not totally safe UBP constituency, must be causing some grief in the UBP hierarchy. We do not believe that Phillip Smith lost his seat. We think the UBP lost the seat for Phillip Smith.

In Friday's newspaper we gave some St. George's people a chance to have their say. What struck us most was that residents felt the United Bermuda Party had not kept its promises to them.

We think that problems like the on again, off again, dedicated cruise ship are easy to identify. The second problem of the closed Holiday Inn/Club Med is also easy to spot but a good deal more complex. Government is powerless to force someone to reopen a white elephant. But the fact remains that the hotel is closed. The PLP came up with an unrealistic scheme of shops, restaurants and "entertainment'' for the hotel and, while it seemed to be completely unworkable, the voters may have seen the scheme as at least some plan when the UBP had no plan.

There does seem to have been a more basic problem. We think that after St.

George's elected Ms Jennifer Smith in 1989 and she became, probably, the PLP MP with the most credibility, the UBP Government began to shun St. George's.

It seemed almost as if the East End no longer featured in planning as part of the Country. The people wanted someone in Government to listen to the fact that they felt Dockyard was receiving all the attention. After all, Dockyard even has a dedicated cruise ship.

Government seemed to use the excuse that St. George's complained a good deal but did not do much for itself. In some ways that is true. There does not seem to be much cooperation in St. George's to get things done for St. George's.

Too often there is too much mouth and too little action. It is also unrealistic to expect "the Government'' to do everything. Be that as it may, St. George's needed care and it deserved help and we do not think Government cared enough or helped very much.

We think Government should now take a close look at St. George's. It does not need outside help. There are plenty of local people who can contribute. We think that in the natural course of things St. George's will get a cruise ship but St. George's will have to work to keep that ship. Every effort has to be made to find a workable use for the hotel.

There needs to be a plan to preserve the wonderful things St. George's already has while expanding its base. As an example, careful consideration should be given to developing off-season cultural tourism. That will be assisted by the National Trust's plans to restore its St. George's properties. There are also simple things. St. George's needs signs. We get people there but do not tell them where to go. Visitors also need an introduction to how important St.

George's is and what a large part it has played in history.

Some visitors were overheard talking on Water Street recently and one said, "Of course this place didn't play any part in the Civil War. They made that up for the tourists.''