Former Premier Sir John Swan is calling for Morgan's Point to be turned into an alternative business zone which could offer such enticements to non-Bermudian companies as long-term leaseholds and 100 percent ownership of their businesses.

In light of recent debate on the future of the former polluted US naval lands, the former Premier has put forth his own multi-point plan that would begin with paying prisoners to conduct the clean-up of Morgan's Point.

"Our prisons are full, prisoners come out, they have no means because they haven't earned any money while in prison and they have to come back and try to reintegrate themselves into our society and they have difficulty without having any means to be able to support themselves. What we should look at is how we can create an environment by which prisoners are put on the honour system whose job it is to work with the proper supervisors to do some of the major restoration work there." Sir John said that in return, prisoners would receive a stipend and a reduction in their sentence so: "They have some money when they come out, are given an incentive to work and get a reduction in their sentence so they feel as though they have accomplished something. If they have worked well then employers outside will be more inclined to take them on," he said.

Once restored, Sir John advocates creating a Morgan's Point quango to create an overall plan for the area for an alternative commercial and residential centre. That quango could entice foreign-owned businesses to build in the area by lifting the 60/40 ownership rule.

"It is an incentive to help redistribute economic activity on the island," he said. "It will bring in capital to be developed by companies that might want to put capital into a project like this that they don't do in Hamilton. Hamilton has a plan for development and the plan for the development of Hamilton will have its own momentum and its own critical mass and Morgan's Point needs that critical mass and it just helps redistribute activity in Bermuda itself."

Sir John says that businesses currently established in other offshore centres such as Cayman may be enticed by such a plan because it would allow them to relocate to a Bermuda where the impact of hurricanes has not been as harsh. He also believes that other countries such as Ireland may lose their appeal to business if the concessions they currently offer are wound down.

"Some of those concessions that have been under license to Ireland will expire in 2007 and if they do and there is no economic incentive for those companies to stay there, particularly with the cost they are now experiencing, some of them might bring their business back here," he said. "Same thing with Cayman and the hurricane or whatever else might come. You need to have a good infrastructure as Bermuda has, you have a fail safe system as much as you can and we just happen to be sitting in a part of the Atlantic where you might get an occasional hurricane but you are not likely to get the impact that you have seen in the Caribbean."

Sir John spoke with The Royal Gazette on Tuesday, the day this newspaper published a poll that showed six out of ten people back the idea of moving the docks out of Hamilton. The Total Marketing poll of 401 Bermuda residents, which was conducted last month, found that a majority, 28 percent, favoured Morgan's Point as the new location. Sir John however says that neither Morgan's Point nor Dockyard which followed in second place in the poll with 12 percent backing, is the right location . While Ducking Stool/Pembroke's North Shore was only favoured by eight percent of respondents, Sir John is keen on it and has even backed a study on the viability of constructing the docks in the area, because it is much closer to Hamilton. He says the westerly locations are not as practical because of the distance trucks would have to travel to move containers to and from town.

Sir John says that the creation of the alternative business centre at Morgan's Point would also reduce the amount of commuters on the road as more employees could work and live in the west end. He says the area could be the 100 percent ownership enticement could help turn the area into the Monte Carlo of the Atlantic. When asked if this meant attracting designer boutiques and chain stores such as the Gap, he said: Absolutely!:

"You've got to get rid of the 60/40 ownership out there in that quango and let people own 100 percent. Maybe you could get some of the quality stores and maybe it becomes a place for Bermudians to go for an afternoon or evening. Let's go to Morgan's Point or Morgan City for what we want because [currently a lot of companies like Cartier won't come to Bermuda," he said: "You can't talk about Bermudians going in and putting up that type of capital so you need to create an incentive for others to put their capital in and that would bring capital to that area in the fullness of time if somebody wants to put a headquarter building up there."

Like the plan he is espousing for the development of Hamilton's waterfront together with his plan for establishing docks on the North Shore, Sir John said his goal is to get the public thinking about a solution to each problem that will make Bermuda a better place for Bermudians.

Sir John said. "It's our future and hopefully enough people will say let's do something and hopefully the Corporation and Government will say yes let's do something. It does not necessarily have to be what was put forward [by us but it might act as the catalyst for what finally happens and that is the thing. We are not looking for any sole authorship at all. Bermuda has been good to a lot of people and particularly those people who it has been very good to, they should always be willing to put something back - not necessarily material, but at least ideas and ideals.""