There have been significant changes for the better under the Progressive Labour Party, says small business owner RobertGeorge Peets.

The 62-year-old, who has been running a tiling business for 37 years, used to struggle with getting permission to get his vehicle on the road at weekends.

It led to the ludicrous situation of having to drive his van to the jobsite on a Saturday night and then turn up a different way to work on Sunday if TCD had turned him down for a weekend permit. "That was a stupid hassle," he said.

Some trades were penalised, while others had it easier.

But now those weekend permits are far easier to come by.

"The current administration has freed up all that," Mr. Peets said.

He also recalls fighting a losing battle to use foreign labour under previous UBP administrations but says Labour and Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess — despite his union background — understood the needs of business.

"At the end of the day, we are the ones who row this boat, its tax dollars, we run this Island — not people who call talk shows and complain," he said.

He remembers the battles he had with Immigration under a UBP Government in the 1980s when he was told he had to subcontract work while other contractors seemed to have an easy job hiring overseas at will.

"This Minister is very understanding. It's not sour grapes, it's just a fact. This administration is very, very approachable."

But he said the UBP had kept a firm grip on who got ahead and who didn't in its years in power.

"Since 1998 it's freed up for so many contractors," he said.

Mr. Peets would still like some red tape to be cut, such as the restrictions which mean advertisements can only be carried on the side of vans rather than the back or front. "Who can see it? Another car going past at $35 kph?"

He believes advertisements on the ends of vehicles would also make sure those drivers obeyed the speed law as other motorists could easily report them if they were spotted going too fast.

Mr. Peets likes the PLP's plan to boost technical training in schools so students can leave with certification in a trade.

"Every child has a gift," he said. "As soon as you can — tap into it and get the child focused. But it has to start early."

And not just with the boys.

"I have had a girl out there who tiles really well and there are female plumbers out there," Mr. Peets noted.

The PLP's plan to set up sector councils to identify what skills are needed in industry is also something he believes would be of benefit.

Asked about the UBP's plan to award 20 percent of all Government — worth about $70 million a year — to small contractors, Mr. Peets said it was important they were given to people who had a track record of completing a job.

"Not just because this is a quota."

Some of Bermuda's economic ills are self-created, said Mr. Peets. Despite the money flowing around, poor personal choices meant people were often not getting ahead because they were not saving, he suggested.

"So many Bermudians wear their wealth on their back or around their neck," he said. "If you make $1,500 a week and you are spending $1,490 you are working for $10. They do it because they think in another seven days they can get another $1,500.

"People should learn to spend their money in the bank, not the store, that way you can get it back.

"Money management needs to be taught in schools."