An Opposition bid to block controversial regulations for mandatory reporting of racial make-up in the job market came within one MP of succeeding yesterday.

The United Bermuda Party called for a quorum -- 14 MPs plus the Speaker -- just after the lunch break yesterday.

And Government managed to collect 13 MPs in the five minutes allowed by Speaker Stanley Lowe. But with Opposition Whip Cole Simons -- who made the snap call for a headcount -- the sole representative on the other side of the House the numbers were made up and the debate continued, with the regulations being passed.

Opposition leader Pamela Gordon said the quorum call -- and an earlier plea by Shadow Development and Opportunity Minister Allan Marshall for the debate to be suspended for six months -- highlighted division in the community over the regulations. Ms Gordon said: "It was evident to us that the community at large has not been sufficiently consulted and they have not had a chance to persuse these regulations. This Government is barrelling ahead.'' Around 26 MPs were present in the House at the time of the headcount, but only 12 were in the chamber at the time.

And Ms Gordon asked why, if the new rules were so important, there were so few MPs present. She added: "Obviously it is not that important to Government and since there would only have been a delay of one week, it would have been better.

"We were simply trying to buy some time -- our role is to make people understand that there is this feeling of arrogance and dictatorship and we're trying to get information out to the public.'' CURE regulations passed Continued from page 1 But earlier Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister insisted that a climate of suspicion and mistrust "was more destructive to harmony'' than the new regulations.

And he said nearly half of all positions held by white people were in "higher paid professional jobs'' -- with white people also over-represented in clerical/administrative posts.

Mr. Lister pointed out it could be racism -- or several other factors causing the imbalance.

But he said: "The answer to the question is we just don't know. But what we do know is that this people's Government intends to find out.'' And he said: "The business community should now be looking forward to new employment practices for ridding the workplace of racism.'' The regulations -- coupled with giving the formerly voluntary code of practice drawn up by the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality legal teeth -- affect all firms which employ ten or more people.

Companies will now have to register with Government and supply annual reports on recruitment, training, promotions and dismissals based on race.

Failing to register with CURE carries a $1000 fine -- and failure to supply the required information could lead to a penalty of $5000.

Mr. Lister said: "It's not the intention of CURE that any organisation, to achieve a balance, do that by firing workers or the hiring of ill-qualified people.

"Equal opportunity does not mean hiring regardless of qualifications and does not mean the establishment of quotas.'' He added businesses were also being encouraged to provide in-house training for workers to boost their skills and grants to achieve further education.'' And he said on-the-job discrimination was "a waste of talent and potential.'' Mr. Lister added that return statistics showed that the 1994 voluntary code of practice had not been stuck to and that it had "failed and failed miserably to address the problem.'' And he said that the former UBP Government had introduced the legislation -- with an option to make it mandatory in the future -- and that the PLP was "just carrying it forward.'' Mr. Lister pointed out that the legislation could improve harmony by possibly quashing a myth that white people might get paid more and still be inferior performers compared to a black colleague.

And he dismissed claims -- including from Bermuda Employers Council president Gerald Simons -- that there had been insufficient consultation.

Mr. Lister said: "The regulations fall directly out of the Act, which was passed in December -- there was much consultation on the Act all the way through.'' Mr. Marshall said the Opposition had supported making the CURE code of practice compulsory.

But he added that the Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety handled immigration and labour and was the guardian of Bermudians' rights -- and that Mr. Lister bringing forward new regulations was giving "a failing grade'' to his Cabinet colleague.

He said after the code of practice was given teeth "one would have expected Government's emphasis now to be advising and directing companies towards implementing good human resources practices.

Mr. Marshall added: "However, rather than pursuing CURE's early aims, Government is now mandating that companies supply personal and private information about their employees, which is invasive, costly and bureaucratic.'' He said that many Island, as well as international, businesses were struggling -- and quoted the official Auditor's report showing millions of dollars in overdue taxes as evidence of the squeeze.

Mr. Marshall added: "Most companies out there are fighting for survival...if the Minister had consulted wider than he had, he would have come away with a better understanding of the challenges in the workforce today.'' But he said: "He decided to enforce additional legislation and regulations that again add to the cost of doing business in Bermuda.

"And let's not forget employers are already being hit in their wallets with higher land tax, higher payroll tax and higher Government fees.

"This is a classic case when more is not better because what it's really doing is adding one more nail to the employers' coffin.'' Mr. Marshall added that various employers' groups, including BIBA, the Chamber of Commerce and BEC, had asked for more time to consult.

He said Government had met with employer groups -- but shifted focus to personnel managers.

But he added: "The problem here is that these human resources people are not the decision makers of the employers and frankly, Government owed it the chief executive officers and senior executives to solicit their input before releasing these regulations.'' And Mr. Marshall said red tape was in danger of strangling companies, some already fighting to stay in business.

Mr. Marshall added: "The Government seems to be on the path of micromanaging the human resources and employment policies of companies.'' And he said large companies would have to recruit people to handle the extra workload, while others firms would have to shoulder an additional paperwork burden.

Mr. Marshall added that the regulations could also end the practice in Bermuda of taking on less-qualified candidates and training them.

He said: "This will drive up the costs to a business and entrance employees will now largely be subjected to `skills tests' before any hiring is done.

"The net effect could backfire on us as a community because you could get a situation where some Bermudians out there will not even be given a chance to prove themselves to a prospective employer because they failed a skills test.'' He added that many -- like his own family where his wife is Oriental -- would have difficulty with the racial classification boxes in the regulations.

And he said: "It saddens me that under a PLP Government our children are going to grow up in an environment in Bermuda that classifies them along racial lines rather than as Bermudians.'' Mr. Marshall said people who felt discriminated against could use CURE and the Human Rights Act to get a ruling.

And he insisted: "Our people cannot grow professionally, socially or financially when their jobs may be put at risk from a Government whose sole interest seems to be regulation of our business and personal lives to the nth degree.''