The following is a continuation of Friday's coverage of the debate in the House of Assembly on Government's Throne Speech.

@EDITRULE:

Opposition Health spokesman Michael Dunkley reiterated his UBP colleague Louise Jackson's contention that the retirement age should be raised to 70 and said Government needed to look at the affordability of insurance to seniors. He also said that seniors clinics proposed by Government should offer medical care in the form of basic triage. He said this would cut costs as it would mean seniors who normally go to the emergency ward of the hospital would be able to be treated in these clinics, instead. He said Government needed to move "forthwith" in getting public nursing homes operative.

Mr. Dunkley also raised the idea that insurance companies give incentives to people who stay healthy and keep their medical costs low. He said this would encourage people to live a more healthy lifestyle.

He said that the disabled should be included in Government's "social agenda" and that "ways to improve the lifestyle of the disabled" needed to be looked at.

Mr. Dunkley said he was "astounded" at news that recyclables would be moved from the recycling centre in Devon Springs and dumped in Castle Harbour at the Airport dump.

He said that Government had promised a new plant in the last Budget but that nothing had happened. He said workers at the current plant should be given a gold medal for working under such bad conditions pointing out that a fence broken from Hurricane Fabian still has not been fixed.

He said the fence is a small job that could easily be fixed and go a long way to alleviating the current problem. And he strongly urged the Government: "Don't dump it down the airport and break the law."

Mr. Dunkley also took aim at Government for doing nothing to reduce the waiting time at Customs for returning residents. He said that on a recent flight back from Boston the time he spent in getting home was equal to the time he spent on the ground here at the Airport.

He suggested that Customs take people's forms and send them a bill for their overseas purchases, rather than have them line up to pay. He said when he presented the idea to the Collector of Customs he was told that this method was tried but it was found that people would not pay.

PLP backbencher Renee Webb delivered a passionate speech on how she felt the Government was letting the country down by not embarking on a programme to empower the black people of the country. She explained that the party had always had a social agenda, but that in order not to create a welfare state it was important to give people an opportunity to own and be real stakeholders in the economy.

Her speech was enthusiastically welcomed by the Opposition, who suggested at times that she switch sides to get such an agenda going.

Ms Webb said it was the moral responsibility of the Government to have an "economic agenda" in the same way that they have embarked on their "social agenda" and she warned that the failure of them to do so would cost them the next election. She said she was disappointed that they had not made economic empowerment of blacks a mainstream strategy.

The UBP's John Barritt said he was "delighted" with Ms Webb's speech. He acknowledged that there was a racial divide which hurt blacks more than whites and said that while blacks could talk about it with more passion he could hear them.

He described the Throne Speech as "pretty pedestrian" saying that there were no surprises or "anything that would make you do cartwheels". He charged that the speech contained no plans of how things were going to be done and that the people of Bermuda were asking the question: "What have you done for me lately?"

And he questioned Government's ability to deliver on their promises. He noted how they had said they would stabilise the economy then pointed out the high inflation rate (the highest in 14 years) coupled with a pay rise of four percent for civil servants.

Mr. Barritt said that between 50 and 60 cents of every dollar went to pay the civil service and warned that Government might be creating a bureaucracy that had outlived its usefulness.

"When the bureaucracy you've created cannot give you what you need, it needs examining," he said.

Mr. Barritt also warned the Government that Bermuda's economic situation was not completely in her own control and suggested that a back-up plan should be in place if in the US laws were brought which would hinder international business here.

"What are we doing to prepare our people?" he asked insisting that he was not scaremongering but "being realistic".

Scrutinising the Throne Speech which talked about the "haves and the have-nots", Mr. Barritt said he would add another class of residents ? the "have-a-lots". He said that Government should be looking at who this group of people were and how they were affecting the statistics seen in the CURE report.

He said Bermudians of both races were facing the same issues and that today more so than at any time previously blacks and whites had more issues in common.

"Government does a disservice if they ignore that," he said.

He said that the increased wealth sits in the hands of the non-Bermudian segment of the workforce who have grown significantly. He said by ignoring this Government would be "deluding yourself as to who needs help and how".

Mr. Barritt said it was time too for Government to look at where money moves on the Island. Whether to investments overseas and if the dividends come back to our economy.

"You do have to monitor the economy and you have to do it constantly," he said." You cannot have a five-year economic plan then a five-year social agenda."

