A BERMUDIAN company boss has requested a meeting with Labour & Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister to discuss lengthy delays in work permit applications for his company.

And another major reinsurance company has met with top Immigration Department officials for an explanation as to why work permit processing is taking so long.

One business organisation told the Mid-Ocean News yesterday that work permit applications had seemed to have taken longer to be processed in recent months.

Assistant Chief Immigration Officer Rozy Azhar said yesterday that the department was still short-staffed but interviewing for new employees was going on now. And she added that the Department was also having a new computer system installed which should help to speed up processing.

A backlog which had reached around 2,000 permits on file by last September had clogged up the system.

Business bosses have claimed that permit processing delays that happen, even when no Bermudians apply for a post, pose a threat to the future of business on the island.

The Bermuda company owner who spoke to this newspaper declined to be named and said he had become so frustrated with delays which were harming his business that he had asked to meet with Mr. Lister to discuss the problems, but the Minister had so far refused his request.

"Straightforward applications are taking a long time to come through and I have heard that the Minster is personally vetting them," said the businessman. "That is why I have asked to meet him, but he has refused to meet with me.

"This is a serious situation but no one is saying anything because everybody seems to be afraid of Mr. Lister. I know that a major reinsurance company met with people from Immigration about this and came out saying: 'I don't know what we're going to be able to do'."

One source claimed to have heard from Immigration officials that Mr. Lister had been vetting work permit applications. However, another source who is in close contact with the department described that claim as "an outright lie".

And Ms Azhar dismissed the claim. She said: "The Minister only looks at applications referred to him by the board and those which are outside our policy. He is not reviewing every application. That is ludicrous. The current process is the same as it has always been."

Mr. Lister was off the island yesterday and unavailable for comment.

Diane Gordon, executive vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce, said: "I have not had any major complaints submitted to my office, but I have heard from our members that there appears to be a slowing down in permits going through in a timely fashion during the last few months.

"By that I mean that it appears to be taking quite a bit of time for the normal procedure to take place. Some people have submitted applications and have had to wait what they consider to be a lengthy period."

Ms Gordon, who said Chamber members ranged from restaurateurs to retailers, added that the longest waits were for new permit applications and renewals, while applications for temporary salesmen's permits were going through speedily.

"In our dealings with salemen's permits we have been fortunate in that the department has dealt with them efficiently and thoroughly," she said.

Ms Gordon said it was possible the slowing down in the permit application process in recent months could be down to incorrectly filled-in forms.

"There could be many reasons for it," she said. "As the Immigration Department has often advised, people have to be sure their applications are filled out correctly or it can slow things down. Our members do try to ensure that the information they give is complete and that they enclose the correct fee."

Ms Azhar said Immigration was hoping for improvements soon.

"We are very short-staffed and we are currently interviewing for key positions in the department," she said.

"In addition we are putting in a new computer system and we anticipate that will help us to improve our turnaround time."

She added that the period from November to April was traditionally the period when many permit applications came from the hotel and service industry - another factor which added to the current workload.

Ms Azhar said she could not give a date when the new system would be in operation, but she said it was now being tested.

Swizzle Inn owner Jay Correia, a former chairman of the restaurant division of the Chamber of Commerce who has been in the business for 12 years, said the time it took to process a work permit had been a long-time gripe in his industry, as much now as ever before.

"I don't know if they have got slower recently, but they are certainly still slow," said Mr. Correia. "Unfortunately I have to say I have not seen much improvement with regards to processing new work permits.

"I'd say renewals and new permits are now taking eight to ten weeks to come through. They still have a long way to go to get it right.

"It is less of a crisis with a renewal because people can continue to work while it is being processed, but it can be unsettling for the individual.

"It is particularly laborious getting permits for musicians and entertainers because there are more hoops you must jump through and that can take months rather than weeks.

"But I must say that when I have spoken to people in the Immigration Department, I have always found them friendly and helpful."