Construction companies are hopeful Government?s freeze on work permit applications will be lifted by next week, otherwise they fear it will have financial impact on their business.

On Monday, the Department of Immigration announced a freeze on all construction work permit applications to ensure Bermudian workers employed at the Berkley school site had found new work.

The freeze puts all permits for overseas construction tradesmen ? including those skilled in masonry, installation, electrical work, carpentry and plumbing ? on hold indefinitely until local workers find new work in their given trade.

Yesterday, members of the construction industry questioned the need for a freeze, telling the industry?s demand for workers does not justify it. Several said they continued to remain in the dark about former Berkley workers searching for employment despite an announcement by Labour and Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton yesterday that 18 workers from the trouble-plagued site are seeking jobs.

There are understood to have been 130 workers employed at the senior secondary school site.

However, members of the construction industry told they should have been consulted before the freeze went into effect.

Mel Wright, president of the Construction Association said he had been approached by one person looking for work and if there are more out there, he would like to know more about their situations.

Mr. Wright said the Association had some useful discussion with Government including Labour and Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton and Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess this week. There is still frustration in the industry about the lack of information.

?Most people in the industry don?t believe there is a need for a freeze, we don?t believe there are people out there searching for employment ? construction companies are struggling to find people,? said Mr. Wright.

?If Government came to us and said ?here?s the problem, what can we do about it?? we could work out the situation before this kind of decision was made as we speak . It?s not an issue of not understanding what they are trying to achieve. It?s our belief that we should have been consulted prior to the hold being put into effect.?

Pro-Active Manager Arthur Ebbin told it was difficult to say how many former Berkley workers were looking for employment, as the BIU would have that information. He added that many of the workers employed at the site were general labourers such as drivers and cleaning crews rather than speciality tradesmen. Companies often have to go overseas to find these kind of workers.

Managing Director of BCM McAlpine, Alan Burland said yesterday that he has found work for five former Pro-Active workers from the Berkley site over the last three months. He was able to employ one steel fixer this week and added that out of the firms 150 employees only ten percent were non-Bermudians.

?The hold hasn?t directly impacted us, but it will in short order,? he said. ?We have yet to see a list of who these people are and what skills they possess.?

Mr. Burland continued; ?We hope we will be consulted next week as things progress so the matter can be resolved as quickly as possible. If anyone is looking for work we ask them to follow the normal application process and visit our head office and fill out an application form.?