Tour boat operators have criticised Government for failing to grant tax breaks to help their struggling industry in last week?s Budget.

They say that while they are pleased for the commercial fishermen who were given assistance, they feel overlooked and hard-done-by.

They claim that their industry suffers an unfair tax burden when it comes to selling their boats outside Bermuda as well as importing spare parts and purchasing fuel.

Minister of Tourism Ewart Brown said yesterday that he sympathised with their views, and promised to carry on pushing the issue on their behalf.

The boat operators have been lobbying for a change in current rules that mean their concession of ten percent duty on commercial boats imported from overseas is negated by the 33 percent duty that must be paid if a boat is sold on to a foreign buyer.

They told that it is their best interests to be able to buy new boats and offload old ones, but their unwillingness to sell to their Bermudian competitors means their fleet is becoming outdated.

The operators also believe it is unfair that while commercial fishing operators pay zero duty on spare parts to upgrade their boats they must pay 22 percent. The effect of this, combined with the burden of paying for fuel, they say, means they are struggling to survive.

They spoke of their frustration that while the Budget offered help to commercial fishermen including duty-free diesel fuel, nothing directly related to their industry was offered.

?We just shrugged our shoulders at the Budget and we don?t expect that Government will ever help us,? said Tour Boat Owners Association vice chairman Beez Evans, owner of Charter Bermuda which operates the catamarans and plus the motor yacht .

?Right now there are a lot of people selling their businesses ? many people want out. In the past four months four operators have advertised their businesses for sale.

?My average week is 70 hours and I have no family to support so I can put my money back into the business. I will keep going as long as I can afford to, but many people cannot.?

Mr. Evans said the duty burden of selling vessels abroad traps operators in old boats, and that the cost of fuel plus the duty on spare parts only adds to the pain.

?One of our biggest expenses is maintaining our boats and some of our operators are spending tens of thousands of dollars on fuel every month,? he said.

He is annoyed that following what he described as a ?positive? meeting of the Tour Boat Owners Association with Premier Alex Scott late last year, no action has been forthcoming since.

?We will keep hammering at this. There is a simple solution, but Government just won?t help us with it,? he said.

Paul Terceira, owner and operator of the catamaran , said of the tax breaks given to fishermen in the Budget: ?That?s great, but what about us guys? Why are we ignored? No-one has ever given us any answer to that.

?The situation has put a freeze on boats being taken off the Island and new boats being brought in to replace them. We have an ageing charter fleet, but we are important to tourism.?

Mr. Terceira said he was reluctant to accede to a Ministry of Finance request after the meeting with the Premier that the boat owners should provide five years worth of detailed financial information. Branding this ?an irrelevant delaying tactic? he continued: ?The Government has proved with the fishermen that they can respond when there are needs, so what?s the deal here? We cannot give up on this. This does not have to be in the Budget. They can still make concessions and changes.?

Minister of Tourism Dr. Brown said: ?I know about the concerns of the tour operators and I have lobbied on their behalf on numerous occasions but they have to understand that the Budget cannot make everyone happy, including ministers.

?I think the Minister of Finance does an excellent job of helping some people now and some people later, and tour operators would like to join with us in taking any special cases to the minister.?

Minister of Finance Paula Cox said: ?The Budget is not always about accommodating everyone who wants something ? it has got to be fiscally prudent.?

Ministry of Finance economic advisor Hasan Durham pointed out that tour boat operators have a number of benefits under the current rules. They can apply for a five year deferral on the ten percent duty on imported boats and have a relief duty of 22.25 percent on fittings for vessels plus zero percent on radios and radio telephones.

He said that following publicity in about the boat operators? concerns last year, the Ministry of Finance wrote in June to invite them to a meeting, asking them to provide information on their outlays prior to this. They did not respond.

?We said we were willing to talk, and that?s still the position,? said Mr. Durham.