forced to wait for over an hour to have his passport checked by Immigration officials at the Civil Air Terminal.

Mr. J. Black of Buckinghamshire, England, said only three officials were on hand to deal with more than 400 passengers when he and his family arrived in Bermuda on an afternoon flight three weeks ago.

And of the three, only two were available to check the passports of the majority of passengers, who were visitors to the Island. The other dealt exclusively with returning residents.

In a letter to The Royal Gazette , he wrote: "Nearing the front of the line, I was appalled to find that there were two or three immigration desks unmanned. Only once, for about two minutes, did a supervisor appear to redirect passengers to the unused residents line and this soon reverted to a state of disuse when she left.'' He wrote: "I am insulted by Bermuda's inability or unwillingness to resolve the problem and by its failure to manage the existing immigration resources to best effect. By such negligence, Bermuda affronts its visitors at the very point of entry and does nothing to promote its reputation for hospitality and service.'' But senior official at the Department of Immigration, Mr. Neville Smith, said that the complaint was the result of a "misunderstanding.'' "At no time would there be only three officials on duty at that time of day,'' he said. "We attempt to make sure that there are no fewer than 10 people on the desks.'' However, he said that problems did occur when airlines arrived off-schedule and three or four flights arrived at the same time. And he said that senior officers kept a constant watch at the desks at all times.

"We do take very seriously our arriving passengers and we try to process them as quickly and comfortably as we can,'' he said.