Shadow Health Minister Kim Young Friday night charged Government was throwing money at the housing problem but there was still a crisis.

She said the UBP slowed the housing crisis in the 1970s by building low-cost housing when the insurance companies arrived and, because the problem was cyclical, it had a programme for the 1990's, which the PLP had adopted.

There were "confusing messages'' coming from Bermuda Housing Corporation and Health Minister Nelson Bascome , with one saying 68 new units would be built and another saying 100. "No matter how Government plays the figures, they haven't dealt with the housing problem,'' she said.

Mrs. Young claimed she knew of one girl who was prostituting herself to pay her rent, and the only way to get BHC to do anything was to camp on their doorstep or get on the front page of the newspaper.

"This should have priority over big cars, body guards, or first class travel,'' said Mrs Young.

Money spent on fast ferries should be used to help seniors who should have benefited from the Island's economic success.

She criticised Government for taxing cell phones which are "almost a commodity these days''.

Hitting back at large increases on spending for Government ministers, she said: "Does Government need all this money to keep them in the style they have become accustomed? I don't think so.'' There was no relief for retailers despite it being promised in the PLP's election manifesto and money allocated for a detox unit at St. Brendan's had run out.

She claimed many people such as smokers, drinkers, and drivers had been targeted to pay for Government's "grandiose'' plans.

Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott accused the Opposition of personalising the debate, which brought the House into disrepute.

He said the benefits of the Premier's travel would eventually be realised, claiming the CEO of any successful company did not "stay at home knitting''.

He accused the UBP of scaremongering by claiming thousands of jobs would be lost if the PLP was elected and that businesses and whites would be leaving "in their droves''.

"If you did a census, there are probably more of them (whites) than before,'' he said, adding that PLP were successfully managing the economy.

He said the UBP had given a "political performance, not an economic critique''.

Capital projects such as airport improvements, a faciltity for delinquent youths and the National Sports Centre were necessary, and the community had to be taxed to pay for them.

Government's policy of owning rather than renting buildings had resulted in savings already of $350,000, he said.

Government was determined to ensure a wider section of the community enjoyed the economic pie by successfully encouraging more people to bid for Government contracts.

He said Mr. Cox should be encouraged for spreading the tax burden to others such as smokers rather than succumbing to the easy temptation to hit international businesses and banks the hardest.

"The Minister of Finance has accomplished what many ministers have failed to do. He has realised revenue without doing tremendous damage to any sector,'' said Mr. Scott.

Shadow Sports Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin refuted Mr. Scott's suggestion that the Opposition had embarked on character assassination and said the attacks had been based on principles.

She said when the UBP criticises Government spending, it's not intended to be personal. "It's not the Premier the person we're talking about, it's the Premier the position.'' She said the $495,000 being spend on guards for the Premier could be better spent elsewhere, suggesting the money could provide over 140,000 school lunches, for example.

She also questioned a $31 million write off with regards to an adjustment in Government pensions: "We don't know what that's about,'' she said. "If $31 million is no longer available in the pension plan, I believe the tax payers need to know.'' Transport Minister Ewart Brown used most of his speaking time to update the House on his Ministry.

He said the major thrust right now is to put the emphasis on public transport as the roads are congested with traffic. "We have an obligation to fix that,'' he said.

Dr. Brown said he believed that when Bermudians actually see the high speed ferries, they'll step on board the idea.

And he said that the ferries were actually a UBP idea and the PLP only moved it up a year and buy ferries designed for Bermuda.

He then talked about upgrades planned for the airport and ongoing developments with the taxi industry.

Opposition member Gary Pitman wanted to know why Government didn't tax the biggest "sinners of all'' -- gambling machine owners. "These owners enjoy a monopoly and will reap big profits for three more years,'' he said. "Why not regulate them and tax the profits in the next three years?'' After PLP member Stanley Morton defended Government's treatment of seniors, Finance Minister Eugene Cox rose to reply to the debate.

He said that people shouldn't get the impression that deficits are a new development and that there were deficits of unfounded liability for years.

He struck out at the constant criticism of the travel budget, pointing out much of what's included in the travel budget isn't for ministers but training and travel related costs for civil servants.

"People are given the impression it's Members of Parliament or Ministers; it's not,'' he said.

And he said that the Government is moving toward zero-based budgeting and that some pilot schemes for it were already underway in the Account General's office, for example.

Mr. Cox ended the debate by rebutting what he said were UBP suggestions that there might be an approaching recession in the US. It was a slowdown, not a recession. But this had not slowed down the number of company incorporations in Bermuda, he added.

Government had decided not to take borrowing above ten percent of GDP, but GDP had gone up, therefore it raised the debt ceiling, he said.

He described Shadow Finance Minister Grant Gibbon's response as "more comedy than a response. I expected something better.''