closure and redevelopment of Bermuda's military Bases, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Yesterday's resignation of Delegated Affairs Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto clouded the picture somewhat. But the 41-year-old managing director of Gibbons Company is still tipped to succeed Sen. Michael Winfield as Minister of Management and Technology, with special responsibility for the Bases.

Sen. Winfield resigned from Cabinet on Tuesday, citing business and family obligations.

Environment Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons is expected to succeed Sen.

Winfield as Government Leader in the Senate.

A possible replacement for Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto is the United Bermuda Party's Dr. David Dyer, who in a close vote lost his chance to become Speaker of the current House.

Management and Technology was a new Ministry created in a Cabinet shuffle last May 5.

Part of its role was to deal with the future of "significant pieces of Bermuda real estate'' that were returning to Government control, like the former Canadian Forces base at Daniel's Head and the US Naval Annex.

Since then, the list of returning real estate has grown to include the US Naval Air Station at St. David's Head and the Royal Navy's HMS Malabar at Dockyard.

Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan is soon to name five committees to deal with closure of the American Base. A full-time coordinator of volunteer expertise on the committees is possible.

Also under the portfolio are the growing telecommunications field and recommendations of the Premier's Commission on Competitiveness and Employment Task Force.

While the responsibilities are heavy ones for a novice Minister, one Government source said that the Premier had taken the Bases issue under his own wing and needed an assistant.

"What he is looking for is a worker,'' the source told The Royal Gazette .

Sen. Gibbons, who was off the Island yesterday, was named to the Senate after he managed the UBP's general election campaign leading to the October 5 vote.

He launched his political career in a Smith's South primary in October of 1992. He fell just short in a challenge to newcomer Mr. Trevor Moniz and Tourism Minister the Hon. C.V. (Jim) Woolridge.

A Rhodes Scholar, Sen. Gibbons has a Bachelor of Chemistry from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a doctorate in Chemistry from Harvard. While at Oxford from 1974 to 1976, he studied philosophy, politics, and economics.

After he completed school, Dr. Gibbons worked for five years at the headquarters of Squib Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey, holding the position of director of worldwide licensing when he left the company. In 1987, he returned to Bermuda and joined the family business.