A new Government policy which limits visitors' stays to three weeks -- down from three months -- drew fire yesterday from the Progressive Labour Party.

Shadow Labour and Home Affairs Minister Mr. Alex Scott described the change as "a needless step'', apparently aimed at combatting illegal workers who entered Bermuda as visitors.

Labour and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman appeared to have taken "a step in the wrong direction ... to silence that embarrassing call from the back bench,'' from Government MP Mrs. Grace Bell, Mr. Scott said.

Mrs. Bell has been waging a public campaign against illegal workers, and has complained that non-Bermudians often work on the Island after arriving as visitors. She recently said that guest workers should be required to carry photo identity cards.

But Mr. Scott said better policing and more Immigration inspectors were needed to stop illegal workers, not "draconian policies''.

"The abuses that we are made aware of are incidents that can be addressed by way of documentation and policies that exist,'' he said. Mr. Pearman was "trying to take a sledgehammer to kill an ant''.

Requiring visitors to seek permission from the Immigration Department to stay longer than three weeks, rather than three months, could "create more problems than it solves''.

"It's a curious move for a tourist destination,'' Mr. Scott said. "That's what we trade on -- people staying here.'' And the change, which most of the Island learned about through the news media, should have been announced in Parliament, at least by way of a Ministerial Statement, he said.

Mr. Pearman, who had just returned from abroad and wanted to meet with his officials today, said the recent change in policy would apply "primarily'' to visitors who were staying with friends and relatives, not those staying at hotels or guest houses.

"We've had a problem, and we've addressed that problem in a number of ways,'' by dealing with charter operators, the Tourism Department, and travel agencies, Mr. Pearman said.

There had been instances of people coming to Bermuda to visit friends or relatives and staying "on an on'', he said.

And it was "par for the course'' in other countries for visitors' normal stays to be restricted to 15 days, let alone 21, he said.

Policies were constantly reviewed and it was possible this one could be relaxed "in the course of the next few months'', Mr. Pearman said.

"We've had a problem and I think we're getting it under control. It's unfortunate that occasionally someone who may be totally innocent gets caught up in that.'' Mr. Scott said he did not find it offensive that visitors were able to stay in Bermuda for three months without checking with Immigration. Visitors who said they were only going to stay three weeks could still become problems for the department, he said.

And he did not see why visitors who were paying for their accommodation should be treated differently from those who were not. "Either you are a visitor to the Island or you are not,'' he said.

Immigration was not taken seriously, and that was because the department did not vigorously enforce the existing rules, Mr. Scott said.

He was aware of two current cases at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in which he said non-Bermudians were holding jobs for which qualified Bermudians were available.

One involved the executive secretary to hospital executive director Mrs.

Sheila Manderson, and the other involved the assistant coordinator for the maternity unit, he said.