Bermudians must engage in a national debate on the future direction of their Island to guarantee a prosperous future, Sustainable Development Project team leader Ross Andrews said last night.

Addressing a relatively sparse gathering of around 25 people at St. James Church in Somerset, in the first of a series of scheduled public meetings on the topic, Mr. Andrews said it was his hope that sustainable development will become an issue which galvanises the public into expressing their views and thinking critically about their future.

The object of the public gatherings, Mr. Andrews continued, was not only to provide a forum for discussion but also to give the Project team a sense of what issues were important to local residents ? issues which will form the basis of an Action Plan to be submitted to Cabinet in a few months. ?What we are really calling for is a national debate on the future of Bermuda,? he said.

?If people are talking about issues of sustainable development across dinner tables, in pubs, in restaurants and clubs then we on the Project team will feel we?ve done a good job. We need to establish what the priorities are for Bermudians and there has to be a balance between what we know as policy makers and what Bermudians believe and desire.?

Despite the relatively small number of participants, conversation throughout the evening was lively and focused on a broad range of social, economic and environmental issues.

For the initial part of the meeting, Mr. Andrew asked those present to identify what they thought to be the positive aspects of Bermuda.

It was crucial, he said, that the Project team had a grasp on what parts of the Island Bermudians wanted preserved and that the Project team did not devise a plan which would ?throw the baby out with bath water?.

Among others, a list of suggestions included Bermuda?s flora and fauna, its beaches and natural beauty, the uniqueness of its architecture and the Island?s sense of community spirit.

Participants were then asked to speak to their areas of concern, chief among which was the perennial dilemma of the desire to preserve open space and arable land versus the urgent need for more affordable housing. Other issues raised included immigration concerns and the continued influx of foreign labour, the need for a more comprehensive recycling programme, the obvious dangers of Bermuda?s ?palpable? over-reliance on international business as the linchpin of the economy (?a chair with one leg? as one man described it), an education system which was at best ?mediocre? in the opinion of some, the growing levels of violent crime and the perception that the youth of Bermuda have become the ?lost generation?.

The need for a stratified system of income tax to lessen the growing divide between the rich and the poor, as well as a call to intensify agricultural production locally to reduce the Island?s dependence on imported foodstuffs were two of the other more interesting, if somewhat controversial suggestions to be floated in the debate.

The next meeting will be held at Penno?s Wharf Cruise Terminal in St. George?s tomorrow night, starting at 7 p.m.