Government's plans to seek alternatives to prison gained broad support yesterday, but there were warnings that problems of staffing, funding and legislative changes could lie ahead.

The initiative, launched on Wednesday, aims to move away from incarceration towards rehabilitation.

A task force has been set up with people drawn from across the community who will advise Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Paula Cox by September. Ms Cox promised to introduce legislation if necessary.

The research is being financed by reinsurance company RenaissanceRe and was hailed as a model for partnership between Government and the private sector.

Premier Jennifer Smith said the initiative did not mean an end to prison terms or that Government was going soft on crime.

United Bermuda Party Sen. Mark Pettingill, a lawyer, welcomed the plan, but warned it could involve amending legislation for hundreds of offences, which would be an exhaustive process.

More counsellors and psychiatrists will be needed if new rehabilitation programmes are introduced.

Mr. Pettingill said in addition to offering alternatives to custody, the review should recommend much tougher sentences for drug dealers.

And he suggested sending dealers to private prisons in Australia to do hard labour, which would cost the same as keeping them in Bermuda.

Alternative sentencing He said: "I support the initiative wholeheartedly and it all sounds very nice, but we need to be realistic about how we can make it happen because we would have to amend legislation for hundreds of offences if we do it properly.

"I'll be more impressed if there is more research prepared and we get into the nitty gritty.

"There has to be an opportunity for rehabilitation, but for those who don't avail themselves, then the punishments should be more severe than they are now. We have to walk quietly and carry a big stick otherwise it becomes nonsense.'' He suggested someone caught stealing and with drugs for personal use should be given rehabilitation. There should be a mandatory five-year prison sentence for drug dealing and ten years for second-time offenders, followed by life.

Former Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp, who is on the steering committee, said: "I certainly think the initiative is a good idea, which is well overdue and worth the time and effort put into it, but it's premature to say any more.'' Sandy Butterfield, the director of the charitable drug counselling group FOCUS, warned that more counsellors would be needed to screen offenders properly, otherwise all criminals would claim they needed drug rehabilitation to escape prison.

She said: "We need proper assessment to filter out those who don't want to go to prison because some people will say they need treatment because they would do anything to avoid going to prison.

"One of the issues in the addiction field is that we are so short-staffed, so putting on a lot of programmes with no staff could lead to their demise.'' UBP Sen. Maxwell Burgess, a former Home Affairs Minister, congratulated Government on the initiative.

"When I looked at the cross-fertilisation of Bermudians at that launch lunch, if that commitment can be carried on outside, Bermuda could be onto something good,'' he said.

"I believe it could be a great opportunity to haul young Bermudians who have fallen foul of the law back into the mainstream at a higher and faster rate.

It is the kind of benefit a country can have if it has sound corporate partners.

"But it is also important we send a message to those criminals who fall outside the scope of rehabilitation that incarceration is there for them and they can expect it to be meted out.

"The ability of Government to send out those two signals simultaneously will be critical to the success or failure of this.'' Major Edward Lamb, the adjutant of the Bermuda Regiment, who was at the launch, said Government had not specified any particular role for the Regiment.

He added: "It's been bandied about before that instead of sending a guy to prison for minor offences, he could spend time in the Regiment.

"That might be a possibility, but I don't know if we could help rehabilitation of drug users unless we had resources for counselling as well as a disciplined environment.'' CONFERENCE CON JAIL JAL