Transport Minister Dr. Brown has not ruled out further privatisation after yesterday defending Cabinet's decision to outsource vehicle testing.

And the Minister defended granting the contract to Bermuda Emissions Control Ltd. without putting the contract to tender.

The company will also handle the new procedure of testing vehicles for emissions likely to start next year.

Since last year, imported vehicles have been required to meet international anti-pollution standards but new legislation will require annual testing of vehicles already on the roads.

Dr. Brown said awarding contracts without going to tender was sometimes done when there was only one company in the field.

He said the previous Government had already been in negotiations with Bermuda Emissions Control Ltd. and Cabinet had been happy to continue the relationship because of the research the company had already done.

Shadow Transport Minister Erwin Adderley confirmed the former United Bermuda Party Government had been in talks with Donal Smith of Bermuda Emissions Control as they drafted legislation on pollution testing.

However Mr. Adderley said his party would still have put the contract out to tender, although he admitted Mr. Smith would have been a front runner.

And he said although his party was in favour of privatisation in principle, it had not committed to privatising vehicle safety testing.

He said because emissions testing was a new procedure, no one can be put out of a job.

Mr. Adderley added: “But the second aspect of this makes it possible for civil servant redundancies.”

The Bermuda Public Services Union has already expressed horror at the plan, citing possible job losses and loss of revenue by getting rid of a department which makes Government $1 million a year.

Dr. Brown said he would welcome formal or informal talks with the BPSU over the issue.

He said: “I have not been approached by the BPSU.”

But Mr. Adderley said privatisation should have been discussed with the public and unions before Government pushed ahead.

Asked if further privatisation was on the cards Dr. Brown said: “Maybe, maybe not.”

He said if efficiency could be improved and Government could save money it was worth exploring. He said he preferred to see it in terms of a public/private partnerships.

And he said the BPSU's concern about job losses was symptomatic of an old way of thinking.

He said: “We have a finite source of labour and intend for that labour to be used.

“The same thing happened when we talked about fast ferries. Would it put people out of work? That's very outdated.”