If there is any truth in the idea that politicians make promises at election time that they cannot keep, then the Progressive Labour Party has shown in its platform that it does not intend to fall into that trap - it has not made any in its platform.

That is not quite true. The 44-page platform, released on Monday, some 57 hours before voters go to the polls, does contain a few promises.

But the document is a disappointment, especially compared with the PLP's impressive 1998 platform which focused heavily on the social problems facing the Island.

Fast forward to 2003 and there is little on the elderly, nothing on crime, little on health care, and nothing on housing except a promise to look at cheaper construction methods on housing. And there is nothing new proposed on the economy generally or on tourism in particular.

The PLP does say it will look at a special court to deal with criminals suffering from mental illness, there are some transport measures already announced by Minister Ewart Brown, including larger taxis, and it will introduce a school for special needs students as already promised by Education Minister Paula Cox, along with rules on parental responsibility and a maths literacy project.

The major change proposed is for a smaller Cabinet and a move towards full-time Cabinet Ministers.

The move to a smaller Cabinet from the existing maximum of 11 MPs and two Senators comes in the wake of the change to a 36-seat House of Assembly after July 24 and plans to align Ministries as recommended in the never-released Civil Service Review. The PLP has not said how much it would reduce the Cabinet by, however.

While a smaller Cabinet would create a more viable backbench, it also runs the risk of concentrating a good deal of power in too few hands. But without knowing how small a Cabinet the PLP proposes, it's hard to make a judgment on this.

The other plan, which may be politically riskier, is to work towards making Cabinet Ministers full-time.

Regardless of the size of Cabinet, this is an idea whose time has come. With the possible exception of Ministers without Portfolio, all Cabinet Ministers worth their salt must treat the jobs as full-time anyway.

Some people who would make valuable contributions to public service do not because it would be too great a financial sacrifice. Higher salaries would also reduce the risk of corruption. Ministers should be paid the same as their Permanent Secretaries, although the platform gives no sense of what salaries the PLP would want to pay.

Apart from those two ideas - and no matter how timely, they are not burning election issues - there is little of substance in the platform.

Premier Jennifer Smith has stated that the PLP felt the 1998 platform was in essence a two-term plan and it wants another term to finish the job. But much of the 1998 platform has already been put in place, and the PLP deserves some credit for that.

But it is fair to ask what the PLP plans to do about pressing issues like housing, the elderly (pensions will reviewed and will be increased by the rate of inflation this year) and crime and punishment.

Apart from the plans outlined above, the other pledges highlighted in the platform include new crash helmet standards, a ban on dangerous anti-fouling paints, amendments to the Workmen's Compensation Act, updates to the adoption laws new workplace health and safety rules and a health care council that was first proposed in the mid-1990s. All of these are worthy, but few move above the standard kind of good housekeeping expected of any government.

The Premier said most people have already decided how to vote without the help of a platform. But for those who are still undecided and have been waiting to see the PLP platform, it provides little guidance on what it would do if re-elected.