lukewarm response from the Portuguese Bermudian community yesterday.

Anna Faria, chairman of the Portuguese Bermudian Organisation, questioned Premier David Saul's sincerity when he said at a town hall meeting on Wednesday night that Government will tackle the issue in the upcoming legislative session.

"This issue has been in the forefront of many peoples' minds,'' Ms Faria told The Royal Gazette yesterday. "And I would like to see it kept as an issue.

"In the past this has been taken up as an issue only when it is politically astute to do so then it is promptly dropped. Just before the Independence referendum it was an issue. After the referendum was over it was dropped.

"It is an issue that seems to always be placed on the back burner.'' Ms Faria said that she wanted to see more than "mere words''. Instead she said she wanted to see concrete steps, complete with a publicised agenda and a deadline for realisation.

"Our worry is the wishy-washiness of it all,'' she added.

Part of the problem, Ms Faria said, was that there were people in the community who thought the plight of long term residents was exaggerated.

Much of this was due, she said, to the fear many long term residents feel about speaking out. The result was that there were few outspoken members of the community so the burden of keeping the issue alive fell on a small number of people.

"However I have been encouraged to see that Government has at least said they intend to address these issues,'' she said. "We have been lobbying for help for the past three or four years but my impulse is to ask how sincere are they this time around.

"I guess only time will answer that one. I can only hope that this will be treated as a real issue this time around.'' In response to a question from the floor on Wednesday night, Dr. Saul told the more than 50 people who attended the town hall meeting that Government intended to address the needs of long term residents in the upcoming legislative session.

"That (long term residents) is an issue that comes up regularly,'' he said.

"We stated for the record in the Throne Speech that we will bring forward legislation to deal with the question of the long term resident.

"...we recognise the obligation that we have to people who have been here for decades and now have Bermudian children. These issues will be addressed. We are going to place them up front and we will be having debates in Parliament and special town meetings so that we can here from all of you.'' And as a consequence of all that work, Dr. Saul said his Government will enact legislation in the next session which starts on February 14.