Government should support the Salvation Army and not put it on its ?vengeance list? for speaking out about the terrible state of a Pembroke homeless shelter, Opposition Senate Leader said yesterday.

In the Senate?s Motion to Adjourn, Sen. Swan said he was disturbed by the situation the Salvation Army found itself in, with a 30-year-old Marsh Lane shelter needing major repairs and Health and Family Services Minister Patrice Minors saying she was fed up with the charity?s capital campaign.

?I urge Government to come to the aid of the Salvation Army and don?t put them on the vengeful list that exists out there,? Sen. Swan said. ?To force Major Lindsay Rowe to come out and wade into the political mire was not the way to go. Jesus himself upturned tables because he was upset at the system of the day. Don?t fault the Major for expressing his disappointment.?

It was good to the community to know that organisations like the Salvation Army and Hands of Love Ministry were available ? particularly at Christmas ? to reach out to those with little hope, he said.

?No one is taking account of the good work the Salvation Army did for the poor and needy in Bermuda,? he said. ?Government knows the challenge Bermuda has regarding meeting the challenge of housing. Government knows it has not done all it can to help those who need emergency housing.?

The Salvation Army had already had serious Budget cuts which had an adverse effect on the services the Salvation Army provided.

?A dollar can only go so far,? Sen. Swan said. ?I would hate Government to think for a second that another bureaucratic arm was what was needed. The work of the Salvation Army was what Government needed to build on.?

Sen. Swan said Minister Minors was wrong when she said ten percent of the funds given to the Salvation Army to provide services at the centre were sent abroad.

According to the 2000 Census of Population and Housing, 12 percent of the Island lived in poverty and 18 percent were near poor, he said.

?Who is right there in the trenches?? he asked. ?The Salvation Army. Government can afford wonderful homes for the Premier but taking away from the Salvation Army is not the way to go.?

Speaking to Minister of Works and Engineering and Housing, , Sen. Swan said the prefab emergency houses Government had imported were still sitting in a quarry.

?No other charity can match the caring and digging down to the depths of society that the Salvation Army does here,? he said. ?They have been on the Island for many years and have helped many of us.?

However, Government said Government was not upset at the charity and would continue to work with it.

?The Minister expressed her concern,? Sen. Roban said. ?Government is trying to work out the situation with the Salvation Army. Government was not upset by what was in the paper. The Salvation Army will get Government support where it can be given.?

He said the so-called deficit in funding was not from Government but from an independent facility from which the Salvation Army received funding.

?Government is fully aware of the Salvation Army?s contribution to society, as well as its appeal for funding and situation of its shelter,? Sen. Roban said. ?They have certainly issued an appeal about their funding and the situation of their facility that exists near North Street.?

Sen. Roban said the shelter was established 30 years ago as a temporary arrangement, adding it was already over 20 years old when the PLP was elected in 1998.

S (PLP) backed Mrs. Minors.

?She?s one of the most caring and mild-mannered persons I have ever come across,? he said. ?I have never seen her lose her cool and I?m not quite sure what made her lose her cool ? or so the paper said ? but I can understand her concerns.?

He said that while ?no one can say anything negative about the Salvation Army because it is caring for our citizens,? the organisation was aware that the Government is taking steps to address the problems it has with its shelter for the homeless.

?Let?s put it to rest once and for all,? he said of the simmering political row. ?Let?s not make the Salvation Army a political football.?