BERMUDA Independence Commission (BIC) chairman Bishop Vernon Lambe vowed yesterday that the panel chosen to explore the options on Independence would present its findings in a paper to the Cabinet "in six months at the latest".

Before then, BIC will hold several public meetings to invite input from the public, starting "within weeks".

Bishop Lambe also said the Independence decision was one for the people to make and BIC would not be telling anyone what to think, rather presenting information on the options. And he added that the debate on whether a referendum or General Election should be the means of polling was not within BIC's remit.

Bishop Lambe also stressed: "BIC is not an arm of Government as some people have stated. BIC functions autonomously. We have a mandate to serve the community by providing the best information available on the options. We will not be playing games with this community."

The Independence question was "the most serious decision this community has ever made", Bishop Lambe said. And he added: "Every country has the inalienable right to self-determination in terms of its constitutional destiny.

"That right has been affirmed to us by the UK Government. It is time to exercise it and put to rest the question on Independence pro and con.

"Therefore we envision that, at the conclusion of this exercise, we shall have provided this community with the necessary formal and appropriate information to address the decision on Independence."

Bishop Lambe said the BIC had used investigative work carried out under UBP administrations between 1977 and 1995, as its starting point. BIC was "eternally grateful" for that work, he said, and the panel's job was now to update that information.

He said Bermuda had changed and so that research needed to be updated.

"Firstly, because an Omnibus survey, a syndicated quarterly survey of Bermuda residents in June 2004, clearly indicates a strong interest for more information on the subject of Independence' Bishop Lambe said. "We will provide that information and quench that thirst for knowledge.

"Secondly, the demographics of our country have changed in regard to at least two generations of college graduates who now comprise our population. These graduates have modern views about how they want their country constituted. These views may not coincide with the views of their parents. Yet their perspective on the issue must be considered.

"Thirdly, the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 provides for a significant demographic change in the electorate. The political climate has substantially changed, as indeed has the world in general and Bermuda in particular."

Bermuda's 37-year-old Constitution was the envy of many other UK Overseas Territories, Bishop Lambe added, and had been described by some Foreign & Commonwealth Office officials as a "pre-Independence" Constitution.

BIC intends to look at options for Independence including a republic, a Crown Dependency (like the Isle of man or Guernsey), a constitutional monarchy and an indigenous monarchy, he added.

Bishop Lambe said the BIC would strive to provide the information that Bermudian voters needed to decide on Independence in an informed and non-partisan way.

"The BIC believes this approach will prove to be the panacea against the virus of speculation, misinformation and indecision surrounding the topic of Independence," he said.

As well as public meetings, the BIC would be going into schools and the College to get young people involved in the dialogue and urge schools to hold an essay competition and debates on Independence-related issues.

He listed organisations that BIC would be consulting, including Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, the Bermuda Bar Association, the international business sector, religious institutions, trade unions and political parties.

And the panel's members will also speak with constitutional experts and representatives from countries which have made the transition to Independence "to learn from their successes and failures".

A BIC web site is under construction.