The One Bermuda Alliance has renewed its call for foreign nationals to be able to obtain Bermuda status.

The party should also review its position on the issue, according to Michael Fahy, the Shadow Minister of Housing and Municipalities, and Home Affairs.

Mr Fahy spoke out after attending the Government’s Cost of Living Summit on Wednesday, during which dozens of experts, including retailers and couriers, gave their thoughts on the issue.

Mr Fahy claimed yesterday that the summit highlighted an already well-known fact that economies of scale were the root cause of Bermuda’s high cost of living — and that attracting foreigners to the island to boost the population was the obvious solution.

He said: “There was one consistent theme throughout the entire day, and that was economies of scale and the requirement to have more people on the island.

“The Government doesn’t want to accept the reality that the way to lower costs is to have more people here to spread the cost. It’s a very simple economic model.

“This is not rocket science. Create an environment and invite people to move to Bermuda and remain in Bermuda, and if that means having to give status to encourage people to buy and invest, let’s do it.”

Mr Fahy said the newly introduced corporate income tax was another reason why the island needed to pull out all the stops to make it as attractive as possible.

He said: “Those companies that are paying this money are going to want something. They are going to want to make sure they can get their people here and will have security here.

“So what do you need to do? You need to give them status.”

The granting of Bermudian status to foreign nationals would mean them gaining unrestricted property ownership rights and the right to vote.

The Progressive Labour Party has said that foreigners will not qualify for status under its watch.

Instead, foreign nationals can obtain a permanent resident’s certificate — with limited rights — after being on the island for 20 years.

The Opposition had previously pledged to offer PRCs after 15 years, and full status after 20.

Mr Fahy suggested that those details could change.

He said: “How that looks and what time period is appropriate needs to be carefully examined based on all circumstances including job needs, age factors, economic resources, time already spent in Bermuda and other variables. There could be various strands.”

Mr Fahy said that the summit did not reveal any new information about the causes of the high cost of living, while many of the solutions offered were just “nibbling at the edges”.

He said: “It would appear that the Government is out of ideas, which is why we had this summit.

“Having sat through most of it yesterday, I can honestly say that I didn’t hear anything that I haven’t heard before over the last five to ten years. I didn’t hear anything different that we didn’t say as the OBA ten years ago. It was very frustrating.

“If this was the first time the Government was hearing some of this stuff, then what the heck have they been doing for the last eight years?

“If that is the first time, then that is absolutely outrageous — they’ve failed.

“If I learnt anything, it is that there now seems to be alignment across the board that we need more people on the island if we’re going to spread the cost.

“That is where the OBA has been consistent — that is a requirement on all of this, and until you deal with that straight up, none of this is going to change.

“That’s what worries me. We can have summits, but without the human capital there will be no investment.”

Mr Fahy also said that the Government needed to do more to encourage a boom in housing development.

He said: “You need more people, which means you need more housing and more stock — more studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

“Remove every bit of red tape, build and give the major concessions that are required.”

The Government has introduced a number of tax breaks in recent years to counter inflation.

Addressing that issue, Mr Fahy said: “Customs duty relief is nice. Everyone likes to have a bone thrown.

“But in the grand scheme of things it’s not a game changer; it’s not a panacea. The panacea is economies of scale and getting more people here — that’s basically what everyone is saying to us.

“What we’re doing is nibbling at the edges. We’ve got to take that big decision and just get on with it. And we have to do it now.”