Union leader Edward Ball has called for Government to come clean on whether it is really serious about Bermudianisation after yet another top post went to a foreigner.

He spoke out after American Charles Green was appointed Bermuda College president ahead of local hopeful Larita Alford who has been Vice President since 2000 and has held senior posts overseas.

He said: ?I have to be concerned in my calling for a formal statement by this government on what is meant by a Bermudianisation policy.

?Government and others are continually finding loopholes, excuses and reasons why people who are qualified and experienced are ?not suitable?. That is the new word being used.

?The question is why are people not being deemed suitable??

He said it was no excuse to reject a candidate over other issues because they should have been addressed by performance appraisals rather than telling people at the last moment there were other factors which had scuppered their chances. ?The Bermudian candidate doesn?t know what hit them because someone never had the strength to raise it performance appraisals.

?I have seen it done. I know politics with a big P and a small P that go into these decisions.?

He said proper training and succession planning should mean Bermudians were not labelled ?not suitable.?

Mr. Ball said he was talking to consultants and agents in Canada and England about job swaps to boost training and experience for locals but there had been little interest in it ?because it doesn?t come from an MP or someone who?s going to benefit from it.

?There are more egos around here than anything else.?

He said the problem of Bermudians being passed over for jobs and promotion was throwing up some extreme examples including a Maitre d? who had run seven restaurants in the US Congress over 22 years could not get a job in a Bermuda hotel.

?It really does happen.?

Dr. Green is 64 and was appointed for three years with the brief of finding suitable local candidates to replace him. He replaces fellow American Michael Orenduff who was the first non-Bermudian in the college?s 29-year history. Mr. Ball pointed out that the age limit for Government workers on the pension plan was 65 but he suggested Government might not put him on the pension plan.

?That?s one of the loopholes.?