ordering mistake by Holmes, Williams and Purvey.

The Royal Gazette has learned that the mini van used to transport seniors to and from Admiralty House has not been repaired since an accident in August.

"It is a shame how long they've had that van,'' said Winston Meyers, an active member of the Admiralty House Senior Programme. "I was informed by the secretary at HWP two weeks ago that the parts were in, but not all of the parts are here. The first set of parts that were sent a couple of months ago were the wrong ones. The people who are most dissatisfied are the seniors at Westmeath Rest Home at Pitts Bay in Pembroke. Their coordinator, Elizabeth Wingate, used the van twice a week to take the seniors on outings. "They go to Admiralty House on Thursdays for a luncheon and Tuesdays for craft work.

Now they have no way to get around.'' HWP CEO Jonathan Brewin yesterday acknowledged the inconvenience caused to the seniors home and assured that their van would be back on the road by the end of the week.

"HWP would like to extend its apologies to the organisation that has been inconvenienced by the delays,'' Mr. Brewin told The Royal Gazette . "The vehicle will be back on the road repaired by the end of the week.'' The Admiralty House Community Centre had raised funds to purchase the mini-bus which they could use to transport their seniors around. They received the mini-bus in April 1998.

However, on August 3, 1999, the bus was involved in an accident and since then it has been kept at HWP awaiting repairs.

"The seniors have not been able to go on their outings or drive around in it at all because the parts that are needed to repair it have not yet been brought in by HWP,'' Mr. Meyers said.

Seniors `off the road' Mrs. Wingate said: "Until the mini van had an accident, we used to go out twice a week. Since then, we haven't been able to.

"You must realise how hard it is for the elderly. For young people, they can go where they like. But to the elderly, the little trip to various places around Bermuda is important.

`I had taken some of them in my car, but that can only take a maximum of four seniors at a time. They've lost their proper outings. It is really sad. It becomes confining at the rest home when the seniors cannot go out on outings.

"In this age of FedEx and UPS, you'd think the parts would be here long before four months.

"It (the mini-van) was purchased with moneys from the community. I don't think that these people want to spend all that money to see the van sitting in the shop. In this the international year of the older person, it is just not right.'' Fred Hassell, director of the Senior Programme at Admiralty House, said: "We keep getting delays from HWP. The insurance has agreed that we should be covered. They just don't have all the parts.'' The minibus, a Nissan Community Service vehicle, was purchased from cash donations, particularly from the End-to-End walk as well as other funds.

"It sets us back a lot,'' Mr. Hassell said. "Our patience is running thin.

We just want to get it fixed. The company that sells a product, should follow through with parts and maintenance.'' HWP parts and service manager Alan Smith said: "We are waiting on the parts to arrive. The parts that came were the wrong ones.'' He promised to have someone else from the company call back to answer further inquiries. But he did not reveal that person's name and no one from HWP has returned calls.

SENIORS SR