Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb was yesterday named Bermuda's new Minister of Tourism by Premier Jennifer Smith.

She replaces David Allen, who died at the end of last month, and will retain her current Telecommunications and E-Commerce portfolio.

The Premier said that Minister Webb was eminently qualified for the task and the decision to have her retain Telecommunications was in line with recommendations of the civil service review and plans to consolidate some Ministries and downsize the Cabinet.

The Premier also decided to bring backbencher Neletha Butterfield into the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio and Senator David Burch, who has served as a Minister without portfolio, was named Minister of Housing, taking over responsibility for the Bermuda Housing Corporation as well as the Bermuda Land Development Company.

Nelson Bascome remains at the helm of the Health and Social Services Ministry but will no longer be responsible for housing.

"The combination of Tourism with Minister Webb's other responsibility as the Minister for Telecommunications and E-Commerce, is a natural fit as we attempt to re-establish Tourism by concentrating on the symbiotic nature of our economic pillars," the Premier said at a news conference in the Senate Chamber yesterday afternoon.

Widely travelled, Ms Webb has been educated in economics, finance and political studies, speaks fluent French and Arabic, has three academic degrees and an honorary doctorate. She has also studied international taxation and US Tax Systems at the Tax Institute in New York. The Minister will not be getting an increase in salary for the additional responsibility of the Tourism Department.

"I look forward to the same attention to detail and reputation for aggressiveness which she has brought to the area of telecommunications and e-commerce to be displayed in Tourism," Ms Smith continued.

She said that a separate Minister of Housing was necessary to "increase Ministerial oversight of the housing situation in Bermuda" and should not be seen as a reflection of Mr. Bascome's performance.

Controversy has swirled around the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC), for which the Housing Minister is responsible, since allegations of corruption surfaced in March. The Auditor General has investigated the body and Police are conducting their own investigation. Allegations of wrongdoing have not been proven but calls were made recently for Minister Bascome's resignation.

Provision of affordable housing had been "vigorously tackled" but "remains a complex and thorny problem to be tackled," the Premier said. And Health and Social Services Minister Nelson Bascome had a massive portfolio to handle.

She said that, since there is no Ministry of Housing as such, Sen Burch's appointment was a temporary measure "to allow the proper amount of attention" in an area that is "problematic" in terms of providing affordable housing.

And she pointed out that consolidation of some Ministries are expected to take place in the future.

Asked if he was relieved that he was no longer responsible for housing, Mr. Bascome said "I wouldn't say it's relief. 'For everything there's a season.' I know that part of the Premier's vision was to bring BLDC and housing together, if you remember, very early on in our administration Housing Corporation had to buy units from the BLDC. One of the challenges that I told the new Minister that he would have to deal with is, while we do have a number of units that are empty in the Island there is the attitude, that social culture between landlords and tenants that has to be addressed. For myself I wouldn't want to have both of them together in my Ministry. The Ministry is indeed a super Ministry and there are still a number of responsibilities I am in charge of and I know I will be working closely with the new Minister because Health and Social Services do go together. We will have a very close relationship."

He said an added challenge for Sen. Burch would be fielding calls from concerned members of the public at all hours of the day and night. "Whilst he will have a staff that can field those calls, he's got to be aware that the public will be contacting him. For that, I'm pleased."

Ms Webb said that she was looking forward to taking on the challenge of heading up Tourism and will be meeting with Director Judith Hall Bean and other personnel as her first order of business.

"I know that my marketing and business development skills will help me as I move forward," she said.

"I don't know if anybody can pick up from where Minister Allen left off. Mr. Allen was, without exception, a very special person. However he was responsible for Government's vision of tourism and I will continue to embrace and implement Government's vision."

She said she would continue working with the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism (BAT) which had played a big part in "moving tourism forward".

"The Alliance is made up of experts in tourism and I will be drawing on that, most definitely."

She told The Royal Gazette later that she had no idea that the Premier was going to hand her the Tourism portfolio, but she did not hesitate to accept it despite the immense personal sacrifice it might entail.

"Why wouldn't I accept it... You just have to rise to the occasion and do what you have to do." And she would not accept the characterisation that, with just another year to go before the next election must be called, the appointment was merely a holding position. "Who knows? When we win the next election I could still be the Minister of Tourism. That would be up to the Premier."

She added: "There are a number of ongoing issues at Tourism which I am going to address and obviously I will put my stamp on it in 11 months, there's quite a bit that can be done. Obviously you have to have a vision and the main thing is getting in there and see exactly what's going on a day-to-day basis. Being in Cabinet you obviously know what the overall policies are anyway."

Senator Burch, who has already acted as Housing Minister on a number of occasions, said that he had already made some plans for leading the PLP's mission to provide affordable housing. "Clearly there are some challenges there," he said in response to a question about his readiness to take on the housing "hotbed".

"I obviously would have known for a little while where I was going and I have made some plans already as to how we can go forward. But certainly this Government gave an undertaking to provide affordable housing and I shall be doing all in my power to carry forward that mandate."