Government came under fire in the Senate on Wednesday for not moving quickly enough in its drive against drugs and alcohol.

Sen. Terry Lister (PLP) said there was a proposal to hire an expert consultant on drugs and alcohol in April, 1995.

"I can't believe we are foolish enough to wait until the next financial year to find money for a consultant,'' he said.

Government was also not acting quickly enough on bringing in legislation to replace prison sentences with community service.

And on transport, Sen. Lister said Government boasted about doing things which required no more effort than a stroke of a pen, such as relaxing drivers' licence renewals.

Sen. Lister went on to take a swipe at claims of action on the economic front.

These were hollow, and demonstrated how little had been achieved.

Turning to crime, Sen. Lister said the chickens were now coming home to roost in Bermuda.

For too long materialism had been the king.

"We are now paying the price.'' Sen. Lister agreed there was widespread concern about crimes on visitors, and he was glad Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge had changed advertising material to reflect this.

"I would be much happier, however, if I heard the Minister say he would go to Cabinet to ensure a Royal Commission on Crime was put in place.'' Sen. Lister continued by calling for tougher penalties against white collar criminals.

On racism, Sen. Lister welcomed the setting up of an organisation to eradicate the problem.

But why had it taken so long to get to this stage? "Where is the leadership?'' Sen. Lister also spoke on pensions, saying the elderly deserved a break.

The freeze on pensions was not indicative of a sensitive and caring Government, he said.

Sen. Lister then focused on tourism, suggesting Mr. Woolridge should step down or be replaced.

It was clear he was out of touch, and the decline in visitor numbers reflected this.

While other destinations had learned tourism lessons and moved ahead, Bermuda had stood still.

Sen. Lister called for hotels to spruce themselves up.

"Bermuda has become a dowdy product, and our hotels are now almost substandard.'' Sen. Lister also touched on education, expressing concern about the proposed school boards.

He was worried about how the board membership would come into place.

In concluding, Sen. Lister painted a bleak picture of the situation in Bermuda to underscore the challenges the Island's leadership faces. "There has been a noticeable decline in the quality of life here,'' he said. "People no longer feel as safe as they once did.'' Again he asked: "Where is the leadership?'' Sen. Gary Pitman (UBP) picked up on the same sombre note.

Referring to recent robberies at South Shore hotels, he said: "I'm very, very concerned that in one of these robberies an innocent tourist will be severely injured or indeed killed and that tourism will never recover.

"I think the UBP Government has it right when it fights against drug-related crimes by offering cash incentives to people who come forward with information on criminals. It's time to fight fire with fire.'' Among other criticisms of the comments made by PLP Senators, Sen. Pitman rejected their dismissal of the recently announced increase in British Airways flights to Bermuda as insignificant to tourism.

"With regard to tourism, British air arrivals have gone up 29 percent,'' he said. "That's very close to Canadian arrivals, which is a very positive sign.'' In adjourning the session, which ran to almost 10 p.m., Senate President the Hon. Albert Jackson said: "I think many of us find it disturbing that the first few paragraphs of the Throne Speech were devoted to crime and violence in this delightful community we all call home.

"We have a very serious task ahead of us perhaps more serious than in previous Senates. Senator Lister's final question was `Where is the leadership?' My answer is that the leadership is here as much as anywhere else. I hope that we will be able to bend our minds as Senators to provide as many solutions to the problems as we can.''