I READ through recent comments made by Mr. David Ezekiel, chairman of the Association of Bermuda International Companies, when he released the findings of a survey taken among firms in the international business sector and their employees.

I was principally interested in the opinions and concerns of the top management and CEOs of the off-shore business sector regarding the prospects of Bermudian Independence.

As I have stated before, I don't see the international business sector as a strictly Bermudian entity, not in the same way as, say, the Lindo Group of Companies that run supermarkets or a Barritt's Bottling Plant or Continental Motors Ltd.

I know that my fate as a Bermudian would be the same as theirs if somehow our economy was to falter. But when it comes to the off-shore companies, they would simply move elsewhere if there were serious upheavals in the Bermudian economy. Their interests are very different from mine ? and those of other run-of-the-mill Bermudians.

It was played down at the time but some of Bermuda's international businesses had already started to implement contingency plans to relocate business operations in other jurisdictions if the crisis at Belco was not resolved in a timely manner.

I would suspect that even before the Belco fires these international firms review and update their contingency plans to exit Bermuda on a regular basis. The off-shore sector operates here because of tax benefits ? not because they are particularly enchanted with Bermuda and the Bermudian people.

Their bottom line is, quite literally, the bottom line ? and given any threats to profitability they would be out of here in the blink of an eye. I would never attempt to deny the multi-billion-dollar boost these firms give to the Bermuda economy both directly and indirectly.

And in terms of employment, almost 4,000 Bermudians ? or ten per cent of the total labour force ? now work at these companies. Thousands of other Bermudians indirectly benefit from their presence here ? everyone from taxi drivers to landlords to electricians to contractors. As Bermuda struggles to revitalise its almost moribund tourist industry, the presence of international business here ? chiefly in the form of the re/insurance sector ? has kept the engine of Bermuda's economy running.

But as I have watched the international sector grow and witnessed its economic impact, I have seen its political influence in my country increase. And I have not welcomed this development. For I see a growing threat to my aspirations as a Bermudian for full national self-determination.

It is this country's right to pursue sovereign Independence if that is the wish of the Bermudian people. But the international sector is solidly opposed to such a move and is making its feelings on the matter known at every available opportunity.

This is going to result in a stand-off ? and maybe a backlash ? at some point. Many of those Bermudians who support Independence are saying it doesn't matter how many billions of dollars the international companies pump into the economy every year when a spin-off of their presence here is the fact that an increasing number of Bermudians cannot find affordable housing and have been reduced to living in cars or on Bermuda's beaches in tents.

What does it matter what the international sector's contributions are if you are a Bermudian couple who has saved, say, $200,000 but cannot find an affordable house and are unable to persuade the banks to provide you with a loan?

Bermudians have long resigned themselves to the fact that the new housing and condominium developments with their $1-$2 million price tags are not being built for them. We also know that international businesses subsidise the rents of their top employees, mostly non-Bermudian, and as a result have distorted the real estate market because they can pay rents that are completely out of reach for the average Bermudian.

So an increasing number of Bermudians are now asking out loud: Who are the real beneficiaries of the so-called Bermudian economic miracle?

The comments made by Mr. Ezekiel concerning Bermuda's educational system struck me as particularly ironic. I mean that in this respect: traditionally it was Bermuda's white community who have sent their children to private schools.

Now they are finding themselves in competition with the children of the top management of international businesses for school places. Given the larger and larger financial contributions the international companies are making to private schools, it seems reasonable to conclude this money probably comes with strings attached in terms of setting a growing number of places for the children of VIP guest workers.

I have long considered that we as a country have begun to pay too much in terms of the way Bermuda's economy is developing. We now have an economic structure in which the rich get richer and the poor have no realistic way of ever catching up.

While the Bermudian economy certainly brings great benefits to some, it is now beginning to threaten the ability of the rest of us to actually live in this country. Of course, the answer to the growing influence ? and pressures ? being created by our dependence on the off-shore sector is to work overtime trying to revive tourism.

But, of course, any such move is largely blocked by the mindset of too many Bermudians who have become comfortable with the current status quo. They are not looking either at the future or Bermuda's ability to continue as an economic one-trick pony.

I am not an economist but I do know this: if we as a country want to preserve a decent standard of living for mainstream Bermudians while also denying the international sector the right to veto such important Bermudian decisions as the right to national self-determination, then we must not only start thinking about the need to diversify Bermuda's economy but we must also act on those thoughts. Now.