On the day Ashfield DeVent was fired, Premier Alex Scott refused to criticise the man he sacked and simply said it was a "changing of the guard".

Mr. DeVent became the Minister of Housing and Works and Engineering in January 2004. His time in the ministerial role was not an easy one with setbacks, overspending and failed projects.

Less than a month into his tenure a visibly nervous and shaking Mr. DeVent was given the job of announcing Government was to spend another $13 million on the Berkeley school project and admitting its completion date would be delayed for yet another year.

The Berkeley controversy, which many blamed on Mr. Scott's original choice of contractor ProActive when he was in charge of the Ministry, would not go away and eventually he had to sack ProActive.

Next up was the much touted Bermuda Homes for People. In a "Price-is-Right" styled night hundreds packed a CedarBridge hall and cheered as the Minister selected the names of the lottery winner.

However, months passed without a mention of the public/private housing project.

As the deadline neared for the bulldozers to move in it was evident that the current tenants were not moving. The landlords said the Bermuda Land Development Corporation had not given notice to vacate the property.

It became clear that the business tenants at the waterfront site were not going to budge as they had not been given notice by landlords. And they had nowhere to go.

Hampered by delays, the plan fell flat with many executives leaving.

Project manager John Gaston claimed Mr. DeVent's directives to BLDC were ignored by the quango he was supposed to be in charge of and that Mr. DeVent was weak even within his own party.

And then there were the public battles waged by residents on Mary Victoria Road and Perimeter Lane. The residents felt they were never consulted about the plans to construct large housing developments. The Perimeter Lane residents wanted the number of units to be reduced while the Mary Victoria Road residents took their grievances to the Development Application Board.

The laments of the residents were described as the "NIMBY syndrome" (not-in-my-back-yard) by the Minister who said people would have to get over it if the housing crisis was going to be fixed.

His run as a Minister came to an end when the Premier announced he was to be replaced by Lt. Col. David Burch.

Lt. Col. Burch is no stranger to the Housing Ministry, a post which he held from October 2002 to the July 2003.

His appointment made him the fifth Minister given the housing brief in seven years of Progressive Labour Party government.

Mr. Scott described the sacking of the Minister as a positive step.

"We have the policies, now we need the product," he said. "There was no fault, no blame, it was a changing of the guard."

Asked if Mr. DeVent ? who entered Cabinet just nine months after entering Parliament ? had been promoted too quickly to high office, Mr. Scott said no.

"You have to remember the time frame. We came out of an election, we had a bit of political intrigue and the opportunity for a new player ? young yes, but I have repeatedly said he had a heart. Housing requires somebody who is sympathetic to the community and Ashfield was the man for the job at the time."

Shadow Housing Minister Wayne Furbert said he was sorry to hear Mr. DeVent had been made a scapegoat for failings higher up.

"He was put in a very difficult position, he was very junior having only just come into Parliament and he was given the two most difficult jobs you can think of: Berkeley, which the Premier messed up, and housing which the Ministers before him messed up."

Mr. Furbert said it was clear Mr. DeVent had not been given the support of his Cabinet colleagues. "They had the land ? all they needed was the funding to build houses. It is clear over the last seven years the Government has shown no real funding in their budget to build houses. It wasn't Ashfield DeVent who failed, it was the Cabinet who failed Bermuda. We have collective responsibility but he has been made the fall guy."