Extra cash was pumped into the prison system in yesterday?s Budget, to boost under-fire rehabilitation programmes amid growing concerns about repeat offenders.

An injection of $3 million was announced by Finance Minister Paula Cox to help rehabilitate drug addicts, sex offenders and violent criminals before they leave jail and walk back into the community.

The Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety was handed a total of $104 million, it was confirmed yesterday ? up $8 million on the previous year.

Nearly half this total will be ploughed into the Bermuda Police Service as the force prepares for radical new PACE legislation, overhauling arrest and evidence-gathering powers.

Other new initiatives include a $350,000 anti-gang crackdown and the re-introduction of the junior cadet scheme in middle and senior secondary schools, in a bid to boost flagging recruitment levels and attract young Bermudians into the service.

The extra prison programme cash ? nearly double the $1.8 million set aside for prisoner programmes last year ? comes one day after a Supreme Court judge launched a stinging attack on what she said was Bermuda?s inability to successfully treat and drug-addicted criminals. As reported in yesterday?s , Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons suggested offenders? human rights were being breached because of the lack of long-term help on offer.

And Police recently revealed how a small group of persistent offenders, typically motivated by drug addictions, were committing a disproportionately large amount of crime and were having a ?dramatic? impact on the community. Break-in figures dipped and peaked as offenders, some in their third decade of crime, entered and left jail.

Mr. Horton, speaking after yesterday?s Budget, welcomed the extra cash for prisoner rehabilitation, but denied prisoners? human rights were being attacked.

?I do not know where the judge is going there,? he said. ?She will have to explain to me what she means. I do not see, in relation to these treatment programmes, where we are going against human rights.?

The Minister admitted there were ?some gaps? in the drug treatment regime. But he added that Government, which appointed a UK prisons? expert last October to improve rehabilitation programmes, was working to close them.

?There?s no question there are some gaps,? Mr. Horton added. ?We recognise it and I think the extra money will certainly assist.

?There will always be challenges meeting the needs of people who are in jail with drug problems, but we recognise the need.?

Mr. Horton revealed that $350,000 would fund an anti-gang plan aimed at addressing a ?disturbing increase? in gang activity in Bermuda. Veteran New Jersey Police officer and gang expert De Lacy Davis will tour schools and work with other agencies to help hammer home the anti-gang message.

Mr. Horton said the US officer had spoken on the issue before in Bermuda, but not on the scale now planned. He said the aim was to move dissatisfied young men from ?stagnation to vitality?.

On a similar theme, he confirmed that $350,000 would be spent on a Workforce Development Strategy, providing Bermudians with workplace skills.

?The primary goal is the development of a highly educated, skilled and motivated workforce,? he said. ?With our current reliance on some 9,500 work permits it is essential that there be strategic emphasis on the quality development of Bermudians.?

A task force made up of trade unions, employers and Government will meet for the first time to discuss the issue on March 20.

The Minister also confirmed $39 million had been allocated for Police staffing. The service, currently experiencing recruitment headaches, has 488 uniformed officers and Mr. Horton said he was ?considerably saddened? there were only seven recruits at a recent passing out parade.

Future recruitment initiatives to attract Bermudians include regular adverts at schools and colleges, alongside career talks for students, and the reintroduction of the junior cadet scheme.

Meanwhile, Ms Cox told the House of Assembly that the public safety was still a ?high policy priority?.

The department?s budget had risen from $64 million when the PLP took power in 1998 to $104 million in this Budget, she added.

She said Bermuda was a safe country to live with relatively low levels of violent and property crime, but the ?scourge? of drug-fuelled offences remained a problem.

Other crime-fighting budget news included confirmation that a new $120,000 Assistant Police Commissioner post, dedicated to overseeing the war on drugs, has been created and is due to be filled by a UK officer.

And the recently formed Ministry of National Drug Control, headed by former senior Policeman Wayne Perinchief, was yesterday given $4 million to spend on its work with drug prevention agencies in the next financial year. Ms. Cox said the new Ministry would be supported by a ?pro-active? National Steering Committee.

Statistics yesterday also revealed that the manager charged with implementing PACE legislation and bringing Police and lawyers up to speed on the new laws will receive an annual salary of $116,000.

It also emerged that more than $1 million has been set aside to be spent on upgrading Police communication equipment, while there are no plans to spend any more money on more CCTV security cameras. It cost $318,000 to install spy cameras in the Court Street area last year, figures reveal.