spending proposals.

In a debate on the Budget in the Upper House yesterday, both Senate Opposition Leader Maxwell Burgess and UBP Sen. Kim Swan ridiculed the Government for failing to deliver pre-election promises.

And even Independent Sen. Walwyn Hughes suggested that the Government's Throne Speech set out promises that it might not be able to deliver.

The attack is the first serious criticism of Government policy since the election. UBP colleagues in the House of Assembly have mainly condoned the Budget, claiming it to be a UBP blueprint.

Government Sen. Patrice Parris kicked of the morning's debate by reading the Appropriation Act 1999 for a second time.

She claimed that no plan was worth the paper it was written on unless it was followed by action.

"And this Government values the paper it's written on,'' she said.

But, Sen. Burgess hit back, reminding the Government that they had been left with 54 million pieces of valuable paper.

"Those pieces of paper are called dollar bills,'' he said.

Leading the charge, the former Home Affairs Minister condemned Government for wasting the $54 million surplus and then adding to the national debt by borrowing an additional $17 million.

He said that the UBP would have utilised the extra cash much more effectively had it retained power in the General Election.

He suggested that the money could have been used to give senior citizens free prescriptions or improved housing.

"Our seniors could have and would have enjoyed a much better life had we been re-elected,'' he said. "But the Budget Statement doesn't even speak of these concerns apart from doing a study and we all know what that means -- doing nothing for a year.'' Sen. Burgess also mocked Government's promise of solving the Island's housing problem.

"People looked to the PLP Government thinking the housing problem would slip away and what did they get? Not one dime of that $54 million went into housing. That's how concerned they are about the housing of our people.'' Mr. Burgess put the decline in the Island's tourism down to "the world we live in'' but added that, when tourism started to decline, the former Government attracted international business to the Island as an alternative pillar.

"A rainy day will come and it's a question of what do we put aside for a rainy day,'' he said.

"But I don't see one dime being set aside to assure that e-commerce comes to Bermuda.'' Sen. Burgess added that the cash could also have been used as a sweetener to entice a major hotel chain to the Island or alternatively be used to train the unemployed or help small businesses.

And he also warned that the Government was being "bullish'' over growth predictions.

"That's why I'm talking about housing and senior citizens and the hotel industry,'' he said.

"Look at their platform and tell me it's not there. I know it's there and they did make promises about housing and senior citizens. Do you know how many people I could train with $54 million? It's that arrogance that will see us to our demise.

Sen. Swan followed up the assault by comparing Tourism Minister David Allen to Forrest Gump.

He said that, after a whirlwind three months involving several trips overseas, the Minister had returned to admit that the slump in tourism would take five years, not 100 days, to turn around.

Sen. Maxwell Burgess: PLP wasting Budget surplus