A councillor for the City of Hamilton launched a one-man protest against giving status to holders of Permanent Resident Certificates.

John Holdipp III stood outside of City Hall yesterday holding a sign saying: “PRC’s we invited you to work — now we need you to go home, thanks.”

The protest comes as a response to Government’s decision to not challenge a court ruling which can allow some PRC’s to have Bermudian status.

Mr Holdipp was made a councillor for Hamilton last November after the resignation of Troy Symonds.

He has made similar protests before.

“We have an abundance of workers in this country and PRCs are helping to increase that abundance but we have a diminished opportunity for employment for locals,” Mr Holdipp told The Royal Gazette.

“In order for us to correct this challenge we have to say to some of them ‘listen you need to go home for a bit so that we can sort ourselves out’.

“Now that they don’t have term limits and now that they can stay as long as the boss wants them to stay, they have the opportunity to be here for 15 to 20 years and then they say they want status.

“With Minister [Michael] Fahy cancelling the appeal you’ve now left the door wide open so everyone of them can apply.

“If you drop that large amount of people on this small society the impact on the culture of this place will be catastrophic.

“If companies ever have to leave the Island, then we haven’t created a space so that we have something to fall back on.

“I am not trying to be overly critical or disrespectful to the Permanent Resident citizens but what I’m saying is we need to have an honest to God balance.

“This is only 21 miles and we have to be logical about how we move it forward.

“If the Minister chooses not to go through with it, so be it, but we can’t just sit down on it.”

Mr Holdipp said that he would continue to protest until more people “wake up”.