A religious leader claimed the Council Partners were being "hypocritical'' for accepting an award worth more than $100,000 from Bermuda's liquor merchants.

Mr. Eliyahtsoor Ben Aharon, mission head of the Bermuda Hebrew Israelite Community, called the gift a "sinister donation aimed to allow liquor merchants to get off the hook''.

"Alcohol abuse has contributed to liver damage, absenteeism and divorce,'' he said. "But my first concern is that any liquor dealers' main goal is to expand the use of their product so that they can increase their profits.

"Does this now mean their (liquor merchants) conscience is appeased? Giving them accolades because they gave this money is not good enough. Their existence has caused untold damage in this community which I doubt $100,000 can even attempt to fix.'' This criticism comes after the Council Partners unveiled the results of their successful private fundraising campaign which has raised $2.5 million.

Included among the 11 substantial gifts, was a contribution from Malcolm Gosling of the Bermuda Licensed Victuallers Association.

However, the Council Partners -- a group of five organisations which have joined together primarily to raise money as a single entity to fund programmes aimed at preventing problems associated with drug and alcohol abuse -- issued a swift response.

In a prepared statement, Mr. Gordon Johnson, who is the group's executive director, defended his organisation's decision. He pointed out that the liquor merchants had restricted their donation to the Lions Quest Life Skills programme which, among other things, teaches young people decision-making and conflict resolution skills.

Furthermore, he said the money was not an attempt to "buy silence'' on the part of the liquor merchants, since the Ministry of Education has the final say regarding how that money will be spent in schools.

"Alcohol is a legal drug in Bermuda,'' the statement said. "The responsible use of alcohol is not the cause of traffic deaths, illness, or personal and professional problems.

"The Council Partners are raising funds for the Lions Quest Programme so that the community can be educated about how to use alcohol properly.'' Mr. Johnson said his organisation would never accept funding from liquor merchants to fund research projects, because it is important for scientific work to be independent and objective.

Since the money from the liquor dealers is earmarked for an educational and prevention programme such as the Lions Quest he said, accepting the BLVA donation "is perfectly in keeping with our objectives''. Human Affairs Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill said he believed the Council Partners were correct to accept the BLVA money.

"Ultimately an addict does not care where the money that is helping him comes from,'' he said. "All he cares about is that he is able to get help.

"But more importantly, why should we absolve them (BLVA) of their responsibility to solve this problem? If we reach the point where we declare that the only acceptable sources of funding are banks, law firms and exempted companies, all we will do is reward the liquor merchants for selling alcohol.

"As far as I am concerned if the BLVA want to double their contribution I would heartily encourage them to do so.''