seems to us to make some very valid points. The increase in rents in Bermuda in the last two years or so has priced lower income families, especially single parent families, out of the rental market. It is not acceptable to have Bermudians marching in the streets in an effort to keep themselves housed.

It seems to us that Government's thinking on rents should be based on one week's income being an economically viable rent for a house or apartment -- remembering always that seasonal employment in Bermuda often means there is little winter income.

We understand why Government does not want to return to general rent control because it causes the private sector to stop building to rent and it inevitably leads to a downgrading of rental premises because landlords are unwilling or cannot afford to carry out expensive repairs and maintenance.

Not long ago Government did a very good job of building accommodation for families in need of affordable housing. The Bermuda Housing Corporation seemed to understand that not everyone could pay the rents demanded by the private sector, which are created by the very high cost of building in Bermuda. But over time Government housing which people could afford has become housing which is above the ability to pay of a growing group of people. The point of Government housing should be to house people so that they can live respectably and not to create situations of poverty. Today there is another housing crisis created as much by price as scarcity. There needs to be a sensible accommodation for those people who cannot pay higher and higher rents while looking after themselves and their families.

Those people doing well in the international company sector, Bermudian and non-Bermudian, have been able to pay more. However those in the troubled service sector have had their income decreased by a shorter work year and the troubled tourism economy. Many of those people, especially single parents, are under stress to keep themselves housed. That problem is compounded by the fact that the courts are having difficulty collecting child support which might augment the family's income. It is pointless to include the amount of child support in the income means test for the housing assistance programme if that child support is not being collected.

There seems to be some implication that people in need of housing are somehow "layabouts'' and that is often untrue. Most of these people are working, sometimes at two jobs which is unhealthy for families, but still cannot afford current rents. They have been called "the working poor'' and it seems to us that in a place as affluent as Bermuda they deserve not to be worked to death to keep a roof over their families.