clarify or clear up problems at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH).

She said: "All the fuss, a sit in at Cup Match and discontent at KEMH is causing our community to have a lack of confidence in our health care system.

"When will we get an Executive Director of the hospitals? It has been without a leader for six months.

"Is the hospital short of staff? The nurses are unhappy and feel they are not being paid enough -- less than a pizza delivery person.

"Is there a problem among the medical staff? Even one of your own ministers said the environment at the hospital is horrendous.

"Why was Mr. Crane fired? We should get an answer from the minister.'' Mrs. Young also said much more should be done for the elderly.

She said: "I don't see any reference to nursing and resthome renovations.

Many of the rest and nursing homes will not meet the standards required to register if the Government doesn't get on with the job of renovating the parish homes and assisting other rest and nursing homes to upgrade.'' She also called for more support for shared housing where younger people move in with unrelated senior citizens to give them help and company.

She said there was a need for strategies to cope with the increase in the elderly population.

And she said expanding insurance coverage for the elderly to include mental health, chiropodist care, glasses cover and private doctor visits was needed.

"Last year the minister said he would set up a commission to look into health insurance coverage for seniors but we haven't heard a peep out of him.

"The PLP also promised to regularly increase pensions - does regularly mean every 10 or 20 years because last year there was no increase and this year there is no increase? She said elderly people on a noncontributory pension were finding it difficult to make ends meet and had to consider selling their homes because they couldn't afford the upkeep.

She also blasted the PLP for inaction on housing despite the fact that they had said it was a priority.

MPs clash over hospitals, housing She said: "Where are the 100 houses promised? There are more people waiting for affordable housing now than 12 months ago -- something like 160.

"And this government said that they will build 50 homes within nine months.

If these houses are built we will still have a long waiting list. What are they supposed to do? Wait another couple of years? "Where are the new homes that should have been built on the very lots where derelict houses were knocked down by us.

"$7 million extra was raised last year from land tax hikes. There has never been an answer as to what that money was to be used for. Why not use it to build more houses?'' She said last year's throne speech had set an aim of boosting the number of home owners but the government had not put up for sale all the available housing units.

However Health and Family Services Minister Nelson Bascome said the UBP's pre-election talk about building a 100 houses had been an empty promise.

"When they said 100 units I thought maybe they have something in place. Where was the plan for the 100 houses? We never found out. "Over the last few months we have been identifying lots where we can put 50 houses. We have to have consideration for our children's children - we are going ahead in a planned fashion.

He said bringing back derelict houses was a complicated process as owners are sometimes overseas or they are having family battles over ownership of the houses. He said the delay in obtaining the house often meant it had fallen into further disrepair. And he denied the urgent housing waiting list had got longer but people were getting houses without a fanfare of publicity.

He said: "One of the things I pride myself is that I don't run around the country with photos for every time tenants get keys for apartments.'' He said the chairman of the Housing Corporation had started to energise the department. And Mr. Bascome said he was keen to get the houses built by local firms.

He said: "Quite a number of construction firms have melted away. Small black construction firms are disappearing.

"We are trying to redevelop and get them back up to scratch -not to see an overheated construction boom but move forward in a planned fashion.'' He also reminded the house not to underestimate the impact of building 50 houses.

He said: "They will have units attached and we do have families moving into Southside right now.'' Kim Young had earlier attacked him for not carrying out the PLP promise to help people buy their own home because he was preferring to rent a number of units.

But Mr. Bascome said in the early 1980s the Bermuda Housing Corporation had sold off so much stock leaving him with a shortage of stock to rent.

He also said the BHC was offering 90 percent finance for would-be buyers and that young people should be saving for houses rather than splashing out on flashy cars.

And he denied Mrs. Young's claim that there was inaction on the Drug Courts.

He said: "In today's Royal Gazette there is an advert for a Drugs Court Coordinator.'' He said he hadn't wanted to rush into setting up a Drugs Court and then find there was nowhere to send people who had appeared in it.

Mr. Bascome said the staffing issue did need to be looked at in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and he admitted morale was low.

He said: `There are areas of management of real concern. How do we get into some of these situations.

"We are trying to turn them around. We have a problem about what to do about poor management decisions.'' Nelson Bascome Kim Young Two for the show: Progressive Labour party MP's Alex Scott (l) and Minister of Health and Housing Nelson Bascome make their way to the House of Assembly on Friday to hear the Oppositions; response to the Throne Speech.