Bermuda would be in a stronger position to negotiate for more air routes if it becomes an associate member of Caricom, Health Minister Nelson Bascome told a public meeting on the issue last night.

In the final public meeting at Penno's Wharf cruise terminal, St. George's, Mr. Bascome said: “Our air links are dictated by the UK. “Now that the UK has given us the go-ahead for Caricom (negotiations), within Caricom we have flights flying over every day, four or five times flying over Bermuda, and all those airlines would be able to negotiate with us. It is something the Transport Minister will be looking into, and also the Tourism Minister.”

Mr. Bascome said Caricom health ministers recently met the United States Secretary of Health about getting a reduction in the cost of anti-viral drugs.

“For that we pay dearly. If we get the US Secretary of Health negotiating for Caricom countries, we could get some benefit from that. I would hope that sooner rather than later we can get some benefit from that,” he said. In response to a member of the public who asked why the electorate could not vote on the matter in a referendum, Mr. Bascome, the chair of the Government committee looking at Caricom, replied that Government would not go down a path that was not in the best interests of Bermuda.

PLP MP Ottiwell Simmons, another member of the committee, said: “We don't consider this a done deal or a decision, or ‘that's it and we don't care what you say'. We genuinely want to hear what you've got to say.”

Audience member Helen Branch urged Government to look to the Caribbean education system because it was much better than Bermuda's. In response to a question from Caricom supporter Ian Pitcher, Mr. Bascome affirmed that, like the Bahamas, Bermuda would want a situation where its citizens could work in other parts of Caricom, but restrict those coming here. Another speaker said Bermuda had problems such as a lack of housing and should sort these before looking to join Caricom. A Mr. Trott, who opposed joining, said: “Our education system is bad, but that doesn't mean Caricom will fix it.

“Bermuda is an advanced economy, it is an advanced country, so what benefits are there to moving backwards to a region that is under-developed or is at the developing stage whereas Bermuda is developed and in the developed world?”

Mr. Bascome said his experience of Caricom countries was not that they were backward, “but if they are backwards and struggling and we find ourselves on a pinnacle, aren't we our brother's keeper?” He said Bermuda could lead in e-commerce and be the centre for a Caribbean stock exchange.

Stanley Trott, who is against joining, said establishing a regional stock exchange here would mean bringing in more foreign experts because there were not enough on the Island, leading to more strain on housing. Ex-PLP MP Rodney Smith said: “We would love for there to be consensus, for Government to come to the people, but if the issue has already been decided, where is the consensus?”