weekend chaos reported at the Civil Air Terminal, Customs figures reveal.

Between Thursday and Monday, Bermudians flew home with goods worth about $1.7 million, Collector of Customs Mr. Gerry Ardis told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

On Sunday, when the worst congestion was reported in the Airport's arrivals area, a record 1,240 Bermuda residents returned from abroad, Mr. Ardis said.

They paid duty of $64,091 on their purchases. That eclipsed the previous single-day record of $37,964 in Customs duties collected, on the same day of the same weekend last year.

On holiday weekends like the one that just passed, Bermudians fly to the States, "go to malls, and they shop until they drop,'' one Customs official said.

The Chamber of Commerce is calling for reduced import duties in Government's next budget to help address the problem, Chamber president Mr. Louis Mowbray said yesterday.

"It is a very serious situation,'' he said. "It is creating some very serious problems for local retail organisations.

It was increasingly difficult for local retailers to compete when selling appliances, electronics, and some types of clothing, Mr. Mowbray said.

"The price to be paid for Bermuda is that retail opportunities are going to be a lot more limited than they have been in the past.'' The Chamber has been talking to the Finance Ministry about steps that would give Bermuda retailers more price flexibility.

Specifically, "we'd like to see some measures that would perhaps reduce duties on manufactured, finished goods.'' Through cable television, discount stores in the US sent their advertising messages to Bermudian homes, and special weekend air fares and hotel rates were available, Mr. Mowbray noted.

Despite extra Customs staffing, the result was delays of more than two hours upon arriving in Bermuda on Sunday, followed by 90-minute delays on Monday.

Most of the travellers were residents, but frustrated visitors were also caught up in the jam.

Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess, who ordered an investigation into problems at the Civil Air Terminal on the weekend after Remembrance Day, said the numbers overwhelmed the beefed-up Customs staff.

"The number of returning residents and volume of goods purchased overseas were such that it was physically impossible to process arrivals any quicker,'' Mr. Burgess said yesterday.

"With the plan that was in place, they would have performed to the best of their ability,'' he said. "What we might want to do is look at ways and means by which we can fine tune the plan.'' Mr. Burgess was discussing possible measures with Finance Minister the Hon.

David Saul.

Mr. Ardis said that for the entire weekend, 3,299 returning residents paid $154,027 in duty on their foreign purchases. That meant goods worth about $1.7 million were bought overseas, he said.

"Quite frankly, we had everybody there that we could have had there,'' with extra Customs officers even called in from Hamilton, Mr. Ardis said. "There was no more room to put anybody else.'' While some cheaters are caught, most Bermudians are now declaring their foreign purchases, he added.

Shadow Tourism Minister Mr. David Allen said first impressions were important, and visitors should not get caught in the troubles that happened on the weekend.

"It's unacceptable, I think, from a Bermudian standpoint, and certainly unacceptable for the visitors,'' he said.