Arnold Francis QC declared at a forum last night.

He found it "incredible'' to hear people saying the Island was not ready to cut ties with Great Britain when there were only two to three items it handled for Bermuda.

Independence would require "a simple constitutional amendment'' to put those special responsibilities under the control of the local Cabinet, he told the roughly 60 people attending the AME Church-sponsored Independence forum at the St. Paul Centennial Hall.

"I have no doubt whatsoever that Bermuda is ready, willing and able to take the next step in its constitutional development,'' he said. "And I sincerely believe an independent Bermuda would have the effect of bringing us together...'' Other speakers included Opposition MP Mr. Ottiwell Simmons, Dr. Eva Hodgson and UBP MP Mr. Harry Soares.

Mr. Simmons scoffed at beliefs the Island's wealth would suffer as a result of going independent.

And he charged that while Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan wanted Independence "the rest of his party doesn't.'' "The guy is making the whole thing a joke,'' he said.

The British-appointed Governor was the highest paid person by the taxpayer, he said.

"What we get from Britain and pay for is a Governor and a full staff,'' he said. "And we are giving him one of the biggest pieces of property Bermuda has ever known. He's got the estate of estates!'' Dr. Hodgson said she had not heard "one rational argument'' why the Island should not go independent.

And she could not understand the "big deal'' over the issue.

The belief of it being more difficult to travel without a British-Bermudian passport was nonsense, she said, noting residents' passports gave them enough problems now.

However, she believed Independence would not solve everything.

"Yugoslavia was independent before they started killing each other off,'' she said. "And it was only after South Africa became independent that it started making discriminatory and racist policies.'' Bermuda needed to start really addressing internal issues such as racism and put them "always on the top burner'' , she said.

Mr. Soares said he was putting his trust in his fellow Bermudians.

"Whatever they decide I will embrace and fight for,'' he said.

However, he indicated he supported more fact finding and dissemination of information on the issue.