Former anti-drugs supremo Wayne Perinchief said he was sorry to leave his post as Minister of National Drug Control.

The Ministry was only created late last year, and former assistant Police Commissioner Mr. Perinchief yesterday said that it would now be rolled into Dale Butler?s new portfolio of Social Rehabilitation.

The major Brown ally, one of two Cabinet Ministers to openly back Dr. Brown last week while still serving in the Scott Cabinet, was probably looking for a promotion under the new regime.

Many will see his appointment as Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs as a sideways shift, rather than a clear promotion or demotion.

Speaking after confirmation of his new job yesterday, Mr. Perinchief said that he had just been briefed on his new responsibilities. They will include seeing through anti-racism legislation powered by CURE (Commission for Unity and Racial Equality).

With surveys showing that many Bermudians were struggling to gain access to jobs, particularly in upper and middle levels of seniority, he said work in his department would be ?crucial?. He said that he would also be working closely with immigration.

Early on in his former post, his narcotics crackdown was undermined when he called for mandatory drug testing of MPs ? only for Government to defeat an Opposition motion calling for voluntary testing in the House of Assembly. Asked if the decision to merge the Ministry of National Drug Control suggested it was not effective, Mr. Perinchief said the department had its hands tied slightly.

?It was small and very specifically focussed. It had an advisory role rather than a mandatory role.?