year.

Dr. Hughes' decision to retire marks the end of a 40 year career with the Bermuda Government.

A major achievement of the last six years at the Ministry of Finance, the culmination of a diverse career, was working with the Ministry to lift the country out of recession, he said.

"I have taken much satisfaction in what the Minister has achieved,'' said Dr.

Hughes. "It has been a good six years. Getting out of the recession was good, and I like to think that I helped in that.'' Cabinet Secretary Mr. Leopold Mills said: "Dr. Hughes was at the heart of Government's efforts in providing reinforcements for the Country to meet the challenges posed by the recession.

He is a civil servant par excellence''.

Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul, himself a former finance secretary, also had high praise for Dr. Hughes.

"He is the best financial secretary that the Government has had,'' said Dr.

Saul. "His command of the English language is excellent. He can make paper move. His ability to decisions is first class. For a bug man, his transition to finance has been mind-boggling. He will be missed.'' Dr. Hughes' career began with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. While studying entomology and plant pathology at Cornell University, he spent holidays working as a summer student.

He later gained a Masters in Agricultural Science and a Ph.D., specialising in entomology and plant pathology from the University of Florida.

The Financial Secretary, who earns $107,876 a year, is the chief financial officer of the Bermuda Government, responsible for raising Government revenue and the control of Government expenditure.

Dr. Hughes has been responsible for more than 500 staff, the Budget Office, and nine departments.

The job, said to be a stressful one, includes undertaking a wide range of special assignments and serving as an ex-officio member or Ministry representative on a number of Government Boards and Committees, including the West End Development Committee, the Bermuda Housing Corporation, the National Drug Commission and the Public Funds Investment Committee.

Dr. Hughes, who will be 62 next month, will remain in Bermuda during his retirement.

"I am going to do things I want to do, rather than things I have to do,'' he said. "I might go back to bugs''.

On his return to Bermuda in 1954 after studying abroad, he worked as a plant pathologist for two years. He was promoted to assistant director at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries & Parks, a post he retained for about 25 years.

He was then elevated to the position of Director of Agriculture. After ten years, he became Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Environment -- a post he held for three years. And then he transferred into an unrelated field -- finance -- becoming financial secretary.

"I have enjoyed it all,'' said Dr. Hughes. "I finished up a long way from where I began. I enjoyed my contribution to environmental awareness.

Throughout my life at Agriculture and Fisheries, I was aware of the need to protect the environment.'' Mr. Mills said the post of financial secretary, which has tended to fall to top-ranking civil servants, could pass to an individual from the private sector.

"The determining factor is who applies, and whether the individual meets the criteria set out in the advertisement. That individual may be from within Government, or work outside in the private sector,'' he said.

The two previous financial secretaries transferred from the Ministry of Education to take the job. "I went from Agriculture to the Environment, and then someone persuaded me to go to Finance. It's a senior management job,'' he said.

Dr. Hughes described the job as a "demanding in terms of time and effort,'' he said. "I work from 8 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m. every day.

The choice of a successors will be made by the Public Service Commission "in a matter of week'', said Mr. Mills.

Dr. Walwyn Hughes.