Accusations of alleged infractions of work permit policy have been denied by Christopher Schuler, the managing director for the BAC Group of Companies.

Walton Brown, Shadow Minister of Immigration and External Affairs, yesterday called on the Department of Immigration to act against the company and open an investigation.

He alleged that BAC had a number of staff at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital who were carrying out welding work, which is outside the remit of their work permits.

“It is once again distressing to get reports of companies wilfully violating immigration policy and the OBA Government needs to respond strongly to such violations,” Mr Brown said.

“When questioned by Government staff, BAC reportedly replied they were surprised they were being ‘spied’ on and further commented they did not have time to get Bermudians up to speed.

“I find this deeply troubling for two reasons: Bermuda has an abundance of qualified welders, who are licensed by the Bermuda Government, and no person is allowed to work as a welder who is not certified by the Bermuda Government. These employees are not licensed by the Bermuda Government.”

But Mr Schuler said: “There are a total of four employees at the KEMH site.

“The work that is being carried out is very specialised, given the job involves the complexity of tying the old and new hospital facilities together, and the particular position in this case requires a combined knowledge of pipefitting and welding.

“The position was advertised as required and the advertisement clearly states that both pipefitting and welding is a requirement of the position, among other things, such as a knowledge of steam and condensate systems. I include a copy of the advert for your information.

“The speculative assertions of multiple violations made by Mr Brown are incorrect as to fact.

“BAC has always been a committed, Bermuda-centric corporate citizen and out of 242 employees, as of today 81 per cent are Bermudian.

“We have, through our HR department, various apprentice and training programmes for Bermudians for all trades, which we have maintained for decades.

“BAC is looking forward to co-operating fully with any inquiry by any regulatory or governmental body.”

Mr Brown had added that he suspected that “this violation and that reported recently are merely the tip of the iceberg and companies somehow feel they can violate the law with impunity”.

“Companies who engage in such practice need to be restricted from applying for any work permits at all,” he said.

“This continued pattern of lawlessness makes it evident that the current penalties for immigration violations simply aren’t a deterrent to those who are prepared to deny capable, qualified Bermudians an opportunity to work in their country of birth.”

Senator Michael Fahy, Minister of Home Affairs, thanked Mr Brown for his “most diligent work permit surveillance” and promised that if information received was credible, the department would take action.

“It is regrettable that the shadow minister has taken it upon himself to ‘name and shame’ an alleged violator of immigration policies before the matter has even been investigated and a finding made,” Mr Fahy said.

“It would be far more of a public service for MP Brown to bring relevant information to the attention of the Chief Immigration Officer, who can take the steps required to verify the authenticity of the complaint being made, rather than running to the press.

“As regards the deterrents in respect of work permit violations, MP Brown appears to have conveniently forgotten that the OBA Government introduced the concept of civil penalties and doubled the fines for criminal penalties in respect of work permit violations.

“He also seems to have forgotten that the Chief Immigration Officer currently has 21 cases before her. Actions taken by the Chief Immigration Officer do not preclude me as minister from pulling work permits or refusing to grant new permits.

“I am proud of the work undertaken by the department and the diligence they put into investigations.

“By and large, despite the rhetoric of the Opposition, employers follow the work permit policy. There are some exceptions, but I do not believe violators are as numerous as constantly suggested by MP Brown.”

•For the BAC advert, click on the PDF file under “Related Media”.