Bermuda, like the Cayman Islands, has a rollover Immigration policy and after six years, expatriate workers must leave.

In his comment Tom Vesey points out that over the next year that country is likely to see the mass exodus of thousands of qualified experienced workers, because of the policy who he says will be replaced, if they can be by plane loads of other non-Bermudians whose only qualification will be they haven’t worked in Bermuda before.

One of the most interesting things about Mr Vesey’s article is that we could very easily submit the words Cayman and Caymanian for Bermuda and Bermudian respectively throughout the whole piece, primarily because the two countries are facing extremely similar immigration issues and both are trying to solve them with an absurd policy that will not work.

As Mr Vesey notes it may be possible to put up with the numerous negatives of the Bermudian Government policy if there was a possibility that it would produce the desired results, but there is not — Ditto.

The article lists some major problems with the policy all of which apply here.

It removes large numbers of foreign workers out of Bermuda at a time when the country needs more people, says Mr Vesey —sounds familiar?

It replaces people with six years experience in Bermuda with people with no experience and expels those people who can benefit the country most. Well we have all heard that before.

It guarantees that guest workers will have less commitment to the country and be less understanding of culture. It dramatically increases the likelihood that non-Bermudians will see the island as a place to make money and clear out, to the detriment of the locals. It reduces the likelihood of non-Bermudians helping or donating with charities and other Bermudian causes.

All readers of Net News will be very familiar with that argument.

Mr Vesey also notes that the policy makes Bermuda significantly less attractive to international business, at a time when we depend on international business more than ever. We can only hope here in Cayman that does not happen but with an almost identical policy how confident can we be?

He adds that the policy forces businesses to get rid of their best employees and hire risky new ones, making recruiters’ most difficult job – hiring the right people – considerably more difficult.

That is one concern that the business community here has already raised.

The system of exemptions and waivers gives a significant hiring and staffing advantage to the largest international companies owned by foreigners, and hurts smaller local companies owned by Bermudians - a point that few have considered here but is more than likely to happen. The offshore sector will probably have less trouble securing exemptions for their experts, but the local service station, operator or small contractor may well struggle to get this same privilege for the head mechanic or plumber.

Mr Vesey notes that the system of waivers will inevitably raise suspicions that ‘special favours’ and corruption are taking place, no matter how scrupulously honest and impartial every official and politician may be. One can’t help but wonder how the marl road will react here when our own Cabinet begins making the exemptions on those who can and cannot stay.

The Bermudan policy doesn’t directly address the hiring and promotion of Bermudians. Companies are supposed to supply evidence of this when seeking exceptions to the six-year rule – but this is supposed to be happening anyway, another point that sounds incredibly familiar.

Rollover polices wherever they are offer no guarantees to the local indigenous population. Cayman’s seven-year work permit limit and that in Bermuda are matching policies which are attempting to address very similar immigration issues both of which are doomed to failure.

We at Net News are no longer a lone voice even in this country when it comes to raising the concerns that surround the rollover policy. To see politicians, commentators and experts highlight the problem caused with what is almost an identical policy in another very similar jurisdiction illustrates that our continued opposition to the rollover policy here is not in vain.

If the Cayman Islands Government won’t listen to its own news leader, perhaps it will take note of the experiences of a sister overseas territory.

And as difficult as it may be for us to continue holding our breath, we are still hoping that commonsense will prevail among all of our legislators when they cast their vote.

We and so many others will continue to keep vigil, because this rollover madness isn’t over, until it’s over.