LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Let's swap our rollovers with Bermuda's rollovers
Monday, July 24, 2006
Dear Sir:
Interesting debate between Mr Mario Ebanks and Mr Gordon Barlow, "Revolution without Rollover," however, before the revolution takes place, and guns get loaded, cooler heads might declare a moratorium on the entire issue, and wait and see what happens in Bermuda in the wake of their six-year work permit rule.
After all, Cayman's seven-year rollover policy was patterned after the Bermudian law and problems being faced by both communities are parallel.
Debates are currently being aired in Hamilton, and for readers wanting additional insight the Bermuda Sun has interesting commentaries on the issues.
Many will find a recent article by Bermuda Sun columnist, Tom Vesey, entitled "Six-year work permit rule is bad for Bermudians" thought provoking.
I quote from this article:
"If you needed reminding that Government's new six-year work permit policy is crazy, you only had to listen to Government ministers last week.
First you had the Finance Minister pointing out that, because of population changes, there are hundreds fewer Bermudians every year to fill the jobs. In the last two years alone, there are 1,700 fewer jobs held by Bermudians - not because foreigners are snatching them away from us, but because there are fewer of us available to grab them.
Over the next 36 years, the Finance Ministry predicts, another 8,000 Bermudian jobs will be lost.
"It is going to have some impact on the work permit situation, no question," the Home Affairs Minister was quoted as saying.
But then you had the Home Affairs Minister, along with Immigration Department officials, reminding employers that the new rules are coming into effect - requiring them to get rid of work permit holders who have been on the island for six years.
Beginning over the next year, there will be a mass exodus of perfectly qualified non-Bermudians who have been here six years or longer.
They will be replaced (if replacements can be found, or exasperated employers don't take their business elsewhere) by new plane-loads of non-Bermudian work permit holders whose primary qualification is they haven't worked in Bermuda before.
That, in a nutshell, is the problem with the six-year policy. It is completely absurd, and it doesn't help Bermudians.
It kicks large numbers of foreign workers out of Bermuda at a time when we actually need more people.
It replaces people with six years experience in Bermuda with people with no experience in Bermuda.
It guarantees that guest workers will have less commitment to Bermuda and Bermudians, and be less understanding of our culture.
It dramatically increases the likelihood that non-Bermudians will see the island as a place to make money and clear out, and to hell with the locals. It reduces the likelihood of non-Bermudians helping or donating with charities and other Bermudian causes."
Sounds familiar.
Perhaps the expatriate community in both jurisdictions can simply trade places every few years. This is a brilliant concept, but of course assumes that expatriates are different from everyone else and have no desire or need for stability.
Mr. Mario Ebanks believes the rollover policy offers expatriates a "wonderful opportunity to acquire assets even if they don't become permanent residents" and asserts that "real estate is robust" - perhaps, but the exodus is only just beginning; what is going to happen when large amounts of inventory hits the market at once?
And true, there is "huge construction" taking place in Cayman. This assumes that there is a population in place to support all this development and suggests that expatriates are being counted on to continue investing in the community.
In the meantime, it may be wise to remember that investment likes stability.
Suzanne Swaby Hague
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