Mr. Barritt also chastised Government for not amending legislation which would bring Government properties under rent control. He pointed out that by not doing so seniors in homes of the Bermuda Housing Trust had not had the same protection that other tenants in the country did.

"It would have been a simple amendment and would not have to go to the AG's Chambers," he said.

" And that legislation gives tenants more protection."

Prodded by the Premier, Mr. Barritt also referred to the last Throne Speech pointing out several initiatives that had not been implemented, including increased fines for speeding, a cat bill and legislation to help with asbestos abatement, commercial crime and The Police Complaints Authority.

He also noted that the issue of Independence was missing from the Throne Speech.

PLP Backbencher Glen Blakeney said that Independence would not be mentioned in the Throne Speech until the Premier had had an opportunity to consult fully with the population.

He said that the outline social agenda supported the economic empowerment that Ms Webb so vociferously advocated and pledged to the public "Mr. & Mrs. Bermuda your Government will continue to work for you".

He condemned the Opposition for querying the Berkeley contract and for questioning Government on their plans.

"How dare you attack the conscious of the people who voted for us," he said. "Where's your plan" get on board and help."

Shadow Minister of Education N. E. Darrell said "the Government set an air of anticipation and excitement around the unveiling of their new Social Agenda".

"Quite frankly the Government had my attention. Maybe my weakened state after recent major surgery predisposed me to this anticipation... I wanted to believe that things that the long awaited day of Jubilee had finally come to the people, our people," Mr. Darrell said.

But he said that he was disappointed by the contents of the Throne Speech.

"Most of the Social Agenda was not new," he said. He said that "these are old unethical practices dressed up to look more ethical." He called it 38,000 words of "old stuff".

Speaking on education, he said that Government were going to instil positive values and mentors to Bermudian students. But he said there were already organisations like Youth Net and Big Brothers and Big Sisters that did that.

He said that incorporation of information technology into the classroom had to be expanded beyond a pilot scheme, like it was now. He wanted students who graduated from Bermuda secondary school to have credits accepted internationally.

PLP backbencher W. M. Lister said the Housing Minister had done an excellent job. "Government has built a number of structures and we are going to build more."

He said that Government was concerned about housing for seniors. He said that when the founders of the Bermuda Housing Trust built their homes for seniors, rents were "nominal" but times had changed.

"The Trusts' representatives sat and discussed in detail the costs they were confronted with."

Some of the costs he quoted in the House on Friday were: landscaping cost $3,600 per year per location; utilities cost $3,000; windows and blinds, $3,600; plumbing $6,000 and electrical $6,000.

He said that it cost roughly $30,000 per location in "real costs" to maintain the standards of the homes.

The average rent for a senior was $230 per month, but it costs $370 per month in expenses to maintain all 82 senior citizen apartments.

"We have no intention of putting any senior out of their accommodation," Mr. Lister said.

He called the new Social Agenda an "excellent document that speaks to young people".

Shadow Minister for the Environment Cole Simons MP said many things were missing from the Throne Speech, "sustainable development, planning laws and regulations, and independence''.

He said Government were "hoodwinking the average Bermudian on the street" with the Social Agenda.

He asked that if the Throne Speech was the plan for the Government for the next ten years, and there was nothing in there about cleaning up the former base on Morgan's Point, then when was it going to be done?

He said that the environment had a "vital role to play in the mental health of the community. The open space was shrinking.

Finance Minister Paula Cox said her Ministry was going to participate in the new Social Agenda because it was vital to have "economic independence before political independence".

Education Minister Terry Lister said "the 24-year-old men who are now in trouble already left school when we came into power".

Deputy Premier and Minister of Transport and Tourism Ewart Brown said that Government had "so much going on, we could not get it all in" and if they did "we would still be here reading it".

He said that Bermuda had never been a high volume destination. He said air arrivals were not the best measuring system for tourism. He said the health of tourism should be judged by the number of available hotel beds that were occupied.

Premier Alex Scott wrapped up the debate by saying it "had not changed our chartered course one jot". He called the Social Agenda an "honourable and noble path... Bermuda is a success story without equal but not all have benefited over the years.

Some have, but the quality of life of others is not what it should be, correction, it is not what it's going to be. That is the purpose and intent of the agenda... I do believe we will be successful. We should be here for the next decades ahead".