently.

Senators, like MPs, agreed that this was the case in Bermuda.

But there were opposing views on the amount of progress made in race relations in Bermuda and whether or not the Tumim Report would make a difference.

Government Sen. Jerome Dill , who presented the report to the Upper House, said while dealing with institutional racism was Government's "top priority'', he was also concerned about prejudice on the basis of sex, age, national origin, and marital status.

"Prejudice pervades all Bermuda society,'' he said, "and we must come to the point of dealing with all our prejudices.'' Sen. Dill stressed that racism was not unique to Bermuda and could not be blamed on Government.

But he said Government was "serious'' about the Tumim Report and saw it as an opportunity that Bermuda could not afford to miss, Sen. Dill said: "This report will not just sit on a shelf collecting dust because the Government has already introduced legislation that goes to the very heart of a recommendation''.

He was referring to the call for a race relations division to be set up in the Human Rights Commission.

Plans for implementing several other Tumim recommendations were also underway, he added.

But he stressed that Government will not rush into implementing all of the 35 recommendations.

As an example, Sen. Dill said, Government has reserved its position on the recommendation to fine people according to their income -- as is the case in the UK.

Surveys in the UK have shown that that idea is not working and not very popular, he added.

Opposition Senate Leader Sen. Alex Scott said Bermuda had to meet the challenge of the Tumim Report.

But he said he had no faith in Government doing this, based on its handling of other similar reports.

Stressing that the Tumim Report revealed nothing particularly new, he said: "Let's not study studies to see what the study is recommending and whether we should study a little more. Let's roll up our political sleeves and get on with the job''.

Noting that complaints about racism, prison conditions, and flaws in the education system have been voiced for years, Sen. Scott said: "The Tumim Report is a damnation of UBP governing over the past 30 years''.

He accused the party of allowing such issues to "fester'' and he said he hoped the party was not just "tinkering'' with the criminal justice system because of the pending election.

Sen. Scott also noted that former UBP executive officer Mr. Lawrence Scott took "great pains'' during a forum in July, 1991, to "explain why blacks in the UBP were virtually powerless''.

"It's going to be very difficult for the UBP to take on institutionalised racism, if blacks in the UBP are powerless,'' he said.

Independent Sen. Joe Johnson said recommendations in the Tumim Report will be difficult without the mass support of Bermuda.

He said dealing with institutionalised racism will be particularly difficult because it is "extremely difficult'' to prove.

While admitting that there is a "great deal more that can be done in the area of cultural integration and social integration'', Sen. Johnson said Bermuda should not lose site of organisations that have made great strides with integration.

And, he said, it was a matter of human nature that people bond with those who they have a common interest.

Government Sen. Maxwell Burgess stressed that progress had been made in Bermuda in the area of racism.

The Bermuda College was a good example of a vision by Government to bridge the gap between young blacks and whites, he said.

And he dismissed accusations that the Tumim Report was brought forward because of the pending general election.

Noting that many of the black males in prison fell through the cracks of the education system, Sen. Burgess said an improved education system "will be Government's single, most important step to ensure that we come to grips with this problem''.

He also praised former Education Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons for "working endlessly'' to deliver the education reform plan.

PLP Sen. Ira Philip , however, said guarantees made by Sen. Dill and Sen.

Burgess were "light weight''.

"We in this side have no confidence in the willingness or intention of the UBP to implement the recommendations of the Tumim Report,'' he said.

"The UBP have become so inured to the system of institutionalised racism in this Country. They have found it to be so advantageous, so profitable, and so beneficial so no matter what we on this side say, they will do nothing to change it.'' Sen. Philip also said: "Mr. Simons' job has not been finished. Yet he was dumped. That is an example of the atrocity that has existed in the UBP Government since they have held the reins of power''.

Sen. Philip said a fair education system was the key to reducing the young black male population of Casemates Prison.

The PLP's opinion was that the education system was not completely integrated yet, he said. "Until we develop a first class education system, we will just be putting band aids on a serious cancer problems,'' he said, adding, "children are still going to segregated schools in Bermuda and as a consequence, racism is still alive in Bermuda.'' He guessed one would have a hard time finding any high school graduates at Casemates.

Sen. Philip -- at Senate President the Hon. Albert Jackson's request -- retracted statements that the UBP had actually created racism in Bermuda.

However, he said the party had failed to ferret out "the bad apples from the barrel''.

Sen. Wendell Hollis (UBP) said the debate was the most important he could remember since being appointed to the Senate.

He believed there were still vestiges and a residue of racism in Bermuda, but he did not think this was deliberate.

Sen. Hollis said all of Judge Tumim's recommendations had been acted upon. A committee headed by schoolmaster Mr. Dale Butler had been set up to examine the role of the Police Force and ways to boost its image in the community.

Government was checking with UK representatives in an effort to set up guidelines for the use of video recording police interviews, which he understood the Force already had the equipment for.

The setting up of an independent review board for Police complaints was being seriously considered.

Sen. Hollis said that for years he had been "less that satisfied with the way'' Police complaints were handled internally.

The courts were already moving away from custodial sentences, though a big obstacle was the lack of manpower to supervise community service sentences and probation orders. But that was being worked on, he assured.

As for repeat traffic offenders going to jail, laws had already been tabled to try and put an end to the practice, he said. The laws, if passed, would also decrease the number of young men being put off the road for speeding and other traffic convictions.

In conclusion, he said he was saddened that even when it came to parking, black people used one City lot, while whites tended to favour another.

"In our clubs, churches, private parties, weddings and funerals, we can see we still have a long way to go,'' he said.

Youth and Sport Minister the Hon. Pam Gordon (UBP) said the debate so far had failed to highlight the many successes the Country had had in its attempts to end racism.

The UBP Government had seen to it a system was implemented decades ago to treat all Bermudians fairly. As a result the business community had followed suit, though, she acknowledged, "It has not been fast enough.'' The UBP would have to keep on the backs of businesses to treat all employees fairly and offer them equal opportunities, she said.

She said the report had been an "excellent snapshot'' to show Government where it was, where it had been and where it wanted to go.

Government leader in the Senate the Hon. Mike Winfield said Bermuda had legislated itself "as far as it could go in terms of ending prejudice and discrimination''.

But you could not legislate the attitudes of people, he said. There was such a thing as "genetic racism''.

He urged the PLP not to allow the past to stand in the way of a better future for all Bermudians.