Government was hit by a barrage of criticism again yesterday by construction firms and the Opposition over its plans to pay builders a cash bonus for hiring Bermudians.

Three Bermudian owners of construction firms on the Island said paying the contractors and sub-contractors of the new Berkeley Institute $250,000 as an incentive would not ease the problem for the industry.

Each of them said they would snap up the chance to employ more Bermudians, but said they faced huge problems in finding staff who wanted to work and were prepared to stick it out.

None of the owners wanted to be named for fear of reprisals.

But one said: "We are not big enough yet to require a huge crew, but we do have a lot of problems with Bermudian staff.

"Their work ethic is all wrong. They are complacent and regularly don't even show up for work. They do not want to learn, and it is costing me a fortune continuously trying to train new people coming in.

"I can get by at the moment, but when I come to expand I will be faced with a huge problem because you simply cannot operate like that -- with people not showing up. They know they can leave one job and walk into another.

"Paying the contracting firms $250,000 incentive is not the answer. Changing the ethic is the answer. This money could have been better spent on social programmes.'' Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott has introduced the pilot scheme into the $70 million project in a bid to get contractors to hire Bermudians and offer training.

He said in the past, locals could not get jobs on major building sites because firms had gone overseas for labour.

The contractors awarded the Berkeley contract will be given a cash bonus for every Bermudian they hire. In turn, they have promised to invest the incentive in training.

But another construction firm owner, who does hire some foreign workers, said the "mindset'' in Bermuda needed to change.

Cash for labour draws fire Bermudians for years, but they are not interested in working, at least in construction.

"The productivity of foreign workers is about three times the productivity of a Bermudian.

"It would be much easier for managers to hire locals, rather than bring people in from overseas.

"I have tried to talk to local workers until I am blue in the face, but they don't want to learn. They want to get home by 4 p.m., but an ex-pat will work 70 hours a week.'' And the third Bermudian contractor said Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott could have channelled the $250,000 into providing additional housing for the homeless, or food for the hungry.

He said: "The problem is with the local workers. Most of them don't want to work.

"They want to give you 50 cents worth of work for a dollar's pay. The problem is not that firms don't want Bermudians, of course, we do. It is a hassle to go through immigration.'' A spokesman for one of Bermuda's largest contractors, which wished not to be named, said they did not believe there were enough construction workers in Bermuda to carry out the Berkeley project, anyway.

And he added: "We employ just about all Bermudians and we have no difficulty in recruiting, although our turn over is very low.

"We really don't see the need to be paying an incentive to get Bermudians involved.'' And he said it would depend on the honesty and integrity of the contractors whether or not the money was spent on training.

He said in the experience of his company, contractors would say "almost anything'' if they thought it would help them win a contract.

The Royal Gazette also called D&J Construction, who did not want to comment, and BCM McAlpine, who was unavailable for comment.

Shadow Works and Engineering Minister C.V. (Jim) Woolridge accused Government of using the cash incentive as a "political trick''.

He said: "I think this is a ridiculous scheme.

"We have a country where we have more jobs than people to do them, yet the Minister is trying to pay people to work.

"It is a cheap political trick that will cost the tax payer deeply in the end.

"We have an immigration board that is there to control the flow of non-Bermudian workers on the Island.'' And he said there was no guarantee the money would be spent on training.

He added: "There is no way of knowing that training has been provided.

"And what will happen if Bermudians show up for a day or two, and then fail to turn up after that. Will the incentive still be paid then?'' Last night, Mr. Scott defended the scheme and said contractors who claimed Bermudians were lazy were "extraordinarily prejudicial''.

He said no employer should generalise like that about a work force.

He added: "Three contractors is not the construction industry. It sounds as though they have a very bleak outlook on the industry.

"We are trying to address the problems. We want to get Bermudians into the industry. If I accept what they are saying, then we may as well pack up Government and bring in a foreign government.

"I am trying to attract into the industry mature, enthusiastic and trained individuals. It is extraordinary that we should have to encourage folks to hire Bermudians, but we do.

"And we are not isolated in this. There are many other countries doing the same thing. If you look on the Internet you can see that.'' When asked, Mr. Scott admitted that, as yet, there were no checks in place to ensure the money was used to provide training.

But he said the contractors had said, in writing, that they would, and progress would be monitored.

He added: "The contractors came up with that idea themselves. They said they would use it for training -- they were never prompted or asked. "No one else has ever had employers commit to training like this.'' Mr. Scott is expected to announce in the next week which one of the two favoured companies will be awarded the contract for the new school.

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