DECISIONS on who will be charged in connection with the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) scandal will be made within weeks, Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Kulandra Ratneser said yesterday.

"I am now looking into the BHC inquiry and within a few weeks or so we'll be looking at deciding who should be charged," Mr. Ratneser said.

The files Mr. Ratneser will be sifting through are the result of a police inquiry into the Corporation's financial affairs that has been going on for the past 21 months.

The probe has involved a team of seven officers helped on occasion by Fraud Squad detectives from Scotland Yard, as well as an accountant from the Office of the Auditor General on full-time secondment.

It is understood that the inquiry has looked into affairs of several former and current senior members of the Government.

The scandal broke two years ago after United Bermuda Party MP Michael Dunkley made accusations of kickbacks and corruption in the BHC, describing the Government-run quango as "Bermuda's Enron".

Days later this newspaper published a story detailing extraordinary payments to contractors, including more than $810,000 paid out to painter Paul Young in the space of seven months in 2001.

And in the months after that, Auditor General Larry Dennis carried out an investigation of the Corporation's books and two top officials ? former general manager Raymonde Dill and property officer Terrance Smith ? were fired.

Mr. Dunkley yesterday welcomed Mr. Ratneser's comment.

"We in the UBP welcome the attention that the current DPP is giving to the Housing Corporation inquiry," Mr. Dunkley said.

"I think most people in the community are well aware that it's been a couple of years since we brought this issue to people's attention. I think there's a lot of concern that this investigation has taken so long.

"The police have put a lot of hard work into this investigation and it is our hope that the current DPP, who has given a commitment to deal with this matter, will be able to do so.

"Confidence in the Housing Corporation and the past and current Government has been affected by this."

Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent was not available for comment yesterday.

Mr. Ratneser has been Acting DPP since March last year, when he took over from Khamisi Tokunbo.

Government House advertised last year for a permanent replacement, but was unable to find a suitable candidate. As a result, Mr. Ratneser's contract, which expired in February, has been extended until early August of this year.

The 71-year-old Sri Lanka-born Australian citizen, who has impressed many in the community with his forthright approach, is disqualified by age from applying to take the job permanently.