New Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton's statement that he will take a fresh look at the controversial policy in work permit limits is welcome news.

It is unlikely that he will drop the actual limits, but some clarification in the actual terms of the policy and the criteria for "key employees" and companies that are "good corporate citizens" would be welcome.

It is worth looking at the facts of the issue before rushing to judgment. Former Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox worked hard to resolve the issue of long term residents by issuing a blanket policy that allowed non-Bermudians who had worked and lived in Bermuda for 20 years up to 1998 to have secure rights of employment and residence. That was the right thing to do.

At the same time, to deter a similar problem arising in the future, she and her Government introduced term limits on work permits. Effective from 2001, these would set a cap of six years on work permit holders after which time they would have to leave. In certain circumstances, an extension of three years could be granted.

No term limits would apply if the employer was judged to be a good corporate citizen or where the employer could make the case that an employee was "key" to the success of the business. The employer could accomplish either designation by meeting a set of criteria laid out in the policy.

Key employees could be the top management of a company, people with particular skills or knowledge that are essential to the success of the company or people who have skills of which there is a worldwide shortage.

Good corporate citizens generally need to demonstrate that they actively recruited and train Bermudians through a range of criteria.

It is also worth noting that none of the above applies when a qualified Bermudian seeks a job. In that case, the non-Bermudian must go, regardless of whether the employee is "key" or not, or length of service. Thus the policy has nothing to do with forcing non-Bermudians out to make room for Bermudians.

What it does aim to do is prevent people who come for three years from staying for 20 and then demanding rights of residence or work for themselves and their families.

Just how great a problem this poses is debatable. Suffice to say it involves hundreds of people at the most and is, in essence, another example of a solution looking for a problem.

Still, the debate now is, essentially, over the criteria and the messages that have been coming from Government that are at variance with the stated policy.

While the criteria for a "key employee" seems sensible, there has been little clarity on just how it will be applied. The same problem applies for "good corporate citizens" which may be very much in the eye of the beholder and could vary enormously between a multi-million dollar international insurer and a small local company.

Still, all of this can be negotiated in good faith, and talks between the Bermuda Employers Council, various international companies organisations and so on were doing just that with Government before the General Election. Many companies may not have liked the policy, but assuming it was administered fairly, they could live with it.

Then former Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister announced that he would personally like to see a nine-year cap on all work permits, regardless of whether they were key personnel, good corporate citizens or not.

And while this was not policy, it caused panic in the international business sector. All Mr. Lister had to do to make it policy was to get the backing of a majority of his Cabinet colleagues.

Hence, all of the major international companies looked at other domiciles where they could move and function as they would like. Along with the fact that Bermuda has become the lightning rod for the anti-tax haven movement, the uncertainty about work permits - and businesses hate uncertainty - made this a real possibility.

It still is. In spite of the soothing words of Mr. Horton, these companies remain jittery and no one should make the mistake of thinking that Bermuda is the best place for them to operate, let alone the only place. In these days of mobile capital, they could still be gone within a matter of weeks.