The people of Paget are curious about whether or not they will ever have a post office said Shadow Minister of Works & Engineering Patricia Gordon-Pamplin during the motion to adjourn in the House of Assembly on Friday.

The Paget post office, PLP MP Larry Mussenden's role as Attorney General and BFA President, Bermuda's image abroad, drug testing, and Government's plans for the future were all topics during the debate.

Sandys South Central MP Walter Lister pointed out that Bermuda, like the rest of the world was in the electronic age of e-mail and there was less need for post offices.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said the Progressive Labour Party promised in the 1998 general election that Paget residents would have a post office. She said the former United Bermuda Party Government had pledged to build a Paget Post Office, a promise which was carried through in the PLP's 1998 election campaign.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said the budget statement had outlined provisions for a post office, but to this day, Government had not delivered its promise.

She said she had written a letter to Works & Engineering Minister Ashfield DeVent inquiring about the post office only to be told that the funds which were intended to go towards the post office had been used for the St. George's Seniors Residential Care Centre instead. She said the Minister had told her in his letter: "The Paget Post Office was a scheme by the former Government"

She added: "I want to explore and satisfy curiosities on this side of the House and among the general public as to why there is not a post office. When will Government build a new Paget Post Office?"

Mrs. Gordon Pamplin added that she was supportive of any funds used for seniors care, but insisted that Government not mislead Paget residents.

"This was a charade to show the people of Paget that they could have a post office," she said. "If Government has seen fit to eliminate the necessary funding tell the people of Paget whether or not they're going to get a post office."

Premier Alex Scott, a former Works & Engineering Minister, said the funds were "redirected to another project as outlined in the budget".

After defending UBP MP Louise Jackson's attacks on Government over its relationship with Cuba (story in Saturday's paper) Opposition leader Dr. Grant Gibbons said Attorney General Larry Mussenden was "caught between two masters".

He said Mr. Mussenden has criticised Government policy as President of Bermuda Football Association yet he remains a member of Cabinet.

"If he (Mr. Mussenden) has a private view he has to resign from Cabinet. Collective responsibility means if he disagrees as president of the BFA with Government policy you have to resign yourself from Cabinet."

Dr. Gibbons said Bermuda was on a "very slippery slope" when it comes to attracting hedge funds to Island and that we are losing out to the Cayman Islands, according to Joel Press, a senior partner with Ernst and Young in New York.

Dr. Gibbons said the hedge fund industry would be worth between one and two trillion dollars, yet Bermuda was losing out because it was not going after business and being competitive.

"It is no longer enough just having a good reputation, you have to go after the business and be competitive," he said. "I fear that we are losing out because the Bermuda Monetary Authority and Government seems to be more concerned about reputation than competitiveness.

"We are desperately losing business to Cayman and the BMA and perhaps Government is not moving with responsiveness about what why we are losing this business and why we are not competitive about the hoops we are making people jump through that other jurisdictions are not."

He warned that a few years ago similar forces, and complacency, led to Bermuda losing tourists.

"In an effort to stay in step with regulators we are becoming much more burdensome and much more bureaucratic," he said. "It is complacency or not knowing where the market is going. It is something that needs to be addressed very soon otherwise part of this diversification is going to go to Cayman and not Bermuda."

Shadow Youth and Sports Minister Jon Brunson said the PLP accused the UBP of "choking the aspirations of the youth," but the current disbanding of the under-17 and under-20 football teams was a perfect example of this.

Government had failed to show leadership by not agreeing to mandatory drug testing.

Mr. Brunson revealed he voted for boxer Clarence Hill to be inducted into the sports hall of fame because he was the first Bermudian to win an Olympic medal.

"He brought honour in representing Bermuda. He may have had flaws, but he did not bring disrespect to boxing or Bermuda," said Mr. Brunson.

Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell said he was deeply worried about Bermuda's image abroad being tarnished by a report by the influential Economist Intelligence Unit.

The Economist said Alex Scott's government had "yet to issue a definitive policy statement".

Mr. Dodwell said this confirmed Opposition claims that the PLP was a Government of no plans for tourism, health, housing and other issues. The report said Government was in "paralysis" because of internal splits in the PLP following the narrow election win. Perception equalled reality and "our image is being questioned," said Mr. Dodwell.

Mr. Scott may claim the problems with the US were only a disagreement over Cuba, but everyone knew "it goes deeper than that," said Mr. Dodwell.

These negative reports were harming the Island and Bermuda had to make an effort to show it was rebuilding its relationship with the US and Britain.Mr. Dodwell said Bermuda should hire the best public relations expert money could buy "because nothing is more important than our image".