Business leaders expressed disappointment yesterday that the CURE regulations were passed by Senate but vowed to work with Government to make them a success.

An alliance of employers' groups failed to persuade Government to drop form four of the legislation, which compels companies to give information about hiring, firing and promotions on a racial basis.

They supported the aims of CURE, but wanted the section to apply only to companies who were out of line in their racial composition compared to their industry counterparts.

Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA) deputy chairman Jeff Conyers called on Government to consider dropping some of the red tape if, as was predicted yesterday in Senate, the perception of institutional racism was not borne out by reality.

Mr. Conyers said: "If things work out, the Government should be prepared to look at it.

"It's going to be law and we are law abiding. We felt very strongly about form four. We didn't feel it was appropriate and made clear objections and the Minister felt very strongly it needed to remain.

"At the end of the day, he prevailed, but not everything works out the way you want it to. We will make every effort to make this as positive a situation as we can.'' Bermuda Employers Council executive director Malcolm Dixon said if Government wanted a truly accurate picture of the workplace, it should also have considered gender and the proportion of Bermudians to non-Bermudians.

"In the light of trying to get form four used for discretionary purposes, we're still not entirely convinced that the information will reflect an accurate picture of what Government is trying to achieve,'' he said.

"Government is trying to bring about equality when there are important items such as gender and a breakdown of Bermudians and non-Bermudians not included in the regulations.

"A Government survey in mid-1999 asked these questions which employers thought important and still do.

"It has gone through, which leaves us no choice but to ask employers to comply as accurately as they can.'' David Ezekiel, the chairman of the International Companies Division of the Chamber of Commerce, said: "I am disappointed and somewhat surprised, but I have been disappointed and surprised by lawmakers in the past and I'm sure it won't be the last time.

"We've always been in support of CURE, but our one main remaining issue was form four. I think this is time-consuming and will lead to businesses being saddled with even further bureaucracy.

`But now the law has passed and it is futile speculating further, we will be encouraging our members to fully comply.'' Mr. Ezekiel said form six, where applicants have to state their race, concerned companies who thought it might be illegal in some countries.

He said they were concerned that the question would be asked by Government in a CURE form, but not the employer.

He said some applicants may have an initial gut reaction against it, but he doubted it would make much difference.

BUSINESS BUC SENATE SEN