without any locally produced goods. As incredible as it sounds, that is what seems to have been agreed to by the Ministry of Transport.

Bermudians and their Bermudian wares will be allowed in shops in the Airport area before passengers pass through US Customs and US Immigration but not in the shops in the departure lounge area. For a long time there have been disturbing reports that the shops in the departure area were to be handed over to an international "duty free'' company and not to Bermudians. Now it seems that could well be true. There is also every indication that the restaurant could be a Grape Bay Ltd. McDonald's.

What is this Government doing to Bermudians? Once again there is a funny smell.

What is this Country coming to? Perhaps a rather run down version of an American town but in technicolour.

It is difficult to understand how Government could have gotten into this situation. Who makes these embarrassing decisions? Does no-one think about the implications? We agree with Colin Curtis of the Bermuda Perfumery who wants to sell his products at the Airport, when he says: "It's a ludicrous situation - it's a legitimate expectation of Bermudian manufacturers that Government would represent them. But the Bermudian Government is doing nothing to help them -it's an insult to all Bermudians.'' If it is a question of paying duty to the US Customs on Bermudian goods for sale inside the US barrier, then the duty should be paid. But it seems that we are dealing with more than that, a decision simply to exclude things Bermudian. It looks to us very much like a boycott of Bermudian goods and that cannot be acceptable in Bermuda's Airport.

We agree with Mr. Curtis. If Bermudian goods cannot be sold there, then nothing should be sold there.

Government seems to have made this decision in isolation from the people. It is not a decision which takes into consideration the realities of Bermuda or the perceptions that people have of the way Government now operates. It may be an expedient decision. It may be economically sensible. It may even have been forced on Government. However, excluding Bermudians who are ardent entrepreneurs from opportunities in Bermuda is not a decision which will ever sit well with Bermudians. Can no-one in Government see that? We cannot agree with Mr. Curtis when he suggests that if the problem cannot be surmounted then Bermuda should drop the special pre-clearance Customs arrangements with the US and clear Customs on arrival in America like other countries. That is not an answer which would help anyone. Pre-clearance is very, very valuable to Bermuda and should not be disturbed. Without pre-clearance you can only enter the US via the cities where there are US Customs and Immigration facilities and that is very restrictive.

But the problem of the sale of Bermudian goods does have to be surmounted.

Government should know by now that some things simply "do not wash''. We lurch from one controversy to the next because no-one is thinking.