An exchange of views about the impact of crime ? particularly Thursday?s drive-by shooting ? led to some fiery exchanges across the floor of the House yesterday during the motion to adjourn.

Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell outlined fears about the impact on visitors? perception of the Island. ?I don?t want to be alarmist, I just want to be concerned,? he said, adding that he meant to cast no aspersion on Police Commissioner George Jackson who was sitting in the chamber of the House during the debate.

After reassuring the public that the Government was taking the issue very seriously, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Randy Horton cited concerns that events in the lives of young people meant they responded to difficult situations with violence. By now shouting loudly and waving his hands, the Minister praised organisations like the Uptown Market Association for trying to make positive strides in North Hamilton.

?(They are) people who want to see this country do well, who stand up to ensure that this nonsense does not carry on. Every little crime impacts on one of us,? stormed the Minister.

But his subsequent remark to hecklers on the Opposition bench that ?on the other side they?re not interested because they don?t know what to do with young black kids,? prompted an outcry from the UBP members of the House.

Jamahl Simmons, Shadow Minister of Race Relations jumped to his feet to object, saying: ?He?s misleading the House. How dare he question how we deal with young black men??

The Minister shouted back: ?I?m glad we?ve got some adrenaline. If you look around the world, don?t talk to me about the fact that because we don?t have the answer (to violence) tomorrow we?re not moving towards the answer.?

But Shadow Finance Minister Pat Gordon-Pamplin branded Mr. Horton?s comments ?a diatribe of schizophrenia?. She added: ?For him to point and scream that no-one on this side of the aisle knows how to handle young black children and then say we?ve got to travel hand in hand to find solutions ? we cannot accept that kind of presentation.

?I cannot accept that Minister saying that as a parent of two young black men that I don?t know how to handle young black children.?

Speaker of the House Stanley Lowe chided her for her tone in the middle of a debate on a serious matter, and said Mr. Simmons had already called the Minister to order.

But a clearly angry Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said she objected to being ?castigated and vilified?.

In another topic raised during the Motion to Adjourn, UBP backbencher Grant Gibbon spoke of the Government-mandated KPMG investigation into Bermuda-based IPOC International Growth Fund Limited after allegations of involvement in money laundering.

Dr. Gibbons said the fund was set up in Bermuda by Vidya Sharma who has been found guilty of fraud in Germany and jailed. He called for a probe into how a convicted criminal was able to set up a mutual fund on the Island.

He also said there were ?a lot of rumours? that the 27-month-long IPOC investigation ?is going to be a whitewash,? and urged Finance Minister Paula Cox to act expeditiously on the matter.

Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson took the opportunity of the adjournment debate to warn Bermudians about the dangers of passive smoking.

She said that the US Surgeon General Richard Carmona had concluded after studies that there are no safe levels of second hand smoke. She added: ?I want to implore the people of Bermuda, particularly parents who are still smoking, that this is very detrimental to their children?s health.?

And Minister of National Drug Control Wayne Perinchief expressed displeasure at Deputy Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley?s comments in the Mid-Ocean News that he would donate his share of the proposed MP?s salary hike to charity.

Mr. Perinchief said that other members of the House were not as well off financially, and this was precisely why the raise was needed.