National Training Board Act.

The necessary time and dedication is not being given to training people properly, Deputy Speaker Stanley Lowe (PLP) told the House of Assembly on Friday.

"People get uptight when they are looking for a job and are told by foreigners that they do not have the skills,'' Mr. Lowe said during the marathon debate on the 1997 National Training Board Act.

"These are things that contribute to the malaise in this Country. It is time that we get real and make a 100 percent effort to train locals.'' Works Minister C.V. (Jim) Woolridge said Bermuda was suffering from its own success.

He said that in the past people would go into other jobs, such as construction, which had better pay than tourism.

"There have been a series of things that have brought us to the point where we are now,'' said Mr. Woolridge.

Ewart Brown (PLP) the Shadow Human Affairs Minister, said: "Most of what we have heard are reasons and justifications for failure.

"After two generations of training, this Government sees it to be a problem of will that Bermudians just will not do what should be done in order for them to succeed.

"But if you cut off a man's legs you must not raise the question as to how he can run,'' said Dr. Brown. "Something is wrong when a Government that has been in power for 30 years has the gall to come to the people and say `we are ready to train you'.'' Deputy Premier and Education Minister Jerome Dill said the legislation was a watershed.

Judging by the Opposition's comments on the legislation, one would think we were living in one of the worst countries in the world, said Mr. Dill, who accused the PLP of continually trying to score cheap political points.

Mr. Dill then outlined how education system reforms complemented the goals of the National Training Board. The bottom line, he said, is the Government's commitment to training all Bermudians is "a sacred trust''.

Government had put in place state of the art facilities such as Stonington Hotel and the Bermuda College, he pointed out.

Under the restructured education plan, technical education will start at the pre-school level and at the middle school level, every 11-14 year old will be exposed to three hours per day of the core subjects, then gain equal access to quality technical education.

Meanwhile business studies will also become a mandatory subject, said Mr.

Dill.

These education reforms demonstrate Government's "unswerving commitment'' to training. "But don't listen to our words, watch what we do,'' he said.

Renee Webb (PLP) slammed the training initiative as lacking teeth and questioned the point of the whole exercise when Government had failed consistently to treat the Bermudian worker fairly.

"How many more Wayne Perinchiefs' do we need,'' she asked, referring to the Assistant Police Commissioner who was made redundant.

Ms Webb said a PLP Government would do away with work permits for those industries where Bermudians were clearly qualified, saying a message had to be sent to the Little Venice Group that no more Italian waiters were needed.

"Where's the protection? Why have a National Training Board if there's no protection'' she asked, calling the policy of Bermudianisation a dismal failure and Government a puppet of employers.

Anecdotal stories were fine for speeches, but failed to set the general rule, said Minister of Information and Technology John Barritt .

He pointed to the example of golfing sensation Tiger Woods as someone who applied himself to get to the top.

"The path to the top starts at the bottom'' with hard work and individual effort, he said.

This is the thinking that distinguishes the UBP from the PLP, he said.

"If you stay at the wicket the runs will come in.'' Shadow Tourism Minister David Allen said training should not even be an issue when it came to jobs in Bermuda's tourism industry.

And he pointed to the cancellations of hotel staff training units at Warwick and St. George's Secondary Schools as examples of Government's shortsightedness.

He termed it a dereliction of duty that had put Bermuda ten to 20 years behind in terms of training. Meanwhile foreign workers, some who could not even speak English, are brought in to work in this essential industry, he said.

Mr. Allen added: "The PLP will ensure that whenever Bermudians have paid their dues and gained their qualifications they will get their opportunities.

"We will ensure that jobs are held in trust for Bermudians. Where Bermudians are being trained overseas we will ensure that jobs are in trust for them.'' Making his maiden speech in the House of Assembly, Michael Dunkley (UBP) said he wanted to show his support for the bill.

He said the world had changed since the existing Act was put in place in 1971 and Government had the foresight to move forward.

"There is no-one in this House who can deny it is an important subject, yet members get off the subject,'' he said. "What we must remember is that Government is here to lead and set an example and this Government is setting an example.'' Paula Cox (PLP) said the legislation should set the agenda for the empowerment of Bermudians so they were mainstreamed into the economy.

