Date: Wed 23-Aug-2000

GOV'T PROCRASTINATION OVER ISSUE OF LONG-TERM RESIDENTS

BY PATRICK BURGESS

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Michael Dunkley has said Government was ``procrastinating'' on making a decision on long-term residents. Mr. Dunkley admitted making policy on the issue would be a difficult one as not everyone would be satisfied. ``At the end of the day no matter what decision is made the Government is still going to have to make a very difficult decision,'' Mr. Dunkley said. ``Because no one option is going to please everybody you're still going to have upset people.

``We were working toward the Working Residents Certificate and now they are proposing a Permanent Residents Certificate,'' he added. ``But the Progressive Labour Party is procrastinating. They're delaying having to make a difficult decision. ``They're procrastinating and that's what I call this Green Paper procrastination,''

Mr. Dunkley concluded, explaining he was giving his personal opinion before discussing it with his Party. ``As I said Friday this is a rehash of our Green Paper from 1997.'' Calling that Green Paper a ``pretty comprehensive document'' Mr. Dunkley said the United Bermuda Party had produced it following extensive canvassing of the public through forum and canvassing. He said ``there is only so much you can say and only so many options Government has'' and the delay in producing policy means more people are added to the rolls of long-term residents every day.

``The only real difference with this is that they have given their view in

the preamble,'' Mr. Dunkley said. ``Three years down the road and nothing has really changed. ``This was debated in the house, we had forums and we met with people,'' he added. ``All of this was in our Green Paper.'' Mr. Dunkley was glad to see the end of the idea of US-style Green Cards, which he said then-PLP Shadow Minister Alex Scott approved of as a solution. ``Well I think they realised that it leads to citizenship,'' he said. ``Alex Scott hung his hat on it. I guess they changed their minds. I believe that when you look at the long-term residents there are different categories you have to consider separately. ``The longer we wait the more people fill up the general category of

long-term resident. I would simply urge the Government to make a decision because we're making this a bigger class of people to deal with.'' ``Another thing is you need clear numbers on the long term residents,'' he said. ``I believe there are a greater number of long-term residents out there and Government might want to ask all of them to write in to Immigration so that they can track them.''

Mr. Dunkley admitted it was ``obvious'' Government intended to offer status

To Commonwealth citizens who lived in Bermuda since before 1976 and had the

Right to vote. ``They've been here for 25 years and if they aren't Bermudian nobody is,'' he added.