Bermuda business associations are not in the least surprised that CURE legislation was passed in the House of Assembly on Friday and expect it to be approved in the Senate.

But representatives from both the Chamber of Commerce and the Bermuda International Business Association expressed concern about the fact that Government had consulted with the business community about the race reporting forms, but refused to accept all of their recommendations.

Chamber of Commerce President Cris Valdes Dapena said she was disappointed that all companies would be required to complete form four, which asks for hiring, firing and promotional information when it had been suggested that the form only be required for companies whose form three indicated a severe racial imbalance.

"This is a completely new kind of record-keeping, with records of the type no companies have ever kept,'' Ms. Valdes Dapena said.

"The burden of the work will fall hardest on the largest of those companies who do not have a human resources department. The work will fall on people whose real job is something else altogether -- like running the company.'' But she said she didn't think the amount of work involved was the key issue, but found it disturbing that the Government was "imposing a burden of whatever magnitude on companies which, in fact, will have demonstrated that they are doing the right things.'' "It creates an environment in the business community where the community perceives the Government as intentionally creating an imposition where it isn't warranted by the need,'' said Ms Dapena.

"The best relationship between business and government is one in which business respects the government's need to have information, as it does with respect to CURE and form three. We accept form three because having completed it will do some good.

"Form four is nothing more than paperwork for the sake of paperwork, government for government's sake, and therefore it creates a negative feeling which is simply a pity, it didn't need to exist.

"There was fruit from the consultative process, there was good that came of it.

"But I wish that the fruit could have completely eradicated the sense of being at odds.'' Ross Webber of BIBA said the organisation's opposition to form four hadn't changed.

"We acknowledge and appreciate that there were concessions made. "We're pleased that extra time was taken and that the minister came back to the business community and we are certainly encouraged by the way that we participated in the joint action task force,'' he said. "That said, it's disappointing that one of our most fundamental compromises has not been adopted.

BUSINESS BUC