Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell , speaking in the House of Assembly on Friday night, accused the PLP Government of squandering deals on high-profile tourism properties such as Club Med, Morgan's Point and the Hotel DeVille.

He said that "Morgan's Point was dead in the water '' after the Government "tried to push some kind of social agenda'' on the developers.

Mr. Dodwell said Tourism Minister David Allen should keep his interference to a minimum and let the Tourism Director and staff get on with their jobs.

Mr. Dodwell claimed to have heard a complaint from one cruise ship which had Mr. Allen aboard for five days in the Mexican Caribbean only to be told at the end of the trip, the company wasn't going to be accepted.

"Shows he can't be bought,'' interjected Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott from across the room.

"But he's sure having fun trying, shot back Mr. Dodwell.

St. George's MP Delaey Robinson said that if Mr. Dodwell is so pessimistic about tourism, why is there a major building project going on at his hotel, The Reefs, at the moment.

"He clearly has more hope than most of us,'' said Mr. Robinson.

Mr. Robinson said Government expects the $300 million in hotel investment deals it has "on the table'' to increase to a half a billion by the end of the year and that it had a significant player about to get serious on Club Med while the UBP only oversaw 18 years of decline.

Mr. Robinson then defended the Government's work in tourism saying that Minister Allen "is delivering'' and the $300 million in new investment and the Hotel Concessions Act were a testament to that.

And he asked why the Opposition had not included tourism in the order for debate, which they determine.

At this point David Dodwell called for a point of order to say Mr. Robinson's comments were misleading "because it didn't happen in the last two years. We didn't have a tourism debate, we had a tourism monologue from the Minister.'' Opposition MP Erwin Adderley took the floor to say that the 2001 budget puts an unfair burden on the little man.

He said that $20 million in new taxes, with the exception of the bank licensing tax and the land tax on ARVs over $90,000, are all aimed at the little guy.

And he said that the new Budget relies on a "optimistic view'' of the economy that is not borne out by the facts given the downturn in the American economy and poor tourism situation.

He said that employment levels declined in international business. "In light of this decline, why is the Finance Minister optimistic about growth?'' And he argued that none of the new tourism facilities will be online or improve the Bermuda economy in this fiscal year. "It's important the Bermuda people understand that fact,'' he said.

Mr. Adderley said in addition, Government should consider holding off on spending $7.9 million upgrading ferry docks to allow for front end loading because as he understood it the new high speed ferries could also be side-loaded.

Government's new Minister without Portfolio Randy Horton rose to commend the Finance Minister on "standing by the principles of the PLP, principles which stress investing in our people.'' See debate gets personal PLP says it's looking long-term He said that expenditure in education and training would yield long-term results when young Bermudians took their places in international business and, in hospitality, "as General Managers in our hotels.'' Mr. Horton argued that in Bermuda it was "ludicrous'' to claim the Government was hard on the "little man'' given that the Government was spending money on housing, education, hospitals.

But the UBP's Kim Young took up the issue, saying while the average person on the street struggled to pay their bills each month, Government asks them to supplement a "million-dollar Premier'' and other expenditures.

Ms Young questioned why the Premier needs security guards to the tune of $495,000. "What are we guarding her from?'' Ms Young said that over $11 million has been spent on Government travel over the last three years while for the person on the middle to low income, the budget is "nibbling away at their income.''