By Mairi Mallon The Island's struggling shopkeepers yesterday said they were "very disappointed'' at the lack of provision for them in the Budget.

They said that the Budget would lead to a rise in costs and still had not addressed the Progressive Labour Party's (PLP) election promise of a duty free Bermuda.

Charles Gosling, the acting chairman of the Visitor Retail Division of the Chamber of Commerce said: "We are very disappointed at the Budget. It is nibbling away at our business by increasing the costs.'' He said that the increase in taxes on fuel, cars and motorbikes would add to the cost of running a business on the Island.

He added: "I don't see how they can go on nibbling away at us like this and expect us to remain in business much longer.'' Mr. Gosling said that he and members of the Visitor Retail Division and some other local heads of business had come together to listen to the Budget on the radio.

"The overall reaction was disappointment,'' he said.

Last year and the year before the retail sector had said it had been disappointed by the PLP budgets, particularly because there was no commitment to duty-free shopping or duty cuts.

And there was no change this year: "There are two ways of making a business more profitable and we are looking at Bermuda as a business.

"One is to cut costs. Two is to increase revenue at a faster rate. The costs have gone up and there is absolutely nothing discussed about any way for revenue to go up. If anything the minister said he expected the economy to decline a little bit.'' Mr. Gosling said: "We had hoped at a minimum there would have been a review of the duty structure, especially in tourist-related items such as clothing, jewellery, perfume, etc. We hoped they would take a step towards the promise they made to voters before the last election to introduce duty free shopping to Bermuda.'' He added it had been three budgets since the PLP was elected and they still had not come through with this election promise.

Retailers believe that if the Island is made duty free, it will make Bermuda a prime shopping destination for tourists.

And they say that it would slash local prices and lead to increases in staff wages.

The retail sector is one of the sectors which employs a large number of Bermudians. Figures released yesterday showed that over 10 percent of the working population are employed in retail -- 3,797.

Mr. Gosling added that changes in the way the Payroll Tax was calculated would not help his sector, stating that few (if any) local traders made $225,000 a year.

He said that with the decline in tourism, with no sign of the figures getting any better and a cruise line company going belly up, the future looked bleak for the retailers on the Island.

He added: "I would love to be proved wrong. This is one instance when I would really love to have my nose rubbed in it.'' But he applauded the PLP for spending money on social issues they had addressed in their pre-election manifesto. "They have certainly lived up to their promises. They have enacted a whole series of different projects at a refreshing speed. But it is how they collect the revenue to do this we have an issue with.

"For the past 15 to 20 years there has been no change, with Government saying, lets increase tax rather than finding opportunities for Bermudians to have revenue earning opportunities.''