months of extensive planning.

And the multi-million dollar project at the former Base lands has been given the seal of approval by Premier Pamela Gordon after she visited the site.

Demolition workers have started breaking up a number of multi-unit buildings to make way for new housing.

And another set of apartment barracks are soon to be pulled down to be replaced by a Business Enterprise Zone.

The Premier took the opportunity of the walkabout to show how the prefab apartments were unsuitable for occupation. Government housing tenants have been demanding that the properties be rented out to ease the Island's housing shortage.

As a mechanical digger ripped into one of the fragile blocks, the Premier said: "I think it would be very irresponsible if we allowed people to live here.

"You can see how feeble the houses are and how easily they are being demolished. It would be frightening to think of people living here.'' The houses, built in the 1950s, also contain hazardous asbestos insulation which has been shown to cause cancer.

The Bermuda Land Development Company is responsible for developing the project.

BLDC Chief Executive Officer Carl Musson said: "We developed the plan during the course of 1997 and based it on extensive research into Southside's potential to attract local and international businesses and its opportunities to benefit the community.

"At the highest level, the plan envisions Southside becoming an attractive community where people can live, work and play with thriving commercial and industrial areas that strengthen local business and Bermuda's position in the global economy.

"We want Southside to create new business opportunities, to optimise public access and use of the land and to become an integral part of St. David's.

"In the coming weeks the BLDC will begin rolling out a series of capital works projects at Southside that will generate between $15 million and $20 million in contracts over the fiscal year.'' As well as the creation of a new business park, 30 three-bedroom homes are also to be renovated and planners hope to have more than 50 new homes ready for occupancy by the end of the century.

The project also includes the opening up of Corregidor Avenue -- the main road that runs through the heart of the site, the preparation of 38,000 square feet of industrial space and a landscaping programme.

"There is a lot of work ahead and the project represents significant opportunities for many businesses, large and small,'' Mr. Musson said.

"It is going to push us hard but it reflects our determination to get the site into gear and to make good on the tremendous potential it holds for St.

David's, St. George's and Bermuda as a whole.'' The Premier met with several entrepreneurs who have already set up businesses on the site.