investment needed to develop the Base lands, a Government backbencher said this week.

St. George's South MP Mr. Rick Spurling said opportunities on the Bases were "tremendous and exciting,'' but attracting sufficient investment would be "the biggest problem.'' "It can't come just from Bermuda dollars,'' he said. "We need foreign investment of many, many millions of dollars. We're talking about $100 million type projects.'' A law requiring that all Bermuda companies be at least 60 percent Bermudian owned was "a sticky one,'' and "still under review,'' the MP said.

"It needs to be looked at, because we need to encourage foreign investment.

"There must be certain circumstances where investment is so large where it's definitely justified to vary the 60/40 (rule).'' The Finance Minister has the discretion to vary the rule and should use it, as long as he was satisfied the development was in the the interest of Bermuda, he said.

Mr. Spurling said there would likely be no cable television in Bermuda if Bermuda Cablevision Ltd. had not been structured in such a way that the overseas owners were able to take more than 40 percent of the company's profits.

"To stick strictly to 60/40 limits your ability to negotiate properly,'' he said.

Major hotels had also been exempted from the rule, so why should it not happen for "golf courses and other things?'' The rejection of Independence in the August 16 referendum would inspire confidence from overseas investors, as long as crime and social unrest did not escalate, he said.

Mr. Spurling was impressed by the recently-published "broad use plan'' for the Bases, which was unveiled on Monday by Finance Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons and included as an insert in Tuesday's The Royal Gazette .

"The presentation is brief, it's comprehensive, it's easy to understand, and it's logical,'' he said.

The plan was still flexible and might change in response to further public input, he said.

While bringing the Bases on line would take time, Mr. Spurling felt it was important to get buildings at the Base occupied as soon as possible.

He would like to see some of the houses on the Base either sold or rented soon, so that they were occupied. More sections of the outside fence surrounding the Base could be taken down to allow access.

One thing Mr. Spurling did not want to see at the St. David's Base was "extensive low-cost housing.'' While it might seem an "easy solution'' to the question of what to do with the large amount of multi-family housing on the Base, it would be a mistake, he said.

"You need to spread low-cost housing into different areas,'' he said.

"Sometimes that will bring criticism, because people don't want that sort of housing in a middle-class neighbourhood.

"But I think it's better for all concerned that low-cost housing is spread out, rather than concentrated.''