Date: Fri 29-Sep-2000

EMOTIONS RUN HIGH AT GREEN PAPER MEETING

BY STEPHEN BREEN

Emotions ran high last night at the final public meeting held on long-term residents. Most long term residents who spoke, or those who defended them, were heckled at the meeting in the Whitney Institute in Smith's Parish. But other speakers denied this was hatred, insisting Bermudians were expressing anger about past injustices and frustration about current discrimination.

Many said the United Bermuda Party Government was to blame for not sorting

Out the problem, not the foreign workers. More than 300 people attended the fourth meeting on long-term residents chaired by Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox. Politics lecturer Walton Brown said: ``We have heard a great deal of<

outpouring in the reaction of the community. ``It is a reflection of the deep seated anger and deep state of resentment. Some of it is the regrettable consequence of a disturbing xenophobic trend. ``Past injustices are part of the search for an identity, to find out who and what is a Bermudian.'' Mr. Brown said the 1989 moratorium in granting status to foreigners should<

continue until the question of independence is resolved.

Betty Christopher, president of the Trade Union Congress, said if foreign workers did not intend to contribute to the good of Bermuda they should be offered no more than they get now. ``The reaction of many Bermudians to this issue has been misunderstood as hate. Nothing could be further from the truth,'' she said. Many Bermudians perceived foreign workers as a threat to their well-being because they did not join unions, were personnel officers who overlooked Bermudians, or who displaced locals, she said.

President of the Chamber of Commerce, Cris Valdez Dapena, speaking in a personal capacity, said most non-Bermudians were ordinary hard-working people in service industries, not managers. ``They are not villains come to deprive us of opportunities. They came to fill jobs that most of us did not want to do or had not at the time prepared ouselves to do. ``There are not ranks of unemployed Bermudians crying out to do jobs that these people do. ``Bermudians grew this economy and created the opportunities that brought long-term residents here. The bounty we have created has caused us problems because of the evolution of our lifestyles rather than the people we've brought in.''

Progressive Labour Party Sen. Calvin Smith said some long term residents wanted to protect the privileges they enjoyed under the United Bermuda Party, which also kept Bermudians and foreign workers ``at each other's throats''. The tension caused by the concentration of foreigners in white collar jobs threatened to ``tear asunder the social fabric'' or the ``conflict could spread to the service industry'', leading to physical and verbal abuse. Sen. Smith said the PLP Green Paper on long term residents offered a ``way out of that morass''.

Lawyer Victoria Pearman said long term residents wanted job security,

Security in retirement, a future for their children and the right to own property. ``That's what they want, but with the utmost respect, that's what Bermudians need,'' she said. ``We have to do the right thing for us and for our

children. We must be fair and just, but this is not the time to be nice.'' Her comments were met with loud applause, and one member of the audience<

shouted ``repatriation''. She continued: ``The policy must give pride of place to those people who are tied to Bermuda by bonds that are stronger than money, a good job, nice weather and a good golf course.``People of this country when they discuss these issues should be charitable, but remember, charity begins at home.''

An expatriate woman said she understood the bitterness felt by Bermudians but urged them to recognise foreign workers were neighbours and friends and

``stop the bickering''. A female speaker attacked those foreign workers who ``cried over spilt milk'' over status when they just enjoyed the money and made no attempt to integrate into Bermudian society.

A young Bermudian woman was heckled when she said: ``I've not come across any employer who hasn't expressed enthusiasm for young Bermudians who will show determination. ``They want to train young Bermudians but they don't have the skill sets.''Another who defended long term residents added: ``A lot of people don't have the guts to stand up and tell you because they are afraid, but I'm not afraid.''

Historian William Zuill said expatriates brought a spark to the countries in which they worked. He said while there had been complaints about them sending money home, it was the foreign money which built the hotels and flowed into exempted companies, creating prosperity.