Island's increasing inability to settle disputes.

Business partners, lawyer Ms Keren Lomas and educator Dr. Eva Hodgson have set up the Bermuda Mediation and Arbitration Centre, which aims to provide a less expensive alternative to solving disagreements, both personal and business-related.

The Centre is being run as a non-profit organisation out of Ms Lomas' office on Front Street and Dr. Hodgson's office on Elliott Street.

Over the coming weeks, the pair will be sending out letters and information pamphlets to organisations which may be interested in their service and to professionals interested in mediation or arbitration training.

They will also be looking to attract business professionals to register, for a fee, as members of the Centre to give the business a pool of expertise that will enable it to resolve disputes through mediation or arbitration.

"The advantage of our service is that parties will have the opportunity to come to some kind of an agreement, rather than taking the dispute to the courts where they are bound to accept its decision,'' Dr. Hodgson said.

A brochure on the Centre says: "Mediation and arbitration as alternative methods of resolving disputes are particularly important to our Island comprising such a small community where the preservation of good relationships ensure the benefit of all.'' On mediation, its says: "There is a better way to settle differences than a costly courtroom battle. By use of an impartial person to help make informed decisions and develop mutually acceptable agreements, you can control the decisions that affect your family, your finances, your business and your life through mediation, a voluntary settlement process.'' And on arbitration: "People want to do business, not argue about it. But in the world of trade and commerce disputes are inevitable. These controversies seldom involve great legal issues. On the contrary, they concern the same evaluation of facts and interpretation of contract terms that people and their attorneys are accustomed to dealing with every day.

"When differences arise out of day-to-day commercial affairs, and when parties settle them privately and informally, by the arbitration process, business relationships are preserved.'' The Centre, which is also hoping for Government support, will have a resource centre based at Ms Lomas' law office.

Both women have been trained in the business of mediation and arbitration. Dr.

Hodgson is a court certified mediator, licensed to practise in the State of New York, where she spent several years before returning to Bermuda in 1980.

Ms Lomas, who was granted Bermuda status in March this year, has practised law in Bermuda for the past 17 years. She has been accepted for registration as a panel attorney by the American Arbitration Association and is registered with The Law Society in England as an international disputes arbitrator. She is also a trained mediator.