Sharol Simmons' resignation from her position as executive officer of Commission for Unity and Racial Equality CURE should not be seen as a sign of trouble at the organisation, says Commission chair Florenz Maxwell.

But as CURE was making plans for Ms Simmons' sendoff bash, at least one of its 10 commissioners had also submitted his resignation, The Royal Gazette can report.

And there is some concern within the Commission about its effectiveness.

Ms Simmons is leaving the post after six years for a job in the private sector. She declined to say anything other than that when asked to elaborate on her reasons for leaving. And Ms Maxwell told The Royal Gazette, effectively, that the press should leave it at that.

The Commission, it appears, is unwilling to go public about any internal issues being experienced fearing it might adversely effect its work at a delicate stage of development. Neither Development and Opportunity Minister, Terry Lister, nor Human Affairs director Kenneth Dill would discuss the issues despite repeated calls to their offices over the last week.

And Ms Maxwell would not comment on reports that a commissioner - Bryant Trew - had resigned. She said that she had been away for the last few weeks and will be brought up to speed on any developments at a scheduled meeting last week.

But when contacted again this week, she said, in response to a question about Mr. Trew's resignation : "I don't know because I haven't spoken to him".

"I'm very sad to see Sharol go. She was an asset to the Commission and the Commission will be poorer for her loss," said Mr. Trew.

Mr. Trew, who has been a commissioner for just six months, would not go on the record to confirm or deny that he had submitted his resignation.

Asked for his assessment as to how things were going at CURE he said : "For CURE to be effective it needs a great deal more human and financial resources".

He added that the "group of commissioners have great potential to create great solutions".

"I'm always surprised when staff submit resignations," said Human Affairs director Kenneth Dill of Ms Simmons' resignation. "I believe the Government is the employer of choice and I imagine too that the private sector feels the same way - they entice so many of our senior staff to join them".

Mr. Dill said he had no knowledge of any discontent among the CURE team. He would not return subsequent phone calls seeking comment on the commissioner's resignation. The Minister did not return any phone calls.

CURE recently published the first annual review of the Bermuda workforce. The report showed that blacks bore the brunt of institutional discrimination in terms of employment levels, income and benefits.

CURE has randomly selected 80 companies across the spectrum for follow ups with a view to addressing the problem. A handful of companies are set to be prosecuted for not turning in the mandated information.