Dr. Brown then went on to discuss the lot of blacks in general.

"I'm concerned about contracts without scrutiny,'' he said. "We on this side of the House, in our attempts to represent the concerns of the dispossessed, have to be sensitive to this. If, for example, you walk into our Airport, our Bermudian Airport, you will not find one concession that is operated by a black Bermudian.

"If we are going to fix this Country, we have to secure the economic empowerment of black people. This is an opportunity to start spreading the money around and stop holding it for the select few.'' Opposition leader Mr. Frederick Wade said he attended a meeting with the base commander who said he had a surplus of fire trucks but they were all "too advanced for Bermuda''.

He said Bermuda's Caribbean neighbours all ran their own airports and it did not take the wisdom of Solomon to successfully takeover the running of the civil air terminal.

Mr. Wade said the PLP wanted to ensure that Bermudians were given the "first and best crack'' at all opportunities.

The Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan immediately chastised the Opposition leader for "attempting to discuss a bill he had not read''.

Furthermore, Sir John said it was important for the Transport Minister to be able to make and carry out needed repairs to equipment immediately so that the Airport will continue to operate smoothly as long as the costs did not exceed one million dollars.

Sir John said international standards must be upheld if Bermuda was going to run its airport successfully.

Meanwhile Government whip Mr. John Barritt said the legislation needed to be amended because the existing legislation came into force in 1949.

Previously, the legislation required all contracts to be brought before the house but this is not feasible, he said, given that the House of Assembly does not meet three times a week like it did then.

Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess said this legislation will ensure that Government meets its June 1, 1995 deadline.

Although there was much PLP opposition to the waiving of scrutiny on contracts below one million dollars, the bill passed.