PLP MP the Hon. Trevor Woolridge characterised the Throne Speech as recycled trash claiming the UBP was a "reactionary government'' that only brings legislation forward after something happens.

He challenged the Government to provide leadership. This was all the more important today he said, because there were many law-abiding families who had been placed on the unemployment line by the ban on fish pots.

"Law-abiding citizens are suffering due to a lack of sensitive policy,'' he said. "Which makes it difficult and unbearable for these people, many of whom are UBP supporters.'' The dairy industry was also suffering because many "hardworking dairy persons are not being assisted in their attempt to make a living.

This was made even more difficult he charged because one dairy outlet was in substantial arrears.

Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons said that this dairy business had not paid off its back rent although it was now current in its rent payments.

Mr. Gibbons said his Ministry was well on its way regarding its open tendering policy.

The document, he said, had been accepted by local engineers, architects and the Chamber of Commerce.

The tendering would put Bermudians first and is broken into three phases. They are those below $3000, those between $3000 and $25 million and those above $25 million.

Tendering would be witnessed by an independent board.

Mr. Gibbons said Government's job assistance programme had hired 87 people and between April 1 and end of October they had paid out more than $567,225.90.

The Tynes Bay Incinerator, he said, would become the "cornerstone'' of government's waste management programme.

He said Government would continue to encourage recycling and asserted that all household waste now goes to the incinerator and not the dump.

Mr. Reginald Burrows (PLP) expected interdiction and incarceration would have "very little effect'' in fighting drugs. "Basically all we can do is encourage our people not to use drugs,'' he said.

Values had devolved to the point that money was king. "If you have money in Bermuda and no brains, in many instances you are considered brilliant,'' Mr.

Burrows said.

"You may even become Premier,'' interjected M r. Alex Scott (PLP).

Referring to a recent article about drug dealers in RG Magazine, Mr. Burrows noted that one dealer interviewed knew drugs were wrong, but felt alcohol was just as bad. Yet only one of the drugs was legal.

"Nice cop-out,'' interjected Mrs. Grace Bell (UBP).

Mr. Burrows said alcohol caused more problems than drugs. But because many jobs depended on alcohol and Government counted on tax revenues from its sale, "there's nothing going to be done about it.'' The Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto (UBP) said the Throne Speech did not adequately explain how Government programmes would be paid for.

But she noted that the Opposition reply promised a review of taxation and a move to "a more progressive approach.'' She found comments about income tax and Independence by Shadow Finance Minister Mr. Eugene Cox "astonishing.'' The Opposition had abandoned the two issues, "but if they were successful at the next election these items would reappear,'' she said.

As for Shadow Environment Minister the Rev. Trevor Woolridge 's charge that the Throne Speech was "recycled garbage,'' she said "recycling is all about making efficient use of something that is still useful...for the benefit of the community as a whole and the environment.'' She called for Government to introduce an anti-stalking law to protect women.

And she asked whether Government would be providing funds to purchase land for new community playgrounds that were promised.

Mrs. Cartwright DeCouto said the lack of registration and control over family counsellors should be addressed as part of Government's health care review.

Mr. Stanley Morton (PLP) noted that the Throne Speech had shrunk to six pages from eight last year. "Each year they have less and less to say,'' he said.

He complained about Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul , who said the PLP's statement in its Throne Speech Reply that drugs and crime were linked could be expected of an 11-year-old.

"That gentleman has got to learn to be a little more humble, a little more understanding,'' Mr. Morton said.

Dr. Saul had also complained that crime in Bermuda was not as bad as it had been made out to be, but Mr. Morton said much of it was occuring in his constituency and the Finance Minister's comments were "insular.'' "No matter where you live, you may be protected at this particular time, but it's only a matter of time before this will reach your door,'' he said.

He complimented a Bermudian RG reporter who went into the community and collected "vital information'' about drug dealing for a recent article.

Mrs. Grace Bell (UBP) said Government should be cautious in its rush to stiffen sentences in response to the Island's gun problem. Did Bermuda want someone with no previous record to go to prison for ten or 20 years for possession of a gun? It was important for the community to help tackle crime, but Mrs. Bell expressed concern about the Bermuda Police Code-a-Phone and said it should be operated by an outside agency.

Many on the Island feared the Police, and "with all the electronic equipment, I would figure that your number is recorded and whoever wants to find out who called from that number could find out,'' she said.

She raised the possibility that the Island should have a curfew.

And young people should be better prepared for employment while at school -- "how to dress, how to carry themselves, just how to be mentally prepared to be an employee'' -- Mrs. Bell said.

On Immigration, Mrs. Bell declared her interest in an industrial cleaning business and then said she had learned of work permit abuses in that area which were being investigated by Government.

Some people had been working illegally while in the Country on visitor visas, she said. "It's not brand new. It's been going on for a while.'' She understood it had also been happening in construction and landscaping.

"Bona fide firms who have Bermudians and pay the top rates are almost being put out of business because of the unfair competition.

"We must do something to let these people know that we mean business.'' Mrs. Bell said the fine for having an undocumented worker was $5,000, but she was not aware of such a fine ever having been levied. And the Press "absents itself'' when Immigration infractions are dealt with in court, she said.

Shadow Youth and Sport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown said he was concerned that the throne speech appeared to be a "rushed effort without a great deal of thought gone into it.'' While his Government counterpart had attempted to imply that only a "minority of young people were involved in crime'' Dr. Brown countered that small minorities have the capacity to have a large impact.

"Shootings stabbings and beatings are all sign of the times,'' he said.

"Now the problem is confined to young blacks who are committing crimes against other young blacks.'' Dr. Brown said that history has shown that usually the response to crime is to first see it as limited, then attempt to suppress it but it often becomes a national problem.

"We need to learn form this,'' he continued. "Our youth are at risk.'' He said that although Bermuda experienced a boom economically in the early eighties, many of its children were left behind.

And the Government had to face the fact that it had failed.

"This government needs to consider how it contributes to the very violence that it disowns.'' Meanwhile Dr. David Dyer (UBP) said although there seemed to be a drastic increase in crimes especially against women in the home.

However, he argued, it would be incorrect to suggest, given the chronic underreporting of these same incidents in the past, that there was an increase in these crimes.

Instead it should be looked at as an increase in the reporting of these crimes although many cases were not followed through because the complainants were often coerced into dropping the charges.

CRITICAL OF GOVERNMENT -- PLP MP the Hon. Trevor Woolridge.