Government has been urged to ensure that its new scheme to rehabilitate offenders through drug and education programmes continued to come with the threat of a big stick - as well as carrot.

Shadow Legislative Affairs Spokesman John Barritt said the United Bermuda Party was fully behind the Government's Alternatives to Incarceration (ATI) programme, but was concerned that without strict measures, crime would continue to climb.

He said ATI was an excellent alternative to treating some criminals, but said he believed it was not the only cure for repeat offenders.

And Mr. Barritt said some complaints that Government was sometimes too soft on crime were warranted and with good cause.

He said: "What we want to say is that ATI is not the only cure. It's not the panacea for what ails our criminals sometimes.

"Restorative justice has to be part of any prison network. It will work for some, but it does not work for all.

"We have to have a firm hand and while you have a carrot, you have to have a stick as well."

Mr. Barritt spoke after PLP backbencher Neletha Butterfield moved a motion that the House take note of the Government's ATI programme as an innovative method of giving criminals an opportunity to be rehabilitated.

Mr. Barritt said while the UBP endorsed the programme, it could not understand why the issue had been raised in the House only two months after it was officially launched.

And he said he could not understand why the motion had been "watered down" from an endorsement to a take note.

He said the issue should be raised again in a few months time, when there are greater results showing whether or not the programme is working.

He said: "We must never overlook, as difficult and as cold as it seems, that when we give a sentence, it's for deterrent affect. It's to deter, and to be honest, we want to use these people as examples."

Mr. Barritt said he was concerned that appearing in court was not an embarrassment but "a right of passage, a notch on their belt, and a badge of honour".

Ms Butterfield, meanwhile, said repeatedly jailing offenders had done little to reduce crime in the past and everyone should embrace the alternative programme.

She said: "It's critical that Bermuda develops sentencing options and prison reforms that provide comprehensive rehabilitation.

"ATI offers alternative sentencing for those offenders for whom prison should be a last resort."ATI aims to encourage offenders to accept a different way of life."

She added: "There are some positive things that are coming out of the ATI initiative and there are lives that are being restored.

"We needed to find out the root causes of crime."