Term limits are already impacting businessesApril 10, 2006Dear Sir,As the Bermudian owner of a local investment company, I am concerned about the impact that Bermuda’s new Immigration policies are having on the Island’s economy now and, more importantly, the impact in the future.

I have a unique perspective on the situation since I spent 20 years abroad before returning to the Island to run a local company. I worked for 14 years in some of the most competitive markets in the world — New York, London and Toronto.

I returned to Bermuda ten years ago and created a new investment company on the Island because of the opportunities this wonderful island has always provided but I have decided to join many other financial service companies in moving jobs out of Bermuda in order to remain competitive.

Although the Immigration changes are still in the early stages, business owners know that the new term limit regulations are already having a major impact, as quietly behind the scenes, work permits are being denied or restricted to shorter time frames.

Or, as our work permit holders know very clearly, the ticking time bomb is getting closer, and they are being forced to make decisions now to return to their native countries.

They realise that they must not only find new jobs and housing, but often school arrangements for their children long in advance.

Many “Key employees” are planning to leave as they know their “Non-Key” working spouses will no longer have a job to support Bermuda’s high cost of living. In the short-term, the Government’s capital spending programmes and the 14 new insurance companies formed after last years’ hurricanes will distort the Island’s employment figures but Bermudians need to monitor the long-term impact of the new Immigration policies.

Talented employees are the fuel that drives any ‘service based’ economy and Bermuda has been successful because it has been very fortunate to attract some of the best legal and financial talent in the world. The Island has also attracted thousands of workers to fill positions where there are shortages of “blue-collar” labour. While I strongly agree that educating, training and employing Bermudians is vital in keeping Bermuda competitive, in a nutshell, there are simply not enough qualified Bermudians to keep the Bermudian economic engine going. Shortages of “non-key” workers have already occurred and this problem will likely accelerate as the seven-year rule is implemented next year.

We already know that recent studies done on Bermuda’s demographics show fewer young, educated job candidates coming back to the Island and a much higher population of retirees. Building a local business is starting to make even less sense to business owners like me who absolutely cannot operate without highly skilled workers and qualified support staff.

Most Bermudians agree that strong economic growth has come at a high cost, including increased traffic, housing price inflation and a negative environmental impact. These are all tough issues that need to be addressed but unfortunately it will be very difficult to slow the Bermudian economic engine without having a significant impact on the local standard of living. Quite simply it is impossible to grow an economy with a declining workforce.

The fastest growing economies in the world, such as India and China, are expanding by increasing their job markets and the greatest economic disasters were often the result of protectionism. Jim Rogers, the guest speaker at this year’s CFA dinner, noted that this was his greatest concern for Bermuda’s future.

In reviewing the reaction of the largest Bermudian employers to the new Immigration policy, I recognised one major trend. Employers are actively creating alternative locations in the US and other countries, so that that they can relocate their “Key Employees” to these jurisdictions in order to retain them. The term key employees would not only include the Immigration Department’s definitions but also includes those motivated employees that organisations want to groom and retain. Not every key employee is “an accountant, a sushi chef or a kitchen artist”.

Employers like me search the world for the best person for key jobs. We have to do this to compete. We do not want to lose these people in seven to nine years because of Immigration rules and we do not want them to think that they are temporary “Guest Employees”. The term “Guest Worker” is insulting and discriminatory. Organisations want to hire career employees who have the long-term interest of their companies as their main goal.

“Guest Workers” want to make as much money as possible while they are in Bermuda and do not have any long-term interest in the companies they work for. The term “guest worker” also sends the wrong message to local employees who often take on the “inferior expat syndrome”.

It is important for the Government to recognise that many companies now can move employees to other jurisdictions and a monitoring system should be implemented to gauge the impact of immigration trends. In the investment business the monthly employment figures that are released in the US and elsewhere include some of the most important statistics available for forecasting the health of an economy. Bermuda needs to collect and publish similar monthly figures in this important transition period. Longer term, employment and immigration growth targets should be determined by a team of financial professionals and economists in consultation with the Government. Immigration policy should be adjusted to meet those goals. In an island the size of Bermuda this process would be quite simple.

I suggest that an independent body collects monthly employment statistics from the thirty to fifty largest employers who represent a large cross section of the Bermuda’s employment base. The information collected would be confidential with only summary information, including overall and industry specific statistics published in a timely manner. If this situation is not managed correctly the Bermuda economic engine will grind to a halt, and Bermudians will also be forced to either close down or leave the Island.

BERMUDIAN BUSINESS OWNER

City of HamiltonEmpowerment of whom?April 10, 2006Dear Sir,It is no secret that the Government have increased the elderly pension allowance by four percent, leaving many with an income of $12,000 a year or less, and no gain due to the rise in the cost of living, which has cancelled out that very generous hike!

It is likewise, no secret that the Government have given the Senior Civil servants a pay hike leaving them with (let’s average it out) around $130,000 a year, possibly more.

The Premier used, in his address last week to the country, the word “Empowerment” almost one hundred times.

Now there comes the secret — what does the word “Empowerment” mean to Mr. Scott and his Government?

Travesty of Justice comes to mind, and we all know what the other Travesty was!

DIANA WILLIAMS

PembrokeWhy no organic milk?April 11, 2006Dear Sir,Why is it that grocers and health food stores in Bermuda are “banned” from importing organic dairy milk? This is the largest source of nutrition for children ages one and two and is vital in the development for all children up to the age of 18. I am a concerned mother of two small children and cannot understand why the Bermuda Government “protects” the local dairy farmers by disallowing anyone to import a product that is readily available in nearly all developed countries in the world.

I can fully appreciate that the local dairy farmers should be able to make a living. However, if there is something the farmers cannot produce locally, these products should be admitted for importation. Right now, you can buy imported organic soy milk, eggs, vegetables and fruit. Additionally, recently, the Marketplace was able to sell reconstituted milk in gallon containers. However, for some reason the dairy farmers continue to be protected when grocers attempt to import organic milk.

I would like to highlight some of the benefits of organic milk:

Research has established that organically reared cows, which eat high levels of fresh grass, clover pasture and grass clover silage, produced milk which is on average 50 percent higher in Vitamin E (alpha tocopherol), 75 percent higher in beta carotene (which our bodies convert to Vitamin A) and two to three times higher in the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthine than non-organic milk.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) levels, which is believed to boost immune function and reduce the growth of tumours, are generally higher in organic milk, possibly because organic cows eat higher levels of grass hay and silage rather than concentrates.

As well as having tangible health benefits, drinking organic milk minimises the risk of consuming chemical residues.

Organic cows are only given antibiotics when they are ill, while non-organic farms often routinely treat cows with antibiotics as a preventative measure, whether they are ill or not. Organic cows are not fed genetically modified cattle feed, and their feed is also free from solvent extracts and urea.

Organic dairy farms do not use artificial pesticides (insecticides, fungicides or herbicides) on pastures where cows graze.

By contrast, there are about 500 different pesticides licensed for use on non-organic dairy farms and 1,550 which can be used on non-organic mixed farms (farms which have both dairy cattle and grain crops).

Some experts believe that children may be particularly susceptible to pesticide residues — they have a higher intake of food per unit of body weight than adults, have immature organ systems and may have limited ability to detoxify these substances.

Are antibiotics, genetically modified cattle feed, solvent extracts, urea and artificial pesticides used in Bermuda? If so, in what quantities? Please give us a choice Bermuda!

CONCERNED

Southampton