The following is the conclusion of the debate on the Throne Speech from Friday's session of the House of Assembly.

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Youth and Sports Shadow Minister Cole Simons (UBP) demanded to know when the Premier would release reports into asbestos at Southside and alleged corruption at the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

And he said Bermuda's economy was suffering with people in the financial services industry being laid off.

He said: “It's happening more and more.

“We are in tough times.

“I believe we need a Government to manage our way through those tough times.”

And he lamented the lack of action on help for the disabled.

He said Government had failed to deliver promises on making all Government buildings wheelchair accessible.

This included the House of Assembly itself which was difficult for the disabled and elderly to access said Mr Simons.

“Dame Lois said last week she can't make it up these stairs.”

He called on the Dame to use her influence to bring about change.

Government had failed to set up a national museum and a hall of fame for sporting heroes said Mr. Simons.

And he said parents should be legally liable for their children's actions to make them more involved in their lives.

He said Government need to set up an accreditation plan for sports coaches.

He said: “Why send our children to a coach who is not qualified.”

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Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown (PLP)stepped into his other role as a physician and commented briefly on the ongoing battle between medical insurers and doctors.

“I'm distressed about the fact that this impasse had occurred in the first place,” Dr. Brown said.

“There is more than meets the eye when considering the impasse between doctors and insurers in Bermuda.”

Dr. Brown said most young people and older people in the Country are actually covered by Government so it is primarily the healthy, working middle group of the population which has private health coverage.

He said it was important that the public realise that the matter is not only a dispute over money.

For the doctors, he said, “this issue is in part, about deciding who has the right and authority to practice medicine and determine which particular medical procedures should be covered by the insurers”.

Dr. Brown said there have also been problems with insurance companies dropping people when they move from one job to another based on screening them for specific illnesses.

“We have too many people who are not being covered,” he said.

But Dr. Brown said there was good news on the medical front as well with the arrival of the MRI scanner in Bermuda which was some six years in the planning.

Fewer people will be forced to travel overseas now for injuries such as slipped discs, he said, with the arrival of “this critical diagnostic tool”.

Wrapping up, Dr. Brown said the PLP Government would never operate in the same manner as the UBP had and that while they had made some mistakes, they continue to learn from these mistakes.

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Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Erwin Adderley (UBP) questioned, however, why Dr. Brown had spoken on the Throne Speech without speaking at all to issues of his own Ministry - Transport.

He followed other UBP speakers in suggesting the Throne Speech held little of concrete value.

“Where is the beef,” Mr. Adderley asked.

He said the Throne Speech did not contain any reference to Works and Engineering, Transport or Housing.

Meanwhile, all these areas are of crucial importance to the Country, he said.

Noting that the Throne Speech referred to no new capital projects, Mr. Adderley wondered if it was “a prelude to a sweetheart budget which would be a prelude to an election”.

Other than the construction of the new Berkeley Institute, Mr. Adderley said there appeared to be no major construction projects in the pipeline.

He said many now believe the Country is in a period of economic downturn during which capital projects become crucial to creating employment and economic buoyancy.

While Berkeley is the only major project on-line, Mr. Adderley said by his calculations having visited the site just yesterday, there was no possibility it would meet its projected completion date of September 2003.

“I don't believe, based on my evaluations, there is a snowball's chance in hell of this project being completed,” he said.

Meanwhile, he suggested the project may be as much as $50 million over budget.

Beyond, the rising cost of the project however, Mr. Adderley asked what would happen to the students and teachers of the school if, in all likelihood, it is not completed on time.

He suggested that all Bermudians make a visit to the site to see for themselves exactly how far behind schedule it is.

And he called on the Minister (Alex Scott) to “fess up” about the costs and realistic completion date of the school.

Mr. Adderley said Mr. Scott had suggested to the Mid Ocean News that the school might open next fall in only a portion of the facility while construction continued.

Calling such a eventuality a “recipe for disaster”, Mr. Adderley also suggested Mr. Scott may have been setting up the Environment Minister (Dennis Lister) to take the fall if the school does not open on time.

He said it might not receive a certificate of occupancy which falls under Mr. Lister's responsibilities for the Planning Department.

The Shadow Minister also criticised Government's “empowerment” scheme at the project where contractors received benefits for training Bermudians.

He said the only people that were empowered were the contractors.

Alternatively, Mr. Adderley said the UBP had in mind a number of strategies to achieve better capital development.

He said the UBP would like to see open tendering processes on all medium and large scale projects.

“We had this before,” he said.

Projects of this size should also be audited and the Minister should be required to make regular public progress report on different stages of completion, he added.

Mr. Adderley attempted to defend the UBP's record on housing when it was in power by saying studies had been done which determined that housing crises were cyclical and the UBP had only undertaken housing projects during periods of need and not when there was a surplus.

He also criticised the Government for mishandling BHC's Perryville condo site in paying $350 per square foot to have the units built when the going rate is $220 per square foot.

“That can't be right,” he said.

“Say it ain't so.

“We should be dropping the cost down to get to a point where the public can afford it.

“Government and BHC are inflating the cost of housing in Bermuda for everybody.”

The Premier then called for Motion to Adjourn as both parties had agreed the debate would end at 7 p.m. and reconvene next Friday to continue discussion of the Throne Speech.