(f) The need to encourage the local community to be better trained and aware of the economic focus of the Island so that we have locals trained to work in those areas where there is the greatest need and to foster a climate where locals actively seek training and upgrade their skill-sets so they can participate more actively and benefit in the economic success that is Bermuda.

Bermuda's two economic pillars are international business and tourism. Given the present state of our tourism industry, international business is the primary source of our foreign exchange earnings and is currently the mainstay of our economy. Human capital is considered to be a key factor in continued economic growth and there are shortages in some of the economic sectors which are needed in Bermuda. This places increasing pressure on the Government and the private sector, given the thrust to grow the economic pie, to encourage employers to provide training opportunities for Bermudians, in conjunction with those training programmes and internships available through the education system and the National Training Board. The challenge and the opportunity are for the Government to find ways and means so that our economy can become more inclusionary.

Long-term Residents

One of the social issues related to the balance between economic benefits and social costs has arisen because of the historical laissez-faire tradition of allowing non-Bermudians to work in Bermuda without any time limit on how long any individual may remain in Bermuda. Non-Bermudians are granted permits to work in jobs where no qualified Bermudians are available. Each job that is held by a non-Bermudian on a work permit is advertised every three years. As long as no qualified Bermudian has applied, a work permit is generally renewed. Most work permits are for one year, although about one fifth of them are longer-term permits up to five years validity. Especially in those categories where the foreign workers are most concentrated i.e. where there are insufficient Bermudian workers to meet the demand, one finds significant numbers (estimated at 2,000) non-Bermudians who have lived in Bermuda for twenty years or more.

In recent years these long-term residents have called for extended privileges to work and reside in Bermuda. The Bermuda Government has produced a Green Paper on this subject which has been extensively discussed in the community and in the Legislature. Even at the stage of publishing the Green Paper on long-term residents, the Government had already decided that they should not be granted Bermudian status. The thought of large numbers of long-term residents being granted full citizenship rights in Bermuda fills Bermudians with fear that indigenous Bermudians and future generations :

· will not be able to afford to own a piece of land in their own land

· will not be able find good jobs in Bermuda

· will not be able to afford rented housing

· because they have nowhere else to go, will be imprisoned on their Island with no hope of a decent life

· will have their culture completely and irrevocably changed

The Government specified in its Election Platform that we would give security of tenure to those who have lived in Bermuda for some time, but that there would be a moratorium on granting Bermudian status until Bermuda's ultimate constitutional position was resolved. By that we are referring to the decision on independence. We specified in our Election Platform the guarantees which we felt should be given to those who are long-term residents.

In the Government's Green Paper on Long-Term Residents, the policy task is to try to address, as far as possible, the hopes of long-term residents to be acknowledged as belonging to this community, while balancing the concerns of the community. Sometimes the interests that we are required to balance are competing but I'd like us to look at whether they can in fact be viewed as more complimentary than divisive. If so, a relevant consideration is what can we do to make it less divisive.

The discussion and issues outlined in the Green Paper are not unique to the issue of long-term residents. Any discussion of sustainable development, if it is to be meaningful, must also tackle the issue of how we manage development, not just of physical infrastructure, but also of population dynamics. So generally, the immigration policy of small Islands like Bermuda involves politically sensitive and pivotal decisions. Decisions which include a discussion of how to manage the human capital and population of Bermuda. The desired goal is to have a situation which meets the needs first and foremost of Bermuda and Bermudians and also serves to address the Island's national economic interests.

Clearly a healthy society must be prepared to embrace all people of talent. Yet there are also considerations pertaining to quality of life issues and issues pertaining to sustainable development, which are crucial to this debate and determining the way forward.

The Green Paper reflects consideration of the issues. It lists a myriad of options, which range up to the possibility of granting Bermudian status with the express disclosure that this is not the preferred option of the Government. Clearly too, interwoven through the Green Paper is the tacit acknowledgement of the contributions that may have been made by long-term residents. The question posed is how best to recognize the contributions of long-term residents in some tangible form.

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will not be able to afford to own a piece of land in their own land

A person's ability to own land is a function of how well one has prepared him/herself to keep step with economic growth. This is most effectively accomplished through training, the gathering of economic resources, and the willingness to take risk and is not dependent on whether rights are granted to another. Those Bermudians who make no effort to keep step with economic growth in an environment wherein the Government does not aggressively promote education are forever destined to be relegated to the category of "have nots."

will not be able find good jobs in Bermuda

Whether or not a Bermudian is able to find a good job is a function of training. More than 50% of Bermuda's Long Term Residents are employed in low-level service jobs, 77.67% are over the age of 50 and approaching retirement, most have children and grandchildren who are already Bermudian or will be eligible to become Bermudian at the age of 18.

· will not be able to afford rented housing

As long as the Bermuda Government does not allow Long Term Residents who have been here for 20, 30, and 40 years to own property, there will always be upward pressure on rents. Because LTRs have not been allowed to own property, they have had no incentive to invest in Bermuda. Further investment in housing would ease the rental market.

· because they have nowhere else to go, will be imprisoned on their Island with no hope of a decent life

Bermuda boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Where else are Bermudians likely to go to make a better life? Granting citizenship to Long Term Residents will not imprison Bermudians on their own island. If this is such a concern, then the Bermuda Government should raise hell with the UK Government about granting Bermudians the right of abode in the UK.

will have their culture completely and irrevocably change

What is the Minister talking about here--ethnic cleansing? Bermuda's culture is a mixture of three major cultural influences--British, Portuguese, and Black (largely West Indian). Bermuda's Long Term Residents, as indicated by the Government's Green Paper, are 37.75% British, 27.4% Azorean Portuguese, and 14.88% West Indian. That is, more than 80% of Bermuda's LTRs are highly compatible culturally with Bermuda's own homogenised culture.