"People are concerned about the question of job opportunities for their children and grandchildren,'' she said. "Government has taken a static approach instead of a dynamic approach towards training and apprenticeships.'' Government's training promises were nothing but electioneering, said Lois Browne-Evans (PLP).

"I hope in my lifetime I will see effective training in existence and see our black males off the walls,'' she added.

Government rejects electioneering charge Tourism Minister David Dodwell said the initiative for the Bill began two years ago and was not an attempt at electioneering.

"We are facing a dramatically different country that is competing with the entire world and we have got to equip ourselves for that.'' Deputy Opposition Leader and Shadow Finance Minister Eugene Cox said the arguments from Government missed the human element, which was the most important aspect.

"Something is missing in the interpretation of training,'' he said. "We must define what training means.

"If we are going to train, we should not put something on the statute books and leave it there. We have got to make it happen.'' Leon (Jimmy) Williams (PLP) told Members one must realise how quickly technology is changing the world and how important training in the new technologies had become.

Drawing on a personal example, Mr. Williams said Government should examine exchange programmes such as those undertaken by France in the 1960s, to give Bermudians a wider world view.

He also took issue with Mr. Woolridge's contention that "Bermudians just did not want to work''.

Those remarks, he said, were highly offensive.

Mr. Williams expressed the hope that the new training scheme would at long last help young Bermudians get their piece of the pie.

The PLP was living in the past and was wrong to contend that Government had not been training the population over the years, Minister of Transport Wayne Furbert said.

Citing figures from the (Dr. Dorothy) Newman Report, he said Bermuda had one of the world's highest averages of college educated young black males in the western world.

He also pointed to the retraining going on at the International Airport. In June, 1995 there were 41 foreign workers and 18 Bermudians at the Airport.

By March of 1997 there were 15 foreign workers and 37 Bermudians running the show. And two young Bermudians are poised to take on upper level management in the next month, he said.

Stanley Morton (PLP) told the House he supported any motion that would uplift Bermudians, but wondered why Government was bringing in a new bill, and what would happen to the old one.

Walter Lister (PLP) meanwhile wondered why Government was bringing forward a training bill when it wasn't serious about stopping foreign workers from coming in a taking Bermudian jobs.

He also pointed out that in its 30 year history, the Bermuda Hotel College had not produced one Bermudian manager on the Island, while students from other jurisdictions seemed to excel.

Trevor Woolridge (PLP) told the House the point of the National Training Board should be to ensure the youth have the support of the community and a future on the Island.

But given the UBP's abysmal failure in protecting the Bermudian worker, he said, he wondered if the bill was going to be effective.

Despite the record however, he hoped the new Training Board would help to instil positive community values and rekindle a sense of pride among the Island's workforce.

Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith , citing an absence of statistics on how many, and who, comprised the under-employed and unemployed, said Government had to ensure those who have dropped out of the system were not marginalised by the new training requirements.

Meanwhile the failure of 47 out 67 applicants to write out a basic food order was really a failure of the school system and Government to get serious about basic literacy.

She called for "bridge'' programme to help prepare those lacking basic education take advantage of training opportunities.

She also asked Government to identify who the scheme was targeting.

"Those who suffer most are those without skills and it is those who I do not see catered for in this legislation,'' she said. Youth and Sports Minister David Dyer said because of its success Bermuda had created a generation full of expectations.

But he added: "We cannot expect everyone to be a success. Utopia does not exist, although listening to the Opposition you would think Bermuda was one of the worst places in the world instead of being in the top ten.'' Environment Minister Irving Pearman , who was chairman of the Apprenticeship and Training Council in the 1970s, said: "We have to help people to feel they can be successful in whatever their task.'' Labour and Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness again addressed the House briefly before it dissolved into committee to discuss the Bill clause by clause.

In committee, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Alex Scott raised several issues including the rights of Bermudian spouses to training and the nationality of the registrar, which he was told would be a Bermudian.

The bill then passed.