Speaking on the immigration budget head yesterday, Senator Reginald Burrows defended Government?s decision to end the right of Bermudians to sell top end property to non-Bermudians.

He said 15 percent of Bermuda?s land mass was owned by non-Bermudians and he said criticism that recent regulation changes had been done without consultation had missed the point.

He said: ?Consultation would have tipped off property speculators who would have done all they could to get as much land sold to non-Bermudians as possible.?

However Opposition Senator Bob Richards said Government had jumped the gun by changing the regulations on property sales before they had introduced laws to crack down on fronting trusts which hid property bought illegally by non-Bermudians.

That loophole was still open said Sen. Richards who said Government should have stayed quiet until the whole package was ready to go, although he questioned how many people were using fronting trusts considering there was no statistical data.

He said Government has schizophrenic by allowing foreign bank HSBC to buy the Bank of Bermuda and thus hold thousands of mortgages and thereby have a claim on the land while making a fuss about individual properties being sold.

Government Senator Walter Roban said Government was finding out the fake trust problem was very real even though realtors and lawyers didn?t want to admit it.

Opposition Senator Kenny Bascome said the Island needed to have an in-depth look at the issue of immigration and he questioned why Government had started so many building projects at once during an overheated economy.

He said a long-term plan was needed but he welcomed Government?s pledge to help those put out of work by the closure of Trimingham?s.