A "wellness co-ordinator" has been appointed by Government to tackle the number of bus drivers taking sick leave — a problem which cost the country tens of thousands of dollars last year.

Premier Ewart Brown told the House of Assembly on Friday that "significant staff sickness levels" among drivers was partly to account for an overspend of almost $1 million by the Public Transportation Board in the financial year 2006 to 2007.

"Research indicates that this is due to the sedentary nature of the employment," he said. "Cabinet has approved the creation of a post of wellness co-ordinator on a full-time basis."

Dr. Brown, who also holds the Transport brief, said the cost of the co-ordinator was included in the overspend amount of $970,000 and that they would provide health advice to drivers and offer specific programmes to improve their wellbeing.

He said the rest of the overspend was due to increased wages and overtime, which could be attributed to visitor numbers to the Island having increased and the popularity of the new fleet of buses.

The popularity of the public ferries was also partly to blame for overspending by the department of Marine and Ports. It went $780,000 over budget last year and Dr. Brown said that was due to increased overtime, operational costs and the increased number of cruise ship passengers to Bermuda. "The success and popularity of the ferry service comes at a cost," he said.

In total, the Government went more than $29 million over budget last year. MPs approved the supplementary spending on Friday.